22  No Dharma Is Ever Attained

Today we will discuss chapter twenty-two—No Dharma Is Ever Attained. This short chapter consists of only a few phrases. Look at how Sakyamuni Buddha speaks in the Vajra Sutra. Isn’t it exasperating? It’s so frustrating and annoying! I might as well not talk about it! [joking] Oh, how Sakyamuni Buddha speaks dharma…

The Buddha says there is no dharma to be attained; this refers to unattainability. There is no dharma to attain. If that’s the case, why should we learn any dharma? Since there is no dharma to attain, what dharma should I speak of? Speaking dharma is the same as not speaking dharma, as no dharma can be attained anyway. Let’s all go home and call it a day. The monks can go home and become husbands, the nuns become wives, and the True Buddha School will dissolve. After learning the Vajra Sutra, perhaps we should just forget about it all. [laughs]

No dharma can be attained. Yet so much dharma has been spoken, and so much tantric dharma has been practiced—so what use is it?

Subhuti asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, there is no such thing as the Buddha attaining anuttara samyaksambodhi. Is that so?” 

This term—anuttara samyaksambodhi—is frequently mentioned in the Vajra Sutra. It essentially refers to buddhanature. In this passage, there is the question about the Buddha attaining anuttara samyaksambodhi. Has the Buddha attained buddhanature? Or has he attained nothing? The truth is, there really is nothing to attain.

Also, nothing has been gained because “gaining” means obtaining something externally, whereas buddhanature has always been there all along. There is no need to obtain it from anywhere else. Buddhanature is intrinsic within you, so what else is there to gain? You are buddhanature, and buddhanature is you. So what dharma are you seeking? What attainment are you striving for? Of course, there is nothing to gain and nothing to attain. This is my explanation.

The Buddha responded, “It is so, Subhuti! I have not attained anuttara samyaksambodhi or any dharma at all; it is merely called anuttara samyaksambodhi.”

My buddhanature has not attained any dharma—not even the slightest. Since I have not attained anything, it is called anuttara samyaksambodhi. Anuttara samyaksambodhi—or buddhanature—has always been mine, so what is there to attain? All right, that concludes my explanation. [laughs]

[Grandmaster tells a joke about numbers.] Let me tell you, of all these numbers, “zero” aligns with what Sakyamuni Buddha is talking about here. Amazingly, Sakyamuni Buddha chooses zero [as a metaphor], because zero is the most compelling number. Why? Because zero is the beginning and the source of all numbers. By saying that no dharma is ever attained and nothing to gain, the Buddha infers the number zero—the most incredible number.

What is anuttara samyaksambodhi? It is zero! It is buddhanature, emptiness. What is emptiness? The emptiness taught by Sakyamuni Buddha that we have been discussing in this exposition can be symbolized by the number zero. Emptiness encompasses everything. Likewise, zero includes all numbers, and all numbers arise from zero. Zero is the most amazing of all numbers. Is there any number more incredible than zero? No. Because zero encompasses all numbers.

“No dharma can be attained” can also be represented by zero. Zero is absolute purity, untainted by anything. If you can cultivate until you become utterly pure, you have reached buddhahood—with no trace of karma whatsoever!

In previous expositions, we often talk about the purity scale. What is the purity scale? The Buddha says it is the extent of your purification which results in your ascending the ten grounds of bodhisattvahood. As you purify yourself, you progress through the levels of purification: from the first ground—the Ground of Joy—to the second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh ground—the Ground of Far Travel. At the eighth level, you reach the Immovable Ground. Then, you ascend to the ninth and subsequently the tenth level, associated with the tenth ground of bodhisattvahood—the Ground of Dharma Clouds. The eleventh ground and above are considered buddhahood, according to the sutric tradition. In the tantric tradition, all five cakras, including the crown cakra, are opened at this stage. When you reach the twelfth and a half ground, the usnisa is also opened. Once all cakras have been opened, you attain buddhahood.

The Thousand-Armed Thousand-Eyed Avalokitesvara Bodhisattva has eleven heads representing the eleventh ground, with each head representing one ground. In Mahayana Buddhism, this bodhisattva is considered a buddha. Amitabha Buddha, a buddha of the thirteenth ground, has a purity level of thirteen. The Primordial Buddha has reached level sixteen and is therefore a buddha of the sixteenth ground.

In fact, any ground above the tenth is considered zero. Arabic numerals start from 0—then 1, 2, 3, through to 10. That’s how you count. In chapter twenty-two, the Buddha says that no dharma is ever attained. Grandmaster’s unique explanation is to liken it to zero. Nothing is ever attained, not even the slightest trace; this indicates complete purity. No dharma is ever attained.¹Dharma in this context refers to “everything.” What Sakyamuni Buddha attained is absolute purity and merging with emptiness—analogous to zero. This is the perfection stage.

Let me recite the sutra again, and by now you should understand.

Subhuti asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, there is no such thing as the Buddha attaining anuttara samyaksambodhi. Is that so?”

The Buddha responded, “It is so, Subhuti! I have not attained anuttara samyaksambodhi or any dharma at all; it is merely called anuttara samyaksambodhi.”

Amid emptiness—with respect to zero—nothing can be attained. All you attain is emptiness. Emptiness is zero, nothingness, which has always been inherent within you.

There is a saying, “In heaven and on earth, I am the only one.” What is this “I”? It is zero. It is buddhanature. Buddhanature is zero, emptiness. Only “zero” can say that it is the only one. The number “one” cannot say it is the only one because “one” is still there, no matter how much purification you have achieved.

Spiritual cultivation functions to purify ourselves, to increase our purity from level one all the way to level ten. When you have completely purified yourself—becoming zero—that is anuttara samyaksambodhi. Spiritual cultivation refers to this purification.

Why is nothing attained? Because zero is inherent within us. The Buddha states clearly that every sentient being has buddhanature. It’s just that they have not yet seen or manifested it. They remain sentient beings because they have neither understood the nature of the mind nor realized buddhanature. Once they are awakened and see buddhanature, they become buddhanature. Buddhanature cannot be given or obtained from your guru or anywhere else.

Therefore, during the prophecy given by Dipamkara Buddha, Sakyamuni Buddha states that he has not attained any dharma or anything at all, because buddhanature has always been within him. Nothing has been attained.

This is the key point. “It” is not given to you by anyone, not by the guru, a man, a woman, or any others—not even by Sakyamuni Buddha, Amitabha Buddha, or anyone else. You can only seek within yourself. Only when you have completely purified yourself by eliminating habitual tendencies, karma, and afflictions will you manifest your buddhanature, which is zero—anuttara samyaksambodhi. This is the meaning of this excerpt.

Om mani padme hum.