After expounding that real Buddha is beyond image and sound, the all compassionate Buddha reminds us that real Buddha does not mean no image and no sound either, and that we should not satisfy with just the proper understanding of truth and should diligently practice it in our life.

Why did the Buddha say so?  Because our mind likes to attach itself to dualistic opposites: when someone say of something, we immediately follows the “something”; when someone say of nothing, we immediately follows the “nothing”.  In reality, we are neither “something” or “nothing”, neither the content or context, neither the teaching or non-teaching, this is the essence of Zen (Chan).

Secondly, after getting the above proper understanding, it is tempting for our mind to declare victory and say that, ok,  we have got it now, we have arrive the final destination, and that there is no more work need to be done, nor anyone there to do anything anymore.   Is it really so?  Only your honest self could tell.  What we usually find in the history and even nowadays, is that many students and teachers had fallen into this side track understanding, became an “enlightened” person in understanding,  but lack honesty, virtue and diligent to make further progress (if not recline).  This is why the Buddha said while perfect appearance doesn’t necessary implies Buddhahood, to claim the lack of it (appearance an virtue) is Buddhahood is wrong either.

In actual practice, there are standard stages of transformation one would go through, which are reported by advanced masters across different traditions and geographical regions.   In the Buddhist tradition, a detailed report of truth and roadmap towards it is provided in the Shurangama Sutra (see suggested Buddhist readings).

Therefore, the Shurangama Sutra saids, “理即顿悟,   乘悟并消；事非顿除, 因次第尽” (understanding can be sudden, which sweeps away all mental blockages, practice is not sudden, which get perfected in stages).

* * *

无断无灭分第二十七

NOT DESTROYED NOR ANNIHILATED, TWENTY-SEVEN

须菩提！汝若作是念：如来不以具足相故，得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。
须菩提！莫作是念：“如来不以具足相故，得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。”
“Subhuti, if you have ( in your mind) this thought: ‘The Tathagata does not rely on His possession of characteristics to obtain supreme Enlightenment,’
“Subhuti, banish that thought.

须菩提！汝若作是念，发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心者，说诸法断灭。
莫作是念！何以故？
发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心者，于法不说断灭相。
“Subhuti, if you think it while developing the Perfect Enlightenment Mind, you will advocate the annihilation of all Dharmas.
“Do not have such a thought. Why?
“Because one who develops the Supreme Enlightenment Mind, does not advocate the annihilation (of things).

Further to his earlier teaching “are we living beings, are we not“, the Buddha reminds Subhuti again in this chapter, “don’t think that I have liberated any being, for if you think so, i will be fallen into the limitation of a self, others, beings, and immortals“.

As devoted students of healing and enlightenment, don’t we all want to liberate suffering through various forms of healing and charity?  Is suffering real, and the liberation of it through various means of healing to be done then?  Yes, indeed the suffering and healing are both real.  Otherwise the Buddha would not have taught on earth for 40+ years!   The reason why the Buddha told us that no beings have been liberated by him is that, he knows that when we live our lives and heal sufferings, we easily fall into the temptation of the labels “healers” who heal “others”.  This labeling and claiming credits are to be avoid, not the healing work itself.  For if we get sucked into these labels,  we would be hijacked and sidetracked by our own ego on the road to true healing and enlightenment.

What then, could be a proper way to live our life and do our healing work?  Refer to our earlier discussion: “how does Bodhisattva do charity?“.

* * *

化无所化分第二十五

TRANSFORMING WITHOUT THERE BEING ANYONE TRANSFORMED, TWENTY-FIVE

须菩提！于意云何？
汝等勿谓如来作是念：我当度众生。
“Subhuti, what do you think?
“You should not say the Tathagata has this thought (in His mind): ‘I should liberate living beings.’”

须菩提！莫作是念。何以故？
实无有众生如来度者，若有众生如来度者，如来则有我人众生寿者。
须菩提！如来说：“有我者，则非有我，而凡夫之人以为有我。
须菩提！凡夫者，如来说则非凡夫。
“Subhuti, you should not think so. Why?
“Because there are really no living beings whom the Tathagata can liberate. If there were, the Tathagata would hold (the concept of) an ego, a personality, a being and a life.”
“Subhuti, (when) the Tathagata speaks of an ego, there is in reality no ego, although common men think so.
“Subhuti, the Tathagata says common men are not, but are (expediently) called, common men.

In a typical learning process, we receive some information, digest it intellectually or follow it experimentally, then it become part of us as an integrated part of our life.  Very often, we consider it a gain after we learn something.  However, in this sutra, after telling us that there is really no Dharma to teach, and that there is no Buddha who had taught any Dharma, the Buddha shared in this chapter that in his realization, there is really no Dharma to gain…  Why is it so?

Furthermore, in our earlier discussion, we also recalled that the Buddha said that everything is teaching to enlightenment.  So in the end, is there a Buddha who shared the state of enlightenment and pathway towards it? … If there is really nothing being shared and no one who can really gain from these teachings, how can we as spiritual students received and integrate these information into our lives?

A possible way to resolve the above paradoxes is shared in our earlier post: how does bodhisattva do charity.  If we can apply the same approach we use to do charity in learning, then we can proceed safely without deepening our confusion to/from the temporary self.

* * *

无法可得分第二十二

NO DHARMA CAN BE OBTAINED, TWENTY-TWO

须菩提白佛言：世尊！佛得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提，为无所得耶？
Subhuti said to the Buddha: “World Honored One, does your (own) attainment of Supreme Enlightenment (Anuttara-samyak-sambodhi) mean that you have not gained anything whatsoever?”

如是，如是。须菩提！
我于阿耨多罗三藐三菩提乃至无有少法可得，是名阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。
The Buddha replied: “Just so, Subhuti, just so, I have not gained even the least Dharma from Supreme enlightenment, and this is called Supreme Enlightenment.”

So far, we have learnt the importance of setting our spiritual intention beyond form, and we also learnt the importance of not following the notions of a self, others, beings, and immortality in our practice.  One may ask, without the notion of the self, how can we set our spiritual intention?

Careful examination of one’s self reveals that the setting of spiritual intention is beyond the self, where the self merely claims credit of it soon after it happens.  In a classic prayer, we would quiet our mind (in fact the entity that needs to be quieted is the self), and when the self is quite, there is communication, or reunion with our inner wisdom, our divine, or whatever we set faith in.  Otherwise, it would become a “self-talk” which reinforce the notion of our “self”.  Therefore, there is a difference between a prayer where our “self” pray to our faith, and a prayer where we put down our “self” in our faith.

Next time you pray, try and feel the difference:
1) “To (your faith), I pray to be a better person in You”
2) “To (your faith), I surrender to be the better person in You.”

Note: Where the former would seemingly strengthened the self and the latter weaken, real surrender does NOT necessarily lead to either (the strengthening and weakening of the self), but instead embraces the possibility of both.  Ponder on it.

* * *

究竟无我分第十七

ULTIMATELY THERE IS NO SELF, SEVENTEEN

尔时，须菩提白佛言：世尊！善男子、善女人，发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心，云何应住？云何降伏其心？
At the time, Subhuti asked the Buddha: “World Honoured One, if a virtuous man or woman is determined to develop the Supreme Enlightened Mind, how should his or her mind abide and how should it be subdued?”

佛告须菩提：善男子、善女人，发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心者，当生如是心，我应灭度一切众生。灭度一切众生已，而无有一众生实灭度者。何以故？
须菩提， 若菩萨有我相、人相、众生相、寿者相，则（即）非菩萨。所以者何？
须菩提！实无有法。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心者。
The Buddha said to Subhuti: “A virtuous man or woman who is determined to develop the Supreme Enlightened Mind, should thus develop it: I have to lead all living beings to put a stop to (reincarnation) and escape (suffering), and when they have been so led, not one of them in fact stops (reincarnating) or escapes suffering. Why?”

“Because, Subhuti, if a Bodhisattva clings to the notion of an ego, a personality, a being and a life, he is not a (true) Bodhisattva. Why?”

“Because, Subhuti, there is not really a Dharma which can develop the Supreme-Enlightenment-Mind.

In the Buddhist tradition, the most important part of spiritual cultivation is the first step and also the ongoing step – the setting of intention (发心）.  As the Chinese Classics describes, the superior man is prudent in the beginning, as an error of millimeter in beginning will eventually lead to an error of thousands of miles (君子慎始，差若毫厘，缪以千里)。

The setting of spiritual intention, therefore, is the central core of spiritual cultivation.  In this chapter, the Buddha explains that a Bodhisattva should set its intention beyond all form and all senses.  If one set one’s intention and do charity with the notion of self and form, one enters into darkness, versus when one do charity without the notion of self and form, one enters into light.

Why is it so? Because when we do charity work by the self, self-centerness is enforced which leads to the darkness of ignorance.  On the other hand, if we surrender our attachments of and to our “self”, life expands and becomes increasingly clear as we follow the light of wisdom.  Therefore, when we set and reinforce our intentions, remember not to fall into the traps of forms and self,   and we will proceed broadly in the pathway to Truth.

* * *

须菩提！又念过去于五百世作忍辱仙人，于尔所世，无我相、无人相、无众生相、无寿者相。
是故须菩提！菩萨应离一切相，发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心，不应住色生心，不应住声香味触法生心，应生无所住心。
若心有住，则为非住。
是故佛说：菩萨心不应住色布施。
“Subhuti, I also remember that in the past, during my former five hundred lives, I was a Ksantyrsi and held no conception of an ego, a personality, a being and a life.
Therefore, Subhuti, Bodhisattvas should forsake all conceptions of form and resolve to develop the Supreme Enlightenment Mind (Anuttara-samyaksam-bodhi). Their minds should not abide in form, sound, smell, taste, touch and dharma. Their minds should abide nowhere.

“If minds abide somewhere, it will be in falsehood.
This is why the Buddha says that Bodhisattvas’ minds should not abide in form when practising charity (dana)”.

须菩提！菩萨为利益一切众生故，应如是布施。
如来说：一切诸相，即是非相。又说：一切众生，则非众生。
须菩提！如来是真语者、实语者、如语者、不诳语者、不异语者。
须菩提！如来所得法，此法无实无虚。
须菩提！若菩萨心住于法而行布施，如人入暗，则（即）无所见；
若菩萨心不住法而行布施，如人有目，日光明照，见种种色。
“Subhuti, all Bodhisattvas should thus make offerings for the welfare of all living beings.
The Tathagata speaks of forms which are not forms and of living beings who are not living beings.
Subhuti, the Tathagatas’ words are true and correspond to reality. They are ultimate words, neither deceitful nor heterodox.
Subhuti, the Dharma the Tathagata has obtained is neither real nor unreal.
Subhuti, if a Bodhisattva practises charity ( dana ) with a mind abiding in things (dharma), he is like a man entering the darkness where he cannot see anything;
(but) if a Bodhisattva practises dana with a mind not abiding in dharma, he is like a man with open eyes, who can see everything in the sunshine.

须菩提！当来之世，若有善男子、善女人，能于此经受持读诵，则（即）为如来以佛智慧，悉知是人，悉见是人，皆得成就无量无边功德。
“Subhuti, in future ages, if a virtuous man or woman is able to receive, hold (in mind), read and recite this sutra, the Tathagata, by means of His Buddha Wisdom, will know and see clearly that such a person will achieve immeasurable and unlimitable merits.