Diamond Sutra Explained - 1 - The Dharma Assembly | Buddhist Wisdom for Spiritual Awakening

This is what I heard. At one time, the Buddha was staying in the Jeta Grove, near the city of Sravasti. With him, there was a community of 1,250 venerable monks and devoted disciples. One day before dawn, the Buddha clothed himself and along with his disciples, took up his alms bowl and entered the city to beg for food door to door, as was his custom. After he had returned and eaten, he put away his bowl and cloak, bathed his feet, and then sat with his legs crossed, and body upright upon the seat arranged for him. He began mindfully fixing his attention in front of himself, while many monks approached the Buddha, and showing great reverence, seated themselves around him. According to the historical records of Buddhism, when the Buddha was alive, his teachings did not form written scriptures, and the disciples learned by hearing and remembering Buddha's spoken words. After Buddha's Nirvana, the disciples gathered to prepare all the Buddha's teachings and writing. Because venerable Ananda used to be the acolyte of the Buddha, and was always around him, he memorized the most. Therefore, while Ananda recited Buddha's teachings, other disciples recorded and voted on them. These recorded teachings then became the sutras we see today. Because Ananda recited most scriptures, the Buddhist scriptures have a standard format with, this is what I heard, as the opening sentence. Next, it introduces the time, place, and people who attended the assembly. Almost all Buddhist scriptures describe time as, at one time. So, why don't the scriptures specify a particular day, month, or year? One explanation is that in Buddhism, time and space are considered unreal, and it is an illusion relative to sentient beings' consciousness. The teachings of Buddha Dharma are for all sentient beings in the six realms, including devas, humans, demigods, animals, ghosts, and hell. Sentient beings in different realms perceive and experience space-time differently. So, it is impossible to specify a time. This teaching assembly is in the Jeta Grove in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans in the Solitary. The full name contains the names of two people. Jetavana, or Jeta and Sudatta, the benefactor of orphans and the solitary. It is said that Jeta was a prince of Sravasti, and Sudatta was a wealthy man and philanthropist. Sudatta wanted to build a monastery for the Buddha. One day, he came across a garden belonging to Prince Jeta. The garden was accessible to followers and peacefully secluded, so Sudatta offered to buy it from the prince. However, the prince refused to sell the garden and joked that he would sell him the garden if he covered it with gold coins. Of course, Prince Jeta didn't expect Sudatta would do this. So when wagonloads of gold were transported into the garden, Prince Jeta was astonished. He wanted to know who this Buddha was and what charisma he had to make Sudatta spend his entire fortune on this. Impressed by Sudatta's earnestness and Buddha's wisdom, Prince Jeta eventually decided to donate the garden and build the monastery together with Sudatta. Therefore, when the monastery was completed, it was named Jeta Grove in the Garden of the Benefactor of Orphans and the Solitary. This is where the Buddha taught the Diamond Sutra. 1,250 constant followers of the Buddha participated in this assembly. Constant followers means that these 1,250 disciples were always around the Buddha wherever he went. So they heard most of Buddha's teachings. Next, a fragment of Buddha's life in the Sangha was recorded in the opening of the Diamond Sutra. At that time, the Buddhist monk ate only once a day and did not eat after lunchtime. So even though the Buddha had realized Buddhahood with its spiritual penetrations and wonderful functions, at mealtime, he still put on his robe, took up his bowl, begging for food together with other members of the Sangha. They were not supposed to distinguish between the rich and the poor when they begged and went from door to door until the seventh door. After that, they went back to monastery, whether they got the food or not, and continued meditation. Those who received food would share with those who didn't. The Buddha once reprimanded his two disciples, Subuddhi and Great Kasyapa, for their manner of begging. First, he scolded Subuddhi for thinking, wealthy people have money because they fostered merit and virtue in former lives. If I don't beg from them and give them the opportunity to plant further blessings, they will be poor next life. They will not continue to be wealthy and honored. So Subuddhi only begged from the rich. The Buddha scolded Great Kasyapa because of his arduous practice of asceticism. He not only ate just one meal a day, but he begged only from the poor. His thought was, these people are poor because they did not foster merit and virtue in former lives. They did not do good deeds when they had money, so they are poor in this life. I will help them out of their predicament by enabling them to plant blessings, so next life they will be wealthy and honored. The poorer the house, the more he begged there, even to the point that the poor people took the food out of their own bowls, in order to have an offering for him. Both of those methods are extreme and not in accord with the Middle Way, and it is for this reason that the Surangama Sutra says that the Buddha scolded them. Diamond Sutra plays a pivotal role in the spread of Buddhism, especially after the formation of Zen Buddhism in China. The sixth patriarch, Huineng, became a monk upon hearing, if the disciple's mind depends upon anything in the sensory realm, it will have no solid foundation in any reality. He later became a great master of Zen Buddhism. As a medium-length sutra, the Diamond Sutra has been the preferred scripture for many beginners. In some other sutras, such as the Lotus Sutra, the Buddha shows miracles before he starts teaching. This doesn't happen in the Diamond Sutra. Why? Because the goal of the Diamond Sutra is detachment from all forms, including miracles, and even the Buddha himself and his teachings. The disciples who are determined to become enlightened are most likely to attach to the forms of Buddha and his teachings. The Buddha said, What I have attained in total enlightenment is the same as what all others have attained. It is undifferentiated, regarded neither as a high state nor a low state. It is wholly independent of any definite or arbitrary conceptions of an individual self, other selves, living beings, or a universal self. If one is attached to the forms of Buddha and sentient beings, he has lost impartiality. If we cannot see Buddha's nature in his ordinary, we wouldn't see his nature in his miracles either. In the study of Diamond Sutra, attachment to forms and detachment from forms are two essential concepts that often appear. The forms or marks in the Diamond Sutra include appearance, experience, definition, knowledge, opinion, information, time and space, etc. For example, when I say orange, those who have eaten it before would conjure the image of orange in their mind immediately. They may also imagine the taste or types of orange, and their personal preferences. So, they listen to the word orange, with all the existing information of orange in their mind. This is called attachment to the form of words, or attachment to the arbitrary conceptions of words. Because human perception of the world is based on the three-dimensional experience, through the limited sensory channels such as eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and body, so it is a flawed perception. Therefore, the belief in forms and the attachment to forms can hinder human beings in understanding the truth of the universe, causing humans' unlimited heart and mind trapped in the three-dimensional space-time. Due to this ignorance, humans suffer from birth, aging, sickness, death, and the uncertainty of arising and ceasing. In the Diamond Sutra, the forms that the Buddha tells us to detach from are individual self, other selves, living beings, or a universal self, Buddha, Arahant, disciples, merit, teachings, dharma, extinction, wisdom, phases of realization, etc. The Buddha mentions these forms because the disciples are most likely to be attached to them on their path of cultivation. Some forms, such as the Buddha himself and his teachings, are tools to help disciples' enlightenment, and should also be abandoned eventually. Otherwise, they could not return to the emptiness, and the path of disciples would become a meaningless pursuit of good deeds and good karma. This would make enlightenment extremely difficult. When explaining detachment from form X, the Buddha often borrows another form, Y, as a tool. For example, using a rock to break glass, the rock here is considered a borrowed form, and its purpose is to break the glass. Therefore, to not make people attach to the form of rock, the Buddha would elaborate and say, it is not rock, but only called rock. In addition, to reiterate that all forms are illusory, the Buddha would also add, it is also not glass, but only called glass. This is a way to demonstrate that names are only temporary figures of speech, a type of form, which we should not attach to. In the Diamond Sutra, the name Buddha, World-Honored One, and Tathagata, can all be used to address the Buddha. The name Buddha usually refers to the Buddha's bodily form. Tathagata can indicate the formless, true nature of the Buddha, her emptiness. World-Honored One, is used by Subuddhi as a name of respect. The Trikaya doctrine tells us that a This allows a Buddha to simultaneously be one with the Absolute, while appearing in the relative world for the benefit of suffering beings. The three bodies are the Truth Body, the Reward Body, and the Emanation Body. The Emanation Body is the bodily form that teaches sentient beings in all realms. It is also the physical body that is born, walks the earth, and dies. The Reward Body is the body that achieves and feels the bliss of enlightenment. The Truth Body is the Absolute, the unity of all things and beings, all phenomena unmanifested. The Truth Body is beyond existence or nonexistence, and beyond concepts. The Tibetan Buddhist meditation master, Chajantrungpa, called the Truth Body the basis of the original unbornness. This body is the I won t discuss the details here, because the Diamond Sutra is the wisdom of non-duality of forms and emptiness. Distinguishing between forms and emptiness would create unnecessary confusion and attachment to forms. After all, these three bodies are only expedient means to help disciples study. For an enlightened being, these three bodies are one. Seeing form is seeing emptiness. Emptiness is not a separate concept or existence. Form is emptiness. And we can see emptiness only when we are not attached to forms. Thank you for watching. If you enjoy the video, please hit the like button. And if you are new, hit subscribe and the bell next to it for future notifications.