Commentary on the Diamond Sutra: Why Can One Not See the Tathāgata by Means of the Physical Marks?

The Tathāgata is the nature of virtue, is suchness, is the Dharmakāya; He has no bodily form, and thus He cannot be seen by means of bodily form. Whether it is the bodily form of sentient beings or the bodily form of the Tathāgata, neither is real, neither is unborn and unceasing, neither is forever unchanging; they are merely provisionally named "bodily form." Therefore a form-bearing body neither represents sentient beings nor represents the Tathāgata. If one takes bodily form to be sentient beings and bodily form to be the Tathāgata, then when the bodily form perishes, the sentient being vanishes, and the Tathāgata also vanishes and is seen no more. But the Tathāgata is eternal and unchanging, never ceasing.

The Tathāgata is also the Buddha's nature of virtue, the true and suchlike mind-essence of permanence, bliss, self, and purity. He is formless, without the characteristics of a physical body; therefore, taking bodily form to be the Tathāgata, one cannot see the Tathāgata. To see the Tathāgata, one must, through bodily form, perceive the nature of virtue and see the formless true essence. The formless is real; the form-bearing is false, provisionally named for the sake of a false appearance—provisionally called "bodily form." Then how does this bodily form come to appear? It is the retributive body with the thirty-two marks and eighty excellent characteristics, brought about by the wisdom, merit, and virtue accumulated through the Buddha's practice over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas, manifested by the Buddha's tathāgatagarbha and undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna); it is a arising-and-ceasing essence that comes from nonexistence into existence, and therefore it is false and illusory.

Then how can one see the Tathāgata, see the true Buddha? The Buddha gave a four-line verse as the answer: "All marks are false and illusory; if one sees that all marks are no-marks, then one sees the Tathāgata." The answer is the result; the process of arriving at the answer is Chan investigation (canchan). The prerequisite is the full possession of precepts, samādhi, and wisdom, the perfection of the bodhisattva's six pāramitās, and, even more, the full possession of the Small Vehicle's thirty-seven aids to enlightenment—because if the Small Vehicle cannot realize it, the Great Vehicle certainly cannot realize it either.

"All marks" refers to all marks whatsoever: the mark of self, the mark of persons, the mark of sentient beings, the mark of life span, the marks of the five aggregates (pañcaskandha), marks of phenomena, marks of objects, marks of mind, marks of dharmas—without exception they are all no-marks, all false and illusory, produced and conjured forth by the vajra mind (Vajracitta). If you wish to see the Tathāgata, to see the vajra prajñā true-reality mind, you must through Chan investigation examine, upon all marks, what the substance of these marks actually is, why all these marks exist, and why all these marks arise and cease. When the investigation is thoroughly penetrated and the vajra prajñā mind is realized, one will know that these marks are all empty and without self-nature, none of them is the mark of the essential substance, and all are the functions and operations of the vajra mind.

It is like the wind blowing and the tree swaying: the tree itself cannot sway; the phenomenon of swaying is not a phenomenon of the tree itself but the force of the wind's action. Thus when the mark of the wind blowing appears and the wind is realized, the mark of the tree swaying is broken through. Likewise, within all marks one can realize the formless vajra mind and the wondrous true suchlike nature, thereby breaking through all marks and realizing that all marks are no-marks. This is the profound meaning of the Buddha's words: "If one sees that all marks are no-marks, then one sees the Tathāgata." If one sees all marks as all marks, that is the ordinary person with the flesh eye; if one sees that all marks are not all marks, yet are named all marks, that is a sagely bodhisattva. Although all marks are provisionally named "all marks," the false marks still exist, the illusory functions still exist, and cannot be entirely obliterated; therefore all marks are no-marks, and not no-marks—free from the four propositions, cut off from the hundred negations.

Original text: 凡所有相。皆是虚妄。若见诸相非相。即见如来。

Explanation: All marks whatsoever in the world are false and illusory. If, among all marks, one sees a formless dharma, one has seen the self-nature Tathāgata. (This is said from the level of prajñā. If it is said from the level of Yogācāra: if one sees that all marks are no longer all marks, that none of them has marks, then one has seen the self-nature Tathāgata.)

All marks include the forms seen by the eye: the universe and space, mountains and rivers, the great earth, flowers, grass, trees, birds, beasts, people, and so forth; the sounds heard by the ear: sounds of people and animals, sounds of the universe, sounds of rivers, sounds of the myriad things, and so on; the various fragrant, foul, sour, and putrid smells smelled by the nose; the sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy tastes tasted by the tongue; the sense objects of touch felt by the body—hunger and thirst, cold and heat, soft and hard, soreness and numbness, fatigue, tranquility, vexation, fullness, bloating, pain, and so forth; as well as all the dharma-marks discerned by the mind, such as wholesome and unwholesome, true and false, good and bad (kuśala-akuśala, satya-mithyā, śubha-aśubha). To sentient beings these six sense-object marks all seem real and to have real functions; but in terms of actual principle, these marks are all false and illusory, all produced and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha.

Within the tathāgatagarbha there are the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. These four great seeds, combined together in certain proportions and structures, conjure up the universe's material world (bhājanaloka), Mount Sumeru, heavenly palaces, the four great continents, the four great oceans, minerals and plants, and so forth; the physical bodies of sentient beings are also transformed and produced by the tathāgatagarbha. Because the manas carries the afflictive habits and attachments of beginningless kalpas and refuses to extinguish itself, always wanting a physical body to use, after death there is the neutrino‑body (antarā‑bhava); seeing the union of one's future parents, it rushes toward them and participates therein. One who is to be born as a male develops craving and attachment toward the mother of the next life; one who is to be born as a female develops craving and attachment toward the future father; at the final instant of the parents' union, a mind of joy arises, and the manas and the tathāgatagarbha are seized and held within the father's sperm and mother's blood, forming a fertilized egg and entering the mother's body. The tathāgatagarbha absorbs nutritive elements from the mother's body and continually transforms the fertilized egg, changing every seven days, producing the head, the four limbs, the five sense faculties, the five viscera and six bowels; after four or five months, the mind consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, and body consciousness arise. When body and mind are both mature, the tathāgatagarbha blows the karmic wind, and the fetus, head downward, exits the mother's body and becomes an infant. Then, through suckling milk and eating food, the tathāgatagarbha absorbs nutritive elements from the diet to transform the physical body. Thus the physical body is manifested by the tathāgatagarbha.

When sentient beings see forms with the eye, they think they can truly see forms; in fact, sentient beings have never seen external forms. What the eye faculty contacts is only a false appearance, a shadow. If external form were really pressed against the eye faculty, one could not see that external form. If the eye could truly contact form, then when the eye sees a sharp knife, the tip of the knife touching the eye would certainly pierce the eyeball; when the eye sees fire, the fire touching the eye would certainly burn the eyeball; when the eye sees sand, the sand touching the eye would certainly blind the eye. The eye faculty and form cannot actually touch; only when form is at a certain distance from the eye faculty can the four great particles of the form sense-object be transmitted. The tathāgatagarbha, through the eye faculty and contact with external form, transforms the external form into an identical shadow, and only then can it be seen; if the form were pressed against the eye faculty, with no spatial distance, the form could not be seen. The nose faculty, tongue faculty, and body faculty, however, can directly contact the external scent objects, taste objects, and touch objects, without needing a certain distance and space, and the three consciousnesses can then be generated to discern scents, tastes, and tangibles.

This shadow seen by the eye consciousness differs from the matter of the external form; it is not the actual thing. Only then can it be transmitted through the retina and the conducting nerves to the supreme faculty (rūpa-prasāda) in the back of the brain that governs vision. The tathāgatagarbha there produces the eye consciousness, and the eye consciousness discerns the form sense-object. This form and the external form appear to be the same, but in fact it is a similar shadow, and sentient beings take it to be real. Likewise with the ear faculty, nose faculty, and tongue faculty: none of them can contact external sounds, scents, or tastes; it is all the tathāgatagarbha that makes contact and then manifests them. Whatever is born is false and illusorily conjured—this is the principle that all dharmas are created by mind alone. In short, all marks whatsoever are false and illusory. If, upon the various marks of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, one can find a tathāgatagarbha that has no marks and is not a mark, that is seeing the Tathāgata—seeing one's true mind/awakening to the true mind, realizing enlightenment, and seeing true reality.

Since all the various marks are produced and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, the operation of all the various marks cannot be separated from the tathāgatagarbha. When seeing marks, a person with wisdom can discover the true reality that is together with the marks. Who discovers the true-reality vajra mind? It is the deluded mind; enlightenment is the deluded mind realizing the true mind. Within the various illusory marks of the operation of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, the vajra mind can be realized everywhere. For example, in raising the hand and moving the foot, in welcoming and seeing off guests, in recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) and bowing to the Buddha, in striking and scolding people, the vajra mind is operating together all along. The Sixth Patriarch said: "If one has seen the nature, even wheeling a blade onto the battlefield one sees it"—this is exactly the principle.

The Vimalakīrti Sūtra says: 菩萨举足下足都从道场来, and the Tang dynasty Layman Pang said: 搬柴及运水，神通并妙用. Deshan used a staff to strike people to reveal this principle to students; Linji used a great shout to point it out to students; Zhaozhou simply said, "Go drink tea"; and Yongming the Chan Master told his disciples, "Go bow to the Buddha." These Chan masters all used zen repartee as means to point things out to students; when merit and conditions are complete, one will awaken and enter true reality and bring forth the great matter. A disciple came to his master and said: "Since I arrived here it has been three years, and I have never seen you, Master, expound the Dharma for me." The master said: "Where have I not expounded it? When you bring me water, I drink it; when you bring me food, I eat it; when you salute me, I return the salutation (Vandana). Where have I not expounded the Dharma?" The disciple pondered after hearing this, and the master said: "If you would see, then see—what is there to ponder?" The disciple immediately awakened.

One Chan master always liked to strike and scold his disciple. One day the disciple finally could bear it no longer and said to the master: "Why are you always either hitting or scolding me?" Hearing this, the master pointed his finger at him and said: "You dare slander me?" and raised his hand as if to strike. The disciple cried out for help, and the master covered his mouth with his hand—and the disciple suddenly and greatly awakened. How well this Chan master knew how to expound the Dharma! A hundred thousand meditative concentrations/meditative absorptions (samādhi) are right therein. One disciple asked his master about the Buddha-Dharma, and the master said: "Go plant the fields." This foolish disciple did not understand, and really went to plant the fields. After planting, still not understanding, he went again to ask about the Buddha-Dharma, and the master said: "Go sweep the courtyard." So the foolish disciple went to sweep the courtyard. Sweeping and sweeping, he suddenly swept his way to understanding: "So that's how it is!" He was enlightened—the courtyard was not swept in vain. Within sweeping there is a mystery; everywhere there are mysteries. It depends on the person of the moment knowing how to investigate, applying the mind correctly and finding the right path. In our daily life, everywhere there is the figure of the tathāgatagarbha, manifesting a mark that is not a mark; if you find it, you have seen the Tathāgata.