Diamond Sutra Commentary: Why Did Subhuti Not Have the Thought, “I Am an Arhat Free from Desire”?

One Mark No-Mark, Nine, Original text: 世尊。佛说我得无诤三昧。人中最为第一。是第一离欲阿罗汉。我不作是念。我是离欲阿罗汉。世尊。我若作是念。 I have attained the way of the arhat. Then the World-Honored One would not have said that Subhūti is one who delights in the practice of araṇā (non-contention). Because Subhūti in reality has nothing that he practices, he is named Subhūti, one who delights in the practice of araṇā.

Explanation: In order to corroborate that an arhat has no thought of "I am an arhat," Subhūti said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, the Buddha has said that I have attained the meditative concentration of non-contention (araṇā-samādhi), that I rank first among humans, and that I am the foremost arhat free from desire. Yet I do not give rise to such a thought, believing that I am an arhat free from desire. World-Honored One, if I had such a thought, believing that I had attained the fruition of the arhat's way, then the World-Honored One would not say that Subhūti is a practitioner who delights in pure and tranquil conduct. Because Subhūti's mind is empty and without contrivance, it is said that Subhūti is a practitioner who delights in tranquil conduct.

Subhūti is also known by another name, "Born of Emptiness," for he could at all times perceive the emptiness and stillness of the world. Because he had attained the meditative concentration of non-contention, he never contended with worldly people: if worldly people said east, it was east; if they said south, it was south; if they said west, it was west; if they said north, it was north. Because whatever worldly people say is empty, there is no need to contend over high or low, superior or inferior, long or short. Subhūti had no desires or thoughts whatsoever toward the world; his mind was empty, without marks, without wishes, without contrivance. He was the foremost arhat free from desire among humans, yet Subhūti never had the thought "I am an arhat free from desire," much less would he proclaim himself everywhere. He did not cling to the mark of self, nor cling to the mark of "I am an arhat"; otherwise he would be an ordinary person attached to marks, and the World-Honored One would not have said that Subhūti is a practitioner who delights in tranquil conduct. Because Subhūti's mind was constantly empty and still, without desire and without seeking, the World-Honored One praised him as a practitioner who delights in tranquil conduct.

Ordinary people are just the opposite of Subhūti: whether or not there is any real basis for it, they love to boast about themselves everywhere and promote themselves, love to argue over who is better and who is worse, love to show off, love to be pursued and admired by others, love to make themselves stand out—in short, they love to market themselves so that the world knows them, and thereby that "self" of theirs is gratified. This is the mark of an ordinary person. Apart from the mark of self, ordinary people can do nothing; they live at all times within the mark of self and the four marks. This is their spiritual sustenance for a whole lifetime, indispensable. Once that "self" is suppressed, it is like a fish out of water. In short, whether a person has the Way or not can be seen in actual affairs; one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions best reveal the problem and best reflect a person's level of thought and level of wisdom.

An arhat of the fourth fruit has not only eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), but has also eradicated attachment to self. The manas's craving and attachment to one's own five aggregates have been completely severed, the conceit "I am" has been completely severed, and the mind is thoroughly without self. Since there is no self, one will not argue with others over superiority or inferiority, right or wrong, gossip, length or shortness, strength or weakness; the mind has become tranquil and cool. This is the meditative concentration of non-contention. And Subhūti was the most non-contentious and the most tranquil, the most compliant with people and affairs.

Being free from desire means departing from all kinds of desires and all the hopes and cravings belonging to the desire realm, chiefly the desire between men and women, including wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, and the six sense objects of form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharmas. After attaining the first fruit and giving rise to the first dhyāna, the state of the form realm manifests, and body and mind experience extreme bliss. Because this blissful contact far surpasses the various pleasures of the desire realm, and also excels the pleasure of sexual desire, one then takes no delight in sexual desire, takes no delight in the five sense objects of the desire realm, and takes no delight in wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—thus desire is severed. When hatred is further severed, the five lower fetters are completely severed and one becomes a person of the third fruit; how much more so the arhat of the fourth fruit, who has severed and departed from desire.

Subhūti's severance of desire was the most thorough; he was the foremost person free from desire. Yet Subhūti had no thought of "I am an arhat free from desire." If Subhūti had had this thought, then he would have had a self and the matter of "being free from desire," and his mind would not have been tranquil or pure, and the World-Honored One would not have said that Subhūti was a person who delighted in tranquil conduct. Because Subhūti's mind had no affairs, was without desire and without contrivance, and he saw as empty all dharmas within the eighteen realms, holding that all actions are empty, Subhūti therefore had nothing to practice; within the illusory, false dharmas there was nothing to be done—all that was done was empty, and there was in fact no such thing. Only thus was Subhūti a person who delighted in tranquil conduct, a person who acted without contrivance.