Although innumerable beings have been led to nirvana, no being at all has been led to nirvana. Sangharakshita eloquently delivers todayand#8217;s FBA Dharmabyte and#8220;The Diamond Sutraand#8217;s Fundamental Insightand#8221; from the talk and#8220;The Diamond Sutraand#8221; given in 1969.
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The Diamond Sutra’s Fundamental Insight
[music] Dharma Vites is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for real life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, come and join us at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. Thank you and happy listening. [music] Now, having praised the Buddha, and only after having praised the Buddha, Subutti puts to the Buddha his first question. And he asks, "How then, O Lord, should a son or daughter of good family who have set out in the Bodhisattva vehicle stand? How progress, how control their thoughts?" And it's with the Buddha's reply to this question that the main body of the Sutra begins. And it's here that we encounter the first of the great insight that the Sutra contains. So let's see what the Buddha says in reply to Subutti's first question. The Lord said, "Here, Subutti, someone who has set out in the vehicle of a Bodhisattva should produce a thought in this manner. As many beings as there are in the universe of beings, comprehend it under the term beings, egg-borne, born from a womb, moisture-borne, or miraculously-borne, with or without form, with perception, without perception, and with neither perception nor non-perception, as far as any conceivable form of beings is conceived, all these I must lead to Nirvana, into the realm of Nirvana which leaves nothing behind. And yet, although innumerable beings have thus been led to Nirvana, no being at all has been led to Nirvana. And why? If inner body sat for the notion of a being should take place, he could not be called a Bodhis being. And why? He is not to be called a Bodhis being, in whom the notion of a self, or of a being should take place, or the notion of a living soul, or of a person. So this is perhaps the Supras fundamental insight, the insight that you should say that beings do not exist. In other words, that we do not exist. That's a rather staggering idea to come up against, isn't it? That our present mode of perception, our present mode of consciousness, even of being, that tells us I am I, is false, is wrong. Now the question arises, do we take this statement seriously? We hear that beings do not exist, that we do not exist. So do we take this statement seriously? Can we even take it seriously? Are we prepared, in other words, for this is it we're blotting out, as it would appear to be, of our present existence? Are we prepared for what is sometimes called the spiritual death? Because if there's no spiritual death, then there's no spiritual birth, or rebirth. Now in the passage quoted, the Buddha goes even beyond this. The Buddha makes a highly paradoxical statement. And incidentally, the whole Pragñā partamitā literature, the whole literature dealing with transcendental wisdom, is full of paradoxes. And this paradoxical statement of the Buddha's is about the Bodhisattva. The Bodhisattva represents, of course, as those who attended a last course of lectures will remember, represents the spiritual ideal of Buddhism in general, the Mahayana in particular. A Bodhisattva is one who seeks to gain enlightenment, not for his own sake merely, but for the good and the benefit of all. So what is it that the Buddha says? He says that the Bodhisattva should resolve to lead all beings to Nirvana, to help them, to guide them, to teach them, to lead them in such a way that they all reach Nirvana. They all reach enlightenment of Buddhahood. And second, the Buddha says, the Bodhisattva should realize that in reality, no being exists. First one is exhorted to lead all beings to enlightenment, to Nirvana. Then you're told to see that no beings exist. So obviously, there's a contradiction. And there's meant to be a contradiction. And this contradiction is meant to express the very essence of the Bodhisattva idea. Usually, we think of compassion as directed towards individuals. You see individuals suffering, perhaps. And then your compassion or your pity arises. But the Bodhisattva does not perceive individuals. The Bodhisattva perceives the truth of selflessness. He perceives the truth of non-individuality, the truth of emptiness, that it is a shunnyatā. And out of this perception, this perception of non-individuality, selflessness, emptiness, out of this perception, this realization, if you like, that his compassion arises, a compassion which we perceive, which we interpret as compassion for individuals. Now, this fundamental insight of the sutra that beings do not exist, this insight into the truth of selflessness or emptiness is worked out in the sutra in various ways, has various fields of application. And we shall now turn to some of them and then conclude. We hope you enjoyed the talk. Please come and help us keep this free at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. And thank you. [music fades out] [music fades out] [music fades out] [music fades out] [BLANK_AUDIO]