Let's look at the ways doubt can be a hindrance to our progress along the path to enlightenment and liberation, as well as a steppingstone to advancement.
Consider that there are ways that doubt can be overcome, noting two key examples of this in the Early Buddhist texts.
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Why was Ven. Sariputra (born Upatissa) so compassionate? Several incidents are related in the texts show the exemplary qualities possessed by Ven. Sariputra (Pali Sāriputta Thera) -- the monk the Buddha declared "foremost in wisdom," the counterpart of Ven. Khema Theri, the nun declared "foremost in wisdom" among all female monastic disciples.
[Shariputra is best known outside Theravada Buddhism (the "Teaching of the Theras or Enlightened Elder Disciplesof the Buddha") for his fanciful appearance as a stick figure in the apocryphal "Heart Sutra," the culmination of the perfection of wisdom (prajna paramita) literature, where he is lectured by Avalokiteshvara (thought of as an incarnation of Kwan Yin), the Bodhisattva of Compassion, about how Brahminical Hinduism/Mahayana Buddhism interprets the historical Buddha's path to the attainment of enlightenment.]
Karma keeps returning to harm the killer.
There is the remarkable story of Tambadāthika, a sort of Angulimala (the far better known "serial killer who became a saint"), Punna (2) and his wife, the poor woman in the Kundakakucchisindhava Jātaka (Jat 254), and Losaka Tissa. These show Ven. Sariputra's great compassion for the poor and needy and his eagerness to help them.
The great disciple's first teacher was the wandering ascetic Sañjaya, whom he tried but failed to convert to the Buddha’s Dharma (path to enlightenment and liberation). His second teacher was Ven. Assaji, an enlightened disciple of the Buddha, who taught him a short version of the Four Noble (Ennobling = Enlightening) Truths.
What's done is done, Tambadathika.
It is said that every night before going to bed, Ven. Sariputra would bow to the quarter (cardinal direction) in which he knew Ven. Assaji to be. And he would sleep with his head in that direction out of deep respect (DhA.iv.150 f.; cf. SNA.i.328).
If Ven. Assaji were in the same monastic complex (vihara), Ven. Sāriputra would visit him immediately after visiting the Buddha. It was in connection with this that the Dhamma Sutta was taught.More
INTRODUCTION, BOOK I, PART 1 edited by Dhr. Seven for Wisdom Quarterly
There are those human beings in the world today who know the Truth and are free.
.
Abhidharma is the third and final "basket"
or division of the canonical Buddhist texts. It is said to be complex,
profound, and subtle. It has been described as a "valley of dry bones."
This is an attempt to put some flesh on those dry bones that may be
regarded as a manual introducing Abhidharma.
During the few weeks directly after the Buddha's enlightenment, he intuitively acquired the Abhidharma.
It is therefore just about the earliest product of his thought. This
is conclusively proved by the internal evidence of the first two sutras
he taught to his former five companions.
The
first sutra is called the "Discourse Setting the Wheel of the Dharma
in Motion." The second is the "Discourse on the Impersonal
Characteristic of All Things."
In the first discourse, the newly awakened Buddha was telling the five vaggi
why he can now declare that he is the Buddha, the "Awakened or
Enlightened One." At first they refused to believe or listen to him.
The
sutra lasted five days, but it is very concisely stated (adumbrated)
into two and a half pages. In this sutra the Buddha explains that the
Five Aggregates or constituent categories of existence that are the
objects of clinging (are clung to as a "self") are disappointing,
unfulfilling, unsatisfactory, suffering: This is Abhidharma, which here is called Five Aggregates or the Clinging Aggregate.
The second sutra is pure Abhidharma,
dealing as it does with corporeality (form), sensation (feeling),
perception, karma-activities (mental formations like volitions), and
consciousness and the 11 different distinctions of each aggregate.
However, legend has it that it would be necessary to expound the Abhidharma in one sitting. But as that would take three months in human time, this is impossible in the human world.
It
was seven years after his great enlightenment, during the three months
of the ancient Indian rainy season, that the Buddha traveled up to the
world of the "shining ones" (devas), where his former mother had been reborn, to teach the Abhidharma non-stop.
Everyday,
however, he took time off to eat and left a Buddha [a division body]
after his own image, conjured up by miraculous psychic power, to carry
on his work.
He
also taught his chief male disciple foremost in wisdom Sariputra
(counterpart of his chief female disciple foremost in wisdom Khema), who
had a marvelous mind. It was Sariputra who taught the Abhidharma to his many students. More
Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Blessed One was staying near Rajagaha (Rajgir) at the Bamboo Grove in the Squirrels' Feeding Ground.
On that occasion Ven. Sariputra and Ven. Maha Moggallana were staying in Pigeon Cave. On a moonlit night, Sariputra with his head newly shaven was sitting outside in the open air, absorbed in concentration (samadhi).
I want to beat on his bald head. - No, friend!
Just then two companion ogres (yakkhas, maras, asuras, jinn) were flying north to south for one reason or another. They saw Sariputra with his head newly shaven. And seeing him, one ogre said, "I'm inspired to give this wandering ascetic a blow on the head."
When this was said, the other ogre replied, "Enough, friend! Do not lay a hand on that wandering ascetic, who is outstanding, of great power and might."
A second time and third time, the ogre repeated his wish, and a second and third time, the other replied, "Enough, friend! Do not lay a hand on that wandering ascetic, who is outstanding, of great power and might."
I'm an ogre, so I do what I want when I want.
The ogre, ignoring his friend, gave Sariputra a severe blow on the head. That blow might have knocked over an elephant of seven or eight cubits (the length between elbow and fingertips) tall, or split a great rocky crag. Right there and then the ogre -- crying out, "I'm burning!" -- fell into the Waveless Deep (Great Hell).
Now, Maha Moggallana -- using his psychic powers, the purified divine eye that surpasses the human -- saw the ogre strike Sariputra on the head. Seeing this, he went to Sariputra then said to him, "I hope you're well, friend Sariputra. I hope you're comfortable and free of pain."
"I'm well, friend Moggallana, and comfortable. But I do have a slight headache."
"How amazing, friend Sariputra, how astounding, how great your power and might! Just now I saw an ogre give you a blow on the head. So great was that blow that it might have knocked over a tall elephant or split a rocky crag. But all you say is, 'I'm well, friend Moggallana, and comfortable. But I do have a slight headache.'"
"How amazing, friend Moggallana, how astounding, how great your power and might! Where you saw an ogre just now, I saw not even a whirlwind!"
The Blessed One -- with his purified divine ear that surpasses the human -- heard his two great male disciples (counterparts to the great Buddhist nuns Ven. Khema and Ven. Uppalavanna) conversing. And realizing the significance of what they were saying, he exclaimed:
Whose mind, standing like a rock, shakes not
With dispassion toward things that ignite passion,
Sweet Samsarahas me by the neck! O, Buddha, how can I win my freedom?
Sariputra's stream entry
Sariputra asks a question.
When Sariputra, the chief monk later declared "foremost in wisdom" by the Buddha, first came into contact with the Dharma, it was through the enlightened Buddhist disciple Ven. Aśvajit (Assaji). Sariputra asked him, "What Teaching do you follow?" Ven. Aśvajit wisely replied, "I have only recently gone forth [from home to homelessness, from the cramped world to the wide open way of the wandering ascetic] in this dispensation and can only give you the gist of this Dharma." "That is all I wish for," Sariputra responded.
Sariputra (SashWeer/flickr)
So Ven. Aśvajit declared this terse stanza that implies the Four Noble (Ennobling) Truths. Sariputra, because of his sagacity and keen wit, immediately penetrated the implication of what the venerable monk said and entered the first stage of enlightenment, stream entry, understanding that his Teaching was indeed that of an enlightened teacher with the ability to lead others to liberation from all suffering. He went to meet the Buddha and became one of the two most significant chief disciples of the Buddha, the other being the Buddhist nun Ven. Khema, whom the Buddha declared "foremost in wisdom" among the nuns.
The wise should know they are not transferred.* [5]
*That is to say, they do not "transfer" or go from one birth to another. Rather, what happens is the arising of empty phenomena followed immediately by the turning and falling two sub-moments later, just where they arose. What arises or originates is utterly dependent on its causes and supporting-conditions. Things originate (arise) and momentarily persist -- constantly becoming rather than being, dynamic rather than static, a moving process rather than a persisting being. ALL things arise (but most relevant to us, the Buddha is talking about the Five Aggregates of Clinging), turn, and fall away. In this way, they bear the three "marks" or characteristics of existence in that they are: impermanent, unsatisfactory, and utterly impersonal.
Twelve links lead to rebirth again...
And as for extremely subtle entities,
Those who regard them with nihilism,*
*Nihilism (Annihilationism): the subtle wrong view that an entity is actually destroyed or annihilated at the third phase of the impersonal process of dependent origination. There is in fact no entity, nothing personal to be annihilated. Ultimately, things neither exist NOR cease to exist, except that in a conventional sense we speak of things in this way to intellectually understand the impersonal process.
Lacking precise and thorough knowledge,
Will not see the actuality of conditioned arising. [6]
In this, there is not a thing to be removed,
Nor the slightest thing to be added.
It is looking perfectly into reality itself,
And when reality is seen, complete liberation. [7]
This concludes the verses on "The Heart of Dependent Origination" composed by the enlightened teacher AryaNagarjuna.
The Buddha says, "One who sees dependent origination sees the Dharma and one who sees the Dharma sees dependent origination."
The Dharma is the truth discovered by the Buddha. In this statement the Buddha makes an explicit equation between the profound truth he has realized and dependent origination or conditioned arising.
Again in describing his own quest for enlightenment, the Buddha says that immediately before his enlightenment, when he was sitting in meditation, he began inquiring into the chain of causality or conditioning, seeking the origination of suffering, and this inquiry led him to the discovery of dependent origination.
So from one angle we can equate the discovery of dependent origination with the attainment of enlightenment itself.
Intellect is not enough for freedom.
The Buddha says that this dependent origination is deep in appearance and deep in truth. It is by not understanding and not penetrating this truth called dependent origination that we -- and all living beings -- have become entangled like a matted ball of thread, like grass and rushes, [like a thicket of weeds and vines,] unable to pass beyond woeful states of being, unable to escape from samsara, the cycle of endless becoming.
Therefore, dependent origination is more than the content of the Buddha's enlightenment, much more than a philosophy or doctrine, it is the truth to be directly REALIZED to gain freedom from all suffering.
It is the key to intellectual understanding of the Dharma and to the attainment of liberation (enlightenment, nirvana).
Relics (concretions) are multiplying! Others are being revealed and moved by devas. Lu Mountain Temple (MahaStupa.org) has a vast collection to rival the Tibetan Relic Tour (maitreyaproject.com) being prepared for Kushinagar (CB).
On Sanchi Hill in Bhopal are the remains of ten Buddhist burial shrines (stupas), which are
among the oldest buildings still standing in India.
By their
architectural features and sculpture they have always been recognized as
belonging to the high noon of Buddhist art, the characters in which
their numerous inscriptions are written placing them at about the period
of Emperor Asoka, that is, some time around the middle of the third century
B.C.
Some are well preserved, while others have been reduced over
the course of centuries to mere mounds of earth and stone. It was in one of these, the now famous Third Stupa, that Sir
Alexander Cunningham in 1851 discovered the sacred body relics of the Buddha's chief male disciples, Sariputra and Maha Moggallana.
At about the
same time, more relics of the two great arhats were found enshrined in a stupa at
Satadhara, about six miles from Sanchi.
On sinking a shaft in the center of the burial mound on Sanchi Hill,
Cunningham came upon a large stone slab, more than five feet in length,
lying north to south. Beneath the slab were found
two boxes of gray sandstone, each with a brief inscription in Brahmi
characters on the lid. The box to the south was inscribed Sariputtasa or "(relics) of Sariputta," while the one to the north bore the legend Maha-Mogalanasa, "(relics) of Maha Moggallana."
Gold Sivali statuette (left), relics under glass, meditators, and Mahayana deities, August 2013(Ron Fu/SGV Tribune/photos.sgvtribune.com)
The southernmost box contained a large flat casket of white steatite more than six inches broad and three inches in height. The
surface was hard and polished. The box, which had been turned on a
lathe, was a beautiful piece of workmanship. Around this small casket were
some fragments of sandalwood believed to have been from the funeral
pyre. Inside it, besides the relics, various precious stones were
found. This casket contained a single bone relic of Ven.
Sariputra, the male monastic disciple "foremost in wisdom," not quite one inch in length.
The stone box to the north enclosed another steatite casket, similar but slightly smaller and with a softer surface.
Inside it were two bone relics of Ven. Maha Moggallana, the
larger of them being less than half an inch in length.
Each of the two steatite caskets had a single ink letter inscribed on
the inner surface of the lid, "Sa" for Sariputra on the southern and
"Ma" for Maha Moggallana on the northern. In Cunningham's words,
"Sariputta and Maha Moggallana were the principal [male] followers of the
Buddha [counterparts to the two chief female disciples Khema and Uppalavanna], and were usually styled his right and left hand disciples. Their
ashes thus preserved after death the same positions to the right and
left of Buddha which they had themselves occupied in life" (Bhilsa Topes, p. 300). This is explained by the fact that the Buddha customarily sat facing east.
A documentable growing cluster of sacred relics (shariras), glass-like beads, cremation remains of the Buddha and/or enlightened monastics (Ron Fu/photos.sgvtribune.com)
In the reliquary at Satadhara, one of a group which Cunningham noted was
called locally "Buddha Bhita" or "Buddha Monuments," he discovered two
caskets of pale mottled steatite. These were inscribed, like those at
Sanchi, "Sariputtasa" and "Maha Mogallanasa" respectively.
This stupa
showed signs of having been violated by robbers, but the bone relics had
been left undisturbed. Cunningham, a very capable archaeologist,
has left a detailed account of everything his excavations brought to
light in these and other stupas, and it is thanks to him that the
authenticity of the relics is established beyond all doubt.
The relics from both sites were moved to England and placed in the
Victoria and Albert Museum. But some discrepancies between Cunningham's
description of the caskets and the actual boxes in which the relics
were deposited gives reason to believe that he, or someone else,
transferred the relics from Sanchi to the caskets discovered at
Satadhara, and what became of the Sanchi steatite caskets is not known
for certain.
The sacred relics were preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum
until 1939, when the Maha Bodhi Society approached the British
government with a request that they be returned to India. The request
was at once granted, but owing to the outbreak of World War
II that year, the actual transfer was delayed for reasons of safety
until Feb. 24, 1947.More
Lu Mountain Temple, San Gabriel Valley, suburban Los Angeles (mahastupa.org)
The Belum Caves Buddha near Kurnool in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh is part of the second largest cave system on the subcontinent, which once used by
Jain and Buddhist monks as determined by artifacts found
inside dating back to 4500 BCE, now in
the Museum at Anantapur. The area is now a protected archaeological and geological site developed as a state tourist attraction (Vesuvianite/Flickr.com).
.
[The Hair-Raising Discourse]
1. Thus have I heard. On one occasion the Buddha was living at Vesali in the grove outside the city to the west.
2. Now on that occasion Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, had recently left this Dhamma and Discipline [Note 1]. He was making this statement before the Vesali assembly:
The recluse Gotama does not have any superhuman states, any distinction in knowledge and vision worthy of the noble ones. [2]
The recluse Gotama teaches a Dharma (merely) hammered out by reasoning, following his own line of inquiry as it occurs to him.
And when he teaches the Dhamma to anyone, it leads that person who practices it to the complete destruction of suffering. [3]
3. Then when it was morning, Venerable Sariputta dressed, and taking his bowl and outer robe, went into Vesali for alms. He heard Sunakkhatta, son of the Licchavis, making this statement before the Vesali assembly. When he had wandered for alms in Vesali and had returned from his almsround, after his meal he went to the Blessed One, and after paying homage to him, he sat down at one side and told the Blessed One what Sunakkhatta was saying.
4. (The Buddha:) "Sariputta, the misguided man Sunakkhatta is angry, and his words are spoken out of anger. Thinking to discredit the Tathagata, he actually praises him; for it is a praise of the Tathagata to say of him: 'When he teaches the Dharma to anyone, it leads him that person who practices it to the complete destruction of suffering.'
5. "Sariputta, this misguided man Sunakkhatta will never infer of me according to Dharma [truth, reality, "the way it really is"]: 'That Blessed One is accomplished, fully enlightened, perfect in true knowledge and conduct, sublime, knower of worlds, incomparable leader of persons to be tamed, teacher of devas and humans, enlightened, blessed.' [4]
6. "And he will never infer of me according to Dharma: 'That Blessed One enjoys the various kinds of SUPERNORMAL POWER:
having been one, he becomes many;
having been many, he becomes one;
he appears and vanishes;
he goes unhindered through a wall, through an enclosure, through a mountain, as though through space;
he dives in and out of the earth as though it were water;
he walks on water without sinking as though it were earth;
seated cross-legged, he travels in space like a bird;
with his hand he touches and strokes the moon and sun so powerful and mighty;
he wields bodily mastery even as far as the Brahma-world.'
7. "And he will never infer of me according to Dharma: 'With the divine ear element, which is purified and surpasses the human, that Blessed One hears both kinds of sounds, the heavenly and the human, those that are far as well as near.'
8. "And he will never infer of me according to Dharma:
'That Blessed One encompasses with his own mind the minds of other beings, other persons.
He understands a mind affected by lust as affected by lust and a mind unaffected by lust as unaffected by lust;
he understands a mind affected by hate as affected by hate and a mind unaffected by hate as unaffected by hate;
he understands a mind affected by delusion as affected by delusion and a mind unaffected by delusion as unaffected by delusion;
he understands a contracted mind as contracted and a distracted mind as distracted;
he understands an exalted mind as exalted and an unexalted mind as unexalted;
he understands a surpassed mind as surpassed and an unsurpassed mind as unsurpassed;
he understands a concentrated mind as concentrated and an unconcentrated mind as unconcentrated;
he understands a liberated mind as liberated and an unliberated mind as unliberated.'
Ten Powers of a Tathagata
9. "Sariputta, the Tathagata [a supremely enlightened buddha] has these ten Tathagata's powers, possessing which he claims the herd-leader's place, roars his lion's roar in the assemblies, and sets rolling the Wheel of Brahma.[5]
What are the ten?
10. (1) "Here, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the possible as possible and the impossible as impossible.[6]
And that is a Tathagata's power that the Tathagata has, by virtue
of which he claims the herd-leader's place, roars his lion's roar in the
assemblies, and sets rolling the Wheel of Brahma.
11. (2) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the
results of actions undertaken, past, future and present, with
possibilities and with causes. That too is a Tathagata's power...[7]
12. (3) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the ways
leading to all destinations. That too is a Tathagata's power...[8]
13. (4) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the world
with its many and different elements. That too is a Tathagata's
power...[9]
14. (5) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is how
beings have different inclinations. That too is a Tathagata's power...[10]
15. (6) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the
disposition of the faculties of other beings, other persons. That too is
a Tathagata's power...[11]
16. (7) "Again, the Tathagata understands as it actually is the
defilement, the cleansing and the emergence in regard to the jhanas,
liberations, concentrations and attainments. That too is a Tathagata's
power...[12]
[COUNTLESS PAST LIVES]
17. (8) "Again, the Tathagata recollects his manifold past lives,
that is, one birth, two births, three births, four births, five births,
ten births, 20 births, 30 births, 40 births, 50 births, a
100 births, a thousand births, a hundred-thousand births, many aeons
of world-contraction, many aeons of world-expansion, many aeons of
world-contraction and expansion: 'There I was so named, of such a clan,
with such an appearance, such was my nutriment, such my experience of
pleasure and pain, such my life-term; and passing away from there, I
reappeared elsewhere; and there too I was so named, of such a clan, with
such an appearance, such was my nutriment, such my experience of
pleasure and pain, such my life-term; and passing away from there, I
reappeared here.' Thus with their aspects and particulars he recollects
his manifold past lives. That too is a Tathagata's power...
[THE WORKING OF KARMA]
18. (9) "Again, with the divine eye, which is purified and surpasses
the human, the Tathagata sees beings passing away and reappearing,
inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he
understands how beings pass on according to their actions thus: 'These
worthy beings who were ill-conducted in body, speech and mind, revilers
of noble ones, wrong in their views, giving effect to wrong view in
their actions, on the dissolution of the body, after death, have
reappeared in a state of deprivation, in a bad destination, in
perdition, even in hell. But these worthy beings who were well-conducted
in body, speech and mind, not revilers of noble ones, right in their
views, giving effect to right view in their actions, on the dissolution
of the body, after death, have reappeared in a good destination, even in
the heavenly world.' Thus with the divine eye, which is purified and
surpasses the human, he sees beings passing away and reappearing,
inferior and superior, fair and ugly, fortunate and unfortunate, and he
understands how beings pass on according to their actions. That too is a
Tathagata's power...
[NIRVANA]
19. (10) "Again, by realizing it for himself with direct knowledge,
the Tathagata here and now enters upon and abides in the deliverance of
mind and deliverance by wisdom that are taintless with the destruction
of the taints. That too is a Tathagata's power that a Tathagata has, by
virtue of which he claims the herd-leader's place, roars his lion's roar
in the assemblies, and sets rolling the Wheel of Brahma. ...
[REBIRTH]
57. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmins whose
doctrine and view is this: 'Purification comes about through the round
of rebirths (samsara).'
"But it is impossible to find a realm in the round that I
have not already passed through in this long journey, except for
the devas of the Pure Abodes. And had I passed through the round as a deva
in the Pure Abodes, I would never have returned to this world.[20]
58. "There are certain recluses and brahmins whose doctrine and view
is this: 'Purification comes about through (some particular kind of)
rebirth.'
"But it is impossible to find a kind of rebirth that I have not
been reborn in already in this long journey, except for the devas of the
Pure Abodes...
59. "There are certain recluses and brahmins whose doctrine and view
is this: 'Purification comes about through (some particular [heavenly]) abode.'
"But
it is impossible to find a kind of abode that I have not already dwelt
in... except for the devas of the Pure Abodes...
60. "There are certain recluses and brahmins whose doctrine and view
is this: 'Purification comes about through sacrifice.'
"But it is
impossible to find a kind of sacrifice that has not already been offered
up by me in this long journey, when I was either a head-anointed noble
king or a well-to-do-brahmin.
61. "There are certain recluses and brahmins whose doctrine and view
is this: 'Purification comes about through fire-worship.'
But it is
impossible to find a kind of fire that has not already been worshipped
by me in this long journey, when I was either a head-anointed noble king
or a well-to-do brahmin.
62. "Sariputta, there are certain recluses and brahmins whose
doctrine and view is this: 'As long as this good man is still young, a
black-haired young man endowed with the blessing of youth, in the prime
of life, so long is he perfect in his lucid wisdom. But when this good
man is old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life, and come to the
last stage, being 80, 90, or a 100-years-old, then the
lucidity of his wisdom is lost.'
"But it should not be regarded so. I am
now old, aged, burdened with years, advanced in life, and come to the
last stage: my years have turned 80.
"Now suppose that I had four
disciples with a hundred years' lifespan, perfect in mindfulness,
retentiveness, memory and lucidity of wisdom. [21]
Just as a skilled archer, trained, practiced and tested, could easily
shoot a light arrow across the shadow of a palm tree, suppose that they
were even to that extent perfect in mindfulness, retentiveness, memory and lucidity of wisdom. Suppose that they continuously asked me
about the four foundations of mindfulness and that I answered them when
asked and that they remembered each answer of mine and never asked a
subsidiary question or paused except to eat, drink, consume food, taste,
urinate, defecate, and rest in order to remove sleepiness and tiredness.
"Still the Tathagata's exposition of the Dharma, his explanations of
factors of the Dharma, and his replies to questions would not yet come
to an end. But meanwhile those four disciples of mine with their hundred
years' lifespan would have died at the end of those hundred years.
Sariputta, even if you have to carry me about on a bed, still there will
be no change in the lucidity of the Tathagata's wisdom.
63. "Rightly speaking, were it to be said of anyone: 'A being not
subject to delusion has appeared in the world for the welfare and
happiness of many, out of compassion for the world, for the good,
welfare and happiness of gods and humans,' it is of me indeed that
rightly speaking this should be said."
64. Now on that occasion Venerable Nagasamala [the Buddha's attendant before Ananda] was standing behind the Blessed One fanning him. [22]
Then he said to the Blessed One: "It is wonderful, venerable sir, it is
marvelous! As I listened to this discourse on the Dharma, the hairs of
my body stood up.
"Venerable sir, what is the name of this discourse on
the Dharma?"
"As to that, Nagasamala, you may remember this discourse on the Dharma as 'The Hair-raising Discourse.'" [23]More
The female personification of the Perfection of Wisdom (Prajna-paramita), Java, Indonesia (wikipedia.org)
Khema, the arhat and foremost in wisdom, while coursing through the wisdom that has gone beyond, looked down from on high and beheld but Five Aggregates. She saw that in and of themselves, they were impersonal.
Here, O Sariputra! Form is impersonal, and the very impersonal is form.
The impersonal does not differ from form; form does not differ from the impersonal. Whatever is impersonal, that is form. Whatever is form, that is impersonal.
The same is true of sensations, perceptions, mental formations [most notably volition], and consciousness.
Here, O Sariputra! All phenomena are impersonal; they are dependently-originated and cease but not the composite-existence they represent, which is neither produced nor stopped, neither defiled nor immaculate, neither deficient nor complete.
Therefore, O Sariputra, in the impersonal-composite there is neither body, nor feeling, nor conception, nor volition, nor consciousness.
There is neither internal eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, nor mind; neither external forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, nor objects of mind; no sight-organ sensitivity...no mind-consciousness sensitivity, nor the coming together of the three.
There is no ignorance for the impersonal-composite, no extinction of ignorance...there is no decay and death, no extinction of decay and death. There is no suffering for the impersonal-composite, no origination, no stopping, no path.
There is no cognition, no attainment, and no non-attainment for anyone.
Therefore, O Sariputra, it is because of there being no attainment that an arhat, through having developed the path culminating in the perfection of wisdom, abides without labels (discursive thoughts) and in the absence of labels has been relieved of trembling.
One has overcome what can upset and, entering the stream, in the end attains final nirvana.
All those who appear as supremely-enlightened teachers in the three periods of time -- past, present, and future -- fully awake to the utmost, right and complete enlightenment because they have developed the perfections culminating in the perfection of wisdom.
Therefore, one should know the perfection of wisdom as the great mantra, the mantra of great insight, the ultimate mantra, the unequalled mantra, uprooter of all suffering, in truth -- for how could the directly observable be otherwise? The perfection of wisdom has yielded this mantra which runs:
Gone,* gone, gone beyond, gone fully beyond, O enlightenment, so it is!
This completes the heart of perfect wisdom.
*Gone (Sanskrit, gate) literally means "gone-and-going," a grammatical form available in Sanskrit and even in German but not in English. How could something be gone and going? A river goes out to sea. Even as it is going, it has already gone; even as it is gone, it is still going. So, too, the Path of the Tathagata (the Wayfarer, both the "Welcome One," the "Well Gone One") has led out and still leads out to freedom from all suffering. See Thomas Ashley-Farrand for more on the Sanskrit and a more accurate pronunciation and translation into English. The climax of this short sutra (discourse) is its mantra: Gate, gate, paragate, parasamgate, bodhi, swaha!
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