Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: Why Is There No Dharma by Which One Arouses Anuttara-samyak-saṃbodhi?

Original text of the Seventeenth Chapter, "Ultimately There Is No Self":何以故。须菩提。若菩萨有我相人相众生相寿者相，则非菩萨。所以者何。须菩提。实无有法。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心者。

Explanation: Why should one give rise to such a mind? Subhūti, if a bodhisattva has in his mind the notion of a self, the notion of a person, the notion of a sentient being, and the notion of a life span, and has not yet broken through the four notions, he has not realized ultimate reality, and he is not a true bodhisattva. Why is he not a true bodhisattva? Subhūti, because in the world there truly is no dharma called "giving rise to the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi," and there is no one who gives rise to the bodhi mind. If a person has the notion of a self, the notion of a person, the notion of a sentient being, and the notion of a life span, he has not eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), and he is not a bodhisattva.

A bodhisattva who has realized the mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta) and has broken through the four notions is a true bodhisattva, having realized that the notion of a self does not truly exist, the notion of a person does not truly exist, the notion of a sentient being does not truly exist, and the notion of a life span, which exists in dependence on the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), also does not truly exist. The mind no longer takes the various illusory marks of the five aggregates as real, and gradually no longer attaches to the various marks of conditioned dharmas of the worldly five aggregates. When the bodhisattva then goes to deliver sentient beings, he knows there are no sentient beings to be delivered, no sentient beings being delivered, no "I" delivering them, no "I" giving rise to the mind, and no dharma that causes the "I" to give rise to the mind.

Why is there no dharma of one who gives rise to anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? This statement can be understood from three aspects. The first aspect says that there is no bodhisattva capable of giving rise to the great bodhi mind, because a bodhisattva appears in the form of the five aggregates, and the bodhisattva's five aggregates are also illusory and do not truly exist, so he is not a true bodhisattva. The second aspect says that there is no dharma upon which the bodhisattva relies to give rise to the great bodhi. When a bodhisattva gives rise to the mind to attain buddhahood and benefit sentient beings, there are all kinds of causes and reasons: some give rise to the mind upon seeing the suffering of sentient beings; some, because of their own suffering, think of the suffering of sentient beings and give rise to the mind; some give rise to the mind out of admiration for the immeasurable merits of the buddhas. These minds arise from many different causes, more than can be enumerated. But all that these minds rely upon is illusory, conjured and unreal.

The third aspect says that there is no such dharma as "giving rise to the great bodhi mind" that exists. The dharma of giving rise to the bodhi mind comes about and manifests through the combination of the five aggregates with worldly dharmas. The five aggregates are illusory and unreal, and the marks of worldly dharmas are illusory and unreal; therefore, the event of giving rise to the great bodhi mind, which exists in dependence on both, is illusory and unreal—it is a dharma of arising and ceasing.

When a bodhisattva gives rise to the mind to deliver sentient beings, with what state of mind should he deliver them? A bodhisattva delivering sentient beings should do so with the three wheels being empty, without the four notions, delivering sentient beings with an empty mind of no self, no person, no sentient beings, and no life span. Because the notion of a self is empty, there is no real "I" delivering sentient beings; because the notions of a person and of sentient beings are empty, there are no sentient beings being delivered; and thus the event of "my delivering sentient beings" is also empty, not truly existent. If a bodhisattva clings to the thought that "I have delivered sentient beings" or "there are sentient beings whom I have transformed," he has not realized no-self, his mind is not empty, and he is not a true bodhisattva. Sentient beings are empty—how could they be delivered? The "I" is empty—how could it deliver them? Therefore, although the bodhisattva has delivered and liberated all sentient beings, in the ground of actual reality, not a single sentient being has been delivered.

The person who gives rise to the bodhi mind is empty; the event of giving rise to the bodhi mind is empty and conjured—the event exists but the principle does not; the existence is a false existence. Yet by cultivating through this conjured event one can attain buddhahood, and the event of attaining buddhahood is also empty and conjured. In the ground of actual reality there is no buddha to be attained, and no ordinary being to be obtained. Everything is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow—void and ethereal, neither real nor false, yet both real and false. True or illusory, real or unreal—do not labor to grasp them. The deeds must be done, but the mind must be empty. The bodhisattva must not only deliver sentient beings with the three wheels being empty; in practicing generosity (dāna) and all the other myriad practices of the six pāramitās, he must likewise keep the three wheels empty. Only by being empty to the very end does one truly arrive home.