Suryagarbha 7: Bam po 7

just as all aggregates are carried away by the wind without remainder, so the notion of bone that arose in his own body is abandoned, and there it appears to him as empty. This is the first limb of emptiness.

The Noble Mahāvaipulya Sūtra The Quintessence of the Sun (Sūryagarbha). [Bampo 7]

Furthermore, to him, the inner self appears as emptiness. To him, the external becomes the notion of form. He thinks: 'By means of that gathered wind, I shall completely disintegrate all appearances of form.'

By doing so, all outer appearances of form will be disintegrated by those winds. Having entirely abandoned all the inner and outer appearances of form, they will specifically contemplate this. This is the second branch of emptiness.

“Again, they will think, ‘All the material appearances I have abandoned appear to me as emptiness and not in any other way. However, since my mind that conceives the winds is not entirely liberated, I must abandon that too!’ Since phenomena do not come from or go anywhere, they will give up conceptualizing in terms of going or the absence of going. This is the third branch of emptiness.

“Again, they will wonder, ‘Is there anything true at all among all conditioned things?’ Thinking in that way, they will directly understand what is true. Knowing that all phenomena that arise are phenomena that cease, they will understand that all three realms are nonexistent and unreal, and their formations will become utterly purified and pacified. This is the fourth branch of emptiness.

“Some will settle within the first fruition, some will cultivate the concordant acceptance, and some will reach awakening in accordance with the right times and circumstances. Their efforts to entirely settle concepts and analysis will be completely pacified, and they will enter the absorption of cessation. According to their inclinations, they will pass from one day up to countless eons absorbed in that cessation. In the second instant immediately following the first instant of emerging from that, their afflictions will be exhausted. At that moment, their lives will also be exhausted, and they will simultaneously pass into parinirvāṇa.

“This is the eighth, the dhāraṇī mantra that accords with emptiness. It is a powerful and beneficial dhāraṇī mantra that accords with the truth that is not shared by ordinary beings. It exhausts all forms of attachment associated with the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm, […] and it removes the burden of suffering. It is the dhāraṇī mantra that accords with emptiness that the thus-gone King of the Lord of Mountains conferred upon me through the bodhisattva great being Gandhahastin. It is a dhāraṇī mantra that bestows faith in the teachings that I expound within this assembly.”

As this teaching was being given, ninety-two trillion sentient beings settled within the first fruition, and the minds of six million of them were liberated from their defilements with no further grasping. Nine hundred ninety trillion sentient beings who had performed their duties in the past achieved the dhāraṇī mantra that accords with emptiness, and eighty thousand of them achieved the self-arisen dhāraṇī mantra. Sixty quintillion sentient beings gave rise to the mind set on unsurpassed and perfect awakening and would no longer regress on the path to unsurpassed and perfect awakening.

The entire retinue exclaimed “Excellent!” and showered a rain of celestial flowers and perfumed substances.

Venerable Kauṇḍinya then said to the Blessed One, “Respected Blessed One, please explain to us the dhāraṇī mantra that accords with the absence of wishes that the thus-gone Royal Mass of Glorious Wisdom conferred through the bodhisattva great being Glorious Essence of Light, the dhāraṇī mantra that bestows faith in this great teaching of The Great Assembly!”

The Blessed One replied, “Kauṇḍinya, thus it is! Kauṇḍinya, thus it is! Kauṇḍinya, I will explain to this retinue the dhāraṇī mantra that accords with the absence of wishes. Kauṇḍinya, there are sentient beings within this retinue who have thoroughly purified themselves in the past and are able to understand this teaching. Therefore, Kauṇḍinya, listen!” […]

The Blessed One then said, “Kauṇḍinya, there are sentient beings here who lack dedication and are entangled in desire. They do not understand or care about emancipation, and so they will circle in saṃsāra for a long time. […]

“What is emancipation from the attachment to mental concepts, and how does one correctly train in it? They will think, ‘If all types of attachment—the attachments related to the desire realm, the form realm, the formless realm, shape, contact, imagination, and concepts—arise on account of the connection of formations, who has produced those formations? Who is producing them? They are produced by the winds. My physical, verbal, and mental formations, as well as those winds, must therefore be destroyed! The winds enter and leave from my mouth and nose. It is these winds that have produced the formations, so the very same winds must break apart and destroy this body!’ Thinking in that way, they will imagine that the breaths that are drawn in and expelled dry out their flesh and blood and cause them to disappear. The breaths that are exhaled will discard their flesh and blood outside of their bodies,

until they see that their entire bodies have become hollow. They will then visualize how the inhalation and exhalation of the breath through all their orifices fully extracts their hairs, fingernails, flesh, and blood and removes them from their body. This will cause the entirety of their flesh and blood to disappear from their body, until they consider, contemplate, cultivate, and visualize the heaps of bare bones that are white like conch shells and connected with ligaments.

“While settled in mental equipoise, their previous connections to the state of attachment related to the desire realm will decline and diminish. Similarly, their attachment related to the form realm, the formless realm, shape, contact, imagination, and concepts will also be suppressed and reduced. However, when their minds are no longer settled in equipoise, they will, according to the circumstances they encounter, be repeatedly and temporarily weakened in relation to objects ranging from form to contact. They will then think, ‘In accordance with my class, I must cut off and eliminate attachment and its basis! Just as a tree that has been cut but not uprooted may still continue to grow, so will the latent imprints of craving that have not been eliminated eventually generate various types of suffering.’ They will therefore meditate on this until they perceive their bodies as skeletons, white like conch shells and connected with ligaments.

Similarly, when any kind of form—whether sentient or not—appears before their eyes, they will systematically perceive such forms as white skeletons connected with ligaments, without adding or omitting anything. They will not let their minds be distracted from this. This is their practice of tranquility.

“At that time, they will train by observing, ‘These are the bones of the skull, these are the teeth, and this is the throat,’ all the way down to ‘These are the bones of the toes.’ In that way, they will accomplish mental concentration that is joined with insight. Why is that? Because they accomplish concentration intentionally. When their minds become utterly still and tranquil, this should be their meditation. When their minds become utterly still and tranquil, they should cultivate that while practicing insight alone. When their minds become utterly still and tranquil while practicing insight alone, they should cultivate that by examining and disintegrating the heaps of bones and grinding them into dust. They should then consider how the mental observation of this dust of bones is not uncaused but rather has the characteristic of being exhaustible and perishable. In that way, they will realize the acceptance that accords with insight.

“Because they observe the completely white dust of bones in all material appearances and because they understand that the mind is quick and swift, they will also directly understand the acceptance that accords with arising.⁵⁰ Because they observe the insubstantial nature of the completely white dust of bones, which they perceive without attachment in all forms, and because they understand the lack of self in the mind that is quick and swift, they will directly understand the acceptance that accords with disintegration.

Because they observe the lack of expressibility, fondness, apprehension, equipoise, and existence with regard to the completely white dust of bones, which they perceive without attachment in all forms, they will directly understand the acceptance that accords with peaceful tranquility.

“Since they will achieve acceptance, they will free themselves from and rise above attachment related to the three times. Their thoughts will be peaceful, their basis will be stable, and they will abandon the limits of the three times. They will abandon the limits of the three types of craving,⁵¹ turn away from and pacify the three realms of saṃsāra, abandon the three types of defilements, achieve the three gateways of liberation, and eliminate the three types of fetters. At that point they will achieve the fruition of the stream enterers. Furthermore, through their efforts in becoming accustomed to the fact that phenomena are devoid of true characteristics, they will settle within the fruition of the worthy ones. Moreover, those who perceive all material appearances as heaps of bones that are pure, white like conch shells, and connected with ligaments will obtain highly tranquil minds. They will contemplate this while walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. If they contemplate, cultivate, and visualize that, their practice of tranquility will become utterly proficient and refined.

“At that moment, the practitioners will understand inner and outer selflessness and emptiness. If a perception of blue should arise in them in relation to those heaps of bones that they visualize in all forms, they will perceive the heaps of bones to be blue. If they should contemplate any of the other colors up to crystalline, they will perceive all material appearances as heaps of bones in those respective colors up to crystalline. These thoughts will arise in them:

‘Why do all material appearances appear as white heaps of bones? Why do they appear as other colors up to crystalline?’ They will then think, ‘Since these are all the echoes of my mind, they are empty and fake—they are all mental projections!’ Those who understand in that way are worthy recipients of the generosity of the whole world. Kauṇḍinya, with the exception of the perception of dislike or the perception of disgust toward food, this is the meaning of the acceptance that accords with the absence of wishes. This is what the thus-gone Royal Mass of Glorious Wisdom conferred upon me.”

The bodhisattva Sumati then asked, “Respected Blessed One, when the hearers who wish to practice tranquility do so in that way, they will practice repulsiveness. What signs will arise in them?”

The Blessed One replied, “Those who cultivate repulsiveness in order to exhaust their attachments should direct their attention to their foreheads. The following signs will arise in them: Whenever they conceive of the body with an attitude of revulsion, their entire bodies will begin to shake and ache; this is the first sign. Whenever they cultivate this repeatedly, all their body parts will feel as if they are being scraped against a rough surface; this is the second sign. Then, those who practice without distraction will eventually experience exhilaration throughout their entire bodies, as if they were filled with milk; this is a sign that their minds abide one-pointedly within a state of tranquility. Nevertheless, they will also abandon those feelings of pleasure and well-being by practicing the absence of marks. Furthermore, in order to refine their discernment,

their mind will be purified of all afflicted states caused by attachment and will be purified of insight afflicted by ignorance. When that occurs, they will become able to discern the different aspects, from suffering to peace, based on those heaps of bones of all bodies. Next, heat will emerge from their entire bodies. This is the perfection of their practice of tranquility. Through the roots of virtue generated by this heat and the experience of constant bliss, their minds will become pure, and they will know that they are like gods. By examining those heaps of bones according to this fourfold sequence, they will eventually see flames on their foreheads. In order to completely transcend ignorance, they will again and again investigate their heaps of bones according to those experiences; they will repeat this fourfold sequence a great number of times. Thereby, they will not encounter the disintegration of their minds or the phenomena that arise from the mind.’

“They will then float around in that way without dwelling on anything, like a dust mote in the sunlight. As they now see all conditioned things through their eminent perception, they will correctly understand that all conditioned phenomena are selfless […] and subject to cessation; this is their attainment of the root of virtue of the summit. Furthermore, they will also see fires dying and blazing up on their bodies, as well as brilliant lights shining in the ten directions; this is the path of the first concentration. Similarly, they will attain the roots of virtue as well as the great elements of the form realm. Their entire bodies will be pervaded by the great bliss of the form realm. Sunlight will radiate from their hearts, and wherever they look and examine will be filled with light from the sun. They will meditate on those light rays in accordance with the absence of wishes.

At that time, their minds will become free from wishes related to the three realms. They will diligently dwell on emptiness in the same manner without apprehending the four truths of the noble ones. Heat will emerge from their entire bodies, a multicolored warm glow will emerge from the tops of their heads, and parasols will shelter them above their heads; this is the root of virtue of the summit. Furthermore, in accordance with nonapprehension they will fully understand the acceptance that accords with the truth. At that time, they will fully understand the four truths of the noble ones.

“Noble son, this is the hearer’s meditation on repulsiveness. Those who have thoroughly meditated on repulsiveness will attain tranquility, and those signs will manifest. With such signs and faith, they will follow the eightfold path of the noble ones, abandon all afflictions, and reach the level of the worthy ones. Therefore, noble son, you should teach those contemplations to those who follow the vehicle of the hearers within the buddha realm Victorious through Light Rays.”

As this teaching on repulsiveness was being given, countless beings present in that place achieved the acceptance that accords with the truth, and countless sentient beings saw the truth.

Then, the Blessed One said to Ājñātakauṇḍinya, “Kauṇḍinya, if everyone could follow the same approach and had the same inclination, I would only have to give sentient beings a single Dharma teaching, through which their minds would be liberated from defilements.

“Some will think, ‘As long as my mind is not completely pacified, the boils, diseases, and pains of existence will arise, as will the diversity of rebirths and the various destinies. Therefore, I must make sure to control my own mind and take hold of my thinking!’ Thinking in that way, they will think of the heaps of bones as being the cause for generating mental composure.

This is the first attainment of faultlessness in those with superior minds. It will be achieved without difficulty, and in this very life they will live happily and attain the level of nonregression.

“Again, they will think, ‘Now that I have gathered the conditions that lead to mental composure, I must collect myself by means of considering disintegration!’ This is the second attainment of faultlessness in those with superior minds, through which they will live happily in the present life. It will be achieved without difficulty or hardship.

“Again, they will think, “As long my mind chases after the cause of such conditioned composure, I will remain intoxicated by physical and mental bliss, so I must be sure to make such physical and mental bliss subside!’ They will then train while thinking, ‘By recollecting the heaps of bones through conditioned concentration,⁵² physical and mental bliss will manifest. I must definitely abandon such bliss!’ Thinking in that way, they will make the consciousnesses—from the eye consciousness up to the mind consciousness—disappear in accordance with arising and disintegration. This is the third attainment of faultlessness in those with superior minds, through which they will live happily in the present life. It will be achieved without difficulty or hardship.

“Again, they will think, ‘I must dwell within the realm of phenomena in accordance with the fact that everything is liberated, exhausted, intrinsically pure, devoid of essence, and peaceful! How should I do so? I must abide in accordance with the pacification of thinking.’ Accordingly, the movement of all their thoughts will completely subside, and their minds will abide peacefully. This is the fourth attainment of faultlessness in those with superior minds, through which they will live happily in the present life. It will be achieved without difficulty or hardship.

“Those who are endowed with these four qualities of superior minds will see the eight million four hundred thousand gateways to concentration.

They will settle within the fruition of the non-returners and in the other fruitions up to the level of the worthy ones. Those monks will be liberated from duality, and they will be strong and powerful.

“Kauṇḍinya, how could all beings have the same approach, the same interest, and the same inclination? Since they have different inclinations, the Thus-Gone One teaches the Dharma through Dharma gateways and discourses that are expressed in different words. The Blessed One teaches different types of perceptions to sentient beings with mistaken views. Hence, the meaning of all those perceptions—whether the perceptions of impermanence, suffering, and selflessness or the perceptions of decomposing corpses, festering corpses, bluish corpses, devoured corpses, or scattered corpses—has been taught here.”

Ājñātakauṇḍinya then said, “Blessed One, please explain to us how one should cultivate the perception of dislike and the perception of disgust toward food!”

The Blessed One replied, “Kauṇḍinya, I have explained enough. The perspectives of those in this realm who accomplish the Dharma properly in order to achieve the happiness of emancipation are different from the perspectives of those in other worlds who do the same—they are engaged in different activities and practices. Thus, Kauṇḍinya, if I were to explain this, besides those who have entered faultlessness and those bodhisattva great beings who can understand this, all other beings present would be thoroughly confused.”

“Respected Blessed One,” continued Ājñātakauṇḍinya, “please explain to us about the perception of dislike toward the entire world and the perception of disgust toward food!

Respected Well-Gone One, please explain this to us! By hearing this, sentient beings will generate a variety of roots of virtue. Since beginningless time, beings have rushed through and circled in saṃsāra while obscured by ignorance, bound by craving, and impeded by the downfall of craving. Those beings take pleasure in this world. Why? Because they are bound by food and sexual intercourse. If they do not hear this Dharma way, they will sink into the five destinies of saṃsāra, and they will constantly be afflicted by suffering. Blessed One, you wish for the happiness of all sentient beings, and you have developed great love and compassion for everyone. Respected Blessed One, please explain to us the entire meaning of the dhāraṇī mantra that accords with the absence of wishes that the thus-gone Royal Mass of Glorious Wisdom conferred in order to benefit many beings, including gods and humans! Respected Blessed One, please explain to us the perception of dislike toward the entire world! By hearing this, sentient beings will turn away from their desires. Respected Blessed One, please explain to us the perception of disgust toward food! By hearing this, sentient beings will turn away from their attachments to flavors. Sentient beings who understand the shortcomings of desires and flavors will delight in transcending saṃsāra and will look for liberation from the bondages of existence.”

The Blessed One replied, “Thus it is, Kauṇḍinya! It is just as you have said! In accordance with the words that the bodhisattva Glorious Essence of Light expressed to me,

I will now, in the presence of the world with its gods, explain the perception of dislike toward the entire world and the perception of disgust toward food. Therefore, Kauṇḍinya, listen!” […]

The Blessed One then said, “Kauṇḍinya, what are the worlds for which dislike must be generated? There are two: the world of sentient beings and the world of formations. What is the world of sentient beings? ‘Sentient beings’ refers to those who are born among the five types of beings—hell beings, animals, pretas, gods, and humans. Within the desire realm, there are twenty planes of existence. Within the form realm, there are sixteen. And within the formless realm, there are four. Such is the number of the worlds of sentient beings.

“What are the twenty planes of existence of the desire realm? There are eight great hells, each surrounded by sixteen hells. What are those eight? They are the Hell of Revival of the Three Times,⁵³ the Black Line Hell, the Hell of Crushing, the Hell of Wailing, the Hell of Intense Wailing, the Hell of Heat, the Hell of Intense Heat, and the Hell of Unceasing Torment, each surrounded by sixteen hells. Due to physical, verbal, and mental negative actions, sentient beings have been born and will be born in those places, experiencing harsh, unbearable, and scorching feelings of suffering. All the physical forms their eyes perceive in those places will be repulsive. None will be attractive; they will all be unpleasant. None will be pleasant; they will all be ugly. None will be beautiful; they will all be hideous. None will be pretty. Therefore, on that basis, they will experience harsh, unbearable, and scorching feelings of suffering in those places. All the sounds they hear with their ears, all the scents they smell with their noses, everything they taste with their tongues, everything they touch with their bodies,

and all the mental phenomena they become conscious of will be repulsive. None will be attractive; they will all be unpleasant. None will be pleasant; they will all be dislikeable. None will be likeable; they will all be disagreeable. None will be enjoyable. Their bodies will be consumed by fire; they will eat lumps of iron and drink molten iron and copper. On that basis, they will experience harsh, unbearable, and scorching feelings of suffering in those places. Until the physical, verbal, and mental negative actions they committed in the past when they were born here among humans have been exhausted and purified, they will not die and transmigrate from those places. Kauṇḍinya, consider this: what sentient being who wishes for happiness and feels aversion toward suffering would enjoy and wish for those hells? This is the first destiny of those who engage in negative actions, toward which the wise ones should generate the perception of dislike.

“Kauṇḍinya, how should the wise ones generate the perception of dislike toward the condition of the animals? Kauṇḍinya, there are animals who are born with extremely small bodies: some are born with bodies about the size of the fiftieth fraction of the tip of a hair, others with bodies about the size of dust motes in the sunlight, and yet others with bodies about the size of jujube fruits. Still others obtain bodies up to ten thousand leagues long. The lifespan of some of them lasts for a single instant, whereas the life of others stretches over an eon. In those places, animals do not practice the Dharma or engage in virtue. They have abandoned modesty and humility, they are lacking in compassion and sympathy, they are constantly tormented by suffering, they are always afraid, they eat each other, and they follow all the paths of the nonvirtuous actions.

Since they are engulfed in the darkness of ignorance, both those among them who proceed toward the lower realms and those who proceed toward the happy destinies will mistake improper behavior for virtuous action. What wise one would enjoy and wish for the condition of those animals, who are constantly tormented by suffering within the darkness of ignorance? This is the second destiny of those who engage in negative actions, toward which the wise ones should generate the perception of dislike.

“Kauṇḍinya, how should the wise ones generate the perception of dislike toward the condition of the pretas? Kauṇḍinya, there are pretas whose bodies are a finger span in size. Some are born with bodies an arm span in size, others with bodies a thousand leagues long. They are naked, and their bodies are rough, black, shriveled, and devoid of flesh and blood. They are constantly tormented by hunger and thirst, they lack food and drink, and they inhale and exhale fire. They are hostile toward one another, they lack compassion, they are always exhausted, and they cannot find any cool clouds to shelter them. They feed on iron, copper, iron lumps, hot pus and blood, burning dirt, burning excrement, boiling urine, burning winds, or burning food made of roots, leaves, flowers, fruits, and trees. Even such food they find only occasionally and only through much hardship and huge efforts. The life of some pretas lasts for a thousand years, while the life of others lasts for a hundred thousand years. They never experience happiness, they are constantly tormented by suffering, and they are engulfed in the darkness of ignorance at all times,