Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: Why Upholding This Sutra Has Inconceivable, Boundless Merit

Original text of the Chapter on the Merit of Upholding the Sutra, Fifteen: 若复有人。闻此经典。信心不逆。其福胜彼。何况书写受持读诵。为人解说。

Explanation: Subhūti, if again there is someone who hears this sutra and gives rise to pure faith and understanding, deeply believing in the vajra prajñā mind that is free of the four marks, with a mind that does not contradict the meaning of the sutra — for example, when the Buddha speaks of being without the four marks and breaking through the four marks, this person will not say that the four marks truly exist and are real, nor will he grasp at the four marks without letting go; rather, in his heart he is willing to empty the self and empty his own mind. This person's merit will be superior to and surpass that of the person who, throughout innumerable hundreds of thousands of myriads of koṭi kalpas, daily gives away bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. How much more so for this person, who not only has pure faith but can also recite the Diamond Sutra, realize the vajra mind, cultivate himself in reliance upon the vajra mind of ultimate reality, and moreover can extensively expound the Diamond Sutra for others, teaching sentient beings to realize the vajra mind of ultimate reality and safeguarding the widespread transmission of the Diamond Sutra. Then this person's merit will far surpass that of one who gives away his own body, an internal possession.

Original text: 须菩提。以要言之。是经有不可思议。不可称量。无边功德。如来为发大乘者说。为发最上乘者说。

Explanation: Subhūti, in summary, this Diamond Sutra possesses inconceivable, immeasurable, and boundless merit. The Tathāgata, the World-Honored One, speaks it for those who have given rise to the bodhi mind of the Great Vehicle, and for those who have given rise to the bodhi mind of the supreme Buddha Vehicle.

Because only those who have given rise to the Great Vehicle bodhi mind — those with the faculties of the Great Vehicle, whose minds are vast, who are compassionate toward sentient beings, and whose wisdom is deep and broad — are willing to recite the Diamond Sutra, understand its meaning, and realize ultimate reality. Only afterward do they have the ability to uphold and transmit the tathāgatagarbha dharma, and in the future they will be able to attain the first bhūmi, shoulder the family enterprise of the Tathāgata, and extensively deliver measureless sentient beings.

Original text: 若有人能受持读诵。广为人说。如来悉知是人。悉见是人。皆得成就不可量。不可称。无有边。不可思议功德。

Explanation: If there is someone who can uphold and recite the Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sutra and extensively expound the ultimate reality meaning of the tathāgatagarbha for sentient beings, then all of this person's good roots and merit, all of his wisdom and virtue, and all the endeavors he carries out for sentient beings — the Tathāgata fully knows and fully sees them, without error or omission, without concealment. Therefore, all the beneficial endeavors this person undertakes for sentient beings will not be in vain; not a bit will be buried or lost. In the future he will accomplish immeasurable, uncountable, boundless, and inconceivable merit.

Why does the Tathāgata fully know and fully see the merit of this person's upholding and reciting the Diamond Sutra, and all the merit he creates for sentient beings? Here "Tathāgata" refers on the one hand to the Tathāgata of the physical body, and on the other to the Tathāgata of the Dharma body. The Tathāgata of the physical body, possessing immeasurable supernatural powers and virtues, because He observes with the Buddha eye, fully knows and fully sees all the merit of this person's upholding and reciting the Diamond Sutra, and fully knows and fully sees all the merit and virtue of this person's delivering of measureless sentient beings, without a single omission. Because the Buddha possesses immeasurable wisdom and omniscience (sarvākārajñatā), there is not a single dharma in the world or beyond the world that He does not know, not a single dharma that He does not see; His perfect light illuminates the great trichiliocosm without omission.

As for the Tathāgata of the Dharma body, because He follows this person at all times and in all places, everything this person does is necessarily attended to and protected by the Tathāgata of the Dharma body. The Tathāgata of the Dharma body is this person's tathāgatagarbha, because the tathāgatagarbha knows this person's mental activities, cooperates with him to complete all endeavors, and also records and stores the karmic seeds of sentient beings. Therefore, everything this person does is fully known and fully seen by the tathāgatagarbha, and the karmic seeds are all stored away; in the future, all of this person's karmic rewards of merit will be realized, so that his efforts will not be in vain, and in the end he will be able to perfectly attain buddhahood.