The Ultimate Absence of Self (Section 17)

究竟無我分

17

ěr shí xū pú tí bái fó yán shì zūn shàn nán zǐ shàn nǚ rén fā ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí xīn yún hé yīng zhù yún hé xiáng fú qí xīn fó gào xū pú tí shàn nán zǐ shàn nǚ rén fā ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí zhě dāng shēng rú shì xīn wǒ yīng miè dù yī qiē zhòng shēng miè dù yī qiē zhòng shēng yǐ ér wú yǒu yī zhòng shēng shí miè dù zhě hé yǐ gù ruò pú sà yǒu wǒ xiāng rén xiāng zhòng shēng xiāng shòu zhě xiāng zé fēi pú sà suǒ yǐ zhě hé xū pú tí shí wú yǒu fǎ fā ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí zhě xū pú tí yú yì yún hé rú lái yú rán dēng fó suǒ yǒu fǎ dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí bù bù yě shì zūn rú wǒ jiě fó suǒ shuō yì fó yú rán dēng fó suǒ wú yǒu fǎ dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí fó yán rú shì rú shì xū pú tí shí wú yǒu fǎ rú lái dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí xū pú tí ruò yǒu fǎ rú lái dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí rán dēng fó zé bù yǔ wǒ shòu jì rǔ yú lái shì dāng dé zuò fó hào shì jiā móu ní yǐ shí wú yǒu fǎ dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí shì gù rán dēng fó yǔ wǒ shòu jì zuò shì yán rǔ yú lái shì dāng dé zuò fó hào shì jiā móu ní hé yǐ gù rú lái zhě jí zhū fǎ rú yì ruò yǒu rén yán rú lái dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí xū pú tí shí wú yǒu fǎ fó dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí xū pú tí rú lái suǒ dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí yú shì zhōng wú shí wú xū shì gù rú lái shuō yī qiē fǎ jiē shì fó fǎ xū pú tí suǒ yán yī qiē fǎ zhě jí fēi yī qiē fǎ shì gù míng yī qiē fǎ xū pú tí pì rú rén shēn cháng dà xū pú tí yán shì zūn rú lái shuō rén shēn cháng dà zé wéi fēi dà shēn shì míng dà shēn xū pú tí pú sà yì rú shì ruò zuò shì yán wǒ dāng miè dù wú liàng zhòng shēng zé bù míng pú sà hé yǐ gù xū pú tí wú yǒu fǎ míng wéi pú sà shì gù fó shuō yī qiē fǎ wú wǒ wú rén wú zhòng shēng wú shòu zhě xū pú tí ruò pú sà zuò shì yán wǒ dāng zhuāng yán fó tǔ shì bù míng pú sà hé yǐ gù rú lái shuō zhuāng yán fó tǔ zhě jí fēi zhuāng yán shì míng zhuāng yán xū pú tí ruò pú sà tōng dá wú wǒ fǎ zhě rú lái shuō míng zhēn shì pú sà

Key Message

Ultimately there is no self. Only one who has fully penetrated the dharma of no-self is a true bodhisattva, and all dharmas without exception are the Buddha-dharma.

Section 17 opens the second half of the Diamond Sutra by returning to Subhūti's original question from Section 2 — 'How should one who has aroused the aspiration for supreme awakening abide, and how should one subdue the mind?' — but now the Buddha responds at a profoundly deeper level.

Section 17 opens the second half of the Diamond Sutra by returning to Subhūti's original question from Section 2 — 'How should one who has aroused the aspiration for supreme awakening abide, and how should one subdue the mind?' — but now the Buddha responds at a profoundly deeper level. He declares that one who has aroused the mind of supreme awakening should cultivate the intention to lead all sentient beings to complete nirvāṇa, yet after doing so, no single being has in reality been liberated. This is because a bodhisattva who clings to the notion of self, other, being, or life-span is not a bodhisattva at all. More radically, there is in truth no fixed dharma by which the mind of awakening is aroused. The Buddha confirms that even at Dīpaṃkara Buddha's side he obtained no fixed dharma; this very absence of fixed attainment was precisely what allowed Dīpaṃkara to bestow upon him the prophecy that he would become Śākyamuni. The Tathāgata, the text explains, means 'the suchness of all dharmas.' The section concludes with the declaration that all dharmas are Buddha-dharma, yet 'all dharmas' is precisely not all dharmas — it is only called all dharmas. Only the bodhisattva who penetrates the dharma of no-self is declared by the Tathāgata to be a true bodhisattva.