Explanation of the Diamond Sutra: Chapter 25 — Transforming Without the Notion of Transforming

Original text:须菩提。于意云何。汝等勿谓如来作是念。我当度众生。须菩提。莫作是念。何以故。实无有众生。如来度者。若有众生。如来度者。如来即有。我人众生寿者。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said to Subhūti: Subhūti, what do you think about the matter of the Tathāgata delivering sentient beings? Do you think that the Tathāgata single-mindedly dwells on and thinks about "I shall deliver sentient beings"? You should not hold such a notion, thinking that the Tathāgata has the thought of delivering sentient beings. Subhūti, do not think this way in your minds; do not say that the Tathāgata constantly thinks about delivering sentient beings. Why should you not think this way? Because in the ground of actual reality, there truly are no sentient beings for the Tathāgata to deliver and transform. If the Tathāgata truly believed there were sentient beings to be delivered, then the Tathāgata would have the mark of self, the mark of person, the mark of sentient being, and the mark of life span. With these marks, the Tathāgata would no longer be a Tathāgata.

The Dharmakāya Tathāgata is without marks, without thoughts, without anything thought of; He never dwells on sentient beings, nor does He deliver sentient beings, nor does He even know what is called a sentient being; no thought or conception arises in His mind. Therefore the Dharmakāya Buddha neither recollects sentient beings nor delivers sentient beings. Why? Because the Dharmakāya Buddha has no instruments of the Path; He has no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind. Without an eye, He does not see the marks of sentient beings; without an ear, He does not hear the sounds of sentient beings; without a body, He does not face sentient beings; without a mouth, He cannot speak Dharma for sentient beings; without a mind, He does not recollect or dwell on sentient beings. Therefore, in the matter of delivering sentient beings, the Dharmakāya Buddha is powerless.

However, when the Sambhogakāya Buddha and the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha wish to deliver sentient beings, they truly must have the help of the Dharmakāya Buddha. The Dharmakāya Buddha is needed to manifest the Buddha-land, to manifest the location and environment, to manifest the marks of sentient beings, to manifest the Buddha-dharma, and to prepare all the instruments and provisions for delivering sentient beings. All dharmas whatsoever must be given forth by the Dharmakāya Buddha through generosity (dāna); only then can the Sambhogakāya Buddha, the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha, and the manifested-body Buddha deliver sentient beings. If even one thing is lacking, sentient beings cannot be delivered. From this it can be seen that the enterprise of delivering sentient beings is a dharma produced by causes and conditions; it requires the cooperation of the true Buddha and the provisional Buddha to be accomplished—it is not a simple matter.

Since the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha delivers sentient beings, the Dharmakāya Buddha must manifest the marks of sentient beings before the transformation body can deliver and transform them. Then, are these sentient beings real and existent? Of course not. The World-Honored One said: "There truly are no sentient beings delivered by the Tathāgata." This statement carries a certain truth. "There truly are no sentient beings" means that indeed there are no sentient beings, because the sentient beings the Buddha delivers are manifested by the Dharmakāya Buddha; the Dharmakāya must first be manifested before the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha can deliver and transform them.

Then, does the Dharmakāya Buddha manifest sentient beings before the transformation body, or within the mind of the transformation body? Of course He manifests them within the mind of the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha. Sentient beings are sentient beings within the Buddha's mind, and the Buddha is also the Buddha within sentient beings' minds; outside the mind there are no dharmas. Because outside the mind there are no dharmas, what is before one is within the mind, and what is within the mind is before one—all are illusory false marks, arising in dependence on conditions, ceasing when the conditions disperse. And the sentient beings' own original five-aggregate bodies are also manifested by their own tathāgatagarbha in dependence on various karmic conditions; they are also not real and existent, and when the conditions cease, they disperse.

Therefore, in the Tathāgata's mind, there are no sentient beings to be delivered and transformed. Although the Tathāgata has delivered immeasurable and again immeasurable illusory sentient beings, there truly are no real sentient beings to be delivered; the sentient beings in the mind are all images, and thus the Tathāgata has not actually delivered a single sentient being. If the Tathāgata had a thought in mind, "I shall deliver sentient beings," then the Tathāgata would regard sentient beings as real and existent, regarding the illusory five aggregates of sentient beings as real and existent; then the Tathāgata could not be called a true Tathāgata, nor would He be a true bodhisattva—He would merely hold the view of an ordinary person.

The true Tathāgata has no mark of self in His mind; He does not act as the sovereign among any dharmas, has no mark of a five-aggregate material body, and has no mental mark of a consciousness aware of the six sense objects. Thus He has no human physical form, no mark of sentient being, and likewise no mark of life span, because the Tathāgata is without beginning and without end, has never been annihilated, has never terminated; His life span is infinitely extended. Therefore the Tathāgata has none of the four marks. And in the minds of the Sambhogakāya Buddha and the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha, there are also none of the four marks; their minds have already completely abandoned any dharma-marks whatsoever—purified and emptied of mind to the utmost of purity and emptiness—having relinquished all dharmas, and only thereby did they accomplish the ultimately perfect Buddhahood.

Original text:须菩提。如来说有我者。即非有我。而凡夫之人以为有我。须菩提。凡夫者。如来说即非凡夫。

Explanation: Subhūti, when the Tathāgata speaks of a self, there is not truly a self; yet ordinary people all believe there is a self, believing that the activities of this self's five aggregates are so very real. Subhūti, as for so-called ordinary sentient beings, the Tathāgata says there are not truly any real ordinary sentient beings; they are merely provisionally named "ordinary beings."

Whenever each Buddha teaches the Dharma for sentient beings, sometimes He also says in speech "I did such and such" to narrate matters; in fact this is the expedient teaching of the Buddhas. If the word "I" were not spoken, sentient beings would not know what the World-Honored One is talking about, and would be unable to correctly understand the content of the World-Honored One's teaching. Therefore, when the Buddhas say "I" in speech, it is for the convenience of communicating with sentient beings and for the convenience of teaching and transforming them, so that sentient beings can well understand the content being taught. Although the Buddhas say "I" in speech, their minds are completely and utterly without self; they never regard their own five aggregates as a self, nor do they cling to their own undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) or Buddha-nature. Therefore all the Tathāgatas, the Buddhas, are thoroughly without self.

Ordinary sentient beings all believe in their minds that there is a self, believing the self to be real. They generally believe that the material body as a self is real—that the body's five sense organs, bones, muscles, skin, internal organs, and all the body's component parts have real functions and uses—and that this is the self, or belongs to the self; thus greed, attachment, and clinging arise, and they will not tolerate violation by others. Ordinary sentient beings believe that the functions and activities of the six consciousnesses arising upon the material body—seeing forms, hearing sounds, smelling scents, tasting flavors, feeling tangibles, and knowing dharmas—are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self; thus greed, attachment, and clinging arise, and they will not tolerate being neglected.

Ordinary people believe that the various feelings experienced by the six consciousnesses arising upon the material body are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self. Thus they grasp firmly, pursuing the stimulation of various sensory feelings; once they encounter adverse conditions, their minds become full of suffering and hatred. Ordinary people believe that the various capacities of knowing arising upon the material body—the functions of deliberating, analyzing, judging, and reasoning—are the self, and belong to the self. Thus greed, attachment, and clinging also arise, and they never cease their mental activities for a moment, always wanting to perceive all dharmas.

Ordinary people believe that the various tactile sensations arising upon the material body are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self; thus they greedily cling to various tangible sense objects, insisting on living comfortably and at ease, insisting on enjoyment, sparing no price whatsoever. Ordinary people believe that the various actions and activities arising upon the material body are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self. Thus they constantly rush about and toil, building up all enterprises, ceaselessly performing bodily, verbal, and mental actions, unwilling to rest.

For beginningless kalpas, ordinary sentient beings have been misunderstanding and misconstruing in this way, grasping ceaselessly in this way, toiling and rushing through the six realms of rebirth without knowing weariness—truly pitiable ones. The Tathāgata, pitying the ignorance and suffering of sentient beings, appeared in the world to proclaim to them that all dharmas of the five aggregates are fundamentally not the self, nor do they belong to the self; the five aggregates arise in dependence on conditions, arising, ceasing, and mutating; though their functions exist, they are illusory and unreal. It is like sand and earth combined with water to form clay, and the clay molded into a five-aggregate material body; when the power of a mantra acts upon the clay body, the clay figure then performs various actions and activities. Ignorant ordinary people do not understand this principle; they grasp the false mark of the clay figure, not knowing that the clay figure is not a person. The wise, however, know this: they do not take up the false mark of the clay figure, but only recognize the clay and the use of the clay.

The World-Honored One further said that ordinary beings who grasp the five aggregates as a self are also not real and existent ordinary beings; they are illusory five-aggregate marks, empty in essence. It is only for the sake of verbal communication that a provisional name is taken, called "ordinary being"; their essence is also that person's tathāgatagarbha. When gold is made into vessels, every vessel is gold; when clay is molded into people, every person is clay. The tathāgatagarbha manifests all dharmas illusorily, and all dharmas are the tathāgatagarbha—this is called the one true dharma-realm, with nothing else beside it. If a person sees all dharmas as real and existent, this is called a diseased eye; if a person sees that all is tathatā, this is called the wisdom eye, the dharma eye, and the Buddha eye—all are eyes of great wisdom.

Ordinary sentient beings believe the five aggregates are the self, and belong to the self. Who does this "self" refer to? This self refers to the seventh consciousness, the manas. The seventh consciousness takes everything as the self and as belonging to the self, greedy without satiety. In actuality, the seventh consciousness has misunderstood and misconstrued; He does not know that none of these are Himself, none of them are His own functions and activities. The principal among them are the functions and activities of the eighth consciousness, among which there are also the functions and activities of the six consciousnesses; and the functions and activities of the six consciousnesses are, in essence, also the functions and activities of the eighth consciousness. After seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment, the seventh consciousness, the manas, will awaken and realize that these were never the self; after attaining the bhūmis, He will begin to let go of certain dharmas, no longer grasping at and clutching the five-aggregate world.