Part 24
“Subhuti, if someone took heaps of jewels as big as Mt. Sumeru in a billion worlds and gave them away in charity, the blessing would not compare to a hundredth part, a hundredth trillionth part, or indeed any calculable or imaginable part of the blessing of accepting, holding, reading, reciting, and explaining to others even so much as this Sutra, or a four-line verse of this Sutra.”
Commentary:
As we have seen, in the proceeding parts the Buddha repeated the scriptures four times that emphasized the importance of accepting, holding, reading, reciting, and explaining a four-line verse of this Sutra to others. In fact, it is not an exaggeration to say that the purpose of this Sutra is to enable people to do it, because being able to do it signifies enlightenment, the final goal of all Buddhists.
The reason why the blessing of accepting, holding, reading, reciting, and explaining to others this Sutra, or a four-line verse of this Sutra is incomparably larger than that of taking heaps of jewels as big as Mt. Sumeru in a billion worlds and giving them away in charity is that the former is to become one with the true-Self and the latter is still no better than being deluded by illusions.
What we ought to bear in mind is that accepting, holding, reading, reciting, and explaining a four-line verse of this Sutra implies not only accepting, holding, reading, reciting, and explaining a four-line verse in the text we are reading now but also seeing and hearing every single thing around us, or every single sound that reaches our ears as it is, without being deluded by images and words.
Student: “Why is a four-line verse more valuable than heaps of jewels as big as Mt. Sumeru?”
Master: “Because he who can hold, read and explain a four-line verse knows that there is no difference between heaps of jewels as big as Mt. Sumeru and a mustard seed.”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
Zen Fools 