Diamond Sutra Consciousness-only Profound Meaning (145)

Original text:何以故。世尊说我见人见众生见寿者见。即非我见人见众生见寿者见。是名我见人见众生见寿者见。

Explanation: Why is it said this way? Because the view of self, view of person, view of sentient beings, and view of life span that the World-Honored One speaks of do not truly mean that there really exists a view of self, view of person, view of sentient beings, or view of life span. The so-called view of self, view of person, view of sentient beings, and view of life span are not truly existent dharmas; they have no real dharma-mark, and are merely provisionally named the view of self, view of person, view of sentient beings, and view of life span—they are just names.

These few words spoken by Subhūti negate the real existence of such views as the view of self, view of person, view of sentient beings, and view of life span, which also precisely accords with the prajñā meaning in the preceding passages of the sutra. Because these views are not real dharmas, they can be removed through practice, and the four marks can be broken through, by applying that formula: the so-called... is not... is merely named.... The meaning of this formula is to negate the real existence of all worldly dharmas; there is no true, substantive existence of the myriad worldly dharmas—all are false and illusory. Because they are all generated and manifested by the tathāgatagarbha, all are the seed-functions of the tathāgatagarbha, and in essence are all the tathāgatagarbha itself. Therefore, all the myriad dharmas of the world are merely provisional names, without real meaning.

The view of self, view of person, view of sentient beings, and view of life span—these four wrong views—are also dharmas among the myriad worldly dharmas, dharmas that arise later and can be extinguished, dharmas that are first nonexistent then existent, and after existing return to nonexistence. In fact, while they exist, they are arising and ceasing moment by moment; because the speed of arising and ceasing is too fast, sentient beings are unaware of it and mistakenly take them to be truly existent, thus forming various erroneous views and wrong views. These wrong views are all false, illusory appearances and are not real; if they were real, sentient beings could not, through practice, eradicate these wrong views and thereby become endowed with correct views and insight. These wrong views have no self-nature of their own and no autonomy; they all exist in dependence on external conditions, arising from the tathāgatagarbha transmitting seeds, and their essence is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha.

Then what is the view of self? And how does it arise? The view of self is the view and cognition regarding the mark of self; the correct view is to regard the mark of self as empty, while the erroneous view is to regard the mark of self as existent. First, regarding the self: the self that sentient beings believe in refers to the physical body, or to the consciousness of the six consciousnesses, or to the seventh consciousness, the manas, or to the combined self of the five aggregates and the self of the eighteen realms. These selves are all false selves, not real; they are all produced by causes and conditions, without substance, existing through illusion, dispersing when conditions cease, with nothing to rely upon.

The aggregate of form is generated by the four great-element seeds of the tathāgatagarbha, undergoing arising, abiding, alteration, and cessation, impermanent and changing; phenomenally existent, in essence nonexistent, its essence is the tathāgatagarbha. The aggregate of feeling is the feelings of the six consciousnesses, generated by the tathāgatagarbha transmitting the seeds of the six consciousnesses, arising, abiding, altering, and ceasing, illusory and unreal, dispersing when conditions cease, not to be relied upon. The aggregate of perception is the grasping and knowing nature of the six consciousnesses toward the marks of the six sense objects, generated by the tathāgatagarbha transmitting the seeds of the six consciousnesses, existing through illusion, dispersing when conditions cease, not to be relied upon. The aggregate of volitional formations is the flowing change of the bodily, verbal, and mental actions of the six consciousnesses, as well as the changes and movements of the physical body, generated by the tathāgatagarbha transmitting the seeds of the seven great elements, arising, abiding, altering, and ceasing, illusory and unreal, dispersing when conditions cease, not to be relied upon. The aggregate of consciousness is the discriminating nature of the six consciousnesses, generated by the seeds of the six consciousnesses transmitted by the tathāgatagarbha, illusory and not real, dispersing when conditions cease, not to be relied upon. These four aggregates also have no substantiality and no autonomy; phenomenally existent, in essence nonexistent, their essence is the tathāgatagarbha.

This is the self of the five aggregates that sentient beings believe in—arising and ceasing moment by moment, changing moment by moment; sentient beings, unaware, take it to be truly existent and cling to it unceasingly. The self that sentient beings believe in also includes the dharmas of the eighteen realms, namely the six faculties, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses; these dharmas are also generated by the tathāgatagarbha transmitting the seeds of the seven great elements, arising, ceasing, and changing, phenomenally existent, in essence nonexistent, their essence all being the tathāgatagarbha. Who is it that regards the five aggregates and eighteen realms as self and thus has the view of self? It is the sixth consciousness and the seventh consciousness. The view of self of the sixth consciousness is called the intermittent view of self, while that of the seventh consciousness is called the innately arising view of self. Because the existence of the sixth consciousness occurs in segments—it cannot go on to future lives, disappearing when a life ends and being born when a life appears—it is intermittent. The seventh consciousness has existed since beginningless kalpas and can go on to future lives; only when one attains the fourth fruit of arhatship and has eradicated all grasping does one gain the ability to extinguish the seventh consciousness; hence it is called the innately arising view of self and innately arising self-grasping.

The two consciousnesses that mainly possess the view of self are these two, and these two consciousnesses can only be born and exist, and can only function, when the tathāgatagarbha transmits the seeds of consciousness; therefore the sixth and seventh consciousnesses have no autonomy, no substantiality, no self-mastery, arising, ceasing, changing, illusory and impermanent, and moreover arising, ceasing, and changing moment by moment. Thus the view of self of the sixth consciousness and the view of self of the seventh consciousness are not the view of self—they are not a truly existent view of self, not a view of self with real substance, but an illusory view of self, whose essence is the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, naming the view of self of the six consciousnesses and the view of self of the seventh consciousness as "the view of self," the view of self is merely a provisional name.

The view of person, view of sentient beings, and view of life span, which correspond to the view of self, follow the same principle: they are all erroneous wrong views arising from the illusory minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses manifested by the tathāgatagarbha. These wrong views and mistaken cognitions are also not truly existent; like a mirage, they are empty, illusory, and unreal. On the surface they appear to exist, but in essence they do not; their essence is all the tathāgatagarbha, and there are no truly real such wrong views and mistaken understandings. Just as afflictions are bodhi, the essence of afflictions is the bodhi mind, the tathāgatagarbha; wrong views and mistaken understandings are also the functions of the bodhi mind, the tathāgatagarbha, and therefore their essence is also the tathāgatagarbha—apart from this there is nothing else.