Overall Teaching

Those who practice PW planted their roots in the past under previous buddhas. It should be taught to those who are irreversible because they won’t doubt it, but others who accept it have planted their roots in the past too. The lack of trembling, hesitation, doubt, and dispute in regards to the PW indicates one’s nearness to PW like five similes. Bodhisattvas work for the benefit of sentient beings, and are thus favoured by the Buddha. When one does not mentally construct the path, one further perfects one’s development. Māra will attempt to obstruct bodhisattvas, but they should focus on their practice and will be sustained by the buddhas’ power. PW will spread in all continents and sūtras related to it will continue to appear long after the Buddha’s passing. Those who search for PW will find it within one or two lives, in addition to other sūtras related to the six perfections.

Summary

1.     Past Deeds and the Present Attitude to Perfect Wisdom

a.     Practitioners who hear PW do so because they planted roots under past Buddhas and have been taken hold of by good friends: they will not tremble. [208-9]

b.     Śāriputra says those who have faith in PW and direct thoughts towards awakening and train in suchness should be regarded just as irreversible bodhisattvas. [209]

c.     Those who reject PW now have rejected and not practiced PW in the past. Śakra says that this fact is not surprising, and pays homage to PW. [210]

d.     Śakra asks how one practices PW, and the Buddha explains that they do not attach to the notion that the skandhas are the skandhas: this is how they make efforts in the skandhas. [211]

e.     Śāriputra declares PW as deep, hard to fathom and grasp, and unlimited, the Buddha says to Śāriputra that one does not attach to the notion that the skandhas are deep, does not make efforts in them. [212]

2.     Qualifications of a Bodhisattva who Obtains Perfect Wisdom

a.     Śāriputra declares that PW should be declared to an irreversible bodhisattva because they will not hesitate, doubt, be stupefied or dispute it.

b.     Śakra asks what fault there is in teaching to others:

i.     Śāriputra replies that if one who is not irreversible is taught this and they’re not afraid, then they have practiced PW for a long time and will soon be predicted to full awakening. How much more so if they also study it and teach it. [213]

3.     Five Similes to Illustrate Nearness to Full Enlightenment

a.     Śāriputra gives similes to illustrate this point:

i.     Just as someone dreaming that he is on the seat of awakening (Conze: “terrace of enlightenment” i.e. the seat under the Bodhi tree) can be predicted to be close to awakening, likewise someone who hears PW and does not tremble, studies it, and teaches it to others, can be said to have planted their roots under past buddhas and is near to their prediction to awakening. The opposite for those who don’t have such roots. [214-5]

ii.     One exiting a forest may see signs indicating a city further down the road, e.g. cows, boundary lines, cowherds, etc. Likewise, one who hears PW without trembling etc. is near to their prediction. The Buddha declares that Śāriputra says this due to the power of the Buddha.

iii.     One seeking the ocean may know that it is far because they still see mountains and trees, but when there are less and the land gradually slopes, he can be sure they it is near. [216]

iv.     In spring one can see sproutings on the trees and one knows that flowers and fruits will come out, likewise are these bodhisattvas. [217]

v.     A woman who is pregnant and gradually sees the appropriate symptoms knows giving birth is near, likewise are these bodhisattvas. [218]

4.     Why Bodhisattvas are well Favoured by the Buddhas

a.     The Buddha favours bodhisattvas because they practice to attain awakening for the benefit of all beings. [218-9]

5.     Right Attitude to Perfect Wisdom

a.     When the bodhisattva reviews neither the growth nor diminution of the skandhas, his development becomes more perfect.

i.     This is unthinkable because the skandhas are unthinkable: when one doesn’t even perceive that the aggregates are unthinkable, one practices PW. [219]

b.     A bodhisattva who becomes practiced believes in PW when they don’t construct the powers, grounds of self-confidence, buddha-dharmas, or the state of all-knowledge. [219-220]

6.     Obstacles to Perfect Wisdom

a.     Obstacles to PW are great, so one should continue practicing, e.g. copying out the sūtra, because this will prevent interruptions. [220-1]

b.     Māra is powerless to create really effective obstacles to a bodhisattva who has undivided attention in regards to his task. [221-2]

7.     The Bodhisattva Sustained by the Buddhas

a.     If Māra is determined, one can continue through the power of the buddhas, who abide in innumerable world systems, and in this case, it is impossible to provide an obstacle. [222-3]

b.     They practice and are sustained by the buddhas’ might and are sustained by the buddhas. [224]

c.     If one only studies but doesn’t practice, one is still known and sustained by the buddhas—it aims at ultimate reality and is set up in such a way that it allows beings to have penetration into the nature of phenomena. [225]

8.     Prediction about Spread of Perfect Wisdom

a.     Sūtras related to the six perfections will spread and appear after the buddha dies in all directions from the time when the Dharma is fresh, up until the time of the Dharma’s decline.

9.     Description of Bodhisattvas who will Study Perfect Wisdom

a.     There will be many good bodhisattvas in the north but few will know PW. [226]

b.     Those who know it will teach many others and promote their welfare and will not be able to be driven away from it.

i.     They will plant others’ roots because they made a vow in the presence of the buddha now. [227]

c.     They will be reborn in other buddha-lands and learn from the buddhas there, and therefrom set countless beings on their way to full awakening. [228]

d.     Śāriputra praises how the buddha knows the three times, but among those who obtain PW, why is it that some won’t? [229]

i.     The Buddha explains that this is because in the past they hunted for PW, in spite of not now searching for it. If you search for it, you will find it after one or two births, and the other sūtras associated with it will come on their own, along with the other sūtras associated with the six perfections. [230-31]