The Diamond Sutra

by Red Pine

  Chao-ming titles this: “One Form No Form.”

  Hui-neng says, “Although there are four fruits, their form is essentially not different. Thus follows a chapter on one form and no form.”

  “Tell me, Subhuti. Do those who find the river think,

  ‘ I have attained the goal of finding the river’?”

  Subhuti replied, “No, indeed, Bhagavan. Those who

  find the river do not think, ‘I have attained the goal

  of finding the river.’ And why not? Bhagavan, they

  do not find any such dharma. Thus are they said to

  ‘find the river.’ They do not find a sight, nor do they

  find a sound, a smell, a taste, a touch, or a dharma.

  Thus are they said to ‘find the river.’ Bhagavan,

  if those who found the river should think, ‘I have

  attained the goal of finding the river,’ they would

  be attached to a self, they would be attached to a

  being, a life, and a soul.”

  This was the first of the four stages through which early Buddhist practitioners saw themselves progressing in their search for liberation from suffering. A person who reached this stage was called a srota-apanna (river-finder), one who had found the River of Impermanence. It was the Buddha’s teaching of impermanence that led his disciples to take this first step on the spiritual path. Seeing the existence of all things as dependent on countless causes and conditions, and thus devoid of any self-nature, the srota-apanna sees things as-they-are, as no-things. This vision of emptiness is the river discovered by the srota-apanna. In the final stage of his own journey of discovery, Shakyamuni abandoned his cave on Pragbodhi and walked down to the shore of the nearby Nairanjana River, waded across to the other side, entered the forested sanctuary of Bodhgaya, sat down beneath a pippala tree, confronted the problem of impermanence, and realized unexcelled, perfect enlightenment. Thus, for the Buddha the River of Impermanence became the River of Liberation.

  In the more technical jargon of Buddhism, srota-apannas are those who have freed themselves from the dristi (views) common to the Three Realms of Desire, Form, and Formlessness but who are not yet free from the klesha (afflictions)—which Chinese commentators understand here as nien (thoughts)—associated with those realms. Buddhists list five such views or beliefs: the belief in an individual (such as a self or soul), the belief in extremes (such as idealism or nihilism), the belief in no morality (such as the absence of karma), the belief that what they believe is right regardless of evidence to the contrary (such as holding wrong to be right), and the belief in ascetic practices (such as those that are injurious to one’s health).

  While srota-appanas are free from such views, they are still subject to the afflictions, or thoughts, that arise in their karmic wake. Here, too, five kinds of thought are usually mentioned: ignorance, greed, anger, pride, and doubt. But other lists are also common. In any case, once they attain this stage, srota-apannas no longer create any new karma. But while they are no longer subject to rebirth among sinners in Hell or hungry ghosts, animals or asuras, as a result of their previous karma they are reborn seven more times among humans or gods.

  The attainment of these four fruits requires relinquishing the same four perceptions that bodhisattvas let go of. Letting go of their self, they find the river; letting go of their being, they return for one more birth; letting go of their life, they return no more; and letting go of their soul, they free themselves from the passion that binds them to the endless round of birth and death. The last three stages, which are discussed in the sections that follow, all depend on and are anticipated by the first. It should also be noted that in the scriptures that many scholars agree represent the Buddha’s earliest teaching, such as the Pali Nikayas and Sanskrit Agamas, the lay faithful are included in this and the following two stages of attainment but not in the final stage of the arhan.

  Te-ch’ing says, “Deluded views differentiate sensations. Once we cut off deluded views, we no longer differentiate sensations. Thus, we say we do not find a sight, because sights are sensations. But while we do not find this, we still find that. For we find the river. But how could we, in fact, find anything? Those who understand this not only have no self, they have no possessions. For if they have no self, they possess no thoughts. And if they possess no thoughts, they have no delusions to suppress.”

  Tao-yuan says, “Why does the Buddha ask about this? Because Subhuti is someone who has realized the four fruits beginning with that of the srota-apanna. Thus the Buddha asks Subhuti to relate his own experience in order to free his fellow monks from attachment to goals.”

  Seng-chao says, “The sea is the stream of all streams and the mysterious source of enlightenment. When we meet what does not arise, we finally exhaust the spring. When we oppose what is real, we find form and sound. When we turn away from form and sound, we meet what is real. But to meet what is real is to find nothing. Thus we find neither form nor sound. For what is real has no room for agreement or opposition. How can it be found?”

  Chiang Wei-nung says, “Srota-apannas have already realized the truth of emptiness and know that there is neither a self nor the possessions of a self. If they thought they could attain a goal, the conception of a self would still exist. How then could they say they had attained a goal?”

  Hui-neng says, “Those who understand the dharma of formlessness don’t think about attaining any goal. If the slightest thought of attaining a goal existed, they would not be called srota-apannas. Srota-apannas are free from the coarser, heavier passions. Thus they are able to find the river of holy living. But they don’t find anything because they don’t think about attaining a goal. This is the first fruit of practice.”

  The Maha Vibhasha Shastra says, “The river refers to the path of sages. Reaching the river means reaching the path of sages.” (46)

  Textual notes: The initial bhagavan aha (the Buddha said) does not appear in any Sanskrit edition. However, it appears (as shih-ts’un yen/fo kao) in the Chinese translations of Dharmagupta and Hsuan-tsang and seems called for here. Srota-apanna (to find the river) appears in its transliterated form in the translations of Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Paramartha but is translated by Dharmagupta, Hsuan-tsang, and Yi-ching as ju-(yu)-liu (to enter the river). I have preferred “find” over “enter” as apanna is used as equivalent to prapta (attain) here and elsewhere in this chapter. Also, given Subhuti’s subsequent definition of the srota-apanna as someone who does not apanna (find) any such dharma, the translation of the term is clearly superior to its transliteration. Only Hsuan-tsang includes Subhuti’s repetition of the Buddha’s question. Dharmagupta does not include na hi sa bhagavan kanchid dharmam apannah (Bhagavan, they do not find any such dharma), while Kumarajiva and Paramartha do not include any mention of a dharma. In the list of sense objects, Müller does not include dharma, as in Chapter Four and elsewhere. Also, Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Paramartha do not have the final sentence that includes the list of four attachments. Between jiva (life) and pudgala (soul), Hsuan-tsang inserts shih-fu (person).

  The Buddha said, “Tell me, Subhuti. Do those who

  return once more think, ‘I have attained the goal of

  returning once more’?”

  Subhuti replied, “No, indeed, Bhagavan. Those who

  return once more do not think, ‘I have attained the

  goal of returning once more.’ And why not?

  Bhagavan, they do not find any such dharma as

  ‘returning once more.’ Thus are they said to ‘return

  once more.’”

  “To return once more” is a translation of sakrid-agamin, which is the second of the four stages of the Hinayana path. Most commentators interpret this to mean rebirth in one of the heavens followed by one last rebirth among humans, after which one then attains liberation in one of the heavens. It is, however, possible to by-pass this stage and thus avoid the need for any further rebirth. For example, in the Maha Vibhasha Shast
ra: (53), Kumarajiva’s mother is said to have proceeded from the first stage directly to the third.

  As previously noted, srota-apannas are able to cut off the deluded views associated with the Three Realms but remain beset by the deluded thoughts that arise from greed, anger, delusion, pride, and doubt. Buddhists break these deluded thoughts into nine levels of severity. Sakrid-agamins manage to eliminate the first six of these nine levels but not the last and subtlest of the three. Hence, they must return to the Realm of Desire one more time. Some Chinese commentators compare the sakrid-agamin to the wooden man carved by the great carpenter Lu Pan, whose carvings moved like robots but lacked any thoughts of their own.

  Tao-yuan says, “Why are sakrid-agamins said to return once more? Because although they have cut off deluded views, they have not yet cut off deluded thoughts. Even though we understand that we should not indulge our desires, we still have desires. This is the difference between the deluded views that we acquire and the deluded thoughts with which we are born. Such thoughts not only come from our last life but from many lives. Although we can’t get rid of the nine levels of deluded thoughts all at once, if we can get rid of the first six, we reach the stage of the sakrid-agamin and can get rid of the remaining three in our next life. Thus the sakrid-agamin must return once more. However, since in the first stage practitioners get rid of the differentiating mind, by the time they reach the sakrid-agamin stage, their minds have no perception of going or returning.” This is the reason some srota-apannas are said to bypass this stage, because they have no perception of it taking place.

  Seng-chao says, “Returning once more means after one more birth among gods and one more birth among mankind, they will reach nirvana. Thus it is called “returning once more.” But actually there is no one who returns. When people find the seedless fruit, they see no form of going or returning.”

  Wang Jih-hsiu says, “This physical body leaves and returns. It isn’t real. Returning once more is only a fiction. Thus Subhuti says there is no such thing as returning once more, because the physical body is not real.”

  Hui-neng says, “Returning once more means coming down from heaven to be reborn among mankind and then leaving mankind to be reborn in the heavens where one transcends life and death and puts an end to the karma of the Three Realms. When Mahayana sakrid-agamins view something, their minds experience one birth and death, but no more than one. As one thought gives birth to delusions, the next thought brings them to a halt. As one thought is marked by attachment, the next thought is marked by renunciation. Thus, there is no such thing as returning once more.”

  T’ai-neng says, “Delusion is the root of enlightenment. If someone uses this for their practice, it can become the means for transcending the world. The lotus doesn’t grow in high places. It only blooms in muddy water. Delusion doesn’t injure the enlightened mind. So, too, smoke and clouds obscure the sun and moon without injuring them. If a jewel is dropped into the mud, neither is the jewel injured. Don’t concern yourself with the clouds of delusion. Concentrate on the enlightened mind.”

  Textual note: Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Paramartha transliterate sakrid-agamin, while Dharmagupta, Hsuan-tsang, and Yi-ching translate it as yi-lai (one return). Again, Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Yi-ching do not include the repetition of the Buddha’s question in Subhuti’s answer, although Dharmagupta does. In the phrase na hi sa kashchid dharmo (they found no such dharma), Kumarajiva and Paramartha do not include the word dharma. Dharmagupta repeats the previous section a second time (ostensibly a copyist error) before continuing with this section. Paramartha has only the last two sentences, with which he summarizes both paragraphs.

  The Buddha said, “Tell me, Subhuti. Do those who

  return no more think, ‘I have attained the goal of

  returning no more’?”

  Subhuti replied, “No, indeed, Bhagavan. Those who

  return no more do not think ‘I have attained the goal

  of returning no more.’ And why not? Bhagavan, they

  do not find any such dharma as ‘returning no more.’

  Thus are they said to ‘return no more.’”

  Those who do not return are called an-agamins and include those who have eliminated the final three levels of deluded thoughts in the Realm of Desire. Thus, they can never again be reborn in the Realm of Desire but are reborn instead in the Fourth Dhyana Heaven of the Realm of Form. They are also said to have cut off the poisons of greed and anger as well as the obstructions of egotism, wrong practice, and doubt.

  Tao-yuan says, “When one deluded view of the Three Realms is cut off, they are all cut off. Deluded thoughts, however, are cut off gradually one level at a time. Even after the first six levels are cut off, you still must be reborn one more time. Only when the last three levels are cut off, do you leave for good. If you want to put an end to life and death, where do you begin? Right here with cutting off your delusions. If you don’t cut off your delusions, and you say you want to put an end to life and death, you’re just fooling yourself. But how can you cut off delusions? The main way is to start working on cutting off old delusions. Discriminations regarding the six sensations are the cause of beginningless life and death. The six sensations themselves contain no discriminations. They are basically empty. If you cut off all nine levels of deluded thoughts, you leave the Realm of Desire once and for all and are reborn in the Realm of Form in the Fourth Dhyana Heaven, which itself contains five levels called Heavens of No Return.”

  Hui-neng says, “An-agamin is Sanskrit. In Chinese it means ‘no return.’ It also means to leave behind desires. Those who leave behind desires don’t see anything to desire outside, nor do they think desirous thoughts within. Because their habits of desire have stopped forever, they never again return to be reborn in the realm of desire.”

  Ch’ang-hsing says, “This cutting off of delusions in the second and third stages is like cutting down a tree. The only way is to cut it completely down.”

  Textual note: Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Paramartha transliterate an-agamin , while Hsuan-tsang, and Yi-ching translate it as pu-huan (no return). Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, Paramartha, and Yi-ching do not include Subhuti’s repetition of the Buddha’s question in his answer. Kumarajiva and Paramartha also do not include dharma in the phrase na hi sa kashchid dharmo (no such dharma). And once again, Paramartha uses the last two sentences to summarize both paragraphs. Dharmagupta (whose text is clearly corrupt here) omits this section entirely.

  The Buddha said, “Tell me, Subhuti. Do those who are

  free from rebirth think, ‘I have attained freedom from

  rebirth’?”

  Subhuti replied, “No, indeed, Bhagavan. Those who are

  free from rebirth do not think, ‘I have attained freedom

  from rebirth.’ And why not? Bhagavan, there is no such

  dharma as ‘freedom from rebirth.’ Thus are they said

  to be ‘free from rebirth.’ If, Bhagavan, those who are

  free from rebirth should think, ‘I have attained freedom

  from rebirth,’ they would be attached to a self, they

  would be attached to a being, a life, and a soul.

  The fourth and final stage of Hinayana attainment is that of the arhan. The arhan cuts off the seventy-two deluded thoughts of the realms of Form and Formlessness and suffers no further existence. In the arhan’s mind, even dharmas aren’t present. And because dharmas aren’t present, the birth-death mind is at rest. As such attainment was considered beyond the capability of lay members, the word eventually became a synonym for bhikshu (monk). And it was often used in this sense in China. The word itself has many meanings depending on how it is parsed and from which root it is derived. For example, it can be read as arhati (worthy of offerings) or ari-han (slayer of the enemy), but it can also mean “beyond learning” and “beyond rebirth,” and it is this last meaning that is intended here, where it represents the stage beyond the previous stage of “returning no more.” Commenting on th
is, Tao-yuan says, “As long as there is birth, there is death. If there is no birth, there is naturally no death. This diamond assembly is only interested in explaining the truth of no birth.”

  Conze says, “It was customary for arhans to testify to the fact that they had achieved arhanship.” But this is a Mahayana sutra. And this is the teaching of the perfection of wisdom. Thus, for Subhuti to suggest that he had attained anything would have revealed an underlying attachment to a goal and to a self that would have denied the very arhanship he had attained.

  Hsieh Ling-yun says, “Arhan means ‘not reborn.’ Someone for whom the dialectic of death and birth is over is said to be ‘not reborn.’ But if such a person has any perception of this, the dialectic of self and other resumes. In the Agamas it says, ‘An arhan is someone whose births are over, whose actions are pure, whose work is done, whose existences are finished. Hence such a person finds that there is, in truth, neither form nor dharma to attain. They are never again born in the Three Realms. Thus they are said to be ‘not reborn.’”