Pearls of Universe - Volume XII

"What is faith? The Bodhisattva-Mahasattva believes that there is recompense in the Three Jewels and in giving. The two truths [i.e. relative and ultimate] and the Way of the One Vehicle ["ekayana"] are not different. He believes that all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas classify things into three, so that all beings quickly gain Emancipation. He believes in "Paramartha-satya" [the truth of Ultimate Reality] and good expedient means. This is faith.

A person who believes thus cannot be beaten by any Sramanas, Brahmins, Marapapiyas, Brahma, or anyone. When a person grounds himself in this faith, he gains the nature of a holy sage. One practices giving, and this - whether big or small - all leads to Mahaparinirvana, and thus one does not fall into birth and death. It is the same with upholding the moral precepts, hearing the Way, and Wisdom, too. This is faith.”

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CONTENTS

THE DEPTHS OF THE MIDDLE PATH 3
WHAT IS FAITH 4
WHAT IS STRAIGHT MIND 5
THE QUALITY OF THOSE WHO ASKS 5
THE NINE FACTORS OF CAUSAL RELATIONS IN ILLNESSES 6
THE HARP AND THE KING 7
THE NATURE OF CREAM 8
PARENTS AND SONS 9
THE ORIGINAL NATURE OF ALL THINGS 10
THE LION'S ROAR 11
LION STEPS 13
BUDDHA NATURE 14
THE VISION OF THE 12 LINKS OF INTERDEPENDENCE 15
THE FINAL UNSURPASSED ENLIGHTENMENT OF ALL BEINGS 16
THE ABSOLUTE 17
THE BUDDHA NATURE OF ALL BEINGS 18
COLORS IN THE DAYTIME 19
THE TWELVE LINKS OF INTERDEPENDENT ARISING 20
THE GRASS OF THE HIMALAYAS 22
DESIRING LITTLE AND FEELING SATISFIED 22
THE THREE KINDS OF DESIRE 23
THE EFFORT FOR THE MAHAPARINIRVANA 24
SEEING AND HEARING ABOUT THE BUDDHA NATURE 25

The Twelve Links of Interdependent Arising

“Oh, good man! All beings have, equally, the twelve links of interdependence. These are the cases of the interior and exterior. What are the twelve?

1. The defilement from the past is called ignorance ['avidya'].

2. The karma from the past is called mental formation ['samskara', ie, mental volitions and impulses].

3. In this present life, first, we gain life in the womb. This is consciousness ['vijnana'].

4. After entering the womb, the five parts [i.e., the five limbs or five parts of the human body, composed of two hands (arms), two feet (legs), and head (column)], and the four roots [i.e., the four sense organs of the eye, ear, nose, and mouth] are not yet fully formed. This state is called mind-and-body ['nama-rupa "].

5. When one has the four roots, and when one is not yet in the stage of touch ['sparsa'], this stage is called the six spheres ['sadayatana'].

6. When no feeling of suffering or joy has yet arisen, this stage is called 'touch'.

7. When one clings to a single love, this stage is called feeling ['vedana'].

8. When one learns and befriends the five desires, this is craving ['trshna'].

9. When one looks inside and out, and has affection, this is clinging ['upadana'].

10. When one raises actions inside and out, in the three categories of body, mouth and mind, this is existence ['bhava'].

11. The consciousness that one has in life is the birth [of someone] in future days [i.e., one's worldly consciousness provides the basis for one's future rebirth], and

12. The body-and-mind, the six spheres, touch, and feeling are the old age, illness, and death of the future.

These are the twelve links of interdependence.

Oh, good man! Although there are these twelve links of interdependent arising, there are cases where things do not so happen. When one dies at the kalala stage, (fetal stage), there can not be the twelve. There can be the twelve when one gets into the stages (of life) beginning with birth and ending with old age and death."

Nirvana Sutra, Chapter 33, on the Bodhisattva Lion's Roar 1.

twelve links of interdependent arising.mp3