The Six Superknowledges, and the Major and Minor Marks
The six classical superknowledges — miraculous power, the divine ear, knowledge of others' minds, recollection of past lives, knowledge of death and rebirth, and knowledge of the exhaustion of the contaminants — together with the thirty-two major marks and eighty minor marks that adorn a buddha's own physical body, manifested through the very same concentration and wisdom already examined throughout this catalogue.
1. The Six Superknowledges
神通者，謂六神通。云何神境通？謂依止靜慮，於種種神變威德具足中若定若慧，及彼相應諸心心所。云何天耳通？謂依止靜慮，於隨聞種種音聲威德具足中若定若慧，餘如前說。云何心差別通？謂依止靜慮，於入他有情心行差別威德具足中若定若慧，餘如前說。云何宿住隨念通？謂依止靜慮，於隨念前際所行威德具足中若定若慧，餘如前說。云何死生通？謂依止靜慮，於觀有情死生差別威德具足中若定若慧，餘如前說。云何漏盡通？謂依止靜慮，於漏盡智威德具足中若定若慧，及彼相應諸心心所。
The superknowledges are the six superknowledges: miraculous power, the divine ear, knowledge of others' minds, recollection of past lives, knowledge of death and rebirth, and knowledge of the exhaustion of the contaminants.
What is the superknowledge of miraculous power? It is, resting on the foundation of dhyāna, the concentration and wisdom fully present within a majestic mastery of every kind of miraculous transformation, together with the associated mind and mental factors.
What is the superknowledge of the divine ear? It is, resting on that same foundation, the concentration and wisdom fully present within a majestic mastery of hearing every kind of sound, at will, the remainder exactly as already stated.
What is the superknowledge of knowledge of others' minds? It is, resting on that same foundation, the concentration and wisdom fully present within a majestic mastery of entering into the differentiated mental activity of other sentient beings, the remainder exactly as already stated.
What is the superknowledge of recollection of past lives? It is, resting on that same foundation, the concentration and wisdom fully present within a majestic mastery of recollecting one's own past conduct, the remainder exactly as already stated.
What is the superknowledge of death and rebirth? It is, resting on that same foundation, the concentration and wisdom fully present within a majestic mastery of observing the differentiated manner of sentient beings' dying and being reborn, the remainder exactly as already stated.
What is the superknowledge of the exhaustion of the contaminants? It is, resting on that same foundation, the concentration and wisdom fully present within a majestic mastery of the knowledge of the exhaustion of the contaminants, together with the associated mind and mental factors.
T1606 briefly clarifies the specific scope of each: miraculous power's own majestic mastery includes freely transforming a single body into many and every similar such transformation. The divine ear's mastery extends to hearing every kind of sound, whether uttered by humans, gods, or any other being. Knowledge of others' minds means accurately knowing another's own mental activity exactly as it is — whether marked by craving or by any other specific quality. Recollection of past lives means recollecting the names, lineages, and every other detail belonging to one's own former existences, one after another in succession. Knowledge of death and rebirth means using the divine eye to observe sentient beings at the very moment of death and of rebirth — their good or poor complexion at that moment, and whether they are bound for a fortunate or an unfortunate future destiny. And knowledge of the exhaustion of the contaminants is the knowledge that directly penetrates every means by which the contaminants are exhausted, and that is itself perfected precisely once every majestic quality connected with that exhaustion has been fully attained — the very knowledge, T1606 notes, that alone among the six is exclusive to those who have already reached liberation, the other five being available even to advanced mundane practitioners who have not yet attained it.
2. The Major and Minor Marks
相隨好者，謂依止靜慮，於相隨好莊嚴所依示現具足中若定若慧，及彼相應諸心心所，并彼所起異熟。
The major and minor marks are, resting on the foundation of dhyāna, the concentration and wisdom fully present within the manifestation of the physical basis adorned by these very marks, together with the associated mind and mental factors, and the ripened result these give rise to.
T1606 explains why this quality's own definition includes a ripened result alongside concentration and wisdom, a structure not shared by most of the qualities examined so far: the World-Honored One, through the superior power of concentration and wisdom, manifests the thirty-two major marks of a great being together with the eighty accompanying minor marks that adorn his physical form, specifically in order to guide and transform sentient beings — yet the World-Honored One's own true essence is not, in fact, this physical body at all, since it is the dharma-body alone that constitutes his own genuine reality. For a bodhisattva who is likewise able to manifest such marks, T1606 explains, concentration and wisdom alone constitute the essence of this quality, exactly as with every other superknowledge already examined. But for every other being born within the great assembly who bears some portion of these same marks without having actively manifested them through concentration and wisdom, it is instead the ripened karmic result of past wholesome conduct that constitutes their essence — hence the treatise's own careful inclusion of both possibilities in a single definition.
Part 105 Complete
The six superknowledges and the major and minor marks are now examined. Part 106 turns to the four purities — of basis, of object, of mind, and of wisdom — attainments the treatise identifies as belonging to buddhas and to bodhisattvas of great spiritual power alone.
Continue to Part 106 — The Four Purities →