The Diamond Sutra

by Red Pine

  Fu Hsi says, “My song goes: ‘The Bodhisattva harbored great wisdom / and never did he lack mercy / he offered his body to hungry tigers [Suvarna-prabhasa Sutra] / and cut off his flesh for famished eagles [Ganga Sutra] / he practiced with zeal for three long kalpas / and never once thought of resting / only those who do the same / will be the teachers of gods and men’.” (references cited by Hung-lien)

  Hui-neng says, “This dharma door of mine is centered on no attachment.” (Sixth Patriarch Sutra: 4)

  Sheng-yi says, “A thought that isn’t attached is like the sun and moon moving through space without becoming attached to space and lighting the mountains and rivers and earth without becoming attached to them. If the mind can be like this and not become attached to the six sensations or attached to emptiness, this is the mind that isn’t attached to anything. Ordinary people are attached to existence, while followers of the Two Vehicles (shravakas and pratyeka-buddhas) are attached to non-existence. If ordinary people aren’t attached to sansara and followers of the Two Vehicles aren’t attached to nirvana, this is to dwell in unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.”

  Wang Jih-hsiu says, “Not to give birth to a thought attached to a dharma means that the dharma of a buddha is basically fabricated to suit the capabilities of beings. If people become attached to it, they become mired in the dharma and have no way of seeing their true nature.”

  Chao-chou says, “I’ve seen a hundred, thousand, million beings, and all of them are searching for buddhahood. To find one of them searching for no-mind is rare.”

  Tao-ch’uan says, “Indeed, pick this up and use it. [Once when Ma-tsu saw Pai-chang approaching, he picked up the fly whisk attached to his chair and held it up. Pai-chang said, ‘Pick it up and use it. Put it down and use it.’ Ma-tsu then returned the whisk to its original place.] My song goes: ‘find it in your mind / use it in your hands / a snowy moon and wind-blown petals / “Heaven is immortal and the Earth is old” [Taoteching: 7] / the cock every day at dawn / wild flowers bloom each spring.’”

  Ch’en Hsiung says, “If a bodhisattva’s six senses are pure, and they give birth to a mind that is unattached, why should they practice charity to satisfy their desires? Among the roots of our myriad sufferings, impurity of the eye comes first. Hence, the Buddha cuts it off saying that they should not practice charity while attached to form.”

  Textual note: Due to a missing folio, the Gilgit edition pauses after sarvasanjna vivarjayitva (get rid of all perceptions) and does not pick up the text again until the end of Chapter Fifteen. Yi-ching summarizes the second sentence with wo yu erh-shih wu ju-shih-teng hsiang (at that time I had no such perceptions). At the end of the second sentence, Dharmagupta and Hsuan-tsang have wo yu erh-shih tou wu yu hsiang yi fei wu hsiang (at that time I had neither a perception nor no perception). Hsuan-tsang also includes such negations as pu chu fei-se (without being attached to no form) . . . pu chu fei-sheng (without being attached to no sound), etc. Kumarajiva does not include na dharma pratishthitan cittan utpadayitavyan, na adharma pratishthitan cittan utpadayitavyan (they should not give birth to a thought attached to a dharma. Nor should they give birth to a thought attached to no dharma). Bodhiruci has a different order of phrases here, while Dharmagupta has juo wu suo chu, pi ju-shih chu pi ku (because if there is nothing we are attached to, then that is what we are attached to). Neither Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, Paramartha, Yi-ching, nor the Tibetan includes the last sentence.

  “Moreover, Subhuti, bodhisattvas should practice

  charity in this manner for the benefit of all beings.

  And how so? Subhuti, the perception of a being is

  no perception. Likewise, all the beings of whom

  the Tathagata speaks are thus no beings. And how

  so? Subhuti, what the Tathagata says is real. What

  the Tathagata says is true and is as he says it is and

  is not other than as he says it is. What the Tathagata

  says is not false.

  As with forbearance, so, too, with charity. Again, the Buddha returns to the practice he introduced at the beginning of this sutra. Those who travel the bodhisattva path must do so for the benefit of all beings, and yet they must not form a perception of a being, much less a self. Obviously, such a teaching is likely to be received with a great deal of doubt, if not misunderstanding. Hence, the Buddha pauses to insist on the truth of this teaching, lest those who hear it give birth to doubt or fear instead of a perception of its truth.

  Asanga says, “Such things as names and bodies aren’t fit thoughts for saints. The buddhas have no such thoughts, because they see things truly.” (30) Vasubandhu comments, “Beings are simply names. They are a combination of the five aggregates and lack any essence of their own. Because neither a self nor a dharma has any nature of its own, buddhas get rid of such perceptions.”

  Vasubandhu says, “The doubt arises: if there is no way to realize the goal, how are we to view the cause of such a goal?”

  Asanga says, “The road whose goal can’t be reached is still the goal’s main cause. The words of buddhas all are true, and fourfold is this knowledge.” (31) Vasubandhu comments, “The Tathagata proclaims four kinds of teachings: because by means of his true knowledge he does not falsely teach buddhahood, what he says is real; because he does not falsely teach the Four Truths of the Hinayana, what he says is true; because he does not falsely teach the doctrine of selfless suchness of the Mahayana, what he says is as he says it is; and because he does not falsely prophecy but penetrates all three time periods, what he says is not other than as he says it is.”

  Asanga says, “Their teachings of the vow, the lesser path, the greater way, their prophecies are not fallacious claims.” (32) Vasubandhu comments, “From the moment buddhas vow to seek the goal of buddhahood they make no false claims, whether in regard to the Hinayana, the Mahayana, or their prophecies of attainment.”

  Sheng-yi says, “The merit of a bodhisattva who practices charity free of these four perceptions is like space. It extends throughout the heavens. It extends throughout the hells. It extends throughout the realm of hungry ghosts. It extends throughout mankind. It can save those who are drowning, and it can save those who are burning. Thus do bodhisattvas benefit all beings through their merit by practicing charity free of all perceptions.”

  Hui-neng says, “A bodhisattva doesn’t practice charity for his own happiness but to break through miserliness within and to benefit other beings without. But the Tathagata says that the perceptions of self and other are ultimately subject to destruction and not truly real. Hence, all beings are fictions. If one can get free of the deluded mind, there are no beings to save.”

  Hui-neng also says, “What is ‘real’ is that all sentient and non-sentient beings have the buddha nature. What is ‘true’ is that beings who perform evil deeds will reap a bitter reward. What is ‘as he says’ is that beings who do good deeds will have happy fortunes. What is ‘not false’ is that the dharma of the prajna-paramita produces the buddhas of the past, the present, and the future. What is ‘not other than as he says’ is that the meaning of the dharma that is ‘good at the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end’ is subtle and there is no god, spirit, or teacher of any sect who can vanquish or destroy it.”

  Textual note: Paramartha does not include the first tat kasya hetoh (and how so). After the first sentence, Kumarajiva divides the key concepts here into two statements: yi-ch’ieh chu-hsiang chi-shih fei hsiang (all appearances /perceptions are not appearances/perceptions) and yi-ch’ieh chung-sheng chi fei chung-sheng (all beings are not beings). Bodhiruci attributes the second and third sentences to Subhuti. Before the last sentence, Paramartha and Yi-ching insert chu fo shih-ts’un/chu ju-lai yuan-li yi-ch’ieh hsiang ku (because buddhas and bhagavans are free of all perceptions). Only Kumarajiva includes all five statements about the veracity of what the Buddha says. Most other Chinese editions do not include na vitathavadi tathagatah (the Tathagata does not say what is false).


  Moreover, Subhuti, in the dharma realized, taught,

  and reflected on by the Tathagata there is nothing

  true and nothing false.

  While this teaching is not false, neither is it true, for in order to be true, there must be some standard against which to judge it. But there is no standard of truth and falsehood for the perfection of wisdom. The perfection of wisdom means an end to truth and falsehood. Every truth is dependent on conditions and in time becomes false, but not this teaching, which is the mother of those who are free of attachment to dharmas and no dharmas, perceptions and no perceptions, truth and falsehood.

  Sheng-yi says, “The heart of this teaching is empty and still and contains no perception to realize. Thus, it is not true. But in its empty, still heart, it contains an infinite body of pure merit. Hence, it is not false. If we said it existed, and yet we could not realize it, this would make it not true. And if we said it did not exist, and yet we could never exhaust it, this would make it not false. Thus, the dharma realized by the Tathagata cannot be said to exist, nor can it be said not to exist.”

  Vasubandhu says, “The sutra says there is nothing true or false in the dharma realized and taught by the Tathagata. What does this mean?”

  Asanga says, “Nothing is realized, and yet it still agrees, thus it’s neither true nor false but taught for those who cling to words.” (33) Vasubandhu comments, “Because he cannot personally obtain any inner realization of reality, there is nothing he can speak of. Thus, what the Buddha says is not true. But because what he says accords with reality, it is not false. But why does the Buddha say what he says is true and here says what he teaches is neither true nor false? Because what he says is ‘taught for those who cling to words.’”

  Tao-ch’uan says, “It’s the salt in water. It’s the dye in color. My song goes: ‘It’s hard as iron / it’s soft as butter / it’s there when you see it / it’s gone when you look / it’s with you every step / though no one really knows it.’”

  Textual note: Kumarajiva does not include deshita (teach). Neither Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, Paramartha, nor Yi-ching includes nidhyata (reflect on).

  Subhuti, imagine a person who enters a dark place

  and who can’t see a thing. He is like a bodhisattva

  ruled by objects, like someone practicing charity

  ruled by objects. Now, Subhuti, imagine a person

  with eyesight at the end of the night when the sun

  shines forth who can see all manner of things. He is

  like a bodhisattva not ruled by objects, like someone

  practicing charity not ruled by objects.

  The world of objects is neither true nor false. But when we think of it as true, we blind ourselves to its illusory nature. And when we think of it as false, we blind ourselves to its usefulness. When we see this world of objects as neither true nor false, we are no longer controlled by objects, including such objects as a self or a being, a dharma or a mind, and we can finally see and know what is real. Thus, in contrasting the charity of someone attached to objects and someone not attached to objects, the Buddha reminds us that the bodhisattva uses objects as expedient means in the liberation of others but is not controlled by them. For only a bodhisattva not ruled by objects is able to see how best to practice charity for the benefit of all beings. Thus, a bodhisattva uses truth that is neither true nor false.

  Vasubandhu says, “If the nature of reality is eternal and omnipresent, how is it that buddhahood is only realized by a mind not attached and not by a mind attached? Also, how is it that a reality that is eternal and omnipresent is realized by some and not realized by others? To eliminate this doubt, the sutra uses the metaphor of entering darkness. But what does this mean?”

  Asanga says, “What always and everywhere is real isn’t found, not by foolish people still attached, only by the other ones who know.” (34)

  Asanga says, “Delusion is like darkness, knowledge is like light. Something helps, and something’s helped, thus do gain and loss appear.” (35) According to Vasubandhu, what helps is the light of awareness, what is helped is the darkness of delusion.

  Huang-po says, “Ordinary people are unwilling to empty their minds. They’re afraid they’ll fall into emptiness, unaware that their own minds are already empty. The fool gets rid of phenomena and not the mind. The wise gets rid of the mind and not phenomena. A bodhisattva’s mind is like space. A bodhisattva gives away everything, outside and inside. Such great renunciation is like walking with a candle before you. You can’t get lost. Lesser renunciation is like walking with a candle to one side or behind you. You’re bound to fall into a ditch.”

  Wang Jih-hsiu says, “To practice charity means to transform others through teaching. But if someone practices charity while attached to a teaching, then those they instruct become attached to the teaching and have no means of seeing their true nature. Such a person enters the darkness and sees nothing. If, however, someone instructs others without being attached to a teaching, those they instruct are thereby enlightened and are able to see their true nature. Such a person is like someone with eyes who can see all the forms illuminated by light.”

  The Avatamsaka Sutra says, “When the shravakas in the Buddha’s audience hear a teaching, it’s as if they were blind or deaf. This is because they are attached to teachings.”

  Textual note: Paramartha, Dharmagupta, and Hsuan-tsang have fu-tz’u (furthermore) at the beginning of this section. Kumarajiva and Yi-ching invert the order of sentences here. Also, neither Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, nor Yi-ching includes the first occurrence of vastu-patita (ruled by objects) in either sentence, while Dharmagupta does not include the second occurrence. At the end of this section, Yi-ching has shih-ku p’u-sa pu chu yu shih ying hsing ch’i shih (therefore bodhisattvas should practice their charity not ruled by phenomena).

  “Furthermore, Subhuti, if a noble son or daughter

  should grasp this dharma teaching and memorize it,

  recite it, master it, and explain it in detail to others,

  the Tathagata will know them, Subhuti, by means

  of his buddha knowledge. And the Tathagata will

  see them, Subhuti, by means of his buddha vision.

  The Tathagata will be aware of them, Subhuti, for

  all such beings produce and obtain an immeasurable,

  infinite body of merit.”

  As in Chapter Six, the Buddha reminds us of the power of this teaching. Those who believe it, who grasp it, and who teach it to others join the assembly of bodhisattvas taking place even now where they are known and seen by all buddhas. The word “merit” is related to our word for “memory.” Merit is the memory of our good deeds. But only deeds free of memory can transcend the confines of space, time, and mind and lead all beings to buddhahood. The merit from believing, grasping, and explaining this teaching to others has no limit because it is free of concepts of self and other. Such merit is equivalent to wisdom itself. For it illuminates the ignorance of the world. How could the Tathagata not be aware of those responsible for the transformation of darkness into light? Also, the Tathagata is aware of them, for by means of their attainment, their future buddhahood becomes evident to all other buddhas. For they all share the same body.

  Asanga says, “From such cultivation, we reap such boundless merit. We call this cultivation, where karma comes from dharma.” (36) Vasubandhu says, “This explains what is meant by ‘cultivation.’

  Asanga says, “In this text are three approaches: upholding, learning, teaching. The meaning comes from others or pondering what one hears.” (37) Vasubandhu comments, “Those who ‘uphold’ are those who observe the teaching. Those who ‘learn’ are those who rely on instructions. Although they cannot uphold the teaching, because they can study it, their learning attracts others.”

  Asanga says, “The first one leads to inner growth, the others transform beings. Because it takes great time and deeds, this merit is supreme.” (38) The “first one” refers to “upholding,” whil
e the “others” refer to “learning” and “teaching.”

  Hsuan-hua says, “Where is that much merit and virtue to be found? Nowhere. Do not be attached. If you become attached, you will not find it anywhere. If you do not become attached, it is right there.”

  Textual note: Only udgraha (grasp) and vacaya (recite) appear in all Chinese translations. Also, paryavapaya (master) is interpreted as hsiu-hsing (practice), while Hsuan-tsang adds his usual meritorious practices to the list. Kumarajiva and Paramartha have tang-lai-chih-shih (in the future) at the beginning of this. Neither Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, nor Paramartha includes buddha-cakshusha (by means of his buddha vision). Nor do Kumarajiva, Paramartha, Dharmagupta, or Yi-ching include buddhas te tathagatena (the Tathagata will be aware of them). Kumarajiva and Bodhiruci do not include prasavishyanti (produce). Paramartha and Hsuan-tsang do not include pratigrahishyanti (obtain). And Kumarajiva does not include skandha (body). As elsewhere, the remaining Chinese editions have chu (accumulation) for skandha (body).

  Chapter Fifteen: “Furthermore, Subhuti, if a man or woman renounced their self-existence during the morning as many times as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, and likewise renounced their self-existence during midday as many times as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, and renounced their self-existence during the afternoon as many times as there are grains of sand in the Ganges, and renounced their self-existence in this manner for many hundreds and thousands of millions and trillions of kalpas, and someone heard this dharma teaching and did not reject it, the body of merit produced as a result would be immeasurably, infinitely greater. How much more so if they not only wrote it down but grasped it, memorized it, recited it, mastered it, and explained it in detail to others.