Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: What is “Giving Rise to the Mind Without Abiding Anywhere”?

Original text of the Chapter on Adorning the Pure Land, Ten: 是故须菩提。诸菩萨摩诃萨。应如是生清净心。不应住色生心。不应住声香味触法生心。应无所住而生其心。

Explanation: Therefore, Subhūti, all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should give rise to a pure mind in this way: they should not give rise to mind dwelling on material form; they should not give rise to mind dwelling on sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; they should give rise to their mind without abiding anywhere.

This passage is a summary of the previous ten chapters, telling all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas how to give rise to a pure mind: they should give rise to a pure mind as described earlier. What was said earlier? It said to practice the pāramitās by emptying all dharma-marks: empty the mark of practicing generosity and cultivating merit, empty the mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of life span, empty the mark of the Tathāgata's physical form, empty the mark of dharmas and non-dharmas, empty the mark of Buddha-dharmas, empty the mark of the Tathāgata expounding the Dharma, empty the mark of giving rise to bodhicitta, empty the mark of the stages of realization, empty the mark of attaining bodhi, empty the mark of obtaining dharmas, empty the mark of adorning the Buddha-land, and so on.

After emptying these marks, the mind gains nothing and seeks nothing; it does not dwell on the mark of material form to give rise to various mental activities, does not dwell on the mark of sound to give rise to various mental activities, does not dwell on the mark of smell to give rise to various mental activities, does not dwell on the mark of taste to give rise to various mental activities, does not dwell on the mark of touch to give rise to various mental activities, and does not dwell on the mark of dharmas to give rise to various mental activities. In short, one should not dwell on the marks of the six sense objects to give rise to various mental activities. Not dwelling on the marks of the six sense objects means there is no abiding; dwelling on the marks of the six sense objects means there is abiding, and abiding is non-abiding, not abiding in the Dharma — the mind is impure and great wisdom has not arisen. Because the marks of the six sense objects are in fact not real marks; they are called the six sense objects, but in reality they are empty. How can one dwell on what is empty? Being unable to dwell is non-abiding; even dwelling is empty. Therefore one should give rise to bodhicitta and practice the bodhisattva's conduct without dwelling on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; one should give rise to bodhicitta and practice the bodhisattva's conduct without abiding anywhere.

Specifically, how does one practice the Path without dwelling on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas? One must thoroughly understand form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas: which dharmas belong to material form, which dharmas belong to sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, what dharmas are included among the six sense objects, which dharmas one is particularly attached to and craving for, what mental intentions one holds when practicing generosity and cultivating merit, what one seeks, on what basis one makes one's choices, and what the purpose and aspiration of one's resolve and practice is — whether one is craving certain worldly dharmas. One must deeply observe one's own mind and dig deep into one's own mental intentions; only then can one master one's own mind and purify one's thoughts, be without desire and without seeking, so that one's conduct is pure, and one can gradually accord with emptiness and gradually accord with tranquility, thereby swiftly realizing the nirvāṇa of both the Greater and Lesser Vehicles.

The World-Honored One said, therefore all bodhisattva-mahāsattvas should give rise to a pure mind; they should not give rise to mind dwelling on form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or dharmas; they should give rise to mind without abiding, not dwelling on any dharma whatsoever. Bodhisattvas live in the world, practice the bodhisattva path in the world, and interact with sentient beings; the deluded minds of the seven consciousnesses arise ceaselessly, producing all kinds of actions and activities, constantly discriminating the six sense objects. The essential nature of these consciousnesses is precisely to discriminate and cognize the six sense objects. To cognize the six sense objects, one must inevitably give rise to discrimination on the six sense objects, must confront the six sense objects and contact them, and thus dwells on the six sense objects. Therefore, as long as there is the discriminating activity of the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses, one is dwelling on the six sense objects; it is not a mind that abides nowhere. But through cultivation, when a bodhisattva contacts the six sense objects, after discriminating them he does not give rise to feelings and experiences, and thus can not dwell on the six sense objects; the mind has no attachment, no thoughts, no deliberations; his mind gradually becomes empty and pure — without marks, without vows, without any doing.

The bodhisattva also has another mind, the tathāgatagarbha, which is the truly non-abiding mind, the mind that abides nowhere from the very beginning without needing cultivation. It gives rise to mind and operates at every moment, yet knows no dharma whatsoever; it appears dull and foolish, yet in reality its mental capacity is vast and its wisdom incomparable. The tathāgatagarbha manifests moment after moment without interruption in the bodhisattva's bodily, verbal, and mental actions, constantly cooperating with the operation of the seven consciousnesses, yet there is not a single dharma in it; it does not discriminate the six sense objects, does not know the six sense objects, and does not dwell on the six sense objects; therefore the tathāgatagarbha is a non-abiding mind. When the eye faculty contacts form and the eye consciousness discriminates form, dwelling on form in its discrimination, the tathāgatagarbha does not see the appearance of form, does not discriminate whether form is beautiful or ugly, and does not dwell on form; when the ear hears sounds, the nose smells scents, the tongue tastes flavors, the body feels tangibles, and the mind discerns dharmas, the tathāgatagarbha does not hear, does not smell, does not taste, does not touch, does not deliberate, and does not discriminate — it completely does not dwell on any of these dharmas. Therefore the tathāgatagarbha mind is precisely a non-abiding mind. So for the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses to become pure, it should learn from the tathāgatagarbha: by reducing dwelling and attachment, reducing knowing and cognizing, one can give rise to fewer mental activities and thoughts.

When the Sixth Patriarch became enlightened, it was while listening to the Fifth Patriarch expound the Diamond Sutra; when the text reached "should give rise to the mind without abiding anywhere," he attained the Way, realizing that tathāgatagarbha mind which abides nowhere from the very beginning, and knowing the meritorious functions of the tathāgatagarbha, he spoke the five "how unforeseen is self-nature (svabhāva)": How unforeseen — self-nature is originally pure in itself; how unforeseen — self-nature is originally unborn and undying; how unforeseen — self-nature is originally complete in itself; how unforeseen — self-nature is originally unmoving and unshaken; how unforeseen — self-nature can give rise to the ten thousand dharmas.

Original text of the Chapter on Adorning the Pure Land, Ten: 须菩提。譬如有人。身如须弥山王。于意云何。是身为大不。须菩提言。甚大。世尊。何以故。佛说非身。是名大身。

Explanation: Subhūti, suppose there is a person whose body is as tall as the king of Mount Sumeru. What do you think — is this body large? Subhūti said: Extremely large, World-Honored One. Why? The Buddha said that because it is not a real material body, it is called a great body.

If there is a "great," then there is a measurable quantity; as long as there is a number, it is not unlimited — it is small. A body with a measurable quantity, no matter how tall and large, is subject to arising and ceasing, being born and dying life after life, ceasing and arising again; it is not real in nature and does not last forever. But the non-arising, non-ceasing tathāgatagarbha has no quantity whatsoever: it has no length or duration of time, no largeness or smallness of form, no marks at all, yet it can contain all marks — the worlds of the ten directions are all within it. Therefore it is an immeasurable greatness, the true greatness, and nothing can compare with Him.