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Fascicle 1 (of 2)
Thus I have heard:
At one time the Buddha was dwelling in the Anāthapiṇḍika Garden of Jetavana Park in the city kingdom of Śrāvastī, together with 500 great bhikṣus, as well as 100,000 Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas and a multitude of gods, dragons, yakṣas, and gandharvas. Also present were 100,000 upāsakas and upāsikās. In attendance too were the Brahma-kings, rulers of this Sahā World, as well as the god-king Śakra, the four god-kings, and their retinues. From worlds in the ten directions came innumerable bhikṣus, bhikṣuṇīs, upāsakas, and upāsikās, as well as Bodhisattvas.
At that time the Tathāgata pronounced the Dharma to His four groups of disciples, telling them, “With existence, there are pain and pleasure. Without existence, there is neither pain nor pleasure. Therefore, keeping away from pain and pleasure is the foremost bliss of nirvāṇa.”
All these 500 voice-hearer bhikṣus were Arhats. They had ended their afflictions and the discharges thereof, and their minds had achieved command and ease. Like the great dragon, with their minds liberated and their wisdom unfolded, they had completed their undertaking [for Arhatship]. Having shed the heavy burden, they had acquired benefits for themselves, ending the bondage of existence. Liberated by true knowledge, they had achieved the foremost pāramitā and total command of their minds
Of those who were still learning, a countless number had achieved the [voice-hearer] fruits, becoming Srotāpannas, Sakṛdāgāmins, or Anāgāmins. An innumerable multitude of bhikṣus, though still with afflictions, had come to achievement.
Also from worlds in the ten directions came an innumerable multitude of Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas who had acquired immeasurable asaṁkhyeyas of merits. Their number was beyond calculation or analogy, unknowable to voice-hearers or Pratyekabuddhas. The exceptions were Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva, Great Strength Bodhisattva, Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva, and Maitreya Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva. Such leading Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas were in asaṁkhyeya multitudes, as numerous as grasses and trees grown from the earth. Bodhisattvas who came from other directions were countless as well. Also present was the bhikṣuṇī Kṣema, together with a group of bhikṣuṇīs. Present as well were Lady Viśākhā and Queen Mallikā, together with their innumerable attendants. Also present was the Elder Sudatta, together with innumerable upāsakas.
The World-Honored One, in the midst of this huge multitude, introduced the Dharma Door of Existence and Nonexistence.
Meanwhile, King Prasenajit, rising from his sleep, thought: “I should go to the World-Honored One.” Having had this thought, he immediately set off, with drums beating and conch shells blowing, going to the Buddha. The World-Honored One, knowing the reason, still asked, “Ānanda, why is there the sound of drums and conch shells?”
Ānanda replied to the Buddha, “King Prasenajit is coming to the Buddha. Hence the sound of drums and conch shells.”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “You should also beat the great Dharma drum because I now will pronounce the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum.”
Ānanda asked the Buddha, “I have never heard of the name of this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum. Why is it called the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum?”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “How can you know it? Not even one of the Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas in this assembly knows this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum, which has a six-syllable name [in Sanskrit]. Much less have you heard of it.”
Ānanda said to the Buddha, “This is unprecedented. The name of this Dharma is truly hard to know.”
“Indeed, Ānanda, the fact is not different from your statement. Ānanda, this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum, like the bloom of the udumbara tree, is rare in the world.”
Ānanda asked the Buddha, “Not all Buddhas have this Dharma?”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “Buddhas of the past, present, and future all have this Dharma.”
Ānanda asked the Buddha, “If so, why did these Bodhisattvas, the heroes among men, all come to gather here? Why do their Tathāgatas not expound this Dharma in their own lands?”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “For example, an āraṇyaka bhikṣu lives alone in a mountain cave. On his way to the village to beg for food, he sees various human and animal corpses. Having seen them, he feels disgusted and returns without food, thinking: ‘Alas, I will definitely be like that.’ Then he feels happy, thinking: ‘I should go there again to observe corpses to intensify my revulsion.’ Again he heads for that village, looking to see corpses in order to strengthen his perception of impurity. Seeing them, he continues to observe them. Then he achieves the holy fruit, becoming an Arhat.
“Buddhas in other worlds do not teach impermanence, suffering, emptiness, or impurity. Why? Because the Dharma in those Buddha Lands should be their way. Those Tathāgatas say to their Bodhisattvas, ‘How marvelous! Śākyamuni the World-Honored One, taking the hard way, appears in the land of the five turbidities. For the sake of suffering sentient beings, using various viable approaches, he pronounces the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum. Therefore, good men, you should learn in that way.’ Those Bodhisattvas have come to this assembly because they all want to see me, to pay respects, and to make obeisance. Having come to this assembly, they will attain the First Ground, even up to the Tenth Ground [on the Bodhisattva Way]. Hence the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum is very hard to encounter. Hence multitudes of great Bodhisattvas from worlds in the ten directions, for the sake of hearing the Dharma, have all gathered here.”
Ānanda said to the Buddha, “Very good! Very good! All who attend will benefit. They all will receive the hard-to-acquire Dharma in this sūtra.”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “Such a profound sūtra cannot be received by all. Therefore, you should not say that all who attend will benefit.”
Ānanda asked the Buddha, “Why will not all who attend benefit?”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “This sūtra is the secret Dharma store of Tathāgatas. It is profound and wondrous, hard to understand and hard to believe. Therefore, Ānanda, you should not say that all who attend will benefit.”
Ānanda said to the Buddha, “Then is it not like King Prasenajit beating the huge war drum to launch a battle? When the sound is heard, all [enemy] arrows fall away.”
The Buddha told Ānanda, “When King Prasenajit beats the war drum, not all delight in hearing the sound of the drum. The cowardly ones are scared to death, or nearly to death. Indeed, Ānanda, the name of this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum is the Dharma Door in which riders of the Two Vehicles disbelieve. Therefore, Ānanda, as the huge war drum is beaten only by the king before fighting a battle, so too can this great Dharma drum, the secret of Buddhas, be expounded only by a Buddha who has appeared in the world.”
Then the World-Honored One asked Mahākāśyapa, “The bhikṣus here, having left all the scum and chaff, are pure, alike, and truly strong. Are they capable of hearing this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum?”
Mahākāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “If there are bhikṣus who have breached the precepts or violated the regulations, they are rebuked by Mahāmaudgalyāyana. Even I do not accommodate such bhikṣus, much less would the World-Honored One. The multitude in this assembly is like the sandalwood grove, pure and unvaried.”
The Buddha told Mahākāśyapa, “The multitude in this assembly is all pure and homogeneous. However, they do not have good understanding of my veiled statements.”
Mahākāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is meant by veiled statements?”
The Buddha told Mahākāśyapa, “Saying that the Tathāgata enters the ultimate nirvāṇa is making a veiled statement. In truth the Tathāgata abides eternally, never extinct, because parinirvāṇa is not a dharma of destruction. This sūtra leaves the veiled approach and expounds with entirely explicit tones through hundreds of thousands of causes and conditions. Therefore, Mahākāśyapa, you should survey this huge multitude again.”
Mahākāśyapa again observed those present and their reason for coming. In the time of a kṣaṇa, sentient beings of weak faith, voice-hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, and novice Bodhisattvas, who considered themselves incapable, had the thought of giving up.
As an analogy, a man named Thousand Strong Men stands up in the midst of a multitude of strong men owned by the royal family. Beating a drum, he chants, “Who is capable of wrestling with me?” The incapable ones remain silent, thinking: “I am incapable of wrestling with him. I might be injured or even lose my life.” The one against whom no one in the group dares to fight is the brave, indomitable strong man who can erect the great victory banner.
Thus, inadequate sentient beings, voice-hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, and novice Bodhisattvas each thought: “I am incapable of hearing or accepting this Dharma, which states that the Tathāgata has entered parinirvāṇa and that He is eternally abiding, never extinct.”
Having heard in the midst of the multitude what they had never heard before, they left their seats and departed. Why? Because they had cultivated in the long night the view of void with respect to parinirvāṇa. Upon hearing of this pure sūtra, which is free from obscurity, they left their seats and departed. Among the voice-hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, and novice Bodhisattvas, who came from worlds in the ten directions, on the scale of a million koṭi parts, only one part remained.
The Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas who stayed on believed in the eternal abiding and changelessness of the dharma body. They then could settle in, accept, and uphold all the sūtras about the Tathāgata store. They could also explain to and comfort the world, enabling others to understand all the veiled statements [in these sūtras]. They could well discern sūtras of definitive meaning versus sūtras of non-definitive meaning. They all could subdue sentient beings that violated the prohibitions, and they all could respect and serve the pure, virtuous ones. With great pure faith in the Mahāyāna, they would not consider the Two Vehicles as extraordinary. They would pronounce only mahāvaipulya sūtras, not other sūtras. They would pronounce only that the Tathāgata is eternally abiding and that there is the Tathāgata store, without abandoning emptiness—not only the emptiness of the self-view but also the emptiness of the self-essence of all saṁskṛta dharmas.
The Buddha told Mahākāśyapa, “Ask the huge multitude again whether they want to hear this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum, the hard-to-believe Mahāyāna sūtra, from the vast One Vehicle. Ask all of them this three times.”
Mahākāśyapa said to the Buddha, “Very good, World-Honored One.”
Forthwith he rose from his seat, bared his right shoulder, knelt on his right knee, and bowed down at the feet of the Buddha. He then circled the Buddha three times and questioned the huge multitude: “Do you all want to hear this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum? The Tathāgata now will expound to all of you the One Vehicle, the Mahāyāna, which surpasses the vehicle of voice-hearers and the vehicle of Pratyekabuddhas.”
Three times he asked them, and they all replied, “We would be delighted to hear it. Yes, Mahākāśyapa, we all have come here to hear the Dharma. Very good, have sympathy! May the Buddha pronounce to us the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum!”
Kāśyapa next asked, “Why do you all believe?”
They then replied, “As an analogy, a man 20 years of age has a son 100 years old. If the Buddha says so, we will believe that it is so. Much more will we believe in the true Dharma He is going to pronounce. Why? Because the Tathāgata acts in accordance with His words. The Tathāgata’s pure eye shines, perfectly hindrance free. Seeing with His Buddha-eye, He knows our minds.”
Kāśyapa praised, “Very good! Very good! You worthy ones are capable of hearing the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum, to uphold or pronounce it.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “As an analogy, a man only 20 years of age has a 100-year-old son. The Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum conveys a similar teaching. Why? Because the Tathāgata enters parinirvāṇa and still abides eternally. Nothing has a self, but the Tathāgata still speaks of a self.”
They immediately responded, “Only the Buddha can know. Whatever the World-Honored One says, we will accept and uphold it accordingly.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “I pray only that the World-Honored One will pronounce the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum, beat the great Dharma drum, and blow the great Dharma conch shell.”
The Buddha said, “Very good! Very good! Kāśyapa, you now want to hear me pronounce the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “Affirmatively I accept Your teachings. Why? Because the Tathāgata regards me highly and treats me with respect. What kind of respect? He once said to me, ‘Come and sit together with me.’ For this reason, I should recognize His kindness.”
The Buddha said, “Very good! Kāśyapa, for a good reason, I treat you with respect. For example, King Prasenajit takes good care of his four types of armed forces. When they fight, they beat the huge war drums and blow the huge war conch shells, standing their ground against the enemy. Because of the king’s kind caring, they fight, sparing no strength, to defeat the enemy in order to bring peace to the country. Therefore, bhikṣus, after my parinirvāṇa, Mahākāśyapa should protect and uphold this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum. For this reason, I let him use half of my seat. Accordingly, he should carry on my Way. After my parinirvāṇa, he will be capable of widely expounding the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “I am the eldest son born from the mouth of the World-Honored One.”
The Buddha told the bhikṣus, “As an analogy, King Prasenajit teaches his sons to engage in the [five] studies, so that they will one day be capable of continuing the royal line. Thus, bhikṣus, after my parinirvāṇa, in the same way the bhikṣu Kāśyapa will protect and uphold this sūtra.
“Furthermore, Kāśyapa, for example, King Prasenajit and other kings are enemies, and they battle against one another. During those times, his warriors in the four types of armed forces—elephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry—upon hearing the sound of the great drum, have no fear, and they hold firm their armor and weapons. The king, out of kindness, regularly bestows on them good food. During a war they are in addition given jewels and even cities. If they have defeated the enemy, they are each crowned with a white silk scarf, decorated as kings. If, among my voice-hearer bhikṣus and bhikṣuṇīs as well as upāsakas and upāsikās, there are those who learn the Prātimokṣa precepts and become accomplished in observing these rules of conduct, the Tathāgata will give them the peace and joy of human or celestial life. If there are those who have achieved great merit by subduing the four māras, the Tathāgata will crown their heads with the white silk scarf of liberation, made of the Four Noble Truths. If there are those who, with enhanced faith and understanding, seek the Buddha store, the true self, and the eternally abiding dharma body, the Tathāgata will pour the water of sarvajña [overall wisdom-knowledge] on their heads and crown them with the white silk scarf of the Mahāyāna. Mahākāśyapa, in the same way I now crown your head with the white silk scarf of the Mahāyāna. You should protect and uphold this sūtra in the places where innumerable future Buddhas will be. Kāśyapa, know that, after my parinirvāṇa, you are capable of protecting and upholding this sūtra.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “It will be as You instruct.”
He further said to the Buddha, “From today on, and after Your parinirvāṇa, I will always protect, uphold, and widely pronounce this sūtra.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Very good! Very good! I now will pronounce to you the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum.”
Then gods and dragons in the sky praised with one voice, “Very good! Very good! Kāśyapa, today gods rain down celestial flowers, and dragon-kings rain down sweet nectar and finely powdered incense. To comfort and delight all sentient beings, you should be established by the World-Honored One as the eldest son of the Dharma.”
Then the multitude of gods and dragons, with one voice, spoke in verse:
As the king in the city of Śrāvastī
Beats the war drum and blows the war conch shell,
The Dharma King in Jetavana Park
Beats the great Dharma drum.
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “You should now use questioning as the drumstick to beat the great Dharma drum. The Tathāgata, the Dharma King, will explain to you. The God of Gods will resolve your doubts.”
Then the World-Honored One told Mahākāśyapa, “There is a bhikṣu called Faith in the Mahāvaipulya. If, among my four groups of disciples, for those who hear his name, the arrows of their greed, anger, and delusion will all be pulled out. Why? Kāśyapa, King Prasenajit has [a physician called] Superior Medicine, who is the son of Jīva. When King Prasenajit is battling an enemy country, he tells Superior Medicine, ‘Quickly bring me the medicine which can pull the arrows out for sentient beings [that are shot].’ Then Superior Medicine brings the anti-poison medicine, and the king smears his war drum with the medicine. He beats the drum as he smears it with medicine and suffuses it with the smoke of burning medicine. If sentient beings that have been shot by poisonous arrows hear the sound of the drum, one or two yojanas away, their arrows will all be pulled out.
“Thus, Kāśyapa, if there are those who hear the name of the bhikṣu Faith in the Mahāvaipulya, the arrows of their greed, anger, and delusion will all be pulled out. Why? Because that bhikṣu has propagated the true Dharma through this sūtra and acquired this great fruit as his present achievement. Mahākāśyapa, you should note that even beating a mindless ordinary drum smeared with mindless medicine and suffused with its smoke has such power to benefit sentient beings. Much more, sentient beings that hear the name of a Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva or the name of the bhikṣu Faith in the Mahāvaipulya are enabled to remove their three poisons.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “If hearing the name of a Bodhisattva can remove the three poisonous arrows for sentient beings, it will be more effective if they praise the name and merit of the World-Honored One by saying, ‘Namo Śākyamuni.’ If praising the name and merit of Śākyamuni can pull the three poisonous arrows out of sentient beings, it will be even more effective if they hear this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum and expound its verses and stanzas to comfort others. Furthermore, if they expound it widely, it will be impossible for their three poisonous arrows not to be pulled out.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “As I just mentioned, bhikṣus who observe their precepts purely can fulfill their wishes at will because of their original vows. All Buddhas have this Dharma, as taught in the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum, that dharmas, which [in true reality] are not made [through causes and conditions], neither arise nor perish. Therefore, Kāśyapa, in a future life, you will be like me. Why? Because if your four groups of disciples hear your name, their three poisonous arrows will all be pulled out. Therefore, Kāśyapa, you now should request the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum, and then, after my parinirvāṇa, protect, uphold, and pronounce it for a long time in the world.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Very good! World-Honored One, please pronounce for my sake the Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “You should spare no question about this Sūtra of the Great Dharma Drum.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “Very good! World-Honored One, I will ask about my doubts. The World-Honored One says, ‘With existence, there are pain and pleasure. Without existence, there is neither pain nor pleasure.’ What is meant by that?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Without existence means the foremost bliss of parinirvāṇa. Therefore, having left pain and pleasure, one acquires the foremost bliss of parinirvāṇa. Pain and pleasure mean that there is existence. Without existence, there is neither pain nor pleasure. Therefore, those who wish to attain parinirvāṇa should seek to cease existing.”
Then the World-Honored One, to restate this meaning, spoke in verse:
Existence is impermanent,
Nor is it changeless.
With existence, there are pain and pleasure.
Without existence, there is neither pain nor pleasure.
Not acting [to cause the next rebirth] brings neither pain nor pleasure;
Acting [to cause the next rebirth] brings pain and pleasure.
Do not delight in saṁskṛta dharmas,
Nor be involved with them.
If one acquires pleasure,
One will nevertheless fall into pain.
Before attaining nirvāṇ,
One abides in neither peace nor bliss.
Then Kāśyapa replied in verse:
If sentient beings do not effect their existence,
Nirvāṇa will be their foremost bliss.
That bliss is merely a name
As there is no one experiencing bliss.
Then the World-Honored One again spoke in verse:
The eternal liberation is not just a name,
The wondrous form [of a Buddha] evidently standing.
This is not the state of voice-hearers or Pratyekabuddhas,
Nor that of Bodhisattvas.
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, why do you speak of form then say it is eternally abiding?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “I will give you an analogy. A person comes from Mathurā in the south. Someone asks him, ‘Where do you come from?’ He answers, ‘From Mathurā.’ He is next asked, ‘Where is Mathurā?’ Then this person points to the south. Kāśyapa, will the questioner not believe him? Why? Because this person has seen himself come from the south. Thus, Kāśyapa, because I have seen it, you should believe me.”
Then the World-Honored One again spoke in verse:
By analogy, there is a person
Who points his finger to the sky.
I now do the same,
Who pronounce liberation by name.
Analogous to the person
Who comes from the distant south,
I now do the same,
Who come from nirvāṇa.
“However, Kāśyapa, those who see the meaning do not need causes or conditions. If they do not see the meaning, they need causes and conditions. Indeed, Kāśyapa, Buddha-Bhagavāns always indicate liberation through innumerable causes and conditions.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is cause?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Cause is the reason.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is condition?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Condition is a contributing factor.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “I pray that you will further clarify with an analogy.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “For example, a child is born from parents. The mother is the cause,[1] and the father is the condition. Thus, a dharma born through causes and conditions is called a formation.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is meant by formation?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Formation refers to a worldly formation.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is world?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “It is constructed with an assembly of sentient beings.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is a sentient being?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “A sentient being is constructed with an assemblage of dharmas.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is dharma?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Non-dharma is dharma, and dharma is non-dharma. There are two kinds of dharmas. What are these two? Saṁskṛta and asaṁskṛta; form and non-form. There is no third kind.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What does dharma look like?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Dharma is non-form.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What does non-dharma look like?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Non-dharma is also non-form.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “If both dharma and non-dharma have neither form nor appearance, then what is dharma and what is non-dharma?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Dharma is nirvāṇa, and non-dharma is saṁsāra.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “If both dharma and non-dharma have neither form nor appearance, how, what, and why can the wise know about their appearances?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Through their cycle of birth and death, sentient beings that develop various kinds of meritorious, pure roots of goodness are in the right ways. If they carry out these dharmas, pure appearances will arise. Those who perform these dharmas are dharma sentient beings. If they carry out non-dharmas, impure appearances will arise. Those who perform these non-dharmas are non-dharma sentient beings.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, what is a sentient being?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “A sentient beings is constructed by assembling the four domains—earth, water, fire, and wind—as well as the five faculties, the Twelve Links of Dependent Arising, sensory reception, perception, thinking, mind, mental faculty, and mental consciousness. It is called the sentient-being dharma. Kāśyapa, know that it means all dharmas.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Which of these component dharmas is a sentient being?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “None of them alone is called a sentient being. Why? Kāśyapa, taking the king Prasenajit’s drum as an example, what is a drum?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “A so-called drum includes a membrane, wood, and a drumstick. The assemblage of these three dharmas is called a drum.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Likewise a construction with an assemblage of dharmas is called a sentient being.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Is the sound-producing drum not the drum?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Besides the sound-producing drum, any drum makes sound to be carried by the wind.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Is the drum a dharma or a non-dharma?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “The drum is neither a dharma nor a non-dharma.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What is its name?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “What is neither a dharma nor a non-dharma is called a nonspecific dharma.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “Including the nonspecific dharma, there should be three kinds of dharmas in the world.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “An example of a nonspecific appearance would be a person who is neither male nor female. Such a person is called a non-man. The drum is nonspecific in the same way.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “As the World-Honored One says, a child is born from the union of his parents. If they do not have the seeds for forming sentient beings, they are not the parental causes and conditions.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “That which does not have the seeds for forming sentient beings is called nirvāṇa. So too is the great eternal non-man. As an analogy, when King Prasenajit battles an enemy country, his warriors who eat men’s meals are not called men if they are not bold and fierce. Therefore, those who do not have the seeds of sentient beings are not called parents, and neither is the great eternal non-man.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, there are good dharmas, bad dharmas, and neutral dharmas. What are good, bad, and neutral dharmas?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “A pleasurable experience is a good dharma. A painful experience is a bad dharma. An experience that is neither pleasurable nor painful is a neutral dharma. Sentient beings are always in contact with these three dharmas. Pleasurable experiences relate to gods or humans gratifying the five desires as requital for their merit. Painful experiences relate to [the life of] hell dwellers, animals, hungry ghosts, or asuras. Experience in neither pleasure nor pain is like a minor skin disease.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “This is not right.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Pleasure as a cause of pain, and pain as a cause of pain, are also called a neutral experience.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What would be an analogy?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “For example, one becomes ill because of eating food. Eating food is pleasure, but illness is pain. Like a minor skin disease, this is called a neutral experience.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “If both pleasure and pain can be called a neutral experience, then parents’ giving birth to a child is also a neutral experience.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “This is not right.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What would be an analogy?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Formless gods in Neither with Nor without Perception Heaven, and gods with form in No Perception Heaven, still abide by the law of karma. So doesgoodness.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, as the Buddha says, those with sensory reception and perception are sentient beings. Then, formless gods in Neither with Nor without Perception Heaven must not be sentient beings.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “They still have mental processing. The dharma of sentient beings that I describe excludes the gods with form in No Perception Heaven.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Are sentient beings form or non-form?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Sentient beings are neither form nor non-form.[2] Those who accomplish this dharma are called sentient beings.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “If there are sentient beings formed by a different dharma, formless gods should not be included. Then, there should not be these two realms of existence called the form realm and the formless realm.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Dharmas are non-form, and non-dharmas are also non-form.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Does it mean that dharmas are attuned to liberation and that non-dharmas are as well? Are formless gods already liberated?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Not true. There are only saṁskṛta and asaṁskṛta dharmas, and liberation is an asaṁskṛta dharma. Formless gods are in the domain of saṁskṛta dharmas because they still have the disposition to assume form.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, all saṁskṛta dharmas are form, and asaṁskṛta dharmas are non-form. Seeing the form of formless gods is the state of the Buddha, not our state.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Very good! Very good! It is my state, not yours. Indeed, Buddha-Bhagavāns, having achieved liberation, are free from form but still have form.”
The Buddha then asked Kāśyapa, “What are formless gods? Do you know what these gods do? Kāśyapa, can gods with form be considered formless?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “This is beyond our state.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Indeed, Buddha-Bhagavāns, who have achieved liberation, all assume form. You should observe them.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “If one achieves liberation in this way, one should still experience pain and pleasure.”
The Buddha asked Kāśyapa, “If sick sentient beings take medicine and are cured of their diseases, will they be sick again?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “If they have karma, they will still have illnesses.”
The Buddha asked Kāśyapa, “Will those who have no karma have illnesses?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “No, World-Honored One.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Indeed, leaving pain and pleasure is liberation. Know that pain and pleasure are illness. A great man is one who has attained nirvāṇa.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “If leaving pain and pleasure is liberation, will illness end with the exhaustion of karma?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Worldly pleasures are in effect pain. One achieves liberation by leaving such pleasures and ending karma.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Is liberation the final ending?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “One may liken space to the ocean. Is space really like the ocean? As space is beyond analogy, so too is liberation. No one can know that formless gods have form. Nor can one know whether they are like this or like that, whether they stand in this way or frolic in that way. As this [knowledge] is beyond the state of voice-hearers and Pratyekabuddhas, so too is liberation.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, who forms sentient beings?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Sentient beings are formed by themselves.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What does that mean?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Those who do good are Buddhas. Those who do evil are sentient beings.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Who made the very first sentient being?”
The Buddha asked Kāśyapa, “Who made the formless gods, such as those in Neither with Nor without Perception Heaven? How do formless gods live and how do they carry themselves?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “Although their karmas cannot be known, they are formed by their own karmas. Then who makes sentient beings black in saṁsāra, or white in nirvāṇa?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “It is made by their karmas. Karma gives rise to innumerable dharmas; goodness also gives rise to innumerable dharmas.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “What arises from karma? What arises from goodness?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Existence arises from karma. Liberation arises from goodness.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “How does goodness arise as a dharma that has no birth?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “These two are not different.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “As goodness arises, how can one realize that it has no birth?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “By doing good karmas.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Who taught this?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “It has been taught by Buddhas since time without a beginning.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Who taught and transformed all Buddhas without a beginning in time?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Time without a beginning is not what voice-hearers or Pratyekabuddhas can know by thinking. If a person who is as wise and well informed as Śāriputra appears in the world, he can think throughout the long night but still cannot know who is the very first of Buddhas, who are without a beginning. Nor can he know His nirvāṇa or the interval in between. Furthermore, Kāśyapa, even Mahāmaudgalyāyana, using his transcendental powers, can never find the very first Buddha World without a beginning. Thus, none of the voice-hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, or Bodhisattvas on the Tenth Ground, such as Maitreya Bodhisattva, can know it. As the origin of Buddhas is hard to know, so too is the origin of sentient beings.”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “Therefore, World-Honored One, there is neither a doer [of karma] nor a recipient [of karmic fruit].”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Causation is the doer and the recipient.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Does the world have an ending, or have no ending?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “The world has not ended. There is nothing to end, nor is there a time of ending.”
Then the Buddha asked Kāśyapa, “Suppose you use a hair to draw water from the immense ocean by the drop. Can you deplete the ocean water?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “Yes, it can be finished.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Innumerable asaṁkhyeyas of great kalpas ago, a Buddha called Kelava appeared in the world, who widely expounded the Dharma. At that time in the Licchavi clan, there was a youth called Entire World Delighted to See. He was a Wheel-Turning King who ruled with the true Dharma. This king, together with his retinue in the hundreds of thousands, went to that Buddha. He bowed down at the feet of that Buddha and circled Him three times. After presenting his offerings, he asked that Buddha, ‘How long will it take me to acquire the Bodhisattva Way?’ That Buddha told the great king, ‘A Wheel-Turning King is a Bodhisattva. There is no difference. Why? Because no one else can be the god-king Śakra, a Brahma-king, or a Wheel-Turning King. A Bodhisattva is the god-king Śakra, a Brahma-king, or a Wheel-Turning King. First, he is reborn as the god-king Śakra or a Brahma-king many times, then he is reborn as a Wheel-Turning King to rule and deliver people through the true Dharma. You have already been the god-king Śakra or a Brahma-king as many times as the sands of asaṁkhyeya Ganges Rivers. Now you are a Wheel-Turning King.’
“Then the king asked, ‘What does the god-king Śakra or a Brahma-king look like?’ Kevala Buddha told the great king, ‘The god-king Śakra or a Brahma-king looks just like you now, wearing a celestial crown, but their magnificence does not match yours. For example, the form of a Buddha is so sublime and extraordinary that voice-hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, and Bodhisattvas can never compare. As a Buddha is sublime, you in your way are magnificent.’
“Kāśyapa, the noble king next asked Kevala Buddha, ‘How long will it take me to attain Buddhahood?’ That Buddha replied, ‘Great King, attaining Buddhahood requires a vastly long time. Suppose you, Great King, abandon your merit, become an ordinary person, and use a hair to draw water from the immense ocean by the drop. When the ocean water is almost completely gone, and the remaining water is like [puddles in] cow tracks, in the world will appear a Tathāgata called Lamp Light, the Tathāgata, Arhat, Samyak-Saṁbuddha. At that time there will be a king named Earth Sovereign, and Lamp Light Tathāgata will bestow upon him a prophecy that he will be a Buddha. Great King [Entire World Delighted to See], you will be that king’s first-born son, upon whom Lamp Light Buddha will also bestow a prophecy. He will say these words: “Great King [Earth Sovereign], your first-born son is born to you, as the water in the immense ocean, diminishing since the past, is near depletion. During this period, he has never been a lesser king, but has been the god-king Śakra, a Brahma-king, or a noble Wheel-Turning King ruling and transforming the world with the true Dharma. This first-born son of yours is boldly valiant and energetically diligent. Great King Earth Sovereign, bodhi is hard to attain. Because of these causes and conditions, I give you an analogy. Earth Sovereign, this first-born son of yours has 60,000 lady attendants. Like goddesses, they are shapely, beautiful, adorned with necklaces of jewels. He will abandon them all like spit. Knowing that desire is impermanent, precarious, and fickle, he will say, ‘I will renounce family life.’ Having said this, believing that family is not his way of life, he will renounce family life to learn the Way.” Therefore, Lamp Light Buddha will bestow a prophecy upon that youth: “In the future, there will be a Buddha called Śākyamuni. His world will be called Endurance. Young man, you will then be reborn in the Licchavi clan and become a youth called Entire World Delighted to See. After the parinirvāṇa of Śākyamuni Buddha, the true Dharma will be perishing. When eighty years still remain, you will be [reborn as] a bhikṣu who upholds this Buddha’s name and disseminates this sūtra, not caring even about his own life. After this bhikṣu dies at age one hundred, he will be reborn in the Pure Land of Peace and Bliss and will acquire great spiritual powers, standing on the Eighth Ground. He will manifest one body in Tuṣita Heaven, another body in the Pure Land of Peace and Bliss, and a third body to ask Ajita Buddha questions about this sūtra.” Then King Earth Sovereign, having heard the prophecy of his son, will be exultant and exuberant, saying, “Today the Tathāgata has prophesied that my son will be on the Eighth Ground.” That youth, having heard the prophecy, will make energetic progress.’”
Kāśyapa said to the Buddha, “Therefore, World-Honored One, drawing water by the drop with a hair can deplete the water in the immense ocean.”
The Buddha asked Kāśyapa, “What is meant by that?”
Kāśyapa replied to the Buddha, “World-Honored One, as an analogy, a merchant keeps his gold coins in a container. When his son cries, he gives him a coin. [He knows how] the money in the container decreases day by day. Likewise, Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas know how the water in the immense ocean decreases drop by drop, as well as how much still remains. Even more, the World-Honored One should know the ending of the infinite mass of sentient beings. However, sentient beings have no ending. All voice-hearers and Pratyekabuddhas are unable to know this. Only Buddha-Bhagavāns can know this.”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Very good! Very good! As you say, the infinite mass of sentient beings has no ending.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Do sentient beings have an ending or not? Does parinirvāṇa mean the end or not?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Sentient beings have no ending.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Why do sentient beings not have an ending?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “The ending of sentient beings would mean decrease [in number]. Then this sūtra would be meaningless. Therefore, Kāśyapa, Buddha-Bhagavāns after parinirvāṇa are eternally abiding. Because of this meaning, Buddha-Bhagavāns, having entered parinirvāṇa, are never extinct.”
Kāśyapa asked the Buddha, “Why do Buddha-Bhagavāns enter parinirvāṇa, but are not ultimately extinct?”
The Buddha told Kāśyapa, “Indeed! Indeed! When a house is destroyed, space is revealed. Indeed! Indeed! The nirvāṇa of Buddhas is liberation.”
Notes
1. Usually, in Buddhist doctrine, one’s karmic seed is the cause for one’s rebirth, and both parents are the conditions (Sūtra 18). In this passage, the Buddha is leading up to the exhaustion of karmic causes and conditions for one’s rebirth, as He states later that “those who do not have the seeds of sentient beings are not called parents.”