Then venerable Śāriputra said to the Lord, “Lord, I too am confident in my readiness to speak the sense in which bodhisattvas are said to be ‘great beings.’ ”
Śāriputra then explained, “Lord, they reveal the Dharma to beings to eliminate the view of a self and, similarly, the view of a being, a living being, a person, one who lives, an individual, one born of Manu, a child of Manu, one who does, one who makes someone else do, a motivator, one who motivates, one who feels, one who makes someone else feel, one who knows, and one who sees. And by way of not apprehending anything they reveal the Dharma to beings to eliminate the view of annihilation, the view of permanence, the view of existence, and the view of nonexistence; the view of aggregates, the view of constituents, the view of sense fields, the view of isolation, and the view of dependent origination; and the view of the perfections, the view of the dharmas on the side of awakening, the view of the powers and fearlessnesses, the view of the distinct attributes of a buddha, the view of bringing beings to maturity, the view of the purification of a buddhafield, the view of awakening, the view of the Buddha, the view of the Dharma, the view of the Saṅgha, the view of turning the wheel of the Dharma, and the view of complete nirvāṇa. It is in this sense bodhisattvas are said to be great beings.”
Then venerable Subhūti asked venerable Śāriputra, “What causes bodhisattva great beings to have a view about form, and to have a view about feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness, up to to have a view about the distinct attributes of a buddha?”
“Venerable Subhūti,” replied Śāriputra, “bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom without skill in means apprehend form, and by way of apprehending it produce a view about it. Similarly, they apprehend feeling … perception … volitional factors … and consciousness, and by way of apprehending it produce a view about it, up to they apprehend the distinct attributes of a buddha, and by way of apprehending them produce a view about them. That, venerable Subhūti, causes bodhisattva great beings to have a view about form, up to have a view about the distinct attributes of a buddha, whereas bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom with skillful means reveal the Dharma by way of not apprehending anything, to eliminate those views.”
Then venerable Subhūti said to the Lord, “Lord, I too am confident in my readiness to speak the sense in which bodhisattvas are said to be great beings.”
Subhūti then explained, “Lord, because they are unattached even to that unequaled thought of awakening without outflows, a thought equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas, in that sense bodhisattvas are said to be great beings. And why? Because that thought of all-knowing is a thought that is without outflows and does not belong in the three realms—and even to that thought of all-knowing that is without outflows and does not belong they are unattached. That is why they are counted as great beings.”
Then venerable Śāriputra asked venerable Subhūti, “Venerable Subhūti, what is the thought of bodhisattva great beings that is equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas?”
“Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti, “here after the production of the first thought of awakening they do not see either the production or stopping of any dharma at all—they do not see its decrease, increase, coming, going, defilement, or purification. Venerable Śāriputra, that thought in which there is no production, no stopping, no decrease, no increase, no coming, no going, no defilement, and no purification—in which there is no śrāvaka thought, no pratyekabuddha thought, no bodhisattva thought, and no perfectly complete buddha thought—that, Venerable Śāriputra, is the thought of bodhisattva great beings that is equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas.”
Śāriputra then said, “Venerable Subhūti, you said, ‘Even to that thought of all-knowing that is without outflows and does not belong they are unattached.’ Venerable Subhūti, would not form, then, also be unattached? Would not feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness also be unattached?”
“Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti, “form is also unattached. Feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are also unattached. The thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the powers, the fearlessnesses, the detailed and thorough knowledges, up to the distinct attributes of a buddha are also unattached.”
Śāriputra then said, “Venerable Subhūti, you said, ‘That thought of all-knowing is without outflows and does not belong in the three realms.’ Venerable Subhūti, would not the thought of ordinary foolish beings, then, because it is empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong? Would not the śrāvakas’ and pratyekabuddhas’ thought, and the thought of lord buddhas, then, because they are empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong?”
Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, would not form, because it is empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong? Would not feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness, because they are empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong?”
Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, would not the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, up to the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, because they are empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong?”
“Exactly so, Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti. “The thought of ordinary foolish beings, because it is empty of a basic nature, is without outflows and does not belong. All śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha thought, and the thought of lord buddhas, because it is empty of a basic nature, is also without outflows and does not belong. Form, because it is empty of a basic nature, also is without outflows and does not belong, up to consciousness, because it is empty of a basic nature, is also without outflows and does not belong. The thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, up to the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, because they are empty of a basic nature, are also without outflows and do not belong.”
Śāriputra then said, “Venerable Subhūti, you said ‘unattached even to that thought because it is no thought.’ Venerable Subhūti, would not no-form, then, also be unattached to form? Would not no-feeling also be unattached to feeling? Would not no-perception also be unattached to perception? Would not no-volitional factors also be unattached to volitional factors? And would not no-consciousness also be unattached to consciousness?”
Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, would not no-thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, then, also be unattached to the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, up to would not no-distinct attributes of a buddha also be unattached to the distinct attributes of a buddha?”
“Exactly so, Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti. “It is exactly as you say. No-form is unattached to form. No-feeling … no-perception … no-volitional factors … and no-consciousness is also unattached to consciousness. No-constituents … no-sense fields … no-dependent originations … no-dharmas on the side of awakening … no-powers … no-fearlessnesses … no-detailed and thorough knowledges … up to and no-distinct attributes of a buddha are unattached to the distinct attributes of a buddha.
“Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom like that do not apprehend all dharmas, whereby they do not falsely project and do not settle down on reality, even with that thought of awakening equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas. Therefore, bodhisattvas are said to be great beings.
Then venerable Śāriputra said to the Lord, “Lord, I too am confident in my readiness to speak the sense in which bodhisattvas are said to be ‘great beings.’ ”
Śāriputra then explained, “Lord, they reveal the Dharma to beings to eliminate the view of a self and, similarly, the view of a being, a living being, a person, one who lives, an individual, one born of Manu, a child of Manu, one who does, one who makes someone else do, a motivator, one who motivates, one who feels, one who makes someone else feel, one who knows, and one who sees. And by way of not apprehending anything they reveal the Dharma to beings to eliminate the view of annihilation, the view of permanence, the view of existence, and the view of nonexistence; the view of aggregates, the view of constituents, the view of sense fields, the view of isolation, and the view of dependent origination; and the view of the perfections, the view of the dharmas on the side of awakening, the view of the powers and fearlessnesses, the view of the distinct attributes of a buddha, the view of bringing beings to maturity, the view of the purification of a buddhafield, the view of awakening, the view of the Buddha, the view of the Dharma, the view of the Saṅgha, the view of turning the wheel of the Dharma, and the view of complete nirvāṇa. It is in this sense bodhisattvas are said to be great beings.”
Then venerable Subhūti asked venerable Śāriputra, “What causes bodhisattva great beings to have a view about form, and to have a view about feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness, up to to have a view about the distinct attributes of a buddha?”
“Venerable Subhūti,” replied Śāriputra, “bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom without skill in means apprehend form, and by way of apprehending it produce a view about it. Similarly, they apprehend feeling … perception … volitional factors … and consciousness, and by way of apprehending it produce a view about it, up to they apprehend the distinct attributes of a buddha, and by way of apprehending them produce a view about them. That, venerable Subhūti, causes bodhisattva great beings to have a view about form, up to have a view about the distinct attributes of a buddha, whereas bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom with skillful means reveal the Dharma by way of not apprehending anything, to eliminate those views.”
Then venerable Subhūti said to the Lord, “Lord, I too am confident in my readiness to speak the sense in which bodhisattvas are said to be great beings.”
Subhūti then explained, “Lord, because they are unattached even to that unequaled thought of awakening without outflows, a thought equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas, in that sense bodhisattvas are said to be great beings. And why? Because that thought of all-knowing is a thought that is without outflows and does not belong in the three realms—and even to that thought of all-knowing that is without outflows and does not belong they are unattached. That is why they are counted as great beings.”
Then venerable Śāriputra asked venerable Subhūti, “Venerable Subhūti, what is the thought of bodhisattva great beings that is equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas?”
“Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti, “here after the production of the first thought of awakening they do not see either the production or stopping of any dharma at all—they do not see its decrease, increase, coming, going, defilement, or purification. Venerable Śāriputra, that thought in which there is no production, no stopping, no decrease, no increase, no coming, no going, no defilement, and no purification—in which there is no śrāvaka thought, no pratyekabuddha thought, no bodhisattva thought, and no perfectly complete buddha thought—that, Venerable Śāriputra, is the thought of bodhisattva great beings that is equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas.”
Śāriputra then said, “Venerable Subhūti, you said, ‘Even to that thought of all-knowing that is without outflows and does not belong they are unattached.’ Venerable Subhūti, would not form, then, also be unattached? Would not feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness also be unattached?”
“Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti, “form is also unattached. Feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are also unattached. The thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the powers, the fearlessnesses, the detailed and thorough knowledges, up to the distinct attributes of a buddha are also unattached.”
Śāriputra then said, “Venerable Subhūti, you said, ‘That thought of all-knowing is without outflows and does not belong in the three realms.’ Venerable Subhūti, would not the thought of ordinary foolish beings, then, because it is empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong? Would not the śrāvakas’ and pratyekabuddhas’ thought, and the thought of lord buddhas, then, because they are empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong?”
Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, would not form, because it is empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong? Would not feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness, because they are empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong?”
Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, would not the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, up to the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, because they are empty of a basic nature, also be without outflows and not belong?”
“Exactly so, Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti. “The thought of ordinary foolish beings, because it is empty of a basic nature, is without outflows and does not belong. All śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha thought, and the thought of lord buddhas, because it is empty of a basic nature, is also without outflows and does not belong. Form, because it is empty of a basic nature, also is without outflows and does not belong, up to consciousness, because it is empty of a basic nature, is also without outflows and does not belong. The thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, the four detailed and thorough knowledges, up to the eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha, because they are empty of a basic nature, are also without outflows and do not belong.”
Śāriputra then said, “Venerable Subhūti, you said ‘unattached even to that thought because it is no thought.’ Venerable Subhūti, would not no-form, then, also be unattached to form? Would not no-feeling also be unattached to feeling? Would not no-perception also be unattached to perception? Would not no-volitional factors also be unattached to volitional factors? And would not no-consciousness also be unattached to consciousness?”
Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, would not no-thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, then, also be unattached to the thirty-seven dharmas on the side of awakening, up to would not no-distinct attributes of a buddha also be unattached to the distinct attributes of a buddha?”
“Exactly so, Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti. “It is exactly as you say. No-form is unattached to form. No-feeling … no-perception … no-volitional factors … and no-consciousness is also unattached to consciousness. No-constituents … no-sense fields … no-dependent originations … no-dharmas on the side of awakening … no-powers … no-fearlessnesses … no-detailed and thorough knowledges … up to and no-distinct attributes of a buddha are unattached to the distinct attributes of a buddha.
“Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom like that do not apprehend all dharmas, whereby they do not falsely project and do not settle down on reality, even with that thought of awakening equal to the unequaled, a thought not shared in common with any śrāvakas or pratyekabuddhas. Therefore, bodhisattvas are said to be great beings.
Sutraya