須菩提 於意云何 汝等勿謂如來作是念 我當度衆生 須菩提 莫作是念 何以故 實無有衆生如來度者 若有衆生如來度者 如來則有我人衆生壽者 須菩提 如來說有我者 則非有我 而凡夫之人以為有我 須菩提 凡夫者 如來說即非凡夫 是名凡夫
xū pú tí yú yì yún hé rǔ děng wù wèi rú lái zuò shì niàn wǒ dāng dù zhòng shēng xū pú tí mò zuò shì niàn hé yǐ gù shí wú yǒu zhòng shēng rú lái dù zhě ruò yǒu zhòng shēng rú lái dù zhě rú lái zé yǒu wǒ rén zhòng shēng shòu zhě xū pú tí rú lái shuō yǒu wǒ zhě zé fēi yǒu wǒ ér fán fū zhī rén yǐ wéi yǒu wǒ xū pú tí fán fū zhě rú lái shuō jí fēi fán fū shì míng fán fū
Key Message
Genuine teaching transforms without any sense of 'I am the teacher.' The categories of teacher, student, saint, and ordinary being all dissolve when viewed through the light of no-self.
▸Section 25 circles back to the foundational paradox of the bodhisattva's vow — the simultaneous liberation of all beings and the recognition that no being has been liberated — now applying it to the Tathāgata himself.
Section 25 circles back to the foundational paradox of the bodhisattva's vow — the simultaneous liberation of all beings and the recognition that no being has been liberated — now applying it to the Tathāgata himself. 'Do not think the Tathāgata holds the idea: I shall liberate sentient beings.' In reality, there is no sentient being the Tathāgata liberates. If there were sentient beings whom the Tathāgata liberated, then the Tathāgata would be entangled in the notions of self, other, being, and life-span. The section then turns to the concept of 'having a self': what the Tathāgata calls 'having a self' is in fact not having a self — yet ordinary beings (凡夫, fánfū) take it to be so. Finally, the 'is-not/is-named' formula dissolves even the category of 'ordinary being': 'What the Tathāgata calls ordinary beings are in truth not ordinary beings — they are only called ordinary beings.' The absolute distinction between the awakened and the unawakened is itself dissolved.