..续本文上一页 Tathagata [is gone], they will say, “Company of ours, together you also must overturn [the view] that the Tathagata is conditioned or conditioned to be unconditioned, and moreover all of you must stop having such a view yourselves. You may, following this day, make haste to give food and drink. The giving of such gifts is the best. Whether it is bhiksus, bhiksunis, upasakas, or upasikas, when they go on distant travels and grow weary for the need of things, should they not bath the following day and be furnished with them

　　 Thus, quickly giving it to them is the consummation of the root seed of the perfection of charity (dana-paramita).” Cunda, so it is if someone makes the very last offerings to the Buddha and the sangha, whether the offerings are many or few, whether sufficient or not, fitting or timely. The Tathagata is truly so and shall enter parinirvana."

　　Cunda replied, "Manjusri, why do you now covet these alms and say “many, few, sufficient, or insufficient” in order to lead me to give on this day. Manjusri, the Tathagata in the old days practiced asceticism for six years and honored only what his arms held. How could he on this day be in need [of more] for an instant

　　 Manjusri, do you really mean to say that the Tathagata who is truly awakened has accepted these alms

　　 Verily, I resolutely know that the body of the Tathagata is the essential body (dharma-kaya) and not an alms-eating body."

　　At that time, the Buddha addressed Manjusri, saying, "It is so, it is so."

　　He likewise said to Cunda, "Excellent, Cunda! You have brought to fruition the subtle and wondrous great knowledge and skillfully entered the most profound Mahayana scriptures."

　　Manjusri said to Cunda, "You have stated that the Tathagata is the unconditioned, that the body of the Tathagata has a long life span. Have you come to the knowledge of the Buddha”s bliss

　　"

　　Cunda replied, "The Tathagata does not only bring bliss for me, but also for all sentient beings."

　　Manjusri said, "The Tathagata brings bliss for you and I as well as all other sentient beings

　　"

　　Cunda replied, "You should not say that the Tathagata brings bliss. The blissful person is a mistaken idea. If there are mistaken ideas then there is birth and death. When there is birth and death, then there are conditioned things (dharmas). This is why, Manjusri, that one is not to state that the Tathagata is conditioned. If it is said that the Tathagata is conditioned, I and the sages together would be practicing in delusion. Manjusri, the Tathagata does not have the idea of being compassionately mindful. Compassionate mindfulness is like the cow being compassionately mindful of its calf. Although it may be hungry or thirsty, the cow goes in search of water and grass, whether it is sufficient or not, and then immediately returns [once obtaining it]. The Buddhas, the World Honored Ones, have no such mindfulness, seeing clearly all [beings] to be like Rahula. Such mindfulness, then, is the perspective of the Buddhas” wisdom.

　　"Manjusri, it is just like a country”s king who tames a team of four horses, wishing to have draft horses to pull his chariot, and then orders them to go nowhere. The sages and I are also so. We wish to go to the deepest core of the Tathagata”s subtle esoterica, which has no location. Manjusri, he is like a golden winged bird that flies up into empty space and looks down at the ocean from an infinite number of yojanas . It sees all the beings contained in the waters; including the fish, fresh-water turtles, sea turtles, and nagas. And seeing their shapes is like looking into a bright mirror and seeing the images of their forms. Ordinary men of little knowledge are unable to comprehend such a perspective. The sages and I are also so, unable to comprehend the wisdom of the Tathagata.

　　…

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