A Crooked Cause Brings a Twisted Result

Sūtra: Ānanda straightened his robes, and, in the midst of the assembly, joined his palms and bowed. His mind and its own outward trace both now perfectly clear, sorrow and joy mingling within him, wishing to benefit sentient beings still to come, he bowed his head and said to the Buddha: "Greatly compassionate World-Honored One, I have now awakened to the gateway of Buddhahood, and, in this matter of practice, am free of doubt."

Commentary: This section, on the auxiliary practice of the place of practice, is set up specifically for those of a lesser, more middling capacity for the perfect faculty. The section above already gave the very first skillful means; this section gives, further, the most initial skillful means of all, likewise nothing more than an aid to cultivating perfect penetration. Ānanda straightens his own robes, and, in the midst of the assembly, joins his own ten fingers together, bowing at the Buddha's feet. "His mind and its own outward trace both now perfectly clear, sorrow and joy mingling within him": "mind" is exactly this true mind, perfectly calm, unborn, unceasing, found within the sense-faculty itself; "trace" is exactly the actual course of practice — turning the stream back, turning hearing back upon itself, untying the knot stage by stage. Failing to reach this already-possessed mind, one's practice, however long accumulated across kalpas, remains wasted effort, of no benefit at all; failing to reach the actual matter of this cultivation and realization, this treasury lies buried in dust, unable to relieve one's own poverty. Now, both this nature and this cultivation reached at once, hence, "perfectly clear" — exactly the same sense as "coming to understand clearly one's own home, and the road that leads back to it," described earlier. Having found the road, yet not yet home, hence sorrow; having real hope of reaching home, hence joy — sorrow and joy mingling together, all at once, within this single mind.

His own understanding already complete, he feels compassion for those still to come who have not yet awakened, and now wishes to benefit every sentient being of the future, the age of the Dharma's decline. He bows his head and addresses the Buddha, calling him "greatly compassionate World-Honored One" — because the Tathāgata's own compassionate mind is inexhaustible. "I have now awakened to the gateway of Buddhahood": that is, what I myself sought, this very first skillful means toward accomplishing bodhi, has now, a resembling understanding having arisen, been awakened to. "In this matter of practice, am free of doubt": "this" points to within the ear-faculty itself; "practice" is exactly the effort of leaving the sense-object behind to illuminate this nature directly, turning the stream back, turning hearing back upon itself — free of any doubt at all, requiring no further establishing of a place of practice at all.

Sūtra: "I have often heard the Tathāgata say words such as these: 'one who has not yet crossed over, yet first brings others across, is a bodhisattva's own resolve; one whose own awakening is already complete, and who is able to awaken others, is a Tathāgata appearing in the world.' Though I myself am not yet fully crossed over, I vow to bring across every being of this final age."

Commentary: This displays how this place of practice is requested specifically for those whose own mind and its outward trace have not yet been made perfectly clear. "I have often heard the Tathāgata say" points exactly to what follows: whether a being still at the causal stage or one already at the fruit stage, benefiting others is, in every case, one's own life's work. "One who has not yet crossed over, yet first brings others across" points exactly to a being at the causal stage — ignorance not yet exhausted, not yet truly crossed over, yet setting aside one's own benefit to benefit others first: this is exactly a bodhisattva's own resolve, placing the crossing-over of others first, exhausting the realm of sentient beings before finally taking up bodhi for oneself. "One whose own awakening is already complete, and who is able to awaken others" points exactly to a being at the fruit stage — one's own three kinds of awakening already perfectly complete, every virtue fully possessed, and thereby able to awaken sentient beings throughout the Dharma-realm — this is exactly the Tathāgata's own ten titles, taking appearing in the world as their own root, turning the ship of compassion back around once more, giving rise to compassion even after the fruit is already attained. The three lines "though I myself am not yet fully crossed over" express a wish to learn this same bodhisattva's own resolve to benefit others — though I myself am not yet fully crossed over, I vow to bring across every being of this final age — exactly as with Kṣitigarbha Bodhisattva, who vows not to realize bodhi until every sentient being has been brought across first.

Sūtra: "World-Honored One, as these beings grow further removed from the Buddha's own time, false teachers will proclaim their teachings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. If beings wish to gather their minds and enter samādhi, how should they set up a place of practice, so as to stay far from demonic interference, and never retreat from the mind of bodhi?"

Commentary: This requests a place of practice, that it might stay far from demonic interference. Addressing the Buddha again, "these beings" refers to beings of the final age, growing ever further removed from the Buddha's own time, their own capacities growing ever weaker, false teachings arising in ever greater competition, fish-eyes and pearls scarcely distinguishable, bewitching beginning practitioners — such teachers everywhere, as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. And falseness is certain to disturb what is true — should a beginning practitioner, a later student, wish to gather in the mind and enter samādhi through hearing, reflecting, and cultivating, would this not prove exceedingly difficult? And so he ventures to ask the Tathāgata: how might one cause such beginning practitioners, such later students, to set up a place of practice, so that every demonic affair might naturally stay far away, unable to bewitch or disturb them, and so that, regarding the mind of bodhi, they might grow only stronger, moment after moment, never retreating from it at all? This closes the first section, Ānanda's own request.

Sūtra: At that time the World-Honored One, in the midst of the great assembly, praised Ānanda: "Excellent, excellent! Just as you have asked, setting up a place of practice, so as to rescue and protect sentient beings from sinking and drowning in this final age — listen closely now, and I shall explain this for you." Ānanda and the assembly said, "Yes indeed," and received this teaching.

Commentary: This praises the fitness of this request, and grants permission to explain it. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "excellent" carries two senses — first, approving his having given rise to this mind of benefiting others, attaining a bodhisattva's own true conduct; second, approving the very intention behind requesting this place of practice, attaining the essential method of benefiting others. This means: exactly as you have asked, fearing only that false teachers' own teaching will disturb the settled mind, one must set up a place of practice, and only then can demonic interference be kept far away — this is, indeed, the most essential method for rescuing every sentient being, in this final age, from sinking and drowning. Listen closely now, and I shall explain this for you, distinguishing each point in turn. "Ānanda and the assembly said, 'Yes indeed,' and received this teaching": "yes indeed" is a word of assent, receiving this command and this teaching, and listening closely to it.

Sūtra: The Buddha said to Ānanda: "You have often heard me teach, in the monastic discipline, the three decisive principles of practice — that gathering the mind is precepts; that from precepts, samādhi arises; and that from samādhi, wisdom is born. These are called the three undefiled trainings."

Commentary: This is the Buddha's own direct teaching of this auxiliary practice for the place of practice. As the Precious Mirror Commentary puts it: upholding the precepts and reciting the mantra serve as this auxiliary practice of cultivation. For the Buddha's own earlier teaching, addressed to this same capacity, went straight to revealing the mind of the tathāgatagarbha, entering directly through awakening to this principle by way of the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration — this being exactly the true, direct cultivation itself. Now, this same capacity, out of compassion for beings of this final age, fearing many obstacles and difficulties for them, seeks to keep demonic influence at bay and distinguish it from what is genuine, setting up this place of practice — and so the Tathāgata gives this teaching involving actual ritual matters, cultivated alongside the main practice, called this auxiliary practice, that is, a practice that assists the true, direct cultivation itself. Yet this assistance is of two kinds: first, for one whose own delusion runs heavy, first upholding the prohibitive precepts, to restrain and cut off the ignorance that initiates karma; second, for one whose own habituated tendencies run heavy, further upholding the secret mantra, so as to habituate away the innate ignorance born together with oneself. And so one knows that a practitioner of meditative absorption in this final age, without this same auxiliary practice, cannot avoid being bewitched by false teachings, and falling prey to demonic delusion.

The Buddha told Ānanda: have you not, in the ordinary course of things, often heard me teach, within the monastic discipline, these three decisive principles of practice? "Vinaya" is the general name for the treasury of monastic discipline shared by both the greater and lesser vehicles — hence the Buddha constantly taught it, and Ānanda constantly heard it. "Vinaya" is translated "skillfully governing," meaning governing one's own lust, anger, and delusion, and being able, further, to govern others' lust, anger, and delusion as well; also translated "taming and subduing," meaning disciplining and training the three karmic activities, restraining and subduing every fault and wrong. The Vinaya itself directly expresses the training in precepts, while also expressing, alongside it, the trainings in samādhi and wisdom — and so it forms these three decisive principles, meaning that cultivation and realization must decisively rely upon them.

"Gathering the mind is precepts": this distinguishes it from the provisional and lesser teachings, which mostly define precepts in terms of the outward marks of bodily and verbal conduct; here, in terms of the greater vehicle, one simply gathers in the mind itself — not a single thought arising, and every precept is thereby complete in full — and so gathering the mind is itself called precepts. "From precepts, samādhi arises": the mind already gathered in, still and unmoving, samādhi gradually arises from it — exactly as, once the wind stops, the waves settle of themselves. As the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment puts it: "where moral discipline is not pure, samādhi does not appear." "From samādhi, wisdom is born": the mind of samādhi accomplished, this original brightness gradually arises, illuminating and embracing the ten thousand forms — exactly as, once the wind stills and the water grows calm, this same water gives rise to its own reflected light of itself. As the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment puts it: "unobstructed, pure wisdom is, in every case, born from meditative absorption." These are called the three undefiled trainings: since cultivating these three undefiled trainings prevents one from falling, through any outflow, back into the wheel of birth and death.

As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: what is cultivated here remains, throughout, the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration — only, for this most initial, lesser capacity, three particular matters are specially added: moral discipline, the place of practice, and holding the mantra — hence this whole section is called the auxiliary practice. As for the samādhi and wisdom that arise from these precepts, these remain, throughout, exactly this wondrous samādhi of letting go of the sense-object and exhausting the sense-faculty, and the threefold emptiness of wisdom attained through this same samādhi. One can see, observing the sūtra's own text, that it dwells in detail on precepts alone, and treats samādhi and wisdom only briefly. One might ask: why was this not used in the earlier gate? The answer: a middling capacity's own affliction runs light, giving rise to no spontaneous thought of lust and the rest of these four — and, further, at the very moment of letting go of the sense-object, their own guarding power is already strong, such that even worldly, twisted sounds can no longer enter at all — how, then, could any spontaneous thought of these four ever arise, how much less any sound of straightforward doctrine and the like, all alike already cut off entirely? As for Ānanda himself, already at the first fruit, already able to keep the six sense-objects of form, sound, and the rest from entering at all, needing only to add this turning of hearing back upon itself, scarcely even expending much effort at letting go of the sense-object — how, then, could any spontaneous thought of lust and the rest ever arise in him? One thereby knows that this present gate is set up specifically for those whose own worldly toil runs habitually heavy, who need no sound to draw them on before these four thoughts arise repeatedly and spontaneously, extending even to body and speech, unable to avoid them entirely — and so these four precepts are added as the preliminary skillful means before turning hearing back upon itself, and the place of practice and holding the mantra are added as the auxiliary practice accompanying this same turning of hearing back, properly carried out. Earlier commentaries entirely fail to grasp this, not a single word given on it — how could this possibly be some separate, distinct Dharma-gate, set apart from everything before it? This is no small oversight, and so I specially flag it here, that students might treasure this point. As for being named the three undefiled trainings: within the precepts alone, not even a single thought is already permitted to leak into any wrongdoing — how much more so, then, samādhi and wisdom? Yet this is not merely freedom from falling, through any outflow, into the three states of existence alone — for, fixing the mind on turning hearing back upon itself, one is, further, kept from falling, through any outflow, into either extreme of emptiness or existence as well — and this is exactly why it is called truly undefiled, not to be compared with the lesser vehicle's own trainings at all. This closes the second section, giving, in summary, these three trainings.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, how is gathering the mind itself what I call precepts?"

Commentary: The mind is the very root of the precepts — gather it in, and this is called upholding the precepts; let it loose, and this becomes breaking the precepts. And so gathering the mind itself is called precepts.

Sūtra: "Should the sentient beings of the six destinies, throughout every world, hold no lust in their minds, they would not follow the continuity of birth and death."

Commentary: This makes plain that the precepts stand foremost among these three trainings. From fascicle one all the way to the middle of fascicle four, the sūtra makes plain giving rise to faith and opening understanding — this being exactly the training in wisdom. From the analogy of the jeweled hall onward, requesting to be shown the gate of practice, all the way to this point, has been the training in samādhi. And so, from this point on, for those of a somewhat lesser capacity, the training in precepts is now made plain directly. One thereby knows that this sūtra expresses all three trainings throughout. Yet it speaks only of these four precepts, since these are the root precepts shared in common by both the greater and lesser vehicles. As Wenling put it: in every other sūtra, the precept against killing stands first, since compassion is placed foremost in setting up any teaching; in this sūtra, the precept against sexual misconduct stands first, since true cultivation takes leaving desire behind as its own root. For the very energy of desire is coarse and turbid, defiling this wondrous brightness; the habit of desire is wild and confused, easily losing correct absorption — nothing continues birth and death, and loses this true, constant nature, more than this alone — and so it must be given first among the precepts.

"Should the sentient beings of the six destinies, throughout every world": every one of them, because of sexual desire, fixes their own life and destiny upon it, and so is bound fast to birth and death. "Hold no lust in their minds, they would not follow the continuity of birth and death": that is, regarding this one matter of sexual desire, not only does the body and speech remain unmoved, but not even a single thought or notion of it arises in the mind — only this counts as no transgression at all, only this truly accords with gathering the mind as precepts. The remaining three precepts follow this same pattern. Once the mind's own precept is thus purified, the tree falls and its root is severed, no branch or leaf able to grow from it again — and one naturally no longer follows this same continuity of birth and death. As a later passage, on the ground of dry wisdom, puts it: "the craving for desire dried up entirely, sense-faculty and sense-object no longer paired, this present remaining substance no longer continuing to be born again" — this bears out exactly this same meaning.

Sūtra: "Your cultivation of samādhi is meant, at root, to escape worldly affliction — but if the mind of lust is not removed, that affliction cannot be escaped."

Commentary: Your cultivation of the ear-faculty's own samādhi is meant, at root, to escape worldly affliction — "worldly affliction" being exactly the two afflictions of views and thought, still within the three realms. Should the mind of lust not be removed, this same worldly affliction can never be escaped at all — since desire for sexual union stands foremost among every worldly affliction.

Sūtra: "However much wisdom you may have, however much samādhi may appear before you, if lust is not severed, you will certainly fall into the way of demons — at best, a demon-king; in the middle, one of the demon-king's own people; at worst, a demon-woman."

Commentary: This follows directly from what came above: cultivating Chan while still carrying lust, worldly affliction cannot be escaped. "However much wisdom you may have": worldly wisdom and eloquence, skilled at expounding every teaching. "However much samādhi may appear before you": worldly meditative absorption, skillfully entering, abiding in, and emerging from it, brought fully to appear. The word "however" governs both "wisdom" and "samādhi" together. "If lust is not severed": at the very time of cultivating samādhi, failing to set aside and cut off every thought of lust, all of it becomes the very work of Māra, certain to fall into the way of demons — for demons delight in the very realm of desire. Now, lust not yet severed, at best one falls to become a demon-king — for, within the realm of Māra, desire prevails, blessing runs strong, and the mind is sharp, none of which can arise apart from meditative absorption and wisdom; and now, using this same absorption and wisdom to assist the mind of lust instead, causing this lust to blaze only more fiercely. As with those, among the fifty states of demonic interference, who cultivate an absorption in emptiness, yet retain worldly affliction within it, broadly manifesting the seven treasures, and multiplying their own consorts of jeweled beauty. Lacking any such worldly wisdom or absorption, one would fall directly into hell, without a doubt! In the middle, one falls to become one of the demon-king's own people; at worst, one falls to become a demon-woman — these three grades, best, middling, and worst, following according to how thick or thin one's own blessing happens to be.

Sūtra: "Every one of these demons has, in turn, their own followers, each and every one of them claiming to have accomplished the unsurpassed path."

Commentary: These demons' own followers are, in truth, numerous indeed — taking sexual union itself as the very transmission of the Dharma, passed on from one to the next without ever breaking off, each and every one claiming to have accomplished the unsurpassed path. Arrogance become habit, mistaking what is not the fruit for the fruit itself — exactly as the passage on being possessed by demons, further on, puts it: this person, too, remains entirely unaware of being possessed by a demon, declaring themselves to have attained unsurpassed nirvāṇa. This closes the first section, first setting forth the benefit and harm of keeping or breaking this precept.

Sūtra: "After I have passed away, in the age of the Dharma's decline, many such demonic followers will flourish in the world, indulging openly in lust while posing as spiritual guides, causing beings to fall into the pit of love and false view, losing the path to bodhi."

Commentary: "I" is the Buddha's own self-reference. Extinguishing the five kinds of settled affliction, crossing over both kinds of birth and death — this is exactly a distinct term for the Buddha's own departure from the world. The ages of the true and semblance Dharma already past, within the age of the Dharma's decline, the time of the sages grown ever more distant, demons strong and the Dharma weak — hence, "many such demonic followers will flourish in the world." Under this same demonic teaching, taught while alive, one comes under its delusion; dying, one becomes one of the demon-king's own kin — exactly as a later passage, on being possessed by demons, puts it: "once this life ends, one is certain to become one of the demon-king's own people." Exactly like a fire blazing up fiercely, consuming everything in the world — as a later passage, on delusion by demons, puts it: "this same deviant essence bewitches the very organs of the heart — at its closest, within nine lifetimes, at its most extreme, across more than a hundred generations, turning even a genuine practitioner entirely into one of the demon-king's own kin."

"Indulging openly in lust": that is, exactly this same kind who, in a past life, carried lust while cultivating Chan, now come as teachers, manifesting spiritual powers, manifesting wisdom, secretly teaching sexual union as though it were the Buddha's own work, passing this on from one to the next in turn. "Posing as spiritual guides": taking themselves to be skilled in the practice of sexual union, well versed in its own underlying principle — exactly as a later passage, on delusion by demons, puts it: "praising the practice of sexual union, never condemning coarse conduct, taking every kind of lewdness itself as the very transmission of the Dharma." "Causing beings to fall into the pit of love and false view, losing the path to bodhi": "love" is exactly the affliction of thought, and "view" is exactly the affliction of views — and, taking sexual desire as the very starting point of their own teaching and transformation, one falls into the pit of love; taking sexual desire as the very method of true cultivation itself, one falls into the pit of false view — unable to climb out of either, and so losing the true path to bodhi entirely!

Sūtra: "In teaching people of the world to cultivate samādhi, first sever the mind's own lust — this is the Tathāgata's, and every past buddha's, first decisive and pure instruction."

Commentary: This charges Ānanda with passing this teaching on to the beings of this final age. A beginning practitioner cultivating samādhi refers exactly to the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration. Sexual desire is the very enemy and thief of this great samādhi — not only must the body refrain from any act of sexual union, but the mind, too, must refrain from giving rise to even a single thought of lust, and only then does this suffice. This is exactly the warning to guard against the subtlest beginning, to nip it in the bud, to tread as though on thin ice above a deep abyss. Only if one is truly able to do this can this be called the Tathāgata's, and every past buddha's, first decisive and pure instruction. "The Tathāgata" points to the present Buddha; "every past buddha" points to every buddha of the past — buddhas of the present and of ages past alike, all having taught exactly this, certainly to be believed and followed. "First" means standing at the very head of these four precepts — decisively severing this lust of the mind, this ultimate, pure instruction for cultivation and practice.

Sūtra: "Therefore, Ānanda, cultivating meditative absorption without severing lust is like steaming sand and stone, hoping it will become rice — though a hundred thousand kalpas may pass, it remains nothing but hot sand, since sand and stone were never rice to begin with."

Commentary: This follows from the reason given above for the Buddha's own teaching to sever lust. Ānanda, should one cultivate meditative absorption without severing the mind of lust, this is exactly like steaming sand and stone, hoping it will become rice — though a hundred thousand kalpas may pass, this remains nothing but hot sand, never the true basis for rice at all. Cultivating and habituating through meditative absorption is likened here to this same steaming; taking the unborn, unceasing mind as the very root cause of cultivation, and thereby perfectly accomplishing cultivation and realization at the fruit stage, is likened to steaming rice until it becomes cooked rice itself.

Sūtra: "Taking this body still caught in lust, and seeking thereby the Buddha's own wondrous fruit — even should you attain some wondrous awakening, it remains, throughout, rooted in lust; this very root having become lust itself, you will turn in the wheel through the three lower destinies, and can never escape it. What path, then, could ever lead to the Tathāgata's own nirvāṇa, cultivated and realized?"

Commentary: Should you fail to sever sexual desire, taking this same body still caught in lust, and seeking thereby the Buddha's own realized, wondrous, ultimate fruit — this cause and this fruit fail to correspond to one another at all, exactly like steaming sand, hoping it will become rice. "Even should you attain some wondrous awakening": that is, even should one cultivate and practice across many kalpas, and attain some opening of wondrous awakening — corresponding to "though a hundred thousand kalpas may pass, it remains nothing but hot sand" above; cultivating and practicing across kalpas corresponds to this steaming, and attaining this opening of wondrous awakening corresponds to this same heat. The five lines "it remains, throughout, rooted in lust" correspond to "since sand and stone were never rice to begin with" above. "This very root having become lust itself": the very seed of sexual desire still present, it sprouts forth at whatever it touches, and, through this same evil karma accumulating day by day, one is certain to turn in the wheel through the three lower destinies, unable ever to escape it — even a human body itself becomes impossible to attain, how much more so, then, the Buddha's own fruit one wishes to cultivate? "The Tathāgata's own nirvāṇa" is exactly this same principle of thusness the Buddha has realized; "what path, then, could ever lead" means exactly this: sand and stone having become what they are, it is decidedly impossible for them ever to become rice.

Sūtra: "One must bring this very mechanism of lust, in both body and mind, to a complete severing — and even this severing itself must, in the end, be nowhere to be found — only then may one hope for the Buddha's own bodhi."

Commentary: "Mechanism" is exactly the very trigger that sets something in motion, like the trigger of a crossbow. This means: the body's own mechanism of lust is set in motion by the mind; the mind's own mechanism of lust is set loose by thought — one must bring it about that not a single thought arises at all, and only then are both body and mind severed together. Should the very nature capable of severing still remain, while the shadow-trace of what was severed still lingers on, this is, in the end, no true eradication at all — one must bring it about that even this severing itself is nowhere to be found, and only then may this be called both the medicine and the sickness removed together, only then is one truly free of illness at all. This is exactly like "still that mechanism, and stillness returns; every illusion then has no nature of its own," described earlier — and it is exactly this same nature, free of illusion, that alone accords with the Buddha's own fruit of bodhi; bodhi being exactly the wisdom of thusness the Buddha has realized — only then may one hope for it! This corresponds to nirvāṇa in the section above, principle and wisdom being one and the same, each explained in terms reflecting the other. As the Precious Mirror Commentary puts it: severing lust in the body is exactly the precept of moral discipline itself; severing lust in the mind is exactly the precept accompanying samādhi; and even this severing itself being nowhere to be found is exactly the precept accompanying the path itself. This closes the first section, distinguishing, at length, the marks of harm and benefit.

Sūtra: "As I have taught here, this is what the Buddha teaches; anyone who teaches otherwise is Māra's own teaching."

Commentary: This decisively distinguishes what is deviant from what is correct. Since this present capacity deeply guards against future ages' own deviant teachings disturbing what is correct, demon and buddha difficult to tell apart, and seeks a fixed rule for distinguishing demonic influence, the Buddha therefore uses these four root precepts as the very standard for testing and verifying it, so that practitioners of this final age might forever hold them as a fixed mirror to judge by. "As I have taught here" — that cultivating samādhi requires first severing the mind's own lust — this is exactly what is called the Buddha's own teaching, urgently to be followed. "Anyone who teaches otherwise" — that engaging in sexual union poses no obstacle to true cultivation — this is exactly what is called Māra's own teaching, swiftly to be cut off. "Māra" is a corrupted transliteration; properly rendered pāpīyas, translated "the evil one" — one capable of harming the dharma-body and injuring the very life of wisdom itself — this being the name of the demon-king in the age Śākyamuni himself appeared in the world. The character for "demon" (魔) originally used the radical for "stone" (石); Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty, holding that this being brings vexation and harm upon people, changed it to the radical for "ghost" (鬼) instead — the character used today follows this same Liang-dynasty change. This closes the first precept, severing sexual desire.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, should the sentient beings of the six destinies, throughout every world, hold no thought of killing in their minds, they would not follow the continuity of birth and death."

Commentary: This precept against killing likewise places its own emphasis on the mind — not only must the body refrain from any act of killing, but the mind, too, must refrain from giving rise to even a single thought of killing. Should even the thought of killing fail to arise, how much more so, then, any actual encounter with killing itself! Only this may be called a true keeper of the precepts, only this makes true cultivation of samādhi possible. Should the mind genuinely hold no thought of killing, one owes no life to another, and incurs no debt to another, and so naturally no longer follows this same continuity of birth and death. Why is this so? As this very sūtra puts it elsewhere: "you owe me my life, and I repay you your debt" — and, through this same cause and condition, across a hundred thousand kalpas, one remains constantly caught in birth and death; now, this debt of life no longer present, birth and death are naturally left behind!

Sūtra: "Your cultivation of samādhi is meant, at root, to escape worldly affliction — but if the mind of killing is not removed, that affliction cannot be escaped."

Commentary: Your cultivation of samādhi is meant, at root, to seek release from worldly affliction and birth and death — should the mind of killing fail to be removed, one forms enmity and incurs disaster with sentient beings, and worldly affliction can never be escaped at all!

Sūtra: "However much wisdom you may have, however much samādhi may appear before you, if killing is not severed, you will certainly fall into the way of spirits — at best, a spirit of great power; in the middle, a flying yakṣa or one of the ghost-generals; at worst, an earth-treading rākṣasa."

Commentary: As the Zhǐzhǎng Commentary puts it: fearing this mistaken reasoning — that one of great wisdom, fully understanding that the very nature of killing is empty, samādhi already effective, might commit the fault of killing even so, this seeming to have no bearing on worldly affliction at all — clever elders and household laypeople, having eaten their fill of meat, who then come seeking out monks to discuss Chan with, mostly hold to this same reasoning — and so the Tathāgata guards against this with "however much wisdom you may have" and the rest. "Wisdom" points to worldly wisdom and eloquence; "samādhi" means a defiled meditative absorption; "appear before you" means this wisdom able to penetrate through, skilled at expounding every teaching, this samādhi able to enter and emerge from its own state of absorption. Now, using this same absorption and wisdom to assist killing, one is certain to fall into the way of spirits. Though the blessed reward of ghosts and spirits differs, superior or inferior, both alike belong to an evil destiny — and so, entering from the human path, this is called a fall indeed. One of the best grade, this absorption and wisdom exceeding their own karma of killing, their own spiritual powers already great, their own blessed virtue superior as well, and so becomes a spirit of great power — corresponding to a heaven-traveling yakṣa, or one of the ghost-lords, such as those presiding over rivers and mountains, honored and worshipped among people, called "emperor" or "god." One of the middling grade, this absorption and wisdom exactly equal to their own karma of killing, their own spiritual powers and blessed virtue already inferior to the grade above, becomes a flying yakṣa, one of the ghost-generals — corresponding to a sky-traveling yakṣa, such as a spirit of mountain forests or city moats. One of the lowest grade, this absorption and wisdom inferior to their own karma of killing, their own spiritual powers already faint, their own blessed virtue inferior as well, becomes an earth-treading rākṣasa, devouring the very vital essence of people — exactly like the land of the rākṣasa ghosts, at the edge of the great ocean.

Sūtra: "Every one of these ghosts and spirits has, in turn, their own followers, each and every one of them claiming to have accomplished the unsurpassed path."

Commentary: Claiming realization not yet realized, claiming attainment not yet attained, each and every one falsely proclaiming for themselves the accomplishment of the unsurpassed path. This closes the first section, first setting forth the benefit and harm of keeping or breaking this precept.

Sūtra: "After I have passed away, in the age of the Dharma's decline, many such ghosts and spirits will flourish in the world, claiming that eating meat leads to bodhi."

Commentary: This speaks of the age after the Buddha's own passing, the age of the Dharma's decline, when the world grows corrupt and the path grows faint, and deviant demons and evil ghosts flourish throughout the world, proclaiming that eating meat leads to the true path of bodhi. As the saying goes: "wine and meat may pass through the gut, yet the Buddha still sits within the heart" — truly the words of a ghost!

Sūtra: "Ānanda, I permit monks to eat only the five kinds of pure meat, and even this meat is manifested by my own spiritual power, without any true life in it at all. Your own land of the brahmins, its soil heavy with steam and damp, sand and stone besides, where even grass and vegetables cannot grow — I have, out of great compassion, manifested this through my own spiritual power, giving it, in this same great compassion, the mere name of 'meat,' so that you might have this taste to sustain yourselves. How, then, after the Tathāgata's own passing, could there be those who eat the actual flesh of living beings, and still wish to be called disciples of Śākyamuni!"

Commentary: This anticipates and forestalls an objection. Since eating meat is itself this same teaching of ghosts, should not the Buddha strictly forbid it — why, then, did the Tathāgata himself permit monks to eat the five kinds of pure meat at all? And so he calls to Ānanda and tells him directly: "I permit monks to eat the five kinds of pure meat" — meat neither seen killed, nor heard to have been killed, nor suspected of having been killed for oneself, together with meat from an animal already dead of itself, or the leftover kill of a bird of prey — these are the five kinds of pure meat. "This meat is manifested by my own spiritual power, without any true life in it at all": the very life-root itself is made up of three things joined together — consciousness, warmth, and breath, sustaining form and mind together — this being what is called the life-root. What follows anticipates a further objection: since this is the Tathāgata's own spiritual power, why not manifest grain and vegetables instead, rather than this same pure meat, which only gives later meat-eaters an excuse to point to — how could this be the act of one who is truly compassionate? And so it says: your own land of the brahmins, its soil heavy with steam and damp — excessive heat is called "steam," and excessive moisture is called "damp" — sand and stone besides, unable not only to produce the five grains, but even grass and vegetables as well; and, were I not to manifest these five kinds of pure meat, but rice, grain, and vegetables instead, this would be so contrary to the ordinary course of things that people would find it strange indeed — and so, out of great compassion, through my own spiritual power, taking pity on your own hunger and emptiness, I manifested these five kinds of pure meat instead. Through this same great compassion, giving it the mere name of "meat," allowing you to have this taste for a time, enough to sustain your own bodies — this is by no means true meat, possessing any actual mind-nature or life-root at all. How, then, after the Tathāgata's own passing, could there be those who genuinely eat the flesh of living beings, and still wish to be called disciples of Śākyamuni? Those who left the household life from any of the four castes of the Western Regions are alike called disciples of Śākyamuni. As the Nirvāṇa Sūtra puts it: "good sons, from this very day forward, I no longer permit the eating of meat — one should regard this same food exactly as one would regard the flesh of one's own child. Whoever eats meat severs the very seed of great compassion itself."

Sūtra: "You should all know: whoever eats meat, even should their own mind open, resembling samādhi, is, in every case, nothing but a great rākṣasa, and, this same retribution exhausted, is certain to sink into the bitter sea of birth and death — no disciple of the Buddha at all. Such people kill one another, devour one another, feed upon one another without end — how could such a person ever escape the three realms?"

Commentary: This makes plain that such a fall is certain. "You should all know": wishing him to transmit and proclaim the Tathāgata's own words throughout the age of the Dharma's decline, urgently correcting this same error. One ought to know, with genuine wisdom, that whoever eats meat, even should they cultivate and study, temporarily attaining some opening of the mind, this amounts to nothing more than a resembling samādhi, never true and genuine samādhi at all. For, this greed for killing not yet removed, one is, in this very life, nothing but a great rākṣasa — and, this same retribution exhausted, this life ended, one is certain to sink into the bitter sea of birth and death, forever counted among the ghosts, no disciple of the Buddha at all. Such people, their debt of life never settled, kill one another, devour one another, feed upon one another without end, with no time when this ever ceases, no way to attain liberation from it — how, then, could such a person ever escape the three realms?

Sūtra: "In teaching people of the world to cultivate samādhi, next sever killing — this is the second decisive and pure instruction."

Commentary: This is the Buddha's own charge, to pass this teaching on to the beings of this final age. Cultivating samādhi refers exactly to the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration. "Next sever killing": set against lust, which obstructs samādhi directly, killing itself violates compassion — and so it is severed next in turn. This is called the Tathāgata's, and every past buddha's, second decisive and pure instruction for cultivation and practice.

Sūtra: "Therefore, Ānanda, cultivating meditative absorption without severing killing is like a person who plugs their own ears and then shouts loudly, hoping others will not hear — trying to hide what only becomes more exposed."

Commentary: This follows from the reason given above for the Buddha's own teaching to sever killing. Ānanda, should one cultivate meditative absorption without severing killing, one cannot attain liberation. "Like a person": likened here to one who cultivates Chan while still carrying killing. "Plugs their own ears": that is, covering the ears with one's own hands, avoiding the hearing of others, while shouting loudly at the same time — claiming that killing living beings and eating meat carries no karmic retribution at all, hoping others will not hear — this is exactly trying to hide what only becomes all the more exposed.

Sūtra: "Pure monastics and bodhisattvas, walking a forest path, will not even step on living grass, much less pull it up by hand — how, then, could one of great compassion take the flesh and blood of sentient beings for food?"

Commentary: The first two lines here point to a keeper of the precepts within the two lesser vehicles. "A forest path" is a small, forking path. Living grass grows back easily, and yet the pure assembly of the two vehicles, walking along it, will not even set foot on it, how much less pull it up by hand? If even a benevolent, compassionate mind extends this far, even to grass and trees, how, then, could one of great compassion take sentient beings' own flesh and blood for nourishment, eating it freely at will?

Sūtra: "Should monks refrain even from wearing eastern silk, cotton, damask, or brocade, or the leather boots, shoes, furs, and wool of this land, or from taking milk, cream, or ghee, such monks are truly liberated from this world — repaying their own past debts in full, they no longer wander through the three realms."

Commentary: This urges that severing killing must be carried out thoroughly, and only then can one truly be liberated from birth and death. The six lines "should monks" make plain two kinds of "wearing" or "taking": first, wearing for use — such as eastern silk, cotton, damask, and brocade, and this land's own leather boots, shoes, furs, and wool; second, taking as food — such as milk, cream, and ghee. Yet, though these are all, without exception, restricted here, the sūtras, vinaya, and treatises still make plain that they are not without their own degree of relative weight. Silk, cotton, damask, and brocade are strictly forbidden by both the greater and lesser vehicles alike, since producing them harms many lives. Leather boots, shoes, furs, and wool have always been permitted by the lesser vehicle, and are not entirely forbidden by the greater vehicle either, since these are not produced specifically by taking life for this purpose alone. Milk, cream, and ghee are permitted by both vehicles alike. What is here called "refrain from wearing" means: should one be able to refrain from them even so, this is all the more excellent. Such a monk, the fetter of the child already severed, is truly liberated within this world — yet the fetter of the fruit still remains, amounting to nothing more than repaying this same past debt. This present, remaining substance exhausted, with no further continuation of birth to follow, and so one no longer wanders through the three realms again.

Sūtra: "Why is this so? Wearing any part of another being's own body forms, in every case, a karmic bond with that being — exactly like a person who eats the hundred grains grown from the earth, whose own feet can never leave that same earth. One must bring it about that, regarding every sentient being, whether their own body or any part of their own body, both body and mind alike refrain from wearing or taking it — I declare that such a person is truly liberated."

Commentary: Why is one truly liberated from this world? "Wearing... another being's own body" points to silk, cotton, and the rest. Though not the flesh of the body itself, these are, nonetheless, some part of that same body — and using them forms, in every case, an inescapable karmic bond with that being. Exactly as, in the very beginning of this kalpa, people's own bodies carried a flying radiance, their own feet treading upon clouds — until, through eating the earth's own rich substance, they lost the ability to rise lightly, and afterward ate the hundred grains grown from the earth instead, their own feet no longer able to leave it. As for the "hundred grains": the Treatise on the Principles of Things says: liang refers, in general, to millet and broomcorn millet; dao refers, in general, to non-glutinous and glutinous rice; shu refers, in general, to every kind of bean — these three kinds of grain, twenty varieties each, making sixty in all; and vegetables and fruits, twenty kinds each as well, together forming these hundred grains.

"One must bring it about that, regarding every sentient being, whether their own body or any part of their own body": "bring it about that... body and mind" points to a monk's own body and mind; "every sentient being" points to sentient beings possessed of feeling; "their own body" means their own flesh, bones, and marrow; "any part of their own body" means fur, wool, milk, cream, and the like. "Both body and mind alike refrain from wearing or taking it": this means not only refraining, in body, from wearing or taking any sentient being's own body or any part of it, but the mind, too, holding not even a single thought of craving to wear or take it — this being both body and mind alike severed together. "I declare that such a person is truly liberated": already free of owing any life or demanding repayment of any debt, the very cause of rebirth within the three realms is thereby cut off entirely — and so such a person is declared to be truly liberated. This closes the first section, distinguishing, at length, the marks of harm and benefit.

Sūtra: "As I have taught here, this is what the Buddha teaches; anyone who teaches otherwise is Māra's own teaching."

Commentary: "As I have taught here" — that cultivating samādhi requires severing killing next — this is exactly what is called the Buddha's own teaching, urgently to be followed. "Anyone who teaches otherwise" — that eating meat poses no obstacle to bodhi — this is exactly what is called Māra's own teaching, swiftly to be kept far away. This closes the second precept, severing killing.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, should the sentient beings of the six destinies, throughout every world, hold no thought of stealing in their minds, they would not follow the continuity of birth and death."

Commentary: This severs stealing. Not only stealing another's own property, but even deceiving others through strange words and conduct, dazzling and confusing the ignorant, causing them to lose their own right mind, together with even a single thought seeking gain through improper means — all of this belongs here as well. Not only must the body refrain from stealing, but the mind, too, must hold no thought of stealing at all — only this makes one a true keeper of the precepts, only this makes true cultivation of samādhi possible. That this passage does not even mention the body refraining from stealing is because, the mind not stirring at all, how much less, then, the body? Left unsevered, this debt is repaid back and forth without end, continuing birth and death on and on; severed, one no longer follows this same continuity.

Sūtra: "Your cultivation of samādhi is meant, at root, to escape worldly affliction — but if the mind of stealing is not removed, that affliction cannot be escaped."

Commentary: As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "only one who grows weary of the sense-object can escape the sense-object — how could one who still craves the world ever transcend the world?"

Sūtra: "However much wisdom you may have, however much samādhi may appear before you, if stealing is not severed, you will certainly fall into a deviant path — at best, an elemental spirit; in the middle, a bewitching demon; at worst, a deviant person possessed by such spirits."

Commentary: This guards against this mistaken reasoning: one of great wisdom, fully understanding worldly affliction to be empty at root, samādhi already appearing before them, able, in the snap of a finger, to transcend even the rank of no further training — even without severing stealing, worldly affliction could hardly bind them, and, the proper time arriving, they would simply leave whenever they wished — why, then, say this cannot be escaped at all? Shameless practitioners of Chan often gloss over their own faults with reasoning exactly like this — and so the Tathāgata warns against it with "however much wisdom you may have, however much samādhi may appear before you." This means: even with worldly wisdom and eloquence, even with a defiled meditative absorption appearing before them, should the mind of stealing fail to be severed, one is certain to fall into a deviant path.

As the Zhǐzhǎng Commentary puts it: a deviant path takes things in secret, this mind of stealing itself being the very condition of this fall; deviant spiritual powers dazzle the world, and could never arise apart from meditative absorption and wisdom — and now, using this same absorption and wisdom to assist stealing, one is certain to fall as a result. Among this kind, the best grade, an elemental spirit, steals the very essence of the sun and moon, pilfers the very spiritual excellence of heaven and earth, attaching itself to a mountain or relying on a body of water, bewitching people into offering sacrifice to it. The middling grade, a bewitching demon, steals the very fluid essence of people and things, pilfers the very vital moisture of forests and mountains, becoming a wangliang or a wangxiang spirit, watching for its own chance to work mischief. The lowest grade, a deviant person, is one whose own nature is treacherous and crooked, whose own mind dwells in deviance and perversity. "Possessed by such spirits" means possessed by an elemental spirit, deluded by a bewitching demon, speaking falsely to deceive the world, a strange and deceptive kind that bewilders the common people. These, too, arise through this same absorption and wisdom assisting the karma of stealing, differing from one another, superior or inferior, and so incurring these three grades, best, middling, and worst.

Sūtra: "Every one of these deviant spirits has, in turn, their own followers, each and every one of them claiming to have accomplished the unsurpassed path."

Commentary: This points to those who cultivate Chan while still carrying stealing — this kind is by no means uniform, hence, "these deviant spirits," plural. They, too, have their own followers, arrogance become fixed, never turning back, deviant knowledge and deviant views, entirely unaware of their own state, sitting upright to receive offerings, seemingly no different from a buddha — hence, "each and every one of them claiming to have accomplished the unsurpassed path"; this, too, is exactly mistaking what is not the fruit for the fruit itself. This closes the first section, first setting forth the benefit and harm of keeping or breaking this precept.

Sūtra: "After I have passed away, in the age of the Dharma's decline, many such deviant spirits will flourish in the world, hiding their true nature, claiming to be spiritual guides, each declaring themselves to have attained a superior state, deceiving the ignorant, until, wherever they pass, the households they touch are ruined."

Commentary: This foretells that, in the age of the Dharma's decline after the Buddha's own passing, the Buddha's own teaching will fall into decay, and deviant spirits will find their own opportunity — hence, "many." "Flourish in the world, hiding their true nature": bewitching the multitude fiercely, flourishing widely throughout the world, concealing their own tracks in secret, hiding their own deceit and treachery, deceiving the world and stealing a false reputation. As a later passage, on delusion by demons, puts it: "secretly indulging in greed and desire, their own mouths fond of speaking of calamitous and auspicious portents" — this is exactly what is meant by "hiding their true nature." Believing in this teaching and transformation, their own minds shaken and unsettled, this deviant speech and deviant conduct, sometimes manifesting a deviant spiritual power, falsely claiming to be a spiritual guide who has attained the path. "Each declaring themselves to have attained a superior state": a "superior person" is exactly a bodhisattva, standing above the śrāvaka. This is claiming attainment not yet attained, claiming realization not yet realized, each one declaring themselves to have already attained a bodhisattva's own dharma — this deviant teacher's own arrogant self-regard. "Deceiving the ignorant, until... they lose their own right mind": frightening, deceiving, and leading astray those in the world without understanding, causing such people to lose their own original mind, forfeiting their own knowledge and vision. As a later passage, on delusion by demons, puts it: sometimes claiming the Tathāgata has appeared in some particular place, sometimes speaking of a kalpa-ending fire, sometimes speaking of war and bloodshed — this is exactly this same matter of deceiving the ignorant. "Wherever they pass, the households they touch are ruined": hearing that a buddha has appeared somewhere, people seek to be received and guided there; hearing of a kalpa-fire or of war, people hope to be rescued and saved — emptying their own households to offer everything up, and, wherever such a teacher passes, causing that household's own wealth to be exhausted entirely, without remainder.

Sūtra: "I teach monks to beg for food from house to house without discrimination, precisely so as to let go of greed and accomplish the bodhisattva path. Monks do not cook their own food, but merely lodge here to complete what remains of this present life, like a traveler passing through the three realms, showing a single journey there and back, once gone, never to return."

Commentary: This first sets my own teaching against theirs in contrast, to make the difference plain. "From house to house" means following along, place by place; I teach monks to follow along, place by place, carrying out this method of begging for food, obtaining just enough to sustain the body, neither improperly seeking nor seeking too much, so as to let go of greed, this being the very path to bodhi. Greed is the very root of affliction — this root already let go of, its branches and leaves wither away of themselves, affliction thereby left behind, and bodhi may thereby be accomplished. How could this ever be the same as a deviant spirit, dazzling the multitude with strange claims, greedy for others' own offerings, creating karma that continues birth and death instead! What follows, "monks," explains the reason for this same letting go of greed. "I teach monks not to cook their own food": so that they might know the body to be illusory, awaken to the impermanence of the world, understanding themselves to be doing nothing more than lodging here temporarily, to complete what remains of this present life alone. "Like a traveler passing through the three realms": resting on land is called "lodging," and resting on water is called "anchoring" — nothing more than borrowing these three realms as a mere inn or passing boat, showing a single journey there and back, once departed from this point on, never to return again — only conduct carried out exactly this way makes one a true disciple of the Buddha.

Sūtra: "How, then, could a thief, borrowing my very robes, peddle the Tathāgata's own teaching for profit, creating every kind of karma while claiming it to be the Buddha-dharma, and even denouncing properly ordained monks as merely following the Lesser Vehicle? By this they mislead countless beings into the Avīci hell."

Commentary: "How, then" is a word of severe rebuke. "A thief" means one who, inwardly, steals profit and gain for themselves, while, outwardly, borrowing the monastic appearance falsely. "Peddle the Tathāgata's own teaching for profit": "peddle" means to assist, and "for profit" means to sell — that is, wearing the Tathāgata's own robes, so as to assist in this same selling. This is precisely because, without wearing the Buddha's own robes, one cannot win people's own trust, making it difficult to peddle the Dharma at all. "Creating every kind of karma while claiming it to be the Buddha-dharma": that is, speaking what is not the Dharma as though it were the Dharma — deceptive words and strange conduct, dazzling and confusing people's own minds, creating every kind of karma, stopping at nothing, all the while claiming this to be the true Dharma of the very highest, single Buddha-vehicle itself.

"And even denouncing properly ordained monks as merely following the Lesser Vehicle": that is, speaking the Dharma as though it were not the Dharma — should one rebuke them with the correct teaching on begging for food described earlier, they will certainly claim themselves to be right and others wrong, going so far as to denounce truly ordained monks, complete in the precepts, genuine practitioners, as merely following the Lesser Vehicle — while falsely claiming, for themselves, to be practicing the Greater Vehicle's own bodhisattva conduct instead. "By this they mislead countless beings into the Avīci hell": because of this speaking what is not the Dharma as though it were the Dharma, countless sentient beings are led into doubt, taking the correct teaching itself for the Lesser Vehicle, and following this same false denunciation instead; and, because of this speaking the Dharma as though it were not the Dharma, countless sentient beings are cheated and misled, taking the very cause of this same karma for the true Buddha-dharma, and following this false conduct as a result — one blind person leading a crowd of the blind, all of them falling into the five kinds of Avīci hell together — how, then, could the harm of these deviant spirits ever be fully told? This closes the first section, hiding one's true nature and dazzling others being exactly this same teaching of deviant spirits.

Sūtra: "Should there be, after I have passed away, any monk who resolves decisively to cultivate this samādhi, able, before an image of the Tathāgata, to burn a single lamp upon their own body, to burn a single finger-joint, or to burn a single stick of incense upon their own body."

Commentary: This teaches this same small act of giving up the body as a cause. Should there be, after I have passed away, any monk who gives rise to this mind of the greater vehicle, decisively casting aside every conditioned mark, cultivating this samādhi — that is, exactly the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, this illusion-like samādhi. This line, below, carries the sense of one concerned that karma of stealing carried over from a past life might obstruct this excellent cultivation, and so teaches the cultivation of this same small cause. "Before an image of the Tathāgata": to make an offering to the Buddha; also to rely upon the Buddha's own power, dissolving away this past obstruction; also to seek the Buddha's own confirmation, removing one's own present attachment. Burning a lamp, burning a finger, and burning incense are all acts of giving something up — and, of everything difficult to give up, nothing surpasses one's own body itself; and now, giving up even what is hardest of all to give up, one may be confident this dissolves away past karma indeed.

Sūtra: "I declare that this person's own beginningless, past debt is thereby repaid all at once, taking their leave of the world forever, permanently freed of every outflow — and, though not yet directly clear about the unsurpassed path of awakening, this person has already resolved their own mind decisively regarding this same Dharma."

Commentary: I declare that this person, burning a lamp, burning a finger, and burning incense, has their own beginningless, past karmic debt of theft repaid all at once. Why should this small cause of giving up the body bring about so excellent a fruit? A thief takes another's own wealth, external to the body, to nourish this same body — and now, instead, giving up this very body, hardest of all to give up, as an offering to the Buddha. A single thought of giving up is itself the very light of great wisdom; this beginningless, past debt is itself darkness — and brightness is naturally able to overcome darkness, this being simply the way things are.

"Taking their leave" means bidding farewell forever; "the world" means the three realms, still subject to outflow. "Permanently freed of every outflow" means permanently freed from every outflow of views and thought, and thereby escaping birth and death. "The unsurpassed path of awakening" refers exactly to this unsurpassed, wondrous awakening, the very path of bodhi — that is, matters belonging to after the fifty-five stages of perfect penetration; though this person is not yet directly clear about the gate of perfect penetration itself, they may be confident that they will certainly attain it, decisively knowing this without the slightest doubt at all.

Sūtra: "Should one fail to carry out this small cause of giving up the body, even should one accomplish the unconditioned, one is certain to return, reborn as a human, to repay this same past debt — exactly equal, without the slightest difference, to my own eating of horse-fodder."

Commentary: Should one fail to carry out this small cause of giving up the body to repay this same debt, seeking thereby to confess and dissolve this karma, then, even should one accomplish buddhahood, attaining the undefiled, unconditioned itself, one is certain to return, reborn among humans, to repay this same past debt — since this past karma is not yet exhausted. Exactly like my own retribution of eating horse-fodder in the town of Vairañcā, no different at all.

According to the Sūtra on the Rise of Past Causes: in ages past, in the town of Vairañcā in the kingdom of Śrāvastī, King Agnidatta invited the Buddha and five hundred monks to receive offerings for three months. At that time, Māra confused the king's own mind, and he retreated into his own palace, indulging in the five desires, and the offerings ceased after only six days. This same town, further, was struck by famine, and food could not be obtained through begging. At that time, a horse-groom set aside half of his own horses' fodder to offer to the Buddha and the monastic assembly, and this continued for ninety days, until the king finally came to his senses, and went before the Buddha to confess and repent. Śāriputra inquired into the cause and condition behind this, and the Buddha said: in the past, during the age of the Buddha Vipaśyin, a king invited the Buddha and the monastic assembly to a meal; the Buddha and the assembly, having already eaten, set aside a further portion for a sick monk. Passing by a mountain where a brahmin ascetic dwelt, this ascetic, smelling the fragrance of this food, cursed them, saying: "these shaven-headed monks ought to eat horse-fodder — why give them such delicious food instead?" — and the five hundred young disciples he taught said exactly the same. That very brahmin ascetic is myself, in this present life; and those five hundred young disciples are these same five hundred arhats, now. Yet, if merely cursing the Buddha and his monastic assembly in a past life could not, even so, escape this same retribution, how much more so, then, one who steals another's own wealth, encroaching upon some part of their own body — such a person must certainly repay this same debt in turn. One should understand that a transformation-body buddha is not itself subject to karmic birth, and a true buddha is free of every measure of sense-faculty entirely — who, then, could there be to receive such retribution at all? This was shown entirely for the sake of beings who create karma, displaying that karmic retribution truly exists, so as to give rise to a wholesome fear of it — and so it is cited here, to bear out that a past debt is certain to be repaid, and, further, to show that this practice of giving up the body cannot but be cultivated.

Sūtra: "In teaching people of the world to cultivate samādhi, sever stealing next — this is the third decisive and pure instruction."

Commentary: This charges Ānanda with passing this teaching on to the beings of this final age. Cultivating samādhi refers exactly to the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration. "Sever stealing next": set against lust, which obstructs samādhi directly, and killing, which violates compassion, both of which ought, in principle, to be severed first — and so stealing takes its place after them. This is called the Tathāgata's, and every past buddha's, third decisive and pure instruction for cultivation and practice.

Sūtra: "Therefore, Ānanda, cultivating meditation without severing stealing is like a person trying to fill a leaking vessel by pouring water into it — though kalpas as numerous as dust motes may pass, it will never be filled."

Commentary: This follows from the reason given above for the Buddha's own teaching to sever stealing. Ānanda, should one cultivate meditative absorption without severing the mind of stealing, this is exactly like a person — likened here to one who cultivates Chan while still carrying stealing; a vessel is a wine-cup, and a leaking vessel is likened to this same mind that still carries stealing; water is likened to samādhi and wisdom, poured into this mind that still carries stealing, hoping thereby to accomplish perfect penetration — exactly like pouring water into a leaking vessel, hoping it will fill, only to leak out as fast as it is poured in — though kalpas as numerous as dust motes may pass, it will never be filled.

Sūtra: "Should monks, beyond their own robes and alms bowl, hoard nothing at all, however slight — whatever remains over from begging for food, given to beings still hungry."

Commentary: Should a pure monk, in this final age, beyond their own three robes and single alms bowl, be forbidden to hoard even the slightest amount — this is refraining from greed. Begging for food from house to house, obtaining only enough to sustain the body, and, should anything remain over, giving it entirely to beings still hungry — this is actively practicing freedom from stinginess. Taken together, this severs the mind of both greed and stinginess.

Sūtra: "Within a great assembly, joining the palms to bow to everyone present — even should someone strike or curse them, receiving this exactly as though it were praise."

Commentary: The first line here severs the mind of arrogance — within a great assembly, joining the palms to bow to all four groups present, since one must contemplate the true mark of equality itself, seeing every person as a buddha. The next two lines sever the mind of anger — even should someone, resenting their own persistence, strike or curse them, receiving this joyfully, exactly as though it were praise — since one must contemplate enemy and kin as a single, undivided mark, honor and disgrace alike having nothing to do with it.

Sūtra: "One must bring it about that both body and mind alike are given up entirely — one's own flesh, bones, and blood shared in common with sentient beings."

Commentary: The first two lines here sever the mind of delusion — one must bring it about that both body and mind, the two together, are able to be given up entirely, thereby severing both attachments, to self and to dharmas, this being exactly severing the mind of delusion. The next two lines transform greed, anger, delusion, and arrogance into this same great compassion of shared substance. One's own flesh, bones, and blood, all alike able to be given up — how, then, could body or mind still hold anything back at all? This requires contemplating this same suffering, empty, impermanent, selfless, impure thing, offering it up to carry out the Buddha's own work. All of this together accomplishes a mind free of stealing — everything above severs the mind of stealing with regard to both the circumstantial and direct retributions.

Sūtra: "Never taking the Tathāgata's own teachings of incomplete meaning and turning them into an interpretation of one's own, to mislead beginning students — the Buddha confirms that such a person attains true samādhi."

Commentary: This severs the mind of stealing with regard to the Buddha-dharma itself. Teachings of incomplete meaning are such as the Āgama's own saying that keeping possessions may sustain the body and advance one on the path, or the Vaibhāṣika treatise's own permitting each of a hundred kinds of item to be kept singly, forbidding only a second or third of each. "Never taking the Tathāgata's own provisional-vehicle teachings of incomplete meaning" — that is, using these to shield one's own transgression, turning them into an interpretation of one's own. This is precisely because, unable to carry out the greater vehicle's own teaching themselves, one instead twists and cites matters of incomplete meaning from the provisional, lesser teaching, misleading both oneself and others — all of this because the mind of stealing has not yet been put to death. Should one truly be able to do this, the mind of stealing entirely eradicated, this single thought entirely pure and genuine, one thereby realizes the very essence of perfect penetration itself. Cultivating on this basis is called true samādhi — and that the Buddha confirms such a person attains it is, indeed, well founded. This closes the first section, distinguishing, at length, the marks of harm and benefit.

Sūtra: "As I have taught here, this is what the Buddha teaches; anyone who teaches otherwise is Māra's own teaching."

Sūtra: "Ānanda, should the sentient beings of the six destinies, throughout every world, though their body and mind already free of killing, stealing, and sexual misconduct, these three practices already complete, engage in great false speech, this same samādhi cannot become pure; they become a demon of love and view, and lose their very Buddha-heritage entirely."

Commentary: This makes plain the precept against false speech. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: false speech is of two kinds — speaking words that are untrue is called minor false speech; falsely claiming to have realized a fruit of attainment is called great false speech. What is severed here is exactly this great false speech. Not only must the mouth refrain from uttering either kind of false speech, but the mind, too, must hold no thought of false speech at all — only this may be called pure keeping of the precepts, only this makes cultivation of samādhi possible. And so he calls to Ānanda: should the sentient beings of the six destinies, throughout every world, though their body and mind already free of killing — this being the accomplishment of compassionate conduct; free of stealing — this being the accomplishment of giving conduct; free of sexual misconduct — this being the accomplishment of pure conduct — hence, "these three practices already complete." Everything before this passage permitted such a being to escape birth and death; should they engage in great false speech, this same escape from birth and death is snatched away from them. "This same samādhi cannot become pure": because they still hold a mind that craves offerings. "They become a demon of love and view": as Wenling put it — craving offerings, seeking to be honored above others, is called a demon of love; falsely giving rise to deviant views, claiming to be equal to a sage, is called a demon of view. Having already become a demon, one remains entirely unaware of one's own state, living as though drunk or dreaming, dying to sink and drown — since every sentient being's own already-possessed mind of the tathāgatagarbha is exactly the very seed of buddhahood itself, and, now seized by these two demons of love and view, this seed of buddhahood is thereby lost — hence, "lose their very Buddha-heritage entirely."

Sūtra: "This means claiming attainment not yet attained, claiming realization not yet realized — sometimes seeking worldly renown and superiority, telling others, 'I have already attained the fruit of stream-entry, of once-returning, of non-returning, the path of arhatship, the vehicle of the pratyekabuddha, or one of the ten grounds or the stages before them,' seeking their worship and craving their offerings."

Commentary: This points to and describes the very intention behind false speech, lying entirely in craving offerings, and so committing this same great false speech. What is here called claiming bodhi not yet attained, saying it is already attained, and claiming nirvāṇa not yet realized, saying it is already realized — a later passage puts it: "how much more so, then, falsely usurping the very throne of the Dharma-king!" — this is exactly what is being condemned here. "Sometimes seeking worldly renown and superiority": this means that there may be those who, not daring to falsely claim bodhi or nirvāṇa outright, seek instead only worldly renown, to be honored as superior above others — and, for this reason, such a person before us speaks in this way: among ordinary people, the first fruit is held superior, and so they claim to have already attained the fruit of stream-entry; next, beyond the first fruit, seeing the second fruit as superior, they claim to have already attained the fruit of once-returning; next, beyond the second fruit, seeing the third fruit as superior, they claim to have already attained the fruit of non-returning; next, beyond the third fruit, seeing the fourth fruit as superior, they claim to have already attained the path of arhatship; next, beyond these transcendent, lesser-vehicle fruits, seeing the pratyekabuddha and independently-awakened middle vehicle as superior, they claim to have already attained it; or even the sages of the ten grounds, and the three grades of worthy bodhisattvas at the stages before the grounds — the ten abidings, ten practices, and ten transferences. The later passage asking how one could falsely claim to have attained a superior person's own dharma refers to exactly this. The final two lines describe exactly the intention behind this same great false speech: such a person, engaging in this kind of great false speech, does so seeking to have others bow and confess before them, craving their offerings.

Sūtra: "Such a person is utterly cut off, extinguishing the very seed of Buddhahood in themselves — like a palm tree severed at the root, the Buddha has taught, never to grow again, its knowledge and vision lost, sunk forever in the threefold sea of suffering, never to attain samādhi."

Commentary: This engaging in great false speech, seeking profit and offerings, combines the fault of false speech with that of stealing, permanently losing one's own wholesome roots. "Utterly cut off" is also called an icchantika, translated one whose wholesome roots are severed. These wholesome roots already severed, this is exactly extinguishing the very seed of buddhahood itself. "Like a palm tree severed at the root": north of the kingdom of Kanyakubja in southern India stands a forest of palmyra trees, extending more than thirty li, its leaves long, broad, glossy, and bright — every land's own scribes make use of them for writing without exception; yet, once this tree is severed with a blade, it never grows again. The Buddha has taught that such a person permanently loses their own wholesome roots, never again possessing correct knowledge or correct view, sunk forever in the bitter sea of the three lower destinies — and, even should they possess meditative absorption and wisdom, all of it serves only to feed the very work of Māra, never accomplishing true samādhi at all. This closes the first section, first setting forth the great harm of false speech.

Sūtra: "After I have passed away, I charge bodhisattvas and arhats to manifest bodies within this age of the Dharma's decline, taking on every kind of form to liberate beings caught in the wheel."

Commentary: As the Zhǐzhǎng Commentary puts it: after the Buddha's own passing, demons grow strong and the Dharma grows weak, and so bodhisattvas and arhats are charged to manifest bodies born into this same age, so as to rescue the age of the Dharma's decline and uphold the true teaching, overturning deviant schools and saving sentient beings. "Taking on every kind of form" means manifesting a transformation matched to each kind of being. "Liberate beings caught in the wheel" means bringing them out of birth and death — that is, manifesting whatever body will bring liberation to whoever is met, and expounding the Dharma through that very body.

Sūtra: "Sometimes as a monk, a layperson, a king, a minister, a youth or maiden, even, at times, as a prostitute, a widow, an adulterer, a thief, a butcher, or a merchant — living and working alongside such beings while praising the Buddha-vehicle, bringing their minds into samādhi."

Commentary: The first four lines here manifest wholesome conduct; the lines that follow manifest what appears to be transgressive conduct — exactly as the Buddha has charged, taking on every kind of form. "Sometimes" is a word of no fixed pattern — through this same wondrous, discerning wisdom, observing the capacity and manifesting a form accordingly, from monk to maiden and the rest, exactly as described in the thirty-two responses. "Even, at times, as a prostitute, a widow, an adulterer, a thief, a butcher, or a merchant": this is exactly a bodhisattva engaging with the ordinary world to benefit beings, this being exactly the means of attraction called "working alongside others," one of the four means of attraction. Should one fail to work alongside such beings, this would be to twist against their own minds, unable to accord with them at all — and so working alongside them is meant to win their own good will, so as to then praise, to them, this very highest, single Buddha-vehicle, able to turn sentient beings back from delusion toward awakening, leaving suffering behind for happiness, turning their own deviant mind toward correct samādhi instead — hence, "bringing their minds into samādhi."

Sūtra: "Never once declaring, 'I am a true bodhisattva, a true arhat,' never revealing the Buddha's own hidden purpose or speaking carelessly to those not yet ready to hear it."

Commentary: In the end, never willing to declare, of themselves, "I am a true bodhisattva, a true arhat," revealing the Buddha's own intention, this hidden cause. "Speaking carelessly to those not yet ready to hear it" means carelessly revealing this to those still young in their own learning.

Sūtra: "Except at the very moment of death, when a hidden final transmission may quietly be left behind. How, then, could such a person deceive and confuse beings through great false speech?"

Commentary: "Except at the very moment of death" means displaying the relinquishing of one's own retribution-body. "A hidden final transmission may quietly be left behind" means a final message and charge, quietly conveyed. Remaining in the world, one does not reveal it; revealing it, one no longer remains — as Chan Master Dushun's own verse puts it: "the traveler wanders on and on, climbing mountains, bowing to mounds of earth — Mañjuśrī is exactly this, right here — where else would you go looking for Amitābha?" "How, then" is a word of rebuke — "such a person" points to one possessed by the demon of love and view, using exactly this same demonic teaching of claiming attainment not yet attained, claiming realization not yet realized, to deceive and confuse beings of later ages still young in their own learning, committing this same great false speech.

Sūtra: "In teaching people of the world to cultivate samādhi, sever great false speech last of all — this is the Tathāgata's fourth decisive and pure instruction."

Commentary: The Buddha charges bodhisattvas and arhats to manifest their bodies exactly this way; you should teach later beginning practitioners, wishing to cultivate samādhi, that though they may first be able to sever lust, killing, and stealing, they must, further, also sever this same great false speech afterward — this is called the Tathāgata, of present and past alike, giving this fourth decisive, pure instruction for cultivation and practice, severing the precept against false speech. This closes the third section, passing on this teaching of every past buddha.

Sūtra: "Therefore, Ānanda, anyone who does not sever great false speech is like someone carving a shape out of human excrement and calling it sandalwood, hoping it will smell fragrant — there is no such possibility."

Commentary: This follows from the reason given above for the Tathāgata's own teaching to sever great false speech. Calling again to Ānanda: should one fail to sever great false speech, this is likened to carving dried human excrement into the shape of sandalwood — cause and fruit simply do not match. The mind and conduct of false speech is likened here to dried excrement; true cultivation through meditative absorption is likened to a sandalwood image of the Buddha — and, taking this same cause of false speech, this filth of excrement, and seeking thereby the fruit of the dharma-body attained through meditative absorption, how could this ever be possible? Hence, "hoping it will smell fragrant — there is no such possibility."

Sūtra: "I teach monks to hold a straightforward mind as their very place of practice; in every posture, in every act, they should have no falseness in them at all — how, then, could they falsely claim attainment of a superior state?"

Commentary: And so I teach monks that, without severing false speech, bodhi can never be accomplished — relying, instead, only on this same upright, straightforward mind, this itself becomes the very place of accomplishing the path. As the Avataṃsaka Sūtra puts it: "the wondrous tree of bodhi's own Dharma grows from the very ground of a straightforward mind." As the Vimalakīrti Sūtra puts it: "a straightforward mind is itself the place of practice" — since it holds no falseness at all. Within these four postures — walking, standing, sitting, and lying down — and even in speech and silence, in every single act, one must remain upright and straightforward, holding no falseness at all — how, then, could one falsely claim, of oneself, to be honored, declaring attainment of the greater or lesser vehicle, or of a superior person's own dharma?

Sūtra: "It is like a beggar falsely proclaiming himself emperor, bringing about his own execution — how much more so one who would falsely usurp the very throne of the Dharma-king! A crooked cause brings a twisted result; seeking the Buddha's bodhi this way is like a man trying to bite his own navel — who could ever succeed at that?"

Commentary: A beggar is likened here to samādhi not yet accomplished, this nature's own virtue not yet manifest. "Falsely proclaiming himself emperor" is exactly this same great false speech, claiming attainment not yet attained, claiming realization not yet realized. An emperor is the ruler of an entire nation — falsely proclaiming oneself such brings about, of itself, execution of one's entire clan, the ruin of one's entire household. The two lines "how much more so" carry the sense of arguing from the lesser to the greater — meaning that even the worthies and sages of the three vehicles cannot be falsely usurped, how much less, then, the Buddha, this transcendent Dharma-king himself — how could this ever be falsely usurped? "A crooked cause brings a twisted result": taking this same great false speech as one's own cause, this cause itself is not true, and so the matter of the fruit-stage cannot avoid being crooked and twisted as well — seeking to advance, one instead retreats; seeking to rise, one instead falls — and seeking the Buddha's own fruit of bodhi this way naturally cannot succeed at all. "Like a man trying to bite his own navel": "bite" means to gnaw with the mouth; "navel" is exactly the navel of the belly — meaning that mouth and navel remain too far apart from one another, never able to reach each other at all — and so, having committed this same false speech oneself, extinguishing the very seed of buddhahood, who, then, could one possibly hope to accomplish this through?

Sūtra: "But if monks keep their minds as straight as a taut string, entirely true and real in everything, they will enter samādhi forever free of demonic interference — I myself attest that such a person accomplishes the bodhisattva's unsurpassed knowledge and awareness."

Commentary: This deeply affirms that severing great false speech is certain to accomplish unsurpassed bodhi. Should monks keep their minds as straight as a bowstring, holding no mark of flattery or crookedness at all — the mind is the very master of these four postures; the mind straight, then, within all four postures, every act, every practice, is, without exception, entirely true and genuine, forever free of falseness, and so is able to enter directly into samādhi. "Forever free of demonic interference": demonic conduct is deviant and treacherous — the mind now straight and conduct now genuine, Māra can find no opportunity at all — and so I myself attest that such a person accomplishes the bodhisattva's own unsurpassed knowledge and awareness. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: this bodhisattva's own unsurpassed knowledge and awareness is exactly the true, causal-stage mind of perfect penetration itself — yet, taking this cause to determine this fruit, this is, indeed, unsurpassed bodhi as well! This closes the first section, distinguishing the precept and its exhortation at length.

Sūtra: "As I have taught here, this is what the Buddha teaches; anyone who teaches otherwise is Māra's own teaching."

Commentary: As I have taught here — that, having already severed lust, killing, and stealing, one must, further, sever great false speech as well — this is exactly what is correct, exactly called the Buddha's own teaching, urgently to be followed. Should this not be so taught — that, these first three already severed, great false speech poses no obstacle to true cultivation — this is exactly what is deviant, exactly Māra's own teaching, to be deeply cut off. This is exactly the Tathāgata wishing Ānanda to transmit and proclaim the Tathāgata's own words throughout the age of the Dharma's decline, protecting beginning, genuine practitioners, so that they might recognize the heavenly demon, and not be deceived by it. This closes the fourth precept, severing false speech — and, together with it, closes these three sections above, opening and explaining these four grave precepts in full.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, you asked about gathering the mind — I have now first taught the wondrous gate for a beginning practitioner's own study, entering samādhi. One who seeks the bodhisattva path must first uphold these four kinds of monastic discipline, as clear as ice and frost — and, this done, one is naturally unable to give rise to any further branch or leaf of transgression at all. The three of mind and the four of speech will then, necessarily, have no cause to arise."

Commentary: Ānanda first asked: wishing to gather in the mind and enter samādhi, how might one set up a place of practice, so as to stay far from every demonic affair? The Buddha, settling this intention directly, now closes with this summary: Ānanda, you asked me about this method of gathering the mind — I have now first taught these four kinds of monastic discipline, this being exactly this most wondrous gate for a beginning practitioner's own study in entering samādhi, referring to the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration. This wondrous gate is exactly these four kinds of monastic discipline — and so whoever seeks the bodhisattva path must first uphold these same four kinds of discipline, body and mind spotless, without the slightest transgression, clear as ice, clear as frost — and, this done, the very root is already removed, since lust, killing, stealing, and false speech, these four, are the root precepts themselves; the root uprooted, its branches can never be nourished, and one naturally becomes unable to give rise to any further branch or leaf at all. "The three of mind" points to greed, anger, and delusion; "the four of speech" points to false speech, idle chatter, divisive speech, and harsh speech — all of these being branches and leaves. Yet greed, anger, and delusion belong to the great afflictions — and now, lust, killing, stealing, and false speech having been stopped and cut off at the level of the mind itself, not even a single thought of them arises at all. This root already removed, these branches and leaves have nothing left to grow from at all — hence, "will then, necessarily, have no cause to arise." And so it is indeed fitting that strictly upholding these four grave precepts should be called this wondrous gate for study and cultivation!

Sūtra: "Ānanda, should these four matters never once be lost, the mind would no longer even condition form, fragrance, taste, or touch — how, then, could any demonic affair ever arise at all?"

Commentary: This certainly keeps demonic influence far away by cutting off sense-objects entirely. Should these four matters be upheld and guarded, allowing not even a single thought to leak into any of these four grave transgressions, then the mind, constantly abiding in the precepts, would no longer even condition the sense-objects of form, fragrance, taste, and touch — four of the six sense-objects named, the remaining two understood by the same example. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: "the sense-object depends on thought to remain present — thought severed, what could the sense-object possibly depend upon? A demon relies on the sense-object to enter — the sense-object gone, what could the demon possibly rely upon? Hence, 'how, then, could any demonic affair ever arise at all?'" This closes the first section, correctly teaching the upholding of the precepts.

Sūtra: "Should there be any habits carried over from past lives that cannot be dissolved away, teach such a person to recite, single-mindedly, my own unsurpassed sacred mantra of the Buddha-crown's own light, Mahā-sitātapatra."

Commentary: This directly urges holding this mantra. "Past" means past lives; "habits" means delusion and karma, the seed of habituated tendency. As Wenling put it: karma in the present life has already been restrained, and one's own conduct can be changed accordingly; but habits from past lives are difficult to dissolve away, and require, without fail, the assistance of spiritual power. Now, a practitioner may love what is correct, yet find themselves firmly caught in what is deviant; may wish for purity, yet find themselves inclined toward defilement — as though, unseen, something were driving them on, unable to stop themselves — this being exactly what habits from past lives do.

Only the inconceivable power of this sacred mantra is able to dissolve them away — and so it says: teach such a person to recite, single-mindedly, my own sacred mantra of the Buddha-crown's own light. Reciting a mantra "single-mindedly" admits of both an actual and a principled sense. Single-mindedness in actual practice: the mind capable of holding it holds the mantra held, subject and object clearly distinguished, continuing on without a break. Single-mindedness in principle: the mind capable of holding it is entirely this mantra itself, and the mantra held is entirely this mind itself — subject and object both gone, mind and mantra not two different things at all, the mantra being itself the mind, and the mind being itself the mantra. This mantra was spoken by a transformation-buddha manifested from the Buddha's own crown-light, precisely so as to represent the very most honored among the honored, the very most secret among the secret. A buddha is, by nature, already the most honored being in the world — and now, this being a transformation-buddha manifested from the Buddha's own crown, this is indeed the most honored among the honored. The crown cannot be seen, and is the very most secret thing in the world — and now, this being a transformation-buddha, its teaching arising in radiance from this same crown, this is indeed the most secret among the secret — and this, too, is borrowed here to represent the very meaning of dissolving away these habitual tendencies. "Mahā-sitātapatra" translates "the great, white canopy" — "great" represents the very substance of the tathāgatagarbha's own mind, cut off from every counterpart; "white" represents the very mark of the tathāgatagarbha's own mind, free of every false defilement; "canopy" represents the very function of the tathāgatagarbha's own mind, universally covering everything at once. Being exactly this same mind of the tathāgatagarbha, it is therefore called unsurpassed, this spiritual, wondrous mantra beyond all measure.

Sūtra: "This is exactly the sacred mantra spoken by the Tathāgata's own unseen crown-mark, this unconditioned mind-buddha, arising in radiance from this same crown, seated upon a jeweled lotus."

Commentary: "This" points to this same sacred mantra, saying that this mantra belongs to the Tathāgata's own unseen crown-mark — that is, the very first of the Buddha's own thirty-two major marks, called the fleshy-crown mark. And it is called "unseen" because, as the Avataṃsaka Sūtra records, even a bodhisattva of the ninth ground, serving as the Buddha's own wet-nurse, holding him up and gazing closely, could still not see the very top of his own crown — showing that this crown-dharma cannot ever be seen by ordinary seeing at all. "This unconditioned mind-buddha": arising from the World-Honored One's own fleshy-crown mark, a hundred kinds of treasure-light surging forth — hence, "arising in radiance from this same crown." Within this light, a thousand-petaled, jeweled lotus surges forth, upon which a transformation-Tathāgata sits — hence, "seated upon a jeweled lotus." The Buddha is called "unconditioned" because this is exactly the Tathāgata entering samādhi, manifesting from within this same unconditioned mind. Emitting this light once more, and speaking this mind-mantra — since this is exactly every buddha's own mind-seal, its own very substance being exactly the tathāgatagarbha itself. This closes the first section, directly urging the holding of this mantra and praising its excellence.

Sūtra: "And you yourself, further, throughout kalpas of cause and condition with Mātaṅgī across past lives, this same habituated tendency of love and desire was not the work of a single life, or even a single kalpa — yet, the moment I proclaimed this mantra, her own mind of love was forever released, and she attained arhatship."

Commentary: This displays the inconceivable power of this mantra. Taking up, for a moment, this recent matter as an example: you and the woman Mātaṅgī share a cause and condition across past lives, this same affection and love, this seed of habituated tendency, not the work of a single life or even a single kalpa — its own origin lies far back indeed! Difficult to be freed from it, exactly as was said earlier: "you loved my mind, and I was drawn to your beauty — and, through this same cause and condition, across a hundred thousand kalpas, we remained constantly bound to one another." According to the Mātaṅgī Sūtra: once Ānanda had returned, this woman would not stop weeping, continuing to think of Ānanda without end. She followed him all the way to Jetavana, and the Buddha had her summoned and brought before him, asking her directly: what is it you seek, pursuing Ānanda this way? The woman said: I have heard that Ānanda has no wife, and I, too, have no husband. The Buddha said: Ānanda has no hair — could you shave your own head as he has? The woman returned and told her mother, and had already agreed to shave her head. The Buddha asked: what is it about Ānanda that you love? She answered: I love Ānanda's eyes, ears, mouth, nose, and his whole bodily form as well. The Buddha said: Ānanda's eyes hold nothing but tears; his ears hold nothing but wax; his mouth holds nothing but saliva; his nose holds nothing but mucus; his body holds nothing but urine and excrement. Should you become husband and wife, this brings with it every kind of impurity; and this impurity brings children; and children bring death in turn; and once there is death, there is weeping and wailing besides — what benefit, then, could this body ever bring you, and what is there left in it for you to love? Hearing these words, the woman corrected her own mind at once, and thereby entered the path directly. "The moment I proclaimed this mantra, her own mind of love was forever released": this refers to the very moment the Buddha first proclaimed this mantra, commanding Mañjuśrī to take it and go to her protection — this evil spell dissolved away at once, and, the very moment she heard this sacred mantra, through this same hidden power of habituation and blessing, her own past habituated tendency was dissolved away entirely; and, upon seeing the Buddha and hearing the Dharma, this river of love dried up completely, and she directly realized the third fruit at once — hence, "her own mind of love was forever released." "Attained arhatship" refers to her attaining the fourth fruit, described earlier, after hearing Mañjuśrī's own selection of perfect penetration. This is precisely because, first receiving the blessing of this mantra's own power, dissolving away this same past habituated tendency, and then, further, relying on the sound of the Dharma, awakening to and realizing this sagely fruit — had it not been for this same power of the mantra, removing this past habituated tendency, how could her own mind of lust ever have been so swiftly dissolved away, according with the unconditioned Dharma itself?

Sūtra: "Even she, still a woman given to lust, without any mind set on cultivation at all, was swiftly brought, through this same spiritual power working invisibly, to realize the rank beyond further training. How, then, could you, present in this assembly, śrāvakas seeking the very highest vehicle, resolved decisively upon accomplishing buddhahood — how could this be anything more difficult than scattering dust into a following wind?"

Commentary: And, further, Mātaṅgī's own habituated tendency ran heavy, still counted a woman given to lust, without any mind set on cultivation at all — yet, simply through this same mantra's own unfathomable power, this same effort of habituating blessing, she was, even so, swiftly brought to realize the fruit beyond further training. "How, then" is a word of deep astonishment, meaning: how could you, whose own delusion and habituated tendency run so much lighter, present in this assembly as śrāvakas — including both those still in training and those beyond it: those still in training having severed the affliction of views, and those beyond training having severed the affliction of thought — how could you be any different from Mātaṅgī, still counted a woman given to lust? And, further, what you yourselves seek is nothing less than this very highest, single vehicle, resolved decisively, with genuine confidence, upon the very path of buddhahood itself — how, then, could this be any different from Mātaṅgī's own lack of any mind set on cultivation at all?

"Scattering dust": dust is likened here to habituated tendency, and a following wind is likened to this same mantra. Scattering fine dust into a following wind, not a single speck remains — likened to habituated tendency encountering this sacred mantra, not a single trace of it remaining either — what difficulty, what danger, could there possibly be in this at all? This closes the first section, setting forth in detail the strict precepts to be upheld beforehand.

Sūtra: "Should there be one, in this final age, wishing to sit within a place of practice, first upholding a monk's own pure, prohibitive precepts — one must select a monastic of pure precepts, foremost among monks, to serve as one's own teacher; should one fail to encounter a genuinely pure monastic, one's own monastic discipline can never be accomplished."

Commentary: This makes plain how samādhi arises from precepts, this diligent cultivation of monastic discipline forming its own very root. Should there be, in this final age, one cultivating the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, resolving to sit within this same place of cultivating the path, they must first uphold these same four grave, pure, prohibitive precepts belonging to a monk — "pure" at the source meaning purifying its very origin, and "pure" in its flow meaning purifying its own continuation — exactly as described above: first upholding these four kinds of monastic discipline, as clear as ice and frost, and thereby naturally unable to give rise to any further branch or leaf of transgression. At the very time of receiving the precepts, one must select the teacher who confers them — for this teacher is the very model for the student, and, should this model itself be improper, few could ever rely on it to become a proper vessel of the Dharma. One must, without fail, select a monastic whose own precept-root is pure, foremost among monks, to serve as this same teacher. "Foremost" means one whose own years in the Dharma and years of ordination are both long, esteemed by the assembly — only such a monastic is able to bring this formal proceeding to completion in harmony; only by using such a one as one's own teacher can this karmic procedure be properly accomplished. Should one fail to encounter a genuinely pure, great monastic, then, though one may receive the precepts formally, this amounts to nothing more than an empty name — the true, undefiled substance of the precepts themselves will, without fail, never be accomplished at all. Only upon encountering a genuine monastic, pure in the precepts, complete in both virtue and years of ordination, are the precepts truly accomplished.

Sūtra: "The precepts thus accomplished, wearing new, clean robes, burning incense in quiet dwelling, one recites this mind-mantra spoken by the Buddha one hundred and eight times, and only then marks off the boundary and establishes the place of practice."

Commentary: The precepts thus accomplished, this vessel fit for the path complete, Māra can find no opportunity at all — and, according to one's own means, whether abundant or slight, one either wears new robes, or washes existing ones until clean, and, wearing these same robes, both outward and inward alike are made pure. Burning incense to fill this same room, dwelling quietly to gather in this same mind, mind and place habituating one another together — reciting this mantra in this state, its own spiritual effect is easily achieved, and this same past habituated tendency is easily removed. Reciting this mantra one hundred and eight times represents the very number of afflictions it treats — every sentient being's own afflictions numbering one hundred and eight — and so, through the precepts opposing present karma, and this mantra removing past habituated tendency, Māra can find no opportunity at all. Only afterward may one select a day and establish this same place of cultivating the path. As the Zhǐzhǎng Commentary puts it: marking off this ritual platform requires reciting this mantra first, for two reasons: first, treating habituated tendency and purifying this same root, this ritual form is thereby made manifest; second, relying on this mantra's own spiritual efficacy, keeping every demonic affair far away. Whoever aspires to practice the path cannot but know this.

Sūtra: "Seeking, throughout the ten directions, from every land now present, the unsurpassed Tathāgatas, to emit their own light of great compassion, coming to bathe one's own crown."

Commentary: This seeks the Buddha from within samādhi itself. The two sections above dealt with the intent behind the precepts; this present passage is exactly the samādhi that arises from them. This is precisely because, once a sentient being's own mind, like water, grows clear, every buddha's own reflection appears within it — this same water of the mind grown calm and clear is itself exactly samādhi, and so one knows that this passage is already within samādhi itself. "Seeking, throughout the ten directions, from every land now present": that is, presently seated within this place of practice; "the unsurpassed Tathāgatas" means those who transcend all nine Dharma-realms, standing alone in honor — this belongs to what is sought. "Emit their own light of great compassion": this light emitted from this same mind of great compassion, coming to bathe one's own crown, body and mind alike benefiting from it — this belongs to what responds. Stimulus and response meeting one another, one may practice the path without further worry! This closes the first section, samādhi arising from the precepts.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, should such pure monks, in this final age, or nuns, laymen, or laywomen, their minds free of craving and lust, uphold the Buddha's own pure precepts, and, within this place of practice, give rise to the bodhisattva's own vows."

Commentary: The section above dealt with wisdom arising from samādhi; this present section deals with wisdom arising from samādhi. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: what comes earlier does not include what comes later, but what comes later must, without fail, include what comes earlier. The earlier section merely cited precepts and moved on to samādhi; this present section names samādhi as the cause in summary, while its own text cites both precepts and samādhi together as this same cause.

Ānanda, in this final age, marking off this boundary and establishing this platform is permitted only to pure monks; yet, once this ritual form is already established, its actual practice is not restricted to any one of the four assemblies — hence, "or nuns, laymen, or laywomen." Both assemblies who have left the household life, their own precepts kept consistently, are together called "pure"; the two lay assemblies are together called "laymen and laywomen" — a term combining Chinese and Sanskrit together, "dāna" translated "giving," and "beyond" because giving is able to carry one beyond the bitter sea of poverty. This permission is now extended universally because every sentient being alike possesses the buddha-nature, and every one alike is capable of this same practice. Though all four assemblies share this same platform, each must, without fail, follow their own proper order — an upāsaka following behind the monks, an upāsikā following behind the nuns — this being a fixed and settled order. "Their minds free of craving and lust" points to the laity, their minds free of every thought of craving, delusion, lust, and desire. "Uphold the Buddha's own pure precepts" points to those who have left the household, strictly upholding every pure precept and rule set down by every buddha, body and mind never transgressing them — only this truly suffices. Should this not be so, one must not permit indiscriminate participation, lest it obstruct the very work of the path. And, within this same place of cultivating the path, one gives rise, throughout, to the bodhisattva's own four great vows, this being the very occasion for stirring the Buddha's own response.

Sūtra: "Leaving and returning to bathe, practicing the path throughout all six periods of the day and night, remaining thus without sleep for three full weeks — I myself will manifest my own body, appearing before this person, touching their crown to comfort and reassure them, bringing them to awakening."

Commentary: As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: whenever one leaves this place of practice and then returns to it, one must, without fail, bathe — purifying the body outwardly. Practicing the path throughout all six periods means fixing one's attention, throughout, on turning hearing back upon itself, walking in meditation to dispel any drowsiness — gathering in the mind inwardly. Throughout the twelve double-hours of day and night, six periods spent practicing the path in walking meditation, and six periods spent sitting still, evenly balancing drowsiness and restlessness — as with practicing the path during the hour of the rat, sitting still during the hour of the ox, practicing the path during the hour of the tiger, sitting still during the hour of the hare, and so on. Yet, whether walking or sitting, what is practiced throughout is nothing but turning hearing back to hear one's own nature, entering the stream and letting go of what is heard. The two lines that follow close this with a fixed period of samādhi, entered decisively within this same span of time. "Without sleep" carries two senses: first, removing any drowsy unawareness; second, guarding against forgetting to turn hearing back upon itself. This section directly cites samādhi, making plain these two words, "arising from"; the section that follows deals with wisdom being born from it.

This mind of samādhi is the very direct cause of wisdom being born. "I myself will manifest my own body, appearing before this person" — touching their crown represents this same intent of gathering them in and conferring this teaching upon them; comforting and reassuring them bestows the power of fearlessness — this being the supporting condition. This cause and this condition both now complete, one is brought to a sudden, thorough understanding, a bright, great awakening. As the Standard Meaning Commentary puts it: yet this awakening admits of every shade, shallow and deep alike, not fixed to any single mark — should one attain the state where the two marks of motion and stillness become unarisen, this gives rise to the wisdom of the stream-enterer's own path of seeing; should one attain the exhaustion of both the hearing and what is heard, this gives rise to the arhat's own wisdom of the emptiness of self; should one attain the extinguishing of both emptiness and what was emptied, this accomplishes the wisdom of the emptiness of dharmas; should one attain the appearing of still cessation itself, this gives rise to the unsurpassed wisdom of knowledge and awareness belonging to perfect penetration itself. As Master Gushan put it: should one behold such an image, one ought to contemplate it as empty and still — if it is truly the Buddha, this will be plainly evident; if it is a demon, it will vanish away at once. This closes the first section, the initial, brief account of the place of practice.

Sūtra: Ānanda said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, I have received the Tathāgata's own unsurpassed, compassionate instruction, and my mind has already awakened — I know, of myself, that cultivation and realization, the path beyond further training, will be accomplished. For practicing in the age of the Dharma's decline, in setting up a place of practice, how should one mark off its boundary, in accord with the Buddha, the World-Honored One's, own pure standards?"

Commentary: This is Ānanda's own renewed request, asking about the place of practice. Though entering a place of practice was already mentioned earlier, how such a place is actually to be built was not yet explained — and so he asks again. Ānanda, receiving the teaching to uphold the precepts and keep demonic influence at bay, and further being told to recite this mantra to remove habituated tendency, and, further still, to be shown how to mark off this ritual platform and practice the path — everything I have received in this instruction flows entirely from the Tathāgata's own utmost, compassionate mind, hence, "unsurpassed, compassionate instruction." "My mind has already awakened": that is, exactly as the Buddha has taught, clouds scattering across the vast sky, the mind now like a bright, clear moon, awakening already attained — and I know, of myself, that, from this point on, simply practicing this turning of hearing back upon itself in cultivation and realization, without even needing a place of practice at all, can bring the path beyond further training to completion. "Beyond further training" here does not mean only the fourth fruit, but refers, rather, to perfect penetration's own three emptinesses and every one of its fruit-stages.

Practicing in the age of the Dharma's decline, the path rises a single foot, and Māra rises ten — setting up a place of practice is, of itself, no small matter. In the end, how should one mark off its boundary, so as to accord with the Buddha's own rule, and not violate the World-Honored One's own pure standards? This closes the first section, Ānanda's own renewed request.

Sūtra: "The Buddha told Ānanda: should one, in this final age, wish to set up a place of practice, first take dung from a bull of great strength, white in color, from the Snowy Mountains, feeding on the rich, fragrant grass of that mountain, drinking only the pure water of the Snowy Mountains — its dung is fine and delicate — and one may take this same dung, mixed together with sandalwood, to plaster the ground of this place."

Commentary: This shows how a place of practice is to be built. For a sage's own arrangements make manifest both principle and actual event together — the event accomplished in dependence on principle, and principle made manifest through the event; this is by no means merely a ritual form set up for the sake of outward appearance alone. The Buddha told Ānanda: sentient beings of this final age, their own obstructions deep and their own karma heavy, find it difficult to cultivate practice without setting up a place of practice — hence, "wish to set up." Fearing that the ground where this platform is set up might be impure, one must, without fail, apply a fresh coating of plaster to it. Every school of symbolic interpretation has its own particular strength; only the Precious Mirror Commentary interprets every symbol, from beginning to end, in a way that accords with the very method of cultivating perfect penetration — and so it is relied upon throughout here. The Snowy Mountains represent the very unchanging principle-substance of true suchness, this dharma-nature itself. The bull of great strength, white in color, represents this same nature's own inherent purity, the very root and correct wisdom itself. It is taken first because it eats and drinks exactly as this method prescribes, and one takes its dung, mixing it with fragrant sandalwood, to plaster this same ground. "Feeding on the rich, fragrant grass of that mountain": the Snowy Mountains hold a grass named "forbearance," eating which one may obtain ghee, rich and fatty — its dung, correspondingly, pure and fragrant. This bull drinking only the pure water of the Snowy Mountains — this fragrant grass represents the three kinds of wisdom, and this pure water represents correct samādhi. That water and grass alone govern this bull represents exactly a practitioner's own habituation, samādhi and wisdom held in perfect balance. This dung, fine and delicate, represents exactly samādhi arising from precepts, and wisdom arising from samādhi. "One may take this same dung, mixed together with sandalwood, to plaster the ground of this place": removing the old ground and covering it with this fresh plaster represents the three undefiled trainings, able to habituate the dharma-body, forming this true, causal ground itself.

Sūtra: "Should such a bull, from the Snowy Mountains, not be available, other cattle's own dung is foul and unclean, unfit for plastering the ground. Choose, instead, a level plain, and dig away the surface soil to a depth of five feet, taking the pure, yellow earth beneath."

Commentary: "Choose a level plain": choosing, instead, a level plain — for a raised mound might have impurities gathered upon it, and a low hollow might collect filth flowing into it. Digging away the surface soil to a depth of five feet, taking this same, inherently pure, yellow earth beneath, and using it instead. Should this white bull of the Snowy Mountains not be available, this represents taking up, instead, a middling capacity. "Dig away the surface soil to a depth of five feet" represents clearing away every outward concern, cultivating this turning of hearing back upon itself exclusively, from untying the knot through to breaking through the five aggregates. "Taking this same, pure, yellow earth" represents this: yellow, the color occupying the very center, represents the very center of the six sense-faculties, this middle-way buddha-nature itself.

Sūtra: "Mix with this earth sandalwood, aloeswood, storax, frankincense, saffron, benzoin, costus root, spikenard, valerian, and clove — these ten kinds of incense, finely ground into powder, mixed with this earth to form a paste, and used to plaster the ground of this place, sixteen feet across, whether square or round, forming an octagonal platform."

Commentary: Mixing in these ten kinds of incense, sandalwood and the rest, represents the ten perfections. "Finely ground into powder" represents these ten perfections broadly expanded into ten thousand practices. "Mixed with this earth to form a paste" represents these ten thousand practices being nothing but mind itself. "Used to plaster the ground of this platform" represents accomplishing this true, causal ground. "Sixteen feet across, whether square or round, forming an octagonal platform": this fixes the very form of this platform, representing the eightfold correct path gathering in the eight deviant paths. An octagon is square yet also round, round yet also square — representing substance and function not being two different things at all, event and principle alike converging on the same point.

The white bull described above represents, precisely, one of the very highest capacity, able to remain free of discriminating thought, the three conditions cut off at once, the three causes no longer arising, this deranged nature coming to rest of itself — and this very rest is itself bodhi; likened here to using nothing but this bull's own dung, mixed together with sandalwood alone. Should one be unable to bring this deranged nature to rest directly, at once, one must, instead, know how to cultivate practice through the two decisive meanings, breaking through the five aggregates at the very gateway of the six sense-faculties, attaining this original, bright awakening's own unborn, unceasing nature as the causal-stage mind, further adding these four kinds of monastic discipline and the five-part sacred mantra, and only then accomplishing this wondrous cultivation — likened here to mixing in this pure, yellow earth, adding, beyond sandalwood alone, these nine further kinds of incense.

The Sanskrit candana translates "giving happiness," that is, white sandalwood incense. Zhu Fazhen records that white sandalwood trees grow on Mount Luo, in a foreign land. This sūtra uses it to plaster the ground here — not the same as the sandalwood "on this shore," described in the Lotus Sūtra, six shu in weight, worth an entire Sahā world. Aloeswood: the Record of Strange Things records that it comes from the kingdom of Rinan; whoever wishes to gather it fells the tree and lays it upon the ground, where it decays for a long while, until its own heartwood becomes utterly solid, sinking when placed in water. Storax: the Continued Book of Han records that it comes from the great kingdom of Da Qin; combining various fragrances and boiling their sap together is called storax — or, some say, the people of the kingdom of Storax itself gather flowers, press out their sap, boil it into a paste, and sell it to traveling merchants. Frankincense: the Record of Plants and Trees of the South records that it comes from a great tree by the seashore in the kingdom of Da Qin, growing amid the sand; in high summer, this tree's own resin flows out over the sand, its nature able to relieve pain, and is gathered and sold. Saffron: the Shuōwén Dictionary records that this fragrant offering-wine is made from the finest of a hundred kinds of flower, brought as tribute from distant lands; the officials in charge of it pound and boil it, mixing it with wine to invoke the descent of the spirits. Benzoin: the Materia Medica records that it is found in abundance in the region between Shang and Luo, its tree resembling a white poplar, its fruit as large as a bird's egg, able to dispel foul vapors and clear up skin eruptions — this being exactly the resin of the sweetgum tree. Costus root: the Record of Strange Things of the Southern Regions records that it is the root of an herb, able to rouse one from nightmares, resembling licorice root in appearance, found in Jiaozhou. Spikenard: the Record of the Southern Yue records that it is also called "swallow-grass," or "fragrant-smoke grass," found among the mountain valleys of Lingling commandery, its leaves resembling sweet basil, able to clarify the essence and brighten the eyes. Valerian: found among the mountains of Liangzhou, able to harmonize and blend every fragrance together, able to relieve bloating of the abdomen, and able, further, to bring down excess energy. Clove: the Record of Strange Things records that it comes from Boluozhou, said to be a withered form of a certain herb, held in the mouth by Secretariat officials of the Han dynasty while reporting matters to the throne, for, taken over a long period, it is said to make one's own body and speech both fragrant — this being exactly the clove itself. "The ground of this place" is exactly what the esoteric teachings call marking out the ground to form a ritual space. Yet, wishing to cultivate samādhi, one must, without fail, select a day, mark off this boundary, and build this platform; and, once this practice is complete, one must dissolve this boundary and dismantle this platform at once, never leaving it standing until the first light of dawn appears — this being a fixed rule. As the ancients put it: raised earth is called an altar, and cleared earth is called a shan (a cleared, swept space). The Discourses of the States records: what an altar clears away is called a "field." "Raised earth" means exactly earth that has been built up. This present "ground of this place" may be understood exactly as this same cleared shan — and yet, since it is already called an altar here, earth must, without fail, be raised up as well; and so the ground is first cleared to form this same field, and afterward this pure, yellow earth is specially taken, mixed with incense, and, upon this same field, plastered and raised up, forming the shape of this altar, set at the very center of the room — this displays the very method of the Śūraṅgama's own ritual platform. This closes the first section, the very form of the platform to be built.

Sūtra: "At the very center of this platform, place a lotus made of gold, silver, copper, or wood; within this lotus, set an alms-bowl, and, within this bowl, first fill it with dew gathered in the eighth month, and, within this water, set whatever flowers and leaves are at hand. Take eight round mirrors, and set them each in their own direction, surrounding this same lotus and bowl. Beyond these mirrors, set up sixteen lotus flowers and sixteen incense burners, these flowers interspersed among them, adorning these same burners. Burn nothing but aloeswood, allowing no open flame to be seen at all."

Commentary: This makes plain the adornments set up within this platform. This lotus, made of gold, silver, copper, or wood — this is done according to one's own means, with no need to be rigidly fixed to any one material. The very center of this platform represents the causal-stage mind of the middle way, this original substance of true suchness itself. This lotus represents cause and fruit arising at the same time, defilement and purity not being two different things at all. "Made" represents this: within the very stage of true suchness itself, there is, originally, no cause, no fruit, no defilement, no purity at all — it is only through according with conditions that these causes and fruits, defiled and pure, come to be formed. This bowl, named "a vessel that responds," represents the tathāgatagarbha, event and principle perfectly interfused, responding to the very measure of each sentient being's own mind and understanding. This dew of the eighth month represents the middle way's own pure, genuine nature, this wondrous samādhi of the Śūraṅgama itself. Setting whatever flowers and leaves are at hand represents this illusion-like habituation of hearing and cultivation of hearing turned back, this wondrous wisdom of the middle way. These eight mirrors, set each in their own direction, represent every sentient being's own already-possessed eighth consciousness, this great, perfectly round mirror of wisdom, never once departing from wherever one presently stands. Surrounding this same lotus and bowl represents this wondrous wisdom constantly relying upon the mind of the tathāgatagarbha. Setting up these lotus flowers and incense burners beyond these mirrors represents giving rise to practice in dependence on this same wisdom, cultivation arising from this nature itself. That each of these must number sixteen represents this wisdom-flower and this precept-fragrance, each cultivating the eightfold correct path for oneself, and transforming others through this same eightfold correct path as well. These flowers interspersed, adorning these same burners, represents precepts and wisdom mutually adorning one another, returning to cultivate this same nature. Burning nothing but aloeswood, allowing no open flame to be seen, represents this markless, wondrous precept, present within delusion and karma yet unstained by delusion and karma at all. This closes the second section, the adornments set up within this platform.

Sūtra: "Take milk from this same white bull, and set it out in sixteen vessels — milk baked into pastry, together with every kind of raw sugar, oil-cakes, milk porridge, storax, honeyed ginger, pure clarified butter, and pure honey, arranged, sixteen of each, beyond this lotus, surrounding it, offered up to every buddha and every great bodhisattva."

Commentary: This makes plain the offerings set out within this platform. Taking milk from this white bull of the Snowy Mountains, setting it out in sixteen vessels, to be used as offerings. First, milk baked into pastry, meaning milk cooked down and baked into a pastry. Second, every kind of raw sugar, meaning sugarcane juice boiled down into sugar, granular like sand yet sweet. Third, oil-cakes, meaning cakes made of oil mixed with flour, rich and crisp. Fourth, milk porridge, meaning rice cooked with milk into a sweet, sticky porridge. Fifth, storax, meaning every kind of fragrance blended together, boiled down into a paste. Sixth, honeyed ginger, meaning ginger steeped in honey, pungent yet sweet in flavor. Seventh, pure clarified butter, meaning milk refined into butter. Eighth, pure honey, meaning honey formed from flower nectar. Each set out sixteen-fold, surrounding this lotus. This white bull's milk-pastry, together with these seven other items, represents this same joy of Chan and delight in the Dharma, arising in accord with this nature — that is, the very flavor of the eightfold correct path itself. That each is set out sixteen-fold, surrounding this lotus, represents each and every step of this correct path being complete with both kinds of this eightfold path, cultivated for oneself and used to transform others. Offering these up to every buddha and every great bodhisattva represents taking this same flavor of the correct path, this joy of Chan and delight in the Dharma already realized, and turning, from this causal-stage mind, toward this same fruit-stage virtue.

Sūtra: "At each mealtime, or at midnight, take half a measure of honey and three portions of clarified butter; before the platform, set up separately a small brazier, and, using tulasī incense, boil water into a fragrant liquid, bathe the charcoal in it, and kindle it until it burns fiercely — then cast this clarified butter and honey into this same blazing brazier, burning it until the smoke is entirely spent, offering this up to the buddhas and bodhisattvas."

Commentary: "At each mealtime" means exactly the time of the midday meal. As Wenling put it: the Buddha receives food at midday, and so each day's own offering is made at exactly this midday hour. At midnight, the Buddha does not receive food, and so only clarified butter and honey are burned until the smoke is entirely spent, offered up in this way instead. For noon is the very center of the day, and midnight is the very center of the night, representing how every sagely stage must, without fail, flow inward from this exact center. Honey is the very essence of flowers, and clarified butter is the very essence of milk, both being the very finest of flavors — representing the ear-faculty's own perfect penetration, this wondrous, wondrous hearing-mind itself. Half a measure, this middling number, and three portions, this same number completed, represent this middle way's own mind of samādhi, able to melt away the five turbidities, and to converge upon these same three emptinesses. This small brazier, set up separately before the platform, represents, precisely, this single gate of the ear-faculty, entered deeply from exactly this point. Tulasī incense: the Record of Strange Things records that it comes from a land by the sea, resembling agastache incense; also translated as coming from a land of ghosts and spirits — since this land does not exist in our own region, its name is left untranslated; some translate it "fragrant herb," formerly called white-cogongrass fragrance. Boiling water with it to bathe the charcoal represents this same purity of the precept-root, this same power of the mantra removing habituated tendency — both the true, direct cultivation and its auxiliary practice thus complete together, giving rise to the true cultivation of correct samādhi itself. Casting this into the brazier represents cultivating the ear-faculty's own samādhi from this very wondrous mind. "Burning it until the smoke is entirely spent" represents, precisely, everything from "at first, within hearing itself" all the way to "once this emptiness and awareness reached their utmost fullness, even emptiness and what was emptied were extinguished." "Offering this up to the buddhas and bodhisattvas" represents, precisely, arising and ceasing themselves extinguished, still cessation appearing of itself, displaying these same two supreme qualities, according above and one with below. This closes the third section, the offerings set out within this platform.

Sūtra: "Beyond these four sides, hang banners and flowers everywhere; and, within the room housing this platform, upon its four walls, arrange every image of the Tathāgatas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions."

Commentary: This describes the venerated images of the outer platform. "Beyond these four sides" means beyond the four sides of this octagonal platform. "Hang banners and flowers everywhere" adorns this room housing the platform — that is, this same outer platform. This outer platform being octagonal, within the room housing it, upon its four walls alone, are arranged every painted image of the Tathāgatas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions. "Beyond these four sides" represents this: beyond these four clear instructions, there is no harm in every other practice mutually adorning them as well. For a banner represents this secret mantra, possessing the power to overturn deviance and support what is correct; and a flower represents this hidden cause, the very source of the ten perfections and their myriad practices. That these are arranged upon the four walls, within this room housing the platform, represents the single, true Dharma-realm complete with all four Dharma-realms. The Tathāgatas of the ten directions represent the fruit of awakening; the images of bodhisattvas represent the causal-stage mind.

Sūtra: "At the very center, facing the sun, place an image of Vairocana, together with Śākyamuni, Maitreya, Akṣobhya, and Amitābha, and, further, an image of Avalokiteśvara manifesting these same great transformations described earlier, together with Vajragarbha, set at either side."

Commentary: "At the very center, facing the sun" means at the very center, in the position of honor. The Sanskrit Vairocana, given in full as Mahāvairocana, translates in three senses: first, pervading every place — the dharma-body; second, pure and complete — the body of self-enjoyment; third, light shining everywhere — the body of enjoyment for others. These three bodies share this single name because they are, alike, this same true body. Standing for this single, true Dharma-realm, the very true master of this still place, this is exactly the wisdom of the reward-body. The Sanskrit Śākyamuni translates "the capable and benevolent one, calm and silent," the teacher of this entire Sahā trichiliocosm, this being exactly the compassion of the response-body. The Sanskrit Maitreya translates "the compassionate one," the very teacher of the age yet to come. The Sanskrit Akṣobhya translates "the unmoving one," dwelling foremost among the multitude of motion in the east, representing an unmoving wisdom present even amid motion itself. The Sanskrit Amitābha translates "boundless life," dwelling in the western land of ultimate bliss, representing this same bestowal of happiness, a compassion that excludes nothing whatsoever. This image of Avalokiteśvara, manifesting these same great transformations — as made plain in an earlier passage, these many heads, arms, and eyes and the rest — this being the master of perfect penetration within the exoteric teaching. Vajragarbha, who constantly leads the vajra-holding spirits, protecting and upholding those who hold this mantra, subduing demons and removing obstructions, is exactly the master of perfect penetration within the esoteric teaching. Setting these at either side represents the exoteric and esoteric teachings both displayed together, equally.

Sūtra: "And, further, Śakra, Brahmā, Ucchuṣma, together with Nīlakaṇṭha, every one of the Kuṇḍalīs, and Bhṛkuṭī, and each of the Four Heavenly Kings, together with Vināyaka and Gaṇapati, arranged at the sides of the door, set both left and right."

Commentary: As Wenling put it: these figures set at either side of the door, Śakra, Brahmā, and the rest, are these same powerful, external protectors. In practicing this method in the age of the Dharma's decline, should any of these figures be missing, this practice can never be accomplished. Śakra means "able to be lord," exactly the ruler of Trāyastriṃśa. Brahmā, not transgressing the sense-object of desire, is exactly the ruler of the first dhyāna heaven. Ucchuṣma is exactly the Vajra of the Fire-Head. Nīlakaṇṭha is exactly the Blue-Faced Vajra. Kuṇḍalī, translated "the one who resolves bonds of enmity," is likewise another name for a vajra-spirit. Bhṛkuṭī is exactly Vairocana's own spiritual transformation — as the sūtra elsewhere describes: "to the right stands Bhṛkuṭī, a string of prayer beads hanging from her hand, three eyes, hair bound up in a topknot, her venerable form pure white, a halo of light around her beyond compare" — exactly this figure. The Four Heavenly Kings are exactly the kings of the east, south, west, and north — that is, the Upholder of the Nation, of Increasing Growth, of the Broad Eye, and of Wide Hearing. Vināyaka is exactly the pig-headed emissary; Gaṇapati is exactly the elephant-trunked emissary. From Śakra on down, these same external protectors, all alike, represent the very function of overturning what is deviant and manifesting what is correct. This closes the fourth section, the venerated images to be housed.

Sūtra: "Take, further, eight mirrors, and suspend them, facing downward, in the empty space above; and, together with the mirrors already set within the platform, arrange them so that each pair faces the other directly, allowing their reflected forms to interpenetrate one another, layer upon layer."

Commentary: Taking, further, these eight round mirrors, suspending them facing downward in the empty space above, represents every buddha's own fruit-stage attainment, transforming the eighth consciousness into this great, perfectly round mirror of wisdom, from this empty tathāgatagarbha universally illuminating the lands of the ten directions, as numerous as motes of dust. Together with the mirrors already set within this platform, surrounding this same lotus and bowl, one to each direction, facing outward, and these outer mirrors above, one to each direction, facing inward — hence, "each pair facing the other directly" — this represents how the mind of a sentient being is exactly the Buddha's own mind, the Buddha's own mind no different at all from a sentient being's own mind. "Allowing their reflected forms to interpenetrate one another, layer upon layer" represents sentient being and buddha mutually interfused, sage and ordinary being no different at all, this being exactly this inconceivable state itself. For these eight mirrors within the platform, gazing upward toward these mirrors set in the empty space above, represent this causal stage already containing this ocean of the fruit-stage within it. Should a practitioner, at any moment throughout the twelve double-hours of day and night, happen to set their own eyes upon this ritual arrangement even once, and come thereby to understand this principle clearly, they would know that mind, buddha, and sentient being are, all three, without the slightest difference — and that their entire being already dwells, throughout, within this same Dharma-realm of the unobstructed interpenetration of phenomenon with phenomenon! This closes the first section, the building of this place of practice.

Sūtra: "Throughout the first week, bow with utmost sincerity, invoking the names of the Tathāgatas of the ten directions, every great bodhisattva, and every arhat, continuously, throughout all six periods of the day; reciting this mantra while circling the platform, walking the path with a wholly sincere mind, completing, within each such period, one hundred and eight full circuits."

Commentary: This is the sequence of cultivation and realization. In this first week, one bows, recites, and walks the path. "Throughout the first week, bow with utmost sincerity": bowing described as "utmost sincerity" means fixing the mind wholly upon it, this same sincere earnestness undivided. Whenever a person cultivates the path, they must, without fail, take refuge in and revere the Three Jewels, this being the very first skillful means. The Tathāgatas of the ten directions are the Buddha Jewel; the bodhisattvas and arhats are the Saṅgha Jewel; holding and reciting this mind-mantra is the Dharma Jewel. Continuously, throughout all six periods of the day and night, holding and reciting the Buddha-crown's own mind-mantra while circling this platform, walking this path within the place of practice with a wholly sincere mind, completing, within each such period of circling the platform, one hundred and eight full circuits. This does not refer to the mantra in its entirety, but to the mind-mantra alone: tadyathā, oṃ, anale, viśade, vīra-vajra-dhāre, bandha bandhani, vajra-pāṇi phaṭ, hūṃ trūṃ phaṭ, svāhā. One need only bring the three karmic activities — of body, speech, and mind — into full accord, and this practice will naturally take effect of itself: six periods spent walking the path, six periods spent bowing, relying upon this same inconceivable power of blessing to assist the path.

Sūtra: "Throughout the second week, single-mindedly, without interruption, give rise to the bodhisattva's own vows — my own monastic discipline already teaches these same vows."

Commentary: In this second week, one gives rise to vows exclusively. Since this is called "exclusively," it is not restricted to these same six periods; and since this is called "single-mindedly," it is no longer mixed with bowing and recitation — only this single-minded giving rise to the bodhisattva's own vows. One must, without fail, carry this on from thought to thought, moment after moment, without a single break; this guards against the mind growing weary and retreating, strengthening it, instead, with this same firm resolve. "My own monastic discipline already teaches these same vows": such as the Sūtra of Brahmā's Net's own ten great kingly vows, and the bodhisattva's own four great vows — carrying out these vows firmly, one attains this same great courage.

Sūtra: "Throughout the third week, without interruption, hold this Śūraṅgama mantra continuously, all twelve double-hours of day and night; and, reaching the seventh day, every Tathāgata of the ten directions appears at once, exactly where the light of these mirrors crosses one another, and one receives the Buddha's own hand, touching one's own crown."

Commentary: In this third week, one holds this mantra exclusively. As Wenling put it: with no interval of rest across this entire time, and no fixed limit on how many times this mantra is recited, reciting and holding it exclusively, this same essential sincerity is thereby able to move and reach this same response, this same effort bringing about its own effect at last. Reaching the very last day of this third week, every Tathāgata of the ten directions appears all at once, exactly where the light of these mirrors, within this room housing the platform, crosses one another — the Buddha's own body already appearing within these mirrors, and one's own body appearing within them as well. Personally receiving every buddha's own hand, touching one's own crown, sage and ordinary being no longer separated at all. This interpenetration, layer upon layer, without end, is exactly the illuminating wisdom of sentient being and buddha meeting one another, stimulus and response meeting on the very same path.

Sūtra: "Then, within this place of practice, one cultivates samādhi — able to cause such a practitioner, even in this final age, to have body and mind both bright and pure, exactly like lapis lazuli."

Commentary: This is the accomplishment of this mind of samādhi. Cultivating, within this place of practice, this same effort of turning hearing back upon itself exclusively — hence, "one cultivates samādhi," that is, exactly the Śūraṅgama's own ear-faculty perfect penetration. Never allowing even a single thought to leak into the realm of the sound-object; illuminating this nature moment after moment, dwelling in samādhi thought after thought, nothing but this same turning of hearing back upon itself, without a single break.

This is the accomplishment of this mind of wisdom. "Able to cause": taking this mind of samādhi as the direct cause, and this place of practice, holding this mantra, and the rest, as the supporting condition — through the power of this same cause and condition together, this is thereby made able to happen. Such a person, though studying and practicing in this final age, is likewise able to give rise to wisdom and open to awakening — and so sense-faculty, sense-object, and the discriminating mind of consciousness are transformed, the moment they are attended to, into unsurpassed knowledge and awareness — hence, "body and mind both bright and pure." Inner and outer alike reflecting one another with perfect clarity, exactly like lapis lazuli — for every single dharma, without exception, is manifest within it! This closes the first section, the first three weeks accomplishing samādhi and wisdom.

Sūtra: "Ānanda, should even one among this monk's own original precept-conferring teacher, or the ten fellow monks gathered together with him, prove impure, such a place of practice mostly fails to succeed."

Commentary: This makes plain that, even once this ritual form is established, should teacher or companions prove impure, this practice mostly fails to succeed. "The ten fellow monks gathered together with him": according to the Vaipulya Dhāraṇī Sūtra, when carrying out this method, ten people or fewer — "or fewer" meaning that any of the six or seven assemblies may suffice. Should no like-minded companions be found, one should not force the matter, and may rather practice alone instead. Impurity here is of two kinds: first, the precept-conferring teacher being impure; second, one's fellow practitioners being impure — should even one among these prove impure, such a place of practice mostly fails to succeed, no buddha or sage descending upon it, no dragon or heavenly spirit protecting it, correct samādhi difficult to cultivate, this wondrous awakening difficult to give rise to — and so one knows that teacher and companions cannot but be chosen with the greatest care.

Sūtra: "From this same third week onward, sitting upright and dwelling in stillness, for a full hundred days — one of sharp capacity, without ever rising from this seat, will attain the fruit of stream-entry. And, even should body and mind not yet accomplish this sagely fruit, one will know, decisively, of oneself, that buddhahood is certain, beyond any error."

Commentary: This makes plain that these first three weeks of study and practice have not yet, in themselves, brought samādhi and wisdom to full completion. From this third week onward, sitting upright, in correct posture, dwelling in still stillness, for a full hundred days, applying oneself with bold, vigorous effort, cultivating this same effort of letting go of the sense-object to illuminate this nature directly. One of sharp capacity, their own delusion and obstruction alike light, this power of samādhi continuous and unbroken, this illuminating wisdom clear and distinct, samādhi and wisdom flowing together at once, across these same hundred days, without ever rising from this seat. This "without ever rising from this seat" for a hundred days means that this same effort has become fully effective, and, within this same samādhi, one does not even notice the passing of this length of time at all — nor is this the same as an ordinary practice of sitting for one period and walking for the next; for the text states plainly: across these hundred days, without ever rising from this seat, one attains the fruit of stream-entry directly. The Sanskrit srota-āpanna translates "entering the stream," no longer entering form, sound, fragrance, taste, touch, or mental objects, severing the discriminating affliction of views, this being the very stage of the path of seeing. Borrowing this same name from the lesser vehicle's own fruit, yet, considered in terms of the realization itself, this is, in truth, identical to the very first of the ten faiths within the perfect teaching — Ānanda himself, awakening perfectly to the very nature of the tathāgatagarbha, attained the dharma-body directly, at once, in exactly this same way.

As the Precious Mirror Commentary puts it: even should one's own body and mind still give rise to subtle afflictions, difficult to sever all at once, and the discriminating affliction of thought still remain in full — even should the sagely fruit beyond further training not yet be immediately accomplished — one will, nonetheless, know decisively, of oneself, that this matter of accomplishing buddhahood is no empty error at all. This is what is meant by a single moment of faith becoming faith forever — believing that one's own mind is itself the Buddha, that one's own nature is itself the Buddha, never again to be doubted. This closes the second section, the sequence of cultivation and realization.

Sūtra: "You asked how a place of practice should be built — it is built exactly this way."

Commentary: This closes and answers this entire request as a whole. Ānanda's own earlier question asked: "for practicing in the age of the Dharma's decline, in setting up a place of practice, how should one mark off its boundary?" I have already explained marking off this boundary and building this platform, every method involved, together with this same sequence of study, practice, and realization. Every such method has, one by one, been shown in detail — and so this closes, answering his own request, saying: "you asked how a place of practice should be built — it is built exactly this way."

As the Zhǐzhǎng Commentary puts it: "exactly this way" means exactly as described above. Yet this same method of building this platform, described above, is, in truth, no easy matter to carry out in this final age — and so a later passage on reciting this mantra permits doing so even without entering a place of practice at all. And the passage above, that even a single impurity causes this place of practice to fail, one thereby knows: those with the means should, indeed, build this platform exactly according to this method; those without such means need only keep the precepts purely. Should one have a platform without the precepts, this is, in fact, worse than having the precepts without a platform at all. This closes the first section, the renewed request to explain this place of practice.