瑜伽師地論 思所成地 · 體義伽他 · 第三段「貪」

Cluster three of the Body-Meaning Verses, five verses. A god, "overwhelmed and eclipsed by sensual craving, my mind burns everywhere," begs for stilling; the World-Honored One shows the counteragent.

In one line: The "Craving" cluster makes "inverted perception (taking up the pure and lovely mark)" the source of the fire of craving, and sets out four contemplations of skillful means (drawing in the faculties / the impure / suffering / no-self · mindfulness of the body) to cut off present activity, and one root contemplation (the concentration upon the signless) to pull out the latent tendency and demolish conceit; the condensed meaning gathers it into five causes for the arising of craving and five causes for its stilling.

Three Points of the Eye

1. The source of the fire = inverted perception: "It is because your perception is inverted that your mind is made to burn everywhere" — toward an impure object, taking up the pure and lovely mark and its secondary charms. The counteragent must be "poured upon again and again" (cultivated over and over).
2. Contemplations of skillful means + root contemplation (the ancient masters' judgment): the contemplations of skillful means = ① holding aloof from the pure mark that draws forth craving (drawing in the faculties, not pursuing in thought) ② ever settling the mind upon a single object and cultivating [the perception of] the impure (the livid-bruised corpse, the skeleton · contemplating the body's hairs, nails, excrement and urine) ③ contemplating the unlovely formations as suffering (craving-attachment = the truth of arising) ④ contemplating no-self (only formations, arisen from conditions) ⑤ fastening mindfulness upon the body and cultivating revulsion abundantly (added for the fierce craver · cuts off enwrapment, not the latent tendency); the root contemplation = cultivating the concentration upon the signless · demolishing conceit and the latent tendency · forever cutting off the self-conceit of the three realms to be cut off by cultivation → realizing the limit of suffering. Enwrapment = present activity cut off · latent tendency = the seed cut off.
3. Five causes for arising · five causes for extinction · two kinds of stilling: arising = the perception of the pure and lovely / delighting in pleasure / the perception of a sentient being / fierce and full craving / the latent tendency not yet exhausted; extinction = reflecting upon the impure / reflecting upon suffering / reflecting upon no-self / fastening mindfulness and revulsion / the latent tendency forever extinguished. The two kinds of stilling = the stilling of present activity (the former four causes) · the forever-cutting-off of the latent tendency so that it does not arise in the time to come (the fifth cause).

Appended · Pointers

The contemplation of the impure · the four foundations of mindfulness → the Śrāvaka Stage; the concentration upon the signless → the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06). Simile: the fire of craving poured upon again and again. For the doctrinal exposition, see the Exposition.

The Verses (in plain language · five verses)

〔The god pleads:〕 "Overwhelmed and eclipsed by sensual craving, my mind burns everywhere. I only beg the Great Seer to have pity, and to teach me how to still 〔this craving〕." 〔The World-Honored One answers:〕 "It is because your perception is inverted that your mind is made to burn everywhere; therefore you must ever hold aloof from the pure and lovely mark that draws forth craving. You should cultivate [the perception of] the impure, ever settling the mind upon a single object; and so that the fire of craving may be quenched swiftly, you must again and again pour water upon it 〔as a counteragent〕. Contemplate the 'unlovely formations' as suffering and as without self; also fasten mindfulness upon the body, and cultivate revulsion abundantly. Cultivate [the concentration] upon the signless, and demolish conceit together with its latent tendency; through the direct realization concerning conceit, you shall reach the limit of suffering."

The Prose Exposition (in plain language)

What is "inverted perception"? It is, toward an impure object, casting away the mark of the impure, and — through incorrect attention — taking up the pure and lovely mark and taking up its secondary charms.

What is "holding aloof from the pure mark that draws forth craving"? It is when a certain person, having seen a woman (a "mother-village") in the flush of youth, of a color to be found lovely and delightful, thereupon draws in the faculties and does not pursue her in thought.

What is "ever settling the mind upon a single object and cultivating [the perception of] the impure"? It is when a certain person first, by skillful means, takes up "the mark of the wholesome-and-good concentration" — that is, the livid-bruised corpse and so on down to the skeleton, or the mark of the bone-chain; and taking just this mark, he fastens mindfulness and reflects upon the lovely object present before him — as taken up before, so afterward likewise 〔he keeps to it〕. Again, toward the inner body — whether his own or another's — he contemplates that it is filled with impurities of every kind: that within this body there are hairs, there are nails, on down to excrement and urine, impurities of every kind.

What is "contemplating the unlovely formations as suffering"? It is when a certain person reflects thus: the craving-attachment and the yearning to make use [of her] that arise after seeing a woman of lovely color in the flush of youth — this is precisely the truth of arising, the cause of the mass of sufferings; from this they are born, and being born, aging-and-death, sorrow, lamentation, care and suffering, disturbances of every kind, are born from this.

What is "contemplating the unlovely formations as without self"? It is when a certain person reflects thus: in my own bodily form, in a woman's bodily form, there is no self and no sentient being and the like — who is it that can make use, and by whom is the making-use undergone? There are only formations, only dharmas, arisen from the assembly of conditions.

What is "fastening mindfulness upon the body and cultivating revulsion abundantly"? It is when a certain person is by disposition of the class in which sensual craving is fierce and full; and because sensual craving is fierce and full in him, even though he draws in the faculties, he is still one whose mind is damaged by sensual craving; and even though he applies attention and reflects upon the impure, upon suffering, upon no-self, his mind is still damaged by sensual craving. For this reason he, relying upon attention to and reflection upon "the impure, or suffering, or no-self," provisionally holds [craving] in revulsion, opposes it, does not go along with it, and — with mindfulness fastened before him in the "foundation of mindfulness of the body" — draws near it, cultivates it, and cultivates it abundantly. Because he dwells much in a practice such as this, he is able to cut off this fierce and full sensual craving — and at that point, when he draws in the faculties, his mind is not damaged by sensual craving; and when he applies attention and reflects upon the impure, suffering, and no-self, his mind too is not damaged by sensual craving. Because he cultivates a practice such as this, the "enwrapment" of the several sensual cravings is cut off only as to its present activity — not the "latent tendency" cut off.

Further: this enwrapment of sensual craving and its latent tendency may, in brief, be found in the continua of two [kinds of] persons — first, it may be found in the continuum of an ordinary being; second, it may be found in the continuum of one still in training (though within the body of a certain portion of those in training it may not be found: as to the lower craving, because it has already been forever cut off, they have attained security; as to the higher craving, because it has not yet been cut off, they have not attained security). Within the body of one beyond training, the craving belonging to the middling element and the fine element is not even to be found, how much less that of the low element — for the one beyond training, both the lower and the higher craving are cut off, and in every part he has attained security. Having understood this, the one in training of a certain portion who has not yet parted from sensual craving gives rise, toward the later "beyond-training," to a mind of aspiration and delight, and sees the merit of the stilling and peace that is parinirvāṇa; because he no longer reflects upon any mark, because he ever rightly reflects upon the signless element, because he diligently cultivates the concentration upon the signless, and because he cultivates just this abundantly, he forever cuts off the "self-conceit to be cut off by cultivation" of the three realms; and because of this cutting-off, he is called one beyond training, parted from the craving of the three realms, with the lower and higher craving cut off, having attained security. Because all the causes of suffering are cast away, he realizes the limit of the whole mass of sufferings. Therefore it is said: "Cultivate [the concentration] upon the signless, and demolish conceit together with its latent tendency; through the direct realization concerning conceit, you shall reach the limit of suffering."

The Condensed Meaning (in plain language)

Next, let us briefly set forth the meaning of what was said above: it displays that sensual craving "arises from these [causes]," "is stilled by these [causes]," and "the stilling thereof."

Sensual craving arises from these [causes] (five causes): first, from the perception of the pure and lovely; second, from delighting in pleasure; third, from the perception of a sentient being; fourth, from fierce and full craving; fifth, from the latent tendency remaining, not yet exhausted.

Sensual craving, once arisen, is stilled by these [causes] (five causes): first, by applying attention and reflecting upon the impure; second, by applying attention and reflecting upon suffering; third, by applying attention and reflecting upon no-self; fourth, by fastening mindfulness and cultivating revulsion abundantly; fifth, by the latent tendency being forever extinguished without remainder.

The stilling (two kinds): first, the stilling of present activity; second, the forever-cutting-off of the latent tendency, so that it does not arise in the time to come. By the former four causes the "first stilling" (present activity) is accomplished; by the fifth cause the "second" (the forever-cutting-off of the latent tendency) is accomplished.

The third cluster, of five verses, is an urgent cry for rescue — a god, burned past endurance by sensual craving, comes to beg the Buddha to teach him a Dharma that "makes it still." The hard points are all told in the treatise's own words.

First, One Question: Where Was the Fire of Craving Kindled?

The god's words are heartfelt: "Overwhelmed and eclipsed by sensual craving, my mind burns everywhere." The Buddha's reply, in its very first line, points to the source of the fire: "It is because your perception is inverted that your mind is made to burn everywhere." Craving is not something forced upon one by an object; it is that "perception" has gone crooked: toward an object one ought to see as impure, one instead "casts away the mark of the impure, takes up the pure and lovely mark, and further takes up its secondary charms." The source of the fire lies in one's own taking-up of a mark. And so, to quench the fire, one must set to work on "perception" — the treatise even adds an image: the fire of craving must be "poured upon again and again" before it goes out; the counteragent must be cultivated over and over.

The Fire-Quenching Prescription: Four Contemplations of Skillful Means + One Root Contemplation

The ancient masters have laid out the prescription the Buddha sets forth with perfect clarity: the first four are "contemplations of skillful means," the last one is the "root contemplation" (Dunlun and Kuiji agree).

The contemplations of skillful means bring the fire down layer by layer:

• Holding aloof from the pure mark that draws forth craving — having seen a form in its flush, one first "draws in the faculties and does not pursue it in thought," not letting the eye stick fast to it;
• Ever settling the mind upon a single object and cultivating [the perception of] the impure — one takes up "the mark of the wholesome-and-good concentration" of the livid-bruised corpse, the skeleton, the bone-chain, fastens mindfulness and reflects upon it, and further contemplates one's own body — "hairs and nails on down to excrement and urine" — as impure of every kind, dismantling the illusion of "the pure and lovely";
• Contemplating the unlovely formations as suffering — the craving-attachment and yearning that arise from seeing a form in its flush are precisely the "truth of arising," the cause of the mass of sufferings;
• Contemplating no-self — within my own body and a woman's body "there is no self and no sentient being"; who makes use, and by whom is it made use of? There are only formations, arisen from conditions.

Yet the treatise well understands the difficulty of real practice: there are those who are "by disposition of the class in which sensual craving is fierce and full"; they have drawn in the faculties, they have cultivated [the perception of] the impure, of suffering, of no-self — and their mind is still damaged by craving. What then? One more contemplation is added — fastening mindfulness upon the body and cultivating revulsion abundantly: relying upon the impure, suffering, and no-self, one fastens mindfulness before oneself in the "foundation of mindfulness of the body," and draws near it and cultivates it over and over. Only when this is cultivated to its measure is "the present activity of the several sensual cravings cut off." But the treatise honestly notes one point: this is still only the cutting-off of the "enwrapment" (the present activity), not the cutting-off of the "latent tendency" (the seed).

To cut off the latent tendency, one must go up to the root contemplation — "cultivate [the concentration] upon the signless": not reflecting upon any mark, ever reflecting upon the signless element, diligently cultivating the concentration upon the signless, one "demolishes conceit together with its latent tendency," forever cutting off the self-conceit of the three realms to be cut off by cultivation; and only this reaches the beyond-training and realizes the "limit of suffering." The contemplations of skillful means bring down the fire of present activity; the root contemplation pulls out the root of the latent tendency.

One Balance-Sheet That Closes the Fire's Account: Five Causes for Arising, Five Causes for Extinction

The condensed meaning gathers the whole cluster into two sets of five causes, clean and crisp:

Craving arises from five causes: the perception of the pure and lovely, delighting in pleasure, the perception of a sentient being, fierce and full craving, the latent tendency not yet exhausted. Craving is extinguished by five causes: reflecting upon the impure, reflecting upon suffering, reflecting upon no-self, fastening mindfulness and revulsion, the latent tendency forever extinguished.

Each counters its counterpart one for one — where the cause of arising has "the perception of the pure and lovely," the cause of extinction has "reflecting upon the impure"; where the cause of arising has "the latent tendency not yet exhausted," the cause of extinction has "the latent tendency forever extinguished." And "stilling" too divides into two layers: by the former four causes, "the stilling of present activity" is accomplished; by the fifth cause, "the forever-cutting-off of the latent tendency, so that it does not arise in the time to come." One balance-sheet, and both the coming-road and the going-road of craving are marked out.

The Point of This Cluster

The "Craving" cluster is a real record of a counteragent applied: the source of the fire is "inverted perception" (taking up the pure and lovely mark); to quench the fire one relies on four contemplations of skillful means (drawing in the faculties / the impure / suffering-and-no-self / mindfulness of the body) to cut off present activity, and one root contemplation (the signless) to pull out the latent tendency; and it closes the account with five causes for arising and five for extinction. The fierce craver, having cultivated, is still burned — and so one must "fasten mindfulness upon the body and pour water again and again"; this is the cluster's most considerate line for real practice.

Carrying Forward

The contemplation of the impure (the livid-bruised corpse, the skeleton) and the four foundations of mindfulness → the extended exposition of cultivating contemplation in the Śrāvaka Stage; the concentration upon the signless, demolishing conceit and the latent tendency → the signless element of the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06); the five causes for the arising and the stilling of craving → the guiding thread for the counteraction of the afflictions in the treatises that follow.