Part 14-7
“Why? Subhuti, the utmost practice the Realised One expounds is not the utmost practice; this is called the utmost practice.”
Commentary:
This part shows that although the Buddha preached six kinds of practice as an expedient to attain enlightenment, and said that they are the utmost practice, they are also essentially empty. The Buddha seemed to be concerned that his teaching might become another illusion rather than a gate to enlightenment through attachment to his words ‘the utmost practice’. The Buddha meant that his teaching is nothing to anybody if we end up with mere intellectual understanding, that is pursuing it by following words won’t do us any good if we don’t realise it.
This is why the Buddha said that he didn’t say even a single word. The Buddha said that even the Buddha himself who preached this Sutra is empty, to emphasise that everything is empty and that we should not be deluded even by his physical body.
Student: “What is the utmost teaching if the utmost practice is not the utmost practice?”
Master: “It is hidden in the utmost practice.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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