Explanation of the Diamond Sutra. Section Thirty-One: The Non-Arising of Views and Knowledge

Original text: 须菩提。若人言。佛说我见人见众生见寿者见。须菩提。于意云何。是人解我所说义不。不也。世尊。是人不解如来所说义。

Explanation: Subhūti, if someone says that the Buddha also speaks of a view of self, a view of a person, a view of a sentient being, and a view of a life span, then the view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span would truly exist. Subhūti, what do you think? Does this person understand the meaning of what I have said? Subhūti replied: This person does not truly understand the meaning of what the World-Honored One has said.

When the World-Honored One teaches the Dharma, He must accord with sentient beings' psychological cognition and use the same names and concepts that sentient beings use. Only then can the Dharma be communicated to sentient beings, only then can sentient beings understand it, and only then can the Buddha guide sentient beings to transition into the true meaning of the Buddha Dharma, ultimately reaching the same state as the Buddha. Because sentient beings have the view of a self within the five aggregates, as well as concepts and views of a person, concepts and views of a sentient being, and concepts and views of a life span — and because sentient beings' cognition and understanding of these concepts are all erroneous and inverted — the World-Honored One must accord with sentient beings, using the same names and concepts that sentient beings recognize, in order to eradicate sentient beings' erroneous cognition and correct their erroneous views.

Therefore, when the World-Honored One teaches the Dharma, He also uses terms such as view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span, and He must specifically explain why the view of self is a wrong view, why the view of a person is a wrong view, why the view of a sentient being is a wrong view, and why the view of a life span is a wrong view. Only in this way can the four kinds of inverted wrong views of sentient beings be eradicated, thereby enabling sentient beings to sever the bonds of birth-and-death within their minds, cut through the fetters that bind them, and ultimately attain liberation. If not for this, how could the World-Honored One broadly deliver sentient beings, enabling them to understand the true Buddha Dharma and thereby benefit both themselves and others? Therefore, although the Buddha uses terms such as view of self and view of a person, this does not mean that sentient beings' view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span are truly existing views. These views are also false, provisional, and perishable; they must not be grasped as real.

Original text: 何以故。世尊说我见人见众生见寿者见。即非我见人见众生见寿者见。是名我见人见众生见寿者见。

Explanation: Why is this said? Because the view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span spoken of by the World-Honored One do not mean that there truly is a view of self, a view of a person, a view of a sentient being, and a view of a life span. The so-called view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span do not truly exist; they have no real dharma marks. They are merely provisionally named as view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span — they are nothing but names.

These words spoken by Subhūti negate the reality of the existence of views such as the view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span, and they precisely accord with the meaning of prajñā in the preceding part of the sūtra. Because these views are not real dharmas, it is through cultivation that these views can be removed and the four marks can be eradicated. Applying that formula — "what is called... is not... therefore it is called..." — the principle of this formula negates the true existence of all dharmas in the world. There are no dharmas in the world in any true sense; they are all illusory. Because they are all produced and transformed by the tathāgatagarbha, they are all functions of the seeds of the tathāgatagarbha, and their substance is also the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, all dharmas in the world are merely provisional names; they have no real meaning.

The view of self, view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span — these four kinds of wrong views — are also among the principles within all dharmas of the world. They are dharmas that are born later and can be extinguished; they are dharmas that are first absent and then present, and after being present, return to absence. In fact, even while they exist, they are arising and ceasing moment by moment. Because the speed of arising and ceasing is too fast, sentient beings do not perceive it and mistakenly take them to be truly existing, thus forming various erroneous views and wrong views. These wrong views are all illusory false appearances and are not real. If they were real, sentient beings could not eradicate these wrong views through cultivation and thereby perfect correct views and insight. These wrong views have no self-nature of their own, nor do they have autonomy; they exist only in dependence on external conditions and are produced by the tathāgatagarbha.

So what is the view of self? And how is it born? The view of self is the view regarding the mark of self. The correct view is to recognize that the mark of self is empty; the erroneous view is to recognize that the mark of self exists. First, speaking of the self — the self that sentient beings posit refers, first, to the physical body; second, to the minds of the six consciousnesses; third, to the seventh consciousness, the manas; or the self of the five aggregates and the self of the eighteen elements formed by combining all three. These selves are all false selves; they are not real and have no substance. They are all produced by causes and conditions, existing through illusory transformation, and when conditions cease, they disperse — nothing can be relied upon.

The aggregate of form is produced by the seeds of the four great elements from the tathāgatagarbha. It arises, abides, changes, and ceases, transforming and impermanent. In appearance it exists; in substance it does not; its essence is the tathāgatagarbha. The aggregate of feeling consists of the sensations of the six consciousnesses, produced by the tathāgatagarbha delivering the seeds of the six consciousnesses. It arises, abides, changes, and ceases; it is illusory transformation and not real; when conditions cease, it disperses — nothing can be relied upon. The aggregate of perception is the six consciousnesses' grasping and knowing of the marks of the six sense objects, produced by the tathāgatagarbha delivering the seeds of the six consciousnesses. It exists through illusory transformation; when conditions cease, it disperses — nothing can be relied upon. The aggregate of volitional formations is the flowing and changing of the bodily, verbal, and mental activities of the six consciousnesses, as well as the alteration and change of the physical body, produced by the tathāgatagarbha delivering the seeds of the seven elements. It arises, abides, changes, and ceases; it is illusory transformation and not real; when conditions cease, it disperses — nothing can be relied upon. The aggregate of consciousness is the discriminating nature of the six consciousnesses, produced by the tathāgatagarbha delivering the seeds of the six consciousnesses. It is illusory transformation and not true; when conditions cease, it disperses — nothing can be relied upon. These four aggregates also have no substantial nature and no autonomy. In appearance they exist; in substance they do not; their essence is the tathāgatagarbha.

The self that sentient beings posit also includes the eighteen elements — the six sense faculties, the six sense objects, and the six consciousnesses. These dharmas are also produced by the tathāgatagarbha delivering the seeds of the seven elements; they arise and cease, transform and change. In appearance they exist; in substance they do not; their essence is all the tathāgatagarbha. Who is it that regards the five aggregates and eighteen elements as self and thus has the view of self? It is the sixth consciousness and the seventh consciousness. The sixth consciousness is called the intermittent view of self, and the seventh consciousness is called the innate view of self. Because the existence of the sixth consciousness is segment by segment — it cannot go to the future life; when life ends it disappears, and when life appears it is born — it is therefore intermittent. The seventh consciousness has existed continuously since beginningless kalpas and can go to the future life; only upon attaining the fourth fruit of arhatship and completely eradicating attachments does one have the ability to extinguish the seventh consciousness. Therefore it is called the innate view of self and innate self-grasping.

The primary holders of the view of self are these two consciousnesses. As for these two consciousnesses, only when the tathāgatagarbha delivers the seeds of consciousness can they be born and exist and function. Therefore, both the sixth consciousness and the seventh consciousness have no autonomy, no substantial nature, and no independence. They arise and cease, transform and change, are illusory and impermanent, and moreover they arise, cease, and transform moment by moment. Thus, the view of self of the sixth consciousness and the view of self of the seventh consciousness — "that is not the view of self" — are not truly existing views of self, not views of self with substance; they are illusory views of self, and their essence is precisely the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, naming the view of self of the sixth consciousness and the view of self of the seventh consciousness as "view of self" — the view of self is merely a provisional name.

The view of a person, view of a sentient being, and view of a life span, which correspond to the view of self, follow the same principle. They are all erroneous wrong views arisen from the sixth and seventh consciousnesses illusorily transformed by the tathāgatagarbha. These erroneous knowledge and wrong views also do not truly exist; they are like a mirage — empty, illusory, and unreal. On the surface they appear to exist; in substance they do not. Their essence is all the tathāgatagarbha; there are no real such erroneous knowledge and wrong understandings. Just as affliction is identical to bodhi — the essence of affliction is the bodhi mind, the tathāgatagarbha — erroneous knowledge and wrong views are also functions of the bodhi mind, the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, their essence is also the tathāgatagarbha; apart from this, there is nothing else.

Original text: 须菩提。发阿耨多罗三藐三菩提心者。于一切法。应如是知。如是见。如是信解。不生法相。

Explanation: The World-Honored One said: One who has aroused the mind of Anuttarā Samyaksaṃbodhi should, with regard to all dharmas, know them in this way, view all dharmas in this way, and give rise to faith and understanding in this way — not producing any dharma marks in the mind, nor grasping any dharma marks, being empty and pure, open and magnanimous.

Here the World-Honored One exhorts the bodhisattvas who have aroused the great bodhi mind that, with regard to all dharmas, they should get to the root of the matter and thoroughly see their origin and substance. They should deeply know the nature of all dharmas, not attach to illusory false marks, and not grasp false names. They should contemplate all dharmas again and again, and reflect on them again and again, just like peeling a plantain — peeling off the outer skin layer by layer until one thoroughly sees its innermost and most fundamental part, only then realizing that the plantain is originally empty and has no substantial appearance of a plantain.

By observing all dharmas in this way, one will know that they are originally all empty — there are no substantial dharmas at all; they are all the empty marks of the tathāgatagarbha. Then the mind settles, deluded thoughts are removed, one no longer hopes to seek any dharma marks, no longer pursues and begs outwardly, and thereby returns to the origin of the mind-ground and returns to the home of self-nature. In this way, the mind will no longer give rise to any dharma marks; one regards all dharmas as dreams and mirages, as reflections in a mirror and the moon in water, and will never again grasp at them as truly existing dharmas. In this way, one will be spared the causes of the fabrications of birth-and-death, extinguish the karmic fruits of birth-and-death, exhaust ignorance completely, empty the vipāka fruit, bring the great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna) into manifestation, sit in the bodhimanda throughout the ten directions, and broadly benefit countless sentient beings with affinities.

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

Explanation: Subhūti, the so-called dharma marks that sentient beings speak of — the Tathāgata says they are not truly existing dharma marks, not really existing dharma marks; they are merely names, and therefore are provisionally named "dharma marks."

Dharma marks include the marks of material dharmas and the marks of mental dharmas within the three-realm world. The marks of material dharmas are the five sense faculties, as well as the forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangible objects corresponding to the six sense faculties. Whether it is the external sense-object division of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangible objects, or the internal sense-object division of forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangible objects, none of them are truly existing dharma marks. On the surface they seem to exist; in substance they are empty. These marks of material dharmas are all constituted by the tathāgatagarbha emitting the seeds of the four great elements; therefore they are illusory transformations, like flowers in space, like mirages, like light and shadows, like the moon in water. Their essence is all the dharma marks of the tathāgatagarbha. And the dharma mark of the tathāgatagarbha is also empty. Then forms, sounds, smells, tastes, and tangible objects, as well as the five sense faculties, are all empty marks; therefore they are "not dharma marks" — they have only names, no substance.

The marks of mental dharmas are the marks of the seven consciousnesses, as well as the marks of the mental factors (caitta) that accompany the seven consciousnesses. The marks of the seven consciousnesses are formed by the tathāgatagarbha emitting the seeds of the seven consciousnesses. The seeds of consciousness arise in an instant and cease in an instant; they arise, cease, and transform, being illusory and unreal. The activity marks of the seven consciousnesses when they operate — on the surface they seem to exist; in substance they are empty, like a mirage that merely deludes people's eyes. Therefore, the seven consciousnesses also do not truly exist and have no real dharma marks; their essence is precisely the empty mark of the tathāgatagarbha.

The activity marks of the seven consciousnesses operate in the form of mental factors, including the five universally present mental factors — attention (manaskāra), contact (sparśa), feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), and volition (cetanā) — as well as all other mental factors. As soon as the seven consciousnesses operate, these five mental factors manifest together with the seven consciousnesses; other mental factors also sometimes manifest accompanying the seven consciousnesses. When the seven consciousnesses arise, the mental factors manifest along with them; when the seven consciousnesses cease, the mental factors cease along with them. The seven consciousnesses arise and cease, being illusory and false, not real; the mental factors are even more so — arising and ceasing, illusory and false, not real. Their superficial activity marks seem to exist, but in substance they are empty and illusory, utterly unobtainable. Their essence is all the empty mark of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore, the marks of mental dharmas are also empty — merely a name. Thus, when the Buddha speaks of dharma marks, "that is not dharma marks" — they are not truly existing dharma marks; they are all merely names. They must not be taken as real, nor grasped.