Subhúti, I remember countless ages ago, before Dípankara Buddha having met with infinite myriads of Buddhas, who were all engaged in performing the external duties of religious service, deceived by the belief of the reality of things around them; but if there be a man, who in after ages is able to accept and recite this Sútra throughout, the merit which he will thus attain to, shall infinitely exceed that which formal attention to religious observances will secure, so much so that to draw any proportion between them would be impossible, and incredible were it to be stated; for as the method and entire meaning of this Sútra is not to be described or entirely conceived, so the merit and happy consequences of accepting it, cannot be conceived or described. _Cap. XVII.—Having arrived at the perfection of wisdom, there is no individuality left._ At this time Subhúti addressed Buddha thus: World-honoured one, if a disciple, male or female, aspire after the attainment of the unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart, say, on what ought that disciple to ground his reliance; by what means ought he to destroy and suppress _this_ evil heart? Buddha replied: Subhúti, if a disciple, male or female, aspire after the unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart, he ought to beget in himself this disposition [and say], “I must now destroy and get rid of all the principles of life in whatever creature they exist, all creatures being, as far as I am concerned, thus destroyed and got rid of; then, in truth, there will be no longer any such thing as getting rid of all such creatures.” So then, Subhúti, if a Bodhisatwa still be affected by any individual distinction, such as the following: I will strive after so and so because “it seems agreeable to me,” or because “men approve of it,” or because “it is the best reward for a sentient creature,” or because “it entails endless duration of life,” such a Bodhisatwa, I say, is not a true Bodhisatwa, wherefore it is plain, O Subhúti, that there is in reality no such condition of being as that described as the unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart. Subhúti, what think you? did Tathágata possess one fixed law of action when he attained in the days of Dípankara Buddha the condition of the unsurpassed heart? No! world-honoured one! as I at least interpret the doctrine of Buddha, then Buddha had no fixed rule of action when in the days of Dípankara Buddha he attained the unsurpassed, just, and enlightened heart.