大智度論 六度相攝品之上Dazhidulun — Mahāprajñāpāramitā-upadeśa · The Six Perfections Contain One Another, Part 1 of 3

The Six Perfections Contain One Another, First Part: Abiding in Giving and Taking Up the Five, Abiding in Morality and Taking Up the Five—Ten Rounds; the Two General Principles of the Power of Skilful Means and of Causes and Conditions Accomplishing One Another; Why Patience Speaks Only of Cutting and Severing; Why the Signless Is Spoken of within the Mark of the Conditioned

What Is Being Asked

The six perfections have always been six items: giving is giving, upholding the precepts is upholding the precepts, each with its own practising marks, each with its own counteractions. What was asked at the end of the previous chapter was how the bodhisattva, when practising prajñā, fulfils the six perfections, and the Buddha has already answered it point by point; in this chapter Subhūti changes the way of asking—he does not ask how the six perfections are fulfilled together; he asks, when only one of the perfections is practised, how the other five are obtained from within that one. The treatise-author at the very outset makes this question explicit: 「六波羅蜜各各異相，云何行一波羅蜜攝五波羅蜜？」 tr. "The six perfections each have different marks; how can practising one perfection contain the five perfections?" Since the six items each differ, is not practising one merely one? This doubt is not captious; what it asks about is the most practical matter for every practitioner: in one stretch of time a person can often bring only one kind of strength to bear—while giving, one cannot bring meditative concentration to bear; while upholding the precepts, one has no attention to spare for much learning—so must the other five perfections simply wait for the next stretch of time?

The way of answering that the sūtra gives is unexpectedly concrete: it does not say in terms of principle ‘the six perfections include one another’; it asks round by round and answers round by round. In the one unit of the First Part, the sūtra sets out ten rounds—abiding in dānapāramitā and taking up morality, taking up patience, taking up vigour, taking up meditation, taking up prajñā, five rounds; abiding in śīlapāramitā and taking up giving, taking up patience, taking up vigour, taking up meditation, taking up prajñā, five rounds. Each round specifies one situation: at the very moment giving is being practised the receiver turns round and reviles and insults—which perfection is present? At the very moment one abides in upholding the precepts beings come and cut one apart joint by joint—which perfection is present? The answer never leaves that one matter at hand—when giving, kindness arises in the mind, and the deeds of body, speech, and mind of that kindness are morality; when insulted while giving one is not hateful, and not being hateful is patience. The six perfections are not six stretches of time; they are six faces of one and the same matter.

The treatise-author then sets up two general principles. The first is the power of skilful means: 「菩薩以方便力故，行一波羅蜜能攝五波羅蜜。」 tr. "Because of the power of skilful means, the bodhisattva, practising one perfection, is able to contain the five perfections." The second is causes and conditions accomplishing one another: 「有為法因緣果報相續故相成，善法，善法因緣故。」 tr. "Conditioned dharmas accomplish one another because causes, conditions, and retribution continue; wholesome dharmas, because wholesome dharmas are their causes and conditions." Since wholesome dharmas are alike the causes and conditions of wholesome dharmas, practising one contains the five, and yet the positions are not thrown into confusion—「以一波羅蜜為主，餘波羅蜜有分」 tr. "one perfection is taken as the master, and the other perfections have a share". One is the master, five have a share—these six Chinese characters, rendered here as ‘one is the master, five have a share’, are the balance-mark of this chapter: containing is not merging into sameness; the five perfections that are contained each remain what they are, only they are not separately set up as the master. What the First Part has to answer is these two questions, ‘how practising one can contain the five’ and ‘how, once contained, master and companions are not confused’; the four exchanges of question and answer drawn out along with them—why patience speaks only of cutting and severing the body, how a person who has not cut off the fetters can not give rise to a single thought of hatred, why the signless is spoken of within the mark of the conditioned, and, since apart from existence there is no non-existence, how one again sees suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality—are the four passes one is bound to run into when the answer is pushed to its limit.

Passage by Passage

1. The first round—abiding in dānapāramitā, taking up śīlapāramitā. Subhūti opens the question: 「云何菩薩摩訶薩住檀波羅蜜取尸羅波羅蜜？」 tr. "How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, abiding in dānapāramitā, take up śīlapāramitā?" The Buddha answers: 「菩薩摩訶薩布施時，持是布施迴向薩婆若，於眾生中住慈身口意業。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva-mahāsattva gives, he holds this giving and dedicates it to sarvajñā, and amid beings abides in kindly deeds of body, speech, and mind." Within the one matter of giving, obtaining upholding the precepts turns on two keys: one is the direction of the dedication—the merit of what is given does not stop at the retribution of humans and gods, but is dedicated straight to omniscience; the other is the ground of the mind at the time of giving—amid beings one abides in kindness, and once kindness is present, the three deeds of body, speech, and mind naturally do not transgress. Of the ten rounds of this fascicle this is the first, and the pattern is settled right here: the situation is not changed; only the eye that looks at it is changed.

2. The second round—abiding in dānapāramitā, taking up kṣāntipāramitā. 「云何菩薩住檀波羅蜜取羼提波羅蜜？」 tr. "How does the bodhisattva, abiding in dānapāramitā, take up kṣāntipāramitā?" The Buddha answers: 「菩薩布施時，受者瞋恚罵辱、惡言加之，是時菩薩忍辱，不生瞋心。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva gives, the receiver is hateful, reviles and insults him, and heaps evil words upon him; at this time the bodhisattva is patient and does not give rise to a mind of hatred." The giver is instead insulted by the receiver—this is the most mortifying scene at the site of giving; and it is precisely this scene that becomes the seat of awakening for patience. The sūtra does not say to find some other exercise of patience to do—right at the moment when the giving is let down one does not give rise to hatred, and patience has already been taken up.

3. The third round—abiding in dānapāramitā, taking up vīryapāramitā. It is the same situation of the receiver's hatred and reviling; looked at from another face, it is vigour: 「菩薩增益布施，心作是念：『我應當施，不應有所惜。』即時生身精進、心精進。」 tr. "The bodhisattva increases his giving, and in his mind has this thought: ‘I should give, and should not begrudge anything.’ At once he gives rise to vigour of body and vigour of mind." To be insulted and not retreat is already patience; to be insulted and increase one's giving all the more is advancing. The two Chinese characters 「增益」 tr. "increases" divide the boundary between patience and vigour—patience is holding firm, vigour is adding forward.

4. The fourth round—abiding in dānapāramitā, taking up dhyānapāramitā. The Buddha answers: 「菩薩布施時，迴向薩婆若，不趣聲聞、辟支佛地，但一心念薩婆若。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva gives, he dedicates it to sarvajñā, does not tend toward the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha, and only with a single mind keeps sarvajñā in mind." Meditation here is not spoken of as the posture of sitting; only the two Chinese characters 「一心」 tr. "a single mind" are taken: what is kept in mind is only omniscience, not slipping aside into the two vehicles; this single mind being undisturbed is meditation. Where the teaching that the six perfections contain one another shows its hand and eye most is right here—meditation need not leave the site of giving to seek out a separate meditation cushion.

5. The fifth round—abiding in dānapāramitā, taking up prajñāpāramitā. The Buddha answers: 「菩薩布施時，知布施空如幻，不見為眾生布施有益、無益。」 tr. "When the bodhisattva gives, he knows that giving is empty, like an illusion, and does not see that giving for the sake of beings has benefit or has no benefit." To give and know it to be like an illusion is prajñā illuminating the mark of giving; not to see benefit or no benefit is prajñā illuminating the mark of retribution. This round pushes giving to its very end: even such a discrimination as ‘has this giving of mine in the end benefited beings or not’ comes to rest, and only then does giving truly become a perfection.

6. The sixth round—abiding in śīlapāramitā, taking up dānapāramitā. The second group takes upholding the precepts as the master, and Subhūti in one question raises all five perfections together: 「云何菩薩摩訶薩住尸羅波羅蜜取檀波羅蜜、羼提波羅蜜、毘梨耶波羅蜜、禪波羅蜜、般若波羅蜜？」 tr. "How does the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, abiding in śīlapāramitā, take up dānapāramitā, kṣāntipāramitā, vīryapāramitā, dhyānapāramitā, and prajñāpāramitā?" The Buddha first answers his taking up of giving: within abiding in morality 「身、口、意生布施福德，助阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "body, speech, and mind give rise to the merit of giving, which aids anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi"; the precepts upheld are listed item by item—「不奪他命、不劫奪他物、不行邪婬，不妄語、不兩舌、不惡口、不綺語，不貪嫉、不瞋恚、不邪見」 tr. "not taking the life of others, not robbing others of their things, not engaging in sexual misconduct; not speaking falsely, not speaking divisively, not speaking harshly, not speaking frivolously; not greedy and envious, not hateful, not holding wrong views", which is precisely the full list of the ten wholesome paths; the giving practised is also listed item by item—「飢者與食，渴者與飲，須乘與乘，須衣與衣，須香與香，須瓔珞與瓔珞」 tr. "to the hungry he gives food, to the thirsty he gives drink, to those who need carriages he gives carriages, to those who need clothing he gives clothing, to those who need incense he gives incense, to those who need necklaces he gives necklaces", and so on up to 「塗香、臥具、房舍、燈燭、資生所須，盡給與之」 tr. "unguents, bedding, dwellings, lamps and candles, and the things needed to sustain life—he gives them all". At the end it closes with 「與眾生共之，迴向阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "he shares it in common with beings and dedicates it to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi", and says 「如是迴向，不墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "dedicating thus, he does not fall to the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha". What the ten wholesome paths guard against lies in not doing; what giving practises lies in being able to give; abiding within the precepts and giving rise to the merit of giving in body, speech, and mind, upholding the precepts has thereby contained giving.

7. The seventh round—abiding in śīlapāramitā, taking up kṣāntipāramitā. The Buddha answers: 「若有眾生來節節支解，菩薩於是中不生瞋恚心乃至一念」 tr. "If beings come and cut him apart joint by joint, the bodhisattva does not give rise to a mind of hatred amid this, not even for a single thought", and moreover he speaks thus: 「我得大利，眾生來取我支節用，我無一念瞋恚。」 tr. "I obtain a great benefit; beings come and take my limbs and joints to use, and I have not a single thought of hatred." Being cut apart joint by joint is the utmost limit of patience; and here the bodhisattva not only is not hateful, but on the contrary takes it as 「得大利」 tr. "obtaining a great benefit"—the pain is in the body, the benefit is on the path. What the precepts guard is not vexing or harming others; what patience accomplishes is not being moved by others' vexing; guarded to the utmost, patience comes forth from within it.

8. The eighth round—abiding in śīlapāramitā, taking up vīryapāramitā. The Buddha answers: 「若菩薩摩訶薩身精進、心精進，常不捨」 tr. "If the bodhisattva-mahāsattva, with vigour of body and vigour of mind, constantly does not give up", and has this thought: 「一切眾生在生死中，我當拔著甘露地。」 tr. "All beings are within birth and death; I shall pull them out and set them on the ground of ambrosia." Vigour here is not doubling one's ascetic practice; it is the three Chinese characters 「常不捨」 tr. "constantly does not give up"—upholding the precepts is by nature a matter continued day after day; continuing and not giving up is already the substance of vigour; and the reason for not giving up is tied to that one thought of pulling out and rescuing all beings.

9. The ninth round—abiding in śīlapāramitā, taking up dhyānapāramitā. The Buddha answers: 「菩薩入初禪，第二、第三、第四禪，不貪聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "The bodhisattva enters the first dhyāna, the second, the third, and the fourth dhyāna, and does not crave the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha", and has this thought: 「我當住禪波羅蜜中，度一切眾生生死。」 tr. "I shall abide within dhyānapāramitā and deliver all beings from birth and death." The four dhyānas are listed stage by stage, yet the distinction lies not in the depth of the dhyāna but in the direction of the mind on entering dhyāna—not craving the two vehicles, for the sake of delivering beings: only so do the four dhyānas become dhyānapāramitā. The same first dhyāna: when a śrāvaka enters it, it is provisions for his own realisation; when a bodhisattva enters it, it is an instrument for delivering beings.

10. The tenth round—abiding in śīlapāramitā, taking up prajñāpāramitā. The Buddha answers: within abiding in morality 「無有法可見：若作法，若有為法，若數法，若相法，若有、若無；但見諸法不過如相」 tr. "there is not one dharma to be seen: whether made dharmas, or conditioned dharmas, or numbered dharmas, or marked dharmas, whether existent or non-existent; he sees only that all dharmas do not go beyond the mark of suchness", and he concludes with 「般若波羅蜜、漚和拘舍羅力故，不墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "because of the power of prajñāpāramitā and upāya-kauśalya, he does not fall to the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha". Made dharmas, the conditioned, numbered dharmas, marked dharmas, existence and non-existence—five names set side by side; the treatise-author does not here set out their separate glosses; what is negated lies in their being visible—the treatise, explaining this meaning below, says 「有為法從因緣和合生，虛誑」 tr. "conditioned dharmas arise from the coming together of causes and conditions and are false and deceptive", and also says 「有為相尚不可得，何況無為」 tr. "the mark of the conditioned is unfindable even so, how much less the unconditioned"; so none of the five can be seen, and what is seen is only 「不過如相」 tr. "they do not go beyond the mark of suchness". And what one relies on in order not to fall to the two vehicles is two things: prajñā is the illumination, skilful means is the function; with only illumination and no function one easily sinks into emptiness, and so the sūtra raises the two together. The ten rounds of the First Part close here.

11. The treatise-author takes up the previous chapter and settles the question of this chapter. The treatise-author explains, first tying back to the previous chapter: 「上品末說：『云何菩薩行般若波羅蜜時，具足六波羅蜜？』佛一一答。」 tr. "At the end of the previous chapter it was said: ‘When the bodhisattva practises prajñāpāramitā, how does he fulfil the six perfections?’ The Buddha answered point by point." Then he points out how what this chapter asks differs: 「此品中，須菩提問：『云何菩薩行一波羅蜜攝五波羅蜜？』」 tr. "In this chapter Subhūti asks: ‘How does the bodhisattva practise one perfection and contain the five perfections?’" What the previous chapter asked is how, when practising prajñā, one fulfils the six perfections; what this chapter asks is how, when practising any one perfection, one contains the other five—the former takes prajñā as the pivot, the latter takes any one perfection as the pivot. A difference of one word, and the problem is wholly new: that prajñā gathers in the six perfections, everyone easily believes; that giving contains meditative concentration and upholding the precepts contains prajñā—this is the difficulty this chapter sets out to resolve.

12. The first general principle—because of the bodhisattva's power of skilful means, practising one contains the five. Question: 「六波羅蜜各各異相，云何行一波羅蜜攝五波羅蜜？」 tr. "The six perfections each have different marks; how can practising one perfection contain the five perfections?" Answer: 「菩薩以方便力故，行一波羅蜜能攝五波羅蜜。」 tr. "Because of the power of skilful means, the bodhisattva, practising one perfection, is able to contain the five perfections." That the marks differ is real, and containing the five is real too; the joint between them lies only in the power of skilful means. The power of skilful means is not some separate thing added outside the six perfections; it is using one's mind well: the same act of giving, used in the right way, then in one giving all six perfections appear together; not used in the right way, then one giving is only one giving. This answer is set up very sparingly, yet it has already moved the power to contain the five from the dharma back to the person—dharmas are by nature of different marks, and a person can contain them.

13. The second general principle—conditioned dharmas accomplish one another because causes, conditions, and retribution continue; one is the master, the others have a share. Furthermore: 「有為法因緣果報相續故相成，善法，善法因緣故。是波羅蜜皆是善法故，行一則攝五，以一波羅蜜為主，餘波羅蜜有分。」 tr. "Conditioned dharmas accomplish one another because causes, conditions, and retribution continue; wholesome dharmas, because wholesome dharmas are their causes and conditions. Because these perfections are all wholesome dharmas, practising one then contains the five; one perfection is taken as the master, and the other perfections have a share." The former answer is in terms of the person's skilful means; this answer is in terms of the substance and nature of the dharmas: the six perfections are alike wholesome dharmas, and since wholesome dharmas are causes and conditions for one another, within their continuity they naturally accomplish one another. And the last sentence especially needs attention—containing is not transforming five into one; it is ‘one is the master, the others have a share’: the master sets up the name, the shares really exist. If it is read as the six perfections mixed into one lump, then the mark of upholding the precepts and the mark of meditative concentration are wholly lost, and what this chapter teaches becomes vague; the reason the ten rounds of the sūtra are spoken separately round by round and refuse to be merged is precisely to guard these positions.

14. The treatise explains the first round—kindly deeds are the three wholesome paths, the root of morality. The treatise-author explains abiding in giving and taking up morality: the bodhisattva deeply practises dānapāramitā; 「布施眾生時得慈心，從慈能起慈身口業。是時菩薩即取尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "when he gives to beings he obtains a mind of kindness, and from kindness he can give rise to kindly deeds of body and speech. At this time the bodhisattva takes up śīlapāramitā". Why is kindness precisely the precepts? The treatise-author answers himself: 「慈業是三善道，尸羅波羅蜜根本，所謂不貪、不瞋、正見。是三慈業能生三種身業、四種口業。」 tr. "Kindly deeds are the three wholesome paths, the root of śīlapāramitā, namely non-greed, non-hatred, and right view. These three kindly deeds can give rise to the three kinds of bodily deeds and the four kinds of verbal deeds." The three wholesome paths refer to the three branches of the deed of mind, the root of the ten wholesome paths; once the deed of mind is right, the three of body and the four of speech become right along with it. At the end he further explains why kindness is called kindness: 「慈即是善業，為利益眾生故名為慈。」 tr. "Kindness is precisely a wholesome deed; it is called kindness because it is for the sake of benefiting beings." Kindness is not the warmth of an emotion; it is a wholesome deed whose substance is benefiting others—this sentence moves this round from psychology back to the paths of deeds, and the taking up of upholding the precepts is then not a figure of speech but a real matter.

15. The treatise explains the second round—hatred, reviling, and beating and harming as the three evil deeds; hatred divided into upper, middle, and lower; the deed of mind as the root. The treatise-author explains abiding in giving and taking up patience, first depicting the scene: the bodhisattva gives for the sake of all wisdom, yet the receiver is hateful; the donor having proclaimed 「我能一切施」 tr. "I can give away everything", and the receiver not getting his wishes satisfied, he then says: 「誰使汝請我而不隨我意？」 tr. "Who told you to invite me and then not go along with my wishes?" Then he distinguishes the three deeds word by word: 「『瞋』者是心惡業，『罵』者是口惡業，『打害』者是身惡業。」 tr. "‘Hatred’ is an evil deed of mind, ‘reviling’ is an evil deed of speech, ‘beating and harming’ is an evil deed of body." He further divides hatred into three grades: 「瞋有上、中、下：上者害殺，中者罵詈，下者心瞋。」 tr. "Hatred has upper, middle, and lower: the upper is harming and killing, the middle is reviling and cursing, the lower is hatred in the mind." And the bodhisattva here 「不生三種惡業」 tr. "does not give rise to the three kinds of evil deeds"; the treatise-author also explains why the sūtra singles out the deed of mind—「意業是根本故，但說意業」 tr. "because the deed of mind is the root, only the deed of mind is spoken of". At the end he records the bodhisattva's thought of self-reproach: 「是我之罪，我請彼人而不能得稱意，由我薄福，不能具足施與；我若瞋者，既失財物，又失福德，是故不應瞋。」 tr. "This is my fault; I invited that person and yet could not satisfy him; because my merit is thin I cannot give to him fully; if I am hateful, I lose both the wealth and the merit; therefore I should not be hateful." Patience here does not rely on forcible suppression; it relies on reckoning up an account clearly: to be hateful is to lose both wealth and merit.

16. The treatise explains the third round—the mind does not sink and does not give up; in former lives one did not exert one's will in giving. The treatise-author explains abiding in giving and taking up vigour: the receiver beats and harms him, yet the bodhisattva's 「心不沒不捨」 tr. "mind does not sink and does not give up", and for the sake of giving his 「身、心勤精進」 tr. "body and mind apply themselves diligently with vigour". His own thought runs: 「我先世不強意布施故，今不能得稱受者意，但當勤布施，不應計餘小事。」 tr. "Because in former lives I did not exert my will in giving, today I cannot satisfy the receiver; I should only give diligently, and should not reckon over the other small matters." The three Chinese characters 「不強意」 tr. "did not exert my will" are the eye of this passage—today's setback is attributed to a past use of the mind that was not vigorous, and so the conclusion is not to retreat but to give twice as much. The reason vigour arises from giving is precisely that it reads a failure as evidence of insufficient effort.

17. The treatise explains the fourth round—the three not-seekings; the intentions gathered into the omniscience of all kinds. The treatise-author explains abiding in giving and taking up meditation: the bodhisattva gives 「不求今世福樂」 tr. "without seeking happiness and merit in this life", nor does he seek in a later life to be 「轉輪聖王、天王、人王」 tr. "a wheel-turning sage king, a king of the gods, a king of humans", nor does he seek 「世間禪定樂」 tr. "the pleasure of worldly meditative concentration"; going a layer further, 「為眾生故，不求涅槃樂」 tr. "for the sake of beings he does not seek the pleasure of nirvāṇa"; he only 「攝是諸意在一切種智中，不令散亂」 tr. "gathers these intentions into the omniscience of all kinds, not letting them be scattered". The three layers of not-seeking advance in order—first giving up the pleasure of the present life, next giving up the superior retribution of later lives, then giving up the taste of worldly meditation, and at the last not seeking even the pleasure of nirvāṇa. What is sought being one, the mind is naturally not scattered; meditation as meditation is here tied not to the marks of sitting or lying down, but only to the four Chinese characters 「不令散亂」 tr. "not letting them be scattered".

18. The treatise explains the fifth round—like an illusion, like a dream; not seeing benefit or no benefit; because of ultimate emptiness, not hoping for retribution. The treatise-author explains abiding in giving and taking up prajñā: when the bodhisattva gives he 「常觀一切有為作法虛誑不堅固、如幻、如夢」 tr. "constantly contemplates all conditioned, made dharmas as false and deceptive and not firm, like an illusion, like a dream". As for 「不見有益、無益」 tr. "not seeing benefit or no benefit", the treatise-author sets out its causes and conditions point by point: the thing given is not necessarily a cause of happiness—「或時得食腹脹而死，或時得財為賊所害，亦以得財物故生慳貪心而墮餓鬼中」 tr. "sometimes one obtains food and dies of a swollen belly, sometimes one obtains wealth and is harmed by robbers, and also, because of obtaining wealth, one gives rise to a mind of stinginess and greed and falls among the hungry ghosts"; and 「此財物有為相故，念念生滅無常，生苦因緣」 tr. "because this wealth is of the mark of the conditioned, it arises and ceases thought by thought and is impermanent, a cause and condition that gives rise to suffering". Furthermore, wealth enters 「諸法實相畢竟空中，不分別有利、無利」 tr. "the ultimate emptiness of the real mark of all dharmas, where benefit and no benefit are not discriminated", and so the bodhisattva 「於受者不求恩分，於布施不望果報」 tr. "seeks no share of repaid kindness from the receiver, and hopes for no retribution from the giving"; if he sought a return and the other did not repay, 「則生怨恨」 tr. "then resentment would arise". The bodhisattva's thought is: 「諸法畢竟空故，我無所與；若求果報，當求畢竟空阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，如布施相。」 tr. "Because all dharmas are ultimately empty, I have given nothing; if I seek retribution, I should seek the anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi of ultimate emptiness, like the mark of giving." At the end he concludes with a double negation, 「是故不見有益，以畢竟空故；亦不見無益」 tr. "therefore he does not see benefit, because of ultimate emptiness; nor does he see no benefit", and with one sentence gathers up the five rounds of the first group: 「如是，於檀波羅蜜邊，取五波羅蜜。」 tr. "In this way, on the side of dānapāramitā, he takes up the five perfections." Giving without seeing benefit is not coldness; it is rescuing giving from exchange—once a return is sought, the giving becomes a debt; if the debt is not repaid, resentment arises, and once resentment arises the six perfections all collapse.

19. The treatise explains the sixth round—in the desire realm upholding the precepts is supreme; the two kinds of precepts and the two kinds of breaking the precepts. The treatise-author explains abiding in morality and taking up giving: the bodhisattva takes morality as the master; all his wholesome deeds of body, speech, and mind, 「布施、多聞、思惟、持戒等助阿耨多羅三藐三菩提」 tr. "giving, much learning, reflection, upholding the precepts, and so forth, aid anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi", and 「持戒力大故，總名尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "because the power of upholding the precepts is great, they are collectively named śīlapāramitā". Why single out upholding the precepts? The answer lies in the capacities of the desire realm—「欲界中持戒為上；餘布施、聞、思、修慧等，以欲界心散亂故，得力微薄」 tr. "within the desire realm upholding the precepts is supreme; as for the rest—giving, the wisdom of hearing, of reflection, and of cultivation, and so forth—because the mind in the desire realm is scattered, the power obtained is slight", and he cites what the Abhidharma says as proof: 「出法名欲界繫戒，色、無色界繫淨禪定，學、無學法及涅槃。」 tr. "The dharmas of emergence are named the precepts bound to the desire realm, the pure meditative concentrations bound to the form and formless realms, the dharmas of training and beyond training, and nirvāṇa." Then he sets up the two kinds of precepts: abiding in 「助道戒」 tr. "the precepts that aid the path", he 「具足十善道戒」 tr. "fulfils the precepts of the ten wholesome paths"; the bodhisattva, 「住是二種戒中，布施眾生，須食與食」 tr. "abiding within these two kinds of precepts, gives to beings: to those who need food he gives food", and dedicates all this merit to the Buddha path. At the end he conversely sets up the two kinds of breaking the precepts: 「一者、十不善道，二者、向聲聞、辟支佛地。與此相違，則是二種持戒。」 tr. "First, the ten unwholesome paths; second, tending toward the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha. What runs contrary to these is the two kinds of upholding the precepts." This judgement is of the utmost importance—tending toward the two vehicles is set side by side with the ten unwholesome paths as breaking the precepts, which shows that what this chapter calls the precepts is not limited to upholding and transgressing in body and speech, but also takes in the greatness or smallness of one's aspiration.

20. The treatise explains the seventh round—cut apart joint by joint, not giving rise to a single thought of hatred. The treatise-author explains abiding in morality and taking up patience: the bodhisattva abides in morality and wishes to fulfil patience; 「若眾生來節節支解持去，乃至不生一念瞋心，何況起身口惡業！」 tr. "if beings come and cut him apart joint by joint and carry him off, he does not give rise to even a single thought of a mind of hatred—how much less give rise to evil deeds of body and speech!" The one phrase 「何況」 tr. "how much less" strings the precepts and patience into a single line: not transgressing in body and speech is what the precepts guard; the ground of the mind not moving is what patience accomplishes; once the ground of the mind does not stir a single thought, evil in body and speech has nowhere to arise from. Patience's being contained in upholding the precepts lies right here.

21. Question and answer one—patience means being able to endure every kind of injury and seizure; why is only the cutting and severing of the body spoken of? Question: 「忍辱名一切侵奪能忍，何以但說割截身體？」 tr. "Patience means being able to endure every kind of injury and seizure; why is only the cutting and severing of the body spoken of?" The treatise-author gives four answers. The first, in terms of clinging to the inner and the outer: 「所著物有內、外：內名自身頭、目、髓腦等，外名妻子、珍寶等。雖俱是著處，內著最深。」 tr. "The things clung to are inner and outer: the inner means one's own head, eyes, marrow and brain, and so forth; the outer means wife and children, precious jewels, and so forth. Though both are places of clinging, clinging to the inner is deepest." The second, in terms of the reality of wealth and life: 「或有人雖隨逐財物而死，亦是為身故」 tr. "Or there are people who, though they die pursuing wealth, do so also for the sake of the body"—those who die chasing wealth are, traced to the root, still doing it for the body. The third, in terms of the common run of human feeling: 「人多惜身，時有惜財，惜財者少故不說。」 tr. "People mostly cherish the body and sometimes cherish wealth; those who cherish wealth are few, so it is not spoken of." The fourth, in terms of raising the great to contain the small: 「是人尚不惜身，何況餘物！是故但說大因緣，當知已攝小者。」 tr. "This person does not cherish even his body—how much less other things! Therefore only the great cause and condition is spoken of; one should know that the small is already contained." The four answers tighten layer by layer, and the last answer in one sentence lays bare the general rule by which the sūtra gives its examples—when the sūtra cites the most difficult case, it does not mean that only this one matter is to be endured; it raises the great, and the small is contained of itself. Wherever, in reading the sūtras, one meets a place of ‘only speaking of a certain matter’, one may take this as the pattern.

22. Question and answer two—a transformation body or a body born of father and mother; the answer of ‘someone says’ and two ‘furthermore’s. Question: 「乃至不生一念瞋心者，為是變化身？為是父母生身？」 tr. "This one who does not give rise to even a single thought of a mind of hatred—is it a transformation body? Or a body born of father and mother?" The questioner himself sets up a dilemma: 「若是變化身，則不足為奇；若是父母生身，未斷結人云何能不生一念瞋心？」 tr. "If it is a transformation body, then it is not remarkable; if it is a body born of father and mother, how can a person who has not cut off the fetters not give rise to a single thought of a mind of hatred?" This question is asked in a very down-to-earth way—a body conjured by supernormal powers feels no pain, and not being hateful without feeling pain cannot count as patience; a body of flesh and blood feels pain, and yet not being hateful while the afflictions are not cut off seems impossible. Under Answer:, the treatise-author first records one account: 「有人言：煩惱業因緣生身。」 tr. "Someone says: it is a body born of the causes and conditions of afflictions and deeds." It takes precisely the latter road—it really is a body born of father and mother, and the reason it can be free of hatred lies in this: 「於無量劫為眾生修集慈心故，雖有割截，不生瞋心」 tr. "because for immeasurable kalpas he has cultivated and gathered a mind of kindness for the sake of beings, even though he is cut and severed he does not give rise to a mind of hatred". And he gives the simile of a kind mother raising a child: 「如慈母養育嬰兒，雖復屎尿污身，以深愛故而不生瞋，又愍其無知。」 tr. "It is as a kind mother raising an infant: though its excrement and urine soil her body, because of her deep love she does not give rise to hatred, and she also pities its not-knowing." Extended to beings: 「未得聖道者，皆如小兒」 tr. "those who have not obtained the noble path are all like little children"; at the end he gives its reason—「眾生不自在，煩惱所使故」 tr. "because beings are not their own masters, and are driven by the afflictions". The one who does harm is not master of himself; from where would the one harmed give rise to hatred? This is dissolving hatred by compassion. With one turn of ‘furthermore’, he answers instead from the gate of emptiness: 「菩薩無量劫來常修畢竟空法，不見割者、罵者，亦不見善者、惡者，皆如幻、如夢」 tr. "The bodhisattva, for immeasurable kalpas, has constantly cultivated the dharma of ultimate emptiness; he does not see one who cuts or one who reviles, nor does he see one who is good or one who is evil; all are like an illusion, like a dream"; and 「諸瞋恚者皆愚癡，若我報彼，與彼無異」 tr. "all who are hateful are deluded; if I retaliate against them, I am no different from them". This is dissolving hatred by emptiness. With one more turn of ‘furthermore’, he answers from benefit and harm: the bodhisattva has this thought, 「我應瞋處而不瞋，則為大利」 tr. "Where I ought to be hateful and am not hateful, that is a great benefit". This is dissolving hatred by benefit. The three answers do not obstruct one another: the mind of kindness is the work of accumulated kalpas, ultimate emptiness is the principle seen, the great benefit is the reckoning of the moment—each of the three roads can be taken up, and one who has not cut off the fetters also has a place to set his hand; the difficulty in the question is then resolved.

23. The treatise explains the eighth round—the difference between the precepts of those gone forth and of householders; the simile of the island of jewels and the crystal bead; the two kinds of vigour, of body and of mind. The treatise-author explains abiding in morality and taking up vigour, first distinguishing the kinds of practitioner: 「住尸羅波羅蜜多是出家人，時有在家者。」 tr. "Those who abide in śīlapāramitā are mostly those who have gone forth; sometimes there are householders." Those who have gone forth 「得無量戒律儀，具足四十種善道，深入諸法實相、過聲聞辟支佛地。是三種戒，名尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "obtain the immeasurable restraints of the precepts, fulfil the forty kinds of wholesome paths, enter deeply into the real mark of all dharmas, and pass beyond the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha. These three kinds of precepts are named śīlapāramitā"; while 「在家者無無量戒律儀，是故不具足住尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "householders do not have the immeasurable restraints of the precepts, and therefore do not fully abide in śīlapāramitā". This judgement states the limits of a householder's upholding of the precepts as they really are, without overpraise. Next comes the bodhisattva's self-admonition: 「我今捨世樂入道，不可但住持戒。持戒是餘功德住處」 tr. "I have now given up worldly pleasure and entered the path; I may not abide only in upholding the precepts. Upholding the precepts is the dwelling-place of the other merits"; if one 「但得住處、不得餘功德者，得利甚薄」 tr. "obtains only the dwelling-place and does not obtain the other merits, the benefit obtained is very thin", and he makes it clear by a simile—「譬如人在寶洲，但得水精珠，則所利益薄」 tr. "It is as when a person on an island of jewels obtains only a crystal bead; what benefits him is then thin." To have entered the island of jewels and yet picked up only one crystal bead—what is to be regretted is not the bead but the island. So he sets up two kinds of vigour: 「身精進者，如法致財，以用布施等；心精進者，慳貪等諸惡心來破六波羅蜜者，不令得入。」 tr. "Vigour of body is obtaining wealth in accordance with the Dharma and using it for giving and so forth; vigour of mind is, when stinginess and greed and the various evil minds come to destroy the six perfections, not letting them gain entry." At the end he records his thought of vowing: 「一切眾生沈沒生死，我應拯濟，著甘露地」 tr. "All beings are sunk in birth and death; I should rescue them and set them on the ground of ambrosia"; and he makes the comparison with the śrāvaka—「聲聞人但度自身，尚不應懈怠，何況菩薩自度及為一切眾生而當懈怠！」 tr. "The śrāvaka delivers only himself and still should not be lazy—how much less should the bodhisattva, who delivers himself and is also for the sake of all beings, be lazy!" And it comes to rest in a sentence of warning: 「此大乘法若不運用，則為敗壞。」 tr. "This dharma of the Great Vehicle, if it is not put to use, falls to ruin." The dharma of the Great Vehicle is not a thing to be stored away; it is an instrument to be put to use; to stop is to ruin it—the reason vigour cannot cease lies here.

24. The treatise explains the ninth round—the tree of the vow and the wind of the afflictions; the simile of the poisonous snake and spell-craft; the list of meditations. The treatise-author explains abiding in morality and taking up meditation, first giving the reason meditation is needed: the bodhisattva abides in morality, 「或未得無生忍法故，諸煩惱風吹動願樹，欲壞其尸羅波羅蜜」 tr. "and perhaps, because he has not yet obtained the dharma of the acceptance of non-arising, the winds of the various afflictions shake the tree of his vow and would ruin his śīlapāramitā". The vow is like a tree, the afflictions like wind—the reason the precepts waver is rooted in the vow's being shaken. The counteraction: 「應求禪定樂，除去五欲樂；五欲樂除故，戒德清淨。」 tr. "He should seek the pleasure of meditative concentration and remove the pleasures of the five desires; because the pleasures of the five desires are removed, the virtue of the precepts is pure." And though the afflictions are not yet cut off, 「已折伏故，不能生亂」 tr. "because they have been subdued, they cannot give rise to disturbance"; the simile says: 「譬如毒蛇，以呪術力故，毒不得螫。」 tr. "It is like a poisonous snake: because of the power of spell-craft, its poison cannot sting." The poison not yet removed and yet unable to sting—this is precisely the difference between subduing and cutting off; what meditative concentration can give to one who has not cut off the fetters is exactly this layer. As for what meditation refers to, the treatise-author also lists its items: 「四禪、四無色定、四無量心等諸禪定。」 tr. "the four dhyānas, the four formless absorptions, the four immeasurable minds, and the other meditative concentrations." After obtaining meditation one must especially guard one's aspiration: 「菩薩得禪，心雖柔軟，安住尸羅波羅蜜故，亦不取聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "When the bodhisattva obtains meditation, though his mind is soft, because he abides securely in śīlapāramitā, he also does not take up the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha"; his thought is: 「我應行禪波羅蜜，不為小乘涅槃，亦不為果報，但為度一切眾生故，說諸法實相。」 tr. "I should practise dhyānapāramitā, not for the nirvāṇa of the Small Vehicle, nor for retribution, but only for the sake of delivering all beings, and speak the real mark of all dharmas." The taste of meditation most easily lures one into finishing for oneself alone, and so here morality is specifically used to guard it.

25. The treatise explains the tenth round—true and real wisdom is born from meditative concentration; the simile of clear, still water; the five names of the conditioned. The treatise-author explains abiding in morality and taking up prajñā: 「是實智從禪定生，是心不為覺、觀所動，亦不為貪欲、瞋恚所濁；繫心一處，清淨柔軟，則能生實智。」 tr. "This true and real wisdom is born from meditative concentration; this mind is not moved by initial and sustained thought, nor muddied by greedy desire and hatred; binding the mind to one place, pure and soft, it can then give rise to true and real wisdom." The simile says: 「如水澄靜，照鑒分明。」 tr. "Like water clear and still, reflecting distinctly." Water can reflect by nature; muddied and moving, it cannot; the mind is likewise, and so prajñā is not sought separately outside meditation. Next he speaks of what it illuminates: 「菩薩住尸羅波羅蜜得是禪，得禪故心清淨，心清淨故知諸法如實。」 tr. "The bodhisattva abides in śīlapāramitā and obtains this meditation; because he obtains meditation his mind is pure; because his mind is pure he knows dharmas as they really are." What is it that is known? 「有為法從因緣和合生，虛誑；菩薩以慧眼觀，不見是有為法實。」 tr. "Conditioned dharmas arise from the coming together of causes and conditions and are false and deceptive; the bodhisattva contemplates with the wisdom-eye and does not see these conditioned dharmas as real." And the conditioned has five names: 「所謂作法、有為、數法、相法，若有、若無」 tr. "namely made dharmas, the conditioned, numbered dharmas, marked dharmas, whether existent or non-existent"—corresponding exactly to the sūtra's 「若作法，若有為法，若數法，若相法，若有、若無」 tr. "whether made dharmas, or conditioned dharmas, or numbered dharmas, or marked dharmas, whether existent or non-existent"; the treatise explains the sūtra by this, neither adding nor subtracting. At the end he pushes one layer further: 「以有為故，可說無為；有為相尚不可得，何況無為！」 tr. "Because there is the conditioned, the unconditioned can be spoken of; the mark of the conditioned is unfindable even so—how much less the unconditioned!" Since the conditioned is unfindable, the unconditioned, set up in dependence on the conditioned, is naturally unfindable too—this statement draws out the question below.

26. Question and answer three—why the signless is spoken of within the mark of the conditioned; the two kinds of the unconditioned. Question: 「有為法是有相，無為法是無相，今何以有為相中說無相？」 tr. "Conditioned dharmas have marks, unconditioned dharmas are signless; why now is the signless spoken of within the mark of the conditioned?" The questioner holds to the usual division: having marks belongs to the conditioned, the signless belongs to the unconditioned—why speak of the signless under the conditioned? Answer: first divides the unconditioned into two: 「一者、無相、寂滅、無戲論，如涅槃；二者、相待『無』，因『有』而生。」 tr. "First, the signless, quiescent, without idle discourse, like nirvāṇa; second, the relative ‘non-existence’, which arises because of ‘existence’." The former is the true unconditioned; the latter is merely a 「無」 tr. "non-existence" arising relatively. The treatise-author also cites an instance to make it clear: 「如廟堂上無馬，能生無心；此無心是生諸煩惱因緣，云何是無為法？」 tr. "As when there is no horse in the temple hall, one can give rise to a mind of non-existence; this mind of non-existence is a cause and condition that gives rise to the afflictions—how could it be an unconditioned dharma?" In the temple hall there is by nature no horse, yet in a person's mind a thought of ‘there is no horse’ is set up—this thought is a newly arisen cause and condition of affliction; how could it count as unconditioned? This simile is very sharp: whatever is set up over against 「有」 tr. "existence" as a 「無」 tr. "non-existence" is still circling within the conditioned. Therefore 「是菩薩不見此有、無等法，但見諸法如、法性、實際」 tr. "this bodhisattva does not see such dharmas as existence and non-existence; he sees only the suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality of all dharmas"—what is negated is relative existence and non-existence; what is kept is the three names suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality.

27. Question and answer four—apart from existence there is no non-existence; how then does one see suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality? Question: 「汝先言『離有則無無』，今云何見如、法性、實際？」 tr. "You said before, ‘apart from existence there is no non-existence’; how now does he see suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality?" This question follows on from the above and presses back: since it has been said that relative non-existence cannot be established, then are not the suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality that you see likewise another 「無」 tr. "non-existence" set up over against the conditioned? Answer: 「不見有為法若常、樂、我、淨等，是虛誑法若無，即是諸法實。」 tr. "Not seeing conditioned dharmas as permanent, happy, self, pure, and so forth—these false and deceptive dharmas being non-existent—is precisely the reality of all dharmas." It is not setting up another non-existence to counteract existence; the very non-establishment of false and deceptive dharmas is, right where it stands, the real. He says further: 「見無生法故，能離有生法；是無生法無定實相可取，但能令人離虛誑有生法，故名無生。」 tr. "Because he sees the dharma of non-arising, he is able to leave the dharmas of arising; this dharma of non-arising has no fixed real mark that can be grasped; it only enables people to leave the false and deceptive dharmas of arising, and so it is named non-arising." Non-arising as a dharma does not occupy the seat of a real mark; it has only one function—to make people leave arising; once they have left, it is let go, and does not become a further clinging. This answer steadies the most perilous step of this unit: prajñā illuminates emptiness and does not fall into the view of emptiness precisely because the emptiness illuminated has no fixed mark that can be grasped. At the end the treatise-author brings it back to practice: 「若得如是智慧，以方便力、本願、悲心故，不取二乘證，直至阿耨多羅三藐三菩提。」 tr. "If he obtains such wisdom, because of the power of skilful means, his original vow, and his mind of compassion, he does not take up the realisation of the two vehicles, and goes straight on to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi."

28. The overall close of the second group—this is named the bodhisattva abiding in śīlapāramitā and taking up the five perfections. The treatise-author closes the group of abiding in morality with one sentence: 「是名菩薩住尸羅波羅蜜取五波羅蜜。」 tr. "This is named the bodhisattva abiding in śīlapāramitā and taking up the five perfections." Set against the earlier 「如是，於檀波羅蜜邊，取五波羅蜜」 tr. "in this way, on the side of dānapāramitā, he takes up the five perfections", the two groups each have their beginning and end. The one unit of the First Part here closes its fascicle—ten rounds of sūtra, two general principles, ten rounds of the treatise's explanation, four exchanges of question and answer, which turn ‘practising one contains the five’ from a saying that looks like a clever shortcut into a practice that can be verified round by round.

Do Not Misread

Do not read 「攝」 tr. "contain" as merging. The treatise-author's balance-setting words are 「以一波羅蜜為主，餘波羅蜜有分」 tr. "one perfection is taken as the master, and the other perfections have a share"—one being the master is the setting up of the name; the others having a share is real existence. If it is read as the six perfections stirred into one taste, then the mark of giving and the mark of upholding the precepts are wholly lost, and the ten rounds of the sūtra, spoken separately one by one, have nothing to rest on. Containing is containing with master and companions clearly distinct, not a merging that obliterates the practising marks.

Do not read ‘practising one contains the five’ as a labour-saving method. There are people who hear this teaching and rejoice, thinking that since practising one contains the five, the other five can be set aside and left alone. Yet of the ten rounds the sūtra raises, not one is not a difficult place: reviled and insulted by the receiver and not hateful; cut apart joint by joint and not moving a single thought; giving and not seeking a share of repaid kindness; obtaining meditation and not taking up the two vehicles—containing the five holds precisely because that one perfection has been practised to its utmost. Practising one and containing the five is not doing five parts less; it is doing one part to the full.

Do not read 「不見有益、無益」 tr. "not seeing benefit or no benefit" as meaning that giving is useless. The treatise-author states clearly why it is so—「是布施物，非定是樂因緣」 tr. "this thing given is not necessarily a cause and condition of happiness", and wealth 「念念生滅無常，生苦因緣」 tr. "arises and ceases thought by thought and is impermanent, a cause and condition that gives rise to suffering", and so he does not reckon it by worldly benefit and harm; going further, 「於受者不求恩分，於布施不望果報」 tr. "he seeks no share of repaid kindness from the receiver, and hopes for no retribution from the giving"—what is guarded against is resentment arising when a sought return is not obtained. Not seeing benefit means not taking benefit as what is sought; it does not say that giving has no effect; if it is read as the latter, the sūtra's sentence 「持是布施迴向薩婆若」 tr. "he holds this giving and dedicates it to sarvajñā" would have nowhere to be placed.

Do not read 「向聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "tending toward the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha" as a matter of aspiration unrelated to upholding and transgressing. The treatise-author sets it side by side with the ten unwholesome paths as 「菩薩有二種破戒」 tr. "the bodhisattva has two kinds of breaking the precepts"—on the measure of this chapter, tending toward the two vehicles is itself breaking the precepts. Conversely, the phrases 「不趣聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "does not tend toward the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha" and 「不墮聲聞、辟支佛地」 tr. "does not fall to the ground of the śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha", which appear again and again in the ten rounds of the sūtra, are then not incidental modifiers but the necessary condition for each perfection to become a perfection.

Do not read subduing as cutting off. The treatise-author speaks of the function of meditative concentration for one who abides in morality with great restraint: 「煩惱雖未斷，已折伏故，不能生亂」 tr. "Though the afflictions are not yet cut off, because they have been subdued they cannot give rise to disturbance", and gives the simile of the poisonous snake held in check by spell-craft—the poison is still there; it just cannot sting. If the security after obtaining meditation is mistaken for the afflictions having been cut off, that is precisely the most common misrecognition among those who cultivate concentration; the reason the sūtra, after obtaining meditation, goes on to take up prajñā lies right here.

Do not read 「無生法」 tr. "the dharma of non-arising" as a state in which one can abide. The treatise-author settles it in one sentence: 「是無生法無定實相可取，但能令人離虛誑有生法，故名無生。」 tr. "This dharma of non-arising has no fixed real mark that can be grasped; it only enables people to leave the false and deceptive dharmas of arising, and so it is named non-arising." Non-arising is the raft for crossing the river; its function lies in making people leave arising; if it is taken as a really existent dharma and dwelt in, it becomes the 「相待『無』」 tr. "relative ‘non-existence’" refuted in question and answer three—a non-existence set up over against existence, still a cause and condition giving rise to afflictions.

Bearing on Practice

Take up the other five perfections right within this one matter at hand. There is no need to wait until the exercise of giving is finished before scheduling the exercise of meditative concentration. Right while giving, look at whether what you are dedicating to is retribution or omniscience—this look is meditation and prajñā; when let down, look at whether you retreat or increase your giving still more—this distinction is patience and vigour. What the ten rounds of the sūtra give is not ten methods of cultivation; it is changing the eye ten times on one matter.

When let down, first reckon the account clearly, and then speak of patience. The treatise-author has reckoned an account on the bodhisattva's behalf: 「我若瞋者，既失財物，又失福德，是故不應瞋。」 tr. "If I am hateful, I lose both the wealth and the merit; therefore I should not be hateful." Patience need not rely from the very beginning on the heights of kindness and compassion; one can start from this most realistic account—having already lost the wealth, why pay away the merit on top of it? Once it is reckoned clearly, then speak of the mind of kindness; the sequence is, on the contrary, steadier.

In a setback, read it as insufficient effort, not as a reason to retreat. 「我先世不強意布施故，今不能得稱受者意，但當勤布施，不應計餘小事」 tr. "Because in former lives I did not exert my will in giving, today I cannot satisfy the receiver; I should only give diligently, and should not reckon over the other small matters"—the same disappointment, read as ‘I should not do it’, leads to retreat; read as ‘what I do is not yet vigorous enough’, leads to advance. That vigour can arise from giving depends wholly on this turn of reading.

On the island of jewels, do not pick up only one crystal bead. When upholding the precepts has gained a little security, it is easiest to stop right there; the treatise-author reminds us that upholding the precepts is only 「餘功德住處」 tr. "the dwelling-place of the other merits", and the dwelling-place is not the merit itself. Having already given up worldly pleasure and entered the path, one should, on the foundation of the precepts, seek the fulfilment of the other five perfections; otherwise 「得利甚薄」 tr. "the benefit obtained is very thin".

Guard the precepts with meditative concentration, but do not take the security of meditative concentration as realisation. When the tree of the vow is shaken by the wind of the afflictions, seeking the pleasure of meditative concentration to remove the pleasures of the five desires is the right method the treatise-author gives; but at the same time remember the simile of the poisonous snake—subduing is not cutting off. After obtaining concentration one must still illuminate with prajñā the falseness and deceptiveness of the conditioned, so as not to dwell long in security.

When the thought ‘there is none’ arises, turn back and look at whether it is a new clinging. There is no horse in the temple hall and a person gives rise to a mind of non-existence; this 「無」 tr. "non-existence" is precisely a cause and condition of affliction. After long practice, it is easiest to come to a stop on such thoughts as ‘I am already without greed’ or ‘in this there is no self’; the treatise-author's distinction is very direct—whatever arises because of 「有」 tr. "existence" as a 「無」 tr. "non-existence" is still within the conditioned. What truly is to be seen is suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality, and that too is not something one can abide in.

Further Resonances

The one unit of the First Part, one sūtra segment and one treatise segment, establishes the pattern and the first half of the chapter "The Six Perfections Contain One Another". The sūtra's ten rounds—abiding in giving and taking up morality, patience, vigour, meditation, and prajñā, five rounds; abiding in morality and taking up giving, patience, vigour, meditation, and prajñā, five rounds—each specify one situation and change the eye that looks at it, without changing the matter practised; the treatise-author first ties back to the question of the previous chapter and points out how what this chapter asks differs, then sets up the two general principles of the power of skilful means and of causes and conditions accomplishing one another, fixes their positions with 「以一波羅蜜為主，餘波羅蜜有分」 tr. "one perfection is taken as the master, and the other perfections have a share", then explains round by round why they are so, opening in between four exchanges of question and answer—why patience speaks only of cutting and severing the body, how a person who has not cut off the fetters does not give rise to a single thought of hatred, why the signless is spoken of within the mark of the conditioned, and, since apart from existence there is no non-existence, how one sees suchness, the nature of dharmas, and the limit of reality—and comes to rest in 「以方便力、本願、悲心故，不取二乘證」 tr. "because of the power of skilful means, his original vow, and his mind of compassion, he does not take up the realisation of the two vehicles". The six perfections are not six stretches of time; they are six faces of one matter: this principle the First Part has already established.

On the difference of chapter titles, the editions are not uniform. The base text titles it "The Six Perfections Contain One Another", the Sixty-eighth; the treatise-titles of the Song and Yuan editions likewise read ‘six perfections contain one another’, with small differences in the characters; the Ming edition titles it 「釋六度相攝品第六十八之上」 tr. "Commentary on the Sixty-eighth Chapter, The Six Perfections Contain One Another, First Part", already marking its own way of dividing the fascicles. The Palace edition has a separate title, 「大智論釋第六十八品攝五品」 tr. "The Treatise on Great Wisdom's commentary on the sixty-eighth chapter, the chapter Containing the Five", explicitly setting up 「攝五品」 tr. "the chapter Containing the Five" as another name for this chapter; the Ishiyama-dera manuscript titles it 「摩訶般若波羅蜜第六十七品六度相攝品卷八十一」 tr. "Mahāprajñāpāramitā, sixty-seventh chapter, the chapter The Six Perfections Contain One Another, fascicle eighty-one", its chapter order being the sixty-seventh, one place fewer than the base text. In the sūtra explained, the Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra, the chapter title of this segment reads precisely "Containing the Five", the Sixty-eighth, agreeing with the alternative name marked by the Palace edition. The names on the two sides each have their basis; here they are recorded side by side without judgement.

Jizang's Commentary on the Larger Sūtra is extremely brief on this chapter, only eight lines, yet what it judges is precisely the pivot of this chapter. It judges the position of this chapter thus: 「此下第二、明一一行中具足眾行」 tr. "From here on is the second: making clear that within each single practice the many practices are complete", and divides the shallow and the deep by whether or not one has the acceptance of non-arising—before non-arising is obtained it is only one practice, while one who obtains the acceptance of non-arising 「能無㝵行，故一行中具足能生眾行也」 tr. "can practise without obstruction, and therefore within one practice is fully able to give rise to the many practices". As to what kind of containing this chapter makes clear, Jizang sets up a question and answers it himself: 「問：此中是何物攝耶？答：此是相生攝，以本攝末。」 tr. "Question: what kind of containing is this here? Answer: this is containing by mutual generation, the root containing the branches." Mutual generation, with the root containing the branches—set beside the treatise-author's judgement 「以一波羅蜜為主，餘波羅蜜有分」 tr. "one perfection is taken as the master, and the other perfections have a share", the words differ and the meaning agrees. Jizang also distinguishes the containing of this chapter from the containing made clear in the "Eloquence" chapter earlier in his commentary: there it 「明相攝，欲以眾行多功共成多之功力，顯莊嚴有大力勢，能破生死直趣佛道」 tr. "makes clear mutual containing, wishing through the many merits of the many practices jointly to accomplish the power of the many, showing that the adornment has great power and force, able to break birth and death and go straight toward the Buddha path"; 「今明一一度中而起諸行，為顯方便也」 tr. "now it makes clear that within each single perfection the various practices arise, in order to show skilful means". Explaining the tenor of this chapter as showing skilful means also corresponds to the treatise-author's first general principle, 「以方便力故」 tr. "because of the power of skilful means". Jizang does not comment round by round on the ten rounds of the sūtra; this is recorded as it is, and is not a lacuna.

Huiying's Commentary has a dedicated section on this chapter, and the places where it divides its passages agree with the fascicle boundaries followed here. It judges the position of this chapter thus: this chapter 「即方便門中第二品也」 tr. "is the second chapter within the gate of skilful means"; the previous chapter 「正明方便體，明於菩薩以方便力故遂有所除亦有所得，明一度之中具足六度成方便義」 tr. "directly makes clear the substance of skilful means, makes clear that because of the power of skilful means the bodhisattva thereupon has what is removed and also has what is obtained, and makes clear the meaning of skilful means as the six perfections being complete within one perfection", and the several chapters from here on 「還廣上方便義」 tr. "return to broaden the meaning of skilful means above". At the opening of this unit's sūtra text, Huiying records his teacher's account and settles the outline of the whole chapter: 「此中既明六波羅蜜相攝，但以一波羅蜜為頭，則攝五波羅蜜，故亦不須科略。」 tr. "Since this makes clear that the six perfections contain one another, only taking one perfection as the head, it contains the five perfections; therefore there is no need for a sectional outline." Taking one perfection as the head and containing the five—this is the same hand and eye as the treatise-author's 「為主」 tr. "is the master" and 「有分」 tr. "have a share". Huiying further lists the kinds of containing; he himself labels them five kinds, while the names listed are six, namely 「位、行、地位、同體、相生、一心等相攝」 tr. "containing by position, by practice, by stage, by same substance, by mutual generation, by a single mind, and so forth"; this is recorded as it is, without forcing an explanation; and he sets the same-substance containing of what he calls the "Fulfilling the Vow" chapter against this chapter: there it says 「菩薩施時，以此施與一切眾生共之，迴向阿耨多羅三藐三菩提，名為檀中之檀」 tr. "When the bodhisattva gives, he shares this giving in common with all beings and dedicates it to anuttarā samyaksaṃbodhi; this is named the dāna within dāna", and so on up to 「於一檀中具此六波羅蜜，六六成三十六波羅蜜，同體相攝」 tr. "within one dāna these six perfections are complete; six times six makes thirty-six perfections, containing one another by same substance"; while what this chapter makes clear is 「菩薩布施迴向菩提，是檀波羅蜜；於眾生住慈身口意」 tr. "the bodhisattva gives and dedicates it to awakening: this is dānapāramitā; amid beings he abides in kindly body, speech, and mind"—which is the text of the first round of this unit. The division into the two gates of same substance and mutual generation agrees with Jizang's judgement 「此是相生攝」 tr. "this is containing by mutual generation"; the two masters are seen side by side. Huiying's own chapter numbers are constantly one place fewer than the base text; when he says 「第六十七品者，名為六度相攝品」 tr. "the sixty-seventh chapter is named the chapter The Six Perfections Contain One Another", the reader should know that this is this chapter, not the previous chapter; the chapter-number system of his book differs from the base text; this is recorded as it is, and it is not reassigned on his behalf.

As for the twenty rounds of sūtra text in which the four groups of abiding in patience, abiding in vigour, abiding in meditation, and abiding in prajñā each take up the other five perfections, together with the treatise-author's explanation of these four groups, the question and answer on why only one perfection is the master, the difference in sequence between householder and gone-forth bodhisattvas, and so on up to the six passages of the general mark in which each of the six perfections is the head and the six perfections are each complete within a single thought—the Middle Part and the Last Part of this chapter unfold them in continuation; they are not anticipated here.