Then the World Honored One, wishing to restate that meaning, spoke verses, saying:

"In the true nature, conditioned things are empty.
Conditions that arise are like illusions.
Things unconditioned neither arise nor cease.
Unreal they are, like flowers in space.
To speak of the false is to reveal the true.
But both the false and the true are false themselves.
Since there is neither truth nor untruth,
How could there be perceiver and perceived?
Between the two no real nature exists;
Thus they are likened to entwining reeds.
The knots and their release have a common cause.
The sages and ordinary people’s path are not two.
Regard the nature of the intertwined:
They are neither empty nor existent.
Dark confusion is simply ignorance;
Bringing it to light is liberation.
The knots must be untied successively,
When the six are released,
Even the one ceases to be.
Select an organ preferred for perfect penetration;
Enter the flow and realize proper enlightenment.
Extremely subtle, the Adana consciousness,
Makes patterns of habit that flow on in torrents.
Fearing you will confuse the truth with what is not,
I rarely tell you of all this.
With your own mind, you grasp at your own mind;
What is not illusory turns into illusion.
Do not grasp and nothing will not be illusion.
Since even non-illusion does not arise,
How can illusory dharmas be established?
This is called the Wonderful Lotus Flower,
The Regal Vajra Gem of Enlightenment.
In this Samapatti that is likened to illusion,
Transcend to the level beyond learning.
This Abhidharma, incomparable,
Is the single pathway through Nirvana’s gate,
Taken by Bhagavans in all the ten directions."

When Ananda and the great assembly heard the unsurpassed, compassionate instruction of the Budha, the Tathagata, this harmonious and brilliant Geya verse with its clear and penetrating wonderful principles, their hearts and eyes were opened, and they exclaimed that this Dharma was unprecedented.

Ananda put his palms together, bowed, and said to the Budha, "Having heard the Budha’s unrestrained, greatly kind, true and actual expression of Dharma that is pure in nature and wonderfully eternal, I still have not understood the sequence for releasing the knots so that when the six are untied, the one is gone also. I only hope you will be compassionate, and once again empathize with this assembly and those of the future, by offering us explanation of the Dharma to wash and rinse away our deep-rooted defilements.

Then, upon the lion’s throne, the Tathagata straightened his Nirvana robes, arranged his samghati sash, took hold of the table inlaid with the seven gems, reached out onto the table and picked up an exquisitely beautiful cloth given him by a god from the Suyama Heaven. Then, as the assembly watched, he tied it into a knot and showed it to Ananda, asking, "What is this called?" Ananda and the great assembly answered together, "It is called a knot." Then the Tathagata tied another knot in the beautiful cloth and asked Ananda again, "What is this called?" Ananda and the great assembly once again answered together, "It, too, is called a knot." He continued in this pattern until he had tied six knots in the beautiful cloth. As he made each knot, he held it up to Ananda and asked, "What is this called?" And each time Ananda and the great assembly answered the Budha in the same way: "It is called a knot."

The Budha said to Ananda, "When I first tied the cloth, you called it a knot. Since the beautiful cloth is basically a single strip how could you give the same answer for the second and third time?" Ananda said to the Budha, "World Honored One, this beautiful cloth is just one piece, but the way I understand it, when the Tathagata makes one tie, it is called a knot. If he were to make a hundred ties, they would be called a hundred knots. And so now that exactly six knots-not five or seven-have been tied in the cloth, why does the Tathagata only allow me to speak of one knot and not of two or three?"

The Budha told Ananda, "You know that this precious cloth is basically one strip, but when I made six ties in it, you said it had six knots. Carefully consider the substance of the cloth: it remains unchanged except for the knots in it. "What do you think? You identified the first knot I tied as number one. Now I am ready to tie the sixth knot. Will you also call it number one?" "No, World Honored One. If there are six knots, the sixth knot can never be called the first one. Even if I exhausted all my intelligence and eloquence in life after life, I could reverse the sequence of these six knots.

The Budha said, "So it is. The six knots are not identical. Consider their origin: they are created from the one cloth and were tied in a certain order. It would be impossible to scramble that sequence. Your six sense organs are also like that. From what was identical, decisive differences arise." The Budha said to Ananda, "Assuming you did not want these six knots and would like there to be just one cloth, how could you achieve that end?"

Ananda said, "As long as these knots remain, dispute about what they are and what they are not will arise. Their very existence will lead to such distinctions as this knot not being that knot and that knot not being this one. But if the Tathagata were to untie them all right now, so that none remained, then there would be no ‘this’ or ‘that.’ There would not even be anything called ‘one,’ how much the less ‘six.’"

The Budha said, "That is also what happens when the six sense organs are freed: even the one is gone. Because from beginningless time your mind and nature have been insane and disturbed, you have created false knowledge and views. As that falseness continues to arise without respite, perception becomes weary and defilements arise. Just like the whirling flowers that appeared when the eyes grew tired of staring, these too are disturbances that arise without a cause within the tranquil, essential brightness. Everything in the world-the mountains, the rivers, the earth itself, as well as birth, death, and Nirvana-is these flowers that appear because of our being turned upside-down by insanity and weariness."

Ananda said, "This weariness is the same as these knots.

How do we untie them?"

The Tathagata took hold of the knotted cloth, pulled on its left end, and asked Ananda, "Is this the way to untie them?" "No, World Honored One." Then the Budha pulled on the right end and again asked Ananda, "Is this the way to untie them?" "No, World Honored One." The Budha said to Ananda, "Now I have pulled the cloth left and right and still have not been able to undo the knots. What method do you propose for untying them?" Ananda said to the Budha, "World Honored One, you must untie the knots from their center. Then they will come undone." The Budha said to Ananda, "So it is, so it is. If you want to undo them, you have to untie them from the center. Ananda, the Budha Dharma I explain arises from causes and conditions. But that does not imply grasping at the mixing and uniting of coarse, worldly appearances. The Tathagata understands all worldly and world-transcending dharmas and knows their fundamental causes and what conditions bring them into being. This is so to the extent that I know how many drops of rain fall in as many worlds away from here as there are dust motes in the Ganges. The same is true of all the things you can see: Why the pine is straight, why the brambles are twisted, why the goose is white, why the crow is black—I understand all these reasons. Therefore, Ananda, you can select whichever one of the six sense-organs you wish. If the knots of the sense-organs are removed, then the defiling phenomena disappear of themselves and all falseness ceases to be. If what remains is not the truth, then where do you expect to find the truth? Ananda, I now ask you, can the six knots beautiful cloth be untied simultaneously and released all at once?"

"No, World Honored One. As the knots were originally made in sequence, now they must be untied in sequence. The substance of the six knots is the same, but they were not made simultaneously, and so now when they are undone, how could they be untied simultaneously?"

The Budha said, "Releasing the six sense-organs is the same way. When the sense-organ begins to be released, one realize the emptiness of people first. When the nature of that emptiness is fully understood, then one is released from dharmas. Once one is freed from dharmas, neither kind of emptiness will arise. That is called the Patience with Non-Production that Bodhisattvas attain by means of samadhi."

Upon receiving the Budha’s instruction, Ananda and the great assembly gained wisdom and awareness that was perfectly penetrating and free of doubt and delusion. All at the same time, they placed their palms together, and bowed at the Budha’s feet. Ananda then said to the Budha, "Today our bodies and minds are illumined, and we are happily free from obstruction. We have understood the meaning of the ending of the six and the one. Still, we have not yet progressed to fundamental, perfect penetration. World Honored One, we who have drifted and floundered our way through eón after eón, homeless and alone, had no idea, we never imagined that we could meet the Budha in such a close relationship. We are like lost infants who have suddenly found their compassionate mother. If because of this encounter we realize the Way, [it will not have been in vain]. If we treat these secret instructions with our former mode of understanding, it will be the same as if we hadn’t even heard them. We only wish the Greatly Compassionate One will bestow upon us the profound secret as the Tathagata’s final instruction." After saying this Ananda prostrated himself, withdrew, and silently anticipated the Budha’s hidden transmission.

Then the World Honored One told all those in the assembly who were great Bodhisattvas and great Arhats with their outflows extinguished, "All of you Bodhisattvas and Arhats who are born from within my Dharma and have attained the stage beyond study, I now ask you: When you first brought forth your resolve and became enlightened to the eighteen realms, which one of these brought perfect penetration? Through which expedient did you enter samadhi?

Kaundinya, with the others of the first five Bhikshus, arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "When I was in the Deer Park and the Pheasant Garden, I observed the Tathagata immediately after his accomplishment of the Way. Upon hearing the Budha’s voice, I understood the Four Truths. The Budha is questioning us Bhikshus. As I was the first to understand, the Tathagata certified me and named me Ajnata. His wonderful sound was both secret and all-pervasive. It was through sound that I became an Arhat. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, sound is the foremost means."

Upanishad arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "I also saw the Budha when he first accomplished the Way. I learned to contemplate the attributes of impurity until I grew to loathe it and came to understand that the nature of all forms is unclean. Bare bones and fine dust all return to emptiness, and so both emptiness and forms are done away with. With this realization, I accomplished the path beyond study. The Tathagata certified me and named me Upanishad. Objects of form came to an end, and wonderful form was both secret and all-pervasive. Thus, it was through the attributes of forms that I became an Arhat. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, forms are the foremost means."

The pure youth, Exalted by Fragrance, arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "I heard the Tathagata teach me to contemplate attentively all conditioned phenomena. I then left the Budha and dwelt quietly in a pure abode. I observed that when the Bhikshus lit ‘sinking’ incense, its fragrant scent quietly entered my nostrils. I contemplated this fragrance: it did not come from the wood; it did not come from emptiness; it did not come from the smoke, and it did not come from the fire. There was no place it came from and no place it went to. Because of that, my discriminating mind was dispelled, and I attained the absence of outflows. The Tathagata certified me and called me Exalted by Fragrance. Defiling scents suddenly vanished, and the wonderful fragrance was both secret and all-pervasive. It was through the adornment of fragrance that I became an Arhat. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, being exalted by fragrances are the foremost means."

The two Dharma-Princes, Medicine King and Superior Medicine, and five hundred Brahma gods in the assembly arose from their seats, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, From beginningless eóns until now, we have been good doctors for the world. Our mouths have tasted many herbs, wood, metals, and stones of the Saha world, a hundred and eight thousand flavors. We know in detail the bitter, sour, salty, bland, sweet, and pungent flavors, and the like, in all their combinations and inherent changes. We have a thorough knowledge of whether they are cooling or warming, poisonous or non-poisonous. While serving the Tathagata we came to know that the nature of flavors is neither empty nor existent, nor of the body or of the mind, nor apart from body or the mind. We became enlightened by discriminating among flavors. The Tathagata sealed and certified us brothers and named us Bodhisattvas Medicine King and Superior Medicine. Now in the assembly we are Dharma Princes who have ascended to the Bodhisattva level due to having become enlightened by means of flavors. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As we have been certified to it, the cause of flavors is the foremost means."

Bhadrapala and sixteen awakened lords who were his companions, arose from their seats, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha: "We first heard the Dharma and left the home life under King of Awesome Sound Budha. Once, when it was time for the Sangha to bathe, I followed the custom and entered the bathhouse. Suddenly I awakened to the fact that water does not wash away the dust, nor does it cleanse the body. And in that moment I became peaceful and attained the state of there being nothing at all. To this day, I have never forgotten that experience. Having left home with the Budha, I have advanced beyond study. The Budha named me Bhadrapala. Wonderful touch was revealed, and I reached the level of being a disciple of the Budha. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, touch is the foremost means."

Mahakashyapa, Bhikshuni Purple-golden Light and others arose from their seats, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha: "In a past eón in this region, I drew near to the Budha named Sun, Moon, and Lamp, who was then in the world. I heard the Dharma from him and cultivated and studied with him. After that Budha entered tranquility, I made offerings to his sharira and lit lamps to continue his light. Bhikshuni Purple-Golden-Light gilded the Budha’s image. From that time on, in life after life, my body has always been perfect and has shone with a purple-golden light. The Bhikshuni Purple-Golden Light, and others make up my retinue, and we all brought forth the resolve for Bodhi at the same time. I contemplated that the world’s six sense-objects change and decay; they are but empty stillness. Based on this, I cultivated tranquility. Now my body and mind can pass through hundreds of thousands of eóns as though they were a finger-snap. Based on the emptiness of dharmas, I accomplished Arhatship. The World Honored One says that I am foremost in dhuta ascetic practices. Wonderful Dharma brought me awakening and understanding, and I put an end to all outflows. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, dharmas are the foremost means."

Aniruddha arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "When I first left home, I was fond of sleeping all the time. The Tathagata scolded me and said I was no better than an animal. When I heard the Budha’s scolding, I wept and upbraided myself. For seven days I did not sleep, and I lost the sight in both my eyes. The World Honored One taught me the Vajra Samadhi of the Delightful Seeing, which Illumines and is Bright. Without using my eyes, I could contemplate the ten directions with true and penetrating clarity, just as if I were looking at a piece of fruit in the palm of my hand. The Tathagata certified me as having attained Arhatship. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, returning the seeing back to its source is the foremost means."

Kshudrapanthaka arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha: "I am deficient in the ability to memorize and do not have much innate intelligence. When I first met the Budha, I heard the Dharma and left the home life. But, when I tried to remember one line of a verse by the Tathagata, I spent a hundred days remembering the first part and forgetting the last, or remembering the last and forgetting the first. The Budha pitied my dullness and taught me to relax and to regulate my breath. I contemplated my breath thoroughly to the subtle point in which arising, dwelling, decay, and ceasing happen in every moment. My mind suddenly attained vast non-obstruction, until my outflows were ended and I accomplished Arhatship. Beneath the Budha’s seat I was sealed and certified as being beyond study. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, turning the breath back to emptiness is the foremost means."

Gavampati arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "I created an offense that resulted in mouth karma in a past eón. I slighted a Shramana, and in life after life I’ve had this cow-cud sickness. The Tathagata taught me the mind-ground Dharma-door of the purity of a single flavor. My thoughts ended, I entered samadhi, and learned by contemplating flavors-how they have no substance and are not things. As a result my mind transcended all worldly outflows. Internally my body and mind were liberated and externally I abandoned the world. I left the three realms of existence far behind, just like a bird released from its cage. I separated from filth and wiped out defilements, and so my Dharma eye became pure, and I accomplished Arhatship. The Tathagata personally certified me as having ascended to the stage beyond study. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, returning flavor and turning awareness around is the foremost means."

Pilindavatsa arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha: "When I first resolved to follow the Budha and enter the Way, I often heard the Tathagata explain how there is nothing in this world that brings happiness. Once, when I was on alms rounds in the city, I was reflecting on this Dharma-door and did not notice a poisonous thorn on the road until it had pricked my foot. My mind was aware of the strong physical pain, but although my awareness experienced the pain, I was also aware that in my pure heart there was neither pain nor awareness of it. I also thought, ‘Is it possible for one body to have two awarenesses?’ Having reflected on this for a short while, my body and mind became suddenly empty. After twenty-one days, my outflows disappeared and I accomplished Arhatship. The Budha personally certified me and confirmed that I had realized the level beyond study. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, purifying the awareness and forgetting the body is the foremost means."

Subhuti arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "From distant eóns until now, my mind has been unobstructed. I remember as many of my past lives as there are sand grains in the Ganges. From the beginning, in my mother’s womb, I knew emptiness and tranquility, to the extent that the ten directions became empty and I caused beings to be certified to the nature of emptiness. Having received the Tathagata’s revelation that the enlightened nature is true emptiness and that the nature of emptiness is perfect and bright, I attained Arhatship. I suddenly entered into the Tathagata’s sea of magnificent, bright emptiness. My knowledge and views became identical with the Budhas. I was certified as being beyond study. In the liberation of the nature of emptiness, I am unsurpassed. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, all phenomena enter into nothingness until nothingness and what becomes nothingness both disappear. Turning dharmas back to the void is the foremost means."

Shariputra arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "From distant eóns until the present, my mind and views have been pure. In this way I have undergone as many births as there are sand grains in the Ganges. At one glance I am able to understand all the various transformations and changes of both what is worldly and what is world-transcending without any obstruction. Once I met the Kashyapa brothers on the road, and walked along with them. They spoke about causes and conditions, and I awakened to the boundlessness of my mind. I followed the Budha and left the home life. My seeing-awareness became bright and perfect, I obtained great fearlessness and became an Arhat. As one of the Budha’s elder disciples, I am born from the Budha’s mouth, transformationally born from the Dharma. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. As I have been certified to it, for the mind and the seeing to emit light and for the light to radiate throughout both knowing and seeing is the foremost means."

Universal Worthy Bodhisattva arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "I have been a Dharma Prince with as many Tathagatas as there are sand grains in the Ganges. The Tathagatas of the ten directions tell their disciples who have the roots of a Bodhisattva to cultivate the Universal Worthy conduct, which is named after me. World Honored One, I use my mind to listen and distinguish the knowledge and views of beings. In other regions as many realms away as there are sand grains in the Ganges, for each being who resolves to practice the conduct of Universal Worthy, I immediately mount my six-tusked elephant and create hundreds of thousands of reduplicated bodies which go to those places. Although their obstacles may be so heavy that they cannot see me, I secretly rub their crowns, protect and comfort them, and help them succeed. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. The basic cause I speak of is listening with the mind, distinguishing at ease, and emitting light. This is the foremost means."

Sundarananda arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "When I first left home and followed the Budha to enter the Way, I received the complete precepts, but my mind was always too scattered for samadhi, and I could not attain the state of having no outflows. The World Honored One taught Kaushthila and me to contemplate the white spot at the tip of our noses. From the first, I contemplated intently. After three weeks, I saw that when I inhaled and exhaled, the breath in my nostrils looked like smoke. Internally my body and mind became bright, and externally I perfectly understood that the world was like crystal, empty and pure. The smoky appearance gradually disappeared, and the breath in my nostrils became white. My mind opened and my outflows were ended. Every inhalation and exhalation of breath was transformed into light which illumined the ten directions, and I attained Arhatship. The World Honored One predicted that in the future I would obtain Bodhi. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. I did it by means of the disappearance of the breath, until eventually the breath emitted light and the light completely extinguished my outflows. That is the foremost means."

Purnamaitreyaniputra arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "For vast eóns I have possessed unobstructed eloquence. When I discuss suffering and emptiness I penetrate deeply into ultimate reality. In the same way, I feel no fear as I give subtle, wonderful instruction to the assembly concerning the secret Dharma doors of as many Tathagatas as there are sand grains in the Ganges. The World Honored One knew that I had great eloquence, and, using his sound to turn the Dharma wheel, taught me to propagate the Dharma. I joined the Budha to help him turn the Dharma wheel. I accomplished Arhatship due to his lion’s roar. The World Honored One certified me as being foremost in speaking Dharma. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. I used the sounds of Dharma to subdue demons and adversaries and to melt away my outflows. That is the foremost means."

Upali arose from his seat, bowed at the Budha’s feet, and said to the Budha, "I followed the Budha in person when he fled the city and left the home life. I observed the Tathagata endure six years of diligent asceticism. I watched the Tathagata subdue all the demons, and adherents of external paths and become liberated from all outflows based on worldly desire and greed. I based myself on the Budha’s teaching of precepts, encompassing the three thousand awesome deportments and the eighty thousand subtle aspects until both my karma of the nature and karma of restraint became pure. My body and mind became tranquil, and I accomplished Arhatship. In the Tathagata’s assembly, I record the rules governing discipline. The Budha himself certified my mind’s upholding of the precepts and my genuine cultivation of them. I am considered a leader of the assembly. The Budha asks about perfect penetration. I disciplined the body until it attained ease and comfort. Then I disciplined the mind until it attained penetrating clarity. After that, both body and mind experienced keen and thorough absorption. That is the foremost means."

Subir