Buddhist Scriptures
Page 52
The horn of an ox also does not exist because its nature is subtle particles. As it was for the former [the horn of a rabbit], so it is for the latter [the horn of an ox]. What [difference] can be discerned? (31)
Because of arising dependently and ceasing dependently, not one thing exists as imagined by fools. (32)
With the example of the horns of a rabbit and an ox, the Sugata proves that all phenomena are in the middle [between extremes]. (33)
The form of the sun, moon and stars are seen reflected in a clear vessel of water. The perfect nature [of all things] is like that [that is, appearing but not existent]. (34)
That which is virtuous in the beginning, middle and end, which is infallible and constant, that is selfless. How can one imagine that to be I and mine? (35)
In the summertime you say that water is warm [but] in the winter you say that the very same water is cold. (36)
So when covered by the nets of the afflictions, it is called ‘sentient being’; when just that is free from the afflictions, it is called a ‘buddha’. (37)
In dependence on the eye and a form, a stainless perception occurs; through non-production and non-cessation the dharmadhātu is known. (38)
In dependence on sound and the ear, there is pure consciousness; the dharmadhātu, without characteristic, is heard conceptually. (39)
In dependence on the nose and fragrance, [there is] smell, the example of the formless. In the same way, the nose consciousness discerns the dharmadhātu. (40)
The nature of the tongue is emptiness, the constituent of taste is also absent; because it has the dharmadhātu as its nature, the tongue consciousness is without location. (41)
The entity that is the pure body and the sign of the tangible object [that serves] as a condition, [when] freed from conditions are called the dharmadhātu. (42)
Abandoning conceptions and designations about phenomena that commonly come to mind, meditate on the lack of intrinsic nature of phenomena as the dharmadhātu. (43)
When the yogin understands seeing, hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and phenomena in that way, the characteristics [of the dharmadhātu] are complete. (44)
The six pure sources of eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and, likewise, mind, just this is the characteristic of reality. (45)
The nature of the mind is seen in two ways: as the mundane and the supramundane. When it is taken to be the self, saṃsāra; where there is analytical knowledge, reality. (46)
Through the extinction of desire, nirvāṇa; through the extinction and cessation of hatred and obscuration, buddhahood, the refuge of all embodied beings. (47)
Through understanding and not understanding, everything is in this very body. Through one’s own conceptions, there is bondage; through knowing reality, there is liberation. (48)
Enlightenment is not far and not near, it neither goes nor comes; just this, encaged in the afflictions, is seen or is not seen. (49)
Through abiding in the light of wisdom, one becomes supremely serene. Therefore, it is stated in the collection of sūtras, ‘Always abide in oneself.’ (50)
By virtue of the ten powers, childish beings are blessed. Like the new moon, afflicted sentient beings do not see the Tathāgata. (51)
Just as hungry ghosts see the ocean to be dry, so the ignorant, due to obstructions, imagine that the buddhas do not exist. (52)
What can the Tathāgata do for deficient beings of deficient merit? It is like placing a precious jewel in the hand of a blind man. (53)
For sentient beings who create merit, the clear light and glorious thirty-two marks blaze; they stand before the Buddha. (54)
The form body of the protector abides for many aeons [and then passes away]. In order to tame disciples, the single dhātu [appears] to be different. (55)
Having understood the objects of the mind, awareness enters into that [dharmadhātu]. When analytical knowledge is pure, the bhūmis [stages of the bodhisattva path] abide in nature of that [dharmadhātu]. (56)
The sublime form of the great lord [i.e., saṃbhogakāya], [his pure land] the beautiful Akanista, and the consciousness [of his attending bodhisattvas]; I declare that these three are mixed into one. (57)
All that is known among childish beings; the variety [of attainments] among āryans, the lifespan of aeons of the great lord Amitāyus. What is the cause of these? (58)
What is it that protects the life that lasts for aeons in the outer realm of sentient beings? What is the cause of living beings remaining alive? (59)
It is the inexhaustible [dharmadhātu] itself, whose effect is inexhaustible. One enters into it for the sake of wisdom, specifically through non-perception. (60)
Do not think that enlightenment is far away, do not think that it is near. [When] the six objects are not perceived, one comes to know reality just as it is. (61)
A goose drinks the milk from a vessel in which milk and water are mixed; it does not [drink] the water, which remains. (62)
In the same way, wisdom is covered by the afflictions and remains as one [with them] here in this body; the yogin extracts the wisdom and discards the ignorance. (63)
One thinks, ‘I’ and ‘mine’, and so imagines that there are external objects. Seeing the two types of selflessness, the seeds of existence are destroyed. (64)
[The dharmadhātu] is the basis of buddhahood, nirvāṇ;a, purity, permanence and virtue. Fools imagine them to be two. Therefore, yogins abide in their non-duality. (65)
Various ascetic deeds of giving, ethics gathering the welfare of sentient beings, patience benefiting sentient beings, these three increase the element. (66)
Enthusiasm for all doctrines, placing the mind in concentration, constant steady wisdom, these increase enlightenment. (67)
Wisdom together with method, pure prayers, wisdom which abides in power, these are the four qualities that increase the element. (68)
It is wrong to say, ‘I do not bow down to bodhicitta.’ Where there are no bodhisattvas, there will be no dharmakāya. (69)
There are those who want pure sugar but hate the suger-cane seed. Without the suger-cane seed, there will be no sugar. (70)
Through protecting the suger-cane seed, attending and establishing it, suger-cane juice, sugar, and refined sugar will come from that. (71)
Similarly, through protecting bodhicitta, attending and establishing it, the arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and buddhas are born and arise. (72)
As a farmer protects the rice seed, those who aspire to the supreme vehicle are protected by the leaders. (73)
On the fourteenth day of the waning moon, the moon is just barely visible. So the body of the Buddha barely appears to those who aspire to the supreme vehicle. (74)
The new moon is seen to increase by intervals. So those who abide on the bhūmis see [the dharmakāya] increase stage by stage. (75)
On the fifteenth day of the waxing moon, the moon becomes full. So on the final bhūmi, the dharmakāya is full and clear. (76)
Through steady and constant admiration for the Buddha, dharma and saṅgha, they perfectly produce that mind [of enlightenment] and it comes to be perfectly irreversible. (77)
Through completely abandoning the dark base and keeping to the bright base, it is understood with certainty; it is called ‘joyful’. (78)
That which is constantly stained by various stains, such as desire, is purified to be stainless; it is called ‘stainless’. (79)
Through completely ending the nets of affliction and fully manifesting wisdom of the stainless, because limitless darkness is cleared away, [it is called] ‘luminous’. (80)
Constantly illuminating with pure light, it is surrounded by the light of wisdom of one who has abandoned the din of worldly affairs. Thus, that bhūmi is asserted to be ‘radiant’. (81)
Because all the sciences, arts, trades and the various concentrations triumph over the afflictions so difficult to overcome, it is asserted to be ‘difficult to overcome’. (82)
When there are the three types of enlightenment
, the gathering of all that is excellent, and the cessation of production and disintegration, that bhūmi is asserted to be ‘manifest’. (83)
Constantly playing with webs of light formed into circles, he crosses the swamp of the ocean of saṃsāra. Therefore, it is called ‘gone afar’. (84)
Definitely cared for by the Buddha, abiding in the ocean of wisdom, effortlessly spontaneous, it is [called] ‘immovable’ by Māra’s hosts. (85)
When the yogin has completed the instructions on spreading the teaching of the dharma [through] all [four] analytical perfect knowledges, that bhūmi is called ‘auspicious intelligence’. (86)
In the body of this [bhūmi] whose nature is wisdom, stainless, like the sky, and holding the buddhas’ [teachings]; the ‘cloud of dharma’ forms. (87)
The abode of the buddhas’ qualities holds the fruit of practice. Therefore, [the abode] completely transformed, is called the dharmakāya. (88)
Freedom from predispositions is inconceivable; the predispositions of saṃsāra are conceivable. You are completely inconceivable. Who can understand you? (89)
I bow down to and praise, as is appropriate, that which is beyond the range of speech, beyond the range of the senses, understood with the mental consciousness. (90)
Through this very system of gradual entry, the most renowned children of the Buddha come to see the empty dharmatā with the wisdom of the cloud of dharma. (91)
At that time, because their minds are thoroughly bathed, they pass beyond the cage of saṃsāra to a cushion whose nature is a lotus. There, they rest, (92)
Completely surrounded by many millions of lotuses with desirable anthers with the light of many jewelled petals. (93)
Replete with the ten powers, perfectly satisfied with the fearlessnesses, they do not fall from the inconceivable, inexpressible qualities of a buddha. (94)
Just as the full moon is encircled by stars, those who have amassed merit and wisdom through all the well-done deeds are completely encircled (95)
With stainless jewels blazing in the sun of the Buddha’s hand. He bestows consecration to his foremost children. (96)
Abiding there, the great yogin sees with the divine eye worldly beings debased by obscuration, disturbed and frightened by suffering, (97)
And from his body rays of light spontaneously appear and open the doors of those who abide in the darkness of obscuration. (98)
Those in the nirvāṇa with remainder seek the nirvāṇa without remainder. Here, the actual nirvāṇa is the mind which has become stainless. (99)
Its sphere is also the unreal nature of all sentient beings. He who sees [that] is the lord of bodhisattvas. He is the completely stainless dharmakāya. (100)
In the stainless dharmakāya, the ocean of wisdom rolls in [bringing] a variety of jewels, and so fulfilling the aims of sentient beings. (101)
This completes the Hymn to the Dharmadhātu by the master Ārya Nāgārjuna. It was translated by the Indian abbot Kṛṣṇa paṇḍita and the translator and monk Tshul khrims rgyal ba.
Translated by Donald Lopez from the Dharmadhātustava by Nāgārjuna, Derge edition of the Tibetan canon, Bstod tshogs ka, 63b5–67b3, Beijing edition, Bstod tshogs ka, 73a7–77a8. The translator relied in places on the commentary by Sakya mchog ldan (1428–1507) entitled Chos kyi dbyings su bstod pa zhes by a ba’i bstan bcos kyi rnam par bshad pa chos kyi dbyings rnam par nges pa in Collected Works of Gser-mdog Paṇ-chen Śakya-mchog-ldan, vol. 7 (ja) (Thimphu: Kunzang Tobgey, 1975–1978), pp. 303–92,.
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SONGS OF THE SIDDHAS
The last centuries of Buddhism in India (roughly the ninth to twelfth centuries) saw the rise of figures called siddhas, a term which might be translated as ‘accomplished ones’ or ‘adepts’. Their name derived from their possession of magical powers (siddhi). The lists of such powers varied, but typically included such things as the ability to extend one’s lifespan, to find buried treasure, to fly, to become invisible and to transmute base metals into gold. These would sometimes be classed as mundane powers, in contradistinction to the supramundane power, buddhahood. They gained these powers through the performance of tantric rites, sometimes performed in cemeteries and other powerful places of pollution. These rites often entailed the eating of flesh, the drinking of liquor, and engaging in sexual acts with low-caste women – all considered contaminating deeds in traditional Indian society. Those who are said to have attained these powers came from all strata of Indian society, including the priestly, princely and merchant castes, but also, and most famously, from outcaste groups such as weavers, fishermen, hunters, sweepers and even tribal peoples. The social class of the siddhas and the deeds they performed suggested, among other things, their disregard for and even transcendence of worldly (and monastic) conventions of propriety and morality. This was the source of their authority, and their powers attracted the patronage of kings and princes. Stories of their lives circulated widely and there developed standard lists of siddhas (some of whom were certainly historical figures), the most famous of which enumerated eighty-four such masters.
Numerous works attributed to the siddhas have been preserved. Some are commentaries on tantric rituals, others are songs. They are often written in the first person, and in a language other than the perfected language of Sanskrit – in vernaculars like Old Bengali and Apabhraṃśa (as in the selections here). They were also often written in what has been called ‘coded language’ (sandhyābhāṣa), in which certain ordinary terms were regarded as having esoteric meanings. Thus, a river might connote the central energy channel that passes from the crown of the head to the base of the spine. Like all codes, however, some are easier to interpret than others, and traditional exegetes have sometimes used the notion of coded language to discover scholastic doctrines in the most outrageous statements, raising the perennial question of authorial intention.
Selections from two famous siddhas appear here, drawn from texts called the Dohākoṣa or ‘Treasury of Songs’ and Caryāgīti, the ‘Songs of Practice’. The first is attributed to the siddha (and monk) Kāṇha who, according to one account, died in a violent match of magic with a young girl; he dropped his guard when onlookers protested that Buddhist yogins should not kill others with their spells. More than sixty works are ascribed to him. The other siddha is the famous Saraha, a monk who is said to have been expelled from the monastery for drinking alcohol. He took a young woman of the arrow-making caste as his consort and learned to make arrows himself; he is commonly depicted holding an arrow. He is the author of some two dozen works preserved in the Tibetan canon, the most famous of which are his songs (dohā) delivered to a king and queen and to their people.
Although the songs selected below are, compared to others of the genre, relatively straightforward, they require far more commentary than can be provided here. They make mention of many of the most important themes of the genre. These include the recognition of the natural purity of the mind; the description of the ultimate reality as innate (sahaja); the goal of achieving great bliss (mahāsukha); and the importance of the sexual partner in the path to that goal. Other songs employ coded language, referring to yogic practices in the vocabulary of the boat and of the chessboard. But much here is also apparently familiar, proclaiming, as in the ancient ‘Rhinoceros Horn Sutta’ (see Chapter 28), that all fetters are made by the mind. Here, Kāṇha compares the mind to a camel. When it is bound, it runs in all directions. When it is free, it is still.
From Kāṇha’s Dohākoṣa
If the word of the master enters the heart, it will appear like a treasure in the palm of one’s hand. Saraha says, ‘The world is shackled by falsehood. The fool does not look into his own nature.’
Without meditation, without going forth from the householder’s life, one may live in one’s own home in the company of one’s wife. ‘If one is not released while enjoying the pleasures of sense,’ Saraha says, ‘what shall you call perfect knowledge?’
If it can be perceived directly, what is the use
of meditation? If it is hidden, one will only fathom a dark abyss. Saraha cries out repeatedly, ‘The nature of the innate (sahaja) is neither existence nor non-existence.’
That through which one dies, is reborn, and moves from one life to another, through that indeed one attains the supreme great bliss. Although Saraha speaks these profound and mysterious words, this feral world seems to lack all understanding.
What is the use of meditating on that which exists apart from meditation? What is the use of explaining that about which one cannot speak? The whole world is shackled by the forms of existence, so that no one can penetrate his own nature.
Not only the mantra or the tantra, meditation or concentrated states of mind, rather all of these, O fool, lead you astray. Do not sully with meditation a mind that is already pure. In a condition in which you are already happy, do not cause yourself so much torment.
Eating, drinking, enjoying pleasures, bringing offerings again and again to the wheel of the maṇḍala – with the practice of these dharmas one reaches the world beyond. The world of becoming is crushed under the feet of the master!
Where neither mind nor wind roam, where neither sun nor moon enter, there, O fool, bring your mind to rest. This is the teaching imparted by Saraha.
Make it be one, do not make it two. Make no distinctions between the vehicles. Paint all of the threefold world with the single colour of great pleasure.
In it there is no beginning, no middle, no end; no process of becoming and no nirvāṇa; in this supreme great bliss there is no self or other.
In front, behind, in the ten directions, everything you see is reality. If you become free from error today, ask nothing more from others.
There where the sense faculties dissolve, where the innate self nature is shattered, there, my friend, is the body of the innate. Ask clearly of your venerable teacher.
Where mind dies, where breath stops, there you will find the supreme great bliss. It is not found elsewhere, says Saraha.
One does not know anything but himself. Oh! Make no mistake about this. Existence and not existence are the bonds and the good path as well. O yogin, know your own mind exactly as it is; it is like water mixed with water.