Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: Section Twenty-One, Neither Speaking Nor Spoken

Original text:须菩提。汝勿谓如来作是念。我当有所说法。莫作是念。何以故。若人言如来有所说法。即为谤佛。不能解我所说故。须菩提。说法者无法可说。是名说法。

Explanation: Subhūti, do not say that the Tathāgata has such a thought: that the Tathāgata is going to expound the Dharma for sentient beings and broadly benefit them. The Tathāgata has no thought or idea of expounding the Dharma for sentient beings. Subhūti, you absolutely must not think this way; do not harbor such an idea. Why do I tell you not to hold such a notion, not to think that the Tathāgata wishes to expound the Dharma? Because if someone says that the Tathāgata has Dharma to expound, or that the Tathāgata has already expounded the Dharma, that is slandering the Buddha—such a person has not truly understood the Dharma teaching I have spoken. Subhūti, one who expounds the Dharma has no Dharma that can be expounded; this is merely provisionally named "expounding the Dharma."

Since the Tathāgata possesses great loving-kindness and great compassion, why does the World-Honored One not allow Subhūti to think that the Tathāgata has the thought of expounding the Dharma to deliver sentient beings? Why does the Tathāgata have no thought of expounding the Dharma to deliver sentient beings? The Tathāgata is divided into the three bodies of the Tathāgata, so we must discuss the three bodies separately. If we correctly understand the respective virtues, capabilities, and functions of the three bodies of the Tathāgata, we will know why the Tathāgata has no thought of expounding the Dharma to deliver sentient beings. The three bodies of the Tathāgata are: the Dharmakāya Buddha (dharma-kāya-buddha), the Sambhogakāya Buddha (saṃbhoga-kāya-buddha), and the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha (nirmāṇa-kāya-buddha) — the manifested and response bodies. Among these, the Dharmakāya Tathāgata is the true-suchness mind-substance, the principle-substance of the undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna). He is formless and without marks, without the bodily form of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), without the thirty-two marks, yet He contains and harbors all dharmas. The Sambhogakāya Tathāgata and the Nirmāṇakāya/Response-body Tathāgata, however, both possess the bodily form of the five aggregates and the thirty-two marks; these bodily forms all transform forth from the Dharmakāya Tathāgata.

Now, for the Tathāgata to expound the Dharma, He must use the five aggregates to expound it; without the five aggregates, the Dharma cannot be expounded. Only with a body of the five aggregates and the mind of the seven consciousnesses can there be a thought of expounding the Dharma; without the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses, there is no thought of wanting to expound the Dharma. Since the Dharmakāya Tathāgata has no body of the five aggregates, He cannot expound the Dharma, because He lacks the instrument for expounding it. If someone says that the Dharmakāya Tathāgata also expounded the Dharma, and moreover expounded the Three Baskets and Twelve Divisions of the scriptures, that is slandering the Buddha. Because the true-suchness mind-substance has no mouth, no tongue, and does not correspond to mental sense-objects (dharma-viṣaya), how could it expound the Dharma? Since true suchness cannot expound the Dharma, yet one still says the Tathāgata expounded the Dharma, that is a mistaken understanding of the nature of the true-suchness substance and a slander of the World-Honored One; such a person has not truly understood the nature of true suchness that the World-Honored One taught, and does not comprehend the meaning of the Dharma the Buddha expounded.

Among the three bodies of the Tathāgata, the Dharmakāya Tathāgata does not expound the Dharma, because He lacks the instrument of the five aggregates. Only the Sambhogakāya Tathāgata expounds the Dharma unceasingly day after day, delivering the bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis, while the Nirmāṇakāya/Response-body Tathāgata constantly expounds the Dharma in the worlds of the ten directions, delivering and transforming foolish ordinary sentient beings and the great bodhisattvas. Although the Sambhogakāya Buddha and the Nirmāṇakāya/Response-body Buddha can constantly expound the Dharma, they too have no Dharma that can be expounded. Although they expounded the Three Baskets and Twelve Divisions of the scriptures, expounded Buddhist teachings as numerous as the sands of the Ganges, the Dharma they expound is not a truly existent dharma; it is a provisionally existent dharma born in dependence on various conditions and causes—when conditions cease, it disperses; when conditions arise, it is born—illusorily arising and illusorily ceasing, provisionally named "dharma."

Moreover, the five aggregates of the one who expounds the Dharma are also illusorily born and illusorily ceasing—existing when causes and conditions gather, ceasing when causes and conditions scatter—and are not true dharmas. Therefore, the matter of expounding the Dharma with a body of the five aggregates is illusory and unreal, provisionally named "expounding the Dharma"—it is merely giving a provisional name to this phenomenon. Since there is no Dharma that can be expounded, the Tathāgata likewise has no thought of expounding the Dharma, and there are no sentient beings to be delivered; thus the Tathāgata has no thought of delivering sentient beings. Furthermore, the Tathāgata constantly abides in the Land of Eternally Tranquil Light, His mind ever in tranquil cessation, without thought or ideation, not mindful of the dharmas of the three realms, with not a single dharma to be mindful of, not a single dharma to think about. The enterprise of expounding the Dharma and delivering sentient beings—He is not mindful of it and does not think of it, let alone that other miscellaneous thoughts would even less arise. Yet He is not hindered from cooperating with the Sambhogakāya Buddha and the Nirmāṇakāya/Response-body Buddha in expounding the Dharma and delivering sentient beings, benefiting and bringing joy to sentient beings. Although He cooperates, His mind remains without thought or ideation, tranquil and unconditioned.

Original text:尔时慧命须菩提白佛言。世尊。颇有众生。于未来世。闻说是法。生信心不。

Explanation: At that time, the venerable and wise bhikṣu Subhūti said to the World-Honored One: World-Honored One, in the future age of the Dharma-ending period, will there be many sentient beings who hear such profound Buddhadharma and are able to give rise to faith?

Subhūti asked with such concern because this Buddhadharma is so profound and difficult to understand, demolishing all dharma-marks, and it is very hard for sentient beings to accept. Moreover, sentient beings, since beginningless kalpas, have been habituated to grasping at marks, constantly dwelling within existence, and it is difficult for them to pull themselves out of the mire of marks and empty their own minds. If a sentient being's good roots and merit are not sufficiently deep, being attached to worldly marks and to name-marks, upon hearing such a profound Mahāyāna dharma of ultimate reality, he will not give rise to faith; some will become alarmed and unsettled, doubting and disbelieving. Only those who have accumulated deep good roots and merit over successive lifetimes can joyfully accept it with faith.

Original text:佛言。须菩提。彼非众生。非不众生。何以故。须菩提。众生众生者。如来说非众生。是名众生。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Subhūti, those sentient beings appear on the surface to be sentient beings, but in reality they are not sentient beings; yet they also cannot not be called sentient beings. Why is this said? Subhūti, the so-called sentient beings called "sentient beings"—the Tathāgata says they are not real, that there are no truly existent sentient beings; they are provisionally named "sentient beings," merely a name.

Here the World-Honored One once again demolishes the mark of sentient beings. The mark of sentient beings is an illusory mark, not a dharma-mark, not truly existent. It is only by relying on the mind of ultimate reality, the tathāgatagarbha, and relying on karmic conditions, that the body of the five aggregates can be illusorily produced. The illusory mark formed by the combination of the five aggregates and the eighteen realms—we give it a provisional name and call it "sentient being." There is no substantial self-nature existing; it is merely a false appearance that deceives the eye. Therefore, those bodies of the five aggregates are not sentient beings, yet one also cannot say they are not sentient beings; we give this false appearance the name "sentient being," and the name has thus been established. All marks are names, and each has its own name, not to be confused with one another. The illusory appearance of the five aggregates is represented by the name "sentient being"; when we say "sentient being," it indicates this appearance of the body of the five aggregates. Therefore, the Buddha said: "They are not sentient beings, yet not not sentient beings; this is provisionally named sentient beings." All worldly dharmas with marks are merely names. Therefore, this chapter is called "Non-Speaking, What Is Spoken." The Tathāgata did not expound the Dharma, and the Dharma that was spoken is also not truly existent speech—it is all illusory transformation, without real meaning.