The Profound Meaning of Consciousness-Only in the Diamond Sutra (82)

Original text:何以故。须菩提！如我昔为歌利王割截身体。我于尔时。无我相。无人相。无众生相。无寿者相。何以故。我于往昔节节支解时。若有我相人相众生相寿者相。应生嗔恨。须菩提。又念过去于五百世作忍辱仙人。于尔所世。无我相。无人相。无众生相。无寿者相。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Why is that? Subhūti, for example, at the time when I was in the past had my body dismembered by King Kali, at that time I had no mark of self, no mark of a person, no mark of sentient beings, and no mark of a life span. If, when my body was dismembered by King Kali in the past, when my body was being cut apart piece by piece, I had had the mark of self, the mark of a person, the mark of sentient beings, or the mark of a life span, I would have generated a mind of anger and hatred toward King Kali; but at that time, I truly did not generate any anger or hatred toward King Kali.

If the World-Honored One had had the mark of self at that time, He would have thought, "My body has been destroyed; I have been humiliated," and then He would have felt intense physical pain, felt furious and anguished in his mind, and would have generated a mind of anger and hatred toward King Kali. But the World-Honored One at that time did not feel any physical pain, did not feel any indignation in his mind, and did not feel humiliated. Because of the realization attained through His wisdom and meditative concentration (samādhi), He had realized the exhaustion of the aggregate of feeling, so that His body could be without the sensation of feeling; therefore, when His body was being dismembered, He felt no pain, and only thus could He endure having His four limbs cut apart without fainting.

If the World-Honored One had had the mark of a person and the mark of sentient beings at that time, He would have been furious at King Kali, thinking that this person was humiliating Him, being cruel and tyrannical toward Him, and thus He would have generated anger and hatred toward King Kali, and would have cursed King Kali, wanting to take revenge on King Kali and his men. If the World-Honored One had had the mark of a life span at that time, He would have risen up in resistance, stopping King Kali and the executioners from dismembering and destroying His body. Because the dismemberment of the body signified imminent death, that life would vanish, and that one lifespan would come to an end. Yet the World-Honored One at that time did not resist, nor did He generate anger and hatred; this proves that the World-Honored One at that time was without the four marks.

Subhūti, I further recall that in past lives, for five hundred lifetimes I was the Kṣānti-ṛṣi (the patient ascetic), cultivating the practice of forbearance. In my cultivation throughout each of those five hundred lifetimes, I had no mark of self, no mark of a person, no mark of sentient beings, and no mark of a life span. At that time the World-Honored One was a bodhisattva who had departed from the four marks, a bodhisattva cultivating the six pāramitās; He manifested as the patient ascetic to cultivate the practice of forbearance, and His cultivation free from the four marks had already lasted for five hundred lifetimes.