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The Vajra Prajna Paramita Sutra
THE STILLNESS OF THE AWESOME MANNER
CHAPTER 29
Sutra:
“Subhuti, if someone were to say the Tathagata either comes or goes, either sits or lies down, that person would not understand the meaning of my teaching. And why? The Tathagata does not come from anywhere, nor does he go anywhere. Therefore he is called the Tathagata.
Commentary:
After having spoken the previous section of text, Shakyamuni Buddha realized people might have doubts and become attached to the mark of the Tathagata’s comings and goings. Therefore he said to Subhuti, “If someone were to say the Tathagata either comes or goes, either sits or lies down, that person would not understand the meaning of my teaching.” It seems as if the Tathagata, the Thus Come One, comes and goes but the coming and going is only illusory. Anyone who thinks he really comes or goes has failed to understand the principle the Buddha teaches. The Tathagata has no place from which he comes and no place to which he goes; therefore he is called the Thus Come One. That means the Buddha’s dharma body neither dwells nor does not dwell. It pervades all places. If it fills all places, from where could it come? Since it fills all places, to what place could it go? Therefore it is said not to dwell and not not to dwell.
If you understand the Buddhadharma, the mountains, rivers and great earth are all the Tathagata’s dharma body. If you do not understand, you see the Tathagata but do not recognize him. If you understand the Buddhadharma, you can recognize the Buddha without even having seen him, and once you recognize the Tathagata, it is very easy to rely on the dharma to cultivate. If you don’t recognize the Tathagata and do not even know what the Buddha is all about, how can you study the Buddha? To fail to recognize yet to proceed to study is called the blind leading the blind. If you are blind you may make a mistake and choose to follow someone who is also blind. Although your leader realizes that he himself is blind, he may want to be followed and so pretends he can see. The two of you then fumble along, running hither and yon, until eventually you both fall into the sea and are drowned. It is essential from the start to recognize the Buddhadharma and to understand how to cultivate. Then you can study.
When you understand the Buddhadharma, you can rely on the dharma to cultivate and realize Buddhahood. If you follow the methods of an external way, you will only be led further and further away. The further away you go the harder it is to return; and because you cannot return to the origin, a very grave danger arises.
The Thus Come One does not come or go; Therefore he is called the Tathagata. Thus (tatha) means non-movement. Come (agata) means movement. Movement and stillness are one identical suchness. Movement does not obstruct stillness; stillness does not obstruct movement. That means in cultivating the Way you can investigate dhyana while sitting quietly and can also investigate dhyana while moving about. From morning to night in all comportments, walking, standing, sitting, and lying down, you can do the work of cultivation. It is not merely while sitting in meditation that you should apply effort. At all times you should guard the body, collect the mind, and cease from all confusion and scatteredness. You should return the light and illumine within.
Someone may ask, “This section of text says the Thus Come One does not come or go, but at the beginning of the Vajra Sutra it said,
At mealtime the World Honored One put on his robe, took up his bowl, and entered the Great City of Shravasti to beg for food.
Is that not going?” It also says, “After he finished his sequential begging he returned.” Is that not coming? How can you say he does not come or go?
It is not the Buddha who comes and goes, it is your mind which comes and goes. For example:
When the water is pure the moon appears.
When there are clouds the moon is hidden.
When the moon appears in pure water, has the moon really come to that place? When clouds hide the moon, has the moon really gone away?
Also, sometimes when people look at clouds moving through the sky, they see the moon moving and the clouds standing still. Or a boat may move down a river and it appears to some that the two banks are moving and the boat is stationary. Do the banks actually move? No.
The Buddha’s transformation bodies come and go, but his dharma body does not. Maitreya Bodhisattva spoke a gatha which says,
What comes and goes
are the Buddha’s transformation bodies.
The Tathagata is eternally unmoving.
He is neither the same nor different from
Every place within the dharma realm.
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