The Diamond Sutra Explained: Why Do Bodhisattvas Not Receive Merit?

Not Receiving and Not Coveting, Twenty-Eight  Original text:何以故。须菩提。以诸菩萨不受福德故。须菩提白佛言。世尊。云何菩萨不受福德。须菩提。菩萨所作福德。不应贪著。是故说不受福德。

Explanation: Why is it that the merit attained by a bodhisattva who is patient toward the truth that all dharmas are without self surpasses the merit attained by a bodhisattva who gives away the seven treasures as numerous as the sands of the Ganges? Subhūti, it is because all bodhisattvas do not receive merit. Subhūti said to the World-Honored One: World-Honored One, why do bodhisattvas not receive merit? The World-Honored One replied: All the merit that bodhisattvas create should not be coveted or attached to; therefore it is said that bodhisattvas do not receive merit.

Here, the World-Honored One is implicitly referring to the true bodhisattva at the level of ultimate reality. That true bodhisattva does not receive any feeling; toward all dharmas, it is all neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā). This true bodhisattva perfectly possesses all dharmas and does not crave any of them; because there is no craving, there is therefore nothing attained. When the bodhisattva's five aggregates give the seven treasures to the world, the resulting karmic retribution of merit is obtained by the bodhisattva's five aggregates and the seven consciousnesses, and it is the seven consciousnesses that enjoy it; the true bodhisattva—the tathāgatagarbha—does not obtain even the slightest portion, nor does it enjoy even the slightest portion. And when the bodhisattva's five aggregates practice the perfection of generosity, the seven consciousnesses also do not crave merit.

When a bodhisattva practices generosity, his mind contemplates the perfection of giving through the emptiness of the three wheels. What is meant by the emptiness of the three wheels is that there is no true giver of generosity—the self; no receiver of the generosity—the other; and in between, no object given—the seven treasures. Why is there no giver? Because the giver—the five aggregates—is transformed and produced by the tathāgatagarbha. The material body is formed by the tathāgatagarbha moment by moment outputting the seeds of the four great elements; it is as if a portion of the gold that is the tathāgatagarbha has been fashioned into a gold ring—the material body. The seven consciousnesses are formed by the tathāgatagarbha moment by moment outputting the seeds of consciousness; that is as if a portion of the gold that is the tathāgatagarbha has been fashioned into a gold necklace—the seven consciousnesses. The material body and the seven consciousnesses together constitute the five aggregates, and the five aggregates as a whole, this gold artifact, is precisely the gold of the tathāgatagarbha.

From this we can see: do the five aggregates actually exist or not? What are the five aggregates? The five aggregates in their entirety are, of course, the tathāgatagarbha, and nothing else. Therefore, when a bodhisattva practices generosity, there is no bodhisattva's five aggregates who gives—the self; likewise, there is no five aggregates that receives—the other. Then what about the seven treasures given in between? The seven treasures are also material forms constituted by the four great elements, formed by the tathāgatagarbha moment by moment outputting the seeds of the four great elements; they are the gold of the tathāgatagarbha, with a portion fashioned into gold earrings and other such seven-treasure objects. So what are the seven treasures really? The seven treasures are the gold of the tathāgatagarbha; there are no real seven treasures—all is the tathāgatagarbha. And the essence of the tathāgatagarbha is also empty in nature; there is no substantial mark existing—empty, without a single mark. Therefore the entire perfection of generosity is the emptiness of the three wheels, utterly unobtainable; the bodhisattva need not be attached to it at all.

Likewise, the merit attained by the bodhisattva is also empty. First, the bodhisattva's act of giving is stored as a karmic seed in the tathāgatagarbha; when conditions ripen, the tathāgatagarbha outputs the karmic seed again, actualizing the bodhisattva's merit. The form in which this merit is actualized manifests as material forms and as the mental factors of the seven consciousnesses. Material forms are nothing other than manifestations in the forms of money, property, power, status, family, and so on, and these material forms are all formed by the tathāgatagarbha outputting the seeds of the four great elements; in essence they are all the tathāgatagarbha—there are no real material forms; material forms and the tathāgatagarbha are neither the same nor different. Thus there is no real blessing to be obtained; it is all the tathāgatagarbha taking its own mind as its object—"what is not illusory becomes illusory dharmas."

When enjoying the blessings of these material forms, it is the illusory seven consciousnesses that enjoy them; it is the feeling mental factor (vedanā-caitta) of the seven consciousnesses that receives, feels, and enjoys them. The feeling mental factor will feel comfort, happiness, pride, arrogance, and self-delight. And the feeling mental factor is the companion of the seven consciousnesses; as soon as the seven consciousnesses arise and engage with the objects of the six sense objects, the feeling mental factor operates. The seven consciousnesses are formed by the tathāgatagarbha outputting the seeds of consciousness, and are in essence the tathāgatagarbha. The mind-substance of the seven consciousnesses is utterly unobtainable, so the feelings and experiences of the seven consciousnesses are also utterly unobtainable. Therefore, when the bodhisattva's merit is actualized, both the merit and the enjoyment of that merit have no substance; in essence they are all the tathāgatagarbha.

When bodhisattvas realize this realm of wisdom, they will no longer crave merit, and will no longer have the mind to enjoy merit. Moreover, they dedicate all the merit they have cultivated toward anuttarā-samyak-saṃbodhi. The bodhisattva's practice is for the sake of attaining buddhahood as soon as possible, not for the enjoyment of worldly merit that they practice the perfection of generosity. Only in this way can the bodhisattva's practice reach an inner state of purity and emptiness, attached to not a single dharma—"with the mind empty, returning in triumph"—and will attain the supreme fruit of buddhahood, perfecting the great way of bodhi.