Why Are Those with Pure Faith in a Single Thought Free from the Four Marks, Dharmas, and Non-Dharmas?

Those who possess pure faith in the Buddha's teaching that "if one sees all marks as non-marks, then one sees the Tathāgata" have exceedingly well-established roots of faith, having planted profound roots of goodness and merit at the places of immeasurable thousands of Buddhas. To attain pure faith, none but those who have genuinely realized the vajra mind and are empty of the four marks and empty of dharmic marks can achieve it. Only after genuine realization can one be free from doubts regarding dharmic marks and non-dharmic marks; only then is their faith pure. Verified faith is pure faith. Faith prior to realization contains varying degrees of doubt and is neither pure nor immaculate. After genuinely realizing the vajra mind, within the mind there will be no mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of sentient beings, and no mark of life span. One directly perceives that these marks are all illusory appearances projected by the vharmic mind; therefore, they are all empty.

The four marks are relatively superficial, requiring observation wisdom that is not overly profound or subtle. Dharmic marks are more subtle than the four marks, requiring deeper and finer observation wisdom. Therefore, the wisdom of being empty of the four marks is shallower than the wisdom of being empty of dharmic marks; it belongs to the prajñā wisdom of the Three Worthy Stages. Being empty of both dharmic marks and non-dharmic marks belongs to the wisdom of consciousness-only (vijñapti-mātra) attained after entering the Bodhisattva Bhūmis. The four marks fall within the scope of the sentient beings' five aggregates. Although dharmic marks do not exceed the scope of the five aggregates, they are extremely subtle and difficult to observe. For example, all worldly customs and conventions, all rules, regulations, and legal systems, all norms and standards of human conduct, the various ideologies and concepts of humanity, the academic and technical knowledge of various disciplines and fields, all phenomena of the natural world, as well as the various cultivation principles, concepts, views, and understandings within Buddhism – these dharmic marks are too numerous, vast, deep, and subtle; many cannot even be articulated and all belong to the realm of consciousness-only wisdom. Yet these dharmic marks are themselves non-dharmic marks; they are merely conventionally designated as dharmic marks.

Those who can generate pure faith in the profound Dharma principles spoken by the Buddha with a single thought not only have no four marks within their minds but have also eradicated dharmic marks, and have even eradicated non-dharmic marks. Their minds are extremely pure, not grasping or clinging to any marks, and their wisdom is profoundly sharp. Sentient beings who are ordinary and have not eradicated the four marks may also have faith in the profound Dharma principles spoken by the Buddha, but because they have not realized them, their minds harbor doubts; their faith is not verified faith and thus is not entirely pure. Bodhisattvas who have only eradicated the four marks have realized the Dharma and possess verified faith, but they still have dharmic marks not eradicated; their realization is insufficient and incomplete, and their faith is also not entirely pure. Only upon eradicating dharmic marks and non-dharmic marks, when the mind is utterly empty, pure, and free from attachment to marks, does one become a true Bodhisattva of pure faith.

If there is grasping or clinging within a person's mind, then the four marks exist, because where there is self, there is grasping. If there is no self, who grasps? Therefore, as long as a person grasps marks, there are the marks of self, person, sentient beings, and life span. If one grasps dharmic marks, there are the marks of self, person, sentient beings, and life span. If one grasps non-dharmic marks, there are the marks of self, person, sentient beings, and life span. Hence, a Bodhisattva should not grasp dharmas, nor should they grasp non-dharmas. The Buddha said: The Dharma I speak can be likened to a raft. A raft must be used when crossing water, but upon reaching the shore, it must be discarded; otherwise, one cannot go ashore. Use the Dharma when it is useful; once it is no longer useful after genuine realization, it must be abandoned. Not only must the Dharma be abandoned, but non-Dharma must also be abandoned. If the mind holds Dharma or non-Dharma, it is not empty and pure, and one cannot reach the shore of Nirvāṇa. Dharma is existence, non-Dharma is non-existence. Existence is erroneous; non-existence is also erroneous. Since they are erroneous, they must of course be abandoned. Once this duality is established or grasped, the four marks are not empty. Since existence is erroneous, its opposite, non-existence, is naturally also erroneous. All dharmas are neither Dharma nor non-Dharma. Only by transcending the four marks and severing all dualities does one ultimately arrive home. This chapter refutes dharmic marks and non-dharmic marks.