Several passages in the Diamond Sutra are repeatedly singled out as expressing its heart. One of the most famous is the verse on conditioned phenomena: “All conditioned phenomena are like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow, like dew or a flash of lightning; thus they should be contemplated.” This verse functions as a contemplative key, pointing to the fleeting and insubstantial character of all compounded things. To take it seriously is to loosen the grip on what ordinarily seems solid and reliable, and to begin to see experience as something more akin to a mirage than a monument.

Closely related is the teaching on the non‑abiding mind: “One should develop a mind that clings to nothing whatsoever,” or in another formulation, a bodhisattva “should practice giving without dwelling anywhere, not dwelling in forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangible objects, or mental phenomena.” Here the sutra links wisdom and practice, urging a way of acting in the world that does not fixate on any object, sense experience, or mental construct. Non‑attachment is not portrayed as withdrawal, but as activity free from the weight of grasping.

The sutra also returns again and again to the emptiness of self and beings. The Buddha instructs Subhuti that all living beings “must be led…to the ultimate liberation of Nirvana. Yet when this innumerable, immeasurable, infinite number of beings has been liberated, no being has been liberated.” Similarly, it says that the Tathagata does not truly “deliver beings,” because “there is actually no being to be delivered.” These passages unsettle the habitual sense of a solid self and solid others, while at the same time preserving the vow to benefit all beings; compassionate activity is affirmed, but the notion of inherently existing entities is undermined.

Another important theme is the critique of attachment to appearances, even sacred ones. The text warns that “those who by form see me, and those who follow me by sound, their efforts are in vain; those people will not see me.” The Buddha is not to be found in visible form or audible sound as such, and clinging to these as ultimate leads astray. In the same spirit, the sutra states that if someone claims the Tathagata has a fixed teaching, that person misunderstands, for “in the teaching of the Dharma, there is no Dharma to be taught.” The Dharma itself is presented as empty of any fixed essence, a skillful means rather than a final object to grasp.

Finally, the text contrasts material generosity with the merit of understanding and sharing even a small portion of this teaching. It declares that filling vast world-systems with precious treasures and giving them away yields less merit than taking up and explaining even a four‑line verse of the sutra. This does not disparage generosity, but elevates insight into emptiness and non‑attachment as the deepest offering. Taken together, these passages sketch a path where phenomena are seen as dreamlike, the mind does not abide anywhere, beings and teachings are understood as empty, and compassionate action unfolds without clinging to results.