APPENDIX.
HYMNS OF MAHÂYÂNA FAITH.
DHARMAKÂYA (TATHÂGATA).[1]
In all beings there abideth the Dharmakâya;
With all virtues dissolved in it, it liveth in eternal calmness.
It knoweth nor birth nor death, coming nor going;
Not one, not two; not being, not becoming;
Yet present everywhere in worlds of beings:
This is what is perceived by all Tathâgatas.
All virtues, material and immaterial,
Dependent on the Dharmakâya, are eternally pure in it.
Like unto the sky is the ultimate nature of the Dharmakâya;
Far away from the six dusts, it is defilement-free.
Of no form and devoid of all attributes is the Dharmakâya,
In which are void both actor and action:
The Dharmakâya of all Buddhas, thus beyond comprehension,
Quells all the struggles of sophistry and dialectics,
Distances all the efforts of intellection,
Thoughts all are dead in it, and suchness alone abideth.
THE DHARMAKÂYA OF TATHÂGATA.[2]
In all the worlds over the ten quarters,
O ye, sentient creatures living there,
Behold the most venerable of men and gods,
Whose spiritual Dharma-body is immaculate and pure.
As through the power of one mind,
A host of thoughts is evolved:
So from one Dharma-body of Tathâgata,
Are produced all the Buddha-bodies.
In Bodhi nothing dual there existeth,
Nor is any thought of self present:
The Dharma-body, undefiled and non-dual,
In its full splendor manifesteth itself everywhere.
Its ultimate reality is like unto the vastness of space;
Its manifested forms are like unto magic shows;
Its virtues excellent are inexhaustible,
This, indeed, the spiritual state of Buddhas only.
All the Buddhas of the present, past, and future,
Each one of them is an issue of the Dharma-body immaculate and pure;
Responding to the needs of sentient creatures,
They manifest themselves everywhere, assuming corporeality which is beautiful.
They never made the premeditation
That they would manifest in such and such forms.
Separated are they from all desire and anxiety,
And free and self-acting are their responses.
They do not negate the phenomenality of dharmas,
Nor do they affirm the world of individuals:
But manifesting themselves in all forms,
They teach and convert all sentient creatures.
The Dharma-body is not changeable,
Neither is it unchangeable;
All dharmas [in essence] are without change,
But manifestations are changeable.
The Sambodhi knoweth no bounds,
Extending as far as the limits of the Dharmaloka itself;
Its depths are bottomless, and its extent limitless;
Words and speeches are powerless to describe it.
Of all the ways that lead to Enlightenment
The Tathâgata knoweth the true significance;
Wandering freely all over the worlds,
Obstacles he encountereth nowhere.
THE TATHÂGATA. (1)[3]
The Tathâgata appeared not on earth,
Nor did he enter into Nirvana;
By the supreme power of his inmost will,
He reveals himself freely as he wills.[4]
This fact is beyond comprehension,
Belongs not to the sphere of a limited consciousness,
Only an intelligence perfect and gone beyond
Is able to have an insight into the realm of Buddhas.
The material body is not the Tathâgata,
Nor is the voice, nor the sound:
Yet he is not beyond the visible and the audible:
The Buddha has indeed a power miraculous.
People of little faith are unable to know
The inmost adytum of Buddhahood.
It is by the perfecting of primordial karma-intelligence
That the realm of all Buddhas is revealed.
All Buddhas come from nowhere,
And depart for nowhere:
The Body of Dharma that is pure, immaculate, and incomprehensible,
Is invested with a power miraculously free.
In infinity of worlds,
Revealing itself in the body of Tathâgata,
It universally preaches the Law supremely excellent,
And in its heart no attachment lingers.
An intellect that knows no limits or bounds
Perceives no obstacles in all dharmas,
And penetrates into the depths of the Dharmaloka,
Revealing itself with a power miraculously divine.
All sentient beings and all creatures,
It understandeth thoroughly without difficulty:
Its Bodies of Transformation are innumerable,
And universally revealed in all the worlds.
Those who seek after All-knowledge
May in course of time attain perfect enlightenment;
Let them above all purify the heart
And complete their discipline in Bodhisattvahood.
And then they will see the Tathâgata’s
Immeasurable power that comes from his free will;
Devoid of all doubts they are, and accompanied
With sages whose virtue is unsurpassable.
THE TATHÂGATA (2).[5]
The Tathâgata, in pure golden color,
And in person resplendent and majestic,
In innumerable ages past,
All merits hath accumulated.
With bliss and wisdom all in perfection,
And the highest enlightenment attaining.
And with great loving heart animated,
He now appeareth in this world of endurance.
Men and devas and the eight hosts of demons,
All pay him homage most reverent,
Who, from his inmost self-being,
Preacheth the deepest spiritual Dharma.
Which is so unfathomably deep,
That Buddha alone can understand it:
Multitudes of beings, ignorant and blind,
Listening to it, are unable to comprehend.
The Tathâgata is the great leader of beings;
With skill that is excellent and marvellous,
Guiding all those ignorant souls,
By degrees bringeth them to Enlightenment.
The heart of all beings is miraculously bright,
And eternally calm in its being.
Pure and immaculate and defilement-free,
It is replenished with all merits.
Its essence is like unto the sky:
Devoid of all limitations,
Knoweth neither birth nor death,
And there is neither coming nor departing.
Eternally abiding in the Dharma-essence,
It is immovable as the Mount Sumeru;
The oneness in it of all beings
Is indeed beyond finite knowledge.
Vulgar minds from time immemorial,
Blindly clinging to all passions,
Are thrown deep into the ocean of pain,
And know not how to escape.
The most profound doctrine of Tathâgata,
Full of meaning, spiritual and transcendental,
With recipient intellects in all degrees,
In harmony unfoldeth he the Law.
A shower of one taste from above
Covering all the ten quarters,
Grasses and trees, woods and forests,
Roots and trunks, large and small,
Of all growing on this vast earth,
Nothing is there that thereby itself benefiteth not.
The Law delivered by the Tathâgata
May even be likened unto it.
With one voice which is wondrous,
He giveth utterance to thoughts innumerable,
That are received by audience of all sort,
Each understanding them in his own way.
In this wise among the assemblage,
None is there but that enters upon Buddha-knowledge
Such is Buddha’s miraculous power,
Truly called “Incomprehensible.”
REPENTANCE.[6]
Those who repent as prescribed by the Dharma,
Altogether their earthly sins uproot;
As fire on doomsday the world will consume,
With its mountain peaks and infinite seas.
Repentance burns up of earthly desires the fuel;
Repentance to heaven the sinners is leading;
Repentance the bliss of the four Dhyânas imparteth;
Repentance brings showers of jewels and gems;
Repentance a holy life renders firm as a diamond;
Repentance transports to the palace of bliss everlasting;
Repentance from the triple world’s prison releases;
Repentance makes blossom the bloom of the Bodhi.
ALL BEINGS ARE MOTHERS AND FATHERS.
All sentient beings in transmigration travel through the six gatis,
Like unto a wheel revolving without beginning and end,
Becoming in turn fathers and mothers, men and women:
Generations and generations, each owes something to others.
Ye should then regard all beings as fathers and mothers;
Though this truth is too hidden to be recognised without the aid of Holy Knowledge,
All men are your fathers,
All women are your mothers.
While not yet requiting their love received in your prior lives,
Why should ye, thinking otherwise, harbor enmity?
Ever thinking of love, endeavor ye to benefit one another;
And provoke ye not hostility, quarreling and insulting.
THE TEN PARÂMITÂS.
O ye, sons of Buddha, in the Holy Way trained,
With the Heart of Highest Intelligence awakened,
And living in seclusion at the Aranyaka,
Should practice the ten pâramitâs.
At daily meal think ye first of almsgiving,
And also distribute among beings the Treasure of Law;
When the three rings[7] are pure, it is called true charity;
Through this practice perfected are the merits of discipline.
Would ye understand the merits of almsgiving?
Know ye that it comes from the heart pure, and not from the wealth given;
A precious treasure with a heart unclean,
Is surpassed by a mite with a heart clean.
Wealth giving is a dâna-pâramitâ,
And there are other dâna-pâramitâs:
To give away one’s life, wife, or children,
This is called blood-giving.
Should a man of good family come and ask for the Law
Let him have all the Mahâyâna sûtras explained,
And awaken in him the Heart of Highest Intelligence;
This is called a true pâramitâ.
With sympathy and pure faith and conscience,
Embrace ye all beings and befree them from greed,
That they might attain to the highest intelligence of the Tathâgata:
The giving of wealth and of the Law is the first pâramitâ.
Firmly observing the three sets of the Bodhisattva-çîlas,[8]
O ye, evolve the Bodhi, distance birth-and-death,
Guard the Law of Buddha and make it long live in the world,
Repent the violation of the çîlas, and be always mindful of the true ones.
Subdue ye anger and hate and cultivate in your heart love and sympathy;
Mindful of the karma past, harbor ye not evil thoughts against offenders;
Be not reluctant for the sake of all beings to sacrifice life:
This is called the pâramitâ of meekness.
In practicing what is hard to practice, hesitate ye not awhile;
With ever-increasing energy through three asankheya kalpas,
Defile not yourselves, but always discipline the heart;
And for the sake of all creatures seek ye salvation.
Entering into and rising from the Samâdhi, spiritual freedom is obtained:
Transforming yourselves and travelling in all the ten quarters,
Have for all beings the cause of evil desire removed,
And let them seek deliverance in the doctrine of Samâdhi.
Would ye desire to attain to True Intelligence?
Friendly approach Bodhisattvas and Tathâgatas;
Gladly listening to the doctrine transcendental and sublime,
Attain ye the three disciplines[9] and remove the two obstacles[10].
Recognising difference in the disposition of beings,
Apply the medicine proper for each disease:
Love and sympathy, skill and expediency, each fitting the case,
Try the proper means for the benefit of the multitudes.
Would ye know the true meaning of existence?
The middle path lies in non-attachment, neither “yea” nor “nay”;
Intelligence pure is unfathomable and unites in Suchness;
Identify mine with thine, embracing the whole.
By the force of intellect, grasping the nature of beings,
Teach the masses each in accord with his capacity;
The force of intellect penetrating through the heart of all beings,
Destroys the root of transmigration in birth and death.
Intelligently judging between black and white,
Conscientiously take hold of one and put the other aside, and let each rest in its place;
Samsâra and Nirvâna are but one in their essence;
Fulfilling the meaning of existence, cherish ye not self-conceit.
These ten deeds of excellence
Comprise all eighty-four thousand virtues;
Each in its class excels all the others,
And is called the Pâramitâ of Bodhisattva.
Eighty-four thousand samâdhis
Becalm the disturbant mind of all beings;
Eighty-four thousand dhâranîs
Keep away all the prejudices and evil influences.
The Great Sage, King of Dharma, with marvellous skill,
Teacheth the Law in three ways and converteth all beings;
Casting the net of the Doctrine in the ocean of birth and death,
He draweth out men and gods to the abode of bliss.
THE BODHI.[11]
All things are of the Bodhi,
The Bodhi is in all things;
The Bodhi and all things are one:
Who knoweth this is called the World-honored.
NIRVANA AND THE THREE EVILS.
Greed is Nirvana;
So is hate, and folly;
In these three passions
There dwells a Buddha-dharma inexpressible.
Who severalises, thinking,
There’s greed, and hate, and folly,
He is as far from Buddha,
As heaven from earth.
The Bodhi and greed,
They’re one, not two:
Out of one Dharma-gate cometh all;
Here’s sameness, no diversity.
This hearing, the vulgar stand aghast;
Far from the Buddha-path are they.
The heart, when innocent of greed,[12]
Is never troubled.
In whose mind self is lurking still,
And who imagines that something he has,
Greedy is this man called,
And he is bound for hell.
What is the true nature of greed,
That is the nature of Buddha-dharma;
What is the nature of Buddha-dharma,
That is the nature of greed.[13]
These two are of one nature;
That is, of no-nature;
Who knoweth this truth,
Would be the world-leader.
NON-ATMAN AND PREJUDICE.[14]
There once was an ignorant man;
So afraid of the sky was he
That piteously crying he wandered away.
Of its sudden collapse he was fearful.
But the sky has no boundary,
And to nobody ’t will be harmful.
It was due to his ignorance
That he trembled so fitfully.
With the Bhikshus and Brahmans
It is even so, who are prejudiced.
Learning that empty is the world,
Alarmed are they at heart;
And wrongly imagine that if empty were the nature of Âtman
Nothingness would be the end of all work.
NON-ACTION.
As the vacuity of sky,
Being so clear and free of cloud and fog,
Upon the earth below,
Betrays no signs a shower to give:
So the enlightened
Betray no learning, no intelligence:
And we, sentient beings,
Can trace no efforts in their deliverance of the Law.[15]
SELF-DELUSION.
There lived once a painter,
Who such a monstrous Yaksha painted
That he himself was terrified
And losing all his senses on the ground he fell:
’Tis even so with vulgar minds;
Infatuated, self-deluded by the senses,
Of their own error they are unaware,
And go from birth to birth without an end.
ALL IN ONE.
As all the waters in the valley
Are emptied in the ocean
Which is of one and the same taste:
So the enlightened,
Whatever is
Good and beneficial,
Turn over to the Bodhi
And to that Reality
In which all things become of one and the same taste.
NIHILISM.
The vast vacuity of space,
How limitless and measureless!
But in the midst of the void
How could a farmer sow his seeds?
’Tis even so with Nihilism:
The past is gone forever,
The future’s not here yet,
And in the present no Buddha-seeds have they.
THE NIHILIST.
A man who suffers from a disease incurable,
However excellent his treatment be,
Impossible he will find his health to gain,
For his defies all means of remedy.
’Tis even so with them who walk in the way of emptiness;
No matter whereso’er they be,
How blindly they are clinging unto it!
Such I declare to be incurable.
THE BUDDHA’S DHARMA (1)
As in its oneness the element earth
Embraces diversities of objects,
And discriminates not this or that;
Even so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
As in its oneness the element fire
Burns everything on earth,
And discriminates not in its nature;
Even so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
As waters in the vast ocean,
Absorbing hundreds of streams,
Are of the same taste forever;
Even so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
As the dragon-god with thunder and lightning
Brings showers on the earth all over,
And the rain-drops discriminate not;
Even so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
THE BUDDHA’S DHARMA. (2)
As in her oneness mother earth
Creates diversities of seeds
And in her inmost no discrimination knows;
E’en so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
As in the cloudless sky the sun
O’er the ten quarters all illuminates,
And in its brightness shows no difference;
E’en so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
As high up in the heavens is the moon
Beheld by all beings on earth,
And there’s nowhere her glory reaches not;
E’en so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
The Brahma-râja great
In thousands of worlds himself all manifests
And knows in his being no diversities;
E’en so is it with all the Buddha’s Dharma.
THE PASSIONS AND WISDOM.
Only in the filthiness of soil,
Could the seed be sown and grow;
Even so in the mire of passion
Cherished by all sentient beings
All over the world,
If by the sons of Buddha well attended to,
There will grow the seed of Buddha-dharma.
Just as in filth and mud
The lotus grows and blooms,
Even so in a heart defiled with evil karma
The seeds of Buddha-dharma are growing.
IGNORANCE AND ENLIGHTENMENT. (1)
A mansion there was once which was a hundred thousand years of age;
No occupant was there, nor doors nor windows;
Devas and men, all of a sudden,
There came and burned a lamp;
And the darkness that dwelt so long
Departed instantly without a word.
The inky darkness that the mansion filled
Resisted not, “I’ve lived here for ages,
And I’ll never be removed from here.”
Even with karma-consciousness and the horde of passions in the heart,
The analogy holds true.
Though there abiding many hundred thousand kalpas,
Their ultimate nature is not true nor real.
When a traveler, day or night,
Enters upon the truthful path,
The lamp of wisdom burns in its full splendor;
And the horde of evil passions
Cannot tarry there, even for a moment.
IGNORANCE AND ENLIGHTENMENT. (2)
Bright shines the lamp,
And the inky night is gone.
But with the darkness
The quarters vanish not;
Yet this illuminating lamp,
If not in the dark, nowhere doth shine:
For light and dark depend upon each other;
No selfhood having,[16] they’re empty.
’Tis even so with enlightenment.
In comes enlightenment,
And out goes ignorance of its own accord.
But both are like unto the flowers in the air,
For neither by itself exists;
Impossible is one alone, either to keep or to forego.
THE BODHISATTVA AND ALL BEINGS[17]
Great Mother Earth
All creatures
Provides and nourishes,
But from none of them
She seeks a favor special, nor is she to any partial:
So is the Bodhisattva.
Since his awakening of the Heart,
Until he gains the depths of the Law
And realises the highest knowledge,
He toils to save all creatures,
Himself no favor seeking, nor to others granting any;
Regardless of friend and enemy,
Embracing all with single heart,
He fashions one and all for Bodhi.
* * *
The element Water
All permeating
Makes herbs and trees
In luxury grow,
Yet any favor special it nor shows nor seeks;
So is the Bodhisattva;
With a pure heart of love
All sentient beings equally embraces he;
All permeating gradually, universally,
The seeds immaculate he nourishes,
Which, breaking down all evils powerful,
Obtain the fruit of Buddha-knowledge.
* * *
The element Fire
Matures and ripens all
The tender shoots of the cereals;
Yet the element fire
From those young plants
No favor seeks, nor any shows to them;
So is the Bodhisattva:
With knowledge-fire
Matures he all
The tender shoots of creatures;
Yet he from them
No favor special seeks, nor shows he any.
* * *
The element Air,
By reason of its virtue,
Pervades all over Buddha-lands;
With the Bodhisattva
’Tis even so,
Who with consummate skill
To Buddha’s children
Preaches the Doctrine Holy.
THE BODHISATTVA.
His Firmness.
As Mâra, the evil one,
Commanding his four armies,
Even by the devas in the Kâmaloka,
Cannot be overwhelmed;
So is the Bodhisattva,
Whose heart, pure and clean,
By all the hosts of Evil,
Cannot be tempted, nor confused.
His Progress.
As the new moon,
In size increasing gradually,
Becomes perfect and full in the end;
Even so the Bodhisattva,
With a heart defilement-free,
All the good dharmas seeking and performing,
In virtue gradually progresses,
And finally obtains the Law of Purity, perfect and full.
His Enlightenment.
The rising sun,
All illumining,
All forms and images in the world
In glory are revealed;
So is the Bodhisattva:
The light of knowledge emitting,
And sentient beings illumining,
Bringeth he all to wisdom.
His Fearlessness.
Lion, the king of beasts,
Majestic, overpowering,
And in the forest wandering,
Knows he no fear, no terror;
So is the Bodhisattva:
Calmly abiding in Learning,
Intelligence, and Morality,
Throughout the universe,
Wherever he wanders about,
Knows he no fear, no doubt.
His Energy.
The giant elephant,
With energy wondrous,
A burden heavy carrying,
Shows not the least fatigue;
So is the Bodhisattva:
Bearing, for the sake of the masses,
The misery of the flesh,
He shows not the least apathy.
His Purity.
The lotus-flower,
Though growing in the marshy land,
By dirt, or mire, or filth
Is not defiled;
So is the Bodhisattva:
Though living in this world,
No form of passion
Ever touches him.
His Self-sacrifice.
There lived once a man
Who craftily and skillfully
Felled the trunks of trees,
But left the roots untouched,
That after due time
They might once more be growing;
’Tis even so with the Bodhisattva:
With the upâya that is excellent,
Desires and passions down he fells,
But leaves their seed unscathed
By reason of his all-embracing love,
And thereby ever and anon comes he on earth.[18]
THE BODHISATTVA’S HOMELESS LIFE.[19]
The homeless Bodhisat regards the home life [or the world at large]
As a hurricane that abates not awhile,
Or as the moon’s illusive image in water cast,
Which the imagination takes deliberately for the real.
The water in itself contains no lunar image [real];
The real moon, dependent on water clear, a shadow casts;
So are all beings unreal; only conditionally they exist;
Yet ’tis imagined by the vulgar that an Atman they have.
The Atman is the product of conditions, and real it is not;
But for a reality the imagination it takes.
Have the two prejudices[20] removed,
And we perceive Intelligence most high and peerless.
Our confused imagination is like unto a black storm,
Blowing over the woods of birth and death, stirs up the leaves of consciousness:
By the four winds of fallacy ’tis haunted all the time,
And five damnation-causes it produces,
Entwining are indeed the roots of evil, which are three,
Through birth and death doth transmigration ever onward move.
Who to the Sutras listen and in them devoutly believe,
The right view they acquire, removing all the thoughts which are fallacious,
And every instant growing are Seeds of Intelligence,
And the Samâdhi of knowledge great and of spirituality is awakened.
When well disciplined in speculation deep and subtle,
In the dark no more we grope, nor do we reap the crop of pain;
Perceiving Suchness in the ultimate nature of things,
Subject and object both gone, and vanished are all sins.
Female and male, they’re attributes, and they are void essentially:
The ignorant imagine and create the two which only relatively exist.
The Buddha has destroyed permanently the cause of ignorance,
And in the ultimate reality nothing particular sees he, male or female.
The excellent fruit of wisdom, if ever attained, remains the same for aye;
The vulgar nathless imagine wrongly and see therein a thing concrete and definite.
The Buddha’s features thirty-two are after all no-features;
Who sees no-features in the features, the feature true he understands.
To wander homeless, and immaculate deeds to practise,
Over the heart to watch, in solitude quietly to sit:
This is the rightful way the Bodhisattva cleanses his heart;
Erelong will he attain the fruit of enlightenment.
THE BUDDHIST.[21]
Encourage not, for your self-interests,
Heterodoxy and false doctrines;
A merciful heart for all have ye;
Remove stupidity and untruth from your minds;
Be ye Tathâgata’s most faithful servants;
And teach the masses who are ignorant,
To them the Bodhi impart, on yourselves it practising;
And thereby make the Buddha’s name resound on earth;
Deliver the multitudes from sin and initiate them
To the perfect enlightenment of the Buddha:
Ye by these virtues firmly stand,
And your Intelligence-heart doth never fail.
HYMN TO THE BODHISATTVA.[22]
With lovingkindness, a Great Being who saves and protects,
Regards all beings impartially as his only child;
Energetically, cheerfully, and without stint,
His life he sacrifices, uprooting pain, and bringing bliss unspeakable.
Surely he will attain the height of truth and beauty,
Forever be freed from the entanglement of birth and death.
And erelong will he the fruit of enlightenment obtain,
Eternally peaceful, and in the Uncreate joy finding.
A VOW OF THE BODHISATTVA.[23]
For the sake of all sentient beings on earth,
I aspire for the abode of enlightenment which is most high;
In all-embracing love awakened, and with a heart steadily firm,
Even my life I will sacrifice, dear as it is.
In enlightenment no sorrows are found, no burning desires;
’Tis enjoyed by all men who are wise.
All sentient creatures from the turbulent waters of the triple world,
I’ll release, and to eternal peace them I’ll lead.
THE TRUE HOMELESS ONE.[24]
Though not wearing the yellow robe,
Whose heart is free from defilement,
In the doctrine of Buddhas,
He is the true homeless one.
Though not devoid of showy ornaments,
Who has cut off all entanglements,
And in whose heart exists neither knottiness nor looseness,
He is the true homeless one.
Though not initiated by the Rules,
Whose heart is clean of all evil thoughts,
And open only to tranquillity, intelligence, and virtuous deeds,
He is the true homeless one.
Though not instructed in the Law,
Whose insight goes deep into the ultimate,
And is no more deluded by sham appearances,
He is the true homeless one.
The mind that takes no thought of the ego,
That goes beyond the illusory phenomena,
Yet sinks not into stupidity
Truly awakened to Intelligence it is.
Whose mind, awakened to Intelligence,
Sees no substantiality in the ego,
And, not seeing, yet remains firm,
This man cannot be injured.
THE BODHISATTVA’S SPIRITUAL LIFE.[25]
Like unto the vast ocean that receives
All the waters, and yet overflows not;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Who knoweth no fatigue in seeking the merits of the Dharma.
Again, like unto the vast ocean that absorbs
All the streams, and yet shows no increase;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Who, receiving the deepest Dharma, nothing gaineth.[26]
Again, like unto the vast ocean that refuses to take filth,
And wherein when absorbed doth foulness change to purity;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Whom all the filth of passion cannot tarnish.
Again, like unto the vast ocean whose bottom is unfathomable;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Whose virtues and wisdom are so immeasurable
That none ever knows their limits.
Again, like unto the vast ocean in which there’s no diversity,
All the waters and streams pouring thereinto become of one taste alone;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Who listeneth to one note of Dharma.
Again, like unto the vast ocean that existeth not
For the interests of one individual;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Whose aspirations are for the benefit of all.
Again, like unto the vast ocean that embosoms the jewel called “all-jewel.”
Of which all jewels are produced;
Even so is the jewel-treasure of the Bodhisattva,
For it is through this that all the other jewels shine.
Again, like unto the vast ocean that produces the three kinds of jewel,
And yet discriminates not between them;
Even so is the teaching of the Bodhisattva,
Who, equally delivering the three yânas, maketh not any distinction.
Again, like unto the vast ocean that by degrees becomes deeper;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Who, practising virtues for the sake of all,
Forever aspireth after the deepest omniscience.
Again, like unto the vast ocean that harbors not a corpse;
Even so is the Bodhisattva,
Who, with the heart of purity and the vow of Bodhi,
Harboreth not a passion, nor the thought of the Çrâvaka.
THE BODHISATTVA’S FAITH. (1)[27]
Perceiving all in one,
And one in all,
The Bodhisattva diligent in his work
Is never given up to indolence.
Pain he shunneth not, to pleasure he clingeth not,
As he is ever bent on the deliverance of all beings;
To him all Buddhas will themselves reveal,
And of their presence he is never weary.
He is in the deepest depths of the Dharma,
Where is found the inexhaustible ocean of merit.
All sentient beings in the fivefold path of existence,
He loveth as his own child;
Removing things unclean and filthy,
Supplying them with dharmas pure and immaculate.
THE BODHISATTVA’S FAITH. (2)[28]
While to the doctrine most high listening,
The Light of Pure Intelligence within me glows,
That shining over all the universe
All the enlightened ones to me reveals.
Who think there are individuals
They put themselves in the position most difficult;
Dharmas have no ego-master which is real,
For they are merely names and expressions.
The vulgar and ignorant know not
That within themselves they have a reality true and real,
That the Tathâgata is not of any particular form;
Therefore the Tathâgata they see not.
Dirt and dust obscuring their intelligence-eye,
Enlightenment perfect and true they see not;
And throughout kalpas immeasurable and innumerable,
In the stream of birth and death they go a-rolling.
Wandering and rolling is Samsâra,
No-more-a-rolling is Nirvâna;
Yet Samsâra and Nirvâna,
Absolutely, exists neither of them.
To believer in falsehood and sophistry,
Samsâra is here and Nirvâna there;
Clearly they grasp not the Dharma of ancient sages,
Nor understand the Path Incomparable.
Those who thus cling to forms individual,
Of Buddha’s universal enlightenment, though they hear,
Themselves negate, and away they wander from the right course of thought;
Therefore, they cannot see the Buddha.
Who the Dharma of Truth perceive,
Serene they are for aye, and abide in Suchness;
Enlightenment most truthful they understand,
Transcending words and all the modes of speech.
Illusory are all forms individual;
No such thing as dharma here exists:
No enlightened ones
Seek Truth in things particular.
Whose insight to the past extends,
To the future and over the present,
And who fore’er abides in serenity of Suchness,
He’s said to be a Tathâgata.
THE BODHISATTVA’S FAITH. (3)[29]
I would rather suffer sufferings innumerable
That I might listen to the voices of Buddhas,
Than enjoy all sorts of pleasure
And not hear Buddhas’ names.
The reason why since ages out of mind
We suffer sufferings countless
And transmigrate through birth and death,
Is that we have not heard Buddhas’ names.
A reality that exists in things unreal,
A perfect Intellect synthetising truth and falsehood,
And that which transcends all the modes of relativity,
This is called the Bodhi.
Buddhas of the present are not products of composite conditions,
Nor are those of the past, nor those of the future.
What is formless in all forms,
That is the true essence of Buddhas.
Who thus perceives
The deepest significance of all existences,
In innumerable Buddhas, he will see
The truth and reality of the Dharma-body.
The Dharma-body knows truth as true,
And falsehood as false,
And well understands the realm of reality;
Therefore, it is called perfect intellect.
The enlightened has nothing enlightened,
Which is the true spirituality of all Buddhas:
And in this wise they behave,
Neither to be one nor to be two.
They see the one in the many,
They see the many in the one
The Dharma has nothing to depend upon;
How could it be a product of combination?
The actor and the action,
Neither really subsists:
Who can understand this,
Seeks not reality in either of them.
And here where reality is unseekable,
Buddhas find there the resting abode
The Dharma has nothing to depend upon;
And the enlightened have nothing to cling to.
NOTES
TO THE APPENDIX.
[1] This and the following are translations from some Mahâyâna texts in the Buddhist Tripitaka, which were rendered into the Chinese language at various times from Sanskrit mostly through the co-operation of the Hindu missionaries and Chinese scholars. A detailed analysis of these texts is most urgently needed, as they contain many informations of great importance not only concerning the history of Buddhism in India but also concerning early Hindu culture generally. A rather incomplete idea as to their contents and material and general character will be attained by the perusal of Rev. Nanjo’s Catalogue of the Chinese Tripitaka, Oxford, 1883.
Mahâyâna-mûlajâta-hṛdayabhûmi-dhyâna Sûtra, (Nanjo, no. 955,) fas. iii. ([return])
[2] The Avatamsaka, fas. xiv., p. 73. ([return])
[3] The Avatamsaka, (Buddhabhadra’s translation), fas. xiv, p. 72. ([return])
[4] To conceive the Tathâgata as a personal being who appeared on earth for a certain limited time and then eternally disappeared is not Mahâyânistic. He reveals himself constantly and of his own will in this world of particulars. ([return])
[5] Sarvadharma-pravṛtti-nirdeça Sûtra (Nanjo, no. 1012). ([return])
[6] Mahâyâna-mûlajâta-hrdavabhûmi-dhyâna Sûtra (Nanjo 955), fas. iii, p. 75. ([return])
[7] The three rings are: 1. the giver, 2. the receiver, and 3. the thing given, material or immaterial. ([return])
[8] Precepts. The three sets are: 1. one relating to good behavior, 2. to the accumulation of merit, and 3. to lovingkindness toward all beings. ([return])
[9] The mental (subjective), physical (objective), and oral. ([return])
[10] The intellectual and the affective. ([return])
[11] Sarvadharma-pravṛtti-nirdeça Sûtra. ([return])
[12] Literally, “when greed is neither born nor dead.” This means, to live in the world as not living in it. This subjective divine innocence is thought by Buddhists the essence of the religious life. The consciousness of one’s worth, or self-conceit, is a great obstacle in the path of perfect virtue. As in the case of mechanical work or physical exercise, we attain perfect skillfulness only when the work is involuntarily done, i.e., without any conscious effort on the part of the performer; so in our moral and spiritual life we attain the height of virtuousness or saintliness when we identify ourselves with the reason of our being. This is Laotze’s doctrine of non-action or non-resistance, and also the teaching of the Bhagavadgîta. As remarked elsewhere, when a man reaches this stage of religious life, he ceases to be human, but divine, in the sense that he transcends the world of good and evil and eternally abides in the realm of the beautiful. ([return])
[13] This is a very radical statement and is enough to frighten timid moralists and “God-fearing” pietists. Therefore, it is said that “Give not that which is holy to the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine.” But think not that this is expounding antinomianism. ([return])
[14] This and all the following are taken from the Kâṣyapa-Parivarta (Nanjo, 805). ([return])
[15] This gâthâ may not be very intelligible to our readers. The sense is: Whatever is done by a Buddha or Bodhisattva does not come from logical calculation or deliberate premeditation, but immediately from his inmost heart, which, in most natural and freest manner, responds to the needs of the suffering. This response is altogether free from all human elaboration, for the Buddha shows no painful and struggling efforts in so doing. Everything he does is like the work of nature herself. His life is above the narrow sphere of human morality which is marked with a desperate struggle between good and evil. His is in the realm of the divinely beautiful. ([return])
[16] “Having no selfhood” (svabhâva), means that things have no independent existence, no self-nature which will eternally preserve their thingish identity. This theory has been explained in the chapter dealing with the doctrine of non-atman. To state summarily, darkness and light are conditioned by each other; apart from darkness there is no light, and conversely, without light darkness has no meaning. Even so with enlightenment and ignorance: one independent of the other, they have no existence, they cannot be conceived. They are like imaginary flowers in the air projected there by a confused subjectivity. They are nothing but our ideal fabrication. To cling to God only, forgetting that we are living in the world below, in the world of relativity, is just as much one-sided as to lose ourselves in the whirlpool of earthly pleasures without the thought of God. Life, however, is not antithetic, but synthetic. Truth is never one-sided, it is always in the middle. Therefore, seek enlightenment in ignorance and truth in error. A dualistic interpretation of the world and life is not approved by Buddhists. Compare the sentiment expressed herein with Emerson’s poem as elsewhere quoted, in which these lines occur:
“But in the mud and scum of things,
There always, always, something sings.”
([return])
[17] The Kâṣyapaharivarta Sûtra (Nanjo, 805.). ([return])
[18] The sense is: The Bodhisattva never desires a complete absorption in the Absolute, in which no individual existences are distinguishable. He always leaves the “Will to live” unhurt, as it were, so that he could come in this world of particulars ever and anon. What he has destroyed is the egoistic assertion of the Will, for the aim of Buddhism is not to remove the eternal principle of life, but to manifest it in its true significance. The wishes of the Bodhisattva, therefore, are never egocentric; he knows that transmigration and rebirth are painful, but as it is by rebirth alone that he could mingle himself in the world of sin and save the suffering creatures therein, he never shuns the misery of life. His work of revelation is constant and eternal. ([return])
[19] The Mahâyâna-mûlajâti-hrdayabhûmi-dhyâna Sûtra, fas. IV. ([return])
[20] The two prejudices or obstacles that lie in our way to enlightenment are: 1 that which arises from intellectual shortsightedness; 2. that which arises from impurity of heart. ([return])
[21] Sûtra on Mahâkâṣyapa’s Question Concerning the Absolute. ([return])
[22] Suvarna-Prabhâ Sûtra. ([return])
[23] Suvarna-Prabhâ Sûtra, Chap. 26 ([return])
[24] Padmapani Sûtra, Fas. 8. ([return])
[25] The Avatamsaka Sutra. ([return])
[26] This means that the heart of the Bodhisattva which is pure and eternal in its essential nature has nothing added externally to it by studying the Dharma; for the Dharma is nothing else than the expression of his own heart. ([return])
[27] The Avatamsaka, fas. IX, p. 48. This pantheistic thought of the One-All is generally considered to be Buddhistic; but the truth is that every genuine religious sentiment inevitably leads us to this final conviction. Even in the so-called transcendental monotheistic Christianity, we find the pantheistic thought boldly proclaimed and put in contrast to the idea of “our Father which art in Heaven.” For instance, read the following passage from Thomas à Kempis: “He to whom all things are one, he who reduceth all things to one, and seeth all things in one, may enjoy a quiet mind, and remain at peace in God.” (Chap. III.) The passage in the Gospel of John declaring that “the Father is in me and I in him,” when logically carried out, comes to echo the same sentiment entertained by Buddhists, who recognise a manifestation of the Dharmakâya in all beings, animate as well as inanimate. The Christianity of to-day is that of Paul as expounded in his letters, but the future one will advance a few steps more and will be that of John. ([return])