Commentary on the Diamond Sutra: Why Upholding and Holding This Sutra Brings Immeasurable and Boundless Merit

Original text of Chapter Fifteen: The Merit of Holding the Sutra: 若复有人。闻此经典。信心不逆。其福胜彼。何况书写受持读诵。为人解说。

Explanation: Subhūti, if again there is someone who hears this sūtra and gives rise to pure faith and understanding, deeply believing in the vajra prajñā mind that is free of the four marks, with a mind that does not contradict the meaning of the sūtra—for example, when the Buddha speaks of being without the four marks and of breaking through the four marks, this person will not say that the four marks truly exist and are real, nor will he cling to the four marks without letting go; rather, in his mind he is willing to empty the self and empty his own mind. The merit of this person is more excellent and surpasses that of the person who, throughout innumerable hundreds of thousands of myriads of kalpas, daily makes offerings of his physical body as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. How much more so for this person, who not only has pure faith but can also recite the Diamond Sūtra, awaken to the vajra mind, cultivate himself in reliance upon the true mind of vajra suchness, and moreover can extensively expound the Diamond Sūtra for others, teaching sentient beings to awaken to the true mind of vajra suchness and protecting the widespread transmission of the Diamond Sūtra. The merit of such a person will far surpass that of one who gives away his physical body, an internal possession.

Original text: 须菩提。以要言之。是经有不可思议。不可称量。无边功德。如来为发大乘者说。为发最上乘者说。

Explanation: Subhūti, in summary, this Diamond Sūtra possesses inconceivable, unweighable, immeasurable and boundless merit. The Tathāgata, the World-Honored One, spoke it for those who have given rise to the bodhi mind of the Great Vehicle, and for those who have given rise to the bodhi mind of the supreme Buddha Vehicle.

Because only those who have given rise to the bodhi mind of the Great Vehicle, those with the faculties of the Great Vehicle, whose minds are vast, who are compassionate toward sentient beings, and whose wisdom is deep and broad, are willing to recite the Diamond Sūtra, understand its meaning, and awaken to suchness. Only afterward do they have the capacity to receive and hold the tathāgatagarbha dharma and to spread the tathāgatagarbha dharma, and in the future they can enter the first bhūmi, shoulder the family enterprise of the Tathāgata, and extensively deliver immeasurable sentient beings.

Original text: 若有人能受持读诵。广为人说。如来悉知是人。悉见是人。皆得成就不可量。不可称。无有边。不可思议功德。

Explanation: If there is someone who can receive, hold, and recite the Diamond Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, and extensively expound the true meaning of the tathāgatagarbha for sentient beings, then all of this person's roots of goodness and merit, all of his wisdom and virtue, and all the endeavors he carries out for sentient beings—the Tathāgata fully knows and fully sees, without omission or concealment. Therefore, all the beneficial endeavors this person undertakes for sentient beings are never done in vain; not the slightest bit will be buried or lost. In the future he will accomplish immeasurable, uncountable, boundless, and inconceivable merit.

Why does the Tathāgata fully know and fully see the merit of this person's receiving, holding, and reciting the Diamond Sūtra, and all the merit he creates for sentient beings? Here, "Tathāgata" refers on the one hand to the Tathāgata of the physical body, and on the other to the Tathāgata of the Dharma body. The Tathāgata of the physical body, possessing immeasurable supernatural powers and virtues, because he observes with the Buddha eye, fully knows and fully sees all the merit of this person's receiving, holding, and reciting the Diamond Sūtra, and fully knows and fully sees all the merit and virtue of this person's delivering of immeasurable sentient beings, without a single omission. Because the Buddha possesses immeasurable wisdom and the wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā), there is not a single dharma in the world or beyond the world that he does not know or does not see; his perfect light illuminates the great trichiliocosm without any omission.

As for the Tathāgata of the Dharma body, because He follows this person at all times and in all places, everything this person does is surely attended to and protected by the Tathāgata of the Dharma body. The Tathāgata of the Dharma body is this person's tathāgatagarbha, because the tathāgatagarbha knows this person's mental activities, cooperates with him to complete all endeavors, and also records and stores the karmic seeds of sentient beings. Therefore, everything this person does is fully known and fully seen by the tathāgatagarbha, and the karmic seeds are all stored away; in the future, all of this person's meritorious retributions will be realized, so that none of his efforts are done in vain, and ultimately he can perfectly attain buddhahood.