Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra 25K
(The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines)
Chapter 71 – The Teaching on the Unchanging True Nature / Ground / U2T / U2T-2T
Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra 25K
(The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines)
Chapter 71 – The Teaching on the Unchanging True Nature / Ground / U2T / U2T-2T
Last update: November 28, 2025
Image from: Stoneflower013
Source: https://84000.co/translation/toh9
Then the venerable Subhūti asked the Blessed One, “Blessed Lord,
the sameness of all phenomena is empty of inherent existence —
there is nothing at all that does anything to anything [T2].
Since all phenomena do nothing whatsoever and are nothing whatsoever,
how is it that, when bodhisattva great beings practice the perfection of wisdom,
they do not stir from ultimate truth [T2] but still act for the sake of all beings through [the attractive qualities of] generosity, pleasant speech, purposeful activity, and harmony? [T1] [U2T-in-action]”
“Subhūti, it is so! It is just as you have said,” replied the Blessed One.
“Emptiness does not do anything to anything at all, nor does it not do anything to anything at all [T2].
If beings themselves knew emptiness, there would not be [a need for] the power of the tathāgatas’ leadership, whereby without stirring from emptiness [T2] they separate all beings from the notion of self [T1], and having separated them from the notion of self, liberate them from cyclic existence through emptiness;
or separate them from the notion of beings, the notion of life forms, the notion of living beings, the notion of life, the notion of living creatures, the notion of individual personalities, the notion of human beings, the notion of people, the notion of actors, the notion of petitioners, the notion of experiencers, the notion of knowers, and the notion of viewers, and having separated them from the notion of viewers [and so forth], liberate them from cyclic existence [T1] through emptiness [T2] [U2T];
or separate them from the notion of physical forms, and having separated them from the notion of physical forms, liberate them from cyclic existence through emptiness;
or separate them from the notion of feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, and consciousness, and having separated them from the notion of consciousness [and so forth], liberate them from cyclic existence [T1] through emptiness [T2] [U2T];
or separate them from the notion of the sense fields, the sensory elements, and the links of dependent origination, and having separated them from the notion of the links of dependent origination [and so forth], liberate them from cyclic existence [T1] through emptiness [T2] [U2T];
or separate them from the notion of conditioned elements, and having separated them from the notion of conditioned elements, establish them in the unconditioned expanse [T1], which is also empty [T2] [U2T].”
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“Blessed Lord, of what is that [unconditioned expanse] empty?”
“It is empty of all notions,” replied the Blessed One.
“Subhūti, if someone were to conjure up a phantom emanation, would there be any entity in it, which is not emptiness?”
“No, Blessed Lord!
There would be no entity at all in that phantom emanation that would not be emptiness.
Both emptiness [T2] and the phantom emanation [T1] are neither conjoined nor disjoined.
Indeed, both [T1-2T] are empty owing to emptiness [T2-2T] [U2T-2T].
If this is the case, why is this point concealed when it is said,
‘This is emptiness. That is a phantom emanation’ [2T]?
If one were to ask why, it is because
neither emptiness [T2] nor the phantom emanation [T1] is apprehended in emptiness [U2T-2T].”
“Subhūti,” continued the Blessed One,
“there is nothing in physical forms, feelings, perceptions, formative predispositions, or consciousness that is not a phantom emanation, and any phantom emanation [T1] is empty [T2] [U2T].”
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“Blessed Lord, if mundane phenomena are phantom emanations, are supramundane phenomena — the four applications of mindfulness, the four correct exertions, the four supports for miraculous ability, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven branches of enlightenment, the noble eightfold path, the three gateways of liberation, the four truths of the noble ones, all the aspects of emptiness, the eight aspects of liberation, the nine serial steps of meditative absorption, all the meditative stabilities, all the dhāraṇī gateways, the ten powers of the tathāgatas, the four fearlessnesses, the four kinds of exact knowledge, great loving kindness, great compassion, the eighteen distinct qualities of the buddhas, and their fruits through which individual persons are established as entering the stream to nirvāṇa, being destined for only one more rebirth, being no longer subject to rebirth, arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas — not also similar to a phantom emanation?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One,
“all phenomena [T1] are phantom emanations [Illusory] [thus empty of inherent existence [T2]].
Some are emanated by śrāvakas.
Some are emanated by pratyekabuddhas.
Some are emanated by bodhisattvas.
Some are emanated by tathāgatas.
Some are emanated by afflicted mental states.
Some are emanated by past actions.
For this reason, Subhūti, all phenomena are phantom emanations.”
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“Blessed Lord, are the attributes of ‘abandonment,’ which are associated with the fruit of entering the stream to nirvāṇa, the fruit of being destined for only one more rebirth, the fruit of no longer being subject to rebirth, arhatship, the level of the pratyekabuddhas, the level of the buddhas, and the abandonment of all the connecting propensities, also phantom emanations?”
“Subhūti, all phenomena whatsoever that have arisen or ceased [T1] are phantom emanations [Illusory] [thus empty of inherent existence [T2],” replied the Blessed One.
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“Blessed Lord, what is not a phantom emanation?”
“That which is without arising or ceasing is not a phantom emanation,” replied the Blessed One.
“What is that?”
“Peerless nirvāṇa — that is not a phantom emanation,” replied the Blessed One.
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“The Blessed One has said, ‘There is no stirring at all from emptiness, nor is duality apprehended.
There is nothing at all that is not emptiness.’
Therefore, Blessed Lord, peerless nirvāṇa is also a phantom emanation.”
“Subhūti, it is so! It is so,” replied the Blessed One.
“Subhūti, all phenomena [T1] are empty [T2] [U2T].
They have not been created by the śrāvakas.
They have not been created by the pratyekabuddhas.
They have not been created by bodhisattva great beings.
They have not been created by tathāgatas, arhats, completely awakened buddhas.
The emptiness of inherent existence is nirvāṇa.”
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Subhūti then asked,
“Blessed Lord, how should an individual who is a beginner be instructed and advised, so as to understand the emptiness of inherent existence?”
“Subhūti,” replied the Blessed One,
“has there been an entity in the past that will become a non-entity in the future?
In this regard, Subhūti, since there is no entity, no non-entity, no inherent existence, and no extraneous entity, how could there possibly be something called the emptiness of inherent existence that they should comprehend!”
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This completes the seventy-first chapter, “The Teaching on the Unchanging True Nature,” from “The Perfection of Wisdom in Twenty-Five Thousand Lines.”