解脫道論 三種取相與心相

Analytical knowledge has closed, and contemplation turns to grasping a sign.

The author establishes three kinds: grasping the sign of defilement, grasping the sign of concentration, and grasping the sign of 毘婆舍那. Each is linked to one simile, with none omitted: a moth flying into a lamp, an elephant tethered, and a venomous snake seized. Each simile occurs only once in the whole treatise.

Their directions deserve attention.

In the moth flying into the lamp, the moth itself moves. No one tethers or seizes it; it throws itself forward. The foolish ordinary person grasps the sign of defilement in this way: once the distortions of pleasure and permanence arise, the mind itself inclines toward what it likes.

In tethering the elephant, the person who tethers acts. The elephant is held so that it will not wander. The meditator grasps the sign of concentration in this way: in each of the thirty-eight practices, a sign is grasped and the mind is bound to it so that it will not be distracted.

In seizing the venomous snake, the person who seizes also acts, but the object can bite. One who continually contemplates grasps the sign of 毘婆奢那 in this way: the own-characteristic of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness is distinguished, while what is desired is relinquishment.

One simile is self-projection; two involve another’s grasping. Of the latter two, one holds in place and the other lifts without being injured. The treatise offers no comment, but sets the three similes at their three positions.

Each kind is also linked to a capacity: distortion, mindfulness and right knowledge, or wisdom. Here the wording teaches a small textual craft. The latter two cases have the joined Chinese string 所初心; the base punctuation of the first reads “distortion-so, beginning-mind.” Use the two regular cases to recover the irregular one: the graph 所 belongs below, not above. The basis is not an inferred meaning but the form of the other two members in the same set. The original characters remain; punctuation is not supplied on the text’s behalf.

The name itself also has two written forms. The heading uses 毘婆舍那, with 舍, while the three occurrences in its question and explanation use 毘婆奢那, with 奢. One critical note reports 奢 in four witnesses at the heading as well. Both forms are retained without adjudication or standardization.

One question calls for a pause: “How does one grasp the signs of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness?” The question names four, but the answer begins with form and the closing names the signs of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—five. Why does the question omit form? No critical note occurs there. This edition records without adding to the question or deleting from the answer.

The final two ways of grasping the sign of mind are through an occasion and through attention. Even their closings differ: one says “one in this way, through an occasion, grasps the sign of mind”; the other, “in this way one has, through attention, grasped the sign of mind.” They are recorded as written.

The passage leaves a hook: “In this way the meditator grasps the sign well.” The first question of the next passage asks what makes that grasping good.

---

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Three Kinds of Grasping a Sign and Signs of Mind · Doorway · Summer 2026

Continuing the Preceding Passage: Grasping a Sign to Penetrate Arising and Cessation

Having analyzed the three characteristics in the five appropriated aggregates, the meditator becomes inclined to enter and wishes to abandon formations.

At this point, the meditator grasps the sign of the present internal five appropriated aggregates and penetrates their arising and cessation. Thus this dhamma appears to arise from non-arising and is penetrated through arising and cessation.

Grasping a Sign Is Threefold

Here, there are three kinds of grasping a sign: grasping the sign of defilement, grasping the sign of concentration, and grasping the sign of 毘婆舍那—the first written form used here for insight contemplation.

1. Grasping the Sign of Defilement

Here, in the fields of what is seen, heard, sensed, and known, a foolish ordinary person forms the distortions of perceiving pleasure and permanence. The base text runs the words as “distortion-so, beginning-mind,” and the beginning mind grasps the sign through liking. Defilement adheres there, like a moth flying into a lamp. This is called grasping the sign of defilement.

The base text punctuates the clause as “distortion-so, beginning-mind through liking grasps the sign.” The following two cases both use the joined expression “so-beginning-mind”; by their form, the first can be read as “distortion; what the beginning mind, through liking, grasps as a sign.” The original characters are retained; punctuation is not supplied on the text’s behalf.

2. Grasping the Sign of Concentration

Question: How does one grasp the sign of concentration?

Answer: Here the meditator wishes to attain concentration. With mindfulness and right knowledge as the capacity that first directs the mind toward the thirty-eight practices, the meditator grasps a sign in each practice and binds the mind to it. This is to prevent distraction, like tethering an elephant. It is called grasping the sign of concentration.

3. Grasping the Sign of 毘婆奢那

Question: How does one grasp the sign of 毘婆奢那—the second written form used here for insight contemplation?

Answer: One who continually contemplates uses wisdom as the capacity that first directs the mind. Form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are each distinguished by their own characteristic. One delights in relinquishment and wishes to cultivate that sign, like seizing a venomous snake. This is called grasping the sign of 毘婆奢那. Here, grasping the sign of 毘婆奢那 is desirable.

Each of the three kinds is linked to one simile, with none omitted: the sign of defilement is a moth that flies into the flame by itself; the sign of concentration is an elephant tethered in place; the sign of insight contemplation is a venomous snake seized in the hand. Each of the three similes occurs only once in the entire treatise. This is recorded as it stands.

The threefold heading uses 毘婆舍那, with the graph 舍, while the three occurrences in the question and explanation use 毘婆奢那, with 奢. Two written forms occur in a single unit. They are retained rather than standardized. One critical note occurs here.

Grasping the Signs of the Five Aggregates

Question: How does one grasp the signs of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness?

Answer: The sign of form and consciousness is taken through the earth element, water element, fire element, wind element, eye sense base, or body sense base.

One observes the characteristic of feeling in feeling as pleasant, painful, or neither painful nor pleasant.

One observes the characteristic of perception in perception as perception of form or perception of dhammas.

One observes and knows the characteristic of formations in formations as contact, intention, application of thought, examination, or attention.

One observes the characteristic of consciousness in consciousness as eye consciousness or mind consciousness.

Observing in this way, the meditator grasps the sign well and causes it to arise through what is wholesome. Causing it to arise in this way, the meditator grasps the signs of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness.

This question deserves notice. The question names four—feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—but the answer begins with form, treats five, and closes by naming the signs of all five. The question has four while the answer has five. This is recorded without addition or deletion. No critical note occurs here.

Grasping the Sign of Mind in Two Ways

Again, the sign of mind is grasped in two ways: through an occasion and through attention.

1. Grasping the Sign of Mind Through an Occasion

Question: How does one grasp the sign of mind through an occasion?

Answer: “Through this occasion my mind arose.” One should contemplate in this way: through this occasion of form and feeling, this occasion of perception, this occasion of formations, and this occasion of consciousness, my mind arose. One should contemplate accordingly. In this way one grasps the sign of mind through an occasion.

2. Grasping the Sign of Mind Through Attention

Question: How does one grasp the sign of mind through attention?

Answer: “When I attend to form in this way, this mind arises.” One should contemplate accordingly. “When I attend in this way to feeling, perception, and formations, my mind arises.” One should contemplate accordingly. In this way, one has grasped the sign of mind through attention.

The two closings differ in their exact wording. The first says, “One in this way, through an occasion, grasps the sign of mind”; the second, “In this way one has, through attention, grasped the sign of mind.” They are recorded without standardization.

---

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Three Kinds of Grasping a Sign and Signs of Mind · Vernacular · Summer 2026

Analytical knowledge has ended, and contemplation of formations turns from “analysis” to “grasping a sign.” The opening writes the turn explicitly: “Having analyzed the three characteristics in the five appropriated aggregates, the meditator becomes inclined to enter and wishes to abandon formations” 〔T32 454c01–02〕; “At this point, the meditator grasps the sign of the present internal five appropriated aggregates and penetrates their arising and cessation” 〔T32 454c02–03〕.

The central observation is this: the passage establishes three kinds of grasping a sign, and each is linked to one simile, with none omitted—a moth flying into a lamp, an elephant tethered, and a venomous snake seized. Each simile occurs only once in the whole treatise. Their directions also differ: the moth throws itself forward, the elephant is tethered, and the snake is seized.

Three Kinds of Grasping a Sign, Three Similes

The author first gives the threefold heading: “Here, there are three kinds of grasping a sign: grasping the sign of defilement, grasping the sign of concentration, and grasping the sign of 毘婆舍那” 〔T32 454c04–05〕.

The first is explained in the same paragraph: “Here, in the fields of what is seen, heard, sensed, and known, a foolish ordinary person forms the distortions of pleasure and permanence; the base text runs ‘distortion-so, beginning-mind through liking grasps the sign’” 〔T32 454c05–07〕; “defilement adheres there, like a moth flying into a lamp. This is called grasping the sign of defilement” 〔T32 454c07–08〕.

The second begins with another question: “Question: How does one grasp the sign of concentration? Answer: Here the meditator wishes to attain concentration. With mindfulness and right knowledge as the capacity that first directs the mind toward the thirty-eight practices” 〔T32 454c08–09〕; “in each practice the meditator grasps a sign and binds the mind to it, to prevent distraction, like tethering an elephant. This is called grasping the sign of concentration” 〔T32 454c09–10〕.

The third begins with a further question: “Question: How does one grasp the sign of 毘婆奢那? Answer: One who continually contemplates uses wisdom as the capacity that first directs the mind” 〔T32 454c10–11〕; “form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are each distinguished by their own characteristic; one delights in relinquishment and wishes to cultivate that sign, like seizing a venomous snake. This is called grasping the sign of 毘婆奢那” 〔T32 454c12–13〕.

Three kinds of grasping a sign, three similes—one for each.

The direction of each simile differs. In the moth flying into the lamp, the moth itself moves. No one tethers or seizes it; it flies forward on its own. In tethering the elephant, the person who tethers acts, while the elephant is bound. In seizing the venomous snake, the person who seizes also acts, but what is seized can bite.

One is self-projection; two are another’s grasping. Of the latter two, one holds the object in place, while the other lifts a dangerous object without being injured. The treatise offers no comment, but places the similes at their three respective points. This edition records the contrast without supplying the author’s reason.

Reading Practice: Use the Regular Cases to Recover the Irregular One

Each of the three kinds is also linked to a capacity: the first to distortion, the second to mindfulness and right knowledge, the third to wisdom.

The wording of that link is irregular in one place.

The second says, “with mindfulness and right knowledge as the capacity that first directs the mind toward the thirty-eight practices” 〔T32 454c09〕. The third says, “one who continually contemplates uses wisdom as the capacity that first directs the mind” 〔T32 454c11〕. The three-character Chinese string 所初心 occurs twice in the whole treatise, both times here.

What of the first? The base reads, “with the distortions of pleasure and permanence, distortion-so, beginning-mind through liking grasps the sign” 〔T32 454c06–07〕. The graph 所 (“as the capacity that”) adheres to “distortion,” while 初心 (“first directs the mind”) begins after the punctuation.

The passage offers a reading practice: when three members form a set, first ask whether they use a common form. If one is irregular, use the regular cases to recover it.

The latter two both have the joined expression 所初心. By their shared form, the 所 in the first should belong below rather than above: “distortion” closes, and “what the beginning mind, through liking, grasps as a sign” begins. The basis of this recovery is not an inferred meaning, but the sentence form of the other two members in the same set. The original characters remain; punctuation is not supplied on the text’s behalf.

One further detail concerns the name. The heading has 毘婆舍那, with the graph 舍 〔T32 454c05〕, while the question and explanation use 毘婆奢那, with 奢, three times (454c11·454c13·454c13–14). Two written forms occur within one unit. The 奢 form occurs three times in the whole treatise, all here. One critical note reports that four witnesses also read 奢 in the heading, which would make all three names uniform. The readings are recorded without adjudication; the body follows the base and does not standardize them.

Pause: Why Is “Form” Absent from the Question?

The fourth section asks, “Question: How does one grasp the signs of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness? Answer: The sign of form and consciousness …” 〔T32 454c14–15〕.

The question names four—feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness—yet the answer begins with form.

The four mental aggregates are then named one by one: “One observes the characteristic of feeling in feeling as pleasant, painful, or neither painful nor pleasant” 〔T32 454c16–17〕; “one observes the characteristic of perception in perception as perception of form or perception of dhammas” 〔T32 454c17–18〕; “one observes and knows the characteristic of formations in formations as contact, intention, application of thought, examination, or attention” 〔T32 454c18–19〕; “one observes the characteristic of consciousness in consciousness as eye consciousness or mind consciousness” 〔T32 454c19–20〕.

The closing says, “In this way the meditator grasps the sign well and causes it to arise through what is wholesome. Causing it to arise in this way, the meditator grasps the signs of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness” 〔T32 454c21–22〕—five items.

Thus the question gives four, the answer five, and the closing five.

Why is “form” absent from the question?

The passage cannot answer. Three points can be checked: the question names four; the answer begins with form and closes with five; no critical note occurs here—the critical tradition does not mark the wording as a variant.

This edition records without addition or deletion. It does not add “form” to the question on the author’s behalf or remove form from the answer.

There is one further small irregularity. Feeling, perception, and consciousness each begin with a Chinese phrase equivalent to “in this way observe that,” but formations alone begin “in this way observe and know” 〔T32 454c18〕. The phrase “in this way observe and know” occurs only here in the work. It is retained rather than standardized.

Two Ways of Grasping the Sign of Mind: Even the Closings Differ

The final turn states: “Again, the sign of mind is grasped in two ways: through an occasion and through attention” 〔T32 454c22–23〕. The phrase “grasp the sign of mind” occurs five times in the work, all five here.

The first way says, “Question: How does one grasp the sign of mind through an occasion? Answer: Through this occasion my mind arose” 〔T32 454c23〕, and closes, “One should contemplate accordingly. One in this way, through an occasion, grasps the sign of mind” 〔T32 454c25–26〕.

The second says, “Question: How does one grasp the sign of mind through attention? Answer: When I attend to form in this way, this mind arises” 〔T32 454c26–27〕, and closes, “One should contemplate accordingly. In this way one has, through attention, grasped the sign of mind” 〔T32 454c28〕.

The exact wording of the two closings differs: the first says “one in this way, through an occasion”; the second “in this way one has, through attention.” One contains “one” but not “has”; the other “has” but not “one.” They are recorded without standardization.

The objects contemplated in the two ways also differ. Grasping the sign through an occasion contemplates “through this occasion of form and feeling, this occasion of perception, this occasion of formations, and this occasion of consciousness” 〔T32 454c24–25〕—four occasions. Grasping it through attention says, “When I attend in this way to feeling, perception, and formations, my mind arises” 〔T32 454c27–28〕—feeling, perception, and formations run together, while attention to form appears in the preceding sentence 〔T32 454c26–27〕. One way counts its objects through “occasion” and gives four; the other leads them through “attention,” separating form from feeling, perception, and formations into two sentences. The treatise gives no total, and this edition supplies none.

Looking back across the passage, a repeated pattern appears: the three kinds of grasping a sign have a common form with one irregular punctuation; the four mental aggregates have a common form with one irregular introduction; the two ways of grasping the mind have a common form with one irregular closing. Whenever the author establishes a set, one member remains textually uneven. This is not a conclusion about why the text is so, only an observable feature. Whether it arose from translation, transmission, or the composition itself is not stated by the treatise and is not supplied here.

The unit leaves a hook: “In this way the meditator grasps the sign well” 〔T32 454c21〕. The first question of the next unit asks what makes that sign well grasped.

---

Take away three things. One observation: each of the three kinds of grasping a sign has one simile—moth flying into a lamp 〔T32 454c07〕, elephant tethered 〔T32 454c10〕, venomous snake seized 〔T32 454c13〕—and each simile occurs only once in the work. Their directions differ: the moth throws itself forward, the elephant is tethered, the snake is seized. One reading practice: when three items form a set, test whether they share one form; use the two regular members to recover the irregular one. The latter two have 所初心, while the first is punctuated “distortion-so, beginning-mind” 〔T32 454c06〕. The shared form allows a recovery while the written characters remain untouched. One pause: “Question: How does one grasp the signs of feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness?” 〔T32 454c14〕 names four, while the answer begins with form and the closing names five 〔T32 454c21–22〕. Why is “form” absent from the question? No critical note occurs there; the wording is recorded without addition or deletion.

Three smaller points also matter. The heading has 毘婆舍那, while the question and explanation use 毘婆奢那 three times—two visibly different written forms within one unit; one critical note says four witnesses have 奢 in the heading. The introductions for feeling, perception, and consciousness say “observe that,” while formations alone says “observe and know” 〔T32 454c18〕. Finally, the two closings for grasping the sign of mind differ 〔T32 454c25–26·454c28〕.

---

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Three Kinds of Grasping a Sign and Signs of Mind · Exposition · Summer 2026