The Uttaratantra Shastra is one of the Five Treatises1 of Lord Maitreya (jamchö dé nga). It is a treatise explaining the vast meaning of the teachings taught by the Buddha when he turned the third wheel of the Dharma. This treatise mainly expounds on buddha nature—the unchanging pure innate nature of all sentient beings present from beginningless time. It can be summarised into seven topics: (1) Buddha, (2) Dharma, (3) Sangha, (4) buddha nature, (5) enlightenment, (6), the qualities of buddhas, and (7) the activities of the buddhas. It has five chapters: (1) the chapter on buddha nature, (2) the chapter on enlightenment, (3) the chapter on the qualities of realising buddha nature, (4) the chapter on the activities of buddhas, and (5) the chapter on the benefits of realising buddha nature.
Chapter One
Buddha Nature
This chapter covers the nature of the Triple Gem2 and buddha nature through their attributes. First, the attributes of the Triple Gem are as follows:
A. The Buddha is endowed with eight attributes:
- His3 nature is beyond conditional phenomena.
2. All the good qualities are spontaneously present without striving for them.
3. He cannot be realised by any conceptual mind.
4. He is omniscient.
5. He is endowed with love for all sentient beings.
6. He has the ability to lead beings to enlightenment.
7. He has accomplished his purpose.
8. He accomplishes others’ purpose also.
B. The Dharma is also endowed with eight qualities:
- It is beyond the conception of ordinary beings.
2. It is devoid of afflictions and is beyond the effect of negative karma.
3. It has no conceptual mental projections.
4. It is untainted by defilements.
5. It is endowed with pure wisdom.
6. It has the ability to dispel that which is abandoned.
7. It is endowed with the qualities of the path that lead to the cessation of suffering.
8. It is endowed with the qualities of the cessation of suffering.
C. The Sangha also has eight attributes:
- They have realised the ultimate nature of all phenomena.
2. They have realised the relative nature of all phenomena.
3. They have realised the nature of the mind.
4. They are free from the afflictive emotions.
5. They are free from the conceptual mind.
6. They are free from self-benefitting thoughts.
7. They have the qualities that come from having realization.
8. They have the qualities of freedom.
Second, buddha nature is explained through (A) three reasonings, (B) ten attributes, and (C) nine examples.
A. Three reasonings
The existence of buddha nature is justified through three reasons:
- All sentient beings have buddha nature because in the far or near future they show the qualities of a buddha.
2. Buddha nature is present in sentient beings because in the ultimate reality, there is no difference between buddhas and sentient beings.
3. Buddha nature is present in all sentient beings because their defilements are temporary and they all are pure in the ultimate nature.
B. Ten attributes
- It is free from afflictive mental projections.
2. It is realised through four causes: (a) having faith in the Mahayana teachings, (b) possessing the wisdom that realizes the ultimate nature, (c) having great mental stability, and (d) having compassion for sentient beings.
3. These four causes give rise to four qualities of the buddha nature: (a) being free from the defilements, (b) being endowed with the realization of the ultimate nature, (c) being blissful, and (d) always benefitting others.
4. It helps to renounce from samsara and gives rise to the aspiration to attain mahāparivirvāṇa.
5. It has all good qualities, which are indivisible from it like a lamp and its luminance.
6. Ordinary people misunderstand its nature; the noble ones know its nature; and the buddhas perfectly understand its nature.
7. Generally, it is classified into three: impure, pure and perfectly pure.
8. Like the pure and stainless qualities of the sky are always with the sky, buddha nature is always present in all beings.
9. It is always the same irrespective of time.
10. It has all the qualities of a buddha inseparable from it like the sun and its rays.
C. Nine examples
The presence of buddha nature in all sentient beings is shown through nine examples. They are:
Being like a buddha inside a lotus flower growing in mud.
Being like the honey inside a beehive.
Being like a grain inside its husk.
Being like a lump of gold in a refuse heap.
Being like a precious jewel under the house of one who is destitute.
Being like the ability of a seed to sprout.
Being like the statue of a buddha covered in rags.
Being like the fetus inside the womb of a wicked woman, which is destined to be a world ruler.
Being like a golden statue buried in mud.
Chapter Two
Enlightenment
Enlightenment has eight attributes:
Its nature is pure because after it is achieved all the defilements are dispelled and all the realisations are accomplished.
It is attained through the wisdom of namzhag4 and jethob.5
These two wisdoms dispel the two defilements, so it is free from defilements.
A person who attains enlightenment accomplishes their own achievements and then fully engages in benefitting others.
An enlightened person is endowed with uncountable qualities.
It is of three types: dharmakaya, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya.
It is unchanging in nature.
Its nature is beyond comprehension such that only a buddha can perfectly realise it.
Chapter Three
The Qualities of Realising Buddha Nature
When somebody realises buddha nature, they become enlightened. So, the qualities of realising buddha nature are explained corresponding to the buddhas. The buddhas have sixty-four qualities: thirty-two each of the dharmakaya and rupakaya.
The Thirty-Two Qualities of the Dharmakaya
A. The Ten Powers of the Buddhas
Power over life.
Power over mind.
Power over material things.
Power over action.
Power over birth.
Power over aspirations.
Power over prayer.
Power over miracles.
Power over wisdom.
Power over Dharma.
B. The Four Fearlessnesses of the Buddhas
Fearlessness in asserting their own perfect realization.
Fearlessness in asserting their own perfect abandonment.
Fearlessness for the sake of others in revealing the path to liberation.
Fearlessness for the sake of others in revealing potential hindrances on the path.
c. The Eighteen Distinctive Qualities of the Buddhas
Their physical conduct is without error.
Their speech is without impediments or imprecision.
Their minds are always mindful.
Their minds are only ever resting in meditative equipoise.
They do not have varied perceptions.
They never experience neutral states lacking full discernment.
They never lack the willingness to uphold the lineage of the Three Jewels and to benefit beings.
They never lack the enthusiastic diligence to work for others’ welfare.
They are never without the realisation of the ultimate nature.
They are never without the wisdom that discerns precisely all things and events.
They never lack total freedom from the two obscurations.
They never lack the wisdom of complete liberation.
All the actions of their body are preceded by and undertaken with wisdom.
All the actions of their speech are preceded by and undertaken with wisdom.
All the actions of their mind are preceded by and undertaken with wisdom.
They see into the past with the wisdom vision that is without attachment and without impediment.
They see into the present with the wisdom vision that is without attachment and without impediment.
They see into the future with the wisdom vision that is without attachment and without impediment.
The Thirty-Two Qualities of the Rupakaya
On the palms of their hands and the soles of their feet are the designs of a thousand-spoked wheel.
The soles of the feet are even and well set, like the belly of a tortoise.
The fingers and the toes are like the swan, connected with a web [made of light].
The arms and legs are smooth and firm.
The seven parts of the body are round—the wrists and ankles, the two shoulders and the neck.
The fingers and toes are long.
The ball and heel of each foot are prominent and broad.
Taller than the ordinary man, their height is about seven cubits, large and straight, firm like a diamond and endowed with the strength of Vishnu.
No protrusions are visible on the ankles and knees.
The hairs on the body grow in an upward direction.
The calves are round, full and beautiful like those of the deer called enaya.
The arms are long and beautiful, and when extended they can cover the kneecaps, even without bending the body.
Like an elephant or a stallion, the genitals are drawn up within a sheath.
The skin is golden, clear and radiant, and has a beautiful shine.
The skin is thin and smooth.
Each hair on the body is fine and smooth, singular, and curls to the right.
The place between the eyebrows is adorned with a coiled hair that is supple, smooth and white.
The torso is expansive like a lion’s.
The tops of the two shoulders are round like golden vases.
The two palms are round and full without any indentations.
Their tongue has the quality that whatever taste is experienced becomes most delicious.
The body, with proportions like the nyadrodha tree, is upright, balanced and beautiful.
The crown, which is round, shiny black and coiled clockwise, is not evident to the sight.
Their tongues are long and beautiful.
Their voice is melodious like that of Brahma.
The two cheeks are beautiful, round, full and resemble the surface of a mirror.
All the teeth, including the four incisors, have a very white color.
All the teeth are equal in length and width.
The teeth are evenly set and are not divided by gaps.
They have forty teeth: twenty each above and below.
Their eyes are beautiful like sapphire gems.
Their eyelashes are like those of a supreme heifer, chief among cows. The hairs on their upper and lower eyelids are beautifully curved and untangled, like the eyelashes of a cow or calf.
Chapter Four
The Activities of the Buddhas
The uniqueness of the buddhas is their activities arise spontaneously and effortlessly like a wish-fulfilling jewel. Though the activities of the buddhas are beyond comprehension, the four main activities are:
1. The buddhas know all the characters, wishes and thoughts of sentient beings but when the buddhas engage in benefitting them, they do not conceptualise the attributes of beings; rather, they spontaneously benefit them according to their wishes and thoughts.
2. They effortlessly teach the Dharma according to the capacity and compatibility of each being.
3. They effortlessly lead beings to ordinary liberation and enlightenment.
4. They spontaneously reach the lands where there are sentient beings fit for practising the teachings.
Chapter Five
The Benefits of Realising the Four Things
The four things refer to buddha nature, enlightenment, the qualities of the buddhas, and their activities. Having faith in these four is a source of profound, infinite merit. The merit obtained by an ordinary being from this would surpass the collective merit of all sentient beings, accumulated from various sources like generosity and others.
Note: Some of the content for this article was excerpted from the Rigpa Wiki accessed at: http://www.rigpawiki.org/index.php?title=Thirty-two_major_marks_of_a_buddha
By Phuntsho Tobjur
7th Year, NNI
