解脫道論 坐臥五法與常坐不臥

There are five dwelling-place ascetic practices—sitting in a secluded place, sitting beneath a tree, dwelling in the open, dwelling in a charnel ground, and dwelling in whatever place is found—and one more, constant sitting without lying down. This passage presents all six at once.

At first reading, it is easy to think: this is saying where one dwells.

It is not.

Place the criteria for the six items side by side, and one finds that the author never once says, “Dwelling in a certain place is undertaking.”

Secluded place: eliminate dwelling in the city; this is called a secluded place. Beneath a tree: leave all sheltered places; this is undertaking sitting beneath a tree. The open: cut off sheltered places and places beneath trees; this is undertaking open dwelling. Charnel ground: eliminate dwelling in other places; this is called a charnel ground. Whatever place is found: cut off attachment to the place where one stops; this is called reliance on what is encountered. Constant sitting without lying down: cut off sleep and lying down.

For all six items, undertaking always consists of eliminating, leaving, or cutting off. Loss is simply the name of that place appearing once more—dwelling in the city, going to sheltered places, dwelling in sheltered places or places beneath trees, dwelling in other places, going to a place in which one delights, or lying down.

Thus, what one undertakes in an ascetic practice is not a location but a boundary one does not cross.

The preceding passage’s general list of the thirteen items already says this: cutting off dwelling in a village, cutting off dwelling in a house, cutting off places with extensive shelter, cutting off other superior places, cutting off attachment to pleasant places, and leaving sleep behind. The present passage simply unfolds those six statements.

Once unfolded, however, the criteria suddenly become hard. The lower limit for a secluded place is “within an average person’s four cubits and five hundred bows”—not a state of mind, but a measurable distance. The place suitable for dwelling beneath a tree is “the place reached by the tree’s shadow at midday and the place reached by its falling leaves when there is no wind”—how far the shadow extends at noon and where leaves fall when there is no wind. The charnel-ground conduct has eleven rules: not building a hut, not setting up a bed and seat, not sitting with the wind, not dwelling against the wind, not sleeping soundly, not eating fish-flavored food, not drinking milk or curds, not eating 麻䉽, not touching meat dishes, not staying inside a building, and not setting down the bowl and other utensils; at daybreak, one must gather one’s robes and requisites and return to the monastery.

Among the thirteen ascetic practices, only the charnel-ground item has such a sequence of detailed rules.

The author speaks most minutely in the item closest to the dead. Each of the other items decides undertaking and loss in a single sentence; this one teaches how to sit, how to sleep, what to eat, and where to go after daybreak.

The form of the passage is also most disorderly here: among the six items, only three begin with “Question:”; and even those three questions take three different forms. The charnel-ground question asks about its qualities, yet not a single quality is answered below it.

Why the author is both more detailed and more disorderly in this item cannot be answered by this passage.

Only one thing can be seen: the harder the criterion, the more unsettled the text becomes.

The final item is the shortest. Its undertaking and loss consist of only eight Chinese characters: “It is cutting off sleep and lying down. If one lies down, it is called loss.”

Lie down, and it is lost. There is no second sentence.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Five Practices Associated with Sitting and Lying Down, and Constant Sitting without Lying Down · Doorway · Summer 2026

1. Sitting in a Secluded Place

What is undertaking sitting in a secluded place?

In the city there is clamor and confusion; when consciousness contacts the five sense objects, delight stained by defilement arises in the mind. If one lives in a bustling place, comings and goings are in constant turmoil.

Knowing these dangers and further seeing the qualities of a secluded place—From this day forward I cut off dwelling in the city and undertake sitting in a secluded place.

Qualities of a Secluded Place

What are the qualities of a secluded place?

One leaves the clamor and confusion of the city—consciousness contacting the five sense objects so that delight stained by defilement arises in the mind, and dwelling in a bustling place amid turbulent comings and goings.

One sees the qualities of the ten kinds of speech as supreme and lovely, bringing joy to devas and humans; does not delight in familiar association with worldly pleasures; obtains quietude and delights in little sound; and sits in jhāna as the mind inclines—The conduct of good people—this action—is free of doubt.

Question: What Is the Final Secluded Place? What Is Undertaking? What Is Loss?

Question: What counts as the final secluded place? What is undertaking? What is loss?

Answer: One leaves the city walls, settles in the outskirts, and avoids far-off borderlands; within an average person’s four cubits and five hundred bows—this is the final secluded place.

Eliminating dwelling in the city is called a secluded place. If one dwells in the city, the secluded place is lost.

2. Sitting Beneath a Tree

What is undertaking sitting beneath a tree?

One abandons sheltered places, does not accumulate possessions, and cultivates the correction of greedy acceptance and seeking.

Knowing this to be a fault and seeing the qualities of being beneath a tree—From this day forward I cut off dwelling in sheltered places and undertake dwelling beneath a tree.

Qualities of Being Beneath a Tree

What are the qualities of being beneath a tree?

One relies on what is pleasant and lovely without mingling with worldly people; delights in leaving tasks and dwelling together with devas; cuts off jealousy over dwellings and departs from attachment—The conduct of good people—this action—is free of doubt.

Question: Which Trees May Be Lived Beneath? Which Trees Should Be Avoided? How Is It Undertaken? How Is It Lost?

Question: Which trees may be lived beneath? Which trees should be avoided? How is it undertaken? How is it lost?

Answer: The place reached by a tree’s shadow at midday and the place reached by its falling leaves when there is no wind—these are places where one may dwell.

Excluding dangerous decaying trees, hollow rotten trees, and spirit trees, and leaving all sheltered places—this is undertaking being beneath a tree. If one goes to sheltered places, being beneath a tree is lost.

3. Dwelling in the Open

What is undertaking dwelling in the open?

One does not delight in sheltered places or in places beneath trees where possessions are stored.

Knowing these dangers and seeing the qualities of open dwelling—From this day forward I cut off places that are not delightful and undertake dwelling in the open.

Qualities of Open Dwelling

What are the qualities of open dwelling?

One does not go to places that are not delightful and cuts off indolence and sleep—like a wild deer going wherever it wishes, with nothing it pursues or longs for. The conduct of good people—this action—is free of doubt.

What is undertaking? What is loss? Cutting off sheltered places and places beneath trees is undertaking open dwelling. If one dwells in sheltered places or places beneath trees, open dwelling is lost.

4. Dwelling in a Charnel Ground

What is undertaking dwelling in a charnel ground?

If one stays in other places, one engages only slightly in heedlessness and does not give rise to fear or aversion.

Knowing these dangers and seeing the qualities of a charnel ground—From this day forward I cut off dwelling in other places and undertake dwelling in a charnel ground.

Qualities of a Charnel Ground

What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground?

One obtains mindfulness at the time of death; obtains the perception of foulness; obtains the respect of nonhuman beings; does not give rise to heedlessness; subdues defiled desire; experiences much disenchantment; does not fear what is frightening; contemplates the body as empty and quiet; and cuts off the perception of permanence—The conduct of good people—this action—is free of doubt.

Question: What Are the Qualities of Undertaking a Charnel Ground? Where May One Dwell? Where May One Practise? What Is Undertaking, and What Is Loss?

Question: What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground? In what place may one dwell? In what place may one practise? What is undertaking, and what is loss?

Answer: If people are constantly there and often weeping, and fires are constantly burning, then when one first wishes to dwell in such a charnel ground one should examine it beforehand; if there is another quiet place, one may go there and dwell.

If a bhikkhu stays in a charnel ground, one should not build a hut or set up a bed and seat; should not sit with the wind or dwell against the wind; should not sleep soundly when lying down; should not eat fish-flavored food, drink milk or curds, eat 麻䉽, or touch meat dishes; should not stay inside a building or set down the bowl and other utensils.

When the people have gone away, one takes one’s sitting cloth and other garments and goes to the charnel ground, staying a thrown-object’s distance from their dwelling place.

When the sign of dawn appears, one gathers the robes and other requisites and returns to the monastery.

Eliminating dwelling in other places is called a charnel ground. If one dwells in other places, this is called loss.

5. Dwelling in Whatever Place Is Found

What is undertaking?

Dwelling in whatever place is found—one does not delight in places that people covet and does not trouble others so that they have to move away.

Knowing these dangers and seeing the qualities of whatever place is found—From this day forward I cut off attachment to dwelling places and undertake whatever place is found.

Qualities of Whatever Place Is Found

What are the qualities of whatever place is found?

One seeks a place of contentment; craves quiet; cuts off many objects of delight; is respected by people; dwells in compassion; and is wholly gathered in—The conduct of good people—this action—is free of doubt.

What is undertaking? What is loss? Cutting off the lodging to which one is attached is called reliance on what is encountered. If one goes to a place in which one delights, this is called loss.

6. Constant Sitting without Lying Down

What is undertaking constant sitting without lying down?

At one’s dwelling place there is sleep and indolence.

Knowing these dangers and seeing the qualities of constant sitting—From this day forward I cut off torpor and lying down and undertake constant sitting without lying down.

Qualities of Constant Sitting

What are the qualities of constant sitting?

One cuts off the conditions in which indolence arises; removes jealousy concerning the body; leaves the pleasure of defiled contact; has little entanglement in sleep; and, being constantly and deeply quiet, is capable of cultivating the excellence of jhāna—The conduct of good people—this action—is free of doubt.

What is undertaking? What is loss? It means cutting off sleep and lying down. If one lies down, this is called loss.

Several Points to Note

This passage has six items, but only three begin with “Question:”: the secluded place, beneath a tree, and the charnel ground. The other three—dwelling in the open, dwelling in whatever place is found, and constant sitting without lying down—have no “Question:” and proceed directly with “What is undertaking? What is loss?” This is recorded as it stands.

The three questions do not share one form. The secluded-place question asks three things, and its first question adds the word “final.” The tree question asks four things, and expresses undertaking and loss as “How is it undertaken? How is it lost?” The charnel-ground question asks four things, and expresses undertaking and loss as “What undertaking, what loss?”—the four Chinese characters 何受何失 occur only once in the entire treatise. This is recorded as it stands.

Within the charnel-ground item, “What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground?” is asked twice: once in the section on qualities and once at the beginning of the later question. Yet the answer in the later passage does not state the qualities again and proceeds directly to where one may dwell and the rules of conduct. This is recorded as it stands; nothing is supplied or deleted on the text’s behalf.

The item on whatever place is found begins, “What is undertaking? Dwelling in whatever place is found …”—the name of the item is not attached to “What is undertaking?” At the determination of undertaking and loss, the same item is renamed “reliance on what is encountered.” One item has two names before and after. This is recorded as it stands.

The answer in the charnel-ground item lists more than ten rules of conduct: not building a hut, not setting up a bed and seat, not sitting with the wind, not dwelling against the wind, not sleeping soundly when lying down, not eating fish-flavored food, not drinking milk or curds, not eating 麻䉽, not touching meat dishes, not staying inside a building, not setting down the bowl and other utensils, keeping a thrown-object’s distance when going there, and returning to the monastery when the sign of dawn appears. Among the thirteen items, this item alone has such detailed rules. This is recorded as it stands.

In “not eating 麻䉽,” the character 䉽 appears as 粹 in the Taishō base and as 䉽 in the corrected witnesses; the body follows the corrected reading. This is the only place in the passage where the body departs from the Taishō.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Five Practices Associated with Sitting and Lying Down, and Constant Sitting without Lying Down · Vernacular · Summer 2026

The preceding passage has five items, each in two paragraphs: the first states the undertaking and qualities, and the second begins with “Question:” and determines undertaking and loss. Ten paragraphs and five items correspond exactly; paragraph boundaries and item boundaries do not depart from each other at all.

The present passage has six items—sitting in a secluded place, sitting beneath a tree, dwelling in the open, dwelling in a charnel ground, dwelling in whatever place is found, and constant sitting without lying down—and its form suddenly becomes irregular.

Six items, but “Question:” occurs only three times.

The secluded-place item has: “Question: What is the final secluded place? What is undertaking? What is loss?” 〔T32 405b29–405c01〕.

The tree item has: “Question: Which trees may be lived beneath? Which trees should be avoided? How is it undertaken? How is it lost?” 〔T32 405c08–09〕.

The charnel-ground item has: “Question: What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground? Where may one dwell? Where may one practise? What undertaking, what loss?” 〔T32 405c24–25〕.

The other three items—dwelling in the open, dwelling in whatever place is found, and constant sitting without lying down—have no “Question:” at all. They proceed directly from the qualities to “What is undertaking? What is loss?” The open-dwelling item reads, “What is undertaking? What is loss? Cutting off sheltered places and places beneath trees is undertaking open dwelling. If one dwells in sheltered places or places beneath trees, open dwelling is lost” 〔T32 405c17–18〕; the whatever-place-is-found item reads, “What is undertaking? What is loss? Cutting off the lodging to which one is attached is called reliance on what is encountered. If one goes to a place in which one delights, this is called loss” 〔T32 406a09–10〕; and constant sitting without lying down reads, “What is undertaking? What is loss? It means cutting off sleep and lying down. If one lies down, this is called loss” 〔T32 406a15–16〕.

And the three places that do have “Question:” are all different from one another.

The secluded-place item asks three things, and its first question adds the word “final”—“final secluded place” occurs twice in the entire treatise (405b29·405c02), both times in this passage. Among the thirteen items, only this question is qualified by “final.”

The tree item asks four things, and expresses undertaking and loss as “How is it undertaken? How is it lost?”—not “What is undertaking?” or “What is loss?”

The charnel-ground item asks four things, and expresses undertaking and loss as “What undertaking, what loss?”—the four Chinese characters 何受何失 occur once in the entire treatise〔405c25〕. Four characters compress an eight-character question by half.

Thus the questions in this passage occur in three instances and three forms. The sentence “What is undertaking? What is loss?” occurs four times in the passage (405b29·405c17·406a09·406a15), and three of those occurrences do not carry “Question:”.

The preceding passage is orderly in that way; this passage is uneven in this way. This edition records each form as it stands and does not make them uniform. We may now read through the items one by one.

Secluded Place: The Criterion Is a Measurable Distance

“What is undertaking sitting in a secluded place? In the city there is clamor and confusion; when consciousness contacts the five sense objects, delight stained by defilement arises in the mind” 〔T32 405b22–23〕.

One point in the section on qualities should be brought out: “one sees the qualities of the ten kinds of speech as supreme and lovely, bringing joy to devas and humans” 〔T32 405b27〕—“ten kinds of speech” occurs once in the entire treatise〔405b27〕, but the treatise does not list what those ten kinds are. The author does not explain them, and this edition does not supply them.

It closes with “does not delight in familiar association with worldly pleasures; obtains quietude and delights in little sound; and sits in jhāna as the mind inclines” 〔T32 405b27–28〕 and the closing formula〔405b28〕.

Then comes the first “Question:” in the passage—and it asks not what a secluded place is, but what the “final secluded place” is〔T32 405b29〕.

The answer reads: “One leaves the city walls, settles in the outskirts, and avoids far-off borderlands; within an average person’s four cubits and five hundred bows—this is the final secluded place” 〔T32 405c01–02〕.

“Four cubits and five hundred bows” occurs once in the entire treatise〔405c02〕. This is the hardest criterion reached so far in this chapter—not an action, but a distance that can be measured. The criteria in the preceding passage were three kinds of invitation, one neighboring house, and twenty-one morsels; here the criterion becomes a measure of length.

What the word “final” qualifies is precisely this measure: the question is not what a secluded place is, but where its lower limit lies—how far away one must be at the least for it to count.

Undertaking and loss then return to the common form: “Eliminating dwelling in the city is called a secluded place. If one dwells in the city, the secluded place is lost” 〔T32 405c03–04〕.

Beneath a Tree: Four Questions, with One Word Changed in Undertaking and Loss

“What is undertaking sitting beneath a tree? One abandons sheltered places, does not accumulate possessions, and cultivates the correction of greedy acceptance and seeking” 〔T32 405c04–05〕; then, “Knowing this to be a fault and seeing the qualities of being beneath a tree” 〔T32 405c05〕.

“Knowing this to be a fault” differs yet again from the wording used for the other items in this chapter—the preceding passage’s five items already have three forms, “knowing these dangers,” “knowing the fault to be such,” and “having known this fault”; this item adds a fourth.

The qualities begin, “What are the qualities of being beneath a tree? One relies on what is pleasant and lovely without mingling with worldly people” 〔T32 405c06–07〕; they continue with delighting in leaving tasks, dwelling together with devas, cutting off jealousy over dwellings, and departing from attachment, and close with the closing formula〔405c08〕.

The question is the longest in this passage: “Question: Which trees may be lived beneath? Which trees should be avoided? How is it undertaken? How is it lost?” 〔T32 405c08–09〕.

Four questions, with the last two expressed as “how is it undertaken?” and “how is it lost?” Among the thirteen items, only this one has this form.

The answer also answers four matters. Concerning where one may dwell: “The place reached by a tree’s shadow at midday and the place reached by its falling leaves when there is no wind—these are places where one may dwell” 〔T32 405c09–10〕—two measurable boundaries: where the midday shadow reaches and where leaves fall when there is no wind. What should be avoided, together with undertaking and loss, is given in one sentence: “Excluding dangerous decaying trees, hollow rotten trees, and spirit trees, and leaving all sheltered places—this is undertaking being beneath a tree. If one goes to sheltered places, being beneath a tree is lost” 〔T32 405c11–12〕.

Three kinds of trees may not be lived beneath: dangerous decaying trees, hollow rotten trees, and spirit trees. The first two concern danger to life and body; the third does not. The author does not explain this, and the forms are recorded as they stand.

The Open: The First Item in This Passage without “Question:”

“What is undertaking dwelling in the open? One does not delight in sheltered places or in places beneath trees where possessions are stored” 〔T32 405c12–13〕.

What this item cuts off includes the preceding item—one does not delight in sheltered places, and one also does not stay beneath a tree. Among the thirteen items, this is the only one that includes the preceding item among what it cuts off.

The undertaking is, “From this day forward I cut off places that are not delightful and undertake dwelling in the open” 〔T32 405c14〕. The qualities begin, “What are the qualities of open dwelling? One does not go to places that are not delightful and cuts off indolence and sleep” 〔T32 405c14–15〕; a single simile follows, “like a wild deer going wherever it wishes, with nothing it pursues or longs for” 〔T32 405c15–16〕; then comes the closing formula〔405c16〕.

This is the only simile in the passage. What the wild deer illustrates is not speed but having nothing it pursues or longs for—there is no place to which it must return.

Undertaking and loss then follow directly: “What is undertaking? What is loss? Cutting off sheltered places and places beneath trees is undertaking open dwelling. If one dwells in sheltered places or places beneath trees, open dwelling is lost” 〔T32 405c17–18〕. There is no “Question:”.

Charnel Ground: The Only Item in the Entire Chapter with Detailed Rules of Conduct

“What is undertaking dwelling in a charnel ground? If one stays in other places, one engages only slightly in heedlessness and does not give rise to fear or aversion” 〔T32 405c18–19〕—what is cut off is “other places,” and the danger is that while staying elsewhere one does not give rise to fear or aversion.

The qualities are nine: “What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground? One obtains mindfulness at the time of death; obtains the perception of foulness; obtains the respect of nonhuman beings” 〔T32 405c21–22〕; does not give rise to heedlessness; subdues defiled desire; experiences much disenchantment; does not fear what is frightening; and closes with “contemplates the body as empty and quiet, and cuts off the perception of permanence” 〔T32 405c23〕 and the closing formula〔405c23〕. “Respect of nonhuman beings” occurs once in the entire treatise〔405c22〕.

Then comes the third “Question:” in this passage, and the most distinctive in the entire chapter: “Question: What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground? Where may one dwell? Where may one practise? What undertaking, what loss?” 〔T32 405c24–25〕.

The opening question, “What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground?”, occurs twice in the entire treatise (405c21·405c24)—the same question appears twice, before and after. Yet the answer in the later passage does not state the qualities again. It first speaks of a place where one may dwell: “If people are constantly there and often weeping, and fires are constantly burning” 〔T32 405c25–26〕; one should first examine it, and if there is another quiet place one may go there and dwell. It next gives eleven rules of conduct: “If a bhikkhu stays in a charnel ground, one should not build a hut or set up a bed and seat” 〔T32 405c27–28〕; should not sit with the wind, dwell against the wind, sleep soundly when lying down, eat fish-flavored food, drink milk or curds, eat 麻䉽, touch meat dishes, stay inside a building, or set down the bowl and other utensils. It then says that when one goes there, one stays “a thrown-object’s distance” away, and that “when the sign of dawn appears, one gathers the robes and other requisites and returns to the monastery; eliminating dwelling in other places is called a charnel ground. If one dwells in other places, this is called loss” 〔T32 406a02–04〕.

Among the thirteen items, this one alone has such a series of detailed rules of conduct. “Monastery” occurs once in the entire treatise〔406a03〕.

Pause Here: Why Ask about the Qualities and Then Not Answer?

This is a place worth pausing to ask.

The question “What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground?” is asked twice in this item: the first time at the beginning of the section on qualities〔405c21〕, where nine qualities are answered; and the second time at the beginning of the later question〔405c24〕, where the answer below begins with the place in which one may dwell and contains not one sentence on the qualities.

Why does the author ask the question a second time?

This passage cannot answer that. Only three things can be verified.

First, the order followed by the answer in the later passage is precisely the order of the question’s other three matters—where one may dwell (405c25–26), where one may practise (the eleven rules of conduct at 405c27–406a02), and what undertaking and loss are (406a02–04). Four questions are asked and three matters answered; the first question is left unanswered.

Second, this is the only item in the chapter with detailed rules of conduct. The later sections of the other twelve items determine only undertaking and loss; the later section of this item must also teach how to dwell.

Third, this item’s question uses the four characters “what undertaking, what loss”〔405c25〕—the most compressed question form in the chapter—while its answer is the longest. The shorter the question, the longer the answer.

All three are matters of the written surface alone. The author does not state why, and this edition does not decide, delete, or supply anything on the author’s behalf.

Whatever Place Is Found: The Opening Does Not Attach the Item’s Name, and the Closing Changes It Again

“What is undertaking? Dwelling in whatever place is found—one does not delight in places that people covet and does not trouble others so that they have to move away” 〔T32 406a04–05〕.

The opening reads “What is undertaking?”, without attaching the item’s name below it. Among the thirteen items, only this one does so; every other item says, “What is undertaking such-and-such?”—what is undertaking alms-food practice, what is undertaking sitting beneath a tree, what is undertaking constant sitting without lying down.

The qualities read, “What are the qualities of whatever place is found? One seeks a place of contentment, craves quiet, and cuts off many objects of delight” 〔T32 406a06–08〕; one is also respected by people, dwells in compassion, and is wholly gathered in, before the closing formula〔406a08〕.

At the determination of undertaking and loss, the item’s name changes: “What is undertaking? What is loss? Cutting off the lodging to which one is attached is called reliance on what is encountered. If one goes to a place in which one delights, this is called loss” 〔T32 406a09–10〕.

“Reliance on what is encountered” occurs once in the entire treatise〔406a10〕. The preceding passage lists the name as “sitting in whatever place is found” 〔404c02〕, the item-by-item account of what is cut off calls it “sitting wherever found” 〔404c10〕, this passage opens with “dwelling in whatever place is found” 〔406a04〕, its qualities say “whatever place is found” 〔406a06〕, and the statement of undertaking calls it “reliance on what is encountered.” One item, four written forms.

This item forms an exact pair with the preceding passage’s rag robe and patchwork robe: that item changes its name in the section on qualities; this item changes its name in the statement of undertaking. They are recorded as written and not made uniform.

Constant Sitting without Lying Down: The Shortest Item in the Entire Chapter

“What is undertaking constant sitting without lying down? At one’s dwelling place there is sleep and indolence” 〔T32 406a10–11〕; the undertaking reads, “From this day forward I cut off torpor and lying down and undertake constant sitting without lying down” 〔T32 406a12〕.

The qualities begin, “What are the qualities of constant sitting? One cuts off the conditions in which indolence arises; removes jealousy concerning the body; leaves the pleasure of defiled contact; and has little entanglement in sleep” 〔T32 406a12–14〕; they close with “being constantly and deeply quiet, one is capable of cultivating the excellence of jhāna” 〔T32 406a14〕 and the closing formula〔406a14〕.

The four Chinese characters 堪修禪勝 require attention. Among the qualities of the thirteen items, only this one speaks of cultivating jhāna. The preceding passage’s general list places constant sitting without lying down alone in the fourth group, “associated with vigor” 〔404c02〕; here its qualities also point alone to jhāna. The grouping corresponds to the qualities.

Undertaking and loss read, “What is undertaking? What is loss? It means cutting off sleep and lying down. If one lies down, this is called loss” 〔T32 406a15–16〕—the shortest determination of undertaking and loss in the entire chapter, completed in eight Chinese characters.

Three Kinds of Beholders Hidden among the Qualities

The enumeration of qualities differs from item to item. Yet when the six are set side by side, something the author does not point out becomes visible: in four of the six items, the qualities state who is doing the seeing.

The secluded place: “one sees the qualities of the ten kinds of speech as supreme and lovely, bringing joy to devas and humans” 〔T32 405b27〕—“bringing joy to devas and humans” occurs once in the entire treatise.

Beneath a tree: “One relies on what is pleasant and lovely without mingling with worldly people, delights in leaving tasks, and dwells together with devas” 〔T32 405c06–07〕—“dwelling together with devas” occurs once in the entire treatise.

The charnel ground: “One obtains mindfulness at the time of death; obtains the perception of foulness; obtains the respect of nonhuman beings” 〔T32 405c21–22〕—“respect of nonhuman beings” occurs once in the entire treatise.

Whatever place is found: “One seeks a place of contentment, craves quiet, cuts off many objects of delight, and is respected by people” 〔T32 406a07–08〕—“respected by people” occurs once in the entire treatise.

Four expressions, each occurring once, and together they form a line: bringing joy to devas and humans (devas and humans) → dwelling together with devas (devas) → respect of nonhuman beings (nonhumans) → respected by people (people).

This line corresponds to the nearness or remoteness of the dwelling place. The secluded place leaves the city, and devas and humans rejoice; beneath a tree is wilder, and one dwells with devas; the charnel ground is wildest, and the beholders are nonhuman; whatever place is found returns to the human sphere and settles wherever encountered, and so one is respected by people.

The farther one dwells from human beings, the less human the beholder appearing among the qualities becomes; when one returns to the human sphere, the beholder is human again.

The author does not make this connection, and this edition does not make it on the author’s behalf. Here the four expressions and their anchors are simply set side by side; each occurs once in the entire treatise.

The other two items have no such entry: the open and constant sitting without lying down. The qualities of the open mention only a wild deer, and the qualities of constant sitting mention only jhāna. One is a simile and one a result; neither is tied to a person.

One Further Note: The Open Also Has Three Names

The preceding discussion showed that whatever place is found has four written forms. The open is also uneven.

The preceding passage lists it as “third, sitting in the open” 〔T32 404c01〕, and its item-by-item account of what is cut off asks, “What is sitting in the open? Cutting off places with extensive shelter” 〔T32 404c09–10〕—“sitting in the open” occurs twice in the entire treatise, both times in the preceding passage.

This passage opens with “What is undertaking dwelling in the open?” 〔T32 405c12〕, and its undertaking reads, “From this day forward I cut off places that are not delightful and undertake dwelling in the open” 〔T32 405c14〕—“dwelling in the open” occurs three times in the entire treatise (405c12·405c14·406c09), the third occurring in the chapter’s final passage on the seasons for three ascetic practices.

But the qualities and undertaking-and-loss section uniformly use “open dwelling”—“What are the qualities of open dwelling?” 〔T32 405c14–15〕, and “this is undertaking open dwelling” together with “open dwelling is lost” 〔T32 405c17–18〕—“open dwelling” occurs five times in the entire treatise (405c13·c14·c18 twice·406b04).

One item: the list says sitting, the opening says dwelling, and the qualities and determination of undertaking and loss say open dwelling. Read together with the four names for whatever place is found, two of the five practices associated with sitting and lying down have names that are not uniform. They are recorded as written and not made uniform.

Reading Practice: When Reading the Dwelling-Place Ascetic Practices, First Read What They “Eliminate”

The reading practice offered by this passage lies in the six sentences on undertaking and loss.

Set the six determinations side by side:

For the secluded place, “Eliminating dwelling in the city is called a secluded place”〔405c03〕; beneath a tree, “leaving all sheltered places—this is undertaking being beneath a tree”〔405c11–12〕; the open, “cutting off sheltered places and places beneath trees is undertaking open dwelling”〔405c17–18〕; the charnel ground, “eliminating dwelling in other places is called a charnel ground”〔406a03–04〕; whatever place is found, “cutting off the lodging to which one is attached is called reliance on what is encountered”〔406a09–10〕; and constant sitting without lying down, “it means cutting off sleep and lying down”〔406a15〕.

The undertaking of all six items takes eliminating, leaving, or cutting off a place as its substance. Not one item says that undertaking consists in where one dwells; every one says that undertaking consists in where one does not dwell.

Loss is the return to that place: dwelling in the city, going to sheltered places, dwelling in sheltered places or places beneath trees, dwelling in other places, going to a place in which one delights, or lying down.

Thus undertaking an ascetic practice is not a location; it is a boundary one does not cross. The preceding passage already says this in the six statements of what the thirteen items cut off—cutting off dwelling in a village, cutting off dwelling in a house, cutting off places with extensive shelter, cutting off other superior places, cutting off attachment to pleasant places, and leaving sleep behind〔404c07–11〕. The present passage simply unfolds those six statements.

The reading practice is here: when reading the dwelling-place ascetic practices, do not ask where the practitioner dwells; first ask what the treatise says is “eliminated.” Once the place eliminated has been stated, undertaking is fixed; and in the statement of loss, the name of that same place will appear again.

Applied to this passage, the method makes all six items clear at a count: the undertaking and loss of each item are two sides of the same place-name.

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Take away three things. One observation: six items, but “Question:” occurs only three times, and the three questions take three forms. The secluded-place item asks three matters and adds “final” to the first (“final secluded place” occurs twice in the entire treatise, both times here); the tree item asks four matters and says, “How is it undertaken? How is it lost?”; and the charnel-ground item asks four matters and says, “What undertaking, what loss?” (once in the entire treatise〔405c25〕). The open, whatever place is found, and constant sitting without lying down have no “Question:”, proceeding directly to “What is undertaking? What is loss?” (405c17·406a09·406a15). The preceding passage’s ten paragraphs and five items have perfectly aligned boundaries; this passage suddenly becomes uneven. One reading practice: when reading the dwelling-place ascetic practices, first read what they “eliminate”. The undertaking of all six items takes eliminating, leaving, or cutting off a place as its substance, and its loss makes the name of that place appear again; undertaking is not a location but a boundary one does not cross. One place to pause: the charnel-ground item asks “What are the qualities of undertaking a charnel ground?” twice (405c21·405c24), but the second occurrence receives no answer. The later answer begins with the place where one may dwell and follows the order of the question’s other three matters, leaving the first unanswered; this is also the only one of the thirteen items with detailed rules of conduct, with the most compressed question and the longest answer. The author does not state why, and this edition neither deletes nor supplies anything.

Four smaller matters should also be remembered: “four cubits and five hundred bows” occurs once in the entire treatise〔405c02〕, and here the chapter’s criterion becomes a measurable distance; “ten kinds of speech” occurs once in the entire treatise〔405b27〕, but the treatise does not list them; whatever place is found has four written forms—sitting in whatever place is found〔404c02〕, sitting wherever found〔404c10〕, dwelling in whatever place is found〔406a04〕, and reliance on what is encountered〔406a10〕 (once in the entire treatise), while its opening does not attach the item’s name; and the passage has only one simile—“like a wild deer going wherever it wishes, with nothing it pursues or longs for”〔405c15–16〕, whose point lies in having nothing it pursues or longs for.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Five Practices Associated with Sitting and Lying Down, and Constant Sitting without Lying Down · Exposition · Summer 2026