瑜伽師地論 三摩呬多地 · 總標
一地之首。定學根地，先以一名掛牌、四種收法、六門畫圖。
一句話：這一地講「定」，掛的是最寬的一個名——等引（離沈離掉、平等能引一切定德）；總標先以靜慮・解脫・等持・等至四種收一地之法，以嗢拕南六門開全地之圖。
三個眼目
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何以名「等引」，而不名禪、不名三昧。古德列定之七名，管的寬狹不同：三摩地（等持）唯一定數、通定散；三摩鉢底（等至）通有心無心定體；唯「等引」通攝一切有心無心定位功德，最寬——「總寬通故，偏立地名」〔窺基《略纂》T1829 0067a27〕。一地用最寬之名掛牌，因它要把「定」整個包圓。「三摩云等，呬多云引」：離沈離掉、平平正正而能引發功德，是定的命脈。
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總標四種・嗢拕南六門＝一地的目錄與全圖。四種（靜慮・解脫・等持・等至）是這一地之法；六門（總標・安立・作意・相差別・攝諸經宗要・最後眾雜義）是這一地之路。總標只標名不細釋——靜慮歸「安立」門講，解脫・等持・三摩缽底要到「攝諸經宗要」門才展開〔遁倫 T1828 0378b21〕。古德將六門收為五門、廣解四段，正是本譯註切子單元的依據。
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定之究竟，是照見「唯識」。定不是把心摁住——經本《解深密·分別瑜伽品》說止觀和合俱轉處在「正思惟心一境性」，而心一境性者，「通達三摩地所行影像，唯是其識」〔T676 0698b22〕；佛以善瑩鏡面為喻，「我說識所緣，唯識所現」〔0698b02〕。攝決擇分決此地，亦以能否「正證心一境性」為關〔T1579 0644b20〕。三摩呬多地之定學，底下通著一部唯識。
The head of a stage. The root ground of the learning of concentration: first hung out under a single name, gathered under four kinds, and mapped by six gateways.
In one line: This stage expounds "concentration," and it is hung out under the broadest of all the names — even-drawing (samāhita: apart from sinking and apart from agitation, evenly able to draw forth all the qualities of concentration); the overall heading first gathers a stage's dharma under the four kinds of meditative absorption, liberation, concentration, and meditative attainment, and opens the whole map of the stage by the six gateways of the uddāna.
Three Points of the Eye
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Why named "even-drawing," and not "meditation" or "samādhi." The ancients list seven names for concentration, each governing a different scope, broad or narrow: samādhi (even-holding) is the single item "even-holding," pervading the concentrated and the scattered; samāpatti (even-reaching) governs the substance of concentration with-mind and without-mind; but "even-drawing" alone gathers in, throughout, the qualities of all the concentrated stations, with-mind and without-mind — the broadest — "because it is altogether the broadest and most pervasive, it is singled out to establish the name of the stage" 〔Kuiji, Concise Compendium, T1829 0067a27〕. A stage is hung out under the broadest name because it must wrap the whole of "concentration" round and complete. "sanmo says 'even,' xiduo says 'drawing'": apart from sinking and apart from agitation, level and upright, and able to draw forth qualities — this is the lifeline of concentration.
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The four kinds of the overall heading · the six gateways of the uddāna = the table of contents and the whole map of a stage. The four kinds (meditative absorption · liberation · concentration · meditative attainment) are this stage's dharma; the six gateways (overall heading · setting-forth · attention · the distinctions of characteristics · the gathering of the essential purport of the several scriptures · the various miscellaneous meanings, last) are this stage's road. The overall heading only names, without expounding in detail — meditative absorption is assigned to the "setting-forth" gateway, while liberation, concentration, and attainment must wait until the gateway "the gathering of the essential purport of the several scriptures" to be unfolded 〔Dunlun, T1828 0378b21〕. The ancients' gathering of the six gateways into five, and the broad exposition into four sections, is the very ground on which the present translation-and-annotation cuts the sub-units.
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Concentration, in its ultimate reach, is to behold "consciousness-only." Concentration is not the pressing-down of the mind — the scriptural source, the Saṃdhinirmocana's Chapter on the Yoga of Discrimination, says that the place where tranquillity and insight join and proceed together lies in "rightly reflecting, the mind being one-pointed upon its object," and that the mind's one-pointedness upon its object is "penetrating that the image traversed in concentration is nothing but one's own consciousness" 〔T676 0698b22〕; the Buddha takes the well-polished mirror-surface for a simile — "I have said that the object of consciousness is only what consciousness manifests" 〔0698b02〕. The Section on Ascertainment, ascertaining this stage, likewise makes "whether one can rightly realize the mind's one-pointedness upon its object" the one pass 〔T1579 0644b20〕. The learning of concentration of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise runs, beneath, through to a foundation of consciousness-only.
云何三摩呬多地？嗢拕南曰：
總標、與安立、作意、相差別、攝諸經宗要、最後眾雜義。若略說三摩呬多地，當知由總標故，安立故，作意差別故，相差別故，略攝諸經宗要等故。
云何總標？謂此地中略有四種。一者、靜慮，二者、解脫，三者、等持，四者、等至。靜慮者，謂四靜慮。一、從離生有尋有伺靜慮，二、從定生無尋無伺靜慮，三、離喜靜慮，四、捨念清淨靜慮。解脫者，謂八解脫。一、有色觀諸色解脫，二、內無色想觀外諸色解脫，三、淨解脫身作證具足住解脫，四、空無邊處解脫，五、識無邊處解脫，六、無所有處解脫，七、非想非非想處解脫，八、想受滅身作證具足住解脫。等持者，謂三三摩地。一、空，二、無願，三、無相。復有三種。謂有尋有伺、無尋唯伺、無尋無伺。復有三種。謂小、大、無量。復有二種。謂一分修、具分修。復有三種。謂喜俱行、樂俱行、捨俱行。復有四種。謂四修定。復有五種。謂五聖智三摩地。復有五種。謂聖五支三摩地。復有有因有具聖正三摩地。復有金剛喻三摩地。復有有學、無學、非學非無學等三摩地。等至者，謂五現見三摩鉢底、八勝處三摩鉢底、十遍處三摩鉢底、四無色三摩鉢底、無想三摩鉢底、滅盡定等三摩鉢底。
The canonical text stands in Chinese only. This edition renders the essence, the plain reading, the exposition and the apparatus into English — never the sūtra itself. Switch to 漢讀本 or 並行雙語 above to read it.
標宗：三摩呬多地的六道門
什麼是「三摩呬多地」？先以一首攝頌（嗢拕南）把這一地的綱目總提出來：「總標、（與）安立、作意、相差別、攝諸經宗要、最後眾雜義。」
若簡略說這「三摩呬多地」，當知就是依著這六項來說的——由「總標」，由「安立」，由「作意差別」，由「相差別」，由「略攝諸經的宗要」等等（最後再加「眾雜義」），合起來便是這一地的全部。
第一門·總標：這一地略有四種
什麼是「總標」？就是這一地中，簡略說有四種〔法門〕：第一是靜慮，第二是解脫，第三是等持，第四是等至。
一、靜慮——就是四靜慮
「靜慮」，指的是四種靜慮：第一，由離欲所生、仍帶尋與伺的〔初〕靜慮；第二，從定所生、已無尋也無伺的〔第二〕靜慮；第三，離去喜受的〔第三〕靜慮；第四，捨念清淨的〔第四〕靜慮。
二、解脫——就是八解脫
「解脫」，指的是八種解脫：第一，自身有色、又觀外在諸色的解脫；第二，自身已無色想、而觀外在諸色的解脫；第三，淨解脫，親身作證、具足安住的解脫；第四，空無邊處解脫；第五，識無邊處解脫；第六，無所有處解脫；第七，非想非非想處解脫；第八，想受滅，親身作證、具足安住的解脫。
三、等持——就是三三摩地（以下還有多重開合）
「等持」，指的是三種三摩地：第一是空，第二是無願，第三是無相。
此外還有種種開合：
- 又有三種：有尋有伺、無尋唯伺、無尋無伺。
- 又有三種：小、大、無量。
- 又有兩種：一分修、具分修。
- 又有三種：與喜俱行、與樂俱行、與捨俱行。
- 又有四種：就是四修定。
- 又有五種：就是五聖智三摩地。
- 又有五種：就是聖五支三摩地。
- 又有：有因有具的聖正三摩地。
- 又有：金剛喻三摩地。
- 又有：有學、無學、非學非無學等三摩地。
四、等至——就是六類三摩鉢底
「等至」，指的是：五現見三摩鉢底、八勝處三摩鉢底、十遍處三摩鉢底、四無色三摩鉢底、無想三摩鉢底，以及滅盡定等三摩鉢底。
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.
Setting the Theme: The Six Gateways of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise
云何三摩呬多地？嗢拕南曰：
總標、與安立、作意、相差別、攝諸經宗要、最後眾雜義。
What is the Stage of Meditative Equipoise? A summary verse (uddāna) first lifts up the headings of this whole stage all at once: "the overall heading, and the setting-forth; attention; the distinctions of characteristics; the gathering of the essential purport of the several scriptures; and, last, the various miscellaneous meanings."
若略說三摩呬多地，當知由總標故，安立故，作意差別故，相差別故，略攝諸經宗要等故。
If this Stage of Meditative Equipoise be stated in brief, it should be known that it is set forth by way of these six items — by the overall heading, by the setting-forth, by the distinctions of attention, by the distinctions of characteristics, by the gathering-in-brief of the essential purport of the several scriptures, and the rest (with the "various miscellaneous meanings" added last) — and these taken together are the whole of this stage.
The First Gateway · The Overall Heading: This Stage Is, in Brief, of Four Kinds
云何總標？謂此地中略有四種。一者、靜慮，二者、解脫，三者、等持，四者、等至。
What is the overall heading? It is that within this stage there are, in brief, four kinds [of meditative attainment]: the first is meditative absorption; the second is liberation; the third is concentration; the fourth is meditative attainment.
One · Meditative Absorption — the Four Absorptions
靜慮者，謂四靜慮。一、從離生有尋有伺靜慮，二、從定生無尋無伺靜慮，三、離喜靜慮，四、捨念清淨靜慮。
"Meditative absorption" means the four absorptions: first, the [first] absorption, born of seclusion [from desire] and still possessed of applied and sustained thought; second, the [second] absorption, born of concentration and now without applied and without sustained thought; third, the [third] absorption, freed from joy; fourth, the [fourth] absorption, of purity through equanimity and mindfulness.
Two · Liberation — the Eight Liberations
解脫者，謂八解脫。一、有色觀諸色解脫，二、內無色想觀外諸色解脫，三、淨解脫身作證具足住解脫，四、空無邊處解脫，五、識無邊處解脫，六、無所有處解脫，七、非想非非想處解脫，八、想受滅身作證具足住解脫。
"Liberation" means the eight liberations: first, the liberation of one who, himself possessed of form, contemplates forms; second, the liberation of one who, inwardly without perception of form, contemplates outward forms; third, the pure liberation — the liberation realized in one's own body and dwelt in complete; fourth, the liberation of the sphere of boundless space; fifth, the liberation of the sphere of boundless consciousness; sixth, the liberation of the sphere of nothing-whatever; seventh, the liberation of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; eighth, the liberation of the cessation of perception and feeling — realized in one's own body and dwelt in complete.
Three · Concentrative Equipoise — the Three Concentrations (with further groupings to follow)
等持者，謂三三摩地。一、空，二、無願，三、無相。
"Concentrative equipoise" means the three concentrations: the first is emptiness; the second is wishlessness; the third is signlessness.
Besides these there are yet further groupings, opened out and gathered up in various ways:
復有三種。謂有尋有伺、無尋唯伺、無尋無伺。復有三種。謂小、大、無量。復有二種。謂一分修、具分修。復有三種。謂喜俱行、樂俱行、捨俱行。復有四種。謂四修定。復有五種。謂五聖智三摩地。復有五種。謂聖五支三摩地。復有有因有具聖正三摩地。復有金剛喻三摩地。復有有學、無學、非學非無學等三摩地。
- Again, there are three kinds: with applied and sustained thought; with sustained thought only; with neither applied nor sustained thought.
- Again, there are three kinds: small, great, and immeasurable.
- Again, there are two kinds: cultivation of one part, and cultivation of both parts.
- Again, there are three kinds: proceeding together with joy, proceeding together with bliss, and proceeding together with equanimity.
- Again, there are four kinds: namely the four cultivations of concentration.
- Again, there are five kinds: namely the five concentrations of noble knowledge.
- Again, there are five kinds: namely the noble five-limbed concentration.
- Again, there is: the noble right concentration that has its cause and has its equipment.
- Again, there is: the adamantine-like concentration.
- Again, there are: the concentrations of the learner, of the one-beyond-learning, and of the one neither-learner-nor-beyond-learning, and the rest.
Four · Meditative Attainment — the Six Classes of Attainment
等至者，謂五現見三摩鉢底、八勝處三摩鉢底、十遍處三摩鉢底、四無色三摩鉢底、無想三摩鉢底、滅盡定等三摩鉢底。
"Meditative attainment" means: the five attainments of direct beholding; the attainments of the eight bases of mastery; the attainments of the ten totalities; the four formless attainments; the attainment of non-perception; and the attainment of the cessation [of perception and feeling], and the rest.
走到第六地：從『有沒有尋伺』轉到「定」本身
本地分十七地，一路是有次第的。前五地把「識」看了個遍——五識身、意地，再到有尋有伺、無尋唯伺、無尋無伺這三地，問的都是『心在動的時候，帶不帶尋、帶不帶伺』。到了第六地，論鋒一轉：不再問『動成什麼樣』，而是直接問「定」本身——這便是三摩呬多地。
古德把這一步看得很清楚。窺基判十七地為「境、行、果」三段：前九地是所觀之境，中六地是能觀之行，後二地是所證之果（《略纂》）。三摩呬多地還在「境」裡，可它在境中又屬「用」這一類——「定、散二時起作用故」。也就是說：前面把識的體、相看分明了，這裡要看的，是這顆心收攝起來、定住下來時，是怎麼一番作用。定學，從這一地正式起手。
「三摩呬多」是什麼意思？為什麼不就叫「定」
這一地的名字是音譯——三摩呬多。它什麼意思？最勝子釋得乾脆：「所言三摩呬多地者，謂勝定地。離沈掉等，平等能引、或引平等、或是平等所引發故，名等引地」（《釋論》）。窺基把這個名拆給我們聽：「三摩云等，呬多云引」（《略纂》）——「等」是平等，「引」是引發。合起來，「等引」有三層意思：這定能平等地引發功德（等能引）、能引心至平等（引平等）、又是由離沈離掉的平等方便所引發的（平等所引）。一個「等」字，點出定的命脈：不是死沉，也不是掉舉，是離了這兩頭、平平正正的一種勝定。
那問題就來了：講「定」，漢地不是早有「禪」「三昧」「正受」這些字嗎？為什麼這一地偏要用「三摩呬多」？古德的回答，藏在一張名相寬狹表裡。窺基列了七個名，前四個最要緊：
- 三摩呬多，此云等引；
- 三摩地，此云等持（舊云三昧，訛也）；
- 三摩鉢底，此云等至（舊云三摩跋提，訛也）；
- 馱衍那，此云靜慮（舊云禪，義不整也）。
這四個名，管的範圍不一樣。窺基說：「三摩地」（等持）只是別境心所裡「等持」那一個數，通於定位也通於散位，諸經論就其殊勝，單拿空、無願、無相叫它三摩地；「三摩鉢底」（等至）通管一切有心、無心諸定位的定體，就勝只說五現見等相應的諸定；唯獨「等引」——「通攝一切有心、無心定位功德，總寬通故，偏立地名也」。一句話：在這許多「定」的名字裡，「等引」管得最寬，把有心定、無心定的一切功德都收進來了——所以這一整地，就用最寬的這個名來掛牌。名字選得寬，是因為這一地要把「定」這件事整個包圓。
總標四種：把一地之法先攤成一張清單
名立定了，論接著「總標」——先把這一地略有哪幾類，一口攤開：「謂此地中略有四種。一者、靜慮，二者、解脫，三者、等持，四者、等至。」這四種，最勝子的《釋論》也照樣標出，與論文相印。
- 靜慮，就是四靜慮——從離欲生、帶尋帶伺的初靜慮，到從定生、無尋無伺的第二，再到離喜的第三、捨念清淨的第四。這是定的「階」。
- 解脫，就是八解脫——從「有色觀諸色」一路到「想受滅身作證」。這是定的「位」之超脫。
- 等持，就是三三摩地（空、無願、無相），底下又開出有尋有伺等三、小大無量、一分具分、喜樂捨俱、四修定、五聖智、聖五支、有因有具、金剛喻……重重開合。這是定的「門」。
- 等至，就是六類三摩鉢底——五現見、八勝處、十遍處、四無色、無想、滅盡。這是定的「至」之深淺。
要留意：總標這裡，論只把「靜慮」展開細說了（四靜慮），解脫、等持、等至只標名、不細釋。古德點破了這個體例：「於安立等門中，唯解靜慮，不解解脫、等持、等至，下宗要中方釋之故」（窺基《略纂》；遁倫《論記》同義文異「下宗要中，方釋三故」）。原來這四種不是平鋪的，靜慮歸前面「安立」門細講，解脫・等持・三摩缽底要等到後面第五門「攝諸經宗要」才一一展開。總標只是先給你一張目錄。
六門嗢拕南：這一地的全圖
那「目錄」是怎麼編的？論一開口就給了一首嗢拕南（攝頌）：「總標、與安立、作意、相差別、攝諸經宗要、最後眾雜義。」六個門，就是這一地的六道關。
古德怎麼讀這六門？他們做了兩道歸併。其一：「最後眾雜義即入第五、諸經宗要……俱釋經故，故成一門」——雜義其實也是在釋諸經的散雜眾義，與第五門「攝宗要」同是釋經，併為一類。其二：到真正開講（依門釋）時，「作意」與「相差別」又合成「作意及所緣」一段。於是六門先收成五門，廣解再收成四段：「一、總標；二、安立；三、作意及所緣；四、釋經」（遁倫；窺基）。
這也正是本譯註把這一地切成幾個子單元的依據：總標一子、安立一子、作意相差別合一子、攝諸經宗要分作解脫／等持／三摩缽底三子、雜義一子。論自己給的圖，就是最好的切分線。
定不是「靜下來」就完了：經據裡的止觀與唯識
最後，得替這一地接上它的經。三摩呬多地講定，可定的經本不在別處，正是《解深密經·分別瑜伽品》——佛與慈氏菩薩（彌勒，也就是本論的說者）論止觀的那一品。一地之定學，與說此論的彌勒菩薩在經中所問的止觀，本是一脈。
那品裡，佛把「定」說活了。修定不是把心摁住不動就算數——佛說，要「內心相續，作意思惟……起身輕安及心輕安，是名奢摩他」（止）；再「於三摩地影像所知義中，能正思擇、最極思擇……是名毘鉢舍那」（觀）。止與觀要「和合俱轉」，而和合俱轉處，佛點出四個字：「若正思惟心一境性」。
什麼是心一境性？這裡是全地最深的一眼。佛答：「謂通達三摩地所行影像，唯是其識」——心專注一境而到了家，是通達了定中所現的那個影像，原來只是自己的識。佛又用一面鏡子作喻：「如依善瑩清淨鏡面，以質為緣還見本質」，人卻以為另有影像離鏡別現；定中的影像也這樣，似乎別有一個境現前，其實「我說識所緣，唯識所現故」。定，到深處是要照見「唯識」的——這一地之定學，原來通著一部唯識的底。難怪攝決擇分決擇這一地，開宗就盯著「能不能正證心一境性」，把擋路的十八種隨煩惱一一點名（《攝決擇分》）：定學的成敗，就在這「心一境性」一關。
承衍
總標一門，看似只是開了張清單，其實已把整座定學的骨架立好了：用最寬的「等引」之名掛牌（攝有心無心一切定德），以靜慮・解脫・等持・等至四種收一地之法，用嗢拕南六門畫全地之圖，再以《解深密》止觀・心一境性接通定學之經本與唯識之底。後出本地諸門——安立門細講四靜慮與蓋、支、定名，作意門開七作意四十作意，攝諸經宗要門廣釋八解脫・三三摩地・三摩缽底，雜義門收十二雜義經——皆是這張總圖上各門的展開；攝決擇分（卷62–63）再就此地之障與相重作決擇。一個「定」字所以要拆成四種、開作六門，正為把「離沈離掉、平等能引」這一件事，從名、從法、從門、從經，層層交代分明。
Arriving at the Sixth Stage: From "Whether There Is Applied or Sustained Thought" to Concentration Itself
The seventeen stages of the Basic Section proceed, all along, in order. The first five stages look consciousness over from every side — the fivefold body of consciousness, the Stage of the Mental, and then the three stages of with-both-applied-and-sustained-thought, with-sustained-thought-only, and with-neither-applied-nor-sustained-thought; all of them ask the one question, "When the mind is in motion, does it carry applied thought, does it carry sustained thought?" On reaching the sixth stage the treatise turns its edge: it no longer asks "into what shape does the mind move," but asks directly after concentration itself — and this is the Stage of Meditative Equipoise.
The ancient masters saw this step very clearly. Kuiji judges the seventeen stages under a threefold division of "object, practice, fruit": the first nine stages are the object to be contemplated, the middle six are the practice that contemplates, the last two are the fruit to be realized 〔Concise Compendium〕. The Stage of Meditative Equipoise still lies within "object," yet within object it belongs to the class of "function" — "because it exercises a function in the two times, the concentrated and the scattered". That is to say: the foregoing stages made plain the substance and the characteristics of consciousness; here what is to be looked at is the manner of the mind's functioning when it is gathered in and settled into concentration. The learning of concentration takes its formal start from this stage.
What Does "Meditative Equipoise" Mean? And Why Is It Not Simply Called "Concentration"?
The name of this stage is a transliteration — sanmoxiduo (samāhita). What does it mean? Jinaputra glosses it plainly: "That which is called the Stage of Meditative Equipoise is the stage of surpassing concentration. Because it is apart from sinking, agitation, and the like, and evenly can draw forth, or draws forth to evenness, or is itself that which the even draws forth, it is named the stage of even-drawing" 〔Commentary〕. Kuiji takes this name apart for our hearing: "sanmo says 'even'; xiduo says 'drawing'" 〔Concise Compendium〕 — "even" is evenness, "drawing" is drawing-forth. Put together, "even-drawing" bears three senses: this concentration can evenly draw forth qualities (the even that can draw); can draw the mind to evenness (drawing to the even); and is itself that which is drawn forth by the even expedient apart from sinking and apart from agitation (that which the even draws forth). One word, "even," points to the very lifeline of concentration: it is neither dead sinking nor scattered agitation, but a surpassing concentration that, having left both extremes, is level and upright.
Then the question arises: in speaking of concentration, has the land of Han not long had such words as "meditation" (chan), "samādhi," and "right reception"? Why must this stage of all stages use "meditative equipoise" (samāhita)? The ancients' answer lies hidden in a table of the broad and narrow scope of terms. Kuiji lists seven names, of which the first four are the most vital:
- Sanmoxiduo (samāhita), rendered here even-drawing;
- Sanmodi (samādhi), rendered here even-holding (the old rendering "sanmei" is corrupt);
- Sanmobodi (samāpatti), rendered here even-reaching (the old rendering "sanmobati" is corrupt);
- Duoyanna (dhyāna), rendered here meditative absorption (the old rendering "chan" is not fully apt).
These four names govern scopes that are not the same. Kuiji says: "samādhi" (even-holding) is only the single item "even-holding" among the object-specific mental factors — it pervades both the concentrated station and the scattered station, and the several scriptures and treatises, taking it in its surpassing form, single out emptiness, wishlessness, and signlessness and call these the concentration; "samāpatti" (even-reaching) governs, throughout, the substance of concentration in all the concentrated stations, with-mind and without-mind — and, taking it in its surpassing form, speaks only of the several concentrations associated with the five direct-beholdings and the like; but even-drawing alone — "because it gathers in, throughout, the qualities of all the concentrated stations, with-mind and without-mind, being altogether the broadest and most pervasive, it is singled out to establish the name of the stage". In a word: among these many names for "concentration," "even-drawing" governs the broadest scope, taking in the whole of the qualities of with-mind concentration and without-mind concentration — and so this entire stage is hung out under this, the broadest of the names. The name is chosen broad because this stage must wrap the whole matter of "concentration" round and complete.
The Overall Heading of Four Kinds: First Laying a Stage's Dharma Out into a Single List
The name settled, the treatise proceeds to the "overall heading" — first laying open, at a stroke, into how many classes this stage is briefly divided: "It is that within this stage there are, in brief, four kinds: the first is meditative absorption; the second is liberation; the third is concentration; the fourth is meditative attainment." These four kinds Jinaputra's Commentary likewise sets out, corresponding to the treatise-text:
- Meditative absorption is the four absorptions — from the first absorption, born of seclusion and carrying applied and sustained thought, to the second, born of concentration and without applied and without sustained thought, then the third, freed from joy, and the fourth, of purity through equanimity and mindfulness. This is the "rungs" of concentration.
- Liberation is the eight liberations — from "one possessed of form contemplating forms" all the way to "the cessation of perception and feeling, realized in one's own body." This is the "release" from concentration's stations.
- Concentrative equipoise is the three concentrations (emptiness, wishlessness, signlessness), beneath which are further opened out with-applied-and-sustained-thought and the other three, small–great–immeasurable, one-part and both-part, joy– bliss– equanimity– accompanied, the four cultivations of concentration, the five noble knowledges, the noble five-limbed, having-cause-and-equipment, the adamantine-like … grouping upon grouping. This is the "gateways" of concentration.
- Meditative attainment is the six classes of attainment — the five direct-beholdings, the eight bases of mastery, the ten totalities, the four formless, non-perception, cessation. This is the "reach," shallow and deep, of concentration.
One should note: here at the overall heading, the treatise only unfolds and expounds "meditative absorption" in detail (the four absorptions); liberation, concentration, and meditative attainment it only names, without expounding in detail. The ancients laid bare this arrangement: "Within the gateways of setting-forth and the rest, it expounds only meditative absorption, and does not expound liberation, concentration, or meditative attainment, because it will expound them below, within the essential purport" 〔Kuiji, Concise Compendium; Dunlun, Notes, to the same effect, the wording differing, "within the essential purport below, it will then expound the three,"〕. So these four kinds are no level spread: meditative absorption is assigned to the earlier "setting-forth" gateway for detailed exposition, while liberation, concentration, and attainment must wait until the later fifth gateway, "the gathering of the essential purport of the several scriptures," to be unfolded one by one. The overall heading only hands you, first, a table of contents.
The Uddāna of Six Gateways: The Whole Map of This Stage
How, then, is that "table of contents" compiled? The treatise, at its very first utterance, gives an uddāna (a summary verse): "the overall heading, and the setting-forth; attention; the distinctions of characteristics; the gathering of the essential purport of the several scriptures; and, last, the various miscellaneous meanings." Six gateways — these are the six passes of this stage.
How did the ancients read these six gateways? They made two mergings. The first: "the last, the various miscellaneous meanings, enters into the fifth, the essential purport of the several scriptures … since both expound the scriptures, they form one gateway" — the miscellaneous meanings are in fact also the expounding of the scattered and miscellaneous meanings of the several scriptures, and being, like the fifth gateway "the gathering of the purport," an expounding of the scriptures, they are merged into one class. The second: when it comes to the actual exposition (the exposition by gateway), "attention" and "the distinctions of characteristics" are again combined into the one section "attention and its object." Thus the six gateways are first gathered into five, and in the broad exposition further gathered into four sections: "first, the overall heading; second, the setting-forth; third, attention and its object; fourth, the exposition of the scriptures" 〔Dunlun; Kuiji〕.
This is exactly the ground on which the present translation-and-annotation cuts this stage into its several sub-units: the overall heading as one sub-unit, the setting-forth as one, attention-and-the-distinctions-of-characteristics combined into one, the gathering of the essential purport of the scriptures divided into the three of liberation / concentration / attainment, and the miscellaneous meanings as one. The map the treatise itself gives is the best line along which to cut.
Concentration Is Not Finished with "Settling Down": The Tranquillity-and-Insight and the Consciousness-Only in Its Scriptural Grounds
Last of all, this stage must be joined back to its scripture. The Stage of Meditative Equipoise expounds concentration, and the scriptural source of that concentration lies nowhere else than in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, in its Chapter on the Yoga of Discrimination — the very chapter in which the Buddha discusses tranquillity and insight with the bodhisattva Maitreya (that same Maitreya who is the speaker of this treatise). A stage's learning of concentration and the tranquillity-and-insight that Maitreya, who speaks this treatise, asks after in the scripture are of one vein.
In that chapter the Buddha makes "concentration" live. To cultivate concentration is not merely to press the mind down and hold it unmoving — the Buddha says one must, "within the inwardly continuous mind, attend and reflect … until there arise a physical pliancy and a mental pliancy, and this is called tranquillity" (śamatha); and then "within the object of knowledge that is the image in concentration, be able rightly to discern, to discern to the utmost … and this is called insight" (vipaśyanā). Tranquillity and insight must "join and proceed together," and at the place of their joining and proceeding together the Buddha points to four words: "if one rightly reflects, the mind being one-pointed upon its object".
What is the mind's one-pointedness upon its object? Here lies the deepest single glance of the whole stage. The Buddha answers: "It is penetrating that the image traversed in concentration is nothing but one's own consciousness" — that the mind, concentrated upon a single object until it arrives home, penetrates that the image appearing within concentration is, after all, only one's own consciousness. And the Buddha takes a mirror for a simile: "as, in dependence on a well-polished and pure mirror-surface, one sees, with the substance for condition, the substance itself again," and yet a man supposes there is a separate image appearing apart from the mirror; the image in concentration is just so — there seems to be a separate object appearing before one, but in truth "I have said that the object of consciousness is only what consciousness manifests". Concentration, in its depths, is to behold "consciousness-only" — a stage's learning of concentration, it turns out, runs through to a foundation of consciousness-only. No wonder the Section on Ascertainment, in ascertaining this stage, at its very opening fixes upon "whether one can rightly realize the mind's one-pointedness upon its object," naming one by one the eighteen secondary afflictions that block the way 〔Section on Ascertainment〕: the success or failure of the learning of concentration lies at this one pass, "the mind's one-pointedness upon its object."
Carrying Forward
The overall heading, one gateway, looks like the mere opening of a list, yet it has in fact already set up the whole skeleton of the learning of concentration: it hangs out the name under the broadest term, "even-drawing" (gathering in all the concentration-qualities of with-mind and without-mind); it gathers a stage's dharma under the four kinds of meditative absorption, liberation, concentration, and meditative attainment; it draws the whole map of the stage with the six gateways of the uddāna; and with the Saṃdhinirmocana's tranquillity-and-insight and the mind's one-pointedness upon its object it joins the learning of concentration to its scriptural source and to its consciousness-only foundation. The gateways of this stage that issue below — the setting-forth gateway expounding in detail the four absorptions and the hindrances, the limbs, the names of concentration; the attention gateway opening out the seven attentions and the forty attentions; the gateway gathering the essential purport of the scriptures broadly expounding the eight liberations, the three concentrations, and the attainments; the miscellaneous-meanings gateway gathering in the twelve miscellaneous-meaning scriptures — are all the unfolding, gateway by gateway, upon this overall map; and the Section on Ascertainment (fascicles 62–63) then makes a further ascertainment of the obstacles and characteristics of this stage. That one word "concentration" must be split into four kinds and opened into six gateways precisely in order to set forth plainly, layer upon layer — by name, by dharma, by gateway, by scripture — this one matter: "apart from sinking and apart from agitation, evenly able to draw forth."
考據Apparatus
三摩呬多地者，定學之根地：以「等引」一名總攝一切有心無心定位功德，故偏立為地名。總標一門，先以嗢拕南六門開全地之圖，再以靜慮・解脫・等持・等至四種統攝一地之法。
一、科判定位
| 科判系統 | 此地之位 |
|---|---|
| 玄奘 T1579 本地分十七地 | 第六 三摩呬多地（卷11–13a・〔T30n1579 0328c06「本地分中三摩呬多地第六之一」〕起—〔0344b18〕「非三摩呬多地第七」前訖；之二 0335a17・之三 0341a26） |
| 窺基《略纂》境行果配十七地 | 前九地是三乘境（三摩呬多地居其中）·〔T43n1829 0003c20「第三、境、行、果瑜伽配十七地。前九地是三乘境，次六地是三乘行，後二地是三乘果」〕；境九再分四：三摩呬多・非三摩呬多二地是「境用」（定散二時作用別故）·〔0066c15「次二地是境用，定、散二時起作用故」〕 |
| 遁倫《瑜伽論記》T1828 | 同窺基：前九境・中六行・後二果·〔T42n1828 0315b09「前九地是三乘境，次六地是三乘行，後二地是三乘果」〕 |
論文自身科判（嗢拕南六門）：「嗢拕南曰：總標、與安立、作意、相差別、攝諸經宗要、最後眾雜義」〔T30n1579 0328c〕。古德判此六門於釋中為開列五門→廣解四段：遁倫「初開列五門……最後眾雜義即入第五、諸經宗要……故成一門。依門釋中有四：一、總標；二、安立；三、作意及所緣；四、釋經，三、四合明故為四」〔T42n1828 0378b19–b27〕；窺基同（「最後眾雜義即入第五諸經宗要……故成一門」「廣解有四：一、總標；二、安立；三、作意及所緣；四、釋經」〔T43n1829 0067a28–b07〕）。本譯註之子段切分即依嗢拕南六門骨（作意＋相差別合為一子・攝宗要分解脫／等持／三摩缽底三子・雜義獨立）。
二、異譯·經內平行對勘
- 古譯：真諦《十七地論》五卷相當本地分卷1–3（含五識身・意・有尋伺三地），未及卷11–13 之三摩呬多地，且其本已佚——故三摩呬多地無真諦異譯可對勘，從闕。
- 經內平行＝攝決擇分三摩呬多地決擇（先驗有無·確存）：〔T30n1579 卷62–63〕「攝決擇分中三摩呬多地之一」〔0644b18〕，結前生後「如是已說有尋有伺等三地決擇。三摩呬多地決擇，我今當說」〔0644b19–20〕。其決擇開宗即決三摩呬多地之障：「謂補特伽羅，多隨煩惱染污相續，不能正證心一境性」，列十八隨煩惱（諂・誑・矯・詐・無慚・無愧・不信・懈怠・忘念・不定・惡慧・慢緩・猥雜・趣向前行・捨遠離軛・於所學處不甚恭敬・不顧沙門・唯悕活命）〔0644b20–29〕；訖「於此地中餘決擇文，更不復現」〔0650c24–25〕，次即「攝決擇分中非三摩呬多地」〔0650c26〕。本地「立」其法（總標四種），決擇「決」其障與相（証心一境性之違順），前後相銜。
- 校勘（大正原書校記全枚舉）：本子段（總標·0328c02–0329a06）經逐行檢核，大正原書校記共 0 條（此段嗢拕南＋四種略標，藏本間無字異，非「未列」而係實無）；真諦本佚，無異譯對勘。底本從 CBETA 承字讀（凡 CBETA 承麗藏等回改處，並錄大正原印），原典與底本無一字之差。
三、聖教義之經據（眼）
三摩呬多地＝定學根段；其經本非唯識第八識章（地01）而是止觀章——《解深密經·分別瑜伽品第六》〔T16n0676 0697c13–0703b09〕，佛與慈氏菩薩（彌勒，本論說者）論奢摩他・毘鉢舍那。要錨：
(一) 止觀之依住——〔T16n0676 0697c14〕慈氏問「菩薩何依何住，於大乘中修奢摩他、毘鉢舍那」；佛答〔0697c16〕「當知菩薩法假安立，及不捨阿耨多羅三藐三菩提願，為依、為住」。
(二) 奢摩他・毘鉢舍那之機——〔0698a01〕奢摩他：於十二分教「善聽善受……獨處空閑作意思惟。復即於此能思惟心，內心相續，作意思惟……起身輕安及心輕安，是名奢摩他」；〔0698a08〕毘鉢舍那：「於……三摩地影像所知義中，能正思擇、最極思擇，周遍尋思、周遍伺察……是名毘鉢舍那」。
(三) 心一境性之唯識讀（眼中之眼）——〔0698b18〕「齊何當言菩薩奢摩他、毘鉢舍那和合俱轉？善男子！若正思惟心一境性」；〔0698b22〕「云何心一境性？善男子！謂通達三摩地所行影像，唯是其識；或通達此已，復思惟如性」。定之究竟，於本經即攝歸唯識——〔0698b02〕「我說識所緣，唯識所現故」，並以善瑩清淨鏡面為喻（見目六）。
(四) 三三摩地・無量勝定皆此所攝——〔0699b07〕經自開有尋有伺・無尋唯伺・無尋無伺三三摩地（正本地「等持」門三三摩地之上源）；〔0701b18〕「此奢摩他、毘鉢舍那能攝幾種勝三摩地？……無量聲聞、菩薩、如來，有無量種勝三摩地，當知一切皆此所攝」；〔0701b22〕「以何為因？……清淨尸羅，清淨聞思所成正見，以為其因」。
攝決擇分復以「心一境性」為三摩呬多地正所證（目二），與本經「正思惟心一境性／通達三摩地影像唯是其識」首尾相應：經顯止觀之體（心一境性即唯識所現），論析定地之障（隨煩惱不能正證心一境性）。
四、諸家異釋（古德·標宗）
最勝子《瑜伽師地論釋》T1580（釋三摩呬多立名）
〔T30n1580 0886c05–07〕：
「所言三摩呬多地者，謂勝定地。離沈掉等，平等能引、或引平等、或是平等所引發故，名等引地。」
復出「等引地略有四種」，正與總標相應〔0886c11–16〕：「此等引地，略有四種，謂靜慮、解脫、等持、等至。言靜慮者，謂四靜慮……言等至者，謂五現見等至、八勝處等至、十遍處等至、四無色等至、無想等至、滅盡等至。」名之通局，最勝子有「如實義」〔0886c25–28〕：「等引地名有通有局，有心無心兩位俱攝，故名為通……唯在有漏無漏勝定，非欲界等一切散心，故名為局。」
窺基《瑜伽師地論略纂》T1829（解地名·七名）
〔T43n1829 0066c25–0067a08〕釋「三摩呬多，此云等引。舊云三摩提，訛略也」，立七名，前四名為要：
「一云：三摩呬多……名等引地……三摩云等，呬多云引。二云：三摩地，此云等持……舊云三昧，訛也。三云：三摩鉢底，此云等至……舊云三摩跋提，訛也。四云：馱衍那，此云靜慮。舊云禪，義不整也。五云：質多翳迦阿羯羅多，此云心一境性……」
名有寬狹（就勝而說）〔0067a11–27〕：「三摩地名，目別境中等持一數，通攝一切有心位中心一境性，通定散位……三摩鉢底，通目一切有心無心諸定位中所有定體……由此等引通攝一切有心、無心定位功德，總寬通故，偏立地名也。」
遁倫《瑜伽論記》T1828（基師解云·並收諸師）
〔T42n1828 0378a02–b04〕全襲窺基七名而標「基師解云」；末復收景法師・泰法師・元曉三摩提／三昧名義之諍而自斷（「今謂之不然……彼云三昧者，舊翻名正受，即今云三摩地，翻名等持，二義別故」〔0378b04–b19〕）——唯徵引，存古德異說而不判。
五、術語
| 漢 | 古德傳梵（羅馬字·發音輔助） | 古德音寫所徵 | 精確義 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 三摩呬多（等引） | samāhita | 窺基「三摩呬多，此云等引……三摩云等，呬多云引」〔T1829 0066c25・0067a03〕 | 勝定地；離沈掉・平等能引／引平等／平等所引發；通有心無心定位功德（地名所由） |
| 靜慮 | dhyāna | 窺基「馱衍那，此云靜慮。舊云禪」〔T1829 0067a06〕；遁倫同並「或云持阿那，訛也」〔T1828 0378a12〕 | 四靜慮（定慧均等之色界勝定） |
| 等持 | samādhi | 窺基「三摩地，此云等持……舊云三昧」〔T1829 0067a03〕 | 別境中等持一數；心一境性；通定散位，就勝說空・無願・無相 |
| 等至 | samāpatti | 窺基「三摩鉢底，此云等至……舊云三摩跋提」〔T1829 0067a05〕 | 通有心無心諸定位所有定體；就勝說五現見等相應諸定 |
| 心一境性 | cittaikāgratā | 窺基「質多翳迦阿羯羅多，此云心一境性。質多云心，翳迦云一，阿羯羅云境，多云性」〔T1829 0067a07〕 | 心專一境；本經唯識讀＝通達三摩地所行影像唯是其識〔T676 0698b22〕 |
三摩呬多地段古德傳梵音寫具足（七名逐字音釋·窺基T1829 0066c25+），故術語梵音皆繫古德所徵，不據現代校本。「等」「引」之析（三摩＝等・呬多＝引）亦古德所傳。
六、譬喻·修辭
善瑩清淨鏡面喻（出經據·定中影像唯識）——〔T16n0676 0698a29–b08〕「如依善瑩清淨鏡面，以質為緣還見本質，而謂我今見於影像，及謂離質別有所行影像顯現。如是此心生時，相似有異三摩地所行影像顯現」：喻體＝明鏡照質、似有影像離鏡別現；所顯＝定中所緣三摩地影像「唯是其識」（識所緣唯識所現）。為三摩呬多地「心一境性」之唯識讀法所依之喻具。
總標一門本身少譬喻；本喻屬其經據（解深密分別瑜伽品）之喻，標明出處引入，非本地論文自設。
七、互讀
三摩呬多地為本地分定學根地；嗢拕南六門所開，下展為本地全幅，並上承經、後衍諸論：
- 本地分內：六門依次展開——安立（離生喜樂・蓋・支・定名）・作意相差別（七作意四十作意・三十二相・通辨）・攝諸經宗要（解脫・等持・三摩缽底）・最後眾雜義（十二雜義經），即本地 06-01 至 06-04 諸子。
- 攝決擇分（卷62–63）：三摩呬多地決擇（障・相之決擇·心一境性違順）〔T30n1579 0644b18–0650c25〕——本地「立」、決擇「決」。
- 解深密經·分別瑜伽品〔T16n0676〕：止觀・心一境性・識所緣唯識所現——本地定學之經本。
- 聲聞地（地13）：九種心住・六事差別所緣——三摩呬多地作意門之行法廣詳處。
- 後出唯識：成唯識論定學・三十頌「依止根本識」修道位諸定——本地等持等至之論承。
八、校本定位
- 玄奘 T1579 本地分三摩呬多地（底本·總標段）：地題〔T30n1579 0328c06「本地分中三摩呬多地第六之一」〕·〔0328c07〕「云何三摩呬多地」起—〔0329a06〕「云何安立」前訖（卷11 首 0328c02；總標四種：靜慮 0328c14・解脫・等持・等至）。
- 最勝子 T1580：三摩呬多立名〔0886c05–07〕・等引地略有四種〔0886c11–16〕・通局如實義〔0886c25–28〕・名有寬狹〔0887a08–16〕。
- 窺基略纂 T1829：境行果配十七地〔0003c20〕・三摩呬多來意境九分四〔0066c15〕・解地名七名〔0066c25–0067a08〕・名寬狹〔0067a11–27〕・嗢拕南門科判〔0067a28–b07〕。
- 遁倫論記 T1828：境行果〔0315b09〕・基師解云七名〔0378a02–a13〕・諸師三摩提三昧之諍〔0378b04–b19〕・嗢拕南五門四段〔0378b19–b27〕。
- 解深密 T676·分別瑜伽品：依住〔0697c16〕・奢摩他〔0698a01〕・毘鉢舍那〔0698a08〕・識所緣唯識所現＋鏡喻〔0698a29–b08〕・心一境性唯識讀〔0698b22〕・無量勝三摩地〔0701b18〕。
- 攝決擇分（卷62–63）：三摩呬多地決擇起〔0644b18〕・障（隨煩惱・心一境性）〔0644b20–29〕・訖〔0650c25〕。
- 校勘：本子段（總標·0328c02–0329a06）大正原書校記 0 條（逐行檢核·藏本間無字異·實無非未列），見目二；真諦本佚，無異譯對勘；底本從 CBETA 承字讀（凡 CBETA 承麗藏等回改處，並錄大正原印）。
The Stage of Meditative Equipoise is the root ground of the learning of concentration: with the single name "even-drawing" it gathers in, throughout, the qualities of all the concentrated stations, with-mind and without-mind, and so it is singled out to establish the name of the stage. The overall heading, one gateway, first opens the whole map of the stage with the six gateways of the uddāna, and then, with the four kinds of meditative absorption, liberation, concentration, and meditative attainment, gathers in a stage's whole dharma.
I. Doctrinal-Outline Placement
| Outline system | Placement of this stage |
|---|---|
| Xuanzang T1579, the seventeen stages of the Basic Section | Sixth, the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (fasc. 11–13a · from 〔T30n1579 0328c06〕「本地分中三摩呬多地第六之一」 tr. "the Stage of Meditative Equipoise, sixth of the Basic Section, part one" — to before 〔0344b18〕「非三摩呬多地第七」 tr. "the Stage of Non-Equipoise, seventh"; part two 0335a17 · part three 0341a26) |
| Kuiji, Concise Compendium T1829, matching object/practice/fruit to the seventeen stages | The first nine stages are the object of the three vehicles (the Stage of Meditative Equipoise stands among them) · 〔T43n1829 0003c20〕「第三、境、行、果瑜伽配十七地。前九地是三乘境，次六地是三乘行，後二地是三乘果」 tr. "Third, matching the yoga of object, practice, and fruit to the seventeen stages: the first nine stages are the object of the three vehicles, the next six are the practice of the three vehicles, the last two are the fruit of the three vehicles"; the nine of "object" are further divided into four, of which the two stages of Meditative Equipoise and Non-Equipoise are "the function of the object" (because their function differs in the two times, the concentrated and the scattered) · 〔0066c15〕「次二地是境用，定、散二時起作用故」 tr. "the next two stages are the function of the object, because they exercise a function in the two times, the concentrated and the scattered" |
| Dunlun, Notes on the Yogācārabhūmi T1828 | Same as Kuiji: the first nine are object, the middle six practice, the last two fruit · 〔T42n1828 0315b09〕「前九地是三乘境，次六地是三乘行，後二地是三乘果」 tr. "the first nine stages are the object of the three vehicles, the next six are the practice of the three vehicles, the last two are the fruit of the three vehicles" |
The treatise's own outline (the six-gateway uddāna): 〔T30n1579 0328c〕「嗢拕南曰：總標、與安立、作意、相差別、攝諸經宗要、最後眾雜義」 tr. "A summary verse (uddāna) says: the overall heading, and the setting-forth; attention; the distinctions of characteristics; the gathering of the essential purport of the several scriptures; and, last, the various miscellaneous meanings." The ancients judge these six gateways, within the exposition, as an opening list of five → a broad exposition of four sections: Dunlun — 〔T42n1828 0378b19–b27〕「初開列五門……最後眾雜義即入第五、諸經宗要……故成一門。依門釋中有四：一、總標；二、安立；三、作意及所緣；四、釋經，三、四合明故為四」 tr. "At first it opens a list of five gateways … the last, the various miscellaneous meanings, enters into the fifth, the essential purport of the several scriptures … and so they form one gateway. Within the exposition by gateway there are four: first, the overall heading; second, the setting-forth; third, attention and its object; fourth, the exposition of the scriptures — since the third and fourth are expounded together, they make four"; Kuiji to the same effect — 〔T43n1829 0067a28–b07〕「最後眾雜義即入第五諸經宗要……故成一門」「廣解有四：一、總標；二、安立；三、作意及所緣；四、釋經」 tr. "the last, the various miscellaneous meanings, enters into the fifth, the essential purport of the several scriptures … and so they form one gateway"; "the broad exposition has four: first, the overall heading; second, the setting-forth; third, attention and its object; fourth, the exposition of the scriptures." The sub-unit division of the present translation-and-annotation follows exactly this skeleton of the six-gateway uddāna (attention + the distinctions of characteristics combined into one sub-unit · the gathering of the essential purport divided into the three of liberation / concentration / attainment · the miscellaneous meanings standing alone).
II. Alternate Translations · Collation of In-Treatise Parallels
- Old translation: Paramārtha's Treatise on the Seventeen Stages (十七地論) in five fascicles corresponds to fascicles 1–3 of the Basic Section (the Stage of the Five Sense-Consciousnesses, the Stage of the Mental, and the three applied-and-sustained-thought stages), and does not reach the Stage of Meditative Equipoise of fascicles 11–13; moreover that edition is lost — hence for the Stage of Meditative Equipoise there is no Paramārtha alternate translation to collate against; omitted.
- In-treatise parallel = the Section on Ascertainment's ascertainment of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (verified beforehand for its presence · confirmed to exist): 〔T30n1579 fasc. 62–63〕「攝決擇分中三摩呬多地之一」 tr. "within the Section on Ascertainment, the Stage of Meditative Equipoise, part one" 〔0644b18〕, joining what precedes to what follows — 〔0644b19–20〕「如是已說有尋有伺等三地決擇。三摩呬多地決擇，我今當說」 tr. "Thus has been stated the ascertainment of the three stages of with-applied-and-sustained-thought and the rest. The ascertainment of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise I shall now state." Its ascertainment, at its very opening, ascertains the obstacle of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise: 「謂補特伽羅，多隨煩惱染污相續，不能正證心一境性」 tr. "namely, a person whose continuum is defiled by many secondary afflictions cannot rightly realize the mind's one-pointedness upon its object," listing the eighteen secondary afflictions (deceit · guile · fraud · craftiness · shamelessness · non-abashment · non-faith · indolence · forgetfulness · non-concentration · bad understanding · slackness of pride · unruly mingling · pressing forward · casting off the yoke of seclusion · not being greatly reverent toward the things to be trained in · not regarding the śramaṇa · merely craving a livelihood) 〔0644b20–29〕; ending 「於此地中餘決擇文，更不復現」 tr. "within this stage no further text of ascertainment appears again" 〔0650c24–25〕, whereupon follows 「攝決擇分中非三摩呬多地」 tr. "within the Section on Ascertainment, the Stage of Non-Equipoise" 〔0650c26〕. The Basic Section "establishes" its dharma (the four kinds of the overall heading), the ascertainment "ascertains" its obstacle and its characteristics (the accord and discord of realizing the mind's one-pointedness upon its object), the two joining front to back.
- Collation (full enumeration of the Taishō base text's collation notes): this sub-unit (the overall heading · 0328c02–0329a06), examined line by line, carries 0 collation notes in the Taishō base text (for this passage — the uddāna plus the brief heading of the four kinds — there is no character-variance among the canon editions; this is "actually none," not "not listed"); Paramārtha's edition being lost, there is no alternate translation to collate against. The base text follows the CBETA character-readings (wherever CBETA restores a reading following the Korean canon and the like, the Taishō's original print is also recorded); the source text has been collated word for word and does not differ from the base text by a single character.
III. Scriptural Grounds for the Consciousness-Only Meaning (the Point of the Eye)
The Stage of Meditative Equipoise = the root section of the learning of concentration; its scriptural source is not the eighth-consciousness chapter (as at Stage 01) but the chapter on tranquillity and insight — the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, Chapter on the Yoga of Discrimination, sixth 〔T16n0676 0697c13–0703b09〕, in which the Buddha discusses tranquillity (śamatha) and insight (vipaśyanā) with the bodhisattva Maitreya (the speaker of this treatise). The essential anchors:
(1) The basis and abode of tranquillity and insight — 〔T16n0676 0697c14〕 Maitreya asks 「菩薩何依何住，於大乘中修奢摩他、毘鉢舍那」 tr. "On what does the bodhisattva depend, in what does he abide, to cultivate tranquillity and insight within the great vehicle?"; the Buddha answers 〔0697c16〕「當知菩薩法假安立，及不捨阿耨多羅三藐三菩提願，為依、為住」 tr. "It should be known that the bodhisattva's provisional establishing of the dharma, and his not abandoning the vow of unsurpassed perfect awakening, are his basis and his abode."
(2) The workings of tranquillity and insight — 〔0698a01〕 tranquillity: with respect to the twelve-membered teaching, 「善聽善受……獨處空閑作意思惟。復即於此能思惟心，內心相續，作意思惟……起身輕安及心輕安，是名奢摩他」 tr. "having well listened and well received … dwelling alone in a quiet, empty place, one attends and reflects; and again, upon this very reflecting mind, inwardly continuous, one attends and reflects … until there arise a physical pliancy and a mental pliancy — this is called tranquillity"; 〔0698a08〕 insight: 「於……三摩地影像所知義中，能正思擇、最極思擇，周遍尋思、周遍伺察……是名毘鉢舍那」 tr. "within the object of knowledge that is the image in concentration, one can rightly discern, discern to the utmost, thoroughly investigate, thoroughly examine … this is called insight."
(3) The consciousness-only reading of the mind's one-pointedness upon its object (the eye within the eye) — 〔0698b18〕「齊何當言菩薩奢摩他、毘鉢舍那和合俱轉？善男子！若正思惟心一境性」 tr. "By what measure is it said that the bodhisattva's tranquillity and insight join and proceed together? Good son! When one rightly reflects, the mind being one-pointed upon its object"; 〔0698b22〕「云何心一境性？善男子！謂通達三摩地所行影像，唯是其識；或通達此已，復思惟如性」 tr. "What is the mind's one-pointedness upon its object? Good son! It is penetrating that the image traversed in concentration is nothing but one's own consciousness; or, having penetrated this, further reflecting on suchness." The ultimate of concentration is, in this scripture, gathered back to consciousness-only — 〔0698b02〕「我說識所緣，唯識所現故」 tr. "I have said that the object of consciousness is only what consciousness manifests," with the well-polished pure mirror-surface for a simile (see Heading VI).
(4) The three concentrations and the surpassing concentrations without measure are all gathered in here — 〔0699b07〕 the scripture itself opens the three concentrations of with-applied-and-sustained-thought, with-sustained-thought-only, and with-neither-applied-nor-sustained-thought (the very source of the three concentrations of the Basic Section's "concentration" gateway); 〔0701b18〕「此奢摩他、毘鉢舍那能攝幾種勝三摩地？……無量聲聞、菩薩、如來，有無量種勝三摩地，當知一切皆此所攝」 tr. "How many kinds of surpassing concentration do this tranquillity and insight gather in? … The measureless śrāvakas, bodhisattvas, and Tathāgatas have measureless kinds of surpassing concentration, and it should be known that all are gathered in by these"; 〔0701b22〕「以何為因？……清淨尸羅，清淨聞思所成正見，以為其因」 tr. "By what as cause? … Pure moral discipline, and the right view formed of pure hearing and reflection, are their cause."
The Section on Ascertainment further makes "the mind's one-pointedness upon its object" the very thing the Stage of Meditative Equipoise rightly realizes (Heading II), corresponding head to tail with this scripture's "rightly reflecting, the mind being one-pointed upon its object / penetrating that the image in concentration is nothing but consciousness": the scripture shows the substance of tranquillity and insight (the mind's one-pointedness upon its object is what consciousness manifests), the treatise analyzes the obstacle of the concentration-stage (the secondary afflictions cannot rightly realize the mind's one-pointedness upon its object).
IV. The Explanations of the Various Masters (the Ancients · Setting the Theme)
Jinaputra, Commentary on the Yogācārabhūmi T1580 (glossing the naming of "meditative equipoise")
〔T30n1580 0886c05–07〕:
「所言三摩呬多地者，謂勝定地。離沈掉等，平等能引、或引平等、或是平等所引發故，名等引地。」
tr. "That which is called the Stage of Meditative Equipoise is the stage of surpassing concentration. Because it is apart from sinking, agitation, and the like, and evenly can draw forth, or draws forth to evenness, or is itself that which the even draws forth, it is named the stage of even-drawing."
He further sets out "the stage of even-drawing has, in brief, four kinds," corresponding exactly to the overall heading 〔0886c11–16〕: 「此等引地，略有四種，謂靜慮、解脫、等持、等至。言靜慮者，謂四靜慮……言等至者，謂五現見等至、八勝處等至、十遍處等至、四無色等至、無想等至、滅盡等至。」 tr. "This stage of even-drawing has, in brief, four kinds: meditative absorption, liberation, concentration, and meditative attainment. As for 'meditative absorption,' it is the four absorptions … as for 'meditative attainment,' it is the attainment of the five direct-beholdings, the attainment of the eight bases of mastery, the attainment of the ten totalities, the four formless attainments, the attainment of non-perception, and the attainment of cessation." On the pervasiveness and confinement of the name, Jinaputra has a "true-meaning" gloss 〔0886c25–28〕: 「等引地名有通有局，有心無心兩位俱攝，故名為通……唯在有漏無漏勝定，非欲界等一切散心，故名為局。」 tr. "The name 'stage of even-drawing' has both a pervasive and a confined sense: because it gathers in both stations, with-mind and without-mind, it is called pervasive … because it lies only in the surpassing concentration, contaminated and uncontaminated, and not in all the scattered minds of the desire-realm and the like, it is called confined."
Kuiji, Concise Compendium of the Yogācārabhūmi T1829 (glossing the stage-name · the seven names)
〔T43n1829 0066c25–0067a08〕 glosses 「三摩呬多，此云等引。舊云三摩提，訛略也」 tr. "sanmoxiduo, rendered here 'even-drawing'; the old rendering 'sanmodi' is a corruption and abridgment," and sets up seven names, of which the first four are the essential:
「一云：三摩呬多……名等引地……三摩云等，呬多云引。二云：三摩地，此云等持……舊云三昧，訛也。三云：三摩鉢底，此云等至……舊云三摩跋提，訛也。四云：馱衍那，此云靜慮。舊云禪，義不整也。五云：質多翳迦阿羯羅多，此云心一境性……」
tr. "First is said: sanmoxiduo … named the stage of even-drawing … sanmo says 'even,' xiduo says 'drawing.' Second is said: sanmodi, rendered here 'even-holding' … the old rendering 'sanmei' is corrupt. Third is said: sanmobodi, rendered here 'even-reaching' … the old rendering 'sanmobati' is corrupt. Fourth is said: duoyanna, rendered here 'meditative absorption'; the old rendering 'chan' is not fully apt in meaning. Fifth is said: zhiduo-yijia-ajialuoduo, rendered here 'the mind's one-pointedness upon its object' …"
The names have a broad and a narrow scope (spoken in their surpassing form) 〔0067a11–27〕: 「三摩地名，目別境中等持一數，通攝一切有心位中心一境性，通定散位……三摩鉢底，通目一切有心無心諸定位中所有定體……由此等引通攝一切有心、無心定位功德，總寬通故，偏立地名也。」 tr. "The name 'samādhi' designates the single item 'even-holding' among the object-specific mental factors, gathering in throughout the mind's one-pointedness upon its object in all with-mind stations, pervading the concentrated and the scattered stations … 'samāpatti' designates throughout the substance of concentration in all the concentrated stations, with-mind and without-mind … Because 'even-drawing' gathers in, throughout, the qualities of all the concentrated stations, with-mind and without-mind, being altogether the broadest and most pervasive, it is singled out to establish the name of the stage."
Dunlun, Notes on the Yogācārabhūmi T1828 (Master Ji's gloss · gathering in the several masters)
〔T42n1828 0378a02–b04〕 takes over Kuiji's seven names entire, marking them "Master Ji's gloss"; at the end it further gathers in the dispute of Masters Jing and Tai and Wŏnhyo over the meaning of the names sanmodi and sanmei, and decides it of itself (「今謂之不然……彼云三昧者，舊翻名正受，即今云三摩地，翻名等持，二義別故」 tr. "Now I say it is not so … what they call 'sanmei,' the old translation naming it 'right reception,' is precisely what is now called 'samādhi,' translated as 'even-holding' — because the two meanings are distinct" 〔0378b04–b19〕) — citing only, preserving the ancients' divergent explanations without adjudicating.
V. Terminology
| 漢 | Ancient-transmitted Sanskrit (romanization · pronunciation aid) | Attestation of the ancient transliteration | Precise sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| 三摩呬多（等引） | samāhita | Kuiji: 「三摩呬多，此云等引……三摩云等，呬多云引」 tr. "sanmoxiduo, rendered here 'even-drawing' … sanmo says 'even,' xiduo says 'drawing'" 〔T1829 0066c25 · 0067a03〕 | The stage of surpassing concentration; apart from sinking and agitation · evenly able to draw forth / drawing forth to evenness / that which the even draws forth; gathering in the qualities of the concentrated stations with-mind and without-mind (whence the stage-name) |
| 靜慮 | dhyāna | Kuiji: 「馱衍那，此云靜慮。舊云禪」 tr. "duoyanna, rendered here 'meditative absorption'; the old rendering 'chan'" 〔T1829 0067a06〕; Dunlun to the same effect, with 「或云持阿那，訛也」 tr. "or is said 'chi'ana,' which is corrupt" 〔T1828 0378a12〕 | The four absorptions (the form-realm's surpassing concentration of even concentration-and-wisdom) |
| 等持 | samādhi | Kuiji: 「三摩地，此云等持……舊云三昧」 tr. "sanmodi, rendered here 'even-holding' … the old rendering 'sanmei'" 〔T1829 0067a03〕 | The single item 'even-holding' among the object-specific mental factors; the mind's one-pointedness upon its object; pervading the concentrated and scattered stations, in its surpassing form spoken of as emptiness · wishlessness · signlessness |
| 等至 | samāpatti | Kuiji: 「三摩鉢底，此云等至……舊云三摩跋提」 tr. "sanmobodi, rendered here 'even-reaching' … the old rendering 'sanmobati'" 〔T1829 0067a05〕 | The substance of concentration in all the concentrated stations, with-mind and without-mind; in its surpassing form spoken of as the concentrations associated with the five direct-beholdings and the like |
| 心一境性 | cittaikāgratā | Kuiji: 「質多翳迦阿羯羅多，此云心一境性。質多云心，翳迦云一，阿羯羅云境，多云性」 tr. "zhiduo-yijia-ajialuoduo, rendered here 'the mind's one-pointedness upon its object'; zhiduo says 'mind,' yijia says 'one,' ajiala says 'object,' duo says 'nature'" 〔T1829 0067a07〕 | The mind singly upon one object; the consciousness-only reading of this scripture = penetrating that the image traversed in concentration is nothing but one's own consciousness 〔T676 0698b22〕 |
For the Stage of Meditative Equipoise the ancient-transmitted Sanskrit transliterations are given in full (the seven names transliterated character by character · Kuiji T1829 0066c25+); hence the Sanskrit sounds of the terminology are all anchored to the ancients' attestation and are not taken from modern critical editions. The parsing of "even" and "drawing" (sanmo = even · xiduo = drawing) is likewise ancient-transmitted.
VI. Similes · Rhetoric
The well-polished pure mirror-surface simile (from the scriptural grounds · the image in concentration is nothing but consciousness) — 〔T16n0676 0698a29–b08〕「如依善瑩清淨鏡面，以質為緣還見本質，而謂我今見於影像，及謂離質別有所行影像顯現。如是此心生時，相似有異三摩地所行影像顯現」 tr. "As, in dependence on a well-polished, pure mirror-surface, one sees, with the substance for condition, the substance itself again, and yet supposes, 'I now see an image,' and supposes that, apart from the substance, there is a separately-traversed image appearing; just so, when this mind arises, there appears what resembles a distinct image traversed in concentration": the vehicle of the simile = the bright mirror imaging the substance, so that there seems to be an image appearing apart from the mirror; what is shown = the image of concentration that is the object traversed in concentration is "nothing but one's own consciousness" (the object of consciousness is only what consciousness manifests). This is the simile-vehicle on which the consciousness-only reading of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise's "the mind's one-pointedness upon its object" rests.
The overall-heading gateway itself has few similes; this simile belongs to its scriptural grounds (the Saṃdhinirmocana's Chapter on the Yoga of Discrimination), drawn in with its source marked — it is not a simile set up by the treatise-text of this stage.
VII. Cross-Reading
The Stage of Meditative Equipoise is the root ground of the learning of concentration of the Basic Section; what the six gateways of the uddāna open unfolds below into the whole breadth of the Basic Section, and reaches up to receive the scripture and down to issue into the several treatises:
- Within the Basic Section: the six gateways unfold in order — the setting-forth (the joy-and-bliss born of seclusion · the hindrances · the limbs · the names of concentration) · attention and the distinctions of characteristics (the seven attentions and the forty attentions · the thirty-two characteristics · the general discussion) · the gathering of the essential purport of the several scriptures (liberation · concentration · attainment) · the various miscellaneous meanings, last (the twelve miscellaneous-meaning scriptures) — that is, the sub-units 06-01 through 06-04 of this Basic-Section stage.
- The Section on Ascertainment (fasc. 62–63): the ascertainment of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (the ascertainment of its obstacle and its characteristics · the accord and discord of the mind's one-pointedness upon its object) 〔T30n1579 0644b18–0650c25〕 — the Basic Section "establishes," the ascertainment "ascertains."
- The Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, Chapter on the Yoga of Discrimination 〔T16n0676〕: tranquillity and insight · the mind's one-pointedness upon its object · the object of consciousness is only what consciousness manifests — the scriptural source of the Basic Section's learning of concentration.
- The Śrāvaka Stage (Stage 13): the nine stations of mind · the objects distinguished by the six matters — the place where the practice-method of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise's attention gateway is broadly detailed.
- The later Consciousness-Only treatises: the Cheng Weishi Lun's learning of concentration · the "in dependence on the root consciousness" and the several concentrations of the path-of-cultivation stage in the Thirty Verses — the treatise-inheritance of this stage's concentration and meditative attainment.
VIII. Placement of the Critical Editions
- Xuanzang T1579 Basic Section, the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (base text · the overall-heading passage): the stage-title 〔T30n1579 0328c06〕「本地分中三摩呬多地第六之一」 tr. "the Stage of Meditative Equipoise, sixth of the Basic Section, part one" · from 〔0328c07〕「云何三摩呬多地」 tr. "What is the Stage of Meditative Equipoise" — to before 〔0329a06〕「云何安立」 tr. "What is the setting-forth" (fascicle 11 begins at 0328c02; the four kinds of the overall heading: meditative absorption 0328c14 · liberation · concentration · meditative attainment).
- Jinaputra T1580: the naming of "meditative equipoise" 〔0886c05–07〕 · the stage of even-drawing has, in brief, four kinds 〔0886c11–16〕 · the true-meaning of pervasiveness and confinement 〔0886c25–28〕 · the name has a broad and a narrow scope 〔0887a08–16〕.
- Kuiji, Concise Compendium T1829: matching object/practice/fruit to the seventeen stages 〔0003c20〕 · the coming-of-the-topic of Meditative Equipoise, the nine of object divided into four 〔0066c15〕 · glossing the stage-name, the seven names 〔0066c25–0067a08〕 · the broad and narrow scope of the names 〔0067a11–27〕 · the outline of the uddāna gateways 〔0067a28–b07〕.
- Dunlun, Notes T1828: object/practice/fruit 〔0315b09〕 · Master Ji's gloss, the seven names 〔0378a02–a13〕 · the several masters' dispute over sanmodi and sanmei 〔0378b04–b19〕 · the uddāna, five gateways and four sections 〔0378b19–b27〕.
- Saṃdhinirmocana T676 · Chapter on the Yoga of Discrimination: the basis and abode 〔0697c16〕 · tranquillity 〔0698a01〕 · insight 〔0698a08〕 · the object of consciousness is only what consciousness manifests + the mirror simile 〔0698a29–b08〕 · the consciousness-only reading of the mind's one-pointedness upon its object 〔0698b22〕 · the measureless surpassing concentrations 〔0701b18〕.
- The Section on Ascertainment (fasc. 62–63): the start of the ascertainment of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise 〔0644b18〕 · the obstacle (the secondary afflictions · the mind's one-pointedness upon its object) 〔0644b20–29〕 · the ending 〔0650c25〕.
- Collation: this sub-unit (the overall heading · 0328c02–0329a06) carries 0 collation notes in the Taishō base text (examined line by line · no character-variance among the canon editions · actually none, not "not listed"), see Heading II; Paramārtha's edition is lost, so there is no alternate translation to collate against; the base text follows the CBETA character-readings (wherever CBETA restores a reading following the Korean canon and the like, the Taishō's original print is also recorded). 【大 the Taishō base reading】 stands as the base.