大方廣佛華嚴經入法界品四十二字觀門 1

English (machine translation) 1

Language: English

1.1

Translated under imperial decree by the monk Amoghavajra, Tripiṭaka Master of Daxingshan Monastery, Specially Advanced with the Privileges of the Three Preceptors, Acting Chamberlain of the Court of the Imperial Regalia, Duke of the State of Su with a Fief of Three Thousand Households, Granted the Purple Robe, Posthumously Conferred Minister of Works, Posthumously Bestowed the Title Grand Master of Great Wisdom.

1.2

At that time, the youth Sudhana descended from the celestial palace and went toward the city of Kapilavastu, arriving at the dwelling of the youth Śilpābhijña. He bowed his head at [the youth's] feet in reverence, stood to one side, and said, "Noble one! I have already generated the mind set upon supreme and perfect awakening (anuttarasamyaksaṃbodhi), but I do not yet know how a bodhisattva studies the bodhisattva practice, nor how one cultivates the bodhisattva path. I have heard that the noble one is skilled in teaching; may you please explain it to me." Then the youth said to Sudhana, "Good son! I have attained the bodhisattva liberation called 'Skilled in All Arts and Sciences'. I constantly recite and hold the fundamental letters that enter into this liberation.

1.3

When pronouncing the letter A, it is called entering the perfection of wisdom door of the non-differentiated realm through the bodhisattva's majesty and virtue, because one realizes that all dharmas are originally unproduced (ādianutpannatvāt).

1.4

When pronouncing the letter RA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of boundless differentiations, because one realizes that all dharmas are free from dust and defilement (rajas).

1.5

When pronouncing the letter PA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the realm of phenomena (dharmadhātu), because one realizes that the ultimate truth (paramārtha) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.6

When pronouncing the letter CA (pronounced lightly), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the universal wheel cutting off differentiations, because one realizes that all dharmas are devoid of conditioned formations (cyavana/caryā).

1.7

When pronouncing the letter NA (pronounced with the tongue-tip), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the limitless Ālaya, because one realizes that the nature and characteristics (nāma) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.8

When pronouncing the letter LA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of stainlessness, because all dharmas transcend the world (lokātīta) and the causal conditions of craving (lābha) never appear again.

1.9

When pronouncing the letter DA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of irreversible application, because one realizes that all dharmas are subdued, tranquil, equal in suchness, and non-conceptual (dānta/dama).

1.10

When pronouncing the letter MA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the vajra bodhimaṇḍa, because one realizes that all dharmas are free from bondage and liberation (mokṣa/mada).

1.11

When pronouncing the letter ṆA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the all-pervading wheel, because one realizes that all dharmas are free from fever, hypocrisy, and defilement, attaining coolness (raṇa).

1.12

When pronouncing the letter ṢA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the ocean treasury, because one realizes that all dharmas are unobstructed (ṣaṇṇām/saṅga).

1.13

When pronouncing the letter VA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of universally arising and abiding, because one realizes that the path of speech is cut off for all dharmas (vāk).

1.14

When pronouncing the letter TA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of illuminating dust and defilement, because one realizes that all dharmas are motionless in suchness (tathatā).

1.15

When pronouncing the letter YA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of differentiated aggregation, because one realizes that all dharmas are truly unproduced (yathāvat/yāna).

1.16

When pronouncing the letter ṢṬA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of universal light pacifying torment, because one realizes that the characteristics of subduing and sustaining all dharmas cannot be apprehended (stambha).

1.17

When pronouncing the letter KA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of differentiated varieties, because one realizes that an agent (kāraka) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.18

When pronouncing the letter SA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of pouring down a great rain manifest before one, because one realizes that the temporal equality (samāna/samatā) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.19

When pronouncing the letter MA (pronounced lightly), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the great swift mountain peaks, because one realizes that the nature of grasping at 'mine' (mamatā) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.20

When pronouncing the letter GA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the nurturing all-pervading wheel, because one realizes that the nature of moving and grasping (gamana) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.21

When pronouncing the letter THA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of non-differentiated suchness, because one realizes that a location (sthāna) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.22

When pronouncing the letter JA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of purifying the deep origin of worldly transmigration, because one realizes that the producer and produced (jāti) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.23

When pronouncing the letter SVA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of recollecting all Buddhas' adornments, because one realizes that the nature of security (svastika) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.24

When pronouncing the letter DHA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of observing the bodhimaṇḍa of the realm of phenomena, because one realizes that the realm-holding nature (dhātu/dhāraṇa) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.25

When pronouncing the letter ŚA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of complying with the teachings of all Buddhas, because one realizes that the tranquil nature (śama/śānta) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.26

When pronouncing the letter KHA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the treasury of wisdom of the manifest causal stage, because one realizes that the space-like nature (khasama) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.27

When pronouncing the letter KṢA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of discerning and pacifying the ocean treasury of all karmas, because one realizes that the exhaustible nature (kṣaya) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.28

When pronouncing the letter STA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the pure light that crushes all afflictions, because one realizes that the immobile nature of sustaining bases and non-bases (sthānasthāna) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.29

When pronouncing the letter ÑA (pronounced lightly), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of discerning the arising of the world, because one realizes that the nature of the knower and the known (jñāna/ñātā) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.30

When pronouncing the letter RTHA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the bodhimaṇḍa of knowledge reversing the wheel of birth and death, because one realizes that the nature of adhering to meanings (artha) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.31

When pronouncing the letter BHA (drawn out), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the adornments of all palace-bodhimaṇḍas, because one realizes that the destructible nature (bhaṅga) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.32

When pronouncing the letter CHA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the various bodhimaṇḍas covered by the treasury of cultivation and application, because one realizes that the nature of being veiled by desire and craving (chanda/chāyā) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.33

When pronouncing the letter SMA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the gyration of visibly seeing all Buddhas of the ten directions, because one realizes that the memorable nature (smaraṇa) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.34

When pronouncing the letter HVA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the ocean treasury universally producing the capacity and strength of all sentient beings, because one realizes that the summonable nature (hvāna) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.35

When pronouncing the letter TSA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the source of cultivation entering into the ocean of all merits, because one realizes that the heroic nature (utsāha) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.36

When pronouncing the letter GHA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the firm ocean treasury holding all Dharma clouds, because one realizes that the dense equality (ghana) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.37

When pronouncing the letter ṬHA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of vowing to go to the ten directions and see all Buddhas face-to-face, because one realizes that the accumulative nature (saṃsthāna/ṭhava) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.38

When pronouncing the letter ṆA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the wheel of letters accumulating kotis of letters, because one realizes that being free from disputes, without coming or going, walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, cannot be apprehended in all dharmas.

1.39

When pronouncing the letter PHA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of proceeding to the bodhimaṇḍa at the limit of maturing all sentient beings, because one realizes that the pervasive fruition (phala) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.40

When pronouncing the letter SKA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the universally illuminating wheel of light of the unattached, unimpeded stage of liberation treasury, because one realizes that the nature of the accumulated aggregates (skandha) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.41

When pronouncing the letter YSA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of proclaiming the realm of all Buddha-dharmas, because one realizes that the nature and characteristics of decay and old age (jarā/yas) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.42

When pronouncing the letter ŚCA (conjunct), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of all space universally illuminated by the thunderous roar of Dharma clouds, because one realizes that the footprints of aggregation (caraṇa) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.43

When pronouncing the letter ṬA, one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the ultimate limit of selflessly benefiting sentient beings, because one realizes that the nature of mutual coercion (ṭaṅka) in all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.44

When pronouncing the letter ḌHA (drawn out), one enters the perfection of wisdom door of the non-differentiated treasury of the Dharma wheel, because one realizes that an ultimate location (ḍhaukana) of all dharmas cannot be apprehended.

1.45

"Good son! When I recite such fundamental letters that enter into the liberations, these forty-two perfections of wisdom lead the way into immeasurable and countless doors to the perfection of wisdom.

1.46

"Furthermore, good son, such letter-doors are able to lead one to awaken and enter into the limits of the emptiness of dharmas. Apart from such letters, there is no other way to express the emptiness of all dharmas. Why is this? The meanings of such letters cannot be spoken, cannot be demonstrated, cannot be grasped, cannot be written down, and cannot be observed, for they are free from all signs. Good son, just as empty space is that toward which all things converge, so too are these letter-doors: the meaning of the emptiness of all dharmas enters into these doors and only then becomes clearly revealed. If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva attains skillful wisdom regarding such entrance into these letter-doors, they will be unobstructed in all that is expressed and signified by vocal sounds; they will be fully able to realize and preserve the equal emptiness of all dharmas, and will attain skill in all vocal sounds. If a bodhisattva-mahāsattva can hear such entrance into the letter-doors, seal them with the seal of the letter A, and having heard them, receives and upholds them, reads and recites them fluently, and explains them to others without greed for fame or profit, by this causal condition they will attain twenty kinds of extraordinary merit. What are the twenty? They are: attaining powerful memory; attaining superior modesty and shame; attaining firm strength; attaining the purport of the Dharma; attaining superior awakening; attaining extraordinary wisdom; attaining unimpeded eloquence; attaining the doors of dhāraṇī; attaining freedom from doubt; attaining freedom from anger or love toward contrary or agreeable words; attaining equality without high or low; attaining skillfulness in the vocal sounds of sentient beings; attaining skillfulness in the aggregates, skillfulness in the sense bases, and skillfulness in the elements; attaining skillfulness in dependent origination, skillfulness in causes, skillfulness in conditions, and skillfulness in dharmas; attaining skillfulness in the knowledge of the sharp and dull faculties of others, and skillfulness in the knowledge of others' minds; attaining skillfulness in observing the stars and calendar; attaining skillfulness in the knowledge of the divine ear, skillfulness in the knowledge recollecting past abodes, skillfulness in the knowledge of psychic powers, and skillfulness in the knowledge of death and rebirth; attaining skillfulness in the knowledge of the exhaustion of taints; attaining skillfulness in the knowledge explaining the possible and impossible; and attaining skillfulness in the deportment of coming and going. These are the twenty kinds of extraordinary merit attained. Good son! I only know this wisdom of the fundamental letters entering into the liberations. As for how all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas are able to attain wisdom reaching the other shore with regard to all worldly skillful dharmas—how could I know or speak of their meritorious practices?" At that time, the youth Sudhana bowed his head and face in reverence at the feet of Śilpābhijña, circumambulated him countless times, and departed, gazing back with longing and devotion.

Linked texts (1)

大方廣佛華嚴經入法界品四十二字觀門 — Classical Chinese