The Profound Meaning of Consciousness-only in the Diamond Sutra (52)

Therefore, the Buddha's dharma is like a raft used to cross a river—abandoned upon reaching the shore, discarded once used. This shows that the dharma exists in dependence on causes and conditions; it is thus illusory and empty, and at a certain stage of cultivation one must not cling to it. Because sentient beings' ignorance differs, the dharma the Buddha teaches also differs, so there is no fixed dharma for the Tathāgata to proclaim. Therefore, the dharma proclaimed by the Tathāgata cannot be grasped at, for it too is empty, formed by causes and conditions; it is only used for a period of cultivation and discarded after use—it cannot be grasped at forever. While ignorance still exists, one must hold onto it and use it as a tool.

For example, with the dharma of the Four Noble Truths, after attaining the fruits and liberation, this dharma is of no more use to the arhat. Next, cultivating as a pratyekabuddha, one practices the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination; after attaining the fruit of a pratyekabuddha, the dharma of dependent origination is also of no more use, and one needs to cultivate the bodhisattva's six pāramitās. After seeing the mind and realizing one's nature, the six pāramitās of the outer gate are of no more use, and one cultivates the six pāramitās of the inner gate, entering the first bhūmi. After entering the bhūmis, the six pāramitās of the inner gate are of no more use, and one cultivates the ten pāramitās; after becoming a tenth-bhūmi bodhisattva, the ten pāramitās are abandoned. One then cultivates the dharma of the bhūmi of equanimity (samatā) and the bhūmi of wondrous awakening; after perfecting the buddha path, all dharmas are no longer needed and are all abandoned, with the mind empty and without any dharma.

Because all dharmas have been perfectly cultivated, only after becoming a Buddha can one proclaim them for sentient beings. Therefore, all the dharmas spoken by the Tathāgata are not fixed, unchanging dharmas that originally exist; they are all empty, not real dharmas. But neither are they not real dharmas, because sentient beings, relying on these dharmas, can realize the true dharma, the unconditioned dharma; moreover, when the Buddha proclaimed these dharmas, He never departed from the true dharma of true suchness (tathatā). It is precisely because true suchness functioned here that the Buddha could proclaim them. These dharmas all come from the Buddha's own mind of true suchness, flowing forth from true suchness; they are a part of true suchness, in a relationship of neither one nor different with true suchness.