Venerable Subhūti then said to the Lord, “Lord, bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend form should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend eyes should train in the perfection of wisdom. Similarly, bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend ears, nose, tongue, body, and thinking mind should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend a form should train in the perfection of wisdom. Similarly, bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend a sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling, and a dharma should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend eye consciousness should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend up to thinking-mind consciousness should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend eye contact up to who want to comprehend thinking-mind contact should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend the feeling that arises from the condition of eye contact, up to who want to comprehend the feeling that arises from the condition of thinking-mind contact should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend ignorance should train in the perfection of wisdom. Similarly, bodhisattva great beings who want to comprehend volitional factors, consciousness, name and form, the six sense fields, contact, feeling, craving, appropriation, existence, birth, and old age and death should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Bodhisattva great beings who want to eliminate greed, hatred, and confusion should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to eliminate the view of the perishable collection, doubt, and grasping rules and rituals as absolute, as well as attachment to sense objects and malice; who want to eliminate attachment to sense objects, attachment to forms, and attachment to formless states; and who want to eliminate fetters, proclivities, and obsessions should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Furthermore, bodhisattva great beings who want to eliminate the four bonds, four floods, four knots, four appropriations, and four errors should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Bodhisattva great beings who want to eliminate the ten unwholesome actions should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Bodhisattva great beings who want to complete the ten wholesome actions should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Bodhisattva great beings who want to complete the perfection of giving should train in the perfection of wisdom. Similarly, bodhisattva great beings who want to complete the perfection of morality, the perfection of patience, the perfection of perseverance, the perfection of concentration, and the perfection of wisdom should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Bodhisattva great beings who want to complete the four concentrations, four immeasurables, four formless absorptions, four applications of mindfulness, four right efforts, four legs of miraculous power, five faculties, five powers, seven limbs of awakening, and the eightfold noble path, as well as the four detailed and thorough knowledges, four fearlessnesses, six clairvoyances, ten tathāgata powers, and eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Bodhisattva great beings who want to become absorbed in the bodhyaṅgavatin meditative stabilization should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to become absorbed in the siṃhavikrīḍita meditative stabilization, who want to become absorbed in the siṃha­vijṛmbhita meditative stabilization, who want to obtain all the dhāraṇī gateways and meditative stabilization gateways, who want to become absorbed in the śūraṅgama meditative stabilization, and who want to become absorbed in the ratnamudra meditative stabilization, candraprabha meditative stabilization, candra­dhvaja­ketu meditative stabilization, sarva­dharma­mudrāgata meditative stabilization, avalokita meditative stabilization, dharma­dhātu­niyata meditative stabilization, niyata­dhvaja­ketu meditative stabilization, vajropama meditative stabilization, sarva­dharma­praveśa­mukha meditative stabilization, samādhirāja meditative stabilization, rājamudra meditative stabilization, balavyūha meditative stabilization, samudgata meditative stabilization, sarva­dharma­nirukti­niyata­praveśa meditative stabilization, sarva­dharma­jñānādhivāsana­praveśa meditative stabilization, daśa­digvyavalokita meditative stabilization, sarva­dharma­dhāraṇī­mukha­mudra meditative stabilization, sarva­dharmāsaṃpramoṣa meditative stabilization, sarva­dharma­samavasaraṇākāra­mudra meditative stabilization, tri­maṇḍala­pariśuddha meditative stabilization, ākāśāvasthita meditative stabilization, acyutābhijñā meditative stabilization, pātragata meditative stabilization, dhvajāgra­keyūra meditative stabilization, sarva­kleśa­nirdahana meditative stabilization, caturmāra­bala­vikaraṇa meditative stabilization, jñānolka meditative stabilization, daśabalodgata meditative stabilization, and ākāśāsaṃga­vimukti­nirupalepa meditative stabilization should train in the perfection of wisdom. Bodhisattva great beings who want to obtain all those meditative stabilization gateways and others as well should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Furthermore, Lord, bodhisattva great beings who want to fulfill all the intentions of beings should train in the perfection of wisdom.

“Furthermore, Lord, bodhisattva great beings who want to complete all the wholesome roots which, when those wholesome roots are completed, cause them not to fall into terrible forms of life, not to be born in families that are wanting, not to fall to the śrāvaka level or the pratyekabuddha level, and not to fall into a bodhisattva’s hardheadedness should train in the perfection of wisdom.”

Then venerable Śāriputra asked venerable Subhūti, “How, Venerable Subhūti, do they fall into a bodhisattva’s hardheadedness?”

Venerable Subhūti replied, “Venerable Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practice the six perfections without skillful means. Having resorted to the meditative stabilization on emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness without skillful means, they do not fall to the śrāvaka level or the pratyekabuddha level, but still they do not enter into the secure state of a bodhisattva. This is called ‘a bodhisattva’s hardheadedness.’ ”

“Why, Venerable Subhūti, is this a bodhisattva’s hardheadedness?” asked Śāriputra.

Subhūti replied, “Venerable Śāriputra, a bodhisattva great being’s ‘hardheadedness’ is just this: a love for dharmas.”

“What, Venerable Subhūti, is a love for dharmas?” asked Śāriputra.

Subhūti replied, “Venerable Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion that form is ‘empty.’ Similarly, they settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion that feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are ‘empty.’ That, Venerable Śāriputra, is the love for dharmas called hardheadedness that can come along with being a bodhisattva great being.

“Furthermore, Venerable Śāriputra, bodhisattvas bodhisattvas settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion that form is ‘impermanent,’ and they also settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion that to the notion that notion that form is ‘impermanent,’ and they also form a persistent attachment to the notion that--> form is ‘suffering, selfless, unpleasant, and calm, empty, signless, and wishless.’ Venerable Śāriputra, that love for dharmas that can come along with being a bodhisattva is hardheadedness.

“Similarly, they settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion that feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are ‘impermanent,’ and they also settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion that feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are ‘suffering, selfless, unpleasant, and calm, empty, signless, and wishless.’ Venerable Śāriputra, that love for dharmas that can come along with being a bodhisattva is hardheadedness.

“Bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom might settle down on, stand upon, and form the notion about these dharmas: ‘Thus form should be abandoned; with this, form should be abandoned. Thus feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness should be abandoned; with this, they should be abandoned. Thus should suffering be comprehended; with this should suffering be comprehended. Thus should origination be abandoned; with this should origination be abandoned. Thus should cessation be actualized; with this should cessation be actualized. Thus should the path be cultivated; with this should the path be cultivated. This is defilement, this is purification; these dharmas are to be resorted to, these dharmas are not to be resorted to; this should be practiced by a bodhisattva, this should not be practiced; this is a bodhisattva’s path, this is not the path; this is a bodhisattva’s training, this is not the training; this is a bodhisattva’s perfection of giving, and this is the perfection of morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom; this is not a bodhisattva’s perfection of giving, morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, or wisdom; this is a bodhisattva’s skillful means, this is not skillful means; and this is the secure state of a bodhisattva, this is hardheadedness.’ If so, then that love for dharmas that can come along with being a bodhisattva is hardheadedness.”

“What, Venerable Subhūti, is a bodhisattva great being’s flawlessness?” asked venerable Śāriputra.

Venerable Subhūti replied, “Venerable Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom do not see in inner emptiness outer emptiness, and do not see in outer emptiness inner emptiness; do not see in inner and outer emptiness the emptiness of emptiness, and do not see in the emptiness of emptiness inner and outer emptiness; do not see in the emptiness of emptiness the great emptiness, and do not see in the great emptiness the emptiness of emptiness; do not see in the great emptiness the emptiness of ultimate reality, and do not see in the emptiness of ultimate reality the great emptiness; do not see in the emptiness of ultimate reality the emptiness of the compounded, and do not see in the emptiness of the compounded the emptiness of ultimate reality; do not see in the emptiness of the compounded the emptiness of the uncompounded, and do not see in the emptiness of the uncompounded the emptiness of the compounded; do not see in the emptiness of the uncompounded the emptiness of what transcends limits, and do not see in the emptiness of what transcends limits the emptiness of the uncompounded; do not see in the emptiness of what transcends limits the emptiness of no beginning and no end, and do not see in the emptiness of no beginning and no end the emptiness of what transcends limits; do not see in the emptiness of no beginning and no end the emptiness of nonrepudiation, and do not see in the emptiness of nonrepudiation the emptiness of no beginning and no end; do not see in the emptiness of nonrepudiation the emptiness of a basic nature, and do not see in the emptiness of a basic nature the emptiness of nonrepudiation; do not see in the emptiness of a basic nature the emptiness of its own mark, and do not see in the emptiness of its own mark the emptiness of a basic nature; do not see in the emptiness of its own mark the emptiness of all dharmas, and do not see in the emptiness of all dharmas the emptiness of its own mark; do not see in the emptiness of all dharmas the emptiness of a nonexistent thing, and do not see in the emptiness of a nonexistent thing the emptiness of all dharmas; do not see in the emptiness of a nonexistent thing the emptiness of an intrinsic nature, and do not see in the emptiness of an intrinsic nature the emptiness of a nonexistent thing; do not see in the emptiness of an intrinsic nature the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature, and do not see in the emptiness that is the nonexistence of an intrinsic nature the emptiness of an intrinsic nature. Venerable Śāriputra, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom like that they enter into the secure state of a bodhisattva.

“Furthermore, Venerable Śāriputra, here bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom train so that they know form but do not falsely project anything because of it; they know feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness but do not falsely project anything because of them; they know the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and thinking mind but do not falsely project anything because of them; they know a form, a sound, a smell, a taste, a feeling, and a dharma but do not falsely project anything because of them; they know the perfection of giving but do not falsely project anything because of it; they know the perfection of morality, patience, perseverance, concentration, and wisdom but do not falsely project anything because of them; they know the concentrations, immeasurables, and formless absorptions but do not falsely project anything because of them; and similarly they know the five clairvoyances, five eyes, applications of mindfulness, right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, path, four fearlessnesses, four detailed and thorough knowledges, and eighteen distinct attributes of a buddha but do not falsely project anything because of them.

“Venerable Śāriputra, bodhisattva great beings practicing the perfection of wisdom train so that they do not falsely project anything even because of the thought of awakening; they do not falsely project anything even because of the thought equal to the unequaled, the prodigious thought. And why? Because that thought is no thought because the basic nature of thought is clear light.”

“Venerable Subhūti, what is the clear light that is the basic nature of thought?” asked Śāriputra.

Subhūti replied, “Venerable Śāriputra, a thought that is neither conjoined with greed nor disjoined from greed, neither conjoined with hatred and confusion nor disjoined from hatred and confusion, and neither conjoined with obsessions, obscurations, proclivities, fetters, distortions, and śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha thoughts nor disjoined from them—that, venerable Śāriputra, is the clear light that is the basic nature of a bodhisattva great being’s thought.”

“Venerable Subhūti, the thought of which you say ‘it is no thought,’ does it exist?” asked Śāriputra.

“Venerable Śāriputra,” Subhūti asked in return, “can you apprehend existence or nonexistence there, in that state of no thought?

“No, Venerable Subhūti,” replied Śāriputra.

Subhūti then asked, “Venerable Śāriputra, if you cannot apprehend existence or nonexistence there, in that state of no thought, is then, Venerable Śāriputra, this argumentative investigation of yours—‘The thought of which you say “it is no thought,” does it exist?’—appropriate?”

“Venerable Subhūti,” Śāriputra asked in return, “what is the state of no thought?”

“Venerable Śāriputra,” replied Subhūti, “the state of no thought is a state without distortion and without conceptualization; it is the state in which all dharmas are just so. It is called the state of no thought’s ‘unthinkability.’ ”

Śāriputra then asked, “Venerable Subhūti, just as thought is without distortion and without conceptualization, so too is form without distortion and without conceptualization, and similarly feeling, perception, volitional factors, and consciousness are without distortion and without conceptualization as well; and just as thought is without distortion and without conceptualization so too are the eye constituent, form constituent, and eye consciousness constituent without distortion and without conceptualization, and similarly the ear constituent … the nose constituent … the tongue constituent … the body constituent … and the thinking-mind constituent, dharma-constituent, and thinking-mind consciousness constituent without distortion and without conceptualization as well—similarly, are the sense fields, dependent originations, perfections, clairvoyances, applications of mindfulness, right efforts, legs of miraculous power, faculties, powers, limbs of awakening, path, fearlessnesses, detailed and thorough knowledges, powers, distinct attributes of a buddha, and unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening without distortion and without conceptualization as well?”

“Exactly so, Venerable Śāriputra!” replied Subhūti. “Just as thought is without distortion and without conceptualization, so too are the aggregates, constituents, sense fields, dependent origination, perfections, clairvoyances, dharmas on the side of awakening, powers, fearlessnesses, distinct attributes of a buddha, and unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening without distortion and without conceptualization as well.”

“Excellent, excellent, Venerable Subhūti!” said Śāriputra. “Because you are the Lord’s son, close to his bosom, born from his mouth, born from his Dharma, magically produced from his Dharma, his Dharma heir and not heir to material possessions, a direct eyewitness to the dharmas who witnesses with your body—that is, because the Lord has proclaimed you the foremost of śrāvakas who are at the conflict-free stage, this is an exhibition of that fact.

“Venerable Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings should train in the perfection of wisdom like that, and because of that bodhisattva great beings must be considered irreversible, and should be known as not lacking in the perfection of wisdom. Venerable Subhūti, bodhisattva great beings who want to train in the śrāvaka level should concentrate and listen to, take up, bear in mind, read aloud, study, and properly pay attention to this perfection of wisdom; and bodhisattva great beings who want to train in the pratyekabuddha level, the bodhisattva level, and the buddha level should also concentrate and listen to, take up, bear in mind, read aloud, master, and properly pay attention to this perfection of wisdom. And why? Because in this perfection of wisdom is detailed instruction for the three vehicles in which bodhisattva great beings should train on the level of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, bodhisattvas, and buddhas.”