Part 1
Thus did I hear. One time, the Buddha was staying in Jeta Grove in Sravasti, residing with 1,250 great monks.
Commentary:
As mentioned in ‘Prior to entering into the Sutras’, we will try to open the gates instead of studying the history of the historical Buddha from now on.
‘Thus did I hear’ is the sentence with which all the Sutras begin, whose importance was emphasised to the extent that ancient masters would say that to apprehend this sentence was to understand all this Sutra. It is no exaggeration to say that the rest of the Sutra is no more than a concrete and detailed commentary on this.
So, I am going to make a commentary on each word of this sentence.
‘Thus’ here is not merely indicating the rest of this Sutra but also describing the way the true-Self, or the Pure Land is, that is, how things appear when we see them as they are without being deluded by words and forms. This implies a perfect state beyond description to the extent that ancient masters would say that even saying ‘thus’ contaminates the meaning of it.
Student: “What does ‘thus’ mean?”
Master: “It is the explanation of what is ahead of it.”
Student: “What is it?”
Master: “It’s behind it as well.”
Student: “What is it like?
Master: “It is the way the Buddha is.”
Student: “What is the way the Buddha is like?”
Master: “It is the same as the way everything is. There is nothing that is not thus.”
Student: “If the Buddha is in the same way that everything is, why can’t I see the Buddha?”
Master: “Because you don’t see thus.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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