Part 6 -2
“Subhuti, I, the Realised One know and see all. All these sentient beings will attain infinite blessing this way.”
Commentary:
Infinite merit is the true-Self itself; it is neither something given by the Buddha nor something that others can take away. We are already infinite merit itself and are surrounded by it at the same time. The key is whether we can recognise it or not. Therefore, obtaining infinite merit, as the Buddha taught in Part 6-1, means conceiving pure faith for even a single moment upon reading, hearing, or seeing the Buddha’s words, or anything else for even a moment and realising this infinite merit, the true-Self without seeking it externally.
Not seeking it externally means not looking for it beyond what our eyes see, and our ears hear. Everything, including ourselves, is the true-Self that is infinite merit.
As stated in the Avatamsaka Sutra, “The Buddha’s body pervades the entire Dharma realm, revealing himself before sentient beings as needed, teaching with various Dharma teachings, and freely awakening them to all truths,” even though infinite merit, the Buddha’s body, is always manifesting before us, we fail to see it truly because we are swayed by forms and words. This is why we wander in the cycle of birth and death, unable to enjoy infinite merit.
Ancient great monks likened this to “looking for a wild goose in the clouds while forgetting the goose in the cage,” referring to our failure to see the infinite merit, the true-Self right in front of us, being deceived by images, sounds, and words.
As the Avatamsaka Sutra states, “The suffering I experienced in the past, was due to not seeing the Buddha, you should purify the eye of the Dharma, and see what is to be seen,” we, too, must purify the eye of the Dharma and see everything as it truly is, like the Buddha, in order to see and realise what must be seen and thus enjoy infinite merit.
What we must engrave in our hearts is that not only the words we are reading now but also we ourselves, reading this sutra, are none other than the infinite merit (the true-Self) we seek to see.
Disciple: “What is infinite merit?”
Master: “What did you say?”
Disciple: “What is infinite merit?”
Master: “Why do you ask me when you’re already throwing it up like that?”
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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