DIAMOND SUTRA - Chapter 07. Merit is Non-merit

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In Tokyo in the Meiji era there lived two prominent teachers of opposite characteristics. One, Unsho, an instructor in Shingon, kept Buddha's precepts scrupulously. He never drank intoxicants, nor did he eat after eleven o'clock in the morning.... continue...

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DIAMOND SUTRA - Chapter 07. Merit is Non-merit

Bhagavan aha: Tat kim manyase Subhute yah kascit kulaputro va kuladuhita vemam trisahasramahasahasram lokadhatum sapta-ratnaparipurnam krtva Tathagatebhyo' rhadbhyah samyaksambuddhebhyo danam dadyat, api nu sa kulaputro va kuladuhita va tato nidanam bahutaram punya-skandham prasunuyat? Subhutir aha: Bahu Bhagavan bahu Sugata sa kulaputro va kuladuhita va tato nidanam punya-skandham prasunuyat. Tat kasya hetoh? Yo'sau Bhagavan punya-skandhas Tathagatena bhasitah, a-skandhah sa Tathagatena bhasitah. Tasmat Tathagato bhasate: Punya-skandhah punya-skandha iti. Bhagavan aha: Yas ca khalu punah Subhute kulaputro va kuladuhita vemam trisahasramahasahasram lokadhatum sapta-ratna-paripurnam krtva Tathagatebhyo' rhadbhyah samyaksambuddhebhyo danam dadyat, yas ceto dharma-paryayad antasas catuspadikam api gatham udgrhya parebhyo vistarena desayet samprakasayed, ayam eva tato nidanam bahutaram punya-skandham prasunuyad aprameyam asamkhyeyam. Tat kasya hetoh? Ato nirjata hi Subhute Tathagatanam arhatam samyaksambuddhanam anuttara samyaksambodhir, ato nirjatas ca Buddha Bhagavantah. Tat kasya hetoh? Buddhadharma buddhadharma iti Subhute 'buddhadharmas caiva te Tathagatena bhasitah. Tenocyante buddhadharma iti.
The Lord then asked: What do you think, Subhuti, if a son or daughter of good family had filled this world system of 1,000 million worlds with the seven precious things, and then gave it as a gift to the Tathagatas, Arhats, Fully Enlightened Ones, would they on the strength of that beget a great heap of merit? Subbuti replied: Great, O Lord, great, O Well-Gone, would that heap of merit be! And why? Because the Tathagata spoke of the 'heap of merit' as a non-heap. That is how the Tathagata speaks of 'heap of merit'. The Lord said: But if someone else were to take from this discourse on dharma but one stanza of four lines, and would demonstrate and illuminate it in full detail to others, then he would on the strength of that beget a still greater heap of merit, immeasurable and incalculable. And why? Because from it has issued the utmost, right and perfect enlightenment of the Tathagatas, Arhats, Fully Enlightened Ones, and from it have issued the Buddhas, the Lords. And why? For the Tathagata has taught that the dharmas special to the Buddhas are just not a Buddha's special dharmas. That is why they are called 'the dharmas special to the Buddhas'.

End of DIAMOND SUTRA - Chapter 07. Merit is Non-merit horizotal line

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