The Realization of the Buddhas | There Is No Suffering

All buddhas appearing in the past, present, and future rely on prajnaparamita, and realize Perfect Enlightenment, anuttara-samyak-sambodhi.The buddhas appearing in the past are all the sentient beings that have become buddhas in all worlds, not just this one. Present buddhas are all the buddhas existing now in the innumerable worlds; in Buddhism, we call this the ten directions—the eight points of the compass, plus above and below. Future buddhas are all bodhisattvas, in fact, all sentient beings, who are on the path to buddhahood.

We have already explained the meaning of prajnaparamita. When you finally transcend attachment to self and all dharmas, you have realized wisdom without outflows. In the beginning of the sutra, it was a bodhisattva, Avalokitesvara, who was relying on prajnaparamita. Now, at the end of the sutra, we are referring to buddhas who, even though liberated, still practice.

It is very difficult for ordinary sentient beings to conceive of the nirvana of great bodhisattvas like Avalokitesvara and the buddhas. The Mahaprajnaparamita-sastra states, “Nirvana is the state free from all forms—immeasurable and inconceivable, where all thought has ceased. Such are the qualities of nirvana—it is none other than prajnaparamita.”36 ‘No-form,’ ‘immeasurable,’ and ‘no-concept’ are names for prajna as well as nirvana. Bodhisattvas who have reached nirvana are no longer fettered by the chain of samsara or moved by afflictions. Unlike ordinary people who cherish existence in samsara, or arhats who would leave samsara forever, bodhisattvas freely come and go in birth and death. They take setient beings and this world as fields to cultivate their merit. A Buddha is one who has completely finished the task of cultivating this field, and who has perfected his or her merit (compassion) and virtue (wisdom).

To attain anuttara-samyak-sambodhi is the highest realization of the buddhas—anuttara meaning highest, samyak meaning perfect, and sambodhi meaning all-pervasive realization. The word ‘attain’ here should not be misconstrued. The sutra says, “there is no attainment.” In this passage, attainment is that of the fruition of the merit of the buddhas, not that of practicing with the aim of achieving self-liberation.

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