The Profound Meaning of Yogācāra in the Diamond Sutra (80)

Based on the five aggregates of sentient beings, the manifested appearance of life and the appearance of a lifespan are also non-appearances, not truly existent. Sentient beings’ life activities within a certain period, such as respiration, metabolism, eating, drinking, excreting, etc., may superficially seem real and meaningful, but in reality, they are illusory appearances manifested by the Tathagatagarbha, bestowed by the Tathagatagarbha, and their essence is also the Tathagatagarbha. Regardless of how long this lifetime may be, its essential substance is the Tathagatagarbha. Sentient beings do not possess a true appearance of life; therefore, the appearance of a lifespan is a non-appearance.

Why are the four appearances of self, person, sentient being, and lifespan said to be non-appearances, unreal appearances? Because the true reality of the Dharma Realm transcends all appearances. The presence of these four appearances signifies illusory, false, arising-and-ceasing appearances, which are not the true reality of the Dharma Realm, nor are they real appearances. The Vajra Prajna of True Reality, the indestructible mind, is the Dharmakaya of all Buddhas. The Dharmakaya transcends all appearances; it has no four appearances, nor any appearances at all. Therefore, it is said that the true Buddha is formless, and the true Buddha also does not expound the Dharma. The Buddha who transcends all appearances is the Dharmakaya Buddha of all Buddhas; this is the Buddha in the true sense. The Buddha with the appearance of the five aggregates is the Sambhogakaya Buddha, the Nirmanakaya Buddha, and the Transformation Body Buddha; these are Buddhas manifested by the Dharmakaya Buddha, not the true Buddha.

The World-Honored One told Subhuti: It is so, indeed it is so. If there is a person who can hear this Diamond Sutra of Prajna Paramita, and upon hearing it, their mind is neither alarmed, nor terrified, nor fearful, you should know that this person is truly rare and precious, one whose wholesome roots and merits are extremely profound.

Why did the World-Honored One say this? Because the Diamond Sutra of Prajna Paramita entirely expounds the principle of emptiness in the Mahayana, teaching sentient beings to transcend the four appearances, to transcend all appearances, and not to grasp at any appearance. Yet sentient beings, since beginningless kalpas, have always been clinging to the four appearances, grasping at all appearances, unwilling to relinquish them. Sentient beings’ minds are deeply burdened with self-attachment and self-view; they see all appearances as existent, not seeing that all appearances are empty.

Because sentient beings, since beginningless kalpas, have always deeply relied on existence, when they hear the Diamond Sutra speaking of emptiness and non-existence, they will inevitably become very frightened and terrified. They will fear becoming empty themselves, fear becoming non-existent, and they will certainly be unwilling to throw away the crutch they have relied on since beginningless kalpas, unwilling to become utterly unsupported. Thus, they fear becoming empty and void, fear ceasing to exist. Therefore, fear and terror will arise in their minds. These are people whose wholesome roots and merits are insufficient, whose practice in past lives spanned only short kalpas; hence they react this way. Conversely, those who hear this sutra speak of the non-existence of the four appearances, of transcending the four appearances, and whose minds are not terrified, are people who have practiced for many kalpas, whose planted wholesome roots are already very deep. Such people, upon hearing the Diamond Sutra, not only are not alarmed or terrified, but they also give rise to pure faith and can realize the Vajra Prajna mind that transcends the four appearances. It is evident that such people are truly rare and precious.