The Difference Between Buddhadharma and Worldly Dharma

The Buddha-dharma is the dharma that guides sentient beings to liberation; it can liberate sentient beings from birth and death. Worldly dharmas include all kinds of dharmas apart from the Buddha-way, such as Confucian and Daoist teachings; they cannot guide sentient beings toward liberation, nor can they free sentient beings from birth and death. Only the Buddha-dharma speaks of the illusory emptiness of the world and the emptiness of true reality (suchness); only by realizing emptiness can one attain liberation. Dharmas apart from the Buddha-way mostly speak of existence; even when they speak of emptiness, it is only a partial emptiness, a shallow-level emptiness. The worldly kinds of emptiness are all not ultimate, and they certainly lack the supramundane emptiness of true reality. Emptiness brings liberation; existence is bondage. The Buddha-dharma is the empty dharma of liberation that seeks nothing, while the dharmas of the non-Buddhists are the dharmas of existence that bind, dharmas that seek something.

The Buddha-dharma is the Buddha-dharma, and the dharmas of the non-Buddhists are non-Buddhist; their views and concepts are different. If they were the same, the dharmas of the non-Buddhists would not be non-Buddhist dharmas—they would also be called the Buddha-dharma. If Laozi had been enlightened, and the dharma he transmitted could also liberate sentient beings, then the Buddha would not have needed to come to the human world—it would have been a superfluous act. The common ground between non-Buddhist dharmas and the Buddha-dharma lies in meditative concentration (samādhi) and worldly goodness; but their views, concepts, and realms differ. The Buddha-dharma teaches that the world is illusory and unreal, and teaches emptiness; the non-Buddhist dharmas teach existence, practicing meditative concentration and wholesome dharmas on the basis of existence. Therefore they cannot be empty and cannot liberate one from the five aggregates (pañcaskandha). 

Although certain worldly teachings also contain terms such as "the source" or "the origin," these are all shallow meanings in part; they belong to worldly in nature notions of source and origin. The source they point to is still existence, still not empty, and does not touch the substantive and fundamental source of birth and death of all dharmas. Worldly teachings are not truly awakened dharma; otherwise, they would be called the Buddha-dharma.