Q. What does ‘If one regards the historical Buddha as the Buddha without relying on the true principle, one will fail to see the Buddha’ in the Avatamsaka Sutra mean?

A. With the true principle meaning the true-Self, relying on the true principle means seeing, or realising the true-Self. This scripture tells us to not to mistake the historical Buddha for the Buddha that the historical Buddha tried to show to us. The historical Buddha said, “Those who seek me by seeing my figure and hearing my voice cannot see me.” This means that his physical body with birth and death is not the essence of his being, the Buddha, because the Buddha he meant is formless and eternal without birth and death. We should recognise the true Buddha that is always before us, that the historical Buddha showed through his physical body and that we are also always revealing ceaselessly.

Patriarch Bodhidharma also said that we should not make the mistake of making the living Buddha bow to the dead Buddha. He meant that we, realising that we are the Buddha itself, should not allow ourselves to worship and bow to an image of Buddha, such as Buddha statue.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway