16 May 2004: Reading The Diamond-Cutter Sutra (1)

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Buddhist Hour
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Buddhist Hour Script 329 for Sunday 16 May 2004

This script is entitled: Reading The Diamond-Cutter Sutra

Today we would like to offer you one of the teachings provided at our Centre - the Diamond Cutter Sutra taught by the Buddha Shakyamuni.

We pay our deepest respect and send our heartfelt gratitude to Geshe Michael Roach and the entire lineage of Teachers extending back to the Buddha Shakyamuni, for providing this excellent teaching and the means for us to receive this teaching.

This teaching is Course VI of The Asian Classics Institute's Correspondence Courses. Taught by Geshe Michael Roach, it is a complete Study Course consisting of the audio recordings from the original class series held in New York USA, along with the supporting materials from each class. The entire course may be downloaded from the web site address www.world-view.org

We commenced this course on 7 May 2004 and study one class a week, each Friday evening from 8:00pm onwards. The course has eleven classes.

We would like to read the English translation of the Diamond-Cutter Sutra to you, which we will read in parts over three weeks. Today is the first day of the reading of this sutra. Please listen in for the next two weeks to hear the complete sutra.

We request the blessings of the Buddha Lineage holders for the Diamond Cutter Sutra so that we may come to fully understand the Sutra.

The Buddha Lineage holders are:

Buddha
Maitreya 500BC
Manjushri 500BC
Asanga 350AD
Nagajuna 200AD
Haribhadra 800AD
Chandrakirti 650AD
Suvarnadripa 1000AD (lived in Indonesia)
Atisha 982 - 1054AD
Drompton Je 1005 - 1054AD
Geshe Drolungpa 1100AD
Je Tsong Kapa 1357 - 1419
Ngawang Drakpa C.1410
Gyaltsab Je 1364 - 1432
Kedrup Je 1365 - 1430
His Holiness The 3rd Dalai Lama 1543 - 1588
The 1st Panchen Lama 1567 - 1662
His Holiness The 5th Dalai Lama 1617 - 1682
The 2nd Panchen Lama 1663 - 1737
Pabonka Rinpoche 1878 - 1941
Kyabje Trijang Rinpoche 1901 - 1981
His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama 1935 -
Khen Rinpoche Geshe Lobsang Tharchin 1921 -
Geshe Michael Roach 1952 -

This Sutra is spoken by the Buddha answering questions put to Him by Subhuti, a junior Monk who lived at the time of the Buddha.

We begin with the prayer that is done at the start of each teaching.

Offering The Mandala

Here is the great Earth,
Filled with the smell of incense,
Covered with a blanket of flowers,

The Great Mountain,
The Four Continents,
Wearing a jewel,
Of the Sun, and Moon.

In my mind I make them
The Paradise of a Buddha,
And offer it all to You.

By this deed
May every living being
Experience
The Pure World.

Idam guru ratna mandalakam niryatayami.

Refuge and The Wish

I go for refuge
To the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha
Until I achieve enlightenment.

By the power
Of the goodness that I do
In giving and the rest,

May I reach Buddhahood
For the sake
Of every living being

Dedication of the Goodness of a deed

By the goodness
Of what I have just done
May all beings

Complete the collection
Of merit and wisdom,

And thus gain the two
Ultimate bodies
That merit and wisdom make.

A Buddhist Grace

I offer this
To the Teacher
Higher than any other,
The precious Buddha.

I offer this
to the protection
Higher than any other,
The precious Dharma.

I offer this
To the guides
Higher than any other,
The precious Sangha.

I offer this
To the places of refuge,
To the Three jewels,
Rare and supreme.

Here begins the Diamond Cutter Sutra.

In the language of India, this teaching is called the Arya Vajra Chedaka Nama Prajnya Paramita Mahayana Sutra.
In the language of Tibet, it is called the Pakpa Sherab Kyi Paroltu Chinpa Dorje Chupa Shejawa Tekpa Chenpoy Do.
[In the English language, it is called An Exalted Sutra of the Greater Way on the Perfection of Wisdom, entitled "The Diamond Cutter."]

***

I bow down to all Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

These words once I heard. The Conqueror was residing at Shravasti, in the park of Anatapindada in the gardens of Prince Jeta. In convocation with him was a great gathering of 1,250 monks who were listeners, as well as an immense number of bodhisattvas who were great beings.

***

In the morning then the Conqueror donned his monk's robes and outer shawl, took up his sage's bowl, and entered the great city of Shravasti for requesting his meal. After collecting the food, he returned from the city and partook of it. When he had finished eating he put away his bowl and shawl, for he was a person who had given up eating in the latter part of the day. Lord Buddha then washed his feet and seated himself on a cushion that had been set forth for him. He crossed his legs in the full lotus position, straightened his back, and placed his thoughts into a state of contemplation.

Then a great number of monks advanced towards the Conqueror and, when they had reached his side, bowed and touched their heads to his feet. They circled him in respect three times, and seated themselves to one side. At this point the junior monk Subhuti was with this same group of disciples, and took his seat with them.

***

Then the junior monk Subhuti rose from his cushion, dropped the corner of his upper robe from one shoulder in a gesture of respect, and knelt with his right knee to the ground. He faced the Conqueror, joined his palms at his heart, and bowed. Then he beseeched the Conqueror, in the following words:

O Conqueror, the Buddha, the One Gone Thus, the Destroyer of the Foe, the Totally Enlightened One has given much beneficial instruction to the bodhisattvas who are great beings. All the instruction he has ever given has been of benefit. And the One Gone Thus, the Destroyer of the Foe, the Totally Enlightened One, has as well instructed these bodhisattvas who are great beings by granting them clear direction. All the clear direction he has ever granted, o Conqueror, has been a wondrous thing. It is, o Conqueror, a wondrous thing.

***

And now, o Conquering One, what of those who have entered well into the way of the bodhisattva? How shall they live? How shall they practice? How should they keep their thoughts?

This did Subhuti ask, and then the Conqueror spoke the following words, in reply to Subhuti's question:
O Subhuti, it is good, it is good. O Subhuti, thus it is, and thus is it: the One Thus Gone has indeed done benefit to the bodhisattvas who are great beings, by granting them beneficial instruction. The One Thus Gone has indeed given clear direction to the bodhisattvas who are great beings, by granting them the clearest of instruction.

***

And since it is so, o Subhuti, listen now to what I speak, and be sure that it stays firmly in your heart, for I shall reveal to you how it is that those who have entered well into the way of the bodhisattva should live, and how they should practice, and how they should keep their thoughts.

"Thus shall I do," replied the junior monk Subhuti, and he sat to listen as instructed by the Conqueror. The Conqueror too then began, with the following words:

***

Subhuti, this is how those who have entered well into the way of the bodhisattva must think to themselves as they feel the Wish to achieve enlightenment:
I will bring to nirvana the total amount of living beings, every single one numbered among the ranks of living kind: those who were born from eggs, those who were born from a womb, those who were born through warmth and moisture, those who were born miraculously, those who have a physical form, those with none, those with conceptions, those with none, and those with neither conceptions nor no conceptions. However many living beings there are, in whatever realms there may be, anyone at all labelled with the name of "living being," all these will I bring to total nirvana, to the sphere beyond all grief, where none of the parts of the person are left at all. Yet even if I do manage to bring this limitless number of living beings to total nirvana, there will be no living being at all who was brought to their total nirvana.

Why is it so? Because, Subhuti, if a bodhisattva were to slip into conceiving of someone as a living being, then we could never call them a "bodhisattva.”

***

Why is it so? Because, o Subhuti, if anyone were to slip into conceiving of someone as a living being, or as something that lives, or as a person, then we could never call them a "bodhisattva.”

And I say, o Subhuti, that a bodhisattva performs the act of giving without staying in things. They perform the act of giving without staying in any object at all. They perform the act of giving without staying in things that you see. They perform the act of giving without staying in sounds, and without staying in smells, or tastes, or things that you touch, or in objects of the thought.

O Subhuti, bodhisattvas perform the act of giving without conceiving of any thing in any way as a sign. That is how they give.

***

Why is it so? Think, o Subhuti, of the mountains of merit collected by any bodhisattva who performs the act of giving without staying. This merit, o Subhuti, is not something that you could easily ever measure.

O Subhuti, what do you think? Would it be easy to measure the space to the east of us?
And Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, it would not.
The Conqueror said,
And just so, would it be easy to measure the space in any of the main directions to the south of us, or to the west of us, or to the north of us, or above us, or below us or in any of the other directions from us? Would it be easy to measure the space to any of the ten directions from where we now stand?

**

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
Conqueror, it would not.
Then the Conqueror said:
And just so, Subhuti, it would be no easy thing to measure the mountains of merit collected by any bodhisattva who performs the act of giving without staying.

Now Subhuti, what do you think? Should we consider someone to be One Thus Gone, just because they possess the totally exquisite marks that we find on a Buddha's body?

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
Oh Conquering One, we should not. We should not consider anyone One Thus Gone just because they possess the totally exquisite marks that we find on a Buddha's body. And why not? Because when the One Thus Gone himself described the totally exquisite marks on a Buddha's body, he stated at the same time that they were impossible.

***

And then the Conqueror spoke to the junior monk Subhuti again, as follows:
O Subhuti, what do you think? The totally exquisite marks on a Buddha's body, as such, are deceptive. The totally exquisite marks on a Buddha's body are also not deceptive, but only insofar as they do not exist. And so you should see the One Thus Gone as having no marks, no marks at all.

Thus did the Conqueror speak. And then the junior monk Subhuti replied to the Conquering One, as follows:
O Conqueror, what will happen in the future, in the days of the last five hundred, when the holy Dharma is approaching its final destruction? How could anyone of those times ever see accurately the meaning of the explanations given in sutras such as this one?

***

And the Conqueror replied,
Subhuti, you should never ask the question you have just asked: "What will happen in the future, in the days of the last five hundred, when the Dharma is approaching its final destruction? How could anyone of those times ever see accurately the meaning of the explanations given in sutras such as this one?”

I say to you, o Subhuti, that in the future, in the days of the last five hundred, when the holy Dharma is approaching its final destruction, there will come bodhisattvas who are great beings, who possess morality, who possess the fine quality, and who possess wisdom.
And these bodhisattvas who are great beings, o Subhuti, will not be ones who have rendered honor but to a single Buddha, or who have collected stores of virtue with a single Buddha. Instead, o Subhuti, they will be ones who have rendered honor to many hundreds of thousands of Buddhas, and who have collected stores of virtue with many hundreds of thousands of Buddhas. Such are the bodhisattvas, the great beings, who then will come.

***

Suppose, o Subhuti, that a person reaches even just a single feeling of faith for the words of a sutra such as this one. The One Thus Gone, Subhuti, knows any such person. The One Thus Gone, Subhuti, sees any such person. Such a person, o Subhuti, has produced, and gathered safely into themselves, a mountain of merit beyond any calculation.

Why is it so? Because, Subhuti, these bodhisattvas who are great beings never slip into any conception of something as a self, nor do they slip into any conception of something as a living being, nor any conception of something as being alive, nor any conception of something as a person.

Subhuti, these bodhisattvas who are great beings neither slip into any conception of things as things, nor do they slip into any conception of things as not being things. They neither slip into any conception of a thought as a conception, nor do they slip into any conception of a thought as not being a conception.

***

Why is it so? Because if, Subhuti, these bodhisattvas who are great beings were to slip into any conception of things as things, then they would grasp these same things as being a "self"; they would grasp them as being a living being; they would grasp them as being something that lives; they would grasp them as a person.

And even if they were to slip into thinking of them as not being things, that too they would grasp as being a "self"; and as being a living being; and as being something that lives; and as being a person.

Why is it so? Because, Subhuti, the bodhisattvas never hold the Dharma in the wrong way either. Nor do they hold what is not the Dharma. This then is what the One Thus Gone meant when he said:
Those who understand that this presentation of the Dharma is like a ship leave even these teachings of Dharma behind. What need then is there
to mention what they do with that which is not the Dharma?

***

And the Conqueror said these words as well to the junior monk Subhuti:
Subhuti, what do you think? Is there any such thing as an enlightenment where Those Gone Thus reach some incomparable, perfect, and total Buddhahood? And does the One Thus Gone ever teach any Dharma at all?

Then the junior monk Subhuti replied to the Conqueror, in the following words:
O Conqueror, as far as I can catch the thrust of what the Conqueror has spoken thus far, then I would have to say that it is impossible for there to be any such thing as an enlightenment where Those Gone Thus could ever reach some incomparable, perfect, and total enlightenment. And it is impossible as well for there to be any such thing as a Dharma that the One Thus Gone could ever teach.

***

And why is this the case? Because it is impossible for there to be any such thing as an enlightenment which the One Thus Gone reached, or a Dharma which he taught, which could ever be held. It is impossible for there to be any such thing that could ever be described. And this is because it is neither true that these things exist, nor that it is impossible for them to exist. And why is that? Because these persons who are realized beings distinguish all these things, perfectly, through that which is unproduced.

And once more the Conqueror spoke:
O Subhuti, what do you think? Suppose some son or daughter of noble family were to take all the planets of this great world system, a system with a thousand of a thousand of a thousand planets, and cover them with the seven kinds of precious substances, and offer them to someone. Would that son or daughter of noble family create many great mountains of merit from such a deed?

***

Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, many would it be. O You who have Gone to Bliss, it would be many. This son or daughter of noble family would indeed create many great mountains of merit from such a deed. And why is it so? Because, o Conqueror, these same great mountains of merit are great mountains of merit that could never exist. And for this very reason do the Ones Gone Thus speak of "great mountains of merit, great mountains of merit.”

***

And then the Conqueror said,
Suppose, o Subhuti, that some son or daughter of noble family were to take all the planets of this great world system, a system with a thousand of a thousand of a thousand planets, and cover them all with the seven kinds of precious substances, and offer them to someone. Suppose on the other hand that anyone held but a single verse of four lines from this particular presentation of the Dharma, and explained it to others, and taught it correctly. By doing the latter, a person would create many more great mountains of merit than with the former: the mountains of their merit would be countless, and beyond all calculation.

***

Why is it so? Because, Subhuti, this is where the matchless and totally perfect enlightenment of the Ones Thus Gone, the Destroyers of the Foe, the Totally Enlightened Buddhas, comes from. It is from this as well that the Buddhas, the Conquerors, are born.

Why is it so? Because, o Subhuti, these qualities of an Enlightened Being-what we call the "qualities of an Enlightened Being-are qualities of an Enlightened Being which Those Gone Thus have said could never even exist. And that in fact is why we can speak of the "qualities of an Enlightened Being.”

Now Subhuti, what do you think? Do those who have entered the stream ever think to themselves, "Now I have attained the goal of entering the stream"?

***

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, they do not. And why is it so? It is, o Conqueror, because it would be impossible for them to enter anything at all. And this is precisely why we can even speak of a "stream enterer.”

They neither enter into things that you can see, nor into words, nor into smells, nor into tastes, nor into things you can touch, nor into objects of the thought. And this again is precisely why we can saw they have "entered the stream".

And if it happened, o Conqueror, that a stream-enterer were to think to themselves, "I have attained the goal of entering the stream," then they would begin to grasp to some self in it. And they would begin to grasp to a living being, and to something that lives, and to a person.

***

Then the Conqueror spoke again:
What, o Subhuti, do you think? Do those who are to return but once ever think to themselves, "Now I have achieved the goal of returning but once"?

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, they do not. And why is it so? Because it is impossible for there ever to be any such state, of having reached the point of needing to return but once. And this is precisely why we can speak of someone who needs to return but once.

And once again did the Conqueror speak:
Subhuti, what do you think? Do those who need never return at all ever think to themselves, "Now I have achieved the goal of never having to return at all"?

***

Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, they do not. And why is it so? Because it is impossible for there ever to be any such state, of having reached the point of never needing to return at all. And this is precisely why we can speak of someone who need never return at all.

And the Conqueror said,
Subhuti, what do you think? Do those who have destroyed the foe ever think to themselves, "Now I have achieved the state of destroying the foe"?

***

To this Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, they do not. And why is it so? Because it is impossible for there ever to be any such state, of having destroyed the foe. For suppose, o Conqueror, that such a destroyer of the foe were to think to themselves, "Now I have achieved the state of destroying the foe." They again would then begin to grasp to some self in it. And they would begin to grasp to a living being and to something that lives, and to a person.

O Conqueror, I declare that the Ones Thus Gone-those Destroyers of the Foe who are the Totally Enlightened Buddhas-reside in the highest of all those states that are free of the mental afflictions. And I am, o Conqueror, a person who is free of desire; I am a Foe Destroyer.

***

But I do not, o Conqueror, think to myself, "I am a Destroyer of the Foe." For suppose, o Conqueror, that I did think to myself, "I have attained the state of a Foe Destoyer." If I did think this way, then the One Thus Gone could never have given me the final prediction: he could never have said:
"Oh son of noble family, oh Subhuti, you will reach the highest of all those states that are free of the mental afflictions. Because you stay in no state at all, you have reached the state free of mental afflictions; you have reached what we call the 'state free of mental afflictions.'”

And then the Conqueror spoke yet again:
O Subhuti, what do you think? Was there anything at all which the One Thus Gone ever received from that One Thus Gone, the Destroyer of the Foe, the Perfectly Enlightened Buddha called "Maker of Light"?

***

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, there was not. There exists nothing at all which the One Thus Gone received from that One Thus Gone, the Destroyer of the Foe, the Perfectly Enlightened Buddha called "Maker of Light."

Then the Conqueror spoke once more,
Suppose, o Subhuti, that some bodhisattva were to say, "I am working to bring about my paradise." This would not be spoken true.

Why is it so? Because the Ones Thus Gone have stated that these paradises, what we call "paradises," these lands that we work to create, do not even exist. And this is precisely why we can even call them "paradise.”

***

Since this is so, o Subhuti, those bodhisattvas who are great beings develop their wish without staying in these thoughts. They develop their wish without staying in anything at all. They develop their wish without staying in anything you can see. They develop their wish without staying either in sounds, nor in smells, nor in tastes, nor in things you can touch, nor in objects of the thought.

O Subhuti, it is thus: Suppose, for example, that someone's body were to grow this large-suppose it were to grow as large as the king of all mountains, Mt. Sumeru. What do you think, Subhuti? Would that person's body be large?

***

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, such a body would be large. O you who have Gone to Bliss, such a body would be large. And why so? Because Those Gone Thus have stated that it could never be a thing at all. And this is precisely why we can even speak of a "body." Because Those Gone Thus have stated that it could never be a thing at all, we call it a "large body."

And again did the Conqueror speak:
O Subhuti, what do you think? Suppose you counted every drop of water in the Ganges River, and then had exactly that many Ganges Rivers. Would the number of drops in this many Ganges Rivers be very many?

***

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, if the amount of drops in just this one Ganges River is so great, then who need mention the amount of drops in so very many Ganges Rivers?

Then the Conqueror said,
O Subhuti, try to imagine it. Try to comprehend it. Think now of a mass of planets equal in number to the number of drops in all these Ganges Rivers. And then imagine that some son or daughter of noble family has come and covered all of them with the seven kinds of precious substances, and then gone and made a gift of these planets to the One Gone Thus, to the Destroyer of the Foe, the Totally Enlightened One, the Buddha.

What do you think, Subhuti? Would they create much merit from such a deed?

***

Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, many would it be. O you who have Gone to Bliss, it would be many. This son or daughter of noble family would indeed create much merit from such a deed.

And the Conqueror said,
Yes Subhuti, suppose that someone did do this: suppose they did take all these planets, and cover them with the seven kinds of precious substances, and offer them as a gift to the One Gone Thus, the Destroyer of the Foe, the Totally Enlightened One, the Buddha. And now suppose that someone else held but a single verse of four lines from this particular presentation of the Dharma, and explained it to others, and taught it correctly. This second person would create much more merit from their action; their merit would be countless, and beyond all calculation.

***

And I say to you further, o Subhuti: any place where even just a single verse of four lines from his particular presentation of the Dharma is read out loud, or has ever before been read out loud, thereby becomes a stupa, a place where the entire world, along with its gods, and men, and demigods, can come and pay them honor.

And if this is so, then there is no need to say that any person who takes up this particular presentation of the Dharma, or who holds it, or reads it, or comprehends it, or thinks of it in the proper way, thereby becomes someone who is truly wondrous. And this is because we can then say that the Teacher himself is in that place, as is every other spiritual teacher who has ever lived.

Thus did the Buddha speak.

And then the junior monk Subhuti addressed the following words, with great respect, to the Conqueror:
O Conqueror, what is the name of this particular presentation of the Dharma? How are we to consider it?

***

Then the Conqueror spoke the following to the junior monk Subhuti:
Subhuti, this particular presentation of the Dharma is known as the "perfection of wisdom," and that is how you should consider it.

Why is it so? Because, o Subhuti, that same perfection of wisdom spoken by the Ones Thus Gone is a perfection of wisdom that doesn't even exist. And this is precisely why we can call it the "perfection of wisdom.”

O Subhuti, what do you think? Is there any dharma at all which the Ones Thus Gone ever speak?

And Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, none of the dharmas ever spoken by the Ones Thus Gone exists at all.

***

And the Conqueror spoke again:

O Subhuti, what do you think? If we took all the atoms of dust that exist in all the planets of the great world system-a system with a thousand of a thousand of a thousand planets-would that be a great many atoms of dust?

Subhuti respectfully replied,
O Conqueror, it would indeed be a great many atoms of dust. O One who has Gone to Bliss, a great many would that be.

And why is it so? Because, o Conqueror, the Ones Gone Thus have stated that whatever atoms of dust there may be are atoms of dust that could never exist. And this is precisely why we can speak of them as "atoms of dust.”

***

Here ends our reading of The Diamond Cutter Sutra from pages 1 through 61 of the leaf version.

We will continue our reading of this sutra over three weeks, in a total of three parts.

May you come to see emptiness.
May you come to full enlightenment and Buddhahood for the sake of all sentient beings.
May you be well and happy.
May all beings be well and happy.

Today's Buddhist Hour Broadcast script was prepared by Anita M. Hughes, Julian Bamford, Julie O'Donnell, Evelin Halls and Leanne Eames.

Next week on the Buddhist Hour we will continue with the second part of the reading of the Diamond Cutter Sutra.

Reference

The Diamond-Cutter Sutra. Course VI. Level 1 of Middle way philosophy (Madhyamika) The Asian Classics Institute. Taught by Geshe Michael Roach New York USA online at www.world-view.org.

"Diamond Cutter Sutra" An Exalted Sutra of the Greater Way on the Perfection of Wisdom.

Translation of this sutra from Sanskrit into Tibetan, and its update into the newer translation standard, were completed by the Indian master Shilendra Bodhi and Yeshe De. The translation from Tibetan into English was completed by the American Geshe Lobsang Chunzin, Michael Roach, with the assistance of the American woman with lifetime vows, Christine McNally, in the gardens of Prince Jeta, during the opening days of the third millennium after Christ.

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