The Diamond Sutra: The Perfection of Wisdom

This having been said, the Buddha told the venerable Subhuti, “Since the possession of attributes is an illusion, Subhuti, and no possession of attributes is no illusion, by means of attributes that are no attributes the Tathagata can, indeed, be seen.”

in whatever conceivable realm of being one might conceive of beings, in the realm of complete nirvana I shall liberate them all. And though I thus liberate countless beings, not a single being is liberated.’

“And why not? Subhuti, a bodhisattva who creates the perception of a being cannot be called a ‘bodhisattva. ’ And why not? Subhuti, no one can be called a bodhisattva who creates the perception of a self or who creates the perception of a being, a life, or a soul.”

After crossing his legs and adjusting his body, he turned his awareness to what was before him.

And the sermons they recalled must have represented a much larger and more diverse collection. The perfection of wisdom teachings, I suggest, were part of this second collection.

No one knows precisely when this took place, but if Chih-yi’s classification of the Buddha’s sutras is correct, it would have been within ten years of 400 B.C., or within a decade either way of when the Buddha was sixty-five. It was during this period that the Buddha began teaching a teaching that cut through all other teachings, including his own,

Later, when the Buddha began teaching people to view emptiness itself as empty and to put the emptiness of emptiness to work in the liberation of all beings, few disciples grasped this new teaching, which he called the perfection of wisdom, the wisdom beyond wisdom.

Bhagavan, if those who found the river should think, ‘I have attained the goal of finding the river,’ they would be attached to a self, they would be attached to a being, a life, and a soul.”

Then they all sat down on their mats. After they were settled, the venerable Subhuti rose and asked the Buddha how we all can become buddhas. The Diamond Sutra is the Buddha’s answer.