These
words have I heard. At one time, the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All was dwelling
at Vulture Peak Mountain, by the Royal City of Rajagriha, together with a large
assembly of the monastic sangha and a large assembly of the bodhisattva sangha.
At that time, the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All was totally absorbed in
the absorbed concentration that expresses the multiplicity of phenomena, known
as "the appearance of the profound."
Also at that time, the bodhisattva
great-minded mahasattva, the Arya Avalokiteshvara, the Powerful Lord Beholding
All Around, conducting his behavior in profound and far-reaching discriminating
awareness, was beholding all around, in detail, like this: He was beholding all
around, in detail, the five aggregate factors of his experience and those as devoid
of self-establishing nature.
Then, through the might of the Buddha, the venerable
Shariputra addressed these words to the bodhisattva great-minded mahasattva, the
Arya Avalokiteshvara: "How does any spiritual child with the (Buddha) family
traits need to train, who wishes to conduct his or her behavior in profound and
far-reaching discriminating awareness?"
Addressed like that, the bodhisattva
great-minded mahasattva, the Arya Avalokiteshvara, addressed these words to the
venerable Son of Sharadvati, "O Shariputra, any spiritual son with the family
traits or spiritual daughter with the family traits, who wishes to conduct his
or her behavior in profound and far-reaching discriminating awareness, needs to
behold all around, in detail, like this:
"He or she needs to keep in view,
fully and in detail, the five aggregate factors of his or her experience and those
as devoid of self-establishing nature. Form - voidness; voidness - form. Form
not separate from voidness; voidness not separate from form. (What has form, that
has voidness; what has voidness, that has form.) Similarly, feeling, distinguishing,
affecting variables, types of consciousness - voidness. It's like that, Shariputra,
with all phenomena - voidness: no defining characteristics, no arising, no stopping,
no being stained, no being parted from stain, no being deficient, no being additional.
"Because it's like that, Shariputra, in voidness, no form, no feeling,
no distinction, no affecting variables, no kind of consciousness. No eye, no ear,
no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind. No sight, no sound, no smell, no taste,
no physical sensation, no phenomena. No cognitive source that's an eye, up to
no cognitive source that's a mind, (no cognitive source that's phenomena), no
cognitive source that's mental consciousness. No unawareness, no elimination of
unawareness, up to no aging and death, no elimination of aging and death. Likewise,
no suffering, cause, stopping, and pathway mind. No deep awareness, no attainment,
no non-attainment.
"Because it's like that, Shariputra, through there
being no attainment of bodhisattvas, he (or she) lives, relying on far-reaching
discriminating awareness, with no mental obscuration. (Because of there being
no mental obscuration,) there is no fear, gone beyond what's reversed, (thus)
nirvana release, complete to the end. In fact, it's by relying on far-reaching
discriminating awareness that all Buddhas arrayed throughout the three times are
full manifest Buddhas in peerless and perfect full Buddhahood.
"Because
it's like that, far-reaching discriminating awareness is the (great) mind-protecting
mantra, the mind-protecting mantra of great knowledge, the mind-protecting mantra
that's unsurpassed, the mind-protecting mantra equal to the unequaled, the mind-protecting
mantra completely stilling all suffering. Because of its being not deceitful,
it's to be known as the truth. In far-reaching discriminating awareness, the mind-protecting
mantra has been proclaimed, 'Tadyatha, (om) gate gate paragate parasamgate bodhi
svaha. The actual nature: gone, gone, gone beyond, gone far-beyond, purified state,
so be it.' O Shariputra, a bodhisattva great-minded mahasattva needs to train
like that (for behavior that's) in profound and far-reaching discriminating awareness."
Then
the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All, arising from that absorbed concentration,
gave his endorsement "excellent" to the bodhisattva great-minded mahasattva,
the Arya Avalokiteshvara, "Excellent, excellent, my spiritual son with the
family traits, it's just like that. It's just like that that he or she needs to
conduct (his or her behavior) in profound and far-reaching discriminating awareness.
It's exactly as it's been shown by you for the bodhisattvas, (arhats, and Buddhas)
to rejoice."
When the Vanquishing Master Surpassing All had pronounced
those words, the venerable Son of Sharadvati, and the bodhisattva great-minded
mahasattva, the Arya Avalokiteshvara, and the pair of assemblies of those endowed
with all, as well as the world - gods, humans, anti-gods, and gandharva heavenly
musicians - rejoicing, sang praises of what had been declared by the Vanquishing
Master Surpassing All.