Doctrine on The Enlightened Sage

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Wisdom

1. All these branches of the Doctrine The Enlightened Sage expounded for the sake of wisdom.106 Therefore they must cultivate this wisdom Who wish to have an end of suffering. 2. Relative and ultimate, These the two truths are declared to be. The ultimate is not within the reach of intellect, For intellect is said to be the relative.107 3. In light of this, within the world, two kinds of people are observed: Those with yogic insight and the common run of people. In this regard, the views of ordinary folk Are undermined by yogis who themselves are in the world108 4. (Within whose ranks The lower, in degrees of insight, are confuted by the higher) By means of the examples that the yogis and the worldly both accept. And for the sake of the result, analysis is left aside. 5. When ordinary folk perceive phenomena, They look on them as real, and not illusory. This, then, is the subject of debate

Where ordinary and yogis differ. 6. Forms and so forth, which we all perceive, Exist by general acclaim but not by valid reasoning. Theyre false just like, for instance, unclean things Regarded in the common view as pure. 7. But that he might instruct the worldly, Our Protector spoke of things. But these in truth lack even momentariness. Now if you say its wrong to claim the momentary as relative, 8. There is no fault. For momentariness Is relative for yogis, but for worldly beings, ultimate. Were it otherwise, the common view Could fault the yogic insight into corporal impurity. 9. Through a Buddha, who is but illusion, how does merit spring? As if the Buddha were existing truly. But, you ask, if beings are like illusions, How, when dying, can they take rebirth? 10. As long as the conditions are assembled, Illusions, likewise, will persist and manifest. Why, through simply being more protracted, Should sentient beings be regarded as more real? 11. If one kills or harms the magical illusion of a man, There is no mind in such a thing and therefore theres no sin. But beings do indeed have mirage-like minds; Sin and merit will, in consequence, arise.

12. There is no power in things like spells, So mirage-like minds do not occur through them. Illusions spring from various causes; Thus illusions are of different kinds. 13. A single cause for everything There never was! If ultimately, beings are in nirva, you will say, But relatively circle in sasra, 14. Even Buddhahood reverts to the sasric state. So why, you ask, pursue the Bodhisattva path? As long as theres no cutting of the causal stream, There is no halting even of illusory displays. 15. But when the causal stream is severed, Even relative phenomena do not appear. If even that which is deceived does not exist, What is it, you will ask, that sees illusion? 16. But if, for you, these same illusions have no being, What, indeed, is there to be perceived? But objects have another mode of being, you will say, That very mode is but the mind itself. 17. But if the mirage is the mind itself, What is then perceived by what? The Guardian of the World himself has said That mind cannot be seen by mind. 18. In just the same way, he has said,

The swords edge cannot cut the sword. But, you say, its like the flame That perfectly illuminates itself. 19. The flame, in fact, can never light itself. And why? Because the darkness never dims it! The blueness of a thing by nature blue, you say, Depends, unlike a crystal, upon nothing else. 20. Likewise some perceptions Come from other things, while some do not. But something thats by nature blue has never of itself imposed A blueness on its non-blue self. 21. The phrase The lamp illuminates itself The mind can know and formulate. But what is there to know and say That mind is self-illuminating? 22. The mind, indeed, is never seen by anything. And therefore, whether it can know, or cannot know, itself, Is like the beauty of a barren womans daughter: Something that its pointless to discuss. 23. But if, you ask, the mind is not self-knowing, How does it remember what it knew? We say that, like the poison of the water rat, Its through the link with things experienced that memory occurs. 24. In certain cases, you will say, the mind Can see the minds of others, how then not itself? But through the application of a magic balm,

The eye may see the treasure, but the salve it does not see. 25. Its not indeed our purpose to disprove Experiences of sight or sound or knowing. Our aim is here to undermine the cause of sorrow: The thought that such phenomena have true existence. 26. Illusions are not other than the mind, you say, And yet you dont consider them the same. How could they not be different if the mind is real? And how can mind be real if you deny a difference? 27. Although it is unreal, a mirage can be seen; And that which sees is just the same. But sasra must be based on something real, you say, Or else it is like empty space. 28. But how could the unreal be causally effective, Even if it rests on something real? This mind of yours is isolated and alone, Alone, in solitude, and unaccompanied. 29. If the mind indeed is free of objects, All beings must be Buddhas, Thus-Gone and enlightened. And so, what purpose can there be In saying thus, that there is Only Mind? 30. Even if we know that all is like illusion, How, you ask, will this dispel afflictive passion? Magicians may indeed themselves desire The mirage-women they themselves create.

31. The reason is they have not rid themselves Of habits of desiring objects of perception; And when they gaze upon such things, Their aptitude for emptiness is weak indeed. 32. By training in this aptitude for emptiness, The habit to perceive real things will be relinquished. By training in the thought There isnt anything, This view itself will also be abandoned. 33. There is nothingwhen this is asserted, No thing is there to be examined. How can a nothing, wholly unsupported, Rest before the mind as something present? 34. When something and its nonexistence Both are absent from before the mind, No other option does the latter have: It comes to perfect rest, from concepts free. 35. As the wishing jewel and tree of miracles Fulfill and satisfy all hopes and wishes, Likewise, through their prayers for those who might be trained, The physical appearance of the Conquerors occurs. 36. The healing shrine of the garua, Even when its builder was long dead, Continued even ages thence To remedy and soothe all plagues and venom. 37. Likewise having gained the shrine of victory

In accordance with their deeds for sake of Buddhahood, Though Bodhisattvas pass beyond all grief, They yet can satisfy all ends. 38. But how, you ask, can offerings made To beings freed from all discursiveness give fruit? Its said that whether Buddhas live or pass beyond, The offerings made to them are equal in their merit. 39. Whether you assert them in the ultimate or relative, Merit, so the scriptures say, arises, Just as there will be results When Buddhas are considered truly real. 40. Were free, you say, through seeing the (Four) Truths What use is it to us, this view of emptiness? But as the scriptures have themselves proclaimed, Without this path there can be no enlightenment. 41. You say the Mahyna has no certainty. But how do you substantiate your own tradition? Because it is accepted by both parties, you will say. But at the outset, you yourself lacked proof! 42. The reasons why you trust in your tradition May likewise be applied to Mahyna. Moreover, if accord between two parties shows the truth, The Vedas and the rest are also true. 43. Mahyna is at fault, you say, because it is contested. But Buddhist texts are questioned by extremists, While Buddhists also vie among themselves;

And so your own tradition you must now abandon. 44. The true monk is the root of Dharma, And to be a monk is difficult indeed. Its hard for minds enmeshed in thoughts To pass beyond the bonds of suffering. 45. You say theres liberation in the instant That defilements are entirely forsaken. Yet those who from defilements are set free Continue to display the influence of karma. 46. Only for a while, you say. For it is certain That the causes of rebirth, their cravings, are no more. They have no craving, granted, through defilement, But like their ignorance, why should they not have craving undefiled? 47. This craving is produced by virtue of sensation, And sensation, this they surely have. Concepts linger still within their minds; And it is to these concepts that they cling. 48. The mind that has not realized voidness, May be halted, but will once again arise, Just as from a non-perceptual absorption. Therefore one must train in emptiness. 49. If all the words recorded in the stras You admit to be the Buddhas perfect speech, Why dont you now accept the greater part of Mahyna, With which your stras are in perfect harmony?109

50. If due to just a single jarring element, The whole is held to be at fault, Why should a single stra in agreement with your texts Not vindicate the rest as Buddhas teaching? 51. Mahkshyapa110 himself and others Could not sound the depths of such a teaching. Who will therefore say that theyre to be rejected Just because they are not grasped by you? 52. To linger and abide within sasra, Freed from every craving and from every fear, In order to achieve the good of those who ignorantly suffer: Such is the fruit that emptiness will bear. 53. Therefore it is incorrect To find fault with this view of emptiness. And so, with every doubt abandoned, We should meditate on it! 54. Afflictive passion and the veil upon cognition The cure for their obscurity is emptiness. How then shall they not meditate on this Who wish for swift attainment of omniscience? 55. Whatever is the source of suffering, Let that be the object of our fear. But voidness will allay our every grief, How could it be for us a thing of dread? 56. If such a thing as I exists indeed,

Then terrors, granted, will torment it. But since no self or I exists at all, What is there left for fears to terrify? 57. The teeth, the hair, the nails are not the I, And I is not the bones or blood, The mucus from the nose and phlegm are not the I, And neither is it made of lymph or pus. 58. The I is not the bodys grease or sweat, The lungs and liver likewise do not constitute it. Neither are the inner organs I, Nor yet the bodys excrement and waste. 59. The flesh and skin are not the I, And neither are the bodys warmth and breath. The cavities within the frame are not the I, And I is not accounted for in sixfold consciousness. 60. If the hearing consciousness is permanent, It follows that its hearing all the time. And if there is no object, what does it cognize? On what grounds do you call it consciousness? 61. If something thats unconscious knows, It follows that a stick has knowledge also. Therefore in the absence of a thing to know, Its clear that consciousness will not arise. 62. If the selfsame consciousness detects a form, At that time, why does it not hear? Perhaps you say the sounds no longer there.

Then neither is there consciousness of sound. 63. How could that which has the nature of a sound-perceiver Ever be transformed into a form-perceiver? A single man, you say, can be both son and father. But these are merely names; his nature is not so. 64. And likewise pain, neutrality, and pleasure Are neither fatherhood nor sonship; And we indeed have never yet observed A consciousness of form perceiving sound. 65. But like an actor, you reply, it takes a different role and sees. If so, this consciousness is not a constant thing. And if its later mode is still the first, Thats identity indeed and never seen before! 66. But its different modes, you say, are quite unreal. Its essence therefore you must now describe. You say that this is simply knowing. It follows that all beings are a single thing. 67. What has mind and what does not have mind Are thus identical, for both are equal in existing. If the different kinds of mind are all unreal, What common basis can there be for them? 68. Something destitute of mind, we hold, is not a self. For mindlessness means matter, like a vase. But, you say, the self has consciousness when joined to mind. Then this refutes its nature of unconsciousness.

69. If the self, moreover, is immutable, What change in it could mingling with the mind produce? And selfhood we might equally affirm Of empty space, inert and destitute of mind. 70. If self does not exist, you say, There is no link connecting actions with results. If when the deed is done, the doer is no more, Who is there to reap the karmic fruit? 71. The bases of the act and fruit are not the same, In both a self is without scope for action. This is valid both for you and us; What point is there, therefore, in our debate? 72. A cause coterminous with its result Is something quite impossible to see. And only in the context of a single mental stream Can it be said that one who acts will later reap the fruit. 73. The thoughts now passed, and those to come, are not the self; They are no more, or are not yet. Is then the self the thought which now is born? If so, it sinks to nothing when the latter fades. 74. For instance, we may take banana trees Cutting through the fibers, finding nothing. Likewise analytical investigation Will find no I, no underlying self. 75. If beings, you will say, have no existence,

Who will be the object of compassion? Those whom ignorance imputes, For whose sake we have pledged ourselves. 76. If, you ask, there are no beings, who will gain the fruit? Its true! It is through ignorance that they are said to be! But for the total vanquishing of sorrow, The goal, which ignorance conceives, should not be spurned. 77. The source of sorrow is the pride of saying I, Its fostered and increased by false belief in self. To this you may believe that there is no redress, But meditation on no-self will be the supreme way. 78. What we call the body is not feet or shins; The body, likewise, is not thighs or loins. Its not the belly nor indeed the back, And from the chest and arms the body is not formed. 79. The body is not ribs or hands, Armpits, shoulders, bowels, or entrails. It is not the head, and it is not the throat. What is the body, then, in all of this? 80. If the body spreads itself And with the members coincides, Its parts indeed are present in those parts. But where does body, in itself, abide? 81. But if the body, single and entire Is present in the hands and other members, However many parts there are, the hands and all the rest,

Youll find an equal quantity of bodies. 82. If body is not outside or within its parts, How is it, then, residing in its members? And since it is not other than its parts, How can you say that it exists at all? 83. Thus there is no body. It is through illusion, With regard to hands and other parts, that body as a notion is conceived Just as on account of its specific shape A pile of stones is taken for a man. 84. As long as the conditions are assembled, The body will appear to be a man. As long as all the parts are likewise present, A body will appear therein. 85. Likewise, since it is a group of fingers, The hand itself does not exist as such. And so it is with fingers, made of joints And joints themselves consist of many parts. 86. These parts themselves will break down into particles, And particles divide according to direction. These fragments, too, lack partless parts; they are like space. Thus even particles have no existence. 87. All form, therefore, is like a dream, And who will be attached to it, who thus investigates? The body, in this way, has no existence; What, therefore, is male and what is female?

88. If suffering itself is truly real, Why is joy not altogether quenched thereby? If pleasures real, then why will pleasant tastes Not comfort and amuse a man in agony? 89. If the feeling fails to be experienced, Through being overwhelmed by something stronger, How can feeling rightly be ascribed To that which lacks the character of being felt? 90. Perhaps you say that only subtle pain remains, Its grosser form has now been overmastered Or rather it is felt as mere pleasure. But what is subtle still remains itself. 91. If, because its opposite is present, Discomfort fails to manifest, Is not the claim that its a feeling No more than a mental imputation? 92. Since so it is, the antidote Is meditation and analysis. Absorption grown in fields of their investigation Is indeed the food and sustenance of yogis. 93. If between the sense power and a thing There is a space, how will the two terms meet? And if there is no space, they form a unity, And therefore what is it that meets with what? 94. No penetration can there be of particle by particle,

For they are both the same in lacking volume. But if they do not penetrate, they do not merge; And if they do not merge, theres no encounter. 95. For how could anyone accept That what is partless could be said to meet? And you must show me, if you ever saw, A contact taking place between two partless things. 96. Consciousness is immaterial, And so one cannot speak of contact with it. A combination, too, has no reality, Just as we have previously shown. 97. If therefore theres no touch or contact, Whence is it that feeling takes its rise? What purpose is there, then, in all our toil, For what is it, indeed, that torments what? 98. Since there is no subject for sensation, And sensation, too, lacks all existence, How is craving not arrested When all this is clearly understood? 99. What we see and what we touch Is stuff of dreams and mirages. If feeling is coincident with consciousness, It follows that it is not seen thereby. 100. If the one arises first, the other after, Memory occurs and not direct sensation. Sensation is without perception of itself

And likewise, by another it is not perceived. 101. The agent of sensation has no real existence, Thus sensation, likewise, has no being. What damage, therefore, can sensation do to it This aggregate deprived of self? 102. The mind within the senses does not dwell, It has no place in outer things like form. And in between, the mind does not abide: Not out, not in, not elsewhere, can the mind be found. 103. It is not in the body, yet is nowhere else. It does not merge with it nor stand apart Something such as this does not exist, not even slightly. Beings by their nature are beyond the reach of suffering. 10