Commentary on the Diamond Sutra: Why Can Those Who Uphold and Widely Proclaim This Sutra Shoulder the Tathāgata's Mission?

Original text of the Chapter on the Merit of Upholding the Sūtra, Fifteen: 如是人等。则为荷担如来。阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。何以故。须菩提。若乐小法者。著我见人见众生见寿者见。则于此经。不能听受读诵。为人解说。

Explanation: Those who can uphold and recite the Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra in this way, and can extensively proclaim it to sentient beings, are all able to shoulder the family enterprise of the Tathāgata, and in the future will ultimately attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Why is this sūtra spoken for those who have developed the bodhicitta of the Great Vehicle, and spoken for those who have developed the aspiration of the most supreme vehicle? Subhūti, if a person delights in the lesser dharmas of humans and gods, he will be attached to the view of self, the view of person, the view of sentient being, and the view of life span; he will cultivate the minor wholesome dharmas of humans and gods for the sake of the illusory five aggregates, allowing the five aggregates to enjoy the retributive rewards of wealth and glory among humans and gods. He feels that there is a self who can enjoy pleasures, that there are persons who will receive generosity, and that there is merit to be gained. Such a person will not believe and accept the true dharma spoken by the Tathāgata of no mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of sentient being, and no mark of life span, and will not believe and accept the vajra mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta) that is free of the four marks. Then he will not recite the Diamond Sūtra, will not realize the tathāgatagarbha of ultimate reality, and even less will he expound the Great Vehicle dharma of ultimate reality to other sentient beings.

As for those of the Small Vehicle who delight in and cling to their own liberation, because their minds are also attached to the four marks and they mistakenly perceive the existence of a self of the five aggregates, they fear that their five-aggregate self will again suffer and transmigrate, so they hurriedly enter nirvāṇa and leave the birth-and-death of the three realms, unwilling to turn their minds toward the study and practice of the Great Vehicle bodhisattva dharma. Therefore they will not come to listen to, accept, and recite this sūtra, and certainly even less will they be able to expound this sūtra for others.

Original text: 须菩提。在在处处。若有此经。一切世间天人阿修罗。所应供养。当知此处。则为是塔。皆应恭敬。作礼围绕。以诸华香而散其处。

Explanation: Subhūti, no matter in whatever place, as long as this Diamond Sūtra exists—the vajra-indestructible mind, the tathāgatagarbha—all the devas and asuras of the entire world should come to make offerings to this sūtra and make offerings to the Great Vehicle Tathāgata Buddha. You should know that wherever this sūtra exists, that place is a stūpa, a solemn place of practice (bodhimaṇḍa). All sentient beings should reverently make offerings there, wholeheartedly circumambulate the stūpa and pay homage, and scatter various flowers and incense in that place, using flowers and incense to make offerings to the Buddha's stūpa shrine.

Why should wherever this sūtra exists be an object of offerings? Because this sūtra is the Dharmakāya Buddha (dharma-kāya-buddha), the Tathāgata; only by making offerings to this Buddha can one ultimately become a Buddha; moreover, one must primarily make offerings through upholding and reciting, and make offerings by relying on it and practicing in accordance with it, in order to ultimately become a Buddha. Why is the place where this sūtra exists a bodhimaṇḍa? Because all practice is cultivated around this sūtra; all practice is cultivated within this bodhimaṇḍa; all dharmas come from this bodhimaṇḍa; all works of saving sentient beings are carried out within this bodhimaṇḍa; ultimately becoming a Buddha is also accomplished within this bodhimaṇḍa; omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā) is perfected within this bodhimaṇḍa; and all buddha-lands are also accomplished within this bodhimaṇḍa. Why should one pay homage and circumambulate this sūtra? Because no sentient being and no dharma can fundamentally depart from this sūtra; even without circumambulating, one is still circumambulating—there is no way around it. Even if someone had infinite power, they could not escape from this sūtra and this stūpa.