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The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra
THE PURE MIND PRACTICES GOOD
CHAPTER 23
Sutra:
“Moreover, Subhuti, this dharma is level and equal, with no high or low. Therefore it is called anuttarasamyaksambodhi. To cultivate all good practices with no self, no others, no living beings, and no life is to attain anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Subhuti, good practices are spoken of by the Tathagata as no good practices. Therefore they are called good practices.
Commentary:
Wishing to speak in greater detail, Shakyamuni Buddha said to Subhuti, “There is nothing higher than this dharma, and there is nothing lower.” Therefore it is called anuttarasamyaksambodhi. Although it is called the unsurpassed, proper and equal, right enlightenment, it is a dharma without a mark of self, of others, of living beings, or of a life. It is devoid of attachment to self, attachment to phenomena, and attachment to emptiness. You must cultivate wholesome practices and abstain from practicing unwholesome deeds. So it is said:
I vow to cut off all evil.
I vow to do all good.
I vow to save all living beings.
If you cut off evil and cultivate good, your good roots will increase and grow. By cultivating good practices you naturally obtain unsurpassed, proper and equal, right enlightenment.
Subhuti, good practices are spoken of by the Tathagata as no good practices. Speaking from the point of view of the Tathagata there are no good practices which can be obtained. Therefore they are called good practices. They are merely given a false name. You should not have an attachment to good practices either. Attachment to good practices is still attachment. You should look upon everything as an illusion, a transformation, a dream, a bubble, or a shadow – as unreal.
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