Buddha-Dharma (Internal Reference)¶
I. Definition and Nature of Buddha-Dharma¶
What is "dharma"? Dharma refers to the laws and principles governing the movement and transformation of all things — dharma is the manifestation of the Tao, the Tao is the inner content of dharma, dharma is the outer expression of the Tao; dharma and the Tao are inseparably one. Without dharma there is no Tao; without the Tao there is no dharma.
Buddha-Dharma is the Tao-law of the Buddha-Patriarch Tathāgata (the Greatest Creator). Therefore, all dharmas are Buddha-Dharma; beyond Buddha-Dharma there is no other dharma.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · All Dharmas Are Buddha-Dharma)
What are the characteristics of this Buddha-Dharma?
First, it is neither real nor void. We cannot see it with our eyes, hear it with our ears, smell it, taste it, or touch it — it has no form, no size, no sound, no boundary, no fixed pattern — hence it is "not real." Yet everything in the cosmos, including the evolution of life, the movement of celestial bodies, the rise and fall of civilizations, operates strictly and without exception according to this dharma — hence it is "not void."
Second, it is perfectly precise and exacting. Buddha-Dharma is absolutely impartial, without a shred of falseness or ambiguity. Before it, one can only be honest; there is no shortcut. Elaborate ceremonies and outward piety are useless — sincerity must arise from the heart.
Third, Buddha-Dharma has no fixed form. It is living, not dead. Each moment in each space has its own expression of Buddha-Dharma, which is why Śākyamuni said: "The mind of the past cannot be grasped; the mind of the present cannot be grasped; the mind of the future cannot be grasped." This is why he said "Buddha-Dharma has no fixed form," and why he likened his teachings to a raft — once you have crossed the river, you must leave the raft behind.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · All Dharmas Are Buddha-Dharma)
In truth, the entire wisdom of Buddhist teaching can be summed up in three terms: consciousness, structure, and energy. Understand the relationship among these three and you understand Buddha-Dharma.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Chapter · Is Buddha-Dharma the Truth? — Answer to Qiaojun)
Buddha-Dharma and the Tao are the same thing.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · Supreme Buddha-Dharma: No-Self, No-Scripture)
II. The Four Levels of Buddhist Practice¶
Those of the Small Vehicle have self, form, and scripture.
Those of the Middle Vehicle interpret self, form, and scripture.
Those of the Great Vehicle are free of self, form, and scripture.
Those of the Supreme Vehicle stand on the far shore and smash the Buddha and the scriptures.
Thus: those who burn incense and prostrate themselves belong to the Small Vehicle. Those who expound the scriptures belong to the Middle Vehicle. Those who discuss Zen and the Tao belong to the Great Vehicle. Those who rebuke the Buddha and the scriptures belong to the Supreme Vehicle.
Note carefully: one who rebukes the Buddha and the scriptures must be a realized master fully conversant with Buddha-Dharma. Ordinary people must absolutely never do this — the karmic consequences would be severe and irreversible.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · Supreme Buddha-Dharma: No-Self, No-Scripture)
The Diamond Sutra is the highest gate of Buddhist learning, intended for those of deep Buddhist roots who aspire to the Supreme Vehicle. Giving a lecture on quantum mechanics to elementary-school students is futile; expounding the Diamond Sutra to Small-Vehicle practitioners is essentially casting pearls before swine. As Laozi said: "The highest scholar, hearing the Tao, diligently practices it; the middle scholar, hearing the Tao, is uncertain; the lowest scholar, hearing the Tao, laughs loudly. If they did not laugh, it would not be worthy of being called the Tao."
All Buddhist scriptures are "expedient means" (方便法门) — not random talk, but teachings tailored to each person's level of Buddha-nature, just as one teaches elementary, secondary, and university students differently.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · All Dharmas Are Buddha-Dharma)
III. The Core of the Diamond Sutra¶
Reading the Diamond Sutra from start to finish, its core is the Buddha's teaching of the Supreme Vehicle — formless thinking and formless awareness.
The Buddha said: he liberates innumerable sentient beings, yet in truth no sentient being is liberated. A bodhisattva who holds any notion of self, others, sentient beings, or lifespan is not a bodhisattva. Give without abiding in form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma. The Tathāgata cannot be seen through physical marks. Neither hold to the dharma nor to non-dharma. What I have taught cannot be taken, cannot be stated; it is neither dharma nor non-dharma. The dharma I speak is merely a raft — not the dharma itself. So-called Buddha-Dharma is actually not Buddha-Dharma. Generate a pure mind by not letting the mind linger on matter, sound, smell, taste, sensation, or principle — let the mind have nowhere to linger. Departing from all forms is being a Buddha. What the Tathāgata has attained is neither real nor void. All dharmas are Buddha-Dharma. All dharmas are free of self, others, sentient beings, and lifespan.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · Supreme Buddha-Dharma: No-Self, No-Scripture)
IV. Three Conditions for Becoming a Buddha¶
There are three hallmarks of a person who has become a Buddha:
- Seeing the Tathāgata;
- Attaining the state of non-action (无为);
- Dwelling nowhere in the mind.
In other words: whoever fulfills these three conditions has become a Buddha — is a Buddha.
Seeing the Tathāgata: The Tathāgata is self-nature. The Diamond Sutra says: "All forms are illusory. Whoever sees all forms as non-form sees the Tathāgata."
Attaining non-action: The Diamond Sutra says: "All sages differ only through the unconditioned dharma." The more one acts with forcing intent, the further one moves from one's original nature. Self-nature Tathāgata is already perfectly pure and complete — to will things into being is to move away from the Buddha, not toward it.
Dwelling nowhere in the mind: The Diamond Sutra says: "Generate a pure mind that does not abide in form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharma. Generate a mind that abides nowhere." Only when the mind has no anchor can wisdom arise.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · Illuminating Nature, Transcending Dust — Become a Buddha Right Now)
V. The Essence of Buddha-Dharma: Formlessness and Nature (性)¶
The Buddha tells us: "Departing from all forms is called all Buddhas." When one's consciousness attains the state of formlessness, that life is a Buddha. What six forms must be absent? Self-form, others-form, sentient-beings-form, lifespan-form, dharma-form, and non-dharma-form. "All forms are illusory. Whoever sees all forms as non-form sees the Tathāgata."
The Patriarch Bodhidharma clearly stated: nature is the Buddha, the Buddha is nature. Without seeing one's nature, all modes and paths of cultivation and their merit have nothing to do with becoming a Buddha.
Hundun Yuanchu (Xuefeng's Dharma name) tells us: among ten thousand gate-methods, none surpasses one word — xing (性, nature). Awaken through nature.
(Guide's Other Articles · 2024 · The Secret of Buddha-Dharma Revealed)
The highest swordsmanship has no sword; the highest mind-method has no mind; the most profound Buddha-Dharma has no Buddha; the greatest self is no-self.
(New Era Human 800 Concepts, Fourth Edition · Concept 674)
Nature is Buddha; Buddha is nature.
(New Era Human 800 Concepts, Fourth Edition · Concept 675)
VI. Buddha-Dharma and Traditional Buddhism¶
Buddhist scriptures are an ocean — vast, obscure, and intimidating. The sermons of monks grow ever more confusing, putting the cart before the horse, mystifying rather than enlightening. Like the Yellow River — clear and pure at its source, turbid and yellow downstream. There is only one way to understand Buddha-Dharma: trace everything back to the Diamond Sutra, the source of all scriptures.
True Buddha-Dharma has already been lost in China. What remains is riddled with holes; patching it is futile. We must go back to the source — the Diamond Sutra.
When the Fifth Patriarch Hongren transmitted his robe and bowl, he found that his most accomplished senior disciple Shenxiu had not received the dharma, while Huineng — a kitchen worker who could not read — had. He transmitted to Huineng, but knowing Huineng lacked standing to spread the teaching widely, he told him: "The robe is a cause for contention; do not pass it on after you." After the Sixth Patriarch, no Seventh Patriarch was born. True Buddha-Dharma ended there.
Now I take up the robe and bowl of Buddha-Dharma, and together with Foshan-cao, continue to speak Buddha-Dharma to sentient beings.
(Chanyuan Corpus · Becoming-Buddha Chapter · Preface: The Diamond Sutra — the Himalayas of Wisdom)
Śākyamuni Buddha's wisdom was the deepest in human history; to this day almost no one has reached his level. His teaching was not the ultimate truth itself, but a finger pointing at the moon — only the moon (the Tathāgata, the Greatest Creator) is truth. The Buddha's mode of thinking was formless thinking; the thinking of the Creator of the cosmos is Hundun thinking. The Greatest Creator is the true Buddha-Patriarch.
(Xuefeng Corpus · Q&A Chapter · Is Buddha-Dharma the Truth? — Answer to Qiaojun)
VII. Opening the Gates of Buddhism¶
Buddha-Dharma is the supreme method for rescuing people from suffering, the highest wisdom for lifting sentient beings out of the sea of pain. The World Honored One's purpose in spreading Buddha-Dharma was never endless abstention and regulation but liberation from suffering and entering the Realm of Ultimate Bliss together.
Buddha-Dharma is alive, not dead. It has no fixed form. All dharmas are Buddha-Dharma. Rigid institutions, temple walls, Buddha statues — these drive the Buddha and Buddha-Dharma into a dead end. The Buddha himself said: "Whoever seeks the Tathāgata through form or sound is walking the wrong path."
Open the gates of Buddhism! Let all sentient beings come near — those who eat meat, drink wine, smoke tobacco; those of every faith and background. Only then can Buddha's light shine everywhere.
Return to us true Buddha-Dharma!
(Xuefeng Corpus · Admonishment Chapter · Open the Gates of Buddhism, Return True Buddha-Dharma)
VIII. Buddha-Dharma in Lifechanyuan Practice¶
When we apply the teachings of Jesus Christ, Śākyamuni Buddha, and the sage Laozi in our community culture, we find that the teachings of the divine-Buddha-celestial are genuine and will lead us to the Kingdom of Heaven.
Community management draws on Laozi's teachings, which is why the Second Home is harmonious, radiant, and full of vitality. Many of the Second Home's principles come from Jesus's teachings — especially regarding relationships. And all of our actual practices are guided primarily by Śākyamuni Buddha, which is why describing his teachings as the ferry from this shore to the other shore is perfectly apt.
(Guide's Other Articles · 2022 · Buddha-Dharma Has Already Taken Root and Blossomed in the Second Home)
The Second Home (Life Oasis) has no rules or regulations and no leaders in the traditional sense — only different roles, no distinction between leaders and the led. Everyone is a co-owner. All affairs are handled flexibly according to the principle: "Buddha-Dharma has no fixed dharma, it transforms endlessly; unchanging within change, change within the unchanging." Everyone acts freely according to their Tathāgata-nature of truth, goodness, beauty, love, faith, and sincerity.
(New Era Human 800 Concepts, Fourth Edition · Concept 646)
Related Entries¶
Buddha, the Buddha-Patriarch, Tathāgata · The Diamond Sutra · Becoming a Buddha · Self-Nature · Buddha-Nature · Tathāgata-Nature · Non-Form Thinking · No-Self No-Form · No-Abiding Mind · Illuminating the Mind, Seeing One's Nature · The Tao · The Greatest Creator