Section 14 — Leaving form behind, stillness comes離相寂滅分第十四

Then Subhuti, hearing this sutra spoken, understood its meaning deeply, and he wept tears of sorrow and said to the Buddha:

"Rare and wonderful, World-Honored One! The Buddha has spoken a scripture as deep as this. With the eye of wisdom I have gained from long ago, I have never once heard such a sutra.

World-Honored One! If someone hears this sutra and their believing mind is clear and pure, then the real mark (實相) arises in them. Know this: such a person has perfected the foremost and rarest merit. World-Honored One! This real mark is not a mark, and that is why the Tathagata calls it the real mark.

World-Honored One! For me to hear such a scripture now, and to believe and understand it and take it up and keep it, is no hard thing. But if in an age to come, in the fifth five-hundred-year period, some being hears this sutra and believes and understands it and takes it up and keeps it, that person is the rarest of all. Why is this? Because in that person there is no mark of a self, no mark of a person, no mark of a being, no mark of a life span. And how is that so? Because the mark of a self is no mark, and the mark of a person, the mark of a being, and the mark of a life span are no marks. Why? Because to leave all marks behind is what is called a Buddha."

The Buddha said to Subhuti, "So it is, so it is! If someone hears this sutra and is not startled, not frightened, not afraid, know that such a person is very rare indeed. Why is this? Subhuti! Because the foremost paramita the Tathagata speaks of is not the foremost paramita; that is only its name.

Subhuti! The paramita of forbearance too the Tathagata says is not the paramita of forbearance; that is only its name. Why is this? Subhuti! Because long ago, when King Kali (歌利王) cut and hacked my body apart, at that time I had no mark of a self, no mark of a person, no mark of a being, no mark of a life span. And how is that so? Because in that former age, when I was torn joint from joint, had I held a mark of a self, a person, a being, or a life span, anger and hatred would surely have risen in me.

Subhuti! I remember also that in five hundred lives past I was the seer of forbearance (忍辱仙人), and in those lives too I had no mark of a self, no mark of a person, no mark of a being, no mark of a life span.

Therefore, Subhuti! A bodhisattva should leave all marks behind and set his mind on anuttara-samyak-sambodhi. He should not give rise to a mind that dwells in form, nor give rise to a mind that dwells in sound, scent, taste, touch, or dharmas. He should give rise to a mind that dwells nowhere. For if the mind dwells anywhere, that is no dwelling at all."

"Therefore the Buddha says: a bodhisattva should not let his mind dwell in form when he gives. Subhuti! To benefit all beings, a bodhisattva should give in this way. The Tathagata says that all marks are no marks, and says too that all beings are not beings.

Subhuti! The Tathagata is one who speaks the truth, one who speaks what is real, one who speaks things as they are, one who does not speak falsely, one who does not speak otherwise."

"Subhuti! The Dharma the Tathagata has attained is neither real nor hollow. Subhuti! When a bodhisattva gives with a mind dwelling in dharmas, he is like a man who walks into the dark and sees nothing. When a bodhisattva gives with a mind not dwelling in dharmas, he is like a man with eyes who sees every kind of form in the bright light of the sun."

"Subhuti! If in an age to come a good man or a good woman can take up and keep this sutra, reading and reciting it, then the Tathagata with the wisdom of a Buddha knows that person entirely and sees that person entirely, and they will perfect measureless, boundless merit."