The Buddha said to Subhuti, “What do you think? In the past, when the Tathagata was with Dipamkara Buddha, did he attain the Dharma?”

“No, World-honored One, when the Tathagata was with Dipamkara Buddha, he truly did not attain the Dharma.”

“Subhuti, what do you say? Does a bodhisattva adorn the Buddha land?”

“No, World-honored One. And why is this? That which adorns the Buddha land is non-adornment, that is what is called adornment.”

“For this reason, Subhuti, all great bodhisattvas should give rise to purity of mind in this way: they should not give rise to a mind that abides in form; they should not give rise to a mind that abides in sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas. They should give rise to a mind that does not abide in anything.”

What is the largest thing in the world? In Buddhist cosmology there is a great mountain called Mount Sumeru that is said to be at the center of every world system, encompassing many realms. But Sumeru is not the largest thing. What is the fastest thing in the world? A lightning strike cuts across the sky in a fraction of a second, but lightning is not the fastest thing. A single thought can be much greater and much faster than either of these.

The distinction between something large enough that it can encompass the universe and something that is large enough to obscure a tiny speck of dust is merely a temporary label. In the above passage the Buddha attempts to remove for us various impediments like the notion that his enlightenment was predicted, the notion that he adorns the Buddha land, and even the notion that he attained enlightenment. To “not abide in anything” does not mean not accumulating merit and wisdom, nor does it mean having a nihilistic view that there is no such thing as predicting or attaining enlightenment. To “not abide in anything” means that we should affirm that the Buddha land does not need adorning, but is inherently and intrinsically complete, and that the Buddha’s Dharmakaya is inherently dignified as well.

In the Diamond Sutra the Buddha says that there is no Dharma to teach, and no people who attain the Dharma, so that living beings can understand the empty nature of Buddhahood. Our minds, though they strive to attain, should not cling to any attainable phenomena. The mind that does not abide in anything is the mind of pure freedom.

During the late Tang dynasty there was a Chan master named Yunmen Wenyan who went to Zhejiang Province to seek instruction from Chan Master Daoming. As Yunmen entered the doorway of Dao ming’s hut, Daoming suddenly and forcefully slammed the door, pinning Yunmen’s s foot in the doorjamb.

Yunmen yelled, “Ahh! That really hurts!”
Daoming asked, “Who is it that is yelling in pain?”
“It’s me, Yunmen!”
Daoming said, “And where do you feel pain?”
“It’s my foot; you’ve got it pinned in the door.”
Daoming asked again, “You say your foot is in the door, but where are you?”
“I’m outside.”
Daoming continued, “If you are on the outside, how is it that your foot is on the inside?”

Yunmen then realized the profundity of what Chan Master Daoming was trying to express. There are no distinctions like “inside” or “outside” when it comes to the intrinsic nature of the Buddha or the inherent nature of prajna. Worldly opposites like inside and outside, you and me, good and bad, and even big and small are all fabrications. Sentient beings cling to labels and distinctions like “inside” and “outside” and get bound up in them, unable to transcend them.

When considering the inherent nature of the true mind, it can be said that negative karma is also empty by nature. When the delusional thoughts are extinguished, negative karma disappears as well. There is an old Buddhist saying that captures this sentiment: “Lay down the butcher’s knife and become a Buddha here and now.” Another Buddhist verse says:

Wrongdoing is mind-made, originally empty;
If the mind ceases, wrongdoing is extinguished.
The mind, gone; wrongdoing, destroyed-both are empty;
This is called true repentance.

Every single thought contains within it all of the ten dharma realms. There is no telling how many times we traverse these ten realms in a single day. When we are compassionate and have the aspiration to attain enlightenment, isn’t that the mind of the Buddha? When we give and serve others, isn’t that the mind of a heavenly being? When we are greedy, hateful, or ignorant, and think about how we can get even with and harm, even kill, other people, is that not the mind of a hell-being, hungry ghost, or animal? Within the space of a single thought we can travel the entire universe. Without finding the true mind within this mess, we cannot possibly be free.

All sentient beings have their own attachments. For some it is fame, fortune, or positions of power. For others it may be beautiful clothing and romance. There are others who are attached to knowledge and opinion; such people may believe that science alone is rational and that Buddhism is superstition. However, when it comes to rational science, we can all agree that science, whether it be the laws of mathematics and physics or the experiments of chemistry and biology, must begin with a hypothesis. Surely these hypotheses from which all of our scientific understanding is derived are clear, understandable, and believable, right?

Sadly, this is not always true. Consider in plane geometry the hypothesis about whether or not two lines will converge when extended into infinity. It is impossible to prove such a hypothesis. How can anything be proven regarding infinity, let alone if two lines will intersect? But the proving of the hypothesis that two parallel lines do not intersect when extended infinitely is part of Euclidean geometry that so many have learned.

Another example is economics. Economic hypotheses are carried out under the assumption that all other factors will remain the same, but the conditions for this hypothesis will never exist in life. The only thing that is for certain is that everything is always changing! Isn’t this the “impermanence” that we talk about in Buddhism?

If we consider where each theory begins, and think about all of the knowledge that permeates our everyday lives and social structures that we take for granted, can any of these theories stand up to examination?

Once Huineng was listening to Fifth Patriarch Hongren expound the meaning of the Diamond Sutra. When Hongren reached the passage “they should give rise to a mind that does not abide in anything,” Huineng experienced a great awakening and realized that all phenomena are not separate from intrinsic nature. Huineng exclaimed excitedly:

“Who could have thought that intrinsic nature is inherently so pure and clear! Who could have thought that intrinsic nature is inherently neither created nor destroyed! Who could have thought that intrinsic nature is inherently complete! Who could have thought that intrinsic nature is inherently unmoving! Who could have thought that intrinsic nature can inherently manifest all phenomena!”

There are ten common epithets for the Buddha, one of the most common being tathagata in Sanskrit or rulai (如來) in Chinese. The meaning in both Sanskrit and Chinese is similar: ru means “thus” and lai means “come.” This signifies that the Buddha cannot be said to have come from any concrete place, nor can he said to be going anywhere. Another way to analyze this name is that the first character, ru, represents what is called the Buddha’s “Dharmakaya.” That is the absolute aspect of the Buddha that pervades all of reality. The second character, lai, represents the Buddha’s “Nirmanakaya.” This is the aspect of the Buddha that manifests in various forms according to conditions to liberate living beings. By comparison, the Buddha’s Nirmanakaya has hundreds of millions of different forms, while the Buddha’s Dharmakaya is constant and unchanging. The combination of these two concepts into rulai creates a non-dualistic relationship between what is in motion and what is still that is “thus as it is.”

The intrinsic nature of living beings is inherently pure, and does not arise or cease. Human beings intrinsically neither come nor go, are not born, and do not die. Living beings are endowed with Buddha nature and need not seek anything outside themselves. Each person’s intrinsic nature does not waver, and it is from this intrinsic nature that all phenomena arise.

Another way to explain the phrase “not abiding in anything” is to say “having no hypotheses.” The Dharma tells us to have a mind that does not abide in anything, while science and the humanities ask that the mind abide in some particular thing. It is only because hypotheses abide in things that we can deduce the various theories and natural laws of science. The knowledge of science and the humanities could not possibly be established without such hypotheses. By not abiding in anything, the Dharma is able to undo the bonds that fetter our minds precisely because it need not rely on other causes or abide in hypotheses. This is the central meaning of the Diamond Sutra.

Prince Bhadrika was a cousin of the Buddha, who later joined the monastic order. On one occasion he was practicing in the forest with two other monastics, Aniruddha and Kimbila, when he began to shout, “Ah, such bliss; truly such great bliss!”

Aniruddha then asked him, “What are you shouting about? What has made you feel such bliss?”

Bhadrika replied, “Venerable Aniruddha, in the past when I was a prince, I lived in the royal palace with impregnable walls and battlements, and there were many attendants and warriors who stood guard over me with weapons in hand, yet I still was terrified of assassins plotting my murder. I ate the finest delicacies and dressed in silks and satins, living a life of extreme luxury, but during that time I never enjoyed the taste of my food, nor felt that my clothing was elegant enough. Now I have joined the monastic order. I have not a single bodyguard and am here mediating in the forest all by myself, but I do not fear that someone will come and kill me. My clothing and food are all quite simple, and yet my heart is full and content. I can now sit and sleep freely without the slightest feeling of unease. This is why I feel such bliss:’

It is true that things like doting love, wealth, and positions of power may appear to bring happiness and comfort to life, but they can also be the burdens that shackle us.

When we give rise to a mind that does not abide in anything, this is our true Buddha nature. If we feel secure in our body and mind it becomes impossible for others to harm us with a look or try to entice us with some proposition. Neither poverty nor wealth, favor nor disfavor, honor nor disgrace can dissuade us from our original aspiration. If we want to find a place where we can settle down and be secure, we must be able to live without abiding.

A mind that no longer abides in anything takes a long time to cultivate. We must always remain vigilant and self-aware, and examine our aspirations to see if they are pure or impure, true or false. It is as the sutras say, “When your aspiration is true, the result will be perfect.”

The mind is like empty space, and it should abide in nothing, just as the teachings indicate. There are a few phrases that I recommend people take to heart, that they may help us to learn to live securely with the mind as empty as space, so we can slowly learn to get along with this mind of ours. They are:

• The heat of summer and the chill of winter are both beautiful.
• North, south, east, and west are all fine.
• Whether high or low, up or down, both are wonderful.
• Nothing separates oneself and others.

Source: Hsing Yun. Four Insights for Finding Fulfillment: A Practical Guide to the Buddha’s Diamond Sutra. Los Angeles: Buddha’s Light Publishing, 2012.