Buddha Sutras |
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Mantras Sanskrit |
Sūtra no. 12 (posted 02/2008, updated 06/2008)
Sūtra of Detecting Good or Evil Karma and Requital
占察善惡業報經卷下
Translated from Sanskrit into Chinese in the Sui Dynasty
by
Master Bodhi Lamp (biography unavailable)
Fascicle 2 (of 2)
At that time Firm Pure Faith Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva requested Earth Store Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, "Please indicate a viable way for the sake of those who seek the Mahāyāna."
Earth Store Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas said, "Good man, if there are sentient beings that want to seek the Mahāyāna, they should first know the initial fundamental work to do. To know the initial fundamental work to do means that they need to cultivate faith and understanding by depending upon the sphere of the one true reality. As their faith and understanding grow in strength, they will swiftly develop the Bodhisattva character-type. The sphere of the one true reality refers to the mind-substance of sentient beings, which, pure in self-nature, with no hindrance or obstacle, has had no birth or death since time immemorial. Like space, it does not differentiate, and it is impartial, universal, and ubiquitous. It fills everywhere in the ten directions with the ultimate one appearance [of no-appearance], non-dual and unique, never changing nor varying, never increasing nor decreasing. The minds of sentient beings, voice-hearers, Pratyekabuddhas, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas are the same, never born nor perishing, with the appearance of the never-defiled, silent true suchness. What is the reason? When mind differentiates, it is like illusions without any definite reality. For example, mental functions such as consciousness, sensory reception, perception, mental processing, memory, deliberation, concern, and cognition are neither blue nor yellow, neither red nor white, nor of mixed colors. They are neither long nor short, neither square nor round, neither large nor small. One can search for the shape of mind throughout all the worlds in space in the ten directions but can never capture it under a classification. However, [the mind of] sentient beings, conditioned by ignorance and delusion, manifests false objects and attaches to them through thinking and memory. This mind does not know itself but falsely identifies its own existence. Active in sensory perception, it imagines self and the belongings of self. Actually, its sensory perception is false because the false mind ultimately has no substance to be captured. If there is no perception which differentiates, then there cannot be appearances distinguished into all the objects in the ten directions—past, present, and future. Dharmas do not have independent existence, and they exist only according to the differentiations made by the false mind which thinks of all objects as existent and distinct, identifying this as self and that as the others. Actually, because dharmas do not exist independently, they have no inherent differences.
"However, the false mind neither knows nor understands this. It does not have an inherent self, but it can falsely perceive various kinds of dharmas and imagine that objects truly exist externally. It perceives existence or nonexistence, this or that, true or false, and good or evil, producing even immeasurable, boundless perceptions of dharmas. We should know this: All dharmas are born from perception, based on the false mind. Furthermore, this false mind has no independent appearance, and its existence depends on the objects. Because it can think of and perceive objects, it is called mind. Although the false mind and the objects depend upon each other and arise simultaneously, the false mind is the originating lord of objects. What is the reason? The false mind has ignorance because it does not understand the one appearance of the dharma realm. Relying on the force of ignorance, it can falsely manifest objects. If ignorance ends, then [clinging to the existence of] objects will end. We should not say that objects, because they do not understand the truth, have ignorance. Nor is ignorance caused by objects. Evidently, objects do not cause ignorance to arise in Buddhas. The ignorance of mind will not end by ending the realm of objects because objects have never been in existence, as their quintessential nature has always been nirvāṇa. For this reason, we say that all dharmas are based on mind. It should be known that all dharmas should be called mind because they are not different in significance and substance, all subsumed under mind. Furthermore, dharmas arise from mind as appearances perceived by mind, born and perishing together with mind, never staying. All objects of mind move along with mind, continuing thought after thought. Their seeming stay and existence last temporarily.
"The meaning of mind consists of two aspects. What are these two? One is internal and the other external. The internal aspect of mind is divided into two. What are these two? One is true and other false. The true mind is the substance, and its original appearance is the never-changing true suchness. It is pure, perfect, unobstructed, unimpeded, subtle, and imperceptible. Eternally indestructible, it pervades everywhere and is the base for all dharmas to flourish. On the other hand, the false mind produces thoughts, distinguishing, perceiving, pondering, and recollecting objects. It continuously creates [perception of] various kinds of objects, but it cannot be seen, being false within, not true.
"The external aspect of mind refers to dharmas, or various kinds of objects, which appear according to one's thinking. This is the distinction between the internal and external aspects of mind. Therefore, we should know that the internal false perception is the cause and function, and the external false appearances are the results and projections. Considering these meanings, I say that all dharmas are called mind. Furthermore, the external appearances of mind are like various objects seen in a dream, which are produced by the thinking mind and are not real external objects. In the same way, all objects are perceived in the dream fabricated by the ignorant consciousness and produced by thinking. Moreover, it should be known that because the internal false mind does not stay, moving thought after thought, the objects it perceives also do not stay, moving thought after thought. Therefore, various kinds of dharmas arise because the false mind arises, and they cease because the false mind ceases. The appearances of birth and death cannot be captured because they are in name only. As mind does not go to the objects and the objects do not come to mind, objects are like reflections in a mirror, neither coming nor going.
"Therefore, the definite appearances of birth and death of all dharmas cannot be captured because dharmas ultimately have no substance. They are originally empty, never born nor perishing. Since dharmas actually have no birth or death, then they have no differentiable appearances as objects. They are in the one-flavor of silence, called true suchness, the highest truth, the mind of pure self-nature. This mind of pure self-nature is profound and perfect because it does not distinguish. Because it does not distinguish, it is everywhere. It is everywhere because it is the base for the coming into being of all dharmas. Furthermore, this mind is called the Tathāgata store as it is complete with discharge-free, pure virtuous deeds which are innumerable, boundless, and inconceivable. The dharma body of Buddhas, the primal state without a beginning, is unobstructed, unhindered, unbounded, and indestructible. It manifests various kinds of virtuous deeds, glowingly active, never resting. It displays deeds everywhere in all the worlds, variously converting and benefiting sentient beings. The body of one Buddha is in effect the bodies of all Buddhas, and the bodies of all Buddhas are in effect the body of one Buddha. The deeds [of all Buddhas] are also undivided, without any distinction between one and the other, because they are equal and indistinguishable. Their deeds based on the one dharma-nature are the same, spontaneously arisen, with no differentiation, as manifestations. Thus, the dharma body of Buddhas pervades everywhere, perfect and unmoving. It is the base upon which sentient beings die here and then are reborn there. It is like space, which can accommodate all forms in various shapes and types. For example, the existence of forms in various shapes and types depends upon space. They arise, grow, and remain in space. Accommodated by space, they use space as their substance. Nothing can be outside the realm of space. One should know that the realm of space containing the forms is indestructible. When forms are destroyed, space is revealed, because the primal realm of space never increases, decreases, moves, or changes. The dharma body of Buddhas is the same way. It can hold various kinds of karmic requitals of sentient beings because the existence of such karmic requitals is based upon the dharma body of Buddhas. Stored and established in the dharma body, they grow and stay in the dharma body, using it as their substance. Nothing can be outside the realm of the dharma body. We should know that Buddhas' dharma body within the bodies of sentient beings can never be destroyed. When one's afflictions have been eradicated, the dharma body is fully revealed, although the primal realm of the dharma body neither increases nor decreases, never moving nor changing. Since time without a beginning, it has been combined with ignorance. Because of the force of conditioning in delusion, it manifests false objects. Further conditioned by the false objects, it rouses the [false] mind which accords with delusion, imagining self and the belongings of self. Then it creates karma and undergoes the sufferings of life and death. Such a dharma body is called sentient beings. If there are sentient beings that gain strength from the purity of the dharma body, their afflictions will diminish and they will turn away from the worldly life to seek the Way to nirvāṇa. If they depend upon the one true reality and cultivate the six pāramitās and all the Bodhi Elements, they will be called Bodhisattvas. When these Bodhisattvas have fulfilled all the good dharmas in their training and ultimately leave the dream fabricated by ignorance, their names will be changed to Buddhas. It should be known that sentient beings, Bodhisattvas, and Buddhas are differentiated only by the false names and words of the world. Their dharma bodies, the substance, are ultimately equal, with no distinguishable appearances. Good man, this is a brief explanation of the sphere of the one true reality.
"If there are those who want to cultivate their belief in and understanding of the one true reality, they should learn the way of two observations. What are these two? One is the observation that all is mind and consciousness only, and the other is the insight into true suchness. Those who want to learn to know their mind and consciousness should observe anywhere and at any time that all is mind as they create karma with their body, voice, and mind. They should be aware of all the objects that mind dwells on. They should not allow mind to pursue objects blindly without being aware. Thought after thought, they should follow each thought and observe its object, enabling mind to know that it itself is producing thoughts and perceptions, not the objects producing thoughts or differentiations. That is, mind produces immeasurable perceptions, such as long or short, good or evil, right or wrong, gain or loss, advantage or disadvantage, and existence or nonexistence, while objects have no differentiating perceptions. Since objects never have any perception, they are free from self-images, such as long or short, good or evil, and existence or nonexistence. One should observe, in this way, that all dharmas are produced by mind. There is not a single dharma, apart from mind, that can perceive distinctions for itself. Never giving up, one should guard and note one's mind and know that there are only thoughts or imaginations, no real objects. This is called training in the observation that all is mind and consciousness only. On other hand, this is not called the observation that all is mind and consciousness only when one's mind is a blank, not knowing what it is thinking about, and says there are objects outside itself. Those who guard and note their mind should know their thoughts of greed, anger, and delusion, as well as wrong views. They should also know their good, evil, and neutral thoughts, as well as various kinds of exertions, concerns, and sufferings. When they are sitting [in meditation], they should follow the objects of their mind and know that, thought after thought, only mind rises and perishes. It is like the flow of water and the flame of a lamp, never staying even temporarily. From there they should attain the Samādhi of Silence in Percepts.
"After they have attained this Samādhi, they should next learn to observe mind by means of śamatha and vipaśyanā. Those who believe in and practice śamatha as a method to observe mind should ponder the imperceptible appearance of that which is perfect, never moving, neither coming nor going. Its original nature has no birth and is free from differentiation. Those who believe in and practice vipaśyanā should observe that the internal and external objects are born or perish as the [false] mind is born and perishes. Even visualization of the Buddha's physical body is the same way. It is born with mind and perishes with mind, like illusions, like conjurations, like the moon in the water, and like the reflection in the mirror. It is not mind but not apart from mind, neither coming nor not coming, neither going nor not going, neither born nor not born, neither formed nor unformed. Good man, those who can learn to observe mind by these two methods will swiftly set off on the Way of the One Vehicle. We should know that the observation that all is mind and consciousness only is called the supreme door to wisdom. It enables one's mind to be fiercely keen, to develop the power of faith and understanding, and to enter swiftly into the meaning of emptiness, because one will succeed in activating the unsurpassed great bodhi mind.
"Those who want to develop insight into true suchness should contemplate that mind in its true nature has neither birth nor death, nor abiding in the perception of the senses. Once they have forever abandoned differentiating perceptions, they can gradually pass the four samādhis of the formless realm: Boundless Space, Boundless Consciousness, Nothingness, and Neither Perception nor Non-perception, and attain the Samādhi of the Likeness of Emptiness. After they have attained the Samādhi of the Likeness of Emptiness, their gross differentiation through consciousness, perception, sensory reception, and other mental processing will not be active. From then on, their learning and training will be under the protection and care of beneficent knowledgeable friends who have great lovingkindness and compassion. As they train assiduously, overcoming all obstacles, they can gradually enter the Samādhi of Silence in Mind. Once they have attained this Samādhi, they can then enter the Samādhi of One Action. After they have entered this Samādhi of One Action, they will see innumerable Buddhas and undertake far-reaching and wide-ranging actions, with their mind set in the Position of Firm Belief. Those who positively believe in and understand these two ways of observation called śamatha and vipaśyanā can move in the definite direction. They will be able to learn and train in worldly dhyānas and samādhis, without being charmed, and attached to them. They will be able to develop all their good roots and train in all the Bodhi Elements. They will have no fear of life and death and have no interest in the Two Vehicles because they can depend upon these two ways to observe their minds. These are the most skillful ways because they are the foundation for wisdom-knowledge.
"Furthermore, there are two types of people who can learn and train according to their faith and understanding as described above. What are these two types? One is with penetrating roots and the other with shallow roots. Those with penetrating roots already know that the realm of external objects is produced by mind and that objects are false and unreal, like dreams or illusions. They definitely have no doubts or concerns in this regard. The impelling force of their five aggregates is less obstructive, and their wandering mind is less active. These people should learn to develop insight into true suchness.
"Those with shallow roots do not yet know that external objects, false and unreal, are only [projections of] their own mind. Because it is hard to tame their mind which is defiled with strong passions and thwarted by hindrances, they should first learn to observe that all is mind and consciousness only. Although they are learning such faith and understanding, because their good roots are shallow, they are unable to advance; their evil afflictions cannot be subdued gradually; and their mind is skeptical and timid. They are fearful of going down to the three evil life-paths and of being reborn in the eight difficult conditions. They are fearful that they may not always encounter Buddhas and Bodhisattvas; that they may be unable to make offerings and hear the true Dharma; and that their faith in bodhi will be hard to bring to accomplishment. Those who have such doubts, fears, and various kinds of hindrances should at all places and at all times diligently recite my name. If they achieve single-mindedness, their good roots will flourish and their motivation will become fiercely keen. Then they should observe that my dharma body and the dharma bodies of all Buddhas are equal to their own in nature, not different, not distinct, never born nor perishing. It is fulfilled with the four virtues: permanence, bliss, true-self, and purity, totally worthy of being a refuge. They should also observe the appearances of their own body and mind, which are impermanence, misery, no-self, and impurity, like illusions or conjurations, worthy of disgust. If they can learn to observe in this way, they will swiftly enhance their mind of pure faith, gradually diminishing their hindrances. What is the reason? Those who have learned to hear my name can also learn to hear the names of Buddhas in the ten directions. Those who have learned to make obeisance and offerings earnestly to me can also learn to make obeisance and offerings earnestly to Buddhas in the ten directions. They are called the ones who learn to hear the profound Mahāyāna sūtras. They are called the ones who learn to uphold, copy, revere, and make offerings to the profound Mahāyāna sūtras. They are called the ones who learn to accept, uphold, and read and recite the profound Mahāyāna sūtras. They are called the ones who learn to stay far away from the wrong views and not to malign the profound true meanings. They are called the ones who learn to have faith and understanding in the ultimate, profound highest reality. They are called the ones who annihilate their hindrances caused by sin. They are called the ones who acquire an accumulation of immeasurable virtues. These people, after death, will not go down to the evil life-paths or to the eight difficult conditions. They will hear the true Dharma again, to cultivate faith and to train accordingly. They can also be reborn in certain pure Buddha Lands according to their wishes.
"Furthermore, if they desire to be reborn in a Pure Land in manifestation somewhere, they should adhere to the name of the Buddha of that world. If they earnestly recite His name with a single mind, undistracted, and make observations as described above, they will definitely be reborn in the Pure Land of that Buddha. Their good roots will grow stronger, and they will swiftly arrive at the level of no regress.
"It should be known that single-minded contemplation of the equality of the dharma bodies of Buddhas as described above is the supreme karma for developing one's good roots. Those who can practice diligently will gradually head for the Samādhi of One Action. Those who have attained this Samādhi of One Action will accomplish the vast mind of wondrous actions, which is called the Likeness of the Enduring Realization of the No-birth of Dharmas. Because they can hear my name, they can also hear the names of Buddhas in the ten directions. Because they can earnestly make obeisance and offerings to me, they can also earnestly make obeisance and offerings to Buddhas in the ten directions. Because they can hear the profound Mahāyāna sūtras, they can also uphold, copy, revere, and make offerings to the profound Mahāyāna sūtras. Because they can accept and uphold, and read and recite profound Mahāyāna sūtras, they will not fear the profound, ultimate highest truth and will stay far away from criticizing it falsely. [Other reasons] are that they have acquired the right views and their mind is able to believe and understand; that they are determined to annihilate the hindrances caused by sin; and that they have realized an accumulation of immeasurable virtues. What are the reasons? When the silent wisdom-knowledge of the differentiation-free bodhi mind arises, it can activate suitable deeds and various kinds of vows and actions. Those who can hear my name will acquire definite faith and perform beneficial actions. Those who can hear my name will even acquire the cause for not regressing from the One Vehicle. However, if they recite my name with a muddled and defiled mind, this should not be called hearing my name. Their practice will not produce definite faith and understanding. They will receive worldly good requital, but not vast, profound wondrous benefits. With a muddled and defiled mind, they will not be able to harvest profound great benefits from all the good deeds they do.
"Good man, know that those who diligently train in the Dhyāna with No-appearance as described above will gain profound great benefits before long. They will gradually attain Buddhahood. The profound great benefits mean that they will achieve the Position of Firm Faith when they accomplish the Endurance in Faith; that they will achieve the Position of Firmness in the Dharma when they achieve the Endurance in Accord with the Dharma; and that they will enter the Position of Authenticity when they attain the Enduring Realization of the No-birth of Dharmas. Furthermore, they will accomplish the Endurance in Faith because they can develop the Tathāgata character-type; they will achieve the Endurance in Accord with the Dharma because they can understand the Tathāgata's actions; and they will attain the Enduring Realization of the No-birth of Dharmas because they can acquire the Tathāgata's work.
"In brief, there are four reasons for one's gradual attainment of Buddhahood. What are these four? First, one attains Buddhahood because one's faith in the Dharma has been fulfilled. On the Ground of Character-Type, one definitely believes that dharmas, pure and equal, have no birth or death, and that there is nothing to wish or seek for. Second, one attains Buddhahood because one's understanding of dharmas has been fulfilled. On the Ground of Training for Understanding, one develops profound understanding of dharma-nature and knows that the Tathāgata's work is neither constructed nor formed. One no longer sees the duality between saṁsāra and nirvāṇa because one has no fear. Third, one attains Buddhahood because one's realization of dharmas has been fulfilled. On the Ground of the Pure Mind, one has acquired the silent differentiation-free dharma-knowledge and the inconceivable spontaneous deeds because one no longer has the intention to seek. Fourth, one attains Buddhahood because one has fulfilled all virtuous actions. On the ultimate Bodhisattva Ground, one can annihilate all hindrances because the dream fabricated by ignorance has ended.
"Furthermore, we should know that there are three situations in training in the worldly Dhyāna with Appearance. What are these three? First, without the power of right faith and understanding, one can be greedy for the benefits of dhyānas and samādhis and be arrogant. Thus misled, one will fall back to seeking worldly benefits. Second, without the power of right faith and understanding, one's meditation can trigger biased decisions based on disgust. Out of fear of life and death, one will fall back to the Two Vehicles. Third, with the power of right faith and understanding, one can rely on true reality to practice attentively the two observational ways of śamatha and vipaśyanā. Because one believes and understands that all dharmas are produced by one's mind like dreams or illusions, one will not be attached to the virtues of the worldly dhyānas they have attained. Nor will they fall back to seeking the worldly fruits in the Threefold Realm of Existence. Because they believe and know that saṁsāra is in essence nirvāṇa, they will not fall back to seeking the Two Vehicles out of fear.
"Those who learn and train in dhyānas and samādhis should know that there are ten signs in gradation, which fully encompass the progress of meditation. They can help the student to succeed accordingly without mistakes or faults. What are these ten signs? First, the sign of facility in controlling thoughts. Second, the sign of desire to remain in a state. Third, the sign of clarity in a state and in entering or leaving it. Fourth, the sign of firmness in remaining in a state. Fifth, the sign of progress through suitable and intense contemplation. Sixth, The sign of comfort because of gradual adjustment, gratifying joy, faith, and understanding, which remove doubts. Seventh, the sign of benefits because of victorious progress in concentration that responds less to distraction. Eighth, the sign of success in remediation because of enhanced clarity and solidity in meditation and because of growth in excellent virtues. Ninth, the sign of no mistakes or faults because one's thoughts can manifest at will as corresponding virtues. Tenth, the sign of extraordinary mastery evidenced by adeptly entering and exiting in sequence and at will the preceding nine states. These are the ten step-by-step signs that encompass the progress of meditation."
At that time Firm Faith Bodhisattva asked Earth Store Bodhisattva, "How do you skillfully expound the profound Dharma to help sentient beings leave their timidity and weakness?"
Earth Store Bodhisattva replied, "Good man, those who have just initiated their resolve to seek the Mahāyāna have not yet acquired faith and are skeptical and timid in regard to the profound Dharma of the unsurpassed Way. In that case, I always disclose the true meanings in a suitable way to comfort them, enabling them to leave their timidity and weakness. Therefore, I am called the one who excels in comforting words. How do I comfort them? Those sentient beings with shallow roots and small mind, having heard that the unsurpassed Way is most victorious and most wondrous, activate their resolve out of greed for happiness. Then they are concerned that seeking the unsurpassed Way would require them to accumulate immense virtues and to carry out difficult actions and ascetic actions for delivering self and others. The goal can be achieved only by arduous endeavor through life and death for a large number of kalpas. For this reason, their hearts feel timid and weak. I will then explain to them the true meaning that all dharmas are empty in their original nature. Ultimately, there is no self, neither self nor others, neither subject nor object, neither departure nor arrival, neither directions nor locations, nor past, present, or future. I will moreover explain to them the eighteen kinds of emptiness. Whether saṁsāra, nirvāṇa, or any other dharmas, there is no definite appearance one can capture. I will also tell them that dharmas are like illusions or conjurations, like the moon in the water, like reflections in the mirror, like a gandharva city, like echoes in the valley, like mirages, like water bubbles, like dew, like lamps, like distorted visions, like dreams, like lightning, and like clouds. Afflictions and saṁsāra are weak in nature and easy to terminate because they ultimately have no substance to be captured. They have never been born and, hence, can never perish. Their self-nature is silence, which is nirvāṇa. Explanations such as these can shatter all the wrong views and the clinging to one's body and mind, enabling one to leave one's timidity and weakness.
"Moreover, there are other sentient beings who also feel timid and weak but because they are unable to understand the tenets of the Tathāgata's teachings. We should know that the tenets of the Tathāgata's teachings are based on the one true reality He sees. They are the Way to leave the evils of birth, old age, illness, and death. They are the realization that the dharma body is the accumulation of immeasurable virtues, eternally cool and unchanging. He sees clearly that, within the bodies of all sentient beings, there are also such true, wondrous, pure virtues, shrouded by the darkness and defilements of ignorance. Consequently, sentient beings undergo immeasurable sufferings in the long night of birth, old age, illness, and death. Rousing His mind of great lovingkindness and compassion, the Tathāgata wants to enable all sentient beings to leave their miseries and to acquire bliss in the highest truth of the dharma body. The dharma body has neither thinking nor differentiation. It can be realized only if one can convert false consciousness so that it no longer clings to illusions through thinking and memory. However, sentient beings delight in differentiating and clinging to dharmas. Because of their delusion, thinking, and imagination, they undergo life and death. Then the Tathāgata, wanting them to leave their thoughts of differentiation and fixation, explains that the substance of all worldly dharmas is ultimately emptiness, not truly existing. Even the substance of all supra-worldly dharmas also is ultimately emptiness, not truly existing. An extensive explanation is provided in eighteen kinds of emptiness. Thus, He discloses to them that all dharmas are not apart from the substance of bodhi, which is neither existence nor extinction, neither nonexistence nor non-extinction, nor both existence and extinction; neither sameness nor difference, neither non-sameness nor non-difference, nor both sameness and difference. It does not ultimately have a single appearance to be captured because it is free from all appearances. Being apart from all appearances, it cannot be captured by words. In the dharma of bodhi, there is neither a speaker of words nor a hearer that receives them. Bodhi cannot be known by thinking. In the dharma of bodhi, there is neither a subject that grasps nor an object that is grasped. It is free from differentiation between the appearances of self and others. Thoughts of differentiation are false, not in accord [with bodhi].
"However, sentient beings with shallow roots are unable to comprehend these explanations. They say mistakenly that the dharma body of the Tathāgata of the unsurpassed bodhi is emptiness only, or ultimately nothingness. Their minds, timid and weak, are fearful of ending up with nothing gained. Some of them think of extinction and believe in increase and decrease. Then they turn around to slander [the Buddha], disdaining themselves and others. I thereupon explain to them that the self-nature of the Tathāgata's dharma body is not empty. It has true substance, complete with immeasurable pure, virtuous deeds. Since time without a beginning, not by cultivation or formation, it has always been innately perfect. It is complete even in the bodies of all sentient beings, never changing nor varying, neither increasing nor decreasing. Such explanations can remove their timidity and weakness and are, therefore, called comforting words.
"There are foolish and obstinate sentient beings that, having heard such explanations, still remain timid and weak. Reasoning from the basis that the dharma body of the Tathāgata is originally fulfilled, not by cultivation or formation, they too think that there is nothing to gain and feel timid and weak. Or they may fall into wrong views such as naturalism. I then further explain to them that, by performing all the good dharmas, they will develop and perfect the physical body of the Tathāgata and earn immeasurable virtues as the pure reward. Such explanations will enable them to leave their timidity and weakness and, therefore, are comforting to them.
"The profound meanings that I have explained are in accord with true reality, without any faults, because they are not contradictory. How do you know that they are not contradictory? The dharma body of the Tathāgata is non-verbal, apart from perception, thinking, and appearances, neither empty nor non-empty. Although it cannot be revealed by words, because of the illusory causes and conditions in worldly truth, it can be reasonably described in relative terms with false names. Because the nature of the dharma body, is neither empty nor non-empty, is free from differentiation, free from the distinction between self and others, and even free from all appearances, one can say that the substance of the dharma body is ultimately emptiness, not existence. When one's mind is free from differentiation and thinking, there is not a single appearance that can see or know itself as something existing. Therefore, this meaning of emptiness is definitely in accord with true reality, not mistaken.
"Furthermore, according to the meaning of emptiness, when one's mind is free from differentiation and thinking, not a single appearance is there to be considered empty. Since what remains is true reality only, it is said to be not empty. Without consciousness and perception, there is no false appearance, and [true reality] is ultimately never changing nor varying. Never increasing or decreasing, true reality has not a single appearance that can be destroyed or annihilated. This true reality, which does not differentiate, has been complete with the spontaneous work of immeasurable virtues since time without a beginning. Because it is in perfect accord with such work, it is said to be not empty. This true reality with such an accumulation of virtues is possessed by all sentient beings, yet is shrouded and obstructed by the darkness of their ignorance. Because they do not know or see what they have, they cannot access its virtues and benefits. Then it is no different from not having them. It can be said that sentient beings do not have them because they do not know or realize their dharma body. Its virtues and benefits are not called the belongings of sentient beings because they cannot enjoy them. The only way to realize their dharma body is to perform universally all the good dharmas to overcome hindrances. Only then will sentient beings acquire its virtues and benefits. That is why I say that performance of all the good dharmas will produce the physical body and the wisdom body of the Tathāgata. Good man, the profound meanings explained by me are definitely true, free from the faults of contradiction. We should know them as such."
When Earth Store Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva was introducing such a superb, accessible, profound Dharma Door, ten thousand koṭi sentient beings activated their anuttara-samyak-sambodhi mind, standing in the Position of Firm Faith. Furthermore, 98,000 Bodhisattva-Mahāsattvas attained the Enduring Realization of the No-birth of Dharmas. [Members of] the huge multitude each offered celestial incense and flowers to the Buddha and Earth Store Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva. At that time the Buddha told the multitudes, "You should all accept and uphold this Dharma Door and circulate it widely in your respective habitats. What is the reason? Such a Dharma Door is hard to encounter, and it can bring great benefits. One who has heard the name of Earth Store Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva and believes in his words will swiftly leave all obstructive matters and quickly attain the unsurpassed bodhi."
Then the multitudes all said in unison, "I will accept and uphold it, and circulate it in the world, never to dare forget."
At that time Firm Pure Faith Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva asked the Buddha, "World-Honored One, what is the name of this Dharma Door which is included in the Sūtra of the Six Sense Faculties, pronounced by the Tathāgata? I should accept and uphold the tenets of this Dharma, to enable all in future times to hear them."
The Buddha told Firm Pure Faith Bodhisattva-Mahāsattva, "This Dharma Door is called Detecting Good or Evil Karma and Requital. It is also called Annihilating Hindrances and Enhancing the Pure Faith. It is also called Disclosing the Profound Ultimate True Meaning for Facilitating the Progress of Those Who Seek the Mahāyāna. It is also called the Good Comforting Words for Enabling One to Leave Timidity and Weakness, so as to Enter Quickly the Definite Dharma Door of Firm Faith. You should accept and uphold these names and meanings."
After the Buddha had given the names of this Dharma Door, all in the assembly were joyful. They all believed in, accepted, and reverently carried out the teachings.
—Sūtra of Detecting Good or Evil Karma and Requital, Fascicle 2
Translated from the Chinese Canon, Vol. 17, Text no. 839