Commentary on The Four Verses of the Diamond Sutra — Why They Are Important to Us

Understanding the Diamond Sutra is understanding the meaning of life. The message in it is just as important for people in the West as in the East. Here are my comments on the famous four verses in it — and how they point a viable way for living a better life.

Diamond Sutra is one of the most well-known Buddhist scriptures. Unlike some other Buddhist big volumes, it is quite short and elegant. It is also insightful and enlightening — not only forms a spiritual guide but also a daily-life teacher. The wisdom in it is universal, meaning you don’t have to be a Buddhist to read it (and benefit from it). If you have never read the Diamond Sutra, you should consider giving it a try.

If the entire sutra is too overwhelming in the beginning, at least you can start with the four verses. These are the essence of the Diamond Sutra, and are well-known for their poetic and catchy wording in the Chinese version. Since they are composed of four lines (in Chinese), they are known as “four verses” or “four lines of verse” of the Diamond Sutra.

The four verses revealed great deal of the truth. This means that they can be difficult to read, as what they intend to mean differs vastly from our human knowledge and experience. It is however a very powerful and practical reminder for us, that our human experience has been so disconnected from the deeper meaning of our existence that we barely look at ourselves, the world, and the universe from a non-materialistic perspective.

There are four Four Verses in the Diamond Sutra (*):

1. 凡所有相，皆是虛妄，若見諸相非相，即見如來。

Wherever are material characteristics there is delusion; but who perceives that all characteristics are in fact no-characteristics, perceives the Tathagata (the Truth).

In Buddhism, or other Easter philosophy, our perceived forms and phenomena are just different manifestations of a thing expediently called Tao, or the Way, or Buddha. And while all forms are constantly changing, thus impermanent, and thus unreal and a delusion, this thing called Tao is constant, unchanging, and thus real and eternal. So a wise person is one who can see through all forms to the core which is formless, which is non-dualistic, which is not subject to any notion of human definition. A wise person is one who can see the stillness behind all changing. Or, as the Diamond Sutra puts it here, a wise person is who perceives that all characteristics are in fact no-characteristics. This intimate realization — not intellectual understanding — of the true reality is enlightenment, or Tathagata.

Have you ever felt that time passes so fast? A week, a month, even a year, passes by and virtually disappears? This sense of impermanence and uncertainty is not insecurity — it is in fact what we all need from time to time, to take a step back from our never-ending busyness and think about our life from a deeper perspective.

2. 諸菩薩摩訶薩應如是生清淨心，不應住色生心，不應住色身香味觸法生心，應無所住而生其心。

All Bodhisattvas, lesser and great, should develop a pure, lucid mind, not depending upon sound, flavor, touch, odor, or any quality. A Bodhisattva should develop a mind that alights upon nothing whatsoever, and so should he establish it.

The Sixth Patriarch Hui-Neng, when listening to his master, the Fifth Patriarch, teaching this famous verse to his disciples, immediately got enlightened. The main message in this verse is purification and non-attachment. A mind attached to drugs is a drug addict. A mind attached to alcohol is a alcoholic. The pleasure that derives from our five senses (eye, ear, nose, tongue, body) is what our mind is easily attached to. This is also exactly what the Four Noble Truths teaches, about the noble truth of suffering:

“Wherever in the world there are delightful and pleasurable things, there this craving rises and takes root. Eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind are delightful and pleasurable: there this craving arises and takes root.”

Bodhisattvas’ mind, on the contrary, is pure, lucid, and detached from all forms. Attachment is suffering; detachment is liberation. Want to live a happier life? Practice non-attachment.

3. 若以色見我，以音聲求我，是人行邪道，不能見如來。

Who sees my by form, Who seeks me in sound, Perverted are his footsteps upon the way, For he cannot perceive the Tathagata (the Truth).

The Truth is formless, thus cannot be perceived by any conventional means that are used to perceive forms. We use eyes to perceive a person’s face. We use ears to perceive the music. We use the tongue to perceive the taste of food. We use the nose to perceive the smell. And so on. But the Truth can not be perceived this way — it can only be perceived by our heart, or Buddha nature.

The implication of this verse is that, our spiritual practice should shift from chanting to meditation. Chanting may be helpful in calming the mind and enhancing concentration, but chanting is in the realm of five senses and forms (mouth and sound). Meditation, instead, is a means that can take you beyond words and forms.

4. 一切有為法，如夢幻泡影，如露亦如電，應作如是觀。

Thus shall you think of all this fleeting world: A star at dawn, a bubble in a stream, a flash of lightning in a summer cloud, a flickering lamp, a phantom, and a dream.

This is a powerful reminder that everything in our perceived world is impermanent. They change, transform, decay, and perish — like a bubble, a flash of lightning, a phantom and a dream. This includes your possessions such as houses, cars, knowledge, and skills. This also includes your personal qualities such as determination, passion, curiosity, likes and dislikes. This also includes the entity that defines your possessions and qualities — you.

An intimate realization of impermanence can elevate our life to the next level. If we live every minute of our life as the last minute, our life will be magical.

(*) The translations here are based on the book The Diamond Sutra and the Sutra of Hui-Neng by A. F. Price and W. Mou-Lam.