thams cad mkhyen pa

thams cad mkhyen pa

This refers to the gnosis of the Buddha, with which there is nothing he does not know. However, not to confuse "omniscience" with the theistic conception of an omniscient god, the "everything" here is specifically everything about the source of the predicament of worldly life and the way of transcendence of that world through liberation. Since "everything" is only an abstract term without any particular referent, once we are clear about the implications of infinity, it does not refer to any sort of ultimate totality, since a totality can only be relative, i.e., a totality within a particular frame of reference. Thus, as Dharmakīrti has remarked, "it is not a question of the Buddha's knowing the number of fish in the ocean," i.e., since there are infinity of fish in infinity of oceans in infinity of worlds and universes. The Buddha's omniscience, rather, knows how to develop and liberate any fish in any ocean, as well as all other living beings.

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