Only Through Non-Attainment Can One Attain Buddhahood

The Buddha said in the Diamond Sutra that He became a Buddha because of attaining nothing; only by not attaining a single dharma can one become a Buddha, and if one believes there is a dharma to be attained, one cannot become a Buddha. Why is this said? The Buddha became a Buddha by means of great wisdom, unsurpassed wisdom. How was the Buddha's wisdom obtained? The Buddha began cultivation as an ordinary being, and through three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, gradually broke through and exhausted all ignorance. Each time a kind of ignorance was broken through, a kind of illumination was revealed; as a portion of the darkness of the mind-ground disappeared, a portion of light appeared—and this light is wisdom. When all ignorance is extinguished, the wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā) manifests. Therefore, the Buddha's unsurpassed wisdom, his peerless wisdom, was not acquired or obtained; it was revealed through the exhaustion of ignorance. In other words, becoming a Buddha is not about attaining some dharma, but about not attaining a single dharma—when all obscurations are removed, the light of the mind-ground naturally manifests. So the purpose of each of us studying Buddhism and cultivating practice is to break through ignorance, not to obtain something. A mind that seeks to gain is itself ignorance, itself an obscuration, and wisdom will not appear.

True right faith requires the wisdom of direct perception and valid direct cognition; otherwise, faith inevitably degenerates into biased belief and blind belief. Even with the Buddhist sutras, a person of genuine wisdom should hold doubts and find ways to actually verify them through realization—let alone teachings not spoken by the Buddha?

On the internet, quite a few people say that the Sixth Patriarch was a Buddha who came again, that the teachings he expounded carry the Buddha's realization, and that the Sixth Patriarch had already cultivated and accomplished buddhahood. I truly do not know on what basis these people draw such a definitive conclusion about the Sixth Patriarch. To certify someone as being at the level of a university professor, one should be at a level even higher than that professor; at the very least, one must be of comparable level in order to grant such certification. Nowadays, it seems that sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age have all already become Buddhas, and then, with the Buddha's wisdom, they certify that the Sixth Patriarch has attained buddhahood and possesses the Buddha's wisdom and realization. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a thin little volume—my guess is that not a single one of these people can truly understand it; otherwise, none of them would dare to draw such a definitive conclusion.