December 25^th, 2024

Subhuti asked: "What does buddha mean?"
The Buddha answered: "Buddha is reality. One who thoroughly comprehends all the factors of existence is a buddha."

Then Subhuti asked: "What does enlightenment mean?"
The Buddha replied: "Enlightenment is a way of saying that all things are seen in their intrinsic empty nature, their Suchness, their ungraspable wonder. Names or words are merely incidental, but that state which sees no division, no duality, is enlightenment."

Subhuti asked: "If one wants to know emptiness, how should one do it?"
"The one who wants to realize emptiness should adore reality, develop a skill in living in the world, and cultivate friends of the same mind. Skill can only be developed in the presence of reality, not otherwise. Endowed with skill, the person gives without the idea of a giver and lives in the realization that all the factors of existence have no ultimate substance."