Introduction

i.1The Jewel Mine is a Great Vehicle sūtra in which the Buddha Śākyamuni is requested by Mañjuśrī and others to explain how buddha realms are purified, as bodhisattvas receive teachings from the buddhas and subsequently train on the bodhisattva path based on these instructions.

i.2In replying to Mañjuśrī, the Buddha does not present the way he himself purified buddha realms. Instead, he recounts how a certain past buddha, Sarvārthasiddha, purified infinite buddha realms as a bodhisattva prior to his awakening. This story originates with Dīpaṅkara, the buddha who is said to have prophesied the Buddha Śākyamuni’s awakening. According to The Jewel Mine, Dīpaṅkara told this story to the Buddha Śākyamuni to inspire him and to spur him on the path to awakening. By revealing how he himself received the story, Śākyamuni thus indicates the importance and relevance of studying the purification of buddha realms as a means to inspire fortitude in aspiring bodhisattvas.

i.3The overarching principle in The Jewel Mine is the understanding that there have been innumerable buddhas before the Buddha Śākyamuni, and that there will be an infinite number of buddhas after him, each presiding over their individual buddha realms. Long before their full awakening, buddhas-to-be pledge to awaken and teach beings the paths to liberation. In this way the path followed by all bodhisattvas is the same: it starts with generating the mind of awakening. Then, according to The Jewel Mine, as the bodhisattva subsequently trains in purifying buddha realms, the practice consists of training in the six perfections‍—generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, concentration, and wisdom . These common steps of the bodhisattva’s trajectory are all alluded to throughout the text.

i.4Another important theme of The Jewel Mine is aspirations. Such prayers, we are told, are central to all bodhisattva activities. According to the Great Vehicle, buddhas appear to sentient beings based on three causes: the buddhas’ compassion, the buddhas’ aspirations, and sentient beings’ merit. As a bodhisattva, it is therefore of crucial importance to engage in the practice of making aspirations. This sūtra describes the results of such aspirations accumulated from time without beginning.

i.5The content of the text is structured in the following manner: first is a preliminary presentation of the setting of the sūtra, followed by the main presentation of the way the thus-gone Sarvārthasiddha purified buddha realms by relying on the six perfections. The Buddha Śākyamuni explains each of these six perfections in three distinct ways as he recounts the past lives of the buddha Sarvārthasiddha. First, he describes how Sarvārthasiddha learned the practices that purify buddha realms, namely the six perfections. Next, he explains how to seal these six virtuous practices with the correct view so that they become perfections. Finally, he recounts how Sarvārthasiddha as a bodhisattva received instructions for enhancing the potency of the perfections.

i.6The Buddha Śākyamuni begins his teaching with a presentation of the view of emptiness that makes use of a variety of analogies. Realizing this view is also referred to as “experiencing liberation devoid of obscurations.” The Buddha explains that the way to train in purifying buddha realms is to realize this view: “Mañjuśrī, it is by experiencing liberation devoid of obscurations that the thus-gone Sarvārthasiddha purified his infinite, innumerable, inconceivable, incomparable, immeasurable, and inexpressibly vast buddha realms.” In this part of the sūtra, the Buddha shows how Sarvārthasiddha purified buddha realms throughout his previous lives, with each of the six perfections being the focus of a particular lifetime as a bodhisattva. First, we hear how the king Joyful and Wise accumulated merit through generosity. As he trained in discipline, he was the king Undefeated Army, while as a brahmin named Blazing Wit he developed the ability to maintain the view through patience. Next, we hear how Sarvārthasiddha’s practice of diligence unfolded in a life as the monk Dhṛtimati. He practiced the next perfection, that of concentration, in his life as the monk Pleasant Voice, who also developed unfailing memory as a quality of his concentration. Finally, he attained the perfection of wisdom as Megharāja, a former king turned monk.

i.7In the second teaching, the practice of the six perfections is once again presented through six previous existences of the buddha Sarvārthasiddha. The first is his existence as Śāntamati, who was instructed by the buddha Sarvābhibhū to strive for buddhahood through the practice of generosity. The next incarnation of Sarvārthasiddha mentioned is the brahmin priest Viṣṇudatta, who practiced discipline. He is followed by the bodhisattva Always Looking, who perfected patience, the monk Sūrata, who perfected diligence, and the monk Concentrated Experience, who accomplished the perfection of concentration. Finally, as the monk Unsurpassed Wisdom he mastered the perfection of wisdom .

i.8Then, for a third time, the Buddha Śākyamuni teaches the six perfections through the framework of six of Sarvārthasiddha’s other past lives. As the monk Careful Scrutiny he practiced generosity, and later as the wealthy kṣatriya layman Jagatīdhara he trained in discipline. Following this life, we hear of the monk Śāntamati, who practiced patience. Next, we are told how the bodhisattva Ārabdhavīrya strove in diligence, the brahmin priest Indradatta trained in aspirations, the brahmin priest Sandalwood Essence perfected skillful means, and finally how the bodhisattva Unsurpassed Knowledge realized the perfection of wisdom .

i.9In the last part of the sūtra, the Buddha Śākyamuni reveals to Mañjuśrī the view of emptiness through a teaching on nonduality. As part of this concluding teaching, the Buddha also discloses the awakened feats of one of Mañjuśrī’s past lives as the brahmin Sūryadatta. Finally, in reply to a request by Mañjuśrī, the Buddha illustrates the long journey to buddhahood by telling how many buddhas Sarvābhibhū had followed and under whose guidance he had generated roots of virtue prior to his awakening, teaching in the process how a buddha is not someone limited to a single manifestation but a being capable of manifesting an inconceivable number of awakened emanations for the welfare of beings.

i.10There is no extant Sanskrit version of this scripture, and the sūtra does not appear to have been translated into Chinese either. In producing this translation, we have therefore based our work on the Degé xylograph while consulting the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma). Additionally, when the readings in the Degé and the Comparative Edition appeared problematic, we consulted the Stok Palace manuscript. The colophon of the sūtra states that it was translated from the Sanskrit by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Surendrabodhi along with the prolific Tibetan translator Yeshé Dé. Therefore, we can date the Tibetan translation to the late eighth to early ninth centuries, a dating that is also attested by the text’s inclusion in the early ninth century Denkarma (ldan dkar ma) catalog.