瑜伽師地論 思所成地 · 體義伽他 · 第四段「流」

Cluster four of the Body-Meaning Verses · three verses. The goddess asks "cross the five floods and be about to cross the sixth"; the World-Honored One answers.

In one line: The "flood" cluster takes the six floods (eye … mind) as its rubric — crossing the first five is divided into "bodily pliancy (cutting off the entanglement) → the mind well liberated (cutting off the latent tendencies)" = cutting off the five lower fetters; crossing the sixth mind-flood relies on non-doing · non-shaking · mindfulness bound-fast = cutting off the five higher fetters; and to cross the sea of birth-and-death one needs a "waist-boat" (the axle of conscience · the waist of mind · the boat of wisdom).

Three Points of the Eye

1. The six floods · crossing the first five in two steps: the six sense-faculties are like six floods. The trainee, toward the joy- / sorrow- / equanimity-according forms, does not settle into craving / hatred, but rests settled in equanimity; the entanglements are not clung to firmly, and even up to being spat out → bodily pliancy (the entanglement cut off · the active phase); later, the latent tendencies are forever cut off → the mind well liberated (the latent tendencies cut off) = cutting off the five lower fetters · crossing the five floods.
2. Crossing the sixth mind-flood = non-doing · non-shaking · mindfulness bound-fast: non-doing (aspiring to nirvāṇa · not tilted-and-shaken by the conceit of I) · non-shaking (not craving the craving for concentration · that is, the wholesome root of loving-kindness, of non-hatred · cultivating tranquillity and insight) · mindfulness bound-fast (contemplating the body along [its length], cutting off the higher-portion fetters). Cutting off the craving of arising / the craving for concentration / the higher-portion fetters → crossing the mind-flood. Even the craving for concentration is cut off.
3. The waist-boat simile (Kuiji) + the goddess's three questions: "the axle of conscience, the waist-boat of mind" — conscience is like the axle · the mind like the waist · wisdom like the boat · crossing the sea of birth-and-death; the trainee "has not obtained the waist-boat" = has not obtained the mind well liberated with respect to the various fetters. The goddess's three questions (the cutting-off of the lower fetters / the means for cutting off the higher fetters / the well cutting-off) and the Buddha's three answers (bodily pliancy and the mind well liberated / non-doing, mindfulness bound-fast, not-tilted-and-shaken / cultivating the concentration without applied thought: discerning the Dharma = that which is able to cut off · the concentration without applied thought = how the cutting-off is · well cutting-off = the final · the far-departing · the cutting-off of all defilement).

Appended · Pointers

The five lower / five higher fetters → the Śrāvaka Stage; the concentration without applied thought · tranquillity and insight → the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06). Simile: the waist-boat (the axle of conscience, the waist of mind, the boat of wisdom · the sea as a figure for birth-and-death). For the opening-out of the meaning, see the Exposition.

The Verses (Plain Language · Three Verses)

〔天女問：〕「云何苾芻多所住，能越五暴流、當度第六？云何定者能度廣大欲愛，而未得腰舟？」〔世尊答：〕「身輕安、心善解脫、無作、繫念、不傾動、了法、修習無尋定，憤、愛、惛沈過解脫——如是苾芻多所住，越五暴流當度六；如是定者能度廣欲愛而未得腰舟。」

〔The goddess asks:〕 "How does a monk, dwelling much [in what], come to cross the five floods and be about to cross the sixth? How is a concentrated one able to cross the vast desire-craving, and yet has not obtained the waist-boat?" 〔The World-Honored One answers:〕 "Bodily pliancy; the mind well liberated; non-doing; mindfulness bound-fast; not tilted-and-shaken; discerning the Dharma; cultivating the concentration without applied thought; released from the faults of rancor, of craving, and of dullness — a monk who dwells thus much comes to cross the five floods and is about to cross the sixth; a concentrated one who is thus is able to cross the vast desire-craving, and yet has not obtained the waist-boat."

Prose Exposition (Plain Language)

This is a verse arisen on the occasion of what the goddess asked. The floods are six: that is, the eye-flood is able to see the visible forms, and so on down to the mind-flood being able to discern the phenomena.

As for the Buddha's noble disciple, the trainee who has seen the trace: toward the eye-cognized form that "accords with joy," he does not settle into craving; toward the eye-cognized form that "accords with sorrow," he does not settle into hatred; toward the eye-cognized form that "accords with equanimity," he investigates it again and again and rests settled in equanimity. Suppose he has already given rise to the entanglement of desire-greed, or the entanglement of hatred, or the entanglement of delusion (taking the three bodies — the joy-body, the sorrow-body, and the equanimity-body — as their condition): he does not cling to them firmly, and even up to spitting them out 〔casting them off〕; by this cause and condition, the various afflictive entanglements belonging to these three bodies come not to be active, and he dwells in pliancy — this is called "obtaining bodily pliancy," while he is still unable to attain "the mind well liberated" (because the latent tendencies are not yet forever cut off). At a later time he is again able forever to cut off the latent tendencies belonging to those [afflictions], and comes to be far apart from the bound-following within the afflictions belonging to those [three bodies] — this alone is called "the mind well liberated with respect to the greed, hatred, and delusion of the three bodies." As it is with the eye-cognized form, so down to the body-cognized tangible, it should be understood to be likewise. Thus, "having cut off the five lower fetters," one "crosses the five floods" (crossing the eye-flood able to see the visible forms, and so on down to crossing the body-flood able to sense the tangibles).

Having thus crossed over the five floods, there still remains the sixth, "the mind-flood." So as to cross it over, he further cultivates "non-doing, non-shaking, mindfulness bound-fast":

• Non-doing — toward nirvāṇa his mind gives rise to aspiration and delight, yet he is not tilted-and-shaken by the conceit of "I," is without any deliberating and without any contriving; and he is not tilted-and-shaken by [the thought] "that this I and mine will exist in time to come, and even that I shall be neither-perception-nor-non-perception."
• Non-shaking — his mind is not entangled and bound by those higher-portion fetters, is unshaken, unaltered, and unturned; and toward any one of the tranquil concentrations he gives rise to no relishing, no longing, no firm clinging.
• Mindfulness bound-fast — so as to cut off those higher-portion fetters, he dwells within the inner body contemplating the body along [its length], and so on as is expounded at length concerning the foundations of mindfulness.

By cultivating non-doing he cuts off "the various cravings of arising"; by cultivating non-shaking he cuts off "the various cravings for concentration" (this departing-from-activity is what is called "cutting off"); by cultivating mindfulness bound-fast he cultivates the antidote so as to make the higher-portion fetters be forever cut off without remainder. Thus, by cultivating non-doing, mindfulness bound-fast, and not-tilted-and-shaken, he is able to make all the higher-portion fetters be forever cut off without remainder — this is "crossing over the sixth flood" (the mind-flood able to discern the phenomena).

There is also a further distinction in the meaning of "non-shaking": it is the wholesome root of loving-kindness, because loving-kindness is by nature non-hatred. For this reason, the noble disciples cut off mistaken aspirations concerning the view of a real self in the aggregates and cultivate tranquillity and insight: through loving-kindness they cultivate tranquillity, and through the foundations of mindfulness they cultivate insight. One who cultivates rightly in this way develops three minds that accord with cutting off the higher-portion fetters, and quickly brings them to fulfillment: toward the "higher body" he has no mind of infatuated attachment; toward the sentient beings "below" he has no mind of indignation; and, being diligent, toward both higher and lower objects he has no defiled mind. The rest is as explained above. This is what is meant by having crossed the five floods and being about to cross the sixth.

What is "discerning the Dharma"? Toward the phenomenon of suffering he is able to discern and able to contemplate; toward the phenomena of origin, cessation, and path he is able to discern and able to contemplate. What is "cultivating the concentration without applied thought"? Having discerned phenomena thus, he rests settled within "the cutting-off of the reliance on the various desires of household life, and the casting-them-off-and-departing"; or in a wilderness, or beneath a tree in a vacant quiet, toward the joy-body of the joy-according eye-cognized form, the sorrow-body of the sorrow-according [form], and the equanimity-body of the equanimity-according [form], toward this object he is without the entanglement of desire-applied-thought, and his mind dwells settled much, and so on until he is even without "the entanglement of applied thought associated with household matters," and his mind dwells settled much; and should the desire-applied-thought, and even the applied thought associated with household matters, arise, he is at once able to discern as-it-really-is the escape, is not obstructed by it, and is able to reflect meditatively, to reflect examiningly, and to reflect discerningly. By this means, by cultivating along this path, he is able to cut off the fault of the tainting-craving of the joy-body, the fault of the rancor of the sorrow-body, and the fault of the dullness of the equanimity-body; because the entanglements are cut off, the body attains pliancy, and because the latent tendencies are cut off, the mind is well liberated with respect to the tainted [state] of the three bodies bound to the desire-realm — at this time it is called "having crossed over the vast desire-craving" (with respect to the visible forms and even the tangibles: the craving that flows-through-everywhere, the craving of union, the craving of increase, the craving of not-parting, the craving of not-joining, the craving of decline, the craving of separation, or the craving to take up birth again in the desire-realm).

There is also a second differentiated account of "cultivating the concentration without applied thought": the practitioner has already attained the meditative absorption without applied thought and without sustained thought. The rest — cutting off the joy-body's tainting craving, the sorrow-body's indignation, and the equanimity-body's dullness, and gaining bodily pliancy and mental liberation through cutting off the entanglements and latent tendencies — is as explained above.

Summary of the Meaning (Plain Language)

The goddess asked the World-Honored One in brief for three essential meanings: first, the cutting-off of the lower fetters; second, the means for cutting off the higher fetters; third, that very means for cutting off the lower fetters, and how those fetters are well cut off. The World-Honored One answered accordingly. With "bodily pliancy and the mind well liberated" he answered that the lower fetters have been cut off, not the means by which they are cut off. With "non-doing, mindfulness bound-fast, and not-tilted-and-shaken" he answered the means for cutting off the higher fetters, not that cutting-off itself. As for the cutting-off of those higher fetters, the goddess understood it by analogy with the preceding answer. What remained unanswered was only the means for cutting off the lower fetters and how they are well cut off.

The World-Honored One therefore first used the detailed distinctions of the first account of "cultivating the concentration without applied thought" to answer the means of cutting-off, explaining what can cut off, how the cutting-off is carried out, and what is cut off. "Discerning the Dharma" is called "that which is able to cut off"; "cultivating the concentration without applied thought" is called "how the cutting-off is"; the fault of rancor to be cut off is the hatred class, the fault of craving is the greed class, and the fault of dullness is the delusion class. Thus the agent, manner, and object of cutting-off correspond. Once this means had been answered at length, only the question of "well cutting-off" remained. Through the second differentiated account of "cultivating the concentration without applied thought," he answered what well cutting-off is: final cutting-off, far-departing cutting-off, and the cutting-off of all defilement. Discerning phenomena explains final cutting-off; cultivating the concentration without applied thought explains far-departing cutting-off; and cutting off every active entanglement and latent tendency of greed, hatred, and delusion explains the cutting-off of all defilement. This is the concise meaning to be understood here.

Further: the goddess asked in reliance upon "the trainees who have not yet obtained the surpassing mind, who have departed from desire-greed but have not departed from the higher greed." "Mind" is named the waist-boat (as the sūtra says, "the axle of conscience, the waist-boat of mind"); one who has not yet obtained this waist-boat is called "one who has not obtained the waist-boat." What here is named the waist-boat? It is the mind well liberated with respect to the various fetters.

The three verses of cluster four are a single question-and-answer between a goddess and the Buddha, asking how to cross over the six "floods." The hard points are all put through words already present in the treatise, and especially through the ancient masters' waist-boat simile.

First, One Question: What Are "the Five Floods" and "the Sixth"? And How Is the Crossing Done?

The goddess asks quite concretely: "How does a monk, dwelling much [in what], cross the five floods and be about to cross the sixth?" (「云何苾芻多所住，越五暴流當度六？」) — and the treatise answers just as concretely: the floods are six — the eye-flood able to see the visible forms, the ear-flood … down to the mind-flood able to discern the phenomena. The six sense-doors are like six racing currents that sweep a person off; sentient beings are swept away by them day after day.

The knack of crossing the first five floods (from the eye to the body), the treatise sets out in two steps, exceedingly fine: the trainee who has seen the trace gives rise to no craving toward the "joy-according" form, no hatred toward the "sorrow-according" form, and toward the "equanimity-according" form rests settled in equanimity; and even if the entanglements of greed, hatred, and delusion should crop up, he "does not cling firmly, and even up to spitting them out" (「不堅著乃至變吐」) — he spits them out. In this way the entanglements do not become active and he dwells in pliancy — this is called "obtaining bodily pliancy." But the treatise at once punctures this: this has still only pressed down the "entanglement" (the active phase); the "latent tendencies" (the seeds) are not yet cut off, and so it is not yet "the mind well liberated." Only when the latent tendencies too are forever cut off is it truly called "the mind well liberated." Bodily pliancy is the cutting-off of the entanglement; the mind well liberated is the cutting-off of the latent tendencies — this step-by-step is exactly "cutting off the five lower fetters, crossing the five floods."

The Sixth Flood Is the Hardest: The Mind-Flood, Relying on Non-Doing · Non-Shaking · Mindfulness

The five floods crossed, there still remains the sixth, "the mind-flood" — the hardest. The treatise gives three medicines:

• Non-doing: toward nirvāṇa the mind gives rise to aspiration and delight, yet is "not tilted-and-shaken by the conceit of I" (「不為我慢傾動」), no longer secretly reckoning "I shall still exist in time to come, I shall be neither-perception-nor-non-perception";
• Non-shaking: not letting the mind be entangled by the higher-portion fetters, not even relishing the "tranquil concentrations" — and the treatise adds one more sense: non-shaking is just "the wholesome root of loving-kindness, of the nature of non-hatred," cultivating tranquillity (śamatha) by loving-kindness and insight (vipaśyanā) by the foundations of mindfulness;
• Mindfulness bound-fast: dwelling within the inner body contemplating the body along [its length], cutting off the higher-portion fetters one by one.

By cultivating non-doing he cuts off "the craving of arising," by cultivating non-shaking he cuts off "the craving for concentration," by cultivating mindfulness bound-fast he cuts off the higher-portion fetters — this alone is "crossing over the sixth flood." Even the greed-craving for "concentration" is to be cut off — this is a barrier that a practitioner very easily overlooks.

The Ancient Masters' Finishing Stroke: To Cross the Sea You Need a "Waist-Boat"

There is one hard-to-fathom phrase in the verse — "able to cross the vast desire-craving, and yet has not obtained the waist-boat" (「能度廣欲愛，而未得腰舟」). What is the "waist-boat"? Kuiji gives an exceedingly vivid gloss: the ancients, crossing the sea, tied a gourd or an inflated leather bag around the waist as a float — this is called the "waist-boat." The sūtra says "the axle of conscience, the waist-boat of mind" (「慚軸、意腰舟」) — conscience is like a cart's axle, the mind (consciousness) like the waist, wisdom like the boat; birth-and-death is the sea, and only by this "boat of wisdom" tied at the waist can one cross it over. What the goddess asks about is exactly those trainees who "have departed from desire-greed but have not departed from the higher greed": they have still "not obtained the waist-boat" (have not yet obtained that mind well liberated with respect to the higher-portion fetters), and so they can cross the desire-craving but cannot cross over to the higher realms. A single waist-boat simile brings the plight of "the trainee who has not yet reached the adept" fully to life.

An Answer-Card: The Goddess's Three Questions, the Buddha's Three Answers

The summary-of-meaning gathers this exchange into one clear correspondence: the goddess in fact asked three things — the cutting-off of the lower fetters, the means for cutting off the higher fetters, and the "well cutting-off." The Buddha answers each in turn: bodily pliancy and the mind well liberated (answering the cutting-off of the lower fetters); non-doing, mindfulness bound-fast, not-tilted-and-shaken (answering the means for cutting off the higher fetters); cultivating the concentration without applied thought (answering the well cutting-off: discerning the Dharma = that which is able to cut off, the concentration without applied thought = how the cutting-off is; the rancor / craving / dullness that are cut off are exactly the three classes of hatred / greed / delusion; well cutting-off = the final cutting-off · the far-departing cutting-off · the cutting-off of all defilement). Asked with layers, answered with correspondences.

The Point of This Cluster

The "flood" cluster is a chart for crossing the sea: the six sense-faculties are like six floods; crossing the first five is divided into two steps — "cutting off the entanglement (bodily pliancy) → cutting off the latent tendencies (the mind well liberated)"; crossing the sixth mind-flood relies on non-doing · non-shaking · mindfulness bound-fast (even the craving for concentration is cut off); and running through the whole cluster is the ancient masters' waist-boat simile of "the axle of conscience, the waist of mind, the boat of wisdom" — to cross the sea of birth-and-death, wisdom is the boat, the mind is the waist, conscience is the axle.

Carrying Forward

The six floods · the five lower / five higher fetters → the fuller exposition of the cutting-off of fetters in the Śrāvaka Stage; the concentration without applied thought · tranquillity and insight → the Stage of Meditative Equipoise (Stage 06); the waist-boat (the axle of conscience, the waist of mind, the boat of wisdom) → the simile of crossing the sea of birth-and-death in the later treatises.