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The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra
TRANSFORMATIONS WITHOUT WHAT IS TRANSFORMED
CHAPTER 25
Sutra:
“Subhuti, what do you think? You should not maintain that the Tathagata has this thought: ‘I shall take living beings across.’ Subhuti, do not have that thought. And why? There actually are no living beings taken across by the Tathagata. If there were living beings taken across by the Tathagata, then the Tathagata would have the existence of a self, of others, of living beings, and of a life. Subhuti, the existence of a self spoken of by the Tathagata is no existence of a self, but common people take it as the existence of a self. Subhuti, common people are spoken of by the Tathagata as no common people, therefore they are called common people.
Commentary:
The Sixth Patriarch said to the Fifth Patriarch, “When one is deluded, one’s master takes one across; but when one is enlightened, one takes oneself across.” Once you understand, you take yourself across. When living beings are confused, the Buddha takes them across. Living beings need to wake up, but who wakes them up? It is not the Buddha; they wake up themselves. In other words, “In the equality of the true dharma realm, the Buddha does not take living beings across.” Living beings and the Buddha are equal. There is not a little more of something on the part of a Buddha, or a little less of something on the part of living beings. Because of that it is said, “There actually are no living beings taken across by the Tathagata.”
Were you to insist upon saying that there were living beings taken across by the Tathagata, then the Tathagata would have the existence of a self, of others, of living beings, and of a life, and the four marks would not be empty. The Buddha tells all living beings to leave all marks. How much the more so must the Buddha himself have done so. So when the Buddha rescues living beings, it is really the living beings who rescue themselves. The Buddha does not take living beings across, because he has no mark of self.
Subhuti, the existence of a self spoken of by the Tathagata is no existence of a self. The existence of self refers to the false self… is no existence of a self means it is not the true self. Common people take the false self as true, but common people are spoken of by the Tathagata as no common people, therefore they are called common people. Subhuti, those who are presently common people will eventually realize Buddhahood, so the Tathagata says they are not common people. You must not look upon them as ordinary. The Buddha said that all living beings have the Buddha nature, all can become Buddhas. It is only because of false thinking and attachment that they have not yet been able to certify to Buddhahood. The Buddha regards all living beings as his former fathers and mothers and as future Buddhas. Common people are just called common people, because that is what they are right now.
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