I also posted this question on dhammawheel.com's site. There are variations of this simile that a few found, but nothing pertaining to enlightenment.
When the Buddha was asked, "How many will attain enlightenment?" he scratched the dirt and pointing to the dust under his fingernail, replied, "This many compared to the weight of the world."
Does anyone know if there is a scriptural reference for this exchange? I have had no luck locating it.
Scriptural Reference For This?
Re: Scriptural Reference For This?
Using that simile of the tip of the fingernail occurs in various suttas, like these titled Nakhasikha Sutta (The Tip of the Fingernail): SN 13.1; SN 20.2; SN 22.97. But most of the similes are found in SN 56 (Sacca-samyutta): 51 and from 60 to 131. However, none of them is about enlightenment.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Re: Scriptural Reference For This?
Thanks, Astus, for posting. I have not found anything either pertaining to enlightenment.
- sukhamanveti
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Re: Scriptural Reference For This?
If you're interested in tracing the origin of the quote, you might submit it at fakebuddhaquotes.com. Bodhipaksa does an amazing job there of tracking down the actual sources for the many mangled, made-up, or misattributed so-called "Buddha quotes." Occasionally, he will also find that one of the suspicious-sounding quotes has an authentic Buddhist source.
namo bhagavate śākyamunaye tathāgatāyārhate samyaksaṁbuddhāya | namaḥ sarvabuddhabodhisattvebhyaḥ ||
"Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas love all beings in the world equally, as if each were their only child..." Buddhāvataṃsakamahāvaipulya Sūtra
"Bodhisattva-mahāsattvas love all beings in the world equally, as if each were their only child..." Buddhāvataṃsakamahāvaipulya Sūtra
Re: Scriptural Reference For This?
There is also a logical problem with that hypothetical quote. And that is it would only serve as a deterrent for those who want enlightenment, it would be demotivating. In later Mahayana teachings there are talks about the Dharma ending age where enlightenment is near impossible, however, there is always a special teaching that one should use instead of the others and that guarantees success.
1 Myriad dharmas are only mind.
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Mind is unobtainable.
What is there to seek?
2 If the Buddha-Nature is seen,
there will be no seeing of a nature in any thing.
3 Neither cultivation nor seated meditation —
this is the pure Chan of Tathagata.
4 With sudden enlightenment to Tathagata Chan,
the six paramitas and myriad means
are complete within that essence.
1 Huangbo, T2012Ap381c1 2 Nirvana Sutra, T374p521b3; tr. Yamamoto 3 Mazu, X1321p3b23; tr. J. Jia 4 Yongjia, T2014p395c14; tr. from "The Sword of Wisdom"
Re: Scriptural Reference For This?
Sorry for the delay in getting back to you, sukhamanveti. Sounds like a great resource that I will check out. Many thanks for providing it!
Re: Scriptural Reference For This?
Yes, Astus, thanks for articulating this insightful thought! I completely agree! Demotivating, indeed!Astus wrote:There is also a logical problem with that hypothetical quote. And that is it would only serve as a deterrent for those who want enlightenment, it would be demotivating. In later Mahayana teachings there are talks about the Dharma ending age where enlightenment is near impossible, however, there is always a special teaching that one should use instead of the others and that guarantees success.
Re: Scriptural Reference For This?
Bodhipaksa's response to my email:sukhamanveti wrote:If you're interested in tracing the origin of the quote, you might submit it at fakebuddhaquotes.com. Bodhipaksa does an amazing job there of tracking down the actual sources for the many mangled, made-up, or misattributed so-called "Buddha quotes." Occasionally, he will also find that one of the suspicious-sounding quotes has an authentic Buddhist source.
"The Buddha used the "earth versus what's under my fingernail" simile dozens of times.
He used it, for example, to compare the large amount of suffering destroyed by one who has entered the stream compared to the amount of suffering remaining, and to contrast the large number of beings not born human compared to those who are born human.
The closest I've found, though, is in the Samyutta Nikaya, page 1879 in Bhikkhu Bodhi's translation. After the introduction of the simile, we're told:
"So too, bhikkhus, those beings are few who possess the noble eye of wisdom. But those beings are more numerous who are immersed in ignorance..."
But this is rather different from your quote, which is not about how many people have attained awakening, but is about how many will attain awakening. And your "suspicious poster" is, I'm sure, right in thinking that that version of the quote would put people off seeking awakening.
So I'm fairly certain that your quote is actually a misquote.