金剛般若疏 1.14

1.14

Fourth, explaining pāramitā. Pāramitā is translated here as 'arrived at the other shore' (bǐ'àn dào). According to the custom of foreign countries, whenever one brings an undertaking to completion, it is called pāramitā. Now, for one who awakens to the Way, though they may accumulate merit for multiple kalpas, if they do not attain prajñā, their practice will not be completed; if they awaken to prajñā, the myriad practices are fully accomplished, hence it is called pāramitā. Question: Since there is the other shore, what are this shore and the middle stream? Answer: The sage merely establishes the conventional name 'other shore' to cause them to awaken and enter through it; why must there be made this shore, the other shore, and the middle stream? The Mahāparinirvāṇa Sūtra says, 'Although there is no this shore, there is the other shore,' which is precisely this point. If one must make them, the *Mahāprajñāpāramitopadeśa states: 'Views of existence and non-existence are this shore; the wisdom that shatters views of existence and non-existence is the other shore; dāna is the middle stream.'