“No Such Thing as a Self”(All things are devoid of selfhood) In my view there are 4 main teachings in the Diamond Sutra. This is the second of the four I will present. Chapters related to this teaching: Chapter 3“Because if a disciple still clings to the arbitrary illusions of…
Category: Commentary by Alex Johnson
Commentary about the Diamond Sutra and Buddhism by Alex Johnson
First Teaching From the Diamond Sutra
“All form is illusive and unreal”(What we see isn’t what is real) In my view there are 4 main teachings in the Diamond Sutra. This is the first of the four I will present. Chapters related to this teaching: Chapter 5The Buddha then spoke to Subhuti: “All that has a…
Buddha’s Morning Enlightenment
Previously I have posted about the references to Enlightenment in the Diamond Sutra. Enlightenment is not a main topic in this sutra, but it is an important element in most branches of Buddhism. It seems like the references to “Enlightenment” in the Diamond Sutra would mostly refer to the kind…
The Diamond Sutra and Enlightenment
There are at least 10 references to Enlightenment in the 32 chapters contained in the Diamond Sutra. The purpose of this initial article is to mark out where in the Diamond Sutra these references are, and what they are. I am not going to analyze or comment on the chapters…
My Take on Buddhism
In order to help make sense of my observations in my posts and commentary about the Buddha and Buddhism, I would like to take a moment and clarify some of my own ideas of what Buddhism means to me. I am not a formal “Buddhist” and understand that there are…
How I Made the Diamond Sutra Videos
Diamond Sutra Videos: A Labor of Love I made individual videos for each of the 32 Chapters of the Diamond Sutra. This project was a labor of love, which took quite a bit of thought and work to produce. These videos are dedicated to keeping the Diamond Sutra alive and…