The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom

hungry on a cold still night / my boat returns empty but full of moonlight.’”

This gatha is simply “goodbye.”

contain nothing. A dream enthralls us in its scenes, until we wake and wonder where it came from and where it went. A cloud forms out of thin air, never stops changing shape, and vanishes into nothing. And a flash of lightning stuns us with its brilliant light but reminds us of the brevity of what appears to be real.

Dreams are our false bodies. Illusions are our false thoughts. Bubbles are our afflictions. Shadows are our karmic obstructions.

One must not discriminate but simply maintain an utterly empty mind that accords with the truth.

This gatha is simply an offering given to us by the Buddha, the Buddha’s way of saying goodbye: “Until we meet again, here is something for your empty bowl: regard all things, all beings, this teaching, this sutra, this body of merit, this realization, regard them all as unreal.”

As to the relevance of these similes, a lamp shines brightly but can be extinguished by something as unsubstantial as the wind. A cataract presents images of flowers and other objects that turn out to be defects of vision. A star in the sky appears at dusk only to disappear at dawn. An illusion is nothing but a conjurer’s trick. A dewdrop seems suc

Seng-chao says, “The seven jewels are limited. A four-line gatha is inexhaustible.”

Tao-ch’uan says, “When it’s time to eat, open your mouth. When it’s time to sleep, close your eyes. My song goes: ‘My line hangs straight down one-thousand feet / after each wave come ten thousand more / fish aren’t