The Profound Yogācāra Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (95)

Original text:须菩提。若善男子。善女人。于后末世。有受持读诵此经。所得功德。我若具说者。或有人闻。心则狂乱。狐疑不信。须菩提。当知是经义不可思议。果报亦不可思议。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Subhūti, if there are good men and good women in the final age of the Dharma, when the Buddha's teaching is on the verge of perishing, who can receive, uphold, and recite this Diamond Sutra, and who cultivate their own mind in reliance upon the true reality of the tathāgatagarbha, the merit they attain will be exceedingly, exceedingly great. If I were to describe in detail what this person's merit is actually like—how much there is, and specifically what it consists of—then there would be those who, upon hearing me say this, would have their minds thrown into wild confusion, filled with doubt and unable to believe. This shows that the merit of upholding the Diamond Sutra is so extraordinary that ordinary people cannot imagine it or believe in it.

Subhūti, from this we should understand how inconceivable and how profound, wondrous, and unfathomable the profound meaning of this Diamond Sutra is. And the retribution for upholding this Diamond Sutra is likewise inconceivable. Because by cultivating and studying according to the principles contained in the Diamond Sutra and realizing this prajñā true mind of suchness, from then on one's merit and wisdom will gradually increase and expand, and one's wisdom will become ever more profound and wondrous beyond compare. When both merit and wisdom are fully perfected and complete, one will become the unsurpassed master and the unsurpassed honored one in the world of the three realms. This retribution is truly inconceivable and beyond thought. This retribution and merit truly could not be exhausted or fully praised even in countless kalpas.