Part 14-4
“If, in the final five hundred years of the coming world, a sentient being hears this sutra, believes in it, understands it, accepts it and upholds it, he will be the rarest.”
Commentary:
The reason why a sentient being who, hearing this Sutra, believes in it, understands it, accepts it and upholds it, is the rarest, is that believing in, understanding, accepting and upholding this Sutra is so difficult that it is rare for a sentient being to do so. The core of Buddhism is Oneness, non-duality, which means that everything is essentially one although things appear to be many and different from each other. And the Oneness is referred to as the Buddha, the true-Self. What all the Sutras, including the Diamond Sutra, tell us is no other than this.
So, when all things are one as the true-Self, this Sutra we are reading now and we ourselves should be one with the true-Self. Then, there is no difference among this Sutra, the true-Self and us. Only when we realise this can we be said to be able to understand, accept and hold this Sutra. When we read this Sutra in this way, in reading the words ‘he will be the rarest’, we should be able to see the true-Self in each word instead of following the words that it is so difficult to accept and hold this Sutra that there are few who can do it.
Student: “How can I accept this Sutra?”
Master: “I am worried that the ugliness of the family will be known to the outside.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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