中阿含經 心要連讀Madhyama Āgama · Continuous Heart-Essence
卷第一Fascicle 1
全文五層 →Full five layers →「是故王城不為外敵破，唯除內自壞」〔T01 0422c12〕。這一卷五經皆說七：七法、七階、七事、七人、七輪。七法成就者「正趣漏盡」〔T01 0421a15〕；其所趣一，其所由七。
一、知人勝如
七法之末目獨長：信、往見、禮敬、問經、聽、持、觀義、如法行、自他饒益，九層各取其勝而更分，如「因牛有乳，因乳有酪」〔T01 0422a07〕以至酥精。知人勝如，辨人之勝與不如；所辨者，即此一路之上進。
二、階次
晝度樹「葉萎黃」〔T01 0422a21〕而天歡喜，以知其將開；聖弟子一思念出家，其後六階可期。七水喻人之別在信之得失、四諦之觀否、結之盡幾；出已而住而不觀者，猶在此岸。階次之義，在每一階皆知所將至。
三、防與養
七善法「除惡不善，修諸善法」〔T01 0423b23〕，四增上心「樂住無乏，安隱快樂，自致涅槃」〔T01 0423c26〕。七善法防外，四禪養內；內外具足，「不為魔王之所得便」〔T01 0423a12〕，所可慮者唯自壞。
四、寧
抱木積甚苦，抱女、受信施甚樂，而世尊言「寧」：「不令汝等學沙門失沙門道」〔T01 0425b01〕。苦樂之比不在一時，在「觀自義、觀彼義、觀兩義」〔T01 0425b10〕。說此法時，六十比丘漏盡，六十比丘還家；寧退而不偽，讀者自此卷可得。
“Therefore the royal city is not broken by an outside enemy, except only by its own ruin from within.” The five discourses of this fascicle all speak of seven: seven dharmas, seven stages, seven requisites, seven persons, seven rounds. One who accomplishes the seven dharmas is “rightly bound for the ending of outflows”; what he is bound for is one, and what he is bound by is seven.
I. Knowing the Superior and Inferior among Persons
The last of the seven dharmas runs long on its own: faith, going to see, paying respect, asking, listening, retaining, contemplating the meaning, practicing according to the Dharma, benefiting self and others—nine layers, each taking the superior and dividing again, as “from the cow comes milk, from milk comes curd,” up to the essence of butter. Knowing the superior and inferior among persons tells the superior from the inferior; and what is told is this one road of ascent.
II. Stages
When the pārijāta tree’s “leaves turn yellow” the gods rejoice, knowing it will bloom; once the noble disciple thinks of leaving home, the six stages that follow can be expected. The seven persons likened to water differ in gaining or losing faith, in looking or not looking at the four truths, in how many bonds are ended; one who has come out and stays but does not look is still on this bank. The meaning of stages is that at every stage one knows what is about to come.
III. Defense and Nourishment
The seven good dharmas “remove evil and unwholesome dharmas and cultivate good dharmas”; the four higher states of mind “dwell in happiness without lack, at peace and at ease, bringing oneself to nirvāṇa.” The seven good dharmas defend against what is outside; the four dhyānas nourish what is within. With inside and outside complete, one “is not taken advantage of by King Māra,” and the only thing to fear is one’s own ruin.
IV. Rather
To embrace the woodpile is very painful, and to embrace a girl or to receive gifts of faith is very happy, yet the World-Honored One says “rather”: “so that you who train as ascetics do not lose the ascetic’s way.” The comparison of pain and happiness lies not in one moment but in “contemplating one’s own good, contemplating the other’s good, contemplating the good of both.” When this teaching was spoken, sixty bhikṣus ended their outflows and sixty returned home; rather retreat than be false—this too a reader may take from the fascicle.
卷第二Fascicle 2
全文五層 →Full five layers →「誰有能信？唯見諦者耳」〔T01 0429b08〕。這一卷五經仍皆說七：七善人、七福、七日、七淨七車、七斷。七善人皆未得證，七淨皆有餘，七車無一車可至；所數者七，所歸者一。
一、所往
七善人同一行、同一所見、同一所斷，所異唯「少慢未盡」〔T01 0427a22〕之少慢盡得早晚，第一人如燒䴸纔燃便滅，餘六人如鐵火迸空，落處各異。七人之外別有一人，「而已得證」〔T01 0427c19〕，不至東西南北，「便於現法中息迹滅度」〔T01 0427c21〕。善人之往，以無往為歸。
二、所信
一切行無常，不雨而草木枯，七日出而須彌燒；「火法齊彼，終不至此」〔T01 0429a28〕，晃昱雖免於火，亦在諸行之中。須彌當壞，誰能信？不是見過其壞者，是見諦者。善眼大師修增上慈生晃昱，「說法不至究竟」〔T01 0429c16〕；究竟者唯脫一切苦。
三、所由
「但以戒淨故，得心淨」〔T01 0430c28〕，七淨相由，至道跡斷智淨而世尊施設無餘涅槃。以戒淨為涅槃，是「以有餘稱說無餘」〔T01 0430c22〕，如認初車為婆雞帝；離七淨而言涅槃，則凡夫亦當般涅槃。乘一捨一，一日乃至。
四、所斷
「以知、以見故諸漏得盡」〔T01 0431c15〕。見斷三結，餘六斷在日用：護根、離惡、用物有故、堪忍、除念、思惟覺支。各以其斷，「一切漏盡諸結已解」〔T01 0432c26〕。福不可量，行不久住；施者如河入海，行者如七日火；能信其一，能知其二，乃能斷其七。
“Who can believe it? Only those who have seen the truths”. The five discourses of this fascicle all still speak of seven: seven good persons, seven blessings, seven suns, seven purities and seven chariots, seven ways of cutting off. None of the seven good persons has yet realized; all seven purities have remainder; no one of the seven chariots can reach the destination. What is counted is seven; what is come home to is one.
I. Where One Goes
The seven good persons share one practice, one seeing, and one cutting off; they differ only in how soon the “little conceit not yet ended” comes to its end, the first like burning bran that goes out as soon as it catches, the other six like sparks from the iron flying into the air and falling in different places. Beyond the seven there is one more, “already realized”, who does not go east, west, south, or north, but “in this very life his traces are stilled and he is extinguished”. The good person’s going comes home to no going.
II. What One Believes
All formations are impermanent: with no rain the grass and trees wither, and with seven suns Sumeru burns; “the law of fire stops there and never reaches here”—the Radiant Light, though spared the fire, is still among the formations. Sumeru will be destroyed; who can believe it? Not one who has seen its destruction, but one who has seen the truths. The great teacher Good Eye cultivated higher loving-kindness and was born in Radiant Light, and “the Dharma he taught did not reach the ultimate”; the ultimate is only to be freed from all suffering.
III. By What Means
“But by purity of precepts one gains purity of mind”; the seven purities arise one from another, up to purity of the knowledge of cutting off on the path’s track, where the World-Honored One sets forth nirvāṇa without remainder. To take purity of precepts for nirvāṇa is “calling what has remainder ‘without remainder’”, like taking the first chariot for Sāketa; to speak of nirvāṇa apart from the seven purities would make the ordinary person too attain final nirvāṇa. Riding one and leaving one, within a single day one arrives.
IV. What Is Cut Off
“It is by knowing and by seeing that the outflows are ended”. Cutting off by seeing ends the three bonds; the other six are in daily life: guarding the faculties, avoiding what is bad, using things for a reason, enduring, removing thoughts, reflecting on the awakening factors. Each by its own way, “all outflows ended and every bond undone”. Blessings cannot be measured; formations do not last. The giver is like a river entering the ocean; the practitioner is like the fire of the seven suns. Able to believe the one and to know the other, one can then cut off the seven.
卷第三Fascicle 3
全文五層 →Full five layers →「此十種不善業道，黑有黑報，自然趣下，必至惡處」〔T01 0440b01〕；「此十善業道，白有白報，自然昇上，必至善處」〔T01 0440b21〕。這一卷七經只說一句話：業之報自然而然，而業在人之手。
一、隨人
「隨人所作業則受其報」〔T01 0433a14〕。一兩鹽投少水則不可飲，投恒水則可飲；鹽不變，水有多少。業不變，人有修與不修。同一不善業，不修身戒心慧者受地獄之報，修者受現法之報，「彼於現法設受善惡業報而輕微也」〔T01 0434a09〕。
二、可棄
「不更造新業，棄捨故業」〔T01 0434b23〕，於現世得究竟而無煩熱，不善漏不至後世。心無量善修，則本因惡知識所作之不善業「不能將去，不能穢汙，不復相隨」〔T01 0438a14〕。經不言業滅；心大，則業不能將去、不復相隨。
三、可觀
「若汝將作身業，即觀彼身業」〔T01 0436c09〕；現作、已作亦觀，口業、意業亦觀。淨則受之，不淨則捨之。「現觀而觀，現淨而淨」〔T01 0437b07〕，世尊教羅云以此自期。業不是所受而已，是所觀。
四、有因
「當知諸業有三，因習本有」〔T01 0438c15〕——貪、恚、癡。非宿命造，非尊祐造，非無因無緣；若是三者，則「作以不作，都無欲、無方便」〔T01 0435b12〕。業有因，因在心；於殺生乃至邪見淨除其心，便得四安隱住處，於後世有無皆得安隱。
“These ten unwholesome courses of action: black has a black result, naturally tends downward, and surely reaches a bad place”; “these ten wholesome courses of action: white has a white result, naturally rises upward, and surely reaches a good place”. The seven discourses of this fascicle say only one sentence: the result of action comes of itself, and action is in the person’s hands.
I. According to the Person
“According to the action a person does, so he experiences its result”. A tael of salt thrown into a little water cannot be drunk; thrown into the river Gaṅgā it can; the salt does not change, and the water is little or much. The action does not change, and the person cultivates or does not cultivate. For the same unwholesome action, one who does not cultivate the body, the precepts, the mind, and wisdom experiences the result of hell, and one who cultivates them experiences the result in this very life, “for him, even if he experiences the result of good and bad action in this very life, it is slight”.
II. It Can Be Cast Off
“He does not make new action and casts off old action”, reaches the end in this present life without vexation, and unwholesome outflows do not reach a later life. When the mind is measureless and well cultivated, the unwholesome action formerly done because of bad friends “cannot carry him off, cannot defile him, and no longer follows him”. The discourse does not say that the action ceases; when the mind is great, action cannot carry it off and no longer follows it.
III. It Can Be Observed
“If you are about to do a bodily action, observe that bodily action”; what one is doing and has done are observed too, and verbal action and mental action are observed too. What is pure one takes up, what is impure one casts off. “Observing in the present, purifying in the present”—with this the World-Honored One teaches Rāhula to set his own course. Action is not merely what is experienced; it is what is observed.
IV. It Has a Cause
“Know that actions are of three kinds, arising from what is habitually accumulated”—greed, hatred, delusion. Not made by past deeds, not made by a lord’s creation, not without cause and without condition; if it were any of these three, then “with regard to what should be done and not done, there is neither desire nor effort”. Action has a cause, and the cause is in the mind; when, with regard to killing up to wrong view, one purifies one’s mind, one gains the four secure abidings, secure whether there is a later life or not.
卷第四Fascicle 4
全文五層 →Full five layers →「若有樂報業，彼業寧可因斷、因苦行，轉作苦報耶」〔T01 0443b13〕——不也；苦報、現法報、後生報、不熟報、熟報皆不可轉，「虛妄方便，空斷無獲」〔T01 0443c04〕。這一卷三經只說一句話：業之報不可以苦行轉，而苦之盡在現法。
一、不可作，亦可作
「我說身惡行不可作，口、意惡行亦不可作」〔T01 0441b07〕；「我說身妙行可作，口、意妙行亦可作」〔T01 0441b15〕。尼乾以不可作為謗，世尊補其半。苦行者，「彼苦行法知斷滅盡，拔絕其根，至竟不生者，我說彼苦行」〔T01 0442a13〕；外道以行苦為苦行，世尊以斷苦行為苦行。
二、不可轉
「人所受皆因本作」，而尼乾不知本作者何；苦行只「於現世作苦」〔T01 0443b07〕，不滅故業。卷第三說報隨人而輕重，本卷說報之種隨業而定：樂苦、現法後生、熟不熟，皆不可因斷、因苦行轉之。
三、自斷其苦
「彼或欲斷苦因，行欲，或欲斷苦因，行捨欲」〔T01 0444a15〕；苦斷則不復斷苦，「其箭已直，不復用檢」〔T01 0444a25〕。斷愛則女雖與他語不復生苦；除五纏則憂苦滅，「於現法中而得究竟，無煩無熱，常住不變」〔T01 0445a11〕。尼乾求苦邊於苦行，世尊示究竟於現法。
四、知幻非幻
「我知幻，知幻人，知幻報，知斷幻」〔T01 0445c17〕；知其事不是其事。殺生者有受賞有受戮，「一切即於現法受報，因彼生憂苦」是妄言。四論士是非相反，不判其是非，「彼便自見，我斷十惡業道，念十善業道」〔T01 0447b07〕，心與慈俱，於彼所說不是不非而得內心止；此是遠離法定，聞之者法眼生。
“If there is action with a pleasant result, can that action, through severing and through ascetic practice, be turned into a painful result?”—no; a painful result, a result in this very life, a result in a later birth, unripened, ripened, none can be turned: “vain effort, empty severing, nothing gained”. The three discourses of this fascicle say only one sentence: the result of action cannot be turned by ascetic practice, and the ending of suffering lies in this very life.
I. Not to Be Done, and Also to Be Done
“I say that bodily misconduct is not to be done, and verbal and mental misconduct are also not to be done”; “I say that bodily good conduct is to be done, and verbal and mental good conduct are also to be done”. The Nirgranthas take “not to be done” as slander; the World-Honored One supplies its other half. As for ascetic practice, “those who know the dharma of ascetic practice to be severed and exhausted, pulled out by the root, never to arise again, I say that they practice asceticism”; the paths outside take practicing pain as ascetic practice, and the World-Honored One takes severing ascetic practice as ascetic practice.
II. It Cannot Be Turned
“Whatever a person experiences is all due to what was done before”, and yet the Nirgranthas do not know what was done before; ascetic practice only “makes suffering in this very world” and does not exhaust old action. Fascicle 3 says that the result is light or heavy according to the person; this fascicle says that the kind of result is settled by the action: pleasant or painful, in this very life or in a later birth, ripened or unripened, none can be turned by severing or by ascetic practice.
III. Severing One’s Own Suffering
“He may wish to sever the cause of suffering and practice with desire, or he may wish to sever the cause of suffering and practice with the abandoning of desire”; when the suffering is severed he severs suffering no more, “when the arrow is already straight, he uses the straightener no more”. Sever the love, and though the woman speaks with another, suffering arises no more; remove the five bonds, and sorrow and pain cease, and one “reaches the ultimate in this very life, without vexation, without burning, constantly abiding and unchanging”. The Nirgranthas seek the end of suffering in ascetic practice; the World-Honored One shows the ultimate in this very life.
IV. Knowing Illusion, Not an Illusion
“I know illusion, I know the one who practices illusion, I know the result of illusion, I know the severing of illusion”; to know a thing is not to be that thing. Among those who kill, some are rewarded and some are executed; that “all of them experience the result in this very life, and because of that sorrow and pain arise for them” is false speech. The four debaters hold opposite views, and he does not judge their right and wrong: “he sees for himself: I have severed the ten unwholesome courses of action and am mindful of the ten wholesome courses of action”, dwells with a mind imbued with loving-kindness, neither affirms nor denies what they say, and gains inner stillness; this is the concentration on the Dharma called seclusion, and one who hears it gains the eye of the Dharma.
卷第十Fascicle 10
全文五層 →Full five layers →「阿難！但法自然，持戒者便得不悔」〔T01 0485b23〕。這一卷十六經只說一句話：一法有一法為其習。所習具則此法自具，不思而得；所習不具則此法必無是處。
一、所趣
持戒為何義？令不悔。不悔為何義？令歡悅。一法之義在其後一法，問至無欲，答以解脫。「法法相益，法法相因」〔T01 0485b15〕，戒在此岸而其所趣在彼岸。不應思令我不悔，但法自然；不待求而得。
二、所養
「本無有愛，然今生有愛」〔T01 0487b07〕，本際不可知，所因可知。有愛以無明為習，逆推至惡人；明解脫以七覺支為習，逆推至善人。大海以大河為食，大河以小河，溪㵎平澤以雨，「有時大雨」〔T01 0488a29〕，則大海滿。問流轉之所由，不問其始，問今所親近者是誰。
三、所接
涅槃以解脫為習，逆推至信；信以苦為習，苦以老死，至無明而止。順說之，緣無明行，乃至緣老死苦，「習苦，便有信」〔T01 0491a07〕。十二支之末，道之首，一字相接。盡智自奉事善知識起，「未聞便聞，已聞便利」〔T01 0490b06〕；聞在信前，奉事在聞前。
四、所熟
彌醯白佛：「我有為有作而有所觀」〔T01 0491b14〕，世尊言「汝去，隨意所欲」〔T01 0491b16〕。獨坐㮈林，三惡念生。心解脫未熟，先習五法，首在與善知識俱；復修四法，末在無常想。得無常想者必得無我想，無我想者斷一切我慢。鏈之首各異，其末皆是涅槃；心之熟不在靜處，在所習。
“Ānanda, it is simply the nature of dharmas that one who keeps the precepts gains freedom from regret”. The sixteen discourses of this fascicle say one sentence: one dharma has one dharma as its supporting condition. When what supports it is complete, this dharma is complete of itself, gained without thinking; when what supports it is not complete, for this dharma there is no such possibility.
I. What It Tends Toward
What is the meaning of keeping the precepts? It brings freedom from regret. What is the meaning of freedom from regret? It brings gladness. The meaning of one dharma lies in the dharma after it; the asking reaches dispassion, and the answer is liberation. “Dharma benefiting dharma, dharma depending on dharma”: the precepts are on this shore, and what they tend toward is the far shore. One should not think, let me be free from regret; it is simply the nature of dharmas; it is gained without being sought.
II. What Nourishes It
“There was no craving for existence before, and yet now craving for existence has arisen”; the first beginning cannot be known, and what it depends on can be known. Craving for existence has ignorance as its supporting condition, traced back to the bad person; clear knowing and liberation have the seven factors of awakening as their supporting condition, traced back to the good person. The great ocean has the great rivers as its nutriment, the great rivers the small rivers, the gullies, ravines, and level marshes the rain; “at times there is great rain”, and the great ocean is full. Asking what the round of existence comes from, one does not ask its start; one asks who it is that one now keeps close to.
III. Where They Join
Nirvāṇa has liberation as its supporting condition, traced back to faith; faith has suffering as its supporting condition, suffering old age and death, and so on until it stops at ignorance. Stated forward, conditioned by ignorance, formations, up to conditioned by old age and death, suffering, and “supported by suffering, there is faith”. The end of the twelve links and the head of the path join in a single word. The knowledge of ending begins from attending upon good friends, “what was not heard is heard, and what has been heard is turned to benefit”; hearing comes before faith, and attending comes before hearing.
IV. What Ripens It
Mixi said to the Buddha: “I have something to accomplish, something to do, and something to look to”, and the World-Honored One said “go, as you wish”. Sitting alone in the mango grove, three evil thoughts arose. When the mind’s liberation is not yet ripe, one first cultivates five dharmas, the first of which is being together with good friends; and one further cultivates four dharmas, the last of which is the perception of impermanence. One who gains the perception of impermanence surely gains the perception of not self, and one with the perception of not self cuts off all conceit. The heads of the chains differ, and their end is in every case nirvāṇa; the ripening of the mind lies not in the quiet place but in what supports it.