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From Emptiness to Conviviality
The Diamond Sutra is one of the most revered scriptures in Chinese Buddhism and one of the most enigmatic. Its teachings are subtle and profound, often challenging our conventional thinking. The text itself issues a warning: “Some people who hear it might become mentally disturbed, filled with doubt and disbelief.” When I left Hong Kong to begin college in the United States, a friend gifted me a copy. It would take me nearly four decades to start decoding its meaning.
One of its most famous and puzzling lines is: “All forms are illusory. If one understands that all forms are not forms, then one sees the Tathāgata.” At first glance, this may sound cryptic or even nihilistic. But a careful reading, grounded in Buddhist philosophy, reveals a radiant, life-affirming truth. The Sutra is not denying the world — it’s inviting us to see it with awakened eyes.
1. Not a Teaching of Nihilism
A common misunderstanding is that the Diamond Sutra teaches nihilism — denying the existence or value of things. On the contrary, it calls into question not existence itself, but how we perceive existence. It challenges the belief that the world is made up of isolated, self-sufficient entities. The illusion, then, is not in the things themselves, but in our distorted way of seeing them.
