成唯識論 義疏通講 · 冊5

We have finished showing how the "appearance" and the "true nature" of consciousness-only are established. Now we must ask a further set of questions: this whole teaching of consciousness-only — who is it that awakens into it, through how many stages, and in what way does one awaken into it step by step? This section first sets out the full map of all five stages, and then treats the first of them on its own — the Stage of Provisions. What marks the Stage of Provisions is that the practitioner can already believe in and understand consciousness-only deeply, yet has not truly entered into its realization; the seeds of the twofold grasping still cannot be suppressed, still cannot be cut off. So the work of this stage is to gather merit and gather wisdom — to lay up, little by little, the capital that will later make possible the Path of Seeing, the Path of Cultivation, and Buddhahood itself.

This Stage of Provisions has its roots in scripture and treatise alike. The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, in its chapter on the absence of own-nature, speaks of a class of beings who "from the very beginning have not planted roots of goodness, have not purified their obstructions, have not ripened their continua, have not greatly cultivated resolute understanding, and have not been able to accumulate the two provisions of merit and wisdom" — and this is precisely the character of the Stage of Provisions, where "resolute understanding is not yet full and merit-and-wisdom not yet laid up." The same sūtra, in its chapter on the perfection of the grounds, gives this whole tract before the Path of Seeing the comprehensive name "the ground of understanding-and-practice": the bodhisattva "first, on the ground of understanding-and-practice, relying on the ten dharma-practices, cultivates supremely well the patient acceptance born of resolute understanding," and only then can pass beyond this ground and enter the noble stage (realizing the true nature that departs from the ordinary). And on this very ground of understanding-and-practice, "the afflictions in their active manifestation cannot yet be subdued, but rather the practitioner is subdued by them" — the active afflictions are not merely impossible to hold down, the practitioner is overpowered by them; this is the scriptural ground of the present verse's "the latent tendencies of the twofold grasping still cannot be suppressed or extinguished." Turning then to the treatises: the Yogācārabhūmi, in its chapter on the bodhisattva ground, fixes the determinate lineage as of two kinds — "naturally resident (obtained as the way things are)" and "developed through cultivation (obtained through the repeated practice of roots of goodness)" — and holds that both must be present together; this is what grounds the present section's "two lineages of the Great Vehicle." The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on entering the characteristic of the knowable, answers "who is able to awaken into it" by the four powers — "the perfuming of much hearing, meeting and serving the Buddhas, settled resolute understanding, and the accumulation of roots of goodness" — and matches the five stages with "the ground of understanding-and-practice, the Path of Seeing, the Path of Cultivation, and the ultimate path"; this is what grounds the present section's "four excellent powers" and "sequence of the five stages." What this section expounds has its scriptural root in the Saṃdhinirmocana and its treatise-basis in the Yogācārabhūmi and the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha — and with that we follow the verse and open the exposition.

A. The General Heading — Who, How Many Stages, and How One Awakens into Consciousness-Only

1. The One Who Awakens Must Possess the Two Lineages of the Great Vehicle

The "appearance" and the "true nature" of consciousness-only that we have established must be told apart. "Appearance" means the appearing aspect of consciousness as dependent-arising (the side that is conditioned, phenomenal); "true nature" means the perfectly-accomplished real nature, the truth of how things actually are (the side that is the genuine reality underlying all dharmas). So then — who, in how many stages, and how does one awaken into this appearance and this nature? The answer is: only a person who fully possesses the two lineages of the Great Vehicle is able, roughly across five stages, to awaken into it by degrees.

Which two lineages? The first is called the innate lineage — the cause of the uncontaminated dharmas that has, from beginningless time, naturally resided within the root consciousness (that is, the eighth consciousness, the ālaya-vijñāna). These are the uncontaminated seeds one is born already carrying. The second is called the lineage developed through cultivation — formed gradually, after one has heard the true Dharma that flows out from the pure Dharma-realm, by the perfuming that hearing the Dharma leaves behind. These are uncontaminated seeds acquired later, through the perfuming of hearing. One is the inborn capital, the other is the capital won by later practice; both must be present before one can even speak of awakening into consciousness-only by stages.

2. The Names of the Five Stages

And which are the five stages of awakening into consciousness-only? The first is the Stage of Provisions — cultivating the roots of goodness of the Great Vehicle that tend toward liberation (called the "portion conducive to liberation"). The second is the Stage of Applied Effort — cultivating the roots of goodness, the applied effort of the Great Vehicle, that tend toward the genuine discernment of truth (called the "portion conducive to penetrating discernment"). The third is the Stage of Penetration — the Path of Seeing in which the bodhisattvas come to abide (seeing suchness truly for the first time). The fourth is the Stage of Cultivation — the Path of Cultivation in which the bodhisattvas abide (cultivating repeatedly after the Path of Seeing). The fifth is the Ultimate Stage — abiding in unsurpassed perfect awakening, which is Buddhahood itself.

3. How One Awakens into the Five Stages by Degrees

How do these five stages link up one to the next, step by step? Speaking in terms of the "appearance" and the "true nature" of consciousness-only: in the Stage of Provisions, the bodhisattva can give rise to deep belief and understanding of it; reaching the Stage of Applied Effort, he can gradually suppress both the "grasped" (the side of what is cognized as object) and the "grasper" (the side of the cognizing subject), and so set in motion the genuine wisdom of the Path of Seeing; reaching the Stage of Penetration, he penetrates and truly realizes it as it actually is; reaching the Stage of Cultivation, he then takes the truth seen in the Path of Seeing and cultivates it over and over, suppressing and cutting off the various remaining obstructions; and reaching the Ultimate Stage, he steps free of all obstruction, perfect and luminous, able to the very end of future time to teach and transform all sentient beings, and to bring them too to awaken into the appearance and the true nature of consciousness-only. The whole movement runs: belief-and-understanding → suppression-and-removal → genuine realization → repeated cutting-off of obstruction → stepping free of obstruction and delivering beings.

B. The Stage of Provisions

1. First the Question: What Does the Stage of Provisions Look Like?

The first stage, the Stage of Provisions — what exactly is its character? This question is what the verse below answers.

2. Raising the Verse in Answer

The verse says: beginning from the moment one gives rise to the deep and firm great mind of awakening, and continuing right up until — but not yet reaching — the arising of that "consciousness" of the Stage of Applied Effort that can make discernment; whoever resolves to abide in the truly supreme real nature of consciousness-only — with respect to the "latent tendencies of the twofold grasping" (that is, the seeds of the afflictive obstruction and the cognitive obstruction drawn forth by the grasped and the grasper) — still cannot suppress them, and cannot extinguish them. This passage is the whole of the Stage of Provisions.

The verse set down in this section is in fact one set of three stanzas, stringing this stage together with the two stages that immediately follow it into a single forward-running line — laying out the whole map here first, with each later chapter then treating its part in detail. The first stanza directly expounds the Stage of Provisions, which is the one just given. The second stanza turns toward the Stage of Applied Effort: it speaks of how the practitioner sets up a little something before the mind and takes it to be the "nature of consciousness-only," yet because there is still something attained in the mind, still a residue of grasper and grasped, this is not yet truly abiding in consciousness-only — this is the measure of the Stage of Applied Effort, on the verge of realization but not yet realizing, cultivating while still carrying an image; it is left for the chapter on the Stage of Applied Effort to open up. The third stanza turns again toward the Stage of Penetration: it speaks of how, when the practitioner faces the object that is the support of cognition, the cognizing wisdom has now attained nothing whatsoever — only at this moment does one count as truly abiding in consciousness-only, because one has now left behind the appearance of the twofold grasping of grasper and grasped — this is the moment of the genuine Path of Seeing in the Stage of Penetration, and it too is left for the chapter on the Stage of Penetration to treat in detail. Here we only mark where these three stanzas are headed: one stanza belongs to the Stage of Provisions in this chapter, the other two point respectively to the Stages of Applied Effort and Penetration — they are signposts looking forward down the road.

3. The Prose Explanation of the Verse

(i) The Span and the Two Names of the Stage of Provisions

The author of the treatise now explains it line by line. The so-called Stage of Provisions is reckoned from the very moment one "gives rise to the deep and firm great mind of awakening," and runs right up until — but not yet reaching — the arising of the "consciousness conducive to penetrating discernment" (that is, the wisdom of the Stage of Applied Effort that discerns the truth); whoever resolves to abide in the truly supreme real nature of consciousness-only is, up to this boundary, entirely placed within the Stage of Provisions. Why is it called "Provisions"? Because this stage, for the sake of tending toward unsurpassed perfect awakening, gathers up various excellent capital — that is, the two provisions of merit and wisdom. And because this stage is also, for the sake of benefiting sentient beings, diligently seeking liberation, it has a second name as well: the "portion conducive to liberation," meaning the roots of goodness that accord with liberation. One name fixes its gaze on "laying up capital," the other on "heading toward liberation."

Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) draws the difference between these two gazes more sharply still. The name "Provisions" is "naming it by way of self-benefit" — fixed upon awakening, it lays up the capital of one's own attainment of Buddhahood; the name "portion conducive to liberation" is "naming it by way of benefiting others" — diligently seeking liberation for the sake of beings, it makes nirvāṇa its aim. One names by self-benefit, the other by benefiting others; it is one and the same stage, with each of the two names weighted toward its own concern. As for the phrase "the deep and firm great mind of awakening," the Notes also explains it by borrowing the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha's "pure, of dominant power, firm, and advancing": "deep" is the pure and the dominant power, "firm" is the firm mind and the advancing — the two words "deep and firm," taken together, point precisely to this great mind of awakening as it is first given rise to.

(ii) The Four Excellent Powers Can Bring Belief, Yet Still Cannot Suppress the Twofold Grasping

The bodhisattva at this stage works by relying on four excellent powers: first, cause (the power of his innate lineage); second, good friends (the support of spiritual teachers); third, attention (reasoned, accordant reflection); and fourth, provisions (the merit and wisdom already accumulated). Relying on these four powers, although he can believe in and understand the teaching of consciousness-only deeply, he still cannot truly fathom that the "grasper" and the "grasped" are both empty; for the most part he is still cultivating the bodhisattva practice at the "outer gate," not yet entering into inner realization. Precisely because of this, with respect to the latent tendencies drawn forth by the twofold grasping (the dormant seeds of confusion), he does not yet have power enough to suppress and extinguish them, and so has no way to keep the active manifestations of that twofold grasping from rising up. Able to believe and understand, yet unable to bring force to bear on cutting off the seeds — this is the measure of the Stage of Provisions.

(iii) Explaining "Twofold Grasping" and "Latent Tendency"

The "twofold grasping" spoken of here means the "grasping that grasps the two" — that is, the very attachment that does the grasping. It grasps at the self-nature of the "grasper" and the "grasped," taking both the subject side and the object side to be truly existent. And the "habit-energy of this twofold grasping" is what is called "the latent tendency of it." Why "latent tendency"? Because it follows along after sentient beings the whole way and lies dormant and buried within the storehouse consciousness (the eighth consciousness, the ālaya-vijñāna), and is also able, given the chance, to increase its harm — it "follows along," it "lies dormant," and it "increases as it follows," so it is called a latent tendency. Plainly put, this latent tendency is just the seeds of the cognitive obstruction and the afflictive obstruction.

(iv) What the Afflictive Obstruction Is

First, the afflictive obstruction. It is the attachment to that "real self" which is the wholly-imagined — led by the "view of the reified body-self" (that is, the self-view that takes the body-and-mind to be the self), together with the hundred-and-twenty-eight root afflictions, and all the various secondary afflictions that flow out from these root afflictions. This whole batch disturbs and torments the bodies and minds of sentient beings, and is able to obstruct nirvāṇa; therefore it is called the "afflictive obstruction" — what it obstructs is the side of liberation.

(v) What the Cognitive Obstruction Is

Next, the cognitive obstruction. It is the attachment to that "real dharma" which is the wholly-imagined — likewise led by the "view of the reified body-self," together with view, doubt, ignorance, craving, anger, conceit, and the rest. What it does is to cover over the side of the object-of-cognition that is, in itself, without distortion, so that one has no way to know as it truly is the object that ought to be known; it is able to obstruct awakening, and therefore is called the "cognitive obstruction" — what it obstructs is the side of the wisdom of becoming a Buddha. One obstructs liberation, the other obstructs awakening: these must be told apart.

(vi) The Cognitive Obstruction Does Not Arise Together with the Eighth, Maturational Consciousness

So with which consciousnesses does the cognitive obstruction associate, and with which not? Take the eighth consciousness first: the cognitive obstruction definitely does not arise together with the "maturational consciousness" (the eighth consciousness). There are three reasons. First, the very substance of the maturational consciousness is faint and lowly, too weak to hold up the cognitive obstruction. Second, it does not associate with mental factors of the kind of ignorance and discernment. Third, what truly does arise together with the eighth consciousness is the "wisdom-class realizing the emptiness of dharmas" (the wisdom that contemplates all dharmas as empty) — and the wisdom realizing the emptiness of dharmas is precisely the opposite in nature to the cognitive obstruction; where it is present, the cognitive obstruction has no way to get in.

(vii) How the Cognitive Obstruction Is Distributed Among the Seven Evolving Consciousnesses

Now take the seven evolving consciousnesses: among the first seven evolving consciousnesses, the cognitive obstruction, depending on the situation of each consciousness, is in some more and in some less — and the principle of its distribution is the same as the distribution of the afflictions explained earlier. Among them, the first five consciousnesses — eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body — because they have no discriminating function, definitely do not associate with the "clinging view that arises toward dharmas" or with "doubt" and the like; as for the remaining cognitive obstruction (everything other than view and doubt), all of it can be set in motion by the power of the mental consciousness. The first five consciousnesses cannot bring up view and doubt; it is the mental consciousness that is the key that stirs them into motion.

(viii) The Cognitive Obstruction Pervades Only the Unwholesome and the Indeterminate

With what moral quality of mind does the cognitive obstruction associate? Only with the "unwholesome" and the "indeterminate" — these two kinds of mind; it does not extend to wholesome mind. The reason: the treatise says that "ignorance" extends only to the two qualities of the unwholesome and the indeterminate; moreover, mental factors of the kind of "delusion" and "non-delusion" do not associate with it — "non-delusion" belongs to the wholesome, and since the cognitive obstruction does not extend to the wholesome, naturally it cannot link up with non-delusion.

(ix) Wherever There Is the Afflictive Obstruction There Must Be the Cognitive Obstruction: Same Substance, Different Function

Wherever the afflictive obstruction is present, the cognitive obstruction is certainly there as well. Why? Because the afflictive obstruction must take the cognitive obstruction as its support — only with the cognitive obstruction holding it up underneath can the afflictive obstruction stand. The "substance" of these two obstructions is no different (the same batch of seeds), yet their "function" is distinct. And so these two latent tendencies (afflictive and cognitive), against the counteraction of the holy path, differ in the strength of their function, strong in one and weak in the other; and there is, accordingly, an order of before and after in cutting them off.

(x) Within the Indeterminate, the Cognitive Obstruction Is Only "Born of Maturation," and Its Being "Non-Veiling" Is Said Relative to the Two Vehicles

Place the cognitive obstruction within the four subdivisions of the "non-veiling indeterminate" and look: it belongs only to the subdivision "born of maturation," not to the other three (it is not deportment, not craft, not the mind of transformation). Why? Because the strength of those three — deportment and the rest — is too thin, not enough at all to veil the object-of-cognition or obstruct awakening. And one more point must be made clear: that the cognitive obstruction is called "non-veiling" is said relative to the "two vehicles" — on their side it only blocks wisdom and does not block their nirvāṇa, so it is called "non-veiling"; yet said relative to the "bodhisattva," it is "veiling," because it really and truly obstructs the bodhisattva's awakening. The same obstruction, from a different standpoint, takes a different name.

(xi) An Objection Answered: The Cognitive Obstruction Plainly Has View and Doubt — Why Does Scripture Call It the "Ground of Ignorance Abiding"?

Here someone raises a question: the cognitive obstruction plainly contains "view," "doubt," and the like as well — so why do the scriptures call the seeds of the cognitive obstruction the "ground of ignorance abiding," as though it were nothing but ignorance? The answer: because within this cluster, the portion of "ignorance" is the most prevailing and the most prominent, it is named, on the whole, by "ignorance" — this does not mean there is no view and so forth within it. It is just like the seeds of affliction, for which are set up the four "grounds of abiding" named "the single ground of view," "craving for the desire realm," "craving for the form realm," and "craving for existence" — could it be that within those four grounds of abiding there really is no conceit and no ignorance? Of course there is; it is only that they are named after whichever portion most prevails. When scripture calls it the "ground of ignorance abiding," it is the very same way of naming.

(xii) Each of the Two Obstructions Has a Discrimination-Born and a Spontaneously-Arising Kind; the Division of Labor in Cutting Off and Suppressing

Now sort these two obstructions (afflictive and cognitive) by "how they arise": the "discrimination-born" kind (arising from a wrong teacher, a wrong teaching, or from one's own turning-over and reckoning) is placed under "what is cut off in the Path of Seeing" (the batch cut off at the time of the Path of Seeing); the "spontaneously-arising" kind (innate, rising up of itself naturally) is placed under "what is cut off in the Path of Cultivation" (the batch cut off at the time of the Path of Cultivation). As for the capacity to cut off the obstructions: the two vehicles can cut off only the "afflictive obstruction," while the bodhisattva cuts off both obstructions together. To cut these two obstructions off "forever," only the "holy path" (the uncontaminated path) can do it; but to merely "suppress" the "active manifestations" of these two for a time, even the "contaminated path" can manage that. Forever-cutting depends on the uncontaminated; temporary suppression the contaminated can do too — this division of labor must be kept in mind.

(xiii) The Bodhisattva of the Stage of Provisions: He Can Suppress the Coarse Manifestations, but the Subtle Ones and the Seeds He Still Cannot Extinguish

So returning to the bodhisattva of the Stage of Provisions: abiding in this stage, although at times he can suppress the "coarse, evident manifestations" of the twofold grasping, with respect to the "subtle manifestations," and the "two latent tendencies" (that is, the seeds), because the power of his calm-abiding and insight is still too weak, he cannot suppress them and cannot extinguish them. The coarse he just barely manages to hold down; the subtle and the seeds at the root he still cannot stir — this is exactly the measure of the power of the Stage of Provisions.

Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) cuts this measure of "still cannot be suppressed or extinguished" one layer finer. Within the Stage of Provisions, with respect to "the discrimination-born twofold grasping," although the practitioner can gradually suppress it, he cannot yet suppress it wholly (because the portion stirred into motion by a wrong teacher or a wrong teaching still rises up even in the Stage of Provisions); it is only on reaching the "Stage of Applied Effort" that one truly begins to be able to suppress the discrimination-born twofold grasping. So "still cannot be suppressed or extinguished" does not mean that nothing at all can be held down; rather: the discrimination-born is being gradually suppressed but not yet fully, and the innate at its root has not been stirred — the power of the Stage of Provisions stops just on this line.

4. Distinguishing the Stage and Its Practice

(i) The Stage of Provisions Belongs to the Ground of Understanding-and-Practice; What It Cultivates Comes to Nothing but the Two Kinds, Merit and Wisdom

This Stage of Provisions has not yet realized the suchness of consciousness-only; it merely relies on the power of "resolute understanding" (a strong and forceful belief-and-understanding) to cultivate various excellent practices — and so it should be placed within the "ground of understanding-and-practice" (the stage that proceeds on belief-and-understanding). What, then, is the character of the excellent practices it cultivates? They divide, roughly, into two kinds: one is "merit," the other is "wisdom." How are they told apart? Every excellent practice that has "wisdom" as its own nature is called "wisdom"; the rest is called "merit."

(ii) The Way of Dividing Merit and Wisdom by the Six Perfections

Take the "six perfections" and look at them side by side: in terms of the "general character" (speaking overall), each of the six perfections extends to both sides, merit and wisdom; in terms of the "specific character" (speaking separately), the first five (giving, discipline, patience, vigor, meditative concentration) count as "merit," and the sixth (wisdom) counts as "wisdom." There is also another way of dividing: the first three (giving, discipline, patience) count only as merit, the last one (wisdom) counts only as wisdom, and the remaining two (vigor, meditative absorption) extend to both merit and wisdom. The same set of six perfections — looked at from a different angle, the assigning of merit and wisdom comes out slightly differently.

(iii) The Way of Dividing by Self-Benefit and Benefiting Others

The excellent practices can also be divided into two kinds: practices cultivated for "self-benefit," and practices cultivated for "benefiting others." If one looks according to the "underlying intention" (the resolve of the mind), all excellent practices in fact extend to both self-benefit and benefiting others (once the resolve is broad, whatever one does benefits both sides at once); if one divides them by "specific character," then "the six that reach the far shore" (the six perfections) and "the limbs of awakening" (the thirty-seven aids to awakening) and such are placed under "practices of self-benefit," while "the four means of gathering" (giving, kind speech, beneficial conduct, working alongside) and "the four immeasurables" (loving-kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, equanimity) and such are placed, one and all, under "practices of benefiting others." Distinctions among such practice-gates run on without limit — and they are all the excellent practices to be cultivated in this Stage of Provisions.

(iv) The Three Forms of Shrinking Back and the Three Things by Which to Temper the Mind

Although the two obstructions of this stage have not yet been suppressed or removed, in the course of cultivating the excellent practices the practitioner runs into the "three forms of shrinking back" — three situations that make the mind draw back; but he can use "three things" to temper his own mind, so that toward what is to be realized and what is to be cultivated he becomes courageous and does not retreat.

The first form of shrinking back: hearing how vast, deep, and far-reaching is "unsurpassed perfect awakening," the mind draws back. The remedy is to "call up the example of others who have already realized the great awakening" — others have all realized it, so why can I not? Take this to temper one's own mind, courageous and not retreating.

The second form of shrinking back: hearing how hard to cultivate are "the perfections of giving and the rest," the mind draws back. The remedy is to "reflect that one's own resolve in fact can also cultivate giving and the rest" — turn and look at this resolve of one's own; it is capable of doing it. Take this to temper one's own mind, courageous and not retreating.

The third form of shrinking back: hearing how hard to realize is "the perfect transformation of the basis of all the Buddhas" (turning away and casting off the two obstructions entirely, and turning over and winning awakening and nirvāṇa entirely), the mind draws back. The remedy is to "take the coarse and shallow good deeds of others and set them beside the subtle and marvelous good cause of one's own" — if the coarse and shallow good of others can still win a good fruit, how much more this subtle and marvelous good cause of mine? Take this to temper one's own mind, courageous and not retreating. By means of these three things tempering one's own mind, making the mind of the path firm and ablaze, one goes on to cultivate the various excellent practices — and this is the complete picture of the practice of the Stage of Provisions.

Onward Transmission

What this stage establishes — "the two lineages, the sequence of the five stages, the four excellent powers, the seeds of the two obstructions, and the merit-and-wisdom of the ground of understanding-and-practice" — is the bedrock on which the whole consciousness-only system founds its account of "setting out on the path of realization," and the later treatises take it up one by one. The Hundred Dharmas treatise lists "trust" as the first among the wholesome mental factors — and the Stage of Provisions is precisely the setting-out, relying on resolute understanding and deep belief in the appearance and the true nature of consciousness-only; the same treatise also sets up "the state of the ordinary being" among the factors dissociated from mind, marking out this pre-realization status of one still short of the grounds. The Thirty Verses — verse twenty-six is the very root-verse this section expounds (the Stage of Provisions); and the verses that immediately follow, twenty-seven (the Stage of Applied Effort) and twenty-eight (the Stage of Penetration), string together with the present verse into a single forward-running line, verse succeeding to verse. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on distinguishing the counteractions, lists "the provisions not yet complete" as one of the three obstructions to awakening, and judges the sequence of obstruction by reference to the Path of Seeing and the Path of Cultivation — placing the Stage of Provisions within the sequence of stages for cutting off obstruction. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on entering the characteristic of the knowable, treats this stage at length by means of the four powers of "who is able to awaken into it," the five stages such as "the ground of understanding-and-practice," "the three minds that temper," and "the two provisions of merit and wisdom" — and so the present section's five stages, four excellent powers, and three forms of shrinking back have their broad source in that chapter. As for the Twenty Verses, its concern is to establish that consciousness-only is without external object and to refute the outsiders' clinging to real external objects, and it offers no direct counterpart to the sequence of the five stages of realization; here it is left aside.

Having finished speaking of the Stage of Provisions, we now turn to the second of the five stages of cultivating the practice of consciousness-only: the Stage of Applied Practice. This stage comes directly after the Stage of Provisions and stands immediately before the Path of Seeing, so its "appearance" — its shape and defining marks — is exactly what this section must lay out, passage by passage. In what follows we track both the root verse and the prose commentary, explaining: how this stage arises, which four practices are cultivated, the name and meaning of each of the four, why in the end the practitioner "cannot yet truly abide in consciousness-only," and finally what bonds this stage subdues, what object it contemplates, on what meditative concentration it rests, in which realm and destiny of beings it can arise, and under which ground it is subsumed.

The contemplative practice cultivated at this stage has its roots in scripture and treatise alike. In the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, in its chapter on the Yoga of Discernment, the bodhisattva Maitreya asks the World-Honored One: that "image" upon which insight (vipaśyanā) works in meditative concentration — is it different from, or not different from, the contemplating mind itself? The World-Honored One answers: it should be said to be "not different" — for that image is, from the first, "only consciousness," and what consciousness takes as object is precisely what consciousness itself manifests. Maitreya asks further: if the image is not other than the mind, does it not then come to "this mind seeing this mind"? The World-Honored One answers: in this there is in truth "no least dharma that sees another least dharma"; it is only that, when this mind arises, just such an image appears along with it. This teaching — that "the contemplated image is only mind, and seer and seen are without two dharmas" — is the very scriptural source for the contemplation of consciousness-only at this stage (first contemplating that the grasped image is only mind, then advancing to contemplate that the grasper too is without substance). As for the two sets of contemplation and the four concentrations on which the four applied practices rest, the treatises too supply the source. The Yogācārabhūmi, in its chapter on Reality, sets out the "four investigations" (investigating name, the thing, the provisional designation of intrinsic nature, and the provisional designation of differentiation) and the "four wisdoms of things as they truly are" (drawn forth by the four investigations) — these are the treatise-basis for this section's "four investigations" and "four wisdoms of things as they truly are" (what the Yogācārabhūmi calls "the thing," the present treatise calls "the referent"). The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on Entering the Characteristics of the Knowable, takes these four concentrations — "the concentration of attaining brightness, the concentration of increasing brightness, the concentration of entering one portion of the true meaning, and the concentration of immediacy" — and matches them, in order, to the four applied practices of "Warmth, Summit, the forbearance that accords with the truths, and the Supreme Worldly Dharma"; this is the treatise-basis for this section's four applied practices being established upon the four concentrations. With that we follow the root verse and the prose commentary and open the exposition.

[The Question Raised] — What Is the Appearance of the Stage of Applied Practice?

First we pose a question: having finished the previous stage, what exactly does this "Stage of Applied Practice" look like? What follows is the answer.

[The Verse Answers] — "Setting up before oneself some small thing, holding it to be the nature of consciousness-only"

The verse answers like this: the practitioner, "before himself" — in the immediate state of mind here and now — "sets up" a "small thing," which is to say a single subtle appearance, and takes this to be "the nature of consciousness-only," the true essence of consciousness-only. Yet precisely because at this point he is still "getting something" — there is still an "appearance" carried in the mind, and there is still a grasping mind reaching out to get a grasped object — he has not in fact come to abide truly within consciousness-only. These four lines are the very headline of the whole Stage of Applied Practice: he seems to have touched consciousness-only, but in truth one layer still separates him from it — the layer of "carrying an appearance."

[Prose Commentary · Showing How the Stage Comes to Be] — How This Stage Arises

The prose commentary first accounts for the origins of the Stage of Applied Practice. Across the very first incalculable eon — the first of the three great immeasurable eons — the bodhisattva has already well equipped himself with the two provisions of merit and wisdom. When the "share conducive to liberation" — the roots of good that accord with liberation, which are the fruit of the Stage of Provisions — has been brought to fullness, he then, in order to be able to enter the Path of Seeing and to abide in the nature of consciousness-only, takes up the cultivation of "applied practice." The aim is to subdue the "two graspings" — that pair of clingings, the grasper and the grasped. This applied practice that he cultivates is, concretely, the four practices: Warmth, Summit, Forbearance, and the Supreme Worldly Dharma. In other words, the Stage of Applied Practice does not arise out of nowhere; rather, once the provisions are in place and the roots of good conducive to liberation have ripened, it is a stretch of preparatory effort specially set up for the crossing-over into the Path of Seeing.

[Explaining the Collective Name of the Stage] — Why It Is Collectively Named "the Share Conducive to Penetration," and Why It Is Called "Applied Practice"

These four — Warmth, Summit, Forbearance, and the Supreme Worldly Dharma — taken together have a collective name: "the share conducive to penetrating discernment." "Penetrating discernment" refers to that decisive discriminating activity of the uncontaminated wisdom at the moment of the Path of Seeing — the wisdom that can decisively single out and discern the truth of reality. These four practices accord with and head toward that "true penetrating discernment," and so they are called "the share conducive to penetrating discernment." Why, then, is this stage given the special name "applied practice"? Because it is already very close to the Path of Seeing, the name "applied practice" is set up specifically for this stage. One should note: this does not mean that the earlier Stage of Provisions had no sense of applied practice at all — the Stage of Provisions in fact also has the effort of applied practice in it; it is only because this stage stands hard against the Path of Seeing that it alone receives "applied practice" as its proper, exclusive name. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) adds a further layer of meaning here: this "applied practice" is an "alternative name" — it is precisely "the applied practice for the Path of Seeing," which an older rendering put as "the path of skillful means" and which is now translated "applied practice," in order to mark it off from that kind of skillful means belonging to the fruit of buddhahood; and among the "five paths" of cultivation, this one stage alone is specially called "applied practice" (the other paths are not so exclusively named), which shows how weighty its position is — standing hard against the Path of Seeing, joining what comes before to what comes after.

[Setting Out the Practices Cultivated in the Stage] — The Four Practices Are Established upon the "Four Investigations" and the "Four Wisdoms-of-Things-as-They-Are"

Next, what these four practices cultivate is set out. The four — Warmth and the rest — are established upon the earlier and later phases of the "four investigations" and the "four wisdoms of things as they truly are."

First, the "four investigations." To investigate is to seek out and examine four things: "name, referent, intrinsic nature, and differentiation." The conclusion of the investigation is this — all four are "provisionally existent but really non-existent"; that is, they are merely names-and-appearances provisionally set up by designation, with no substantial essence of their own. Next, the "four wisdoms of things as they truly are": when the practitioner can thoroughly know, "just as it actually is," that these four are nothing apart from consciousness, and moreover that consciousness itself is not substantially existent either, this wisdom is called the "four wisdoms of things as they truly are." Why do we speak on one side of "four investigations" and on the other of "four wisdoms of things as they truly are"? Because "name" and "referent" differ from each other in their appearance, so each must be sought out separately; whereas "the intrinsic nature and differentiation of name" and "the intrinsic nature and differentiation of referent" form two sets, each internally of one kind, and so within each set they can be examined together. Thus: name is examined as to its intrinsic nature and differentiation, referent is examined as to its intrinsic nature and differentiation, and these together make exactly "four" investigations. Investigation is the observation of the earlier phase, wisdom-of-things-as-they-are the decision of the later phase; the four practices are framed upon these two segments, earlier and later.

[Explaining the Names of the Four Levels] — The Name and Meaning of Warmth, Summit, Forbearance, and the Supreme Worldly Dharma

Now we explain, one by one, how each of these four levels gets its name.

The Level of Warmth. Relying on the concentration called "concentration of attaining brightness," the practitioner gives rise to the "lower grade of investigation" and contemplates "the non-existence of the grasped" — that is, he contemplates that the grasped object is not substantially real. This is established as the "Level of Warmth." In this level, for the first time (which is why the text says "initially") he observes that the four things of the grasped — its name, referent, intrinsic nature, and differentiation — are all transformations manifested by his own mind, are merely there by provisional designation, and are in fact wholly ungraspable. Because this is the first attaining of the leading appearance just before the "sun of wisdom" is about to rise — like that first glimmer of dawn before the sun comes up — it is named "attaining brightness"; and because this is precisely the foreshadowing appearance just before the "fire of the path," the fire of the noble path, is about to be born — like that touch of warmth that precedes the kindling of a flame — it is also called "Warmth."

The Level of Summit. Relying on the "concentration of increasing brightness," the practitioner gives rise to the "higher grade of investigation," likewise contemplating "the non-existence of the grasped." This is established as the "Level of Summit." In this level he observes, this time repeatedly, that the four things of the grasped — name and the rest — are all transformed from his own mind, are there by provisional designation, and are in fact wholly ungraspable. Because at this point the "appearance of brightness" — the appearance of the light of wisdom — grows more abundant, it is called "increasing brightness"; and because the effort of "investigation" has here reached its peak, its very crest, it is also called "Summit."

The Level of Forbearance. Relying on the "concentration of sealing-and-according," the practitioner gives rise to the "lower grade of the wisdom of things as they truly are," and on the side of "the non-existence of the grasped" he decisively seals and upholds it; at the same time, on the side of "the non-existence of the grasper," he also accords with it and gladly forbears to accept it. The reasoning here is this: since there is no substantial object existing on its own apart from the "grasping consciousness," how then could there be a substantial consciousness existing on its own apart from the "grasped object"? For "the grasped" and "the grasper" are by their very nature mutually dependent — each stands in relation to the other, and neither can be established alone. In this moment of forbearing acceptance — "sealing the former, the emptiness of the grasped; according with the latter, the emptiness of the grasper" — the whole is established as the "Level of Forbearance." Because it "seals and upholds the prior emptiness of the grasped, and accords with the later emptiness of the grasper," the name "sealing-and-according" is established; and because it can forbear to accept that "the object too is empty, and consciousness too is empty," it is also called "Forbearance."

The Supreme Worldly Dharma. Relying on the "concentration of immediacy," the practitioner gives rise to the "higher grade of the wisdom of things as they truly are" and seals, in a single doubled stroke, "the emptiness of the two graspings" — that both the grasped and the grasper are empty. This is established as the "Supreme Worldly Dharma." One must keep the distinction clear: the earlier "higher forbearance" sealed only "the emptiness of the grasper" (by that point the emptiness of the grasped had already been sealed, and it was the emptiness of the grasper that was then being sealed); whereas the present "Supreme Worldly Dharma" seals both "the emptiness of the grasped and the emptiness of the grasper" together in a single doubled stroke. Moreover, because from this level onward there is no further interval in between, and entry into the Path of Seeing must surely follow, the name "immediacy" is established; and because among all the dharmas of "the ordinary, unawakened being" this level is the most excellent, it is called the "Supreme Worldly Dharma" — the foremost dharma in the whole world.

[Gathering the Above Meaning to Explain the Root Verse] — All Four Levels "Carry an Appearance," and So None Has Truly Realized

Gathering up the doctrine of the four levels above and viewing it as a whole, there is one progression of contemplative practice running through them. The two levels of "Warmth and Summit" rely on the "grasping consciousness" to contemplate "the emptiness of the grasped." When "lower forbearance" arises, what is sealed and upheld is the appearance of "the emptiness of the object." When the transition to "middling forbearance" comes, the practitioner, on the side of the "grasping consciousness," also sees that it is empty just as the "grasped object" is — grasper and grasped equally empty — and so he accords with it and gladly forbears to accept it. When "higher forbearance" arises, what is sealed and upheld is "the emptiness of the grasper." And at the "Supreme Worldly Dharma" the "appearance of emptiness" of both the grasped and the grasper is sealed together in a single doubled stroke. Yet however much these four levels deepen step by step, they share one common limitation: they all still "carry an appearance" — that is, they still contemplate while carrying the appearance of "emptiness and existence," and so none of them has yet been able to truly realize Suchness.

For this reason the author of the treatise draws his concluding word: within these four levels the bodhisattva still, "before himself" here and now, sets up a "small thing" — a single subtle appearance — and takes it to be "the supreme true nature of consciousness-only." But precisely because the two appearances of "emptiness" and "existence" have not yet been removed, this mind that "contemplates while carrying an appearance" is still "getting something," and so he is not truly abiding within "the true principle of consciousness-only." Only when both appearances, of emptiness and of existence, have been wholly extinguished can he be said to abide truly. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) speaks more finely on the two terms "small thing" and "carrying an appearance": when the mind manifests a single "appearance of suchness," this is called the "small thing"; and because it is "not wholly without an appearance," it is called "carrying an appearance" (contemplating while carrying an appearance). This "appearance" means a shape or mark, and at the moment of truly realizing the real it falls away. Dividing it one layer further: the "appearance" here is in fact of two kinds — one is "the appearance of the emptiness of the wholly-imagined" (the emptiness on the side of the wholly-imagined), the other is "the appearance of the existence of the other-dependent" (the existence on the side of the other-dependent); taken together they are just the "two appearances, of emptiness and of existence," spoken of again and again above. Only when both these appearances have been wholly extinguished can one speak of abiding truly. To make this point plain, another passage of verse is brought in as witness:

The meaning of that passage of verse is this — within the stage of meditative concentration the bodhisattva contemplates that the "image that is the object of cognition" was, all along, only "mind" (what consciousness-only has transformed); when the "appearance of the referent" — the appearance of the referent-object on the side of the grasped — has been removed, he goes on to examine, with careful discernment, that "all of this was, all along, only the conceiving of one's own mind." Abiding thus upon "the inner mind" (consciousness-only): first he knows that "the grasped" is not substantially real, then he knows that "the grasper" likewise is not, and at last he touches and realizes "having nothing to grasp" — both sides, grasper and grasped, are blotted out. This passage of verse sets out with exceptional clarity the sequence of the Stage of Applied Practice: from contemplating the emptiness of the grasped, to contemplating the emptiness of the grasper, to the mutual blotting-out of both grasper and grasped.

[The Stage in Terms of Severing the Two Bonds] — What This Stage Subdues, and What It Still Cannot Sever

Next, the standing of the Stage of Applied Practice with respect to "severing the bonds" is clarified. This stage cannot yet do away with the "bond of appearance" — being bound by the perceived-aspect — nor can it yet sever the "bond of coarse heaviness" — being bound by the coarse-and-heavy seeds. What it can manage to do is only to subdue the "discrimination-arisen" two graspings — for the discrimination-arisen two graspings most directly oppose the Path of Seeing, and so they must be subdued first. As for the "innately-arisen" two graspings, and the "two latent tendencies" — the dormant seeds — since the contemplating mind of this stage is still "contaminated," still "getting something," still "with discrimination," these cannot yet be fully subdued, let alone severed. In a word: the Stage of Applied Practice "subdues" but has not yet "severed," and it subdues only the discrimination-arisen, not the innate.

[Clarifying the Object Contemplated] — Both the Established Truth and the Non-Established Truth Are Contemplated, with the Non-Established Truth as the Principal

Now the object that the bodhisattva of this stage contemplates. The bodhisattva at this stage must learn to contemplate two things: the "established truth" and the "non-established truth." The "established truth" refers to the appearance of the four noble truths, which set forth differentiated appearances; the "non-established truth" is the undifferentiated principle of Suchness. Why does he contemplate both? First, in order to give rise to the future "two seeings" (the true Path of Seeing and the resembling Path of Seeing); and second, in order to subdue the "two hindrances that are discrimination-arisen" (the hindrance of the afflictions and the hindrance to the knowable). Yet between the two, it is the "non-established truth" — Suchness — that is his real "principal object," his primary object of contemplation; and this is exactly where the bodhisattva differs from those of the two vehicles — the disciples of the two vehicles contemplate only the "established truth" (the differentiated appearance of the four noble truths), whereas the bodhisattva takes that undifferentiated Suchness as his lodestar.

[Determining the Support It Rests On] — Only by Relying on the Fourth Meditative Absorption Can It Be Brought to Full Completion

Now the meditative concentration that this stage rests upon is determined. When the bodhisattva gives rise to these roots of good, Warmth and the rest, at the "preliminary" phase — the preparatory applied practice — it in fact runs through the several "meditative absorptions"; among the four absorptions, applied practice can be set going in any of them. But to truly "bring it to full completion" — to perfect and accomplish it — he must rely on the "fourth meditative absorption." Why? Because to enter the Path of Seeing one must take hold of "the most excellent support," and among the four absorptions the fourth is the most capable, the most able to carry this stretch of effort; therefore it can be brought to full completion only by relying on the fourth meditative absorption.

[Distinguishing by Realm and Destiny] — Arising Only in a Body of the Desire Realm's Fortunate Destinies

Now to distinguish by "realm" and "destiny." These roots of good, Warmth and the rest, can arise only in dependence on a body of "the desire realm's fortunate destinies" — that is, in the body of a human or a god of the fortunate destinies. Why not in the other destinies? Because in the beings of the remaining destinies, neither their "wisdom" nor their "mind of revulsion-and-detachment" is excellent enough to set going an applied practice of this kind. So the cultivation of this stage falls upon a body of the desire realm's fortunate destinies.

[Distinguishing by the Seven Grounds] — Still Subsumed under "the Ground of Understanding-and-Practice"

Finally, to distinguish by ground. This Stage of Applied Practice is still subsumed under "the Ground of Understanding-and-Practice." Why? Because after all it has not yet realized the "true supreme meaning" of consciousness-only. And so, just like the earlier Stage of Provisions, it is subsumed together under "the Ground of Understanding-and-Practice" — both stages are still only "understanding and practice," not yet a true entry into realization. With this, the appearance of the Stage of Applied Practice has been explained, passage by passage, to its close.

Onward Transmission

What this section establishes — "the four investigations contemplating the emptiness of the grasped, the four wisdoms-of-things-as-they-are contemplating the emptiness of the grasper, and Warmth, Summit, Forbearance, and the Supreme Worldly Dharma still carrying an appearance and not yet realizing" — is the keystone on which the whole consciousness-only system founds "the last stretch of preparatory effort before entering the Path of Seeing," and the later treatises take it up one by one. The Hundred Dharmas treatise, among the mental factors, places the wisdom cultivated at this stage under "object-specific factors · wisdom" (the four investigations and the four wisdoms-of-things-as-they-are are all of the nature of wisdom), and places the "decisive sealing-and-upholding" effort of the Forbearance level under "object-specific factors · resolve" (the decisiveness of the forbearance of sealing-and-according is just resolve). The Thirty Verses — verse twenty-seven, the Stage of Applied Practice — is the very root-verse this section expounds, verse answering to verse; it follows on from verse twenty-six's Stage of Provisions and opens onto verse twenty-eight's Stage of Penetration (the Path of Seeing), stringing the sequence of the five stages into a single thread. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on the cultivation of the antidotes, matches "the share conducive to penetrating discernment" to "the five faculties and the five powers" — Warmth and Summit subsumed under "the stage of the five faculties," Forbearance and the Supreme Worldly Dharma under "the stage of the five powers" — which may be read alongside the ordering of this section's four applied practices, level for level. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on Entering the Characteristics of the Knowable, has the four investigations and the four wisdoms-of-things-as-they-are "penetrate into the nature of consciousness-only," and matches the four concentrations, in order, to Warmth, Summit, the forbearance that accords with the truths, and the Supreme Worldly Dharma; this is the treatise that argues this section's four contemplations and four concentrations most fully (this section's four applied practices being established upon the four concentrations is precisely a citation of this chapter of the Saṃgraha). As for the Twenty Verses, its concern is to establish consciousness-only without external objects and to refute the outsiders' clinging to real external objects; it has no direct counterpart to the sequence of the Stage of Applied Practice or to the four investigations, and here it is left aside.

Among the five stages of cultivating consciousness-only, the fourth is the Path of Penetrating Realization (the path on which one truly "penetrates through" to the truth). We have already covered the Path of Provisions and the Path of Applied Effort; arriving here, the practitioner for the very first time genuinely penetrates the truth. What does this stage look like? This section follows the verse: first it gives one stanza stating the root meaning, then it unfolds the matter layer by layer — what it means to "truly abide in consciousness-only," whether the non-discriminating knowing of this stage possesses an image-portion and a seeing-portion, how this stage divides into the True Path of Seeing and the Resembling Path of Seeing, how the various states of mind within the Resembling Path are set up, and finally how this stage maps onto the six direct realizations and what great benefit the bodhisattva gains upon attaining it. The two densest points of argument in the whole section are these: does the non-discriminating knowing have the two portions? and does the subsequently-attained knowing have the two portions?

This character of the Path of Seeing, the path of penetrating realization, has its roots in scripture and treatise alike. The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, in its chapter on the analysis of yoga, says that from the wholesome roots of the worldly stage of supreme discernment there arises, without interval, "with respect to the seven kinds of suchness, a penetrating knowing of each, severally realized within oneself" — and this is what is called the Path of Seeing; by gaining this one "enters the bodhisattva's settled certainty of the right course, is born into the family of the Tathāgata, and realizes the first ground," and the sūtra marks off "from the first Ground of Great Joy onward it is called penetrating realization" (the scriptural basis for the Path of Seeing's being the entry into the first ground). The same sūtra also says one first "penetrates that the reflected image which is the object of meditative concentration is consciousness alone," and then "further contemplates suchness as it is" — which is exactly this section's "first understanding the object as consciousness-only, then realizing suchness," and the scriptural root of the verse-words "abide in consciousness-only" and "knowing finds nothing to grasp." The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra gives the image of "the store-consciousness as an ocean, stirred by the wind of objects into surging waves of the various consciousnesses," displaying that all dharmas are consciousness-only — the true supreme-meaning nature of consciousness-only that the Path of Seeing realizes must first be understood as: objects are originally consciousness-only. Then the Yogācārabhūmi, in its part on ascertaining the meaning, fixes the "three minds" by which the Resembling Path of Seeing perceives the non-posited truth (inwardly dispelling the provisional posit of sentient beings, inwardly dispelling the provisional posit of dharmas, and universally dispelling all — the first two being dharma-knowing, the third subsequent-kind knowing), and judges it to be "the very Path of Seeing, also named the path of yoked-together practice," setting up the three minds with calm abiding and clear contemplation conjoined; and in its part on the basic stages it lists the "six direct realizations" (pondering, faith, moral discipline, the direct realization of the truths through knowing, the direct realization of the truths through the knowing on the margins, and the ultimate) — which are precisely the treatise-basis for this section's three grades of mind in the Resembling Path and for the closing mapping of the two Paths of Seeing onto the six direct realizations. What this section expounds has its scriptural root in the Saṃdhinirmocana and the Laṅkāvatāra, and its treatise-basis in the Yogācārabhūmi — and with that we follow the verse and open the exposition.

1. First the Question: What Does the Path of Penetrating Realization Look Like?

Having finished the previous stage, the next question naturally follows: this Path of Penetrating Realization — what exactly is its character? The author of the treatise answers with a single stanza.

2. The Stanza Answers — That Moment When "Knowing Finds Nothing to Grasp"

The stanza says: when the practitioner faces the object set before knowing, the non-discriminating knowing already "finds nothing at all" (there is no longer anything that can be grasped) — and precisely in that moment, the practitioner is at last truly abiding in "consciousness-only," because both the grasping aspect and the grasped aspect have already fallen away. This one stanza is the very eye of the Path of Penetrating Realization: "abiding in consciousness-only" does not mean having seized hold of some "consciousness-only" to abide in; it is exactly the opposite — it is finding nothing to grasp.

3. The Brief Gloss of the Stanza — What "Truly Abiding in the True Supreme-Meaning Nature of Consciousness-Only" Means

The treatise first runs through the stanza briefly. When the bodhisattva faces the object set before knowing and illumines it with non-discriminating knowing, illumining it to the point of "finding nothing at all" — that is, no longer grasping at any image, no longer grasping at the various "marks of conceptual proliferation" — only then is it called "truly abiding in the true supreme-meaning nature of consciousness-only." And how is this "abiding" an abiding? It is that the "realizing knowing" and the "realized suchness" stand "equal and equal": knowing and suchness are not two, the perceiving and the perceived are one and the same, because both the grasping aspect and the grasped aspect have fallen away. Why must both aspects, grasping and grasped, be left behind before this counts? Because the "grasping aspect" no less than the "grasped aspect" is itself discrimination — each is a "proliferation" conjured up by that mind which "has something to grasp." So long as there is still a grasper-and-grasped, still something attained, one is still inside proliferation, still not truly in accord with suchness. Therefore only the "non-discriminating, nothing-attained" condition is truly fitted flush against suchness. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) parses this "not grasping the various marks of proliferation" into two senses: "not grasping" says there is no "grasping clinging," and "not grasping the marks of proliferation" says there is no "grasped mark" — with both the grasping and the grasped extinguished at either end, what is contemplated is suchness, the supreme meaning, alone; and this is what is called "finding nothing to grasp."

4. The Full Exposition — Does This Non-Discriminating Knowing Have an Image-Portion and a Seeing-Portion at All?

After the brief gloss, the author probes a pivotal question: does this non-discriminating knowing of the Path of Penetrating Realization possess an "image-portion" (the reflected appearance of the object perceived) and a "seeing-portion" (the perceiving function)? Here there are three views.

The first view: this knowing has neither image-portion nor seeing-portion. The reason: the treatise expressly says it is "without the grasped aspect and without the grasping aspect" — since both grasping and grasped are gone, the image-portion and seeing-portion are naturally extinguished along with them.

The second view: this knowing has both image-portion and seeing-portion. The reasons are three. First, only that which "arises bearing the appearance of its object" can be said to "perceive that object"; if something could be said to "perceive that object" without bearing its appearance, then "the knowing that perceives blue" could just as well be called "the knowing that perceives sound" — to perceive this yet be said to perceive that throws everything into confusion; so there must be an image-portion. Second, if there were no seeing-portion, this knowing could not perceive at all — so how could it still be called "the knowing that perceives suchness"? Third, still less may one let "the self-nature of suchness" turn around and be called "that which perceives" (for if there were no seeing-portion yet one still said the knowing perceives suchness, it would amount to suchness perceiving itself, which makes no sense). Therefore one must grant that this knowing certainly has a seeing-portion, and along with it an image-portion.

The third view (this is the settled, correct reading, the one to be followed): this knowing has a seeing-portion but no image-portion. The reasons are likewise three. First, what the treatise speaks of is "a grasping without an image, a not-grasping-of-image" — which shows there is no image-portion; and though there is a seeing-portion, it raises no discrimination, so it is said "not to be that which grasps" — but this "not that which grasps" does not mean the seeing-portion is wholly absent; it means that the non-discriminating seeing-portion, though present, is not to be called "the discriminating grasper." Second, though there is no image-portion, one may still say this knowing "arises bearing the appearance of suchness" and never departs from suchness — it "perceives suchness in the very manner of suchness," not by bearing some separate reflected appearance of an external object. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) draws the distinction finer: this knowing that perceives suchness arises by "carrying along the very substance-and-character of suchness," and that is why it is called the "perceived"; it does not arise by "bearing the reflected image of an image-portion" — and precisely because it directly carries along the substance of suchness, never departing from suchness, it is called "direct realization." Third, this works just as the "self-witnessing portion," when it perceives the "seeing-portion," does so "directly, without conjuring up a separate image-portion"; this non-discriminating knowing should be the same. Were it to "conjure up a separate image-portion in order to perceive," then it would not be "direct realization" — it would be no different from the discriminating "subsequently-attained knowing." Therefore one should grant: this knowing has a seeing-portion and no image-portion.

5. The Path of Seeing Arises, and Divides Briefly into Two

Immediately after the final thought-moment of the Path of Applied Effort, the "supreme worldly dharma," this non-discriminating knowing arises and, then and there, reaches through to and accords with "suchness" — hence it is called the Path of Penetrating Realization; and because this is the first time the practitioner illumines the truth, it is also called the Path of Seeing. This Path of Seeing, stated briefly, divides into two — the True Path of Seeing and the Resembling Path of Seeing.

The True Path of Seeing — That Root Realization

The first is the True Path of Seeing — that very non-discriminating knowing spoken of above. It truly realizes the truth disclosed by the two emptinesses, the emptiness of self and the emptiness of dharmas; and it truly severs, within the obstruction of the afflictions and the obstruction to the knowable, those "discrimination-arisen" latent tendencies (the dormant seeds of delusion). Although this matter takes many thought-moments to be brought to completion, because the character of these moments is uniform throughout, of one taste from first to last, the whole is spoken of as "one mind" — one unbroken continuum of the Path-of-Seeing mind. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) points out that this very line "marks out the substance of the True Path of Seeing" — the True Path of Seeing "takes the non-discriminating knowing as its substance," for only this non-discriminating knowing can "directly realize suchness."

Concerning the True Path of Seeing, there are two views here. One view: within it the two emptinesses and the two obstructions are "realized gradually, severed gradually" — for the two emptinesses range from shallow to deep, the two obstructions from coarse to fine, and because of this difference in depth and coarseness there is a sequence of earlier and later. Another view: within it the two emptinesses and the two obstructions are "realized all at once, severed all at once" — for the bodhisattva's "resolve" (the power of vow and inclination of mind) is strong enough, has this capacity, and can realize and sever in a single stroke.

The Resembling Path of Seeing — A Contemplation Set Up in the Likeness of the True Path of Seeing

The second is the Resembling Path of Seeing. It further divides into two kinds: one perceives the "non-posited truth," the other perceives the "posited truth." The "non-posited truth" refers to the kind that sets up no verbal designation and directly contemplates suchness; the "posited truth" refers to the kind that has set up verbal designations and contemplates by dividing out the four truths — suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path.

The "Three Grades of Mind" That Perceive the Non-Posited Truth

Take first the kind that perceives the "non-posited truth": it has "three grades of mind." The first grade is called the "knowing that inwardly dispels the provisional posit of sentient beings" — contemplating inwardly, it dispels the provisional posit of a "sentient-being self," and is able to remove the "soft-grade (lower-grade)" discrimination-latencies. The second grade is called the "knowing that inwardly dispels the provisional posit of dharmas" — contemplating inwardly, it dispels the provisional posit of "dharmas," and is able to remove the "middle-grade" discrimination-latencies. The third grade is called the "knowing that universally dispels the provisional posit of all sentient beings and all dharmas" — dispelling at once and universally both provisional posits, of sentient beings and of dharmas, it is able to remove "all (the upper-grade)" discrimination-latencies. The first two grades, because each perceives separately (one perceiving sentient beings, one perceiving dharmas), are called "dharma-knowing"; the third grade, because it perceives the two together (sentient beings and dharmas perceived as one), is called "subsequent-kind knowing." Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) glosses the two words "inwardly dispel" as meaning "perceiving only one's own inner body and dispelling that provisional posit" (dispelling inwardly, not perceiving outwardly). He further explains how these "three grades" are arrived at: the grasping of a self in persons and the grasping of a self in dharmas — these two obstructions each divide again into upper and lower (the coarse counted as "upper," the fine as "lower"), which taken together come to four classes; but here the three grades are spoken of "with reference to the soft, middle, and upper of the knowing" (the delusions judged as soft, middle, and upper according to the knowing that severs them), and so they are gathered into three grades — not by setting up some other count of obstructions.

Where do these three grades of mind come from? They are set up, in separate and in combined fashion, in imitation of the two-emptiness seeing-portion within the True Path of Seeing — that is, in imitation of the "uninterrupted path" and the "path of liberation" by which the True Path of Seeing severs its own obstructions. Hence they are called the "Resembling Path of Seeing" — set up in the likeness of the True Path of Seeing. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) also points out the force of taking the word "dharma" (in "dharma-knowing"): "dharma" here means "rule, modeling-upon (imitation)" — the Resembling Path of Seeing is precisely set up by "separately imitating and jointly imitating" the uninterrupted path and the path of liberation of those two-emptiness seeing-portions within the True Path of Seeing, and that is why the word "dharma" is used to name it.

A passing note: the two terms "dharma-knowing" and "subsequent-kind knowing" are not used uniformly across the treatises — Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) reconciles three usages. First, the Abhidharma-samuccaya calls all three of these minds "dharma-knowing." Second, the present treatise, following the line of the Yogācārabhūmi, calls the first two minds "dharma-knowing" and the third mind "subsequent-kind knowing" (the usage taken here). Third, speaking in terms of the sixteen minds, "patient endurance toward the dharma, dharma-knowing" are "dharma," and the following "patient endurance toward the subsequent-kind, subsequent-kind knowing" are "subsequent-kind." The name is the same but the scope it points to differs in each case; they must not be read as interchangeable.

Should these three grades be judged as True Path of Seeing or as Resembling Path of Seeing? Here too there are two views. One view: these three grades are in fact "True Path of Seeing" — for the Resembling Path of Seeing ought, by rights, to perceive the "four truths (the posited truth)," whereas these three grades perceive the non-posited truth and do not perceive the four truths; so they are judged as true. Another view: these three grades are "Resembling Path of Seeing" — for the True Path of Seeing "does not perceive in a divided manner" (it perceives suchness as a whole and raises no separate contemplation), whereas these three grades have "separate contemplation" (perceiving separately, grade by grade); since they bear the mark of divided perceiving, they are judged as resembling.

The "Sixteen Minds" That Perceive the Posited Truth

Take next the kind that perceives the "posited truth": it has "sixteen minds." This in turn has two ways of being set up.

The first way separately establishes the dharma-knowing and subsequent-kind-knowing sixteen minds by way of "contemplating the grasped, contemplating the grasper." Take the "truth of suffering": it has four minds. The first mind, the "patient endurance toward the dharma-knowing of suffering," contemplates the suchness of the truth of suffering across the three realms and squarely severs the twenty-eight discrimination-latencies "to be severed by seeing suffering" across the three realms; this is the "uninterrupted path," using the power of patient endurance to cut the delusions down. The second mind, the "dharma-knowing of suffering," follows immediately upon that "patient endurance" and contemplates the same suchness again, realizing the "liberation" from the afflictions just severed; this is the "path of liberation," fixing firmly what has been severed. The third mind, the "patient endurance toward the subsequent-kind knowing of suffering," follows immediately upon the foregoing "dharma-knowing of suffering," and an uncontaminated wisdom again arises, inwardly and separately realizing the foregoing "patient endurance toward the dharma" and "dharma-knowing"; it is called "subsequent-kind" because all the noble dharmas that come after are of this very class of "patient endurance toward the dharma, dharma-knowing." The fourth mind, the "subsequent-kind knowing of suffering," follows immediately upon the "patient endurance toward the subsequent-kind knowing," and an uncontaminated knowing again arises to confirm and ratify the foregoing "patient endurance toward the subsequent-kind knowing of suffering." The truth of suffering has these four minds; the truths of origin, of cessation, and of the path each have the same four minds; combined, they make sixteen minds.

Among these sixteen minds, "eight minds" (the two "patient endurances" of each of the four truths) contemplate suchness, contemplate the principle of the truths; the other "eight minds" (the two "knowings" of each of the four truths) contemplate the right knowing, inwardly realizing the foregoing patient-endurances and knowings. This too is set up in imitation of the difference between the "seeing-portion" and the "self-witnessing portion" within the "uninterrupted path" and the "path of liberation" of the True Path of Seeing; hence it is called "Resembling Path of Seeing."

The second way separately establishes the dharma-knowing and subsequent-kind-knowing sixteen minds by way of "contemplating the lower realm, contemplating the upper realm" in their truth-objects. By "lower and upper" is meant the contemplation of the "presently-manifest realm" (the desire-realm, which can be contemplated right here and now) and the "not-presently-manifest realm" (the upper two realms, the form realm and the formless realm, which cannot be contemplated right here and now); for suffering and the other four truths, two minds each are set up: one "direct-realization patient endurance" and one "direct-realization knowing." Each in correspondence with its object contemplates the truths by way of the seeing-portion of the True Path of Seeing's uninterrupted path and path of liberation, severing the one hundred and twelve discrimination-latencies "to be severed by the Path of Seeing"; hence this too is called "Resembling Path of Seeing."

Furthermore, following the line of reasoning of "the widely-disseminated noble teaching," the Resembling Path of Seeing may also be expressed as "nine kinds of mind." This takes the foregoing twenty-six minds that "perceive the posited truth" (the sixteen minds together with the foregoing three grades and so on — the whole count taken as perceiving the posited truth) and re-divides them by "calm abiding and clear contemplation": the "patient-endurances and knowings" of the dharma-class and the subsequent-kind class, spoken of together, have four contemplations each, which makes "eight minds" (eight contemplations); while the "eight calm-abidings" that correspond to these eight contemplations are spoken of together as "one." Although the Path of Seeing is in fact "calm abiding and clear contemplation yoked together," running in parallel, yet in respect of this very meaning of "seeing," "seeing" means contemplation — contemplation accords with "seeing" while calm abiding does not — so contemplation opens out into eight while calm abiding folds together into one. By this difference of "contemplation opening, calm abiding folding," eight contemplations plus one calm abiding total "nine minds," and this too is called Resembling Path of Seeing.

The Resembling Path of Seeing Is in Truth "Provisionally Stated in Dependence on the True Path of Seeing"

The essential thing is to see this clearly: when one says of the various Resembling Paths of Seeing that they "arise immediately after the supreme worldly dharma and sever latent tendencies," this is all "provisionally stated in dependence on the True Path of Seeing," and is not really so. Why? First, the Resembling Path of Seeing in fact arises after the True Path of Seeing (it does not really follow directly upon the supreme worldly dharma). Second, it raises the contemplation of the "posited truth" only after it has contemplated the "non-posited truth (what the True Path of Seeing contemplates)" — its sequence comes after the true. Third, those "discrimination-latencies" were already, genuinely and in fact, severed at the time of the "True Path of Seeing" — by the time of the Resembling Path of Seeing there are no real latent tendencies left to sever; the so-called "severing" is merely a provisional statement following the True Path of Seeing.

6. The True Path of Seeing Realizes "Nature," the Resembling Path of Seeing Realizes "Character" — and Each Divides into Root Knowing and Subsequently-Attained Knowing

The foregoing "True Path of Seeing" realizes the "nature of consciousness-only" (the true essential nature of the perfectly-accomplished); the later "Resembling Path of Seeing" realizes the "character of consciousness-only" (the various differentiated characters of the other-dependent). Comparing the two, the True Path of Seeing is the more excellent, and so the present stanza (that line, "knowing finds nothing to grasp") leans toward the True Path of Seeing in what it states. Again, the "True Path of Seeing" belongs to "root knowing" (the root non-discriminating knowing), while the "Resembling Path of Seeing" belongs to "subsequently-attained knowing" (the knowing attained only after suchness has been realized).

7. Then Does the Subsequently-Attained Knowing Have an Image-Portion and a Seeing-Portion?

Here the author branches off once more to ask: do the various subsequently-attained knowings have the image- and seeing-portions? This too has three views.

The first view: "neither portion" — because it is free of the two graspings, grasping and grasped.

The second view: this subsequently-attained knowing has a seeing-portion but no image-portion. The reasons: the treatise says this class of knowing "has discrimination," which shows it has a seeing-portion (only what discriminates has the perceiving seeing-portion); moreover, all noble knowing can "directly illumine its object" (perceiving it directly, without conjuring up a separate reflected-image), and because it "does not cling," it is said to be "free of the two graspings" — this "free of the two graspings" means it does not cling, not that the seeing-portion too is absent.

The third view (this is the settled, correct reading, the one to be followed): this subsequently-attained knowing has both image-portion and seeing-portion. The reasons are several. First, the treatise says this knowing "ponders a 'character resembling suchness'" — what it perceives is a reflected appearance that resembles suchness, not the true essential nature of suchness seen directly; which shows it has an image-portion. Second, it also says this knowing can "discriminate the self-character and the shared character of dharmas" and so on — it can observe the various differences in the capacities of beings and teach the dharma to them accordingly; since it must discriminate and must respond to capacity, it has to manifest an image-portion. Third, it also says this knowing can "display the buddha-body, the buddha-land" and so on, expounding the right dharma for beings; if it did not manifest appearances "resembling form, resembling sound," and the like, how could there be any such thing as "manifesting a body and teaching the dharma"? Fourth, were one to say that it "has transformed the basis of the form aggregate yet manifests no appearance of form," then "having transformed the basis of the remaining four aggregates (feeling, perception, formation, consciousness)" ought likewise to manifest no appearance of feeling, perception, and so on — one ought not single out the appearance of form alone for abolition. Fifth, furthermore, if this knowing did not manifest "appearances resembling objects," then a dharma standing outside its own self-substance would become "not perceivable" (with no image-portion, there is no way to establish the perceived); when perceiving blue one ought just as well to perceive sound (with no separate image-portion, the perceived cannot be fixed down); and when perceiving a "non-existent dharma" such as "tortoise-hair or rabbit-horns," there ought to be "no perceived-object-condition" — for that "non-existent dharma" is itself unreal in essence and has no perceiving function; only by conjuring up a "resembling appearance" can a perceived-object-condition be constituted at all. On these several grounds, one knows that the subsequently-attained knowing has both image- and seeing-portions.

8. How Do These Two Paths of Seeing Map onto the "Six Direct Realizations"?

Next the author sets the Path of Penetrating Realization within the framework of the "six direct realizations" and asks: how do the two Paths of Seeing, the true and the resembling, map onto the six direct realizations? First the six direct realizations are stated one by one.

The first, "the direct realization of pondering," refers to the "wisdom born of pondering" that is associated with the "feeling of joy of the very highest grade." It can contemplate the "shared character" of dharmas and draw forth the applied-effort stages of warmth and the rest; in contemplating dharmas within the path of applied effort, this "pondering-wisdom" is exercised most vigorously, and so it alone is set up as a "direct realization" (the rest, warmth and so on, can neither discriminate dharmas extensively nor yet have realized the principle, and so are not called direct realizations).

The second, "the direct realization of faith," refers to the "settled pure faith," both mundane and supramundane, that arises perceiving the "three jewels — buddha, dharma, sangha." It can aid the direct realizations and keep them from regressing, and so it too is given the name "direct realization."

The third, "the direct realization of moral discipline," refers to "uncontaminated moral discipline" (the discipline that goes together with the path); it can remove the defilement of broken precepts and make the contemplative knowing brighter still, and so it too is called "direct realization."

The fourth, "the direct realization of the truths through the realizing knowing," refers to the "root knowing and the subsequently-attained non-discriminating knowing" that perceive the "non-posited truth" by way of "every mode (perceiving both the general and the particular)"; this is the knowing that is the very substance of the Path of Seeing.

The fifth, "the direct realization of the truths through the knowing on the margins of realization," refers to the various mundane and supramundane knowings that perceive the "posited truth" after the "direct realization of the truths through the realizing knowing"; it stands on the margin, after the direct realization, and so is so named.

The sixth, "the ultimate direct realization," refers to the knowing of the ultimate stage (buddhahood), such as the "knowing of exhaustion" and the like.

With the six direct realizations stated, the mapping can be made: the "True Path of Seeing" is included within one part of the fourth, "the direct realization of the truths through the realizing knowing"; the "Resembling Path of Seeing" is included within one part of the fourth and of the fifth, "the direct realization of the truths through the knowing on the margins of realization." As for the second, "the direct realization of faith," and the third, "the direct realization of moral discipline" — although these too arise together with these two Paths of Seeing, they are not the very substance of the Path of Seeing (they are only aiding companions), and so they do not count as included.

9. What Benefit Does the Bodhisattva Gain Upon Attaining These Two Paths of Seeing?

Finally, the benefit. When the bodhisattva attains these "two Paths of Seeing, the true and the resembling": he is born into "the family of the Tathāgata" (becoming a son of the dharma-king); he abides in the "Ground of Great Joy" (the first of the bodhisattva's ten grounds); he is well able to penetrate the "dharma-realm"; he realizes the various "equalities" (the equality of self and other, the equality of beings and buddhas, and the rest); he is constantly born amid the great assemblies of the buddhas; over "several hundred dharma-gates" he has already attained mastery; he knows for himself that before long he is to realize the "great enlightenment"; and from this point on he can, to the very end of future time, benefit and bring peace and joy to all sentient beings. Such is the whole vista that opens out from the first genuine penetration of the truth.

Onward Transmission

The character of the "Path of Seeing" that this section establishes — the True Path of Seeing directly realizing the nature of consciousness-only (root knowing), the Resembling Path of Seeing realizing throughout the character of consciousness-only (subsequently-attained knowing), and the two Paths of Seeing being born into the family of the Tathāgata and abiding in the Ground of Great Joy — is taken up one by one in the later treatises of the consciousness-only school. The Hundred Dharmas treatise places the knowing of the Path of Seeing under the sixth, the mental consciousness, among the mind-dharmas (the non-discriminating knowing turns in dependence on the mental consciousness), and under the discernment among the object-specific mental factors (the Path-of-Seeing knowing has uncontaminated wisdom as its own nature). The Thirty Verses — verse twenty-eight ("when, with respect to the object perceived, knowing finds nothing to grasp at all, then one abides in consciousness-only, for it is free of the mark of the two graspings") — is the very root-verse this section expounds, verse answering to verse; it follows on from the Path of Applied Effort of verses twenty-six and twenty-seven, and opens onto the Path of Cultivation of verse twenty-nine. The Twenty Verses, whose concern is to establish consciousness-only and refute the outsiders' clinging to real objects, has no direct counterpart to the way the Path of Seeing's true character is divided out; here it is left aside. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on the real, speaks of "the character of the skillful means of entering signlessness" — "in dependence on consciousness there is something attained, and the non-attainment of the object arises; in dependence on the object's non-attainment, the non-attainment of consciousness arises," and "by the attaining-nature of consciousness, non-attainment too is accomplished; so one knows the two attainments are, in their non-attaining-nature, equal" — and that "non-attainment, the equality of the non-attaining-nature" is of one bloodline with this section's "knowing finds nothing to grasp, equal and equal"; its skillful-means sequence of first dispelling the object, then dispelling consciousness, both graspings extinguished, is the very stairway by which one enters the Path of Seeing. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its part on entering the character of the knowable, speaks of the bodhisattva's Path of Seeing — "then the bodhisattva's non-discriminating knowing, perceiving and perceived equal and equal, has arisen," "he enters the Ground of Great Joy, well penetrates the dharma-realm, is born into the family of the Tathāgata, and attains the mind-nature equal toward all sentient beings… and this is named the bodhisattva's Path of Seeing" — and this section's closing benefit, "born into the family of the Tathāgata, abiding in the Ground of Great Joy, well penetrating the dharma-realm, attaining the various equalities," is precisely what is taken up from this part.

〔Verses commented〕Verse 29 · the ten grounds and ten perfections

The stage of penetrating comprehension having entered the first ground, this chapter treats the stage of cultivation. But the word cultivation must first be taken apart: what are the positions passed through (the ten grounds), and what are the practices cultivated (the ten supreme practices)? The ten heavy obstructions severed at each ground and the ten suchnesses realized there form the next chapter.

The ten grounds, ten supreme practices, ten heavy obstructions, and ten suchnesses that this section discusses at length have their roots in scripture and treatise alike. The names of the ten grounds — Supreme Joy, Freedom from Defilement, Radiance, Blazing Wisdom, Most Difficult to Conquer, Manifestation, Far Travel, Immovable, Excellent Wisdom, and Dharma Cloud — come from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, in its chapter on the Ten Grounds, where these ten bodhisattva grounds are said to be "what the buddhas of the three times have expounded, will expound, and now expound" — the very scriptural source of this treatise's roster of grounds. What each ground severs has its basis in the Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, in its chapter on the perfection of the grounds, which matches "twenty-two kinds of folly and eleven kinds of coarse-and-heavy" to the ten grounds and the Tathāgata-ground, establishing two follies and their coarse-and-heavy for each ground in turn (from the first ground's clinging to self and phenomena and the defilement of the evil destinies, through the Buddha-ground's extremely subtle attachment and extremely subtle hindrance) — the scriptural source of this treatise's "such-and-such a ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy." On the treatise side: that the ten grounds "counter the ten obstructions countered by the ten ignorances" and that the "knowable Dharma-realm under ten aspects" (all-pervading, supreme, supreme-outflow, on through the support for mastery over undertakings) is matched to the ten grounds comes from the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its section on the distinctions of cultivation — the treatise-basis for the names and sequence of this treatise's ten suchnesses; the same text also says that these ten ignorances are "non-defiled for the two vehicles but defiled for the bodhisattva," the basis for this treatise's "the ten ignorances are spoken of only as what is severed by cultivation across the ten grounds." As for the ten supreme practices, that is, the ten perfections — the six perfections opened out by adding means, vow, power, and knowledge to make ten — they come from the Yogācārabhūmi, in its chapter on the Bodhisattva Grounds. What this section expounds has its scriptural root in the Avataṃsaka Ten Grounds chapter and the Saṃdhinirmocana chapter on the perfection of the grounds, and its treatise-basis in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha section on the distinctions of cultivation and the Yogācārabhūmi Bodhisattva Grounds — and with that we follow the verse and open the exposition.

A. A Brief Gloss of the Verse — What the Stanza "No-Attainment, Inconceivable" Is Saying

Having risen up from the previous stage, the Path of Seeing, the bodhisattva — in order to sever the obstructions that still remain and in order to attain the transformation of the basis (that is, the fundamental turning-over of what one rests upon) — repeatedly cultivates non-discriminating wisdom. As for "transformation of the basis": the words mean literally "the turning-over of what is depended upon" — the root support of mind-and-consciousness is turned from defiled into pure.

This non-discriminating wisdom is removed from both the grasped (the object that is cognized) and the grasper (the mind that cognizes), and so it is called "no-attainment" and called "inconceivable." There is also another way of putting it: because it is free of all conceptual proliferation, it is called "no-attainment"; because its marvelous functioning is hard to fathom, it is called "inconceivable." Both readings hold.

It is the supramundane non-discriminating wisdom. Why "supramundane"? Because it can sever the mundane. The latent tendencies (the seeds lying dormant beneath) of the grasped and the grasper are precisely the root of the mundane; only this wisdom can sever them, and so to it alone belongs the name "supramundane." There is also yet another reading: the name "supramundane" is established upon two senses together — first, that its essential nature is undefiled; second, that it can realize suchness. This wisdom happens to possess both senses, which other kinds of wisdom do not, and so it alone is called "supramundane." What is meant is exactly the non-discriminating wisdom present within the ten grounds.

Because this wisdom is cultivated over and over, one is able to "cast off the two coarse-and-heavy encumbrances." The seeds of the obstruction of the afflictions and the obstruction to the knowable are given the name "coarse-and-heavy," because their essential nature is incapable of bearing up (unwieldy, unequal to the work), being contrary both to the subtle and to mental pliancy. To extinguish this coarse-and-heavy forever is what "casting off" means.

Once one can cast off those two coarse-and-heavy encumbrances, one can then attain the vast transformation of the basis. Here the two words "basis" and "turning" must be taken apart. "Basis" means "that which is depended upon" — that is, the other-dependent nature (the nature of things as arising in dependence) — because all defiled and pure phenomena take it as their support. The defiled refers to the false imputed nature (the nature that is wholly conceptually constructed); the pure refers to the true perfectly-accomplished nature (the perfectly-accomplished, perfectly-accomplished nature). "Turning," in turn, has two faces: one is "turning-away-and-casting-off," the other is "turning-toward-and-attaining." Because non-discriminating wisdom is cultivated over and over, the two-obstruction coarse-and-heavy lodged in the root consciousness (the ālaya-vijñāna, the storehouse consciousness) is severed; and so one can "turn away and cast off" the imputed nature superimposed upon the other-dependent, and can "turn toward and attain" the perfectly-accomplished nature within the other-dependent.

Following this principle, look at the two fruits of the transformation of the basis: by turning the obstruction of the afflictions, one attains great nirvāṇa; by turning the obstruction to the knowable, one realizes unsurpassed awakening (bodhi). The reason this treatise establishes consciousness-only is precisely to let sentient beings realize these two fruits of the transformation of the basis — nirvāṇa and bodhi.

The "transformation of the basis" also admits another reading: "basis" is the suchness of consciousness-only, because both birth-and-death and nirvāṇa take it as their support. The ordinary being, inverted and deluded about this suchness, has from beginningless time undergone the suffering of birth-and-death; the noble one, freed of inversion and awakened to this suchness, attains the ultimate ease of nirvāṇa. On this reading: because non-discriminating wisdom is cultivated over and over and the two-obstruction coarse-and-heavy lodged in the root consciousness is severed, one can "turn-and-extinguish" the birth-and-death that arises in dependence on suchness, and can "turn-and-realize" the nirvāṇa that rests on suchness — and this is the face of the matter called "suchness departing from defilement." It must be understood that the essential nature of suchness is intrinsically pure; it is only upon the level of marks that defilement appears. So when the time of departing-from-defilement comes, suchness is provisionally said to be "newly pure," and this newly pure is what is named the "transformation of the basis," attained by severing obstructions within the Stage of Cultivation.

Finally, a word marking off the boundary: although within this Stage of Cultivation bodhi too can be attained, that is not the meaning this verse means to show; the verse's own intent lies only in showing the turning of the nature of consciousness-only (turning away the defiled other-dependent, attaining the pure perfectly-accomplished). And this fruit of the transformation of the basis that is thereby shown is, at the culminating stage of the two vehicles, called the "body of liberation," and with the Great Sage (the Buddha) is called the "body of Dharma" (Dharma-body).

B. Expanding the Foregoing Verse — Unfolding the Stanza in Full

[General Statement] How Are the Two Turnings of the Basis Realized? — Within the Ten Grounds, Cultivating Ten Supreme Practices, Severing Ten Heavy Obstructions, Realizing Ten Suchnesses

First set up a question: how, after all, are these two turnings of the basis (nirvāṇa and bodhi) realized? The answer: it is precisely within the ten grounds that one cultivates the ten supreme practices, severs the ten heavy obstructions, and realizes the ten suchnesses — and the two turnings of the basis are realized in just this way. What follows treats each item one by one.

I. The Ten Grounds — the Ten Tiers of Standing Once the Bodhisattva Has Ascended to the Grounds

First, the ten grounds.

First, the Ground of Supreme Joy. Here one first attains the nature of the noble ones, fully realizes the twofold emptiness — the emptiness of self and the emptiness of phenomena — and, being able both to benefit oneself and to benefit others, gives rise to great joy.

Second, the Ground of Freedom from Defilement. Here one is fully furnished with pure moral discipline (śīla), and is removed from the afflictive defilement that even the most subtle transgression would set off.

Third, the Ground of Radiance. Here one accomplishes superior meditative concentration and the great Dharma-retention (dhāraṇī), and can send forth boundless light of marvelous wisdom.

Fourth, the Ground of Blazing Wisdom. Here one abides upon the most excellent factors of awakening, burns up the firewood of the afflictions, and the flame of wisdom blazes ever higher.

Fifth, the Ground Most Difficult to Conquer. The two wisdoms — the wisdom of the true and the wisdom of the conventional — have modes of activity that are by nature mutually opposed; to bring these two together and make them accord is supremely hard to do, and so it is called "most difficult to conquer."

Sixth, the Ground of Manifestation. Here one abides upon the wisdom of dependent arising and draws forth the most excellent non-discriminating prajñā, letting it come to manifestation.

Seventh, the Ground of Far Travel. Here one reaches the very last edge of the "abiding in the signless" that still carries effort, and goes beyond, transcending the paths of the mundane and of the two vehicles.

Eighth, the Immovable Ground. Here non-discriminating wisdom can already continue spontaneously (of its own accord), and neither the afflictions of "marks" nor the afflictions of "function" can shake it.

Ninth, the Ground of Excellent Wisdom. Here one accomplishes the subtle fourfold unobstructed understanding, and can pervade the ten directions, expounding the Dharma with skillful means.

Tenth, the Ground of the Dharma Cloud. Here the cloud of the great Dharma-wisdom holds the water of the host of virtues, can cover over the coarse-and-heavy as vast as empty space, and fills the Dharma-body.

These ten grounds, taken together, embrace as their own nature all virtues whatever, conditioned and unconditioned; and toward the practices that are cultivated they are an excellent support and sustainer, able to make virtue grow — which is why they are called "grounds."

II. The Ten Supreme Practices — That Is, the Ten Perfections

The "ten supreme practices" are the ten perfections (the word means "going to the other shore"). First list how each of them divides and combines:

Giving has three kinds: the giving of wealth, the giving of fearlessness, the giving of Dharma. Discipline has three kinds: the discipline of restraint, the discipline of gathering wholesome phenomena, the discipline of benefiting sentient beings. Patience has three kinds: the patience that endures the harm of foes, the patience that calmly bears suffering, the patience of investigating phenomena with discernment. Vigor has three kinds: the armor-donning vigor, the wholesome-gathering vigor, the benefiting-and-gladdening vigor. Meditative absorption has three kinds: the absorption of abiding, the absorption that draws forth, the absorption that accomplishes the task. Wisdom has three kinds: the non-discriminating wisdom of the emptiness of self, the non-discriminating wisdom of the emptiness of phenomena, the non-discriminating wisdom of both emptinesses together. Skill in means has two kinds: the skill-in-means of dedication, the skill-in-means of deliverance. Vow has two kinds: the vow that seeks awakening, the vow to benefit and gladden others. Power has two kinds: the power of reflective discernment, the power of cultivation. Knowledge has two kinds: the knowledge that enjoys the bliss of Dharma, the knowledge that ripens sentient beings.

What Each of the Ten Perfections Takes as Its "Own Nature"

Next, determine what each of these ten takes as its essential nature. Giving has as its nature non-greed together with the threefold karma of body, speech, and mind that it sets off. Discipline has as its nature the threefold karma at the time of receiving and learning the bodhisattva precepts. Patience has as its nature non-hatred, vigor, and discerning wisdom together with the threefold karma they set off. Vigor has as its nature diligence together with the threefold karma it sets off. Meditative absorption has as its nature concentration (samādhi) alone. The remaining five — wisdom, means, vow, power, knowledge — all have as their nature the discernment of phenomena (wisdom); for these five, stated plainly, are all subsumed under the root wisdom and the subsequently attained wisdom.

As to the own nature of "vow," there is another view: the eighth (the perfection of vow) has as its nature the three of aspiration, resolute conviction, and faith, because vow takes just these three as its own substance.

All of the above states their respective "own natures." If one also reckons in the attendant retinue (the accompanying virtues), then every one of them takes as its nature all virtues operating together with it.

The "Mark" of the Ten Perfections — They Count Only When Embraced by the "Seven Supremacies"

Next, determine their mark. These ten can be established as perfections only when they are embraced by the seven supremacies; otherwise they can be called only "giving" and so on, and do not yet rise to "going to the other shore." Which seven:

First, the supremacy of abiding — one must abide in the bodhisattva lineage. Second, the supremacy of support — one must rest upon the great mind of awakening. Third, the supremacy of intent — one must have compassion for all sentient beings. Fourth, the supremacy of undertaking — one must carry out every undertaking completely. Fifth, the supremacy of skillful means — one must be embraced by signless wisdom. Sixth, the supremacy of dedication — one must dedicate toward unsurpassed awakening. Seventh, the supremacy of purity — one must not be admixed with the two obstructions.

If one is not embraced by these seven, then the giving and the rest that one practices are not "going to the other shore." For just this reason, when giving and the other ten are set against the perfections, each should be treated by the fourfold alternative (it is giving but not going to the other shore; it is going to the other shore but not giving; it is both giving and going to the other shore; it is neither giving nor going to the other shore).

Why Exactly "Ten," Neither More nor Fewer

Why exactly ten, no more and no fewer? Because within the ten grounds one counters ten obstructions and realizes ten suchnesses, and so the number is just this — neither increased nor diminished.

To say more. Why are the first six (from giving through wisdom) neither more nor fewer? Because one must remove six opposing obstructions, must cultivate the dharmas of the buddhas in gradual stages, and must ripen sentient beings in gradual stages — this is explained in detail in another treatise, and should be known accordingly. Again, giving, discipline, and patience, the first three, are the path of superior rebirth, able to win great wealth, a great body, and a great retinue; vigor, absorption, and wisdom, the latter three, are the path of certain ascendancy, able to subdue the afflictions and to ripen both sentient beings and the Buddha-dharma — and the bodhisattva path is just these two roads alone (superior rebirth and certain ascendancy). Again, the first three (giving, discipline, patience) benefit sentient beings: giving them wealth, not harming or vexing them, bearing their harm and yet still benefiting them. The latter three (vigor, absorption, wisdom) counter the afflictions: although they do not subdue and extinguish them on the spot, they can diligently cultivate the various wholesome preparatory practices that counter them, so that in the end the afflictions are forever subdued and extinguished. Again, by the first three (giving and the rest) one does not abide in nirvāṇa, and by the latter three one does not abide in birth-and-death; combined, they serve as the provisions for the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode — on these several lines of reasoning the first six are neither more nor fewer.

As for the latter four (means, vow, power, knowledge), they exist in order to assist the first six and to bring them to full cultivation, and so they too are neither more nor fewer: skill in means assists the three of giving, discipline, patience; vow assists vigor; power assists absorption; knowledge assists wisdom — bringing the cultivation to completeness. This is explained in detail in the scripture upon which the treatise is based, and should be known accordingly.

Then there is why the sequence of these ten is ordered as it is: because each earlier one is able to draw forth the later, and each later one is in turn able to sustain and purify the earlier; further, the earlier are coarser and the later subtler, and following the sequence of cultivation "from the easy to the hard," they are ordered just so. As for how their collective name and their individual names are to be explained, that has been stated elsewhere.

The Cultivation, Mutual Inclusion, and Fruit of the Ten Perfections

First, "cultivation." These ten have five modes of cultivation: first, cultivation grounded in sustaining; second, cultivation grounded in directing attention; third, cultivation grounded in intent; fourth, cultivation grounded in skillful means; fifth, cultivation grounded in mastery. Following these five modes of cultivation, the cultivation of the ten perfections is brought to completeness — the scripture upon which this is based and other texts explain its features in detail.

Next, "inclusion" (mutual containment). Each one of these ten can include all the perfections, because they mutually accord with one another. Speaking of "drawing out a later practice by cultivating an earlier one": the earlier includes the later (the later must wait upon the earlier), but the later does not include the earlier (the earlier need not wait upon the later). Speaking of "sustaining and purifying an earlier practice by cultivating a later one": the later includes the earlier (the later can sustain and purify the earlier), but the earlier does not include the later (the earlier is not what sustains and purifies the later). If one cultivates by "pure cultivation" versus "mixed cultivation," they revolve and bear upon one another, and the fourfold alternative should be applied.

There is also a small question: these are plainly ten, so why does some passage state them as six? It should be understood that the latter four are included within the sixth (wisdom) — which is why they contract into six; and the reason they are again expanded into ten is that the sixth includes only non-discriminating wisdom, while the latter four (means, vow, power, knowledge) are all included within the subsequently attained wisdom (because they take the conventional as their object).

Finally, "fruit." The fruits of these ten: at the defiled (contaminated) level there are four fruits (excluding the "fruit of disjunction"); at the undefiled level there are likewise four fruits (excluding the "fruit of maturation"). As for the place that states they possess five fruits, that speaks either by way of their "mutual assistance" or by way of "two combining into one."

How the Ten Perfections and the Three Trainings Mutually Include One Another

The ten perfections and the three trainings (discipline, concentration, wisdom) mutually include one another.

The training in discipline has three: first, the discipline of restraint — rightly removing oneself from the dharmas one ought to remove from; second, the discipline of gathering wholesome phenomena — rightly cultivating and realizing the dharmas one ought to cultivate and realize; third, the discipline of benefiting sentient beings — rightly benefiting and gladdening all sentient beings. This discipline has both what it shares with the two vehicles and what is uncommon to it; profound and vast, it is stated elsewhere.

The training in concentration has four: first, the Mahāyāna-illumination concentration — it can give rise to the light of wisdom that "illumines the principle, the teaching, the practice, and the fruit of the Mahāyāna"; second, the king-of-gathering-merit concentration — it can with mastery gather boundless merit, its sway matchless as a king's; third, the guardian-of-the-worthy concentration — it can guard the worthy and wholesome dharmas of the mundane and the supramundane; fourth, the valiant-conduct concentration — it is the concentration practiced by such great valiant beings as the buddhas and bodhisattvas. The object, counteraction, capacity, drawing-forth, and operation of these four concentrations are stated elsewhere.

The training in wisdom has three: first, the preparatory non-discriminating wisdom; second, the root non-discriminating wisdom; third, the subsequently attained non-discriminating wisdom. The own nature, support, causes-and-conditions, object, and mode of activity of these three are stated elsewhere.

Then set these three wisdoms against the seeds and the active manifestation across the five stages. In the first two stages (the Stage of Provisions and the Stage of Preparatory Practice), all three are present as seeds, but only the one — the "preparatory" — is present in active manifestation; at the Stage of Penetrating Comprehension (the Path of Seeing), there are two in active manifestation and three as seeds (because at the Path of Seeing there is no preparatory wisdom); in the Stage of Cultivation, before the seventh ground, both seeds and active manifestation run through all three; from the eighth ground on, two are in active manifestation and three as seeds (because this is now the path of no-effort, contrary to the preparatory, and all advancing employs the subsequently attained wisdom, arising spontaneously within undefiled contemplation); and at the Final Stage, both active manifestation and seeds are reduced to two alone (the active manifestation and the seeds of the preparatory wisdom have both been cast off).

The "Four Modes of Inclusion" Between the Ten Perfections and the Three Trainings

Now set them against one another by four modes of inclusion:

If by own-nature inclusion: discipline includes only discipline; concentration includes meditative absorption; wisdom includes the latter five (wisdom, means, vow, power, knowledge). If one reckons in the assisting companions as well, then the three trainings mutually include one another.

If by inclusion according to function: discipline includes the first three (giving, discipline, patience — because they are the provisions, the substance, and the retinue-nature of discipline); concentration includes meditative absorption; wisdom includes the latter five; and vigor is included by all three trainings in common (because vigor universally spurs on the three trainings).

If by inclusion according to what is made manifest: discipline includes the first four (the first three as above, plus vigor — because vigor guards discipline); concentration includes meditative absorption; wisdom includes the latter five.

The Ten Perfections Across the Five Stages, the Three Causal-Stage Names, and the Predominance That Tracks Each Ground

First, look at the distribution across the five stages. These ten are present in full across all five stages, and their mark is most evident in the Stage of Cultivation. But for the first two stages (Provisions and Preparatory Practice), two kinds of person must be distinguished: for the sudden-awakening bodhisattva, the seeds run through both contaminated and uncontaminated, but the active manifestation is only contaminated; for the gradual-awakening bodhisattva, both seeds and active manifestation run through both kinds (because he has already gained the uncontaminated contemplation of the emptiness of self). At the Stage of Penetrating Comprehension, the seeds run through both kinds and the active manifestation is only uncontaminated. In the Stage of Cultivation before the seventh ground, both seeds and active manifestation run through the contaminated and the uncontaminated; from the eighth ground on, the seeds run through both kinds and the active manifestation is only uncontaminated. At the Final Stage, both active manifestation and seeds are only uncontaminated.

Next, look at the three names at the "causal stage." These ten have three names at the causal stage. The first is the "distant perfections" — referring to the first incalculable eon, when the force of giving and the rest is still feeble, and is on the contrary subdued by the afflictions while unable to subdue them, so that the afflictions arise unawares of themselves. The second is the "near perfections" — referring to the second incalculable eon, when the force of giving and the rest gradually strengthens, is no longer subdued by the afflictions but can on the contrary subdue them, so that the afflictions only arise when one "deliberately (with directed attention)" lets them. The third is the "great perfections" — referring to the third incalculable eon, when the force of giving and the rest grows stronger still, able to subdue all afflictions for good, so that the afflictions never again become active; only there still remain the subtle active manifestation and seeds of the obstruction to the knowable, and the seeds of the obstruction of the afflictions, and so it is not yet ultimate (not yet buddhahood).

Finally, "the predominance that tracks each ground." The categorical distinctions of meaning among these ten are boundless; to avoid wearying with too much text, only the outline is briefly pointed out. These ten perfections are in fact cultivated on every single one of the ten grounds; it is only that the cultivation "increases according to mark" — on each ground one of them is cultivated with particular emphasis (such as giving emphasized on the first ground, discipline on the second, and so on). Although the gateways of practice across the ten grounds are immeasurable in kind, they are all gathered into these "ten goings-to-the-other-shore."

Onward Transmission

The establishing of the ten grounds and ten supreme practices is taken up in order by the later treatises. Verse 29 of the Thirty Verses is the root verse this chapter expounds. The Mahāyānasaṃgraha, in its chapters on the cause-and-fruit of entering and on the stages of cultivation, unfolds at length the sequence of the ten perfections and their increase ground by ground — the same sense this chapter gives to the ten supreme practices. The Madhyāntavibhāga, in its chapter on the fruit obtained, gathers the bodhisattva's causal practice under the ten perfections. The Yogācārabhūmi, in its Bodhisattva Ground, establishes thirteen abidings to gather the bodhisattva's positions; abidings and grounds fold and unfold differently, but the road passed through is one.

〔Verses commented〕Continuing verse 29 · the ten obstructions and ten suchnesses

What this chapter settles — severing obstruction and realizing suchness — has its treatise ground. The Yogācārabhūmi, in its Bodhisattva Ground, distinguishes the substance of the two obstructions and what each counteracts, showing that the afflictive obstruction obstructs liberation and the obstruction to the knowable obstructs awakening; it is on that ruling that this chapter assigns the ten heavy obstructions to one or the other. It further sets out the sequence — severed gradually ground by ground, the residual habit cut all at once at the buddha-ground — which is the warrant for this chapter's passage on the two obstructions across three stages. And since what is severed comes in sequence, the suchness disclosed is named accordingly: suchness itself has no differentiation, and the ten names are provisionally set down according to the depth of the obstruction severed. That distinction must not be missed.

III. The Ten Heavy Obstructions — the Ten Tiers of Obstruction Each Ground Severs, Plus the Remaining Obstruction Severed All at Once at the Buddha-Ground

Next, the ten heavy obstructions.

(1) The Obstruction of the Ordinary-Being Nature — Severed on the First Ground

First, the obstruction of the ordinary-being nature. This refers to that portion of the two obstructions (the afflictions and the knowable) which is discriminatively arisen, because the "ordinary-being nature" is established upon those discriminatively arisen seeds. When the Path of Seeing comes to manifestation, the two-vehicle practitioner severs only one kind (the discriminatively arisen seed of the obstruction of the afflictions), and that is called gaining the nature of the noble ones; when the Path of Seeing comes to manifestation, the bodhisattva severs both kinds (the discriminatively arisen seeds of the obstructions of the afflictions and of the knowable), and only that is called gaining the nature of the noble ones.

Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) sorts out where the name "obstruction of the ordinary-being nature" comes from: this treatise's name agrees with Vasubandhu's commentary on the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha; as for the Treatise on the Ten Grounds calling it the "obstruction of the ordinary being's mark of self," that name is not adequate — because the body of this obstruction is not merely the one portion of "self-grasping" (it runs also through the obstruction to the knowable), and to label it by "the mark of self" fails to mark the obstruction in its entirety. He further explains its essential nature: to say it is "established upon the ordinary-being nature" means that upon those very "discriminatively arisen seeds of the two obstructions" the name "ordinary-being nature" is set up; and in severance one severs the "dependent" — the seeds of the two obstructions — for once the dependent is severed, the "depended-upon" ordinary-being nature is said to be severed as well.

Here let one doubt first be resolved: when the obstruction is severed, do "the nature of the noble ones" and "the ordinary-being nature" come to be accomplished together? When the true Path of Seeing comes to manifestation, the discriminatively arisen seed of the two obstructions is certainly not accomplished — just as light and dark certainly do not arise together, and just as the two ends of a balance, one high and one low, occur simultaneously: for whatever dharmas are mutually opposed, the principle is certainly thus. So there is absolutely no fault of "both natures being accomplished at once," that is, of being at once at the noble stage and yet still an ordinary being.

Then resolve a further question: at the uninterrupted path, since there is already no seed of confusion, what need is there still to raise the path of liberation? The answer: the "directed aims" of these two matters — "severing confusion" and "realizing cessation" — are not the same. In order to cast off the coarse-and-heavy nature of that class of confusion — at the uninterrupted path, although there is already no seed of confusion, the incapacity-to-bear-up (the coarse-and-heavy) has not yet been cast off — in order to cast this off, the path of liberation is raised, and one realizes the cessation-through-discernment (the unconditioned) of this class.

As to what the first ground severs, this must be further made plain. Although when the Path of Seeing arises one also severs the various karmas-and-fruits of the evil destinies and the like, for the present one speaks just from the side of "what can give rise to the afflictions," because that is the root. So the first ground is said to "sever two follies together with their coarse-and-heavy": first, the folly that clings to self and phenomena — that is, the obstruction of the ordinary-being nature here; second, the folly of the defilement of the evil destinies — that is, the various karmas-and-fruits of the evil destinies and the like. It must be understood that the word "folly" speaks of the whole class summarily as folly, and the later text is all to be read accordingly. There is also another view: that the scripture speaks only of the two follies of "the sharp and dull obstruction-classes arising together"; and "coarse-and-heavy" shows precisely those two follies, or shows the incapacity-to-bear-up that they set off — just as, when entering the second meditative absorption and the like, one is said to "sever the faculty of suffering," and although the faculty of suffering severed is neither active manifestation nor seed it is nonetheless called "coarse-and-heavy," this case is on the same principle; wherever the later text says "coarse-and-heavy," it is to be read accordingly.

A further distinction must be drawn: although what the first ground severs in fact runs through both obstructions of the afflictions and of the knowable, the name "obstruction of the ordinary-being nature" inclines toward taking the obstruction to the knowable — because the treatise says the "ten ignorances" are "non-defiled"; this ignorance is the "folly" of the ten obstruction-classes. The two-vehicle practitioner too can sever the obstruction of the afflictions, but that obstruction of the afflictions is severed in common by the three vehicles and is not what these ten obstructions mean to speak of. Again, the statement that "the ten ignorances are non-defiled" is made only within the range of "what is severed by cultivation across the ten grounds."

Moreover: although within the first-ground stage one also subdues the afflictions and severs their coarse-and-heavy, that is not where the primary intent lies, and one does not sever their latent tendency, so it is not stated here. In point of principle, within the first-ground path of cultivation one in fact also severs a portion of the innate obstruction to the knowable; for the present, however, one speaks of "what is severed first," and what the latter nine grounds sever can be inferred accordingly.

Finally, point out one practice peculiar to the bodhisattva: in the "abiding-mind and culminating-mind" of each ground, since the time is long, one ought in principle to advance and sever the obstructions one ought to sever; otherwise the paths of the three times "entering, abiding, culminating" would have no difference. So it is said: after the bodhisattva has gained direct realization, then within the path of cultivation across the ten grounds he cultivates only the path that "extinguishes forever the obstruction to the knowable," and retains the obstruction of the afflictions to aid his vow and take rebirth (retaining confusion to moisten birth), unlike the two vehicles who hasten toward final quiescence. So within the path of cultivation he does not sever the obstruction of the afflictions, and only when he is about to attain buddhahood does he sever it all at once.

(2) The Obstruction of Wrong Conduct — Severed on the Second Ground

Second, the obstruction of wrong conduct. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable, together with the mistaken transgression of the threefold karma of body, speech, and mind that it sets off. It obstructs the utterly pure moral discipline of the second ground, and upon entering the second ground can be severed forever. So the second ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of subtle mistaken transgression — that is, the innate portion here; second, the folly of the various karmic destinies — that is, the mistaken threefold karma that it sets off, also called the folly that "merely sets off karma without understanding it."

(3) The Obstruction of Dullness — Severed on the Third Ground

Third, the obstruction of dullness. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable that makes one forget and lose the dharmas one has heard, reflected upon, and cultivated. It obstructs the superior concentration of the third ground, its great retention, and the excellent threefold wisdom they give rise to, and upon entering the third ground can be severed forever. So the third ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of sensual greed — that is, the portion here that obstructs superior concentration and the wisdom born of cultivation; this obstruction has mostly arisen together with sensual greed in the past, and so it is called the "folly of sensual greed"; now that one has gained superior concentration and the wisdom born of cultivation, this obstruction is forever severed, and sensual greed is accordingly subdued along with it (because sensual greed has from beginningless time turned in dependence on this obstruction). Second, the folly of the fully complete retention of what is heard — that is, the portion here that obstructs the retention and the wisdom of hearing and reflecting.

(4) The Obstruction of the Active Manifestation of Subtle Afflictions — Severed on the Fourth Ground

Fourth, the obstruction of the active manifestation of subtle afflictions. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable, belonging to the view of self and the like associated with the sixth consciousness; because it is "of the lowest grade," "takes its object without directed attention," and "follows along in active manifestation from afar," it is called "subtle." It obstructs the factors of awakening of the fourth ground, and upon entering the fourth ground can be severed forever.

This portion (of the obstruction to the knowable) has in the past mostly arisen spontaneously within the sixth consciousness, arising as one substance with the "view that grasps a self" and the like, and so it borrows the name "afflictions" to speak of it; now that within the fourth ground one has gained the uncontaminated factors of awakening, it is extinguished forever, and this view-of-self and the rest never again come into active manifestation. It must be understood that the giving, discipline, and cultivation practiced on the first, second, and third grounds are still in common with the mundane; only when one has cultivated the factors of awakening on the fourth ground does it count as "supramundane," and so it can forever harm this view-of-self and the rest.

Here there is a question: how is it known that this obstruction is conjoined with the sixth consciousness and not with the seventh? The answer: the view-that-grasps-a-self and the like associated with the seventh consciousness, being by nature opposed to the uncontaminated path, never again come into active manifestation only from the eighth ground on, and still arise through the seventh ground (because they serve as the supporting basis for the remaining afflictions); this one of the sixth is coarse and that one of the seventh is subtle, and the times of subduing them are earlier and later, and so what this fourth ground severs is conjoined only with the sixth.

The phrase "view-of-self and the like" also includes the attachment to absorption and attachment to dharmas subsumed under the obstruction to the knowable from beginningless time. That attachment to absorption and attachment to dharmas is still growing through the third ground; only upon entering the fourth ground can it be severed forever — because the factors of awakening are especially opposed to it. So the fourth ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of the attachment to meditative attainment — that is, the one conjoined with "attachment to absorption" here; second, the folly of attachment to dharmas — that is, the one conjoined with "attachment to dharmas" here. Once these two follies subsumed under the obstruction to the knowable are severed, the two attachments subsumed under the obstruction of the afflictions also never again come into active manifestation.

(5) The Obstruction of Nirvāṇa-in-the-Lower-Vehicle — Severed on the Fifth Ground

Fifth, the obstruction of nirvāṇa-in-the-lower-vehicle. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable that makes the bodhisattva weary of and shun birth-and-death and delight in heading toward nirvāṇa, exactly as the two vehicles below do in "wearying of suffering and delighting in cessation." It obstructs the path of no-difference of the fifth ground (no difference between birth-and-death and nirvāṇa), and upon entering the fifth ground can be severed forever. So the fifth ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of purely attending to turning the back on birth-and-death — that is, the one here that wearies of birth-and-death; second, the folly of purely attending to facing toward nirvāṇa — that is, the one here that delights in nirvāṇa.

(6) The Obstruction of the Active Manifestation of Coarse Marks — Severed on the Sixth Ground

Sixth, the obstruction of the active manifestation of coarse marks. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable that clings to there being coarse marks of "defiled and pure" in active manifestation. It obstructs the path of neither-defilement-nor-purity of the sixth ground, and upon entering the sixth ground can be severed forever. So the sixth ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of contemplating the flow-and-turning of conduct — that is, the one here that clings to there being defilement (because the flow-and-turning of all conduct belongs to the defiled portion); second, the folly of the frequent active manifestation of marks — that is, the one here that clings to there being purity; because it grasps at the mark of purity, the "contemplation that grasps marks" manifests frequently, and one cannot yet abide for long within the "signless contemplation."

(7) The Obstruction of the Active Manifestation of Subtle Marks — Severed on the Seventh Ground

Seventh, the obstruction of the active manifestation of subtle marks. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable that clings to there being subtle marks of "arising and ceasing" in active manifestation. It obstructs the marvelous signless path of the seventh ground, and upon entering the seventh ground can be severed forever. So the seventh ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of the active manifestation of subtle marks — that is, the one here that clings to there being "arising," still grasping at the subtle arising-mark of flow-and-turning; second, the folly of purely attending to seeking the signless — that is, the one here that clings to there being "ceasing," still grasping at the subtle ceasing-mark of returning-and-stilling; such a one purely directs attention within the signless and diligently seeks it, and cannot yet raise "existence-like" excellent practice within "emptiness" (raising the practice of marvelous existence within signless contemplation).

(8) The Obstruction of Making Effort Within the Signless — Severed on the Eighth Ground

Eighth, the obstruction of making effort within the signless. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable that prevents the "signless contemplation" from arising spontaneously. One must see clearly the layer-by-layer progression here: through the first five grounds, the mark-grasping contemplation is much and the signless contemplation little; at the sixth ground, the mark-grasping contemplation is little and the signless contemplation much; at the seventh ground, it is purely signless contemplation, and though it continues constantly it still carries "effort"; just because there is still effort within the signless, one cannot yet spontaneously manifest "marks" and "lands." Such "effort" precisely obstructs the path of no-effort of the eighth ground; so upon entering the eighth ground it can be severed forever. Once this obstruction is severed forever, one gains "the twofold mastery (over marks and over lands)."

So the eighth ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of making effort within the signless; second, the folly of mastery over marks — it makes one not gain mastery over "marks," and this folly also includes a portion of "lands and marks." From the eighth ground on, it is purely the uncontaminated path arising spontaneously, and so the afflictions of the three realms never again come into active manifestation; but the subtle obstruction to the knowable within the seventh consciousness still arises — because the "fruit of the wisdom of the emptiness of self" is not opposed to it.

(9) The Obstruction of Not Wishing to Act in Benefiting Others — Severed on the Ninth Ground

Ninth, the obstruction of not wishing to act in benefiting others. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable that makes one not wish to diligently act in the work of benefiting and gladdening sentient beings, delighting only in cultivating one's own benefit. It obstructs the fourfold unobstructed understanding of the ninth ground, and upon entering the ninth ground can be severed forever. So the ninth ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy:

The first is the folly regarding mastery of the retention of immeasurable expounded dharmas, immeasurable names-phrases-syllables, and the ever-subsequent wisdom-and-eloquence — and this contains three strands. First, "mastery of the retention regarding immeasurable expounded dharmas" refers to the unobstructed understanding of meaning, that is, mastery of the retention regarding the "meaning that is expressed," able to manifest all meanings within a single meaning. Second, "mastery of the retention regarding immeasurable names-phrases-syllables" refers to the unobstructed understanding of dharma, that is, mastery of the retention regarding the "names-phrases-syllables that express," able to manifest all names-phrases-syllables within a single name-phrase-syllable. Third, "mastery of the retention regarding the ever-subsequent wisdom-and-eloquence" refers to the unobstructed understanding of language, that is, mastery of the retention regarding "the successive glossing of speech-sounds," able to manifest all speech-sounds within a single speech-sound.

The second is the folly regarding mastery of eloquence. "Mastery of eloquence" refers to the unobstructed understanding of eloquence, the ability to penetrate skillfully the capacities and timeliness of the audience and to expound the Dharma for them with skill. This folly can obstruct the four masteries above (meaning, dharma, language, eloquence), all of which are subsumed under this ninth obstruction.

(10) The Obstruction of Not Yet Gaining Mastery Among All Dharmas — Severed on the Tenth Ground

Tenth, the obstruction of not yet gaining mastery among all dharmas. This refers to an innate portion of the obstruction to the knowable that makes one not gain mastery among all dharmas. It obstructs the great cloud of Dharma-wisdom of the tenth ground, together with what it holds and the undertakings it sets off, and upon entering the tenth ground can be severed forever. So the tenth ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly regarding the great spiritual powers — that is, the one here that obstructs the "undertakings set off"; second, the folly regarding penetrating the subtle secrets — that is, the one here that obstructs the "great cloud of Dharma-wisdom and what it holds."

[The Buddha-Ground] The Vajra-Like Concentration Severs the Remaining Obstruction All at Once

By the tenth ground, although one has gained mastery among all dharmas, there yet remains a residual obstruction, and one cannot yet be called "utterly ultimate." What remains? First, the innate subtle obstruction to the knowable; second, the spontaneous seeds of the obstruction of the afflictions. When the vajra-like concentration comes to manifestation, these two are severed all at once, and one enters the Tathāgata-ground. So the Buddha-ground is said to sever two follies and their coarse-and-heavy: first, the folly of the extremely subtle attachment to all knowable objects — that is, the subtle obstruction to the knowable here; second, the folly of the extremely subtle hindrance — that is, all the spontaneous seeds of the obstruction of the afflictions here.

So the scripture upon which this is based says: at the time of attaining bodhi, the obstruction of the afflictions and the obstruction to the knowable are severed all at once, and thereby one becomes an arhat and also a Tathāgata, realizing great nirvāṇa and great bodhi.

[Fascicle Ten] These Eleven Obstructions Gathered Into the Two Obstructions — Severed at Three Positions, Gradual and All-at-Once

Take all eleven obstructions stated above (the ten obstructions of the ten grounds, plus the one of the Buddha-ground): they are entirely gathered into the two obstructions, of the afflictions and of the knowable. What follows treats how each of these two obstructions is severed.

On the side of the obstruction of the afflictions. Its "seed severed by seeing" is severed for the first time at the Path of Seeing on the Ground of Supreme Joy; its active-manifestation portion is already subdued before ascending to the grounds. Its "seed severed by cultivation" is severed all at once only when the vajra-like concentration comes to manifestation; its active-manifestation portion is gradually subdued before ascending to the grounds, and from the first ground on can be subdued completely all at once, so that it never again comes into active manifestation (just as for the arhat); however, owing to the "force of deliberate intent" (retaining confusion to moisten birth), although it occasionally arises for a moment through the first seven grounds, it does not count as a fault; from the eighth ground on, it utterly never comes into active manifestation.

On the side of the obstruction to the knowable. Its "seed severed by seeing" is likewise severed for the first time at the Path of Seeing on the Ground of Supreme Joy; its active-manifestation portion is already subdued before ascending to the grounds. Its "seed severed by cultivation" is severed in gradual stages within the ten grounds, and is only forever severed clean when the vajra-like concentration comes to manifestation; its active-manifestation portion is gradually subdued before ascending to the grounds, and is forever subdued completely only at the tenth ground. Look more closely: from the eighth ground on, the obstruction to the knowable conjoined with the six consciousnesses no longer comes into active manifestation — because the uncontaminated contemplating mind and its fruit continue and can oppose it; that conjoined with the seventh consciousness still comes into active manifestation, and is subdued only at the position where the "fruit of the wisdom of the emptiness of phenomena" arises. As for the first five transforming consciousnesses, even though the transformation of the basis has not yet occurred, because they are subdued by the uncontaminated, the obstruction does not come into active manifestation.

Here add a word of general statement: although within the ten-ground positions of the path of cultivation one does not directly sever the seeds of the obstruction of the afflictions, its coarse-and-heavy too is gradually severed; so it is said that the coarse-and-heavy of both obstructions each has the sense of "severance at three positions" (subdued before ascending the grounds, gradually severed across the ten grounds, severed all at once by the vajra concentration). Although coarse-and-heavy is being severed at every position, it is most evident at these three positions, and so these three alone are singled out for statement.

A final question: in severing the seeds of these two obstructions, which is gradual and which is all-at-once?

The "seeds of the obstruction of the afflictions" conjoined with the seventh consciousness: when the three vehicles are about to attain the fruit of no-more-learning, in a single instant those of the three realms are severed all at once together. The "seeds of the obstruction to the knowable" conjoined with the seventh consciousness: when about to attain buddhahood, all are severed all at once in a single instant — because it arises spontaneously within, with no distinction of coarse and subtle.

The remaining "seeds of the obstruction of the afflictions" conjoined with the six consciousnesses: those belonging to "what is severed by seeing" are severed all at once together within the true Path of Seeing at the three-vehicle seeing-position; those belonging to "what is severed by cultivation" depend on which kind of person — one class of two-vehicle practitioner severs them in gradual stages, one by one through the nine grounds of the three realms, distinguished by nine grades; another class of two-vehicle practitioner combines the nine grounds of the three realms into one cluster and severs them distinguished by nine grades; the bodhisattva, for his part, must raise the vajra-like concentration and in a single instant sever those of the three realms all at once together.

The "seeds of the obstruction to the knowable" conjoined with the six consciousnesses: at the first moment of the first ground, all of "what is severed by seeing" are severed all at once together; those belonging to "what is severed by cultivation" are then severed in gradual stages within the ten-ground path of cultivation, until, precisely when the vajra-like concentration is raised, they are all severed clean in a single instant — because it arises taking as its object the inner, the outer, the coarse, and the subtle, with very many categorical distinctions of kind.

Add, incidentally, a distinction between how the two vehicles and the bodhisattva sever obstructions: the two vehicles, being of dull faculties, when severing obstructions gradually must each separately raise an "uninterrupted path and a path of liberation," while their "path of preparatory practice and path of advancing ascendancy" are either separate or combined. The bodhisattva, being of sharp faculties, when severing obstructions gradually need not separately raise the uninterrupted and the liberation — because instant by instant he severs and realizes right then and there; and the four paths, preparatory and the rest, instant by instant bearing upon one another before and after, may all be present together.

IV. The Ten Suchnesses — the Ten Tiers of Suchness Provisionally Established According to the Excellent Virtue of Each Ground

Next, the ten suchnesses.

First, the all-pervading suchness. This means that this suchness is what is revealed by the twofold emptiness (of self and of phenomena), and that there is no single dharma not within it.

Second, the supreme suchness. This means that this suchness is fully furnished with boundless virtues and is the most excellent among all dharmas.

Third, the supreme-outflow suchness. This means that the teaching that flows out from this suchness is supremely excellent compared with the rest of the teachings.

Fourth, the un-appropriated suchness. This means that this suchness has nothing it belongs to, and is not what the grasping of self and the like can rest upon or grasp.

Fifth, the suchness without distinction of kind. This means that this suchness has no distinction in its "kind," unlike the eye and other dharmas, whose kinds differ one from another.

Sixth, the suchness of neither-defilement-nor-purity. This means that this suchness is in its very nature without defilement, and cannot be said to "become pure only later."

Seventh, the suchness without distinction of dharma. This means that although this suchness has manifold teachings and various provisional establishments, its substance has no difference.

Eighth, the suchness without increase or decrease. This means that this suchness is free of the grasping at "increase and decrease," and does not increase and decrease according to the pure and the defiled. This eighth is also called the "suchness that is the support for mastery over marks and lands" — because, if one realizes this suchness, the manifesting of marks and the manifesting of lands both become free.

Ninth, the suchness that is the support for mastery of wisdom. Because, if one realizes this suchness, one gains mastery in the (fourfold) unobstructed understanding.

Tenth, the suchness that is the support for mastery over undertakings and the like. Because, if one realizes this suchness, one gains mastery universally over all spiritual-power undertakings, retentions, and gateways of concentration.

It must be understood that the essential nature of suchness in fact has no distinction; it is only according to the excellent virtue of each ground that it is provisionally established as ten kinds. Although within the first ground one has already penetrated all suchness, the "practice that is able to realize" is not yet complete; in order to bring it to completion, the later grounds establish, one after another, the remaining names of suchness.

In just this way, the bodhisattva, within the ten grounds, valiantly cultivates the ten supreme practices, severs the ten heavy obstructions, and realizes the ten suchnesses, and thereby is able to realize the two turnings of the basis.

Onward Transmission

The whole map this section sets out for the Stage of Cultivation — the ten grounds, the ten supreme practices, the ten heavy obstructions, the ten suchnesses, and the severing of the two obstructions to realize the two turnings of the basis — is the spine of the entire consciousness-only path of cultivation, and the later treatises take it up one by one. The Hundred Dharmas treatise, within the wholesome class of the mental factors, establishes "non-greed" as the substance of giving and takes "non-hatred, discerning wisdom, vigor, diligence, concentration, and the discernment of phenomena" as the natures of the supreme practices of patience, vigor, absorption, and wisdom, and among the dharmas dissociated from mind it establishes the name "ordinary-being nature" — precisely the portion upon which this section's "obstruction of the ordinary-being nature" is established. The Thirty Verses — verse twenty-nine (the Stage of Cultivation and the transformation of the basis) — is the very root-text this section expounds, verse answering to verse; the preceding verse twenty-eight (the Stage of Penetrating Comprehension and the first realization of suchness on the Path of Seeing) is what this section receives, and the following verse thirty (the Final Stage, freed of obstruction and round in brightness) is what it opens onto. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on the obstructions, establishes that "the obstructions to the virtues of the ten grounds are therefore spoken of as the ten obstructions," setting up one obstruction for each ground, which corresponds ground for ground to this section's ten heavy obstructions; and its chapter on attaining the fruit, treating the "transformation of the basis" and the "ten Dharma practices," is again the counterpart to this section's fruition-positions of the path of cultivation. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its section on the distinctions of cultivation, fixes the names of the ten grounds, makes clear that "the ten grounds are established so as to counter the ten obstructions countered by the ten ignorances," matches the "knowable Dharma-realm under ten aspects" to the ten grounds, opens the six perfections out into ten, and gathers the ten perfections into the three trainings — precisely the basis for this section's extended discussion of the ten grounds, the ten suchnesses, and the ten perfections, and the Shuji too cites this section throughout in its glosses. As for the Twenty Verses, its concern is to establish consciousness-only without external objects and to refute the outsiders' clinging to real objects, and it has no direct counterpart to the sequence of cultivation across the ten grounds; here it is left aside.

This portion of the Stage of Cultivation treats the transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti) — the turning-over of the root upon which everything rests (the store-consciousness, ālaya-vijñāna, and Suchness, tathatā), so that the defiled is cast off and the pure is gained. The treatise first divides this matter by station, asking through which six stairs the transformation passes (the six stations); it then divides the same matter by aspect, asking what fourfold structure we find when we take the transformation itself apart (the four aspects). We will open each up in turn.

The sense of "transformation of the basis" has its roots in scripture and treatise alike. The Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra, in its chapter on the characteristics of mind, mentation, and consciousness, speaks of an "appropriating consciousness" (ādāna-vijñāna) — that which holds and maintains all the seeds, profound and subtle, unbroken like a torrent — which the World-Honored One "did not expound to the foolish," precisely for fear that someone would take this consciousness-substance that holds the defiled and pure seeds and falsely grasp it as a self; and the root characteristic of the transformation of the basis is exactly to "turn this root consciousness that holds the seeds over, making it cast off the defiled and gain the pure," so that the ādāna of which the Saṃdhinirmocana speaks (the basis that holds the seeds) just is that root basis which the transformation transforms. The treatise-basis lies in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on the severance that is the fruit of the path, and in the Yogācārabhūmi. The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha fixes the transformation of the basis as "with respect to the other-dependent nature, at the time when the remedy arises, casting off its defiled portion and gaining its pure portion" (which is the treatise-basis for this treatise's "casting off the wholly-imagined, gaining the perfectly-accomplished"), and lists the transformation of the basis as "broadly of six kinds" — the transformation that diminishes the strength and benefits the power, the transformation of penetration, the transformation of cultivation, the transformation of the fruit's completion, the inferior transformation, and the vast transformation — names and order matching exactly the six stations to be treated below, with the "inferior transformation" set down for the two vehicles and the "vast transformation" for the bodhisattvas, which is the basis for this treatise's fifth and sixth stations. The Yogācārabhūmi in turn makes plain that "within the Path of Cultivation there is a world-transcending path of severance, and a path of severance that severs the worldly and the world-transcending together, but there is no purely worldly path that can forever injure the latent dispositions" (because the purely worldly path is carried over from past habituation and is dragged along by the grasping at marks), which is the treatise-basis for this treatise's account below that "the path that can sever is definitely not contaminated" and for its harmonizing of "the latent dispositions deluded about the principle are severed by the fundamental wisdom alone, while those deluded about the matter are severed by the fundamental and the subsequently-attained together." What this chapter expounds has its scriptural root in the Saṃdhinirmocana and its treatise-basis in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha and the Yogācārabhūmi — and following the verse, we open the exposition below.

C. The six stations of the transformation (six stations)

Sorted by the differences of stage, the transformation can be laid out, broadly, in six kinds. The first four are arranged in ascending order, following the path of cultivation from shallow to deep; the last two are set down by holding the Lesser Vehicle and the Greater Vehicle up side by side.

First, the transformation that diminishes the strength and benefits the power. This is the earliest pair of stations — the Stage of Provisions (saṃbhāra) and the Stage of Intensified Effort (prayoga). Within these two stations the practitioner draws on certain forces — resolute conviction (a deep, settled faith in the principle of consciousness-only) together with self-respect and regard for others (shame before one's own unwholesome states of mind, and dread of being faulted by the world) — and with these diminishes the strength of the defiled seeds within the root consciousness (the store-consciousness) while at the same time benefiting, that is, increasing, the functional power of the pure seeds within that same root consciousness. One point must be marked: at this point the seeds of the hindrances have not yet truly been severed, nor has the transformation of the basis been actually realized — the afflictions of present activity are merely being gradually pressed down and suppressed. Yet because it is already stirring the root consciousness in the very direction of "diminishing the defiled and benefiting the pure," it too is called a "transformation." Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) accounts for this "also called a transformation": these first two stations before the grounds can still be called a "transformation" because they are the "cause of the transformation (the cause of the later actual realization of the transformation of the basis)" and a "transformation that can suppress (the transformation that can gradually suppress present activity)," not a genuine "station of actual realization" — for the actual realization of the transformation of the basis comes only at the Stage of Penetration, the Stage of Cultivation, and above; so this transformation that diminishes the strength and benefits the power is only a "semblance of transformation," not the true transformation.

Second, the transformation of penetration. This is the Stage of Penetration, which is to say the Path of Seeing. By the force of the Path of Seeing one directly penetrates Suchness and severs the coarse-and-heavy (the gross, weighty residue of the hindrances) belonging to the discrimination-born class of the two hindrances — those that arise from later conditioning, produced by mistaken inference — and one realizes one portion of the genuine transformation of the basis. This "one portion" is said relative to the "progressive completion" of the Stage of Cultivation that follows: the Path of Seeing severs only the single segment of the discrimination-born hindrances, and so is the first step of the genuine transformation of the basis.

Third, the transformation of cultivation. This is the Stage of Cultivation itself. By cultivating the practices of the ten grounds over and over, one gradually severs the coarse-and-heavy belonging to the innate class of the two hindrances — those that are inborn and arise spontaneously of themselves — and step by stair one realizes the genuine transformation of the basis. The treatise on which this rests further subdivides this transformation of cultivation into a former and a latter segment. It says that the transformation of penetration holds for the first six grounds — because in the first six grounds the contemplation that bears marks and the contemplation free of marks are present in an interspersed way, so that when penetrating the two truths, the true and the conventional, the practitioner alternates between them; thus the true can manifest, but the untrue still manifests as well. And it says that the transformation of cultivation holds for the latter four grounds — because in the latter four grounds the pure contemplation free of marks is present continuously over long stretches, cultivated with vigorous energy, so that the remaining coarse-and-heavy is severed and, for the most part, the untrue no longer manifests. In other words, the first six grounds penetrate with the true and the false still mixed together, while the latter four grounds cultivate and refine in pure markless contemplation — the further along one goes, the purer it becomes.

Fourth, the transformation of the fruit's completion. This is the Ultimate Stage, which is to say the attainment of Buddhahood. One must pass through three incalculable aeons (lengths of time beyond all counting), cultivating and amassing measureless, boundless, hard-to-practice and supremely excellent practices; and in the very instant that the vajra-like concentration (the final moment of concentration, firm as a diamond, able to shatter the very last of all hindrances) becomes present, the entire coarse-and-heavy that has held from the beginningless beginning is forever severed exhaustively, and one realizes, then and there in full, the transformation of the basis that is the fruit of Buddhahood — from then on benefiting and bringing ease to sentient beings to the very end of future time, without ever running out. The first three stations are transformations within the cause; this one is the complete, ultimate transformation upon the fruit.

Fifth, the inferior transformation. This is said with reference to the two vehicles (the disciples and the solitary realizers). Practitioners of the two vehicles seek only their own liberation, recoiling from the suffering of birth-and-death and longing for the peace of nirvāṇa; therefore they can penetrate only the Suchness disclosed by the emptiness of the person (the Suchness made manifest by selflessness with respect to persons), sever the seeds of the hindrance of the afflictions, and realize a true cessation through analysis (the genuine quiescence won by the discernment of undefiled wisdom). But they lack the surpassing and vast capability — they cannot sever the hindrance to what is to be known, nor can they deliver sentient beings on a vast scale — and so this kind of transformation is called the "inferior transformation."

Sixth, the vast transformation. This is said with reference to the Greater Vehicle. The bodhisattvas of the Greater Vehicle press toward the great awakening for the sake of benefiting others; therefore, toward the two extremes alike, birth-and-death and nirvāṇa, they neither long for nor recoil (they neither cling to nirvāṇa nor dread birth-and-death). They are able to penetrate both at once — the Suchness disclosed by the two emptinesses (the Suchness made manifest by the emptiness of the person and the emptiness of phenomena together) — severing the seeds of both hindrances, the hindrance to what is to be known and the hindrance of the afflictions, all at once, and realizing then and there in full the unsurpassed awakening and nirvāṇa. Because they possess this surpassing capability, this kind of transformation is called the "vast transformation." The former kind is small, is inferior; this kind is great, is supreme — held against each other, high and low are plainly distinct.

If these six stations are gathered up once more, Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) settles their grouping into stations: taken together they "broadly open out into five stations" — the stages before the grounds count as two stations (the Stage of Provisions and the Stage of Intensified Effort, the two stations that make up the single segment of the transformation that diminishes the strength and benefits the power), the ten grounds count as two stations (penetration and cultivation), and the Tathāgata counts as one station (the completion of the fruit); as for the inferior and the vast, these last two are a separate teaching that holds the two vehicles and the Greater Vehicle up against each other in adjudication, and they do not fall within the five sequential stations.

Having finished the six stations, one point must be made explicit: what the verse itself is properly speaking of is exactly this "vast transformation of the basis" — for the vast transformation of the basis is precisely the kind of transformation that is "realized by casting off the coarse-and-heavy of the two hindrances," which fits the sense of the verse most closely. The first five stations are laid out as an accompanying analysis; the point comes to rest on the sixth.

D. The fourfold structure of "transformation" (four aspects)

Taken from another angle, when the matter of the transformation of the basis is itself taken apart, it has, broadly, four structural members: by what one transforms (the path that effects the transformation), what the basis is that is transformed (the basis that is transformed), what is cast off in transforming (what is transformed away), and what is gained by transforming. This chapter's Vernacular runs as far as "what is transformed away"; we will open each member up in turn below.

1. The path that effects the transformation — by what one transforms

"The path that effects the transformation" refers to the path (the way of cultivation) that is able to accomplish this transformation of the basis, and it in turn divides into two kinds.

The first kind is the "path that can suppress." Its function is to suppress the strength of the latent dispositions of the two hindrances (the dormant seeds and habit-energies), so that they no longer set off the present activity of the two hindrances (so that the afflictions do not break out then and there). This path that can suppress holds across both the contaminated and the uncontaminated path, and across all three wisdoms — the wisdom of intensified effort, the fundamental wisdom, and the subsequently-attained wisdom; depending on what each respectively answers to, it suppresses gradually in some cases and suddenly in others. Its whole concern is to press down; it does not deal with severing at the root.

The second kind is the "path that can sever." Its function is to sever forever the latent dispositions of the two hindrances (to pull them out root and all). This path that can sever is definitely not a contaminated path, and is definitely not a path of intensified effort. Why? Because the contaminated path is something carried over from past habituation and is, moreover, dragged along by the grasping at marks (the seizing upon the marks of objects); it has not yet been able to dissolve the marks of grasper and grasped, and so it cannot sever at the root. And the path of intensified effort is still pressing toward what is to be realized and what is to be set in motion; its work is not yet brought to completion, and so it too cannot sever at the root. What can sever must be the uncontaminated path, the fundamental and the subsequently-attained.

At this point the treatise inserts two schools' differing accounts of whether the subsequently-attained wisdom can sever.

One view: only the fundamental wisdom can sever. This view holds that only the fundamental non-discriminating wisdom can sever the latent dispositions — because it directly realizes the truth disclosed by the two emptinesses, with no object-mark in the mind (carrying no mark of grasper or grasped whatever), and so it can sever; whereas the subsequently-attained wisdom is not like this (it still carries the established marks of objects), and so the subsequently-attained wisdom does not count as a path that can sever.

Another view: the subsequently-attained wisdom too can sever a portion. This view holds that, although the subsequently-attained non-discriminating wisdom cannot directly realize the truth of the two emptinesses and has no power to sever the kind of latent disposition that is deluded about the principle (deluded about the truth itself), still, with respect to the marks of objects both under the truth as posited (the four truths and the like, established by verbal designation) and under the truth not posited (the Suchness beyond words), it can make these present plainly and realize them without error; and so it too can sever forever the kind of latent disposition that is deluded about the matter (deluded about concrete particular phenomena).

The treatise then cites the source-treatise to harmonize the two: that treatise says that within the Path of Cultivation there is a world-transcending path of severance, and a path of severance that cultivates the worldly and the world-transcending together, but there is no purely worldly path that can forever injure the latent dispositions — because the purely worldly path is something carried over from past habituation and is, moreover, dragged along by the grasping at marks (the reason being the same as before).

Following this reasoning, the matter can be adjudicated clearly: of those latent dispositions among the severed-by-seeing and the severed-by-cultivation that are deluded about the principle, only the fundamental non-discriminating wisdom, directly realizing the truth, can properly sever them; whereas the remaining latent dispositions of the severed-by-cultivation that are deluded about the matter, both the fundamental wisdom and the subsequently-attained wisdom can properly sever. This adjudication in fact harmonizes the two views precisely: the segment deluded about the principle is assigned solely to the fundamental wisdom (agreeing with the first view), while the segment deluded about the matter holds across the subsequently-attained wisdom as well (agreeing with the second view) — each view spoke truly of one side.

2. The basis that is transformed — what the basis is that is transformed

"The basis that is transformed" refers to that root basis which is transformed, and it too divides into two kinds.

The first kind is the "basis that holds the seeds" — namely the root consciousness (the ālaya-vijñāna). Because it is able to hold and maintain the seeds of all phenomena, defiled and pure, and serves, together with the defiled and pure phenomena, as the basis for them; once the noble path turns it over, it is upon this very thing that the defiled is cast off and the pure is gained. The treatise expressly distinguishes: the other other-dependent phenomena, although they too can serve as a "basis," cannot hold and maintain seeds, and so they are not counted here within the "basis that holds the seeds" — only the store-consciousness is taken.

The second kind is the "basis of delusion and awakening" — namely Suchness. Because it can serve as the root of both delusion and awakening: when sentient beings are deluded about it they are worldlings, when they awaken to it they are saints, and all phenomena, defiled and pure, must rely upon it in order to arise; once the noble path turns it over, it is upon this very thing too that the defiled is cast off and the pure is gained. The treatise distinguishes in the same way: the other phenomena, although they too can serve as a basis for things deluded and awakened, are not the root basis, and so they are not counted here — only Suchness is taken. The one is the basis on the side of concrete fact, "that which holds the seeds"; the other is the basis on the side of principle-essence, "that on which delusion and awakening turn." Only the two together make up the complete "basis that is transformed."

On this point — that "the basis that holds the seeds takes only the eighth" — Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) adds two further clarifications. The first fixes the scope: earlier the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha named the whole "other-dependent nature" as the "transformation of the basis," whereas here the matter is taken solely under the single aspect of "that which can hold the seeds," and so only the eighth, the store-consciousness, is taken (the other-dependent phenomena are many, but the one that can hold the seeds is it alone). The second harmonizes the other set of "three kinds of transformation of the basis" laid down in the Abhidharma-samuccaya — there it is said that the transformation of the basis is of three: the first is the "transformation of mind," which is Suchness; the second is the "transformation of the path," which is the path that effects the transformation here; the third is the "transformation of the coarse-and-heavy," which is the ālaya. Holding this treatise's sense of the transformation of the basis up against it, the measure comes out thus: this treatise's sense of the transformation of the basis is "wider than the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha's" (the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha there did not set down Suchness, whereas this treatise sets down the basis of delusion and awakening, namely Suchness); and it is "not narrower than the Abhidharma-samuccaya's" (the Abhidharma-samuccaya adds a "transformation of the path," yet this treatise's path that effects the transformation has already gathered that "path" in, and so nothing is lacking). This adjudication of the one wider and the one narrower sets the place of this treatise's "basis that is transformed" very steadily among the treatises.

3. What is transformed away — what is cast off

"What is transformed away" refers to what is cast off at the time of the transformation of the basis, and it too divides into two kinds.

The first kind is "what is cast off by severing" — namely the seeds of the two hindrances. When the true uninterrupted path (the moment of uncontaminated path that is presently severing the hindrances, with no interval in between) becomes present, the "hindrance" and the "remedy" (the wisdom that counteracts it) stand directly opposed; thereupon those hindrance-seeds are severed and extinguished, never to be accomplished again, and this is called "casting off." The hindrance-seeds being severed, there is no further arising of present activity that would falsely grasp at "self and phenomena"; and the "self and phenomena" that were originally grasped, since they no longer manifest before the false discriminating consciousness, are accordingly also said to be "cast off." By this sense, this kind of casting off is also called "casting off the wholly-imagined" — casting off that pervasively calculating, falsely posited grasping at self and phenomena.

The second kind is "what is discarded" — namely the remaining contaminated seeds and the inferior uncontaminated seeds. When the vajra-like concentration becomes present, it sets in motion an "utterly complete, utterly bright, utterly pure" root consciousness; this purified root consciousness is no longer the basis for those inferior seeds, and so those inferior seeds are all forever discarded. The inferior seeds being discarded, the present activity of contaminated phenomena and inferior uncontaminated phenomena finally no longer arises; and since they never arise again, they are likewise said to be "cast off." By this sense, this kind of casting off is also called "casting off the inferior phenomena of birth-and-death" — casting off those base and inferior phenomena that bind one to birth-and-death.

As to at which stage in time "what is discarded" is cast off, the treatise lists two schools' differing accounts.

One view: it is all cast off together at the vajra station. This view holds that the remaining seeds of contaminated phenomena and the inferior uncontaminated seeds are all already discarded at the moment when the vajra-like concentration becomes present — because they are cast off at one and the same time as the seeds of the two hindrances.

Another view (leaning to the correct reading): it is not cast off until the path of liberation. This view holds that at the stage in time of the vajra uninterrupted path, those inferior seeds have in fact not yet been cast off — because those inferior seeds do not stand opposed to the uninterrupted path (the uninterrupted path counteracts only the two hindrances, not the inferior seeds; the two do not conflict, and so the inferior seeds would not be forced off by it at that point). If one were to insist that they were cast off at the time of the uninterrupted path, a string of faults would follow: the bodhisattva at that station would already have to be without the phenomena of birth-and-death; that station would already have to be without any "consciousness that takes the perfuming" left to be perfumed; one dwelling in the uninterrupted path would already have to be called a Buddha; and the subsequent "path of liberation" would have to become useless — none of which holds together. From this it should be known: the remaining contaminated and other inferior seeds are not discarded until the path of liberation (the moment of path, after the uninterrupted path, in which liberation is accomplished) arises — because only then is the eighth purified consciousness truly established and no longer serving as the basis for those inferior seeds. The uninterrupted path severs the hindrances, the path of liberation casts off the inferior seeds; with the two paths dividing the labor, this view discriminates the stages in time more finely.

Onward Transmission

What this section on the transformation of the basis establishes — "the six stations, the four aspects, and the two fruits of the transformation of the basis" — is the keystone passage in which the whole consciousness-only system gathers up cultivation-and-realization and makes plain the structure of "casting off the defiled and gaining the pure," and the later treatises take it up one by one. The Hundred Dharmas treatise, among the unconditioned dharmas, sets down "the unconditioned that is cessation through analysis" — the latter three of the four quiescences (the four nirvāṇas) are all gathered under cessation through analysis, which is precisely the basis for this section's "what is transformed away," the severing of the hindrances, and the nirvāṇa thereby disclosed; and it sets down "the unconditioned that is Suchness" — the very substance of this section's "basis of delusion and awakening" and "what is gained," which is the pure dharma-realm; and among the mind-dharmas it sets down the "ālaya," which is this section's "basis that holds the seeds." The Thirty Verses — verse twenty-nine (the Stage of Cultivation · the transformation of the basis) — is precisely the root-verse this section expounds, verse answering to verse; its preceding verse twenty-eight (the Stage of Penetration) is what leads up to it, and its following verse thirty (the Ultimate Stage · the fruit-characteristic of the two fruits of the transformation of the basis) is what it opens onto. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on the attainment of the fruit, sets down the five fruits and the ten fruits, among which the "fruit of the cessation of the hindrances" and the "fruit of release from bondage" are the fruit disclosed by the severing of the hindrances, intersecting with this section's "what is transformed away" and "what is gained by transforming." The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on the severance that is the fruit of the path, fixes the characteristic of the transformation of the basis as "casting off the defiled portion and gaining the pure portion," lists the six kinds of transformation of the basis, and sets down the non-abiding nirvāṇa — which is the very basis for this chapter's six stations and for the broad treatment of "the transformation of the basis as characteristic," and this treatise draws on it throughout. As for the Twenty Verses, its concern is to establish consciousness-only and refute the outsiders' clinging to real external objects, and it has no direct counterpart to the six stations and four aspects of the transformation of the basis; here it is left aside.

In treating "transformation of the basis" earlier, we finished with what is "cast off" by the transformation. We turn now to what is "won" by it. What the path finally wins falls into two great kinds. One kind is "made manifest" — the great nirvāṇa. The other is "brought forth" — the great awakening (bodhi), which is to say the four wisdoms. Following the verse, this section first treats the four kinds of nirvāṇa (with several objections and rejoinders folded in along the way), then the four wisdoms of the great awakening: how the four wisdoms arise from transforming the eight consciousnesses, when each first arises, and what object each takes; and it closes by returning to the verse to explain why only these two — nirvāṇa and awakening — are taken here as what is "won by transformation."

The "four wisdoms" treated in this section have their roots in scripture and treatise alike. The Buddhabhūmi Sūtra establishes that the "ground of great enlightenment" is wholly subsumed under five kinds of dharma — the pure dharma-realm, the great perfect-mirror wisdom, the wisdom of equal nature, the wisdom of subtle discernment, and the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done; and this "pure dharma-realm together with the four wisdoms" is the scriptural basis for the qualities of the fruit of Buddhahood. The same sūtra uses "the round mirror" as an image, saying "in dependence on the Tathāgata's wisdom-mirror, the reflected images of all places, objects, and consciousnesses appear" — and this is exactly the basis for this section's "mirror-wisdom taking all dharmas as object." The Buddhabhūmi-śāstra expounds these five dharmas one by one, and its definitions of the four wisdoms — the great perfect-mirror wisdom "is free of every grasping at I and what is mine, its object and mode of activity being unknowable, undull and unforgetting, able to manifest and bring forth the wisdom-images of every kind of object, without break and without cessation, on to the end of the future"; the wisdom of equal nature "establishes the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode at the ground of Buddhahood, and is the special support of the wisdom of subtle discernment"; the wisdom of subtle discernment "severs all doubts and rains down the great Dharma-rain"; the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done "manifests the varied works of transformation, benefiting and bringing ease to sentient beings constantly without break" — are precisely the treatise-basis for the segment on the four wisdoms here. What this section expounds has its scriptural root in the Buddhabhūmi Sūtra and its treatise-basis in the Buddhabhūmi-śāstra (with further reliance on the Mahāyāna-sūtrālaṃkāra and the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha) — and with that we follow the verse and open the exposition.

I. The First of What Is Won by Transformation: What Is Made Manifest — the Great Nirvāṇa

First the general term, "what is won by transformation." Beneath it there are two kinds. The first is called "what is made manifest," and this is the great nirvāṇa. Take care here: nirvāṇa is not something newly fabricated by cultivation. It is "pure by its own nature" from the very start; it is only that adventitious defilements — incoming dust — have screened it over so that it cannot show. When the true noble path arises and severs those obscurations, its character stands revealed, and this is what "winning nirvāṇa" means. So "winning" is not producing something out of nothing; it is "the obscurations leaving, and the truth showing of itself." It is a name established with reference to this one fact — that suchness has parted from its obscurations — and its substance is just the "pure dharma-realm" (pure suchness itself).

The Four Kinds of Nirvāṇa

Spoken of in full, nirvāṇa comes in four distinctions.

First, the nirvāṇa that is pure by its own nature from the start. This refers to the principle of suchness as it stands upon all dharmas. Although on the surface it is touched by the defilement of adventitious dust, in its own nature it has always been pure. It is furnished with measureless subtle qualities; it neither arises nor ceases; it is still and settled, serene as open space. It is shared equally by all sentient beings — not something the sages have and the ordinary lack, but something every being possesses inherently. With all dharmas it is "neither one nor different" (one cannot say it just is the dharmas, nor that apart from the dharmas there is some separate thing). It has left all marks and all discrimination behind: thought, tracing its way here, can go no further (the road of inquiry is cut off); speech, reaching here, can say nothing (the road of names and words is cut off). Only the true sages, each within their own mind, personally realize it; its very nature is quiescent from the start — and so it is called nirvāṇa.

Second, the nirvāṇa with a remainder of support. This refers to suchness as it has come forth out of "the obscuration of the afflictions": the afflictive obscuration has been wholly severed, but the body (the supporting basis) that carries a residue of subtle suffering still remains, not yet ceased; it is only that the obscuration of the afflictions has been forever stilled — and so it is called nirvāṇa. "With a remainder of support" means just this: "a body still remains."

Third, the nirvāṇa without remainder of support. This refers to suchness as it has come forth out of "the suffering of birth-and-death": since the afflictions have been severed, even the body that carries the remainder (the residual support) has ceased, and every kind of suffering is forever stilled — and so it is called nirvāṇa. "Without remainder of support" means "not even the body remains."

Fourth, the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode. This refers to suchness as it has come forth out of "the obscuration to the knowable." It is constantly assisted and sustained by two things, "great compassion" and "wisdom" (prajñā): by the wisdom of prajñā it does not fall into birth-and-death (it does not abide in birth-and-death); by the resolve of great compassion it also does not settle into quiescence (it does not abide in nirvāṇa). Abiding thus in neither extreme, it benefits and brings ease to sentient beings on into the endless future — active and quiescent at once (moving without ever leaving stillness) — and so it is called nirvāṇa.

Who has these four, and who does not? All sentient beings have the first (pure by nature from the start, which is inherent). The non-learners of the two vehicles (the arhats) may have the first three. Only the Buddha, the World-Honored One, can be said to possess all four complete.

A Few Objections Surrounding the Four Nirvāṇas

At this point the treatise-master uses a chain of question-and-answer to clarify, one by one, the places where one easily gets stuck.

Objection: how can the Buddha (the Well-Gone One) have "nirvāṇa with a remainder of support"? The Buddha is plainly already perfect — how could there still be "a remaining body of suffering"? Reply: the Buddha in fact has no real support-of-suffering (no body of suffering); he only "appears as though he had one." Or, putting it another way: with respect to the side on which "the support-of-suffering is exhausted," the Buddha is "without remainder of support"; with respect to the side on which "it is not a support-of-suffering but rather a support that carries the residual virtues that still remains," the Buddha is "with a remainder of support." Parsed in this way, the World-Honored One can still be said to possess all four complete.

Objection: if the disciples (śrāvakas) and the like also have "nirvāṇa without remainder of support," why do some scriptural passages say they "have no nirvāṇa without remainder" — and some even say they "have no nirvāṇa at all," which would mean they lack even the nirvāṇa with a remainder? Reply: this has to be read case by case. While the disciples' body and cognition still remain, they still have the obscuration to the knowable, their support-of-suffering is not yet exhausted, and the sense of "perfect quiescence" is screened over; so at that time it is said they "have no nirvāṇa" — and this is not to say that they actually lack that nirvāṇa-with-remainder, "the truth made manifest by the severing of the afflictive obscuration." And because at that time they have not yet realized the perfect quiescence without remainder, it is also said they "have no nirvāṇa without remainder" — and this too is not to say that, after they later cease body and cognition, they would still lack that nirvāṇa-without-remainder, "the support-of-suffering exhausted." The words are spoken with respect to "this present phase," and cannot be stretched into "the future" to deny it.

An interpretation from another angle. Or again: the statement "the two vehicles have no nirvāṇa" is said strictly with respect to "the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode" (the two vehicles indeed lack the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode); it is not to say that they lack the first three. And the statement "they have no nirvāṇa without remainder" is said strictly with respect to "the disciples of indeterminate lineage" — for this kind of person, the moment he realizes the nirvāṇa-with-remainder, resolves to turn his mind toward unsurpassed perfect awakening (turning back toward the Great Vehicle), and by the force of meditative concentration and original vow retains the body and abides in the world for a long time; so he is not like "the other kind, of determinate lineage among the two vehicles," who enters the nirvāṇa-without-remainder the moment he realizes. The words are spoken with an eye to "which kind of person" is meant.

Then how is the nirvāṇa-without-remainder of the determinate-lineage two vehicles established? The treatise-master spells it out in detail. There is a kind of determinate-lineage practitioner of the two vehicles who deeply delights in quiescence, cultivates "the contemplation of the emptiness of the person," personally realizes suchness, forever extinguishes the affliction that "draws on the arising of further existence," and so, the afflictive obscuration being wholly severed, the nirvāṇa-with-remainder "established upon the truth" stands manifest. Because the affliction that draws on further existence has now been severed, the future ripened fruit can no longer arise; and when the phase comes in which "the present support-of-suffering (the body) ceases of its own accord, effortlessly," the remaining conditioned dharmas, now having no support to rest upon, are cast off all at once together with that support-of-suffering — and this makes manifest the nirvāṇa-without-remainder "established upon the truth." At that time, although the body and cognition of the two-vehicle practitioner are gone (the person is no longer present), still, because he "once personally realized it," one may yet say "he has" the nirvāṇa-without-remainder.

Objection: is this one (the two-vehicle without-remainder) the same as the Buddha, or not? Reply: this one has nothing left but pure suchness — free of marks, serene, quiescent and at ease; with respect to just this point, he is "no different" from the Buddha (both have realized the quiescence of suchness). But he has no awakening (no perfect enlightenment), and no work of benefiting and bringing ease to others; with respect to just this point, he "does differ" from the Buddha. There is difference within sameness, and one cannot simply say flatly that they are the same or not.

The Obscuration to the Knowable and the Nirvāṇa of No Fixed Abode

Next comes the clarification of the relation between "the obscuration to the knowable" and "the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode," and here there is a chain of objections that interlock one upon the next.

Objection: since the obscuration to the knowable does not draw on birth-and-death, how can severing it win the nirvāṇa "of no fixed abode"? Reply: the obscuration to the knowable, though it does not draw on birth-and-death, can screen over "the suchness that is the emptiness of dharmas," so injuring great compassion and prajñā that they cannot come forth, and one is then unable to benefit and bring ease to sentient beings on into the endless future. So the moment it is severed, the principle of "the emptiness of dharmas" stands manifest, and this principle is itself the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode — for it is precisely the principle that keeps one from abiding in either of the two extremes, "birth-and-death" and "nirvāṇa."

Objection: if the obscuration to the knowable also obscures nirvāṇa, then severing it — why does that not count as winning "the cessation through discrimination" (the quiescence won by the discriminative selection of wisdom)? Reply: the cessation-through-discrimination is won by "parting from bondage," whereas the obscuration to the knowable is not "bondage" (it does not bind sentient beings into birth-and-death); so severing it is not called cessation-through-discrimination.

Objection: since it is not bondage, and severing it does not count as cessation-through-discrimination either, then on what grounds can severing it be called winning nirvāṇa at all? Reply: not every nirvāṇa is subsumed under "cessation-through-discrimination." Were it otherwise, then "the nirvāṇa that is pure by its own nature from the start" is also not won by cessation-through-discrimination — would it then not count as nirvāṇa? Clearly nirvāṇa need not always be cessation-through-discrimination.

Driving the point home. What can bind sentient beings, injuring them so that they abide in birth-and-death (namely the afflictions) — severing this is what we call winning "the unconditioned cessation through discrimination." The obscuration to the knowable does not draw on birth-and-death, and is not, like the afflictions, able to bind sentient beings; so when one severs it, one does not win cessation-through-discrimination. Yet when it is severed, the principle of the emptiness of dharmas stands manifest, and the character of this principle is quiescent, so it too is named nirvāṇa — it is only that this (no-fixed-abode) nirvāṇa does not have "cessation-through-discrimination" for its substance.

Construing it this way (on the first reading), the assignment of the four perfect-quiescences (the four nirvāṇas) among the unconditioned dharmas comes out thus: the first (pure by nature from the start) and the last (no fixed abode) are both suchness; and the middle two (with-remainder and without-remainder) are the ones subsumed under "cessation-through-discrimination." This is the reading that judges "no fixed abode" to belong to suchness and takes only "with-remainder and without-remainder" as cessation-through-discrimination.

Objection: if one must "sever bondage" in order to win cessation-through-discrimination, then where do "the immovable" (the unconditioned of immovability) and its companion — that is, the immovable and the unconditioned of the cessation of perception-and-feeling — fall among the four nirvāṇas (or the six unconditioneds)? Reply: these two are not subsumed under cessation-through-discrimination — because what they speak of is "a temporary parting" (a provisional suppression, not a final severing). The unconditioned cessation-through-discrimination refers to "final cessation"; as for "temporary parting," it is at times assigned to "cessation not through discrimination" (which is the non-final cessation, the one not won by the discriminative permanent severing of selection).

Another interpretation. And there is a further reading: "the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode" too may count as subsumed under cessation-through-discrimination — because it is won by the force of "real discriminative selection (true wisdom)" extinguishing the obscurations. On this reading, cessation-through-discrimination divides into two kinds: the first is "won by extinguishing bondage" — won by severing the affliction that draws on birth-and-death; the second is "won by extinguishing the obscuration" — realized by severing the remaining (knowable) obscuration. On this construal, then, the assignment of the four perfect-quiescences among the unconditioned dharmas comes out thus: the first (pure by nature from the start) is suchness, and the latter three (with-remainder, without-remainder, no-fixed-abode) are all cessation-through-discrimination. And "the immovable" and its companion are decided by the case: if it is "a cessation of provisional suppression," it does not count as cessation-through-discrimination; if it is "a final cessation," it counts as subsumed under cessation-through-discrimination. (The two readings stand side by side: the first reading judges "no fixed abode" to belong to suchness and takes only "with-remainder and without-remainder" as cessation-through-discrimination; this reading pulls "no fixed abode" into cessation-through-discrimination as well, so that only the first remains suchness and the latter three all become cessation-through-discrimination. These are two ways of unfolding or folding the very same principle, and the treatise-master preserves both readings, judging neither side exclusively.)

Objection: since the obscuration to the knowable also obscures nirvāṇa, why does the scriptural teaching speak of it only as "the obscuration to awakening"? And conversely, in saying that the afflictive obscuration only obscures nirvāṇa, can it not serve as an obscuration to awakening? Reply: one should understand that the noble teaching speaks "in accord with the most outstanding function of each." The obscuration to the knowable most plainly obscures the function of "cognition" (and so is called the obscuration to awakening); the afflictive obscuration most plainly obscures the function of "quiescence" (and so is called the obscuration to nirvāṇa). If one speaks by the actual principle, both these obscurations can in fact obscure both fruits, "nirvāṇa and awakening" — it is only that each is named by taking the side where it predominates.

A brief summary. Following this through, among the four kinds of nirvāṇa we have named, only the latter three (with-remainder, without-remainder, no-fixed-abode) are called "what is made manifest" — because the first (pure by nature from the start) is something one has had all along, not newly won, and so does not count among what is "won."

II. The Second of What Is Won by Transformation: What Is Brought Forth — the Great Awakening · the Four Wisdoms

The second kind of "what is won by transformation" is called "what is brought forth," and this is the great awakening (bodhi). Note how it differs from nirvāṇa. The great awakening, though it does indeed have all along "the seeds that can produce it," is blocked by the obscuration to the knowable so that it cannot be brought forth; it takes the force of the noble path to sever that obscuration before the awakening arises from its seeds, and this is what "winning awakening" means. Once it arises, it continues on in unbroken succession, on into the endless future without interruption. This great awakening, unfolded, is "the mind-cluster associated with the four wisdoms" (the four kinds of wisdom together with their whole associated cluster of mind-king and mental-factors).

What is "the mind-cluster associated with the four wisdoms"? It is treated under four heads.

1. The Mind-Cluster Associated with the Great Perfect-Mirror Wisdom

The first is the mind-cluster associated with the great perfect-mirror wisdom. This cluster has left all discrimination behind; the object it takes and its mode of activity are both so subtle as to be hard to know; it does not lose, nor is it dull toward, any of the marks of objects (every realm of objects is clear and unconfused before it); its nature and its character are pure, free of all defilement; it is the wholly pure and perfect store of qualities, and is the support that upholds both present activity and seeds (it holds and sustains all uncontaminated seeds and their present activity); it can manifest and bring forth the bodies of the Buddhas, their lands, and the reflected images of wisdom; and it is without break and without cessation, on into the endless future — just like a great round mirror that can image forth all manner of forms. The Buddha's "mirror-wisdom" is named just so, taking up this metaphor of "the mirror that can show images."

2. The Mind-Cluster Associated with the Wisdom of Equal Nature

The second is the mind-cluster associated with the wisdom of equal nature. This cluster contemplates all dharmas, and contemplates oneself together with other sentient beings, as thoroughly equal (with no high-and-low division of self and other); it is constantly associated with "great loving-kindness, great compassion," and the rest; in accord with what each sentient being delights in, it manifests "the body of enjoyment-for-others" and the varied reflected-image distinctions of the land of enjoyment-for-others (manifesting a body to teach the bodhisattvas of the ten grounds); it is the special support of "the wisdom of subtle discernment" (the wisdom of subtle discernment must rely on it), and is also the very root on which "the nirvāṇa of no fixed abode" is established; and it continues on in a single flavor, on into the endless future.

3. The Mind-Cluster Associated with the Wisdom of Subtle Discernment

The third is the mind-cluster associated with the wisdom of subtle discernment. This cluster is skilled at observing the "own-marks" (the marks particular to each) and the "shared marks" (the marks common across) of all dharmas, turning freely without obstruction; it gathers in and contemplates measureless "gateways of total retention" (dhāraṇī) and "gateways of concentration" (samādhi), together with the varied treasures of qualities that arise from them; and in the vast assembly of the Dharma it can manifest boundless distinctions of function, sovereign in every way, raining down the great Dharma-rain, severing all doubts, and bringing every sentient being benefit and ease.

4. The Mind-Cluster Associated with the Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is to Be Done

The fourth is the mind-cluster associated with the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done. This cluster, in order to benefit and bring ease to all sentient beings, manifests everywhere throughout the ten directions the varied transformations of the three karmic activities — body, speech, and mind (a transformation-body, transformation-teaching of the Dharma, transformation-intention) — accomplishing the varied works that the force of the original vow ought to bring about.

The Four Wisdoms · the Twenty-Two Dharmas · Won by Transforming the Eight Consciousnesses

Each of these four mind-clusters associated with the wisdoms has, fixed within it, "twenty-two dharmas" (one mind-king, five universal mental-factors, five object-specific mental-factors, eleven wholesome mental-factors — twenty-two in all). They arise as the seeds and present-activity of "what transforms and what is transformed" all rising together (the whole cluster co-arising), and among them it is the function of "wisdom (discernment)" that especially predominates, and so the name "wisdom" is used to mark the whole. These four clusters, therefore, gather up every "conditioned" quality at the stage of Buddhahood, cleanly and without remainder. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) sets down a gloss on each of the four names, bringing out the point of focus in the naming: in the great perfect-mirror wisdom, the "round mirror" just is the wisdom — this is a "co-referential compound" (the round mirror is a metaphor, namely this very object-taking wisdom, likening it to a mirror's power to image forth the manifold); in the wisdom of equal nature, the "equal nature" just is the principle of suchness — the wisdom takes this suchness as object, and so is called "equal" (in the causal stage, the grasping at a self brings the high-and-low division of self and other; now that the self is gone, self and other are equal); in the wisdom of subtle discernment, the "subtle" speaks of its spiritual function, boundless and unfathomable (not to be confined by any locale), able to take as object the own-marks and shared-marks of all dharmas — its subtle power of reckoning the marks of objects being especially outstanding, and so it is called "discernment"; the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done is "the accomplishment of what is to be done," and the very substance that brings this accomplishment about is wisdom. The Notes also makes plain "why it is said that 'the function of wisdom predominates'": "wisdom" means "decisively penetrating comprehension" — at the uncontaminated stage this mark of "decisive comprehension" stands out especially, and so it is said the function of wisdom predominates.

These four wisdoms are won by "transforming" the contaminated eighth, seventh, sixth, and front-five consciousnesses, each in its proper sequence: the great perfect-mirror wisdom transforms the eighth consciousness; the wisdom of equal nature transforms the seventh consciousness; the wisdom of subtle discernment transforms the sixth consciousness; the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done transforms the front-five consciousnesses. It must be made clear: "wisdom" is not just "consciousness" (wisdom belongs to discernment, consciousness is the substance of discriminating cognition — they are by nature not the same thing), but wisdom "turns in dependence on consciousness" — consciousness is the principal and wisdom arises riding upon it, and only so does one say "transforming consciousness one wins wisdom." Again: at the contaminated stage, wisdom is weak and consciousness strong (deluded discrimination is in charge); at the uncontaminated stage it is reversed, wisdom strong and consciousness weak. Here Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji) adds a remark: consciousness is "discrimination" and belongs to the contaminated stage, while wisdom is "decision" and prevails at the uncontaminated stage; one transforms the "strong one (the contaminated consciousness)" and wins this "strong one (the uncontaminated wisdom)," and it is for this that one speaks of "transforming consciousness and winning wisdom." The reason the noble teaching says "transforming the eight consciousnesses one wins the four wisdoms" is precisely to urge sentient beings to "rely on wisdom and cast off consciousness" (to stop letting the deluded consciousness be in charge), and it is for this reason that the teaching is so framed.

When the Great Perfect-Mirror Wisdom First Arises

When does each of the four wisdoms first arise? Take first the great perfect-mirror wisdom.

One view (it arises at the adamantine stage). At the very moment when the bodhisattva's "adamantine-like concentration" stands before him, the great perfect-mirror wisdom first arises. The reasoning is: at that moment the seeds of the ripening-consciousness and the extremely subtle seeds of the obscuration to the knowable are cast off together; and if the mirror-wisdom had not yet arisen at that moment, there would be no consciousness present "able to hold and sustain the pure seeds" (the pure seeds would have nothing to rest on and would fall into a void).

Another view (the settled, correct reading: it arises only at the path of liberation). And there is another view: this cluster arises for the first time only at the "path of liberation," at the very moment one first becomes a Buddha. This view holds that the seeds of the ripening-consciousness are in fact not yet cast off all at once when the adamantine-like concentration (the uninterrupted path) stands before one — because the seeds of the ripening-consciousness do not contradict the uninterrupted path (the seeds of the ripening-consciousness are not an obscuration; they obscure neither contaminated dharmas nor inferior uncontaminated dharmas; they are only decisively in contradiction with "the fruit of Buddhahood"). Were the ripening-consciousness already cast off at the adamantine uninterrupted stage, then at the stage of the adamantine-like concentration there would be no "consciousness to be perfumed," the uncontaminated seeds could not grow — and would that not mean one ought to become a Buddha already at the uninterrupted path? (This becomes a fault.) So the correct reading is: this cluster, from the very first becoming-a-Buddha, continues on unbroken into the endless future, holding and sustaining the uncontaminated seeds so that they are not lost. (The two views stand side by side; the latter view inclines to the settled, correct reading.)

When the Wisdom of Equal Nature First Arises

Next, the wisdom of equal nature. At the stage when the bodhisattva's "path of seeing" first stands before him, because it runs counter to the two graspings — "the grasping at a self in the person" and "the grasping at a self in dharmas" — it is able to arise for the first time. But through the later ten grounds, because the "innate" two graspings are not yet wholly severed, the wisdom of equal nature still has interruptions at the contaminated and other stages (arising at times, broken off at times). Only after the "ground of the Dharma-cloud" (the stage of Buddhahood) does it rest in mutual dependence with the pure eighth consciousness, continuing on into the endless future without further interruption.

When the Wisdom of Subtle Discernment First Arises

Next, the wisdom of subtle discernment. It divides into two parts. The "part contemplating the emptiness of the person" (the portion that contemplates the selflessness of the person) — the two vehicles too can arise into it at the stage of seeing (it is not confined to bodhisattvas); from there onward, on through to the non-learner stage, or to the last of the bodhisattva's "ground of understanding-and-practice," or to a higher stage — except at the times when "the contaminated" stands before one, and at the times of "mindlessness" (such as the concentration of no-perception, the concentration of cessation, and the like), it may arise. The "part contemplating the emptiness of dharmas" (the portion that contemplates the selflessness of dharmas) — only the bodhisattva can arise into it for the first time, at the stage of seeing (the two vehicles cannot); from there onward, on up to the higher stages — except at the times of "the contaminated," of "the fruit of the wisdom of the emptiness of the person standing before one," and of "mindlessness," it may arise.

When the Wisdom of Accomplishing What Is to Be Done First Arises

Next, the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done.

One view (it arises at the path of cultivation). Within the bodhisattva's "path of cultivation," drawn forth by the "consequent wisdom" (the wisdom won subsequent to realization), it too can first arise.

Another view (the settled, correct reading: it arises only upon becoming a Buddha). And there is another view: it is won, arising for the first time, only after one becomes a Buddha. The reasoning is: through the ten grounds, the five sense-faculties — the eye and the rest — manifested in dependence on the ripening-consciousness are not uncontaminated (they are still contaminated material faculties); and a contaminated faculty is "not held in common," and must of necessity take the same object together with consciousness, yet "an uncontaminated consciousness aroused by an uncontaminated faculty" does not work out in principle (there is no uncontaminated faculty to arouse it) — because a contaminated faculty and an uncontaminated consciousness differ in their "dimness and clarity" toward objects (one dim, one clear, and they cannot be fitted together). So this cluster must wait until one has become a Buddha, and only in dependence on the uncontaminated faculties can it arise; and moreover its arising still has interruptions from time to time — because it arises by way of "directed attention" (it manifests only when directed attention is roused; it is not constant and continuous). (The two views stand side by side; the latter view inclines to the settled, correct reading.)

The Lineage of the Four Wisdoms: Inherent, but Requiring Perfuming to Be Brought Out

The lineage-seeds of these four wisdoms, though all of them are "had inherently from the start," must nonetheless rely on "perfuming" to be set in motion before they will become present activity. Within the causal stage (the stage of cultivation) they gradually grow; at the fruit of Buddhahood they are perfected, and thereafter neither increase nor decrease, on into the endless future, being only "born from the inherent seeds." Take care: after the fruit of Buddhahood there is no further perfuming that forms "new seeds" — and why insist on this point? It is for fear of falling into the absurd conclusion that "the qualities of one who became a Buddha earlier are higher than those of one who became a Buddha later" (if new seeds could still be perfumed, there would be a high-and-low between the Buddhas, which is not allowed).

What Each of the Four Wisdoms Takes as Its Object: the Wisdom Free of Discrimination and the Consequent Wisdom

Next comes the clarification of what each of the four wisdoms takes as its object, and whether each belongs to "the wisdom free of discrimination" or to "the consequent wisdom."

What does the great perfect-mirror wisdom take as object?

One view (it takes only suchness). The great perfect-mirror wisdom takes only suchness as its object; it is purely "the wisdom free of discrimination," not "the consequent wisdom" — because its mode of activity and its object are both unknowable (and since they are unknowable, it ought not to belong to the consequent wisdom, which discriminates conventional objects).

Another view (the settled, correct reading: it takes all dharmas). And there is another view: this cluster takes all dharmas as its object. The treatise it draws on says that "the great perfect-mirror wisdom is not dull toward any object"; the scripture it draws on says that "in the Tathāgata's wisdom-mirror the many reflected images of all places, all objects, and all consciousnesses appear within." Again: it must take the uncontaminated seeds as object, together with the varied reflected images of bodies, lands, and the rest; it is only that its mode of activity and its object are too subtle, and so it is said to be "unknowable" — just as the store-consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna) too takes conventional objects, and yet its mode of activity is equally unknowable. Seen this way: the side on which it takes suchness as object is "free of discrimination," and the side on which it takes the remaining objects is subsumed under "the consequent wisdom"; its substance is in truth one, only divided into two sides according to function (free-of-discrimination, and consequent) — for "the comprehension of conventional objects" comes by way of "personally realizing suchness," and so the function of taking conventional objects is called "consequent." How the other three wisdoms too are "one substance divided into two functions" can be inferred by following this example.

What does the wisdom of equal nature take as object?

One view (it takes only the pure eighth). It takes only the pure eighth consciousness — just as the defiled seventh consciousness takes the store-consciousness as object (defilement turned to purity, the object remaining the eighth).

Another view (it takes only suchness). And another view: it takes only suchness as its object — because what it takes is the "equal nature" of all dharmas (and the equal nature is just suchness).

Another view (the settled, correct reading: it takes both the real and the conventional). And there is yet another view: it takes universally both kinds of object, "the real and the conventional." The scripture it draws on says that "the wisdom of equal nature realizes the ten kinds of equal nature"; the treatise it draws on says that "it takes as object the equality of self and other among sentient beings, and in accord with the other's resolved understanding manifests boundless Buddha reflected-images." From this we know that this cluster takes both the real and the conventional as object, and so both "the wisdom free of discrimination and the consequent wisdom" subsume it, with no violation of principle.

What does the wisdom of subtle discernment take as object? It takes as object the "own-marks and shared marks" of all dharmas, all without obstruction, and so both "the wisdom free of discrimination and the consequent wisdom" subsume it (on this wisdom there is no divergent view).

What does the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done take as object?

One view (it takes only the five present objects). It takes only the five kinds of object present before it — the treatise it draws on says that "the Tathāgata's five faculties each turn upon the five objects" (confined to the five present objects).

Another view (the settled, correct reading: it takes universally the three times). And there is another view: this cluster too can take universally the dharmas of "the three times" as object, with no violation of right principle. The scripture it draws on says that "the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done can give rise to the varied transformation-works of the three karmic activities, can ascertain the distinctions in the mental conduct of sentient beings, and can apprehend the meanings of past, future, present, and the rest"; if it did not take all this universally, it would not have these capacities. Yet this cluster goes in accord with "the force of intention" — at times taking one dharma as object, at times two, at times many (not fixed). The earlier view, "the five faculties turn upon the five objects," is only "raising up this one side," and did not say "it is only thus," so the two views do not conflict. This cluster arises in accord with "directed attention," takes the objects of phenomenal marks, and raises the work of teaching and transforming, and so it is subsumed under "the consequent wisdom."

The Distinctions Among the Four Wisdom-Clusters in Their Function

These four mind-clusters, though all of them can take all dharmas as object universally, each have their own distinct "function." The cluster of the great perfect-mirror wisdom manifests the mark of "the body of enjoyment-for-self" and of the self-enjoyment pure land, and holds and sustains the uncontaminated seeds. The cluster of the wisdom of equal nature manifests the mark of "the body of enjoyment-for-others" and of the enjoyment-for-others pure land. The cluster of the wisdom of accomplishing what is to be done (the wisdom of accomplishing the deed) can manifest the mark of "the transformation-body" and the transformation-land. The cluster of the wisdom of subtle discernment (the wisdom of observation) contemplates the capacities and faults of self and other, rains down the great Dharma-rain, breaks the varied nets of doubt, and benefits and brings ease to sentient beings. Distinctions classified out in this way are still of many more kinds.

These four mind-clusters are jointly named "what is brought forth." And this "what is brought forth," taken together, is called "awakening" (bodhi); adding the (four) nirvāṇas treated earlier, these two together are called "what is won by transformation."

Closing: Why the Verse Takes Only "the Two of What Is Won by Transformation"

Finally we return to the verse. The sense of "transformation of the basis," taken in full, has in fact four aspects (the path that transforms, the basis that is transformed, what is cast off in the transforming, and what is won in the transforming); but the verse here takes only "the two of what is won by transformation (nirvāṇa and awakening)" — because what the verse says is "and so realizes the transformation of the basis" (it takes up the word "win/realize," and so takes up only this side, what is won by transformation). Again: this "stage of cultivation" speaks of "being able to realize," not of "having already realized" — because the stage of cultivation still belongs to "the causal stage" (still cultivating on the causal ground, not yet arrived at the perfection of the fruit-ground), and so it is said only that it "can realize" these two won-by-transformation, and not that it "has already realized" them.

Onward Transmission

What this section establishes — "transforming the eight consciousnesses into the four wisdoms, the twofold fruit of transformation (the great nirvāṇa and the great awakening)" — is the guiding scheme by which the consciousness-only system founds the qualities of the fruit of Buddhahood, and the later treatises take it up one by one in sequence. The Hundred Dharmas treatise lists the contaminated eighth, seventh, sixth, and front-five consciousnesses that are here "transformed" among the eight consciousness-dharmas of the mind-king, and lays out the "twenty-two dharmas" that each of the four wisdoms possesses among the mental factors — one mind-king, five universal factors, five object-specific factors, eleven wholesome factors — which is just where the dharma-count of the mind-cluster associated with the four wisdoms is set down. The Thirty Verses — verse twenty-nine (transformation of the basis · what is won by transformation) and verse thirty (the uncontaminated realm · the body of liberation · the dharma-body) — is the very root-text this section expounds: verse twenty-nine treats the side of "and so realizes the transformation of the basis," what is won by transformation, while verse thirty gathers it up into the fruit-substance accomplished by the four wisdoms and nirvāṇa, verse answering to verse. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on winning the fruit, treats "transformation of the basis · the unsurpassed fruit," which bears upon and completes this section's "twofold fruit of transformation." The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its part on the wisdom that is the fruit, establishes "three kinds of Buddha-body — the self-nature body, the body of enjoyment, and the transformation body — said to be the substance of the wisdom that is the fruit," and takes "the wisdom free of discrimination" as "the substance of the surpassing wisdom": this section's four wisdoms manifesting the marks of "the body of enjoyment-for-self, the body of enjoyment-for-others, and the transformation-body" are precisely subsumed under those three bodies; and the doctrine that the four wisdoms are "free of discrimination when taking suchness as object, and consequent when taking the remaining objects" is just what that "surpassing wisdom · the wisdom free of discrimination" unfolds. As for the Twenty Verses, its chief concern is to establish consciousness-only and the absence of external objects and to refute the outsiders' grasping at real objects; it has no direct counterpart to the four wisdoms or to transformation of the basis, and here it is left aside.

With this last verse, the whole arc of the Thirty Verses — the practitioner's progress through "the transformation of the basis" (the conversion of the deluded support of consciousness into its purified form) — reaches its end. The transformation cultivated and won in the preceding "stage of cultivation" here becomes the "ultimate stage," the fruit of Buddhahood. Following Verse 30, this section first takes apart, point by point, the attributes of that fruit — why it is called the "uncontaminated realm," why it is "inconceivable," why it is "good," why "permanent," why "blissful," why a "body of liberation," why a "Dharma-body." Threaded through these are several dense passages of debate: Does a Buddha actually possess the five sense-faculties and five sense-consciousnesses? Do the four knowledges count as uncontaminated? Is the fruit of Buddhahood contained within the aggregates, bases, and elements? Then the section turns to a classified treatment of the "three bodies" — the self-nature body, the enjoyment body, and the transformation body — how they are gathered up under "five dharmas," how their virtues differ from one another, what land each rests upon, what is shared and unshared among them, and finally how the whole returns to the thesis of consciousness-only.

The attributes of the fruit of Buddhahood have their roots in scripture and treatise alike. The Buddhabhūmi Sūtra sets up "five dharmas that gather the ground of great awakening" — namely the pure dharma-realm, the knowledge of the great perfect mirror, the knowledge of equality, the knowledge of wondrous discernment, and the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done — and this is the scriptural basis for this section's "the Dharma-body has the five dharmas as its nature." The sūtra likens the pure dharma-realm to empty space — "of a single flavor in essence, pervading all forms yet not to be said to have manifold marks, without coming or going, without movement or shifting" — which is just what grounds this section's "the pure dharma-realm is without arising and without ceasing, its nature does not alter, and so it is said to be permanent"; and where the sūtra says "within the pure dharma-realm there is established the benefit and bliss of all sentient beings of the ten directions," that grounds this section's "it can bring bliss to all sentient beings, and so both transformations are named blissful." On the treatise side, the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on the knowledge that is that fruit, displays the excellence of that fruit-knowledge through "the three Buddha-bodies," fixing the self-nature body (the Dharma-body of all Tathāgatas, the support of the mastery that turns through all dharmas), the enjoyment body (resting on the Dharma-body, the pure Buddha-land manifested for the assembly, with the bliss of the Great Vehicle's Dharma as what is enjoyed), and the transformation body — and this is the treatise-basis for this section's "the three bodies and their three distinct aspects." The Buddhabhūmi-śāstra further divides the enjoyment body into "self-enjoyment" (continuing unbroken and unchanging to the very end of future time) and "enjoyment-for-others" (shifting and changing in accord with the bodhisattvas of the grounds, like a transformation-land), and this is the treatise-basis for this section's twofold division of the enjoyment body. The Yogācārabhūmi, for its part, fixes that "the three blisses — free of greed, free of hatred, free of delusion — are found only within the uncontaminated realm, and are named permanent-and-blissful" (the treatise-basis for permanent and blissful), that "the dharma-nature beyond words is inconceivable, the Tathāgata's Dharma-body is inconceivable" (the treatise-basis for the inconceivable), and that "the ultimate transformation of the basis is forever apart from all coarse heaviness" (the treatise-basis for the twofold transformation). What this section expounds has its scriptural root in the Buddha-ground sūtra and its treatise-basis in the Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, the Buddhabhūmi-śāstra, and the Yogācārabhūmi — and with that we follow the verse and open the exposition.

[The Verse Expounded]

The verse reads: "This is the uncontaminated realm — inconceivable, good, permanent — the blissful body of liberation; it is the Great Sage's, and is named Dharma." "This" points to the twofold fruit of transformation accomplished above. It is the uncontaminated realm; it is inconceivable, it is good, it is permanent; it is the blissful body of liberation; accomplished by the Great Sage, it is named the Dharma-body. Each phrase is opened up below.

A. Expounding the Verse — the Attributes of the Ultimate Stage, the Fruit of the Twofold Transformation

1. What "This" Refers To — the Twofold Fruit of Transformation Is the Uncontaminated Realm

What does that opening "This" point to? It points to the transformation won in the preceding "stage of cultivation" — and one should understand that this is precisely the attribute of the "ultimate stage," the fruit of Buddhahood. That is, the two fruits of transformation spoken of earlier — the bodhi (awakening) that is acquired and the nirvāṇa that is realized — are both gathered within the "uncontaminated realm." Why "uncontaminated"? Because every "contaminant" (every defilement) is forever exhausted, no contaminated dharma any longer grows alongside it; its essential nature is pure, complete, and radiant — hence "uncontaminated." Why "realm" (dhātu)? "Realm" carries two senses. One is the sense of "store": within it are stored boundless, rare, great virtues. The other is the sense of "cause": it is able to give rise to all the worldly and world-transcending acts of benefit and gladness for the five vehicles — humans, gods, hearers, solitary realizers, and bodhisattvas.

2. On What Grounds the Four-Knowledges Aggregate Also Counts as Uncontaminated

Here someone raises a question. The pure dharma-realm is pure by its very nature, so saying it is "uncontaminated only" is unproblematic. But how can the "aggregate of the four knowledges" — the conditioned functioning of wisdom that arises from transforming the eight consciousnesses — also count as "uncontaminated only"? The answer: because it is gathered under the "truth of the path," it belongs wholly to the uncontaminated. A Buddha's virtues, a Buddha's form-body, a Buddha's pure lands, and the rest, are all produced from uncontaminated seed-lineage; the seeds of contaminated dharmas were long ago forever cast off. Even when a Buddha at times manifests a body subject to birth-and-death, or manifests karma and defilement — appearances that look like the truth of suffering and the truth of origination — that is only manifestation; in essence it is uncontaminated, and it still belongs to the truth of the path.

3. Does a Buddha Possess the Five Faculties and Five Consciousnesses? — Three Solutions to One Great Difficulty

This draws out a sharper problem. The Abhidharma-samuccaya and like scriptural authorities say that "fifteen of the elements and so forth are contaminated only" — that is, of the eighteen elements, all but the last three (the mind-element, the dharma-element, and the mind-consciousness-element) are contaminated only. If that holds, would it not follow that a Tathāgata has no five faculties (the eye-faculty and so on), no five consciousnesses, and no five outer elements (the form-object and so on)? For if a Buddha truly had these fifteen elements, then by the Abhidharma-samuccaya's account they would be contaminated. To this difficulty the treatise gives three solutions.

First solution (the Buddha's virtues transcend the aggregates, bases, and elements). One view holds: a Tathāgata's virtues, form-body, and pure lands are profound and subtle, neither existent nor non-existent, free of all discrimination, severed from all conceptual proliferation; they are simply not the sort of thing that the categories of "element" and "base" can contain. So there is no real conflict with the Abhidharma-samuccaya's "fifteen elements are contaminated only" — because the Buddha's virtues do not fall within those fifteen elements at all.

Second solution (the Buddha's faculties and objects are contained within the dharma-realm form). Another view holds: a Tathāgata's five faculties and five objects are produced by a subtle meditative concentration; they belong to "dharma-realm form" — the kind of form produced in concentration and taken as object by the mind-consciousness — and are not manifested by the Buddha's five sense-consciousnesses. The Buddha's five consciousnesses do also manifest in dependence on this dharma-realm form; but the form produced in concentration is "subtle" while the form manifested by the five consciousnesses is "coarse," and since they differ as subtle from coarse, the Buddha's faculties and objects are not counted as contained within the "five sense-object elements" (the five objects: form, sound, scent, taste, touch). Likewise the Tathāgata's five consciousnesses are not counted as contained within the "five sense-consciousness elements" — because scripture says "the Buddha's mind ever abides in concentration," and the treatises say "the very nature of the five consciousnesses is distracted"; since the Buddha has no distracted five consciousnesses, no five-consciousness-element is posited for him.

In passing, a string of related doubts is here clarified. First: with which consciousness is the "knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done" (the knowledge won by transforming the first five consciousnesses) associated? Answer: with the sixth consciousness, since it must set the work of transformation in motion. Next: then how does it differ in essence from the "knowledge of wondrous discernment" (won by transforming the sixth consciousness)? Answer: the knowledge of wondrous discernment observes the particular and shared characteristics of dharmas (the function of cognitive understanding), whereas the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done sets in motion only the work of transformation (guiding and converting sentient beings); so the two differ. A further question: if both knowledges rest on the sixth consciousness, they ought not be able to arise simultaneously — for two consciousnesses of the same kind cannot arise together. Answer: (i) even if we grant that they do not arise together, there is in principle no obstacle either way; or (ii) one may distinguish two functions on one and the same knowledge-essence, in which case the two arising together is no fault at all (one essence with two functions, not two consciousnesses arising side by side).

There is also a view that assigns the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done to the seventh consciousness: it holds that this knowledge is associated with the purified seventh consciousness (the pure consciousness won by transforming the defiled manas), resting on the eye-faculty and so on, taking form-objects and so on as its conditions. This is in fact a branch of the function of the "knowledge of equality": when the purified seventh consciousness raises the appearance of "the body and land of enjoyment-for-others," that part belongs to the aggregate of the knowledge of equality; when it raises the appearance of "transformation (bodies and lands)," that part belongs to the aggregate of the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done. Here someone objects: is not the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done won precisely by "transforming the first five consciousnesses" — so how can it be assigned to the seventh? Answer: it is not "newly won by transforming those five consciousnesses"; rather, its very essence is the converting function of that pure seventh (the converting function of the pure seventh is just what is called accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done). It is like saying "one transforms birth-and-death and wins nirvāṇa" — one cannot on that account say nirvāṇa is contained within birth-and-death. So the view that "the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done belongs to the seventh" should not be assailed by the argument "it is won by transforming the five consciousnesses."

Third solution (the Buddha's virtues are fully contained within the aggregates, bases, and elements — and this is the correct reading). Yet another view says — and this is the settled, correct reading — that a Tathāgata's virtues, form-body, and pure lands are, as appropriate, all contained within the "aggregates, bases, and elements"; and these three categories themselves run through both sides, contaminated and uncontaminated. When the Abhidharma-samuccaya and the like say "fifteen elements and so forth are contaminated only," that is spoken with reference to the coarse, shallow range that the "two vehicles" (hearers and solitary realizers) are able to know — it is not said of everything (it does not take in the Buddha's uncontaminated aggregates, bases, and elements). How so? Among the eighteen elements accomplished by sentient beings other than a Buddha, only the last three (the mind-element, the dharma-element, the mind-consciousness-element) run through the uncontaminated; but among the eighteen elements accomplished by a Buddha, every single one is uncontaminated — yet this is not a range that the wisdom of the two vehicles can know. So the Abhidharma-samuccaya, standing on the range of the two vehicles, says only "contaminated"; it does not reach as far as the range of a Buddha.

Then how is the "first solution" — that "the Buddha's virtues and so on are not contained within the elements and bases" — to be understood? The correct reading says: its meaning is that the Buddha's virtues are not like "the appearances of elements and so forth as known by the inferior wisdom of the two vehicles," and this of course holds (it does not mean that the Buddha has no aggregates, bases, and elements at all). How do we know that the Buddha's virtues must be contained within the aggregates, bases, and elements? There are four proofs: (i) scripture says "all conditioned dharmas are contained within the aggregates"; (ii) it says "all dharmas are contained within the elements and bases"; (iii) the positing of "a nineteenth element" and the like (anything set up outside the aggregates, bases, and elements) is forbidden by scripture, which does not allow any dharma to exist outside the aggregates, bases, and elements; (iv) the claim that "since proliferation is severed it no longer counts as element or base" cannot stand — for whatever can be put into words at all does not escape the aggregates, bases, and elements.

Press the point one step further: if the Buddha's virtues were wholly apart from the aggregates, bases, and elements, then one ought not say that the fruit of Buddhahood "is the uncontaminated realm," is "good," is "permanent," is "blissful," is "the body of liberation" — because each of these virtues named in the verse requires some dharma-essence to be its referent. Moreover, scripture says again and again that "one transforms-and-relinquishes the impermanent aggregates and acquires the permanently abiding aggregates"; and so too with the elements and bases (one transforms the impermanent elements and bases and acquires permanently abiding elements and bases). Since one transforms the impermanent aggregates and acquires permanent aggregates, how could one say a Tathāgata has no aggregates, bases, or elements? So the earlier statement that "the Buddha's virtues are not element or base" is a "statement with hidden intent" (it carries another sense beneath the surface and is not to be taken at face value). And the earlier statement that "the very nature of the five consciousnesses is distracted" is said with reference to the five consciousnesses accomplished by other sentient beings (ordinary beings and the two vehicles), not with reference to the five consciousnesses accomplished by a Buddha (the Buddha's five consciousnesses are conjoined with concentration and are not distracted). The conclusion, therefore, is this: within the body of a Buddha, the eighteen elements and the rest are all complete, and their essential nature is purely uncontaminated.

4. Why It Is Called "Inconceivable"

This fruit of the twofold transformation, the verse next says, is "inconceivable." Why inconceivable? Because it surpasses every path of "deliberation (thinking)" and "discussion (speech)"; it is subtle and profound, realized inwardly by a Buddha alone; it is not something any worldly simile can liken. Beyond thought, beyond discussion, beyond likeness — hence "inconceivable."

5. Why It Is "Good"

This fruit is also "good" (the verse's word "good"), because its essential nature is that of pure, bright dharmas. Why are both transformations counted as good? — The pure dharma-realm is free of arising and ceasing and is utterly secure; the aggregate of the four knowledges has wondrous functioning without fixed limit (not bound to any set location) and is utterly skillful; both bear the mark of "conforming to and benefiting," and both run counter to "the non-good." On these several grounds both transformations are said to be good.

Here a difficulty arises: the treatises say that among the "twelve bases," eight bases (the five faculties — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body — together with the three objects of form, scent, and taste) are "indeterminate only." If the fruit of Buddhahood were good only, would it not follow that a Tathāgata has no five faculties and no three objects (scent, taste, touch)? Answer: here too there are three explanations, already set out fully above (in the passage on whether the Buddha's virtues are contained within the aggregates, bases, and elements) — that the Buddha's virtues transcend the elements and bases; or that they are contained within dharma-realm form; or that the Buddha's elements and bases are purely good and uncontaminated. So the difficulty "eight bases are indeterminate only" does not stand. To press it one layer further: all the form-bodies, pure lands, and like dharmas of all Tathāgatas are contained within the "truth of cessation" and the "truth of the path," and are therefore good only — for scripture says the two truths of cessation and path are good in nature, and says that a Buddha's lands and so on are not the two truths of suffering and origination. As for the appearances that a Buddha's consciousness manifests which resemble the contaminated, resemble the non-good, resemble the indeterminate — these too are all produced from uncontaminated good seeds, and so they still belong to the uncontaminated-good (they look defiled, but in essence they are good).

6. Why It Is "Permanent"

This fruit is also "permanent" (the verse's word "permanent"), because it has no time of ending. Why are both transformations permanent? — The pure dharma-realm is without arising and without ceasing, and its essential nature does not alter; hence it is said to be permanent. The aggregate of the four knowledges, because the pure dharma-realm on which it rests abides permanently and because it continues on without break, is also said to be permanent.

But a distinction must be drawn: the "permanence" of the four-knowledges aggregate is not like that "self-nature permanence" of the pure dharma-realm — because the four knowledges are produced from causes (seeds), and whatever is produced must in the end come to cessation; this is the principle that scripture has always decisively settled. Moreover, nowhere in the world is there found a single form-dharma or mind-dharma that is not impermanent (all conditioned dharmas are impermanent). Then on what grounds can the four-knowledges aggregate reach to the very end of future time? On the strength of the Buddha's original vow-power, together with the fact that the sentient beings to be converted have no end — so the four knowledges can exhaust the limit of future time without breaking, without ending. Clearly, then, this is "the permanence of continuity, the permanence of no-break," and not "self-nature permanence."

7. Why It Is "Blissful"

This fruit is also "blissful" (the verse's "blissful"), because it has no pressing or harming. The pure dharma-realm is, in all its aspects, quiescent — hence named blissful. The aggregate of the four knowledges has forever departed from harming — hence named blissful. The self-nature of both is without pressing or harm, and both are able to bring bliss to all sentient beings; so both transformations are named "blissful."

8. "The Body of Liberation" and "the Great Sage's, Named Dharma" — the Two Vehicles Have Only a Body of Liberation; the Buddha Alone Accomplishes a Dharma-body

The verse closes with "the blissful body of liberation; the Great Sage's, named Dharma." First, "the body of liberation": the twofold fruit of transformation won by the two vehicles (hearers and solitary realizers) is merely a forever-departing from the bondage of "the hindrance of defilements"; it does not possess that excellent treasury of virtuous dharmas which a Buddha accomplishes. So it can only be called a "body of liberation."

Now the Buddha: the World-Honored One of great awakening accomplishes the unsurpassed dharma of "quiescent silence," and so is named the "Great Sage" (mahā-muni). The twofold fruit won by this Sage, because it has forever departed from both hindrances — the hindrance of defilements and the hindrance to the knowable — is named not merely "body of liberation" but, further, "Dharma-body" — because it is adorned by measureless, boundless great virtuous dharmas: the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses, and the rest. The word "body" carries three senses: the sense of self-essence, the sense of being a support, and the sense of accumulation; taken together they are called "body." So this "Dharma-body" has the "five dharmas" as its essential nature — the pure dharma-realm, the knowledge of the great perfect mirror, the knowledge of equality, the knowledge of wondrous discernment, and the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done. It is not the pure dharma-realm alone that is called the Dharma-body; for the fruit of the twofold transformation (bodhi and nirvāṇa) is all contained within this Dharma-body.

B. Distinctions by Category — the Three Bodies

1. What Each of the Three Bodies Is

This "Dharma-body" (the Dharma-body in the broad sense, accomplished by the five dharmas) has three distinct aspects.

First, the self-nature body. This refers to the true pure dharma-realm of all Tathāgatas. It is the equal support of both the enjoyment body and the transformation body; free of all marks, quiescent and unmoving, severed from all proliferation; furnished with boundless true and permanent virtues, it is the true reality in which all dharmas are equal. With respect to this "self-nature," it is also called the "(narrow-sense) Dharma-body," because it is the support of the great virtuous dharmas. Kuiji's Notes (the Shuji), in its "section on the distinct aspects of the three bodies," opens out these very phrases one by one: "free of marks" means "free of the ten marks" (without any mark of manifold differentiation); "quiescent" means "the path of deliberation is severed" (the road of thinking comes to its end here); "severed from all proliferation" means "apart from speech" (speech is stilled here) — the self-nature of all Buddhas is named the "self-nature body," while "the support of the conditioned and unconditioned virtuous dharmas" is what is called the "Dharma-body." He further cautions that the "Dharma-body" of the earlier line "the Buddha is also named the Dharma-body" is the general name "the support of both conditioned and unconditioned virtuous dharmas," and is not the "self-nature Dharma-body" set up separately among these three bodies (the broad and narrow senses of the name "Dharma-body" must be kept distinct); and that the reason a Buddha wins the two names "body of liberation" and "Dharma-body" is precisely "because it is apart from defilement it is named the body of liberation, and because it is apart from the hindrance to the knowable and is furnished with boundless virtues it is named the Dharma-body." And the reason "body" runs through all three bodies is that it is furnished with the three senses of "self-essence, support, and the gathering of the many virtues," and so is named "body."

Second, the enjoyment body, which further divides into two —

The first, the self-enjoyment body: this refers to the boundless true virtues that arise from the immeasurable provisions of merit and wisdom which all Tathāgatas gathered across the "three immeasurable eons," together with a form-body utterly complete, utterly pure, permanently abiding, and all-pervading. It continues on, clear and unbroken, to the very end of future time, ever enjoying the vast bliss of the Dharma for itself (it itself partakes of the bliss of the Dharma).

The second, the enjoyment-for-others body: this refers to the subtle body of pure virtue that all Tathāgatas, by means of the "knowledge of equality," manifest — dwelling in purely pure lands, for the assemblies of bodhisattvas abiding on the "ten grounds," displaying great spiritual powers, turning the wheel of the right Dharma, cutting through the net of the assembly's doubts, and causing those bodhisattvas of the ten grounds to enjoy the bliss of the Great Vehicle's Dharma (it lets others partake of the bliss of the Dharma). Combining these two — self-enjoyment and enjoyment-for-others — the whole is named the "enjoyment body."

Third, the transformation body: this refers to the measureless "kind-conforming" transformation-bodies (conforming to the kind of each sentient being) that all Tathāgatas manifest by means of the "knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done" — dwelling in pure lands and defiled lands, for the assemblies of bodhisattvas who have not yet ascended the (first) ground, for the two vehicles, and for ordinary beings, displaying spiritual powers and teaching the Dharma in accord with what suits their faculties, so that each obtains acts of benefit and gladness of every kind.

2. Gathering the Three Bodies Under the Five Dharmas — Two Schemes of Correlation

How are the "five dharmas" (the pure dharma-realm plus the four knowledges) used to gather up these "three bodies"? Here there are two views.

First view (the first two dharmas gather the self-nature body). One view holds: among the five dharmas, the "first two" (the pure dharma-realm and the knowledge of the great perfect mirror) gather the "self-nature body" — because scripture says "suchness is the Dharma-body" (the pure dharma-realm is just suchness), and the treatises further say "by transforming away the ālaya-vijñāna one wins the self-nature body," and the aggregate of the knowledge of the great perfect mirror is precisely realized by "transforming away the store-consciousness (ālaya)," so the mirror-knowledge too gathers the self-nature body. The "middle two" knowledge-aggregates (the knowledge of equality and the knowledge of wondrous discernment) gather the "enjoyment body" — because it is said that the knowledge of equality manifests a Buddha-body for the bodhisattvas in purely pure lands (enjoyment-for-others), that the knowledge of wondrous discernment teaches the Dharma, resolves doubts, and displays mastery within the great assembly, and again that "by transforming the prior seven evolving-consciousnesses one wins the enjoyment body." The "last one" knowledge-aggregate (the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done) gathers the "transformation body" — because it is said that the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done manifests measureless, inconceivable transformations in the lands of the ten directions. Furthermore, since "knowledge" is itself excellent, it gathers all three bodies (all three bodies are accomplished by knowledge); hence all three bodies possess "real knowledge" (true knowledge, not mere semblance-manifestation).

Second view (only the first single dharma gathers the self-nature body — and this is the correct reading). Another view says — and this is the correct reading — that among the five dharmas only the "first single" one (the pure dharma-realm) gathers the "self-nature body." The proofs are four: (i) it is said the self-nature body is "permanent by its very nature" — only the dharma-realm is permanent by its very nature, while knowledge is produced from causes; (ii) it is said the Buddha's Dharma-body is "without arising and without ceasing"; (iii) it is said the Dharma-body is won through a "cause of realization (a cause that reveals)" and not produced by a "cause of generation" — whereas knowledge is produced by a cause of generation; (iv) it is further said the Dharma-body is common to all Buddhas, pervades all dharmas, is like empty space, is markless and unconditioned, neither form nor mind — whereas knowledge is conditioned and bears the marks of form and mind.

Then how is the earlier statement, "by transforming away the store-consciousness one wins the self-nature body," to be understood? It means: by transforming away and extinguishing within the eighth consciousness the "coarse heaviness of the two hindrances" (the seeds and residual perfumings), one thereby "reveals" the originally-present Dharma-body (a revealing, not a generating, so it still belongs to the dharma-realm alone). And where "the excellence of knowledge" speaks of the "Dharma-body," that is because knowledge is the support of the Dharma-body and is the functioning of the Dharma-body's true reality; so knowledge is mentioned in association, but this does not mean that knowledge is the self-nature body. The self-nature Dharma-body, though it possesses true and boundless virtues, cannot — because it is "unconditioned" — be construed as form, mind, or any such conditioned thing.

By this correct reading, the four knowledges are then distributed among the latter two bodies: among the true virtues within the four-knowledges aggregate, the permanently abiding, all-pervading form-body raised by the "knowledge of the great perfect mirror" is gathered into the "self-enjoyment body"; the Buddha-body manifested by the aggregate of the "knowledge of equality" is gathered into the "enjoyment-for-others body"; and the kind-conforming bodily forms of every sort manifested by the aggregate of the "knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done" are gathered into the "transformation body."

Here a difficulty follows: since the correct reading holds that the mirror-knowledge does not gather the self-nature body, which body does the mirror-knowledge belong to? Answer: it is said "the knowledge of the great perfect mirror is the enjoyment body" — because the Buddha wins enjoyment by transforming the "prior seven evolving-consciousnesses." A further difficulty: the mirror-knowledge is plainly won by transforming the eighth store-consciousness, so how can it too belong to enjoyment? Answer: although "transforming the store-consciousness" can also win the enjoyment body, the scriptures and treatises say that "transforming that store-consciousness" is for the sake of "revealing the Dharma-body," and so in the matter of "winning enjoyment" this is passed over (which is why elsewhere it is said simply that transforming the seven consciousnesses wins enjoyment). Looking at it from the opposite side: the Dharma-body is said to be "without arising and without ceasing, won only by the cause of realization, neither form nor mind," whereas the aggregate of the knowledge of the great perfect mirror runs directly counter to these marks of the Dharma-body (the mirror-knowledge has arising, is won by a cause of generation, and is a mind-aggregate); since it runs counter to the marks of the Dharma-body, then if it is not gathered into the enjoyment body, to which body could it possibly belong? So the mirror-knowledge must be gathered into the self-enjoyment body. Again: the enjoyment body gathers up the Buddha's "unshared" (Buddha-only) conditioned true virtues; so the four-knowledges aggregate, within self-enjoyment and enjoyment-for-others, truly has form-dharmas and mind-dharmas, and these are all gathered into the enjoyment body (the conditioned true virtues of the four knowledges belong to enjoyment, not to self-nature).

There is also this clarification: the enjoyment-for-others body and the transformation body are both manifested as skillful means for "converting others," so one cannot say they have "real knowledge" as their essence (the converting appearances are not real knowledge). Although the first view above says "the transformation body is gathered under the excellence of knowledge," that is "a semblance of knowledge manifesting" or "what knowledge gives rise to" — it merely borrows the name "knowledge," but its essence is not real knowledge. The scriptures and treatises say only that "the knowledge of equality and the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done are able to manifest the enjoyment-for-others body and the transformation bodies of the three actions of body, speech, and mind"; they do not say that these two bodies are these two knowledges. So the real essence of these two knowledges — the knowledge of equality and the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done — is still gathered into "self-enjoyment" (the knowledge-essence belongs to self-enjoyment; the converting appearances belong to enjoyment-for-others and transformation).

Then does the transformation body have a mind? The transformation body and the enjoyment-for-others body, though they have no "real" mind and mental factors, do have "manifested" mind and mental factors (semblance-mind and mental factors). The spiritual power of the Supremely and Perfectly Awakened One is inconceivable, so it can manifest even formless dharmas (even mind-dharmas can be manifested). If one did not allow the manifesting of mind and mental factors, two untenable consequences would follow: (i) how could a Tathāgata manifest appearances of "greed, hatred," and the like? Those greeds and hatreds were long ago exhausted, so they must be manifested. (ii) How could hearers, beasts of burden (animals), and the like know a Tathāgata's mind? If that were a real mind, then even an "equal-to-awakening" bodhisattva does not know a Tathāgata's real mind — how much less hearers and animals — which shows that what they know is a manifested mind. By this principle of the manifesting of mind and mental factors, scripture can say "a Buddha transforms measureless kinds of sentient beings, all by letting the transformation body have a mind," can say "a Tathāgata's knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done transforms the three actions of body, speech, and mind," and can say "the transformation body has a mind on which it rests" — that mind being the one that, resting on "the Buddha's real mind," causes the image-portion to appear (the manifested mind is the image-portion of the Buddha's real mind). And though elsewhere it is said that "the transformation body has no faculty and no mind," that is said with reference to "others" (the inferior transformations of non-Buddhas, or with respect to there being no real faculty or mind), not with reference to the Tathāgata's transformation. Moreover the form-faculties, mind, and mental factors that are transformed have no "real" function of a faculty and the like (no actual function of sensing or of cognizing), and so it is said "there is no real faculty or mind" — but this does not mean there is no manifesting at all.

3. The Differences in the Virtues of the Three Bodies

These three bodies, though all furnished with boundless virtues, each differ.

The self-nature body has true "permanence, bliss, self, and purity" alone (the four virtues); it has forever departed from all defilement, is the support of all goods, is unconditioned virtue, and has no conditioned distinctions of mark or function such as form and mind.

The self-enjoyment body is furnished with immeasurable kinds of subtle "true" virtues of form, mind, and the rest; whereas the enjoyment-for-others body and the transformation body are furnished only with boundless "semblance" form, mind, and the rest (not real, but semblance-manifested), the converting-appearance virtues raised for the sake of benefiting and gladdening others.

Dividing them again by self-benefit and benefit-of-others: the self-nature body belongs properly to "self-benefit" (quiescent bliss, without activity), and also extends to "benefit-of-others" (acting as a contributing condition by which sentient beings gain benefit and gladness), and further serves as the support of the two bodies of enjoyment and transformation, so the self-nature body runs through both self-benefit and benefit-of-others. The self-enjoyment body belongs to self-benefit only. The enjoyment-for-others body and the transformation body belong to benefit-of-others only (both are manifested for others).

4. What Land Each of the Three Bodies Rests Upon

Dividing again by the lands on which the three bodies rest.

The self-nature body rests upon the "dharma-nature land." Although in essence this self-nature body and the dharma-nature land are without difference (one and the same suchness), the body belongs to "Buddha" and the land belongs to "Dharma," so mark and nature differ (one is the resting body, the other the land rested upon). Neither this Buddha's self-nature body nor the dharma-nature land is contained within "form." Though one cannot say its dimension is small or large, yet as a manner of speaking in accord with phenomena, its measure is boundless, like empty space, pervading everywhere.

The self-enjoyment body rests, again, upon its "own (enjoyment) land": this refers to the pure consciousness associated with the "knowledge of the great perfect mirror." As the causes and conditions of the uncontaminated, purely pure Buddha-land — cultivated of old as "self-benefit" — come to maturity, from the moment of first attaining Buddhahood to the very end of future time, it continually manifests a purely pure Buddha-land, all-encompassing and boundless, adorned with every jewel, upon which the self-enjoyment body ever rests. The measure of the pure land is boundless, and so too is the measure of the body; the Buddha's faculties and the marks-and-features are likewise each boundless — because all are drawn forth by limitless roots of good. Since this body's virtues and wisdom are not form-dharmas, one cannot speak of its dimension as large or small; yet in dependence on what it "realizes" (suchness) and the "body it rests upon" (the form-body), one may also say it "pervades everywhere" (it pervades by way of what it realizes, so the body is said to pervade).

The enjoyment-for-others body also rests upon its "own (enjoyment) land": this refers to the great compassionate power of the "knowledge of equality." As the causes and conditions of the uncontaminated, purely pure Buddha-land — cultivated of old as "benefit-of-others" — come to maturity, in accord with what suits the bodhisattvas abiding on the "ten grounds," it manifests a pure land — now small, now large, now inferior, now superior — changing and shifting from one to the next (transforming according to the ground), upon which the enjoyment-for-others body rests. The measure of the body that rests on it likewise has no fixed limit.

The transformation body rests upon the "transformation land": this refers to the great compassionate power of the "knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done." As the causes and conditions of the uncontaminated pure-and-defiled Buddha-land — cultivated of old as "benefit-of-others" — come to maturity, in accord with what suits sentient beings who have "not yet ascended the (first) ground," it manifests a Buddha-land — now pure, now defiled, now small, now large — changing and shifting from one to the next, upon which the Buddha's transformation body rests. The measure of the body that rests on it likewise has no fixed limit.

5. Sameness and Difference of the Three Bodies and Lands — Shared and Unshared

The self-nature body and the dharma-nature land are what all Tathāgatas alike realize, so they are without difference in essence (all Buddhas are one and the same). The self-enjoyment body and the land it rests upon, though each Buddha manifests its own and they differ from one another, are all boundless and do not obstruct one another.

As for the remaining two bodies and lands (enjoyment-for-others and transformation), they have a distinction of "shared and unshared" in accord with the sentient beings each Tathāgata converts. For those converted "in common" (faculties converted in common by many Buddhas together): in one and the same place, at one and the same time, each Buddha severally manifests as body and as land, similar in form and unobstructing one another, mutually intermingling to act as "contributing conditions," so that the sentient beings to be converted "manifest from their own consciousness" (each being's own mind manifests the one Buddha it sees) — that is, within one land there is one Buddha-body, displaying spiritual powers, teaching the Dharma, and benefiting the beings. For those converted "not in common": it is manifested by one Buddha alone (one Buddha singly converting these faculties).

Why is there shared and unshared? Sentient beings of this kind, from the beginningless past, have their "lineage" (their conditions for being converted by a Buddha) naturally and inherently bound up with one another: now "many sentient beings belonging to one Buddha," now "one sentient being belonging to many Buddhas" — and so the beings to be converted have the distinction of shared and unshared. Were it otherwise (were there no distinction of shared and unshared), then for many Buddhas to abide in the world for long ages, each toiling away, would truly be of no benefit — for one Buddha alone could benefit all beings; so there must be "unshared" faculties, in order that the several conversions of the many Buddhas may be made manifest.

6. The Contaminated and Uncontaminated of the Three Bodies and Lands — the Distinction of Aggregate and Consciousness-Mark

All these bodies and lands, whether pure or defiled — whatever is manifested upon an "uncontaminated consciousness" — are, like the consciousness that manifests them, good and uncontaminated, produced by purely good, uncontaminated causes and conditions; they are contained within the "truth of the path," not within the two truths of suffering and origination. Yet their "aggregate" and like consciousness-marks need not all be the same — because they are drawn forth by the intermingling causes and conditions of the three factors (seed, present activity, object, and the like): even what is manifested by one and the same consciousness still has distinctions of aggregate-mark.

As for what is manifested upon a "contaminated consciousness," it too is, like the consciousness that manifests it, contaminated; produced purely from contaminated causes and conditions, it is contained within suffering and origination, not within the two truths of cessation and path. Its good-and-the-rest (good, bad, indeterminate) consciousness-marks likewise need not all be the same — because they are drawn forth by the intermingling causes and conditions of the three natures. The sameness and difference of aggregates and the rest (bases and elements) is to be understood in just this way; were it otherwise (were what is manifested necessarily of one and the same nature as what manifests it), then there ought to be no positing of the distinctions of "the five aggregates, the twelve bases," and so on.

7. Concluding in Consciousness-Only — the Inner Object Is Not Non-Existent

Yet the "image-portion" and the like are manifested in dependence on consciousness; they are not "real" within the dependent-arising in the way the "consciousness-nature" (the other-dependent essence of consciousness) is (the image-portion is not separate from consciousness; there is no real object existing apart). Were it otherwise (were the image-portion to exist really apart from consciousness), then the principle of "consciousness-only" could not be established, for that would amount to granting that both consciousness and object are real. Or one may put it this way: a consciousness's "image-portion" and "seeing-portion" are both produced from conditions, both belonging to the "dependent-arising," and their unreality or reality is the same as that of consciousness (both take consciousness as their dependent-arising); the word "only" merely dispels "the object external to the mind" and does not negate "the object internal to consciousness" (the inner object is not non-existent). Were it otherwise (were even the inner object non-existent), then "suchness" too ought to be unreal (suchness is also the true nature of consciousness — how could one say it is non-existent?).

At this point someone objects: since the inner object and consciousness are alike not unreal, why is only "consciousness-only" spoken of and no "object" posited? Answer: "consciousness" exists inwardly only (it does not run to the outer), whereas "object" also runs to the outer (some falsely reckon an object external to the mind); for fear that "speaking of object" would slide over into "the object external to the mind," only "consciousness-only" is spoken of (a consciousness is set up to dispel the outer; it is not that there is no inner object).

Or, taking another layer of meaning: foolish worldlings cling deludedly to objects external to the mind, and thereby give rise to defilement, perform karma, and sink and drift in birth-and-death, not understanding how to "observe the mind" and not diligently seeking release; the noble ones, taking pity on them, therefore speak this word "consciousness-only," wishing to make them observe their own mind and be released from birth-and-death — it is not that "the inner object, like the falsely-reckoned outer object, is wholly non-existent" (saying consciousness-only is to break the outer clinging, not to dismiss the inner object).

Or again, put this way: the image-portion and the like all have "consciousness" as their essential nature; by the force of "perfuming" they arise as if having many portions (every kind of mark); and suchness too is "the true nature of consciousness" (the perfectly-accomplished is just the true nature of the other-dependent). So apart from "consciousness-nature" (both the other-dependent and the perfectly-accomplished are inseparable from consciousness) there is no further dharma. And the "consciousness" spoken of here also takes in "mental factors" — because mind-king and mental factors are decisively associated (to say consciousness is to gather the mental factors along with it).

Onward Transmission

What this section establishes — the twofold fruit of transformation that is the fruit of Buddhahood: the uncontaminated realm, the inconceivable, the good, the permanent, the blissful, the body of liberation, and the Dharma-body whose nature is the five dharmas, together with the three bodies of self-nature, enjoyment, and transformation — is the closing knot in which the whole consciousness-only system gathers up its account of practice-and-realization and establishes the ground of Buddhahood, and the later treatises take it up one by one. The Hundred Dharmas treatise places the fruit-essence here under two classes of dharma: the pure dharma-realm is just suchness among the "unconditioned dharmas," while the four knowledges are the fruit won by transforming the eight "mind-dharmas" consciousnesses (the knowledge of the great perfect mirror transforming the eighth, the knowledge of equality the seventh, the knowledge of wondrous discernment the sixth, the knowledge of accomplishing-what-is-to-be-done the prior five). The Thirty Verses — verse thirty (the attributes of the ultimate stage: the uncontaminated realm, the inconceivable-good-permanent, the blissful body of liberation, the Great Sage's, named Dharma) — is the very root-verse this section expounds, verse answering to verse. The Madhyānta-vibhāga, in its chapter on winning the fruit, takes "the transformation of the basis" as the fruit of the twofold transformation, which bears on this section's sense of "the twofold fruit of transformation." The Mahāyāna-saṃgraha, in its chapter on the knowledge that is that fruit, sets up the "three Buddha-bodies" of self-nature, enjoyment, and transformation — and this is the extended treatment that is the basis for this section's "the three bodies and their three distinct aspects," from which the whole map here of the three bodies' lands, their shared-and-unshared, and their contaminated-and-uncontaminated is drawn out. As for the Twenty Verses, its concern is to establish consciousness-only and the absence of external objects and to refute the outsiders' clinging to real objects, and it has no direct counterpart to the three bodies of Buddhahood or the four nirvāṇas; here it is left aside.