Why is there something instead of nothing? The Buddha's answer

I've only read a limited number of sutras. I recently came upon the Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment. In it, there is one chapter that I found extremely interesting.

In chapter 4, the Vajragarbha Boddhisattva asks the Buddha: If all sentient beings are already perfect Buddhas, why are they afflicted with ignorance? If all sentient beings are originally perfect Buddhas, at what point did they later become afflicted with ignorance?

This is how the Buddha answers.

First he praises the Boddhisattva for asking these deep questions. Then he goes on to say: Beginning and end, existence and nonexistence, birth and death, prior and after (sequence), these things are all marks of samsara. For someone who is still caught in samsara to look at perfect enlightenment, then perfect enlightenment itself looks like samsara to him, as well.

He then gives this analogy: It is comparable to the way in which shaking the eyes can make still water appear to move, or clouds flying past the moon make the moon seem to move, and when you are in a moving boat, the shore appears to move. Just like if you are spinning in motion, you can't get a clear view of stationary objects, how can you possibly expect to get a glimpse of Perfect Enlightenment with a cyclical, samsaric, stained mind?

He then explains that it's like a person with an eye disease seeing flowers in the sky and asking questions about those nonexistent flowers, expecting answers. The real problem here is not finding answers to these questions about imaginary flowers in the sky; the real problem here is to find a cure for the eye disease.

He goes on: A sentient being's cyclic, samsaric, co-dependently originated mind is already like a flower in the sky. Samsaric questions and thoughts like these are like fruit on top of the imaginary flower in the sky!

He finishes with an admonition: Focus on purifying your mind and exit samsara, not seeking nonexistent answers to nonsense questions.

Man, I really love this... To me, this puts to rest so many "deep" questions.

Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment: http://www.acmuller.net/bud-canon/sutra_of_perfect_enlightenment.html#div-4

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