大乘起信論 四法熏習
論主在這一段用了一個很家常的東西作譬：一件衣服。
「如世間衣服實無於香，若人以香而熏習故則有香氣。」
衣服本身沒有香。掛久了，就有了。而那個香氣，既不是衣服本有的，也不是憑空來的。
這一段一千三百多字，說的全是這件事。
衣服不會抗議
熏習有一個特點：它不問願不願意。
看什麼、聽什麼、和誰在一起、心裡反覆想什麼——衣服就在那裡掛著，一天一天。
所以論主說完衣服，立刻列出一個環：無明熏真如，生出妄心；妄心又熏無明，現出境界；境界回頭熏妄心，於是「令其念著造種種業，受於一切身心等苦」。
一環餵一環，首尾相接。
這就是為什麼一個人明明知道要放下，卻放不下——不是不夠努力，是這個環已經自己轉了很久。
同一件衣服，也可以掛在另一邊
論主接著問：「云何熏習起淨法不斷？」
答案的結構與前面一模一樣：真如熏無明，令妄心厭生死苦、樂求涅槃；這個妄心再回頭熏真如，於是自信己性、修遠離法、不取不念。
用的是同一套機制。 沒有另外發明一種修行的力量。
只是中間有四個字，論主寫得很老實：「乃至久遠」。
衣服的香，不是一天熏成的。
木頭裡有火，但木頭自己燒不起來
有人問了一個很尖的問題：既然人人都有真如、都在被熏，為什麼有的人信、有的人不信？
論主先答一半：真如是一個，無明卻有無量無邊，「從本已來自性差別厚薄不同故」。
——差別不在真如那一邊，在障礙那一邊。走得慢，不是真如比別人少。
另一半，他用了第二個譬：「如木中火性是火正因，若無人知，不假方便能自燒木，無有是處。」
木頭裡本來就有火性。但沒有人知道、不藉方便，它不會自己燒起來。
光有內因不夠。 而反過來也一樣：光有外緣，內裡沒有熏習之力，也不能究竟。
兩邊都要。
那張名單上有怨家
外緣是什麼？論主說，諸佛菩薩會化現種種身分來作人的緣：
「或為眷屬父母諸親，或為給使，或為知友，或為怨家」
眷屬、父母、僕役、朋友——然後是怨家。
生命裡最難相處的那個人，也可能正在做這件事。
還沒相應的時候，靠什麼
論主把人分成兩邊。
已相應的，「得無分別心，與諸佛智用相應，唯依法力自然修行」——不再費力。
還沒相應的，是「凡夫、二乘、初發意菩薩等，以意、意識熏習，依信力故而能修行」。
還沒有無分別心之前，能依靠的就是信。
所以費力是常態，不是修得不好。到了不費力的那一天，是熏習夠了，不是忽然變成另一個人。
最後：香會傳下去
「染法從無始已來熏習不斷，乃至得佛後則有斷。淨法熏習則無有斷，盡於未來。」
染的那一邊有終點，淨的這一邊沒有。
因為法身顯現之後會「起用熏習」——回頭去做別人的外緣。
那件被熏過的衣服，後來成了香。
The author uses an utterly ordinary object as the simile for this passage: a garment.
“A garment in the world has no fragrance in itself, but if someone perfumes it with fragrance, it comes to carry that fragrance.”
What it comes to carry is relational: neither native to the cloth nor born from nowhere, but acquired by long proximity.
The whole passage of more than thirteen hundred characters unfolds that one fact.
A Garment Does Not Object
Perfuming has a particular feature: it does not ask for consent.
What a person sees and hears, whose company one keeps, what the mind rehearses again and again—the garment simply hangs there, day after day.
The author therefore moves directly from the garment to a loop: ignorance perfumes suchness and the deluded mind arises; the deluded mind perfumes ignorance and an object-realm appears; the object-realm turns back to perfume the deluded mind, “causing it to give rise to thoughts and attachments, create every kind of karma, and undergo every suffering of body and mind.”
Each link feeds the next, and the end joins the beginning.
This is why a person may know perfectly well that it is time to let go and yet remain unable to do so. It is not simply a failure of effort. The loop has been turning by itself for a very long time.
The Same Garment Can Hang Elsewhere
The author next asks: “How does perfuming cause pure dharmas to arise without interruption?”
The answer follows the same structure in reverse. Suchness perfumes ignorance, causing the deluded mind to turn away from the suffering of birth and death and delight in seeking nirvāṇa. That deluded mind then perfumes suchness in return, coming to trust its own nature, cultivate separation, and neither grasp nor dwell in thought.
The mechanism is the same. Practice does not require a second kind of force invented elsewhere.
But four candid words stand in the middle of the account: over a very long time.
A garment does not acquire its fragrance in a day.
Fire Is in the Wood, but the Wood Does Not Ignite Itself
Someone raises a sharp question. If everyone possesses suchness and everyone is perfumed by it, why do some believe while others do not?
The first half of the answer is that “suchness is originally one, but ignorance is immeasurable and boundless; from the beginning, its intrinsic differences have varied in thickness and thinness.”
The disparity lies on the side of obstruction, not on the side of suchness. Moving slowly does not mean possessing less suchness than someone else.
For the other half, the author gives a second simile: “The fire-nature within wood is the direct cause of fire, but if no one knows this and no skillful means are applied, there is no possibility of the wood igniting itself.”
The point is not that the wood lacks fire-nature. It is that a direct cause still requires a condition before ignition occurs.
An inner cause alone is not enough. The reverse is equally true: if the power of perfuming is absent within, an external condition alone cannot bring the process to completion.
Both are needed.
An Enemy Appears on the List
What are external conditions? The author says that buddhas and bodhisattvas may manifest in many roles to serve as a person’s conditions:
“As family members, parents, relatives, attendants, close friends, or enemies.”
The final member changes the meaning of the list: help need not arrive in a welcome form.
The hardest person in one’s life may also be serving as precisely such a condition.
What Supports Practice Before Correspondence
The author distinguishes two sides.
Those already corresponding “attain the nondiscriminating mind and correspond to the wisdom-function of the buddhas. Relying solely upon the power of the dharma, they practice spontaneously”—effort no longer drives the movement.
Those not yet corresponding are “ordinary beings, those of the two vehicles, bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the aspiration, and others,” who “perfume through mentation and consciousness and are able to practice by relying on the power of faith.”
Before the nondiscriminating mind has been attained, faith is what can be relied upon.
Effort is therefore normal, not evidence that practice has gone badly. When effortlessness arrives, perfuming has matured; the practitioner has not suddenly become someone else.
At Last, the Fragrance Passes On
“Defiled dharmas have perfumed without interruption from beginningless time, but their perfuming ceases once buddhahood is attained; the perfuming of the pure dharma never ceases, continuing through the end of the future.”
Liberation therefore does more than exhaust the defiled current; it releases a pure activity with no endpoint.
Once the dharma-body becomes manifest, “function-perfuming arises”—one turns back to become an external condition for others.
The garment once perfumed has become fragrance.
馬鳴菩薩造·梁西印度三藏法師真諦譯《大乘起信論》〈四法熏習〉· 大正藏 T32n1666〔起 T32 0578a14〕。段／行首〔T32 …〕＝大正藏頁・欄・行錨。
〔T32 0578a14〕復次，有四種法熏習義故，染法、淨法起不斷絕。云何為四？一者、淨法，名為真如。二者、一切染因，名為無明。三者、妄心，名為業識。四者、妄境界、所謂六塵。熏習義者，如世間衣服實無於香，若人以香而熏習故則有香氣。此亦如是，真如淨法實無於染，但以無明而熏習故則有染相。無明染法實無淨業，但以真如而熏習故則有淨用。云何熏習起染法不斷？所謂以依真如法故有於無明，以有無明染法因故即熏習真如；以熏習故則有妄心，以有妄心即熏習無明。不了真如法故，不覺念起現妄境界。以有妄境界染法緣故，即熏習妄心，令其念著造種種業，受於一切身心等苦。此妄境界熏習義則有二種。云何為二？一者、增長念熏習，二者、增長取熏習。妄心熏習義則有二種。云何為二？一者業識根本熏習，能受阿羅漢、辟支佛、一切菩薩生滅苦故。二者、增長分別事識熏習，能受凡夫業繫苦故。無明熏習義有二種。云何為二？一者、根本熏習，以能成就業識義故。二者、所起見愛熏習，以能成就分別事識義故。云何熏習起淨法不斷？所謂以有真如法故能熏習無明，以熏習因緣力故，則令妄心厭生死苦、樂求涅槃。以此妄心有厭求因緣故，即熏習真如。自信己性，知心妄動無前境界，修遠離法，以如實知無前境界故，種種方便起隨順行，不取不念，乃至久遠熏習力故，無明則滅。以無明滅故心無有起，以無起故境界隨滅，以因緣俱滅故心相皆盡，名得涅槃成自然業。妄心熏習義有二種。云何為二？一者、分別事識熏習，依諸凡夫二乘人等，厭生死苦，隨力所能，以漸趣向無上道故。二者、意熏習，謂諸菩薩發心勇猛速趣涅槃故。真如熏習義有二種。云何為二？一者、自體相熏習，二者、用熏習。自體相熏習者，從無始世來，具無漏法，備有不思議業，作境界之性。依此二義恒常熏習，以有力故，能令眾生厭生死苦、樂求涅槃，自信己身有真如法，發心修行。 問曰：「若如是義者，一切眾生悉有真如，等皆熏習，云何有信、無信，無量前後差別？皆應一時自知有真如法，勤修方便等入涅槃。」 答曰：「真如本一，而有無量無邊無明，從本已來自性差別厚薄不同故。過恒沙等上煩惱依無明起差別，我見愛染煩惱依無明起差別。如是一切煩惱，依於無明所起，前後無量差別，唯如來能知故。又諸佛法有因有緣，因緣具足乃得成辦。如木中火性是火正因，若無人知，不假方便能自燒木，無有是處。眾生亦爾，雖有正因熏習之力，若不值遇諸佛菩薩善知識等以之為緣，能自斷煩惱入涅槃者，則無是處。若雖有外緣之力，而內淨法未有熏習力者，亦不能究竟厭生死苦、樂求涅槃。若因緣具足者，所謂自有熏習之力，又為諸佛菩薩等慈悲願護故，能起厭苦之心，信有涅槃，修習善根。以修善根成熟故，則值諸佛菩薩示教利喜，乃能進趣，向涅槃道。」 用熏習者，即是眾生外緣之力。如是外緣有無量義，略說二種。云何為二？一者、差別緣，二者、平等緣。差別緣者，此人依於諸佛菩薩等，從初發意始求道時乃至得佛，於中若見若念，或為眷屬父母諸親，或為給使，或為知友，或為怨家，或起四攝，乃至一切所作無量行緣，以起大悲熏習之力，能令眾生增長善根，若見若聞得利益故。此緣有二種。云何為二？一者、近緣，速得度故。二者、遠緣，久遠得度故。是近遠二緣，分別復有二種。云何為二？一者、增長行緣，二者、受道緣。平等緣者，一切諸佛菩薩，皆願度脫一切眾生，自然熏習恒常不捨。以同體智力故，隨應見聞而現作業。所謂眾生依於三昧，乃得平等見諸佛故。此體用熏習，分別復有二種。云何為二？一者、未相應，謂凡夫、二乘、初發意菩薩等，以意、意識熏習，依信力故而能修行；未得無分別心與體相應故，未得自在業修行與用相應故。二者、已相應，謂法身菩薩得無分別心，與諸佛智用相應，唯依法力自然修行，熏習真如，滅無明故。 〔T32 0579a08〕復次，染法從無始已來熏習不斷，乃至得佛後則有斷。淨法熏習則無有斷，盡於未來。此義云何？以真如法常熏習故，妄心則滅、法身顯現，起用熏習，故無有斷。
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
馬鳴菩薩造·梁西印度三藏法師真諦譯《大乘起信論》，自「復次，有四種法熏習義故」至「起用熏習，故無有斷」。段首（…）＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔一·四種法之標〕（0578a14）再者，因為有四種法的熏習之義，所以染法與淨法生起而不斷絕。哪四種？（0578a15）第一是淨法，名為真如。第二是一切染的因，名為無明。第三是妄心，名為業識。第四是妄境界，就是六塵。
〔二·衣與香之喻〕（0578a17）所謂熏習之義，如同世間的衣服，本來並沒有香氣；若有人用香去熏它，它就有了香氣。（0578a19）此處也是這樣：真如淨法本來並沒有染，只因無明去熏習它，所以就有了染相；無明染法本來沒有淨業，只因真如去熏習它，所以就有了淨用。
〔三·染法如何熏習不斷〕（0578a21）怎麼樣熏習而使染法生起不斷？（0578a22）就是說：因為依著真如法，所以有無明；因為有無明這個染法之因，就去熏習真如；（0578a23）因為熏習，所以有妄心；因為有妄心，就去熏習無明。（0578a24）由於不了達真如法，不覺而念起，現出妄境界；（0578a25）因為有妄境界這個染法之緣，就去熏習妄心，使它起念執著、造種種業，受一切身心等苦。
〔四·妄境界熏習有二種〕（0578a27）這妄境界的熏習之義有兩種。哪兩種？第一是增長念熏習，第二是增長取熏習。
〔五·妄心熏習有二種〕（0578a29）妄心的熏習之義有兩種。哪兩種？（0578b01）第一是業識根本熏習，能使阿羅漢、辟支佛、一切菩薩受生滅之苦。第二是增長分別事識熏習，能使凡夫受業繫之苦。
〔六·無明熏習有二種〕（0578b03）無明的熏習之義有兩種。哪兩種？第一是根本熏習，因為能成就業識之義。第二是所起見愛熏習，因為能成就分別事識之義。
〔七·淨法如何熏習不斷〕（0578b06）怎麼樣熏習而使淨法生起不斷？
（0578b07）就是說：因為有真如法，所以能熏習無明；因為熏習的因緣之力，就使妄心厭離生死之苦、樂於求取涅槃。（0578b08）因為這妄心有了厭離與欣求的因緣，它就反過來熏習真如。（0578b09）於是自信自己的本性，知道心是妄動而沒有前面那些境界，修習遠離之法；（0578b10）因為如實知道沒有前境，所以起種種方便的隨順之行，不取、不念。（0578b11）乃至久遠熏習之力成就，無明就滅了。（0578b12）因為無明滅了，心就沒有起；因為沒有起，境界隨之而滅；（0578b13）因為因與緣都滅了，心相全都窮盡——這名為得涅槃，成就自然之業。
〔八·淨法中妄心熏習二種〕（0578b14）妄心的熏習之義有兩種。哪兩種？（0578b15）第一是分別事識熏習：依著諸凡夫與二乘等人，厭離生死之苦，隨其力量所能，漸漸趣向無上之道。（0578b16）第二是意熏習：說的是諸菩薩發心勇猛，迅速趣向涅槃。
〔九·真如熏習二種·自體相熏習〕（0578b18）真如的熏習之義有兩種。哪兩種？第一是自體相熏習，第二是用熏習。
（0578b19）所謂自體相熏習：從無始以來，具有無漏之法，備有不可思議之業，作為境界之性。（0578b21）依著這兩義恆常熏習，因為有力，能使眾生厭離生死之苦、樂求涅槃，自信自身有真如之法，發心修行。
〔十·問：既然人人有真如，何以有信有不信〕（0578b25）問：『若是這樣的義理，一切眾生都有真如，都同樣受熏習，為什麼有人信、有人不信，而且有無量的前後差別？（0578b26）照理都應該同時自知有真如法，勤修方便，一起入涅槃才對。』
〔十一·答：真如本一，而無明差別〕（0578b28）答：『真如本來是一，而無明卻有無量無邊，從本以來自性的差別就有厚薄不同。（0578b29）過於恆河沙數的上煩惱，依著無明而起差別；我見與愛染的煩惱，也依著無明而起差別。（0578c01）像這樣一切煩惱，都依於無明所起，前後有無量的差別——唯有如來能知。
〔十二·木中火性之喻〕（0578c03）而且諸佛之法有因也有緣，因與緣具足了才能成辦。（0578c04）如同木中的火性是火的正因，若沒有人知道、不藉方便而能自己燒起木頭，是沒有這種事的。（0578c06）眾生也是如此：雖然有正因熏習之力，若不值遇諸佛菩薩善知識等作為緣，而能自己斷煩惱入涅槃，是沒有這種事的。（0578c08）若雖有外緣之力，而內在的淨法還沒有熏習之力，也不能究竟地厭離生死之苦、樂求涅槃。（0578c10）若因與緣具足：也就是自己有熏習之力，又為諸佛菩薩等以慈悲願力所護，於是能生起厭苦之心、相信有涅槃、修習善根。（0578c12）因為善根修習成熟，就值遇諸佛菩薩示教利喜，才能進趣，走向涅槃之道。』
〔十三·用熏習：外緣之力〕（0578c15）所謂用熏習，就是眾生的外緣之力。這樣的外緣有無量之義，簡略說有兩種。哪兩種？第一是差別緣，第二是平等緣。
〔十四·差別緣〕（0578c17）所謂差別緣：這個人依著諸佛菩薩等，從最初發意開始求道之時，一直到得佛，其間或見或念；（0578c19）或者現作眷屬父母諸親，或者作給使，或者作知友，或者作怨家，或者起四攝，乃至一切所作無量的行緣——（0578c21）以起大悲熏習之力，能使眾生增長善根，若見若聞都得利益。
（0578c22）這種緣有兩種。哪兩種？第一是近緣，能迅速得度。第二是遠緣，久遠之後得度。（0578c24）這近、遠二緣，分別又各有兩種。哪兩種？第一是增長行緣，第二是受道緣。
〔十五·平等緣〕（0578c26）所謂平等緣：一切諸佛菩薩，都願度脫一切眾生，自然熏習、恆常不捨。（0578c27）因為以同體智力的緣故，隨其所應見聞而現作事業。（0578c28）就是說：眾生依著三昧，才得以平等地見到諸佛。
〔十六·體用熏習分未相應與已相應〕（0578c29）這體與用的熏習，分別又有兩種。哪兩種？
（0579a01）第一是未相應：說的是凡夫、二乘、初發意菩薩等，以意與意識熏習，依著信力而能修行；（0579a02）還沒有得到無分別心與體相應，還沒有得到自在業修行與用相應。
（0579a04）第二是已相應：說的是法身菩薩，得無分別心，與諸佛的智用相應，唯依法力自然修行，熏習真如，滅除無明。
〔十七·染淨熏習之斷與不斷〕（0579a08）再者，染法從無始以來熏習不斷，乃至得佛之後才有斷絕；淨法的熏習則沒有斷絕，直到未來之盡。
（0579a09）這道理怎麼說？因為真如法常常熏習的緣故，妄心就滅、法身顯現，生起用熏習——所以沒有斷絕。
Composed by the Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa; translated by Paramārtha, Tripiṭaka Master of Western India, under the Liang. The Awakening of Faith in the Great Vehicle, “The Perfuming of the Four Dharmas,” from “Again, because there is the meaning of perfuming by four dharmas” to “function-perfuming arises, and therefore there is no cessation.” The bracketed figures at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.
〔1 · The four dharmas are named〕（0578a14）Again, because there is the meaning of perfuming by four dharmas, defiled and pure dharmas arise without interruption. What four?（0578a15）First, the pure dharma, called suchness. Second, all causes of defilement, called ignorance. Third, the deluded mind, called the karmic consciousness. Fourth, the deluded object-realm, namely the six sense-objects.
〔2 · The simile of the garment and the fragrance〕（0578a17）What is meant by perfuming is like a garment in the world: in itself it has no fragrance, but if someone perfumes it with fragrance, it comes to carry that fragrance.（0578a19）So it is here. The pure dharma of suchness originally has no defilement; only because ignorance perfumes it does the mark of defilement appear. The defiled dharma of ignorance originally has no pure activity; only because suchness perfumes it does pure function arise.
〔3 · How perfuming keeps defiled dharmas arising〕（0578a21）How does perfuming cause defiled dharmas to arise without interruption?（0578a22）Because there is ignorance in dependence upon the dharma of suchness; because ignorance, the cause of defilement, is present, it perfumes suchness;（0578a23）because of that perfuming, the deluded mind arises; because the deluded mind is present, it perfumes ignorance.（0578a24）Because it does not understand the dharma of suchness, a thought arises in non-awakening and manifests a deluded object-realm.（0578a25）Because this deluded object-realm is a condition for defiled dharmas, it perfumes the deluded mind, causing it to give rise to thoughts and attachments, create every kind of karma, and undergo every suffering of body and mind.
〔4 · The perfuming of the deluded object-realm has two kinds〕（0578a27）The perfuming of the deluded object-realm has two kinds. Which two? First, the perfuming that increases thought; second, the perfuming that increases grasping.
〔5 · The perfuming of the deluded mind has two kinds〕（0578a29）The perfuming of the deluded mind has two kinds. Which two?（0578b01）First, the root perfuming of the karmic consciousness, which causes arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and all bodhisattvas to undergo the suffering of arising and ceasing. Second, the perfuming that increases the object-discriminating consciousness, which causes ordinary beings to undergo suffering bound by karma.
〔6 · The perfuming of ignorance has two kinds〕（0578b03）The perfuming of ignorance has two kinds. Which two? First, root perfuming, because it brings the karmic consciousness to completion. Second, the perfuming of the views and craving that arise, because it brings the object-discriminating consciousness to completion.
〔7 · How perfuming keeps pure dharmas arising〕（0578b06）How does perfuming cause pure dharmas to arise without interruption?
（0578b07）Because the dharma of suchness is present, it can perfume ignorance; through the power of the causes and conditions of that perfuming, the deluded mind comes to turn away from the suffering of birth and death and delight in seeking nirvāṇa.（0578b08）Because this deluded mind now has the causes and conditions of aversion and seeking, it in turn perfumes suchness.（0578b09）It thereby comes to trust its own nature, knows that the mind moves delusively and that no object-realm exists before it, and cultivates the dharma of separation.（0578b10）Because it knows in accordance with reality that no object-realm exists before it, it gives rise through many kinds of skillful means to practices that accord with suchness, neither grasping nor thinking upon them.（0578b11）When at last the power of perfuming over a very long time is fulfilled, ignorance ceases.（0578b12）Because ignorance ceases, the mind no longer arises; because the mind no longer arises, the object-realm ceases along with it.（0578b13）Because both cause and condition have ceased, the marks of mind are utterly exhausted. This is called attaining nirvāṇa and accomplishing spontaneous activity.
〔8 · Within the pure dharma, the perfuming of the deluded mind has two kinds〕（0578b14）The perfuming of the deluded mind has two kinds. Which two?（0578b15）First, the perfuming of the object-discriminating consciousness: ordinary beings, those of the two vehicles, and others turn away from the suffering of birth and death and, gradually and according to their strength, set out toward the unsurpassed path.（0578b16）Second, the perfuming of mentation: bodhisattvas arouse the mind with vigor and advance swiftly toward nirvāṇa.
〔9 · The perfuming of suchness has two kinds: the perfuming of its own substance and mark〕（0578b18）The perfuming of suchness has two kinds. Which two? First, the perfuming of its own substance and mark; second, function-perfuming.
（0578b19）The perfuming of its own substance and mark means that, from beginningless time, suchness has possessed undefiled dharmas, been complete in inconceivable activity, and served as the nature of an object-realm.（0578b21）By constantly perfuming through these two meanings, and because it has power, it enables sentient beings to turn away from the suffering of birth and death, delight in seeking nirvāṇa, trust that the dharma of suchness is present within themselves, arouse the mind, and practice.
〔10 · Question: if everyone has suchness, why do some believe and others not?〕（0578b25）Question: “If this is the meaning, all sentient beings possess suchness and are perfumed equally. Why, then, do some believe while others do not, with immeasurable differences of earlier and later?（0578b26）By rights, all should know at the same time that they possess the dharma of suchness, diligently cultivate skillful means, and enter nirvāṇa together.”
〔11 · Answer: suchness is originally one, but ignorance differs〕（0578b28）Answer: “Suchness is originally one, but ignorance is immeasurable and boundless; from the beginning, its intrinsic differences have varied in thickness and thinness.（0578b29）Afflictions exceeding the sands of the Ganges arise in their differences in dependence upon ignorance; the afflictions of the view of a self and craving likewise arise in their differences in dependence upon ignorance.（0578c01）All afflictions of this kind arise in dependence upon ignorance and have immeasurable differences of earlier and later—only the Tathāgata can know them.
〔12 · The simile of the fire-nature in wood〕（0578c03）“Moreover, the dharma of the buddhas has both cause and condition; only when cause and condition are complete can it be accomplished.（0578c04）The fire-nature within wood is the direct cause of fire, but if no one knows this and no skillful means are applied, there is no possibility of the wood igniting itself.（0578c06）So it is with sentient beings. Although they possess the power of perfuming as the direct cause, if they do not encounter buddhas, bodhisattvas, spiritual friends, and others to serve as conditions, there is no possibility of their severing the afflictions and entering nirvāṇa by themselves.（0578c08）Even if the power of external conditions is present, if the pure dharma within has not yet acquired the power of perfuming, they still cannot ultimately turn away from the suffering of birth and death and delight in seeking nirvāṇa.（0578c10）When cause and condition are complete—that is, when they possess the power of perfuming within and are protected by the compassionate vows of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and others—they can give rise to a mind that turns away from suffering, believe that there is nirvāṇa, and cultivate wholesome roots.（0578c12）When the cultivation of wholesome roots has matured, they encounter buddhas and bodhisattvas who show, teach, benefit, and gladden them; only then can they advance and set out upon the path to nirvāṇa.”
〔13 · Function-perfuming: the power of external conditions〕（0578c15）Function-perfuming means the power of external conditions acting upon sentient beings. Such external conditions have immeasurable meanings, but in brief there are two kinds. Which two? First, differentiated conditions; second, equal conditions.
〔14 · Differentiated conditions〕（0578c17）Differentiated conditions means that, from the time a person first arouses the aspiration and begins to seek the path until that person attains buddhahood, the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and others on whom that person depends may be seen or remembered;（0578c19）they may manifest as family members, parents, relatives, attendants, close friends, or enemies; they may employ the four means of gathering in, or undertake immeasurable conditions through all kinds of conduct.（0578c21）Through the power of perfuming that gives rise to great compassion, they can cause sentient beings to increase their wholesome roots, so that seeing or hearing them brings benefit.
（0578c22）These conditions have two kinds. Which two? First, the near condition, which brings deliverance swiftly. Second, the distant condition, which brings deliverance only after a long time.（0578c24）These near and distant conditions each have two further kinds. Which two? First, the condition that increases practice; second, the condition through which one receives the path.
〔15 · Equal conditions〕（0578c26）Equal conditions means that all buddhas and bodhisattvas vow to deliver all sentient beings, perfuming them spontaneously and never abandoning them.（0578c27）Through the power of wisdom of shared substance, they manifest deeds according to what each being should see or hear.（0578c28）That is to say, only through samādhi are sentient beings able to see the buddhas equally.
〔16 · The perfuming of substance and function divides into not yet corresponding and already corresponding〕（0578c29）The perfuming of substance and function each has two kinds. Which two?
（0579a01）First, not yet corresponding: ordinary beings, those of the two vehicles, bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the aspiration, and others perfume through mentation and consciousness and are able to practice by relying on the power of faith.（0579a02）They have not yet attained the nondiscriminating mind that corresponds to substance, nor have they attained the cultivation of freely functioning activity that corresponds to function.
（0579a04）Second, already corresponding: bodhisattvas of the dharma-body attain the nondiscriminating mind and correspond to the wisdom-function of the buddhas. Relying solely upon the power of the dharma, they practice spontaneously, perfume suchness, and extinguish ignorance.
〔17 · Where the perfuming of defilement and purity ends—and does not end〕（0579a08）Again, defiled dharmas have perfumed without interruption from beginningless time, but their perfuming ceases once buddhahood is attained; the perfuming of the pure dharma never ceases, continuing through the end of the future.
（0579a09）Why is this so? Because the dharma of suchness constantly perfumes, the deluded mind ceases and the dharma-body becomes manifest; function-perfuming then arises, and therefore there is no cessation.
前兩段講迷：迷的長相、迷的次第。這一段講迷怎麼加深，以及怎麼倒過來。
而它給出的機制，不是意志力，是熏習。
這是全論最長的一段，也是最實用的一段。因為它回答了一個所有修行的人遲早會問的問題：我明明知道要放下，為什麼放不下？
還有一件事可以說明這一段的分量：此論另有一個後出的譯本，「熏習」二字在那個本子裡出現二十二次，而在此本出現五十三次——二本相差最大的一段，正是這一段。同一部論，此本把熏習講得特別細；下面那些一分再分的名目，就是那個「細」的樣子。
四樣東西，兩兩相熏
「有四種法熏習義故，染法、淨法起不斷絕。」
四樣：
- 淨法——名為真如。
- 一切染因——名為無明。
- 妄心——名為業識。
- 妄境界——就是六塵。
一淨三染。而這四樣不是靜靜擺著，它們互相熏。染的熏，淨法就現出染相；淨的熏，染法就現出淨用。
那件本來沒有香的衣服
論主用了一個極家常的譬：
「如世間衣服實無於香，若人以香而熏習故則有香氣。」
衣服本身沒有香。但把它放在香旁邊久了，它就有香氣了。而那個香氣，既不是衣服本有的，也不是憑空來的——是熏出來的。
然後正反兩用：
- 「真如淨法實無於染，但以無明而熏習故則有染相。」
- 「無明染法實無淨業，但以真如而熏習故則有淨用。」
這個譬的力量在於它的日常性。熏習不是一件神秘的事——人每天都在被熏，也每天都在熏別人。看什麼、聽什麼、和誰在一起、心裡反覆想什麼——衣服就在那裡掛著。
而且熏習有一個特點：它不需要誰同意。衣服不會抗議。這既是壞消息也是好消息——壞消息是染法就這樣一天天深下去，好消息是淨法也一樣如此。
染法怎麼熏得不斷：一個閉環
論主先說染的這一邊，說得非常細，是一個環：
- 「以依真如法故有於無明」——連無明也是依著真如才有的（前一段的「依覺故迷」）。
- 「以有無明染法因故即熏習真如」——無明反過來熏真如。
- 「以熏習故則有妄心」——熏出妄心。
- 「以有妄心即熏習無明」——妄心又去熏無明。
- 「不了真如法故，不覺念起現妄境界」——現出境界。
- 「以有妄境界染法緣故，即熏習妄心」——境界又回頭熏妄心。
- 「令其念著造種種業，受於一切身心等苦」——念著、造業、受苦。
看清楚這個環：無明熏真如 → 生妄心 → 妄心熏無明 → 現境界 → 境界熏妄心 → 造業受苦。 每一環都在餵下一環，而且首尾相接。
這就是『為什麼放不下』的答案：不是不夠努力，是這個環自己在轉，而且轉了很久。
論主接著把三種熏習各分二種，一項也不含糊：
妄境界熏習二種——「一者、增長念熏習，二者、增長取熏習。」境界熏人，一是讓念頭變多，二是讓抓取變強。念與取，是境界進來的兩道門。
妄心熏習二種（染的這邊）——「一者業識根本熏習，能受阿羅漢、辟支佛、一切菩薩生滅苦故。二者、增長分別事識熏習，能受凡夫業繫苦故。」
這裡有一句話值得停：連阿羅漢、辟支佛、菩薩也在受「生滅苦」。那是離了業繫苦，而未離業識根本熏習。苦有兩層，粗的那層先離，細的那層還在。
無明熏習二種——「一者、根本熏習，以能成就業識義故。二者、所起見愛熏習，以能成就分別事識義故。」根本的那個熏成業識，所起的見與愛熏成分別事識。
三組六種，各歸其位：境界管念與取，妄心管兩層苦，無明管兩層識。
淨法怎麼熏得不斷：同一個環，倒過來轉
「云何熏習起淨法不斷？」
論主的答覆結構與前面完全對稱，這一點本身就是教法：淨法用的是同一套機制。
- 「以有真如法故能熏習無明」——真如去熏無明。
- 「以熏習因緣力故，則令妄心厭生死苦、樂求涅槃」——熏出厭苦欣涅槃之心。這一句要留意：厭苦與欣求，本身就是被熏出來的，不是自己想出來的。
- 「以此妄心有厭求因緣故，即熏習真如」——這個妄心又回頭熏真如。
- 「自信己性，知心妄動無前境界，修遠離法」——於是自信本性、知道心是妄動、沒有前境，修遠離之法。
- 「以如實知無前境界故，種種方便起隨順行，不取不念」——起隨順之行，不取、不念。
- 「乃至久遠熏習力故，無明則滅」——久遠熏習之力，無明才滅。
- 「以無明滅故心無有起」…「以因緣俱滅故心相皆盡，名得涅槃成自然業」。
第六步那三個字最要緊：「乃至久遠」。 論主沒有承諾快。熏習之所以是熏習，正因為它慢——衣服的香也不是一天熏成的。
淨法這邊的妄心熏習也分兩種：「一者、分別事識熏習，依諸凡夫二乘人等，厭生死苦，隨力所能，以漸趣向無上道故。二者、意熏習，謂諸菩薩發心勇猛速趣涅槃故。」
——凡夫二乘用的是分別事識，「隨力所能」、「以漸」；菩薩用的是意，「發心勇猛」、「速趣」。兩條路都在，只是快慢不同。論主沒有要求人一開始就勇猛。
真如熏習：從裡面來的那一半
真如的熏習分兩種：「一者、自體相熏習，二者、用熏習。」
自體相熏習是從裡面來的：「從無始世來，具無漏法，備有不思議業，作境界之性。依此二義恒常熏習，以有力故，能令眾生厭生死苦、樂求涅槃，自信己身有真如法，發心修行。」
注意「恒常熏習」四個字：它從無始以來一直在熏，沒有停過。此刻你會讀這樣一段文字、心裡泛起一點想弄明白的意思——照這部論的說法，那不是偶然，是自體相熏習在起作用。
那為什麼不是人人都信
這時候一個很尖銳的問題來了，而且是論主自己替讀者問的：
「若如是義者，一切眾生悉有真如，等皆熏習，云何有信、無信，無量前後差別？皆應一時自知有真如法，勤修方便等入涅槃。」
——既然人人都有真如、都在被熏，那應該所有人同時開悟才對，為什麼有的信有的不信？
論主的答覆分兩層。
第一層：真如是一，無明不是一。
「真如本一，而有無量無邊無明，從本已來自性差別厚薄不同故。」
那些「過恒沙等上煩惱」依無明而起差別，「我見愛染煩惱」也依無明而起差別。所以人與人的不同，不在真如那一邊，在障礙那一邊。這是一個很體貼的答覆：走得比別人慢，不是真如比別人少。
第二層：因與緣要具足。
「又諸佛法有因有緣，因緣具足乃得成辦。」
然後是本段第二個譬——木中火性：
「如木中火性是火正因，若無人知，不假方便能自燒木，無有是處。」
木頭裡本來就有火性，這是火的正因。但若沒有人知道、不藉方便，木頭自己不會燒起來。
合到人身上：「眾生亦爾，雖有正因熏習之力，若不值遇諸佛菩薩善知識等以之為緣，能自斷煩惱入涅槃者，則無是處。」
——光有內因不夠，還要有外緣。
而論主把反面也說了：「若雖有外緣之力，而內淨法未有熏習力者，亦不能究竟厭生死苦、樂求涅槃。」——光有外緣也不夠。
兩邊都要。 「若因緣具足者，所謂自有熏習之力，又為諸佛菩薩等慈悲願護故，能起厭苦之心，信有涅槃，修習善根。以修善根成熟故，則值諸佛菩薩示教利喜，乃能進趣，向涅槃道。」
這一段是這部論對『為什麼要親近善知識』給出的理由，而且理由是機制性的，不是勸勉性的：木頭自己燒不起來，不是木頭的錯，是它需要一個緣。
用熏習：外面來的那一半
「用熏習者，即是眾生外緣之力。」外緣簡略說有兩種。
差別緣——這是最動人的一段。諸佛菩薩「從初發意始求道時乃至得佛，於中若見若念」，會化現種種身分：「或為眷屬父母諸親，或為給使，或為知友，或為怨家，或起四攝，乃至一切所作無量行緣」
眷屬、父母、僕役、朋友——乃至怨家。
論主把「怨家」放進這張名單裡，這一著極重。生命裡那個最難相處的人，也可能正在做這件事。而其效果是：「以起大悲熏習之力，能令眾生增長善根，若見若聞得利益故。」
差別緣還分近緣（「速得度故」）與遠緣（「久遠得度故」），近遠二緣又各分增長行緣與受道緣——一個緣要幫人到什麼程度、多快幫到，都不一樣。
平等緣——「一切諸佛菩薩，皆願度脫一切眾生，自然熏習恒常不捨。以同體智力故，隨應見聞而現作業。」
差別緣是對這一個人的、有形狀的；平等緣是對一切眾生的、自然而恆常的。人怎麼接得上這一種？「所謂眾生依於三昧，乃得平等見諸佛故。」——依三昧才見得到。 所以這部論後面要講止觀。
未相應與已相應：現在站在哪一邊
體與用的熏習，又分兩種——這一分，是給讀的人定位的：
未相應——「謂凡夫、二乘、初發意菩薩等，以意、意識熏習，依信力故而能修行；未得無分別心與體相應故，未得自在業修行與用相應故。」
還沒相應的人，靠什麼修行？「依信力故」。 這四個字是給絕大多數讀者的：在還沒有無分別心之前，能依靠的就是信。有一種讀法把此中分得更細：凡小是以意識熏，菩薩是以五意熏——同在未相應，深淺仍有別。
已相應——「謂法身菩薩得無分別心，與諸佛智用相應，唯依法力自然修行，熏習真如，滅無明故。」
已相應的人「唯依法力自然修行」——不再費力。
兩相對照，這一分的用意就清楚了：費力，是未相應之時的常態，不是修得不好。 到了自然的那一天，是熏習夠了，不是忽然變成另一個人。
最後一句：染會斷，淨不會
「染法從無始已來熏習不斷，乃至得佛後則有斷。淨法熏習則無有斷，盡於未來。」
染法的熏習有終點——成佛之後就斷了。淨法的熏習沒有終點——「盡於未來」。
為什麼？「以真如法常熏習故，妄心則滅、法身顯現，起用熏習，故無有斷。」
法身顯現之後，它會起「用熏習」——也就是回頭去做別人的外緣。所以淨法的熏習不會停：受過熏的人，成了熏別人的那個香。
這一段從一件衣服開始，到這裡結束。而對此刻的人，它留下的是一句很輕、也很硬的話：你不是在對抗自己，你是在換一個熏習的方向。
承衍——注家如何讀這一段
上來是這一段自身的義。此下另以注家之眼旁照——注非論，只是同一樁事，換一個位置來看。
法藏《大乘起信論義記》於此段逐句牒釋。衣香之喻與木中火性之喻，他都完整牒出論文而後隨文解釋——注家在譬喻處往往不多說，因為譬本身已經在說話。
釋差別緣時他點出其所對之機：「為於凡小事識熏習而作於緣。謂現形不同故云也。亦可與差別機為緣故也。」——差別緣之所以差別，一是因為所現之形不同，二是因為所對之機不同。
釋未相應時他把文分成三層：「初約位舉人。次辨行劣。後明未相應。」——先舉是哪些人，再說其行之劣，最後才說何以未相應。他又補一句分別：「行中凡小意識熏。菩薩五意」——同在未相應之列，凡夫二乘以意識熏，初發意菩薩以五意熏，深淺不同。
元曉《起信論疏》於本段不重錄論文，是隨科而釋；兩本此段亦無相違之判可並錄。
而論自己那件衣服還掛在那裡——它不需要注家，也不需要階位。
The preceding two units spoke of delusion: what delusion looks like, and the sequence in which it unfolds. This unit asks how delusion deepens—and how the movement can be reversed.
The mechanism it gives is not willpower. It is perfuming.
This is the longest unit in the whole treatise, and also the most immediately practical, because it answers a question that sooner or later confronts everyone who practices: I know perfectly well that I should let go. Why can I not let go?
One fact indicates how much weight this recension places on the question. In a later recension of the same treatise, the word perfuming appears twenty-two times; here it appears fifty-three times. The greatest difference between the two recensions lies in this very passage. This recension explains perfuming in exceptional detail, and the divisions within divisions below are the form that detail takes.
Four Things, Perfuming One Another in Pairs
“Because there is the meaning of perfuming by four dharmas, defiled and pure dharmas arise without interruption.”
There are four:
- The pure dharma—called suchness.
- All causes of defilement—called ignorance.
- The deluded mind—called the karmic consciousness.
- The deluded object-realm—the six sense-objects.
One is pure and three are defiled. These four do not remain motionless beside one another; they perfume one another. When the defiled side perfumes, the mark of defilement appears in the pure dharma. When the pure side perfumes, pure function appears in what is defiled.
A Garment Acquires What It Did Not Carry
The author uses an utterly ordinary simile:
“A garment in the world has no fragrance in itself, but if someone perfumes it with fragrance, it comes to carry that fragrance.”
The crucial thing is the transfer. What the garment comes to carry was neither inherent in the cloth nor produced out of nothing: it was perfumed into it.
The simile is then turned both ways:
- “The pure dharma of suchness in itself has no defilement; only because ignorance perfumes it does the mark of defilement arise.”
- “The defiled dharma of ignorance in itself has no pure activity; only because suchness perfumes it does pure function arise.”
The force of the simile lies in its ordinariness. Perfuming is not mysterious. Every day a person is perfumed and perfumes others in turn—by what is seen and heard, by the company one keeps, by what the mind rehearses again and again. The garment simply hangs there.
Perfuming also has a particular feature: it does not wait for consent. A garment does not object. That is bad news and good news at once. Defilement deepens in just this gradual fashion; purity works in precisely the same way.
How Defilement Continues: A Closed Loop
The author begins with the defiled side and traces it with extraordinary care as a loop:
- “Because there is ignorance in dependence upon the dharma of suchness”—the loop does not begin outside suchness; even ignorance depends upon it, as the preceding unit said of delusion depending on awakening.
- “Because ignorance, the cause of defilement, is present, it perfumes suchness”—dependence turns back as influence.
- “Because of that perfuming, the deluded mind arises”—the first result of that influence appears.
- “Because the deluded mind is present, it perfumes ignorance”—the result now feeds its own cause.
- “Because it does not understand the dharma of suchness, a thought arises in non-awakening and manifests a deluded object-realm”—the loop acquires an apparent world.
- “Because the deluded object-realm is a condition for defiled dharmas, it perfumes the deluded mind”—what has appeared returns as fresh influence upon the mind.
- “It causes the mind to give rise to thoughts and attachments, create every kind of karma, and undergo every suffering of body and mind”—the loop reaches conduct and consequence.
Seen whole, it runs like this: ignorance perfumes suchness → the deluded mind arises → the deluded mind perfumes ignorance → an object-realm appears → the object-realm perfumes the deluded mind → karma is made and suffering undergone. Each link feeds the next, and the end joins the beginning.
This is the answer to “Why can I not let go?” It is not simply that one has failed to try hard enough. The loop has been turning by itself, and it has been turning for a long time.
The author next divides each of three kinds of perfuming into two, leaving none of them vague.
The perfuming of the deluded object-realm has two kinds: “first, the perfuming that increases thought; second, the perfuming that increases grasping.” The object-realm enters by two doors: it multiplies thought and strengthens appropriation.
The perfuming of the deluded mind has two kinds on the defiled side: “first, the root perfuming of the karmic consciousness, which causes arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and all bodhisattvas to undergo the suffering of arising and ceasing; second, the perfuming that increases the object-discriminating consciousness, which causes ordinary beings to undergo suffering bound by karma.”
One clause deserves a pause: even arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas still undergo the “suffering of arising and ceasing.” They have left suffering bound by karma without yet leaving the root perfuming of the karmic consciousness. Suffering has two levels. The coarse level falls away first; the subtle one remains.
The perfuming of ignorance has two kinds: “first, root perfuming, because it brings the karmic consciousness to completion; second, the perfuming of the views and craving that arise, because it brings the object-discriminating consciousness to completion.” The root level matures as the karmic consciousness; the views and craving that arise mature as the object-discriminating consciousness.
Three pairs, each in its place: the object-realm governs thought and grasping; the deluded mind governs two levels of suffering; ignorance governs two levels of consciousness.
How Purity Continues: The Same Loop Turning Back
“How does perfuming cause pure dharmas to arise without interruption?”
The structure of the answer exactly mirrors the preceding one. That symmetry is itself part of the teaching: purity uses the same mechanism.
- “Because the dharma of suchness is present, it can perfume ignorance”—the movement begins from within the same field.
- “Through the power of the causes and conditions of that perfuming, the deluded mind comes to turn away from the suffering of birth and death and delight in seeking nirvāṇa”—even aversion to suffering and longing for nirvāṇa are themselves perfumed into being, not invented by an isolated will.
- “Because this deluded mind now has the causes and conditions of aversion and seeking, it in turn perfumes suchness”—the response feeds back toward its source.
- “It comes to trust its own nature, knows that the mind moves delusively and that no object-realm exists before it, and cultivates the dharma of separation”—confidence changes how appearance is met.
- “Because it knows in accordance with reality that no object-realm exists before it, it gives rise through many kinds of skillful means to practices that accord with suchness, neither grasping nor thinking upon them”—knowledge becomes conduct without appropriation.
- “When at last the power of perfuming over a very long time is fulfilled, ignorance ceases”—the text refuses a promise of instant transformation.
- “Because ignorance ceases, the mind no longer arises” until, “because both cause and condition have ceased, the marks of mind are utterly exhausted; this is called attaining nirvāṇa and accomplishing spontaneous activity”—when the loop loses both supports, it ends.
The pivotal words in the sixth step are “over a very long time.” The author promises no speed. Perfuming is perfuming precisely because it is gradual; a garment does not acquire its fragrance in a day.
On the pure side, the perfuming of the deluded mind also has two kinds: “first, the perfuming of the object-discriminating consciousness: ordinary beings, those of the two vehicles, and others turn away from the suffering of birth and death and, gradually and according to their strength, set out toward the unsurpassed path; second, the perfuming of mentation: bodhisattvas arouse the mind with vigor and advance swiftly toward nirvāṇa.”
Ordinary beings and those of the two vehicles work through the object-discriminating consciousness, according to their strength and gradually. Bodhisattvas work through mentation, arousing the mind vigorously and advancing swiftly. Both roads are present, but their pace differs. The treatise does not demand vigor at the outset from everyone alike.
The Perfuming of Suchness Comes from Within
The perfuming of suchness has two kinds: “first, the perfuming of its own substance and mark; second, function-perfuming.”
The perfuming of its own substance and mark comes from within: “from beginningless time, it has possessed undefiled dharmas, been complete in inconceivable activity, and served as the nature of an object-realm. By constantly perfuming through these two meanings, and because it has power, it enables sentient beings to turn away from the suffering of birth and death, delight in seeking nirvāṇa, trust that the dharma of suchness is present within themselves, arouse the mind, and practice.”
Notice the words constantly perfuming. It has been at work without interruption from beginningless time. If, at this moment, a person reads a passage like this and feels even the slightest wish to understand, then in the terms of this treatise that is not an accident: the perfuming of substance and mark is already at work.
Why, Then, Does Not Everyone Believe?
At this point a sharp question arrives, and the author asks it on the reader’s behalf:
“If this is the meaning, all sentient beings possess suchness and are perfumed equally. Why, then, do some believe while others do not, with immeasurable differences of earlier and later? By rights, all should know at the same time that they possess the dharma of suchness, diligently cultivate skillful means, and enter nirvāṇa together.”
The difficulty is not whether suchness is universal, but why its effects appear at immeasurably different times. The answer has two levels.
First: suchness is one; ignorance is not.
“Suchness is originally one, but ignorance is immeasurable and boundless; from the beginning, its intrinsic differences have varied in thickness and thinness.”
Afflictions exceeding the sands of the Ganges differ in dependence upon ignorance, and the afflictions of self-view and craving differ in dependence upon ignorance as well. Human difference therefore lies not on the side of suchness, but on the side of obstruction. This is a gentle answer: moving more slowly than someone else does not mean having less suchness.
Second: cause and condition must both be complete.
“The dharma of the buddhas has both cause and condition; only when cause and condition are complete can it be accomplished.”
Then comes the passage’s second simile—the fire-nature in wood:
“The fire-nature within wood is the direct cause of fire, but if no one knows this and no skillful means are applied, there is no possibility of the wood igniting itself.”
The wood possesses what can become fire, but possession alone does not make the transition. Applied to people: “So it is with sentient beings. Although they possess the power of perfuming as the direct cause, if they do not encounter buddhas, bodhisattvas, spiritual friends, and others to serve as conditions, there is no possibility of their severing the afflictions and entering nirvāṇa by themselves.”
An inner cause alone is not enough; an external condition is also needed.
The author then states the reverse: “Even if the power of external conditions is present, if the pure dharma within has not yet acquired the power of perfuming, they still cannot ultimately turn away from the suffering of birth and death and delight in seeking nirvāṇa.” External conditions alone are not enough either.
Both sides are required. “When cause and condition are complete—that is, when they possess the power of perfuming within and are protected by the compassionate vows of the buddhas, bodhisattvas, and others—they can give rise to a mind that turns away from suffering, believe that there is nirvāṇa, and cultivate wholesome roots. When the cultivation of wholesome roots has matured, they encounter buddhas and bodhisattvas who show, teach, benefit, and gladden them; only then can they advance and set out upon the path to nirvāṇa.”
This is the treatise’s reason for drawing near spiritual friends, and it is mechanical rather than merely hortatory: the wood does not fail by needing a condition; that is simply how ignition occurs.
Function-Perfuming Comes from Without
“Function-perfuming means the power of external conditions acting upon sentient beings.” Those conditions have two kinds in brief.
Differentiated conditions form the most affecting passage here. From the time a person first arouses the aspiration and begins to seek the path until buddhahood is attained, buddhas and bodhisattvas may manifest in many roles: “as family members, parents, relatives, attendants, close friends, or enemies; they may employ the four means of gathering in, or undertake immeasurable conditions through all kinds of conduct.”
The word enemy changes how the entire list is heard: a beneficial condition need not arrive in a form one welcomes.
The inclusion of an enemy carries real weight. The hardest person in one’s life may also be serving as precisely such a condition. Its effect is that “through the power of perfuming that gives rise to great compassion, they can cause sentient beings to increase their wholesome roots, so that seeing or hearing them brings benefit.”
Differentiated conditions divide further into near conditions, which bring deliverance swiftly, and distant conditions, which bring it after a long time. Each in turn divides into a condition that increases practice and a condition through which one receives the path. Conditions differ both in how far they help a person and in how quickly their help bears fruit.
Equal conditions are another mode: “all buddhas and bodhisattvas vow to deliver all sentient beings, perfuming them spontaneously and never abandoning them. Through the power of wisdom of shared substance, they manifest deeds according to what each being should see or hear.”
Differentiated conditions have a form fitted to this particular person; equal conditions extend naturally and constantly to all sentient beings. How does a person meet the latter? “Only through samādhi are sentient beings able to see the buddhas equally.” Samādhi makes that meeting possible. This is why the treatise later turns to calming and contemplation.
Before and After Correspondence
The perfuming of substance and function divides once more into two. This division locates the reader.
Not yet corresponding means “ordinary beings, those of the two vehicles, bodhisattvas who have newly aroused the aspiration, and others perfume through mentation and consciousness and are able to practice by relying on the power of faith. They have not yet attained the nondiscriminating mind that corresponds to substance, nor have they attained the cultivation of freely functioning activity that corresponds to function.”
What sustains practice before correspondence? The power of faith. Those words address most readers directly: before the nondiscriminating mind has been attained, faith is what can be relied upon. One traditional reading distinguishes the levels still further: ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles perfume through consciousness, while bodhisattvas perfume through the five mentations. Even within noncorrespondence there are degrees of depth.
Already corresponding means “bodhisattvas of the dharma-body attain the nondiscriminating mind and correspond to the wisdom-function of the buddhas. Relying solely upon the power of the dharma, they practice spontaneously, perfume suchness, and extinguish ignorance.”
For those already corresponding, practice is spontaneous rather than forced.
Placed side by side, the point of the distinction becomes clear: effort is normal before correspondence; it is not evidence that practice has gone badly. When practice becomes spontaneous, perfuming has matured—the practitioner has not suddenly become a different person.
Defilement Ends; Purity Does Not
“Defiled dharmas have perfumed without interruption from beginningless time, but their perfuming ceases once buddhahood is attained; the perfuming of the pure dharma never ceases, continuing through the end of the future.”
The asymmetry is decisive: purification does not merely terminate the defiled current; it opens an activity whose horizon is the future itself.
Why? “Because the dharma of suchness constantly perfumes, the deluded mind ceases and the dharma-body becomes manifest; function-perfuming then arises, and therefore there is no cessation.”
Once the dharma-body becomes manifest, function-perfuming begins: one turns back to become an external condition for others. Pure perfuming does not stop because the garment once perfumed becomes the fragrance that perfumes another.
The passage began with a garment and closes here. For the person reading now, it leaves a sentence both gentle and unyielding: you are not fighting yourself; you are changing the direction of perfuming.
Carrying Forward—How the Commentators Read This Passage
The foregoing is the sense of this passage in itself. What follows lets the commentators’ eyes shine on it from the side—a commentary is not the treatise, only the same matter seen from another position.
Fazang’s Record of the Meaning of the Awakening of Faith in the Great Vehicle takes up and explains the passage sentence by sentence. It reproduces both the simile of garment and fragrance and the simile of the fire-nature in wood in full before explaining them in sequence. Commentators often need say little where the simile itself is already speaking.
In explaining differentiated conditions, Fazang identifies those for whom they work: “They serve as conditions for the perfuming of the object-consciousness among ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles. They are so called because the forms manifested differ. It may also mean that they serve as conditions for differing capacities.” Differentiated conditions are thus differentiated in two respects: the forms manifested differ, and the capacities addressed differ.
In explaining those not yet corresponding, he divides the passage into three: “first it names the persons according to their stages; next it distinguishes the lesser conduct; last it explains why they have not yet corresponded.” He then adds a distinction: “Within the conduct, ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles perfume through consciousness; bodhisattvas, through the five mentations.” Though both remain among those not yet corresponding, the depth of their perfuming differs.
Wonhyo’s Commentary on the Awakening of Faith does not recopy the treatise in this passage but explains it according to its outline. Nor do the two commentaries offer conflicting judgments here for side-by-side record.
The treatise’s garment itself still hangs where it was—needing neither a commentator nor a stage.
考據Apparatus
一、科判定位
本單元為全論十六單元之第八，範圍〔T32 0578a14–0579a11〕，一千三百四十一字——本帙最長之單元。所說為四法熏習：四法之標・衣香之喻・染法熏習（境界／妄心／無明各二種）・淨法熏習・妄心熏習二種・真如熏習二種（自體相／用）・問答（木中火性）・差別緣與平等緣・未相應與已相應・染淨斷不斷。碑界二端皆論文自身之「復次」。
法藏《大乘起信論義記》於此段逐句牒釋，其所牒之句凡多處，本目所引者見目四。
二、異譯對勘
實叉難陀本此段之熏習分目與本段不盡同形；本段之名不得逕搜彼本。二本此段之逐段對勘未備，誌之。
三、經論宗依
本段無逐字引經之句（已逐句查本單元）。「木中火性」〔0578c04〕為論文自設之譬，非引經之語。
四、本段釋要
衣香之喻——《義記》牒論文原句：「熏習義者如世間衣服實無於香若人以香而熏習故則有香氣此亦如是真如淨法實無於染但以無明而熏習故則有染相無明染法實無淨業但以真如而熏習故則有淨」〔T44n1846 0270b04〕，隨文而釋。
木中火性之喻——《義記》牒：「如木中火性是火正因若無人知不假方便能自燒木無有是處眾生亦爾雖有正因熏習之力若不遇諸佛菩薩善知識等以之為緣能自斷煩惱入涅槃者則無是處」〔T44n1846 0272a25〕。「正因」與「緣」之分，即本段問答之答。
差別緣之釋——《義記》：「列中言差別緣者。為於凡小事識熏習而作於緣。謂現形不同故云也。亦可與差別機為緣故也。」〔T44n1846 0272b19〕
未相應之釋——《義記》：「二釋中亦二。先明未相應中三。初約位舉人。次辨行劣。後明未相應。行中凡小意識熏。菩薩五意」〔T44n1846 0273a07〕——即未相應之三層：舉人・辨行・明其未相應；而凡小以意識熏、菩薩以五意熏，二者又別。
五、諸家異釋（分欄並錄）
| 鏡 | 逐字 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 法藏《義記》（唐·釋差別緣） | 「為於凡小事識熏習而作於緣。謂現形不同故云也。」 | 〔T44n1846 0272b19〕 |
| 法藏《義記》（唐·釋未相應） | 「行中凡小意識熏。菩薩五意」 | 〔T44n1846 0273a07〕 |
元曉《疏》為科釋體，本段不重錄論文；本段無二家相違之判可並錄——已查 T44n1846、T44n1844 兩本。
六、術語
- 熏習〔0578a14〕：本論全帙五十三見，其中本單元獨佔多數；實叉難陀本全帙二十二見——二本詳略之差以此段為最。
- 四法〔0578a15〕：淨法（真如）・染因（無明）・妄心（業識）・妄境界（六塵）。論文自標「有四種法熏習義故」，『四法熏習』為其省稱。
- 增長念熏習・增長取熏習〔0578a28〕：妄境界熏習之二種。
- 業識根本熏習・增長分別事識熏習〔0578b01〕：妄心熏習（染）之二種。
- 根本熏習・所起見愛熏習〔0578b03〕：無明熏習之二種。
- 分別事識熏習・意熏習〔0578b15〕：妄心熏習（淨）之二種。與染法段之「妄心熏習」同名而異目，須分別其所屬。
- 自體相熏習・用熏習〔0578b18〕：真如熏習之二種。
- 差別緣・平等緣〔0578c16〕；近緣・遠緣〔0578c22〕；增長行緣・受道緣〔0578c25〕。
- 未相應・已相應〔0579a01〕。
七、譬喻·修辭
本單元用譬二處，皆論文自有，且皆為本論最常被徵引之譬：
- 衣與香〔0578a17〕：「如世間衣服實無於香，若人以香而熏習故則有香氣。」——喻熏習之義：本無而可有。此譬正反兩用：無明熏真如則有染相，真如熏無明則有淨用。
- 木中火性〔0578c04〕：「如木中火性是火正因，若無人知，不假方便能自燒木，無有是處。」——喻正因雖具，仍待外緣。此譬為本段問答之答，亦是本論『內因外緣俱須』之立處。
不為本段另造譬喻。
八、徵引承衍
- 論內之前後相繫：本段承前單元「依因、依緣」之判而廣說；「業識」「分別事識」「五意」諸名皆前單元所立，此處用之而不重釋——讀本段須先通前單元。「用熏習」之外緣說，與覺體四鏡之第四「緣熏習鏡」為同一義之兩處安置。
- 本叢書之內：熏習一義與唯識一系之種子熏習說多有可對讀處，然名相體系各出其書；各繫其書，不相混計。
九、校本定位
本單元域〔0578a14–0579a11〕之異讀十四處——本帙異讀最密之單元，並錄不判：
| 錨 | 大正作 | 他本作 |
|---|---|---|
| 〔0578a16〕 | 名 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578a24〕 | 了 | 即 |
| 〔0578a28〕 | 則 | 增・增 |
| 〔0578a29〕 | 則 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b01〕 | 為 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b07〕 | 有 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b28〕 | 有 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b29〕 | 過恒沙 | 有過恒河沙・過恒河沙 |
| 〔0578c07〕 | 值 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578c08〕 | 無 | 無有 |
| 〔0578c13〕 | 故 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578c14〕 | 菩 | 善 |
| 〔0579a03〕 | 能 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0579a03〕 | 心 | 心無 |
〔0578b29〕「過恒沙」他本作「過恒河沙」「有過恒河沙」，於煩惱數量之語相關；〔0578c14〕「菩」他本作「善」，關涉「諸佛菩薩」與「善知識」之別。二處並錄不判。
本單元域內：缺字標記 0、私用區字 0、夾註 0。
Placement of the passage as a whole. This unit is the eighth of the sixteen units of the whole treatise, its range 〔T32 0578a14–0579a11〕, one thousand three hundred and forty-one characters—the longest unit in this edition. It treats the perfuming of the four dharmas: the initial listing; the simile of garment and fragrance; the perfuming of defiled dharmas (the object-realm, the deluded mind, and ignorance, each in two kinds); the perfuming of pure dharmas; two kinds of perfuming by the deluded mind; two kinds of perfuming by suchness (its own substance and mark, and function); the question and answer illustrated by the fire-nature in wood; differentiated and equal conditions; not yet corresponding and already corresponding; and the cessation or noncessation of defiled and pure perfuming. Both boundaries are marked by the treatise’s own “again.”
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
Fazang’s Record of the Meaning of the Awakening of Faith in the Great Vehicle takes up and explains this passage sentence by sentence. The many passages it quotes from the treatise are represented under IV below.
II. Cross-Recension Collation
The divisions of perfuming in Śikṣānanda’s recension do not everywhere take the same form as those in this passage; the names used here may not simply be searched for in that recension. A paragraph-by-paragraph collation of the two recensions has not been prepared for this passage; this is recorded as such.
III. Scriptural and Treatise Basis
This passage contains no verbatim scriptural citation (every sentence of the unit has been checked). The “fire-nature in wood” 〔0578c04〕 is a simile established by the treatise itself, not language quoted from a scripture.
IV. Exegesis of the Passage (the word-by-word mirror, phrase by phrase)
The simile of garment and fragrance. The Record of the Meaning takes up the treatise’s own words: 「熏習義者如世間衣服實無於香若人以香而熏習故則有香氣此亦如是真如淨法實無於染但以無明而熏習故則有染相無明染法實無淨業但以真如而熏習故則有淨」—“The meaning of perfuming is like a garment in the world: in itself it has no fragrance, but if someone perfumes it with fragrance, it comes to carry that fragrance. So it is here. The pure dharma of suchness in itself has no defilement; only because ignorance perfumes it does the mark of defilement arise. The defiled dharma of ignorance in itself has no pure activity; only because suchness perfumes it does purity arise” 〔T44n1846 0270b04〕, and then explains it in sequence.
The simile of the fire-nature in wood. The Record of the Meaning takes up: 「如木中火性是火正因若無人知不假方便能自燒木無有是處眾生亦爾雖有正因熏習之力若不遇諸佛菩薩善知識等以之為緣能自斷煩惱入涅槃者則無是處」—“The fire-nature within wood is the direct cause of fire, but if no one knows this and no skillful means are applied, there is no possibility of the wood igniting itself. So it is with sentient beings. Although they possess the power of perfuming as the direct cause, if they do not encounter buddhas, bodhisattvas, spiritual friends, and others to serve as conditions, there is no possibility of their severing the afflictions and entering nirvāṇa by themselves” 〔T44n1846 0272a25〕. The distinction between direct cause and condition is the answer given in this passage’s question-and-answer.
The explanation of differentiated conditions. The Record of the Meaning says: 「列中言差別緣者。為於凡小事識熏習而作於緣。謂現形不同故云也。亦可與差別機為緣故也。」—“In the list, ‘differentiated conditions’ means conditions provided for the perfuming of the object-consciousness among ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles. They are so called because the forms manifested differ. It may also mean that they serve as conditions for differing capacities” 〔T44n1846 0272b19〕.
The explanation of not yet corresponding. The Record of the Meaning says: 「二釋中亦二。先明未相應中三。初約位舉人。次辨行劣。後明未相應。行中凡小意識熏。菩薩五意」—“The second explanation also has two. First, in explaining those not yet corresponding, there are three: first it names the persons according to their stages; next it distinguishes the lesser conduct; last it explains why they have not yet corresponded. Within the conduct, ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles perfume through consciousness; bodhisattvas, through the five mentations” 〔T44n1846 0273a07〕. Thus not yet corresponding has three levels: naming the persons, distinguishing their conduct, and explaining the lack of correspondence. Ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles perfume through consciousness, while bodhisattvas perfume through the five mentations; these too are distinct.
V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (recorded side by side, without adjudication)
| Mirror | Word for word | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Fazang, Record of the Meaning (Tang; on differentiated conditions) | 「為於凡小事識熏習而作於緣。謂現形不同故云也。」—“They serve as conditions for the perfuming of the object-consciousness among ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles. They are so called because the forms manifested differ.” | 〔T44n1846 0272b19〕 |
| Fazang, Record of the Meaning (Tang; on not yet corresponding) | 「行中凡小意識熏。菩薩五意」—“Within the conduct, ordinary beings and those of the lesser vehicles perfume through consciousness; bodhisattvas, through the five mentations.” | 〔T44n1846 0273a07〕 |
Wonhyo’s Commentary follows an outline-and-explanation form and does not recopy the treatise in this passage. No conflicting judgments from the two commentators are available here for side-by-side recording—both T44n1846 and T44n1844 have been checked.
VI. Terms (first occurrences in this passage)
- 熏習 — perfuming 〔0578a14〕: fifty-three occurrences in the whole treatise, the majority of them in this unit alone; Śikṣānanda’s recension has twenty-two in the whole. The difference in fullness between the two recensions is greatest here.
- 四法 — the four dharmas 〔0578a15〕: the pure dharma (suchness), the cause of defilement (ignorance), the deluded mind (the karmic consciousness), and the deluded object-realm (the six sense-objects). The treatise itself says 「有四種法熏習義故」—“because there is the meaning of perfuming by four dharmas”; “the perfuming of the four dharmas” is its abbreviated name.
- 增長念熏習・增長取熏習 — the perfuming that increases thought · the perfuming that increases grasping 〔0578a28〕: the two kinds of perfuming by the deluded object-realm.
- 業識根本熏習・增長分別事識熏習 — the root perfuming of the karmic consciousness · the perfuming that increases the object-discriminating consciousness 〔0578b01〕: the two kinds of perfuming by the deluded mind on the side of defilement.
- 根本熏習・所起見愛熏習 — root perfuming · the perfuming of the views and craving that arise 〔0578b03〕: the two kinds of perfuming by ignorance.
- 分別事識熏習・意熏習 — the perfuming of the object-discriminating consciousness · the perfuming of mentation 〔0578b15〕: the two kinds of perfuming by the deluded mind on the side of purity. These share the name 「妄心熏習」—“perfuming by the deluded mind” with the corresponding heading on the side of defilement, but not its members; their respective contexts must be kept distinct.
- 自體相熏習・用熏習 — the perfuming of its own substance and mark · function-perfuming 〔0578b18〕: the two kinds of perfuming by suchness.
- 差別緣・平等緣 — differentiated conditions · equal conditions 〔0578c16〕; 近緣・遠緣 — near conditions · distant conditions 〔0578c22〕; 增長行緣・受道緣 — conditions that increase practice · conditions through which one receives the path 〔0578c25〕.
- 未相應・已相應 — not yet corresponding · already corresponding 〔0579a01〕.
VII. Simile and Rhetoric
This unit uses two similes, both established by the treatise itself and both among its most frequently cited:
- Garment and fragrance 〔0578a17〕: 「如世間衣服實無於香，若人以香而熏習故則有香氣。」—“A garment in the world has no fragrance in itself, but if someone perfumes it with fragrance, it comes to carry that fragrance.” The simile shows the meaning of perfuming: what was not present can come to be present. It works in both directions: when ignorance perfumes suchness, the mark of defilement arises; when suchness perfumes ignorance, pure function arises.
- The fire-nature in wood 〔0578c04〕: 「如木中火性是火正因，若無人知，不假方便能自燒木，無有是處。」—“The fire-nature within wood is the direct cause of fire, but if no one knows this and no skillful means are applied, there is no possibility of the wood igniting itself.” The simile shows that although the direct cause is present, external conditions are still required. It is the answer to this passage’s question-and-answer, and the place where the treatise establishes that inner cause and outer condition are both necessary.
No additional simile is manufactured for this passage.
VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward
- What goes before and after within the treatise: this passage expands the preceding unit’s judgment of “depending on cause, depending on condition.” The karmic consciousness, the object-discriminating consciousness, and the five mentations were all established in the preceding unit; here they are used without renewed explanation—this passage presupposes the preceding one. The external conditions of “function-perfuming” are the same meaning placed elsewhere in the fourth of the four mirrors of the substance of awakening, the “mirror of perfuming as condition.”
- Within this series: the meaning of perfuming may be read alongside the Yogācāra teaching of the perfuming of seeds, but each terminology belongs to its own text; the counts and systems are not conflated.
IX. Text-critical Placement
There are fourteen variant readings within this unit’s range 〔0578a14–0579a11〕—the densest concentration of variants in this edition. They are recorded side by side without adjudication:
| Anchor | Taishō reads | Other witnesses read |
|---|---|---|
| 〔0578a16〕 | 名 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578a24〕 | 了 | 即 |
| 〔0578a28〕 | 則 | 增・增 |
| 〔0578a29〕 | 則 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b01〕 | 為 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b07〕 | 有 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b28〕 | 有 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578b29〕 | 過恒沙 | 有過恒河沙・過恒河沙 |
| 〔0578c07〕 | 值 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578c08〕 | 無 | 無有 |
| 〔0578c13〕 | 故 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0578c14〕 | 菩 | 善 |
| 〔0579a03〕 | 能 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0579a03〕 | 心 | 心無 |
At 〔0578b29〕, 「過恒沙」—“exceeding the sands of the Ganges” appears in other witnesses as 「過恒河沙」 and 「有過恒河沙」; this bears on the wording used for the number of afflictions. At 〔0578c14〕, 「菩」 appears in other witnesses as 「善」; this bears on the difference between “buddhas and bodhisattvas” and “spiritual friends.” Both are recorded side by side without adjudication.
Within this unit: lacuna markers 0, private-use-area characters 0, interlinear notes 0.