Part 5-2
The Buddha said to Subhuti, “All forms are illusory; if you see that forms are not characteristics, then you will see the Realised One.”
Commentary:
Here, the Buddha provides a more specific method for recognising the true-Self (Tathagata). The statement “If you see that forms are not characteristics, then you will see the Realised One” means that when you see a flower, for instance, and understand that the flower is not merely a flower, or when you see a person and realise that the person is not merely a person—in other words, when you understand that what you see and hear is not what you have thought or believed it to be—then you can see the true Buddha, the true-Self.
As an ancient great monk said: “When you see form, do not be swayed by form; When you hear sound, it is not sound. In the place where form and sound do not cling, You directly reach the realm of the Buddha’s Kingdom,” when seeing and hearing, if you attach no words or concepts and perceive everything as it is, you can avoid being swayed by the illusion of the historical Buddha’s physical characteristics and see the true Buddha.
Just as the true Buddha is described in the Avatamsaka Sutra: “Before the World-Honoured One left Tusita Heaven, he was already born in the royal palace, and before emerging from his mother’s womb, he had already saved all beings in the world,” the true Buddha has no form, no name, neither is born nor dies. Identifying the Buddha with any form is idolatry, clinging to form and being deluded by illusion.
Let me introduce a story from the Sutra of Mutual Arising about the nun named Yeonhwasaek (Lotus Colour), who, deceived by form (physical body), failed to see the true-Self (Dharma-body, Tathagata) and was reprimanded by the Buddha for clinging to his physical form.
When the World-Honoured One (Buddha) was in Trayastrimsha Heaven for 90 days, preaching the Dharma for his mother, and then descended from the heavens, the fourfold assembly (laymen, laywomen, monks, and nuns) and the eight classes of beings all went into the sky to greet him. At that time, the nun Yeonhwasaek thought to herself, “As a nun, I must stand behind the great monks to see the Buddha. Instead, I will use my supernatural powers to transform into a Wheel-Turning Sage King, surrounded by a thousand princes, and approach to see the Buddha first.” She did as she intended, but the moment the World-Honoured One saw her, he rebuked her, saying, “Yeonhwasaek, how dare you bypass the order of the great monks to see me? Though you have seen my physical form, you have not seen my Dharma-body (true-Self). Subhuti, sitting quietly in a cave, has seen my Dharma-body.”
We, too, should not go to temples to see the Buddha but should strive to see, or at least attempt to see, what Subhuti saw while sitting quietly in a cave, within our own homes. The Buddha taught us not to be swayed even by his living physical form, so how could bowing to and worshipping lifeless Buddha statues not be idolatry? To prevent this, ancient great monks said that if you meet the Buddha, you must kill him.
The crucial point here is that the method of seeing the true Buddha, as explained above, is also the method of seeing ourselves. We must see ourselves in the same way we see the Buddha. The true Buddha (true-Self, Tathagata) is the essence of not only the historical Buddha but all things, including us. Being able to see the true Buddha means seeing everything, including ourselves, as the Buddha. In other words, it means realising the essence of our existence and awakening to the fact that we are eternal and perfect Buddhas. This is why Master Bodhidharma said, “Do not make a living Buddha bow to a dead Buddha.”
Disciple: “How can I see the Buddha?”
Master: “How can you not see the Buddha?”
Disciple: “What is the difference between the true Buddha and a Buddha idol?”
Master: “The Buddha you chase after is an idol; the Buddha that chases you is the true Buddha.”
Disciple: “What did Subhuti see?”
Master: “The Buddha showed it to the nun Yeonhwasaek.”
©Boo AhmAll writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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