Segment 6 / The Rare and Precious Faith
Subhūti asked the Buddha, “World-Honored One, are there beings who, upon hearing these words and phrases, will develop true faith?”
The Buddha replied to Subhūti, “Do not speak in such a way. After the Tathāgata’s passing, in the last five hundred years that follow, there will be individuals who observe precepts and practice virtue, and when they hear these words and phrases, they will generate faith and accept them as true. You should understand that these individuals have not cultivated good roots with only one, two, three, four, or five Buddhas, but with countless thousands of Buddhas. Upon hearing these words and phrases, they will generate even a single thought of pure faith. Subhūti, the Tathāgata knows and perceives all of these beings, and they will accumulate immeasurable virtues. Why is this so? Because such beings are free from the concepts of “Self, person,” sentient being, and “lifespan”; they are also free from the forms of dharma and non-dharma. Why is this? Because if these beings’ minds attach to forms, they will attach to the forms of Self, person, sentient being, and lifespan. If they attach to the forms of dharma, they attach to the forms of “Self, person”, “sentient being”, and “lifespan”, if they attach to the forms of non-dharma, they are still attach to the forms of “Self, person”, “sentient being” and “lifespan”. Therefore, one should not cling to the forms of dharma, nor to the forms of non-dharma. For this reason, the Tathāgata often says: ‘Monks, you should know that the Dharma I teach is like a raft to cross a river; the raft should be abandoned after crossing the river, and even more so, non-Dharma should be abandoned.’
The core of this Segment is as follows: Earlier, the Buddha explained that a practitioner seeking the unsurpassed, complete equal and complete awareness of Buddhahood should not become attached to forms when making vows, giving alms, or perceiving Tathāgata through physical body. He emphasised that all forms are illusory and not real. The practitioner, therefore, must remain grounded in this understanding and approach the Bodhisattva path with this view. By doing so, the practitioner will swiftly break time and space, all body and mind obstacles of internal and external, and return to self-nature, the Tathāgata.
At this point, Subhūti expresses concern that, after the Buddha’s Nirvana, whether future generations will believe and practice it after hearing such teachings. The Buddha reassures Subhūti, telling him not to worry. Even after his Nirvana, during the last five hundred years in which the Buddha’s teachings will remain in the world, there will be individuals who will develop faith on such words and phrases, believe such teaching is real and reliable, and accept it as right perception for awaking.
What is this kind of people? These individuals are those who uphold the precepts and accumulate virtues. Buddha explains that these people will not only have accumulated merit and plant the seeds of kindness, in the presence of one, two, three, four, or five Buddhas, but have accumulated merit over countless lifetimes in the presence of innumerable Buddhas. The Buddha further predicts that if someone in the future hears these teachings and experiences even a single moment of pure, right faith, the merit they gain will be as vast as that accumulated by those who have long practiced good deeds to accumulated virtues and plant the seeds of kindness, across countless lifetimes.
The Buddha explains that even though these beings may not have rigorously followed the precepts or engaged in extensive acts of virtues and giving alms, However, if they experience a single calm moment of pure and right faith. They have already transcended attachments to the concepts of “Self,” person “sentient beings,” and “lifespan”, nor attached to the notions of “Dharma” or “non-Dharma.” In this fleeting moment of pure faith, they accumulate immense merit.
The individuals the Buddha refers to here include us, who is reading the Diamond Sutra at this moment. Over two thousand six hundred years ago, the Buddha mentioned about us, an prophesied that our merit would be vast. Because our engagement with these teachings is not merely an intellectual belief; we are also actively practicing and realizing them according such teachings. Thus, the concern raised by Subhūti, that future generations might not believe or practice these teachings, is unnecessary.
In this section, several key concepts require clarification. The original text states: If these beings ’minds attach to forms, they will attach to the forms of Self, person, sentient being, and lifespan. If they attach to the forms of Dharma, they still attach to forms of Self, person, sentient being, and lifespan. if they attach to the forms of non-Dharma, they attach to Self, person, sentient being, and lifespan. Therefore, one should not cling to the forms of Dharma, nor to the forms of non-Dharma.
Here, the Buddha repeatedly mentioned that “any attachments of minds”, “Attachment to Dharma or Non-Dharma” are all mistakes.
What is the attachments with the mind? Attachments with the mind includes all previous contents talked by Buddha, that is not clinging to anything in practicing, such as not attaching anything in liberating sentient beings, in giving alms, in realizing self-nature etc.
Let us further clarify this using a few examples of daily life. For instance, when you overhear someone speaking ill of you, and this provokes feelings of anger and resentment, this is an example of attachments with the mind. If we interpret it literally, it means that you taking the words and mentally internalize the insult. At that moment, you perceive both yourself and the other person and that speaking, as true and real. Even if you don’t outwardly react, internally, you may carry the emotional weight of the situation. In truth, there is no need to hold on to such an insult; why treat it as if it were something precious and keep it in your mind, allowing it to affect you for three or four days?
Some people says, I will contemplate it as emptiness, then they will keep those insulting words firmly in mind, and sit on meditation cushion, visualize them self, the person insulting them, and those insulting words as bubble in the mind, visualize it as emptiness, as dreams. However, he will realizes that even he can visualize it as bubble, emptiness or even a dream, all of this are still making them suffering bitterly. Actually, the real contemplating of emptiness, is not affected by anything, let the mind abide in a unmoving state of suchness, this is the initial stage of practicing emptiness.
During Buddha’s time, one day, a person approached the Buddha while He was meditating and insulted Him for an extended period. Once the person stopped, the Buddha calmly opened His eyes and asked: “I have a question for you. If someone offers a gift to another, and the recipient refuses to accept it, to whom should the gift be returned?” The person responded, “The gift should be returned to the giver.” The Buddha then said, “The words you just spoke, I did not accept, so I now have returned them to you.”
More examples for this, some individuals plan to undertake tasks in the future, but even while engaged in their daily activities—whether walking, sitting, lying down, or sleeping—they constantly ruminate on those tasks, thinking to themselves, “I haven’t completed that yet.” Even when their bodies are at rest, their minds remain unsettled, and they may even wake up in the middle of a dream, preoccupied with thoughts of that unfinished tasks. This is the “attachments with the mind.” They are unable to focus on the task at hand, nor can they fully release their concerns during time of rest.
Similarly, with the pervasive use of the internet, individuals can encounter an overwhelming amount of negative information on various platforms. If this information resonates with their past experiences or personal history, they may come to believe in its truth more readily. Over time, their minds become inundated with such “garbage” information, leading to unnecessary mental fatigue, and possibly even feelings of depression and discouragement. The most detrimental effect, however, is not merely the emotional distress; when a person’s mind is overwhelmed with negativity and they fail to focus on accumulating positive karmic actions, they begin to perceive only the flaws in others and hear only harsh words around them. They may become irritable, critical, and eventually fall into vicious cycle of self-blame and agitation. This negative mindset severely disrupts their relationships, career, and let alone their practice.
There is a friend who is kind-hearted and righteous, found her temperament worsening due to an overabundance of negative information filling her mind, as well as an inability to detach from future concerns. Her relationships with her parents and family became increasingly strained. In an attempt to improve her situation, she turned to the study of Confucianism, believing that her inability to be a good daughter or wife was due to a lack of filial piety. However, the real issue was that she had not addressed the mental burden she had accumulated. Without clearing this mental clutter, she became overwhelmed and exhausted, unable to perform her duties effectively. Had she simply adjusted her mindset, she would not have needed teachings of any saints. With her inherent integrity and kindness, she would naturally fulfil her roles as a filial daughter and a responsible wife. This, too, is the attachments with the mind.
If we understand the principle of not “ to attach with the mind” and approach what we see, hear, and experience with a mind that remains calmly and unmovable —without clinging or discriminating—even negative information will not transform into harmful energy that disrupts our life or practice. Now, what does it mean to “attach to the Dharma” or to the “non-Dharma”?
From the Buddha’s highest perspective, the true nature of all sentient beings is Buddha. Our perception of ourselves as ordinary beings arises because we cling to various forms, mistakenly believing that both the self and the phenomena within space and time are true and real. Our minds are continually influenced by these situations, concepts, and definitions, so we live like a dream within illusion. As the Buddha stated, “Sentient beings ’minds are illusory, and they depend on the illusory to perish.” Therefore, the purpose of the Buddha’s teachings is to help us let go of attachment and discrimination, allowing us to awaken from this illusory dream. The teachings themselves are also illusory in nature; they are mere expedient means, tools we temporarily rely upon to transcend attachment. However, some practitioners misunderstand the true intent of the Buddha’s teachings and treat the Dharma as a fixed body of knowledge or theory, cling to and discriminate about it. They come to believe that there is a concrete Dharma to be learned, to be obtained, and a Buddha to be attained—this is the attachment of Dharma.” This tendency is particularly common among sentient beings in the present age of the degenerate Dharma.
To illustrate this, consider the following imperfect example: imagine a person who is trying to reach a particular destination but is uncertain of the way. He asks the Buddha for directions, and the Buddha tells him to go east. To assist his memory, the Buddha even draws a map for him, showing possible detours along the way. Despite this guidance, the person does not proceed eastward but instead remains in place, excitedly proclaiming, “This is the correct view! The Buddha is truly remarkable. How could the Buddha know all these things while I do not? What makes the Buddha different from me? How does the Buddha know this? This is such important guidance; I must memorize it!”
If this person continues to circle in place, forming various views in his mind without ever proceeding eastward only think that this is the treasure from Buddha, the Buddha’s guidance becomes meaningless to this person. Furthermore, the Buddha’s instructions were specifically tailored for him. If, on the following day, a monkey or a sea turtle were to ask for directions, the Buddha might provide a different route, perhaps a mountain path or a sea journey. If it were a bird, the directions might lead upward, toward the sky. Hence, the Dharma does not prescribe a fixed path.
Every teaching the Buddha offers is designed to help individuals relinquish doubt, eliminate blind spots, and, once they have understood, immediately let go of attachment and act upon that understanding. Just as the person in the example should have immediately headed east not to waste the earnest guidance of the Buddha, Otherwise, that map is meaningless.
Similarly, if someone study and practice the Buddha’s teachings, but treat them as theoretical knowledge or something to be revered, even they believe that they received the highest teaching, while failing to relinquish even the smallest desire or attachment and neglecting the practice of the Bodhisattva path, this is that they cling to the “form of the Dharma”, such kind of practice has no way to achieve the ultimate goal— the unsurpassed, complete equal and compete awareness.
Conversely, if a being hears the Buddha says, All beings are inherently Buddhas, the Dharma is illusory, and all phenomena are illusory and unreal, and then believes that practice nothing, attain nothing, no more listening to the Dharma teaching, refrain from cultivating virtue, and no fear of cause and effect, under the assumption that everything should unfold naturally to lead to unsurpassed, complete equal and complete awareness, this is that they attached to non-Dharma.
Sentient beings have deluded and dreamy mind, only dependent on the Buddha’s right knowledge and right perception, plus diligently practicing can one awaken. It is only after awakening that one realizes that all phenomena are illusory and not real, and that even the path of practice itself is acting in a dream.
At the conclusion of this Segment, the Buddha offers a metaphor to his Arhat disciples, comparing the Dharma to a boat used to cross a river. He advises them not attach to Dharma: “Once you have crossed the river, you should leave the boat behind; you should not carry the boat onto the shore.” If the Dharma, which helps beings cross the river of birth and death, must be abandoned once the journey is completed, then all the erroneous perceptions that keep one trapped in Samsara and perpetuate suffering should be discarded even more swiftly.