འཕགས་པ་ཏང་ང་འཛན་གྱ་འཁར་ལ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད intro: 84000's introduction
The Wheel of Meditative Concentration intro
- Language
- English
84000's introduction
intro.1
While dwelling on Vulture Peak in Rājagṛha, the Buddha is absorbed in the meditative concentration called wheel of meditative concentration. In response to a series of questions posed by the Buddha, Mañjuśrī explains the nature of ultimate reality. Pleased with his replies, the Buddha praises Mañjuśrī for being skilled in expressing the meaning of the profound Dharma.
intro.2
Named for the meditative concentration in which the Buddha is absorbed, this short sūtra explores the nature of ultimate reality. Mañjuśrī elucidates its meaning through a series of answers to questions posed by the Buddha, in which ultimate reality is referred to by terms such as very limit of reality (Skt. bhūtakoṭi, Tib. yang dag pa’i mtha’) and sphere of phenomena (Skt. dharmadhātu, Tib. chos kyi dbyings). He explains that the very limit of reality is without any location and neither comes nor goes, and he declares that he does not see any phenomenon that is not the sphere of phenomena.
intro.3
The sūtra was translated from Chinese, most likely in the Tibetan imperial era,¹ but it is not listed either in any of the early catalogs or in the Chinese Tripiṭaka.² It is one of a handful of sūtras found in the Degé Kangyur whose Chinese sources have not been identified.³ In addition to the Degé Kangyur, The Wheel of Meditative Concentration is only found in Kangyurs of the Tshalpa (tshal pa) group and in the Lhasa and Narthang Kangyurs. Among those, only the Lhasa version has a colophon, which simply identifies the Indian abbot Śīladharma and Nampar Mitokpa (rnam par mi rtog pa) as its translators from Chinese.⁴
intro.4
Many parts of this sūtra bear substantial resemblance to passages in the larger Infinite Jewels (Ratnakoṭi, Toh 118),⁵ which was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan by the Indian preceptor Prajñāvarman and the Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé and corresponds to two Chinese sūtras—Rufajie tixing jing 入法界體性經 (Entering the Nature of the Sphere of Phenomena, Taishō 355) and Foshuo baoji sanmei wenshushili pusa wen fashen jing 佛説寶積三昧文殊師利菩薩問法身經 (Sūtra in Which the Buddha Speaks of the Meditative Concentration Called “Infinite Jewels” and the Bodhisattva Mañjuśrī Asks about the Dharma Body, Taishō 356).⁶
intro.5
A comparison of The Wheel of Meditative Concentration with Toh 118, Taishō 355, and Taishō 356 reveals differences in certain details, but these differences do not constitute contradictions in terms of the overall meaning conveyed.⁷
intro.6
Moreover, both The Wheel of Meditative Concentration and Infinite Jewels (Ratnakoṭi, Toh 118) have a thematically close relationship with yet a third text, The Teaching on the Indivisible Nature of the Realm of Phenomena (Dharmadhātuprakṛtyasambhedanirdeśa, Toh 52). That longer and more detailed work opens with a teaching on the realm of phenomena given by Mañjuśrī at the Buddha’s request. The short passage recounting that teaching⁸ bears a striking resemblance to the teaching on the limit of reality and the realm of phenomena in these two texts, and in that longer text too the Buddha warns that “if those who are possessed of excessive pride hear that teaching, it will frighten them.” Mañjuśrī responds to this warning in essentially the same way as in the present text, though perhaps less cryptically: “Those who become afraid … are themselves of the nature of the realm of phenomena, and the nature of the realm of phenomena does not become frightened.” Unlike the other two shorter texts, however, The Teaching on the Indivisible Nature of the Realm of Phenomena then goes on to elaborate in some detail on the theme of pride in this context. First, some “proud monks” are immediately liberated by hearing the teaching.⁹ Then, another group of proud monks leaves the scene, confused and disconcerted, and Mañjuśrī has to use his powers and bring them back by means of a further teaching.¹⁰ Further on still in the narrative, Mañjuśrī explains in detail what is meant by unfounded or excessive pride on many levels, culminating in its sense of dualistic, conceptual conceits that prevent one from engaging fully with the emptiness and sameness of all phenomena.¹¹ Although the historical relationship of these texts remains to be determined,¹² The Teaching on the Indivisible Nature of the Realm of Phenomena does help to throw light on the two shorter texts in which Mañjuśrī’s statements are left unexplained.
intro.7
The present translation is based on the Degé Kangyur, with reference to variants in other versions noted in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma).