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Tathagatagarbha Buddhism (19)
More Buddhic teachings from the "Angulimaliya Sutra":
Then the elder renunciate Dabba bowed down his head at the feet of the Blessed One, and the said to Aṅgulimâla, “Excellent, excellent ! Angulimâla, I am delighted at the merit of attentiveness which you have earnt. Aṅgulimâla, I shall cultivate often patient acceptance.”
Then Aṅgulimâla said to the elder renunciate Dabba,
“You who amongst mortals have perfected patience,
how is one who wants to be patient to become patient ?
Also in what manner are they to be patient ?
Tell me quickly and dispel my doubts !”
Then the elder renunciate Dabba said to Aṅgulimâla,
“A monk who want to be patient
should treat an axe and sandalwood as equal,
then he will achieve patience,
and he will endure patiently mundane pollution:
thus you should understand matters, Aṅgulimâla.”
Then Angulimâla replied to the elder renunciate Dabba, “People who lack learning and have wrong views get angry with those who teach the tathâgata-garbha to the world and expound non-self in place of the self as their doctrine. He who teaches the tathâgata-garbha, even at the expense of his own life, knowing that such people are inexperienced with words and lacking in balance, has true patience and teaches for the benefit of the world. He who is patient, disciplined and peaceful towards the world is free from fear. Ah, elder renunciate Dabba, your practice is that of a mosquito, for you do not know how to generate patience. Even a mosquito can endure hunger and thirst, so be silent, you who are like a mosquito !”
Then Pûrṇa-maitrâyaṇî-putra bowed down his head at the feet of the Blessed One, and the said to Aṅgulimâla, “Excellent, excellent ! Aṅgulimâla, I am delighted at the merit of attentiveness which you have earnt. Aṅgulimâla, teach a Dharma-discourse of teachings for the benefit of all beings !”
Then Aṅgulimâla said to Pûrṇa-maitrâyaṇî-putra, “As it is said that you are the most excellent preacher of the Buddha’s Dharma, then, venerable sir, how is preaching the Dharma done in the world ? How is a monk to know the meaning ? Venerable sir, let the most excellent preacher of the Dharma explain !”
Then Pûrṇa said ,
“Having become awakened to that thing
which had not been found anywhere,
all the Buddhas and the Úrâvakas
will reveal it to all beings.
Then Aṅgulimâla said to Pûrṇa-maitrâyaṇî-putra, “What is the meaning of this ?”
Then Pûrṇa said, “Even though the blessed Buddhas of the past assiduously searched for a sattva-dhâtu, a self (âtman), a life-essence (jîva), a person (pudgala), a manuja or mânava in all phenomena, they could not find one and then, thinking that ‘no self’ is the word of the Buddha, they passed away. Even though the blessed Buddhas of the present assiduously search for a sattva-dhâtu, a self, a life-essence, a person, a manuja or mânava in all phenomena, they do find one. Even though the blessed Buddhas of the future will assiduously search for a sattva-dhâtu, a self, a life-essence, a person, a manuja or mânava in all phenomena, they will not find one. Likewise, even though all the Úrâvakas and Pratyekabuddhas in the past, present and future search for a life-essence, a person, a manuja, a mânava, a sattva-dhâtu or an âtma-dhâtu in all phenomena, they did not find, do not find and will not find one, and thus they teach that there is no life-essence, person, manuja, mânava, sattva-dhâtu or âtma-dhâtu. Thus they teach no-self, thus they teach emptiness, thus they teach that manner of Dharma-discourse.”
Then Aṅgulimâla said to Pûrṇa-maitrâyaṇî-putra, “Ah, elder Pûrṇa, your practice is that of a mosquito, for you are unable to teach a Dharma-discourse. Even a mosquito can make a buzzing noise, so be silent, you foolish man who are like a mosquito !
“Pûrṇa, those who think that no-self is the Dharma, because they do not understand the Tathâgata’s underlying meaning, fall like moths into the lamp of ignorance. Concerning ‘that which Buddhas did not find’, the blessed Buddhas of the past did not find the absence of the tathâgata-garbha in any being and then passed away. The blessed Buddhas of the present too do not find the absence of the âtma-dhâtu [Self Principle] in any being. The blessed Buddhas of the future also will not find the absence of the sattva-dhâtu in any being. The Srâvakas and Pratyekabuddhas in the past, present and future did not find, do not find and will not find the absence of the tathâgata-garbha in any being. This is the meaning of that verse.
“Again, concerning ‘that which Buddhas did not find’, though they searched assiduously in all phenomena, the Buddhas and Sravakas did not find the self of the mundane teachers that they claim is permanent, stable and eternal, and that, through the many kinds of speculations according to which these mundane teachers visualize the self, they say that ‘the self is like this’ – that it is red, blue, yellow, white, short, long or extremely long, the size of a thumb, a grain of millet (kodrava), a grain of rice, a mustard seed or a sesame seed, located shining in the heart or else which resides like the glowing wick of a lamp, which burns because of the oil, in the area around the navel, in the head, in the eyes or in the nose. Having then become awakened, they explain this to beings. This is the meaning of that verse, whereas, Pûrṇa, your explanation is not the meaning because of your distorted thinking.
“Again, concerning ‘that which Buddhas did not find’, the blessed Buddhas of the past did not find a created (kṛta) tathâgata-garbha and then passed away, for an uncreated buddha-dhâtu adorned with infinite major and minor attributes is present in all beings. Though they searched assiduously, the blessed Buddhas of the present too have not found a created (kṛta) tathâgata-garbha, for an uncreated buddha-dhâtu adorned with infinite major and minor attributes is present in all beings. Though they will search assiduously, the blessed Buddhas of the future also will not find a created (kṛta) tathâgata-garbha, for an uncreated buddha-dhâtu adorned with infinite major and minor attributes is present in all beings . The mosquito-like Srâvakas and Pratyekabuddhas of past, present and future proclaim they have the tathâgata-garbha, even though they are unable to see it with their eyes. This reveals the motivating cause (kriyâ-hetu) for my question.
“For example, Râhula who respects the auspicious training and moral code very assiduously gazes at something that might be a living creature [in some water] , carefully investigating whether it is a creature or not, or else if it is a particle of dust or nothing at all, and then he eventually sees that it is a minute creature. Similarly, bodhisattvas on the tenth level who investigate also try to see for themselves that there is an âtma-dhâtu present within their bodies, and thus in this manner they see the infinite dhâtu. Hence, it is a very difficult thing to penetrate the tathâgata-garbha. It is also a very difficult thing for somebody to become a teacher in this blazing, burning world, even at the expense of his life, who teaches what is beneficial.
“I only teach the tathâgata-garbha to those bodhisattvas alone and not to others. Those beings are themselves tathâgatas. For example, they are like Aniruddha [who is foremost] amongst those who are endowed with supernatural vision. When immature people travelled together with Aniruddha, he was able to see the track of a bird in the sky, whereas how could the immature people see the track of a bird with their fleshly vision ? The elder Aniruddha saw it clearly and the people with their fleshly vision trusted the testimony of the elder and knew [that there was the track of a bird there] . Similarly, the Srâvakas and Pratyekabuddhas who are like the immature fools with their fleshly vision have faith in the statements of all the sûtras and know that the tathâgata-garbha exists, but how can they see such as the dhâtu which appertains to the realm of Buddhas ?"
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