The Profound Yogācāra Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (52)

Therefore, the Buddhadharma is like a raft used to cross a river—abandoned once the shore is reached, discarded once it has served its purpose. This shows that the Dharma exists in dependence upon causes and conditions; it is thus illusory and empty, and at a certain stage of cultivation it must not be clung to. Because sentient beings differ in their ignorance, the Dharma the Buddha taught also differs; hence there is no fixed Dharma for the Tathāgata to proclaim. Therefore, the Dharma proclaimed by the Tathāgata must not be grasped at, for it too is empty, formed by causes and conditions—it is only used for a period of cultivation and discarded once its purpose is served; it cannot be grasped at forever. Yet while ignorance still remains, one must hold on to it and use it as a tool.

For example, with the Dharma of the Four Noble Truths, once one has realized the fruits and attained liberation, this Dharma is of no further use to the arhat. Then, cultivating as a pratyekabuddha, one practices the Dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination; after attaining the fruit of a pratyekabuddha, the Dharma of dependent origination is likewise of no further use, and one must then cultivate the bodhisattva's six pāramitās. After seeing one's true mind and awakening to one's nature, the six pāramitās of the outer gate are of no further use, and one cultivates the six pāramitās of the inner gate, entering the first bhūmi. After attaining the bhūmis, the six pāramitās of the inner gate are of no further use, and one cultivates the ten pāramitās; after becoming a tenth-bhūmi bodhisattva, the ten pāramitās are relinquished. One then cultivates the Dharma of the stages of equal enlightenment and wondrous enlightenment; after perfecting the buddha path, all dharmas are of no further use and are entirely relinquished, leaving the mind empty and without any dharma.

Because all dharmas have been cultivated to perfection, only after attaining buddhahood can one proclaim them for sentient beings. Therefore, all the dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata are not originally existent, fixed, and unchanging dharmas; they are all empty, not real dharmas. Yet they are also not unreal dharmas, because by relying on these dharmas, sentient beings can realize the true dharma, the unconditioned dharma; moreover, when the Buddha proclaimed these dharmas, He never departed from the true dharma of true suchness (tathatā)—it is precisely because true suchness functioned here that the Buddha was able to proclaim them. These dharmas all come from the Buddha's own mind of true suchness, flowing forth from true suchness; they are a part of true suchness, standing in a relationship of neither identity nor difference with true suchness.