Master Gangxiao: An Overview of the *Hastavālaprakaraṇa* (Treatise Held in the Palm), Part One

An Overview of the Hastavālaprakaraṇa (Treatise Held in the Palm), Part One

I'd like to spend this session chatting with you all about the Hastavālaprakaraṇa. Why this particular treatise? A few reasons. First, our time today is short—I'm squeezing this talk in on the side, as it weren't planned at all. The good news is that the text itself is short, so we'll have plenty of time to work through it. Second, I took an easy way out: I'd happened to memorize this treatise years ago, so when Teacher Li suggested I speak on it, I gave it a try and found I still had it. The honest truth is that my own abilities are limited, and giving a talk on the spot would have left me stuck. Besides, you're all religious studies students, so some things I won't need to spell out. I have nothing particularly lofty to offer—just the tidy work of the old masters to tide you over. Please bear with me.

Since none of you had the text on hand, I wrote it out from memory and made copies—that's what you're holding. I reckon they're more or less right; at worst there's a typo or two somewhere, but nothing that would affect the big picture.

In the second fascicle of the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, in the fifth chapter, "The Chapter on the Marks of Lack of Intrinsic Nature," it says: "At that time, the Bodhisattva Paramārthasamudgata again addressed the Buddha: 'World-Honored One, in the first period, at the Ṛṣipatana Deer Park at Vārāṇasī, solely for those who set out toward the Śrāvaka Vehicle, the Blessed One turned the Wheel of the True Dharma through the marks of the Four Noble Truths. Though this was extraordinary, extraordinary and rare, and though no one among all the gods and humans of the world had ever before turned it in accordance with the Dharma, the Wheel of Dharma turned at that time had something beyond it and was capable of being supplemented; it was not yet of definitive meaning; it was a ground on which disputes could be based. World-Honored One, in the second period, in former times, solely for those who set out toward the Great Vehicle, based on all dharmas being devoid of intrinsic nature, unborn and unceasing, originally quiescent, and naturally in nirvāṇa, the Blessed One turned the Wheel of the True Dharma through implicit marks. Though this was even more extraordinary, exceedingly rare, the Wheel of Dharma turned at that time also had something beyond it and was capable of being supplemented; it was not yet of definitive meaning; it was a ground on which disputes could be based. World-Honored One, now in the third period, for all who set out toward every vehicle, based on all dharmas being devoid of intrinsic nature, unborn and unceasing, originally quiescent, naturally in nirvāṇa, and on the nature of being devoid of intrinsic nature, the Blessed One turns the Wheel of the True Dharma through explicit marks. This is foremost in its wonder, most rare and extraordinary. The Wheel of Dharma turned now by the World-Honored One is unsurpassed, beyond supplementation; it is truly of definitive meaning; it is not a ground on which disputes can be based.'" That's the passage from the scripture itself. I'm particularly familiar with this one.

According to this passage, all of Śākyamuni Buddha's teachings can be divided into three parts.

First came the teaching of existence—the Āgama teachings—which spoke of the emptiness of persons. At this stage, the existence of dharmas wasn't yet refuted. Later generations built on these teachings and produced works like the Abhidharma Jñānaprasthāna (by Kātyāyanīputra, translated by Master Xuanzang), the Abhidharma Mahāvibhāṣā (a commentary on the Jñānaprasthāna by Kātyāyanīputra's disciples, translated by Xuanzang), the Abhidharma Kośa (by Vasubandhu, translated by Xuanzang), the Abhidharma Nyāyānusāra (by Saṃghabhadra, translated by Xuanzang), and the Nikāyabheda-vyākhyāna (by Vasumitra, translated by Xuanzang). This period is what people nowadays call primitive Buddhism.

The second stage was the Prajñā teaching of emptiness. Some people, having heard the teaching of existence, fell into a view of reified existence. To break through their attachment, the World-Honored One expounded the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras and other texts to proclaim the meaning of emptiness. Later generations built on these teachings and produced works like the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra (by Nāgārjuna, translated by Master Kumārajīva), the Mūlamadhyamaka-kārikā (by Nāgārjuna, with commentary by Piṅgala, translated by Kumārajīva), the Śataśāstra (by Āryadeva, with commentary by Vasubandhu, translated by Kumārajīva), and the Karatala-ratna (by Bhāviveka, translated by Xuanzang).

The third stage was the Yogācāra teaching of the Middle Way. Some people, having heard the teaching of emptiness, swung back into clinging to emptiness itself—failing to see that, although external objects don't exist, inner consciousness appears in illusory fashion—and declared that everything is just plain nothing. The World-Honored One therefore taught the Saṃdhinirmocana and other sūtras, proclaiming the meaning of the Middle Way. Since external objects don't exist, one can't say "they exist." But since external objects are, after all, manifested by inner consciousness, one can't say they don't exist either. Neither existent nor nonexistent—this is what's called the Middle Way. Later generations built on these teachings and produced works like the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra (dictated by Bodhisattva Maitreya, recorded by Asaṅga, translated by Xuanzang).

So which period does this Hastavālaprakaraṇa belong to? According to Mr. Luo Shixian, it belongs to the second stage, as an implicitly intended teaching. The second stage is the Prajñā period, and "implicit teaching" is what we'd colloquially call saying what's appropriate to the audience—"speaking human talk to humans, ghost talk to ghosts." The term mìyì carries two meanings: secrecy and intention. Intention means teaching according to a particular orientation for those ready to receive that teaching. Secrecy means it isn't on the surface—you have to see past the words to find the deeper meaning within.

The Buddha's teachings employ four types of intention and four types of secrecy.

The first is the Intention of Equality. For example, the Buddha once said: "In the past, at such a time and place, I was known as the Thus-Come One Victorious in Contemplation." In plain terms: I, Śākyamuni, was once called the Thus-Come One Victorious in Contemplation. Victorious in Contemplation is Vipaśyin Buddha. We know that both Vipaśyin and Śākyamuni are among the Seven Buddhas, yet Śākyamuni says he was the past Vipaśyin. Śākyamuni and Vipaśyin are clearly not the same person, yet he says they are. What's the logic here? This is the Intention of Equality—the Way is the same for all Buddhas; their Dharmakāya is equal.

The second is the Intention of Other Times. The Buddha once said: "By holding the name of the Many-Treasures Thus-Come One, one will have already attained certainty regarding supreme, perfect awakening." Many-Treasures Thus-Come One is Amitābha Buddha. The statement means that by simply reciting the name of Amitābha, one is assured of becoming a Buddha—what we often hear as "one utterance of Amitābha, and all together attain the Buddha Way." This is the Intention of Other Times. Why? Because although reciting the name of Many-Treasures Thus-Come One assures one of attaining supreme bodhi, it doesn't mean that a single recitation right now will bring immediate realization of supreme bodhi and instant Buddhahood—it means attainment at another time. The Buddha also said, "By merely making a vow, one will be reborn in the Land of Ultimate Bliss." This doesn't mean that vowing right now produces instant rebirth in the Pure Land—it requires, as the Amitābha Sūtra says, that one "cannot attain rebirth with few roots of goodness, merit, and favorable conditions." And then there's the familiar saying "put down the butcher's knife and instantly become a Buddha"—these too are all instances of the Intention of Other Times.

The third is the Intention of Other Meanings. The Buddha said: "If one has reverently served as many Buddhas as the sands of the Ganges, then one will come to understand the meaning of the Mahāyāna Dharma." Despite having made offerings to a great many Buddhas, one still may not necessarily understand the principles of the Mahāyāna. That's the Intention of Other Meanings. Some people fail to grasp this and fixate on making offerings to the Buddha—of course, since there's no Buddha now, they make offerings to the Three Jewels. The Three Jewels are a great field of merit, but thinking that making offerings to them will definitely lead to understanding the Mahāyāna is a misreading of the sūtra. The current state of Buddhism is such that many Dharma teachers give explanations that sound right but are actually off the mark, completely misunderstanding the Intention of Other Meanings.

The fourth is the Intention of Sentient Beings' Dispositions. For example, suppose someone is rather stingy—what we call qiān (miserliness) among the hundred dharmas. The Buddha teaches this person about generosity. The person hears that generosity is good and actually practices it. But after giving, this person clings to the act of having given, believing it generates tremendous merit and that through this generosity alone they'll be liberated. At that point the Buddha scolds them, saying generosity is only an inferior grade of good roots. Notice: the Buddha first encouraged this person by saying generosity is the best, then later said generosity isn't the best—isn't that contradictory? Why does the Buddha seem to talk out of both sides of his mouth, saying one thing earlier and taking it back later? This is called skillful means (upāya). After his awakening, the Buddha first taught the Hīnayāna Dharma, then urged Hīnayāna practitioners to turn from the lesser toward the greater—a substantial shift. That's skillful means too.

The four types of secrecy are: the Secrecy of Entry, the Secrecy of Marks, the Secrecy of Counteraction, and the Secrecy of Transformation.

This Hastavālaprakaraṇa is an implicitly intended teaching, so we have to see past the words to find the deeper meaning within. Otherwise, we haven't really read it.

Mr. Luo Shixian was indeed a remarkable figure—he passed away only a few years ago. During his lifetime, he was honored as the foremost authority on Yogācāra of our era. Still, his classification of the Hastavālaprakaraṇa into the second stage is unconventional. Generally, the text is placed in the third stage. For instance, in the Taishō Tripiṭaka, it's included in volume thirty-one, in the latter part of the Yoga section. Of course, Mr. Luo had his reasons for placing it in the second stage: the treatise only uses the analogy of the snake and the rope to establish that all dharmas lack substantial entity—only refuting the attachment to real existence held by non-Buddhists and Hīnayāna adherents—without explaining the Yogācāra principle of the Middle Way. Hence, he argued, it belongs to the second stage. Looking at how people past and present have classified the sūtras and śāstras differently, we can see that nearly all of these classifications are simply arrangements of texts according to each person's own needs.

Question: The doctrines of the various Buddhist schools are so systematic—could they really be nothing more than arrangements of sūtras and śāstras in a particular order? If they were merely arrangements of textual order, the doctrines couldn't possibly be so systematic and complete.

The doctrines of the various Buddhist schools are, in fact, just their attempts to justify the order in which they've arranged the sūtras and śāstras. If the justification holds up, the school can establish a firm footing and become a sect recognized by all. Look at Buddhism since Śākyamuni founded it—how many schools and factions have there been over the ages? Countless! But how many have survived to the present? Some we can still find mentioned by name in the records, while others are so obscure that we can't even pin down their exact names.

Well then, enough of the digressions—let's begin our discussion of the Hastavālaprakaraṇa.