Part 6-3
“Why? All these sentient beings have no more image of self, image of person, image of sentient being, or image of soul. They have no image of Dharma, and no image of non-Dharma, either.”
Commentary:
‘All these sentient beings’ here refers to those who can enjoy infinite blessing by seeing all things as they are in the same way the Buddha saw all things. Seeing all things as they are means seeing and hearing all images and words as not real but illusionary, or imaginary, which is also referred to as seeing and hearing everything as empty.
When we see everything, including ourselves, as empty, there is nothing but emptiness. The emptiness is called the true-Self, non-duality, the Buddha, and so to see things as empty is referred to as seeing the Buddha, or realising that we are the Buddha, which is no other than attaining infinite blessing, infinite merit. This is why ancient masters would say that we should recognise the true-Self, the Buddha hidden in all things.
In short, none but those who are above being deluded by images, that is, those who can see everything as empty can enjoy infinite blessing. This is why the Buddha said that all these sentient beings have no more images as narrated above.
Student: “How is it when we have no image at all?”
Master: “The Buddha and his words are also images.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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