The Diamond Sutra

“The Buddha has no doctrine to convey. The truth is ungraspable and inexpressible. It neither is nor is not.” I thought this had to do with the fact that nobody who is enlightened claims to be enlightened. If you claim to have all the answers and are enlightened, then you are clearly not. Also, there is no one specific way to attain wisdom or the truth. Only we can know the truth. Buddha can’t tell us what we need to know.

All Bodhisattvas should develop a pure, lucid mind that doesn’t depend upon sight, sound, touch, flavor, smell, or any thoughts that arises in it. Bodhisattvas should develop a mind that slights nowhere.” I took this as the concept of desire. To reach enlightenment, we can’t depend on having special food or sex, etc. This made me think about the discussion we had in class where the student is told he has to cut off his ponytail and he initially refuses, but then comes back the next day and decides that he really wants to learn, so he agrees to then cut off his ponytail. However, once he decides he can live without his ponytail, he is allowed to have it. I think it’s the same idea here. If you have to have it, then you can’t. But if you can live without it, it’s ok to have it.

“The mind should be kept independent of any thoughts that arise within it. If the mind depends upon anything, it has no sure haven.” Again, I felt like this had to do with desire. If we are depending on special food or certain sights or sexual pleasure and the desire for that is what is consuming our minds, we will continue to suffer. I think it’s also about letting go of the pointless distractions in our lives and material possessions. Wasting time worrying about all the petty things doesn’t bring us any closer to enlightenment.

“When I attained Absolute Perfect Enlightenment, I attain absolutely nothing. That is why it is called Absolute Perfect Enlightenment.” I think this goes back to the idea that you can’t claim to be enlightened and the reason behind letting go of your suffering is not so that you attain something or can walk around boasting that you are an enlightened person. A person has to let go and stop looking for something to be enlightened.