The Vajracchedika Prajnaparamita Sutra | Page 7

caught in the idea of a self, a person, a living being, or a life span.
Subhuti, what the Tathagata calls a self essentially has no self in the
way that ordinary persons think there is a self. Subhuti, the
Tathagata does not regard anyone as an ordinary person. That is why he
can call them ordinary persons."
26
"What do you think, Subhuti? Can someone meditate on the Tathagata
by means of the thirty-two marks?"
Subhuti said, "Yes, World-Honored One. We should use the thirty-two
marks to meditate on the Tathagata."
The Buddha said, "If you say that you can use the thirty-two marks to
see the Tathagata, then the Cakravartin is also a Tathagata?"
Subhuti said, "World-Honored One, I understand your teaching. One
should not use the thirty-two marks to meditate on the Tathagata."
Then the World-Honored One spoke this verse:
"Someone who looks for me in form or seeks me in sound
is on a mistaken path and cannot see the Tathagata."
27
"Subhuti, if you think that the Tathagata realizes the highest, most
fulfilled, awakened mind and does not need to have all the marks, you
are wrong. Subhuti, do not think in that way. Do not think that when
one gives rise to the highest, most fulfilled, awakened mind, one needs
to see all objects of mind as nonexistent, cut off from life. Please do not
think in that way. One who gives rise to the highest, most fulfilled,
awakened mind does not contend that all objects of mind are
nonexistent and cut off from life."

28
"Subhuti, if a bodhisattva were to fill the 3,000 chiliocosms with the
seven precious treasures, as many as the number of sand grains in the
Ganges as an act of generosity, the happiness brought about by his or
her virtue is less than that brought about by someone who has
understood and wholeheartedly accepted the truth that all dharmas are
of selfless nature and is able to live and bear fully this truth. Why is
that, Subhuti? Because a bodhisattva does not need to build up virtue
and happmess."
Subhuti asked the Buddha, "What do you mean, World-Honored One,
when you say that a bodhisattva does not need to build up virtue and
happiness?"
"Subhuti, a bodhisattva gives rise to virtue but is not caught in the idea
of virtue and happiness. That is why the Tathagata has said that a
bodhisattva does not need to build up virtue and happiness."
29
"Subhuti, if someone says that the World-Honored One comes, goes,
sits, and lies down, that person has not understood what I have said.
Why? The meaning of Tathagata is 'does not come from anywhere and
does not go anywhere'. That is why he is called a Tathagata."
30
"Subhuti, if a daughter or son of a good family were to grind the 3,000
chiliocosms to particles of dust, do you think there would be many
particles?"
Subhuti replied, "World-Honored One, there would be many indeed.
Why? If particles of dust had a real self-existence, the Buddha would
not have called them particles of dust. What the Buddha calls particles
of dust are not, in essence, particles of dust. That is why they can be
called particles of dust. World-Honored One, what the Tathagata calls
the 3,000 chiliocosms are not chiliocosms. That is why they are called

chiliocosms. Why? If chiliocosms are real, they are a compound of
particles under the conditions of being assembled into an object. That
which the Tathagata calls a compound is not essentially a compound.
That is why it is called a compound."
"Subhuti, what is called a compound is just a conventional way of
speaking. It has no real basis. Only ordinary people are caught up in
conventional terms."
31
"Subhuti, if anyone says that the Buddha has spoken of a self view, a
person view, a living-being view, or a life span view, has that person
understood my meaning?"
"No, World-Honored One. Such a person has not understood the
Tathagata. Why? What the Tathagata calls a self view, a person view, a
living-being view, or a life span view are not in essence a self view, a
person view, a living-being view, or a life span view. That is why they
are called a self view, a person view, a living-being view, or a life span
view."
"Subhuti, someone who gives rise to the highest, most fulfilled,
awakened mind should know that this is true of all dharmas, should see
that all dharmas are like this, should have confidence in the
understanding of all dharmas without any conceptions about dharmas.
Subhuti, what is called a conception of dharmas, the Tathagata has said,
is not a conception of dharmas. That is why it is called a conception of
dharmas."
32
"Subhuti, if someone