What Is Pure Practice, If None of These Ten Things Are?

At that time, Mindfulness Devaputra said to Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva: "Son of the Buddha! The bodhisattvas throughout every world, in accordance with the Tathāgata's own teaching, dye their robes and leave the household life. How, then, do they attain a pure practice of brahmacarya, and, from the bodhisattva's own stage, arrive at the path of unsurpassed bodhi?"

Dharma Wisdom Bodhisattva said:

"Son of the Buddha! When a bodhisattva mahāsattva cultivates the practice of brahmacarya, he should take ten dharmas as his own object, and turn his attention to contemplate them. Namely: the body, bodily action, speech, verbal action, the mind, mental action, the Buddha, the Dharma, the Sangha, and the precepts. He should contemplate in this way: is the body itself the practice of brahmacarya? — all the way to: is the precepts themselves the practice of brahmacarya?

If the body itself were the practice of brahmacarya, one should know that the practice of brahmacarya would then be unwholesome, would then be contrary to the Dharma, would then be turbid, would then be foul and rank, would then be impure, would then be something to be loathed, would then be something to be shunned, would then be defiled, would then be a corpse, and would then be a swarm of worms. If bodily action itself were the practice of brahmacarya, the practice of brahmacarya would then simply be walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, looking left and right, bending and stretching, bowing and raising the head. If speech itself were the practice of brahmacarya, the practice of brahmacarya would then simply be sound and the breath of wind, the lips, the tongue, the throat and mouth, exhaling and inhaling, holding back and letting loose, high and low, clear and murky. If verbal action itself were the practice of brahmacarya, the practice of brahmacarya would then simply be greeting others upon rising and settling, speaking briefly, speaking at length, speaking by analogy, speaking directly, speaking in praise, speaking in disparagement, speaking to establish something, speaking in accordance with convention, and speaking to make something clear. If the mind itself were the practice of brahmacarya, the practice of brahmacarya would then have to be initial thought, sustained thought, discrimination, every kind of discrimination, recollection, every kind of recollection, reflection, every kind of reflection, illusory conjuring, and sleep and dreaming. If mental action itself were the practice of brahmacarya, one should know that the practice of brahmacarya would then simply be thought and conception, cold and heat, hunger and thirst, suffering and pleasure, sorrow and joy.

If the Buddha himself were the practice of brahmacarya — is form itself the Buddha? Is feeling itself the Buddha? Is perception itself the Buddha? Is volition itself the Buddha? Is consciousness itself the Buddha? Is the major marks themselves the Buddha? Is the minor marks themselves the Buddha? Is spiritual power itself the Buddha? Is karmic conduct itself the Buddha? Is the fruit of recompense itself the Buddha? If the Dharma itself were the practice of brahmacarya — is tranquil cessation itself the Dharma? Is nirvāṇa itself the Dharma? Is non-arising itself the Dharma? Is non-origination itself the Dharma? Is the inexpressible itself the Dharma? Is non-discrimination itself the Dharma? Is non-action itself the Dharma? Is that which does not come together and assemble itself the Dharma? If the Sangha itself were the practice of brahmacarya — is one heading toward stream-entry itself the Sangha? Is the fruit of stream-entry itself the Sangha? Is one heading toward once-returning itself the Sangha? Is the fruit of once-returning itself the Sangha? Is one heading toward non-returning itself the Sangha? Is the fruit of non-returning itself the Sangha? Is one heading toward arhatship itself the Sangha? Is the fruit of arhatship itself the Sangha? Is the threefold knowledge itself the Sangha? Is the sixfold spiritual power itself the Sangha? If the precepts themselves were the practice of brahmacarya — is the ordination platform itself the precepts? Is the questioning as to purity itself the precepts? Is the teaching of deportment itself the precepts? Is the threefold proclamation of the karman itself the precepts? Is the preceptor himself the precepts? Is the instructing teacher himself the precepts? Is the shaving of the head itself the precepts? Is the wearing of the kāṣāya robe itself the precepts? Is begging for alms itself the precepts? Is right livelihood itself the precepts?

Having contemplated in this way, there is nothing at all to grasp in the body, nothing at all to cling to in cultivation, nothing at all to abide in within the Dharma; the past has already ceased, the future has not yet arrived, and the present is empty and tranquil; there is no doer of any deed, and no receiver of any recompense; this world does not shift or move, and that world does not change or alter. Within all of this, what dharma at all could be called the practice of brahmacarya? From what place does the practice of brahmacarya come? To whom does it belong? Whose own substance is it? By whom is it done? Is it existent, or is it non-existent? Is it form, or is it not form? Is it feeling, or is it not feeling? Is it perception, or is it not perception? Is it volition, or is it not volition? Is it consciousness, or is it not consciousness? Contemplating in this way: because the dharma of brahmacarya cannot be found at all; because the dharmas of the three periods of time are all empty and tranquil; because the mind has nothing at all to grasp or cling to; because the mind is without any obstruction at all; because the practice one engages in is without any duality; because skillful means are sovereign and unhindered; because one receives the markless dharma; because one contemplates the markless dharma; because one knows that the Buddha's own dharmas are equal; and because one is fully endowed with every single buddha-dharma — it is in this very way that it is called the pure practice of brahmacarya."