All the Enlightened Sages are Distinguished by the Unconditioned Dharma

“Subhūti, what do you think? Did the Tathāgata attain Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi (peerless perfect enlightenment)? Did the Tathāgata explain any such dharma as peerless perfect enlightenment? Does the Tathāgata teach any such dharma?” Venerable Subhūti answered, “According to my understanding of the implications of the Buddha’s explanation, there is no set dharma called Anuttara-Samyak-Sambodhi. There is also no set dharma that the Tathāgata can deliver. Why? It is because this dharma taught by the Tathāgata is unobtainable and ineffable and is neither a dharma nor a non-dharma. How can this be? All the enlightened sages are distinguished by the unconditioned dharma.”   The Diamond Sutra, Chapter 7

【「須菩提！於意云何？如來得阿耨多羅三藐三菩提耶？如來有所說法耶？」須菩提言：「如我解佛所說義，無有定法名阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，亦無有定法如來可說。何以故？如來所說法，皆不可取、不可說，非法、非非法。所以者何？一切賢聖皆以無為法而有差別。」】金剛經 第7〈無得無說分〉

 

Remarks:

The Buddha’s questions regarding whether the Tathāgata has attained peerless perfect enlightenment and whether the Tathāgata has expounded any dharma may sound rhetorical. Why, then, does the Buddha ask these questions? It is because the subject matter does not involve specific mundane phenomena or any dharma at all. Subhūti’s reply ought to be based on the perspective of the dharma realm, the wisdom derived from his realization of the emptiness-nature, and his mundane knowledge, all combined to be in line with the contents of the Buddha’s teachings.

 Subhūti replied that all the dharmas that the Tathāgata had taught could not be attached to or directly spoken. This is because there is neither a dharma nor a non-dharma. Why is this so? The reason is that the worthies and sages are differentiated into the Three Vehicles exclusively relying on the same true and unconditioned dharma.

 If we grasp and attach to the dharma immediately after hearing the Tathāgata’s teachings, we will be trapped in the dharmas of the phenomenal world. However, if practitioners do not take in the dharma before becoming enlightened, they cannot realize the wisdom pertaining to prajna. Hence, practitioners must grasp the underlying meanings of the Buddha’s teachings instead of focusing only on linguistic terminology, as His teachings have implications for our own Tathāgata mind. But where and which is our own Tathāgata mind?

 We can only say that the Buddha propagated the aforementioned doctrines and that the dharma masters guided their disciples to cultivate the path. Yet, it is up to practitioners to work toward attaining their own enlightenment through their own efforts and merits.

 Furthermore, the true Buddha Dharma is neither a dharma nor a non-dharma. When the Buddha’s teachings are conveyed in words, their illustrations are no longer equivalent to their original reality. We can call this reality the tathagatagarbha, alayavijnana, Great Brahma, true self, or the Tathāgata. We can call it whatever we like. But when we speak of it or explain these terms in words, they will become “terminology” and will no longer be the entity self of the Tathāgata mind that we personally realized.

 On the other hand, all practitioners must realize the same unconditioned dharma. Why, then, would the cultivation be further demarcated into the Three Vehicles, as implied by Subhūti when he said that “all the enlightened sages are distinguished by the unconditioned dharma”? The reason for this is that the Two-Vehicle sound hearers focus on observing the delusive self of the aggregates, sense fields, and elements. They believe in the Buddha’s teaching that “the permanent original vijnana will remain when practitioners totally extinguish the aggregates, sense fields, and elements to enter nirvana,” that which is not nihilistic emptiness. Hence, they are willing to eradicate the self and exhaust their future existence.

 The solitary realizer saints appear during times without buddhas, and they do not require explications from other teachers. They deduced by themselves that this original vijnana (True Mind; C:本識) would give rise to the name-and-form, which would lead to the twelve and ten links of dependent origination manifested by this name-and-form. Similarly, they will be willing to extinguish the self and incur no more future existence. They will enter remainderless nirvana upon their death.

 Finally, the mahabodhisattvas do not merely believe in what they hear, as the sound hearers do, nor base their practices on making inferences, as the solitary realizers do. Rather, the bodhisattvas are set to personally realize the actual existence of the original vijnana. Therefore, they will strive to achieve awakening to the True Mind, thereby initiating the wisdom pertaining to prajna to advance their further cultivation to achieve Buddhahood.

 On the basis of the foregoing, we now know that the Bodhi path to attaining Buddhahood is different from the Bodhi paths of the Two Vehicles. There are differences between the three types of practitioners based on their practice methods that lead to their attainment of varied realizations, although all of them definitely rely on the same unconditioned dharma. Some will become arhats, others will become solitary realizers, and finally, there will be bodhisattvas and buddhas. Thus, it is said, “All the enlightened sages are distinguished by the unconditioned dharma.” Thus, the notion of three types of attainment in Buddhist cultivation. 

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