The Characteristics of the Mark of Self among the Four Marks in the Diamond Sutra

In the Śūraṅgama... (no—) In the Sūtra of Perfect Enlightenment (Yuānjué jīng), the World-Honored One described the subtle mark of self: for example, there is a person whose whole body is harmonious and comfortable, whose four limbs are all relaxed, whose body and mind are tranquil, extremely tranquil; suddenly he forgets the existence of the body and does not know where the body is located. At this moment, if the body is gently pricked with a needle, he will immediately feel pain, involuntarily feeling "I hurt"—and the mark of self in the mind appears. Sentient beings all involuntarily take the body as self, take awareness as self, take the five aggregates as self; this is a very subtle mark of self, universally present in sentient beings.

The mark of self spoken of in the Diamond Sutra includes both coarse and subtle forms, with the coarse mark of self as the main focus; the relatively coarse and very coarse marks of self are universally complete in sentient beings. The mark of self manifested in ordinary beings who have not eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) is present at all times and in all places, especially obvious, yet they are all unaware of it and have no awakening—whether they study Buddhism or not. Among those who study Buddhism and cultivate, the view of self and the mark of self are also very serious: in order to highlight themselves, they readily think themselves extraordinary and superior to others, always intentionally or unintentionally mistaking themselves as having attained fruition or having seen the mind, propagating this everywhere without any evidence, hoping to gain others' veneration and special regard, feeling that they have finally surpassed others and finally held their heads high; thus they become extremely proud, arrogant, and conceited, looking down on everyone, with vile conduct—all of these are manifestations of the complete mark of self. Within this there is also the mark of person and the mark of beings; as long as there are the mark of person, the mark of beings, and the mark of life span, there must be the mark of self, and where there is the mark of self there must be the other three marks—the four marks cannot be separated.

The mark of self is often closely connected with the mark of person, and therefore there is mutual comparison and contrast, and hence jealousy, competition, disputes, quarrels, and even all kinds of wars. Wars between nations arise when the individual marks of self and person converge into collective marks of self and person; the competition and disputes among various groups are also like this—the small self becomes the big self, the mark of self becomes greater, and its force of action also becomes greater. It looks as if individuals have no self, but in fact it is all the mark of self.

In the secular world the mark of self is even more pronounced. Worldly people generally take power, fame and profit, status, position, honor, class, wealth, and other such badges as the mark of self, deeply mired in them, grasping (upādāna) without letting go. For the sake of false face, for the sake of being looked up to by others, they will pay any price, caring extremely about others' gazes and evaluations. And they do everything they can to display their advantages and uniqueness to others, in order to gain others' envy and satisfy their own vanity. Such examples are too numerous to list—they are everywhere—so I will not cite them. In all this, the mark of person is involved; otherwise there would be no concern for others' gazes and evaluations. Because of the mark of self, for the sake of that so-called self, there is endless greed, hatred, and delusion, indulging fully in the pleasures of the five desires; the six faculties and five sense organs never rest for a moment—even when asleep, one is still thinking of wealth, sex, fame, and food. Ordinary beings are just like this, without the slightest lofty aspiration, craving the low-level five desires, making money and enjoying themselves—nothing more.

In short, because ordinary beings have the mark of self, all their bodily, verbal, and mental actions revolve around the mark of self and fully display the mark of self. If there were no mark of self, there would not be so much greed; life would be much simpler, with not so much contrivance; many matters would cease automatically—without mind there are no affairs, without desire there is no seeking; bodily, verbal, and mental actions would be very low-key, no longer willing to show off, display the self, or take the self as the center. Whether or not a person has the mark of self in their mind will involuntarily show in their words and deeds; it cannot be concealed, and it cannot be faked, because the habitual tendencies in the bones cannot be suppressed.