Lecture on the Diamond Sutra: The Manifestation of the Mark of Self Arising from Self-View (ātma-dṛṣṭi)

A person's sense of achievement, pride, arrogance, and inferiority—these feelings, sensations, and perceptions all belong to feeling and the aggregate of feeling (vedanā), which arise dependent on self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi). If there is no self-view, these feelings vanish, and the self is emptied. These feelings also all belong to the mark of self, which also involves the mark of a person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of a life span. Therefore, whether a person has eliminated self-view can be judged entirely from these marks. For one who has eliminated self-view, these phenomena are very obvious and easy to judge. For one who has not eliminated self-view, by understanding the meaning and manifestations of self-view and the mark of self, a rough judgment can also be made.

The mark of self and self-view are both manifested through a person's bodily, verbal, and mental actions; this cannot be hidden, and there is no way to hide it. How could the deeply rooted self be hidden? Unless one has no bodily, verbal, or mental actions—but that is impossible. Everyone who considers themselves to have already realized no-self and eliminated self-view can examine their own mark of self accordingly: whether it exists or not, whether it is light or heavy. Even if very slight, it is still a mark of self. My feelings and perceptions are divided into those of the physical body and those of the mind—bodily awareness and mental awareness—and all are marks of self. Whether there is a self or no-self can be judged from these marks. A person with subtle marks of self is not far from eliminating self-view; for a person with coarse, heavy marks of self, eliminating self-view is very difficult. Everyone should frequently examine the self in their own mind: is it light or heavy, and has it changed through cultivation?

If a person has not even eliminated the self-view that should be eliminated at the first fruit (stream-entry), with such a severe mark of self, it is impossible for them to awaken to the true mind and see their nature in the Mahāyāna, still less to have the realization and fruits of the three stages of the ten faiths-plus and the bodhisattvas on the bhūmis—such virtues will not be present. Do not look at what a person says or teaches; look at their actual behavior in daily life, at how they concretely respond to people and situations. A person's bodily, verbal, and mental actions are the most real and best reflect a person's virtue and character. Even if what is said sounds perfectly reasonable, it can all be faked and deceptive, and cannot be fully trusted.

For one who has eliminated self-view, the mark of self will surely diminish and disappear accordingly. In dealing with people and affairs, there is no self—low-key and sincere, treating people equally, never thinking oneself more noble and special than others, or others more base and lowly than oneself. This equal mind is spoken of in terms of the emptiness of the mark of self and the mark of a person, and is not yet ultimate. For bodhisattvas at the first bhūmi and above, the manas transforms consciousness into wisdom, attaining the equality wisdom (samatā-jñāna); that equal mind is purer and more surpassing than the equality of the Small Vehicle. One who has eliminated self-view and is already without self has no mark of self, person, or sentient beings; their mind is empty. In dealing with people and affairs, they are reserved, low-key, and modest, not outwardly expansive; they do not like to show off, have no sense of pride or achievement, and do not need others' flattery, praise, or worship. Whether others regard them highly or lowly makes no difference to them, and they absolutely do not act in a high-profile manner. All who act in a high-profile manner and love to boast about themselves have self-view and the mark of self.

Many people have very heavy self-view and fear the disappearance of the self, so they rack their brains to find a sense of existence and constantly establish the value of the self. These are all very obvious marks of self. For such people, eliminating self-view is very difficult, and hope in this life is slim. Some who contemplate the non-self of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), when they discern some initial signs of no-self, become afraid that the self will disappear, feeling inwardly: if there is no self, how terrible! How can it be that I disappear? Then how could I continue to grasp at this world? So they dare not continue contemplating no-self.

At this time, patience is needed; one must slowly, in a winding and roundabout way, immerse and persuade oneself (the manas). Since beginningless kalpas, relying on and clinging to this self has become an extremely ingrained habit. If the manas suddenly feels it can no longer rely on and grasp anything, fear will arise. Contemplative practice must proceed slowly; eliminating self-view requires the manas to have a process of acceptance, a buffer, before it can accept no-self. Cultivation has a transition period, and the length of the transition period depends on one's own power of immersion. To quickly pass through the transition period, one should repent of the sins created through self-grasping since beginningless kalpas, frequently recite the Śūraṅgama Mantra, or perform prostration repentance rituals, seeking the blessings and protection of the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Study the theory of emptiness more, contemplate the principle of emptiness more, and slowly immerse oneself.