The Profound Meaning of the Diamond Sutra from the Yogācāra Perspective (147)

Original text: 须菩提。所言法相者。如来说即非法相。是名法相。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: Subhūti, the so-called dharma-marks that sentient beings speak of—the Tathāgata has said that none of them are truly existing dharma-marks; they are not real dharma-marks; they are merely names. Therefore they are provisionally named dharma-marks.

Dharma-marks include the marks of material form (rūpa) and the marks of mental dharmas within the threefold realm of the world. The marks of material form are the five sense faculties, as well as the form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas corresponding to the six faculties. Whether they are the outer representations of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, or the inner representations of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, none of them are truly existing dharma-marks; they appear to exist on the surface, but in essence they are empty. These marks of material form are all constructed by the tathāgatagarbha outputting the seeds of the four great elements; therefore they are illusory transformations, like flowers in empty space, like a mirage, like shadows and light, like the moon in water. Their essence is all the dharma-marks of the tathāgatagarbha, and the dharma-marks of the tathāgatagarbha are also empty. Therefore form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, as well as the five sense faculties, are all empty marks; hence they are not dharma-marks—they are only names, without substance.

The marks of mental dharmas are the dharma-marks of the minds of the seven consciousnesses, as well as the dharma-marks of the mental factors (caittas) that accompany the seven consciousnesses. The dharma-marks of the seven consciousnesses are formed by the tathāgatagarbha outputting the seeds of consciousness of the seven consciousnesses. The seeds of consciousness arise moment by moment and cease moment by moment, arising, ceasing, and changing—illusory and unreal. The operational marks of the seven consciousnesses when they run appear to exist on the surface, but in essence they are empty, like a mirage, merely dazzling people's eyes. Therefore the seven consciousnesses also do not truly exist; they have no real dharma-marks; their essence is the emptiness-mark of the tathāgatagarbha.

The operational marks of the seven consciousnesses operate in the form of mental factors, including the five universally present mental factors of attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā), as well as all the other mental factors. As soon as the seven consciousnesses operate, these five mental factors appear along with the seven consciousnesses; the other mental factors sometimes also manifest accompanying the seven consciousnesses. When the seven consciousnesses arise, the mental factors manifest accordingly; when the seven consciousnesses cease, the mental factors cease accordingly. The arising and ceasing of the minds of the seven consciousnesses is illusory and unreal, and the mental factors are even more so—arising and ceasing, illusory and unreal. Their surface operational marks appear to exist, but in essence they are empty and illusory, utterly unattainable; their essence is all the emptiness-mark of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore the marks of mental dharmas are also empty, being merely a name. Thus, when the Buddha speaks of dharma-marks, they are not dharma-marks—not truly existing dharma-marks, but only names. They should not be taken as real, nor should they be grasped.