The Blessed One said, “Ānanda, for this reason, that wisdom gets the name transcendent state by virtue of its transcendent superiority, whereas any roots of virtue get the name transcendent state insofar as they are dedicated to the state of complete knowing by that wisdom.320 O Ānanda, for this reason, the transcendent state of wisdom takes the fore as the leader and guide of the others.321 In this manner, the five transcendent states are within the transcendent state of wisdom alone, and, Ānanda, the term transcendent state of wisdom completely covers all six transcendent states. So therefore, Ānanda, when the transcendent state of wisdom is praised, the six transcendent states are being praised. O Ānanda, as an analogy, it is just like seeds scattered across the vast earth that grow when all the requisite conditions come together. That is to say, the earth is the ground for those seeds. And those seeds grow only when fixed in that earth.322 In the very same way, Ānanda, when contained within the transcendent state of wisdom, the five transcendent states are supported by the complete knowing.323 Likewise, the five transcendent states grow when fixed within the transcendent state of wisdom, and they receive the name transcendent state because they are utterly supported by that transcendent state of wisdom. It is in this way, therefore, Ānanda, that the transcendent state of wisdom takes the fore as the leader or guide of the others.”
Then Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, said to the Blessed One, “All these benefits of the transcendent state of wisdom—which the noble sons or daughters receive after taking it in, keeping it in mind, mastering it, chanting it, passing it on, teaching it, expounding it, explaining it, and reciting it—cannot be the only ones praised by the worthy, perfectly and completely awakened Tathāgata.324 Otherwise, how else would the limited amount of this transcendent state of wisdom that I have taken in thus far from the Blessed One have already been passed on?”325
“Excellent, excellent, Kauśika,” said the Blessed One. “Furthermore, Kauśika, not only will one who takes in the transcendent state of wisdom, keeps it in mind, chants it, masters it, passes it on, teaches it, expounds it, explains it, and recites it come to have those very benefits, but so too, Kauśika, will any noble son or daughter if he or she writes this transcendent state of wisdom down, makes it into a book, maintains it, and preserves it so that the genuine teachings last for a long time, while praying, ‘May the buddhas’ guidance here not be cut off. May these genuine teachings not disappear. May the continued existence of this guidance provide assistance to bodhisattva great beings.’
“And if that noble son or daughter pays tribute to this transcendent state of wisdom—with incense, perfumes, wreaths, fragrant oils, aromatic powders, fabrics, parasols, banners, bells, flags, garlands of lights all around, and a wide variety of other devotional offerings to venerate it—reveres it, respects it, venerates it, honors it, and tends to it, then he or she will also have these worldly benefits that I am describing.”
Then Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, said to the Blessed One, “O Blessed One, I too will safeguard, defend, and protect any noble son or daughter who writes this transcendent state of wisdom down, makes it into a book, maintains it, and preserves it so that the genuine teachings last for a long time, while praying, ‘May the buddhas’ guidance here not be cut off. May these genuine teachings not disappear. May the continued existence of this guidance provide assistance to bodhisattva great beings.’
“I too will safeguard, defend, and protect this noble son or daughter who pays tribute to this transcendent state of wisdom—with incense, perfumes, wreaths, fragrant oils, aromatic powders, fabrics, parasols, banners, bells, flags, garlands of lights all around, and a wide variety of other devotional offerings to venerate it—reveres it, respects it, venerates it, honors it, and tends to it. But I cannot even express how much more I will do for anyone who also writes down this transcendent state of wisdom, takes it in, keeps it in mind, chants it, masters it, passes it on, teaches it, expounds it, explains it, and recites it, in addition to paying tribute to it—with flowers, incense, perfumes, wreaths, fragrant oils, aromatic powders, fabrics, parasols, banners, bells, flags, garlands of lights all around, and a wide variety of other devotional offerings to venerate it—revering it, respecting it, offering to it, honoring it, and tending to it.”
“Excellent, Kauśika, excellent,” said the Blessed One. “Beyond that, indeed, many hundreds of gods will come to be near that son or daughter who recites this transcendent state of wisdom. Many thousands of gods, many hundreds of thousands of gods, will come to hear the teachings. And when they hear the teachings, those gods will wish to arouse that Dharma teacher’s bold illumination.326 Even when that Dharma teacher does not wish to recite anything, the gods, out of sheer reverence for those teachings, will seek to arouse his or her bold illumination so that the noble son or daughter will just feel the urge to speak. This too is a worldly benefit that will be received by the noble son or daughter who takes in this transcendent state of wisdom, keeps it in mind, chants it, masters it, passes it on, teaches it, expounds it, explains it, and recites it.
“Moreover, when speaking of this transcendent state of wisdom before the four assemblies, any noble son or daughter’s mindset will not be in a state of cringing, while praying that no one challengingly questions him or her, or is intent upon criticizing him or her. Why is that? It is because the transcendent state of wisdom safeguards, defends, and protects him or her. Abiding in the transcendent state of wisdom, he or she does not even identify any criticism. Abiding in the transcendent state of wisdom, he or she does not even identify a criticizer, nor does he or she even identify anyone who could be criticized, nor does he or she even identify that transcendent state of wisdom. Thus, the noble son or daughter supported by the transcendent state of wisdom is not interrogated by anyone in this way. Kauśika, this too is a worldly benefit that will be received by the noble son or daughter who takes in this transcendent state of wisdom, keeps it in mind, chants it, masters it, passes it on, teaches it, expounds it, explains it, and recites it.
“Moreover, Kauśika, that noble son or daughter will become lovingly appreciated by mothers, fathers, friends, companions, relations, kin, mendicants, brahmins, and allies. Also, he or she will become both competent and capable of defeating, through the teachings, the challenging assertions that others repeatedly come up with. Also, when challenged through questioning by others, he or she will be fully capable of answering those challenging questions. Kauśika, this too is a worldly benefit that will be received by that noble son or daughter who takes in this transcendent state of wisdom, keeps it in mind, chants it, masters it, passes it on, teaches it, expounds it, explains it, and recites it.
“Also, Kauśika, all those gods among the retinues of the Four Great Kings who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come to wherever a noble son or daughter writes this transcendent state of wisdom down, makes it into a book, maintains it, preserves it, and venerates it. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Also, Kauśika, among the gods in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, all those gods who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Also, Kauśika, among the Yāma gods, all those gods who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Also, Kauśika, among the Tuṣita gods, all those gods who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Also, Kauśika, among the Nirmāṇarati gods, all those gods who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Also, Kauśika, among the Paranirmitavaśavartin gods, all those gods who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Also, Kauśika, among the gods of the form realms up to the Brahmākāyika heaven, all those gods who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Also, Kauśika, do not think this is so only among the gods of the Brahmakāyika heaven. Kauśika, the way that it is among the gods of the Brahmakāyika heaven is exactly the same among the gods of the Brahmapurohita heaven…repeat the above refrain for this and the following327…and exactly the same among the gods in the heavens of Mahābrahmā, Parīttābha, Apramāṇābha, Ābhāsvara, Parīttaśubha, Apramāṇaśubha, Śubhakṛtsna, Anabhraka, Puṇyaprasava, Bṛhatphala, Asaṃjñisattva, Avṛha, Atapa, Sudṛśa, and Sudarśana.
“Finally, even among the gods of Akaniṣṭha, all those gods who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Thus, Kauśika, a noble son or daughter should develop the proper mindset as follows: ‘May those gods, nāgas, benevolent spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and other nonhumans among the immeasurable and innumerable world realms come to see the transcendent state of wisdom in this book of mine, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Having seen it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it, may they return once again to their own homes. May this very gift of the teachings be given to them.’
“Kauśika, do not assume here that only those gods of the desire and form realms of this world of four continents who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Kauśika, this is not the way to understand it. Rather, Kauśika, you should know that even those gods in all the desire and form realms of the entire billionfold, great order world system who have set out for unsurpassed, perfect awakening will wish to come there. Having come there, they will gaze upon the transcendent state of wisdom in the book, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it. Only once they have gazed upon it, paid obeisance to it, paid homage to it, taken it in, kept it in mind, chanted it, mastered it, passed it on, taught it, expounded it, explained it, and recited it will they wish to leave again.
“Furthermore, Kauśika, any house, monastic residence, or palace where that noble son or daughter stays will be well protected and no harm will come to him or her there, except through the maturation of previous actions. Also, the noble son or daughter will receive this worldly benefit, since powerful gods, nāgas, benevolent spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and other nonhumans will wish to come there.”
At this, Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, said to the Blessed One, “But, O Blessed One, how could a noble son or daughter know that gods, nāgas, benevolent spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and other nonhumans are coming to hear the transcendent state of wisdom, and to gaze upon it, pay obeisance to it, pay homage to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it?”
At this, the Blessed One said to Śakra, powerful lord of the gods, “Kauśika, whenever a noble son or daughter notices a sublime radiance in that location, he or she can know for certain: ‘A god, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuḍa, kinnara, mahoraga, human, or other nonhuman has come here or has approached.’328 Also, Kauśika, whenever a noble son or daughter smells there an otherworldly scent not smelled before, he or she can know for certain: ‘A god, nāga, yakṣa, gandharva, asura, garuḍa, kinnara, mahoraga, human, or other nonhuman has come here or has approached.’329
“Moreover, Kauśika, whenever a noble son or daughter has a pure and clean way of behaving,330 then those gods, nāgas, benevolent spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and other nonhumans will wish to come there because of his or her pure and clean way of behaving. Also, those gods, nāgas, benevolent spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and other nonhumans—who have come there because of his or her pure and clean way of behaving—will be glad, delighted, and filled with joy and satisfaction. At the same time, the lackluster gods who previously occupied that place will want to slink away from it. Why is that? Those lackluster gods will want to slink away from there because they will simply be unable to endure the splendor, energy, and dignity of the extremely lustrous gods, nāgas, benevolent spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and other nonhumans. Also, the more repeatedly those gods, nāgas, benevolent spirits, gandharvas, asuras, garuḍas, kinnaras, mahoragas, humans, and other nonhumans wish to come, the more the noble son or daughter will become increasingly trusting.331 That noble son or daughter will receive this worldly benefit too.
“Furthermore, a noble son or daughter will never come to have an impure and unclean way of behaving in the vicinity of this Dharma guide, since it is something to be revered, respected, and accomplished.332 Also, Kauśika, that noble son or daughter will never develop any physical or mental exhaustion.333 He or she will rest utterly at ease and move about at ease. When asleep, he or she will not have bad dreams, but rather will have dreams only of worthy, perfectly and completely awakened tathāgatas, stūpas, bodhisattvas, and the tathāgatas’ disciples. When hearing sounds in dreams, he or she will hear only the words of the transcendent state, only things conducive to awakening. He or she will see only Bodhi trees, and only worthy, perfectly and completely awakened tathāgatas awakening beneath them, and, accordingly, setting in motion the wheel of the teachings for perfect awakening. He or she will see many bodhisattva great beings—devoted to reciting and chanting this very transcendent state of wisdom—and they will expound the skill in means: ‘The state of complete knowing should be apprehended in this or that way and the buddafield should be purified in this or that way.’ He or she will hear the sublime words of the blessed buddhas’ perfect awakening: ‘In this direction, in this area, in this world realm, someone called so-and-so will teach the Dharma attended and flanked by many hundreds of bodhisattvas and disciples, by many thousands of bodhisattvas and disciples, by many hundreds of thousands of bodhisattvas and disciples, by many tens of millions of bodhisattvas and disciples, by many billions of bodhisattvas and disciples, and by many trillions of bodhisattvas and disciples.’ Kauśika, a noble son or daughter who has dreams of this sort will sleep at ease and wake up at ease. He or she will experience the body being infused with energy, at ease, and very light.334 He or she will not develop a mindstream with excessive desire for food but will think of food in moderation.335 Kauśika, as an analogy, it is just like monks while practicing meditation. Once they emerge from concentration, they do not have a strong desire for food, since, Kauśika, their mindset is overflowing with attentiveness and their thought of food is moderate. In the very same way, Kauśika, a noble son or daughter will not have a strong desire for food. Why is that? Because, Kauśika, the more a son or daughter has devoted him- or herself to the meditative state for cultivating the transcendent state of wisdom, the more spirits will wish to supply him or her with physical energy.336 A noble son or daughter will receive this worldly benefit too.
“Moreover, Kauśika, suppose that a noble son or daughter were to write down the transcendent state of wisdom, make it into a book, preserve it in an elevated position, make devotional offerings to venerate it—but were not to take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, or recite it—then, based on that, that very noble son or daughter would earn a great amount of merit. But suppose that another noble son or daughter were to have faith, believe, and have conviction in the transcendent state of wisdom, and, with that trusting mindset, were to develop the proper mindset for awakening; were, based on an altruistic disposition, to listen to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it; were, for the sake of others, to elucidate it in detail, reveal its meaning, consider it mentally, and apply him- or herself in thoroughly examining it with a great deal of wisdom; or even just were to make the transcendent state of wisdom into a book, maintain it, and preserve it so that the genuine teachings lasted for a long time, while praying, ‘May the buddhas’ guidance here not be cut off. May these genuine teachings not disappear. May the continued existence of this guidance provide assistance to bodhisattva great beings.’
“And suppose that this noble son or daughter also were to pay tribute to this transcendent state of wisdom—with flowers, incense, perfumes, wreaths, fragrant oils, aromatic powders, fabrics, parasols, banners, bells, flags, garlands of lights all around, and a wide variety of other devotional offerings to venerate it—revere it, respect it, venerate it, honor it, and tend to it, then, based on that, this noble son or daughter would earn an even greater amount of merit in comparison to the other.
“So therefore, Kauśika, that noble son or daughter who wishes to receive these distinguished worldly benefits should have faith, believe, and have conviction in the transcendent state of wisdom, and, with a trusting mindset, develop the proper mindset for awakening; based on an altruistic disposition, listen to it, take it in, keep it in mind, chant it, master it, pass it on, teach it, expound it, explain it, and recite it; for the sake of others, elucidate it in detail, reveal its meaning, consider it mentally, and apply themselves in thoroughly examining it with a great deal of wisdom; or at least make it into a book, maintain it, and preserve it so that the genuine teachings last for a long time, while praying, ‘May the buddhas’ guidance here not be cut off. May these genuine teachings not disappear. May the continued existence of this guidance provide assistance to bodhisattva great beings.’
“He or she should pay tribute to this transcendent state of wisdom—with flowers, incense, perfumes, wreaths, fragrant oils, aromatic powders, fabrics, parasols, banners, bells, flags, garlands of lights all around, and a wide variety of other devotional offerings to venerate it—revere it, respect it, venerate it, honor it, and tend to it.”
This ends the chapter “Paying Tribute to the Stūpas and the Transcendent States That Contain Immeasurable Benefits,” the third chapter in “The Noble Transcendent State of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines.”