瑜伽師地論 意地 · 意識勝作業十四門

Outline

• The seven distinguishings: with-marks · without-marks · spontaneous · investigating · examining · defiled · undefiled — defiled (hankering after the past / hoping-and-delighting toward the future / clinging to the present + craving, ill-will, harm) vs. undefiled (renunciation / non-ill-will / non-harm). Practice = turning defiled distinguishing into undefiled distinguishing.
• Deliberating · in accord with principle: not superadding (free of the four inversions) · not subtracting (free of wrong views) = the epistemology of the Middle Way.
• Cutting off the wholesome roots · not uprooting the seed: what is cut off is only the contrary continuity against the present enactment of the wholesome roots; "it is not by reason of any permanent uprooting of those seeds" — hence the wholesome roots can be resumed. The seed abides always = room for turning back is always left (the compassionate face of the doctrine of seeds).
• Drunk-mad-dreaming-awake-faint-revived: the altered states of mental consciousness · it can be cut off (setting off by contrast the constancy of manas and the store consciousness · linked to the eight characteristics of the "attainment of mindlessness").

The 漢 root text (Xuanzang, T30n1579) is kept as a de-emphasized visual anchor for bilingual readers; the English below renders every word of it in plain, continuous prose.

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又諸意識望餘識身有勝作業。謂分別所緣，審慮所緣，若醉，若狂，若夢，若覺，若悶，若醒，若能發起身業、語業，若能離欲，若離欲退，若斷善根，若續善根，若死，若生等。

Mental consciousness, as against the other bodies of consciousness, has further kinds of distinctive activity: discerning-and-distinguishing its object; deliberating over its object; and being drunk, mad, dreaming, awake, faint, and revived; being able to set bodily action and verbal action in motion, being able to become free of craving, falling back from freedom from craving, cutting off the roots of the wholesome, and resuming the roots of the wholesome; and dying and being born, and so on. 〔Dying and being born are treated in detail in M3.〕

Discerning-and-Distinguishing Its Object (the Seven Distinguishings)

云何分別所緣？由七種分別。謂有相分別、無相分別、任運分別、尋求分別、伺察分別、染污分別、不染污分別。有相分別者，謂於先所受義、諸根成就善名言者所起分別。無相分別者，謂隨先所引，及嬰兒等不善名言者所有分別。任運分別者，謂於現前境界，隨境勢力任運而轉所有分別。尋求分別者，謂於諸法觀察尋求所起分別。伺察分別者，謂於已所尋求、已所觀察，伺察安立所起分別。染污分別者，謂於過去顧戀俱行、於未來希樂俱行、於現在執著俱行所有分別。若欲分別、若恚分別、若害分別，或隨與一煩惱、隨煩惱相應所起分別。不染污分別者，若善、若無記。謂出離分別、無恚分別、無害分別、或隨與一信等善法相應。或威儀路、工巧處，及諸變化所有分別。如是等類，名分別所緣。

What is discerning-and-distinguishing its object? It proceeds by seven kinds of distinguishing: distinguishing-with-marks, distinguishing-without-marks, spontaneous distinguishing, investigating distinguishing, examining distinguishing, defiled distinguishing, and undefiled distinguishing. Distinguishing-with-marks is the distinguishing that arises, in one who is accomplished in the sense-faculties and skilled in naming and language, with regard to a meaning previously received. Distinguishing-without-marks is the distinguishing found in one who merely follows what was drawn forth before, and in infants and the like, who are not yet skilled in naming and language. Spontaneous distinguishing is the distinguishing that, with regard to an object present before one, turns of its own accord along the force of that object. Investigating distinguishing is the distinguishing that arises from observing and searching into phenomena. Examining distinguishing is the distinguishing that arises from examining and settling what has already been searched into and already observed. Defiled distinguishing is the distinguishing that goes along with hankering after the past, with hoping-and-delighting toward the future, and with clinging to the present; and the distinguishing of craving, of ill-will, and of harm, or the distinguishing that arises in association with some one affliction or secondary affliction. Undefiled distinguishing is that which is wholesome or neutral — namely the distinguishing of renunciation, of non-ill-will, and of non-harm, or that which is associated with some wholesome factor such as faith; or the distinguishing found in the paths of deportment, in the crafts, and in the various transformational displays. Distinguishing of such kinds as these is named discerning-and-distinguishing its object.

Deliberating over Its Object (in Accord with Principle · Not in Accord with Principle · Neither)

云何審慮所緣？謂如理所引、不如理所引，非如理非不如理所引。如理所引者：謂不增益非真實有，如四顛倒。謂於無常常倒，於苦樂倒，於不淨淨倒，於無我我倒。亦不損減諸真實有，如諸邪見。謂無施與等諸邪見行。或法住智，如實了知諸所知事。或善清淨出世間智，如實覺知所知諸法。如是名為如理所引。與此相違，當知不如理所引。非如理非不如理所引者，謂依無記慧審察諸法。如是名為審慮所緣。

What is deliberating over its object? It is that which is drawn forth in accord with principle, that which is drawn forth not in accord with principle, and that which is drawn forth neither in accord with principle nor out of accord with it. That which is drawn forth in accord with principle: it does not superadd to what does not truly exist — as do the four inversions, namely the inversion that takes the impermanent for permanent, that takes the painful for pleasant, that takes the impure for pure, and that takes the not-self for a self; and it does not subtract from the things that truly do exist — as do the various wrong views, namely such wrong-view conduct as saying that there is no giving, and so on. Or it is the knowledge of the abiding-order of things (dharma-sthiti-jñāna), which knows the objects of knowledge just as they are; or the wholesome, thoroughly pure, world-transcending knowledge, which awakens to the phenomena to be known just as they are. This is named that which is drawn forth in accord with principle. What runs contrary to this should be known as that which is drawn forth not in accord with principle. That which is drawn forth neither in accord with principle nor out of accord with it is the examining of phenomena by means of a neutral discernment. This is named deliberating over its object.

Drunk · Mad · Dreaming · Awake · Faint · Revived (the Altered States of Mental Consciousness)

云何醉？謂由依止性羸劣故，或不習飲故，或極數飲故，或過量飲故，便致醉亂。云何狂？謂由先業所引，或由諸界錯亂，或由驚怖失志，或由打觸末摩，或由鬼魅所著，而發癲狂。云何夢？謂由依止性羸劣；或由疲倦過失；或由食所沈重；或由於闇相作意思惟；或由休息一切事業；或由串習睡眠；或由他所引發，如由搖扇，或由明呪，或由於藥，或由威神；而發惛夢。云何覺？謂睡增者不勝疲極故，有所作者要期睡故，或他所引，從夢而覺。云何悶？謂由風熱亂故；或由捶打故；或由瀉故，如過量轉痢及出血；或由極勤勞；而致悶絕。云何醒？謂於悶已而復出離。

Drunk: because the supporting body is weak, or because one is unused to drinking, or drinks too often, or drinks beyond measure, one comes to drunken confusion. Mad: whether drawn on by prior karma, or through the elements falling into disorder, or through losing one's wits from fright and terror, or through a blow to a vital point (marman), or through possession by a ghost or goblin, one breaks out in madness. Dreaming: whether because the supporting body is weak; or through the fault of fatigue; or through being weighed down by food; or through attending to and pondering a dark image; or through the resting of all one's undertakings; or through the habituation of sleep; or through being induced by another — as by the fanning of a fan, or by a bright spell, or by a drug, or by spiritual power — one falls into clouded dreaming. Awake: whether the over-sleeper, unable to bear extreme fatigue [any longer], or one with work to do who set a term for sleep, or one induced by another, wakes from the dream. Faint: whether through a disorder of wind and heat; or through being beaten; or through a discharge — as with excessive dysentery and the letting of blood; or through utter exhaustion — one comes to fainting away. Revived: emerging again out of a faint.

Setting Bodily and Verbal Action in Motion

云何發起身業、語業？謂由發身語業智前行故；次欲生故；次功用起故；次隨順功用為先，身語業風轉故；從此發起身業、語業。

What is the setting in motion of bodily and verbal action? Because the knowledge that sets bodily and verbal action in motion goes ahead; next, desire arises; next, effort is set to work; next, with concordant effort leading the way, the wind of bodily-and-verbal action turns — and from this, bodily action and verbal action are set in motion.

Becoming Free of Craving · Falling Back from Freedom from Craving

云何離欲？謂隨順離欲根成就故，從他獲得隨順教誨故，遠離彼障故，方便正修無倒思惟故，方能離欲。云何離欲退？謂性軟根故；新修善品者，數數思惟彼形狀相故；受行順退法故；煩惱所障故；惡友所攝故；從離欲退。

Becoming free of craving: because the wholesome faculties that accord with freedom from craving are accomplished, because one obtains from another the fitting instruction, because one keeps far from the obstacles to it, and because through skillful means one rightly cultivates undistorted contemplation — only so can one become free of craving. Falling back from freedom from craving: because one's faculties are soft by nature; because one newly cultivating the wholesome again and again ponders the shapes and forms of [the objects of craving]; because one takes up and practices things that accord with backsliding; because one is obstructed by the afflictions; and because one is drawn in by bad friends — one falls back from freedom from craving.

Cutting Off the Roots of the Wholesome · Resuming the Roots of the Wholesome

云何斷善根？謂利根者，成就上品諸惡意樂現行法故；得隨順彼惡友故；彼邪見纏極重圓滿到究竟故；彼於一切惡現行中，得無畏故；無哀愍故；能斷善根。此中種子亦名善根，無貪瞋等亦名善根。但由安立現行善根相違相續，名斷善根；非由永拔彼種子故。云何續善根？謂由性利根故；見親朋友修福業故；詣善丈夫聞正法故；因生猶豫，證決定故；還續善根。

Cutting off the roots of the wholesome: it is one of keen faculties who — because there come to be present in him the phenomena of a superior grade of evil intent and inclination; because he gains bad friends who go along with it; because the entanglement of his wrong views, extremely heavy, reaches its full completion to the utmost; because in all his enactment of evil he comes to be without fear; and because he is without pity — is able to cut off the roots of the wholesome. Now here, the seed too is called a root of the wholesome, and non-greed, non-hatred, and the like are also called roots of the wholesome. But it is only by reason of a contrary continuity being set up against the present enactment of the wholesome roots that this is named cutting off the roots of the wholesome; it is not by reason of any permanent uprooting of those seeds. Resuming the roots of the wholesome: because one is of keen faculties by nature; because one sees kin and friends cultivating deeds of merit; because one goes to a good man and hears the true Dharma; and because, doubt having arisen therefrom, one comes to a settled conviction — one resumes the roots of the wholesome once more.

Mental consciousness is the stage on which distinguishing and the several "states" play out — the turn of defilement and purity in a single thought within the seven distinguishings, the middle way of deliberating in accord with principle, the drunk-mad-dreaming-awake-faint-revived that set off by contrast the constancy of manas and the store consciousness, and the cutting off of the wholesome roots that does not uproot the seed.

Mental Consciousness's Distinguishing and Its Differences of State: It Can Defile and Can Purify, Can Be Cut Off and Can Be Resumed

Mental consciousness "has distinctive activity as against the other bodies of consciousness," and the treatise spreads out a long string of them — distinguishing, deliberating, drunk-mad-dreaming-awake-faint-revived, setting action in motion, becoming free of craving, cutting off and resuming the wholesome roots, dying and being born. This is no random heap of a list; it is stating one thing: mental consciousness is the stage of "distinguishing," and also the stage of the several "states." The five sense-consciousnesses discern only the object of their own field present before them, whereas mental consciousness can distinguish, can deliberate, can rise and fall among the several states, and can even cut off the roots of the wholesome and then resume them.

The Seven Distinguishings: Defiled or Undefiled Turns on a Single Thought

"Discerning-and-distinguishing its object" lists seven kinds of distinguishing, and the watershed lies in the last two. Defiled distinguishing — "hankering after the past, hoping-and-delighting toward the future, clinging to the present," together with craving, ill-will, and harm: a sticking-fast to the objects of the three times. Undefiled distinguishing — renunciation, non-ill-will, non-harm, associated with wholesome factors such as faith. One and the same mental consciousness, and one and the same distinguishing: turned toward hankering and clinging, it defiles; turned toward renunciation and non-hatred, it purifies. Practice does not lie in abolishing distinguishing (the very nature of mental consciousness is distinguishing; it cannot be abolished), but in turning defiled distinguishing into undefiled distinguishing — exchanging the habitual momentum of "hankering — hoping-and-delighting — clinging" for a continuity of "renunciation — non-ill-will — non-harm."

Deliberating in Accord with Principle: The Just-as-It-Is That Neither Adds Nor Subtracts

For that which is drawn forth in accord with principle, the treatise's two lower phrases are exceedingly precise: "it does not superadd to what does not truly exist" (it does not falsely add where there is no reality — as with the four inversions: adding permanence to the impermanent, pleasure to the painful, purity to the impure, self to the not-self), and "neither does it subtract from the things that truly do exist" (it does not falsely subtract where there is reality — as with wrong views: denying that there is giving, cause, and effect). Accord-with-principle = a just-as-it-is that neither adds nor subtracts — inversion is superaddition, wrong view is subtraction, and accord-with-principle stands in the middle, illumining things just as they are. This is precisely the epistemology of the Middle Way.

Drunk-Mad-Dreaming-Awake-Faint-Revived: Mental Consciousness Can Be Cut Off, Manas Cannot

Drunken confusion, the wit-loss of madness, the clouded dimness of dreaming, fainting away, and reviving out of it — these several altered states of mental consciousness quietly mark one point: mental consciousness can be disturbed and can be interrupted. In fainting the mental consciousness is cut off, yet the person has not died — which is exactly the principle of the "attainment of mindlessness" that Stage One held down in reserve and that the Section on Ascertainment proves: the six consciousnesses may be cut off, but the appropriating store consciousness (ālaya) is not cut off. Set against this, the "constancy" of the seventh, the ever-active manas, grows all the clearer: the six consciousnesses are coarse, in motion, and intermittent (in drunkenness, madness, and fainting they are gone), and only manas and the store consciousness are ever-active and uninterrupted. The variability of mental consciousness sets off, by contrast, the constancy of the two deeper consciousnesses.

Cutting Off the Wholesome Roots Does Not Uproot the Seed: For Turning Back, Room Is Always Left

Most worth savoring is "cutting off the roots of the wholesome." The one who cuts off the wholesome roots is of keen faculties, with a superior grade of evil intent, gaining bad friends, the entanglement of wrong views extremely heavy to the utmost, doing evil without fear and without pity — evil to the extreme. Yet the treatise at once adds a line of decisive weight: "Here the seed too is called a root of the wholesome … but it is only by reason of a contrary continuity being set up against the present enactment of the wholesome roots that this is named cutting off the roots of the wholesome; it is not by reason of any permanent uprooting of those seeds." What is cut off is only the continuity of the present enactment of the wholesome roots (interrupted by a superior grade of evil enactment); the seed of those wholesome roots is not permanently uprooted. It is exactly because the seed remains that the treatise goes straight on to "resuming the roots of the wholesome": seeing kin and friends cultivate merit, hearing the true Dharma, having doubt arise and thereby coming to a settled conviction — the wholesome roots then are resumed once more.

This is the answer, at its most intimate bearing on "whether a person can turn back," that the doctrine of seeds gives: even in one so evil as to cut off the wholesome roots, the room for turning back is always left — what is cut off is the present enactment; the seed abides always. The seed-support and the store consciousness laid down by Stages One and Two here show their most compassionate face: that store consciousness which holds all seeds also holds the possibility, for anyone whatever, of turning back.

The Essential Point of This Stage

The Stage Associated with the Five Sense-Consciousnesses is the wave on the surface of the sea; the Stage of the Mental is the deep structure of the whole sea: mind (the store consciousness · the granary of all seeds), mentation (manas · the hidden current that ever examines and grasps a self), and consciousness (the six turning consciousnesses · the surface layer of discernment), together with the whole psychological activity of the fifty-one mental factors, all spread out in this stage. Among them, the one sense in which the seventh, the ever-active manas, "ever examines and reckons [things] as a self" is the most deeply buried thread of the whole Basic Section — it drives "self-grasping" onward from the surface-layer "defilement after deciding" of Stage One into the deep-layer "ever-active grasping at a self." That very "self" which the whole of Consciousness-Only sets out to transform and to break through shows its true dark axis only at the Stage of the Mental.

Carrying Forward

The Stage of the Mental's own nature, "mind, mentation, and consciousness — the three," is inherited and greatly amplified by the later Consciousness-Only treatises: the Cheng Weishi Lun, in fascicles four and five, sets up the chapter on the seventh, manas (ever examining and reckoning · associated with the four afflictions · the differences of the three phases), and in fascicles two and three expounds at length the eighth consciousness and the mental factors; the Thirty Verses' "next, the second that can transform is the consciousness named manas; in dependence on that it turns, and it takes that as object; its nature and character are reckoning" inherits the verse of the "ever-active mentation"; and the Hundred Dharmas Treatise's five classes of mental factors (the universal · the object-specific · the wholesome · the afflictions · the secondary afflictions · the indeterminate) are the treatise-source of the accompanying aids listed in this very stage. The Section on Ascertainment further re-ascertains the Stage of the Five Sense-Consciousnesses and the Stage of the Mental (proving the store consciousness by eight characteristics · expounding manas at length).