Book 10, An Enlightening Being Asks for Clarification Then the Enlightening Being Manjushri asked the Enlightening Being, Chief of the Awakened, Since the nature of mind is one, what is the reason for seeing the existence of various differences, such as going to good or bad tendencies, having complete or imperfect faculties, differences in birth, beauty and ugliness, pain and pleasure, suffering and happiness? Why is it that activity doesn't know mind? Mind doesn't know activity. Reception doesn't know consequence. Consequence doesn't know reception. Mind doesn't know reception. Reception doesn't know mind. Cause doesn't know condition. Condition doesn't know cause. Knowledge doesn't know object. Object doesn't know knowledge.

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Chief of the Awakened answered in verse saying, Benevolent One, you ask the meaning of this to awaken all the ignorant. I will answer according to the essence. Listen clearly, Benevolent One. Phenomena have no function and have no individual nature. Therefore, all of them do not know one another. Like the waters in a river, their rushing flow races past, each unaware of the others, so it is with all things. It is also like a massive fire. Blazing flames shoot up at once, each not knowing the others. Phenomena are also this. Also like a continuous wind, fanning and drumming whenever it hits, each unaware of the other, so also are all things. Also like the various levels of earth, each based on another, yet unaware of the others,

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thus are all phenomena. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, intellect, the faculties of sense, by these one always revolves, yet there is no one, nothing that revolves. The nature of things is fundamentally birthless, yet they appear to have birth. Herein there is no revealer, and nothing that's revealed. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, mind, intellect, the faculties of sense, all are void and essenceless. The deluded mind conceives them to exist. Seen as they truly are, all are without inherent nature. The eye of reality is not conceptual. This seeing is not false. Real or unreal, false or not false, mundane or transmundane,

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there's nothing but descriptions. Then Manjushri asked chief enriches of truth. Since all sentient beings are not sentient beings, why does the Buddha appear in their midst for their sake and teach them according to the time, according to their lives, according to their species, according to their actions, according to their understandings, according to their philosophies, according to their inclinations, according to their expedience, according to their thoughts according to their observations chief and riches answered her in verse this is the realm of the learned who delight in ultimate peace I will explain for you now please listen clearly analyze the body within who

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herein is the self who can understand this way will comprehend the existence or not of the self this body is a temporary setup and has no place of abode who understands this body will have no attachment to it considering the body carefully everything will be clearly seen knowing all the elements are unreal one will not create mental fabrications based on whom does life arise and based on whom does it disappear like a turning wheel of fire it's beginning and end can't be known the wise can observe with insight the impermanence of all existence all things are empty and selfless forever apart from all signs all consequences are born from actions like dreams they're

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not truly real from moment to moment they continually die away the same as before and after of all things seen in the world only mind is the host by grasping forms according to interpretation it becomes deluded not true to reality all philosophies in the world are mental fabrications there has never been a single doctrine by which one could enter the true essence of things by the power of perceived perceiver and perceived all kinds of things are born they soon pass away not staying dying out instant to instant then Manjushree asked chief of the precious all sentient beings equally have four gross physical elements with no self and nothing pertaining to self how

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come there is the experience of pain and pleasure beauty and ugliness internal and external goodness little sensation and much sensation why does some experience consequences in the present and some in the future and all this while there is no good or bad in the realm of reality chief of the precious answered in verse according to what deeds are done do their resulting consequences come to be yet the doer has no existence this is the Buddhist teaching like a clear mirror according to what comes before it reflecting forms each different so is the nature of actions and like a skillful magician standing at a crossroads causing many forms to appear so is the nature of actions like a mechanical robot able to utter various sounds neither self nor not self so is

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the nature of actions and like different species of birds all emerging from eggs yet their voices are not the same so is the nature of actions just as in the womb all organs are developed their substance and features coming from nowhere so is the nature of actions also like being in hell the various painful things all come from nowhere so is the nature of actions also like the sovereign king with seven supreme treasures their provenance cannot be found so is the nature of actions and as when the various worlds are burnt by a great conflagration this fire comes from nowhere so does the nature of actions then Manjushri asked chief of the virtuous since that which the Buddhas

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realize is but one truth how is it that that they expound countless teachings manifest countless lands edify countless beings speak in countless languages appear in countless bodies no countless minds demonstrate countless mystic powers are able to shake countless worlds display countless extraordinary adornments reveal boundless different realms of objects whereas in the essential nature of things these different characteristics cannot be found at all chief of the virtuous answered in verse the meaning of what you ask is deep and hard to fathom the wise are able to know it always delighting in Buddha's virtues just as the nature of earth is one while

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beings each live separately and the earth has no thought of oneness or difference so is the truth of all Buddhas just as the nature of fire is one while able to burn all things and the flames make no distinction so is the truth of all Buddhas just as the ocean is one with millions of different waves yet the water is no different so is the truth of all Buddhas and as the nature of wind is one while able to blow on all things and the wind has no thought of oneness or difference so is the truth of all Buddhas also like great thunderheads raining all over the earth the raindrops make no distinctions so is the truth of all Buddhas just as the element earth while one can produce

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various sprouts yet it's not that the earth is diverse so is the truth of all Buddhas just as the Sun without clouds overcast shines throughout the ten directions it's like beams having no difference so is the truth of all Buddhas and just as the moon in the sky is seen by all in the world yet the moon doesn't go to them so is the truth of all Buddhas just as the king of the gods appears throughout the universe yet her body has no change so is the truth of all Buddhas then Manjushri asked the enlightening being chief in vision Buddhas as fields of blessings are one in the same to all how is it that when sentient beings give alms to them the resulting rewards are not the same various forms various families various faculties various property various

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masters various followers various official positions various virtuous qualities various kinds of knowledge and yet the Buddhas are impartial toward them not thinking of them as different chief in vision answered in verse just as the earth is one yet produces sprouts according to the seeds without partiality toward any of them so is the Buddha's field of blessings and just as water is uniform yet differs in shape according to the vessel so is the Buddha's field of blessings it differs only due to beings minds and just as a skilled magician can make people happy so can Buddha's field of blessings cause sentient beings joy as a king with wealth and knowledge can bring gladness to the masses so can Buddha's field of blessings bring peace and

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happiness to all like a clear mirror reflecting images according to the forms so from Buddha's field of blessings rewards are obtained according to one's heart like a panacea which can cure all poisoning so does Buddha's field of blessings annihilate all afflictions and just as when the Sun comes up it illuminates the world thus does Buddha's field of blessings clear away all darkness like the clear full moon shining over the earth so as Buddha's field of blessings equal in all places just as a great conflagration can burn up all things so does Buddha's field of blessings burn up all fabrication just as a violent wind can cause the earth to tremble so does Buddha's field of

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blessings move all sentient beings then Manjushri asked chief in effort the Buddha's teaching is one which all beings can see why don't they all immediately cut off all the bonds of afflictions and win emancipation furthermore in their clusters of material form clusters of sensation conception coordination activity and consciousness the realms of desire form and formlessness as well as ignorance and craving they are no different this is the Buddha's teaching why is it of benefit to some and not to others chief in effort answered in verse listen well and clearly and I will answer truly some are quickly freed and some can hardly escape if one wishes to eliminate the

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countless faults and ills one should work with diligence on the Buddha teaching for example a little bit of fire moisture in the kindling will extinguish so it is with those who are lazy about the Buddha teaching just as when you drill for fire and stop before the fire appears the heat will immediately disappear so it is with the indolent when a man with a magnifying glass doesn't focus the sun's rays on anything fire can never be obtained so it is with the lazy like when the dazzling sun shines a child shuts its eyes and complains why can't I see so too are the lazy like this like a man lacking hands and feet wanting to shoot all over the earth with arrows made of reeds so too are the lazy ones like using a single hair to take the ocean

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water trying to drain the ocean so also are the slothful like when the fire flares trying to put it out with a little water so are those who are lazy about the Buddha's teaching like someone who sees space while sitting still unmoving and says she is traveling through it so is the lazy one then Manjushri asked chief and doctrine according to what the Buddha says if any sentient beings accept and hold the true teaching they can cut off all afflictions why then are there those who accept and hold the true teaching and yet do not cut off afflictions who go along with anger and resentment go along with jealousy and stinginess go along with deception and flattery compelled by the power of these things having no will to detach from them if

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they are able to accept and hold the true teaching why then do they still produce afflictions in their mental actions chief and doctrine answered in verse listen well and clearly to the true meaning of what you ask it is not only by much learning that one can enter the Buddha's teaching like a person floating in water who dies of thirst afraid of drowning so are those who are learned who do not apply the teaching like a person skilled in medicine who can't cure her own disease so are those who are learned but do not apply the teaching like someone counting others treasures without half a coin of their own so is the one who has learned who doesn't practice the teaching like one who is born in a royal palace yet who freezes and starves so are those who are

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learned but do not practice the teaching like a deaf musician who pleases others not hearing herself so is the one who has learned who does not apply the teaching like a blind embroiderer who shows others but cannot see so are those who are learned but do not practice the teaching like a ship's captain who dies at sea so are those who are learned but do not apply the teaching like someone on a corner saying all kinds of fine things while having no real inner virtue so are those who don't practice then Manjushri asked chief in knowledge in the Buddha teaching knowledge is chief so why do the Buddha's in dealing with people sometimes praise generosity sometimes praise self-control sometimes

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praise tolerance sometimes praise effort sometimes praise meditation sometimes praise wisdom or again sometimes praise kindness compassion joy and equanimity yet all the while there is ultimately but one truth whereby to attain emancipation and realize complete perfect enlightenment chief in knowledge answered in verse child of Buddha most rare is the ability to know beings minds as for what you ask listen well and I'll explain of the past future and present guides none expounds just one method to become enlightened Buddha's no beings minds their natures each different according to what they need to be freed thus to the Buddha's teach to the stingy they

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praise giving to the immoral they praise ethics to the angry they praise tolerance to the lazy they praise effort to those with scattered minds they praise meditative concentration to the ignorant they praise wisdom to the inhuman they praise kindness and sympathy to the malicious compassion to the troubled they praise joy to the devious they praise equanimity thus practicing step by step one gradually fulfills all Buddha teachings it's like first setting up a foundation then building the room generosity and self-control like this are bases of enlightening beings practices just like building the castle to protect all the people so our tolerance and effort protecting

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enlightening beings and just as a universal monarch can bestow all felicities so can kindness compassion joy and equanimity given lightning beings happiness then Manjushri asked chief in goodness the Buddha's the world honored ones attain emancipation by means of one path alone why then are the things in the Buddha lands we see now various and not the same that is to say the world's the realms of beings the teaching and training the lifespan and auras of light the miracles the congregations the modes of teaching and doctrinal bases each have differences yet all include all the truths of the Buddha's whereby complete perfect enlightenment is attained chief and goodness answered in verse Manjushri truth is always thus the kings of truth

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have just one truth people unhindered by anything they leave birth and death by one road all the Buddha bodies are just one reality body one in mind one in wisdom the same in power and fearlessness according to their dedications when originally starting out for enlightenment they developed such congregations and teachings the adornments of all Buddha lands are totally complete according to differences in beings actions they seem to be on the like the Buddha lands and Buddha bodies the congregations and explanations such Buddhist teachings as these no sentient beings can see when their minds are purified and their vows fulfilled such illuminated people then are able to see according to beings mental inclinations and the force of the

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fruits of their deeds there seem to them to be differences this is due to Buddha's mystic powers Buddha lands have no discrimination no hatred and no attachment but according to beings minds they seem to have differences because of this in the world's what is seen is different this is not the fault of the enlightened sages in all worlds those who are fit to receive the teaching always see the hero of humanity such as the Buddha's teaching then these enlightening beings said to Manjushri son of Buddha we have each spoken of our understanding we ask you benevolent one to use your wonderful powers of elucidation to expound the realm of the enlightened what is the sphere of the Buddha's what are the causal bases of the sphere of the

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Buddha's what are the methods of liberation in the sphere of the Buddha's what are the entries into the states of the Buddha's what is the wisdom in the realm of the Buddha's what are the laws of the realm of the Buddha's what are the explanations of the states of the Buddha's what is the knowledge of the sphere of the Buddha's what is the realization of the realm of the Buddha's What are the manifestations of the states of the Buddhas? What is the extent of the sphere of the Buddhas? Manjushri answered in verse. The profound realm of the Buddhas is equal in extent to space. All beings enter it, yet really nothing's entered. The sublime causes of the Buddhas' profound states could not be fully told in a billion eons of talk. According to beings' minds and wisdom, Buddhas lead them on and aid them.

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This is the realm of the Buddhas, liberating beings this way. Able to enter all lands in the world, the body of knowledge is formless and cannot be seen by others. The Buddha's knowledge is free, unhindered in all times. This realm of wisdom is equanimous as space. The realms of beings of the cosmos ultimately have no distinction. Thoroughly knowing all of them is the sphere of the enlightened ones. All languages and sounds there are in the worlds, Buddhas' knowledge can comprehend without discrimination. Not perceptible to sense consciousness and not the sphere of mind, its nature fundamentally pure, Buddhas' knowledge teaches living beings. Not action, not affliction, with no thing and no abode,

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no looking and no object, their realizations equanimous throughout the world. The minds of all sentient beings in the past, present and future, the enlightened in one instant, can thoroughly comprehend. Then all the differences in state, activity, realm, body, faculties, birth, results of keeping precepts, results of breaking precepts, and in resulting lands of all sentient beings in this Saha world, by the Buddha's spiritual power, all became clearly manifest. In the same way, all these various differences of all sentient beings in the infinite worlds throughout the space of the cosmos in all directions were all clearly revealed by the Buddha's mystic power.

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