Introduction

i.1Teaching the Relative and Ultimate Truths is a sūtra significant in the canon of the Great Vehicle, concerned as it is with one of the key themes of Buddhist philosophy, the two truths. These two principles are (1) the relative truth (understanding the world as it appears); and (2) the ultimate truth (understanding the world as it is). Since this bifurcation of reality is one of the frameworks underlying the entirety of Buddhist thought, the message of this sūtra is of importance for all Buddhist traditions, and for the Great Vehicle in particular.

i.2Some readers may be surprised that most of the teaching delivered in this sūtra is spoken not by the Buddha himself, but by his disciple Mañjuśrī. However, as readers familiar with the Great Vehicle sūtras will have noticed, in this literature the Buddha often encourages his students to teach, and subsequently endorses their lectures as bona fide “words of the Buddha” (buddhavacana). In this way Mañjuśrī’s teaching becomes authentic scripture through the awakened activity of the Buddha himself. Still, before Mañjuśrī can deliver his eloquent teaching, he must first arrive in this world, as it turns out that he has temporarily taken up residence in a distant buddha realm, known as Jewel World.

i.3The sūtra, which takes place on Vulture Peak Mountain‍—a hill just outside the ancient city of Rājagṛha, capital of what was then the state of Magadha‍—begins with a bodhisattva god named Lord of Peace and Calm asking the Buddha where Mañjuśrī might be found. The Buddha announces that Mañjuśrī has moved to a buddha realm many thousands of world systems away. There, the Buddha explains, Mañjuśrī lives in the assembly of another buddha, Ratnaketu. Lord of Peace and Calm politely requests the Buddha to send a signal to Mañjuśrī summoning him to this world, since Mañjuśrī is the only bodhisattva who is able to teach in a way that demolishes all dualistic experience or, as the text describes it, experience that involves “reference points.”

i.4The Buddha obliges and immediately sends forth a light from the magical hair between his eyebrows. The light inspires Mañjuśrī to return to this world, this time joined on his travels by an enormous assembly of bodhisattvas from the buddha realm of Ratnaketu. They arrive and, accompanied by much pomp and festivity, they offer proper worship to Buddha Śākyamuni. Once they have settled here in this world, Mañjuśrī is asked to give the assembly a teaching just like the instructions offered by Buddha Ratnaketu in his far-off buddha realm.

i.5As Mañjuśrī begins to teach, the main message of the sūtra unfolds in the form of an explanation of the two truths. The general theme of Mañjuśrī’s discourse is centered on the particular circumstances in Ratnaketu’s buddha realm, but the message is equally applicable to the experiences of beings here in this world.

i.6There are two truths, Mañjuśrī teaches. There is the relative truth in which all types of experiences unfold‍—good and bad, virtuous and nonvirtuous, pleasant and painful, awakened and confused. This truth also includes all the spiritual trainings that take an ordinary being along the path to the state of awakening itself. And then there is the ultimate truth, in which it is realized that all the phenomena experienced on the relative level are, in their most fundamental state, in Mañjuśrī’s words, “unborn, unarisen, and unreal.” This is the truth that is experienced by awakened beings. Still, even though awakened beings perceive the unborn, unarisen, and unreal nature of all phenomena, they actively participate in the relative aspect of things. In relative terms, awakened beings carry out the trainings on the path, guide confused beings toward the liberated state, and perform a multitude of services to beings in general. Nevertheless, as Mañjuśrī teaches again and again in this sūtra, they train without training, they guide without guiding, and they serve without serving. Through such paradoxical expressions, Mañjuśrī describes the experiences of those who have direct understanding of both the ultimate and relative truths.

i.7The teaching unfolds organically as Mañjuśrī responds to a series of questions put by several of the bodhisattvas in Buddha Śākyamuni’s retinue. Although the recurring theme of the teaching remains the nature of the two truths, Mañjuśrī covers a variety of topics specific to the questions asked. In this way he describes the qualities of both the hearers and bodhisattvas in Buddha Ratnaketu’s circle and the moral trainings (vinaya) that they observe.

i.8Interestingly, Mañjuśrī teaches that the very same acts that the hearers in the assembly avoid, the bodhisattvas adopt as their core training, although with a twist. For example, while the hearers seek to avoid miserliness at all cost, the bodhisattvas engage precisely in “miserliness,” albeit with the understanding that it is the welfare of other beings that they refuse to relinquish, rather than any worldly mammon.

i.9Toward the latter half of the sūtra, the teaching takes on a more personal character as the bodhisattvas interview Mañjuśrī concerning his own personal attainments and practice. In this way we find Mañjuśrī describing his own insights and spiritual prowess, although in somewhat cryptic language. Accordingly, when Lord of Peace and Calm asks him whether he directly comprehends the unarisen nature of phenomena on the ultimate level, Mañjuśrī replies, “Divine son, the utterly unarisen does not comprehend the utterly unarisen. And why? Because, divine son, all phenomena are utterly unborn, utterly unarisen, and utterly unreal.”

i.10At the end of Mañjuśrī’s teaching, the Buddha praises and approves what he has taught. Here, the Buddha is asked by several bodhisattvas to elaborate on some of the themes raised by Mañjuśrī. In general, throughout the sūtra, it is clear that the teachings and trainings of the bodhisattvas are considered preferable, superior, and far vaster in scope than those of the hearers. This is here confirmed by the Buddha, using a series of analogies that illustrate the superiority of the bodhisattva vehicle. For example, the conceptual wisdom of the hearers is compared to a single drop of water, while the nonconceptual wisdom of the bodhisattvas is taught to be infinitely greater, like the great ocean. The reader is left in no doubt as to where the protagonists in this sūtra stand in terms of their devotional allegiance.

i.11Toward the end of the sūtra, in a final display of his superior spiritual abilities, Mañjuśrī enters an absorption that allows him to alter the perceptions of everyone present, so that they now perceive this world as the buddha realm of Ratnaketu. Encouraged by the Buddha, Mañjuśrī reveals his magically created illusion to everyone, before departing for that distant buddha realm from whence he first arrived.

i.12At the very end of the sūtra, we find the customary inquiry by Ānanda to the Buddha regarding the title of the sūtra, its benefits to potential devotees, and the right way to propagate it.

i.13The translation was made based on the Degé block print, with reference to other recensions of the sūtra as listed in the Pedurma (dpe bsdur ma) comparative edition of the Kangyur. Unfortunately, it appears that no Sanskrit manuscript remains extant.