CHAPTER II
Tactfulness
"At that time the World-honored One, rising quietly and clearly from contemplation,
addressed Shariputra: “The wisdom of buddhas is very profound and infinite. Their
wisdom-school is difficult to understand and difficult to enter, so that the shravakas
and pratyekabuddhas cannot apprehend it. Wherefore? [Because] the buddhas have
been in fellowship with countless hundred thousand myriad kotis of buddhas,
perfectly practicing the infinite Law of all buddhas, boldly and zealously advancing
and [making] their fame universally known, perfecting the very profound,
unprecedented Law and preaching, as opportunity served, its meaning [so] difficult to
understand. Shariputra! Ever since I became Buddha, with various reasonings and
various parables I have widely discoursed and taught, and by countless tactful
methods have led living beings, causing them to leave all attachments. Wherefore?
[Because] the Tathagata is altogether perfect in his tactfulness and paramita of
wisdom. Shariputra! The wisdom of the Tathagata is broad and great, profound and
far-reaching; [his mind] is infinite;1 [his expositions] are unimpeded;2 [his] powers,3
[his] fearlessness,4 [his] meditations,5 [his] emancipations,6 [his] contemplations have
enabled him to enter into the boundless [realms] and to accomplish all the
unprecedented Law. Shariputra! The Tathagata is able to discriminate everything,
preach the laws skillfully, use gentle words, and cheer the hearts of all. Shariputra!
Essentially speaking, the Buddha has altogether fulfilled the infinite, boundless,
unprecedented Law. Enough, Shariputra, there is no need to say more. Wherefore?
[Because] the Law which the Buddha has perfected is the chief unprecedented Law,
and difficult to understand. Only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom the
Reality of All Existence, that is to say, all existence7 [has] such a form, such a nature,
such an embodiment, such a potency, such a function, such a primary cause, such a
secondary cause, such an effect, such a recompense, and such a complete fundamental
whole.” 8
1 “Infinite” indicates the four kinds of infinite mind or infinite virtues: benevolence (or kindness),
compassion, joy, and indifference. See also p. 209, fn. 5.
2 “Unimpeded” (or “unlimited”) indicates the four unlimited forms of wisdom listed on p. 32, fn.
4.
3 The ten powers. See Glossary.
4 The four kinds of fearlessness of a buddha: (1) fearlessness in proclaiming all truth; (2)
fearlessness in proclaiming the truth of perfection, or freedom from faults; (3) fearlessness in
exposing obstacles to the truth; and (4) fearlessness in proclaiming the way to end all suffering.
5 Dhyana, literally, “fixed abstraction”: contemplation or exercises in reflection; one of the Six
Paramitas. See Glossary.
6 The eight emancipations. See Glossary. 7 All laws or all existences. The word “Reality” does not occur in the extant Sanskrit text. 8 These ten categories, termed the Ten Suchnesses, are fundamental to the T’ien-t’ai sect of
Buddhism. The most important doctrine of its founder, Chih-i (538-97), that of “three thousand
[worlds] in one thought,” arises from these categories. The extant Sanskrit text has only the
following sentences corresponding to these ten categories: (1) ye ca te dharma, or “what those
laws are,” “such a nature”; (2) yatha ca te dharma, or “how those laws are,” “such a function”; (3)
yadrishash ca te dharma, or “like what those laws are,” “such a complete fundamental whole”; (4)
yallakshanash ca te dharma, or “of what forms [or characteristics] those laws are,” “such a form”; (5)
yatsvabhavash ca te dharmah, or “of what self-natures those laws are,” “such an embodiment”; (6)
ye ca, or “what”; (7) yatha ca, or “how”; (8) yadrishash ca, or “like what”; (9) yallakshanash ca, or “of
what forms”; (10) yatsvabhavash ca, or “of what self-natures.” These seem to correspond to the ten
categories, but the sixth to the tenth, which are not found in Kern’s translation, may be only a
repetition of the first five. This extant Sanskrit original may be different from that which
Kumarajiva used, or Kumarajiva may have translated these words according to their inner,
esoteric meanings.
