須菩提 若有人言 如來若來若去 若坐若臥 是人不解我所說義 何以故 如來者 無所從來 亦無所去 故名如來
xū pú tí ruò yǒu rén yán rú lái ruò lái ruò qù ruò zuò ruò wò shì rén bù jiě wǒ suǒ shuō yì hé yǐ gù rú lái zhě wú suǒ cóng lái yì wú suǒ qù gù míng rú lái
Key Message
The Tathāgata comes from nowhere and goes nowhere. No posture, no movement, and no location can define or confine his nature, which is the still suchness of reality itself.
▸Section 29 is one of the most concentrated passages in the entire sutra — a single question followed by a single answer that reveals the nature of the Tathāgata with geometric precision.
Section 29 is one of the most concentrated passages in the entire sutra — a single question followed by a single answer that reveals the nature of the Tathāgata with geometric precision. The Buddha warns: 'If anyone says the Tathāgata comes, goes, sits, or reclines — that person has not understood what I have said.' The reason: 'The Tathāgata has no place from which he comes, and no place to which he goes. This is why he is called Tathāgata.' The name Tathāgata (如來, rúlái; Sanskrit Tathāgata) can be parsed as 'one who has thus come' (tathā + āgata) or 'one who has thus gone' (tathā + gata). The Diamond Sutra plays on this double meaning to reveal its deeper import: the Tathāgata neither truly comes nor truly goes — his nature is the stillness (寂靜, jìjìng) and suchness (如如, rúrú) of reality itself, unaffected by any spatial or temporal movement. The four dignified postures (walking, standing, sitting, lying) that define a monk's comportment (威儀, wēiyí) are here revealed as insufficient to describe or contain the Tathāgata.