Category: Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment

Perfect Enlightenment 15: Buddha Teaches the Perfect Enlightenment Being Immovable

Commentary:

To answer (see previous column), Buddha began explaining why sentient beings still fall into saṃsāra while possessing perfect enlightenment. This is the key to answering Vajragarbha’s three questions.

Within saṃsāra all phenomena fall into relativity to establish themselves, and hence there are notions such as beginning and end, life and death, front and back, existence and non-existence, gathering and dispersing, arising and cessation, and so on.…

An Introduction to “Beyond Words” Series

Translator’s note: Master Tam wrote series of books called Beyond Words (離言叢書) between 2011 and 2021. During this time he published thirteen books of commentary to Buddhist sūtras and treatises using the teaching of Buddha-Within. These books include Saṃdhi-nirmocana-sūtra, The Lion’s Roar of Queen Śrīmālā, as well as Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment that we are currently serializing on this website.

Perfect Enlightenment 13: On Surpassing Illusion

Commentary:

From the earlier observation, a bodhisattva accomplishes the perfect enlightenment, attains its fruition. A bodhisattva’s attainment is no different from a buddha’s attainment, which is an attainment of complete awareness. The complete awareness is where the nature of awareness permeates all phenomena without conflict nor confusion.…

Perfect Enlightenment: Intro and Table of Contents

By readers’ request, Master Tam decided to present his commentary to the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment as an overview to the Buddhist foundation, practice, and fruition. He posted a weekly column on the VBA website (Chinese) in 2016. In 2020, the column was extended and published as The Secret Meaning of the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenmentwhich became the 12th book in the  Beyond Words series, aiming to offer a lay and non-sectarian view on scriptures in the Buddhist Canon.…