The Scripture of Forty-Two
Chapters said by Buddha
(Chapters 1~ 21；Total
in 42 Chapters )
Co-translators in the time
of Eastern Han Dynasty, China(A.D. 25 - 200) : Kasyapa Matanga and Zhu Falan
(Who translated the said Scripture from Sanskrit into Chinese. )
Translator in modern time
(A.D.2018: Tao Qing Hsu (Who translated the said Scripture from Chinese into
English.)
Prologue
The World-Honored One,
having attained Buddhahood, made such meditation, that leaving away from the
desire, to be in the state of silence, are the best victory. Dwelling in the
grand meditation, conquering all paths of demons, the Buddha whirled the
Law-Wheel of the Four Noble Truths in the Deer-Wild Garden, and saved Ajñāta
Kaundinya and so five persons who had thus proved the fruit of Dao. There were
also various questions said by Bhikkhu who inquired the Buddha about the
go-ahead and stopping. The teaching and admonition by the World-Honored One let
them enlighten one by one. Putting palms of hands together, they respectfully
promised to thus comply with the World-Honored One’s admonition.
Chapter 1: Go out of family
and prove the Dao-fruit
The Buddha said, “Those who
farewell their family members, go out of the family, recognize the heart, reach
the root of inside, understand the law of no-doing, are called Sramana. Those
who always go the 250 Precepts, are in the cleanness and purification while
going and stopping, and do the practice of the Four-Noble-Truths Dao, become
Arhats. Arhats are able to fly and change, have the lives of great eons, can
dwell and move in the heaven and earth. The next is Anāgāmi. At the moment of
death, their spirits ascend above the nineteenth heaven, where they prove the
Arhats. The next is Sakridāgāmi, who gains the Arhat at once, after ascending
to the heaven one time and return to the earth one time. The next is
Srotāpanna, who proves Arhat, after seven deaths and seven being born. Cutting
off the love and desire is like broken limbs which are unable to be used
again.”
Chapter 2: Cutting off the
desire and no demanding
The Buddha said, “Those who
go out of the family, become the Sramana, cut off the desire, remove the love,
recognize the source of their own heart, reach the profound principle of the
Buddha, realize the law of no-doing, have nothing being gained inside, have
nothing being demanded outside, not to fasten the Dao in heart, nor to collect
the karma, have no thoughts, have the no-doing, are non-practicing, are
non-proving, not to experience the successive levels, but reach the own
loftiest state of all, are called the Dao.”
Chapter 3: Cut off the love
and remove the greed
The Buddha said, “Those who
shave their hair and beard to become the Sramana and accept the Dao-law should
renounce worldly possessions, be content to beg for alms, and take only what is
needed. Eat one meal before noon a day, pass the night beneath trees, and be
cautious not to desire more, for love and desire are what makes people foolish
and concealing.”
Chapter 4: Understand the
goodness and evil at the same time
The Buddha said, “For
sentient beings, there are ten things as goodness and ten things as evil.
What are the ten things? Three pertain to the body, four to the mouth, and
three to the mind. Killing, stealing, and evil sex pertain to the body. Two
tongues, malicious speech, lie, and frivolous speech pertain to
the mouth. Envy, hatred, and infatuation pertain to the mind. Such ten
things are named as ten evil deeds when not following the holy path. If such
evils are stopped, they are named as ten virtuous deeds.”
Chapter 5: Correct the vice
into the good deed
The Buddha said,” People
have a lot of faults, yet don’t know to repent, suddenly let their heart rest,
and the sins come to the body; such as the water return to the sea, being deep
and wide gradually. If people have faults, resolve them by themselves and know
the mistake, correct the vice and do the good, the sins would be vanished by
themselves; such as illness cause the sweaty, being healed
gradually.”
Chapter 6: Endure the evil
without hatred
The Buddha said,” When the
evil person heard the good deeds and came to disturb you purposely, you should
refrain by yourself and have no hatred and blame. He came to do the evils, yet
do the evils by oneself to itself.”
Chapter 7: Evils back to
the evildoers
The Buddha said,” Someone
heard that I obey the Path and put the grand benevolence into practice so to
scold the Buddha. The Buddha keeps silence, doesn’t respond to him, while the
rebuke stopped, and asks: if you bring a gift to someone, who doesn’t accept
it, does the gift return to you?” A disciple replies:” It would be returned.”
The Buddha said,” Today you scold me, I do not accept it. You have disasters by
yourself to let them return to you! Such as an echo responds to a sound, a
shadow follows a shape, it is finally unable to be avoided and departed. Be
cautious not to do the evils.”
Chapter 8: Saliva and dust
defile oneself
The Buddha said,” The
vicious person harms the virtuous person, such as spitting the saliva toward
the sky, the saliva doesn’t reach the sky, but falls to oneself; to scatter the
dust in inversing wind, the dust doesn’t reach the other place, but being
brought back to oneself. The virtue doesn’t be destroyed. The disaster
absolutely ruins oneself.”
Chapter 9: Return to the
root and understand the Dao
The Buddha said,”
Extensively hearing and liking the Dao, the Dao is certainly hard to be
understood; obeying our own aspiration and keeping the Dao, such Dao is very
grand.”
Chapter 10: Joyfully give
and gain the bliss
The Buddha said,” See
people giving Dao and help them joyfully; the gained bliss is very grand.” A
Sramana asked: “ Does such bliss be ended?” The Buddha said,” Such as a
torch-fire that many thousand and many hundred of people separately come to
take the fire with their torch, to cook food and remove the dark, this
torch-fire is still the same. The bliss is also the same like this. “
Chapter 11: Giving meals
turns to victory
The Buddha said,” Giving
hundred evil persons meals is not as good as giving one good person a meal;
giving thousand good
persons meals is not as good as giving a meal for one person who obeys the five
precepts;
giving meals to ten
thousand persons who obey the five precepts is not as good as giving one
Srotāpanna a meal;
giving one million
Srotāpanna meals is not as good as giving one Sakridāgāmi a meal;
giving ten million
Sakridāgāmis meals is not as good as giving one Anāgāmi a meal;
giving one hundred million
Anāgāmis meals is not as good as giving one Arhat a meal;
giving ten hundred million
Arhats meals is not as good as giving one Pratyeka-buddha a meal;
giving ten thousand million
Pratyeka-buddha meals is not as good as giving one Three-World Buddha a meal;
giving one thousand
trillion Three-World Buddhas meals is not as good as giving a meal to a person
who is in the state of no thought, no dwelling, no practicing, and no
proving.”
Chapter 12: List the
difficulties and exhort to practice
The Buddha said,” There are
twenty difficulties for people. Giving something to others is difficult when
people are in poor. Learning the Dao is difficult when people are in the huge
wealth and are nobility. It is hard to the people when they must die
because their lives have to be abandoned. Being able to see the
scripture of Buddha is difficult. Being born in the time of Buddha is
difficult. To endure the erotic and desire is difficult. Seeing the
self-interest and not to pursue it is difficult. No resentment when
being humiliated is difficult. When having the authority and not to draw
near to ordinary people is difficult. When contact with things and
no heart is difficult. Learning widely and researching extensively are
difficult. Removing the ego-arrogance is difficult. Not to despise the un-learner
is difficult. Practicing the equality in heart is difficult. Not saying the
right or wrong is difficult. Meeting the good-knowledge person is difficult.
Seeing the Nature and learning the Dao are difficult. According to conditions
to reform people so as to save them is difficult. Seeing the circumstance
of outside and unmoved in heart is difficult. Good at understanding the
convenience is difficult.
Chapter 13: Ask about the
Dao and destiny
A Sramana asked the Buddha:
”By what cause and condition could we know our destiny and understand it to
reach the Dao?” The Buddha replied,” Purifying our own heart and obeying our
own aspiration could understand and reach the Dao, such as grinding the mirror,
the dirt is removed and the shine is kept; cutting off the desire and no
demanding, we would surely gain the destiny.
Chapter 14: Ask about the
goodness and grandest
A Sramana asked the Buddha:
” What is the goodness? What is the grandest?” The Buddha replied,” Putting the
Dao into the practice and obeying the truth is the goodness. Combining the
aspiration and Dao is the grandest.”
Chapter 15: Ask about the force and brightness
A Sramana asked the Buddha:
” Who has the more force? And what is the most brightness?” The Buddha replied
to him:” Those who tolerate the humiliation have the more force. That is
because of no malice, and having the peace and health in heart. The tolerant
person without malice would be absolutely respected by people. The dirt of
heart is removed and ended. The clean without filth is the most brightness.
From no sky and land till today, where all exists in the ten directions, there
is not thing which can not be seen, or can not be known, or can not be heard by
us. Gaining all wisdom could be called the brightness.
Chapter 16: Abandon the
love and gain the Dao
The Buddha said,” People
hold the love and desire, and can not see the Dao. It is as the clear
water is stirred by hand; the public reach and approach this water together;
there is no one who can see its own image. People interlace the love with
desire. The turbidity is thrived in heart. That is why they can not see the
Dao. All of you Sramanas should abandon the love and desire. The filth of love
and desire ending, the Dao could be seen. “
Chapter 17: The brightness
comes and the darkness disappears
The Buddha said,” Those who
see the Dao are as holding a torch into a dark room, where the dark is vanished
immediately, yet only the brightness exists. Learning Dao and seeing truth,
no-light is vanished immediately, yet the light always
exists.”
Chapter 18: The root of
thoughts is equal to the Emptiness.
The Buddha said,” My law (Buddha-Law; Dharma) is
about thinking of the no-thought thought, acting the no-doing action, talking
about the no-talking talk, and putting the no-practice into the practice. Those
who understand what as said are approach it. Those who feel confused about what
as said are far from it. The Dao of words and talks is cut off. It can not be
bound by things. The difference of millimeter or centimeter would cause the
mistake in a moment.
Chapter 19: perceive the
fake and real at the same time
The Buddha said,” Observe
the sky and land, have a thought of the impermanence; observe the world, have a
thought of the impermanence; perceiving the spiritual awakening is the Bodhi.
Those who have such knowledge gain the Dao quickly.”
Chapter 20: reasoning I am
originally emptiness
The Buddha said,” We should
think of that there are four-big parts in our body, which part separately owns
its name, and all of which have no I. Since it does not have me, it is like
illusion.”
Chapter
21: The fame makes us lost our root.
The Buddha said,” People
follow their emotion and desire in order to seek the fame; when the fame is
obvious, the body is already dead. Be greedy for the worldly permanent fame,
but not to learn the Dao, it wastes the energy and toils the body, such as
burning incense, even though people smell the scent, the ash of incense has not
yet dying. The fire to endanger the body is behind.”
Maybe you are interested.
The sutra of forty-two chapters said by Buddha in Chinese and English (Chapters 1~ 21；Total in 42 Chapters )
