The Profound Yogācāra Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (IX)

The first Chan (Zen) koan in the Buddhist history of our Saha world was personally demonstrated by the World-Honored One. At the assembly on Vulture Peak, after the devas had offered flowers, the World-Honored One, before the great assembly of humans and devas, held that flower in His hand and smiled without speaking, plainly revealing His own true suchness mind to everyone. Yet none among the assembly of humans and devas knew what the World-Honored One was getting at, while Mahākāśyapa understood at once: with the eye of wisdom he beheld the World-Honored One's true suchness mind, and at the same time clearly knew his own tathāgatagarbha mind—he knew exactly what was inside the World-Honored One's gourd—and so he broke into a smile. Knowing that Mahākāśyapa had awakened to the bodhisattva dharma and become an arhat-bodhisattva, the World-Honored One proclaimed: "I have the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa, the true mark of reality, without any mark; it is not established upon words and letters, but is a special transmission outside the teachings; I now entrust it to Mahākāśyapa." Thus Kāśyapa became the First Patriarch of the Chan school.

What is the wondrous mind of nirvāṇa? Nirvāṇa means neither arising nor ceasing; the wondrous mind means that within this mind of emptiness (śūnyatā) there is not a single dharma—it has nothing at all, yet it can manifest the myriad dharmas; not one dharma fails to appear from it. Though it is not even as large as a speck of dust, it can bring forth the universe and empty space—this is truly wondrous, and hence it is called the wondrous mind. The true mark of reality refers to the vajra prajñā mind, the true and genuine principle that really exists and is never extinguished. Being without any mark means that this mind has no marks whatsoever: it has no form mark, so He cannot be seen; no sound mark, so He cannot be heard; no scent mark, so He cannot be smelled; no taste mark, so He cannot be tasted; no touch mark, so He cannot be touched; no dharma mark, so He cannot be discriminated by thought. The Heart Sutra says that He is without the five aggregates, without the six sense bases, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses, without the Four Noble Truths and the twelve links of dependent origination (from ignorance through aging and death), without…—in short, not a single dharma is there, and yet all the myriad dharmas arise from Him and exist by virtue of Him.