Lecture on the Diamond Sutra: Why No Dharma Enables the Tathāgata to Attain the Fruit of Buddhahood

Original text of the Seventeenth Chapter, "Ultimately There Is No Self": 须菩提。于意云何。如来于然灯佛所。有法得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提不。不也。世尊。如我解佛所说义。佛于然灯佛所。无有法得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。

Explanation: Subhūti, what do you think? When the Tathāgata was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, did he obtain any dharma by which he attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? Subhūti said: World-Honored One, according to my understanding of the meaning of what you have taught, when you were with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, you did not obtain any dharma by which to achieve anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

When the World-Honored One met the ancient Buddha Dīpaṃkara, he realized the fruition of the eighth bhūmi, the Immovable Ground. His mind-ground was pure and unconditioned; there was not a single dharma in his mind that could be held before it, not a single mark in his mind to be attached to. He emptied all dharmas and relinquished all dharmas—utterly empty and bare. Only then did Dīpaṃkara Buddha confer the prediction of buddhahood upon Śākyamuni Buddha. Yet even the dharma-mark of receiving the prediction of buddhahood is empty and illusory; the realized fruition of the eighth bhūmi is also empty and illusory; the dharma-mark of the pure and unconditioned mind-ground is also empty and illusory; the dharma-mark of "not clinging to any dharma" is also empty and illusory; the dharma-mark of "the mind being utterly empty and bare" is also empty and illusory; and now that the World-Honored One has become a Buddha, the dharma-mark of becoming the Honored One of the Three Realms is also empty and illusory. Of everything in the world, there is not a single mark that is not empty and illusory, not a single mark that is real—except for that unarising and unceasing, indestructible vajra mind of true reality which is not within the world. Therefore, when the Buddha was with Dīpaṃkara Buddha, there was no dharma by which he attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Original text: 佛言。如是如是。须菩提。实无有法。如来得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。须菩提。若有法如来得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提者。然灯佛则不与我授记。汝于来世。当得作佛。号释迦牟尼。以实无有法。得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。是故然灯佛。与我授记。作是言。汝于来世。当得作佛。号释迦牟尼。

Explanation: The Buddha said: It is so, it is so. Subhūti, there truly is no dharma by which the Tathāgata attains the fruition of buddhahood, nor does the Tathāgata rely on any dharma to attain the fruition of buddhahood. If there were one dharma or many dharmas on which the Tathāgata could rely to attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, then Dīpaṃkara Buddha would not have conferred upon me the prediction, saying: In a future life you shall become a Buddha, named Śākyamuni—along with details such as what kalpa you would achieve the fruition of buddhahood in, what your Buddha-land would be like, what your disciples would be like, how the Buddha-dharma would spread, and so forth. Because the Tathāgata truly has no dharma to rely upon by which he could realize anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, therefore Dīpaṃkara Buddha conferred upon me the prediction, saying: At such-and-such a time in the future you shall become a Buddha, and your Buddha-name will be Śākyamuni Buddha.

Here the Tathāgata explicitly refers to the World-Honored One who possesses a body of the five aggregates, and implicitly refers to the true-suchness mind-body, the vajra prajñā mind. The Buddha's indestructible vajra mind, from beginningless kalpas until now, has never obtained a single dharma—not even the dharma of attaining buddhahood. Because He is not a mind of acquisition, not a greedy mind, and He Himself is perfectly endowed with all dharmas, lacking not even one dharma; everything that exists in the world comes from within this mind. As for the Buddha-dharma, the true-suchness mind-body also does not obtain it; He has never studied the Buddha or studied the Dharma, yet the Buddha and the Dharma both refer to Himself, so there would be no need for Him to study Himself. He also does not cultivate precepts, meditation, or wisdom, does not extinguish greed, anger, and delusion, and does not break through ignorance, because He Himself is fully endowed with precepts, meditation, and wisdom, and has no ignorance, greed, anger, or delusion. He also does not need to eliminate the four marks or the eight marks, because He Himself has not a single mark, does not crave or attach to any mark, and does not correspond to any mark; on the contrary, He can transform and create immeasurable, boundless marks. Therefore the Tathāgata truly has no dharma by which he attains anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

As for the Tathāgata who possesses a body of the five aggregates, relying upon the formless, true Tathāgata mind-body, he also obtains not a single dharma, nor obtains the Buddha-dharma. Within and without, body and mind are all bare and naked, utterly clean—not a single dharma. Only by corresponding with the true-suchness mind-body, relinquishing all dharmas and all marks—even relinquishing the Buddha-dharma entirely—can one finally attain buddhahood. If there is a single dharma in the mind that is not emptied and purified, one cannot achieve the Buddha Way. Although one achieves the Buddha Way and attains the fruition of buddhahood, in reality there is no fruition of buddhahood to be obtained; even the dharma of "not obtaining" is not obtained. Whatever dharma is obtained, whatever dharma has marks, is entirely empty and illusory. Only thus can one become a Buddha and be the World-Honored One.

Original text: 何以故。如来者。即诸法如义。若有人言。如来得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。须菩提。实无有法。佛得阿耨多罗三藐三菩提。

Explanation: Why is it said that there truly is no dharma by which the Tathāgata attains anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? The Tathāgata of whom I speak refers to the meaning of true suchness of all dharmas, the inherent principle-body of all dharmas. If someone says that the Tathāgata has attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, that the Tathāgata has become a Buddha, such a statement would imply that the Tathāgata truly has a dharma to obtain. What dharma could the Tathāgata obtain? In fact, the Tathāgata obtains nothing. Subhūti, there truly is no dharma by which the Buddha attains anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Only by obtaining not even a single dharma can one attain so-called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi; it is merely provisionally named "attaining anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi."

What did the Buddha actually obtain? Did he obtain the fruition of buddhahood? By what dharma did he attain the fruition of buddhahood? "Obtaining" is a surface phenomenon; in reality he obtains nothing, and nothing can be obtained. Many people can see and feel the surface phenomenon, but what is seen and felt is not real; it all arises from karmic conditions and is all illusory manifestation. "Obtaining" is the surface phenomenon; "not obtaining" is the substance. When the surface phenomenon and the substance are combined, that is what is called attaining the fruition of Buddha bodhi. The Tathāgata obtains nothing from any dharma, because He is inherently endowed with all the myriad dharmas, and He does not crave any dharma; therefore He obtains none of all dharmas, nor does He obtain the fruition of Buddha bodhi.