Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: One Mark No-Mark, Nine

Why can a Srotaāpanna not have the thought of "I have attained the fruit of Srotaāpanna"?

Original text: 须菩提。于意云何。须陀洹能作是念。我得须陀洹果不。须菩提言。不也。世尊。何以故。须陀洹名为入流。而无所入。不入色声香味触法。是名须陀洹。

Explanation: Subhūti, what do you think about this question? Can a stream-enterer (Srotaāpanna; Pali Sotāpanna), one who has attained the first fruit, have such a thought as "I have realized the fruit of Srotaāpanna"? Subhūti said: He cannot have such a thought, World-Honored One. Why? Srotaāpanna means "one who has entered the stream." One who has entered the stream of the noble path has nothing further to enter in worldly dharmas; he does not enter the worldly forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas. Only this is truly worthy of the name Srotaāpanna.

A stream-enterer of the first fruit has just eliminated self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), no longer regarding the dharmas among the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) and eighteen realms as self or as real. Having no self-view and no mark of self, he also does not regard there being a self that has eliminated self-view and become a person of the first fruit. There is no person who has eliminated self-view, no person who is a Srotaāpanna, and no such fruit as the Srotaāpanna fruit. Therefore the Srotaāpanna fruit is a provisional designation, not a dharma that truly exists, and cannot be grasped at as real. If it is grasped as truly existent, then there is self-view and view of dharmas, and such a person is not a Srotaāpanna. If a person has the thought "I am a person of the first fruit," then the mark of self in that person is plainly evident, and he is not a person of the first fruit.

Therefore, as for those who all day long proclaim "I have realized the fruit, I have seen my true mind," broadcasting and showing off everywhere, it can be clearly seen that these people have very heavy self-view and the mark of self fully present; they are without doubt ordinary beings (pṛthagjana). If a person constantly clings to the thought "I am a sage, I am a person of such-and-such fruit, I am a bodhisattva of the three stages of the ten faiths, ten abodes, and ten dedications, I am a bodhisattva of such-and-such bhūmi, I have cultivated this and that, in my past lives I did such and such, I have done such and such for sentient beings," spreading it everywhere, fearing that others do not know, hoping that others will revere him, hoping that others will prostrate themselves in worship of him, hoping that his fame will be widespread—these behaviors clearly show that this person has very heavy self-view, the mark of self fully present, and the mark of an ordinary being also fully present; he is a thoroughgoing ordinary being.

Since self-view has already been eliminated, there is no mark of self, no mark of "I have eliminated self-view." The self has been emptied from the mind, and the fruit has also been emptied. In the ground of actual principle, there is no such thing as eliminating self-view, and there is no such person as a Srotaāpanna. Only when the mind of non-action appears is one a Srotaāpanna who has realized the unconditioned dharma. If there is a self and a mark of self, then it is not non-action, and there is no unconditioned fruit either. Therefore, to judge whether a person has eliminated self-view, one can also judge from his words and deeds: see whether this person's speech and actual conduct, his way of doing things, show an emptied mind, whether he is low-key, whether he dislikes ostentation. If this person likes to keep "I" on his lips and shows himself off everywhere, then the mark of self is fully present, he has not eliminated self-view, and he is not a Srotaāpanna.