The Profound Meaning of the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sutra from the Consciousness-Only Perspective (Second Edition)
Chapter 18 Ultimately No Self, Seventeen
In this chapter the World-Honored One teaches ultimately no self, telling Subhūti that after a bodhisattva brings forth the vast, profound bodhi mind and extensively delivers immeasurable sentient beings, he must extinguish the notion of self and the notion of sentient beings, without the mark of self and without the mark of sentient beings, gradually becoming without self in the mind until ultimately without self. Because in the realm of ultimate reality there truly is no self—neither the self of persons nor the self of dharmas exists—all must be extinguished completely. Only then does one accord with the profound bodhi mind; having subdued the self, the mind attains purity, and only then do the buddhas confer prediction of buddhahood upon such a one. Even upon attaining buddhahood, the mind is still without self and empty; there is no dharma-mark of attaining buddhahood, no dharma-mark of delivering sentient beings, no dharma-mark of any kind whatsoever.
A Bodhisattva Delivering Sentient Beings Should Have the Three Wheels in Emptiness
Original text:尔时须菩提白佛言。世尊。善男子善女人。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心。云何应住。云何降伏其心。
Explanation: Subhūti asked the Buddha: World-Honored One, when good men and good women bring forth the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, how should they abide, and how should they subdue their minds?
This was Subhūti asking the World-Honored One on behalf of sentient beings: after bodhisattvas have brought forth the Mahāyāna bodhi mind, how should they settle and abide in this mind? Which mind is this mind? It refers to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that are capable of bringing forth the bodhi mind, not to the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha, which truly does not bring forth the bodhi mind. The tathāgatagarbha brings forth no mind at all; it has no mental activity, no wishes, and no desire to become a buddha; its mental activity abides nowhere. With Subhūti's wisdom, he would not ask the World-Honored One how the tathāgatagarbha should abide and be maintained; moreover, the World-Honored One had already taught the nature of the vajra prajñā mind as abiding nowhere. Subhūti was asking: the deluded mind that is capable of bringing forth the bodhi mind—having brought forth pure great vows, should it still, as before, abide in worldly dharmas of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects, abide in the five aggregates, and bring forth the mind for the sake of these worldly dharmas? After bringing forth the Mahāyāna bodhi mind, one should no longer, as before, cling to the marks of all worldly dharmas, should no longer have greed, hatred, and delusion blazing, but should subdue this mind—so how should it be subdued?
Original text:佛告须菩提。善男子善女人。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心。当生如是心。我应灭度一切众生。灭度一切众生已。而无有一众生。实灭度者。
Explanation: The Buddha told Subhūti: when good men and good women bring forth the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, they should give rise to such a mind: I should deliver and liberate all sentient beings; having delivered and liberated all sentient beings, inwardly one knows that in fact not a single sentient being has actually been delivered and liberated.
Here "delivering and liberating" (mie du) has two meanings. One meaning is that after sentient beings realize the non-self of the five aggregates, they will gradually exhaust self-grasping, cultivate to the fourth fruit, and attain nirvāṇa without remainder, thereby gaining liberation. After nirvāṇa without remainder, the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses are all extinguished, the dharmas of the eighteen realms all disappear, the appearances of the world of the three realms all vanish, leaving only the unborn and unceasing, indestructible vajra mind, the tathāgatagarbha, abiding in a state of nothingness, quiescent and non-active; that sentient being has thus vanished and perished—this is called delivering and liberating.
Extinguished it is, but why is it called "liberated" (du)? Because this sentient being, who formerly transmigrated through the six paths committing evil karma and suffered immeasurable, boundless afflictions, now that the manas has extinguished the ignorance of one thought (eṣaṇā), no longer creates the karma of birth-and-death transmigration, much less transmigrates through the three realms according to karma to suffer the suffering of birth and death; from then on he no longer has birth and death, no longer has suffering to undergo, and there is no longer any so-called "him." The true him—the tathāgatagarbha—creates no karma, has no birth and death, and certainly does not suffer; it is purely quiescent and non-active. Therefore, "liberating" means crossing over the suffering of birth and death, crossing beyond the transmigration of the six paths.
Delivering and liberating has yet another meaning: after a bodhisattva teaches sentient beings to realize the mind of ultimate reality, the tathāgatagarbha, the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses gradually extinguishes ignorance, afflictions, and afflictive habits; the eight consciousnesses all transform into wisdom, becoming the ultimately perfect unsurpassed honored one, no longer a sentient being. In this way, that sentient being has been delivered and liberated, becoming completely and fully a buddha of realized fruition, no longer merely a buddha in principle. Such delivering and liberating of sentient beings is ultimate delivering and liberating, the best and most perfect delivering and liberating, utterly consummate, without a trace of regret.
In this way, all sentient beings are delivered and liberated, immeasurable and boundless sentient beings are all delivered and liberated, yet afterward the mind has no such thought of having delivered and liberated all sentient beings, but instead feels that one has not liberated a single sentient being, that not one sentient being has been liberated. This is strange—why say not a single sentient being has been liberated, when clearly all sentient beings have been liberated?
Original text:何以故。须菩提。若菩萨有我相人相众生相寿者相，则非菩萨。所以者何。须菩提。实无有法。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心者。
Explanation: Why should one give rise to such a mind? Subhūti, if a bodhisattva has in mind the mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient being, and the mark of life span, and has not yet broken through the four marks, he has not realized ultimate reality and is not a true bodhisattva. Why is he not a true bodhisattva? Subhūti, because in the world there truly is no dharma of bringing forth the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, no one who brings forth the bodhi mind; if a person has the mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient being, and the mark of life span, he has not eradicated the view of self and is not a bodhisattva.
A bodhisattva who has realized the mind of ultimate reality, having broken through the four marks, is a true bodhisattva, realizing that the mark of self is not truly existent, the mark of person is not truly existent, the mark of sentient being is not truly existent, and the mark of life span, which depends on the five aggregates, is also not truly existent. The mind no longer takes the various illusory marks of the five aggregates as real, and gradually no longer clings to the various conditioned dharma-marks of the worldly five aggregates. When such a bodhisattva then goes to deliver sentient beings, he knows there are no sentient beings to be delivered, no sentient beings being delivered, no self to deliver them, no self to bring forth the mind, and no dharma by which the self brings forth the mind.
Why is there no dharma of bringing forth anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? This statement can be understood from three aspects. The first aspect: there is no bodhisattva capable of bringing forth the great bodhi mind, because a bodhisattva appears in the form of the five aggregates, and the bodhisattva's five aggregates are also illusory and not truly existent—not a true bodhisattva. The second aspect: there is no dharma upon which a bodhisattva relies to bring forth the great bodhi. Bodhisattvas bring forth the mind to attain buddhahood and benefit sentient beings for various reasons and motives: some bring forth the mind upon seeing the suffering of sentient beings; some, because of their own suffering, think of the equal suffering of sentient beings and bring forth the mind; some bring forth the mind out of admiration for the immeasurable merits of the buddhas. These bringings-forth of the mind have many causes, too numerous to list. But all the contents upon which these bringings-forth of the mind rely are illusory and unreal, transformed and not real.
The third aspect: there is no dharma called "bringing forth the great bodhi mind" that exists. The dharma of bringing forth the bodhi mind arises and manifests through the combination of the five aggregates with worldly dharmas. The five aggregates are illusory and unreal, the marks of worldly dharmas are illusory and unreal, so the event of bringing forth the great bodhi mind, which depends on both, is illusory and unreal—a dharma of arising and ceasing.
When a bodhisattva brings forth the mind to deliver sentient beings, with what attitude should he deliver them? A bodhisattva delivering sentient beings should have the three wheels in emptiness, without the four marks, delivering sentient beings with an empty mind of no self, no person, no sentient being, no life span. Because the mark of self is empty, there is no real self to deliver sentient beings; because the marks of person and sentient being are empty, there are no sentient beings being delivered; thus the event of "I deliver sentient beings" is empty, not truly existent. If a bodhisattva clings to the notion that "I have delivered sentient beings" and "there are sentient beings delivered by me," he has not realized no-self, his mind is not empty, and he is not a true bodhisattva. Sentient beings are empty—how can they be delivered? The self is empty—how can it deliver? Therefore, although the bodhisattva delivers and liberates all sentient beings, in the realm of ultimate reality not a single sentient being has been delivered.
The person who brings forth the bodhi mind is empty; the event of bringing forth the bodhi mind is empty, an illusion—the event exists but the principle does not; the existence is provisional existence. Yet through cultivating this illusory event one can attain buddhahood, and the event of attaining buddhahood is also empty, illusory; in the realm of ultimate reality there is no buddha to attain and no ordinary being to be obtained; everything is like dreams, illusions, bubbles, shadows, vague and insubstantial, neither real nor false, both real and false; true and illusory, real and unreal—no need to grasp at them; the event must be done, the mind must be empty. The bodhisattva not only delivers sentient beings with the three wheels in emptiness; in practicing generosity and all the other myriad practices of the six pāramitās, all must be with the three wheels in emptiness—being empty all the way to the end is what it means to arrive home.
Original text:须菩提。于意云何。如来于然灯佛所。有法得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提不。不也。世尊。如我解佛所说义。佛于然灯佛所。无有法得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。
Explanation: Subhūti, what do you think? When the Tathāgata was at the place of Dīpaṃkara Buddha, did he obtain any dharma by which to attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? Subhūti said: World-Honored One, according to my understanding of the meaning of what you have taught, at the place of Dīpaṃkara Buddha, you did not obtain any dharma by which to accomplish anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.
When the World-Honored One met the ancient Buddha Dīpaṃkara, he realized the fruition of the eighth bhūmi, the Immovable Ground; his mind-ground was pure and non-active, with not a single dharma in his mind to confront him, not a single mark in his mind to cling to, emptying and purifying all dharmas, relinquishing all dharmas, utterly empty and bare. Only then did Dīpaṃkara Buddha confer upon Śākyamuni Buddha the prediction of buddhahood. But even the dharma-mark of being predicted to attain buddhahood is empty and illusory; the realized fruition of the eighth bhūmi is also empty and illusory; the dharma-mark of the mind-ground being pure and non-active is also empty and illusory; the dharma-mark of "not clinging to any dharma" is also empty and illusory; the dharma-mark of "the mind being utterly empty and bare" is also empty and illusory; and now that the World-Honored One has become a buddha, the dharma-mark of becoming the honored one of the three realms is also empty and illusory. Of all things in the world, there is not a single mark that is not empty and illusory, not a single mark that is real—except for that unborn and unceasing, indestructible mind of ultimate reality which is not in the world. Therefore, at the place of Dīpaṃkara Buddha, the Buddha obtained no dharma of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.
Original text:佛言。如是如是。须菩提。实无有法。如来得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。须菩提。若有法如来得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提者。然灯佛则不与我授记。汝于来世。当得作佛。号释迦牟尼。以实无有法。得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。是故然灯佛。与我授记。作是言。汝于来世。当得作佛。号释迦牟尼。
Explanation: The Buddha said: It is so, it is so. Subhūti, truly there is no dharma by which the Tathāgata attains the fruit of buddhahood, nor does the Tathāgata rely on any dharma to attain the fruit of buddhahood. If there were one dharma or many dharmas by which the Tathāgata could rely to attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, then Dīpaṃkara Buddha would not have conferred upon me the prediction, saying: In a future life you shall become a buddha named Śākyamuni, with such-and-such a buddha-land, such-and-such disciples, such-and-such transmission of the buddha-dharma, and so on. Because the Tathāgata truly has no dharma to rely upon by which to realize anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, therefore Dīpaṃkara Buddha conferred upon me the prediction, saying: At such-and-such a time in the future you shall become a buddha, with the buddha-name Śākyamuni.
Here the Tathāgata explicitly refers to the World-Honored One Buddha with his five-aggregate body, and implicitly refers to the true-suchness mind-essence, the vajra prajñā mind. The Buddha's indestructible vajra mind, from beginningless kalpas, has never obtained a single dharma—not even the dharma of attaining buddhahood. Because it is not a mind of acquisition, not a greedy mind; it is itself perfectly endowed with all dharmas, lacking not a single dharma; whatever exists in the world all comes from this mind. As for the buddha-dharma, the true-suchness mind-essence also does not obtain it; it never studies the buddha or studies the dharma, yet the Buddha and the dharma both refer to itself—there is no need for it to study itself. It also does not cultivate precepts, meditation, and wisdom, does not extinguish greed, hatred, and delusion, does not break through ignorance, because it is itself endowed with precepts, meditation, and wisdom, and has no ignorance, greed, hatred, or delusion. It also need not eliminate the four marks or the eight marks, because it itself has not a single mark, does not crave any mark, does not correspond to any mark, and instead can transform and create immeasurable, boundless marks. Therefore, the Tathāgata truly has no dharma by which to attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.
And the Tathāgata with the five-aggregate body, relying on the formless true Tathāgata mind-essence, also obtains not a single dharma, not even the buddha-dharma; inside and outside, body and mind are all nakedly pure and bare, without a single dharma; corresponding with the true-suchness mind-essence, relinquishing all dharmas and all marks—even the buddha-dharma is entirely relinquished—only then can one attain buddhahood. If there is a single dharma in the mind that is not empty and pure, the buddha-way cannot be accomplished. Although the buddha-way is accomplished and the fruit of buddhahood attained, in reality there is no fruit of buddhahood to be obtained—even the dharma of "not obtaining" is not obtained. All dharmas that are obtained, all dharmas with marks, are entirely empty and illusory; only thus can one become a buddha, only thus is one the World-Honored One.
Original text:何以故。如来者。即诸法如义。若有人言。如来得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。须菩提。实无有法。佛得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。
Explanation: Why is it said that truly there is no dharma by which the Tathāgata attains anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? The Tathāgata I speak of means the true-suchness meaning of all dharmas, the principle-essence inherent in all dharmas. If someone says the Tathāgata has attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, that the Tathāgata has become a buddha, such a statement implies that the Tathāgata truly has dharmas to be obtained—but what dharma could the Tathāgata obtain? In fact, the Tathāgata obtains nothing. Subhūti, truly there is no dharma by which the Buddha attains anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Only by obtaining not a single dharma can one attain the so-called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, and only provisionally be named as having attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.
What did the Buddha actually obtain? Did he obtain the fruit of buddhahood? By what dharma did he obtain the fruit of buddhahood? Obtaining is a surface phenomenon; in reality nothing is obtained, and nothing can be obtained. Surface phenomena can be seen and felt by many people, but what is seen and felt is not real; it is all produced by karmic conditions, all illusory manifestation. Obtaining is the surface phenomenon; not obtaining is the essence; when the surface phenomenon and the essence combine, that is the so-called attainment of the fruit of buddha bodhi. The Tathāgata obtains nothing from any dharma, because He is inherently endowed with all myriad dharmas and does not crave any dharma; therefore He obtains none of all dharmas, nor does He obtain the fruit of buddha bodhi.
Original text:须菩提。如来所得。阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。于是中无实无虚。是故如来说。一切法皆是佛法。须菩提。所言一切法者。即非一切法。是故名一切法。
Explanation: Subhūti, the dharma of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi attained by the Tathāgata is in fact neither real nor illusory; it is the combination of the real and the illusory, together constituting the great way of bodhi. Therefore, the Tathāgata says all dharmas are buddha-dharmas; among all these dharmas there is the real and the illusory, the true and the false together constituting all dharmas. Subhūti, the all-dharmas I speak of are not truly anything that could be called all dharmas; all dharmas are not truly existent all-dharmas; therefore they are provisionally named all dharmas.
Why does the Buddha say that the dharma of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi attained by the Tathāgata is neither real nor illusory, that it cannot be called real, nor can it be called illusory? Because the dharma of attaining buddhahood is a combination of the real and the illusory: with only the illusory dharma, the illusory dharma cannot be established; with only the real dharma, the real dharma has no conditions and no motive force, can do nothing, and accomplishes nothing. This real dharma is the source that gives birth to the five aggregates, the world, and the myriad dharmas—the Dharmakāya Buddha, the tathāgatagarbha, the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna). And the illusory dharmas are the dharmas of the five aggregates and the world manifested by the undefiled consciousness. Thus we know that the dharma of attaining buddhahood is formed by the joint combination of the tathāgatagarbha and the five-aggregate body. If we say the dharma of attaining buddhahood is illusory, yet it is all done by the tathāgatagarbha, all of the nature of the tathāgatagarbha; if we say the dharma of attaining buddhahood is real, yet it all involves the participation and operation of the Buddha's illusory five aggregates—apart from the five aggregates, no figure of the Buddha can be found, and apart from the five aggregates, it cannot be called a buddha. Therefore, the dharma of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi attained by the Tathāgata is neither real nor illusory.
Why is it said that all dharmas are not all dharmas, and are named all dharmas? Because all dharmas in their surface appearance have no self-nature of independent existence; they are all manifested by the tathāgatagarbha in accordance with various conditions, empty and illusory, unreal, like flowers in the sky and illusory shadows. Therefore one must not take all dharmas as dharmas with real, self-existing essence. Since all dharmas, phenomenally, seem to exist, there is no harm in giving these dharmas provisional names, to facilitate verbal communication among sentient beings and to meet the needs of worldly existence.
For example: cultivating the dharmas of precepts, meditation, and wisdom is a surface activity of the five-aggregate body and mind; the five-aggregate body and mind have no self-nature, being functional attributes operated behind the scenes by the tathāgatagarbha, so it is provisionally named cultivating precepts, meditation, and wisdom; reciting and reading sūtras is also a surface activity of the five-aggregate body and mind, without self-nature, and is provisionally named reciting sūtras; harsh speech and verbal abuse are actions and creations of the five-aggregate body and mind, surface phenomena that merely deceive the eye, and are provisionally named harsh speech; seeing the mind and seeing the nature is a wisdom state of the five-aggregate body and mind, without self-nature, provisionally named seeing the mind and seeing the nature; deliberation and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) are activities of the five-aggregate body and mind, illusory dharmas of arising and ceasing, unreal like a mirage, provisionally named deliberation and contemplative practice; walking, standing, sitting, and lying down are actions and creations of the body of the five aggregates, without self-nature, existing through illusion, provisionally named walking, standing, sitting, and lying down. In short, all dharmas are merely provisional names.
Original text:须菩提。譬如人身长大。须菩提言。世尊。如来说人身长大。即为非大身。是名大身。
Explanation: Subhūti, for example, the largeness and tallness of the human body is one dharma among all dharmas. Subhūti replied: World-Honored One, the largeness and tallness of the human body that the Tathāgata speaks of is not truly a great body; it merely takes the name of a great body.
Why is the great body that the Tathāgata speaks of not a great body? Because the size and appearance of the human body is only a false appearance conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha, without any substantial mark of size. The so-called mark of a great body is an illusion piled up by the tathāgatagarbha using the seeds of the four great elements; its size and length are all spoken of relatively—one must refer to some object for comparison before it can be designated as large or small, long or short. And the object of comparison is also not real, having no reliability or comparability. Therefore, the largeness and tallness of the human body is not a great body; it is a nominally great body, with no substantial talk of size.
Original text:须菩提。菩萨亦如是。若作是言。我当灭度。无量众生。即不名菩萨。何以故。须菩提。实无有法。名为菩萨。是故佛说。一切法无我无人。无众生无寿者。
Explanation: Subhūti, it is the same with bodhisattvas: only when the mind-ground does not cling to a single dharma-mark, yet practices the bodhisattva practice, is one a true bodhisattva. If a bodhisattva makes a vow to deliver sentient beings, saying: I should deliver and liberate immeasurable sentient beings, then such a bodhisattva is not yet a true bodhisattva, has not yet realized ultimate reality and entered into it. Why is this said? Subhūti, because in the realm of ultimate reality there is no dharma that can be called a bodhisattva or called a self. Therefore, the Buddha says that among all dharmas there is no self, no person, no sentient being, and no life span—these four marks.
A true bodhisattva is one who has already realized ultimate reality, and a bodhisattva who has realized ultimate reality should no longer grasp at worldly marks. The so-called worldly marks are the four marks. First, the bodhisattva should not have a mark of self, and then should not have a mark of being a bodhisattva, and should not have the mark of sentient beings to be delivered. These marks are the marks of the five aggregates, all false appearances conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha, not truly existent dharmas—just like the images of cats and dogs conjured up by white clouds in the sky: there are no real cats or dogs to be grasped; they are all marks of white clouds. A true bodhisattva should not grasp at a mark of being a bodhisattva, should not grasp at a mark of self, should not grasp at a mark of sentient beings, yet still deliver immeasurable sentient beings with a self; only by practicing these bodhisattva practices with no-mind is one a true bodhisattva.
Original text:须菩提。若菩萨作是言。我当庄严佛土。是不名菩萨。何以故。如来说庄严佛土者。即非庄严。是名庄严。须菩提。若菩萨通达。无我法者。如来说名。真是菩萨。
Explanation: Subhūti, if a bodhisattva says this: I should adorn the buddha-land, then he is not a true bodhisattva. Why is this said? What the Tathāgata calls the act of adorning the buddha-land is not truly adorning a real buddha-land, not truly having such an event of adorning; it is merely provisionally named adorning the buddha-land. Subhūti, if a bodhisattva has already penetrated the dharma of no-self and realized the non-arising of all dharmas, only then does the Tathāgata say this bodhisattva is a true bodhisattva.
How, in the course of a bodhisattva's practice of the bodhisattva path over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, is the buddha-land ultimately adorned? Every bodhisattva's practice is carried out through the creation of bodily, verbal, and mental actions; every little bit of the bodhisattva's cultivation of wholesome dharmas, every accumulation of wholesome karma, is adorning the buddha-land; thus the adornment of the buddha-land is accomplished through the bodhisattva's bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Why are all bodhisattva practices adornments of the buddha-land? We should know where the buddha-land comes from, how it appears, and why buddha-lands differ from one another.
Through the bodhisattva's practice over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, the buddha-way is accomplished, and only then can countless buddha-lands manifest. These buddha-lands are all manifested from the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna), manifested by the undefiled consciousness according to the Buddha's seeds of wholesome karma. Where, then, do the seeds of wholesome karma come from? Of course, from the very beginning when the Buddha started cultivating as a bodhisattva studying the buddha-way, the seeds cultivated were stored bit by bit in the tathāgatagarbha, and then the tathāgatagarbha manifested the buddha-land in accordance with those seeds.
The bodhisattva's practice includes bringing forth great pure vows, diligently cultivating precepts, meditation, and wisdom, extinguishing greed, hatred, and delusion, reciting, receiving, and upholding all buddha-dharmas, practicing the bodhisattva's six pāramitās, removing afflictions, extinguishing ignorance, eliminating defiled seeds, storing pure seeds, and finally transforming consciousness into wisdom, accomplishing the great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna), manifesting immeasurable buddha-lands, and extensively benefiting boundless sentient beings. And in the course of the bodhisattva's practice, because of differences in the power of vows and differences in specific conduct, the karmic seeds also differ, and thus the buddha-lands manifested upon attaining buddhahood also differ. Therefore, all the wholesome karmic actions of the bodhisattva's practice are adornments of the buddha-land, and are all actions and creations of the five-aggregate body and mind; since the five-aggregate body and mind are illusory and unreal, therefore adorning the buddha-land is not adorning the buddha-land, provisionally named adorning the buddha-land.
Finally, the World-Honored One summarizes: if a bodhisattva can penetrate the dharma of no-self, then he is a true bodhisattva. Why is this said? Because a bodhisattva who has penetrated the dharma of no-self will gradually penetrate all dharmas; all dharmas unfold with the self of the five aggregates as the center; when the self of the five aggregates is gone, there are no all-dharmas either. The self of the five aggregates is unreal, so all dharmas are unreal; the self of the five aggregates has no substance, so all dharmas have no substance. Thus, when a bodhisattva has penetrated the no-self of all dharmas, he realizes the wisdom of the patience with the non-arising of dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti) of ever-deeper levels, his bodhisattva bhūmi advances from ground to ground, and after his wisdom of the varieties of paths is perfected, it becomes omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā), and the buddha-way is thereby perfected.
Because the Buddha possesses the five eyes and six superknowledges, he can thoroughly see all dharmas and thoroughly see all sentient beings; the minds of all sentient beings, the Tathāgata fully knows and fully sees. The Tathāgata can both see sentient beings and see the tathāgatagarbha mind of sentient beings, and thereby knows the minds of sentient beings. But the sentient beings' present mind, past mind, and future mind are all unobtainable, because they are arising-and-ceasing, illusory transformations, unable to endure for long.
