Who Comprehends the Platform Sutra?

Genuine right faith must be grounded in direct experiential wisdom; otherwise, faith can easily devolve into partiality or blind faith. Even regarding the Buddhist scriptures, a truly wise person should maintain doubt and seek practical verification. How much more so for teachings not spoken by the Buddha?

Many people online claim that the Sixth Patriarch was a Buddha reborn, that his teachings possess the realization and spiritual attainment of a Buddha, and that the Sixth Patriarch had already attained Buddhahood. I truly do not know what basis these people have for making such definitive claims about the Sixth Patriarch. To affirm that someone is at the level of a university professor, one should possess a level of understanding higher than that professor, or at the very least, equivalent, before granting such certification. Nowadays, sentient beings in the Dharma-Ending Age seem to have all attained Buddhahood themselves, and then, with the wisdom of a Buddha, certify that the Sixth Patriarch had already become a Buddha, possessing the wisdom and realization of a Buddha. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a thin volume. I doubt any of these people can actually understand it; otherwise, no one would dare make such a definitive conclusion.