Diamond Sutra Commentary. Section VII: On Neither Attainment Nor Utterance

Source Text: Subhūti, what do you think? Has the Tathāgata attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? Has the Tathāgata expounded any dharma?

Explanation: Subhūti, how do you consider this? Has the Tathāgata attained anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? Has the Tathāgata spoken any dharma?

Anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is the supreme, perfect enlightenment — the attainment of the ultimate true awakening and realization, the complete eradication of ignorance, where the mind is entirely luminous and awakened. This is the realization of ultimate bodhi, the accomplishment of the Buddha Way, and the perfection of Buddhahood. Since there is no fixed dharma called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, there is no truly fixed and unchanging Buddha. All dharmas are formed by causes and conditions. The dharma expounded by the Buddha is also formed by causes and conditions, adapting to the conditions of sentient beings. When there is a cause, such as sentient beings aspiring to Buddhahood, the Buddha expounds the dharma that enables them to attain Buddhahood. As conditions differ, the dharma spoken by the World-Honored One also differs. Therefore, the dharma spoken by the Buddha should not be grasped in the end, for it is not a fixed, eternal, indestructible, or unchanging dharma. The dharma that can be spoken is not the inherently fixed, unchanging dharma of true suchness, yet it cannot arise apart from the true suchness nature.

Then, who accomplished the Buddha Way and attained Buddhahood? The Bodhisattva of Wondrous Enlightenment is the final-body bodhisattva before Buddhahood. To attain Buddhahood, he descends to the human realm and manifests the eight phases of a Buddha’s life. When entering the mother’s womb, the bodhisattva’s physical body ceases. The mental faculty (manas) and the maturation consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna), the eighth consciousness, enter the womb. At birth, the six sense faculties are complete, the six consciousnesses are complete (though humans lack visual consciousness for the first seven days), and the five aggregates are complete. Outwardly, he appears no different from other sentient beings. This new set of five aggregates is no longer that of the Bodhisattva of Wondrous Enlightenment — the physical body and the six consciousnesses have changed; only the mental faculty and maturation consciousness remain the same, continuing from before. He then renounces household life to cultivate the path. Upon seeing the morning star and attaining great enlightenment, the ignorance of the seven consciousnesses is completely severed: the sixth consciousness transforms into the wisdom of sublime observation, the mental faculty transforms into the wisdom of equality, and the first five consciousnesses transform into the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done. When all seven consciousnesses are transformed, the defiled seeds of the seven consciousnesses stored in the eighth consciousness, the maturation consciousness, are extinguished, and it becomes the great mirror wisdom, also called the immaculate consciousness. When all eight consciousnesses are transformed, the Buddha Way is perfected, Buddhahood is attained, and he is called a Buddha.

We then contemplate who becomes the Buddha and who attains Buddhahood. First, the Buddha’s immaculate consciousness is a mind that attains nothing. It does not seek to attain anything; even if it did attain, there is nowhere to place it, and nothing can be attained. It has no thoughts, no mental activities, never considers itself real, never identifies itself as the Buddha, nor does it think of itself in any way. All names are assigned to it by others; it has no concepts of what it is or is not. It does not grasp any dharma, including good or evil, defiled or undefiled. Because it does not grasp, it is never tainted and has no ignorance; because it does not grasp, it does not act or become anything. Thus, it does not take the fruit of Buddhahood, nor does it become the Buddha. If it is said to be the Buddha, that is a designation imposed by others, not a self-proclaimed or self-acknowledged identity.

Next, consider the Buddha’s five aggregates. For sentient beings, the five aggregates are called the five skandhas (heaps), where "skandha" means "covering" or "obscuring," veiling sentient beings from perceiving true reality and giving rise to wrong views. The Buddha’s five aggregates, however, do not obscure his wisdom. As the Buddha is ultimately enlightened, they are simply called the five aggregates. The Buddha’s aggregate-body possesses the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor marks, which are exceedingly sublime. Yet, even this body must cease at parinirvāṇa. Impermanent, conditioned phenomena are not the Buddha; they cannot attain Buddhahood or become the Buddha. The Buddha’s aggregates of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness, though capable of grasping, are also impermanent phenomena and must cease at parinirvāṇa. These four aggregates are not the Buddha and cannot become the Buddha. Though the mental faculty endures forever into future lives, remaining unceasing, it is still of an impermanent nature and can cease. It is deliberately not extinguished to perpetually manifest the Buddha’s aggregate-body of form. Yet, the mental faculty alone, the wisdom of equality, cannot become the Buddha. Thus, bodhi is unattainable, and there is no fixed dharma that can be called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Source Text: Subhūti said, "As I understand the meaning of what the Buddha has taught, there is no fixed dharma called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, nor is there any fixed dharma that the Tathāgata can expound. Why? Because the dharma expounded by the Tathāgata cannot be grasped, cannot be spoken of, is not dharma, and is not non-dharma. All sages and saints differ based on the unconditioned dharma."

Explanation: Subhūti said, "According to my understanding of the Buddha’s teachings, there is no inherently fixed, unchanging dharma that can be called anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi, nor is there any fixed, immutable dharma that the Tathāgata can expound. Why is this so? Because the dharma expounded by the Tathāgata cannot be grasped or clung to; it cannot be spoken of. The dharma spoken by the Tathāgata is not the unborn, unceasing, unchanging true dharma — not the original unconditioned dharma — yet it is also not entirely non-dharma. All sages and saints differ based on the unconditioned dharma they realize."

Anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi is also called the supreme, perfect enlightenment, meaning the accomplishment of the Buddha Way. However, Buddhahood is not an inherently existent, fixed dharma; it is attained through cultivation over three great asamkhyeya kalpas. Thus, it is also impermanent, arising from nothing, and therefore not a fixed dharma nor a substantially existent dharma.

The Tathāgata also has no fixed dharma to expound. Why? Because the dharma expounded by the Tathāgata over forty-nine years in the Saha world — the Tripitaka and twelve divisions of scriptures — cannot be grasped as substantially real. Even all dharmas expounded by the Buddha throughout the ten directions cannot be grasped as substantially real. Why can they not be grasped as substantially real? Because the dharma spoken by the Buddha arises due to various causes and conditions. Without causes and conditions, these dharmas would not exist, and the Buddha would not expound any dharma. Thus, the dharma spoken by the Buddha is also impermanent and cannot be grasped as substantially real and unchanging. Even the great matter of the Buddha liberating sentient beings requires the maturation and completeness of causes and conditions, including the sentient beings’ karmic roots of merit, virtuous roots, aspiration for liberation, and so forth. If a single cause or condition is lacking, the Buddha cannot liberate them. The dharma expounded to liberate sentient beings varies according to conditions, adapting to their capacities, merit, and wisdom. Thus, there is no fixed dharma to expound.

A fixed dharma is an inherently existent, unchanging dharma — not subject to causes and conditions, not altered by conditions, a truly substantial and immutable dharma applied uniformly to all sentient beings regardless of their capacities or the conditions present. Clearly, reality is not like this; such a dharma does not exist. Conditioned dharmas are not inherently existent dharmas; none are fixed dharmas. Therefore, the Tathāgata has no fixed dharma to expound for liberating sentient beings. The dharma expounded by the Tathāgata arises from nothing, exists, then ceases — like a raft discarded upon reaching the shore. It is also an empty dharma; thus, it is called "dharma," yet in reality, it has no self-nature, no substantial essence to speak of, and is therefore "not dharma." Yet it is not entirely "not dharma," for it still has illusory function. Though a provisional dharma, it can be provisionally applied and utilized; sentient beings use it to attain Buddhahood, then discard it after accomplishment. Thus, the dharma spoken by the Buddha is also "not non-dharma" — not entirely devoid of dharma.

Since the dharma expounded by the Tathāgata is all "not dharma" — conditioned dharmas with no fixed nature — then when the Tathāgata expounds dharma to sentient beings of different capacities according to varying conditions, sentient beings cultivate and study it, realizing different levels of unconditioned dharma, including the unconditioned of the Great, Middle, and Small Vehicles. Even within the same vehicle, the unconditioned dharma differs. Thus, sages and saints of different levels and distinctions are accomplished. All sages and saints differ based on the unconditioned dharma they realize, due to differences in their virtuous roots, merit, and conditions.