My e-mail reply to JP on Nov. 11 (2)

No, I do not agree “that the enlightened mind of a buddha

exists.”



I think I can see where the wedge is. Am I correct to

assume that you believe that the “enlightened mind of the

Buddha” should be permanent?



Well, this is how I understand it.



First of all, the last living Buddha I know, according to

Buddhist teachings, was Gotama. He died thousands of years

ago. When he was alive, he was a person like us, but he

discovered the law of nature (law of dependent origination)

and the Four Noble Truth. Hence, he became a Tathagata (a

supreme enlightened being) or what others would call a

Buddha. Gotama the Buddha, in being able to stop the

process of rebirth, would no longer “arise” in samsara

after his death. Since Gotama the Buddha is dead, how

can there be an  “enlightened mind of a Buddha?”



All phenomena, by their nature, are impermanent. If you

believe in a permanent “enlightened mind of a Buddha,”

then the attachment to that idea, a mind consciousness

(there also being eye consciousness, ear consciousness,

nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body

consciousness), is a phenomenon. Therefore, it is

impermanent.



Furthermore, phenomena arise in samsara. What thing in

samsara is permanent or eternal? Even the Buddha died.

If you insist that the Buddha is eternal, then this line

of argument will end up nowhere because to me Gotama the

Buddha is dead. That, in fact, has been the idea of the

practice. No more rebirth in samsara after death because

rebirth means another round of sufferings.