If everything is empty and there is nothing to gain or lose, why is it said that all the Buddhas of the past have attained enlightenment?

Enlightenment is to realise that everything is empty and there is nothing to gain or lose. Prior to enlightenment, there are enlightenment, an aim to achieve through practice and ‘I’ who tries to attain it, but after enlightenment there is no one who will attain enlightenment and no enlightenment to attain because everything is empty.

Only after enlightenment can we know this truth. This is why it is said that all the Buddhas of the past have attained enlightenment.

©Boo Ahm

All writing ©Boo Ahm. All images ©Simon Hathaway