瑜伽師地論 思所成地 · 三門（自性清淨 · 思擇所知）

The gate of the Stage of Reflection opens. Three aspects set out the path of "how to reflect": the quality of reflection (intrinsic purity) · the object of reflection (discerning the knowable) · the material of reflection (discerning the phenomena).

In one line: The gate of the Stage of Reflection opens by setting out, in three aspects, the path of the wisdom of reflection — the nine aspects of intrinsic purity sharpen the knife of reflection (rely on the meaning not the letter, do not grow weary nor draw back); discerning the knowable sorts out "being-phenomena / non-being-phenomena" (five being-phenomena, five non-being-phenomena); and the three marks of the particular together with the five kinds of being-nature have already set up the three natures as the ruler for examining phenomena, while the six kinds of verbal expression lay bare fictitious names; discerning the phenomena then draws forth the three sets of gāthās.

Three Points of the Eye

1. Intrinsic purity = the quality of reflection (nine aspects): dwelling alone in reflection · reflecting on what is to be reflected upon · distinguishing black speech from great speech · relying on the meaning, not the letter · confident understanding and examination by wisdom · firm · settled · continuous · consummating without drawing back. The wisdom of reflection is not meditation; first grind the knife (quality), then cut the thing (object).

2. Discerning the knowable = discriminating being from non-being, with the three natures as ruler: "With respect to what has phenomenal being, know the mark of being; with respect to what is not phenomenal being, know the mark of non-being." The observed being-phenomena are five (particular mark · common mark · fictitious mark · causal mark · fruitional mark), the non-being-phenomena five (not-yet-arisen · already-ceased · mutual · ultimate · absolute). Point of the eye — the three marks of being-phenomena of the particular mark (being of the ultimate mark = perfectly-accomplished / suchness · being of the aspectual mark = other-dependent · being of the present mark, as the ancient masters judge outright); the five kinds of being-nature = perfectly-accomplished · other-dependent · wholly-imagined (that is, the three natures) + distinguishing + inexpressible. The very name of the three natures has already come forth in the Stage of Reflection.

3. Being-phenomena of the fictitious mark = six kinds of verbal expression (laying bare fictitious names): corresponding to a possessor · removed from this and that · common convention · assemblage of many phenomena · not throughout everything · the non-constant. Point of the eye — "common convention" rests on consciousness and the six aspects of the five omnipresent factors; the ancient masters lay bare "the fictitious means superimposition, not real-mark being" = the ground of the wholly-imagined. Examples: the door of a house · jar and basin (the fiction of assemblage) · a lump of gold → ring or bracelet (the non-constant) · the son of a barren woman (absolute non-being). The four kinds of inexpressibility (there is nothing · profundity · would draw forth nothing of meaning · the very-suchness of the mark of phenomena).

Appendix · Guidance

The three marks of the particular · the five kinds of being-nature → the chapter on the three natures in the Cheng Weishi Lun · the Chapter on Discriminating the Marks in the Madhyāntavibhāga; the six verbal expressions "superimposition, not real" → the Section on the Mark of the Knowable in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha · the wholly-imagined; the inexpressible (the person inexpressible as same or different from the aggregates) → the Chapter on the Mark of the Ultimate Truth in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra · the no-self of persons in the ultimate-meaning gāthās (11-01); the six aspects in dependence on the five omnipresent factors → the Hundred Dharmas Treatise (in this series). For the doctrine expounded, see the Exposition.

〔Stage heading〕本地分中思所成地第十一之一 — Within the Basic Section, the Stage of What is Attained through Reflection, the eleventh, part one

Opening the Gate: The Three Aspects of the Stage of What is Attained through Reflection

The foregoing has already treated the "Stage of What is Attained through Hearing." What is the "Stage of What is Attained through Reflection"? It should be known that, stated briefly, it is [recognized] by three aspects: first, by intrinsic purity; second, by discerning the knowable; third, by discerning the phenomena.

One · Intrinsic Purity (the Nine Aspects of Pure Reflection)

What is "intrinsic purity"? It is to be recognized by nine aspects: (1) as when there is a person who, dwelling alone in a solitary [place], deliberatively reflects on the principles of the phenomena just as he has heard and penetrated them; (2) staying away from every locus that is "not to be reflected upon or discussed," and deliberatively reflecting only on the locus that "is to be reflected upon"; (3) being able to distinguish well between "black speech" (the speech of what is not the true Dharma) and "great speech" (the speech of the true Dharma); (4) in all that he reflects upon, relying only on the "meaning" and not on the "letter"; (5) toward one part of the Dharma, generating only confident understanding, and toward one part of the Dharma, examining it with wisdom; (6) reflecting firmly; (7) reflecting settledly; (8) reflecting continuously without break; (9) being able to bring to a good consummation what he reflects upon, never in mid-course growing weary and afraid, drawing back and shrinking away. By these nine aspects, [his reflection] is called "pure, well-purified" reflection.

Two · Discerning the Knowable

What is "discerning the knowable"? It is to discern well "the meaning that is observed." And what is called "the meaning that is observed"? It is this: with respect to "what has phenomenal being," to know its "mark of being"; with respect to "what is not phenomenal being," to know its "mark of non-being" — this is called the meaning that is observed.

(a) The Being-Phenomena That Are Observed, Briefly of Five Kinds

What are "the being-phenomena that are observed"? It should be known that these phenomena are briefly of five kinds: (1) being-phenomena of the particular mark, (2) being-phenomena of the common mark, (3) being-phenomena of the fictitious mark, (4) being-phenomena of the causal mark, (5) being-phenomena of the fruitional mark.

1. Being-phenomena of the particular mark — these are again of three kinds: (i) being of the ultimate mark (the meaning that is free of verbal expression within phenomena, which is the field ranged over by supramundane knowledge, and is the "non-posited mark"); (ii) being of the aspectual mark (recognized by four kinds of observed aspect: first, that in this place a "name" is obtainable; second, that in this place a "referent-thing" is obtainable; third, that this name is not indeterminate with respect to this referent-thing — if it were deluded it would be indeterminate, if it were impermanent it would be indeterminate; fourth, that this name follows over onto this referent-thing without obstruction, and does not follow over in some places while turning back in others); (iii) being of the present mark (namely, that which has already arisen, and that which has causal-and-fruitional nature). All of this, stated as a whole, is the single "being-phenomena of the particular mark."

2. Being-phenomena of the common mark — these are again of five kinds: (i) the common mark of category (form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness — each a distinct category — are together named a single category); (ii) the common mark of the accomplishing of what is done (as wholesome contaminated phenomena, with respect to the drawing of a beloved fruit, are said to have a common mark by the deed that can accomplish it; unwholesome phenomena drawing an unbeloved fruit, and the factors conducive to awakening — the foundations of mindfulness, the right exertions, the bases of psychic power, the faculties, the powers, the awakening-limbs, the path-limbs, and so forth — with respect to the attaining of awakening, likewise are said to have a common mark by the deed that can accomplish it); (iii) the common mark of all formations (the mark of "impermanence" belonging to all formations); (iv) the common mark of all that is contaminated (the mark of "suffering" belonging to all contaminated formations); (v) the common mark of all phenomena (the mark of "emptiness and no-self" belonging to all phenomena). All of this, stated as a whole, is the single "being-phenomena of the common mark."

3. Being-phenomena of the fictitious mark — if in a certain place there briefly arise six kinds of verbal expression, it should be known that this place is named "being of the fictitious mark." Which six kinds of verbal expression?

• Verbal expression corresponding to a possessor: the several verbal expressions must be assigned to a "possessor" before their mark is understood; they are not unassigned to a possessor. As when one says "arising," one must ask "whose arising is this," and the expression arises only in dependence on the possessor to which it belongs — it is "the arising of form," "the arising of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness"; it is not that when one says "form" one must ask "whose form is this." As with "arising," so too, correspondingly, with "aging, abiding, impermanence," and the other formations dissociated from mind. When this kind of expression arises in such a place, it should be known that this place is being of the fictitious mark.
• Verbal expression removed from this and that: the expression that is neither "displaying this by this" nor "displaying that by that." (The expression that displays this by this operates both at the locus of a real mark and at the locus of a fictitious mark, as when one says "the hardness of earth" 〔real〕 or "the roundness of stone" 〔fictitious〕; the wetness of water, the dripping of oil, the warmth of fire, the flame of a blaze, the movement of wind, the gusting of a gale are likewise. The expression that displays that by that operates at the locus of a real mark, as when one says "the consciousness of the eye, the contact of the body"; and operates at the locus of a fictitious mark, as when one says "the food, the carriage, the clothing, the ornaments of Buddhadatta or Devamitra.") But the expression that is "neither displaying this by this nor displaying that by that" operates uniformly at the locus of a fictitious mark, as when one says "the door of a house, the wall of a dwelling, the mouth of a jar, the belly of a pot, the chariots of an army, the trees of a grove, the ten of a hundred, the three of a ten." This is called verbal expression removed from this and that.
• Verbal expression of common convention: fictitiously positing an expression for the verbal self-nature of six kinds of aspect. The six kinds of aspect are: (i) the aspect of a thing (grasped by consciousness); (ii) the aspect of the knowable (grasped by attention, able to give rise to consciousness); (iii) the aspect of the pleasant-and-fine and the like (grasped by contact); (iv) the aspect of the benefiting and the like (grasped by feeling); (v) the aspect of verbal expression (grasped by perception); (vi) the aspect of wrong conduct and the like (grasped by volition).
• Verbal expression of the assemblage of many phenomena: establishing an expression of self-nature for a manifold combination. As, for the inner form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness, establishing expressions such as "diverse selves"; and for the combined distinctions of outer things — form, scent, taste, the tangible, and so forth — establishing diverse expressions such as house, dwelling, jar, clothing, chariot, carriage, army, grove, tree.
• Verbal expression that is not [applied] throughout everything: the several verbal expressions follow over in some places and revolve back in others. As the expression "dwelling-house" follows over place by place among the several dwelling-houses, but revolves back when it reaches a village, a settlement, a wayside post, a country, and the like; the expression "basin and pot" follows over place by place among basins and pots, but revolves back when it reaches a jar-vessel; the expression "army" follows over the several armies, but revolves back when it reaches the distinguished classes of men, women, the young and the small; the expression "grove" follows over the several groves, but revolves back when it reaches the distinguished classes of the roots, stems, branches, twigs, leaves, flowers, and fruits of the trees.
• Verbal expression of the non-constant: recognized by four aspects. (i) By destruction (when a jar and the like are destroyed, the expression "jar" is discarded and the expression "shard" arises); (ii) by non-destruction (when diverse things are combined into a pellet or scattered, the expression for the distinct diverse things is discarded and the expression "pellet or powder" arises); (iii) by intensified effort (when, applying intensified effort to a lump of gold and the like, one fashions distinct ornaments such as a ring or bracelet, the expression "lump of gold" is discarded and the expression "ring or bracelet" arises); (iv) by transformation (when food and the like transform, the expression "food" is discarded and the expression "excrement" arises). Expressions of this class are called verbal expression of the non-constant.

As one gives rise to these six kinds of verbal expression toward the several things, it should be known that all these things are "fictitiously existent" — this is called being-phenomena of the fictitious mark.

4. Being-phenomena of the causal mark — this cause is briefly of five kinds: (i) the beloved cause (wholesome contaminated phenomena); (ii) the unbeloved cause (unwholesome phenomena); (iii) the nurturing cause (the wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate phenomena that arise earlier and earlier, by being cultivated, well cultivated, and much cultivated, are able to cause the wholesome, unwholesome, and indeterminate phenomena that arise later and later to progressively increase and prevail); (iv) the cause of continued turning (through this seed, through this perfuming, through this accompanying support, that phenomenon continues to turn; this, with respect to that phenomenon, is named the cause of continued turning); (v) the cause of cessation-and-return (the several formations returning-and-ceasing, defilement returning-and-ceasing; and all that can generate and accomplish the path able to still, able to bring to parinirvāṇa, able to lead to awakening, together with its provisions and means). Together these are named being-phenomena of the causal mark. If distinguished at length, their marks are to be known as in the [treatment of] "the causes and fruits of reflection."

5. Being-phenomena of the fruitional mark — from those five causes, whatever is generated, whatever is attained, whatever is accomplished, whatever is brought about, whatever is turned — it should be known that this is being-phenomena of the fruitional mark.

(b) The Non-Being-Phenomena That Are Observed, Also of Five Kinds

What are "the non-being-phenomena that are observed"? This mark also is of five kinds: (1) the non-being of the not-yet-arisen (future formations); (2) the non-being of the already-ceased (past formations); (3) mutual non-being (the several remaining phenomena have, by way of the remaining mark, a "quality of being removed from," a "quality of non-being"; or the "quality of the non-combining" of the remaining phenomena with the several remaining phenomena); (4) ultimate non-being (the nature established by conventional verbal self-nature, by fictitiously posited verbal expression 〔which, in terms of the ultimate, is all non-being〕); (5) absolute non-being (as with the son of a barren woman and the like, a class that is absolutely non-being).

(c) The Five Kinds of Being-Nature and the Five Kinds of Non-Being-Nature

Further, there are five kinds of being-nature and five kinds of non-being-nature. Which five kinds of being-nature? (1) the being-nature of the perfectly-accomplished mark; (2) the being-nature of the other-dependent mark; (3) the being-nature of the wholly-imagined mark; (4) the being-nature of the distinguishing mark; (5) the being-nature of the inexpressible mark. Of these: the first is the "ultimate mark"; the second is the "condition-arisen mark"; the third is the "fictitiously-posited mark"; the fourth is the "non-dual mark" (the mark of arising, the mark of aging, the mark of abiding, the mark of impermanence, the mark of suffering, the mark of emptiness, the mark of no-self, the mark of a thing, the mark of the knowable, the mark of the grasped, the mark of the pleasant-and-fine and the like, the mark of the benefiting and the like, the mark of verbal expression, the mark of wrong conduct and the like — these marks are named the "distinguishing mark"); the fifth, by four kinds of inexpressibility, is named the "inexpressible mark": (i) inexpressible because there is nothing [to express] (the person, with respect to those aggregates, cannot be said to be either the same or different); (ii) inexpressible because of profundity (the verbally-inexpressible nature of phenomena is inconceivable; the Dharma-body of the Tathāgata is inconceivable; the field of the several buddhas, and whether the Tathāgata after cessation exists or does not exist, and the like, cannot be declared); (iii) inexpressible because it would draw forth nothing of meaning (if any phenomena cannot draw forth the meaning of the Dharma or the holy life, the buddhas, the world-honored ones, though they have realized them, do not speak of them); (iv) inexpressible because it is established by the very-suchness of the mark of phenomena (suchness, with respect to the several formations and the like, cannot be said to be either the same or different).

Which five kinds of non-being-nature? (1) the non-being-nature of the ultimate mark; (2) the non-being-nature of the self-dependent mark; (3) the non-being-nature of the absolute particular mark; (4) the non-being-nature of the undifferentiated mark; (5) the non-being-nature of the expressible mark.

Three · Discerning the Phenomena (Setting Out the List)

What is "discerning the phenomena"? This again should be known as of two kinds: first, discerning the meaning of the sūtras (素呾纜, sūtra); second, discerning the meaning of the gāthās (伽他, gāthā). Discerning the meaning of the sūtras — this is treated at length in the "Section on the Gathering of Events" and in the "Instruction of the Bodhisattva Canon." Discerning the meaning of the gāthās — this again is of three kinds: first, the establishing of the ultimate-meaning gāthās; second, the establishing of the intended-meaning gāthās; third, the establishing of the essential-meaning gāthās. 〔For these three [sets of] gāthās below, see 11-01 / 11-02 / 11-03.〕

The Stage of What is Attained through Reflection speaks of the "wisdom born of reflection" — taking the Dharma one has heard, laying it upon the mind, and examining it over and over. But there is a right thinking and a wrong thinking: wild, scattered thinking does not count as the wisdom of reflection. These three opening aspects are precisely a map of "thinking in accordance with the Dharma." The hard points are all explained with the examples the treatise itself already holds.

〔Stage heading〕本地分中思所成地第十一之一 — Within the Basic Section, the Stage of What is Attained through Reflection, the eleventh, part one

First, a Question: Among the Three Wisdoms of Hearing, Reflection, and Cultivation, What Exactly Does This Gate of "Reflection" Do?

The wisdom of hearing takes the Dharma in and fixes it accurately in memory; the wisdom of cultivation takes the Dharma into meditative absorption and realizes it out. Wedged in between, the "wisdom of reflection" does a piece of work most easily slighted and yet most crucial — taking the Dharma one has heard and, by oneself, examining it once over on the mind, discriminating it once over, deciding it once over, discriminating until it stands firm, deciding until it no longer wavers; only then does this Dharma truly become one's own, only then can it be handed on to "cultivation."

The moment the Stage of What is Attained through Reflection opens its gate, it uses three aspects to take this piece of work apart: first, intrinsic purity (the "quality" of the reflection must be pure); second, discerning the knowable (the "object" of the reflection must be discriminated clearly); third, discerning the phenomena (the "material" of the reflection = the sūtras and the gāthās). The first two aspects are the backbone of this opening unit.

The First Aspect · Intrinsic Purity: First Grind the Knife of "Reflection" Clean

The treatise is in no hurry to teach you what to think; first it teaches you "what kind of thinking counts" — it lists nine items, each of them guarding against one kind of going astray:

One must dwell alone in a solitary place and, having settled down into quiet, deliberatively reflect (not amid bustle with scattered delusive thoughts); reflect only on "what is to be reflected upon," and not touch the locus of "what is not to be reflected upon or discussed" (not boring into a dead end, not reflecting on the inconceivable); distinguish clearly between "black speech" and "great speech" (able to tell which is not the Dharma and which is the true Dharma); rely on the meaning, not on the letter (grasp the doctrinal meaning, and not be led along by the surface of the words — this is the very lifeline of the wisdom of reflection); toward what should be confidently understood, confidently understand, and toward what should be examined with wisdom, examine with wisdom (neither blindly believing throughout, nor doubtingly demanding throughout); and then, firmly, settledly, and continuously, keep on reflecting, all the way to consummation, not in mid-course growing weary, or afraid, or drawing back.

The nine items taken together are one knife ground clean — "pure and well-purified reflection." That the Stage of Reflection gives not the object first but the quality first carries a deep intent: if the knife is not clean, whatever you cut comes out warped.

The Second Aspect · Discerning the Knowable: Discriminating "Being" from "Non-Being," One Ruler Measuring Through

Once the knife is ground, what does it cut? It cuts "the meaning that is observed." And this meaning the treatise splits in two with a single sentence: "With respect to what has phenomenal being, know the mark of being; with respect to what is not phenomenal being, know the mark of non-being" — the one who knows how to think, at the very first step, sorts out "what is there" from "what is not there," neither taking the not-there for there (that is superimposition), nor taking the there for not-there (that is denial).

How Does "Being-Phenomena" Have Being? — Five Kinds of Being-Phenomena, Discriminating True from False Layer by Layer

The treatise takes "being" apart into five kinds, and the most essential is the first, being-phenomena of the particular mark, which divides into three layers; and these three layers, the ancient masters saw at a glance, are exactly the ruler of the three natures:

• Being of the ultimate mark — the "non-posited mark" free of all verbal expression, which only supramundane knowledge can illuminate. The ancient masters judge outright: this is the perfectly-accomplished (suchness) (Kuiji says, "being of the ultimate mark means suchness itself, attained by root knowledge, the non-posited mark") 〔窺基〕.
• Being of the aspectual mark — that which is recognized only by four kinds of aspect (a name is obtainable, a referent-thing is obtainable, the name is determinate with respect to the referent-thing, it follows over without obstruction). The ancient masters judge: this is the other-dependent (Kuiji says, "being of the aspectual mark is the other-dependent nature") 〔窺基〕. He also adds a still finer ruler: "a name is obtainable" marks off the perfectly-accomplished (suchness does not follow upon names), and "a referent-thing is obtainable" marks off the wholly-imagined (the wholly-imagined self has a name but no substantial referent-thing) 〔窺基〕.
• Being of the present mark — the already-arisen, that which has causal-and-fruitional nature.

Out of a single "being-phenomena of the particular mark," the ancient masters have measured out the shadow of all three natures — perfectly-accomplished, other-dependent, and wholly-imagined. The ruler used by the Stage of Reflection to examine phenomena turns out to be the three natures — and this is exactly the astonishing thing about this gate: the three natures of Consciousness-Only make their entrance not only at the wisdom of cultivation, not only in the Cheng Weishi Lun; the very first stroke of the wisdom of reflection examining phenomena is already they.

Being-phenomena of the common mark, in turn, is the shared mark of the several phenomena, in five items from shallow to deep: category (the aggregating of the aggregates), the accomplishing of what is done (the class of wholesome phenomena drawing a beloved fruit), and then three overall marks — "all formations are impermanent," "all that is contaminated is suffering," "all phenomena are empty and without self." When the wisdom of reflection examines this far, the three seals of the Dharma are already before its eyes.

"Being-Phenomena of the Fictitious Mark" = Six Kinds of Verbal Expression: A Class in Taking Language Apart

Of the five kinds of being-phenomena, the one the treatise treats most minutely is being-phenomena of the fictitious mark — and its criterion is peculiar: it looks not at the thing but at the "speech." Wherever a place can give rise to six kinds of verbal expression, that place is "fictitiously existent." These six kinds of verbal expression are in fact a class in taking everyday language apart, watching how people use speech to "manufacture" one thing after another that is not really there:

• Corresponding to a possessor: to say "arising" one must ask "whose arising" (the arising of form, the arising of feeling) — a name stands only in dependence on a "possessor."
• Removed from this and that: things like "the door of a house," "the trees of a grove," "the ten of a hundred" — neither displaying this by this nor displaying that by that, purely speech that turns upon a fictitious mark.
• Common convention: the speech that all agree upon by custom, established in dependence on consciousness and the five omnipresent factors (the six aspects: a thing · the knowable · the pleasant-and-fine · the benefiting · verbal expression · wrong conduct). The ancient masters lay bare the pivot: of these six aspects the "self-mark that is grasped" is real, but the "common mark" is fictitious — "the fictitious means superimposition, not real-mark being" (Dunlun cites the Consciousness-Only words) 〔遁倫〕. In one sentence he has laid bare how names-and-words "superimpose" a fictitious mark upon real phenomena — and this is precisely the ground of what later Consciousness-Only calls the wholly-imagined.
• Assemblage of many phenomena: calling a heap of combined things by a single name — the inner five aggregates called "self," the combination of outer form, scent, taste, and the tangible called "house, jar, chariot, grove."
• Not [applied] throughout everything: the name "dwelling-house" turns only upon dwelling-houses, and revolves back on reaching a village; "grove" turns only upon groves, and revolves back on reaching twigs and leaves — each name has its own bound.
• The non-constant: when a jar breaks it is renamed "shard," a lump of gold beaten into a "ring or bracelet," food turned into "excrement" — the thing changes, and the name is exchanged.

Taking the six kinds of verbal expression apart one after another, the conclusion is a single sentence: whatever can be "spoken" in this way is fictitiously existent. The one who knows how to reflect is therefore not fooled by names-and-words.

One Must Also Know How to See "Non-Being"; "Being-Nature and Non-Being-Nature" Gather It All into One Net

"Non-being" too is of five kinds: the non-being of the not-yet-arisen (future formations), the non-being of the already-ceased (past formations), mutual non-being (the sort of "no horse within the ox"), ultimate non-being (conventional fictitious names, which in terms of the ultimate are all non-being), and absolute non-being (as with "the son of a barren woman" — a thing that is not there at all). Finally the treatise gathers all the foregoing discrimination into one overall net — five kinds of being-nature: the perfectly-accomplished mark, the other-dependent mark, the wholly-imagined mark (the first three are the three natures!), the distinguishing mark, and the inexpressible mark; together with the five kinds of non-being-nature that turn against them.

Among these, the inexpressible mark most repays pondering, and the treatise gives four reasons for "inexpressibility": because there is nothing (the person, with respect to the aggregates, cannot be said to be one, cannot be said to be different — whether the self of persons is one with or different from the five aggregates cannot even be broached); because of profundity (the verbally-inexpressible nature of phenomena, the Dharma-body of the Tathāgata, the field of the buddhas, whether the Tathāgata after cessation exists or not — deep to where words cannot reach); because it would draw forth nothing of meaning (what, once spoken, does not increase the meaning of the Dharma or the holy life, the Buddha, though he has realized it, does not speak); because it is the very-suchness of the mark of phenomena (suchness, with respect to the several formations, is from the outset unsayable as same or different). The one who knows how to reflect can discriminate clearly even "where one ought to shut one's mouth" — this too is the wisdom of reflection.

The Third Aspect · Discerning the Phenomena: The Material of Reflection

Having discriminated being from non-being and sharpened the knife of reflection, on what material does one reflect? The treatise marks out two classes: first, "the meaning of the sūtras" (the meaning of the discourses, treated at length in the Section on the Gathering of Events and the Bodhisattva Canon), and second, "the meaning of the gāthās" — and the meaning of the gāthās divides again into three sets: the ultimate-meaning gāthās, the intended-meaning gāthās, and the essential-meaning gāthās. These three sets are precisely the main text that 11-01, 11-02, and 11-03 will one by one take up for reflection.

The Intent of This Gate

The Stage of Reflection, at its gate, does not expound lofty doctrine; first it gives a diagram of "how to reflect": intrinsic purity sharpens the knife of reflection (rely on the meaning not the letter, not grow weary nor draw back); discerning the knowable clears up being from non-being (five being-phenomena, five non-being-phenomena — and the three marks of the particular and the five kinds of being-nature have already set up the three natures as its ruler, the six kinds of verbal expression laying bare fictitious names); discerning the phenomena draws forth the three [sets of] gāthās. The wisdom of reflection is not meditation; it is a rigorous, exacting discrimination — and the ruler of that discrimination is, from the very start, the three natures. This lays the groundwork for the ultimate-meaning reflection on the three sets of gāthās to follow.

Carrying Forward

The three marks of the particular judged as the three natures · the five kinds of being-nature → the chapter on the three natures in the Cheng Weishi Lun · the Chapter on Discriminating the Marks in the Madhyāntavibhāga; the six verbal expressions of the fictitious mark · the common convention's "superimposition, not real" → the Section on the Mark of the Knowable in the Mahāyānasaṃgraha · the ground of the wholly-imagined in the Cheng Weishi Lun; the four kinds of inexpressibility (the person inexpressible as same or different from the aggregates · the verbally-inexpressible nature of phenomena) → the Chapter on the Mark of the Ultimate Truth in the Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra (the verbally-inexpressible) · the no-self of persons in the ultimate-meaning gāthās (11-01); the six aspects in dependence on the five omnipresent factors → the five omnipresent factors of the Hundred Dharmas Treatise (in this series) — the method of discriminating phenomena that the Stage of Reflection sets up, the later treatises unfold here at length.