Why Are the Marks of Self, Person, Sentient Being, and Life Span Precisely Non-Marks?

Original text:若当来世。后五百岁。其有众生。得闻是经。信解受持。是人则为第一希有。何以故。此人无我相。无人相。无众生相。无寿者相。所以者何。我相即是非相。人相众生相寿者相即是非相。何以故。离一切诸相。则名诸佛。

Explanation: If in the future, during the five hundred years before the Buddha's dharma perishes, there are still sentient beings who are able to hear this Diamond Sutra, and who can have pure faith, correctly understand the vajra mind (vajra-citta), and receive and uphold the Diamond Sutra, such a person is the rarest of the rare. Why is this person the rarest of the rare? Because this person no longer has the mark of self, the mark of a person, the mark of sentient beings, or the mark of a life span. Why does this person have no four marks? Because the mark of self is not a truly existent mark, the mark of a person is not a truly existent mark, the mark of sentient beings is not a truly existent mark, and the mark of a life span is not a truly existent mark. Why is this said? Because every Buddha is free from all marks, and only one who is free from all marks is called a Buddha.

In the last five hundred years, when the Buddha's dharma is about to perish, the world becomes even more turbid and evil, sentient beings' afflictions are heavier, and wholesome roots are even scarcer. If at such a time there are still sentient beings who can hear the Diamond Sutra, their wholesome roots and merit must be very deep. Having heard it, they believe and accept it deeply, and moreover realize and understand the vajra mind (vajra-citta), protecting and upholding the transmission of the Diamond Sutra. Such a person is one with extremely deep wholesome roots, a very rare bodhisattva of long cultivation, no longer an ordinary person. After realizing the vajra mind (vajra-citta), understanding the principle of the emptiness of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), this person's mind no longer has the mark of self, the mark of a person, the mark of sentient beings, or the mark of a life span. These marks exist in dependence on the five aggregates; once the five aggregates are seen as empty, the four marks vanish, the marks of virtue manifest, and one becomes a rare sage.

Why can the four marks vanish? Because the four marks are not truly existent marks in the first place; they are illusory marks conjured up by the vajra mind (vajra-citta), and therefore are of a nature of arising and ceasing, empty and unattainable. If they were truly existent marks, they could not be emptied, and no matter how hard one tried, one could not make these marks disappear. After realizing the vajra mind (vajra-citta), when encountering conditions and facing objects, one observes directly in the present that the mark of self arises from the vajra mind, the mark of a person arises from the vajra mind, the mark of sentient beings arises from the vajra mind, and the mark of a life span also arises from the vajra mind. In this way the four marks are gradually extinguished completely, and the wisdom of the mark of emptiness grows ever deeper. Then one gradually empties the other dharma-marks as well; when all dharma-marks are completely emptied, Buddhahood is accomplished.

Therefore the Buddha said: one who is free from all marks is called a Buddha. Here "all Buddhas" has two meanings: one refers to Nirmāṇakāya Buddhas (nirmāṇa-kāya-buddha) who have bodies of the five aggregates, and the other refers to the Dharmakāya Buddha (dharma-kāya-buddha). The Dharmakāya Buddha itself has been free from all marks since beginningless kalpas, empty without a single mark, formless and featureless, without the marks of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; by means of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, His true countenance cannot be seen. At this time the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha is also free from all marks, empties all marks, and does not abide in any mark. When the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha and the Dharmakāya Buddha are identical in mind-nature, equally pure and unconditioned, then they are the Buddhas whose merit is perfectly complete.