The Profound Yogācāra Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (47)

Original text: 何以故？是諸众生若心取相，即为著我、人、众生、寿者；若取法相即著我、人、众生、寿者；若取非法相，即著我、人、众生、寿者。是故不应取法，不应取非法。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Why is this so? Because if such sentient beings grasp at marks in their minds, attaching to marks, they are attached to the four marks. Being attached to the four marks, they must be attached to the marks of dharmas. Because they have not eliminated the mark of self, standing from the standpoint and perspective of "self," they will perceive all dharmas as real—the coming, going, stopping, and moving of the five-aggregate body, dressing and eating, as well as views, opinions, and feelings, all entirely real—and at the same time there will be attachment to the other three marks.

The marks of dharmas are existent phenomena of the three realms; the three realms exist in dependence upon the cognition of sentient beings. Only with a self can one cognize the marks of dharmas of the three realms. Therefore, if one is attached to the marks of dharmas, one is attached to the four marks of self, person, sentient being, and life span; if one grasps at the mark of no-dharmas, holding that all dharmas are empty and that there is no true mind of suchness, the eighth consciousness, then one denies the root from which self, person, and sentient being are born, as well as the substance upon which life span depends. Then self, person, and sentient beings would not be manifested by the eighth consciousness but would exist naturally, existing without cause, and thus would not be illusory; all the functions of the conscious mind would be real, not supplied by the eighth consciousness. This is attachment to the four marks, and such a person is a sentient being of ordinary nature obstructed by the karma of birth and death. Therefore, when sentient beings study the Mahāyāna dharma, they should not grasp at the marks of dharmas, nor should they grasp at the annihilatory view that dharmas do not exist.