Becoming a Buddha (Friendly Version)¶
How long do you think it takes to become a buddha?¶
Most people imagine it takes decades of monastic practice — shaved head, chanting sutras, burning incense, prostrating before statues…
Xuefeng says: it doesn't.
"Before, becoming a buddha required the discipline of śīla, samādhi, and prajñā, and years of meditation practice. Today, there is no need for all that. If you can illuminate the mind and see your original nature, you can become a buddha overnight."
This very moment you can become a buddha. The question is not how long it takes — it is whether you truly understand what "buddha" means.
What is a buddha?¶
A buddha is not the gilded statue in the temple. Not an external deity you can petition. Not a cosmic reward you receive after sufficient good behavior.
A buddha is original nature (xìng, 性) — the dimension of your life that was always pure, always complete, always capable of giving rise to ten thousand things.
"See your original nature, and that is buddha. Illuminate the mind and see the nature; nature is buddha, buddha has no mind."
The Tathāgata — "Thus Come One" — is that original nature. The Diamond Sūtra says: "If you see that all appearances are non-appearances, you see the Tathāgata." The moment you see through the illusion of all fixed names, forms, and identities — you see your original nature, and you are a buddha.
Three Marks of Becoming a Buddha¶
Xuefeng identifies three signs that a person has become a buddha:
First: You have seen the Tathāgata.
"Who am I? My house is not me — I still exist without it. My clothes are not me. My teeth are not me. My eyes are not me. My legs are not me. My heart is not me. My blood is not me… Nothing I can point to is me. Who, then, am I?
Oh — I am the Tathāgata."
When you recognize that the true "I" is formless, sizeless, beginningless, endingless — that is seeing the Tathāgata. In that instant, you are a buddha.
Second: You have reached the state of non-action (wú wéi).
"All noble sages differ only by degrees of non-action." The more you act from the compulsion of ego-driven desire, the lower your life-level; the more you move without attachment to outcome, the higher. Human life moves in a spectrum: the unreflective (driven by instinct), the worldly (driven by desire), the ordinary (driven by emotion), the wise (driven by reason), the celestial and the Buddha (driven by spiritual sense — líng xìng). The closer to non-action, the closer to buddhahood.
Third: Your heart has no fixed abode.
"Let the mind arise without dwelling anywhere." A mind that is not captured by sound, form, smell, taste, touch, or doctrine — that generates the pure heart needed to see one's original nature. This is the Heart Sūtra's "no hindrance in the heart, no hindrance hence no fear, far from inverted illusions, ultimate nirvāṇa."
Having a self, you cannot become a buddha¶
This is the core obstacle — and the most direct truth:
As long as there is a "self" present in the heart, you are far from buddhahood.
"I want to become a buddha." — That "I" is the obstacle. "This is my family, my religion, my country." — Those "mine"s are the obstacle. "I think this is right. I think that is wrong." — That "I think" is the obstacle.
"Where there is self, there is no buddha; where there is buddha, there is no self. Let go of the self, and the true self appears; cling to the self, and ultimately there is no self."
Grasping at appearances, you cannot become a buddha¶
"Leave all appearances behind, and that is called 'all the Buddhas.'" (Diamond Sūtra)
"Appearance" (xiāng, 相) encompasses not only what you see, hear, smell, taste, and touch — but also moral codes, doctrines, religious rules, laws, national identities — all forms that restrict the mind. These are dharma-appearances.
Xuefeng lists six categories of "grasping at appearances" that constitute practicing the wrong path: 1. Building temples, casting statues, burning incense, wearing robes 2. Establishing doctrines, hierarchies, and institutional rules 3. Precepts, rules, prescribed methods of practice 4. Sects, lineages, denominations 5. Claiming that eating meat, drinking wine, or sexual activity prevents buddhahood 6. Expounding the dharma in a way that clings to dharma-appearances
"Taking off the robe is what it takes to become a buddha." — The subtlest robe is the robe of achievement: when someone has accumulated fame, wisdom, and accomplishment, they have put on an invisible robe. If they refuse to take it off, it blocks their own path and others'.
Three Verses, Three Coordinates¶
When the Fifth Patriarch Hongren sought to transmit his robe and bowl, two verses were composed:
Shenxiu (First Awakening): "The body is the bodhi-tree / The heart is like a bright mirror-stand / Diligently polish it at all times / Let no dust alight." → Approaches from the angle of cultivating practice; good for the general practitioner; the path is long.
Huineng (Complete Awakening): "Bodhi is fundamentally no tree / The bright mirror is likewise no stand / Originally there is not a single thing / So where can dust alight?" → Points directly at original nature; risks falling into nihilistic emptiness.
Hundun Yuanchu (Xuefeng, Transcendent Awakening): "The heart holds the bodhi-tree / Spirit is the bright mirror-stand / Ten thousand things arise from transformation / Illumine the nature and transcend all dust." → Unites the material and non-material worlds; opens spiritual sense (líng jué); allows one to move toward the far shore while still fully living.
Xuefeng comments: "The greatest is Shenxiu — he laid the foundation. The most sublime is Huineng — he stood in the Elysium World. The most remarkable is Hundun Yuanchu — he built a ladder between the foundation and the Elysium World."
Becoming a Buddha has no shortcuts — and one shortcut¶
Two teachings that seem to contradict each other, and don't:
"Becoming a buddha has no tricks." Practice in each word and deed; cultivation in each thought and intention. "Accumulate step by step; a single stride cannot reach a thousand miles. Not accumulating small streams, no great river forms." Anyone who claims to know the secret trick to becoming a buddha instantly is a deceiver — or worse.
"The shortcut is illuminating the mind and seeing the nature." This is not a contradiction. The shortcut is not bypassing the accumulation — it is finding the right direction so that accumulated effort does not go to waste. When accumulation reaches the critical threshold, awakening happens in a single instant:
"At any moment, a flash of spiritual light may appear. At any place, a flash of spiritual light may appear. Seize that instant of flashing light — you have become a buddha."
If today you have one such instant of buddhahood, it is extraordinary. Two instants, more so. A few minutes each day — you are already on the Spiritual Mountain. One full day of it, with only scattered moments of confusion — you need only continue, and the fruit will ripen completely.
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