Commentary on the Diamond Sutra: Why Is There No Dharma That Engenders Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi?

Original text of Chapter Seventeen, "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 such a mind be aroused? Subhūti, if a bodhisattva has in his mind the mark of self, the mark of a person, the mark of sentient beings, or the mark of a life span, and has not yet broken through the four marks, then he has not realized true 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 "arousing the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi," and there is no one who arouses the mind of bodhi. If a person has the mark of self, the mark of a person, the mark of sentient beings, and the mark of a life span, then he has not eliminated the self-view, and he is not a bodhisattva.

Only a bodhisattva who has awakened to the true mind and broken through the four marks is a true bodhisattva, having realized that the mark of self is not truly existent, the mark of a person is not truly existent, the mark of sentient beings is not truly existent, and the mark of a life span, which exists dependent on the five aggregates, is also not truly existent. The mind no longer takes the various illusory marks of the five aggregates as real, and gradually no longer clings to the various conditioned dharma-marks of the worldly five aggregates. When such a bodhisattva then goes to deliver sentient beings, he knows there are no sentient beings to be delivered, no sentient beings being delivered, no "I" who delivers, no "I" who arouses the mind, and no dharma that causes me to arouse the mind.

Why is there no dharma of one who arouses the mind of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi? This statement can be understood from three aspects. The first aspect is that there is no bodhisattva capable of arousing the great mind of bodhi, because a bodhisattva appears in the form of the five aggregates, and the bodhisattva's five aggregates are also illusory and not truly existent, hence not a true bodhisattva. The second aspect is that there is no dharma upon which a bodhisattva relies to arouse the great mind of bodhi. When a bodhisattva arouses the mind to attain buddhahood and benefit sentient beings, there are all kinds of causes and reasons: some arouse the mind upon seeing the suffering of sentient beings; some, because of their own suffering, think of sentient beings who suffer likewise and arouse the mind; some arouse the mind out of admiration for the immeasurable merits of the buddhas. The causes for arousing the mind are numerous and by no means limited to these. But all that the arousing of the mind relies upon is illusory, transformed and unreal.

The third aspect is that there is no such dharma as "arousing the great mind of bodhi" that exists. The dharma of arousing the mind of bodhi comes into being 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 arousing the great mind of bodhi, which exists dependent on the two, is illusory and unreal—it is a dharma of arising and ceasing.

When a bodhisattva arouses 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 as empty of self, without the four marks, delivering sentient beings with an empty mind of no self, no person, no sentient beings, and no life span. Because the mark of self is empty, there is no real "I" to deliver sentient beings; because the marks of persons and sentient beings are empty, there are no sentient beings being delivered; and thus the event of "my delivering sentient beings" is empty, not truly existent. If a bodhisattva clings to the notion that "I have delivered sentient beings" or "there are sentient beings whom I have transformed," then 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? Therefore, although the bodhisattva liberates all sentient beings, in the ground of actual reality not a single sentient being has been delivered.

The person who arouses the mind of bodhi is empty; the event of arousing the mind of bodhi is empty, an illusion—the event exists but the principle does not; the existence is a provisional existence. Yet by cultivating through this illusory event one can attain buddhahood, and the event of attaining buddhahood is also empty and illusory. 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—empty and ethereal, neither real nor false, yet both real and false; true and illusory, empty and existent—no need to grasp at any of it. The events must be done, but the mind must be empty. Not only must a bodhisattva deliver sentient beings with the three wheels as empty; in practicing generosity and all the other myriad deeds 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.