Eight

The Buddha said, "Subhuti, what do you think? If some noble son or daughter filled the billion worlds of this universe with the seven jewels and gave them as a gift to the tathagatas, the arhans, the fully-enlightened ones, would the body of merit produced as a result by this noble son or daughter be great?"

Subhuti answered, "Great, indeed, Bhagavan. The body of merit produced as a result by that noble son or daughter would be great, Sugata. And how so? Bhagavan, whatever is said by the Tathagata to be a body of merit is said to be no body. Thus does the Tathagata speak of a body of merit as a `body of merit.'"

The Buddha said, "Subhuti, if insetead of filling the billion worlds of this universe with the seven jewels and givning them as a gift to the tathagatas the arhans, the fully-enlightened ones, this noble son or daughter grasped but one four line gatha of this dharma teaching and made it known and explained it in detail to others, the body of merit produced as a result would be immeasurably, infinitely greater. And how so? Subhuti, from this are born buddhas and bhagavans. And how so? Buddha dharmas, Subhuti, `buddha dharmas' are spoken of by the Tathagata as no buddha dharmas. Thus are they called `buddha dharmas.'" [Translation: Red Pine]

"What do you think, Subhuti," Buddha asked, "if a man or woman filled a thousand million worlds with the seven treasures and made a gift of them to the Tathagata, would they accumulate inestimable merit?"

Subhuti answered: "The merit accrued would be beyon reckoning. Why? Because the Tathagata has taught that such merit is non-merit." [Joshua Pritikin]

"Subhuti, what do you think---if someone filled a billion-world universe with precious substances and used this to give in charity, would this person gain many blessings?"

Subhuti said, "Very many, World Honored One. Why? These blessings are not of the nature of blessing; therefore the Realized One says the blessings are many."

[Buddha said]"If anyone accepts and holds the equivalent of even a four-line verse from this sutra, and tells it to others, the blessing in that exceeds the aforementioned."

"Why? Subhuti, all the buddhas, and the state of unexcelled perfect enlightenment of the Buddha, come from this sutra."

"Subhuti, what is called Buddhism is not Buddhism."[Thomas Cleary]