The Profound Yogācāra Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (33)

Original text: 何以故？若菩萨不住相布施，其福德不可思量。

Explanation: When giving with attachment to signs, the mind is confined by those signs, the mind's scope becomes small, and the merit is therefore limited. If the mind does not transcend the signs of the six sense objects, one cannot attain liberation, nor can one become a Buddha. The mind that gives is the seven deluded consciousnesses, with the six consciousnesses and the seventh consciousness playing the main role. What determines the act of giving is the seventh consciousness, the manas. It deliberates on whether to give; what to give, how much to give, and to whom—all these are decided by Him. The analysis, reasoning, judgment, and observation before giving are all done by the mind consciousness, which then reports the result to the manas and persuades Him. After deliberation, the manas sometimes acts accordingly and sometimes does not. This is why we sometimes feel that we should do one thing and not another, yet in actual practice we do the opposite, and we ourselves feel helpless—when seeing forms, the manas does not necessarily follow the guidance and persuasion of the mind consciousness.

After studying Buddhism, one may feel that eating meat is wrong and that one should be vegetarian, yet the moment one sees meat, one wants to eat it and cannot restrain oneself. This is because the manas always acts according to His own habits and is not easily changed. One clearly agrees to donate one hundred yuan, yet when it comes time to actually hand over the money, one hesitates. When making the promise, it was the mind consciousness that, after analysis, felt it should be done; when handing over the money, it is the manas who is in charge. The manas is heavily attached to the notion of "I" and is unwilling to give away what is His. Only through long-term cultivation and the mind consciousness's sustained guidance and persuasion can He be transformed. Therefore, once the manas changes, everything changes, and our karmic retribution will be different. When a bodhisattva gives without attachment to signs, the merit is boundless and immeasurable. The merit of the tathāgatagarbha is beyond description: the universe and empty space belong to Him, the trichiliocosm belongs to Him, the Lotus Treasury World belongs to Him, the ocean of worlds belongs to Him, and the thirty-two marks and eighty excellent characteristics of all Buddhas belong to Him. There is not a single dharma that does not belong to Him, yet He wants nothing at all—His merit simply cannot be spoken of.