Part 778 of the collection · Fascicle 58 of 80 · 離世間品第三十八之六 · T279

Ten Kinds of Wisdom as Supporting Equipment Complete

The final five kinds of wisdom move from the five aggregates seen as illusion and the elements as a poisonous snake, through the emptying of self, sentient being, life, and person, to a chain of purities: seeing dependent origination leads to seeing the dharma's purity, which leads in turn to the purity of lands, empty space, the dharma-realm, and finally wisdom itself.

Translator: Ru-Yi Meditation Center Status: Part 778 — ten kinds of wisdom as supporting equipment complete Source: Taishō T279 (Śikṣānanda, Tang, 695–699 CE)

A Chain of Purities Ending in Wisdom

The tenth entry links seeing dependent origination to a cascade of further seeing: the dharma's purity leads to seeing lands as pure, which leads to seeing empty space as pure, which leads to seeing the dharma-realm as pure, which finally leads to seeing wisdom itself as pure — each purity opening directly onto the next.

Chinese Source

常樂出離,不著三有,恒覺自心,曾無惡念,三覺已絕,三業皆善,決定了知心之自性,是為六;能令自他心清淨故。觀察五蘊皆如幻事,界如毒蛇,處如空聚,一切諸法如幻、如焰、如水中月、如夢、如影、如響、如像、如空中畫、如旋火輪、如虹霓色、如日月光,無相無形,非常非斷,不來不去,亦無所住,如是觀察,知一切法無生無滅,是為七;知一切法性空寂故。

Ru-Yi Translation

"Constantly delighting in renunciation, unattached to the three states of existence, constantly aware of one's own mind, never once giving rise to an evil thought, the three unwholesome kinds of thinking already cut off, the three kinds of action all wholesome, decisively and fully understanding the mind's own nature — this is the sixth, because it purifies one's own mind and the minds of others alike. Observing that the five aggregates are all exactly like an illusory affair, the elements like a poisonous snake, the sense-bases like an empty village, and every dharma exactly like an illusion, like a flame, like the moon reflected in water, like a dream, like a shadow, like an echo, like a reflected image, like a picture painted in space, like a whirling wheel of fire, like the colors of a rainbow, like the light of sun and moon — without mark, without form, neither permanent nor annihilated, neither coming nor going, and abiding nowhere at all — observing in this way, one knows that every dharma is without arising and without ceasing — this is the seventh, because it knows the empty, still nature of every dharma.

Chinese Source

菩薩摩訶薩聞一切法無我、無眾生、無壽者、無補伽羅、無心、無境、無貪瞋癡、無身、無物、無主、無待、無著、無行,如是一切皆無所有、悉歸寂滅,聞已深信,不疑不謗,是為八;以能成就圓滿解故。菩薩摩訶薩善調諸根,如理修行,恒住止觀,心意寂靜,一切動念皆悉不生,無我、無人、無作、無行、無計我想、無計我業、無有瘡疣、無有瘢痕,亦無於此所得之忍,身、語、意業無來無去,無有精進亦無勇猛,觀一切眾生、一切諸法,心皆平等而無所住,非此岸、非彼岸,此彼性離,無所從來,無所至去,常以智慧如是思惟,是為九;到分別相彼岸處故。菩薩摩訶薩見緣起法故見法清淨,見法清淨故見國土清淨,見國土清淨故見虛空清淨,見虛空清淨故見法界清淨,見法界清淨故見智慧清淨,是為十;修行積集一切智故。佛子!是為菩薩摩訶薩十種智慧助道具。若諸菩薩安住此法,則得如來一切法無障礙清淨微妙智慧聚。

Ru-Yi Translation

A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, hearing that every dharma is without self, without sentient being, without life, without person, without mind, without object, without craving, hatred, or delusion, without body, without thing, without master, without dependence, without attachment, without action — that all of this is entirely without existence, altogether returning to stillness and extinction — and having heard this, believes it deeply, neither doubting nor slandering it — this is the eighth, because it is able to accomplish complete and perfect understanding. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, skillfully taming every faculty, practicing in accordance with principle, constantly abiding in calm and insight, the mind and intention utterly still, every stirring thought entirely unarisen — without self, without person, without agent, without action, without the conceit of a notion of self, without the conceit of a self's own deeds, without wound, without scar, and without even the acceptance attained through any of this — the deeds of body, speech, and mind neither coming nor going, without diligence and without valor — observing every sentient being and every dharma, the mind entirely equal and abiding nowhere, neither this shore nor that shore, the nature of this shore and that shore alike left behind, coming from nowhere and going nowhere, constantly reflecting in this way through wisdom — this is the ninth, because it reaches the far shore of the place beyond discriminated marks. A bodhisattva-mahāsattva, because they see the dharma of dependent origination, sees the dharma's own purity; because they see the dharma's own purity, sees the purity of every land; because they see the purity of every land, sees the purity of empty space; because they see the purity of empty space, sees the purity of the dharma-realm; because they see the purity of the dharma-realm, sees the purity of wisdom itself — this is the tenth, because it cultivates practice and accumulates all-knowing wisdom. Son of the Buddha! These are a bodhisattva-mahāsattva's ten kinds of wisdom as supporting equipment for the path. If bodhisattvas abide within this dharma, they attain the tathāgata's own unobstructed, pure, subtle, and wondrous accumulation of wisdom in every dharma.

Reading note — Ru-Yi Meditation Center

見緣起法故見法清淨,見法清淨故見國土清淨…見法界清淨故見智慧清淨 — because they see the dharma of dependent origination, they see the dharma's own purity, and from there a five-step chain of purities unfolds outward: dharma, land, empty space, dharma-realm, and finally wisdom itself. Each step is presented as the direct consequence of the one before it, seeing dependent origination alone setting the entire chain in motion.

Part 778 Complete

This continues chapter thirty-eight, 離世間品, in fascicle fifty-eight. Part 779 opens ten kinds of light-sufficiency (明足), beginning with the light-sufficiency of skillfully discerning every dharma.