Commentary on the Diamond Sutra: Revering the True Teaching, Twelve

Original text: 复次。须菩提。随说是经。乃至四句偈等。当知此处。一切世间天人阿修罗。皆应供养。如佛塔庙。何况有人。尽能受持读诵。须菩提。当知是人。成就最上第一希有之法。若是经典所在之处。即为有佛。若尊重弟子。

Explanation: Furthermore, Subhūti, wherever this sūtra is expounded, even down to a four-line verse of the Diamond Sutra, you should know that in all such places, all the devas, humans, and asuras of the world should come to make offerings, just as they would to a stūpa or temple of the Buddha—how much more so for a person who is fully able to receive, uphold, and recite the Diamond Sutra. Subhūti, you should know that such a person has already accomplished the supreme, foremost, and rarest dharma. Wherever this sūtra is present, the Buddha is present, and this sūtra should be revered just as one reveres the Buddha's disciples.

Why did the Buddha say that no matter where there is the expounding of the Diamond Sutra and the four-line verses within it, offerings should be made there, and that it should be like making offerings to a Buddhist stūpa? This statement contains a great secret of the Buddha-dharma, a profoundly esoteric meaning. If it were fully and clearly explained, the secret would be broken, and the consequences would be serious. Here it can only be described briefly and cannot be discussed in depth. There is a saying in the Buddha-dharma: "All dharmas are manifested by the mind, and transformed by consciousness." Without mind, nothing can be accomplished. The minds that accomplish things are not just one; the true and the deluded coalesce, and all participate. Among them, the first transformative consciousness (parināma) is the eighth consciousness, this vajra mind (Vajracitta). He is the principal consciousness that gives rise to all dharmas; the dharma-seeds are output directly from Him. He possesses the five universally associated mental factors of contact, attention (manaskāra), feeling, perception, and volition (ceṣṭā): He contacts the seeds, focuses the mind on the seeds, receives the seeds, discerns the seeds, and then outputs the seeds, manifesting the dharmas that correspond to those seeds.

The second transformative consciousness is the manas. He first conditions on the seeds and gives rise to the intention to create karmic actions, but he cannot concretely do anything himself; he needs the third transformative consciousness, the mind consciousness, to carry out the concrete execution according to his intentions and plans. When the eighth consciousness knows this, He cooperates with the manas and the mind consciousness to accomplish what they wish to do. Therefore, in places where the Diamond Sutra and its four-line verses are expounded and recited, the vajra mind—the appearance of this Buddha—is present, and so offerings should be made there. The offerings are made to the vajra mind, while the five-aggregate body is like a Buddhist stūpa, within which the vajra mind—the Buddha—abides and presides. Thus, making offerings to a place where the Diamond Sutra is expounded is like making offerings to a Buddhist stūpa; and if there is someone who can fully receive, uphold, and recite the Diamond Sutra, offerings should be made to him all the more.

What does it mean to fully receive and uphold the Diamond Sutra? It means being a person who has already realized the vajra mind. Such a person has fully understood the complete overall picture of the vajra mind, has understood how the vajra mind gives rise to the five aggregates, the eighteen realms, and the great thousand worlds, and has also understood the various functional seeds contained within the vajra mind. By this point, one is already a bodhisattva who has attained the bhūmis, and naturally deserves offerings all the more. A person who has not realized the vajra mind cannot fully receive, uphold, and recite the vajra mind; his understanding of the essential nature of the vajra mind is vague and unclear—how could he fully receive and uphold it!

The Buddha told Subhūti that this person who has realized the vajra mind, and who also possesses the seed-wisdom of consciousness-only (yogācāra), has already accomplished the supreme, foremost, and rarest dharma. A person whose practice has reached this level is of course extremely rare; even in a great thousand world there are not many. A trichiliocosm (three-thousand great thousand world) is like a pyramid: at the apex is the Buddha, only one, with no second or third; flanking the Buddha on left and right are the bodhisattvas of virtual buddhahood; below them are the bodhisattvas from the tenth bhūmi, ninth bhūmi, down to the first bhūmi, and further down to bodhisattvas at the seventh abode who have just awakened. The further down, the more numerous; the further up, the fewer. Those who have just come into contact with the Buddha-dharma are the vast majority. Those who have never encountered the Buddha-dharma are even more numerous, and the sentient beings in the three evil realms are beyond calculation. Among the immeasurable learners of Buddhism who resolve to cultivate, those who cultivate to the point of enlightenment are extremely few, and bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis are exceedingly rare. Therefore, one should make offerings all the more to those who can fully receive, uphold, and recite the Diamond Sutra; the merit from this is immense.

The Buddha said that wherever the Diamond Sutra is present, the Buddha is present there. The Diamond Sutra is the vajra mind, and the vajra mind is the Buddha. Moreover, the formation and proclamation of this Diamond Sutra cannot be separated from the vajra mind—there is still the Buddha present, all formed and manifested by the vajra mind. Therefore, this Diamond Sutra should be revered just as one reveres the Buddha's disciples.