True Emptiness of the Tathāgata
Following the seventeenth Segment, Subhūti raises the question again to the Buddha: How should a virtuous man or woman who aspires to Buddhahood dwell calmly on the Buddha’s perception? How can they subdue the afflictions and delusions of the mind? The Buddha answers with different angles in the sutra.
In the first seventeen Segments, the Buddha has already dismantled all the attachments that disciples hold within their minds at the moment. Now, the Buddha is about to talk the fruit-state of the Tathāgata, and let disciples to turn inward, remain suchness, unshakable and immovable, and abide in the perspective of that there is “no-self” of all phenomena. There is no difference between the disciple and the Buddha if achieved this state. The state that we disciples of false name should dwell calmly is what “the true emptiness of the Tathāgata.” Let us now explore how the Buddha characterizes this state:
- In the “True Emptiness of the Tathāgata,” there is no entity making the vow. Given the absence of self, person, and sentient beings, who then is making the aspiration for the unsurpassed, complete equal and complete awareness? To address this, the Tathāgata uses his own experience under the guidance of the Lamp-light Buddha as an illustration, stating, “In the past, when I practiced under the Lamp-light Buddha, I realized that there was no one making the aspiration, nor anyone attaining the fruithood. It was this realization that led the Lamp-light Buddha to prophesy my Buddhahood.” He concludes, “The Tathāgata is suchness.” This signifies that all phenomena are like this, they are devoid of self and intrinsic nature, and their true essence is the Tathāgata.
- In the “True Emptiness of the Tathāgata,” there is no Bodhisattva. There is no an entity called Bodhisattva, no such body of such like Mount Sumeru, and no adornment of the Buddha’s Pure Land.
- The “True Void Realm of the Tathāgata,” has the five eyes and six supernatural powers, however, the sights perceived through the physical eye, the divine eye, the wisdom eye, the dharma eye, and the Buddha eye are all illusory. These eyes do not possess inherent existence, and everything seen is empty in nature.
- The Tathāgata has countless transformation bodies, appearing in each realm according to the needs of the sentient beings to be saved. However, in the true emptiness Realm, there is no mind of manifestation. In the human realm, the Tathāgata also says that sand is sand, and also begs for alms, without any difference from other people.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there is no past mind, present mind, or future mind. Neither time nor space exists, nor flow change variation or stillness of “time and space”. It is no birth.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there is no fortune and virtue. Therefore, the vast and boundless fortune and virtue accumulated along the Bodhisattva path is complete and pervasive throughout all places.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there are no thirty-two marks or eighty subsidiary characteristics.
- In the “True Void Realm” of the Tathāgata, there are no all phenomena of the universe, nor the three thousand great thousand worlds.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, no single thought arises, there is no speaker of the Dharma, nor anyone to liberate sentient beings.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there are no sentient beings and no ordinary beings.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there is no mind of attaining.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, all Dharmas are equal, for the inherent nature of all Dharmas is emptiness.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, the Tathāgata also speak of a self, but this is merely a conventional designation.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there is neither an observer nor observed.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there is no saying of the annihilation; it is not discarding or denying all phenomena.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, the Tathāgata neither comes nor goes, nor is born nor perishes.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there is neither dependent origination nor emptiness.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, there is no any differentiation or discriminative perception.
- In the “True emptiness Realm” of the Tathāgata, all dharmas are equal, and no arise of Buddhadharmas.
How to Offer, Practice, and Promote the Diamond Sutra?
The Buddha provides several crucial teachings in the Diamond Sutra as following:
What is the perfect enlightenment of the surpassed, complete equal and complete awareness?
In the 23rd Segment, the Buddha states: “This Dharma is equal, without superior or inferior; this is called Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi (the surpassed, compete equal and complete awareness).”
Therefore, the perfect enlightenment of the unsurpassed, complete equal and complete awareness refers to the realization of the inherent equality of all dharmas.
A person who has attained this complete perfect enlightenment perceives all dharmas with an equal mind, with undifferentiated eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, or mind.
How to achieve the perfect enlightenment of the surpassed, complete equal and complete awareness?
In the 23rd Segment, the Buddha teaches: “By practicing all good deeds with the realization of no self, no person, no sentient beings, and no lifespan, one attains the surpassed, complete equal and complete awareness. What is called ‘good deeds’ The Buddha says it is not really good deeds, but this is merely called good deeds.”
Thus, a practitioner should not cling to any phenomena, and do all kinds of good deeds, of course, one should not attach to the appearance of good deeds in mundane world. By doing this way one can realize the unsurpassed, compete equal and complete awareness.
By this way, a practitioner honours his true nature of the Tathāgata.
How to offer the Diamond Sutra and offer to the Tathāgata?
In the 5th Segment, the Buddha states: “All phenomena are illusory. Seeing all phenomena as non-phenomena is seeing the Tathāgata.”
In the 14th Segment, Subhūti asserts: “detach from all phenomena, one is called a Buddha.” The Buddha affirms, “Yes, yes.”
Hence, a practitioner should detach from all phenomena and aspire to attain the complete awareness.
Hence a practitioner should detach from all phenomena, and forsake the Three Realms, the Six Paths, the Six Senses, and the Six Objects. One should detach from all phenomena to see the Tathāgata.
A practitioner should detach from all phenomena, and walk the Bodhisattva path, a practitioner should detach from all phenomena, and propagate the Buddha’s teachings.
A practitioner should detach from all phenomena and engage in all kinds of activities that benefit all sentient beings, both in the mundane world and in the transcendent realm, with no mind of seeking and gaining.
A practitioner should detach from all phenomena to offer self Tathāgata and Diamond Sutra
How to practice and explain the Diamond Sutra?
In the 32nd Segment, the Buddha advises: “Do not cling to any phenomena. Remain unmoving as it is, and observe all conditioned phenomena as like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew, or like lightning.”
A practitioner, whether engaged in meditation or in daily life, should trust in the Buddha’s teaching that “all phenomena are illusory and not real.” Internal and external All sensations, experiences, distinctions, and perceptions of body and mind, both inward and outward, are all illusory. The mind has no place of arising, ceasing, or dwelling, the mind is dwelling calmly in a state of “non-abiding,” which is the “great samadhi of the Dharma realm,” or the “samadhi of Tathāgata’s emptiness.”
At the beginning of practice, those still attached to phenomena may conceptualize “illusion” as a particular state or form. In such cases, they remain attached to a concept of emptiness or void, they are actually dwelling calmly on the phenomena with attachment, unable to directly enter true emptiness. Overcoming this requires preliminary practices such as concentration and contemplating gradually leading the practitioner to deeper realizations.
The Buddha let us to explain and interpret the teachings of the Diamond Sutra, so we should experience the truth firsthand so as not to become attached to any phenomena. By abiding in the Tathagata’s perception unshakably as it is, then the practitioner explains to others the Buddha’s Prajna wisdom.
Study the realization state of the Diamond Sutra
In the 31st Segment, the Buddha instructs: “Those who have generated the mind for the unsurpassed, complete equal and complete awareness should know, see, believe and understand all things in this way, without arising to any notions of phenomena.”
When a practitioner truly understands the Buddha’s prajna wisdom, they no longer generate concepts of phenomena. “Not giving rise any notions of phenomena” represents the realization realm in the study of the Diamond Sutra. At this stage, the practitioner enters the realm of non-self, as the self itself is the form of all phenomena. When no arising of the notion of phenomena, neither does the self, then the practitioner enter the “true emptiness of the Tathāgata.”
Finally, let us turn our attention to the concept of merit.
The Buddha mentioned several times throughout the sutra that anyone who can accept, believe in, and practice the wisdom of prajna—even just accept and practice just one of its point of view and explain it to others—accumulates merit that is immeasurable and boundless.