Introduction

i.1The Ocean of Dharma is one of the few sūtras to take place on Mount Potalaka, the abode of Avalokiteśvara who is featured in this sūtra under his epithet of Lord of the World. This mythical mountain is said to be found on an island to the south of the Indian subcontinent. It is also identified by some as being in the Pothigai Hills in Tamil Nadu. Nevertheless, it appears that this sūtra takes its title from this island’s location in the ocean.

i.2It is here, the sūtra tells us, that the Buddha grants the Lord of the World the opportunity to query any teaching he likes, at which the latter inquires as to the true meaning of ordination as a monk. The Buddha’s answer emphasizes that true ordination is not an external transformation, like shaving one’s head and donning saffron robes, but rather an internal transformation. Specifically, what is required is not just severing attachment to the life of a householder, but also acceptance of the teachings on emptiness. These are particularly associated with the Perfection of Wisdom teachings regarding the transcendence of all dualistic perception or apprehending of objects. It is only when a monk has fully given rise to such nonattachment, extending even to the objects of perception, that he becomes a worthy recipient of offerings.

i.3The Buddha’s teaching is further elaborated when the bodhisattva Maitreya inquires as to the Buddha’s intent. This prompts the Lord of the World to give a further discourse that acts as a commentary on the Buddha’s statements. He describes the profound nonduality of the ultimate truth which is beyond reifying perception. The Buddha then gives his approval to the Lord of the World’s teaching, but he specifies that these profound teachings are not suitable for anyone who has broken their vows or is full of pride. Indeed, while seventeen thousand monks gain immense benefits through these teachings, there are also five hundred monks, described as “those prone to apprehending”, who stand up and depart the scene.

i.4Stating the benefits associated with a given discourse usually signals its conclusion. Here, however, the sūtra continues with a further section in which the Buddha elaborates on the appropriate audience for the sūtra’s teachings before demonstrating to Maitreya the dream-like nature of reality. The sūtra concludes with many bodhisattvas describing the benefits that reciting the sūtra brings both to a physical location and to an individual.

i.5The Ocean of Dharma is thus among just a few Mahāyāna discourses in the Kangyur whose theme is how being an authentic monk is not a question of keeping outward rules but of realizing the teachings on emptiness. Other sūtras that share this central concern are The Buddha’s Collected Teachings Repudiating Those Who Violate the Discipline (Toh 220) and The Episode of Dṛḍhādhyāśaya (Toh 224).

i.6Some uncertainty surrounds the history of this sūtra’s translation into Tibetan. The colophon found in most Kangyurs states that it was “translated from Chinese” and that it was “established according to the new terminology.” This suggests that an early translation was revised in the early ninth century CE to conform with the standardization of translation terminology introduced by the decree of the Tibetan emperor at that time. However, no translators are named and no corresponding Chinese (or Sanskrit) texts have been identified. There is, however, a different sūtra in the Chinese canon bearing the identical title The Ocean of Dharma (Taishō 34, Fai hai jing 法海經) with which this one is not to be confused.

i.7A text with the title Noble Ocean of Dharma is listed in the Denkarma catalog of translated texts compiled in the early ninth century. This may refer to the present text, as suggested by Herrmann-Pfandt. However, it is also possible that this entry refers to the dhāraṇī text of the same name and same length that is listed in the other extant imperial-era catalog, the Phangthangma, namely The Noble Dhāraṇī Ocean of Dharma, a text which is found in the Tantra section of the Kangyur (Toh 654). If the two listings do indeed refer to the same text, then our present text would not be found in the imperial catalogs at all. However, when Butön listed a text called The Ocean of Dharma in his History, it is clear that he was referring to the present text (Toh 255).

i.8The language of the sūtra is in places unusual, and though most versions of the colophon indicate that it may have been revised to conform with the ninth-century royal language decrees, there remain indications that it had been translated in a rather literal style from Chinese. In the title, for instance, one would expect a connective particle kyi between chos and rgya mtsho, yet this is omitted, perhaps in order to parallel the assumed Chinese title of *fai hai 法海. Similarly, individuals’ titles are given after their names as per Chinese syntax, rather than preceding them as they would according to Tibetan syntax. Thus, in literal translation, the text reads “Maitreya bodhisattva” instead of “bodhisattva Maitreya.” The text is also unusual for a sūtra in not starting with a translator's homage.

i.9Two features of the sūtra might suggest a relationship with the texts of the Buddhāvataṃ­saka family‍—its setting on Mount Potalaka, and the recurring vocative used by Lord of the World in addressing Maitreya, rendered in this translation as “O heir of the victorious ones” (kye rgyal ba’i sras). Neither feature, however, is unique to that genre, and furthermore the focus on what qualifies monks to receive offerings would seem far from the Buddhāvataṃ­saka’s principal themes.

i.10The sūtra does not appear to have been quoted widely in the Tibetan tradition, nor has it been studied or translated into any Western language. With no Sanskrit or Chinese parallel available, the present translation is based on the edition preserved in the Degé Kangyur with reference to variant readings preserved in the Comparative Edition (dpe bsdur ma), the Stok Palace Kangyur, and the Shelkar manuscript.