Hachi dainin gaku

The buddhas are great beings. What these great beings have awakened to and understood is called the eight awakenings of great beings. Awakening to and understanding this dharma makes it the cause of nirvāṇa.

Our original teacher, the Buddha Shākyamuni, expounded them on the night he entered parinirvāṇa; this was his final teaching.

The first is the moderation of desires. Not greedily seeking among the objects of the five desires that one has not yet obtained—this is called the moderation of desires.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, know this: one who has many desires, because he seeks many advantages, also has much suffering. One who has few desires, having neither seeking nor desire, does not have this torment. The mere moderation of desires must already be cultivated, how much more so that which can generate all virtues. The person moderate in desires does not flatter or deceive to obtain the favor of others, nor is he carried away by his senses. One who practices moderation has a serene heart, without worry or fear; facing events, he has surplus and is never lacking. One who has few desires possesses nirvāṇa. This is called the moderation of desires."

The second is contentment. Limiting oneself in the acceptance and taking of things already obtained—this is called contentment.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, if you wish to escape all suffering, you must contemplate contentment. The dharma of contentment is precisely the place of wealth, joy, and peace. The content person, even lying on the ground, is still in happiness. The dissatisfied person, even in paradise, is not satisfied. The dissatisfied person, although rich, is poor. The content person, although poor, is rich. The dissatisfied person is constantly pulled by the five desires and is pitied by the content person. This is called contentment."

The third is the taste for tranquility. Separating from all noisy agitation and dwelling alone in a peaceful place—this is called the taste for tranquility.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, if you desire tranquility, inactivity, and happy peace, you must leave agitation and dwell alone in a secluded place. The person who resides in calm is respected and honored by Indra and all the gods. Therefore, you must abandon your own group and the groups of others, dwell alone in solitude, and reflect on the extinction of the root of suffering. One who delights in crowds suffers the torments of crowds. Just as a great tree where many birds gather risks drying up and breaking. Attachment to the world plunges us into all sufferings, like an old elephant sinking into mud and unable to extract itself. This is called distancing."

The fourth is diligent effort. Practicing all good dharmas without respite—this is called effort. To be pure without mixture, to advance without retreating.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, if you strive diligently, nothing is difficult. Therefore, you must strive diligently. Just as a small trickle of water flowing constantly can pierce stone. If the mind of the practitioner often slackens, it is like making fire with a drill and stopping before it is hot: even if one wants fire, it is difficult to obtain. This is called effort."

The fifth is not forgetting mindfulness. It is also called maintaining right mindfulness. Keeping the dharma without losing it—this is called right mindfulness. It is also called not forgetting.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, seeking a good friend in the dharma, seeking good protection and help, nothing equals not forgetting mindfulness. One who does not lose mindfulness, the bandits of afflictions cannot penetrate him. Therefore, you must always maintain mindfulness in the heart. If you lose mindfuln...

First, you lose all virtues. If the strength of mindfulness is firm, even if you enter the den of the five desires' bandits, you will not be harmed. Like one who dons armor and enters battle has nothing to fear. This is called non-forgetting."

The sixth is the practice of meditation. Abiding in the dharma without disturbance, this is called meditation.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, if you gather your mind, the mind is in meditation. Because the mind is in meditation, it can know the aspects of the dharma of arising and cessation in the world. Therefore, you must always diligently practice all meditations. If you attain meditation, the mind does not scatter. Just as a family that conserves water maintains its dikes and reservoirs well. The practitioner, likewise, for the water of wisdom, cultivates meditation well so that it is not lost. This is called meditation."

The seventh is the cultivation of wisdom. Developing listening, reflection, practice, and realization, this constitutes wisdom.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, if you have wisdom, there is no greed or attachment; you constantly examine yourself so as not to commit faults. Thus, in my dharma, you can attain liberation. Otherwise, you are neither a practitioner of the path nor a layperson, you have no name. True wisdom is the sturdy ship for crossing the ocean of aging, sickness, and death; it is also the great bright lamp in the darkness of ignorance; the good medicine for all the sick; the sharp axe for felling the tree of afflictions. Therefore, you must, through the wisdom of listening, reflection, and practice, increase your benefits. If a person possesses the light of wisdom, even with fleshly eyes, they are a person with clear-seeing eyes. This is called wisdom."

The eighth is the cessation of vain speculations. Realizing the abandonment of discriminations, this is called cessation of vain speculations. Exhaustively penetrating ultimate reality, that is the cessation of vain speculations.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, if you have all kinds of vain speculations, your mind is disturbed. Even if you have left home, you are not yet liberated. Therefore, O bhikkhus, you must quickly abandon and distance yourselves from the disturbed mind and vain speculations. If you desire to attain the joy of peaceful extinction, you must only well eliminate the affliction of vain speculations. This is called cessation of vain speculations."

These are the eight awakenings of great beings. Each contains the eight, making sixty-four. If they are expanded, they are infinite; if summarized, they are sixty-four.

The great master, the Venerable Shākyamuni, in his final teaching, thus instructed the Great Vehicle. This was the ultimate proclamation on the night of the fifteenth of the second month. After that, he gave no further teaching and finally entered parinirvāṇa.

The Buddha said: "O bhikkhus, you must always with a single mind strive to seek the path of liberation. All dharmas of the world, whether moving or unmoving, are all aspects of destruction and instability. Now cease, speak no more. The moment will pass, I will enter extinction. This is my final teaching."

Therefore, the disciples of the Tathāgata must necessarily study and practice them. One who does not practice and does not know them is not a disciple of the Buddha. These are the Treasure of the Eye of the True Dharma, the Wondrous Heart of nirvāṇa. Yet, today, many do not know them, and few have heard of them or seen them, for they are prevented from knowing them by demonic disturbances. Moreover, those whose roots of goodness from past lives are weak

They neither hear nor see them. In the past, during the eras of the True Dharma and the Semblance Dharma, all disciples of the Buddha knew them, practiced them, and studied them. Today, among a thousand bhikkhus, there are not one or two who know these eight awakenings of great beings. They must be pitied; the decline of this decadent age is unparalleled. The True Dharma of the Tathāgata is now spread throughout the great universe; as long as the White Dharma is not yet extinguished, one must hasten to study and practice it, without laziness or negligence.

Encountering the Buddha’s dharma is difficult across countless kalpas. Obtaining a human body is also difficult. Even if one obtains a human body, that of the three continents is good. Among them, the human body of the southern continent is the best, for it allows one to see the Buddha, hear the dharma, leave home, and attain the Way. Those who entered nirvāṇa before the Tathāgata’s parinirvāṇa, or who died before him, did not hear or practice these eight awakenings of great beings. That we can today see them, hear them, study them, and practice them is due to the power of our roots of goodness from past lives. Now, let us study and practice them, so that they may grow life after life, in order to unfailingly attain supreme awakening and, for the benefit of sentient beings, expound them identically to Shākyamuni Buddha, without the slightest difference.

Treasury of the True Dharma Eye, The Eight Awakenings of Great Beings, Twelfth Fascicle.

Originally written at Eihei Temple, on the sixth day of the first month in the fifth year of the Kenchō era.

Today, on the eve of the summer retreat’s conclusion in the seventh year of Kenchō, the year kinoto-u, I had this copied by the secretary Gien. I have personally reviewed it once.

This text is the draft of our late master, written during his final illness. He had ordered the revision of all previous fascicles of the Treasury of the True Dharma Eye in kana, and to add new drafts to form a complete set of one hundred volumes. He had said that they must be compiled.

This initial draft is the twelfth volume. After that, our master’s illness gradually worsened. Therefore, work on these drafts and others came to a halt. Thus, these drafts are the final teachings of our late master. We have had the misfortune of not seeing the one hundred volumes of drafts, which is a great regret. Those who cherish and revere our late master must absolutely copy these twelve volumes and preserve them. They are the final teachings of the Venerable Shākyamuni, and also the final teachings left by our late master.