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“Thusly, thusly! Just as the self is merely a name, the Buddha is also merely a name. Names are empty of characteristics, and this is itself Bodhi.”
The Buddha is formless, but without the form and name “Buddha”, sentient beings would be lost in the forest of birth-and-death forever.
The Tathagata has two attributes; wisdom (formlessness) and compassion (form). In order to make itself known to us, wisdom appears as form.
That is its compassionate activity.
There are many forms through which he appears. The Lanka Sutra lists them:
Self-existing One (svayambhuva) … Buddha, Rishi, Bull-king, Brahma, Vishnu, Isvara [God], the Originator (pradhana), Kapila, the Destroyer (bhutanta), the Imperishable (arishta), Nemina, Soma (moon), Fire, Rama, Vyasa, Suka, Indra, the Strong One (Balin), or Varuna; there are others who know me as Immortality (anirodhanutpada) …. Emptiness, Suchness, Truth (satyata), Reality (bhutata), Limit of Reality (bhutakoti), Dharmadhatu [Realm of Dharma], Nirvana, Eternity (nitya), Sameness (samata), Non-Duality (advaya), the Imperishable (anirodha), Formless (animitta), Causality [pratyaya), Teaching the Cause of Buddhahood (buddha-hetupadesa), the All-Knowing (sarvajna), the Conquering One [or Conqueror] (jina), or the Will-body (manomayakaya).
Interestingly, even Indian gods are in the list, not just “Buddhist names”, but also “Hindu names”. Without question, we could add other deities to the list, deities of non-Vedic origin. The formless appears as different forms according to the spiritual maturity of the observer. To an immature observes, the formless absolute appears as a childish god that is vengeful, throws tantrums, kills on a whim, etc.
To those who are spiritually mature it appears as an Infinite Light that shines on all sentient beings incessantly, without discriminating.
What you say cannot be denied. Yet in context of this particular sutra there are no “sentient beings would be lost in the forest of birth-and-death forever.” In context of this particular sutra, there is no ‘forest of birth and death’. The opening blog of this sutra indicated that what is being taught here by Mañjuśrī is indicative of “High Gnosis”; in this context it needs to be read with such a lens. This is the context of Prajñāpāramitā wherein nothing is affirmed or denied.
Understood. Thank you for the explanation.
It seems this is the sticking point for so many Buddhists, most especially those who discard some portion or another of the teachings, without certifying to the fruits of practice. In the dhammapada this is likened to sharp grass, which cuts the hands if handled improperly. Reading much of Zen literature, old or new, one eventually stumbles over the delusion that Buddha’s teachings should be dispensed with — that scripture burning is the same as mastering the scriptures. But just as truth is not “brought down” by Buddha, it cannot be “dispensed with” nor treated recklessly. The sword of Manjusri is two edged!
Arya Nāgārjuna anticipated the sickness you mentioned, saying: emptiness exists as a provisional cure, but attachment to the doctrine of emptiness itself is truly incurable.
When a student of inferior capacity reads “burn the scriptures” or “kill the buddhas”, she interprets: “this is telling us to abandon Buddhist scripture and to stop revering devas, Bodhisattvas and Buddhas.”
When a student of medium capacity reads “burn the scriptures” and “kill the buddhas”, she interprets: “this is warning us to not attach to scripture, and to not worship with self-attachment in mind.”
When a student of high capacity reads “burn the scriptures” and “kill the buddhas”, she interprets: “this is the highest reverence to the scriptures; this is the most sincere and humble homage to the buddhas!”
When a student of superior capacity reads “burn the scriptures” and “kill the buddhas”, she intuitively recognizes that which uttered those phrases (the origin) and unites with the source of all buddhas and all scriptures: the ratnagotra.