All sages and saints are distinguished by virtue of the unconditioned dharma (asaṃskṛta-dharma).

Question: How should we understand the statement in the Diamond Sutra that "all sages and saints differ by means of the unconditioned dharma"?

Answer: The unconditioned state of arhats and pratyekabuddhas is the extinction of the body of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha); they extinguish all activities of the five aggregates, undertake no undertakings whatsoever to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings, and have no wish to continue cultivating the Buddha's path. While living in the human world, they mostly abide in meditative concentration, engage little in worldly affairs, and their minds do not attach to sense objects. The unconditioned state of bodhisattvas, however, is realizing the eighth consciousness, the mind that is unconditioned; relying on the unconditioned nature of the eighth consciousness, they engage in the conditioned activities of studying the Buddha's Dharma and benefiting sentient beings. They cultivate merit through conditioned means while striving to minimize their conditioned nature, and ultimately they carry out the conditioned undertakings of Buddhism with the unconditioned nature of the mind, mingling in the three realms without attaching to the dharmas of the three realms. This kind of unconditioned state is far beyond the reach of arhats and pratyekabuddhas. This is the meaning of "all sages and saints differ by means of the unconditioned dharma": their mental activities differ—one seeks liberation from suffering for oneself alone, while the other seeks liberation from suffering for both oneself and sentient beings, and seeks Buddhahood for oneself and all sentient beings alike.