The Teaching on the Nature of All Phenomena
Chapter 32
Then the Bhagavān said to the youth Candraprabha, “Therefore, young man, bodhisattva mahāsattvas who wonder, ‘How can I know the nature of all phenomena?’ should listen to this samādhi, the revealed equality of the nature of all phenomena, learn it, understand it, keep it, recite it to others, promote it, proclaim it, chant it, meditate on it with unadulterated meditation, promulgate it, and make it widely known to others.”
Thereupon the Bhagavān spoke these verses:
32.2
“In the ones who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
No desire arises, no anger arises,
Nor in those great leaders does ignorance ever arise.
They have eliminated all kleśas without remainder. {1}
32.3
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Are heart children of the Sugata who do not abandon the training.
They are heroes who never fall under the power of women.
Everywhere they rejoice in the teaching of the sugatas. {2}
32.4
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Are wise, sagacious, and know the way of wisdom.1039
They see infinite, endless buddhas
And know infinite dhāraṇīs1040 and wisdom.1041 {3}
32.5
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Will before long become a lord of humans.
They know the skills of healing and bestow happiness,1042
And they are able to remove all the pain of suffering.1043 {4}
32.6
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Know that sentient beings are suffering.
They always beat the drum of the elixir.
They will before long become a guide.1044 {5}
32.7
“They are the supreme physicians, skilled in healing.
They know the origin of all illnesses and how to be freed from them. [F.102.b]
They have wisdom and train correctly.
Having trained they liberate many lost beings. {6}
32.8
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Are wise heroes who are skilled in the nature of emptiness.
They have no attachment to the world and always their food is alms,
And they bring many beings to supreme enlightenment.1045 {7}
32.9
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena1046
Are moons1047 among people, superior through the power of patience.
They are not angry even if struck with stones and sticks,
And they are not disturbed even if their limbs are severed. {8}
32.10
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Have the strength of being established in the strength of patience.1048
Not seeing a thing that is tolerated, they are perfectly at peace.1049
They are wise heroes who do not become proud of the strength of their patience.1050 {9}
32.11
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena,
Never have in mind the idea ‘I am cutting through things’;
For them all things are nonexistent, always empty,
And they have eliminated every single conceptual identification. {10}
32.12
“Such are they who teach the supreme nature of phenomena.
They will before long reach the highest enlightenment.
They comprehend the scope of the nature of phenomena.
They give a gift that is infinite and endless. {11}
32.13
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Teach infinite millions of sūtras
That are more numerous than sand grains in the Ganges,
And there is no interruption in their eloquence. {12}
32.14
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Have wisdom as high as Sumeru,
Constantly for a hundred trillion eons,
And their teaching of the Dharma knows no end. {13}
32.15
“They who know the peace that is the nature of phenomena
Have a vast, abundant, inconceivable eloquence.
They constantly seek supreme enlightenment
And teach infinite millions of sūtras. {14}
32.16
“They who know that these phenomena have no substance
Perfectly hear and remember the entirety
Of the Dharma that the lords of humans have taught [F.103.a]
And do not doubt even a single word. {15}
32.17
“They who know that phenomena are always empty
Are at all times uniquely superior in their generosity.
They are patrons who give happiness to those who suffer.
When they see beings suffer they satisfy them with jewels. {16}
32.18
“They who know that phenomena are always empty
Will always become the kings of Jambudhvaja.
At all times they have love for all the living
And always bring infinite happiness to beings. {17}
32.19
“They who know that phenomena are always empty
Are heroes who give away their sons, daughters, and slaves.
Those great leaders’ minds never waver,
As they give away their hands, their feet, their head, and their kingdom. {18}
32.20
“They who know that phenomena are always empty
Have no anger in their mind, even in a dream,
Even though their limbs are cut from their body;
For them it is an offering to the guides, the lords of humans. {19}
32.21
“They who know that phenomena are always empty
Make offerings to all the guides of the past,
Make offerings to the lords of humans in the future,
And venerate all the guides in the present. {20}
32.22
“They who hear and retain this sūtra in the degenerate times
Are wise individuals who possess the treasure of the sugatas.
They are established in the supreme retentions,1051
And before long will become guides of the worlds. {21}
32.23
“They who do not forget but teach this sūtra
Are wise individuals who will never become blind.
Throughout many eons they will not lose a limb,
And will always avoid the eight disadvantageous states. {22}
32.24
“They will never be reborn in the lower existences.
They will always have a beautiful body with the primary signs of a great being.
They will always cultivate the five higher cognitions,
And those heroes will always be in the presence of the sugatas. {23}
32.25
“Endowed with wisdom they will manifest many emanations
That will go to millions of realms to guide beings.
Of all those who see this multitude of buddha emanations, [F.103.b]
That many beings will be brought to supreme enlightenment. {24}
32.26
They who hear and retain this sūtra in the degenerate times
Will be endowed with memory, understanding, wisdom, and constancy.
They will become powerful through the strength of their diligence.
They will have great brilliance and they will reach the culmination of the Dharma. {25}
32.27
They who hold this samādhi of peace in the degenerate time
Are heroes established in the brahmavihāras.
They quickly attain the eight and two bhūmis,
And swiftly subjugate the māras.1052 {i}
32.28
Those who always meditate on this sūtra of peace
Will attain power and possess the highest strengths.
They will always be ones who are intent on benefiting beings,
And will realize the highest enlightenment at the foot of the Bodhi tree.1053 {ii}
32.29
“Those who meditate that these phenomena are empty
Constantly radiate ten billion light rays
And eclipse even the disks of the suns.
Those heroes will, before long, become guides of the worlds. {26}
32.30
“In the past I practiced this field of peace
For many quintillions of eons.
My diligence upon this path was unceasing
And Dīpaṃkara prophesied I would become a jina. {27}
32.31
“You also should follow my practice of this sūtra,
This teaching that leads to the profound ultimate truth.
There are many tīrthikas who are lost in error concerning this.
They revile enlightenment and fall into the terrible lower realms. {28}
32.32
“During many quintillions of eons
They will experience unendurable sufferings of heat.
And even after many millions of eons have passed
They will still not die for that reason. {29}
32.33
“Those who in the terrible latter times
Protect this sūtra of the Sugata, this state of peace,
Will attain the highest enlightenment without difficulty.
They are the prophesied holders of the Dharma in the future.” {30}
32.34
Conclusion of the thirty-second chapter, “The Teaching on the Nature of All Phenomena.”1054 [B10] [F.104.a]
