Diamond Sutra Commentary: The Merits of Upholding the Sutra, Chapter Fifteen

This chapter discusses the merit of upholding the sūtra, which is extremely vast, immeasurable and boundless. Why is there so much merit? That depends on what "upholding the sūtra" means. "Upholding," as mentioned earlier, means receiving and holding, and mainly also means relying upon and practicing. Through reciting the Diamond Sūtra, the practitioner realizes the vajra prajñā mind of ultimate reality in accordance with the Dharma meanings within the Diamond Sūtra, and thereby can truly receive, observe, and personally realize the conditioned and unconditioned pure nature of the mind of ultimate reality, the tathāgatagarbha; one can rely upon the pure nature of the tathāgatagarbha to cultivate and transform one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions, so as to remove defilement and return to purity, eliminating ignorance. On this foundation, one then extensively proclaims it to sentient beings with karmic affinity far and wide, delivering those with affinity so that together they enter the great path of bodhi and together enter the ocean of Vairocana's nature. From then on one embarks on the path to buddhahood that benefits both self and others; when the two accumulations of merit and wisdom are fully complete, one will perfectly accomplish unsurpassed great bodhi and become the Two-Footed Honored One, the object of admiration among humans and gods.

Therefore, the merit of upholding the sūtra is indeed immeasurably and boundlessly vast, and thus what the sūtra being upheld is also becomes very clear. The sūtra, on the surface, refers to the Diamond Sūtra, but in fact it refers to the profound meaning and purport that the Diamond Sūtra points to — the mind of ultimate reality, the tathāgatagarbha. This tathāgatagarbha threads through the entire sūtra, becoming the warp and weft and the main axis of the whole sūtra, running through the entirety of the practice. Because this sūtra — the tathāgatagarbha — is the true essence of becoming a Buddha, reciting and realizing this sūtra is the foundation and entry point for studying the Buddha Way hereafter; and after entering the gate, cultivating in accordance with this sūtra is the actual practice after entry. After gradually achieving successful transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) as tathāgatagarbha, the deluded mind of the seven consciousnesses and the true essence of the tathāgatagarbha both possess immeasurable merit; when merit is perfected, the study and practice of the Mahāyāna and of the entire Buddha Way is complete, unsurpassed bodhi has been attained, and the conduct of benefiting self and others is fulfilled. It can be seen that the merit of upholding the sūtra is truly immeasurably and boundlessly vast, beyond conception.

Original text of the sūtra: 须菩提。若有善男子。善女人。初日分。以恒河沙等身布施。中日分。复以恒河沙等身布施。后日分。亦以恒河沙等身布施。如是无量百千万亿劫。以身布施。

Explanation: Subhūti, if there are good men and good women who, in the morning period of the day, when the sun has just risen, give away their own material bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to sentient beings; at the midday period, when the sun reaches its zenith, give away their own material bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to sentient beings; and in the afternoon period, when the sun is about to set, give away their own material bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges to sentient beings — like this, throughout the span of their lives of hundreds of thousands of myriads of millions of kalpas, every day they give away this many material bodies to sentient beings.

Here the Buddha is supposing that sentient beings could have so many material bodies; in fact, the only ones who could have material bodies as numerous as the sands of the Ganges would be bodhisattvas of the stage of universal enlightenment (samudgata), bodhisattvas of wondrous enlightenment, and the various Buddhas. Ordinary sentient beings, who have not realized the tathāgatagarbha and have not cultivated the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, would not have mind-made bodies (manomaya-kāya), nor would they have transformational bodies. Therefore, giving away one's own material body is extremely difficult; even giving away possessions other than the material body, one is reluctant. Giving is divided into the giving of external wealth and the giving of internal wealth. Giving external wealth means giving away money, property, and other things belonging to the material body, apart from the body itself; giving internal wealth means specifically giving away the material body itself, to feed hungry sentient beings and relieve them from the suffering of hunger.

External wealth belongs to the circumstantial retribution (parigraha), which exists dependent upon the internal wealth of the material body, and is inherently impermanent and ever-changing. Yet ordinary sentient beings are so stingy that they will not even give away possessions outside the body, let alone give internal wealth — they would rather die than part with it. Because without the material body, one has nothing at all; the material body appears more precious than everything outside the body. Being able to give external wealth is already rare and precious, and its merit is also very vast, immeasurable and boundless, beyond words. If one can give internal wealth, giving away the material body, it means sacrificing one's life and forgetting death, being ungrudging in body and mind, seeing the four great elements as empty — its merit is even more immeasurable and boundless, beyond conception.