Attaining Buddhahood in This Very Life

A Huayan master asked Master Huihai, “Venerable, do you hold that insentient beings are Buddhas?” The master replied, “I do not. If insentient beings were Buddhas, living people would be no better than the dead, and dead horses and dead dogs would be superior to the living. As the scriptures state, the Buddha’s body is none other than the Dharma body. It arises from precepts, samadhi, and wisdom; from the three higher knowledges and six supernatural powers; and from all wholesome dharmas. If you claim insentient beings are Buddhas, Venerable Sir, you could die right now and become a Buddha.”

Explanatory Note

The Platform Sutra says: “Take refuge in awakening, the Two-Footed Noble One; take refuge in rectitude, the Noble One free from desire; take refuge in purity, the Noble One among the multitudes. From this day on, take awakening as your teacher, and turn your back on heretical demons and external paths. With the self-nature Triple Gem, you will bear witness to it for yourself at all times. I urge all sincere friends to take refuge in the self-nature Triple Gem: the Buddha is awakening, the Dharma is rectitude, the Sangha is purity!”

When your own mind takes refuge in awakening, delusion does not arise; you have few desires and are content, and can let go of wealth and lust: this is the Two-Footed Noble One. When your own mind takes refuge in rectitude, no wrong view arises in any thought. Without wrong view, there is no arrogance, greed, attachment, or clinging: this is the Noble One free from desire. When your own mind takes refuge in purity, your mind does not cling to or become stained by any worldly toil, lust, or sensory object: this is the Noble One among the multitudes. To practice this path is to take refuge in yourself.

Ordinary people fail to grasp this, and go through day and night observing the precepts of the three refuges. If you say you take refuge in the Buddha, where is that Buddha? If you cannot see the Buddha, what are you taking refuge in? To speak this way is to stray into falsehood! Good friends, look into this for yourselves, and do not mistake your own mind. The scriptures make it clear: we take refuge in our own Buddha, not in another’s Buddha. If you do not return to your own Buddha, you have nowhere to take refuge. Now that you have realized this for yourselves, each of you must take refuge in the Triple Gem of your own mind: cultivate your mind-nature from within, honor others from without—this is true self-refuge.

The Platform Sutra also says: “If the mind is at peace, why strain to uphold precepts? If your conduct is upright, what need is there for Chan practice? Gratitude is caring for and supporting your parents; rightness is caring for one another across all ranks. Yielding brings harmony between elders and juniors; forbearance keeps all strife at bay. If you can drill wood to spark a flame, red lotuses are sure to bloom from the mud. Bitter-tasting things are good medicine; hard-to-hear words are faithful counsel. Correcting your faults will always give rise to wisdom; hiding your shortcomings is not the mark of a wise person. In daily life, act always to benefit others; awakening does not come from giving money. Bodhi is found only in the mind—why waste effort searching for mystery outside yourself? If you hear this and put it into practice, the Western Pure Land is right before your eyes.”

Zen Master Yuangui of Mount Song said, “The Buddha can empty all marks and realize the wisdom of all dharmas, but cannot instantly erase fixed karmic retribution. The Buddha can know the nature of all existing things, and fathom the events of eons past and future, but cannot teach and guide those with no karmic affinity. The Buddha can liberate infinite sentient beings, but cannot exhaust the realm of sentient beings: these are the three things the Buddha cannot do. Fixed karmic retribution is not eternal; lack of karmic affinity lasts only for a single lifetime. The realm of sentient beings has never increased or decreased, and there has never been anyone who can command its dharma. When there is dharma but no master, we call this ‘no dharma’; when there is no dharma and no master, we call this ‘no mind.’ In my understanding, the Buddha has no supernatural powers either. He can only let all dharmas be as they naturally are, through a mind of no-self.”

Who is without feeling? A person without feeling is no different from an inanimate object, are they? Someone who acts as if they are insentient is full of every evil and not a single good. All people are born with innate moral knowledge, after all. If someone lacks this innate moral knowledge, if they give in to base desires and destroy the inherent moral principle of heaven—then even the young may sound the drums to denounce them, and all people are justified in putting them to death. Such a person should take their own life to atone to the people of the nation! Only with this innate moral knowledge can a person regulate their body and mind; regulating body and mind leads to awakening, and by building on small awakenings day by day, they can gradually realize their noble character, through steady, accumulated effort. As Xunzi writes in Encouraging Learning: “Pile up earth to form a mountain, and wind and rain will rise from it; collect water to make a deep pool, and dragons will be born within it. Accumulate good to build virtue, and spiritual insight will arise of its own accord; the mind of a sage will be fully present.” The function of the mind is to correct thoughts and drive out deluded ideas: this is the very path by which awakening arises. When a person dies, the four great elements scatter, the spirit has no home, the mind has no work to do: what awakening could there be? Without awakening, how can one be called a Buddha?

The master of Baoxia Residence in Zhutang, Jiangyin, said, “Ancient Indian treatises claim that a human body is hard to obtain, the Buddha-dharma is hard to hear, and the Buddha path is hard to complete—but this is not the definitive truth. Ever since the rise of Chinese Mahayana Buddhism, it has taught that all people can attain Buddhahood and awaken to the path in their present lifetime, and this is no lie! Students of the path, with a mind of utmost sincerity, can hear the true dharma; with a mind of diligent practice, can establish right faith; with the aspiration to cultivate the self and regulate the family, can discipline their conduct; with unflagging commitment, can attain the ultimate fruit. Thus, those who penetrate Chan will surely awaken; those who awaken to the path will surely gain clarity; those who clarify the mind will surely reach the goal; those who attain unimpeded insight will surely be fully realized. This is what we mean by attaining Buddhahood.”