復次須菩提 是法平等 無有高下 是名阿耨多羅三藐三菩提 以無我無人無衆生無壽者 修一切善法 則得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提 須菩提 所言善法者 如來說即非善法 是名善法
fù cì xū pú tí shì fǎ píng děng wú yǒu gāo xià shì míng ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí yǐ wú wǒ wú rén wú zhòng shēng wú shòu zhě xiū yī qiē shàn fǎ zé dé ā nòu duō luó sān miǎo sān pú tí xū pú tí suǒ yán shàn fǎ zhě rú lái shuō jí fēi shàn fǎ shì míng shàn fǎ
Key Message
The Dharma is perfectly equal — there is no high or low. Practice all virtue without notions of self or other, and do so without clinging even to the concept of virtue.
▸Section 23 opens with one of the sutra's most powerful declarations of equality: 'This dharma is perfectly equal — there is no high or low within it.
Section 23 opens with one of the sutra's most powerful declarations of equality: 'This dharma is perfectly equal — there is no high or low within it. This is what is called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.' The ultimate awakening is not the possession of an elite, not the fruit of a special lineage, and not confined to any stage of practice — it is equally present in the ground of all reality. The path to this awakening is then stated with elegant precision: 'By practicing all virtuous dharmas (善法, shànfǎ) free of self-notion, other-notion, being-notion, and life-notion, one attains supreme and perfect awakening.' Yet immediately the 'is-not/is-named' logic is applied even to virtue: 'What are called virtuous dharmas — the Tathāgata says these are in truth not virtuous dharmas. They are only called virtuous dharmas.' Even goodness must not become an object of pride or possession. Practice without attachment to the concept of 'practicing' is the purified mind's movement toward awakening.