Diamond Sutra – Talk 4 – 2008 Series

The Diamond Sutra is a Mahayana sutra from the genre of Prajnaparamita ('perfection of wisdom') sutras. In this series Norman will referernce the Diamond Sutra - Red Pine Edition. This is the fourth talk in this series. Diamond Sutra 4 By Zoketsu Norman Fischer | November 12, 2008 Abridged and edited by Barbara Byrum and Deborah Russell     Last time we were discussing the Diamond Sutra and the earlier Buddhist path of the arhat, the path of renunciation. We feel our own pain, and we know that there is something to be done; there is something to let go of, so we let go. We renounce. But, then, maybe we get attached to that brilliant sacrifice that we have made, to our renunciation and our sense of identity with the renunciation, to our holiness, and to our difference from others, who have not yet done this great thing that we have done. In contrast, in the bodhisattva path - the path of emptiness and compassion - we don't have the imperative to take a moral action, which is to renounce self, the world, and so on. Rather than the compunction to take a moral action, we have an ontological commitment to seeing that things are empty of anything that could be held on to. We understand that there is nothing to renounce, and there is nobody to renounce anything. Even if we do renounce something, we know that it is not an actual renunciation. So we are liberated from renunciation, and we are liberated from our sense of our difference from others. We are fully identified with others as non-others, and so, without any others, naturally, just living is an act of compassion. In other words, there is nothing but love and compassion, because we have realized that there is really non-difference. So we love the world and others as we love ourselves. Life by its very nature is loving-kindness, no matter what goes on. You know the wonderful phrase in the Zen koan, speaking of compassion, "It is as natural as reaching behind in the night for your pillow." Nothing special, just that natural action to bring comfort to a weary head, whether it is your own or someone else's. It hardly matters. So in the Diamond Sutra a shift is being proposed from a religious act to what I am calling an ontological commitment; to an understanding of the way that the world really is. So let's read Chapter 13: This having been said, the venerable Subhuti asked, "Bhagavan, what is the name of this dharma teaching, and how should we remember it?" The Buddha told the venerable Subhuti, "The name of this dharma teaching, Subhuti, is the Perfection of Wisdom. Thus should you remember it. And how so? Subhuti, what the Tathagata says is the perfection of wisdom the Tathagata says is no perfection. Thus it is called the 'perfection of wisdom.'" "Subhuti, what do you think? Is there any such dharma spoken by the Tathagata?" Subhuti said, "No, indeed, Bhagavan. There is no such dharma spoken by the Tathagata." The Buddha said, "Subhuti, what do you think? Are all the specks of dust in the billion-world-system of a universe many?" Subhuti said, "Many, Bhagavan. The specks of dust are many. And how so? Because, Bhagavan, what the Tathagata says is a speck of dust is no speck. Thus it is called 'a speck of dust.' And what the Tathagata says is a world system, the Tathagata says is no system. Thus it is called 'a world system.'" The Buddha said, "Subhuti, what do you think? Can the Tathagata, the Arhat, the Fully Enlightened One be seen by means of the thirty-two attributes of a perfect person?" Subhuti said, "No, indeed, Bhagavan. The Tathagata, the Arhat, the Fully Enlightened One cannot be seen by means of the thirty-two attributes of a perfect person. And why not? Because, Bhagavan, what the Tathagata says are the thirty-two attributes of a perfect person, Bhagavan, the Tathagata says are no attributes. Thus are they called the 'thirty-two attributes of a perfect person.'" This is the famous and strange logic of the Diam...