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Diligent Practice: The Lotus with a Thousand Petals – Diamond Sutra 05
The language of the Diamond Sutra often carries a mystical quality, but it can be illuminated through two principal methods: Manifestation-only and Avatamsaka. Manifestation-only presents the three natures (the nature of imagined construction, the nature of dependent arising, and the nature of consummation) along with the notion of seeds in the mind, helping us to understand “A is not A, therefore A is truly A.” Avatamsaka teaches that the one contains the all, and the all contains the one, allowing us to look into “the one” to see “the all” and vice versa, thereby recognizing the inter-being nature of all phenomena.
Seven essential steps to contemplate the Diamond Sutra and develop the wisdom of a Bodhisattva:
- Observe and make contact with non-discriminative wisdom.
- Do not let the mind get caught in appearances.
- Look deeply into appearances without running away or rejecting them.
- See the dependent arising nature of the object.
- Attain insight into true nature (kensho): seeing the true nature of phenomena.
- Give rise to the three virtues of non-desire, non-anger, and non-fear.
- Thanks to these three virtues, the practitioner naturally practices generosity, mindfulness trainings, patience, diligence, and meditation as naturally as breathing.
The heroic practice of noble silence, combined with recording every urge to speak or act in a notebook, helps to recognize and gradually weaken habitual energies, so that every moment becomes an opportunity for insight into true nature. In this way, regardless of age, anyone can live deeply as a Bodhisattva in daily life.
