The Profound Meaning of Consciousness-Only in the Diamond Sutra (119)

Original Text: With no self, no person, no sentient being, and no life span, cultivate all wholesome dharmas, then attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Sentient beings who do not cling to the notion of self, person, sentient being, or life span within their minds, and who practice all wholesome dharmas of the mundane and supramundane with a mind free from notions of self, person, sentient being, and life span, will attain anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.

Early in the Diamond Sutra, the World-Honored One dismantled the four notions for sentient beings. Only bodhisattvas who have shattered these four notions can accord with the principle-essence of vajra prajñā, accord with the true reality of all dharmas, accord with tathatā (suchness), and ultimately accord with anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Since beginningless kalpas, sentient beings have persistently clung to the four notions, failing to accord with the principle-essence of emptiness. Consequently, for the sake of these four notions, they extensively create immeasurable and boundless unwholesome karma, sinking for kalpas in the ocean of birth-and-death karma, suffering immeasurably with no hope of escape. The root cause lies precisely in the affliction of clinging to the four notions. With great compassion, the World-Honored One skillfully devised various expedient means to eradicate the root cause of sentient beings' disease of attachment to notions and appearances, aiming to shatter their four notions. Being free from the four notions enables liberation from the great fiery pit of birth and death.

Why does freedom from the four notions enable liberation from the great fiery pit of birth and death? From the perspective of the Śrāvakayāna (Hinayana), if sentient beings can merely shatter the notion of self, they will escape the three evil destinies. When they cultivate to the point of severing attachment to their own five aggregates and to the dharmas of the triple world, they gain the capacity to transcend the six destinies' cycle of birth and death, thereby escaping the fiery pit of segmentary birth-and-death and attaining temporary respite. As sentient beings continue advancing on the bodhisattva path and the buddha path, they gradually shatter various kinds of dharma-clinging, sever all kinds of changeable birth-and-death, and realize the true purity of nirvāṇa. From then on, they are utterly free from birth and death; only then is the great fiery pit of birth and death truly and completely transcended.

The starting point for entering the bodhisattva path and the buddha path is to realize the inherently four-notion-free vajra prajñā tathatā mind-essence. Cultivating based on this principle-essence free from the four notions, with the mind progressively purifying, one shatters all conditioned dharma appearances of the mundane world, not even clinging to the appearance of tathatā. The mind becomes utterly pure, supremely pure, without the slightest existence or clinging to any dharma appearance. Only thus can one completely and thoroughly accord with the tathatā mind-essence, ultimately perfecting the buddha path and attaining anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. Therefore, the World-Honored One stated that with no self, no person, no sentient being, and no life span, cultivating all wholesome dharmas and according with the essential nature of tathatā enables the attainment of anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi.