At this time, Subhuti asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, how shall we name this sutra? How shall we uphold it?”
The Buddha told Subhuti, “This sutra shall be called the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita. You shall uphold this name. Why? Subhuti, the prajnaparamita as spoken by the Buddha is not prajnaparamita; it is merely called prajnaparamita.
“Subhuti, what do you think? Does the Tathagata speak dharma?”
Subhuti replied, “World-Honored One, the Tathagata has not spoken.”
“Subhuti, what do you think? Is there an infinite amount of dust particles in the three-thousand-great-thousand-world?”
Subhuti replied, “Countless, World-Honored One.”
“Subhuti, the Tathagata says that dust is not dust; it is merely named dust. The Tathagata also says that the world is not a world; it is merely called a world.
“Subhuti, what do you think? Can one see the Tathagata through the thirty-two marks of perfection of a buddha?”
“No, World-Honored One! One cannot see the Tathagata through the thirty-two marks of perfection. Why? Because the Tathagata says that the thirty-two marks of perfection are non-phenomena; they are merely called the thirty-two marks of perfection.”
“Subhuti, in comparison to good men and good women who devote their lives as an act of giving amounting to the grains of sand in the Ganges River, a person who accepts and upholds this sutra, even if only the four-line verse, will still have greater blessings.”
What is prajna?
It is the wisdom of the buddhas.
The wisdom of empty-nature is the highest wisdom
encapsulated in the Vajra Sutra.
Empty-nature
is the unspeakable buddhanature!
November 21, 2021
We will now start discussing chapter thirteen—Upholding According to the Dharma, which teaches you how to engage in true spiritual cultivation. What is Upholding According to the Dharma? It is accepting and practicing in accordance with the dharma. Upholding means accepting and practicing.
At this time, Subhuti asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, how shall we name this sutra? How shall we uphold it?”
The Buddha told Subhuti, “This sutra shall be called the Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita.”
I have explained vajra—it is indestructible, very strong, and can destroy everything. Prajna is a Sanskrit term meaning wisdom, as we often talk about. In Tibetan, prajna is called biezha or banzha. In Mandarin Chinese, it is bo-re, and in Taiwanese, it is boyeh.
Prajna is the wisdom of the Tathagata (the Buddha), [and also] the wisdom of all the tathagatas (buddhas), and it is symbolized by the vajra. What does paramita mean? It is commonly translated as “from this shore to the other shore.” Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita is the name of this sutra, and you should uphold the sutra by this name.
The Buddha continued,
“Why? Subhuti, the prajnaparamita as spoken by the Buddha is not prajnaparamita; it is merely called prajnaparamita.”
What does this mean? Such riddle-like statements appear frequently in the Vajra Sutra. The Buddha says that the so-called prajnaparamita is not prajnaparamita; therefore, it is prajnaparamita. Most of us are confused by this kind of phrase in the Vajra Sutra.
I like to use the Moon as an analogy. Does any buddhadharma exist on the Moon? What about Saturn or Mars? Let’s just talk about the Moon because as the Earth’s satellite, it’s nearer. Through telescopes we can see that one side is bright and the other is dark. We have not discovered any human beings on the Moon, so buddhadharma is useless there. Thus we say there is no buddhadharma on the Moon. [If you reach a state of non-phenomena where everything is empty—as if you are on the Moon—then buddhadharma is nonexistent for you.]
Is there a moon inside a mooncake? No, because there is no moon in it, we call it a mooncake. Is there a sun inside a suncake? No, as there is no sun, we call it a suncake. Is there a sweetheart inside a sweetheart cake? No, because there is no sweetheart, it’s called a sweetheart cake.1The so-called mooncakes have no moon in them—they are just called mooncakes. Should there be a moon inside the cakes, they are not mooncakes as we know them. Likewise, if there is a sun inside the suncake, then it certainly is not a suncake. All these metaphors convey the same concept.
Vajracchedika prajnaparamita refers to the vajra, which represents the Buddha’s wisdom that destroys everything to reach the realm of emptiness—the realm of the wisdom of emptiness.2Vajracchedika prajnaparamita is the wisdom of emptiness that allows one to reach the realm of emptiness—or to be more accurate, the realm of the wisdom of emptiness. In emptiness, vajracchedika prajnaparamita does not exist. Because it is nonexistent, it is called vajracchedika prajnaparamita.3In the realm of emptiness, the so-called prajnaparamita is not prajnaparamita, because prajnaparamita does not exist. This is because nothing exists in emptiness. When one realizes that the so-called prajnaparamita does not exist, one has understood the real prajnaparamita. Do you understand now?
Emptiness and existence are just terms. The highest wisdom is the wisdom of emptiness (empty-nature). Empty-nature is the unspeakable buddhanature! It certainly is unspeakable! When you have genuinely developed this wisdom, you can let go of everything. Indeed!
For instance, Grandmaster and Shimu are very close. Shimu has greatly helped True Buddha School, and I am very grateful to her. If I were to leave the world first—and I hope to leave before Shimu—it would be very easy for me to let go of everything. Shimu belongs to Shimu, and I belong to myself. My spiritual cultivation is my own, and her spiritual cultivation is hers. She has her merit and I have mine.
On the other hand, it will be more troublesome for me if she leaves first. Why? Because in this mundane world I am an idiot. I don’t know how to go to the bank, write checks, or withdraw money—I have never done these things. I don’t know how to file tax returns and have never done it myself. Do you believe that? You’d better believe it! Shimu takes care of it all! So if she were to pass away first, it would be sad for me since I am clueless about mundane matters. I don’t even know how to use a smartphone.
All I know is buddhadharma and nothing else. Conversely, Shimu is extremely smart and would have no problem caring for herself in this mundane world. If she passed away first, I would cry my heart out because I would not know how to file my tax return. I can’t avoid all these mundane things; otherwise, I would get into trouble. Right? So it’s only right if I leave first because I would be useless living by myself.
Nevertheless, you must let go of everything. To let go of everything, you must first comprehend vajracchedika prajnaparamita, because vajracchedika prajnaparamita teaches you to let go of everything. If you comprehend the wisdom of the tathagatas, you can let go of everything. This is the wisdom of emptiness, where everything is empty. One day, everything will be annihilated and disappear. Such is life!
In fact, I have let go of everything! I have no more entanglements with my children or grandchildren. I also have no entanglements with Shimu, especially if I were to leave first. The only problem is these mundane things. Conceptually, I am a person who can let go of everything. But practically speaking, if Shimu leaves first, I will not know how to file tax returns, and the US government will arrest me. One can’t avoid mundane obligations while living in this world. You must file tax returns regardless of which country you live in. You are in big trouble if you evade taxes and fail to file tax returns! There are matters one must attend to wherever you live. Perhaps you need to go to the bank or have some documents notarized, yet I have never done those things. I don’t know how to do anything. What a trouble! So what should we say?
On the one hand, I have attained the first and foremost unexcelled and rare dharma, and I have no entanglements in anything. Yet on the other hand, I can also be the most woeful.
I saw my granddaughter, Gin, the other day on her mother’s birthday, when she came to my house, the South Mountain Retreat. I hadn’t seen her in a long time and was so surprised at how beautiful she had become. Her eyes were eyes, her nose was a nose, her mouth was a mouth, her ears were ears, and her chin was a chin. She was truly beautiful, like a goddess. None of the goddesses I painted were as beautiful as her! Gin was so beautiful that it nearly stopped my heart. I rarely take pictures with my granddaughter, and we hadn’t seen each other for so long, but this time we took a picture together. I showered her with praise and said, “Wow, so beautiful! Come, let’s have a photo taken!” You can ask Shimu how fabulous Gin is! I have never seen such a lovely young lady. That was the first time I saw the beauty of my granddaughter. On the side, Shimu was muttering, worried that someone might take advantage of her. I told Shimu it was her business and had nothing to do with us.
Is there any entanglement? Absolutely none. I have nothing to do with her. Do I have anything to do with my grandson? No. My grandson, Jaden, is a reincarnation of the elder from Foshan Temple. He is the most honest person in America—so honest to the point of naivety. Like me, he is truthful and sincere, but I’m unsure if I’m as honest as him. Gin is a bodhisattva of the seventh ground—the Ground of Far Travel. Yet my children and grandchildren are themselves and have their own destinies. I do not interfere, and I am not attached to them. There are no entanglements in my heart.
Vajracchedika prajnaparamita is not vajracchedika prajnaparamita, [yet] it is vajracchedika prajnaparamita. [This refers to the concept of the indestructible wisdom which brings us to the shore of liberation.]
As all of you know, Grandmaster’s heart is like a clear mirror. I don’t know anything about the mundane world; Shimu handles that. All I know is writing books and practicing dharma. As for the rest, my heart is as clear as a mirror, with no entanglements whatsoever. This is what I mean. Vajracchedika prajnaparamita is utterly pure and has no entanglement in anything. Without entanglement, nothing exists—it’s emptiness. Vajracchedika prajnaparamita is not vajracchedika prajnaparamita, yet it is vajracchedika prajnaparamita.
Om mani padme hum.
“The Tathagata has not spoken on anything.”
What does it mean?
In a real dharma teaching, there is no dharma to be spoken.
In other words,
dharma that can be spoken is not real dharma.
Real dharma cannot be spoken.
November 27, 2021
We will continue with chapter thirteen—Upholding According to the Dharma.
“Subhuti, what do you think? Does the Tathagata speak dharma?”
Subhuti replied, “World-Honored One, the Tathagata has not spoken.”
Anybody can recite this passage, as the Vajra Sutra is a popular sutra recited by many people. When Sakyamuni Buddha asked Subhuti if the Tathagata spoke dharma, Subhuti replied that the Tathagata had not spoken any dharma.
How do you explain the statement “the Tathagata has not spoken on anything”? Let me put it this way. In a real dharma teaching, no dharma can be spoken. In other words, the real dharma teaching is only when dharma is not spoken. Therefore, we say that dharma is not spoken in the dharma teaching.
The Vajra Sutra teaches empty-nature. Likewise, the threefold wheel of intrinsic emptiness states that there is no dharma speaker, no listener, and no such thing as dharma. The speaker, listener, and dharma do not exist in this realm. Thus speaking dharma equates to not speaking dharma. No dharma is spoken in a real “dharma teaching”—if we can even call it a dharma teaching. Even calling it a dharma teaching is barely appropriate.
This may be very hard to understand. Clearly, Sakyamuni Buddha did give dharma teachings, as we can see from the existence of the sutras. Sutras are the dharma teachings of the Buddha, right? As part of our dharma practice, we often chant:
namo guru bei,
namo buddha ya,
namo dharma ya,
namo sangha ya.
Namo guru bei means taking refuge in the Vajra Guru, namo buddha ya means taking refuge in the Buddha, namo dharma ya means taking refuge in the Dharma, and namo sangha ya means taking refuge in the Sagely Sangha.
As Buddhists, we take refuge in the dharma, so why do I say there is no dharma? What about all the sutras spoken by Sakyamuni Buddha—are they not dharma? They indeed are dharma! The Vajra Sutra, too, is dharma. Yet why did Subhuti reply that the Tathagata did not speak any dharma when Sakyamuni Buddha asked him if the Tathagata spoke dharma?
Let me provide an analogy to help you understand. I like using the Moon as an example [as the Moon is likened to the realm of emptiness]. All concepts are meaningless on the Moon. There are no humans, so there is no one speaking dharma, no one listening, and no dharma spoken—everything is nonexistent on the Moon. Because there are no humans on the Moon, time and space are meaningless, and thus, they are essentially nonexistent. Time and space are only useful when humans make use of them, and thus they are useful only in the human world. Even then, it’s all impermanent.
This is discussed later in the sutra. The Earth, too, goes through the stages of creation, existence, deterioration, and annihilation. Our current saha world will cease to exist and turn into dust in 120,000 years. Eventually the Earth will disappear! At such a time, where is buddhadharma? Who is speaking dharma? Who is listening to dharma? Does buddhadharma exist then? Once we reach the state of emptiness—when the Earth is annihilated, with human beings and everything else becoming extinct—who is speaking dharma, who is listening to dharma, and where is buddhadharma?
You may relate to this example better. Let us presume the deterioration stage occurs. A new virus appears, and nobody knows what it really is. Perhaps it’s a new coronavirus variant that is even more contagious and mutates to the point where no vaccine is effective. It infects and kills you as soon as you hear the name of the virus! The entire human race perishes. Without people on Earth, who speaks dharma? Who listens? Is there buddhadharma? Since everything is temporary and illusory, let me ask you, who is speaking dharma? Who is listening to dharma? What is buddhadharma? These analogies should help you understand.
Do you know the Buddha states that everything is impermanent? It is one of the three dharma seals! What are the dharma seals, you ask? They are the Ultimate Truth as spoken by the Buddha:
Everything is impermanent.
Everything has no self.
Extinction is nirvana.
Buddhadharma is meant to teach you to transform yourself to become empty—devoid of self. Then you confirm the emptiness of the universe with your own emptiness. Nirvana is reached when your emptiness merges with the emptiness of the universe. Nirvana is the realm of dharmata—the intrinsic suchness of everything.
In the tantric tradition, the Buddha says that you confirm the empty-nature of the universe with your innate empty-nature and enter a state of nirvana—intrinsic suchness.
As a result, you are liberated from the rebirth cycle since you have “destroyed” the cycle. The Vajra Sutra is the sutra that annihilates the rebirth cycle, including its causes and effects. What is nirvana? Nirvana is when there are no causes for birth and no causes for death. Nirvana is not just emptiness, but the merging of one’s emptiness with the emptiness of the entire cosmos.
Most people cannot understand the profundity of buddhadharma. Other religions typically speak only about heaven, hell, and the human world. In Hinduism, the highest realm is the union of Brahma Deva and self. Brahma represents heaven, so it is the union of heaven and self. Similarly, Chinese people talk about the union between heaven and human.
Buddhism is different—it talks about the union of emptiness with emptiness, using your empty-nature to confirm the empty-nature [of the universe], merging the two and entering intrinsic suchness, and transcending the cycle of birth and death. This is a very high realm called nirvana.
Sakyamuni Buddha states that such a realm is not to be spoken of. Therefore, the Buddha says that the Tathagata does not speak any dharma. Subhuti, being first and foremost in understanding empty-nature, is able to say that the Tathagata has not spoken any dharma.
Today you have heard it, and it’s certainly extraordinary! When there is a cause, there is an effect. How do you break free from the rebirth cycle? The only way to break free from this cycle is to transform yourself into no-self. Only when self no longer exists will you stop creating causes. In emptiness, there are no causes at all. Without a cause, there is no effect. There will be no more causes and conditions—no more karma. Consequently, nothing else exists either, including the rebirth cycle. As stated in the Vajra Sutra, it will disappear, and thus, you will not be reborn anymore!
“No-self” is one of the three dharma seals, as spoken by the Buddha. The three dharma seals are absence of self-nature in everything, impermanence, and extinction in nirvana.
Impermanence refers to the stages of creation, existence, deterioration, and annihilation that everything must undergo. Our body goes through these stages too. All sentient beings suffer due to the impermanent nature of everything. Impermanence is the root of all suffering. In the Buddha’s eyes, everything is suffering! Thus, you should strive to leave behind suffering immediately and attain happiness.
To reach spiritual attainments, you must first learn to have no notion of self. Once you reach the state of no-self, you become a bodhisattva. Otherwise, having a self, you are bound by self-interest and thereby create causes. Whether you can let go or not depends on whether you have [the notion of] self. Only if self is nonexistent can you let go. If you still have a self, how can “you” possibly let go? It’s a very simple concept, right? Yet most people don’t understand.
What is “no-self”? Being no-self is like a bodhisattva who exists for the sake of other beings and never for themselves. A bodhisattva generates bodhicitta—the altruistic mind to liberate oneself and others. I have explained this crucial point very clearly. Thus Grandmaster prostrating to a disciple in a dream is not a big deal [referring to a question from the prior Q&A session].
Fundamentally, everything is equal. Everything is inherently equal. Having no self, Jesus washed the feet of his disciples to show equality and humility. When the notion of self still exists, one cannot be humble. One becomes humble only after letting go of the notion of self.
You must know how to enter nirvana—a state where you don’t have any cause for birth, and you don’t have any cause for death. In other words, you will not be born or die. The intrinsic suchness is nirvana. In that state, what dharma is there to be spoken of? None. There is no dharma to be spoken.
The three dharma seals state that everything is impermanent, everything is innately devoid of self, and ultimately, everything is extinct in nirvana. In nirvana, you are entering a state of complete extinction. In such a realm, there are no such things as attainments either. This principle is most profound! It really is not easy to explain.
“Subhuti, what do you think? Does the Tathagata speak dharma?”
Subhuti replied, “World-Honored One, the Tathagata has not spoken.”
As I said, no one speaks the dharma, no one listens to the dharma, and there is no dharma itself. The realm of emptiness is like the state of the Moon or when the Earth becomes extinct. In such a case, who is there to speak the dharma? Who is there to listen to the dharma? And is there buddhadharma?
Om mani padme hum.
Sakyamuni Buddha
must have remarkable transcendent power
to know the infinity of the universe.
In the Buddhist sutras,
he calls the entire cosmos
the three-thousand-great-thousand-world.
November 28, 2021
Let’s discuss the following passage in chapter thirteen.
“Subhuti, what do you think? Is there an infinite amount of dust particles in the three-thousand-great-thousand-world?”
Subhuti replied, “Countless, World-Honored One.”
Sakyamuni Buddha’s transcendent power is truly remarkable. In his time there were no astronomical observatories, so how could he have known about solar systems? And not just our solar system but countless others as well. He knew about the three-thousand-great-thousand-world. You know that the great-thousand worlds, medium-thousand worlds, and small-thousand worlds [are terms to] essentially represent the whole universe. In modern science, we know that the universe is immeasurable, and to this day we still don’t know its exact boundaries. It’s indescribable and beyond imagination. The Buddha spoke of “an infinite amount of dust particles in the three-thousand-great-thousand-world.” How did the Buddha know?
Protestantism, Catholicism, and Islam talk about one heaven, one world, and one hell. Only Sakyamuni Buddha talks about the three-thousand-great-thousand-world—the entire cosmos. Sakyamuni Buddha is endowed with buddha eyes, dharma eyes, celestial eyes, and wisdom eyes, enabling him to see beyond the physical realm. The Buddha can see the three-thousand-great-thousand-world, yet many other religions only talk about one heaven, one human world, and one hell. From this alone, we can tell how extraordinary the Buddha is!
“…dust particles…”
What is a dust particle? You can’t see a dust particle, just as you can’t see PM 2.5 particulates. This is a joke. The monk and the Monkey King were en route to India [referred to as the West] to obtain sutras. They reached a place where all they saw was hazy mountains, hazy water, hazy birds, and everything enveloped in haze. The Monkey King said, “This looks like a fairyland. Have we reached the West [in this case, the Western Paradise]?” The monk replied, “No! This is Taichung City, Taiwan.”
Why Taichung? Because Taiwan’s largest coal power plant is located there. It emits smoke that generates smog and covers buildings in a haze. If you stand on Taichung’s high rises, such as my place, the Bodhisattva’s Peak, you can see smog enveloping all the buildings like an ocean of mist. It looks like mist but is not. It’s a collection of 2.5-micron dust particles! It also covers all of Nantou County. From the Taiwan Lei Tsang Temple, you can see smog covering Caotun City at the foot of the mountain. What a pity!
The Monkey King thought that it was Western Paradise. The monk told him, “You can stay here if you like. I’ll continue to the West [India].” The Monkey King said, “No, no, no! I want to follow my master to the West to obtain the sutras! I won’t stay here!” The monk said, “If you stay, you’ll get to the Western Paradise much sooner. Because before long, you’ll get lung cancer and die.” [laughs]
In Taiwan, we used air purifiers to remove the pollutants so we could breathe cleaner air. We also wore purifiers made in Japan, which we hung on our chests like necklaces, although we were unsure if they were effective. You can’t see the particulates indoors, but if you look from higher elevations like hills or tall buildings, you can see the haze everywhere. It covers Taiwan’s central region, including Nantou, Taichung, and Changhua.
Are there many dust particles in the three-thousand-great-thousand-world? Although they are invisible to our naked eyes, they exist in countless numbers.
“Subhuti, the Tathagata says that dust is not dust; it is merely named dust.”
It’s the same kind of phrase again. We name it dust although we can’t see it. We now know that PM 2.5 is a very fine dust, but in ancient times there were no microscopes. Microscopic dust particles like PM 2.5 still exist even when they are hard to detect with the naked eye. In simple words, we can’t see these dust particulates; we merely call them dust particulates. Dust is just a name given to them.
“The Tathagata also says that the world is not a world; it is merely called a world.”
The same explanation applies to this phrase. Can you see the world? No, you cannot. With our naked eyes, all we can see [now] is the city called North Bend, right? We can see Rainbow Villa—the Rainbow Leizang Temple. When we go to Redmond, we can see the Seattle Leizang Temple. These are what we see with our naked eyes.
Can you see the world? You might think that the Earth is the whole world, but that is not true. The world is much larger and includes more than just Earth. It includes the Moon, other planets such as Mars, Saturn, Uranus, Pluto, Neptune, and many more that you can’t see. In addition to our solar system, there are also other solar systems. We have heard there are hundreds of suns, but we can’t see them because their light does not reach our solar system.
Therefore, the world is not a world; it is merely called a world. This explanation is clear. The so-called world is beyond what we can see. We just call it the “world” although the term itself is barely appropriate, let alone the non-world, which is not visible at all. Even the things we see only exist due to causes and conditions.
The Sheng-Yen Lu you see now will wane and has no innate existence. It’s just an aggregate [coexistence of causes and conditions] of the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. In a body, bones and flesh are the earth, blood is water, heat is fire, and breath is wind. Once the four elements disintegrate, the aggregate is gone. Do you understand? You can see the current Sheng-Yen Lu, but was there a Sheng-Yen Lu seventy-seven years ago? No! You won’t be able to see Sheng-Yen Lu in a few years, as he will pass away. Sheng-Yen Lu is just a name—and his existence is temporary. Such is the world too. So the world is not a world; it is merely called a world. This is my explanation.
“Subhuti, what do you think? Can one see the Tathagata through the thirty-two marks of perfection of a buddha?”
“No, World-Honored One! One cannot see the Tathagata through the thirty-two marks of perfection. Why? Because the Tathagata says that the thirty-two marks of perfection are non-phenomena; they are merely called the thirty-two marks of perfection.”
Here we talk about the thirty-two marks of perfection, which are a kind of phenomena. The key essence of the Vajra Sutra is to not hold onto any phenomena, appearance, or form. Any phenomena will disintegrate and disappear—anything tangible is subject to deterioration.
The chair I used to sit on was fine, but it broke after I repeatedly dropped myself onto it by lifting myself while holding onto its armrests. Chairs, tables, and houses all eventually break down. Newly built houses will age with time and eventually be abandoned and demolished. Although made of steel, cars also break down after a few years and end up as scrap metal. Everything will break down!
All will become non-phenomena. Is there anything that never deteriorates? Everything will eventually deteriorate and disappear. You say that real estate properties [“immovable assets” in Chinese] are immovable and can’t decay? Wrong! The land, too, is movable; it moves when there is an earthquake. The Earth’s crust can break, and the Earth, too, will deteriorate.
Everything will go through the stages of creation, existence, deterioration, and annihilation. The Buddha says, “Impermanence!” Is there anything that doesn’t deteriorate?! This is my explanation of this statement.
The thirty-two marks of perfection refers to the physical appearance of the Tathagata, such as long earlobes that touch the shoulders. One unbelievably spectacular mark is a tongue so long and wide that it can cover the whole face when it sticks out. Sticking out such a tongue will scare people off. Interestingly the Buddha has this distinctive feature. The appearance of a tathagata is magnificent. But can these thirty-two marks of perfection signify that one is a tathagata? Of course not, they are false appearances. They exist [temporarily] for us to respect as representations of the buddhas.
Sakyamuni Buddha asks if one can determine the Tathagata by recognizing the thirty-two marks of perfection. The answer is no!
Non-phenomena! All the Vajra Sutra talks about is non-phenomena! Just remember this term: non-phenomena! During the second turning of the dharma wheel, the Buddha taught non-phenomena—the highest wisdom. Sakyamuni Buddha says that all phenomena are non-phenomena [all phenomena are devoid of “real” phenomena].
Non-phenomena applies to beautiful features too. You see her beauty now because she is twenty years old. Look again when she is eighty, and you’ll be aghast at how she’s changed. This is impermanence! Eventually she too will disappear, and all that is left will be an urn at the Twin Lotus Realm Columbarium. No matter how beautiful or ugly you are, everyone ends up the same, in an urn. What happens to all appearances, including the thirty-two marks of perfection? All gone!
Pay attention! The Buddha teaches non-phenomena—absence of phenomena. Everything will deteriorate, and it has no innate self-existence! This is a very wise statement spoken by the Buddha. It doesn’t matter how beautiful you are—what use is it [in the ultimate sense]? Worldly beings are shortsighted; they can’t think beyond the present. They just want to earn money, buy property, land, houses, and enjoy life. And then what? In the end, all will disappear!
The Buddha sees ahead and clearly states that these are just non-phenomena.
“…the Tathagata says that the thirty-two marks of perfection are non-phenomena; they are merely called the thirty-two marks of perfection.”
This statement is easy to explain. The phenomena of the thirty-two marks of perfection are not eternal; they will deteriorate and become non-phenomena. But do the thirty-two marks of perfection of a buddha exist? Yes, they certainly do. However, they will change and eventually become non-phenomena!
Everyone should be able to understand the following statement:
“Subhuti, in comparison to good men and good women who devote their lives as an act of giving amounting to the grains of sand in the Ganges River, a person who accepts and upholds this sutra, even if only the four-line verse, will still have greater blessings.”
We have talked about this before. Even if you give so much to charity, it’s incomparable to the blessings of the four-line verse—non-phenomena of self, non-phenomena of others, non-phenomena of sentient beings, and non-phenomena of lifespan.
In the future, when the entire Earth is destroyed, all non-phenomena of self, others, sentient beings, and lifespan will be proven. When the Earth disappears, there will be no more humans, no more self, no more others, no more sentient beings, and no more lifespan. “Lifespan” refers to time, while “sentient beings” refers to spatial dimension. Do you now understand?
Om mani padme hum.
