diamond splitter discourse

2006-04-16T23:59:00.003+08:00

author's note

2006-04-16T22:59:00.001+08:00

In the likely event that others may appropriately regard the present work as a production of the author's own inventiveness, then let it be seen as a śānta-rasasised wrapping up of Vajraccehedika-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra – a mimetic creation that sincerely considers the fundamental nātya-śāstric nature of Nagarjuna's traditional 4th century dialogical contrivance.

sritantra

prologue

2006-04-16T21:59:00.009+08:00

Published for the first time in 868 CE, Diamond Splitter Sūtra is considered to be the world's oldest block-printed book. Revered by the faithful as the accurately reported words of the Buddha, this sūtra, or 'well-composed philosophical discourse,' is therefore viewed as a blessed scripture that holds inestimable promises of punya (propitiousness) to those who 'observe its teaching, reflect on it, recite it, study it, and circulate it widely to others.' It is vital here to note, however, that Gautama the Buddha – the legendary sixth century BCE yogin who is alleged to have inspired this philosophical dialogue – never invoked intellectual copyright on the transcendental knowledge that he shared with the world in roughly the second half of his life. For according to the legend, Gautama the Buddha did not discover but "re-discovered the ancient message" and passed it on. In doing so, Gautama could well be regarded as history's earliest chain-letter participant.
Diamond Splitter Discourse contains no explicit message as such. For its value lay rather in its awesome promise of contingent reward, which in turn rests entirely on "pushing the envelope." Nor does the discourse attempt to advance any absolute "truth," but functions rather as a powerful de-bugging application to unfetter individuals from culturally inflicted behaviour and thought. And like a sturdy raft that has borne its voyager across to the safety of a river's further shore, "The concept of truth must also be abandoned" Gautama the Buddha is made to pronounce. Interestingly, martyrdom is also indicated:

If a virtuous person receives this sūtra, holds it in mind, recites it, studies it, illuminates its spirit and is despised by others, this person who is bound to suffer harsh destinies in retribution for his previous failings, and whose karmic sins are now erased by his despisers' contempt, will enjoy complete and utter transmutation.

· · • · · Diamond Splitter Discourse, or Vajracchedika-prajñāpāramitā-sūtra as titled in the Sanskrit, is known for its subtle and strangely irrational ideas. In this way the sūtra is a profoundly esoteric or "hidden" work that is difficult to grasp by intellect alone. Perhaps it's called "diamond" because it's so hard. The original short Sanskrit text belongs to the copious Maha-prajñāpāramitā-śāstra, or Great Perfection of Intelligence Literature and is traditionally ascribed to the Indian philosopher(s) Nāgārjuna (2nd century CE). However, some authorities are of the opinion that it was actually composed in the fourth century.[1] It was famously translated into Chinese around 400 CE by the great Indian Bauddha scholar and missionary Kumarajiva (CE 344-413).[2] Only in very recent times have a number of scholars rendered this and other extent Chinese translations of the apparently lost Sanskrit original into the English language.
•All and all my personal function has merely been that of an impulsive facilitator. I cleaved and cut my basic silhouette within a few days, rather freely overwriting a chanced upon template, the basis of which I later came to learn was retraceable – at least in terms of recent history – to Raghavan Iyer's 1983 The Diamond Sutra, with Supplemental Texts. But it was actually a brusque 'defloration' of Iyer's refined Sanskritic translation, apropos Josh N. Pritikin's 1993 online post that provided me a stencil of sampled convenience for throwing in a range of freely given data, most of it coming off the Internet.[3] From there I liberally interpolated passages borrowed from two commendable modern translations. These are Lu K'uan Yu (Charles Luk) (n.d.)[4], and A.F. Price and Wong Mou-Lam (1969).[5] Exploiting these supplements helped to breath life into various portions of the text that I found either indistinct or alluringly suggestive. Now it ought to be noted that the traditional sūtra is not divided into section headings. Yet all the same, I still retained my free adaptations of Steven E. Newton's wise devices for the sake of reader friendliness, and for otherwise establishing an interior tempo to the dialogue's somewhat hiatal sequencing.[6] Unfortunately, however, I have only been able to apply some of the proper Sanskrit diacritics. I normally prefer to use them in full but the present online interface does not support my wish. For readers unaccustomed to this phonetic scheme it is better just to read the words as if the marks weren't there. Finally, I have added a "Glossary" of my own invention in addition to a "Further Reading" list, and at the very tail end a "Provisio."
sritantra
jasmine ashram, singapore
_________Notes to Prologue
1. See Ian Mabbett, The problem of the historical Nagarjuna revisited, The Journal of the American Oriental Society Vol. 118 No. 3 (July 1998). http://ccbs.ntu.edu.tw/FULLTEXT/JR-EPT/ian.htm

2. The important copy of Diamond Splitter Sūtra that represents the worlds's oldest printed book is likewise a Kumarajiva translation. This 16.5 foot by 10.5 inch scroll was found by a British expedition under Sir Aurel Stein in 1907 among the famous 'bundles of manuscripts, documents, paintings and assorted textile fragments in Cave 17 at the Silk Road outpost town of Dunhuang' (Susan Whitfield for The British Library catalogue no. 262, 2004). According to the colophon, its reproduction was commissioned by one Wang Jie who also paid for the frontispiece illustration showing the aged disciple, Subhūti, sitting on a mat in conversation with Gautama the Buddha. Apart from its completeness and extraordinarily well preserved state, what also makes this earliest known reproduction of Diamond Splitter Sūtra so exceptional is the personal note (colophon) that Wang had added to the end of the manuscript: 'Reverently made for universal free distribution by Wang Jie on behalf of his two parents on the 15th of the 4th month of the 9th year of Xiantong [11 May 868].' It is currently on display in the British Museum, London.
3. This is in reference to the undated online draft of Steven E. Newton's "html-ised version" of Josh N. Pritikin's post to soc.religion.eastern, "diamond sutra" (1993), which the present writer simply downloaded and immediately overwrote (2000). See note 4 below.
4. Lu K'uan-Yu (Charles Luk), trans. The Diamond Perfection of Wisdom Sutra, n.d.
5. A.F. Price and Wong Mou-Lam, trans. The Diamond Sutra in The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui Neng, 1969.
6. Now besides his helpful section headings in addition to a glossary and an index, Newton also offers a brief editorial statement wherein he provides the following relevant bibliographic data: "This is my html-ised version of Josh [N. Pritikin]'s post to soc.religion.eastern...diamond sutra...7 Jul 1993." Newton furthermore includes – as a "Forward" – Pritikin's original verbatim prefatorial remarks, and from which we learn quite interestingly that Pritikin's text is taken "mostly word-for-word from a book published by Concord Grove Press (copyright 1983)." Now based on these words we come to understand how Raghavan Iyer (1983) is the primary template to the present writer's highly layered and fresco-like treatment, notwithstanding prior 'defloration' en route. For as Pritikin curtly announces (Newton "Forward"):

all the flowery language is cut out. If you want to read about, "The Venerable Wonderous Lord Buddha," read a different translation. That which is called Buddha, is called Buddha.

It is also worth noting that the present writer has never read a word of Iyer's text directly.
To conclude, we only come to learn of this recent episodic transmogrifying chain of revised revisions through Newton's fine edition, apparently extent in 3 online revisions: Revision 1.2, The Diamond Cutter, 28 April 1999, with Forward by Pritikin (6 May 1993) http://www.zenproject.faithweb.com/sutras/diamond.html; Revision 1.1, The Diamond Cutter (Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita-Sutra), n.d., with Forward by Fred T. Hamster (2 April 1998) and glossary http://www.gruntose.com/Info/Buddha/diamond_sutra.html; and another, presumably Newtons original version, The Diamond Cutter, n.d., http://www.io.com/~snewton/zen/diamond.html

diamond splitter discourse

2006-04-16T20:59:00.020+08:00

1. Time, place, personae and scene

It has long been told that Gautama, the finished one, was dwelling in Anathapindika's Jeta Grove near the city of Śravāstī with a great number of ascetics and many Bodhisattvas.

One fine day with the light of early dawn Gautama veiled his naked body, took up his begging bowl and entered the great city of Śravāstī to collect alms food. He returned and ate and then put away his bowl and his patched up dhoti. He bathed his feet and sat cross-legged with his body upright in the posture of yoga. Many ascetics reverently approached him and sat in a similar manner about him.
Now a well-framed ascetic by the name of Subhūti stood midst the seated bhikshus. He offered respect to the teacher Gautama and then made the following statement.

"It is great how much the aletheial one has helped the monks and Bodhisattvas. But how are the common men and women to progress on their Bodhisattva paths of 'awakened being?' How can they learn to develop intellegence? I would like to pursue this topic with Buddha."

2. No beings per se

Gautama replied: "I will tell you. Listen carefully. Aspiring Bodhisattvas should always keep in mind that every creature that is called a 'being,' be it egg-born, womb-born, born from moisture or produced by metamorphosis – be it a being of 'form' or 'formless' – I guide them all in the direction of the ultimate chillout zone called nirvāna. I do this in spite of the peculiar fact that there actually exist no beings per se that are actually led to the ultimate chillout zone called nirvāna. Why? If a Bodhisattva harbours any notion of a being, a personality, or a seperate 'chillout zone' reality, he is not a true being of perfect intellegence.

3. Practice makes perfect

"Let those treading the Bodhisattva path practice the yoga of perfect intellegence regardless of appearances of sights, sounds, smells, tastes, tactile sensations or mental durations. Such yogins and yoginīs should carry out their yogas without discrimination between internal and external worlds. Why? Because attainment means 'taking what you have and using it.' This is the bauddho-jainic path, the tao of aletheial victory."

4. Tathāgata's empirical properties

Then Gautama asked Subhūti: "What do you think? Is tathāgata recognized by empirical properties?"

"Properties are props," Subhūti remarked. "Their recognition, empirically or otherwise, is the recognition of deceptiveness."

Gautama elaborated: "The recognition of empirical properties is indeed the recognition of delusion. Recognition of nothing is clarity. Natural being is thereby recognized by a total absents of any and all empirical, normative, quantitative and qualitative props."

5. Asking about the future

Subhūti asked Gautama: "In the final years of human history when people's understanding grows dim and dull, will anyone be able to understand the gist of this teaching?"

Gautama answered: "I never express it like that, Subhūti. At the end of Mother Kālī's disintegrative yūga when everything has changed beyond recognition, the ancient path will still be disclosed for conscious people capable of learning. But such conscious people as perfected Bodhisattvas, Subhūti, will not have honoured one Buddha alone; nor will they have rooted their investment share in a single aletheial being. More accurately stated, future Bodhisattvas whose sense is awakened by hearing the gist of this elegant teaching will in fact have honoured and rooted their share in countless finished beings. Tathāgata knows these shinning sages by way of developed intellect, Subhūti; tathāgata sees these Bodhisattvas by way of natural prescience. All these vital intellect sages will acquire and manifest aesthetic excellence.

"Why? Because these future 'essence-of-intellect beings' will buoy no perception of being, Subhūti, moor no acuity of isolate-entity, neither any canopied soul. They will have no belief in dharma or adharma, neither in perception of non-perception.

6. Explaining the ground

"But 'how can it be said [I read your mind, Subhūti] that intellegent beings have no belief in dharma or adharma, neither in perception of non-perception?' I will tell you Subhūti. Listen carefully. This conclusive teaching insinuates mystically and is likened to a perfectly crafted raft. However, even the completed one's finished product needs sooner or later be escaped and abandoned. How much sooner some leaky-craft product?"

Gautama asked Subhūti: "Does naturalness presume any special conveyance that guarantees arrival to the further shore? Has the finished one ever proclaimed such a teaching?"

"No," said Subhūti, "Not that I've heard. But in so far as it can even be 'called' a teaching, the finished one's teaching is always left open. It is mystical, and thereby naturally spurns dogma.

7. So-called dharmas as synthetic fakes
"What do you think Subhūti?" Gautama then asked. "If a man or woman filled a trillion worlds with marvellous treasures and endowed it all to the totally complete one, would not this man and woman receive immeasurable interest on their gift?"

"Indeed!" said Subhūti, "Value would accrue to them beyond estimation."

"And why is that?"

"Because naturalness teaches such investment to be worthless."

"But if, on the other hand," Gautama continued, "someone received and kept even a four-line stanza of our present dialogue and expounded it to others, the value accrued would exceed even that of the giver of a trillion worlds filled with marvellous treasures."

"How?" said Subhūti.

"Buddhas have no teaching, Subhūti, their lives are their teaching. Therefore be alert to the false expounders of Super-Duper-Unexcelled-Enlightenment-Dharmas, Subhūti. Hold them to the light of this elegant discourse. The so-called Buddhas and their so-called dharmas are nothing but synthetic fakes. Now as some of them know this, this makes them frauds as well Subhūti. Others are simply fakes unknowingly."

8. Entering in the stream

"What do you think Subhūti?" Gautama then asked. "Do those who have launched their raft in the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release ever say to themselves, 'I have entered the stream'?"

"No, Mahārāja," Subhūti replied. "It is precisely because they win no dharma that they are known as those who enter the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release. No objects of sight or hearing are achieved, no smells or tastes or objects of touch: no frame of mind: no sense of time. Thus they are known as having entered the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release. If the thought 'I have won the fruit of entering the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release' were ever to even enter their minds, Mahārāja, they would just be fixing on a sense of personality, a silly conceit of being. This is why it's called stream enterer."

9. Once re-launcher

Gautama asked: "What do you think, Subhūti? Would one whose sentence is cut to re-launch a raft but one more time from this troubling shore even flirt with the notion, 'my sentence has been cut to re-launch a raft but one more time from this troubling shore'?"
"No," said Subhūti. "One whose sentence is cut to re-launch a raft but one more time from this troubling shore could never even think 'my sentence has been cut to re-launch a raft but one more time from this troubling shore.' Why? Because essentially there is no one whose sentence is cut. This is why it's called once re-launcher."

10. Never re-launcher

"What do you think, Subhūti?" Gautama said. "Does one who never again needs to re-launch a raft in the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release, even flirt with the notion that 'the fruit of never again having to re-launch a raft in the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release is mine'?"
"No way," Subhūti said. "One who never needs re-launch again a raft in the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release, Mahārāja, is simply not capable of forming the thought that 'the fruit of never having to again re-launching a raft in the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release is mine.' Why? Because no one considered essentially real could possibly prompt or mentally engender a registry of status, eminent or rank. There is no stream enterer, no once re-launcher, no never re-launcher – no nothing, Mahārāja."

11. A totally finished one

Then Gautama asked Subhūti, "Does a totally finished one ever even flirt with the notion that 'total understanding is mine'?"

"Cannot!" Subhūti said. "I mean, why would anyone who understands everything need to reconfirm the self-evident fact? Tathāgata means 'as good as dead.'"

12. Dharma as non-dharma

Gautama asked: "Then what do you think, Subhūti? Is there any support, position or attainment to which a fully finished one adheres?"

"How could there be?" Subhūti replied.

13. Perfection is non-perfection

Gautama said: "If a Bodhisattva were to publicly declare 'my values adorn and bring perfection to serene Buddha-fields,' Subhūti, his words would be too ridiculous. Why? Because the notion of 'perfecting serene Buddha-fields' is absolute rubbish – that is, according to the fully finished teaching. The fully finished teaching is itself already a perfectly serene Buddha-field.

"Now returning to your early question, Subhūti. Those who walk the path of a deeply centreless far-flung sphere called 'intellect' should try to evolve a śānta-rasa or 'aesthetic sensibility.' How? I will explicate. By learning to abstract the half-dozen senses of sound, smell, sight, taste tactility and time from each their contingent 'object-field of sense,' there ensues the dawning of pratyāhāra, 'the emancipation of the senses themselves from the domination external sense objects,' and every other fantasized emission of sense. Then one downgrades the prods of logic in favour of the finely calibrated senses as the newly far-flung aesthetic sensibility emerges from the decomposing pods of bane cognition, i.e. as an enigmatic instrument of absorption, infiltration and extension, beyond to the very fore structures of that deeply centreless far-flung sphere known also as prajñā and/or bodhi."

14. Persona-sense bound to the theorematic spectacle

Gautama said: "Suppose, Subhūti, a man had an enormous body the size of Mount Sumeru, King of Mountains. Would not his persona-sense also be enormous?"

"Sure would!" said Subhūti, "His sense of persona would be huge. But according to the teaching of the totally finished one, the sense of persona is non-persona – in fact, it is neither sense nor nonsense; but is likened rather to a filmy phantom, a shadow diffused through filtered light, a mask on the stage of the scenic screen that binds us to the presents of this theorematic spectacle. This is why it's spoken of as 'persona-sense.'"

15. Summing up the teaching 1

Subhūti asked Gautama: "What precisely is this teaching on dharma? How should it be remembered?"

Gautama answered thus: "This teaching, Subhūti, is known as Prajñāpāramitā or infinite sensibility – just think of it like that. But what tathāgata teaches as 'infinite sensibility' is precisely the teaching of 'primmediate sensibility.'

"Do you think, Subhūti, tathāgata teaches some sort of special dharma?"

"No," Subhūti answered. "I never believed that."

16. Interlude 1 – a raft-abandoner

Subhūti had abandoned his raft midstream and found himself immersed in the comprehensive knowing of a raft-abandoner, one with the stream. He was moved to tears in the surging font of the just pierced thermal spring...
Buddha!" he exclaimed, "With the simplest cleaver you have split the perfect diamond – a diamond teaching that strikes to the source. The spring is tapped – how easily received as it floods the mind and transmutes the senses. The world has never glimpsed such an elegant teaching. Blessed be those who bathe in its springs of exposed intimation and exalted clarity; blessed be those who are able to receive and give some thought to its unblemished grace."
"–It's not MY teaching!" Buddha interdicted. "It's been around a very long time."
"Good news!" said Subhūti. "Then even in the far-off distant future when people's minds grow dim and dull, they will still continue to receive this teaching, commit it to memory and ponder it deeply. And lacking any sense of self-conception or silly conceit of atomic being, they will caution others of the deep-seated dangers of the culturally inflicted sense of self-importance. The totally finished one's verdict is a blessing: self-perception is self-deception; 'floating free' exceeds all grasping."
"Well said, Subhūti, you speak correctly. Blessed be those who are not abhorred by tathāgata's teaching of unsurpassed conclusion.

17. Patience

"Furthermore Subhūti," Gautama continued, "tathāgata's teaching of a perfect patience is actually no perfect patience at all. I will tell you why. When the King of Kalinga was slicing my body into thinly sliced bits, I harboured no sense of connection to the body, neither self-conception nor perception of being. Had I harboured any sense of connection to the body, any self-conception or perception of being, then loss and inconvenience would have surely overwhelmed me. I have lived as a sage for five hundred lives, Subhūti, suffused with patience and devoid any sense connection to the body, neither self-conception nor perception of being."

18. There is nothing in this world

"Once a Bodhisattva relinquishes all grasping, he raises his thought to moksha, Subhūti, 'a transmutative letting go,' and thereby releases a mental flow that is free of all residuals of sound, smell, taste, touch, ideation, and time; free of lingering dharma and adharma. A Bodhisattva holds no position, Subhūti. He should practice like this for the welfare of all – even though the notion of 'all' is an ephemera, Subhūti, a culturally inflicted behavioural habit. I speak the truth: There is nothing in this world."

19. Renouncing truth

"A Bodhisattva who grasps at straws and rejects the truth is like a blind man stumbling in the dark, Subhūti. But a Bodhisattva who renounces all grasping, and even more adamantly renounces all truth, is like a man with beams of sun for eyes."

20. Interlude 2 – a mind-boggling quandary

Gautama spoke to the well-framed ascetic. "Subhūti, good men and women who think about this teaching, who remember it, study it, and relate it to others, are simultaneously known and dear to me. Such conscious men and women will groove in treasure equal to the mix of goddess Sujāta.

"Listen to me Subhūti. Wherever this sūtra comes to light, the worlds of devas, of demons and of men will make it the cause for respectful offerings. They will rise up beautifully constructed shrines that inspire the yogas of sublime prostration, circumambulation, and devotional bathing with scented libations and prayerful offerings of fragrant flowers and creamy incense.

"What is more, Subhūti, if a virtuous person receives this sūtra, holds it in mind, recites it, studies it, illuminates its spirit and is despised by others, this person who is bound to suffer harsh destinies in retribution for his previous failings, and whose karmic sins are now erased by his despisers' contempt, will enjoy complete and utter transmutation.

"I recall, Subhūti, aeons past when I served a million natural beings...But I tell you this plainly: the benefits gained by those who reflect on, study, recite and prepare this teaching for 'the disillusioned youngsters of future generations dwelling in the towns infested with deceitful fate,' will surpass by far the advantage I gained from serving a million natural beings. Indeed Subhūti, surpass my advantage a trillion fold. Brownie points will rain on them without cessation; their sum is incalculable, inconceivable and incomparable. Indeed, we are met with a mind-boggling quandary. For even were I able to explain all the merits that accrue to those good men and women who reflect on, study, recite and prepare this teaching for 'the disillusioned youngsters of future generations dwelling in the towns infested with deceitful fate,' Subhūti, those who listened to my explanation would only too soon go mad.

"Though this diamond splitter discourse is beyond conceivability, Subhūti, more extraordinary still is the interest paid to those who circulate it widely to others."

21. Tathāgata is off the scale

Subhūti again questioned Gautama, saying: "Allow me Mahārāja to rephrase my first question. How does one taking up the Bodhisattva path actually tread it?"

Gautama replied by saying: "Those who set out on the Bodhisattva path should continuously think 'I must lead all brings to absolute nirvāna,' though keeping in mind the inevitable conclusion that 'once all beings are finally led there, none will actually have arrived to nirvāna.' For if the notion of an entity, being or personality looms as a thought in anyone's mind, Subhūti, the thinker of the thought is no Bodhisattva. In a nutshell, those who set out off on the Bodhisattva path are bound to get nowhere.

What do you think, Subhūti. When tathāgata stayed with the totally finished one, was there any such instrument by which he gained the poise of a newly pierced thermal spring?"

"No," Subhūti answered. "Tathāgata got no where, relying on nothing. There is no one there; hence nothing to impugn."

"Exactly, Subhūti. There is really no dharma. Why? Because tathāgata means 'no props.' And so if someone was to say that 'the totally finished one obtained some state of supreme awakening,' someone would be totally misinformed. Why? Because tathāgata teaches dharmas as nonsense. The so-called dharmas that tathāgatas teach are only 'called' dharmas for expediency, Subhūti. Tathāgata itself is already off the scale.

"In a similar way, Subhūti," Gautama continued, "tathāgata teaches that so-called dharmas are devoid of the props of personality, entity and being. So if any Bodhisattvas want to further the fiction of the 'tranquil Buddha-fields,' and lead innumerable beings to go and stay there, fine and dandy. But please don't call these tour guides Bodhisattvas. Why? Because tathāgatas teach that the 'tranquil Buddha-fields' are no such sort of 'Buddha-fields' at all. Calling them "Buddha-fields" is just a minor pretext to underpin this diamond splitter discourse.

"But in all due respect, Subhūti; there is in fact a class of Bodhisattvas that continually dwells on the falseness of dharmas; and the supremely finished one refers to such yogins and yoginīs as Bodhisattvas of Tremendous Courage."

22. What does tathāgata see?

Gautama asked the well-framed Subhūti: "What do you think Subhūti? Does tathāgata have a physical eye?"

"Yes," Subhūti replied.

"Does tathāgata have a divine eye of awakening?"

"Sure," he replied. "Tathāgata has one."

"Does tathāgata have an eye of transcendental intellect too?"

"Indeed he does."

"Does tathāgata have a dharma eye as well?"

"Yes, he does."

"And Subhūti, does tathāgata also have a Buddha-eye of universal compassion?"

"Without doubt, Mahārāja, tathāgata has them all."

23. The wickedest teaching

"Subhūti, listen. I know the mind of every sentient being in the entire host of universes, regardless of their modes of thought, their conceptions or tendencies. But all of these modes and conceptual tendencies actually have nothing to do with mind at all. Why? Because retaining past thought, or seizing future thought, or even holding the present thought are utter impossibilities, Subhūti. What is more, the proposal that thought can itself observe thought is the wickedest of teachings, endemic and festering. Mind is an extended allegory, Subhūti."

24. A dharma incapable of manifesting dharma

Gautama asked Subhūti: "Is tathāgata seen in the sign of his corporal form?"

"No," replied Subhūti. "The teaching as contained in the fully arrived philosophy teaches that the sign of tathāgata's corporal form is no real sign, even though it is 'called' the sign of his corporal form."

Gautama remarked: "Does tathāgata think, 'I manifest dharma'?... I tell you frankly: If someone says, 'tathāgata manifests dharma,' someone doesn't know what they're talking about. They are grasping at something that is not even there. If a totally finished one manifests dharma, it is a dharma incapable of manifesting dharma."

25. Being is falsity

Subhūti asked the great heroic victor, "In the darkest decline of Goddess Kālī's Iron Age when the way is obscured and intellect dimmed, will beings be capable of receiving, pondering and disclosing these words to others?"

Gautama replied. "Subhūti, even as now no beings exist, so too in the darkest decline of Kāli's yuga. The fully arrived one teaches being's falsity, even though he casually speaks of various sorts of beings.

26. Summing up the teaching 2

Gautama asked Subhūti: "So what do you think, then? Is there any dharma by which the fully finished one came to no end?"

"I told you before," Subhūti replied. "There is no such dharma."

Gautama affirmed: "Indeed! Subhūti. No atom of a dharma is thus to be found. It is dharma identical only to itself: crystalline in character and infinitely centreless. But it is also regarded as supreme completeness, which explains why 'openness' is called far-flung, and why supremely finished ones teach that dharmas are in truth not dharmas. Calling them 'dharmas' is just a useful pretext for underpinning this diamond splitter discourse.

"Does the fully emptied one ever think, 'I liberate beings,' Subhūti?... No. Because the fully emptied ones simply don't cotton to the notion of any sort of being. If a fully emptied one ever had a thought to liberate even a single being, that would mean that an atomic conception of entity or self had managed to crop up in his already disembodied, shattered and evaporated mind. So again, Subhūti, I tell you 'no.' The fully emptied one teaches that even the slightest conception of entity, self, soul or being becomes the basis of the tragic habit. But still, as common people we tend to cling to just this variety of conceptualisation, in spite of the fact that the fully emptied one teaches that none of us are really common people. Think about it, Subhūti. How much less are we even people?

"Those who grasp for my form or my sound are walking a highly perverted path, Subhūti. An ascetic named Seng T'san will one day put it nicely.

If you don't take the path of tangled weeds you'll have a hard time getting to the village of fallen blossoms.

27. Atomic perception: nothing is born Gautama said: "One needn't set out to annihilate dharmas, Subhūti. Think of it like this instead. Suppose that a man or woman collected the seven treasures in quantities enough to fill as many galaxies as there are grains of sand in the Ganges river, and then offered them as dakshina to all the tathāgatas. And then suppose, Subhūti, that a Bodhisattva, practicing the yoga of facing life's difficulties without concern for failure or success, patiently endured all problematic dharmas, knowing them as open and devoid of being... I tell the truth Subhūti. Bodhisattvas who practice the yoga of facing life's difficulties without concern for failure or success will garner an immeasurably greater gain than those who practice giving vast amounts of dakshina to the assembly of holy ones. Why? Because Bodhisattvas who practice the yoga of facing life's difficulties without concern for failure or success receive no reward for sustaining their yoga."

Subhūti asked Gautama: "Why do Bodhisattvas who practices the yoga of facing life's difficulties without concern for failure or success receive no reward for sustaining their yoga?"

"It's not they don't 'receive' it, Subhūti; they just don't accept it. They have no need for it."

Gautama continued: "If anyone says that a totally done one comes and goes and sits and reclines, he fails to understand the done one's teaching. Why? Because a totally done one hasn't any past; nor does he or she have any future. This is why he or she is called a supremely done one."

Gautama said: "If a man or woman acquired one galaxy for every particle of dust in this galaxy and pulverized the entire lot of galaxies into a single heap of atoms, would the single heap of atoms be great or not?"

"Very great, Buddha," Subhūti said. "That heap of atoms would be immense. But then no matter how immense that heap of atoms was, it really wouldn't be a heap of atoms. It would only be 'called' a heap of atoms. Furthermore, even though Buddha has filled our minds with galaxies, no one really lives midst these galaxies evoked. These galaxies, along with everything in them, are noting but neurally induced sequestrations, kaleidoscopic charades and chimeras abstracted from the minds of the avaricious."

"I agree, Subhūti," the done one said. "Fixing the mind on material objects is a semiotic convention devoid of valid context, a traditional idée-fixe seized upon imprudently."

Gautama then said: "Suppose, Subhūti, that someone said, 'The totally done one teaches an atomic conception of nature.'"

Subhūti replied: "He would not be correct. What the totally done calls 'atomic conception' is really no conception at all. Totally Done's teaching has no separation. Nothing is born."

"Therefore Subhūti," Gautama said, "all who set out on the Bodhisattva path should know all dharmas and view them intently. They should know them and view them in such a way that gives no rise to atomic perception. Why? Because the fully immersed one's atomic perception of dharma is based on nothing, even though it is sometimes 'called' an atomic perception of dharma."

28. Inconclusion

"If a Bodhisattva of Tremendous Courage filled an infinite number of galaxies with the seven precious treasures and offered them as gifts before the whole assembly of totally arrived ones, the return on such an immeasurable offering would never compare to the even more immeasurable promise that accrues to those who take but a four-line stanza from this diamond splitter discourse and observe it, reflect on it, recite it and study it, and circulate it widely to others.
"And how should this be done? Disclose and illuminate its meaning for others as a flower disburdened of all prior legacy.

Like a meteor traversing the midnight sky, like a flickering lamp, an illusionist's trick; like a bubble off the tip of a child's soapy bubble wand, morning dew drops forming on a leaf; like a white cloud hanging in a pale blue sky, like a clap of thunder or a flash of lightning; like a lucid dream of the day, or of the night – the shadow play of life is likened on to these...

Thus spoke the Buddha, 'the aletheial one,' when politely approached by the well-framed ascetic by the name of Subhūti in the quiet grove near the city of Śravāstī in the ancient kingdom of Kosala.

proviso

2006-04-16T18:59:00.000+08:00

I dedicate this version to my late mom Mary Evelyn Roberts (1929-1967) and to my late sister Susan Kay Harris (1951-1992).

All are free to sample this text and do as they will.

sritantra

glossary

2006-04-16T17:59:00.000+08:00

[All non-English terms are of the Sanskrit language unless otherwise indicated.]

Adharma. Irreligion; lack of dutifulness; confusion.

Asuras. Titanic demons, enemies of the gods. They sometimes have the opposite meaning.

Bhikshu. A beggar, peripatetic mendicant, religious almsman, especially in the Śaiva context of a brahmin in one of the final two renounced orders of the traditional four-fold staging (āśrama) of life. Contrasted to the third or vānaprashta order of hermitic dwelling in the wild, the bhikshu mode is more in character to the classic fourth and final stage of a caste-brahmin's life, that being sannyāsa-āśrama when the sannyāsīn subsists entirely on alms. The bhikshu mode and terminology became an early fixture within the highly pervasive bauddha mendicant culture as well.

Bodhi. Intelligence, awakened realitly, truth, or in Classical Greek aletheia.

Bodhisattva. Literally, awakened-purity-being, one on the way to complete enlightenment; one who seeks enlightenment in order to enlighten others; an enlightened being.

Buddha. An awakened person, 'the aletheial one.' From the Vedic root budh, "awake," metaphorically meaning that a buddha is awake while ordinary people are half-asleep. As a released or liberated person (see moksha), a buddha is synonymous to a jīvan-mukta. See also "Gautama."

Buddha-field. Heavenly abode. The field of consciousness created by the ideation of an enlightened being.

Dakshina. 'Generosity, giving, wealth.' A form of offering with deep ritualistic significance vis-à-vis food, money and goods given specifically to ascetics or spiritual teachers, as evinced in the institution of guru-dakshina. In Bauddhic traditions dakshina has been largely supplanted by the related term dāna, which actually denotes an exclusively secular form or 'act of giving, donation, gift, liberality, sharing, distributing, and purification.'

Dāna. The act of sharing or giving in the spirit of liberality; donation; a purificatory practice, i.e. yoga.

Deva. Divine-realm being; a god, the highest incarnation.

Dharma. The chief element of existence; a thing, all things, anything thing great or small, visible or invisible, real or unreal, concrete or abstract. Ultimate nature, reality; righteousness; truth, law or doctrine. The ultimate religion; sacred law, moral law, duty, rectitude. From the Sanskrit root, dhr, to hold or support; that which forms a foundation and upholds; a form, an infrastructure; "the interpreted order of the world."

Dharma is basically the means to and end, the ultimate end of which is moksha.

Dhoti. A light and comfortable hand-woven cotton normally worn as a covering waist down.

Gautama. The proper name for the great sixth-century BCE Indian yogin-philosopher Siddhārtha Gautama, Buddha. See also "Buddha."Kumarajiva (CE 344–413). Indian Bauddha scholar and missionary born in Kucha, present day Xinjiang, China. When his mother, a Kuchean princess, became a nun, he followed her into monastic life at the age of seven. He grew up in Bauddha centres. In 383, Chinese forces seized Kucha and took Kumarajiva to China. From 401 he was at the Ch'in court in the capital Chang'an (the modern Xi'an). He taught and translated Bauddha scriptures into Chinese. With 500 scholar monks assisting him, he is said to have translated more than 100 Bauddha works. Twenty-four are authenticated. These and include some of the most important titles in the Chinese Bauddha canon.

Mahārāja. Literally "great king," the rank of a reigning prince or sovereign, a paramount sovereign, emperor; a class of devas or divine order beings (the guardians of the earth and heavens against the demons); a common honorific applied to a male ascetic or spiritual teacher.

Moksha. Liberation of a spiritual nature from material and corporeal bondage. 'To be released' – i.e. 'to shed or cast off,' as of a bodily covering. Possibly cognate to molt or moult, an alteration of Middle English mouten, from Old English mūtian (bemūtian, 'to exchange for'), from Latin mūtāre, to change. Thus moksha and molt may share of the same Indo-European root *moi-/*mei-, 'to change or exchange' (cf. Sanskrit methati 'changes, alternates, joins, meets'). The implication here is that to molt or "mok" – vis-à-vis moksha – is to shed the old body for a new 'transmuted' one, or even for none. In early Vedic society moksha was regarded as one the four noble aspirations of human life, the others being dharma (destiny), artha (wealth) and kama (pleasure).

Never-returner. Ānāgamin. A non-coming (back) or non-returning saint (arhat) who will not be reborn. The third stage of Bauddhic liberation.

Nirvāna. Complete absorption into the undifferentiated ground of being; spiritual bliss. Divine freedom.

Once re-launcher. Sakrdāgāmin (lit. 'returning only once again'). One who is to be reborn only once more and must therefore again re-launch a raft in the stream that inevitably flows to the ocean of total release (viz. moksha). The name of the second of the four orders of Bauddha Aryas (noble ones); the second stage of liberation involving one birth only.

Prajñāpāramitā. Prajñā means "intellect"; pāramitā, "perfection" (lit. pāra, beyond + mitā, measure).

Punya. A timely benefit, favour, blessing, boon. The acquisition of auspicious, propitious, fair, pleasant, good, right, virtuous, meritorious, pure, holy or sacred gain as in retribution for acts of a similar quantity, quality and nature. Hindu traditions, both orthodox and heterodox (e.g. Jaina and Bauddha cults) generically repeat and recitate "merit" and its required accruement in order to obtain the promise of deliverance as a summum bonum or "highest good" vis-à-vis moksha, paramamoksha, mukti, nirvrti, nirvāna, kaivalya, et al. Hence the prescription for meritorious activities; examples of which are pilgrimage to holy sites, circumambulation of stupas, lighting of ghee-lamps on the alters and ledges attached to shrines, and the offering of alms to ascetics.

Sannyāsī. See bhikshu above. Literaly "perfectly constructed," "polished," "refined." The Indo-European-based classical literary language of northern India. It reached its highest refinement ca. 400 BCE with the grammatical work of Pānini.

Śravāstī. "The famous City" near to which was situated Jetavana park, the favourite retreat place of Gautama, in the present day northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.

Subhūti. From root subhū, 'well made or done' (as food); (feminine) that part of the frame enshrining the universal Spirit; welfare, well-being; of an excellent nature, good, strong, beautiful. Legendarily a senior disciple of Gautama who attained sainthood by means of meditation on the intellect.

Stream-enterer or Srotāpanna, signifying 'one who has entered the stream' (of the holy life); the initial stage of Bauddhic liberation.

Sujāta. A young woman whose offering of food as dakshina to Gautama just before his gaining Enlightenment under the banyan tree near the city of Gaya. Bauddha doctrine views her timely offering to be the supreme meritorious act of dakshina.

Sumeru. A celestial mountain supporting Trayastrimśā, the heaven of the thirty-three devas; second of the six heavens of Kāmaloka, the realm of enjoyment.

Sūtra. Literally, "thread" and by extension 'discourse, teaching, sermon.' In the Bauddha context, a sermon of Gautama or other close disciple.

Tantra. Continuance tool.

Tathāgata. Pronounced, ta-ThĀ-ga-ta (aspirated h). The nature of a buddha; one who has followed in the footsteps of all buddhas, treading the way of cause and effect to attain to prajñāpāramitā "perfect wisdom"; one of the highest titles of a buddha.

Totally finished one. Arahat (Pali: arhan), also pronounced and written Arhat, Rahat, Arhant. A "worthy," lit. "noble," thus "holy one"; a "saint" deserving of godly honours. The term and notion gained early usage particularly among the Jaina tradition to designate one who has entered the best and highest life path, and thereby exempt from further transmigration. It was subsequently adopted by the Bauddha camp.

Yoga. From the Indo-European root yeug-, 'join, attach, hold fast, bind, connect.' Broadly speaking, this Vedic term yoga pertains to any form of asceticism or meditative technique, including prayer.

Yogi. Vernacular form of and same as yogin.

Yogin. A contemplative saint, devotee, ascetic.

Yoginī. Feminine form of yogin. Historically the yoginī also carries a highly ritualistic and iconographic sense of 'wild, blood-drinking and skull-decked female spirit' as was prevalent in certain early Tantric cults (See Alexis Sanderson, Śaivism and the Tantric Traditions, in The World's Religions, 1988: 671ff).

diamond splitter discourse

author's note

prologue

diamond splitter discourse

further reading

proviso

glossary