Explanation of the Diamond Sutra. Why the Karmic Rewards of Receiving and Upholding This Sutra Are Inconceivable

Original text of Chapter Sixteen: On the Ability to Purify Karmic Obstacles: 须菩提。我念过去无量阿僧祗劫。于然灯佛前。得值八百四千万亿那由他诸佛。悉皆供养承事。无空过者。若复有人。于后末世。能受持读诵此经。所得功德。于我所供养诸佛功德。百分不及一。千万亿分乃至算数譬喻。所不能及。

Explanation: Subhūti, I recall that in past lives, throughout immeasurable asaṃkhyeya kalpas, before I met Dīpaṃkara Buddha, I encountered immeasurable Buddhas, the World-Honored Ones. To so many Buddhas and World-Honored Ones, I personally made the fourfold offerings of food and drink, clothing, bedding, and medicine, and I also attended upon each Buddha, obeying every instruction of the Buddhas. I never missed the arising of a single Buddha; I encountered them all.

If there is another person, in the later age when the Buddha's dharma is about to perish, who can receive, uphold, and recite this Diamond Sutra, the merit this person obtains will be even greater than the merit I accumulated by making offerings to immeasurable Buddhas over immeasurable lifetimes; the merit of my offerings to immeasurable Buddhas does not even reach one percent of the merit this person gains from receiving, upholding, and reciting the Diamond Sutra—not even one part in thousands, millions, or billions. No number or analogy can describe or illustrate it; it cannot be expressed in words. The merit of receiving, upholding, and reciting the Diamond Sutra is beyond analogy—its merit is immense, extending all the way to the attainment of buddhahood.

This is because what the Diamond Sutra points to is purely unconditioned dharma (asaṃskṛta-dharma); when one cultivates and perfects this unconditioned dharma, one will perfect the buddha-path and swiftly attain buddhahood. Therefore, the merit of upholding the Diamond Sutra is naturally boundlessly vast, and the merit of any conditioned dharma cannot compare with it. This is the World-Honored One recounting what happened before he met Dīpaṃkara Buddha—that is, before his realization reached the stage of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva. At that time, the World-Honored One's mind had not yet reached true pure unconditionedness; he was still engaging in conditioned and tainted conduct, and his worldly offerings to the Buddhas were offerings marked by attachment, tainted offerings. Consequently, none of those Buddhas gave the bodhisattva Śākyamuni a prediction of future buddhahood. Only when the bodhisattva Śākyamuni's mental conduct reached pure unconditionedness, cultivating to the immovable ground of the eighth bhūmi and meeting Dīpaṃkara Buddha, did Dīpaṃkara Buddha give him the prediction of future buddhahood. By then, the World-Honored One had already encountered immeasurable Buddhas.

"Eight hundred four thousand trillion" is an Indian expression; in Chinese it should be four thousand eight hundred trillion, representing an extremely large, countless number. We should know that in the course of cultivating the buddha-path, we will all encounter and make offerings to immeasurable Buddhas—not only the fourfold offerings, but also personally attending upon the Buddhas. Most important and most crucial is the offering of dharma, with the offering of dharma being supreme. The so-called offering of dharma means personally following the Buddhas to study the various buddha-dharmas, and also universally teaching sentient beings to cultivate and study the buddha-dharma together, propagating the Buddha's teachings on His behalf. If one can cultivate in accordance with what the Buddha taught, gradually according with the unconditioned purport of the buddha-dharma, so that one's mind reaches pure unconditionedness, this is the true offering to the Buddhas, and one will inevitably receive the prediction from the Buddhas.

Original text: 须菩提。若善男子善女人。于后末世。有受持读诵此经。所得功德。我若具说者。或有人闻。心则狂乱。狐疑不信。须菩提。当知是经义。不可思议。果报亦不可思议。

Explanation: Subhūti, if there are good men and good women who, in the later age of the decline of the dharma when the Buddha's dharma is about to perish, can receive, uphold, and recite this Diamond Sutra, the merit they obtain will be extremely, extremely abundant. If I were to describe in detail what this merit is like, how much there is, and specifically what it consists of, then some people, upon hearing me say this, would have their minds thrown into frenzy and confusion, full of doubt and unable to believe. Subhūti, from this we should know how inconceivable, profound, and unfathomable the deep dharma-meaning contained in this Diamond Sutra is; then the retribution for receiving and upholding this Diamond Sutra is likewise inconceivable.

This shows that the merit of receiving and upholding the Diamond Sutra is so supremely extraordinary that ordinary people cannot imagine or believe it. If one cultivates according to the principles in the Diamond Sutra and realizes the mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta) of prajñā, from then on one's merit and wisdom will gradually expand, and one's wisdom will become ever more profound and wondrous. When merit and wisdom are both perfectly complete, one will become the unsurpassed master and the unsurpassed honored one in the world of the three realms. This retribution is truly inconceivable and beyond thought; this retribution and merit could not be fully told or fully praised even in countless kalpas.