In the language of India, Madhyamakāvatāra-kārikā-nāma
In the language of Tibet, Uma la Jukpe Tsikle-ur Jepa She Jawa/dbu ma la ’jug pa’i tshig le’ur byas pa zhes bya ba
In the English language, the “Entrance to the Middle Way,” Set in Verse
Homage to the noble Mañjushrī, the youthful one.
Hearers and middling buddhas arise from the lords of sages,
Buddhas are born from bodhisattvas,
And compassionate mind, nondual intelligence,
And bodhichitta are the causes of the victors’ heirs. (1.1)
Since it is asserted that love is the seed of the victorious ones’ abundant harvest,
Is like the water that causes it to grow,
And is the ripening that allows it to be enjoyed for a long time,
I therefore praise compassion first. (1.2)
First, thinking “I,” they cling to a self.
Then, thinking “This is mine,” attachment to things develops.
Beings are powerless, like a rambling water mill.
I bow to compassion for these wanderers. (1.3)
Beings are like a moon on rippling water:
They move and are empty of inherent nature.
The victors’ heirs see this and, so that these beings may be freed completely,
Their minds are overcome by compassion. (1.4)
Fully dedicating their virtue with the Aspiration of Samantabhadra,
They abide in supreme joy—this is called “the first.”
From that time onward, the one who attains that state
Is called by the term “bodhisattva.” (1.5)
They are born into the family of the tathāgatas
And relinquish the three entanglements.
These bodhisattvas possess extraordinary joy
And can cause a hundred worlds to quake. (1.6)
Advancing from ground to ground, they excellently move ever higher.
At that time, all paths to the lower realms are sealed off.
At that time, all grounds of ordinary beings are exhausted.
They are taught to be like the eighth of the noble ones. (1.7)
Even those who abide on the first level of the view of perfect bodhichitta
Surpass those born of the sages’ speech and the solitary realizers
Through their merit, which continues to perfectly increase.
On the ground Gone Far Beyond, their knowledge also becomes superior. (1.8)
At that time, the first cause of perfect buddhahood,
Generosity, becomes preeminent.
They give even their flesh respectfully,
Which provides a cause for inferring the unseen. (1.9)
All beings strongly desire happiness,
Yet for humans, there is no happiness without material enjoyments.
Knowing that enjoyments, in turn, come about through generosity,
The Sage spoke of generosity first. (1.10)
Even for those who are wanting in compassion, ill-tempered,
And focused exclusively on their own concerns,
The enjoyments they desire,
Which thoroughly pacify their suffering, arise from generosity. (1.11)
Even they, through an occasion of giving,
Will one day come to meet a noble being.
Perfectly cutting through the continuum of existence,
They will attain the result and proceed to peace. (1.12)
Before long, those committed to benefiting beings
Will achieve joy through giving.
Since it is for both those who are loving and not-so-loving in character,
The teaching on generosity is foremost. (1.13)
If the joy the heirs of the victors feel
Upon hearing “Please give to me”
Cannot be matched by the joy of the sages entering peace,
What need to mention their joy of giving everything? (1.14)
The suffering they experience when cutting off and giving their flesh
Brings the sufferings of others in the hells and so forth
Directly to the bodhisattvas’ minds.
They then swiftly apply themselves to ending that suffering. (1.15)
Generosity that is empty of gift, recipient, and giver
Is known as a transcendent perfection.
Generosity in which attachment to those three arises
Is taught to be a mundane perfection. (1.16)
In this way they excellently abide in the mind of the heirs of the victorious ones.
On the genuine support, they discover a beautiful light.
This joy is just like the water crystal jewel:
Completely dispelling the thick darkness, it is victorious. (1.17)
This completes the first bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
Since they have the abundant qualities of discipline,
They refrain from faulty discipline even in their dreams.
Because the movements of their body, speech, and mind are pure,
They accumulate the actions of the genuine ones’ tenfold path. (2.1)
This virtuous path in its tenfold aspect, though practiced before,
Here becomes supreme and extremely pure.
Like an autumn moon, they are always pure
And beautified by peaceful light. (2.2)
But if they viewed themselves as pure practitioners of discipline,
For that reason their discipline would not be pure at all.
Therefore, these bodhisattvas are always perfectly free
Of the movement of dualistic mind toward the three spheres. (2.3)
Having enjoyments, yet in the lower realms,
Comes about due to the degeneration of the legs of discipline.
When both capital and interest become exhausted,
One will not receive enjoyments again. (2.4)
At the time when one has freedom and favorable conditions,
If one does not protect oneself,
One will later fall into an abyss deprived of freedom.
Who will lift one up from that state then? (2.5)
Therefore, the Victorious One followed his teaching on generosity
With the teaching on discipline.
By growing the seeds of qualities on the field of discipline,
The enjoyment of their fruits will never cease. (2.6)
For ordinary beings, those born of the victors’ speech,
Those set on solitary enlightenment,
And heirs of the victors, the cause of definite goodness
And the higher realms is none other than discipline. (2.7)
Just as an ocean and a corpse do not remain together,
And just as something auspicious and inauspicious cannot coexist,
The great being who masters discipline
Does not remain together with depraved ethics. (2.8)
If discipline involves observing the three spheres—
The relinquisher, the thing relinquished, and the being toward whom the relinquishing is performed—
That discipline is taught as a mundane perfection.
Discipline empty of attachment to those three is transcendent. (2.9)
These heirs of the Victor, born of the moon, are not of cyclic existence, yet they are the glory of cyclic existence.
They are immaculate; this stainless ground,
Like the light of an autumn moon,
Dispels agony from the minds of beings. (2.10)
This completes the second bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
Since the light of the fire that burns
All the kindling of knowable objects arises
On this third ground, it is called The Luminous.
At that time, a brilliance like the sun or like copper dawns in the heirs of the sugatas. (3.1)
If someone, through unwarranted anger,
Cut the flesh and bones from the body of a bodhisattva
For a long time, ounce by ounce,
The bodhisattva would engender patience, especially for the one who is cutting. (3.2)
For bodhisattvas who see selflessness,
All phenomena—what is cut, the cutter, the time of the cutting, the method of cutting, and so on—
Are seen to be a like a reflection.
Therefore they have patience. (3.3)
If you get angry at someone who does you harm,
Does your anger reverse what has already been done?
Therefore, anger is definitely pointless in this life
And is contradictory to one’s aims in future lives as well. (3.4)
Patience is the very thing that is asserted
To exhaust the results of previously committed nonvirtuous actions.
Since harming and being angry toward others causes them suffering,
Why lead yourself to the lower realms by planting such a seed? (3.5)
Anger toward heirs of the victorious ones
Destroys, in a single instant, the merit accumulated
Through generosity and discipline during a hundred eons.
Therefore, there is no greater misdeed than impatience. (3.6)
Impatience makes one unattractive and casts one in bad company.
It steals the intelligence that distinguishes between proper and improper discipline,
And quickly propels one to the lower realms.
Patience produces the opposite qualities to those just explained— (3.7)
Patience makes one beautiful, connects one with genuine beings,
And gives one skill in distinguishing between
What is proper and improper.
Later, one will take birth as a god or human and see the exhaustion of misdeeds. (3.8)
Ordinary beings and heirs of the victors,
Recognizing the faults of anger and the benefits of patience,
Should relinquish impatience and always quickly hold to
The patience praised by the noble ones. (3.9)
Even if one’s patience is dedicated to the enlightenment of perfect buddhahood,
If it entails observation of the three spheres, it is a mundane perfection.
If it is free from such observation, the Buddha has taught
Such patience to be a transcendent perfection. (3.10)
On this ground, the bodhisattvas gain the concentrations and higher cognitions,
And completely exhaust attachment and aggression.
They also become capable of continually
Conquering worldly attachment toward desirables. (3.11)
The Sugata primarily taught
The three dharmas of generosity and so on to laypeople.
These three accomplish the accumulation of merit
And are the causes for the buddhas’ form kāyas. (3.12)
Here the heirs of the victors who dwell in the sun of The Luminous
First perfectly dispel their own darkness
And then earnestly long to conquer the darkness of beings.
Though on this ground they are very sharp, they do not get angry. (3.13)
This completes the third bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
All good qualities without exception follow after diligence,
The cause of the accumulations of both merit and knowledge.
The ground on which diligence blazes
Is the fourth, The Radiant. (4.1)
On this ground, for the children of the Sugata
There dawns a brilliance surpassing the glow of copper,
Born from especially cultivating the factors of perfect enlightenment.
Everything connected with the views of “me” and “mine” is completely exhausted. (4.2)
This completes the fourth bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
The great beings on the ground Difficult to Overcome
Cannot be defeated by any of the māras.
Their concentration becomes preeminent, and their excellent intelligence
Becomes very skilled at thoroughly examining the nature of the truths. (5.1)
This completes the fifth bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
On The Approach, their minds abide in equipoise
And they approach the qualities of perfect buddhahood.
They see the suchness of dependent arising’s mere conditionality,
And, through abiding in supreme knowledge, will attain cessation. (6.1)
Just as someone with sight can easily lead
An entire group of blind people wherever they wish to go,
Knowledge takes the poor-sighted qualities
And leads them to the state of the victors. (6.2)
Since how bodhisattvas realize sublime, profound suchness
Is taught by scripture and reasoning,
I will explain in a way that precisely accords
With the textual tradition of the noble Nāgārjuna. (6.3)
Even when they are ordinary beings, when they hear about emptiness
They experience supreme joy again and again inside,
The tears from this supreme joy moisten their eyes,
And the hairs on their bodies stand on end. (6.4)
Ones like this have the seed of knowledge for perfect buddhahood.
They are a vessel for in-depth teachings on suchness.
They should be taught the ultimate truth.
They will gain the qualities that follow from that. (6.5)
They always take up and abide by perfect discipline,
They give generously and rely on compassion.
They cultivate patience and, so that beings may be freed,
Fully dedicate their virtue to enlightenment. (6.6)
They respect the bodhisattvas who strive for perfect enlightenment.
The one who is learned in the ways of the profound and vast
Will gradually attain the ground of Supreme Joy.
Therefore, those who strive to attain that ground should listen to teachings about this path. (6.7)
They do not arise from themselves; how could they arise from others?
They do not arise from both; how could they arise causelessly?
There is no purpose whatsoever to something arising from itself.
It is illogical for something that has arisen to arise again. (6.8)
If you think that something arisen arises again,
It would be impossible to observe the arising of sprouts,
And seeds would arise in infinitude until the end of existence.
Moreover, how would a sprout ever cause the disintegration of its seed? (6.9)
For you, the sprout could have no shape, color, taste, potential, and ripening
That were different from those of the seed, its enabling cause.
If a thing loses its earlier attributes and becomes a different entity,
How could the later one be of the same nature as the previous? (6.10)
If as you say seeds are not different from sprouts,
Either a sprout would be imperceptible at the very stage of the sprout, just like a seed is,
Or, since the two are the same, a seed would be observable at the time of the sprout.
Therefore, we do not accept that seeds and sprouts are the same. (6.11)
Since a result is seen only after the cessation of its cause,
Not even worldly people accept that the two are the same.
Therefore, this idea that things arise from themselves
Is illogical, both in suchness and in the world. (6.12)
For someone who asserts arising from self, that which is produced, the producer,
The action of producing, and the performer would all be the same.
Since they are not the same, arising from self is not to be accepted,
Because it entails the faulty consequences that have been extensively explained. (6.13)
If things arose in dependence upon other things,
Thick darkness would arise from a fire’s flames
And everything would arise from everything,
Because all nonproducers would be equal to producers in being different. (6.14)
You say, “Since their causes have the distinct ability to produce them, results can be identified definitively.
Something that has the ability to produce, though different from its product, is still a cause.
Causes and results are in the same continuum, and results arise only from specific producers.
Therefore, the consequence that rice sprouts would arise from barley seeds and so on does not apply.” (6.15)
You do not assert that barley, anthers, shellac, and so on
Are producers of rice sprouts, because they have no capacity to produce rice,
Because they are not part of the same continuum, and because they are not similar.
In the same way, the rice seed as well is not the rice sprout’s producer, because it is different from the rice sprout. (6.16)
A sprout does not exist simultaneously with its seed.
Since their otherness does not exist, how could a seed be different from a sprout?
Therefore, since a sprout cannot be established as arising from its seed,
Let go of this position of arising from other. (6.17)
You say, “Just as one arm of a balance moves up
At the same time that the other moves down,
So it is with the arising and ceasing of the produced and producer.”
The arms of the balance are simultaneous, but causes and results are not; therefore your example does not fit. (6.18)
We assert that something in the process of arising does not yet exist;
Something that is in the process of ceasing has not yet ceased.
So how are causes and results congruent to the example of a scale?
This arising that you assert, devoid of a performer, is illogical. (6.19)
If the eye consciousness exists separately from its producers that are simultaneous with it—
The eye and so on and the discriminations that arise together with the eye consciousness—
What purpose is there in an existent arising again?
If you say the eye consciousness does not exist simultaneously with its producers, we have already explained the faults of that position. (6.20)
If a producer is a cause that gives rise to a different product,
The product must be either existent, nonexistent, both, or neither.
If it exists, what need for a producer?
If it does not, what would a producer do?
And if it is both or neither, of what use would a producer be? (6.21)
“Abiding in their natural view, worldly people assert that what they see is valid cognition,
So what need is there to propound logic?
Worldly people know that results arise from causes that are different—
What need is there for logic to prove that arising from other exists?” (6.22)
Since all things can be seen genuinely or falsely,
Every thing bears two natures.
The Buddha taught that the object of genuine seeing is suchness
And that false seeing is the relative truth. (6.23)
False seeing is also said to have two aspects:
That with clear faculties and that with faulty faculties.
In dependence upon consciousnesses endowed with good faculties,
Consciousnesses endowed with faulty faculties are asserted to be wrong. (6.24)
What is apprehended by the undamaged six faculties
Is known by the world
And is true for the world.
Everything else is held by the world to be false. (6.25)
The essential nature that is conceived by tīrthikas,
Who are carried away by the sleep of ignorance,
And the conceptions of illusions, mirages, and so on
Do not exist even from the worldly perspective. (6.26)
Just as the perceptions of diseased vision
Do not invalidate the consciousnesses free from diseased vision,
So the mind devoid of stainless wisdom
Does not invalidate the stainless mind. (6.27)
It is called the “relative” because ignorance obscures the true nature.
It contrives things to seem real.
Contrivance was taught by the Sage to be relative truth.
All contrived things are relative. (6.28)
The mistaken entities that are conceived
As hairs and so forth due to diseased vision
Will be seen correctly by someone with clear vision.
It should be understood that the suchness of ultimate truth is the same. (6.29)
If worldly perceptions were valid cognition,
Worldly people would perceive suchness.
What need would there be for the other, noble beings, and what would the noble path accomplish?
The foolish are not suitable sources of valid cognition. (6.30)
Since in all cases the worldly perspective is not valid cognition,
The worldly perspective does not invalidate analyses of suchness.
If, in conversation with worldly people, a worldly object was denied by ultimate reasonings,
The ultimate reasonings would be invalidated by the worldly perspective, because the object refuted is renowned in the world. (6.31)
Because worldly people will merely plant a seed
And say, “I produced this boy”
Or think, “I planted this tree,”
Arising from other does not even exist for the world. (6.32)
Since sprouts are not different from seeds,
At the time of the sprout the seed does not disintegrate.
Since they are also not the same,
We do not say that the seed exists at the time of the sprout. (6.33)
If things inherently arose due to their own characteristics,
Realizing emptiness would deny and destroy them.
But since it is illogical for emptiness to cause things’ destruction,
We conclude there are no truly existent things. (6.34)
When things are analyzed,
Apart from the suchness that is their true nature
No abiding thing can be found.
Therefore, the world’s conventional truth should not be analyzed. (6.35)
Reasonings prove that arising from self and other
Are illogical in suchness.
Since they also prove that arising is illogical conventionally,
On what basis do you speak of “arising”? (6.36)
Empty things, such as reflections,
Depend on collections of causes and conditions and are accepted in the world.
For example, a consciousness can arise
From an empty reflection and bear that reflection’s aspect. (6.37)
In the same way, though all things are empty,
They arise vividly from empty things.
Since things have no nature in either of the two truths,
They transcend both eternalism and nihilism. (6.38)
Actions do not inherently cease,
And, although there is no all-base, results have the ability to arise from them.
Therefore, even though a long time might transpire after the end of the action,
It should be understood that a result correctly arises. (6.39)
Due to seeing certain objects in a dream,
Lust will arise in fools, even after they wake up.
In the same way, results exist even though they arise
From actions that have ceased and have no inherent nature. (6.40)
Although false objects are equal in terms of not existing,
Someone with diseased vision will see images of hairs
But not the images of other false objects.
In the same way know that results, once they ripen, do not ripen again. (6.41)
Intelligent ones see that negative results ripen from negative actions
And that positive results ripen from positive actions;
Knowing that both positive and negative actions do not exist, they will become liberated.
The Buddha halted speculation about actions and their results. (6.42)
“The all-base exists,” “The person exists,”
And “Only these aggregates exist”—
These statements were made to those
Who could not grasp the very profound meaning. (6.43)
Even though he was free of the view of the transitory collection,
The Buddha spoke of “I” and “mine.”
In the same way, though things have no inherent nature,
The statement “They exist” is a provisional meaning. (6.44)
Without an apprehended object, the apprehender cannot be seen.
Excellently realizing the three realms to be merely consciousness,
The bodhisattvas who abide in supreme knowledge
Realize that suchness is mere consciousness. (6.45)
Just as when the wind blows on a great ocean
Waves arise, in the same way
From the “all-base,” the seed of everything,
Mere consciousness originates through the all-base’s own potential. (6.46)
Therefore the entity of the dependent nature
Is the cause for the imputed existence of things.
It originates without outer apprehended objects,
Exists, and has a nature that is not an object of elaborations. (6.47)
What is your example of a mind without an outer object?
If you say, “It is like a dream,” this must be investigated.
For when I am dreaming, my mind does not exist.
Thus your example does not apply. (6.48)
If the recollection of the dream while awake
Establishes the existence of mind, outer objects in dreams would be established in the same way.
Just as you recall, “I saw something,”
So the outer objects would exist. (6.49)
You say, “It is impossible for there to be an eye consciousness during sleep.
It does not exist; there is only mental consciousness.
Its images are clung to as external objects,
And the waking state is just like this dream example.” (6.50)
In the same way you hold that outer objects
Are unarisen in dreams, so the mind of dreams is also unarisen.
The eye, the object of the eye, and the mind generated by those:
All three of these are false. (6.51)
The triad of the ear and the other sensory triads are also unarisen.
Just as they are in dreams, so here in the waking state,
Things are false, and mind does not exist.
There are no objects of experience and also no faculties. (6.52)
Just as the triad of perceptions exists while awake,
So the triad exists in dreams for as long as one is still dreaming.
Just as upon awakening from dreams the dream triad does not exist,
It is the same when waking from the sleep of ignorance. (6.53)
The eye consciousness arisen from a diseased eye faculty
And the hairs seen due to the disease itself
Are both real from the perspective of that consciousness,
But from the perspective of a person that clearly perceives objects, both are false. (6.54)
If mind existed without a knowable object,
Someone who looked at the same object as someone with diseased vision
Would cognize hairs—even if they had no diseased vision.
Since that is not the case, your position is inadmissible. (6.55)
You say, “If a mind perceiving a given appearance does not arise,
It is because that mind’s potential to perceive it has not ripened,
Not because there are no objects.”
Since such potential does not exist, your rebuttal is not established. (6.56)
It is impossible for potential to exist in what has arisen.
The unarisen is also devoid of potential.
A featureless “basis of features” does not exist.
If it did, it would follow that the childless woman’s son would have potential. (6.57)
You assert potential because consciousnesses will arise in the future.
Yet there is no potential, and there is no consciousness that will arise from it.
“Objects that are established through dependence on each other
Are not established at all”—thus teach the genuine ones. (6.58)
If consciousness arose from the ripening of habitual tendencies planted by the ceased consciousness of the past,
It would follow that consciousnesses arise from the potential of other consciousnesses.
The moments of their continua would be different from each other,
And it would follow that anything could arise from anything. (6.59)
If you say, “members of a continuum are different,
But they are not of different continua.
Therefore there is no fault,” that is beyond your ability to prove.
It is illogical for instances of a continuum not to be different. (6.60)
Phenomena that depend on each other, such as Maitreya and Upagupta,
Are not part of the same continuum, precisely because they are different from each other.
Phenomena that are separate by virtue of their own characteristics
Cannot be parts of the same continuum. (6.61)
“An eye consciousness perfectly arises
Immediately upon the ripening of its own potential.
The potential that is the support for a given consciousness
Is known in the world as a ‘physical eye faculty.’” (6.62)
“Consciousnesses that arise from sense faculties
Depend on their own potential, not on outer apprehended objects.
They are themselves the appearances of blue and so on.
Not realizing this, worldly beings think of and accept them as outer apprehended objects.” (6.63)
“In dreams, mind with the aspect of form arises
From the ripening of its own potential, not from any form as an outer object.
It is the same in the waking state:
Mind exists without outer objects,” so you say. (6.64)
If in dreams a mental consciousness, without an eye faculty,
Arises as blue appearances and so on,
Why would an eye consciousness not arise in a blind person,
Who does not have an eye faculty, due to the ripening of that consciousness’ seed? (6.65)
According to you, the sixth consciousness’ potential
Ripens in dreams but not in the waking state.
Yet if such potential does not ripen in the waking state,
Why would it not be illogical to say it does not exist in dreams? (6.66)
The absence of an eye faculty is not a cause for a blind person to perceive visual objects.
Similarly, sleep is not a cause for the ripening of potential during dreams.
Therefore you should accept that, even in dreams,
The eye is the false perceiving subject that causes cognition. (6.67)
All the answers they give
Are just repetitions of their thesis.
Seeing that, we close this debate—
Nowhere did the buddhas teach that “things exist.” (6.68)
Through meditating on their masters’ key instructions,
Yogins may see the entire earth to be filled with skeletons.
But the three components of this perception also do not arise—
This perception was taught to be an incorrect mental engagement. (6.69)
If, as you say, the mental objects of repulsiveness meditation
Were the same as the objects of sense consciousnesses,
Everyone who directed their minds to the same place the yogins were looking
Would perceive skeletons, and the samādhi would not be false. (6.70)
The perception of a water-river as a pus-river by hungry ghosts
Is equivalent to the perception of a faculty with diseased vision.
In sum, understand the following point:
Just as there is no knowable object, there is also no mind. (6.71)
If there existed an actual dependent consciousness
That were empty of both apprehender and apprehended,
How would you cognize its existence?
If you say, “It exists without being apprehended,” that is unacceptable. (6.72)
The dependent consciousness does not experience itself.
You may say that memory, arising in subsequent moments, is what proves self-awareness.
But memory is nonexistent, and relying on it to prove another nonexistent
Does not prove anything. (6.73)
Even if self-awareness did exist,
It is illogical to say it is recalled by memory,
Because it is different from memory, just like the self-awareness of someone else.
The same reason will also defeat any further rebuttals. (6.74)
A memory that is different
From a consciousness experiencing an object does not exist for us.
There is simply the memory, “I saw it.”
This is just how conventions work in the world. (6.75)
Therefore, since self-awareness does not exist,
What consciousness will perceive your dependent nature?
Since agents, actions, and objects are not the same thing,
For a consciousness to apprehend itself is unreasonable. (6.76)
If the dependent nature, whose essential nature
Is unarisen and unknowable, exists as a thing,
Why would the childless woman’s son not reasonably exist?
What harm has he caused you? (6.77)
If the dependent nature does not even slightly exist,
What type of dependent nature could be the cause of the relative?
Attachment to the idea of substantial existence
Destroys even the presentations of what is renowned in the world. (6.78)
Those who dwell outside the path of the master
Nāgārjuna Have no method for accomplishing peace.
They lapse from the two truths, the relative and suchness,
And, by so lapsing, do not achieve liberation. (6.79)
The conventional truth is the method;
The ultimate truth is what arises from the method.
Those who do not know the distinctions between these two
Will, due to wrong thinking, follow inferior paths. (6.80)
I do not accept relative truth
In the way you assert the dependent nature to be a thing.
For the sake of the result I say, “Things exist,” even though they do not.
Thus I speak from the perspective of the world. (6.81)
For an arhat who has abandoned the aggregates and entered peace,
The relative does not exist.
In the same way, if something does not exist in the world,
I do not say that it exists in the world. (6.82)
If the worldly perspective poses no threat to your views,
Then go ahead—refute it!
Debate with the worldly people about what relative truth is,
And I will side with whoever comes out the strongest. (6.83)
When it is said that the bodhisattvas on the approach of The Manifest
Realize the three existences to be only consciousness,
The meaning is that their realization refutes a permanent creator such as the self.
They realize that the creator is only mind. (6.84)
Therefore, to increase the intelligence of the wise bodhisattvas,
The All-Knowing One, in the Descent into Laṅka Sūtra,
Conquered the mountain peaks of tīrthika views with the vajra of his speech
In order to clarify his intention. (6.85)
In their own treatises, the tīrthikas
Spoke of the person and so on as creators.
Not seeing them as creators,
The Victorious One taught the creator of the world to be mind only. (6.86)
“Expansion (gye) into suchness” indicates “buddhahood” (sangye).
In the same way, when the Buddha taught worldly beings about “mind only” in the sūtras,
The meaning is that mind is foremost.
Negating form is not the intended meaning of those sūtras. (6.87)
If the Buddha knew that the three realms are mind only
And refuted form in the sūtra,
Why would that great being, in the same sūtra,
Say that mind arises from ignorance and karmic actions? (6.88)
Mind itself sets up varieties of sentient beings, worlds,
And worldly environments.
All beings are taught to arise from actions,
And when mind is relinquished there is no karma. (6.89)
Form does indeed exist conventionally,
But it is not a creator like mind is.
Therefore creators other than mind
Are refuted, but form itself is not. (6.90)
For someone abiding in a worldly outlook,
The five aggregates, which are accepted in the world, exist.
For someone in whom the wisdom realizing suchness has dawned,
For that yogin, the five will not originate. (6.91)
When form is found not to exist, do not cling to the existence of mind!
When mind is cognized as existent, do not cling to the nonexistence of form!
In the sūtras on the way of supreme knowledge, the Buddha relinquished them equally.
In the abhidharma, he described them equally as existent. (6.92)
Holding your position will destroy the presentation of the two truths.
And, since we have refuted it, your “substance” will not be established.
Through these stages of explanation, know that all things primordially
Do not arise in suchness yet arise for the world. (6.93)
The sūtras that teach that outer appearances do not exist
But that mind appears as all varieties
Were taught for those who are extremely attached to form.
They refuted form only for that purpose, and are provisional meaning. (6.94)
This was taught by the Teacher as none other than provisional meaning,
And it is also logical that it is provisional meaning.
Scriptures clarify that other similar sūtras
Are provisional meaning. (6.95)
“If there are no knowable objects, consciousness is also refuted—
This is easy to understand,” so teach the buddhas.
Since the nonexistence of knowable objects also refutes the existence of consciousness,
The Buddha refuted knowable objects first. (6.96)
In this way, know the background of any given scripture.
Understand that sūtras that teach about something other than suchness
Are provisional meaning; quote them for appropriate students.
Understand that sūtras that teach emptiness are definitive meaning. (6.97)
It is also illogical for phenomena to arise from both themselves and others,
Because all the faults explained before would apply to that assertion.
We do not make this assertion in the world, nor do we make it regarding suchness.
Why? Because arising from either of them individually is not established. (6.98)
If things arose without any causes at all,
Everything would always arise from everything.
Worldly people would not have to go through hundreds of hardships to engage causes,
Such as planting seeds, to make results arise. (6.99)
If beings were empty of causes, then, just like the scent and color
Of utpala flowers in the sky, they would be imperceptible.
Yet the world, in all its intense brilliance, is perceptible.
Therefore, just like your own mind, understand that the world arises due to causes. (6.100)
The elements do not have the essential nature
That you think they possess.
Since you are so deeply ignorant of this world,
How could you correctly realize anything about the world beyond? (6.101)
When you refute a world beyond,
You should understand that you are incorrectly viewing the nature of knowable objects,
Because your view is based on the body.
It is the same when you assert the true existence of the elements’ essential nature. (6.102)
The nonexistence of the elements has already been explained
In a general way during the sections that refuted
Arising from self, other, both, and no causes.
Although they are not refuted extensively here, the elements do not exist. (6.103)
Since there is no phenomenon that arises from self, other, both,
Or that does not depend on causes, all things are devoid of inherent nature.
Worldly people are covered by the thick darkness of ignorance, like the sky covered by clouds.
For them, things exist; therefore objects appear in an incorrect way. (6.104)
Due to diseased vision, some people will incorrectly perceive strands of hair, double moons,
Eyes on peacocks’ feathers, and bees.
In the same way, due to the problem of ignorance, the unwise
Perceive the variety of conditioned phenomena by conceptualizing them. (6.105)
“Actions arise due to bewilderment; without bewilderment,
Actions would not arise—” this is definitely something to be realized only by the unwise.
The wise ones whose sun of excellent intelligence clears away the thick darkness of ignorance
Will comprehend emptiness and gain liberation. (6.106)
“If things do not exist in suchness,
They cannot exist conventionally either, like the childless woman’s son.
Yet since phenomena do exist conventionally,
They therefore exist inherently.” (6.107)
The objects, such as strands of hair,
Perceived by people with diseased vision are unarisen.
Therefore debate first with people with diseased vision;
Then take the same approach with beings who have the diseased vision of ignorance. (6.108)
You can perceive what is unarisen, such as dreams, cities of gandharvas,
Mirage water, hallucinations, and reflections.
Since these are equal to the childless woman’s son in not existing,
Why do you not see the childless woman’s son? Your view is illogical. (6.109)
In suchness things do not arise.
Yet, unlike the childless woman’s son,
They can be perceived by the world.
Therefore your position has no definitiveness. (6.110)
The childless woman’s son does not arise by way of its essential nature
In suchness, nor does it exist in the world.
In the same way, all things are devoid of arising by way of their essence
In the world and in suchness. (6.111)
Therefore the Teacher said that all phenomena
Are primordially peace, free of arising,
And perfect nirvāṇa by nature.
Therefore never is there any arising. (6.112)
Vases and so on do not exist in suchness,
But they exist in terms of what is thoroughly renowned in the world.
All other things are the same way,
So the consequence that they are like the childless woman’s son does not apply. (6.113)
Since things do not arise causelessly,
Nor through the causes of Īshvara and so on,
Nor from self, other, or both,
Therefore they excellently arise in dependence. (6.114)
Since all things perfectly arise dependently,
All wrong conceptions are rendered powerless.
Therefore this reasoning of dependent arising
Cuts through the net of all bad views. (6.115)
Conceptions will occur if things are held to exist,
But how things do not exist has been thoroughly analyzed.
When things are seen not to exist, conceptions about their existence will not arise,
Just as fire will not burn without fuel. (6.116)
Ordinary beings are bound by conception,
And yogins, free from conception, are liberated.
The wise ones teach that the reversal of conception
Is the result of analysis. (6.117)
Nāgārjuna did not present analysis in his treatise because he was fond of debate.
Rather, he taught about suchness so that beings could attain liberation.
But if when suchness is explained
The texts of others fall apart, there is no fault in that. (6.118)
Attachment to one’s own view and
Aversion to the views of others are nothing more than conception.
Therefore, if you first overcome attachment and aggression
And then analyze, you will be liberated. (6.119)
Seeing with their intelligence that all mental afflictions and problems
Arise from the view of the transitory collection,
And realizing that the self is the object of that view,
Yogis and yoginīs refute the self. (6.120)
The tīrthikas assert that the self is an enjoyer, is a permanent thing,
Is not a creator, has no qualities, and is inactive.
Based on subtle differences regarding those assertions,
Different tīrthika systems arose. (6.121)
Since, like the childless woman’s son, it does not arise,
Such a self does not exist.
It is not the support for the conception of “I,”
And we do not assert its existence even relatively. (6.122)
All of the self’s features that were taught
By the tīrthikas in their various treatises
Are invalidated by the reason of nonarising, which the tīrthikas themselves accept.
Therefore none of those features exist. (6.123)
Therefore there is no self that is different from the aggregates,
Because, apart from the aggregates, there is no way the self could be apprehended.
Nor do we assert such a self to be the support for the worldly conception of “I.”
For even those who do not perceive it have a view of self. (6.124)
Moreover, those who have spent many eons as animals
Have never seen this unarisen, permanent self,
Yet they are still seen to engage in the conception of “I.”
Therefore a self that is different from the aggregates does not exist at all. (6.125)
“Because the self is not established as different from the aggregates,
The focal object for the view of the self is strictly the aggregates.”
Some say that all five aggregates are the support
Of the view of the self; others assert that such a support is only mind. (6.126)
If the aggregates were the self,
There would be several selves, because there are several aggregates.
The self would be substantial, and viewing it would constitute engaging in a substance.
The view of a self would therefore not be erroneous. (6.127)
At the time of attaining nirvāṇa, the self would be severed.
In the moments before nirvāṇa, the self would arise and disintegrate.
Since there would be no agent, there would be no karmic results,
And one would experience the results of actions accumulated by others. (6.128)
If the continuum existed in suchness, such faults would not apply.
But the faults of the continuum have already been explained in earlier analyses.
Therefore the aggregates and the mind are untenable as the self,
Since the end of the world and so on do not exist. (6.129)
According to you, when a yogin sees selflessness
Things would definitely become nonexistent.
If you assert that the idea of a permanent self is what is relinquished,
Your aggregates or mind could not be the self. (6.130)
When your yogins cognized selflessness,
They would not see the true nature of form and other phenomena.
Attachment and other afflictions would arise in them when they engaged forms,
Because they would not have realized the essence of the aggregates. (6.131)
You say, “The Teacher said that the aggregates are the self;
Therefore we assert the same.”
That statement was made to refute a self that is different from the aggregates.
It was taught in other sūtras how form and so on are not the self. (6.132)
It was taught in other sūtras that forms and feelings are not the self,
That discriminations are not the self, that formations are not the self,
And that consciousnesses are not the self.
Therefore, the teaching of the above-mentioned sūtra did not assert that the aggregates are the self. (6.133)
When you say that the aggregates are the self,
You are referring to the collection of the aggregates, not to the entities of the aggregates.
The collection of the aggregates is not a protector, nor is it a tamer or witness.
Since the collection does not exist, it cannot be the self. (6.134)
At that time, the parts of a chariot that form a collection
Would become the chariot, and the chariot and the self are equivalent.
The sūtras taught that the self is an imputation made on the basis of the aggregates.
Therefore the mere assembly of the aggregates is not the self. (6.135)
If you say that shape is the self, shape is physical.
For you, physical phenomena could be the self,
But the collection of consciousness and so on could not be the self,
Because those aggregates do not have any shape. (6.136)
It is illogical for the appropriator to be the same thing as the appropriated.
If they were the same, objects of action would be the same thing as their performers.
If you think there are objects of action devoid of performers,
That is not the case, because without performers there are no objects of action. (6.137)
The Sage taught the self to be imputed in dependence
Upon the six elements—earth, water, fire, wind, consciousness, and space—
And upon the six supports for contact,
The eye and so on. (6.138)
He also definitively taught that the self is imputed
Through apprehending primary minds and mental events.
Therefore the self is not those phenomena, nor is it their mere collection.
Those phenomena cannot logically be the objects of the conception of “I.” (6.139)
You say that when yogins realize selflessness they relinquish the view of a permanent self,
But you do not even assert such a self as the support for the conception of “I.”
Your description of how the cognition of selflessness
Uproots the view of a self is marvelous indeed! (6.140)
While looking at a snake’s nest in the hole of your house’s wall,
To dispel anxiety you say, “There is no elephant there.”
This is how you try to pacify the fear of snakes.
Oh dear, how others will laugh! (6.141)
The self does not exist in the aggregates
And the aggregates do not exist in the self.
You may think of them as different,
But they are not different, so any relationship between them of support and supported is merely a conceptual imputation. (6.142)
We do not assert that the self possesses form—since the self does not exist,
No meaning of “possession” is applicable.
Extrinsic possession is as in “Devadatta has a cow”; intrinsic possession is as in “Devadatta has a body,”
But the self is not the same as or different from form. (6.143)
Form is not the self; the self does not possess form;
The self does not exist in form; form does not exist in the self.
These four statements should be understood to apply to all the aggregates.
The reversals of these statements represent the twenty views of the self. (6.144)
When the vajra that is the realization of selflessness
Conquers the mountain of views of the transitory collection,
The twenty high peaks on that massive mountain
Disintegrate, together with the self. (6.145)
Some assert the person as a substantial existent
That cannot be expressed in terms of being the same as or different from the aggregates or in terms of being permanent or impermanent, and so on.
They assert it to be an object of knowledge of the six consciousnesses
And the basis for the conception of “I.” (6.146)
Just as mind is not seen as inexpressible in relation to form,
No existent thing is cognized as inexpressible.
If the self is an established thing,
Then, like mind, it could not be inexpressible. (6.147)
According to you, a vase is not established as a thing
And its entity is inexpressible in relation to its form and so on.
Just so, since the self is inexpressible in relations to the aggregates,
It is impossible to cognize its own existence as being established. (6.148)
You do not assert that consciousness is different from its own entity.
You do assert it as a thing that is different from form and so on.
Things, therefore, must be seen to have those two qualities.
The self does not exist, because it is devoid of these qualities of a thing. (6.149)
Therefore the support for the conception of “I” is not a thing,
Is not different from the aggregates, is not the entity of the aggregates,
Is not the support of the aggregates, and does not possess the aggregates.
It is established merely in dependence upon the aggregates. (6.150)
A chariot is not asserted to be different from its parts.
It is not the same as its parts, nor does it possess them.
It does not depend on its parts, nor do its parts depend on it.
It is not its parts’ mere assembly, nor is it their shape. (6.151)
If the mere collection of parts were the chariot,
A chariot would exist in every single one of its parts.
Since there are no parts without something to possess them,
Mere shape as well cannot be the chariot. (6.152)
If for you the shapes of the parts when they form the chariot
Are exactly the same as the shapes before the chariot’s assembly,
Then just as there was no chariot in the discrete parts before,
There is also no chariot now. (6.153)
Now, when the chariot has been formed,
If the wheels and so on had shapes that are different from the earlier shapes,
The new shapes would be perceptible—but they are not.
Therefore the chariot is not merely shape. (6.154)
Since your “collection” does not even slightly exist,
There can be no shape of a collection of parts.
How could you give the label of “shape”
To nothing at all? (6.155)
It is just how you assert it to be:
If the aspect of a result arises in dependence upon an unreal cause,
That result is also not real.
Know that this is so regarding all things. (6.156)
The chariot example shows that it is illogical for a mental state apprehending a vase
To arise in dependence upon particles of form and other such phenomena.
Since they are free of arising, form and so on do not exist either.
Therefore they too are untenable as shape. (6.157)
The sevenfold reasoning shows that the chariot
Is not established in suchness or in the world.
Yet, without analysis, here in the world
The chariot is imputed in dependence upon its parts. (6.158)
It is common for beings to refer to a chariot as something that has parts and sections,
And to say that it is a performer.
The chariot is also established for people as an appropriator.
Do not destroy the relative that is renowned in the world. (6.159)
“How can the chariot exist, since when it is analyzed in these seven ways it is seen not to exist at all?”
Thus the yogis and yoginīs do not find the existence of the chariot.
Through this they also easily engage in suchness,
But, in the relative, the existence of the chariot should be accepted in accordance with the world. (6.160)
When the chariot does not exist,
Both the part-possessor and its parts are nonexistent.
Just as in the example of both the chariot and its parts getting burnt,
When the fire of intelligence burns the part-possessor, the parts are burned as well. (6.161)
Similarly, worldly consensus asserts
That the self is an appropriator in dependence
Upon the aggregates, the six constituents, and the six sources;
That the appropriated are the objects of action; and that the self is their performer. (6.162)
Since it is not a thing, the self is not stable or unstable;
It does not arise or disintegrate;
It is not permanent, impermanent, both, or neither,
And is not the same as or different from the aggregates. (6.163)
The conception of “I” is always present in beings.
It arises in connection with
The supports for the imputation of the self.
The self that is its object exists only in the ignorant, nonanalytical perspective of the world. (6.164)
There are no objects of action without performers.
Therefore there are no entities connected to the self without a self.
Viewing self and entities connected to the self as empty,
Yogis and yoginīs gain complete liberation. (6.165)
Vases, sweaters, canvases, armies, forests, rosaries, trees,
Houses, chariots, hotels, and so on—
All these things should be accepted in the way they are labeled by beings,
Because the Lord of Sages did not dispute with the world. (6.166)
Parts, qualities, desire, characteristics, firewood, and so on
And part-possessors, quality-possessors, desirous ones, bases of characteristics, fire, and so on,
If analyzed in seven ways as in the case of the chariot, do not exist.
Apart from that, they exist by way of what is renowned in the world. (6.167)
Something is a cause only if it produces a result,
And if it does not, there is no reason for it to be called a cause.
Results, as well, arise only if they have causes.
Therefore, state which would arise from which, and which would be the prior support for which! (6.168)
If, for you, causes produced results by contacting them,
Since the two would have the same potential, there would be no difference between the producer and its result.
If causes did not contact results, they would be undifferentiable from noncauses.
There is no third concept that could apply to the relationship. (6.169)
If your causes do not produce results, there is nothing to call a “result.”
Therefore there is no cause devoid of a result.
Since both causes and results are like illusions,
These faults do not apply to us, and, for the worldly perspective, things exist. (6.170)
“Does your refutation refute its intended target through contacting it, or does your refutation involve no contact?
The faults you ascribe to us equally apply to your own logic.”
“When arguing in that way, you defeat only your own position.
You are incapable of refuting your desired object of refutation.” (6.171)
“Your words, which contain consequences that equally apply to you, express frivolous arguments.
With them, you illogically denigrate all things.
Therefore, noble beings will not accept you,
Because you are just quibblers with no position of your own.” (6.172)
When you ask, “When your refutation refutes its intended object, does it contact it or not,”
The fault that you ascribe to us
Will only apply to those who hold a definite position;
Since we do not hold such a position, it is impossible for this consequence to apply to us. (6.173)
When the sun is reflected in a pool of water, its attributes,
Such as eclipses, are clearly seen in the reflection.
Although it is illogical for the sun and its reflection to have contact or no contact,
The mere convention of “the reflection” arises in a dependent way. (6.174)
Even though it is not real, a reflection can help beautify one’s face.
In the same way, in order to clean the face of supreme knowledge,
Arguments are used whose ability to refute or affirm can be witnessed.
Although they lack ultimate tenability, understand that these arguments can help us realize an object of affirmation. (6.175)
If the arguments that produce the understanding of our objects of affirmation were established as things,
And if the objects of affirmation actually existed as something to be understood,
The reasonings of contact and so on would be applicable to us.
But since they do not exist, your complaints bring about only your own dejection. (6.176)
Our examples are able to easily bring about the realization
That all things are nonthings.
Yet you have no method by which you can conveniently cause others to understand that things possess an inherent nature.
Why entrust worldly people to the web of your bad logic? (6.177)
Having understood the rest of the refutations taught above,
Employ them in response to the positions of contact and so on.
How it is that we who are not quibblers
Should be understood from our position as it was just explained. (6.178)
So that beings may be liberated, the Buddha taught two types of selflessness:
The selflessness of phenomena and the selflessness of persons.
The Teacher again taught these two types of selflessness
To students by dividing them into many different types. (6.179)
In elaborate fashion, the Buddha explained the sixteen emptinesses.
Abbreviating that explanation,
He again taught four.
These are asserted to belong to the Mahāyāna. (6.180)
Since its nature is emptiness,
The eye is empty of the eye.
In the same way, the ear, nose, tongue,
Body, and mind are explained to be emptiness. (6.181)
They do not stay together
And do not disintegrate.
Therefore, the eyes and the rest of the six faculties
Lack an inherent nature—this lack of inherent nature
Is asserted to be the emptiness of the inner. (6.182)
Because its nature is emptiness,
Form is empty of form.
Sound, smell, taste, tangible objects,
And mental objects are the same way. (6.183)
The lack of inherent nature of form and so on
Is asserted to be the emptiness of the outer.
The lack of inherent nature of both outer and inner
Is the emptiness of the outer and inner. (6.184)
The wise explain the lack of phenomena’s inherent existence
To be “emptiness.”
This emptiness is also asserted to be empty
Of the entity of emptiness. (6.185)
The emptiness of what is called “emptiness”
Is asserted to be the emptiness of emptiness.
It was taught in order to reverse the fixation
Of those who think of emptiness as a thing. (6.186)
Since they pervade without exception
The worlds of sentient beings’ environments,
And since the example of the limitless ones shows their infinitude,
The directions are “great.” (6.187)
The ten directions’
Emptiness of themselves
Is the emptiness of the great.
It was taught in order to reverse fixation on greatness. (6.188)
Since it is the supreme objective,
Nirvāṇa is the ultimate.
Its emptiness of itself
Is the emptiness of the ultimate. (6.189)
In order to reverse the fixation
Of those who think nirvāṇa is a thing,
The Knower of the Ultimate
Taught the emptiness of the ultimate. (6.190)
Because they arise from conditions, the three realms
Are definitively described as being conditioned.
The three realms’ emptiness of themselves
Is taught to be the emptiness of the conditioned. (6.191)
Phenomena free from
Arising, abiding, and impermanence are unconditioned.
Their emptiness of their own entity
Is the emptiness of the unconditioned. (6.192)
That which does not have an extreme
Is called “beyond the extremes.”
Its emptiness of precisely itself
Is explained as the emptiness of what is beyond extremes. (6.193)
Since it is free
From a beginning at the start and an end at the finish,
Saṃsāra is described as being beginningless and endless.
Since it is free from coming and going, (6.194)
Cyclic existence, like an illusion, is devoid of its own entity.
This is the emptiness
Of the beginningless and endless.
It was definitively explained in the treatises. (6.195)
“To discard” is definitively explained
As “to cast away” or “to abandon.”
What should not be discarded
Is that of which one should never let go. (6.196)
What is not to be discarded
Is empty precisely of itself.
Therefore, this emptiness is called
The emptiness of what is not to be discarded. (6.197)
The essence of conditioned phenomena and so on
Is not created by the students—the solitary realizers
And bodhisattvas—or by the Buddha himself.
Therefore the essence, emptiness, of conditioned phenomena (6.198)
And so on
Is explained to be their nature.
Its emptiness of itself
Is the emptiness of nature. (6.199)
“All phenomena” refers to the eighteen constituents, the six types of contact,
The six feelings that arise from contact,
Physical phenomena, nonphysical phenomena,
And conditioned and unconditioned phenomena. (6.200)
All of these phenomena are void of their own entity.
This emptiness is the emptiness of all phenomena.
“Suitable as form” and so on are not things.
This is the emptiness of defining characteristics. (6.201)
Form bears the defining characteristic of “suitable as form.”
Feeling is of the character of “experience.”
Discrimination apprehends characteristics;
Formation refers to “forming.” (6.202)
Individually cognizing objects
Is the defining characteristic of consciousness.
The aggregates’ defining characteristic is suffering.
The character of the constituents is that of a poisonous snake. (6.203)
The Buddha taught that the sources
Are the doors for the arising of suffering.
The defining characteristics of dependent arising
Are assembly and contact. (6.204)
The perfection of generosity is giving;
Discipline is to be without torment;
Patience is to be free from anger;
Exertion is to be without nonvirtue. (6.205)
Concentration is to draw together;
Supreme knowledge is to be free from attachment—
These are held to be the defining characteristics
Of the six perfections. (6.206)
The Perfect Knower taught
That the concentrations,
The limitless ones, and the formless states
Bear the definition “free of disturbance.” (6.207)
The thirty-seven factors of enlightenment
Bear the defining characteristic of “that which brings deliverance.”
The defining characteristic of emptiness is voidness,
Since in emptiness there is no observation of things. (6.208)
The absence of characteristics is peace,
And the definition of the third gate
Is to be free from suffering and ignorance; the eight forms of liberation
Bear the defining characteristic of causing liberation. (6.209)
The powers were taught to be of the nature
Of decisive resolution.
The fearlessnesses of the Protector
Are of the essence of utter stability. (6.210)
The correct and discerning awarenesses, confidence and so on,
Bear the defining characteristic of being unceasing.
To thoroughly accomplish the benefit of beings
Is called “great loving-kindness.” (6.211)
To fully protect those who are suffering
Is great compassion; joy
Is defined by utter joy, and impartiality
Bears the defining characteristic of being unadulterated. (6.212)
The unshared qualities of the Buddha
Are asserted to number eighteen.
Since the Teacher cannot be deprived of them,
Their defining characteristic is undeprivability. (6.213)
The wisdom of the knowledge of all aspects
Is asserted to have a defining characteristic of directness.
Others, which are only partial knowledges,
Are not asserted to be direct. (6.214)
The defining characteristics of conditioned phenomena
And the defining characteristics of unconditioned phenomena
Are empty precisely of themselves.
This is the emptiness of defining characteristics. (6.215)
The present does not abide;
The past and future do not exist.
The state in which these are unobservable
Is called “nonobservation.” (6.216)
Nonobservation is void
Of its own entity.
Since it is unchanging and does not cease,
It is the emptiness of nonobservation. (6.217)
Since they arise from conditions,
An entity of their assembly does not exist.
The emptiness of that nonexistence
Is the emptiness of the nonexistence of things. (6.218)
The term “thing” refers, in brief
To the five aggregates.
The emptiness of those five aggregates of themselves
Is explained to be the emptiness of things. (6.219)
In brief, “nonthing”
Refers to unconditioned phenomena.
Nonthings’ being empty of themselves
Is the emptiness of nonthings. (6.220)
The absence of an essential nature
Is the emptiness of nature.
Since it was not created by anyone,
It is called “nature.” (6.221)
Whether buddhas arise
Or not, in reality
The emptiness of all things remains.
Therefore it is excellently proclaimed to be an “other entity.” (6.222)
This emptiness, which is also called the “perfect limit” and “suchness,”
Is the emptiness of other entities.
These emptinesses were excellently proclaimed
In the teachings of the perfection of supreme knowledge. (6.223)
Thus the light rays of the bodhisattvas’ intelligence bring forth the brilliance of suchness.
Just like a myrobalan fruit in the palm of the hand,
The bodhisattvas realize that the three realms without exception have been unborn from the outset.
Through the power of conventional truth, they proceed to cessation. (6.224)
Though they always possess the aspects of mind that are commensurate with cessation,
They also generate compassion for beings without a protector.
On higher grounds, the bodhisattvas conquer with their intelligence
All of those born from the Sugata’s speech and also the middling buddhas. (6.225)
Spreading the vast immaculate wings of the relative and suchness,
These sovereign swans fly ahead to lead the flock of beings.
Through the powerful winds of virtue,
They proceed to the other shore of the victorious ones’ qualities. (6.226)
This completes the sixth bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
Here on Gone Far Beyond, the bodhisattvas
Can enter into cessation in every moment.
They also attain the perfection of methods, which greatly blazes. (7.1)
This completes the seventh bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
In order to repeatedly attain virtues greater than before,
On this ground the great beings become irreversible
And enter into The Immovable. (8.1)
Their aspirations become extremely pure,
And they are roused from cessation by the victorious ones. (8.2)
Since the mind that is free from attachment does not coexist with faults,
On the eighth ground the impurities and their roots are thoroughly pacified.
Though the mental afflictions are exhausted and they become unsurpassable in the three realms,
They are not able to attain what buddhas possess in a limitless way, similar to space. (8.3)
Even though saṃsāra has stopped for them, they attain the ten masteries, and through these
They display their own essential nature in many different ways to the beings of cyclic existence. (8.4)
This completes the eighth bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
On the ninth, the bodhisattvas’ powers, though needless to mention, become completely pure.
They also attain the completely pure form of the correct and discerning awarenesses, qualities that have been theirs all along. (9.1)
This completes the ninth bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
On the tenth ground, the bodhisattvas receive the most sublime empowerments from the buddhas of all directions,
And their wisdom also becomes utterly supreme.
Just as water flows from rain clouds,
From these bodhisattvas a spontaneously present rain of dharma falls down for the harvest of beings’ virtue. (10.1)
This completes the tenth bodhichitta generation from the Entrance to the Middle Way.
At the time of the first ground, the bodhisattvas see a hundred buddhas
And realize those buddhas’ blessings.
They are able to remain for a hundred eons,
And correctly engage the beginnings and ends of those ages. (11.1)
These intelligent ones are able to enter into and let go of one hundred samādhis;
They can cause one hundred worlds to quake, and they can illuminate one hundred realms.
Through their miracles, they ripen one hundred sentient beings,
And, in keeping with the number one hundred, can go to that many buddha realms. (11.2)
These children of the Lord of Sages open one hundred gates of dharma;
They can display one hundred bodhisattvas in their own body,
Each bodhisattva beautified by a retinue and enjoyments,
And each in turn being surrounded by one hundred bodhisattvas. (11.3)
By abiding on Supreme Joy, the intelligent bodhisattvas attain the qualities explained.
In the same manner, those who abide on The Stainless
Attain the thousandfold manifestation of those qualities.
On the next five grounds, the bodhisattvas attain those qualities (11.4)
In their hundred thousandfold, billionfold,
Ten billionfold, trillionfold,
And sexillionfold Manifestations, respectively. (11.5)
The bodhisattvas who abide on The Immovable are free from thoughts.
They attain qualities that are equal in number
To the number of atoms that exist
In one hundred trillion worlds. (11.6)
The bodhisattvas abiding on the ground
Of Excellent Intelligence attain the qualities
That were explained before, in a number
That equals that of the atoms in one hundred vigintillion worlds. (11.7)
Moreover, on the tenth ground, the bodhisattvas’ qualities
Go far beyond what can be expressed verbally.
Nevertheless, to summarize them, their qualities become equal in number
To however many atoms there are in the inexpressible number of buddha realms. (11.8)
In each pore of their bodies, they can display,
In a single instant, bodhisattvas together with
Countless buddha forms.
They can also display gods, demigods, and humans. (11.9)
To be just like the full moon in a stainless sky, lighting the way for all,
Once again you apply effort to achieve the ten powers within your reach.
In Akaniṣhṭha you attain that most exalted form of peace,
The unexcelled rank of buddhahood with the fullest extent of qualities. (12.1)
Differences in containers do not produce differences in the space they contain.
In the same way, no distinctions of things exist in suchness.
In your mind, you genuinely integrate the equal taste of all phenomena.
Perfect knower, in an instant you comprehend all knowable objects. (12.2)
“If the pacification of elaborations is the suchness of all phenomena, it could not be engaged by mind.
It is definitely illogical for a perceiving subject to arise without having engaged its knowable object.
How can something unknowable be known? That is a contradiction.
Since there is no omniscient knower, how do you teach others, ‘The Buddha comprehends reality’?” (12.3)
In the context of nonarising being the suchness of all phenomena, the mind that perceives that suchness is also free from arising.
In dependence upon the aspect of nonarising, the seeming realization of suchness is posited.
Just as it is commonly described that a mind fully knows its object when it takes on the object’s aspect,
Here, in dependence upon conventions, wisdom is posited as knowing the precise nature. (12.4)
By the blessings of the Buddha, the sambhogakāya resulting from merit,
The nirmāṇakāya, and the sounds of space and other things
Can teach the suchness of phenomena.
Beings in the world can receive these teachings and realize suchness. (12.5)
A strong craftsperson will first
Apply effort for a long time to get their wheel to spin.
Later, without any further effort needed,
The wheel spins on its own to make vases and so on. (12.6)
Just so, without any current effort to make it arise,
The activity of the buddhas, who engage the dharmakāya, extends to the reaches of space.
It is a result of the virtue of beings and of aspirations.
The special causes and results of buddhahood are utterly inconceivable. (12.7)
When the firewood of knowable objects is burned completely,
The peace that emerges is the dharmakāya of the victorious ones.
It has no arising and no ceasing.
When mind ceases, the buddhas make the kāya manifest. (12.8)
The peaceful sambhogakāya is brilliant like a wish-fulfilling tree;
It is free of thoughts like a wish-fulfilling jewel;
It remains permanently, until beings are liberated, so that they may attain the endowments of freedom and happiness;
It appears only to those who are free from elaborations. (12.9)
In a single form kāya that is the natural outflow of the other two
And in a single moment, the lords of sages
Can clearly and unerringly display the details of all their previous births,
Even though those lifetimes have already ceased. (12.10)
In a single kāya, buddhas can display without exception
The details about the buddha realms they lived in, the sages that inhabited them,
The types of powers, forms, and conduct those sages had,
The number of members of the saṅgha of hearers present and their qualities, (12.11)
The different forms the bodhisattvas had,
The types of dharma taught there and the types of births they took,
The types of trainings they engaged in after hearing the dharma,
And the types of generosity they offered. (12.12)
Similarly, in a complete way they can display in one kāya
The details of previous times when they were practicing discipline,
Patience, diligence, concentration, and supreme knowledge—all their forms of conduct
They can display clearly in a single pore of their body. (12.13)
A buddha can display the deeds of past and future buddhas
And also the deeds of the buddhas of the present,
Who dwell in the world to relieve beings to the limits of space oppressed by suffering
By teaching the dharma in high, melodic tones. (12.14)
From the time of the buddhas’ first generating bodhichitta to their going to the essence of enlightenment,
A buddha can display all their deeds clearly,
In one moment, in a single pore of his or her body,
Knowing the nature of these deeds to be like a magical illusion. (12.15)
Similarly, in one moment they can display in a pore of their body
All of the deeds of the bodhisattvas,
The noble solitary realizers, and the hearers of the three times.
They can also display all deeds performed during the phase of being an ordinary being. (12.16)
These pure ones, by simply directing their intention,
Can display worlds to the reaches of space in the area of one atom,
And make an atom pervade the space of limitless worlds,
But without enlarging the atoms or shrinking the worlds. (12.17)
You, who are free from thoughts, can, in each instant
Until the end of existence, display various types of conduct
Whose number is not equaled
By all the atoms in Jambudvīpa. (12.18)
The powers of the knowledge of bases and nonbases;
The awareness of the ripening of actions;
The comprehension of various higher interests;
The knowledge of the various dhātus; (12.19)
The knowledge of supreme and nonsupreme faculties;
The knowledge of the paths and their respective destinations;
The awareness of the concentrations, liberations,
Samādhis, absorptions, and so on; (12.20)
The knowledge that recalls previous states;
The awareness of deaths and births;
And the knowledge of the exhaustion of contaminants—
These are the ten powers. (12.21)
Specific results arise with precision from specific causes.
The buddhas know and teach about the bases of all these arisings.
The absence of such precision is called a nonbasis.
The freedom from obstruction to the knowledge of these is explained to be the first power. (12.22)
The buddhas’ knowledge can individually engage without impediment
The four types of actions—desirable, undesirable, mixed actions, and exhausting actions—
Along with their ripening, in all their great variety.
This knowledge, which pervades all objects of the three times, is asserted to be the second power. (12.23)
Due to desire and so on,
A great variety of wishes for the good arise in lesser, middling, and superior forms.
These higher interests in turn may become covered by other factors.
The buddhas’ knowledge of all of this, pervading all beings of the three times, is the third power. (12.24)
The perfect buddhas, skilled in the dhātus’ divisions,
Teach the nature of the eye and so on to be a dhātu.
Their limitless knowledge that, at all times,
Engages the distinct features of the dhātus is the fourth power. (12.25)
Regarding the faculties of conceptualization and so on, those that are very sharp are asserted to be supreme,
And the middling and dull are taught to be nonsupreme.
The buddhas possess fully developed knowledge of the eye and so on and of how the faculties assist each other in producing results.
This unimpeded knowledge is their fifth power. (12.26)
Some paths lead to buddhahood; some lead to the enlightenment of solitary realizers;
Others lead to the enlightenment of hearers or to the hungry ghost realm,
The animal realm, the realms of gods, humans, and hell beings, and other destinations.
The limitless and unimpeded knowledge of these is the sixth power. (12.27)
Yogis and yoginīs in the limitless worlds experience different meditative states:
The concentrations, the eight liberations, the states of shamatha,
And the nine distinct absorptions.
The unobstructed knowledge of these is explained to be the seventh power. (12.28)
Buddhas remember all of the births they took in cyclic existence due to ignorance;
They also know the births of others—all sentient beings—
And the bases and locations of these births.
Such unobstructed knowledge is explained to be the eighth power. (12.29)
Buddhas know the deaths and births of each and every sentient being
In all world realms as limitless as space.
They know these in all of their variety in a single instant,
In an unattached, completely pure, and limitless way—this is asserted to be the ninth power. (12.30)
Through the power of their omniscient knowledge, the victorious ones rapidly
Cognize the dissolution of mental afflictions and habitual tendencies.
They also know how the intelligence of their students causes the cessation of mental afflictions.
This limitless and unattached knowledge is asserted to be the tenth power. (12.31)
Birds do not return because the sky is exhausted;
They return because the strength of their wings is drained.
In the same way, the heirs of the buddhas, along with the hearers,
Return, not having expressed the buddhas’ skylike, limitless qualities. (12.32)
Therefore, what need to speak of my ability to understand
Or describe the buddhas’ qualities?
Nevertheless, since they were briefly elucidated by the noble Nāgārjuna,
I have left behind qualms and described merely a fraction. (12.33)
The profound is emptiness;
The other qualities are the vast.
By knowing the ways of the profound and vast,
These qualities will be attained. (12.34)
Once again you arrive in the three existences in an unwavering kāya.
Through emanations, you display the deeds of descending, birth, enlightenment, and turning the dharma wheel of peace.
Compassionately, you lead all worldly, deceptive beings, who are bound in the nooses of hope,
To the ground of nirvāṇa. (12.35)
To dispel all impurities, there is no antidote to apply apart from knowing the suchness of phenomena.
Suchness does not rely on the divisions of phenomena’s manifestions,
And the intelligence that perceives suchness is also not multiple.
Therefore, you taught the unequalled and inseparable vehicle to sentient beings. (12.36)
Since worldly beings are afflicted by the pollutants that give rise to shortcomings,
They do not enter the deep sphere of experience of the buddhas.
Nevertheless, you, the sugatas, do not give up on them, for you possess excellent knowledge together with the method, compassion,
And because, before, you made the promise, “I will liberate sentient beings.” (12.37)
Just like the skillful guide who emanated a pleasant city
In order to dispel the fatigue of travelers on their way to a jewel island,
You teach the lower vehicles and have your students apply their minds to the way of total peace.
Later on, you teach voidness separately to the ones whose minds are trained. (12.38)
However many subtle atoms there are
In all the pure realms without exception that are the lands of buddhas,
For that many eons do the sugatas go to supreme, excellent, genuine enlightenment.
However, they do not share this secret with everyone. (12.39)
The victorious ones remain for as long as all worldly beings have not gone to supreme, excellent peace.
For as long as space has not disintegrated,
You, borne by the mother of supreme knowledge and nurtured by the nanny of loving compassion, remain.
Thus how could you depart to peace? (12.40)
You regard worldly beings, who consume poisonous food due to the fault of ignorance,
As members of your own family.
The love you feel for them is not even rivaled by that of a mother whose only child has eaten poison.
Therefore, protector, you do not pass into supreme, excellent peace. (12.41)
Unskillful beings cling to existence and nonexistence,
By which they fall prey to the sufferings of birth, death, losing the pleasant, meeting with the unpleasant,
And negative actions—every being in all the worlds there are is an object of your loving compassion.
Therefore, transcendent conquerors, you feel no fondness for peace and instead choose not to pass into nirvāṇa. (12.42)
This system has been expressed by the bhikṣhu Chandrakīrti
By drawing on the Treatise on the Middle Way
And in precise accordance with scripture
And key instructions. (13.1)
Just as there are no treatises that teach the dharma of emptiness
In the way the Treatise on the Middle Way does,
Learned ones should ascertain that there is no other treatise among Nāgārjuna’s followers
That teaches his system like this one. (13.2)
Frightened by the vast, dark ocean of Nāgārjuna’s mind,
Some have cast his excellent tradition far away.
Now, his verses, like flower pistils waiting to open, have fully bloomed
Due to the water of Chandrakīrti, who thus perfectly fulfills the hopes of disciples. (13.3)
The suchness explained above, profound and frightening, will be realized
Through beings’ previous habituation—it will not be comprehended by those who merely have done extensive hearing.
Therefore, just as the conceptually fabricated systems that propound a self should be relinquished,
So should all fondness be forsaken for the systems outside the way of Nāgārjuna. (13.4)
May the merit I have gained through explaining the good system of master Nāgārjuna pervade space in all directions.
With the blue hue of the mental afflictions becoming a brilliant autumn star in mind’s sky,
And with the jewel hood-ornament beautifying the snake of the mind,
May the beings in all worlds realize suchness and swiftly proceed to the ground of the sugatas. (13.5)
Thus concludes the Entrance to the Middle Way, which clarifies the ways of the profound and the vast. It has been composed by the master Chandrakīrti, whose mind is immersed in the supreme vehicle, who possesses unassailable wisdom and compassion, and who reversed clinging to true existence by milking a painting of a cow.
In the center of the Kashmiri city of Anupatna, in the Ratnagupta Temple, during the reign of the Kashmiri king Shrī Aryadeva, the Indian abbot Tīlaka and the Tibetan lotsāwa Bandey Patsap Nyima Drak made this translation in accordance with the Kashmiri edition of the text. Later, at the Ramoche Temple in Rasa, the Indian abbot Kanakavarma and the same lotsāwa, through comparisons with the eastern Aparanta edition of the text, made corrections to and finalized the translation.
Under the direction of The Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche, in reliance on the explanations of Acharya Lama Tenpa Gyaltsen and Acharya Tashi Wangchuk, and by the invaluable assistance of many translators, scholars, and teachers, this translation was made under the auspices of Nitartha Institute by Tyler Dewar of the Nitartha Translation Network. May it be virtuous!