Toh 173 — Questions on Selflessness

Nairātmyaparipṛcchā

Translated by the Dharmasāgara Translation Group under the patronage and supervision of 84000: Translating the Words of the Buddha

The Noble Mahāyāna Sūtra

Questions on Selflessness

F.5.b Homage to all buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Now, the tīrthikas—those who hold views based on objectification and who engage in concepts and analysis—went among the followers of the Mahāyāna. Respectfully, with joined palms, they asked these questions on selflessness: “Sons of noble family, the Omniscient One taught that there is no self in the body. If there truly^[1] is no self in the body, then how do playfulness, laughter, crying, enjoyment, anger, pride, jealousy, calumny, and so forth come about? Is there truly a self in the body or not? It would be proper for you to dispel our doubts.”

The followers of the Mahāyāna replied, “Friends, it should not be said that there truly is or is not a self in the body, because to say in this case that there truly is or is not a self is mistaken speech. Now, if there were a self, then why is it not perceptible at all, even after searching through the hair, nails, skin, head, flesh, bones, marrow, fat, ligaments, liver, intestines, throat, hands, feet, limbs, and other minor parts, both inside and outside the body?”

The tīrthikas said, “The self is only visible to those who have the divine eye. How could it be visible to us who only have eyes of flesh?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna replied, “It is not seen even by those with the divine eye. For how can something that has no color, form, or shape be seen?”^[2]

The tīrthikas asked, F.6.a “Then is it nonexistent?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “To say that it is nonexistent^[3] or to say that it is existent is mistaken speech. If it is nonexistent, then why do playfulness, laughter, crying, enjoyment, anger, pride, jealousy, calumny, and so forth arise so clearly? Therefore, it is not correct to say that it is nonexistent. One should not say that it is existent or nonexistent. Since this would be a fault, one should not say that it exists or that it does not exist.”

The tīrthikas asked, “Then what is apprehended in this case?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “Nothing at all is apprehended.”

The tīrthikas asked, “Is it as empty as the sky?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “Friends, it is exactly like that! It is as empty as the sky.”

The tīrthikas asked, “If that is so, then how should one view playfulness, laughter, crying, enjoyment, anger, pride, jealousy, calumny, and so forth?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “They should be regarded as like an illusion, a dream, and a magical deception.”

The tīrthikas asked, “How are they like an illusion, a dream, and a magical deception?”

The followers of the Mahāyāna said, “An illusion is a mere analogy. A dream is a mere appearance that is not graspable, empty by nature, and nonexistent in essence. A magical deception is intentionally fabricated. This is the way things are, friends. You should regard all these things as being like an illusion, a dream, and a magical deception.

“Moreover, the distinction between the relative and the ultimate should be pointed out. In this regard, the relative consists in the conception ‘this is self, that is other.’ To conceptualize a soul, a person, F.6.b an individual, an agent, an observer, wealth, children, wives, friends, relatives, and so forth is called the relative.

“Where there is no self, no other, no soul, no person, no individual, no agent, no observer, no wealth, no children, no wives, no friends, no relatives, and so forth, this is called the ultimate.^[4] The relative consists in habitually labeling all things, in the results of virtuous and nonvirtuous deeds, and in birth and cessation.

“The very essence of suchness, where there are no virtuous results, no nonvirtuous results, no birth, and no cessation, is beyond both pollution and purification.^[5] This is the middle way teaching to strive for in practice. In this regard, it is said:

“Relative and ultimate

Are explained as two categories:

The relative comprises worldly phenomena;

The ultimate is beyond the worldly.

“Engaging with relative phenomena,

Sentient beings are overpowered by emotional defilements.

Not knowing the ultimate at all,

They wander for a long time in saṃsāra.

“The unwise form the concepts

Of relative worldly phenomena.

Due to such conceptualization,

They experience suffering.

“Ordinary individuals, due to their immaturity,

Do not know the path of liberation.^[6]

They experience sundry forms

Of unending suffering.^[7]

“Oblivious to the ultimate,

Where worldly existence ceases,

They are born and cease.

Although birthless, they come and go.

“Fools who dwell on worldly phenomena

Will rove around like a wheel.

In saṃsāra, the place of suffering,

They will revolve again and again.^[8]

“Just as the sun and the moon

Continue to come and go,

Likewise, these beings, transmigrating in the world,

Come and go, again and again.

“The whole of saṃsāra^[9] is impermanent and unstable, F.7.a

Disintegrating at every moment.

That is why, by knowing the ultimate,

One abandons the state of relative reality.

“Devas from the higher realms,

As well as gandharvas, apsarases, and humans,^[10]

Are all subject to transmigration—

All this is the result of the relative.

“Siddhas, vidyādharas, and yakṣas,

Gandharvas^[11] and mahoragas,

Go again and again to hell—

All this is the result of the relative.

“Those with great perseverance who come to abide

In the abode of the devas due to good qualities

Must again pass away and fall from the higher realms—

All this is the result of the relative.^[12]

“Whoever attains the supreme state

Of Śakra or of a universal monarch

Will once again enter the birthplace of animals—

All this is the result of the relative.

“Abandoning the great bliss^[13]

Of the devas of the higher realms,

A yogin should always meditate

On the mind of awakening, which is luminosity.

“Essenceless, unapprehendable,

Entirely empty, groundless,

And beyond all conceptual elaboration—

Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.

“Neither hard nor soft,

Neither warm nor cold,

Neither tangible nor graspable—

Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.

“Neither long nor short,

Neither round nor triangular,

Neither thin nor thick—

Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.^[14]

“Beyond meditation,

Out of range for tīrthikas,

And having the perfection of insight as its practice^[15]—

Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.

“Beyond analogy, it is nothing to meditate on.

The supreme unseen abode,

Completely pure by nature—

Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.

“All things are like foam,

Essenceless like water bubbles,

Neither permanent nor having self.

They are similar to magical illusions and mirages.

“Like a vase that is made from a lump of clay,^[16]

Beings are filled with conceptual elaborations‍—

Desire, anger, and so forth‍—

They are utterly illusion-like.

“Just as in the morning where there was a dew drop

A moment later there is nothing to be seen, F.7.b

So, too, when one sees the perfection of insight

The intellect gives way to the unconditioned.^[17]

“Continuous laughter and play,

Talking, singing, music,

The enjoyment of material things, and so forth

Are all similar to dreams.

“Things constructed by beings

Are all similar to dreams.

Dreams are imaginings of the mind.

Mind itself is like the sky.

“One who constantly meditates^[18]

On this way of the perfection of insight

Becomes free of all entities

And attains the supreme state.^[19]

“Those who uphold, with meditation,

The highest awakening

Cultivated by all the buddhas

Will gain the fruit of the Mahāyāna.”^[20]

Here ends the noble Mahāyāna sūtra “Questions on Selflessness.”

Colophon

Translated, edited, and finalized by the Indian preceptor Kamalagupta and the great Tibetan editor-translator Bhikṣu Rinchen Sangpo.

Notes

The Skt. here reads “If the body is without self, there is no supreme self” (yadi śarīraṃ nairātmakaṃ paramātmā na vidyate).
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The Skt. reads “compounded nature” (saṃskāra).
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The phrase “or to say that it is existent” is absent in the Skt., which instead reads “friends” (mārṣā). Taishō 1643 lacks this entire sentence.
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Instead of “this is called the ultimate,” the Skt. reads “this is the middle way of all phenomena” (sā madhyamā pratipattir dharmāṇām).
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The passage “The relative consists in … and purification” is missing in the Skt.
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The Skt. reads “Ordinary immature people, being blind, / Do not see the path to liberation” (muktimārgaṃ na paśyanti andhā bālāḥ pṛthagjanāḥ).
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The Skt. reads “They are born and perish unceasingly in the five realms” (utpadyante nirudhyante ajasraṃ gatipañcasu).
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In the extant Sanskrit, the preceding two verses appear to have become conflated into a single verse of six lines:
“Fools involved in worldly phenomena
Wander round and round like a wheel.
They do not know the ultimate,
Where saṃsāra ceases.
Trapped in the net of saṃsāra,
They go round again and again.”
(bhramanti cakravan mūḍhā lokadharmasamāvṛtāḥ | paramārthaṃ na jānanti bhavo yatra nirudhyate | veṣṭitā bhavajālena saṃsaranti punaḥ punaḥ.)
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The Skt. reads “all compounded things” (sarvasaṃskārā).
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The Tib. reads “devas and humans” (lha mi). Since devas are already mentioned in the first line of this verse, we opted for the Skt. reading “apsaras.” Taishō 1643 has only “gandharva” (乾闥婆).
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The Skt. reads “kinnaras” (kinnara).
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This verse is missing in the Skt.
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According to the Skt. mahāsukha. The Tib. reads “pleasant truth” (bden pa bzang po).
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The Skt. has two more stanzas here:
“Neither white nor red,
Neither dark blue nor yellow,
Without color or form—
Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.
“Without transformation or manifestation,
Without antagonism or bondage,
Without form, like the sky—
Such is the definition of the mind of awakening.”
(na śvetaṃ nāpi raktaṃ ca na kṛṣṇaṃ na ca pītakam | avarṇaṃ ca nirākāraṃ bodhicittasya lakṣaṇam | nirvikāraṃ nirābhāsaṃ nirūhaṃ nirvibandhakam | arūpaṃ vyomasaṃkāśaṃ bodhicittasya lakṣaṇam.)
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The Skt. reads “form” (rūpam).
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We are translating “vase” based on the Skt. (ghaṭī). The Tibetan translation reads “Assembled from a lump of clay,” (gong bu bzhin du bsdus gyur pa).
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Translation of this verse is tentative. The Sanskrit and the two Chinese translations all differ slightly.
The Skt. reads:
“Just as a lightning in the midst of clouds,
Is no longer seen after a moment,
With the view of transcendent insight,
The supreme state should be cultivated.”
(abhrāntare yathā vidyut kṣaṇād api na dṛśyate | prajñāpāramitādṛṣṭyā bhāvayet paramaṃ padam ||.)

Taishō 1643 reads:
“Just as a moon in the midst of clouds
Is no longer seen after a moment,
Using profound insight,
One realizes that the conditioned is like an illusion.”
(如月處雲中剎那而不現以甚深般若達有為如幻.)

Taishō 846 reads:
“Just as lightning is no longer seen after a moment, observe that the perfection of insight and virtuous actions are also thus.”
(如電之住剎那不見。觀彼般若波羅蜜多。及作諸善。亦復如是.)
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In the Tib. this line seems to have been rendered twice, in two slightly different ways. To leave both in place would make for an irregular verse of five lines, whereas the Skt. verse only has four lines. We have therefore followed the Skt. here.
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The Sanskrit reads “Is liberated from all wrongdoing” (sarvapāpanirmuktaḥ).
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The Skt. reads “nirvāṇa” instead of “Mahāyāna.” After this verse, the Sanskrit adds another verse and a concluding sentence:
“As many faults as relative reality has,
Just as many virtues does nirvāṇa have.
Nirvāṇa is nonarising;
It is unstained by any faults.
“Then the tīrthikas, being satisfied, became free from conceptualization, and having concentrated on the practice, they acquired the wisdom of the Mahāyāna.”
(yāvantaḥ saṃvṛter doṣās tāvanto nirvṛter guṇāḥ | nirvṛtiḥ syād anutpattiḥ sarvadoṣair na lipyate || atha te tīrthikāḥ tuṣṭā vikalparahitāḥ | tadā bhāvanāṃ samādhāya mahāyānajñānalābhino 'bhūvann iti || mahāyānanirdeśe nairātmaparipṛcchā samāptā ||.)
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