成唯識論 唯識性·真如

From the first verse to this point the treatise has been clarifying the character of consciousness-only — how consciousness transforms, into what, and why those aspects are not real. This chapter has one verse only, and it is a turn: the character is done; now the nature.

Verse 25: "This is the ultimate of all dharmas, and it is suchness; because it is constantly thus in its nature, it is the true reality of consciousness-only."

Four senses of ultimate are distinguished first: worldly (aggregates, bases, elements), reasoned (the four noble truths), realized (the suchness of the two emptinesses), and ultimate ultimate (the one true dharma-realm). What is meant here is the last.

Then the word suchness: true, meaning real, showing it is not false; such, meaning constantly so, showing it does not alter. Together: real and unaltering, constantly thus in its nature through every state.

The words "and it is" carry intent: they say that the ultimate of dharmas and suchness are not two things.

The closing phrase, "the true reality of consciousness-only," is the hinge of the whole treatise: suchness is the true reality of consciousness-only. It must be read with care — it does not say suchness is consciousness, nor that consciousness is suchness. The distinction is drawn plainly: the nature of consciousness-only is twofold — a false nature, which is the wholly imagined, and a true one, which is the perfectly accomplished. What is spoken of here is the latter.

This one verse stands as its own chapter because it answers the question that was bound to come: after all this talk of consciousness transforming, is anything real at all?

Yes. The true reality of consciousness — not outside consciousness, and not consciousness itself, but the reality disclosed when consciousness has departed from what it imagined.

With that, clarifying the character ends, and clarifying the stages begins — how the road is walked.

C. Showing the true nature of consciousness-only (expounding the twenty-fifth verse, the true nature of consciousness-only)

1. Expounding the first three lines (this supreme meaning of all dharmas is precisely suchness, since it is always just as its own nature is)

The "nature" spoken of here is just the perfectly-accomplished nature spoken of before — that is, suchness. Why is it called "the supreme meaning of all dharmas"? Because it is the most ultimate, most excellent principle of all dharmas (the ultimate truth = the most excellent truth). But the term "ultimate truth," looked at closely, has four levels, each higher than the last. The first level is called "the worldly supreme meaning," and means the aggregates, the bases, the elements, and the like — these, though they still fall within the world, already count, beside the trivial worldly affairs of ordinary people, as a principle one level higher. The second level is called "the supreme meaning of principle," and means the four truths: suffering, its origin, its cessation, the path. The third level is called "the realized supreme meaning," and means the suchness disclosed by the two emptinesses, "the emptiness of persons and the emptiness of dharmas" (which one sees only by realizing it for oneself in practice). The fourth level is called "the supreme of the supreme," and means "the one true dharma-realm" — this is the highest level, the very supreme even among the supreme meanings.

Now, when the verse says "the supreme meaning of all dharmas," which of the four levels above does it mean? It means that very last one (the supreme of the supreme, that is, the one true dharma-realm). Why take only the last level? Because this level alone is the realm that "the most excellent path" (meaning the path of non-discriminating wisdom, into which no concept or discrimination is mixed) reaches for itself, sees for itself. The author of the treatise puts it this way on purpose, precisely in order to set aside the former three levels, lest the reader mistake the verse's "supreme meaning" for a loose reference to those three ordinary levels; and so he marks it out: "this is the supreme meaning of all dharmas (meaning that highest level)."

This "supreme meaning of all dharmas," put under another name, is just "suchness." The two characters "suchness" can be unpacked one by one: "true" carries the sense of really-real, telling us that it is not in the least false, not something falsely taken to be there; "so" carries the sense of "always one and the same," telling us that it never changes, never one way today and another tomorrow. Put together: this really-real thing, in whatever stage, whatever situation, forever keeps its own original look (and this is exactly what the verse means by "since it is always just as its own nature is"), and so it is given the name "suchness." In a word, "suchness" means "clear and limpid, solidly real, not false in the least."

The character "also" in the verse's "is precisely suchness" — that "also" (also, again) — is put there with a purpose: it hints that this same one "nature," besides "suchness," has several other names. For instance, it can also be called "the dharma-realm," called "the reality-limit," and so on. These names each call the one same thing from one angle; as for just which sense each name takes, the other treatises explain it in full, distinguishing one from another, and we need not spread it all out here.

2. Expounding the fourth line (it is precisely the true reality of consciousness-only)

This "nature" is also what the verse's last line calls "the true reality of consciousness-only" (the real nature of consciousness-only). Here something must be noticed: "the nature of consciousness-only" is in fact of two kinds, and these must be told apart. The first is the "delusive" nature of consciousness-only, meaning the wholly-imagined nature — this is that whole apparatus the ordinary being heaps up by random discrimination and forcibly fastens on; one must realize that even the thought "everything is only consciousness," if it is grasped with delusive discrimination, still belongs to the delusive side. The second is the truly "real" nature of consciousness-only, meaning the perfectly-accomplished nature. The reason the verse deliberately adds the character "true," saying "consciousness-only's 'true' reality," is precisely to set aside that former, "delusive" kind, and to mark out that what is spoken of here is the real one.

From another angle, the nature of consciousness-only can be divided into two kinds again. The first is the "conventional" nature of consciousness-only, meaning the other-dependent nature — this is that layer which comes to arise only when a host of causes and conditions are gathered together; though it is not false, it is still a worldly dharma that has arising and ceasing. The second is the "supreme-meaning" nature of consciousness-only, meaning, again, the perfectly-accomplished nature. So the character "true" the verse adds, this time, is meant to set aside the "conventional" kind too (the other-dependent), and to mark out: what truly counts as "the true reality of consciousness-only" takes only this supreme-meaning kind — that is, the perfectly-accomplished nature. (Before, the character "true" set aside the delusive wholly-imagined; here the character "true" sets aside the conventional other-dependent; with both sides set aside, all that remains is this one, the perfectly-accomplished.)

3. The general intent of verses twenty-three to twenty-five

Finally, taking these three verses (the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth) together, what they mean to say is one overall point: in quite a few scriptures the Buddha says "all dharmas have no self-nature," but this saying is not a teaching that pushes the principle through to the bottom, all the way, a "definitive" teaching; it is spoken this way because "there is a further intent" behind it (the Buddha, aiming at the ordinary being's grasping, deliberately speaks thus to break that grasping, and does not mean the words at face value). So one who really has discernment should not seize on the four words "no self-nature" and thereupon insist flatly that all dharmas are one and all empty, with no self-nature whatsoever. One must realize: of the three natures, two — the other-dependent nature and the perfectly-accomplished nature — are in fact not non-existent; the one that is truly "non-existent" is only the wholly-imagined that the ordinary being forcibly fastens on, and that alone.

Up to this point the treatise has been laying out, step by step, what it calls the "appearance" of consciousness-only — how everything we experience is nothing but a presentation of consciousness. With the twenty-fifth verse the subject changes. Now the question is the "nature" of consciousness-only: of all these things that consciousness presents, what is their most ultimate, most real ground? The first three lines of this verse say, "The supreme sense of all these things — this is precisely Suchness, because it is constant, always just as its own nature is." The fourth line says, "And this is exactly the true reality of consciousness-only." Following the verse, we will explain it in three parts: first the first three lines (the supreme sense, and Suchness), then the fourth line (the true reality of consciousness-only), and finally we will draw together the combined intent of the three verses, the twenty-third through the twenty-fifth.

The "supreme sense" and "Suchness" spoken of in this verse have their roots in scripture and treatise alike. The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, in its chapter on the character of the supreme-sense truth, says that "the supreme sense is what the noble ones realize inwardly for themselves" and that it "surpasses every domain of investigative thought" — for what investigation and discrimination range over is only the realm handed down in turn among ordinary beings, whereas the supreme sense is apart from words and apart from discrimination, realized in person by the noble ones alone; and this is the scriptural source of the verse's phrase "the supreme sense of all things." The same chapter says the supreme-sense truth "is of a single flavor, pervading all things" — Suchness is without difference and without alteration in all the aggregates, the sense-fields, and even the limbs of the path; and this is the scriptural source of the verse's phrase "constant, always just as its own nature is." The Yogācārabhūmi, in its chapter on the meaning of reality, goes further and sets up "four kinds of reality" (that established by the world, that established by reasoning, that ranged over by the wisdom purified of the afflictive obstruction, and that ranged over by the wisdom purified of the cognitive obstruction); and it gathers the most ultimate under the last of these, "the reality ranged over by the wisdom purified of the cognitive obstruction" — namely the "inexpressible own-nature of all things" that is the object of the buddhas' and bodhisattvas' non-discriminating wisdom upon entering the selflessness of phenomena, which is "the supreme, the unsurpassed Suchness, the very limit of the knowable," beyond which all right investigation turns back and cannot cross. What this verse expounds has its scriptural root in the chapter on the character of the supreme-sense truth in the Saṃdhinirmocana, and its treatise-basis in the chapter on the meaning of reality in the Yogācārabhūmi — and with that we follow the verse and open the exposition.

C. Clarifying the Nature of Consciousness-Only (commentary on the twenty-fifth verse, "the true nature of consciousness-only")

This section as a whole is titled "Clarifying the Nature of consciousness-only," and its very point is to bring out one thing: the nature spoken of earlier as the perfectly-accomplished nature is exactly the "true nature of consciousness-only" to be explained here. Below it is taken up in detail, point by point.

1. Commentary on the First Three Lines — "The supreme sense of all these things is precisely Suchness, because it is constant, always just as its own nature is"

(i) This nature is "the supreme sense of all things" — and "the supreme sense" in fact has four levels

Begin with the verse's first line, "the supreme sense of all these things." The "this nature" spoken of here is the perfectly-accomplished nature discussed earlier, which is the same as Suchness; and it is "the supreme sense of all things," because it is the supreme-sense truth of everything that exists.

But the point must be stated precisely: "the supreme-sense truth" does not carry only a single meaning. Broadly divided, it has four levels. The first is the worldly supreme sense — this refers to such things as the aggregates, the sense-fields, and the elements. Although these still belong to the world, compared with ordinary worldly appearances they already count as "supreme" — they go one layer deeper than the coarse, surface phenomena that ordinary beings grasp at — and so they are called the worldly supreme sense. The second is the reasoned supreme sense — this refers to the four noble truths: suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path. This is the meaning disclosed when one investigates by correct reasoning. The third is the realized supreme sense — this refers to the Suchness disclosed through the two emptinesses, the emptiness of self and the emptiness of phenomena. This is what the noble ones obtain by direct realization. The fourth is the supreme of the supreme sense — this refers to the one truly real dharma-realm, the single true dharma-realm. This is, among all the supreme senses, the most supreme supreme sense.

(ii) The "supreme sense" of this verse points specifically to that last level

So when this verse says "the supreme sense of all these things," which of the four above does it intend? The answer is that it intends specifically the last one — the supreme of the supreme sense, that is, the one true dharma-realm. Why is this one alone selected? Because it is the domain ranged over by the most excellent path, the path of non-discrimination. Precisely in order to set apart the first three kinds of supreme sense, and to keep anyone from mistaking the meaning as one of those shallower three layers, the verse deliberately marks it out this way as "the supreme sense of all these things" — pointing to that most ultimate level.

(iii) This supreme sense is "Suchness" — how to read the two words "true" and "so"

The verse goes on, "this is precisely Suchness": this supreme sense of all things is the same as "Suchness." The two words that make up the term must be read separately. "True" means real, and is used to show that it is not false — not inverted, not a mere semblance. "So" means constantly so, and is used to express that it has no alteration — it does not shift about, becoming this way and that. Put together, the meaning is: this real nature, in every state — whether the ordinary state or the noble state, the time of delusion or the time of awakening — is "constant, always just as its own nature is." This corresponds exactly to the verse's last line, "because it is constant, always just as its own nature is." Because it is in this way constant and unchanging, real and not false, it is named "Suchness," meaning "abiding clear and serene, not false."

Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) divides these two words "true" and "so" into two further pairs of distinctions, so that what each sets apart stands out the more plainly. The first pair works in terms of the contaminated and the uncontaminated: "true" sets aside the contaminated dharmas (the contaminated being false), and "so" sets aside the uncontaminated conditioned dharmas (these, though true in their essence, still undergo arising and ceasing and so are not constantly so) — with the two words clamping in from either side, only that which is uncontaminated and unconditioned, both true and so, answers to the name. The second pair works in terms of the three natures: "true" sets aside the wholly-imagined (which is grasped by false imagining), and "so" sets aside the other-dependent (which is subject to arising and ceasing) — and the reason the first three lines add the word "also" ("this is also precisely Suchness") is just that the prior three natures (or the prior three kinds of supreme sense) are all still "not so," and only this fourth level is both true and so. Kuiji further notes in passing that this verse raises only the two names "Suchness" and "the true reality of consciousness-only," and that, counting in the commentary of the treatise-author, there are in all but four titles; hence the word "and the rest" is meant to gather in the remaining many other names (such as the various titles listed elsewhere, in the Mahā-prajñāpāramitā and the Abhidharma texts), each of which "receives its fuller explanation according to its own particular doctrinal point."

(iv) The single word "also" in the verse — pointing to its many other names

The verse says "this is also precisely Suchness," and that word "also" is no idle word. It is hinting that this one and the same nature, besides being called Suchness, has many other names as well. For instance it is also called the "dharma-realm," also called the "true limit," and so on. In other treatises these names receive detailed explanation, each according to the particular doctrinal point it is meant to emphasize; here it is only touched upon in passing, so that one knows "Suchness" is not some single, isolated designation, but one among the many titles of one and the same real nature.

2. Commentary on the Fourth Line — "And this is exactly the true reality of consciousness-only"

(i) Why it must say "true reality" — because within "the nature of consciousness-only" there is the false and the real

The fourth line of the verse says "and this is exactly the true reality of consciousness-only": this nature is exactly the true reality of consciousness-only. Here one distinction must be watched carefully: the very term "the nature of consciousness-only" in fact contains two kinds, one false and one real. The first kind is the false nature of consciousness-only — that is, the wholly-imagined nature. Even the very doctrine of "consciousness-only," if a person grasps at it by way of inverted false imagining, becomes itself false (to cling to "consciousness-only" itself is still a form of delusion). The second kind is the real nature of consciousness-only — that is, the perfectly-accomplished nature. The verse deliberately adds the word "true" and says "true reality" precisely in order to set apart that "false" side, and to take only the real side.

(ii) There is yet a second layer of false-and-real — the worldly other-dependent, and the supreme perfectly-accomplished

"The nature of consciousness-only" can also be divided into two kinds from another angle. The first kind is the worldly nature of consciousness-only — that is, the other-dependent nature; it is a conditioned thing that exists in dependence on conditions, and it belongs to the level of conventional truth. The second kind is the supreme nature of consciousness-only — that is, the perfectly-accomplished nature; it belongs to the level of supreme-sense truth. When the verse says "true reality," on this angle the purpose is to set apart that "worldly" side (the other-dependent) as well, showing that the "true reality of consciousness-only" taken here is solely that supreme-sense perfectly-accomplished nature, and not the other-dependent. In other words, the two words "true reality" first set aside the "falseness" of the wholly-imagined, and here again set aside the "worldliness" of the other-dependent, finally coming to rest on the perfectly-accomplished nature as the one and only reality.

3. The Combined Commentary — what the three verses, the twenty-third through the twenty-fifth, are saying when taken together

Finally, taking the three preceding verses (the twenty-third, twenty-fourth, and twenty-fifth) together, they share one central point they mean to convey: in some places the Buddha's scriptures say "all things are without self-nature," but this kind of "without-nature" speech is not the most ultimate, most fully explicit teaching — it is an expedient utterance carrying a hidden intent. Therefore a person of genuine wisdom should not seize on these few lines about "without-nature" and, on that basis, sweepingly deny all things, concluding that they are utterly without any self-nature. One must understand: the two natures, the other-dependent and the perfectly-accomplished, are in fact not nonexistent.

Onward Transmission

The supreme-sense ground established in this section — the perfectly-accomplished, Suchness, the true reality of consciousness-only — is the resting-point at which the whole consciousness-only system gathers up its account of "true reality," and the later treatises take it up one by one. The Hundred Dharmas treatise places Suchness among the "six unconditioned dharmas," as the real ground that the perfectly-accomplished comprehends and that all things rest upon. The Thirty Verses — verse twenty-five (clarifying the nature of consciousness-only: Suchness, the true reality of consciousness-only) — is the very root-text this section expounds, verse answering to verse; coming after verses twenty through twenty-four (the three natures and the three non-natures), it sets the perfectly-accomplished, argued out earlier, firmly down as the supreme sense of all things. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on reality, when it argues the "perfectly-accomplished," says that "the supreme-sense truth is likewise of three kinds — the first being the supreme sense as meaning, namely Suchness, which is named supreme sense because it is the object of supreme wisdom," and again that "these three supreme senses are to be known as established solely upon the perfectly-accomplished among the three roots," and that "the unconditioned comprises in all Suchness and nirvāṇa, and because it is without alteration it is named the perfectly-accomplished" — which precisely illumines this section's four supreme senses and the changelessness of Suchness. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapters on the cause-and-fruit of that entry and on the distinctions of that cultivation, argues the perfectly-accomplished at length (the pure-portion other-dependent, the reality disclosed in the transformation of the basis) — which is just the unfolding of the supreme-sense ground of this section. As for the Twenty Verses, its concern is to establish that consciousness is without external objects and to refute the outsiders' clinging to real objects, and it has no direct counterpart to the perfectly-accomplished, Suchness, and the supreme-sense non-nature; here it is left aside.