All people who study Buddhist Philosophy, sooner or later, realizes that although Buddhism entails a great amount of faith in the practitioner, but faith alone will not allow you to reach enlightenment. It is important that one also develops their understanding of the truth of our existence, otherwise we are merely following orders which the Buddha actively cautioned against. He wanted followers to challenge the teachings through thought and logic, and only when they are satisfied, accept them, believe them and have faith in them.
This is not an easy task because what the Buddha ultimately wants us to believe and have faith in is a complex series of concepts and ideas that defy our perceptions and hang on the very edge of our rational logic, and it always seems like our minds are about to teeter over into deep confusion. Anyone who studies the sutras on the Perfection of Wisdom or Prajna Paramita need to be prepared to be challenged, confused, frustrated, doubtful, even maybe a little angry, and possibly start to question if what they are reading is actually wisdom, or the ramblings of mad men.
As such if one is just faithful, it is like a student who memorizes the test answers, but never reads the questions. Sure, he can say the right things, but he will not know what he is saying as he has gained no actual wisdom or knowledge. Therefore, despite the difficulties ahead, I urge all students of Buddhism to read the Prajna Paramita sutras, to see the true meanings and methods behind the Buddha's message.
The Prajna Paramitas consists of numerous texts, the most famous are the Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Perfection of Wisdom. All of these sutras deliver similar messages, but vary in length and presentation. One of the main messages of these sutras is the idea of "no form" or "no self" and the idea of the nonduality of existence. Now you may be questioning, wasn't the concept of "no self" covered earlier by the Buddha? That is true, but the concept of "no self" has been further expanded in the Prajna Paramita sutras, to become "no being." For example, if the previous discussion taught that "you are not yourself," in the Prajna Paramita sutras, "you are not you and there never was a you, and there never was a world." You can see how these ideas proved too radical for many people, even many disciples of Buddha. And although the Buddha would have preferred they pursue Anuttara Samyaksambodhi (unexcelled complete enlightenment), he did not stop those disciples who abandoned himupon hearing the Prajna Paramita sutras.
In the Prajna Paramita sutras, the Buddha teaches that all Buddhists should strive to become Bodhisattvas and reveals the proper practices for Bodhisattvas. "Enlightenment is not being; one who has cognized that, he is called a "Bodhi-being" Bodhisattva; a bodhi being is without the own-being of a being."* Now there is a clear contradiction present. The Buddha is saying there is no being, but that is what makes a Bodhisattva a "bodhi being."* And in the Diamond Sutra the Buddha states "There will be neither sentient beings nor will there not be sentient beings. Why?, the sentient beings that the Tathagata speaks of are not sentient beings, and are thus called sentient beings." Before I explain how this contradiction can be reconciled, I think it is important to note that although there are literally tens of thousands of Buddhists texts, I do not believe there is any crib notes version for Prajna Parimata that explains to people exactly what the Buddha meant in easy terms. The Heart Sutra, which is only 2 pages long, is just as confounding as the Avatamsaka Sutra which is over one thousand pages. As such it really is up to the reader to discover the answers for themselves.
There is a famous quote from Socrates from 425 BC where he stated; "I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make him think." Clearly many people in Buddha's time also sought simple instructions for "salvation" but there was none for true enlightenment. As Buddha stated over 2500 years one had to compassion, meditation and wisdom to gain enlightenment, not more not less. And one can only gain wisdom through thinking, not memorizing, nor praying.
So this section is my attempt to comprehend the Buddha's message in the Prajna Paramitas: One of the titles of the Buddha is one of teacher, and he often spoke of how he taught people differently based on what would benefit them the best based on their capacity for understanding, and lead them quicker to enlightenment. One famous parable is when he compared his teachings to the rain which nourishes the grass, the flowers, the small trees and the large trees all equally based on their needs. When Buddha first attained his own enlightenment and decided to share his wisdom with the world, he knew that people would find his message very hard to accept. Today, we have many understandings of science and the universe, but imagine if Buddha started his first discourse with; "we are all made up of atoms, there are infinite universes and dimensions, and you are not really you" if the people ignored him that would have been a good result, with him being mocked and chastised being the more possible result. Therefore, the Buddha started by teaching the Middle Path, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path because those are more accessible concepts to new practitioners. One can think of his first discourses as primary school, where things may seem easy to us now but at the time they were hard and learning them provided the essential building blocks for our future education. So in his first discourses, the Buddha basically taught people to give up selfish pursuits because it is fruitless, and only leads to rebirth and suffering, and by giving up craving by giving up one's self so that one can attain nirvana with the Arhat being the supreme being.
Later, when people were more ready, the Buddha would teach more deeply what he meant by "no self". The Buddha famously stated that we should treat his teachings like a raft, meant to get us to the other side of the river. Once we made it to the other side, are we to keep carrying it all around, or should we leave it? Essentially, Buddha is telling his followers not to grudgingly hold on to prior teachings because they were only meant for you get to your current understanding, once here, you need to let it go in order to proceed.
In the Prajna Paramita sutras, the goal is to teach people to become bodhisattvas and the proper way to train as a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva will likewise attain nirvana but will have the added purpose of helping other beings as well. This seemingly contradicted with the previous teachings of striving for self salvation and leaving this existence. But, if we were to treat the Buddha's previous teachings as a raft to be laid down, then it would not be. For example, think of the instructions in airplanes in case of an emergency "you should put on your own gas mask before helping others." We had to first save ourselves from craving before we can possibly hope to save others. Additionally, if the goal was never to save others then the Buddha would have never taught people to begin with. But compassion was always a necessary element of Buddhism, so to say that achieving Nirvana and leaving existence was the only goal for Buddhism is inadequate. And while there are beings who discover the end of craving on their own and do not teach others, these are called pacceka buddhas, they are not the ideal that Buddha expounded.
The Prajna Paramita Sutras, included many of the Buddha's final discourses. It was the last messages for his disciples before he was to depart. As discussed previously, it contains many concepts and revelations that may confound and frighten, it is hoped that this site serves as a springboard to further reading and research. Even for non-Buddhists many of the ideas and principles found within can be insightful to those interested in philosophy, physics, astronomy, sociology and other pursuits of the mind.
*Conze, Edward. Perfect Wisdom (1993)
**Diamond Sutra
This is not an easy task because what the Buddha ultimately wants us to believe and have faith in is a complex series of concepts and ideas that defy our perceptions and hang on the very edge of our rational logic, and it always seems like our minds are about to teeter over into deep confusion. Anyone who studies the sutras on the Perfection of Wisdom or Prajna Paramita need to be prepared to be challenged, confused, frustrated, doubtful, even maybe a little angry, and possibly start to question if what they are reading is actually wisdom, or the ramblings of mad men.
As such if one is just faithful, it is like a student who memorizes the test answers, but never reads the questions. Sure, he can say the right things, but he will not know what he is saying as he has gained no actual wisdom or knowledge. Therefore, despite the difficulties ahead, I urge all students of Buddhism to read the Prajna Paramita sutras, to see the true meanings and methods behind the Buddha's message.
The Prajna Paramitas consists of numerous texts, the most famous are the Diamond Sutra, the Heart Sutra, the Lotus Sutra, and the Perfection of Wisdom. All of these sutras deliver similar messages, but vary in length and presentation. One of the main messages of these sutras is the idea of "no form" or "no self" and the idea of the nonduality of existence. Now you may be questioning, wasn't the concept of "no self" covered earlier by the Buddha? That is true, but the concept of "no self" has been further expanded in the Prajna Paramita sutras, to become "no being." For example, if the previous discussion taught that "you are not yourself," in the Prajna Paramita sutras, "you are not you and there never was a you, and there never was a world." You can see how these ideas proved too radical for many people, even many disciples of Buddha. And although the Buddha would have preferred they pursue Anuttara Samyaksambodhi (unexcelled complete enlightenment), he did not stop those disciples who abandoned himupon hearing the Prajna Paramita sutras.
In the Prajna Paramita sutras, the Buddha teaches that all Buddhists should strive to become Bodhisattvas and reveals the proper practices for Bodhisattvas. "Enlightenment is not being; one who has cognized that, he is called a "Bodhi-being" Bodhisattva; a bodhi being is without the own-being of a being."* Now there is a clear contradiction present. The Buddha is saying there is no being, but that is what makes a Bodhisattva a "bodhi being."* And in the Diamond Sutra the Buddha states "There will be neither sentient beings nor will there not be sentient beings. Why?, the sentient beings that the Tathagata speaks of are not sentient beings, and are thus called sentient beings." Before I explain how this contradiction can be reconciled, I think it is important to note that although there are literally tens of thousands of Buddhists texts, I do not believe there is any crib notes version for Prajna Parimata that explains to people exactly what the Buddha meant in easy terms. The Heart Sutra, which is only 2 pages long, is just as confounding as the Avatamsaka Sutra which is over one thousand pages. As such it really is up to the reader to discover the answers for themselves.
There is a famous quote from Socrates from 425 BC where he stated; "I cannot teach anybody anything; I can only make him think." Clearly many people in Buddha's time also sought simple instructions for "salvation" but there was none for true enlightenment. As Buddha stated over 2500 years one had to compassion, meditation and wisdom to gain enlightenment, not more not less. And one can only gain wisdom through thinking, not memorizing, nor praying.
So this section is my attempt to comprehend the Buddha's message in the Prajna Paramitas: One of the titles of the Buddha is one of teacher, and he often spoke of how he taught people differently based on what would benefit them the best based on their capacity for understanding, and lead them quicker to enlightenment. One famous parable is when he compared his teachings to the rain which nourishes the grass, the flowers, the small trees and the large trees all equally based on their needs. When Buddha first attained his own enlightenment and decided to share his wisdom with the world, he knew that people would find his message very hard to accept. Today, we have many understandings of science and the universe, but imagine if Buddha started his first discourse with; "we are all made up of atoms, there are infinite universes and dimensions, and you are not really you" if the people ignored him that would have been a good result, with him being mocked and chastised being the more possible result. Therefore, the Buddha started by teaching the Middle Path, the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path because those are more accessible concepts to new practitioners. One can think of his first discourses as primary school, where things may seem easy to us now but at the time they were hard and learning them provided the essential building blocks for our future education. So in his first discourses, the Buddha basically taught people to give up selfish pursuits because it is fruitless, and only leads to rebirth and suffering, and by giving up craving by giving up one's self so that one can attain nirvana with the Arhat being the supreme being.
Later, when people were more ready, the Buddha would teach more deeply what he meant by "no self". The Buddha famously stated that we should treat his teachings like a raft, meant to get us to the other side of the river. Once we made it to the other side, are we to keep carrying it all around, or should we leave it? Essentially, Buddha is telling his followers not to grudgingly hold on to prior teachings because they were only meant for you get to your current understanding, once here, you need to let it go in order to proceed.
In the Prajna Paramita sutras, the goal is to teach people to become bodhisattvas and the proper way to train as a bodhisattva. A bodhisattva will likewise attain nirvana but will have the added purpose of helping other beings as well. This seemingly contradicted with the previous teachings of striving for self salvation and leaving this existence. But, if we were to treat the Buddha's previous teachings as a raft to be laid down, then it would not be. For example, think of the instructions in airplanes in case of an emergency "you should put on your own gas mask before helping others." We had to first save ourselves from craving before we can possibly hope to save others. Additionally, if the goal was never to save others then the Buddha would have never taught people to begin with. But compassion was always a necessary element of Buddhism, so to say that achieving Nirvana and leaving existence was the only goal for Buddhism is inadequate. And while there are beings who discover the end of craving on their own and do not teach others, these are called pacceka buddhas, they are not the ideal that Buddha expounded.
The Prajna Paramita Sutras, included many of the Buddha's final discourses. It was the last messages for his disciples before he was to depart. As discussed previously, it contains many concepts and revelations that may confound and frighten, it is hoped that this site serves as a springboard to further reading and research. Even for non-Buddhists many of the ideas and principles found within can be insightful to those interested in philosophy, physics, astronomy, sociology and other pursuits of the mind.
*Conze, Edward. Perfect Wisdom (1993)
**Diamond Sutra