Part 6 -5
For this reason, I, the Realised One always say you should know that my Dharma teaching is like a raft. Even the Dharma should be discarded, not to mention the non-Dharma.
Commentary:
Up to now, the Buddha has taught us not to dwell on anything—that is, not to dwell on any names (words) or forms (images), but to see and hear things as they truly are. When it is said that everything is empty, there are no exceptions: the Buddha’s body is empty, too. When it is said not to dwell on anything, there are no exceptions: we must not dwell even on the Buddha, or on the Buddha’s words. Yet sentient beings, instead of seeing the core truth that the Buddha wishes to reveal through his teachings, treat the teachings themselves like precious treasures and cling to them. The Buddha, seeing this, declares that even his own teachings are merely expedient means to reveal the true-Self and are empty, like a hare’s horn—so we must never dwell even on his own words.
To see his teachings as a raft does not mean to ignore them entirely. It means to hear not only them but also all other things not as the words of the human Sakyamuni, but as the voice of true-Self. In other words, regard every single word, every single line, as a gate into the Pure Land, as the function of the true-Self. In reality, when we read the Sutras, every syllable is the Pure Land itself; every sound is the sound of the Pure Land.
The very moment we see or hear in this way, we cross the river and arrive in the Pure Land—we attain enlightenment. At that moment, the raft is no longer a raft, the Diamond Sutra is no longer the Diamond Sutra, and the countless other Sutras are no longer the Sutras; we realise they are all emptiness (the true-Self) itself.
Just as medicine is no longer medicine once a patient is fully healed and restored to health, so the raft is no longer a raft to one who has crossed the ocean—one who is enlightened. At that point, everything seen with the eyes and heard with the ears becomes the Sutra; every sound that comes out of one’s own mouth becomes the Dharma talk and a four-line verse (Gatha).
This is why Master Deoksan, who devoted his entire life to the Diamond Sutra and was universally recognised as its greatest authority, after awakening declared: “Even the most profound and subtle discourses are like raising a single hair in vast space; even possessing all the most important things in the world is like dropping a single drop of water into the great ocean.” He then burned the commentary on the Diamond Sutra that he had cherished and carried with him all the time.
Disciple: “If we must discard the Buddha’s teachings like a raft, then what is the Buddha’s teaching?” Master: “The Buddha’s teaching is crossing the river; the raft is merely the expedient means to cross it.” Disciple: “How can I use the raft to cross the river?”
Master: “If you place even one foot on it, it will sink.”
Disciple: “Must I discard the raft even before crossing the river?”
Master: “If you can leap from the raft in the middle of the river, you are a great hero.”
Raft, ferry, passenger ship—
Choose whichever you like and board it,
Cross swiftly.
Even a leaf can carry you across—
Why cling only to the raft?
©Boo Ahm
All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway
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