解脫道論 三十八行處與禪攝

The author writes out a list of thirty-eight items here 〔T32 411a09〕. Nowhere else in the entire treatise is the whole list written out in this way a second time.

Yet the list is not the first sentence of the passage. The first sentence is about the teacher looking first: “爾時依止師觀其所行，授三十八行” 〔T32 411a08〕—first observe, then give. The whole preceding chapter distinguishes what kind of person someone is; only when that work is complete does this sentence come down. The list is given to a person who has been observed, not to everyone.

The name 依止師, teacher on whom one depends, occurs only once in the whole treatise. An earlier whole chapter devoted to seeking a teacher uses 禪師, 和上, and 闍梨. At the moment when the list is handed over, the author changes the designation to 依止師—taking “dependence,” not “instruction,” as the point. The act of handing over the list is placed under a relationship, not under knowledge.

The list then appears. Four groups carry their own numbers, while the last four items carry no number; the reader must complete the final addition to thirty-eight.

What happens after the list has been given is striking. As soon as the nine classifications open, before the first classification, “jhāna,” has even ended, three designations have already changed within the same passage: 念身, mindfulness of the body, becomes 觀身, contemplation of the body; 空處一切入, space kasiṇa, becomes 空一切入, empty-space kasiṇa, and then 虛空一切入, kasiṇa of empty space; 行處, meditation subject, becomes 行, practice. The author does not explain the changes and does not return to make the names uniform.

The author has just set out a list with great care, yet within ten lines no longer recites it in the same words. This fact itself says something: these are not entries to memorize but a scheme to use. In use, the names may change in passing; what cannot change is how many there are.

The warrant this passage leaves the reader is therefore not the name but the number. Ten access practices, eleven in the first jhāna, three in the third jhāna, one in the fourth jhāna, nine in the fourth and fifth jhānas, and four formless—together they make exactly thirty-eight, not one more and not one less. Names are loose; numbers are tight. The proof that the items with changed names are still the original items lies in this addition.

One final matter is worth remembering. The thirty-eight names are listed here, but this chapter says not one word about how each is cultivated or how far its cultivation proceeds. That belongs to the next chapter, beginning with “問：云何地一切入” 〔T32 412b22〕 and developing them one by one. The present chapter does only one thing: it repeatedly classifies these thirty-eight things.

It classifies them nine times. When the classification is finished, the person goes to practise.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Thirty-Eight Practices and Their Jhāna Classifications · Doorway · Summer 2026

At That Time, the Teacher on Whom One Depends Gives the Thirty-Eight Practices

At that time, the teacher on whom one depends observes which practice he follows, gives him the thirty-eight practices, and should then instruct him so that 二行相應, “correspondence with two practices,” is brought about.

Question: What Are the Thirty-Eight Practices?

Question: What are the thirty-eight practices?

Answer: First are the ten kasiṇas—earth, water, fire, wind, blue-green, yellow, red, white, space, and consciousness kasiṇas.

Second are the ten perceptions of impurity—the swollen-corpse perception, livid perception, decomposed perception, scattered perception, perception of a corpse devoured by birds and beasts, perception of flesh torn apart, slain-and-scattered perception, red-blood-smeared perception, worm-infested perception, and bones perception.

Third are the ten recollections—recollection of the Buddha, recollection of the Dhamma, recollection of the Saṅgha, recollection of virtue, recollection of giving, recollection of deities, mindfulness of death, mindfulness of the body, mindfulness of breathing, and recollection of quietude.

Fourth are the four immeasurables—loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity.

Besides these are four more: contemplating the four elements, the perception of repulsiveness in food, the base of nothingness, and the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception.

These are called the thirty-eight practices.

These Thirty-Eight Practices Are to Be Viewed through Nine Classifications to Know Their Excellence

These thirty-eight practices should be understood in their excellence through nine classifications. Which nine? First, through jhāna; second, through right going beyond; third, through increase; fourth, through condition; fifth, through things; sixth, through excellence; seventh, through ground; eighth, through grasping; and ninth, through person.

First Classification · Through Jhāna: The Initial Statement of Six Classes

Question: What is the classification through jhāna?

Answer: Ten meditation subjects produce access to jhāna.

Another eleven meditation subjects accomplish the first jhāna.

Another three meditation subjects accomplish the third jhāna.

Another single meditation subject accomplishes the fourth jhāna.

Another nine meditation subjects accomplish the fourth and fifth jhānas.

Another four meditation subjects accomplish the four formless jhānas.

Which Ten Produce Access to Jhāna?

Question: Which ten meditation subjects produce access to jhāna?

Answer: Of the ten recollections, set aside mindfulness of breathing and contemplation of the body. The other eight recollections, together with contemplating the four elements and the perception of repulsiveness in food, are called the ten access practices.

Which Eleven Are Included in the First Jhāna?

Question: Which eleven meditation subjects are included in the first jhāna?

Answer: The ten perceptions of impurity, together with contemplation of the body—these are called the subjects included in the first jhāna.

Which Three Are Included in the Third Jhāna?

Question: Which three meditation subjects are included in the third jhāna?

Answer: They are loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy.

Which One Is Included in the Fourth Jhāna?

Question: Which one meditation subject is included in the fourth jhāna?

Answer: It is equanimity.

Which Nine Are Included in the Fourth and Fifth Jhānas?

Question: Which nine meditation subjects are included in the fourth and fifth jhānas?

Answer: From the ten kasiṇas, set aside the empty-space kasiṇa and the consciousness kasiṇa. The other eight kasiṇas, together with breathing-mindfulness, make nine.

Which Four Are Included among the Four Formless States?

Question: Which four meditation subjects are included among the four formless states?

Answer: The kasiṇa of empty space, the consciousness kasiṇa, the base of nothingness, and the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception—these are named four practices.

Thus, they can be known through jhāna.

Several Points to Note

The opening sentence says 授三十八行, “gives the thirty-eight practices”; only when the question is posed does the text say 三十八行處, “thirty-eight practices.” When they are mentioned again later in the chapter, the wording is 於三十八行, “among the thirty-eight practices.” The same item appears both with and without the character 處. Both forms are retained here.

The opening sentence says 當復教示令二行相應, “one should then instruct him so that 二行相應, ‘correspondence with two practices,’ is brought about.” Which two practices are meant is not listed in this passage, nor is it stated later. The literal wording is retained here without supplying them.

In the list of ten recollections, the term is 念身, “mindfulness of the body.” When the text discusses the ten access practices and those included in the first jhāna, both occurrences change to 觀身, “contemplation of the body.” The same item has one name in the list and another in use. Both forms are retained here.

In the list of ten kasiṇas, the coordinated form is 空處、識處一切入, giving “space kasiṇa” and “consciousness kasiṇa.” In the class of the fourth and fifth jhānas, they become 空一切入, “empty-space kasiṇa,” and 識一切入, “consciousness kasiṇa.” In the formless class, they become 虛空一切入, “kasiṇa of empty space,” and 識一切入, “consciousness kasiṇa.” The same two items thus bear three sets of names. All are retained here.

In the initial statement of the six classes, the first says “produce access to jhāna,” while the other five say “accomplish.” In the questions on the individual classes, those five all change to “are included in.” Moreover, the initial statement says “accomplish the four formless jhānas,” whereas the question says “included among the four formless states,” reversing the order of the terms. All these forms are retained here.

The closing formulas of the six classes do not have a single form. The ten access practices and first-jhāna classes use “are called”; the formless class uses a different “are named” formula in the Chinese; and the third-jhāna, fourth-jhāna, and fourth-and-fifth-jhāna classes have no closing formula, ending directly with the listed items. Six classes thus have three forms. All are retained here.

The final class closes with 是名四行, “these are named four practices,” not “meditation subjects.” This is the only such occurrence among the six classes. It is retained here.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Thirty-Eight Practices and Their Jhāna Classifications · Vernacular · Summer 2026

The Path of Freedom begins its account of the thirty-eight practices in this passage 〔T32 411a09〕. The five Chinese characters 三十八行處 occur only three times in the entire treatise, and all three occurrences are in this passage (411a09·411a16·411a17)—once in the question, once at the close of the list, and once when the nine classifications are established. Outside this passage, the same item is shortened to 三十八行, “thirty-eight practices.” The opening sentence of this passage already says 授三十八行, “gives the thirty-eight practices” 〔T32 411a08〕; at the end of this chapter the wording is still 於三十八行隨其所樂, “among the thirty-eight practices, according to what he likes” 〔T32 412a27–28〕.

The central observation may be stated at the outset: the author formally names these thirty-eight items only once; thereafter, as each classification is applied, the same things receive different names. The reader’s basis for recognizing that something is still the same item lies not in the names, but in the numbers.

This passage is the clearest example. Fewer than ten lines after the names have been listed, the first classification, jhāna, opens and three changes of name appear at once.

The Opening: The Two Characters 爾時 Connect to the Previous Chapter

The passage opens, 爾時依止師觀其所行，授三十八行，當復教示令二行相應, “at that time, the teacher on whom one depends observes the practice he follows, gives the thirty-eight practices, and should then instruct him so that 二行相應, ‘correspondence with two practices,’ is brought about” 〔T32 411a08–09〕.

爾時, “at that time,” is not an empty expression. The whole preceding Chapter on the Analysis of Practice distinguishes practitioners of lustful, angry, and deluded temperaments. Its final sentence is 欲行人樂色，瞋行人樂諍，癡行人樂懈怠, “a person of lustful temperament delights in forms, a person of angry temperament delights in contention, and a person of deluded temperament delights in indolence” 〔T32 411a05–06〕—the people have been distinguished. The subject of the sentence that follows this distinction is not the meditator but the teacher: it is the teacher who 觀其所行, “observes the practice he follows,” and it is also the teacher who 授, “gives.”

The name 依止師, “teacher on whom one depends,” occurs only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411a08〕. Chapter Five discusses the work of seeking a teacher throughout, using the names 禪師, “jhāna teacher” 〔T32 408c04〕, 和上, “preceptor” 〔T32 408c11〕, and 闍梨, “teacher” 〔T32 409a20〕; it never once uses 依止師. At the moment when the practices are to be given, the author uses this name for the first time—it takes the relation of “dependence,” not the relation of “instruction,” as its point. The author does not explain why the name changes, and this edition does not speak on his behalf.

The sentence also leaves something unfinished: 當復教示令二行相應, “one should then instruct him so that 二行相應, ‘correspondence with two practices,’ is brought about.” What are the two practices? The four characters 二行相應 occur only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411a09〕. This passage does not list them, and the text never mentions them again. The literal wording is retained without supplying them.

The List: Four Numbered Groups, Followed by Four Unnumbered Items

The thirty-eight items are listed according to a definite form. First comes 謂十一切入：地、水、火、風、青、黃、赤、白、空處、識處一切入, “namely the ten kasiṇas: earth, water, fire, wind, blue-green, yellow, red, white, space, and consciousness kasiṇas” 〔T32 411a09–11〕. The next three groups are each carried forward by 又, “again”—又十不淨想, “again, the ten perceptions of impurity” 〔T32 411a11〕, 又十念, “again, the ten recollections” 〔T32 411a13〕, and 又四無量心：慈、悲、喜、捨, “again, the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity” 〔T32 411a15〕. Each of the four groups carries its own number.

At the fifth point, the form breaks: 觀四大、食不淨想、無所有處、非非想處, “contemplating the four elements, the perception of repulsiveness in food, the base of nothingness, and the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception” 〔T32 411a15–16〕—four items are named in succession without 又, “again,” and without a number. The passage then gathers them together with 斯謂三十八行處, “these are called the thirty-eight practices” 〔T32 411a16〕.

Ten plus ten plus ten plus four is thirty-four; these last four unnumbered items complete the thirty-eight. The author does not perform this final addition for the reader.

Nine Classifications: Their Names All Use 以, but Their Questions Have Two Forms

此三十八行處，以九行當知最勝, “these thirty-eight practices should be understood in their excellence through nine classifications” 〔T32 411a17〕—this sentence is the framework of the entire chapter. These seven Chinese characters 以九行當知最勝 occur only once in the whole treatise 〔T32 411a17〕.

The nine classifications are named with complete regularity: 一以禪、二以正越、三以增長、四以緣、五以事、六以勝、七以地、八以取、九以人, “first, through jhāna; second, through right going beyond; third, through increase; fourth, through condition; fifth, through things; sixth, through excellence; seventh, through ground; eighth, through grasping; and ninth, through person” 〔T32 411a17–19〕. All nine use 以, “through.”

When the individual classifications are opened, however, the questions do not have one form. The present classification asks 問：云何為禪, “Question: What is the classification through jhāna?” 〔T32 411a19〕—it uses 為, not 以. Later, 云何以正越, “how is it through right going beyond?” 〔T32 411b04〕, uses 以, while 云何為緣, “what is the classification through condition?” 〔T32 411b13〕, returns to 為. The names of the nine classifications are regular; the questions that open them are not. Both forms are retained without being made uniform.

The First Classification: The Initial Statement Says “Accomplish,” but the Individual Questions Say “Included in”

The jhāna classification first states six classes: 謂十行處成禪外行, “ten meditation subjects produce access to jhāna” 〔T32 411a19–20〕; 又十一行處成就初禪, “another eleven meditation subjects accomplish the first jhāna” 〔T32 411a20〕; 又三行處成就三禪, “another three meditation subjects accomplish the third jhāna” 〔T32 411a20–21〕; 又一行處成就四禪, “another single meditation subject accomplishes the fourth jhāna” 〔T32 411a21〕; 又九行處成就四禪五禪, “another nine meditation subjects accomplish the fourth and fifth jhānas” 〔T32 411a21–22〕; and 又四行處成就無色四禪, “another four meditation subjects accomplish the four formless jhānas” 〔T32 411a22–23〕.

The first class uses 成, “produce,” while all five of the others use 成就, “accomplish.”

The passage then asks about each class separately. Here the expression changes in all five: 云何十一行處初禪所攝, “which eleven meditation subjects are included in the first jhāna?” 〔T32 411a25〕; 云何三行處，三禪所攝, “which three meditation subjects are included in the third jhāna?” 〔T32 411a26–27〕; 云何一行處四禪所攝, “which one meditation subject is included in the fourth jhāna?” 〔T32 411a27–28〕; 云何九行處，四禪五禪所攝, “which nine meditation subjects are included in the fourth and fifth jhānas?” 〔T32 411a29〕; and 云何四行處，四無色所攝, “which four meditation subjects are included among the four formless states?” 〔T32 411b02〕—all five initially said to “accomplish” are changed to “included in” in their questions. Only the first class remains unchanged, asking 云何十行處成禪外行, “which ten meditation subjects produce access to jhāna?” 〔T32 411a23〕, just as in the initial statement.

One still more conspicuous difference appears: the initial statement says 成就無色四禪, “accomplish the four formless jhānas” 〔T32 411a22–23〕, while the question says 四無色所攝, “included among the four formless states” 〔T32 411b02〕—the four Chinese characters 無色四禪 occur only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411a22–23〕 and, only one sentence later, the order has been reversed to 四無色.

Three Changes of Name, All within This One Passage

We may now return to the observation made at the beginning. Changes of name do not begin only later; three already occur within this passage.

First, 念身, “mindfulness of the body,” changes to 觀身, “contemplation of the body.” In the list of ten recollections, the eighth item is 念身 〔T32 411a14〕. In the class of access to jhāna, the text says 除數息及觀身, “set aside breathing and contemplation of the body” 〔T32 411a23–24〕; in the first-jhāna class, it says 十不淨想及觀身, “the ten perceptions of impurity together with contemplation of the body” 〔T32 411a25–26〕. The same item is 念, “mindfulness,” when named in the list and 觀, “contemplation,” when used. The form 觀身 occurs five times in the whole treatise, two of them here 〔T32 411a23–24·411a26〕.

Second, 空處一切入, “space kasiṇa,” changes to 空一切入, “empty-space kasiṇa,” and then changes again to 虛空一切入, “kasiṇa of empty space.” The list has 空處、識處一切入, “space and consciousness kasiṇas” 〔T32 411a10–11〕; the class of the fourth and fifth jhānas says 除空一切入、識一切入, “set aside the empty-space kasiṇa and the consciousness kasiṇa” 〔T32 411a29–411b01〕; and the formless class has 虛空一切入、識一切入, “the kasiṇa of empty space and the consciousness kasiṇa” 〔T32 411b02–03〕. The same two items bear three sets of names within one passage.

Third, 行處, “meditation subject,” changes to 行, “practice.” Five of the six classes use 行處, but the closing formula of the last says 是名四行, “these are named four practices” 〔T32 411b03–04〕. The Chinese phrase 是名四行 occurs only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411b03–04〕.

Pause Here: Why Are Mindfulness of the Body and Mindfulness of Breathing the Two Taken Out?

This point deserves a pause.

The ten recollections were originally one group, and the author named them together. When they are classified by jhāna, however, the group is divided into three parts: eight belong to access to jhāna, mindfulness of breathing belongs to the fourth and fifth jhānas, and mindfulness of the body—here already renamed contemplation of the body—belongs to the first jhāna. The sentence 除數息及觀身，餘八念及觀四大、食不淨想，是謂十外行, “set aside breathing and contemplation of the body; the other eight recollections, together with contemplating the four elements and the perception of repulsiveness in food, are called the ten access practices” 〔T32 411a23–24〕, does two things at once: it removes those two and then brings in two from another group—contemplating the four elements and the perception of repulsiveness in food—to return the count to ten.

The question lies precisely here: among the ten recollections, why can only these two enter jhāna, while the other eight can only serve as access to jhāna? The author does not say.

This passage cannot answer the question. Only one thing can be checked: these two items are precisely the two whose designations are least stable in the whole treatise. Mindfulness of the body changes its name within this passage; mindfulness of breathing becomes 數息念, “breathing-mindfulness,” later in this chapter 〔T32 411b01–02〕. The classification of these two items also continues to move in every later classification in the chapter—the two items described as both 內營事, “internally managed objects,” and 外事, “external things,” are precisely these two 〔T32 411c03〕.

The author does not explain the reason, and this edition does not speak on his behalf. It places only the checkable facts side by side: the other eight recollections never change their names from beginning to end, and they never cease to belong to access to jhāna.

A Way of Reading: When Reading Classificatory Prose, Add the Numbers First

The reading method this passage offers lies in the tension between names and numbers.

Names change; numbers do not. Therefore, when reading a passage that divides things through a given classification, the first step is not to memorize the names but to add the numbers for each classification and see whether they equal the total.

Applied to this passage: ten access practices, eleven in the first jhāna, three in the third jhāna, one in the fourth jhāna, nine in the fourth and fifth jhānas, and four formless—ten plus eleven plus three plus one plus nine plus four is exactly thirty-eight. This addition proves two things at once. First, the six classes distribute all thirty-eight items, with none left over and none repeated. Second, the changed names in the middle—contemplation of the body, empty-space kasiṇa, and kasiṇa of empty space—still refer to the original items, because otherwise the numbers would not agree.

The sums within the classes also agree. The ten access practices comprise eight recollections plus contemplating the four elements and the perception of repulsiveness in food: eight plus one plus one is ten. The eleven in the first jhāna comprise the ten perceptions of impurity plus contemplation of the body: ten plus one is eleven. The nine comprise eight kasiṇas plus breathing-mindfulness: eight plus one is nine. The four formless are four items listed one by one. Every level closes exactly.

This method may be carried through the other eight classifications of this chapter and through every classificatory passage in the treatise: do not begin by arguing over terminology; first add the numbers. If they add up, continue reading accordingly. If they do not, something must be happening there—a character may be missing, something may have been added, or an item being counted may not belong within the original total. Later in this chapter there are just such places.

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Take away three things. One observation: the Chinese phrase 三十八行處, “thirty-eight practices,” occurs only three times in the whole treatise, all in this passage (411a09·411a16·411a17). The author formally names the set only here; outside this passage it is shortened to 三十八行, “thirty-eight practices” 〔411a08·412a27–28〕. After the names have been fixed, three changes already occur within this same passage—念身, “mindfulness of the body,” becomes 觀身, “contemplation of the body” 〔411a23–24·411a26〕; 空處一切入, “space kasiṇa,” becomes 空一切入, “empty-space kasiṇa” 〔411a29–411b01〕 and then 虛空一切入, “kasiṇa of empty space” 〔411b02–03〕; 行處, “meditation subject,” becomes 行, “practice” 〔411b03–04〕. One way of reading: when reading classificatory prose, add the numbers for each classification. Here ten plus eleven plus three plus one plus nine plus four is exactly thirty-eight. The addition shows both that the distribution is exhaustive and that the changed names still denote the original items. One place to pause: among the ten recollections, why do only mindfulness of the body and mindfulness of breathing enter jhāna, while the other eight only produce access to jhāna 〔T32 411a23–24〕? The author does not state the reason. What can be checked is only that these two items undergo the most changes of designation in the treatise, while the other eight never change their names and never cease to belong to access to jhāna.

Three smaller matters should also be kept in view. The name 依止師, “teacher on whom one depends,” occurs only once in the whole treatise 〔411a08〕; throughout Chapter Five, the work of seeking a teacher uses the names 禪師, “jhāna teacher,” 和上, “preceptor,” and 闍梨, “teacher,” without a single use of 依止師. The Chinese phrase 二行相應, “correspondence with two practices,” occurs only once in the whole treatise 〔411a09〕 and the two practices are not listed. The six classes have three forms of closure: two use 是謂, “are called”; one uses 是名, “are named”; and three have no closing formula, while the last class alone says 四行, “four practices,” rather than 行處, “meditation subjects.”

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Thirty-Eight Practices and Their Jhāna Classifications · Exposition · Summer 2026