Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines

At that time, Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, had alighted and taken his seat in that very assembly. Then Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, this transcendent state of wisdom is profound. Blessed One, this transcendent state of wisdom is difficult to see and difficult to comprehend.”

At this, the Blessed One said to Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, “True, Kauśika. It is true. Kauśika, this transcendent state of wisdom is profound. Alas, Kauśika, this transcendent state of wisdom is difficult to see and difficult to comprehend. This transcendent state of wisdom is profound just as space is profound. It is difficult to see, because it is void. It is difficult to comprehend, because it is empty.”

At this, Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, said to the Blessed One, “Blessed One, if sentient beings will listen to this profound transcendent state of wisdom, and after listening to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, recite it, and write it out, then their root of virtue will not be trivial!”

At this, the Blessed One said to Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, “True, Kauśika. It is true. Kauśika, if sentient beings will listen to this profound transcendent state of wisdom, and after listening to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, recite it, and write it out, then their root of virtue will not be trivial. Kauśika, if as many sentient beings as there are now on the Jambu continent were all endowed with the ten virtuous ways of acting, then what do you think, Kauśika? Based on this, would those sentient beings earn much merit?”

“A great amount, Blessed One. A great amount, Sugata,” said Śakra.

The Blessed One said, “Yet, Kauśika, more merit than that would be earned by a noble son or daughter who listens to this transcendent state of wisdom, and after listening to it, takes it in, keeps it in mind, chants it, masters it, passes it on, teaches it, expounds it, explains it, recites it, and writes it out. Any noble son or daughter who will listen to this profound transcendent state of wisdom, and after listening to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, recite it, and write it out, will earn more merit than this. Kauśika, the amount of merit derived from the ethical discipline of all the past sentient beings on the Jambu continent does not come close in worth to even a fraction of this amount of merit. It does not come close in worth to one hundredth, one thousandth, one hundred thousandth, one ten millionth, one billionth, one ten billionth, one trillionth, or even one ten trillionth of it. Nor is any calculation, any fraction, any quantification, any metaphor, any analogy, any equivalence, or any comparison adequate for comparing them. Any noble son or daughter who will listen to this profound transcendent state of wisdom, and after listening to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, recite it, and write it out, will be endowed with such a root of virtue.”

Then another monk said to Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, “Kauśika, you are surpassed by any noble son or daughter who will listen to this profound transcendent state of wisdom, and after listening to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, recite it, and write it out.”

At this, Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, said to the monk, “I am surpassed by any noble son or daughter who has developed the mindset even just once. What more is there to say about someone who will listen to this profound transcendent state of wisdom, and after listening to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, recite it, and write it out. What more is there to say about those who, after having taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, recited it, and written it out, will train to attain the actual nature, progress to attain the actual nature, and engage in meditation to attain the actual nature? Such a bodhisattva great being surpasses the whole world with its gods, humans, and asuras.¹¹⁴⁶

“Such a bodhisattva great being not only surpasses the whole world with its gods, humans, and asuras, but also surpasses all the stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, worthy ones, and solitary realizers. Such a bodhisattva great being not only surpasses the stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, worthy ones, and solitary realizers, but also surpasses all those who are extremely generous patrons, yet lack the transcendent state of wisdom and skill in means.

“Such a bodhisattva great being not only surpasses the extremely generous patrons who lack the transcendent state of wisdom and skill in means, but also surpasses all those with pure ethical discipline, who possess a great amount of ethical discipline that is unbroken, flawless, stainless, perfect, purified, and faultless, yet lack the transcendent state of wisdom and skill in means.

“Such a bodhisattva great being not only surpasses those who possess a great amount of ethical discipline that is unbroken, flawless, stainless, perfect, purified, and faultless, but also surpasses all those perfectly equipped with tolerant acceptance and patience, who possess mindsets free of any hostility within and do not become vengeful even when their house has been burned down, yet lack the transcendent state of wisdom and skill in means.

“Such a bodhisattva great being not only surpasses those perfectly equipped with tolerant acceptance and patience, who possess mindsets free of any hostility, but also surpasses all those who have applied themselves with heroic perseverance, without shirking their duty, without laziness, and without shrinking away from accomplishing positive physical, verbal, and mental karmic deeds, yet lack the transcendent state of wisdom and skill in means.

“Such a bodhisattva great being not only surpasses those who have applied themselves with heroic perseverance without shirking their duty, without laziness, and without having shrunk away from the accomplishment of positive physical, verbal, and mental karmic deeds, but also surpasses all those pleased and delighted with meditative states, who possess strength and power in the meditative states, are stationed in meditative states, and have mastered the meditative states, yet lack the transcendent state of wisdom and skill in means.

“Indeed, such a bodhisattva great being surpasses the world with its gods, humans, and asuras simply by going about life in the transcendent state of wisdom as explicated. He or she also surpasses those without skill in means who belong to the paths of the disciples and solitary realizers. Such a bodhisattva great being is not surpassed by any of them. Why is that? It is because a bodhisattva great being, who goes about life in the transcendent state of wisdom and pursues it as explicated, positions him- or herself to not cause any interruption to the lineage of those who have complete knowing. Such a bodhisattva great being keeps him- or herself not far from the Tathāgata. By conducting him- or herself in this manner, it will not be long before this bodhisattva great being reaches the epicenter of awakening. By training in this way, this bodhisattva great being will lift sentient beings out of the mud of the defilements that they are stuck in. In doing so, he or she will be engaged in the bodhisattva’s training, not the trainings of the disciples or solitary realizers. Moreover, the Four Great Kings, who are the guardians of the human world, will approach a bodhisattva great being training in this way and say, ‘Noble child! Train immediately in the bodhisattva’s way of going about life. Train with ease. These are the four begging bowls that you should receive once you are seated at the epicenter of awakening after realizing unsurpassed, perfect awakening.’ Not only would those Four Great Kings, who are the guardians of the human world, approach a bodhisattva great being training in the transcendent state of wisdom the way it is explicated, but also I myself, Blessed One, will approach that bodhisattva great being; needless to say, those other gods will do the same. And the worthy, perfectly and completely awakened tathāgatas will even constantly bring to mind that bodhisattva great being. Going about life in this way in the transcendent state of wisdom, this bodhisattva great being will encounter absolutely no worldly sufferings or attacks by others in any form or manner. Blessed One, this bodhisattva great being going about life in the transcendent state of wisdom will have this benefit even in this present life.”

Then the venerable Ānanda thought, “Is Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, speaking through his own illumination or through the miraculous power of the Buddha?”

Then, through the miraculous power of the Buddha, Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, knew in his mind what kind of mental rumination the venerable Ānanda was having, and said to the venerable Ānanda, “Noble Ānanda, one should know this to be the miraculous power of the Buddha. Noble Ānanda, one should know this also to be the blessings of the Buddha. I myself am powerless to talk about such a bodhisattva great being.”

Then the Blessed One said to the venerable Ānanda, “So it is, Ānanda. It is just as Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, has said. As Śakra said, it is due to the miraculous power of the Buddha and due to the blessings of the Buddha.”

This ends the chapter “Śakra,” the twenty-third chapter in “The Noble Transcendent State of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines.”