一體同觀分第十八
須菩提,於意云何,如來有肉眼不？
如是,世尊,如來有肉眼。
須菩提,於意云何,如來有天眼不？
如是,世尊,如來有天眼。
須菩提,於意云何,如來有慧眼不？
如是,世尊,如來有慧眼。
須菩提,於意云何,如來有法眼不？
如是,世尊,如來有法眼。
須菩提,於意云何,如來有佛眼不？
如是,世尊,如來有佛眼。
須菩提,於意云何？如恆河中所有沙, 佛說是沙不？
如是,世尊,如來說是沙。
須菩提,於意云何？如一恆河中所有沙, 有如是沙等恆河, 是諸恆河所有沙數佛世界, 如是寧為 多不？
甚多,世尊。
佛告須菩提,爾所國土中,所有眾生,若干種心,如來悉知。何以故？如來說諸心,皆是非心,是名為心,所以者何,須菩提, 過去心不可得,現在心不可得,未來心不可得。
My translation of chapter 18: The wisdom of seeing
Subhuti, what do you think, does the Tathagata has physical eyes?
Yes, World Holiness, the Tathagata has physical eyes.
Subhuti, what do you think, does the Tathagata has heavenly eyes?
Yes, World Holiness, the Tathagata has heavenly eyes.
Subhuti, what do you think, does the Tathagata has wisdom’s eyes?
Yes, World Holiness, the Tathagata has wisdom’s eyes.
Subhuti, what do you think, does the Tathagata has Dharma eyes?
Yes, World Holiness, the Tathagata has Dharma eyes.
Subhuti, what do you think, does the Tathagata has Buddha’s eyes?
Yes, World Holiness, the Tathagata has Buddha’s eyes.
Subhuit, what do you think, the Tathagata said all the sand in Ganges, does the Tathagata mean sand?
Yes, World Holiness, the Tathagata meant sand.
Subhuti, what do you think, if each sand in Ganges is one Ganges, are all these Ganges each contain one Buddha’s world, are there many Buddha’s world?
Many, World Holiness.
Buddha told Subhuti: the Tathagata knows all the hearts in all sentient beings in all Buddha’s world. Why so? When the Tathagata says all the hearts, he doesn’t mean any unchangeable heart, but refer to the concept of heart (Paul: which concept is defined below operationally).
Subhuti, one cannot hold on to one's past heart, one cannot hold on to one's present heart, one cannot hold on to one's future heart.
Paul's comment: This chapter made the following logical argument:
1. The Buddha is all seeing and all knowing, as metaphorically presented as having eyes for perceiving in all defined aspects. The Buddha's power of all seeing and all knowing is also signified as the state of ultimate enlightenment which is achievable by all sentient beings.
2. There are infinite number of sentient beings and, consequently, there are infinite number of Buddhas and their Buddha's world. The Buddha is fond of using the Ganges and its sand to metaphorically speak of infinite numbers.
3. With the power of all seeing and all knowing, the Buddha (and by extrapolation, all Buddhas or enlightened beings) can see the hearts of every sentient being.
4. Yet, even with this all seeing and all knowing power, the Buddha cannot describe the details of even one heart. Why? Because the state of any concrete heart always changes. And what is the behind such changes? Karma, the subject matter of the next chapter, chapter 19.
5. For easy remembrance of the teaching of this chapter. Here is a verse:
one cannot hold on to one's past heart
one cannot hold on to one's present heart
one cannot hold on to one's future heart
過去心不可得,現在心不可得,未來心不可得.
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