Chapter 7 · The Ten Suchnesses, the Thousand Suchnesses, and "Three Thousand in One Moment of Mind"

Part Two · The Teaching

How many worlds can one moment of mind contain? That sounds like a piece of abstruse speculation. Tiantai's answer, however, is not obscure: one sentence of scripture, one way of reading, and one calculation. The calculation ends with a number—three thousand. It is signed with a sentence—these three thousand are in one moment of mind. This chapter lays the entire account before you from the beginning.

1 · The Scriptural Root — The Ten Suchnesses

We begin with the “Skillful Means” chapter. Rising from concentration, the Buddha tells Śāriputra that the wisdom of all buddhas is exceedingly deep and immeasurable. After praising it, he stops Śāriputra's inquiry: only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom this Dharma completely. Then he gives a catalogue of what can be fathomed:

「Only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom completely the true mark of all dharmas—namely: such-a-mark; such-a-nature; such-a-substance; such-a-power; such-a-function; such-a-cause; such-a-condition; such-a-fruit; such-a-recompense; and such-a-consummation-of-beginning-and-end.」 〔羅什譯《妙法蓮華經·方便品》·T09n0262 0005c10–13·本版《法華》譯注品二〕 『Only a buddha together with a buddha can fathom completely the true mark of all dharmas—namely: such-a-mark; such-a-nature; such-a-substance; such-a-power; such-a-function; such-a-cause; such-a-condition; such-a-fruit; such-a-recompense; and such-a-consummation-of-beginning-and-end, in which everything from the first mark to the final recompense is equally carried through to completion.』〔本版譯注品二·白話層〕

Ten instances of 「such」: mark, nature, substance, power, function, cause, condition, fruit, recompense, and consummation-of-beginning-and-end. The outwardly visible form is the mark; the inward disposition is the nature; that which bears them all is the substance. What something can do is its power; what it actually does is its function. What gives rise to it is the cause; what assists its formation is the condition. What comes to completion is the fruit; what returns upon it is the recompense. From the initial mark to the final recompense, all are ultimately equal. Any dharma—a blade of grass, a thought, a circumstance—can be viewed from these ten places. A thousand years of Tiantai elaboration begins from this ten-item catalogue.

2 · The Way of Reading — Three Turns in the Profound Meaning

Six centuries later, Zhizhe read this one sentence three times in the Fahua Xuanyi. With the same ten items, a change in word order and a shift in phrasing produced three different readings:

「Reading the text according to its meaning, there are three turns in all. The first says: this mark is such, this nature is such, through to this recompense is such. The second says: such a mark, such a nature, through to such a recompense. The third says: the mark is thus, the nature is thus, through to the recompense is thus.」 〔智者《妙法蓮華經玄義》·T33n1716 0693b13–16·待譯〕 『In today's words: Reading this passage according to its meaning gives three ways of reading. First: this mark is such, this nature is such, through to this recompense is such. Second: such a mark, such a nature, through to such a recompense. Third: the mark is thus, the nature is thus, through to the recompense is thus.』

This-mark-is-such, such-a-mark, the-mark-is-thus: as the order of three words moves, the emphasis moves from 「such」 to 「mark」 and then to 「thus」. What does each reading disclose? The Profound Meaning explains:

「If all are termed ‘such,’ then ‘such’ means not different: this is the meaning of emptiness. If one reads ‘such a mark, such a nature,’ then marks and natures are indicated within emptiness, names are provisionally established, and they unfold in succession without being the same: this is the meaning of provisional existence. If one reads ‘the mark is thus,’ then it is thus as the ‘is’ of the true mark of the Middle Way: this is the meaning of the middle.」 〔同書·0693b16–19〕 『In today's words: If all ten items are read back into suchness, then suchness means no difference and no distinction; this is the meaning of emptiness. If one reads “such a mark, such a nature,” then mark and nature are indicated within emptiness, names are established, and distinctions unfold in succession; this is the meaning of provisional existence. If one reads “the mark is thus,” then it is thus as the “is” of the true mark of the Middle Way; this is the meaning of the middle.』

Read them all as such, and the myriad dharmas are without duality or difference: emptiness. Read them as such-a-mark, and names are established for distinct marks that unfold in succession: provisional existence. Read them as the-mark-is-thus, and each is thus as the 「is」 of the true mark of the Middle Way: the middle. One sentence of scripture reveals one face on which all dharmas are empty, another on which every dharma stands distinctly present, and another on which the two faces are not separate. The Profound Meaning immediately makes its own point: 「Emptiness is itself provisional existence and the middle; there is no one, two, or three」 〔同書 0693c15–16〕. Zhizhe did not set up a theory outside the sutra. He read the theory into the sutra's own phrasing. How emptiness, provisional existence, and the middle sustain the entire Tiantai art of classifying teachings and reading scripture belongs to Chapters 5 and 6. We need not hurry there now.

3 · The Roster — The Ten Dharma-Realms

The ten suchnesses are a way of looking. At whom do they look? The Profound Meaning names them:

「In now clarifying the provisional and the real, the ten suchnesses are applied to the ten dharma-realms—that is, the six courses and the four sages.」 〔同書·0693c06–07〕 『In today's words: In now explaining the provisional and the real, the ten suchnesses are applied to the ten dharma-realms—the six courses and the four sages.』

The roster has ten members. The six courses are listed one by one in the later textbook we will read, the Outline of the Four Teachings 〔T46n1931 0776a16–b09·待譯〕: hell beings, animals, hungry ghosts, asuras, humans, and devas. The four sages are śrāvakas, solitary realizers, bodhisattvas, and buddhas 〔四名皆《摩訶止觀》自有之目：0110a28·0139a27·0051c18〕. From the most painful to the most exalted, the ten realms stand far apart. In what does their real difference consist? The Mohe Zhiguan gathers the answer into one statement:

「The ten dharma-realms are all called aggregates, entrances, and elements, but their actual character differs. The three evil courses are defiled and evil aggregates, entrances, and elements; the three wholesome courses are defiled and wholesome aggregates, entrances, and elements; the two vehicles are undefiled aggregates, entrances, and elements; bodhisattvas are both defiled and undefiled aggregates, entrances, and elements; buddhas are neither defiled nor undefiled aggregates, entrances, and elements.」 〔智者《摩訶止觀》·T46n1911 0052c13–16·待譯；陰入界＝五陰、十二入、十八界，其目見同卷 0051c21–22〕 『In today's words: The ten dharma-realms are all spoken of in terms of the five aggregates, twelve entrances, and eighteen elements, yet their actual character differs. The three evil courses are defiled and evil aggregates, entrances, and elements; the three wholesome courses are defiled and wholesome; the two vehicles are undefiled; bodhisattvas are both defiled and undefiled; buddhas are neither defiled nor undefiled.』

The difference lies in defilement and freedom from defilement. Yet these ten realms are not ten rooms set side by side. The Zhiguan states, 「Mind gives rise to all dharmas—that is, the ten dharma-realms」 〔同卷 0052b23–24〕. They are ten places reached by the same mind. What, then, does this roster have to do with you? The Zhiguan poses the question itself:

「Question: When one moment of mind contains the ten dharma-realms, does it contain them through deliberate thought? Or does it contain them spontaneously? Answer: Dharma-nature is so of itself; it is not produced by contrivance, just as one mote of dust contains the directional divisions of the ten directions.」 〔同卷·0051c19–20〕 『In today's words: Question—when one moment of mind contains the ten dharma-realms, does it contain them only after deliberate thought is produced, or are they naturally inherent? Answer—Dharma-nature is originally so; they are not produced by contrivance. It is like a mote of dust, which inherently contains the directional divisions of east, west, north, south, and all ten directions.』

A mote of dust need do nothing for the ten directions to be present within it. One moment of mind need cultivate nothing for the ten realms to be present within it. This is the foundation of the entire chapter and the capital that permits the following account to be opened.

4 · The First Half of the Account — The Hundred Realms and Thousand Suchnesses

The Profound Meaning begins its calculation:

「This one dharma-realm contains the ten suchnesses, so the ten dharma-realms contain one hundred suchnesses. Moreover, one dharma-realm contains the other nine dharma-realms; there are therefore one hundred dharma-realms and one thousand suchnesses.」 〔《妙法蓮華經玄義》·T33n1716 0693c16–18·待譯〕 『In today's words: This one dharma-realm contains the ten suchnesses, so ten dharma-realms contain one hundred suchnesses. And because one dharma-realm also contains the other nine dharma-realms, there are one hundred dharma-realms and one thousand suchnesses.』

First, the opening half: each realm has its own ten suchnesses. Hell has hell's mark, nature, substance, and power; buddhahood has buddhahood's mark, nature, substance, and power. Ten realms times ten gives one hundred. The decisive step comes in the second half: realms are not sealed off from one another. Each realm contains the other nine. A human thought can display the coloring of hell, and it can display the coloring of buddhahood. Ten mutually containing realms make one hundred dharma-realms; each of those has ten suchnesses, making one thousand suchnesses. This is no game of arithmetic. The Zhiguan itself gives an example: 「Like the maiden Cittā, who aroused a buddha-mind from within the hell realm」 〔T46n1911 0051c13·待譯〕. Within a thought in the hell realm lies a position that opens toward the buddha realm. No circumstance is sealed shut.

5 · The Second Half of the Account — Thirty Kinds of World

Beyond the thousand suchnesses one factor remains: thirty kinds of world. Where do the thirty come from? The Zhiguan begins with a painting:

「As the Avataṃsaka says: 『Mind is like a skilled painter, creating the many kinds of five aggregates; among all worlds, there is none that mind does not create.』」 〔智者《摩訶止觀》·T46n1911 0052c07–08·待譯〕 『In today's words: The Avataṃsaka Sutra says—mind is like a skilled painter, painting the many forms of the five aggregates; among all worlds, there is not a single thing that mind does not create.』

The Zhiguan inventories the worlds painted by mind in three classes. The bodies and minds of the ten realms each differ:

「Because the ten kinds of aggregates and elements differ, this is called the 『world of the five aggregates.』」 〔同卷·0052c22–23〕 『In today's words: Because the five aggregates of the ten realms each differ, this is called the world of the five aggregates.』

The sentient beings established by gathering body and mind also differ:

「The gathering of the five aggregates is generally called a sentient being, but sentient beings differ. Those who gather the aggregates of the three evil courses are sentient beings of suffering through transgression; those who gather the aggregates of humans and devas are sentient beings who experience pleasure; those who gather undefiled aggregates are truly noble sentient beings; those who gather the aggregates of loving-kindness and compassion are great-being sentient beings; those who gather permanently abiding aggregates are supremely honored sentient beings.」 〔同卷·0052c23–26〕 『In today's words: Gathering the five aggregates is generally called a sentient being, but sentient beings differ. Those who gather the aggregates of the three evil courses are sentient beings suffering through transgression; those who gather the aggregates of humans and devas experience pleasure; those who gather undefiled aggregates are truly noble sentient beings; those who gather the aggregates of loving-kindness and compassion are great beings; those who gather permanently abiding aggregates are supremely honored beings.』

Even the places in which they dwell differ:

「As for the ten kinds of dwelling place, collectively called the 『world of lands』: hell beings dwell in dependence on red-hot iron; animals dwell on land, in water, and in the air; asuras dwell along the seacoast and beneath the sea; humans dwell on the earth; devas dwell in palaces.」 〔同卷·0053a01–04；以下歷數諸菩薩所依，至「如來依常寂光土住」0053a07–08〕 『In today's words: The places in which the ten realms dwell are collectively called the world of lands. Hell beings dwell in dependence on red-hot iron; animals dwell on land, in water, and in the air; asuras dwell along the seacoast and beneath the sea; humans dwell on the earth; devas dwell in palaces.』

「Because land differs from land, it is called the 『world of lands.』 These thirty kinds of world are all created by mind.」 〔同卷·0053a09–10〕 『In today's words: Because land differs from land, it is called the world of lands. These thirty kinds of world are all created by mind.』

The five aggregates, sentient beings, and lands: three classes of world. Each is viewed through the ten suchnesses—three times ten gives thirty kinds of world in each realm. All the factors are now present; the account can be totaled.

6 · The Total — Three Thousand Are in One Moment of Mind

In the chapter on the proper contemplation of the inconceivable object, the Mohe Zhiguan places the entire calculation together:

「One mind contains the ten dharma-realms. Each dharma-realm in turn contains ten dharma-realms, making one hundred dharma-realms. One realm contains thirty kinds of world; the hundred dharma-realms therefore contain three thousand kinds of world. These three thousand are in one moment of mind. If there is no mind, that is the end of the matter; once there is the slightest moment of mind, it immediately contains the three thousand.」 〔智者《摩訶止觀》·T46n1911 0054a05–09·待譯〕 『In today's words: One mind contains the ten dharma-realms; each dharma-realm in turn contains ten dharma-realms, making one hundred dharma-realms. One realm contains thirty kinds of world, so the hundred dharma-realms contain three thousand kinds of world. These three thousand are in one moment of mind. If there is no mind, that is the end of the matter; once there is even the slightest moment of mind, the three thousand are already complete.』

Ten times ten is one hundred; one hundred times thirty is three thousand. But the signature on this account lies not in the number. It lies in the latter sentence: these three thousand are in one moment of mind. They are not cultivated into being and not thought into being. 「Once there is the slightest moment of mind, it immediately contains the three thousand」: as soon as there is even the briefest moment of mind, the three thousand are already present. This repeats the point made by the mote of dust in Section 3: Dharma-nature is so of itself; it is not produced by contrivance. Which comes first, mind or dharmas? Zhizhe answers cleanly:

「Mind itself is all dharmas; all dharmas are mind. Therefore they are neither vertical nor horizontal, neither one nor different. Profoundly wondrous and utterly deep, they are not what cognition can cognize and not what words can speak. Therefore this is called the 『inconceivable object.』」 〔同卷·0054a15–18；「不可思議境」之引號為底本自冠〕 『In today's words: Mind is all dharmas, and all dharmas are mind. Therefore they are neither vertical nor horizontal, neither one nor different. Profoundly wondrous and utterly deep, they are not what cognition can cognize and not what words can speak. Therefore this is called the inconceivable object.』

Mind does not come first and produce the myriad dharmas—that would be vertical. Mind and the myriad dharmas do not stand separately side by side—that would be horizontal. They are not one, because the ten realms and three thousand worlds remain distinctly present; they are not different, because mind itself is all dharmas. The Zhiguan gives this object its own name: the inconceivable object. The three kinds of calming-and-contemplation in Chapter 9 are gates for sitting down to contemplate it. Its complete exposition awaits the translation of the Three Great Works.

7 · A Note on One Name

Later generations commonly refer to this teaching by four characters: 『three thousand in one thought-moment.』 The textual study in Chapter 2 of this edition's annotated Lotus has already recorded that 「three thousand in one thought-moment」 is a later summary expression; these four characters do not occur together in Zhizhe's Three Great Works. Across the Profound Meaning, Words and Phrases, and Great Calming-and-Contemplation, the four-character sequence occurs zero times. Zhizhe's own words are 「these three thousand are in one moment of mind」 〔0054a07〕 and 「once there is the slightest moment of mind, it immediately contains the three thousand.」 The four-character summary is sound and Tiantai students have used it for a thousand years. This book nevertheless follows Zhizhe's source wording: it may be cited as a later person's summary, but it cannot be quoted as a sentence from sutra or treatise. When you encounter those four characters elsewhere, you can recognize them: they are the contents of this chapter dressed in clothing cut by later hands.

8 · Returning to the Question

How many worlds can one moment of mind contain? Zhizhe's answer is not a number but a way of contemplating: once there is the slightest moment of mind, it immediately contains the three thousand. The mind with which you are reading this line is that very moment. The three thousand are not far away; they are present in this act of reading. The ten scriptural items, the three turns in the Profound Meaning, the roster of ten realms, and the three classes of world have all been given above in the source text, one passage at a time. The complete vernacular rendering and textual study of the “Skillful Means” chapter are in Chapter 2 of this edition's annotated Lotus.

Carry away three sentences, all in Zhizhe's own words: 「Once there is the slightest moment of mind, it immediately contains the three thousand」—the three thousand do not wait to be cultivated; 「These thirty kinds of world are all created by mind」—mind paints the coloring of the world; 「Just as one mote of dust contains the directional divisions of the ten directions」—completeness is the natural condition of Dharma-nature, not a prize awarded for practice. The numbers may be forgotten. These three sentences will not be.

Author · Shi Huijing CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 · 二〇二六 · 夏