[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Buddhist Literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha) › [Buddhist Sanskrit literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit) › [Buddhist tantras and tantric exegesis](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra) › [Performance tantras](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya) › [Mahāvairocanābhisambodhisūtra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana) › [大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經 (Śubhakarasiṃha & Yixing 724)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh) › [The Vairocanabhisambodhi Sutra](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-bdk) › 1.12 # 大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經 (Shubhakarasimha & Yixing 724) 1.12 The Vairocanābhisaṃbodhi Sutra 1.12 - **Language:** English ### [1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-bdk.1.12) one to differentiate emptiness? They do not know the varieties of emptiness, and \[so\] they will never be able to know nirvana. Therefore, one should real- ize that emptiness is dissociated from annihilation and permanence.” Then Vajrapāṇi made another request of the Buddha, saying, “World- honored One, please explain those \[various states of\] mind.” When Vajrapāṇi, Lord of Mysteries, had finished speaking thus, the Buddha addressed him, saying, “Lord of Mysteries, listen attentively to the characteristics of the mind. They are, namely, the mind of covetousness, the mind without covetousness, the mind of anger, the mind of kindness, the mind of stupidity, the mind of wisdom, the mind of decisiveness, the mind of doubt, the mind of darkness, the mind of clarity, the mind of accumula- tion, the mind of strife, the mind of disputation, the mind without disputa- tion, the mind of a god, the mind of an asura, the mind of a nāga, the mind of a man, the mind of a woman, the mind of Īśvara, the mind of a merchant, the mind of a farmer, the mind of a river, the mind of a pond, the mind of a well, the mind of protectiveness, the mind of parsimony, the mind of a dog, the mind of a cat, the mind of a garuḍa, the mind of a rat, the mind of singing, the mind of dance, the mind of drum-beating, the mind of a house, the mind of a lion, the mind of an owl, the mind of a crow, the mind of a rākṣasa, the mind of a thorn, the mind of a cave, the mind of wind, the mind of water, the mind of fire, the mind of mud, the mind of dye, the mind of a plank, the mind of confusion, the mind of poison, the mind of a noose, the mind of fet- ters, the mind of a cloud, the mind of a field, the mind of salt, the mind of a razor, the mind like \[Mount\] Sume\[ru\], the mind like the ocean, the mind like a hole, and the mind of \[re\]birth. “Lord of Mysteries, what is the mind of covetousness? It means to con- form to defiled dharmas. What is the mind without covetousness? It means to conform to undefiled dharmas. What is the mind of anger? It means to con- form to the dharma of wrath. What is the mind of kindness? It means to con- form to and cultivate the dharma of kindness. What is the mind of stupidity? It means to conform to and cultivate the dharma of nonexamination. What is the mind of wisdom? It means to conformingly cultivate dharmas that are special and increase \[one’s understanding\]. What is the mind of decisiveness? It means to carry out as told the instructions of the venerable. What is the mind of doubt? It means to always keep things undecided and so on. What is the mind of darkness? It means to produce an understanding based on misgivings with regard to dharmas about which there should be no misgivings. What is the mind of clarity? It means to practice without misgivings with regard to dharmas about which there can be no misgivings. What is the mind of accumulation? It means to be naturally disposed to make what is immeasurable one. What is the mind of strife? It means to be naturally disposed to argue with others about pros and cons. What is the mind of disputation? It means to produce pros and cons within oneself. What is the mind without disputation? It means to discard both pros and cons. What is the mind of a god? It means that the mind’s thoughts are accomplished as one conceives of them. What is the mind of an asura? It means to enjoy staying in \[the cycle of\] birthand-death. What is the mind of a nāga? It means to think about enormous wealth. What is the mind of a man? It means to think about benefiting others. What is the mind of a woman? It means to conform to the dharma of desire. What is the mind of Īśvara? It means to think that one should be able to do everything as one wishes. What is the mind of a merchant? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of first gathering \[goods cheaply\] and later dividing \[and selling them at a profit\]. What is the mind of a farmer? It means to conform to the dharma of first listening extensively and later seeking. What is the mind of a river? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of relying on two extremes. What is the mind of a pond? It means to conform to the dharma of thirsting insatiably. What is the mind of a well? It means to think thus, that what is profound is exceedingly profound. What is the mind of protectiveness? It means \[to consider\] that only this mind is real and other minds are not real. What is the mind of parsimony? It means to conform to the dharma of acting for oneself and not giving to others. What is the mind of a cat? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of proceeding slowly. What is the mind of a dog? It means to obtain a little and be happily content with it. What is the mind of a garuḍa? It means to conform to the dharma of \[relying on\] associates and assistants. What is the mind of a rat? It means to think about severing all bonds. \[What is the mind of singing? It means to think that sentient beings are to be captivated with songs of various melodies.\]7 What is the mind of dance? It means \[to think\] that by cultivating such a dharma, one will rise up \[in the air and perform\] various supernatural transformations. What is the mind of drum-beating? It means \[to think\] that by cultivating this dharma conformingly, one will beat the drum of the Dharma. What is the mind of a house? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of protecting one’s own person. What is the mind of a lion? It means to cultivate the dharma of non-timidity in all things. What is the mind of an owl? It means to think always in the dark of the night. What is the mind of a crow? It means to think with fear in all circumstances. What is the mind of a rākṣasa? It means to bring about what is unwholesome in what is wholesome. What is the mind of a thorn? It means to be naturally disposed to give rise to regret in all circumstances. What is the mind of a cave? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of entering caves \[to fulfill one’s desires\]. What is the mind of wind? It means to be naturally disposed to arise everywhere. What is the mind of water? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of washing away everything that is unwholesome. What is the mind of fire? It means to be naturally disposed to flare up with intense heat. \[What is the mind of mud? It means to soil others with one’s own faults.\]8 What is the mind of dye? It means to be naturally disposed to resemble another. What is the mind of a plank? It means to conformingly cultivate dharmas that accord with one’s own measure by rejecting other wholesome \[dharmas\]. What is the mind of confusion? It means that what is \[mentally\] grasped differs from what it is thought to be. What is the mind of poison? It means to conformingly cultivate the dharma of lifelessness. What is the mind of a noose? It means to be naturally disposed to dwell everywhere in the bonds of the self. What is the mind of fetters? It means to be naturally disposed to stand still with both feet. What is the mind of a cloud? It means to be always thinking about falling rain. What is the mind of a field? It means to always attend in this manner to one’s own person. What is the mind of salt? It means to add yet more thought to what has been thought through. What is the mind of a razor? It means to only rely in this manner on the dharma of the tonsure. What is the mind like \[Mount Su\]meru? It means that the cogitating mind is always naturally disposed to elevating itself. What is the mind like the ocean? It means to always accept oneself in this manner and abide \[thus\]. What is the mind like a hole? It means to be naturally disposed to first decide something and later amend it. What is the mind of \[re\]birth? It means to habitually perform all manner of actions and be \[re\]born \[in accordance with one’s previous actions\], and the mind is of this same nature. “Lord of Mysteries, multiplying by two once, twice, three times, four times and five times, there are altogether one hundred and sixty minds. When one transcends the mundane three false attachments, the supramun- dane mind is born. That is to say, having thus understood that there are only the \[five\] aggregates and no-self, one lingers on in cultivation \[associated with\] the \[six\] sense organs, \[six\] sense objects, and \[six\] elements (i.e., six consciousnesses), pulls out the stumps of karma and mental afflictions and the seeds of ignorance whence are born the twelve causes and conditions \[of dependent arising\], and dissociates oneself from the schools of established \[purity\] and so on. Such deep serenity cannot be known by any non-Buddhists, and previous buddhas have proclaimed it to be free from all faults. “Lord of Mysteries, with this supramundane mind dwelling in the \[five\] aggregates, such wisdom may arise correspondingly. If one is to give rise to freedom from attachment to the aggregates, one should observe foam, bubbles, a plantain tree, a mirage, and an illusion, thereby attaining liberation. That is to say, the \[five\] aggregates, \[twelve\] sense fields, \[eighteen\] elements, and the grasper and the grasped are all removed from Dharma-nature, and when one realizes the realm of quiescence in this manner, it is called the supramundane mind. Lord of Mysteries, when one has left behind the sequence of eight minds incompatible and compatible \[with the world\] and the web of karma and mental afflictions, this represents the yogin’s practice for transcending one eon. “Next, Lord of Mysteries, there is the practice of the Great Vehicle, whereby one generates the mind of the vehicle without any object \[of cognition\] and \[understands\] that dharmas have no self-nature. How? Just like those who practiced thus in former times, one observes the ālaya (substratum) of the aggregates and realizes that its own-nature is like an illusion, a mirage, a reflection, an echo, a whirling wheel of fire, and an \[imaginary\] gandharva city. Lord of Mysteries, if one thus abandons no-self \[in dharmas\], the mind-lord being absolutely free, one awakens to the fact that one’s own mind is originally unborn. Why? Because, Lord of Mysteries, the anterior and posterior limits of the mind cannot be apprehended. When one thus knows the nature of one’s own mind, this represents the yogin’s practice for transcending a second eon. “Next, Lord of Mysteries, bodhisattvas cultivating bodhisattva practices via the gateway of mantras accomplish all the immeasurable merit and knowl- edge accumulated during immeasurable and incalculable hundreds of thou- sands of koṭis of nayutas of eons and all the immeasurable wisdom and expe- dient means for fully cultivating all practices; they become a refuge for the worlds of gods and humans, they transcend the stages of all śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, and they are attended and revered by Śakra Devendra (King of Gods) and so on. So-called emptiness is dissociated from the sense organs and sense objects, has no \[differentiating\] characteristics and no \[cog- nitive\] objectivity, transcends all frivolous arguments (prapañca), and is boundless like empty space; all the dharmas (attributes) of a buddha are suc- cessively born in dependence on it, and it is dissociated from the conditioned and unconditioned realms, dissociated from all activities, and dissociated from the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind. \[Then\] is born the mind utterly without own-nature. Lord of Mysteries, such an initial mind the Buddha has declared to be the cause for becoming a buddha; although lib- erated from karma and mental afflictions, it still has karma and mental afflic- tions at its base. The world will venerate \[such a person\] and should always make offerings to him. “Next, Lord of Mysteries, in the stage of practice with faith-and-under- standing one observes the three minds, the vision of wisdom \[based on\] immeasurable pāramitās, and the four means of conversion. The stage of faith-and-understanding is unparalleled, immeasurable, and inconceivable, and \[in it\] one establishes the ten minds and boundless knowledge is born. Everything whatsoever that I have taught is all obtained on the basis of this \[stage\]. Therefore, the wise person should reflect on this stage of faith-and- understanding in omniscience, and transcending one more eon he should ascend to dwell in this stage. One quarter of this will take one beyond \[the stage of\] faith-and-understanding.”15 - [Previous: 1.7](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-bdk.1.7) - [Next: 1.13](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-bdk.1.13) - [Up: 1](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-bdk.1) ## Translations (1) - [English (machine translation)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-mt.1.12) — English, machine translation ## Linked texts (1) - [大毘盧遮那成佛神變加持經 (Śubhakarasiṃha & Yixing 724)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh.1.12) — Classical Chinese --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-bdk.1.12](https://indike.org/pramana/in.bauddha.sanskrit.tantra.carya.mahavairocana*zh~en-bdk.1.12) · Pramāṇa