The Diamond Sutra

by Red Pine

  Similar wording appears in the Lotus Sutra, where the Buddha addresses Bhaishagya-raga, the Medicine King: “If someone should read or recite the Lotus Sutra, you should know that such a person is adorned by what adorns the Buddha. You should know that what they wear is what the Tathagata wears upon his shoulders. And wherever they go, they should be so honored.” (10)

  As for this bodhi (enlightenment) they shoulder, Bodhidharma says, “Buddhas of the past and future only talk about this mind. The mind is the buddha, and the buddha is the mind. Beyond the mind there is no buddha, and beyond the buddha there is no mind.” (The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, p. 11)

  Yin-shun says, “The question isn’t simply is one willing to undertake this, but is one able to undertake this. Thus, those who set forth on the foremost of paths must believe this most profound of teachings and undertake such a journey out of selfless compassion and complete it by helping others without limit.”

  Hsieh Ling-yun says, “To ‘shoulder’ means to accept the task of going about spreading this among others so that it persists for a thousand years.”

  Textual note: In place of bodhi (enlightenment), Kumarajiva and Bodhiruci specify ju-lai a-nuo-to-lo san-mao san-p’u-t’i (unexcelled, perfect enlightenment of the tathagatas). Paramartha, Hsuan-tsang, and Yi-ching have [ju-lai] wu-shang p’u-t’i (unexcelled enlightenment [of the tathagatas]). Following the hiatus that begins halfway through Chapter Fourteen, the Gilgit edition resumes with this sentence.

  And how so? Subhuti, this dharma teaching cannot

  be heard by beings of lesser aspiration: not by those

  who mistakenly perceive a self, nor by those who

  mistakenly perceive a being, a life, or a soul.

  The Buddha convinces us that we must have already resolved to liberate all beings in a previous life and must have already freed ourselves of the greatest obstructions on the path to liberation. How else could we now hear or understand this teaching? Upon hearing this, some people might wonder if the Buddha isn’t the world’s greatest salesman. Certainly, he has already shown his skill in the old shell game, as we try to keep our eye on the real buddha.

  This could also be read as an explanation of why this teaching was unknown to all but a few of the Buddha’s followers until several centuries after his Nirvana: those who were unaware of this teaching were the narrow-minded followers of the Hinayana, or Lesser Path. Buddhist scholars, meanwhile, contend that such teachings as this were later compilations. But what does such a contention mean to someone who practices this teaching?

  Asanga says, “Unique and not mundane, the staff of all great souls, difficult to hear, it nourishes the unexcelled.” (39) Asanga now comments on the teaching of this sutra. According to Vasubandhu, Asanga’s mahatma (great souls) refer to those who follow the Mahayana, as opposed to those who follow the Lesser Path of the Hinayana. In his last line, Asanga limits himself to anuttara (unexcelled), the first word in the expression anuttara-samyak-sanbodhi (unexcelled, perfect enlightenment).

  Seng-chao says, “And why can someone shoulder it? Because their mind is empty, and their understanding is boundless. A General of the Way needs to be strong.”

  Hui-neng says, “What is meant by ‘delighting [Kumarajiva’s rendering] in lesser teachings?’ This refers to the shravakas of the Two Vehicles who delight in the small fruit and who do not make the great vow. Thus, they cannot uphold or study or explain to others the Tathagata’s deeper teaching.”

  Sheng-yi says, “Ordinary people think sansara exists, hence they cannot get free of sansara. Followers of the Two Vehicles think nirvana exists, hence they cannot hear this teaching. Only bodhisattvas who seek the path of buddhas that cannot be sought and who teach other beings while not seeing any beings who can be taught and who don’t see any mountains or rivers outside and who don’t see any self inside can hear this. If they should see the slightest thing to be realized, they fall in love with that thing, and their dharma eye becomes clouded, and they cannot see the true form of other things. Thus, those who delight in the least of dharmas cannot hear or accept this sutra. And if they themselves don’t understand it, how can they teach others?”

  Textual note: In place of hina-adhimukti (lesser resolve), Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Yi-ching have le-hsiao-fa (delight in lesser teachings), while Dharmagupta and Hsuan-tsang have hsiao/hsia-lieh hsin-chieh (lesser belief and understanding). Hsuan-tsang has his previously noted longer list of perceptions. Note that adhimukti, which is used in this and other prajna texts with the meaning of “belief” as well as “resolve,” is preceded here by the adjective hina, as in Hinayana (Lesser Path), which became the standard Mahayana reference for those who were concerned with their own liberation and inclined to practices of self-denial and renunciation.

  For beings who lack the bodhisattva’s aspiration

  cannot hear, grasp, memorize, recite, or master this

  dharma teaching.

  In Chapter Three, the Buddha said that even if bodhisattvas resolve to liberate all beings, they are not true bodhisattvas unless they first free themselves of such perceptions as a self, a being, a life, and a soul. Here, the Buddha restates this principle. But he goes farther and says that if beings are still attached to these four perceptions, they will not hear, much less understand, this teaching. Thus, ipso facto, by hearing and understanding this sutra, we must have already freed ourselves of these attachments, if not in this life then in a previous life. If, then, we can maintain or regain this freedom from attachment, we will wear the same robe of enlightenment and walk the same path as all the buddhas of the three periods and ten directions. Could we ask for any more encouragement than this?

  The Lotus Sutra says, “King of Healing, you should know that as long as someone does not hear this teaching, they are not yet skilled in walking the bodhisattva path. While those who are able to hear this teaching are skilled in walking the bodhisattva path and are able to approach unexcelled, perfect enlightenment.” (10)

  Textual note: Neither Bodhiruci, Paramartha, Hsuan-tsang, nor Yi-ching includes na-bodhisattva-pratijna (lack the bodhisattva’s aspiration). In place of paryavapta (master), Bodhiruci, Paramartha, and Hsuan-tsang have (chieh/cheng/hsuan-)shuo (explain). Hsuan-tsang has his usual longer list of practices.

  “Moreover, Subhuti, wherever this sutra is explained,

  that place shall be honored. Whether in the realm of

  devas, humans, or asuras, that place shall be

  honored with prostrations and circumambulations.

  That place shall be like a stupa.”

  Much of this last section repeats what is said in Chapter Twelve, where the Buddha says that any place a gatha from this sutra is recited is like a relic stupa that contains the remains of a buddha. Hence, it is honored by those beings capable of understanding its significance: devas, humans, and asuras. As noted previously, asuras are demigods who make war on gods. Some of them are so big, they are said to be responsible for the eclipses of the sun and the moon. Once again, the Buddha reminds us that this teaching does not come from buddhas, rather buddhas come from this teaching. For this teaching is the diamond body, the dharma-kaya, the body of truth, which buddhas realize and teach to others.

  When Shakyamuni entered Nirvana and his body was cremated, the relics that remained were divided into eight equal parts and placed inside stupas in eight kingdoms of northern India. In the following century, these stupas were opened by King Ashoka and their contents further divided and distributed throughout India. A portion of these relics were eventually brought to China during the seventh century and subsequently lost when the T’ang dynasty collapsed in the tenth century. They were rediscovered several decades ago during the excavation of the ruins of what was once Chingshan Temple northeast of Sian, and I had the good fortune to see them during a visit to the area in 1990. Unaware of the true nature of the objects in their possession, the local authorities had simply placed the relics in a glass case in the Lintung Museum, a few miles from where they
were unearthed. Although they have since been removed, they poured from a small glass vial onto a piece of black felt and looked like so many uncut and unpolished diamonds. There were dozens of them, and they must have totaled several carats. Thus, the Buddha’s diamond body is not a casual metaphor but intended to point to the reality beyond appearances that is not separate from appearances.

  Again, the meaning of this section appears in somewhat clearer form in the Lotus Sutra (10), where the Buddha says, “King of Healing, wherever this teaching is spoken or recited or written down, wherever this sutra is found, let there be a stupa built made of the seven jewels. Let it be high and wide and exquisitely decorated. But there will be no need to place any relics inside. And why not? Because within it shall reside the Tathagata’s entire body.”

  Asanga says, “Those who uphold this teaching sanctify the place it’s found, break though all obstructions, reach all knowledge quickly.” (40) Vasubandhu comments, “Those who uphold this teaching ‘wear enlightenment upon their shoulders.’ Hence, wherever they are that place is honored with incense and flowers.”

  Seng-chao says, “A place isn’t conscious. The reason it is venerated is because the teaching is there. The Way rests in people.”

  Tseng Feng-yi says, “‘Wherever’ means a city or village, a farm-stead or estate, a monastery or any other place. ‘This sutra’ refers to the words, whether they’re etched on jade or written on paper, on a whitewashed wall, or on a cliff-face. Wherever this sutra is found, there’s a buddha. Thus, it should be venerated by the devas, humans, and asuras of every world.”

  Tao-ch’uan says, “Chen-chou’s turnips. Yun-men’s fried bread. My song goes: ‘It’s with you every step, with you every move / standing up or sitting down, all year long / when you eat or drink, it’s before your face / no need to look behind or think another thought.” [Chen-chou was the location of Lin-chi Yi-hsuan’s temple in North China, just north of what is now Shihchiachuang. Yun-men Wen-yen’s temple was in South China, just west of Shaokuan. The relevant stories surrounding these koans, in answer to what teaching is beyond that of the buddhas and patriarchs, can be found in the Piyenlu (Blue Cliff Records).]

  Textual note: Neither Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, Yi-ching, nor the Stein edition includes khalu-punar (moreover). Neither Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, nor Yi-ching has prakashaya (explain). After pradakshiniya (circumambulations), Kumarajiva, Bodhiruci, and Yi-ching have yi chu-hsiang-hua (and with flowers and incense).

  Chapter Sixteen: “Nevertheless, Subhuti, the noble son or daughter who grasps, memorizes, recites, and masters such a sutra as this and contemplates it thoroughly and explains it in detail to others will suffer their contempt, their utter contempt. And how could this be? Subhuti, the bad karma created by these beings in their past lives should result in an unfortunate rebirth. But now, by suffering such contempt, they put an end to the bad karma of their past lives and attain the enlightenment of buddhas.

  “Subhuti, I recall in the past, during the countless, infinite kalpas before Dipankara Tathagata, the Arhan, the Fully-Enlightened One, I served eighty-four hundred, thousand, million, trillion other buddhas and served them without fail. Nevertheless, Subhuti, although I served those buddhas and bhagavans and served them without fail, in the future, in the final epoch, in the final period, in the final five hundred years of the dharma-ending age, the body of merit of the person who grasps, memorizes, recites, and masters such a sutra as this and explains it in detail to others will exceed my former body of merit not by a hundredfold or a thousandfold or a hundred thousandfold or a millionfold or a hundred millionfold or a thousand millionfold or a hundred-thousand millionfold, but by an amount that cannot be measured, calculated, illustrated, characterized or even imagined. Subhuti, if I were to describe this noble son or daughter’s body of merit, the full extent of the body of merit this noble son or daughter would thereby produce and obtain, it would bewilder or disturb people’s minds. Furthermore, Subhuti, inconceivable and incomparable is this dharma teaching spoken by the Tathagata, and inconceivable is the result you should expect.”

  CHAPTER SIXTEEN

  THE MORE CONSERVATIVE of the Buddha’s followers must have viewed the teaching expressed in this chapter as radical, if not heretical. If they had difficulty accepting the perfection of wisdom, they must have ridiculed the idea that suffering on its behalf eliminates karma. Hence, it is not surprising that this teaching did not gain a large following until several centuries after the Buddha’s Nirvana. But the Buddha anticipates such rejection and transforms it into the means to enlightenment. Here, too, he goes farther than we might expect and announces that even the body of merit he himself acquired as the result of countless lifetimes of devotion cannot compare to the body of merit acquired by someone who upholds this teaching, especially if they suffer on its behalf. For by enduring such suffering, noble sons and daughters are able to bypass the additional lifetimes needed, and which Shakyamuni himself needed, to transcend the bondage and obstructions of karma and to realize enlightenment. Enduring such suffering is part of the practice of forbearance, which becomes more important as we confront the true nature of all dharmas, and which Sumedha was able to do during his meeting with Dipankara. Such revolutionary statements as these were the harbingers of what later became known as the “sudden enlightenment” school of Buddhism. But if we plant a melon seed, we get melons. And if we cultivate an inconceivable teaching, can our harvest be anything other than inconceivable?

  Chao-ming titles this: “The Capacity to Wash Away Karmic Obstructions.”

  Hui-neng says, “The retribution of as many evil deeds as the sands of the Ganges is eliminated with one thought.”

  “Nevertheless, Subhuti, the noble son or daughter who

  grasps, memorizes, recites, and masters such a sutra

  as this and contemplates it thoroughly and explains

  it in detail to others will suffer their contempt, their

  utter contempt. And how could this be? Subhuti,

  the bad karma created by these beings in their past

  lives should result in an unfortunate rebirth.

  The word karma comes from the root kri, meaning to “make” or “do,” and refers to a deed. But it also refers to the manifold consequences of a deed, even though such results may take several lifetimes to mature. According to Buddhists, karma originates from any action of the body (behavior), the mouth (speech), or the mind (thought). The collective force of these three over the course of our most recent lifetimes (the limit is said to be seven) accounts for our present condition. However, we are free to change our karma by creating new karma or to transform it by seeing it for what it is, namely, delusion without any nature of its own that is itself the result of other delusions.

  The apaya (unfortunate rebirths) mentioned by the Buddha include existence as an animal, a hungry ghost, or a sinner in one of the many hells. In this scheme, animals include the whole animal kingdom food chain, except for humans; hungry ghosts are creatures with big bellies and large appetites and mouths the size of a pin; and sinners inhabit their own myriad hells of guilt and retribution. Obviously, this scheme is not meant to be all-inclusive from a biological standpoint (the vegetable kingdom is missing). Rather, it is psychological and represents the unfortunate outcome of the Three Poisons of anger (animals), greed (hungry ghosts), and delusion (sinners). These three forms of existence are considered especially unfortunate because those who dwell in such realms can neither hear nor understand such teachings as this. But such is the power of the perfection of wisdom, it weakens, transforms, and eliminates the force of such karma, for karma only exists as long as we distinguish cause and effect, pleasure and pain, good and evil. And in the light of wisdom, all distinctions appear for what they are: delusions empty of any self-nature. Thus, while shravakas seek to bring karma to an end by bringing anger and desire to an end, bodhisattvas do so by bringing delusion to an end.

  Bodhidharma says, “The karma of the Three Realms comes from the m
ind alone. If your mind isn’t within the Three Realms, it’s beyond them. The Three Realms correspond to the Three Poisons: greed corresponds to the Realm of Desire, anger to the Realm of Form, and delusion to the Formless Realm. And because karma created by the poisons can be light or heavy, these Three Realms are further divided into six places known as the Six States of Existence.” (The Zen Teaching of Bodhidharma, p. 83)

  Yin-shun says, “Karma is the residual force of actions. Whether actions are good or bad, they depend mainly on the mind. Thus, the presence of exceptionally strong wisdom or resolution can cause karma to change. Karma means what is possible not what is predetermined. Hence, it can be transformed. Thus, Buddhism stresses past karma but does not fall into the doctrine of fatalism.”

  Thich Nhat Hanh says, “This paragraph gives us the impression that even as the Diamond Sutra was being written down, it was already being condemned by some who probably criticized these teachings as not being the original words of the Buddha.”