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　　Nadir, the space can be calculated, no

　　"

　　"No, World Honored One."

　　"Subhåti, the blessed virtue of a bodhisattva who does not dwell in the images of

　　charity is also so. It cannot be calculated. Subhåti, bodhisattvas should only dwell

　　according to this teaching."

　　5.

　　"Subhåti, what do you think

　　 One can see the Tathàgata by his bodily signs4, no

　　"

　　"No, World Honored One. One cannot see the Tathàgata by his bodily signs. And

　　why is that

　　 The Tathàgata has explained that the bodily signs are not bodily signs."

　　The Buddha addressed Subhåti, saying, "The signs ordinary people possess are

　　signs that are all empty and mistaken. If one sees that these signs are not signs, then

　　one sees the Tathàgata."5

　　6.

　　Subhåti said to the Buddha, "World Honored One, isn”t it doubtful that there are

　　sentient beings who will hear thus the words spoken in this discourse and become

　　genuinely faithful

　　"

　　The Buddha addressed Subhåti, saying, "Do not say this. In the final five hundred

　　year era after the Tathàgata”s death6, those who uphold the precepts and cultivate the

　　blessed will be able to give rise to the faithful mind from these passages because they

　　more appropriate for internal images, notions, and views. I”ve translated hsiang as "image" in this

　　context, but the reader should understand that it is a mental image or notion.

　　3 Charity is one of the six pàramitàs, or perfections, that are cultivated by the bodhisattvas.

　　4 I.e., the thirty-two marks of a Buddha.

　　5 This is one of the more meaningful passages of this Såtra, though it is not obvious. The unspoken

　　reference here is to the essential body (dharmakàya) of the Buddha, which is the body devoid of

　　characteristics that resides in ultimate reality. This passage, then, is pushing the reader towards

　　seeing what lies beneath sensory appearances and images, rather than the surface of things.

　　6 In expressing the impermanence of the practice of the Dharma in the world, the Buddha described

　　in other scriptures how it would progressively become superficial as the original intent of his

　　teachings was forgotten. He broke the period of the Dharma”s decay into five hundred year

　　periods, the practice becoming more corrupted as time wore on. Once the Dharma had completely

　　disappeared there would be a long period without it, and then a new Buddha would appear in the

　　world to reestablish it.

　　Diamond Perfection of Wisdom Såtra 4

　　are true. It should be known that these people would not have been with one Buddha,

　　two Buddhas, three, four, or five Buddhas and sown the good roots. They will have

　　sown the good roots with a measureless hundreds of thousands of Buddhas.7 Hearing

　　these passages, even for a single recitation, they shall give rise to a pure faith. Subhåti,

　　the Tathàgata fully knows and fully sees that these sentient beings will attain thus such

　　measureless blessed virtue. And why

　　 These sentient beings will not return to the

　　images of a self, images of a person, images of sentient beings, or images of a soul.

　　They would have no images of the Dharma and also no images of the non-Dharma. And

　　why

　　 If these sentient beings” minds were to grasp such images, they would become

　　attached to a self, a person, sentient beings, and a soul. If they were to grasp the

　　images of the Dharma, they would become attached to a self, a person, sentient beings,

　　and a soul. And why

　　 If they were to grasp the images of the non-Dharma, they would

　　become attached to a self, a person, sentient beings, and a soul. This is why one should

　　not grasp the Dharma and why one should not grasp the non-Dharma. It is because of

　　this meaning that the Tathàgata always says, ”You monks! Know that my spoken

　　Dharma is like the bamboo raft. The Dharma that is honored must be r…

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