T 515-A: Commentarial Outline of the Sutra on Humane Kings' Protection of the State

This is the teaching of the Ultimate Truth, which is still, silent, and beyond the distinctions of "pure" and "impure" in the material and mental realms. The nature of reality is empty and vast, rising above the stages of practice and realization that the intellect can conceive.

This profound, spiritual radiance is wonderfully pure, solidified, and constant. It appears alone as the ten thousand things without becoming many, and stands alone throughout the ten directions without becoming different. This is because it is not produced by the causes and conditions of "one" or "many"; purity and impurity stand together, merging perfectly. It is because the very substance of practice and realization is empty; cause and effect are both forgotten and interpenetrate each other.

Therefore, Emptiness contains existence, Emptiness-of-Emptiness is not empty. Existence contains emptiness, Existence-of-Existence does not exist. This "not existing" of existence is not permanent. This "not empty" of emptiness is not annihilated. Because it is not annihilated, it is True Emptiness. Because it is not permanent, it is Wondrous Existence.

Thus, the principle of Wondrous Existence and True Emptiness is simultaneously compatible and inter-identical. One single thought contains and embraces both. When even the concepts of "containing" and "embracing" are forgotten, then "compatibility" and "identity" both stand. This is mysteriously identical to the Ultimate Truth, wonderfully equal to the Nature of Reality. This is truly the Ultimate Truth within the Supreme Meaning, the true nature of that truth. It completely surpasses the three vehicles and is far superior to the eight classes of beings.

This is the ultimate discourse of this sutra on exhausting subtlety and perfecting transformation—a wondrous song that is absolutely beyond words and thought.

Thus, our World-Honored One, riding the majestic presence, suddenly arrived at Vulture Peak. The Dragon and Heavenly beings stood in attendance beside the Lion Throne. The holy assembly gathered like clouds around the Dharma seat. The kings and ministers, like the wind, flocked to the cave of principle. Entering samadhi, his wisdom sea was a calm, clear wave. Emitting light, his nature-sky was the sun of wisdom. Great beings from other lands offered wondrous flowers, incense, and lamps. The lords of this world devoted themselves with jeweled canopies and banners. He transformed the Land of Dust into a Pure Land and manifested jewelled platforms in the hundreds of billions.

The Buddha sat on a golden lotus, spreading throughout lands as numerous as the Ganges' sand. Together they discussed Prajnaparamita, gathering all back to a single spiritual source.

King Prasenajit requested, through recitation, the protection of the kingdom. The Buddha responded by teaching the protection of the mind. He revealed that by parting with form, one can see the truth. He taught that by contemplating the emptiness of substance, one can practice transformation. He showed that the body and the Buddha are one single reality, marking that principle and phenomena are one single spirituality.

This is the essential pivot for protecting the kingdom, the crucial path for peace and stability.

Having awakened to the goal of protection and the emptiness of forms, one must then cultivate the causes for practice and transformation. Therefore, it clarifies that nature and non-nature are fundamentally one spiritual knowledge. The fifty-two stages of true cultivation, the fourteen gates of wondrous meaning, the provisional stages and transformations, the subduing, severing, realizing, and cultivating—all of these, until the three falsehoods are all empty and the one characteristic is without reality—everywhere they raise the wondrous light of Prajna, and every step they tread on the true ground of reality.

Having clarified the two protections, the One Truth should then be revealed. Therefore, the inquiry about the two truths—the ultimate and the conventional, and their existence or non-existence—was meant to clarify that they are fundamentally not one or two. King Prasenajit praised in verse, and the Tathagata confirmed his words. This served as the principle upon which conduct and the Dharma rely, and the wisdom-function capable of illuminating the resulting virtue.

The two protections (protection of the kingdom and protection of the mind/heart) are observed in parallel conduct, yet the essence and function of Prajna are non-dual. Therefore, King Prasenajit again asked about protecting the kingdom. The Tathagata, revealing his true compassion, replied: "The country and its beings are brought forth by collective karma. Misfortune and fortune arise from the minds of people, manifested by their individual karma. When the mind is upright, the heavens are clear and the earth is peaceful. When the mind is deviant, calamities and disasters arise. To instantly stop a thousand calamities and silently eliminate ten thousand disasters, you must have a hundred Dharma Masters uphold the Prajna. Set up a single place of practice and make offerings to the holy images."

Thus, when Shakra (Indra) cultivated and upheld this teaching, King Sagara retreated. When Samantabhadra expounded it, King Bhadra abandoned his glory. This is truly the reason.

Then, the kings each attained understanding and, each according to their truth, made offerings of flowers. The flowers transformed into precious platforms. The Buddhas all together discussed Prajna. Sometimes one flower manifested many lands; sometimes many lands manifested in one flower. The large and small, the pure and impure, mutually interpenetrated and contained each other. This is truly to exhaust the vast and profound source, to completely realize the inconceivable ocean-like assembly.

Therefore, know that the merit of a single thought of pure faith surpasses the merit of converting and realizing beings as numerous as the Ganges' sand within the Lesser Vehicle. The merit of raising one's mind to accept and uphold this teaching surpasses the great virtue of giving the seven treasures. This is truly not false!

The previous discussion was on protecting the goal, but had not fully explained practicing the cause. So again, within the Five Tolerances and the Ten Grounds, it details subduing, severing, realizing, and cultivating, the measure of beings saved, and the length of time. Finally, the Five Direction Vajras were instructed to recite a spell for protection. This was intended to cause the practice of the cause to be fully accomplished, so that the sincere intention of protecting the kingdom becomes perfect.

Therefore, if one protects the kingdom through this principle, one should think of the peace and harmony of the world. If one relies on it to protect the goal, then wondrous enlightenment is realized in an instant. For those who pray for the eternal stability of the empire and wish for the limitless life of the sage emperor, if they abandon this Prajna, what else could they rely on?

Why, when asked about protecting the kingdom, did the Buddha first teach the protection of the goal? It is because the right mindfulness of protecting the goal is the "golden wall" for protecting the kingdom. It causes the seven calamities in the country to silently disappear and the five constant virtues to pervade everywhere. This very profound mind of protecting the kingdom serves as the wondrous medicine for transforming the ordinary, enabling the four wisdoms of the fruit to be perfectly bright and the three bodies to be suddenly realized.

Thus, this protection of the kingdom and protection of the goal are fundamentally inseparable from the mutual support of realization and cultivation within the Tolerances.

When this profound and subtle teaching was thus expounded in that time, its supreme benefit should also be bestowed upon the beings of the final age. The Tathagata, foreseeing the decline of the Dharma, instructed the kings and ministers on how to uphold and protect it, earnestly showing and warning them, repeatedly urging them. The King, receiving this instruction, wept, shaking the thousand-fold universe. He immediately vowed to practice the path and not to restrict the four assemblies.

This sutra is named the "Nectar of the Dharma," the medicine. Believing in it and taking it cures disease and prolongs life. The merit of receiving and upholding it is as vast as empty space. It can protect the king, and its merit is as high as the city walls and moats. This can be called the ultimate compassionate mind, the great pity that broadly saves all beings.

Great is this sutra! It encompasses the three capacities (low, medium, high) and contains all five flavors (stages of teaching).

I observe that the ancient Qin translation is profound and mysterious, while Tiantai's commentary expounds upon its subtlety. I think that the Tang translation, a spiritual text, has not had its profundity penetrated by later scholars. Furthermore, it speaks of emptiness and existence while its meaning is perfect, but the names for "emptiness" and "existence" are the same while their substance differs. Later students were unable to understand this, so I considered it important to make a commentary.

Since the summer of the year *Wuwu* during the Shenzong era (1578 AD), when I returned from making offerings at Mount Qingliang, I was alarmed to hear of the slave-like rebels jumping around and the fall of Fushun. My troubled, penetrating gaze and worry flowed into my sleeping and waking hours. I vowed to propagate this sutra broadly, to repay the kindness of the nation from above. Without considering my own superficial understanding, I took up my brush and wrote out these chapters. At that time, my disciple, the respected and loyal Master Jing, a man from the Guanzhong region, carefully prepared the blocks for printing. His intention was not fulfilled, and he passed away early.

Last year, in the year *Jisi* (1629 AD), the barbarians besieged the capital. I, Guangui, was hiding in the mountains and was also besieged. I rekindled my former intention, hoping to quell the disasters and afflictions. Relying on the Buddha's protection, my Dharma-grandson Haikuo, leading disciples Miaomei and others, risking their lives and forgetting their own safety, supported my old body through the night. Together with the precept-holder Guan Mi, I returned to my own temple. Later, my disciple, the sincere and upright Master Zhanyi, a man from the Yingshan area, was refined and strict in his study of doctrine. Seeing that the siege was already lifted, and recalling the depth of my intention to propagate the sutra, he pressed me again and again to publish the text to fulfill my vow. So I consulted the text again, intending to make the meaning clear and the expression smooth. I have presumed to call it a "Systematic Explanation (Ke Shu)."

I hope that those who see it will have the experience of viewing by candlelight, and have no annoyance from groping at branches. Relying on this commentary to penetrate the sutra, once the sutra is penetrated, the meaning is attained. If the meaning is attained, then the Wisdom Essence of Prajna will be perfectly clear before our eyes and mind, and shine brightly within the realm of material forms. In this way, Vulture Peak is not separate from this very place, and the Benevolent King is no other than our own Emperor. The Five Tolerances will be inside the court, like a jade pillar supporting the sky. The Ten Grounds will be beyond the borders, like a golden beam bridging the sea. The four barbarian tribes will dispel their aggressive tendencies and dwell in the realm of nothingness. The eight regions will turn their hearts towards the great Ming Empire. This is but my small, sincere attempt to repay the nation and bless the people, and my earnest devotion to adorn the holy teaching.

Having completed this commentary, I dare not present it in the lecture halls, for fear of being laughed at by the wise. I have only done it for myself, an eighty-year-old man, prepared as a reminder in case of forgetfulness.

In the third year of the Chongzhen era, during the year of Gengwu, on the day of the Buddha's enlightenment, I, the monk Pu Zhen Gui from Eastern Sichuan, respectfully write this preface at the founding of the Cihui Temple in the capital. As the twenty-fifth generation successor of the Xianshou lineage, formerly entrusted with the imperial throne and granted the purple jade ring, I deliver this discourse on the scriptures and treatises.