瑜伽師地論 三摩呬多地 · 安立

The second gate of the uddāna. It fills out with sinew the framework of the science of concentration that the overall heading set up: the threshold, the loss-and-gain, the antidotes, the pillars, the warning-stake, the measuring-cords.

In one line: Concentration is not a matter of merely "being able to sit still" — it must pass through the five gates of the five hindrances, set up the several pillars of the four limbs of the absorptions, and recognize withal that worldly concentration is only "the nirvāṇa-of-that-part" and not the ultimate; the Establishment gate is precisely the setting-in-place, one by one, of the threshold, antidotes, and measuring-cords of "the Stage of Equipoise."

Three Points of the Eye

1. The threshold: only what is drawn forth by pure, non-regretting discipline is named equipoise; the desire-realm's concentration does not count. The treatise, terse: "these alone are named the Stage of Equipoise, not the one-pointedness of mind of the desire-realm." The ancient masters point out the chain — "keeping the precepts → non-regret → gladness → ease → attaining concentration" 〔Kuiji T1829 0067b23〕. Equipoise is not just any sort of concentration; it is a concentration grown out of purity and non-regret. On entering the first absorption one cuts off five factors (the gladness and sorrow drawn forth by desire; the gladness, sorrow, and equanimity drawn forth by the unwholesome) and cultivates five factors (cheer, gladness, calm, bliss, concentration).

2. The five hindrances, with their food and non-food = the clinical antidote-chart of the science of concentration. When about to realize the absorptions, the five hindrances obstruct (sensual desire, ill-will, dullness-and-drowsiness, restlessness-and-remorse, doubt; dullness-and-drowsiness combined into one, restlessness-and-remorse combined into one — the ancient masters say this "is not out of accord with the principle of the Consciousness-Only [treatise]" 〔T1829 0068b11〕). Two questions of each hindrance — with what do you feed it (food), with what do you cut it off (non-food): the impurity-contemplation remedies greed, the loving mind remedies ill-will, the light of the Dharma remedies dullness-and-drowsiness, tranquility remedies restlessness-and-remorse, dependent origination remedies doubt. This is the unfolding of the Buddha's word in the Saṃyukta-āgama, sūtra 715, "the five hindrances are established in dependence on food" 〔T02n0099 0192a25〕. A simile: be free of defilement by starting from the most excellent and fine desire-mark, "just as, having subdued the strong one, the remaining weak ones subdue themselves."

3. The four limbs each an antidote · applied and sustained thought set down once one reaches the fundamental · the nirvāṇa-of-that-part is not the true nirvāṇa. Though the phenomena of the absorptions are many, "because these are the most excellent and of the gravest benefit, they alone are established as limbs" 〔Dunlun T1828 0380a25〕, like the four divisions of an army, each an antidote (applied and sustained thought grasp the object; concentration is the support; joy receives the object-field; bliss removes coarse heaviness). Why does the first absorption still have applied and sustained thought? Xuanzang's gloss: they are present at the preliminary stage, and "once one reaches the fundamental, there is no applied and sustained thought" 〔T1828 0379c27〕. One warning: worldly concentration can still a portion of the afflictions — resembling nirvāṇa, yet conditioned, not uprooting the seed; hence it is named "the nirvāṇa-of-that-part / the differentiated nirvāṇa" — do not mistake it for the ultimate 〔T1829 0069b10〕. At the last it establishes the four reliances (the Dharma, the meaning, the scripture of definitive meaning, knowledge) — the four reliances of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra spliced into the science of concentration 〔T12n0374 0401b27〕, as four measuring-cords for practicing the path.

The 漢 root text (Xuanzang, T30n1579, fasc. 11) is kept as a de-emphasized visual anchor for bilingual readers; the English below renders every word of it in plain, continuous prose. No enumeration is compressed.

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1. The Establishment of the Stage of Equipoise: Why This Alone Is Named "Equipoise," and the Desire-Realm Does Not Count

云何安立？謂唯此等名等引地，非於欲界心一境性。由此定等無悔、歡喜、安樂所引；欲界不爾。非欲界中於法全無審正觀察。

What is "the Establishment"? It means: only these [states] set forth above are named "the Stage of Equipoise (samāhita)"; the one-pointedness of mind of the desire-realm does not count. For these concentrations and the like are drawn forth by non-regret, gladness, and ease; the desire-realm is not so. Yet this does not mean that in the desire-realm there is no scrutinizing right observation of phenomena at all [— it is only that such observation does not amount to equipoise].

2. The Joy-and-Bliss Born of Seclusion: Cutting Off Five Factors, Cultivating Five Factors

復次，初靜慮中說離生喜，由證住此，斷除五法。謂欲所引喜、欲所引憂、不善所引喜、不善所引憂、不善所引捨。又於五法修習圓滿。謂歡、喜、安、樂、及三摩地。

Further: within the first meditative absorption (dhyāna) there is spoken of "the joy born of seclusion"; by realizing and abiding in this, one cuts off five factors, and again brings five factors to fullness in cultivation. The five to be cut off are: (1) the gladness drawn forth by desire, (2) the sorrow drawn forth by desire, (3) the gladness drawn forth by the unwholesome, (4) the sorrow drawn forth by the unwholesome, and (5) the equanimity drawn forth by the unwholesome. The five to be cultivated are: cheer, gladness, calm, bliss, and concentration.

欲所引喜者，於妙五欲若初得時、若已證得正受用時，或見、或聞、或曾領受；由此諸緣，憶念歡喜。欲所引憂者，於妙五欲若求不遂，若已受用更不復得，或得已便失；由此諸緣，多生憂惱。不善所引喜者，謂如有一，與喜樂俱而行殺業，乃至邪見。不善所引憂者，謂如有一，與憂苦俱而行殺業，乃至邪見。不善所引捨者，謂如有一，或王、王等、或餘宰官、或尊、尊等，自不樂為殺等惡業，然其僕使作惡業時，忍而不制，亦不安處毘奈耶中，由縱捨故，遂造惡業。彼於此業現前領解，非不現前。又住於捨，尋求伺察為惡方便。又於諸惡耽著不斷，引發於捨。又於不善現前轉時，發起中庸非苦樂受。

The gladness drawn forth by desire: toward the fine fivefold sense-pleasures — whether at the time of first obtaining them, or at the time of already having obtained them and properly enjoying them, or by seeing, or by hearing, or by having once experienced them — through these conditions one recollects them and gladness arises. The sorrow drawn forth by desire: toward the fine fivefold sense-pleasures — if one seeks them and does not succeed, if having enjoyed them one can no longer get them again, or having gotten them then loses them — through these conditions much sorrow and vexation arise. The gladness drawn forth by the unwholesome: it is as when someone, joined with gladness and pleasure, performs the deed of killing, and so on down to holding wrong views. The sorrow drawn forth by the unwholesome: it is as when someone, joined with sorrow and suffering, performs the deed of killing, and so on down to wrong views. The equanimity drawn forth by the unwholesome: it is as when someone — a king, or one of the king's peers, or some other high official, or an elder, or an elder's peer — does not himself delight in doing evil deeds such as killing, yet, when his servants do evil deeds, he tolerates and does not restrain them, nor does he settle them within the Vinaya (the code of discipline); through this indulgent letting-be he brings evil deeds to completion. He does understand this deed as present before him — it is not that it is not present to him. Moreover, abiding in equanimity, he applies and examines his thought as a means to evil. Moreover, clinging to evils without ceasing, he arouses equanimity. Moreover, at the time when the unwholesome is turning present before him, he arouses a middling feeling that is neither painful nor pleasant.

歡者，謂從本來清淨行者，觀資糧地所修淨行，無悔為先，慰意適悅，心欣踊性。喜者，謂正修習方便為先，深慶適悅、心欣踊性。安者，謂離麁重，身心調適性。樂者，謂由如是心調適故，便得身心無損害樂及解脫樂；以離彼品麁重性故，於諸煩惱而得解脫。三摩地者，謂於所緣審正觀察，心一境性。

Cheer: for one whose conduct has been pure from the outset, contemplating the pure conduct cultivated on the ground of the provisions, with non-regret going first, there is a consoling, fitting delight — the mind's quality of joyful leaping-up. Gladness: with the properly-cultivated means going first, there is a deep, congratulatory, fitting delight — the mind's quality of joyful leaping-up. Calm: it is the departure from coarse heaviness, the quality of bodily and mental fitness. Bliss: through the mind being thus made fit, one obtains the bliss of the body and mind being free of harm, and the bliss of liberation; because one has departed from the coarse heaviness of that class, one obtains liberation from the afflictions. Concentration: it is the scrutinizing right observation of the object, the one-pointedness of mind.

世尊於無漏方便中，先說三摩地，後說解脫。由三摩地善成滿力，於諸煩惱心永解脫故。於有漏方便中，先說解脫，後說三摩地。由證方便究竟作意果煩惱斷已，方得根本三摩地故。或有俱時說三摩地及與解脫。謂即於此方便究竟作意及餘無間道三摩地中，由三摩地與彼解脫俱時有故。

[On the sequence:] Within the uncontaminated means, the World-Honored One speaks of concentration first and of liberation after — because, by the power of concentration well brought to fullness, the mind is forever liberated from the afflictions. Within the contaminated means, he speaks of liberation first and of concentration after — because it is only after the afflictions have been cut off, as the fruit of the culminating-means attention, that one obtains the fundamental concentration. And there is a speaking of concentration and liberation as simultaneous — that is, within the culminating-means attention and the concentration of the remaining uninterrupted path, because there the concentration and that liberation exist at one and the same time.

3. The Hindrances: The Marks of the Five Hindrances

復次，於諸靜慮、等至障中，略有五蓋，將證彼時能為障礙。何等為五？一、貪欲蓋，二、瞋恚蓋，三、惛沈睡眠蓋，四、掉舉惡作蓋，五、疑蓋。

Further: among the obstructions to the meditative absorptions and attainments there are, in brief, five hindrances, which are able to obstruct one when about to realize those [concentrations]. Which five? (1) the hindrance of sensual desire; (2) the hindrance of ill-will; (3) the hindrance of dullness-and-drowsiness; (4) the hindrance of restlessness-and-remorse; (5) the hindrance of doubt.

貪欲者，謂於妙五欲隨逐淨相，欲見、欲聞，乃至欲觸；或隨憶念先所領受，尋伺追戀。瞋恚者，謂或因同梵行等舉其所犯，或因憶念昔所曾經不饒益事瞋恚之相，心生恚怒；或欲當作不饒益事，於當所為瞋恚之相多隨尋伺，心生恚怒。惛沈者，謂或因毀壞淨尸羅等隨一善行、不守根門、食不知量、不勤精進減省睡眠、不正知住而有所作、於所修斷不勤加行，隨順生起一切煩惱，身心惛昧，無堪任性。

Sensual desire: toward the fine fivefold sense-pleasures one pursues their agreeable marks, wanting to see, wanting to hear, and so on down to wanting to touch; or, recollecting what was formerly experienced, one applies and examines and lingers in longing. Ill-will: either because a fellow practitioner of the holy life brings up one's transgression, or because one recollects the ill-will-marks of unbenefiting affairs undergone in the past, anger arises in the mind; or, wanting to do some unbenefiting affair in the future, one applies and examines much upon the ill-will-marks of what one is about to do, and anger arises in the mind. Dullness: it may be because of damaging pure moral discipline (śīla) or some other wholesome practice, of not guarding the sense-doors, of not knowing the measure in food, of not diligently striving to cut down and reduce sleep, of dwelling without proper awareness while yet engaged in some activity, of not diligently applying oneself to the cultivation-and-abandonment one is set upon — following along, one gives rise to all the afflictions, the body and mind become murky and dim, a quality of being unfit [for work].

睡眠者，謂心極昧略。又順生煩惱、壞斷加行，是惛沈性；心極昧略，是睡眠性。是故此二、合說一蓋。又惛昧無堪任性、名惛沈；惛昧心極略性，名睡眠。由此惛沈生諸煩惱、隨煩惱時，無餘近緣如睡眠者。諸餘煩惱及隨煩惱或應可生，或應不生。若生惛昧，睡眠必定皆起。

Drowsiness: it is the mind's being utterly dim and contracted. Again: what conforms to giving rise to the afflictions and damages the cutting-off effort is the nature of dullness; the mind's being utterly dim and contracted is the nature of drowsiness. Therefore these two are spoken of together as one hindrance. Again: the quality of being murky, dim, and unfit is named dullness; being murky and dim while the mind is utterly contracted is named drowsiness. When, through this dullness, one gives rise to the afflictions and the secondary afflictions, there is no other near condition [so close to it] as drowsiness. The remaining afflictions and secondary afflictions may or may not arise; but if murk and dimness arise, drowsiness will certainly arise along with all of them.

掉舉者，謂因親屬尋思、國土尋思、不死尋思，或隨憶念昔所經歷戲笑歡娛所行之事，心生諠動騰躍之性。惡作者，謂因尋思親屬等故，心生追悔，謂我何緣離別親屬？何緣不往如是國土？何緣棄捨如是國土，來到於此，食如是食，飲如是飲，唯得如是衣服、臥具、病緣醫藥資身眾具？我本何緣少小出家，何不且待至年衰老？或因追念昔所曾經戲笑等事，便生悔恨，謂我何緣於應受用戲樂、嚴具、朋遊等時，違背宗親朋友等意，令其悲戀涕淚盈目而強出家。由如是等種種因緣，生憂戀心，惡作追悔。由前掉舉與此惡作處所等故，合說一蓋。又於應作、不應作事，隨其所應，或已曾作、或未曾作，心生追悔。

Restlessness: because of ruminating on kinsfolk, ruminating on one's homeland, ruminating on not-dying, or recollecting affairs of jest and merry-making undergone in the past, the mind gives rise to a quality of clamorous stirring and leaping-up. Remorse: because of ruminating on kinsfolk and the like, regret arises in the mind — "Why did I part from my kinsfolk? Why did I not go to such-and-such a homeland? Why did I forsake such-and-such a homeland and come here, to eat such food, to drink such drink, to obtain only such clothing, bedding, and the goods for sustaining the body in sickness and medicine? Why in the first place did I, while young and small, go forth into homelessness — why did I not simply wait until I had grown old and decrepit?" Or, recalling affairs of jest and the like undergone in the past, remorseful sorrow arises — "Why, at the time when I ought to have been enjoying entertainments, ornaments, the company of friends, and so on, did I go against the wishes of my clan-kin and friends, making them grieve and long, their eyes brimming with tears, and force my way into going forth?" Through such various conditions a mournful, longing mind arises — remorse, remorseful regret. Because the former restlessness and this remorse are alike in their locus, they are spoken of together as one hindrance. Again, with respect to what ought to be done and what ought not to be done, according to what is fitting — whether already done or not yet done — regret arises in the mind.

云何我昔應作不作，非作反作。除先追悔所生惡作，此惡作纏、猶未能捨。次後復生相續不斷憂戀之心，惡作追悔。此又一種惡作差別。次前所生非處惡作及後惡作、雖與掉舉處所不等，然如彼相，騰躍諠動，今此亦是憂戀之相，是故與彼雜說一蓋。疑者：謂於師、於法、於學、於誨，及於證中生惑生疑。由心如是懷疑惑故，不能趣入勇猛方便，正斷寂靜。又於去來今及苦等諦生惑生疑，心懷二分、迷之不了，猶豫猜度。

[Further on a distinction within remorse:] "Why did I, in the past, leave undone what ought to have been done, and do instead what ought not to have been done?" — apart from the remorse arisen from the earlier regret, this entanglement of remorse has not yet been able to be relinquished; then afterward there arises again a mournful, longing mind, continuous and unbroken — remorse, remorseful regret. This too is a kind of variety of remorse. The out-of-place remorse arisen earlier, and the later remorse — although they are not alike with restlessness in their locus, yet like that [restlessness] they are marks of leaping-up and clamorous stirring, and now this too is a mark of mournful longing; therefore it is spoken of, mingled together with that [restlessness], as one hindrance. Doubt: it is that toward the teacher, toward the Dharma, toward the training, toward instruction, and toward realization, delusion arises and doubt arises. Because the mind thus harbors doubt and delusion, one cannot enter upon the valiant means, the right cutting-off, tranquility. Again, toward the past, the future, and the present, and toward the truths beginning with suffering, delusion arises and doubt arises; the mind harbors two portions, confused and not clear, wavering and second-guessing.

4. The Hindrances: The "Food" and "Non-Food" of the Five Hindrances

〔以下逐蓋問答：什麼滋養此蓋（食）、什麼能斷此蓋（非食）。〕

[What follows is a question-and-answer, hindrance by hindrance: what nourishes this hindrance (its "food"), and what is able to cut off this hindrance (its "non-food").]

問：此貪欲蓋以何為食？答：有淨妙相，及於彼相不正思惟多所修習，以之為食。淨妙相者，謂第一勝妙諸欲之相。若能於此遠離染心，於餘下劣亦得離染。如制強力，餘劣自伏。此復云何？謂女人身上八處所攝可愛淨相；由此八處，女縛於男。所謂歌、舞、笑、睇、美容、進止、妙觸、就禮。由此因緣，所有貪欲未生令生，生已增長，故名為食。

The hindrance of sensual desire — what is its food? There is the agreeable-and-fine mark, and improper attention to that mark much cultivated: this is its food. The agreeable-and-fine mark means the mark of the foremost, most excellent and fine sense-pleasures. If one can, toward this, keep the mind of defilement far away, then toward the remaining inferior ones too one is able to be free of defilement — just as, having subdued the strong one, the remaining weak ones subdue themselves. And what is this [agreeable-and-fine mark]? It is the lovely, agreeable marks subsumed under the eight places on a woman's body; by these eight places, a woman binds a man. Namely: singing, dancing, laughter, the sidelong glance, fine features, deportment, exquisite touch, and paying of courtesies. Through these conditions, whatever sensual desire has not arisen is made to arise, and having arisen grows — therefore it is named its food.

問：此貪欲蓋誰為非食？答：有不淨相，及於彼相如理作意多所修習，以為非食。此復云何？謂青瘀等。若觀此身種種不淨雜穢充滿，名觀內身不淨之相；復觀於外青瘀等相種種不淨、名觀外身不淨之相。由觀此二不淨相故，未生貪欲令其不生，生已能斷，故名非食。由於彼相如理作意故、遮令不生；多所修習故，生已能斷。前黑品中，由於彼相不正思惟故，未生令生；多所修習故、倍更增廣。

The hindrance of sensual desire — what is its non-food? There is the mark of the impure, and proper attention to that mark much cultivated: this is its non-food. And what is this? It is the livid-bruised [corpse] and the like. If one contemplates this body as filled with impurities of every kind, foul and mixed, this is named contemplating the mark of the inner body's impurity; and if one further contemplates externally the livid-bruised marks and the like, impurities of every kind, this is named contemplating the mark of the outer body's impurity. By contemplating these two marks of impurity, sensual desire not yet arisen is kept from arising, and once arisen can be cut off — therefore it is named its non-food. Because of proper attention to that mark, it is barred from arising; because it is much cultivated, once arisen it can be cut off. (In the foregoing dark class, because of improper attention to that mark, what had not arisen was made to arise; and because it was much cultivated, it grew all the more abundant.)

問：瞋恚蓋以何為食？答：有瞋恚性、有瞋恚相，及於彼相不正思惟多所修習，以之為食。依於種種不饒益事，心生惱害，名瞋恚性。不饒益事，名瞋恚相。於九惱事不正作意，名不正思惟。如是等事皆名為食。

The hindrance of ill-will — what is its food? There is the nature of ill-will, there is the mark of ill-will, and improper attention to that mark much cultivated: this is its food. In dependence on various unbenefiting affairs, the mind gives rise to vexing harm — this is named the nature of ill-will. Unbenefiting affairs are named the mark of ill-will. Improper attention toward the nine vexing matters is named improper attention. Affairs such as these are all named its food.

問：此瞋恚蓋誰為非食？答：有仁慈賢善，及於彼相如理作意、多所修習以為非食。又此慈善，恒欲與他安樂為相，修力所攝。由思擇力所攝作意，調伏九惱。以能斷除瞋恚蓋故，經中唯說此為非食。

The hindrance of ill-will — what is its non-food? There is benevolent loving-kindness and worthy goodness, and proper attention to that mark, much cultivated: this is its non-food. Moreover, this loving-kindness and goodness has for its mark the constant wish to give ease and bliss to others, and is subsumed under the power of cultivation. By an attention subsumed under the power of discerning deliberation, it tames the nine vexations. Because it is able to cut off the hindrance of ill-will, the scripture speaks only of this [loving-kindness] as its non-food.

問：惛沈睡眠蓋以何為食？答：有黑暗相，及於彼相不正思惟多所修習以之為食。問：此蓋誰為非食？答：有光明相，及於彼相如理作意多所修習，以為非食。明有三種。一、治暗光明，二、法光明，三、依身光明。治暗光明復有三種。一、在夜分，謂星月等；二、在晝分，謂日光明；三、在俱分，謂火珠等。法光明者：謂如有一，隨其所受、所思、所觸，觀察諸法；或復修習隨念佛等。依身光明者，謂諸有情自然身光。當知初明治三種暗。一者、夜暗，二者、雲暗，三者、障暗。謂窟宅等。法明能治三種黑暗。由不如實知諸法故，於去來今多生疑惑，於佛法等亦復如是。此中無明及疑，俱名黑暗。又證觀察能治惛沈睡眠黑暗，以能顯了諸法性故。

The hindrance of dullness-and-drowsiness — what is its food? There is the mark of blackness-and-darkness, and improper attention to that mark much cultivated: this is its food. This hindrance — what is its non-food? There is the mark of light, and proper attention to that mark much cultivated: this is its non-food. Light is of three kinds: (1) light that dispels darkness, (2) the light of the Dharma, (3) light dependent on the body. Light that dispels darkness is again of three kinds: (1) in the night-portion, such as the stars and moon; (2) in the day-portion, such as the light of the sun; (3) in either portion, such as the fire-jewel and the like. The light of the Dharma: it is as when someone, according to what he experiences, what he thinks, what he touches, contemplates phenomena; or else cultivates the recollection of the Buddha and the like. Light dependent on the body: it is the natural bodily radiance of sentient beings. It should be understood that the first light dispels three kinds of darkness: (1) the darkness of night, (2) the darkness of clouds, (3) the darkness of enclosure, such as caves and dwellings. The light of the Dharma is able to dispel three kinds of blackness-and-darkness: because of not knowing phenomena as they really are, one gives rise to much doubt and delusion toward the past, future, and present, and it is likewise toward the Buddha, the Dharma, and so on — herein both ignorance (avidyā) and doubt are named blackness-and-darkness. Moreover, realizing-observation is able to dispel the blackness-and-darkness of dullness-and-drowsiness, because it is able to make manifest the nature of phenomena.

問：掉舉惡作蓋以何為食？答：於親屬等所有尋思、於曾所經戲笑等念、及於彼相不正思惟多所修習，以之為食。親屬尋思者，謂因親屬或盛或衰、或離或合，發欣慼行，心生籌慮等。國土尋思者，謂因國土盛衰等相，廣如前說。不死尋思者，謂因少年及衰老位諸有所作或利他事，發欣慼行，心生籌慮等。笑者，謂隨有一，或因開論、或因合論，現齒而笑，歡聚啞啞。戲者，謂雙陸、摴蒱、弄珠等戲。或有所餘種類歡樂。謂互相受用，受用境界，受諸快樂；或由同處，或因戲論，歡娛而住。所行事者，謂相執持手臂髮等，或相摩觸隨一身分，或抱或嗚，或相顧眄，或作餘事。

The hindrance of restlessness-and-remorse — what is its food? The ruminating upon kinsfolk and the like, the recollecting of jest and the like once undergone, and improper attention to those marks much cultivated: this is its food. Ruminating on kinsfolk: because kinsfolk flourish or decline, part or reunite, one arouses a movement of delight or dejection, and the mind gives rise to calculating and worrying, and so on. Ruminating on one's homeland: because of the marks of the homeland's flourishing and decline and the like, as was set forth at length above. Ruminating on not-dying: because of the various doings or benefiting-of-others in the phases of youth and of old age and decline, one arouses a movement of delight or dejection, and the mind gives rise to calculating and worrying, and so on. Laughter: it is as when someone, whether upon opening a discussion or upon joining a discussion, laughs showing the teeth, gathering in mirth "ha-ha." Play: it is dice-play (backgammon), gambling-boards, juggling beads, and the like; or some other kind of merriment — that is, mutually enjoying one another, enjoying sense-objects, undergoing various pleasures; or, whether by being in the same place, or through frivolous talk, dwelling in mirth and amusement. Doings: it is mutually grasping and holding one another's hands, arms, hair, and the like, or mutually rubbing and touching some part of the body, or embracing, or cooing, or exchanging glances, or doing other such things.

問：此蓋誰為非食？答：有奢摩他、及於彼相如理作意多所修習，以為非食。奢摩他者，謂九種住心，及奢摩他品所攝諸法。謂於自他若衰若盛可厭患法心生厭離，驚恐惡賤，安住寂靜。

This hindrance — what is its non-food? There is tranquility (śamatha), and proper attention to that mark much cultivated: this is its non-food. Tranquility means the nine kinds of settling the mind, and the phenomena subsumed under the class of tranquility — that is, toward the phenomena worthy of weariness, whether declining or flourishing, in oneself and others, the mind gives rise to weary disenchantment, is alarmed and holds them cheap and base, and abides in tranquility.

問：疑蓋以何為食？答：有去來今，及於彼相不正思惟多所修習，以之為食。謂我於過去為有？為無？廣說如上。不正思惟者，謂不可思處所攝思惟。不可思處者，謂我思惟、有情思惟、世間思惟。若於自處，依世差別思惟我相，名我思惟。若於他處，名有情思惟。若於有情世間及器世間處，名世間思惟。謂世間常、或謂無常、亦常亦無常、非常非無常等。

The hindrance of doubt — what is its food? There is the past, the future, and the present, and improper attention to those marks much cultivated: this is its food — namely, "Was I, in the past, existent? Or non-existent?" (set forth at length as above). Improper attention means the attention subsumed under the "unthinkable spheres." The unthinkable spheres are: the thinking upon self, the thinking upon sentient beings, the thinking upon the world. If, with respect to one's own case, one thinks upon the mark of self in dependence on worldly distinctions, this is named the thinking upon self. If with respect to others' case, this is named the thinking upon sentient beings. If with respect to the world of sentient beings and the receptacle-world, this is named the thinking upon the world — such as [thinking] the world is eternal, or is non-eternal, is both eternal and non-eternal, is neither eternal nor non-eternal, and so on.

問：此蓋誰為非食？答：有緣緣起、及於彼相如理作意多所修習以為非食。由彼觀見唯有於法及唯法因，唯有於苦及唯苦因故，所有一切不正思惟為緣無明，於三世境未生者不生，已生者能斷。若不如理而強作意，其如理者而不作意；總說此二名不正思惟。若於是中，應合道理，應知是處名為如理。謂於闇中作光明想。由此方便如理作意，非不如理。於餘處所、亦有所餘如理作意。

This hindrance — what is its non-food? There is the taking of dependent origination as object, and proper attention to that mark much cultivated: this is its non-food. Because one thereby contemplates and sees that there is only phenomena and only the cause of phenomena, only suffering and only the cause of suffering, therefore all improper attention — which has ignorance for its condition — toward the objects of the three times: what has not arisen does not arise, and what has arisen can be cut off. If one forces attention that is not in accord with principle, while giving no attention to that which is in accord with principle — these two, spoken of together, are named improper attention. If, within this, [something] ought to accord with the principle, one should know that this case is named "in accord with principle" — such as, in the dark, producing the notion of light: by this means it is attention in accord with principle, not out of accord with principle. And in the remaining cases too there is other attention in accord with principle.

5. The Limbs: How Many Limbs Are Established for Each of the Four Absorptions

復次，於初靜慮具足五支。一、尋，二、伺，三、喜，四、樂，五、心一境性。第二靜慮有四支。一、內等淨，二、喜，三、樂，四、心一境性。第三靜慮有五支。一、捨，二、念，三、正知，四、樂，五、心一境性。第四靜慮有四支。一、捨清淨，二、念清淨，三、不苦不樂受，四、心一境性。

Further: the first meditative absorption is complete with five limbs: (1) applied thought (vitarka), (2) sustained thought (vicāra), (3) joy, (4) bliss, (5) one-pointedness of mind. The second absorption has four limbs: (1) inner serene purity, (2) joy, (3) bliss, (4) one-pointedness of mind. The third absorption has five limbs: (1) equanimity, (2) mindfulness, (3) proper awareness, (4) bliss, (5) one-pointedness of mind. The fourth absorption has four limbs: (1) purity of equanimity, (2) purity of mindfulness, (3) the feeling that is neither painful nor pleasant, (4) one-pointedness of mind.

初靜慮中，尋伺為取所緣，三摩地為彼所依，喜為受境界，樂為除麁重。第二靜慮中，內等淨為取所緣，三摩地為彼所依，餘如前說。第三靜慮中，捨、念、正知為取所緣，三摩地為彼所依，餘如前說。第四靜慮中，捨淨、念淨為取所緣，三摩地為彼所依，餘如前說。諸靜慮中雖有餘法，然此勝故，於修定者為恩重故，偏立為支。

In the first absorption, applied and sustained thought serve for the grasping of the object; concentration serves as their support; joy serves for the receiving of the object-field; bliss serves for the removing of coarse heaviness. In the second absorption, inner serene purity serves for the grasping of the object; concentration serves as their support; the rest is as said before. In the third absorption, equanimity, mindfulness, and proper awareness serve for the grasping of the object; concentration serves as their support; the rest is as said before. In the fourth absorption, purity of equanimity and purity of mindfulness serve for the grasping of the object; concentration serves as their support; the rest is as said before. Although there are yet other phenomena within the absorptions, because these are the most excellent, and because they are of the gravest benefit to one who cultivates concentration, they alone are established as "limbs."

問：何因緣故，初靜慮中有尋有伺耶？答：由彼能厭患欲界，入初靜慮，初靜慮中而未能觀尋伺過故。第二靜慮能觀彼過，是故說為尋伺寂靜。如第二靜慮見彼過故，名尋伺寂靜；如是第三靜慮見喜過故，名喜寂靜；第四靜慮見樂過故、名樂寂靜。捨念清淨，差別應知。

[Question and answer:] Question: For what cause and condition is there both applied and sustained thought within the first absorption? Answer: Because he, being able to grow weary of the desire-realm, enters the first absorption, but within the first absorption is not yet able to observe the fault of applied and sustained thought. The second absorption is able to observe that fault; therefore it is spoken of as "the stilling of applied and sustained thought." Just as the second absorption, seeing that fault, is named the stilling of applied and sustained thought, so the third absorption, seeing the fault of joy, is named the stilling of joy; and the fourth absorption, seeing the fault of bliss, is named the stilling of bliss. As for the purity of equanimity and mindfulness, the distinction should be understood [by extension].

6. Alternate Names: Several Different Names for the Meditative Absorptions

復次，是諸靜慮名差別者，或名增上心。謂由心清淨增上力正審慮故。或名樂住。謂於此中受極樂故。所以者何？依諸靜慮領受喜樂、安樂、捨樂身心樂故。又得定者於諸靜慮數數入出，領受現法安樂住故。由此定中現前領受現法樂住。從是起已，作如是言：我已領受如是樂住。於無色定無如是受，是故不說彼為樂住。然彼起已，應正宣說。何以故？若有阿練若苾芻來就彼問，彼若不答，便生譏論：此阿練若苾芻云何名為阿練若者，我今問彼超色無色寂靜解脫，而不能記。是故為說應入彼定，非為樂住。或復名為彼分涅槃，亦得說名差別涅槃。由諸煩惱一分斷故，非決定故，名彼分涅槃。非究竟涅槃故，名差別涅槃。

Further, as for the distinctions in the names of these meditative absorptions: (i) One name is "the superior mind" — because, by the increasing power of the mind's purity, one rightly deliberates. (ii) One name is "blissful abiding" — because within it one experiences the utmost bliss. Why so? Because in dependence on the absorptions one experiences the bodily-and-mental bliss of joy-and-pleasure, of ease-and-bliss, and of the bliss of equanimity. Moreover, one who has attained concentration, entering and leaving the absorptions again and again, experiences a blissful abiding in the present life; therefore, within this concentration, one experiences before oneself a blissful abiding in the present life, and having risen from it, one speaks thus: "I have experienced such a blissful abiding." In the formless concentrations there is no such experience, and therefore they are not called "blissful abiding" — yet, having risen from them, one should still rightly proclaim [them]. Why? Because if a forest-dwelling (āraṇyaka) monk should come and put a question to him, and he does not answer, then censure arises: "This forest-dwelling monk — in what sense is he named a forest-dweller? I now ask him about the tranquil liberation that surpasses the form- and formless-realms, and he cannot expound it." Therefore [the master] speaks, saying he ought to enter that concentration — only it is not [named] "blissful abiding." (iii) One name is "the nirvāṇa-of-that-part," and it may also be named "the differentiated nirvāṇa": because a portion of the afflictions is cut off, and because it is not definitive, it is named "the nirvāṇa-of-that-part"; because it is not the ultimate nirvāṇa, it is named "the differentiated nirvāṇa."

7. The Departure from the Feelings: The Four Absorptions Depart from the Feeling-Faculties

復次，此四靜慮亦得名為出諸受事。謂初靜慮出離憂根，第二靜慮出離苦根，第三靜慮出離喜根，第四靜慮出離樂根，於無相中出離捨根。如薄伽梵無倒經中說如是言：苾芻！憂根生已，應當如實了知生者。此於何位？謂即於此斷方便位，若為憂根間心相續，爾時應知。又應并此因、緣及序，若相，若行，皆如實知者。

Further, these four absorptions may also be named "the departure from the feelings." That is: the first absorption departs from the sorrow-faculty, the second absorption from the suffering-faculty, the third absorption from the joy-faculty, the fourth absorption from the bliss-faculty, and within the markless [concentration] one departs from the equanimity-faculty. As the Blessed One says in the Sūtra of Non-Error (the Avipralambha — no transmitted Chinese witness): "Monk! When the sorrow-faculty has arisen, one should know, as it really is, that which arises." In which phase is this? It is in this very phase of the means of cutting-off: when, the sorrow-faculty having been interrupted, the mind continues on — at that time one should know it. And one should also know, as they really are, together with this: its cause, its condition, and its sequence, its mark, and its motion.

云何知因？謂了知此種子相續。云何知緣？謂了知此種所不攝所依、助伴。云何知序？謂知憂根託此事生，即是能發憂根之相及無知種子。云何知相？謂了知此是慼行相。云何知行？謂了知此能發之行，即不如理作意相應思也。如是知已，於出離中極制持心者，云何制持？謂於染污行制攝其心，於思惟修任持堅住。又於是中，無餘盡滅乃至究竟者。謂滅隨眠故，滅諸纏故。世間靜慮但能漸捨彼品麁重，不拔種子。若異此者，種永拔故，後不應生。無漏靜慮二種俱捨。如是於餘隨應當知。

What is knowing the cause? It is knowing that this [sorrow-faculty's] seed is a continuous stream. What is knowing the condition? It is knowing the support and accompanying aids not subsumed under this seed. What is knowing the sequence? It is knowing that the sorrow-faculty arises grounded on this affair — namely, the mark that is able to give rise to the sorrow-faculty, and the seed of ignorance. What is knowing the mark? It is knowing that this is a mark of dejected activity. What is knowing the motion? It is knowing the activity that is able to give rise to it — namely, the volition associated with attention that is not in accord with principle. Having known thus, one utterly restrains and holds the mind within the departure — what is restraining-and-holding? It is restraining and gathering in the mind from defiled activity, and steadily maintaining and firmly settling it in the cultivation of contemplation. And, within this, [there is] the "utter and complete cessation, up to the ultimate" — that is, because it destroys the latent tendencies, because it destroys the entanglements. Worldly absorption is able only to relinquish, gradually, the coarse heaviness of that class; it does not uproot the seed. Were it otherwise [i.e., did it uproot the seed], then, the seed being forever uprooted, [the affliction] ought not to arise afterward. Uncontaminated absorption relinquishes both [the coarse heaviness and the seed]. And so with the rest — it should be understood according to what is fitting.

問：以何等相了知憂根？答：或染污相、或出離欲俱行善相。苦根者，或由自等增上力故，或由身勞增上力故，或火燒等增上力故，或他逼等增上力故，諸離欲者猶尚生起。喜根者，謂第二靜慮中，即第二靜慮地攝。樂根者，謂第三靜慮中，即第三靜慮地攝。問：何故苦根初靜慮中說未斷耶？答：彼品麁重猶未斷故。問：何緣生在初靜慮者苦根未斷而不現行？答：由其助伴相對憂根所攝諸苦彼已斷故。若初靜慮已斷苦根，是則行者入初靜慮及第二時，受所作住差別應無。由二俱有喜及樂故。而經中說：由出諸受，靜慮差別。又此應無尋伺寂靜麁重斷滅所作差別。如是餘根彼品麁重漸次斷故，上諸靜慮斷有差別。又無相者，經中說為無相心定。於此定中捨根永滅，但害隨眠；彼品麁重無餘斷故。非滅現纏，住無相定必有受故。於此定中容有三受，謂喜、樂、捨。非彼諸受得有隨眠。煩惱斷故，說以為斷；彼品麁重說名隨眠。又此捨根乃至何處？當知始從第四靜慮乃至有頂。

[Question and answer on the feeling-faculties:] Question: By what mark does one know the sorrow-faculty? Answer: Either a defiled mark, or a wholesome mark conjoined with the desire for departure. As for the suffering-faculty, whether by the increasing power of oneself and the like, or by the increasing power of bodily fatigue, or by the increasing power of fire-burning and the like, or by the increasing power of oppression by others and the like, it may still arise even in those who have departed from desire. The joy-faculty is within the second absorption, subsumed under the ground of the second absorption. The bliss-faculty is within the third absorption, subsumed under the ground of the third absorption. Question: Why is the suffering-faculty said to be not yet cut off within the first absorption? Answer: Because the coarse heaviness of that class is not yet cut off. Question: For what reason does the suffering-faculty, in one born within the first absorption, not manifest even though it is not cut off? Answer: Because its accompanying aids — the sufferings subsumed under the corresponding sorrow-faculty — have already been cut off. Were the suffering-faculty already cut off in the first absorption, then, when the practitioner enters the first absorption and the second, there would be no distinction in the abiding wrought by feeling — since both alike have joy and bliss; yet the scripture says: "through departing from the feelings there is the distinction of the absorptions." And, [on that supposition,] there would then be no distinction wrought by "the stilling of applied and sustained thought" and "the cutting off of coarse heaviness." Just so, since the coarse heaviness of the class of the remaining faculties is cut off in gradual sequence, there is a distinction of cutting-off in the higher absorptions. Again, as for "the markless": the scripture speaks of it as "the markless concentration of mind." Within this concentration the equanimity-faculty is forever ceased — but this only injures the latent tendency, because the coarse heaviness of that class is cut off without remainder; it is not the cessation of the manifest entanglement, because one abiding in the markless concentration must have feeling. Within this concentration there may be three feelings — namely joy, bliss, and equanimity; but these feelings cannot have latent tendencies. (Because the afflictions are cut off, it is spoken of as "cut off"; the coarse heaviness of that class is what is named the latent tendency.) And how far does this equanimity-faculty [extend]? It should be understood to extend from the fourth absorption up to the summit of existence.

8. The Elements Conducive to Departure: The Departure of the Five Faculties and the Five Elements Conducive to Departure, Mutually Subsuming

復次，此五根出離、無相為後，與彼五種順出離界展轉相攝。此中由欲、恚、害出離，即說乃至樂根出離；由色出離，即說第四靜慮捨根出離；由薩迦耶滅，即說無色界一切捨根出離。順出離言有何等義？由住此者能出離故，名順出離。不說由此出離於彼。為離欲者說此界故。

Further, the departure of these five faculties — with the markless as the last — mutually subsumes, back and forth, with those five elements conducive to departure. Herein: by the departure from desire, ill-will, and harm, is meant [the departure] up to and including the departure from the bliss-faculty; by the departure from form, is meant the departure from the equanimity-faculty in the fourth absorption; by the cessation of the personality-view (satkāya), is meant the departure from all the equanimity-faculty of the formless realm. What is the sense of the words "conducive to departure"? Because one who abides in this is able to depart, it is named "conducive to departure" — it does not mean "by this one departs from that." Because this element is spoken of for one departing from desire.

問：諸欲、恚、害定同時斷，何緣建立別出離耶？答：彼諸出離雖復同時，約修對治有差別故，宣說三種出離差別。對治差別者，謂不淨、慈、悲，如其次第。或有唯修不淨出離一切；或慈、或悲。是故別說三種出離。此上唯有一類對治，故後出離無有差別。

Question: Since desire, ill-will, and harm are definitely cut off at the same time, for what reason are separate departures established? Answer: Although those departures are indeed simultaneous, because there is a distinction with respect to the cultivating of the antidotes, three distinct departures are proclaimed. The distinction of the antidotes is: the impure, loving-kindness, and compassion, in that order. Some cultivate only the impure to depart from all; or only loving-kindness; or only compassion. Therefore three departures are separately spoken of. Beyond this [i.e., form and the cessation of the personality-view] there is only one class of antidote, and so the later departures have no distinction.

云何猛利見者等隨念欲？謂由觀察作意於勝事作意故，猛利功用作意故。云何於諸欲中心不趣入？謂於彼處不見勝功德故。云何不美？謂於彼處喜悅不生故。云何不住？謂於彼處不樂受用為欣悅故。云何無有勝解？謂於彼處不樂取著不如理相故。云何萎顇？謂雖縱任而不舒泰故。云何壞散？謂取境已，尋復棄捨故。云何而不舒泰？謂於所緣雖強令住，而不愛樂故。云何等住於捨？謂行平等位，於平等位中心遊觀故。何等為厭？謂由於彼深見過患，棄背為性。此復三種。謂無常故、苦故、變壞法故。何等為惡？謂由於彼初見過患，棄背為性。何等為違？謂由於彼中見過患，棄背為性。何等為背？謂由於彼後見過患，棄背為性。與此相違，即於離欲作意趣入者，謂於是處見勝功德故。美者，謂於是處生清淨信而證順故。住者，謂於所緣不流散故。勝解者，由於是處不染污轉，於諸煩惱得離繫故。以於厭等棄背行中正流轉時，心無罣礙。又復於捨無有功用。

[What follows further explains seeing the danger in sense-desires and the aspects of movement toward the departure from desire.] What is "one of keen vision recollecting sense-desires, and the like"? It is by contemplating attention, by attention to the excellent matter, by attention of keen exertion. What is "the mind not entering into the sense-desires"? It is because one does not see excellent merit in that place. What is "no relish"? It is because delight does not arise in that place. What is "not abiding"? It is because one does not take joy in enjoyment as a delight in that place. What is "having no firm resolve"? It is because one does not take joy in grasping at and clinging to the marks not in accord with principle in that place. What is "withering"? It is because, though [the desire] is let go unconstrained, one does not feel expansive ease. What is "breaking apart"? It is because, having grasped the object, one at once relinquishes it again. What is "yet not feeling expansive ease"? It is because, though one is forced to settle upon the object, one does not delight in it. What is "abiding evenly in equanimity"? It is because one proceeds in a state of evenness, and within the state of evenness the mind roams and observes. What is "weariness"? It is, from seeing the danger in that [object] deeply, having the nature of turning away and rejecting; and this is again of three kinds — because it is impermanent, because it is suffering, because it is subject to change and ruin. What is "aversion"? It is, from seeing the danger in that at the outset, having the nature of turning away and rejecting. What is "opposing"? It is, from seeing the danger in that in the middle, having the nature of turning away and rejecting. What is "turning the back"? It is, from seeing the danger in that at the end, having the nature of turning away and rejecting. The opposite of this — namely, one who enters upon the attention of departing from desire — is because one sees excellent merit in this place. "Relish" is because in this place there arises pure faith and one accords with realization. "Abiding" is because one does not drift and scatter from the object. "Firm resolve" is because, in this place, one turns undefiled and, with respect to the afflictions, attains freedom from bondage. Because, while rightly proceeding in the turning-away-and-rejecting activity of weariness and so on, the mind is unobstructed; and, moreover, in equanimity there is no [need of] exertion.

云何其心善逝？謂住方便究竟作意故。云何善修？謂善修習餘作意故。當知此說斷位及斷方便道位。解者，謂解脫諸纏故。脫者，謂解脫所緣相故。離繫者，謂解脫隨眠故。從諸欲緣所生諸漏者，謂除欲貪，於欲界中所餘煩惱。損匱者，謂因此生執器仗等惡行差別，於此若作、若增長故，生諸惡趣。燒者：謂由此因、欲愛噉食、燒身心故。惱者，謂由此因，若事變壞，便生愁歎憂苦惱故。於彼解脫、超出、離繫者，謂如前次第，解脫諸纏、所緣、隨眠故。

What is "his mind is well-gone"? It is because he abides in the culminating-means attention. What is "well-cultivated"? It is because he well cultivates the remaining attentions. It should be understood that this speaks of the phase of cutting-off and the phase of the means-path of cutting-off. "Freed" means being freed from the entanglements. "Released" means being released from the marks of the object. "Unbound" means being freed from the latent tendencies. "The contaminants arisen from the conditions that are the sense-desires" means, apart from sensual craving, the remaining afflictions within the desire-realm. "Loss-and-lack" means the varieties of evil conduct, such as taking up weapons, that arise on this account; through the doing or the increasing of these, one is born into the evil destinies. "Burning" means, on this cause, being devoured by the craving for sense-pleasure, and so the body and mind are burned. "Vexation" means, on this cause, that when a matter comes to ruin, grief, lament, sorrow, suffering, and vexation arise. "Freed, gone beyond, and unbound with respect to them" means, in the sequence as before, being freed from the entanglements, the object, and the latent tendencies.

云何終不領納緣彼諸受？謂依將得、正得、隨念諸欲境界，染污諸受不復現行；其所依身不為眾惑染污而住，如紅蓮花，水滴不著。復有六種順出離界，如經廣說。謂我已修慈，乃至我已離諸我慢，然我猶為疑惑毒箭悶亂其心。是故慈等於恚、害等非正對治。當知為捨如是邪執，建立此界。是中恚等離欲對治有差別故，建立前四。對治相故，觀察聖住得道理故，建立無相。觀察究竟正道理故，建立第六。慈對治恚，無損行轉故。悲對治害，為除他苦，勝樂行轉故。喜治不樂，於他樂事隨喜行轉故。捨治貪恚，俱捨行轉故。無相對治一切眾相，相相違故。若離我慢，於自解脫或所證中定無疑惑。故離我慢是彼對治。此諸出離定能出離一切恚等。不善修故，恚等過失容可現行。又前五種順出離界，初之四種天住所攝，第五一種聖住所攝。今此六種順出離界，前之四種梵住所攝，第五、第六、聖住所攝。

What is "in the end not undergoing the feelings conditioned by them"? It is that, in dependence on the sense-desire object-fields about to be obtained, being obtained, or recollected, the defiled feelings no longer manifest; and one's supporting body, unstained by the host of delusions, abides — like the red lotus flower, on which the water-drops do not cling. There are further six elements conducive to departure, as the scripture sets forth at length. Namely: "I have cultivated loving-kindness, and so on down to, I have departed from all conceits of self, yet my mind is still confounded and thrown into disorder by the poison-arrow of doubt." Therefore loving-kindness and the rest are not the direct antidotes to ill-will, harm, and the rest. It should be understood that this element is established for the sake of relinquishing such wrong grasping. Herein, because there is a distinction among the antidotes for departing-from-desire toward ill-will and the rest, the first four are established; because of the antidote-mark, and because of contemplating the principle of attaining the noble abiding, the markless is established; because of contemplating the principle of the ultimate right [path], the sixth is established. Loving-kindness is the antidote to ill-will, because it proceeds in a movement of non-injury. Compassion is the antidote to harm, because, for the sake of removing others' suffering, it proceeds in a movement of superior pleasure [-wishing]. Sympathetic joy remedies discontent, because it proceeds in a movement of rejoicing at others' joyful affairs. Equanimity remedies greed and ill-will, because it proceeds in a movement of equanimity toward both. The markless is the antidote to all the host of marks, because it is contrary to marks. If one departs from the conceit of self, then with respect to one's own liberation or what one has realized there is definitely no doubt; therefore departing from the conceit of self is the antidote to that [doubt]. These departures are definitely able to depart from all ill-will and the rest; because of not cultivating them well, the faults of ill-will and the rest may possibly manifest. Again, of the former five elements conducive to departure, the first four are subsumed under the divine abiding, the fifth alone under the noble abiding. Of the present six elements conducive to departure, the first four are subsumed under the brahmā-abiding, the fifth and sixth under the noble abiding.

9. The Reliances of Departure: The Four Reliances

復次，能超恚等諸過失故，名為出離。於出離時正可憑仗，故名為依。世尊說依略有四種。一、法是依，非數取趣；二、義是依，非文；三、了義經是依，非不了義經；四、智是依，非識。

Further, because it is able to surpass the faults of ill-will and the rest, it is named "departure." At the time of departure it is what may rightly be relied upon, and therefore it is named "reliance." The World-Honored One speaks of reliance as, in brief, of four kinds: (1) the Dharma is the reliance, not the person (pudgala); (2) the meaning is the reliance, not the letter; (3) the scripture of definitive meaning is the reliance, not the scripture of provisional meaning; (4) knowledge is the reliance, not [ordinary] consciousness.

此四種依，因何建立？補特伽羅四種別故。謂因諂詐補特伽羅差別故，建立初依；因順世間補特伽羅差別故，建立第二；因住自見取補特伽羅差別故，建立第三；因聞為極補特伽羅差別故，建立第四；因其諂詐，說法是依，非數取趣。要與彼論分別決擇，方證正智；非唯由彼現威儀故。即於此中復有差別。謂佛宣說補特伽羅及與諸法，唯法是依，非數取趣。世俗言辭不應執故。法又二種，謂文及義。唯義是依，非文。何以故？不應但聞即為究竟。要須於義思惟、籌量、審觀察故。佛所說經，或有了義，或不了義。觀察義時，了義是依，非不了義。世尊或時宣說依趣福、不動識。為往善趣故；或時宣說四聖諦智，為向涅槃故。於修法隨法行時，唯智是依，非識。略於四時失不失故，建立四種補特伽羅。謂得法時、住持時、觀察義時、修法隨法行時。依四時故，建立四依。

On what account are these four reliances established? Because there are four kinds of person (pudgala): because of the distinction of the flattering-and-deceitful person, the first reliance is established; because of the distinction of the world-conforming person, the second; because of the distinction of the person who abides in the grasping of his own views, the third; because of the distinction of the person for whom hearing is the utmost, the fourth. Because of his flattery-and-deceit, it is said that the Dharma is the reliance, not the person — one must, in analysis and discerning judgment, dispute with his doctrine before realizing right knowledge; it is not by his mere displaying of dignified deportment [that one relies on him]. And within this there is a further distinction: the Buddha proclaims persons and phenomena, yet only the Dharma is the reliance, not the person — because one should not cling to conventional words. The Dharma is again of two kinds, namely the letter and the meaning; only the meaning is the reliance, not the letter. Why? Because one should not, on merely hearing, take it as final — one must think upon the meaning, weigh it, and scrutinize it. Of the scriptures spoken by the Buddha, some are of definitive meaning and some of provisional meaning; when contemplating the meaning, the scripture of definitive meaning is the reliance, not that of provisional meaning. The World-Honored One at times proclaims the consciousness that resorts to merit and to the imperturbable — for the sake of going to good destinies; and at times proclaims the knowledge of the four noble truths — for the sake of proceeding toward nirvāṇa. In the practice of the Dharma and what accords with the Dharma, only knowledge is the reliance, not [ordinary] consciousness. In brief, because of failing or not failing at four times, four kinds of person are established — namely, the time of obtaining the Dharma, the time of upholding it, the time of contemplating the meaning, and the time of practicing the Dharma and what accords with the Dharma. In dependence on these four times, the four reliances are established.

Why the Desire-Realm's "Mind Fixed on One Object" Does Not Count as "Equipoise," Though It Too Is One-Pointedness

The overall heading laid out the four kinds of concentration — the meditative absorptions, the liberations, the concentrations (samādhi), and the attainments. The Establishment gate now sets about a very practical task: drawing a line. The treatise opens with a terse stroke: "these alone are named the Stage of Equipoise, not the one-pointedness of mind of the desire-realm (非於欲界心一境性)." Its meaning is this — even in the desire-realm you can have a moment of concentration (listening to a piece of music, working out a problem, the mind too can rest on a single object), yet that does not count as "equipoise." Why? The treatise gives the criterion: this kind of concentration, equipoise, is "drawn forth by non-regret, gladness, and ease (無悔、歡喜、安樂)"; the desire-realm's kind of concentration does not come about in this way.

The ancient masters make this line still clearer. Kuiji says: the Stage of Equipoise is established "because, through keeping the precepts, the mind comes to be without regret; being without regret, there is gladness; through gladness, there is ease; through ease, one attains concentration" 〔Concise Compendium〕. So it turns out that "equipoise" is not just any sort of concentration; it is a chain with a definite provenance: purity of discipline → non-regret → gladness → the pliancy of calm → the attainment of concentration. The desire-realm's concentration has no such root of pure, non-regretting discipline, and so, though for a moment the mind may rest on one object, it still does not rise to the level of "equipoise." The first thing the Establishment gate does is to set up this very threshold: the concentration of which the science of concentration speaks is a concentration grown out of purity and non-regret.

The Joy-and-Bliss Born of Seclusion: Entering the First Absorption, What Five Things Must Be Cut Off, and What Five Must Be Grown

Past the threshold, the first step is the "joy born of seclusion" of the first meditative absorption. The treatise says that to realize and abide in this one must "cut off five factors and bring five factors to fullness in cultivation" — this is a very concrete ledger of loss and gain.

The five to be cut off turn about one word, "desire," and one word, "the unwholesome": the gladness drawn forth by desire (the gladness of clinging to the five sense-pleasures), the sorrow drawn forth by desire (the sorrow and vexation when one seeks desire and does not succeed), the gladness drawn forth by the unwholesome (still bearing pleasure while doing evil), the sorrow drawn forth by the unwholesome (bearing suffering while doing evil), and the equanimity drawn forth by the unwholesome (the subtlest kind of all — like a master who does not himself do evil with his own hands yet indulges his servants in doing evil, "tolerating and not restraining," arousing a middling feeling that is neither painful nor pleasant). These five are the five flavors by which the desire-realm mind sticks to its objects; the first absorption is to depart from them.

The five to be grown are another chain: cheer (the joyful gladness with non-regret going first), gladness (the congratulatory gladness with the properly-cultivated means going first), calm (the bodily-and-mental fitness that departs from coarse heaviness), bliss (the bliss of body and mind free of harm, and the bliss of liberation), and concentration (the one-pointedness of mind that scrutinizingly and rightly observes the object). Set these two ledgers side by side and it becomes plain: the first absorption is not "thinking of nothing at all"; it is the exchange of the desire-realm's five clinging feelings for these five pure feelings. Seclusion is departing from the clinging of those five factors; the joy-and-bliss born is the growing of the purity of these five.

Five Gates: The Five Hindrances, and "With What Do You Feed It, With What Do You Cut It Off"

The most practical stretch in the science of concentration is here. The treatise says that when one is about to realize the absorptions there are "five hindrances" that act as obstruction: sensual desire, ill-will, dullness-and-drowsiness, restlessness-and-remorse, and doubt. The first thing the meditator runs up against is precisely these five gates.

There is a very fine point in the treatise's treatment of the five hindrances: though it plainly lists five hindrances, with greed, hatred, and doubt each one apiece, dullness and drowsiness are combined into a single hindrance, and restlessness and remorse likewise into a single hindrance — why? The ancient masters answer cleanly: dullness "conforms to giving rise to the afflictions and damages the cutting-off effort," while drowsiness is "the mind's being utterly dim and contracted"; the two are the one a prior cause and the other a subsequent effect, arising in mutual conformity, and so are combined into one; restlessness and remorse, for their part, are "alike in their locus" (their objects are of one class, both circling about kinsfolk, homeland, and the like) and "similar in mode" (both being mournful longing and leaping-up), and so are combined into one. Kuiji even adds a sentence to head off a possible misunderstanding: combining them thus "is not out of accord with the principle of the Consciousness-Only [treatise]" 〔Concise Compendium〕 — the combining of hindrances is a combining spoken with respect to their function of obstructing concentration; it is not to say that the intrinsic natures of restlessness and remorse are the same. As for the doubt-hindrance's arising of doubt "toward the teacher, the Dharma, the training, instruction, and realization," the ancient masters point it out: this is precisely doubting the four Dharma-jewels of teaching, principle, practice, and fruit, together with the two jewels of Buddha and Saṃgha — doubt is the shaking of the whole basis one relies on for the path.

But recognizing the five hindrances is not yet enough; the treatise goes on to ask two things of every hindrance: with what do you feed it (its food), with what do you cut it off (its non-food). The ancient masters fix this pair of concepts: "'Food' has the sense of nourishing-and-growing, augmenting the conditions that give rise to the hindrance; 'non-food' is what cuts off and destroys the hindering factors". And so every hindrance has a set of antidotes:

• The hindrance of sensual desire: its food is the "agreeable-and-fine mark" (the treatise goes down even to the eight places on a woman's body — singing, dancing, laughter, the sidelong glance, and the other lovely marks), its non-food the "impure mark" (the contemplation of the livid-bruised [corpse] and the inner and outer impurity of the body). The treatise lays down a fine simile here: to be free of defilement one starts from the "foremost, most excellent and fine" desire-mark — "just as, having subdued the strong one, the remaining weak ones subdue themselves (如制強力，餘劣自伏)" — subdue the strongest one, and the remaining inferior ones follow of themselves.
• The hindrance of ill-will: its food is the nature-of-ill-will and the mark-of-ill-will, its non-food "benevolent loving-kindness and worthy goodness" (contemplating with a loving mind, taming the nine vexing matters).
• The hindrance of dullness-and-drowsiness: its food is the "mark of blackness-and-darkness," its non-food the "mark of light" — the treatise divides light into three tiers: light that dispels darkness (stars, moon, sun, fire), the light of the Dharma (contemplating phenomena, recollecting the Buddha), and light dependent on the body (the natural bodily radiance of sentient beings). Among these, what can truly dispel the darkness of dullness-and-drowsiness is the "light of the Dharma" — the ancient masters say this is the wisdom of hearing, reflection, and cultivation "making manifest the nature of phenomena". The darkness of dullness-and-drowsiness must be broken with the light of wisdom.
• The hindrance of restlessness-and-remorse: its food is the ruminating on kinsfolk, homeland, and the like, and the recollecting of jest and merry-making, its non-food "tranquility (śamatha)" — namely the nine kinds of settling the mind.
• The hindrance of doubt: its food is improper attention toward the three times ("Was I, in the past, existent or non-existent?..."), its non-food the "taking of dependent origination as object" — contemplating that "there is only phenomena and only the cause of phenomena, only suffering and only the cause of suffering," whereupon doubt is cut off of itself.

This whole passage is a "clinical antidote-chart" of the science of concentration. Its most precious feature is this: it does not speak abstractly of "cutting off the afflictions," but tells you, hindrance by hindrance — by what does this hindrance grow, by what is it dissolved. And it is worth noting that this chart is no invention of the treatise-author: it is precisely the abhidharma unfolding of that passage of the Buddha's word in the Saṃyukta-āgama, sūtra 715, "the five hindrances are established in dependence on food, not on non-food" — the scripture says "food / non-food," the treatise says "food / non-food," and the sequence of the five hindrances answers, one by one, to the antidotes of the impurity-contemplation, the loving mind, the illumining light, tranquility, and the dharma of dependent origination 〔Saṃyukta-āgama 715〕. The treatise is spelling out for us, hindrance by hindrance, the antidote-dharma the Buddha taught.

Four Pillars: Why the Absorptions Establish Just These Few Limbs

Past the five hindrances, the treatise establishes the "limbs of the absorptions" — the first absorption's five limbs (applied thought, sustained thought, joy, bliss, one-pointedness of mind), the second absorption's four, the third absorption's five, the fourth absorption's four. There is a good question here: within a single absorption there are ever so many mental phenomena; why pick out just these few to call "limbs"? The treatise answers with a touch of human warmth: "Although there are yet other phenomena within the absorptions, because these are the most excellent and are of the gravest benefit to one who cultivates concentration, they alone are established as limbs (為恩重故，偏立為支)" 〔Dunlun, Notes〕 — these few limbs are "of the gravest benefit and kindness" to the one who cultivates concentration, and so they alone are singled out and established as limbs. The ancient masters take an army for a simile: "just as the four divisions of an army, because each is an antidote (如四支軍，各對治故)" — as an army has its four divisions of elephants, cavalry, chariots, and infantry, each shouldering one duty, so the limbs of the absorptions divide their labor thus: applied and sustained thought take charge of "grasping the object," concentration of "the support," joy of "receiving the object-field," bliss of "removing coarse heaviness."

And there is one further question that most tests one's skill: why does the first absorption still "have applied and sustained thought" (still have coarse-and-fine applied thinking) — is that not less still? The treatise answers: because the first absorption, though able to grow weary of the desire-realm and enter, is "not yet able to observe the fault of applied and sustained thought"; only in the second absorption does one see the fault of applied and sustained thought and speak of "the stilling of applied and sustained thought." The Tripiṭaka-master Xuanzang has a personal gloss on this question, which Dunlun set down: "In cultivating whatever quality, at the preliminary stage one has applied and sustained thought; once one reaches the fundamental [absorption], there is no applied and sustained thought (若至根本即無尋伺)" — applied and sustained thought are the tools used at the "preliminary" stage; once at the fundamental concentration they are set down. The second absorption sees the fault of applied and sustained thought, the third the fault of joy, the fourth the fault of bliss — layer by layer seeing through the trace of coarse stirring the previous layer still retained, and stilling it. The sequence of the absorptions is just the sequence of "seeing the fault and relinquishing," one layer at a time.

A Word of Warning: Do Not Mistake Worldly Concentration for Nirvāṇa

When the Establishment gate comes to speak of "alternate names," a weighty reminder is tucked away. The treatise says the absorptions may be named "the superior mind" or "blissful abiding" — well and good; but it also says the absorptions "may be named the nirvāṇa-of-that-part, and may also be named the differentiated nirvāṇa (彼分涅槃…差別涅槃)" — and these two names call for caution. The ancient masters explain it through: the nirvāṇa-of-that-part is "a portion of the afflictions cut off, not definitive, [and] conditioned"; it is a false nirvāṇa merely "similar in kind" to the true nirvāṇa 〔Concise Compendium, "the false nirvāṇa is named the nirvāṇa-of-that-part; 'that-part' has the sense of similarity in kind"〕; the differentiated nirvāṇa means that it is "not the ultimate." In other words: worldly absorption can bring "a portion" of the afflictions to rest, and that portion of stillness closely resembles nirvāṇa — yet it is conditioned and liable to fall away. The treatise had already said earlier that worldly absorption "is able only to relinquish, gradually, the coarse heaviness of that class; it does not uproot the seed (不拔種子)." To mistake this "very-like-nirvāṇa" bliss of concentration for nirvāṇa is precisely the pit most easily fallen into in cultivating concentration. With the two words "that-part / differentiated" the Establishment gate lightly drives in a warning-stake right here: the bliss of concentration is like nirvāṇa but is not nirvāṇa; to uproot the seed, one needs the uncontaminated absorption.

Four Things to Rely On: On the Path, What to Rely On and What Not to Rely On

The Establishment gate draws to a close on the "reliances of departure" — the four reliances. The treatise says: what can surpass the faults of ill-will and the rest is called "departure," and what "may rightly be relied upon" at the time of departure is called "reliance." The World-Honored One speaks of four reliances: the Dharma is the reliance, not the person; the meaning is the reliance, not the letter; the scripture of definitive meaning is the reliance, not the scripture of provisional meaning; knowledge is the reliance, not [ordinary] consciousness. The ancient masters point out that these four reliances are established as antidotes to the failings of four kinds of person: to the "flattering-and-deceitful" (who blindly follow merely from seeing the master's dignified deportment) it says rely on the Dharma, not the person; to the "world-conforming" (who cling to the letter) it says rely on the meaning, not the letter; to those who "abide in the grasping of their own views" it says rely on the scripture of definitive meaning; to those "for whom hearing is the utmost" it says rely on knowledge, not [ordinary] consciousness; and it matches them, moreover, to the four times of practicing the path: at the time of obtaining the Dharma, rely on the Dharma; at the time of upholding, rely on the meaning; at the time of contemplating the meaning, rely on the definitive; at the time of practicing the Dharma and what accords with the Dharma, rely on knowledge. These four reliances are the Dharma-seal that the Buddha established with his own mouth in the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra — "rely on the Dharma, not the person; rely on the meaning, not the words; rely on knowledge, not [ordinary] consciousness; rely on the scripture of definitive meaning, not the scripture of provisional meaning" 〔Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra〕; the treatise here splices it into the science of concentration, making of it four measuring-cords for the one who cultivates the path all along the way.

(There are two more passages within the Establishment gate worth mentioning: "the departure from the feelings" says that the four absorptions each depart from one feeling-faculty — the first departs from sorrow, the second from suffering, the third from joy, the fourth from bliss, and the markless from equanimity — and it cites a Sūtra of Non-Error teaching one to know, as it really is, the cause, condition, sequence, mark, and motion of the sorrow-faculty; only this Sūtra of Non-Error has no surviving Chinese witness, and is preserved solely by this one citation of the treatise. And "the elements conducive to departure" says that by abiding in this one is able to depart from desire, ill-will, harm, and the rest, and rounds off the body and mind of the one who departs with an exquisite simile: the defiled feelings do not cling to his body, "like the red lotus flower, on which the water-drops do not cling (如紅蓮花，水滴不著)".)

Carrying Forward

The Establishment gate looks piecemeal — a paring-down of concentration, the cutting-and-cultivating, the five hindrances, the limbs of the absorptions, the alternate names, the four reliances — but it is in fact the filling-in, sinew by sinew, of that framework of the science of concentration that the "overall heading" set up: first it draws out the threshold of equipoise (drawn forth by pure, non-regretting discipline; the desire-realm does not enter); then it gives the ledger of loss and gain for entering concentration (cut off five, cultivate five); then it lays out the clinical antidotes of cultivating concentration (the five hindrances, food and non-food); then it dissects the inner structure of the absorptions (the four limbs each an antidote; applied and sustained thought are set down once one reaches the fundamental); then it drives in a warning-stake (the nirvāṇa-of-that-part is not the true nirvāṇa; worldly concentration does not uproot the seed); and at the last it hands over the four measuring-cords for practicing the path (the four reliances). Most of this is no new fabrication of the treatise-author, but the spelling-out, item by item, in abhidharma terms, of the five-hindrances-food of the Saṃyukta-āgama and the four reliances of the Mahāparinirvāṇa-sūtra, spliced into the science of concentration. The next gate, "Attention," will speak of how, upon this ground of concentration now filled out with sinew, the mind should apply itself step by step (the seven attentions, the forty attentions); and the "one-pointedness of mind" accomplished by the cutting-off of the five hindrances joins directly with the scriptural point of the overall heading — the success or failure of concentration comes down, in the end, to whether one can rightly realize the one-pointedness of mind.