Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the Kalandakanivāpa, at the Veṇuvana near Rājagṛha, together with a great monastic saṅgha of 1,250 monks and a multitude of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. The Blessed One, surrounded and venerated by an audience of many hundreds of thousands, taught the Dharma. He expounded the wholesome conduct that is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end, and that is excellent in meaning, excellent in words, distinctive, perfect, completely pure, and thoroughly refined.
At that time King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha set out from the great city of Rājagṛha. With great royal pomp and power, he arrived at the Veṇuvana before the Blessed One. He bowed his head to the feet of the Blessed One, circumambulated him three times, and sat to one side.
Seated to one side, King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha inquired of the Blessed One, “Blessed One, how does an action, performed and accumulated, having ceased and ceased for a long while, manifest in the mind when the moment of death is imminent? Since all formations are empty, how are actions not lost?”
The Blessed One replied to King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha, “Great king, it is like this: To give an analogy, a man has dreamed that he has cavorted with the most beautiful woman in the land, and then upon waking he keeps recollecting that most beautiful woman in the land. What do you think, king? Does that most beautiful woman in the land from the dream exist?”
The Blessed One then asked, “Great king, what do you think? In that case, is that person who has become fixated on the most beautiful woman in the land wise in nature?”
“No, Blessed One, he is not,” he replied. “Why is that? Blessed One, the most beautiful woman in the land from the dream is utterly nonexistent and cannot be observed; as there is no way he can cavort with her, that man is bound to be miserable and exhausted.”
EN
“Great king,” said the Blessed One, “childish and unlearned beings, in the same way, become fixated on pleasant forms that they see with their eyes. Having become fixated, they then become desirous. Being desirous, they then become enamored. Being enamored leads them to commit actions stemming from passion, anger, and ignorance, which are conditioned by body, speech, and mind. The actions, thus conditioned, then cease. Having ceased, an action does not remain anywhere—in the east or in the south, in the west or in the north. It does not remain above, below, or in the intermediate directions.
EN
“But at some other time, whenever it might be, when the moment of death is approaching and the karma concordant with one’s fortune for this life is exhausted, the final consciousness ceases, and this next karma—just like the most beautiful woman in the land for the person in the analogy sleeping and waking from sleep—will manifest in the mind.
EN
“Great king, that is how, as the final consciousness ceases, there arises the first consciousness belonging to the next life, be that among the gods, humans, asuras, hell beings, animals, or pretas.
EN
“Great king, immediately after that first consciousness ceases, there arises the mindstream concordant with one’s fortune along with the experiences of karmic fruition that manifest therein.
EN
“Great king, no phenomenon whatsoever transmigrates from this world to another world, yet there are the manifestations of death and birth.
EN
“Great king, the cessation of the final consciousness is known as death. The arising of the first consciousness is known as birth. Great king, the moment the final consciousness ceases, it does not go anywhere. The moment the first consciousness pertaining to birth arises, it also does not come from anywhere. Why is that? It is because they are devoid of essential nature.
EN
“Great king, the final consciousness is empty of final consciousness, transmigration after death is empty of transmigration after death, action is empty of action, the first consciousness is empty of the first consciousness, and birth is empty of birth, yet actions manifest without being lost.
EN
“Great king, no sooner does the first consciousness pertaining to birth cease than there arises, without any interruption, the mindstream in which the experiences of karmic fruition manifest.”
EN
Thus spoke the Blessed One. The Sugata having spoken, the Teacher further declared:
EN
“All of these are mere names— They abide only as notions. Set apart from their verbal designations, What is designated does not exist. {1}
EN
“By whatever names Any phenomena are designated, They do not exist therein. This is the very nature of phenomena. {2}
EN
“The nature of name is empty of name. A name does not exist as a name. All nameless phenomena Have been designated by name. {3}
EN
“These phenomena do not exist; They originate from conceptual thought. The conceptual thought that conceptualizes them as empty Also does not exist. {4}
EN
“ ‘The eye sees form’ Is said by one who observes correctly. To the world with its perverse arrogance, This was taught as the relative truth. {5}
EN
“What the Guide has made known— That seeing comes from a conjunction— The wise speak of As the grounds for designating ultimate truth. {6}
EN
“The eye does not see form And the mind does not know phenomena. That is the supreme truth; The world does not fathom it.” {7}
EN
The Blessed One having spoken, King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha, the bodhisattvas and monks, and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.
EN
Translated and edited by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla and the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé. It was then revised and finalized according to the new terminology.
Thus did I hear at one time. The Blessed One was dwelling in the Kalandakanivāpa, at the Veṇuvana near Rājagṛha, together with a great monastic saṅgha of 1,250 monks and a multitude of bodhisattva mahāsattvas. The Blessed One, surrounded and venerated by an audience of many hundreds of thousands, taught the Dharma. He expounded the wholesome conduct that is virtuous in the beginning, virtuous in the middle, and virtuous in the end, and that is excellent in meaning, excellent in words, distinctive, perfect, completely pure, and thoroughly refined.
At that time King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha set out from the great city of Rājagṛha. With great royal pomp and power, he arrived at the Veṇuvana before the Blessed One. He bowed his head to the feet of the Blessed One, circumambulated him three times, and sat to one side.
Seated to one side, King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha inquired of the Blessed One, “Blessed One, how does an action, performed and accumulated, having ceased and ceased for a long while, manifest in the mind when the moment of death is imminent? Since all formations are empty, how are actions not lost?”
The Blessed One replied to King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha, “Great king, it is like this: To give an analogy, a man has dreamed that he has cavorted with the most beautiful woman in the land, and then upon waking he keeps recollecting that most beautiful woman in the land. What do you think, king? Does that most beautiful woman in the land from the dream exist?”
The Blessed One then asked, “Great king, what do you think? In that case, is that person who has become fixated on the most beautiful woman in the land wise in nature?”
“No, Blessed One, he is not,” he replied. “Why is that? Blessed One, the most beautiful woman in the land from the dream is utterly nonexistent and cannot be observed; as there is no way he can cavort with her, that man is bound to be miserable and exhausted.”
EN
“Great king,” said the Blessed One, “childish and unlearned beings, in the same way, become fixated on pleasant forms that they see with their eyes. Having become fixated, they then become desirous. Being desirous, they then become enamored. Being enamored leads them to commit actions stemming from passion, anger, and ignorance, which are conditioned by body, speech, and mind. The actions, thus conditioned, then cease. Having ceased, an action does not remain anywhere—in the east or in the south, in the west or in the north. It does not remain above, below, or in the intermediate directions.
EN
“But at some other time, whenever it might be, when the moment of death is approaching and the karma concordant with one’s fortune for this life is exhausted, the final consciousness ceases, and this next karma—just like the most beautiful woman in the land for the person in the analogy sleeping and waking from sleep—will manifest in the mind.
EN
“Great king, that is how, as the final consciousness ceases, there arises the first consciousness belonging to the next life, be that among the gods, humans, asuras, hell beings, animals, or pretas.
EN
“Great king, immediately after that first consciousness ceases, there arises the mindstream concordant with one’s fortune along with the experiences of karmic fruition that manifest therein.
EN
“Great king, no phenomenon whatsoever transmigrates from this world to another world, yet there are the manifestations of death and birth.
EN
“Great king, the cessation of the final consciousness is known as death. The arising of the first consciousness is known as birth. Great king, the moment the final consciousness ceases, it does not go anywhere. The moment the first consciousness pertaining to birth arises, it also does not come from anywhere. Why is that? It is because they are devoid of essential nature.
EN
“Great king, the final consciousness is empty of final consciousness, transmigration after death is empty of transmigration after death, action is empty of action, the first consciousness is empty of the first consciousness, and birth is empty of birth, yet actions manifest without being lost.
EN
“Great king, no sooner does the first consciousness pertaining to birth cease than there arises, without any interruption, the mindstream in which the experiences of karmic fruition manifest.”
EN
Thus spoke the Blessed One. The Sugata having spoken, the Teacher further declared:
EN
“All of these are mere names— They abide only as notions. Set apart from their verbal designations, What is designated does not exist. {1}
EN
“By whatever names Any phenomena are designated, They do not exist therein. This is the very nature of phenomena. {2}
EN
“The nature of name is empty of name. A name does not exist as a name. All nameless phenomena Have been designated by name. {3}
EN
“These phenomena do not exist; They originate from conceptual thought. The conceptual thought that conceptualizes them as empty Also does not exist. {4}
EN
“ ‘The eye sees form’ Is said by one who observes correctly. To the world with its perverse arrogance, This was taught as the relative truth. {5}
EN
“What the Guide has made known— That seeing comes from a conjunction— The wise speak of As the grounds for designating ultimate truth. {6}
EN
“The eye does not see form And the mind does not know phenomena. That is the supreme truth; The world does not fathom it.” {7}
EN
The Blessed One having spoken, King Śreṇya Bimbisāra of Magadha, the bodhisattvas and monks, and the world with its gods, humans, asuras, and gandharvas rejoiced and praised the words of the Blessed One.
EN
Translated and edited by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla and the chief editor and translator Bandé Yeshé Dé. It was then revised and finalized according to the new terminology.
Sutraya