{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_64623/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_64623","id":"gutenberg_64623","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/64623","summary":null,"tags":["Buddhism","Buddhism -- Sacred books","Category: Philosophy & Ethics","Category: Religion/Spirituality"],"text":"THE\n                            DIAMOND SUTRA\n\n                         (CHIN-KANG-CHING)\n\n                                 OR\n\n                          PRAJNA-PARAMITA\n\n                     TRANSLATED FROM THE CHINESE\n                    WITH AN INTRODUCTION AND NOTES\n\n                                 BY\n\n                          WILLIAM GEMMELL\n\n\n                               \u91d1\u525b\u7d93\n\n\n                               LONDON\n                 KEGAN PAUL, TRENCH, TR\u00dcBNER & CO., LTD.\n                BROADWAY HOUSE, 68\u201374 CARTER LANE, E.C.\n                                1912\n\n\n\n\n                            THIS VOLUME\n                     IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED TO\n                              MY FRIEND\n                         WILLIAM NIVEN, Esq.,\n                                 BY\n                            THE AUTHOR.\n\n\n\n\n                              PREFACE\n\n\nThis English version of _The Diamond Sutra_,[1] translated from the\nChinese text of Kumarajiva, owes its inception to successive\nconversations with a friend, profoundly interested in the\ninterpretation of oriental systems of philosophy. During those\nconversations renderings into English were made of numerous passages\nfrom the works of Confucius, Mencius, and Lao-Tsz.\n\nHaving surveyed briefly those fertile fields of thought, we passed, by\na natural transition, into the delectable Buddhist realm. Some\npassages from the _Chinese Sutras_, comprising texts and annotations,\nwere consecutively examined, and variously considered. Eventually it\nwas suggested that _The Diamond Sutra_, perhaps one of the most\nmetaphysical of the works ascribed to Buddha, be conveniently rendered\ninto the English language.\n\nIn order that the rather unfamiliar text might assume due\nintelligibility, parallel passages and numerous annotations were\nsubjoined, as the pleasant work of translating proceeded. The idea of\nprinting and publishing the text seemed to follow as a natural sequence.\n\nAlready there exist in the English language, renderings of _The Diamond\nSutra_ from the Sanscrit by Max M\u00fcller, and from the Chinese by Beal.\nThis new version does not seek to enter into rivalry with those\nerudite works; and a possible apology which might readily be offered\nfor the publication of this modest volume is, that the scholarly\nproductions of M\u00fcller and Beal, in their present forms, are perhaps\nslightly inaccessible to the general English reader.\n\nIt would appear that the peculiar charm of the Buddhist philosophy,\nand the remarkable purity of the Buddhist faith, are becoming more\ngenerally appreciated in Europe. Should this imperfect rendering of\n_The Diamond Sutra_, even in the faintest degree, confirm this just\nsense of appreciation, or prove a gentle incentive to further enquiry,\nthen its unexpected publication may prove to be not entirely\nunjustified.\n\nIn recording our many obligations to those scholars whose works were\nfrequently consulted, we also give expression to a hope that nothing\nof importance is omitted which ought to be gratefully acknowledged.\n\nIt may also be permissible to express admiration of the piety, and\nappreciation of the friendship, of those learned monks in Central\nChina, to whom we are everlastingly indebted for even a slight\ninitiation into those inexhaustible truths, which are alike the\nheritage, and the glory, of the disciples of Buddha. Amongst those we\nshould like to specify are Chang-Ming, the chief monk (Seng-Kwan) of\nChen-Chou prefecture, Hu-Nan, and the aged and affectionate Chioh-Hsien.\n\n                                          WM. GEMMELL.\n\n  POLLOKSHIELDS, GLASGOW,\n     _6th September_ 1912.\n\n\n[1] A learned Chinese commentator thus explained the rather striking\ntitle: \u201cAs the diamond exceeds all other precious gems in brilliance\nand indestructibility; so, also, does the wisdom of _The Diamond Sutra_\ntranscend, and shall outlive, all other knowledge known to philosophy.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                            INTRODUCTION\n\n\n_The Diamond Sutra_ is one of the most valued and widely read\nphilosophical works in Buddhist literature. It is very popular amongst\nardent Buddhists in China, and excepting the _Lotus of the Good Law_,\nand the _Leng-Yen-Ching_,[1] perhaps no other Sutra ascribed to Buddha\nis regarded by the Chinese with so great esteem.\n\nIn Japan, _The Diamond Sutra_ appears to be perused extensively by\nwhat Max M\u00fcller[2] termed the Shin-Gon sect, founded by Ko-Bo, a\ndisciple of the renowned pilgrim Hiuen-Tsang, about the year 816 A.D.\n\n_The Diamond Sutra_ was written originally in Sanscrit, and in process\nof time translated into the Tibetan, Chinese, Mongol, and Manchu\nlanguages. It represents the Mahayana school of Buddhist thought, a\nschool founded by Nagarjuna,[3] which flourished primarily at\nTchakuka, and thereafter influenced appreciably a considerable part of\nthe Buddhist Church.\n\nIn the year 1836, Csomo K\u00f6r\u00f6si published an account of the Tibetan\ntranslation, which interesting document may be consulted in Vol. XX.\nof the _Asiatic Researches_. _The Diamond Sutra_ is therein designated\n\u201cThe Sutra of Wonderful Effects,\u201d a treatise by means of which\nSakyamuni Buddha instructs Subhuti, one of his conspicuous disciples,\nin _The Prajna-Paramita_ of transcendent wisdom.[4]\n\nTo Kumarajiva,[5] a native of Kashmir, who gained distinction as a\nmonk of the later Chin dynasty[6] (A.D. 384\u2013417), is conceded the\nhonour of having first translated _The Diamond Sutra_ into the Chinese\nlanguage. Of subsequent Chinese translations, perhaps the most\nnoteworthy is the text ascribed to the scholarly _Hiuen-Tsang_, and\ncompleted about the middle of the seventh century.[7]\n\nA rendering into English of Kumarajiva\u2019s Chinese translation was\naccomplished by the Rev. S. Beal, and published in The _Journal of the\nRoyal Asiatic Society_, 1864\u201365. The text and German translation of\nthe Tibetan version were published in 1873 by M. Schmidt, in _The\nM\u00e9moires de l\u2019Acad\u00e9mie St P\u00e9tersbourg_. The Mongolian translation was\npresented by the Baron de Constadt to the library of the Institut de\nFrance. The Manchu translation is in the possession of M. de Harlez,\nwho, with the aid of the Tibetan, Manchu, and Chinese versions,\npublished a French translation of the Sanscrit text of _The Diamond\nSutra_ in the _Journal Asiatique_, 1892.[8] It has been observed[9]\nthat \u201cat first sight it may seem as if this metaphysical treatise\nhardly deserved the world-wide reputation which it has attained.\u201d\nRegarding this descriptive \u201cworld-wide reputation,\u201d devout Buddhists\nmight suggest in extenuation, that throughout many centuries, the\n\u201cspiritual wisdom\u201d of _The Diamond Sutra_ produced in countless minds\na \u201cconscious blessedness of perfect peace.\u201d This \u201cspiritual wisdom\u201d\nalso appeared to be a \u201cstrong incentive to holiness,\u201d and a grateful\ninspiration to those who had entered \u201cthe path which leads to\nNirvana.\u201d In a few renowned monasteries of Central China, our Buddhist\nfriends frequently affirmed that, by contemplating the \u201cspiritual\nwisdom\u201d of _The Diamond Sutra_, the mind would inevitably become\n\u201ctransfused with the mellow light of imperishable truth.\u201d\n\nIn the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_, Max M\u00fcller made a critical\nobservation regarding certain peculiarities of \u201c\u2018style\u2019 adopted in\nthis treatise by the Buddhist philosophers who wished to convince\ntheir hearers of the truth of their philosophy.\u201d From the Sanscrit\ntext, perhaps it is difficult to realise fully what Asvaghocha[10]\ndescribed as the \u201cpersuasiveness of Buddha\u2019s eloquence\u201d;[11] yet we may\nquite appreciate the academic instinct of Kumarajiva, whose work on\n_The Diamond Sutra_ bears evidence of a laudable endeavour to produce\na classic, which in the Chinese language is almost entirely beyond\nreproach.\n\nIn all our aspirations to translate or to interpret Buddhist texts,\nperhaps it might prove advantageous to bear in mind the significant\nwords incorporated in the _Light of Asia_:\u2014\n\n  \u201cAnd time hath blurred their script and ancient sense,\n   Which once was new and mighty, moving all.\u201d\n\nMax M\u00fcller stated[12] that _The Diamond Sutra_ represents a treatise on\n\u201cmetaphysical agnosticism,\u201d and he excused its \u201cendless repetition of\nthe same process of reasoning\u201d on the assumption, that the\nsubject-matter of the _Sutra_ was probably \u201cperfectly familiar to\nchildren and ignorant persons.\u201d\n\nBy referring to our Chinese text, we are led to suppose that _The\nDiamond Sutra_ was \u201cdelivered expressly for those who had entered the\nPath which leads to Nirvana,\u201d and for those who are \u201cattaining to the\nultimate plane of Buddhic thought.\u201d Our Chinese annotators also appear\nto be unanimous in suggesting, that the \u201cspiritual wisdom\u201d of _The\nDiamond Sutra_ is understood only in its rudimentary forms, by those\nof immature or uninitiated mind.\n\nConcerning what has been termed the \u201cagnosticism\u201d of _The Diamond\nSutra_, Sakyamuni Buddha, when he admissibly delivered the text,\nindicated clearly that there is a sense in which the \u201chighest perfect\nknowledge\u201d[13] may be referred to as \u201cunknown.\u201d Dante appears to have\nhad a similar difficulty regarding \u201cknowledge\u201d and \u201cpower\u201d wherewith\nto express the higher forms of spiritual experience; and the following\nlines, constituting the opening stanzas of _The Paradiso_, may serve\nto elucidate the Buddhist position, and make it perhaps more\nintelligible to those who are as yet unfamiliar with its peculiar\nmodes of thought:\u2014\n\n  _\u201cLa gloria di colui che tutto move\n    Per l\u2019universo penetra, e risplende\n    In una parte pi\u00f9, e meno altrove.\u201d_\n\n   _\u201cNel ciel che pi\u00f9 della sua luce prende\n    Fu\u2019io; e vidi cose che ridire\n    N\u00e8 sa n\u00e8 pu\u00f2 qual di lass\u00f9 discende;\u201d_\n\n   _\u201cPerch\u00e8, appressando s\u00e8 al suo disire,\n    Nostro intelletto[14] si profonda tanto,\n    Che retro la memoria non pu\u00f2 ire.\u201d_[15]\n\nIn order to appreciate fully the philosophy of _The Diamond Sutra_,\ndoubtless it is necessary to interpret aright the meaning of the\nBuddhist terminology. In this connection, the Sanscrit Dharma\u2014usually\nrendered into Chinese by \u201cFah,\u201d and into English by \u201cLaw\u201d\u2014appears to\nmerit our immediate attention.\n\nMax M\u00fcller, with his ample knowledge, stated that Dharma, \u201cin the\nordinary Buddhist phraseology, may be correctly rendered by Law; and\nthus the whole teaching of Buddha is named _Saddharma_\u2014\u2018The Good Law.\u2019\nWhat _The Diamond Sutra_ wishes to teach is that all objects,\ndiffering one from the other by their Dharmas, are illusive, or as we\nshould say, phenomenal and subjective, that they are, in fact, of our\nown making, the products of our own mind.\u201d With those noteworthy\nobservations, there is embodied in the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_,\nthe following interesting suggestion, that the Greek \u03b5\u1fd6\u03b4\u03bf\u03c2\u2014whatever is\nseen, form, shape, figure\u2014appears to be the equivalent of the Sanscrit\nDharma.\n\nSpence Hardy, a distinguished writer on Buddhism, made a suggestion of\nperhaps equal importance, with reference to the correct interpretation\nof Dharma. In his well-known volume _Eastern Monachism_, there occurs\nthe following relevant passage: \u201cThe second of the three great\ntreasures is called Dhammo, or in Singhalese Dharmma. This word has\nvarious meanings, but is here to be understood in the sense of _truth_.\u201d\n\nRhys Davids in his useful volume _Buddhism_, indicated that \u201cDharma\n(Pali Dhamma) is not law, but that which underlies and includes the\nlaw\u2014a word often most difficult to translate, but best rendered here\nby Truth and Righteousness.\u201d[16]\n\nPerhaps it may be opportune to remark, that had Kumarajiva regarded\n\u201cform,\u201d \u201ctruth,\u201d or \u201crighteousness,\u201d as expressing adequately the\nSanscrit Dharma, these familiar terms being obviously at his command,\nmight have been utilised at pleasure. Like the cultured Asvaghocha,\nKumarajiva may have regarded the \u201cnature\u201d of the Law as \u201cco-extensive\nwith the illimitable ocean of being\u201d;[17] and within that ample\ncompass, perhaps he thought there might synthetically be included\nthose beautifully-defined concepts \u201cform,\u201d \u201ctruth,\u201d and \u201crighteousness.\u201d\n\nChinese annotators of _The Diamond Sutra_ seldom criticise adversely\nits classic terminology, or suggest many inapplicable alternative\nrenderings. They appear to have surveyed the realm of \u201cspiritual\nwisdom\u201d enunciated by Sakyamuni Buddha, and thereafter to have become\ngreatly impressed by the thought that, in its _Essence_, it might\npossibly be inexhaustible. This may in part explain their motive for\nincorporating in the commentary a familiar passage from _Lao-Tsz_,\n\u201cInfinite truth is inexpressible\u201d[18]\u2014which in a measure illustrates\nthe appreciable difficulty of stating, in exact terms of philosophy,\nthe equivalent of the Buddhic \u201cLaw.\u201d\n\nIn our intercourse with Buddhist monks, we heard the rather engaging\nsuggestion, that the familiar Christian phrase, \u201cthe law of the spirit\nof life,\u201d contains a spiritual concept which appears to approximate\nclosely to the idea of the \u201cLaw\u201d of Buddha. Those monks seemed to\nbelieve that the \u201cLaw\u201d[19] enters quietly and operates imperceptibly\nwithin every natural and spiritual sphere; and that they have at least\na semblance of reason for their belief, the following exquisite lines\nclearly indicate:\u2014\n\n  _\u201cThis is its touch upon the blossomed rose,\n    The fashion of its hand shaped lotus-leaves.\u201d_\n\n   _\u201cThat is its painting on the glorious clouds,\n    And these its emeralds on the peacock\u2019s train.\u201d_\n\n   _\u201cOut of the dark it wrought the heart of man,\n    Out of dull shells the pheasant\u2019s pencilled neck.\u201d_\n\n   _\u201cIt spreadeth forth for flight the eagle\u2019s wings\n    What time she beareth home her prey.\u201d_\n\n   _\u201cThis is its work upon the things ye see\n    The unseen things are more; men\u2019s hearts and minds,\n    The thoughts of peoples and their ways and wills,\n    Those, too, the great Law binds.\u201d_[20]\n\nAs we consider the manifold operations of this \u201cLaw which moves to\nrighteousness,\u201d perhaps we may gradually appreciate the dignified mind\nof Sakyamuni, when he addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat is usually\nreferred to as the \u2018Law\u2019 of Buddha, is not in reality a \u2018Law\u2019\nattributive to Buddha, it is merely termed the \u2018Law\u2019 of Buddha.\u201d[21]\n\nThe Sanscrit term Samgna,[22] usually rendered into Chinese by \u201cMing\u201d\nand into English by \u201cName,\u201d seems to deserve our further attention.\nLike the term Dharma, a clear knowledge of \u201cSamgna\u201d is indispensable\nfor a correct understanding of our text.\n\nIn one of the opening passages of _The Diamond Sutra_, we find that\nSakyamuni Buddha, in reply to an enquiry by Subhuti, suggests that by\nmeans of this \u201cwisdom,\u201d enlightened disciples shall be enabled to\nbring into subjection every inordinate desire.\n\n\u201c_Every species of life, whether hatched in the egg, formed in the\nwomb, evolved from spawn, produced by metamorphosis, with or without\nform or intelligence, possessing or devoid of natural instinct\u2014from\nthese changeful conditions of being I command you to seek deliverance\nin the transcendental concept of Nirvana. Thus you shall obtain\ndeliverance from the idea of an immeasurable, innumerable, and\nillimitable world of sentient life; but, in reality there is no idea\nof a world of sentient life from which to obtain deliverance. And why?\nBecause, in the mind of an enlightened disciple, there have ceased to\nexist such arbitrary ideas of phenomena as an entity, a being, a\nliving being, or a personality._\u201d\n\nA similar process of reasoning appears to permeate the whole of _The\nDiamond Sutra_, and whether appertaining to a living being,[23] a\nvirtue,[24] a condition of mind,[25] a Buddhist kingdom,[26] or a\npersonal Buddha,[27] there is implied in each concept a spiritual\nessence, only imperfectly described, if not entirely overlooked, in\nthe ordinary use of each particular name. Shakespeare enquired,\n\u201cWhat\u2019s in a name?\u201d and in a thought inspired by the rose and its\ndelicious fragrance, suggested with Buddha, that there is little, or\nnothing, in a name which explains the real nature of an object. Even a\n\u201cparticle of dust\u201d seems, to the Buddhist mind, to embody in its\ncomposition a subtle spiritual element, entirely \u201cinscrutable,\u201d and\nquite \u201cincomprehensible.\u201d\n\nAccording to the Mahayana School of Buddhist thought, objects and\ntheir respective names are alike unreal and illusory. Objects and\nnames, in the abstract, represent merely the products of untutored and\nunenlightened minds. Nothing is real, in the sense that it is\npermanent. Everything appears to be subject to irrevocable Laws of\nchange and decay. As the things which we see are temporal, it is\nessential for our intellectual development, that we focus our thoughts\nupon the things which are Unseen and Eternal. Many minds are\nsusceptible of deception by the fleeting phenomena of life; but behind\nthese phenomena there is an essential element, entirely spiritual,[28]\nuninfluenced by arbitrary ideas or changeful conditions, which\n\u201cpervades all things,\u201d and is \u201cpure\u201d and \u201cunchanging.\u201d\n\nPerhaps it might prove of interest to quote the following outline of\nMahayana doctrine[29] prepared by Mr S. Kuroda, which was approved by\nseveral influential Buddhist communions in Japan, \u201cand published with\nauthority at Tokyo in 1893\u201d:\u2014\n\n\u201cAll things that are produced by causes and conditions are inevitably\ndestined to extinction. There is nothing that has any reality; when\nconditions come things begin to appear, when conditions cease these\nthings likewise cease to exist. Like the foam of the water, like the\nlightning flash,[30] and like the floating, swiftly vanishing clouds,\nthey are only of momentary duration. As all things have no constant\nnature of their own, so there is no actuality in pure and impure,\nrough and fine, large and small, far and near, knowable and\nunknowable, etc. On this account it is sometimes said that all things\nare nothing. The apparent phenomena around us are, however, produced\nby mental operations within us, and thus distinctions are\nestablished....\u201d\n\n\u201cAll things are included under subject and object. The subject is an\nentity in which mental operations are awakened whenever there are\nobjects, while the object consists of all things, visible and\ninvisible, knowable and unknowable, etc. The subject is not something\nthat occupies some space in the body alone, nor does the object exist\noutside of the subject....\u201d[31]\n\n\u201cThe various phenomena which appear as subjects and objects are\ndivided into two kinds:\u2014the perceptible and knowable, the\nimperceptible and unknowable.... Now, what are the imperceptible and\nunknowable phenomena?\u201d\n\n\u201cThrough the influence of habitual delusions, boundless worlds,\ninnumerable varieties of things spring up in the mind. This boundless\nuniverse and these subtle ideas are not perceptible and knowable;[32]\nonly Bodhisattvas[33] believe, understand, and become perfectly\nconvinced of these through the contemplation of Vidyamatara[34] (all\nthings are nothing but phenomena in mind); hence they are called\nimperceptible and unknowable. What are the perceptible and knowable\nphenomena?\u201d\n\n\u201cNot knowing that these imperceptible and unknowable phenomena are the\nproductions of their own minds, men from their habitual delusions\ninvest them with an existence outside of mind, as perceptible mental\nphenomena, as things visible, audible, etc. These phenomena are called\nperceptible and knowable.\u201d\n\n\u201cThough there are thus two kinds, perceptible and imperceptible\nphenomena, they occur upon the same things, and are inseparably bound\ntogether even in the smallest particle. Their difference in appearance\nis caused only by differences, both in mental phenomena and in the\ndepth of conviction. Those who know only the perceptible things,\nwithout knowing the imperceptible, are called the unenlightened by\nBuddha....\u201d\n\n\u201cIn contradistinction to the fallacious phenomena, there is the true\nEssence of Mind. Underlying the phenomena of mind, there is an\nunchanging principle which we call essence of mind.... The essence of\nmind is the entity without ideas and without phenomena, and is always\nthe same. It pervades all things, and is pure and unchanging.... The\nessence and the phenomena of mind are inseparable; and as the former\nis all-pervading and ever-existing, so the phenomena occur everywhere\nand continually, wherever suitable conditions accompany it. Thus the\nperceptible and imperceptible phenomena are manifestations of the\nessence of mind that, according to the number and nature of\nconditions, develop without restraint. All things in the universe,\ntherefore, are mind itself.\u201d\n\n\u201cBy this we do not mean that all things combine into a mental unity\ncalled mind, nor that all things are emanations from it, but that,\nwithout changing their places or appearance, they are mind itself\neverywhere. Buddha saw this truth and said that the whole universe was\nhis own. Hence it is clear that where the essence of mind is found,\nand the necessary conditions accompany it, the phenomena of mind never\nfail to appear.... Though there is a distinction between the essence\nand the phenomena of mind, yet they are nothing but one and the same\nsubstance, that is, _mind_. So we say that there exists nothing but\nmind. Though both the world of the pure and impure, and the generation\nof all things, are very wide and deep, yet they owe their existence to\nour mind.\u201d\n\nPerhaps we might appropriately indicate that however interesting, or\neven fascinating, may be the nice distinction between _mind_ and\n_essence of mind_, in relation to phenomena, so far as we are aware,\nthe distinction may be implied, but is never precisely stated, in the\ntext of _The Diamond Sutra_. Nevertheless, we may readily appreciate\nthe subtle intellectual movement, which endeavours to distinguish\nclearly between the phenomena of mind, and an unchanging principle\nunderlying it, capable of being defined as Essence of Mind. Yet we\nhave a notion that our Japanese Buddhist friends intuitively find in\ntheir beautiful concept, infinitely more of a purely spiritual nature,\nthan they attempt to express by the mere metaphysical term. Doubtless\nthey have frequently applied to it the incisive logic of Sakyamuni\nBuddha, and found simultaneously, that what is ordinarily referred to\nas \u201cessence of mind,\u201d is not in reality \u201cessence of mind,\u201d it is\nmerely termed \u201cessence of mind.\u201d[35]\n\nThe term Buddha, as defined in _The Diamond Sutra_, seems to merit a\nbrief consideration. In fulfilment of our present purpose, it seems\nalmost unnecessary to enter into questions regarding the historical\nBuddha, or to the authenticity of Sutras ascribed to his genius.\nTherefore, without indicating any particular reservation, we meantime\naccept the traditional statements that the Buddha of _The Diamond\nSutra_ was the son of Suddhodana, the husband of Yasodhara, and the\nfather of Rahula. But, incorporated with the text, there is embodied\nin the familiar term Buddha, a lofty spiritual concept, which seems to\nplace it in a category where fresh interest is imparted to the\nquestion of its interpretation.\n\nConcluding the twenty-sixth chapter of _The Diamond Sutra_, wherein\n\u201cthe spiritual[36] body is entirely differentiated from external\nphenomena\u201d Sakyamuni, in reply to an enquiry regarding the possibility\nof perceiving \u201cBuddha\u201d by means of his bodily distinctions, delivered\nthe following remarkable Gatha[37]:\u2014\n\n  _I am not to be perceived by means of any visible form,\n   Nor sought after by means of any audible sound;\n   Whosoever walks in the way of iniquity,\n   Cannot perceive the blessedness of the Lord Buddha._[38]\n\nIn the twenty-ninth chapter of _The Diamond Sutra_, wherein is\nexpounded \u201cthe majesty of the absolute,\u201d Sakyamuni declared that a\ndisciple who affirms that \u201cBuddha\u201d comes or goes, obviously has not\nunderstood the meaning of his instruction. Because, as we learn from\nour text, the idea \u201cBuddha\u201d implies neither coming from anywhere, nor\ngoing to anywhere. This purely spiritual concept of Buddha seems to\nhave seized the imagination, and inspired the writer of the\n_Yuen-Chioh Sutra_,[39] to whom are ascribed the following significant\nlines:\u2014\n\n\u201c_Like drifting clouds, like the waning moon, like ships that sail the\nocean, like shores that are washed away\u2014these are symbolic of endless\nchange. But the blessed Buddha, in his essential, absolute nature, is\nchangeless and everlasting._\u201d\n\nAgain, in the seventeenth chapter of _The Diamond Sutra_, it is\ndeclared that in the word \u201cBuddha,\u201d every Law is intelligibly\ncomprehended.[40] To Western minds, it might become necessary to resist\na natural inclination to ascribe to those elements of thought, an\ninfluence which had its inception in a nation other than the\nIndian.[41] But, lest we should appear to detract from the native glory\nof Sakyamuni Buddha, perhaps it might prove opportune to remark, that\nthere is sufficient evidence in the ancient Vedic hymns, Upanishads,\netc., to indicate clearly the probable starting-points in the\nevolution of his thought. It seems to be to the everlasting honour of\nsome early Indian philosophers, that they endeavoured carefully to\ncombine in an abstract spiritual unity, all the essential elements\nusually comprehended under the term \u201cDivinity.\u201d[42] This may in a\nmanner explain why the devout Buddhist, possessing a natural mental\ntendency\u2014induced by persistent Hindoo influence\u2014is enabled to regard\n\u201cBuddha\u201d[43] in a purely spiritual sense, as the One[44] in whom all\nLaws are comprehended and become perfectly intelligible.\n\nIn _The Diamond Sutra_ it may be observed that incidental reference is\nmade by Sakyamuni Buddha to the doctrines of Karma and Reincarnation.\nIt seems to be an old truth to which expression is given in the\n_Epistle to the Galatians_: \u201cWhatsoever a man soweth, that shall he\nalso reap. For he that soweth to his flesh shall of the flesh reap\ncorruption; but he that soweth to the Spirit shall of the Spirit reap\nlife everlasting.\u201d[45]\n\nTo the Buddhist mind, Karma is indissolubly associated with \u201cthe Law\nwhich moves to Righteousness.\u201d Thus it is accustomed to view the\ntraditional Christian idea of \u201cjustification by Faith,\u201d rather as a\ndevoutly-conceived theory, than as a reasonably-constructed truth.\n\nOccasionally we have heard a gentle affirmation, that the Western mind\nseems unwittingly inclined to confound the doctrine of Karma with a\nconcept which is almost suggestive of Fatalism. If Karma contains even\na germ of thought which corresponds to \u201cblind fatalism,\u201d the idea is\nperhaps quite felicitously expressed in the following sentences,\nculled from a valued letter written by an aged Chinese monk: \u201cKarma is\na universal Law which gently binds us to the rhythmic cycle of\nevolving life. It operates so quietly and imperceptibly that we\nscarcely are conscious of its presence. The absolute truth of Karma\ngreatly attracts our minds, which approve naturally of its consummate\njustice and perfect righteousness.\u201d\n\nThose ideas of \u201cconsummate justice\u201d and \u201cperfect righteousness,\u201d seem\nto be faithfully portrayed in the following quotation, gleaned from\n_The Light of Asia_:\u2014\n\n  \u201c_What hath been bringeth what shall be, and is,\n    Worse\u2014better\u2014last for first and first for last:\n    The Angels in the Heavens of Gladness reap\n    Fruits of a holy past._\u201d\n\nIt would therefore appear that Karma may be regarded generally, as\ncomprising the constituent moral elements derived consecutively from\nthe thoughts, words, and actions of an interminable life\u2019s cycle.\nPerhaps it is in this connection that Chinese Buddhists frequently\nassume Karma to resemble \u201ca moral fibre, indissolubly entwined in\nsentient life.\u201d It may be believed to recede far into the past, and to\nextend indefinitely into the future.\n\nAlthough realising the significance of Karma,[46] the devout Buddhist\nmind is not usually disturbed by fearful forebodings. Ostensibly, it\nhas evolved to a condition of holiness, wherein \u201cthe dross of sin\u201d is\nentirely consumed in the \u201cwhite flames\u201d of Sakyamuni\u2019s \u201ctranscendent\nwisdom\u201d and \u201cboundless love.\u201d\n\nWithin the realm of Buddhist philosophy, the doctrine of\nreincarnation is conspicuous by reason of its peculiarly attractive\ncharms. On first acquaintance, the European mind may be somewhat\n\u201cstartled\u201d to discover, that a satisfactory explanation of the\ninterminable evolution of life, is sought for by the earnest Buddhist\nin the theory of reincarnation.\n\nIn the text of _The Diamond Sutra_, it may be observed that Sakyamuni\nBuddha, in discoursing to Subhuti, referred incidentally to personal\nreminiscences, one of which belonged to a distant period of five\nhundred incarnations.\n\nAccording to the text of _The Light of Asia_, the spiritual\nconsciousness of Sakyamuni Buddha extended to a period even more\nremote, as may be judged by these remarkable lines:\u2014\n\n  \u201c_I now remember, myriad rains ago,\n    What time I roamed Him\u00e2la\u2019s hanging woods._\u201d\n\nIn considering briefly the doctrine of reincarnation, perhaps it might\nreadily be conceded to our Buddhist friends, that there were\nexemplified in the Founder of their faith, a wonderful potency of\nintellect, and a marvellous degree of spiritual intuition. Quite\nagreeable, also, may be the suggestion, that this potency of intellect\nmight become intensified, and probably \u201crendered subjective,\u201d by\n\u201cascetic exercises,\u201d abstract contemplation, and \u201cdetermined effort.\u201d\n\nSpence Hardy indicated in _Eastern Monachism_ that the Buddhist mind\nconceives of \u201cspiritual powers\u201d arising from the aforementioned\n\u201cpotency of intellect\u201d and \u201cspiritual intuition,\u201d which in other\nsystems of religion are usually regarded as partaking of the nature of\n\u201cDivinity.\u201d If it be admitted that those potential \u201cpowers\u201d are\nprobably susceptible of affiliation with the Divine Spirit, then the\nway of approach to an understanding of the Buddhist theory of\nintuition becomes, perhaps, tolerably clear. Concrete knowledge\nacquired by intuition, appears to assure our Buddhist friends of the\n_fact_ of reincarnation. But they invariably refrain from a vain\nattempt to _prove_ the \u201cfact,\u201d by an authorised\u2014and consequently\nstereotyped\u2014process of reasoning.\n\nThe unknown Hindoo author of The _Bhagavad-Gita_ revealed in simple\nphraseology the native idea of reincarnation; and suggested, happily,\nan instructive theory concerning the advent of great Teachers and\nSaviours in every age. To Krishna are ascribed the following sayings;\u2014\n\n  \u201c_Manifold the renewals of my birth\n    Have been.... When Righteousness\n    Declines, O Bharata, when Wickedness\n    Is strong, I rise, from age to age, and take\n    Visible shape, and move a man with men,\n    Succouring the good, thrusting the evil back,\n    And setting Virtue on her seat again._\u201d\n\nRhys Davids justly observed that \u201cto the pious Buddhist it is a\nconstant source of joy and gratitude that \u2018the Buddha,\u2019 not only then,\nbut in many former births, when emancipation from all the cares and\ntroubles of life was already within his reach, should again and again,\nin mere love for man, have condescended to enter the world, and live\namidst the sorrows inseparable from finite existence.\u201d[47] Perhaps in a\nmore general sense the idea of reincarnation appealed strongly to the\nimagination of Wordsworth, when he was inspired to write these\nfamiliar, yet exquisite, lines:\u2014\n\n  \u201c_Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;\n    The soul that rises with us, our life\u2019s star,\n    Hath had elsewhere its setting\n    And cometh from afar._\u201d\n\nRegarding the doctrines of Individuality and non-Individuality, which\ncharacterise the text of _The Diamond Sutra_, wherein are found to\noccur frequently Chinese equivalents for the ordinary concepts of an\nentity, a being, a living being and a personality, the following\npassage from _The Bhagavad-Gita_, suggestive almost of complete\nharmony with the Buddhist doctrine, may serve to make even a cursory\nconsideration of the subject perhaps more illuminating. The passage,\nrendered by Sir Edwin Arnold, is as follows:\u2014\n\n  \u201c_There is \u2018true\u2019 Knowledge, Learn it thou in this:\n    To see one changeless Life in all the Lives,\n    And in the Separate, One Inseparable.\n    There is imperfect Knowledge: that which sees\n    The separate existences apart,\n    And, being separated, holds them real._\u201d\n\nAs Nirvana is only referred to casually in _The Diamond Sutra_, that\nfamiliar Buddhist term hardly calls for any present detailed\nexplanation. Within a brief compass probably no better explanation may\nbe forthcoming than what is already given in this concise exposition\ngathered from _The Light of Asia_:\u2014\n\n  \u201c_If any teach Nirvana is to cease,\n    Say unto such they lie.\n    If any teach Nirvana is to live,\n    Say unto such they err; not knowing this,\n    Nor what light shines beyond their broken lamps,\n    Nor lifeless, timeless bliss._\u201d\n\nIn concluding, it might be opportune to observe, that the\n_Werthurtheile_,[48] known amongst modern theologians as characterising\nthe teaching of Albrecht Ritschl\u2014sounds, upon intimate acquaintance,\nmerely as a faint echo of the logic of Sakyamuni Buddha. Ritschl might\napply his _Werthurtheile_ to the presumed interpretation of a\n\u201cmiracle,\u201d etc. Buddha suggested by his \u201cmethod,\u201d that what is\nordinarily referred to as a \u201cmiracle,\u201d is not in _reality_ a \u201cmiracle,\u201d\ntherefore it is merely _defined_ as a \u201cmiracle.\u201d So, also, with the\nvarious dogmas which distinguish every religious creed. By many\nChinese it is regarded as an evidence of Divinity, that in the mind of\nSakyamuni Buddha there was conceived this incisive logical method; and\namongst the learned monks, profound homage is rendered, and much\nwonder expressed, because the Lord Buddha[49] did not hesitate to apply\nits principles to every doctrine synonymous with his own accredited\n\u201cLaw.\u201d\n\n  [1] \u201cThe Sutra of firm establishment in all doctrine, describing\n  clearly the secret merit and attainments in the religious life of\n  Tathagata.\u201d (Compare Edkins\u2019 _Chinese Buddhism_.)\n\n  [2] See the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_.\n\n  [3] \u201cA native of Western India who lived as a hermit under an\n  Arguna tree, whence he derived his name. Converted by Kapimala,\n  he laboured in Southern India as the fourteenth patriarch....\n  He is the chief representative, if not originator, of the\n  Mahayana school, the greatest philosopher of the Buddhists,\n  and as such styled \u2018one of the four suns which illuminate the\n  world.\u2019 His own peculiar tenets have been perpetuated by a\n  distinct metaphysical school called Madhyamika (_Lit_. Juste\n  Milieu), the characteristics of which are a sophistic nihilism\n  which dissolves every proposition into a thesis and its\n  antithesis, and denies both. \u2018The soul,\u2019 said Nagarjuna,\n  \u2018has neither existence nor non-existence, it is neither eternal\n  nor non-eternal, neither annihilated by death nor\n  non-annihilated.\u2019 The tenets of this school are condensed in\n  Nagardjuna\u2019s commentary on the Mahaprajna Paramita S\u2019astra. He\n  spent the later part of his life in a monastery at Kosala ...\n  (correct date probably A.D. 194). After his death he received\n  the title Bodhisattva. He is the author of many S\u2019atras.\u201d\n  (Compare Eitel\u2019s _Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_.)\n\n  [4] _See_ the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_.\n\n  [5] Kumarajiva was referred to as \u201cone of the four suns of\n  Buddhism\u201d (Tchatvara Suryas). He laboured in China as a most\n  active and judicious translator, and is credited with having\n  introduced a new alphabet. One of Kumarajiva\u2019s Chinese\n  designations\u2014Tung-Sheo\u2014meant that, although young in years, he\n  was ripe in the wisdom and virtues of old age. (Compare Eitel\u2019s\n  _Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_.)\n\n  [6] Beal stated in his preface to the _Kin-Kong-King_, that \u201cit\n  was translated first into the Chinese by Kumara-Jiva (A.D. 405),\n  who was brought into China from Thibet.\u201d\n\n  [7] Other translations, worthy of recognition, are those\n  attributed respectively to Bodhiruki (A.D. 509), Paramartha (A.D.\n  562), Dharmagupa, of the Sui dynasty (A.D. 589\u2013618), and I-Tsing\n  (A.D. 703). (Compare the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_.)\n\n  [8] This information may be found in Max M\u00fcller\u2019s\n  _Vagrakkhedika_, and represented, doubtless, at the period when\n  it was written, a considerable part of the knowledge available on\n  the subject.\n\n  [9] By Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [10] The Chinese Ma-Ming.\n\n  [11] Compare the Chinese text of the Chi-Sin-Pien\u2014_The\n  Awakening of Faith_.\n\n  [12] In the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_.\n\n  [13] \u201cSupreme spiritual wisdom.\u201d In Beal\u2019s _Kin-Kong-King_,\n  \u201cThe unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart.\u201d\n  (Sanscrit, \u201c_Annuttara Samyak Sambodhi Hridaya_.\u201d)\n\n  [14] According to the text of _The Diamond Sutra_, the intellect\n  of Sakyamuni Buddha sank so profoundly into the past, that he was\n  enabled to speak confidently of his experiences in previous\n  incarnations. (Compare pp. 56, 57.)\n\n  [15] From the text adopted by Mr H. Oelsner, M.A., Ph.D., for\n  _The Temple Classics_.\n\n  [16] Dr Edkins, in his scholarly work _Chinese Buddhism_, seems\n  to have regarded \u201cthe Law or body of doctrine\u201d as an accurate\n  definition of Dharma.\n\n  Dr Eitel, in his _Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_, explained Dharma\n  by \u201cFah\u201d\u2014\u201cLaw\u201d; and observed that it is \u201ca general term for\n  religious objects, especially for the Buddhistic Canon.\u201d\n\n  Mr Vincent A. Smith, in _Asoka, Buddhist Emperor of India_,\n  suggested that the Chinese _Hsiao_ (piety), and the Latin Pietas,\n  coincide with the Sanscrit term Dharma.\n\n  [17] The Chinese phrase is \u201cFah-sing-chen-ru-hai.\u201d\n\n  [18] _See_ the _Tao-Teh-Ching_. Compare, also, the statement\n  attributed to Confucius\u2014\u201cNature and Truth cannot be adequately\n  expressed.\u201d\n\n  [19] Or Dharma.\n\n  [20] Compare _The Light of Asia_. Perhaps this aspect of the \u201cLaw\u201d\n  of Buddha may be conceived of as harmonising with Shakespeare\u2019s\n  idea of a \u201cDivinity.\u201d\n\n  [21] It may be interesting to observe that, according to our\n  Chinese text, Sakyamuni Buddha evidently disclaimed any desire to\n  formulate, or to perpetuate, a stereotyped system of \u201cLaw\u201d or\n  \u201cdoctrine.\u201d Sakyamuni Buddha also made it plain, that the \u201cLaw\u201d\n  which he enunciated, was presented before the minds of his\n  disciples in the simile of a \u201craft\u201d\u2014a thing to be abandoned when\n  the mind \u201ctouched the further shore\u201d of everlasting truth. It\n  seems to be in this tentative sense that intellectual Buddhists\n  regard all ecclesiastical institutions, priesthoods, dogmas,\n  ordinances, etc.; and we have met monks who would classify\n  belief in the \u201cefficacy\u201d of religious rites or ceremonies, with\n  obnoxious forms of \u201cheresy\u201d and \u201cimmorality.\u201d (Compare Rhys\n  Davids\u2019 _Buddhism_.) With regard to the Buddhist objection\n  concerning the \u201cefficacy\u201d of religious \u201crites,\u201d compare the noble\n  sentiments expressed in the following lines, delightfully\n  rendered by Sir Edwin Arnold from the _Bhagavad-Gita_ (_The Song\n  Celestial_):\u2014\n\n    \u201cSerenity of soul, benignity,\n     Sway of the silent spirit, constant stress\n     To sanctify the nature,\u2014these things make\n     Good rite, and true religiousness of mind.\u201d\n\n  [22] Max M\u00fcller suggests that Samgna and Dharma \u201ccorrespond in many\n  respects to the Vedantic Namarupe\u201d\u2014in Chinese Ming-Seh\u2014name,\n  form, or characteristic.\n\n  [23] Compare p. 86.\n\n  [24] Compare p. 55.\n\n  [25] Compare p. 80.\n\n  [26] Compare p. 76.\n\n  [27] Compare p. 95.\n\n  [28] Some modern Japanese Buddhists appear to regard this purely\n  spiritual element as \u201cessence of mind.\u201d\n\n  [29] From the preface to _The Vagrakkhedika_.\n\n  [30] Compare p. 110.\n\n  [31] Compare the interesting dialogue entitled _The Enlightenment\n  of Ananda_, in which Sakyamuni instructs his distinguished\n  disciple in ideas concerning the subjective and objective\n  phenomena of mind.\n\n  [32] Compare pp. 102, 103.\n\n  [33] Bodhisattvas\u2014greatly enlightened disciples.\n\n  [34] _Vidya Matra Siddhi_, a philosophical work by Vasubandhu, a\n  native of Radjagriha, and disciple of Nagarjuna, founder of the\n  Mahayana school. (Compare Eitel\u2019s _Handbook of Chinese\n  Buddhism_.)\n\n  [35] Compare the process of reasoning which permeates the entire\n  _Diamond Sutra_. We hope no injustice is done to our Japanese\n  friends, by applying to their beautiful concept \u201cessence of\n  mind,\u201d this familiar logical method of Sakyamuni Buddha.\n\n  [36] Fah-Shen\u2014the Law, or spiritual body. Compare Shen-Shen, the\n  term usually employed in the Chinese rendering of the New\n  Testament Scriptures to denote the spiritual body.\n\n  [37] Gatha\u2014usually a Scripture verse comprising four lines.\n\n  [38] Compare the following lines from _The Song Celestial_.\u2014\n\n    \u201cI am not known\n     To evil-doers, ... nor to those\n     Whose mind is cheated by the show of things.\u201d\n\n  [39] In Buddhist phraseology, Yuen-Chioh means the study, by means\n  of contemplation, of primary spiritual causes.\n\n  [40] Compare Beal\u2019s rendering in the Kin-Kong-King, \u201cTathagata is\n  the explanation as it were of all systems of Law.\u201d See also _The\n  Book of the Manifesting of the One and Manifold_ in _The Song\n  Celestial_, the verse commencing:\u2014\n\n    \u201cThou, of all souls the Soul!\n     The comprehending whole!\u201d\n\n  In conversation with Chinese monks regarding the meaning of this\n  impressive passage, we found that they invariably approved of a\n  suggested rendering, that \u201cBuddha is the _One_ in whom all Laws\n  become intelligible.\u201d\n\n  [41] Compare the observations made by Sir Edwin Arnold in his\n  preface to _The Song Celestial_, regarding the date when that\n  famous Brahmanic poem was composed; and the gentle indication\n  that in its teaching may be found \u201cechoes of the lessons of\n  Galilee, and of the Syrian incarnation.\u201d\n\n  [42] An instructive exposition of this subject by J. Muir, Esq.,\n  entitled _The Progress of the Vedic Religion towards Abstract\n  Conceptions of the Deity_, may be consulted in the _Jour.\n  R.A.S.,_ 1864\u201365.\n\n  [43] In colloquial Chinese there is a noteworthy saying, that\n  \u201cBuddha is simply a condition of mind.\u201d This \u201ccondition of mind\u201d\n  is beautifully expressed by a \u201cclassic\u201d couplet, which, rendered\n  into English, means \u201cas pure as the image of the moon in a\n  river,\u201d and \u201cas lovely as the bloom of a flower in a mirror\u201d\n  (Shui-Li-Ch\u00ef-Y\u00fceh, Ching-Li-Ch\u00ef-Wha).\n\n  [44] Compare the beautifully expressed sentiment of Akhnaton,\n  Pharaoh of Egypt, concerning \u201cthe One in whom all Laws are\n  intelligibly comprehended.\u201d \u201cThere is no poverty for him who hath\n  Thee in his heart.\u201d (See _Life and Times of Akhnaton_.)\n\n  [45] Rhys Davids, when he expounded the doctrine of Karma in\n  _Buddhism_, clearly indicated the Buddhist position, \u201cthat\n  whatever a man reaps, that he must also have sown.\u201d Chinese\n  Buddhists appear to be assured, \u201cthat if a man reaps sorrow,\n  disappointment, pain, he himself, and no other, must at some time\n  have sown folly, error, sin; and if not in this life, then in\n  some former birth. Where then, in the latter case, is the\n  identity between him who sows and him who reaps? _In that which\n  alone remains_ when a man dies, and the constituent parts of the\n  sentient being are dissolved; in the result, namely, of his\n  action, speech, and thought, in his good or evil _Karma_\n  (literally his \u2018doing\u2019) which _does not_ die.\u201d\n\n  [46] In the concept Karma, Sakyamuni Buddha suggested the\n  revealing of a _moral cause_ which explained the otherwise\n  insoluble riddle of the evident inequalities, and consequent\n  sufferings of life.\n\n  [47] Compare _Buddhism_.\n\n  [48] \u201cThe much-canvassed Ritschlian doctrine of the _Worth_\u2014or\n  \u2018value-judgments,\u2019 in which the peculiarity of religious\n  knowledge is supposed to lie.\u201d For the introduction of the term\n  into theology we are indebted to Herrmann, _Die Religion, etc._,\n  and Kaftan, _Das Wesen_. _See_ Orr\u2019s, _The Ritschlian Theology and\n  The Evangelical Faith_.\n\n  [49] It may be observed in this English version of _The Diamond\n  Sutra_, that the Chinese term _Fuh_, in deference to our Oriental\n  friends, is invariably rendered \u201cLord Buddha\u201d\u2014a designation\n  consonant with _their_ concepts of devotion and piety.\n\n\n\n\n                         THE DIAMOND SUTRA\n\n[Chapter 1]\n\n\nThus have I heard[1] concerning our Lord Buddha:\u2014\n\nUpon a memorable occasion, the Lord Buddha[2] sojourned in the kingdom\nof Shravasti,[3] lodging in the grove of Jeta,[4] a park within the\nimperial domain, which Jeta, the heir-apparent, bestowed upon\nSutana,[5] a benevolent Minister of State, renowned for his charities\nand benefactions.\n\nWith the Lord Buddha, there were assembled together twelve hundred and\nfifty mendicant disciples,[6] all of whom had attained to eminent\ndegrees of spiritual wisdom.\n\nAs it approached the hour for the morning meal, Lord Buddha, Honoured\nof the Worlds,[7] attired himself in a mendicant\u2019s robe,[8] and\nbearing an alms-bowl in his hands, walked towards the great city of\nShravasti, which he entered to beg for food.[9] Within the city he\nproceeded from door to door,[10] and received such donations as the\ngood people severally bestowed.[11] Concluding this religious\nexercise, the Lord Buddha returned to the grove of Jeta, and partook\nof the frugal meal[12] received as alms. Thereafter he divested\nhimself of his mendicant\u2019s robe, laid aside the venerated\nalms-bowl,[13] bathed his sacred feet, and accepted the honoured seat\nreserved for him by his disciples.\n\n  [1] It is generally supposed that the familiar introductory\n  phrase, \u201cThus have I heard,\u201d was adopted by the writers or\n  editors of Buddhist Sutras in order that their scriptures might\n  assume the same high degree of authority as the Brahmanas and the\n  Mantras, \u201cas forming the \u2018S\u2019ruti\u2019 or sacred revelation of the\n  followers of the Vedas.\u201d (Compare Max M\u00fcller\u2019s _History of\n  Sanscrit Literature_ and the valuable note in Beal\u2019s\n  _Kin-Kong-King_)\n\n  [2] \u201cThe term (Buddha) means \u2018every intelligent being who has\n  thrown off the bondage of sense perception and self, knows the\n  utter unreality of all phenomena, and is ready to enter\n  Nirvana.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [3] Shravasti is variously described as the city (or kingdom) of\n  philosophy, of good doctrine, of abundant virtue, and as the\n  abode of immortals. It was situated on the north bank of the\n  Ganges, about 200 miles above Benares. Much interesting\n  information regarding the sacred city Shravasti, is fortunately\n  preserved in the instructive records of the distinguished Chinese\n  pilgrims, _Fa-Hien_ and _Hiuen-Tsang_.\n\n  [4] \u201cPrasenajit, the king of Shravasti, was very favourable to\n  the Buddhist religion. It was his minister who bought the garden\n  of Jeta from the prince of that name, and erected in it a\n  residence for Buddha (_see_ Julien\u2019s _Memoirs sur les Contr\u00e9es\n  Occidentales_). Many of the Sutras attributed to Buddha are said\n  to have been delivered here. _Hiuen-Tsang_ observed the remains\n  of the monastery formerly standing on the site of the garden of\n  Jeta, 2 miles below the city.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Buddhism_. Edkins.\n\n  [5] \u201cA person of extraordinary piety and goodness. One of the\n  former Djatakas of Sakyamuni when he was a prince, and forfeited\n  the throne by liberality in almsgiving.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese\n  Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [6] The Chinese text is _ta-pi-k\u2019u_\u2014greater disciples. Our Chinese\n  editor of _The Diamond Sutra_ suggests that there are different\n  grades of discipleship. The \u201clesser disciples\u201d are those who have\n  abandoned every form of vice, and are striving after virtue. The\n  \u201cgreater disciples\u201d are those to whom virtue has become\n  spontaneous, and who have ceased to strive after its attainment.\n\n  [7] A title conferred by Chinese Buddhists upon the founder of\n  their faith, believing him to be a Teacher and Saviour whose\n  merit is acclaimed in worlds beyond our own.\n\n  [8] Having taken vows of poverty, a robe is one of the following\n  eight articles which Buddhist monks are permitted to possess:\n  three garments of different descriptions, a girdle for the loins,\n  an alms-bowl, a razor, a needle, and a water-strainer.\n\n  [9] Buddha has said, \u201cthe wise priest never asks for anything; he\n  disdains to beg; it is a proper thing for which he carries the\n  alms-bowl; and this is his only mode of solicitation. But when he\n  is sick, he is permitted to ask for any medicine that he may\n  require, without being guilty of any transgression.\u201d\u2014_Eastern\n  Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [10] Concerning the manner of begging an alms: \u201cAs a bee,\n  injuring not the flower, or its colour, or its scent, flies away,\n  taking the nectar, so let a sage go through the\n  village.\u201d\u2014_Questions of King Milinda_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n  [11] \u201cBy many of the Buddhists it is considered to be an act of\n  great merit to make a vow never to partake of food without giving\n  a portion to the priests.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [12] \u201cThe fifth of the twelve sacred observances of the Chinese\n  is called in Sanscrit Khaloupas\u2019 Waddhaktinka, and is said to\n  enjoin that the food obtained by the mendicant is to be divided\n  into three portions: one to be given to any person whom he sees\n  to be suffering from hunger, and a second to be carried to some\n  quiet place in the forest, and placed upon a stone for the birds\n  and beasts. If he does not meet with any one who is in want, he\n  is not to eat the whole of the food that he has received, but\n  two-thirds only. By this means his body will be lighter and more\n  active.... He will be able readily to enter upon the practice of\n  all good works. When any one eats too greedily ... nothing is\n  more harmful to the development of reason.\u201d (Quotation from\n  Remusat\u2019s _Relation des Royaumes Buddhiques_, in Spence Hardy\u2019s\n  _Eastern Monachism_.)\n\n  [13] \u201cThe alms-bowl which Sakyamuni used is considered a sacred\n  relic, and to be used by each of the hundred Buddhas of the\n  present kalpa. It was first preserved in Vais\u2019ali, whence its\n  emigrations began to Gandhara, to Persia, to China, to Ceylon, to\n  Madhyades\u2019a, up into the heaven Tuchita, and down to the bottom\n  of the ocean, where it is to await (in the palace of Sagara) the\n  advent of Meitreya Buddha.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 2]\n\nUpon that occasion, the venerable Subhuti[1] occupied a place in the\nmidst of the assembly. Rising from his seat, with cloak arranged in\nsuch manner that his right shoulder was disclosed, Subhuti knelt upon\nhis right knee, then pressing together the palms of his hands, he\nrespectfully raised them towards Lord Buddha, saying: \u201cThou art of\ntranscendent wisdom, Honoured of the Worlds! With wonderful\nsolicitude, Thou dost preserve in the faith, and instruct in the Law,\nthis illustrious assembly of enlightened disciples.[2] Honoured of the\nWorlds! if a good disciple, whether man or woman,[3] seeks to obtain\nsupreme spiritual wisdom,[4] what immutable Law shall sustain the mind\nof that disciple, and bring into subjection every inordinate desire?\u201d[5]\n\nThe Lord Buddha replied to Subhuti, saying: \u201cTruly a most excellent\ntheme! As you affirmed, I preserve in the faith, and instruct in the\nLaw, this illustrious assembly of enlightened disciples. Attend\ndiligently unto me, and I shall enunciate a Law whereby the mind of a\ngood disciple, whether man or woman, seeking to obtain supreme\nspiritual wisdom,[6] shall be adequately sustained, and enabled to\nbring into subjection[7] every inordinate desire.\u201d Subhuti was\ngratified, and signified glad consent. Thereupon, the Lord Buddha,\nwith majesty of person,[8] and perfect articulation, proceeded to\ndeliver the text of this Scripture,[9] saying:\u2014\n\n  [1] \u201cA famous dialectician noted for the subtilty of his\n  intellect. He was a native of Shravasti, a contemporary of\n  Sakyamuni, and figures as the principal interlocutor in the\n  _Prajna-Paramita_.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [2] \u201c_Pu-Sa_ or Bodhisattva, literally he whose essence (Sattva)\n  has become intelligence (Bodhi). A being that has only once more\n  to pass through human existence before it attains to Buddhaship.\n  The third class of Buddhistic saints comprehending all who are\n  candidates for Buddhaship as well as those Buddhas who are not yet\n  perfected by entrance into Nirvana. They are also styled\n  Mahasattvas (_Mo-Ho-Sa_). The state of a Bodhisattva is considered\n  as one of the three means of conveyance to Nirvana.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of\n  Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [3] \u201cWomen began to ask and received permission to take the\n  vows. They were called in India Bikshuni.... Ni is the Sanscrit\n  feminine termination of Bikshu. These female mendicants were\n  subject to the same code of regulations as the males.\u201d\u2014_Chinese\n  Buddhism_. Edkins.\n\n  [4] \u201c_ho-ru-to-lo-san-mao-san-pu-ti_ (Anuttara Samyak Sambodhi),\n  literally unexcelled perfect intelligence. Another more\n  painstaking but arbitrary explanation is untarnished and\n  unparalleled (Nuttara) correct view (Sam) and complete wisdom\n  (Myak) with complete possession of the highest sentiments\n  (Sambodhi). This term, one of the sacred phrases of most frequent\n  occurrence, signifies the characteristics which every Buddha\n  possesses.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  \u201cThe unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_.\n  Beal.\n\n  [5] \u201cWhen a man\u2019s heart is disposed in accordance with his roaming\n  senses, it snatches away his spiritual knowledge as the wind does\n  a ship on the waves.\u201d\u2014_Bhagavad-Gita_. J. Cockburn Thomson.\n\n  [6] Chinese commentators are careful to explain that the title of\n  this Sutra, _Po-ro-po-lo-mi_ (_Prajna-Paramita_), means Wisdom, by\n  which we are enabled to reach the other shore (Nirvana).\n\n  [7] \u201cBringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of\n  Christ.\u201d\u2014The Apostle Paul.\n\n  [8] Compare the Chinese text of the famous Buddhist tract entitled\n  _Awakening of Faith_, written by _Ma-Ming_ (Asvaghocha), \u201cwho\n  flourished A.D. 50, under the Indo-Scythic king, Gondophares.\u201d\n\n  [9] \u201cThis work contains the germ of the larger compilation\n  _Prajna-Paramita_ in one hundred and twenty volumes. The\n  abstractions of Buddhist philosophy, which were afterwards\n  ramified to such a formidable extent as these numbers indicate,\n  are here found in their primary form, probably as they were taught\n  by Sakyamuni himself.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Buddhism_. Edkins.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 3 and 4]\n\n \u201cBy this wisdom shall enlightened disciples be enabled to bring into\nsubjection every inordinate desire! Every species of life, whether\nhatched in the egg, formed in the womb, evolved from spawn, produced\nby metamorphosis, with or without form or intelligence, possessing or\ndevoid of natural instinct\u2014from these changeful[1] conditions of\nbeing, I command you to seek deliverance,[2] in the transcendental\nconcept of Nirvana.[3] Thus, you shall be delivered from an\nimmeasurable, innumerable, and illimitable world of sentient life;\nbut, in reality, there is no world of sentient life from which to\nseek deliverance. And why? Because, in the minds[4] of enlightened\ndisciples there have ceased to exist such arbitrary concepts of\nphenomena as an entity, a being, a living being, or a personality.\u201d[5]\n\n\u201cMoreover, Subhuti, an enlightened disciple ought to act spontaneously\nin the exercise of charity,[6] uninfluenced by sensuous phenomena[7]\nsuch as sound, odour, taste, touch, or Law.[8] Subhuti, it is\nimperative that an enlightened disciple, in the exercise of charity,\nshould act independently of phenomena. And why? Because, acting\nwithout regard to illusive forms of phenomena, he will realise in the\nexercise of charity, a merit inestimable and immeasurable.\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, what think you? Is it possible to estimate the distance\ncomprising the illimitable universe of space?\u201d[9] Subhuti replied,\nsaying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! It is impossible to estimate the\ndistance comprising the illimitable universe of space.\u201d The Lord\nBuddha thereupon discoursed, saying: \u201cIt is equally impossible to\nestimate the merit[10] of an enlightened disciple, who discharges the\nexercise of charity, unperturbed by the seductive influences of\nphenomena. Subhuti, the mind of an enlightened disciple ought thus to\nbe indoctrinated.\u201d[11]\n\n  [1] \u201cThe first of six Paramita\u2014charity, morality, endurance,\n  energy, contemplation, wisdom\u2014cardinal virtues, or means of\n  progressing towards Nirvana. The virtue of religious charity,\n  implying all kinds of self-denying acts, almsgiving, sacrifice,\n  etc.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [2] \u201cThe kind of craving excitement, which follows on sensation,\n  and causes the delusion of self and the lust of life\u2014creating\n  either delight in the objects that present themselves, or an eager\n  desire to supply a felt want\u2014this eager yearning thirst growing\n  into sensuality, desire of future life, or love of the present\n  world, is the origin of all suffering. Sorrow and suffering will\n  be overcome, extinguished, if this \u2018thirst\u2019 be quenched, this lust\n  of life destroyed. \u2018He who overcomes this contemptible thirst,\n  sufferings fall off from him like water drops from a lotus\n  leaf.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n  [3] _Fah_, the Chinese equivalent of Dharma\u2014Law, appears to be a\n  generic term for all religious doctrines incidental to Buddhism.\n  The Buddhas are invariably referred to as _Fah-Wang_\u2014Princes of\n  the Law. The Sutras are frequently alluded to as _Fah-Pao_\u2014Jewels\n  of the Law. The monks are usually designated _Fah-Men_\u2014Disciples\n  of the Law. The interminable process of transmigration is depicted\n  by _Fah-Luen_\u2014Wheel of the Law. The dissemination of Buddhistic\n  tenets is typified by _Chuan-Fah-Luen_\u2014Revolving Wheel of the Law.\n  Religious designations consonant with the idea of Law, are held in\n  high esteem amongst the Buddhist ecclesiastical orders. Of such\n  are _Fah-Ai_\u2014Lover of the Law; _Fah-Lien_\u2014Approved in the Law;\n  _Fah-Ming_\u2014Brightness of the Law (compare Eitel\u2019s _Handbook of\n  Chinese Buddhism_.\n\n  [4] \u201cSubhuti, can the western, or southern, or northern regions of\n  space be measured? or the four midway regions of space (_i.e._,\n  N.E., S.E., S.W., N.W.), or the upper and lower regions: can\n  either of these be accurately measured or defined?\u201d\u2014\n  _Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [5] \u201cOf all the modes of acquiring merit, that of almsgiving is\n  the principal; it is the chief of the virtues that are requisite\n  for the attainment of the Buddhaship; it is the first of the four\n  great virtues, _viz_.: almsgiving, affability, promoting the\n  prosperity of others, and loving others as ourselves; it is\n  superior to the observance of the precepts\u2014the path that all the\n  Buddhas have trod\u2014a lineage to which they have all belonged....\n  The giving of alms softens the mind, and brings it into\n  subjection, by which the ascetic is prepared for the exercise of\n  the rites he is afterwards to practise.... The faithful are\n  required to give in alms of that which they have honestly earned\n  by their own personal exertions.... There must be a willing mind\n  respecting that which they offer, from the time that the intention\n  of making the offering is formed to the time when it is presented,\n  as well as after it has been made.... When the gift, the giver,\n  and the receiver are all pure, the reward is proportionately\n  great.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [6] \u201cLet his livelihood be kindliness,\n       His conduct righteousness,\n       Then in the fulness of gladness\n       He will make an end of grief.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n  [1] Discoursing upon illusory ideas concerning the world of\n  sentient life, the Lord Buddha stated that these were already\n  eliminated from the minds of his enlightened disciples. The\n  reference in the text is to disciples in process of instruction,\n  and these the Lord Buddha commanded to relegate to oblivion the\n  deceptive idea of the reality of sentient life, to dissolve within\n  their minds its nauseous dregs, to put away its horrid stain, and\n  cause it to vanish like snow in a glowing furnace.\u2014_Chinese\n  Annotation_.\n\n  \u201cThe very nature of phenomena demonstrates that they must have had\n  a beginning, and that they must have an end.\u201d\u2014_Lay Sermons_.\n  Huxley.\n\n  [2] By adopting the term _Mieh-Tu_, Chinese Buddhists appear well\n  prepared to refute a prevalent notion that their concept of\n  deliverance is equivalent to annihilation. _Mieh_ usually means\n  annihilation, but _Tu_\u2014to cross over in safety, is the antithesis\n  of annihilation. After due consideration of the significance of\n  the terminology, perhaps it will be generally conceded that\n  English renderings of _Mieh-Tu_ as Deliverance or Salvation, are\n  not without some degree of justification.\n\n  \u201cAll these I command and exhort to enter on the state of the\n  unsurpassed Nirvana (Pari Nirvana), and for ever to free\n  themselves from the conditions of being to which they severally\n  belong.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [3] \u201cThe dewdrop slips into the shining sea.\u201d\u2014_Light of Asia_.\n  Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  \u201cThe dewdrop re-becomes the shining sea.\u201d\u2014_Chioh-Hsien_ (a\n  Chinese monk).\n\n  \u201cThe popular exoteric systems agree in defining Nirvana negatively\n  as a state of absolute exemption from the circle of transmigration\n  as a state of entire freedom from all forms of materiality, from\n  all passion and exertion, mentally and emotionally, a state of\n  indifference therefore alike to joy and pain. Positively they\n  define Nirvana as the highest stage of spiritual liberty and\n  bliss, as absolute immortality through absorption of the soul into\n  itself. Individuality is preserved, and Buddhas who have entered\n  Nirvana occasionally reappear again to intervene on behalf of the\n  faithful.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [4] The able commentator _Ti-Ching_ observes that many people,\n  like Ananda\u2014a favourite disciple of Buddha\u2014are in error when they\n  suppose their minds to be located within their material bodies.\n  This interesting aspect of Buddhist psychology is made tolerably\n  clear in the familiar narrative known generally as _The\n  Enlightenment of Ananda_. Therein the Lord Buddha endeavours to\n  prove that as objects within ourselves are invisible, the\n  illuminating mind cannot be asserted to inhabit exclusively our\n  material bodies. He also indicates that it cannot be affirmed to\n  occupy any appointed sphere outside ourselves, it being usually\n  understood that we observe only those objects by which we are\n  environed. The Lord Buddha also controverts the theory, enunciated\n  by Ananda, that the mind is secreted somewhere within the organs\n  of sense; which assumption is based upon a notion that the seeing\n  eye, and differentiating mind, are mysteriously correlated.\n\n  [5] \u201cThis belief in self is regarded so distinctly as a heresy\n  that two well-known words in Buddhist terminology have been coined\n  on purpose to stigmatise it. The first of these is Sakkayaditthi,\n  \u2018the heresy of individuality,\u2019 the name given to this belief as\n  one of the three primary delusions (the others being doubt, and\n  belief in the efficacy of rites or ceremonies) which must be\n  abandoned at the very first stage of the Buddhist path of\n  holiness. The other is Attavada, \u2018the doctrine of soul or self,\u2019\n  which is the name given to it as a part of the chain of causes\n  which lead to the origin of evil. It is there classed\u2014with\n  sensuality, heresy (as to eternity and annihilation), and belief\n  in the efficacy of rites and ceremonies\u2014as one of the four\n  Upadanas, which are the immediate cause of birth, decay, death,\n  sorrow, lamentation, pain, grief, and despair.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. T. W.\n  Rhys Davids.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 5]\n\nThe Lord Buddha interrogated Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Is it\npossible that by means of his physical body,[1] the Lord Buddha may be\nclearly perceived?\u201d Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cNo! Honoured of the\nWorlds! It is impossible that by means of his physical body, the Lord\nBuddha may be clearly perceived. And why? Because, what the Lord\nBuddha referred to as a physical body, is in reality not merely a\nphysical body.\u201d Thereupon the Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying:\n\u201cEvery form or quality of phenomena is transient and illusive. When\nthe mind realises that the phenomena of life are not real phenomena,\nthe Lord Buddha may then be clearly perceived.\u201d[2]\n\n  [1] \u201cPrimitive Buddhism distinguished a material, visible, and\n  perishable body (_Seh-Shen_\u2014_lit_., the Body of Form) and an\n  immaterial, invisible, immortal body (_Fah-Shen_\u2014_lit_., the Body\n  of Law) as the constituents of every personality. This\n  dichotomism, taught, as it seems by Sakyamuni himself, was ever\n  afterwards retained as regards the nature of ordinary mortals. But\n  in later ages, when the combined influence of Sivaism, which\n  ascribed to Siva a threefold body (called _Dharmakaya_\u2014essence,\n  _Sambhogakaya_\u2014reflex intelligence, and _Nirmanakaya_\u2014practical\n  issue of his intelligence), and that of Brahmanism with its\n  Trimurti, gave rise to the Buddhist dogma of a Triratna\n  (_San-Pao_\u2014the precious Buddha, the precious Law, and the precious\n  Priesthood), trichotomism was taught with regard to the nature of\n  all Buddhas. Again they ascribed to every Buddha a triple form of\n  existence, viewing him: [1] as having entered Nirvana; [2] as\n  existing in reflex in the world of form; [3] as existing or having\n  existed on earth.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [2] The spiritual Buddha must be realised within the mind,\n  otherwise there can be no true perception of the Lord\n  Buddha.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 6]\n\nSubhuti enquired of the Lord Buddha, saying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds!\nIn future ages, when this scripture is proclaimed, amongst those\nbeings destined to hear, shall any conceive within their minds a\nsincere, unmingled faith?\u201d[1]\n\nThe Lord Buddha replied to Subhuti, saying: \u201cHave no such apprehensive\nthought! Even at the remote period of five centuries subsequent to the\nNirvana of the Lord Buddha,[3] there will be many disciples observing\nthe monastic vows,[3] and assiduously devoted to good works.[4] These,\nhearing this scripture proclaimed, will believe in its immutability,\nand similarly conceive within their minds a pure, unmingled faith.\nBesides, it is important to realise that faith[5] thus conceived, is\nnot exclusively in virtue of the insular thought of any particular\nBuddha, but because of its affiliation with the concrete[6] thoughts\nof myriad Buddhas, throughout infinite ages. Therefore, amongst the\nbeings destined to hear this Scripture proclaimed, many, by momentary\nreflection, will intuitively[7] conceive a pure and holy faith.\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, the Lord Buddha by his prescience,[8] is perfectly cognisant\nof all such potential disciples, and for these also there is reserved\nan immeasurable merit. And why? Because, the minds of these disciples\nwill not revert to such arbitrary concepts of phenomena as an entity,\na being, a living being, a personality, qualities or ideas coincident\nwith Law, or existing apart from the idea of Law. And why? Because,\nassuming the permanency and reality of phenomena, the minds of these\ndisciples would be involved in such distinctive ideas as an entity, a\nbeing, a living being, and a personality. Affirming the permanency and\nreality of qualities or ideas coincident with Law, their minds would\ninevitably be involved in resolving these same definitions.\nPostulating the inviolate nature of qualities or ideas which have an\nexistence apart from the Law, there yet remain to be explained these\nabstruse distinctions\u2014an entity, a being, a living being, and a\npersonality. Therefore, enlightened disciples ought not to affirm the\npermanency or reality of qualities or ideas coincident with Law, nor\npostulate as being of an inviolate nature, qualities or ideas having\nan existence apart from the concept of Law.\u201d\n\n\u201cThus, we are enabled to appreciate the significance of those words\nwhich the Lord Buddha invariably repeated to his followers: \u2018You\ndisciples must realise that the Law which I enunciated, was presented\nbefore your minds in the simile of a raft.[9] If the Law\u2014having\nfulfilled its function in bearing you to the other shore\n(Nirvana)[10]\u2014with its coincident qualities and ideas must inevitably\nbe abandoned,[11] how much more inevitable must be the abandonment of\nqualities or ideas which have an existence apart from the Law?\u2019\u201d\n\n  [1] Compare the question addressed by Jesus to His disciples,\n  \u201cWhen the Son of Man cometh, shall He find faith on the earth?\u201d\n\n  [2] \u201cIn fulness of the times\u2014it fell\n       The Buddha died, the great Tathagata,\n       Even as a man \u2019mongst men, fulfilling all:\n       And how a thousand thousand lakhs since then\n       Have trod the Path which leads whither he went\n       Unto Nirvana, where the Silence lives.\u201d\u2014_The\n       Light of Asia_. Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [3] When a novice seeks admission to a monastic order, an\n  ordination service is conducted by a chapter of monks, at which\n  the following vows are administered. \u201cI take the vow not to\n  destroy life. I take the vow not to steal. I take the vow to\n  abstain from impurity. I take the vow not to lie. I take the vow\n  to abstain from intoxicating drinks, which hinder progress and\n  virtue. I take the vow not to eat at forbidden times. I take the\n  vow to abstain from dancing, singing, music, and stage plays. I\n  take the vow not to use garlands, scents, unguents, or ornaments.\n  I take the vow not to use a high or broad bed. I take the vow not\n  to receive gold or silver.\u201d (Compare _Buddhism_. T. W. Rhys Davids.)\n\n  [4] \u201cThe primary motive for doing good, and worshipping Buddha,\n  according to these scriptures (the Buddha scriptures of Nipal), is\n  the hope of obtaining absorption into the nature of the god, and\n  being freed from transmigrations.\u201d\u2014_China_. Sir John Francis Davis.\n\n  [5] \u201cAnd is thy faith so much to give,\n       Is it so hard a thing to see,\n       That the Spirit of God, whate\u2019er it be,\n       The Law that abides and changes not, ages long,\n       The Eternal and Nature-Born\u2014these things be strong?\u201d\u2014_The\n  Bacche_. Euripides (translated by Gilbert Murray).\n\n  [6] \u201cThe elements of faith, like the flowers, appear to have their\n  roots in eternity.\u201d\u2014_Chang-Ming_ (a Chinese monk).\n\n  [7] \u201cWere it possible for a Yogi and a Rahat from India, a Greek\n  philosopher from one of the schools holding the power of\n  intuition, an ascetic from the wilds of Syria or the mountains of\n  Egypt, a heretic from the school at Alexandria, a monk from one of\n  the monasteries of Europe, a schoolman of the Middle Ages, and a\n  modern German metaphysician of the school of Schelling to meet\n  together, and were it possible for them to forget their sectarian\n  subtleties and nice distinctions, they would find that there was a\n  vast mass of speculation about the main principles of which they\n  were agreed. They would be of one mind relative to the four\n  following propositions: [1] That there is an objective potency of\n  intellect; [2] That this potency can be rendered subjective by\n  concentrated thought, ascetic exercises, or determined effort; [3]\n  That this potency can only be acquired by the initiated; [4] That\n  the initiated may enlarge this potency to a limitless extent. As\n  to the efficient cause of the potency, there would be a difference\n  of opinion; some would ascribe it to intuition alone, while others\n  would attribute it to an alliance with higher spirits or with God;\n  but of its existence there would be no doubt.\u201d\u2014_Eastern\n  Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [8] \u201cFor now I know, by what within me stirs,\n       That I shall teach compassion unto men\n       And be a speechless world\u2019s interpreter.\u201d\u2014_The Light of\n  Asia_. Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [9] \u201c(By me) is made a well-constructed raft,\u2014so said Bhagavat\u2014I\n  have passed over (to Nibbana), I have reached the further bank,\n  having overcome the torrent (of passions); there is no (further)\n  use for a raft: therefore if thou like, rain, O\n  sky!\u201d\u2014_Sutta-Nipata_. Fausb\u00f6ll.\n\n  [10] Compare an idea expressed by the apostle Paul, \u201cwherefore the\n  law was our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ.\u201d Note, also, the\n  similarity of a metaphor employed in Christian anthology, \u201cWe\n  shall meet on that beautiful \u2018shore.\u2019\u201d\n\n  [11] \u201cOur little systems have their day,\n         They have their day and cease to be;\n         They are but broken lights of Thee,\n       But thou, O Lord, art more than they.\u201d\u2014Tennyson.\n\n  \u201cReposing on eternal truth ... when thy mind shall have worked\n  through the snares of delusion, then wilt thou attain to\n  indifference to the doctrines, which are either (already)\n  received, or have yet to be received.\u201d\u2014_Bhagavad-Gita_. J.\n  Cockburn Thomson.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 7]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Has the\nLord Buddha really attained to supreme spiritual wisdom? Or has he a\nsystem of doctrine which can be specifically formulated?\u201d\n\nSubhuti replied, saying: \u201cAs I understand the meaning of the Lord\nBuddha\u2019s discourse, he has no system of doctrine which can be\nspecifically formulated; nor can the Lord Buddha express, in explicit\nterms, a form of knowledge which can be described as supreme spiritual\nwisdom. And why? Because, what the Lord Buddha adumbrated in terms of\nthe Law, is transcendental and inexpressible. Being a purely spiritual\nconcept, it is neither consonant with Law, nor synonymous with\nanything apart from the Law. Thus[1] is exemplified the manner by\nwhich wise disciples and holy Buddhas, regarding intuition[2] as the\nLaw of their minds, severally attained to different planes of\nspiritual wisdom.\u201d[3]\n\n  [1] \u201cSo it appears that all the sages and wise men who have lived\n  have all adopted this mode of diffusive doctrine [doctrine which\n  admits of no particular distinction (_wou-wei)], and hence the\n  differences which have occurred.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [2] The Chinese text \u201c_i-wu-wei-fah_,\u201d is explained by a learned\n  expositor as _tsz-ran-choih-sing_\u2014the intuitive faculty.\n\n  [3] \u201cBecause that thing which was known or taught by the Tathagata\n  is incomprehensible and inexpressible. It is neither a thing nor\n  no-thing. And why? Because the holy persons are of imperfect\n  power.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 8]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? If a\nbenevolent person bestowed as alms, an abundance of the seven\ntreasures[1] sufficient to fill the universe, would there accrue to\nthat person a considerable merit?\u201d\n\nSubhuti replied, saying:[2] \u201cA very considerable merit, Honoured of\nthe Worlds! And why? Because, what is referred to does not partake of\nthe nature of ordinary merit, and in this sense the Lord Buddha made\nmention of a \u2018considerable\u2019 merit.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha rejoined, saying: \u201cIf a disciple adhered with implicit\nfaith to a stanza[3] of this Scripture, and diligently explained it to\nothers, the intrinsic merit of that disciple would be relatively\ngreater. And why? Because, Subhuti, the holy Buddhas, and the Law[4]\nby which they attained to supreme spiritual wisdom, severally owe\ntheir inception to the truth[5] of this sacred Scripture. Subhuti,\nwhat is ordinarily termed the Buddhic Law, is not really a Law\nattributive to Buddha.\u201d[6]\n\n  [1] Gold, silver, pearls, coral, cornelian, glass, and crystal.\n\n  [2] \u201cVery considerable indeed, world-honoured one! But why so?\n  This merit being in its very character of the nature of that which\n  is no merit at all, so Tathagata speaks of it as being\n  \u2018much.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti said: Yes, O Sugata, that son or daughter of a good\n  family would produce a large stock of merit. And why? Because, O\n  Bhagavat, what was preached by the Tathagata as the stock of\n  merit, is no stock of merit. Therefore, the Tathagata preaches: \u2018a\n  stock of merit, a stock of merit indeed!\u2019\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_.\n  Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [3] \u201cGatha\u2014hymns and chants, narratives containing moral\n  expositions in metrical language. A Chinese text says, \u201832\n  characters form one Gatha,\u2019 which refers to a certain variety of\n  Gatha called Aryagiti, a metre consisting of 32\n  instants.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [4] \u201cThe _Dharmma_ (Law) is perfect, having nothing redundant, and\n  nothing wanting. But it requires attention, that the benefits it\n  offers may be received. Though the teacher may attain great\n  happiness, and enter Nirvana, it does not follow that the disciple\n  will necessarily possess the same privileges; he may be like one\n  who binds the crown upon the head of another. Therefore each one\n  for himself must exercise meditation, and observe the ordinances,\n  that he may attain wisdom.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [5] \u201cFaith is in the world the best property for a man; _Dhamma_\n  (the Law), well observed, conveys happiness; truth, indeed, is the\n  sweetest of things; and the life they call the best which is lived\n  with understanding.\u201d\u2014_Sutta-Nipata_. Fausb\u00f6ll.\n\n  [6] \u201cWhat then, Subhuti? All the Buddhas, and all the perfect laws\n  of the Buddhas, have sprung from (the principles of) this one\n  Sutra; but, Subhuti, that which is spoken of as the Law of Buddha,\n  is after all not such a Law (or, is a Law of no\n  Buddha).\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  \u201cBecause, O Subhuti, the highest perfect knowledge of the holy and\n  enlightened Tathagatas is produced from it; the blessed Buddhas\n  are produced from it. And why? Because, O Subhuti, when the\n  Tathagata preached: \u2018The qualities of Buddha, the qualities of\n  Buddha indeed!\u2019 They were preached by him as no-qualities of\n  Buddha. Therefore they are called the qualities of Buddha.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  An erudite Chinese commentator suggests that the words\n  _fei-fuh-fah_ are synonymous with _wu-wei-fah_\u2014intuition, already\n  observed in the preceding section. A familiar passage from\n  _Lao-Tsz_, \u201cInfinite truth is inexpressible,\u201d is quoted by our\n  commentator as serving to illustrate the difficulty of giving\n  expression to an idea equivalent to the Law of Buddha.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 9]\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? May a\nScrotapatti[1] (having entered the stream which bears on to Nirvana)\nthus moralise within himself, \u2018I have obtained the fruits[2]\ncommensurate with the merit of a Scrotapatti\u2019?\u201d Subhuti replied,\nsaying: \u201cNo! Honoured of the Worlds! And why? Because, Scrotapatti is\nsimply a descriptive term signifying \u2018having entered the stream.\u2019 A\ndisciple who avoids the seductive phenomena of form, sound, odour,\ntaste, touch, and Law,[3] is named a Scrotapatti.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha again enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you?\nMay a Sakridagami[4] (who is subject only to one more reincarnation)\nthus muse within himself, \u2018I have obtained the fruits consonant with\nthe merit of a Sakridagami\u2019?\u201d Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cNo! Honoured\nof the Worlds! And why? Because, Sakridagami is merely a descriptive\ntitle denoting \u2018only one more reincarnation\u2019;[5] but in reality there\nis no such condition as \u2018only one more reincarnation,\u2019 hence\nSakridagami is merely a descriptive title.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha once again enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think\nyou? May an Anagami[6] (having entire immunity from reincarnation)\nthus reflect within himself, \u2018I have obtained the fruits which accord\nwith the merit of an Anagami?\u2019\u201d Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cNo! Honoured\nof the Worlds! And why? Because, Anagami is merely a designation\nmeaning \u2018immunity from reincarnation\u2019; but in reality there is no such\ncondition as \u2018immunity from reincarnation,\u2019 hence Anagami is merely a\nconvenient designation.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha yet again enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think\nyou? May an Arhat[7] (having attained to absolute quiescence of mind)\nthus meditate within himself, \u2018I have obtained the condition of an\nArhat\u2019?\u201d Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cNo! Honoured of the Worlds! And\nwhy? Because, there is not in reality a condition synonymous with the\nterm Arhat. Honoured of the Worlds! if an Arhat thus meditates within\nhimself, \u2018I have obtained the condition of an Arhat,\u2019 there would be\nobvious recurrence of such arbitrary concepts as an entity, a being, a\nliving being, and a personality. Honoured of the Worlds! When the Lord\nBuddha declared that in absolute quiescence[8] of mind, perfect\nobservance of the Law,[9] and true spiritual perception, I was\npre-eminent amongst the disciples, I did not cogitate thus within\nmyself, \u2018I am an Arhat, freed[10] from desire!\u2019 Had I thus cogitated,\n\u2018I have obtained the condition of an Arhat,\u2019[11] the \u2018Honoured of the\nWorlds\u2019 would not have declared concerning me, \u2018Subhuti delights in\nthe austerities practised by the Aranyaka\u2019;[12] but, in reality,\nSubhuti was perfectly quiescent and oblivious to phenomena;[13] hence\nthe allusion, \u2018Subhuti delights in the austerities practised by the\nAranyaka.\u2019\u201d\n\n  [1] \u201cOne who has entered (Apatti) the stream (Srota), the latter\n  being defined as the stream of holy conduct (which bears on to\n  Nirvana).\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  [2] \u201cMen walking in the path, and standing in the fruits thereof,\n  those who have attained some fruits thereof but are yet\n  learners ... whose hope is directed to the utmost goal.\u201d\u2014_Questions\n  of King Milinda_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n  \u201cEnter the path! There spring the healing streams\n   Quenching all thirst! there bloom th\u2019 immortal flowers\n   Carpeting all the way with joy! there throng\n   Swiftest and sweetest hours.\u201d\u2014_The Light of Asia_.\n   Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [3] Perhaps in the sense that a Scrotapatti clearly perceives and\n  understands the tentative nature of the Law, his mind being\n  trained to regard it as \u201ca well-constructed raft,\u201d designed to\n  bear him safely across the stream of spiritual consciousness upon\n  which he has entered. It also appears that the Scrotapatti\n  discerns in the _idea_ of the Law, something as unreal and\n  ephemeral as the phenomena of form, sound, odour, taste, or touch.\n  In seeking \u201cNirvana\u2019s blest abode,\u201d the Scrotapatti endeavours to\n  \u201crise by daily sojourn with these phantasies\u2014to lovelier verities.\u201d\n\n  [4] \u201cThe path Sakradagami is so called because he who enters it\n  will receive one more birth. He may enter this path in the world\n  of men, and afterwards be born in a Dewa-Loka (a heavenly\n  mansion\u2014in Chinese _Tien-Kong_); or he may enter it in a\n  Dewa-Loka, and afterwards be born in the world of men.\u201d\u2014_Eastern\n  Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [5] \u201cBecause he is not an individual being (Dharma), who has\n  obtained the state of a Sakridagami.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max\n  M\u00fcller.\n\n  [6] \u201cNot returning, or not being reborn in the world of desire.\n  The third degree of Buddhistic saintship, the third class of\n  Aryas, embracing all those who are no more liable to be reborn as\n  men, though they are to be born once more as Devas, when they will\n  forthwith become Arhats and enter Nirvana.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese\n  Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  \u201cMen devoid of passion, and of malice, and of dulness, men in whom\n  the great evils (lust, becoming, delusion, and ignorance) are not,\n  men who have neither craving thirst, nor grasping\n  desires.\u201d\u2014_Questions of King Milinda_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n  [7] \u201cExplained by _Fuh-Ko_\u2014the Fruit of Buddha (Buddhaphalam). The\n  original meaning of Arhat (deserving, worthy) is overlooked by\n  most Chinese commentators, who explained the term as if it were\n  written _Ari-Hat_\u2014Destroyer of the Enemy. The following two\n  explanations are given, _Shah-Tseh_\u2014Destroying the Enemy, and\n  _Puh-Seng_\u2014not to be reborn, _i.e._, except from transmigration.\n  There is, however, a third explanation which is based on the\n  original meaning of Arhat, namely _Ying-Kong_\u2014deserving worship.\n  The Arhat is the perfected Arya (one who has mastered the four\n  spiritual truths\u2014_Sz-Ti_\u2014and thereby entered the path to Nirvana\n  called Arya-Marga), and the state of Arhat can accordingly be\n  attained only by passing through the different degrees of\n  saintship. Arhatship implies possession of supernatural powers,\n  and is to be succeeded either by Buddhaship or by immediate\n  entrance into Nirvana.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  \u201cThose who have entered the stream, and those who, free from\n  stains, will only be reborn once more on earth, those who will\n  never again return, and Arhats\u2014these are they who dwell in the\n  \u2018city of Righteousness.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Questions of King Milinda_. T. W. Rhys\n  Davids.\n\n  In the moral philosophy of Mencius there is inculcated a principle\n  of having few desires (_Kwa-Yuh_), and Chinese Buddhists\n  frequently institute comparisons between those \u201cfew desires\u201d and\n  \u201cno desires\u201d of the Arhats.\n\n  [8] A Chinese annotator suggests it is almost self-evident that\n  \u201cabsolute quiescence\u201d is the condition of mind in which knowledge\n  is acquired by intuition.\n\n  [9] \u201cMore is the treasure of the Law than gems;\n       Sweeter than comb its sweetness; its delights\n       Delightful past compare.\u201d\u2014_The Light of Asia_.\n  Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [10] \u201cThe man for whom there is nothing upon which he depends, who\n  is independent, having understood the _Dhamma_ (Law), for whom\n  there is no desire for coming into existence or having\n  existence\u2014him I call calm.... He has overcome\n  desire.\u201d\u2014_Dhammapada_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cThis devotion should be practised with that determination by\n  which thought becomes indifferent (to every worldly object). He\n  who has abandoned all desires which spring from imagination, and\n  has, by means of his heart, kept back the whole collection of the\n  senses from every direction (in which they would go), should\n  gradually become passive by his mind\u2019s acquiring firmness, and, by\n  having caused his heart to remain within himself, should not place\n  his thoughts on anything at all.\u201d\u2014_Bhagavad-Gita_.\u2014J. Cockburn\n  Thomson.\n\n  [11] \u201cThere are some persons who obtain the Rahatship\n  instantaneously, while others can only obtain it by a slow\n  process; they must give aims, make offerings, study the _Bana_\n  (Law), and exercise the necessary discipline.\u201d\u2014_Eastern\n  Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [12] \u201cExplained by \u2018living in retirement,\u2019 \u2018a hermit,\u2019 \u2018a\n  recluse.\u2019 The term signifies ascetics who live in strict\n  seclusion. There are three classes to be distinguished. The first\n  is called _Dharma Aranyaka_\u2014\u2018Hermits of the Law,\u2019 their favourite\n  tenet being the doctrine that the principles (_Dharma_)\n  constituting human nature are originally calm, still, and passive.\n  Their favourite tree is the Bodhi tree (tree of intelligence). The\n  second class is called _Matanga Aranyaka_. Its members reside\n  constantly in cemeteries, and are prohibited to approach a village\n  within hearing distance of the lowing of a cow. They are probably\n  called after the Hindoo caste _Matanga_. The third class, or the\n  _Danataka Aranyaka_, is formed by hermits living on the sea beach\n  or on half-tide rocks.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  \u201cMen whose home is the forest, men who have taken on themselves\n  the extra vows, men full of joy, men who are wearing rough\n  garments, men rejoicing in solitude.\u201d\u2014_Questions of King Milinda_.\n  T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n  [13] \u201cThe _Sramana_ (Buddhist monk) who sets himself to overcome\n  the evils of existence, retires from all intercourse with the\n  world, and either practises meditation, simply, or joins with it\n  the practice of Kasina (an ascetic exercise to free the mind from\n  all agitation), by which he is enabled to attain to _Nimitta_\n  (inward illumination), which is represented as being a mental\n  illumination that brings with it, in various degrees of\n  perfection, the state of mind called _Samadhi_ (absolute\n  self-abstraction). This result of profound meditation includes\n  undisturbed tranquillity, and equanimity the most entire, and in\n  its superior degree it produces unconsciousness.\u201d\u2014_Eastern\n  Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  \u201cThe world-honoured one would not then have said: \u2018Subhuti, what\n  is this but the name of the one who delights in the mortification\n  of an _Aranyaka_ (forest devotee),\u2019 regarding \u2018Subhuti\u2019 as in\n  truth not acting at all, but as a mere name, then (in such\n  forgetfulness of self) \u2018he is one who delights in\n  self-mortification.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 10]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? When the\nLord Buddha, in a previous life, was a disciple of Dipankara\nBuddha,[1] was there communicated to him any prescribed Law, or system\nof doctrine, whereby he eventually became a Buddha?\u201d Subhuti replied,\nsaying: \u201cNo! Honoured of the Worlds! When the Lord Buddha was a\ndisciple of Dipankara Buddha, neither prescribed Law nor system of\ndoctrine was communicated to him, whereby he eventually became a\nBuddha.\u201d[2]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? may an\nenlightened disciple thus ponder within himself, \u2018I shall create\nnumerous Buddhist Kingdoms\u2019?\u201d[3] Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cNo!\nHonoured of the Worlds! And why? Because, kingdoms thus created would\nnot in reality be Buddhist kingdoms,[4] therefore \u2018the creation of\nnumerous Buddhist kingdoms\u2019 is merely a figure of speech.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha, continuing, addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cEnlightened\ndisciples ought therefore to engender within themselves a pure and\nholy mind; they ought not to depend on the phenomena of form, sound,\nodour, taste, touch, or Law; they ought to sedulously cultivate a mind\nindependent of every material aid.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cSupposing a man with a\nbody as pretentious as Sumeru,[5] prince among mountains, would you\nesteem such a body as being great?\u201d Subhuti replied, saying:\n\u201cExceedingly great, Honoured of the Worlds! And why? Because, the Lord\nBuddha referred not to a physical body,[6] but to mental and spiritual\nconcepts of bodies, in which sense a body may be regarded as really\nGreat.\u201d\n\n  [1] \u201c_Ran-Teng-Fuh_\u2014the Buddha who illuminates brightly,\n  _Ting-Kwang-Fuh_\u2014the Buddha of fixed light. The twenty-fourth\n  predecessor of Sakyamuni, from whom the latter received the\n  assurance of his being destined for Buddhaship.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of\n  Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  It is recorded in _The Diamond Sutra_ that the Lord Buddha, in\n  previous incarnations, assiduously performed religious vows, and\n  deferentially honoured all contemporary Buddhas. An image of a\n  former master, Dipankara Buddha, may frequently be observed in\n  Chinese Buddhist temples, immediately behind the more conspicuous\n  figure of Sakyamuni Buddha. Amongst Chinese Buddhist anniversaries\n  may be found the birthday of \u201cthe ancient Buddha, _Ran-Teng_\u201d\n  (Dipankara), and the period allocated for its observance is the\n  22nd day of the 8th month. (Compare Edkins\u2019 _Chinese Buddhism_.)\n\n  [2] \u201cIt is maintained by the Buddhists that the founder of their\n  faith was entirely _\u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u03b4\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2_. The wisdom that he manifested\n  was the outbeaming of a self-enkindled flame, not an inspiration\n  from any exterior source, nor was it the result of any process of\n  thought or reason. To whatever object he directed his intellectual\n  vision, whether it was near or remote, whether past, present, or\n  future, he saw it in a moment, intuitively, and yet in a manner\n  the most absolutely perfect.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [3] \u201cBhagavat said: If Subhuti, a Bodhisattva, should say, \u2018I\n  shall create numbers of worlds,\u2019 he would say what is untrue. And\n  why? Because, O Subhuti, when Tathagata preached numbers of\n  worlds, numbers of worlds indeed! they were preached by him as no\n  numbers. Therefore they are called numbers of worlds.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti, what think you? are the various lands and territories of\n  the Buddhas completely perfected by the Bodhisatwas who occupy\n  them? No! World-honoured one! for this complete perfection of\n  which we speak is after all no perfection at all, it is only an\n  empty name.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  \u201cThe wise man is always thinking: How can I and these beings\n  become Buddhas? I will preach this true Law, upon which the\n  happiness of all beings depends, for the benefit of the\n  world.\u201d\u2014_Saddharma-Pundarika_. H. Kern.\n\n  The words _Chuang-Yen_, in a Buddhist sense, usually refer to the\n  erection or adornment of temples and pagodas, almsgiving, or other\n  work of merit. Used in conjunction with _Fuh-Tu_\u2014Buddhist\n  kingdoms, as exemplified by our text, _Chuang-Yen_ appears to\n  convey a much wider meaning. Perhaps it refers to a spiritual\n  creation and adornment by charity and virtue, of kingdoms owning\n  allegiance to the Lord Buddha.\n\n  \u201cIn twelve years from the commencement of his public teaching,\n  Buddha\u2019s doctrines had spread over sixteen Indian\n  kingdoms.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Buddhism_. Edkins.\n\n  [4] A Buddhist kingdom has no outward manifestation; it is a pure\n  and holy condition of mind.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n  Compare the statement attributed to Christ, \u201cThe kingdom of heaven\n  is _within_ you.\u201d\n\n  [5] \u201cSumeru is probably Elburz, an isolated mountain of the\n  Caucasus range, 18,000 feet in height, and surrounded by low\n  ground.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Buddhism_. Edkins.\n\n  \u201cBut when they brought the painted palanquin\n   To fetch him home, the bearers of the poles\n   Were the four Regents of the Earth, come down\n   From Mount Sumeru.\u201d\u2014_The Light of Asia_. Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [6] \u201cThe modification which Buddhism introduced into the idea of\n  transmigration was necessitated by the early Buddhist theories of\n  the nature of sentient beings; according to which, man consists of\n  an assemblage of different properties or qualities ... these are\n  Material qualities, Sensations, abstract Ideas, Tendencies of\n  mind, and mental Powers.... The first group, Material Qualities,\n  are like a mass of foam, that gradually forms, and then vanishes.\n  The second group, the Sensations, are like a bubble dancing on the\n  face of the water. The third group, the Ideas, are like the\n  uncertain mirage that appears in the sunshine. The fourth group,\n  the mental and moral Predispositions, are like the plantain stalk,\n  without firmness or solidity. And the last group, the Thoughts,\n  are like a spectre or magical illusion. The body itself is\n  constantly changing, ... man is never the same for two consecutive\n  moments.\u201d (Compare Rhys Davids\u2019 _Buddhism_, and Spence Hardy\u2019s\n  _Manual_.\n\n  \u201cFor instance, Subhuti, a man might have a body and a large body,\n  so that his size should be as large as the king, of mountains,\n  Sumeru. Do you think then, O Subhuti, that his selfhood would be\n  large? Subhuti said, Yes! his selfhood would be large. And why?\n  Because, when the Tathagata preached \u2018selfhood,\u2019 selfhood indeed!\n  it was preached by him as no selfhood. Therefore it is called\n  selfhood.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 11]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf there were rivers\nGanges as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, would the aggregate\ngrains of sand[1] be of considerable number?\u201d Subhuti replied, saying:\n\u201cOf very considerable number, Honoured of the Worlds! The rivers\nGanges alone would be innumerable, and much more innumerable would be\nthe grains of sand.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha thereupon addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cI have a truth\nto declare unto you! If a good disciple, whether man or woman, were to\nbestow in the exercise of charity, an abundance of the seven\ntreasures,[2] sufficient to fill as many boundless universes as there\nwould be grains of sand in these innumerable rivers, would the\ncumulative merit of such a disciple be considerable?\u201d Subhuti replied,\nsaying: \u201cVery considerable, Honoured of the Worlds!\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha then declared unto Subhuti, \u201cIf a good disciple,\nwhether man or woman, were with implicit faith to adhere to a stanza\nof this Scripture, and diligently explain it to others, the consequent\nmerit would be relatively greater than the other.\u201d\n\n  [1] \u201cSarvanikchepa, by which you deal\n       With all the sands of Gunga, till we come\n       To Antah-Kalpas, where the unit is\n       The sands of ten crore Gungas.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Light of Asia_. Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [2] Gold, silver, pearls, coral, cornelian, glass, and crystal.\n\n  \u201cAs much of the seven precious substances as would fill as many\n  great chiliocosms as there are sands in all the rivers above\n  described.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 12]\n\nThe Lord Buddha, continuing, said unto Subhuti: \u201cWherever this\nScripture is proclaimed, even though it were but a stanza comprising\nfour lines, you should realise that that place would be sanctified by\nthe presence of the whole realm of gods, men, and terrestrial\nspirits,[1] who ought unitedly to worship, as if before a sacred\nshrine of Buddha.[2] But what encomium shall express the merit of a\ndisciple who rigorously observes, and diligently studies,[3] the text\nof this Scripture? Subhuti, you should realise that such a disciple\nwill be endowed[4] with spiritual powers commensurate with initiation\nin the supreme, incomparable, and most wonderful Law.[5] Whatever\nplace constitutes a repository for this sacred Scripture, there also\nthe Lord Buddha may be found, together with disciples worthy of\nreverence and honour.\u201d\n\n  [1] Adopting Max M\u00fcller\u2019s rendering. In the Chinese text are\n  _Tien_, _Ren_, and _O-Siu-Lo_\u2014heaven, or gods\u2014men, and _Asurus_;\n  the latter defined as _fei-tien_\u2014not celestial spirits.\n\n  [2] \u201cWhatever spirits have come together here, either belonging to\n  the earth or living in the air, let us worship the perfect Buddha,\n  revered by gods and men.\u201d\n\n  \u201cWhatever spirits have come together here, either belonging to the\n  earth or living in the air, let us worship the perfect _Dhamma_\n  (Law), revered by gods and men.\u201d\n\n  \u201cWhatever spirits have come together here, either belonging to the\n  earth or living in the air, let us worship the perfect _Sangha_\n  (community of monks), revered by gods and men.\u201d\u2014_Dhammapada_. Max\n  M\u00fcller.\n\n  [3] \u201cEarnestness is the path of immortality (Nirvana),\n  thoughtlessness the path of death. Those who are in earnest do not\n  die, those who are thoughtless are as if dead\n  already.\u201d\u2014_Dhammapada_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [4] \u201cThey, O Subhuti, will be endowed with the highest wonder\n  (with what excites the highest wonder). And in that place, O\n  Subhuti, there dwells the teacher (Sasa, often the name of\n  Buddha), or one after another holding the place of the wise\n  preceptor. (This may refer to a succession of teachers banding\n  down the tradition one to another.)\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max\n  M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti, know that this man has acquired knowledge of the most\n  excellent and desirable of all Laws; and if the place where this\n  Sutra is recited be worthy of all honour as the place of Buddha\n  himself, so also is this disciple honourable and worthy of the\n  highest respect.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [5] \u201cThe praises of the _Bana_ (Law) are a favourite subject with\n  the native authors.... The discourses of Buddha are as a divine\n  charm to cure the poison of evil desire; a divine medicine to heal\n  the disease of anger; a lamp in the midst of the darkness of\n  ignorance; a fire, like that which burns at the end of a Kalpa, to\n  destroy the evils of repeated existence; a meridian sun to dry up\n  the mud of covetousness; a great rain to quench the flame of\n  sensuality; a thicket to block up the road that leads to the\n  _Narakas_ (place of the wicked); a ship in which to sail to the\n  opposite shore of the ocean of existence; a collyrium for taking\n  away the eye-film of heresy; a moon to bring out the night-blowing\n  lotus of merit; a succession of trees bearing immortal fruit,\n  placed here and there, by which the traveller may be enabled to\n  cross the desert of existence; ... a straight highway by which to\n  pass to the incomparable wisdom; a door of entrance to the eternal\n  city of Nirvana; ... a treasury of the best things it is possible to\n  obtain; and a power by which may be appeased the sorrow of every\n  sentient being.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 13]\n\nUpon that occasion, Subhuti enquired of the Lord Buddha, saying:\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! by what name shall this Scripture be known,\nthat we may regard it with reverence?\u201d The Lord Buddha replied,\nsaying: \u201cSubhuti, this Scripture shall be known as _The Diamond\nSutra_,[1] \u2018The Transcendent Wisdom,\u2019 by means of which we reach \u2018The\nOther Shore.\u2019 By this name you shall reverently regard it! And why?\nSubhuti, what the Lord Buddha declared as \u2018transcendent wisdom\u2019 by\nmeans of which we reach \u2018the other shore,\u2019 is not essentially\n\u2018transcendent wisdom\u2019\u2014in its essence it transcends all wisdom.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying:[2] \u201cWhat think you? Did the\nLord Buddha formulate a precise system of Law or doctrine?\u201d Subhuti\nreplied, saying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! The Lord Buddha did not\nformulate a precise system of Law or doctrine.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? within the\nmyriad worlds which comprise this universe, are the atoms of dust\nnumerous?\u201d[3] Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cVery numerous, Honoured of the\nWorlds!\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha continuing his discourse, said: \u201cSubhuti, the Lord\nBuddha declares that all these \u2018atoms of dust\u2019 are not essentially\n\u2018atoms of dust,\u2019 they are merely termed \u2018atoms of dust.\u2019 The Lord\nBuddha also declares that those \u2018myriad worlds\u2019 are not really \u2018myriad\nworlds,\u2019 they are merely designated \u2018myriad worlds.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Can the\nLord Buddha be perceived by means of his thirty-two bodily\ndistinctions?\u201d[4] Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cNo! Honoured of the\nWorlds! the Lord Buddha cannot be perceived by means of his thirty-two\nbodily distinctions. And why? Because, what the Lord Buddha referred\nto as his \u2018thirty-two bodily distinctions,\u2019 are not in reality \u2018bodily\ndistinctions,\u2019 they are merely defined as \u2018bodily distinctions.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf a good disciple,\nwhether man or woman, day by day sacrificed lives innumerable as the\nsands of the Ganges;[5] and if another disciple adhered with implicit\nfaith to a stanza of this Scripture, and diligently explained it to\nothers, the intrinsic merit of such a disciple would be relatively\ngreater than the other.\u201d[6]\n\n  [1] A Chinese annotator observes, that as the \u201cdiamond\u201d excels all\n  other precious gems in brilliance and indestructibility, so also\n  the \u201cwisdom\u201d of this Sutra transcends and shall outlive all\n  other knowledge known to philosophy.\n\n  [2] \u201cThen what do you think, O Subhuti, is there anything that was\n  preached by the Tathagata? Subhuti said: Not indeed, O Bhagavat,\n  there is nothing that was preached by the Tathagata.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  It appears to be one of the distinctive features of primitive\n  Buddhism, that its founder made provision for the utmost\n  development of the human intellect, within the spheres of religion\n  and philosophy. According to the text of _The Diamond Sutra_, the\n  Lord Buddha evidently disclaims any suggestion on his part to\n  formulate a \u201cprecise system of Law or doctrine\u201d corresponding to\n  the idea of a _creed_.\n\n  [3] \u201cMatter is infinitely divisible.\u201d\u2014_The World as Idea and\n  Will_. Schopenhauer.\n\n  \u201cAfter me repeat\n  Your numeration....\n  By Pundarikas unto Padumas,\n  Which last is how you count the utmost grains\n  Of Hastagiri ground to finest dust.\u201d\u2014_The Light of Asia_. Sir\n  Edwin Arnold.\n\n  \u201cIf the Buddha was not a materialist, in the sense of believing in\n  the eternal existence of material atoms, neither could he in any\n  sense be called a \u2018spiritualist,\u2019 or believer in the external\n  existence of abstract spirit. With him creation did not proceed\n  from an omnipotent spirit or mind evolving phenomena out of itself\n  by the exercise of will, nor from an eternal self-existing,\n  self-evolving germ of any kind. As to the existence in the\n  universe of any spiritual substance which was not matter and was\n  imperceptible to the senses, it could not be proved.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_.\n  Sir Monier Williams.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti, all these countless particles of dust Tathagata declares\n  are no real particles; it is but an empty name by which they are\n  known. Tathagata declares that all these systems of worlds\n  composing the great chiliocosm are no real worlds; they are but\n  empty names.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [4] \u201cCharacteristic physiological marks by which every Buddha may\n  be recognised.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  \u201cCan Tathagata be known by the thirty-two signs (of a hero)?\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cThe King saluted, and Queen Maya made\n   To lay her babe before such holy feet;\n   But when he saw the prince the old man cried\n   \u2018Ah, Queen not so!\u2019 and thereupon he touched\n   Eight times the dust, laid his waste visage there,\n   Saying, \u2018O Babe! I worship! Thou art He!\n   I see the rosy light, the foot-sole marks,\n   The soft curled tendrils of the Swastika,\n   The sacred primal signs thirty-and-two,\n   The eighty lesser tokens. Thou art Buddh,\n   And thou wilt preach the Law and save all flesh\n   Who learn the Law.\u2019\u201d\u2014_The Light of Asia_.\n   Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  \u201cBright were the divine lineaments of his face, and as the Master\n  (of the Law) gazed in awe and holy reverence, he knew not how to\n  compare the spectacle; the body of Buddha and his Kashaya robe\n  were of a yellowish red colour, and from his knees upward the\n  distinguishing marks of his person were exceedingly glorious.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Life of Hiuen-Tsang_. Beal.\n\n  [5] The Chinese expression _Shen-Ming_\u2014life, invariably refers to\n  life in an ordinary material sense, and which may be offered in\n  sacrifice. But in Buddhist philosophy there is a spiritual\n  _Atman_, which can be disposed of only by knowledge.\n\n  [6] \u201cWere any one to fill the bowl of Buddha with the choicest\n  food, or to present oil, sugar, honey, medicaments in the greatest\n  abundance, or to build thousands of _Wiharas_ (monasteries or\n  temples) splendid as those of Anuradhapura (an ancient city in\n  Ceylon, the Anurogrammum of Ptolemy), or to present an offering to\n  Buddha like that of Anepidu (a rich merchant of Sewet), the\n  hearing or reading of one stanza of the _Bana_ (Law) would be more\n  meritorious than all.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 14]\n\nUpon that occasion, the venerable Subhuti, hearing the text of this\nscripture proclaimed, and profoundly realising its meaning, was moved\nto tears. Addressing the Lord Buddha, he said: \u201cThou art of\ntranscendent wisdom, Honoured of the Worlds! The Lord Buddha in\nexpounding this supreme canon of Scripture, surpassed in perspicuity\nevery exposition previously heard by me, since my eyes[1] were\nprivileged to perceive this most excellent wisdom. Honoured of the\nWorlds! In years to come, if disciples hearing this scripture\nproclaimed, and having within their minds a pure and holy faith,\nengender true concepts of the ephemeral nature of phenomena\u2014we ought\nto realise that the cumulative merit of such disciples will be\nintrinsic and wonderful. Honoured of the Worlds! The true concept of\nphenomena is, that these are not essentially phenomena, and hence the\nLord Buddha declared that they are merely termed phenomena.\u201d\n\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! having heard this unprecedented Scripture,\nfaith, clear understanding, and firm resolve to observe its precepts,\nfollow as a natural sequence. If, in future ages, disciples destined\nto hear this Scripture, likewise believe, understand, and observe its\nprecepts, their merit will incite the highest wonder and praise.[2]\nAnd why? Because, the minds of those disciples[3] will have outgrown\nsuch arbitrary ideas of phenomena as an entity, a being, a living\nbeing, or a personality. And why? Because, the entity is in reality\nnon-entity; and a being, a living being, or a personality, are ideas\nequally nebulous and hypothetical.[4] Wherefore, discarding every\narbitrary idea of phenomena, the wise and wholly enlightened were\nseverally designated Buddha.\u201d[5]\n\nThe Lord Buddha, assenting, said unto Subhuti: \u201cIf, in future ages,\ndisciples destined to hear this Scripture, neither become perturbed by\nits extreme modes of thought,[6] nor alarmed by its lofty\nsentiments,[7] nor apprehensive about realising its high\nideals[8]\u2014these disciples also, by their intrinsic merit, will incite\nsuperlative wonder and praise.\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, what the Lord Buddha referred to as the first _Paramita_[9]\n(charity), is not in reality the first _Paramita_, it is merely termed\nthe first _Paramita_\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, regarding the third _Paramita_ (endurance), it is not in\nreality a _Paramita_, it is merely termed a _Paramita_. And why?\nBecause, in a previous life, when the Prince of Kalinga[10]\n(\u2018Kaliradja\u2019) severed the flesh from my limbs and body, at that time I\nwas oblivious to such arbitrary ideas of phenomena as an entity, a\nbeing, a living being, or a personality. And why? Because, upon that\noccasion, when my limbs and body were rent asunder, had I not been\noblivious to such arbitrary ideas as an entity, a being, a living\nbeing, or a personality, there would have originated within my mind,\nfeelings of anger and resentment.\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, five hundred incarnations ago,[11] I recollect that as a\nrecluse practising the ordinances of the Kshanti-Paramita,[12] even\nthen I had no such arbitrary ideas as an entity, a being, a living\nbeing, or a personality. Therefore, Subhuti, an enlightened disciple\nought to discard as being unreal and illusive, every conceivable form\nof phenomena.[13] In aspiring to supreme spiritual wisdom, the mind\nought to be insensible to every sensuous influence, and independent of\neverything pertaining to sound, odour, taste, touch, or Law. There\nought to be cultivated a condition of complete independence of mind;\nbecause, if the mind is depending upon any external aid, it is\nobviously deluded\u2014there is in reality nothing external to depend\nupon.[14] Therefore, the Lord Buddha declared that in the exercise of\ncharity, the mind of an enlightened disciple ought not to depend upon\nany form of phenomena. Subhuti, an enlightened disciple desirous to\nconfer benefits upon the whole realm of being, ought thus to be\nanimated in the exercise of charity.\u201d[15]\n\nThe Lord Buddha, in declaring the \u201cunreality of phenomena,\u201d also\naffirmed \u201cthat the whole realm of sentient life is ephemeral and\nillusory.\u201d[16]\n\n\u201cSubhuti, the sayings of the Lord Buddha are true, credible, and\nimmutable. His utterances are neither extravagant nor chimerical.\nSubhuti, the plane[17] of thought to which the Lord Buddha attained,\ncannot be explained in terms synonymous with reality or non-reality.\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, in the exercise of charity, if the mind of an enlightened\ndisciple is not independent of every Law, he is like unto a person\nhaving entered impenetrable darkness, and to whom every object is\ninvisible. But an enlightened disciple, discharging the exercise of\ncharity with a mind independent of every Law, is like unto a person\nhaving the power of vision, in the meridian glory of the sunlight, and\nto whom every object is visible.\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, in future ages, if a good disciple, whether man or woman,\nrigorously studies and observes the text of this Scripture; the Lord\nBuddha, by means of his Buddhic wisdom,[18] entirely knows and\nperceives that for such a disciple there is reserved a cumulative\nmerit, immeasurable and illimitable.\u201d\n\n  [1] \u201cAs one raises what has been overthrown, or reveals what has\n  been hidden, or tells the way to him who has gone astray, or holds\n  out an oil lamp in the dark that those who have eyes may see the\n  objects, even so by the venerable Gotama in manifold ways the\n  _Dhamma_ (Law) has been illustrated.\u201d\u2014_Dhammapada_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [2] \u201cThe chief of the priests of that establishment (the Jayendra\n  convent) was a man of high moral character. He observed with the\n  greatest strictness the religious rules and ordinances. He was\n  possessed of the highest intelligence, and acquainted with all the\n  points of a true disciple. His talents were eminent; his spiritual\n  powers exalted; and his disposition affectionate.\u201d\u2014_The Life of\n  Hiuen-Tsang_. Beal.\n\n  [3] \u201cThey had within themselves the possession of a power by which\n  all objective truth could be presented to their intellectual\n  vision. They, therefore, partook of what in other systems would be\n  regarded as divinity.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence Hardy.\n\n  [4] \u201cThey have been divided into existing and non-existing, real\n  and unreal, by those who had wrong notions; other laws also, of\n  permanency, of being produced, of birth from something already\n  produced, are wrongly assumed.\u201d\u2014_Saddharma-Pundarika_. H. Kern.\n\n  [5] \u201cBut, O Bhagavat, there will not arise in them any idea of a\n  self, of a being, of a living being, of a person, nor does there\n  exist for them any idea of no-idea. And why? Because, the idea of\n  a self is no-idea, the idea of a being is no-idea, the idea of a\n  living being is no-idea, the idea of a person is no-idea. And why?\n  Because, the blessed Buddhas are freed from all ideas.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [6] ... \u201cFor birth and death\n      End hence for me and those who learn my Law.\u201d\u2014_The\n      Light of Asia_. Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [7] \u201cAs the Buddhist strove to reach a state of quietism or holy\n  meditation in this world, namely the state of the perfect disciple\n  or Arhat; so he looked forward to an eternal calm in the world to\n  come, Nirvana. Buddha taught that this end could only be attained\n  by the practice of virtue.\u201d\u2014_The Indian Empire_. Sir William Hunter.\n\n  [8] \u201cThe heart of it is love, the end of it\n       Is peace and consummation sweet.\u201d\u2014_The\n       Light of Asia_. Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  [9] The first of six _Paramita_\u2014charity, morality, endurance,\n  energy, contemplation, wisdom\u2014or means of attaining to Nirvana.\n\n  \u201cWhat the Tathagata preaches as the _Prajna-Paramita_, that was\n  preached also by innumerable Blessed Buddhas. Therefore it is\n  called the _Prajna-Paramita_,\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [10] \u201cAn ancient kingdom S.E. of Kos\u2019ala, a nursery of heretical\n  sects, the present Calingapatah, a town in the northern Circars\n  (Lat. 18\u00b0 15 N., Long. 85\u00b0 11 E.).\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese\n  Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  It is recorded that the Lord Buddha, in a previous incarnation,\n  was living in a mountainous region, strictly observing the\n  monastic vows. The Prince of Kalinga, a cruel and dissolute ruler,\n  having organised a hunting expedition, visited the secluded\n  region, accompanied by numerous ladies of his harem. Fatigued by\n  the excitement of the chase, the prince fell into a deep siesta.\n  Meantime, the ladies resolved upon a short excursion along a\n  mountain path. Unexpectedly meeting the Lord Buddha, they were\n  greatly astonished at his dignified bearing and edifying\n  conversation. When the prince awoke from his siesta, he was\n  irritated to find that his ladies had disappeared. Instituting an\n  immediate search, he became filled with implacable rage upon\n  discovering them in the society of a hermit. The incident, as\n  narrated in the Chinese text, proved to be a distressing sequel to\n  the modest ladies\u2019 innocent adventure. (Compare _Chinese\n  Annotations_, etc.)\n\n  [11] \u201cVarious forms of pre-existence to the number of 500 or 550\n  are recorded, in the course of which he (Buddha) marked his way up\n  through as many different stages of transmigration from the lowest\n  spheres of life to the highest, practising all kinds of\n  asceticism, and exhibiting in every form the utmost unselfishness\n  and charity.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  \u201cI and thou, O Arjuna! have passed through many transmigrations. I\n  know all these.... Even though I am unborn, of changeless essence,\n  and the lord also of all which exist, yet, in presiding over\n  nature (Prakrita), which is mine, I am born by my own mystic power\n  (Maya). For whenever there is a relaxation of duty, ... and an\n  increase of impiety, I then reproduce myself for the protection of\n  the good.... I am produced in every age.\u201d\u2014_Bhagavad-Gita_. J.\n  Cockburn Thomson.\n\n  [12] \u201cExplained by patient endurance of insult. The virtue of\n  patience, implying constant equanimity under persecution, and\n  excluding hatred and revenge.\u201d\u2014_Handbook of Chinese Buddhism_.\n  Eitel.\n\n  \u201cBecause, O Subhuti, I remember the past five hundred births, when\n  I was the _Rishi-Kshantivadin_ (preacher of endurance).\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [13] \u201cLet (the Bodhisattva) be concentrated in mind, attentive,\n  ever firm as the peak of Mount Sumeru, and in such a state (of\n  mind) look upon all laws (and things) as having the nature of\n  space (as being void), permanently equal to space, without\n  essence, immovable, without substantiality. These, indeed, are the\n  Laws, all and for ever.\u201d\u2014_Saddharma-Pundarika_. H. Kern.\n\n  [14] \u201cBecause what is believed is not believed (not to be depended\n  on).\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [15] \u201cHence Buddha declares that the mind of a Bodhisatwa ought\n  not to rely on any formal act of charity. Subhuti, the Bodhisatwa\n  ought to distribute his almsgiving for the purpose of benefiting\n  the whole mass of sentient creatures, and yet Tathagata declares\n  that as all dependencies are after all no real subjects of\n  dependence, so also he says that all sentient creatures are not in\n  reality what they are called.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [16] Literally, \u201cEvery form of phenomena is really _not_ phenomena;\n  every form of sentient life is in reality _not_ sentient life.\u201d\n\n  [17] The Buddhist term, _Fah_ (Law).\n\n  [18] \u201cThe omniscience of Buddha is not the knowledge of all\n  things, but the power of knowing whatever he wishes to know. In\n  opposition to other teachers, who deduce their doctrines from\n  certain previously assumed principles, and who may err either in\n  the data, or in the deductions from them. Buddha affirms of\n  himself that the complete field of truth is before him, that the\n  eye of wisdom to perceive it was obtained by him when he became a\n  Buddha; and whatever he desires to know he perceives perfectly,\n  and at one glance, without any reasoning process.\u201d\u2014(Rev. D. J.\n  Gogerly, in the _Ceylon Friend_. Quoted by R. Spence Hardy, in\n  _Eastern Monachism_).\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 15]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf a good disciple,\nwhether man or woman, in the morning, at noonday, and at eventide,\nsacrificed lives innumerable as the sands of the Ganges, and thus\nwithout intermission throughout infinite ages; and if another\ndisciple, hearing this Scripture proclaimed, steadfastly believed it,\nhis felicity would be appreciably greater than the other. But how much\ngreater must be the felicity of a disciple who transcribes the sacred\ntext, observes its precepts, studies its Laws, and repeats the\nScripture that others may be edified thereby?\u201d\n\n\u201cSubhuti, the relative importance of this Scripture may thus be\nsummarily stated: its truth is infinite; its worth incomparable; and\nits merit interminable.\u201d\n\n\u201cThe Lord Buddha delivered this Scripture specifically for those who\nare entered upon the path which leads to Nirvana, and for those who\nare attaining to the ultimate plane of Buddhic thought.[1] If a\ndisciple rigorously observes, studies, and widely disseminates the\nknowledge of this Scripture, the Lord Buddha entirely knows and\nperceives that for such an one there will be a cumulative merit,\nimmeasurable, incomparable, illimitable, and inconceivable. All such\ndisciples will be endowed with transcendent Buddhic wisdom and\nenlightenment.[2] And why? Because, Subhuti, if a disciple takes\npleasure in a narrow or exclusive form of the Law,[3] he cannot\nreceive with gratification[4] the instruction of this Scripture, or\ndelight in its study, or fervently explain it to others. Subhuti, in\nwhatever place there is a repository for this Scripture, the whole\nrealm of spiritual beings ought to adore it; and reverencing it as a\nsacred shrine,[5] ceremoniously surround it, scattering profusely\nsweet-scented flowers, and pure odours of fragrant incense.\u201d[6]\n\n  [1] Literally, for the _ta-cheng-che_\u2014those of the great vehicle,\n_i.e._, the Mahayana faith. \u201cThey taught (the Mahayana school)\nthat there were two methods of salvation, or, so to speak, two\nways or two vehicles\u2014the great and the little (Maha-Yana and\nHina-Yana)\u2014and indeed two Bodhis or forms of true knowledge which\nthese vehicles had to convey (there was also a middle way). The\nformer was for ordinary persons, the latter for beings of larger\ntalents and higher spiritual powers.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. Sir Monier\nWilliams.\n\n  \u201cTherefore let one always be thoughtful, and avoid (gross)\n  pleasures; having abandoned them, let him cross the stream, after\n  baling out the ship, and go to the other shore\n  (Nirvana).\u201d\u2014_Dhammapada_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [2] \u201cAll these beings will equally remember the _Bodhi_ (the\n  highest Buddhic knowledge), will receive it and understand\n  it.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cAll men being one with _ho-tan_ (Gautama?) Tathagata, arrive at\n  the state of the unsurpassed, just, and enlightened\n  (heart).\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  The Chinese phrase \u201c_ho-tan-Ju-Lai_,\u201d may mean to bear upon the\n  person evidences of the Lord Buddha. Compare the statement of the\n  apostle Paul, \u201cI bear in my body evidences of the Lord Jesus\n  Christ.\u201d\n\n  [3] Those disciples associated with the _Siao-Fah_ (little Law,\n  the Hinayana school of Buddhist thought), are rather ungraciously\n  referred to by a Chinese commentator as \u201crootless stems\u201d; by which\n  we are reminded of the Hindoo aphorism, \u201cfrom the absence of a\n  root within the root, all things are rootless.\u201d\n\n  [4] When the Lord Buddha delivered the Sutra known as the _Lotus\n  of the Good Law_, it is recorded that five thousand followers\n  forsook him, owing to what they regarded as a grave difficulty in\n  complying with its intensely abstruse doctrines.\n\n  [5] \u201cIn these two places also Topes (where relics of Buddha are\n  deposited and safeguarded) have been built, both adorned with\n  layers of all the previous substances (gold, silver, pearls,\n  coral, cornelian, glass, and crystal). The kings, ministers, and\n  peoples of the kingdoms vie with one another in making offerings\n  at them. The trains of those who come to scatter flowers and light\n  lamps at them never cease.\u201d\u2014_The Travels of Fa-Hien_. Legge.\n\n  This descriptive scene concerning the endless trains of pilgrims\n  who lit their lamps at the sacred shrine, may recall to our minds\n  the beautifully expressed line in Sophocles\u2019 _\u0152dipus Coloneus_,\n  thus rendered by Professor Jebb, _The torch-lit strand_ of Eleusis.\n\n  [6] \u201cThen the king, with his assembled ministers and all the\n  priests belonging to the capital (of Kashmir), advanced to the\n  preaching hall (_Dharmasala_) and escorted him (the Master of the\n  Law) onwards, being altogether something like a thousand men, with\n  standards and parasols, with incense and flowers filling the\n  roads. When they met (the Master of the Law) they all performed a\n  humble salutation, and spread before him countless flowers as\n  religious offerings.\u201d\u2014_The Life of Hiuen-Tsang_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 16]\n\nThe Lord Buddha, continuing, addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf a good\ndisciple, whether man or woman, devoted to the observance and study of\nthis Scripture, is thereby despised, or lightly esteemed,[1] it is\nbecause that in a previous life there had been committed some grievous\ntransgression, followed now by inexorable retribution.[2] But,\nalthough in this life despised or lightly esteemed, the compensating\nmerit thus acquired will cause the transgression of a former life to\nbe fully expiated, and the disciple adequately recompensed by the\nattainment of supreme spiritual wisdom.\u201d\n\n\u201cFurthermore, Subhuti, numberless ages ago, I recollect that before\nthe advent of Dipankara Buddha, there were myriad Buddhas before whom\nI served and received religious instruction, my conduct being entirely\nblameless and without reproach. But, in the ages to come, if a\ndisciple be enabled to rigorously observe and to study the text of\nthis Scripture, the merit thus acquired will so far exceed the measure\nof my merit in the service of those myriad Buddhas, that it cannot be\nstated in terms of proportion, nor comprehended by means of any\n\u2018analogy.\u2019\u201d\n\n\u201cAgain, Subhuti, in future ages, if a good disciple, whether man or\nwoman, be enabled to rigorously observe and to study consecutively the\ntexts of this Scripture, were I to elaborate either the nature or\nextent of this merit, those who heard it might become delirious, or\nentirely doubt its credibility.[3] Subhuti, it is necessary to\nrealise, that as the meaning of this Scripture is beyond ordinary\ncomprehension, the scope of its fruitful rewards is equally\nincomprehensible.\u201d[4]\n\n  [1] \u201cWhoever reviles Buddha or his disciple, be he a wandering\n  mendicant, or a householder, let one know him as an\n  outcast.\u201d\u2014_Sutta-Nipata_. V. Fausb\u00f6ll.\n\n  [2] \u201cWhatever evil deeds these beings have done in a former birth,\n  deeds that must lead to suffering, those deeds these beings, owing\n  to their being overcome, after they have seen the Law, will\n  destroy, and they will obtain the knowledge of Buddha.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cAccording to the Buddha ... all men must suffer in their own\n  persons either in the present life, or in future lives, the\n  consequences of their own acts.... The penalty of sin could not be\n  transferred to another\u2014it could only be borne by the sinner\n  himself, just as the reward of virtue could only be enjoyed by the\n  virtuous man himself.\u201d\u2014_Hinduism_. Sir Monier Williams.\n\n  [3] Literally, \u201cbecome as doubtful as a fox.\u201d\n\n  [4] \u201cFor as the method and entire meaning of this Sutra is not to\n  be described or entirely conceived, so the merit and happy\n  consequences of accepting it cannot be conceived or\n  described.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 17]\n\nUpon that occasion, the venerable Subhuti addressed the Lord Buddha,\nsaying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! if a good disciple, whether man or\nwoman, having desired to attain to supreme spiritual wisdom, what\nimmutable Law shall support the mind of that disciple, and bring into\nsubjection every inordinate desire?\u201d[1]\n\nThe Lord Buddha replied, saying: \u201cA good disciple, whether man or\nwoman, ought thus to habituate his mind:[2] \u2018I must become oblivious\nto every idea of sentient life; and having become oblivious to every\nidea of sentient life, there is _no one_ to whom the idea of sentient\nlife has become oblivious.\u2019[3] And why? Because, Subhuti, if an\nenlightened disciple retains within his mind such arbitrary ideas of\nsentient life as an entity, a being, a living being, or a personality,\nhe has not attained to supreme spiritual wisdom. And why? Because,\nSubhuti, there is no Law by means of which a disciple may be defined\nas one having obtained supreme spiritual wisdom.\u201d[4]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? When the\nLord Buddha was a disciple of Dipankara Buddha, was there bequeathed\nto him any Law whereby he attained to supreme spiritual wisdom?\u201d\nSubhuti replied, saying: \u201cNo! Honoured of the Worlds! inasmuch as I am\nable to comprehend the meaning of the Lord Buddha\u2019s discourse, when\nthe Lord Buddha was a disciple of Dipankara Buddha, there was no Law\nbequeathed to him whereby he attained to supreme spiritual wisdom.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha endorsed these words, saying:[5] \u201cTruly there is no\nLaw by means of which the Lord Buddha obtained supreme spiritual\nwisdom. Subhuti, if there existed a Law by means of which the Lord\nBuddha obtained supreme spiritual wisdom, Dipankara Buddha would not\nhave foretold at my initiation, \u2018In future ages[6] thou shalt become\nSakyamuni Buddha.\u2019 But, in reality, there is no Law by means of which\nsupreme spiritual wisdom can be obtained. Therefore, at my initiation,\nDipankara Buddha foretold concerning me, \u2018In future ages, thou shalt\nbecome Sakyamuni Buddha.\u2019 And why? Because, in the word _Buddha_.[7]\nevery Law is summarily and intelligibly comprehended.\u201d \u201cIf a disciple\naffirmed that the Lord Buddha attained to supreme spiritual wisdom, it\nis necessary to state that there is no Law whereby this condition of\nmind can be realised. The supreme spiritual wisdom to which the Lord\nBuddha attained, cannot, in its essence, be defined as real or unreal.\nThus, the Lord Buddha declared that the ordinarily accepted term, \u2018the\nBuddhic Law,\u2019 is synonymous with every moral and spiritual Law.\nSubhuti, what are ordinarily declared to be \u2018systems of Law,\u2019 are not\nin reality \u2018systems of Law,\u2019 they are merely termed \u2018systems of Law.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cCan you imagine a man\nhaving a great physical body?\u201d Subhuti replied, saying: \u201cThe Lord\nBuddha, discoursing upon the proportions of a physical body, did not\nmaintain for these any _real_ greatness, therefore it is merely termed\n\u2018a great body.\u201d\u2019\n\nThe Lord Buddha, thereupon, addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cThus it is\nwith an enlightened disciple: if he were to expatiate after this\nmanner, \u2018I must become oblivious to every idea of sentient life,\u2019[8]\nhe could not be described as fully enlightened. And why? Because,\nthere is no Law whereby a disciple can be approved as \u2018fully\nenlightened.\u2019[9] Therefore, the Lord Buddha declared that within the\nrealm of spiritual Law, there is neither an entity, a being, a living\nbeing, nor a personality.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf an enlightened disciple\nwere to speak in this wise, \u2018I shall create numerous Buddhist\nkingdoms,\u2019 he could not be designated \u2018fully enlightened.\u2019 And why?\nBecause, the Lord Buddha, discoursing upon \u2018creating numerous Buddhist\nkingdoms,\u2019 did not affirm the idea of creating numerous \u2018material\u2019\nBuddhist kingdoms, hence the \u2018creation of numerous Buddhist kingdoms\u2019\nis merely a figure of speech. Subhuti, the Lord Buddha declared that a\ndisciple may be regarded as \u2018truly enlightened,\u2019 whose mind is\nthoroughly imbued with the Law of non-individuality.\u201d[10]\n\n  [1] \u201cLet a man restraining all these remain in devotion.... For\n  he, whose senses are under his control, possesses spiritual\n  knowledge. Attachments to objects of sense arise in a man who\n  meditates upon them; from attachment arises desire; from desire\n  passion springs up; from passion comes bewilderment; from\n  bewilderment, confusion of the memory; from confusion of the\n  memory, destruction of the intellect; from destruction of the\n  intellect, he perishes.\u201d\u2014_Bhagavad-Gita_. J. Cockburn Thomson.\n\n  [2] \u201cHe should thus frame his thought: all things must be\n  delivered by me in the perfect world of Nirvana.... And why?\n  Because, O Subhuti, there is no such thing as one who has entered\n  on the path of the Bodhisattva.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [3] \u201cSuch scenes as the following, illustrating the beliefs of the\n  time and the locality, would not seldom occur. A wayfarer in the\n  country of the Get\u00e6 (Jats) (Afghanistan) knocks at the door of a\n  Brahman family. A young man within answers: \u2018There is No One in\n  this house.\u2019 The traveller was too well taught in Buddhism not to\n  know the meaning of this philosophical nihilism, and at once\n  answered, \u2018Who is No One?\u2019 The young man, when he heard this, felt\n  that he was understood. A kindred spirit was outside. Hurriedly he\n  opened the door, and invited the stranger to enter. The visitor\n  was the patriarch of the time (seventeenth), with staff and rice\n  bowl, travelling to teach and make new disciples.\u201d\u2014_Chinese\n  Buddhism_. Edkins.\n\n  [4] Most writers on the Buddhist faith and religion have occasion\n  to refer to the series of events which culminated in the Lord\n  Buddha obtaining \u201csupreme enlightenment.\u201d The founder of the\n  Buddhist faith, dissatisfied with the practice of asceticism, and\n  disappointed by his unfaithful disciples, walked meditatively\n  towards the river Nairanjara, where Sujata, \u201cthe daughter of a\n  neighbouring villager,\u201d provided him with his morning meal.\n  Seating himself under a sacred Bo-Tree, immediately he became\n  engaged in the severest of mental conflicts. The Buddhist authors\n  describe their Master as sitting \u201csublime,\u201d \u201ccalm,\u201d and \u201cserene\u201d\n  throughout the sustained assault of a \u201cvisible\u201d and wicked\n  tempter, assisted by legions of evil spirits. So unrelenting was\n  the fierce encounter, that the forces of nature shook and were\n  convulsed under the dreadful onslaught. As the day advanced, the\n  spiritual elements in Buddha\u2019s nature gradually gained the\n  ascendency; and when he became \u201cfully enlightened,\u201d there was\n  revealed to him an antidote for human woe. The mind of the Lord\n  Buddha thereafter assumed an aspect of perfect peace; \u201cand in _the\n  power over the human heart of inward culture, and of love to\n  others_,\u201d the great Teacher discovered a foundation of Truth,\n  where, with assurance of faith, he could securely rest. As Milton\n  regarded \u201cParadise\u201d to be \u201cregained\u201d in the wilderness, and not on\n  Calvary; in like manner the Buddhist poets indicate a belief that\n  the experience of their Master under the Bo-Tree was the most\n  eventful in his history. That is the reason they regard the\n  Bo-Tree with a reverence resembling the Christian veneration of\n  the Cross. (Compare Davids\u2019 _Buddhism_.)\n\n  [5] Buddha said: \u201cRight! Right! Subhuti, there is in truth no\n  fixed Law (by which) Tathagata attained this condition. Subhuti,\n  if there had been such a Law, then Dipankara Buddha would not have\n  said in delivering the prediction concerning me: \u2018you in after\n  ages must attain to the state of Buddha, and your name shall be\n  Sakyamuni,\u2019 so that because there is indeed no fixed Law for\n  attaining the condition of \u2018the perfect heart,\u2019 on that account it\n  was Dipankara Buddha delivered his prediction in such\n  words.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [6] \u201cTo the pious Buddhist it is a constant source of joy and\n  gratitude that \u2018the Buddha,\u2019 not only then, but in many former\n  births, when emancipation from all the cares and troubles of life\n  was already within his reach, should again and again, in mere love\n  for man, have condescended to enter the world, and live amidst the\n  sorrows inseparable from finite existence.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. T. W. Rhys\n  Davids.\n\n  [7] \u201cAnd why, O Subhuti, the name of Tathagata? It expresses \u2018true\n  suchness.\u2019 And why Tathagata, O Subhuti? It expresses that \u2018he had\n  no origin.\u2019 And why Tathagata, O Subhuti? It expresses \u2018the\n  destruction of all qualities.\u2019 And why Tathagata, O Subhuti? It\n  expresses \u2018one who has no origin whatever.\u2019 And why this? Because,\n  O Subhuti, \u2018no origin is the highest goal.\u2019\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_.\n  Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  The familiar word Buddha, seems to convey to devout Buddhist\n  minds, a meaning consonant with the ethical idea of Love, as\n  understood generally by the followers of Christ. Within it are\n  potential spiritual elements, which, according to their judgment,\n  perfectly fulfil the Law. The Chinese text, _Ju-Lai-che,\n  chi-chu-fah-ru-i_, may bear the following interpretation, _Buddha\n  is the One in whom all Laws become intelligible_. With this\n  particular definition before us, and bearing in mind the general\n  substance of the Mahayana faith, we may perhaps appreciate the\n  sense in which the distinguished missionary, Dr Richard of\n  Shanghai, ventured to render the Chinese term _Ju-Lai_ (Buddha),\n  in a translation of Asvaghocha\u2019s _The Awakening of Faith_, by the\n  English synonym God. Few Christians would controvert the statement\n  _that God, is the One in whom all Laws become intelligible!_\n\n  [8] \u201cAnd if a Bodhisattva were to say: \u2018I shall deliver all\n  beings,\u2019 he ought not to be called a Bodhisattva. And why? Is\n  there anything, O Subhuti, that is called a Bodhisattva? Subhuti\n  said: \u2018Not indeed!\u2019 Bhagavat said: \u2018Those who were spoken of as\n  beings, beings indeed, O Subhuti, they were spoken of as no beings\n  by the Tathagata, and, therefore, they are called beings.\n  Therefore Tathagata says: \u201cAll beings are without self, all beings\n  are without life, without manhood, without personality.\u201d\u2019\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti, so it is with the Bodhisatwa, if he should say: \u2018I ought\n  to destroy all recollection of the countless kinds of creatures,\u2019\n  this Bodhisatwa would not be really one, but only a nominal\n  one.... Hence Buddha says that all things ought to be without any\n  individual distinction.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [9] \u201cThe fountain of knowledge is the pure, bright,\n  self-enlightening mind.\u201d\u2014_Twan-Tsi-Sin-Yao_ (_Tang Dynasty_).\n  Compare Edkins\u2019 _Chinese Buddhism_.\n\n  [10] \u201cA Bodhisattva, O Subhuti, who believes that all things are\n  without self, he has faith, he is called a noble-minded\n  Bodhisattva by the holy and fully enlightened Tathagata.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  In the _Mo-Wei-Sutra_, the ordinary concepts of an entity, a\n  being, a living being, or a personality, are referred to as\n  _blots_ or _stains_ upon the mind.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 18]\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Does the\nLord Buddha possess the physical eye?\u201d Subhuti assented, saying:\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! the Lord Buddha truly possesses the physical\neye.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Does the\nLord Buddha possess the divine or spiritual eye?\u201d Subhuti assented,\nsaying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! the Lord Buddha truly possesses the\ndivine or spiritual eye.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Does the\nLord Buddha possess the eye of wisdom?\u201d Subhuti assented, saying:\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! the Lord Buddha truly possesses the eye of\nwisdom.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Does the\nLord Buddha possess the eye of truth?\u201d[1] Subhuti assented, saying:\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! the Lord Buddha truly possesses the eye of\ntruth.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Does the\nLord Buddha possess the Buddhic eye?\u201d Subhuti assented, saying:\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! the Lord Buddha truly possesses the Buddhic\neye.\u201d[2]\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you?\nConcerning the sands of the Ganges, did the Lord Buddha declare that\nthese were grains of sand?\u201d Subhuti assenting, said: \u201cHonoured of the\nWorlds! the Lord Buddha declared that these were grains of sand.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha enquired of Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? If there\nwere as many rivers Ganges as there are grains of sand in the Ganges,\nand if there were as many Buddhist worlds as the grains of sand in\nthose innumerable rivers, would these Buddhist worlds be numerous?\u201d\nSubhuti replied, saying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! these Buddhist\nworlds would be very numerous.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha, continuing, addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWithin these\ninnumerable worlds, every form of sentient life, with their various\nmental dispositions, are entirely known to the Lord Buddha.[3] And\nwhy? Because, what the Lord Buddha referred to as their \u2018various\nmental dispositions,\u2019 are not in reality their \u2018various mental\ndispositions,\u2019 these are merely termed their \u2018various mental\ndispositions.\u2019 And why? Because, Subhuti, dispositions of mind, or\nmodes of thought, whether relating to the past, the present, or the\nfuture, are alike unreal and illusory.\u201d\n\n  [1] The Chinese _Fah-Yen_\u2014literally, Eye of the Law.\n\n  \u201cThe second of the three great treasures is called _Dhamma_, or in\n  Singhalese, _Dharmma_. This word has various meanings, but is here\n  to be understood in the sense of Truth. It is not unfrequently\n  translated \u2018the Law,\u2019 but this interpretation gives an idea\n  contrary to the entire genius of Buddhism. The _Dharmma_ is\n  therefore emphatically the Truth.\u201d\u2014_Eastern Monachism_. Spence\n  Hardy.\n\n  [2] \u201cSupernatural talents, which the founder of Buddhism,\n  Sakyamuni, is believed to have acquired in the night before he\n  became Buddha, and which every Arhat takes possession of by means\n  of the fourth degree of _Dhyana_ (abstract contemplation). Most\n  Chinese texts reckon six such talents, while the Singhalese know\n  only five. Sometimes, however, only five are mentioned.\u201d\u2014_Handbook\n  of Chinese Buddhism_. Eitel.\n\n  The physical eye has an ordinary local function. The divine or\n  spiritual eye has a universal function. The eye of wisdom is\n  affiliated with the Law, and attests its immutability. The eye of\n  truth is exegetical and synthetical. The Buddhic eye is the\n  instrument of salvation.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n  [3] \u201cBhagavat said, as many beings as there would be in all those\n  worlds, I know the manifold trains of thought of them all. And\n  why? Because, what was preached as the trains of thought, the\n  trains of thought indeed, O Subhuti, that was preached by\n  Tathagata as no train of thoughts, and therefore it is called the\n  train of thoughts. And why? Because, O Subhuti, a past thought is\n  not perceived, a future thought is not perceived,, and the present\n  thought is not perceived.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cGautama himself was very early regarded as omniscient, and\n  absolutely sinless. His perfect wisdom is declared by the ancient\n  epithet of Samma-Sambuddha, \u2018the completely enlightened one,\u2019\n  found at the commencement of every Pali text; and at the present\n  day in Ceylon, the usual way in which Gautama is styled is\n  _Sarwajnan-Wahanse_, \u2018the venerable omniscient one.\u2019 From his\n  perfect wisdom, according to Buddhist belief, his sinlessness\n  would follow as a matter of course.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 19]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? If a\ndisciple, having obtained all the treasures of this universe,[1] were\nto bestow these in the exercise of charity, would such a disciple\nconsequently enjoy a considerable merit?\u201d Subhuti assenting, said:\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! such a disciple would consequently enjoy a\nvery considerable merit.\u201d[2]\n\nThe Lord Buddha thereupon addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf there were\nany real or permanent quality in merit, the Lord Buddha would not have\nspoken of such merit as \u2018considerable.\u2019 It is because there is neither\na tangible nor material quality in merit, that the Lord Buddha\nreferred to the merit of that disciple as \u2018considerable.\u2019\u201d\n\n  [1] The seven treasures\u2014gold, silver, pearls, coral, cornelian,\n  glass, and crystal.\n\n  [2] \u201cBecause, what was preached as a stock of merit, a stock of\n  merit indeed, O Subhuti, that was preached as no stock of merit by\n  the Tathagata, and therefore it is called a stock of merit. If, O\n  Subhuti, there existed a stock of merit, Tathagata would not have\n  preached a stock of merit, a stock of merit indeed!\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  Within the meaning of the Buddhic Law, charity is purely a\n  spiritual concept; and merit consequent upon fulfilling the Law of\n  charity, must have a purely spiritual realisation. This is the\n  sense in which the Lord Buddha referred to merit as\n  \u201cconsiderable.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 20]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Can the\nLord Buddha be perceived by means of his perfect material body?\u201d[1]\nSubhuti replied, saying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! it is improbable\nthat the Lord Buddha can be perceived by means of his perfect material\nbody. And why? Because, what the Lord Buddha referred to as a \u2018perfect\nmaterial body,\u2019 is not in reality a \u2018perfect material body,\u2019 it is\nmerely termed a \u2018perfect material body.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? Can the\nLord Buddha be perceived by means of any physical phenomena?\u201d[2]\nSubhuti replied, saying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! it is improbable\nthat the Lord Buddha can be perceived by means of any physical\nphenomena. And why? Because, what the Lord Buddha referred to as\n\u2018physical phenomena,\u2019 are not in reality \u2018physical phenomena,\u2019 these\nare merely termed \u2018physical phenomena.\u2019\u201d\n\n  [1] \u201cThe first of the Buddha\u2019s bodies is the _Dharma-Kaya_ (body\n  of the Law), supposed to be a kind of ethereal essence of a highly\n  sublimated nature and co-extensive with space. This essence was\n  believed to be eternal, and after the Buddha\u2019s death, was\n  represented by the Law or doctrine (_Dharma_) he taught.\u201d\n\n  \u201cThe second body is the _Sambhoga-Kaya_, \u2018body of conscious\n  bliss,\u2019 which is of a less ethereal and more material nature than\n  the last. Its Brahmanical analogue appears to be the intermediate\n  body (belonging to departed spirits) called _Bhoga-Deha_, which is\n  of an ethereal character, though composed of sufficiently gross\n  (Sthula) material particles to be capable of experiencing\n  happiness or misery.\u201d\n\n  \u201cThe third body is the _Nirmana-Kaya_, \u2018body of visible shapes and\n  transformations,\u2019 that is to say, those various concrete material\n  forms in which every Buddha who exists as an invisible and eternal\n  essence, is manifested on the earth or elsewhere for the\n  propagation of the true doctrine.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. Sir Monier Williams.\n\n  [2] \u201cWhat think you then, O Subhuti, is a Tathagata to be seen\n  (known) by the shape of his visible body? Subhuti said, not\n  indeed, a Tathagata is not to be seen (known) by the shape of his\n  visible body. And why? Because, what was preached as the shape of\n  the visible body, the shape of the visible body indeed, that was\n  preached by Tathagata as no-shape of the visible body, and\n  therefore it is called the shape of the visible body.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  Herein is exemplification of the surpassing excellence of\n  spiritual phenomena: although outwardly possessed of the\n  thirty-two primal signs of a Buddha, there were also the essential\n  evidences of those marvellous spiritual perfections which\n  constitute the _real_ Buddha.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 21]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cDo not affirm that the\nLord Buddha thinks thus within himself, \u2018I ought to promulgate a\nsystem of Law or doctrine.\u2019 Have no such irrelevant thought! And why?\nBecause, if a disciple affirmed that the Lord Buddha promulgated a\nsystem of Law or doctrine, he would defame the Lord Buddha, being\nmanifestly unable to understand the purport of my instruction.\nSubhuti, regarding the promulgation of a \u2018system of Law or doctrine,\u2019\nthere is in reality no \u2018system of Law or doctrine\u2019 to promulgate, it\nis merely termed a \u2018system of Law or doctrine.\u2019\u201d[1]\n\nUpon that occasion, the virtuous and venerable Subhuti enquired of the\nLord Buddha, saying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! in ages to come, will\nsentient beings destined to hear this Law,[2] engender within their\nminds the essential elements of faith?\u201d The Lord Buddha replied,\nsaying: \u201cSubhuti, it cannot be asserted that these are sentient\nbeings, or that these are not sentient beings. And why? Because,\nSubhuti, regarding \u2018sentient beings,\u2019 the Lord Buddha declared that in\nreality these are not \u2018sentient beings,\u2019 they are merely termed\n\u2018sentient beings.\u2019\u201d [3]\n\n  [1] \u201cBhagavat said: What do you think, O Subhuti, does Tathagata\n  think in this wise: the Law has been taught by me? Subhuti said:\n  Not indeed, O Bhagavat, does the Tathagata think in this wise: the\n  Law has been taught by me. Bhagavat said: If a man should say that\n  the Law has been taught by the Tathagata, he would say what is not\n  true; he would slander me with untruth which he has learned. And\n  why? Because, O Subhuti, it is said the teaching of the Law, the\n  teaching of the Law indeed, O Subhuti, there is nothing that can\n  be perceived by the name of the teaching of the Law.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  Eminent wisdom possesses the natural beauty of a pellucid stream,\n  flowing swiftly between rugged mountain crags; but a mind at rest\n  from \u2018systems of Law or doctrine,\u2019 is reminiscent of the\n  loveliness of a waterfall, frozen into shining icicles, and\n  resplendent in the light of the moon.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n  [2] \u201cHe is the best of all guides of men, no other being is like\n  unto him; he is like a jewel, of imperishable glory, who hears\n  this Law with a pure heart.\u201d\u2014_The Buddha-Karita_. E. B. Cowell.\n\n  [3] \u201cBhagavat said: These, O Subhuti, are neither beings nor\n  no-beings. And why? Because, O Subhuti, those who were preached as\n  beings, beings indeed, they were preached as no-beings by the\n  Tathagata, and therefore they are called beings.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  Although these are ordinarily referred to as sentient beings,\n  there are spiritual elements in their real natures, which place\n  them in a category only imperfectly described by the term\n  \u201csentient beings\u201d; but possessing also evident material qualities,\n  it might be an error to assert that these are not \u201csentient\n  beings\u201d; hence the declaration of the Lord Buddha, \u201cthey are\n  merely termed sentient beings.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 22]\n\nSubhuti enquired of the Lord Buddha, saying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds!\ndid the Lord Buddha, in attaining to supreme spiritual wisdom, obtain\nnothing of a real or tangible nature?\u201d The Lord Buddha replied,\nsaying: \u201cIn attaining to supreme spiritual wisdom, not a vestige of\nLaw or doctrine was obtained,[1] and therefore it is termed \u2018supreme\nspiritual wisdom.\u2019\u201d\n\n  [1]\u201cTo affirm the existence of anything real or tangible in the\n  nature of the Law, would be tantamount to being firmly bound by\n  the Law; but to affirm that \u2018not even the vestige of Law or\n  doctrine was obtained,\u2019 is the equivalent of being absolutely free\n  from the Law.\u201d\u2014_Yen-Ping_ (a Chinese monk).\n\n  \u201cBuddha said: \u2018True, true, Subhuti! I, as possessed of this heart,\n  have come into the condition above described. This term the\n  unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart, is but a mere\n  name.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 23]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cThis Law is coherent and\nindivisible,[1] it is neither \u2018above\u2019 nor \u2018below,\u2019[2] therefore it is\ntermed \u2018supreme spiritual wisdom.\u2019 It excludes such arbitrary ideas as\nan entity, a being, a living being, or a personality; but includes\nevery Law pertaining to the cultivation of goodness.[3] Subhuti, what\nwere referred to as \u2018Laws pertaining to goodness,\u2019 these the Lord\nBuddha declared are not in reality \u2018Laws pertaining to goodness,\u2019 they\nare merely termed \u2018Laws pertaining to goodness.\u2019\u201d[4]\n\n[1] The Abb\u00e9 Dubois in his valuable book, _Hindu Manners, Customs,\nand Ceremonies_, carefully observes that amongst the attributes\nwhich the Jains ascribe to the Supreme Being, the first is that He\nis \u201cone\u201d and \u201cindivisible\u201d; and this observation of the learned\nAbb\u00e9 becomes quite illuminating, when we remember the intimate\nrelationship which has existed between the Jains and the Law of\nBuddha.\n\n  [2] \u201cWithin it first arose desire, the primal germ of mind,\n       Which nothing with existence links, as sages searching find.\n       The cord, transversely stretched, that spanned this universal\n         frame,\n       Was it beneath? was it above? can any sage proclaim?\u201d\n\n  \u201cProgress of the Vedic religion towards abstract conceptions of\n  the Deity.\u201d J. Muir (_Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society_).\n\n  [3] \u201cFree from self, free from life, free from personality, that\n  highest perfect knowledge is always the same, and thus known with\n  all good things. And why? Because, what was preached as good\n  things, good things, indeed, O Subhuti, they were preached by the\n  Tathagata as no-things, and therefore are they called good\n  things.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cThis condition which is named the unsurpassed, just, and\n  enlightened (heart), consists in nothing more than the exclusion\n  of all individual distinctions. A man who practices all the rules\n  of virtuous conduct will forthwith attain this condition. But,\n  Subhuti, when we speak of rules of virtuous conduct, Tathagata\n  declares that these rules are after all no real and lasting rules;\n  the term is but a mere name,\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [4] The six Paramita\u2014charity, morality, endurance, energy,\n  contemplation, wisdom, comprehended under the term \u201cLaws\n  pertaining to goodness,\u201d merely constitute an open door by means\n  of which disciples are ushered into the presence of\n  truth.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 24]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf within this universe of\nuniverses, the seven treasures[1] were heaped together, forming as\nmany great elevations as there are Sumerus, prince of mountains, and\nthese treasures bestowed entirely in the exercise of charity; and if a\ndisciple were to select a stanza of this Scripture, rigorously observe\nit, and diligently explain it to others, the merit[2] thus obtained\nwould so far exceed the former excellence, that it cannot be stated in\nterms of proportion, nor comprehended by any analogy.\u201d[3]\n\n  [1] Gold, silver, pearls, coral, cornelian, glass, and crystal.\n\n  [2] \u201cAnd whosoever in days when the good Law is abolished, abandons\n  love for his own body and life, and proclaims day and night these\n  good words\u2014pre-eminent is his merit from this.\u201d\n\n  \u201cHe obtains a glorious and endless splendour who teaches even one\n  word thereof; he will not miss one consonant nor the meaning who\n  gives this Sutra to others.\u201d\n\n  \u201cTherefore let those who are endowed with lofty ambitions, always\n  hear this Law which causes transcendent merit; let them hear it\n  and gladly welcome it and lay it up in their minds and continually\n  worship the three jewels (the Buddha, the Law, and the assembly of\n  monks) with faith.\u201d\u2014_Buddha-Karita_. E. B. Cowell.\n\n  [3] \u201cI declare that his happiness and consequent merit would be\n  incomparably greater than that of the other, so much so, that no\n  number could express the excess of one over the\n  other.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 25]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cWhat think you? You\ndisciples, do not affirm that the Lord Buddha reflects thus within\nhimself, \u2018I bring salvation to every living being.\u2019 Subhuti, entertain\nno such delusive thought! And why? Because, in reality there are no\nliving beings to whom the Lord Buddha can bring salvation.[1] If there\nwere living beings to whom the Lord Buddha could bring salvation, the\nLord Buddha would necessarily assume the reality of such arbitrary\nconcepts as an entity, a being, a living being, and a personality.\nSubhuti, what the Lord Buddha adverted to as an entity, is not in\nreality an entity; it is only understood to be an entity, and believed\nin as such, by the common, uneducated people. Subhuti, what are\nordinarily referred to as the \u2018common, uneducated people,\u2019 these the\nLord Buddha declared to be not merely \u2018common, uneducated people.\u2019\u201d[2]\n\n  [1] As the primordial human mind is void and quiescent, so also is\n  the wisdom of this Sutra full and overflowing. Therefore, hearing\n  the text of this Sutra expounded, and meditating upon its truth,\n  there are formed spontaneously within the minds of those living\n  beings, all the essential elements of salvation. As these mature\n  and develop into a Law of spiritual liberty, the Lord Buddha\n  obviously relinquishes every duty consonant with the idea of a\n  delegated Saviour.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n  \u201cWhat do you think then, O Subhuti, does a Tathagata think in this\n  wise: beings have been delivered by me? You should not think so.\n  And why? Because, there is no being that has been delivered by the\n  Tathagata. And if there were a being, O Subhuti, that had been\n  delivered by the Tathagata, then Tathagata would believe in a\n  self, a being, a living being, and a person. And what is called a\n  belief in self, O Subhuti, that is preached as a no-belief by the\n  Tathagata. And this is learned by children and ignorant persons,\n  and they who were preached as children and ignorant persons, O\n  Subhuti, were preached as no-persons by the Tathagata, and\n  therefore they are called children and ignorant persons.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [2] \u201cDifference there is in beings endowed with bodies, but\n  amongst men this is not the case, the difference amongst men is\n  nominal only.\u201d\u2014_Dhammapada_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cWorldly profit is fleeting and perishable, religious (holy) profit\n  is eternal and inexhaustible; a man though a king is full of\n  trouble, a common man who is holy, has everlasting\n  rest.\u201d\u2014_Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 26]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cCan the Lord Buddha be\nperceived by means of his thirty-two bodily distinctions?\u201d[1] Subhuti\nreplied, saying: \u201cEven so,[2] the Lord Buddha can be perceived by\nmeans of his thirty-two bodily distinctions.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha, continuing, said unto Subhuti: \u201cIf by means of his\nthirty-two bodily distinctions it were possible to perceive the Lord\nBuddha, then the Lord Buddha would merely resemble one of the great\nwheel-turning kings.\u201d[3]\n\nSubhuti thereupon addressed the Lord Buddha, saying: \u201cHonoured of the\nWorlds! According as I am able to interpret the Lord Buddha\u2019s\ninstruction, it is improbable that the Lord Buddha may be perceived by\nmeans of his thirty-two bodily distinctions.\u201d\n\nThereafter, the \u201cHonoured of the Worlds\u201d delivered this sublime Gatha:\n\n  \u201cI am not to be perceived by means of any visible form,\n   Nor sought after by means of any audible sound;\n   Whosoever walks in the way of iniquity,\n   Cannot perceive the blessedness of the Lord Buddha.\u201d[4]\n\n  [1] \u201cThis probably refers to the auspicious signs discovered in\n  Sakyamuni at his birth, which left it open whether he would become\n  a king or a Buddha.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [2] Subhuti failed to apprehend the idea\n  as expressed by the Lord Buddha, and\n  inadvertently replied, saying: \u201cEven so, Even\n  so.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n  [3] \u201cThe portends troubled, till his dream readers\n       Augured a prince of earthly dominance,\n       A Chakravartin, such as rise to rule\n       Once in a thousand years.\u201d\u2014_The\n       Light of Asia_. Sir Edwin Arnold.\n\n  \u201cA king who rules the world, and causes the wheel of doctrine\n  everywhere to revolve. The great Asoka (King of Central India, who\n  reigned near Patna, about 150\u2013200 years after the demise of\n  Buddha) was a \u2018wheel king.\u2019 The word is Chakravarti in Sanscrit,\n  from Chakra \u2018wheel,\u2019 the symbol of activity, whether of Buddha in\n  preaching, or of kings like Asoka in ruling.\u201d\u2014_Chinese Buddhism_.\n  Edkins.\n\n  \u201cThose of the Bikkhus who carry in their hearts the words of\n  excellent knowledge that is immeasurable, who are free from bonds,\n  whose fame and power and glory no man can weigh, who (in imitation\n  of their master) keep the royal chariot wheel of the kingdom of\n  righteousness rolling on, who have reached perfection in\n  knowledge.\u201d\u2014_Questions of King Milinda_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n  [4] The following Gatha, translated by Max M\u00fcller, and concluding\n  the twenty-sixth section of _The Vagrakkhedika_, is not\n  incorporated in the Chinese text.\n\n  \u201cA Buddha is to be seen (known) from the Law;\n   For the Lords (Buddha) have the Law-Body;\n   And the nature of the Law cannot be understood,\n   Nor can it be made to be understood.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 27]\n\nThe Lord Buddha said unto Subhuti: \u201cIf you think thus within yourself\n\u2018The Lord Buddha did not, by means of his perfect bodily distinctions,\nobtain supreme spiritual wisdom,\u2019 Subhuti, have no such deceptive\nthought! Or if you think thus within yourself, \u2018In obtaining supreme\nspiritual wisdom, the Lord Buddha declared the abrogation of every\nLaw,\u2019 Subhuti, have no such delusive thought! And why? Because, those\ndisciples who obtain supreme spiritual wisdom, neither affirm the\nabrogation of any Law, nor the destruction of any distinctive quality\nof phenomena.\u201d[1]\n\n\n  [1] \u201cWhat do you think then, O Subhuti, has the highest perfect\n  knowledge been known by the Tathagata by the possession of signs?\n  You should not think so, O Subhuti. And why? Because, the highest\n  perfect knowledge will not be known by the Tathagata through the\n  possession of signs. Nor should anybody, O Subhuti, say to you\n  that the destruction or annihilation of anything is proclaimed by\n  those who have entered on the path of the Bodhisattvas.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti, if you should think thus, \u2018Tathagata, by means of his\n  personal distinctions has attained to the unsurpassable\n  condition,\u2019 you would be wrong.... But, Subhuti, do not come to\n  such an opinion as this, viz., \u2018that what is called the\n  unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart is nothing more than the\n  mere neglect and destruction of all rules and conditions.\u2019 Think\n  not so, for why? the exhibition of this perfect and unsurpassed\n  heart is not the consequence of having disregarded and destroyed\n  all rules, in the active discharge of duty.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  Concerning the phenomena of Law, if these were abrogated and\n  entirely discarded, where would the mind receive its guiding\n  light, or the human spirit its power of discernment? To attempt a\n  process of reasoning apart from such necessary postulates as the\n  distinctive qualities of Law and phenomena, would prove to be as\n  futile as an effort to cross a river without a raft, and would\n  inevitably end in oblivion.\u2014_Chinese Annotation_.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 28]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf an enlightened\ndisciple, in the exercise of charity, bestowed as considerable an\namount of the seven treasures as might fill worlds numerous as the\nsands of the Ganges; and if a disciple, realising that within the\nmeaning and purport of the Law, there is no abstract individual\nexistence,[1] perfects himself in the virtue of endurance, this latter\ndisciple will have a cumulative merit, relatively greater than the\nother. And why? Because, enlightened disciples are entirely unaffected\nby considerations of \u2018reward or merit.\u2019\u201d\n\nSubhuti thereupon enquired of the Lord Buddha, saying: \u201cHonoured of\nthe Worlds! in what respect are enlightened disciples unaffected by\nconsiderations of \u2018reward or merit\u2019?\u201d The Lord Buddha replied, saying:\n\u201cEnlightened disciples do not aspire, in a spirit of covetousness, to\nrewards commensurate with their merit; therefore, I declare that they\nare entirely unaffected by considerations of \u2018reward or merit.\u2019\u201d[2]\n\n  [1] \u201cAnd if a Bodhisattva acquired endurance in selfless and\n  uncreated things, then he would enjoy a larger stock of merit,\n  immeasurable and innumerable.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n    \u201cNothing in this world is single,\n     All things by a law divine\n     In one another\u2019s being mingle.\u201d\u2014Shelley.\n\n  [2] \u201cSubhuti asked Buddha: World-honoured One! what is this you\n  say, that Bodhisatwas cannot be said to appreciate reward?\n  \u2018Subhuti, the reward which a Bodhisatwa enjoys ought to be\n  connected with no covetous desire; this is what I mean by\n  non-appreciation of reward.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  This passage, concluding the twenty-eighth section of _The Diamond\n  Sutra_, not being incorporated in the translation of _The\n  Vagrakkhedika_ by Max M\u00fcller, may be suggestive of a noteworthy\n  interpolation in the Chinese text, or is it a probable lacuna in\n  the Sanscrit MSS.?\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 29]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf a disciple asserts that\nthe Lord Buddha comes or goes, sits or reclines, obviously he has not\nunderstood the meaning of my discourse. And why? Because, the idea\n\u2018Buddha\u2019 implies neither coming from anywhere, nor going to anywhere,\nand hence the synonym \u2018Buddha!\u2019\u201d[1]\n\n  [1] \u201cAnd why? Because the word Tathagata means one who does not go\n  to anywhere, and does not come from anywhere, and therefore he is\n  called the Tathagata (truly come), holy and fully\n  enlightened.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cThat which is Tathagata has no where whence to come, and no where\n  whither he can go, and is therefore named\n  Tathagata.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  In the heavens above, we cannot discern a place whence he came,\n  nor whither he may return. In his holy, immaculate, and\n  marvellously endowed body, were manifested plenary spiritual\n  powers.\u2014_Hua-Yen-Sutra_.\n\n  Like drifting clouds, like the waning moon, like ships that sail\n  the ocean, like shores that are washed away\u2014these are symbolic of\n  endless change. But the blessed Buddha, in his essential, absolute\n  nature, is changeless and everlasting.\u2014_Yuen-Chioh-Sutra_.\n\n  \u201cIf the pool be of pure water, the shining moon is reflected upon\n  its limpid surface; and yet we cannot affirm that the moon really\n  came from anywhere, or that it is actually in the pool. If the\n  pool be disturbed and the dense mud raised, immediately the bright\n  reflection becomes obscured; and yet we dare not affirm that the\n  moon has really gone to anywhere, or that it has actually departed\n  from the pool. It is entirely a question of the purity or impurity\n  of the water, and has no reasonable affinity with theories\n  concerning the existence or non-existence of the moon. So, also,\n  with the true concept of Buddha; only those whose minds are\n  immaculate in their pristine purity, can ever realise his\n  transcendent blessedness.\u201d\u2014_Chang-Shui_ (a Chinese monk).\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 30]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf a good disciple,\nwhether man or woman, were to take infinite worlds and \u2018reduce\u2019 them\nto minute particles of dust; what think you, would the aggregate of\nall those particles of dust be great?\u201d Subhuti replied, saying:\n\u201cHonoured of the Worlds! the aggregate of all those particles of dust\nwould be exceedingly great. And why? Because, if all those were in\nreality \u2018minute particles of dust,\u2019 the Lord Buddha would not have\ndeclared them to be \u2018minute particles of dust.\u2019 And why? Because, the\nLord Buddha, discoursing upon \u2018minute particles of dust,\u2019 declared\nthat in reality those are not \u2018minute particles of dust,\u2019 they are\nmerely termed \u2018minute particles of dust.\u2019\u201d[1]\n\nSubhuti continuing, addressed the Lord Buddha, saying: \u201cHonoured of\nthe Worlds! what the Lord Buddha discoursed upon as \u2018infinite worlds,\u2019\nthese are not in reality \u2018infinite worlds,\u2019 they are merely termed\n\u2018infinite worlds.\u2019 And why? Because, if these were in reality\n\u2018infinite worlds,\u2019 there would of necessity be unity and eternity of\nmatter. But the Lord Buddha, discoursing upon the \u2018unity and eternity\nof matter,\u2019 declared that there is neither \u2018unity\u2019 nor \u2018eternity of\nmatter,\u2019 therefore it is merely termed \u2018unity and eternity of matter.\u2019\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha thereupon declared unto Subhuti, \u201cBelief in the unity\nor eternity of matter is incomprehensible;[2] and only common,\nworldly-minded people, for purely materialistic reasons, covet this\nhypothesis.\u201d\n\n  [1] These minute particles of dust, like the great worlds which\n  are composed of them, are deceptive forms of natural phenomena,\n  equally unreal and evanescent. The minute particles which we\n  observe floating in space, are carried hither and thither by\n  atmospheric currents, and eventually pass into regions beyond our\n  cognisance. So, also, with the immense worlds revolving in space;\n  their ever-recurring phenomena of light and darkness, heat and\n  cold, changing seasons, transient scenes of mountain and valley,\n  river and plain. These things indicate that all are ephemeral, and\n  entirely subject to irrevocable laws of change and decay.\u2014_Chinese\n  Annotation_.\n\n  \u201cBecause, what was preached as a mass of many atoms by the\n  Tathagata, that was preached as no-mass of atoms by the Tathagata,\n  and therefore it is called \u2018a mass of many atoms.\u2019\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cWhat then, if Buddha speaks of all these particles, then they are\n  not really what they are called, it is but a mere name,\n  World-Honoured One!\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  [2] \u201cBhagavat said, and a belief in matter itself, O Subhuti, is\n  inestimable and inexpressible; it is neither a thing nor a\n  no-thing, and this is known by children and ignorant\n  persons.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cAnnihilation of matter is inconceivable, but annihilation of all\n  its forms and qualities is conceivable.\u201d _The World as Idea and\n  Will_. Schopenhauer.\n\n  If the worlds were real and permanent, they would always retain\n  their original forms and primordial natures, and be subject\n  neither to the influence of time nor the Law of change.\u2014_Chinese\n  Annotation_.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti, this characteristic of the one \u2018harmonious principle,\u2019\n  is a thing which cannot be spoken of in words; it is only the vain\n  philosophy of the world, which has grasped the idea of explaining\n  this.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n  This noteworthy statement seems to militate against some opinions\n  expressed in Europe regarding the Buddhist theory of \u201cmatter.\u201d\n  According to our Chinese text, it does not appear that Sakyamuni\n  Buddha categorically denied the \u201cpresence\u201d or \u201cexistence\u201d of\n  matter in the universe, but endeavoured rather to indicate the\n  diversified and evanescent nature of its \u201cforms\u201d and \u201cqualities.\u201d\n  Many devout Buddhists regard even the smallest particle of dust as\n  containing a mysterious and elusive element\u2014probably what we are\n  disposed to term \u201ca spiritual element,\u201d or \u201cprinciple of life\u201d\u2014and\n  these are not unreasonably regarded as being altogether\n  inscrutable, and therefore \u201cincomprehensible.\u201d\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 31]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf a disciple affirmed\nthat the Lord Buddha enunciated a belief[1] that the mind can\ncomprehend the idea of an entity, a being, a living being, or a\npersonality; what think you, Subhuti, would that disciple be\ninterpreting aright the meaning of my discourse?\u201d Subhuti replied,\nsaying: \u201cHonoured of the Worlds! that disciple would not be\ninterpreting aright the meaning of the Lord Buddha\u2019s discourse. And\nwhy? Because, Honoured of the Worlds! discoursing upon comprehending\nsuch ideas as an entity, a being, a living being, and a personality,\nit was declared that these are entirely unreal and illusive, and\ntherefore they are merely termed an entity, a being, a living being,\nand a personality.\u201d\n\nThe Lord Buddha thereafter addressed Subhuti, saying:[2] \u201cThose who\naspire to the attainment of supreme spiritual wisdom ought thus to\nknow, believe in, and interpret phenomena. They ought to eliminate\nfrom their minds every tangible evidence of every visible object.\nSubhuti, concerning \u2018visible objects,\u2019 the Lord Buddha declared that\nthese are not really \u2018visible objects\u2019 they are merely termed \u2018visible\nobjects.\u2019\u201d\n\n  [1] \u201cBecause, O Subhuti, if a man were to say that belief in self,\n  belief in a being, belief in life, belief in personality, had been\n  preached by the Tathagata, would he be speaking truly? Subhuti\n  said, not indeed, Bhagavat, he would not be speaking truly. And\n  why? Because, what was preached by the Tathagata as a belief in\n  self, that was preached as no-belief, therefore it is called\n  belief in self.\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  In these words are exemplified another profound aspect of Buddhist\n  doctrine. Apart from interesting questions concerning the\n  existence of an entity, a being, a living being, or a personality,\n  another problem seems to arise regarding our ability to entirely\n  perceive or \u201ccomprehend\u201d those admitted abstract ideas. If we\n  interpret aright the Buddhist doctrine, there are variously\n  compounded within those abstract ideas, so many elusive spiritual\n  elements, that the human mind is incapable of resolving them by\n  any process of reasoning. In short\u2014an entity, a being, a living\n  being, or a personality, represents to the Buddhist mind, much\n  more than it attempts to express in terms of philosophy.\n\n  [2] \u201cThus then, O Subhuti, are all things to be perceived, to be\n  looked upon, and to be believed by one who has entered upon the\n  path of the Bodhisattvas. And in this wise are they to be\n  perceived, to be looked upon, and to be believed, neither in the\n  idea of a thing, nor in the idea of a no-thing? And why? Because\n  by saying: the idea of a thing, the idea of a thing indeed, it has\n  been preached by the Tathagata as the no-idea of a thing.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  \u201cSubhuti, the persons who aspire to the perfectly enlightened\n  heart, ought to know accordingly that this is true with respect to\n  all things, and thus prevent the exhibition of any characteristics\n  on any point whatever. Subhuti, these very characteristics of\n  which we speak are after all no characteristics, but a mere\n  name.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_. Beal.\n\n\n\n\n[Chapter 32]\n\nThe Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: \u201cIf a disciple, having\nimmeasurable spheres filled with the seven treasures,[1] bestowed\nthese in the exercise of charity; and if a disciple, whether man or\nwoman, having aspired to supreme spiritual wisdom, selected from this\nScripture a stanza comprising four lines, then rigorously observed it,\nstudied it, and diligently explained it to others; the cumulative\nmerit of such a disciple would be relatively greater than the other.\u201d\n\n\u201cIn what attitude of mind should it be diligently explained to\nothers?[2] Not assuming the permanency or the reality of earthly\nphenomena, but in the conscious blessedness of a mind at perfect\nrest.[3] And why? Because, the phenomena of life may be likened unto a\ndream, a phantasm, a bubble,[4] a shadow, the glistening dew, or\nlightning flash, and thus they ought to be contemplated.\u201d\n\nWhen the Lord Buddha concluded his enunciation of this Scripture,[5]\nthe venerable Subhuti, the monks,[6] nuns, lay-brethren and sisters,\nall mortals, and the whole realm of spiritual beings, rejoiced\nexceedingly, and consecrated to its practice, they received it and\ndeparted.\n\n  [1] Gold, silver, pearls, coral, cornelian, glass, and crystal.\n\n  [2] \u201cThe wise man, the preacher, who wishes to expound this Sutra,\n  must absolutely renounce falsehood, pride, calumny, and envy....\n  He is always sincere, mild, forbearing; ... he must feel affection\n  for all beings who are striving for enlightenment ... they are\n  greatly perverted in their minds, those beings who do not hear,\n  nor perceive ... the mystery of the Tathagata. Nevertheless will I,\n  who have attained this supreme, perfect knowledge, powerfully bend\n  to it the mind of every one (Burnouf, _par la force de mes\n  facult\u00e9s surnaturelles_), whatever may be the position he\n  occupies, and bring about that he accepts, understands, and\n  arrives at full ripeness.\u201d\u2014_Saddharma-Pundarika_. H. Kern.\n\n  [3] \u201cBy contemplation are obtained those conditions through which\n  is eventually gained that supreme calm, undecaying, immortal\n  state, which is so hard to be reached.\u201d\u2014_Buddha-Karita_. E. B.\n  Cowell.\n\n  \u201cAnd in what way can the disciple \u2018proclaim them generally?\u2019\n  Simply by relying on no conditions or distinctions whatever; thus\n  he will act without agitation or excitement. Wherefore the\n  conclusion is this\u2014that all things which admit of definition are\n  as a dream, a phantom, a bubble, a shadow, as the dew and\n  lightning flash. They ought to be regarded thus.\u201d\u2014_Kin-Kong-King_.\n  Beal.\n\n  \u201cAnd how should he explain it? As in the sky: stars, darkness, a\n  lamp, a phantom, dew, a bubble, a dream, a flash of lightning, and\n  a cloud\u2014thus should we look upon the world (all that was\n  made).\u201d\u2014_The Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [4] \u201c_Fa-Hien_ stayed at the dragon Vihara till after the summer\n  retreat, and then, travelling to the south-east for seven Yojanas,\n  he arrived at the city of Kanyakubja, lying along the Ganges....\n  At a distance from the city of six or seven _Le_, on the west, on\n  the northern bank of the Ganges, is a place where Buddha preached\n  the Law to his disciples. It has been handed down that his\n  subjects of discourse were such as \u2018The bitterness and vanity (of\n  life), as impermanent and uncertain,\u2019 and that \u2018The body is as a\n  \u201cbubble\u201d or foam on the water.\u2019\u201d\u2014_Travels of Fa-Hien_. Legge.\n\n  [5] \u201cThus spake the Bhagavat enraptured; the elder Subhuti, and\n  the friars, nuns, the faithful lay men and women, and the\n  Bodhisattvas also, and the whole world of gods, men, evil spirits\n  and fairies, praised the preaching of the Bhagavat.\u201d\u2014_The\n  Vagrakkhedika_. Max M\u00fcller.\n\n  [6] \u201cThe vow of \u2018obedience\u2019 was never taken by the Buddhist monks\n  and nuns, and in this it may be noticed a fundamental difference\n  between them and monastic orders in the West: mental culture, not\n  mental death, was the aim set before the Buddhist ascetic by the\n  founder of his faith.\u201d\u2014_Buddhism_. T. W. Rhys Davids.\n\n\n  \u201c_As when men, travelling, feel a glorious perfume sweet\n   Pervading all the country side, and gladdening them, infer at once,\n  \u2018Surely \u2019tis giant forest trees are flowering now!\u2019\n   So, conscious of this perfume sweet of righteousness\n   That now pervades the earth and heavens, they may infer:\n  \u2018A Buddha, infinitely great, must once have lived!\u2019_\u201d\n\n\n\n\n                               INDEX\n\n\n  Alexandria, 20\n\n  Alms-bowl, 3, 5\n\n  Almsgiving, 2\n\n  Anagami, 31, 32\n\n  Ananda, 11, 12\n\n  Anepidu, 51\n\n  Anniversaries, 37\n\n  Anta-Kalpas, 42\n\n  Anuradhapura, 51\n\n  Anurogrammum, 51\n\n  Apatti, 28\n\n  Aranyaka, 35, 36, 37\n\n  Arhat, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 55, 78\n\n  Ari-Hat, 32\n\n  Arjuna, 57\n\n  Arnold (Sir Edwin), 11, 18, 21, 29, 40, 42, 48, 50, 55, 94\n\n  Arya, 31, 32\n\n  Aryagiti, 26\n\n  Arya-Marga, 32\n\n  Ascetic, 21\n\n  Asiatic, 89\n\n  Asoka, 94, 95\n\n  Asurus, 44\n\n  Asvaghocha, 9, 74\n\n  Atman, 51\n\n  Atoms, 48\n\n  Attavada, 12\n\n  _\u03b1\u1f50\u03c4\u03bf\u03b4\u03b9\u03b4\u03b1\u03ba\u03c4\u03bf\u03c2_, 38\n\n  _Awakening of Faith_, 9, 74\n\n\n  _Bacche (The)_, 20\n\n  Bana, 35, 45, 51\n\n  Beal, 7, 10, 15, 24, 26, 28, 36, 39, 43, 45, 49, 50, etc.\n\n  Benares, 2\n\n  Benefactions, 3\n\n  _Bhagavad-Gita_, 8, 23, 34, 58, 68\n\n  Bhagavat, 23, 26, 38, 47, 54, 80, 85, 87, 103, 105, 110\n\n  Bhoga-Deha, 83\n\n  Bikkhus, 95\n\n  Bikshu, 7\n\n  Bikshuni, 7\n\n  Bodhi, 6, 35, 62, 63\n\n  Bodhisattva, 6, 38, 39, 58, 59, 69, 75, 76, 97, 98, 99, 106, 110\n\n  Bo-Tree, 70, 71\n\n  Brahman, 69\n\n  Brahmanas, 1\n\n  Brahmanical, 83\n\n  Brahmanism, 17\n\n  Buddha, 1, 3, 4, 5, 8, 9, 18, etc.\n\n  _Buddha-Karita_, 86, 91, 109\n\n  Buddhaphalam, 32\n\n  Buddhas, 7, 11, 25, 28\n\n  Buddhaship, 6, 15, 32\n\n  Buddhic, 27\n\n  Buddhism, 13, 14, 16, 19, 41, 49, 63, 72, 80, 83, 110\n\n  Burnouf, 108\n\n\n  Calingapatah, 56\n\n  Calvary, 71\n\n  Ceylon, 80\n\n  _Ceylon Friend_, 61\n\n  Chakra, 95\n\n  Chakravartin, 94, 95\n\n  Chang-Ming, 20\n\n  Chang-Shui, 101\n\n  Chiliocosms, 43, 49\n\n  China, 5, 19\n\n  _Chinese Buddhism_, 2, 7, 9, 37, 39, 40, 69\n\n  Chioh-Hsien, 11\n\n  Christ, 8, 23, 40, 63, 73\n\n  Christians, 74\n\n  Chuan-Fah-Luen, 14\n\n  Chuang-Yen, 39\n\n  Circars, 56\n\n  Coral, 25, 43, 64, 81, 107\n\n  Cornelian, 25, 43, 64, 81, 107\n\n  Cowell, E. B., 86, 91, 109\n\n  Creed, 47\n\n  Cross, 71\n\n  Crystal, 25, 43, 64, 81, 107\n\n\n  Danataka Aranyaka, 35\n\n  Davids, T. W. Rhys, 13, 29, 31, 80, 95, 110\n\n  Davis, Sir John Francis, 19\n\n  Dewa-Loka, 30\n\n  Devas, 31\n\n  Dhamma, 27, 34, 44, 52\n\n  _Dhammapada_, 34, 44, 52, 63, 93\n\n  Dhammo, 78\n\n  Dharma, 30, 35, 83\n\n  Dharma Aranyaka, 35\n\n  Dharma-Kaya, 17, 82\n\n  Dharmasala, 65\n\n  Dharmma, 27\n\n  _Diamond Sutra, The_, 37, 47\n\n  Dipankara Buddha, 37, 38, 67, 71, 72, 73\n\n  Djatakas, 2\n\n  Dubois (the Abb\u00e9), 88\n\n\n  _Eastern Monachism_, 4, 5, 16, 21, 27, 30, 35, 36, 38, 46, 51, 53,\n      61, 78\n\n  Edkins, 2, 7, 9, 39, 40, 69\n\n  Egypt, 20\n\n  Eitel, 1, 2, 6, 11, 13, 26, 28, 31, 32, 35, 37, 49, 56, 57, 58, 79\n\n  Elburz, 40\n\n  Eleusis, 65\n\n  _Enlightenment of Ananda_, 12\n\n  Euripides, 20\n\n  Europe, 20, 104\n\n\n  Fa-Hien, 2, 65, 109\n\n  Fah, 14, 60\n\n  Fah-Ai, 14\n\n  Fah-Lien, 14\n\n  Fah-Luen, 14\n\n  Fah-Men, 14\n\n  Fah-Ming, 14\n\n  Fah-Pao, 14\n\n  Fah-Shen, 16\n\n  Fah-Wang, 14\n\n  Fah-Yen, 78\n\n  Fairies, 110\n\n  Faith, 3, 27\n\n  Fausb\u00f6ll, 23, 27\n\n  Fei-Fuh-Fah, 28\n\n  _Fo-Sho-Hing-Tsan-King_, 93\n\n  Fox, 67\n\n  Fuh-Ko, 32\n\n  Fuh-Tu, 39\n\n\n  Gandhara, 5\n\n  Ganges, 2, 42, 51, 61, 79, 98, 109\n\n  Gatha, 26, 95\n\n  Gautama, 63, 80\n\n  German, 20\n\n  Get\u00e6, 69\n\n  Girdle, 3\n\n  Glass, 25, 43, 64, 81, 107\n\n  God, 21, 74\n\n  Gods, 110\n\n  Gogerly, Rev. D. J., 61\n\n  Gold, 25, 43, 64, 81, 107\n\n  Gondophares, 9\n\n  Gotama, 52\n\n  Greek, 20\n\n  Gunga, 42\n\n  Hardy, Spence, 4, 16, 21, 27, 30, 35, 36, 38, 46, 51, 53, 61, 78\n\n  Hastagiri, 48\n\n  Hero, 50\n\n  Hinayana, 64\n\n  Hindoo, 64\n\n  _Hindu Manners, Customs, and Ceremonies_, 88\n\n  _Hinduism_, 66\n\n  Hiuen-Tsang, 2, 50, 53, 65\n\n  Ho-Ru-To-Lo-San-Mao-San-Pu-Ti, 7\n\n  Ho-Tan-Ju-Lai, 63\n\n  _Hua-Yen-Sutra_, 100\n\n  Hunter, Sir William, 55\n\n  Huxley, 10\n\n\n  Icicles, 86\n\n  _Idea and Will, The World as_, 48, 103\n\n  Immortality, 44\n\n  Immortals, 2\n\n  India, 7, 20\n\n  _Indian Empire, The_, 55\n\n  Indo-Scythic, 9\n\n  I-Wu-Wei-Fah, 25\n\n\n  Jains, 88\n\n  Jayendra, 53\n\n  Jesus, 18\n\n  Jeta, 2, 4\n\n  Jewels, 91\n\n\n  Kalinga, 56\n\n  Kaliradja, 56\n\n  Kalpa, 45\n\n  Kanyakubja, 109\n\n  Kashaya, 50\n\n  Kashmir, 65\n\n  Kasina, 36\n\n  Kern, H., 39, 58, 108\n\n  Khaloupas\u2019 Waddhaktinka, 4\n\n  Kin-Kong-King, 7, 10, 15, 24, 26, 28, 36, 39, 45, 49, 59, etc.\n\n  Kingdoms, 38, 40, 76\n\n  Kos\u2019ala, 56\n\n  Kshanti, 58\n\n  Kshantivadin, 58\n\n  Kwa-Yuh, 33\n\n\n  Lao-Tsz, 28\n\n  _Lay Sermons_, 10\n\n  Le, 109\n\n  Legge, 65, 109\n\n  _Light of Asia (The)_, 11, 18, 21, 29, 34, 40, 42, 48, 50, 55, 94,\n      etc.\n\n  _Lotus of the Good Law_, 64\n\n  Love, 73\n\n\n  Ma-Ming, 9\n\n  Madhyades\u2019a, 5\n\n  Mahasattvas, 7\n\n  Mahayana, 62\n\n  Mantras, 1\n\n  Matanga, 35\n\n  Materialist, 48\n\n  Maya, 50, 58\n\n  Meitreya (Buddha), 5\n\n  _Memoirs sur les Contr\u00e9es Occidentales_, 2\n\n  Mencius, 33\n\n  Mendicant, 4\n\n  Metamorphosis, 9\n\n  Mieh-Tu, 10\n\n  Milinda, 4, 29, 31, 33, 36, 95\n\n  Milton, 71\n\n  Mo-Ho-Sa, 7\n\n  _Mo-Wei-Sutra_, 77\n\n  Muir (J.), 89\n\n  M\u00fcller (Max), 1, 25, 26, 30, 34, 39, 42, 44, 47, 52, 54, etc.\n\n  Murray (Gilbert), 20\n\n  Myak, 7\n\n\n  Nairanjara, 70\n\n  Narakas, 46\n\n  Needle, 3\n\n  Nibbana, 23\n\n  Nihilism, 69\n\n  Nimitta, 36\n\n  Nirmanakaya, 17, 83\n\n  Nirvana, 1, 7, 8, 10, 11, 17, 18, 23, 27, 28, 30, 31, 32, 44, 46, 55,\n      62, 63, 69\n\n  Non-individuality, 76\n\n  Nuttara, 7\n\n\n  _\u0152dipus Coloneus_, 65\n\n  O-siu-lo, 44\n\n\n  Padumas, 48\n\n  Pali, 80\n\n  Paramita, 13, 55, 56, 90\n\n  Patna, 94\n\n  Path, 18\n\n  Paul (The Apostle), 8, 23\n\n  Pearls, 25, 43, 64, 81, 108\n\n  Persia, 5\n\n  Pilgrims, 2\n\n  Po-Ro-Po-Lo-Mi, 8\n\n  Prajna-Paramita, 9\n\n  Prakrita, 57\n\n  Prasenajit, 2\n\n  Priests, 4\n\n  Ptolemy, 51\n\n  Puh-Seng, 32\n\n  Pundarikas, 48\n\n  Pu-sa, 6\n\n\n  _Questions of King Milinda_, 4, 29, 31 33, 36, 95\n\n\n  Raft, 23\n\n  Rahat, 20\n\n  Rahatship, 35\n\n  Ran-Teng-Fuh, 37\n\n  Razor, 3\n\n  Regents, 40\n\n  Reincarnation, 30, 31\n\n  _Relation des Royaumes Buddhiques_, 5\n\n  Remusat, 5\n\n  Ren, 44\n\n  Richard (Dr), 74\n\n  Righteousness, 33\n\n  Rishi, 58\n\n  Robe, 3, 50\n\n  _Saddharma-Pundarika_, 39, 54, 58, 108\n\n  Sagara, 5\n\n  Sakkayaditthi, 12\n\n  Sakridagami, 30, 31\n\n  Sakyamuni, 2, 5, 9, 37, 72, 73, 78, 94, 104\n\n  Salvation, 10, 92, 93\n\n  Samadhi, 36\n\n  Sambhoga-Kaya, 83\n\n  Sambodhi, 7\n\n  Samma-Sambuddha, 80\n\n  Sangha, 44\n\n  San-Pao, 17\n\n  Sanscrit, 1, 7, 95, 99\n\n  Sarvanikchepa, 42\n\n  Sarwajnan-Wahanse, 80\n\n  Sasa, 45\n\n  Sattva, 6\n\n  Saviour, 92\n\n  Schelling, 20\n\n  Schopenhauer, 48, 103\n\n  Scripture, 9, 18, 19, 20, 26, 43, 45, etc.\n\n  Scrotapatti, 28, 29\n\n  Seh-Shen, 16\n\n  Selfhood, 42\n\n  Sewet, 51\n\n  Shah-Tseh, 32\n\n  Shanghai, 74\n\n  Shelley, 98\n\n  Shen-Ming, 51\n\n  Shore, 23, 47\n\n  Shravasti, 2, 4, 6\n\n  Siao-Fah, 64\n\n  Signs, 50\n\n  Silver, 25, 43, 64, 107\n\n  Singhalese, 78\n\n  Siva, 17\n\n  Sivaism, 17\n\n  Sophocles, 65\n\n  Spawn, 9\n\n  Spirits, 44, 110\n\n  Spiritualist, 48\n\n  Sramana, 36\n\n  Srota, 28\n\n  S\u2019ruti, 1\n\n  Sthula, 83\n\n  Subhuti, 6, 8, 13, etc.\n\n  Sugata, 26\n\n  Sujata, 70\n\n  Sumeru, 40, 42, 58\n\n  Sutana, 2\n\n  Sutra, 1, 8, 27, 45, 47, 68, 77, 91, 92, 108\n\n  _Sutta-Nipata_, 23, 27, 66\n\n  Swastika, 50\n\n  Syria, 20\n\n  Sz-ti, 32\n\n\n  Ta-Cheng-Che, 62\n\n  Talents, 78\n\n  Tang (dynasty), 76\n\n  Ta-Pi-Ku, 3\n\n  Tathagata, 25, 26, 38, 47, 49, 59, 63, 72, etc.\n\n  Teacher, 3\n\n  Temples, 39\n\n  Tennyson, 23\n\n  Thomson (J. Cockburn), 8, 23, 34, 58, 68\n\n  Ti-Ching, 11\n\n  Tien, 44\n\n  Tien-Kong, 30\n\n  Ting-Kwang-Fuh, 37\n\n  Topes, 64\n\n  Treasures, 25, 43, 64, 81, 90, 107\n\n  Trimurti, 17\n\n  Triratna, 17\n\n  Truth, 27, 78, 79\n\n  Tsz-Ran-Choih-Sing, 25\n\n  Tuchita, 5\n\n  _Twan-Tsi-Sin-Yao_, 76\n\n\n  Upadanas, 13\n\n\n  _Vagrakkhedika (The)_, 25, 26, 28, 30, 39, 42, 45, 47, etc.\n\n  Vais\u2019ali, 5\n\n  Vedas, 1\n\n  Vedic, 89\n\n  Vice, 3\n\n  Vihara, 109\n\n  Virtue, 3\n\n  Vows, 19\n\n\n  Waddhaktinka, 4\n\n  Waterfall, 86\n\n  Water-strainer, 3\n\n  West, 110\n\n  Wiharas, 51\n\n  Williams (Sir Monier), 49, 63, 66, 83\n\n  Wisdom, 3, 7, 8, 47\n\n  Wou-Wei, 24\n\n  Wu-Wei, Fah, 28\n\n\n  Yen-Ping, 88\n\n  Yogi, 20\n\n  Yojanas, 109\n\n  _Yuen-Chioh-Sutra_, 100\n\n\n\n\n                        TRANSCRIBER\u2019S NOTES.\n\n\nThis is an English translation of the Chinese version available\nat: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.319510013625058.\n\nThe original printed text scans can be found\nat: https://archive.org/details/cu31924022914588.\n\nTextual notes:\n\n  1. Chapter labels have been added in braces (e.g. [Chapter 1]).\n\n  2. Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter.\n\n  3. Text contained within underscores is italicised.\n\n  4. Word spellings have been standardized. Words within direct\n     quotations by other authors have been left unchanged.\n\n  5. Some page numbers in the index were corrected.","title":"The Diamond Sutra (Chin-Kang-Ching) or Prajna-Paramita","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":28357}