Buddhist Scripture: Commentary on the Four Verses of the Diamond Sutra

Diamond Sutra is one of the most well-known Buddhist scriptures. Unlike other Buddhist big volumes, it is quite short. Yet, the message in it is insightful and enlightening - it guides not only your spiritual path but also your daily life. The wisdom in it is universal, meaning it's useful for Buddhists and Non-Buddhists alike.

If you have never read the Diamond Sutra, you should consider giving it a try. If the entire sutra is too much in the beginning, at least you can start with the four verses. They are the essence of the Diamond Sutra, and are well-known for their poetic 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 convey is way beyond 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 (the translations here are adapted from Price & Mou-Lam):

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

In Buddhism, or other Easter philosophy, our perceived forms and phenomena are just different manifestations of a "thing" expediently called Tao. And while all forms are constantly changing - thus impermanent, unreal and delusive - 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 one who perceives that all characteristics are in fact no-characteristics. This intimate realization - not intellectual understanding - of the true reality is enlightenment, or Tathagata (the Truth).

Have you ever had the feeling that time passes by so fast, month by month, year by year? This sense of impermanence is not insecurity or melancholy - 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. 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.

3. 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 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 in any of these ways - it can only be perceived by our heart.

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. 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 by nature. 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.