Shurangama Sutra of the Great Buddha's Crown on the Myriad Practices, Volume Nine

大唐神龍元年龍集乙巳五月己卯朔二十三日辛丑中天竺沙門般剌蜜帝於廣州制止道場譯出

In the first year of Shenlong of the Great Tang, the year yisi, on the twenty-third day, xinchou, of the fifth month, whose first day was jimao, the Shramana Paramiti of Central India (today central India) translated it at the Zhizhi Place of Practice in Guangzhou.

菩薩戒弟子前正諫大夫同中書門下平章事清河房融筆授

Recorded by brush by Fang Rong of Qinghe, Bodhisattva-precept disciple, former Grand Remonstrance Counselor and Chief Minister of the Secretariat-Chancellery.

烏長國沙門彌伽釋迦譯語

Interpreted by the Shramana Miqie Shijia of Udyana (today the region of northern Pakistan).

「阿難！彼善男子修三摩提想陰盡者，是人平常夢想銷滅，寤寐恆一。覺明虛靜猶如晴空，無復麁重前塵影事，觀諸世間大地山河，如鏡鑑明，來無所粘，過無蹤跡。虛受照應，了罔陳習，唯一精真；生滅根元，從此披露。見諸十方十二眾生，畢殫其類。雖未通其各命由緒，見同生基，猶如野馬熠熠清擾，為浮根塵究竟樞穴；此則名為行陰區宇。若此清擾熠熠元性，性入元澄，一澄元習，如波瀾滅化為澄水，名行陰盡，是人則能超眾生濁。觀其所由，幽隱妄想以為其本。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! If those good men cultivating Samadhi have exhausted the perception skandha, their ordinary dreams and thoughts are extinguished, and waking and sleeping are constantly one. Awareness and brightness are empty and still like a clear sky, with no more coarse and heavy shadows of past dust, and they observe the world, the earth, mountains and rivers like a bright mirror, to which nothing sticks as it comes and which leaves no trace as it passes. They receive illumination in emptiness and respond to it, completely free of old habits, only one refined truth; the root source of arising and ceasing is revealed from this point. They see the twelve classes of beings in the ten directions, exhausting their kinds. Though they do not yet penetrate each one's destiny and threads, they see the common ground of birth, like wild horses, shimmering heat haze, a clear disturbance, which is the ultimate pivot of floating roots and dust; this is called the realm of the formation skandha. If this clear, shimmering disturbance in its original nature, the nature enters its original clarity, and once the original habits are clarified, like waves stilling and turning into clear water, this is called the end of the formation skandha, and this person can go beyond the turbidity of beings. Observing its cause, it takes hidden false thought as its root.

「阿難當知，是得正知奢摩他中諸善男子凝明正心，十類天魔不得其便；方得精研，窮生類本，於本類中生元露者，觀彼幽清圓擾動元，於圓元中起計度者，是人墜入二無因論：一者、是人見本無因。何以故？是人既得生機全破，乘於眼根八百功德，見八萬劫所有眾生，業流灣環、死此生彼，秖見眾生輪迴其處。八萬劫外，冥無所觀，便作是解：『此等世間十方眾生，八萬劫來無因自有。』由此計度，亡正遍知，墮落外道，惑菩提性。二者、是人見末無因。何以故？是人於生既見其根，知人生人，悟鳥生鳥；烏從來黑，鵠從來白，人天本竪，畜生本橫，白非洗成，黑非染造；從八萬劫無復改移。今盡此形，亦復如是。而我本來不見菩提，云何更有成菩提事！當知今日一切物象，皆本無因。由此計度，亡正遍知，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第一外道，立無因論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda, you should know that those good men who have gained right knowledge in Shamatha, who focus their bright and right minds so that the ten kinds of heavenly maras cannot find their chance, may then refine their essence, exhaust the root of the classes of beings, and in the root class reveal the source of birth. Observing that hidden clear perfect disturbance that moves the source, and arising calculation within that perfect source, these people fall into two theories of no cause. First, this person sees no cause in the origin. Why? This person, having completely broken the mechanism of birth, riding on the eight hundred merits of the eye faculty, sees all beings for eighty thousand kalpas, the currents of their karma winding around, dying here and born there, seeing only beings revolving in those places. Beyond eighty thousand kalpas, it is dark and nothing can be seen, and so he makes this interpretation: 'These beings of the ten directions in the world have existed without cause for eighty thousand kalpas.' By this calculation, he loses right and universal knowledge, falls into outer paths, and confuses the nature of Bodhi. Second, this person sees no cause in the end. Why? This person, having seen the root of birth, knows that humans give birth to humans and realizes that birds give birth to birds; crows have always been black, swans have always been white, humans and gods have always stood upright, animals have always been horizontal, white is not made by washing and black is not made by dyeing; from eighty thousand kalpas ago they have not changed. Now, to the end of this body, it is also thus. And since I have never seen Bodhi, how could there be such a thing as attaining Bodhi! You should know that all phenomena of today have no cause at all. By this calculation, he loses right and universal knowledge, falls into outer paths, and confuses the nature of Bodhi. This is called the first outer path, establishing the theory of no cause."

「阿難！是三摩中諸善男子，凝明正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於圓常中起計度者，是人墜入四遍常論：一者、是人窮心境性，二處無因；修習能知二萬劫中十方眾生所有生滅，鹹皆循環不曾散失，計以為常。二者、是人窮四大元，四性常住；修習能知四萬劫中十方眾生所有生滅，鹹皆體恆不曾散失，計以為常。三者、是人窮盡六根末那執受，心意識中本元由處，性常恆故；修習能知八萬劫中一切眾生循環不失，本來常住，窮不失性，計以為常。四者、是人既盡想元，生理更無流止運轉，生滅想心今已永滅，理中自然成不生滅；因心所度，計以為常。由此計常，亡正遍知，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第二外道，立圓常論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! Among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations about a perfect permanence fall into the doctrine of four kinds of permanence. First, this person investigates the nature of mind and its objects and finds no cause in either place; by cultivation he can know all the arising and perishing of beings in the ten directions over twenty thousand kalpas, all revolving in cycles without ever being lost, and he takes this to be permanent. Second, this person investigates the origin of the four elements and finds the four natures abiding permanently; by cultivation he can know all the arising and perishing of beings in the ten directions over forty thousand kalpas, their substance constant and never lost, and he takes this to be permanent. Third, this person exhausts the six sense faculties and the grasping of manas, the original source within mind, will and consciousness, finding that their nature is constant; by cultivation he can know that all beings over eighty thousand kalpas revolve without loss, are originally permanent, and that to the end their nature is not lost, and he takes this to be permanent. Fourth, this person, having exhausted the source of thought, finds that the principle of life has no more flowing, stopping or turning, that the thinking mind of arising and perishing is now forever extinguished, and that in principle he has naturally become one who neither arises nor perishes; on the basis of what the mind calculates, he takes this to be permanent. Because of this speculation on permanence, he loses right and universal knowledge, falls into an outsider's path, and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the second kind of outsider, who establishes the doctrine of perfect permanence.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於自他中起計度者，是人墜入四顛倒見，一分無常、一分常論：一者、是人觀妙明心遍十方界，湛然以為究竟神我。從是則計我遍十方，凝明不動；一切眾生，於我心中自生自死。則我心性名之為常，彼生滅者真無常性。二者、是人不觀其心，遍觀十方恆沙國土，見劫壞處名為究竟無常種性；劫不壞處，名究竟常。三者、是人別觀我心，精細微密猶如微塵，流轉十方性無移改。能令此身即生即滅，其不壞性名我性常；一切死生從我流出，名無常性。四者、是人知想陰盡，見行陰流，行陰常流計為常性；色、受、想等今已滅盡，名為無常。由此計度一分無常、一分常故，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第三外道一分常論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations about self and others fall into four inverted views, the doctrine that part is impermanent and part is permanent. First, this person observes that the wondrous, luminous mind pervades the realms of the ten directions and takes this serene state to be the ultimate divine self. From this he reckons that I pervade the ten directions, settled, bright and unmoving, and that all beings are born and die by themselves within my mind. So he calls my mind-nature permanent, and calls the true nature of those who arise and perish impermanent. Second, this person does not observe his own mind but observes the Ganges-sand countries throughout the ten directions; the places where he sees kalpas destroyed he calls the ultimately impermanent kind, and the places where kalpas are not destroyed he calls the ultimately permanent. Third, this person observes his own mind separately, finding it fine and subtle like a mote of dust, flowing through the ten directions with a nature that does not shift or change. It can make this body arise and perish at once, and he calls its indestructible nature my permanent nature, while everything that dies or is born flows out from me and he calls it the impermanent nature. Fourth, this person knows that the skandha of thought has ended and sees the skandha of formations flowing; he takes the continuously flowing skandha of formations to be a permanent nature, and form, sensation, thought and the rest, now extinguished, he calls impermanent. Because of this speculation that part is impermanent and part is permanent, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the third kind of outsider, who holds the doctrine of partial permanence.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於分位中生計度者，是人墜入四有邊論：一者、是人心計生元，流用不息，計過未者名為有邊；計相續心名為無邊。二者、是人觀八萬劫則見眾生，八萬劫前寂無聞見。無聞見處名為無邊；有眾生處名為有邊。三者、是人計我遍知，得無邊性。彼一切人現我知中，我曾不知彼之知性；名彼不得無邊之心，但有邊性。四者、是人窮行陰空，以其所見心路籌度，一切眾生一身之中，計其鹹皆半生半滅。明其世界一切所有，一半有邊，一半無邊。由此計度有邊無邊，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第四外道立有邊論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations about divisions and positions fall into four doctrines of having limits. First, this person reckons the origin of birth as a ceaseless flow of function; he calls the reckoning of past and future finite, and calls the reckoning of the continuing mind infinite. Second, this person observes eighty thousand kalpas and sees beings, but before eighty thousand kalpas there is stillness without hearing or seeing. The place without hearing or seeing he calls infinite, and the place where beings exist he calls finite. Third, this person reckons that my knowing pervades and has attained an infinite nature, while all those others appear within my knowing, though I have never known their own nature of knowing; so he says they have not attained an infinite mind and have only a finite nature. Fourth, this person exhausts the emptiness of the skandha of formations and, by the paths of mind he has seen, reckons that within the body of every being all things are half arising and half perishing; he declares that everything in the world is half finite and half infinite. Because of this speculation about finite and infinite, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the fourth kind of outsider, who establishes the doctrine of limits.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於知見中生計度者，是人墜入四種顛倒不死矯亂遍計虛論：一者、是人觀變化元，見遷流處名之為變；見相續處名之為恆；見所見處名之為生；不見見處名之為滅。相續之因，性不斷處名之為增；正相續中，中所離處名之為減；各各生處名之為有；互互亡處名之為無。以理都觀，用心別見。有求法人來問其義，答言：『我今亦生亦滅，亦有亦無，亦增亦減。』於一切時皆亂其語，令彼前人遺失章句。二者、是人諦觀其心，互互無處，因無得證。有人來問，唯答一字，但言其無。除無之餘，無所言說。三者、是人諦觀其心，各各有處，因有得證。有人來問，唯答一字，但言其是。除是之餘，無所言說。四者、是人有無俱見，其境枝故其心亦亂。有人來問，答言：『亦有即是亦無，亦無之中不是亦有。』一切矯亂，無容窮詰。由此計度矯亂虛無，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第五外道四顛倒性不死矯亂遍計虛論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations from knowing and seeing fall into four inverted, deathless, evasive doctrines of universal false reckoning. First, this person observes the origin of transformation; where he sees passing and flowing he calls it change, where he sees continuing he calls it constant, where he sees what is seen he calls it arising, and where he does not see the seeing he calls it perishing. Where the cause of continuity is unbroken in nature he calls it increase; where in the very midst of continuity something is lost he calls it decrease; where each thing arises he calls it existence; where things mutually vanish he calls it non-existence. He observes everything through principle but sees each part separately with his mind. When a seeker of the Dharma comes to ask about the meaning, he answers: 'I now both arise and perish, both exist and do not exist, both increase and decrease.' At all times he confuses his speech and makes the person before him lose the thread of the passage. Second, this person carefully observes his own mind and finds that everything mutually has no place, and attains certainty through non-existence. When someone comes to ask, he answers with one word only, saying only 'No.' Apart from 'No' he says nothing at all. Third, this person carefully observes his own mind and finds that each thing has its place, and attains certainty through existence. When someone comes to ask, he answers with one word only, saying only 'Yes.' Apart from 'Yes' he says nothing at all. Fourth, this person sees both existence and non-existence, and because his objects branch out, his mind too is confused. When someone comes to ask, he answers: 'Existence is also non-existence, and within non-existence there is no existence.' Everything is evasive and confused, leaving no room for questioning. Because of this speculation of evasion and nothingness, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the fifth kind of outsider, who holds the doctrine of the four inverted natures, deathless evasion and universal false reckoning.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於無盡流生計度者，是人墜入死後有相發心顛倒：或自固身，雲色是我；或見我圓含遍國土，雲我有色；或彼前緣隨我迴復，雲色屬我；或復我依行中相續，雲我在色。皆計度言死後有相，如是循環有十六相。從此惑計畢竟煩惱，畢竟菩提，兩性並驅，各不相觸。由此計度死後有故，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第六外道，立五陰中死後有相心顛倒論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations about the endless flow fall into the inverted mind-notion that after death there are forms. Some firmly hold to the body and say that form is the self; some see the self as perfectly containing and pervading the lands and say that the self has form; some say that earlier conditions follow me and return, and say that form belongs to me; some say that I depend on and continue within formations, and say that I am in form. All of them speculate that after death there are forms, and in this way they cycle through sixteen aspects. From this confused reckoning they hold that ultimate affliction and ultimate bodhi are two natures running side by side, each touching nothing of the other. Because of this speculation that there are forms after death, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the sixth kind of outsider, who establishes the inverted doctrine that, within the five skandhas, there are forms after death.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於先除滅色、受、想中生計度者，是人墜入死後無相發心顛倒：見其色滅形無所因，觀其想滅心無所繫，知其受滅無復連綴，陰性銷散。縱有生理而無受、想，與草木同。此質現前猶不可得，死後云何更有諸相？因之勘校死後相無。如是循環有八無相。從此或計涅槃因果一切皆空，徒有名字，究竟斷滅。由此計度死後無故，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第七外道立五陰中死後無相心顛倒論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations after first eliminating form, sensation and thought fall into the inverted mind-notion that after death there are no forms. Seeing that when form is extinguished the body has no cause, observing that when thought is extinguished the mind has nothing to attach to, and knowing that when sensation is extinguished there is no further linking, the nature of the skandhas dissolves. Even if the principle of life remains, without sensation and thought it is the same as grass and trees. If even this substance cannot be found now, how could there be any forms after death? On this basis he concludes that after death there are no forms. In this way he cycles through eight kinds of formlessness. From this he may hold that nirvana, cause and effect, everything is empty, merely names, and ultimately annihilated. Because of this speculation that after death there is nothing, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the seventh kind of outsider, who establishes the inverted doctrine that, within the five skandhas, there are no forms after death.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於行存中，兼受想滅，雙計有無，自體相破；是人墜入死後俱非起顛倒論：色、受、想中見有非有；行遷流內觀無不無。如是循環，窮盡陰、界八俱非相；隨得一緣，皆言死後有相無相。又計諸行性遷訛故，心發通悟，有無俱非，虛實失措。由此計度死後俱非，後際昏瞢無可道故，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第八外道立五陰中死後俱非心顛倒論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then, in the persistence of formations along with the extinction of sensation and thought, reckon both existence and non-existence, so that their own positions break each other, fall into the inverted doctrine that after death it is neither. In form, sensation and thought he sees existence that is not existence; within the flowing of formations he sees non-existence that is not non-existence. In this way he cycles through the eight 'neithers' of the skandhas and realms; whatever condition he takes up, he says that after death there are forms or no forms. Further, reckoning that the nature of formations shifts and is deceptive, his mind awakens to a kind of penetration in which neither existence nor non-existence holds, and real and unreal lose their footing. Because of this speculation that after death it is neither, and because the later boundary is dark and cannot be spoken of, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the eighth kind of outsider, who establishes the inverted doctrine that, within the five skandhas, after death it is neither.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於後後無生計度者，是人墜入七斷滅論：或計身滅，或欲盡滅，或苦盡滅，或極樂滅，或極捨滅。如是循環窮盡七際，現前銷滅，滅已無復。由此計度死後斷滅，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第九外道立五陰中死後斷滅心顛倒論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations about there being no rebirth after the later and later states fall into the seven doctrines of annihilation. Some reckon the body is annihilated, some that desire is exhausted and annihilated, some that suffering is exhausted and annihilated, some that supreme bliss is annihilated, and some that supreme renunciation is annihilated. In this way they cycle through the seven limits, extinguished in the present, and once extinguished there is no return. Because of this speculation that after death there is annihilation, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the ninth kind of outsider, who establishes the inverted doctrine that, within the five skandhas, there is annihilation after death.

「又三摩中諸善男子，堅凝正心，魔不得便；窮生類本，觀彼幽清常擾動元，於後後有生計度者，是人墜入五涅槃論：或以欲界為正轉依，觀見圓明生愛慕故；或以初禪，性無憂故；或以二禪，心無苦故；或以三禪，極悅隨故；或以四禪，苦樂二亡不受輪迴生滅性故。迷有漏天，作無為解，五處安隱為勝淨依。如是循環，五處究竟，由此計度五現涅槃，墮落外道，惑菩提性。是則名為第十外道立五陰中五現涅槃心顛倒論。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, among these good men in samadhi, whose minds are firmly settled and upright, so that demons find no opening, they probe the origin of living beings and observe the source of the subtle, clear, constantly stirring activity. Those who then form speculations about there being rebirth in the later and later states fall into the doctrine of five nirvanas. Some take the desire realm as the right ground of transformation, because on seeing its perfect radiance they develop love and longing; some take the first dhyana, because its nature is free of sorrow; some take the second dhyana, because the mind is free of suffering; some take the third dhyana, because it is the utmost of joy; some take the fourth dhyana, because suffering and joy are both gone and one is not subject to the nature of arising and perishing in the wheel of rebirth. Mistaking the heavens with outflows for the unconditioned, they take these five places as safe and as the supreme pure refuge. In this way they cycle through five places as ultimate. Because of this speculation that there are five present nirvanas, he falls into an outsider's path and confuses the nature of bodhi. This is called the tenth kind of outsider, who establishes the inverted doctrine that, within the five skandhas, there are five present nirvanas.

「阿難！如是十種禪那狂解，皆是行陰用心交互，故現斯悟。眾生頑迷，不自忖量，逢此現前，以迷為解，自言登聖，大妄語成，墮無間獄。汝等必須將如來語，於我滅後傳示末法，遍令眾生覺了斯義。無令心魔自起深㜸，保持覆護，消息邪見，教其身心，開覺真義，於無上道不遭枝岐。勿令心祈得少為足，作大覺王清淨標指。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! These ten kinds of mad interpretation of dhyana all arise from the interaction of mind-activity in the skandha of formations, and so these apparent realizations appear. Beings are stubborn and deluded and do not measure themselves; when they meet these states before them, they take delusion for understanding, call themselves saints, and thereby commit great false speech and fall into the Avici hell. You must take the Tathagata's words and, after I have passed into extinction, pass them on and show them in the Dharma-ending age, so that all beings everywhere understand this meaning. Do not let the demons of the mind arise and make profound evil karma; protect and shield them, extinguish wrong views, teach them in body and mind, open their awareness to the true meaning, and keep them from straying into side paths on the unsurpassed Way. Do not let their minds be content with a little attainment; be a pure signpost of the Great Enlightened King.

「阿難！彼善男子修三摩提，行陰盡者，諸世間性幽清擾動同分生機倏然墮裂，沈細綱紐補特伽羅酬業深脈感應懸絕。於涅槃天將大明悟，如鷄後鳴；瞻顧東方已有精色。六根虛靜，無復馳逸，內外湛明，入無所入，深達十方十二種類受命元由。觀由執元，諸類不召，於十方界已獲其同，精色不沈發現幽秘；此則名為識陰區宇。若於群召已獲同中，銷磨六門合開成就，見聞通隣，互用清淨；十方世界及與身心如吠瑠璃，內外明徹，名識陰盡，是人則能超越命濁。觀其所由，罔象虛無顛倒妄想以為其本。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! When those good men cultivating samadhi have exhausted the skandha of formations, the deep, clear, stirring, same-share vital impulses of all worldly natures suddenly break apart; the fine, deeply sunk net-knots, and the subtle vibrations of the pudgala's karmic repayment are suspended and severed. Toward the nirvana-heaven they will greatly awaken, like the cock's second crow; looking toward the east they already see the first glimmer of color. The six faculties are empty and quiet and no longer race off; inside and out it is clear and bright, and they enter where there is nothing to enter, deeply penetrating the origin from which the twelve kinds of beings in the ten directions receive life. Observing the origin of this grasping, the various kinds no longer call to them; in the realms of the ten directions they have already attained sameness, and the fine color does not sink and reveals what was secret. This is called the realm of the skandha of consciousness. If, in having attained sameness among the various summonings, one dissolves the six gates, closed and open, accomplishing it so that seeing and hearing penetrate one another and function interchangeably in purity, then the worlds of the ten directions and the body and mind are like beryl, transparent inside and out; this is called the end of the skandha of consciousness, and this person can then transcend the turbidity of life. Observing its cause, it has formless, empty, nothingness, inverted false thought as its basis.

「阿難當知，是善男子窮諸行空，於識還元，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓，能令己身根隔合開，亦與十方諸類通覺，覺知通㳷能入圓元。若於所歸立真常因生勝解者，是人則墮因所因執，娑毘迦羅所歸冥諦，成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第一立所得心，成所歸果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生外道種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda, you should know that when this good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and returns consciousness to its source, he has extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect. He can make his own sense faculties close and open, and he communicates in awareness with all the kinds in the ten directions, an awareness that penetrates clearly and can enter the perfect source. If he sets up a true permanent cause in that to which he returns and develops a superior understanding, this person falls into the attachment of cause upon cause, and becomes a companion of Sabikara and his doctrine of the dark truth as the place of return. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the first, setting up a mind of what has been obtained and accomplishing the fruit of that to which one returns. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of the outsider.

「阿難！又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。若於所歸覽為自體，盡虛空界十二類內所有眾生，皆我身中一類流出生勝解者，是人則墮能非能執，摩醯首羅現無邊身，成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見。是名第二立能為心，成能事果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生大慢天我遍圓種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, if in that to which he returns he sees it as his own body, and develops a superior understanding that all beings in the twelve kinds throughout the realm of space are one kind flowing forth from within my body, this person falls into the attachment of the able and the unable, and becomes a companion of Maheshvara, who manifests boundless bodies. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the second, setting up a mind that is capable, accomplishing the fruit of the works one is capable of. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of the great pride heaven, the self that pervades and is perfect.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。若於所歸有所歸依，自疑身心從彼流出，十方虛空鹹其生起。即於都起所宣流地，作真常身無生滅解，在生滅中早計常住。既惑不生，亦迷生滅，安住沈迷生勝解者，是人則墮常非常執，計自在天成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見。是名第三立因依心，成妄計果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生倒圓種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, if in that to which he returns he finds something to rely on, he suspects that his body and mind have flowed out from it and that all space in the ten directions arises from it. Then, at the place where all things are proclaimed and flow forth, he takes it as a true, permanent body without arising or perishing, while within arising and perishing he already reckons permanence. Confused about non-arising and also confused about arising and perishing, he dwells in that deluded state and develops a superior understanding; this person falls into the attachment of the permanent and the not permanent, and becomes a companion of Ishvara, the heaven of self-mastery. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the third, setting up a mind of dependence on a cause and accomplishing the fruit of false reckoning. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of the inverted perfection.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。若於所知知遍圓故，因知立解，十方草木皆稱有情，與人無異；草木為人，人死還成十方草樹。無擇遍知生勝解者，是人則墮知無知執，婆吒霰尼執一切覺，成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第四計圓知心，成虛謬果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生倒知種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, if he takes that which is known to be known everywhere and perfect, and on the basis of that knowing sets up an understanding, he calls all the grass and trees of the ten directions sentient and no different from humans; grass and trees become humans, and humans after death become grass and trees in the ten directions. He develops a superior understanding of indiscriminate universal knowing; this person falls into the attachment of knowing and not knowing, and becomes a companion of Vatsiputra, who holds that everything is awareness. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the fourth, reckoning a mind of perfect knowing and accomplishing the fruit of falsehood. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of inverted knowing.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。若於圓融根互用中，已得隨順，便於圓化一切發生，求火光明，樂水清淨，愛風周流，觀塵成就，各各崇事。以此群塵發作本因，立常住解，是人則墮生無生執，諸迦葉波並婆羅門，勤心役身事火崇水，求出生死，成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第五計著崇事迷心從物、立妄求因，求妄冀果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生顛化種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, if in the perfect interfusion and interchange of the faculties he has attained a measure of accord, then in the perfect transformation of all that arises he seeks the brightness of fire, delights in the purity of water, loves the circulation of wind, and observes dust as accomplishing things, and each of these he honors and serves. Taking these various elements as the original cause of arising, he sets up a view of permanence; this person falls into the attachment of arising and non-arising, and becomes a companion of the Kashyapas and the Brahmins, who diligently labor in body to serve fire and honor water, seeking release from birth and death. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the fifth, reckoning attachment to honoring and serving, a mind confused and following things, setting up a false cause of seeking and hoping for a false fruit. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of inverted transformation.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。若於圓明計明中虛，非滅群化，以永滅依為所歸依生勝解者，是人則墮歸無歸執，無想天中諸舜若多成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第六圓虛無心，成空亡果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生斷滅種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, if in the perfect brightness he reckons that the brightness is empty, not seeing that the transformations are extinguished, and takes eternal extinction as his refuge and develops a superior understanding, this person falls into the attachment of returning to what has no return, and becomes a companion of the Shunyatas in the heaven of no-thought. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the sixth, a perfect mind of void and nothingness, accomplishing the fruit of emptiness and loss. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of annihilation.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。若於圓常固身常住，同於精圓長不傾逝生勝解者，是人則墮貪非貪執，諸阿斯陀求長命者成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第七執著命元立固妄因，趣長勞果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生妄延種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, if in the perfect permanence he holds the body firmly as abiding, as if it were the same as the perfect essence and would never fall or pass away, and develops a superior understanding, this person falls into the attachment of craving and not craving, and becomes a companion of the Asitas, who seek long life. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the seventh, clinging to the source of life, setting up a firm false cause and heading toward the fruit of lasting toil. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of false prolongation.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。觀命互通，卻留塵勞恐其銷盡，便於此際坐蓮華宮，廣化七珍多增寶媛縱恣其心生勝解者，是人則墮真無真執，吒枳迦羅成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第八發邪思因，立熾塵果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生天魔種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, he observes the mutual penetration of life and, fearing that the afflictions might be used up if he abandons them, at that moment sits in a lotus palace, widely transforms the seven treasures and multiplies precious women, indulging his mind and developing a superior understanding; this person falls into the attachment of true and not true, and becomes a companion of Dakinis. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the eighth, arousing the cause of wrong thought and establishing the fruit of blazing defilement. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of the heavenly demon.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。於命明中分別精麁，疏決真偽，因果相酬、唯求感應，背清淨道，所謂見苦、斷集、證滅、修道。居滅已休更不前進生勝解者，是人則墮定性聲聞，諸無聞僧增上慢者成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第九圓精應心，成趣寂果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生纏空種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, within the brightness of life he distinguishes the fine from the coarse, sorts out the true from the false, takes cause and effect as reciprocal repayments and seeks only response, and turns his back on the pure path, namely seeing suffering, cutting off accumulation, realizing extinction, and cultivating the path. Dwelling in extinction, he rests and advances no further, and develops a superior understanding; this person falls into the fixed-nature Shravaka, and becomes a companion of the ignorant monks of overweening pride. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the ninth, a perfect mind of essence responding, accomplishing the fruit of heading toward stillness. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of entanglement in emptiness.

「又善男子窮諸行空，已滅生滅而於寂滅精妙未圓。若於圓融清淨覺明發研深妙，即立涅槃而不前進生勝解者，是人則墮定性闢支，諸緣獨倫不迴心者成其伴侶。迷佛菩提，亡失知見，是名第十圓覺㳷心，成湛明果；違遠圓通，背涅槃城，生覺圓明不化圓種。

(The Buddha continued:) "Again, when a good man has exhausted the emptiness of formations and extinguished arising and perishing, but the wonder of stillness and extinction is not yet perfect, if in the perfect interfusion of pure awareness and brightness he investigates the deep and wondrous, immediately sets up nirvana, and does not advance, developing a superior understanding, this person falls into the fixed-nature Pratyekabuddha, and becomes a companion of those who are solitary through conditions and do not turn their minds around. He is confused about the Buddha's bodhi and loses right knowledge and view. This is called the tenth, a mind of perfect awareness penetrating, accomplishing the fruit of serene brightness. He departs from perfect penetration, turns his back on the city of nirvana, and gives rise to the seed of awareness-perfection and brightness that does not transform into perfection.

「阿難！如是十種禪那，中途成狂，因依迷惑，於未足中生滿足證，皆是識陰用心交互，故生斯位。眾生頑迷，不自忖量，逢此現前，各以所愛先習迷心而自休息；將為畢竟所歸寧地，自言滿足無上菩提。大妄語成，外道邪魔所感業終，墮無間獄。聲聞、緣覺，不成增進。汝等存心秉如來道，將此法門，於我滅後傳示末世，普令眾生覺了斯義。無令見魔自作沈𦾨，保綏哀救，消息邪緣，令其身心入佛知見，從始成就不遭歧路。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! These ten kinds of dhyana become mad along the way, relying on confusion and arising from it, and within what is not yet sufficient they give rise to a sense of full realization. All of them arise from the interaction of mind-activity in the skandha of consciousness, and so these stages arise. Beings are stubborn and deluded and do not measure themselves; when they meet these states before them, each takes what he loves and his previously practiced deluded mind and rests there. Taking it to be the final place of return and peace, they say they have fully attained unsurpassed bodhi. They commit great false speech, and when the karma induced by outsiders and wrongful demons is exhausted, they fall into the Avici hell. Shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas do not progress further. You should keep in mind and uphold the Tathagata's Way and, after I have passed into extinction, pass this Dharma gate on and show it in the final age, so that all beings come to understand this meaning. Do not let them be drowned by demons of views that they themselves create; protect and calm them, rescue them with compassion, extinguish wrong conditions, and let their body and mind enter the Buddha's knowledge and view, so that from the beginning they succeed without meeting side paths.

「如是法門，先過去世恆沙劫中微塵如來乘此心開，得無上道。識陰若盡，則汝現前諸根互用。從互用中，能入菩薩金剛乾慧。圓明精心於中發化，如淨瑠璃內含寶月。如是乃超十信、十住、十行、十迴向、四加行心、菩薩所行金剛十地、等覺圓明，入於如來妙莊嚴海；圓滿菩提，歸無所得！

(The Buddha continued:) "This Dharma gate is the one by which, in former ages of Ganges-sand kalpas, Tathagatas as numerous as motes of dust opened their minds and attained the unsurpassed Way. If the skandha of consciousness is exhausted, then your sense faculties before you will function interchangeably. From this interchangeable function you can enter the Bodhisattva's vajra dry wisdom. The perfectly bright essential mind gives rise to transformation within it, like a pure beryl containing a precious moon. In this way you will transcend the Ten Faiths, the Ten Abodes, the Ten Practices, the Ten Dedications, the four added practices, the vajra Ten Grounds practiced by Bodhisattvas, and the perfect brightness of equal enlightenment, and enter the wondrous adorned ocean of the Tathagata; bodhi is perfected and returns to where nothing is obtained!

「此是過去先佛世尊奢摩他中、毘婆舍那覺明分析微細魔事。魔境現前，汝能諳識，心垢洗除，不落邪見。陰魔銷滅，天魔摧碎，大力鬼神褫魄逃逝，魑魅、魍魎、無復出生。直至菩提，無諸少乏。下劣增進，於大涅槃，心不迷悶。若諸末世愚鈍眾生，未識禪那，不知說法，樂修三昧；汝恐同邪，一心勸令持我佛頂陀羅尼呪。若未能誦，寫於禪堂、或帶身上，一切諸魔所不能動。汝當恭欽十方如來究竟修進最後垂範！」

(The Buddha continued:) "This is the subtle analysis of demonic matters in the shamatha and vipashyana of the former Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, by awareness and brightness. When demonic realms appear before you, you will be able to recognize them, the stains of mind will be washed away, and you will not fall into wrong views. The demons of the skandhas will be dissolved, the heavenly demons will be shattered, powerful ghosts and spirits will lose their souls and flee, and goblins and sprites will no longer be born. Until bodhi, nothing will be lacking. Those of lesser capacity will advance, and toward great nirvana their minds will not be confused. If in the final age there are dull and foolish beings who do not know dhyana and do not know how to explain the Dharma but delight in cultivating samadhi, and you fear they may fall into error, wholeheartedly urge them to uphold my Buddha's Crown dharani spell. If they cannot yet recite it, let them write it in the meditation hall or wear it on the body, and no demons will be able to move them. You should respectfully honor the final instruction on ultimate cultivation and advancement given by the Tathagatas of the ten directions!"

阿難即從坐起，聞佛示誨，頂禮欽奉，憶持無失。於大眾中重復白佛：「如佛所言『五陰相中，五種虛妄為本想心』，我等平常未蒙如來微細開示。又此五陰為併銷除？為次第盡？如是五重詣何為界？唯願如來發宣大慈，為此大眾清明心目，以為末世一切眾生作將來眼！」

Ananda at once rose from his seat. Having heard the Buddha's instruction, he bowed with reverence and remembered it without loss. In the midst of the assembly he again said to the Buddha: "As the Buddha has said, 'Within the aspects of the five skandhas, five kinds of falsehood are the basis of the thinking mind.' We have not ordinarily received the Tathagata's subtle exposition of this. Moreover, are these five skandhas eliminated all together, or exhausted in sequence? What are the boundaries of these five layers? I only wish the Tathagata would send forth his great compassion and clear the mind and eyes of this assembly, so as to be the eyes of the future for all beings in the final age!"

佛告阿難：「精真妙明本覺圓淨，非留死生及諸塵垢；乃至虛空皆因妄想之所生起，斯元本覺妙明真精，妄以發生諸器世間。如演若多迷頭認影。妄元無因，於妄想中立因緣性；迷因緣者，稱為自然。彼虛空性猶實幻生，因緣、自然，皆是眾生妄心計度。阿難！知妄所起，說妄因緣，若妄元無，說妄因緣元無所有，何況不知推自然者！是故如來與汝發明，五陰本因同是妄想。

The Buddha told Ananda: "The essentially true, wondrous brightness, original awareness, perfect and pure, retains neither death and birth nor any dust or defilement; even space itself arises from false thought. This is the originally aware, wondrous, bright, true essence, falsely giving rise to the vessel-world. It is like Yajnadatta, confused about his head, mistaking his reflection for it. Delusion has originally no cause, but within false thought one sets up the nature of causes and conditions; those confused about causes and conditions call it spontaneity. The nature of space itself is also truly a phantom arising, and causes and conditions and spontaneity are all computed by the false minds of beings. Ananda! Knowing where delusion arises, one can speak of the causes and conditions of delusion; but if delusion is originally non-existent, then the causes and conditions of delusion are originally non-existent, so how much more those who do not know and speculate about spontaneity! So the Tathagata reveals to you that the original cause of the five skandhas is false thought alike.

「汝體先因父母想生，汝心非想，則不能來想中傳命。如我先言『心想醋味，口中涎生；心想登高，足心酸起』，懸崖不有，醋物未來，汝體必非虛妄通倫，口水如何因談醋出？是故當知汝現色身，名為堅固第一妄想。即此所說臨高想心，能令汝形真受酸澁。由因受生，能動色體。汝今現前順益、違損、二現驅馳，名為虛明第二妄想。由汝念慮使汝色身，身非念倫，汝身何因隨念所使種種取像？心生形取，與念相應，寤即想心，寐為諸夢。則汝想念搖動妄情，名為融通第三妄想。化理不住，運運密移，甲長髮生，氣銷容皺，日夜相代曾無覺悟。阿難！此若非汝，云何體遷？如必是真，汝何無覺？則汝諸行念念不停，名為幽隱第四妄想。又汝精明湛不搖處名恆常者，於身不出見、聞、覺、知。若實精真，不容習妄，何因汝等曾於昔年覩一奇物，經歷年歲憶忘俱無；於後忽然覆覩前異，記憶宛然曾不遺失！則此精了湛不搖中，念念受燻，有何籌算？阿難當知，此湛非真，如急流水，望如恬靜，流急不見，非是無流。若非想元，寧受想習？非汝六根互用合開，此之妄想無時得滅。故汝現在見、聞、覺、知中串習幾，則湛了內罔象虛無，第五顛倒細微精想。

(The Buddha continued:) "Your body first arose from the thoughts of your parents; if your mind were not thinking, it could not come into the transmission of life within thought. As I said earlier, 'When the mind thinks of sour taste, saliva arises in the mouth; when the mind thinks of climbing high, the soles of the feet grow sore.' Yet there is no cliff and no sour thing has come; if your body were not a communicating kind of falsehood, how could the mouth water just from talk of sourness? So you should know that your present physical body is called the first false thought, the solid one. The thought of standing on a height that I just mentioned can make your body truly feel soreness. Since sensation arises from cause, it can move the physical body. The two kinds of present drivers, that which accords with and benefits and that which opposes and harms you, are called the second false thought, the empty and bright. Your thoughts and worries drive your physical body, yet the body is not of the kind of thought; why does your body follow thought and take various images? The mind produces and the body takes, in correspondence with thought; awake it is the thinking mind, asleep it becomes dreams. So your thoughts shaking your false feelings are called the third false thought, the fused and pervading. The principle of transformation does not stay but moves along, secretly shifting each moment: nails grow, hair sprouts, energy dwindles and the face wrinkles, day and night succeed each other without your ever noticing. Ananda! If this is not you, how does the body change? If it must be real, why are you not aware of it? Then your formations, which do not stop for a single moment of thought, are called the fourth false thought, the hidden and obscure. Further, the place where your essence is bright and serene and does not move, which you call constant, does not go beyond seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing in the body. If it were truly the pure and real, it would not allow habitual falsehood to take hold; why is it that you once saw a strange object years ago, and after years have passed both remembering and forgetting are gone, yet afterward you suddenly see that same strange thing again and the memory is vivid, never lost! Then within this serene and unmoving clarity, thought after thought receives perfuming; what calculation is there in it? Ananda, you should know that this serenity is not real. It is like swift flowing water: seen from afar it looks calm, but because the flow is swift one does not see it; it is not that there is no flow. If it were not the source of thought, how could it receive the habits of thought? If your six faculties did not function interchangeably, closing and opening, this false thought would never be extinguished. So in the present seeing, hearing, sensing and knowing, the habitual practices are close at hand, and within the serene and clear there is formless, empty nothingness, which is the fifth inverted, subtle, fine thought."

「阿難！是五受陰，五妄想成。汝今欲知因界淺深，唯色與空，是色邊際；唯觸及離，是受邊際；唯記與忘，是想邊際；唯滅與生，是行邊際；湛入合湛，歸識邊際。此五陰元重疊生起，生因識有，滅從色除。理則頓悟，乘悟併銷；事非頓除，因次第盡。我已示汝劫波巾結，何所不明再此詢問？汝應將此妄想根元心得開通，傳示將來末法之中諸修行者，令識虛妄深厭自生，知有涅槃不戀三界。

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! These five skandhas of reception are formed from five false thoughts. If you now wish to know the depth of their causes and boundaries: only form and space are the boundaries of form; only contact and separation are the boundaries of sensation; only remembering and forgetting are the boundaries of thought; only extinction and arising are the boundaries of formations; entering serenity and merging with serenity returns to the boundary of consciousness. The origin of these five skandhas arises in layers, with arising caused by consciousness and extinction following the removal of form. In principle there is sudden awakening, and with awakening everything dissolves; in practice it is not removed suddenly but is exhausted in sequence. I have already shown you the knotted kalpa cloth; what more is there to ask? You should open and penetrate the mind to the root of false thought, and pass it on in the final Dharma age to all practitioners, so that they recognize falsehood, deeply weary of it, and know there is nirvana without clinging to the three realms."

「阿難！若復有人遍滿十方所有虛空盈滿七寶，持以奉上微塵諸佛，承事供養，心無虛度。於意云何？是人以此施佛因緣得福多不？」

(The Buddha continued:) "Ananda! Suppose someone filled all the space throughout the ten directions with the seven treasures and offered them to Buddhas as numerous as motes of dust, serving and making offerings with a mind that wastes no time. What do you think? Would this person gain much merit through the cause and condition of giving to the Buddhas?"

阿難答言：「虛空無盡，珍寶無邊，昔有眾生施佛七錢，捨身猶獲轉輪王位，況復現前虛空既窮，佛土充遍皆施珍寶？窮劫思議尚不能及，是福云何更有邊際！」

Ananda answered: "Space is endless and treasures are boundless. In the past a being who gave the Buddha seven coins and then gave up his body still gained the position of a wheel-turning king; how much more one who gives treasures to fill the entire space before us and the Buddha-lands everywhere! Even with a whole kalpa of thought it could not be reached; how could this merit have any bound!"

佛告阿難：「諸佛如來語無虛妄，若復有人，身具四重、十波羅夷，瞬息即經此方他方阿鼻地獄，乃至窮盡十方無間靡不經歷。能以一念將此法門於末劫中開示未學，是人罪障應念銷滅。變其所受地獄苦因，成安樂國，得福超越前之施人，百倍、千倍、千萬億倍，如是乃至算數譬喻所不能及。阿難！若有眾生能誦此經，能持此呪，如我廣說窮劫不盡。依我教言，如教行道，直成菩提，無復魔業。」

The Buddha told Ananda: "The Buddhas, the Tathagatas, do not speak falsely. If someone's body were endowed with the four grave offenses and the ten parajikas, so that in an instant he passed through the Avici hells of this region and other regions, and indeed through all the uninterrupted hells of the ten directions without exception, yet with a single thought he could take this Dharma gate and show it to those who have not yet learned in the final kalpa, that person's karmic obstacles would be extinguished with that thought. The causes of suffering he would receive in hell would be transformed into a land of peace and joy, and his merit would surpass that of the previous giver a hundredfold, a thousandfold, ten million billionfold, and so on to what counting and analogy cannot reach. Ananda! If there are beings who can recite this sutra and uphold this spell, what I would say about it could not be finished in a whole kalpa. If they follow my teaching and practice the Way as taught, they will attain bodhi directly and no longer have demonic karma."

佛說此經已，比丘、比丘尼、優婆塞、優婆夷，一切世間、天、人、阿修羅，及諸他方菩薩、二乘、聖仙童子，並初發心大力鬼神，皆大歡喜，作禮而去。

When the Buddha had spoken this sutra, the bhikshus, bhikshunis, upasakas and upasikas, all beings of the world, gods, humans and asuras, and the Bodhisattvas of other regions, those of the two vehicles, holy immortals and youths, and the powerful ghosts and spirits who had just generated the aspiration, were all greatly delighted, bowed, and departed.