འཕགས་པ་ཆས་ཀྱ་ཕང་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro.3

intro.3

The title of the sūtra refers to the sections of teachings given by the Buddha, which are traditionally said to number 84,000. The sūtra begins with an inquiry by Śāriputra about the nature and number of the sections of the Dharma, to which the Buddha answers with a teaching on the absence of birth with regard to phenomena—a teaching that serves as an antidote to the poison of desire. The beginning of the sūtra thus situates the text explicitly in a Mahāyāna context, introducing as it does the notion that phenomena neither arise nor cease. Indeed, in the manner of the teachings of the second turning,³ the text deconstructs the reality and identity of objects of desire, thereby demonstrating that desires are mere fantasies based on imaginary objects and are not to be indulged in by the wise.