Commentary on the Mahāyāna Śata-Dharma Prakāśa-Mukha-Śāstra, Part One

Before turning to this Mahāyāna Śata-Dharma Prakāśa-Mukha-Śāstra, I quietly took stock of how much our group already knows about the Yogācāra (Consciousness-Only) school. Not bad—everyone has a broad, systematic grasp of it. So we won't need extra preliminaries and can go straight to the treatise.

As is customary, let's begin with the title. We'll follow custom here, too.

The title is Mahāyāna Śata-Dharma Prakāśa-Mukha-Śāstra. The term 大乘 in Sanskrit is Mahāyāna, transliterated as 摩诃衍那. The word 大 needs little explanation; it generally means broader or deeper in scope than whatever it's compared with. 乘 (yāna) is a vehicle—specifically, a carriage drawn by four horses. Buddhism entered China around 2 BCE (or alternatively 67 CE), and by the Tang and Song dynasties the various sūtras and treatises had largely settled into their final form. During those centuries the most luxurious transport in China was the horse-drawn carriage, so translators of Buddhist texts used the character 乘 to denote the finest conveyance. (What I said at the time wasn't very precise—in fact, the original meaning of yāna is just "vehicle." I described the extended meaning as if it were the primary one.) Contrasted with Mahāyāna is Hīnayāna (希那衍那), the "lesser" or inferior vehicle. Going a little deeper: the Mahāyāna vehicle can carry more sentient beings, delivering them from the cycles of birth and death to the far shore of nirvāṇa; the Hīnayāna saves relatively fewer. Hīnayāna practitioners cultivate the Four Noble Truths and the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination, aiming at the highest goal of arhatship or pratyekabuddhahood, with self-benefit as the main concern. Mahāyāna practitioners cultivate the Six Perfections and the Four Means of Conversion, aiming at the highest goal of full Buddhahood, benefiting others widely. Hīnayāna is like a bicycle, a motorcycle, or a small boat—for one's own ride, at most able to carry a few others. Mahāyāna is like a car, a train, or a great ship, able to carry many. Moreover, Mahāyāna can accommodate Hīnayāna, just as the theory of relativity can accommodate Newtonian mechanics.

Furthermore, since 乘 is a vehicle, it carries another layer of meaning. What meaning? The Buddha once told this story: a man needed to cross a river, so he boarded a boat. After he reached the far bank, he thought, "This boat has been so useful—how could I possibly abandon it?" So he carried the boat on his back and went on his way. Foolish, isn't he? Once a tool has served its purpose, you should set it aside; carry it on your back, and it becomes an obstacle. So 乘, because it means vehicle, also carries within it the meaning of "abandoning." The entire Dharma is a tool—meaning it is itself to be abandoned. So remember: 乘 has two meanings—conveyance and abandonment.

百法: 百 is simply one hundred. The character 法 in Sanskrit is Dharma (达摩). It refers to anything that, within a given range of time and space, maintains its own defining characteristic. For instance, this tape recorder—it has a particular appearance, a certain size and weight, a certain color; from these I can tell it's not the same thing as that blackboard eraser. This tape recorder can be called one dharma; the blackboard eraser can also be called one dharma. I, this person; this piece of chalk; that potted plant; this house—all can be called one dharma, and the same goes for any concrete thing. As another example: the Qing empire as a dynasty—composed of its people, territory, politics, economy, and other relations—existed for 295 years; that too can be called one dharma. So dharmas are simply the myriad phenomena of the world; in technical terms this is described as "maintaining its own nature and allowing others to conceptually mark it off" (任持自性，轨生物解). That's the standard formulation. Let me add a bit now: "dharma" is the close union of self-characteristic and shared-characteristic—what we call a "combined characteristic" (一合相). But how many dharmas are there in the world? Infinitely many. Yet Vasubandhu Bodhisattva considered these hundred dharmas representative and especially important—which is why they are singled out as the "hundred dharmas."

The 明 in 明门 means to understand clearly. Clear about what? About the 门—gate or door. 门 is the way in, the entrance. If you're inside a room and can't find the door, you're trapped. Once you see where the door is, the problem is solved. So 门, by metaphor, extends to mean method. In this Sahā world the Three Realms are a burning house; the six realms of saṃsāra hold us fast, refusing us any happiness. So Vasubandhu Bodhisattva's Mahāyāna Śata-Dharma Prakāśa-Mukha-Śāstra is meant to show us where the way out lies, what method can resolve the rounds of birth and death. Contrasted with 明 (illumination) is 无明 (ignorance), which is explained most clearly in the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination. This 明门 is knowing the path to awakening the truth. Study these hundred dharmas and cultivate accordingly, and you can open up wisdom and awaken to the truth.

论 (śāstra) is one of the three divisions of the Buddhist canon—the Tripiṭaka of sūtra, vinaya, and abhidharma. The character 经 (sūtra) in Chinese means a work revered as the model, the cornerstone of a whole theoretical system. Christianity's Old and New Testaments, for instance, are the foundational scripture of Christian doctrine; Das Kapital is the cornerstone of Marxism. In Buddhism, the Lotus Sūtra, Avataṃsaka Sūtra, Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras, and Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra serve as such cornerstones—they are the beacon lights guiding our cultivation. Referring to the beacon at every step, we correct our course to ensure the boat reaches its destination safely; we hold the Lotus Sūtra and the rest up against our conduct at every moment to check whether our cultivation has strayed, ensuring we escape the sea of birth-and-death suffering. "Sūtra" in Sanskrit is Sūtra, called 修多罗 in Chinese, often rendered as 契经—"conforming scripture"—with several layers of meaning. One of them is "threading through": the sūtras thread the whole Dharma together, giving it system and order and letting us comprehend it. 律 (vinaya) is our discipline; without rules, nothing can be set in order. 论 (abhidharma/śāstra) is 阿毗达磨. To be liberated from birth and death and escape the six realms of saṃsāra, we must observe everything with wisdom: what is good, what is evil; cultivate the good wholeheartedly, cut off the evil without fail; what is cause, what is effect; work hard at the cause and don't spin our wheels on the effect. Then we attain the truth and come to understand "all dharmas are without self."

Now let's turn to the author, Vasubandhu Bodhisattva, and the translator, Great Master Xuanzang.

Ordinary beings all have strong discriminating minds. For instance, if I say something, you may not be convinced; but if an old monk says it, you'll be more accepting; if a patriarch, a great virtuous one, or a Buddha or Bodhisattva says it, you may be won over both outwardly and inwardly. Some time ago, Amṛta (甘露) journal ran a series of pieces about several "incorruptible-body monks." At first, some readers doubted and asked whether those stories were real or made up. But those incorruptible bodies belonged to people long dead—why would anyone fabricate stories about them? Because the accounts were written by ordinary people, they could be called into question. Were they really true? Hard to say. I merely recorded them faithfully after hearing others tell of them. Master Wuchan told many such stories. People say Master Wuchan made them up, but Master Wuchan had barely any schooling, and his speech was often incoherent. If he really could have spun complete, well-shaped stories, that would credit him far too highly. So in "Patriarch Wuxia" and "Master Daxing" I noted every source in full—this story from a particular book, that one copied from a stele inscription, this one told by a certain person—all stated outright. Ordinary people have these discriminating minds, which is why I tell you: the author and translator of this treatise are no ordinary figures—they're eminent patriarchs and great bodhisattvas.

About a hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, through five patriarchs in succession, the waters of the Dharma remained of one taste. Gradually, as individuals' views diverged, the various schools arose...

A good question: the truth of the universe and of life that the Buddha awakened to beneath the Bodhi tree—unique, without a second—why did it become distorted in transmission? Just as the saying goes: "Life is like a river; let it flow and flow, and it turns into muddy broth." Why is this so?

First, language and writing have their limitations. The patriarchs and great virtuous ones long ago noticed this: "The wondrous principle of all Buddhas is not a matter of words and letters." In China, for instance, why are all other schools gasping while only Chan flourishes? The other schools have intricate doctrines; Chan, by contrast, "does not set up words and letters, points directly to the mind"—"In Bodhidharma's hall, total silence; let's see who can awaken."

Second, demonic forces disrupt the true Dharma. Prince Siddhārtha, beneath the Bodhi tree, made the great vow: "If I do not attain perfect awakening, I will never rise from this seat." The vow alarmed Māra Pāpīyas, the king of the Sixth Heaven of the Desire Realm, who tried every means to disturb the prince but was subdued one by one. Pāpīyas said, "I can't handle you, so I'll go after your saṅgha in the future." The Buddha scorned this, but Pāpīyas replied: "I'll have my people put on your robes, eat your food, and specialize in wrongdoing." At this the Buddha wept: "This is the karmic force of sentient beings." In other words, from the day Buddhism was founded, the demons' offspring came along with it, appearing in the outward form of monks. At first, the Buddha's early disciples—people like Mahākāśyapa and Ānanda—heard the Buddha's teaching in person and were realized as great arhats. Later generations fell short, and the demons' disruptive force showed itself. In the Sahā world, both Buddha and Māra exist. Take a twenty-four-hour day: there's day and night. At the summer solstice, daylight is at its longest—like the Buddha being in the world. Gradually, daylight shortens and night grows longer—like after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, with demonic force gradually appearing. But even on the summer solstice there is darkness, just as when the Buddha was in the world, Māras also existed. At the winter solstice, when darkness is at its longest, there is still daylight, just as after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa he enjoined Piṇḍola and sixteen other arhats to remain in the world.

When the schools debated, some asserted being, others non-being. Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva, moved by great compassion, appeared in the world and declared: this universe and this life are neither being nor non-being, but "emptiness." This "emptiness" is the same as the "emptiness" in "all four great elements are empty"—namely, "no self-nature," "dependent origination." While Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva lived, no one could match their wisdom, and the school of emptiness spread widely.

About nine hundred years after the Buddha's parinirvāṇa, three children were born in succession into a Brahmin family in North India, all of extraordinary wisdom. The eldest, Asaṅga, left home and was ordained. By then, the Madhyamaka school of the emptiness tradition had already flourished for several centuries. After Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva passed away, ordinary people couldn't compare with a bodhisattva; demonic influence resurfaced, leading people to take Nāgārjuna's "emptiness" as "vicious grasping at emptiness" (恶取空)—believing that cultivation is empty, non-cultivation is empty, eating is empty, pleasure is empty. If everything is empty in the same way, why not choose pleasure? So they no longer earnestly realized the "emptiness" of dependent origination according to the Madhyamaka teachings. With Maitreya Bodhisattva's help, Asaṅga began to spread the Yogācāra teachings. Asaṅga's younger brother was Vasubandhu—about twenty years his junior—who, after growing up, was ordained in the Sarvāstivāda school. The elder brother was vigorously propagating Yogācāra, while Vasubandhu still clung to Sarvāstivāda and slandered the Mahāyāna. Asaṅga, wanting to turn his brother's views, sent word: "I'm gravely ill, near death; before the end, I'd like to see Vasubandhu once more." Although both were great bodhisattvas, they manifested as ordinary people, and being ordinary people, they had human feelings too (note: this is the delusion across lifetimes). The younger brother, on receiving the news, set out at once to see his elder brother. But when Vasubandhu arrived, he found Asaṅga already on the high seat expounding the Dharma. Vasubandhu's reaction: "Brother, you don't even keep the precepts yourself—you tell lies—what right do you have to ascend the seat and teach!" But Asaṅga was expounding the Daśabhūmika Sūtra (Ten Stages Sūtra), and Vasubandhu could not disrupt the assembly, since under his strict Sarvāstivāda observance, disturbing the minds of those listening to the Dharma was a violation. So he waited patiently; growing bored, he sat down to listen, curious what his brother was actually saying. And just from listening, Vasubandhu realized: his earlier conduct had been a grave error—he had been slandering the Dharma. He immediately sought his brother's forgiveness and drew his precept knife: "Before, I used my tongue to slander the Dharma—now I'll cut it off." Asaṅga stopped him: "What's the use of cutting off your tongue? Before, you used your tongue to slander the Dharma; now use that same tongue to spread the Dharma~~" So Vasubandhu turned around, devoting his whole life to propagating the Mahāyāna Yogācāra teachings and composing many works—earning the title "Master of a Thousand Treatises."

As for the translator, Great Master Xuanzang—he left home at thirteen, then endured great hardship on the westward journey to India to seek the Dharma. He spent seventeen years in India. After returning to China accomplished in his studies, he devoted himself mainly to translating and lecturing on sūtras, composing little original work. He laid the solid foundation for the Yogācāra school's development in China. After he transmitted the teachings to Kuiji, the Yogācāra school was formally established.

Now, to the body of the treatise.

As the World-Honored One has said, all dharmas are without self. What are "all dharmas"? Why are they "without self"?

Just as the World-Honored One taught, all dharmas are without self. What are all dharmas? Why are they said to be "without self"?

"As" indicates agreement with what follows. "World-Honored One" means the Buddha. The Buddha has ten great epithets, just as a person may have several names. Lu Xun used over a hundred names; even ordinary people have their given name and any previous names listed on the household register. "Buddha" is not one person but a kind—a being characterized by "self-awakened, awakening others, perfect in awakening." "World-Honored One" and "Buddha" mean the same thing. The word "I" (我), generally speaking, has the following senses:

① Sovereign, that is, free to govern. For example, I drink water—the water cannot keep me from drinking; I pick up chalk to write—the chalk cannot stop me; I want to walk east—my legs cannot refuse.

② Constant, that is, enduring. Take Zhang San, for instance, born in 1921 and dead by 1995. Is the Zhang San of 1922 the same person as the Zhang San of 1994? If you say no, consider this: at twenty Zhang San killed someone and fled; at twenty-two he was caught. Could you really argue that the Zhang San of twenty is not the Zhang San of twenty-two, and so refuse to prosecute? If you say yes, then why is it that when old friends haven't seen each other for years, they sometimes fail to recognize one another—existence in constant change?

③ Unique, only one. There was a monk named Huaisu with superb calligraphy; if you search Buddhist history, you'll find several monks named Huaisu—but only one of them was the calligrapher. Same name, different essence. Each product has its own brand, which cannot be duplicated—"singular, not to be shared."

Generally, "I" has these three senses. Take me, Gangxiao: if I want a drink of water, I can drink; from my birth until now I have continued to exist in this world; there is only one Gangxiao, and if another's name is the same, the substance differs. Plainly limited. What Buddhism teaches is thorough—so thorough it ends in "no self."

What are all dharmas, and why are they without self?

All dharmas, briefly, are of five kinds: first, mind dharmas; second, mental-factor dharmas; third, form dharmas; fourth, dharmas not associated with mind; fifth, unconditioned dharmas.

All dharmas means all dharmas—every phenomenon included—"the entire Dharma-realm encompassed." Vasubandhu says all these dharmas can briefly be divided into five: mind dharmas, mental-factor dharmas, form dharmas, dharmas not associated with mind, and unconditioned dharmas.

The text continues:

As the foremost of all—this refers to mind dharmas.
Associated with this—this refers to mental-factor dharmas, meaning the mental factors that associate with and cooperate with the mind-king.
The shadows manifested by the second two—this refers to form dharmas, meaning form dharmas are merely the aspect-images, the shadows, manifested by the mind-king and mental factors.
The differentiations of the three positions—this refers to dharmas not associated with mind.
What is revealed by the fourth—this refers to unconditioned dharmas, meaning unconditioned dharmas are revealed only through cultivation.

In this order, such is the order of the hundred dharmas.