The Training According to the Samādhi
Chapter 12
“Young man, those are the qualities and benefits that bodhisattvas who know the nature of all phenomena will have. They will describe the true, excellent qualities of the tathāgatas. They will not falsely say that which is untrue about the tathāgatas. Why is that?
It is because they know perfectly that nature, which is the nature through which a tathāgata comes to be.530 They know the infinite qualities of a buddha. Why is that? Young man, the qualities of a buddha are infinite, inconceivable, beyond thought. They cannot be conceived or measured.
Why is that? The mind, young man, is taught to be without a nature of its own,531 to be without form.532 Young man, that nature of the mind is also the nature of the qualities of a buddha. That nature of the qualities of a buddha is also the nature of the tathāgatas, and that is the nature of all phenomena.
12.2 “Young man, the bodhisattva mahāsattvas who know correctly that teaching on the nature of all the qualities are, young man, called bodhisattva mahāsattvas with profound comprehension. They are skilled in emancipation. They know perfectly emancipation from the three realms. They have perfect knowledge, do not teach that which is erroneous, and do not say that which is anything other than true. [F.43.b]
Their conduct is in line with what they teach. They have no attachment to the three realms. They have transcended the three realms. They have transcended the level of desire, the level of form, the level of formlessness, the level of the kleśas, the level of names, and the level of language.
They are skilled in the way of letters and words. They know freedom from letters.533 They have mastered the inexpressible Dharma. They know letters. They are skilled in letters. They are skilled in the knowledge of the categories of letters and words. They are skilled in the knowledge of the detailed categories of letters and words.
They are skilled in the knowledge of the categories of all the words534 of the Dharma. They are skilled in the knowledge of the detailed categories of all the words535 of the Dharma. They are skilled in the knowledge536 of the presentation of all the Dharma. They are endowed with the certainty of understanding, so that all the evil māras and all the devas in their entourages cannot overcome them.”
12.3 At that time, when this Dharma teaching was given, ninety-eight times a hundred thousand million devas and human beings who had created the karma in previous lifetimes,537 had accumulated538 a trillion retentions,539 were unobscured, and had insight into the Dharma, all attained patience.540
The Bhagavān prophesied to them all that after four million, eight hundred thousand countless eons they would attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood. He prophesied to each of them their separate names, their identical lifespans, and the individual buddha realms where they would attain the highest, complete enlightenment of perfect buddhahood.
It was said:
12.4
“The wise bodhisattvas who seek to attain
The highest, supreme enlightenment,
Who are skilled in meaning and the Dharma,
Practice the nature of phenomena. {1}
12.5
“They say nothing that is untrue
About the unique qualities of the buddhas.
The heroes, free of all doubt,
Know the nature of the jinas. {2}
12.6
“They know that all phenomena have but a single meaning,
And that is solely emptiness.
They do not have different meanings.
They become adept in that single meaning. {3}
12.7
“The wise know that they are without thought,
Are devoid of thought, and that there is no object. [F.44.a]
They have eliminated without remainder
Every conception of cessation and noncessation. {4}
12.8
“They do not see the one with ten strengths as form,
But see the lion of men as the dharmakāya.
Neither do they conceive of attributes
Because they have eliminated all error. {5}
12.9
“The qualities are inconceivable, beyond thought.
They have the nature of complete peace.
With this knowledge they thus see
The buddhas as the supreme among humans. {6}
12.10
“Just as they know their own conceptions to be,
Thus they direct their understanding of everything.
All phenomena have that nature,
Which is as completely pure as space.541 {7}
12.11
“Nothing arises to their conceptual mind.
They know emancipation542 from all phenomena.
They are liberated from the three realms
And they have no aspiration for them.543 {8}
12.12
“They are those who see correctly and do not say
Anything to the contrary or any untrue words.
All the words that they speak
Come forth through the power of the jinas. {9}
12.13
“They transcend the level of desire,
And the levels of kleśas, form, and formlessness.
Their minds have no attachment to phenomena.
They practice with joy, benefiting beings. {10}
12.14
“They have transcended the level of words;
Their knowledge of language is obtained from its nature.
For however long they speak
They know those words have no basis. {11}
12.15
“There is no activity of conceptualization;
Incorrect views have completely ceased.
Their understanding is completely assured.
It has a stability like that of space. {12}
12.16
“Even though quintillions of māras
Come to disturb their mind,
They overcome all the māras
And do not fall under their power. {13}
12.17
“They have rejected the net of the māras.
They have pure, untroubled conduct.
They aspire to the bliss of dhyāna
And know the world to be empty. {14}
12.18
“Even though it is said the world is an aggregate,
They know it to be empty,
And that all phenomena are like space,
Without birth and without cessation. {15}
12.19
“They have forsaken the self, but not the conduct544
Or listening to the teaching of the one with ten strengths.545 [F.44.b]
They have attained perfect conduct
And will be reborn wherever they pray to be. {16}
12.20
“They go to the buddha realms.
They see many millions of buddhas.
They have no desire for the deva realms
And they do not pray to be there. {17}
12.21
“While they are practicing the Dharma,
Their diligence does not waver for an instant.
They are highly praised by
The buddhas in the ten directions. {18}
12.22
“Therefore, young man, when you have received
This Dharma teaching of the samādhi,
Rejecting the profits of the intellect,
Teach this Dharma to the people. {19}
12.23
“One who wishes for the numerous qualities
Possessed by the self-arisen buddha
Should train in this goodness
And become a buddha with the ten strengths.” {20}
12.24
Conclusion of the twelfth chapter, “The Training According to the Samādhi.”
