Twelve Gates Treatise (十二門論)

Chapter 1: The Gate of Observing Conditions

Composed by Bodhisattva Nagarjuna

Translated by the Tripitaka Master Kumarajiva of the Later Qin Dynasty

It is said: Now I shall briefly explain the meaning of the Great Vehicle.

Question: "What is the benefit of understanding the Great Vehicle?"

The answer was: "The Great Vehicle is the profound Dharma treasury of all Buddhas throughout the ten directions and three times, taught for those of great merit and sharp faculties. Beings in this latter age have meager blessings and dull faculties; though they search the scriptures, they cannot penetrate their meaning. Out of compassion for such beings, wishing to enable their awakening, and also wishing to illuminate and propagate the Tathagata's supreme Dharma, I therefore offer a concise explanation of the meaning of the Great Vehicle."

Question: "The Mahayana teachings are boundless, immeasurable, and beyond counting. Even the Buddha's own words cannot fully express them—how much more so our attempts to explain and elaborate on their meaning?"

That is precisely why I said I have only a basic understanding.

Question: "Why is it called the Great Vehicle?"

The answer was: "The Great Vehicle is supreme among the two vehicles, therefore it is called 'great.' The Buddhas are the greatest, and this vehicle can reach them, therefore it is called 'great.' The great beings, the Buddhas, ride this vehicle, therefore it is called 'great.' It can eliminate the great suffering of sentient beings and bring them great benefit, therefore it is called 'great.' Moreover, it is the vehicle ridden by great bodhisattvas such as Guanyin, Mahasthamaprapta, Manjushri, and Maitreya, therefore it is called 'great.' Furthermore, this vehicle can fully encompass the ultimate nature of all phenomena, therefore it is called 'great.' Also, as the Buddha himself explained in the Prajnaparamita Sutra, the meaning of the Great Vehicle is boundless and limitless—for these reasons, it is called 'great.'"

The profound meaning of the Mahayana is none other than emptiness. If one can fully comprehend this truth, one comprehends the Mahayana, perfects the six paramitas, and is free from all obstructions. Therefore, I shall now explain only emptiness.

To explain emptiness, we shall enter into its meaning through the twelve gates.

First is the Gate of Dependent Arising, which means:

All phenomena that arise from various conditions fall into two categories: internal and external. The various conditions themselves are also of two kinds: internal and external.

External conditions are like this: from the combination of clay, a potter's wheel, a rope, and a potter, a jar is produced. Or, from the combination of thread, a loom, a shuttle, and a weaver, cloth is produced. Or, from the combination of preparing the ground, laying the foundation, beams, rafters, mud, thatch, and human labor, a house is produced. Or, from the combination of a churning vessel, a churning stick, agitation, and human effort, butter is produced. Or, from the combination of a seed, earth, water, fire, wind, space, the right season, and human labor, a sprout is produced. Understand that all external phenomena arise in a similar way.

Internal conditions refer to the twelve links of dependent origination: ignorance, volitional formations, consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense bases, contact, feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, and old age and death. Each one arises based on a preceding cause.

Thus, all internal and external phenomena arise from various conditions. Since they arise from various conditions, how can they be said to have an inherent, independent nature?

If a thing has no nature of its own, it also has no nature from another, and no nature from both itself and another. Why? Because if it has no nature of its own, it cannot have a nature from another. If you say that something exists because of another's nature, then a cow would exist because of a horse's nature, a horse would exist because of a cow's nature, a pear would exist because of an apple's nature, and an apple would exist because of a pear's nature—and everything else would be the same. But this is clearly not the case.

If you say that something does not exist because of another's nature, but exists because of another thing itself, that is also incorrect. Why? If a mat exists because of rushes, then the rushes and the mat would be one and the same—they would not be considered "other." If you say that the rushes are "other" to the mat, then you cannot say that the mat exists because of the rushes. Moreover, the rushes themselves have no inherent nature. Why? Because rushes also arise from various conditions, so they have no inherent nature. Since they have no inherent nature, you cannot say that the mat exists because of the nature of the rushes. Therefore, the mat should not be considered to have rushes as its essence.

The same applies to all other things produced by external causes and conditions, such as pots or butter—they are all unfindable in this way.

All things that arise from internal causes and conditions are likewise ungraspable, as stated in the *Seventy Verses*:

The Dharma of the Twelve Links of Dependent Origination is inherently unborn. If one claims it arises, does it arise within a single mind, or within many minds? If it arises within a single mind, then cause and effect would arise simultaneously. Yet it is not so that cause and effect can exist at the same time. Why? Because all things follow the sequence of cause first, then effect. If it arises within many minds, then the Twelve Links would each be separate and distinct. If the earlier portion of the shared mind ceases, what then serves as the cause for the later portion? A ceased dharma is without existence—how could it be a cause? If the Dharma of the Twelve Links existed beforehand, it should be either within one mind or within many minds. Both alternatives are untenable.

Therefore, all conditions are empty. Since conditions are empty, the phenomena that arise from conditions are also empty. Thus, you should understand that all conditioned phenomena are empty.

Conditioned phenomena are ultimately empty, so how much more so is the "self"? It is because of the five aggregates, twelve sense bases, and eighteen elements—all conditioned phenomena—that we speak of a "self." It is like saying there is fire because there is something combustible. If the aggregates, sense bases, and elements are empty, then there is no phenomenon that can be called a "self," just as without something combustible, one cannot speak of fire. As the sutra says: "The Buddha told the bhikkhus, 'Because there is a self, there is what belongs to the self. If there is no self, then there is nothing that belongs to the self.'"

Since conditioned phenomena are empty, one should understand that unconditioned nirvana is also empty. Why is this? When these five aggregates cease, no other five aggregates arise in their place—this is called nirvana. The five aggregates are inherently empty from the very beginning, so what is extinguished that we call nirvana? Moreover, the self is also empty—who then attains nirvana?

Furthermore, nirvana is called the unconditioned. If conditioned phenomena were real, then the unconditioned would also have to be real. But conditioned phenomena are not real—this has been explained before through causes and conditions, and will be explained again later. Therefore, conditioned phenomena are not real. It is only in contrast to conditioned phenomena that we speak of the unconditioned. If conditioned phenomena are not real, how can the unconditioned be real?

Therefore, all conditioned things, unconditioned things, and the self are empty.