The Profound Meaning of Consciousness-Only in the Diamond Sutra (96)

Chapter Seventeen: Ultimate Selflessness

In this chapter, the World-Honored One expounds on ultimate selflessness, instructing Subhūti that after bodhisattvas have generated the vast and profound bodhicitta and resolved to liberate immeasurable sentient beings, they must eradicate the notions of "self" and "sentient beings," gradually attaining a state of selflessness and ultimately realizing ultimate selflessness in their minds. For in the ultimate truth, there is indeed no self—neither the self of persons nor the self of dharmas must be utterly extinguished. Only then does the mind align with profound bodhicitta, subdue the ego, and attain purity, enabling the buddhas to confer upon them the prediction of buddhahood. Even upon attaining buddhahood, the mind remains selfless and empty: there exists no dharma-mark of "attaining buddhahood," no dharma-mark of "liberating sentient beings," nor any dharma-mark whatsoever.

Original Text:

At that time, Subhūti addressed the Buddha, saying: “World-Honored One, when virtuous men and virtuous women generate the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, how should they abide? How should they subdue their minds?”

Explanation:

At this moment, Subhūti addressed the World-Honored One: “World-Honored One, after virtuous men and virtuous women have generated the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, how should their minds abide? How should they uphold their minds? How should they subdue their minds?”

This is Subhūti inquiring on behalf of all sentient beings: After bodhisattvas have generated the Mahāyāna bodhicitta, how should they abide in and grasp this mind? Which mind is being referred to? It is the sixth and seventh consciousnesses—the mind capable of generating bodhicitta—not the true mind, the tathāgatagarbha, which does not generate bodhicitta. The tathāgatagarbha generates no mental activity; it has no aspirations, no desire for buddhahood, and its mental activities are non-abiding. With Subhūti’s wisdom, he would not ask the World-Honored One how the tathāgatagarbha should abide, especially since the World-Honored One has already expounded the non-abiding nature of the Vajra Prajñāpāramitā. Subhūti is asking: Since the deluded mind capable of generating bodhicitta has now given rise to this pure, great vow, should it still abide as before—dwelling in the mundane dharmas of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and mental objects; dwelling in the five aggregates? Should it generate aspirations for these worldly dharmas? After generating the Mahāyāna bodhicitta, one should no longer cling to all mundane dharma-marks as before, nor should afflictions such as greed, hatred, and delusion flare up. One must subdue this mind—but how should it be subdued?