Then Subhūti addressed the Buddha, saying: "World Honored One, if good sons and good daughters would like to arouse the aspiration for peerless perfect enlightenment, in what should they mentally abide, and how should they gain mastery over their thoughts?"
The Buddha said to Subhūti: "Good sons and good daughters who want to arouse the aspiration for peerless perfect enlightenment should think like this: 'I will save all sentient beings.' Yet when all sentient beings have been liberated, in fact, not a single sentient being has been liberated. And why not? Subhūti, if a bodhisattva holds the notion of a self, the notion of person, the notion of sentient being, and the notion of life span, then she is not a bodhisattva. Why? Subhūti, there is actually no such a thing as peerless perfect enlightenment."
"Subhūti, what do you think? When the Tathāgata was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, was there any such a thing as peerless perfect enlightenment?"
"No, World Honored One. As I understand the content of your teaching, when you were with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, there was no thing as peerless perfect enlightenment."
The Buddha said, "Correct, correct. Subhūti, there is, in fact, no such thing as the attainment of peerless perfect enlightenment by the Tathāgata. Subhūti, if there were such as thing as the attainment of peerless perfect enlightenment by the Tathāgata, Dīpaṃkara Buddha would not have conferred upon me the prediction of attainment of buddhahood, saying, 'You will attain buddhahood in the future, with the name Śākyamuni.' It is precisely because there is actually no such thing as the attainment of peerless perfect enlightenment, that Dīpaṃkara Buddha conferred the prediction of buddhahood upon me, saying, 'You will attain buddhahood in the future, with the name Śākyamuni.' "
"And why? Because 'Tathagata' means 'all phenomena (dharmas) as they really are.' Subhūti, if someone says that the Tathāgata attains peerless perfect enlightenment, there is in fact, no such thing as the Buddha attaining peerless perfect enlightenment. Subhūti, the peerless perfect enlightenment attained by the Tathāgata is neither real nor unreal. Therefore the Tathāgata teaches that all dharmas are the buddhadharma. Subhūti, those things that are described as 'all dharmas' are not all dharmas. Therefore they are called 'all dharmas.' "
"Subhūti, please take, for example, the case of a large human body."
Subhūti said, "World Honored One, the large human body that you have mentioned is not a large body; therefore it is called a large body."
"Subhūti, it is the same with a bodhisattva. If he says, 'I will save numberless sentient beings,' then he is not a bodhisattva. Why? Subhūti, there is actually no such state called bodhisattvahood. Therefore I say that all phenomena have no self, no personality, no sentient beingness, and no life span. Subhūti, if a bodhisattva says 'I will adorn buddha-lands,' I would not call this person a bodhisattva. Why? What the Tathāgata has called adornment of buddha-lands is not adornment. Therefore it is called adornment. Subhūti, if a bodhisattva realizes the selflessness of phenomena, the Tathāgata calls this person a real bodhisattva."
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