Sublime

Subhuti has just witnessed the compassion and detachment with which the Buddha performed his daily round of giving and receiving offerings,

Not killing or harming—developing loving-kindness Not stealing—developing generosity Not harming anybody (including oneself) with sexuality or strong desires—developing contentment Not lying—developing speech that is true, helpful, kind, and appropriate (This includes the written word, since we communicate so much through e-mails, texting, and so

Ch’en Hsiung says, “Manjushri once asked the Buddha, ‘What do you mean when you say not a single being is liberated?’ And the Buddha replied, ‘Our nature is ultimately pure and subject to neither rebirth nor nirvana. Thus, there are no beings to be liberated, and there is no nirvana to be attained. It is simply that all beings revert to their own

Thirty-Seven Practices is about the bodhisattva path. What, then, is a bodhisattva? One answer is that a bodhisattva is a person who lives and breathes compassion. Compassion is ordinarily understood as an emotion, but the compassion of a bodhisattva is not a sentiment. It is not pity. It is a quality of awareness itself, the knowing that is the

An agnostic Buddhist eschews atheism as much as theism, and is as reluctant to regard the universe as devoid of meaning as endowed with meaning.

The blessing and trust that Subhuti has perceived is the Buddha’s practice of the three perfections: the perfection of forbearance, in begging for his living; the perfection of charity, in teaching others through example; and the perfection of wisdom, in remaining mindful in all he does.

The Buddha said, “Subhuti, someone who sets forth on the bodhisattva path should give birth to the thought: ‘In the realm of complete nirvana, I shall liberate all beings. And while I thus liberate 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.’

The division of the text into thirty-two chapters was the work of Prince Chao-ming (501-531), who was the eldest son of Emperor Wu of the Liang dynasty. This was the same Emperor Wu who asked a visiting Indian monk named Bodhidharma what merit he acquired as a result of all his religious philanthropy. The Zen patriarch told him, “None.” Ironically,

the Buddha discovered what he called the Middle Way, a way not based on an aversion to the world, nor on attachment, but a way based on inclusion and compassion. The Middle Way rests at the center of all things, the one great seat in the center of the world. On this seat the Buddha opened his eyes to see clearly and opened his heart to embrace all.