The Profound Meaning of the Diamond Sutra on Consciousness-Only (138)

Original Text: Subhūti, if someone says that the Tathāgata comes or goes, sits or lies down, such a person does not understand the meaning of my teaching. Why? The Tathāgata has never come from anywhere, nor gone anywhere. Therefore, he is called the Tathāgata.

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Subhūti, if someone claims to perceive the Tathāgata through external manifestations—such as coming, going, sitting, or lying down—this person has not truly comprehended the profound meaning of the Dharma I have expounded over time. Thus, they are deluded by the Tathāgata’s apparent forms and fail to perceive the true Tathāgata. Why do I say this? Because the true Tathāgata has no origin from which he comes and no destination to which he goes. Having neither coming nor going, neither arising nor ceasing—this is called the true Tathāgata.

How infinitely compassionate is the World-Honored One! For the sake of sentient beings, he dons coarse and soiled robes, humbly descending into this defiled world to reveal the Buddha’s wisdom and insight. He tirelessly expounds the Dharma, adding the finishing touch again and again, sparing no effort even as his eyebrows grow long and his robe’s hem soaks in muddy waters—all to pull beings from the mire of wrong views, awaken them to the Buddha’s wisdom, and enable them to walk the same path as the Buddha, never again straying into desolate trails or perilous wilderness.

The habit of clinging to appearances is deeply ingrained in sentient beings, and the poisonous thorns of wrong views are exceedingly hard to remove. Thus, the World-Honored One tirelessly breaks down appearances again and again, using all manner of parables and teachings to reveal to beings the true mind—utterly devoid of any form. Yet many still fail to perceive the formless, true Tathāgata, seeing only the Tathāgata who appears to come and go, move and rest. But will these apparent forms of coming, going, sitting, and lying ever vanish? Once they disappear, where can one see the Tathāgata? Where do these forms of coming and going arise from, and where do they cease? And why do they appear to come, go, sit, and lie? Those with discerning minds should ponder this deeply, harboring great doubt and refusing to let it go unresolved.

The appearance of the Tathāgata’s coming manifests based on the five skandhas and the physical form, arising from the seventh consciousness within the five skandhas. It fundamentally belongs to the volitional formation skandha. Without the five skandhas and the seventh consciousness, there would be no appearance of coming for sentient beings to witness. Yet before this appearance manifests, where does it reside? And due to what causes does it arise? Since this appearance of coming is a conditioned phenomenon subject to arising and ceasing, it is born from the convergence of various causes and conditions. Sentient beings, upon witnessing it, cling to the appearance without understanding its origin or cause—thus deluded by form and ignorant of truth. Because beings cling to appearances and misunderstand the principle, they align with defilements and turn away from enlightenment, generating worldly afflictions and perpetuating the cycle of birth and death. To transcend the appearances of birth and death, one must seek the cause of arising appearances, recognize the principle of true suchness, eliminate deluded karma, and return to the original state.

The appearance of the Tathāgata’s going also manifests based on the five skandhas and arises from the seventh consciousness, fundamentally belonging to the volitional formation skandha. Upon what causes and conditions do the five skandhas and seventh consciousness depend to manifest? Before going, there is coming and abiding; before coming and abiding, there are causes. Even when going, it does not depart from its causes—otherwise, going could not occur. After going, the appearance vanishes entirely, yet the cause of going remains unextinguished, enabling it to arise again and again—coming and going, arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing in an endless cycle. This is the vitality bursting with life, where causes for birth arise everywhere, like a splendid spring. As for the Tathāgata’s appearances of sitting and lying, they too fundamentally belong to the volitional formation skandha within the five skandhas, manifesting based on the physical form and seventh consciousness, which themselves depend on causes to appear. Due to these causes, appearances arise and cease. Sentient beings only perceive the appearances and their arising and ceasing, never discerning the causes behind them. Thus deluded by superficial forms and ignorant of truth, they perpetuate the unending cycle of birth and death, wandering lost without return.