Introduction

i.1The Dhāraṇī “Entering into Nonconceptuality” is a short but influential Mahāyāna sūtra. It is known not only by its most usual Sanskrit title Avikalpa­praveśa­dhāraṇī (APD), but also by the alternative form Nirvikalpa­praveśa­dhāraṇī.

i.2In common with a small number of other texts in the General Sūtra section of the Kangyur that are labeled “dhāraṇī” and do not include the word “sūtra” in their titles at all, the text is nevertheless presented in the style of a sūtra. It is not a dhāraṇī in the sense in which that term is applied to a large number of scriptures containing a specific mantra-like formula recited in order to bring about a desired result‍—and indeed contains no such formula at all‍—but is rather a sūtra about a dhāraṇī, the same term being used here in a somewhat different sense to refer to a spiritual quality or aspect of realization. The basic meaning of the Sanskrit dhāraṇa is to “hold,” “uphold,” or “maintain,” and by extension the term is frequently used in reference to memory and learning. In the context of the present text, dhāraṇī may either refer to the content held, the specific set of realizations regarding nonconceptuality of which it teaches, in a way parallel to that in which other texts refer to specific absorptions (samādhi) or gates (mukha); or it may identify it as a mnemonic support for the Buddha’s discourse on nonconceptuality, presenting his teaching in a manner that can be easily memorized and frequently recollected. Indeed, these nuances of the meaning of dhāraṇī overlap, and both are probably relevant. As the Buddha states at the beginning of the sūtra, a bodhisattva who keeps this teaching in mind (dhārayan) will make rapid progress on the path to buddhahood.

i.3A popular sūtra in both India and Tibet, The Dhāraṇī “Entering into Nonconceptuality” was particularly influential in Yogācāra circles. From an early period it was closely associated with the Five Treatises of Maitreya and is now widely considered a source text for Maitreya’s Dharma­dharmatā­vibhāga . At least two major Indian commentaries were composed on it: Kamalaśīla’s (ca. 740–95) Avikalpa­praveśa­dhāraṇī­ṭīkā (Toh 4000), and a similarly titled work, now lost, by Śākyamitra (ca. ninth century). Renowned Yogācārins such as Sthiramati (ca. 510–70) and Ratnākaraśānti (ca. eleventh century) cited the sūtra in their commentarial works, the latter quoting it in his treatises on both sūtric and tantric scriptures.

i.4The Dhāraṇī “Entering into Nonconceptuality” proved equally influential in Tibet, particularly during the early spread of Buddhist teachings in the seventh through ninth centuries. It was in this period that it was first translated, by the Indian preceptors Jinamitra and Dānaśīla working with the great Tibetan editor-translator Kawa Peltsek and became an important text in the debate over the primacy of gradual or sudden paths to awakening. The text was claimed by proponents of both positions; Kamalaśīla, who strenuously supported the gradualist position, paraphrased it in his Bhāvanākrama series and composed a commentary on it, possibly while residing in Tibet and taking part in this debate. Conversely, a text attributed to Vimalamitra, the cig car ’jug pa rnam par mi rtog pa’i bsgom don, cites the APD in support of the instantaneous position..

i.5Nubchen Sangyé Yeshé (ninth century) similarly invoked the APD in his Lamp for the Eye of Meditation (bsam gtan mig sgron), a text in which he summarized and hierarchically ranked the four primary Buddhist systems of his day. From lowest to highest, these comprise the gradual path promoted by Kamalaśīla, the instantaneous path famously championed by the Chinese Chan master Heshang Moheyan, the tantric system of Mahāyoga, and the teachings of the Great Perfection. Nubchen’s analysis of these four paths hinges on their particular understanding of nonconceptuality, for which he cites numerous scriptural sources. In the context of these arguments he locates the APD as a source text for the gradualist position.

i.6In the later spread of Buddhist teachings in Tibet the APD continued to feature in Yogācāra-themed literature, especially in the commentarial traditions surrounding the Dharma­dharmatā­vibhāga and the Ratnagotra­vibhāga.

Summary of the Text

i.7The central theme of The Dhāraṇī “Entering into Nonconceptuality” is the practice of relinquishing all conceptual signs by not directing the mind toward them. The sūtra presents the progressive stages through which bodhisattvas can abandon increasingly subtle conceptual signs and eliminate the erroneous ideas that lead to the objectification of phenomena. This serves to undermine the conceptual reification of appearances and facilitate direct experience with the nonconceptual realm.

i.8The sūtra begins in Rājagṛha, where the Buddha is residing together with an assembly of monks and bodhisattvas. From among the bodhisattvas, Avikalpa­prabhāsa (Radiance of Nonconceptuality) approaches the Buddha and beseeches him to teach the dhāraṇī. The Buddha assents, and begins by explaining the progressively subtle sets of conceptual signs that need to be abandoned.

i.9The first set of conceptual signs to be abandoned consists of those that are most fundamental, which in the context of this sūtra refers to any defiled subjective or objective phenomena in general and to the five aggregates in particular. The method for abandoning such conceptual signs‍—the primary technique emphasized throughout the text‍—is to refrain from mentally engaging them and to recognize that they are mere appearances that do not correspond to real phenomena.

i.10This formula is repeated with the remaining three categories of conceptual signs. The second category of conceptual signs comprises those that arise in relation to the antidotes applied when striving to overcome the conceptual reification of the defiled entities listed in the previous category. These antidotes include the six perfections: generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and insight. This category also includes any conceptual signs that arise through an examination of the antidotes’ intrinsic natures, qualities , and essences.

i.11The third category of conceptual signs comprises those that pertain to any true reality one believes to have been realized once the antidotes have been applied. This includes any conceptual mark that may arise in the context of examining traditional Buddhist designations for ultimate reality: emptiness, suchness, the limit of reality, ultimate truth, and so forth. This also includes any further marks that arise when one analyzes these designations in terms of their intrinsic natures, qualities , or essences.

i.12The fourth and final set of conceptual signs consists of those pertaining to the attainments that are believed to arise after true reality has been realized. These include those marks that arise when examining everything from the ten bodhisattva levels through to the attainment of omniscience. As in the case of the previous two sets of conceptual signs, this category also includes those marks that arise through an examination of this set in terms of intrinsic natures, qualities , and essences. And, as before, all of these conceptual signs are to be abandoned by not directing the mind toward them and thereby recognizing them as mere appearances.

i.13The Buddha next points out that the abandonment of these conceptual signs is not itself sufficient for attaining a direct experience of the nonconceptual realm. The abandonment of conceptual signs brings about a state of meditative absorption conducive to approaching the nonconceptual, but it is only through the repeated application and perfection of this method that bodhisattvas are able to experience nonconceptuality. The Buddha explains that the nonconceptual realm transcends all imputations and is independent of all emotional and cognitive obscurations. It is immaterial, indemonstrable, and unmanifest. Bodhisattvas who become established in the nonconceptual realm will see that all phenomena are equivalent to space, that they are nothing more than illusions, mirages, dreams, and so forth. Stability in the nonconceptual realm grants a bodhisattva great power to perform all manner of awakened activity for the benefit of beings.

i.14To illustrate the progressive process of meditation outlined in the sūtra, the Buddha provides an analogy. Just as a person who desires a wish-fulfilling jewel buried deep beneath the earth must forsake all other precious minerals unearthed as they dig deeper and deeper toward the wish-fulfilling jewel, so a bodhisattva who wishes to reach the nonconceptual realm must unrelentingly relinquish progressively subtler conceptual signs, not stopping until nonconceptuality is reached.

i.15The Buddha next presents a sequence of reflections to be used to relinquish conceptual signs and thereby reach the nonconceptual realm. Whenever a conceptual mark arises, bodhisattvas should not entertain the idea that such a mark is their own or belongs to another; bodhisattvas should not regard that mark as actually representing a real phenomenon that arises or ceases, is pure or defiled, exists or does not exist, or has an intrinsic nature; they should not think of the phenomenon as being a cause, an effect, or any type of action; bodhisattvas should not apprehend any phenomena apart from the act of cognitive representation (Skt. vijñapti; Tib. rnam par rig pa), nor should they consider that which is distinct from cognition to be unreal; they should not think cognition itself to be either real or unreal; and finally, when they no longer engage with any of these concepts, they should even give up the idea “this is the nonconceptual.” Only when bodhisattvas become stable in this realization do they enter into the nonconceptual realm.

i.16The Buddha ends his discourse by extolling the great merit that will accrue to anyone who trains in this teaching, or even writes it down or recites it aloud. After offering a summary verse to cap the sūtra, the Buddha finishes his teaching as the entire retinue, along with the complete host of worldly and celestial beings, rejoices.

Recensions, Editions, and Translations

i.17The present translation is based on the Sanskrit edition of the APD prepared by Kazunobu Matsuda, who relied on the two extant Sanskrit witnesses: a largely complete but slightly damaged manuscript currently held by the Institute of Oriental Studies at the Academy of Sciences of Russia in St. Petersburg, and a fragmented manuscript from Gilgit presently held in New Delhi, India. The Tibetan translation, as preserved in the Degé Kangyur, has also been consulted for this translation. Significant variants between the Sanskrit text and Tibetan translations have been noted.

i.18In addition to the canonical version of the Tibetan translation, two incomplete Tibetan manuscripts of the APD were discovered among the Dunhuang documents. One of the manuscripts (IOL Tib J 51) is a copy of the canonical translation prepared by Jinamitra, Dānaśīla, and Kawa Paltsek. The second (IOL Tib J 52) preserves a different translation, but it demonstrates only minor variants that are primarily due to the lexical preferences of the translator. In both cases the colophons are missing, making it difficult to precisely determine the details of their composition. There are also two extant Chinese translations of the APD: a Dunhuang manuscript by an unknown translator with the title Ru wu fenbie zongchi jing, and an early eleventh-century translation by Dānapāla, the Fo shuo ru wu fenbie famen jing (Taishō 654). The latter is a translation of an otherwise unknown recension of the Sanskrit text.

i.19The Dhāraṇī “Entering into Nonconceptuality” has previously been translated into English twice. Raymond Robertson translated the text along with Kamalaśīla’s commentary in his 2006 multi-volume work on the Dharma­dharmatā­vibhāga. Karl Brunnhölzl includes a translation of it in an appendix to his 2012 study of the Dharma­dharmatā­vibhāga and its commentarial tradition.