JIABS 15-2

THE JOURNAL

OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF

BUDDHIST STUDIES

Peter N. Gregory

EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Roger Jackson Dept. of Religion Carleton College

Northfield, MN 55057 USA

EDITORS

University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, USA

Alexander W. Macdonald Universite de Paris X Nanterre, France

Ernst Steinkellner University of Vienna

Wien, Austria

Jikido Takasaki University of Tokyo

Tokyo, Japan

Steven Collins University of Chicago Chicago, Illinois, USA

Robert Thurman Columbia University

NewYork,NewYork, USA

Volume 15 1992 Number 2

TIm JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BUDDHIST STUDIES, INC.

This Journal is the organ of the International Association of Buddhist Studies Inc. It is governed by the objectives of the Association and accepts scholarly , contributions pertaining to Buddhist Studies in all the various disciplines, such as philosophy, history, religion, sociology, anthropology, art, archaeology, psychology, textual studies, etc. The JIABS is published twice yearly, in the summer and winter.

Manuscripts for publication (we must have two copies) and correspondence concerning articles should be submitted to the JIABS editorial office at the address given below. Please refer to the guidelines for contributors to the JIABS printed on the inside back cover of every issue. Books for review should also be sent to the address below. The Editors cannot guarantee to publish reviews of unsolicited books nor to return those books to the senders.

The Association and the Editors assume no responsibility for the views expressed by the authors in the Association's Journaland other related publications.

New Editor's Address

(Effective January 1, 1993)

Donald S. Lopez, Jr. Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures

University of Michigan 3070 Frieze Building Ann Arbor, MI 48109

EDITORIAL ADVISORY BOARD

Andre Bareau (France) M N. Deshpande (India) R. Gard (USA) B.G. Gokhale (USA) John C. Huntington (USA) P.S. Jaini (USA)

Joseph M. Kitagawa (USA) Jacques May (Switzerland) Hajime Nakamura (Japan)

John Rosenfield (USA) David Snellgrove (UK.)

E.Zurcher (Netherlands)

Both the Editor and Association would like to thank Carleton College for its financial support in the production of the J oumal.

Copyright © The International Association of Buddhist Studies 1992 ISSN: 0193-600X

Indexed in Religion Index One: Periodicals. American Theological Library Association, Chicago, available online through BRS (Bibliographic Retrieval Services), Latham, New York, and DIALOG Information Services, Palo Alto, California.

Composition by Institute of Buddhist Studies, Berkeley, CA 94704.

Printing by Thomson-Shore, Inc., Dexter, MI 48130.

CONTENTS

1. ARTICLES

jThe Heart Siitra: A Chinese Apocryphal Text? . by Jan Nattier 153

2. Iridian Altruism: A Study of the Terms bodhicitta and bodhicittotpada, by Gareth Sparham 224

II. TRANSLATION

,~)Twelfth-century Tibetan Classic of Mahamudra: The Path of Ultimate . Profundity: The Great Seal Instructions of Zhang,

by Dan Martin 243

III. BOOK REVIEWS

Mind Only: A Philosophical and Doctrinal Analysis of the Vijfianavada, by Thomas E. Wood (Paul J. Griffiths)

,~, Yuktisastika-vrtti: Commentaire a la soixante sur Ie .1 ••• •

raisonnement ou Du vrai enseignement de 1a causalire par Ie Maitre indien CandrakIrti,

320

by Cristina Anna Scherer-Schaub (Jose Ignacio Cabez6n) 325

IV. LA.B.S. MEMBERSHIP LIST 328

The Heart Sutra: A Chinese Apocryphal Text?

by Jan Nattier

Introduction The Heart Sutra1 is surely one of the best loved Buddhist

scriptures in all of East Asia. Esteemed both as a concise summary of some of the key doctrines of Mahayana Buddhism and as a dhfiraIJi of immense supernatural power, it has been revered by lay people and clerics alike as one of the pinnacles of Buddhist teaching. It has been valued by monastic scholars of a variety of sectarian persuasions, as

. attested by the wealth of commentaries on the text from such diverse perspectives as Yo gacara, Madh yamika, and Ch' an. And the tenacity of the mass appeal of this sutra is attested by the fact that in contemporary Japan the Heart Sutra has been printed on more teacups, hand towels and neckties than has any other Buddhist scripture.

Nor has the Heart Sutra been overlooked by modern Buddhist scholars. Considerable attention has been devoted to the Sanskrit

. versions of the sutra by Edward Conze,2 while the Chinese versions of the text have been the object of a vast number of studies by Japanese scholars, most recently (and most notably) by FuKUI Fumimasa.3

Likewise the canonical Tibetan version of the text and the importance of the Indian and Tibetan commentaries have been brought into the purview of modern scholarship by the recent work of Donald Lopez,4 while Indian and Chinese commentaries on the sutra have been the subject of studies by David Eckel and John McRae, respectively.s

Finally, it would be fair to say that few students enrolled in introductory courses on Buddhism in American universities have escaped without some encounter with the Heart Sutra, for its pithy undermining of all previous categories of Buddhist analysis ("fonn is emptiness, emptiness is form" and so on) has earned it a place in

153

154 JIABS VOL. 15 NO.2

virtually every an tholo gy of Buddhist Ii terature. This text is, in short , one of the most familiar pieces of Buddhist writing both in traditional Mahayana Buddhist societies and in modern academic circles.

Yet it may be OUT very familiarity with this scripture that has inhibited our ability to gain a clear picture of its ancestry. Modem scholars and modem Buddhists have read, heard and chanted the sutra so frequently that its fonn and content no longer seem strange to us. Yet this brief scripture contains a number of peculiar features (to be examined in detail below) that can provide us with important clues to the circumstances of its origin.

But it is not only such overexposure to its content that has prevented modern scholars from undertaking a thorough re-evaluation of this important text. An additional factor has been the understandable propensity of Buddhist specialists to approach the text either in its Sanskrit versions (with occasional reference to the recensions preserved in Chinese) or in its Chinese editions (with more or less adequate references to the corresponding passages in the Sanskrit). There have been, in other words, Bumerous intra-Sanskrit and intra-Chinese studies of the sutra, but no rigorously comparative - and cross-lingual - analysis of the text.

The present study is intended to remedy both of these deficiencies, fIrst by approaching the Heart Sutra within its literary setting (both as a member of the category of Mahayana sutras in general and, more specifIcally, as a text belonging to the Prajiiaparamita class), and second by engaging in. a thorough comparative examination of all the earliest versions of the text, both in Chinese and in Sanskrit. By doing so we will be able to bring into focus not only the peculiar features of this all-too-familiar text, but also the clues it contains - all plainly visible in retrospect - to the time and the place of its composition.

The Heart Sutra: The Short Recension The Heart Sutra exists in two recensions: a shorter (and earlier)

recension, which will be the main object of OUT attention here, and a longer recension, known in Indian and Tibetan versions as well as in several relatively late Chinese translations. The relative dating of

TIIE HEART SUTRA 155

;.these texts will be discussed in detail below; for the moment, our main . . concern is to gain an overview of the fonn and content of the text; . The sh~rter Heart Sii'traconsists of three sections: (1) a brief ~·.introduction, in which the perspective of the bodhisattva A valokitesvara . on the emptiness of the five skandhas (based on his prac.tice of the

.... Perfection of Wisdom) is introduced; (2) a core, in which 'Avalokitesvara (the implied speaker, though his name does not

appear in this section) addresses a series of observations to the elder (sthavira) Sarlputra, beginning with the well-known affinnation of the non-difference between fonn and emptiness and culminating in a series of negations countering virtually all the most basic categories of Buddhist analysis of the person, the nature of causality, and the path; and (3) a conclusion, in which the bodhisattva who relies on the

· Perfection of Wisdom is described, the' Perfection of Wisdom is touted as the basis for the enlightenment of all buddhas, and the wellknown mantra (gate gate paragate parasarpgate bodhi svah§) is

· recommended as a means to eliminating all suffering. Thesii'tra concludes with the mantra itself, which in all non-Sanskrit versions of the text is maintained in its Indian fonn (that is, it is transliterated rather than translated).

The brevity of the sii'tra makes it possible for us to include here . · a complete English translation of the shorter Sanskrit recension, which will serve as a point of reference for the analysis given below.

INTRODUCTION: The bodhisattva Noble AvalokiteSvara, practicing [his] practice in the profound Perfection of Wisdom (prajiiifpiframitif) , looked. down (vyava]okayatisma). [And] he regarded the five skandhas as empty.

CORE: Here, Sanputra, fonn is empty; emptiness itself is fonn. Fonn is not distinct from emptiness; emptiness is not distinct from fonn~a And the same goes for sensation (vedan§), concept (sarpjii§), conditioning force (sarpskara) and consciousness (vijiiifna).


Here, Sfuiputra, all dharmas have the mark of emptiness. They are non-originated, non-extinct non-defiled, non-pure, non-decreasing, non-increas~ ing.

Therefore, Sfuiputra, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no concept, no conditioning forces, no consciousness; no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body [or] mind; no form, sound, scent, taste, touchobject [or] mind-object (dharma); no eye-realm (cak$ur-dhatu) and so on up to no realm of mindconsciousness (manovijiiana-dhatu); no ignorance, no destruction of ignorance and so on up to no oldage-and-death and no destruction of old-age-anddeath. There is no suffering, arising [of suffering], extinction [of suffering], or path; no knowledge (jiiiina) and no attainment (prapti ).

CONCLUSION: Therefore, Sariputra, because there is no attainment the bodhisattva dwells in reliance on the Perfection of Wisdom, without mental obstruction (cittavaraIJa). Because there is no mental obstruction he is unafraid, has passed beyond error, and [his] destination is nirvfu)a (ni$.tha-nirviII)a).

All the Buddhas of the three times have awakened (abhisarpbuddha) to unexcelled perfect enlightenment (anuttara-samyaksarpbodhi ) by relying on the Perfection of Wisdom.

Therefore the great mantra of the Perfection of Wisdom is to be known: the great spell (vidya) mantra, the supreme mantra, the mantra which is equal to the unequalled, the mantra which appeases all suffering. Because it is true, not false (satyam amithyatvat[sicD, the mantra is spoken in the Perfection of Wisdom.

It goes as follows (tadyatha): gate gate paragate parasarpgate bodhi sviih§.

THE HEART SUrRA 157

Viewing this brief sutra within its literary context - that is, as a member of the Mahayana sutra category and, more specifically, as -a Prajfiaparamita text - one immediately observes a number of . peculiar features. First, of course, is the very fact of its brevity: as . compared with Mahayana scriptures in general the Heart Sutra is an -extremely short text. This feature is not, however, unique, as there are a few other Mahayana texts of comparable length, particularly within the Praj:iiaparamita category, where Conze has labeled a whole

; group of such sutras (virtually all of relatively late composition) as "abbreviations" of earlier texts.6

More important for our purposes are two further features which are far more unexpected in a Mahayana scripture: first, that the sutra lacks a proper opening (that is, the requisite formula "Thus have I heard at one time. The Lord was staying at ... ," specifying the location and circumstances of its preaching)? and second, that it lacks a proper conclusion (in which some reference to the reaction of the audience is generally made). A third and most unexpected peculiarity is the fact that the Buddha himself makes no appearance whatsoever in this sutra - a defect that is perfunctorily remedied in the longer recension of the text, but appeared not to concern the_ compilers of the shorter version.

When we approach the Heart Sutra not merely as a representative of the Mahayana class of sutras, but more specifically as a Praj:iiaparamita text, a fourth peculiar feature comes into focus. For -the main (and indeed only) speaker in this sutra is the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, who generally plays no role at all in the Prajfiaparamit[ literature.8 Conversely, completely absent from the Heart Sutra is Subhuti, the main interlocutor in all of the earliest Prajfiaparamita texts. The cast of characters, in other words, is not at all what we would expect, for both the Buddha himself and Subhuti are entirely missing, while a seeming interloper, the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, has been awarded the only speaking part. The name of the sthavira Sariputra does appear in the Heart Sutra, as in the main body of Prajfiaparamita texts, but only as the listener addressed by A valokiteSvara in this text. This is not, however - as we shall see below - a coincidence, for this passage has an exact parallel in

158 nABS VOL. 15 NO.2

another PrajiUiparamita text. A fifth and final feature that sets the He{1It Sutra apart, if not

from the Prajfiaparamita literature as a whole (for certain other relatively late scriptures in that category share this feature) but from the earliest and most widel y used texts in this category, is the presence of a mantra at the conclusion of the text. We have already noted that it is peculiar for a Mahayana sutra to end with anything other than a reference to the reaction of the Buddha's listeners; it is Particularly unusual for such a text to end, quite abruptly, with a mantra. For while the Prajfiaparamita: literature is not utterly lacking in such formulas, they playa relatively limited role in texts of this kind, and when they first appear in this literature they are labeled not mantras but dhfiraI)Is, a term referring (in this early usage) to mnemonic devices rather than inherently salvific or protective formulas.9 The very presence, in other words, of a mantra in a Prajfiaparamita text -let alone the highlighting of such a mantra by allowing it to stand alone as the sutra's conclusion - is a feature that demands our attention.

The Heart Sutra, then, contains a number of features that are unusual in a scripture of its kind. These suggest, at the very least, that the circumstances of its composition may have differed notably from those that led to the production of the more extensive Prajfiaparamita texts. Our task at this point, therefore, will be to attempt to determine where and under what circumstances this unusual text was produced.

The Heart Sutra and the Large Sutra 10

The single most important clue to the origins of the Heart Sutra is provided by yet another peculiarity of this text: the fact that the core section - from the declaration to Sariputra that form is not other than emptiness, and vice versa, to the statement that in emptiness there is "no knowledge and no attainment" - is virtually identical to a passage in another Prajfiaparamita text. As scholars of East Asian Buddhism have long been aware, the central section (that is, all but the opening and closing lines) of the Heart Sutra matches a passage in the Large Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom (Ch. Mo-ho po-jo po-lo-mi ching; Skt. Paiicavirpsatisahasrikii-prajiiiipfiramita-sutra)

THE HEART SUTRA 159

!'almost character for character. 11

The extent of this resemblance is so great that it can be ..•• recognized even by the non-Sinologist through a simple juxtaposition ~of the core passage as contained in these two texts:

l.J;ITge Surra, trans. Kumarajiva

(1'. No. 223. 8.223aI3-20)

*;fIJ1j

;1!jt)i~;hi

.;f~;f~

;fi€;f~

/FJf;;r:j.(

;J!~)i~Fl&~~~**~F-9l.1t

;J!jt~ 'f~~~:t~!J!·ff1l

~Plt~.-t jt;t

.~*:f-~~* ~ utUl· Jj 3i. ;t,il~ ifF •• l!JjiJF~.SA.

Jj ~ ifF ~!tt-Jf. iJJ-.~ Jt...~.~lt

*'-Jsp*.~. ~r~ _ ~J' "" tit

Hum SUvCl, attributed to Hsilan~tsang

(T. No. 251, 8.848c4-10)

i"~IJ7"

~;fJt.~~;f~~

~~:l:~~~~~

;f!t;flt

;r:~~jf

;fJt;fill,

,tit.~ 'f *-@.*:t.~.ff.

.PLtlFJ. -=ff.-;t

~~.;j:~~)i

.Pl~Jj~~:t.~

•• l!1JiJF~~~.

J}~.~Jf.iJF.-t-}E •

• -1}jlJ(j)!

·~~iJF.~


Such word-for-word agreement cannot possibly be coincidental. It seems necessary to conclude - unless we assuII}e that both texts are based on a common but unattested ancestor - that one of these texts must be patterned directly on the other.

When we tum to the Sanskrit version of the Heart Surra, its resemblance to its Chinese counterpart (and, accordingly, to the corresponding passage in the Chinese Large Surra as well) is again very striking~ Indeed it would be fair to say that there is a virtual word-for-word correspondence between the Sanskrit Heart Surra, in the critical edition published by Edward Conze, and the Chinese Heart Surra attributed to Hstian-tsang. An English translation of the core passage as contained in these two versions of the Heart Surra clearly illustrates their similarities:

Chinese Heart Sutra Sariputra,

Form is not different from emptiness, emptiness is not different from form.

Form itself is emptiness, emptiness itself is form.

Sariputra, All dharmas are marked by

emptiness: [They are] not originated, Not extinguished, Not defiled, Not pure, Not increasing, Not decreasing.

Therefore in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no concept, conditioning force, [or] consciousness;

No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body [or] mind;

No form, sound, smell, taste, touch-object [or] mind-object (dharma);

Sanskrit Heart Sutra Here, Sariputra, Form is empty, emptiness itself is form.!2 Form is not distinct from emptiness,

empti,ness is not distinct from form.

[That which is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness is form.I2.]

Here, Sariputra, All dharmas have the mark of

emptiness:!3 [They are] non-originated, Non-extinct, Non-defiled, Non-pure, Non-decreasing, Non-increasing.!4

Therefore, Sariputra, in emptiness there is no form, no sensation, no concept, no conditioning forces, no consciousness;

No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body [or] mind;

No form, sound, smell, taste, touch-object [or] mind-object (dharma);

THE HEART StJTRA

No eye-realm (and so on up to) no realm of mind-consciousness;

And no ignorance and no destruction of ignorance;

(And so on up to) no old-age-anddeath [and] no destruction of old-age-and-death;

There is no suffering, arising [of suffering], extinction [of suffering], [or] path;

No wisdom and no attainment.

No eye-realm (and so on up to) no realm of mind-consciousness;

No ignorance, no destruction of ignorance;

(And so on up to) no old-age-anddeath [and] no destruction of old-age-and-death;

There is no suffering, arising [of suffering], extinction [of suffering], [or] path;

No wisdom [and] no attainment.

161

The two texts are thus so similar that either could be construed as a translation of the other.

The Problem of the Sanskrit Large Sutra When we turn to the Sanskrit version of the Large Sutra,

however, the pattern of word-far-word correspondence that we have observed so far breaks down. If we compare the core passage of the Sanskrit Heart Sutra with its counterpart in the Large Sutra (that is, the Paiicavirpsatisahasrika-prajiiaparamita-sutra, here transcribed from the Gilgit manuscript copy, in which certain features of Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit are evident15) a general similarity in content - that is, in the ideas and their sequence - is evident. Yet a comparison of the two Sanskrit texts reveals a degree of divergence great enough to be evident even to those who are not Sanskrit specialists:

Sanskrit Large Surra na hi saradvatiputra-16

-anyad riipam anya sunyata:18

nanya sunyata:nyad riiparp [rii]pam eva sunyata:

sunyat(ai)va riiparp evarp na(ny)a vedananya sunyata: . nanya sarpjfia nanya slinyata: . nanye sarpskara anye sunyata: . nanya vijfianam anya sunyata: .

nanyal) sunyatanyad vijfianarp

Sanskrit Heart Surra iha Sariputra rlipam slinyam17 slinyataiva riipam rlipan na p~thak slinyata: slinyata:ya na prthag riipam [yad riipam sa siinyata: ya slinyata: tad rlipam19]

evam eva vedana-sarpjfia-sarpskaravijfianam

162 nABS VOL. 15 ~O. 2

vijiUinarn eva sunyatiisunyataiva vijiianarp. .

ya Sliradvauputra sunyata

na ~ utpadyate na nirudhyate . na sarpklisyate na vyavadayate . na hlyate na vardhate .

nauta nanagata na pratyutpanna:o ya notpadyate na nirudhyate na

sarpklisyate na vyavadayate na hlyate na vardhate natlta nanagata na pratyutpanna!)

na tatra riiparp. na vedana na na sarp.jfian na sarp.skliran

na vijiianarp. na cak~ur na srotrarp. na ghraJ)arp

na jihva na kaye na manaJ:! na riiparp. na sabdo na gandho na rasa na sparso na dharma!)

(na) tatra skandha na dhatavo nayatanani

na tatra cak~udhatu na riipadhatur na cak~uvijiianadhatu

na (sro)tradhatu na sabdadhatur na srotravijiianadhatuJ:!

na ghraJ)adhatur na gandhadhatur na ghr3:Qavijfianadhatu

na jihvadhatur na rasadhatur na jihvavijiianadhatuJ:!

na kayadhatur na spr~tavyadhatur na kayavijiianadhatur

na manodhatur na dharmadhatur na manovijnana[dha]tuJ:!r [sic]

na tatravidya navidyanirodhaJ:! na sarp.skliran na sarpskaranirodhaJ:! na vijiianarp na vijfiananirodhaJ:! na namariipaqt na namariipanirodhaJ:! na satvayatanam23 na

iha Sliriputra sarva-dharmaJ:t siinyatal~aJ)a

anutpanna aniruddha amala avimala aniina aparipiirJ)aJ:!

tasmac Chliriputra sunyatayam na riipam na vedana na sarpjfia na saqtskliraJ:! na vijiianam

na cak~uJ:!-srotra-ghraJ)a-jihva-kayamanaqtsi

na rupa,sabda-gandha-rasaspra~tavya21-dharmaJ:!

na cak~uf22-dhatur yavan namanovijiiana-dhatuJ:!

navidya navidya-k~ayo

THE HEART SUTRA

saMiyatananirodhal). na sparSo· (na) sparSananirodhal). na vedana na vedananirodhal). na tr~Qa na tr~l)anirodhaJ:l nopadilnaJTI nopadananirodhal). na bhavo na bhavanirodhal). na jati(r n)a jatinirodhal). na jarfunaral)aI11

na jaramaral)anirodhal} na duI:UchaI11 na samudayo na nirodho

na margal). na prapti nabhisamayaJ:!24

yavan na jarfunaral)am na jarfunaral)ak~yo

na duI:Ucha-samudaya-nirodha-marga

na jfianam na praptir

163

There are a number of obvious discrepancies between these two versions, of which the most evident is the greater length of the Large Sutra relative to the Heart SutTa. This is due, however, not to the presence in the Large Sutra of ideas or images that are altogether absent from the Heart Sutra, but merely to the greater thoroughness of the Large SutTa in spelling out in detail categories that are related in a more summary form in the Heart SutTa. The Large Sutra, for example, is not content simply to declare that "form is not one thing and emptiness another" (na ... anyad rilpam anyiI sunyatif), but goes on to repeat the same formula for each of the remaining four skandhas ("sensation is not one thing and emptiness another" and so on). The Heart Sutra, by contrast, states simply that the same is true of the other skandhas as well (evam eva vedaniI-sarpjfiii-sarpskiira-vijfiiInam). Likewise when the Large Sutra declares that in emptiness there is no eye, no ear, and so forth, it does so by enumerating each of the eighteen dhfitus individually, while the Heart SutTa simply lists the first twelve elements in the list (that is, the sense-organs and their respective objects) in streamlined fashion and then summarizes the remaining dhiItusin abbreviated form ("no eye-realm and so forth up to no mind-consciousness-realm," Skt. na Cak$UI-dhatur yiIvan na manovijfiiIna-dhiItulJ). The Heart SutTa, in other words, contains all the same elements that are found in the Large SutTa, but simply expresses them in as concise a fashion as possible.25

More peculiar than these discrepancies, however, are divergences of a second type, in which the general meaning of the two texts


is the same but the vocabulary they employ is not. Two representative examples are the following:

Large Siitra

(W anyad riipam anyii sunyatii nanya sunyatiinyad riiparp

na jaramaraIjarp na jaramaral}anirodhal;1

Heart Siitra

riipan na Qrthak siinyata siinyatayii na prthag riipam

yiivan na jaramaraIJam na jaramaral}aif§ayo

In both of these cases we have statements that are fully synonymous, but contain distinct (and quite unrelated) vocabulary. In the fIrst example the Large Siitra reads "form is not other than emptiness, emptiness is not other than form" using the Sanskrit expression na anya X anya Y, that is, "X is not other than Y" (literally "not other X other Y"). The Heart Siitra, by contrast, employs the expression X Ita p[fhak Y, that is, "Y is not distinct from X" (lit. "from-X not distinct Y," in which item X appears 'in the ablative case). The two texts are thus essentially identical in meaning, but they differ noticeably in wording. Similarly, in the second example both texts assert that "there is no old-age-and death" (na jariimaraIJam); the Large Siitra, however, goes on to state that there is no "extinction" (or "stopping," Skt. nirodha) of old-age-and-death, while the Heart Siitrauses instead the Sankrit termk$aya ("destruction"). Once again the essential meaning is the same, but the manner of expression is different.

An even more vivid example of the divergence between these two texts may be found in the well known passage describing the nature ofdharmas characterized by emptiness. Here the parallels are the following:

Large Siitra . na ... utpadyate na nirudhyate na sarpk1iSyate

Heart Siitra anutpannii aniruddhii amalii

THE HEART SUTRA

na vyavadayate na hlyate na vardhate

avimala an una aparipiin)a

165

In this sequence the Large SutTa employs singular verbal forms throughout:

[It] does not originate (na ... utpadyate), is not extinguished (na nirudhyate), is not defiled (na sarpklisyate), is not purified (na vyavadayate), does not decrease (na hlyate), does not increase (na vardhate).

The Heart Sutra, by contrast, uses plural adjectival forms:

[They] are non-originated (anutpann8), non-extinct (aniruddh8), non-defiled (amal8), non-pure (avima15), non-decreasing (anun8), non-increasing (aparipiln;1aJ}).

Not only are the terms themselves different in these two renditions; their grammatical forms (verbs vs. adjectives, singulars vs. plurals) do not agree. The wording thus could not be more different, though the overall meaning is the same.26

These two types of divergences - the repetitive style of the Large Sutra vs. the conciseness of the Heart Sutra, on the one hand, and their differences in vocabulary and grammatical categories on the other - offer in turn two very different kinds of evidence concerning the respective histories ofthese texts. To begin with the first, itis well known that Indian Mahayana texts were subject to continual elaboration and expansion, culminating (in the case of the Prajfiaparamita literature) in such literary monstrosities as the Perfection of Wisdom in 100,000 Lines (Sa ta-sahasrika-prajfia-piiramita-sutra) , whose considerable bulk is due mainly to its endless repetitions. A text that was originally as short and compact as the Heart SutTa (or rather, its core) could easily have grown, via this gradual process of literary elaboration, into what we see in the Large Sutra.

Yet we must stop at this point and remind ourselves that the


Heart Siitra was considered by Edward Conze, the foremost Western scholar of the Prajiiaparamim literature, to be !ater, not earlier, than the Large Siitra, and to represent a condensation (not a prototype) of the larger text.27 And ~he evidence offered by the Chinese and Tibetan sources would seem to confirm Conze' s hypothesis. While the Large Siitra had been translated into Chinese by the end of the 3rd century CE, the Heart Siitra makes its appearance much later, in the 5th century CE at the earliest arid quite possibly not until the 7th.28 Likewise the extant Indian commentaries on the Heart Siitra (which have not survived in their Sanskrit originals, but are preserved in Tibetan translation) date only from the 8th to the 11 th centuries,29 while commentaries on the Large Siitra appear several centuries earlier.30 It seems clear, therefore, that we must follow Conze's lead in considering the Large Siitra to be considerably older than the Heart Siitra. Thus what needs to be explained here is not the development from a shorter text to a longer one (a process quite usual in the history of Indian Buddhist literature), but the reverse.

But how are we to get from the Large Siitra, with its extensive and repetitive language, to the crisp and abbreviated formulations of the Heart Siitra? We could, of course, assume (as Conze has done) that the Heart Siitra was intended as a summary of the overall contents of the earlier Prajiiaparamita literature, and as such represents a deliberate act of abbreviation on the part of some unknown Indian author. This hypothesis seems quite reasonable at first, even though it runs counter to the usual Indian practice of expanding (not contracting) Buddhist texts. Yet the absolute parallelism in the sequence of ideas between the Large Siitra and the Heart Siitra - not to mention the word-for-word agreement in the Chinese versions of the two texts ....:. makes it clear that the Heart Siitra is not an "abbreviation" of the Prajiiaparamita literature in general; it is built around a specific passage found in the Large Siitra, with additional introductory and concluding material. Our problem, therefore, is to come up with a sequence of literary evolution that could lead from the expansive text found in the Large Siitra to the concise formulations of the Heart Siitra.

At this point we must return to the second type of divergence

TIIE HEART StJTRA 167

f'discussed abOve: the difference in vocabulary found in the. two lsanskrit texts, despite the fact that the ideas they contain (and their '. sequence) are identical. To get from the Sanskrit text of the Large Siitra to the Sanskrit Heart Sutra, in other words, we must not only

; 'posit the emergence of an abbreviated style from an elaborate one; '\we must also account for the substitution of adjectives for verbs, :;plurals for singulars, and synonyms (e.g., k$aya for nirodha) for ;'certain Buddhist technical terms. " If the evolution from a longer text to a shorter one is mildly : (but not insuperably) problematic, these differences in vocabulary

:; comprise an obstacle of an altogether different order. For such c. changes simply do not follow the normal rules of textual emendation.

". While an Indian editor might add (or far less commonly, subtract) certain expressions and terms when transmitting an existing text, to change virtually every word in the text (aside from certain fixed technical terminology, such as the names of the five skandhas, the eighteen dhatus, and the four noble truths) while adding no new conceptual input is, at least in this writer's experience, unheard of. We can identify, in other words, neither a motive nor a precedent for the kinds of changes we see when comparing the Sanskrit Heart Sutra to its parallel passage in the Large Sutra. To put it succinctly: there

" is no straightforward way to derive the Sanskrit Heart Sutra from the " Sanskrit Large Sutra, or vice versa.

",

Textual Transmission: ARe-Analysis How, then, are we to explain the virtual identity of these two

·texts in their Chinese translations? The usual (and understandable) assumption has been that the path of transmission is from the Sanskrit Large Sutra to the Chinese Large Sutra, and from the Sanskrit Heart Sutra to the Chinese Heart Sutra. To approach the problem in this way, however, means that we would have to explain the identical appearance of the two Chinese texts via convergence: i.e., that they were either accidentally or deliberately brought into hannony. To

, further incorporate into our explanation the exact correlation in wording between the Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Heart Sutra, we would have to concoct a hypothesis that goes something


like this: Sometime after the completion of Kumarajiva' s translation of the Large Sutra into Chinese, the Heart Sutra was translated into Chinese by Hslian-tsang. At this point a Chinese editor noticed a certain similarity between the core of the Heart Sutra and a passage in the Large Sutra. In order to make the two texts match, he altered one of the two (either the Chinese Large Sutra of Kumarajiva or the Heart Sutra attributed to Hslian-tsang) to bring it into conformity with the other. No similar emendation was made, however, in the text of the earlier translations of the Large Sutra.

Such a hypothesis is, however, intolerably convoluted, and requires us to posit a set of literary processes that are unattested elsewhere (to the best of my knowledge) in Chinese Buddhist textual history. And it goes without saying that the odds against two virtually identical Chinese translations of this core passage (one in the Large Sutra, the other in the Heart Sutra) being produced independently -especially given the evidence that the underlying Sanskrit versions were not identical- are astronomical. But if we accept the standard assumption that the ancestor of the Chinese Large Sutra is the Sanskrit Large Sutra and that the ancestor of the Chinese Heart Sutra is the Sanskrit Heart Sutra, there is simply no other way to account for the evidence. I would suggest, therefore, that we discard this assumption and begin again at the beginning, taking the earliest texts as our starting point.

When we compare the passage in the Sanskrit Large Sutra (in particular, the earliest extant version, found in the manuscript copy discovered at Gilgit) with its counterpart in the Chinese Large Sutra ofKumarajIva, the two agree almost perfectly - provided we assume that KumarajIva indulged in a certain degree of textual condensation in the course of his translation. But this is precisely what we would expect of a Chinese translator, and in particular of KumarajIva, who is renowned for having produced translations of Indian Buddhist texts capable of appealing to Chinese aesthetic sensibilities. In the Chinese literary world one of the greatest offenses is to be repetitious, for succinctness - not effusive reiteration - is seen as a virtue in Chinese aesthetic theory (precisely the opposite of Indian preferences).31 The differences between the Sanskrit Large Sutra and its

THE HEART SUTRA 169

Chinese counterpart are thus exactly what we would expect, given both what is generally known concerning Chinese literary preferences and what we can actually observe in other Chinese Buddhist texts.32 There is no difficulty, therefore, in positing a line of transmission from a version of the Sanskrit Large Siitra resembling the extant editions to the Chinese Large Sutra of Kumarajiva.

The next step in our analysis, while perhaps somewhat unexpected (at least by scholars whose orientation is primarily Indological), seems to be required by the degree of similarity between the Chinese Large Sutra of Kumarajiva and the Heart Sutra attributed to Hslian-tsang: we must assume that the core of the latter - as East Asian Buddhist scholars have long been aware - is an excerpt from the fonnerY The Chinese Heart Sutra, in other words, consists of an excerpt from the Chinese Large Sutra, together with certain "frame" elements (the opening and closing sections) that have no parallel in the larger text.

So far, then, we have succeeded in establishing the sequence Sanskrit Large Sutra ---+ Chinese Large Sutra ---+ Chinese Heart Sutra, with no step of this process offering any difficulty_ But how are we to fit the Sanskrit Heart Sutra into this scheme? The answer is as compelling as it is startling: the Sanskrit Heart Sutra is a translation from the Chinese.

Such a seemingly heretical assertion requires strong supporting evidence. Such evidence, however, is readily available. We may approach the problem from two angles: first, the evidence for this direction of transmission found within the texts themselves; and second, the historical possibility (and plausibility) of such a transaction.

Internal Evidence: How to Spot a Back-Translation Before proceeding with our analysis of the Chinese and

Sanskrit versions of the Heart Sutra, it may be useful to consider an instance of back-translation (that is, the reconstruction of Sanskrit tenns from another Buddhist language) found in another context. Numerous examples of such back-translations can be found in the Mongolian Buddhist canon, the result of a long-standing Mongolian


preference for Indian loan words rather than the translated expres_ sions preferred by the Tibetans. When, during and after the Yuan dynasty (1280-1368), the Mongols came under strong Tibetan influence and began to translate voluminous quantities of Tibetan Buddhist texts into Mongolian, they were faced with the task of either finding appropriate Indian-based equivalents for Tibetan Buddhist terms or capitulating to the Tibetan procedure and simply translating these terms into Mongolian. Especially in the case of personal and place names, the Mongols tried - wherever possible - to reconstruct the corresponding Indian original.

The result, of course, was a combination of correct and incorrect guesses on the part of the Mongols as to what the original Sanskrit form was. A revealing example of an incorrect guess can be found in the story of the future Buddha Maitreya, as given in the * Arya-maitri-siitra.34 The Indian city in which Maitreya will appear is regularly referred to as KetumatI in the Sanskrit literature, which in turn is translated into Tibetan as Rgyal-mtshan biD-gros, where rgyal-mtshan (lit. "royal ensign") is a Tibetan translation of Skt. ketu "flag," and blo-gros ("mind") is an attempted rendition of the suffIx -ma ti. 35 In their efforts to recover the original Indian spelling of Rgyal-mtshan blo-gros, however, the Mongolian translators reconstructed the first element in the name not as ketu, but as dhvajaanother Sanskrit word for "flag," which is also regularly rendered into Tibetan as rgyal-mtshan. The Mongols, in other words, made an educated but erroneous guess, in all probability using a Tibetan-toSanskrit dictionary as their reference.36

An unmatched but synonymous equivalent of a Sanskrit term, then, is one of the leading indicators of back-translation. But there are other indicators as well. Incorrect word order, grammatical errors that can be traced to the structure of the intermediary language, and incorrect readings (due to visual confusion of certain letters or characters in the intermediary language) can all provide evidence that reconstruction, not preservation of an orignal text, has taken place. In sum, it is through the inadvertent errors of the back-translators that we can observe this process in operation.

In the case just described, of course, we are concerned with the

THE HEART SfJTRA 171

reconstruction of individual Indian terms (in particular, proper .naIIles) within an overall Mongolian text. The same logic can be used, however, to evaluate the ancestry of the Sanskrit Heart Siitra. If we can identify differences between the Sanskrit Large Siitra and the Sanskrit Heart Satra that can easily be explained by the presence of the Chinese Heart Satra as an intennediary (and are difficult or impossible to explain otherwise), these will serve as evidence that the Sanskrit Heart Satra is indeed a back-translation from the Chinese.

We may begin with the first two examples cited above in our discussion of the divergences between the Sanskrit texts of the Large satra and the Heart Sutra, respectively. In the first of these the Large Sarra reads na anyad rfipam anya sunyatii ("form is not one thing and emptiness another") or - to translate this expression more colloquially - "form is not different from emptiness." In Kumarajiva's Chinese translation of the Large Satra this is in turn rendered as se pu i k'ung ("form is not different from emptiness"), a perfectly good

. rendition of the Sanskrit. The Chinese version of the Heart Surra attributed to Hslian-tsang follows the wording of Kumarajiva's Large Surra exactly, as it does almost without exception throughout the core passage of the text. The Sanskrit Heart Surra, however, does not conform to the wording of the Sanskrit Large sarra; instead it reads rfipan na p[thak sanyata("emptiness is not distinct from form"), a perfectly good (if somewhat unidiomatic) translation of Chinese se pu i k 'ung. What we have here, in other words, is an exact counterpart of the sequence Skt. ketu ~ Tib. rgyal-mtshan ~ Skt. dhvaja, in which a Sanskrit term is transformed - via back-translation through a second-language intermediary - into a synonymous but quite different expression.

A similar transformation can be observed in our second example, in which the Sanskrit Large Satra reads· na jarfimaraI}anirodhal}. "no extinction (nirodha) of old-age-and-death," while the Heart Satra has na jarfimaraIJak$ayo "no destruction (k$aya) of old-age-and-death." Once again the effect of a Chinese intermediary provides an intelligible explanation, for the character chirf which appears in this expression in both the Large Satra and the Heart Sutra can serve as an equivalent of either nirodha or k$aya


(though more commonly the latter) .. KumarajIva apparently chose' in other words, to render the Sanskrit term njrodha into Chinese a~ chin, a reading maintained in the Chinese Heart Siitra attributed to . Hsuan-tsang and subsequently retranslated into Sanskrit as k$aya.'

Most striking of all, however, is the evidence contained in the third passage ci~ed above. Here the sequence of negations is expressed in the Sanskrit Large Siitra in singular verbal forms, while' in the Heart Siitra the entire list is given in the form of plural adjectives. But this is precisely the sort of information that is not generally marked in Chinese: though a plural can be specified if necessary, the usual practice is to let the number be implied by the context, while (as students of Chinese are all too well aware) a given word can easily serve such diverse functions as noun, adjective, or verb, depending once again on the context. Here the parallels are the following:

Sanskrit Large Siitra Chinese Large Siitra Sanskrit Heart Siitra (=Chinese Heart Siitra)

na ... utpadyate na nirudhyate na sarpkli§yate na vyavadayate mi hlyate na vardhate

pu shent pu miehe

pu kozl pu ch'in[! pu tsent' pu chieri

anutpanna aniruddha amala avimala aniina aparipiIrr)a

In each case the Chinese is a perfectly good rendition of the terminology contained in the Sanskrit Large Siitra, while the Sanskrit Heart Siitra in tum represents a perfectly good rendition of the Chinese. Once again the Sanskrit Heart Siitra offers us exactly the kind of synonym-shift that we would expect if it were a backtranslation from the Chinese.

In sum, while the sequence of ideas found in the Sanskrit Heart Siitra matches that of the Sanskrit Large Siitra exactly, virtually every word in these two texts (with the exception of certain fixed technical terminology such as the names of the skandhas, ayatanas and 'dhatus37) is different. Such a striking similarity in content,

THE HEART SUTRA 173

:~ornbined with an equally striking difference in vocabulary, can only 'be explained as the result of a back-translation - that is, by the >translation of the Sanskrit Heart Siitra from the Chinese.

'The Emergence of the Heart Sutra: Indian. and Chinese Evidence .... Though the philological data reviewed above can stind alone Vas convincing evidence for the back-translation of the Heart Satra ;frorn Chinese into Sanskrit, it is nonetheless of considerable interest to review the corroborating historical evidence as well. Such

!:evidence can serve. not only to support (or, if need be, to modify) our fi:."hypothesis concerning the general direction of transmission of the X, sutra but also to provide concrete information as to the date, place, i~0and general environment in which the Heart Satra was fIrst created ~~\as an independent text. f·~l One of the most reliable methods for documenting the ~Bemergence of the Heart Satra as an independent scripture is to ~'.}:·identify the dates of the earliest commentaries on the text. On the i;~'Indian side, however, such works make a very late appearance; as we .;;have already noted, the earliest extant Indian commentaries date only ~':'from the 8th century CE.38 Nor has any other independent evidence ;, for the existence of the text in India prior to this date (e.g., citations '.of the satra in other works or reports of its existence by Chinese . travelers in India) yet come to light.39 There is, in sum, no evidence for the existence of the Heart Satra in India before the 8th century CE ..

When we turn to the Chinese records, by contrast, evidence for the avid use of the satra by Chinese Buddhists prior to this date is abundant. Extant commentaries include works by both of Hstiantsang's major disciples, K'uei-chijand Wonch'ilkk, both dating from the latter half of the 7th century, as well as a group of three closely related works known only from manuscripts found at Tun-huang, of which at least one appears to have been composed prior to 645 CE.40 We have solid evidence, then, for the existence of commentaries on the Heart Satra in China no later than the second half of the 7th century CE, and quite possibly as much as several decades earlier.

As to evidence for the existence of Chinese versions of the satra itself, here matters become somewhat more complicated.


Modem catalogues list a total of eight Chinese versions of the Heart Siitra, ranging in date from the early 5th through the beginning of the 11th century CE.41 The attributions of the first two of these texts however - those supposedly translated by Kumarajlva and Hsuan~ tsang - are extremely problematic. The so-called "Kumarajlva version" is associated with his name for the fIrst time only in an 8thcentury catalogue, the K'ai-yiian shih-chiao lzi; likewise there is no mention of a translation by Hsuan-tsang prior to the publication of the same catalogue.42 Moreover, it is noteworthy that Hsuan-tsang's biography speaks not of his translation of the text, but of his being given the text by a sick man he befriended.43

We will return to the question of the ancestry of these two versions of the text below. For the moment, however, the most important point to observe is this: that the existence of the Heart Siitra is attested in China at least a century before its earliest known appearance in India.44 Thus the dates of the fIrst appearances of the siitra in China and India, respectively, tell us nothing that would contradict the hypothesis that the Sanskrit text is a back-translation from the Chinese, and indeed offer much to support it.

The Frame Sections: Reconstructing the Context As we have seen, the core section of the Heart Sutra has an

exact parallel in the Large Sutra, and East Asian commentators had realized as early as the latter half of the 7th century that the former was in fact an excerpt from the latter. What remains to be considered, however, are those passages we have described as the "frame sections" of the Chinese Heart Siitra: that is, the introductory and concluding sections of the text, which have no parallel in the larger sutra. If the Heart Sutra was indeed manufactured as an independent text in China, these sections should be purely apocryphal compositions - that is, they should have been created on Chinese soil, using only materials available there.

At this point we may return to consider some of the anomalies in the form and content of the Heart Sutra noted above: first, that the text has no proper opening (that is, that it does not begin with the phrase "Thus have I heard at one time"); second, that

THE HEART SUTRA 175

j\valokitesvara - who is almost unknown elsewhere in the Prajfiaparamita literature - here plays a major role, while the Buddha is omitted altogether, and Subhuti (the main interlocutor in the mainstream Prajfiaparamitil texts) likewise does not appear at all; and third, that the text does not have a proper conclusion (in which some indication of the reaction of the Buddha's audience should be given), but concludes simply with a Sanskrit mantra, providing (for those accustomed to "proper" sutra format) a sense of no real conclusion • at al1.45 All of these anomalies occur exclusively in the frame sections of the text, though the context may lead us to read them into the core section as well. (Though A valokitesvara is never mentioned by name in the core section, for example, his presence in the introductory lines leads the reader to infer that he is the speaker in the core of the text as well.) Thus these divergences from the expected form and content of a Prajfiaparamita sutra may offer us certain clues as to the locus of the composition of the frame sections and, accordingly, to the time and place of the production of the Heart Sutra itself as a free-standing scripture.

Is this, then, the sort of text we would expect to have been formulated in China? At first we might well be dubious of this assertion, for it is one of the hallmarks of Chinese apocryphal sutras that their authors have exerted themselves at all costs to make them resemble their canonical Indian counterparts. That is, creators of Chinese apocryphal sutras have generally been extremely careful to supply the proper Indian fonnat (from the introductory "thus have I heard" to a proper conclusion), as well as peppering their newlyminted texts with authentic-sounding Indian names. 46 If this is indeed a Chinese apocryphal text, we must ask ourselves, why does its author seem to have made so little effort to make the text confonn to Indian standards?

At this point the writings of FuKUI Fumimasa provide an important clue, for Fukui's research has led him to conclude that the Heart Sutra is not really a sutra at all; rather, the Chinese expression hsin chingn, which is generally translated into English as "Heart Sutra," should be understood instead as meaning "dharaI)I scripture" - that is, a text intended for recitation, not (as has previously been


supposed) a text intended to represent the "heart," or essence, of the PrajiHiparamita philosophy.47 If this is indeed the case (and Fukui's arguments in this regard are quite convincing), we need not wonder at the absence of the standard sutra fonnat in the earliest Chinese version of this text. Since the text was intended for ritual use (that is, as a dhiiraI)I to be chanted) rather than to impersonate a genuine Indian sutra, it is no surprise that the author(s) of the text have not tried to cloak their product in foreign garb; nor, we might add, that the text does not contain that other hallmark of most Chinese apocryphal texts: the intrusion of indigenous Chinese (i.e., nonIndian and non-Buddhist) ideas.48

But we must still consider whether it is plausible to contend that the introductory and concluding portions of the text could have been manufactured in China. Foremost among the items to be considered in this regard are two elements in the text: fIrst, the substitution of A valokitesvara for the expected Prajfiaparamita spokespersons, Subhiiti and the Buddha himself; and second, the presence in the concluding section of a perfectly good Sanskrit mantra.49 Both are features that have no parallel in the Large Sutra from which the core passage was clearly derived, and indeed are extremely unusual in the Prajfiaparamita literature in general. Thus both A valokitesvara and the concluding mantra appear to have been introduced into the frame sections gratuitously, as it were, based on considerations extraneous to the Large Sutra.

Would such considerations have been found in the time and place where the Heart Sutra first makes its appearance (that is, in southwest China in the 7th century)? The answer, emphatically, is yes. The presence of A valokitesvara is not at all unexpected, for this figure was by far the most popular bodhisattva in China at this time, as attested by both textual and artistic evidence.5o Indeed it is probably fair to say that his following among Chinese Buddhists over the centuries has far exceeded his popUlarity in India.51 Thus the choice of A valokitesvara as the central figure in a newly created Buddhist recitation text would be perfectly plausible in a Chinese milieu.

But what of the mantra itself - the well-known expression

THE HEART SUTRA 177

~;gate gate pifragat~ pifrasarpgate bOOhi svahii - with which the text (~ ntS shorter recensIon) comes to an end? If the mantra were found ill ~'the'core of the text (that is, the portion which duplicates material Jitontained in the Large Sutra) we would have no difficulty, for this ~section was clearly composed in India. Yet the mantra does not occur (here but in the frame section, which (if the reasoning outlined above ~iS correct) should be viewed as a purely Chinese creation. How, then, ~tlU-e we to explain the presence of a perfectly good Sanskrit mantra in ~.~ text that was tailored in China? :,~, Here a point recently made by both McRae and Fukui is of nonsiderable importance, for some or all of the mantra found in the ;icHeart Sutra also occurs in at least three other texts contained in the fChinese Buddhist canon. Of these one is a catalogue of mantras, saId !.to have been translated into Chinese in 653 CE,52 while two others :;life Mahayana sutras.53 It would thus have been perfectly plausible ·'that the composer of the original Chinese Heart Sutra adopted the Xmantra in question from al1 existing work and inserted it directly into s:his text.54 Moreover, not only the mantra itself, but also the string of (epithets that precede it ("the supreme mantra, the mantra which is

equal to the unequalled," etc.) have now been shown to occur .~independently in other Chinese texts. 54a The presence of a genuine 'Sanskrit mantra, then, offers no obstacle to the hypothesis that the Heart Sutra as an independent text was an indigenous Chinese

; production. When we consider the likelihood that the frame elements are

entirely Chinese in origin, this casts certain textual problems in the Sanskrit version of the sutra in a wholly new light. For most of the problematic elements in the Sanskrit text are found precisely in these frame sections and not in the core of the text. If we treat the Chinese - rather than the Sanskrit - as the original, much can be clarified, for the language used here (particularly in the list of epithets of the mantra) includes Chinese terms for which no Sanskrit equivalent is readily apparent. When the text tells us, for example, that the mantra is "genuine, not vain" (chen shih pu hsii n), the wording is entirely natural in Chinese, while its Sanskrit counterpart satyam amithyatviit [sic] (translated rather idiosyncratically by Conze as "[it is] true. For

------- ---------


what could go wrong?") has perplexed a number of modem readers.iJI Likewise it is intriguing to note that the typi~ally Chinese term Shelf!:? "spirit" in t?e expr~ssion ta she~ chou~ (lit. "~eat spirit~cantation")J~ has no eqwvalent m the Sanskrit verSIOn, WhICh reads sunply maha..,{, mantra ("great mantra") in Conze'sedition, while the Sanskrit word\E mantra elsewhere in this section corresponds to the character chOlfl,\ alone. It seems quite likely that a Sanskrit translator would have had -_~ •

. great difficulty in finding ail appropriate Buddhist technical term to': represent the not-particularly-Buddhist tenn shen Q in this Context.55 Finally, the Chinese expression chiu-ching nieh-p 'an r (lit. "ultimate[ly] nirvaI}a") is attested, in a number of other Buddhist texts, and might well be described as standard (even idiomatic) Buddhist Chinese , while the corresponding Sanskrit phrase ni$f;ha-nirviiI)a (in which the first tenn can carry such meanings as "state," "perfection," or "termination") strikes the reader as overly abbreviated at best, and has required a certain amount of textual supplementation not only in _i'-·

the English translation of Edward Conze, but even in some of the<: Sanskrit manuscript copies themselves. 56 Both in terms ofvocabu..: lary and of grammatical structure, then, it is easier to understand the Sanskrit Heart Siitra as a translation from the Chinese than the reverse.

We have seen that it is fairly easy to identify elements in the -frame sections of the Heart Siitra that make better sense in the Chinese than in the Sanskrit. But even in the core passage of the Sanskrit version of the text we can identify, in retrospect, elements that are less idiomatic than we would - expect from an Indian composition. The fonnat of the list of negations of the six sense organs, for example - which in the Heart Siitra reads na cak$u1)srotra-ghriiI)a-jihva-kaya-maniirp.si - simply does not "ring" properly (that is, does not sound idiomatic) to the well-trained Sanskrit ear.57

Rather, the construction one would expect to find is precisely what we have in the Sanskrit Large Siitra, where the negative na is repeated before each of the sense-organs in turn (in the Gilgit manuscript, na Cak$UI na srotrarp. na ghriiI)am najihva na kaye na manal;1). The Heart Siitra thus diverges from the anticipated Sanskrit usage, offering instead a precise replication of the word order of the Chinese.

THE HEART SUTRA 179

If the evidence reviewed above seems unanimous in supporttiftg the hypothesis that the Chinese te.xt is indeed the antecedent of filii Sanskrit, we are still faced with an important historical question: fwhen, and by whom, could the text have been transported to India ~d ffendered into Sanskrit? Here our discussion will necessarily become . ffuore speculative, for we have neither a Sanskrit colophon relating the ~trigins of the text nor an external historical source describing its ftiansmission. Nonetheless there is strong circumstantial. evidence jpointing to the role of a specific figure: the well-known Chinese ~iBuddhist scholar, translator, and pilgrim, Hstian-tsang.

fmstorical Evidence: In the Footsteps of HSiian-tsang I.,

f In the discussion above we have noted that Chinese commen-~{iaries on the Heart Siitra begin to appear considerably before their !!Indian counterparts. What we have not mentioned so far, however, ~is a noteworthy difference between the Chinese commentaries, on the ~6ne hand, and their Indian and Tibetan counterparts on the other: all ;n~xtant Chinese commentaries are based on a single version of the

i;{~Heart Siitra, namely, the version associated with Hstian-tsang (T. No. ,;jf.:1,

~'251), and thus with a version of the shorter recension of the text ~~(Conze' sST); all Indo-Tibetan commentaries, by contrast, are based ~;'~,;on the longer version (LT), which is clearly a later recension. 58 The ~'fearliest commentaries, then, are not only in Chinese, but are all based f~~on the version generally described as a "translation" by Hstian-tsang. ){ . The spotlight that this places on Hstian-tsang' s version of the :i'text raises two further questions: where did Hstian-tsang get his copy tA of the text, and what role did he play in its subsequent diffusion? That ~{:i Hstian-tsang was already familiar with the Heart Siitra prior to his l7'departure for the Western Regions is made quite clear in' his .r biography, where his initial encounter with the text is described as ;Lfollows:

Formerly when the Master was in Szechuan, he once saw a sick man suffering from foul boils and dressed in rags. With pity he took him to his monastery and supplied him with food and clothes. Out of gratitude the sick man taught the Master this siitra, which he often recited.59

180 nABS VOL. 15 NO. 2

Subsequently in the course of his journey Hstian-tsang is said to have recited the text at various points along the way when he was in danger finding it even more powerful than appealing to the bodhisattv~ Kuan-yin.60 We are given to understand, in other words, that this text immediately became a favorite of Hstian-tsang's, so much so that he entrusted himself to it in a number oflife-threatening situations. This account provides concrete evidence, then, both ofHstian-tsang's love for the text and his transport of its content (at least in oral form) to India.

What, then, would he have done if, upon arriving in India, he discovered that the Indian Buddhists were unfamiliar with this text? According to his biography, this was exactly what took place in the case of another text, The A wakening of Faith in the Mahayana, widely believed to be a Chinese apocryphon. As Hui-liS tells the story, during his stay at Niilandii University Hstian-tsang discovered that this important text was unknown to his Indian correligionists. And his response, we are told, was to translate the text into Sanskrit. 61

Thus there is a clear precedent for viewing Hstian-tsang not merely as the passive recipient of Indian Buddhist learning, but also as an active transmitter of Chinese Buddhist culture in foreign lands.

We are not told, of course, that Hstian-tsang translated the Heart Sutra into Sanskrit, and indeed we should not expect this fact to be recorded even if Hstian-tsang and his biographers knew it to be the case. For in China the fundamental criterion for the authenticity of a Buddhist sutra is its Indian pedigree, and to state outright that Hstian-tsang had translated the Heart Sutra from Chinese into Sanskrit would cast doubt upon its legitimacy, arousing suspicions that it might be a non-Indian text and hence (by Chinese Buddhist standards) apocryphal. One can well imagine that Hstian-tsang, convinced of the authenticity of the Heart Sutra as a religious text and with first-hand experience of its supernatural protective power, would simply have concluded that the Indian original had been lost. Under the circumstances he may have done just what we would expect him to do: quietly re-translate the text back into Sanskrit.

If the image of Hstian-tsang as a forger of an Indian Buddhist text seems amusing (or perhaps, to other readers, alarming), it is

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because it is so contrary to what the standard histories of Buddhism . would lead us to expect. The Chinese people, we are told, were the recipients - not the creators - of Buddhist siitras, and the "siitra trade" flowed exclusively from West to East. Yet it is now becoming clear that the Chinese were avid producers as well as consumers of Buddhist siitras, and that some of the most popular scriptures in East Asia - e.g., the Humane King's Siitra (len-wang ching) and the Awakening of Faith in the Mahayana (Ta-sheng ch 'i-shin lunU) were the product of Chinese hands.62 Even more striking is the convincing evidence recently set forth by Robert Buswell for the Korean origin of the Vajrasamadhi Siitra (Chin-kang san-mei ching), a text subsequently exported westward to both China and Tibet. 63

It is not unheard of, then, for Buddhist siitras to flow from East to vVest, and indeed evidence is accumulating of an important backwash of Chinese Buddhist influence into eastern Central Asia

. (the Tarim Basin region) during and after the late T'ang period.64 That the Heart Siitra should have been a part of this East-to-West trade is thus not at all impossible.

The role of Hstian-tsang himself in the back -translation of the Heart Siitra into Sanskrit cannot, of course, be definitively proven. We have at our disposal only, circumstantial evidence, which is insufficient to decide the case with certainty. It is possible that Hstian-tsang simply left the text with his correligionists in India, where it awaited the efforts of some other Chinese pilgrim before it was finally translated into Sanskrit. Nonetheless, whatever the specific circumstances surrounding the Sanskrit translation of the text may have been, we should note that the first Indian commentaries on the text appear roughly a century and a half after Hstian-tsang's visit. Thus if it was not Hstian-tsang himself who translated the text into Sanskrit, we must credit this work to some other Chinese visitor who would have arrived in India at approximately the same time, someone fond enough of the siitra to have transported it westward over this great distance and skilled enough in Sanskrit to have translated (or overseen the translation of) the text back into an Indian "original." Until further evidence of other possibilities should surface, Hstian-tsang must remain the most likely candidate for the


transmission of this Chinese creation to India.

The Heart Siitl'a in China: The Role of HSiian-tsang We may now pause to consider briefly an issue whose

thorough explication is properly the preserve of the Sinologist: that of Hsuan-tsang's role in the diffusion of the Heart Sutra in China. A thorough study of this topic would be highly desirable, and it is hoped that a specialist in Chinese Buddhism will take up this challenge in .... the future, In the meantime, however, a few preliminary comments' may be offered on this topic.

Up to this point we have focused on only one version of the Heart Sutra : the Chinese "translation" (a term we can now use only in quotation marks) of the shorter recension of the text popularly attributed to Hsuan-tsang, together with its Sanskrit counterpart. But there are other versions of the Heart Sutra found in the Chinese canon as welL Of the eight versions contained in the Taish5 canon three represent the shorter recension of the text (ST), while the other five are variant editions of the longer recension (LT).65 In addition to these eight extant versions of the text we should also take note of two titles found in ancient catalogues which have been considered by some scholars to represent early translations of the text into Chinese, . though the texts themselves are no longer extant. 66

All five of the Chinese versions of the longer recension of the text postdate Hsuan-tsang's edition by periods ranging from several decades to several centuries. It is the earlier versions of the sutra, however, that are of the greatest interest to us here, since we are interested in determining what versions of the text, if any, were circulating in: China prior to Hsuan-tsang' s involvement with the text. More specifically, the questions we must confront are these: first, when did any version of the Heart Sutra first surface in China; second, what version of the text did Hsuan-tsang obtain during his sojourn in Szechwan; and third, what changes (if any) did he subsequently make in the content of the text?

"Lost translations" of the Heart Siitra. Two titles that have been considered by some scholars to represent lost Chinese transla-

THE HEART SUTRA 183

fHons of the Heart SzUra are known to us only through their inclusion tin Tao-an' SW catalogue, the Tsung-li chung-ching mu-lrf (itself nonrj~xtant, but largely reproduced in Seng-yu'sY Ch 'u san-tsang chi-chi, Z

ft20Illpleted c. 515 CE).67 Both are listed here as the work of ft1anonymous (that is, unknown) translators. The attributions of these ~translations to Chih Ch'ien·a and KumarajIva, respectively, given in ~later scripture catalogues are clearly after the fact and can easily be fdiscounted. 68 Their titles, however, are intriguingly similar to those "bf subsequent versions of the Heart Sutra. Titled Mo-ho po-jo po-~~> i'lo-mi shen-chou i chuan ab and Po-jo po-lo-mi shen-chou i chuan:c

f~respectively, both are clearly intended to be construed as mantras t::(shen-chou ad) based upon - or at least associated with - the ¥Prajfiaparamita corpus. In the case of the fIrst of these titles the r~reference seems at fIrst glance to refer specifIcally to the Large Sutra, !lwhose title (in Kumarajiva's translation) is Mo-ho po-jo po-lo-mi ~c ching. ae Yet upon further reflection this association is unfounded, for ~iJf a work by this title really was included in Tao-an's original ficatalogue, it would predate the appearance of KumarajIva's transla~"tion of the Large Sutra by several decades.69 Earlier Chinese Ftranslations of the Perfection of. Wisdom in 25,000 Lines (to use the t Sanskrit form of the title) do not use the terms mo-ho po-jo po-lo-mi;af Crather, Mok~ala's version is titled Fang kuang po-jo chingg (T No. :221), whileDharmarak~a's text is labeledKuangtsangchingm (TNo. ':222). Thus the very use of the term po-jo po-lo-mfi (let alone mo{"ho po-jo po-lo-IIJi'f) in reference to the Large Sutra in a Chinese text 'prior to the time of KumarajIva is anachronistic, and casts doubt on

the likelihood that these titles are genuine references to early versions of the Heart Sutra. In the absence- of an extant copy of either text, -then, we are not in a position to say anything about their content. Until and unless new data should appear we must leave open the question of whether either of the texts represented by these titles had any association with what eventually came to be known as the Heart Sutra.

The three extant versions of the shorter (ST) recension, however, clearly demand our attention. These are the Chinese' version attributed to KumarajIva (T No. 250) which, if the attribution


were correct, would date to some two and a half centuries before Hstian-tsang's time; the transliterated Sanskrit version in Chinese characters (T No. 255), attributed by at least one modern scholar to Hstian-tsang himself; and the Chinese version discussed above (T No. 251), which has traditionally been considered a translation by Hstian-tsang from the Sanskrit.

The "Kumarajiva translation" (I' No. 250). A thorough evaluation of the origins of the so-called "Kumarajiva version" of the Heart Sutra has long been needed, and significant p:rog:ress in this enterprise has recently been made by Japanese and Western scholars. To summarize their findings briefly, it seems clear that students of Kumarajlva (in particular,Seng-chao) read and commented on the core passage of the Heart Sutra found in Kumarajiva's version of the Large Sutra.70 There is no evidence, however, that they were aware of the existence of the Heart Sutra as a separate text, nor is there any evidence that Kumarajiva himself had any role in the production of the "translation" associated with his name. In the earliest catalogues of his works no such translation is listed, and for this reason alone the attribution of this text to Kumarajiva in later works is highly suspect.71

The actual content of this translation raises some intriguing questions concerning the process of its composition. The bulk of the text ag:rees word for word with Hstian-tsang's edition of the sutra (T No. 251); yet in certain crucial respects the two versions diverge. These divergences may be summarized as follows:

(1) at the beginning of the text (T 8.847c, lines 5-7) Kumarajiva's Heart Sutra contains a series of 37 characters which have no counterpart in Hstian-tsang's version of the text;

(2) in the midst of the core passage of the text (T 8.847c, line 10) Kumarajiva' s Heart Sutra contains a line stating that "these empty dharmas are not past, not future, not present" (shih k'ung fa fei kuoch 'ij fei wei-lai fei hsien-tsari) which has no counterpart in Hstiantsang's version; and

(3) at another key point in the core passage - that is, in the first statement of the non-difference between fonn and emptiness -

THE HEART SUTRA 185

'J{umarajiva's text phrases this statement differently than does : fIstian-tsang; and

(4) at yarious points throughout both the core and the frame sections the two versions differ in their rendering of certain Buddhist technical tenns (e.g., the tenns prajiiapiiramita, skaiJdha, bodhisattva, and the names of A valokiteSvara and Sariputra). .

These divergences, I believe, provide us with our best clues to the ancestry of the two texts as well as to the relationship between . them.

Beginning with the first, as Fukui has recently pointed out there are near the beginning of the so-called Kumarajiva translation

. (T No. 250) a series of 37 characters which have no counterpart in Hsiian-tsang's version of the text (or, for that matter, in any other Chinese or Sanskrit recension of the sutra).72 These characters -reading in English translation "Sariputra, because fonn is empty, it is without the mark of disfiguring (nao-huafk); because perception (vedani) is empty, it is without the mark of perception; because concept (sarpjiii) is empty, it is without the mark of knowing; because conditioning force (sarpskiIra) is empty, it is without the mark of production; because consciousness (vijiiana) is empty, it is without the mark of awakening (chileJtl). And why?" (T 8.847c5-7) -correspond exactly, however, with a line in Kumarajiva's version of the Large Sutra.73

Fukui also draws attention to the second of the divergences listed above, namely the statement in Kumarajiva' s Heart Sutra - and in this version alone - that "empty dharmas are not past, not future, [and] not present." Once again, however (as Fukui rightly points out), this line corresponds character for character with a line in the Large Sutra translation of Kumarajiva,74 but is found in no other version (in any language, we might add) of the Heart Sutra.

Basing his discussion only on the features listed in (1) and (2) above, Fukui concludes that the word-for-word identity between these elements unique to the so-called Kumarajiva translation of the Heart Sutra (among Heart Sutra recensions) but found also in Kumarajiva's own version of the Large Sutra serves as proof that this recension of the Heart Sutra is a genuine translation by Kumarajiva

--------------------


himself. This contention is problematic, however, for it rests on a questionable assumption: namely, that if a s_ingle individual (e.g., Kumarajiva) were to translate both the Heart Sutra and the Large Siitra into Chinese from Sanskrit originals, the two Chinese translations should agree word for word even though the Sanskrit texts do not. For, as we have already seen, the Sanskrit texts of the HeartSiitra and the Large Sutra diverge in a number of respects. Thus the nearly verbatim agreement between the two Chinese texts should instead arouse our suspicions. Moreover, even if a given translator were to render two perfectly identical texts on two separate occasions into a second language, the odds against his or her choosing exactly the same word in each instance are enormous. And this is especially true of a translator like Kumarajiva, who is renowned not for a wooden faithfulness to the Sanskrit original but for his fluid and contextsensitive renditions. Thus the character-for-character correspondences between the Large Sutra of Kumarajiva and the Heart Surra attributed to the same person can be used to argue against - rather than for - this attribution. Instead, such a close correspondence serves as evidence of what we in the 20th century would describe as plagiarism: the adoption of one individual's wording by another.

It is the third divergence listed above - the fact that the socalled Kumarajiva translation of the Heart Sutra phrases the initial statement of the non-difference between form and emptiness in wording distinct from the version of Hsiian-tsang - that may offer us the most valuable clue to the ancestry of "Kumarajiva' s" version of the text. For in this line the Heart Surra attributed to Kumarajiva does not agree with his own translation of the Large Sutra on the Perfection of Wisdom; rather, it corresponds to his 'version of the Ta chih-tu lUJtI" (Skt. * Mahaprajnaparamita-sastra). 75 Where the Heart Siitra of Hsiian-tsang and the Large Sutra of Kumarajiva both read se pu i k'unt ("form is not different from emptiness"),76 the Heart Surra attributed to Kumarajiva and the Ta chih-tulun both read fei se i k'ungn ("it is not that form is different from emptiness").77 How, then, are we to explain this divergence?

The answer, I believe, is a simple one. If we combine this piece of evidence with the fact just set forth - that the near-identity

TIIE HEART SUTRA 187

in wording between the Heart Siitra and the Large Siitra should be attributed to borrowing by a third party and not to sequential translations by a single individual - we can then draw a further ~onclusion: that the Heart Siitra attributed to Kumarajiva was based llot directly on his version of the Large Siitra, but on the citations from that siitra contained in the Ta chih-tu lun. In other words, the Heart Siitra may be viewed as the creation of a Chinese author who was ,'more familiar with the Large Siitra as presented in this widely popu1ar commentary than with the text of the siitra itself.

The hypothesis that the so-called Kumarajiva version (T No. 250) of the Heart Siitra was created on the basis of the Ta chih-tu lun also accords well with the fourth and final divergence listed above:

. the fact that in numerous respects this recension uses vocabulary that ' is quite at home in the translations of Kumlirajiva, but for which Hsiian-tsang (and the recension of the Heart Siitra attributed to him) used later, more scholastic tenns. If T No. 250 was the creation of writer(s) familiar with Kumarajiva's work, in other words, we shou1d not be at all surprised to find that it renders the Sanskrit word skandha into Chinese as yin,"o not yiinap (the reading found in Hsiian-tsang's works, and in the Heart Siitra attributed to him). Nor should we be surprised to find Avalokitesvara given in Kumarajiva's standard rendering as Kuan-shih-yinaq (in contrast to Hsiian-tsang's Kuan-tzutsa:f'X) , Sariputra as She-ii-fifs (vs. Hsiian-tsang's She-ii-tzzft) , prajiiiiparamitii as po-jo po-lo-miai(vs. Hsiian-tsang' s po-jo po-lo-miter), and the word bodhisattva in its standard Chinese rendering of

. p'u-sa"v (while in one instance Hsiian-tsang's Heart Siitra offers the rather pedantic reading p 'u-ti-sa-toaw). T No. 250 need not be, in other words, the work of Kumarajiva himself in order to exhibit Kumarajiva's standard vocabulary; the core passage has simply been extracted from his Ta chih-tu lun, while the frame sections need only be the product of a community or an individual at home with his renderings of Buddhist technical tenns.

If this text is not the work of Kumarajiva himself, then, when (and under what circumstances) was it produced? This question cannot be answered easily, though the evident patterning of T No. 250 on Kumarajiva's Ta 'chih-tu lun provides us at least with a

----~ ~--------

188 nABS VOL.15 NO.2

terminus post quem for its composition; that is, it cannot have been . produced prior to the completion of the Ta c!llh-tu lun itself, which according to the K'ai-yuan shih-chiao Hi took place in 406 CE.78 No comparable tenninus ante quem, however, is available to us, and indeed at least one scholar has suggested that this version of the text· may postdate that of Hsiian-tsang himself.19 In the absence of ftnn evidence, therefore, we must restrict our inquiry to the most obvious question: that is, when the so-called "Kumarajiva translation" of the Heart Siitra ftrst gained currency· in China. Yet the answer to this ~

question is startling, for this version of the siitra (unlike the one' attributed to Hstian-tsang) never became popular in China. Not a single Chinese commentary is based on this version (nor, for that matter, on any version of the siitra other than that of Hstian-tsang),80 . and the version of the text recited throughout China, Korea, and Japan is the recension attributed to Hsiian'-tsang. In retrospect this may indeed be the most telling indication that Kumarajiva played no role . in the creation of this version of the Heart Siitra, for it is otherwise quite unheard of in Chinese Buddhist history for a work of Hsiiantsang's to eclipse one of Kumarajiva's. Hstian-tsang's cumbersome and (by Chinese standards) overly literal style, together with his scholarly innovations in Buddhist technical terminology (most of which were never accepted outside limited scholarly circles), seem to have put off most of his Chinese audience. Kumarajiva's translations of a number of works have thus remained the most popular until today, despite the existence of later (and technically more accurate) renditions by Hsiian-tsang. If a version of the Heart Siitra attributed to Kumarajiva had indeed been in circulation in China prior to the appearance of the version attributed to Hsiiantsang, it seems highly unlikely that Hsiian-tsang's edition would have succeeded in supplanting it.

Based on the evidence presently available, then, we cannot determine with certainty just when the Heart Siitra attributed to Kumarajiva was produced. We are quite safe in concluding, however, that this HeartSiitra is not the work of Kumarajiva himself, but is an adaptation of his version of the Large Siitra (or rather, an adaptation of the version of his Large Siitra contained in the Ta chih-

THE HEART SUTRA 189

;tu lun) by a third party. We will return to a consideration of the ;relationship between this version of the sutra and the version 'attributed to Hsuan-tsang below, at which point we will again take iup the fourth' feature noted above, namely the divergences in 'technical vocabulary between the versions of the Heart Sutra ;associated with Kumarajiva and Hsuan-tsang. What we can state :With certainty at this point is that this version of the Heart Sutra is lneither Kumarajiva's nor an independent translation from the San'skrit.

The HSiian-tsang "translation. ;, But should we raise the same question concerning the Chinese version of the text attributed to

.. , Hsuan-tsang? As we have seen, we can no longer use the term "translation" to apply to this text, for there is every indication that it was fabricated in China. Moreover, Hsuan-tsang's biography speaks

of his translation of the text, but of his initial encounter with the . siitra in Szechwan. But the possibility of some editorial input by Hsuan-tsang into the text as it has come down to us must still be . examined. What, then, was the role of Hsuan-tsang in composing, editing, or popularizing the text in the form in which it has come down . to us?

In retrospect, we should perhaps have been alerted to the fact that this text is not what later generations have taken it to be - that is, a translation from the Sanskrit by Hsuan-tsang - by the fact that the sutra does not appear where we would expect it to: as part of Hsuan-tsang's magnum opus, the translation of a compendium of Prajfiaparamita texts ranging frbm the Perfection of Wisdom in 100,000 Lines (Skt Satasifhasrika-prajiiapiIramitif-siitra) to the Questions of Suvikrantavikrami (Skt. Suvikrantavikrifmi-parip!cchasiitra).81 Here the various sutras are not treated as separate texts, but

. as chapters in a single work, a rather unusual arrangement that may well go back to Hsuan-tsang himself. . No Prajfiaparamita text translated by Hsuan-tsang appears anywhere else in the canon but in this collection - none, that is, but the popular Heart Siitra edition associated with his name, which appears in the general Prajfiaparamita: section. This in itself may tell us something of the history of the text:


that it was first classified simply as a Prajiiaparamita text, in all probability listed as "translator unknown," ,and that only later _ through its close association with Hsiian-tsang and his activities in popularizing it - it.came to be attributed to him.

. But did HSiian-tsang simply pass on the siitra as he receiVed it, or did he himself leave a certain editorial imprint on the text? In a number of respects we find evidence that Hsiian-tsang may have "corrected" the text, in all probability after his travels in India.

In most respects Hsiian-tsang' s Heart Siitra contains readings identical to those found in Kumarajiva's Large Siitra. It does differ, however, in the translation (or transliteration) of certain terms, most notably the spellings of the name of Sariputra as She-ii-tzrlt (vs. Sheii-trls in Kumarajiva's translations and in the Heart Siitra erroneously attributed to him), Avalokitesvara as Kuan-tzu-tsai" (vs. Kuan-shihyiItq) , and the Sanskrit word skandha as yiiItP (vs. yiIt°). Other minor divergences between the versions of the Heart Siitra attributed to Hsiian-tsang and Kumarajiva, respectively, can be identified as well; since the above three examples are the most regular and the most easily traceable, we will restrict our inquiry to them. 82

A survey of the uses of the terms She-ii-tzu, Kuan-tzu-tsai and yiin (in the sense of Skt. skandha) in the Taisho canon reveals a striking and consistent pattern, for all three of these terms appear to have be~n introduced into the Chinese Buddhistliterature by Hsiiantsang himself. Not a single one of them is certain to have appeared in the work of any translator active prior to Hsiian-tsang's time, and indeed the pool of Chinese translators and commentators who later adopt these spellings is conspicuously small. 83 The appearance of all three of these terms in a work that is certain to have been in circulation by the middle of the 7th century is thus a virtual fingerprint ofHsiiantsang's editorial activity. 84

Should we assume, then, that Hsiian-tsang was responsible not only for the editing of the text, but for the composition of the frame section itself? This would, I believe, be going too far. His biography is eloquent on the extent of his devotion to the text and its recitation, a devotion that seems unlikely to have been so strong if Hsiian-tsang himself were the author (or the partial author) of the text.

THE HEART SUTRA 191

The most likely possibility, it would seem, is that Hstian-tsang encountered the text in its full form and made only minor editorial changes, in all likelihood after his extended study of Sanskrit terms in India.

We cannot determine, on the basis of the evidence presently available, the extent of the resemblance between the text given to IIsuan-tsang in Szechwan and the version traditionally attributed to

. J(umarajiva. In addition to the changes in technical vocabulary introduced by Hsuan-tsang himself, if a text resembling T No. 250 was indeed the prototype (and not a later creation) we must also account for the absence of the 37 characters at the beginning of the longer version from Hsuan-tsang's copy of the text, and for the

... absence of the line "empty dharmas are not past, not future, [and] not present." Hsuan-tsang's version of the sutTa, in other words, is somewhat abbreviated when compared with the so-called Kumarajiva version, or indeed with the core of the sutTa found in the Chinese Large Sutra itself. If these lines were not removed by Hstian-tsang himself, then, they must have been extracted at so,me time prior to his encounter with the text.

At least three scenarios can be envisioned to explain the divergences between Hsuan-tsang's version of the sutTa and the only other version (T No. 250) which can lay any claim to priority: (1) T No. 250 was fabricated after Hsuan-tsang' s version of the sutTa was already in circulation, perhaps by a traditionalist party unhappy with Hsuan-tsang's innovations in Buddhist technical terms; (2) the version of the sutTa obtained by Hsuan-tsang in Szechwan was essentially identical with the text now classified as T No. 250, and Hstian-tsang himself not only "corrected" its technical terminology, but excised certain portions of the text; and (3) the version of the text given to Hsuan-tsang had already been abbreviated before he obtained it, and the innovations introduced by Hsuan-tsang were limited to certain changes in technical terminology. At the present state of our know lege it is not possible to determine with certainty which of these scenarios is correct. As a working hypothesis, however, the third possibility seems the most likely.


The "Hsiian-tsang" transliteration (I' No. 256). We now come to the most peculiar version of the H~art Sutra found in the Chinese canon: a Sanskrit version in which the Indian sounds are recorded in Chinese characters.85 In contrast to the Chinese version attributed to Hstian-tsang, this transliterated version seems not to have been widely circulated in China, for it was not included in the. Buddhist canons produced at least from the Liao through the Ch'ing dynasties (10th-19th centuries), and was recovered only in the 20th century by Western archaeologists at Tun-huang.86

The text is not assigned a translator in the Taish5 edition of the canon (nor indeed in the body of the text itself), for it is not, of course, a translation. Nonetheless, it would be of considerable interest to know both the date of this transliterated edition and the identity of the person or persons responsible for its recording. In a recent article Leon Hurvitz has suggested that this transliteration, or "Brahmanical text" (as he calls it), was set down in writing by Hstiantsang himself.87 A quite different thesis, however, has recently been put forth by Fukui, who argues that the text is not the work ofHstiantsangat all, but is to be attributed to the 8th century tantric master, Amoghavajra.88 /'

Fukui's arguments in this regard are quite convincing, and the reader is referred to his monumental study for further details. One piece of supporting evidence not discussed by Fukui, however, may be mentioned here: that is, that the transliterated version diverges in several respects from the Chinese text attributed to Hstian-tsang. Where Hstian-tsang's Chinese text reads "[he] passed beyond all suffering" (8.848c4), for example, the transliterated text -like all the Sanskrit versions of the sutra discovered to date·- has no equivalent of this line. 89 Again, where the transliterated text reads riipam siinyam siinyataiva rupam ("form is empty, emptiness itself is form," 8.851 b29-c 1) the Chinese text associated with Hstian-tsang lacks any equivalent of these lines. Likewise the expression na vidyif na vidyifk~ayo nifvidyif nifvidyifk~ayo ("no knowledge, no destruction of knowledge; no ignorance, no destruction of ignorance" in the transliterated text (8.851c17-19) does not match Hstian-tsang's Chinese version, which reads simply "no ignorance, ~o destruction

THE HEART SUTRA 193

of ignorance" (8.848c9). Finally, while Hsiian-tsang's Chinese version reads "no knowledge and no attainment" (8.848clO), the transliterated text contains an expansion of this expression found in some (but not 'all) copies of the Sanskrit text, namely na jiiifna na prfipti(r) nfibhisama(yal}.) ("no knowledge, no attainment, [and] no realization," 8.852a2-3). The two texts, in other words, diverge in content (not just in wording) in a number of respects, and thus are extremely unlikely to have been the work of the same person. In ~particular, they are unlikely to have been the work of a person like

~!{Hsiian-tsang, whose philological and textual precision were legen~~; clary, and who certainly would not have let such discrepancies go ~I:! unnoticed.90 ~;;~~\

!'i' But if the two texts were not produced by the same person, ~lthen which - if either - should we attribute to HSiian-tsang? The !~" answer hinges in part, of course, on the degree of probability with ~i~which we can establish some connection between Hsiian-tsang and tE the text regularly associated with his name. As we have already seen, II~.however, T No. 251 (ordinarily described as a "translation" by ~l~Hsiian-tsang) does indeed contain the distinctive technical vocabufJary that appears in other translations and original compositions by ~;. Hsiian-tsang. Moreover, it is this version of the sutra that served as i~~' the basis for commentaries by both of Hsiian-tsang's main shldents,

K'uei-chi and Wonch'Uk:. The combined weight of this evidence '? seems sufficient, in the view of this writer, to point to this version of

the sutra as the one used by Hsiian-tsang. ";!

\7"

;! Hsiian-tsang and the Reception of the Heart Sutra in China. " Whatever the extent of Hsiian-tsang's role in the editing of the

' .• Chinese Heart Sutra associated with his name, we .can be cert~n of one thing: that it waS this version, and not any other, that fIrst gained wide popularity in China, and that it has remained down to the present

· day the sole version of the sutra that is actually read, chanted, and · commented upon in East Asia. And this situation was clearly already in effect during the T'ang dynasty. As Fukui has pointed out, most

· T'ang-period references to the Heart Sutra refer to the text as the To hsin ching,ax where the first character (pronounced to in the modem


Beijing dialect, but ta in T'ang-period Chinese) represents the final character of the transliteration of the Sanskrit word prajiiiipiiramita.9J

These three characters are, however, the last thiee elements in HSiian_ tsang's title of the text; the character to does not· appear in the title of the version attributed to Kumarajiva (nor, for that matter, in the titles of the two non-extant texts popularly supposed to have been early versions of the Heart Sutra92). That some of the later Chinese renditions of the sutra (none of which ever gained significant popularity) also end in these three characters - quite likely in imitation of Hstian -tsang's text - need not dissuade us from drawing the obvious conclusion: that these T'ang-period mentions of the To hsin ching refer specifically to Hstian-tsang's edition.

It was certainly Hstian-tsang, then, who was responsible for the widespread popularity of the sutra in China, and in all probability for its initial circulation (and perhaps its translation into Sanskrit) in India as well. It now remains only for us to consider the subsequent fate of this Chinese apocryphal scripture in the hands of the Buddhists of India and Tibet.

The Heart Sutra in India and Tibet It has long been known that there are numerous Sanskrit

manuscript copies of the Heart Sutra, a fact which has obscured until now the Chinese ancestry of the text. But the text did not stop evolving once it had been introduced into the Indian environment. Far from it; like all other Indian Buddhist texts, the Heart Sutra was subjected to a series of additions and changes, the most striking of which was the creation of a distinctive variant of the text popularly known as the "longer" recension.

We have already taken note of the fact that commentaries on the Heart Sutra attributed to Indian authors are clustered in a period from the 8th to the 11 th century CE.93 There is also, however, a clustering of a different sort, for all seven of the surviving commentariesare based on the longer recension of the sutra.94 And the same is true of the commentaries on the sutra written in Tibet, all of which are based on the longer version of the text. The situation is precisely the reverse, however, in China: here all of the extant commentaries are based not only on the shorter recension of the text, but on a single


~rexample of that recension - the version attributed to Hsiian-tsang (T kNo.251). t How can this striking discrepancy be explained? There is i~certainly no significant doctrinal difference between the two ;~'recensions, for the core section of the siitra (in which the basic ;{teachings are given) is identical in the shorter and longer texts. ~;JIndeed the only difference is that the "defects" we identified above ;~',in our discussion of Hsiian-tsang's shorter recension (the absence of ~~the standard opening and closing statements, together with the total ~non-appearance of the Buddha himself) have been remedied in the ~,~.longer version, at least in perfunctory fashion. With only such a ):fseeming1y minor difference between the two versions, then, why i{,should it be that all the Indian and Tibetan commentaries are based '~on the longer recension, while all the Chinese commentaries expound ~!"on the shorter one? f;: Not every event in the history of Buddhism, of course, has a M single easily identifiable cause. We must not discount the importance ~~iofaccidents of preservation and popularization: the role of a single ~r:charismatic preacher (whose name has long since been lost), for !f example, in disseminating a particular version of a text could have ( left an impact which we will never be able to recover. There is, ~,','

however, at least one identifiable factor which may explain this ':\::

commentarial pattern: the difference between Chinese and Indian :/ perceptions of what constitutes an authentic Buddhist scripture.

;: Scriptural Authenticity: The Chinese View. The dilemma faced by the early converts to Buddhism in China, confronted by an ever-mounting collection of canonical scriptures (many of which seemed to conflict with one another) ,arriving almost daily from the Western Regions, has long been familiar to modern scholars. And indeed it was just this seeming jumble of self-proclaimed authoritative works that led to some of the most creative developments in East Asian Buddhism, from .the complex p'an-chiacjYsystems of Chih-i and some of his predecessors (who tried to incorporate all of these diverse scriptures into a single coherent framework) to the formation of a variety of "one-practice" systems (based on the selection of a


single scripture or practice as most appropriate to the present age) in Kamakura-period Japan.

Yet throughout these quite divergent efforts a single fundamental criterion of authenticity can be discerned: the fact that a Buddhist scripture, to be authentic, must be of Indian origin. And when the composers of apocryphal texts set out to create new scriptures in China or Korea, one of their first concerns (as demonstrated by Robert Buswe1l95) was to include the proper Indiansounding elements, such as personal names and place names, in order to give their newly minted scriptures the ring of authenticity. In China, in other words, the first criterion of scriptural legitimacy was that of geography, for any text that had no demonstrated Indian pedigree was, on those grounds alone, suspect.

Scriptural Authenticity: The Indian View. In India, by contrast, the criterion of geography could hardly be used, for both genuine traditions of the Buddha's own sermons and texts containing much later fabrications emerged in precisely the same geographical milieu. Here other means had to be used to determine whether a given text was indeed the word of the Buddha, and the early Buddhists formulated a series of methods for deciding doubtful cases (to be discussed immediately below). That these means were insufficient for weeding out later claimants to the status of "Buddha-word" (Skt. buddhavacana) is amply demonstrated, for the modern scholar, by the fact that a large number of so-called Mahayana scriptures, and eventually even certain tantric works, came to be accepted as genuine by substantial portions ofthe Buddhist community.96 These were not, of course, accepted without some resistance, and some of the earliest scriptures that eventually came to be associated with the Mahayana wing of Buddhism still bear the marks of their struggle for legitimacy.97

At least in the early centuries, however, Indian Buddhists had a fairly clear-cut method of evaluating the authenticity of a given text (a method evolved prior to the recording of Buddhist scriptures in written form): it had to agree with the other teachings of the Buddha, on the one hand,98 and it had to be something "heard" from a


~;legitimate source, on the other.99 It is this latter category, I would :{argue, that led to the eventual formulation of an implicit single 'fcriterion for authenticity: a legitimate siitra had to conform to the sole ;!acceptable format for this genre of Buddhist literature - that is, it had is: to open with the words "Thus have I heard at one time. The Lord was iCdwelling at ... ,"100 and to close with some indication of the reaction ii'of the audience. Everything else":' as the Mahayana scriptures amply ;;~attest - was negotiable. ~;>~ By this Indian criterion, then, the reason for the clustering of ~'icommentarial attention around the long version of the siitra becomes '~!evident. The difference between the shorter and longer versions of 'ii:, the Heart Siitra is - to put it bluntly - that the longer version is a siitra, 1{~' while the shorter one is not. ~' In sum, the first order of business, for Indian Buddhists, was :ll: ~:;> to convert the text into acceptable siitra format. Once this had been F' done, its legitimacy could be established, and the work of commen-\!'~"'" ;tr tary-writing could begin. What we see in the longer recension of the 5i 'siitra, in other words, is the result of the domestication of a Chinese ~i; product to fit the demands of the Indian Buddhist market.

~;'i Scriptural Authenticity and the Heart Sutra in .Tibet Tibet is, T' of course, situated midway between India and China, and thus it is

;~); not surprising that Tibetan criteria for the genuineness of a Buddhist ,fL scripture represent a combination of Indian and Chinese specific a:~ tions. First and foremost, a legitimate text must come from a """z~

r.;£ certifiably Indian source; and second, it must - in accordance with '~~C:- the sole identifiable Indian critenon - be of the "proper" genre. It is ~, thus quite natural that only the longer version of the Heart Siitra was S' ever accepted into the Tibetan Buddhist canon, despite the fact that ;~; a short version of the text is known to have been extremely popular

::,~,:

('. in the Sino-Tibetan border region' of Tun-huang.101 \:/" :::' But there may be evidence of Chinese, rather than Indian, i; influence in the pattern of the commentaries on the Heart Siitra

ti,! written in Tibet, for these are apparently clustered into two distinct , .. ,'.'~ •. ' .. '. periods of composition: an earlier group, composed during the

Imperial Period (7th-9th centuries CE) and its aftermath, and a later ~, ,.~", ~

", '~.', "~,I - -'i. ~

,",i",~.

198 nABS·VOL. 15 NO.2

group, dating from the period ofthe Ch'ing dynasty (1644-1912).102 But these are precisely the two periods in Tibetan history when Chinese influence in Tibet was at its peale In the face of this striking pattern it seems legitimate to raise the question of whether the degree of Tibetan interest in the Heart Sutra may have been directly related to the extent of Tibetan contacts with China. Once again, what We may be seeing here is evidence not of the centrality of the Heart Sutra to Tibetan religious concerns, but of its ongoing importance in China.

Conclusions In this paper I have sought to demonstrate, primarily on the

basis of philological evidence, that a flow chart of the relationships among the Sanskrit and Chinese versions of the Large Sutra and the Heart Sutra can reasonably be drawn in only one sequence: from the Sanskrit Large Sutra to the Chinese Large Sutra of Kumarajlva to the Chinese Heart Sutra popularized by Hsiian-tsang to the Sanskrit Heart Sutra. To assume any other direction of transmission would present insuperable difficulties - or would, at the very least, require postulating a quite convoluted series of processes, which (by virtue of this very convolution) seems considerably less likely to have taken place.

A second level of argument - and one that need not be accepted in order to validate the hypothesis of a Chinese-to-Sanskrit transmission of the Heart Sutra - has been offered in support of the roleofHsiian-tsang in the transmission of the Chinese Heart Sutra to India, and perhaps even in the translation of the text into Sanskrit. While the circumstantial evidence of his involvement with the text (and, in particular, of his recitation of the text en route to India) is sufficient to convince this writer that he is the most likely carrier of this sutra to the West, one need not accept this portion of the argument in order to conclude that the Sanskrit Heart Sutra is indeed a translation from the Chinese.

What is not open to question, however, is the fact that the Heart Sutra gained significant popularity in China well before it became the subject of commentarial attention in India, and that it has maintruned a central role in East Asian Buddhism from the 7th

THE HEART StJTRA 199

rbenturY CE down to the present. And even if we accept the idea that :.the satra is "apocryphal" in the technical sense - that is, that it was .,{created as a separate scripture in China, composed of an extract from ~~the Large Satra' of Kumarajiva (itself a translation of the Indian Ep;wcavilpsati-prajfiaparamita-satra) together with an introduction .~ .. and conclusion composed in China - this in no way undermines the ~(Na1ue that the text has held for Buddhist practitioners. "Whatever is :I:conducive to liberation and not to bondage" - so the B~ddha is said .;~to have told his followers - "that is my teaching. "103 And for millions 52 of East Asian Buddhists, and countless numbers of Indian and i~>Tibetan Buddhists as well, the Heart Satra has played just such a role. if . "The Prajiia-piiramita-brdaya," wrote John McRae in the f:opening line of an article published recently in this journal, "is a ;'Chinese text."l04 He went on to make it clear that he did not mean :r~this statement to be taken literally, and offered a carefully docuhmented analysis of the centrality of this text in Chinese Buddhist ~,thought and practice and of the variety of ways in which Buddhist .lfcommentators had employed it. . Yet his words were, in retrospect, ).~:prophetic. After many years spent in demythologizing the work both \. of Buddhist hagiographers and (occasionally) of other Buddhist i.. scholars, I now find myself in the rather unaccustomed position of .:( urging the reader to take this statement in a literal, not a figurative,

.; . sense. The Heart Satra is indeed - in every sense of the word - a /\ Chinese text.


NOTES

The author would like to thank Gregory Schopen for providing a photocopy and transcription of the relevant section of the Gilgit manuscript of the Palicavirpsati_ sahasrikfI-prajflfI-paramitii-sutra. Extensive comments on an earlier draft of this manuscript were offered by Gil Fronsdal, John McRae, Masatoshi Nagatomi, and Alan Sponberg. Additional comments, suggestions, and good leads were Provided by Judith Boltz, Robert Buswell, Paul Harrison, Dan Lusthaus, Elizabeth Napper, . Richard Salomon, Jonathan Silk, and NobuyoshiYamabe. Michael Saso and David Chappell cheerfully answered my inquiries on a variety of Chinese SOurcematerials; David Eckel and Donald Lopez did the same for texts Originating in India and Tibet. Finally, the members of the American Oriental Society (Westem Branch) provided the needed encouragement and enthusiasm to propel this paper from its earlier incarnation as a conference talk into its present printed form.

1. Skt. Prajflaparamitii-hrdaya (the word surra does not appear in the title in any of the extant Sanskrit manuscripts). For a critical edition of the Sanskrit text based on manuscripts found in Nepal, China, and Japan see Edward Conze, "The Prajflaparamitii-hrdaya-sutra," in his Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies (London: Bruno Cassirer, 1967), pp. 148-167. (A similar but not identical discussion and edition of the text was published by Conze in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society [1948], pp. 38-51; because each contains certain elements not found in the other, the two publications are best used together.) Both short-text (ST, in Conze's terminology) and long-text (L T) recensions of the Sanskrit text are known; Conze has conflated the two in his edition.

A number of versions of the surra (both ST and L T) are included in the Taisho edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon, under various titles for the ST see Taisho nos. 250, 251, and 256 (the latter a transliterated Sanskrit version in Chinese characters), and for the LT nos. 252, 253, 254, 255, and 257 (of which no. 255 is a translation from the Tibetan). In working with the Chinese Heart Sutra I have been greatly assisted by an unpublished synoptic edition of all the Chinese versions of the text prepared by Gil Fronsdal.

The Tibetan canon contains only the LT edition, which is ordinarily found in both the PrajfUiparamita and Tantra sections of the Kanjur (Derge nos. 21, 531; Narthang nos. 26,476; Lhasa no. 26, 499), though in the Peking Kanjur the text appears. only in the Tantra section (no. 160). Numerous copies of a Tibetan ST version, however, have been found at Tun-huang. For the canonical (LT) version a superb critical edition has been prepared by Jonathan Silk, to be published in the near future. The ST Tibetan text is the subject of a study now being prepared for publication by John McRae and myself; in the meantime see a preliminary note on the ST version published by UEYAMA Daijun in Indogaku bukkyi5gaku kenkyil, vol. 26 (1965), pp. 783-779 (where, however, the Tun-huang text has been substantially regularized to conform with the orthographic conventions of Classical

THE HEART SUrRA 201

Tibetan). The Mongolian Kanjur, following the fonnat of the Tibetan Peking xylograph edition, includes the Heart Siitra only in the Tantra division (Ligeti No.

162). A Sogdian version of the Heart Siitra, together with a barbarous rendition

of the Sanskrit, has been edited by E. Benveniste in Textes sogdiens, Part 1 (paris: Paul Geuthner, 1940), pp. 142-144. An incomplete Khotanese version has recently been edited and translated by Prods Oktor Skjrerv0; see 'The Khotanese Hrdayasiitra"

. in A Green Leaf: Papers in Honour of Professor Jes P. Asmussen, Acta Iranica, Series 2, No. 28 (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1988), pp. 157-171. An Uighur (Turkish) version of the text has recently been discovered in the Berlin Turfan collection, but is as yet unpublished. According to Peter Zieme (cited in Silk, op. cit., p. 71, n. 78) the text is an incomplete manuscript, translated into Uighur from the Chinese but possibly also with reference to the Tibetan.

For additional bibliographical comments see Edward Conze, The Prajiiaparamita Literature, 2nd revised ed. (Tokyo: The Reiyukai, 1978), pp. 67-74.

2. See the studies by Come in his Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies and in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society cited above, note 1. For an English translation and commentary on the text see his Buddhist Wisdom Books, 2nd ed. (London: Allen and Unwin, 1975), pp. 99-129.

3. FUKUI Fumimasa, Hannya shingyo no rekishiteki kenkyii (Tokyo: Shunjusha, 1987).

4. Donald S. Lopez, Jr., The Heart Siitra Explained: Indian and Tibetan Commentaries (Albany: State University of New York Press, 1988).

5. See M. David Eckel, "Indian Commentaries on the Heart Siitra: The Politics of Interpretation," Journal of the Intemational Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 10, no. 2 (1987), pp. 69-79, and John R. McRae, "Ch'an Commentaries on the Heart Siitra: Preliminary Inferences on the Permutation of Chinese Buddhism," Journal of the Intemational Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 11, no. 2 (1988), pp. 87-115.

5a. An additional line, which occurs only in a small minority of Sanskrit manuscripts, has not been translated here. See below, note 19.

6. See Edward Conze, The PrajiiapfiramitaLiterature (2nd ed.), pp. 56-74. 7. On this formula see John Brough, "Thus have I heard ... ," Bulletin of the

School of Oriental and African Studies, 13 (1950), 416-426. 8. See Lopez, The Heart Sutra Explained, p. 7 and n. 14. 9. No instance of the use of mantras or dhfiraIJis occurs in what are generally

considered to be the earliest Prajfiaparamita texts, viz. the RatnagUI)asa.rp.cayagatha and the A${asiihasrika-prajiifipfiramita-siitra. The fIrst appearance of such formulas in this body ofliterature occurs in the PaficaviJ!lsatisiihasrika-prajiiapiiramita-siitra (see the following note), where these formulas are arranged in a syllabic sequence known as the arapacana, which is widely attested in documents written or originally composed in the Kharo$thi script (see Richard Salomon, "New Evidence for a


Gandhari Origin of the Arapacana Syllabary," Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 110, no. 2[1990]), 255-273). The term mantra is of course widely used in Indian religions generally, and goes back to the period of the Vedas; the term dhararji, by contrast, appears to be a peculiarly Buddhist expression. Though it is not always possible to distinguish clearly between incantations of these two types (and indeed the two categories seem increasingly to fall together over the course of Buddhist history), it would appear that the word dharaI)i was flIst employed in reference to mnemonic devices used to retain (Skt. v'dhr, "hold") certain elements of Buddhist doctrine in one's memory, in contrast to the Word mantra which was used to refer to words or phrases in which the sounds themselves were considered to be highly effective when pronounced correctly. Much basic research still remains to be done on the uses of both mantras and dharm;J!s in Buddhist literature and practice.

10. The name "Large Sutra" is derived from the title of the most popular Chinese version of the text (discussed immediately below), and has been adopted here for convenience to refer to versions of the siltTa in all languages. The Sanskrit title is PaiicaviIp.satisaiJasrikajJrajnaparamita-siltra ("The 25,OOO-Line Perfection of Wisdom Siitra"). A Sanskrit text of the so-called "rearranged" version of the text (Conze's type2a), which was edited in around the 9th century to conform with the format of the AbhisamayaJaIp.kara of MaitreyaruHha, has been published by N. Dutt on the basis of very late (c. 19th c.) Nepalese manuscripts; see his The PaflcaviIp.satisaiJasrika-prajnaparamita, Edited with Critical Notes and an Introduction, Calcutta Oriental Series No. 28 (London: Luzac & Co., 1934). For the passage corresponding to the core of the Heart Siltra see p. 46, line 2 through p. 47, line 3. A portion of an older (unrearranged, Conze's type 2) Sanskrit version has survived in manuscripts found at Gilgit, dating to around the 6th century CE; these have been published in facsimile by Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra, Gilgit Buddhist Manuscripts, Parts 3-5, Satapi~a Series, Vol. 103 (New Delhi: International Academy of Indian Culture, 1966). For the passage corresponding to the core of the Heart Siltra see folio 21 v, lines 2-1l.

Though the PrajfUiparamita siitras are regularly identified in Sanskrit (and in the corresponding Tibetan translations) by the number of lines they are said to contain, in Chinese this convention is not followed. The Taisho edition of the Chinese canon contains four versions ofthe text: T. nos. 220 (section 2, 7.1a-426a), 221, 222 (a partial translation), and 223. Of these by far the most popular is the translation attributed to Kumarajiva (no. 223); it is titled Mo-ho po-jo po-Io-mi chinge (*Maha-prajnaparamitii-siltra, that is, "The Large Prajfiaparamita Sutra"), and is popularly known simply as the "Large Sutra."

The sole translation of the text preserved in the Tibetan canon corresponds to the unrearranged Sanskrit version (Conze's type 2); see Peking no. 731, Derge no. 9, Narthang no. 10, and Lhasa no. 10. For the corresponding Mongolian version see Ligeti nos. 758-76l.

No manuscript copies of the Large Siltra have yet been identified, to the best

THE HEART SUTRA 203

of my knowledge, in any of the major Buddhist hulguages of Central Asia (Tokharian A and B, Khotanese, Sogdian and Uighur). Sanskrit fragments of other closely related texts (the Prajfiaparamita siitras in 100,000 and 18,000 lines) have, however, been found in Sinkiang; see Lore Sander, "Buddhist Literature in Central Asia," in G. P. Malalasekera, ed., Encyclopedia of Buddhism, vol. 4, fase. 1 (Colombo: Government Press, 1979), pp. 52-75 (especially p. 68).

For further discussion and bibliography see Conze, The Prajiiapfiramita Literature (2nd ed.), pp. 34-40.

n. The fIrst such reference was apparently made in the 7th century (see below, note 33).

12. This line, which is absent from all the Chinese versions of the text, appears in the fonn cited here (that is, Skt. riiparp. siinyarp siinyataiva riiparp.) in the majority of extant Sanskrit copies (for details see Conze' s critical edition [cited in n. 1 above], p. 150, n. 10) as well as in the Tibetan translation of the longer recension of the sutra (which reads gzugs stong-pa'a). Conze, however, preferred the reading "form is emptiness" (riiparp. siinyat§) and accordingly chose this version (which constitutes a distinct minority of readings in the manuscript copies) as standard.

13. Here we come to a large rift between the traditional Chinese understanding of this line, on the one hand, and the Tibetan on the other. The Chinese Heart Sutra reads shih chu fa k'ung hsiang, "all dhannas [have] the mark [of] emptiness." The Tibetan Heart Sutra, by contrast, reads chos thams-cad stong-pa-nyid-de / mtshan-nyid med-pa ("all dhannas are emptiness [they are] devoid of marks"). Grammatically the Sanskrit admits of either interpretation; it can be read either as sarvadhannaJ;. siinyata-lak$aI)a ("all dhannas have the mark of emptiness") or as sarvadhannaJ;. siinyata-alak$aI)a ("all dhannas are emptiness, [and are] unmarked"). Conze's English translation of the Sanskrit follows the Chinese sense, but without a discussion of the alternative reading.

14. It is noteworthy that both Sanskrit versions of this passage (that is, both the Heart Sutra and the Large Sutra) follow the sequence "not decreasing, not increasing," while both Chinese versions place the word "increasing" (tseng) before "decreasing" (chien). It is difficult to explain this reversal no matter what direction of textual transmission is postulated. A possible explanation is that that the difference is due simply to the established sequences of these terms in the two languages: that is, that in Sanskrit the more natural sequence would be "decreasingincreasing," while the reverse would be true in Chinese (just as in English we normally say "waxing and waning" rather than the reverse, and would tend to follow this sequence even when translating from a language that read "waning and waxing"). An additional factor may be the visual effect of the Chinese characters: by placing the word "decreasing" last, one obtains a sequence of six negations in which items 2, 4 and 6 all contain the "water" radical while items 1, 3 and 5 do not. If one followed instead the sequence found in the Sanskrit Large Sutra the waterradical would not alternate so rhythmically, but would instead appear in items


2,4 and 5, lending a perhaps less poetic appearance to the list Both of these suggestions are, however, merely hypothetical.

15. All citations from the Sanskrit Large Siitra are based on the readings found in the Gilgit manuscript published in facsimile by Raghu Vira and Lokesh Chandra (cited above; note 10); a photocopy and transcription of the passage corresponding to the core section of the Heart Siitra were generously supplied by Gregory Schopen. I have followed Schopen' s lead in not regularizing the transcription. Some of the more important scribal errors and variants are discussed in the following notes.

16. The Gilgit manuscript of the Sanskrit Large Siitra regularly reads Saradva{fputra, while the later Nepalese manuscripts (and the Tibetan translation) read Sariputra. For a discussion of this and other variants of this name see Andre Migot, "Un grand disciple du Buddha Sariputra," Bulletin de l'Ecole FraIlfaise d'Extreme-Orient, 56 (1954), 405-554 (p. 411).

, 17. See above, note 12. 18. The Gilgit manuscript regularly reads sunyatawhere one would expect

siinyatif; 19. The sentences yad riipam sa siinyatif ya siinyatif tad riipam ("that which

is form is emptiness, that which is emptiness is form ") are absent from a substantial majority of the Sanskrit manuscripts reviewed by Conze in his critical edition, as well as from the canonical (LT) Tibetan translation, though they do appear in the Tun-huang manuscript copies (ST), where they are rendered into Tibetan as gag gzugs-pa de stong-pa-nyid II gag 'Stong-pa- nyid-pa de gzug-te [sic]. Accordingly, I have omitted these lines from the English translation of the Sanskrit given above (p. 155).

20. This line ("not past, not future, [and] not present") is found in both the Gilgit manuscript and Dutt's late Nepalese copies of the Large Sutra, as well as in the Chinese translations of the text. It is absent, however, from all versions of the Heart Satra (in all languages) exceptthe Chinese version attributed to Kumarajiva, a text whose 'attribution is extremely problematic. Fot further discussion see below, pp. 184-189 and notes 71-73.

21. Note that the Heart Satra reads spr:1$tavya while the Large Siitra has sparsa. In this context (that is, in the list of ayatanas and dhiftus) the reading spr~tavya ("touchable") is more standard than sparsa ("touch"); see Bruce Hall, Vasubandhu on "Aggregates, Spheres, and Components": Being Chapter One of the "Abhidharmakosa", Ph.D. thesis,Harvard University, 1983,p. 62 (I, §9a-b) and p. 80 (I; §14a-b).

22. The Heart Siitra regularly reads cak$UIdhatu where the Large Satra has cak~udhiftu.

23. Where the Gilgit text reads na satvayatanaIp. na satvayatananirodhal) ("no being-ayatanas and no extinction of being-ayatanas") Dutt's edition has na ~ac;liiyatana na ~ac;1ayatana-nirodha ("no six ayatanas and no extinction of the six ayatanas"), which is the more expected reading.

THE HEART SUTRA 205

24. While the Sanskrit Large Siitra negates attainment (praptJ.) and realization (abhisamaya), most Sanskrit manuscript copies of the Heart Siitra place the ~

.. term prapti second rather than first and negate knowledge Unana) rather than realization. In this respect the Sanskrit Heart Sutra matches both the Chinese Heart Sutra attributed to Hsiian-tsang and the Chinese Large Sutra translation of J(umarajiva, where the corresponding terms are chiJtz and te.ba

25. The Sanskrit text of the Large Siitra edited by Dutt· (based on considerably later manuscripts) is even more repetitive, demonstrating the ongoing amplification that has continued throughout the life of the text

26. The shift from singular forms (in the Large Siitra) to plurals (in the Heart satra) is paralleled by a change of subject in the Sanskrit texts, from "emptiness" (in the Large Sutra) to "all dharmas' (in theHeart Satra). This change, however, seems easiest to explain as the result of a transition that took place in the course of Kumarajiva's translation of the Large Satra from Sanskrit into Chinese. While the Sanskrit Large Satra reads "that which is emptiness does not originate" and so on, the Chinese Large Siitra of KUffiarajiva reads "all dharmas are marked by . emptiness: not originated" and so on, wording which the Heart Siitra attributed to Hsiian-tsang follows exactly. In this context, without an explicit subject in the Chinese text, the reader would most naturally assume that the subject is "all dharmaS' - which is exactly what we find in the Sanskrit Heart Siitra. (For the Chinese and Sanskrit texts see above, pp. 159 and 162, respectively.)

27. See Conze, The PrajflaplIramita Literature (2nd ed.), pp. 10-12. 28. The earliest complete Chinese version of the Large Siitra was translated

by Mok~ala (T No. 221) in 291 CE, though a partial translation was produced by Dharmaraks~a in 286 CE (T No. 222). The version of the Heart Satra attributed to Hsiian-tsang is said to have been translated in 649 CEl while Kumarajiva's version is dated to 402-412 CEo Both of these attributions are, however, extremely problematic; for details see below, pp. 184-191.

29. On the date of the Indian commentaries see Lopez, The Heart Sutra Explained, pp. 4 and 8-13, and Eckel, "Indian Commentaries," p. 71.

30. Commentaries attributed to Nagarjuna (but certainly not by him) and to Maitreyanatha (whose identity is likewise Problematic) both appear by the early 5th century CE, the former in China and the latter in India For details see Conze, The PrajflaplIramita Literature, pp. 35-36 and 39-40.

31. The classic statement of differences between Chinese and Indian preferences is given by Tao-anw in his Preface .to an Abstract of the Prajfla Siitras (382 CE), where he enumerates five deviations (Ch. wu shih penbb) and three nonalterations (san pu r) in Chinese translations from Indian originals. For a discussion of these eight categories arid whether Tao-an viewed any or all of them as permissible deviations from the Indian originals see Richard H. Robinson, Early Madhyamika in India and China (1967; Ipt. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1976), pp. 77-88. For a convenient discussion of Chinese Buddhist translation practices in general $ee also Kenneth Ch'en, Buddhism in China: A Historical Survey


(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964), pp. 365-372. As Ch' en notes despite the scholastically superior innovations of Hsiian-tsang and others "th~ principles advocated by Kumarajiva tmally won supremacy" (p. 372).

32. An exception to this rule is Hsiian-tsang, whose scholastic scruples Won out over his awareness Of Chinese literary preferences, resulting in translations which - while prized by certain scholars for their accuracy.- never gained widespread favor among Chinese Buddhists. A poignant account ofHsiian-tsang's struggle between his awareness of Chinese literary preferences (as pointed out to him by, among others, his students) and his desire for faithfulness to the Sanskrit original is contained in his biography, as recorded by Hui-li:

On the first day of the first month in the spring of the fifth year (A.D. 660), he started the translation of the Mahifprajflifpiiramitif Sutra [Skt. Satasifhasrika_ prajiiffpiiramitif-sutra] . ... Since it was such an extensive work, his disciples suggested that he should make an abridgement of it. The Master complied with their wishes and intended to translate it in the way as Kumarajiva translated the Buddhist texts, expunging the tedious and repetitionary parts. When he cherished this thought he dreamed in the night some very terrible things as a warning to him. He dreamed that he was climbing over a precipitous peak and some wild animal was trying to catch him. He trembled with perspiration and managed to escape from the dangerous position. Mter awakening he related his evil \iream to the people and decided to translate the sutra in full text. In that night then he dreamed to see the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas emitting a light from the middle of their eyebrows, shining over his body and making him feel comfortable and happy .... When he awoke he felt happy, and he thought no more of making any abridgement but made the translation in exact accordance with the original Sanskrit text.

(English translation from LI Yung-hsi, trans., The Life of Hsiian-tsang [peking: The Chinese Buddhist Association, 1959], pp. 260-261).

33. See T. No. 1710, 33.524a25-bl, where K'uei-chi writes as follows:

"Hsin" [lit.: heart or core] refers to what is firm and substantial, yet subtle and exalted. In accord with the capacity of its [original] audience, the Large Sutra has a meaning and content of expansive breadth. When we, however, receive it, grasp it, transmit it and study it, it gives rise to a sense of timorous retreat. The sages who transmitted the Dharma therefore published this [Heart Sutra] separately to record the firm and substantial, yet subtle and exalted purport [of the Large Sutra]. The traditional three divisions and dual introduction [of that work] were consequently truncated in order better to formulate its essence and highlight its guiding themes: [the teaching that] things, occurring in their myriad representations, all have form, yet are all empty as well. The Way allows a thousand gateways, yet all pass through non-wisdom: to attain

THE HEART SaTRA 207

realization of both [the fonn and the emptiness of all things]. This siitra assays the marvelous purport of the expanded scripture signalling its substance, and thus it is given the name Heart [of the Perfection of Wisdom].

ii (translation by Alan' Sponberg, in a paper to appear in a volume of translated ,.commentaries on the Heart Siitra, edited by Donald Lopez). The most striking '.:(feature of K'uei-chi's description of the HeartSiitra, for our purposes, is the i2statement that the Heart Siitra was "published separately" by "the sages who 'TtraDsmitted the Dharma" - not ''preached separately" by the Buddha himself. Such '/a statement by Hsiian-tsang's own student (who was also, as Sponberg points out, ,: C. ihe author of the earliest extant commentary on the Heart Siitra) carries significant J~weight, and seems to be seconded by the comparison made by Wonch 'Uk, another i;'/of Hsiian-tsang's disciples, between the Heart Siitra and the Kuan-yin ~;; (Avalokitesvara) chapter of the Lotus Siitra, which was likewise part of a larger text

but was extracted and circulated separately (see T No. 1711, 33.543b). In sum, the statements of both K'uei-chi and Wonch'Uk indicate that at least some Chinese Buddhists, already in the 7th century CE, considered the Heart Siitra to be not a

...... separate sermon preached by the Buddha, butan extract made by certain "sages '. who transmitted the Dharma" from the Large Siitra of Kumarajiva.

34. For the Mongolian text see Ligeti no. 1105, Qutur-tu asaraqui neretii sudur (Mongolian Kanjur vol. 90, eldeb XXXI)~ folio 437b and passim. The

• Mongolian version is a translation of the Tibetan text titled 'Phags-pa byams-pa'i mdo zhes-bya-ba (peking no. 1010, Narthang no. 328, Lhasa no. 349; the text is not included in the Derge edition): The Sanskrit title appears in Tibetan

: transcription as A.rya~maitri-siitra; one would have expected it to read instead * Arya-maitreya-siitra. The fact that both Maitreya and maitri are regularly translated into Tibetan as byams-pa suggests that this Sanskrit title is not original, ' but was reconstructed by the Tibetans. No Sanskrit version of the text has survived; there is, however, a Pali edition of this peculiar text, which represents an. amalgamation of a prophecy concerning the future Buddha Maitreya (pali

. Metteyya) in verse, and a prose commentary by Buddhaghosa on the AIiguttaranikaya. For further details see Jan Nattier, Once Upon a Future Time: Studies in a Buddhist Prophecy of Decline (Berkeley: Asian Humanities Press, 1991), p. 56 and n. 81. In the other Mongolian version of the same text (Ligeti No. 783, corresponding to Peking no. 751) the name of Maitreya's city is simply translated into Mongolian.

35. The term blo-gros"mind" is, however, the equivalent of Skt mati (id.), not of -maa (which occurs regularly in the Sanskrit version of the name Ketumati). The latter is presumably a feminine form of the suffix -mat "having, possessed of." . The name of the city thus seems to have meant "the one (f.) possessing a flag," not - as the Tibetans interpreted it - "flag-mind."

36. The various Mongolian-Tibetan-Sanskrit dictionaries employed by the Mongols in translating Buddhist texts from the Tibetan are discussed in detail in

----------------


Vladimir Leonidovich Uspensky, "Buddiiskaya tenninologiya v mongol'skol11 perevode. Istbchniki dlya izucheniya i puti fonnirovaniya" ["Buddhist Terminal. ogy in Mongolian Translation. Sources for their ,Study and their Means of

. Fonnation"] (unpublished M.A. thesis, Leningrad University, 1981), pp. 8-27 One af the most important of these texts is the Mongolian version of the Tibetan~ Sanskrit dictionary kIiown as the Mahavyutpatti; see Alice Sfu"~6zi, " Some Words . on the Mongolian Mahavyutpatti," Acta Orientalia (Budapest), vol. 34 (1980), Pp. 219-234. '

37. Even the ruUne of one of the dhatus is given differently in these two texts (see above, note 21).

38. See above, p. 166 and n. 29. 39. According to a story recently quoted in a number of English-language

studies (e.g., Eckel, "Indian Commentaries," p. 70, and Lopez, The Heart Sutra Explained, p. 13), one of the stories collected by Hsiian-tsang on his visit to India was that of the Buddhist philosopher Bhavaviveka, who is said ta have recited the Heart Sutra in order to conjure up a vision of the bodhisattva A valokitesvara. If this story were true, it would provide evidence of the use of the Heart Sutra in India well before HSiian-tsang's visit in the first half of the 7th century. This assertion, however, which is based on the account given in Samuel Bea1's translation of the Hsi-yii chfd (Si-yu-ki: Buddhist Records of the Western World [1884; rpt. New York: Paragon Reprint Corp., 1968], vol. 2, pp. 223-225) is a figment of Bea1's translation; the text in question is not the Heart Sutra at all, but an entirely different work of which certain characters in the Chinese title are identical with those in title of the Heart Sutra (viz., the "Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva Wish-Granting· DharaI}i Sutra," Ch. Kuan-tzu-tsai p'u-sa tan-fo sui-hsin t'o-lo-ni ching,be T No. 1l03b, translated by Chih-t'ungbf c. 650 CE).

Another oft-cited piece of evidence for the early currency of the Heart Sutra in India is the existence of a Sanskrit palm -leaf manuscript of the siitra kept at the lIoryuji temple in Japan and supposedly brought from China to Japan in 609 CEo This assertion first appeared in the works of F. Max Miiller, and has subsequently been widely quoted in Western-language sources (e.g., Edward Conze, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies, p. 155). Here Miiller was misled by his Japanese research assistants, who reported to him that a date for the arrival of the . sutra in Japan corresponding to 609 CE appears in a Japanese source (see F. Max Miiller, ed., Buddhist Texts from Japan [Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1881], pp. 4-5). Indeed it does; but the source in question, a local. chronicle titled Jkarugakoji benranbg ("Memorandum on Ancient Matters of Ikaruga") , composed in 1836, is entirely unreliable on matters of ancient chronology; to cite only one example, it asserts that together with the palm -leaf Heart Sutra the mission that arrived in Japan in 609 brought (inter alia) a robe and a bowl belonging to Bodhidharma, items that acquired symbolic importance in Chinese Ch'an only during and after the time of Shen-huibb (684-758 CE). Such a tradition, in other wQrds, could only have been formulated around 730 CE at the earliest, and thus the assertion that Bodhidharma's

THE HEART SUTRA 209

robe and bowl reached Japan in 609 CE is patently false, making the parallel claim that the Heart Sutra manuscript was brought by the same mission quite useless as evidence. In the absence of any other source that could provide a concrete date for the arrival of this manuscript in Japan (and accordingly a terminus ante quem for its copying in India), we may provisionally accept the evidence (admittedly always tentative) provided by the shape of the letters in the manuscript itself: as G. Buhler asserts in the same volume (Muller, Buddhist Texts from Japan, p. 90), "If we had no historical information [a reference to the Jkaruga chronicle] regarding the age of the Horiuzi palm-leaves, every palaeographist, I believe, would draw from the above facts the inference that [the Heart Sutra manuscript] belonged to the beginning of the eighth century A.D." Constrained by what he believed was a concrete date for the Heart Sutra manuscript, BUhler went on to use that text to reevaluate the history of Indian palaeography (pp. 90-95); as we can see, however, such contortions were not necessary, and the appropriate move would have been the reverse.

40. See McRae, "Ch'an Commentaries," pp. 93-94 and p. 109, n. 23. I have retained the full form of the name "K'uei-chi" for ease of identification. The validity of this usage has been questioned, however, by Stanley Weinstein; see his "A Biographical Study of Tz'u-en," Monumenta Nipponica 15, 1-2 (1959), pp. 119-149.

41. For references see above, note l. 42. On the tenuousness of the attribution of this text to Kumarajiva see

McRae, "Ch'an Commentaries," p. 88 and p. 106, n. 6; for the supposed Hsuantsang translation see Fukui, Hannya shingyo no rekishiteki kenkyil, p. 188. (Fukui

. does not, however, question this attribution.) The fact that this famous text is attributed to these two illustrious translators for the first time only several centuries (in the case of Kumarajiva) or several decades (in the case of Hsuan-tsang) after their deaths, while no such translation is mentioned in contemporary biographical accounts of either of them, casts considerable doubt on the validity of these attributions.

43. The story of Hstian-tsang's receipt of the text becomes ever more detailed in the course of its transmission, acquiring evidently hagiographic elements along the way. In the Chen-yuan hsin-ting shih-chiao mu-lziri edited by Yuan-chao,bj for example, Hsuan-tsang receives the text not from a sick man, but from a "spirit person" or "divine man" (shenjenbk) (T No. 2157, 55.893c-894a), while in the novelized version of Hstian-tsang' s journey the anonymous donor has acquired a concrete identity as the "Crow's Nest Ch'an Master" of Pagoda Mountain, described by Hstian-tsang as a bodhisattva (see Anthony Yii, trans., Monkey [Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1977], vol. 1, pp. 392-394). For the earliest version of this story, as related by Hui-li: see below, p. 179.

44. Hsuan-tsang's biography states that he acquired the text during his sojourn in Szechwan, a visit which took place during c. 618-622 CE, while the earliest evidence for the presence of the sutra in India - the commentary attributed


to Kamala§iIa - dates from around the end of the 8th century CE (see Lopez, The Heart Sutra Explained, pp. 4 and 11).

45. The first and third of these items are corrected, at least in perfunctory fashion, in the longyr recension of the text, while the Buddha makes a brief appearance there as well; yet it is quite clear that the shorter recension is older, and is thus the version which should be of primary concern to us in our inquiry into the origins of the text. For a discussion of the relation between the shorter and longer recensions of the text see below, pp. 194 - 197.

46. See Robert E. Buswell, Jr., ed., The Formation of Ch'an Ideology in China and Korea: The Vajrasamadhi-sutra (Princeton: Princeton University Press 1989), pp. 16-17. '

47. Fukui, Hannya shingyo, p. 201-207. It may well be the fact that the Heart Sutra was originally produced for ritual use - that is, for use as a dharmji to be chanted - that accounts for the peculiar absence of a single line found in Kumarajlva's Large Sutra (and the Sanskrit manuscripts of the Large Sutra as well) from all extant versions of the Heart Sutra, in all languages, with a singJe exception to be discussed immediately below: that is, the line that reads "[empty dharmas] are not past, not future, not present" (T 8.223a16; for the corresponding Sanskrit text see Dutt, Paficavirpsati, p. 46, line 11). While all the surrounding materials in this section are arranged in groups of two, this line alone contains three elements. Thus it is possible (though this is admittedly far from certain) that this line was omitted from the text as it was excerpted and transfonned into a dharmjibecause this three-part arrangement would have interrupted the rhythm used in chanting. If this line. of reasoning is correct, the fact that the so-called "Kumarajiva translation" does include this line (in agreement with Kumarajlva's Large Sutraand his Ta chih-tu iUIf'" but in disagreement with all other versions of the Heart Sutra, in any language) may provide additional evidence that the so-called Kumarajiva text has a separate (and aberrant) history - that is, that it was excerpted from the Ta chih-tu lun after a Chinese version of the Heart Sutra resembling that attributed to Hsiian-tsang was already in circulation.

48. Another possibility, suggested by Robert Buswell in a letter dated 21 January 1992, is that the Heart Sutra might be a kind of ch 'ao-ching ("condensed sutra"), "a fairly common genre of scriptural writing in early Chinese Buddhism, which excerpted seminal passages from the Mahayana sutras to create easily digestible' gists' of these texts." (For a discussion of this genre see Kyoko Tolcuno, "The Evaluation of Indigenous Scriptures in Chinese Buddhist Bibliographical Catalogues," in Buswell, Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha, pp. 31-74, especially p. 39.) If this line of interpretation is followed, the term hsin-ching might be understood - as Buswell suggests - not as dharaI)l (as Fukui would have it) but as "gist sutra," a reading more in line with traditional exegesis.

49. For a recent discussion of the mantra of the Heart Sutra see Donald S. Lopez, Jr., "Inscribing the Bodhisattva's Speech: On the Heart Sutra's Mantra," History of Religions, vol. 29 [1990], pp. 351-372.

THE HEART SUTRA 211

50. TSUKAMOTO Zenry\i has noted, based on a study of the iconography of the Lung-men caves in northern China, a shift from Sakyarnuni and Maitreya as the primary figures in Buddhist iconography dUring the late Northern Wei dynasty and after (c. 500-540 CE) to a focus on Amitabha and A valokitesvara at a later time

. (c. 650-720); for an English summary of his study see Ch'en, Buddhism in China, . pp. 171-172. In fact the emergence of AvalokiteSvara as a dominant figure appears to take place even earlier - around 530 CE - based on the data assembled by Tsukamoto. Avalokitesvara's popularity has continued to increase since that time, and he ( or she) has remained the most prominent bodhisattva in China until today.

51. It is difficult to fmd textual support for this assertion, which is admittedly based on anecdotal evidence both from traditional written sources and from modern scholars specializing in Chinese Buddhism. Nonetheless, it seems to be a fair characterization of the situation in these two societies, where Avalokitesvara remaIned one bodhisattva among many in India, on the one hand, while attaining the status at least of first-among-equals in China, on the other.

52. See McRae, "Ch'an Commentaries," p. 107, n. 10. The text to which McRae refers is the To-lo-ill chi ching'I(T. No. 901, lS.7S5a-S97b); for the mantra of the Heart Siitra see p. S07b20-21. It is noteworthy that this dhaIa1}I catalogue offers not one but three hsin t'o-lo-nJ= ("heart dharaI)is") associated with the Perfection of Wisdom; for the complete list see lS.S071b19-c9. Still otherdhiinu:J.is associated with the Perfection of Wisdom are given on the preceding pages (18.S04c-807b ).

53. Fukui, Hannya shingyo, p. 192, referring to the Ta-fang-teng wu-hsiang ching'" (Skt. Mahamegha-siitra, T No. 387) and the Tung-fang tsui-sheng tengwant t'o-lo-ni chint" (Skt. AgrapradipadharaI)ividyaraja, T No. 1353). No page references are given in Fukui's study, but the passages to which he refers are presumably T 12.1084c7 and c 12 and T 21.867 el2 and c22, respectively. While neither of these passages contains a full replication of the mantra found in the Heart Siitra, the striking similarities between them suggests that a number of variants of this mantra must have been circulating outside the context of the Heart Siitra itself. Though T No. 1353 was translated into Chinese only toward the end of the 6th century, T No. 387 was translated by Dharmak~ma early in the 5th century (during the period 414-421 according to the Ku-chin i-ching l'u-chin,lrp T No. 2151, 55.360b24).

54. It is also possible, of course, that the mantra was circulating in oral form, in Szechwan and perhaps also elsewhere in China.

54a. Just as this paper was going to press, I received word from two colleagues of a number of occurrences of the list of epithets of the mantra (chou or ming-chou) in other Chinese texts. (Here I must beg the reader's indulgence for the absence of Chinese characters for the terms mentioned in this footnote; it was not possible to add to the glossary at this late stage in the publication process.) The closest correspondence (indeed, an exact one) is found in the Chin-kang san-mei ching (* Vajrasamadhi-siitra), which reads po-jo po-lo-mi shih ta shen-chou, shih


taming-chou, shih wu-sbangchou, shih wu-teng-tengchou (TNo. 273, 9.371b12_ 14), a word-for-word match to the epithets lists (though not to the spelling Of prajfiaparamitfi) found in the version of the Heart Silrra associated with Hstian_ tsang (T No. 251, 8.14-15). Given the late date of this sutra (685 CE according to Buswell), however, and its originally Korean provenance, it seems certain that this passage did not provide the inspiration for the corresponding section of the Heart Silrra, but quite the opposite: that is, the composer of the Vajrasamadhi borrowed these lines from the by then quite popular Heart Silrra (as suggested in Buswell The Formation of Ch'an Ideology, p. 22 and n. 28; I would like to thank Gil Fronsdal for bringing this discussion to my attention).

Of considerably greater interest, therefore, are a number of similar occurrences that clearly date from well before Hsiian-tsang's time. This group of passages, recently identified by Nobuyoshi Yamabe (who kindly sent me notice of his findings in letters dated 1 October 1992 and 7 November 1992), includes the following:

(1) Kuan-fo san-mei hai ching ("The Sutra of the Samadhi-Sea of Buddha Visualization," tr. c. 420-422 CE by Buddhabhadra; T No. 643, 15.647b4-6): po-jo po-lo-mi shih ta ming-chou, shih wu-shang chou, wu-teng-teng chou. No Sanskrit version of this text is known.

(2) Hsiao-p'in po-jo po-lo-mi ching (Ail{asIihasrika-prajfiapiIIamita-silrra, tr. 408 CE by Kumarajiva; T No. 227, 8.543b25-27 and repeated in 28-29): po-jo polo-mi shih ta ming-chou, po-jo po-lo-mi shih wu-shang chou, po-jo po-lo-mi shih wu-teng-teng chou. The corresponding Sanskrit passage reads mahavidyeyarp Kausikayad uta prajnapiIIamita I apramfiI).eyarp Kausika vidya yad uta prajnaparamita I aparimfiI).eyarp KUaSika vidya yad uta prajfiaparamita I niruttareyarp Kausika vidya yad uta prajnapiIIamita / anuttareyarp Kausika vidya yad uta prajnaparamita I asameyarp Kausika vidyayad uta prajfiaparamita I asamasameyarp Kausika vidya yad uta prajnapiIIamita (from P. L. Vaidya, ed., AiltasIihasrika-prajnaparamita, p. 36, line 30 - p. 37, line 7; cf. Conze, The Perfection of Wisdom in Eight Thousand Lines, pp. 108-109). As the reader will note, the extant Sanskrit text is considerably more repetitive than is Kumarajiva's version.

(3) Ta-p'in po-jo po-lo-mi ching (PaficaviIp.sati-sIihasrika prajnaparamita-siltra, tr. 404 CE by Kumarajiva; T No. 223, 8.283b9-IQ): shihpo-jo po-lo-mi shih taming-chou shih wu-shang ming-chou (cf. Conze, The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom, p. 229). No corresponding Sanskrit text of the PaficaviIp.sati is easily available for comparison (Dutt's published edition of the Nepalese version ends with Chapter 21, while this citation occurs in Chapter 28; and the corresponding section of the text is missing from the Gilgit manuscripts according to Conze, The Prajnaparamita Literature, 2nd ed., pp. 34-37).

In addition Yamabe has located a number of parallel passages in the translations


of Hsiian-tsang himself (T 7.151a29-b3, 156a17-19, 551blO-13, 556a23-25, ~80b27-29, 580c4-6, and 875a3-4). - To Y amabe' s substantial list may now be added two further occurrences in Kumarajiva's tt:anslations (cf. nos. 2 and 3 above), located by this writer as a direct result of Yamabe's fmdings:

(4) Hsiao-p'in (tr. Kumarajiva, T No. 227): po-jo po-Io-mi shih ta chou-shu, wushang chou-shu (T 8.542b5-6). The corresponding Sanskrit passage reads mahavideyarp Kausika yad uta prajiIaparamital apramai)eyarp Kausika vidya. yad uta prajiIaparamital aparimai)eyarp KatiSika vidyayad uta prajiIaparamita I anuttareyarp Kausika vidya yad uta prajiIaparamita I asameyarp Kausika [vidya] yad uta prajJIaparamita I asamasameyarp Kausika vidya yad uta prajiIaparamita (Vaidya, A.?tasahasrika, p. 27, lines 29-32; cf. Conze, Eight Thousand, p. 104). Note that Kumarajiva's text is not consistent in its rendering of the word vidya "lore, knowledge, spell"; in (2) above it appears as ming-chou (or simply chou), while here it is translated as chou-shu "mantric art."

(5) Ta-p'in (tr. Kumarajiva, T No. 223): shih po-jo po-Io-mi ... shih ta ming-chou, wu-shang ming-chou, wu-teng-teng ming-chou (T 8.286c2-3; cf. Conze, The Large Surra, p. 237). No published Sanskrit text is available for comparison (cf. (3) above),

These examples (and there may well be others) are quite sufficient to demonstrate that there were ample prototypes available in China for the creation of an epithets lists such as the one contained in the Heart Surra.

Even more important, however, is yet another observation offered by Mr. Yamabe: that the underlying Sanskrit term (where extant texts are available for comparison) corresponding to Ch. chou is not manrra (as in the Heart Surra) but vidya - thus supplying us with yet another example of back-translation. The Sanskrit term vidya, in other words, was originally translated into Chinese as mingchou (or simply chou); but after a passage containing this term was incorporated into the Chinese Heart Sutra, it was then back-translated into Sanskrit using the

partially synonymous term mimtra. 55. The Chinese term shena is sometimes used to translate Sanskrit rddhi,

"supernatural power," and, less commonly, deva, "god." Neither of these renderings would,· however, have been appropriate in the present context. My assumption is that the person who translated the text into Sanskrit simply chose not to include an equivalent of this, character.

56. The majority of Conze' s Nepalese Sanskrit manuscripts, for example, add the word prapnoti ("he attains") following the phrase ni$tba-nirvai)a (see Conze, Thirty Years of Buddhist Studies, p. 152 and n. 44), as does the Tibetan (LT) translation, which reads mya-ngan-las 'das-pa'i mthar phyin-to ("he attains to the end [which is] nirvai)a"). Likewise Conze finds it necessary to supplement


this cryptic phrase with additional words in his English translation, where he renders it as "in the end he attains to nirvfu)a."

57. The ear in question is not my own but that of Richard Salomon, who kindly drew this infelicity to my attention.

58. On the Sanskrit LT recension and its Chinese and Tibetan translations see below, pp. 194-197 and note 65.

59. Li, Life of HSiian-tsang, p. 23. 60. Loc. cit. 61. See Arthur Waley, TheRea1 Tripitaka and Other Pieces (London: Allen

& Unwin, 1952), p. 53. 62. On these and other apocryphal texts created in China see Buswell,

Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha, especially pp. 1-29. 63. See Buswell, Vajrasamfidhi, especially pp. 3-40. 64. For a preliminary discussion of this issue see Jan Nattier, "Church

Language and Vernacular Language in Central Asian Buddhism," Numen, vol. 37 (1990), pp. 195-219.

65. Long versions of the sutra contained in the Taisho canon are T No. 252 (translated by Dharmacandra in 741 CE), No. 253 (Prajna, 790 CE), No. 254 (Prajiiacakra, 861 CE), No. 255 (Fa-ch'eng,bq 856 CE, from the Tibetan), and No. 257 (Danapala, 1005 CE). Short versions are TNo. 250 (attributed to Kumarajiva), No. 251 (attributed to Hsiian-tsang), and No. 256 (a transliterated version of the Sanskrit text in Chinese characters, for which no clear attribution is given).

66. For a discussion of these titles see John McRae, "Ch 'an Commentaries," p. 88 and notes 4-7, and FuKUI Fumimasa, Hann ya shingyo no rekishiteki kenkyil, pp. 171-185.

67. Although Tao-an's catalogue was not completed until 374 CE, it is generally considered to include only those works available in China through the beginning of the 4th century. For a convenient summary of the current state of our knowledge of this and other catalogues of Chinese Buddhist scriptures see Kyoko Tokuno, "The Evaluation of Indigenous Scriptures in Chinese Buddhist Bibliographical Catalogues" (cited above, n. 48).

·68. For further discussion see McRae, "Ch'an Commentaries," p. 106, notes 5 and 6.

69. Kumarajiva's translation was completed in 404 CEo 70. McRae, "Ch'an Commentaries," p. 89 and n. 9. For another example

of the use of the section of the Large Sutra which would eventually be extracted to form the core of the Heart Sutra in the commentary literature prior to the time of Hsiian-tsang see Chih-i's Mo-ho chih-kuan, T No. 1911, 46.5b20.

71. According to Fukui (op. cit., p. 177) this text is attributed to Kumarajiva for the first time in the K'ai-yiian shih-chiao Iii (730 CE). Cf. McRae, op. cit., p. 89 and n. 9.

72. Fukui, op. cit., p. 178. 73. These characters in tum are clearly patterned on a passage found at this

TIIE HEART S[JTRA 215

point in the Sanskrit Large Sutra, which reads (in Conze's translation) "because the emptiness of fonn does not molest [sic], the emptiness of feeling does not feel, the emptiness of perception does not perceive, the emptiness of impulses does not put together, the emptiness of consciousness is not aware" (Skt tathahi ya riipasiinyata na sa rupayau ya vedanasiinyata na sa vedayau ya saIJ1jiiasiinyata na sa saIJ1janIte I ya saIJ1skliraSiinyata na sabhisaIpskaroti ya vijiianasiinyata na sa vijanati). For the English text see Conze, The Large Sutra, p. 61; for the Sanskrit see Dutt, op. cit., p. 45, line 14 - p. 46, line 2.

74. Fukui, loe. cit. 75. I would like to thank Prof. Masatoshi Nagatomi of Harvard University

for drawing my attention to the Tachih-tu IwF in this connection, and for raising the question of the significance of this divergence in phrasing. The reading found in the Ta chili-tu lun also occurs in some of the more recent editions of KumarajIva's Large Sutra consulted by the Taisho editors (viz., the Sung, Yiian and Ming editions, as well as the K'ai-pao [Old Sung] edition). My working assumption, at this point, is that these relatively late editions reflect an editorial emendation introduced on the authority of the Ta chih-tu lun itself.

76. See T 8.848c4-5 and 8.223a13, respectively. 77. See T 8.847c7-8 and 25.327c22, respectively. 78. T No. 2154, 55.513a4. 79. McRae, op. cit., p. 89. 80. See above,p. 179. The sole exception to this rule appears (at first glance)

to be the commentary by Kiikai (T No. 2203a), who claims to be writing on the basis of Kumarajiva' s version of the text. A close examination of the actual content of Kiikai' s commentary, however, reveals that it is Hsiian-tsang's version, not the text attributed to KumarajIva, that served as its basis.

81. T No. 220, comprising the totality of volumes 5-7 of the Taisho edition. 82. Other respects in which T No. 250 differs from T No. 251 include the

rendition of Skt. prajiiapliramitaas po-jo po-lo-mfi in the fanner (vs. po-jo po-Iomi-to"u in the latter), the rendering of the term bodhisattva in one instance as p'ut'i-sa-to"w in the latter (but never in the former, which consistently has the standard Chinese reading p'u-sa'V); differences between certain characters used in the transliteration of the mantra at the end of the sutra (seeT 8.847c20-21 and 848c18-19, respectively); and the use of the term hsirf" "heart" or rather - as Fukui haS argued - "dhlir8.I}l' in the title of the latter, where the former reads ming chOli'u

. ("bright incantation"). 83. The only translators in whose works these three terms (Kuan-tzu-tsai,SI

She-li-tzu,at and yiiItP) regularly appearjn the forms found in the version of the Heart Sutra attributed to Hsiian-tsang (T No. 251) are Divakara (fl. 680-688), Bodhiruci II (fl. 693-727), Amoghavajra (fl. 723-774), *DevaSanti, a.k.a. *Dharmabhadra (fl. 980-1000), Danapala (fl. 928-1017), Dharmapala (fl. 1004-1058), and of course Hsiian-tsang himself. Not one of these translators, however, predates the work of Hsiian-tsang; thus it seems quite probable that these terms


- all of which represent scholastic innovations designed to replace oilier, already well-established expressions - were in troduced by Hsuan-tsang himself. (The only exceptions to this chronological pattern are two works attributed to Bodhiruci I, fl. c. 508-540, one containing the tenn yiirtP [T No. 675] and another using the name Kuan~tzu-tsal" [T No. 587]. Elsewhere in the works of this earlier Bodhiruci however, the expressions yin"0 and Kuan-shih-yiIf" are consistently used instead: one therefore suspects that in these two instances either some textual corruptio~ has taken place or there has been some confusion with Bodhiruci' s later namesake.)

84. It is noteworthy that even Hsuan-tsang's own disciples, K'uei-cbii and Wonch'Uk,k tended to retain the reading Kuan-shih-yiIf" rather than Kuan-tzu_ tsal" as the name of the bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, even while they followed their master's lead in adopting new readings for Sanputra and skandha.

85. See T No. 256, based on the Tun-huang manuscript now catalogued as Stein 2464. For a recent discussion of this text see Leon Hurvitz, "Hsiian tsang (602-664) and the Heart Scripture," in Lewis Lancaster, ed., Prajiiapiiramitlf and Related Systems: Studies in Honor of Edward Conze (Berkeley, CA: Berkeley Buddhist Studies Series, 1977), pp. 103-121. Two minor corrections should now be made to the transcription of the Sanskrit text given there: on p. Ill, line 1, the word siinyam has been omitted in typesetting before the word siinyataiva (see T 8.851b29); and on p. 112, line 2, the five characters read by Hurvitz as na siddhitvad are probably intended to represent the expression nastitviid instead (see T 8.852aS). A complete romanization of the transliterated Chinese text, based on the Tun-huang manuscript versions, may now be found in Fukui, op. cit., pp. 127-138.

S6. The version of the text that served as the basis of the Taisho edition is Stein No. 2464. Fukui has recently drawn attention, however, to the existence of two other Tun-huang manuscript copies (Stein 5648 and Pelliot 2322); see Fukui, Hannya shingyo, pp. 98-99.

87. Leon Hurvitz, "Hsiian tsang (602-664) and the Heart Scripture," p. lOS. 88. See Fukui, Hannya shingyo, especially pp. 92-115. 89. This is also true of both Tibetan versions of the text CST and LT), as well

as of all extant Chinese versions of the text except T Nos. 250,251, and 254. 90. Without discussing the discrepancies between the transliterated and

translated versions, Fukui suggests that the transliterated version corresponds to the text obtained by Hsiian-tsang before his trip to the West, popularly known as the "Kuan-yin-given version" (p. 93).

91. The character mlbv was pronounced with a final -t in Tang-period Chinese, and thus was able to stand alone as an equivalent offinal-mitlfin the tenn prajmplIramita (see Bernard Karlgren, Analytic Dictionary of Chinese and SinoJapanese [1923; rpt. New York: Dover, 1974], no. 617, and cf. the Japanese pronunciation of the same character as mitsu). For the pronunciation of the final character in the title of T No. 251as ta in Tang-period Chinese see Karlgren, Analytic Dictionary, no. 1006.

92. See above, pp. 182-184.

THE HEART SUTRA 217

93. See above, p. 166 and note 29. It is st:rildng that not a single one of these commentaries is preserved either in an extant Sanskrit text or in a Chinese translation; comentaries attributed to Indian authors appear only in the Tibetan canon, and a number of them may in fact have been composed in Tibet. (Forfurther details see below, notes 94 and 102.) All the commentaries preserved in the Chinese canon, by contrast (T Nos. 1710-1714, plus Nos. 2746-2747 [classified as "apocryphal" in the TaishO canon] and 2202-2204 [composed by Japanese authors]), are the works of East Asian authors.

94. See Peking nos. 5217-5223 and Derge nos. 3818-3823. (Note that the Derge edition of the Tibetan canon lacks any equivalent of Pek. No. 5221, titled Shes-rab-kyi pha-tol-tu phyin-pa'j snying-po shes-bya-ba 'grel-pa, the commentary on the Heart Siitra attributed to Kamalasila.)

95. Buswell, Vajrasamifdhi, pp. 16-17. 96. That not even the Mahayana siitras were ever accepted as legitimate by

a majority of Indian Buddhists is, however, amply attested, for example in the travel account composed by Hsiian-tsang. According to Hsiian-tsang's calculations, fewer than 50% of the Buddhist monks he encountered on his journey were Mahayanists (this in the middle of the 7th century CE). For a convenient summary

. of his census figures see Etienne Lamotte, Histoire du bouddhisme indien (Louvain: Institut Orientaliste, 1958; rpt. 1967), pp. 596-60l.

97. See for example Conze's translation of the Perfection of Wisdom in 8,000 Lines (Skt. A$tasahasrika-prajflaparamita-siitra), where in the very first chapter there is an explicit defense of teachings produced by the Buddha's disciples (rather than by the Buddha himself) as taking place "through the Buddha's might" (buddhanubhavena) and thus not contradicting the true nature of the Dharma (p. 83). Clearly what is intended here is the defense of scriptures that could not plausibly be attributed to the Buddha himself as representing, in some sense, buddhavacana. Likewise in the Lotus Siitra (Saddharma-pU1}tjarika-siitra) the opposition of many Buddhists to this "new teaching" is made explicit in the story of five thousand monks, nuns and lay devotees who walk out of the assemblywhen the Buddha is about to expound the Lotus Siitra (see H. Kern, trans., SaddharmapU1}(lar1ka or the Lotus of the True Law [1884; rpt. New York: Dover, 1963], p. 38ff.).

98. The assumption that the Buddha's teachings were homogeneous is, from the perspective of the modem scholar, quite striking; this perception of homogeneity was subsequently abandoned, of necessity, in China and Tibet.

99. See Etienne Lamotte, "La critique de I' authenticire dans Ie bouddhisme," in India Antiqua (Leiden: E. J. Brill, 1947), pp. 213-222. The notion that to be legitimate a Buddhist scripture must have been "heard" from an authorized source has, of course, intriguing parallels with the Hindu concept of sruti, parallels which have not (to my knowledge) been fully explored to date. For a more recent discussion of the issue of scriptural authenticity (including an examination ofMahayana and Vajrayana perspectives on the issue) see Ronald M. Davidson,

218 nABS VOL. 15 NO, 2

"An Introduction to the Standards of Scriptural Authenticity in Indian Buddhism" in Buswell, Chinese Buddhist Apocrypha, pp. 291-325. '

100. Even some (though by no means all) llmtric texts begin with this fonnula; see for example the Hevajra Tantra, ed. and trans. by David Snellgrove (London: Oxford University Press, 1959), vol. 1, p. 3.

101. Dozens of copies of a Tibetan ST recension, translated either directly from the Chinese or from a Sanskrit ST text but with considerable input from a Chinese version, have been found at Tun-huang. These manuscript copies, now preserved primarily in the Stein (London) and Pelliot (paris) collections, are the subject of a forthcoming study by John McRae and myself. Cf. above, n. l.

102. Commentaries attributed to Indian authors but preserved only in Tibetan, and composed during or shortly after the Tibetan Imperial Period (possibly at the request of the Tibetans themselves), include those of Vimalamitra (8th c.), who - though of Indian origin - had studied in China and returned there after his sojourn in Tibet, Kamala§ila (8th c.), Atisa (11 th century) and Mahajana (lIth c.). (The commentaries attributed to the latter two were definitely composed in Tibet, and those of Vimalamitra and KamalasIla may have been written there as well, though this is less certain; a fifth commentary, written by Vajrapalji [10th-11th century], was composed according to its colophon in Nepal [Lopez, personal communication, 1992].) Following these works there is an apparent hiatus in the composition of commentaries on the siitra in Tibet, after which exegetical activity was resumed in the Ch'ing period. (This statement is based on a personal communication from Donald Lopez [1986], who has been engaged in an active search for Tibetan commentaries on the text. Lopez points out, however, that there may well have existed other commentaries that have not yet come to light [personal communication, 1992].) For a complete listing of canonical references to

commentaries by Indian authors preserved in Tibetan see above, n. 94. 103. The passage from which this oft-cited line is taken occurs both in the

Vinaya (Cullavagga, X, 4) and in the AIiguttara-nikaya (IV, pp. 280-281), in the context of a discussion between the Buddha and his foster-mother, MahapajapatI. In response to a request by the latter for the "Dharma in a nutshell," the Buddha offers a number of criteria for determining what should and should not be considered his teaching. Each item is first stated negatively (i.e., in tenns of what is not the Dharma), and then positively as follows:

[Of] whatever teachings (dhamme), 0 Gotami, you can assure yourself "these teachings lead to dispassion (viraga), not to passion (sarliga); tofreedom from bondage (visarpyoga), not to bondage (saIJ1yoga); to decrease [in possessions], not to increase; to few desires, not to many; to contentment, not to discontent to.solitude, not to socializing; to exertion, not to indolence; to ease in maintaining oneself, not to difficulty" - indeed you may consider "this is the Dhamma, this is the Vinaya, this is the teaching of the Teacher (sasthusasana)."

THE HEART SUTRA 219

The Buddha's reply thus offers a set of general guidelines for evaluating anything. that purports to be the Dharma, while simultaneously undercutting the all-toohuman tendency to grasp at a any particular formulation of the Dharma to the exclusion of others (a move which, we might note, serves to counter the notion of a "closed canon" of Buddhist teachings).

104. McRae, "Ch'an Commentaries," p. 87.


LIST OF CHARACTERS

a. lftar IiUht.1 ~fl al. i; b. !f,J:t am .. A:t'lti c. t an. ~f~,J£ d. f1. ao. Ft e. f~ ap. i f. f:l€" aq. lH!ti' g. f~ ar. a~t h. f~ as. t;fll~

f~ at. t;fljq-j. l£ au. I19Jhtlf~ k. OO~ avo iii I. r;tjj(;J~H~ aw. ilii~ m. I\,'~! ax. 1; I\,'!! n. ~f;ft ay. #lJi/{ O. # az. t p. *#Jt ba. 1!t

1!11 bb. li*-q. Jt. r. 1E~b~~ be. =-;r::~ S. t,iL bd. W!.~~r. t 1::.H! be. I.~ ti9Hg~~a{II~I\,'!ltIJfJ! u. **~-wji bf. tll v. :t ~IJ '='II$;~! bg. JiIMt*1l1 W. Jt:tt bh. #-t X. ~P!}l!! !=lit bi. Y{ j(;1Jf ~ ~Ht IH~ y. it bj. Imp'}{ z. lli'='l~t ble. wA. aa. tiji b/. PEIJS!~! abo *~/tHhUltwJt-t bm. I\,' PEllE. ae. IiHritli#Jt-{ bn. A:Jitl1M!' ad. #Jt boo :(Ji l":I1Jt Iff.!! ae. "tar!M'i~Jttt! bp. t+~~;Jtl af. ,ftor!*5!lt bq. *J1(. ag. Ji7\:AHH! br. It ah. 7't1~! bs. UJlJt ai. M:*i&:.lt bl. i: aj. Jt:t5f ~f~ i ~f **~fJ)i1± ak. i~t

THE HEART SUTRA

APPENDIX: The Core Passage of the Heart Sutra in the Gilgit and Nepalese

Manuscripts of the Sanskrit Large Siltra

(PaiIcaviIpSati-sahasrikff-prajMparamim-siltra)

221

Part of the evidence outlined above in support of the hypothesis that the Sanskrit Heart Sutra is a back -translation from the Chinese is that the differences between the core passage of the Sanskrit Heart Sutra and its counterpart in the Sanskrit Large Sutra can more easily be explained by positing a Chinese intermediary between the two than by positing intra-Indian textual evolution alone. In considering the validity of this hypothesis we are fortunate to have manuscripts of the Sanskrit Large SiitTa representing not one but two layers of the Indian textual tradition: a Gilgit manuscript dating from perhaps the 6th century CE,

. and a group of very late Nepalese manuscripts dating from the 19th, century. The Nepalese texts, of course, represents only one of many possible descendants of the Gilgit text (or rather, of the original text on which both are ultimately based); there could well have been other versions of the text that have not come down to us in which we might have been able to observe other directions of textual evolution. Nonetheless it is useful to observe that the Nepalese texts - when compared with the much earlier Gilgit version of the same siitra - exhibit none of the wholesale shifts in wording and parts of speech that we see in the Sanskrit Heart Sutra. Rather, we see precisely what one would usually expect in a Buddhist text dating from this period: a number of amplifications, derived mainly from the reiteration or more detailed enumeration of items already present in the earlier manuscript. (There are also certain amplifications found in the Gilgit manuscript but not in the Nepalese texts, suggesting that these two groups of texts represent separate lines of descent from a common, and somewhat simpler, ancestor.) There is nota single case - and this is extremely important to emphasize - in which we see any of the specific changes (from verbs to adjectives, from singulars to plurals, or the substitution of one synonym for another) that are reflected in the core of the Sanskrit Heart Sutra. Thus while a comparison of the Gilgit manuscript of the Sanskrit Large Sutra with its Nepalese counterpart is insufficient in and of itself prove our hypothesis, it provides no evidence whatsoever to the contrary.

Gilgit Manuscript (c. 6th c. CE) na hi Saradvatdiputra--anyad riipam anya sunyata

nanya sunyatanyad rupm11 [rii]pam eva sunyata

sunyat(ai)va riiparjl evam na(ny)a vedananya sunyata

Nepalese Manuscript (c. 19th c. CE) Sariputra nanyadrupam anya sunyata

nanya sunyata anyadriipam rupam eva sunyata

slinyataiva riipam nanya vedana anya sunyata


nanya saI1ljiUi nanya sunyata: .

nanye saI1lsma anye sunyata

nanya vijiianam anya sunyata: . nanyal). sunyata:nyad vijfianarp. . vijiianam eva sunyata: sunyataiva vijiianarp. .

ya saradvatiputra sunyata: na sa utpadyate na nirudhyate . na sarp.klisyate na vyavadayate . na hiyate na vardhate

natlta nanagata: na pratyutpanna ya notpadyate na nirudhyate na

saq1ldisyate na vyavadayate na hiyate na vardhate natlta nanagata na pratyutpannal).

na tatra riiparp. na vedana na saqljiian na saqlskarful na vijiianaql

na cak~ur na Srotrarp. na ghrfu.iaql na jihva na kaye na mana!).

na riipaql na sabdo na gandho na rasa na sparso na dharmaQ.

(na) tatra skandha na dhatavo nayatanani

na tatra cak~udhatu na riipadhatur na cak~uvijiianadhatu

na (sro)tradhatu na sabdadhatur na SrotravijiianadhatuQ.

na ghrfu)adhatur na gandhadhatur na ghrfu:1avijnanadhatu

na jihvadhatur na rasadhatur

nanya sunyata anya vedana vedanaiva sunyata sunyataiva vedana '

nanya sarpjfta anya siinyata: nanya sunyata anya saqljfl.a

nanye saqlskara anya sunyata nanya sunyata anye saqlskaral)

nanyad vijfianam anya sfinyata nanya sunyata: anyad vijfl.anam

vijnanameva sfinyata sfinyataiva vijfianam

iti samudayasatyavavadal). sfinyata Sariputra

notpadyate na nirudhyate na saqlklisyate na vyavadayate na hiyate na vardhate

nafita nanagata: na pratyutpanna ya ca i<4"S1

na tatra riipam na vedana na saqljfl.a na saqlsma na vijiianam na priliividhatur nabdhatur na tejodhatur na vayudhlUur nakaSadhatui' na vijfianadhatur

na cak~urdhatur na riipadhatur na c~urvijfl.anadhatuQ.

na srotradhatur na Sabdadhatur na srotravijiianadhatuQ

na ghral}adhatur na gandhadhatur na ghral}avijftanadhatuQ.

na jihvadhatur na rasadhatur

THE HEART SDTRA 223

na jihvavijminadhatu~ na Icayadhatur na spr~tavyadhatur

. na kayavijfl.anadhatur na rnanodhatur na. dharmadhatur

na manovijilana[dha]tu!:rr [sic] na tatravidya navidyanirodha~ na safflslffiran na saf!1skaranirodha~

. na vijilanarp. na vijilananirodhal) . na namariipaITl na namariipanirodha~

na satvayatanaql na satvayatananirodhal)

na sparw (na) sparSananirodhal) na vedana na vedananirodhal) na tr~l).a na t:r~l).anirodhal). nopadanaffl nopadananircdhal) na bhavo na bhavanirodhal) na jati(r n)a jatinirodhal) na jaramaral).arp.

na jaramaral).anirodhal)

na du1)kharp. na samudayo na nirodho na margal)

na prapti nabhisarnayal).

na jihvavijfianadhawl} na kayadMtur na spr~tavyadhatur

na kayavijfl.anadhatul} na manodMtur na dhannadhatur

na manovijfianacthatul). navidyotpado navidyanirodhal) na saf!1skarotpado na sarpskaranirodha na vijfianotpado na vijfiananirodha na namariipotpado na namariipanirodha na ~Qayatanotpado na

~dayatananirodha na sparSotpado na sparSanirodha navedano~donavedananirodha

na tr~l).otpado na tr~l).anirodha nopadanotpado nopadananirodha na bhavotpado na bhavanirodha na jaJyutpado na jatinirodha na jaramaral).aSokaparidevadul}khadaur

manasyopayasotpado na jaramaral).aSokaparidevaduQkhadaur

manasyopayasanirodhal) na dul).kha na sarnudayo na nirodho

na margo na praptir na abhisarnayo

Indian Altruism: A Study of the Terms bodhicitta. and cittotpiida

by Gareth Sparham

The highest form of altruism in scholastic Mahayana Buddhism is conveyed by the term cittotpada ("mind-production, lifting up the heart").l In an earlier papef2 I dealt with the place of this altruism in the AbhisamayaiaIilkara (=AA) and its commentaries. In those texts cittotpiida enjoys pride of place as entrance into the Mahayana, the first of seventy topics (Tib. don bdun bcu) under which the concealed meaning (Tib. sbas don) of the Prajiia-paramita (=PP) sutras is discussed. In this paper I shall attempt to identify the PP sutra from which the cittotplfda doctrine originates an~ show how it differs, in its origins, from bodhicitta.

Identification of the Original-Passage

The most important PP sutra we possess is the [Arya-]a$(a-sahasrika Prajiiii-paramita (=A). As Conze remarks, it, or a now-lost precursor, was the fIrst PP sutra. The later Indian and Tibetan PP tradition, based on Haribhadra's (circa 800) AbhisamayiiiaIilkaraioka PrajiiaparamitiI-vyiikhya (=AAA), traces the origin of the cittotpada doctrine to the opening lines of the AAA in accord with the AA's elaborate schema of understanding. Though helpful for making sense of the different PP sutras, as we shall show, this position is not historically justifiable. The origin of cittotpada is rather to be found in the following passage from a later part of the A (Wogihara's ed. 116.3-118).4 For convenience's sake I will refer to this throughout as the Origin-Passage.

224

INDIAN ALTRUISM

[subhiiti:J nifham ifyu$man sifriputra ieehifmi bodhisattvam mahifsattvam dU$kara-eifrikifiI earantam nifpi sa bodhisattvo mahifsattvoyo dU$kara-samjiIifyif earati. tat kasya hetol}? na hy ifyu$man sifriputra dU$kara-samjiIifm janayitvif sakyo aprameyifnifm asamkhyeyifnifm sattvifnifm arthal}' kartum. api tu sukha-samjiIifm eva krtvif sarva-sattvifnifm antike mift[samjiIifm, pi tr -sam j iIifril, putra -sam jiIifm, duhi tr -sam jiIifril lqtvif, strI-puIU$e$v evam etam samjiIifm krtvif bodhisattvo mahasattvo bodhisattva-earikifiI earati. tasmifn mift[-samjiIif, pit[-samjiIif, putra-samjiIif, duhitr-samjiIif bodhisattvena mahifsattvena sarvo-sattvifnifm antike yifvad iftmasamjiIotpifdayitavyif. yathiftmif sarveI)a sarvam sarvathif sarvam sarva-dul;khebhyo moeayitavyal} evam sarva-sattviflJ sarveI)a sarvam sarvathif sarvaf!1, sarva-dul}khebhyo moeayitavyif iti. evam ea sarva-sattve$u samjiIotpifdayitavyif. mayaite sarva-sattvif na parityaktavyifl}. mayaite sarvasattvifl} parimoeayitavyif aparimifnto dul}kha-skandhift. na ea mayaite$u eitta-prado$a utpiidayitavyo 'nasal; sataso 'pi ehidyamifneneti. evam hi bodhisattvena mahifsattvena eittam utpifdayitavyam. saeed evam-citto vihari$yati na dU$karasamjiII vihari$yati. punar aparam ifyu$man sifriputra bodhisattvena mahifsattvenaivam cittam utpifdayitavyam yathif sarveI)a sarvam sarva thif sarvam sarva-dharmif na samvidyan te nopaiabhyante. (I do not look for a bodhisattva who goes on the difficult pilgrimage. In any case, one who courses in the perception of difficulties is not a bodhisattva. because one who has generated a perception of difficulties is unable to work the weal of countless beings. On the contrary, he forms the notion of ease, he forms the notion that all beings, whether men or women, are his parents and children, and thus he goes on the pilgrimage of a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva should therefore identify all beings with his parents or children, yes, even with his own self, like this: "As I myself want to be quite free from all sufferings, just so all beings want to be quite free from all

225

226 JIABS VOL 15 NO.2

sufferings." In addition with regard to all beings he should fonn the notion: "I ought not to desert all these beings. I ought to set them free from the quite measureless heap of sufferings! And I should not produce towards them a thought of hate, even though I might be dismembered a hundred times!" It is thus that a bodhisattva should lift up his he an. When he dwells as one whose heart is such, then he will neither course nor dwell as one who perceives difficulties.)

The context for this Origin-Passage is the response to an inquiry (beginning with the phrase [W75] bodhisattva[sya] mahasattva[syaJ mahasamnaha-sarimaddha[sya] mahayana-samprastita[syaJ mahayana-samarfidh[sya]. .. "A bodhisattva, a great being, who is armed with the great armor, who has set out in the great vehicle, who has mounted on the great vehicle ... ") about the use of great in great vehicle and great being. The A's response develops two lines of thought: a) of aprameyatva ("immeasurability"), which is further developed into b) the notion of samata ("self-identity" or "state of being found equally everywhere"). Asked just "how great" (kiyatfi) is the bodhisattva's armor the Lord says [W87) "A bodhisattva thinks: immeasurable and beyond number (asarpkhyeya) are the beings to be liberated by me ... and yet there are no beings liberated by anyone ... for this is the ultimate reality of things (dharmatif), based on the factthat ultimate reality is illusory (maya-dharmatifm upadaya) ... It is just as if a magician (mayifkifra) who conjures up a host of creatures then causes them to disappear again." We are told (W106-7) that a great vehicle holds an infinite number of living beings, just as there is room for an infinite number of living beings in space (ifkasa). Such spaciousness is on account of the sameness (samatal of space, i.e., its "self-identity" or "state of being found equally everywhere." It is on account of this samatif that there is no beginning, middle or end and that no vehicle sets out to a beyond. It is also on account of this sameness that none of the constituent aggregates of a bodhisattva, indeed, of any dharma whatsoever, has a beginning (=utpada) or end (=nirodha).5 It is [WIll) "as with the self (atman) which does not come forth on account of being

INDIAN ALTRUISM 227

completely beyond limits (atyantatayiibhinivrtta)." Hence duality is not applicable to any dharma since every dharma is unproduced (Wl14). At the point that a bodhisattva is equated with ev~ry other dharma in the ultimate, uncreated and self-identical state,6 Sariputra

iasks the question to which the Origin-Passage is direct answer. His question boils down to: how could this unity, this lack of duality, also be an illusion? How could the universe really be such anothingness as all that?

There are so many threads of meaning, introduced earlier in the A, woven so intricately together in this Origin-Passage that it is hard to conceive of a later writer interpolating it so skillfully.? The notions of a)immeasurability, b) sameness, c) similarity with self and d) nonduality are all woven together skillfully on .the basic fabric of unfmdability. Furthermore, Lancaster's analysis of the earlier and

· later Chinese translations of the A, dating from 179 to 985, enable a · reader to know in general what parts of the A are earlier and later. The

entire first parivarta (W1-128) is present, in the main, in the earliest versions and there is no definite reason, based on Lancaster's work, to preclude the entire Origin-Passage from the earliest version. In particular, the presence in the earliest versions of the A of the OriginPassage is corroborated by the Ratna-gU1)a-samuccaya-gatha (=RGS).

· The presence of lines in the RGS corresponding to a passage in the A strongly suggests the A passage to have been in the original version, even if we do not know, for sure, exactly where the passage was situated,s and there are correspondences between verses of the RGS and the sentiments expressed in the Origin-Passage.

Based on the Origin-Passage, cittotpada was originally an attitude, constucted out of the willful manipUlation of ideas or imagination, that welled up within the person9 banishing negativism and depression and inspiring further effort. In the earliest formulation of cittotpada this uplifting of the heart was to be caused by thinking about living beings in a certain fashion: (a) imagining them to be relatives and (b) reflecting on the sameness of them and oneself. Such thoughts or ideas were to make bearable the difficult work of a bodhisattva. Although altruistic sentiments are clearly identifiable in the Origin-Passage there is no unequivocal altruistic message, in


the sense of an exhortation urging the bodhisattva to make work for. others his primary motivation.

Bodhlcitta and cittotpa:da in the original PP siitra

As mentioned at the outset the first of the AA's seventy topics is cittotpada. In explaining it the AA first mentions its two aJambana ("objective supports"): (i) perfect enligh tenment (samyak -sambodhl) and (ii) the needs of others (parartha) and then gives twenty-two examples corresponding to stages on the bodhisattva's path and to the· stage of enlightenment. Of the many PP siitras, one, the Paiicavimsati-sahasrika Prajiia-paramita (=Parka) has sections which correspond exactly to this presentation/o though in the Parka, unlike the AA, the actual term [bodhiJ-cittotpada does not occur.l1

The older PP siitras do not contain a passage which corresponds exactly to the AA's initial presentation of cittotpada. Whereas the Pafica mentions both enlightenment and the great number of living beings, conspicuous by its absence, not only from the A, but also from the Sata-sahasrika Pra}iia-paramita (=Sata), is any passage which corresponds to others and their needs, i.e., to pariirtha, the second of the two objective supports for cittotpada spelt out in AA:1.18 cittotpadal} pararthaya samyak sambodhi-kamata. At the beginning of the A there is no reference to a great number of living beings at all. 12

The presence of a specific parartha ("others' needs") objective support passage at the very beginning of the Parka suggests that this later PP sutra was constructed by a person or persons with the AA's developed notion of path (marga). The difference between the opening lines of the Pafica and earlier PP siitras is best accounted for by modifications introduced into the Pafica based on the basic cittotpada doctrine set forth in the Origin-Passage, under the influence of a systematic understanding of a Mahayana path different from a Sravaka-yana.

INDIAN ALTRUISM 229

Although there is no obvious correspondence between the opening lines of the A and the AA's cittotpiida, Haribhadra, in his two commentaries on the A (the AAA and AASp) and in his commentary on the RGS13 attempts to show that the words of these two earlier siitras also correspond equally to the AA's categories. An indication of just how hard it is to find such correspondences is Harlbhadra' s statement that he considered his insight that there is, in fact, a correspondence to be divinely inspired. 14 Haribhadra says just the opening line of the A contains the entire meaning of cittotpiida .. Packed into it are the two objective supports and twenty-two . examples explained in AA 1.18-19. The correspondence must appear forced to any ordinary reader not blessed with Haribhadra's divine insight. IS

Though there is no reference to the needs of others in the opening lines of the A, the corresponding section of the RGS at first sight presents a difficulty because its opening verses refers explicitly to

bodhicittaY If this bodhicitta is the bodhi-cittotpiida of later scholasticism the RGS would corroborate the position of the AA that the origin of the bodhi-cittotpiida doctrine is to be found in the A's opening lines. It is clear, however, that the citta in the citta bodhel; of RGS 7, as well as the citta in the entire opening section of the A does not correspond to the citta in the cittotpiida of the OriginPassage. The citta in these former compounds is not a thought or intention but something more fundamental. The A says of citta that it is a-citta (absence of mind) because the fundamental nature of citta is clear illumination (prakrtis citasya prabhiisvarfi). And it says of this mind, which is an absence of mind, that it is avikiira (unmodified) and avikalpa (without conceptualization). Since the cittotpada of the Origin-Passage is described as requiring to be produced (utpiidayitavya) and hence as arising (utpiida), and since it is caused to arise by a set of notions (sarbjiifi) that others have been one's parents, etc., it can hardly be the same as this fundamental citta which is taken here to be the very locus of personality and existenceY

The first part of the compound bodhi-citta (synonymous with bodhi-sattva in the early PP siltras?) should be understood not as referring to a for-others state of enlightenment (a sarbbhoga-kiiya)


but to the the PrajiHi-paramita herself, beyond all conceptualization and absorbed indivisibly with the ultimate. Rather than a dative tatpuru$a, the compound is better construed as 'a curious Buddhist SOft of bahuvnhi meaning (one whose) fundamental state of being Or mind is perfect wisdom, i.e., the ultimate. It is a curious compound because the Buddhist axiom which denies the existence of a person beyond the five constituent-aggregates (skandha) leaves both compounds without a clearly identifiable noun to qualify.

The cittotpada set forth in the Origin-Passage cannot, then, be equated with bodhicitta (or bodhisattva) nor can it be thought of as the outcome of a systematic understanding. Rather it was a notion which would itself contribute, as an integral part of a revealed text requiring explanation, to the development of Mahayana scholasticism's systematic understanding of two truths. The early notion of cittotpada would be transfonned, under the influence of later systematization associated paticularly with Madhyamikas, into the conventional or surface level (samvrtya) bodhi-cittotpada, i.e., one concerned with conventional realities such as the needs of other living beings and the attainment of enlightenment. This would be unlike the ultimate bodhi-cittotpada which was none oth,er than the original bodhicitta (i.e., the non-dual liberating vision and ultimate reality called Prajfia-paramita) changed insofar as it was now a part of an edifice of scholastic thought.

This explanation of the terms has the great benefit of explaining what are, otherwise, confusing usages of bodhicitta, cittotpada and bodhi-cittotpada. The two former terms were originally different in meaning. Later, however, bodhicitta became even more popular, as a shortened form of bodhi-cittotpada, than the original cittotpada itself and it was used with this secondary sense by later writers in contexts where it is historically inappropriate to do so.

The Sameness of Self and Other Lineage

In tracing the earliest developments of the bodhi-cittotpada doctrine an important source is Santideva's Sik$a-samuccaya (=SSa). This companion volume to the Bodhicaryavatiira (=BCA) contains

INDIAN ALTRUISM 231

passages from earlier siitras on which, Santideva tells us, his BCA was based. Since the BCA is little more than a verse monograph on bodhi-cittotpada the siitra passages Santideva quotes in his SSa provide the best clues to the bodhi-cittotpada doctrine's early

.. developments. Santideva (writing ca. 650) had no modern sense of history and

accepted as authentic works of the Buddha (buddha-vacana) those which historically are quite late, in particular the Gagana-gaiija-siitra

... and the Tathagata-guhya-nirdesa, both of which can be seen as part of a second wave of revelation (cp. the Paiica-viIiJ.sati-s{fhasrikif), building on and systematizing the early proto-Mahayana doctrines found in PP siitras like the A.II These second wave siitras, all anonymous, contain the earliest known interpretations of the A's Origin-Passage.

There are two bodhi-cittotpada traditionsl9 found in Tibetan lineage lists (gsan yig). Of them, one tradition is traced back to Santideva and then to the mythological figures Nagfujuna and Mafijusn. This is called the "sameness of self with others" (paratmasamataj tradition and it begins with the Tathagata-guhya-nirdesa's interpretation of the Origin-Passage. The Tathagata-guhya-nirdesa, a work on which Santideva draws heavily, is, in the main, a reformulation of the A. In it we find a first stage in the systematization of bodhi-cittotpada, based particularly on the equation.of narratmya with dependent origination (pratltya-samutpada), and an emphasis on the sameness of self and others (paratma-samatif) an idea that Santideva would make a central pivot of his presentation.

The very first of the twenty-seven miila-kifrikas of the SSa is yada mama pare$am ca bhayam dU$kham ca na priyam / tad-atmanal) ko viSe$o yat tam rak$ami netaram / / (" Since I and my fellow man abhor pain and fear alike, what distinction can I rightly make for self, that I should preserve it and not other?")20 It contains a distinctive echo of the cittotpada of the Origin-Passage.21 There is hardly a mention of the A in the entire SSa, however, and this echo might be an interesting, but otherwise inconsequential footnote, were it not that (i) in a long quotation from the Tathagata-guhya-nirdesan with which Santideva brings the SSa to its conclusion this theme is developed at


length and (ii) the most important section in the BCA for understand. ing Santideva's conception of bodhi-cittotpada, the so-called "changing self into others meditation" (Tib. bdag gzhan mnyam brjes) (BCA. 8.96ff) has}he very same verse and is, in essence, an elaboration on this same SSa karika 1.

The importance of the "sameness of self with others" passage (BCA8.96ff) has already been recognized by La Vallee Poussin who says of Sfu1tideva's fonnulation of the bodhi-cittotpada doctrine that· it is at once "orthodox and yet original."23 La Vallee Poussin notes· that the "nothingness of the ego does not warrant us in remaining inactive; we find in it a reason for sacrificing ourselves for our neighbour." He intimates that, tosome extent at least, Santideva's explicit exhortation to the religiously minded to renounce personal needs in favour of the needs of others is not so much a reinterpretation of panrtma-samatabut a valid understanding of it: "This practice of abnegation .. results ... in purging the mind of error; that is to say, since every idea, as such is erroneous, abnegation 'purifies' the mind by emptying it (moha=jiieyavaraI}a; suddha=sunya)."24

Elsewhere, in his translation of BCA 8.90,25 La Vallee Poussin points us in the direction of two sources for Santideva's fonnulation of bodhi-cittotpada. Dividing BCA 8.90 into two parts he translates 90a "Le [Bodhisattva] s'applique d'abord, avec diligence et scrupule, a ne pas faire de difference entre Ie moi et Ie prochain, [de qui est de l'essence de la pratique du futur BouddhaJ." This is the PP sutra's notion of paratma-samata (interpreted in light of the Tathagataguhya-nirdesa) based on the progression of ideas from anutpada through to advaya mentioned earlier. He then translates 90b "Ce qu' est la joie pour moi, eHe l' est pour autrui; ce qu' est la douleur pour moi, elle l'estpour autrui. Ie dois faire pour autrui ce quejefais pour mois," citing Dhammapada 129 as the probable source. We thus find here the fusion of two different observations: a) that self and other are ultimately undifferentiable (the doctrine of the PP sutras) and b) that empathy with the plight of others is natural because one shares feelings of happiness and sorrow in common with them. This later idea, enshrined in pre-Mahayana texts, is not distinctly Buddhist but is also found associated with a universalist Kr~1)a, for instance in the

INDIAN ALTRUISM 233

reformulation of the notion of sacrifice and the body of the deity in the Bhaga vad-gita. .

The Seven-point Lineage

Siintideva's formulation of bodhi-cittotpada developed from the Origin-Passage's sameness of self and other (paratma-samati) interpreted along the lines of the Tathagata-guhya-nirdesa. Another iIIlportant stream of development of the cittotpada doc tine takes as its point of departure the Origin-Passage' s specific mention of family IIlembers ("A bodhisattva should therefore identify all beings with his parents or children, yes, even with his own self ... ") and developed the idea of equalizing attachment, especially the equalization of attachment to sons. This stream of development, systematized in seven points (Tib. rgyu 'bras man ngag bdun) , is associated with the names of Maitreya and Asm'lga in the Tibetan tradition and like the paratma-samata developments associated with Siintideva its source is an interpretation of the Origin-Passage. Together the two streams provide an interesting example of parallel interpretations of a PP siitra.26

Although the ideas in the "sameness of self and other" and "seven points" traditions are not fully developed in the Origin-Passage, and are unlikely part of the original intention of the A, it was open to later writers to interpret the A's statements about (i) sameness of self and other and (ii) others as family members in such a way if only because the inspired language of the early PP siitras lent itself to creative interpretation.

Unlike the SSa which provides an explicit record of the sources which Santideva used, in the so-called "seven points" stream of intrepretation not only is there no record of any particular text, but even a specific section in the texts attributed to Maitreya and AsaIiga setting out a coherent way of producing. altruism is not readily identifiable.

Thinking of all living beings as one's son is found in an different and older form in the Udgradatta-panpTcchff. 27 There it says that a


father should not be too attached to his own son and should think: aU other beings are as dear as his son. This is a sentiment not far removed from the much older, pre-Mahayana notion enshrined in the legend of Prince Siddhiirtha, the Buddha-to-be, leaving Yasodhara and Rahula to seek enlightenment. . As in older pre-Mahayana texts, the relatively late Udgradatta-parip!ccha focuses on equalizing (i.e., making the same) (sama-lq) excess attachment to a son. There is also evident, however, a shift in emphasis towards actually imagining (saIiljiiotpada) that other people are one's son and calling up, thereby, emotions of tenderness and concern.

Based on later explanations of bodhi-cittotpada attributed to Asanga28 the essential element in the seven point tradition is that the uplifting of the heart comes about by reflecting on the relation between oneself and one's close family members. In the Bodhisattva_ Miimi, which Tibetan writers consider to be a work of Asanga, and which in its completed form presents a systematization of the path (mfirga) at about the same stage of development as the Paiica and AA29 there is a passage30 that says one dimension of a bodhisattva's sama-citta is his consideration that all beings are as beloved as a son. In later Tibetan works the protective feeling of a child for his or her parents is emphasized and the original notion of treating all as a son is lost. This development is also, however, anticipated to some extent in the Bodhisattva-bhiimi31 where a bodhisattva is mentioned as sometimes looking after living beings like a wife (kalatra-bhavena) and sometimes as a head ofa household (svami-bhiita).

The earliest versions of the A were concerned with the question of the person of the Buddha. The PP's great bodhisattva, of whom no dharma can be found (so 'ham bhagavan bodhisattvam va bodhisattva-dharmam vavindann anupalabhamano 'samanupasyan ... W31) was, originally at least, the Buddha himself before final nirvaI}a. The idea of a bodhisattva referring to all truly altruistic persons who deny themselves nirvaI}a for the benefit of others is a later development. 32 The reformulation of Bodhisattva Siddhilrtha's setting out for nirvaIJa into an altruistic person setting out for full enlightenment based on an empathy with others seen as oneself, or on seeing all living beings as a son, was not, therefore, a part of the

INDIAN ALTRUISM 235

>original message of the A. They are interpretations that later fit in well with the general tendency of proto- and early Mahayana writers

ctOredefine the meaning of buddha and enlightenment in more universalist terms.

.. . Some final remarks about the place of altruism in Mahayana Buddhism are in order. No group, theoretical orreal, has a monopoly on kindness. Most religious faiths nevertheless reserve for their own particular religion possession of a unique compassion. Mahayana writers are not different in this regard. They say Mahayana

. Buddhism has a special altruism that distinguishes it from what they .ca11 the earlier deficient (hina) Buddhism. While such statements 'retain little importance for understanding the rise and development of Mahayana Buddhism, they remind the modern reader of a tension that distinguishes much early Mahayana thought. In the course of a more general discussion of a bodhisattva's (=altruistic person's) two equipments (sari1bhara) La Vallee Poussin mentions these tensions in Mahayana Buddhism which make the role of altruism, or lack of it, problematic:33

Buddhists ... endeavored to ... reconcile the serious antinomy of the two dogmas: "Nothing exists," and "We must work,_labour, suffer for our neighbour." It is certain, says a Madhyamika philosopher, that our neighbour does not exist, but the Bodhisattva cherishes within himself this illusion (moha) that he must become a Buddha for the salvation of creatures.

The mature attitude of Mahayana Buddhist writers, arrived at over the course of developing a viable theory of bodhicittotpiida can be compared with a theory of tragedy. What value, in an ultimate sense, has the uplifting of the heart in a feeling of oneness and commiseration when reflecting on a tragic actor's plight? Such tears, after all, are shed for a hardship that was never experienced, and seen by a rational person from behind the side of the curtain, as it were, we, the audience, wallow in the enjoyment of a feeling of pity for a suffering that was never there. Altruism, pity for others' hardship, has no place beyond that, and the insistence that there should be a basis for pity

236 nABS VOL. 15 NO, 2

in "real" misery felt by "real" persons merely misses the point of the entire drama.

NOTES

1. The meaning of the tenn cittotpada, (later, more fully bodhi-cittotpiida reduced often simply to bodhicitta) is found in the AA and its later commentaries: There, encapsulated in the statement cittotpadal) pararthaya samyak sambodJu. kamata ("cittotpada is the state of wanting full enlightenment for the sake of others") cittotpada is the altruistic desire (kama), intention (cetana at MSA:4.1· prlirthana at Bbh: 1.2) or thought (citta at AAA:22 and AA V:15) motivating ~ bodhisattva's religious activity.

2. "Background Material for the First of the Seventy Topics in Maitreya. natha's AbhisamayaJamkara" JIABS 10.2 (1987):139-158.

3. pratibhatu te subhiite bodhisattvanaIiJ. mahasattvaniiIiJ. prajjffi. paramitayam arabhya yatha bodhisattva mahaSattval;1 prajiia-paramitam niryayulJ. Conze translates: "Make it clear now, Subhiiti, to the Bodhisattvas, the great beings, starting from perfect wisdom, how the Bodhisattvas, the great beings go forth into perfect wisdom."

4. In the corresponding section of the other PP siitras and in the explanation of this passage in the AA V and AAA no special attention is paid to it whatsoever. In Paiica 260.9ff (translated by Conze p. 196) the basic outline of the Origin-Passage remains but there is an explicit reference to working for the benefit of innumerable living beings (aprameyanam asan'lkhyeyanam sattviiniim artham kartum) and it is said, explicitly, that it is for this purpose that one imagines everyone to be one's parents and so forth. It is also interesting to note that the notion of paralma-samata (sameness of self and other) which was to be picked up as the central notion of cittotpiida by Santideva is absent from this part of the Paiica. It says simply yatha alma almeti cocyate atyantatayanutpanna alma evam sarve~v iidhyatmika-bahye~u dharme~u samjflotpiidayitavyaJ.:1. Arya Vimuktisena (AA V 126) does no more than mention the existence of the passage in a list ( ... du~kara caryanupapatty8) .

The corresponding passage is not in Gho~e's 1888-1900 edition of the Sata. The fact that his ed. runs to three, not inconsiderably sized volumes, and that he condensed the repetitious passages in the text by a variety of ingenious strategies (unfortunately making the admittedly overwhelmingly wordy text unreadable in the process) and yet still does not quite reach the corresponding section, points to its incredible length. The originality of the notion of cittotpiida which comes across so forcefully in the A is impossible in the Sata where the different themes of illusory living beings (Vol 3 130ft), greatness (Vol 3, 228ft) space (Vol 3 294ft) and immeasurability (Vol 3 313ft) are thrashed to death by repetition.

Since the rationale behind Haribhadra's comments in his AAA is, as

INDIAN ALTRUISM 237

mentioned earlier, rooted in the axiom that the message of each of the major PP siItraS is one and the same it is not surprising that he adheres strictly to the AA

. SChema which lumps the Origin-Passage under the general rubric sarvakarajiiatanit'Yff1}a-pratipatti (on the place of which in the AA's scheme see Obermiller's Analysis of the AA, Calcutta 1933-36, p. 189). Although arbitrary when taken as arubric under which to include the Origin-Passage, the Gagana-gaiija-siitra quoted in the SSa (Bendaled. p. 117, trans. p. 115) gives a clear indication of how the part of the A within which the Origin-Passage is embedded relates to the more general context of being armed with great armor. "Just as the wind enters through a chink,

sO Mara takes his opportunity from any part where there is a chink in the heart." Therefore the bodhisattva's heart must be whole and without chink. This is what IS meant by whole-heartedness, namely full realization of the doctrine of the void, which implies sarvlikarajiiata.

I have not been able to consult A. Wayman's "A Report on the Ak$ayamatinirdeSa-siitra (Buddhist Doctrinal History, Study 2)," Studies in IndoAsian Art and Culture, Vol. 6, ed. by Lokesh Chandra (International Academy of Indian Culture, New Delhi, Cot. 1980), pp. 211-232. In his recent Ethies of Tiret, (Albany: SUNY, 1991), p. 9 Professor Wayman cites the Ak$ayamatinirdeSasiitta's reformulation of a Bodhisattva-pitaka-siitras a possible important source for Asailga's formulation of the bodhi -cittotptida doctrine. See also Mark Tatz, Asailga's Chapter on Ethics (Lewiston: The Edwin Mellen Press, 1986).

5. Thedifferent dimensions of samataare brought together in a description of the ultimate eittotptida (paramarthika-cittotptida) at MSA 4.9: dharme$u ea sattve$u ea tat-krtye~iittame ca buddhatve / sama-cittapaJambhat pramodyavisi$tata tasya. This is explained (Levi's ed. 15.23-25) as follows: "There is sama-

. cittata in regards to dharmas because of understanding them as being devoid of . reality (dharma-nairatmya); then sama-cittata in regard to living beings because of realizing the sameness of self and others; sama-cittatain regard to what is to be done for others because of others wanting, like oneself, to end their misery and there is sama-cittata in respect of the state of awakening (buddhatva) because it and the sphere of ultimate reality (dharma-dhatu) are, in their final nature (atmanl), seen as undivided."

6. I take this to be the import of yadi caYU$man subhiite bodhisattvo 'py anutpadal) kim bodhisattva dU$kara-carikan earati yani va tani sattvanam JqtaSo du1}khany utsahate pratyanubhavitum?

7. The evam etat ("How right you are") refrain immediately following the Origin-Passage (W119) (this is a refrain that recurs time and again in the PP siitras where there is a direct, unanswerable question about the ultimate) may have been the A's original response to Sariputra's question. In that case the Origin-Passage would not have been part of the very earliest PP siitra, but an addition to an earlier version of the text aimed at toning down the unyieldingly nihilistic tone in the original.

8. As Conze has pointed out, we have no access to an edition of the RGS

238 nABS VOL 15 NO.2

earlier than Haribhadra' s version set forth in accord with the divisions of the AA. and we have, therefore, no way of knowing what changes to the original order of the verses of the RGS Haribhadra did or did not introduce.

9. The MSA appears to be attempting to recapture the original notion of a welling up of feeling when cittotpiida is described as an intention (cetan§) "that is a full coming into being of citta" (citta-sambhava). This welling up is captured in Conze's "It is thus that a Bodhisattva should lift up his heart."

10. Pafica 18 begins sarvakfIraJiJ sarva-dharman abhisambodhukiImena bodhisattvena mahIisattvena prajfla-parami tayam yogalJkarar;iyaJ;. ("The bodhisattva the great being, wanting to be completely, fully awakened to all dharrnas should make a practice of perfect wisdom.") This corresponds to the [rrst aIambana set out in the samyak-sambodhi kamataof AA 1.18. Immediately following this and corresponding to the second aIambana is the statement daSa-dik$u pratyekam gaflga-nadl-vaIukopame$u loka-dhJtu$u ye sattvas tan sarvan anupadhisesa_ nirvfiI}.a-dhatau parinivapayikukamena bodhisattvena mahasattvena prajflapfIramitayam sik$itavyam. ("The bodhisattva, the great being, wanting to place in the realm of non-residual nirvtiI)a all those beings who are in each of the ten directions, in world-spheres like [in numbers] to sand-grains of the river Gat:lga should learn perfect wisdom.")

The correspondence between the Pafica and the AA, at this point, both in terms of the position assigned by the AA to the first occurence of the discussion of cittotpiida, and in the general conception of cittotpiida presents us with further evidence, were we to need it, that the AA was, in its origins, a commentary on, or even a part of, the Pafica .. Arya Vimuktisena's AAV, the earliest extant commentary on the AA treats it throughout as a commentary on the Paiica without mentioning any of the shorter PP siitras.

11. The term cittotpfida is not found in the PaTica until some pages later in a passage corresponding, according to the AA, to the cittotpfida exemplified by a treasury (mahJ-nidhana). PaTica 21.18 says: matsariI}aJ; sattvan dane prati$tapa yitukamena sarva -sravaka-pra tyekab uddhebh yo daniini dlyamaniini ekena anumodana-sahagatena cittotpadena abhibhavitukamena bodhisattvena mahasattvenaprajna-pfIramitayam sik$itavyam. "The bodhisattva, the great being, wanting to foster charity in miserly beings, wanting to surpass the charity made by every sravaka and pratyekabuddha with the single thought that arises (cjttotpada) accompanied with rejoicing, should learn perfect wisdom."

Itis not irrelevant, perhaps, that this first explicit use of the term citt~tpada in the Pafica is in the context of what has been called increased sectarianism (perhaps "self awareness as distinct Mahayanists" would be a more apt description) implicit in the denigration of the Sravaka vehicle, such denigrations being one of the criteria Lancaster identified for ascertaining a PP siitra passage to be a later addition to the text.

12. The absence of such a passage, even in the Sara is particularly interesting as evidence that one should not understand the interminably long Sara

INDIAN ALTRUISM 239

~simply a fm:ther expansion of the Patica, but rather as an expansion of the A along •. independent lines.

13 Bhagavad-ratna~gUI)a-SaIi1eaya-gatha-pafijika-nama. Also called SubodhinI. E){tant only in Tibetan as Beam idan 'das yon tan tin po ehe sdud pa'i tshig su byas pa'i diea' 'grelshes bya ba (P5190). 14S0, at least according to the Tibetan interpretation of the opening verses of his • ;\ASp where he fIrst says "I make homage (nama!)) reverently (sadaram) to the PP

.by discriminating/sorting out/showing (viviJ) the verses (kfirika) ornamenting it (tad-aIadlkr) which are an ornament of all (sarva/nikhilalamJq). (shes rab pha rai phyin pa ill II de'i rgyan tshigs su 'gyur pa dag II kun gyi rgyan du 'gyur pa ill I

. Imam par dbye phyir dgus phyag 'tsha!) AASp2. His statement, in verses 6 and 7 (AASp 3) that it is astonishing and only through the grace of the Buddha that he

. fathomed the whole of the AA in this way, especially in view of the host of brilliant scholar saints who had earlier written expanations of it, refers just to his insight, mentioned in verse one, namely that the AA is an ornament (i.e., explanation) of not just the Patica but of the A and Sata as well. tlHaribhadra's main scriptural source for his opinion about the A is a verse from the Prajna-paramitfi-piJ)Qfi[:tha (PPP) which describes the A as a condensed version

. (grantha-s~epa) of the other longer PP sutras, containing all their topics. The verse is quoted by Haribhadra just a few pages earlier at W12 as well .. It is worth mentioning here in passing that, so far as is known, no mention is made of the PPP (a very brief work systematizing the Yogacara tri-svabhava doctrine) prior to Haribhadra, and it is worth noting that Haribhadra makes a point each and every time he cites the text to prefix the quotation with ahaearya-dignaga!). The verse is clearly identified in this manner both times it is quoted, even though Haribhadra style is usually to simply write iti, or it yap are, etc. when referring to other authors from whose works he repeatedly quotes. Since the sanctity of the author of the PPP becomes very important for Haribhadra's argument there is a certain self-interest evident in this repeated insistence on Dignaga's name. At the very least some people during Haribhadra's time required being told again and again that it was indeed Dignaga's text, a circumstance Frauwallner does not mention when accepting the PPP as one of Dignaga's authentic works.

While premature, in the absence of further documentation, to deny that the Dignaga who wrote the PramfiI)a-samueeaya also wrote the PPP, it should be noted that the question of its authorship does bear heavily on other issues: (i) the extent to which it is correct to understand the logico-epistemological works of Dignaga as being the output of a Vijtiapti-matrin, (ii) the period in Indian history during which it was first felt necessary to reconcile the revelation contained in differing versions of the PP sutras, and (iii) the person of Arya-Vimuktisena.

I acknowledge a series of conversations with Dr. A. Singh which stimulated this line of thought.

16. RGS 7: citta [sic] bodheb. 17. Similarly, when immediately following (W41) Sariputra says it is for


this reason (etaS ca) that a bodhisattva is not reversible from bodhi, one shoUld understand the reason for his statement not (as in Conze's translationp. 84) in terms of his wish (kama) or intention (cetanfi) for enlightenment in order to be able to workon others' behalf, w~ich characterizes ~e bodhi-cittotpada _at the beginning of the Pafica, but rather In terms of the ultImate truth (paramarthatalJ) that all dharmas, including the bodhisattva's perfect wisdom are equally unproduced (anutpanna) and are, therefore, equally free of defilement and to that extent awakened or in a state of enlightenment.

Such an interpretation of bodhjcitta as equivalent to bodhisattva ("one whose essence/mind/soul is perfect awareness/enlightenment") is further corrobo. rated by a passage later in the A (W81-83), where, in answer to the question "Why is a great being called a great being (mahasattva)?" Subhiiti answers that he is called a great being if he remains unattached to, and uninvolved in the mind of enlightenment (bodhicitta), the mind of all-knowledge, the undefiled mind, the unequalled mind, the mind equal to the unequalled.

18. The dating of these texts based on translations into Chinese (most recently in Akira Hirakawa A History of Indian Buddhism trans. and ed. by Paul Groner, Asian Studies at Hawaii 36, University of Hawaii Press, 1990) would fit with Conze's dating of the A and RGS to the first century BCE though Hirakawa assigns the entire PP literature a slightly later date than Conze. The appearance of the earliest versions of what I have called the second wave of PP revelation in Chinese translation, texts like the Tathagata-guhya-nirdesa, would also appear to predate the accepted dates of the works associated with the names of Asal).ga and Maitreya, particularly the date assigned to the AA.

19. Two streams of interpretation of, or method to produce, byang chub sems (=bodhi-cittotpada) are an accepted fact in popular Tibetan oral teaching. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, in Meaningful to Behold (London: Tharpa, 1985, p. 22) talks of two unbroken lineages. Of these bdag gzhangnyam rjes sgo nas byang chub sems bskyed tshul ("equalizing and changing yourself into others method") can be traced back to BCA8.89ff. The rgyu 'bras man ngags bdun ... ("seven-fold cause and effect method"), though anticipated in parts of both the Bbh and MSA, and in the process of systematization in Kamalasl1a's Bhavana-krama and Diparhkara Sri-jfiana's Bodhi-patha-pradipa, is not set forth clearly in any texts earlier than those of the fully developed Tibetan lam rim and blo sbyong genre.

20. SSa p.xxxix; trans. p.3. 21. ... tasman mat[-samjrla, pit[-sarpjfla, putra-samjfla, duhit[-samjfliJ

bodhisattvena mahasattvena sarvo-sattvanam antike yavad atmasariljflotpadayitavya. yathatma sarve~a sarvam sarvatha sarvam sarva-dulJkhebhyo mocayitavyaJ; evam sarva-sattvalJ sarve~a sarvam sarvatha sarvam sarvadul;khebhyo mocayitavya itL ("A bodhisattva should therefore identify all beings with his parents or children, yes, even with his own self, like this: 'As I myself want to be quite free from all sufferings, just so all beings want to be quite free from all sufferings. '"

INDIAN ALTRUISM 241

22. The long quotation, which runs from 357.15-366.2 in Bendall's ed.; <tralIs. pp. 315-320 is, in the main, a reformulation of the opening of the A. Itbegins paratma-samatabhyasad bodhi-cittam drljhibhavet I apek$itvam paratmatvaIiI paravaram yatha IT1[$a. II tat~ki11~rh na svatal) pararh kim ~pek$yastv aparat~ I atrnatvam na svatel,1 slddham kim apek$ya paro bhavet? One must exerCIse oneself in making no difference between other and self if bodhicitta is to become strong. Self and other exist only relatively, just as the hither and further banks of

. the river, and are false. That bank is not of itself the other bank; then in relation to what could this bank exist? Selfhood is not of itself realized, then in relation to what should there be another?"

23. Louis de 1a Vallee Poussin, "Bodhisattva," Hastings Encyclopedia of Religion and Ethics, Vol. 2, pp. 752-753.

24. Ibid., p. 752. 25. BCA trans. pp. 96-97. 26. A similar parallel interpretation is found in the Maitreya-pariP!ccha's

three nature (tri-riIpa) explanation and the Sarhdhi-nirmocana-siitra's three nature ((ri-svabhava) explanation and the Sarhdhi-nirmocana-siitra's three nature (tri

. svabMva) explanation of the PP' s dharma-nairatmya doctrine. These two streams of thought, like the profound and vast bodhi-cittotpada traditions are also associated, more or less wilh Madhyamika and Yogacara thinkers.

27. Quoted SSa p.19; trans. p. 21. 28. Cf. Lam rim chen mo, in the skye bu chen po section. 29. See, for example, the order of the opening sections on gotra, cittotpada

and sva-parmha and the explicit mention of cittotpada's two aIambana. 30. Paiica: 194 sarva-sattve$v eka-putraka iva prema-sahagatena cittena

saroa-citto bha vati. 31. Bbh:249ff. 32. See, for example, Har Dayal, The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhist

Sanskrit Literature (London: Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner, 1932). 33. La Vallee Poussin, ERE 2, p.741 note.

Abbreviations:

A [Arya-)8$ta-sahasrika Prajfia-piIramita. Ed. by Wogihara in AAA. Translated by E. Conze. Bib1iotheca Indica, 284. Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1958; revised reprint ed., San Francisco: Four Seasons Foundation, 1973.

AA AbhisamayaIarhkiIra-nama-prajii8-piIramitopadda-sastra-[kiIrika). Ed. by Wogihara in AAA. The karikas of the first abhisamaya are numbered in accordance with Obermiller's 1929 ed.; i.e., kiIrika 1 in Wogihara's ed. is numbered as kiIrika 3 and so forth.

242

AAA

AASp

AAV

Bbh

BCA

MSA

Patica

PPP

RGS

Sata

SSa

JIABS VOL. 15 NO.2

AbhisamayalarhkiWlokiiPrajnii-paramita-vyakhya Ed. by U. Wogihara. Tokyo: The Toyo Bunko, 1932-35; reprint ed. 1973.

AbhiSaIi1ayaJarhkffra-nama-prajnapfframi topadesa-sastra-vrttil;.. (ShOrt Tib. title, 'greJ pa don gsal = Vrttib Sphu.tffrtM). Tib. text ed. by Bhiksu •.. Samdong Rinpoche. Bibliotheca Indo-Tibetica-2: Sarnath, 1977 ..

AbhisamayaJarhkffra-vrtti. (Arya Vimuktisena). Ed. by C. Pensa. Rome: Is.M.E.O.,1967.

Bodhisattva-bhumi. Ed. by N. Dutl. Tibetan Skt Works Series, 7. Patna: K.P. Jayaswal Research Institute, 1966.

Bodhicaryavatffra. Ed. by V. Bhattacharya. Bibliotheca Indica, 280. Calcutta: Asiatic Society, 1960. Trans. by L. de la Vallee Poussin. Bodhicaryavatffra: Introduction a 1a Practique des Futurs Bouddhas. Paris: Librarie Blond et Cie., 1907.

Mahayana-Sutra1arhkffra. Ed. by Sylvan Levi. Bibliotheque de l'Ecole des Hautes Etudes, 190. Paris: Champion, 1907-11.

PancaviIilsati-siihasrika Prajna-pfframita. Ed. by N. Dutt. Calcutta Oriental Series, 28. London: Luzac, 1934. Trans. byE. Conze in The Large Sutra on Perfect Wisdom. Berkeley 1975; reprint ed., Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1979.

Prajna-pfframita-piI;r;Jartha-[saIilgrahaJ. Ed. by E. Frauwallner. WZKS (1959) 3:140-144.

[Bhagavad-prajna-paramita-]ratnB-guna-saIilcaya-gatha. Ed. by E. Obermiller. Bibliotheca Buddhica, 29. Leningrad, 1937; reprint ed. by E. Conze. 'S-Gravenhage: Mouton and Co., 1960

Sata-siihasrika Prajna-paramita. Ed. by P. Ghosa. Calcutta: Baptist Press, 1902.

Si.k$a-samuccaya. Ed. by C. Bendall. Bibliotheca Buddhica, 1. St

Petersburg, 1902. Trans. by C. Bendall and W.H.D. Rouse in S~asamuccaya: A Compendium of Buddhist Doctrine; reprint ed. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1971.

W U. Wogihara's ed. of the AAA.

II. Translation

A Twelfth-century Tibetan Classic of Mahamudra, The Path of Ultimate Profundity: The Great Seal Instructions of Zhang* .

. by Dan Martin

Introduction

Zhang Rin-po-che, often known as Zhang G.yu-brag-pa Brtson-' grus-grags-pa, or simply Bla-ma Zhang,l is surely one of the most interesting and enigmatic figures in the early history of the Tibetan Buddhist order known as the Bka' -brgyud-pa, founded by Mar-pa the Translator.2 Mar-pa based his teachings on those he received in India from his tantric masters, Naropa3 andMaitrlpa4 in particular. These teachings combined the Six Dharmas especially connected with the name of Naropa and the Mahamudra or "Great Seal"s teachings connected with both Naropa and Maitrlpa. Among Mar-pa's followers, the most celebrated by far was Mi -la-ras-pa. 6 It was a disciple of Mi-Ia-ras-pa, Dwags-po Lha-Ije (Sgam-po-pa Zla'od-gzhon-nu, 1079-1153 A.D.) who made the yogic contemplative teachings and practices of his predecessors enter the world of monastic discipline by "joining the two streams" of Bka' -gdams-pa teachings from Atisa with his spiritual inheritance from Mi-la-raspa.7 Although some purists would take issue with this "mixing," and we think in particular of Sa-skya PaI)c;ii-ta, it may be more apropos to question whether, taken singly, each of the three traditions (Six Dharmas, Great Seal, and Bka' -gdams-pa as well as Great Perfection) is Buddhist. If so, then it is an unremarkable case of mixing apples with apples, even, we might add, if some of the apples could have come from Chinese Buddhism. In the case of Zhang Rin-poche, who is linked to the Bka' -brgyud lineage through Dwags-po

244 JIABS VOL. 15, NO.2

Lha-rje's nephew S gom-tshul, the most immediate inspiration for his work, as we will see, was an Orrisan Buddhist of the siddha-type, one who had recently spent some time in China.

The later controversies are not of much concern to us here,. and in fact there is a distinct danger of reading the early Bka' -brgyud_ pa literature, and particularly the literature of the Great Seal, through the lenses of those controversies. If we nevertheless insist on controversy, this should at least be postponed until we may justifiably claim valid and well-founded insights into the tradition that would be the object of contention. The very proper philological goal of "tracing each tradition"9 must be accompanied by a more phenomenological goal of "knowing each tradition." Ifwe were to immediately take the critical approach of analyzing statements and underlining perceived contradictions, we would risk setting up a straw man opposition of our own making or, what is a more serious matter, a closure in our ability to understand that would more than likely be premature, particularly given the inherent problematics involved in approaching a subject like Mahamudra which rebuffs in no uncertain terms any such philological or phenomenological advances on its citadel.

Therefore, in this brief discussion offered by way of introduction to a translation of a work by Zhang Rin-po-che, The Path of Ultimate Profundity,1O we have chosen to underline certain points that are emphasized within the primary work itself Our main secondary work of reference will be a work of the same order (although not the same genre) belonging to the same tradition, but probably somewhat prior to the work by Zhang Rin-po-che, Sgampo-pa's Responses to the Questions of Lord Phag-mo-gru-pa (Rje Phag-mo-gru-pa'i Zhus-lan, henceforth referred to as Phag-gru Zhus-lan).ll

The title of Zhang Rin-po-che's work already indicates the level of discourse that might be expected. The word "Ultimate" (mthar thug) indicates the Goal. In the Phag-gru Zhus-lan (p. 29.4), a distinction is made between Path Mahamudra and Ultimate Mahamudra. The latter is designated as

PATII OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 245

a condition in which there is neither acceptance nor rejection, since the Great Total Knowledge of the non-duality of sarpsara and nirvm;a has been realized. Since this is the true intention of all buddhas, it is not to be sought for in anything apart from Buddhahood itself."

. We might then presume that this ultimate viewpoint will be the one consistently adopted in Zhang Rin-po-che's work as a whole. However, in the very first line following the initial verse of invocation, we are immediately forewarned that what we will find there is "a mere peripheral indication" (zur mtshon tsam zhig).

That this "ultimate Mahamuddi" is characterized in the preceding quote as a realization (rtogs pa) is a point of utmost importance for our reading of the text as a whole. We should refine our understanding of this "realization" by first recognizing that it is

. neither an "understanding" (go) nor an "experience" (nyams)Y So let us begin with "understanding" even if, as we will quickly come to discover, it does not get us very far in this context.

In the Dus-mkhyen Zhus-lan (pp. 124-5), Sgam-po-pa says,

Generally speaking, there are two styles at work in religion. These two are the "philosophical" (mtshan nyid) which is effective for knowing/perceiving, and the "realizational" (rtogs pa) which is effective for attainment. The activities of learning and pondering in themselves constitute a method, but this must not turn into [a method for] facilitating afflictive emotions. This would be to cut off the goal of knowing, and at bottom it is of no help. Even those who have not cultivated themselves in the path of the insights (shes rab) that come through learning and pondering may yet be enabled to give birth to realizations if, after encountering a reliable Lama, they carry out that Lama's advice. I need not repeat that this involves a pure renunciation of this-worldly thoughts. One needs to forget all the technical terms of the treatises (bstan beos kyi tha snyad). Those whose learning is extensive are acute in words, but

obtuse in meanings. Their talents turn into faults. I.

One's immediate reaction may be to discount Mahamudra as something beyond understanding, thus effectively putting an end to our phenomenological (but still, certainly, text-based) attempt at . .

understanding. We must at least be precise and clear about the sort


of understanding that Sgam-po-pa and Zhang Rin-po-che diSCOunt as insufficient. It is, first of all, "textual" undersJanding - texts being the "societies of words" (tshig tshogs, which I have more conserva .. tively rendered "clumps of words" in the following translation) pursued for their own sake without reference to any meaning Outside themselves, but rather viewed exclusively along the lines of the internal interrelationships of the terms and categories. Zhang Rinpo-che says,

Uttering clumps of words such as these!5 does not touch on it. Clumps of words, however acute and profound, have been pronounced in many accounts,

but are incapable of touching the real condition of mind. '6

Naturally, Zhang Rin-po-che acknowledges his own text to be a "society of words,"

Do not mull over these expressions of mine.

Understand that they are like the finger that points out the moon. Knowing this, the clumps of conventional words will not get in the way, will not veil understanding with verbal faults. So, without giving up words and investigations, take pride in the meaning and do not get attached.J1

He is not opposed to study,18 only to philological fixations that end up in a pride (intellectual mastery or authority as an end in itself) that obstructs further comprehensions,

Religious people in these bad times of the present have little of the inner discipline that comes from study. Even those who are learned in clumps of words have not realized their significances. In the future, their proud contentions will increase. The revered Lamas of the accomplishment transmission pursued meanings and became accomplished. Permanently renouncing such things as pride, understanding meanings was the only skill

in scriptural authority and reasonings they required."

PATH OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 247

In short, neither verbal expression (philology) nor mental investigation (philosophical theorizing, etc.) touch on the real condition. They fall short of the mark, and

While falling short of the mark does not mean an end to development, following what has not entered deep within will give rise to dis-ease. Those contemplators who have mastered mind-made philosophies will be invaded by the chronic disease of partiality.""

In fact, our English word "understanding" might serve as valid translations for at least three different Tibetan words: go, meaning philologically and philosophically derived understandings;. shes meaning understandings or know ledges arrived q.t through mental and perceptual faculties ("learning"), and rtogs which we have rendered "realization." The main difference between realization and other types of understandings is that, in the case of realization, meditative experiences Cnyams, or, nyams myong) intervene. Meditative experiences and realization both would tend to arise when following a course of meditation practices. But there are crucial differences between them. Meditative experiences are, although this is not asserted to be a universally applicable "rule," preconditions for the arising of realization, but in themselves meditative experiences are compounded phenomena, and therefore temporary and unstable. Zhang Rin-po-che speaks of "the dawning of realization from the midst of meditative experiences."

Fortunately for us, Phag-mo-gru-pa placed the question to Sgam-po-pa, "What is the difference between meditative experiences and realization?" Sgam-po-pa answered that experiences do not transcend certain mental aspects, that they are like the sun through a crack in the clouds. Experiences are made up of three independently variable factors; bliss, clarity and absence of troubling thoughts.21 Tending these experiences without attachment, mental defilements ~e refined away. Then the original realization dawns.22

Zhang Rin-po-che says, If it is a question of which is most important, realization or meditative

experiences,

248 nABS VOL. 15, NO.2

then it is realization that is important, not meditative experiences. No matter how fine the meditative experience, in the absence of realization there can be no liberation."

And he also says,

All experiences are compounded things. All compounded things are impermanent, will fall apart. Therefore, without being attached to meditative experiences, realize the non-dual Total Knowledge. Complete nirviU;la is under the purview of realization exclusively.24

Zhang Rin-po-che has much to say about the importance (as well as the insufficiency) of meditative experiences, but at a certain point in the practice of meditation these experiences may constitute an extremely difficult obstacle to overcome, a "honey trap" as we will see.

The last major topic which we will attempt to explicate, which seems to be an essential key to understanding, is the idea of the Four Yogas (mal 'byOI bzhl),25 which are presented as different points of time in meditative practice: On initial consideration, this idea of Four Yogas may seem difficult to accommodate within an "absolutist" system such as that promised in the title of Zhang Rinpo-che's work, a system in which "by knowing the one thing, everything is disentangled" (Gig shes kun grol), the idea of the "white self-sufficient medicinal" which has been ably investigated elsewhere.26 A charge that such an "absolutist" system is untrue to itself when any idea of "levels" or "stages" is mentioned would be essentially unfair. This would be to demand more than is deemed possible to deliver. Zhang Rin-po-che is doing his level best to portray to his target audience (meaning his own disciples and later followers of his tradition) what the ultimate standpoint must be like, but heis also pointing out ways to get to that standpoint. Proponents of "law and order" in religion (including students of religion who insist on the same constituting the true core of religious phenomena) may be troubled by the degree to which he (following the early Bka'brgyud-pa Great Seal tradition as a whole) relativizes the Paths and

PA TI-I OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 249

their stages (see the beginning of chapter 4).27 Yet, a great deal of the text is devoted to the orderly unfolding of the stages of the Path of those who are gradualists. The Four Y ogas themselves may likewise be understood as stages, even if they are scarcely ever referred to as such.2s What makes them more central to Zhang Rinpo-che's work (and the Mahfunudra tradition of the early Bka'brgyud-pa in general) is that they describe a "bare bones" outline of

....• the unfoldment of the meditative life which, according to them, .. culminates in the realization of the actual condition of mind, which .is in itself sufficient. They in fact prefer the meditative to the

phenomenological approach, since the "phenomenological" Dharma . Proper (Chos-n yid) is taken care of by the meditative realization of Mind Proper (Sems-nyid). Phag-mo-gru-pa said,

The learned scholars cut away the veils [of words] with words and establish the objects of knowing ... Make forests into pens, oceans into ink, land into paper, and still there would be no end to their writing. Yogins do not establish external objectivities; they establish the mind. The mind

established, its objects establish themselves.'9

Sgam-po-pa says, in answer to a question about whether the Great Seal teachings differentiate Dharma Proper and Mind Proper,

They are the same. The light of mind is Dharma Proper, so through realization of Mind Proper, Dharma Proper realization is taken care of (loosens its own bonds) ... Exclusive meditation on the substance of mind

is sufficient. 30

There will certainly be other Buddhists who will take issue with this idea of the self-sufficiency of meditation, but I doubt that any would deny its importance. The Four Yogas are simply the preferred model for meditative developments used by the followers of Mahfunudra. As such, they hold exceptional interest for all who take an interest, of any sort, in meditation. We will now briefly survey the Four Yogas, based on three passages in the Phag-gru Zh us-Ian. 31


1. ONE-POINlED YOGA (rtsegcigrnal 'byor): However many mental effusions might at fIrst, take place in this yoga the inner propulsions for troubling thoughts are lessened' Their lessening makes Mind Proper progressively evident· and this wears away all the defilements. Fierce faith' , devotion and dedication are required at this point. The practitioner must go for meditation like a thirsty man for water. During this time, everyone has the experience of thinking that they are not meditating,32 but they have to keep trying.33

In this one must give birth to the certainty that reflexive awareness is unmoved by troubling thoughts, not at all worked on, and with nothing at all to think about-that this is the King of Concentrations. This yoga occurs to some people, but they do not perceive it to be so, thinking that this meditation consists in having an object of concentration, or in having spiritual experiences. Some even think they are supposed to become like a corpse with troubling thoughts stopped up and phenomenal things sinking away. That is not how it is.34

II. UNFISSURED INTEGRAL YOGA (spros bralmal 'byor): There is an experience showing that perceptions have no basis, that no basis can be found. The substance of awareness has become free of fissures, as if peeled of peelings, as if one has gotten to the kernel of reality. One thinks one has discovered something unfound, or perceived something unknown. One fInds a growing and unmitigated joy as if a poor man who gets a treasure in his hand. The mind experiences a clear joy, a clear happiness. Pursuing this further, confusing thoughts are cleared up. The mind is freed of compulsive practices and turns to unfissured integral awareness. This is the Unfissured Integral Y oga.3S

One must produce the special certainty that all dharmas of sa1psara and niIY8I)a are purified on their own ground after being assured that Mind Proper has no production, and that


all dharmas of sarpsara and nirvif1)a are projections of one's own mind.36

III. QUALITATIVE EQUIVALENCE YOGA (TO gcig mal 'byor): Even when one directs the mind toward phenomena, it does not go out to them, but the phenomena are neither obstructed nor fixated upon. All phenomena experienced [in post-meditation]37 become unclassifiable.38 Sustaining this meditation is the dawning from within of the Qualitative Equivalence yoga.39

One needs certainty about Dharma Proper-that mental phenomena are awareness' energy manifestations. Even when all kinds of troubling thoughts are racing about, one need not rely on anything other as an antidote. Since the troubling thoughts themselves demonstrate that they cannot be established in truth or permanency, in reality they have not arisen.40

IV. NON-MEDITATION YOGA (sgom med mal 'byor): Upon the appearance of troubling thoughts, there is no need for awareness to take action and make them more or less than they are. Rather, they are all experienced as identical with mind, and this in and of itself is sufficient. This [initially] brings an increase of thought phenomena, but these are seen as projections of mind, and finally they disappear of themselves.41 Sustaining this for a length of time is the nonmeditation yoga, in which all phenomena dawI?- as clear light Dharma Proper. In fact, no troubling thought of emotion, passion, etc., can arise without clear light Dharma Proper dawning simultaneously. This occurs whether one meditates or not, there being no meditative equipoise or post-meditation. It is also called the Yoga of the Great Meditative Equipoise (mnyam gzhag chen po'i mal 'byor).42

All the troubling thoughts of the mind, experiences in meditation, and insights of realization dissolve into the Realm through the power of seeing their substance. Here one needs


to give open birth to the certainty of recognizing ordinary perception, without working on it, as,Dharma ProperY

A further passage indicates what are the most crucial things for each of the Four Yogas:

1. Giving up entertainments and being persistent. 2. Having the courage to view everything dispassionately. 3. The inner meditative experience itself, without getting mixed up with the general aspects of the thing to be

understood. 4. Not getting stuck in the glue of meditative experience.44

The final aim of this meditative unfoldment is the "Great Impression," or "Great Seal." Kong-sprul explains this in a very succinct fashion, "Coupling (zung du 'jug pa) is the Seal, and because all dharmas (all phenomena) are embraced in this coupling, it is Great. Nothing is beyond it."45

The meditation centeredness of the Mahamudra view is no liability from the viewpoint of its adherents, neither need it be considered a liability by its students. Every view has somethingthe structures of the human mind, social organization, words, syntax, atoms, gods, kinship, illusions, gender, psychic unity, nothingness - that everything in the system builds on and that then, in the end, it all boils down to. If Mahamudra differs from other types of views it would be in part at least because the something it bases itself on does not seem to supply a very stable cornerstone for a monumental structure of thought. The absence of troubling thought (mi rtog pa) has no validity at the time of One-pointed Yoga, is part of the mix that characterizes meditative experiences later on, and finally occurs on its own in Non-meditation Yoga as an important way of characterizing the Goal. Epistemologically speaking, meditation brings significant shifts in perspective - modulations of the human mind, transformations in the status of the knowing faculties vis a vis the things known - which make it difficult for those with other assumptions, assumptions on the autonomy and stability of the

PATI! OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 253

c' knowing subject, to pin it down within their systems. Those of us who use philological, anthropological, philosophical and phenometiological approaches can and should take heed of such alternative

!voices as those of the early Bka' -brgyud-pa and allow them to have .... their say. This might prod us to ponderthe the possible insufficiency of our approaches, to face with a more realistic humility the range of possible knowables, and of possible ways to go about knowing them.

Before bringing this introduction to a close, it may be helpful to add a few words about Zhang Rinpoche's early life and the circumstances leading up to the composition of this work. He was born in 1122-3 in Central Tibet, not far to the east of Lhasa. While he descended from the illustrious Sna-nam Zhang family, we cannot know if his family was rich or poor. It seems that his mother was a fonner nun who recognized the value of education. She, together with an elder brother, taught him to read and write. from about age nine through age eighteen, he studied various sfitras, tantras and treatises with at least three different teachers. Something happened to him at age eighteen, and he· began a three-year period of destructive ritual magic employing goat sacrifices. As he says in an

. autobiography, "I purchased a black goat and killed it in order to work an evil spell. This in itself proved to be a truly evil curse, and there was no magical result, but rather my parents died and, in my dejection, I went wandering down to Khams."46

In his twenty-third year he took the vows of a Buddhist layperson, including a vow of celibacy. Nevertheless, he indulged once more in a "black magic" ritual. In his twenty-sixth year, while reading sfitras at a funeral service, he felt a genuine aversion against worldly life, and in the late spring of the year 1148 he took monastic vows. Not long after this he met one of his more important spiritual teachers, the translator of Rga. Rga conferred upon him the initiations into the mandala of Cakrasarpvara. He stayed in retreat doing yogic postures, breathing exercises and meditation in various remote sites. His teachers were many, but most important both for his spiritual advancement and later career was S gom-tshul, a nephew of the more famous Sgam-po-pa. His meeting with Sgom-tshul in


about 1154 was accompanied with a flood of realization, and he received the lineage of th~ Eka' -brgyud ~asters, soon becoming both capable and authorized to teach in his own right. .

It was sometime during the next several years, perhaps in about 1161 to 1164, that the Path of Ultimate Profundity Was composed. This we know from the Rgyal-blon.:.ma, a biography composed by one or more of his disciples, evidently not long after his death in 1193. According to the Rgyal-blon-ma account, he went to visit a great lama named 'Bhe' -ro to request Cakrasarp.vara initiations, as well as precepts on the dohas, the often highly. symbolic songs of realization sung by the Indian mahasiddhas. Immediately thereafter, he went to Phyi-khungs (Spyi-khungs). He was performing consecration rituals for a mchod-rten and protector temple (mgon khang) there when a female patron named Gzungssgron-ma asked to receive his blessing. Since he was keeping a vow not to stay near (?) women, he fled into the mountains, going from place to place until he reached TflUl-gyi Brag -sngon. He triedto keep his presence there a secret, but soon he was joined by others, no doubt including, even if the Rgyal-blon-ma does not say so, his disciple Mar-pa who requested from him the Path of Ultimate Profundity. This work and another entitled Lhan-cig-skyes-pa Don-gyi Stod-pa were composed at Brag-sngonY The disciple Mar-pa is mentioned a little later in the Rgyal-blon-ma (p. 288.1), where it says, "The Sgom-pa Mar-pa instituted the teachings at Te'u-skyog."

From this we may at least conclude that the Path of Ultimate Profundity, while it is one of his earlier compositions (and it seems his first compositions date from shortly after 1150), follows the Mahamudra realization and teaching authorizations which occurred after his meeting with S gom-tshul. Perhaps most significant for our understanding of the text, however, is the knowledge that it was composed very soon after receiving teachings from 'Bhe' -ro on the dohifsongs. It is certain that this 'Bhe-ro (also, Be-ro-ba) is identical to theIndian Mahamudra teacher Vairocanarak~ita alias Vairocanavajra. Both the Red Annals and the Blue Annals support this identification.48 This very widely travelled and broadly learned Indian master had spent some time in China where he was especially


famed as an alchemist (this being the reason his name is sometimes ; prefaced by dngul chu, "quicksilver") and he was also an expert in : the dohff songs of the mahasiddhas. It is in the tradition of these Indian Buddhist songs of non-dual realization that our text might best

... be located, and it may prove interesting to examine Zhang Rin-po·che's reliance on the doha songs from both literary and doctrinal perspectives in a future study.

Path of Ultimate Profundity: The Great Seal Instructions of Zhang

Chapter One: On the View

Prostrations to the Venerable Lamas.

Paying reverence to the hosts of realized teachers who have made to reach their aims all the lassos of empowerment,.· the most excellent among the compassionate activities of all Buddhas without exception in all time,

I, with flawless joy, set down just a peripheral indication of the Mind of all S ugatas transmitted by the yoga masters from mind to mind, the highly refined nutritive essence of all supreme Vehicles of the Tantra Basket.

Although I have no strong and fully cultivated altruism, at the urging of my disciple who with reverent intelligence follows the Sacred Dharma, I, Brtson-'grus-grags-pa, felt that its benefits would not stop until the end of becoming.

This is-The Mother that gave life to all the Victors and their Sons. What those fortunate ones with prior cultivation will experience. The spiritual safety-box for those with venerable lineages.

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The nutritive essence of the Vehicles with all their scriptures, reasonings and instructions.

The Dharma Body, the ultimate core of Buddha's uncompromised presentations. The Realm of luminosity immaculate in its substantiality.

If the Victors of all time come or do not come, fine either way. If the hosts of Saints are realized or not realized, fine either way. [52] If the Sages have expressed it or not expressed it, fine either way. If the Masters have disentangled their meanings in commentaries Or not, fine either

way.

This utterly integrated and luminous Dharma Body has remained naturally arrived at from beginningless time without waxings or

wanings. Within pure space the universe has formed and disintegrated, and countless are the aeons that have been destroyed, incinerated by fire, blown apart by wind,

while space itself remains unharmed, unaltered, with neither waxings nor wanings.

The ever-shining light of the sun may be totally eclipsed by clouds, enveloping us in darkness. And when the clouds clear up it becomes light again. Thus it appears to wax and wane. But it is impossible for the sun itself to wax and wane.

This unaltering Dharma Body that remains in this way is not some other thing apart from one's very mind. It is to the very mind that the various things in sarp.sara and nirvaI)a appear. [53] It is because one's very mind is troubled by lack of realization, errors and misdirection, that the sufferings of the animate and inanimate in sarp.sara appear. It is to one's very mind that the definitive realization of all the Total Knowledges beyond suffering

appears as Great Bliss.

Hence, since without exceptions these are radiations from one's very mind itself, when one recognizes one's very mind as Dharma Proper one will know the Dharma Proper of all sentient beings. Knowing that, one knows all dharmas, nirv~a and the rest. Knowing entirely all dharmas, one will know the one thing beyond all the three

realms, . and through this one will know all. If one fells the roots, the leaves and branches will also be felled.

PATH OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY

lIence it is your very mind alone that will decide the issue.so

1be real condition of one's very mind, the seed of everything, has never differentiated from the Mind of all Victors and their Sons, is identical to theunarticulated Dharma Body. Not being inert matter, one's very awareness shines in due course.

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It has not achieved thinghood, is void of color, shape and measure.S1 [54] . It is not a non-thing, it shows itself variously under differing conditions. Void through its substantiality, it will not turn into something eternal. Its substantiality intrinsically clear, it will not turn into something annihilated. It does not form a "self' since, when examined, it has no essence. It is not a non-self; it is an integral Great Selfhood.s2

It does not form ends; it grasps at nothing at all. It does not form a middle; it is divorced from all perspectives.S3

Similes do not symbolize it; there is no symbolizable thing to recognize. It is not impossible to make similes; it is like space. It is not found in words; utterances do not explain it. It is not free of words; it is the root of all utterances. Existence, nonexistence, truth, falsity, empty, not empty, quieted, disquieted, fissured or unfissured integrity, ponderable, imponderable, comfortable, afflicted, having or not having objectives, non-dual, not non-dual, beyond or not beyond thought, true or untrue, achieved or unachieved, pUre or impure, naturally arrived at or not... Uttering clumps of words like these does not touch on it. Clumps of words, however acute and profound, [55J have been pronounced in many accounts, but are incapable of touching the real condition of mind.

However scholarly and intellectual the analyses over many aeons of pondering and analyzing, the real nature is not an object for science,54 and so they cannot realize the real condition of mind.

As an analogy, the planets and stars that shine in the ocean one may sift with the most finely-meshed cloth strainer but since it is not a question of real stars and planets, it is not possible to catch a single one.

As far as verbal expression is possible,


to that extent, however fine the names, it is not the real condition. As far as it withstands mental investigation, to that extent, however profound the understanding, it is not the real condition. In as far as the investigatOr and investigated are considered two, realization of the non-dual real condition is impossible.

In sum, all this reification is the root of all attachments. This root of all attachment keeps the vicious circle going. The idea of thinking it is Voidness; thinking it is without signs, thinking it is without wish, thinking it is unrecognized, thinking it is utterly pure, thinking it is unarticulated, thinking it is not goal-oriented, thinking it has no nature, thinking it free of fissures in its integrity, thinking it is not a venue for speech and thought, thinking it is unmade and naturally arrived at and the like ... All these conceptions no matter how profound and cynical ("empty") are pretensions that have not broken free from signs. Pursuing these as conceptual problems with sign-attachment, they fan short of the

mark.

While falling short of the mark does not mean an end to development, following something that has not entered deep within will give rise to dis-ease. Those contemplators who have mastered mind-made philosophies will be invaded by the chronic disease of partiality.

Know it as an unequalled parallel production. "Compromising presentations are simply exaggerations, while this is the real condition uncompromisingly presented." Such statements are not to be seen, even among those of the Sage.55

Do not mull over these expressions of mine. Understand that they are like the fmger that points out the moon. Knowing this, the clumps of conventional words56 [57] will not get in the way, will not veil understanding with verbal faults. So, without giving up words and investigations, take pride in the meaning and do not get attached.

This "own mind as Dharma Body" of which we speak embraces emotional problems, interfering thoughts, perceptual mechanisms, elements, perceptual filters, etc. It embraces all creatures in space, earth, stone, jungles, vegetationall the vital and non-vital universe.


ilt embraces totally the ocean Qf Hearers, Self-Buddhas, ::Sodhisattvas and Sugatas. :In sum, all subjective and objective :tbings without exception are embraced in their entirety. ~sut this embracing has no duality of embracer and embraced. :1bey are the miraculous projections of one Great Selfhood .

. > Although the ocean embraces all the planets and stars ;fthat appear in the ocean, they cannot be divided into two.

;--."

:;rseing just water, all the rolling waves <are embraced by water. So how can the waves be separated out? :;. A moving fata morgana in the clear sky 'is totally. embraced by the sky and cannot be separated out.

'!be ornaments made from gold, while various, are embraced by gold with no way to divide their substance. Figures of the six types of beings made from brown sugar are embraced by pure brown sugar and cannot be divided out. '!be sky is not other than the rainbow.

, '!be rainbow is not other than the sky. Rainbow is sky. Sky is rainbow. '!bey cannot be classed, distinguished or severed.

In like manner, mind and the myriad things are inseparable. Mind is not divisible from the Void. Void and Great Bliss are'an inseparable sameness. To the same extent, becoming and nirvID)a are inseparable. This sort of Mind Proper is the Great Seal. A void nature has no recognizable features. While the awareness of sign-hood is a miracle that shows up' everywhere, the inseparable substance of signs is the united Adamantine Entity;S7 the font of unlimited creative talents Precious Mind; the Space Safety-box Mind from which no one can steal -

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inexhaustible, gaining and losing nothing; [59] the clear crystal ball Stainless Mind; the self-aware and self-illuminating Butterlamp Mind; the luminous by nature Bodhi-heart Mind; and, with nothing to disturb itS flow, the Stream-like Mind; with no recognizable features, the Atmosphere-like Mind; Total Knowledge that knows no in- or outside, the Passing-right-through Mind;

a mind that appears in various reflections according to predispositions, as in a clean bronze basin filled with water,


or like the polished surface of an untarnished mirror.

Chapter Two: On Delineating Sarpsara and NIrvana

One's very mind, in its ab-original condition as already set forth, has been subjected to the reifications of self and ownership concepts. Thereupon, misdirected attachments increased the hosts of troubling emotions and interfering thoughts.

These accumulated karmic force and, as karmic result borne on the tidal waves of sarpsara's endless waters, the inexhaustible sufferings such as birth and death pound without ceasing, tossing and turning.

The various propensities to wrongly see the various phenomena of the six classes of beings cram up the mind and increase interfering thoughts. Through various counterproductive life-styles, various intolerable and inextricable sufferings are experienced one after the other without cease.

These experiences themselves promote a subsequent mental dullness. Fainting from its dizziness, anger and pride, desire and miserliness and the like disturb the mind again and again. My, who would place their trust in this vicious circle?58

If one came to realize the ab-original nature of one's very mind, the pitch darkness of wrong understandings would be illuminated.

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If one is disentangled from attachment to the troubling emotions of the self concept, then one will certainly be freed from all karma and affliction; the ever-present Dharma Body will become evident, and the force of past aspirations will effortlessly bring aid to others.

Blissful in its Cause, blissful in its Path and blissful in its Result, the interdependent causations of nirvaIfa are sheer delight. The sufferings of Cause, Path and Result, the sufferings of sarpsara's three realms are entirely decimated.

Those who flee the quagmire of sarpsara will certainly arrive at the dry ground of nirvaIfa. Those who delight in nirvaIfic dharmas

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PATII OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY

will ftrst enter into the Dharma and, as soon as they do, their. faith will turn their minds in the direction of virtue.

Even if their appearance is bad, everyone will fmd them lovely. (No reason to mention here the good-looking who enter the Dharma!)

. Although they gave up fame, their fame will be proclaimed by all. . Although they have given up honor, everyone will honor them. Although they have humbled themselves, everyone will carry them to high

positions.

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Though they suffer from their efforts, they will live out their lives in happiness. Though they became poor, they will make use of riches and food and clothes will come to them, incidentally, without trying to get them. Though they fled alone, they will acquire a group of followers. Though unexorcised, the misguiding and hindering spirits will flee. [62J Though uninvoked, the deities and Dharma Protectors will gather around.

One may see in public life how those who make a living mainly through lying, cheating and trickery have some fragmentary virtuous practices such as learning, etc., and do not let them go to waste but use what good qualities they have to get rich. To their pride and equivalent afflictive emotions they add a little learning and become "big men." If even their fragmentary refractions of virtue truly result in all these fragmentary good qualities, then how much more so with those who practice the pure Holy Dharma

If there are such good qualities as soon as one enters the Dharma, how much more the good qualities when one works hard at the practice? They have so much freedom to live without pretensions in the empty valleys and ownerless mountains. Happiness among people without kindness is remarkably scarce .

. How much more pleasant to keep the company of the deer who do not repeat

criticism. The clothes of pure discipline are warm and beautiful. Desireless satisfaction is wealth that is not lost. When wearing the hard and thick armor of patience, [63] powerful galloping diligence makes an excellent horse. From here on the precious Lama is an excellent refuge. Experiencing the essentials of the Path of Method is the happiest emotion. Bliss, clarity and the absence of troubling thoughts is the sweetest contemplation.


The pure, void reflexive Awareness is the clearest of clear lights. That that which has no basis for appearance does nevertheless appear is most

hilarious. When whatever dawns remains unmoved from the Realm, it is the most comforting

thought.59

Being quenched with the nectar of meditative experience is the greatest satiation. When the uncompromised integrity dawns within, it is the purest of minds. Knowing how thought is is the most decisive of events. Owning the treasury of Awareness is the best kind of wealth .. When all that is seen and heard is employed as Dharma Body, it is the greatest

happiness. Controlling all that is seen and heard is the greatest power. Converting the delusionary armies of wrong thoughts is the greatest ferocity. Who empties the pit of the vicious circle is the strongest of persons. Who strongly strives for the welfare of beings is the greatest philanthropist. Who races over the plateau of Great Bliss is the fastest of couriers.

The host of good qualities that come from dedicating oneself to strivings such as these could be told for an aeon without finishing. Speech is insufficient. If such are the good qualities that come from dedicated striving, [64] then what about the good qualities that come from attaining the signs of heat? If these good qualities, the miraculous powers, clairvoyance, and so forth, were told for an aeon they would not be touched on. If such are the good qualities that come from attaining the signs of heat, then what about the good qualities that come from manifesting the Three Bodies? If the good qualities of the Victor, imponderable and unsurpassable Total

Knowledge, etc.,

were told, it would not be possible to finish.

Chapter Three: On Giving Up Business

No matter how skilled in words sharp and astute, until you have put them into practice and they dawn from within, it is impossible to realize how things are through intellectual investigation.

Without your realizing how things are, the hidden propensities cannot be cleansed. Therefore, do not be fond of verbal and philological insights, but put the precepts of the Lama into practice. If they are turned into the parroting Pakshi's song,60 it is possible that you and others will fall into unperceived pits. Minds that put into practice the secret advice of the sages


will act without regard for life and limb. 1110ugh it be a simple matter to die in a famine, or from cold and hunger, [65] they will pass it all off as a dream. It matters nothing if everyone criticizes them or spreads damaging rumors; they will work in their hearts to achieve humility. Unfinished worldly business is a cause of sin. Questioning the cold and hunger is answered by fear of death. These slight good qualities of beggar-monk Zhang are due to putting life and limb on the line.61

One might renounce wealth down to the last needle and thread, but when thoughts of making a living charge their taxes, there is no renunciation. If they have not renounced the idea to avoid bad things there will be no chance to give up worldly business. If thoughts have not abandoned the world in its entirety, one's deeds will be ineffective efforts and causes of sin. If thoughts have not abandoned the world in its entirety, then no matter what religious hardships one performs, whatever courageous acts of giving, keeping disciplines, offerings to the Lama, staying in solitude, contemplative exertions, thinking of good meditative experiences, great insight, sublime realization, and so forth, will be ineffective efforts. [66] If this giving up the world in the thoughts is not understood, then consider that if one disregards even the happiness of human or divine rebirths, then of course it is needless to mention considerations on the happinesses and dissatisfactions of the present life. So tong as the flow of anxious thoughts lasts they cannot make arrangements for things to be done tommorrow or the day after. Escape the trap and go to serve the Holy, thoroughly master the treasury of their advice, be impervious to the hosts of external and internal delusionary forces, keep unhypocritical discipline and so on, and, if capable of solitude, stay alone in a hermitage. With an impartial altruistic mind free of entangling attachments and with pure discipline that is not for outside show, generate the idea to attain Awakening for the sake of animate beings.

Devote yourself purely to the practices without being too strict or too loose. Do not take any thought for your own comfort or discomfort, of cold, heat, hunger, thirst, or dangers to your life. Do not waste yourself on issues of fame or possessions. But, rather, put in practice the secret precepts as they are pronounced.62


Chapter Four: Teaching the Ambiguities of Gradualist Persons and Paths

The ways of living of sentient beings are imponderably many; The variations in their sensory faculties are unimaginably many. The differences in their prior culti"ation are intangible. The Vehicles of the Victor are endless. Still, to simplify, there are three types of persons. Through differences in their degrees of prior cultivation, there are gradualist, simultanealist63 and leaping persons. The optimal Path for the gradualist is counterproductive teaching for the simultanealist. The optimal Path for the simultanealist is counterproductive teaching for the gradualist. Aconite is the optimal nourishment for the peacock. If others eat it, they will die. If the peacock renounces aconite, it will die.64

Water is the optimal habitation for fish, while humans and others suffocate in it and die. If a fish is thrown up on dry land, it will die. What is beneficial for feverish disorders will be harmful for cold disorders. What is beneficial for cold disorders will be very harmful for feverish disorders.

The distinct Vehicles were taught because even a single person may be benefitted by different Vehicles at different times. What benefits them when they are at a low level causes bondage when they are at a high level. What benefits them when they are at a high level will cause their downfall when they are at a low level. As soon as a patient enters a certain level of feverish disease administering cooling concoctions is beneficial. But when the same patient is on the point of recovery it can be\extremely harmful. Hence, when the opportune moments, the hours, and the levels of the faculties are known, they will not criticize each other for their Paths.

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PAlli OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY

Gradualist persons first think about the difficulty of obtaining the ideal conditions for practice. They are saddened by fear of lower rebirth. After contemplatirig the ideal conditions and impermanence, they are swift to take the triple Refuge.6S

After that, they take the eight precepts of temporary ordination. Then they take the five permanent lay vows, and the vows of the SramaI)era and the Bhik~u, one after the other.

When they have divorced themselves from saI11sanc things, they set their sights on nirvaDa, and, following the rules of a renunciate order, they study Vaibh~ika and Sautrantika philosophy.

Then they have an inferior Awakening, and in order to leave this behind, they contemplate returning the kindnesses of animate beings. Through cultivating love and compassion they generate the aspiration for ultimate Awakening.

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Then, with preparatory, actual, and subsequent phases of practice, [69] they must practice the six Paramitas, gather both of the accumulations, and, uniting Voidness and Compassion, cultivate peaceful abiding and transcending vision, cleansing fully their own minds. With altruism free of selfish desires, they constantly exert themselves toward helping others. A person who has trained in this manner will, in order to achieve the seven-limbed Body,66 enter the gates of Vajrayana and study the four sets of tantras in order. When they have taken the Vase Empowerment into the adamantine Supreme Yoga Tantra and keep the commitments purely,

they will purify themselves in the stage of generation.

Then, through the Secret Empowerments they will master breath-control of the channels and airs, thereby doing the self-initiation. Then they will contemplate the Void Bliss in the Third Empowerment

-------- ---- -----~---


and .get accustomed to the ultimate in the Fourth Empowerment.

This explains some aspects of the gradualist person. The types of these persons are more than may be told. Their Vehicles need to climb up from below. It is sufficient to study it in a general way. There are even those who do not need to study it. [70] There are those who obtain Empowerments that were not conferred and many are those who, while having them conferred, do not obtain them. There are also types who will obtain them if they have been conferred, and will not obtain them if they have not been conferred. There are, as well, those who have always had Empowerment.67

When one knows the types of vessels such as these, one must do the practices that accord with one's vessel.

Chapter Five: On the Methods for Settling into Meditation

Simultanealist persons must with life, limb and whatever possessions they have please the Lama who has the transmission. The one who has Empowerment or blessings, well fortified with the thought of Enlightenment, will, through deity yoga, contemplate from the very start the uncompromisingly presented Great Seal. The Lama with the nutritive essence of realization will take the Total Knowledge that he has and introduce it like a treasure in the palm of the hand.68

While indeed there is no agent or object of meditation, they will not waver from the continuity of non-meditation.69

The inner intentions behind the many introductions and cleansings only obscure the naturally arrived at Total Knowledge. For meditating on the Great Seal there is no need for precise directives on what to do. The three phases-preparatory, actual, and subsequent- [71] have no fixed order and no set number.1° There is no need to count the number, time, hours and days. They unfold at the time they come to mind .. There is no beginning, middle or end. The mind itself is unproduced and continuous. The muddy turbulence of its waves become clear and unmuddy when left alone.


The mind itself, obscured and defiled by troubled thought, when left alone and unprocessed, clears into Dharma Body. Do not work on it:; leave it alone. Do not rein in perceptions; let them range freely. Do not make plans for the future; be lackadaisical. Do not build up mental objects for meditation; let them pass (?). Without many things to do, stay at play. Do not look for a place to settle the mind, but leave it unsupported, as if dangling in the atmosphere. Do not think about past, present or future; but let perceptions rest in the mind. Whether troubled thoughts multiply or not, fme. Do not meditate for their sake; stay relaxed. In short, without meditating on anything at all, leave perceptions alone and let them go their way. No need to weary yourself for their sake. Die first rather than move from the continuity of Dharma Body. When perceptions are let loose there is an experience of non-discursive clarity that remains as if in the center of pure space. This is the clear light Dharma Body. From the very continuity of leaving things like they are, some interfering thoughts pass through. But do not think that they are something other than luminous Dharma Body itself.11

Just as out of a clear and calm ocean are tossed the roiling waves

which are not something other than the clear ocean, likewise the basis for troubled thoughts is the mind. Mind is defined by its clarity and awareness. The nature of this clear awareness is the Void. The substance of this Void is Great Bliss. Since the darkness of this night is not permanent, the nature of mind is given the name "Clear Light." Since awareness and the Void are indivisible, it is given the name "Coupling." The selfhood of all dharmas is the substance of reflexively aware mind. This substance of reflexively aware mind is devoid of a body with identifiable characteristics. This unembodied body is the best of all bodies.

Because its body is the unembodied Dharma Proper,

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it is. given the name "Dharma Body." Hence the intelfering thoughts that project through are Voidness projecting Voidness, Dharma Body projecting Dharma Body, Clear Light projecting Clear Light, Great Bliss projecting Great Bliss, Coupling projecting Coupling,72 Dharma Realm projecting Dharma Realm, Immaculacy projecting Immaculacy, Vajrasattva projecting Vajrasattva, Awakening projecting Awakening. Persons in whom pure lineage precepts have not .taken hold, who are deluded, lacking the results of prior cultivation, want to make two entities of the projected and unprojected, of thought and non-thought, of mind and Dharma Body. Thinking interfering thoughts at fault, they block them. Desiring non-thought, they work for it Wanting to sweep away the waves, they are tossed to and fro. Non-thought that comes from blocking thought is itself a delusion of troubled thoughts, a great darkness veiling the Dharma Body. Whoever is adverse to the flow of thought is desiring to live without thought. The enchantment ghost of desires for the future enters deep inside [74] depleting their ab-original treasury. Contemplatives who block interfering thoughts are like people who chum water hoping for butter. They may meditate for aeons without glimpsing their goal. Hence, blocking interfering thoughts is not called for. If it is present, there is no need to move toward it. Although projected, it is Dharma Body. Although present, it has not moved away from Dharma Bo.dy. When a reliable Lama has taken charge, you will be disentangled whether you stay or move. If a reliable Lama has not taken charge, you will be entangled whether you stay or move. Therefore allow the oral precepts to take hold and these things will definitely tum out to be friends. Without a lot of hurried investigations let them relax and remain undisturbed. Without following after the counterproductive thoughts, let the perceptions range where they will. Let them go.

PA1H OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY

Do not focus on external objects . . Do not focus, either, on your own mind.

Objectivities are Void. Mind is Void. No need to make yourself wom,out or intimidated. Identifying things with one's own thoughts is a way to plant the seeds of attachment to objectives. When conceited thoughts sprout up, the tree of saJTlsara will grow. The luminosity of primordially pure Mind Proper must not be veiled by the darkness of contemplation. This will only disperse the fruits that need not be striven for. ·Do not stir up the muddiness of desire in the clear ocean of Mind Proper. This will only defile the jewel of Dharma Body. Do not smear the stains of meditative absorption on the untarnished mirror of Mind Proper .. Then one will not notice the reflection of Total Knowledge. Do not pack this precious jewel of Mind Proper in the mud of conceptual signs. This will only prevent the required goal. In sum, remain without the existence concept. But remain also without the nonexistence concept. Existence concept is mind. Nonexistence concept is mind. These two concepts are trapped in their mutual regard. If there is no being whatsoever, there is no non-being whatsoever. Utterly abandon these concepts to their pure equivalency. Have no thought to settle down or not settle down into meditation .. Have no thought to dismiss or not dismiss what prevents meditation. Have no thought to think or not think. No matter whether you walk, sit or get up, no matter whether you meditate, sleep or eat, whether you tell or listen to gossip and so forth; . what matters is to be seized by the ab-original mind.

Chapter Six: On Meditative Experiences

This, one's very mind as naturally arrived at Dharma Body, will certainly make its appearance in distinctive meditative experiences·

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by settling into meditation without manipulation, allowing the thoughts to do as they will.

We hold that the manners of this appearance are three

270 HABS VOL. 15, NO.2

according to whether one is a gradualist, a leaper, or simultanealist. The manner of appearance for the gradualist is as follows: At rust it occurs as a mere sense of abiding. Then meditative experiences proper arise. Mterward, realization arises in abundance. At the time the initial sense of abiding occurs, interfering thoughts come up one after the other as if they were rolling down a steep mountainside. The thought occurs that perhaps this is no meditative experience at all, but this sensing of the amount of interfering thoughts that occur means that the perceptions have somewhat settled down. Before, when there was no settling down at all, the interfering thoughts erupted as they pleased and even the fact that they run on was not recognized. Then, like a slowly descending stream, the perceptions slow down and the troubled thoughts become few. Finally, like the depths of the ocean, the perception stabilizes and remains immobile.73

Then the meditative experiences occur. [77] One experiences a bliss, untroubled by thoughts and clear74

like the center of unbroken space. Like a butterlamp that does not flicker in the wind, one's own clarity, one's own awareness, is undistracted. Like a beautiful flower in a rainfall it stands out with a shining clear presence against the ground. Like the sun shining in a cloudless sky, nothing comes in the way of its smooth transparency. It is, like a bronze bowl fuH of water, transparent within and without. There will never be a word for such an experience. It dawns without reason like a dream. One sees like one sees a rainbow, though it is not a thing. It dawns like a moon in the water that cannot be grasped. Like desirable objects that appear in the sky, one enjoys it in the absence of anything to enjoy.7S Since all enjoyments are lost and go away, that which is not enjoyed is the supreme enjoyment. In that which is not enjoyed, there is nothing to lose.

Chapter Seven: On Non-dual Realization

When one has had such meditative experiences,


realizational Total Knowledge dawns in force. Ifrealizational Total Knowledge has not dawned, no. matter how fine the meditative experiences, it is like not going to the root when chopping a tree-later on, psychological problems and sufferings will increase. Hence, the dawning of realization is most important. It does not dawn through wishing for it.

, It does not come through skill in analytical reasoning. It is not perceived through extensive study. It falls outside the purview of the philologist 76

Non-thought resulting from the stoppage of thought, no matter how thorough or intense, is a great veil over the production of Total Knowledge. This powerful realizational Total Knowledge does not at all dawn because of such things as wishing for it, adding to it, skill in analytical reasonings, or lack of such skill, learning whether narrow or extensive, insightfulness or deluded thoughts, meditative experiences whether good or bad, or strivings weak or strong. It will be experienced through one's own merit in combination with reliance on the interventional methods of the Lama." ''Reliance on the interventional methods ofthe Lama" means the powerful experiences of blessings that dawn when serving a realized Lama. "One's own merit" means it occurs

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to those who have the results of prior cultivation. [79] Hence, this realizational Total Knowledge is something for those who have the necessary faith ~o remain on the Path of blessings. It dawns to those who have reverence. It is realized by those with prior cultivation. The friend of them all is assiduity. It is seen by those fortunate ones with superior faculties. In the thoughts of word-masters, there is not any room for it. This dawning of non-dual realization to such fortunate personages through the blessings of the Sacred Lama is the dawning of Dharma Body from the midst of realization, the dawning of non-duality from the midst of Mind Proper,

the dawning of Total Knowledge from the midst of psychological complexes, the dawning of realization from the midst of meditative experiences. Awakening from dualistic confusion


is lilce a sleeping person waking up. Non-dual Total Knowledge instantly awakes. This is such a shock one thinks that an unprecedented understanding has entered in. The non-dual Total Kn9wledge is such a joy, . while the practices of the past are such a shame. Now one breaches the boundary between saI!1sara and nirviUJa which is called "realization and non-realization." In the past, prior to realization, byway of illustration: A man while having a sleeping dream dreams he is floating aimlessly on the ocean of saI!1sara. He dreams he suffers in the hells and other realms. Fed up with this, he dreams he finds a Lama. He dreams he puts the Lama's precepts into practice. He dreams that meditative experiences occur. He dreams the clear light Dharma Body dawns. He dreams the darkness of troubled thoughts are cleared up. He dreams there is no difference between meditation and post-meditation. Then he dreams that realization dawns. He dreams he has impartial compassion {or sentient beings who have no realization. He dreams that, after attaining the supreme Great Seal, he naturally achieves benefits for beings with Form Bodies. Immediately upon awakening from his sleep, there is no experiencing the suffering of s~sara. There is no getting fed up and finding a Lama. There is no putting his precepts into practice. There is no dawning of meditative experiences and Total Knowledge. There is no dawning of clear light Dharma Body. There is no dearing up the darkness of troubled thoughts. There is no abiding in non-thought. There is no dawning of Total Knowledge realization. There are neither sentient beings nor compassion for them. There is no Enlightenment and no obtaining it either.

[80]

There are no animate beings and and no benefitting them. [81] There is no truth, and no falsehood either. They are gone like a mere appearance in a dream. This dream-dreaming saI!1s3ra-Where did it come from? Where did it go? This nirviiQa that does away with saI!1saraWhere did it come from? Where did it go?

These and all other dream dharmas-

Where did they come from? Where did they go?

PA1H OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 273

By way of illustration, an illustrious king, without ever leaving his throne for a moment, saddles up a phantom steed, crosses many pass~s and valleys, and has all sorts of pleasant and unpleasant experiences. 1bough many months and years may have passed in this way, the king has not moved from his throne, and not even the morning has passed. 1brough realization such as this a moment of Great Insight grants mastery

. of the nature of all dharmas, but there is no pride of thinking, "I mastered it." The non-dual Total Knowledge has become evident, but there is no pride of thinking, "It is evident." One is freed from the three realms and lower Vehicles, but there is no pride of thinking, "I am freed." A moment of non-dual realizati9n, and all visual and auditory phenomena are established as mind, [82]

. so that classificatory philosophy becomes clear (V aibha~ika). When they are established to be clear Mind Proper, all non-classificatory philosophy becomes clear (Sautrantika). When the illusion-like reflexive awareness is perceived, then philosophy that claims things as illusory is completed (Viji'ianavada). When the illusory nature is perceived as Void, then the non-establishing philosophies are completed (Madhyamaka).'8 When the Void arises as Bliss, the non-dual Coupling view is completed. When this Coupling is not something made in the mind, the Great Seal becomes clear, there being no idea to even think it has so become. Such a realizational Total Knowledge as this did not come from anywhere, does not go anywhere, and does not reside anywhere. Both that which is realizable and the Total Knowledge of realizables dissolve in the non-discursive Dharma Realm. There is no pride of concepts about the Realm.

It remains in non-differentiation, like space. All speech and thought is cause for its dissolution. Toward immaculacy itself one requires an immaculate perspective.79

It may be that the children have grown tired of my playing.


If $0, they should serve a venerable Lama. If not, they should place their perceptions at rest. These considerations were for gradualist persons.

The ways things occur to leaping persons are basically three: settlings, meditative experiences and realization. In the beginning, exceptional realization occurs, although this realization is unstable like waves. Then some of them have meditative experiences, while others have settlings. There is no rule. They gain facility in experiences both high and low. 80

Simultanealist persons, either as soon as they examine the mind or as soon as a Lama with the riutritive essence of realization teaches them the precepts, the meditative experiences, realization and settlings, all three, occur at once without taking time to meditate. Although their meditative experiences wax and wane, their realization remains firm and unchanging. Although the monkeys and apes race up and down, the tree remains without changing. Whether the rainbow dissolves or not, this brings no change in the realm of the sky. Whether the waves are calmed or not, this has no impact on the depths of the ocean. How will you isolate meditative experiences within the naturally arrived at Dharma Body ·of your very mind?

[83]

It wipes out the afflictions of experience. [84] However, if realization is not accompanied by meditative experiences, the beginner will be overcome like a butterlamp left out in a storm. But, for a contemplative who has achieved stability all experiences, good or bad, will be of help. Beginners should not be alarmed at this, but when a lamp is small, even the tiniest bit of moisture will harm it. When a great forest fIre is raging all the storms there are will only help it. Contemplatives who have not achieved stability,sl even when some shadowy realization has occurred, need to feed tlle torch of realization


.. with the dry wood of meditative experiences. Too much wet wood will put it out. No matter how lofty the realization, if they have not· ~tabilized with settlings and meditative experiences, they will not attain mastery of their minds but instead will be caught up in inimical mental complexes. Just so, a well esteemed person: when captured by enemies and shackled in a dungeon, may well know the way to his own home, but has no power to go. Therefore, when one has not attained mastery of the mind through stable meditative experiences,82 one will lose the treasures of realization. I do not have the mouth for a big piece of speech. Be wary, all you contemplatives:

Mouths are at variance with experience.

Chapter Eight: On Action

The yoga practitioner of the Great Seal brings out the luster of meditative experience in the wish-granting jewel of realization and fulfIls all needs and desires through the power of practice. As soon as the gradualist persons engage in the Path of Secret Mantra, they distance them~elves from non-virtuous thoughts and expunge sarpsaric dharmas from their minds. When they have set their minds on Great Awakening, they generate the thought of benefitting beings with intentions free of selfish interests. Keeping always their pride of divine status, they do mantra repetitions, mandala offerings, torma rites, worship offerings and the other seven limbs of offering. They do torma rites for feeding the hungry ghosts . and water offerings for feeding the water spirits. They perform services for the Lama if they have one, feasts and communion circles for monks, and give to beggars without holding back.

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They must do inner and outer fire offerings. [86] They construct tsha tsha,83 chortens and images. They protect the lives of animals. They read scriptures. In short, they fill their time between practice sessions

---~----

~-~----~---~----


wi$ nothing but virtuous activities motivated by great compassion. They have no time for irreligious activities, let alone non-virtuous actions. They must purify all inner and outer obscurations and strive to accumulate merit in accordance with the virtuous dharmas of all levels of beings through conscientious and restrained conduct like that of a new bride or of an extremely observant mollk. Concealing their good qualities, these increase in privacy. Those who belittle karma and karmic results will have contempt for conventional methods. Like a bird without wings, they will surely fall into the chasm of low rebirths. Hence, they must give up the most minor non-virtues and work for the most minor virtues.

Such virtuous preparation will give them a diligence that never rests, and after achieving some solidity, their practices divide into the external and internal. Their social practice accords with those of the people, while their inner practice, their meditative concentration, grows in isolation. When meditative experience of the inner practice has grown, [87] without being detected by beginners, they engage in actions that accord with that experience, doing that which advances their contemplative absorption and realization. They must make use of the half-ten deathless84

and also rely on the five strengths.8S

Without denying the half-ten sensory qualities,86

they have given up attachment to them and take them as friends [on the Path]. When the farmer's wheat shoots have been watered and manured, they grow. When the yogi's Total Knowledge sprouts make use of sensory qualities, they grow. Because they never separated from unproduced meditative experience, they use them with no attachment whatsoever. When this freedom of the six heaps to act on their own8' takes over with non-dual realization, they must lead life as they will without do's and don'ts. With meditative experience of non-dual reaiization,


there is no "wear this" and "don't wear that." Whether good or bad, they wear their clothes. There is no "eat this" and "don't eat that." . Whether clean OI: dirty, they must eat it. 'Ibis makes non-discursive Total Knowledge increase. There is no "say this" and "don't say that." They must speak as if they were sleep-talking. They must not make themselves conform to anything but relax and remain as they happen to be. They must not be separated from the experience of Dharma Body. They must not be attached to anything. Whether their own acquaintances or others say good or bad things about them, they must not make trouble even for a moment, but remain impassive as a lifeless object. They must never ever do things that harm the mind. Just as deer flee from the presence of people, so must they constantly flee the presence of people. They must not make distinctions like "he is good" or "he is bad" towards others, with pride in their own goodness. Just as a swindler conceals his crimes they must always hide tlieir own good qualities. They must not be puffed-up "big men" but always keep an inferior place. Though they have realized the absence of high and low, they must constantly worship the Lama and sky-goers. In short, they must give up all selfish interests, trickery and affectations.

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For as long as the meditative equipoise and subsequent experiences are two things, they must check if the perceptions in meditation are stable or unstable. If their perceptions in meditation are not stable, theirs is a fool's meditation that consists in wrapping their heads up and murmuring, misunderstanding what meditation is all about. They must work for physical and verbal virtues, [89] being motivated by love and compassion. If they have stability in meditative equipoise,

it is still easy for physical and verbal virtuous actions to be broken off. Nevertheless they must apply themselves exclusively to meditative equipoise. This post-meditative experience of which we speak has nothing to do with sitting or standing. For the beginner, meditative equipoise means to stabilize the mind one-pointedly and unwaveringly


on an appropriate virtuous object of concentration. If they have done this, it is equipoise whether they walk or sit If, not remaining in one-pointed concentration, the mental whirligigs88 begin to run wild, even if they are seated on the meditation cushion, it is post-meditation.

The meditative equipoise of realizing their very minds is to be known through the levels of the Four YogaS. When the one-pointed yoga arises, they understand the nature of their very minds. Like the center of uninterrupted space,89 it is a void clarity, unobstructed, without middles or extremes. This remaining very sharp and distinct, it is the contemplative equipoise of the first yoga. The vacillating thoughts that pour out from it are, even if they are seated on the meditation cushion, the post-meditation.90

If the very sharp and distinct void clarity remains, then even if they are conversing, walking, or sitting, they remain in the continuum of meditative equipoise. [90]

When the yoga of the unfissured integral arises,91 one realizes the substance of one's very mind. Awareness is an un fissured integral with no break: in its flow. One's very mind remains as Dharma Body without production or prevention, without acceptance or rejection. This is the meditative equipoise of the second yoga. If they remain in this meditative equipoise, they remain in its continuity even when walking and talking. If signs of fissuring cause disturbance, then even if they are seated on the meditation cushion, it is post-meditation.

When the yoga of qualitative equivalence arises,92 one realizes the classificatory marks of one's very mind. One understands how, out of the unfissured integral Dharma Body of one's very

mind, the manifold of sarpsara and nirvurya arises. In all the various mental complexes, non-discursiveness, appearances, non-appearance, abidings, non-abiding, voidnesses, non-voidness, clarity, non-clarity, because of their qualitative equiValence as clear light Dharma Body, they see no phenomenon that is not Dharma Body. They see no signs that are not Clear Light.

PA1H OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 279

'The hour in which realization of such qualitative equivalence takes hold ... is the meditative equipoise of the third yoga. 'Wh~n the original mind takes hold, [91] .. whether they jump, run or have conversations, they remain in the continuity of this meditative equipoise.

: When they separate from the original mind, .. even if they are seated on the meditation cushion, it is post-meditation.

When the yoga of non-meditation arises,93 'the substance of awareness having no underpinnings,

the yogis have nothing to meditate with. Without anyone to do the meditation, they are adrift. It is said that in them are completed the Buddhas who have the Three Bodies and the five Total Knowledges.94 They perceive absolutely that it is just so. This accomplishment of the Great Seal thoroughly establishes that it is just so. They have no haughty thought that they have attained an accomplishment that was there all along. Of recollection that has taken hold or not taken hold there is none. Of mental activity or inactivity there is none. Of qualitative equivalence or non-equivalence there is none. In the self-preservation of non-dual perception there are no gradations of meditative equipoise and post-meditation. In the uninterrupted flow of void awareness there is neither production nor cessation.

Like the garu<;la bird which has already completed its special powers inside the shell, and so, when free of its shell, cuts through

the heights and depths of the sky, the qualities of the Three Bodies are already completed in mind. [92] Free of physical confinement, benefits for others dawn.95 1n this way, the occurrence of non-meditation

has no meditative equipoise or post-meditation stages.

No matter how lofty the realization, for as long as one is in training, meditative equipoise and post-meditation are two. There is recollection that has or has not taken hold. There is distraction and non-distraction. But when it arises as nothing to be trained,


this is what we call non-meditation.96

In it there is neither meditative equipoise nor post-meditation because one remains exclusively and constantly in meditative equipoise. Walking, sitting and even lying down do not make any difference. Sleeping or having dreams make no difference. Holding conversations and even eating make no difference. These activities are entirely embraced by the mind of ab-original realization. They are all nothing besides meditative equipoise. Jewels, whatever is needed or desired, are theirs to make use of. The rays of the sun are theirs to make use of. All are within the yogi's constant meditative equipoise. We call this "non-duality realized."

Post-meditation in the time of single-pointed yoga views these things as persistent materializations that must be visualized as illusions which nevertheless appear.

Post-meditation in the lime of the unfissured integral yoga views these things sometimes as illusory appearances and sometimes as only persistent materializations. Either way they must be visualized as Dharma Body.

Post-meditation in the time of qualitative equivalence yoga

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views these things as dawnings as Dharma Body when recollection has taken hold. When recollection has not taken hold, they view them as only fuzzy persistent

materializations.

In the non-meditation yoga, meditative equipoise and post-meditation are simply Dharma Body. I do not have the mouth for a great deal of talk. I do not have the mouth for swallowing dry tsampa.97

Do not wrap up your own head.

In the time of non-meditation, it remains evident whether one sleeps or not. If you want to analyze it, fine. If not, fine. If recollection takes hold, fine. If not, fine. It remains evident as Dharma Body, beyond self and others. Through exerting themselves in impartial compassion it dawns forcibly and without doubts. Until such an occasion occurs, those contemplatives who are fond of blanking oues

are only fooling themselves.


Such fortunate contemplatives must, until they reach the level of non-meditation,

"serve the Lama and accumulate merit ,If they have not been fooled by blanking out,

.' the accumulation of merit will not mislead them. This is the heart talk of the realized ones.

The difference between the social and individual . is lost on the Total Knowledges of Dharma Body . . When free of dualistic attachments,

nothing is lost on the eight worldly dharmas,99 so, although wandering in society, they are in seclusion. When, with dualistic attachments, they concern their minds with happiness and sorrow, even if they stay alone, they are socializing. Therefore isolation is fine and socializing is fine. What is most important is not to be attached to anything, and not to concern the mind with happiness and sorrow, without ever lacking in non-dual realization. Distinctions ,between individual and social, distinctions betWeen meditative equipoise and post-meditation, were taught with the intention of guiding people who are beginners. In uncompromising presentations, there is no twoness of social and individual, of meditative equipoise and post-meditation. If one asks why, it is because the mind itself is parallel production of Dharma Body. Appearances are the light of Dharma Body's parallel productions like the flame and the light of the flame. Since in the substance of Dharma Body, awareness, there can be no waxing or waning in its constant flow, how can there be meditative equipoises and post-meditations? That a contemplative who has gained stability in this realization has no meditative equipoise and post-meditation, no one would dispute. For these reasons, one standard does not work for all persons.

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[95]

If it is a question of which is most important, realization or meditative experience, then it is realization that is important, nor meditative experience.lOO

No matter how fine the meditative experience, in the absence of realization there can be no liberation. No matter how lofty the realization, in the absence of compassion, iUs the Path of Hearers.

---------


One may have tasted the contemplative absorptions of the four dhyanaslOI and so forth, but with the great fault of non-realization the experiences will fade and finally one will fall into lower rebirths and the like, . and then there will be unfading sufferings. Consider this carefully. All experiences are compounded things. All compounded things are impermanent, will fall apart.

Therefore, without being attached to meditative experiences, realize the non-dual Total Knowledge. Complete nirvaQalO2 is under the purview of realization exclusively. Mind-made non-duality is realized through extensive learning. [96] But this non-duality of which we speak dawns from within .

.. It is due to the Lama's blessings alone. Reverence for the Lama with faith grows realizational Total Knowledge from within. What does it have to do with philosophical analyzers? Even I would make the claim that it can be perceived in words.103

But when realization has dawned in the mind, it needs to be considered whether bad circumstances have an effect on it or not. On your right stands somebody chopping with an axe saying all sorts of cruel things. On your left stands another making offerings of sandalwood incense, respectfully proclaiming all kinds of nice things. In times of undergoing such good and bad things, if they can, without getting distressed on their account,

accept them without pleasure or displeasure, then even if they do crazy things in public, it is fme. However, if they do not have facility in the powers to transform bad faith and so forth, then performing the secret activities in groups will be the ruin of themselves and others. When the different kinds of clairvoyances of knowing whether they will help others, etc., arise and they have gained facility in these powers, there is no difference between their public and private actions.

The Revered Mi-Ia-ras-pa said something about this: "The ten virtues are not actions to be taken up. The ten sins are not actions to be given up. Stay as you are, relaxed, without affectations."

[97]

PA1H OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY

Did not Revered Lo-raslO4 also say, . ''The Three Precious are not

something high and awe-inspiring to be worshipped. They are complete in the awareness continuum. You will never find a place to take Refuge."

To me, the beggar-monk Zhang, and to you my realized Vajra Brother[s] as well,

. these thoughts of the Revered Ones, are as clear as a flame in a glass. If I tell them and they have trouble understanding, it is because these things dawn on their own to those who, with faith, please the Lama and whose hearts the Lama's blessings pierce. The "actions that conquer the universe" and the "activities of Great Meditative Equipoise" are not mentioned here for fear of verbosity. One must look in the oceanic Supreme Tantras.IOS I do not have the mouth to tell much here .

. Without babbling nonsense, they will engage in the activities at the right time, will make efforts without being too tight or too loose. Their views will be free of partial perspectives. Their conduct will be free of affectation. Their compassion will be impartial. Their meditation will be undistracted. Good qualities will emerge without ending. They will achieve benefits for beings without end.

Even though non-dual realization has not taken hold, some talk nonsense about forceful methods for fixing people, "Enemies and friends, gold and dirt clods, are the same," they say without bothering to even fix their style into a high style. If this brought liberation, then little children would be liberated.

If, when non-dual realization has not taken hold, they think that the absence of give and take brings liberation, we would have to say that every lunatic would be liberated.

If, when non-dual realization has not taken hold,

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the nonexistence of clean and dirty brought liberation, then dogs and pigs would be liberated.

If, when non-dual realization has not taken hold, skill in action led to liberation, then brides would also be liberated.

If, when non-dual realization has not taken hold, being loose and spontaneous led to liberation, then every fool would be liberated.

When non-dual realization has taken hold, then whether their behavior is coarse or refined, either way they will be liberated. When the non-dual realization has not taken hold,

actions, whether coarse or refined, are entangling.

When filled with impartial compassion, whatever way they act is the Supreme Path. When impartial compassion has not taken hold, no matter how they act, it is an inferior path.

Chapter Nine: On Commitments

If you would like to know how to keep the commitments, at the time of being a beginner the vows of appropriate disengagement106 and the other vows, as well as the Word of the Sugatas and Lamas, must not be broken.

At the time of meditating on [the subtle body's] channels and winds, they must avoid everything that might detract from bliss and heat.

When the non-discursive experiences dawn,

[99]

they must avoid anything that prevents or endangers contemplative absorption.l07

After they have seen the substance of their very minds, they must avoid everything that is injurious to the mind.

When the non-dual realization dawns, they must give up all ambitions.


;tInall of this their very minds must be the witnesses. \'After they have realized the meaning of not transcending the Realm, 'fithere is no vow to keep. This is the supreme commitment, :(, what we call the White Self-sufficient Medicine.IOB

. Q1apter Ten: On the Goal

c~e view is not counterproductive. '!be precepts .are not given to closed or unsuitable vessels. '!be contemplation is unerring-not too tight or too loose. '!be practice is free of attachment, without faults. In keeping commitments, there is no need to fear the blame of deities .

. '!be goal inevitably brings about everything needed and desired

As illustration, it is like a medicinal plant. If the interdependent connections between the field, the seed, the season, irrigation and fertilizer are not closed off, [it sprouts]. If even the sprout can cure sickness, then all of the other parts as wellthe stalk, branches, leaves, flowers and fruits -have potencies which are individually suited to curing partiCUlar sicknesses.

If incorrect interdependent conditions result in suffering, there is no need to mention that correct and favorable interdependent conditions bring good and favorable results.

If even dualistically conceived compounded things may, through their interdependent connections, bring about good and bad results,

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there is no need to mention that a timeless and unbounded disregard for dualities may bring unbounded Total Knowledge. [101]

If virtuous acts, even those done out of materialistic motives, may gain one the happiness of paradises, there is no need to mention that unbounded virtuous acts done without partiality may lead to Complete Enlightenment.

If bliss, clarity and absence of troubling thoughts, when accompanied by attachment, may bring about


divine status in the three realms, there is no need to mention that the same free of attachments may bring the Three Bodies of a Victor.

If the experience of Voidness in the absence of method and insight may gain one the bliss of the Arhat and Pratyekabuddha, there is no need to mention that Voidness and Compassion in indivisible union may result in unplaceable109 bliss.

When the beginning yoga practitioners are not closed off from the meditative stabilizations and post-meditations of the generation stage, the best among them materialize the unified Complete Assets BodyJlO in this very lifetime, or in the intermediate state, or, if not then, in a later life they will at least obtain the perfect conditions of divine embodiment, and thereby materialize the unified Complete Assets Body. Still others will attain it after going through seven rebirths as humans.

When the intermediate grade practitioner has the experiences that go with the Completion Stage with signs,11I [102] in an instant, their accumulated sins are washed away, and they are blessed by the Skygoers. When these experiences made of bliss, clarity and absence of troubling thoughts have become a habit, realization will surely dawn, leading without doubt to the materialization of the Three Bodies, in some cases in the intermediate state.

Extremely diligent yoga practitioners may, when the profound instructions have taken hold, even in the absence of non-dual realization, through their efforts to inject their consciousness into the [bodily] habitation of another person or to transfer consciousness to a higher state,112 accomplish the True Transference. Or, if this is not possible, it will happen in the intermediate state. The best of these materialize the Clear Light. The intermediate ones achieve the unified Illusory Body. The least of them at least acquire the power to choose their own rebirth in the habitationll3 of a favorable womb, their later attainment of the Three Bodies assured.

134 PATH OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY

When the yoga practitioners of the Great Seal loosen and relax their perceptions, they have an experience of clarity and absence of troubling thoughts which arises like the center of undifferentiated space. At the same time as this experience arises, incalculable sins and obscurations are utterly voided and,

287

although they may not yet be assured of it, [103] they have encountered the Dharma Body.

• When the exceptional realization of non-dual parallelled production occurs, C in that very moment, no matter how much sin

they have accumulated from beginningless time, it is all utterly overcome. The Great Seal overcomes all in one fell swoop just like lighting a lamp in a dark room. The confused people err when they assess it in terms of the stages of the Path,

. but still, in order to please those confused people who believe they apply even here, it will b~ assessed in terms of these stages of the philosophical Vehicle.114

The dawning of the just mentioned exceptional realization is the Extremely Joyful Level equivalent to the Stage of Seeing. Becoming accustomed to this realization of substantial levelness is the Stage of

Cultivation. When there is no more cultivation, it is the Ultimate Stage.1IS

Suffering is not immediately done away with upon the non-dual realization, but no one would assert that it is not the Stage of Seeing just because the good qualities and abilities have not been developed. The sun is not able immediately to melt the ice as soon as it rises in the morning. But; even if the soil and rocks have not become warmed, no one would assert that it is not the sun.1I6 [104]

The Sage taught all these differentiations between signs of warmth and stages of the Path in elastic expressions in order to accomodate those potential aspirants who are gradualists, though confused people get attached to minor aspects of these teachings. The higher and lower grades of aspirants are beyond reckoning. The sermons of the Buddha are beyond reckoning. Even if some are in conflict with one's own preferred scriptures, one must not criticise and reject them, but rather make an aspiration prayer to one day understand them.117


The all-at-once Great Seal is like the fruit of the jack tree. m

Cause and result are simultaneous and the signs are disentangled on their own ground.

'Monkeys climb up the tree from below and pick the fruit, while hawks pick it only by alighting on the top of the tree. The hawks do not even see the lower branches but, needless to say, they do pick the fruit

Likewise needless to say the simultanealist person does, even without seeing the stages and signs of warmth, see the Dharma Body. These persons are distinguished by their prior cultivation and abilities.

In a moment of ab-original realization, they attain dominion over the realm beyond suffering. The pure and unattainable Mind Proper [l05] has always been perceived to be the goal, but is not realized through such perceptions; it is beyond conceptualizations. It discloses itself without any meditative stabilization or post-meditation, without production or cessation. It discloses itself as Great Vajra Holder of the naturally arrived at Five Bodies,l19

Such a state of Total Knowledge is said to be attained by force of cleansing the two defilements and completing the two accumulations. In this case also the two accumulations are completed and the two defilements are forcibly cleansed. In a moment of non-dual realization the great accumulation of merit is completed because all the Lamas and Buddhas are pleased. The seeds of the defilements of troubling emotions such as stinginess are permanently expunged. While one is becoming accustomed to this realization there may remain some minor perceptual defilements, but at the moment of no-more-to-meditate-on,l20 the great accumulation of Total Knowledge is complete. The seeds of the defilements due to knowables pertaining to subject, verbal action and object

PATII OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY

are pennanently expunged. This is what is called Complete Awakening. It is the accomplishment of the Great Seal. . My goodness, sur;h an amazing and miraculous teaching! Complete Buddhahood in a single moment!

Chapter Eleven: On Sameness

In the preceding parts we have set forth the true character of the view. This and all the dhannas of meditation, action, commitments and Goal are magical productions of one's very mind. In the continuity of Mind Proper's clear reflexive awareness, the clearness in itself signifies the Void. Like space, it has no division into parts, no sides, and no recognition of center and extreme. Since such a Mind Proper·. has no duality of viewer and viewed, there is no view; neither is there any realization. Since meditator and meditative object are non-dual,. there is no meditation; meditative experiences are precluded.

289

[106]

Since the one who gets accustomed and that to which one becomes accustomed are not two, there is neither habituation nor non-habituation. Since distractions and the one who is distracted are not two, there is no absence of distraction, nor is there any distraction. The activities and the actor are not two; so there is neither activity nor actor. Attainment and attainer are not two; so there is neither striver nor attainment. Like the center of empty space, there is no duality of cause and goal; [107] so there is no generating and no maturation. On the Mind Proper, void from beginningless time, there is no staining and no cleansing. Since dynamic121 Awareness and Voidness are not two, there is neither Total Knowledge nor not knowing.

The contemplative who perceives the sameness of all views; meditations, actions, commitments and Goal


in the substance of clear light Mind Proper has no attachment to viewer or viewed. This non-attachment is the King of Views. They have no attachment to meditation or meditator. This non-attachment is the King of Contemplations. They have no attachment to activity or actor. This non-attachment is the King of Action. They have no attachment to attainment or attainer. This non-attachment is the King of Goals.

Chapter Twelve: On the White Self-sufficient Medicinal

In a moment of realizing one's very mind all the good qualities of white virtue are, without striving for them, completed at once. l22

In the atmosphere-like Mind Proper the Three Bodies are already naturally arrived at. By this the Buddha Precious is completed. [l08] Mind Proper is an unfissured integrity free of desire. By this the Holy Dharma Precious is completed. Its nature unproduced and not turning back, the different kinds of interfering thoughts arise as friends. In this the Fellowship Precious is completed. If, in this way, the Three Precious are completed in the awareness of one's very mind, one need not go elsewhere for Refuge. By this the uncompromisingly presented Refuges are completed. In this unfissured integral Mind Proper there is no basis for self-serving desires. Therefore in this the Bodhisattva aspiration is completed. By one's understanding everything as error, impartial compassion arises. By one's naturally arriving at benefit for others, the Bodhisattva engagement is completed. Since the atmosphere-like Mind Proper is free of the delusions of grasping attachment,

the Perfection of giving is completed. Because it is free of the stains of defining marks, the Perfection of discipline is completed. Because it is not intimidated by Voidness and has overcome the seeds of anger,

the Perfection of steadfast patience is completed. [109]


Because the Void Awareness is an unbroken stream, the Perfection of diligence is completed. Because its one-pointed concentration is already naturally arrived at,

. the Perfection of meditation is completed.

291

Because the defming marks of counterproductive perspectives have disentangled themselves,

the Perfection of insight is completed.123

Since whatever phenomenon that occurs arises as friend, through this Great Method, the Great Accumulation of Merit is completed. Through realizing the meaning of non-duality the Great Accumulation of Total Knowledge is completed. Since in the atmosphere-like Mind Proper bodily defilements do not remain, the Great Empowerment of the Vase is completed. Since verbal defilements are already cleansed, the Great Empowerment of the Secret is completed. Since there is no place for mental defilements, the Insight Total Knowledge [Empowerment] is completed. Since there is no place for defilements that equally pertain [to all three], the Supreme Empowerment of the Fourth is completed. In whatever colors and emblems that appear through unobstructed understanding of implicitly radiant reflexive awareness, in them the ends of the Generation Stage are completed. Through its unidentifiable clear radiance the Completion Stage is completed. [110] The exceptional realization of the non-duality of one's very mind and Clear Light is the Path of Seeing. The uninterrupted continuation of this is the Path of Cultivation. This, free of pushing and striving, is the Ultimate Path. Total lack of obstruction is the best sign of warmth. In this the Paths, Stages and signs of warmth are completed. Not at all an existent is the Dharma Body. Whatever appears is Manifestation Body. Since whatever appears has its Assets in Dharma Body, the Goal of the Three Bodies is thereby completed. Atmosphere-like reflexive awareness, being free of partial perspectives, is the completion of the view. Being free of attachment to objectives, it is the completion of meditation. Being free of do's and don'ts, it is the completion of conduct. Being free of breakage, it is the completion of commitment. Being naturally arrived at, it is the completion of the Goal.

In the Void clear light Mind Proper


there are no classifications of prior and subsequent, of past, preserit and future. For so long as the self concept persists, however, we have view, meditation, conduct, goal and commitment; we have karma and the ripening of karma, and to renounce sin and aCcumulate merit is important.

Chapter Thirteen: On Aspirations

I, the mendicant monk of Zhang, [Ill] . was utged by my disciple Chos-kyi-blo-gros.l24 So, in order to guide a few aspirants to the never-reified and never-deconstructedl25 actual condition of Mind Proper, I have reified it and put it down in letters. But since it in any case appears under the right conditions and because I have written with love, there is nothing wrong with this.

May the good virtue of this and all other virtues combine into one and lead to the realization of non-dual Dharma Body for the sake of beings extending out to the ends of space. Through unattached and un focussed compassion may the form bodies fill the ends of space, bring benefit to beings without trying to do so, and display themselves to those who are capable of benefitting. Beginning with this moment and extending into all time, may beings attain bodies that are perfectly endowed.l26

Then, with insight and compassion together with faith, may they do nothing but virtuous practices with great strength. Mayall those who are suitable vessels for the supreme Vajra Vehicle· obtain the best sort of Lama, one who possesses both the oral precepts and the compassionate blessings of their own realization, and serve the Lama always. [112] Mayall-of us see the good qualities of the Lama and never see even a single fault, but see the Lama always as identical to Vajraholder.127

May our faith and veneration flow without ceasing. Through the cultivation of unfocussed Great Compassion which has none of bad motivations' pollution may we ourselves corne to have every good quality of all Lamas and B iIddhas.

PA 1H OF UL11MA TE PROFUNDITY

May we obtain the utmost through immaculately impartial views'untouched by the four extremes of positivism and nihilism,l28 through radiant bliss unattached and not mind-made, and through the practices for realizing sameness.129

May we always strive to attain and protect the commitments to avoid the censure of the skygoers, commitments free of the stains of mental complexes, and not put them on to fool other people.

While keeping in permanent retreat, may fears, regrets and impediments never arise. May we attain the miraculous powers of good qualitiesmeditative experiences, realization, signs of warmth and the rest. May whatever course of conduct we pursue be beautiful in the eyes of all the Lamas, Vajra Brothers and other sentient beings.

293

May our triune body, speech and mind; [113] our place, our clothes, our name and clan; our seeing, hearing, remembering, touching, etc., and whatever else is desired be complete. May our minds be untroubled, stable, happy, undistracted, learned and realized. May our minds be immaculately disciplined free from such faults as hopes and desires, renouncing without attachments all things.

By attaining stability in the generation and completion stages, may we reach the ultimate coupling with Clear Light and through our naturally arrived at blessings fulfill the hopes of all beings. May we, with the limitless miraculous powers that come from unfocussed compassion, pacify all the violent powers such as deities, nagas, yak~as, and maras. When the opportunity to thereby help others arises, may we happily, fully and ungrudgingly give up our heads, limbs, flesh, blood, life-force and breath. May we without pride help others with whatever they need and whatever sort of wealth they desire, whether food, drink, wealth, horses or

whatnot.


May. our powers and.splendor come to the rescue doing whatever is needed to counter the opponents and possessing spirits,I30[I14] . doing whatever is needed to counter such sufferings as sickness and famine. Beginning from the present moment and extending to all time, may we do only what benefits others. May we never give birth to troubled thoughts no matter what wrongs others have done, but do what is needed to help them. May we do what is needed to help every being without being touched by such non-virtuous stains as condescension, pride, envy, self-interest, social distance or partisanship. Not being pleased by the praises of others or displeased by their criticisms, but through undriven equanimity and compassion may we remain untouched by the taints of the passions.

May the compassion of Avalokitesvara, the insight of Mafijusrigho~a, and the powers of VajrapiU)i all be completed in us. May the learning of Nagarjunagarbha, the realization of Saraha and the magical powers of Virfipa all be attained by us. May we know the use of all mantras and tantras. [115] May we achieve without hardship all the combined ritual objectives. May we be made masters of unlimited oral instructions. May we please all the skygoers. May our stable and definitive realization of the meaning of sameness-sameness in which the dharmas do not come from anywhere, do not go anywhere, and do not abide anywhere-benefit others. Mayall of. our unprejudiced learnings-in the arts, treatises, poetry and so forth- . be for the benefit of others and free of hidden motivations so that they will not be subject to contention. May we not be deprived of the range of helpful conditions such as family, talents, leisure, insight into the correct meanings or words, the use of magical powers, and so forth. l3I

* * *


Religious people in these bad times of the present have little of the inner discipline that comes from study. Even those who are learned in clumps of words have not realized their significances. In the future, their proud contentions will increase. The revered Lamas of the accomplishment transmission132 pursued meanings and became accomplished. Permanently renouncing such things as pride, understanding meanings was the only skill in scriptural authority and reasonings they required. Tilopa did not preach even a single word to Naropa,133 but nevertheless all the scriptural authority, reasonings, and oral instructions were completed in Naropa's heart.

Therefore, this man's chatter:-all the faults of expression, the contradictory accounts, and the statements of little profit-are nonsense off the top of my head. I have written this with the idea that it would work for my own followers. Of those that will not be benefitted there will be no end until the end of becoming. If there is a single word that conflicts with scriptural authority, reasoning or oral precepts, my head will split open. These realizations of mendicant monk Zhang were written down at the urging of his disciple Mar-pa at Brag-sngon of Sbar-bu Thul. l34

If it is later shown to people, it will be a sin.

I have told as much as I have myself realized, as wen as using scriptures, treatises and the thoughts of the Lamas.

* * *

295

[116]


E-ma-ho. These deep and naturally arrived at bral instructions were completed in the heart before being put in words, and banded down to disciples who were worthy vessels for them. I bow to the precious Lama Zhang. May the lovely spring shoots of discipline grow on the golden ground of faith in the universe of attained merit. [117] Entwining about the tree of Bodhisattva compassion, the mantra flowers of the knowledge-holders appear and the fruit of inherently radiant awareness ripens creating a wealth of naked visions of Clear Light. Reverent prostrations to Zhang Rin-po-che who has ·attained mastery over unarticulated space. May this Profound Oral Instructions on the Path of Great Seal bring great benefit to limitless beings.13s

Notes

Dedicated to my long-time teacher Thubten J. Norbu, formerly a professor of Tibetan Studies at Indiana University. I benefitted considerably from reading a notyet published article by Dr. David Jackson on the "self-sufficient white simple" (dkar po chig thub), and have incorporated several changes which he sugges~d through correspondence; my thanks to him and to others who read and commented on drafts of the translation. Readers of the following work will notice several references to a text edition. Unfortunately, space limitations made it impossible to reproduce this Tibetan-script edition here. The Arabic page numbers, from the reprint edition of the Rtsib-ri Par-ma, vol. 4, pp. 49-117 (I have also made use of a microfilm version of the woodblock print from the Nepal National Archives [called text NJ, which contains 32 variant readings, evidently due to retracing, rather than to alterations of the woodblocks), have been supplied in the translation to facilitate cross-references with that text. I have based my translation almost entirely on the Rtsib-ri Par-ma version, which is certainly preferable to the edition in Kong-sprul, ed., Gdams-ngag Mdzod, vol. 5, pp. 744-777 (called text G), which does nevertheless have many interesting variants, some of them noted below. Those who require the text edition should correspond with me directly. Manuscript preparation was made possible during my tenure as fellow at The Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and I am grateful for their support.


1. His dates were 1122/3 to 1193. I have dealt with his life, based on his autobiography and other sources, in a paper delivered at the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, November 1990, at Bloomington, Indiana, entitled, "Zhang RinpO-che and the Emergence of Sectarian Polity in Twelfth Century Tibet." I do not intend to deal in detail with his biography or his political involvements in the present work. Since the Path of Ultimate Profundity was composed prior to his more controversial activities, they are not especially relevant here. Many of the particulars of his biography may be known from David Jackson's article, "Sa-skya PlWc;lita the Polemicist Ancient Debates and Modem Interpretations" (see the bibliography; henceforth referred to as "Jackson"), pp. 102-104. This very important contribution should by all means be consulted by readers of the present work.

2. For a very good translation of one of his biographies, see Tsang Nyon Heruka, Life of Marpa. See also Martin, "Review."

3. One of his biographies has been translated; see Guenther, Life and Teaching of Naropa, but note that this sixteenth-century biography does not, as the introduction to that work states, belong to the late twelfth century. There are indeed late twelfth-century biographies ofNaropa available, including one by Zhang Rinpo-che (Zhang, Writings, pp. 312.4-326.7).

4. For his life, see Tatz, "Life of the Siddha-Philosopher Maitrlgupta." 5. We recommend the following two books on the subject of Maharnudra:

. Wang-ch'ug-dor-je (=Karma-pa IX Dbang-phyug-rdo-rje), MahiImudra: Eliminating the Darkness ofIgnorance (Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, Dharamsala 1981), tr. by Alexander Berzin; and Takpo TashiNamgyal (=Dwags-po Bkra-shismam-rgyal), MahiImudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation (Shambhala, Boston 1986), tr. by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa. Note also Guenther, "Mahamudra," a brief article on the subject. Perhaps the most accessible and sympathetic statement on Mahamudra is still the 1952 assessment found in Guenther, Yuganaddha,pp.128-138.

6. The best translation of a biography of Mi-Ia-ras-pa is that by Lhalungpa, Life of Milar epa, which should by all rights take the place of the still-popular rendering by Kazi Dawa Samdup and W.Y. Evans-Wentz. As I have indicated elsewhere, there are a great number of biographies of Mi-Ia-ras-pa, many of them much earlier than this work of Gtsang-smyon He-ru-ka, and the serious historical study of these biographies still has a long way to go (see Martin, "Early Education").

7. One of Dwags-po Lha-rje's works has long been available in English translation: Guenther (tr.), Jewel Ornament. This work very clearly betrays his reliance on the Bka' -gdams-pa Bstan-rim literature, which emphasizes the stages of the path based on the AbhisamayaJ8J[1kara (it is certainly not the case, as Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, vol. 2, p. 102, stated, that Dwags-po Lha-rje "ignores" the AbhisamayaJ8J[1kara; he in fact cites it at least a dozen times). On Bstan-rim, see . Doboom Rinpoche, "Bstan-rim Chen-mo'i Ngo-sprod," and an article devoted to


the subject by David Jackson forthcoming in Jose Cabez6n and Roger Jack<,;on (eds.) Tibetan Literature (Ithaca, NY: Snow Lion).

8. See Jackson for a masterful overview of these controversies. Both Zhang Rin-po-che and Hwa-shang MO-ho-yen have been faulted by some Tibetan critics for advocating the effectiveness of "not thinking" (mi rtogpa) in the absence of prior cultivation. Even a superficial reading of the following translated text will demonstrate that Zhang Rin-po-che's position on this matter is quite the contrary, emphasizing both the futility of "blanking out" and the importance of prior cultivation. One statement in the Bka'-thang Sde Lnga seems to clearly ascribe "not thinking" advocacy to Mo-ho-yen:

The meditation master (bsam gtan gyi mkhan po) Mo-ho-yen (Ma-hayan) said, "Settle the unthinkable Dharma Proper in non-thought (mi rtog pa). Even those without prior cultivation are able to use this [method]." (Based on text in Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, vol. 2, p. 71, line 12; compare Tucci's translation on p. 86.)

This would seem to settle the issue with regard to Mo-ho-yen. However, as we become aware that this part of the Bka' -thang Sde Lnga is merely a verse paraphrase of passages from the Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron (See Karmay, Great Perfection, p. 90 ff.), then we will have to consider the passage as it appears in the Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron as more authentic. This passage reads simply,

"Settle, without thinking, into unthinkable Dharma Proper." (chos nyid bsam du med 1a mi rtog par bzhag go; see Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron, p. 58, line 6).

Not only is the statement on the non-necessity of prior cultivation absent here, we find that its necessity is clearly affirmed in Mo-ho-yen's words found in the first of the two alternative versions (the more authentifiable one) of the Bsam-yas debate found in the more detailed version of the Sba Bzhed (Sba Gsal-snang, Sba Bzhed, p. 68): "For those who have cultivated their minds in the past, for those who have

sharp faculties, virtue and sins are equally obscuring just as clouds whether white or black equally obscure the sun."

9. Citation of M. Broido in Jackson, p. 59. I use the word "philological" in an older and larger sense of the term that is still not entirely obsolete, meaning the field of literary study, language study, etymology, and history. Of course, "tracing traditions" might mean drawing delegitimating etymologies for motives of personal interest or partisanship.

10. The Tibetan title is Phyag-rgya-chen-po Lam Zab Mthar-thug Zhanggi Man-ngag (or, in text G: Skye-med Zhang Rin-po-ches Mdzad-pa'i Phyag-rgyachen-po'j Lam Mchog Mthar-thug). It seems that the original title may have been Lam Mchog Mthar-thug, "Ultimate Supreme Path," since this is how the work is


called in another text by Zhang Rin-po-che himself (Zhang, Writings, p. 600.4), although it is called Lam Mthar-thugs, "Ultimate Path," in the Rgyal-b1on-ma biography (Zhang, Writings, p. 284.7). My objective in this introduction is, by the way, primarily tQ "introduce," if only partially, the content of the translation, and not to close around the translation until it is forced to articulate its concerns within the bounds of my own author-ity (what is often called "placing the text in its. context" as a cover for the practical intention, which is to place the text in our contexts). On the contrary, my concern is to ascertain how my own professed approach might be objectified through a careful and responsive reading of the text. There is not much use in a critical scholarship (which could be, translated, "a hostile stance for protecting or furthering the cultural hegemony of the academy") that forgetS how to listen patiently, incapable of self-criticism. I see my main task as one of making the translation say in English what the text conveys in Tibetan, and problematic as the task surely is, it is upon. this basis that the results will be meaningfully criticised. Those who are looking for textual deconstructions are capable of carrying them out on their own, and they might be able to take some pointers from Zhang Rin-po-che himself, assuming they are able to tone down their text-hostility temporarily. If the goal of deconstruction is to directly confront the truth of things free of the mediation of socia-cultural "texts," then a common purpose might very well be negotiated.

11. See the bibliography. Both Zhang's work and the Phag-gru Zhus-1an represent "oral advice" or "instructions" (man ngag) given by meditation teachers to their students. Sgam-po-pa's words in the Phag-gru Zhus-1an were intended for the benefit of one particular student, Phag-mo-gru-pa (even if Phag-mo-gru-pa hunself might have put the advice in writing for the sake of posterity; it should also . be noted that in one of the sections the questioner was not Phag-mo-gru-pa, but another student of S gam-po-pa named Chos-g.yung), while the work of Zhang Rinpo-che was intended for the broader, if still quite restricted, group of his own spiritual descendents. Both are "secret," i.e., not intended to be read by the majority of us. While man ngag were intended for the use of individual students at a particular point in their development (and this has considerable consequences for the way we must read them), Zhang Rin-po-che's work is, unlike the Phag-gru Zhus-1an, written up into a versified treatise-like form, presumably supplying in general, the sorts of things he might have said to his various students at various times.

12. phyag rgya chen po 1a yang lam 1a gnas pa 'i dus na / lam phyag rgya chen po zer ba yin / 'khor 'das gnyis su med pa 'i ye shes chen por rtogs nas b1ang dordang bral ba'i dus/mthar thug gi phyag rgya chen po bya ba yin/ de dus gsum gyi sangs rgyas kyi dgongs pa phyin ci ma log pa de yin pas / sangs rgyas logs nas btsal du mi myed de /. My use of capital letters for certain nouns and phrases is, by the way, meant to signal their greater weight within the context, and is not necessarily intended as personification or hypostasization. The fashionable rejection of capitals in some Buddhological circles (intended as a polemical


prophylactic against theistic interpretation?) is, ironically, a\'1 admission of an expressive potential which would be relinquished at a loss, in my opinion. Buddhists rejected deities, but then went on to employ them. Buddhists rejected essentialism, and then went on to employ essentialist tenus.

13. According to Kong-sprul, Shes-bya Kun Khyab, vol. 3, p. 385 realization is beyond the sphere of the three types of insight (shes rab): 1) understandings (go yuI) that come from learning, 2) experiences (myong ba) that come from pondering (bsam pa), and 3) experiences (nyams snang) that come from meditating. This standpoint on the ultimate inadequacies of learning, pondering and meditative experiences is supported in the following citation from Sgam-popa. (Sa-skya PaI)<;li-ta however disagrees with the distinction, arguing that go and rtogsare [or should be] synonyms, since employed by Tibetan translators to render identical words in Indian languages; see Sa-skya PaI!<;li-ta, Sdom Gsum Rang Mchan, p. 122.1).

14. pyirchos 1a byed lugs gnyis yin te / mtshan nyid shes par byed pa dang / rtogs pa thob par byed pa gnyis yin / thos bsam byed pa yang thabs yin / nyan mongs pa'i grogs su ma song ba zhig dgos / shes pa' i 'bras bu 'chad pa yin te / gting nas phan par mi 'dug gsungs / thos bsam gyi shes rab kyis lam ma sbyangs kyang b1a ma dam pa gcig dang phrad nas / de 'j gdams ngag sgrub pa yin! rgyud 1a rtogs pa bskyed par nus pa yin / sgrub pa byed pa 'j dus su / 'jig rten pa'i rtog pa spong ba dag a eang ehes te / bstan beos kyi tha snyad thams cad kyang brjed dgos pa yin / thos pa rgya che ba yang tshig 1a rno ste / don 1a brtul ba yin I yon tan skyon du 'gyur ba yin/.

15. See the context, in the translation below, to know what the "these" refers to.

16. These words are located at the beginning of p. [55], in the translation given below. Note that the page numbers in square brackets, intended to facilitate cross-referencing the translation with the text, are the Arabic page numbers supplied in the reprint of the Rtsib-n Spar-ma.

17. See the following translation, the end of p. [56] and beginning of p. [57].

18. In fact, he has quite a few good words to say about learning. 19. See the end of p. [115] in the translation below. 20. P. [56], below. 21. This triad of bde, gsa1, and mi rtog pa occurs four times in Zhang Rin

po-che's work. In Kong-sprul, Shes-bya Kun-khyab, vol. 3, p. 385, they are listed as the three contributing factors (rkyen) of meditative experience (nyams; and note on the following page a further discussion by the Eighth Karma-pa). See Guenther, Royal Song; p. 35: "As a warning against becoming fettered by the experience of staticness in clinging to this felt unit of cognition, by 'transcendence' the radiance and. nothingness, devoid of the operations of the intellect, are indicated as Mahamudra." One may detect in this translation, based on a passage from Karma'phrin-las-pa (1456-1539), the presence of the same terms being discussed here.


I prefer the translation "clarity" (for gsal ba) to Guenther's "radiance," since it refers to a direct or unmediated quality of experience (see McDermott, "Yogic Direct Awareness," p. 150ff.).

22. The Tibetan text for the passage paraphrased here (Phag-gru Zhuslan, p. 27.1 ff,) is as follows: nyams ni blo'i cha las ma 'das pa yin te / dperna sprin gseb kyi nyi ma dang' dra / bde gsal mi rtog pa gsum / res mtho res dma' Ia gnas pa 'ong ba yin bas / 'di Ia rna zhen par bskyangs pas blo'i dri ma dwangs nas nogs pa gdod 'char gsung /. A fuller rendering of this passage has been made by H. Guenther, "nyams does not pass beyond the working of the intellect; it is like the sun concealed behind the clouds. Sometimes the triad of radiance (gsal-ba), bliss (bde-ba), and nondiscursiveness (mi-rtog-pa) is of high intensity; sometimes it is of a low one and is coming and going. Rtogs-pa is an understanding when the impurity of intellection has been removed because then this understanding is . preserved in its integrity without there being any desire connected with it." (See Guenther, Royal Song, p. 117, note 42.) Sgam-po-pa later (p. 37.5) compares the onset of these meditative experiences to a man drunk on beer, a maiden having an orgasm, and even a strong hatred, in the sense that one is completely absorbed in the experience, unable to speak or think.

23. See p. [95], in the translation to follow. 24. See the end of p. [95], below. 25. On scriptural and commentarial sources for the Four Yogas, see Kong

sprul, Shes-bya Kun Khyab, vol. 3, pp. 385-6; and Takpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahlfmudra, pp. 354-8. Zhang Rin-po-che composed several brief works on the subject of the Four Yogas for his disciple Khams-pa Mgon-ston, contained in Zhang, Writings, pp. 499.5-531.1.

26. JackSon, p. 26 ff. For another early use of the phrase cig shes kun grai, see the song in Karma-pa I, Selected Writings, vol. 1, p. 315.6 (note also the scriptural citations stating that one single teaching, in this case compassion, is sufficient on pp. 295-296). A later use of the phrase is found in Karma-'phrin-laspa, Songs of Esoteric Practice, p. 138.4.

27. It certainly does make everything simpler if everyone is required to follow the same disciplines and undergo the same stages in their development. The student is then completely predictable, and theteacheris absolved from the difficult responsibility of reading the student's mind. See Phag-gru Zhus-Ian, p. 30, where Sgam-po-pa says that, without clairvoyance, one cannot assess the minds of others to know which teachings will be appropriate for them.

28. See Zhang, Writings, p. 509.7, where it is directly stated that the distinctions among the Four Yogas were designed with "gradualists" (rims kyis pa) in mind.

29. These words, attributed to Phag-mo-gru-pa, appear in 'Jig-rtenmgon-po, Works, vol. 4, p. 408.

30. Phag-gru Zhus-Ian, p. 51: serns nyid dang chos nyid gcig gam tha dad zhus pas / sems nyid dang chos nyid gnyis gcig yin te / sems kyi'od chos nyid yin


pas I seIIiS nyid rtogs pas cb.os nyid sgrog rang brdal du 'gro ste I ... sems kyi ngo bo '00' zhig bsgoms pas chog gsung /.See also Zhang Rin-po-che's text, "a moment of Great Insight grants mastery of the nature of all dharmas" (p. [81],

below). 31. These passages are found on pp. 33-34,37-40,41-45. 32. This initial depression of thinking one is a failure at meditation is also

mentioned in Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 41.4. 33. Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 33.2-6: de la brtson 'grus bskyed nas bsgorns

pas dang por sems 'phro ba tsug 'dug kyang I rtog pa 'i bag chags je chung du 'grO bayin Irtogpa chungdusong bas sems nyidje dangsje dangsla 'gro bayinldes sgribs thams cad 'dzad pa yin I dus de tsam na bya ba !hams cad btad la bla rna dang I yi dam la sogs pa la gsol ba 'debs pa dang I mos gus drag po byed pa dang Ibya 00 btangnas bsgompala brtsonpaskompa chu 'thung ba' 'dra bazhigdgos pa yin no II dus de tsam na nga (pa?) bsgom mi 'ong snyam pa kun la yang I nan tan byas pas 'ong gin 'dug /.

34. Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 39.4-6: . rang gi rig pa 'di roam rtog gis rna bskyod par crr yang ma bcos gang la yang mi sems par gzhag pa ste I ling nge 'dzin gyi rgyal po yin pas nges pa 'i shes pa skye dgos I kha cig de ltar skyes kyang / yin parma shes pas I sgom de dmigs gtad can nam / nyams myong can nam I yang na roam rtog 'gags snang ba nub nas ro bzhin du 'dod 'jug ste I de min gsung /.

35. Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 34.1-4: shes pa rten med pa gang la yang mi red (myed?) par I spros pa thams cad dang bra} ba rig pa'i ngo bo shun pa bshus pa 'dra ba'am I ngo bo la snying po bcug pa lta bu zhig 'ong ste I de tsam na rna myed pa myed ngo ma shes pa shes / dbul po 'i lag tu gter myed pa lta bur zag pa med pa'i dga' ba rgyas pa 'ong ste / sems spro sing nge dga' sing nge ba zhig yong ba yin no II de la nan tan bskyed nas bsgoms pas 'khrul pa'i rtog pa mams sangs I ruol sgrub kyi nyams len dang bral nas I rig pa spros med du song bas spros bra} gyi mal 'byor zhes bya ste /.

36.Phag-gruZhus-lan,p.40.1-2: 'khor 'daskyi chos thamscadrang sems kyi roam 'phrul yin te I sems nyid skye ba med pa rtsad chod nas 'khor 'das kyi chos thams cad rang sar dag pa'j nges pa'i shes pa lhangs kyis skye dgos /.

37. This clarification is supplied in Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 43.3. 38. "Unclassifiable" translates lung du ma bstan. This might be compared

to the usage of lung dumi ston in the statements of Hwa-shang Mo-ho-yen (G6mez, ''The Direct and the Gradual," p. 112, p. 160 note 40).

39. Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 34.4-5: snang ba la blo btang yang mi 'gro bar snang ba dgag sgrub dang bral ba ste / snang ba thams cad lung ma bstan du 'gro ba yin no II de la bsgoms pas yun ring du gnas pas du ma ro gcig gi mal 'byor zhes bya 00 nang nas 'char te /.

40. Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 40.3-40.5: sems kyi snang ba rig pa 'i rtsal mam tog sna tshogs su'gyus kyang gnyen po gzhan rten mi dgos par sems kyi mam rtog nyid la bden pa dang rtag par ma grub bar ngo bo nyid kyis ma skyes te /.


41. The yoga leading up to Non-meditation is called the Ceaseless Flow Yoga (chu bo rgyun gyi mal 'byor), a favored term in the songs of Mi-Ia-ras-pa.

42. This is only a partial translation of the following passage from Phaggru Zhus-lan, pp. 34.5-36.6: mam rtog gi snang ba la rig pas sgro 'dogs gcod mi dgos par I thams cad sems su thag chod pa zhig 'ong ba yin no II de tsam na rang rkya thub pa zhig 'ong ba yin I de yang bl0 yar ldan du 'ong ste I snang ba' di sems kyi mam 'phrul yin par shes pa zhig skye ste I bsgom mi dgos par snang ba 'di res sgyu mar mthong I res stong par mthong Ires rtog pa 'phro btsug byed I rig pa dang stong pa ngo sprad pa 'i gnad kas ngo bo la blo lhan gyis bzhag tsa nal rtog pa thams cad gar song cha med la 'gro ba yin I de la yun ring du sing nge gnas pas bsgom du med pa'i mal 'byor zhes bya ba skye ste I snang ba thams cad chos nyid 'ad gsal du 'char roll 'dod chags la sogs pa nyon mongs pa dang mam rtog skyes pa dang I chos nyid 'od gsal du lhag gis shar ba dang gnyis dus gcig tu lhangs lhangs shar ba yin no II de ci'i phyir zhe na I snang ba dang rtog pa chos nyid rang yin pa 'j phyir ro II rig pa dang chos sku rdo rus phrad pa 'i gnad kas I bsgom mi dgos par chos skur lhangs lhangs 'char ra II de tsam na mnyam gzhag dang ryes thob med payin telbsgomskyang 'ong 1a ma bsgomkyang 'ong ba'oll 'gro 'chagnyal 'dug ci byas kyang chos nyid 'od gsa1 rgyun chad med par gnas so II de 'j dus rig stong gi ngo bo 1a nges pa 'i shes pas nang du bltas pa 'i dus su I ngo bo'i don de la gang gis kyang ma phog pa yin I pha ral tu phyin pa 'i smra bsam brjod med kyis kyang mapong (Phog) I dbu mapa'i ngobo nyid kyis skye ma myong byaspas kyang ma phog I ma M mu dras bIo las 'das pa yin byas pas kyang ma phog I sems tsam pa'i Ita ba rang rig rang gsal yin byas pas kyang ma phog II nga 'j tshig gis brjod pa de mams kyis yang e mi phog I de nges pa 'j shes pa kha phyir b1tas pa 'j dus su tshig tsam du mtshon na demams gang dang yang mj 'gal bayinlde ci'iphyir zhe na I rig pa dang snang ba bkag pas mi khegs I de nyidkyi don stong pa nyid de bsgrubs pas mi 'grub I de tsam na tshig dang tha snyad rtog pa 'j spyod yu1 min I phyogs re nas mtshon na gang dang yang m thun I de 'i dus su mnyam gzhag chen po'i mal 'byor zhes kyang bya'o I/,

43. Phag-gru Zhus-lan, pp. 40.5-41.1: sems kyi mam rtog dang bsgoms pa'j nyams dang rtogs pa'i shes Tab mams ngo bo mthong ba'j mthus dbyiJlgs su yal te I tha mal gyi shes pa ma beos pa ehos nyid du ngos 'dzin pa nges pa 'i shes pa lhangs kyis skye dgos I.

44. Another source suggests that the word for "glue" (rtsJ) should be interpreted as "honey" (sbrang rtsJ), with the simile being that one should not be like the bee that gets stuck in its own honey (see the words of Tilopa to Naropa contained in Dpa'-bo, Mkhas-pa'i Dga'-ston, vol. 1, p. 770). The text for the list of "crucial things" reads as follows (Phag-gruZhus-1an,p. 45.2-5): 1ardangportse geig gi mal 'byor gyi dus su I 'du 'dzi spangs shing bTtson 'grus bskyed pa gal che I de nas spros bral gyi mal 'byor gyi dus su gtang snyoms 1a ma 1us par shes pa ngar dang bcas pa gal che I du ma TO geig gi mal 'bYOT gyi dus su go yuI spyi 'i mam pa dang ma 'dres par nang du nyams su myong ba gal che I bsgom du med pa'i mal 'byor gyi dus su nyams myong gi rtsi la ma 'byar ba gal che gsung ngo II nyams


la ma zhen pa zhig dgos gsung /. 45. Kong-sprul, Shes-bya Kun Khyab, vol. 3, p. 379. It may not be

immediately transparent that a "seal" requires both something to make, as well as something to receive, the impress. These two things, metaphors for the knowing

. faculties and the universe of knowables, are thoroughly united in the Great Seal. It is a universal embrace that "has no duality of embracer and embraced" (p. [57]).

46. This passage, from the Sher-grub-ma autobiography (dating from 1166), is contained in Zhang, Writings, p. 13.

47. We also have a collection of songs composed at Brag-sngon (which was in the high part of a valley above Bsam-yas Monastery), contained in Zhang, Writings, pp. 601-627. Two of these songs supply the Bird year date, which must be 1165.

48. See Roerich, tr., Blue Annals, pp. 844-846; Tshal-pa, Deb-ther Dmarpo, p. 127. See also Dpa'-bo, Mkhas-pa'j Dga'-ston, vol. I, p. 513, where he is called Bai-ro-tsa-na-badzra (i.e., Vairocanavajra). Unfortunately, the biography of Vairocanavajra composed by Zhang Rin-po-che is not available in Zhang, Writings. This biography was entitled Bm-TO 'j Rnam-thar BJa-ma Rnal- 'byor-pa. Still, we are able to glean some information about him from other writings by Zhang Rin-po-che. In one place (Zhang, Writings, p. 429.4), he is called a yogic practitioner of the royal clan Tsa-he (?) in the city So-na-tha-pu-ri (modern Sonetpur?)in the Indian region of South Ko-sa-la, or present day western Orissa. Zhang Rin-po-che also names the authors of the Dohas that Vairocanavajra taught him - those of Saraha, Ka-kha, Tilopa, Kr~Ifacarya, and Virupa (Bhir-ba-ba). Vairocanavajra (Bla-ma Bai-ro) was also a teacher of Dus-gsum-mkhyen-pa (Karma-pa I, Selected Writings, p. 71.1). It is perhaps important to point out that Vairocanavajra was a holder of Indian lineages stemming from Tilopa and Naropa, making him, for all practical purposes, a member of an "Indian sister-branch" of the Bka' -brgyud-pa (for the lineages, see Zhang, Writings, pp. 442.3-444.4).

49. There is a rather direct allusion here to Amoghapasa (Don-yod-zhags-pa), "Lasso that Reaches its Aim," a form of Avalokitesvara, bodhisattva of compassion.

50. This and the nine preceding lines have been translated in Jackson, p. 28.

51.Compare this and the preceding four lines to the citation in Thu'u-bkwan, Grub-mtha', p.146.

52. Great Se1fhood (bdag nyid che) is a typical Buddhist usage of an "essentialist" or "substantivist" term. Zhang Rin-po-che is not unique in employing it. It is to be found in the songs of the Indian Mahasiddhas and in the Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron, etc. Buddhist thinkers are quite systematic in denying the "essentialist" usage of these terms, another example of such a term being "substantiality" (ngo bo nyid). One is often asked to recognize that the "absence


of essence" is what is referred to as "essence." The same holds for "reality" concepts.

53. These two lines allude to two kinds of philosophy (grub mtha): 1) non-Buddhist philosophy which is to the Buddhist mind "extremist," and 2) Buddhist philosophy conceived as the "middle way" between extremes.

54. "Object of science" translates brtag pa 'i yul, "subject for investigation (or, analysis)." Rtog dpyod ("pondering and analysis'') acts as a compound word to refer to any investigation of something with a view to ascertain its causes.

55. What is being said here is that the real condition cannot really be .. "presented," as the statement in quote marks implies, let alone uncompromisingly

presented. "The Sage" here means SakyamuniBuddha. 56. For another use of the same phrase, tha snyad tshig tshogs, see Karma

'phrin-Ias-pa, Songs of Esoteric Practice, p. 138.2 (and see also p. 23.7). 57. Vajrasattva (Rdo-rje-sems-dpa'). 58. This line is echoed in Karma- 'phrin-Ias-pa, Songs of Esoteric Practice,

p.35.4: 'khor ba 'di 1a su zhig yid smon byed, "Who would place their hopes in this vicious circle?"

59. This and the seven lines preceding find clear parallels of both substance and wording in Karma-pa I, Selected Writings, vol. 1, p. 324.

60. Pakshi (here spelled dpag sm) most generally represents a Tibetan loanword from Mongolian, meaning "a monk" (and if so it might wrongly lead us to suspicions about its presence in a pre-Mongolian period composition). This must rather be an earlier borrowing from Chinese which means "a Chinese storyteller" (see Chang, Dictionary, p. 1607) or an itinerant singer/storyteller/juggler. This seems the most likely explanation, especially given the mention of "song." It is still not impossible that this could be a pre-Mongolic borrowing of a similarsounding Uighur word (in tum borrowed from Chinese) meaning "scholar," "learned person." In any case, this small detail might help us to argue for Zhang Rin-po-che's connections (even at this early date?) with the northeast, where Tibetan-Chinese-Uighur contacts were most strong, in particular with the kingdom of the Tanguts. I must acknowledge and thank Dr. Elliot Sperling (Bloomington) for his letter on the subject (August 14, 1991).

6l:Literally, "set life and limb up as a target." The same phrase occurs in Zhang, Writings, p. 641.4.

62. It may be of interest to note that the first three chapters of the Tibetan text are in ll-syllable verse, while all the chapters which remain are in 7-syllable verse. It may be that the first three chapters were originally meant to form an autonomous work.

63. This rather awkward-sounding term is borrowed from Jackson, since

the Tibetan term (cig char) refers not to tfie swiftness of Enlightenment but to the accomplishment of many aims "all at once" (although in fact, as Zhang himself says, the full results of this simultaneous accomplishment may take some time to become ~vident), as distinguished from the gradualist's accomplishment of one


thing at a time. 64. This particular usage of the peacock metaphor is found in Indian

compositions that may have served as direct sources for these statements (although I think it was more generally "in the air"), especially in two works of Dharmaraksita a teacher of Ati.sa, to be found in the Blo-sbyong Brgya-rtsa anthology (for ~ne' in English translation, see Dharmaralqita, Wheel of Sharp Weapons). '

65. For the "ideal conditions," see Sgam-po-pa's words in Guenther (rr.), Jewel Omament, chapter 2; for impermanence, see chapter 4; and for Refuge, see chapter 8.

66. For this, I refer the in teres ted reader to the discussion in Gyatso, Clear Light, pp. 222-223.

67. The same ideas (and in a form that might convince us that Sa-skya PaI:JQ.i-ta was familiar with Zhang Rin-po-che's work) are found in the Sdom Gsum Rab-dbye of Sa-skya PaI:JQ.i-ta; see Jackson, p. 107, note 111. The text available to me (Sa-skya PaI:JQ.i-ta, Sdom Gsum Rang Mchan, p. 73.6) reads:

dbang bskur byas kyang ma thob dang II ma byas kyang ni thob pa dang II byas na thob 1a ma byas na II mi thob pa dang mam bzhir 'dod II

It is claimed that there are four classes: [There are those who] did not obtain empowerments even though they

were done, [who] although not done obtained them, [who] will obtain them if done, and [those who] will not obtain them if done.

Sa-skya P~Q.i~ta adds that this is nowhere taught [in thetantras] and is simply a pretext for stirring up (or disturbing) the teachings. This does not do justice to Saskya PaI:JQ.i-ta's arguments, but to do so would require a detailed study of his work as a whole. He argues quite vigorously for the necessity of empowerment for those who practice tantra, and admits of no exceptions (see especially pp. 65 and 68 of the above-mentioned work).

68. As a simile for clear and unmediated experience, this is reminiscent of DharmakIrti's simile for the Stage of Seeing, "As clear [or vivid] as if one were gazing at an amalaka [fruit] on the palm of one's hand." (McDermott, "Yogic Direct Awareness," p. 152.)

69. The chapter up to this point has been translated in Jackson, p. 64. 70. This and the three preceding lines translated in Takpo Tashi Namgyal,

Mah§mudra, p. 328. 71. This and the three lines preceding are cited in Thu'u-bkwan, Grub

mtha', p. 148.


72. This and the six lines preceding are cited, in a partial fashion, in Thu'ubkwan, Grub-mtha', p. 148.

73. The preceding metaphors of the water down a steep mountainside (Ii gzar), the slow river and the ocean are found in earlier sources, notably in the Bsamgtan Mig SgIOn, p. 162.1. See also Karma-'phrin-Ias-pa, Songs of Esoteric Practice, p. 36.2.

74. As noted in the introduction, these are the three variable components of meditative experiences.

75. "Enjoy" (myong). Also, "to undergo [an experience]," as in nyams myong, "experience," which is the subject of the chapter. The word itself also implies an "aesthetic" (nyams, =Skt. rasa) experience, in the sense of a shared emotion (as conveyed through literary, dramatic or the plastic arts).

76. Philologist" translates rtog ge ba, although the term covers much philosophical endeavor as well (note Jackson, p. 95, where it is translated "dialectician"). I believe that, in Zhang Rin-po-che's use of the term, it refers to all those who have an excessively text-based (or logocentric) approach to life or who are overly fond of philological insights.

77. This is an unacknowledged quotation from the Hevajra Tantra, but we are supposed to know this. He cites this same verse by title in Zhang, Writings, pp. 697.3, 708.4. Compare Snellgrove, tr., Hevajra Tantra, Lviii.36. The passage which immediately follows this verse is considered a very important source-text for the Bka'-brgyud-pa understanding of MahamudrlI, since (directly and indirectly) it mentions the Four Yogas.

78. These are the four main types of Buddhist philosophies recognized by Tibetan Buddhists, who almost invariably claim to follow the fourth, the Madhyamaka. Here the Buddhist philosophies are seen as entirely matters for meditative realization, not as the logical positivist sorts of constructionism that philosophy, when limited to its own preferred devices, ends up in. If the Madhyamika philosopher Candrakirti takes the yogic experience of directly seeing the world as it is as the basis for his philosophizing (Huntington, "System of the Two Truths," p. 81; McDermott, "Yogic Direct Perception"), it is difficult to justify a simple reversal of priorities holding that philosophy must necessarily precede the experience.

79. Text G adds a line here which translates, "Who sees immaculacy itself is entirely disentangled."

80. Text G has an interesting variant reading of skas ka 'i ("of [a] ladder") in place of gnyis ka ("both"), which might result in a translation, "on a scaie from high to low."

81. I read brtan forthe bstan of the text. For the simile of the small1amp and the forest fire, see also Zhang, Writings, p. 539.3.

82. Text G inserts a line here that translates, "It is important to tend the lamp of realization [or] .... "


. 83. Tsha tshas are small clay plaques with Buddha and Chorten images the letters of a dharaI)i on them, or they may be miniature chortens (mchod rten/ All the devotional practices listed here have, at least since the time of AtiSa and many of them certainly before, been done by Tibetan laypersons (except the fIre offerings, which are usually done by high Lamas). I hope to return to this subject of Tibet's popular religious practices, and their history, in another place.

84. This is a slightly elusive reference to the five elixirs of Highest Yoga Tantras: excrement, urine, white badhicitta (semen), red badhicitta (menstrual blood), and bone marrow (or, in other lists, human flesh).

85. This most likely means the most usual "five strengths" (a different list is known to the Mind Training tradition of the Bka' -gdams-pa school): power of faith, power of perseverence, power of memory, power of meditative concentration, and power of insight.

86. These are the five sensory qualities: form, sound, taste, smell, and touch.

87. The six heaps (or, aggregates) are the sensory consciousnesses of the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body and mind.

88. This is perhaps the best translation for mam nag (Skt vikalpa). Rnam rtog is the stream of mental conflicts and concerns that rule the mind in ordinary life, and constitute the main obstacle to meditation until sufficient detachment has been developed, whereupon, at last, they can be simply left alone to foHow their own course (or "play themselves out"). Elsewhere, I have just used the translation "interfering thoughts" for mam rtag, and what is, in this context, its near synonym, rtogpa.

89. This metaphor is common to the early Bka' -hrgyud-pa tradition, and the words can be traced in the works of Sgam-po-pa and others.

90. The intent of the statement is that meditation and post-meditation are defined by the state of the mind, regardless whether one is in meditation posture or engaged in everyday activities. For alternative translations of this passage, see Takpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahamudra, pp. 262, 359.

91. An alternative translation of the following passage is located in Takpo Tashi Na.mgyal, Mahamudra, p. 360 (note there the translation of spros bral by "nondiscriminatory"). "Un fissured integral" is my currently favored translation of spros bral (Sanskrit, ni$prapaiica) , which signifies going beyond attempts to inject or subtract things into or out of reality because under the influences of mental structures, systems of thought, or emotional reactions. A fIssured integral (spros) has thread-like tentacles that reach out and tuck the reality concept safely into experience, . making sure the resulting "reality" satisfies rational and irrational demands on it. Note Huntington's ("System of the Two Truths," p. 82) translation of prapanca as "conceptual diffusion." Note also one modern Tibetan meditation teacher's (or his translator'S?) use of the translation "simplicity" for spros bral (Thrangu Rinpoche, Buddha Nature, p. 114).


92. "Qualitative equivalence" translates TO snyoms , the name of the third yoga. See Takpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahamudra, p. 360, for another translation of the passage following.

93. See T;licpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahamudra, pp. 361 and 394, for two different translations of the passage that follows. The preceding lines are also translated in the same work, p. 367.

94. The five Total Knowledges are Mirror-like, Equality, Particularized Understanding, Deed Accomplishing, and Dharma Realm. Together with the Three Bodies, these are especially used to charactarize the Goal (see Guenther, Jewel Ornament,chapter 20).

95. The last 4 lines translated in Jackson, p. 76. 96. The preceding lines translated in Takpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahamudra,

p.367. 97. Tsampa is the staple of Tibetan culinary arts, a flour made from dry

roasted barley. The most usual way to eat it is by first adding butter and hot tea. Any attempt to swallow it dry would certainly result in choking, hence the very apt metaphorical usage.

98. Literally, "empty chamber" (khang stong). Sometimes the troubling thoughts that break through the meditative stability are conceived as robbers in an empty chamber. Since they have no way to carry out their intended actions, they naturally subside. However, here the metaphor serves for those who believe that creating a blank slate, free of troubling thoughts, is the way to Buddhahood, a position with which the early Bka' -brgyud-pa teachers in particular had no sympathy. Text G reads kha Ita yug pa instead of khang stong yug po. The former might be translated, "stuck to the surface" (?).

99. These eight worldly dharmas include concerns for gaining profit, comfort, acclaim and good reputation; as well as concerns to avoid loss, discomfort, criticism and damaged reputation.

100. This line, which reads: nyams myong mi gees rtogs pa gees, is quite parallel to a citation from aRnying-ma tantra, the Kun-tu-bzang-po Che-balaRang Gnas-pa, found in Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron, p. 51.5: bsgomspa mi gtsortogspagtso, "It is realization that is the main thing, not meditation."

101. For a discussion of the four dhyanas (paIi, jhlina), see Sole-Leris, Tranquillity and Insight, pp. 56-72.

102. Mi gnas myang 'das. This means the utter nirv3I}a that is not placeable (mi gnas) in either nirvliI}a or sa1J1sara, in the Mahayana system.

103. In this line, Zhang Rin-po-che seems to allude to the idea that words, as the conceptual furnishings of language, are locked in a system of mutual regard in the same manner as the objective furnishings of the world of quotidian experience. Hence, knowing the interdependent "net" of words would be to know "relativity," "voidness," Dharma Proper, Dharma Body, the very mind, substantiality, the actual condition, etc. (See Huntington, "System of the Two Truths," pp. 100-101.)


. 104. Lo-rascpa Dbang-phyug-brtson- 'grus was a disciple of Rgya-ras-pa (?). One source gives him the birth date 1187 (making him too late to be quoted in a work of Zhang Rin-po-che!). However, here Lo-ras (but note text G's LO-ro'i and text N' s Lo-ros) is most likely a contraction of Lo-ra Ras-pa, a frequent name for Ras-chung-pa (the disciple of Mi-Ia-ras-pa) who spent much of his later life in Lo-ro (in the eastern part of Dbus, inside the Brahmaputra bend). For another "ultimate" interpretation of Refuge taking, see Phag-gru Zhus-lan, p. 60.5.

105. The two kinds of activities referred to are, in Tibetan, phyogs las mam rgyal spyod pa and mnyam gzhag chen po'j spyod pa. Zhang Rin-po-che implies, perhaps with tongue in cheek, that the tantras are clear about the phases of "tantric activity," although this is one of the points on which they are most opaque and double-meaning. See, for example, part one, chapter six of the Hevajra Tantra. One may also refer to Kong -sprul' s chapter on action in the Shes-bya Kun Khyab (vol. 3, pp. 533-566).

106. Many translators in the past took so sor thar pa (Sanskrit,pratimok$a to mean "individual liberation "without carefull y considering who the "individual(s)" might be. The code of the Vinaya enumerates quite specific things that should simply be dismissed from the realm of the possible, resulting in a great sense of relief for those who choose to dedicate themselves to the most typically Buddhist lifestyle, that of the renunciate.

107. The first eight lines here may be compared to the translation of Jackson, p. 78, while the remainder of the chapter is translated in Jackson, p. 31.

108. This is the first mention of this metaphor, which has been the subject of much controversy among Tibetan Buddhists and Tibetan Buddhologists. See Jackson and references supplied there, and especially his own forthcoming works on the subject.

109. Here, as elsewhere noted, "unplaceable" (mi gnas) means that it cannot be "placed" in either nirvm;a or saJ[1sfira.

llO. For the characteristics of the Complete Assets Body CLongs-spyod Rdzogs-pa'i Sku, Sambhoga-kaya), see the passage in Gyatso, Clear Light, pp. 222-223, mentioned above.

111. "With signs" means employing visualizations of letters, disks, deities, etc.; and, in the Completion Stage, the "winds" and "drops" of the subtle body. Some believe this kind of contemplation to be essential for the later materialization of divine forms (the Three Bodies) subsequent to Enlightenment. Zhang Rin-po-che suggests that the three factors of meditative experience are the true basis for the ultimate "materialization" of the Three Bodies.

'112. These two types of consciousness transference ('pho ba and grong 'jug) are among the Six Y ogas of Naropa. As implied here, they may have still greater ends than the more evident ones (to project one's own or another's consciousness to a high level, or to inject ones own consciousness into another bodily vehicle).


113. Literally, "village" (grong khyer). 114. This refers to the Praji'iaparamita and its traditional exegesis, and

1110st specifically to the Stages of the Path outlined in the Abhisamaylilarpkara The word mtsl1an nyid, here translated "philosophical," is actually quite difficult to render in an English tenn. The apparent literal meaning of the word comes closer to the literal meaning of the word "semiotics" than to "philosophy." A possible translation would be "signification." This and preceding lines are quoted in Thu 'ubkwan, Grub-mtha', p. 149.

114. As pointed outby Thu'u-bkwan, Grub-mtha',p. 149, this correlation of the five "Stages" (lam gyi rim pa) with the Four Yogas is quite similar to the correlation (later) made by Rgod-tshang-pa (1189-1258), who says that the first Yoga corresponds to the "acting in faith" (mos spyod) stage [which corresponds to both the Stage of Accumulation, tsl10gs lam, and the Stage of Preparation, sbyor lam], the second Yoga corresponds to the Stage of Seeing (mtl1ong lam), the third Yoga is the second through seventh Levels (sa) [which in their totality are equivalent to the fIrst Levels of the Stage of Cultivation (bsgom Jam)], while the fourth Yoga corresponds to the three pure Levels [the eighth through tenth] of the Stage of Cultivation. Sa-skyaPaI,lc;li-ta (see his Sdom Gsum Rang Mchan, p. 122.5) cites a quite different correlation between the four Yo gas and the five Stages. See still another explanation in Thrangu Rinpoche, Buddha Nature, p. 114.

115. These lines are also translated in Takpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahamudra, p.407.

117. The preceding three lines are translated in Jackson, p. 92, while the following four lines are translated in Jackson, p. 76.

118. The jack tree (pa na se, Sanskrit panas§) has what are perhaps the largest and heaviest fruits of any tree, and the fruits grow along, rather than at the ends of the limbs. Sometimes, which seems most significant for the present metaphor, they are said to grow on the roots themselves. One must be aware in this and the following statements, that "goal," "result" and "fruit" are the same word in Tibetan ('bras bu, but also the Sanskrit word phala).

119. The "Five Bodies" (sku 1nga) are the usual Three Bodies 1) Dharma Body, 2) Complete Assets Body, 3) Emanation Body, with the addition of 4) Substantiality Body and 5) Unchanging Adamant Body.

120. In other words, "non-meditation." 121. Literally, "not inert matter" (bems min). 122. The preceding three lines translated in Jackson, p. 29. 123. Compare the Six Perfections according to Mo-ho-yen (Gomez, "The

Direct and the Gradual," pp. 121-123). Compare also the citation from Dpalbrtsegs found in Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron, p. 132.2 ff. These two lists, as well as the list of Zhang, represent "ultimate" and meditation-based interpretations of the Six (or Ten) Perfections. (The source for these references is Jackson, pp. 104-5, note 105, where the citation from the Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron is given in full).


124. Later on, this Chos-kyi-blo-gros (a rather common name in Tibetan history) is called, in our main text, Bar-pa. However, a work of the Dalai Lama V (Gsan-yjg, vol. 2, p. 185.6) calls him the "disciple" (nye gnas) Mar-pa, as does our text G. Now, Mar-pa Chos-kyi-blo-gros is the most usual name for the famous teacher of Mi-la-ras-pa, but it appears that this disciple of Zhang Rin-po-che Was simply the namesake of the more famous master, albeit someone belonging to the same clan. Lists of Zhang Rin-po-che's disciples do include an image-maker named Mar-pa Lha-dkar, although this may not be the same Mar-pa who requested him to compose this work (the latter called, in the Rgyal-blon-ma biography, Sgom-pa Mar-pa).

125. "Never-reified and never-deconstructed" translates sgro bskur ye med, which in general terms means "never from beginningless time made out to be more or less than it actually is."

126. These "perfect endowments" (dal 'byor) are discussed in great detail in the Stages of the Path (Lam-rim) literature. See, for example, Guenther, tr., Jewel Omament, chapter 2.

. 127. Rdor-'dzin is a short form of Rdo-rje-'dzin-pa, which is an epithet for Vajradhara, Vajrapfu:1i, and also, by extention, for tantric teachers.

128. These four sets of extreme positions may be understood so: 1. creationist positivism/ cessationist nihilism 2. etemalist positivism/ apocalyptic nihilism 3. existence positivism/ nonexistence nihilism. 4. phenomenal positivism/ emptiness nihilism.

129. The word for "sameness" here is ro snyoms, qualitative equivalence. 130. The possessing spirits in question here, the gdon spirits, are

especially held accountable in Tibetan medicine for psychiatric disorders, including some specific to children.

131. This is the end of chapter 13. The following section (until the next triple asterisk) is Zhang Rin-po-che's own colophon to his work.

132. Sgrub brgyud, "accomplishment transmission," is sometimes distinguished from don brgyud, "meaning transmission."

133. Compare Dpa' -bo, 1'v1khas-pa 'j Dga' -ston, vol. 1, p. 769: te los tshig gcig ma gsungs 1a / na ros tshig gcig rna nyan te / byin r1abs rtogs pa 'phos pas gro1 / - "Tilopa did not teach one word, and Naropa did not hear one word, but was liberated by the transference of realization through blessings."

134. Our main text reads Bar-pa, but text Greads Mar-pa. Also, the record of teachings received by the Dalai Lama V (Gsan-yig, vol. 2, pp. 185-186) says that his work was written at the urging of the disciple Mar-pa at Chos-bu'i Rgangpo Brag. According to the same source, the work should end with the words, "Spoken by the Rin-po-che himself' (rin po che nyid gsung ngo), although these words do riot occur in our text.

135. This last enconium to Zhang Rin-po-che was probably written by Ladwags Khri-dpon Padma-chos-rgyal (1876-1958), who also wrote the "printer's colophon" (par byang) which is not included here (although it is included in the


text edition). It was the La-dwags Khri-dpon who compiled the thirty volume collection of Great Perfection and Great Seal teachings from which this text is taken, the so-called Tsibri Prints (Rtsib-ri Par-rna). For a photograph of the Ladwags Khri-dpon, who spent the later years of his life near the northern border of Nepal, see Aziz, Tibetan Frontier Families.

Bibliography

Ariz, Tibetan Frontier Families. Barbara N. Aziz, Tibetan Frontier Families, Vikas Publishing House (N. Delhi 1978).

Blo-sbyong Brgya-rtsa. Sems-dpa '-chen-po Dkon-mchog-rgyal-mtshan-gyis Phyogsbsgrigs Mdzad-pa 'i Blo-sbyong Brgya-rtsa dang Dkar-chag Gdung-sel Zla-ba bcas, Tibetan Cultural Printing Press (Dharamsala 1973).

Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron. Gnubs-chen Sangs-rgyas-ye-shes, Rnal- 'byor Mig-gi Bsamgtan or Bsam-gtan Mig Sgron, 'Khor-gdong Gter-sprul 'Chimed-rig-'dzin (Leh 1974).

Chang, Dictionary. Krang Dbyi-sun (=Chang I-sun, ed.), BodRgya Tshig-mdzod Chen-mo, Mi-rigs Dpe-skrun-khang (Peking 1986).

Dalai Lama V, Gsan-yig. Record of Teachings Received, the Gsan-yig of the Fifth Dalai Lama, Nechung & Lhakhar, (Delhi 1970+).

Dharmarak~ita, Wheel of Sharp Weapons. Dharrnarak~ita, The Wheel of Sharp Weapons: A Mahayana Training of the Mind, translated by Geshe Ngawang Dhargyey, Sherpa Tulku, Khamlung Tulku, Alexander Berzin and Jonathan Landaw, and published in booklet fonn by the Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (Dharamsala 1973).


Doboom Rinpoche, "Bstan-rirn Chen-rno'i Ngo-sprod." Doboom Rinpoche (=Rdo-bum Rin-po-che), "Bstan-rim Chenmo'i Ngo-sprod," Za-ma-tag (a publication of Tibet House New Delhi), vol. 1 (1989), pp. 92-102. '

Dpa' -bo, Mkhas-pa 'i Dga' -stan. Dpa' -bo II Gtsug-lag-phreng-ba, Chas-byung Mkhas-pa 'j Dga' -stan (=Dam-pa 'i Chas-kyi 'Khar-la Bsgyur-ba-mamskyi Byung-ba Gsal-bar Byed-pa Mkhas-pa 'i Dga' -stan), (ed.) Rdo-rje-rgyal-po, Mi-rigs Dpe-skrun-khang (Peking 1986),2 volumes (pagination continuous).

Dus-mkhyen Zhus-lan. Dus-gsum-mkhyen-pa'i Zhus-lan. Contained in: Rtsib-ri Spar-ma, vol. 5 (CA), pp. 71-241.

Gomez, "The Direct and the Gradual." Luis O. G6mez, "The Direct and the Gradual Approaches of Zen Master Mahayana: Fragments of the Teachings of Moho-yen," contained in: Robert M. Gimello & Peter N. Gregory (eds.), Studies in Ch 'an and Hua-yen, University of Hawaii Press (Honolulu 1983), pp. 69-167.

Guenther (tr.), Jewel Ornament. Herbert Guenther, tr., Jewel Ornament af Liberatian by Sgam.po.pa, Rider & Company (London 1959).

Guenther, Life and Teaching af Nampa Herbert Guenther, The Life and Teaching of Niiropa, Oxford University Press (Oxford 1963).

Guenther, "Mahamudra." Herbert Guenther, "Mahamudra: The Method of Self-actualization," The Tibet Journal, vol. 1, no. 1 (1975), pp. 5-23.

PA TIl OF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 315

Guenther, Royal Song. Herbert Guenther, The Royal Song of Saraha: A Study in the History of Buddhist Thought, Sharnbala (Berkeley 1973).

Guenther, Yuganaddha. Herbert Guenther, Yuganaddha: The Tantric View of Life, Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series (Varanasi 1969). This is the second edition, a revision of the original 1952 publication.

Gyatso, Clear Light. Geshe Kelsang Gyatso, Clear Light of Bliss: Mahamudra in Vajrayana Buddhism, Wisdom Publications (London 1982).

Huntington, "System of the Two Truths." C.W. Huntington, "The System of the Two Truths in the Prasannapada and the Madhyamakavatara: A Study in Madhyarnika Soteriology," Journal of Indian Philosophy, voL 11 (1983), pp. 77-106.

Jackson David Jackson, "Sa-skya Pal)gita the Polemicist: Ancient Debates and Modern Interpretations," Journal of the International Association of Buddhist Studies, vol. 13, no. 2 (1990), pp. 17-116.

'Jig-rten-mgon-po, Works. 'Bri-gung Chos~Ije 'Jig-rten-mgon-po Rin-chen-dpal, The Collected Writings (Gsung- 'bum) of 'Bri-gung Chos-rje 'Jigrten-mgon-po Rin-chen-dpal, Khangsar Tulku (New Delhi 1969). Five volumes, with prefaces by E. Gene Smith.

Karma-pa I, Selected Writings. Zhwa-nag Karma-pa I Dus-gsum-mkhyen-pa, Selected Writings of the First Zhwa-nag Karma-pa Dus-gsum-mkhyen-pa, Dzongsar Chhentse Labrang, Palace Monastery (Gangtok 1980). Two volumes.


Karma-'plli-in-las-pa, Songs of Esoteric Practice. Karma-'phrin-las-pa, The Songs of Esoteric Practice (mgur) and Replies. to Doctrinal Questions (dris-Ian), Ngawang Topgay (New Delhi 1975).

Karmay, Great Perfection. Samten G. Karmay, The Great Perfection (Rdzogs chen): A Philosophical and Meditative Teaching in Tibetan Buddhism . , E.J. Brill (Leiden 1988).

Kong-sprul, ed., Gdams-ngag Mdzod. 'Jam-mgon Kong-sprul Blo-gros-mtha' -yas (=Kong-sprul Yon-tan-rgya-rntsho), Gdams-ngag Mdzod, N. Lungtok and N. Gyaltsen (Delhi 1971).

Kong-sprul, Shes-bya Kun Khyab. Kong-sprul Yon-tan-rgya-rntsho, Shes-bya Kun Khyab (=Theg-pa 'j Sgo Kun-las Btus-pa Gsung-rab Rin-po-che'i Mdzod Bslab-pa Gsum Legs-par Ston-pa 'i Bstan-bcos Shesbya Kun Khyab), Mi-rigs Dpe-skrun-khang (PRC 1982/ 1985).

Lhalungpa, Life of Milarepa. Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, The Life of Milarepa, Grenada Publishing (London 1979).

Martin, "Early Education." Dan Martin, "The Early Education of Milarepa," The Journal of the Tibet Society, vol. 2 (1982), pp. 53-76.

Martin, "Review." Dan Martin, "Review" of Tsang Nyon Heruka, The Life of Marpa the Translator, tr. by the Nalanda Translation Committee, The Journal of the Tibet Society, vol. 4 (1984), pp. 83-92 (for "Addendum," see vol. 5 [1985] pp. 112-117).


Martin, "Zhang Rin-po-che." Dan Martin, "Zhang Rin-po-:che and the Emergence of Sectarian Polity in Twelfth Century Tibet," paper delivered at the Midwest Conference on Asian Affairs, Nov. 1990, Bloomington Indiana, unpublished.

McDermott, "Yogic Direct Awareness." Charlene McDermott, "Yogic Direct Awareness as Means of Valid Cognition in DharmakIrti and Rgyal-tshab." In Minoru Kiyota & Elvin Jones, eds., Mahayana Buddhist Meditation: Theory and Practice, University Press of Hawaii (Honolulu 1978), pp. 144-166.

Phag-gru Zhus-lan. Rje Phag-mo-gru-pa 'i Zhus-lan. Contained in: Rtsib;..ri Sparma, vol. 5 (CA), pp. 19-69.

Roerich (tr.), Blue Annals. George N. Roerich, et al., tr., 'Oos Lo-tsa-ba Gzhon-nu-dpal, The Blue Annals, Motiial Banarsidass (Delhi 1949/1979).

Rtsib-ri Spar-mao La-dwags Khri-dpon Padma-chos-rgyal, ed., Dkar Rnying-gi Skyes-chen Du-ma'i Phyag Rdzogs-kyi Gdams-ngag Gnad Bsdus Nyer-mkho Rin-po-che 'i Gter Mdzod Rtsibs-ri 'i Parma, Kargyud Sungrab Nyamso Khang (Darjeeling 1978+).

Sa-skya PaI).Q.ita, Sdom Gsum Rang Mchan. Sa-skya PaI).Q.ita, Sdom-pa Gsum-gyi Rab-tu Dbye-ba 'i Bstanbcos: Sdom Gsum Rang Mchan 'Khrul-med, Tshul-khrimsrgyal-rntshan (1986). Publisher's data lacking.

Sba Gsal-snang, Sba Bzhed. Sba Gsal-snang, Sba-bzhed ces bya-ba las Sba Gsal-snang-gi Bzhed-pa, ed. by Mgon-po-rgyal-rntshan, Mi-rigs Dpe-skrunkhang (Peking 1982; 2nd printing).


Snellgrove (tr.), Hevajra Tantra. , D. L. Snellgrove, The Hevajra Tantra: A Critical Study, Oxford University Press (London 1959/1980).

Sole-Leris, Tranquillity and Insight. Amadeo Sole-Leris, Tranquillity and Insight: An Introduction to the Oldest Form of Buddhist Meditation, Shambhala (Boston 1986).

Takpo Tashi Namgyal, Mahamudra. Takpo Tashi Namgyal (=Dwags-po Bkra-shis-rnarn-rgyal), Mahamudra: The Quintessence of Mind and Meditation, tr. by Lobsang P. Lhalungpa, Shambhala (Boston 1986).

Tatz, "Life of the Siddha-Philosopher Maitri"gupta." Mark Tatz, 'The Life of the Siddha-Philosopher Maitrigupta," Journal of the American Oriental Society, vol. 107 (1987),pp. 695-711.

Thrangu Rinpoche, Buddha Nature. Thrangu Rinpoche, Buddha Nature: Ten Teachings on the Uttara Tantra Shastra, Rangjung Yeshe Publications (Kathmandu 1988).

Thu'u-bkwan, Grub-mtha '. Thu'u-bkwan Blo-bzang-chos-kyi-nyi-ma, Thu 'u-bkwan Grub-mtha' (=Grub-mtha 'Thams-cad-kyi Khungs dang 'Dodtshul Ston-pa Legs-bshad Shel-gyi Me-long), Kan-su'u Mirigs Dpe-skrun-khang (Zhin-hwa 1984).

Tsang Nyon Heruka, Life of Marpa. Tsang Nyon Heruka (=Gtsang-smyon He-ru-ka), The Life of Marpa the Translator, tr. by the Nalanda Translation Committee, Shambhala (Boulder 1982).

PArnOF ULTIMATE PROFUNDITY 319

Tshal-pa Kun-dga' -rdo-rje, Deb-ther Dmar-po. Tshal-pa Kun-dga' -rdo-rje, Deb-ther Dmar-po, Mi-rigs Dpeskrun~khang (Peking 1981).

Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts. Giuseppe Tucci, Minor Buddhist Texts, Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente (Rome 1958).

Wang-ch'ug-dor-je, Mahamudra Wang-ch'ug-dor-je· (=Dbang-phyug-rdo-rje), Mahffmudra: Eliminating the Darkness of Ignorance, tr. by Alexander Berzin, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives (Dharamsala 1981).

Zhang Rin-po-che. ZhangG.yu-brag-paBrtson-'grus-grags-pa,Phyag-rgya-chenpo Lam Zab Mthar-thug Zhang-gi Man-ngag. Contained in: Rtsib-ri Spar-ma, vol. 4 (NGA), pp. 49-117.

Zhang, Writings. Zhang O.yu-brag-pa Brtson-'grus-grags-pa, Writings (Bka' 'Thor-bul, Sungrab Nyamso Gyunpel Parkhang (Palampur 1972).

III. REVIEWS

Mind Only: A Philosophical and Doctrinal Analysis of the Vijiifinavfida, by Thomas E. Wood. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press, 1991. Monographs of the Society for Asian and Comparative Philosophy, vol. 9. xiv + 290 pages, notes, appendices, bibliography, index.

The goal of this book is well expressed in its title. Wood wants to engage in a properly philosophical analysis of the texts of the classical Indian Vijfianavada, and in so doing to show that they contain unresolved conceptual tensions, and even at times outright contradictions. Briefly, Wood sees the Vijfianavada as defending the following claims: (1) that only individual minds exist-a kind of pluralistic idealism; (2) that the illusion of a shared experience of publicly available extramental things is explicable causally by the fact of immediate telepathic contact among these minds-a kind of collective hallucinationism; and (3) that Buddha is omniscient, and that all Buddha's awareness is nondual-or, more generally, that there is a single universal nondual consciousness. He then argues that these three claims cannot coherently be held together, and that the Vijfianavada thinkers uneasily realized this and hovered between two resolutions, neither of which was fully acceptable to them because of other doctrinal commitments. The first was solipsism, which involves the denial of the existence of other minds, and so also the rejection of both (1) and (2). And the second was monistic idealism, the doctrine that there is an "infinite and omniscient mind of one sort or another" (p. 190), and that this is all there is. This second resolution also entails the denial of (1) and (2), although it strongly affirms (3) - and indeed may be said to grow out of it.

These are strong and controversial claims. One might take issue with them exegetically, by arguing that the texts of the classical Indian Vijfianavada do not express the views attributed to them by Wood. Or one might question them historically, by arguing that Wood, as a result of choosing an artificially delimited range of texts upon which to base his exegesis, does not consider a broader intellectual context that will make sense of the conceptual tensions he finds. Or, finally, one might argue with them philosophically, by trying to show that Wood's

320

REVIEWS 321

claims as to the inco~erence of (1), (2): and. (3) ru:e not defensible. Doing anyone of these would requITe a long essay; m thIS reVIew I shall attempt only a brief summary of Wood's historical, exegetical, and philosophical positions, together with even briefer suggestions as to how they might be improved. I disagree profoundly with a great deal of what Wood says: I think he is exegetically often wrong, that he has artificially limited the range of textual materials he draws upon in such a way as to call his conclusions into question, and that even philosophically he is only sometimes right; but I applaud his attempt to take these texts with philosophical seriousness and to promote philosophical discussion of them, and I judge that if his work gets the response it deserves we will all learn something of philosophical interest about Vijfianavada. Those who are stimulatingly wrong often, in the end, produce more knowledge than those who are safely but boringly right.

After a brief introduction (pp. ix-xiv) in which the central themes of the book are foreshadowed, the first three chapters (pp. 1-60) deal with the trisvabhava doctrine. Here Wood uses the Madhyantavibhaga (MV), the Trisvabhavanirdesa (TSN), and the Trirpsika (Trif]1s), as the basis for his discussion, providing a transliterated Sanskrit text and translation of MV i.1-22, as well as a complete text and translation of TSN and Trif]1s. In the fourth chapter (pp. 63-89) he discusses the question of Nirvana and B uddhahood, once again basing most of what he says upon Triqls and TSN. In chapters 5-8 (pp. 93-159) he analyzes what is for him the central philosophical question: that of holding together claims about the existence of other minds with claims about Buddha's omniscience. Here he draws upon the Virpsatika (Vif]1s), providing a complete text and translation, as well as the Santanantarasiddhi (SS), the Tattvasarigraha (Ts) and its paiIjika (Tsp), and the Santanantaradii§aIJa (SD). And in the two concluding chapters (pp. 163-190) he provides an analysis and critique of the doctrine of collective hallucination, drawing mainly upon Vif]1s and upon the French and English renderings (by La Vallee Poussin and Wei Tat) of the Chinese versions of some of its commentaries. Four appendices provide information of a historical kind about the texts used; a "free rendering" of SS (pp. 207-218) based only upon a comparison of the two extant English versions (by H. C. Gupta, via Th. Stcherbatsky's free Russian rendering of the Tibetan version, and by Hidenori Kitagawa); an argument to the effect that Ts-p should be classified as a Vijfianavada text (pp. 219-221); and a free rendering of SD, based upon the sole edition of the Sanskrit text and upon Yuichi Kajiyama's free rendering into English.

Many points of detail, historical, exegetical, and philosophical, arise in the course of Wood's discussion of all this material. I cannot discuss them all here. Instead, I shall try to follow the main lines of the argument, and to suggest other possibilities as I do so. I shall say most about Wood's analysis of the trisvabhava doctrine, since his discussion of this provides the best illustration of his method and its limitations.

Wood offers a detailed critique of the prima facie contradictions in the


definitions of the three svabhava-s as these are given in MY, TSN, and Triq1s; he thinks that, in these texts at least, there is a confusion of predicates among the three svabhava-s which cannot be resolved. So, for example,'Wood claims that it is incoherent to suggest that parini~panna, which is described as pure (suddha and approximate synonyms), can also be identical (abhinnalak~8J.1a) with paratantra, since this is (sometimes) said to be impure, and nothing can be both pure and impure. The logical point is, of course, correct, but Wood's exegesis is insufficiently sensitive to the broader intellectual context in which such claims are made. Briefly , Wood assumes that the three svabhava-s are things that possess properties, and that the predications of them made in the texts can be considered as if they all operated on the same logical level. This is a little like someone claiming that the fact that there are prima facie contradictions among the predications made of the three persons of the trinity demonstrates that the theory is incoherent; matters are more subtle and complicated than that.

In the case of the trisvabhava the proper position (or at least a possible position) is that parikaJpita is paratantra understood wrongly, while parini~panna is paratantra understood properly. The absence of duality (dvayabhava, etc.) is just a state of affairs which, since it is the true state of affairs, can properly be said to apply to all three svabhava-s understood properly, even though it remains entirely proper to say that to the deluded paratantra appears as parikalpita, and is thus different from parini~panna. So to say that parikaJpita, here understood as the duality that is imagined to exist, is really nondual (that it is characterised as advayatvasvabhava, as in TSN 19), is thus only like saying that the five falsely imagined to be the sum of two-plus-two is really not different from the four that is really the sum of two-plus-two: rhetorically arresting, certainly, but not, as Wood suggests, simply incoherent.

Also, it is perfectly possible, pace Wood (p. 42), to say what parini~panna is without lapsing into incoherence. TSN 3 says it in much the same terms that I've already used: "The eternal nonexistence of what appears [i.e., paratantra] as it appears [i.e., parikaJpita] should be understood as parini~pannasvabhava; this is because it doesn't change" (tasya khyatur yathakhyanaIp. ya sadavidyamanatii/ jfleyal} sa parini~pannal,J svabhavo "nanyathatvatal)/f). That parini$panna and parikaJpita are past passive participles while paratantra is a simple nominal item isn't accidental: paratantra is what there is, while parikalpita denotes both what is (wrongly) imagined by the mind to exist (and, sometimes, the activity of so imagining), and parjni~panna denotes the result of having removed such imaginative activity from the mental life.

Having this interpretive perspective in mind will help in dealing with the prima facie contradictions that Wood points out. I don't claim that the trisvabhava theory as stated in the texts Wood uses is free from conceptual problems, nor that they can all be resolved. But it is clear that the simple prima facie confusions of predication that Wood indicates can be dealt with relatively easily, and that analysis must go deeper if more decisive arguments are to be offered.

REVIEWS 323

Another example of Wood' s procedure may be of use. He suggests (p. 51) that there is a prima facie contradiction to be derived from Triqls 21, 24, and 25, since these verses seem to indicate both that mind is impermanent-it arises and perishes-and that it is identical with suchness (lathatfi), which does not change. Leaving aside purely technical problems with Wood's exegesis here, the problem can easily be resolved: the unchangeability of tathatfi just is the fact that all things change, and mind is identified with tathatfi only in so far as everything is really representation (vijiiaptimatra, a kind of mental event). These representations change, but the fact of their changing is itself changeless, and so there is a sense in which mind-if understood as the totality of transient mental events-does not change.

Wood's arguments about Nirv§.Qa and Buddhahood are more convincing. He correctly points out that conceptual problems were posed for Buddhist theorists by their attempts to hold together assertions about Buddha's radical purity with Buddha's continued involvement in the world, just as there are problems involved in their attempt to give an account of Buddha's omniscience which does not end in monism. Wood also rightly recognizes that the developed kaya-theories of scholastic buddhalogy (my term for systematic theorising about the nature of Buddha) are the place to look for attempted resolutions of these problems, but makes no attempt to say anything about such theories. Like Wood, I am skeptical that these theories succeed; but they deserve a fair and full hearing, and since they were developed as part of the same intellectual program evidenced by the texts that Wood does criticize, it is odd that he ignores them. This is a case, then, in which it would have been useful to consult a broader intellectual context. I cannot see that it is possible to criticize the theoretical presentations of the trisvabhava found in Triqls and MV without also considering the buddhalogy found in such texts as the Mahayanasangraha-corpus and the MahayanasiitraIankara-corpus.

Perhaps the strongest arguments in the book are those centering around . SS and SD. Here Wood suggests that the epistemological framework developed by Dignaga and Dharmaklrti (and presupposed and deployed by RatnakIrti) issues in the conclusion that other minds are real. This is so because inferential arguments to the existence of other minds are deployed in these texts, and such inferences give us, by definition, access to real things. And yet these same texts want to claim that Buddha's awareness (jiiana) is universal and nondual, (agrahyagrahaka). That is, as Wood puts it, these texts propound both epistemic monism and idealistic pluralism - and you can't have both. This is a suggestive argument, and Wood backs it up in chapter 8 with an analysis of what is said in Ts-p about Buddha's sarvajiiatva in which he attempts to show that this account too is given its best chance of coherence if interpreted as a kind of monistic idealism.

In sum, the argument in these final chapters is that the kind of idealism propounded by the classical Indian Vijfianavada is incompatible with the principle that there are many finite minds; that these theorists should have been monistic idealists; and that it was only their doctrinal commitments to the pluralism of the


earlier intellectual tradition that prevented them from being so. It might be added (though Wood does not) that at least some Buddhist intellectuals of the period that he considers did take this step: it might be possible, fof instance, to interpret the Ratnagotravibhagain this way, and to explain early tathIigatagarbhailieory in tenns of such arguments. But this is a task for the future .

. In conclusion, it should be pointed out that there are many specific technical points on which Wood is in error. They are too numerous to list. Many of them result from his apparent lack of familiarity with basic tools for those working in Buddhist S tudies. For instance, he claims (p. 200) that the AbhidhannakoSa was the only abhidharma text to be translated in its entirety into Tibetan. Even if, as is apparently the case, he cannot read Tibetan, a glance at the Tohoku catalogue's list of texts found in the Mngon-pa (abhidharma) section of the Bstan-' gyur would have shown him that this claim is dramatically false. Errors of this kind, though of concern to buddhologists, usually don't call Wood's philosophical arguments into question. But the same can't always be said of his translations. These are . almost always wooden to the point of being incomprehensible, and are often straightfowardly in error. The errors (and a good deal of the incomprehensibility) often result from his apparent desire to understand and translate cryptic verse texts li.1ce Tril!1S or Vil!1s without proper consultation of the commentaries that provide their proper context of meaning. One example will have to suffice to illustrate Wood's method and its problems.

Wood translates Tril!1s 3ab (asarpviditakopadisthanavijiiaptikarp ca tat) as: "[The store consciousness] is the perception, abiding in, and grasping of what is unperceived," so apparently understanding upadisthanayijiiaptikarpas a dvandva, and asmpyiditaka- as the object of these three things. This completely ignores both common sense and the gloss in the bhfi.$ya by Sthiramati (of which Wood makes almost no use), which reads: asarpviditaka upadir yasmin asmpviditaka ca sthanavijiiaptir yasmin tad aIayavijiianam asarpviditak:opadisthanavijiiaptikam. The verse is thus better translated "That [store consciousness] comprises representations of place and acts of appropriation which are not brought to awareness." The general lesson is that mnemonic aids such as the verses of Vil!lS, Tril!1s, MV, etc., were not meant to be read alone; and that even for those whose interests are mainly philosophical rather than philological, consultation of the commentaries is always essential and often illuminating.

Paul J. Griffiths

REVIEWS 325

Yukti$a${ikii-vrtti: Commentaire ala saixante sur 1eraisonnement au Du wm enseignemen t de 1a ca usalite par 1e Maitre indien CandrakIrti, by Cris~ina Anna Scherrer-Schaub. Bruxelles: Institut BeIge des Hautes Etudes Chinoises, 1991. Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques, vol.XXv. Paper: 2000 FB

Not since the work of Etienne Lamotte and Louis de La Vallee Poussin has Melanges Chinois et Bouddhiques published a work of such pivotal importance to

the field of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist philosophy. Scherer-Schaub's critical edition and annotated translation of CandrakIrti's commentary (Van) to Nagarjuna's Yukti$8$/ikakarika (Sixty Verses on Reasoning) is a fabulous work, both philologically and philosophically, reminding us nostalgically of earlier days in Frenchlanguage buddhological scholarship. The preface to the work touches on some of the important issues raised by CandrakIrti, but the bulk of the introductory philosophical material is actually found in a section of the introduction called "Profile of the Text" (pp.xxxiii-xlvii), which is preceded by shorter sections on the root text and commentary and on CandrakIrti, the author of the Vrtti. It is clear, however, that the Introduction is not meant to be anything more than an impressionistic discussion of some key issues in Indian Madhyamaka thought. The more extensive discussions on Buddhist doctrine are instead found in the notes to the translation. Some of these, such as the six-page note 492 that discusses the Yogacara-Madhyamaka synthesis, are short essays in their own right, not only surveying the literature on a given topic, but also discussing historical and philosophical questions as well. Other important discussions are to be found in note 99, on dngos por lta ba (seeing things as real), and in note 462, where we find an excursus on the notions of upadaya and pratltya, to name just two examples. The annotations also serve the useful purpose of contextualizing the Vail within the corpus of CandrakIrti's other writings, especially the PrasannapadfI.

The translation itself is accurate, readable and straightforward, evincing Scherrer-Schaub's clear conceptual mastery of the materiaL For the most part, following the Madhyamikas' own dictum, she mercifully abides by the translation equivalents that have come to be accepted in the discipline, making it unnecessary for the reader to retranslate from some new and unknown buddhologicese. There is only one case in which a translation choice seems to me less than elegant, and this has to do with the rendering of kun rdzob bden pa (S8J!lvrtisatya) as "enveloping/covering truth" (verite d'enveloppement) rather than by the more common "conventional truth." It is clear that this choice must have been motivated in part by the fact that "conventional" was reserved as a translation for another term (e.g., in loka vyavahfira, which she renders "appellation conventionelle mondaine"). Despite this, and despite the fact that etymologically the word S8J!lvrti does convey the sense of "covering" or "obscuring," I believe that precedence should still prevail as a criterion, and therefore favor rendering S8J!lvrti as "conventional." This, however, is largely a matter of personal taste, and Scherrer-


Schaub can certainly not be faulted for this. It is clear throughout her work that she has given a great deal of thought to her choice of translation terms, and that in every case they are at the very least defensible. '

The critical edition of the Tibetan texts are based not only on aU of .the available recensions of the texts found in the various editions ofbsTan 'gyur, but on two Dunhuang documerits (p.T. 795 and 796) previously studied by ScherrerSchaub herself (Proceedings of the Csoma de Koros Symposium, Viregrad, 1984). Finally, there is an extremely valuable and detailed Tibetan-Sanskrit-French glossary/index, and a seperate subject index (mostly of Sanskrit terms and proper names).

For those of us who work in the field of Indo-Tibetan Madhyamaka philosophy Scherrer-Schaub's book is bound to become the standard reference work on the Yukti$~tika and its Vrtti. It is, without a doubt, one of the most important contributions to the field that we have seen in recent years.

Jose Ignacio Cabez6n

327

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