THE DIAMOND SUTRATHE DIAMOND SUTRA(PART 4)

By: Christine Watson

18 – Many eyes, One mind18 – Many eyes, One mind• Human eye – physical eyes• Divine eye – clairvoyance (psychic abilities)• Insight eye – insight into related teachings,

grasp the nature of ultimate reality.• Dharma eye – see the reality of all

phenomena, the wonderful, subtle relationship between true emptiness and physical existence

• Buddha eye – possessed by the Buddha only, to see all things and dharma perfectly and completely without any obstruction

19 – Money can’t buy “True” 19 – Money can’t buy “True” HappinessHappiness

• How happy would you be if someone gave you a huge amount of money?

• What would your thoughts be when the “fun” was over? Can you sustain that happiness?

• There are no-merits gained with an act of generosity. The merit is great because of the non-existence of merit.

• It adds to the richness of your being and elevates your spiritual vibration and capacity to hold the light of God.

20 – Apart from Forms20 – Apart from Forms

• Perfectly formed body

• Perfectly formed physiognomy (the outward appearance of anything, taken as offering some insight into its character)

21 – Spoken yet not Spoken21 – Spoken yet not Spoken

• There is no teaching, just expression of Truth

• Truth is only expressed so that the Truth within you may recognize it.

• Nothing to say, speaks volumes

• Living beings and non-living beings

22 – No Dharma can be Attained22 – No Dharma can be Attained

• So, Subhuti is just making sure that he understands.

• Attaining something means that you either never had it or lost it.

• You have the Truth within you and it is up to you to discover it. You cannot attain what you already have (Buddha-nature), it is the hidden treasure waiting to be discovered.

23 – Wholesome Actions23 – Wholesome Actions

• The fruit (benefit) of the highest, most fulfilled awakened mind is realized through wholesome actions in the spirit of non-self, non-person, non-living being, and non-life span.

• The language shifted a little, from no-self to non-self

• Thinking in terms of no-self you may get trapped into dualistic thinking of the opposite of a self.

24 - Blessing and Wisdom24 - Blessing and Wisdom• Sumeru is a Sanskrit word which means

"wonderfully high". • We know generosity brings blessings• But being able to accept, practice and

explain even four lines, the blessings and virtues is uncountable and indescribable.

• The Diamond Sutra expresses the importance of not attaching to anything. If we practice giving with any thought of ourselves or what we may gain, our resulting virtue is small and limited.

25 - Transformation without what 25 - Transformation without what is Transformedis Transformed

• When the Buddha rescues living beings, it is really the living beings who rescue themselves.

• The existence of self refers to the false self

• Ordinary people take the false self as true, but the Tathagata sees no ordinary people but the True nature within

• Therefore, what is referred to as ordinary people are not ordinary people, just called ordinary people (current state of being)

• 32 marks of existence (ways to recognize the Buddha)

• 32 are the specific marks (physical attributes) of the Buddha believed to be the blessings of past life cultivations

• In Subhuti’s confusion, the same question he answered right (section 13) he now answers incorrectly

• Do not use physical or even metaphysical images (form) to see the Tathagata

26 – Dharma Body Has No Marks26 – Dharma Body Has No Marks

• Do not cut yourself off from the world and everything in it

• Just because all phenomena in the physical world is illusion and empty, does not mean it has no value and are unnecessary

• There is a shift of perception.

• Things in this world shift from attachment, to enemy, to non-existent, to mirror, to God.

27 – Not Cut Off and Not 27 – Not Cut Off and Not ExtinguishedExtinguished

• A bodhisattva does not need to build up virtues or merits.

• There is no “ideas” of virtues or merits in a bodhisattva

• “understood and wholeheartedly accepted the truth that all dharmas are of a selfless nature and is able to live and bear fully this truth.”

• A bodhisattva give rise to virtue

28 – No Need, No Greed28 – No Need, No Greed

• The meaning of Tathagata is ‘does not come from anywhere and does not go anywhere’

• The Eighth Consciousness perceives a coming and a going

• 9 Consciousness Levels: Touch, Taste, Sight, Hearing, Smell, Conscious Mind, Sub Conscious/Limited Egoistic Self, Karma (storehouse of cause and effect), Buddha Nature

29 – Tathagata pervades All29 – Tathagata pervades All

• Subhuti displays his understanding of the language of prajnaparamita (transcendental wisdom)

• Common language

• The minds tendency to label and categorize

• What something is called is just a conventional way of speaking, don’t get caught up in them as being ‘real’ (The Matrix)

30 – Conventional Way of 30 – Conventional Way of SpeakingSpeaking

• Views are discriminations of one's mind, which one becomes attached to.

• External marks are easy to discard, views are more subtle attachments.

• Buddha only spoke of the views from a standpoint of common truth. Actual truth, there are no views. (Both are truth)

• All Dharmas should be seen this way as well.

31 – Neither Knowing nor Seeing 31 – Neither Knowing nor Seeing is Producedis Produced

• The views, beliefs, and perceptions one holds onto are there to assist one’s awakening.

• Things are as they are, until they are not.

• You cannot “learn” to see your Buddha-nature.

• The more you know, the more you realize you don’t know! Be humble and learn from everyone! If they didn’t have something to teach you, they wouldn’t be there.

31 – Neither Knowing nor Seeing 31 – Neither Knowing nor Seeing is Producedis Produced

• Diamond Sutra breaks up attachments to false views, one by one.

• Building up and tearing down process

• Everything is conditioned Dharma : physical self, ego self, merits, Heaven, Enlightenment

• God is Truth, Truth has no form.

• Everything is designed for us to see the Truth. Truth = God. When you see God in you, there is no YOU, only GOD.

32 – All Composed Things Are A 32 – All Composed Things Are A DreamDream

• "Life is not the cutting-off and the ending-up of something. It is actually the flowing and turning of a series of interrelated causes-within-consequences and consequences-within-causes. Truth cultivation can make people detach from the past and create the future. It can make people change their views of life and stop blaming Heaven and resenting people. Then, one will seek only to overcome the ego or the self one day, and realize that all things are essentially empty."

Conclusion – Ji-Gong saysConclusion – Ji-Gong says

Questions?Questions?