The Tripiṭaka Teaching, from Raw Milk to the Phantom City

On "even a single dharma does not exist, how could there be four," Zhixu reads this opening line as the treatise announcing its own ultimate self-cancellation before it has said anything else: "all dharmas are marked by stillness and extinction, beyond what words can convey"; from the very beginning, all dharmas are, of themselves, forever marked by stillness and extinction — where "the four" is concerned, what "one" could there be either? Setting up medicine according to illness gives, in outline, only four; opening the provisional to reveal the real gives, in the end, only one. "One" names the real, "three" name the provisional, and provisional and real are only ever spoken of relative to each other — both are simply what cannot be helped. If one presses further, the real cannot even be called "one," any more than the provisional can be called "three" — hence it is said to be neither provisional nor real. Yet this "neither provisional nor real" does not mean some separate third thing exists outside provisional and real. The provisional is simply the real teaching's own provisional, and so is itself not-provisional; the real is simply the provisional teaching's own real, and so is itself not-real — exactly as a wave is simply water's own wave, and so is itself not-a-wave, and water is simply a wave's own water, and so is itself not-water. In the end both are one and the same wetness — and where would that wetness itself stand, apart from the wave and the water?

On the piṭaka names: "Āgama" (also transliterated Āgapta or Āgama) translates as "teaching," or "the tradition to which the Dharma returns," or "what was handed down as spoken," or "the unparalleled dharma." In its general sense both Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna are called Āgama; in its specific sense, the Ekottara Āgama clarifies the Dharma by way of numbered lists, the Long Āgama clarifies the arising of the world and similar matters, the Middle Āgama clarifies profound meanings, and the Miscellaneous Āgama clarifies the various dhyāna methods — and it was Mahākāśyapa who asked Ānanda to recite all four from memory at the First Council, hence "the four Āgamas." "Vinaya" (also transliterated Vinaya or Bhikṣu-vinaya) translates as "skillful taming," or "subduing," or "extinguishing," or simply "discipline." In its general sense whatever the Buddha taught is called the true Dharma's discipline; in its specific sense it names the fivefold sets of precept-categories laid down case by case as occasions arose. Mahākāśyapa asked Upāli to compile the Vinaya-piṭaka; at first it formed a single division, but later, owing to disputes, it split into the Mahāsāṃghika and Sthavira branches, and eventually into eighteen schools, of which five discipline-lineages have survived down through long transmission. "Abhidharma" (also transliterated Abhidharma) translates as "the unparalleled dharma," or "matching dharma." In its general sense whatever the Buddha taught is also called Abhidharma; in its specific sense it names Mahākāśyapa's own compilation of the Buddha's teaching on doctrine, together with the treatises composed by arhats — this alone is properly called the Abhidharma. Question: both the half-word and full-word teachings each have their own three piṭakas — why is the name "Tripiṭaka teaching" reserved for the Hīnayāna alone? Answer: for two reasons. First, in the half-word teaching the sūtra-piṭaka and discipline-piṭaka remain organizationally distinct bundles, while in the full-word teaching sūtra and discipline blend together as one. Second, the Lotus Sūtra speaks of "those attached in their studies to the small vehicle's Tripiṭaka," and the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Śāstra everywhere uses the Mahāyāna to refute Tripiṭaka teachings — hence the half-word teaching is called "the Tripiṭaka teaching." Question: why not simply call it "the Hīnayāna teaching"? Answer: this teaching already contains the provisional dharma of all three vehicles within it, and so cannot be one-sidedly named "small."

On the twelve links, Zhixu supplies the fuller mechanics behind the base text's own bare chain, drawn — as he says explicitly — from the Yogācāra treatises rather than any Hīnayāna Abhidharma reading. Ignorance that initiates karma is of two kinds: the delusion of not knowing the ripening of karmic fruit precisely, which gives rise to evil karma in the three lower destinies; and the delusion of not knowing the three realms as impermanent and without self, which gives rise to attachment to human, heavenly, form-realm, and formless-realm rebirth and to the contaminated wholesome karma of dhyāna. From these two kinds of ignorance, once contaminated wholesome, unwholesome, and unmoving karma has been generated, the seed of future rebirth in the three realms is drawn into a single thought in the present, already complete with the seeds of name-and-form, the six sense-bases, contact, and feeling — this is "ignorance conditions volitional formations," down to "contact conditions feeling." Then, through the further ignorance of not understanding present circumstances as the fruit of past causes, craving arises toward them, and from craving, grasping — this is "feeling conditions craving," down to "craving conditions grasping." Through this watering by craving and grasping, the seeds of the five conditioned links gradually mature into the sprout of becoming, which at the body's death moves spontaneously toward rebirth, and having been reborn, spontaneously ages into death, giving rise to every sorrow and grief — this is "grasping conditions becoming," down to "birth conditions aging-and-death." Ignorance and volitional formations are thus the two links that draw the process forward; consciousness, name-and-form, the six sense-bases, contact, and feeling are the five links drawn along by it; craving, grasping, and becoming are the three links that generate the next life; birth and aging-and-death are the two links generated by them. The ten links belong to cause, all within the present life; the two belong to fruit, specifically in the future — and from the fruit of birth-and-death, ignorance arises once more, and from ignorance, volitional formations arise once more, so that cause and effect throughout the three realms never break off, making plain both the wheel of rebirth and its freedom from the extremes of permanence and annihilation, without ever falling into infinite regress. Zhixu adds that although all ten fetters are, strictly speaking, each capable both of initiating karma and of nourishing rebirth, the initiating role is attributed to ignorance alone because its force there is strongest — the strong subsumes the weak — while the nourishing role is attributed to craving and grasping alone because their function there predominates — the superior subsumes the inferior.

On the "two truths of real existence," Zhixu is precise about what this teaching does and does not see through: it clarifies only the emptiness of the person, not the emptiness of dharmas — hence the five aggregates, twelve sense-bases, and eighteen elements are all held to be real dharmas. It is only in dependence on these real dharmas, gathered together, that a "person" is provisionally named; the person, though certainly without ultimate existence, still rests on dharmas that are themselves real — this is the conventional truth. Only once one cultivates the contemplation of no-self and severs views and habituated thought completely, extinguishing these real aggregates, sense-bases, and elements and reverting once more to real emptiness, does one arrive at the truth of the real.

Zhixu treats the Nirvāṇa Sūtra's four-line verse quoted for identity in principle as bearing two entirely independent readings, one "horizontal" and one "vertical," and works through both in detail here even though the base text's own six identities apply only the first, one-sided reading. Read horizontally, across all Four Teachings at once: for the Tripiṭaka teaching, the three realms' own dependent-and-direct retribution of form and mind are "all conditioned things," each and every one impermanent and marked by generation-and-extinction, and one must extinguish this very cause-and-effect to realize the true bliss of quiescent extinction. The shared teaching likewise takes the three realms' cause-and-effect as "all conditioned things," impermanent and generation-and-extinction, but embodies that generation-and-extinction as itself already extinguished, thereby realizing the same true bliss of quiescent extinction — yet in both these first two teachings, Zhixu stresses, there is in truth no one left over to receive that bliss at all, since no body or wisdom remains once extinction is complete. The distinct teaching names both segmented and transformational birth-and-death together as "all conditioned things," neither of them truly constant, both belonging to the gate of generation-and-extinction; extinguishing these two extremes reveals the principle of quiescent extinction at the middle way, and here, because the four wisdoms of bodhi and the mirror-like-wisdom-corresponding mind's own uncontaminated body and land of subtle form actually appear, this bliss truly is received. The perfect teaching names the cause-and-effect of all ten dharma-realms together as "all conditioned things," universally impermanent, universally marked by generation-and-extinction — yet it penetrates cause-and-effect as itself already the true mark of reality, impermanence as itself permanence, generation-and-extinction as itself no generation-and-extinction; hence "when generation and extinction themselves are extinguished, this stillness-and-extinction is bliss" — without severing delusion and craving, illumination and liberation nonetheless arise, as when melting ice becomes water, so that the three thousand realms, brought to fruition just as they are, are all alike called constant bliss. Read vertically instead, each of the four lines names one whole dharma-realm in turn: "all conditioned things are impermanent" gathers in the six ordinary dharma-realms, since whatever is conditioned and contaminated belongs here; "this is the dharma of generation and extinction" gathers in the Tripiṭaka and shared teachings' two-vehicle dharma-realm, since only a world-transcending noble one can actually know it as generation-and-extinction; "when generation and extinction themselves are extinguished" gathers in the distinct teaching's bodhisattva dharma-realm, since it extinguishes the two extremes to return to the middle way; "this stillness-and-extinction is bliss" gathers in the perfect teaching's buddha dharma-realm, since all dharmas, from the very outset, are constantly, of themselves, marked by stillness and extinction. Used here, within the one-sided real alone, to prove this teaching's own truth of the real: "all conditioned things are impermanent" and "this is the dharma of generation and extinction" together are the truths of suffering and accumulation; "when generation and extinction themselves are extinguished" is, taken as the three trainings that do the extinguishing, the truth of the path, and, taken as the cause-and-effect thereby extinguished, the truth of cessation — all four of these truths concern the marks of cause-and-effect as actual phenomena, hence "established truths"; "this stillness-and-extinction is bliss" concerns the principle thereby revealed as the truth of the real — a "truth not established" — hence it is said that "principle lies outside phenomena," and is called one-sided real.

On the four stages of resemblance, Zhixu keeps the classical similes attached to each name. Through the four foundations of mindfulness giving rise to the four right efforts, cutting off two evils and cultivating two goods, one diligently contemplates the Four Noble Truths and a resembling understanding is able to arise — like striking flint and first obtaining warmth before the fire itself appears — hence "heat." Through the four bases of supernormal power giving rise to concentration, the contemplation of the truths grows still clearer, like climbing to a mountain summit and seeing all four directions at once — hence "summit." Through concentration and wisdom becoming evenly balanced, wholesome dharmas advance, and the five faculties — faith, diligence, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom — become able to stand firm and unmoving — hence "patience." Through the five faculties growing into five powers, able to break through the five obstructions and step onto the path of vision, this is the finest state attainable within any worldly, contaminated stage — hence "the supreme worldly dharma." All this contaminated wisdom gained through hearing, reflection, and cultivation serves only as a supporting condition, assisting one's own inherently uncontaminated seeds finally to manifest and enter the path of vision.

On the eight patiences and eight kinds of knowledge, Zhixu specifies the full structure: beneath each of the Four Noble Truths in the desire realm there is one patience and one knowledge — suffering-dharma patience, suffering-dharma knowledge, and so on for accumulation, cessation, and the path; beneath each of the Four Noble Truths in the form-and-formless realms together there is likewise one patience and one knowledge — suffering-analogy patience, suffering-analogy knowledge, and so on — combining to eight patiences and eight kinds of knowledge in all. Patience is uncontaminated concentration: on the uninterrupted path, concentration cuts off affliction, and this cutting-off is itself called patience — it is concentration inseparable from wisdom. Knowledge is uncontaminated wisdom: on the path of liberation, wisdom directly realizes the truth, and this realizing is itself called knowledge — it is wisdom inseparable from concentration.

On the true, uncontaminated thirty-four minds, Zhixu shows how the count is reached: the path of vision's own eight patiences and eight kinds of knowledge together make sixteen minds; the path of cultivation, taken across the three realms' nine grounds, has for each ground one uninterrupted path and one path of liberation, making eighteen minds; vision and cultivation combined together make thirty-four minds in all. This concentration and wisdom both arise from beginninglessly, inherently possessed uncontaminated seeds; the merit and wisdom cultivated across three great incalculable eons serve only as the supporting condition, while the beginningless, dharma-nature-endowed uncontaminated seed is the direct, intimate cause — hence severance, realization, and manifestation all happen at once, instantly. Yet reckoned by the categories of affliction actually severed, this is spoken of as "thirty-four minds"; reckoned by what actually severs and realizes, it is simply uncontaminated concentration-and-wisdom, nothing more, and what is thereby realized is only the suchness of the emptiness of self — also called the uncompounded reality attained through discerning extinction. This uncompounded suchness does not, in itself, fall under any numerical count at all; it is only because the uncompounded dharma is spoken of in terms of the differences it makes that it comes to be named "thirty-four minds" — a count that itself further divides, in various further discussions, into gradual and sudden approaches.