Response Bodies Are Not Ultimately Real

The Lord Buddha addressed Subhuti, saying: “If a disciple, having immeasurable spheres filled with the seven treasures, bestowed these in the exercise of charity; and if a disciple, whether man or woman, having aspired to supreme spiritual wisdom, selected from this Scripture a stanza comprising four lines, then rigorously observed it, studied it, and diligently explained it to others; the cumulative merit of such a disciple would be relatively greater than the other.” “In what attitude of mind should it be diligently explained to others? Not assuming the permanency or the reality of earthly phenomena, but in the conscious blessedness of a mind at perfect rest. And why? Because, the phenomena of life may be likened unto a dream, a phantasm, a bubble, a shadow, the glistening dew, or lightning flash, and thus they ought to be contemplated.” When the Lord Buddha concluded his enunciation of this Scripture, the venerable Subhuti, the monks, nuns, lay-brethren and sisters, all mortals, and the whole realm of spiritual beings, rejoiced exceedingly, and consecrated to its practice, they received it and departed. This is an English translation of the Chinese version available at: https://hdl.handle.net/2027/umn.319510013625058. The original printed text scans can be found at: https://archive.org/details/cu31924022914588. Textual notes: 1. Chapter labels have been added in braces (e.g. [Chapter 1]). 2. Footnotes have been moved to the end of each chapter. 3. Text contained within underscores is italicised. 4. Word spellings have been standardized. Words within direct quotations by other authors have been left unchanged. 5. Some page numbers in the index were corrected.