Category: Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment

Perfect Enlightenment 25: Buddha Teaches 25 Expedient Practices, Part 3

Commentary:

Buddha answered Voice of Discernment, taught the twenty-five expedient practices. Previously we discussed the first three. Among the twenty-five, twenty-one belong to the alternating practice, within which, they can be further divided into three groups. The first group include seven practices with śamatha as the main practice, where the primary practice is cessation; there are seven practices with samāpatti as the main practice, where the primary practice is on the illusion; there are also seven practices with dhyāna as the main practice, where one dwells in neither cessation nor illusion, the primary practice is on the awareness.…

Perfect Enlightenment 25: Buddha Teaches 25 Expedient Practices, Part 2

Commentary:

Buddha answered Voice of Discernment by teaching the twenty-five expedient practices. He called them pure samādhi chakras, “pure” because the practice leads to purity, “samādhi” is the name for all meditation practices, its application is then called “samādhi maṇḍala” for these meditations can be seen as meditations in accordance with the maṇḍala.…

Perfect Enlightenment 20: Buddha Teaches the Practice in Stages

Translator’s note: In this section, Buddha highlights the different positions “according with the nature of enlightenment” as a way to illustrate the practice in stages, where Buddha mentions the famous analogy of “finger pointing to the moon.” We take this opportunity to repost to Master Tam’s original introduction to the “Beyond Word” series, where the discussion makes a journey from dependent arising due to interdependence and relativity, to dependent arising due to mutual obstruction, and beyond.