The Diamond Sutra ...
A diamond is formed of carbon, the same element comprising much of the human body, the same element as coal. Its atoms arranged in a crystalline structure, forming myriads of tetrahedra stacked cubically, the diamond crystal lattice proves to be exceptionally strong.
Indeed, diamonds are said to last forever. Yet they too decay. In fact, they degrade to graphite under conditions that trigger re-arrangement of the crystal lattice.
Here we hone in on a piercingly poetic passage from the concluding chapter of the Vajracchedikā Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra (वज्रच्छेदिकाप्रज्ञापारमितासूत्र), better known as the Diamond Sutra, the oldest printed book to survive in its entirety.
Much like the diamond after which it takes its name, yet with the added implication that the text itself serves as a diamond cutter, some sharpness is to be expected. Tread carefully from here on out, as the diamond cutter carves and shapes all those who pass through it.
Poetry in Practice
Poetic passages pervade the Buddhist literary traditions, but the verse concluding the Diamond Sutra in particular packs a punch. In a mere four lines, it conveys the ephemeral nature of all that is conditioned (saṃskṛta). Rather than stagnant words on the page, however, we are invited to put poetry into practice.
Let's dive right into it. Classed within the "Perfection of Wisdom" genre of Mahāyāna Buddhism, at least three root texts exist of the Diamond Sutra. We include the Sanskrit and Chinese below, along with the Tibetan for safe measure.
tārakā timiraṃ dīpo māyāvaśyāya budbudaḥ
supinaṃ vidyud abhraṃ ca evaṃ draṣṭavya saṃskṛtam
何以故 一切有為法 如夢幻泡影 如露亦如電 應作如是觀
skar ma rab rib mar me daṅ | | sgyu ma zil ba chu bur daṅ |
| rmi lam glog daṅ sprin lta bur | | ’dus byas de ltar blta bar bya |
Paul Harrison translates the verse as follows:
A shooting star, a clouding of the sight, a lamp,
An illusion, a drop of dew, a bubble,
A dream, a lightning’s flash, a thunder cloud—
This is the way one should see the conditioned.
An even more poetic rendering reads:
So you should view 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.
Such poetic imagery illustrates the insubstantial, illusory, impermanent nature of phenomenal experience. Nothing lasts. Everything changes. All will become otherwise. That which is conditioned will become deconditioned. That which is composed of constituent parts will decompose into such constituent parts. Those parts, too, will disintegrate, as easily as a dream upon waking. The only "constant" is change, and even change is changing.
As the Diamond Sutra makes explicit with its invocation to contemplate these images, to see them as they are, one may integrate them into one's contemplative practice. Indeed, the bodhisattva, one committed to compassionately serving beings, must be attuned to the ever-evolving flux of conditions in order to work toward benefiting beings through behavior skillfully adapted to each being's complex conditions and causal continuum.
Dreaming in Dewdrops
Such a passage intentionally invokes illusory imagery to illustrate the insubstantiality of identity. A poetic image common to various texts, here one is reminded of the evanescence of all phenomena, which are empty of any fixed nature. As suggested by such imagery, one may practice meditation with the reflection that all phenomena are empty of an enduring self, likening even thoughts to the evaporation of dew drops or the disappearance of a lightning flash. When a bubble bursts, no substance remains, revealing its empty nature.
Through use of such imagery in one’s contemplative practice, one may find that one’s precious, cherished ego-bubble has been burst open, punctured by the sharp tip of diamond, stripping away the illusion of a myopic self distinct from others.
A shooting star vanishes in a bow across the sky almost as quickly as it appears. A clouding of the sight obscures the capacity to see. A lamp is lit and extinguished depending on the presence of fuel, heat, and the need for light. An illusion is conjured from misperception of sensory stimuli, like a mirage rising from the refraction of light off the desert sand. A drop of dew evaporates as the sun overtakes the sky at dawn. A bubble pops when pierced.
Likewise, a dream dissipates upon awakening. A lightning's flash disappears only to be followed by the rumbling of thunder, the lightning bolt having pierced through the atmosphere and opened a channel in the air, which collapses back in on itself, emitting a sound wave. A thunder cloud clears as winds disperse it. Such are all conditioned phenomena.
Waking, Bursting
While lingering in the dream, abiding in the dewdrop, may be comfortable, there comes a time to wake up, to burst open the bubble of illusion.
The processes of waking, bursting, can seem jarring, especially if a sharpened diamond, or worse, its even sharper cutter were prodding one awake, slicing through the sensitive membrane, bursting the bubble in which we lie asleep, encased in a dream. Despite the initial shock, however, such waking, bursting, is ultimately liberating.
What awaits on the other side, upon bursting awake? When traces of shooting stars vanish from the sky, what remains?
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