The Profound Meaning of the Diamond Sutra in Consciousness-Only (81)

Sūtra Text: For what reason, Subhūti? The Tathāgata speaks of the foremost pāramitā, which is not the foremost pāramitā; therefore it is called the foremost pāramitā. Subhūti, the pāramitā of patience (kṣānti-pāramitā), the Tathāgata says, is not the pāramitā of patience; therefore it is called the pāramitā of patience.

Explanation: The World-Honored One expounded: Why are those who are free from the four marks considered the foremost, rare, and difficult to encounter? Subhūti, when the Tathāgata speaks of the foremost pāramitā, there is no actual mark of a truly foremost pāramitā; it is merely given the provisional name "foremost pāramitā." When Bodhisattvas cultivate the six pāramitās, they can realize the mind, perceive the true nature, and reach the other shore of Nirvāṇa. However, these six pāramitās are also markless; they are not marks possessing true reality. They are all illusory phenomena of arising and ceasing manifested by the Tathāgatagarbha, existing dependent on the true reality of the Tathāgatagarbha. They also depend on the Bodhisattvas' illusory five-aggregate bodies to be cultivated. Since the five skandhas body is unreal and illusory, the six pāramitās cultivated based on the five skandhas body are certainly even more illusory, even more markless. Therefore, the Buddha says the foremost pāramitā is not the foremost pāramitā; it lacks the true inherent nature of the foremost pāramitā, and is merely named the foremost pāramitā.

The World-Honored One continued: Subhūti, the pāramitā of patience, the Tathāgata says is not a truly existent pāramitā of patience. Therefore, the pāramitā of patience is also markless, not a truly existent reality. Hence, it is provisionally named the pāramitā of patience. What is called the pāramitā of patience is actually just one or countless false phenomenal appearances; none are reality itself. These false phenomenal appearances are the marks of the mental activities of the seventh consciousness (manas), manifested by the functioning of the seventh consciousness, and are all born and revealed by the Tathāgatagarbha. Superficially they appear to exist, but in essence, they are non-existent; their relationship with the Tathāgatagarbha is neither identical nor different.

This is because the cultivation of these pāramitās of patience is a dharma subject to arising, cessation, and change; it is not permanent, unchanging, or immutable. One act of patience is created and subsequently ceases; then another act of patience arises and ceases. Countless acts of patience constitute the Bodhisattva's pāramitā of patience. Relying on this, the Bodhisattva can reach the other shore beyond birth and death.

Acts of patience are actions of the five skandhas body and the seventh consciousness. The five skandhas themselves are markless; the seventh consciousness arises, ceases, and changes moment by moment; the sixth consciousness ceases every day. All are false and unreal. How much more so are the acts of patience, which depend on the five skandhas and the seventh consciousness – they are even more markless, even more unreal. Therefore, the pāramitā of patience lacks inherent nature; it is not independent. It is merely an appearance, a name only. It is a false action named by convention; its essence is the Tathāgatagarbha.