Gathas of the Dharma

[The first 3 Gathas are missing—Ed]

Gatha 4
Continue the doctrine of No-Doctrine:
When affirmation is denied and negation is also denied,
When there is no target for the archer,
And the road leads in no direction,
Then the mind ceases, and that is the beginning of mind;
Turning out the lamp, the room is flooded with light.
When that which is affirmed can be denied,
It is false, it is illusive, it is Maya;
Know the Buddha to have affirmed nothing at all,
And that this no-affirmation is Eternal Verity.
When lance meets lance there is War—
Affirm, deny, uphold, oppose—
When lance meets lance there is War.
Whosoever would interpret, let him refrain,
This is the best of interpretations—
When lance meets lance there is War.
Know it not to be Mahayana which criticizes Hinayana,
Know it not to be Jodo which speaks unfairly of Shodo,
Know it not as Arya Dharma which mentions other Dharma—
When lance meets lance there is War.
By subtle breathing in calmness,
By repose and relaxation,
By perfect meditation on the Highest,
By passing from one state to another until the furthest shore is reached,
Then there is no Dharma, there ceases Abidharma, there ends Saddharma:
Reality is achieved.

Gatha 5.
O Bhagavat, let me lay this down
And stop this ceaseless coming and this going;
O Bhagavat, I want no heavenly crown
Nor diamond palace without that life bestowing.
The sutras read, the fruits are set aside,
And heart is kept in steady meditation;
The ocean’s roar is gone and I abide
At rest, beyond all conscious limitation.
The doctrine of No-Doctrine teaches the Peace that is not-Peace:
War is two and Peace is one—
Whatever is said is said; whatever is done, is done.
When another says there are two opinions,
When there are two opinions, there is strife, there is division, there is bitterness.
From bitterness comes the utterance of self, which is War.
Self is War, not-self is not-War, Reality is the doctrine of No-Doctrine.
Even the waves of that mighty ocean clash on the shores of ignorance:
No ocean, no waves, no ocean, no shore, yet neither waves nor shore are ocean’s essence.
When the other shore is reached beyond division,
There is continual action without delusion,
There is continual action without strife;
The changeless is the cause of change, not the end of change,
Even as the ocean is the cause of waves, and yet their termination.
Whosoever seeks Peace on the surface knows neither Peace nor surface.
The existence of the nation is War,
The existence of the conference is War,
The existence of temporal Peace is War.
Learn the doctrine of No-Doctrine, the Peace that is not-Peace.
In the Land of No-Doctrine there is no cessation of Harmony,
Where there is no end to Harmony, it ceases to have a name,
Where there is no end to living, it ceases to have a name,
Names distinguish from opposites and alternatives,
In the land of No-Doctrine there can be no opposites or alternatives.
This is the Peace which knoweth not Peace.
But you ask: Is not that continual Peace?
Ask not, or you disturb the No-Doctrine.
How can that be Nirvana which permits the slightest flow,
A flimsy cloud dim-floating in the sky?
Buddhahood is not attained.

Gatha 6.
Line is shadow, outline is shadow, form an impression of mind,
Sound a ripple on the bosom of the Empyrean,
Not by shadow is light known but by its substance,
Not by reflection is color known but by its essence,
Not by impression is mind known but by its Buddha-nature,
Not by words is Truth known but by its Being.
The falseness of poetry, the falseness of art, the falseness of grammar, the falseness of music;
The truth of poetry, the truth of art, the truth of grammar, the truth of music:
On the outside these are false,
On the inside these are all one.
This is the Truth, this is Suchness, this is Dharmakaya.
It is and by It and through It is all that is;
But as written, as described, as revealed,
It is-not—
That is only Its shadow, Its reflection, Its impression, Its echo:
There is no Peace in shadow and none in reflection,
There is no Peace in impression and none in echo.
Where there is no shadow, no reflection, no impression, no echo,
Where there is the light which produces,
Where there is the sound that is,
The unspoken tale which loses itself when it is heard.
There is no word that was lost—
Every word is lost, every philosophy is false,
Yet from Suchnesss come every word and every teaching:
This is the doctrine of No-Doctrine.
Which brings Peace to heart and mind.

Gatha 7.
This is the secret of the word-shadow,
Learned by the wise form the ignorant,
The harmony of the discordant overtone,
The subtle reading of the unwritten word.
When they say “Go” they call it War,
When they say “Go not,” they call it Peace,
Illusive Peace which is not-War yet not-Peace.
Going is called action and not-going inaction,
Peace the reflex of War—
Know this to be Karma,
Know this to be action and reaction,
Know this to be the knowledge of the word-shadow.
Overcome the word-shadow by the light-ray,
Overcome the Karma by Dharma.
When the ignorant say “Go,” to the wise it means “Come.”
This is action in Peace.
When the ignorant say “Sit,” the wise neither sit not stand—they move;
This is the movement of awakening,
Obtained in pure Meditation.
The word-shadow is tanha:
When it says “Go” it is tanha.
When it says “Go not” it is tanha.
The light ray is Prajna—
It answers “come” to “go,” it brings action in Peace,
This is the meaning of Peace.
Know Paramita-Prajna to be real Peace:
Whether the corpse is still,
Or the corpse appears endowed with movement,
The movement of the corpse is tanha;
But the rest of the enlightened is Prajna,
In movement or not-movement it is Prajna—
This is the mystery inexpressible in word-shadows.

Gatha 8
Go on the First Adventure, go on the Second Adventure, go on the Third Adventure!
The First Adventure leads through restraint of physical desire to emancipation;
The Second Adventure leads through right-mind-control to enlightenment;
The Third Adventure leads through highest concentration of spirit to tranquilization.
The First Adventure betrays the Dharma,
The Second Adventure betrays the Abhidharma,
The Third Adventure betrays the Saddharma.
Who knows Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya and Dharmakaya
To be one in essence,
He has completed the Adventures though he start not.
These are the Adventures of the unweaving of self,
The clothing is turned to cloth and the cloth to skin,
The skin is returned to its original source.
What was the self before unweaving?
What becomes the self after unweaving?
The Gina is naked, fully arrayed in his three sacred robes;
Bhikku is he who dons Nirmanakaya, Sambhogakaya, Dharmakaya,
These are the sacred yellow robes.
Nirmanakaya entitles one to membership in the Sangha,
Sambhogakaya bequeaths the knowledge of all the Dharmas,
Dharmakaya is the doctrine of No-Doctrine,
The sound made by the empty hand of Buddha,
Offering the treasures to those ready to start—
The First Adventure is begun.

Gatha 9.
This is the First Adventure,
It is the Adventure of Herenow,
It is composed of eight stages:
Right Ideas, Right Resolution, Right Speech, Right Behavior,
Right Vocation, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness and Right Concentration.
By ideas are forms made, by ideas are forms destroyed—
What is the mind with pure ideas?
What is the mind with no ideas?
Free from Karma, free from sin, free from self,
Mind may hold ideas, mind may restrain ideas.
Learn the illusion of thought-shadows:
When it is said “This is,” such is a thought-shadow;
When it is said, “This is not,” such is a thought-shadow.
To posit this, to posit that, there is the end of Unity;
Existence knows not “this-ness” or “that-ness,”
When light casts shadows, this is the illusion of falseness;
When light passing through the crystal
Causes innumerable rays to scatter in every direction,
Each preserving the nature of light,
These are the pure ideas of Dharma.
Know sickness, old age and death to spring from illusion:
Whosoever calls health the opposite of sickness,
Whosoever calls youth the opposites of senescence,
Whosoever calls life the opposites of death,
Utters thought-shadows.
The essence of Right Ideation is the doctrine of No-Doctrine:
Then bodies cannot rise in health and fall in sickness,
Then bodies do not experience the extremes of age,
Then bodies do not pass from joy to sorrow and sorrow to joy;
Controlled by the serene, the compassionate, the indifferent,
This brings the emancipation of Nirmanakaya through Right Ideation.

Gatha 10.
This is the second stage of the First Adventure.
The second stage is not different from the first stage:
As the crystal splits the light-ray into colors,
So is the Path of Deliverance regarded as Eight-fold;
Eight-fold yet One-fold is the Path to Deliverance.
Right Resolution leads to termination of Karma,
Termination of Karma destroys the War of action,
Termination of Karma annihilates the Peace of inaction;
This is the Golden Path which destroys destruction,
This is the complete blotting out of sin.
Whoso, unwavering, controls the mind-waves,
He is the Peace-maker, the Gina, there is no other;
Firm, unhesitating, serene,
By his mastery he controls the world.

Gatha 11.
The third stage of the First Adventure is Right Speech.
Know Right Speech to be not different from Right Ideation and Right Resolution;
Thought controlled by Will is the key to Right Speech—
To say “This is,” is not Right Speech,
Neither to say “This is not” belongs to Right Speech.
Light is proved by light, shadow shows absence of light,
That speech which affirms the positive or denies the negative,
That speech which denies the positive or affirms the negative,
These are the speech of word-shadows.
Abandon word-shadows, this is the first counsel;
Abandonment of word-shadows is not by restraint,
Abandonment of word-shadows comes through Right Speech,
Through affirmation of the Buddha and the Dharma and the Sangha,
Through glory to the Infinite and Immeasurable Light—
Light is the substance of speech,
Life is the essence of speech,
Truth is the message of speech—
This brings emancipation of Nirmanakaya through Right Speech.

Gatha 12.
The fourth stage of the First Adventure is Right Behavior;
Know Right Speech together with Right Ideation and Right Resolution
To be the sun and substance of Right Behavior.
The fourth stage of the First Adventure is not to be separated
From the first and second stages of the First Adventure,
Neither is any stage of the First Adventure
To be separated from any other stage of the First Adventure.
What is “Right Behavior?”
Know “Right Behavior” not as antithesis to “wrong behavior”:
That which is good is the shadow of light,
That which is evil is the shadow of shadow;
Not by thought-shadows nor by word-shadows nor by action-shadows comes
            Right Behavior,
Action in harmony with Dharma, this is Right Behavior;
Action entirely free from Karma, this is Right Behavior.
All sentient beings contain enlightenment.
Know Buddhahood to be the Omnipresent Essence.
Separation is War, even harmony in separation is War,
Cognition of Universal Buddhahood in action,
This is Peace, this is Right Behavior,
This is the norm of Morality,
This is the perfume of the positive and the negative commandments,
When commandment ceases and action is commandment;
This is the emancipation of Nirmanakaya through Right Behavior,
This is the fourth stage of the First Adventure,
This is not to be separated from the first and the second and the third stages of the First
            Adventure,
Neither are any stages of the First Adventure to be separated
From any other stages of the First Adventure—
This brings emancipation of Nirmanakaya through Right Behavior.

Gatha 13
The fifth stage of the First Adventure is Right Vocation.
Know the fifth stage not to be separate from any of the four previous stages of the First
            Adventure.
When there is Right Ideation, Right Resolution, Right Speech and Right Behavior,
Vocation is surely Right.
Know this Vocation not to be good or bad vocation:
When the Mind is free from shadow-thoughts,
When the Will is directed toward Unity,
When the Speech is in harmony with Dharma,
When the Behavior recognizes the Universal Buddhahood,
Neither can one enter into a low profession
Nor can one enter into low dealings within one’s profession—
Seeking neither gold nor glory nor power,
Performing work in accordance with highest principles,
Removing the shadow of self in all activities,
Preserving perfect freedom and guided by the highest wisdom,
One attains deliverance from caste-bondage,
One labors for the benefit of the blessed jewels—
Such is the purpose of Right Vocation,
Bringing also emancipation to Nirmanakaya.

Gatha 14.
The sixth stage of the First Adventure is Right Effort.
Right Effort is every effort performed
In accordance with the principles of the previous five stages of the First Adventure.
Know Right Effort not to be effort toward some particular end,
Know it only as Right Effort which delivers from suffering:
That which delivers the self from self in suffering,
That which bestows Buddhahood upon transient forms,
Such is the purpose of Right Effort.
Good-will is it not which encourages another to be friendly,
Good-will is it not which encourages another to be unfriendly;
Compassion is the door to Wisdom and to Peace:
To encourage zeal in oneself,
To see oneself in all forms,
To perceive Buddhakaya in Nirmanakaya.
To observe the Law—to follow Dharma and Abhidharma and Saddharma,
This is Right Effort,
This is the pathway to Peace, the gateway to Nirvana,
This brings emancipation of Nirmanakaya through Right Effort.

Gatha 15
The seventh stage of the First Adventure is Right-Mindfulness.
Know the seventh stage not to be separate from all other stages of the First Adventure;
Nirmanakaya is Buddhakaya,
Sambhogakaya is also Buddhakaya,
The identity of Nirmanakaya and Sambhogakaya through proper thinking,
This is the seventh stage of the First Adventure,
Cessation of thought-shadows,
Cessation of word-shadows,
Cessation of action-shadows,
These are in harmony with Right-Mindfulness;
Thought in accordance with Dharma,
Speech in accordance with Dharma,
Action in accordance with Dharma,
These are of the essence of Right-Mindfulness,
When self is laid aside,
When thought casts no more and grasps no more.
This leads to Paramita-Prajna,
This leads to accomplishment in the herenow,
This brings emancipation to Nirmanakaya through Right Mindfulness.

Gatha 16.
The eighth stage of the First Adventure is Right Concentration.
Know the eighth stage of the First Adventure to be none other than the first stage of the
            First Adventure,
When these seven stages are as one stage,
That is the eighth stage,
That is the condition of Right Concentration.
With perfect harmony within and without,
With perfect equanimity toward all sentient beings,
When there is no cessation to meditation,
When there is an end to moods and fancies,
Then one is ready for the practice of Right Concentration—
Excluding shadow-thoughts,
Ceasing to reflect on shadow-words and shadow-actions,
Purifying the Universal Spirit called breath,
In Allness is found the perfect Peace,
Even in the body is there Nirvana.
Salutation to the devotee!
Salutation to the harbinger of Peace!
Salutation to the Divine Spirit!
Namo Amida Butsu!

Gatha 17.
This is the Second Adventure,
The Adventure of Now, but not Here,
The epitome of the eight-fold First Adventure.
Always the First Adventure:
The Second is the flower of its seed, the Third is the perfume of its flowers;
Behind the golden hills of Sukhavati,
Heralds a new dawn.
The birds are singing and a myriad fountains play in splendid light,
No more though-shadows are lurking near,
But Universal Intellect is here,
Yet thought must cease from giving birth to thought,
Or else the Second Adventure will end in nought.
From conception to conception, this is Ignorance;
What is Alaya-Vijnana?
It is grasping by the empty hand,
It is teaching by the closed mouth,
It is music of the hollow ear.
Cease to be and thou shalt be,
Peace will come when there is no thought of Peace,
Even the phantom-colors must be resolved.
This is the emancipation of Sambhogakaya through Right Ideation,
The death and birth and resurrection of Pure Mind,
Identity with Buddhahood is found.

Gatha 18.
The second stage of the Second Adventure.
The second stage of the Second Adventure is not to be considered
Separate from the first stage of the Second Adventure.
Neither is it to be considered apart from all the stages of the First Adventure;
Know this stage to be the Right Resolution of the Firm Mind.
What is the Firm Mind?
It transcends discrimination and thought,
It discriminates truly,
It thinks truly.
What is it that thinks?
This is the Buddha-mind, free from the distinction and differences of man.
No longer shadows decry the light,
No longer lines determine the solid,
The Mind is on firmest ground,
The traveler is rescued from the flood and finds dry land.
O for that Blessed Land of Intuition,
The thinking of no-thought,
The imagining of no-conception,
The clear lamp brightens the hall of the temple,
Flowers decorate the altar,
A radiant happiness penetrates the atmosphere,
Sambhogakaya is emancipated through Right Resolution.

Gatha 19.
The third stage of the Second Adventure.
This stage is not apart from other stages of the First and Second Adventures;
Even as Sambhogakaya is not apart from Nirmanakaya.
Neither is there Right Ideation and Right Resolution without Right use of Words.
What is the Mystery of Shingon?
Namo Amida Butsu explains itself;
Conception free from concepts,
Resolution free from thoughts,
Speech undetermined by words.
What is the curve of the growing flower?
What is the formula of the smile?
What is the meaning of the letter “A?”
Through question is the affirmation made,
Through statement is continuance of doubt,
Veiled from the ignorant eyes is the blinding sun,
And the throat is a coffin for the heart.
The beginning of pain, the cause of pain, the cessation of pain;
Words are pain, thoughts are pain, emotions are pain;
Grasping is the womb of pain,
Prajna is the destruction of pain.
The shadow cannot measure the tree—
The shadow can measure the tree when the sun’s inclination is known,
Knowing the elevation of the sun,
Even from the shadow can the tree be measured,
This is the Right Use of Words which leads to emancipation of Sambhogakaya,
But in the fog there are not even shadow-forms.

Gatha 20.
The fourth stage of the Second Adventure is Right Conduct;
Know this Right Conduct not to be separate from the previous stages of the
            Second Adventure,
Nor from all stages of the First Adventure.
Action is War—that is the First samskara;
Non-action is not-War—that is the second samskara;
Right Conduct is Peace.
No mind no Buddha, no body no Buddha;
When to the realm of changeability the mind fastens itself
There is pleasure, there is pain, there is growth, there is decay.
When mind recognizes the Buddha-nature in all things.
This is the truth of Sangha,
This is the jewel of transformation,
This is the perfect conduct of the intelligent toward the intelligent,
In this there is no ego—
When effort distinguishes neither self nor not-self,
This is the true Anatta,
This is the Golden Rule of the Golden Path
Bringing Happiness to all sentient beings.
The nature of Bodhisattva is made manifest,
By conduct productive of universal harmony is it made manifest;
This leads to emancipation of Sambhogakaya through Right Conduct,
The fourth stage of the Glorious Second Adventure on the Golden Path.

Gatha 21.
The fifth stage of the Second Adventure is Right Livelihood,
Know this Right Livelihood to be the conduct of Sramanas;
The fifth stage of the Second Adventure is not separate from the previous stages,
Nor from all stages of the First Adventure.
He is not a Sramana who, giving up the world, attaches thought to it;
Not by shaved head and begging bowl is one a Sramana,
But by detachment from objects of sense is one a Sramana;
Not by removing ties of marriage is one a Sramana,
But by cleaving all the external ties:
Mind freed from the bondage of the world,
Maintaining with pure heart the Holy Doctrine,
Performing acts and thoughts and speech according to the Holy Doctrine,
Permitting the Buddha-mind to purify the sensible sphere,
This frees Sambhogakaya,
This is the emancipation of Sambhogakaya through Right Livelihood.
Controlling the affairs of the world by inner harmony.
Directing the affairs of the world by calm detachment,
This is the freedom from worldly ties,
This is the escape from Karmic bondage,
This is the fifth stage of the Glorious Second Adventure.

Gatha 22.
The sixth stage of the Second Adventure explicates Right Effort;
Know this stage not to be apart from other stages of the First and Second Adventures.
Grasping is effort, clinging is effort, tanha is effort;
Know such effort to be low, unworthy, attached to the vestiges of self—
This is not the Right Effort of Sramanas.
Free from toil, free from endeavor, free from pain,
The mind of purified ones does not depend upon objects of sense,
In objects of sense the mind of purified ones sees the Buddha-nature reflected,
But the mind of purified ones is not dependent upon objects of sense.
Neither does the mind of purified ones depend upon subjects of thought.
Upon nothing of an elementary nature does the mind depend,
Yet does mind control the elements,
Yet does mind govern the skandas in their proper places,
Yet does the purified mind discover the Buddha-nature everywhere.
Casting ambition aside, ceasing to strive,
Throwing away all burdens,
The consciousness is freed from the bondage of elements,
The Highest Reality throws its light upon mirror-mind;
This is the end of effort,
This is the termination of exhaustion,
The waves of Samsara are becalmed,
And Bodhisattvas continue the journey unhampered.
This is the discovery of Nirvana within Samsara,
Success without effort, attainment without trial;
This purges the thought,
This perfects the intellect,
This manifests the Buddha-mind,
This secures emancipation of Sambhogakaya through Right Effort,
The sixth stage of the Glorious Second Adventure.

Gatha 23.
The seventh stage of the Second Adventure is Right Mindfulness,
This is Right Mindfulness of the spirit;
This Right Mindfulness is not separate from any stage of the
            First Adventure or of the Second Adventure.
Cessation of thought-shadows is followed by thought-colors,
Cessation of word-shadows is followed by word-colors,
Cessation of action-shadows is followed by action-colors.
These are the beautiful thoughts, the beautiful words, the beautiful deeds,
These are the expressions of Buddha,
These are the expressions of Dharma,
These confer upon all the benefits of Sangha.
When Mind touches Buddhahood there is no error,
When Mind touches Buddhahood there is no pain,
When Mind touches Buddhahood there is no sin.
When by holding back, one expresses,
When by holding back, one delivers the perfume of Dharma,
This is Right Mindfulness,
This is the Mindfulness of the Universal Spirit,
This brings the union of Dharmakaya, Sambhogakaya and Nirmanakaya.
This is the deliverance of Sambhogakaya through Right Control and
            Right Utilization of Mind,
This is the seventh stage of the Second Adventure
On the Golden Path to Eternal Bliss.

Gatha 24.
This is the eighth stage of the Glorious Second Adventure.
It is not to be considered apart from all other stages of the First Adventure,
It is not to be considered apart from any stage of the Second Adventure.
What is Right Concentration?
What is Right Concentration in the spirit?
It is the emancipation of Sambhogakaya.
It is the identity of Dharmakaya and Sambhogakaya, and Nirmanakaya;
It is not to be considered apart from any activity,
It is not to be considered apart from any thought,
It is not to be considered apart from any speech.
When the fullness of consciousness is engaged in concentration,
This is Right Concentration, this is Full Concentration, this is Pure Concentration.
What is Samadhi?
Definition defines, segregates, distinguishes;
Samadhi integrates, unites, amalgamates.
Definition is War, Samadhi is Peace,
Through union with Dharma is Samadhi obtained.
What are the stages of Samadhi?
The coal-mine is not a light-house,
Nor is the clod a lantern;
Until are removed all substances from mind,
Definition of Samadhi is not Samadhi,
Description of Samadhi is not Samadhi.
Shouting “Peace” all day will not end War;
Till Peace does the thinking,
Till Peace does the shouting,
War will continue;
Know War to be that division of mind.
Through the Buddhakaya comes Peace,
This is the union of all kayas,
This is the synonymity of effort, action and accomplishment,
This is the unity in homogeneity of the eight-fold Path,
This is the emancipation of the Sambhogakaya
Through satisfactory completion of Right Concentration.
Words are no more.

Gatha 25.
Salutation to the glorious eight-fold Path!
Salutation to the four Noble Truths!
Salutation to the most blessed jewels!
This is the first stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure,
This is the Adventure of the not-here and not-now,
And the not not-here and not not-now.
This is the knowledge of Dharmakaya through Right Intuition:
Shadow-words say “Go,” when they mean War,
Shadow-words say “Go not” and call that Peace—
This is the not-War, whose value is zero, whose existence is nought.
Light-words reply “Come,”
Nirvana means “Come-not.”
Nirvana is not to be obtained,
As the fish in the ocean;
Nirvana is not not-to-be-obtained
As the river flowing into the sea,
Crust has no existence apart from bread,
How can one obtain deliverance?
Earth was, then rocks and stones;
Sky was, then planets and stars;
Suchness was, is, will be, will be being, was being.
In not-grasping is the essence of grasping;
Sunlight pours through the universe,
Earth’s atmosphere causes day and night,
Luminescence and shadow,
Ray and reflection.
The expression of Suchness in thought through thought,
This is the nature of Satori,
This is the knowledge of Dharmakaya through Right Intuition,
Salutation to all the Bodhisattvas who were, who are, who will be—
The first stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure is made known.

Gatha 26.
Salutation to the wholly Enlightened One,
The Tathagata Gautama Sakya Muni!
This is the second stage of the Most Glorious Adventure,
The Way which is not a way,
The Life which is not a life,
What is the mystery of incarnation?
What incarnates and why?
The answer is: “Cease to question.”
By questioning a shadow is thrown over truth.
Look at the sun ten minutes with the shades drawn
And your face toward the wall.
What are the proper Vows for the advocate of Peace?
Cease to advocate, that is Peace.
When another speaks assent is not War, refutation is not War;
When another speaks that itself is War,
This is the War which is not-War,
Life is not the void of Emptiness.
Life is the void of Pleroma.
These vacuum-words supplant shadow-words;
Know vacuum-words to be the marks of Reality on the shadow of Illusion,
When Illusion casts its shadow into the darkness
The footprints of the dragon reduce music,
This is Pranidhana, the Perfection Resolution,
The highest Sadhana, the acquiring without action,
The attainment without motion,
The completion of nothingness through elimination.
What is this elimination?
It is the expression of Dharmakaya,
This is Perfect Buddhahood,
Common to all sentient beings;
This is the Essence of which elements cannot speak,
This is the second aspect of the Path’s fulfillment
On the Third Most Glorious Adventure.

Gatha 27.
Now is the third stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure.
Indissolubly connected with all previous stages is this stage;
One is it with the stages of the First and Second and Third Adventures.
Right Radiation is Right Behavior with ego removed:
Let light shine before men that they may learn,
That they may rejoice,
That light also may shine through them—
Thus the Buddha of the Western World.
When the diamond of Paramita-Prajna appears,
No interference with the rays of Divine Amitabha
Causes pulsations in the citta-stream.
Mind calm, serious, poised, indifferent,
Radiates pure essence through multifarious attribution.
Dharma is the union of actor, action and accomplishment
Performed by Dharmakaya;
This is the Herenow, the Here and not now, the not-Here and not-Now.
All as One—this is Ekayana, The Doctrine of Unity:
Light is one, darkness is two;
Compassion is one, passion is two;
Sympathetic gladness is one, pleasure is two;
Equanimity is one, excitement is two.
The Ocean is the splendid diamond of love
Causing the downfall of ignorance,
Bringing illumination to all sentient beings.
All confirmations are transitory:
The mind and body dissolved in Dharmakaya
Express Nirodha even in the midst of darkness;
Gone is heaven, gone is hell, gone is mortality, gone is immortality.
Is-ness is, Seity is, Essence is—
This is called the third aspect of the Third Most Glorious Adventure.

Gatha 28.
This is the grand mystery of the fourth stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure,
Which is not separate from all previous stages of these Grand Adventures.
Dharmakaya puts an end to all admonition:
“Kill not—this is the admonition to the ignorant,
“Kill”—this is resolution of the Sramana;
These are the activities of the eclipsed mind,
Knowing no separation between resolution, action and thought,
There is no killer and there is no killed,
Beyond limitation is the stillness of infinite activity.
“No adultery”—this is the admonition to the ignorant,
“Love all”—this is the resolution of the Sramana;
In the perfect union of Dharmakaya there is the death of senseless words.
“Steal not”—this is the admonition to the ignorant,
“Steal”—this is the resolution of the Sramana,
But the treasurer of Dharmakaya is the very gem of the Universe.
“Tell no lie”—this is the admonition to the ignorant,
“Preserve silence, tell nought”—this is the resolution of the Sramana;
But Dharmakaya knows the falseness of word-shadows and the emptiness of word-colors;
When heart to heart grasping is complete,
The telling is told,
This is Zazen, Buddhahood is attained.
“Drink no stimulant”—this is the admonition to the ignorant,
“Drink only intoxicants”—this is the resolution of the Sramana;
But Dharmakaya is the Ocean of completeness—
How can water thirst?
Salutation to the Buddha and the Dharma and the Sangha;
Thus the fourth stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure.

Gatha 29.
This is the fifth stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure,
Know this stage not to be separate from any stages in the herenow, in the hereafter,
            in the heretofore,
Know it to be not separate in the not-here and not-now,
Let the enlightened live among mountains—
Which is the Right Environment for the sage?
Dharmakaya is environment,
This is not time, this is not space, this is not conditioned existence.
Do not go, do not come, do not enter, do not leave;
When there is the shadow of clouds
This is wrong environment—
The aviator has passed over the realms of clouds,
The aviator is removed from the sphere of fog,
The aviator has surmounted greatness and smallness.
Where is the proper place for meditation?
When propriety does not depend upon place.
When is the suitable time for meditation?
When suitability does not depend upon time
What is the Right Environment for mediation?
In the midst of conditioned existence,
From the midst of conditioned existence,
Having no relation to conditioned existence.
Dharmakaya unseparate from Sambhogakaya,
Dharmakaya unseparate from Nirmanakaya,
Even immortality is transcended.
Thus the fifth stage of the Glorious Third Adventure,
The expression of Dharmakaya through Right Environment;
This is the pure unadulterated land of all the Bodhisattvas,
Salutation to the Purest of Lands!

Gatha 30.
This is the sixth stage of the Most Glorious Third Adventure.
Completely commingled with all the other stages is this stage;
This is the expression of Dharmakaya through Right Spirit,
Expressing joy, dependent upon nothing,
Displaying compassion, dependent upon nothing,
Radiating bliss, dependent upon nothing,
Cultivating zeal and devotion, dependent upon nothing,
Possessing clear insight, dependent upon nothing,
Kenning all knowledge, dependent upon nothing,
Surpassing the relative and absolute, dependent upon nothing,
Having universal cognition, dependent upon nothing,
Dispossessing the shreds of clinging, dependent upon nothing.
Even as the loathsome caterpillar
Through the stages of Right Concentration and other practices
Develops into the beautiful moth,
So when all shreds of Samskaras are torn away
There is the expression of indefinable Dharmakaya
Through the Right Spirit.
This is the completion of Paramita-Prajna,
The sixth stage of the Glorious Third Adventure.

Gatha 31.
This is the seventh stage of the Most Glorious Third Adventure,
Which cannot be dissevered from all stages
Of the First and Second and Third Adventures on the Golden Path.
Through Right Mindfulness
Does Dharmakaya touch all atoms of mind and body;
Nirvana is the essence of Samsara,
Nirvana is the escape from Samsara,
Nirvana is the denial of its own affirmation
And the denial of that denial.
Denial is not in words.
Denial is not in thought,
Denial is the radiant flooding of the Buddha-mind;
When the sun rises the cock ceases,
No more insubstantiality,
No more delusive movements of consciousness.
Seated at rest in the midst of being,
The Inscrutable Mind of Buddha re-attains its glorious conquest;
From Sramana to Sramana in endless array
The Peace that is obtained by War
Terminates the senseless strife
And obliterates strife dependent upon reason;
The crooked paths are made straight—
This is the teaching and essence of unity.
Heart is mind and Buddha is the heart;
Heart until the coming of Buddha is dead,
Heart now touches itself and
This is the seventh stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure.

Gatha 32.
The eighth stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure.
The sun casts shadows and the earth emits light,
The worm is the teacher, the Sramana is the scholar,
The soldier carries an olive branch,
The young virgin brandishes a sword,
Babies discipline their grandfathers,
And handkerchiefs are used for laughter;
With closed eyes is toil accomplished,
And in the daylight is great sloth,
This is not the meaning of meaning,
The meaning that has no meaning,
The teaching that is no teaching,
The Doctrine of No-Doctrine,
Unlearned from its incipient stages.
Accumulation is the highest form of donation,
And only the naked wear the yellow robe—
This is Buddhagarbha,
A foolish phrase, for phrases are not meant
To coin from words these glorious salutations
Fit only for the Most Supreme of Buddhas,
Salutation to them all!
Until Nirvana is surrendered, Nirvana is not gained.
This is called the eighth stage of the Third Most Glorious Adventure;
So It is called,
But until there is no calling, It is not.

Gatha 33.
Thus do I hear:
The Tathagata is not absent from the earth,
The Tathagata is not absent from the minds of man,
Neither from the Tushita Heaven nor from any other heaven is the Tathagata absent;
Neither from the Paradise of Sukhavati
Nor from the paradises above or below,
Nor from the hearts of sentient beings—
From none is the Perfect One absent.
Neither is the Tathagata missing in Hell,
Nor is his presence wanting in Avichi;
From no point of time nor area of space is the Enlightened One gone.
Neither from conception nor deception is he missing.
What is Nirvana?
Restraint from definition, restraint from dissimulation,
Freedom from distinction, unshackled by ties of limitation,
This is but the accompaniment to the Song of Peace.
Song is not sung in words but by the Breath of Compassion,
Breathing joy and mercy.
One is what one becomes
And there are not two.