The Diamond Sutra

and make it perhaps more intelligible to those who are as
yet unfamiliar with its peculiar modes of thought:—

"The glory of Him who moves everything original: La gloria di colui che tutto move
Penetrates through the universe, and shines
More in one part, and less elsewhere.
In the heaven that receives most of His light
Was I; and I saw things which he who descends
From there neither knows how nor is able to retell;
Because, as it draws near to its desire,
Our intellect¹ sinks so deep,
That memory cannot follow after it." ²

In order to appreciate fully the philosophy of The
Diamond Sutra A fundamental text of Mahayana Buddhism focused on the nature of reality and non-attachment, doubtless it is necessary to interpret aright
the meaning of the Buddhist terminology. In this connec-
tion, the Sanskrit Dharma A complex term meaning "the way things are," "the Law," "truth," or "phenomena"—usually rendered into Chinese
by “Fah,” and into English by “Law”—appears to merit
our immediate attention.

Max Müller A pioneering 19th-century scholar of comparative religion, with his ample knowledge, stated that
Dharma, “in the ordinary Buddhist phraseology, may be
correctly rendered by Law; and thus the whole teaching of
Buddha is named Saddharma — ‘The Good Law.’ original: Saddharma What
The Diamond Sutra wishes to teach is that all objects,
differing one from the other by their Dharmas In this context, referring to their individual characteristics or "qualities", are illusive,

¹ According to the text of The Diamond Sutra, the
intellect of Sakyamuni Buddha The historical Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama sank so profoundly into the
past, that he was enabled to speak confidently of his
experiences in previous incarnations. (Compare pp. 56, 57.)
² From the text adopted by Mr H. Oelsner, M.A., Ph.D.,
for The Temple Classics A series of classic literature published at the turn of the 20th century.