Lecture on the Diamond Sutra: Why Does Subhūti Not Have the Thought "I Am an Arhat Free from Desire"?

One Mark No-Mark, Nine Original text: 世尊。佛说我得无诤三昧。人中最为第一。是第一离欲阿罗汉。我不作是念。我是离欲阿罗汉。世尊。我若作是念。 I have attained the way of the arhat. If it were so, World-Honored One, you would not say that Subhūti is one who delights in the practice of araṇā (non-contention). Because Subhūti in reality has nothing whatsoever that he practices, he is called Subhūti, one who delights in the practice of araṇā.

Explanation: In order to corroborate that an arhat has no thought of "I am an arhat," Subhūti said to the Buddha: World-Honored One, the Buddha says that I have attained the samādhi of non-contention, that I rank first among humans, and that I am the foremost arhat free of desire. Yet I do not give rise to such a thought, believing that I am an arhat free of desire. World-Honored One, if I were to have such a thought, believing that I have attained the fruit of the arhat's way, then World-Honored One, you would not say that Subhūti is a practitioner who delights in pure and tranquil conduct. Because Subhūti's mind is empty and without contrivance, he is called Subhūti, a practitioner who delights in tranquil conduct.

Subhūti's other name is "Born of Emptiness," for he could constantly perceive the emptiness and stillness of the world. Because he had attained the samādhi of non-contention, he never contended with worldly people: if worldly people said east, it was east; if they said south, it was south; if they said west, it was west; if they said north, it was north. Because whatever worldly people say is empty, there is no need to contend over who is high or low, superior or inferior, who is a foot longer or an inch shorter. Subhūti had no desires or notions whatsoever toward the world; his mind was empty, without marks, without wishes, without contrivance. He was the foremost arhat free of desire among humans, yet Subhūti never had the thought "I am an arhat free of desire," much less would he proclaim himself everywhere. He did not cling to the mark of self, nor cling to the mark of "I am an arhat"; otherwise he would be an ordinary person attached to marks, and the World-Honored One would not have said that Subhūti is a practitioner who delights in tranquil conduct. Because Subhūti's mind was constantly empty and still, without desire and without seeking, the World-Honored One praised him as a practitioner who delights in tranquil conduct.

Ordinary people, by contrast, are the opposite of Subhūti: whether or not there is anything to it, they love to boast about themselves everywhere and promote themselves, love to argue over who is better and who is worse, love to show off, love to be pursued and admired by others, love to highlight themselves—in short, they love to market themselves so that the world knows them, and thereby that "self" of theirs is gratified. This is the mark of an ordinary person. Apart from the mark of self, ordinary people can accomplish nothing; they live constantly within the mark of self and the four marks. This is the spiritual sustenance of their entire lives, utterly indispensable. Once that "self" is suppressed, it is like a fish out of water. In short, whether a person has the Way or not can be seen in actual deeds; one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions are the most telling, best revealing a person's level of thought and level of wisdom.

An arhat of the fourth fruit has not only eliminated self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), but has also eliminated attachment to self. The manas's craving and attachment to the self's five aggregates has been completely severed, the conceit "I" has been utterly cut off, and the mind is thoroughly without self. Since there is no self, one will not argue with others over high or low, superior or inferior, right or wrong, true or false, long or short, strong or weak; the mind becomes tranquil and cool. This is the samādhi of non-contention. And Subhūti was the most non-contentious, the most tranquil, the most accommodating toward people and affairs.

Being free of desire means departing from all kinds of desires, all the hopes and cravings belonging to the desire realm, with sexual desire between men and women as the chief among them, including wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, and the six sense objects of form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharmas. After attaining the first fruit, when the first dhyāna arises and the realm of the form realm manifests, body and mind experience extreme bliss. Because this bliss of contact far surpasses the various pleasures of the desire realm, and also excels the pleasure of sexual desire, one then takes no delight in sexual desire, takes no delight in the five sense objects of the desire realm, takes no delight in wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—thus desire is severed. Then, with the further severing of anger, the five lower fetters are completely eliminated and one becomes a person of the third fruit. As for arhats of the fourth fruit, they have all the more severed and departed from desire.

Subhūti severed desire most thoroughly; he was the foremost person free of desire. Yet Subhūti had no thought of "I am an arhat free of desire." If Subhūti had had this thought, then there would have been a self, and there would have been the matter of "being free of desire"; his mind would not have been tranquil or pure, and the World-Honored One would not have said that Subhūti was a person who delighted in tranquil conduct. Because there was nothing going on in Subhūti's mind—no desire and no contrivance—and because he saw as empty all dharmas within the eighteen realms, regarding all formations as empty, there was nothing for Subhūti to practice. Within empty, illusory, false dharmas there was nothing to be done; everything done was empty, with no such thing actually existing. Only thus was Subhūti a person who delighted in tranquil conduct, a person who practiced without contrivance.