Only Through Non-Attainment Can One Attain Buddhahood

The Buddha states in the Diamond Sutra that the Buddha attained Buddhahood precisely because there was nothing attained, and only by not attaining a single dharma can one become a Buddha. If one believes there is a dharma to be attained, one cannot become a Buddha. Why is this said? The Buddha attained Buddhahood through great wisdom, supreme wisdom. How did the Buddha obtain this wisdom? The Buddha began cultivation as an ordinary person, traversing three great asamkhyeya kalpas, gradually exhausting all ignorance. Each time a type of ignorance was eradicated, a type of clarity manifested. As a portion of the darkness in the mind-ground vanished, a portion of light appeared; this light is wisdom. When all ignorance is completely extinguished, omniscient wisdom manifests. Therefore, the Buddha’s supreme wisdom, unequalled wisdom, is not acquired or obtained; it is revealed when ignorance is exhausted. That is to say, becoming a Buddha is not about attaining some dharma, but rather attaining no dharma whatsoever. By removing all obscurations, the innate radiance of the mind-ground naturally manifests. Thus, the purpose of each of us studying the Buddha and practicing cultivation is to eradicate ignorance, not to necessarily attain something. The mind that seeks attainment is itself ignorance, an obscuration, preventing wisdom from manifesting.

True right faith requires direct experiential observation through wisdom; otherwise, faith inevitably degenerates into partiality and blind faith. Even regarding the Buddhist sutras, a truly wise person should maintain doubt and seek ways to verify them through actual experience, let alone regarding what is not spoken by the Buddha?

Many people online claim that the Sixth Patriarch was a Buddha's return, that his teachings possess the level of realization of a Buddha, and that the Sixth Patriarch had already attained Buddhahood. I truly do not know on what basis these people make such definitive claims about the Sixth Patriarch. To assert 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, to be qualified to certify the other. Nowadays, sentient beings in the Dharma-ending Age seem to have all attained Buddhahood themselves, and then, using the wisdom of a Buddha, certify that the Sixth Patriarch has already become a Buddha, possessing the wisdom and realization of a Buddha. The Sixth Patriarch's Platform Sutra is a thin booklet; I doubt any of these people can actually understand it. Otherwise, no one would dare make such a definitive claim.