Commentary on the Diamond Sutra: Chapter Twelve, Respecting the True Teaching

Original text: 复次。须菩提。随说是经。乃至四句偈等。当知此处。一切世间天人阿修罗。皆应供养。如佛塔庙。何况有人。尽能受持读诵。须菩提。当知是人。成就最上第一希有之法。若是经典所在之处。即为有佛。若尊重弟子。

Explanation: Furthermore, Subhūti, wherever this sūtra is expounded, or even a four-line verse of the Diamond Sutra, you should know that in all such places, all the devas, humans, and asuras of the world should come to make offerings, just as they would offer to a stūpa or temple of the Buddha — all the more so when there is someone who can fully receive, uphold, read, and recite the Diamond Sutra. Subhūti, you should know that such a person has already accomplished the most supreme, foremost, and rare dharma. Wherever this sūtra is present, there is the Buddha, and this sūtra should be revered just as one reveres the disciples of the Buddha.

Why did the Buddha say that wherever the Diamond Sutra is expounded, or wherever a four-line verse from the sūtra is spoken, offerings should be made, and that one should make offerings as if to a Buddhist stūpa? These words contain a great secret of the Buddhadharma, a profoundly esoteric meaning. If it were fully and truthfully explained, this secret would be broken, and the consequences would be serious. Here it can only be described briefly and lightly; it cannot be expounded in depth. There is a saying in the Buddhadharma: "All dharmas are manifested by the mind, and transformed by consciousness." Without the mind, nothing can be accomplished. The mind that accomplishes things is not just one; the true and the false are in union, and all participate. Among them, the first transformative agency (parināma) is the eighth consciousness, this vajra mind (vajra-citta). He is the principal consciousness that gives rise to all dharmas; the dharma-seeds are directly output from Him. He has the five universally associated mental factors of contact (sparśa), attention (manaskāra), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā); He contacts the seeds, focuses the mind on the seeds, receives the seeds, discerns the seeds, and then outputs the seeds, manifesting the dharmas that correspond to those seeds.

The second transformative agency is the manas. He first conditions on the seeds and gives rise to the intention to create karmic actions, but He himself cannot concretely do anything; He needs the third transformative agency, the mind consciousness, to concretely execute things according to His intentions and plans. When the eighth consciousness knows this, He cooperates with the manas and the mind consciousness to accomplish what they wish to do. Therefore, in places where the Diamond Sutra and its four-line verses are expounded and recited, there is the vajra mind — the appearance of this Buddha — and thus offerings should be made. The offerings are made to the vajra mind, while the five-aggregate body is like a Buddhist stūpa, within which the vajra mind — the Buddha — resides and upholds it. Therefore, making offerings to the place where the Diamond Sutra is expounded is like making offerings to a Buddhist stūpa; and if someone can fully receive, uphold, read, and recite the Diamond Sutra, offerings should be made all the more.

What does it mean to fully receive and uphold the Diamond Sutra? It means that the person has already realized the vajra mind; this person has already fully known the complete overall picture of the vajra mind, has already known how the vajra mind gives rise to the five aggregates, the eighteen realms, and the great trichiliocosm, and has also known the various functional seeds contained within the vajra mind. At this point, the person is already a bodhisattva who has attained the bhūmis, and of course offerings should be made all the more. A person who has not realized the vajra mind cannot fully receive, uphold, read, and recite the vajra mind; his understanding of the essential nature of the vajra mind is vague and unclear — how could he fully receive and uphold it!

The Buddha told Subhūti that this person who has realized the vajra mind, and who moreover possesses the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only, has already accomplished the most supreme, foremost, and rare dharma. A person whose practice has reached this level is of course extremely rare; even in a great trichiliocosm there are not many. A trichiliocosm is like a pyramid: at the apex is the Buddha, only one, with no second or third; the Buddha's right and left arms are the bodhisattvas of equal enlightenment (saṃmaya-sambodhi), below them are the bodhisattvas of the tenth bhūmi, ninth bhūmi, down to the first bhūmi, and all the way to bodhisattvas at the seventh abode who have just attained enlightenment. The further down, the more numerous; the further up, the fewer. Those who have just come into contact with the Buddhadharma are the vast majority. Those who have never encountered the Buddhadharma are even more numerous, and the sentient beings in the three evil paths cannot be counted. Among immeasurable Buddhist practitioners who resolve to cultivate, those who cultivate to the point of enlightenment are extremely few, and bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis are exceedingly rare. Therefore, one should make offerings all the more to those who can fully receive, uphold, read, and recite the Diamond Sutra; the merit from that is extremely great.

The Buddha said that wherever the Diamond Sutra is present, the Buddha is present there. The Diamond Sutra is the vajra mind, and the vajra mind is the Buddha. Moreover, both the formation and the proclamation of this Diamond Sutra cannot be separated from the vajra mind; the Buddha is still present, for all of it is formed and manifested by the vajra mind. Therefore, this Diamond Sutra should be revered just as one reveres the disciples of the Buddha.