Diamond Sutra Explanation: The Dharmakāya Is Not a Mark, Chapter Twenty-Six

Original text:须菩提。于意云何。可以三十二相观如来不。须菩提言。如是如是。以三十二相观如来。佛言。须菩提。若以三十二相观如来者。转轮圣王即是如来。须菩提白佛言。世尊。如我解佛所说义。不应以三十二相观如来。

Explanation: Subhūti, what do you think? When sentient beings contemplate the Tathāgata, should they contemplate the Tathāgata by way of the Buddha's thirty-two marks? Subhūti replied: Yes, that is so; sentient beings contemplate the Tathāgata precisely by way of the Buddha's thirty-two marks. If having the thirty-two marks means being the Tathāgata, then those without the thirty-two marks would not be the Tathāgata. The World-Honored One said: Subhūti, if one contemplates the Tathāgata by way of the thirty-two marks, then the wheel-turning sage king, who also has the thirty-two marks, would be the Tathāgata. Subhūti said to the World-Honored One: Just as I understand the meaning of what the World-Honored One has taught, sentient beings should not contemplate the Tathāgata by way of the thirty-two marks. This is because those who have not yet become Buddhas, if they cultivate great merit and virtue, will also have the thirty-two marks, and this makes it easy to misunderstand, to the point of taking the false as true and failing to recognize the true Buddha.

The true Buddha is without marks; that which has marks is not the true Buddha. Out of compassion, the World-Honored One here not only once again breaks sentient beings' attachment to marks, but also points out to sentient beings the markless Tathāgata, so that when sentient beings engage in Chan investigation, they will no longer seek after marks and fall into misunderstanding. As stated earlier, the true Tathāgata—the Dharmakāya Buddha (dharma-kāya-buddha)—has no mark whatsoever. The thirty-two marks cultivated through practice over three great asaṃkhyeya kalpas are obtained by the Sambhogakāya Buddha (saṃbhoga-kāya-buddha) and the Nirmāṇakāya Buddha (nirmāṇa-kāya-buddha), while the Dharmakāya Buddha remains empty without any mark, attaining not a single dharma. Because the entire Diamond Sutra speaks of the markless vajra mind (vajra-citta), the tathāgatagarbha, and of sentient beings' future Dharmakāya, and because the World-Honored One, from beginning to end, has been teaching sentient beings how to realize the markless Dharmakāya, He everywhere explains the markless Dharmakāya Tathāgata, guiding sentient beings to awaken and enter the ultimate reality of all dharmas.

From the very beginning of the sutra, the World-Honored One has continuously broken sentient beings' attachment to marks, so that all sentient beings may turn toward the Dharmakāya Tathāgata that is free of all marks, and become attuned to the mind of ultimate reality (dharmatā-citta), the Dharmakāya Tathāgata—through Chan investigation, clearly finding their own master who is utterly unadorned, thereby finding the way home and gaining a place of rest. The World-Honored One deliberately asked Subhūti whether seeing the true Buddha should be done by way of the thirty-two marks, and Subhūti also deliberately replied that sentient beings indeed all see the Tathāgata by way of the thirty-two marks, thus prompting the World-Honored One to explain in detail why one cannot see the Tathāgata by way of the thirty-two marks, and why the thirty-two marks are not real marks and do not correspond to the Dharmakāya Tathāgata.

In fact, is such a one the Tathāgata or not? Here the World-Honored One explains specifically that one who has the thirty-two marks is not the true Tathāgata. The thirty-two wondrous marks are obtained through the cultivation of merit. The wheel-turning sage king possesses immense merit and also has the thirty-two marks, yet is far removed from Buddhahood. Even Māra Pāpīyas can transform and manifest the thirty-two marks, impersonating Śākyamuni Buddha. Bodhisattvas of the eighth bhūmi and above can also manifest the thirty-two marks and can also deliver sentient beings in a Buddha's body. Therefore, for sentient beings to clearly find the true mind and become Buddhas, they must see the true Buddha, the Dharmakāya Tathāgata; yet the true Tathāgata has no thirty-two marks—one who has the thirty-two marks is not the true Buddha, not the true Tathāgata.

Original text:尔时。世尊而说偈言。若以色见我。以音声求我。是人行邪道。不能见如来。

Explanation: Hearing Subhūti speak thus, the World-Honored One spoke a verse: If one sees me, the Tathāgata, by way of form, or seeks me, the Tathāgata, by way of sounds, this person walks a wrong path (mithyā-dṛṣṭi path), not treading the right road, and thus cannot see the true Tathāgata.

This is the famous four-line verse in the Diamond Sutra. The World-Honored One tells us that to realize the Dharmakāya Tathāgata, one must be free of the marks of the six sense objects—form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharmas—and must not see the Tathāgata by way of the marks of form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharmas, for the Tathāgata has no marks of form, sound, scent, taste, touch, or dharmas. Thus, seeing the Tathāgata cannot be done through the eyes or the ears: what the eyes see is the mark of form, not the Tathāgata; what the ears hear is the mark of sound, not the Tathāgata. These marks all run contrary to the Tathāgata; one must abandon these marks and set them aside in order to see the true Tathāgata. This "abandoning and setting aside" does not mean annihilating all these marks, but rather means polishing the mind's eye so as not to take these marks as real, and, amid these false marks, recognizing that true and precious pearl—the tathāgatagarbha. Only this is treading the right path; only thus can one see the Tathāgata and attain the Buddha Way.

Then how exactly does one see the Tathāgata? Everyone, watch me wave my hand to beckon you: Come quickly to the sutra hall to recite the sutras! When you see me waving my hand, do not attach to the illusory mark of my "Five-Finger Mountain," do not attach to the characteristics of the activities of my five aggregates (pañca-skandha). Set aside these illusory appearances of the five aggregates, and within these illusory appearances, seek that which is not illusory and yet has no mark—the maṇi jewel. He moves up and down, in and out, back and forth within the mountain of the five aggregates; and yet He is suchness, immovable (tathatā-acalita), with no mark of moving up or down, no mark of going in or out, no mark of coming or going—He neither rises nor descends, neither exits nor enters, neither comes nor returns. He has been busying about within and without the mountain of the five aggregates for countless kalpas without ever pausing, yet has never felt busy or weary—thus coming, thus going. He seems to come and seems to go, but in truth He neither comes nor goes, being intrinsically suchness. Then how does one see the Tathāgata? Watch me wave my hand again: Come, come, come—come recite the sutras!

Here there is no mark of the five aggregates, no mark of sentient beings, no mark of ordinary beings, no mark of bodhisattvas, no thirty-two marks, no mark of form, no mark of sound, no marks of the six sense objects. Setting aside all these marks—that is the mark of the Tathāgata. Everyone, open your eyes wide and search carefully amid these illusory appearances!