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| Bodhisattva Nagarjuna, the 1st Patriarch of Jodo Shinshu school |
Bodhisattva
Nagarjuna said in Praise of the Element
of Attributes (words in normal brackets are my own and words in special brackets
[..] are the words of Master Dolpopa:
“Homage and
obeisance to the element of attributes
(Buddha nature with its innate qualities),
Definitely
dwelling in all sentient beings,
Which if one
does not thoroughly know
One wanders in
the three existences.
[Due to being
mixed with limitless defilement, the element of attributes is not seen;
For example,][1]
just as due to having purified milk
The essence of
butter [is seen] without [obstructive] defilement,
So due to having
purified [and extinguished] the afflictive emotions [through the Path]
The very
undefiled element of attributes [is manifestly seen].
(Buddha
nature becomes visible only after we extinguish the afflictive emotions. In our
case, the Path for purifying afflictive emotions is the Nembutsu of Faith and
the place for purifying them is the Pure Land of Amida that we attain after
death.)
Just as a
butter-lamp dwelling inside a pot
Is not in the
least perceived,
So the element
of attributes (Buddha nature with its innate qualities) also
Is not perceived
inside the pot of afflictive emotions.
[Finally] when the
[obstructive] pot has [entirely] been broken,
[The element of
attributes] illuminates
[And is seen] to
the ends of space.
The element of
attributes is not [newly] produced,
[And its entity]
never ceases [while one is a sentient
being].
At all times
[during the basal state, the path, and the
fruit] it is
without afflictive emotions [in its nature]—
In the beginning
[in the basal state], the middle [during
the path], and
the end [during the fruit primordially]
free from
defilement.
(Buddha
nature and its innate enlightened qualities is the same no matter we discover
it or not. Buddha nature is the Base in the sense that it has always existed
and it is the Fruit in the sense that we can discover it after following the
Path, which in our case, is the Nembutsu of Faith and birth in the Pure Land.)
Just as a
vaidurya gem
At all times is
luminous
But dwelling
inside an [obstructive] stone
Its light is not
manifest,
So the element
of attributes obscured by afflictive emotions
Is very
undefiled [in its nature],
But its light is
not manifest in the cyclic existence [of
afflictive
emotions],
Becoming [manifestly]
luminous in Nirvana.
(Nirvana
is the discovery of our Buddha nature.)
[Although the element of attributes is
naturally pure, it
is obstructed by
obstructing factors;
For example,]
even the undefiled sun and moon
Are obscured by
five obstructions –
Clouds, mist,
smoke,
The face of Rahu[2],
and dust and the like.
Similarly, the
mind of clear light [which is the nature
of all sentient
beings]
Is obscured by
five obstructions—
Desire, harmful
intent, laziness,
Excitement, and
doubt.
[Therefore,
although a Buddha in which all qualities
such as the
powers and so forth are integrally complete
exists primordially[3] in all sentient
beings, the
defilements are
extinguished through striving at
the Path clearing
away obstructions, but the clear
light is not
consumed; for example,]
When a garment
[made from a hard mineral] that is
stained
With various
defilements and to be cleansed [of defilement]
by fire is put
in fire, its stains are burned but it is not.
So, similarly,
with regard to the mind of clear light (Buddha nature)
Which has the
stains of desire and so forth,
Its stains are
burned by the fire of wisdom [on the
Path]
But [since it
does not burn the clear light, the qualities
of the clear
light do not become non-existent the
way iron is
consumed or worn away, and hence]
that [path] does
not [burn away] the clear light.
(The
Buddhist Path destroys the stains of blind passions and illusions, but does not
destroy the Buddha nature and its innate qualities. The Pure Land of Amida Buddha
where we are to be born is like a great fireplace where the stains of defilements
are removed and the Buddha nature is revealed automatically.)
All the sutras
[such as the Mother Sutras and so forth]
Spoken by the
Conqueror that teach emptiness
Overcome the
afflictive emotions [of conceiving self ]
But do not
diminish [and refute] the essential constituent.
(The
above sutras who teach emptiness do so to help us abandon the idea of a
permanent self (ego) in our blind passions and ignorance, but do not say that “the essential constituent” or Buddha
nature does not exist.)
[Ultimately the
element of attributes cannot be refuted;
For example,]
just as water existing on the sphere of earth
Resides [in its
nature] without defilement,
So the pristine
wisdom inside afflictive emotions
Similarly
[always] abides without defilement [never
suitable to be
non-existent].
(Buddha
nature exists and is not stained by our afflictive emotions that cover it since
the beginingless past.)
[Though it
exists, it is not seen if the obstructions are
not purified;
For example,]
just as a child exists in the belly
Of the womb but
is not seen,
So the element
of attributes covered
With afflictive
emotions also is not seen [though always
resident].
(We
cannot see Buddha nature and its innate qualities – here described as “element of attributes” – as long as we are unenlightened and have
blind passions.)
[A single river has different states due to
relation with
other causes and
conditions;]
Just as a river
in summer
Is said to be
‘warm’
But that [same
river] itself in cold season
Is said to be
‘cold,’
So when [the
element of attributes is] covered with the
nets of
afflictive emotions,
It is called
‘sentient being,’
But when that
[element of attributes] itself is separated
from afflictive
emotions,
It is called
‘Buddha.’”[4]
(Buddhas
are those who uncovered their Buddha nature from afflictive emotions and illusions,
while sentient beings are those whose Buddha nature is still covered by them.)
[1] Brackets [..] are from
Master Dolpopa’s [Interlinear Commentary
on Nagarjuna’s] Praise of the Element of Attributes.
[4] The Essence of Other-Emptiness, Taranatha, translated and annotated by Jeffrey Hopkins in collaboration
with Lama Lodro Namgyel, Snow Lion Boston & London, 2007, p. 63-67
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