Vajrakkhedika (Diamond Cutter) · 17 of 19 · tr. E.B. Cowell, F. Max Müller, and J. Kakakusu

Section 1q

Free from self, free from being, free from life, free from personality, that highest perfect knowledge is always the same, and thus known with all good things.

And why?

Because, what were preached as good things, good things indeed, O Subhûti, they were preached as no-things by the Tathâgata, and therefore they are called good things.' (23) XXIV.

'And if, O Subhûti, a woman or man, putting together as many heaps of the seven treasures as there are Sumerus, kings of mountains, in the sphere of a million millions of worlds, should give them as a gift to holy and fully enlightened Tathâgatas; and, if a son or a daughter of a good family, after taking from this treatise of the Law, this Pra gñ âpâramitâ, one Gâthâ of four lines only, should teach it to others, then, O Subhûti, compared with his stock of merit, the former stock of merit would not come to the one hundredth part,' &c., till 'it will not bear an approach.' (24) XXV.

'What do you think then, O Subhûti, does a Tathâgatas think in this wise: Beings have been delivered by me?

You should not think so, O Subhûti.

And why?

Because there is no being, O Subhûti, that has been delivered by the Tathâgata.

And, if there were a being, O Subhûti, that has been delivered by the Tathâgatas, then the Tathâgata would believe in self, believe in a being, believe in a living being, and believe in a person.

And what is called a belief in self, O Subhûti, that is preached [1.

As before, in chap.

xvi.] as no-belief by the Tathâgata.

And this is learned by children and ignorant persons; and they who were preached as children and ignorant persons, O Subhûti, were preached as no-persons by the Tathâgata, and therefore they are called children and ignorant persons.' (25) XXVI.

'What do you think then, O Subhûti, is the Tathâgata to be seen (known) by the possession of signs?' Subhûti said: 'Not indeed, O Bhagavat.

So far as I know the meaning of the preaching of the Bhagavat, the Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs.' Bhagavat said: 'Good, good, Subhûti, so it is, Subhûti; so it is, as you say; a Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs.

And why?

Because, O Subhûti, if the Tathâgata were to be seen (known) by the possession of signs, a wheel-turning king also would be a Tathâgata; therefore a Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs.' The venerable Subhûti spoke thus to the Bhagavat: 'As I understand the meaning of the preaching of the Bhagavat, a Tathâgata is not to be seen (known) by the possession of signs.' Then the Bhagavat at that moment preached these two Gâthâs: They who saw me by form, and they who heard me by sound, They engaged in false endeavours, will not see me.

[1.

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Themes

Apophatic Theologytheology

Describing the divine only by negation—God transcends all positive categories and concepts; the via negativa.

The passage defines the highest knowledge and beings primarily through negation, stating they are 'no-beings' and that 'nothing... has been known'.

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Divine Hiddennesstheology

The supreme God's radical concealment beyond ordinary knowledge or perception; the Hidden Father.

The Tathagata is explicitly stated to be unknowable through signs, form, or sound: 'They who saw me by form, and they who heard me by sound, engaged in false endeavours, will not see me.'

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Gnosis Direct Knowledgesoteriology

Salvation through direct experiential knowledge of the divine nature, not through faith, ritual, or moral works alone.

The passage centers on the nature of 'highest perfect knowledge' as the ultimate realization, even while negating its conceptual form.

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Opposites Transcendedanthropology

The dissolution of binary oppositions (male/female, inner/outer, above/below) as a mark of spiritual completion.

It explicitly states 'all is the same there, there is no difference there,' dissolving binary oppositions like being and non-being.

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Paradox As Teachingethics

Using apparent contradiction, reversal, or riddle to destabilise ordinary understanding and induce insight.

The text employs apparent contradictions such as 'beings... preached as no-beings' to destabilize ordinary conceptual understanding.

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Relative Truththeology

The doctrine that reality has two registers — an Absolute truth as the divine or ultimate mind knows it, and a Relative truth as finite human reason perceives and must act on — with both held as legitimate on their own plane rather than the second being simply an error to correct. Distinct from apophatic_theology (a claim about how the divine may be described, by negation) and unity_of_being (a claim that being is ultimately one) in being a claim about two coexisting registers of truth-claim itself.

The passage holds two registers simultaneously: the conventional truth (good things, beings delivered, children and ignorant persons) and the ultimate truth (no-things, no being delivered, no-persons), affirming both as valid on their own plane.

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Sunyata Emptinesssoteriology

The Buddhist doctrine that all phenomena lack independent self-nature; emptiness as the positive recognition that things arise only in dependence on conditions — distinct from kenoma's mere deficiency.

[auto] The passage centrally defines beings as 'no-beings' and highest knowledge as knowing 'nothing', directly expressing the doctrine of emptiness.

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