The master offered these words:

“The ’Diamond Perfection of the Wisdom Sutra’ is a sutra that teaches us the moment-to-moment thoughts that we bring about in daily life are nothing but the mysterious mind of unbreakable, diamond-like wisdom. This sutra is impossible to be explained fully through the 600 sections of the ’Wisdom Sutra,’ nor even if the entire Tripitaka (Buddhist scriptures) was put to use. For this reason, an East Indian king once invited the 27^th patriarch, Prajñātāra, to the Buddha Hall in his castle grounds, whereupon he inquired to him as such:

 

’The other monks have read all of the sutras, why hasn’t the esteemed master done likewise?’

’When breathing in, this old monk does not abide in this world of darkness, and when exhaling, he does not create any new karma. It is the one hundred quadrillion volumes of this sutra that this old monk recites without end.’

’What do such words mean? You are saying that even in one of the volumes you read, that amount equals the size of the universe. If this is true, please answer my question. Under what title do the variety of interpretations offered by various monks belong?’

’Those are completely unrelated.’

 

The Sutra without sound

is the Diamond Prajna Paramita Sutra,

 

The Sutra without appearance

is the Diamond Prajna Paramita Sutra,

 

Unknowable

even with exquisite knowledge

 

Unreachable

even with my wisdom,

 

Chinese is a futile translation

and Sanskrit is an avoidable set of words.

 

Everything is that way

this mind, too,

 

Everything is that way,

those Buddhas, too.

 

Raising the shade, the fall sunlight is cold; opening the window, the summer sky is clear. If your understanding is like this, the message of this poem becomes quite evident.”