Only Through Non-Attainment Can One Attain Buddhahood

The Buddha said in the Diamond Sutra that the Buddha attained buddhahood because of attaining nothing—only by attaining not even a single dharma can one become a Buddha; if one believes there is some 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 over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, gradually exhausted and destroyed all ignorance. Each time a kind of ignorance was destroyed, a kind of illumination was revealed; as part of the darkness of the mind-ground disappeared, a portion of light appeared—and this light is wisdom. When all ignorance is extinguished, omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā) manifests. Therefore, the Buddha's unsurpassed wisdom, his wisdom without equal, was not acquired or obtained; it manifested through the exhaustion of ignorance. In other words, becoming a Buddha is not about attaining some dharma, but about attaining not even 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 destroy ignorance, not to obtain something. A mind that seeks to gain something is itself ignorance, itself an obscuration, and wisdom will not appear.

Genuine right faith requires the wisdom of direct perception; 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 what he taught carries a Buddha's realization, and that the Sixth Patriarch had already cultivated and accomplished buddhahood. I truly do not know on what basis these people have reached 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, at an equivalent level—before one can grant such certification to the other. Nowadays, it seems that sentient beings in the Dharma-ending age have all already cultivated themselves into Buddhas, and then, with a Buddha's wisdom, certify that the Sixth Patriarch has attained buddhahood and possesses a Buddha's wisdom and realization. The Platform Sutra of the Sixth Patriarch is a thin little volume; I estimate that not one of these people can understand it—otherwise, who would dare to draw such a definitive conclusion?