The Profound Meaning of the Diamond Sutra from the Yogācāra Perspective (138)

Original text: 须菩提。若有人言。如来若来若去。若坐若卧。是人不解我所说义。何以故。如来者。无所从来。亦无所去。故名如来。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Subhūti, if someone says that the Tathāgata comes in such a way, goes in such a way, sits in such a way, lies down in such a way—seeing the Tathāgata who walks, comes, goes, and rests in these outward marks—this person has not truly understood the great meaning of the Dharma I have been expounding for so long. Thus he is deluded by the outward marks of the Tathāgata and does not see the true Tathāgata. Why do I say this? Because the true Tathāgata has no place from which He comes—there is no place of coming—nor any place to which He goes—there is no place of going. That which neither comes nor goes, neither arises nor ceases, is called the true Tathāgata.

How compassionate the World-Honored One is! For the sake of sentient beings, He donned coarse, stained garments and humbly came to this turbid and evil world, to reveal to sentient beings the knowledge and vision of the Buddha, expounding the sutras and teaching the Dharma without ever knowing weariness. Here, the World-Honored One repeatedly adds the finishing touch, sparing no saliva; His eyebrows have dragged along the ground for a very, very long time, and the corners of His saṅghāṭī robe have been soaked in mud and water—all just to drag sentient beings out of the mire of wrong views, to awaken them into the knowledge and vision of the Buddha, and then to see and act together with the Buddha, never again walking the narrow paths of the wilderness, the desolate outskirts, or perilous places.

Sentient beings' habitual tendency to cling to marks has long since penetrated deep into the marrow; the poisonous thorn of wrong views is truly hard to pull out. Helplessly, the World-Honored One must labor ceaselessly to break through marks and break through them again, using all kinds of parables and words to reveal to sentient beings the mind of true reality, which has not a single trace of mark. Yet there are still a great many people who do not see the true markless Tathāgata, but only see the Tathāgata with marks, coming and going, walking, arriving, departing, and resting. Now, for the Tathāgata with marks—will His marks of coming and going, of sitting and lying down, vanish and disappear from sight? After the marks of coming and going, of sitting and lying down, have vanished, where would one go to see the Tathāgata? And from where do His marks of coming and going, of sitting and lying down, come, and to where do they cease? And why is there coming and going, sitting and lying down at all? Those with a discerning mind should draw a great big question mark here, doubt deeply, and not let it pass.

The Tathāgata's mark of coming appears by relying on the five aggregates' form body, and manifests by relying on the five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses; it is fundamentally the aggregate of formations among the five aggregates. If there were no five aggregates and seven consciousnesses, there would be no mark of coming for sentient beings to behold. And before this mark of coming arrives, where is it? On account of what does it come? Because this mark of coming is conditioned dharma subject to arising and ceasing, and all dharmas subject to arising and ceasing are produced by causes and conditions, the mark of coming has the gathering of various conditions and is born from a cause; with cause and conditions present, the mark of coming appears. When sentient beings behold it, they see only the mark of coming, not knowing from where the mark of coming comes, not knowing the cause of the mark of coming—this is the deluded person clinging to marks, not recognizing the true principle. Because sentient beings cling to marks and are deluded about the principle, they unite with the sense objects and turn away from awakening; hence they give rise to the wearisome agitation of objects, worldly marks continue unbroken, and birth and death never cease. If one wishes to escape the marks of birth and death, what should one do? Of course one must seek the cause that gives rise to the marks, recognize the principle of true suchness, remove delusion and karma, and return to the original state.

The Tathāgata's mark of going appears by relying on the five aggregates, and manifests by relying on the seven consciousnesses; it is fundamentally the aggregate of formations among the five aggregates. On account of what cause do the five aggregates and seven consciousnesses manifest? Before going, there is coming and abiding; before coming and abiding there is a cause, and when going, the going does not depart from the cause—otherwise there could be no going. And after going? The mark vanishes entirely without trace, yet the cause of going does not perish; therefore it can go again and again, and come again and again—arising, abiding, changing, ceasing—thus cycling on without end. This is vibrant vitality, with conditions for arising everywhere, just like a splendid springtime. As for the Tathāgata's marks of sitting and lying down, they too are fundamentally the aggregate of formations among the five aggregates, appearing by relying on the form body and the seven consciousnesses; the form body and the seven consciousnesses also have their causes for manifesting these marks. By means of this cause, marks arise and marks cease; sentient beings see only the marks and the arising and ceasing of marks, and never see the originating cause of the marks' arising and ceasing—deluded by outward appearances, they do not recognize the true principle. Therefore they go on being born endlessly, dying without cease, drifting and wandering along, lost on the road and never returning.