CH 1 - Subhūti and Śāriputra discuss Prajñā
1. Introduction
The Buddha instructs Subhūti to explain Prajñāpāramitā to the bodhisattvas.
Śāriputra wonders about the authority of Subhūti speaking.
“Whatever the Buddha’s disciples may venture to teach, all is [through] the Buddha’s power. For what reason? Those who train in that Dharma taught by the Buddha are able to realize the nature of Dharma. Having realized it, whatever they proclaim and teach none is contradictory with the nature of Dharma, through the power of the nature of Dharma.”
2. Extinction of Self
Subhūti: “I do not see that dharma ‘bodhisattva’ nor a dharma called Prajñāpāramitā. Since I neither find, nor apprehend, nor see these dharmas, what bodhisattva is there to be explained what?”
“When bodhisattvas practice Prajñāpāramitā, they should not abide in form; they should not abide in sensation, perception, volitions, or cognition. For what reason? If they abide in form, that is practicing the construction of form; if they abide in sensation, perception, volitions, or cognition, that is practicing the construction of cognition.”