Explanation of the Diamond Sutra. Why is it said that a bodhisattva who gives without abiding in marks has inconceivable merit?

Here, "marks" refers to the marks of sense objects—the six sense-object marks of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. When a bodhisattva practices generosity, he does not dwell on the marks of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, nor does he cling to these marks; he removes all such marks, so that in giving, the three wheels are empty. He does not discriminate the gender or age of the recipient, their status or wealth, their power or position, nor does he discriminate appearance, or whether the recipient is an enemy or a relative—he gives equally to all. He also does not calculate or ponder what benefits the giving might bring him from those people, does not hope for the return of sense-object marks such as form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, or wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, and still less does he consider whether the value of what is given is precious or cheap. As long as there is someone in need, he gives unconditionally, without calculation or discrimination.

One who can abandon all marks, not cling to any mark, and practice giving with the three wheels empty has a vast mind; one whose mind is empty is no longer an ordinary person—that is a great-minded bodhisattva in the true sense, possessing profound wisdom of the emptiness of marks, a person of great merit. After such great giving, wisdom and merit advance another level; the merit of wisdom of emptiness is not limited by quantity, and the merit attained is thus immeasurable and boundless, inconceivable. The greater the mind, the greater the merit attained; merit is directly proportional to the capacity of the mind, the two mutually reinforcing each other. But one who gives while clinging to marks has the mind constrained and obstructed by marks; the mind is small, and the merit attained is small. How can a small vessel hold many things or large things? Merit follows the vessel: a great vessel brings great merit, a small vessel brings small merit—this is inevitable. Therefore, when a bodhisattva gives without dwelling on marks, his capacity is great, his mind is like empty space, and the merit he attains is like empty space—immeasurable and boundless, beyond reckoning.

Original text: 须菩提。于意如何。东方虚空可思量否。不也。世尊。须菩提。南西北方。四维上下虚空可思量否。不也。世尊。须菩提。菩萨不住相布施。福德也复如是。不可思量。须菩提。菩萨但应如所教住。

Explanation: The World-Honored One asked: Subhūti, what do you think? Can the empty space of the east be measured out as to how great it is? Subhūti replied: It cannot be measured how great it is, World-Honored One. The World-Honored One asked again: Subhūti, can the empty space of the south, west, and north, and the empty space of the four intermediate directions, above and below, be measured? Subhūti said: It cannot be measured, World-Honored One. The World-Honored One said: Subhūti, when a bodhisattva gives without dwelling on marks, his merit is likewise inconceivable and immeasurable. Subhūti, a bodhisattva should simply abide his mind as the Buddha has taught.

Within empty space, taking any point as the center and expanding outward, there are ten directions; each direction is endless, without boundary, without edge or shore, inconceivably vast, and no one can reach its limit. If empty space had boundaries and limits, then what would lie beyond that boundary? Saying "nothing"—that is empty space; saying "something"—everything is within empty space. Empty space is not a truly existent dharma; it is a provisional dharma. Relative to form, a place without matter is empty space; where there is matter, it is not empty space. Matter and empty space are opposing dharmas—where one is, the other is not; one may also say they are mutually existent dharmas: empty space can contain material form, and within material form there are also spaces and gaps.

For example, place a box in a location. That location originally had nothing—it was empty; once the box is placed there, it is no longer empty. Where did the original emptiness go? Where did an extra emptiness come from? When people dig a well in the ground and remove earth, digging out a cubic foot of soil, a cubic foot of empty space appears in that spot—where did this emptiness come from? It has no place of origin. When the earth is filled back into its original place, the emptiness is gone—where did the emptiness go? It has no place to go. In reality, empty space comes from the tathāgatagarbha, and afterwards ceases back into the tathāgatagarbha.

Empty space has no boundaries, so worlds in the ten directions can all be established within empty space. When each Buddha attains buddhahood, he establishes a buddha-land within empty space; one trichiliocosm—all sentient beings attaining buddhahood—establishes countless worlds within empty space, and empty space can contain them all. Can such empty space be measured? Who could measure it? Why is the merit of a bodhisattva's giving without dwelling on marks inconceivable and immeasurable? Because he does not dwell on marks, the mind has nothing to which it clings, and thus he attains liberation, ending birth and death and transcending the three realms. But the bodhisattva does not leave the three realms and does not enter nirvāṇa without remainder; life after life, within the three realms, he benefits himself and benefits others, until he attains buddhahood.

Can the merit of one who has become a Buddha be measured? Speaking only of the merit of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva: within a single thought, without applying attention or preparatory effort, he can manifest a trichiliocosm—countless jewels, countless fish, rice, and mountains of meat, delivering and saving countless sentient beings. He holds in his hand the sentient beings of this earth and transports them to other planets, and the beings do not know it; the bodhisattva opens his mouth and swallows the four great oceans into it, and the beings in the sea are unaware; the bodhisattva says "manifest a Buddha" and a Buddha is manifested, with countless transformation bodies widely delivering those with affinities. How much more so the merit of a Buddha—even more vast and boundless. Such is the incomparably vast merit of giving without dwelling on marks. We must enlarge our minds again and again, and must never let a petty mind and small capacity constrain ourselves. Bodhisattvas should abide thus—abiding in that wherein there is nothing on which to abide, not clinging to any dharma; once there is any abiding, one cannot attain buddhahood. Bodhisattvas should follow the World-Honored One's teaching thus, practicing generosity in this way.