Introduction

i.1The Absorption of the Thus-Gone One’s Wisdom Seal is a sūtra significant in the canon of the Great Vehicle for its rich description of the highest levels of Buddhist absorption, as well as for its unique discussion of the stages of a bodhisattva’s journey and the qualities that pertain to them.

i.2It is a scripture that appears to have enjoyed a measure of sustained popularity in Asia. Of the three Chinese translations the earliest was completed by the translator Zhi Qian sometime between 223 and 253 ᴄᴇ, while the Tibetan translation was produced almost six centuries later during the great imperial translation project of the early ninth century. In between these two notable efforts to propagate the sūtra outside India, we also know of citations of this text in the works of at least two Indian scholars: in the sixth century by Bhāviveka and in the eighth century by Kamalaśīla. We have evidence, therefore, of the continuing relevance of this sūtra during the formative centuries of the Great Vehicle tradition in India.

i.3Nevertheless, to our knowledge this scripture has until now remained unexplored by modern scholars, and no translation of the text has been made since the Tibetan translation was produced in the early ninth century. There is no extant Sanskrit manuscript and, while a comparison with the Chinese translations remains a desirable future goal, our translation is based entirely on the Tibetan source texts, the Tibetan Degé block print with reference to the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma) and the Stok Palace manuscript.

i.4The sūtra is one of eleven sūtras in the Kangyur with titles including the term “The Absorption of…” (Sanskrit samādhi, Tibetan ting nge ’dzin). In the Degé Kangyur and other Kangyurs of the Tshalpa (tshal pa) lineage these texts are grouped together, and although that might seem to suggest that they could be construed as forming an unofficial subgenre of sūtra literature, the sharing of a common term in the title is simply one of several organizing principles used to order the titles in these Kangyurs without implying that the common term in question necessarily constitutes a common theme as such. Indeed, the significance of the term “absorption” or samādhi clearly varies from sūtra to sūtra within this group of texts. For example, in the famous King of Samādhis Sūtra (Samādhirājasūtra, Toh 127), samādhi does not appear to refer to an altered state of mind, or to meditative absorption. Instead, the term is used to encapsulate a whole range of practices and qualities that the sūtra presents in a detailed list, with no explicit mention of states of deep meditative concentration. Nevertheless, in most other sūtras within this group of texts, the term seems to lean more toward referring to specific meditative states to be accessed and accomplished.

i.5It is in that respect that the current sūtra resembles some of these other works, describing as it does a particular meditative absorption that the rest of the title qualifies as “the thus-gone one’s wisdom seal.” Here, thus-gone one (Skt. tathāgatha) is a common epithet of a fully awakened being. We have translated this term from the Tibetan de bzhin gshegs pa, “one who has thus gone,” whereas the Chinese equivalent, ru lai, reads closer to “thus-come one.” The final term, wisdom seal (Skt. jñānamudrā), qualifies the absorption in which the thus-gone one dwells. Seal (Skt. mudrā) has a rich and varied usage in Buddhist literature. Generally, it refers to a stamp or brand, like a royal seal that is used to mark property. Since the thus-gone one’s absorption is infinite and unimpeded, all of reality falls into its domain. Thus, all of reality is subsumed in, or sealed by, the wisdom actualized in this absorption.

i.6Like many Great Vehicle sūtras, The Absorption of the Thus-Gone One’s Wisdom Seal situates ancient India and Buddha Śākyamuni in a much larger, cosmic context. The opening scene takes place in the famous Veṇuvana (Bamboo Grove) monastic compound, near Rājagṛha, the capital of the former kingdom of Magadha (present-day Bihar). Here the Buddha is dwelling with a vast retinue of monks and bodhisattvas when he enters into an exalted state of absorption called the thus-gone one’s wisdom seal, indescribable except in ways that suggest its sheer ineffability: it is “formless, indefinable, ungraspable, unimpeded, and not apparent.”

i.7The power of this state of absorption affects the entire trichiliocosm, inspiring buddhas and bodhisattvas dwelling in faraway realms to intensify their spiritual activity. Cosmic buddhas exhort their innumerable bodhisattva disciples to seize the opportunity to go to the Veṇuvana and learn about this absorption, which will be the culmination of their training. Accordingly, the bodhisattvas magically travel there, eager to receive teachings about this exalted state. Countless gods and nonhuman beings, hearers, and monks join them in their quest. When they arrive, however, the Buddha is nowhere to be seen, as their perceptions are not attuned to the state in which he is absorbed. In dismay, the assembly, led by a group of close disciples including Mahā­maudgalyāyana and Subhūti, turns to the great bodhisattva Mañjuśrī for advice on how to communicate with the Buddha. He simply tells them to look inward: they will find the Buddha within their own absorptions.

i.8Thus, a line of communication is established with the Buddha, who now begins to teach them about this absorption, which is the hallmark of all thus-gone ones. The teaching follows an extensive apophatic methodology, in which the Buddha negates any proposition that may be made about this most profound state of absorption: “This absorption is formless, indefinable, ungraspable, unimpeded, and not apparent. It is beyond knowledge and not an object of knowledge.” Upon concluding his teaching about the absorption of the thus-gone one’s wisdom seal, all those in attendance purify negative karma accumulated over innumerable eons and ensure that their progress to unsurpassed and perfect awakening is irreversible.

i.9The discourse then shifts, and the Buddha addresses Maitreya, explaining seven ways in which bodhisattvas arouse the mind of awakening. He also lists two sets of five qualities that characterize a nonregressing bodhisattva, as well as five that mark an incorrigible, flawed individual on the bodhisattva path. To illustrate the exemplary bodhisattva, the Buddha recounts a past-life memory of the deeds of a great king named Puṇyodgata, who was a devotee of the buddha Śaśiketu.

i.10Following this discourse, countless female devotees, led by one of the queens of King Bimbisāra and one of his daughters, promise their service to the Dharma in all subsequent lives. This delights the Buddha, who beams a smile at them. The women, captivated, eloquently enjoin the Buddha to give them a teaching about the causes, qualities, and implications of his smile. In response, the Buddha recounts more past-life memories, this time about the noble deeds of an ancient ruler named Puṇyaraśmi, who was an exemplary guardian of the Dharma. The Buddha also describes the degenerate age, in which the influence of the Dharma will wane. During this time, he explains, it will be especially important for those who follow him to train in the sūtra of The Absorption of the Thus-Gone One’s Wisdom Seal, and to master the absorption it describes. The Buddha then highlights differences between bodhisattvas based on whether they have aroused the mind of awakening and the roots of virtue in the presence of hundreds, of thousands, or of millions of buddhas. In short, the latter have the greatest resolve to traverse the path and are least susceptible to any kind of regression. However, they will still suffer. The sūtra explains that whatever negative karma remains for these bodhisattvas will be purified through instances of ordinary human misfortune: they will be criticized, they will suffer bouts of depression, they will be born into dysfunctional families, they will face adverse economic conditions, and so forth. Bodhisattvas of the highest order will bear these pains and persevere on the path; others will falter.

i.11Toward the end of the sūtra, the Buddha addresses Mañjuśrī, Maitreya, and an assembly of distinguished disciples who ask him to explain the meaning of the term Dharma itself. Thus begins a long synonymic chain of significant Buddhist terms: inexhaustible, unborn, uninterrupted, uncollected, ungraspable, nonabiding, and groundless, until the final term nirvāṇa. This list echoes the terms used earlier in the sūtra to describe the absorption of the thus-gone one’s wisdom seal. Given this definition of the Dharma, the disciples wonder how they should act as its protectors. The Buddha explains that if they indeed realize the meaning of what he has taught them, “ultimately we find nothing at all‍—no Dharma and no conflict with the Dharma.” Then, in a set of philosophically rich verses, he instructs them further in the ultimate truth, beyond concepts and characteristics. The sūtra concludes with another exhortation to the gathered assembly to accomplish the absorption of the thus-gone one’s wisdom seal.