The Profound Consciousness-Only Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (126)

Original text:须菩提。如来说有我者。即非有我。而凡夫之人以为有我。须菩提。凡夫者。如来说即非凡夫。

Explanation: The World-Honored One then said to Subhūti: When the Tathāgata speaks of the existence of a self, there is not truly a self, yet ordinary beings all believe there is a self, believing that the activities of this self's five aggregates are so real. Subhūti, as for so-called ordinary sentient beings, the Tathāgata says they are not truly ordinary sentient beings either; they are merely provisionally named "ordinary beings."

When each Buddha teaches the Dharma to sentient beings, sometimes He also says in speech "I did such and such" to narrate events; in fact, this is the expedient teaching of all Buddhas. If the word "I" were not used, sentient beings would not know what the World-Honored One was talking about, nor could they correctly understand the content He taught. Therefore, when the Buddhas say "I" in speech, it is for the convenience of communicating with sentient beings and for the convenience of teaching and transforming them, so that sentient beings can well understand the content being taught. Although the Buddhas say "I" in speech, their minds are completely and utterly selfless; they never regard their own five aggregates as a self, nor do they cling to their own undefiled consciousness (amala-vijñāna) or Buddha-nature. Therefore, all Tathāgata Buddhas are thoroughly without self.

Ordinary sentient beings all believe in their minds that there is a self, believing the self to be real. They generally believe that the physical body as a self is real—that the body's five sense organs, bones, muscles, skin, internal organs, and all the body's component parts have real functions and uses—and that this is the self, or belongs to the self. Thus greed, attachment, and clinging arise, and they will not tolerate infringement by others. Ordinary sentient beings believe that the functions of the six consciousnesses arising on the physical body—seeing forms, hearing sounds, smelling scents, tasting flavors, feeling touches, and knowing dharmas—are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self. Thus greed and attachment arise, and they will not tolerate these being neglected.

Ordinary beings believe that the various feelings experienced by the six consciousnesses arising on the physical body are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self. Thus they grasp firmly, pursuing all kinds of sensory stimulation and feelings; once they encounter adverse conditions, their minds become filled with intense suffering and hatred. Ordinary beings believe that the various capacities of knowing arising on the physical body—the functions of thinking, analyzing, judging, and reasoning—are the self, and belong to the self. Thus greed and attachment arise, and they never cease their mental activities for a moment, always wanting to perceive all dharmas.

Ordinary beings believe that the various tactile sensations arising on the physical body are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self. Thus they greedily cling to all kinds of tactile sense-objects, insisting on living comfortably and at ease, insisting on enjoyment, sparing no cost whatsoever. Ordinary beings believe that the various actions and activities arising on the physical body are real, that this is the self, or belongs to the self. Thus they constantly rush about toiling, building up all kinds of enterprises, continuously performing bodily, verbal, and mental actions, unwilling to rest.

Since beginningless kalpas, ordinary sentient beings have been misunderstanding and misconstruing in this way, constantly grasping, toiling and rushing through the six realms of rebirth without knowing fatigue—truly worthy of pity. Out of compassion for sentient beings' ignorance and suffering, the Tathāgata appeared in the world to proclaim to them that all dharmas of the five aggregates are fundamentally not the self, nor do they belong to the self; the five aggregates arise depending on conditions, arising and ceasing, changing and varying—though their functions exist, they are illusory and unreal. It is like sand and earth combined with water to form clay, and the clay molded into a physical body of the five aggregates; when the power of a mantra acts upon the clay body, the clay figure then performs all kinds of actions and activities. Ignorant ordinary beings do not understand this principle; they grasp at the false appearance of the clay figure, not knowing that the clay figure is not a person. The wise, however, know this; they do not take up the false appearance of the clay figure, but only recognize the clay and make use of the clay.

The World-Honored One further said that the ordinary beings who grasp at the five aggregates as a self are also not truly existent ordinary beings; they are illusory appearances of the five aggregates, empty in essence. It is only for the sake of verbal communication that a provisional name is taken, provisionally called "ordinary beings"; their essence is in fact the tathāgatagarbha of each person. When gold is made into vessels, every vessel is gold; when clay is molded into people, every person is clay; the tathāgatagarbha illusorily manifests all dharmas, and all dharmas are the tathāgatagarbha—this is called the one true dharmadhātu, with nothing else beside it. If a person sees all dharmas as truly existent, this is called diseased eyes; if a person sees that all is true suchness, this is called the wisdom eye, the dharma eye, and the Buddha eye—all are eyes of great wisdom.

Ordinary sentient beings regard the five aggregates as the self, as belonging to the self. To whom does this "self" refer? This self refers to the seventh consciousness, the manas. The seventh consciousness takes everything as the self and as belonging to the self, greedy without satiation. In reality, the seventh consciousness has misunderstood and misconstrued; He does not know that none of these are Himself, none of them are His own functions. The most important among them are the functions of the eighth consciousness, and there are also the functions of the six consciousnesses; and the functions of the six consciousnesses are, in essence, also the functions of the eighth consciousness. After seeing the mind and attaining enlightenment, the seventh consciousness, the manas, will awaken and realize that these were never the self; after attaining the bhūmis, He will begin to let go of some dharmas, no longer grasping at and clutching the world of the five aggregates.

All meditative concentrations (samādhi) are a combination of meditative states and wisdom; lacking either one, it is not a samādhi in the true sense. However, some meditative states contain no wisdom and can only be called meditative states; some meditative states contain and harbor wisdom, and these are called samādhi. The scope and content of meditative states is relatively shallow and narrow, while the content of samādhi is relatively deep and broad. That is to say, samādhi necessarily includes a meditative state; without a meditative state it is not called samādhi, and without wisdom it is neither called samādhi nor a meditative state.