瑜伽師地論 聲聞地 · 初瑜伽處 · 種姓地

The first step of the śrāvaka path does not ask "how to practice"; it first asks "who can succeed, and on what?" The Stage of Lineage's answer is a single phrase, "natural endowment": the capital is a single innately-possessed uncontaminated seed — possessed from the start, yet showing itself only when it meets conditions.

In one line: The Stage of Lineage sets up the "root" of the śrāvaka path through four sub-headings (the intrinsic nature of lineage · its establishment · the characteristics 〔of one who dwells in lineage〕 · the person 〔who dwells in lineage〕) — an uncontaminated seed attained as a natural endowment and lodged in the single continuum of the store consciousness, the mental element, possessed from the start and not cultivated into being; yet what is possessed from the start must await the excellent and inferior conditions to show itself. Lacking the conditions, one has the dharma of nirvāṇa yet does not realize it for eons; having no lineage, the craving for the store consciousness binds throughout, and the buddhas cannot rescue.

Three Points of the Eye

1. The intrinsic nature of lineage = the uncontaminated seed attained as a natural endowment. The one who dwells in lineage "has a seed-dharma, because it is present and existent," adhering to the support, subsumed under the six sense-fields, transmitted onward from beginningless time, attained as a natural endowment 〔T30 0395c〕; its distinct names are seed / element (dhātu, the sense of cause) / nature (svabhāva, the sense of intrinsic substance) 〔Dunlun T42 0430c02〕. "It falls within a single continuum" — the ancients judge it "falls solely within the single continuum of the store consciousness, the mental element" 〔Dunlun T42 0431a15〕: at its opening the Śrāvaka Stage already shows the skeleton of the store consciousness. Possessed from the start, not cultivated into being (the simile of a woman able to bear a child yet with no fetus in her body 〔T42 0430c10〕); as to whether the innately-possessed seed is really existent, the ancients differ — Jing and Tai allow it, Nanda does not — and the Notes only records and does not adjudicate.

2. What is possessed from the start must await conditions, and shows itself only when they are complete. Having lineage yet flowing on for eons is by four causes and conditions (being born into an unfree state · the fault of heedlessness · wrong understanding-and-practice · the fault of being obstructed) 〔T30 0396a〕; the condition for nirvāṇa is of two — the excellent condition = the voice of another dominant in the true Dharma + inward attention in accord with principle; the inferior condition = self-perfection · other-perfection · the desire for wholesome dharmas · right going-forth · the discipline of moral restraint · the discipline of the faculties · knowing the right measure in food · the yoga of wakefulness · dwelling with right knowing · delighting in seclusion · the purifying of the hindrances · relying upon meditative concentration (a miniature blueprint of śrāvaka practice, from gaining a human body to entering the four absorptions) 〔T30 0396a–0397a〕. The nature-seed (this gate) → the cultivation-seed (the Stage of Entry) 〔Dunlun T42 0430c15〕.

3. The presence or absence of lineage, and its distinctions. By "the six marks of no lineage" the characteristics of one who dwells in lineage are set off by contrast — the first mark = the craving for the store consciousness binds throughout all kinds, and the buddhas cannot rescue (the icchantika); a signal mark = false going-forth, "like the foul and filthy snail born in the water, uttering a conch-tone and coursing in the coursing of a dog" 〔T30 0398a–b〕. The one who dwells in lineage is further divided into three progresses (dwelling / entered / emerged) and the distinctions of faculties (soft, middling, sharp) · coursing (greed, hatred, delusion) · far and near · ripened · purified 〔T30 0398c–0399b〕 — the divide lies not in the presence or absence of the seed, but in meeting the condition and giving rise to practice.

Appended: This gate clarifies the nature-seed; the setting-in-motion of the cultivation-seed is seen in the Stage of Entry; the Section on Ascertainment's Śrāvaka Stage further ascertains the distinctions of lineage by "the various elements and natures" 〔T30 0669b〕, and the Cheng Weishi Lun carries this forward, opening the two lineages of the naturally-abiding and the accomplished-through-cultivation 〔T31 0048b〕. The scriptural teaching of the fixed and unfixed lineage and the difference of the five vehicles (the Saṃdhinirmocana's "one fine and pure path · there is only one vehicle" as a statement of hidden intent, plus the śrāvaka wholly bound for quiescence and the śrāvaka who turns toward awakening 〔T16 0695a–b〕) is merely transmitted as the sūtra's word, without further adjudication. The opening-out of the doctrine is seen in the 〈Exposition〉.

The Śrāvaka Stage is set up in four yoga-stations, and the first yoga-station begins by expounding the Stage of Lineage. This gate gathers lineage under four sub-headings: intrinsic nature · establishment · characteristics · the person (pudgala). Technical terms are kept as in the old rendering, and every phrase is put into present-day language, without adding doctrinal exposition, without citing the treatises, without glossing the Sanskrit; where a transliterated term appears, its referent is sometimes indicated in brief within 〔 〕, and where the uddāna has compressed the wording, what was elided is restored within 〔 〕.

〔Spoken by the bodhisattva Maitreya · translated by the Tripiṭaka master Xuanzang at imperial command〕

The Overall Heading of the Śrāvaka Stage

The Stage of What is Attained through Cultivation has now been expounded in full. What is the Śrāvaka Stage? The gathering-verse 〔uddāna〕 that subsumes all of the Śrāvaka Stage says:

〔Verse〕If this stage is stated in brief, taking lineage and the rest, and the person 〔the pudgala, that is, the sentient being〕, as its main threads, it establishes — each according to what befits it — the mundane path and the supramundane path. This stage, stated in brief, has three parts: the Stage of Lineage, the Stage of Entry, and the Stage of the Conception of Emergence 〔"conception" means the naming-conception, that is, verbal designation〕. This is named the Śrāvaka 〔Stage〕.

The Stage of Lineage · The Overall Heading of the Four Sub-Headings

What is the Stage of Lineage? Its gathering-verse 〔uddāna〕 says:

〔Verse〕If this whole Stage of Lineage is stated in brief, it should be known to have four sub-headings: the intrinsic nature of lineage, the establishment of lineage, the characteristics 〔of one who dwells in lineage〕, and the person 〔the pudgala〕 〔who dwells in lineage〕.

That is to say: the intrinsic nature of lineage, the establishment of lineage, all the characteristics possessed by one who dwells in lineage, and the person who dwells in lineage — all of these gathered together as one is named the Stage of Lineage.

One · The Intrinsic Nature of Lineage

What is lineage? It is this: the person who dwells in lineage has a certain "seed-dharma." Because this seed-dharma is present and really existent, the person who dwells in lineage, should he meet with an excellent conducing condition, then has the fitness 〔the capacity〕 and then has the power to be able to attain and able to realize nirvāṇa.

Question: What are the differences 〔the other names〕 of this name "lineage"? Answer: It may be named "seed," or named "element," or named "nature" — these are the differences of its names.

Question: With what is this lineage now constituted as its substance? Answer: It adheres to the support 〔the body-and-mind〕, has such-and-such a character, and is subsumed under the six sense-fields 〔the six faculties〕. It has come down, transmitted onward and onward, from beginningless time, and is attained as a natural endowment 〔innately possessed of itself, not produced by contrivance〕. Upon it are set up various distinct names — namely lineage, seed, element, nature. This is named lineage.

Two · The Establishment of Lineage

What is the establishment of lineage? It is to be asked in this way: This lineage now — should it be said to be "fine," or should it be said to be "coarse"? It should be answered in this way: it is fine. Why? Because this seed is not yet able to yield a fruit and has not yet been cultivated into a fruit, it is therefore named fine. If it has already yielded a fruit and has already been cultivated into a fruit, then at that point the lineage, whether as seed 〔as cause〕 or as fruit, is both said to be named coarse.

Question: A lineage of this kind — should it be said to fall within a single continuum, or to fall within many continuums 〔body-and-mind continuums〕? Answer: It should be said to fall within a single continuum. Why? If it were a case of dharmas mutually differing in character, then, though they exist together and operate at the same time, one would still see each of them as having its own various continuums and various flowings-on 〔and that would be to fall within many continuums〕; but this seed does not have a character distinct and other upon the six sense-fields — rather, it is precisely within such a kind and phase that it makes the six sense-fields excellent 〔beyond those of the ordinary being〕. It has come down transmitted onward from beginningless time and is attained as a natural endowment; upon it there is such a conception and verbal designation, called lineage, seed, element, nature — and so it should be said to fall within a single continuum.

Three · The Four Causes and Conditions Whereby One Who Has the Dharma of Nirvāṇa Yet Does Not Attain Final Nirvāṇa

Question: If a person who dwells in lineage has, from the start, the dharma of nirvāṇa 〔the nature that gains entry into nirvāṇa〕, then this person who dwells in lineage and has the dharma of nirvāṇa — by what cause and condition is it that, though he has the dharma of nirvāṇa, he nonetheless flows on for a long time from the prior limit onward and does not enter nirvāṇa?

Answer: By four kinds of cause and condition, he does not enter nirvāṇa. Which four? First, because of being born into an unfree state 〔a place without leisure〕; second, the fault of heedlessness; third, because of wrong understanding-and-practice; fourth, the fault of being obstructed.

What is being born into an unfree state? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person born in a borderland, or born among the Dasyus and the Mlecchas 〔the border tribes, uncivilized〕, where the fourfold assembly 〔renunciant and lay, male and female〕, the worthy and good, the rightly-arrived 〔those who have already attained the fruit〕, and the virtuous never come to travel and teach. This is named being born into an unfree state.

What is the fault of heedlessness? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person who, though born in a central land 〔a place where the Buddha's Dharma is present〕, or though not among the Dasyus and not among the Mlecchas, and where the fourfold assembly, the worthy and good, the rightly-arrived, and the virtuous do come to travel and teach — nonetheless is born into a wealthy and noble family, with treasures complete, and clings to and indulges in the enjoyment of the various fine desires, seeing no danger in them and knowing no emergence from them. This is named the fault of heedlessness.

What is wrong understanding-and-practice? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person who, though born in a central land, and so on down to 〔as before〕 stated in full 〔the virtuous all coming to travel and range〕 — nonetheless harbors the various evil views of the outsiders. That is, he gives rise to such a view and sets up such a thesis: "There is no such thing as giving 〔giving bears no fruit〕," and so on stated in full down to "I myself understand that there is no further existence hereafter" 〔the annihilationist view〕. And on account of such an outsider's view, he does not meet the buddhas appearing in the world, nor is there a good friend to proclaim the true Dharma to him. This is named wrong understanding-and-practice.

What is the fault of being obstructed? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person who, though born in a central land, as stated in full before, and though he does meet the buddhas appearing in the world and encounters a good friend proclaiming the true Dharma to him — nonetheless is by nature dull and stupid, foolish and witless and without knowledge; or else is mute 〔unable to speak〕, able only to signal with his hands in place of speech, with no capacity to understand any of the meaning of the dharmas well spoken or ill spoken; or else again commits the deeds of immediate 〔retribution〕; or else again gives rise to the afflictions over a long time. This is named the fault of being obstructed.

Thus these are named the four kinds of cause and condition. By these causes and conditions, though he has the dharma of final nirvāṇa, he nonetheless does not attain final nirvāṇa. Should that person meet the buddhas appearing in the world, hear the true Dharma, and gain the concordant instruction and admonition, and should those 〔path-obstructing〕 causes and conditions be no more — then at that point his wholesome roots can ripen, and gradually, and at last, he can attain final nirvāṇa. As for the person who has no dharma of nirvāṇa, who dwells within the "fixed heap" 〔the class fixedly incapable of liberation〕: whether he meets conditions or does not meet conditions, throughout all kinds 〔of situations〕, he can never in the end attain final nirvāṇa.

Four · The Conditions for the Dharma of Nirvāṇa: The Excellent Condition and the Inferior Condition

Question: What is named a condition for the dharma of nirvāṇa — such that, because it is "deficient in, absent, or not met with," one does not enter nirvāṇa?

Answer: There are two kinds of condition. Which two? First, the excellent 〔condition〕; second, the inferior 〔condition〕.

What is the excellent condition? It is "the voice of another, dominant in the true Dharma" 〔the sound of another proclaiming the true Dharma〕, together with "inward attention in accord with principle."

What is the inferior condition? This inferior condition is of many kinds, namely: self-perfection; other-perfection; the desire for wholesome dharmas; right going-forth into homelessness; the discipline of moral restraint; the discipline of the faculties; knowing the right measure in food; being ever diligent in the practice of the yoga of wakefulness in the first and last watches of the night; dwelling with right knowing; delighting in seclusion; the purifying of the hindrances; and relying upon meditative concentration.

(1) Self-Perfection (Five Members)

What is self-perfection? It is: gaining a human body well, being born in a noble place, having the faculties unimpaired, pure faith toward the excellent object, and being free of the karmic obstructions.

What is named gaining a human body well? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person born within the human company, who gains the body of a man, with the male faculty complete; or else who gains a woman's body. This is named gaining a human body well.

What is named being born in a noble place? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person born in a central land, as stated in full before, down to the virtuous all coming to travel and teach. This is named being born in a noble place.

What is named having the faculties unimpaired? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person who is by nature not dull and stupid, also not foolish and witless, and again not mute, down to being stated in full as having his limbs and joints undiminished 〔the body not maimed〕. Because he thus has limbs and joints unimpaired, and the ear and the other faculties unimpaired, he is able to strive diligently to cultivate and gather within the wholesome class. This is named having the faculties unimpaired.

What is named pure faith toward the excellent object? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person who, toward the Dharma and the Vinaya 〔the discipline〕 spoken by the Tathāgatas, the Fully Awakened Ones, gains a pure faith. This is named pure faith toward the excellent object. As for "the excellent object": it is the Dharma and the Vinaya spoken by the Tathāgatas, the Fully Awakened Ones, which are able to generate all the pure-and-white dharmas, mundane and supramundane. The various pure faith arising upon it, as a forerunner and as dominant, is named pure faith toward the excellent object, because it is able to expel and remove all the defiling filth and pollution of the afflictions.

What is named being free of the karmic obstructions? It is being able to keep far from the five deeds of immediate 〔retribution〕, namely, in that case, the killing of one's mother, the killing of one's father, the killing of an arhat, the splitting of the harmonious Saṅgha, and, upon the body of a Tathāgata, giving rise to an evil mind and drawing blood. Should there be any one among these deeds of immediate obstruction, if in the present dharma 〔this present life〕 one does not do it and does not carry it out, this is named being free of the karmic obstructions. If someone commits and increases these five deeds of immediate 〔retribution〕, in the present dharma he can in the end not become able and not able to attain final nirvāṇa, and not able to give rise to the noble path; it is with regard to that kind of person that "being free of the karmic obstructions" is spoken 〔setting off, by contrast, how vital it is to be free of obstruction〕. It is solely by these five members that the self-substance is perfected, and so this is said to be named self-perfection.

(2) Other-Perfection (Five Members)

What is other-perfection? It is: the buddhas appearing in the world; the speaking of the teaching of the true Dharma; the long endurance of the teaching of the Dharma; the teaching-abiding and its being handed on accordingly; and being an object of another's compassion.

What is named the buddhas appearing in the world? It is like this: there is a certain one 〔a bodhisattva〕 who, universally toward all classes of sentient being, gives rise to the dominant resolve of wholesome benefit; who cultivates many thousands of difficult and ascetic practices; who, over three great eons of incalculable 〔length〕 〔the innumerable long eons〕, gathers the vast two provisions of merit and of wisdom; who gains the last, fine and excellent body, sits at the unsurpassed and superlative seat of awakening, severs the five hindrances, is well able to settle his mind upon the four foundations of mindfulness, cultivates the thirty-seven factors of awakening, and directly realizes the unsurpassed, right and perfect awakening. This is named the buddhas appearing in the world. The buddhas past, future, and present are all, by this very course, named as appearing in the world.

What is named the speaking of the teaching of the true Dharma? It is: such buddhas, the world-honored ones, appearing in the world, out of compassion for all the śrāvakas, relying on the four noble truths, proclaim the true teaching of the Dharma of suffering, origin, cessation, and path in immeasurable measure — namely, the discourses, the mingled prose-and-verse, the prophecies, the verses, the spontaneous utterances, the circumstantial accounts, the parables, the accounts of past events, the birth-stories, the extensive teachings, the marvels, and the expositions 〔the twelvefold division of the teaching〕. This is named the speaking of the teaching of the true Dharma. The buddhas, the world-honored ones, together with the noble disciples and all the true persons, all ride upon this true Dharma and gain emergence, and thereafter proclaim and extol it to others, and so this is said to be named the true Dharma; because this Dharma is proclaimed, it is named the teaching of the true Dharma.

What is named the long endurance of the teaching of the Dharma? It is: having spoken the true Dharma and turned the wheel of the Dharma, down through the World-Honored One's abiding for the length of his life span, and after his nirvāṇa, throughout that great length of time, the right practice is not diminished and the true Dharma is not hidden — this is named the long endurance of the true Dharma. Such long endurance should be known to be spoken with regard to the principle of realizing that "true Dharma in the ultimate sense."

What is named the teaching-abiding and its being handed on accordingly? It is: one who has thus realized the true Dharma, knowing that there are beings with the capacity to be able to realize such true Dharma, then, in accord with what he has realized, hands on the teaching accordingly and, conforming to them, gives them instruction and admonition. This is named the teaching-abiding and its being handed on accordingly.

What is named being an object of another's compassion? "Another" is the donor. He gives rise to a mind of compassion toward the practitioner and bestows the requisites concordant with pure livelihood, namely, robes in accord with the Dharma, food and drink, the various sitting-and-lying furnishings, and medicine for the occasion of illness. This is named being an object of another's compassion.

(3) The Desire for Wholesome Dharmas and the Members That Follow

What is the desire for wholesome dharmas? It is like this: there is a certain kind of person who, whether from the Buddha or from a disciple, having heard the true Dharma, gains a pure faith. Having gained the pure faith, he should then train in this way: "The household life is vexing and cramped, like dwelling in a dusty abode; going forth is open and free, as though the body dwelt in empty space. Therefore I should now cast off all wife and children and kin, wealth and grain and precious things, and, within the well-spoken Dharma and Vinaya, rightly cast off the household state and turn toward the homeless 〔go forth〕." Having gone forth, he diligently cultivates right practice and brings it to perfection. To give rise to such a desire within the wholesome dharmas is named the desire for wholesome dharmas.

What is right going-forth into homelessness? It is: by the dominant force of this excellent desire for wholesome dharmas, receiving the full precepts by the white-and-fourfold motion 〔the ordination procedure〕; or receiving the moral discipline 〔the precepts〕 to be trained in by a novice 〔a śrāmaṇera〕. This is named right going-forth into homelessness.

What is the discipline of moral restraint? It is: he, having thus rightly gone forth, dwells in the full precepts, firmly guarding the discipline of individual liberation, with rule and range brought to perfection, and, toward even a minute offense, seeing it as a great terror, receiving and training in all the points of training. This is named the discipline of moral restraint.

What is the discipline of the faculties? It is: relying upon this moral discipline, guarding right mindfulness, cultivating a constant and close mindfulness 〔a mindfulness ever-abiding and minute〕, guarding the mind with mindfulness, and coursing in the station of equanimity. Having seen a form with the eye, he does not grasp its overall mark and does not grasp its features 〔he does not seize upon the general mark or the particular mark〕; fearing only that, in dependence on this station 〔the gate of the six faculties〕, by not cultivating the guarding-discipline of the eye-faculty and so dwelling, his mind should leak out all greed, sorrow, and evil unwholesome dharmas — therefore, at that very station he cultivates the practice of discipline and guards the eye-faculty, cultivating the practice of discipline in dependence on the eye-faculty. One who thus practices, having heard a sound with the ear, having smelled a scent with the nose, having tasted a flavor with the tongue, having felt a touch with the body, having cognized a dharma with the mind — likewise does not grasp their overall mark and does not grasp their features; fearing only that, in dependence on this station, by not cultivating the guarding-discipline of the mind-faculty and so dwelling, his mind should leak out all greed, sorrow, and evil unwholesome dharmas — therefore, at that very station he cultivates the practice of discipline and guards the mind-faculty, cultivating the practice of discipline in dependence on the mind-faculty. This is named the discipline of the faculties.

What is knowing the right measure in food? It is: he, having thus guarded the faculties, eats the food he eats with right discernment: he eats the food he eats not for wanton indulgence 〔dissipation〕, not for arrogance, not for adornment, not for a fine appearance; rather, the reason he eats the food he eats is for the sake of the body's abiding, for the sake of momentary support, for the sake of removing hunger and thirst, for the sake of upholding the practice of purity, for the sake of severing the old feeling 〔the pre-existing distress of hunger〕, for the sake of not letting a new feeling arise again in the future, and for the sake of nourishing his strength so as to dwell blamelessly at ease and dwell securely. This is named knowing the right measure in food.

What is being ever diligent in the practice of the yoga of wakefulness in the first and last watches of the night? It is: he, having thus known the right measure in food, in the daytime purifies his mind of the dharmas that conduce to obstruction by the two postures of walking meditation and seated meditation; in the first watch of the night, likewise purifies his mind of the dharmas that conduce to obstruction by the two postures of walking meditation and seated meditation. Having passed this first watch, he goes outside his dwelling place, washes his two feet, and lies down on his right side, laying his feet one upon the other, dwelling in the conception of light, in right mindfulness, in right knowing, and in the conception of rising 〔the conception of being about to rise〕; and at the last watch of the night he swiftly wakes 〔rouses himself〕 and again purifies his mind of the dharmas that conduce to obstruction by the two postures of walking meditation and seated meditation. This is named being ever diligent in the practice of the yoga of wakefulness in the first and last watches of the night.

What is dwelling with right knowing? It is: he, having thus ever diligently practiced the yoga of wakefulness: whether going or coming, he dwells with right knowing; whether looking straight ahead or looking about, he dwells with right knowing; whether bending or stretching, he dwells with right knowing; carrying the outer robe 〔the great robe〕 and also the robes and bowl, he dwells with right knowing; whether eating, drinking, chewing, or tasting, he dwells with right knowing; whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying, he dwells with right knowing; at the time of being awake, he dwells with right knowing; whether speaking or silent, he dwells with right knowing; and at the time of relieving fatigue by sleep 〔a brief rest〕, likewise he dwells with right knowing. This is named dwelling with right knowing.

What is delighting in seclusion? It is: by the wholesome dharmas thus cultivated, having without error cultivated and cleansed the ground of the beginner 〔the beginner's stage〕, he keeps far from all clinging to bedding, and dwells at the marginal 〔rough〕 bedding 〔places〕 of the āraṇya 〔the free and open place〕, beneath a tree, in an empty room, in a mountain valley, in a peak-cave, on a grass mat, in the open 〔in the open air〕, in a charnel ground, in a forest thicket, on the empty broad level plain. This is named delighting in seclusion.

What is the purifying of the hindrances? It is: he, thus dwelling in the āraṇya, or beneath a tree, or in an empty room and such places, purifies his mind of the five kinds of hindrance, namely sensual desire, ill-will, dullness-and-drowsiness, restlessness-and-remorse, and the hindrance of doubt. Having purified his mind of those hindrances, his mind is freed of the hindrances and dwells in the wholesome and excellent meditative concentration. This is named the purifying of the hindrances.

What is relying upon meditative concentration? It is: he, having thus severed the five hindrances, then is able to keep far from the secondary afflictions of the mind: keeping far from the desires and the evil unwholesome dharmas, with applied thought and with sustained thought, with the joy and bliss born of seclusion 〔from the desire realm〕, he enters and fully abides in the first meditative absorption; with applied and sustained thought stilled, with inward serene clarity, with the mind's single-pointed continuity, without applied thought and without sustained thought, with the joy and bliss born of concentration, he fully abides in the second meditative absorption; keeping far from the craving for joy, abiding in equanimity and in mindfulness and also in right knowing, with the body experiencing bliss — this being what the noble ones proclaim as "abiding at ease, complete in equanimity and mindfulness" — he fully abides in the third meditative absorption; with bliss ultimately severed, with suffering already severed before, with joy and sorrow both sunk away, with neither-suffering-nor-bliss, with equanimity and mindfulness purified, he fully abides in the fourth meditative absorption. This is named relying upon meditative concentration.

The Conclusion on Cultivating and Gathering the Excellent and Inferior Conditions

By thus practicing gradually, more and more excellent, more and more increasing, more and more advancing later and later, he cultivates and gathers the conditions — beginning from "self-perfection at the first" and taking "relying upon meditative concentration" as the last — and gains such a mind-ground pure and white and bright, free of all flaw and defilement, freed of the secondary afflictions, straightforward and capable, abiding and unshaken. Should he further gain the voice of another giving instruction and admonition — relying on the four noble truths, for the sake of causing 〔the four truths〕 to be fully known, forever severed, realized, and cultivated — then he has such a capacity and power to give rise to the attention drawn forth in accord with principle, and to all the right view of which this is the forerunner. By this he is then able, toward the four noble truths, to enter the true direct realization, to be perfectly liberated, and to attain final nirvāṇa in the realm of nirvāṇa without remaining basis.

It should be known that herein, from "right view" onward, down to "perfect liberation, and the attainment of final nirvāṇa in the realm of nirvāṇa without remaining basis" — this is named the true cultivating-and-gathering of lineage.

From "self-perfection" onward, down to the last, "relying upon meditative concentration," it should be known that this is named the cultivating-and-gathering of the inferior conditions. And the voice of another that is dominant in accord with the teaching of the four truths — all the instruction and admonition — and the attention drawn forth in accord with right principle: it should be known that this is named the cultivating-and-gathering of the excellent conditions. Thus this is named the establishment of lineage.

Five · The Characteristics of One Who Dwells in Lineage (Set Off by Contrast Through the Marks of No Lineage)

What are all the characteristics possessed by one who dwells in lineage? It is: whatever is contrary 〔the opposite〕 to all the characteristics of the person who has no dharma of nirvāṇa should be known to be named the characteristics possessed by the person who dwells in lineage.

Question: What is named all the characteristics possessed by the person who has no dharma of nirvāṇa — such that, accomplishing those characteristics, one should be known to be named the person who has no dharma of nirvāṇa? Answer: The person who has no dharma of nirvāṇa has many characteristics; I will now state a lesser portion 〔a part〕 of those characteristics.

〔Characteristic One〕It is this: that person who, from the very first, does not dwell in lineage and has no dharma of nirvāṇa — the craving for the store-consciousness 〔the deep craving for one's own substance〕 tightly binds him throughout all kinds 〔all stations〕, is subordinate to the support 〔the body-and-mind〕, becomes measureless dharmas that cannot be uprooted, follows along from afar, is in the end firm and solid, and clings to and adheres to the continuum — all the buddhas cannot rescue him from it. This is named the first mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage.

〔Characteristic Two〕Further, there is the other mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage: it is this — that person hears through immeasurable gateways the many faults of birth-and-death reviled, and hears through immeasurable gateways the many virtues of nirvāṇa extolled, yet toward birth-and-death he sees not the least portion of the fault of idle proliferation and sees not the least portion of any danger, nor is he able to feel the least portion of weariness — such "seeing 〔the fault〕 and wearying 〔of it〕" neither has already arisen in a past life, nor can arise in a future life, nor can rightly arise in the present life; and again, toward the nirvāṇa of the exhaustion of craving and stilling, he sees not the least portion of even its lowly virtue 〔meaning he sees not even its coarse and shallow good〕 and sees not the least portion of any benefit, nor is he able to feel the least portion of delight — such "seeing 〔the benefit〕 and delighting 〔in seeking it〕" neither has already arisen in a past life, nor can arise in a future life, nor can rightly arise in the present life. This is named the second mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage.

〔Characteristic Three〕Further, there is the other mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage: it is this — that person is by nature accomplished in shamelessness and non-embarrassment of the highest grade. Because of this, he has no aversion toward 〔evil〕 and his mind has no timidity or fear, and with a delighting mind he carries out the many evils; because of this, he has never any remorse; he regards only the present dharma 〔he cares only for what is before his eyes〕; because of this, his own person's treasures decline and he brings danger upon himself. This is named the third mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage.

〔Characteristic Four〕Further, there is the other mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage: it is this — when, in every way complete and clear, fitting to principle, fine and excellent, easy to understand, one proclaims and reveals the teaching of the true Dharma, whether in reliance on the truth of suffering, or on the truth of origin, or on the truth of cessation, or on the truth of the path, that person nonetheless is not able to gain the least resolve, the least faith-and-understanding — how much less able to gain the hair of his body standing on end, or grieving and weeping and shedding tears 〔the mark of being deeply moved〕? Such 〔inability to be moved and stirred〕 likewise differs according to the three times of past, future, and present. This is named the fourth mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage.

〔Characteristic Five〕Further, there is the other mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage: it is this — that person may at some time go forth for a while within the well-spoken Dharma and Vinaya — whether pressed by a king, or pressed by a raging bandit, or pressed by a creditor, or pressed by terror, or pressed by the fear of not making a living 〔the fear of having no means to survive〕; and not for the sake of self-taming, not for self-stilling, not for self-nirvāṇa, not for the state of the renunciant, not for the state of the brahmin does he seek to go forth. Having gone forth, he delights in dwelling in noisy commotion together with lay and renunciant crowds; or he gives rise to a wrong vow and cultivates the practices of purity, namely seeking birth in a heaven, or seeking some other heavenly place; or he delights in casting off and abandoning the disciplinary precepts he has trained in, or he violates the moral discipline, harboring rot and decay within, presenting the true and real without — like the foul and filthy snail born in the water, uttering a conch-tone and coursing in the coursing of a dog 〔with the mere semblance and nothing more〕 — truly not a renunciant, yet calling himself a renunciant; not practicing the practice of purity, yet calling it the practice of purity. Such likewise differs according to the three times of past, future, and present. It should be known that a person of this kind, who does not dwell in lineage, has gone forth in mere semblance; it is not the person who does not delight in training 〔on the contrary, the one who truly goes forth is the one who delights in training〕 who is named as truly gone forth — the one who truly goes forth receives the full precepts and accomplishes the state of a bhikṣu 〔a fully ordained monk〕. By this alternative approach, by this intent, the meaning is revealed: that person is by his very ground not one gone forth, but merely upholds the semblance of going-forth and falls within the number of the gone-forth 〔is listed, for nothing, among the gone-forth〕. This is named the fifth mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage.

〔Characteristic Six〕Further, there is the other mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage: it is this — that person, even if he does some slight wholesome deed — whether by body, or by speech, or by mind — does it all for the sake of longing after existences 〔the fruits of the three realms〕: either seeking an excellent future existence, or seeking treasures, or seeking excellent treasures of every kind. This is named the sixth mark of no lineage of the person who does not dwell in lineage. Of such a kind there are many characteristics; accomplishing those characteristics, one falls within the number of those who have no dharma of final nirvāṇa.

Six · The Distinctions Among the Persons Who Dwell in Lineage

What is the person who dwells in lineage? It is to say: the person who dwells in lineage — there may be one who only dwells in lineage, but has not yet entered and has not yet emerged; or one who dwells in lineage and has also entered, but has not yet emerged; or one who dwells in lineage, has also entered, and has also emerged. There may be one of soft faculties, or one of middling faculties, or one of sharp faculties. There may be one whose coursing is greed, or whose coursing is hatred, or whose coursing is delusion. There may be one born into an unfree state, or one born into a free state. There may be one heedless, or one not heedless. There may be one of wrong practice, or one of no wrong practice. There may be one obstructed, or one unobstructed. There may be one far, or one near. There may be one not yet ripened, or one already ripened. There may be one not yet purified, or one already purified.

What is named the person who dwells in lineage but only dwells in lineage, and has not yet entered and has not yet emerged? It is like this: there is a certain person who has accomplished the seed of the supramundane noble Dharma, yet has not yet gained the drawing-near to a virtuous one and the hearing of the true Dharma, has not yet gained right faith toward the Dharma and Vinaya rightly spoken by the Tathāgatas, the Fully Awakened Ones, has not yet received and upheld the pure precepts, has not yet taken in much learning, has not yet increased wisdom and generosity 〔wisdom and giving〕, and has not yet made supple his views. This is named the person who only dwells in lineage, and has not yet entered and has not yet emerged.

What is named the person who dwells in lineage and has also entered, but has not yet emerged? It is: all the white class 〔the wholesome and pure class〕 that is contrary to the black class 〔the class of faults〕 spoken of before should be known to be named the person who dwells in lineage and has also entered. And its distinction is: that he has still not yet realized any of the noble path and the fruit of the noble path, and the detachment 〔liberation〕 from the afflictions.

What is named the person who dwells in lineage, has also entered, and has also emerged? It is as stated before, and its distinction is that he has already realized the noble path and the fruit of the noble path, and the detachment from the afflictions.

What is the person of soft faculties? It is: there is such a person, toward the object known and the objective realm, whose faculties all operate exceedingly slowly and operate weakly — whether associated with the attention constituted by hearing, or that constituted by reflection, or that constituted by cultivation, namely the faith faculty, the effort faculty, the mindfulness faculty, the concentration faculty, or the wisdom faculty — without capacity, without power to penetrate the meaning of the dharmas and swiftly realize the true. This is named the person of soft faculties.

What is the person of middling faculties? It is: there is such a person, toward the object known and the objective realm, whose faculties all operate somewhat slowly, all as before 〔for soft faculties〕 to be stated in full. This is named the person of middling faculties.

What is the person of sharp faculties? It is: there is such a person, toward the object known and the objective realm, whose faculties all operate not slowly and do not operate weakly — whether associated with the attention constituted by hearing, or that constituted by reflection, or that constituted by cultivation, namely the faith faculty, the effort faculty, the mindfulness faculty, the concentration faculty, or the wisdom faculty — with capacity, with great power to penetrate the meaning of the dharmas and swiftly realize the true. This is named the person of sharp faculties.

What is the person whose coursing is greed? It is: there is such a person, toward the objective realm of things lovable and things to be tainted with, who has fierce greed, has greed for a long time. This is named the person whose coursing is greed.

What is the person whose coursing is hatred? It is: there is such a person, toward the objective realm of things hateful and things to be angered at, who has fierce hatred, has hatred for a long time. This is named the person whose coursing is hatred.

What is the person whose coursing is delusion? It is: there is such a person, toward the object known and the objective realm, who has fierce delusion, has delusion for a long time. This is named the person whose coursing is delusion.

As for the person born into an unfree state, the one heedless, the one of wrong practice, or the one obstructed — all of these should be known as before 〔with the various faults〕. Whatever is contrary to this should be known to be the person born into a free state, not heedless, of no wrong practice, and unobstructed.

What is named the far person? It is: there is such a person who, because of "farness in time," is far from nirvāṇa; or else who, because of "farness in effort," is said to be named far.

What is named being far from nirvāṇa because of farness in time? It is: there is such a person who must pass through many hundreds of births, or many thousands of births, or many hundreds of thousands of births, and only then can meet with the excellent condition and attain final nirvāṇa.

What is named being said to be far because of farness in effort? It is: there is such a person who only dwells in lineage but has not yet entered, and cannot swiftly meet with the excellent condition and attain final nirvāṇa, because he has not yet been able to give rise to an excellent effort toward nirvāṇa. He is said to be named far by "farness in effort," not by "farness in time." Thus these two kinds 〔farness in time and farness in effort〕 gathered together in brief as one are named the far person.

What is named the near person? It is: there is such a person who, because of "nearness in time," is near to nirvāṇa; or else who, because of "nearness in effort," is said to be named near.

What is named being near to nirvāṇa because of nearness in time? It is: there is such a person who dwells in the last birth, dwells in the last existence, dwells in the last body, and by this very body is to attain nirvāṇa; or by this very instant, without interval, is to realize the severance of the afflictions. This is named being near to nirvāṇa because of nearness in time.

What is named being said to be near because of nearness in effort? It is: there is such a person who dwells in lineage and has also entered. Thus these two kinds 〔nearness in time and nearness in effort〕 gathered together in brief as one are named the near person.

What is the person not yet ripened? It is: there is such a person who has not yet been able to gain the body of the last existence — namely, dwelling in this 〔body〕 he can attain final nirvāṇa, or can enter the right certainty of freedom from birth 〔the path of seeing〕. This is named the person not yet ripened.

What is the person already ripened? It is: there is such a person who has already been able to gain the body of the last existence — namely, dwelling in this 〔body〕 he can attain final nirvāṇa, or can enter the right certainty of freedom from birth. This is named the person already ripened.

What is the person not yet purified? It is: there is such a person who has not yet given rise to the noble path, and, toward the fruit of the noble path and the detachment from the afflictions, has not yet been able to realize it. This is named the person not yet purified.

What is the person already purified? It is: whatever is contrary to the above — its characteristics should be known. Thus this is named all the distinctions possessed by the persons who dwell in lineage.

In order to deliver them, the buddhas, the world-honored ones, appear in the world: those not yet entered, they cause to enter; those not yet ripened, they cause to ripen; those not yet purified, they cause to be purified; they turn the wheel of the true Dharma and set up the points of training.

Teaching arc: The Śrāvaka Stage lays out the whole course of practice in four yoga-stations, yet the first step is not to teach anyone "how to practice" — it first asks "who is the one who can succeed in practice, and on what does he succeed?" The point of the eye in the Stage of Lineage is a single phrase, "natural endowment" (fǎ'ěr): the capital for liberation is a single "naturally endowed" uncontaminated seed, possessed from the start, not something cultivated into being. Yet a seed alone is not enough — it must still meet with conditions. This gate, standing between these two poles of "possessed from the start" and "awaiting conditions," sees clear through the inner constitution and the destination of a practitioner.

At the Very Opening It Does Not Teach Sitting; It First Asks: Someone Ought to Be Liberated — Why, After Ten Thousand Eons of Flowing On, Is He Still Not Liberated?

At the opening of the Śrāvaka Stage, Maitreya does not first speak of counting the breath, nor first of the contemplation of impurity; he first sets up a question that sinks the heart: suppose a person possesses from the very start the nature of nirvāṇa — then by what cause and condition does he have "the dharma of nirvāṇa, and yet from the prior limit onward flow on for a long time and not attain final nirvāṇa"? Since the capital is already in his person, how can it be that a debt of measureless eons still stands unpaid?

To answer this question, one must first recognize what that "capital" is. The treatise says: the one who dwells in lineage has, in his person, "a seed-dharma, because it is present and existent," and, meeting an excellent condition, "then has the fitness and then has the power, toward his nirvāṇa able to attain and able to realize." This seed is not something cultivated into being. The treatise asks "with what is it constituted as its substance," and answers cleanly: "it adheres to the support, has such-and-such a character, and is subsumed under the six sense-fields. Come down transmitted onward from beginningless time, it is attained as a natural endowment". "Natural endowment" means innately possessed of itself, not produced by contrivance.

Master Tai, fearing that people would not grasp this "possessed from the start yet not to be seen," gave an excellent simile: 「如產女有能生子用，說有人種，然其女身中未曾有胎」 tr. "It is like a woman able to bear: you may say she 'has the seed of offspring,' yet in her body there has never been a fetus" 〔Dunlun〕 — a woman capable of childbearing, of whom you say she "has the seed of a descendant," yet at this moment there is no fetus in her womb. Lineage is precisely so: it is a fitness not yet cashed out; you cannot detect a ready-made thing, yet the capacity to realize nirvāṇa is truly there. Hence "having a seed" is spoken, and "natural endowment" too — for it is not attained by cultivation.

This answer, at a stroke, blocks off two forked roads: lineage is not forcibly manufactured by practice (else it would not be called a natural endowment), nor does it come uncaused and for nothing (it is a really-existent seed, transmitted onward from beginningless time). Possessed from the start, yet awaiting conditions — this is the very backbone of the whole Stage of Lineage.

Seed, Element, Nature: Three Names, One Seed — and Where It Lodges

The treatise says next that this "lineage" has three distinct names: 「或名種子，或名為界，或名為性」 tr. "it may be named seed, or named element, or named nature". The ancients marked out the fine distinctions of these three names: 「梵本云『馱都』（dhātu），此云界，是因義也」 tr. "the Sanskrit text reads dhātu, here rendered 'element,' which is the sense of cause" — to name it "element" is to take it as able to generate present activity, as cause; 「〔濕縛娑縛〕此云性，是體性義也」 tr. "〔svabhāva〕 here rendered 'nature,' which is the sense of intrinsic substance" 〔Dunlun; Kuiji in the same words〕 — to name it "nature" is to take it as the intrinsic substance of a person. Though the names are three, the matter is one.

And this one seed — where does it lodge? The treatise's answer is full of import: it "falls within a single continuum," not many continuums. Why? Because it is not like the ten form-dharmas or the eight consciousnesses, each with its own distinct substance, each flowing on of itself; it "does not have a character distinct and other upon the six sense-fields," but only "precisely within such a kind and phase makes the six sense-fields excellent". Master Jing brings this out plainly: is lineage spread across the eighteen elements, or does it fall within a single station? The answer — 「唯墮賴耶意界一相續中」 tr. "it falls solely within the single continuum of the store consciousness, the mental element" 〔Dunlun〕. At the very opening, the first gate of the Śrāvaka Stage, the skeleton of Consciousness-Only has already shown itself: the seed of liberation is lodged within the eighth store consciousness, and is transmitted along with a single bodily continuum. (And it is precisely here that the ancients left a divergence they did not adjudicate: whether the innately-possessed seed is really existent — Jing and Tai, following the Great Vehicle, allow it; Nanda and others "do not allow the innate seed" 〔Dunlun〕. The Notes only records the difference and does not sever the right and wrong of it; here too it is merely transmitted.)

The Seed Will Grow: Fine and Coarse, Nature-Seed and Cultivation-Seed

Lineage has a distinction of "fine and coarse." The treatise says: the seed, "not yet able to yield a fruit, not yet cultivated into a fruit, is therefore named fine"; once "it has already yielded a fruit and already been cultivated into a fruit," then, whether as seed or as fruit, it is named coarse. Master Jing then renders this "growing-up" as the names of two phases: while not yet increased it "is named only the nature-seed lineage," and "afterward, by the increase borrowed from conditions, once it has yielded a fruit … it is then named the cultivation-seed"; and in a single line he points out the division of labor between this gate and the gate below — 「今種姓地意明性種，後趣入地方明習種」 tr. "the present Stage of Lineage means to clarify the nature-seed; the later Stage of Entry then clarifies the cultivation-seed" 〔Dunlun〕.

So what the Stage of Lineage speaks of is that capital still undischarged, latent (the nature-seed lineage); how the seed meets conditions and sprouts, growing into the practice of the path in present activity, is the business of the next gate, the Stage of Entry. This gate first speaks through the "possessed from the start"; the gate below then speaks of the "starting up."

A Seed Alone Is Not Enough: Four Causes and Conditions Bar the One Who Ought to Be Liberated at the Door

Returning to the question at the opening — having lineage, why still flow on? The treatise answers, 「四因緣故，不般涅槃」 tr. "by four causes and conditions, one does not attain final nirvāṇa": first, being born into an unfree state (born in a borderland, or among the Dasyus and Mlecchas, places where the fourfold assembly and the virtuous never reach, without so much as a chance to hear the Dharma); second, the fault of heedlessness (born in a good place, yet, wealthy and noble, indulging desires, seeing no danger, knowing no emergence); third, wrong understanding-and-practice (covered over by the evil views of outsiders, giving rise to the annihilationist views of "no giving" and "no existence hereafter"); fourth, the fault of being obstructed (having met a buddha and encountered a friend, yet by mischance dull and mute, or committing deeds of immediate retribution, or long giving rise to afflictions).

These four, from outer to inner, deepen layer by layer: first no opportunity at all; next, opportunity yet self-indulgence; next, having heard yet believing wrongly; last, a hard obstruction carried in one's own body-and-mind. However true the lineage, once pinched by these four barriers, then "though he has the dharma of final nirvāṇa, he does not attain final nirvāṇa." Only when he meets a buddha and hears the Dharma, gains the concordant admonition, and those four conditions are once removed, does he then "have his wholesome roots ripen, and gradually, and at last, attain final nirvāṇa." — The nature possessed from the start turns out to be this afraid that the conditions should be wrong.

Then What Is "the Right Condition"? Two Words Hold Up the Whole of Śrāvaka Practice

The treatise then asks it head-on: what after all is the "condition" for nirvāṇa, lacking which one does not attain nirvāṇa? The answer is only two kinds — 「一勝、二劣」 tr. "first, the excellent; second, the inferior".

The excellent condition is just two things: "the voice of another dominant in the true Dharma" (that sound of someone proclaiming the true Dharma to you) and "inward attention in accord with principle" (your own inward thinking in accord with principle). Well-speaking without, right reflection within — where these two poles connect, that is the excellent condition leading straight toward the path of seeing. Master Tai puts it through and through: 「聞思慧等名勝緣，自餘外緣皆是劣緣」 tr. "the wisdoms of hearing and reflection and the like are named the excellent condition; all the remaining outer conditions are the inferior condition" 〔Dunlun〕.

The inferior condition, on the other hand, is a whole staircase; the treatise lists twelve members in a row, from "self-perfection and other-perfection" at the start, to "relying upon meditative concentration" at the end. Do not slight the word "inferior" — this is no inferior product; it is the entire provisioning ground on which the excellent condition can arise. It is in fact a miniature blueprint of śrāvaka practice:

First there must be self-perfection (one's own conditions complete): gaining a human body well, being born in a noble place, having the faculties unimpaired, pure faith toward the excellent object, being free of the karmic obstructions — a human body, a good place, whole faculties, faith arisen, no grave offense. Then there must be other-perfection (the outer conditions complete): the buddhas appearing in the world, the speaking of the teaching of the true Dharma, the long endurance of the teaching, the teaching-abiding handed on, and being an object of another's compassion — a buddha, a teaching, the teaching still present, someone to hand it on, a donor to supply. With these ten laid down, the stage for practice is at last set up.

The work upon the stage, the treatise ranks rung by rung upward: the desire for wholesome dharmas (giving rise to the vow of going forth to practice) → right going-forth (receiving the full precepts) → the discipline of moral restraint (seeing even a minute offense as a great terror) → the discipline of the faculties (at the gates of the six faculties not grasping the mark, not grasping the features, holding fast and not leaking) → knowing the right measure in food (food only to support the body and uphold the practice of purity, not for arrogance and indulgence) → the yoga of wakefulness (not craving sleep in the first and last watches, lying on the right side dwelling in the conception of light) → dwelling with right knowing (walking, standing, sitting, lying, speaking, silence, all clearly known) → delighting in seclusion (casting off clinging to bedding, dwelling in the free and open āraṇya) → the purifying of the hindrances (purifying away the five hindrances of sensual desire, ill-will, dullness-and-drowsiness, restlessness-and-remorse, and doubt) → relying upon meditative concentration (keeping far from desire and entering the first absorption, down to the fourth absorption's purity of equanimity and mindfulness).

This whole road, "more and more excellent, more and more increasing, more and more advancing," cultivated to "a mind pure and white and bright, free of all flaw … abiding and unshaken," then, relying on the four noble truths and giving rise to attention in accord with principle and to right view, one "toward the four noble truths enters the true direct realization, is perfectly liberated, and attains final nirvāṇa in the realm of nirvāṇa without remaining basis". The treatise itself turns back to draw the conclusion: from right view to nirvāṇa without remaining basis is "the true cultivating-and-gathering of lineage"; from self-perfection to relying upon meditative concentration is the cultivating-and-gathering of "the inferior condition"; the voice of another in accord with the teaching of the four truths, and the attention in accord with principle, is the cultivating-and-gathering of "the excellent condition". — This one gate, the establishment of lineage, amounts to compressing the whole śrāvaka path, from taking birth and gaining a human body to entering final nirvāṇa, into a single condensed rehearsal beforehand.

Looking at It in Reverse: What the Person Without Lineage Looks Like — the Mirror of the Snail's Conch-Tone

When the treatise speaks of "the characteristics of one who dwells in lineage," it uses the method of setting-off-by-contrast: whatever is 「與一切無涅槃法補特伽羅諸相相違」 tr. "contrary to all the characteristics of the person who has no dharma of nirvāṇa" is the characteristic of one who dwells in lineage. So it simply paints six portraits of the person "without lineage," that you may recognize the one by reversing the other.

The first portrait weighs heaviest: that person's 「阿賴耶愛，遍一切種皆悉隨縛」 tr. "craving for the store consciousness tightly binds him throughout all kinds," is subordinate to the support, cannot be uprooted, is in the end firm and solid, and 「一切諸佛所不能救」 tr. "cannot be rescued by all the buddhas". Master Jing glosses: 「計賴耶為我，以愛我故、愛我眾具故」 tr. "he reckons the store consciousness as a self, and because of craving the self, and craving the requisites of the self," this craving binds throughout all kinds and further grows the remaining defilements; having neither a path of severance nor a seed as cause, "therefore the buddhas by their outer conditioning cannot rescue him" 〔Dunlun〕. — Again the store consciousness. The lodging of lineage is the store consciousness; the dead knot of no-lineage is likewise the craving for the store consciousness: a single thought grasping the store as a self bolts the door of rescue from within.

The most memorable is the fifth portrait — the false going-forth. The treatise says such a person, pressed by a king, a raging bandit, a creditor, terror, or the fear of not making a living, goes forth; and having gone forth, dwells in noisy commotion, gives rise to wrong vows, violates the moral discipline, 「內懷朽敗，外現真實，如水所生雜穢蝸牛，螺音狗行」 tr. "harbors rot and decay within, presents the true and real without — like the foul and filthy snail born in the water, uttering a conch-tone and coursing in the coursing of a dog". This simile all three ancients were loath to let go: Master Tai says 「佛法如水，破戒苾芻如水中眾雜穢蝸牛；又如狗好聲如螺，然有狗行——形相似實，實性惡行」 tr. "the Buddha's Dharma is like water; the precept-breaking bhikṣu is like the many foul and filthy snails in the water; and again like a dog fond of a sound resembling a conch, yet with the coursing of a dog — the form and appearance resemble the real, but the true nature is evil conduct" 〔Dunlun〕; Kuiji says 「破戒比丘如水上眾多雜穢〔之〕牛……又如狗高叫，似吹螺明，然有狗行」 tr. "the precept-breaking monk is like the many foul and filthy 'snails' on the water … and again like a dog barking loudly, resembling the clear blowing of a conch, yet with the coursing of a dog". The Dharma is clear water, and such a person stirs up filth and turbidity in it; a dog's bark feigns the solemnity of a conch-tone, but at the bone runs the coursing of a dog. The treatise cuts it clean in a phrase: this is called "going forth in mere semblance," merely "upholding the semblance of going-forth, falling within the number of the gone-forth" — draped in the semblance, listed among the ranks of the Saṅgha, but by his ground not one gone forth. The other four portraits (not wearying of birth-and-death; shamelessness and non-embarrassment of the highest grade; hearing the four truths yet unable to resolve or shed a tear; every wholesome deed done in mere longing after existences) are all different angles of one and the same mirror: what they reflect is a mind that does not give rise to a single thought of true desire for liberation.

The Same "Dwelling in Lineage," Yet Each Stands in a Different Position

The last gate divides again the person who "already dwells in lineage," giving the practitioner a chart to locate himself. First it divides by progress into three layers: only dwelling in lineage but not yet entered and not yet emerged; already entered but not yet emerged; already entered and already emerged (the one who has emerged being the one who "has already realized the noble path and the fruit of the noble path, and the detachment from the afflictions"). Then it cuts across into various distinctions: soft / middling / sharp faculties (the slowness or fierceness of the faculties toward the objective realm, the speed of penetrating the meaning of the dharmas), greed-coursing / hatred-coursing / delusion-coursing (whichever affliction is fierce and long-lasting), born into an unfree or a free state, with or without heedlessness, wrong practice, obstruction, far / near, not yet ripened / already ripened, not yet purified / already purified.

Of these, "far and near" shows most of compassion and most of warning: the treatise says "far" is of two — "farness in time" (must pass through many hundreds of thousands of births before meeting the excellent condition) and "farness in effort" (though dwelling in lineage, not yet entered, unable to give rise to an excellent effort); "near" is likewise of two — "nearness in time" (dwelling in the last body, by this very body to attain nirvāṇa) and "nearness in effort" (already entered, before long able to give rise to effort). The same naturally-endowed seed — one man is near, in his very last life; another is far, hundreds of thousands of births away; and the divide lies not in the presence or absence of the seed, but in meeting the condition and giving rise to practice.

At the gate's end, Maitreya draws the close warmly: precisely to deliver these who stand in different positions, "the buddhas, the world-honored ones, appear in the world" — causing those not yet entered to enter, those not yet ripened to ripen, those not yet purified to be purified, "turning the wheel of the true Dharma and setting up the points of training". The Stage of Lineage begins from the sinking question "having the seed yet not liberated," and closes with "the Buddha appears in the world to deliver them": the seed possessed from the start must, in the end, be watered by this living stream of the Buddha's Dharma.

Appended: On lineage there is the distinction of "fixed and unfixed" and the difference of the five vehicles — the sūtra has its own teaching. The Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra makes clear that "all śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas share this one fine and pure path," while "there is only one vehicle" is a statement of hidden intent; within the realm of sentient beings it is not the case that there is no difference of dull, middling, and sharp-faculty lineage, and it further sets up separately the "śrāvaka wholly bound for quiescence" and the "śrāvaka who turns toward awakening". This scriptural teaching and the meaning of lineage in the present stage are as outer and inner face to one another; here it is merely transmitted as the sūtra's word, without further adjudication.

Carrying Forward

The Stage of Lineage sets up the "root" and the "awaiting" of the śrāvaka path: as for the root, the uncontaminated seed that is attained as a natural endowment and lodged in the single continuum of the store consciousness, the mental element; as for the awaiting, the excellent and inferior conditions, from self-perfection and other-perfection all the way to the four meditative absorptions. This gate clarifies the nature-seed, not yet set in motion; the condition being complete and the seed sprouting, turning toward the practice of the path, is what the Stage of Entry carries on (clarifying the cultivation-seed); the seed having entered, and, relying on the inferior and excellent conditions, cultivating the mundane and supramundane path and emerging, is what the Stage of Emergence carries on — and this gate's "twelve members of the inferior condition," the discipline of moral restraint, the discipline of the faculties, knowing the right measure in food, the yoga of wakefulness, and dwelling with right knowing, are all cultivated at length later in the Stage of Emergence (the ancients repeatedly note "in the twenty-third and twenty-fourth fascicles it will be explained at length" 〔Dunlun〕). In the Section on Ascertainment, the Śrāvaka Stage further ascertains the distinctions of lineage by "the various elements and natures"; and the Cheng Weishi Lun carries forward this gate's meaning of "the seed attained as a natural endowment," opening the two lineages of "the naturally-abiding" and "the accomplished-through-cultivation". A single naturally-endowed seed, once its establishment is here fixed, is that upon which the later entry, emergence, and even the ascertainment and the Consciousness-Only treatises all arise.