“Śāriputra, what is the noble saṅgha? It refers to those who have the acceptance that engages in the absence of cessation, the absence of origination, the absence of distinguishing marks, the absence of characteristics, and the absence of elaboration—those who have a particular conviction in it, correctly teach it, and provide the proper conditions for understanding it. Those with that particular conviction in the absence of characteristics do not even apprehend a self, let alone apprehending stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, and worthy ones; apprehending something as a phenomenon; apprehending men, women, and paṇḍakas; apprehending something as an imputation; or apprehending something as a basis. The saṅgha does not apprehend any such things.

“Nevertheless, Śāriputra, few have conviction in the absence of characteristics, the absence of cessation, and the absence of origination. Śāriputra, those who have conviction in the absence of characteristics, the absence of cessation, and the absence of origination can understand everything else, too, because their understanding is unmistaken. Their proper understanding of whatever else there is allows them to explain things thoroughly and to be absorbed in what is true. When they teach on whatever other matters there are, they do not apprehend even the slightest entity whatsoever, and are not included among all the worldly beings who are bound by the apprehending of a truth and cling to it. Being those who remain embodied in the true, they are called the noble saṅgha. Although they can perceive things from the perspective of conventions, they give instructions on the absence of characteristics, and provide thorough instructions on the absence of elaboration using names and distinguishing marks. Śāriputra, they are the Jewel of the Saṅgha that is worthy of receiving offerings, and it is because they are unmistaken in these respects that they are known as the saṅgha.

“Śāriputra, similarly, a monk who instructs and teaches others while knowing that the very topics he focuses on are empty of inherent characteristics is called a virtuous friend; those who have eliminated conventions, Śāriputra, are referred to as the noble saṅgha. Why is that? Because, Śāriputra, they do not even apprehend those conventions that have been correctly designated regarding the noble Dharma-Vinaya. Therefore, Śāriputra, those who have eliminated conventions are known as the noble saṅgha.

“In that respect, Śāriputra, how is it that the expression the conventional designation ‘saṅgha’ is applied to them? In saying that they are those about whom not even any correctly designated conventions are apprehended, Śāriputra, I have also said that those who are called the saṅgha are those who—in not apprehending their understanding of how things really are and their professing not to have the distinguishing marks of attachment to be actual entities of any kind—all have the same intelligence, the same acceptance, and the same taste. But even that designation of unity is expressed merely in terms of worldly conventions; ultimately there is no saṅgha whatsoever.

“There is nothing with the four properties of being permanent, stable, eternal, and unchanging to be apprehended. Indeed, the noble ones even deny that the term phenomena is a correctly designated convention. But those who cast that view far away and apprehend phenomena as being all sorts of underlying things, making such statements as ‘this is a man,’ ‘this is a woman,’ ‘this is a paṇḍaka,’ ‘this is a god,’ ‘this is a nāga,’ ‘this is a yakṣa,’ ‘this is a gandharva,’ ‘this is a kumbhāṇḍa,’ ‘this is a phenomenon,’ or ‘this is not a phenomenon,’ and along with such statements say, ‘Come, monk, sit here; sleep there; this is such and such a person,’ are applying untrue words and using conventional designations in terms of names and distinguishing marks. Why is that so? Because, Śāriputra, there are no phenomena with names and distinguishing marks, none with characteristics, and none on which attention can be engaged. Śāriputra, what do you think: could any phenomenon on which attention cannot be engaged be directly described using a conventional designation?”

“No, Blessed One, it could not.”

“Śāriputra, those who say ‘this is a man,’ ‘this is a woman,’ ‘this is a paṇḍaka,’ ‘this is a god,’ ‘this is a nāga,’ ‘this is a yakṣa,’ ‘this is a gandharva,’ ‘this is a kumbhāṇḍa,’ ‘this is a phenomenon,’ or ‘this is not a phenomenon’ are certainly saying something untrue and subscribing to a conclusion that is incorrect, and for that reason they cannot be called the saṅgha. Śāriputra, those referred to as the noble saṅgha are so called for the very reason that they subsist in what is unmistaken. Furthermore, Śāriputra, one should understand that to be momentarily nonvirtuous is to have been apprehended as so being, since it is names and distinguishing marks that are the root of all nonvirtues.

“Śāriputra, in the noble Dharma-Vinaya, all names and distinguishing marks are interrupted, so those who do not give rise to conceits in terms of names—such as ‘this is what the saṅgha is; that is the noble saṅgha; this is the relative saṅgha; that is the saṅgha of those come to fruition; this is a quickly assembled saṅgha; that is a resident saṅgha; this is a saṅgha of monks; that is a saṅgha of nuns; this is a conforming saṅgha; that is a nonconforming saṅgha’—those who have let go of all such conceits, and who have interrupted them, are known as the noble saṅgha. They are those who are without names and distinguishing marks, are without conventional designation, are without engagement, who have interrupted conventional designation, and—because it has been described as the best of all these—who do not apprehend any such entities.

“Śāriputra, if one apprehends the conventions of names and distinguishing marks after thorough analysis, one is attached to various types of heretical views. This is because someone who strictly adheres to the five aggregates and the idea that the aggregates are the cause from which existence originates maintains a wrong view. There is no one among the noble hearers who grasps at false ideas and then grasps at a false perception of the aggregates, grasps at the lower realms, grasps at apprehending, grasps at the wrong path, and grasps at error. The noble saṅgha does not include all those who do not understand that the three realms are apprehended in error.

“Śāriputra, those who cling to various false terms cannot be regarded as part of the noble saṅgha. Ultimately, Śāriputra, the noble hearers do not apprehend clinging to various false terms such as clinging to a self, a being, a life force, a person, humans, nonhumans, women, men, gods, the hell realms, the animal realm, the world of the Lord of Death, the aggregates, the elements, the sense fields, origination, or destruction; to the sounds of conch shells, great drums, gongs, clay drums, lutes, songs, or any manner of musical sounds; to the terms earth, water, fire, or wind; to the terms discipline or violated discipline; to the terms path or mistaken path; to the terms arrogance, affliction, or purification; to the terms concentration, absorption, or attainment; to the terms eighth stage, stream enterers, once-returners, non-returners, or worthy ones; to the terms knowledge, liberated, or attainment of the fruition; to the terms Buddha, Dharma, or Saṅgha; or to the terms nirvāṇa or parinirvāṇa. Though it is the case that there are various terms, and many types of clinging to various terms, they all are characteristic of a single wisdom, and it is without characteristics.

“Those who do not agree with the absence of distinguishing marks entertain false ideas, but those who possess an unmistaken acceptance are known as the noble saṅgha. They possess unmistaken acceptance, because they lack characteristics, distinguishing marks, attachment, yearning, grasping, birth, and cessation. For those who naturally engage as such, there is no meditation, cultivation, weariness, thinking, conceptualization, nonconceptualization, or contradiction. They are called the noble saṅgha because they realize the characteristic that lacks this side, that side, concepts, and thoughts. They are known as the noble saṅgha, Śāriputra, because they have eliminated all formations.

“Śāriputra, I have said that to see phenomena is to see me. Śāriputra, I could never be a phenomenon. Śāriputra, the ignorant Devadatta and all the other non-Buddhists see me as the body of form, but those who see the Thus-Gone One as a physical form do not see him. The same should be applied to his not being sound. Śāriputra, the words of those who propose that ‘one has seen the Thus-Gone One having seen him as the body of form’ have no more real essence than just words, because they are not the correct understanding. Why is that? Because, Śāriputra, those who see the Thus-Gone One as a physical form do not see him.

“Śāriputra, those who do not entertain thoughts about phenomena that lack characteristics, distinguishing marks, the three types of mental engagement, effort, cessation, origination, and elaboration do not entertain thoughts about nirvāṇa. They do not think in terms of nirvāṇa. They do not delight in nirvāṇa, think of it, or conceptualize it. Conviction in the single characteristic of all phenomena leads to freedom from characteristics.

“Śāriputra, this is the case for both the Thus-Gone One and seeing the Thus-Gone One. What is meant by seeing the Thus-Gone One? It is the absence of effort, elaboration, origination, concepts, clinging, craving, and names; it is without distinguishing marks, the absence of distinguishing marks, and action related to distinguishing marks; it lacks grasping at conventions, and it lacks action related to imputation. Therefore, not thinking about the absence of entities or the elimination of conventions is the best way to see the Thus-Gone One.

“Śāriputra, what is it that the Thus-Gone One says one sees when one looks and sees the Thus-Gone One? It is the absence of distinguishing marks, absence of wishes, absence of elaboration, absence of clinging, and the constant nonapprehending of any conventions, as well as not entertaining conceits about nirvāṇa. Why is that? Because, Śāriputra, I do not entertain conceits about nirvāṇa, I do not entertain conceits about attaining nirvāṇa, nor do I take delight in nirvāṇa, so why would I say that you should entertain conceits about nirvāṇa, that you should entertain conceits about attaining nirvāṇa, or that you should take delight in nirvāṇa? Śāriputra, if someone apprehends nirvāṇa, I say one should not go forth as their follower. You should know, Śāriputra, that in this Dharma-Vinaya, the teachers under whom one should go forth as a follower should be those who possess the Teacher’s Dharma and who are its protectors.

“You should know that there are those who disparage this Dharma-Vinaya, and there are those who argue against this Dharma-Vinaya. Śāriputra, they are just like the terrible bandits in markets, towns, and cities. Why is that? Śāriputra, if those foolish people even apprehend nirvāṇa as if it were an apprehended object, that they apprehend things in terms of a person goes without saying. Śāriputra, I am not their teacher, and they are not my disciples. Those foolish beings do not belong in the assembly of my saṅgha of hearers, so I expel them with a hand gesture. Śāriputra, all phenomena are without a primary cause, are without mental engagement, are without distinguishing marks, are unrelated to acceptance, and are not perfect awakening. If one cannot even apprehend nirvāṇa itself, it goes without saying that one cannot apprehend the nirvāṇa of someone. Śāriputra, what the Thus-Gone One has said about seeing phenomena is that if this is what one sees, one is seeing the Thus-Gone One. What is the Thus-Gone One, Śāriputra? Śāriputra, the term Thus-Gone One refers to suchness, unmistaken suchness, the one and only suchness.

“Furthermore, those who have no hesitations and do not entertain doubts about the Dharma are known as noble hearers. Those who abide in the absence of concepts, the freedom from concepts, the absence of elaboration, and the absence of distinguishing marks are holy beings; they are known as the noble saṅgha.

“Long ago, Śāriputra, there was a childish being who had never seen a monkey before and wanted to see one, so he walked into a dense jungle. He came across a large group of monkeys that had gathered there, and when he saw that large group of monkeys he thought, ‘I have heard that there are beings called “the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.” These must be those gods!’ Excited and overwrought, he quickly ran back to his town. At that time, a large group of people had gathered in town, so he asked them, ‘Have you ever seen the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three?’ They replied, ‘Friend, we have never seen the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three.’ Then he said, ‘Learned ones, I have seen the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three! Would you like to see them too?’ They replied, ‘Friend, we want to see the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three as well!’ So, the group of townspeople followed him into the dense jungle, where he showed them the large group of monkeys and exclaimed, ‘Learned ones, look at the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three!’ They replied, ‘Alas, these are not the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three! These are just monkeys living in the forest. You are wrong and mistaken. You don’t know anything about monkeys or the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three!’

“Śāriputra, in the future there will be monks just like that deluded being who so pointlessly deceived that group of people, and they will approach householders and ask them, ‘Do you wish to see the Thus-Gone One’s saṅgha of hearers and listen to the words of the Buddha?’ Śāriputra, the householders will be overjoyed and reply, ‘Yes, we want to see the Thus-Gone One’s saṅgha of hearers and listen to the words of the Buddha!’

“Śāriputra, there will be monks who put great effort into preaching and will go to households and groves where the saṅgha resides and give teachings. There will be monks who are learned in exoteric knowledge, put great effort into words, are learned in words, follow words, rely upon words, and put their trust in words. They will conform to this activity and that one, follow them, and be influenced by mere words.

“Such mendicants who put great effort into words and are a misrepresentation of the community will be regarded as shepherds. They will enjoy preaching, crave it, apply themselves joyfully to it, stray into an incorrect extreme, frequently preach it to others, and make a living using evil spells. They will be experts in the various Lokāyata teachings. They will practice and teach an impure Dharma, think only of their speeches, sink into worldly paths, have little vitality, and have bad complexions. They will run out of analogies and reject the virtues of keeping silent. Placing great importance on the lack of meditative concentration, they will take joy in arguing, whether at night, during the day, or both night and day. They will rest on fine beds and padded pillows and lie on soft carpets and blankets. Applying themselves to concentration is not an idea that will occur to them even once, so it is needless to say much about their attaining the result—it is simply impossible.

“Having prepared themselves for slumber by placing their attention on the Lokāyatas, they will fall asleep with that mindset. They will not give rise to the acceptance that concords with the truth during any of the three parts of the night. They will place their greatest efforts into their inferior, erroneous sermons and acquire robes, alms, sleeping places, medicine, and requisites. Why is that so? Because evil Māra expends great effort to gather such unholy beings, so they become fond of evil Māra and direct their efforts toward him. They will exert themselves in their ordinary speeches, take pleasure in them, and never strive for the ultimate. Not being coherent, they will fail to uphold definitive teachings like this one but instead will be afraid, scared, and terrified of them. They will discard the essence of the teachings and uphold as correct ones that are like sparks flying off hot iron, and they will feel glad when other immature, unholy beings see the esteem they accord them. They will think, ‘We too should pursue teachings like these right now and perfect them!’ With this thought in mind, they will forsake the unsurpassed Dharma-Vinaya.

“Śāriputra, those monks who will appear in the future will not find the path. They will follow a mistaken path and be defiled and outcast mendicants. Any householders who learn of them will think of going to see them. While they are in the company of those unholy people, the latter will proclaim the praises of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha, just to make a living. But the householders will keep making offerings to them because they are concerned about their own livelihood, enslaved by material things, and motivated by getting food and clothing.

“That they are doing so, they will claim above all, is the pure conduct that the Thus-Gone One taught, and that the offering of such large gifts will lead them to the higher realms. But they will not understand the point, they will not understand the Dharma, they will be motivated by giving, and they will believe in the existence of a person; they will not take up the essence of ultimate teachings like this.

“Furthermore, Śāriputra, some will develop faith, and go forth from home into homelessness. After going forth, they will live together with those people, who are unholy and are practising without being coherent. As ones who apprehend things they will be proponents of a self, proponents of a being, proponents of a life force, and proponents of a person. They will imagine that nonexistent entities exist, and then impute that they are subject to destruction. They will propound nothingness and propound nonproduction.

“At that time, Śāriputra, many tīrthika outsiders with regard to these vast teachings will arise, and they will divide the great community of people. Śāriputra, that is how the unsurpassed Dharma Jewel—the Thus-Gone One’s ultimate teaching that is without apprehending—will disappear.

“Śāriputra, it is unholy people like these who will forsake my unsurpassed and perfect awakening. Śāriputra, I will not give them the opportunity to go forth, to take full ordination, or to use the donations of the faithful—even so little as a cup of water. Why is that? Because, Śāriputra, whoever they may be, they have not let go of each one of these views: the view of apprehended objects, the view of a self, the view of a being, the view of a life force, or the view of a person. Śāriputra, they will not be able to attain fruition in this Dharma-Vinaya. Why is that? Because, Śāriputra, I have said that those who have such views are tīrthika outsiders.

“Śāriputra, the Thus-Gone One has accurately foreseen those things that will happen in the future, and it is not because he has been miserly with regard to the teachings in which he conceals this unsurpassed, perfect, complete awakening.

“Furthermore, Śāriputra, those who do not understand the ultimate reality that the Thus-Gone One realized and taught will adhere to and advocate the existence of a person. Yet should they then hear this unsurpassed Jewel of the Dharma of nonapprehending and develop faith, they should adopt it as their own position and then go forth and take full ordination once again. Why is that? Śāriputra, it is because the reason for my saying that such people were outsider tīrthikas is that they had not let go of the view of apprehended objects, the view of a self, the view of a being, the view of a life force, and the view of a person. And why is that? Śāriputra, the Thus-Gone One has spoken of the person based on worldly convention, not on the ultimate level. Śāriputra, if those people say, ‘We too use the designation person as a worldly convention, but not on the ultimate level,’ the acceptance that such people have is like this: that there is no origination, no cessation, no arising, no characteristics, no discerning, and no reproaching. They are my disciples, because they do not disagree with what I have taught.

“Śāriputra, someone might say, ‘The fact that the Thus-Gone One speaks of persons even though there are no persons is surely on account of worldly convention. The Thus-Gone One never lies concerning worldly convention, and even though he uses the term person in many of his discourses, there is never anything false about the authentic truth of the Thus-Gone One.’ If someone were to say this, Śāriputra, I would tell them that the Thus-Gone One teaches that all phenomena are ownerless and without substance. The Thus-Gone One gives explanations using worldly convention, but such conventions do not ultimately belong to the noble ones. If no one is comparable to the Thus-Gone One, how could any gods, nāgas, or yakṣas be superior to him? It is impossible for someone to be more learned, more refined, more intelligent, or more insightful than the Thus-Gone One. Śāriputra, if no sentient being understands the inconceivable words of the Buddha, how could the Thus-Gone One be equated with a self and the world?

“Why is it that the Great Elephant spoke about persons? Śāriputra, the world argues with me, but I do not argue with the world. Śāriputra, I expel sentient beings who hold the view of a person. Śāriputra, since many beings have not understood the absence of persons and entities that the Thus-Gone One has realized and taught, they will not engage in this Dharma-Vinaya, and they will go to the lower realms. Why is that? Śāriputra, even if I taught the words of non-Buddhists, the Thus-Gone One would not be a member of a non-Buddhist order. Śāriputra, even if I were to make nihilist assertions, the Thus-Gone One would not stray toward the wrong path. Śāriputra, even if I claimed that everything is without a cause, the Thus-Gone One would not teach the lack of causes. Śāriputra, even if I said the words ‘there is no action,’ the Thus-Gone One would not teach the absence of action. Śāriputra, even if I were to express a wrong view, the Thus-Gone One would not adhere to wrong views. Śāriputra, one who understands a wrong view as a wrong view has the correct view. Śāriputra, a wrong view will never become the correct view. Those who perceive by means of a view will never understand or see.

“Śāriputra, the entire world finds it difficult to believe that this is the case for the awakening of the thus-gone, worthy, perfect buddhas. Śāriputra, I should not be distrusted. Śāriputra, since I possess power, the world with its gods should not distrust me.

“Śāriputra, in the transcendent Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One, there is no Dharma teaching whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the inexhaustible Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One, there is no engagement whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma of pacification taught by the Thus-Gone One, there is no pacification whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the purpose of passing beyond suffering, there is no passing beyond suffering whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the purpose of reaching liberation, there is no liberation or deliverance whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the purpose of renunciation, there is nothing whatsoever to adopt and nothing to discard. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the sake of scholars’ understanding and knowledge, there is no knowledge whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the purpose of purifying the mind, there is no affliction whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the sake of the gods, there are no gods whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the sake of humans, there are no humans whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the sake of sentient beings, there are no sentient beings whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One for the sake of knowledge and liberation, there is no knowledge or liberation whatsoever. Śāriputra, in the Dharma teaching on recollecting the buddhas, one does not practice recollecting the blessed buddhas. Śāriputra, even in the Thus-Gone One’s teachings on dwelling in emptiness, one is unable to dwell in or contemplate emptiness.

“Śāriputra, there is no teacher or instructor whatsoever in the various discourses taught by the Thus-Gone One, but foolish beings will apprehend one, teach the Dharma to others, and say, ‘I am a teacher too.’ Anyone who maintains that teaching will be labeled as saṅgha and will mingle with the saṅgha, but will not possess the teaching of those who are in the saṅgha of the Thus-Gone One’s hearers. Śāriputra, just as monkeys are not the same as the gods of the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, so too those foolish beings are not the same as my saṅgha of hearers. Śāriputra, one should perceive those foolish beings who place such great importance on mere words to be just like the childish being who pointed to a group of monkeys because he had merely heard about the gods.

“Śāriputra, those with an inquiring nature will please the monks in the following way: they will realize that there are no characteristics because there is no expression of name and form, no conventions, no apprehending, no origination, no disintegration, no contradiction, and no conceptual thought. Śāriputra, I say that those who are not afraid, scared, or terrified when they hear about this absence of characteristics and origination have completed this exceptional task under the conquerors of the past. They know all about this Dharma-Vinaya. They are known as the noble saṅgha.”