At one time, when I saw kind-hearted and upright people suffering in this world, and I couldn’t help but feel as though angels had accidentally fallen into hell. I began to wonder: when an angel finds themselves in hell, how can they hold on to their purity and goodness without being harmed by the surrounding evil and suffering? How should they think, how should they act, in order to preserve their inner peace and joy without falling into despair, rejecting the world, or being broken by it?
Before practicing and realizing the Buddha’s teachings, I had heard of one kind of great Bodhisattvas in Buddhism, they are awakened beings who are already well on the path to liberation from the cycle of birth and death. Though they have the ability to dwell permanently in realms of bliss they choose to return, by the power of their vows, in order to save sentient beings who are still trapped in samsara, even descending into the three most painful evil paths of the desire realm. Although these Bodhisattvas possess strong determination, right view, and the wisdom in transcending the three realms, they still experience desires alongside deluded beings, also the sufferings and harms that come from shared karmas before their own fully realization in this world. Yet, no matter how difficult or painful their own path may be, they will surely prioritize benefiting others and saving all sentient beings from the cycle of rebirth.
I used to think that when a person is still enduring pain and torment in both body and mind, yet constantly vows to save and benefit others, such a life must be an unrealistic and agonizing path. How do these Bodhisattvas regard their own suffering and senstations? How do they find a point of balance within themselves? What allows them to set aside their own desires, to remain unmoved by the many temptations and afflictions of the world? So that they can ultimately attain complete Buddhahood after fulfilling their mission?
These questions lingered within me until I encountered the Diamond Sutra. When I read the teaching, ‘By breaking all attachments to form and practicing all wholesome dharmas, one attains unsurpassed, complete, perfect enlightenment,’ it was as if a sharp sword had cleaved through my confusion and afflictions rooted in attachment. It struck like a brilliant flash of lightning, instantly piercing through the darkness of the three lower realms that clouded my heart.
Now, let us begin to listen together to the story of the Diamond Sutra, as recounted over two thousand six hundred years ago by the Buddha’s great disciple, the Venerable Ānanda.