The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom

“From emptiness comes wisdom

Thus, the Buddha agrees that it is as Subhuti says, that the Tathagata’s greatest blessing and instruction consists of his everyday acts of wearing his robe and carrying his bowl and not only of his discourses.”

Tao-yuan says, “The meaning of the entire Diamond Sutra has now been presented: the vow, the practice, and now the realization. The next chapter adds belief.”

Mahayana ideal with its emphasis on compassion and wisdom as opposed to the Hinayana ideal of the arhan with its emphasis on morality and meditation.

Hui-neng says, “A ‘noble son’ refers to an even-tempered mind, a perfectly concentrated mind, which can practice all virtues while remaining unobstructed wherever it goes. A ‘noble daughter’ refers to a truly wise mind, from which all conditioned and unconditioned virtues are produced.”

this is born the unexcelled, perfect enlightenment of tathagatas, arhans, and fully-enlightened ones.

And just in case we doubt our ability to join this noble assembly, the Buddha tells us this teaching cannot be heard, believed, or practiced by those who do not share the bodhisattva’s resolve to liberate all beings.

and someone heard this dharma teaching and did not reject it, the body of merit produced as a result would be immeasurably, infinitely greater. How much more so if they not only wrote it down but grasped it, memorized it, recited it, mastered it, and explained it in detail to others.

Fu Hsi’s song goes, “Water and land are the same true realm / flying and walking alike are real / dharmas include no this or that / the truth isn’t distant or near / distinctions of self and other be gone / away with perceptions of better or worse / once we know this equalizing nature / we enter nirvana together.”