The Five Dharmas Defined, One by One
Having just traced how the ordinary person's false thought cascades from a mere name into the whole of birth-and-death, the Buddha now completes the teaching on the five dharmas. First comes suchness — apart from both fixing names and marks and denying them altogether — and the bodhisattva's progress from the ground of joy through to the cloud-of-dharma ground that suchness opens onto. Mahāmati then asks how the three own-natures fit into this same fivefold frame, and the Buddha closes by defining mark, name, false thought, suchness, and right wisdom carefully, one by one, gathering the entire Mahāyāna teaching into these five terms.
Suchness and the Bodhisattva's Progress Through the Grounds
「復次，大慧！菩薩摩訶薩，以此正智，不立名相，非不立名相，捨離二見建立及誹謗，知名相不生，是名如如。大慧！菩薩摩訶薩，住如如者，得無所有境界故，得菩薩歡喜地。得菩薩歡喜地已，永離一切外道惡趣，正住出世間趣。法相成熟，分別幻等一切法。自覺法趣相，離諸妄見怪異相。次第乃至法雲地。於其中間，三昧力自在神通開敷。得如來地已，種種變化，圓照示現成熟眾生，如水中月。善究竟滿足十無盡句，為種種意解眾生分別說法，法身離意所作。是名菩薩入如如所得。」
"Furthermore, Mahāmati, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, by means of this right wisdom, neither fixes names and marks nor fails to fix them, being apart from the two views of asserting [something as truly existent] and denying [it altogether], and knows that names and marks are themselves unborn — this alone is what is called suchness. Mahāmati, the bodhisattva-mahāsattva who abides in suchness attains the domain of having nothing at all, and thereby attains the bodhisattva's ground of joy. Having attained the bodhisattva's ground of joy, he is forever apart from every evil destiny belonging to the outsiders, abiding rightly within the domain that transcends the world. The mark of the Dharma having thus matured, he distinguishes every dharma as being like an illusion, self-realizing the mark of the Dharma's own domain, apart from every false view of strange and unusual marks — and proceeds, in graduated succession, all the way to the cloud-of-dharma ground. In the interval between these grounds, the power of samādhi, mastery, and spiritual powers unfold and open outward. Having attained the Tathāgata's own ground, manifold transformations, perfectly illuminating and manifesting, bring sentient beings to maturity, like the moon reflected in water. Fully and completely accomplishing the ten inexhaustible vows, he teaches the Dharma differently to sentient beings of manifold understanding, his Dharma-body itself apart from anything constructed by will. This alone is what is called the bodhisattva's attainment upon entering suchness."
The commentators explain the seemingly paradoxical phrase "neither fixes names and marks nor fails to fix them" as a precise middle path between two opposite errors: "由前正智觀察名、相非有非無，故言不立非不立也。捨離有無二邊，不墮損益二謗，一切名、相不生，是為如如義也" — "because the right wisdom just discussed observes that names and marks are neither truly existent nor truly non-existent, it is said that one neither fixes them nor fails to fix them. Being apart from the two extremes of being and non-being, and not falling into the two errors of subtracting from or adding to reality, every name and mark is itself unborn — this is the meaning of suchness." To deny that names and marks appear at all would be one extreme; to treat them as fixed, substantial realities would be the other — suchness is neither denial nor assertion, but simply seeing that they never had a fixed existence to begin with.
On the striking phrase "attaining without attainment" used to describe reaching the ground of joy, the commentators explain: "既曰如如，豈有得乎？乃以無得而得，得自他因果之法...由此登歡喜地，則別教初地也" — "since this is called suchness, how could there be any 'attainment' at all? It is rather an attainment through non-attainment, attaining the very dharma of cause and effect for both self and other... it is by this that one ascends to the ground of joy, which is the first ground according to the distinct [Mahāyāna] teaching." And on the final image of the Tathāgata's transformations appearing "like the moon reflected in water," the commentators tie it to the ten inexhaustible vows already introduced back in Part 40's discussion of the eighth ground: "具足成滿十無盡願，隨其意解而為說法，其身清淨，離心意識，是為如如所得之相也" — "fully accomplishing the ten inexhaustible vows, he teaches the Dharma according to each being's own understanding, his body itself pure, apart from mind, will, and consciousness — this is the very mark of what is attained upon entering suchness." The moon appears in every still pool of water without ever leaving its place in the sky — just so, the Tathāgata's teaching adapts to every listener's capacity without his own realization ever being divided or diminished.
The Three Own-Natures Fit into the Five Dharmas
爾時，大慧菩薩白佛言：「世尊！云何世尊為三種自性入於五法。為各有自相宗？」佛告大慧：三種自性及八識、二種無我，悉入五法。大慧！彼名及相，是妄想自性。大慧！若依彼妄想生心心法，名俱時生，如日光俱。種種相各別分別持，是名緣起自性。大慧！正智如如者，不可壞，故名成自性。「復次，大慧！自心現妄想，八種分別，謂識藏、意、意識及五識身相者，不實相，妄想故。我我所二攝受滅，二無我生。是故，大慧！此五法者，聲聞、緣覺、菩薩、如來，自覺聖智，諸地相續次第，一切佛法悉入其中。
At that time, Mahāmati Bodhisattva said to the Buddha: "World-Honored One, how do the three own-natures fit into the five dharmas — or does the World-Honored One mean that each has its own particular framework?" The Buddha told Mahāmati: The three own-natures, together with the eight consciousnesses and the two kinds of selflessness, are all entirely contained within the five dharmas. Mahāmati, name and mark together constitute the imagined own-nature. Mahāmati, should mind and its mental factors arise in dependence on that very false thought, name and mark arising simultaneously with them, the way sunlight arises together with the sun itself, and manifold marks each be individually discriminated and held onto — this alone is what is called the dependent own-nature. Mahāmati, right wisdom and suchness themselves can never be destroyed — this alone is why they are called the perfected own-nature. "Furthermore, Mahāmati, one's own mind's manifestation of false thought divides into eight kinds of discrimination — namely, the storehouse-consciousness, will, consciousness, and the marks belonging to the five sense-consciousnesses — none of which are real marks, being false thought itself. Once the twofold grasping of self and what belongs to self ceases, the two kinds of selflessness themselves arise. It is for this reason, Mahāmati, that these five dharmas — spanning the śrāvaka, the pratyekabuddha, the bodhisattva, and the Tathāgata's own self-realized noble wisdom, in graduated succession through every ground — contain within them the whole of the Buddha's Dharma.
The commentators explain the specific logic by which each of the three own-natures is matched to its place within the five dharmas: "先以名、相對妄想者，從所因言也。以彼妄想反屬緣起者，從所起說也...正智、如如皆非有作，故不可壞，是名圓成自性" — "first, name and mark are paired with the imagined own-nature, speaking from the standpoint of what serves as the cause; then, that very false thought is in turn assigned to the dependent own-nature, speaking from the standpoint of what actually arises from it... right wisdom and suchness are both without any constructed activity at all, and are therefore indestructible — this is why they are called the perfected own-nature." Name and mark are what false thought first fastens onto; the false thought that arises dependent on them, moment by moment, is itself the dependent own-nature; and only right wisdom and suchness, being unconstructed, escape the whole cycle of arising and perishing that the other two own-natures remain caught within.
On why the eight consciousnesses are introduced at exactly this point, folded into the same passage as the own-natures, the commentators read it as showing there is no separate ground left uncovered: "此明五法攝於八識。於自心現而起妄想，有八種分別，皆是虛妄不實之相。若能捨離二種我執，則能、所攝受俱滅，二無我智由是而生...是知識等雖異，同歸五法，無別自相" — "this clarifies that the five dharmas contain the eight consciousnesses within them. Arising from one's own mind's manifestation as false thought, there are eight kinds of discrimination, every one of them an unreal, false mark. Should one be able to relinquish the twofold grasping at self, then apprehender and apprehended both cease, and the wisdom of the two kinds of selflessness arises from this very cessation... one thereby knows that, though the consciousnesses differ from one another, they all return equally to the five dharmas, having no separate mark of their own apart from them." Whatever term the teaching uses — three own-natures, eight consciousnesses, two kinds of selflessness — none of them names some further reality standing outside the five dharmas; each is simply another way of dividing up the very same ground the five dharmas already cover completely.
The Five Dharmas Defined, One by One
「復次，大慧！五法者：相、名、妄想、如如、正智。大慧！相者，若處所形相，色像等現，是名為相。若彼有如是相，名為瓶等，即此非餘，是說為名。施設眾名，顯示諸相，瓶等心心法，是名妄想。彼名彼相，畢竟不可得，始終無覺。於諸法無展轉，離不實妄想，是名如如。真實決定究竟自性不可得，彼是如相。我及諸佛隨順入處，普為眾生如實演說。施設顯示，於彼隨入正覺。不斷不常，妄想不起。隨順自覺聖趣，一切外道、聲聞、緣覺所不得相，是名正智。大慧！是名五法、三種自性、八識、二種無我，一切佛法悉入其中。是故，大慧！當自方便學，亦教他人，勿隨於他。」爾時，世尊欲重宣此義而說偈言：「五法三自性， 及與八種識，二種無有我， 悉攝摩訶衍。名相虛妄想， 自性二種相，正智及如如， 是則為成相。」
"Furthermore, Mahāmati, the five dharmas are: mark, name, false thought, suchness, and right wisdom. Mahāmati, 'mark' means: whenever a location, a shape, a form, or an image and the like appears, this alone is what is called 'mark.' Once there is a mark of this kind, and it is given a name such as 'vase,' fixing it as this and no other — this alone is what is called 'name.' Setting up manifold names to display these various marks, together with the mind and mental factors involved in thinking 'vase' and the like — this alone is what is called 'false thought.' Should name and mark themselves ultimately never be apprehended, being, from beginning to end, without any awareness [fixed upon them] — no dharma at all turning over into another — apart from unreal false thought, this alone is what is called 'suchness.' Since the true, decisive, ultimate own-nature [of anything] can never be apprehended, this itself is the very mark of suchness. I, and every buddha, follow this same point of entry, universally teaching sentient beings exactly as things really are, setting it up and displaying it so that they, too, may follow this same entry into true awakening — neither annihilated nor permanent, with no false thought arising at all. Following in accord with the domain of self-realized noble wisdom, a mark unattainable by any outsider, śrāvaka, or pratyekabuddha — this alone is what is called 'right wisdom.' Mahāmati, this alone is what is meant by the five dharmas, the three own-natures, the eight consciousnesses, and the two kinds of selflessness — the whole of the Buddha's Dharma is entirely contained within them. It is for this reason, Mahāmati, that you should cultivate this through skillful means yourself, and teach it to others as well, rather than following after anyone else's [mistaken teaching]." At that time, wishing to restate this meaning once more, the World-Honored One spoke in verse: "The five dharmas, the three own-natures, together with the eight kinds of consciousness, and the two kinds of selflessness — all of this is entirely contained within the Great Vehicle. Name and mark are false thought itself; own-nature bears these two kinds of mark [imagined and dependent]; right wisdom and suchness together — these alone are what constitute the perfected mark."
The commentators note that this final definition of the five dharmas is not a mere repetition of the earlier one given in Part 43, but a second pass made from a different angle: "此段重列名釋義，復自一途，大同小異，不無所以。先相後名，不出名實，互有前後。餘二不同者，前約自行，故前智後如。此兼化他，則反其次" — "this passage lists the names and explains their meaning once more, taking a somewhat different approach — largely the same but with small differences, and not without reason. Mark is given before name in both cases, since neither goes beyond the relation between name and reality, whichever comes first. But the remaining two [suchness and right wisdom] differ in order: the earlier passage addressed one's own practice, and so gave right wisdom before suchness; this passage also addresses teaching others, and so reverses that order." The first pass through the five dharmas, back in Part 43, was oriented toward a practitioner's own realization; this second pass adds the dimension of teaching — hence "I, and every buddha, follow this same point of entry, universally teaching sentient beings" appears explicitly here, where it did not before.
On the closing verse's final line — "right wisdom and suchness together, these alone are what constitute the perfected mark" — the commentators tie it back to the fuller three-own-natures teaching just given: "悉攝摩訶衍者，謂上四法普攝一切大乘之法。反而言之，一切佛法亦遍攝此之四法也" — "'entirely contained within the Great Vehicle' means that the four dharmas [name, mark, false thought, and their resolution] universally contain every dharma of the Mahāyāna within them. Conversely, every dharma of the Buddha's teaching is likewise entirely contained within these same four dharmas." Name and mark constitute the imagined own-nature, the false thought that clings to them is the dependent own-nature, and right wisdom together with suchness constitute the perfected own-nature — the whole doctrinal apparatus of five dharmas, three own-natures, eight consciousnesses, and two kinds of selflessness converging, in this single closing verse, into one unified teaching.
Part 44 Complete
This closes Part 44, and with it the full teaching on the five dharmas: suchness defined as apart from both fixing and denying names and marks, the bodhisattva's progress from the ground of joy through the cloud-of-dharma ground that suchness opens onto, the three own-natures shown to map precisely onto mark-and-name, false thought, and right-wisdom-and-suchness, and the Buddha's own careful, one-by-one definition of all five terms together with his closing verse gathering the entire Mahāyāna teaching into them. Part 45 turns to a new question Mahāmati raises immediately afterward: whether the number of buddhas across the three time periods is truly "as many as the sands of the Ganges," and what the Buddha actually means by that comparison.
Continue to Part 45 — As Many as the Sands of the Ganges? →