Sutra of the Eight Realizations of Great Beings
(with Annotations)

Translated from Chinese by the Chung Tai Translation Committee

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Day and night, at all times,
Buddha’s disciples should
Mindfully recite and contemplate
The eight realizations of Great Beings.

The First Realization:
All the world is impermanent.
The earth is fragile and perilous.
The four great elements inhere in suffering and emptiness.
In the five skandhas there is no self.
All that arise, change, and perish,
Are illusive, unreal, and without a master.
Mind is the root of evil;
Body a reservoir of sin.
Thus observing and contemplating,
One gradually breaks free from birth and death.

The Second Realization:
Excessive desire is suffering.
Birth, death, and weariness in life
All originate from greed and desires.
Desiring less, being wu-wei,
Body and mind are at ease and free.

The Third Realization:
The mind is insatiable,
Always seeking, thirsty for more,
Thus increasing our sins.
Bodhisattvas renounce such conduct.
Always remember to follow the way,
Be content and at peace with poverty,
With wisdom as the sole vocation.

The Fourth Realization:
Indolence leads to degradation.
Always practice with diligence,
Vanquish all vexations,
Subdue the four maras,
And escape the prison of the skandhas.




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Sutra of the Eight Realizations of Great Beings
(with Annotations)

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The Fifth Realization:
Ignorance leads to birth and death.
Bodhisattvas are always mindful
To study and learn extensively,
To increase their wisdom
And perfect their eloquence,
So they can teach and enlighten all beings,
And impart great joy to all.

The Sixth Realization:
Poverty and hardship breed resentment,
Creating harm and discord.
Bodhisattvas practice dana,
Beholding the friendly and hostile equally;
They neither harbor grudges
Nor despise malicious people.

The Seventh Realization:
The five desires are perilous.
Even as laity, be not sullied by worldly pleasures;
Think frequently of the three robes,
The tiled bowl, and instruments of Dharma;
Aspire to the monastic life
And cultivate the Way with purity;
Let your actions be noble and sublime,
Showering compassion on all.

The Eighth Realization:
Birth and death are like a blazing fire
Plagued with endless afflictions and suffering.
Vow to cultivate the Mahayana mind,
To bring relief to all;
To take on infinite sufferings for sentient beings,
And lead all to supreme joy.

These are the eight realizations of Great Beings,
Buddhas and bodhisattvas.
They practice the Way with diligence,
Develop compassion, and cultivate wisdom.
They sail the ship of dharmakaya
To the shore of nirvana,
Returning again to samsara to liberate sentient beings.
With these eight principles,
They point out the Way,
So that all beings may awaken
To the sufferings of life and death,
Relinquish the five desires, and
Cultivate the mind on the noble path.
If Buddha’s disciples recite these eight realizations,
In thought after thought,
They will eradicate countless sins,
Advance on the bodhi path,
Promptly attain enlightenment,
Be forever freed from birth and death,
And always abide in joy.





Sutra of the Eight Realizations of Great Beings
(with Annotation)



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Annotation



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Sutra: : a Buddhist scripture, spoken by the Buddha or certified (to be true) by the Buddha. the “self” and life. From ignorance comes desires and hatred, which in turn lead to samsara.
Great Beings: Highly enlightened beings; beings with great virtue and deeds; bodhisattvas and Buddhas.
Mindfully: sincerely, with great concentration; whole-heartedly.
Eight Realizations: what one must achieve to become a Great Being such as Buddha.

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First Realization: the foundation of the eight realizations; the teaching of impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and no-self.
Four great elements : earth (solid or dry matter), water (liquid or wet matter), wind (air or motion), and fire (heat or energy). They comprise all matter.
Inhere in suffering: all worldly things are impermanent, and prone to bring suffering.
Emptiness: without independent existence, consistency, or fixed characteristics.
Five skandhas: five aggregates—form, feeling, conception, volition, and consciousness. Ordinary beings take these aggregates to be the “self”.
No self: emptiness of independent, consistent self-identity. What we perceive as “self” is actually an illusive ego.
All that arise... : all composite things are conditional, always changing, and will perish. One should see beyond their appearance. There isn’t a master-controller.
Root of evil: all harmful actions come from deluded thoughts.
Reservoir of sin: the body is prone to suffering, a result of past transgressions.
Free from birth and death: to escape the endless rebirth cycle and attain nirvana.

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Birth, death: where there is birth there is death; both are suffering. The endless rebirth cycle (“samsara”) is a result of desires arising from delusion.
Wu-wei : free from forced effort (but not necessarily no-action), free from clinging and attachments, unconditioned, absolute. It also means inner peace obtained by having no desires, understanding that we are intrinsically complete and lacking nothing.

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Sin: misdeeds, actions that lead to harm and suffering.
Bodhisattva: one who vows to become a Buddha and, with infinite compassion, liberates countless sentient beings. Bodhi: enlightenment, to awaken. Sattva: sentient beings, beings with consciousness.
At peace with poverty: the bodhisattva is not distressed by physical hardship; true poverty is poverty of virtue, not material comfort.
Wisdom as sole vocation: “wisdom” means the understanding of truth. To acquire such wisdom is essential for the bodhisattva.




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Sutra of the Eight Realizations of Great Beings
(with Annotation)



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Annotation



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Indolence: sloth or laziness easily leads to moral misconducts.
Practice with diligence: to attain the Way requires diligent effort.
Vexations: klesas (pronounced “kleshas”)—greed, anger, and ignorance; the addictive mental states that vex the mind; causes of suffering; defilement of the mindy.
Four maras: maras are obstacles to cultivation. 1. Kleshas, 2. skandhas, 3. death, 4. deva-mara, the celestial evil tempter.
Prison: the skandhas are like a prison.

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Ignorance: : ignorance of the true nature of the “self” and life. From ignorance comes desires and hatred, which in turn lead to samsara.
Study and learn: bodhisattvas need to learn many ways of liberation in order to help wide groups of people.
Eloquence: ability to convey the teaching well and to answer difficult questions.

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Poverty and hardship: easily lead to resentment, which in turn may produce otherwise undue and uncalled-for bad karma with many people.
Dana: the practice of charity. One may practice the giving of material things, or donating organs, or the giving of Dharma wisdom, or the giving of comfort and encouragement.
Equal: bodhisattva understands all beings are fundamentally equal; they have no hatred towards evil or malicious people.
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Five desires: desire for sights, sounds, smells, tastes, and touch. Alternatively, desire for wealth, lust, fame, food, and sleep. They are harmful, not pleasurable.
Three robes …: traditionally Buddhist monks wear only three robes. Tiled bowl: monk’s begging bowl can be tiled or metal. Instruments: used in chanting or Buddhist services. These are symbols of monastic life.

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Mahayana: means great (maha) vehicle (yana). It is the path of bodhisattvas and Buddhas, who are devoted to the liberation of all beings. Mahayana mind: the bodhi mind, the enlightened mind, the Buddha nature within all of us.
Take on sufferings: a bodhisattva is willing to self-sacrifice for others. But a true sacrifice is to eliminate the ego and help others to eliminate the ego and attain enlightenment.
Sentient beings: all living beings with sentience, including devas (gods or heavenly beings), asuras (demi-gods), human beings, animals, hungry- ghosts, and hell-beings. Unlike Buddhas and bodhisattvas, they are all trapped in samsara.
Supreme joy: the joy of perfect enlightenment; the joy of nirvana.

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Dharmakaya: the Buddha has three bodies (kaya), dharma-kaya, the truth body, which is formless, unborn, our original nature; sambhogha-kaya, the bliss body, which can only be seen by great bodhisattvas; and nirmana-kaya, the transformation body, which is the historical Buddha seen by ordinary beings.
Samsara: means “birth-and-death,” referring to reincarnation, that is the endless cycle of birth-and-deaths. By extension it means this world of afflictions and suffering.
Nirvana: the state free from all suffering; ultimate bliss and tranquility.
Thought after thought: one deviant thought can lead to grave peril; one pure thought can eliminate great sin.
Bodhi path: the path to awakening, to becoming a Buddha. Therein lies the lasting joy.