Naichen Chen
Sakyamuni Buddha taught The Great Prajna Paramita, the perfection of the unsurpassed wisdom of and beyond the world, in sixteen assemblies in four locations over twenty-two years. It was recorded posthumously by his disciples in six hundred fascicles of approximately five million words and is regarded as the largest canon in Buddhism. The Sanskrit original was translated into Chinese by Xuanzang (Hsüan-tsang) during the seventh century (from 660 through 663). This text is now available in English. The Buddha said to Well-Appearing One and others present in the assembly that because prajna paramita is pure, the five aggregates, six inner spheres, six outer spheres, six consciousness realms, six fundamental realms, twelve chains of dependent arising, six paramitas, twenty kinds of emptiness, realness and dharma realm, four noble truths, and so forth, and the rest of superior virtuous dharmas are pure; because the five aggregates and so forth are pure, the perfect knowledge of all perfect knowledge is pure. Why? It is because the purity of prajna paramita, the purity of the five aggregates and so forth, and the purity of the perfect knowledge of all perfect knowledge are not dualistic, separate, different, or disconnected (fascicle 205).
