Seeking, Continued
The second half of the chapter on seeking carries the classificatory density of fascicle 4 into new territory: Consciousness-Only itself, argued as two lights of mind without a dual mark of defilement and purity; the marked and the marking, mapped exactly onto the three natures already established; four distinct gates of liberation; an eightfold forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas; and eight separate reasons the Buddha teaches a single vehicle even while three vehicles remain real. It closes with two of the treatise's longest enumerations — forty-four kinds of attention that fulfill the six perfections, each stated as the bodhisattva's own inner reflection, and the ten discriminations the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra remedies one by one, in its own quoted words.
Where This Fascicle Picks Up
Fascicle 4 opened the chapter on seeking with the three baskets, the objects of cognition, the eighteen kinds of attention, and reality argued through the magician's illusion. This fascicle continues that same chapter without a break — the source marks it only 述求品之二, "seeking, part two," with no further chapter heading of its own, picking up exactly where seeking reality left off and carrying the chapter through to its close.
Classical text is set in the left-hand column, our English in the right. See also this site's note on translation method.
1. Seeking Consciousness-Only: The Two Lights of Mind
釋曰：已說求染淨，次說求唯識。
偈曰：
能取及所取， 此二唯心光，
貪光及信光， 二光無二法。
釋曰：能取及所取此二唯心光者，求唯識人應知，能取所取此之二種唯是心光。貪光及信光二光無二法者，如是貪等煩惱光及信等善法光，如是二光亦無染淨二法。何以故？不離心光別有貪等信等染淨法故，是故二光亦無二相。
偈曰：
種種心光起， 如是種種相，
光體非體故， 不得彼法實。
釋曰：種種心光起如是種種相者，種種心光即是種種事相，或異時起、或同時起。異時起者，謂貪光瞋光等。同時起者，謂信光進光等。光體非體故不得彼法實者，如是染位心數、淨位心數，唯有光相而無光體，是故世尊不說彼為真實之法。已說求唯識，次說求諸相。
The exposition: seeking defilement and purification having been explained, next seeking Consciousness-Only is explained.
The grasper and the grasped —
these two are only the light of mind;
the light of craving and the light of faith —
these two lights are not two separate things.
The exposition: one who seeks Consciousness-Only should know that the grasper and the grasped are both only the light of mind. The light of craving and the light of faith, these two lights are not two separate things means: the light of the affliction of craving and the rest, and the light of the wholesome dharma of faith and the rest, are also, as two lights, not two separate dharmas of defilement and purity. Why? Because apart from the light of mind, there is no separate dharma of defilement or purity such as craving or faith — therefore these two lights are likewise without a dual mark.
Manifold lights of mind arise,
and with them these manifold marks;
because the substance of this light is not a substance,
the reality of these dharmas cannot be found.
The exposition: manifold lights of mind, arising either at different times or simultaneously, are themselves manifold marks of things. Arising at different times: the light of craving, of hatred, and so on. Arising simultaneously: the light of faith, of diligence, and so on. Because the substance of this light is not a substance, the reality of these dharmas cannot be found means: mental factors in a defiled state, and in a pure state, have only the mark of light and no substance of light — for this reason the Bhagavat does not teach them to be real dharmas. Seeking Consciousness-Only having been explained, next seeking the various marks is explained.
不離心光別有貪等信等染淨法 is the argument's whole weight in one clause: apart from the light of mind, there is no separate dharma of defilement or purity. This is a stronger claim than saying afflictions and virtues are made of mind-stuff; it says the distinction between defiled and pure states is itself only a distinction among lights, not a distinction between two different kinds of underlying thing. Craving and faith are not two substances that happen to both be mental — they are two patterns the same light takes, which is why the treatise can say in the same breath that the two lights have "no dual mark" without thereby erasing the practical difference between a defiled mind and a pure one.
2. The Marked and the Marking: Five Marked Objects, Three Marking Natures
偈曰：
所相及能相， 如是相差別，
為攝利眾生， 諸佛開示現。
釋曰：相有二種，一者所相、二者能相。此偈總舉，餘偈別釋。
偈曰：
共及心及見， 及位及不轉，
略說所相五， 廣說則無量。
釋曰：共及心及見及位及不轉者，所相有五：一者色法、二者心法、三者心數法、四者不相應法、五者無為法。彼共者，謂色法。心者，謂識法。見者，謂心數法。位者，謂不相應法。不轉者，謂虛空等無為法。略說所相五廣說則無量者，彼識常起如是五相。此五所相是世尊略說，若廣說者則有無量差別。已說所相諸相，次說能相諸相。
偈曰：
意言與習光， 名義互光起，
非真分別故， 是名分別相。
釋曰：能相略說有三種，謂分別相、依他相、真實相。此偈顯示分別相。此相復有三種：一有覺分別相、二無覺分別相、三相因分別相。意言者謂義想，義即想境，想即心數，由此想於義能如是如是起意言解，此是有覺分別相。習光者，習謂意言種子，光謂從彼種子直起義光，未能如是如是起意言解，此是無覺分別相。名義互光起者，謂依名起義光，依義起名光，境界非真，唯是分別世間，所謂若名若義，此是相因分別相。如此三種相，悉是非真分別，是名分別相。
The marked, and the marking —
such are the distinctions of the marks;
in order to gather in and benefit sentient beings,
the buddhas open them up and display them.
The exposition: there are two kinds of mark — the marked, and the marking. This verse states them together; the verses that follow explain each separately.
The shared, and the mind, and the seen,
and the state, and the unchanging —
the marked, in brief, is fivefold;
stated fully, it is measureless.
The exposition: the marked is fivefold: material dharmas, mind, mental factors, formations dissociated from mind, and the unconditioned. The shared is material dharmas. Mind is consciousness. The seen is mental factors. The state is the formations dissociated from mind. And the unchanging is the unconditioned, such as space. Consciousness constantly gives rise to these five marks, stated by the Bhagavat in brief; stated fully, they have measureless distinctions. The marked's various marks having been explained, next the marking's various marks are explained.
Mental discourse, and the light of habituation;
name and meaning, each giving rise to the other's light —
since these are discrimination and not the real,
this is called the discriminated mark.
The exposition: the marking, in brief, is threefold — the discriminated mark, the dependent mark, and the true mark. This verse displays the discriminated mark, further of three kinds. Mental discourse refers to the notion of an object, through which one gives rise, in this way and that, to a mental-discourse understanding of it — this is the discriminated mark with awareness. The light of habituation is the light of the object arising directly from the seed of mental discourse, without yet giving rise to such an understanding — this is the discriminated mark without awareness. Name and meaning each giving rise to the other's light means: in dependence on a name, the light of meaning arises; in dependence on meaning, the light of a name arises, the domain not being real but only the world's discrimination — this is the discriminated mark that is the cause of a further mark. All three are discrimination and not the real, and are called the discriminated mark.
偈曰：
所取及能取， 二相各三光，
不真分別故， 是說依他相。
釋曰：此偈顯示依他相。此相中自有所取相及能取相。所取相有三光，謂句光、義光、身光。能取相有三光，謂意光、受光、分別光。意謂一切時染污識，受謂五識身，分別謂意識。彼所取相三光及能取相三光，如此諸光皆是不真分別故，是依他相。
偈曰：
無體體無二， 非寂靜寂靜，
以無分別故， 是說真實相。
釋曰：此偈顯示真實相。真實，謂如也。此相有三種：一自相、二染淨相、三無分別相。無體體無二者，是真實自相。無體者，一切諸法但分別故。體者，以無體為體故。無二者，體無體無別故。非寂靜寂靜者，是真實染淨相。非寂靜者，由客塵煩惱故。寂靜者，由自性清淨故。以無分別故者，是真實無分別相。由分別不行境界，無戲論故。已說三種能相。
The grasped, and the grasper —
each of these two marks has three lights;
since these are discrimination and not real,
this is called the dependent mark.
The exposition: this verse displays the dependent mark, itself having a grasped mark and a grasper mark. The grasped mark has three lights: of the phrase, of meaning, and of the body. The grasper mark has three lights: of manas, the constantly defiled consciousness; of the five sense-consciousnesses; and of the discriminating, mental consciousness. These three and three lights are all discrimination and not real — this is the dependent mark.
Without substance, yet substance is non-dual with it;
not quiescent, yet quiescent;
because it is without discrimination —
this is called the true mark.
The exposition: this verse displays the true mark — the true being suchness — of three kinds: its own mark, its mark of defilement and purity, and its non-discriminating mark. Without substance, yet substance is non-dual with it is its own mark: without substance, since all dharmas are only discrimination; yet substance, since it takes the absence of substance as its substance; non-dual, since substance and its absence are without difference. Not quiescent, yet quiescent is its mark of defilement and purity: not quiescent, owing to adventitious affliction; quiescent, owing to its own-nature's purity. Because it is without discrimination is its non-discriminating mark, discrimination not operating in its domain, it being free of discursive elaboration. The three kinds of marking having thus been explained.
The marked and the marking map exactly onto two different classification schemes this treatise has used before, and seeing them side by side clarifies what each is for. The marked's five categories — material dharmas, mind, mental factors, formations dissociated from mind, and the unconditioned — are the standard Abhidharma sorting of everything that exists, a taxonomy of objects. The marking's three categories are the three natures from fascicle 1 onward, a taxonomy of how a mind relates to whatever it takes as object. Put together, the chapter is answering two different questions at once: what kinds of things are there to know, and in what mode is anything ever actually known. The five marked things do not change; what changes is which of the three marking-natures a mind brings to them.
The dependent mark's six lights — three for the grasped (phrase, meaning, body) and three for the grasper (manas, the five senses, discriminating consciousness) — form a precise, symmetrical inventory that is worth setting beside fascicle 3's four wisdoms arising from eight consciousnesses. Both schemes are dividing the same underlying cognitive apparatus, but for different purposes: the four wisdoms describe what a buddha's transformed mind becomes, while these six lights describe what an unenlightened, still-dependent mind is made of before any transformation. The same eighth, seventh, sixth, and five sense-consciousnesses that will later become the four wisdoms are, here, still doing the ordinary work of grasping and being grasped.
3. Five Domains of Study, and the Basis's Transformation into Five Excellences
偈曰：
應知五學境， 正法及正憶，
心界有非有， 第五說轉依。
釋曰：彼能相復有五種學境，一能持、二所持、三鏡像、四明悟、五轉依。能持者，謂佛所說正法，由此法持彼能緣故。所持者，即正憶念，由正法所持故。鏡像者，謂心界，由得定故安心法界，如先所說皆見是名，定心為鏡、法界為像故。明悟者，出世間慧，彼有如實見有、非有如實見非有，有謂法無我、非有謂能取所取，於此明見故。轉依者，
偈曰：
聖性證平等， 解脫事亦一，
勝則有五義， 不減亦不增。
釋曰：聖性證平等解脫事亦一者，聖性謂無漏界。證平等者，諸聖同得故。解脫事亦一者，諸佛聖性與聲聞緣覺平等，由解脫同故。勝則有五義不減亦不增者，雖復聖性平等，然諸佛最勝自有五義：一者清淨勝，由漏習俱盡故。二者普遍勝，由剎土通淨故。三者身勝，由法身故。四者受用勝，由轉法輪受用不斷故。五者業勝，由住兜率天等現諸化事利益眾生故。不減者，謂染分減時。不增者，謂淨分增時。此是五種學地解相似，彼解脫所相法及三種能相法故。已說所相能相，次說求解脫。
Know the five domains of study:
the true Dharma, and right recollection,
the realm of mind, and existence and non-existence,
and fifth, the transformation of the basis.
The exposition: the marking further has five domains of study: what upholds, what is upheld, the mirror-image, clear awakening, and the transformation of the basis. What upholds is the true Dharma taught by the Buddha, since it upholds what takes it as object. What is upheld is right recollection, upheld by the true Dharma. The mirror-image is the realm of mind: having attained concentration, one settles the mind in the dharma-realm — as stated before, one sees everything as name — the concentrated mind being the mirror, the dharma-realm the image. Clear awakening is transcendent wisdom, which truly sees what exists as existing — the selflessness of things — and what does not exist as not existing — the grasper and the grasped. As for the transformation of the basis:
The noble nature realizes equality;
the matter of liberation is likewise one;
yet its supremacy has five distinct meanings;
neither decreasing, nor increasing.
The exposition: the noble nature is the uncontaminated realm, and it realizes equality since all the noble ones equally attain it; the matter of liberation is likewise one, since the buddhas' noble nature is equal to that of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, their liberation being the same. Yet its supremacy has five distinct meanings: although the noble nature is thus equal, the buddhas still have their own five meanings of supremacy — the supremacy of purity, both contaminants and their habituation being exhausted; of universality, their lands being thoroughly pure; of body, through the Dharma-body; of enjoyment, turning the Dharma-wheel without interruption; and of deed, manifesting transformative works from Tuṣita and the like to benefit beings. Not decreasing refers to when the defiled portion decreases; not increasing, to when the pure portion increases. These are the five domains of study, understood as parallel to the marked dharma of liberation and the three marking dharmas. The marked and the marking having been explained, next seeking liberation is explained.
不減亦不增, neither decreasing nor increasing, closes this section on a formula this treatise has used before — most memorably in fascicle 3's account of the dharma-realm, where the same phrase described a purity that was never actually altered by defilement's coming and going. Here it does slightly different work: it explains how the buddhas' fivefold supremacy can be simultaneously real and consistent with the equal, shared noble nature stated just before it. The defiled portion decreasing and the pure portion increasing are two descriptions of a single process, not two separate quantities — which is exactly the kind of non-dual accounting this treatise reaches for whenever it needs to hold a genuine equality and a genuine distinction in the same sentence without contradiction.
4. Seeking Liberation: Four Gates
偈曰：
如是種子轉， 句義身光轉，
是名無漏界， 三乘同所依。
釋曰：如是種子轉者，阿梨耶識轉故。句義身光轉者，謂餘識轉故。是名無漏界者，由解脫故。三乘同所依者，聲聞緣覺與佛同依止故。
偈曰：
意受分別轉， 四種自在得，
次第無分別， 剎土智業故。
釋曰：意受分別轉四種自在得者，若意、若受、若分別，如此三光若轉，即得四種自在。問：何者為四？答：次第無分別剎土智業故。一得無分別自在、二得剎土自在、三得智自在、四得業自在。
偈曰：
應知後三地， 說有四自在，
不動地有二， 餘地各餘一。
釋曰：應知後三地說有四自在者，謂不動地、善慧地、法雲地，成就彼四種自在。不動地有二餘地各餘一者，不動地有第一無分別自在、第二剎土自在，由無功用無分別故、由剎土清淨故。善慧地有第三智自在，由得四辯善巧勝故。法雲地有第四業自在，由諸通業無障礙故。
Thus the seed is transformed,
and the light of phrase, meaning, and body is transformed;
this is called the uncontaminated realm,
the shared support of the three vehicles.
The exposition: thus the seed is transformed means the ālayavijñāna is transformed. The light of phrase, meaning, and body is transformed means the other consciousnesses are transformed. This is the uncontaminated realm, through liberation — the shared support of the three vehicles, since śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas share the same support as buddhas.
The transformation of manas, the senses, and discrimination
attains four kinds of mastery —
in order, non-discrimination,
land, wisdom, and deed.
The exposition: if manas, the five senses, and discrimination — these three lights — are transformed, four kinds of mastery are attained: mastery of non-discrimination, mastery of the buddha-land, mastery of wisdom, and mastery of deed.
Know that in the last three grounds
four kinds of mastery are taught;
the immovable ground has two,
and each of the remaining grounds has one further.
The exposition: the last three grounds — immovable, of good discernment, and of the Dharma cloud — accomplish these four kinds of mastery. The immovable ground has mastery of non-discrimination and of the buddha-land, being effortless and non-discriminating, its lands pure. The ground of good discernment has mastery of wisdom, attaining supreme skill in the four kinds of eloquence. And the ground of the Dharma cloud has mastery of deed, its activity through the supernormal powers being unobstructed.
偈曰：
三有二無我， 了入真唯識，
亦無唯識光， 得離名解脫。
釋曰：復有別解脫門。三有二無我了入真唯識者，由知二無我為方便故。菩薩於三有中分別人法皆無有體，是故無我。如是知已，亦非一向都無有體，取一切諸法真實唯識故。亦無唯識光得離名解脫者，菩薩爾時安心唯識，識光亦無即得解脫。何以故？由人法不可得，離有所得故。
偈曰：
能持所持聚， 觀故唯有名，
觀名不見名， 無名得解脫。
釋曰：復有別解脫門。能持所持聚者，能持謂所聞法，所持謂正憶念，聚謂福智滿，由先聚力故而有所持。觀故唯有名者，但有言說無有義故。復次唯名者，唯識故。復次唯名者，非色四陰故。觀名不見名無名得解脫者，復次觀所觀名復不見名，由義無體故，又不見識故，又不見非色四陰故，如是名亦不可得。離有所得故，故名解脫。
偈曰：
我見熏習心， 流轉於諸趣，
安心住於內， 迴流說解脫。
釋曰：復有別解脫門。我見熏習心流轉於諸趣者，有二種我見滋灰，故言熏習。由此熏習為因，是故流轉生死。安心住於內迴流說解脫者，若知所緣不可得，置心於內攝令不散，即迴彼流說名解脫。已說求解脫，次求無自體。
Understanding the twofold selflessness within the three realms of existence,
one enters into true Consciousness-Only;
and, there being no light of Consciousness-Only either,
one attains what is called liberation.
The exposition: there is a further gate of liberation. By the method of knowing the twofold selflessness, the bodhisattva discerns that, within the three realms, persons and things are both without substance. Having thus known this, it is not that there is absolutely no substance whatsoever either, since he takes hold of the true reality of all dharmas as Consciousness-Only. There being no light of Consciousness-Only either, one attains liberation means: the bodhisattva settles his mind on Consciousness-Only, and the light of consciousness too being absent, he attains liberation, since persons and things cannot be found, being free of anything to be obtained.
What upholds, what is upheld, and the accumulation —
observing these, there is only name;
observing the name, one does not see the name —
and, without name, liberation is attained.
The exposition: there is a further gate of liberation. What upholds is the Dharma one has heard; what is upheld is right recollection; the accumulation is the fulfillment of merit and wisdom, by whose power one has what is upheld. Observing these, there is only name, only speech and no meaning — only name, since it is only consciousness; only name, since it is the four formless aggregates. Observing the name, one does not see the name, and without name, liberation is attained means: observing the name that is observed, one does not see the name either, meaning having no substance, nor does one see consciousness, nor the four formless aggregates — the name itself cannot ultimately be found. Being free of anything to be obtained, it is therefore called liberation.
The habituation of the view of self perfumes the mind,
which flows on through the various destinies;
settling the mind, dwelling within,
and turning back that current, is called liberation.
The exposition: there is a further gate of liberation. There are two kinds of mordant and lime of the view of self, called habituation; by this habituation as cause, one flows on through saṃsāra. If one knows that the object taken as condition cannot be found, and places the mind within, gathering it so it does not scatter, one turns back that current — this is called liberation. Seeking liberation having been explained, next seeking the absence of self-nature is explained.
Four gates of liberation, given one after another with no ranking stated between them, are worth reading as four separate doors onto the same room rather than four stages of one path. The first works through Consciousness-Only itself, collapsing even the light of consciousness once the twofold selflessness is understood. The second works through language, showing that "name" cannot ultimately be found once the observing of a name is itself observed — an infinite regress that terminates, rather than continuing forever, because there is finally nothing left to name. The third works through the ordinary account of saṃsāra's cause, the habituation of the view of self, and liberates simply by turning that current's direction inward. Three different starting points, each independently sufficient — a practitioner does not need to walk through Consciousness-Only to arrive at the third gate's release.
5. Seeking the Absence of Self-Nature, and the Eightfold Forbearance of Non-Arising
偈曰：
自無及體無， 及以體不住，
如執無體故， 法成無自體。
釋曰：自無及體無及以體不住者，自無謂諸法自然無，由不自起故。不自起者，屬因緣故。體無謂諸法已滅者不復起故。及以體不住者，現在諸法剎那剎那不住故。此三種無自體，遍一切有為相，是義應知。如執無體故法成無自體者，如所執著實無自體，由自體無體故。如諸凡夫於自體執著常樂我淨，如是異分別相亦復無體，是故一切諸法成無自體。
偈曰：
無自體故成， 前為後依止，
無生復無滅， 本靜性涅槃。
釋曰：無自體故成前為後依止者，由前無性故，次第成立後無生等。問：此云何？答：無生復無滅本靜性涅槃。若無性則無生，若無生則無滅，若無滅則本來寂靜，若本來寂靜則自性涅槃。如是前前次第為後後依止，此義得成。已說求無自性，次說求無生忍。
偈曰：
本來及真實， 異相及自相，
自然及無異， 染污差別八。
釋曰：有八種無起法，名無生法忍。一者本來無起，由生死非有本起故。二者真實無起，由法無先後異，先起法無故。三者異相無起，由非舊種處更得起故。四者自相無起，由分別性畢竟不起故。五者自然無起，由依他性自性不起故。六者無異無起，由真實性非有異體起故。七者染污無起，由盡智時染污諸見不復起故。八者差別無起，由諸佛法身非有差別起故。此八無起法，說名無生法忍。已說求無生忍，次說求一乘。
Self-absence, and substance-absence,
and substance's not abiding —
because what is grasped has no substance,
things are established as having no self-nature.
The exposition: self-absence is that things naturally lack a self, not arising of themselves, belonging instead to causes and conditions. Substance-absence is that things, once ceased, no longer arise. Substance's not abiding is that present things, moment by moment, do not abide. These three pervade every mark of conditioned things. As what is grasped and clung to really has no substance, since its own substance has no substance — just as ordinary beings cling to permanence, pleasure, self, and purity — so too this differently discriminated mark likewise has no substance, and therefore all things are established as having no self-nature.
Because of the absence of self-nature, it is established
that each stage serves as the support for the next:
no arising, and then no ceasing;
originally quiescent, and by nature nirvāṇa.
The exposition: because the earlier is without nature, the later stages are established in turn. Question: how? Answer: if there is no nature, there is no arising; if no arising, no ceasing; if no ceasing, it is originally quiescent; and if originally quiescent, it is by nature nirvāṇa. Thus each earlier stage serves as the support for each later one — this is how the point is established. Seeking the absence of self-nature having been explained, next seeking the forbearance of non-arising is explained.
Original, and true;
distinct in mark, and own-mark;
natural, and without distinction;
and defiled — these differ, eightfold.
The exposition: there are eight kinds of non-arising dharma, called the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. First, original non-arising, saṃsāra having no original arising to begin with. Second, true non-arising, the Dharma having no earlier dharma that arose before it. Third, non-arising distinct in mark, nothing newly arising in a place not already its own kind of seed. Fourth, non-arising as own-mark, the discriminated nature ultimately not arising at all. Fifth, natural non-arising, the dependent nature's own-nature not arising of itself. Sixth, non-arising without distinction, the true nature having no distinct substance that arises. Seventh, non-arising of defilement, at the exhaustion of wisdom defiled views no longer arising. And eighth, non-arising of distinction, the buddhas' Dharma-body having no distinction that arises. These eight are called the forbearance of the non-arising of dharmas. Seeking this forbearance having been explained, next seeking the One Vehicle is explained.
The eight kinds of non-arising map, one for one, onto the treatise's major prior commitments, and reading them as a checklist rather than a fresh argument makes the section's purpose clear: this is a summary review disguised as a new topic. The fourth, fifth, and sixth kinds recite the three natures directly — the discriminated does not arise at all, the dependent does not arise of itself, the true has no distinct substance to arise. The seventh recalls the transformation of the basis from fascicle 3. The eighth recalls the buddhas' non-oneness argument from the same fascicle. Presenting eight familiar conclusions under one new heading, 無生法忍, is itself a teaching move: it tells the practitioner that a single forbearance, properly developed, already contains everything argued at length across the earlier fascicles.
6. Seeking the One Vehicle: Eight Reasons, and Two Kinds of Uncertain Śrāvakas
偈曰：
法無我解脫， 同故性別故，
得二意變化， 究竟說一乘。
釋曰：此中八意，佛說一乘。一者法同故，謂聲聞等人無別法界，由所趣同故，故說一乘。二者無我同故，謂聲聞等人同無我體，由趣者同故，故說一乘。三者解脫同故，謂聲聞等人同滅惑障，由出離同故，故說一乘。四者性別故，謂不定三乘性人引入大乘，故說一乘。五者諸佛得同自意故，謂諸佛得如此意，如我所得一切眾生亦同我得。由此意故，故說一乘。六者聲聞得作佛意故，謂諸聲聞昔行大菩提聚時有定作佛性，彼時佛加故勝攝故，得自知作佛意。由此人前後相續無別，故說一乘。七者變化故，謂佛示現聲聞而般涅槃為教化故。如佛自說：我無量無數以聲聞乘示現涅槃。由離此方便，更無方便化小根人入大乘故。理實唯一，故說一乘。八者究竟故，謂至佛體無復去處，故說一乘。如是處處經中以此八意佛說一乘，而亦不無三乘。問：若爾，復有何義以彼彼意而說一乘？
偈曰：
引接諸聲聞， 攝住諸菩薩，
於此二不定， 諸佛說一乘。
釋曰：彼彼意有二義，一為引接諸聲聞故、二為攝住諸菩薩故。若諸聲聞於自乘性不定，佛為引接彼人令入大乘，故說一乘。若諸菩薩於自乘性不定，佛為攝住彼人令不退大乘，故說一乘。
Dharma, selflessness, liberation —
because these are the same; because natures differ;
because of attaining the intent of the two; because of transformation;
and because of the ultimate — the One Vehicle is taught.
The exposition: it is with these eight intentions that the Buddha teaches the One Vehicle. First, because the Dharma is the same: śrāvakas and the rest have no separate dharma-realm, their destination being the same. Second, because selflessness is the same: they equally have the substance of selflessness. Third, because liberation is the same: they equally extinguish the afflictive obstruction, their renunciation being the same. Fourth, because natures differ: those of the three vehicles whose nature is not fixed are drawn into the Mahāyāna. Fifth, because the buddhas attain a shared intent: as I have attained, so shall all sentient beings attain the same. Sixth, because of the intent that śrāvakas will become buddhas: śrāvakas who once practiced toward great enlightenment had a fixed nature to become buddhas, and, aided by a buddha's supremacy, came to know this intent for themselves — these persons forming an unbroken continuity from before to after. Seventh, because of transformation: the Buddha displays a śrāvaka's entering final nirvāṇa for the sake of teaching beings — as the Buddha himself said, "I have, measurelessly and countlessly, displayed nirvāṇa by means of the śrāvaka vehicle" — there being no other means to transform beings of lesser faculties, and the underlying principle being truly one. And eighth, because of the ultimate: upon reaching the substance of buddhahood there is nowhere further to go. Thus, here and there in the sūtras, the Buddha teaches the One Vehicle with these eight intentions, and yet this does not mean there are not, also, three vehicles. Question: what further meaning is there in teaching the One Vehicle with these various intentions?
To draw in the śrāvakas,
and to hold and sustain the bodhisattvas —
for these two who are uncertain,
the buddhas teach the One Vehicle.
The exposition: these intentions have two purposes: to draw in the śrāvakas, and to hold and sustain the bodhisattvas. If śrāvakas are uncertain in their own vehicle's nature, the Buddha, to draw them into the Mahāyāna, teaches the One Vehicle. If bodhisattvas are uncertain in their own vehicle's nature, the Buddha, to hold and sustain them so they do not fall back, teaches the One Vehicle.
偈曰：
聲聞二不定， 見義不見義，
見義不斷愛， 斷愛俱軟根。
釋曰：聲聞不定復有二種。一者見義乘，彼見諦發大乘故。二者不見義乘，彼不見諦發大乘故。見義復有二種：一者斷愛，彼已離欲界欲故。二者不斷愛，彼未離欲界欲故。此中見義二人，應知俱是軟品，由根鈍故。
偈曰：
二得聖道人， 迴向於諸有，
迴向不思議， 二生相應故。
釋曰：如是見義得聖道二人，能以聖道迴向諸有，如是迴向名不思議生。由以聖道迴向生故，如此二人與二生相應。問：何者二生？
偈曰：
願力及化力， 隨欲而受生，
願力不斷愛， 化住阿那含。
釋曰：二生者，一願自在生、二化自在生，初是未離欲人，後是阿那含人。問：如此二人云何軟品？
偈曰：
由二樂涅槃， 數數自厭故，
二俱說鈍道， 久久得菩提。
釋曰：由此二人先有樂滅心故、恒起自厭心故，是故彼道說為鈍道，由不能速得無上菩提故。
偈曰：
所作未辦人， 生在無佛世，
修禪為化故， 漸得大菩提。
釋曰：所作未辦人者，謂見諦未斷愛未得阿羅漢果人。此人生在無佛世界，生已自能勤修諸禪，為變化故。此人依止此化，漸漸更得無上菩提。如此三位，如《佛勝鬘經》說：如是聲聞，次得緣覺，後得作佛。如大譬中說：一者先見諦位；二者佛空時生，自能修禪，捨於生身而受化身；三者當得無上菩提。已說求一乘，次說求明處。
The śrāvakas' uncertainty is of two kinds:
those who see the meaning, and those who do not;
those who see the meaning may or may not have cut off craving —
both, in these cases, are of dull faculty.
The exposition: uncertain śrāvakas are of two kinds: those of the vehicle who see the meaning, arousing the Mahāyāna mind after seeing the truths; and those who do not see the meaning, arousing it without having seen the truths. Those who see the meaning are further of two kinds: those who have cut off craving, having left behind desire for the desire realm; and those who have not. Both of these who see the meaning should be understood to be of the dull grade, owing to their dull faculties.
These two who have attained the noble path
dedicate it toward the realms of existence;
this dedication is inconceivable,
since it is joined with two kinds of birth.
The exposition: these two who see the meaning and have attained the noble path are able to dedicate it toward the realms of existence, and this dedication is called an inconceivable birth. Question: what are these two kinds of birth?
By the power of the vow, and the power of transformation,
one takes birth according to one's wish;
the power of the vow belongs to one who has not cut off craving,
and the power of transformation belongs to one abiding as a non-returner.
The exposition: the two births are birth by the mastery of the vow — belonging to one who has not left behind desire — and birth by the mastery of transformation, belonging to a non-returner. Question: how are these two of the dull grade?
Because both delight in nirvāṇa,
and repeatedly grow weary of themselves,
both are said to follow the dull path,
attaining enlightenment only after a very long time.
The exposition: because these two formerly had a mind that delighted in cessation, and constantly grew weary of themselves, their path is said to be the dull path, being unable to swiftly attain unsurpassed enlightenment.
One whose task is not yet accomplished,
born into an age without a buddha,
cultivates meditative absorption for the sake of transformation,
and gradually attains great enlightenment.
The exposition: one whose task is not yet accomplished is one who has seen the truths but not yet cut off craving, not yet attained arhatship. Born into a world without a buddha, this person is thereafter able to diligently cultivate the absorptions for the sake of transformation, and, relying on this transformation, gradually attains unsurpassed enlightenment. These three stages are as taught in the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra: such a śrāvaka next attains the state of a pratyekabuddha, and afterward attains buddhahood — first, having seen the truths; second, born at a time without a buddha, able to cultivate absorption, relinquishing the born body for a transformation body; and third, attaining unsurpassed enlightenment. Seeking the One Vehicle having been explained, next seeking the sciences is explained.
The eight reasons for the One Vehicle are not eight versions of the same claim, and the treatise is careful to keep three genuinely different kinds of argument distinct within the list. Reasons one through three argue from what śrāvakas and bodhisattvas already share — the same dharma-realm, the same selflessness, the same liberation from affliction. Reasons five through eight argue from the buddhas' own intent and the shape of skillful means — what the Buddha wills for all beings, what a hidden fixed nature accomplishes over time, why an apparent nirvāṇa is sometimes only a display, and what "nowhere further to go" means at the actual endpoint. Reason four sits alone in the middle, and it is the odd one out: 性別故, because natures differ, is the one reason that does not argue for an underlying unity at all — it simply names the practical fact that beings whose vehicle is not yet fixed can still be drawn from one vehicle into another. The One Vehicle teaching, on this treatise's own accounting, rests on three different kinds of foundation, not one.
不見諦發大乘 and 見諦發大乘 — arousing the Mahāyāna mind without having seen the truths, versus after having seen them — divides uncertain śrāvakas along a line that inverts the intuition a reader might bring in: one would expect the person who has already seen the truths to be further along, and in the ordinary śrāvaka path they would be. But among these particular uncertain śrāvakas, both branches are explicitly called 軟品, of the dull grade — even having seen the truths does not exempt a person from the dull, gradual path once they are classified this way. What determines the pace of their eventual buddhahood is not how much śrāvaka attainment they already hold, but 由二樂涅槃, that both delight in nirvāṇa and grow weary of themselves — a disposition, not a stage.
7. The Five Sciences, and the Forty-Four Attentions That Fulfill the Perfections (Part 1)
偈曰：
菩薩習五明， 總為求種智，
解伏信治攝， 為五五別求。
釋曰：菩薩習五明總為求種智者，明處有五：一內明、二因明、三聲明、四醫明、五巧明。菩薩學此五明，總意為求一切種智，若不勤習五明不得一切種智故。問：別意云何？答：解、伏、信、治、攝為五，五別求如其次第學。內明為求自解學，因明為伏外執學，聲明為令他信學，醫明為所治方學，巧明為攝一切眾生。已說求明處，次說求長養善根，所謂作意滿足諸波羅蜜。此作意有四十四種，初謂知因作意乃至最後謂知我勝作意。此等作意，今當顯說。
偈曰：
知因及念依， 共果與信解，
四意隨次第， 修習諸善根。
釋曰：此偈有四種作意，一知因作意、二念依作意、三共果作意、四信解作意。菩薩最初住性而作是念：我今自見波羅蜜性，知可增長。是名知因作意。次作是念：我今已發大心，諸波羅蜜決定當得圓滿。何以故？以此大心為依止故。是名念依作意。次作是念：我已發心為利自他勤修諸波羅蜜。此果若共，即願受之；若不共他，即願不受。是名共果作意。次作是念：我今勤行自他利時，應通達涅槃真實方便，所謂不染三輪，如過去諸佛曾解、未來諸佛當解、現在諸佛今解，我皆正信。是名信解作意。如是後後作意，應知次第亦爾。
偈曰：
得喜有四種， 二惡不能退，
應知隨修意， 此復有四種。
釋曰：此偈有三種作意，一得喜作意、二不退作意、三隨修作意。菩薩次作是念：我今信解諸波羅蜜得四種喜，謂障斷喜、聚滿喜、攝自他二利喜、與依報二果喜。是名得喜作意。次作是念：我今為成就自他佛法修行諸波羅蜜時，雖遇惡人違逆惡事逼惱，終無退心。是名不退作意。次作是念：我今為得無上菩提，於諸波羅蜜應起四種隨修，所謂應懺悔六波羅蜜諸障、應隨喜六波羅蜜諸行、應勸請六波羅蜜法義、應以六波羅蜜迴向無上菩提。是名隨修作意。
The bodhisattva studies the five sciences,
together, in order to seek omniscience;
for understanding, subduing, inspiring faith, remedying, and gathering in —
these five are each sought separately.
The exposition: there are five sciences — the inner science, the science of logic, the science of language, the science of medicine, and the science of craft. The bodhisattva studies them together, with the overall intent of seeking omniscience, since without diligently studying the five sciences, omniscience cannot be attained. Their separate purposes: the inner science, for one's own understanding; the science of logic, to subdue outsiders' views; the science of language, to inspire faith in others; the science of medicine, to remedy what needs treatment; and the science of craft, to gather in all sentient beings. Seeking the sciences having been explained, next seeking the nourishing of wholesome roots is explained — namely, the attention that fulfills the perfections, of forty-four kinds, the first being the attention of knowing the cause, down to the last being the attention of knowing one's own supremacy. These shall now be displayed.
Knowing the cause, and being mindful of the support,
the shared fruit, and faith and understanding —
these four attentions, each in its order,
cultivate the various wholesome roots.
The exposition: this verse gives four kinds of attention. The bodhisattva, first abiding in the lineage, reflects: "I now see for myself the nature of the perfections, and know it can be increased" — the attention of knowing the cause. Next: "I have already aroused the great mind; the perfections will surely come to fulfillment, since this great mind is their support" — the attention of being mindful of the support. Next: "Having aroused the mind, I diligently cultivate the perfections for the benefit of self and other. Should this fruit be shared, I wish to receive it; should it not be shared with others, I wish not to receive it" — the attention of the shared fruit. Next: "As I diligently practice for the benefit of self and other, I should penetrate the true method of nirvāṇa — not being tainted by the three wheels — just as past, future, and present buddhas understand it; in all this I have right faith" — the attention of faith and understanding. The attentions that follow proceed in this same order.
Attaining joy is of four kinds;
two evils are unable to make one retrogress;
know the attention of following cultivation,
which is again of four kinds.
The exposition: this verse gives three kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "Through faith and understanding of the perfections, I attain four kinds of joy — at the cutting off of obstructions, the fulfillment of the accumulations, gathering the twofold benefit, and the twofold fruit that follows" — the attention of attaining joy. Next: "Even should I encounter evil persons and adverse circumstances that vex me, my mind will never retrogress" — the attention of non-retrogression. Next: "In order to attain unsurpassed enlightenment, I should give rise to four kinds of following cultivation: repenting the obstructions to the six perfections, rejoicing in their practices, entreating their teaching, and dedicating them to unsurpassed enlightenment" — the attention of following cultivation.
偈曰：
淨信及領受， 樂說與被鉀，
起願亦悕望， 方便復七種。
釋曰：此偈有七種作意，一淨信作意、二領受作意、三樂說作意、四被鉀作意、五起願作意、六悕望作意、七方便作意。菩薩次作是念：我今應於諸波羅蜜法義起深信力持。是名淨信作意。次作是念：我今於諸波羅蜜法義，應一向起求不生誹謗。是名領受作意。次作是念：我今應以諸波羅蜜法義開示他人。是名樂說作意。次作是念：我今應令諸波羅蜜滿足起大勇猛。是名被鉀作意。次作是念：我今為滿足諸波羅蜜，願值滿足諸緣。是名起願作意。次作是念：我今求正成就緣。是名悕望作意。次作是念：我今思惟諸波羅蜜業伴方便。是名方便作意。此中被鉀作意、起願作意、悕望作意，教授中當分別。
偈曰：
勇猛及憐愍， 如是二作意，
應知二差別， 一一有四種。
釋曰：此偈有二種作意，一勇猛作意、二憐愍作意，此二各有四種差別。菩薩思惟方便已，次作是念：我今應起四種勇猛，為堅牢故、為成熟故、為供養故、為親近故。為堅牢者，六六波羅蜜修，所謂六施乃至六智。六施謂施施乃至施智，戒等六種亦復如是。為成熟者，以諸波羅蜜為攝物方便，成熟眾生。為供養者，以檀為利益供養，以戒等為修行供養。為親近者，親近不倒教授諸波羅蜜人。是名勇猛作意。次作是念：我今應起四無量心，諸波羅蜜現前時應起慈心、慳等現前時應起悲心、他人諸波羅蜜現前時應起喜心、他人信諸波羅蜜時應起無染心。是名憐愍作意。
偈曰：
有羞亦有樂， 及以無屈心，
修治與稱說， 此復為五種。
釋曰：此偈有五種作意，一有羞作意、二有樂作意、三無屈作意、四修治作意、五稱說作意。菩薩次作是念：若我於諸波羅蜜懈怠不作及以邪作應起深慚愧等。應轉檀等不轉，是名有羞作意。次作是念：我今於所緣諸波羅蜜境界應持心不亂。是名有樂作意。次作是念：我今於退諸波羅蜜方便作怨家想。是名無屈作意。次作是念：我今於諸波羅蜜相應諸論應善集修治。是名修治作意。次作是念：我今為生他解應如其根器應讚揚諸波羅蜜法義。是名稱說作意。
Pure faith, and reception,
delight in teaching, and donning armor,
arousing vows, and longing,
and skillful means — seven in all.
The exposition: this verse gives seven kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "I should give rise to and firmly hold deep faith in the meaning of the perfections" — pure faith. Next: "I should single-mindedly seek this meaning and never give rise to slander" — reception. Next: "I should open up and display this meaning to others" — delight in teaching. Next: "I should give rise to great valor in order to fulfill the perfections" — donning armor. Next: "In order to fulfill the perfections, I vow to meet with every fulfilling condition" — arousing vows. Next: "I seek to rightly accomplish these conditions" — longing. Next: "I reflect on the skillful means that accompany the deeds of the perfections" — skillful means. Donning armor, arousing vows, and longing shall be distinguished further in the instructions that follow.
Valor, and compassion —
these two kinds of attention
should be known, each distinguished
into four further kinds.
The exposition: this verse gives two kinds of attention, each with four distinctions. The bodhisattva reflects: "I should give rise to four kinds of valor — for firmness, for maturation, for offering, and for drawing near." For firmness is the sixfold cultivation of each perfection — six kinds of generosity, up to six kinds of wisdom. For maturation is taking the perfections as the means for maturing beings. For offering is taking generosity as the offering of benefit, and morality and the rest as the offering of practice. For drawing near is drawing near to those who teach the perfections without distortion. This is the attention of valor. Next: "I should give rise to the four immeasurable minds: loving-kindness when the perfections are present before me, compassion when stinginess and the like are present, sympathetic joy when another's perfections are present, and an untainted mind when another has faith in the perfections" — the attention of compassion.
A sense of shame, and joy,
and a mind without discouragement,
cultivating and refining, and praising —
these are again five kinds.
The exposition: this verse gives five kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "Should I be lax or practice the perfections wrongly, I should give rise to deep shame, and apply what I have failed to apply" — a sense of shame. Next: "I should hold my mind undistracted toward the perfections I take as object" — joy. Next: "I should regard whatever would make me retrogress as an enemy" — without discouragement. Next: "I should skillfully gather and cultivate the treatises that correspond to the perfections" — cultivating and refining. Next: "I should praise the meaning of the perfections according to each person's capacity, to give rise to understanding in others" — praising.
The forty-four attentions are unusual among this treatise's many lists in a specific way worth naming: they are not stated as third-person descriptions of a bodhisattva's qualities, the way the earlier chapters described the marks of arousing the mind or the marks of the lineage. Every single one is given as first-person reported speech — 我今應... "I should now..." — the bodhisattva's own inner monologue, quoted directly. The list is less a taxonomy of what a bodhisattva has than a script for what a bodhisattva says to himself, in order, as he actually cultivates the perfections. A reader working through this section is not being told about a bodhisattva's mind; the text is handing over the exact sentences to think.
為堅牢者，六六波羅蜜修 — the sixfold cultivation of each of the six perfections, generosity of generosity through generosity of wisdom, morality of generosity through morality of wisdom, and so on — produces thirty-six sub-practices nested inside a single item of this already enormous list. This is the treatise's most extreme instance of its own combinatorial habit, cross-multiplying one classification against another rather than simply enumerating each once, and it is worth noting as a limit case: even within a list this exhaustive, the text is willing to gesture at a further thirty-six-fold structure ("and so on") rather than actually spell it out, trusting the reader to complete the cross-product from the pattern given.
8. The Forty-Four Attentions, Continued (Part 2)
偈曰：
依度得菩提， 非隨自在等，
過惡及功德， 此二亦應知。
釋曰：此偈有二作意，一依度作意、二應知作意。菩薩如前稱揚已，次作是念：我今依止諸波羅蜜得大菩提，非依自在天等。是名依度作意。次作是念：我今應知障諸波羅蜜過惡及諸波羅蜜功德。是名應知作意。
偈曰：
喜集及見義， 樂求求四種，
平等無分別， 現持當緣故。
釋曰：此偈有三種作意，一喜集作意、二見義作意、三樂求作意。菩薩知已，次作是念：我應歡喜聚集福智二聚。是名喜集作意。次作是念：我今見諸波羅蜜自性，能得無上菩提利益。是名見義作意。次作是念：今見是利，應起四求。一求平等，止觀雙修故；二求無分別，三輪清淨故；三求現持，求持能成諸度法義故；四求當緣，求未來成就諸度緣故。是名樂求作意。
偈曰：
七非有取見， 四種希有想，
翻此非希有， 此想亦有四。
釋曰：此偈有三種作意，一見非有取作意、二希有想作意、三非希有想作意。菩薩樂求已，次作是念：七種非有取我今應見。一非有為有非有取、二過失非失非有取、三功德非德非有取、四非常為常非有取、五非樂為樂非有取、六非我為我非有取、七寂滅非滅非有取。如來為對治此七非有取，次第說空等三三昧，及說四種法優陀那。是名見非有取作意。次作是念：我今於諸波羅蜜應起四種希有想，所謂大想、廣想、不求報恩想、不期果報想。是名希有想作意。次作是念：翻此希有，於諸波羅蜜亦有四種非希有想，所謂由諸波羅蜜廣大故，能得無上菩提、能住自他平等、能不求一切世間供養、能不求過諸世間勝身勝財。是名非希有想作意。
Enlightenment is attained in reliance on the perfections,
not by following Īśvara and the rest;
their faults and their merits —
these two should also be known.
The exposition: this verse gives two kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "I attain great enlightenment in reliance on the perfections, not in reliance on Īśvara and the like" — reliance on the perfections. Next: "I should know the faults that obstruct the perfections, and their merits" — knowing.
Joyful gathering, and seeing the meaning,
and longing to seek — of four kinds:
equality, non-discrimination,
present upholding, and future conditions.
The exposition: this verse gives three kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "I should joyfully gather the twofold accumulation of merit and wisdom" — joyful gathering. Next: "I now see that the own-nature of the perfections can bring the benefit of unsurpassed enlightenment" — seeing the meaning. Next: "Having seen this benefit, I should give rise to a fourfold seeking: seeking equality, cultivating calm abiding and insight together; seeking non-discrimination, the three wheels being pure; seeking present upholding, seeking to uphold the teachings that accomplish the perfections; and seeking future conditions" — longing to seek.
Seven kinds of grasping at what is not present should be seen;
four wondrous notions;
and, reversing this wonder,
notions of the not-wondrous — likewise four.
The exposition: this verse gives three kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "I should now see seven kinds of grasping at what is not present" — grasping the non-existent as existent, fault as non-fault, merit as non-merit, the impermanent as permanent, the unpleasant as pleasant, the selfless as a self, and quiescence as non-quiescent, none of these being actually present. To remedy these seven, the Tathāgata taught, in order, the three absorptions of emptiness and the rest, and the four dharma-seals. This is the attention of seeing what is grasped though not present. Next: "I should give rise to four wondrous notions toward the perfections: of greatness, of vastness, of not seeking repayment, and of not expecting a result" — wondrous notions. Next: "Reversing this wonder, there are likewise four notions of the not-wondrous: since the perfections are vast, they attain unsurpassed enlightenment, abide in the equality of self and other, forgo seeking any worldly offering, and forgo seeking a body or wealth surpassing the world's" — notions of the not-wondrous.
偈曰：
離墮眾生邊， 大義及轉施，
究竟與無間， 如是復五種。
釋曰：此偈有五種作意，一離邊作意、二大義作意、三轉施作意、四究竟作意、五無間作意。菩薩次作是念：我今應以諸波羅蜜於一切眾生轉。是名離邊作意。次作是念：我今應以諸波羅蜜廣饒益一切眾生。是名大義作意。次作是念：我今所有諸波羅蜜功德願施一切眾生。是名轉施作意。次作是念：願一切眾生所有諸波羅蜜三處究竟，謂菩薩地究竟、如來地究竟、利益眾生究竟。是名究竟作意。次作是念：我應修習諸波羅蜜，於一切時無有間斷。是名無間作意。
偈曰：
方便恒隨攝， 心住不顛倒，
於退則不喜， 進則歡喜生。
釋曰：此偈有三種作意，一隨攝作意、二不喜作意、三歡喜作意。菩薩次作是念：我今應住不顛倒心，於佛所知應以諸波羅蜜恒時隨攝。是名隨攝作意。次作是念：我今於退屈諸波羅蜜者不應生悅。是名不喜作意。次作是念：我今於增進諸波羅蜜者應生慶悅。是名歡喜作意。
偈曰：
相似不欲修， 真實欲修習，
不隨及欲得， 欲得有二種。
釋曰：此偈有四種作意，一不欲修作意、二欲修作意、三不隨作意、四欲得作意。菩薩次作是念：我今於相似諸波羅蜜不應修習。是名不欲修作意。次作是念：我今於真實諸波羅蜜應勤修習。是名欲修作意。次作是念：我今於諸波羅蜜障礙作意應斷。是名不隨作意。次作是念：我今欲得授記位諸波羅蜜、欲得決定地諸波羅蜜。是名欲得作意。
偈曰：
定作未來行， 常觀他行滿，
信解自第一， 知體無上故。
釋曰：此偈有三種作意，一定作作意、二觀他作意、三我勝作意。菩薩次作是念：我見當來諸趣，以智方便一切波羅蜜決定當行。是名定作作意。次作是念：我今應觀十方諸大菩薩諸波羅蜜得滿足時，願我亦得滿足，同一事故。是名觀他作意。次作是念：我今自信所行諸波羅蜜，於諸行中最為第一。何以故？我觀此體更無上故。是名我勝作意。
偈曰：
以此諸作意， 修習於諸度，
菩薩一切時， 善根得圓滿。
釋曰：此偈總結前義應知。已說求長養善根，次說求法差別。
Departing from the extreme of falling upon sentient beings;
great significance, and transferring the gift;
culmination, and without interval —
these are again five kinds.
The exposition: this verse gives five kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "I should turn the perfections toward all sentient beings" — departing from the extreme. Next: "I should broadly benefit all sentient beings by means of the perfections" — great significance. Next: "I vow to give whatever merit of the perfections I possess to all sentient beings" — transferring the gift. Next: "I vow that all sentient beings' perfections reach culmination in three places — the bodhisattva grounds, the ground of the Tathāgata, and benefiting sentient beings" — culmination. Next: "I should cultivate the perfections without interruption, at all times" — without interval.
Skillful means constantly gathers in;
the mind abides without distortion;
at retrogression, no joy;
at advancement, joy arises.
The exposition: this verse gives three kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "I should abide with an undistorted mind and constantly gather in the perfections through skillful means" — gathering in. Next: "I should not take pleasure in those who fall back from the perfections" — non-joy. Next: "I should rejoice in those who advance in the perfections" — joy.
Not wishing to cultivate the counterfeit,
wishing to cultivate the true;
not following obstruction, and wishing to attain —
this wish to attain is of two kinds.
The exposition: this verse gives four kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "I should not cultivate the counterfeit perfections" — not wishing to cultivate. Next: "I should diligently cultivate the true perfections" — wishing to cultivate. Next: "I should cut off the attention that obstructs the perfections" — not following. Next: "I wish to attain the perfections belonging to the stage of receiving the prediction, and to the fixed grounds" — wishing to attain.
Resolving to carry out future conduct;
constantly observing others' conduct fulfilled;
trusting one's own conduct as foremost,
knowing its substance to be unsurpassed.
The exposition: this verse gives three kinds of attention. The bodhisattva reflects: "Seeing the destinies to come, I shall surely carry out all the perfections through wisdom and skillful means" — resolving to act. Next: "I should observe the great bodhisattvas of the ten directions, and when their perfections reach fulfillment, wish that I too attain fulfillment, our task being one" — observing others. Next: "I trust for myself that the perfections I practice are foremost among all practices, since I see this substance as unsurpassed" — self-supremacy.
By means of these various attentions,
cultivating the perfections,
the bodhisattva, at all times,
brings his wholesome roots to fulfillment.
The exposition: this verse should be understood as a summary of the preceding meaning. Seeking the nourishing of wholesome roots having been explained, next seeking the distinctions of the Dharma is explained.
The seven kinds of grasping at what is not present are worth reading as a deliberately symmetrical set of errors, each pairing a false attribution with its truth: existence attributed to the non-existent, non-fault to what is faulty, non-merit to what is meritorious, permanence to the impermanent, pleasure to the unpleasant, self to the selfless, and non-quiescence to what is in fact quiescent. Six of the seven invert a quality; only the last, grasping quiescence as non-quiescent, inverts the direction the other six run in, denying something true rather than affirming something false. Listing it seventh, after six errors of the same shape, is a quiet reminder that the practitioner's own resistance to accepting quiescence, once it is genuinely present, is itself one more instance of exactly the same fault as the others — not a separate, more sophisticated problem.
Read end to end, all forty-four attentions trace a single implicit narrative arc: knowing the cause (1) through knowing one's own supremacy (44) is the shape of a whole cultivation, from a bodhisattva's very first reflection on why the perfections can grow at all, to a settled, mature confidence that his own practice of them is unsurpassed. Nothing in the list is presented as optional or as an alternative path to any other item — each is a sentence in a sequence a practitioner is meant to actually think, in order, and the treatise's closing summary verse treats the entire forty-four as a single sustained practice rather than forty-four separate techniques to choose among.
9. Seeking the Distinctions and Causes of the Dharma
偈曰：
求法謂增長， 上意及廣大，
有障亦無障， 及以諸神通。
無身亦有身， 得身及滿身，
多慢及少慢， 及以無慢故。
釋曰：求法有十三種差別。一者增長求，謂以正聞增長信故。二者上意求，謂在佛邊受法流故。三者廣大求，謂得神通菩薩具足遠聞諸佛法故。四者有障求，謂初增長信者故。五者無障求，謂上意求者故。六者神通求，謂廣大求者故。七者無身求，謂聞思慧無法身故。八者有身求，謂修慧有多聞熏習種子身故。九者得身求，謂初地至七地。十者滿身求，謂八九十地。十一者多慢求，謂信行地。十二者少慢求，謂初七地。十三者無慢求，謂後三地。已說求法差別，次說求法因緣。
偈曰：
為色為非色， 為通為正法，
相好及病愈， 自在無盡因。
釋曰：求法有四因緣，一為色、二為非色、三為神通、四為正法。為色者，相好因故。為非色者，滅煩惱病因故。為神通者，自在因故。為正法者，無盡因故。如《梵天王問經》說：菩薩求法具足四想。一者如妙寶想，難得義故；二者如良藥想，除病義故；三者如財物想，不散義故；四者如涅槃想，苦滅義故。由法是相好莊嚴因故，如妙寶想。由法是滅煩惱病因故，如良藥想。由法是神通自在因故，如財物想。由法是正法無盡因故，如涅槃想。已說求法因緣，次說求遠離分別。
Seeking the Dharma: increase,
lofty intent, and vastness,
obstructed, and unobstructed,
and the supernormal powers;
bodiless, and embodied,
attained body, and fulfilled body,
much conceit, and little conceit,
and free of conceit.
The exposition: seeking the Dharma has thirteen distinctions. Seeking through increase, increasing faith through right hearing. Through lofty intent, receiving the stream of the Dharma at the Buddha's side. Through vastness, a bodhisattva with the supernormal powers hearing the buddha-dharmas from afar. With obstruction, belonging to one whose faith is just beginning. Without obstruction, belonging to one seeking with lofty intent. Through the supernormal powers, belonging to one seeking through vastness. Bodiless seeking, the wisdom of hearing and reflection having no Dharma-body. Embodied seeking, the wisdom of cultivation having the body of the seed habituated by extensive hearing. Seeking the attained body, from the first ground to the seventh. Seeking the fulfilled body, the eighth through tenth grounds. Seeking with much conceit, the ground of faith and practice. With little conceit, the first seven grounds. And without conceit, the last three grounds. The distinctions within seeking the Dharma having been explained, next its causes and conditions are explained.
For form, and for the formless;
for the supernormal powers, and for the true Dharma;
the cause of the marks, and of the cure of illness;
of mastery, and of the inexhaustible.
The exposition: seeking the Dharma has four causes: for form, the cause of the excellent marks; for the formless, the cause of curing the illness of the afflictions; for the supernormal powers, the cause of mastery; and for the true Dharma, the inexhaustible cause. As taught in the Sūtra of Brahmā's Questions, the bodhisattva who seeks the Dharma is complete in four notions: of a wondrous jewel, hard to obtain; of a fine medicine, removing illness; of wealth, not dissipated; and of nirvāṇa, extinguishing suffering. Since the Dharma is the cause of the marks adorning the body, it is like a wondrous jewel. Since it cures the illness of the afflictions, it is like a fine medicine. Since it is the cause of mastery through the supernormal powers, it is like wealth. And since it is the inexhaustible cause of the true Dharma, it is like nirvāṇa. Seeking the causes of the Dharma having been explained, next seeking freedom from discrimination is explained.
多慢, much conceit, assigned to the ground of faith and practice — the very earliest stage of the bodhisattva path, before the first ground — is a candid piece of psychological realism placed where a reader might least expect it. It would be easy to assume conceit belongs to advanced practitioners who have something to actually be conceited about; the treatise instead locates the most conceit at the stage with the least attainment, and steadily diminishes it as the grounds proceed — little conceit through the first seven, none at all in the last three. Read against fascicle 3's warning that a bodhisattva who reverently contemplates the Buddha's rare qualities while hoping to swiftly attain enlightenment "still has conceit," this thirteen-fold scheme gives that earlier warning a specific address: it is describing exactly the beginner's stage this list names first.
10. Freedom from the Ten Discriminations, and the Greatness of the Dharma
偈曰：
無體體增減， 一異自別相，
如名如義者， 分別有十種。
釋曰：有十種分別，一者無體分別、二者有體分別、三者增益分別、四者損減分別、五者一相分別、六者異相分別、七者自相分別、八者別相分別、九者如名起義分別、十者如義起名分別。《般若波羅蜜經》中為令諸菩薩遠離此十種分別故，說十種對治。為對治無體分別故，經言有菩薩菩薩。為對治有體分別故，經言不見菩薩等。為對治增益分別故，經言舍利弗色自性空。為對治損減分別故，經言非色滅空。為對治一相分別故，經言若色空非色。為對治異相分別故，經言空不異色、色不異空，空即是色。為對治自相分別故，經言此色唯名。為對治別相分別故，經言色不生不滅、非染非淨等。為對治如名起義分別故，經言名者作客故；如名，義不應著。為對治如義起名分別故，經言一切名不可見不可見故；如義，名不應著。已說求遠離分別，次說求法大。
偈曰：
菩薩勝勇猛， 二求得真實，
隨順諸世間， 功德如海滿。
釋曰：求法有三種大。一者方便大，由最上精進求世諦第一義諦，真實不顛倒故。二者他利大，由作世間依怙，以第一義安置故。三者自利大，由一切功德如海滿足故。述求品究竟。
Absence of substance, and substance; increase, and decrease;
identity, and difference; own-mark, and distinct mark;
as the name is, and as the meaning is —
discrimination is of ten kinds.
The exposition: there are ten kinds of discrimination — of the absence of substance, of substance, of increase, of decrease, of identity, of difference, of own-mark, of distinct mark, of meaning arising as the name is, and of name arising as the meaning is. In the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, to free bodhisattvas from these ten, ten remedies are taught. Against the absence of substance: "There is a bodhisattva, a bodhisattva." Against substance: "One does not see a bodhisattva," and so on. Against increase: "Śāriputra, form's own-nature is empty." Against decrease: "It is not that form is annihilated into emptiness." Against identity: "If form is empty, it is not form." Against difference: "Emptiness is not different from form, form is not different from emptiness — emptiness is itself form." Against own-mark: "This form is only a name." Against distinct mark: "Form neither arises nor ceases, is neither defiled nor pure," and so on. Against meaning arising as the name is: "A name is a mere guest" — as the name is, one should not cling to the meaning. Against name arising as the meaning is: "No name whatsoever can be seen, since it cannot be seen" — as the meaning is, one should not cling to the name. Seeking freedom from discrimination having been explained, next seeking the greatness of the Dharma is explained.
The bodhisattva's surpassing valor,
seeking both, attains the real;
according with all the world,
his merit is full as the sea.
The exposition: seeking the Dharma has three kinds of greatness: the greatness of method, seeking both the conventional and the ultimate truth with the utmost diligence, truly and without distortion; the greatness of benefiting others, becoming the refuge of the world, settling beings in the ultimate truth; and the greatness of self-benefit, one's every merit being full as the sea. The chapter on seeking is complete.
The ten discriminations and their ten remedies are the treatise's most direct citation of the Prajñāpāramitā literature anywhere in the text, and the pairing structure rewards close attention: each remedy is quoted, not paraphrased, and each addresses a discrimination that is the mirror image of its neighbor — absence of substance answered by "there is a bodhisattva," substance immediately answered by "one does not see a bodhisattva." The sūtra is not choosing a single correct statement among ten errors; it is offering ten separate correctives because ten separate, equally available mistakes exist, and curing one without the others would just open the door to whichever one was left unaddressed. The famous formula "form is emptiness, emptiness is form" turns out, in this treatise's reading, not to be a single paradoxical slogan but two of ten targeted remedies, each aimed at a specific and nameable discrimination.
The chapter on seeking closes on three kinds of greatness — method, benefiting others, and benefiting oneself — which quietly recapitulates the entire chapter's own shape. Everything from fascicle 4's three baskets through this fascicle's forty-four attentions has been, in one sense, an exercise in method: how to seek correctly. The chapter's final verse insists that this method was never separable from what it was for, self-benefit and the benefit of others together, "full as the sea" — the same image this treatise used to close its account of buddhahood itself in fascicle 3, now applied to the ordinary practitioner's own accumulated seeking.
Fascicle 5 Complete
The chapter on seeking closes here, having run through fascicles 4 and 5 as the treatise's most sustained classificatory stretch. This fascicle alone gave Consciousness-Only as two lights without a dual mark, the marked and the marking mapped onto the three natures, five domains of study, four gates of liberation, three-part proofs for the absence of self-nature and eight kinds of non-arising, eight reasons for the One Vehicle with their own subdivisions among uncertain śrāvakas, the five sciences, forty-four attentions spoken as the bodhisattva's own first-person reflection, thirteen distinctions and four causes for seeking the Dharma itself, and finally the ten discriminations the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra answers in its own quoted words. Fascicle 6 opens two new chapters — 弘法品十三, on propagating the Dharma, and 隨修品十四, on cultivation in accordance with it — returning to a more conversational register after this fascicle's density.
Continue to Fascicle 6 — Propagating the Dharma, and Cultivation →