Why does one with a single moment of pure faith have no four marks, no dharma-marks, and no non-dharma-marks?

Those who have pure faith in the Buddha's teaching that "if one sees that all marks are not marks, then one sees the Tathāgata" have very complete faculty of faith (śraddhā-indriya), having already planted deep roots of goodness and merit at the places of countless thousands and millions of Buddhas. To attain pure faith, one must be none other than one who has directly realized the vajra mind (Vajracitta) and emptied the four marks and the mark of dharmas; no one else can achieve it. Only after direct realization can one be without doubt or misgiving regarding dharmas and non-dharmas, and only then is one's faith pure. Realized faith is pure faith; faith prior to direct realization all harbors varying degrees of doubt and is thus neither pure nor clean. After directly realizing the vajra mind, there will be no mark of self, no mark of person, no mark of sentient being, and no mark of life span in the mind, for one directly observes that all these marks are illusory appearances conjured forth by the vajra mind, and are therefore all empty.

The four marks are comparatively coarse and shallow, and the wisdom of observation they require need not be too deep and subtle. The mark of dharmas is even more subtle than the four marks, requiring even deeper and subtler wisdom of observation. Therefore the wisdom of being without the four marks is shallower than the wisdom of being without the mark of dharmas, belonging to the prajñā wisdom of the three stages of worthiness (trīṇāni bhājana-sthānāni), whereas being without the mark of dharmas and also without the mark of non-dharmas belongs to the seed-wisdom (bīja-jñāna) of Yogācāra attained after entering the bhūmis. The four marks fall within the scope of sentient beings' five aggregates (pañcaskandha). Although the mark of dharmas does not exceed the scope of the five aggregates, it is extremely subtle and difficult to observe. For example: all worldly customs and conventions, all rules, laws, and legal systems, all norms and standards of human conduct, the various thoughts and concepts of humanity, the academic and technical knowledge of every discipline and field, all phenomena of the natural world, as well as the various principles of cultivation, concepts, ideas, and cognitions within Buddhism—these marks of dharmas are so numerous, so extensive, deep, and subtle that many of them cannot even be articulated; they all belong to the domain of Yogācāra seed-wisdom. And all these marks of dharmas are in fact not marks of dharmas; they are merely called marks of dharmas.

For one who can give rise to pure faith in a single thought regarding the profound dharma principles spoken by the Buddha, the mind not only lacks the four marks but has also broken through the mark of dharmas, and moreover has broken through even the mark of non-dharmas. Such a mind is extremely pure, grasping at and clinging to no marks whatsoever, with wisdom that is very deep and sharp. Ordinary beings who have not broken through the four marks, although they also believe the profound dharma principles spoken by the Buddha, have doubts in their minds because they have not realized them; their faith is not realized faith, and so it is not very pure. Bodhisattvas who have only broken through the four marks have realized the Dharma and possess realized faith, but they still have the mark of dharmas not yet broken through; their realization is still insufficient and incomplete, and their faith is likewise not pure enough. Only when one has broken through the mark of dharmas and the mark of non-dharmas, with the mind extremely empty and pure and not attached to marks, is one a bodhisattva of true pure faith.

If there is grasping and attachment in a person's mind, then there are the four marks, because grasping exists only when there is a self; if there were no self, who would grasp? Therefore, as long as a person grasps at marks, there are the marks of self, person, sentient being, and life span. If one grasps at the mark of dharmas, there are the marks of self, person, sentient being, and life span; if one grasps at the mark of non-dharmas, there are also the marks of self, person, sentient being, and life span. Therefore a bodhisattva should neither grasp at dharmas nor grasp at non-dharmas. The Buddha said: "The dharma I teach may be likened to a raft. A raft must be used when crossing the water, but upon reaching the shore it must be abandoned; otherwise one cannot get onto the bank." When dharma is useful, use it; after direct realization, when it is no longer useful, it must be relinquished. Not only must dharma be relinquished, non-dharma must also be relinquished. If the mind contains either 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 wrong, and non-existence is also wrong; since they are wrong, of course they must be relinquished. Once right and wrong are established and grasped, the four marks are not emptied. Since existence is wrong, the non-existence opposed to it is of course also wrong. All dharmas are neither dharma nor non-dharma nor non-non-dharma; only by departing from the four marks and cutting off the hundred wrongs is one utterly and completely home. This chapter breaks through the mark of dharmas and the mark of non-dharmas.