 |
||
|
||
|
||
The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra
THE REASONS FOR THE DHARMA ASSEMBLY
CHAPTER 1
Sutra:
Thus I have heard. At one time the Buddha was staying in the Jeta Grove of the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary together with a gathering of great bhiksus, twelve hundred fifty in all.
At that time, at mealtime, the World Honored One put on his robe, took up his bowl, and entered the great city of Shravasti to beg for food. After he had finished his sequential begging within the city, he returned, ate the food, put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet, arranged his seat, and sat down.
Commentary:
Thus I have heard. Those words are the first of the Six Requirements. It is essential that all who lecture or read sutras be quite familiar with the Six Requirements which are: belief, hearing, time, host, place and audience.
1. Thus is the requirement of belief,
2. I have heard is the requirement of hearing,
3. At one time is the requirement of time,
4. The Buddha is the requirement of a host,
5. In Shravasti in the Jeta Grove of the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary is the
requirement of a place,
6. Together with a gathering of great bhiksus, twelve
hundred fifty in all is the requirement of an audience.
The six requirements prove that a sutra was spoken by the Buddha. Since the requirements begin every sutra, they are called the “Common Preface.” The text which immediately follows them varies with each sutra, and so it is called the “Specific Preface.” In this sutra the Specific Preface is:
“At that time, at mealtime, the World Honored One put
on his robe, took up his bowl, and entered the great city of
Shravasti to beg for food. After he had finished his
sequential begging within the city, he returned, ate the
food, put away his robe and bowl, washed his feet,
arranged his seat, and sat down.”
The Common Preface is also called both the “Foreword” and the “Postscript.” When lecturing sutras one can discuss this section as a foreword to the sutra and also as a postscript appended at a later date.
“Can a preface really be called either a Foreword or a Postscript?” you might ask.
There is nothing fixed about it. Whatever is fixed is not Buddhadharma. The Vajra Sutra makes clear the principle of no fixed dharmas. When something is fixed upon, the resultant attachment causes obstruction which in turn leads to affliction. When there is no attachment, emptiness is without affliction. When all is empty, to what can one be attached? What then cannot be put down? When one is completely empty of self, what affliction could there be? Affliction comes when one’s viewpoint is not empty of self. Things have not been seen through, smashed, and put down. Therefore…
Wherever you go you are stuck by thorns.
Wherever you go you bump into walls.
Every place you go you walk into walls or get caught in brambles, and it is painful. You feel pain because you have not put your body down. If you have absolutely no self, no others, no living beings, no life – nothing at all – what pain is there? Who has pain? When there is not even a person who feels pain, what affliction can there be? Where would the affliction come from? This is easy to talk about but difficult to do.
The six requirements are called the Postscript because they were not part of the original sutra. The Buddha did not say “Thus I have heard…” That text was added afterwards by the Venerable Ananda when the sutra division was compiled. The Postscript is also called the Prologue. Therefore the six requirements may be called the Foreword, the Prologue, and the Postscript.
The Buddha instructed that all sutras he spoke should begin with the four words “Thus I have heard…” Those who investigate Buddhist sutras should know the history of those four words.
After the Buddha had finished speaking the Wonderful Dharma Lotus Blossom Sutra, the Nirvana Sutra, the Buddha Bequeaths the Teaching Sutra, the Kshitigarbha Sutra and others, he announced that he was going to enter nirvana. Every one of his disciples cried. Bodhisattvas cried, Arhats cried, and all the bhiksus and common people cried even harder.
“Why did they cry? Did the Bodhisattvas and Arhats still have emotion?” one asks.
The deep, compassionate dharma which the Buddha spoke had been like milk which nourished them. They had drunk the dharma milk for many years, and now their source was going dry, so they cried.
Ananda cried hardest. Tears poured from his eyes, his nose ran, and he knew nothing but grief. He cried so hard he forgot everything. The Venerable Aniruddha, though blind, had theheavenly eye and the heavenly ear. When he heard everyone crying as though they had gone mad, he took Ananda aside and asked, “What are you crying about?”
“Ahh,” wailed Ananda, “the Buddha is going to nirvana and we will never get to see him again. What do you mean ‘What am I crying about?’!”
The Venerable Aniruddha said, “Don’t cry. You still have important things to do. Try to straighten up a little.”
Ananda said, “What important things? The Buddha is going to enter nirvana, what is left for me to do? I want to go with the Buddha.” He wanted to die with the Buddha.
“That won’t do. It is a mistake to talk like that.”
“Well, what do you want me to do?”
The Venerable Aniruddha said, “There are four questions you should ask the Buddha.”
“Four questions! Now that the Buddha is going to nirvana how can there still be questions? I can’t tell the Buddha not to enter nirvana, can I?”
“No.”
“What are the four questions?”
The Venerable Aniruddha said, “The first question: After the Buddha enters nirvana the sutras should be compiled. What words should we use to begin the sutras? What guide should there be?”
Ananda heard that and said, “That’s really important. As soon as I heard you say it, I knew I should ask about it. What other questions are there?”
“The second question: When the Buddha was in the world we lived with the Buddha. After the Buddha crosses over to extinction, after he enters nirvana, where should we dwell?”
Ananda dried his eyes and wiped his nose. He said, “That is also very important. Right. When the Buddha was in the world the entire group of twelve hundred fifty bhiksus lived together with him. Now that he is going to enter nirvana where will we live? I should ask that. What’s the next question?” He was getting anxious because he could see that the questions were important.
“The third question: When the Buddha was in the world, the Buddha was our Master. Now that he is entering nirvana, whom should we take as Master? We should select one person from among us. We can’t manage without a Master!”
“Right. That also should be asked. What is the fourth question?”
“The fourth question is extremely important: When the Buddha was in the world, he could discipline the bad-natured bhiksus.” Bad-natured bhiksus are those who leave home and do not follow the rules. “After the Buddha enters nirvana who will discipline them?”
Ananda said, “Right again. Now the bad-natured bhiksus will consider us their equals and we will not be able to discipline them. That is a real headache. Okay, I will go get the Buddha’s advice on these.”
Ananda went straight to the Buddha’s room. Although he had not washed his face, his eyes were dry and his nose clean, and he was not nearly as unsightly as when he had been crying. The Buddha was on the verge of entering samadhi, and Ananda had no time to waste. “Buddha?” he said, “World Honored One? I have some very important problems about which I need your advice. Can you answer me now?”
The Buddha already knew that his cousin and youngest disciple was coming to ask questions, and he said, “Certainly I can answer you. What are your problems?”
“These are not my problems, they are the Buddha’s problems, problems of Buddhadharma, problems of all the high masters! I can’t solve them, and so I have come seeking the Buddha’s compassionate instruction. I have heard many sutras and opened much wisdom, but now, faced with this momentous event, I can’t handle it. I need your advice, Buddha.”
“All right, speak,” said the Buddha.
“The first question is, after the Buddha enters nirvana we want to compile the sutras. What words should we begin them with to show that they are the Buddha’s?”
The Buddha said, “Use the four words ‘Thus I have heard.’”
“‘Thus I have heard.’ Okay, I will remember,” said Ananda, “what’s the answer to the second question?”
“What is the second question? You haven’t asked it yet, Ananda.”
“I haven’t? Oh. The next question is where should we live? There are so many of us. How will we get along? Where will we dwell?”
“That is a small problem,” said the Buddha. “You should dwell in the Four Dwellings of Mindfulness.”
These are:
1. contemplation of the body as impure,
2. contemplation of feelings as suffering,
3. contemplation of thoughts as impermanent, and
4. contemplation of dharmas as devoid of self.
“The third question. You have been our Master, but when you enter nirvana who will our Master be? Will it be the oldest? Great Kashyapa is the oldest. Will it be someone middle aged? That would be Ajnatakaundinya. If it is to be the very youngest – I am the youngest, but I can’t be the Master. I can’t do it, Buddha.”
The Buddha said, “You don’t need to be Master, and neither does Ajnatakaundinya or Great Kashyapa.”
“Who will it be then?”
The Buddha said, “Take the Pratimoksa as your master.” The Pratimoksa is the Vinaya – the precepts and rules. “Take the precepts as Master.”
The Buddha said that all people who have gone forth from home should take the Pratimoksa as master. Therefore if you want to leave the home life you certainly must receive the precepts. If you do not receive the precepts, then you have no master. When one leaves home he should receive the Sramanera precepts, the Bodhisattva precepts, and the bhiksu precepts. One who has taken only the sramanera precepts and the Bodhisattva precepts, but has not taken the bhiksu precepts, has only partially left home. To leave home fully, one takes the complete precepts as Master.
“Now we have a Master,” Ananda said, “but among us there are bad-natured bhiksus. While you have been in the world, you have managed them, Buddha. What should we do about them when you are gone?”
During the time of the Buddha there were six bhiksus who were very rambunctious. They constantly interfered with others’ cultivation. If people were maintaining the precepts and rules, those bhiksus tried to hinder them. Although those six bhiksus did not follow the rules, not one of them was as disobedient as today’s average bhiksu.
“What should we do about evil natured bhiksus?” asked Ananda.
“Oh, that,” said the Buddha, “is very easy. You should be silent and they will go away. Don’t talk to them. After all, aren’t they bad? Aren’t they boisterous and disobedient? Ignore them. Don’t speak to them. They will become bored and leave on their own.”
Those are the Buddha’s answers to the four questions.
At one time refers to the time when the Buddha was staying in Shravasti. Shravasti, the name of the capital city which housed King Prasenajit, translates as “flourishing virtue.” “Flourishing” refers to the Five Desires: forms, sounds, scents, flavors, and tangible objects and to the wealth which abounded in the country. “Virtue”refers to the conduct of the citizens, who were well-educated and free from vexations.
The Jeta Grove belonged to King Prasenajit’s son, Prince Jeta, whose name, “war victor,” was given him in commemoration of King Prasenajit’s victory in a war with a neighboring country which occurred on the day his son was born.
The Benefactor Of Orphans And The Solitary refers to an Indian philanthropist of the time who was much like King Wen of the Chou Dynasty in China. King Wen’s first goal was to benefit widowers, widows, orphans, and the solitary, meaning elderly, childless couples. His government was beneficent and humane, and tended solely to the good of the country. The benefactor mentioned here in the sutra was an elder named Sudatta, “good benefactor,” one of King Prasenajit’s great ministers.
The flower garden belonged to Prince Jeta until Sudatta bought it for the exorbitant price of one square inch of gold for every square inch of ground! The Elder Sudatta made the purchase following his invitation to the Buddha to come to Shravasti to speak dharma. The following are the events which resulted in his purchase of the garden.
It all began when Sudatta went to Rajagrha on business and stayed with a friend named Shan Tan Nwo. One night during his visit at Shan Tan Nwo’s home, his friend arose in the middle of the night and began to decorate his home. He brought out arrays of adornments and arranged them to perfection, working on into the night until his home was most elegant. The Elder Sudatta heard the commotion and arose to see what was happening. “Friend, what is the great occasion for making your house so splendid? Have you invited the King? Is someone in your family to be married? Why all the preparations?”
“It is not the King I am expecting or a wedding. I have invited the Buddha to come to my house to receive a vegetarian offering,” replied his friend.
Sudatta had never before heard of the Buddha, and when his friend spoke the name, all the hairs on his body stood on end. “Strange,” he thought, “Who is the Buddha?” he wondered.
The Elder Shan Tan Nwo said, “The Buddha is the son of King Suddhodana. He cast aside his inheritance of the throne in order to leave the home life and practice the Way. He cultivated for six years in the Himalayas, and afterwards, under the Bodhi tree, he saw a star one evening, was enlightened to the Way, and became a Buddha.”
The Elder Sudatta’s foundation of good roots caused him immediately to voice his resolve to see the Buddha. His profound sincerity so moved Shakyamuni Buddha, who was staying in the Bamboo Grove, (about sixty or seventy miles southeast of Rajagrha), that he emitted a light to guide Sudatta. Seeing the light, Sudatta thought it was dawn, and eagerly dressed and set out. It was actually the middle of the night and the city gates had not yet been opened, but when the Elder arrived at the city wall, the gates, due to the Buddha’s spiritual penetrations, were open and he passed through them and proceeded on his way to see the Buddha. Sudatta followed the directions given to him by his friend, and was guided by the Buddha’s light.
When he arrived at the vihara he didn’t know the correct procedure for greeting the Buddha. Again his deep sincerity evoked a response, and four gods transformed into bhiksus, circumambulated the Buddha three times to the right, went before the Honored One, bowed three times, knelt, placed their palms together, and made their inquiries. The Elder Sudatta followed their example, and then knelt before the Buddha who rubbed his crown and said,
“Why have you come?”
Sudatta simply said, “Buddha, you are too good. I have never seen a Buddha before, and now I don’t want to leave you. Will you come and live near my home?”
The Buddha agreed saying, “All right, but do you have a place? The twelve hundred fifty disciples who constantly accompany me will need to be fed and housed. Do you have accommodations large enough for all of us?”
“I will find a place,” promised the Elder, and he returned home to begin an extensive search of the area which ended when he saw Prince Jeta’s flower garden. It was perfect in every respect, affording a good view, yet convenient to the city proper. The grounds themselves were charged with efficacious energy. Everything about it was first rate, except that it belonged to the Prince. Wondering how he would ever be able to buy it, Sudatta sent a messenger to make an offer. “He has so much money he thinks he can buy my flower garden!” laughed the prince in amazement. “Very well,” he said in jest, “if he covers it completely with gold coins I will sell it to him! That’s my price.” Prince Jeta was assuming the Elder Sudatta could not possibly afford grounds which cost their area in gold. Never did he guess that Sudatta’s money and his desire to hear the dharma both were adequate. The Elder took gold coins from his family storehouses and covered Prince Jeta’s garden.
Prince Jeta was outraged. “Take back your coins! I have no intention of selling. It was just a joke. It never occurred to me you would actually be willing to pay such a price. My garden can’t be bought for any amount.”
The Elder quietly replied, “Now you say you won’t sell? You are heir to the throne, and an Emperor’s word should be reliable. A king doesn’t lie or speak recklessly. You had better sell, because if people can’t trust your word now, why should they believe you after you assume the throne?”
The Prince recognized his predicament. “Very well,” he said. “Since you used gold coins to cover it, you have purchased the ground. But you did not cover the trees. So the garden is your offering to the Buddha, and the trees are my offering. Do you have anything further to say?”
The Elder considered this and realized that it had principle. It was true that the tops of the trees had not been covered with gold, and if he refused to consent, the Prince might chop them down and
then the garden would be far less beautiful. “All right, we will divide it.”
Therefore it is called “The Jeta Grove in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary.” The Prince’s name is mentioned first since he was royalty, and the Elder Sudatta, known as Anathapindada, “The Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary,” who held a ministerial position in the court, is mentioned second.
Together with a gathering of great bhiksus. After Shakyamuni Buddha realized Buddhahood, he went first to the Deer Park to cross over the Five Bhikshus including Ajnatakaundinya. Then he contemplated and saw that Uruvilva Kashyapa, who had a large following of disciples, could be converted. Shakyamuni Buddha was an Elder Sanghan and had the manner of a High Master, but when he arrived to pay his visit, Uruvilva Kashyapa did not acknowledge him with respect because he thought, “I am the leader of many men. Everyone calls me the Worthy One…Unaware of the Buddha’s background, he unceremoniously launched into an investigation of dharma with him. Soon, however, he realized what he had confronted, for no matter what he said, he never managed to have the last word. He could not defeat the Buddha in debate! Having failed with words, he resorted to his spiritual power as a fire worshipper. With the intention of burning the Buddha, he conjured up a great fire. His strength was impressive, but the fire failed to touch the Buddha, and, in fact, veered back toward Kashyapa himself, who, on the verge of being burned alive, was helpless and immediately surrendered to the Buddha.
Uruvilva had five hundred disciples and his brothers had two hundred fifty each, all of whom took refuge with the Buddha, bringing the number of disciples to 1005.
Later the Buddha converted Shariputra and Mahamaudgalyayana who had one hundred disciples each. When they took refuge, the Buddha’s disciples amounted to 1205 in all. Yasas, the son of an elder, and his disciples also took refuge with the Buddha. This actually makes a total of 1255 disciples who were the Buddha’s constant followers. Sutra texts round off the number to 1250.
At that time has five meanings:
1. It was the time when the Buddha wanted to speak, began to speak, and was speaking.
2. It was the time which breaks up the views of outside ways. Some outside ways deny the existence of past, present, and future. “At that time” means the explanation has occurred in the past, is occurring in the present, and will occur in the future. These words therefore separate the Buddhadharma from the dharma of outside ways.
3. It was the time of planting seeds. Seeds that are planted and nourished will grow. Uncultivated seeds will perish. If one has developed good causes in past lives, but does not cultivate that fruit further in this life, he will have roots that wither and die. If these good roots are continually cared for, they will bear further fruit. So if you have roots that are sufficiently good to allow you to hear sutra lectures, do not just come occasionally; come as often as possible. The more you come, the deeper your roots will grow.
4. It was the time to listen to sutras. That does not mean just listening once or twice. It means listening regularly, for the more you hear the more you understand. In listening to sutras three conditions must be fulfilled:
a) a true teacher,
b) a true teaching, and
c) true study.
With only one or two of these conditions fulfilled, study is useless. For instance, if you have a true teaching and truly study, but lack a true teacher, then you cannot understand that teaching. All three conditions must be met for cultivation to succeed.
5. It was the time when the Buddha wanted to speak the dharma and beings wanted to listen. The Buddha wished to speak in the way living beings wanted to hear. The Buddha and living beings are not two, one high and the other low. They are equal.
World Honored One is one of the Ten Special Names of the Buddha. When the Buddha descended from the palace in the Tushita Heaven into the realm of people and was born from the right side through the ribs of his mother Maya, he immediately took seven steps, then with one hand pointing to heaven and one hand pointing to earth, he said, “Above heaven and below heaven, I alone am honored.” When he had finished speaking, nine dragons spouted water to bathe his body. Thus the Buddha is known as the World Honored One. “World” refers not only to the worldly but to the world transcending, for all realms, both mundane and transcendental, honor, revere, and bow to the World Honored One.
The mention of mealtime clearly shows that the Buddha, like ordinary people, still eats and drinks. When it was time to eat, the World Honored One put on his robe. There are three robes worn by members of the Sangha:
1. The antarvasas, the five-piece robe, is a work robe. It is made in a pattern of five strips, each of which contains two pieces, one long and one short;
2. The uttarasanga, the seven-piece robe, is worn for ceremonies and when listening to dharma; and
3. The samghati, also called the “perfect robe,” or “great robe,” is composed of up to 108 pieces in twenty-five strips. Each piece in the robes represents a field and so they are also called “field of blessings” robes. Members of the Sangha wear the samghati when receiving offerings from laymen, who thereby “plant fields of blessings.” When putting on the robe a verse is recited which says,
Good indeed is the liberation cloth!
Unsurpassed field of blessings robe…
This robe is worn when lecturing sutras and speaking dharma from the high seat, when accepting offerings of pure food from the king or ruler of a country, and when begging for food.
Mealtime was not a casual affair for the Buddha as it is for lazy people who sleep until time to eat and then get up and wait for someone to prepare the food and serve it to them. Even though the Buddha had realized Buddhahood with his spiritual penetrations and wonderful functions, at mealtime he still put on his robe and took up his bowl. The bowl refers to the Sanskrit word patra which translates as the “vessel of appropriate size,” implying that this bowl will hold enough to satisfy one’s needs. Shakyamuni Buddha was given his bowl by the Four Heavenly Kings who manifested to present it to him in person.
He took his bowl and entered the great city of Shravasti to beg for food. Members of the Sangha beg for food in order to give living beings an opportunity to plant seeds in the field of blessings. Because living beings did not know about going before the Triple Jewel to plant blessings, the Sangha members went to the living beings by entering the cities and begging from door to door, neither by-passing the poor to beg from the rich, nor by-passing the rich to beg from the poor, unlike Subhuti who exclusively begged from the wealthy.
The Buddha reprimanded his two disciples Subhuti and Great Kashyapa for their manner of begging. First he scolded Subhuti for thinking, “Wealthy people have money because in former lives they fostered merit and virtue. If I don’t beg from them and give them the opportunity to plant further blessings, then next life they will be poor. They will not continue to be wealthy and honored.” So Subhuti only begged from the rich. However, wealthy people eat good food. Although he said it was to help them plant blessings so they could continue to be wealthy in future lives, I believe that in actuality Subhuti liked to eat good food and that is why he begged from the rich. That is what I say, but perhaps Subhuti was not like the rest of us, who constantly think about eating well. It is true that he wanted to help them continue their blessings.
Second, the Buddha scolded Great Kashyapa because, in his arduous practice of asceticism, he not only ate just one meal a day, but he begged only from the poor. His thought was, “These people are poor because in former lives they did not foster merit and virtue. They did not do good deeds when they had money, and so in this life they are poor. I will help them out of their predicament by enabling them to plant blessings before the Triple Jewel so next life they will be wealthy and honored.” The poorer the house, the more he begged there, even to the point that the poor people took the food out of their own bowls in order to have an offering for him. I believe that because Patriarch Kashyapa cultivated asceticism he wanted to undergo suffering, and did not want to eat good things. He knew how people with money eat, and did not want to eat well himself. There is a Chinese proverb which says:
To be sparing with clothing increases life.
To be sparing with food increases blessings.
Great Kashyapa was one hundred twenty years old when he took refuge with the Buddha. Life after life he had been frugal, and in this life, because he did not like to eat rich food, he only begged from the poor, just the opposite of Subhuti. Both of those methods are extreme, and not in accord with the Middle Way, and it is for this reason that the Shurangama Sutra says that the Buddha scolded them and called them Arhats.
The Buddha was equitable in his begging and did not favor rich or poor. His disciple Ananda followed his example and practiced equal compassion. “Ananda already knew that the Tathagata, the World Honored One, had admonished Subhuti and the Great Kashyapa as Arhats whose minds were not equable.”
He (Ananda) decided that throughout his begging
round he would pay no attention to whether his donors
were clean or unclean, reputable ‘kshatriyas’ or lowly
‘chandalas.’ He would practice equal compassion, rather
than seek out the mean and lowly, and in that way enable
all living beings alike to obtain measureless merit.
After he had finished his sequential begging he returned to the Jeta Grove in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary, where he ate the food, put away his robe and bowl, and washed his feet. The Buddha travelled the roads barefoot, so after he returned and had eaten he washed his feet
Then he arranged his seat and sat down. When the begging was finished, the food eaten, his robe and bowl stored, and his feet cleansed – after this basic routine had been attended to – the Buddha then arranged his seat and sat down. This does not mean that he piled pillows beneath and pillows behind, pillows all around and then eased himself onto a plush couch like some people do. It means he made a gesture or two – straightened a mat, tidied the seat a bit, and then sat down.
Real mark prajna was expressed in the Buddha’s performance of the daily routine. That is not to say the emphasis was placed on the performance itself, to announce, “I cultivate!” Rather, if one understands dharma, everything is cultivation. That is not true of one who affects the manner of an experienced cultivator declaring, “Look at me, I just sit here thus,” whereas the next minute finds him fidgeting, squirming, and talking a mile a minute. People who cultivate the Way seldom talk. Do not talk too much. If you do you will hinder other people’s cultivation as well as your own. In a place where the Sangha lives one cannot hear the sound of a single voice. If conversation is necessary it is carried on in very low tones so as not to disturb others. People who wish to use effort in cultivation of the Way should study the Buddha and in every movement, every gesture, avoid obstructing others.
Contents Preface Translator < Previous Next >
Chapters & Pages: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16
17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32