The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives and Contemplation of the Mind-ground

Fascicle Two

Chapter II

Repaying Debts of Gratitude

Then the World-honored One calmly came out of samādhi and addressed the bodhisattva and mahāsattva Maitreya:

Excellent, excellent! You great beings and good sirs, out of a desire to serve the father of the world, out of a desire to listen to the supramundane Dharma, out of a desire to ponder the principle of thusness, and out of a desire to cultivate the wisdom of thusness, have come to where the Buddha is, made offerings, and paid your respects. I shall now expound the wondrous Dharma of the mind-ground and guide beings so that they enter the wisdom of a buddha.

Buddhas and tathāgatas have preached this wondrous Dharma only when immeasurable eons have elapsed. The appearance of the Tathāgata and World-honored One is extremely difficult to encounter, just like an uḍum[bara] flower, and even if the Tathāgata does appear in the world, his preaching of this wondrous Dharma is still more difficult [to encounter]. Why is this? All beings have distanced themselves from the practices and vows of the Mahayana bodhisattva and aim for the bodhi of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha. Having an aversion for birth-and-death, they enter nirvana forever and do not desire the Mahayana's wondrous fruit of permanence and bliss. But the tathāgatas, when turning the Dharma wheel, preach the appropriate Dharma, being free from four faults: [that is to say, they preach] first, not in an unsuitable place; second, not at an unsuitable time; third, not to an unsuitable vessel; fourth, not an unsuitable Dharma. They dispense medicine according to the illness and effect its removal. This is, namely, a quality of a tathāgata not shared with others. Śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas have not yet gained mastery of the state of the bodhisattva multitudes not shared with others. For this reason, it is difficult [for them] to see and difficult [for them] to hear the right path to bodhi, the 37

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Dharma discourse on the mind-ground. If any gentleman or lady hears this wondrous Dharma, having it pass through their ears just once, in an instant they will concentrate their thoughts, observe their mind, and create through habitual practice the seed of unsurpassed great bodhi, and before long they will sit on the adamantine jeweled seat beneath the king of bodhi trees and attain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.

At that time there were in the great city of Rājagṛha five hundred eminent householders. Their names were: the eminent householder Wondrous Virtue (*Supuṇya), the eminent householder Valor (*Vīra), the eminent householder Good Dharma (*Sudharma), the eminent householder Buddha-mindful (*Buddhānu smṛtimat), the eminent householder Wondrous Wisdom (*Sumati), the eminent householder Bodhi, the eminent householder Wondrous Eloquence (*Suvācas), the eminent householder Dharma Eye (*Dharmanetri), the eminent householder Radiance (*Jyotiṣka), the eminent householder Wish-fulfilled (*Pūrṇa) [and so on]. These extremely wealthy eminent householders had accomplished the right view and made offerings to the Tathāgata and multitudes of holy ones. These eminent householders, on hearing the World-honored One extol the Mahayana Dharma discourse on the mind-ground, formed this thought: "We have seen the Tathāgata emit golden-colored light and manifest the difficult practices and ascetic practices of the bodhisattva. We are not enamored of the idea of practicing austerities. Who could dwell in birth-and-death for everlasting eons and experience hardships for the sake of beings?" Having formed this thought, they rose from their seats, bared their right shoulders, touched their right knees to the ground, pressed their palms together in reverence, and in unison advanced and said to the Buddha: World-honored One, we do not desire the bodhisattva practices of the Mahayana, nor do we delight in hearing talk of austerities. Why is this? None of the practices and vows cultivated by all bodhisattvas are cognizant of debts of gratitude or repay debts of gratitude. Why? They distance themselves from their parents with the aim of leaving home. They give their wives and children to whomever they want, and as for their head, eyes, marrow, and brain, they give them all away in accordance with requests for them and endure torment. For three [a]saṃkhya eons they 38

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practice in full the perfections, the eighty-four thousand pāramitā practices, cross the current of birth-and-death, and reach the place of the great happiness of bodhi. It is better to aim for the path and fruit of the two vehicles, accumulating provisions for from three lives to one hundred eons, cutting off the causes of birth-and-death, realizing the fruit of nirvana, and quickly reaching happiness. This is called repaying debts of gratitude. Thereupon the Buddha addressed the five hundred eminent householders: Excellent, excellent! On hearing the extolling of the Mahayana, you have in your minds produced [thoughts of] retrogression and raised a wonderful issue, bringing benefit and happiness to all beings in future ages incognizant of the quality of indebtedness. Listen attentively, listen attentively, and consider it carefully as I now analyze and explain for you where there lie debts of gratitude, mundane and supramundane.

Good sirs, what you say cannot be right. Why? There are four kinds of mundane and supramundane debts of gratitude. First, the debt of gratitude to one's parents; second, the debt of gratitude to beings; third, the debt of gratitude to the king; fourth, the debt of gratitude to the Three Jewels. These four debts of gratitude are equally incurred by all beings. As regards the debt of gratitude to one's parents, to one's father one owes the debt of kindness, and to one's mother one owes the debt of compassion. The debt of compassion owed to one's mother I could not exhaust were I to dwell in the world for one eon explaining it, and I shall now explain for you only a small portion of it.

Even if someone were for the sake of merit to revere and honor one hundred great brahmans of pure conduct, one hundred great divine seers possessing the five [supernormal] faculties, and one hundred good [spiritual] friends, install them inside an exquisite seven-jeweled hall, and single mindedly make offerings of hundreds of thousands of kinds of fine delicacies, many-jeweled raiment hung with necklaces, houses built of sandalwood and aloeswood, bedding and mats adorned with a hundred jewels, and a hundred kinds of medicinal decoctions for treating illnesses for a full hundred thousand eons, it would not be as good as dwelling for a single moment in thoughts of filial obedience, cheerfully caring for one's compassionate mother with scant goods, and attending on her wherever 39

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she goes. In comparison, the merits of the former cannot be measured as even a hundred-thousand-myriadth part.

The thoughts of a compassionate mother in the world for her child are without compare. The debt of gratitude extends to when one is yet without form. Starting from conception, for ten months she experiences unspeakable hardships, whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down. Although she may have desires for food, drink, and clothes, she does not arouse any craving for them. Thoughts of anxiety never cease, and she thinks only that she is going to give birth. Gradually she suffers more and more and is distressed day and night. In the case of a difficult birth, it is as if hundreds of thousands of knives are vying to carve her up, and she may die. If she suffers no hardship, kith and kin rejoice without end, as if a poor woman had obtained a wish-fulfilling gem. When her child utters a sound, it is like hearing music. The mother's chest is its bed, it is always moving around on her lap, and from her breasts she produces fountains of nectar. The debt of gratitude for her nurturing fills the heavens, and the quality of her tenderness is vast and without compare. Among things regarded as lofty by the world, nothing exceeds mountains, but the debt of gratitude to a compassionate mother surpasses [Mount] Sume[ru]. Among things that are weighty in the world, the earth is foremost, but the debt of gratitude to a compassionate mother again exceeds it. If any man or woman turns their back on their debt of gratitude, is disobedient, and causes their parents to arouse thoughts of resentment, and their mother utters harsh words, the child will fall accordingly into either hell or [the realm of] hungry ghosts or animals. Among things that are swift in the world, nothing exceeds a fierce wind, but the slightest resentment is still faster than that, and no tathāgatas, adamantine gods, or seers possessing the five [supernormal] faculties are able to save [such people]. If any gentleman or lady follows the instructions of their compassionate mother, obedient and not defying them, the gods will think protectively of them, and there will be no end to their blessings and happiness. Men and women such as these are called the type of gods and humans who are honorable and respectable, or else they are bodhisattvas who, in order to save beings, have manifested as men and women and bring benefit to their parents.

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If any gentleman or lady, in order to repay their debt of gratitude to their mother, were for one eon to cut off some of their own flesh three times daily and feed their parents with it, they would still not be able to repay a single day's debt of gratitude. Why is this? While in the womb, all men and women suckle at the root of the [mother's] breasts and imbibe the mother's blood. Then, after leaving the womb and before becoming a [weaned] infant, the mother's milk they drink amounts to one hundred and eighty hu.18 If the mother obtains something of superior taste, she first gives it to her child, and it is the same with rare and fine clothes. Even if [the child] is stupid and vulgar, her love is peerless. Once there was a woman traveling far away in another country. Carrying her child in her arms, she was crossing the Ganges River, but the waters suddenly rose and she did not have the strength to go forward. Out of thoughts of love, she did not abandon [the child], and the mother and child both drowned. Because of the power of this root of goodness of kind thoughts, she immediately gained rebirth up in the heaven Limit of Form (Akaniṣṭha) and became Great King Brahmā.

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For these reasons a mother has ten virtues. The first is called "earth," for while [the child is] in the mother's womb she acts as a support. The second is called "giving birth," for she experiences [many] sufferings to give birth. The third is called "rectifying," for with a mother's hands she is constantly caring for the [child's] five sense organs. The fourth is called "nurturing," for she raises [the child] as is appropriate in the four seasons. The fifth is called "wisdom," for she produces wisdom by means of expedient means. The sixth is called "adornment," for she beautifies [the child] with fine necklaces. The seventh is called "peaceful rest," for the mother's embrace is restful. The eighth is called "instruction," for she guides the child with skillful means. The ninth is called "admonition," for with good speech she distances [the child] from many evils. The tenth is called "giving an occupation," for she passes the family occupation on to the child. Good sirs, what is the greatest wealth and what is the greatest poverty in all worlds? A compassionate mother being at home is called wealth, and a compassionate mother being away is called poverty. When a compassionate mother is alive, this is called midday, and when a compassionate mother dies, this is called sunset. When a compassionate mother is alive, 41

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this is called moonlight, and when a compassionate mother passes away, this is called darkness. Therefore, apply yourselves to practice and care for your parents with filiality. Were someone to make offerings to the Buddha, the blessings would be the same and no different. In this way you should repay your debt of gratitude to your parents. Good sirs, as regards the debt of gratitude to beings, since beginningless time all beings have transmigrated in the five paths for hundreds of thousands of eons and have in many lives been fathers and mothers for one another. Because they have been father and mother for one another, all men are your kind father and all women are your compassionate mother. Because there has been a great debt of gratitude in former lives, this is just like the debt of gratitude to your present parents, the same and no different. You have still not been able to repay these past debts of gratitude, or else because of deluded actions there occur agreements and disagreements and on account of attachment you instead incur their hostility. Why? Ignorance obstructs knowledge of past lives, and you do not understand that in previous lives [others] were your parents. With those to whom debts of gratitude should be repaid you bring benefit to one another. Not bringing benefit is called "unfilial." For these reasons, toward all kinds of beings, too, there is at all times a great debt of gratitude that is truly difficult to repay. Things like this are called the debt of gratitude to beings. As regards the debt of gratitude to the king, his merits and virtues are supreme because, even though he has been born among humans, he has gained sovereignty and because the gods of the Heaven of the Thirtythree [Gods] constantly confer on him their power and always protect him. The mountains, rivers, and earth within the borders of that country, as far as the ends of the ocean, belong to the king, for the merits and virtues of [this] single person far exceed the merits of all beings. This great sage-king governs by means of the right Dharma and is able to make all beings happy.

For example, just as pillars are the basis of all buildings in the world, so too is the king the basis of the prosperity and happiness of the people, for they rely on the existence of the king. Again, just as King Brahmā produced the myriad things, so too does the sage-king produce the laws to rule the country so as to benefit beings. Just as the sun god shines on 42

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the world, so too does the king observe the realm for the sake of the happiness of the people. Should the king forfeit right rule, the people will have nothing on which to rely. If he uses right governance, the eight great fears will not enter that country, namely, invasions by other countries, revolts within its own borders, illnesses due to evil spirits, nationwide famines, unseasonable wind and rain, belated wind and rain, solar and lunar eclipses, and anomalies in the constellations. Right governance by a king of men benefits the people, for these eight perils are unable to encroach. For example, just as an eminent householder who has only a single son thinks lovingly of him in a way that is without compare, takes pity on him, brings benefit to him, always grants him happiness, and does not abandon him day or night, so too is a great sage-king of a country like this: he regards all living beings equally, just like a single child, and does not abandon thoughts of protectiveness day or night. Such a king of men, if he makes others cultivate the ten good [deeds], is called a meritorious lord, and if he does not make others cultivate [the ten good deeds], he is called an unmeritorious lord. Why is this? If a single person within the kingdom cultivates good, the merits created by him are all divided into seven parts: the person who performed the good gets five parts, and the king of that country always obtains two parts, for if good is cultivated on account of the king, the merits and benefits are shared. If one performs the ten evil deeds, it is also like this, for they share them. Everything produced in the fields and groves of the country is also all divided into seven parts in the same way. If any king of men has accomplished the right view and governs the world in accordance with the Dharma, he is called a heavenly lord, for he governs the world by means of the good Dharma of heaven, gods, benevolent spirits, and world-protecting kings always come to afford protection and defend the royal palace, and although he dwells among humans, he practices heavenly deeds and is impartial in thoughts of praise and punishment.

All sage-kings are like this with respect to the Dharma, and such sagerulers are called kings of the right Dharma. For this reason, they accomplish ten qualities. The first is called "illuminating," for with the eye of wisdom they illuminate the world. The second is called "adornment," for they 43

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adorn the country with great merit and knowledge. The third is called "giving happiness," for they bestow great happiness on the people. The fourth is called "subjugating foes," for all enemies submit of their own accord. The fifth is called "fearlessness," for they are able to dispel the eight perils and free [people from] fear. The sixth is called "appointing worthies," for they gather together worthy men to assess state affairs. The seventh is called "basis of the law," for all the people live in peace in dependence on the king. The eighth is called "maintaining the world," for with the laws of a heavenly king they maintain the world. The ninth is called "lord of karma," for good and evil deeds appertain to the king. The tenth is called "lord of humans," for the king is lord of all people. All kings accomplish these ten kinds of superior qualities on account of their merits from previous lives.

The heavenly king Great Brahmā and [the gods of] Trāyastriṃśa Heaven always help a king of men to experience marvelous pleasures. The rākṣasa kings and [other] spirits, though they do not show themselves, come secretly to protect the king and his dependents. If the king sees people doing things that are not good and is unable to stop them, the gods and spirits will all keep their distance. If they see [people] cultivating good, they will rejoice and extol him, all crying out, "Our sage-king!" The nāga gods, delighted, will cause showers of nectar to rain down, the five grains will ripen, and the people will be prosperous and happy. If [the king] does not associate with evil people and universally benefits the world, everyone will follow his right influence, a wish-fulfilling jewel will most certainly appear in the kingdom, neighboring countries will all come and submit to the king, and there will be no humans or nonhumans who do not praise him. If there is an evil person inside the kingdom and he arouses thoughts of defiance for an instant, the merit of such a person will deteriorate of its own accord, and when his life ends he will fall into hell, pass through [many lives as] an animal, and experience [many] sufferings. Why is this? Because he did not realize his debt of gratitude to the king, he committed outrageous acts and gained this retribution. If any person practices good thoughts, respectfully assists the benevolent king, and venerates him like a buddha, this person will be at ease, prosperous, and happy in this life and none of his desires will not be [fulfilled] in 44

Fascicle Two

accordance with his wishes. Why is this? All kings have in past times received the Tathāgata's pure prohibitory precepts and always become kings of men, at ease and joyful. For this reason, the rewards for obedience and disobedience are all like the response of an echo. Such is the vastness of the quality of indebtedness to a sage-king.

Good sirs, the debt of gratitude to the Three Jewels is called inconceivable, and they bring benefit and happiness to beings without cease. The body of the buddhas is true, good, and uncontaminated. It has been realized by cultivating its causes for innumerable great eons, and the karmic fruits of the three existences have long been exhausted without remainder. The precious mountain of its virtues towers loftily without compare, and it is unknowable to all sentient beings. Its merits are profound, like the ocean, and its wisdom unobstructed, like empty space. Magical transformations due to its supernormal faculties fill the world, and its radiance illuminates everything in the ten directions and the three ages. All beings are utterly unable to perceive it on account of mental afflictions and karmic hindrances, and they founder in the sea of suffering, being born and dying endlessly. The Three Jewels transcend the world and act as a great shipmaster, cleaving the current of craving and crossing over to the further shore. Those who possess wisdom all look up to them. Good sirs, the Buddha Jewel alone has three kinds of bodies: first, the body of own-nature; second, the body of enjoyment; third, the body of transformation. The first buddha body possesses the great quality of severance [of mental afflictions], a manifestation of the two kinds of emptiness (i.e., of self and things), and all buddhas are equal. The second buddha body possesses the great quality of wisdom, true, permanent, and uncontaminated, and all buddhas are all of the same mind. The third buddha body possesses the great quality of beneficence, a transformation of the [supernormal] faculties of meditation, and all buddhas are the same in their deeds.

Good sirs, the body of own-nature is without beginning and without end, is free from all [distinguishing] characteristics, has ended all frivolous arguments, and is boundless all around, motionless, and eternal. The body of enjoyment has two aspects: first, self-enjoyment, and second, other-enjoyment. As for the body of self-enjoyment, having brought benefit 45

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and happiness to beings through myriad practices cultivated for three [a]saṃkhya eons, and the ten stages fulfilled, [the bodhisattva] betakes himself directly to the heaven Limit of Form (Akaniṣṭha), transcends the three realms, and in a pure and wonderful land sits on a jeweled lotus flower of immeasurable size, surrounded in front and behind by indescribable oceanlike assemblies of bodhisattvas who fasten untainted silken festoons on top of his head and honor, revere, venerate, and extol him. This is called the benefit of later reward. At that time the bodhisattva enters the adamantine concentration (vajra-samādhi), cuts off all subtle cognitive and afflictive hindrances, and realizes anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. A wondrous fruit such as this is called the benefit of present reward. This true body of recompense has a beginning but no end; the number of eons of its life span does not have any limit; from the initial accomplishment of right awakening through to the end of time the [thirty-two] major marks and [eighty] minor signs of its physical organs will pervade the Dharma realm, and the four wisdoms will be perfected. This is the Dharma bliss enjoyed by the true body of recompense.

[The four wisdoms are as follows.] First, great perfect mirrorlike wisdom: one transforms maturing consciousness to obtain this wisdom. Just as a large round mirror manifests material images, so too does the Tathāgata manifest the good and evil deeds of beings in his mirrorlike wisdom. For this reason, this wisdom is called "great perfect mirrorlike wisdom." Relying on great compassion he constantly perceives beings, and relying on great wisdom he is always like Dharma-nature; he observes both the true and the conventional without interruption, is always able to maintain a body with uncontaminated faculties, and has all merits as his basis. Second, the wisdom of equality: one transforms the consciousness of the [wrong] view of the self to obtain this wisdom, whereby one is able to realize the equality of self and other and the nature of the two kinds of no-self. This is called the "wisdom of equality." Third, the wisdom of wondrous observation: one transforms differentiating consciousness to obtain this wisdom, [whereby] one is able to observe the distinctive characteristics and shared characteristics of all things, preaches wondrous teachings to assemblies, and is able to make beings obtain nonretrogression. Therefore, it is called the "wisdom of wondrous observation." Fourth, the wisdom of accomplishing what is 46

Fascicle Two

to be done: one transforms the five kinds of [sensory] consciousness to obtain this wisdom, [whereby] one is able to manifest all kinds of metamorphic bodies and make beings bring good deeds to maturation. For this reason, it is called the "wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done." [The Tathāgata] is endowed with eighty-four thousand gateways to wisdom, headed by these four wisdoms. All these meritorious qualities are called the Tathāgata's body of self-enjoyment.

Good sirs, the second [body of enjoyment] is the Tathāgata's body of other-enjoyment. Endowed with eighty-four thousand major marks and minor signs, he lives in a true and pure land, preaching the Dharma of the One Vehicle and making bodhisattvas enjoy the exquisite Dharma bliss of the Mahayana. In order to convert multitudes of bodhisattvas of the ten stages, all tathāgatas manifest ten kinds of other-enjoyment bodies. The first buddha body is seated on a hundred-petaled lotus flower and explains the lucid gateway to one hundred teachings for bodhisattvas of the first stage; after the bodhisattvas have understood [this], they activate great supernormal faculties and their transformations fill one hundred buddha world-systems, bringing benefit and happiness to innumerable beings. The second buddha body is seated on a thousand-petaled lotus flower and explains the lucid gateway to one thousand teachings for bodhisattvas of the second stage; after the bodhisattvas have understood [this], they activate great supernormal faculties and their transformations fill one thousand buddha world-systems, bringing benefit and happiness to immeasurable beings. The third buddha body is seated on a ten-thousand-petaled lotus flower and explains the lucid gateway to ten thousand teachings for bodhisattvas of the third stage; after the bodhisattvas have understood [this], they activate great supernormal faculties and their transformations fill ten thousand buddha lands, bringing benefit and happiness to innumerable beings. In this manner the Tathāgata gradually multiplies through to the body of enjoyment for bodhisattvas of the tenth stage, who is seated on an indescribable and wondrously jeweled lotus flower and explains the lucid gateway to indescribable teachings for bodhisattvas of the tenth stage; after the bodhisattvas have understood [this], they activate great supernormal faculties and their transformations fill indescribable exquisite buddha lands, bringing benefit and happiness to ineffably and inexpressibly 47

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immeasurable and infinite kinds of beings. These ten bodies all sit [beneath] seven-jeweled kings of bodhi trees and realize anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Good sirs, every single flower petal each constitutes a trigalactic [megagalactic] world-system, each of which has a hundred million Mountainking Sumerus, as well as four great continents, a sun, a moon, and stars, and not one is not endowed with the heavens of the three realms. The Jambūdvīpas on every single petal have an adamantine seat and a king of bodhi trees, and those hundreds of thousands of myriads of metamorphic buddhas, through to indescribably many, great and small, each having defeated Māra's army beneath the [bodhi] tree, all at once realize anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. These metamorphic buddha bodies, great and small, are each endowed with the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor signs. For bodhisattvas of [the stages of] equipment and four roots of goodness, those of the two vehicles, and ordinary people they preach as appropriate the wondrous Dharma of the three vehicles. For bodhisattvas they preach in accordance with the six pāramitās, making them gain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi and ultimately attain the wisdom of a buddha; for those seeking the [state of a] pratyekabuddha they preach in accordance with the Dharma of the twelve causes and conditions [of dependent coarising]; for those seeking the [state of a] śrāvaka they preach in accordance with the Dharma of the four truths so that they may overcome birth, old age, sickness, and death and ultimately attain nirvana; and for other beings they preach the teachings for humans and gods, making them gain the happiness and wondrous fruits of humans and gods. These metamorphic buddhas, great and small, are all called transformation bodies of the Buddha. Good sirs, although these two kinds of buddhas of response and transformation manifest extinction (i.e., nirvana), this buddha body has continuity and is eternal. Good sirs, the like of a single Buddha Jewel has immeasurable, infinite, and inconceivable vast qualities of beneficence such as these for bringing benefit and happiness to beings. For this reason, it is called the Tathāgata, Worthy One, Perfectly All Knowing One, Perfected in Knowledge and Conduct, Well-gone One, One Who Understands the World, Unsurpassed One, Tamer of Men, Teacher of Gods and Humans, Buddha, and Worldhonored One. 48

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Good sirs, a single Buddha Jewel is endowed with six kinds of exquisite merits: first, it is an unsurpassed great field of merit; second, unsurpassed, it has a great quality of beneficence; third, it is honored among legless, two-legged, and many-legged beings; fourth, it is extremely difficult to encounter, like an uḍum[bara] flower; fifth, only one appears in a trigalactic megagalactic world-system; sixth, its mundane and supramundane merits perfect the support of all objectives. Possessing these six kinds of merits, it is always able to bring benefit and happiness to all beings. This is called the inconceivable debt of gratitude to the Buddha Jewel. Thereupon the five hundred eminent householders said to the Buddha: World-honored One, according to what you have said, the immeasurable metamorphic buddhas within the single Buddha Jewel fill the world and bring benefit and happiness to beings. Why is it that beings in the world mostly do not see the buddhas and experience hardships? The Buddha addressed the five hundred eminent householders: Suppose, for example, that the sun god emits hundreds of thousands of rays and illuminates the world, and there is a blind person who does not see the light. Good sirs, what do you think? Is the sun god at fault or not? Then the eminent householders said, "No, World-honored One." The Buddha said:

Good sirs, buddhas and tathāgatas are always preaching the true Dharma and bringing benefit and happiness to sentient beings. But these beings are always committing evil deeds, completely unaware and without any sense of shame, and do not wish to serve the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha. These beings, the roots of their sins deep and grievous, pass through immeasurable eons without being able to see or hear the names of the Three Jewels, just as that blind person does not see the rays of the sun. If any being reveres the Tathāgata, delights in the Mahayana, and venerates the Three Jewels, know that the karmic hindrances of this person will disappear, his merit and knowledge will increase, and he will accomplish the roots of goodness, quickly be able to see the Buddha, be forever free from birth-and-death, and realize bodhi.

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Good sirs, just as a single Buddha Jewel has immeasurable buddhas, so too is it with the Dharma Jewel preached by the Tathāgata. In a single Dharma Jewel there are immeasurable meanings.

Good sirs, as for the Dharma Jewel, there are four kinds: first, the Dharma of the teaching; second, the Dharma of principle; third, the Dharma of practice; fourth, the Dharma of the fruit. They are all uncontaminated and able to destroy ignorance, mental afflictions, and karmic hindrances. Sounds, words, phrases, and sentences are called the Dharma of the teaching. Dharmas existent and nonexistent are called the Dharma of principle. The practices of morality, meditation, and wisdom are called the Dharma of practice. The wondrous fruit of the unconditioned is called the Dharma of the fruit. These four kinds [of Dharma] are called the Dharma Jewel, which guides beings out of the sea of birth-and-death to the further shore. Good sirs, the teacher for the buddhas is the Dharma Jewel. Why is this? The buddhas of the three ages practice in reliance on the Dharma, cutting off all hindrances, attaining bodhi, and benefiting beings until the end of time. For this reason, the tathāgatas of the three ages always honor the exquisite Dharma Jewel of the pāramitās; how much more so can all beings in the three realms, not yet having gained liberation, not revere the exquisite Dharma Jewel?

Good sirs, once when I was a king of men seeking the Dharma, I entered a large fire pit to seek the right Dharma, and I cut off forever birth-anddeath and gained great bodhi. Therefore, the Dharma Jewel can break down the prison of all birth-and-death, just as a vajra can destroy myriad things; the Dharma Jewel can illuminate benighted beings, just as the sun god can illuminate the world; the Dharma Jewel can save indigent beings, for it is just like a maṇi gem that rains down jewels; the Dharma Jewel can give beings joy, for it is just like the heavenly drum that delights the gods; the Dharma Jewel can serve as a jeweled staircase to the heavens, for by listening to the right Dharma one gains birth in heaven; the Dharma Jewel can serve as a sturdy large ship, for it crosses the sea of birth-anddeath and reaches the further shore; the Dharma Jewel is just like a wheelturning sage-king, for it can eliminate the brigand-like mental afflictions of the three poisons; the Dharma Jewel can serve as a marvelous garment, for it covers shameless beings; the Dharma Jewel is like adamantine armor, 50

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for it can defeat the four demons and [allow one to] realize bodhi; the Dharma Jewel is like the sharp sword of wisdom, for it cuts off birth-anddeath and severs its fetters; the Dharma Jewel is the jeweled carriage of the three vehicles, for it carries beings out of the house on fire; the Dharma Jewel is just like all bright lamps, for it can illuminate the pitch-dark places of the three [evil] paths; the Dharma Jewel is just like a bow, arrow, lance, and spear, for it can pacify state borders and crush foes; and the Dharma Jewel is just like a guide on a dangerous road, for it skillfully guides beings to the treasure site (i.e., nirvana). Good sirs, the wondrous Dharma preached by tathāgatas of the three ages has aspects difficult to conceive such as these, and this is called the inconceivable debt of gratitude to the Dharma Jewel.

Good sirs, there are three kinds of sanghas in the mundane and supramundane worlds: first, the sangha of bodhisattvas; second, the sangha of śrāvakas; third, the sangha of ordinary people. Mañjuśrī, Maitreya, and so on are the sangha of bodhisattvas. The likes of Śāriputra, Maud galyā yana, and so on are the sangha of śrāvakas. If there are true and good ordinary people who have accomplished the differentiated [rules for] liberation (i.e., the code of precepts), as well as being endowed with every right view, being able to expound and reveal widely for others the teaching of the path for holy ones, and bringing benefit and happiness to beings, they are called the sangha of ordinary people. Although they have not yet been able to gain uncontaminated morality, meditation, wisdom, and liberation, nonetheless those who honor them will obtain immeasurable merit. These three kinds [of sanghas] are called the sanghas of the true fields of merit.

There is another type, called the sangha of the field of merit. If someone engenders deep faith in the Buddha's śarīra (relics) and images of the Buddha, as well as in the Dharma, the Sangha, and the precepts prescribed by holy ones, has himself no wrong views and causes others to be also like this, propounds the right Dharma and extols the One Vehicle, believes deeply in causality and always makes wholesome vows, and expiates karmic hindrances in accordance with his transgressions, know that this person believes in the power of the Three Jewels; he is hundreds and thousands and myriads of times superior to non-Buddhists and also superior 51

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to the four kinds of wheel-turning sage-kings, not to mention all beings of other kinds. Just as a saffron flower, though wilted, is still superior to all sundry kinds of flowers, a monk with right views is also like this, hundreds and thousands and myriads of times superior to other beings so long as he does not endamage right views, even if he violates the prohibitory precepts. For this reason, it is called the sangha of the field of merit. If any gentlemen or ladies honor such a sangha of the field of merit, the merits gained will be inexhaustible, and if they honor the previous three true Sangha Jewels, the merits obtained will be exactly the same and no different. These four types of Sangha Jewels of holy ones and ordinary people bring benefit and happiness to sentient beings, never forsaking them for even a moment. This is called the inconceivable debt of gratitude to the Sangha Jewel.

Thereupon the five hundred eminent householders said to the Buddha: World-honored One, we have today heard the sound of the Buddha's Dharma and have understood how the Three Jewels benefit the world. But now we do not know in what sense the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are referred to as "jewels." We beseech the Buddha to explain and clarify [the reason so that] the [present] assembly and all beings who will in future ages believe in the Three Jewels will forever cut through the web of doubt and gain indestructible faith, causing them to enter the inconceivable ocean of the Three Jewels. Then the Buddha addressed the eminent householders, saying: Excellent, excellent! You, good sirs, do well to ask about the Tathāgata's profound and wondrous Dharma, bringing benefit and happiness to all beings in future ages. For instance, just as the rarest jewel in the world possesses ten meanings, adorning state borders and bringing benefit to sentient beings, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this. The first is solidity: just as no one is able to destroy a maṇi jewel, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, for non-Buddhists and the heavenly demon (i.e., Paranirmitavaśavartin) are unable to destroy them. The second is untaintedness: superior jewels of the world are pure, their light clean and not mixed with impurities, and the Buddha, 52

Fascicle Two

Dharma, and Sangha Jewels are also like this, completely free from the grime of mental afflictions. The third is giving happiness: just as a pitcher of heavenly virtues can give happiness, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, able to give beings mundane and supramundane happiness. The fourth is being difficult to encounter: just as an auspicious jewel is rare and difficult to acquire, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, difficult for sentient beings with karmic hindrances to encounter for millions of eons. The fifth is destructiveness: just as a wish-fulfilling jewel can destroy destitution, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, for they can destroy the hardships of poverty in the world. The sixth is majesty: just as the wheel treasure possessed by a wheel-turning king can vanquish foes, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, possessing the six supernormal faculties and subjugating the four demons. The seventh is wish-fulfillment: just as a maṇi gem can rain down treasures in accordance with what one seeks in one's heart, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, able to fulfill the good vows cultivated by beings. The eighth is adornment: just as rare jewels of the world adorn royal palaces, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, adorning the jeweled bodhi palace of the Dharma king. The ninth is utmost exquisiteness: just as the wondrous jewels of heaven are the most exquisite, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, surpassing the best wondrous jewels in the world. The tenth is immutability: just as pure gold does not change when put in fire, so too are the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels like this, the eight winds of the world unable to affect them. The Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha Jewels are endowed with immeasurable magical transformations due to their supernormal faculties, bringing benefit and happiness to sentient beings without stopping for even a moment. It is in this sense that the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha are referred to as "jewels." Good sirs, I have explained in brief for you the objects of the four kinds of mundane and supramundane debts of gratitude. Know that, cultivating bodhisattva practices, you should repay these four kinds of debts of gratitude.

Then the five hundred eminent householders said to the Buddha: 53

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World-honored One, it is extremely difficult to repay these four debts of gratitude. What practices should one cultivate to repay these debts of gratitude?

The Buddha addressed the eminent householders, saying: Good sirs, for seeking bodhi, there are three kinds of ten pāramitās. The first is ten kinds of the pāramitā of giving, the second is ten kinds of proximate pāramitā, and the third is ten kinds of true pāramitā. 20 If any gentleman or lady generates the aspiration for anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, is able to fill a trigalactic megagalactic world-system with the seven precious things, and gives them to immeasurable destitute beings, such giving is merely called the pāramitā of giving and is not called the true pāramitā. If any gentleman or lady arouses thoughts of great compassion and, in order to seek unsurpassed perfect bodhi, gives his own wife and children to others, his heart unstinting, and gives his flesh, limbs, head, eyes, marrow, brain, and even his life to whoever comes seeking them, such giving is merely called the proximate pāramitā and is not yet called the true pāramitā. If any gentleman or lady generates the aspiration for unsurpassed great bodhi, abides in nonapprehension, urges beings to generate this aspiration in the same way, and gives a single four-line verse of the true Dharma to a single being, causing him to aim for unsurpassed perfect bodhi, this is called the true pāramitā.

The previous two [kinds of] giving are not yet called repaying one's debts of gratitude. If any gentleman or lady is able to cultivate this third pāramitā of truth, then it is called true repayment of the four debts of gratitude. Why is this? With the previous two [kinds of] giving there are thoughts of acquisition, and with the third [kind of] giving there are no thoughts of acquisition. If someone gives the true Dharma to a single sentient being and makes him generate the aspiration for unsurpassed great bodhi, when this person realizes bodhi, he will widely save beings without end and continue the lineage of the Three Jewels to ensure that it does not come to an end. For this reason, it is called repaying one's debts of gratitude. Then the five hundred eminent householders, having heard from the Buddha this teaching about repaying debts of gratitude that had not been 54

Fascicle Two

previously heard, and their hearts dancing for joy at having experienced something unprecedented, generated the aspiration to seek unsurpassed bodhi, gained the samādhi of patient acceptance, entered inconceivable wisdom, and never turned back.

At that time eighty-four thousand beings in the assembly generated the bodhi-mind and gained firm faith and this samādhi. The great multitude in the oceanlike assembly all gained the samādhi of adamantine patient acceptance, comprehended acceptance of nonbirth [of dharmas] and acceptance of compliance or else realized the first stage [of the bodhisattva] and gained acceptance of nonarising [of dharmas]. Immeasurable beings generated the bodhi-mind and dwelled in the stage of nonretrogression. Then the Buddha addressed the five hundred eminent householders: If there are any among all beings in future ages who are able to hear this "Chapter on Repaying Debts of Gratitude" in the Contemplation of the Mind-ground and uphold, recite, explain, copy, and disseminate it widely, the merit and knowledge of such people will increase, the gods will guard them, they will be without illness in their present body, and their life span will be prolonged. When their life ends, they will gain rebirth in Maitreya's inner palace, see the mark of the white tuft of hair [between his eyebrows], transcend birth-and-death, gain liberation in the three assemblies under the dragonflower (puṃnāga) [tree], be reborn at will in pure lands in the ten directions, see the Buddha, hear the Dharma, enter the assembly of the rightly established, and quickly accomplish the Tathāgata's wisdom of anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi.

[Here ends] Fascicle Two of The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives and Contemplation of the Mind-ground

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Fascicle Three

Chapter II

Repaying Debts of

Gratitude (continued )

At that time there was eighty yojanas to the northeast of the great city of Rājagṛha a petty state called Puṇyavardhana. In this country there was an eminent householder called Jñānaprabha. Advanced in years, he had only one son, who was wicked by nature, did not obey his parents, and was unable to follow any instructions. Hearing from afar that the Tathāgata Śākyamuni was staying in the city of Rājagṛha, on Mount Gṛdhrakūṭa, and expounding the Mahayana teaching of repaying debts of gratitude for immeasurable beings in [this] defiled and evil age, the parents and son, together with their kinsmen, and bringing offerings with them, arrived at where the Buddha was in order to listen to the Dharma. Having made offerings and paid their respects, [the father] said to the Buddha:

I have a son who is by nature corrupt and wicked and does not accept any of his parents' instructions. Hearing now that the Buddha is teaching repayment of the four kinds of debts of gratitude, we have come to where the Buddha is to listen to the Dharma. I but beseech you, World-honored One, to expound the profound and wondrous meaning of the four debts of gratitude for the likes of us and our kinsmen and make our wicked son arouse thoughts of filial obedience and gain happiness in this world and in future lives. Thereupon the Buddha addressed Jñānaprabha:

Excellent, excellent! You have come to me for the sake of the Dharma and have made offerings and paid your respects, wishing to hear this teaching. Listen attentively and consider it carefully. If any gentleman or lady generates the bodhi-mind and, in order to hear the essentials of the Dharma, raises their feet and lowers their feet [as they walk], they will on this account, according to the quantity of dust 57

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301b

particles of the ground over which they tread, be it a long distance or a short distance, attain [the state of] a wheel-turning sage-king with a golden wheel; the rewards of a wheel-turning king having been exhausted, they will become a king in the heavens of desire, and the rewards of the heavens of desire having been exhausted, they will become the heavenly king Brahmā, see the Buddha, hear the Dharma, and quickly realize the wondrous fruit [of awakening]. You, great eminent householder, and the others have for the sake of the Dharma come to me, and every single particle of the earth's dust particles in the eighty yojanas you have thus traversed will attract the rewards of humans, gods, and wheel[-turning] kings, and having already heard the Dharma, you will in the future realize anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Although I earlier explained the subtle import of the profound four debts of gratitude, for you I shall now restate their meaning. And he spoke these verses:

The supreme Dharma king, the great sage-ruler,

has no peer among all humans and gods.

He is endowed with [thirty-two] major marks and [eighty] minor signs, with which he adorns his person,

and his oceanlike wisdom is like space, without measure. He has perfected all the practices for benefiting self and others, and his fame is heard everywhere in all lands.

He has forever cut off mental afflictions and other habit energies, and duly upholding the hidden practice [of observing the precepts], he guards his sense organs.

He has one hundred and forty unshared qualities

and has completely perfected the vast ocean of merit. He is endowed with all samādhis and supernormal faculties and always disports in the palace of the eight masterful [powers]. Among humans, gods, and non-Buddhists in the ten directions there are none who can cause difficulties for the Tamer [of Men]. His golden mouth preaches with unimpeded eloquence, and even if there is no one to pose a question, he speaks of his own accord.

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As the ocean tides do not miss their proper times, and as the heavenly drum is attuned to the minds of the gods, In the same way it is only the Buddha who possesses self-mastery, not seers with the five [supernormal] faculties, demons, Brahmā, and so on.

Having for [vast] oceanlike eons difficult to conceive cultivated practices and vows,

he has attained great supernormal faculties such as these. I entered the chamber of the great tranquility of samādhi and observed the capacities [of beings], as well as medicines and illnesses,

And coming out of meditation, I extolled

the Dharma of the buddhas of the three ages, the method of [contemplating] the mind-ground.

At the time some eminent householders had turned back from the great [bodhi-]mind

and were desirous of dwelling in the self-benefiting practices of the two vehicles.

I revealed the great teaching of wisdom and expedient means and drew them into the gateway to liberation through the three emptinesses.

The Tathāgata's intent cannot be measured, and only the Buddha can know the true secret. Though śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas with sharp faculties and bodhisattvas diligently striving for nonretrogression May gauge and measure together for some twelve eons, there will be none able to know even a small portion of it. Even if the wisdom of [all] ordinary people and holy ones in the ten directions

were bestowed on a single person, making him a wise person, And wise people like this were [legion] like bamboo in a grove, they would not be able to measure out even a small portion of it. Ordinary people in the world, not having the eye of wisdom, are confused about the objects of their debts of gratitude and miss out on the wondrous fruit;

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The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives 301c

Beings in the evil age with five defilements do not understand their profound debts of gratitude and constantly turn their backs on virtue.

I reveal for them the four debts of gratitude and make them enter the path to bodhi [characterized by] right views. Indebted to their nurturing by a kind father and a compassionate mother, all men and women are happy.

One's debt of gratitude to a kind father is lofty, like the king of mountains, and one's debt of gratitude to a compassionate mother is deep, like the ocean.

Were I to dwell in the world for one eon and explain one's debt of gratitude to a compassionate mother, I would be unable to exhaust it.

I shall now explain in brief a small portion, just like a mosquito or gnat drinking from the ocean. Even if someone were for the sake of merit to honor brahmans of pure conduct, Divine seers with the five [supernormal] faculties, adepts, teachers and elders with great wisdom, and good [spiritual] friends, Install [them in] a hall made of seven rare [jewels], and with buildings of oxhead sandalwood, Each spread with hundred-jeweled bedding, with nectarlike delicacies of the world,21 And with medicinal decoctions for treating myriad illnesses that fill gold and silver vessels Make offerings in this manner thrice daily for a full hundred eons,

It would not be as good as extending a small portion for a single moment in offering to one's compassionate mother, a field of great indebtedness:

The merits would be infinite and could not be measured, and in computation or analogy they would all be without compare. When a compassionate mother in the world conceives her child, for ten months she is pregnant and long-suffering; 60

Fascicle Three

She is not attached in her feelings to the pleasures of the five desires, and at any time it is the same with food and drink; Day and night she always cherishes thoughts of pity, and whether walking, standing, sitting or lying down, she experiences [many] sufferings.

When she is about to give birth to the child in her womb, it is as if she were being pierced by spearheads dissecting her limbs and joints;

Her utter bewilderment is indescribable, and the aching pain throughout her body is unbearable. If her life should end because of this hardship, her six relations22 and kinsmen will all be grief-stricken. These tribulations are all due to her child, and of her distress, deeply felt, she does not speak aloud. If she recovers and her body feels at ease, it is as if a poor person had acquired treasure, and her joy is difficult to measure.

She gazes at the [infant's] features without tiring of them and does not abandon even briefly thoughts of tenderness. The affection between mother and child is always like this, and when going out or coming in, [the infant] never leaves [the mother's] breast.

The mother's breasts are like fountains of nectar, and when the time comes for nursing [the infant] they never dry up. The debt of gratitude to her kind thoughts is truly difficult to compare, and the virtues of her rearing are also difficult to measure. In the world the earth is said to be weighty, but it is surpassed by the weightiness of the debt of gratitude to a compassionate mother;

In the world [Mount] Sume[ru] is said to be high, but it is surpassed by the height of the debt of gratitude to a compassionate mother;

In the world a fierce wind alone is swift, but it is surpassed [in speed] by a single thought in a mother's heart. 61

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302a

If any being acts unfilially

and causes his mother to give rise to thoughts of ill will for even a moment

And utter even a few words of resentment, the child will encounter hardship in accordance with her words, And all the buddhas, adamantine gods, and secret rites of divine seers will be unable to save him. If any man or woman follows their mother's instructions, obedient to her facial expression and not defiant, All calamities will completely disappear, the gods will protect them, and they will always be happy. If they can obey their compassionate mother, such men and women are out of the ordinary; They are bodhisattvas of great compassion who have metamorphosed in the human realm

and are demonstrating expedient means for repaying debts of gratitude. If any man or woman

practices filial piety in order to repay their debt of gratitude to their mother,

Cutting off their flesh, drawing their blood, and always offering these, [acting] in this manner for a full eon, And if they diligently cultivate the path of filiality in various ways, they will still not be able to repay a moment's debt of gratitude. While in the [mother's] womb for ten months, one constantly suckles at the root of the [mother's] breast and drinks her fat and blood.

By the time one becomes a [weaned] infant and a child, the mother's milk drunk is more than a hundred hu. Be it food and drink, medicinal decoctions or fine clothes, child first and mother second is the norm. If the child is stupid and disliked by others, the mother still treats it tenderly and does not forsake it. Once there was a woman who, carrying her child in her arms, was crossing the Ganges River, the waters of which were raging. 62

Fascicle Three

Because of the floodwaters she did not have the strength to go forward, and she drowned together with the child, unable to abandon it. On account of the power of this root of goodness of kind thoughts, when her life ended she was reborn up in Brahmā's heaven, And having long experienced the pleasures of samādhi in Brahmā's heaven,

she encountered the Tathāgata and received the Buddha's prediction [of her future enlightenment].

Therefore, a compassionate mother has ten virtues, named according to their meaning:23

The first is called "earth," the second "giving birth," the third "rectifier," the fourth "nurturing," The fifth "giver of wisdom," and the sixth "adornment"; the seventh is called "peaceful rest," the eighth "instruction," The ninth "admonisher," and the tenth "giving an occupation." Other debts of gratitude do not surpass the debt of gratitude to one's mother.

What is the greatest wealth in the world? What is the greatest poverty in the world? The presence of a mother is the greatest wealth; the absence of a mother is the greatest poverty. When a mother is alive, it is midday; when a compassionate mother dies, it is sunset. When a mother is alive, everything is perfect; when a compassionate mother dies, all is empty. For all good men and women of the world the weightiness of their debt of gratitude to their mother and father is like mountains.

Filial respect should always be on one's mind; knowing one's debt of gratitude and repaying one's debt of gratitude are the path of the holy one.

Be not begrudging of life and limb, offer delicacies, and do not fail for a single moment to care [for your parents] with a cheerful expression.

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When your parents die suddenly,

even if you want to repay your debt of gratitude, it will truly be too late.

The Buddha formerly practiced for the sake of his kind mother, and he acquired a golden-colored body with [thirty-two] major marks and [eighty] minor signs;

His renown was vast, pervading the ten directions, all humans and gods bowed down to him,

And humans and nonhumans all paid their respects: this was due to his having formerly repaid his debt of gratitude for [his mother's] kindness.

I ascended to the palace of the Thirty-three Gods, and for three months preached the true Dharma for my mother, Letting my mother listen, take refuge in the right path, understand acceptance of nonbirth [of dharmas], and never turn back: This was all to repay my debt of gratitude for her compassion, but even though the repaying of my debt of gratitude was profound, it still did not suffice.

Maudgalyāyana, foremost in supernormal faculties, having cut off the mental afflictions of the three realms, Observed his kind mother with the power of his supernormal faculties and saw her suffering among hungry ghosts. Maudgalyāyana went himself to repay his debt of gratitude to his mother and rescued his kind parent from her suffering: She was reborn up among the Paranirmita[vaśavartin] gods, disported together with them, and resided in a heavenly palace. Know that your debt of gratitude to your parents is most profound, and buddhas, holy ones, and worthies all repay their virtue. If someone wholeheartedly makes offerings to the Buddha, and someone else assiduously discharges his filial duties, There is no difference in the merits of these two people, and their rewards received during the three ages will also be endless. For the sake of their children worldlings commit sins, fall into the three [evil] paths, and suffer for a long time. 64

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Men and women, not being holy ones, do not have supernormal faculties, and not seeing the cycle of transmigration, it is difficult for them to repay [their debt of gratitude to their parents]. Alas! Worldlings, not having the powers of holy ones, are unable to save their kind mothers.

For this reason, you should know

that you should diligently cultivate blessed benefits and merits. On account of the superior merit added posthumously by a man or woman there is a great golden light that illuminates hell, And in the midst of the light profound and wondrous sounds are uttered, which awaken the parents and make them generate the [bodhi-]mind. Recalling how in former lives they were always committing sins, they repent in a single moment of thought and all [their sins] are extinguished.

Chanting "Homage to the buddhas of the three ages!" they gain release from their bodies of unremitting hardship. Reborn as humans and gods, they experience happiness for a long time, see the Buddha, hear the Dharma, and will become buddhas. Or else they are born in pure lands in the ten directions, seven-jeweled lotus flowers serving as their parents, And when the flowers open they see the Buddha, understand the nonarising [of dharmas],

have nonretrogressing bodhisattvas as fellow students, Acquire the masterful powers of the six supernormal faculties, and gain entry to the sublime palace of bodhi. All this is bodhisattvas becoming men and women, riding on the great power of their vows, and converting the realm of humans.

This is called truly repaying your debt of gratitude to your parents. You beings, practice and study it together! Sentient beings transmigrate and are born in the six paths, just like a wheel, without beginning or end. They either become fathers and mothers or become [other] men and women,

indebted to one another from life to life, from birth to birth. 65

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302c

Though they are the same as one views one's parents and no different, not having realized the wisdom of a holy one, one has no way of knowing this.

All men are one's father,

and all women are one's mother.

Not yet having repaid one's debt of gratitude from former lives, why does one instead produce thoughts of difference and create hostility?

One should always repay debts of gratitude and bring benefit to one another,

and one should not beat and revile [others] and cause resentment. If you wish to further cultivate the gateway to merit and knowledge, you should make a vow six times during the day and night: "May I from life to life for immeasurable eons gain the great supernormal faculty of knowledge of past lives, Knowing hundreds of thousands of past lives and recollecting how we have been fathers and mothers for one another.

While moving in a cycle through the six destinies and the four kinds of birth,

let me in a single moment of thought always reach them, Preach for them the wondrous Dharma so that they may be freed from the causes of suffering,

enable them to gain long enjoyment of the pleasures of humans and gods,

Encourage them to make a firm vow [to attain] bodhi, practice the bodhisattva's gateways to the six perfections, Forever cut off the two causes of birth-and-death, and swiftly realize the unsurpassed path to nirvana." Among all kings in the ten directions, those who govern people with the right Dharma are regarded as sage-rulers.

The merits of a king are supreme;

he who is masterful in his actions is called a god. 66

Fascicle Three

The Thirty-three Gods and other gods constantly assist the king's governance with the power of their blessings.

The gods protect him like an only son, whence he is addressed by the name "son of gods" (devaputra). In the world the king is regarded as the basis, and all people regard him as their support, Just as all houses in the world

are erected with pillars as their basis. The king governs the people by means of the right Dharma, just as Great King Brahmā produced the myriad things. Should the king act contrary to the Dharma and lack principle in his rule, he will destroy the world, like King Yama. Villains tolerated by the king

are the same as elephants trampling a lotus pond and no different. Do not say that we have happened to encounter a defiled and evil age; know that good and evil are cultivated by the king.24 Just as the sun god shines on the world, so too does the king govern the world. Although sunlight does not shine at night, it can make sentient beings feel happy. Should the king govern the world by means contrary to the Dharma, all the people will have nothing on which to rely. All fears in the world

cannot arise on account of the power of the king's merit. That peace and happiness are established among the people is, it should be known, due to the king's merit. All marvelous flowers in the world bloom on account of the power of the king's merit. All wonderful groves in the world flourish on account of the power of the king's merit. All medicinal herbs in the world cure illnesses on account of the power of the king's merit. The hundred grains and crops

all ripen on account of the power of the king's merit. 67

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That people in the world experience abundance and happiness is always naturally so on account of the power of the king's merit. Suppose, for example, that an eminent householder has a single son whose wisdom and fine looks are without compare in the world, And his parents love him like their own eyes and always engender protective thoughts day and night— A great sage-king of a country is also like this: he thinks lovingly of beings as if they were his only son, Caring for the elderly and giving relief to the lonely, and he is always impartial in thoughts of praise and punishment. A benevolent king such as this is regarded as a sage-ruler, and all beings revere him like a tathāgata. When a benevolent king governs the country, there are no calamities, and all the people are dutiful and always at ease. When a king governs the world lawlessly, illnesses are rife and calamitous for sentient beings. Thus, for all humans and nonhumans

sin and merit are clear and there is nothing that is concealed. Good and evil things are divided into seven parts: the doer obtains five and the king gets two. Groves, fields, and residences are all thus, and the division of taxes and so on is also like this. When a wheel-turning sage-king appears,

the division is made into six parts, the king getting one And the people at the time getting five parts; recompense for good and evil deeds is also all thus. If any king of men cultivates the right view and governs the world according to the Dharma, he is called a heavenly lord.

Because he governs the world in accordance with heaven's Dharma, King Vaiśravaṇa always protects [him],

And the other three gods [of the four quarters] and hosts of rākṣasas will all guard the sage-king's palace.

When a sage-king appears in the world and administers the country, he brings benefits to beings and accomplishes ten qualities: 68

Fascicle Three

The first is called "illuminating state borders," the second is called "adorning the country," The third is called "giving every happiness," the fourth is called "subjugating enemies," The fifth is called "blocking fears,"

the sixth is called "assembling holy ones and worthies," The seventh is called "making laws the basis," the eighth is called "protecting the world," The ninth is called "performing the achievement of creation," the tenth is called "lord of people within state borders." If any king accomplishes [these] ten superior qualities, King Brahmā, Śakra, and other gods,

Yakṣas, rākṣasas, and kings of demons and spirits will, concealing themselves, always come and protect the state borders; Nāga kings will rejoice and cause sweet rain to fall, the five grains will ripen, and all the people will be at ease; Places throughout the country will produce rare jewels, men and horses will be strong, and there will be no enemies; Wish-fulfilling gems will appear before the king, and kings outside his territory will come and submit of their own accord.

If someone does something unwholesome in the kingdom, a moment's impulse will result in many evils, And when his life ends, this person will fall into hell and experience suffering for long eons with no chance of escape. If someone with diligent sincerity assists the king, gods will think protectively of him and increase his prestige. Eminent householder Jñānaprabha, know that all kings of men are the result of karma. There are no dharmas that do not come about through causes and conditions;

if there were no causes and conditions, there would be no dharmas. To say that there is no birth in heaven or evil destiny— such a person does not understand causality. 69

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303b

That there are no causes and no results is a grossly wrong view, one that is ignorant of sin and merit and gives rise to deluded speculation.

The blessings and happiness now enjoyed by a king are the consequence of his habitual cultivation of the virtue of morality, The three [sets of] pure precepts that he kept in former times, and he has obtained a king's body as a wondrous result [in the realms] of humans and gods.

If someone arouses the bodhi-mind,

the power of his vow will help accomplish the unsurpassed result. If he strictly keeps the pure precepts of the upper grade, he will be masterful in his activities and become a Dharma king; His magical transformations due to supernormal faculties will fill the ten directions,

and he will universally save all beings according to their conditions. If one observes the bodhisattva precepts of the middle grade, one will gain mastery in merit and become a wheel-turning king; Everything will come about in accordance with the mind's actions, and immeasurable humans and gods will all faithfully obey. If one keeps [the precepts of] the upper lower grade, one will become a great demon king,

and all nonhumans will lead one another on to submit; Even though, when observing the [different] grades of precepts, one may transgress against them,

because of the superiority of the precepts one will be able to become a king.

If one keeps those of the middle lower grade, one will become a king of birds and beasts,

and everything that flies or runs will submit; [Even though] there may be transgressions of the pure precepts, because of the superiority of the precepts one will be able to become a king.

If one adheres to those of the lower lower grade, one will become King Yama

and, residing in hell, be ever masterful;

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Even though one may violate the prohibitory precepts and be born in an evil path,

because of the superiority of the precepts one will be able to become a king.

For this reason, all beings

should receive the bodhisattva's pure precepts; If one duly observes them without transgression, one will become a king of men wherever one is born. If someone has not received the Tathāgata's precepts, he will never be able to gain even the body of a jackal, Let alone experience among humans and gods the supreme pleasures and occupy the position of king. Therefore, kingship is not without its causes, and by assiduously applying oneself to precept-based action, one achieves wondrous results.

The king himself is the people's ruler, his compassion like a mother nursing her infant. Thus there is a great debt of gratitude to a king of men, and it is difficult to repay his caring thoughts. For these reasons, all sentient beings, if they are to cultivate and realize great bodhi And arouse great compassion for all beings, should receive the Tathāgata's threefold precepts. If one wishes to receive the precepts in accordance with the rules, one should repent of one's sins so as to extinguish them. The causes giving rise to sins lie in ten conditions: three of the body, four of the mouth, and three of the mind. Birth-and-death is beginningless, sins are endless, the ocean of mental afflictions is deep and bottomless, And karmic hindrances tower up like [Mount] Sume[ru]. Action arises on account of a twosome, Namely, the manifest and its seeds.

The storehouse consciousness contains as its objects all seeds, Which, like a shadow accompanying a shape, never leave the body and obstruct the path of holy ones at all times, 71

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303c

Obstructing at close hand the fruits of the wondrous pleasures of humans and gods

and obstructing far off the fruit of unsurpassed bodhi. Householders can attract the causes of mental afflictions, and renunciants too may violate the pure precepts. If one can repent in accordance with the rules, all mental afflictions will be completely eliminated, Just as the fire [at the end] of an eon destroys the world and consumes [Mount] Sume[ru] and the vast ocean. By repenting one can burn the fuel of mental afflictions; by repenting one can be reborn in the path to heaven; By repenting one can gain the bliss of the four dhyānas; by repenting jewels and maṇi gems will rain down; By repenting one can extend one's adamantine life span; by repenting one can enter the palace of permanence and bliss; By repenting one can leave the prison of the three realms; by repenting one can open the flower of bodhi; By repenting one sees the Buddha's great perfect mirror; and by repenting one can reach the treasure site (i.e., nirvana). If one is to repent in accordance with the rules, one should practice on the basis of two methods of contemplation: One is the method of extinguishing sins by contemplating the phenomenal,

and the other is the method of extinguishing sins by contemplating the noumenal.

There are three [methods] for extinguishing sins by contemplating the phenomenal:

[people with] superior, middling, and inferior capacities constitute the three grades.

If someone of superior capacity seeks the pure precepts, he arouses great energy, his mind not turning back; He weeps bloodlike tears of grief, always sincere, and feelings of sorrow pervade his body, all appearing as [tears of] blood;

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He focuses his thoughts on the places of the Three Jewels in the ten directions

and also on beings in the other six paths, And going down on his knees, his palms pressed together and his mind undisturbed,

he confesses [his sins], cleanses his mind, and seeks repentance: "I but beseech the buddhas in the ten directions and three ages to take pity on me with their great compassion. I find myself in transmigration without any support, never waking during the long night of birth-and-death. I am in the state of an ordinary person, complete with bonds, and my crazed mind, with its inverted views, clings everywhere to objects of cognition.

I find myself in the three realms, a house on fire, deludedly defiled by the six sense objects and without a savior. I was born into a poor and lowly household, have not gained freedom, and am always experiencing suffering. I was born into a household with parents of wrong views and have committed sins through relying on wicked kinsmen. I but beseech the buddhas, Honored Ones of Great Kindness, to take pity on me and protectively think of me as an only son. Once I have repented, never again will I commit any sins: May the tathāgatas of the three ages bear witness!" If one resolutely repents like this,

it is called seeking the pure precepts by someone of the upper grade. If someone of middling capacity seeks the precepts, he singlemindedly and resolutely repents of his sins25 And, tears streaming down unawares

and his whole body perspiring, pitifully beseeches the Buddha, Confessing his actions in birth-and-death since beginningless time: "I beg that the water of great compassion may cleanse sensory troubles,

Wash away hindrances due to [past] sins, purify the six sense organs, and grant me the bodhisattva's threefold precepts. 73

The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives 304a

I vow to firmly keep them without turning back, to assiduously practice and liberate suffering beings, To first deliver others before gaining deliverance for myself, and to never desist until the end of time." If someone thus assiduous and resolute, unbegrudging of life and limb, seeks bodhi, He will be able to experience the extraordinary aspects of the Three Jewels:

this is called great repentance of the middle grade.26 If someone of inferior capacity seeks the pure precepts, he arouses the aspiration for unsurpassed bodhi And, sadly shedding tears with gooseflesh all over his body, is deeply ashamed of the sins he has committed. In the presence of the Three Jewels in the ten directions and beings in the six paths

He confesses with utmost sincerity every instance of his having tormented beings since beginningless time, Arouses thoughts of unimpeded great compassion, unbegrudging of life and limb repents of the three kinds of actions, Confesses all his sins already committed, and [vows] never to commit any evil not yet performed. Repenting of sins by people of these three grades is all called the first pure precept. With the water of shame one cleanses sensory troubles, and in both body and mind one becomes a pure vessel. Good sirs, know that

the repentances by means of pure contemplation already explained Are no different in their phenomenal and noumenal aspects but are not the same because of people's capacities and conditions. If you wish to practice contemplating the right noumenal principle, detach yourself from all distractions, Don new clean robes, sit cross-legged, compose your mind, regulate your thoughts, dissociate yourself from external objects,

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And constantly contemplate the buddhas' wondrous Dharma body: "Its essential nature is like space, inapprehensible. All sins are [also] like this by nature, and deluded thoughts arise on account of inverted ideas. Thus the [distinguishing] characteristics of sins are originally empty and are never to be apprehended during the three ages. They are neither within nor without nor betwixt; [inherent] nature and [distinguishing] characteristics are thusness, both unmoving.

The wondrous principle of thusness is ineffable, and only those with the wisdom of holy ones can penetrate it. It is neither existent nor nonexistent, nor existent and nonexistent, nor not existent and nonexistent, and is removed from names and characteristics.

It pervades the Dharma realm and is without birth or extinction; the buddhas are originally of the same one essence. I but beseech the buddhas to grant protection and extinguish all inverted thoughts. May I soon understand the source of truth and quickly realize the Tathāgata's unsurpassed path!" If any gentleman of pure faith

is able to contemplate the wondrous principle of emptiness day and night,

All hindrances due to [past] sins will disappear of their own accord: this is called supreme adherence to the pure precepts. If someone observes and knows the emptiness of reality, he can extinguish all grievous sins, Just as a strong wind blowing on a raging fire can cause immeasurable grasses and trees to burn. Good sirs, contemplation of the truth is called the gateway to the buddhas' secret essentials. If you wish to explicate it in detail for others, do not expound it among the ignorant: The likes of all ordinary foolish beings will, 304b

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on hearing it, most certainly give rise to doubts and not believe it in their minds.

In the case of a wise person, he will give rise to faith and understanding, observe from moment to moment, and understand thusness, Whereupon buddhas from the ten directions will all appear before him, and he will spontaneously realize the wondrous fruit of bodhi. Good sirs, after my death

those of pure faith in future ages

Are to always repent by the two methods of contemplation and should receive the bodhisattva's threefold precepts. If you wish to observe the precepts of the upper grade, you should invoke buddhas and bodhisattvas as preceptors. Invoke me, Śākyamuni Buddha,

to act as upādhyāya of the bodhisattva precepts, The Buddha Honored King of Pure Knowledge of the Nāga Lineage27 to act as ācārya of the pure precepts,

The future guide, Maitreya Buddha,

to act as instructor in purity,

Honored Ones among two-legged beings presently in the ten directions to act as witnessing preceptors of purity, All bodhisattvas in the ten directions

to act as companions in the practice and study of the precepts, And Śakra, Brahmā, the Four [Heavenly] Kings, and adamantine deities to act as outer protectors for the study of the precepts. Invoking these buddhas and bodhisattvas, as well as the present transmitting preceptor, And for the sake of universally repaying the four debts of gratitude arousing the pure bodhi-mind,

You should receive the bodhisattva's three sets of precepts: the precept to bring benefit to all sentient beings, The precept to embrace all good dharmas, and the precept to embrace all discipline. These three sets of pure precepts

are protectively thought of by tathāgatas of the three ages. 76

Fascicle Three

Sentient beings who have not heard [the Dharma] or have acted contrary to the Dharma

have not heard or seen them during immeasurable eons. It is only buddhas of the past in the ten directions who have received the pure precepts, always observed them, Forever eradicated mental afflictions due to the two hindrances, and achieved realization of the fruit of unsurpassed bodhi. All world-honored ones of the future

will protect the jewel of the three sets of pure precepts, Eradicate the three hindrances and habit energy, and realize perfect great bodhi.

Sugatas of the present in the ten directions practice in full the causes of the three sets of pure precepts, Forever cut off transmigration in the suffering of birth-and-death, and gain realization of the fruit of bodhi in the three [buddha] bodies. For crossing the deep ocean of birth-and-death the bodhisattva's pure precepts serve as a ferryboat; For cutting off forever the bonds of greed, anger, and ignorance the bodhisattva's pure precepts serve as a sharp sword; In fears along the steep paths of birth-and-death the bodhisattva's pure precepts serve as a home; For eliminating the causes of the sufferings of poverty and lowliness the pure precepts can serve as a wish-fulfilling jewel; For illnesses caused by demonic possession the bodhisattva's pure precepts serve as good medicine; For humans and gods to become kings and gain sovereignty the three sets of pure precepts act as a good condition; And for [obtaining] the bodies of kings of the other four destinies the pure precepts serve as a condition for obtaining a superior result. Therefore, if you are able to cultivate the causes of sovereignty, you will succeed in becoming a king and receiving honor. You should first pay homage to buddhas in the ten directions and further cultivate the pure precepts day and night. The buddhas will think protectively of you and always support you, and your precepts, like a vajra, will be indestructible. 77

304c

The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives Gods and good deities in the three realms will guard the king's person and his dependents; All foes, every one, will submit,

and all people will be happy and feel the king's transformative influence.

Therefore, if you observe the bodhisattva precepts, you will experience unconditioned results, mundane and supramundane. The Three Jewels, eternal, convert the world, their qualities of beneficence vast and inconceivable; In the oceanlike eons of past, future, and present their merits benefit beings without cease. The thousand light-rays of the Buddha, like the sun, shine constantly on the world,

benefiting all beings and delivering those with the right conditions; Those without the right conditions do not see the Buddha's compassionate light,

just as the blind do not see anything. The Dharma Jewel is of one taste, unchanging, and what earlier buddhas and later buddhas preach is all the same, Just as rain, of one taste, moistens everything everywhere, and yet there are differences of degree in the luxuriant growth of grasses and trees.

Beings each gain an understanding according to their capacity, and there are differences, too, in the way in which grasses and trees receive nourishment.

Bodhisattvas and śrāvakas convert beings just as the waters of a large river never dry up. If beings have no faith, they are not converted, just as it is difficult for the sun to shine on the netherworld. The light of the Tathāgata, like the moon, is very cooling and is likewise able to dispel darkness; Just as the moon does not shine [underneath] an overturned basin, so too is it for bewildered beings.

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The nectar of the Dharma Jewel is a wonderfully good medicine, able to cure all illnesses due to mental afflictions; Those with faith take the medicine and realize bodhi, and those without faith fall into evil paths according to their conditions.

Bodhisattvas and śrāvakas are always in the world, delivering beings with innumerable expedient means. Those beings with believing minds

each enter the stage of happiness of the three vehicles. If the Tathāgata does not appear in the world, all beings enter wicked paths,

Are forever separated from the nectar [of the Dharma], imbibe poison, and are long submerged in the sea of suffering without any chance of escape.

If the Buddha, like the sun, appears in the trigalactic [megagalactic world-]system

and emits great radiance, illuminating the long night, Beings, as if asleep, may not perceive it, but they will receive the light and gain entry to the chamber of the unconditioned.

When the Tathāgata had not yet preached the Dharma of the One Vehicle, lands in the ten directions were all empty, But once he generated the [bodhi-]mind, practiced, and accomplished right awakening,

all buddha lands were wholly purified. The Dharma Jewel of the One Vehicle is the buddhas' mother, and tathāgatas of the three ages are born therefrom. By practicing prajñā and expedient means uninterruptedly the path to liberation is accomplished and one ascends to wondrous awakening.

If buddhas and bodhisattvas did not appear, beings in the world would be without guides, And there would be no way of passing through the perils of birth-anddeath. 305a

How would one succeed in reaching the treasure site (i.e., nirvana)? 79

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Through the power of their great vow they become good friends, always preaching the wondrous Dharma to make people practice, Aim for the ten stages, realize bodhi,

and duly enter nirvana, the place of happiness. Because bodhisattvas of great compassion, when converting the world, guide beings with expedient means,

Within they conceal the true practice of the One Vehicle and without they take the appearance of pratyekabuddhas and śrāvakas.

Someone of dull faculties and petty wisdom, hearing of the One Vehicle, fears that, on generating the [bodhi-]mind, it will take many eons; Not knowing that his own person possesses the Tathāgata's matrix (tathāgatagarbha),

he merely delights in quiescence and loathes sensory troubles. Beings originally possess the seeds of bodhi, which are all within the [ā]laya (storehouse) consciousness. If one encounters a good friend, generates the great aspiration, trains in three ways, and cultivates wondrous practices, One will forever cut off afflictive and cognitive hindrances and realize the Tathāgata's eternal body. The wondrous fruit of bodhi is not difficult to accomplish, but a genuine good mentor is truly difficult to encounter. When cultivating the superior path, all bodhisattvas must know four kinds of essential methods: Associating with good friends is the first, listening to the right Dharma is the second, Pondering in accordance with reason is the third, and practicing and realizing in accordance with the Dharma is the fourth.

All great sage-rulers in the ten directions cultivated these four methods and realized bodhi. Eminent householders, great assembly,

and men of pure faith in future ages,

These four methods, the [causal] stage of the bodhisattva, you must practice to accomplish the path to buddhahood. 80

Fascicle Three

Good sirs, listen attentively!

Among the four debts of gratitude taught by the Tathāgata, The debt of gratitude to the Buddha Jewel is the greatest. In order to deliver beings [the Buddha] generated the great aspiration, And during three [a]saṃkhyeya great eons

he practiced in full hundreds of thousands of austerities; His merits were perfected and pervaded the Dharma realm, and at the culmination of the ten stages he realized the three bodies. The essence of the Dharma body permeates all beings, its myriad virtues motionless and its nature eternal; It is not born, not extinguished, without coming or going, not identical, not different, and not eternal or annihilated; It pervades the Dharma realm like empty space, and all tathāgatas have jointly cultivated and realized it. All merits, conditioned and unconditioned, being based on the Dharma body, are permanent and pure. The original nature of the Dharma body is like empty space, far removed from the six sense objects and without taint. The Dharma body is formless and removed from [distinguishing] characteristics;

the characterizing and the characterized are all empty. Thus, in the buddhas' wondrous Dharma body the characteristics of frivolous arguments and language have become quiescent;

It is far removed from all differentiation, the workings of the mind are extinguished, and its essence is all thusness.

Out of a desire to realize the Tathāgata's body the bodhisattva properly cultivates the myriad practices. The essence of knowledge, unconditioned, is true Dharma-nature; all of matter and mind is the same as the buddhas. For example, when a flying bird reaches a golden mountain, it turns the bird's body into the same color [as the mountain]. All bodhisattvas are like the flying bird, 305b

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and the essence of the Dharma-body Buddha is similar to the golden mountain.

The [thirty-two] major marks and [eighty] minor signs of the body of self-enjoyment

each pervade [buddha] lands in the ten directions. The four knowledges perfectly bright, it experiences Dharma bliss; earlier buddhas and later buddhas are all the same in essence. Although it pervades the Dharma realm, it is unimpeded; this wondrous state is inconceivable.

This body permanently resides in the land of the buddha of recompense, experiencing Dharma bliss for itself without interruption. The [thirty-two] major marks and [eighty] minor signs of the body of other-enjoyment

manifest without increase or decrease according to [people's] capacities.

In order to convert bodhisattvas in the [ten] stages, a single buddha manifests ten bodies;

Everywhere the manifestations are each different, and they progressively increase without limit. They preach the essentials of the Dharma according to the [bodhisattvas'] capacities,

enabling them to experience Dharma bliss and enter the One Vehicle; They acquire supernormal faculties, which gradually increase, and so too do the Dharma discourses that they understand. Bodhisattvas of a lower stage may arouse wisdom, but they are unable to fully comprehend that of the upper stages. The converting and the converted rise stage by stage, the affiliation of each according with their original conditions. One bodhisattva may be converted by many buddhas, or many bodhisattvas may be converted by one buddha. In this manner the ten buddhas accomplish right awakening, each seated [beneath] a seven-jeweled bodhi tree. An earlier buddha having died, a later buddha accomplishes [awakening]; it is not the same as a metamorphic buddha appearing after eons. 82

Fascicle Three

The lotus-flower pericarps on which the ten buddhas are seated each have around them hundreds and thousands of petals, And on every single petal there is a single buddha land, corresponding to a trigalactic megagalactic [world-]system. In every single [world-]system there are a hundred million suns, moons, stars, four great continents, Six heavens [of the realm] of desire, four dhyānas [of the realm of form], and stations of [unlimited] space, stations of [unlimited] consciousness, [stations of] neither perception [nor nonperception], and so on [of the realm of nonform].

Jambū[dvīpa] in the south among those four continents, each single one, has an adamantine seat

And a great king of trees.

The metamorphosed buddha bodies

Realize the path to bodhi at one time

and turn the wheel of the wondrous Dharma in a [trigalactic] megagalactic [world-system];

Bodhisattvas, pratyekabuddhas, and śrāvakas accomplish the holy fruit in accordance with what is suited to their capacities.

The buddhas of the three bodies thus explained, supreme and peerless, are called the [Buddha] Jewel. The Dharma preached by the two bodies of response and transformation, with its teaching, principle, practice, and fruit, is the Dharma Jewel. Buddhas regard the Dharma as a great teacher whereby they realize the path to bodhi by cultivating the mind. The Dharma Jewel is unchanging through the three ages, and all buddhas take refuge in it and study it, [saying,] "I now bow down to the Sarvajña (Omniscient One)." Therefore, the Dharma Jewel is said to be a buddha's teacher. If one enters a raging fire [to seek the Dharma] one will not be burned, but will immediately gain true liberation. The Dharma Jewel can smash the prison of birth-and-death, just as a vajra crushes the myriad things; 305c

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The Dharma Jewel can illuminate the minds of beings, just as the sun god looks over the realm of space;28 The Dharma Jewel can serve as a sturdy ship, able to cross the river of craving over to the further shore; The Dharma Jewel can give beings pleasure, just as the heavenly drum responds to the minds of gods; The Dharma Jewel can relieve the poverty of beings, just as a maṇi gem rains down jewels;

The Dharma Jewel can serve as a triple jeweled staircase, for by listening to the Dharma and cultivating the [proper] causes, one is born in the upper realms;

The Dharma Jewel is a great sage-king with a golden wheel, who with the great power of the Dharma destroys the four demons; The Dharma Jewel can serve as a great jeweled carriage, able to carry beings out of the house on fire; The Dharma Jewel can serve as a great guide, able to lead beings to the treasure site (i.e., nirvana); The Dharma Jewel can blow the great Dharma conch, waking beings to accomplish the path to buddhahood; The Dharma Jewel can serve as a great Dharma lamp, able to illuminate the darkness of birth-and-death; The Dharma Jewel can serve as an adamantine arrow, able to pacify state borders and subjugate foes. The Dharma preached by tathāgatas of the three ages can benefit beings so that they escape the bonds of suffering And lead them to nirvana, the citadel of happiness: this is what is meant by the debt of gratitude to the Dharma Jewel being difficult to repay.

Eminent householder Jñānaprabha, listen attentively! There are three kinds of mundane and supramundane sanghas: Multitudes of holy ones—bodhisattvas and śrāvakas—and ordinary people,

able to benefit beings and become fields of merit. The great holy honored one, Mañjuśrī,

is regarded as their mother by buddhas of the three ages; 84

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The initial generation of the [bodhi-]mind by tathāgatas in the ten directions

was all due to the power of Mañjuśrī's instruction. Sentient beings in all world-systems hear his name, see his person and radiance, Also see his metamorphic manifestations that accord with different kinds of beings,

and all accomplish the path to buddhahood, which is difficult to conceive.

Maitreya, a bodhisattva and Dharma prince, has since his initial generation of the [bodhi-]mind never eaten meat, And for this reason he is called Compassionate One. Out of a desire to bring beings to maturation He is in Tuṣita Heaven, fourth [of the six heavens in the realm of desire], in the forty-ninefold pavilions of wish-fulfilling [gems]. Day and night he constantly teaches the practice of nonretrogression and delivers humans and gods with innumerable expedient means. In a pond with water of eight special qualities and exquisite flowers those with the right conditions are all born together. I entrust my present disciples to Maitreya, and they will gain liberation in his assemblies under the dragonflower [tree]. If, in the final age of the Dharma, any gentleman gives a single morsel of food to someone, He will on account of this root of goodness see Maitreya and gain the path to the attainment of bodhi. Śāriputra and other great śrāvakas

convert all beings by means of their wisdom and supernormal faculties.

If someone can accomplish the precepts of [the differentiated rules for] liberation,

he is truly a person who practices right views. If he preaches the Dharma for others and spreads the Mahayana, such a person is foremost among fields of merit. 306a

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There is also a type of sangha of ordinary people: while [their observing of] the set of precepts is incomplete, they arouse the right view,

Extol the subtle Dharma of the One Vehicle, and whenever they violate [a precept] they repent, whereupon [karmic] hindrances disappear;

They become a cause of buddhahood for beings— Such ordinary people are also the Sangha Jewel. Just as a saffron flower, though wilted, is still superior to all fine flowers, So too is a monk with right views,

and the four kinds of wheel[-turning] kings cannot match him. These four kinds of sanghas of holy ones and ordinary people bring benefit and happiness to sentient beings without resting for a moment.

They are known as good fields of merit for the world, and this is called the Sangha Jewel's great quality of beneficence. The meaning of the four debts of gratitude as I have explained them is called the cause that creates the world. All myriad things are born from this, and without the four debts of gratitude nothing is achieved. For example, just as material objects in the world are born on account of the four elements, the creators, So too is the world of sentient beings established by these four debts of gratitude. Thereupon the eminent householder Jñānaprabha and his son and others, having heard the four kinds of great debts of gratitude explained by the Buddha and having experienced something unprecedented, rejoiced and, pressing their palms together, said to the Buddha: Excellent, excellent! Great and Compassionate World-honored One, for the sake of beings with wrong views in a defiled and wicked age who do not believe in cause and result and are not filial toward their parents you have explained the true and wondrous Dharma, bringing benefit and happiness to the world. We but beseech you, World-honored One, to explain 86

Fascicle Three

the meaning of repaying debts of gratitude. We have already understood the most profound four debts of gratitude, but now we still do not know which good deeds to practice to repay these debts of gratitude. The Buddha addressed the eminent householder:

Good sirs, I earlier explained it in detail for the five hundred eminent householders, and now I shall explain a small portion of it in brief for you. If any gentleman or lady diligently practices the ten pāramitās in order to gain anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi, and if something is apprehended, this is not yet called repaying a debt of gratitude. If someone is able to practice for a moment a single good [deed] without anything being apprehended by his mind, only then is it called repaying a debt of gratitude. Why is this? All tathāgatas came in contact with nonapprehension, and only then did they accomplish the path to buddhahood and convert beings. If any gentleman of pure faith, having heard this scripture, believes, upholds, expounds, and copies it, and with the inapprehensible essential emptiness of the three wheels (i.e., giver, recipient, and gift) explains privately the Dharma in a four-line [verse] for a single person, eliminating his thoughts characterized by wrong views and directing him toward bodhi, this is called repaying the four debts of gratitude. Why? This person will gain unsurpassed bodhi and will in turn instruct immeasurable beings and make them enter the path to buddhahood to ensure that the seeds of the Three Jewels never come to an end.

Thereupon the eminent householder Jñānaprabha, having heard these verses, gained the samādhi of patient acceptance, eschewed the world, and gained nonretrogression. Then eight thousand people, including his son, together gained this samādhi, and they all generated the aspiration for unequaled anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi. Forty-eight thousand people also realized samādhi, distanced themselves from impurity, rid themselves of defilement, and gained the purity of the Dharma eye. [Here ends] Fascicle Three of The Mahayana Sutra of Previous Lives and Contemplation of the Mind-ground

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