Diamond Sutra Commentary: The Principle of Oneness, Chapter Thirty

This chapter of the Diamond Sutra primarily introduces the unified mark (一合相). The Buddha said that the unified mark is a non-mark; a non-mark is a false and illusory mark, a conventional name, a false appearance. What is called the unified mark? This chapter mainly introduces the three-thousandfold great thousand world system in which we live. It is a unified mark. This unified mark does not truly exist; it is a false appearance composed of various marks combined together. What is a three-thousandfold great thousand world system composed of? It is composed of one thousand middle thousand world systems; a middle thousand world system is composed of one thousand small thousand world systems; a small thousand world system is composed of one thousand unit small worlds. A small world is composed of the waters of the four great seas, plus the four great continents, plus Mount Sumeru, plus the sun and moon heavens, plus the six heavens of the desire realm, plus the first dhyāna heaven of the form realm — these together form a small world. One thousand small worlds plus the second dhyāna heaven form a small thousand world system; one thousand small thousand world systems plus the third dhyāna heaven form a middle thousand world system; a middle thousand world system plus the fourth dhyāna heaven and the four formless heavens forms a three-thousandfold great thousand world system.

Therefore, this three-thousandfold great thousand world system is a unified mark. A unified mark is a false and illusory mark formed by combination. It is formed by individual marks and scattered marks combining together to form an overall mark — this is called a unified mark. A unit small world is also a combination, including the waters of the four great seas. Beneath the waters of the four great seas are the seven golden mountains; below the seven golden mountains is hell. Above the waters of the four great seas are the four great continents, namely Pūrvavideha, Aparagodānīya, Jambudvīpa, and Uttarakuru. The four great continents are above the waters of the four great seas, in the four directions at the foot of Mount Sumeru.

Mount Sumeru stands in the midst of the waters of the four great seas, extending halfway down into the water and rising halfway above the waters, shaped like a three-dimensional cone. Halfway up Mount Sumeru is the Heaven of the Four Heavenly Kings — the northern, southern, eastern, and western heavenly kings dwell there, on the four sides of the mountainside. At the summit of Mount Sumeru is the Trāyastṛiṃśa Heaven, where Śakra Devānām Indra dwells in the Heaven of the Thirty-Three. Further above are the other four heavens of the desire realm, and above the four desire-realm heavens is the first dhyāna heaven of the form realm. Together these form a unit small world.

In a unit small world, each component is itself a composite mark. For example, the earth is composed of mountains, rivers, land, trees, flowers, houses, and the like; it is also composed of various countries and the territories of each nation. A single country is also a unified mark, also a combination, composed of marks such as mountains, rivers, trees, houses, and land. Furthermore, a country is composed of various provinces and prefectures; each province and prefecture is also a combination. Down to each specific household, each residence is also a combination, and even all the objects in each household are also combinations. Material things can be further subdivided, ultimately into particles of fine dust.

Therefore, the three-thousandfold great thousand world system as a whole is a combination, and the most minute parts of each component are also combinations — all are unified marks. The small world is a unified mark, the middle world is also a unified mark, and the great world is even more so a unified mark. This entire three-thousandfold great thousand world system is a unified mark, entirely composed of combinations. Since it is a combination, this world is not real; it is merely a conventional name, a concept. All forms are formed by the tathāgatagarbha delivering the seeds of the four great elements. Initially, the most minute particles of fine dust are formed; the dust particles then aggregate to form various material things; material things aggregate to form larger material divisions; these divisions then combine to form individual small worlds, one by one mountains, rivers, lands, palaces, and so on. These are all composite marks. As long as it is a composite mark, it is a non-mark, it is false and illusory, not a real mark.

Original text: 须菩提。若善男子善女人。以三千大千世界。碎为微尘。于意云何。是微尘众。宁为多不。甚多。世尊。何以故。若是微尘众实有者。佛即不说是微尘众。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said to Subhūti: If a good man or good woman were to crush the three-thousandfold great thousand world system into numerous fine dust particles, what would you think? Would the number of these dust particles be great? Subhūti replied: Very great, World-Honored One. Why is the number of dust particles very great? Because if the number of these dust particles truly existed, were substantially real, the Buddha would not say that these are numerous dust particles.

How large is the three-thousandfold great thousand world system? Calculated, it seems to include one billion earths, one billion Mount Sumerus, one billion Trāyastṛiṃśa Heavens, one billion desire-realm heavens, one billion first dhyāna heavens, one billion four great seas, one billion seven golden mountains, one billion first dhyāna heavens, and so on — extremely vast. A three-thousandfold great thousand world system is boundlessly and immeasurably vast. If it were crushed into fine dust, how many dust particles would there be? It would be simply incalculable. Because the three-thousandfold great thousand world system is already immense, and when this immense entity is broken into fragments with spaces in between, the resulting dust particles would occupy even more area and volume than the three-thousandfold great thousand world system itself. Therefore, if the three-thousandfold great thousand world system were crushed into dust, the number of dust particles would not need to be counted — it would be utterly beyond counting. Even if just one person's body were crushed into dust, the number of dust particles would be uncountable; if a small animal's body were crushed into dust, the number of dust particles would also be uncountable.

What is called fine dust? It is dispersing an object into the finest and most subtle particles, so small that the naked eye cannot see them, ultimately becoming particles of the smallest unit — this is what is called fine dust. At that point, they are still small particles composed of the four great elements, extremely minute, almost approaching emptiness, but they still belong to material form (rūpa).

Is such a great number of dust particles too many? Subhūti said: Too many. Why so many? Why is it called many? The Buddha said: If the multitude of dust particles were substantially real, the Buddha would not say they are a multitude of dust particles. Because Subhūti had listened to the World-Honored One teach this Diamond Sutra and had long understood the true meaning of the dharma the World-Honored One was expounding, he then said: If this multitude of dust particles were truly substantial, unarising and unceasing, a truly existing number of dust particles, then the Buddha would not call it a multitude of dust particles ('multitude' represents many, an extremely great number).

Original text: 所以者何。佛说微尘众。即非微尘众。是名微尘众。世尊。如来所说三千大千世界。即非世界。是名世界。

Explanation: Why is it said this way? Because the multitude of dust particles spoken of by the Buddha is not a substantially real multitude of dust particles; it is only named 'multitude of dust particles.' World-Honored One, the three-thousandfold great thousand world system spoken of by the Tathāgata is not a truly substantial three-thousandfold great thousand world system. As a false appearance it exists, but in reality it is empty; therefore, a conventional name is given to it, called the three-thousandfold great thousand world system.

These multitudes of dust particles are not true marks; the multitude of dust particles composed of dust, the number of dust particles, is also not a true mark. What is called fine dust is merely the subdivision of material form into tiny particles, called fine dust. These dust particles are also material form, and material things are composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. Dust particles are composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind; it is just that large material objects contain a very great number of four great seeds, while dust particles contain a very small number of four great seeds. When a large material object is subdivided into small material objects, each small material object is still composed of the four great elements — earth, water, fire, wind — in the same proportions as before; only the number of four great seeds has decreased, and the volume of the material object has correspondingly decreased. When it decreases to the most minute degree, it is called fine dust.

The four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind are delivered moment by moment by the tathāgatagarbha. Only thus can these dust particles undergo arising, abiding, change, and cessation, playing a certain illusory role. If the tathāgatagarbha did not deliver the four great seeds, these dust particles would disappear and cease to exist, becoming empty nothingness. Therefore, the multitude of dust particles is an illusory and unreal conventional dharma. Dust particles further combine to form larger material objects, and larger material objects are still formed from the four great seeds; therefore, they are all false and illusory, arising and ceasing, changing and transforming. When the causes and conditions disperse, the tathāgatagarbha no longer delivers the four great seeds, and all dust particles and material objects will cease and vanish, disappearing without a trace.

These material forms further combine to form a celestial body; multiple celestial bodies combine to form a small world; small worlds combine to form a small thousand world system; small thousand world systems combine to form a middle thousand world system; middle thousand world systems combine to form a great thousand world system. Inside and outside, this three-thousandfold great thousand world system is entirely a provisional combination of the four great elements composed of dust particles — arising, ceasing, changing, impermanent. Therefore, the three-thousandfold great thousand world system is likewise false and illusory, not substantially real; it is conventionally named the three-thousandfold great thousand world system. Therefore, the Buddha said that the three-thousandfold great thousand world system is not a world; it is only named a world.

Original text: 何以故。若世界实有者。即是一合相。如来说一合相。即非一合相。是名一合相。须菩提。一合相者。即是不可说。但凡夫之人。贪著其事。

Explanation: Why is it said that the world is not a world? Because if the world were truly real, then this world would be a unified mark. The unified mark spoken of by the Tathāgata is likewise not a true mark; there is no substantially real unified mark — it is merely named a unified mark. Subhūti, the unified mark is an ineffable dharma, but ordinary people are all attached to these dharma marks.

If this world truly existed, it would ultimately be a unified mark composed of countless dust particles. The Tathāgata said that this unified mark is not a truly existing unified mark; there is also nothing truly called a unified mark. All are illusory; their essence is the nature of the tathāgatagarbha. A conventional name is also given to this unified mark, called a unified mark. Therefore, the final conclusion is that the world is not substantially real; it is illusory and transformed.

The Buddha said that the unified mark formed by material particles and fine dust is nothing worth speaking of, because it is all a provisional combination of the four great elements, without substantial marks, not real — all are illusory transformations of the tathāgatagarbha. Since this is so, there is no unified mark to speak of; the unified mark is ineffable and need not be clung to. However, toward these false marks of arising, ceasing, and illusion, ordinary people have been attached throughout countless eons without beginning, believing them all to be substantially real and not false. In reality, existence is false existence, not substantial existence — merely names.

Throughout countless eons without beginning, ordinary people have been attached to the lands, worlds, and living environments in which they dwell. In reality, these are all formed of material particles; they are all merely unified marks — arising, ceasing, changing, illusory — all formed and sustained by the tathāgatagarbha delivering the four great seeds, like marks in a dream or flowers in the sky, not real. But ordinary people do not know this fact; they regard all marks they encounter as real, then crave and cling to them, calculating endlessly, bound by these false marks, unable to attain liberation from the cycle of birth and death in the six destinies.

Therefore, the Buddha said that ordinary people (that is, foolish people) do not know the true mark of all dharmas; they only crave illusory false marks. Only by learning the true Mahāyāna dharma of ultimate reality can one realize and know that all people, affairs, and principles in the entire world are illusory marks formed by the tathāgatagarbha through seeds, not substantially real. Only by realizing this truth of reality can sentient beings' tendency toward attachment be lessened and eradicated; the causes of sentient beings' birth and death can then be eradicated, and they can be liberated from the cycle of birth and death.