No More Learning

Action which differs from proper action and improper action is neither-proper-nor-improper action.
***
Does one action project one birth or many births? Do many actions project one birth or many births?
According to the system of the School: 95a. One action projects one arising.
By ztisingjanman, one should understand, not merely birth (jati), but an existence (nikdyasabhdga, ii. 41a). He who comes into an existence is said to be bora
1. One action projects one arising and no more,
The Sautrantikas: This thesis is in contradiction with what the
Sthavira Aniruddha says, "Through the retribution of this single aim
(pindapdta), after having been born up to seven times among the
Thirty-three Gods, I am finally born in the family of the rich
430 Sakyans. "
Answer: Aniruddha, through this aim, obtained a great prosperity;
429
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he obtained a memory of his past lives; and he accomplished many new meritorious works. By expressing himself as he did, he intends to indicate his point of departure. It is thus that a person who had acquired a sum of one thousand by means of a single penny, could say, "It is through one penny that I have acquired this fortune. "
431
One answers again: By reason of his aim, Aniruddha produced
many streams of volition: one result appeared to each volition.
2. Many actions do not together projea one arising: for if this were
the case, the projection of existence would take place in parts. But admitting that one existence is projected by a single action,
95b. Many actions complete an existence.
The same way that a painter with one stroke delineates the outline
432
of an image, and then fills in this image: so too, even though their
quality of being a human is the same, certain humans have perfect organs, major and minor members; certain humans are beautiful through the excellence of their hue, figure, shape and power, whereas,
433 in certain humans this or that is lacking.
It is not solely action which projects one existence: all retributive 434
dharmas, namely sensation, etc, also projea it. However
95c-d Neither the two absorptions of unconsciousness nor the praptis projea (an existence).
Even though they are retribution, the two absorptions of un-
consciousness (ii. 42) do not projea an existence, because they do not
coexist with aaion. The praptis (ii. 36) do not projea an existence,
because they do not have the same result as does the aaion with which
435 they coexist.
***
The Blessed One said that there are three avaranas or obstacles: the obstacle of aaion (karmdvarana), the obstacle of the defilements
456 (klesavarana), and the obstacle of retribution (vipdkdvarana).
What are the three obstacles?
? 96. Anantarya actions; chronic defilements; and bad realms of rebirth, and Asamjnisattvas and Kurus, are the threefold
437 obstacle.
The obstacle which consists of action are the five mortal
(anantarya) transgressions: matricide, patricide, the killing of an Arhat, 438
schism, and wounding the Tathagata with thoughts of hatred
The obstacle which consists of the defilements is chronic defilement.
Defilement is of two types, chronic and violent: chronic defilemet is continual defilement, and violent defilement is strong defilement. Chronic defilement constitutes an obstacle, as is the case, for example, among eunuchs. Defilements which surge up from time to time, even if their impulse is strong, can be overcome, but not continual defilement, even though it is at rest. The person in whom this is found does not find the time to make an effort to overcome it. From being small, they become medium sized; and from medium sized, they become strong: thus they form an obstacle.
The obstacle which consists of retribution is the three painful realms of rebirth--existence in hell, animal existence, and Preta existence--and one part of the good realms of rebirth--human existence in Uttarakuru, and heavenly existence among the Un- conscious Ones.
What does "obstacle" mean?
That which causes an obstacle to the Way and to the roots of good preparatory to the Way, usmagatas, etc (vi. 17).
Objection: One should mention as actions forming obstacles other
categories of actions besides mortal transgressions. Actions which
439
necessarily produce painful realms of rebirth, etc. , which produce
birth in eggs, birth in sweat, birth as a woman, or an eighth birth, form obstacles.
Answer: Only actions easily discernible by others and by the agent himself,--and that from five points of view--are mentioned here. Actions which are mortal transgressions are murder, lying, and preparation for murder; its result are painful; the rebirth realm which it produces is hell; the period of its retribution is the next existence; the murderer himself receives the name of patricide. . . : from five points of
440 view, action which is mortal transgression is easy to discern.
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Among the obstacles, the gravest is the obstacle of defilement, followed by the obstacle of actioa For these two obstacles rend one incapable of health, not only in the present existence, but also in the next existence.
According to the Vaibhasikas (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 601a2-7), the obstacle of defilement is the gravest because it produces the obstacle of action; the obstacle of action is heavier than the obstacle of retribution because it produces this obstacle.
***
441 What is the meaning of the word dnantarya?
The five moral transgressions are called dnantarya because they
cannot be "traversed" (antarita), that is to say, prevented in their
retribution through actions which should be retributed in the next
442
existence. Or rather a person guilty of a mortal transgression is
reborn, after this life, immediately (anantaram) in hell; the guilty person is thus antara, "one without intermediate (existence)"; thus the dharma the possession of which makes the guilty one an anantara is called dnantarya, like one terms irdmanya the dharma which makes someone a Sramana (vi. 51).
**#
In what sphere of existence are the obstacles found?
97a. Mortal transgressions exist in the three continents.
The inhabitants of Uttarakuru and living beings which are not humans are not capable of mortal transgressions. And all the more reason mortal transgression is absent in the higher spheres. And, among humans, only men and women can commit mortal trans- gressions:
97b-c. It is not admitted that eunuchs, etc. , are capable of this transgression, because of the mediocrity of their kindness and respect.
For the same reasons that rend eunuchs, etc. , incapable of
443
? indiscipline (iv. 43c); and, further, because their parents, having given to the eunuch only an incomplete body and having only a mediocre
444
affection for their son, are mediocre benefactors;
other hand, the eunuch does not experience a strong respect (lajjitva = hrivypatrapya, ii. 32) for his parents the destruction of which would render him guilty of a mortal transgression.
For the same reasons then, Pretas and animals, if they were to kill
their parents, are not guilty of mortal transgressions. Nevertheless, the
Bhadanta said that animals in whom intelligence is lively, for example,
the ajaneya horse, are capable of mortal transgressions (Vibhdsd, TD
445
27,p. 6l9c4-7).
For the same reasons, a human born of demon (or non-human)
parents does not commit a mortal transgression in killing them.
97d The other two obstacles exist in the five realms of rebirth.
Birth in Uttarakuru is an obstacle of retribution for humans; birth among the Asamjnisattvas is such for the gods.
*#*
What are, by their natures, the different actions of mortal transgression?
Four are bodily action; one is vocal action; three are killing; one is
446
lying; and one is the preparation for murder, for the Tathagatas
447 cannot be killed by the attack of another.
**#
We say that schism (sanghabheda) is lying, and that this lying is the fourth mortal transgression. How is this?
If we make schism a mortal transgression, this is because we give the name of schism to lying which is the cause of schism; or rather the word "schism" should be explained as "that which the divides Sangha. " In fact,
98a-c Schism is, by its nature, disharmony; this is an undefiled-
448 neutral dharma disassociated from the mind.
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Schism, that is, disharmony, is a samskdra not associated with the mind (ii. 35, trans, note 180), and is undefiled-neutral: how could it hence be a mortal transgression? As much as it is a person who divides the Sangha, the schismatic is not in possession of the schism. On the the contrary
98d It is the Sangha which possesses the schism.
It is that which is divided, and not the schismatic, which "possesses" the samskdra called "division of the Sangha. "
But what does the schismatic possess?
99a-b. The transgression of schism is lying; it belongs to the schismatic.
The schismatic possesses the transgression of schism, which is lying. This lying arises at the same time as the schism itself; it consists of vocal vijnapti and avijnapti.
Possessed of this lying,
99c. The schismatic falls into Avici for a kalpa.
He falls into the great Avici hell for an intermediary period
U9
(antarakalpa, iii. 83). Those guilty of other mortal transgressions are
not necessarily in Avici.
Yet all mortal transgressions are retributed in the next existence:
what would happen if a person is guilty of many mortal transgressions? 99d Suffering grows by reason of supplementary transgression.
A person guilty of many moral transgressions possesses in Avici a large body and very tender flesh by which he feels twofold, threefold, fourfold, or fivefold, and his torments are extrememly numerous and insupportable.
#*#
Who is capable of dividing the Sangha?
lOOa-b. A Bhiksu who is an intellectual, who is virtuous,
450 divides.
? 451
It is a Bhiksu who divides, not a layman, not a nun, etc. This
452
Bhiksu should be an intellectual, not a sensualist; he should be
virtuous, not immoral: for the words of an immoral Bhiksu lack authority.
***
Where does schism take place? 100b. Elsewhere.
Not where the Tathagata is found Schism is impossible where the Master is to be found, for the Tathagata cannot be conquered and his word is full of authority.
#*#
Who does the schismatic divide? 100b. Fools.
Only fools and not Aryans, for Aryans see the Dharma with direct insight. According to another opinion, the schismatic can no longer divide possessors of ksdnti. ^
***
What does the Sangha do that it is divided?
100c-d. When it admits another Master, or another Path, it is
454 divided.
Once it is divided, how long does it remain divided?
lOOd It does not exceed a day.
455
A night of the same day. When the Sangha is divided, infallibly,
the Sangha will again be in concord at sunrise.
The schism that we have just described, and which is a "mortal
transgression,"
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101a. Is what we understand by breaking the Wheel.
The Wheel of the Law of the Blessed One is then broken, because
the progress of the Path is hindered. As a consequence there is, at the
456 same time, both breaking of the Wheel and a division of the Sangha.
Where is breaking of the Wheel produced? 101b. In Jambudvlpa.
Not in the other continents where the Buddhas do not appear. By how many Bhiksus?
457 101b. By nine or more.
The maximum number is not fixed. The Sangha susceptible of being divided counts at a minimum eight Bhiksus; the ninth monk necessary is the schismatic In order for there to be schism, it is necessary that a Sangha be divided into two parts--the first is for the Buddha, the second is for the schismatic--forming thus two Sanghas of four Bhiksus each, which is the minimum number required in order to constitute a Sangha (Vibbdsd, TD 27, p. 602c5-13).
***
Another type of schism, different from the breaking of the Wheel and which is not a mortal transgression results from a division in eccesiastical aaions: when, in one parish (simd), the monks divide themselves in order to perform ecclesiastical actions, posadha, etc
458 101c Ritual schism in three continents.
Only there where the Religion exists.
lOld. This schism supposes eight Bhiksus or more.
It is necessary to form two groups of four Bhiksus; but, here, there is not one schismatic who declares himself a Master.
#**
At six periods, the schism of the breaking of Wheel cannot take place.
? 102. The breaking of the Wheel is impossible at the beginning;
at the end; before the abscess; before a pair; when the Sage is
459 extinguished; or when a parish has not been delimited.
At the beginning, that is, when a little time has passed since the setting into motion the Wheel of the Law; and at the end, that is, at the period of the Parinirvana of the Blessed One: in these two periods the
460
Sangha is penetrated by a single sentiment. In the interval, breaking
461
is impossible before the appearance of an abscess: as long as the
abscess of precepts and the abscess of views does not appear in the
dispensation (sdsana). lt is also impossible before the apparition of a
pair: as long as a pair of excellent disciples has not appeared, because the
Sangha should not pass a night in a state of division, and because this
pair of disciples has for its task the reestablishment of harmony.
Breaking is impossible when the Sage is extinguished, for, once the
Master has entered into Parinirvana, a schismatic would have no
462
opponent. Finally, when a parish has not been delimited, for one says that the Sangha is divided when there two parties in one parish.
All Buddhas do not have their Wheels broken as does Sakyamuni:
463 this depends on their former actions.
*#*
Why are the transgressions enumerated above, matricide, etc, mortal transgressions to the exclusion of other transgressions?
103a-b. Because they destroy or hurt a field of benefaction, or a
464 field of qualities.
Matricide and patricide are mortal transgressions because they destroy a benefactor. One's mother and father are benefactors because they have given birth.
How does the murderer destroy them?
465 By killing them.
The murder of an Arhat and the last two mortal transgressions are
mortal transgressions because an Arhat, the Sangha and the Buddha are
466
fields of qualities. One does not destroy the Sangha and the Buddha,
but one can hurt them.
***
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But if the gender of the mother and father changes, does the quality of mother and father no longer exist within the mother and father?
103c. Even if their gender changes, there is mortal transgression
in killing him who was the mother, and in killing her who was the father.
It is said in fact (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 6l9cl9-23), "Gin a person be guilty of a mortal transgression killing a man who is not his father, or who is not an Arhat? Yes, if he kills his mother whose gender has changed Gin a person be guilty of a mortal transgression by killing a woman who is not his mother, or who is not an Arhat? Yes, if he kills his father whose gender has changed"
***
When the embryo of a woman falls out and when another woman
467
deposits it in her womb, which of these two women is reputed to be
the mother whose murder constitutes a mortal transgression?
103d The mother is the woman from whose blood one is born.
The second woman takes up the offices of a mother: she is the one
who gives the child liquid to drink, who nourishes it, and who raises
468 it.
###
There is no mortal transgression if, wanting to kill one's mother a
person kills someone else; there is no mortal transgression if, wanting
9 tokillanotherperson,apersonkillshismother. ^ Forexample,aman
who kills his mother stretched out on a bed where he believes there is a
man asleep, and the child of the laundryman who kills his father
wanting to kill a mosquito, do not become guilty of mortal trans-
470 gressions.
If a man kills his mother and another person with the same stroke, there are two avijnaptis, an avijnapti of simple murder, and an avijnapti of a mortal transgression; but the vijnapti is solely of the mortal transgression, by reason of the force of the mortal transgression. Yet,
? according to Ghosaka (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 617b23-25), there are two vijnaptis, for a vijnapti is made up of atoms.
The person who kills an Arhat without knowing him to be an Arhat, thinking only to definitely kill such a person, does not have any discrimination with respect to the person to be killed.
The person who kills his father, when his father is an Arhat, is
guilty of only one mortal transgression, namely the killing of an Arhat:
for the father and the Arhat make up only a single persoa
471
Objection: [The Arhat Rudrayana, assassinated by order of his
son Sikhandin, said to the assassin,] "Go! Tell Sikhandin that he has committed two mortal transgressions, patricide and the murder of an Arhat. " How do you explain these words?
Rudrayana means that his son commmitted a mortal transgression through two causes of mortal transgression; or rather Rudrayana said "two mortal transgression" in order to doubly condemn the conduct of his son.
Does the person who, with a bad mind, cause the blood of the Tathagata to flow, necessarily commit a mortal transgression?
He commits a mortal transgression when he has the intention to kill:
104a. No, when he only had the intention of striking the
472 Buddha.
Is a person guilty of a mortal transgression when he injures to death a person who becomes an Arhat after being injured?
104b. No, with regard to the person who became an Arhat after the blow.
Add, according to that which precedes, "no mortal transgression. " In fact, the preparation for murder had for its object a person who was not an Arhat.
*##
Gin a person who made preparation for a mortal transgression,
473 obtain detachment and its result by arresting it?
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104c-d Detachment and its results are impossible for one who
474 has made preparation for a mortal transgressioa
Why?
Because there is an absolute contradiction between the intention of a mortal transgression and the acquisition of detachment or a result.
A person who enters the Path after having done the preparation for any other evil deed, will not produce this deed, by reason of the absolute
475
105a-b. Lying with a view to schism is considered the gravest transgressioa
A person who, knowing what is Dharma and non-Dharma, lies with a view to dividing the Sangha and teaching falsely, by this makes himself quilty of the gravest transgression among all misdeeds. In fact, he wounds the Dharma body of the Tathagatas, he creates an obstacle to temporal well-being and to the deliverance of creatures. As long as concord is not established in the Sangha, there is hindrance to entry into the Path (niyandvakrdnti, vi. 26a), to the acquisition of results, to the acquistion of detachment, and to the destruction of the defilements: all actions relative to dhyana, study and reflection are also arrested; the worlds of gods, Nagas and humans are troubled and saddened, they are not masters of themselves, and misguided. This is why the retribution for this crime lasts a cosmic age and takes place in Avici
Among the other mortal transgressions, the fifth, the third and the
476 first are, in descending order, the heaviest.
Patricide is the lightest.
contradiction between his new personality and the deed
##*
What is the gravest of the mortal transgressions?
Objection: The Blessed One said that mental danda is the most 477
culpable of the threedandas; he said also that false view is the gravest among all the transgressions.
One must understand that, among the mortal transgressions, schism is the gravest transgression; that mental danda is the gravest among the three actions; and that false view is the gravest among the bad views. Or rather schism is the gravest transgression if one considers
? the extent of its retribution; manodanda, if one considers the number of 478
persons destroyed by it; and false view, if one considers the roots of good which false view alone cuts off.
***
AmQng the good actions, which bears the greatest result?
105c-d Among the good worldly dharmas, a volition for 479
Bhavagra bears the greatest result.
"Volition for Bhavagra" means the mental action through which one is reborn in the highest stage of Arupyadhatu. This action is the most fruitious of good worldly actions, for its retribution is a perfect tranquility for twenty-four thousand cosmic periods (iii. 81).
This is understood from the point of view of its retributive results. From the point of view of its disconnective result (ii. 57d) the most fruitious action is volition associated with Vajropamasamadhi (vL44d; see iv. H2b), for this volition has for its result the cutting off of all the bonds. This is why the Karika says, "Among the good worldly dhar-
mas . . . "
#**
Is it only through a mortal transgression that a person is necessarily reborn in hell?
A person is also necessarily reborn in hell through transgressions
similar to mortal transgressions. Others add: but not immediately 480
106-107b. To defile one's mother, to defile an ArhantI; to kill a predestined Bodhisattva; to kill a Saiksa; and to steal the goods of the Sangha are transgressions similar to mortal trans-
481 gressions; the fifth is the destruction of a Stupa.
These five transgressions, in this order, are similar to mortal transgressions: to defile one's mother, to defile an ArhantI (=matricide); to kill a predestined Bodhisattva (=patricide); to kill a Saint who is not an Arhat (=murder of an Arhat); to rob the Sangha of its means of
(anantaram) so.
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substance (=schism); and to destroy a Stupa (=to wound the Tathagata). ***
Other aaions embracing retribution are impeded in three cir- cumstances:
107c-d He absolutely impedes aaions by the acquisition of
482 Ksanti, the quality of Anagaamin, and the quality of Arhat.
When, upon leaving the stage of murdhanas, he obtains the stage called patience (ksanti, vL23), the aaions which should be retributed in painful realms of rebirth, being impeded, remain below, because he passes beyond the state of retribution of these aaions. In the same way the creditors of the man who is about to emigrate from his country rise up.
When he obtains the quality of Anagamin (vL36d), the aaions which should be retributed in Kamadhatu, being impeded, remain below,--with the exception of those which should be retributed in the present existence.
The same for the aaions which should be retributed in Rupadhatu and Arupyadhatu when he obtains the quality of Arhat.
***
We have seen that the killing of a Bodhisattva is a quasi-mortal transgression.
108a. Since when is one a Bodhisattva?
From what moment on does one receive the name of Bodhisattva?
108b. When he begins to cultivate aaions which produce the
483 marks.
Starting from the moment when he begins to cultivate aaions which have for their retribution the thirty-two marks, he is "predestined"
How is this?
From this moment onward, he always
? 108c-d Has good realms of rebirth; he is born into noble families; he possesses all the organs (avyaksah); he is a male; he remembers his past lives; and he does not desist (anivrt).
One says that he is sugati ("well gone"), because his rebirth realms are excellent, for he is born among gpds and humans.
484
He is born in the wealthy families of Ksatriyas, Brahmanas, and
Grhapatis, not in humble familes.
The man whose organs are not complete is vikatendriya; if his
m organsarecomplete,heisanavyaksa,asynonymfor avikdendriya.
He is always male, never female, and, even more so, never non- sexual (sandha, etc).
In all of his existences, he remembers his past births.
One desists by giving in; as he does not give in, he is avivrt, a synonym for an avaivartika, one who does not desist or regress: in fact, with an end to being useful to all creatures, he is not cast down by all
486
sorts of sufferings, or by any outrages. He is called the slave not
487
purchased by the world, indeed the Bodhisattva: this great-souled one,
who yet possesses the most sublime prefections (sampad, vii. 34), acts 488
through pure compassion; he acts without egoism, like a dog, in the presence of all creatures; he bears, on the part of all creatures, outrages and bad treatment; he assumes all fatiguing and painful tasks.
#**
He cultivates actions which have the marks for their retribution.
109. In Jambudvipa, being a male; in the presence of the
Buddhas, thinking of the Buddhas; having their origin in
reflection; in the course of one hundred supplementary cosmic
489 ages.
The Bodhisattva cultivates actions which ripen in the marks solely
inJambudvipa, not elsewhere, for the inhabitants ofJambudvipa are of
490
lively intelligence; he is a male and not a female, for he has already
gone beyond the state of female; and he is only in the presence of Masters, for his volition has the Buddhas for its object. These actions have their origin in reflection, not in hearing or in the absorptions. The
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Bodhisattva accomplishes these actions in the course of one hundred
491
supplementary cosmic ages, and not during a longer time.
Nevertheless the Blessed Sakyamuni, through the purification of
492
his energy, leaped over nine of these cosmic ages and carried out the
actions ripening in marks in the course of ninety-nine cosmic ages so that, in this way, one hundred were completed This is why, speaking to Asibandhaka, he said, "Oh village chief, remembering ninety-one cosmic ages from now, I do not see any family that has been
493
impoverished or inconvenienced by the giving of cooked foods. " Blessed One expressed himself in this way because his natural memory bore on this number of cosmic periods. (See vii. 30, 37,42)
494
Former masters say: It is when he finished the first cosmic age
that the Bodhisattva abandoned the four defects and obtained the two qualities.
***
Of the marks
110a. Each arises from one hundred merits.
What is the measure of each of these one hundred merits?
According to some, it is equal to the merit which has for its result the pleasure of all beings, with the exception of the Bodhisattva close to Bodhi--that is to say, accomplishing actions which ripen in marks.
According to others, it is equal to the collective action of all beings,
which, through its predominating result (ii. 56b), produces the creation
496 of the world.
According to others, only the Buddhas know the measure of this merit.
**#
How many Buddhas did the Blessed One venerate when he was a Bodhisattva?
In the course of the first asamkhyeya kalpa, he venerated seventy- five thousand Buddhas; seventy-six thousand in the course of the
497 second; and seventy-seven thousand in the course of the third
495
The
? Who were the Buddhas at the end of each samkhyeya kalpa? In the reverse order of their enumeration,
1 lOb-c At the end of the three asamkbyeyas, Pa^yin, Dipa, and Ratna&khin.
In the period of the perfect and complete Buddha Ratnaiikhin, he completed the first asarhkhyeya kalpa; in the period of the Blessed Dipamkara he completed the second; and in the period of the Tathagatha VipaSyin he completed the third
Of all the Buddhas that he venerated 110& The first was Sakyamuni.
It was an ancient Sakyamuni (Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 89c), a perfect Buddha, under whom the Blessed One, the then Bodhisattva, formulated for the first time the vow of Bodhi by saying, "May I too become a Buddha in all ways similar to you! " This Sakyamuni, as ours, appeared
498
during a bad age of the world; also his Law lasted only one thousand
years.
***
How did the Bodhisattva complete each Paramita (p. 694, line 17)?
Ula-b. He completed Giving by giving everything to everyone,
499 out of compassion.
When he gave everything to everyone, even to his eyes and the marrow of his bones, out of compassion, without desiring any happiness for himself, he completed the virtue of Giving.
lllc-d. Morality and Patience were completed by his not being
irritated, even when his limbs were broken, although he was still
500 tied to desire.
When, even though he was not detached, he was not at all irritated when his limbs were broken, he then completed the virtues of Morality
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and Patience.
112a. Energy, by praising Pusya
The Blessed One, when he was a Bodhisattva, saw the Tathagata
502
Pusya who had become incandescent in the interior of a cave in a
503
mountain. He praised him for seven days and seven nights, standing,
repeating the stanza, "Neither in heaven nor on earth, nor in this world, nor in the abode of VaiSravana, nor in the palace of the Mams, nor in other celestial abodes, nor in any of the ten direaions, would one find, Oh Chief of Men, an ascetic who is your equal, even if one were to traverse, if one wished, the entire world, with all of its people, with its
504
mountains and with its forests. " Then, according to this School, he
was found to have fulfilled the virture of Energy and nine cosmic ages were passed over.
505 112b. Absorption and Intelligence, immediately before.
506
At the moment of Vajropamasamadhi, immediately before
Bodhi, he accomplished the virtues of dhydna and prajnd.
507
arrived (gamandt) at the other shore (pdram) of the other shore of the
The Paramitas receive the name of pdramitd totality of the perfections proper to each of them.
because they have
###
The Sutra teaches that there are three items of meritorious work (punyakriydvastu), which consist of Giving, Morality, and Meditation. How are Giving, Morality, and Meditation items of meritorious work?
112c-d Three are merit, action, occasions of the exercise of
508 action, as in the case of deeds.
These three,--Giving, Morality, and Meditation,--each according to its nature, are merit, action, or occasion of exercise, either in combination, or in isolation; the same way that the deeds are either at one and the same time actions and deeds, or only deeds.
To consider first the item of meritorious work which consists of Giving, one must distinguish: 1. bodily and vocal action which is an item of meritorious work on three grounds: merit, because its retribution is
501
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Karma 695 agreeable; aaion, because it is aaion by nature; and an occasion for the
exercise or an object of the volition of giving which provokes it; 2. the volition of giving, which is merit and aaion; 3. and the dharmas (sensations, etc. ) which accompany bodily and vocal aaion, and which are solely merit.
The item of meritorious work which consists of Morality is exclusively bodily and vocal aaion; it is necessarily merit, aaion and occasion of exercise of aaion.
For the item of meritorious work which consists of Meditation, let us consider the Meditation of Compassion (maitri, viii. 30): 1. this mediation is merit; it is also an occasion for the exercise of a meritorious aaion, namely that of a volition associated with compassion; 2. the volition in question is merit and aaion. The same also for the Morality which consitutes dhyanasamvara, the discipline of dhyana, which a person who praaices the Meditation of Compassion possesses; 3. the other dharmas (faith, etc. ) concomittant to this Meditation are solely merit.
Or rather the expression punyakriya signifies punyakarana, or
punyaprayoga. Giving9 Morality and Mediation are vastus of punyakriya,
because, with a view to realizing them, one undertakes the preparation
509 of merit.
According to another opinion, punyakriya is, to speak precisely, good volition; Giving, Morality and Meditation are its vastu, an occasion for the exercise of this volition.
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What is Giving, ddna?
Without doubt, ddna in general is what is given (deya), but here
510 113a. Giving is what gives.
But one gives through fear, or with the hope of reciprocity, or through attachment, etc: now this does not refer to this type of giving. Consequently, in order to specify, the author says, "Giving is what gives. "
511 113b. Through the desire to render homage or service.
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What is it that gives?
113c. It is bodily and vocal action and that which produces this action.
A collection of mind-and-mental states gives rise to a bodily or vocal action: this collection and this action give. As the stanza says, "When a person, with a good mind gives what belongs to him, then one says that
512 the good skandhas give. "
513 113d. It has for its results great joys.
The punyakriydvastu which consists of Giving (danamaya) has great joys as its result.
The suffix maya, which we translate "which consists of," should be understood as "having as its nature," the same way that one says, "a
514 house made of grass" (trnamaya grha), or "a vase made of leaves. "
114a-b. Giving is beneficial to oneself, to others, to both or neither.
A gift made to a Caitya is not useful to another; but it is useful to him who gives when he is an Aryan not detached from desire, or a Prthagjana detached or not detached (see iv. 121).
The gift that a detached Aryan makes to another--with the exception of the case when this gift ripens in the present existence--is not useful to this Aryan, for the Aryan who is detached has definitively passed beyond the sphere (Le. , Kamadhatu) where the retribution of the gift could have taken place in a later existence. This gift is only useful to another.
The gift that a non-detached Aryan makes to another, to a detached or non-detached Prthagjana, is useful both to himself and to another. The gift that a detached Aryan makes to a Caitya--with the
exception of the case when this gift will ripen in the present existence- is not useful either to himself, or to another. This gift has for its effea only the expression of homage and recognition.
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We have said, in a general manner, that giving produces great joys:
? H4c-d Giving is excellent by the excellence of the giver, of the
515 object given, and of the field
115a. The giver is excellent through his faith, etc
The giver is excellent when he is endowed with faith, with morality, with learning, with generosity, with wisdon, with few desires, etc When the giver is excellent, the gift is excellent; when the gift is excellent, its result is excellent.
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Such a giver gives with respect, by his hand, at the right time, without doing evil to anyone (pardn anupahatya; compare Milinda, 276).
115c-d From whence he obtains honors, superior joys, at the right time, sheltered from all loss.
The giver who gives with respect obtains honors; giving by his hand, he will find satisfaction in superior joys; giving at the right time, he will obtain these joys at a suitable time and not when he cannot enjoy them; giving without doing any evil, these joys will be indestructible: they will not be stolen, annihilated through fire, etc
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We have explained in what the excellence of the giver consists and how the gift is excellent through the excellence of the giver. How is the object given excellent?
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The object is excellent when that which one gives is perfect in color, in odor, in taste, in contact.
What will one obtain through the giving of such an object? 116b-d From whence beauty, glory, joy, great lightness of the
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body and contacts corresponding to the seasoa
He who gives an object perfect in color will be beautiful.
115b. He gives with respect, etc
116a. The object perfect in color, etc
Add: "is excellent. "
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? He who gives an object perfect in odor will have his reputation extend to all directions, in the same way that an odor spreads.
He who gives an object perfect in taste will be happy, like a sweet taste.
The body of him who gives an object perfect to the touch, will be very delicate, like the jewel-like wife of a Cakravartin king, and his limbs will have only agreeable contacts, hot or cold according to the season.
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117a-b. The field is excellent through the realm of rebirth, suffering, benefactors, and qualities.
A field is excellent through the realm of rebirth. The Blessed One
said, "If a person gives to an animal, the giver will receive a retribution
one hundred times greater than the gift made to the animal, but if this
person gives even to a human who has transgressed the precepts, he
will receive a retribution one thousand times greater than the gift made
519 to this humaa"
A field is excellent through suffering. The Blessed One, among the
How is the field excellent?
seven aupadhikapunyakriyavastus, enumerated giving to a sick person, 52
givingtoahospitalattendant,givingduringcoldseasons,etc. , ? andhe continued: "One cannot enumerate the measure of the merits of a son or daughter of good family who is endowed with these seven material meritorious works. "
A field is excellent through benefactors. This is giving to one's father, to one's mother (Divya, p. 52), to one's master, or to other
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benefactors. Example: the Jatakas of the bear, of the antelope, etc 522
A field is excellent through its qualities. The Blessed One said, "A retribution one hundred thousand times greater than a gift made to a
person who upholds the necessities . . . " and so on.
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Among all the gifts,
117cThe best is the gift from a delivered person to a delivered
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persoa
The Blessed One said that a gift given by a detached person to another detached person is the best of material gifts.
524 117& Or a gift from the Bodhisattva.
Or rather, the gift that a Bodhisattva gives for the welfare of all beings; this gift, although given by a non-detached person to other non-detached persons, is the best gift.
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With the exception of the gift from the Bodhisattva, 117d Or the eighth.
The eighth among the eight gifts that the Blessed One taught. 525
What are the eight gifts? 1. An dsadya gift; 2. a gift through fear; 3. a gift made "because he gave to me"; 4. a gift made "because he gives to me"; 5. a gift made "because my fathers and my grandfathers gave (dattapurvam me pitrbhif ca pitamahais ceti danam, compare Japaka, 444. 52, vol. iv, 34); 6. a gift made in order to obtain heaven; 7. a gift made with an eye to one's reputation; 8. a gift made in order to adorn one's mind (that is to say, in order to obtain rddhis, vii. 48); in order to fill the mind [with the parts of the Path, mdrgdnga, vi. 67b]; in order to equip it with a view to yoga; and in order to acquire the supreme gpal (that is to say, in order to obtain the quality of Arhat or Nirvana).
What is an dsadya gift?
Some ancient masters explain this as an immediate gift to those
526 who are near, who approach one.
A gift through fear is a gift that a person makes who sees that the
527 object is going to perish: "Better it should be given," he thinks.
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The Sutra (Madhyama, TD 1, p. 722b22) says, "An incalculable retribution proceeds from a gift made to a srotaapannaphakprati-
pannaka; an even more incalculable retribution proceeds from a gift made to a srotadpanna. "But there are also five persons who, even
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though Prthagjanas, confer an incalculable retribution on the offering that is made to them:
118. Even though they are not Aryans, offerings made to one's
father and mother, to a sick person, to a preacher, to the
528 Bodhisattva in his last birth are without measure.
These offerings are without measure from the point of view of their retributioa
A "Bodhisattva in his last birth" means a "Bodhisattva in his last existence. "
To what category does a preacher belong?