大乘起信論 真如三昧・魔事・修觀
這一段裡有一條最險的魔事。
論主說：或現天像、菩薩像，「亦作如來像相好具足」；而且會說法——說陀羅尼，說布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧，或說「平等、空、無相、無願、無怨無親、無因無果、畢竟空寂是真涅槃」。
它說的是對的話。
現的是佛像，講的是空、是無相、是畢竟空寂——一句不錯。
而論主把它列在魔事裡。
所以判準不在內容上
「應知外道所有三昧，皆不離見愛我慢之心，貪著世間名利恭敬故。」
判的是心之所著，不是境界之深淺，也不是所說之是非。
而真如三昧是這樣的：
「不住見相、不住得相，乃至出定亦無懈慢，所有煩惱漸漸微薄。」
三個驗處：不停在所見上、不停在得的相上、下座之後沒有懈怠與憍慢。
第三條最遮不住。座上的境界人人可以自己描述，下座之後的樣子不能。
還有第四條：看的是煩惱有沒有變薄，不是境界有沒有變亮。
其餘幾類，都很生活
現形恐怖或現端正男女相——對治只有一句：「當念唯心，境界則滅，終不為惱。」
給你異能：知宿命、知未來、他心智、辯才無礙。而落點是「能令眾生貪著世間名利之事」。
令人性情失常：屢瞋屢喜、性無常准；多慈愛、多睡、多病、心懈怠；忽然精進而後停廢；生不信、多疑多慮；捨掉本來的勝行改修雜業。
用定中的樂受讓人愛著：住定數日，自然有香美飲食、身心適悅、不飢不渴。
行者能做的只有兩件：「常應智慧觀察」「當勤正念不取不著」。
十種利益裡，沒有一條是神通
護念、不怖、不惑、業障漸薄、疑滅、信增長、遠離憂悔、心柔和不為他人所惱、不驚動——全是心地上的變化，沒有一項拿得出來給人看。
而第九條最該記：「雖未得定，於一切時一切境界處，則能減損煩惱、不樂世間。」
還沒得定的人也在這份清單裡。
只修止會冷掉
「若人唯修於止，則心沈沒或起懈怠，不樂眾善、遠離大悲，是故修觀。」
最後那一項最重：坐得很好而心變冷了，那不是進步。
觀什麼？過去所念諸法「恍惚如夢」，現在所念諸法「猶如電光」，未來所念諸法「猶如於雲忽爾而起」。
而觀不停在厭離上
看完無常，論主接的不是逃，是看見別人：
「一切眾生從無始世來，皆因無明所熏習故令心生滅，已受一切身心大苦。現在即有無量逼迫，未來所苦亦無分齊，難捨難離而不覺知。眾生如是，甚為可愍。」
他們甚至不知道自己在苦裡。
然後才發願：「願令我心離分別故，遍於十方修行一切諸善功德，盡其未來，以無量方便救拔一切苦惱眾生，令得涅槃第一義樂。」
觀無常 → 見眾生苦 → 起可愍之心 → 發大願。這條線把「觀」從一種厭離的技術，變成大悲的入口。
一句話劃清了座上與座下
「於一切時、一切處，所有眾善，隨己堪能不捨修學，心無懈怠，唯除坐時專念於止。」
只有坐著的時候專門修止；其餘一切時，都要觀察應作與不應作。
而「若行若住、若臥若起，皆應止觀俱行」——
「雖念諸法自性不生，而復即念因緣和合善惡之業，苦樂等報不失不壞。雖念因緣善惡業報，而亦即念性不可得。」
一邊知自性不生，一邊知業報不失；一邊知業報不失，一邊知其性不可得。
只念前者會不管因果，只念後者會執實。兩念同時在，才叫俱行。
末後一句，收得很死
「是止觀二門，共相助成，不相捨離。若止觀不具，則無能入菩提之道。」
This passage contains one work of Māra more dangerous than all the rest.
The author says that something may appear in the form of a heavenly being or a bodhisattva, “even assuming the image of a Tathāgata, complete with the marks and excellences.” And it teaches the Dharma—dhāraṇī; giving, precepts, forbearance, vigor, meditative concentration, and wisdom; or “equality, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, neither enemy nor kin, neither cause nor effect, and ultimate emptiness and quiescence as true nirvāṇa.”
It says the right things.
The figure looks like a buddha. The teaching speaks of emptiness, signlessness, and ultimate quiescence. Not one sentence sounds wrong.
And the author lists it among the works of Māra.
The Measure Is Not Doctrinal Content
“Know that all samādhis belonging to non-Buddhist paths remain inseparable from views, craving, and self-conceit, because they are attached to worldly fame, gain, and reverence.”
What is being measured is the mind’s attachment—not the depth of the experience, and not whether the words sound correct.
The samādhi of suchness is described differently:
“It does not abide in marks of what is seen or in marks of attainment. Even after emerging from concentration there is neither laxity nor conceit, and the afflictions gradually become faint.”
There are three places to look: not stopping at what appeared; not stopping at the idea of attainment; and no laxity or conceit after leaving the seat.
The third is hardest to hide. Anyone can describe what happened during meditation. Conduct afterward tells its own story.
And there is a fourth measure: whether the afflictions have grown thinner, not whether the experience has grown brighter.
The Other Disturbances Look Familiar
Frightening forms may appear, or the forms of handsome men and beautiful women. The response is only this: “Be mindful that these are only mind: the object-realm will disappear and in the end cannot cause trouble.”
Extraordinary abilities may be bestowed: knowledge of former lives, knowledge of the future, knowledge of others’ minds, and unobstructed eloquence. Their point is to “cause sentient beings to become attached to worldly fame and gain.”
A person’s temperament may be thrown out of balance: repeatedly angry and repeatedly delighted, without constancy or measure; excessively affectionate, sleepy, ill, or indolent; suddenly vigorous and then abruptly inactive; disbelieving, full of doubts and anxieties; abandoning an originally excellent practice for assorted activities.
Pleasurable feeling in concentration may become a hook: remaining in concentration for days, receiving naturally fragrant and delicious food, and feeling comfortable and content in body and mind, without hunger or thirst.
The practitioner has only two things to do: “constantly observe with wisdom” and “diligently cultivate right mindfulness, neither taking nor attaching.”
The Ten Benefits Contain No Supernormal Power
Protection, freedom from fear and confusion, karmic obstacles gradually thinning, doubts extinguished, faith increasing, anxiety and remorse left behind, the mind becoming gentle and no longer troubled by others, and no sound from outside disturbing—every benefit is a change in the ground of the mind, and not one can be displayed.
The ninth deserves to be remembered: “Though concentration has not yet been attained, at every time and amid every object-realm the afflictions can be diminished and delight in the world can cease.”
Those who have not yet attained concentration are included in the list.
Calming Alone Can Turn the Heart Cold
“If a person cultivates calming alone, the mind sinks or indolence arises; one takes no delight in manifold wholesome acts and moves far from great compassion. Contemplation must therefore be cultivated.”
The last fault is the gravest: sitting may go very well while the heart grows cold. That is not progress.
What does contemplation see? Dharmas thought of in the past are “dim and fleeting like a dream”; those thought of in the present are “like a flash of lightning”; those thought of in the future are “like clouds suddenly rising.”
Seeing Impermanence Opens into Compassion
After contemplating impermanence, the author does not turn toward escape. He turns toward other beings:
“Since beginningless time, all sentient beings have been perfumed by ignorance, causing their minds to arise and cease, and they have undergone every great suffering of body and mind. Even now they endure immeasurable oppression, while the suffering they will undergo in the future has no limit. Hard to relinquish and hard to escape, all this remains outside their awareness. Sentient beings are in this condition; they are deeply deserving of compassion.”
They do not even know the condition in which they suffer.
Only then does the vow arise: “May my mind be free of discrimination. Throughout the ten directions may I cultivate every wholesome merit, continuing through all the future, and with immeasurable skillful means rescue every suffering sentient being, enabling them to attain the highest bliss of nirvāṇa.”
Contemplate impermanence → see the suffering of sentient beings → arouse compassion → establish the great vow. This sequence turns contemplation from a technique of withdrawal into an entrance to great compassion.
One Sentence Divides the Seat from the Rest of the Day
“At every time and in every place one learns and practices every wholesome act within one’s capacity without abandoning it, the mind never becoming indolent—except while seated, when one directs mindfulness exclusively to calming.”
The exception draws the boundary of exclusivity: calming alone belongs to the seat, not to the rest of the day.
And whether walking, standing, lying down, or rising, calming and contemplation are practiced together:
“While being mindful that dharmas by their own nature are unborn, one is also mindful that the good and evil karma formed through the conjunction of causes and conditions, together with its painful and pleasant recompense, is neither lost nor destroyed. While being mindful of karmic recompense for good and evil through causes and conditions, one is also mindful that its nature cannot be apprehended.”
Know that dharmas are unborn without canceling cause and effect; know that karmic recompense is unfailing without turning it into a fixed substance. Both understandings remain present—that is what it means for calming and contemplation to proceed together.
The Final Sentence Leaves No Opening
“These two—calming and contemplation—assist one another in accomplishment and are never abandoned or separated. If calming and contemplation are not both complete, there is no possibility of entering the path to bodhi.”
馬鳴菩薩造·梁西印度三藏法師真諦譯《大乘起信論》〈真如三昧・魔事・修觀〉· 大正藏 T32n1666〔起 T32 0582b01〕。段／行首〔T32 …〕＝大正藏頁・欄・行錨。
〔T32 0582b01〕復次，依如是三昧故，則知法界一相。謂一切諸佛法身與眾生身平等無二，即名一行三昧。當知真如是三昧根本，若人修行，漸漸能生無量三昧。或有眾生無善根力，則為諸魔外道鬼神之所惑亂，若於坐中現形恐怖，或現端正男女等相，當念唯心，境界則滅，終不為惱。或現天像、菩薩像，亦作如來像相好具足，若說陀羅尼，若說布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧，或說平等、空、無相、無願、無怨無親、無因無果、畢竟空寂是真涅槃。或令人知宿命過去之事，亦知未來之事，得他心智辯才無礙，能令眾生貪著世間名利之事。又令使人數瞋數喜，性無常准。或多慈愛多睡多病，其心懈怠。或卒起精進後便休廢，生於不信多疑多慮。或捨本勝行更修雜業。若著世事種種牽纏，亦能使人得諸三昧少分相似，皆是外道所得，非真三昧。或復令人若一日若二日若三日，乃至七日住於定中，得自然香美飲食，身心適悅不飢不渴，使人愛著。或亦令人食無分齊，乍多乍少顏色變異。以是義故，行者常應智慧觀察，勿令此心墮於邪網。當勤正念不取不著，則能遠離是諸業障。應知外道所有三昧，皆不離見愛我慢之心，貪著世間名利恭敬故。真如三昧者，不住見相、不住得相，乃至出定亦無懈慢，所有煩惱漸漸微薄。若諸凡夫不習此三昧法，得入如來種性，無有是處。以修世間諸禪三昧多起味著，依於我見繫屬三界，與外道共。若離善知識所護，則起外道見故。 復次，精勤專心修學此三昧者，現世當得十種利益。云何為十？一者、常為十方諸佛菩薩之所護念。二者、不為諸魔惡鬼所能恐怖。三者、不為九十五種外道鬼神之所惑亂。四者、遠離誹謗甚深之法，重罪業障漸漸微薄。五者、滅一切疑諸惡覺觀。六者、於如來境界信得增長。七者、遠離憂悔，於生死中勇猛不怯。八者、其心柔和，捨於憍慢，不為他人所惱。九者、雖未得定，於一切時一切境界處，則能減損煩惱、不樂世間。十者、若得三昧，不為外緣一切音聲之所驚動。 復次，若人唯修於止，則心沈沒或起懈怠，不樂眾善、遠離大悲，是故修觀。修習觀者，當觀一切世間有為之法，無得久停須臾變壞，一切心行念念生滅，以是故苦。應觀過去所念諸法恍惚如夢，應觀現在所念諸法猶如電光，應觀未來所念諸法猶如於雲忽爾而起，應觀世間一切有身悉皆不淨，種種穢污無一可樂。如是當念：「一切眾生從無始世來，皆因無明所熏習故令心生滅，已受一切身心大苦。現在即有無量逼迫，未來所苦亦無分齊，難捨難離而不覺知。眾生如是，甚為可愍。」作此思惟，即應勇猛立大誓願：「願令我心離分別故，遍於十方修行一切諸善功德，盡其未來，以無量方便救拔一切苦惱眾生，令得涅槃第一義樂。」以起如是願故，於一切時、一切處，所有眾善，隨己堪能不捨修學，心無懈怠，唯除坐時專念於止。若餘一切，悉當觀察應作不應作。若行若住、若臥若起，皆應止觀俱行。所謂雖念諸法自性不生，而復即念因緣和合善惡之業，苦樂等報不失不壞。雖念因緣善惡業報，而亦即念性不可得。若修止者，對治凡夫住著世間，能捨二乘怯弱之見。若修觀者，對治二乘不起大悲狹劣心過，遠離凡夫不修善根。以此義故，是止觀二門，共相助成，不相捨離。若止觀不具，則無能入菩提之道。
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，依如是三昧故」至「則無能入菩提之道」。段首（…）＝大正藏頁·欄·行錨。
〔一·一行三昧〕（0582b01）再者，依著這樣的三昧，就知道法界一相：就是一切諸佛的法身與眾生之身，平等無二——這就名為一行三昧。
（0582b03）應當知道：真如是三昧的根本。若人修行，漸漸能生出無量的三昧。
〔二·無善根力者所遇之惑亂〕（0582b04）或有眾生沒有善根之力，就被諸魔、外道、鬼神所惑亂：或在坐中現形恐嚇，或現端正的男女等相——這時當念唯是心，境界就滅了，終究不能惱亂。
〔三·現聖像而說法〕（0582b06）或者現天像、菩薩像，也作如來的像、相好具足；或說陀羅尼，或說布施、持戒、忍辱、精進、禪定、智慧；（0582b09）或說平等、空、無相、無願、無怨無親、無因無果、畢竟空寂就是真涅槃。
〔四·予人異能而令貪著〕（0582b11）或令人知道宿命過去之事，也知道未來之事，得他心智、辯才無礙——能令眾生貪著世間名利之事。
〔五·令人性情失常〕（0582b13）又令人屢屢瞋、屢屢喜，性情沒有常准；或多慈愛、多睡、多病，其心懈怠；（0582b15）或突然發起精進而後又停廢，生起不信、多疑多慮；或捨掉本來殊勝之行而改修雜業；若執著世事，就被種種牽纏。
〔六·相似之三昧〕（0582b18）也能使人得到諸三昧的少分相似——都是外道所得，不是真三昧。
〔七·以定中之樂受令人愛著〕（0582b19）或又令人一日、二日、三日乃至七日住在定中，得到自然的香美飲食，身心適悅、不飢不渴，使人愛著；或也令人飲食沒有分量，忽多忽少、顏色變異。
〔八·行者當如何〕（0582b23）因為這個緣故，行者應當常以智慧觀察，不要讓這個心墮於邪網。應當勤修正念，不取不著，就能遠離這些業障。
〔九·外道三昧與真如三昧之別〕（0582b25）應知外道所有的三昧，都不離見、愛、我慢之心，貪著世間的名利恭敬。
（0582b27）而真如三昧：不住見相、不住得相，乃至出定之後也沒有懈慢，所有煩惱漸漸微薄。
〔十·不習此三昧則不入如來種性〕（0582b29）若諸凡夫不修習這個三昧之法，而想得入如來種性，是不可能的。（0582c01）因為修世間的諸禪三昧多起味著，依於我見而繫屬三界，與外道相同；若離開善知識的護持，就會生起外道之見。
〔十一·修此三昧現世十種利益〕（0582c02）再者，精勤專心修學這個三昧的人，現世應當得到十種利益。哪十種？
（0582c04）第一，常為十方諸佛菩薩所護念。
（0582c05）第二，不為諸魔惡鬼所能恐怖。
（0582c05）第三，不為九十五種外道鬼神所惑亂。
（0582c06）第四，遠離對甚深之法的誹謗，重罪業障漸漸微薄。
（0582c07）第五，滅除一切疑惑與諸惡覺觀。
（0582c08）第六，於如來境界的信心得以增長。
（0582c08）第七，遠離憂悔，於生死中勇猛不怯。
（0582c09）第八，其心柔和，捨掉憍慢，不為他人所惱。
（0582c10）第九，雖然還沒得定，於一切時、一切境界處，都能減損煩惱、不樂世間。
（0582c12）第十，若得三昧，不為外緣一切音聲所驚動。
〔十二·唯止之失，所以要修觀〕（0582c14）再者，若人只修止，則心沉沒，或起懈怠，不樂眾善、遠離大悲——所以要修觀。
〔十三·觀什麼〕（0582c15）修習觀的人，應當觀一切世間有為之法，沒有能久停的，須臾就變壞；一切心行念念生滅——因此是苦。
（0582c17）應觀過去所念的諸法，恍惚如夢；應觀現在所念的諸法，猶如電光；應觀未來所念的諸法，猶如雲忽然而起；（0582c20）應觀世間一切有身的，都不清淨，種種穢污沒有一樣可樂。
〔十四·由觀生悲〕（0582c21）像這樣應當念：『一切眾生從無始世以來，都因為無明所熏習，令心生滅，已經受了一切身心的大苦。現在就有無量的逼迫，未來所受的苦也沒有分限——難捨難離而不自覺知。眾生這樣，甚為可愍。』
〔十五·由悲發願〕（0582c25）作這樣的思惟，就應當勇猛立下大誓願：『願令我心離於分別，遍於十方修行一切諸善功德，盡其未來，以無量方便救拔一切苦惱眾生，令得涅槃第一義樂。』
〔十六·願起之後的日用〕（0582c28）因為發起這樣的願，於一切時、一切處，所有的眾善，隨自己所能不捨修學，心無懈怠——唯除坐時專念於止。
（0583a01）若是其餘一切時，都應當觀察什麼是應作、什麼是不應作。
〔十七·止觀俱行〕（0583a02）若行、若住、若臥、若起，都應當止觀俱行。
（0583a03）就是說：雖然念諸法自性不生，而同時也念因緣和合的善惡之業、苦樂等報不失不壞；（0583a04）雖然念因緣善惡業報，而同時也念其性不可得。
〔十八·止與觀各對治什麼〕（0583a06）若修止，能對治凡夫住著世間，能捨二乘怯弱之見；若修觀，能對治二乘不起大悲的狹劣心過，遠離凡夫不修善根。
〔十九·二門相成〕（0583a09）因為這個義，這止觀二門互相助成、不相捨離。（0583a10）若止觀不具足，就不能入菩提之道。
Composed by the Bodhisattva Aśvaghoṣa; translated by Paramārtha, Tripiṭaka Master of Western India, under the Liang. The Awakening of Faith in the Great Vehicle, from “Further, in dependence on such samādhi” to “there is no possibility of entering the path to bodhi.” The bracketed figures at the head of each segment give the Taishō page, register, and line.
〔1 · Single-practice samādhi〕（0582b01）Further, in dependence on such samādhi, one knows that the dharma-realm has a single mark: the dharma-bodies of all buddhas and the bodies of sentient beings are equal and nondual. This is called single-practice samādhi.
（0582b03）Know that suchness is the root of samādhi. If a person practices, immeasurable samādhis can gradually arise.
〔2 · Disturbances encountered by those without the strength of wholesome roots〕（0582b04）Some sentient beings lack the strength of wholesome roots and are therefore confused and disturbed by Māras, followers of non-Buddhist paths, ghosts, and spirits. Some appear during meditation in frightening forms; others appear as handsome men, beautiful women, and the like. At such a time, be mindful that these are only mind: the object-realm will disappear and in the end cannot cause trouble.
〔3 · Appearing in the forms of holy beings and teaching the Dharma〕（0582b06）Some appear as heavenly beings or bodhisattvas; some even assume the image of a Tathāgata, complete with the marks and excellences. They may teach dhāraṇī, or speak of giving, keeping the precepts, forbearance, vigor, meditative concentration, and wisdom.（0582b09）They may speak of equality, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, neither enemy nor kin, neither cause nor effect, and say that ultimate emptiness and quiescence are true nirvāṇa.
〔4 · Bestowing extraordinary abilities so as to provoke attachment〕（0582b11）Some enable a person to know events in former lives and in the future, to know the minds of others, and to possess unobstructed eloquence—thereby causing sentient beings to become attached to worldly fame and gain.
〔5 · Throwing a person’s temperament out of balance〕（0582b13）Some cause a person to be repeatedly angry and repeatedly delighted, without constancy or measure in temperament. Some produce excessive affection, sleep, or illness, leaving the mind indolent.（0582b15）Some cause a sudden burst of vigor that later lapses; some give rise to disbelief, many doubts, and much anxiety. Some lead a person to abandon an originally excellent practice and cultivate assorted activities instead. If that person becomes attached to worldly affairs, all manner of entanglements follow.
〔6 · Samādhis in semblance〕（0582b18）They can also cause a person to attain a partial semblance of various samādhis—all of these are attainments of non-Buddhist paths, not true samādhi.
〔7 · Producing attachment through pleasurable feeling in concentration〕（0582b19）Some cause a person to remain in concentration for one, two, or three days, or even seven, receiving naturally fragrant and delicious food. Body and mind feel comfortable and content, without hunger or thirst, and the person becomes attached. Some also make one’s intake of food lose all measure—now much, now little—and alter one’s complexion.
〔8 · What the practitioner should do〕（0582b23）For this reason, practitioners should constantly observe with wisdom and not allow the mind to fall into a deviant net. Diligently cultivate right mindfulness, neither taking nor attaching, and these karmic obstacles can be left behind.
〔9 · Distinguishing the samādhis of non-Buddhist paths from the samādhi of suchness〕（0582b25）Know that all samādhis belonging to non-Buddhist paths remain inseparable from views, craving, and self-conceit, because they are attached to worldly fame, gain, and reverence.
（0582b27）The samādhi of suchness, however, does not abide in marks of what is seen or in marks of attainment. Even after emerging from concentration there is neither laxity nor conceit, and the afflictions gradually become faint.
〔10 · Without cultivating this samādhi, one cannot enter the lineage of the Tathāgata〕（0582b29）There is no possibility that ordinary beings who do not cultivate this dharma of samādhi can enter the lineage of the Tathāgata.（0582c01）This is because the worldly meditative concentrations and samādhis they cultivate commonly give rise to attachment to their savor. Grounded in the view of a self and bound to the three realms, they are shared with non-Buddhist paths. If practitioners leave the protection of spiritual friends, views belonging to non-Buddhist paths will arise.
〔11 · Ten benefits in the present life from cultivating this samādhi〕（0582c02）Further, those who diligently and single-mindedly train in this samādhi should obtain ten benefits in the present life. Which ten?
（0582c04）First, they are constantly kept in mind and protected by the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions.
（0582c05）Second, Māras and malicious ghosts cannot frighten them.
（0582c05）Third, they are not confused or disturbed by the ghosts and spirits of the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist paths.
（0582c06）Fourth, they leave far behind slander of the profound Dharma, and the karmic obstacles of grave offenses gradually become faint.
（0582c07）Fifth, they extinguish every doubt and all unwholesome ideation.
（0582c08）Sixth, their faith in the realm of the Tathāgata increases.
（0582c08）Seventh, they leave anxiety and remorse behind and become courageous and unafraid within birth and death.
（0582c09）Eighth, their minds become gentle and harmonious; they relinquish pride and are not troubled by others.
（0582c10）Ninth, although they have not yet attained concentration, at every time and amid every object-realm they can diminish the afflictions and cease to delight in the world.
（0582c12）Tenth, if they attain samādhi, no sound from any external condition can startle or disturb them.
〔12 · The fault of calming alone, and why contemplation must be cultivated〕（0582c14）Further, if a person cultivates calming alone, the mind sinks or indolence arises; one takes no delight in manifold wholesome acts and moves far from great compassion. Contemplation must therefore be cultivated.
〔13 · What is contemplated〕（0582c15）One who cultivates contemplation should contemplate all conditioned dharmas in the world: none can remain for long, and in an instant they change and decay. All activities of mind arise and cease thought by thought; for this reason they are suffering.
（0582c17）Contemplate all dharmas thought of in the past as dim and fleeting like a dream; contemplate all dharmas thought of in the present as like a flash of lightning; contemplate all dharmas thought of in the future as like clouds suddenly rising.（0582c20）Contemplate all embodied things in the world as impure, filled with every kind of defilement, without a single thing in which to delight.
〔14 · Compassion arises from contemplation〕（0582c21）One should then reflect in this way: “Since beginningless time, all sentient beings have been perfumed by ignorance, causing their minds to arise and cease, and they have undergone every great suffering of body and mind. Even now they endure immeasurable oppression, while the suffering they will undergo in the future has no limit. Hard to relinquish and hard to escape, all this remains outside their awareness. Sentient beings are in this condition; they are deeply deserving of compassion.”
〔15 · A vow arises from compassion〕（0582c25）Having reflected in this way, one should courageously establish a great vow: “May my mind be free of discrimination. Throughout the ten directions may I cultivate every wholesome merit, continuing through all the future, and with immeasurable skillful means rescue every suffering sentient being, enabling them to attain the highest bliss of nirvāṇa.”
〔16 · Daily life after the vow has arisen〕（0582c28）Because one has aroused such a vow, at every time and in every place one learns and practices every wholesome act within one’s capacity without abandoning it, the mind never becoming indolent—except while seated, when one directs mindfulness exclusively to calming.
（0583a01）At all other times, one should observe what ought to be done and what ought not to be done.
〔17 · Calming and contemplation practiced together〕（0583a02）Whether walking, standing, lying down, or rising, one should practice calming and contemplation together.
（0583a03）That is, while being mindful that dharmas by their own nature are unborn, one is also mindful that the good and evil karma formed through the conjunction of causes and conditions, together with its painful and pleasant recompense, is neither lost nor destroyed.（0583a04）While being mindful of karmic recompense for good and evil through causes and conditions, one is also mindful that its nature cannot be apprehended.
〔18 · What calming and contemplation each counter〕（0583a06）Cultivating calming counters the attachment of ordinary beings to the world and enables one to abandon the fearful view of the two vehicles. Cultivating contemplation counters the narrow-minded fault of those of the two vehicles who do not arouse great compassion, and it removes ordinary beings from the failure to cultivate wholesome roots.
〔19 · The two gates bring one another to completion〕（0583a09）For this reason, these two gates—calming and contemplation—assist one another in accomplishment and are never abandoned or separated.（0583a10）If calming and contemplation are not both complete, there is no possibility of entering the path to bodhi.
前一段講到怎麼坐下來，講到「隨順得入真如三昧」就停住。這一段接著往下——而它做的第一件事，是把三昧的判準說清楚。
因為修到有境界的人，最需要的不是鼓勵，是一把尺。
一行三昧：以平等為界，不以境界為界
「依如是三昧故，則知法界一相。謂一切諸佛法身與眾生身平等無二，即名一行三昧。」
注意這個界說是怎麼下的：不是入定多深、見到什麼，而是知法界一相——諸佛法身與眾生身平等無二。
這一句與立義分的「所言法者，謂眾生心」是同一件事：那裡從教理上說，這裡從定境上說。若坐出來的東西沒有落在這個平等上，那就還不是它。
而論主緊接著給了根：「當知真如是三昧根本，若人修行，漸漸能生無量三昧。」——真如是根，三昧是枝。 不是修出一個三昧再去找真如。
然後論主用一大段講「魔事」
這一段是全論最具體、也最少被引的一段。而它的位置很說明問題：剛講完怎麼入，立刻講會遇到什麼。
論主先說對象：「或有眾生無善根力，則為諸魔外道鬼神之所惑亂」——是善根力不足的人容易遇上。
然後一類一類數下來：
現形恐怖，或現端正男女等相。 對治只有一句：「當念唯心，境界則滅，終不為惱。」——念唯心，就滅了。
現天像、菩薩像，乃至如來像相好具足，而且會說法：說陀羅尼、說六度、說「平等、空、無相、無願、無怨無親、無因無果、畢竟空寂是真涅槃」。
這一條最險。它說的是對的話。 現的是佛像，講的是空、是無相、是畢竟空寂——聽起來一句不錯。論主把它列在魔事裡，是要人知道：內容正確不是判準。
予人異能：知宿命、知未來、得他心智、辯才無礙。而論主點出它的落點：「能令眾生貪著世間名利之事。」——給的是本事，要的是那份貪著。
令人性情失常：屢瞋屢喜、性無常准；或多慈愛、多睡、多病、心懈怠；或忽然精進而後停廢，生不信、多疑多慮；或捨掉本來的勝行改修雜業；或著世事而被牽纏。
這一串寫得極生活。修行的人若忽然情緒起伏異常、或忽然很勤又忽然全放掉、或忽然改去做別的——論主說，那也是。
令得相似三昧：「亦能使人得諸三昧少分相似，皆是外道所得，非真三昧。」
以定中之樂受令人愛著：一日至七日住定，自然有香美飲食，身心適悅、不飢不渴——「使人愛著」；或令人食無分量、忽多忽少、顏色變異。
八類數完，論主給行者的是兩句話：「常應智慧觀察，勿令此心墮於邪網。當勤正念不取不著，則能遠離是諸業障。」
——智慧觀察 + 不取不著。 沒有咒、沒有法器，就這兩樣。
這兩樣看起來太素，其實正是這部論的一貫。你若回想第五單元那個譬——水會動，濕不會——就會發現此處的對治與那裡同源：境界起了不必去打它，知道它是心所現、不去取著，它自己就落下去。魔事之可怕不在境界本身，在人一取著就進了它的軌道。
而論主把對治交給「智慧觀察」，也等於承認一件事：這一關只能自己過。 沒有人能替你判斷座上那個相是真是假。
一把很硬的尺
魔事說完，論主給出判準，而這把尺不量境界，量心：
「應知外道所有三昧，皆不離見愛我慢之心，貪著世間名利恭敬故。」
外道的三昧——不論多深——都不離見、愛、我慢，且貪著名利恭敬。
而真如三昧呢？「不住見相、不住得相，乃至出定亦無懈慢，所有煩惱漸漸微薄。」
三個驗處：
- 不住見相——不停在所見上。
- 不住得相——不停在得的相上。
- 出定亦無懈慢——下座之後才是驗處。
第三條最實用。座上的境界你自己怎麼說都可以，而下座之後有沒有懈怠與憍慢，是遮不住的。加上第四條：「所有煩惱漸漸微薄」——看的是煩惱有沒有變薄，不是境界有沒有變亮。
論主還把話說到很嚴的地步：「若諸凡夫不習此三昧法，得入如來種性，無有是處。」為什麼？「以修世間諸禪三昧多起味著，依於我見繫屬三界，與外道共。若離善知識所護，則起外道見故。」
世間諸禪多起味著——貪那個定的滋味；而且依我見、繫三界。所以論主在此又點了一次善知識：離開善知識的護持，就會起外道見。
十種利益：一份很誠實的清單
「精勤專心修學此三昧者，現世當得十種利益。」
十條裡沒有一條是神通：
一、常為十方諸佛菩薩護念。二、不為諸魔惡鬼所恐怖。三、不為九十五種外道鬼神所惑亂。四、遠離誹謗甚深之法，重罪業障漸漸微薄。五、滅一切疑與諸惡覺觀。六、於如來境界信得增長。七、遠離憂悔，於生死中勇猛不怯。八、其心柔和，捨於憍慢，不為他人所惱。九、雖未得定，於一切時一切境界處，能減損煩惱、不樂世間。十、若得三昧，不為外緣一切音聲所驚動。
第九條最該被記住：「雖未得定」——還沒得定的人也在這份清單裡。煩惱減損、不樂世間，這是修的過程中就有的，不必等到成就。
而整份清單的方向是一致的：護念、不怖、不惑、業薄、疑滅、信長、不悔、心柔和、煩惱減、不驚動——全是心地上的變化，沒有一項是能拿出來給人看的。
為什麼還要修觀
「若人唯修於止，則心沈沒或起懈怠，不樂眾善、遠離大悲，是故修觀。」
只修止的四個病：心沉沒、起懈怠、不樂眾善、遠離大悲。
最後一個最重。 我們若坐得很好而心卻變冷了，那不是進步。論主在這裡把觀請出來，正是為了接住這一點。
觀什麼？「當觀一切世間有為之法，無得久停須臾變壞，一切心行念念生滅，以是故苦。」
然後是三世的三個譬——一句一世，各配其性：
- 過去所念諸法：「恍惚如夢」——已過而無實。
- 現在所念諸法：「猶如電光」——現而即逝。
- 未來所念諸法：「猶如於雲忽爾而起」——未起而忽起。
再加一觀：「應觀世間一切有身悉皆不淨，種種穢污無一可樂。」
而觀不是停在厭離上
這是本段的轉折，也是這一整分最要緊的一著。
觀完無常與不淨，論主沒有讓人停在厭世上，而是接了一段由觀生悲的思惟：
「一切眾生從無始世來，皆因無明所熏習故令心生滅，已受一切身心大苦。現在即有無量逼迫，未來所苦亦無分齊，難捨難離而不覺知。眾生如是，甚為可愍。」
看見苦的下一步，不是躲開苦，是看見別人也在其中。 而最後六個字是關鍵：「難捨難離而不覺知」——他們甚至不知道自己在苦裡。
然後由悲發願：「願令我心離分別故，遍於十方修行一切諸善功德，盡其未來，以無量方便救拔一切苦惱眾生，令得涅槃第一義樂。」
——觀無常 → 見眾生苦 → 起可愍之心 → 發大願。這條線把「觀」從一種厭離的技術，變成了大悲的入口。
願起之後的日用
「以起如是願故，於一切時、一切處，所有眾善，隨己堪能不捨修學，心無懈怠，唯除坐時專念於止。」
這一句劃得極清楚：只有坐著的時候專門修止；其餘一切時，都要觀察應作與不應作。
而更進一步：「若行若住、若臥若起，皆應止觀俱行。」
怎麼個俱行法？論主寫得很細：
「雖念諸法自性不生，而復即念因緣和合善惡之業，苦樂等報不失不壞。」——一邊知道自性不生，一邊知道業報不失。
「雖念因緣善惡業報，而亦即念性不可得。」——一邊知道業報不失，一邊知道其性不可得。
兩句互為對治：只念自性不生，會落到不管因果；只念業報不失，會落到執實。兩念同時在，才叫俱行。
止與觀，各治一種人
「若修止者，對治凡夫住著世間，能捨二乘怯弱之見。若修觀者，對治二乘不起大悲狹劣心過，遠離凡夫不修善根。」
止治凡夫的著世間，也治二乘的怯弱；觀治二乘的不起大悲，也治凡夫的不修善根。兩門各自都同時對著兩種人——不是止給凡夫、觀給二乘。
最後論主把話收死：「是止觀二門，共相助成，不相捨離。若止觀不具，則無能入菩提之道。」
不具足，就進不去。 這一整分從四信說到五門，說到坐姿、說到魔事、說到十利益、說到觀與悲願，末後就收在這一句上。
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》把止觀門一節科為二：先略明、後廣說。前一單元所含的是略明，本單元則是廣說——一段長文之所以能讀得清楚，正因為先知道自己在哪一節裡。
而本段之中最要緊的幾處，論主自己已經說盡：一行三昧以平等無二為界、真如為三昧之根、外道三昧判之以見愛我慢、真如三昧驗之以出定無懈慢與煩惱漸薄。注家在這裡話不多，因為論文自己已經是判準。
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。
而論自己那句「乃至出定亦無懈慢」還立在那裡——它不需要注家，也不需要階位。
The preceding passage explains how to sit down and stops at “following in accord, one attains entry into the samādhi of suchness.” This passage continues from there—and the first thing it does is make the criterion for samādhi clear.
For someone who has begun to experience things in meditation, what is most needed is not encouragement but a measure.
Single-Practice Samādhi: Equality, Not Experience, Sets the Boundary
“In dependence on such samādhi, one knows that the dharma-realm has a single mark: the dharma-bodies of all buddhas and the bodies of sentient beings are equal and nondual. This is called single-practice samādhi.”
Notice where the definition draws its line. It says nothing about how deep the concentration is or what appears within it. The defining knowledge is that the dharma-realm has a single mark—the dharma-bodies of all buddhas and the bodies of sentient beings are equal and nondual.
This is the same matter stated in the part on setting up the meaning as “what is spoken of as dharma means the mind of sentient beings.” There it is spoken doctrinally; here it is spoken from within meditative concentration. If what emerges from sitting does not come down upon this equality, it is not yet the samādhi named here.
The author immediately gives its root: “Know that suchness is the root of samādhi. If a person practices, immeasurable samādhis can gradually arise.” Suchness is the root; samādhis are the branches. One does not first manufacture a samādhi and then go looking for suchness.
Then the Treatise Devotes a Long Passage to the Works of Māra
This is one of the most concrete and least often cited passages in the whole treatise. Its position says much: as soon as the author has explained how to enter, he explains what may be encountered.
He first identifies those at risk: “Some sentient beings lack the strength of wholesome roots and are therefore confused and disturbed by Māras, followers of non-Buddhist paths, ghosts, and spirits.” Those without sufficient strength in their wholesome roots are especially vulnerable.
He then counts through the types one by one.
Frightening forms may appear, or the forms of handsome men and beautiful women. The response is a single sentence: “Be mindful that these are only mind: the object-realm will disappear and in the end cannot cause trouble.” The response refuses to grant the appearance any independent standing.
They may appear as heavenly beings or bodhisattvas, even as a Tathāgata complete with the marks and excellences, and they may teach the Dharma: dhāraṇī; the six pāramitā of giving, precepts, forbearance, vigor, meditative concentration, and wisdom; “equality, emptiness, signlessness, wishlessness, neither enemy nor kin, neither cause nor effect, and ultimate emptiness and quiescence as true nirvāṇa.”
This is the most dangerous type. It says the right things. The figure looks like a buddha and the teaching speaks of emptiness, signlessness, and ultimate quiescence. Nothing sounds wrong. By including it among the works of Māra, the author makes one point impossible to miss: correct content is not the criterion.
Extraordinary abilities may be bestowed: knowledge of former lives, knowledge of the future, knowledge of others’ minds, and unobstructed eloquence. The author identifies where they lead: “thereby causing sentient beings to become attached to worldly fame and gain.” An ability is given; the desired return is attachment.
A person’s temperament may be thrown out of balance: repeatedly angry and repeatedly delighted, without constancy or measure; excessively affectionate, sleepy, ill, or indolent; suddenly vigorous and then abruptly inactive; disbelieving, full of doubts and anxieties; abandoning an originally excellent practice for assorted activities; or attached to worldly affairs and entangled by them.
This list is strikingly close to ordinary life. If a practitioner’s emotions suddenly swing without measure, if intense effort suddenly collapses, or if a settled practice is abruptly abandoned for something else, the treatise includes that too.
A partial semblance of various samādhis may be produced—“all of these are attainments of non-Buddhist paths, not true samādhi.”
Pleasurable feeling in concentration may become the hook. A person remains in concentration for one to seven days, receives naturally fragrant and delicious food, and feels comfortable and content in body and mind, without hunger or thirst—all “causing the person to become attached.” Another disturbance makes the intake of food lose measure, now much and now little, while the complexion changes.
When the types have been counted, the author gives the practitioner two instructions: “Constantly observe with wisdom, and do not allow the mind to fall into a deviant net. Diligently cultivate right mindfulness, neither taking nor attaching, and these karmic obstacles can be left behind.”
—observing with wisdom, and neither taking nor attaching. No spell and no ritual implement: only these two.
They may look almost too plain, but they are consistent with the whole treatise. Recall the earlier simile: water may move, but wetness does not. The same understanding is now put to work. There is no need to fight an arisen object-realm; know it as a manifestation of mind and do not appropriate it, and it falls away by itself. What makes a work of Māra dangerous is not the object-realm alone. The danger begins when grasping places a person inside its course.
By assigning the response to “observing with wisdom,” the author also concedes something bracing: this passage must finally be crossed by the practitioner. No one else can decide in your place whether what appeared in meditation was true or false.
A Severe Measure Applied to the Mind
Once the disturbances have been described, the author gives a criterion that measures not the experience but the mind:
“Know that all samādhis belonging to non-Buddhist paths remain inseparable from views, craving, and self-conceit, because they are attached to worldly fame, gain, and reverence.”
The point of this sentence is causal: whatever its depth, concentration tied to views, craving, and self-conceit remains within the same economy of self.
How, then, does the samādhi of suchness appear? “It does not abide in marks of what is seen or in marks of attainment. Even after emerging from concentration there is neither laxity nor conceit, and the afflictions gradually become faint.”
There are three places to look:
- Not abiding in marks of what is seen—not stopping at what appeared.
- Not abiding in marks of attainment—not stopping at the idea of having attained.
- Neither laxity nor conceit after emerging from concentration—what happens after leaving the seat is part of the measure.
The third is especially practical. An experience on the seat can be described however one likes; laxity and conceit afterward are harder to conceal. Add the fourth point, “the afflictions gradually become faint,” and the direction is unmistakable: look to whether the afflictions have grown thinner, not whether the experience has grown brighter.
The author makes an uncompromising statement: “There is no possibility that ordinary beings who do not cultivate this dharma of samādhi can enter the lineage of the Tathāgata.” Why? “The worldly meditative concentrations and samādhis they cultivate commonly give rise to attachment to their savor. Grounded in the view of a self and bound to the three realms, they are shared with non-Buddhist paths. If practitioners leave the protection of spiritual friends, views belonging to non-Buddhist paths will arise.”
The warning is not against concentration itself but against concentration organized around savor, self, and isolation from spiritual friends. At the point where discernment is most needed, leaving their protection opens the way for views belonging to non-Buddhist paths.
Ten Benefits: A Candid List
“Those who diligently and single-mindedly train in this samādhi should obtain ten benefits in the present life.”
Not one of the ten is a supernormal power:
- Constantly kept in mind and protected by the buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions.
- Not frightened by Māras and malicious ghosts.
- Not confused or disturbed by the ghosts and spirits of the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist paths.
- Far removed from slander of the profound Dharma, with the karmic obstacles of grave offenses gradually becoming faint.
- Every doubt and all unwholesome ideation extinguished.
- Faith in the realm of the Tathāgata increased.
- Anxiety and remorse left behind, with courage and fearlessness amid birth and death.
- The mind made gentle and harmonious, pride relinquished, and no longer troubled by others.
- Though concentration has not yet been attained, the afflictions diminished at every time and amid every object-realm, with no delight in the world.
- Once samādhi is attained, no sound arising from external conditions able to startle or disturb.
The ninth deserves special attention: “though concentration has not yet been attained.” Someone who has not yet attained concentration is still included. The afflictions can already diminish and delight in the world can already fade along the way; attainment need not be awaited.
The list moves in a single direction: protection, freedom from fear and confusion, karmic obstacles thinned, doubt extinguished, faith increased, remorse left behind, the mind made gentle, afflictions diminished, and sounds no longer disturbing. Every item is a change in the ground of the mind; none is an accomplishment that can be displayed to others.
Why Contemplation Is Still Needed
“If a person cultivates calming alone, the mind sinks or indolence arises; one takes no delight in manifold wholesome acts and moves far from great compassion. Contemplation must therefore be cultivated.”
The diagnosis reaches beyond dullness: a method can quiet the mind yet estrange it from wholesome action and great compassion.
The last is the gravest. If we sit very well and yet the heart grows cold, that is not progress. Contemplation is introduced here precisely to catch this danger.
What does it contemplate? “All conditioned dharmas in the world: none can remain for long, and in an instant they change and decay. All activities of mind arise and cease thought by thought; for this reason they are suffering.”
Then come three similes for the three times—one sentence for each time, each fitted to its nature:
- Dharmas thought of in the past are “dim and fleeting like a dream”—past and without reality.
- Dharmas thought of in the present are “like a flash of lightning”—present and immediately gone.
- Dharmas thought of in the future are “like clouds suddenly rising”—not yet arisen, then suddenly there.
One further contemplation is added: “All embodied things in the world are impure, filled with every kind of defilement, without a single thing in which to delight.”
Contemplation Does Not End in Withdrawal
Here the passage turns, and the turn is among the most consequential in the entire part.
After contemplating impermanence and impurity, the author does not let the reader remain in aversion to the world. He gives a reflection in which compassion arises from contemplation:
“Since beginningless time, all sentient beings have been perfumed by ignorance, causing their minds to arise and cease, and they have undergone every great suffering of body and mind. Even now they endure immeasurable oppression, while the suffering they will undergo in the future has no limit. Hard to relinquish and hard to escape, all this remains outside their awareness. Sentient beings are in this condition; they are deeply deserving of compassion.”
The next step after seeing suffering is not to hide from it but to see that others are within it as well. The last clause carries the edge: they do not even know the condition in which they suffer.
Compassion then issues in a vow: “May my mind be free of discrimination. Throughout the ten directions may I cultivate every wholesome merit, continuing through all the future, and with immeasurable skillful means rescue every suffering sentient being, enabling them to attain the highest bliss of nirvāṇa.”
Contemplate impermanence → see the suffering of sentient beings → arouse compassion → establish the great vow. This sequence transforms contemplation from a technique of withdrawal into an entrance to great compassion.
Daily Life After the Vow
“Because one has aroused such a vow, at every time and in every place one learns and practices every wholesome act within one’s capacity without abandoning it, the mind never becoming indolent—except while seated, when one directs mindfulness exclusively to calming.”
The exception draws the boundary of exclusivity: calming alone belongs to the seat, not to the rest of the day.
The passage goes further: “Whether walking, standing, lying down, or rising, one should practice calming and contemplation together.”
What does practicing them together mean? The author is exact:
“While being mindful that dharmas by their own nature are unborn, one is also mindful that the good and evil karma formed through the conjunction of causes and conditions, together with its painful and pleasant recompense, is neither lost nor destroyed.” The unborn nature of dharmas is known without canceling karmic recompense.
“While being mindful of karmic recompense for good and evil through causes and conditions, one is also mindful that its nature cannot be apprehended.” The reality of karmic recompense is known without turning it into a fixed substance.
The two statements counterbalance one another. To hold only to the unborn nature can become disregard for cause and effect; to hold only to the unfailing character of karmic recompense can become reification. Both understandings must remain present for calming and contemplation to be practiced together.
Calming and Contemplation Each Address Two Kinds of Person
“Cultivating calming counters the attachment of ordinary beings to the world and enables one to abandon the fearful view of the two vehicles. Cultivating contemplation counters the narrow-minded fault of those of the two vehicles who do not arouse great compassion, and it removes ordinary beings from the failure to cultivate wholesome roots.”
The pairing crosses the usual division of audiences: each gate faces both kinds of person—calming is not simply for ordinary beings, nor contemplation simply for those of the two vehicles.
The author closes without qualification: “These two—calming and contemplation—assist one another in accomplishment and are never abandoned or separated. If calming and contemplation are not both complete, there is no possibility of entering the path to bodhi.”
Without both, one cannot enter. The whole part has moved from the four kinds of faith through the five gates of practice, posture, the works of Māra, the ten benefits, contemplation, compassion, and the vow, only to come to rest on this sentence.
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 divides the gate of calming and contemplation in two: first a brief clarification, then a full explanation. The preceding unit contains the brief clarification; this unit is the full explanation. The long passage becomes easier to follow once its place within the larger division is known.
At the crucial points, however, the author of the treatise has already said what is needed: single-practice samādhi is defined by equality and nonduality; suchness is the root of samādhi; the samādhis of non-Buddhist paths are judged by views, craving, and self-conceit; and the samādhi of suchness is tested by the absence of laxity and conceit after concentration and by the gradual thinning of the afflictions. The commentator says little here because the treatise itself already supplies the measure.
Wonhyo’s Commentary on the Awakening of Faith follows the outline without repeating the text of this passage; the two commentaries offer no divergent judgment here to set side by side.
And the treatise’s own sentence remains where it was: “Even after emerging from concentration there is neither laxity nor conceit.” It needs neither a commentator nor a claim to a stage of attainment.
考據Apparatus
一、科判定位
本單元為全論十六單元之第十四，範圍〔T32 0582b01–0583a11〕，一千零九十字。承前單元止觀門之「略明」，此為其廣說：一行三昧・魔事（惑亂之相八類）・外道三昧與真如三昧之別・現世十種利益・修觀之法・由觀生悲發願・止觀俱行。
法藏《大乘起信論義記》科止觀門為二：「釋相中亦二初略明。後廣說。」〔T44n1846 0282c12〕——本單元即其「廣說」。
二、異譯對勘
「一行三昧」四字，本論唯此一見〔0582b02〕，而實叉難陀本零命中（主線實測）。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）。「九十五種外道」〔0582c05〕為當時通行之數，論文未標其所出，誌不判。
四、本段釋要
一行三昧之界說出於論文自身：「謂一切諸佛法身與眾生身平等無二，即名一行三昧。」〔0582b02〕——不以定境為界，以平等無二為界。
真如是三昧之根本〔0582b03〕：「當知真如是三昧根本，若人修行，漸漸能生無量三昧。」——本論以真如為諸三昧之根，非以某一定法為根。
外道三昧之判準〔0582b25〕：「皆不離見愛我慢之心，貪著世間名利恭敬故」——判之以心之所著，不以定境之深淺。
真如三昧之相〔0582b27〕：「不住見相、不住得相，乃至出定亦無懈慢，所有煩惱漸漸微薄。」——出定之後亦為驗處。
五、諸家異釋（分欄並錄）
| 鏡 | 逐字 | 錨 |
|---|---|---|
| 法藏《義記》（唐·科止觀門） | 「釋相中亦二初略明。後廣說。」 | 〔T44n1846 0282c12〕 |
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
- 一行三昧〔0582b02〕：本論唯一見。本叢書之內另有一帙以此為主題——《文殊般若》T232（曼陀羅仙譯）之一行三昧；二處各繫其書，不相混計（其名相之異同屬對讀之事，非本帙所判）。
- 真如三昧〔0582b27〕：前單元出其名，此處出其相與判準。
- 九十五種外道〔0582c05〕。
- 奢摩他／毘鉢舍那：其名在前單元，此處但言止觀。
- 十種利益〔0582c03〕：論文自標「現世當得十種利益」。
- 止觀俱行〔0583a02〕：論文自作「皆應止觀俱行」，非後人綜稱。
七、譬喻·修辭
本段用譬三處，皆論文自有，且為一組（觀三世之念）：
- 恍惚如夢〔0582c18〕：觀過去所念諸法。
- 猶如電光〔0582c19〕：觀現在所念諸法。
- 猶如於雲忽爾而起〔0582c19〕：觀未來所念諸法。
三譬各配一世，次第與所喻之性相應：夢者已過而無實，電者現而即逝，雲者未起而忽起。不為本段另造譬喻。
八、徵引承衍
- 論內之前後相繫：本段承前單元止觀門之「略明」而為「廣說」；「唯除坐時專念於止」〔0583a01〕回應前單元「若從坐起去來進止有所施作，於一切時常念方便隨順觀察」；末後止觀各對治凡夫與二乘，回應因緣分第六因緣「為示修習止觀，對治凡夫二乘心過故」——論於因緣分所預告者，至此圓滿。
- 本叢書之內：一行三昧一名與《文殊般若》帙直接相繫（見目六）；各繫其書，不相混計。
九、校本定位
本單元域〔0582b01–0583a11〕之異讀十二處，並錄不判：
| 錨 | 大正作 | 他本作 |
|---|---|---|
| 〔0582b01〕 | 如 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0582b05〕 | 之所 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0582b06〕 | 心 | 以 |
| 〔0582b08〕 | 若 | 或 |
| 〔0582b11〕 | 知 | 和 |
| 〔0582b15〕 | 休 | 伏 |
| 〔0582c04〕 | 為 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0582c07〕 | 疑 | 疑惑 |
| 〔0582c10〕 | 惱 | 惚 |
| 〔0582c18〕 | 恍惚 | 恍忽 |
| 〔0582c21〕 | 穢污 | 污穢 |
| 〔0582c24〕 | 所 | 世 |
〔0582b11〕「令人知宿命」之「知」他本作「和」，於魔事一節相關；〔0582c18〕「恍惚」他本作「恍忽」，於觀過去之譬相關。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 fourteenth of the sixteen units of the whole treatise, its range 〔T32 0582b01–0583a11〕, one thousand and ninety characters. It follows the 「略明」—“brief clarification” of the gate of calming and contemplation in the preceding unit and gives its full explanation: single-practice samādhi; the works of Māra (eight types of confusion and disturbance); the distinction between the samādhis of non-Buddhist paths and the samādhi of suchness; ten benefits in the present life; the method of cultivating contemplation; compassion and the vow arising from contemplation; and calming and contemplation practiced together.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
Fazang’s Record of the Meaning of the Awakening of Faith in the Great Vehicle divides the gate of calming and contemplation into two: 「釋相中亦二初略明。後廣說。」—“Within the explanation of its marks there are also two: first a brief clarification, then a full explanation” 〔T44n1846 0282c12〕. This unit is that 「廣說」—“full explanation.”
II. Cross-Recension Collation
The four characters 「一行三昧」—“single-practice samādhi” occur only here in the present treatise 〔0582b02〕 and have no occurrence in Śikṣānanda’s recension. A passage-by-passage collation of the two recensions for this unit has not been prepared; this is recorded.
III. Scriptural and Treatise Basis
This passage contains no sentence that quotes a scripture word for word (each sentence in the unit has been checked). The expression 「九十五種外道」—“ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist paths” 〔0582c05〕 was a number in current use at the time; the treatise does not identify its source. Recorded without adjudication.
IV. Exegesis of the Passage (the word-by-word mirror, phrase by phrase)
The treatise itself defines single-practice samādhi: 「謂一切諸佛法身與眾生身平等無二，即名一行三昧。」—“The dharma-bodies of all buddhas and the bodies of sentient beings are equal and nondual; this is called single-practice samādhi” 〔0582b02〕. It is defined by equality and nonduality, not by a meditative experience.
Suchness is the root of samādhi 〔0582b03〕: 「當知真如是三昧根本，若人修行，漸漸能生無量三昧。」—“Know that suchness is the root of samādhi. If a person practices, immeasurable samādhis can gradually arise.” The treatise takes suchness as the root of the samādhis, not any particular method of concentration.
The criterion for the samādhis of non-Buddhist paths 〔0582b25〕: 「皆不離見愛我慢之心，貪著世間名利恭敬故」—“They remain inseparable from views, craving, and self-conceit, because they are attached to worldly fame, gain, and reverence.” The criterion is what the mind attaches to, not how deep the concentration is.
The marks of the samādhi of suchness 〔0582b27〕: 「不住見相、不住得相，乃至出定亦無懈慢，所有煩惱漸漸微薄。」—“It does not abide in marks of what is seen or in marks of attainment. Even after emerging from concentration there is neither laxity nor conceit, and the afflictions gradually become faint.” What happens after emerging from concentration is also a place of verification.
V. Divergent Readings of the Commentators (recorded side by side, without adjudication)
| Mirror | Word for word | Anchor |
|---|---|---|
| Fazang, Record of the Meaning (Tang; outline of the gate of calming and contemplation) | 「釋相中亦二初略明。後廣說。」—“Within the explanation of its marks there are also two: first a brief clarification, then a full explanation.” | 〔T44n1846 0282c12〕 |
Wonhyo’s Commentary follows the outline rather than repeating the text of this passage. No divergent judgment between the two commentators is present here to record side by side—T44n1846 and T44n1844 have both been checked.
VI. Terms (first occurrences in this passage)
- 一行三昧 — single-practice samādhi 〔0582b02〕: its only occurrence in this treatise. Another work in this series takes the same expression as its central subject—the single-practice samādhi in the Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā, T232, translated by Mandra. The two occurrences remain attached to their respective works and are not pooled together; the relation between their meanings belongs to comparative reading and is not adjudicated here.
- 真如三昧 — the samādhi of suchness 〔0582b27〕: the preceding unit gives its name; the present unit sets out its marks and criteria.
- 九十五種外道 — the ninety-five kinds of non-Buddhist paths 〔0582c05〕.
- 奢摩他／毘鉢舍那 — śamatha / vipaśyanā: their names occur in the preceding unit; this passage speaks only of calming and contemplation.
- 十種利益 — the ten benefits 〔0582c03〕: the treatise itself states 「現世當得十種利益」—“one should obtain ten benefits in the present life.”
- 止觀俱行 — calming and contemplation practiced together 〔0583a02〕: the treatise itself says 「皆應止觀俱行」—“one should always practice calming and contemplation together”; this is not a later collective designation.
VII. Simile and Rhetoric
This passage uses three similes, all belonging to the treatise itself and forming a single group that contemplates thoughts of the three times:
- 恍惚如夢 · dim and fleeting like a dream 〔0582c18〕: contemplating dharmas thought of in the past.
- 猶如電光 · like a flash of lightning 〔0582c19〕: contemplating dharmas thought of in the present.
- 猶如於雲忽爾而起 · like clouds suddenly rising 〔0582c19〕: contemplating dharmas thought of in the future.
Each simile is matched to one time, and their order accords with the nature of what they illustrate: a dream has passed and lacks reality; lightning is present and immediately gone; clouds have not yet risen and then rise suddenly. No additional simile is made on the passage’s behalf.
VIII. Citation and Carrying Forward
- Connections before and after within the treatise: this passage follows the 「略明」—“brief clarification” of the gate of calming and contemplation in the preceding unit and forms its 「廣說」—“full explanation.” The sentence 「唯除坐時專念於止」—“except while seated, when one directs mindfulness exclusively to calming” 〔0583a01〕 answers the preceding unit’s 「若從坐起去來進止有所施作，於一切時常念方便隨順觀察」—“on rising from sitting, whether going, coming, advancing, stopping, or engaging in any activity, constantly remain mindful of skillful means and observe in accord with them at all times.” At the end, the account of what calming and contemplation each counter answers the sixth occasion given in the part on the occasion, 「為示修習止觀，對治凡夫二乘心過故」—“to disclose the cultivation of calming and contemplation, countering the faults in the minds of ordinary beings and those of the two vehicles.” What the treatise anticipated in the part on the occasion is completed here.
- Within this series: the name single-practice samādhi is directly connected with the edition of the Mañjuśrī Prajñāpāramitā noted under VI; each remains attached to its own work and the two are not pooled together.
IX. Text-critical Placement
Within the range of this unit 〔0582b01–0583a11〕 there are twelve variant readings, recorded side by side without adjudication:
| Anchor | Taishō text | Other witnesses |
|---|---|---|
| 〔0582b01〕 | 如 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0582b05〕 | 之所 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0582b06〕 | 心 | 以 |
| 〔0582b08〕 | 若 | 或 |
| 〔0582b11〕 | 知 | 和 |
| 〔0582b15〕 | 休 | 伏 |
| 〔0582c04〕 | 為 | 〔－〕 |
| 〔0582c07〕 | 疑 | 疑惑 |
| 〔0582c10〕 | 惱 | 惚 |
| 〔0582c18〕 | 恍惚 | 恍忽 |
| 〔0582c21〕 | 穢污 | 污穢 |
| 〔0582c24〕 | 所 | 世 |
At 〔0582b11〕, 「令人知宿命」—“causing a person to know former lives” uses 「知」—“know,” which appears as 「和」 in other witnesses; this bears on the section concerning the works of Māra. At 〔0582c18〕, 「恍惚」—“dim and fleeting” appears as 「恍忽」 in other witnesses; this bears on the simile used in contemplating the past. Both are recorded side by side without adjudication.
Within the range of this unit: lacuna markers 0, private-use-area characters 0, interlinear notes 0.