Attainment of Buddhahood

Publish Date:2024-09-10

Font Size: Big Middle Small

(20) Is it hopeful or hopeless for a sentient being to gain access to enlightenment and attain Buddhahood in the long run? For one who is not determined or not irrevocably determined to go on “the pilgrimage”, such a pursuit would of course turn out to be hopeless. This can be likened to the case of a high-school graduate who aspires to a university career. For a high school graduate in present-day China, who has not at all been diligent or not been consistently diligent throughout his high-school career, it is, of course, hopeless to matriculate. But for a consistently diligent high-school student, to matriculate is by no means a hopeless undertaking; otherwise universities in present-day China wouldn’t be filled to capacity year in and year out. The case of one who is irrevocably determined to go on “the pilgrimage” to gaining awakening to the Buddhist truth is quite similar to that of a consistently diligent high-school student who aspires to matriculation. Many people think that to attain Buddhahood is tantamount to creating a miracle, and they have never imagined that Buddhahood attainment is in reality an occurrence not at all unusual, because they prefer to load such an event with various concomitant mystical “attributes” such as “the thirty-two marks of the Buddha”, “the eighty minor marks of the Buddha’s body”, “an imperishable body”, “a host of sharira (or, sarira)”. But, I am sure, suchlike concomitant mystical “attributes” are brainchildren of hallucinated minds. What remains true is only the fact that attainment of Buddhahood before the advent of one’s natural death is verily a laudable event in one’s life.(From My Heart My Buddha)


Hot News