Formations Dissociated from Mind
The aggregate of formations closes with a final list of twenty-four items that are neither form, nor mind, nor any of the fifty-one mental factors — possession, the two mindless meditative attainments, life-faculty, class-commonality, birth, aging, and more. None of these, the treatise insists throughout, is a genuinely distinct thing in its own right; each is merely a provisional label applied to some other, more basic pattern already in place.
1. Possession, and the Two Mindless Attainments
何等名為心不相應行？謂得、無想定、滅盡定、無想異熟、命根、眾同分、生、老、住、無常、名身、句身、文身、異生性、流轉、定異、相應、勢速、次第、時、方、數、和合等。
What are the formations dissociated from mind? Possession; the attainment without perception, the attainment of cessation; the ripened result without perception; the life-faculty, class-commonality; birth, aging, abiding, impermanence; the name-body, phrase-body, syllable-body; the ordinary-being nature; continuity, fixed distinction, correspondence, swift efficacy, sequence, time, direction, number, combination, and the like.
何等為得、謂於善不善無記法若增若減，假立獲得成就。何等無想定？謂已離遍淨欲、未離上欲，出離想作意為先故，於不恒行心心所滅，假立無想定。何等滅盡定？謂已離無所有處欲，超過有頂，暫息想作意為先故，於不恒行諸心心所及恒行一分心心所滅，假立滅盡定。何等無想異熟？謂已生無想有情天中，於不恒行心心所滅，假立無想異熟。
What is possession? With respect to wholesome, unwholesome, and morally neutral dharmas, their increase or decrease is provisionally called acquisition and mastery.
What is the attainment without perception? One who has left behind desire for the Third Dhyāna but not yet left behind desire for what lies above it, preceded by an intention to be free of perception — the cessation, on this basis, of the mental activities not constantly present is provisionally called the attainment without perception.
What is the attainment of cessation? One who has left behind desire for the sphere of nothing whatsoever, surpassing even the summit of existence, preceded by an intention to briefly still perception — the cessation, on this basis, of the mental activities not constantly present, together with a portion of those that are constantly present, is provisionally called the attainment of cessation.
What is the ripened result without perception? One already born among the sentient gods without perception, in whom the mental activities not constantly present have ceased — this is provisionally called the ripened result without perception.
T1606 opens by giving all twenty-four a shared five-part analytic frame — the basis each depends on, its own essence, the sense in which it is provisionally established, the intention behind it, and which of the nine cosmological realms it applies to — noting that the two mindless attainments satisfy all five criteria, the ripened result without perception satisfies four (lacking any intention of its own, since it is simply the automatic fruit of having previously cultivated the attainment without perception), and the rest satisfy only the first three. It also distinguishes the two attainments sharply: the attainment without perception can still be entered by an ordinary being pursuing what is, on the Yogācāra reading, a genuinely mistaken path (mistaking this temporary cessation for liberation itself), while the attainment of cessation is reserved for those who have already gone beyond even the highest formless sphere — including arhats — which is why the treatise's own wording pointedly omits "not yet left behind desire for what lies above" when defining it.
2. Life-Faculty, Class-Commonality, and the Four Conditioned Marks
何等命根？謂於眾同分先業所引，住時決定，假立命根。何等眾同分？謂如是如是有情，於種種類自體相似，假立眾同分。何等為生？謂於眾同分諸行本無今有，假立為生。何等為老？謂於眾同分諸行相續變異，假立為老。何等為住？謂於眾同分諸行相續不變壞，假立為住。何等無常？謂於眾同分諸行相續變壞，假立無常。
What is the life-faculty? The fixed duration of abiding, drawn forth by prior karma within a given class-commonality, is provisionally called the life-faculty.
What is class-commonality? That such-and-such sentient beings resemble one another in their own essential nature, across their various kinds, is provisionally called class-commonality.
What is birth? That the formations within a class-commonality, originally absent, now come to exist, is provisionally called birth. What is aging? That the formations within a class-commonality alter through their continuous succession is provisionally called aging. What is abiding? That the formations within a class-commonality remain unaltered through their continuous succession is provisionally called abiding. What is impermanence? That the formations within a class-commonality alter and decay through their continuous succession is provisionally called impermanence.
T1606 notes a point easily missed: birth, aging, abiding, and impermanence are each explicitly established "within a class-commonality" — that is, with reference to a sentient being's continuous succession over a lifetime, not to the instant-by-instant arising and ceasing of a single moment. A raised objection makes the point vivid: physical objects like mountains and rivers also plainly undergo birth and decay, so why does the treatise's definition mention only sentient beings' class-commonality? T1606's answer is that this fourfold scheme is specifically built to describe a sentient continuum's own conditioned marks; external objects' arising and perishing are instead accounted for under the separate headings of "formation" and "destruction," discussed elsewhere in the treatise's cosmology.
3. Name, Phrase, and Syllable
何等名身？謂於諸法自性增言，假立名身。何等句身？謂於諸法差別增言，假立句身。何等文身？謂於彼二所依諸字，假立文身。此言文者，能彰彼二故。此又名顯，能顯彼義故。此復名字，無異轉故。
What is the name-body? Language added to designate a dharma's own essential nature is provisionally called the name-body. What is the phrase-body? Language added to designate a dharma's distinguishing features is provisionally called the phrase-body. What is the syllable-body? The letters on which both of these depend are provisionally called the syllable-body. This is called "letter" because it discloses those other two; it is also called "manifestation," since it is what manifests their meaning; and it is further called "the fixed sign," since it does not shift into anything else.
T1606 offers a concrete illustration: naming something's essential nature is the kind of language used to say "eye," "human," or "ear" — designating what a thing simply is. Designating a dharma's distinguishing features is the kind of language used to say "all formations are impermanent" or "every sentient being will die" — attaching a further predicate to what has already been named. The syllables underlying both are called "the fixed sign" because a given letter, unlike the words built from it, never itself shifts to mean something else — the letter "a" simply is "a," whereas the word "eye" can be swapped for a synonym like "seeing-faculty" and still point to the same referent; letters have no such synonyms standing in for them.
4. The Ordinary-Being Nature, and Nine Further Provisional Labels
何等異生性？謂於聖法不得，假立異生性。何等流轉？謂於因果相續不斷，假立流轉。何等定異？謂於因果種種差別，假立定異。何等相應？謂於因果相稱，假立相應。何等勢速？謂於因果迅疾流轉，假立勢速。何等次第？謂於因果一一流轉，假立次第。何等為時？謂於因果相續流轉，假立為時。何等為方？謂於東西南北四維上下因果差別，假立為方。何等為數？謂於諸行一一差別，假立為數。何等和合？謂於因果眾緣集會，假立和合。
What is the ordinary-being nature? Not having attained the noble dharmas is provisionally called the ordinary-being nature.
What is continuity? The unbroken succession of cause and effect is provisionally called continuity. What is fixed distinction? The various distinct differences among causes and effects are provisionally called fixed distinction. What is correspondence? The fitting match between a cause and its effect is provisionally called correspondence. What is swift efficacy? The rapid succession of cause and effect is provisionally called swift efficacy. What is sequence? The one-by-one succession of cause and effect is provisionally called sequence. What is time? The continuous succession of cause and effect is provisionally called time. What is direction? The differences among causes and effects across east, west, south, north, the four intermediate directions, above, and below are provisionally called direction. What is number? The individual distinctness of each formation is provisionally called number. What is combination? The coming-together of the many conditions for a cause and its effect is provisionally called combination.
T1606 closes this list by naming the underlying pattern all twenty-four share: every one of them is established purely with reference to some difference in occasion or circumstance (分位差別) — never as a substance with a nature of its own — which is why, T1606 states flatly, all twenty-four should be understood as merely provisionally existent. It then sorts them by exactly what kind of occasion grounds each: possession by the occasion of increase or decrease in wholesome and unwholesome dharmas; the two attainments and the resulting ripened-without-perception state by three occasions concerning mind and mental factors; abiding by the occasion of non-alteration; class-commonality by the occasion of resemblance; birth, aging, and impermanence together by the occasion of alteration; name, phrase, and syllable by the occasion of speech; the ordinary-being nature by the occasion of not having attained something; and the remaining items — continuity, fixed distinction, correspondence, swift efficacy, sequence, time, direction, number, and combination — all by occasions concerning cause and effect specifically, which T1606 defines simply: whatever conditioned dharma is capable of producing another is called a cause with respect to it; whatever arises from another is called its effect.
Part 7 Complete
All twenty-four formations dissociated from mind are now defined, closing the aggregate of formations entirely: volition, all fifty-one mental factors, and these twenty-four, none of which the treatise treats as substantially real in its own right. Part 8 turns to the treatise's final aggregate — consciousness — and its extended argument, drawn from T1606's commentary, for why the ālayavijñāna must exist at all.
Continue to Part 8 — Consciousness, and the Proof of the Ālayavijñāna →