“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand the future. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a leader known as Honest Intelligence, who was expert in settling the arguments of sentient beings. As soon as he had heard people’s ideas he would immediately know whether or not they would win in a given dispute. The physical and mental conduct of Honest Intelligence was absolutely beautiful, and so when people came to see him they could not take their eyes off him again.
EN
“To accomplish what is meaningful the leader Honest Intelligence decided to leave, enter solitude, and practice meditation. Once he had achieved mental absorption, he accomplished the divine eye due to this mental equipoise. With this eye he then perceived sentient beings’ deaths and births as well as their pleasant and unfortunate states. Seeing this, he asked himself, ‘What is it that proceeds from this world to the next?’ Yet he could not find anything that transferred from one world to another, and so he thought, ‘In essence these phenomena are like the moon’s reflection in water. It looks as if the moon has gone into the water and the disk of the moon is also visible there. All these phenomena are like that—although there is no thing that transfers, it may appear as if something has transferred to the next world. However, the karmic action that is transferred from one world to another does not dissipate.’
EN
“The leader Honest Intelligence then guided sentient beings to this understanding of phenomena being like the moon’s reflection, and he established them within that. Thus, realizing how phenomena are like the moon reflected in water, they came to abide within the qualities of irreversibility.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the leader Honest Intelligence was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was the leader Honest Intelligence. Thus I guided innumerably many tens of thousands of beings to the irreversible stage. Those bodhisattvas then all purified buddha realms, benefiting boundlessly many beings and establishing them at the irreversible stage. They then passed beyond suffering within the field of nirvāṇa free from any remainder of the aggregates.
EN
“Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattvas should consider all phenomena to be, in essence, like the moon reflected in water. A bodhisattva who regards all phenomena to be in essence like the moon reflected in water will quickly reach the level of irreversibility.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand the origin as related to knowledge of the future. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the origin as related to knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a king and sage known as Excellent God. He possessed tremendous miraculous powers and splendor and had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path.
EN
“This king and sage, Excellent God, went into solitude. Practicing meditation in his retreat, he wondered, ‘I see sentient beings who die and are born, taking unfortunate or happy paths, going to the higher or the lower realms. What might be the causes and conditions for that? Why does it appear that they take rebirth again after their body in a given life has died? Some are born in hells, some among the animals, and some in the realms of the Lord of Death, and some are born in the realms of demigods. Some are born as brahmins, some as royalty, some as merchants, and some as commoners. Some are born as gods in the realms of the four great kings, some as powerful gods, and some live as king of the gods. Some take birth in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, some in the Heaven Free from Strife, some in the Heaven of Joy, some in the Heaven of Delighting in Emanations, and some in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations. Some leave the human realm to be born as Brahmā. Some are born in the Realm of Brahmā, the Heaven of the High Priests of Brahmā, or the Heaven of the Retinue of Brahmā, and some are born in the Heaven of Great Brahmā. Others are born in the Heaven of Light, the Heaven of Limited Light, the Heaven of Limitless Light, the Luminous Heaven, and so forth, up to the Heaven of Perfected Virtue. Some are born in the Greater Heaven, the Heaven of Lesser Greatness, the Heaven of Limitless Greatness, and the Heaven of Great Fruition. Some are born among the beings who do not have any notions. Some are born in the Unlofty Heaven, the Heaven of No Hardship, and so forth, up to the gods of the Highest Heaven. Still others are born as gods in the fields of infinite space, infinite consciousness, and neither notion nor no notion.’
EN
“Having inquired in this way Excellent God then thought, ‘The causes and conditions are nothing other than specific afflictions, specific actions, and specific forms of birth. When the causal afflictions are present there will be causal actions, and those will bring birth. However, if one is not afflicted there will not be any formations, and without formations there will not be birth. What could be more serene, what could be more sublime, than this!’
EN
“With this understanding Excellent God entered equipoise within the cessation of sensations related to notions. Going beyond all the fields of neither notion nor no notion, he entered equipoise within the cessation of sensations related to notions. As he emerged from his absorption, Excellent God was deeply relieved and he thought, ‘It is indeed possible to break free from this suffering!’
EN
“Thereafter, seated in the midst of many beings, Excellent God taught the way to enter equipoise within the cessation of sensations related to notions. ‘Friends,’ he explained, ‘once you comprehend this form of absorption your attainment of the bodhisattva’s qualities will become irreversible, and you will realize what you have not yet realized.’ At that point the fourfold retinue became irreversible from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the king and sage Excellent God was anyone else, do not, because I was him. Thus, as I introduced my fourfold retinue to the equipoise of the cessation of sensations as related to notions, they reached the irreversible stage.
EN
“Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, when practicing bodhisattva activities, bodhisattvas must consider how to go beyond formation. A bodhisattva who considers how to go beyond formation will, just by bringing forth the mind of awakening a single time, be able to purify karmic obscurations, even if they are as gigantic as Mount Sumeru. All such obscurations will be destroyed, dispersed, and annihilated.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand cessation as related to knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a great brahmin and sage known as Divine Master. He possessed tremendous miraculous powers and splendor and had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path.
EN
“Resting in the first concentration he achieved the five superknowledges, and so he thought to himself, ‘By dwelling in the first concentration one becomes capable of achieving deliverance beyond all karmic formation. This first concentration should be experienced, but it also has shortcomings, and there is deliverance beyond it. By recognizing experience, shortcomings, and deliverance in this context, one may attain deliverance beyond all karmic formation. The perfect deliverance that is based exclusively on the teaching of the blessed buddhas always concerns experience, shortcomings, and deliverance. Thus, there is experience, shortcomings, and deliverance related to the sense source of the eye up to the sense source of the mind, just as there is experience, shortcomings, and deliverance up to and including the sense sources of smell, taste, tactility, and mental phenomena. Therefore, bodhisattvas must be aware that there is experience, shortcomings, and deliverance with regard to any phenomenon.’
EN
“By correctly keeping this in mind the sage gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn. When he arose from his absorption he went on to visit villages, towns, cities, and royal palaces, thus teaching the beings there the Dharma of acceptance that phenomena are unborn. In this way he established innumerably many tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the brahmin and sage Divine Master was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was that brahmin and sage Divine Master, and in this way I established innumerably many tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattvas must endeavor to attain acceptance that phenomena are unborn, and they must also teach the Dharma to others so that they gain that acceptance.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, I have created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand the path that leads to cessation as related to knowledge of the future. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the path that leads to cessation as related to knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a sage known as Delightful Outcaste. He was endowed with tremendous miraculous powers and splendor, and he had attained the five superknowledges. The sage went into solitude, and while thus practicing meditation he thought, ‘These phenomena do not lend themselves to concepts of class and family. In reality there is nothing to conceive of as phenomena or non-phenomena. Phenomena should also not be considered in terms of good or bad qualities. So-called phenomena are just whatever focal points one may hold. What are good qualities? What are bad qualities? Regret on the verge of death is not a good quality. A mind at ease at the time of death is a good quality. Thus, acts that should be performed are those that a wise being would engage in. The one who practices with ease of mind will know no fears or dreads.’
EN
“The sage then arose from his absorption. Journeying throughout the ten directions, he would declare to sentient beings, “The wise are not frightened or intimidated by phenomena that do not arise. Yet childish, ordinary beings who have not received teaching ought to be afraid. Why is that? No essence of any phenomenon at all can be observed. That which has an essence and that which has no essence are both beyond arising and ceasing. The one who can commit to this and assert it unequivocally is said to have gained “acceptance that phenomena are unborn.” You people, do not be frightened or afraid. Do not engage with and do not pursue the domain of the māras. Whenever something uunreal is claimed to be real, then that is the domain of the māras. Through this teaching of mine innumerable tens of thousands of beings have attained acceptance that phenomena are unborn and become irreversible from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.’
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the sage Delightful Outcaste was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was that sage Delightful Outcaste and so I established innumerable tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattva great beings must teach the Dharma for the sake of the acceptance that phenomena are unborn and they must induce that understanding in numerous gatherings of beings.”
“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand the future. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a leader known as Honest Intelligence, who was expert in settling the arguments of sentient beings. As soon as he had heard people’s ideas he would immediately know whether or not they would win in a given dispute. The physical and mental conduct of Honest Intelligence was absolutely beautiful, and so when people came to see him they could not take their eyes off him again.
EN
“To accomplish what is meaningful the leader Honest Intelligence decided to leave, enter solitude, and practice meditation. Once he had achieved mental absorption, he accomplished the divine eye due to this mental equipoise. With this eye he then perceived sentient beings’ deaths and births as well as their pleasant and unfortunate states. Seeing this, he asked himself, ‘What is it that proceeds from this world to the next?’ Yet he could not find anything that transferred from one world to another, and so he thought, ‘In essence these phenomena are like the moon’s reflection in water. It looks as if the moon has gone into the water and the disk of the moon is also visible there. All these phenomena are like that—although there is no thing that transfers, it may appear as if something has transferred to the next world. However, the karmic action that is transferred from one world to another does not dissipate.’
EN
“The leader Honest Intelligence then guided sentient beings to this understanding of phenomena being like the moon’s reflection, and he established them within that. Thus, realizing how phenomena are like the moon reflected in water, they came to abide within the qualities of irreversibility.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the leader Honest Intelligence was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was the leader Honest Intelligence. Thus I guided innumerably many tens of thousands of beings to the irreversible stage. Those bodhisattvas then all purified buddha realms, benefiting boundlessly many beings and establishing them at the irreversible stage. They then passed beyond suffering within the field of nirvāṇa free from any remainder of the aggregates.
EN
“Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattvas should consider all phenomena to be, in essence, like the moon reflected in water. A bodhisattva who regards all phenomena to be in essence like the moon reflected in water will quickly reach the level of irreversibility.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand the origin as related to knowledge of the future. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the origin as related to knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a king and sage known as Excellent God. He possessed tremendous miraculous powers and splendor and had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path.
EN
“This king and sage, Excellent God, went into solitude. Practicing meditation in his retreat, he wondered, ‘I see sentient beings who die and are born, taking unfortunate or happy paths, going to the higher or the lower realms. What might be the causes and conditions for that? Why does it appear that they take rebirth again after their body in a given life has died? Some are born in hells, some among the animals, and some in the realms of the Lord of Death, and some are born in the realms of demigods. Some are born as brahmins, some as royalty, some as merchants, and some as commoners. Some are born as gods in the realms of the four great kings, some as powerful gods, and some live as king of the gods. Some take birth in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, some in the Heaven Free from Strife, some in the Heaven of Joy, some in the Heaven of Delighting in Emanations, and some in the Heaven of Making Use of Others’ Emanations. Some leave the human realm to be born as Brahmā. Some are born in the Realm of Brahmā, the Heaven of the High Priests of Brahmā, or the Heaven of the Retinue of Brahmā, and some are born in the Heaven of Great Brahmā. Others are born in the Heaven of Light, the Heaven of Limited Light, the Heaven of Limitless Light, the Luminous Heaven, and so forth, up to the Heaven of Perfected Virtue. Some are born in the Greater Heaven, the Heaven of Lesser Greatness, the Heaven of Limitless Greatness, and the Heaven of Great Fruition. Some are born among the beings who do not have any notions. Some are born in the Unlofty Heaven, the Heaven of No Hardship, and so forth, up to the gods of the Highest Heaven. Still others are born as gods in the fields of infinite space, infinite consciousness, and neither notion nor no notion.’
EN
“Having inquired in this way Excellent God then thought, ‘The causes and conditions are nothing other than specific afflictions, specific actions, and specific forms of birth. When the causal afflictions are present there will be causal actions, and those will bring birth. However, if one is not afflicted there will not be any formations, and without formations there will not be birth. What could be more serene, what could be more sublime, than this!’
EN
“With this understanding Excellent God entered equipoise within the cessation of sensations related to notions. Going beyond all the fields of neither notion nor no notion, he entered equipoise within the cessation of sensations related to notions. As he emerged from his absorption, Excellent God was deeply relieved and he thought, ‘It is indeed possible to break free from this suffering!’
EN
“Thereafter, seated in the midst of many beings, Excellent God taught the way to enter equipoise within the cessation of sensations related to notions. ‘Friends,’ he explained, ‘once you comprehend this form of absorption your attainment of the bodhisattva’s qualities will become irreversible, and you will realize what you have not yet realized.’ At that point the fourfold retinue became irreversible from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the king and sage Excellent God was anyone else, do not, because I was him. Thus, as I introduced my fourfold retinue to the equipoise of the cessation of sensations as related to notions, they reached the irreversible stage.
EN
“Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, when practicing bodhisattva activities, bodhisattvas must consider how to go beyond formation. A bodhisattva who considers how to go beyond formation will, just by bringing forth the mind of awakening a single time, be able to purify karmic obscurations, even if they are as gigantic as Mount Sumeru. All such obscurations will be destroyed, dispersed, and annihilated.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, when I was training in the practices of a bodhisattva in the past, I created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand cessation as related to knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a great brahmin and sage known as Divine Master. He possessed tremendous miraculous powers and splendor and had attained freedom from attachment to pleasures by means of the outer path.
EN
“Resting in the first concentration he achieved the five superknowledges, and so he thought to himself, ‘By dwelling in the first concentration one becomes capable of achieving deliverance beyond all karmic formation. This first concentration should be experienced, but it also has shortcomings, and there is deliverance beyond it. By recognizing experience, shortcomings, and deliverance in this context, one may attain deliverance beyond all karmic formation. The perfect deliverance that is based exclusively on the teaching of the blessed buddhas always concerns experience, shortcomings, and deliverance. Thus, there is experience, shortcomings, and deliverance related to the sense source of the eye up to the sense source of the mind, just as there is experience, shortcomings, and deliverance up to and including the sense sources of smell, taste, tactility, and mental phenomena. Therefore, bodhisattvas must be aware that there is experience, shortcomings, and deliverance with regard to any phenomenon.’
EN
“By correctly keeping this in mind the sage gained acceptance that phenomena are unborn. When he arose from his absorption he went on to visit villages, towns, cities, and royal palaces, thus teaching the beings there the Dharma of acceptance that phenomena are unborn. In this way he established innumerably many tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the brahmin and sage Divine Master was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was that brahmin and sage Divine Master, and in this way I established innumerably many tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattvas must endeavor to attain acceptance that phenomena are unborn, and they must also teach the Dharma to others so that they gain that acceptance.
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, I have created boundless roots of virtue in order to understand the path that leads to cessation as related to knowledge of the future. I did this by wondering how I could fully awaken to unsurpassed and perfect buddhahood and then teach sentient beings about the knowledge of the path that leads to cessation as related to knowledge of the future.
EN
“Long ago in the limitless cycle of existence, Maudgalyāyana, long before even the distant past there was a sage known as Delightful Outcaste. He was endowed with tremendous miraculous powers and splendor, and he had attained the five superknowledges. The sage went into solitude, and while thus practicing meditation he thought, ‘These phenomena do not lend themselves to concepts of class and family. In reality there is nothing to conceive of as phenomena or non-phenomena. Phenomena should also not be considered in terms of good or bad qualities. So-called phenomena are just whatever focal points one may hold. What are good qualities? What are bad qualities? Regret on the verge of death is not a good quality. A mind at ease at the time of death is a good quality. Thus, acts that should be performed are those that a wise being would engage in. The one who practices with ease of mind will know no fears or dreads.’
EN
“The sage then arose from his absorption. Journeying throughout the ten directions, he would declare to sentient beings, “The wise are not frightened or intimidated by phenomena that do not arise. Yet childish, ordinary beings who have not received teaching ought to be afraid. Why is that? No essence of any phenomenon at all can be observed. That which has an essence and that which has no essence are both beyond arising and ceasing. The one who can commit to this and assert it unequivocally is said to have gained “acceptance that phenomena are unborn.” You people, do not be frightened or afraid. Do not engage with and do not pursue the domain of the māras. Whenever something uunreal is claimed to be real, then that is the domain of the māras. Through this teaching of mine innumerable tens of thousands of beings have attained acceptance that phenomena are unborn and become irreversible from unsurpassed and perfect awakening.’
EN
“Maudgalyāyana, in case you may think that at that time the sage Delightful Outcaste was anyone else, do not think so. In those days I was that sage Delightful Outcaste and so I established innumerable tens of thousands of beings in the acceptance that phenomena are unborn. Therefore, Maudgalyāyana, bodhisattva great beings must teach the Dharma for the sake of the acceptance that phenomena are unborn and they must induce that understanding in numerous gatherings of beings.”
Sutraya