T1 The Canonical Book of the Buddha’s Lengthy Discourses, Vol. II

THE CANONICAL BOOK OF THE BUDDHA’S LENGTHY DISCOURSES - VOLUME II

THE CANONICAL BOOK OF THE BUDDHA'S LENGTHY DISCOURSES VOLUME II

dBET PDF Version © 2017

All Rights Reserved

Front Matters

BDK English Tripiṭaka Series THE CANONICAL BOOK OF THE BUDDHA'S LENGTHY DISCOURSES VOLUME II

(Taishō Volume 1, Number 1) Translated from the Chinese by

Shohei Ichimura BDK America, Inc. 2016

Copyright © 2016 by Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai and BDK America, Inc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the publisher. First Printing, 2016

ISBN: 978-1-886439-61-0

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2015943478 Published by

BDK America, Inc.

1675 School Street

Moraga, California 94556

Printed in the United States of America

A Message on the Publication of the

English Tripiṭaka

The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand different teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddha's basic approach was to prescribe a different treatment for every spiritual ailment, much as a doctor prescribes a different medicine for every medical ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular suffering individual and for the time at which the teaching was given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to relieve the suffering to which it was addressed.

Ever since the Buddha's Great Demise over twenty-five hundred years ago, his message of wisdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the opportunity to learn about the Buddha's teachings. Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddha's eighty-four thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had one hundred thirty-nine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion in the First Series of this translation project. It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition will appear in the future.

It is most gratifying that, thanks to the efforts of more than a hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has finally gotten off the ground. May the rays of the Wisdom of the CompassionateOne reach each and every person in the world.

NUMATAYehan

Founder of the English

August 7, 1991 Tripiṭaka Project

v

Editorial Foreword

In January 1982, Dr. NUMATAYehan, the founder of Bukkyo Dendo Kyokai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), decided to begin the monumental task of translating the complete Taishō edition of the Chinese Tripiṭaka (Buddhist canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was organized in April 1982. By July of the same year, the Translation Committee of the English Tripiṭaka was officially convened. The initial Committee consisted of the following members: (late) HANAYAMA Shōyū (Chairperson), (late) BANDŌShōjun, ISHIGAMIZennō, (late) KAMATA Shigeo, (late) KANAOKAShūyū, MAYEDASengaku, NARAYasuaki, (late) SAYEKI Shinkō, (late) SHIOIRIRyōtatsu, TAMARUNoriyoshi, (late) TAMURAKwansei, URYŪZURyūshin, and YUYAMAAkira. Assistant members of the Committee were as follows: KANAZAWAAtsushi, WATA NABEShōgo, Rolf Giebel of New Zealand, and Rudy Smet of Belgium.

After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred thirty-nine texts for the First Series of translations, an estimated one hundred printed volumes in all. The texts selected are not necessarily limited to those originally written in India but also include works written or composed in China and Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as well as in Chinese, have been published.

Frankly speaking, it will take perhaps one hundred years or more to accomplish the English translation of the complete Chinese and Japanese texts, for they consist of thousands of works. Nevertheless, as Dr. NUMATAwished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that this project will continue unto completion, even after all its present members have passed away.

Dr. NUMATApassed away on May 5, 1994, at the age of ninety-seven, entrusting his son, Mr. NUMATAToshihide, with the continuation and completion of the Translation Project. The Committee also lost its able and devoted Chairperson, vii

Publisher’s Foreword

Editorial Foreword

Professor HANAYAMAShōyū, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixty-three. After these severe blows, the Committee elected me, then Vice President of Musashino Women's College, to be the Chair in October 1995. The Committee has renewed its determination to carry out the noble intention of Dr. NUMATA, under the leadership of Mr. NUMATAToshihide. The present members of the Committee are MAYEDASengaku (Chairperson), ICHISHIMAShōshin, ISHIGAMIZennō, KATSURAShōryū, NAMAIChishō, NARA Yasuaki, SAITŌAkira, SHIMODAMasahiro, Kenneth K. Tanaka, WATANABEShōgo, and YONEZAWAYoshiyasu.

The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to assist in the publication of the BDK English Tripiṭaka First Series. The Publication Committee was organized at the Numata Center in December 1991. In 2010, the Numata Center's operations were merged into BukkyōDendōKyōkai America, Inc. (BDK America) and BDK America continues to oversee the English Tripiṭaka project in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee in Tokyo. MAYEDASengaku

Chairperson

Editorial Committee of

the BDK English Tripiṭaka

viii

Publisher's Foreword

On behalf of the members of the Publication Committee, I am happy to present this volume as the latest contribution to the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series. The Publication Committee members have worked to ensure that this volume, as all other volumes in the series, has gone through a rigorous process of editorial efforts. The initial translation and editing of the Buddhist scriptures found in this and other BDK English Tripiṭaka volumes are performed under the direction of the Editorial Committee in Tokyo, Japan. Both the Editorial Committee in Tokyo and the Publication Committee, headquartered in Moraga, California, are dedicated to the production of accurate and readable English translations of the Buddhist canon. In doing so, the members of both committees and associated staff work to honor the deep faith, spirit, and concern of the late Reverend Dr. Yehan Numata, who founded the BDK English Tripiṭaka Series in order to disseminate the Buddhist teachings throughout the world. The long-term goal of our project is the translation and publication of the texts in the one hundred-volume Taishō edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon, along with a number of influential extracanonical Japanese Buddhist texts. The list of texts selected for the First Series of this translation project may be found at the end of each volume in the series.

As Chair of the Publication Committee, I am deeply honored to serve as the fifth person in a post previously held by leading figures in the field of Buddhist studies, most recently by my predecessor, John R. McRae.

In conclusion, I wish to thank the members of the Publication Committee for their dedicated and expert work undertaken in the course of preparing this volume for publication: Managing Editor Marianne Dresser, Dr. Hudaya Kandahjaya, Dr. Carl Bielefeldt, Dr. Robert Sharf, and Rev. Brian Kensho Nagata, Director of the BDK English Tripiṭaka Project.

A. Charles Muller

Chairperson

Publication Committee

ix

ix

Contents

A Message on the Publication of the English Tripiṭaka NUMATA Yehan v

Editorial Foreword MAYEDA Sengaku vii Publisher's Foreword A. Charles Muller ix Translator's Introduction Shohei Ichimura xiii The Canonical Book of the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses, Volume II Sutra 11. The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One 3 Sutra 12. Doctrines in Groups of Three Sutra 13. Greater Causality 23 Sutra 14. Indra's Questions on Causality Sutra 15. The Episode at Anupiya Sutra 16. Kalyāṇi-jātika 79 Sutra 17. Purity 93 Sutra 18. Happiness Caused by Oneself Sutra 19. A Great Assembly 17 39

59

117

133

Sutra 20. Ambaṭṭha 141 Notes 179

Bibliography 183 Index 187

A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripiṭaka (First Series) 199 xi

Translator’s Introduction

Translator's Introduction

The Textual Origin and Contents of the

Canonical Collection of Lengthy Discourses

The complex historical context in which the textual translation of the Dīrgha Āgamatook place is beyond the scope of this brief introduction. I attempt to provide here, however, an evaluation of three major features of this canonical tradition: the nature of this sutra collection and its contents, the translators and the times of translation, and the canonical legacy from the point of view of the premodern and modern contemporary Tripiṭaka Buddhist library. The Chang ahan jing(Skt. Dīrgha Āgama), or the Canonical Collection of Lengthy Discourses,is one of the four canonical collections that were upheld by the orthodox Dharmaguptaka school. Since this school descended from the Sthāvira orthodoxy that had a prominent position in the few centuries around the Third Buddhist Council, held around 250 to 236 B.C.E., 1 centuries after the

Buddha's demise, the origin of this school's canonical tradition (Āgamas) may be traced back to some scriptural matrix2 whose contents had been compiled and authenticated by the time of the Third Council.

There were three or four general councils during Buddhism's early centuries. The First Council was held at Rājagṛha (present-day Rājgīr, Bihar) immediately after Śākyamuni's passing (485 or 486 B.C.E.) in order to assure the oral preservation of the core teachings Śākyamuni Buddha taught directly to his disciples. The Second Council was held at Vaiśālī (Vesālī) a century later to settle some controversies on the Vinaya rules and disciplines set forth by Śākyamuni as the moral and spiritual codes for Buddhist monks and their communities. This council contributed to the ascertainment of legality on the nature of Vinaya codes, despite some challenges and disputes raised by changing historical and social contexts. At that time, it is said that some elder monks still remembered how some of the first-generation disciples had upheld the discipline while remaining active in daily life. xiii

Translator's Introduction

Though our knowledge of it is confined to Theravāda documents, 3 the Third

Council was held under the auspices of the Mauryan Buddhist ruler Aśoka in the seventeenth year of his reign (251 B.C.E.) at the capital city Pāṭaliputra (Patna, Bihar). Although this council failed in its intended goal of preventing schism from sectarian movements, the Third Council was pivotal to the subsequent history of the Buddhist canonical tradition for two reasons. First, since the Buddha's teaching and organization evolved in various forms during the initial two and a half centuries of its development, Buddhist leaders were compelled to reexamine their canonical traditions and establish an authenticated standard to prevent sectarian diversion and doctrinal variation. Second, it was during this council that Buddhist scriptures were formally classified into the threefold categories of Sutra (teaching), Vinaya (discipline), and Abhidharma (doctrine), i.e., the threefold canonical baskets (Skt. Tripiṭaka; Pāli Tipiṭaka). From that time on, the Tripiṭaka served as the basic categorization of Buddhist literature. The last general conference was held in Kāśmīra under the auspices of King Kaniṣka, the Kuṣāṇa ruler (known in China as Great Yüeji), toward the end of the first century C.E., and itcentered on the Hinayana orthodoxy, the Sthāvira-Sarvāstivāda school. Though the historical veracity of this conference is not conclusive, the likelihood of its occurrence can be argued based on the detailed Abhidharma discussions recorded in the Mahāvibhāṣā-śāstra, 4 and especially

in the epilogue left by its translator Xuanzang, as well as the historical fact of the massive Hindu reaction which spurred efforts to compile their literary legacy in the early second century C.E.

5 In any case, after the Fourth Council meeting

in Kāśmīra, Kuṣāṇa monks began to reach the continent of China during the Late Han period.

The Synopsis between the Sanskrit Dīrgha

Āgamaand the Pāli Dīgha Nikāya

The Canonical Collection of Lengthy Discourseswas one of the four Āgamas essential to the Sutra-piṭakathat was preserved by the Dharmaguptaka school. To explain the nature of this Āgama, it is best to show the synopsis between the content of the DīrghaĀgamaand that of the Dīgha Nikāya (DN), upheld by the Thera vāda school as part of the fivefold sutta-piṭaka.The Theravāda school prospered in Sri Lanka, and its descendants in Southeast Asia (Burma, Thailand, and Indochina) preserved the fivefold Nikāyas through the Pāli canonical language. xiv

Translator's Introduction

The Dharmaguptaka school, one of the descendants of the Sthāvira-Sarvāstivāda school that prospered in Northern India, inherited the Dīrgha Āgamaas part of their Sutra-piṭakathrough the canonical language of Sanskrit or, more precisely, Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit.

6

The fourfold Āgamas that constitute the Sutra-piṭakaof the Hinayana orthodoxy were preserved throughout the medieval period as part of the Mahayana Tripiṭaka corpus through the Chinese versions since the fifth century C.E.The following is a chart of the synopsis between the four Dharmaguptaka Āgamas originally in Sanskrit and the five Nikāyas (Pāli suttacollections) preserved by the Theravāda school.

Four Sanskrit Āgamas (Dharmaguptaka) (Theravāda)

1. Dīrgha Āgama(Lengthy Five Pāli Nikāyas

1. Dīgha Nikāya(Lengthy Discourses)

Discourses)

2. Madhyama Āgama(Middle-length Discourses) Discourses) 3. SaṃyuktaĀgama(Mixed 2. Majjhima Nikāya (Middle-length 3. Saṃyutta Nikāya(Mixed Discourses)

Discourses)

4. Ekottarika Āgama(Gradually 4. Aṅguttara Nikāya(Increasing Each Increased Discourses) by a Doctrine)

5. Khuddaka Nikāya(Short

Dis courses)

As can be inferred from this table, the Sanskrit Dīrgha Āgamaand the Pāli Dīgha Nikāyahave many synoptic parallels in their respective content, namely, between the thirty sutras of the Chang ahan jingand the thirty-four suttantas of the Pāli Dīgha Nikāya.

7There are twenty-seven sutras that are identified with the twentyseven suttantas, but differences in their respective ordering and arrangement of scriptures must be recognized. Seven suttantas8 are omitted in the Chang ahan jing,but this includes a sutra that is not found in the Dīgha Nikāya.Because of this close synoptic correlations, it is reasonable to assume that the Sanskrit Dīrgha Āgamaand the Pāli Dīgha Nikāyahad a common canonical matrix that could have been determined as standard during the Third Buddhist Council. The Chang ahan jingis unique in two ways. First, the editors of the Āgama in organizing the sutras set forth four major sections, reflecting their major concerns: xv

Translator's Introduction

(1) the centrality of Śākyamuni Buddha as the primary subject, (2) the importance of the Dharma and doctrine, (3) the resultant practice, discipline, and advanced spiritual states, and (4) a record of the cosmological origins of the world. Second, the "Sutra on Buddhist Cosmology,

" which is totally absent in the Dīgha Nikāya of the Pāli canon, was added as the last text in the collection in order to present the Buddha's teaching more effectively and attractively to a non-Buddhist Hindu audience. According to some scholars, the underlying principle of the Chang ahan jingreflects a conciliatory impulse that was intended to bridge the original Buddha's teaching (the ninefold or twelvefold categories of discourses) on the one hand, and early Maha yana Buddhist teaching and scriptures on the other. 9

The correlations between the two scriptural traditions, the sutras of the Chang ahan jingand the suttantas of the Pāli Dīgha Nikāya,are presented below. In addition, the corresponding texts are noted at the beginning of each sutra in this translation.

Four Sutras on the Subject of Śakyamuni Buddha 1. The Great Origin (Daban jing) DN 14: Mahāpadāna Suttanta 2. Last Journey and Sojourns, DN 16: Mahāpariṇibbāna Suttanta Parts 1, 2, 3

3. A Great Treasury Councilor 4. Janavasabha's Exhortation DN 19: Mahāgovinda Suttanta DN 18: Janavasabha Suttanta

Fifteen Sutras on the Subject of Dharma and Doctrine 5. Lesser Causality 6. Universal Ruler (Cakravartin)'s DN 27: Aggañña Suttanta DN 26: Cakkavatti-sīhanāda Suttanta

Practice

7. Pāyāsi['s Dialogue] 8. Sandhāna 9. Numerically Assembled Doctrines 10. Ten Progressively Classified DN 23: Pāyāsi Suttanta DN 25: Udumbarika-sīhanāda Suttanta

DN 33: Saṅgīti Suttanta

DN 34: Dasuttara-Suttanta

Doctrines

11. Gradual Increase of Doctrines No Parallel in DN by One

12. Doctrines in Groups of Three 13. Greater Causality 14. Indra's Question on Causality No Parallel in DN DN 15: Mahānidāna Suttanta

DN 21: Sakkapañha Suttanta

xvi

Translator's Introduction 15. Anupiya Episode 16. Kalyāṇa-jātika 17. Purity 18. Happiness Caused by Oneself 19. Great Assembly DN 24: Pāṭika Suttanta DN 31: Sīṇgālovāda Suttanta DN 29: Pāsādika Suttanta DN 28: Saṃpasānīya Suttanta DN 20: Mahāsamaya Suttanta Ten Sutras on the Subject of Practice and Resulting Spiritual States 20. Ambaṭṭha 21. Brahmā's [Net] 22. One Who Cultivates Virtues 23. BrāhmaṇaKūṭadanta 24. Kevaddha 25. A Naked BrāhmaṇaAscetic 26. Knowledge of Three Vedas 27. The Rewards of the Life of a Śramaṇa 28. Poṭṭhapāda 29. Lohitya DN 3: Ambaṭṭha Suttanta DN 1: Brahmajāla Suttanta DN 4: Soṇadaṇḍa Suttanta DN 5: Kūṭadanta Suttanta DN 11: Kevaṭṭa Suttanta DN 8: Kassapa-sīhanāda Suttanta DN 13: Tevijja Suttanta DN 2: Sāmañña-phala Suttanta DN 9: Poṭṭhapāda Suttanta DN 12: Lohicca Suttanta Sutra 30 on the Subject of Cosmology (No Parallel in DN) A 1. The Land of Jambudvīpa 2. The Land of Uttarakuru 3. The Universal Ruler (Cakravartin) B 4. The Worlds of the Hells 5. Dragons and Birds C 6. The AsuraDemigods 7. The Four Guardian Gods of Heaven 8. The Trāyastriṃśa Heavens D 9. Three Kinds of Disasters 10. The AsuraDemigods 11. Three Kinds of Intermediate Eons (Kalpas) Translators and

Historical Times

The translator of the Chang ahan jingwas the śramaṇaBuddhayaśas, a native of Kāśmīra who moved to Khotan in Central Asia, where he resided for some xvii

Translator's Introduction

time before he was invited to Chang'an specifically to engage in scriptural translation. There are two stories of how Buddhayaśas was invited to Chang'an and what contribution his translation was to accomplish.

Fifth-century China was divided into northern and southern political regions separated by the Yangzi River. In the north were Louyang and Chang'an, which were the two major government seats of the Han and Tang dynasties, as well as several other political and cultural centers. Since the north was dominated by the descendants of the five racially foreign regimes, resulting in the short-lived Sixteen States period, Buddhism had a fair chance to develop its influence despite competition from indigenous Confucian and Daoist traditions. Two centuries from the initial introduction of Buddhism to China during the Late Han period, Chinese Buddhists began to be aware that they needed more scriptural sources for deeper understanding as well as for consolidating their communities through Buddhist ethical and moral practice.

According to one story, Buddhayaśas was invited to the capital by the ruler of the Late Qin, Yaoxing (r. 394-415 C.E.), with the assistance of Kumārajīva, his religious counselor. Kumārajīva (344-413) was a scholar-monk from the country of Kuccha in Eastern Turkestan. Born to Indian and Central Asian parents, he excelled in training in Buddhist studies in Kāśmīra and acquired linguistic skill in Chinese. He had been brought to Liangzhou as the captive of Fujian's general, Lüguang, and was subsequently invited to Chang'an in 401 to serve as Yao xing's religious counselor and lead the government's Buddhist translation project. Buddhayaśas had been Kumārajīva's teacher on the Sarvāstivāda Vinaya (the Daśabhāṇavāra-vinaya,the subject of Abhidharma treatises) more than two decades previously.

10Because he had once been Kumārajīva's teacher,

Buddha yaśas was reverentially nicknamed the "red-bearded professor" or the "senior doctrinal professor" (Vaibhāṣika) in Chang'an.

It is said that, in part, Kumārajīva needed Buddhayaśas' help in collaborating on completing the translation of the Daśabhūmika-sutra(Sutra on the Ten Stages of the Bodhisattva Career), and that the ruler Yaoxing also requested the śramaṇa in 410 C.E.to translate both the Dharmaguptaka Vinaya (Dharmaguptaka-vinaya; Sifen lü; Vinaya in Four Divisions) and the Dīrgha Āgamaof the same school. The Vinaya translation was completed 412 C.E.The next year, 413, Buddha yaśas began to translate the Dīrgha Āgamawith Zhu Fonian, a śramaṇaof Liang zhou, as co-translator, and the translation was completed that same year. xviii

Translator's Introduction

As for the reasons the Chang ahan jingoriginally belonged to the Dharma guptaka school, we have four indirect proofs. First, the editorial point of view of the Chang ahan jingitself coincides with the Dharmaguptaka tradition in which the principle of the centrality of the Buddha is emphasized in terms of veneration for Śākyamuni as founder of the religion. Second, the text displays a great emphasis on the merit to be accrued by the cult worship of the sacred relics enshrined in stupas (commemorative towers). Third, the text's translator, Buddhayaśas, who also translated the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya,was a bhikṣuaffiliated with the Dharma guptaka school. Finally, the Vinaya text, especially its fifty-fourth chapter, refers to seven sutras that were included in the Chang ahan jing, including the "Sutra on Buddhist Cosmology" that is not found in the Pāli Dīgha Nikāya. 11

The second story comes from the introduction to the Dharmaguptaka-vinaya, which gives a somewhat different version. Zhi Faling, a Chinese śramaṇa,traveled to the Central Asia on the instructions of his master, Huiyüen, to search for Vinaya texts, and happened to meet Buddhayaśas in Khotan, where he was already renowned as a Mahayana Tripiṭaka master. With due respect, Faling requested him to visit Chang'an and accompanied him there, transporting Uighur textual sources. Faling's master Huiyüen was a close friend of Kumarajīva, and is known to have organized the Lotus Association at Lushan in the Pure Land sectarian faith, whose adherents devoted their lives to the ideal of rebirth in the Pure Land. There was a growing concern among Chinese Buddhists at the time to consolidate their growing communities and regulate the conduct of their followers, and so there was a need for the Vinaya-piṭaka.As requested, Buddhayaśas immediately began to translate the Dharmaguptaka-vinayawith the assistance of three hundred monks and scholars involved in the project. Zhi Faling is said to have had his own disciple, Huibian, participate in the sessions as he had excellent knowledge of Central Asian languages. The fact that active pursuit of Vinaya texts was the major trend of the time can be attested by the independent case of the monk Faxian's (339-420) risky journey to India in search of Vinaya texts. 12

Buddhayaśas did not extend his stay in Chang'an upon completion of the translation project and soon returned to Kāśmīra. Kumārajīva likely suffered an illness (Huangshi, thirteenth year) soon after completing the translation of the Satyasiddhi-śāstra (Cheng shi lun; Treatise on the Establishment of Truth) and passed away in 413 (Huangshi, fifteenth year). Yaoxing abdicated his rule in the seventeenth year of Huangshi (415 C.E.). Buddhayaśas is said to have sent the xix

Translator's Introduction

Xukongyun pusa jing (Ākāśagarbha-sūtra; Sutra on Ākāśagarbha Bodhisattva) as a gift to the sangha of Liangzhou through a traveling messenger. In fact, the translation of this text ascribed to him is recorded in the Chu sanzang ji ji (Collection of the Tripiṭaka Textual Records) (Taishō vol. 13, no. 405) compiled by Sengyou (445-518).

The Significance of the Text in the

New Taishō Tripitaka Edition

The Chang ahan jingis placed at the very beginning of the first volume of the Taishō shinshū daizōkyō (Taishō New Tripiṭaka Edition) compiled by Japanese Buddhists from 1924-1934 (Taishō 13 to Shōwa 9). This may represent an entirely different reorganization of the Buddhist canon from all of the preceding Tripiṭaka editions. The format of the preceding editions were based on the classification order of Mahayana first, Hinayana second, each of which was again divided into the order of Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma texts. The historical legacy of the Chang ahan jingshould be examined as to what the text is meant to represent in the modern Taishō edition.

The earliest reliable catalogue of Buddhist texts was due to the work of Dao'an (314-385), author of the Zhongjing mulu(Comprehensive Record of the Textual Catalogues), and Sengyou, author of the Chu sanzang ji ji. Of the two, Dao'an's catalogues formed the core foundation of Sengyou's enlarged record of textual catalogues. These two sets of catalogues thus mark the reliable beginning of all subsequent Chinese Tripiṭaka editions.

By the turn of the fifth century, Buddhist communities in Chang'an began to exercise their own choices in the history of Buddhist affairs. This change was a natural development, because Buddhist leaders were more or less trained in Confucian academism or Daoist philosophical training. Dao'an was invited to Chang'an to serve as the religious counselor of Fujian (Yaoxing's predecessor) from the capital of a southern state. Dao'an profoundly regretted that the Buddhist communities in China had not been properly equipped with the Tripiṭaka divisions of Sutra, Vinaya, and Abhidharma. He actively promoted study on the Mahayana Wisdom sutras, especially the Prajñāpāramitā sutras, and he recruited talented young Buddhist converts to engage in exploration of their philosophical and spiritual meaning. It is within this historical circumstance that Kumārajīva was xx

Translator's Introduction

invited to Chang'an in 401 by Yaoxing (Fujian's successor) as his religious counselor. Sengzhao (374-414), a young Buddhist convert from a Daoist background, became Kumārajīva's dedicated disciple and quickly proved himself to be an excellent scholar-monk among the Chang'an academic community. His monograph, the Zhao lun, was praised as exhibiting superb comprehension of prajñāinsight and the philosophy of emptiness (śūnyatā),second only to that of his master. Sengzhao's introduction to the Chang ahan jingreflects Dao'an's cherished objective. At the outset he calls attention to the Tripiṭaka canonical tradition: The great teaching consisted of three [basic] divisions. For regulating physical and verbal behavior there is the collection of injunctive disciplines (Vinaya). For guiding human conduct by distinguishing good and bad there is the collection of doctrinal scriptures (Sutra). For differentiating subtle and delicate subject matter, there is the collection of analytical characteristics of the mental and conscious elements (Abhidharma). Thus, there came to be the three baskets of scriptures (Tripiṭaka).

Buddhayaśas' translation of the Chang ahan jingwas perhaps partial fulfillment of the goal sought by Dao'an. Following Dao'an's and Sengyou's catalogues, a series of records of Buddhist textual catalogues was compiled in the Gezhong qinding zhongjing mulu (Buddhist Canonical Textual Cataloguesor Complete Buddhist Tripiṭaka Library,literally, "Great Textual Storehouse"). During the sixth century, the four catalogues came to exist under the auspices of four different regimes. Unlike Dao'an's and Seng you's catalogues, which placed the texts by the translators' names in chronological order, these state-supported enterprises adopted the new order of classification by placing the Maha yana Tripiṭaka catalogues first, followed by those of the Hinayana Tripi ṭaka. The short-lived Sui dynasty (which dissolved at the unification of north and south into an empire in 589), twice supported the compilation of the entire inclusive catalogues of the Tripiṭaka library: first, the Sui Kaihuang lidai sanbao ji (Sui Kaihuang Record of the Threefold Buddhist Treasuresof the Successive Dynasties) in 598, followed by its revised edition, the Renshou zhongjing mulu (Renshou Record of Textual Catalogues) in 602, which streamlined the preexistent catalogues and scrutinized the authenticity of each text. The Renshou zhongjing mulubecame the basic model of all subsequent Buddhist Tripiṭaka libraries. xxi

Translator's Introduction

The filing of the catalogues of the Tripiṭaka library reached its apex during the Tang period. The dynastic enterprises successfully compiled seven major editions together with their respective records of catalogues. Any record of catalogues is supposed to provide not only the basic principles of textual classification and those texts already catalogued as authentic, but also include new translations and new discoveries as well as exclude suspicious and fraudulent texts. For instance, the Kaiyuan shijiao lu(Kaiyuan Record of Buddhist Textual Catalogues), compiled in 731, is said to have represented the best model format, so that all subsequent editions followed it in recording catalogues of hand-copied texts as well as printed texts. The classification order, however, was unchanged from the Sui-era Renshou zhongjing muluof 602, following the format of: (1) Mahayana sutras, (2) Mahayana Vinaya texts, (3) Mahayana Abhi dharma texts, (4) Hinayana sutras, (5) Hinayana Vinaya texts, (6) Hinayana Abhidharma texts, and (7) works written by the "wise and saints.

" We know, therefore, that the

Renshou zhongjing mulumodel and that of Kaiyuan shijiao lu together became the standard format of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka library as a whole, of which very little had changed until the modern Taishō Tripiṭaka edition. This extremely conservative nature developed due to two reasons. First, toward the end of Tang dynasty the dissemination of the complete Tripiṭaka library was based on hand-copied texts made under government supervision. Second, from the Northern Song period on, the dissemination of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka was based on printed texts, for which printing blocks had to be carved, a laborious and expensive process. In the Northern Song, for instance, a 972 decree stipulated the production of the entire set of textual woodcut prints and the carving of one hundred and thirty thousand woodblocks by the year 983. The dissemination of the Buddhist scriptures was under government supervision for centuries but gradually transferred to a number of Buddhist temples. While the main task of carving woodblocks was still carried out by dynastic enterprises, private temple versions began to appear and the distribution of texts was soon widely localized and even spread beyond the Chinese border. This was roughly the history of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka library through the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Jing periods. The Taishō Tripiṭaka edition shows a striking innovation, especially in the change of classification order that follows the general historical development of Buddhism. The method of detailed examination of textual contents for the xxii

Translator's Introduction

sake of new classifications also developed more precision due to modern scholarship. First, the Taishō Tripiṭaka editors changed the order by placing the Hina yana Sutra-piṭakabefore the Mahayana texts. They set the Hinayana canon of the four Āgamas and individual texts bearing their strains in the first two volumes, under the Āgama section. Second, they created a new classification under the name of "original causality" to collect those texts in which the bodhisattva ideal and career is germinated in reference to early Mahayana history. Third, the remaining Mahayana sutras are classified, more or less, similarly to those of preceding editions, but each is assigned to different volumes by specifying type or class:

1. Prajñā section: Taishō Tripiṭaka vols. 5-8;

2. Lotus and Huayan section: vol. 9 (both groups) and vol. 10 (Huayan only); 3. Ratnakūṭa and Nirvana section: vol. 11 (Ratnakūṭa only) and vol. 12 (both groups);

4. Mahāsaṃnipāta-sutra (Great Collection Sutra) section: vol. 13; 5. Sutra collection (Hinayana and Mahayana) section: vols. 14-17; 6. Esoteric sutras section: vols. 18-21.

Fourth, the Taishō Tripiṭaka editors also placed the Vinaya- and Abhi dharmapiṭakas after the Sutra-piṭakain the order of Hinayana first, then Mahayana: 1. Vinaya section: vols. 22-23 (all Hinayana) and vol. 24 (both Hinayana and Mahayana);

2. Sutra expository treatise section: vols. 25-26 (partial Abhidharma); 3. Abhidharma section: vols. 27-29;

4. Madhyamaka-Yōgācāra section: vol. 30 (Madhyamaka only), vol. 31 (partially Yogācāra), and vol. 32 (Yogācāra only); 5. Collected logical treatises section: vol. 32.

From here, the Taishō Tripiṭaka places texts written as commentaries on sutras and treatises (śāstras),

13 sectarian documents and writings, and so forth

up to the one-hundredth volume, but for the purpose of evaluating the legacy of the Chang ahan jing, these can be excluded from consideration. Modern scholarship focuses on the fundamental spirituality of Śākyamuni Buddha, because his spiritual insight and evangelical life were the foundation of all the doctrines and practices that developed in the later history of Buddhism. xxiii

Translator's Introduction

In medieval China, every Tripiṭaka library started with the class of Wisdom texts (Prajñāpāramitā sutras) under the Mahayana category, beginning with the massive, six hundred-fascicle Mahāprajñāpāramitā-sutra(Great Perfection of Wisdom Sutra) translated by Xuanzang. In contrast, the Hinayana Āgamas, which are supposed to comprise the original, earliest sources and present Śākyamuni's life and teaching as closely as possible to his original time and social context, were all buried amid thousands of files of textual catalogues or among the books and fascicles in the Hinayana section. Finally, after many centuries, the Taishō edition restored the proper place for the Hinayana Āgamas by moving this text to the very beginning of the collection.

In his preface to the Chang ahan jing, Sengzhao defines Ahan(Āgama) as "the authority to which the laws return" (fa-gui). The "authority to which laws return" means, in all probability, the profound collection of all that is good upheld by the secluded cloister of contemplative recollection (dhāraṇī). These are made into the collection of sutras as the source of authority. It was in this sense that Chang'an's Buddhist communities, by the turn of the fifth century, were motivated to have the Prajñāparāmitā texts translated rapidly, within a decade, and to also have the earliest canonical Sutra-piṭakatranslated along with the Vinaya texts. Most of all, this active motivation arose from the critical study of textual records of translation and visually corroborated reliable textual collections. Modern Buddhist studies began in the mid-nineteenth century, based on the method of text criticism and aided by scholars' knowledge of Pāli, Sanskrit, Chinese, and Tibetan, and it has successfully promoted Buddhist studies throughout the world. It benefited contemporary Japanese Buddhists in publishing the Taishō Tripiṭaka library and its catalogue, with some success in reforming and improving the longstanding Tripiṭaka traditions. Nearly three quarters of a century after publication of the Taishō shinshū daizōkyō, Dr. Yehan Numata and his associates established the project to put the entire corpus of texts collected in the Taishō Tripiṭaka into English translation, with the global cooperation of Buddhist scholars. When this massive project is completed, there will be a new demand to build another edifice of the Buddhist Tripiṭaka library for the sake of Buddhist and human communities worldwide. Once again, the Chang ahan jingwill be highlighted as representing the earliest phase of Buddhism that marked its beginning.

xxiv

Translator's Introduction

Epilogue

I would like to make a few points regarding the way in which this translation has been accomplished. First, since the original Sanskrit text is no longer extant, I relied almost exclusively on the Pāli Dīgha Nikāyaand its English translation, especially that rendered by the founding members of the Pali Text Society, as the sole corroborative references for the Chinese text.

14For instance, it is extremely

difficult to identify from Chinese transliteration what a given proper name or proper noun might be in the Sanskrit original. Second, I preferred a straightforward style of narration to the Chinese idiomatic definitive style. As a cognate language of Sanskrit, though to a lesser degree, Pāli has an intricate case system to specify the contextual relationships between things that are referred to by words through case indicatives, whereas Chinese expression often relies on word order alone, without case indicative changes. Hence, in my English presentation of the Chang ahan jing,I have relied on the English version of the Dīgha Nikāyapresented in scholarly translations of the text. This English version of the Chang ahan jing may thus appear to be more like a translation made from the Pāli Dīgha Nikāya than a directly rendered English version vis-à-vis the Chinese original. As English is not my native language, I did not consider that presenting the textual contents only through a grammatically learned second language would be successful. Due to the length of the original text, this translation will be presented in three volumes. This is Volume II of the translation, containing sutras 11-21. Volume I (published in 2015) includes the Preface by Shi Sengzhao and contains sutras 1-10; Volume III will contain the remaining sutras, 21-30.

I looked for a model narrative format to translate foundational Buddhist texts, such as the Chang ahan jing. After searching for a feasible format among various samples of translations of Buddhist texts, I finally decided that it was best to follow the traditions established by the Pali Text Society in dealing with ancient Buddhist literature by means of modern languages. I am, however, obliged to assert that this translation has been produced totally based on my own understanding of Buddhism accrued through my lifelong study and practice of the religion. Śākyamuni's religion began with a dialectical insight underling the fourfold truths of the life process. While engaged in final revision of this translation, I personally encountered the messengers of old age, illness, and death, and my attention was drawn to these messagers more acutely because of my engagement xxv

Contents

Translator's Introduction

in rereading the draft translation. It is my hope that readers of this text will realize the fundamental wisdom of Buddhist spirituality in regard to these serious matters. May the reader discover from this text his or her successful pathway toward liberation.

xxvi

THE CANONICAL BOOK OF THE BUDDHA'S LENGTHY DISCOURSES VOLUME II

Sutra 11

The Gradual Increase

of Doctrines by One

Thus have I heard. At one time, the Buddha sojourned at the monastery built by Anāthapiṇḍika in the Jetavana Forest accompanied by one thousand two hundred and fifty bhikṣus. At that time, the World-honored One spoke to the bhikṣus:

I shall exhort on the subject of the subtle (supreme) Dharma. Whatever I explain to you, whether it is at the beginning, the middle, or the end, is true and genuine. It is endowed with meaning and essence and is well balanced with the practice of pure and genuine austerity. This is called the "teaching comprising ten fivefold groups of doctrines. " You should

listen to me attentively and think about and remember what I explain to you. The following is the teaching.

The bhikṣus were then attentive and ready to listen. The Buddha said to the bhikṣus:

This teaching of ten fivefold groups of doctrines comprises the following: the group of doctrinal items that are very useful for religious salvation, the group of doctrinal items that should be practiced, the group of doctrinal items that should be comprehensively understood, the group of doctrinal items that should be relinquished, and the group of doctrinal items that should be directly experienced by oneself. What is the singular useful item? It is the discipline of not forsaking whatever is good. What is the singular item to be practiced? It is the discipline of mindfulness in contemplation of one's body. What is the singular item to be exactly known? It is the fact of contact of the [sense] faculties with their respective objects under the influence of defilement. What is the singular item to be relinquished? It is the sense of selfconceit. What is a singular item to be directly experienced? It is the 3

57c

The Canonical Book of the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses, Volume II deliverance of the mind that is unshakable or undisturbed toward the realm beyond the influence of defilement.

Again, there is the double doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the double item that should be practiced, the double item that should be comprehensively understood, the double item that should be relinquished, and the double item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the double item that is very useful for religious salvation? It consists of knowing shame upon self-reflection and knowing shame before others. (2) What is the double item to be practiced? It consists of the practice of calming the mind (śamatha) and that of analytical introspection (vipaśyana). (3) What is the double item to be understood comprehensively? It consists of the (noetic) category of name, i.e. the four mental skandhas, and the (corporeal) category of form, i.e., the one material skandha.(4) What is the double item to be relinquished? It consists of ignorance of the Four Noble Truths and craving and desire for existence. (5) What is the double item to be directly experienced by oneself? It is the acquisition of insight on the Four Noble Truths and the realization of deliverance.

Again, there is the triple doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the triple doctrinal item that should be practiced, the triple doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the triple doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the triple doctrinal item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the triple item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means first, associating with good friends; second, attending discourses on the Dharma, and third, realizing the truth of the Dharma. (2) What is the triple item to be practiced? It means the practice of the threefold concentration: first, the concentration on the emptiness of the self and things attributed to it; second, the concentration on signlessness or the nondifferentiation of things; and third, the concentration on the objectless or goal-free state of existence. (3) What is the triple item to be comprehensively understood? It means three kinds of sensation or feeling: first, the feeling of pain; second, the feeling of pleasure; and third, feeling neither pain or pleasure. (4) What is the triple item to be relinquished? It means three kinds of attachment: first, craving for desire; second, craving for existence; 4

Sutra 11: The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One

and third, craving for nonexistence. (5) What is the triple item to be directly experienced by oneself? It means the three kinds of supernormal knowledge: first, the knowledge of recollection of past lives; second, the knowledge derived from the supernormal power of vision; and third, the knowledge of the total eradication of the influence of defilements. Again, there is the fourfold doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the fourfold doctrinal item that should be practiced, the fourfold doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the fourfold doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the fourfold doctrinal item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the fourfold item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means the four kinds of blessings: first, residing in the proper region;15 second, associating with and receiving support from good friends; third, perfect effort that is self-motivated; and fourth, having planted good roots in one's past lives. (2) What is the fourfold item to be practiced? It means the practice of four kinds of application of mental awareness. First, while observing his inner body or inner senses in concentration, a bhikṣushould exert himself with no slackening, being mindful of his observations and keeping them in memory, and thereby remove worldly desires and worries. Second, while observing his outer body or outer senses, a bhikṣu should exert himself with no slackening, being mindful of his observations to keeping them in memory, and thereby remove worldly desires and worries. Third, while observing both the inner and outer body, a bhikṣu should exert himself with no slackening, being mindful of his observations and keeping them in memory, and thereby remove worldly desires and worries. It is the same with the second application: observing one's sense perceptions; the third application, observing one's mind or intellect; and the fourth application, observing one's psychophysical elements (skan dhas). (3) What is the fourfold item to be comprehensively understood? It means the four kinds of food: first, edible, material food that is either nutritious or exquisite; second, nutrition ingested by contact through touch; third, volitional and mental nutrition; and fourth, consciousness nutrition. (4) What is the fourfold item to be relinquished? It means four kinds of grasping or attachment: first, attachment to desires; second, attachment to the self; third, attachment to the vow of precepts belonging 5

The Canonical Book of the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses, Volume II 58a

to other schools; and fourth, attachment to views. (5) What is the fourfold item to be directly experienced by oneself? It means the four results of the mendicant life: first, attaining the result of the saintly state of streamwinner (srotaāpanna); second, attaining the result of the saintly state of once-returner (sakṛdāgāmin); third, attaining the result of the saintly state of nonreturner (anāgāmin); and fourth, attaining the result of the saintly state of arhatship.

Again there is the fivefold doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the fivefold doctrinal item that should be practiced, the fivefold doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the fivefold doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the fivefold doctrinal item to be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the fivefold item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means the five kinds of effort toward ultimate cessation: first, striving to believe that the Buddha Tathāgata is perfectly endowed with the ten supreme titles, such as One Liberated from Attachment and Fully Enlightened One; second, striving to be free from illness and thus always maintaining physical well-being and peace; third, striving to be honest and direct without the vice of flattery, for whom the Tathāgata has taught the path to nirvana; fourth, striving to control the mind, upholding it intact and not disrupted and keeping in memory whatever scripture was once recited, even long ago; and fifth, striving to be capable of skillfully investigating the rising and falling of the psychophysical elements and thus terminate the root of suffering through the same practice that is accomplished by wise and saintly disciples. (2) What is the fivefold item to be practiced? It means the practice of five spiritual faculties: the faculty of faith, the faculty of endeavor, the faculty of mindfulness, the faculty of concentration, and the faculty of insight. (3) What is the fivefold item to be comprehensively understood? It means the five aggregates that are the basis of clinging to existence: first, the aggregate of material elements (rūpa), second, the aggregate of sensation (vedanā), third, the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā), fourth, the aggregate of dispositional forces (saṃ skāra), and the aggregate of consciousness (vijñāna). (4) What is the fivefold item to be relinquished? It means five kinds of moral and spiritual hindrances: sexual desire, malice, sloth 6

Sutra 11: The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One

and drowsiness, agitation and worry, and doubt. (5) What is the fivefold item to be directly experienced by oneself? It means the five kinds of religious doctrines for one who has realized the state of arhat and has no further stage of training: first, the doctrine of moral precepts and disciplines; second, the doctrine of meditative concentration; third, the doctrine of analytical insight; fourth, the doctrine of religious salvation; and fifth, the doctrine of the insight acknowledging liberation. Again there is the sixfold doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the sixfold doctrinal item that should be practiced, the sixfold doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the sixfold doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the sixfold doctrinal item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the sixfold item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means the six principles of harmony: if a bhikṣuadheres to the six principles of harmony in practice, his conduct is worthy of respect and reverence and can harmonize the sangha, without creating any dispute or controversy, enabling him to act independently without the admixture of confusion. What are these six principles of harmony? First, if a monk always acts benevolently, pays respect toward those who uphold the practice of austerity, and abides with the mind of benevolence and love, his benevolence is regarded as "the principle of harmony, worthy of respect and reverence, capable of harmonizing the sangha, without creating any dispute or controversy, and he can independently proceed without the admixture of confusion.

" Second, through adherence to benevolent and friendly speech, and third, through adherence to benevolent and friendly thought, a bhikṣu may obtain material support on the basis of the doctrinal teaching; fourth, he shares whatever he receives in his almsbowl with his colleagues without keeping it all for himself. Fifth, a bhikṣuupholds the practice of the precepts belonging to those practitioners of saintly status, which should not be violated or altered but kept free from immoral contamination, and equips himself well with the foregoing principles that the learned elders praise and realizes the state of mental concentration. Sixth, a bhikṣurealizes the liberation of those of saintly status, terminates the state of suffering together with others (i.e., equally), and continues to adhere to right views and various practices of austerity. These principles 7

The Canonical Book of the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses, Volume II 58b

are worthy of respect and reverence, and can harmonize the sangha, without creating any dispute or controversy, enabling one to act independently without the admixture of confusion. (2) What is the sixfold item to be practiced? It means the six kinds of mindfulness: being mindful of the Buddha, being mindful of the Dharma, being mindful of the Sangha, being mindful of the precepts, being mindful of charity, and being mindful of heavenly beings. (3) What is the sixfold item to be comprehensively understood? It means the six internal bases of cognition: first, the sense faculty of seeing; second, the sense faculty of hearing; third, the sense faculty of smell; fourth, the sense faculty of taste; fifth, the sense faculty of touch; and sixth, the intellectual faculty of consciousness. (4) What is the sixfold item to be relinquished? It means the six kinds of craving desire that are directed to external bases of cognition respectively, i.e., the objects of the sense faculties: craving for the object of seeing, for the object of hearing, for the object of smell, for the object of taste, fifth, for the object of touch, and for the object of the intellect. (5) What is the sixfold item to be directly experienced by oneself? It means the six kinds of supernormal powers: supernormal psychic power, supernormal hearing, the supernormal power of knowing the minds of others, the supernormal power of recollecting and knowing past lives, supernormal vision, and the supernormal power of eradicating defilements. Again there is the sevenfold doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the sevenfold doctrinal item that should be practiced, the sevenfold doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the sevenfold doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the sevenfold doctrinal item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the sevenfold item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means the seven kinds of possessions (or wealth, treasure, etc.): first, the possession of faith; second, the possession of precepts; third, the possession of "shame upon self-reflection"; fourth, the possession of "shame before others"; fifth, the possession of learning; sixth, the possession of charity; and seventh, the possession of insight. (2) What is the sevenfold item to be practiced? It means the seven auxiliary disciplines of enlightenment: first, a bhikṣupractices the discipline of mindfulness on the basis of nondesire and quiescence, distancing [himself from worldly matters]. In 8

Sutra 11: The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One

like manner, he practices the discipline of discernment of the psycho physical elements; third, he practices the discipline of effort; fourth, he practices the discipline of delight; fifth, he practices the discipline of freedom from bodily and mental disturbance; sixth, he practices the discipline of the practice of concentration; and seventh, he practices the discipline of mental equanimity on the basis of nondesire and quiescence, distancing [himself from worldly matters]. (3) What is the sevenfold item to be comprehensively understood? It means the seven places where consciousness abides: when sentient beings are in possession of different bodies and different ideations, these are humans and heavenly beings. This is the initial abode of consciousness. Second, when sentient beings possess individual bodies but one and the same ideation, this is the time when the god Brahmā was initially born in Ābhāsvara Heaven, where communication is transmitted by light instead of sound. This is the second abode of consciousness. Third, when sentient beings possess one and the same body but different ideations, this is Ābhāsvara Heaven. This is the third abode of consciousness. Fourth, when sentient beings possess one and the same body and ideation, this is Śubha kṛtsna Heaven. This is the fourth abode of consciousness. Fifth, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of infinite space, this is the fifth abode of consciousness. Sixth, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of infinite consciousness, this is the sixth abode of consciousness. Seventh, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of nothingness or nonutility, this is the seventh abode of consciousness. (4) What is the sevenfold item to be relinquished? It means the seven kinds of defilement: craving for sexual desire, craving for existence, wrong view, self-conceit, craving for malice, ignorance, and doubt. (5) What is the sevenfold item to be directly experienced by oneself. It means the seven kinds of power to exhaust the influence of defilement: first, a bhikṣuwho has terminated the influence of defilement sees all the elements of existence as suffering, having originated from causal concatenation, which can be brought to cessation as they really are. He sees desire as a fiery pit, also as a weapon, like a knife or sword. Though he knows the arising of desire and sees it, he is not attached to it nor does he abide in it. He engages in thorough introspection into the causal chain in the order of cessation as well as in the 9

The Canonical Book of the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses, Volume II order of origination, and thus understands the origin of desire and its cessation as it really is. The bhikṣuwho has thus terminated the influence of defilement through the practice of introspection is free from the influence of the worldly vices of avarice and stinginess, and evil and bad psycho physical elements do not arise in his existence. He practices the four disciplines of applying mental awareness, and hence he is engaged with many items to be practiced and carried out. He is also engaged in cultivating five spiritual faculties and correlative forces and practicing the seven auxiliary disciplines of enlightenment, as well as the eightfold noble path of cessation.

Again there is the eightfold doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the eightfold doctrinal item that should be practiced, the eightfold doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the eightfold doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the eightfold doctrinal item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the eightfold item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means the eight kinds of causal factors that enable one to acquire knowledge when the practice of austerity has not been fully perfected, and to broaden and strengthen that knowledge when the practice of austerity has been perfected. What are these eight items? Here, when a bhikṣuabides in reliance on the World-honored One, or abides in reliance on his teaching elder or a practitioner of austerity who is endowed with knowledge, he becomes aware of shame upon self-reflection and shame before his teacher, and cherishes a sense of adoration and reverence toward the teacher. This is the first kind of causal factor that enables a bhikṣuto acquire knowledge when the practice of austerity has not been fully perfected and to broaden and strengthen that knowledge when the practice of austerity has been perfected. Second, a bhikṣuabides in reliance to the World-honored One and closely questions him whenever possible, saying,

"What is the meaning of this doctrine, sir?" "What is intended, sir?" At that moment, any honorable senior monk should explain the profound meaning of the doctrine referred to for the sake of the junior monk. This is the second kind of causal factor. Third, having thus listened to the meaning of the doctrine, the junior bhikṣubecomes settled in body and mind. This is the third causal factor. Fourth, having thus become 10

Sutra 11: The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One

settled in body and mind, the junior bhikṣudoes not engage in nonreligious and idle speech, but when he joins his colleagues he either speaks about the doctrine or invites others to talk about it; otherwise, he does not forsake the discipline of noble silence. This is the fourth causal factor. Fifth, he attends many discourses for learning, broadens his knowledge, and upholds it without forgetting it. He intuits the depth of the various doctrines, the various degrees of good, higher, middle, and lower, the truth of meanings and essences, and, endowed with the practice of austerity, he abides firmly, his mind unswayed when reviewing what he has learned. This is the fifth causal factor. Sixth, engaged in the practice of terminating evil but increasing good without slackening, a bhikṣustrives hard, sustains the doctrine, and does not forsake it. This is the sixth causal factor. Seventh, he comes to acquire the insight into origin and cessation, knows the goal of saintly realization, and thus reaches the end of suffering. This is the seventh causal factor. Eighth, he analytically intuits the origination and cessation of the five aggregates of existence, specifying that "This is the aggregate of material form, its causal context, and its cessation. This is the aggregate of feeling, that of ideation, that of dispositional forces, that of consciousness, the causal context of consciousness, and the cessation of it. " This is the eighth causal factor that

enables a bhikṣuto acquire knowledge when the practice of austerity has not been fully perfected and to broaden and strengthen that knowledge when the practice of austerity has been perfected. (2) What is the eightfold item to be practiced? It means the eightfold noble path: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, and right concentration. (3) What is the eightfold item to be comprehensively understood? It means the eight criteria of the secular world: gain and loss, infamy and fame, praise and blame, and suffering and happiness. (4) What is the eightfold item to be relinquished? It means the eight kinds of wrong conduct (i.e., conduct counter to the eightfold noble path): wrong view, wrong thought, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness, and wrong concentration. (5) What is the eightfold item to be directly experienced by oneself? It means the eight kinds of liberation: first, the liberation realized when one, with an ideation of internal form, perceives external forms; 11

58c

The Canonical Book of the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses, Volume II second, the liberation realized when, without any ideation of internal form, he perceives external forms; third, the liberation realized when he has thus terminated all defilements; fourth, the liberation realized when, having transcended all ideations of form and annihilated sensory reaction, he abides in the first formless state of concentration, the sphere of infinite space; fifth, the liberation realized when, having transcended the sphere of infinite space, he abides in the sphere of infinite consciousness; sixth, the liberation realized when, having transcended the previous sphere, he abides in the sphere of nothingness or nonutility; seventh, the liberation realized when, having transcending the previous sphere, he abides in the sphere of neither ideation nor nonideation; and eighth, the liberation realized when, having transcending this sphere, he abides in the final state of cessation, having transcended the senses and ideation, which is equivalent to the third saintly state of anāgāmin.

Again there is the ninefold doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the ninefold doctrinal item that should be practiced, the ninefold doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the ninefold doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the ninefold doctrinal item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the ninefold item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means the nine qualities for which to strive: moral purity in upholding the precepts, purity of mind, purity of views, the purity of overcoming doubt, the purity of analytical excellence, knowing the right path from wrong ones, the purity of knowing the method of reaching the goal, the purity of the absence of desire, and the purity of deliverance. (2) What is the ninefold item to be practiced? It means the nine roots of proper mental attention: delight, devotion, joy, well-adjusted happiness, concentration, absolute knowledge, the eradication of defilement, equanimity, the absence of desire, and liberation. (3) What is the ninefold item to be comprehensively understood? It means the nine places of sentient beings. First, when sentient beings are in possession of different bodies and different ideations, these are humans and heavenly beings. This is the initial abode of sentient beings. Second, when sentient beings possess different bodies but one and the same ideation, this is the time when the god Brahmā was initially born in Ābhāsvara Heaven, where communication 12

Sutra 11: The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One

is transmitted by light instead of sound. This is the second abode of sentient beings. Third, when sentient beings possess one and the same body but different ideations, this is Ābhāsvara Heaven. This is the third abode of sentient beings. Fourth, when sentient beings possess one and the same body and ideation, this is Śubhakṛtsna Heaven. This is the fourth abode of sentient beings. Fifth, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of neither ideation nor external awareness, this is Āsaṃjñika Heaven. This is the fifth abode of sentient beings. Sixth, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of infinite space, this is the sixth abode of sentient beings. Seventh, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of infinite consciousness, this is the seventh abode of sentient beings. Eighth, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of nothingness or nonutility, this is the eighth abode of sentient beings. Ninth, when sentient beings reside in the sphere of neither ideation nor nonideation, this is the ninth abode of sentient beings. (4) What is the ninefold item to be relinquished? It means the nine roots of craving: first there is craving; second, because of craving there arises the act of seeking; third, because of seeking there arises a gain; fourth, because of gain there arises a thought of its utility; fifth, because of the thought of utility there arises desire; sixth, because of desire there arises strong attachment; seventh, because of attachment there arises an act of grasping; eighth, because of grasping there arises an act of parsimony; and ninth, because of parsimony there arises an act of guarding. (5) What is the ninefold item to be directly experienced by oneself? It means the nine successive stages of the process of cessation: first, when a bhikṣuenters the first meditative absorption there ceases to be the sound of auditory faculty; second, when he enters the second meditative absorption there ceases to be mental activity of thinking and deliberation; third, when he enters the third meditative absorption there ceases to be the awareness of delight; fourth, when he enters the fourth meditative absorption there cease to be the signs of inhalation or exhalation; fifth, when he enters the sphere of infinite space, the initial formless state of concentration, there ceases to be the ideation of external form; sixth, when he enters the sphere of infinite consciousness there ceases to be the ideation of empty space; seventh, when he enters the sphere of nothingness or nonutility there ceases to be the ideation of consciousness;eighth, 13

59a

The Canonical Book of the Buddha's Lengthy Discourses, Volume II when he enters the sphere of neither ideation nor nonideation, there ceases to be the ideation of nonutility or nothingness; ninth, when he enters the final state of cessation, having transcended the senses and ideation, which is equivalent to third saintly state of anāgāmin,there ceases to be both ideation and sensation.

Again there is the tenfold doctrinal item that is very useful for religious salvation, the tenfold doctrinal item that should be practiced, the tenfold doctrinal item that should be comprehensively understood, the tenfold doctrinal item that should be relinquished, and the tenfold doctrinal item that should be directly experienced by oneself. (1) What is the tenfold item that is very useful for religious salvation? It means the ten kinds of refuge for religious salvation. Fiirst, a bhikṣuis endowed with two hundred and fifty disciplines, as well as possessing dignified deportment, and, being afraid of committing even a minute offense, he trains in all of the disciplines with meticulous evenness, having no detrimental imbalance. Second, he is befriended by good associates. Third, a bhikṣuuses words appropriately, neither in excess nor insufficiently, and he is able to understand the meanings beyond words. Fourth, he willingly seeks out opportunities to listen to discourses on the Dharma and freely shares whatever doctrine he has received to others, without hesitation. Fifth, a bhikṣuvisits the places of various practitioners of austerity and openhandedly offers his assistance to them, accomplishing whatever is difficult to accomplish, and also teaching others how to do the same. Sixth, he attends as many discourses as possible to acquire knowledge and retains whatever he has learned in memory, without forgetting anything. Seventh, he exerts himself to eradicate unfavorable mental obstacles and promote favorable mental states. Eighth, a self-motivated bhikṣu always focuses his mind with vigilant mindfulness on essentially good conduct, as if he is visualizing it right before his eyes. Ninth, he realizes transcendent insight and knowledge, intuitively perceives the origination and cessation of the psychophysical elements, and, on the basis of the disciplines upheld by wise and saintly disciples, he eradicates the root of all suffering. Tenth, he is content with quiet seclusion, engages in mental contemplation, and never wastes time in worldly pastimes during sessions of meditation. (2) What is the tenfold item to be practiced? It means the ten 14

Sutra 11: The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One

right practices: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness (samyak-smṛti), right concentration, right wisdom, and right liberation. (3) What is the tenfold item to be comprehensively understood? It means the ten bases of cognition, namely the five sense faculties and their respective objects: the visual organ, the eye; the auditory organ, the ear; the olfactory organ, the nose; the gustatory organ, the tongue; the tactile organ, the body; and the visual object of form, the auditory object of sound, the olfactory object of smell, the gustatory object of taste, and the tactile object of touch. (4) What is the tenfold item to be relinquished? It means the ten kinds of wrong paths: wrong view, wrong thought, wrong speech, wrong action, wrong livelihood, wrong effort, wrong mindfulness (mithyā-smṛtior mithyāvāyāma), wrong concentration, wrong deliverance, and wrong knowledge. (5) What is the tenfold item to be directly experienced by oneself? It means the ten norms of the arhat who does not require further training: right view, right thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration, right wisdom, and right liberation.

O bhikṣus, the foregoing is called the teaching of the ten fivefold doctrines, which I have now completed for you. From the time I realized the status of a tathāgata I have continued to accomplish whatever should be done for the benefit of my disciples, and I have completed it. I have instructed you with friendly love and in a gentle manner. You should respectfully receive the teaching I have given and carry out what has been taught by me. O bhikṣus, you should abide in a quiet, secluded place such as an empty spot under a tree, make effort to practice meditation, and refrain from slackening. If you do not work hard now toward your religious goal, what use is there in regretting it later on? I wish for you to make effort to uphold the foregoing teaching.

At that time, having listened to the Buddha's exhortation, the bhikṣus were delighted and carried out what was taught by the Buddha. [End of Sutra 11: The Gradual Increase of Doctrines by One] 15

59b