Subhuti said to the Buddha: “World Honored One, when the Buddha attained unsurpassed complete enlightenment, was nothing actually attained?” “So it is, Subhuti, so it is. As to unsurpassed complete enlightenment, I have not attained the slightest thing. This is why it is called unsurpassed complete enlightenment.”
We talked about the difference between knowledge, practice, understanding, and realization. When we first learn and examine the Dharma, and become familiar with the ideas and principles, it is knowledge. But the Dharma, that is, these principles and methods are to be lived, moment to moment, day by day--this is the practice. With practice and contemplation we come to a deeper understanding of the validity of the Dharma. With further persistent practice, eventually we realize the truth of the Dharma, that is, we actually experience, as the Buddha and countless past masters have, the truth of these teachings. This is why the same teachings seem to be repeated many times in the Diamond Sutra, but actually there are subtle differences each time the same questions or same topics are discussed. I encourge you to look closely the similar passages and see if you can find the differences in depth of the realization of these teachings.
The Buddha has not attained anything by reaching Buddhahood. But he was not an ordinary person anymore. What is the difference?
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