The Profound Meaning of the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sutra from the Consciousness-Only Perspective (Second Edition)
Chapter 31: The One Mark No-Mark, Thirty
This chapter of the Diamond Sutra mainly introduces the "conglomerate mark" (one combined mark). The Buddha said that the conglomerate mark is a non-mark; a non-mark is a false and illusory mark, merely a provisional name, a false mark. What is a conglomerate mark? This chapter mainly introduces the trichiliocosm (three-thousandfold great thousand world) in which we live—it is a conglomerate mark. This conglomerate mark does not truly exist; it is a false mark composed of various marks. What is a trichiliocosm composed of? It is composed of one thousand mesocosms (middle-thousand worlds); a mesocosm is composed of one thousand microcosms (small-thousand worlds); a microcosm is composed of one thousand unit worlds. A unit world consists of the four great oceans, plus the four great continents, plus Mount Sumeru, plus the sun and moon and devas, plus the six heavens of the desire realm, plus the first dhyāna heaven of the form realm—together these constitute a unit world. One thousand unit worlds plus the second dhyāna heaven constitute a microcosm (small-thousand world); one thousand microcosms plus the third dhyāna heaven constitute a mesocosm (middle-thousand world); a mesocosm plus the fourth dhyāna heavens and the four formless heavens constitutes a trichiliocosm.
Therefore, this trichiliocosm is a conglomerate mark, and a conglomerate mark is a combined illusory mark. It is formed by combining individual partial marks and scattered marks into one overall mark—this is called a conglomerate mark. A unit world is also a combination, including the four great oceans; beneath the four great oceans are the seven golden mountains, and beneath the seven golden mountains are the hells. Above the four great oceans are the four great continents: Pūrvavideha in the east, Aparagodānīya in the west, Jambudvīpa in the south, and Uttarakuru in the north. The four great continents are above the four great oceans, at the four sides of the foot of Mount Sumeru.
Mount Sumeru stands in the middle of the four great oceans, extending halfway down to the bottom of the oceans and rising halfway above them, in the shape of a three-dimensional cone. In the middle of Mount Sumeru is the Heaven of the Four Great Kings; the heavens of the Four Great Kings—the northern, southern, eastern, and western king heavens where the Four Great Kings dwell—are on the four sides of the mid-slope of Mount Sumeru. At the summit of Mount Sumeru is the Trāyastriṃśa Heaven, where the thirty-three heavens of Śakra Devānām Indra are located. Further up are the other four heavens of the desire realm, and above the four heavens of the desire realm is the first dhyāna heaven of the form realm. Together these form a unit world.
In a unit world, each constituent component is still a combined mark. For example, the earth is composed of mountains, rivers, and the great land, as well as trees, flowers, grass, houses, and the like; it is also composed of the territories of various countries. Each country is also a conglomerate mark, also a combination, composed of mountains and rivers, trees, houses, land, and such marks. Furthermore, a country is composed of various provinces, prefectures, and counties; each province and each prefecture or county is also a combination, down to each individual household—each household is also a combination, and even all the items in each household are combinations. Matter can be further subdivided, and ultimately can be divided into particles of fine dust.
Therefore, the trichiliocosm as a whole is a combination, and the most minute parts of each component are also combinations—all are conglomerate marks. A unit world is a conglomerate mark; a mesocosm is also a conglomerate mark; a macrocosm even more so is a conglomerate mark. This entire trichiliocosm is all a conglomerate mark, entirely combined together. Since it is combined together, this world is not real; it is merely a provisional name, a concept. All material forms are formed by the tathāgatagarbha transmitting the seeds of the four great elements. Initially, the most minute particles of fine dust are formed; these particles then gather together to form various materials; materials gather together to form larger material divisions; these divisions then combine to form unit worlds, one after another—mountains, rivers, the great land, palaces, and so on—all of these are combined marks. As long as something is a combined mark, it is a non-mark, it is illusory, not a real mark.
Original text: 须菩提。若善男子善女人。以三千大千世界。碎为微尘。于意云何。是微尘众。宁为多不。甚多。世尊。何以故。若是微尘众实有者。佛即不说是微尘众。
Explanation: The World-Honored One said to Subhūti: If good men and good women were to grind a trichiliocosm into numerous particles of fine dust, what do you think? Would the number of these particles of dust be many? Subhūti replied: Very many, World-Honored One. Why would the number of dust particles be very many? Because if these particles of dust truly existed and were real, the Buddha would not say that these are numerous particles of dust.
How large is a trichiliocosm? Calculated, it seems to include one billion earths, one billion Mount Sumerus, one billion Trāyastriṃśa heavens, one billion desire-realm heavens, one billion first dhyāna heavens, one billion four great oceans, one billion seven golden mountains, one billion first dhyāna heavens, and so on—extremely vast. A trichiliocosm is boundlessly vast, immeasurably vast. If it were ground into particles of fine dust, how many would there be? It would simply be beyond calculation, because the trichiliocosm is already enormous; when such an enormous entity is broken into fragments, with empty space added in between, the resulting particles of dust would occupy an area and volume even greater than the trichiliocosm itself. Therefore, once the trichiliocosm is ground into fine dust, there is no need to count the number of those particles—they simply cannot be counted. Even if the body of a single person were ground into fine dust, the number of these particles could not be counted; if the body of a small animal were ground into fine dust, the number of these particles likewise could not be counted.
What is meant by "fine dust"? It is to disperse an object, dividing it into the finest of the fine, so small as to be invisible to the naked eye, until it becomes a particle of the smallest unit—this is what is called fine dust. At that point it is still a small particle composed of the four great elements, extremely minute, almost approaching empty nothingness, yet it still belongs to material form.
With so many particles of dust-matter, would that not be too many? Subhūti said: Too many. Why so many? Why is it called "many"? The Buddha said: If the particles of dust truly existed, the Buddha would not say they are numerous particles of dust. Because Subhūti had heard the World-Honored One expound this Diamond Sutra, he had long understood the true meaning of the dharma the World-Honored One was teaching, and so he said: If these numerous particles of dust truly existed—if they were unborn and unceasing, really existing particles of dust—then the Buddha would not call them "numerous particles of dust" ("numerous" represents many, meaning an extremely great quantity).
Original text: 所以者何。佛说微尘众。即非微尘众。是名微尘众。世尊。如来所说三千大千世界。即非世界。是名世界。
Explanation: Why is it said this way? Because the numerous particles of dust that the Buddha speaks of are not real particles of dust; they are merely named "numerous particles of dust." World-Honored One, the trichiliocosm that the Tathāgata speaks of is not a truly existent trichiliocosm; the false mark exists, but in reality it is empty. Therefore a provisional name is given to it, called the trichiliocosm.
These numerous particles of dust are not real marks; the numerous particles of dust composed of dust particles, the number of dust particles, are also not real marks. What is called fine dust is merely material form subdivided into tiny particles, called fine dust. These dust particles are also material form, and matter is composed of the four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind; fine dust is likewise composed of the four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind—it is only that large matter contains a very great number of four great element seeds, while fine dust contains very few. When large matter is subdivided into small matter, each small piece is still composed of the same proportions of earth, water, fire, and wind as before; only the number of four great element seeds is reduced, and so the volume of the matter is reduced. When reduced to the most minute degree, it is called fine dust.
The four great element seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind are transmitted forth by the tathāgatagarbha instant after instant; only thus can these particles of dust undergo arising, abiding, change, and extinction, performing certain illusory functions. If the tathāgatagarbha did not transmit the four great element seeds, these particles of dust would vanish and cease to exist, becoming empty nothingness. Therefore, the numerous particles of dust are illusory, unreal provisional dharmas. When dust particles combine into somewhat larger matter, that larger matter is likewise formed by the four great element seeds, and so all are illusory, subject to arising, ceasing, and change. When the conditions disperse and the tathāgatagarbha no longer transmits the four great element seeds, all dust particles and matter will perish and disappear.
These material forms then combine to form a celestial body; multiple celestial bodies combine to form a unit world; unit worlds combine to form a microcosm; microcosms combine to form a mesocosm; mesocosms combine to form a macrocosm. This trichiliocosm, inside and out, is a false composite of the four great elements composed of fine dust, subject to arising, ceasing, change, and impermanence. Therefore the trichiliocosm is likewise illusory, not real, provisionally named the trichiliocosm. Thus the Buddha said: the trichiliocosm is neither a world; it is merely named a world.
Original text: 何以故。若世界实有者。即是一合相。如来说一合相。即非一合相。是名一合相。须菩提。一合相者。即是不可说。但凡夫之人。贪著其事。
Explanation: Why is it said that the world is not a world? Because if the world truly existed, then this world would be a conglomerate mark. The conglomerate mark that the Tathāgata speaks of is likewise not a real mark; there is no truly existent conglomerate mark—it is merely named a conglomerate mark. Subhūti, the conglomerate mark is a dharma that cannot be spoken of, yet ordinary beings all greedily cling to these dharma marks.
If this world truly existed, it would ultimately be a conglomerate mark composed of countless particles of fine dust. The Tathāgata said that this conglomerate mark is not a truly existent conglomerate mark, and there is nothing that is truly called a conglomerate mark—all are illusory, and their essence is all the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. A provisional name is also given to this conglomerate mark, called a conglomerate mark. Therefore the final conclusion is that the world is not real; it is illusory.
The Buddha said that the conglomerate mark formed by material particles and fine dust has nothing worth speaking of, because all are composite bodies of the four great elements, without any real mark, not real—all are conjured forth by the tathāgatagarbha. Since this is so, there is no conglomerate mark to be spoken of; thus the conglomerate mark cannot be spoken of, and one need not cling to it. But regarding these arising-and-ceasing, illusory false marks, ordinary beings have been greedily clinging since beginningless kalpas, believing them all to be real and not false. In reality, existence is false existence, not real existence—merely a name.
Since beginningless kalpas, ordinary beings have constantly clung to the lands and worlds in which they live and their living environments. In fact, these are all formed of material particles, all merely conglomerate marks—arising and ceasing, changing, illusory—all formed and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha transmitting the four great element seeds, like marks in a dream or flowers in the sky, not real. But ordinary beings do not know this fact; they take all the marks they encounter as real, then greedily cling and attach, endlessly calculating, bound by these false marks, unable to attain liberation within the birth-and-death cycle of the six realms.
Therefore the Buddha said that ordinary beings (that is, ignorant people) do not know the true reality of all dharmas, but only persistently cling to illusory false marks. Only by learning the true Mahāyāna dharma of ultimate reality can one realize that all the people, affairs, and phenomena of the entire world are illusory marks formed by the tathāgatagarbha using seeds, not truly existent. Only by realizing this true fact can sentient beings' tendency to cling be lightened and eradicated, and the cause of sentient beings' birth and death can thereby be extinguished, allowing them to escape from the cycle of birth and death.
