Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: Why Should Bodhisattvas Who Aspire to Bodhicitta Not Dwell on Marks?

Original text of Chapter Fourteen, "Detachment from Marks and the Cessation of Extinction," Fourteen: 是故须菩提。菩萨应离一切相。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心。不应住色生心。不应住声香味触法生心。应生无所住心。若心有住。则为非住。是故佛说。菩萨心不应住色布施。须菩提。菩萨为利益一切众生。应如是布施。

Explanation: Therefore, Subhūti, a bodhisattva should leave behind all marks and give rise to the mind of anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi, giving rise to the mind to attain buddhahood and to benefit and bring joy to sentient beings. One should not give rise to mind dwelling on material form, nor give rise to mind dwelling on sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas. When giving rise to bodhicitta, one should give rise to a mind that dwells nowhere. If the bodhisattva's resolve dwells on these dharma-marks, all such so-called dwelling is non-Dharma dwelling, dwelling contrary to reason; the result is empty and illusory, unattainable, and one cannot dwell there at all. Therefore the Buddha said that a bodhisattva's mind should not dwell on material form when practicing generosity. Subhūti, in order to benefit all sentient beings, a bodhisattva should practice generosity in this way, without dwelling anywhere.

Why should a bodhisattva leave behind all marks and give rise to bodhicitta? Because giving rise to bodhicitta is for the sake of benefiting oneself and others, together with sentient beings attaining the buddha way, reaching the further shore of nirvāṇa, obtaining tranquility and coolness, and abiding in a state of empty stillness. To reach such a state and realize such a state, one must personally realize the true reality of the vajra mind (Vajracitta), and at the same time realize the empty mark of all dharmas manifested by the vajra mind. Since all dharma-marks are empty and unattainable, giving rise to mind while dwelling on marks, cultivating while dwelling on marks, and practicing generosity while dwelling on marks all run counter to the buddha way, and bodhi cannot be realized. Therefore, when a bodhisattva gives rise to bodhicitta, he should not do so for the sake of various unattainable worldly benefits—for example, to obtain an adorned appearance, to obtain wealth and glory, to be reborn in heaven to enjoy blessings, to obtain supernatural powers, to obtain longevity and immortality, to obtain the worship of sentient beings, to defeat others, to become a wheel-turning sage king, to become a lord of heaven, and so on. All of these are dwelling on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; none of them can fulfill the great vow of bodhi or accomplish the great way of bodhi.

If the mind has dwelling, dwelling on and attached to the marks of the six sense objects, that is dwelling contrary to the Dharma, not corresponding to unsurpassed bodhi. Therefore the Buddha said that when a bodhisattva gives rise to mind and cultivates generosity, he should not practice generosity dwelling on form, nor practice generosity for the sake of the benefits of material form. He should not dwell on sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas, nor practice the perfection of generosity for the sake of the benefits of sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas; he should give rise to mind without dwelling on any dharma, just like the vajra mind.

Why should a bodhisattva not give rise to mind dwelling on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas? First, because the vajra prajñā mind is a bodhicitta that does not dwell on marks; He Himself does not dwell on any dharma whatsoever. Only when the conscious mind accords with the nature of the bodhi mind can one attain buddhahood; if the conscious mind dwells on the marks of the six sense objects, there is no emptiness, it runs counter to the nature of the vajra mind, and does not correspond to the vajra prajñā mind, and thus the buddha way cannot be accomplished. Second, because the marks of the six sense objects are dharmas of arising, ceasing, and change, dharmas that cannot long abide; cultivating while dwelling on marks, one's efforts will be wasted in vain and bodhi cannot be attained. Third, in generosity practiced while dwelling on marks, there are marks in the mind, and thus there is obstruction, there is ignorance; one cannot thoroughly see the true reality of the dharmadhātu; the mind is not empty and pure, and one cannot reach the further shore of nirvāṇa; if there are dharmas in the mind, the fruit of buddhahood cannot be accomplished. Therefore, in cultivating the buddha way, a bodhisattva should give rise to mind and cultivate without dwelling anywhere.

If a bodhisattva's mind has dwelling and he practices generosity, the sentient beings who benefit are few, and he cannot universally benefit all sentient beings. Because his mind is limited, his merit is limited, and his wisdom is also limited, he cannot universally and extensively benefit all sentient beings.

Original text: 如来说一切诸相。即是非相。又说一切众生。即非众生。须菩提。如来是真语者。实语者。如语者。不诳语者。不异语者。

Explanation: The Tathāgata said that all marks in the world of the three realms are not truly and really existent marks; the Tathāgata also said that all sentient beings are not truly sentient beings—there is no substantive mark of sentient beings. Subhūti, the Tathāgata is one who speaks true words, never speaking false words; the Tathāgata is one who speaks real words, never speaking falsely; the Tathāgata is one who does not speak deceitful words, never deceiving sentient beings; the Tathāgata is also one who does not speak two-tongued words, never speaking two kinds of speech.

All marks in the world are illusory marks of arising, ceasing, and change conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha; none of them has autonomy or freedom, none has its own substantive existence; their essence is all the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. All marks of sentient beings are likewise illusory marks conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha, without autonomy or freedom, without a real self-nature. On the surface they seem to have the attributes of sentient beings, with the activities of the five aggregates of sentient beings, but in fact they are all manifested and conjured by the tathāgatagarbha; there is no mark of sentient beings in the true sense.

The word "Tathāgata" explicitly refers to the Buddha of the five-aggregate body and implicitly refers to the Dharmakāya Buddha (dharma-kāya-buddha). The Dharmakāya Buddha is formless and markless; it is the Buddha's undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) and the tathāgatagarbha of sentient beings. The Tathāgata of the Dharmakāya Buddha refers to the true suchness mind-body, refers to the tathāgatagarbha. After attaining buddhahood, the Buddha's seven consciousnesses and the Dharmakāya's undefiled consciousness have similar nature-virtues; having extinguished all ignorance, their mind-nature is very close to true suchness, and their mental factors are the same: the five universal mental factors, the five object-specific mental factors, and the eleven wholesome mental factors—all eight consciousnesses have twenty-one mental factors.

True words are words of correctness and truth. They are words of direct perception/valid direct cognition, meaning that the tathāgatagarbha can manifest objects of direct perception, without inference or mistaken perception/non-valid cognition. All accord with actuality and facts, and accord with sentient beings' karmic seeds, always faithfully presenting the original appearance of sentient beings' karmic actions. Real words are words of truthfulness. Whatever karma sentient beings create—wholesome, unwholesome, or neutral/indeterminate (avyākṛta)—the tathāgatagarbha records, stores, and outputs it truthfully, faithfully realizing the karmic results of sentient beings, never altering or omitting sentient beings' karmic actions, karmic seeds, and karmic retribution: whatever karma there is, that karma is recorded; whatever retribution there should be, that retribution is realized.

"Such words" on the one hand refer to truthful words, real words, and on the other hand refer to the suchness-immovability of the mind-body, not stirring thoughts, without mental activity. When the tathāgatagarbha creates all dharmas, its inner mind abides in suchness unmoved, without arising thoughts. There are no emotions, no sentiments, entirely neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā). "One who does not deceive": deception means to dupe, to cheat, to defraud; the tathāgatagarbha has never deceived sentient beings, has never cheated sentient beings. But sentient beings' six consciousnesses always have unwholesome verbal karma, deceptive speech, not speaking true words, not speaking truthful words; false speech, divisive speech, frivolous speech, and harsh speech are unceasing. They often feint east while attacking west, point at mulberries to curse locust trees, conceal the truth, fabricate lies, habitually speak untruthful words and lies, cover up faults, envy the worthy and resent the capable—committing every kind of verbal karma.

"One who does not speak divergent words": divergence means alteration, difference, change, another kind, distinctness. Divergent words are saying one thing to the face and another behind the back, saying one thing to A and another to B, or saying one thing at one time and changing to another at another time—these are two kinds of speech—or changing as soon as one finishes speaking, not keeping one's word. These mental activities are the mental activities of ordinary beings' six consciousnesses; the six consciousnesses create unwholesome verbal karma, lacking verbal virtue—this is how it is. And they do not know repentance and remorse, without shame and remorse, which are afflictive bad habits. But the tathāgatagarbha never speaks two kinds of speech, never speaks different words, does not change back and forth, nor is it confused and disordered. He will not store sentient beings' wholesome karmic seeds and output unwholesome karmic seeds, making sentient beings suffer unwholesome retribution; conversely, He will not store unwholesome karmic seeds and output wholesome karmic seeds, making sentient beings enjoy wholesome retribution. He is not one thing to the face and another behind the back; He undergoes no alteration whatsoever, and is never unfaithful to karmic seeds and cause and effect.

And the Sambhogakāya Buddha (saṃbhoga-kāya-buddha), the manifested-body Buddha, and the Nirmāṇakāya (nirmāṇakāya) with five-aggregate bodies, like the Dharmakāya Buddha, are forever speakers of true words, forever speakers of real words, forever speakers of such words, forever non-deceivers, forever speakers of no divergent words. Because the Buddha's seven consciousnesses have extinguished all ignorance, afflictions, and habits of affliction, and have completely transformed consciousness into wisdom, His virtue is incomparable and unsurpassed, His verbal karma is perfect without a single flaw, harmonious and unobstructed, causing all sentient beings in the worlds of the ten directions to admire and venerate Him beyond compare.