Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: The Merit of Holding the Sutra, Fifteen

This chapter discusses the merit of upholding the sūtra as being extremely vast, immeasurable and boundless. Why is there so much merit? That depends on what "upholding the sūtra" means. "Upholding," as mentioned earlier, means receiving and holding, and mainly also means relying upon and practicing. Through reciting the Diamond Sūtra, the practitioner realizes the vajra prajñā true mind of suchness in accordance with the Dharma meanings within the Diamond Sūtra, and is thereby able to truly receive, contemplate, and personally realize the conditioned and unconditioned pure nature of the true mind of suchness, the tathāgatagarbha; being able to rely upon the pure nature of the tathāgatagarbha, one cultivates and transforms one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions, in order to remove defilement and return to purity, and eliminate ignorance. On this foundation, one then widely proclaims it to sentient beings with affinities, delivering those with affinities so that together they enter the great path of bodhi and together enter the ocean of Vairocana's nature. From then on one walks the Buddha path of benefiting both self and others; when the provisions of merit and wisdom are both fully complete, one will perfectly accomplish supreme great bodhi and become the Two-Footed Honored One, the focus of admiration of humans and gods.

Therefore, the merit of upholding the sūtra is indeed immeasurably and boundlessly vast, and so what the sūtra being upheld is also becomes very clear. The sūtra, on the surface, refers to the Diamond Sūtra, but in fact it refers to the profound meaning pointed to by the Diamond Sūtra—the true mind of suchness, the tathāgatagarbha. This tathāgatagarbha threads through the entire sūtra, becoming the warp and weft and the main axis of the whole sūtra, running through the entirety of the practice. Because this sūtra—the tathāgatagarbha—is the true substance of buddhahood, reciting and realizing this sūtra is the foundation and entry point for studying the Buddha path henceforth; and after entering the gate, cultivating in accordance with this sūtra is the actual practice after entry. After gradually achieving successful transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) as tathāgatagarbha, the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses and the true substance of the tathāgatagarbha both possess immeasurable merit; when the merit is perfected, the study of the Mahāyāna and of the entire Buddha path is complete, supreme bodhi has been attained, and the conduct of benefiting self and others is fulfilled. It can be seen that the merit of upholding the sūtra is truly immeasurably and boundlessly vast, and inconceivable.

Original text: 须菩提。若有善男子。善女人。初日分。以恒河沙等身布施。中日分。复以恒河沙等身布施。后日分。亦以恒河沙等身布施。如是无量百千万亿劫。以身布施。

Explanation: Subhūti, if there are good men and good women who, in the morning period of the day, when the sun has just risen, give away their own bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to sentient beings; at noon, when the sun reaches its zenith, give away their own bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to sentient beings; and in the afternoon, when the sun is about to set, give away their own bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to sentient beings—like this, throughout the span of their lives over hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭis of kalpas, every day they give away bodies as numerous as this to sentient beings.

Here the Buddha is supposing that sentient beings could have so many bodies; in fact, only bodhisattvas of the stage of equivalence (samāvṛta), bodhisattvas of wondrous awakening, and all the Buddhas could have bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. Ordinary sentient beings, who have not realized the tathāgatagarbha and have not cultivated the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, would not have mind-made bodies (manomaya-kāya), nor would they have the ability to manifest multiple bodies. Therefore, giving away one's own physical body is extremely difficult; even giving away possessions other than the body, one is reluctant. Giving is divided into the giving of external wealth and the giving of internal wealth. The giving of external wealth means giving away money, property, and other things belonging to the body, other than the body itself; the giving of internal wealth means specifically giving away one's own body, to feed hungry sentient beings and relieve them from the suffering of hunger.

External wealth belongs to the circumstantial retribution, which exists dependent upon the internal wealth of the physical body, and is inherently impermanent and ever-changing. Yet most sentient beings will not even give away possessions outside the body, being extremely stingy; how much less would they give away internal wealth—they would rather die than part with it. Because without the physical body, one has nothing at all; the body appears more precious than everything outside it. To be able to give external wealth is already rare and precious, and its merit is also very vast, immeasurable, boundless, and unspeakable. If one can give internal wealth, giving away one's own body, it means sacrificing one's life and forgetting death, being ungrudging in body and mind, seeing the four great elements as empty; its merit is even more immeasurable and boundless, and inconceivable.