攝大乘論 第八分　增上心學分

Of the three higher trainings, after morality comes concentration — the treatise calls it "higher mind." The question is the same: in what is the bodhisattva's concentration more excellent than the two vehicles'? Asaṅga answers with "six differences." The first five give its scale (its object is the Mahāyāna dharma; its kinds are numberless; it clears the defiled seeds from the storehouse consciousness by "driving out a wedge with a wedge"; it can take birth at will even amid the bliss of absorption; it draws forth supernormal powers throughout all worlds). But the real centerpiece is the sixth — the "difference of function": what the bodhisattva's concentration can actually do.

This gate is astonishingly vast: first the great powers that quake the heavens and furl and unfurl worlds; then the "ten difficult practices" (taking the great vow of buddhahood, unmoved by suffering, never abandoning the wicked, unstained though born in the world …); and then the two deepest passages —

Penetrating hidden speech: the Buddha sometimes teaches in "overtones" — on the surface like paradox, even like talk of doing wrong, but at heart pure right dharma. For instance: "What is 'taking life'? — Cutting off beings' stream of birth-and-death (what is slain is saṃsāra)." "What is 'false speech'? — Amid the false, declaring truly that it is false." Every line uses the most jarring of evil names to force you to penetrate the deep sense beneath the letter. This requires the bodhisattva to "follow-and-awaken" — to go along with the words and break through to their hidden intent; a reader who dies on the letter misreads it utterly.

Profound buddha-dharmas: the paradox is pushed to its peak — "the permanent" is a buddha-dharma, and "cessation" too; and most startling of all, "having greed, having hatred, having delusion" are buddha-dharmas as well! Because the Buddha, out of great compassion, takes these affliction-ridden beings wholly "as his own body"; beings' afflictions become the object of the Buddha's compassion. The "profundity" of the buddha-dharma lies just here: it is boxed in by no concept on any side.

How the six differences unfold one by one, the content of the ten difficult practices, and how those two sets of veiled speech turn line by line — you can follow these one stretch at a time. For now, keep the reading rule of this division: each particular statement carries an answering clause that discloses its intent, so statement and answer must be read together rather than by the surface wording alone. This is the defined scope of "following and awakening" here; it does not make all Buddha-dharma into paradoxical speech.

The previous chapter finished setting out the excellence of the "higher training in discipline" (a discipline raised one level higher). This chapter goes on to ask: and the excellence of the "higher training in mind" (samādhi raised one level higher) — how is that to be seen? Asaṅga lays it out from six angles, then brings out the various spiritual powers this samādhi sets in motion in a bodhisattva, the ten difficult practices, and those secret utterances of the Buddha that look, on the surface, upside-down but in fact carry a hidden meaning. What follows runs straight along with his words.

1. The excellence of the higher mind, seen from six angles

Asaṅga says: we have already spoken of the excellence of the "higher discipline"; so how is the excellence of the "higher mind" to be seen? Put briefly, it is to be recognized from six kinds of distinction (six different angles) —

First, by the distinction of "object" (the object observed and taken as support is different); Second, by the distinction of "varieties" (the kinds of samādhi are many and various); Third, by the distinction of "counteragent" (what is counteracted and removed is different); Fourth, by the distinction of "capacity" (the ability accomplished is different); Fifth, by the distinction of "what it sets in motion" (what it gives rise to is different); Sixth, by the distinction of "operation" (the function it produces is different).

2. Each of the six distinctions, one by one

The distinction of object: this means the bodhisattva's samādhi takes "the Mahāyāna Dharma" as the object it observes and rests on.

The distinction of varieties: this means samādhis (concentrations) such as Mahāyāna-Light, King-of-Merit-Gathering, Bhadrapāla, the Heroic-March (the well-known Śūraṃgama), and the like — kinds many and measureless.

The distinction of counteragent: this means that with the knowledge that "takes the general character of all dharmas as its object" (the wisdom that gathers up the common character of the myriad dharmas and observes it), following the principle of "driving out a peg with a peg" (using one peg to knock out another), it removes every obstructing "coarse heaviness" (the heavy defiled habit-energies) within the storehouse consciousness (the ālaya).

The distinction of capacity: this means that, abiding in the ease of meditative absorption (dhyāna), as he himself wishes, he can at once take rebirth (take a body and be born at will).

The distinction of what it sets in motion: this means it can set in motion spiritual powers that reach through every world without obstruction.

3. The distinction of operation: the great spiritual powers it sets in motion

The distinction of operation means this samādhi can set in motion all sorts of great spiritual powers. That is, it can "make things quake" (shake the great earth), "blaze" (send out blazing fire-light), "pervade" (fill everywhere), "display" (show forth all sorts of phenomena), "transform" (turn and change things), "come and go" (move freely back and forth), "fold and unfold" (gather in or spread out); and it can draw all visible forms (every shape and reflected image) into the body; wherever it goes it can appear in a body of the same kind as those there; it can be either manifest or hidden (now showing, now concealed); in all it does it is sovereign; it can subdue another's spiritual powers; it can bestow eloquence, mindfulness, and ease; it can send out great light — it sets in motion great spiritual powers like these.

4. It also sets in motion ten difficult practices

This samādhi also sets in motion and sustains the bodhisattva's various difficult practices, ten in all — the "ten difficult practices" (ten kinds of practice hard to carry out). These ten difficult practices are —

First, the difficult practice of self-vow: vowing on his own to take up and accomplish the great vow of unsurpassed awakening. Second, the difficult practice of not turning back: the many sufferings of birth-and-death cannot make him turn back. Third, the difficult practice of not forsaking: even though all sentient beings carry on all sorts of wrong conduct, he does not forsake them. Fourth, the difficult practice of being present: toward the beings who bear him resentment, he on the contrary comes forward to do everything that benefits them. Fifth, the difficult practice of being undefiled: born into the world, yet he is not defiled by the world's many dharmas. Sixth, the difficult practice of resolved understanding: toward the Mahāyāna Dharma, though he cannot yet penetrate it through and through, he can give rise to faith-and-understanding (deep belief and resolved conviction) toward all that vast and profound principle. Seventh, the difficult practice of penetration: he can fully penetrate "the selflessness of the person and the selflessness of dharmas" (that neither person nor dharmas has any real own-nature). Eighth, the difficult practice of awakening-to-hidden-intent: toward those profound secret utterances spoken by all the Tathāgatas, he can follow along and awaken to them (grasp their true meaning). Ninth, the difficult practice of neither departing nor being defiled: he does not abandon birth-and-death, and yet is not defiled by birth-and-death. Tenth, the difficult practice of applied effort: he can practice the conduct in which all Buddhas abide, "liberated from every obstruction," exhausting the very limit of birth-and-death yet without expending any effort (carried along of itself, with nothing contrived), constantly setting in motion the conduct that accomplishes every benefit and welfare for all sentient beings.

5. The difficult practice of awakening-to-hidden-intent: how the bodhisattva awakens to those secret utterances of the Buddha

Asaṅga then asks again: within the "difficult practice of awakening-to-hidden-intent" spoken of above, toward which secret utterances of the Buddha can those bodhisattvas awaken? It is as the sūtra says —

"What is it for a bodhisattva to be able to practice giving? It is when bodhisattvas have not the least thing to give, and yet practice giving widely throughout the measureless worlds of the ten directions. What is it for a bodhisattva to delight in practicing giving? It is when bodhisattvas have no wish or delight at all in any giving. What is it for a bodhisattva to give rise to deep faith-and-understanding in giving? It is when bodhisattvas do not believe in the Tathāgata and yet practice giving. What is it for a bodhisattva to spur himself on in giving? It is when bodhisattvas do not spur themselves on in giving. What is it for a bodhisattva to take delight in giving? It is when bodhisattvas have not given even a little, even for a moment. What is it for a bodhisattva's giving to be vast? It is when bodhisattvas, in giving, are free of the notion of suoluo (娑洛). What is it for a bodhisattva's giving to be pure? It is when bodhisattvas are wenbotuo (殟波陀) toward stinginess. What is it for a bodhisattva's giving to be ultimate? It is when bodhisattvas do not abide in the ultimate. What is it for a bodhisattva's giving to be sovereign? It is when bodhisattvas, in giving, do not proceed in a sovereign way (do not deliberately manage it). What is it for a bodhisattva's giving to be inexhaustible? It is when bodhisattvas do not abide in the inexhaustible."

Asaṅga says: just as it is spoken here for "giving," so from "discipline" at the start to "wisdom" at the end (discipline, patience, vigor, concentration, and wisdom — the remaining perfections), each accordingly is to be understood the same way.

Then comes another string — "What is it to be able to kill? It is when one cuts off the round of birth-and-death of beings. What is it to be 'taking what is not given' (theft)? It is when sentient beings have no one to give, and one takes it up of itself. What is it to be 'sexual misconduct' (wrong desire-conduct)? It is when, toward the desires, one knows them to be wrong and practices right conduct. What is it to be able to speak falsely? It is when, of what is false, one can say it is false. What is it to be beishuni (貝戍尼)? It is when one can constantly dwell in the supreme 'dwelling in emptiness.' What is it to be boluoshi (波魯師)? It is when one rests well on the far shore of what is to be known. What is it to be 'idle chatter (frivolous, defiled talk)'? It is when one rightly expounds the kinds and distinctions of the various dharmas. What is it to be able to covet? It is when one again and again wishes to realize for oneself the unsurpassed meditative absorption. What is it to be able to hate? It is when, toward one's own mind, one can rightly hate-and-harm (counter and root out) all the afflictions. What is it to be able to hold wrong views? It is when, toward the wrong nature that pervades and runs through everywhere, one can see it as it truly is (sees through it)."

6. Profound Buddha-dharmas: what is called a profound Buddha-dharma

Asaṅga then asks: those "profound Buddha-dharmas" spoken of above — what is it that is called a profound Buddha-dharma? Here it should be explained —

That "the dharma of permanent abiding" is a Buddha-dharma is said because the Buddha's dharma-body abides permanently; and "the dharma of cutting-off-and-cessation" is a Buddha-dharma is said because every obstruction is forever cut off and ceased; and "the dharma of arising" is a Buddha-dharma is said because the transformation-body appears and arises; and "the dharma of having something to attain" is a Buddha-dharma is said because the eighty-four thousand kinds of sentient-being conduct, together with the teachings that counteract them, can all be attained; and "the dharma of having greed" is a Buddha-dharma is said because the Buddha vows of himself to take in the beings who have greed and make them his own body; and "the dharma of having hatred" is a Buddha-dharma is said, and "the dharma of having delusion" is a Buddha-dharma, and "the dharma of the ordinary being (the worldling)" is a Buddha-dharma — these too, it should be known, are the same way; and "the dharma of being undefiled" is a Buddha-dharma is said because it fulfills suchness and no obstruction or stain can defile it; and "the dharma of being unsullied" is a Buddha-dharma is said because, though the Buddha is born into the world, the world's many dharmas cannot sully him — for these reasons, then, it is called a profound Buddha-dharma.

7. Closing: this too is a distinction of operation of the bodhisattva's concentration

Asaṅga says at the last: this samādhi also sets in motion "cultivation to the far shore (cultivating the six perfections to fullness)," "the ripening of sentient beings (accomplishing the teaching and transforming of beings)," "the purifying of Buddha-lands (adorning and purifying the Buddha's land)," and "the dharmas of all Buddhas" — so it should be known that these too belong to the distinctions of operation (the differences in function produced) of the bodhisattva's "concentration" (samādhi, meditative absorption).

Scriptural and Commentarial Ground

This division takes Mahayana Dharma as the object and unfolds six distinctions of bodhisattva concentration. One set of veiled statements is introduced as scripture, but no independently locatable Chinese source is presently known; the two ancient commentaries require each surface statement to be read with the answer that discloses its intent.

Of the three higher trainings, the previous chapter finished teaching the first — moral discipline (戒). This chapter takes up the second training: concentration (定). The treatise does not call it "concentration"; it calls it the higher training in mind (增上心學). Concentration is the work of gathering in and settling this very mind, so it is named after "mind"; and because it is a training of the mind that rises above the ordinary, ascending stage upon stage, it is called "higher."

But the moment this chapter opens, a problem is blocking the way: concentration is cultivated by non-Buddhists too, and by the two vehicles too; when the bodhisattva sits down and enters concentration, on what grounds is it superior to the concentration of the sravaka and the pratyekabuddha? And there is something thornier still: as this chapter reaches its depths, Asanga draws out a whole string of sayings that sound utterly upside-down — he says "killing" is a bodhisattva's practice, "having greed" is a Buddha-dharma, and giving requires that there be "not the slightest thing to give." How can the Buddha-dharma contain talk like this, which sounds as if it were endorsing evil, as if it were contradicting itself?

These two questions are exactly what this chapter sets out to answer. Asanga's answer is finely layered: he first uses the six points of difference to show precisely where the bodhisattva's concentration differs from that of the two vehicles; then, working outward from the sixth difference, "activity," he goes on to the great spiritual powers that can shake the world, and the ten difficult practices, and finally lands on that string of upside-down sayings — namely, "awakening-to-hidden-intent in secret words" (隨覺祕密言詞) and the profound Buddha-dharma (甚深佛法). The first half teaches the essence of concentration (what kind of concentration it is); the second half teaches the function of concentration (what this concentration can accomplish) — and the reach of that function runs straight into the inconceivable domain of a Buddha. What follows expounds Asanga's words in order.

1. The bodhisattva's concentration differs from that of the two vehicles in six places

Asanga first asks himself a question: the superiority of the higher training in mind — "how is it to be seen"? How can the superiority of the bodhisattva's concentration be made out? His answer is: it should be known briefly through six points of difference. That is to say, even though it is the same act of entering concentration, the bodhisattva's concentration differs sharply from that of the two vehicles in six respects. We take them one by one.

The first is difference of object (所緣差別). The "object" is the thing the concentrating mind takes hold of and settles upon. When the two vehicles enter concentration, they mostly take as object the field of their own liberation; the bodhisattva's concentration "takes the Mahayana dharma as its object" — it takes hold of the whole body of the Great Vehicle's teaching. From the very start, the scale of what is faced is already different.

The second is difference of kinds (種種差別). The bodhisattva's concentration is not one kind but "kinds beyond measure." Asanga names a few that have famous names: the Mahayana-Radiance samadhi, the King-of-Concentrations-Gathering-Merit samadhi, the Worthy-Guardian samadhi, and the Heroic-March (健行) samadhi (the "Heroic-March" is the well-known Suramgama of the scriptures; Xuanzang took its sense and rendered it 健行 — a great concentration that advances valiantly straight ahead, irresistible in whatever direction it turns). And this is only the ones with nameable names, let alone the countless, measureless rest. The concentration of the two vehicles has nothing of this abundance.

The third is difference of counteraction (對治差別), and this point is the most crucial — and the first stirring moment of this chapter. "Counteraction" means what the concentration is set to "cure" and "remove." The bodhisattva's concentration is "the cognition that takes the common character of all dharmas as its object" — with a wisdom able to take hold of the character shared in common by all dharmas, it does its counteractive work; and as for the manner of the counteraction, Asanga uses a most vivid comparison: "by the principle of driving out a peg with a peg (以楔出楔), it expels all the obstructive coarse-heaviness within the alaya-consciousness."

These four words, "driving out a peg with a peg," are the simile this chapter gives of itself, and must not be passed over. A carpenter wants to pull out an old peg jammed fast in the wood. Yanking it directly does no good — what does he do? He takes a fresh peg and drives it in alongside, and as the new peg goes in, the old peg is forced out. The bodhisattva's counteraction of the defilements works on exactly this principle: in the alaya-consciousness (the most fundamental consciousness, lying at the base of all experience, holding the storehouse of all seeds), there has accumulated the "coarse-heaviness (麁重)" of various obstructions — that is, the coarse, sluggish, weighing-down force of defiled habit-energy that leaves one unfree. To remove it, one does not simply "press down" on emptiness; rather, one takes that pure cognition which holds the common character of all dharmas and drives it in as a fresh peg, forcing out one by one the old defiled seeds held in the storehouse consciousness. Once this peg of pure cognition goes in, that peg of defiled coarse-heaviness loosens and comes out — this is where the very heart of the bodhisattva's concentration-training lies.

The fourth is difference of capacity (堪能差別). "Capacity" means whether this concentration has the strength to "shoulder it and carry it through." Once people of the two vehicles grow attached to the bliss of concentration, they are often bound by that bliss and unwilling to come out. Not so the bodhisattva: "dwelling in the bliss of meditative absorption, he takes birth wherever he wishes" — though he too abides in the bliss of meditation, he can, "wherever he wishes," take birth to liberate beings in whatever place he chooses, entirely unbound by the bliss of concentration. This is precisely the bodhisattva's capital for "coming again on the strength of his vow."

The fifth is difference of evoking (引發差別). The bodhisattva's concentration can "evoke unobstructed spiritual powers throughout all world-systems" — it can give rise to spiritual powers that pervade all worlds without the slightest hindrance. And this connects on to the sixth difference.

The first five have already opened up the whole scale of the bodhisattva's concentration. But what Asanga truly means to expound at length is the sixth.

2. The sixth, "difference of activity," part one: concentration can shake the world

The sixth is called "difference of activity (作業差別)." "Activity" means what this concentration can "do," what great function it can set in motion. The first five spoke of the essence and scale of concentration; this sixth speaks of its marvelous function — and this gate is utterly vast and deep, the centerpiece of this chapter. Asanga begins from the "great spiritual powers."

The bodhisattva's concentration can evoke all manner of miraculous transformations, which Asanga lists off in one breath: it can shake the great earth; can blaze forth radiance and flame; can fill all about with pervading light; can display all manner of scenes and forms; can transform outer objects; can come and go freely; can roll up and unroll world-systems (rolling up the vast worlds and spreading them out again); can make "all forms and images enter into the body" (drawing all shapes and colors in within his own body); can "go among their own kind" (appearing in the body of whatever class of beings he goes among); can "appear or hide" — now manifest, now concealed; can act with full mastery, accomplishing as he wills; can "subdue others' spiritual powers," overpowering the supernormal force of others; can "bestow eloquence, mindfulness, and bliss," granting beings eloquence and the peace of right mindfulness; and can "send forth great radiance."

This whole string is the great spiritual power evoked by the bodhisattva's samadhi. But remember: the spiritual powers are only the opening of this "activity" gate. What is truly deep is still to come.

3. The sixth, "difference of activity," part two: ten things extremely hard yet able to be done

The activity of concentration can also uphold the "ten difficult practices (十難行)" — ten things extremely hard to accomplish, which the bodhisattva is nonetheless able to do. Asanga lists them one by one, and we narrate them in order.

First is the difficult practice of self-vowing (自誓難行): to dare to make the great vow to "take up unsurpassed awakening," shouldering the whole endless long road on one's own shoulders. Second is the difficult practice of not turning back (不退難行): on the road of birth-and-death, where all manner of suffering presses in from every side, he cannot be turned back from his heart set on the Way. Third is the difficult practice of not abandoning (不背難行): though all beings act wildly and commit every kind of wrong practice, the bodhisattva still never abandons or turns his back on them. Fourth is the difficult practice of being-present (現前難行): even toward beings who bear him enmity, he still, face to face, does all manner of benefiting deeds for them. Fifth is the difficult practice of being-undefiled (不染難行): born into the world, mingling among the crowd, he is yet undefiled by the world's various dharmas. Sixth is the difficult practice of resolute conviction (勝解難行): toward the Great Vehicle, vast and profound, though he "cannot yet fully fathom it," he is already able to give rise to deep conviction in it, unshakable. Seventh is the difficult practice of penetration (通達難行): he is able to penetrate "the selflessness of the person (補特伽羅無我)" and "the selflessness of dharmas (法無我)" — that neither person nor dharmas have a real self.

The eighth is the difficult practice of awakening-to-hidden-intent (隨覺難行): "with respect to the profound secret words spoken by all the Tathagatas, he is able to awaken to their hidden intent." The Buddha at times teaches the Dharma using a kind of "secret words," and the bodhisattva is able to "awaken-to-hidden-intent" — to follow along with them and break through to their true meaning. This item is the most special, and is treated on its own below.

Ninth is the difficult practice of neither departing nor being defiled (不離不染難行): he does not forsake birth-and-death, staying long within it to liberate beings, yet is not defiled by birth-and-death. Tenth is the difficult practice of applied effort (加行難行): he is able to cultivate that domain of the Buddhas — "abiding in liberation from all obstructions, to the very limit of birth-and-death exerting no contrived effort, yet ever giving rise to every benefit and welfare for all beings": abiding in the fruition-ground of liberation from all obstructions, to the end of future time and to the very edge of birth-and-death, without depending on any contrived effort, yet constantly raising up every benefiting deed for all beings.

Among the ten difficult practices, the eighth, "awakening-to-hidden-intent," is the threshold set highest of all, and it is the very key to the two passages below.

4. Awakening-to-hidden-intent in secret words: why the Buddha teaches with "upside-down talk"

This is the deepest passage of this chapter, and also the one most easily misread; one must steady oneself and read it slowly.

Asanga then asks: "In the difficult practice of awakening-to-hidden-intent, with respect to which secret words of the Buddha are those bodhisattvas able to awaken to their hidden intent?" — this awakening-to-hidden-intent, just which class of the Buddha's sayings is it that must be broken through? Here one must first set firm a single idea: when the Buddha teaches the Dharma, he sometimes does not speak according to the surface words but uses a kind of "profound secret words" — on the surface they sound like paradoxes, even like endorsements of evil, but at root every line points to the deepest right Dharma. Vasubandhu, in his commentary, marks the import of this passage in exactly this way: this question is set up "to display the intent of the secret words," and the text following will explain it line by line in turn. Asvabhava's commentary puts it even more bluntly: this awakening-to-hidden-intent means that, with respect to these secret words of the Buddha, one must "let go of the meaning heard and awaken to the meaning not heard" — drop that layer of meaning you hear on the surface, and awaken to that layer of hidden intent it did not state outright. Asvabhava further points out that this eighth difficult practice "is not yet fathomed in its meaning, and so must be explained again," and so he draws out the hidden intent line by line.

The first string of examples Asanga gives is giving (布施). The Buddha asks: "How is a bodhisattva able to practice giving?" Answer: "When a bodhisattva has not the slightest thing to give, yet practices giving widely throughout the measureless worlds of the ten directions." — What counts as a bodhisattva able to practice giving? It is when he "has not a single thing to give," and yet practices giving widely throughout the measureless worlds of the ten directions. Again it asks, "How does a bodhisattva give rise to deep conviction in giving?" Answer: "When a bodhisattva practices giving without relying on faith in the Tathagata." — What counts as his deep conviction in giving? It is when he gives "not leaning upon his faith in the Tathagata." And on it goes: "his giving is vast" because "he is apart from the notion of suoluo (娑洛)"; "his giving is pure" because "he wenbotuo (殟波陀) stinginess"; "his giving is ultimate" because "he does not abide in the ultimate" — he does not stagnate on the character of "having already become ultimate."

Here are two of Xuanzang's transliterated terms: "suoluo (娑洛)" and "wenbotuo (殟波陀)," both characters written from Sanskrit sound rather than renderings of sense. The treatise says only that "being apart from the notion of suoluo" grounds "vastness," and that "wenbotuo of stinginess" grounds "purity"; it gives no face-value gloss for either term. What can be established is limited to the root text's own relations: removing the "notion of suoluo" makes giving vast, and performing the "wenbotuo" upon stinginess makes giving pure. As it is with giving in this one perfection, Asanga says, "as with giving, so with discipline at the start and wisdom at the end, and the rest as the case may be should be known to be likewise" — from discipline through to wisdom, the remaining perfections all have this same hidden-intent way of speaking, "stating the highest affirmation in the tone of a negation."

Then comes a string more glaring still — the Buddha actually uses the very names of the ten evils, "killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, false speech," to teach the bodhisattva's right practice. But here is what is crucial: every single line carries its own answer; the hidden intent is hidden in the answering clause. The lines below follow those answering clauses in order.

It asks "how does one kill (云何能殺生)," and answers "when one cuts off the flow and turning of beings' birth-and-death" — so-called "killing" is to cut off the round of beings' birth-and-death. It asks "how does one take what is not given (云何不與取, stealing)," and answers "when, where beings have no one to give, one gathers them in of itself" — it is, in a place where no one gives to beings, to gather them in and liberate them of itself. It asks "how does one commit sexual misconduct (云何欲邪行)," and answers "when, knowing of the desires that they are wrong, one cultivates the right practice" — it is, knowing of the desires that they are wrong, to practice what is right within them. It asks "how does one speak falsely (云何能妄語)," and answers "when amid the false one is able to say it is false" — it is, in the midst of the false, to declare truly that "it is precisely false." It asks "how does one beishuni (云何貝戍尼)," and answers "when one is able to dwell ever in the supreme abiding-in-emptiness"; it asks "how does one boluoshi (云何波魯師)," and answers "when one rightly abides on the far shore of the knowable" — here "beishuni (貝戍尼)" and "boluoshi (波魯師)" are again two transliterated terms. The treatise gives no face-value gloss; what can be established is limited to their answers: dwelling ever in the supreme abiding-in-emptiness and rightly abiding on the far shore of the knowable. It asks "how does one speak idle-and-divisive talk (云何綺間語)," and answers "when one rightly proclaims the various classes and distinctions of the dharmas" — it is rightly to proclaim the kinds and distinctions of the various dharmas. Again it asks "how is one able to be greedy (云何能貪欲)," and answers "when one again and again desires to realize for oneself the unsurpassed meditative absorption" — it is, again and again, to wish to realize for oneself the unsurpassed concentration. It asks "how is one able to hate (云何能瞋恚)," and answers "when, toward one's own mind, one rightly hates and harms all the defilements" — it is, toward all the defilements within one's own mind, rightly to "hate and harm" them. It asks "how is one able to hold wrong view (云何能邪見)," and answers "when, in every place, the pervading nature of wrongness is seen as it truly is" — it is to see through, as it truly is, that "wrongness" which pervades every place.

See: at every glaring word "evil," the answering clause turns it over into a matter of the right Dharma. This is precisely the wonder of "secret words": it deliberately uses the most jarring term, to force you to break through to that layer of true meaning beneath the surface. This is skillful means of the highest order, speaking of the domain and hidden intent on the level of one who has realized the Way — and failing to understand, mistaking the surface words, is precisely the greatest danger here, which is why it is listed as a "difficult practice," and why nothing but "awakening-to-hidden-intent" will do.

Here one rule must be held especially firm: Asanga's own treatise and the two commentaries have already set the conditions for these hidden intents. The answering clause is itself the gloss; Vasubandhu explains line by line, and Asvabhava "lets go of the heard meaning and awakens to the unheard." The inverted words must therefore be understood together with their own answering clauses, neither softened nor given another set of smoothing-over words. Here "killing" is cutting off the flow of birth-and-death, and "having hatred" is hating and harming the defilements. The hidden intent is already in the answering clause; there is no need to add to it.

5. The profound Buddha-dharma: even "having greed, having hatred" is a Buddha-dharma

The final passage pushes this paradox to its very limit. Asanga asks: "What is called the profound Buddha-dharma?" and at once lists ten items, each of which looks self-contradictory — and each one, again, carries its own gloss in the answering clause.

"The abiding dharma (常住法) is a Buddha-dharma," because "the dharma-body is abiding"; yet "the dharma of cessation (斷滅法) is also a Buddha-dharma," because "all obstructions are forever cut off and ceased." "The dharma of arising (生起法) is a Buddha-dharma," because "the transformation-body appears and arises"; "the dharma of attainment (有所得法) is a Buddha-dharma," because "the eighty-four thousand practices of beings and their counteractions can all be attained" — beings' various practices and their counteractions, every one available to be found.

Then comes the most startling string: "the dharma of having greed is a Buddha-dharma," "the dharma of having hatred is a Buddha-dharma," "the dharma of having delusion is a Buddha-dharma," and even "the dharma of the ordinary being (異生, the worldling) is a Buddha-dharma." How can the Buddha-dharma make room for "having greed," "having hatred"? The answering clause Asanga gives is: "because by his own vow he takes up beings who have greed, making them his own essence" — by the great vow of his original resolve, the Buddha takes up these beings who have greed and hatred entirely, drawing them in as his own essence; and so "having greed," as a matter, accomplishes a Buddha-dharma on the Buddha's level instead (having hatred, having delusion, and the ordinary being "should be known to be likewise" — the principle is the same). The hidden intent rests in the answering clause itself: "having greed" is a Buddha-dharma because the Buddha, by his own vow, takes up beings who have greed as his own essence.

At the last it draws back once more to the negative side: "the undefiled dharma (無染法) is a Buddha-dharma," because "having truly-perfected suchness, the stains of all obstructions cannot defile it"; "the unstained dharma (無污法) is a Buddha-dharma," because "though born in the world, the various worldly dharmas cannot stain it." In this gathering-in and letting-out, this affirming and denying, is shown precisely why the Buddha-dharma is "profound": it is framed by no concept on any one side — say "abiding," and it is that too; say "ceased," and it is that too; say "undefiled," and it is that too; say "having greed," and it is that too.

Conclusion

This chapter teaches the bodhisattva's concentration. The first five differences — of object, of kinds, of counteraction, of capacity, of evoking — set up the scale of the bodhisattva's concentration; the sixth, "difference of activity," then displays its marvelous function: from the great spiritual powers that shake the world, to the ten difficult practices, to awakening-to-hidden-intent in secret words and the profound Buddha-dharma. Asanga's last line gathers it all in: this concentration can "evoke the cultivation that crosses to the far shore, the ripening of beings, the purifying of Buddha-lands, and all the Buddha-dharmas" — it can bring one to the far shore, ripen beings, purify Buddha-lands, and accomplish the Buddha-dharma, and all of this too is the "activity" of the bodhisattva's samadhi.

The two passages on awakening to hidden intent and profound Buddha-dharmas establish a carefully bounded reading rule: the veiled statements given in this division must be read together with the answers that disclose their intent. One may not cling to the evil name or negative wording on the surface, but neither may one generalize from this passage and make all Buddha-dharma into paradoxical speech. The cognition that can read these statements through and directly meet reality beyond the division of subject and object has not yet been expounded head-on. It awaits —

the next chapter, "The Higher Training in Wisdom (增上慧學分)." The last of the three higher trainings is wisdom, and the height of wisdom is precisely that "non-discriminating cognition (無分別智)": the root cognition that, apart from all discrimination and reckoning, directly touches suchness. On what exactly does the power to read through the various upside-down hidden intents of this chapter rest? The answer lies in the next chapter.

Later Reception

Higher mind here receives the perfection of meditation and leads into higher wisdom in the next division. Its language of permanence and arising among the profound Buddha-dharmas also reappears in the final division’s profundities of the three bodies. The two sets of veiled speech remain bounded passages, not a universal rule for all Dharma.