解脫道論 離亂調治與取相、彼分相

The last of the three ways of taking the sign is called freedom from disturbance. The disturbance is not outside. All four kinds arise from the practitioner's own exertion: too fast—sitting early and stopping late until the body is weary; too slow—repeatedly rising and sleeping; too elevated—becoming high through desire; too sunken—becoming low through aversion and painful feeling. The environment was made quiet when the place was selected. What is adjusted here is the exertion itself.

A Table of Conditions and Remedies

Each of the four is treated according to its own clause. For the agitation of hasty practice, subdue it with the faculties of mindfulness and concentration. For indolence, subdue it with the faculties of mindfulness and vigor. For the desire of a high mind, bring about direct knowing and cause desire to be relinquished. For the aversion of a low mind, bring about direct knowing and cause aversion to be relinquished. The faculty of mindfulness occurs only in the first two; the last two speak only of bringing about direct knowing and relinquishing. No one item is expanded into a rule common to all four conditions.

With the four balanced, the mind becomes one-pointed and the disk is seen at will. Then the sign comes.

Two Signs

The acquired sign: perception arises from the maṇḍala, as though seen in space. It does not arise through seeing with the eyes, but through the skillful means of attention. The source lists five “sometimes” pairs: far and near, left and right, large and small, ugly and beautiful, many and few.

The counterpart sign: it arises through repeated practice of the former. Whenever attention is directed, it appears in accordance with the mind; with the eyes closed it is as previously observed. If attention is directed far away, it is seen far away. The same applies to near, left and right, front and back, inside and outside, above and below.

The difference explicitly stated by the two passages is that one lists changes in appearance with “sometimes,” while the other says that, at the time of attention, it “appears in accordance with the mind.” No mechanism unstated in the source is added.

The Eyes Withdraw

In the preceding passage the eyes were given to the disk only at the end. Here even that is no longer needed: the sign is not observed with the eyes, and with eyes closed it is as previously observed. The sign is not obtained merely by looking; it is brought forth through attention. When the counterpart sign is accomplished, the meditator has for the first time a sign that appears with closed eyes and does not wait upon the present observation of an external disk.

When the sign is obtained, the first response recorded by the treatise is reverence toward the teacher. The next sentence gives an admonition: the excellent sign should be guarded; if not guarded, it is lost. How it is guarded is the subject of the next passage.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Balancing Disturbance: The Acquired Sign and Counterpart Sign · Doorway · Summer 2026

[Continuing the preceding unit] The close of the preceding unit established the framework “taking the sign in three ways: by balanced observation, by skillful means, and by freedom from disturbance.” Balanced observation and skillful means have been explained. This unit continues with the third, “freedom from disturbance,” and then treats the acquired sign and counterpart sign.

Four Kinds of Disturbance

Question: What is meant by freedom from disturbance? Answer: disturbance is of four kinds: first, exerting effort with the greatest haste; second, exerting effort with the greatest delay; third, being highest; and fourth, being lowest.

Hasty and Delayed Practice

Question: What is exerting effort hastily? Answer: directing attention urgently without waiting for the proper time, sitting very early and stopping very late until the body becomes weary—this is called hasty practice.

Question: What is exerting effort with delay? Answer: abandoning the skillful means of attention. Although one looks at the maṇḍala, one does not attend respectfully, but repeatedly gets up and repeatedly falls asleep.

Signs of Decline in the Four Conditions

If effort is exerted hastily, the body becomes sluggish and the mind retreats; the mind goes out toward external objects, and various kinds of agitation and play arise. If effort is exerted with delay, body and mind become sluggish and indolent, and various kinds of sleep arise.

For one who is highest, the mind retreats, various disturbances arise, and one becomes discontented with the place of practice. The source then reads: 若不樂於初戲笑言語，以由欲心成高. How “if discontented,” “at first joking and playful speech,” and “because the mind of desire becomes high” are punctuated and connected cannot be determined here, and no settled reading is imposed. Again, if the modes of various signs are obtained, one becomes high through the mind of desire that delights in pleasure.

For one who is lowest, because of retreat and disturbance, one becomes discontented with the meditation subject (業處). If discontented, then at the place made by aversion in the initial locus of practice, one becomes low through a mind of aversion. Again, after long weariness with applied thought and examination, the mind falls away from an excellent state and becomes low through a mind accompanied by painful feeling.

Subduing the Four Conditions

For this meditator: if the mind practices hastily and declines into agitation, one subdues it with the faculty of mindfulness and the faculty of concentration, causing agitation to be relinquished. If the mind practices with 進作 and declines into indolence, one subdues it with the faculty of mindfulness and the faculty of vigor, causing indolence to be relinquished. The source here reads 進作, not the earlier 遲作; there is no variant note, and the difference is retained. If a high mind declines into desire, one brings about direct knowing (現知), causing desire to be relinquished. If a low mind declines into aversion, one brings about direct knowing, causing aversion to be relinquished. In these four conditions, the mind becomes purified and one-pointed. This shows that concentration of mind is accomplished through the three ways, and the form of the maṇḍala can be seen at will.

The Acquired Sign

When the one-pointed mind and perception have been accomplished, the sign that arises is of two kinds: the acquired sign and the counterpart sign.

What is called the acquired sign? When a meditator directly observes the maṇḍala with an undistracted mind, perception arises from the maṇḍala, appearing as though seen in space: sometimes far and sometimes near, sometimes left and sometimes right, sometimes large and sometimes small, sometimes ugly and sometimes beautiful, sometimes many and sometimes few. This is not observing the maṇḍala with the eyes. The acquired sign arises through the skillful means of attention; this is called the acquired sign.

The Counterpart Sign

Through practicing that repeatedly, the counterpart sign arises. The counterpart sign means that whenever attention is directed, it appears in accordance with the mind. It is not that a thought arises only after seeing the maṇḍala; one simply forms the mental act and closes the eyes, and it is as previously observed. If attention is directed far away, it is seen far away. The same applies to near, left and right, front and back, inside and outside, above and below: it appears in accordance with the mind. This is called the counterpart sign.

Three Meanings of “Sign”

What does “sign” mean? It means cause and sign. As the Buddha instructed the bhikkhus, “Those evil unwholesome dharmas arise with a sign”; this is the meaning of condition as cause. It also means knowledge and sign. As the Buddha said, “Through forming a perception, it should be relinquished”; this is the meaning of knowledge. It also means image and sign, as when one sees the image of one's own face and imagines that image. The attachment of the closing phrase 彼分無異義—“the counterpart has no different meaning”—is not made clear here and remains unresolved.

The Sign Should Be Guarded Once Obtained

At this point the sign is obtained. The meditator gives rise to a mind of reverence toward the teacher. Having obtained this excellent sign, one should guard it. If it is not guarded, it will be lost.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Balancing Disturbance: The Acquired Sign and Counterpart Sign · Vernacular · Summer 2026

The three ways of taking the sign reach their third member. Balanced observation teaches how to open the eyes, and skillful means teaches how to complete the sign; this passage's “freedom from disturbance,” however, first speaks not of the sign but of faults that arise from the practitioner's own exertion. Once those faults are balanced, the text turns and presents two signs, removing the work of taking the sign from the eyes. This is also the first positive account of the counterpart sign after two passages have left it suspended. In 08-02, “the counterpart sign does not arise”〔T32 412c12〕, and in the preceding passage “the counterpart perception does not arise”〔T32 413b16〕; both speak only of its failure to arise. Here the suspended question is answered.

State the central observation first: the sign is not acquired by looking. These are the treatise's own words. The acquired-sign section explicitly says, “One does not observe the maṇḍala with the eyes; through the skillful means of attention the acquired sign arises”〔T32 413c23–24〕. The counterpart-sign section goes further: “one simply forms the mental act and closes the eyes, as previously observed”〔T32 413c26–27〕, and it “appears in accordance with the mind”〔T32 413c28〕. The preceding passage instructed one to “open the eyes slightly and observe the maṇḍala indistinctly”〔T32 413b11〕; the eyes were given to the disk only at the end. Here they need not be given at all—first the sign is not observed with the eyes, and then the eyes close altogether. The road from disk to sign is a road on which the eyes gradually withdraw.

Four Kinds of Disturbance: Every Fault Arises from Exertion

“Question: What is meant by freedom from disturbance? Answer: disturbance is of four kinds: first, exerting effort with the greatest haste; second, exerting effort with the greatest delay; third, being highest; fourth, being lowest”〔T32 413b28–413c01〕.

The four must be read according to their own clauses. Hasty practice is “directing attention urgently without waiting for the proper time, sitting early and stopping late until the body is weary”〔T32 413c02–03〕. The treatise separately says that hasty exertion makes “the body sluggish and the mind retreat; the mind goes out toward external objects and various kinds of agitation arise”〔T32 413c05–06〕. Delayed practice is “abandoning the skillful means of attention; although seeing the maṇḍala, not attending respectfully; repeatedly getting up and repeatedly sleeping”〔T32 413c03–05〕. The treatise separately says that delayed exertion makes “body and mind sluggish and indolent, and various kinds of sleep arise”〔T32 413c06–07〕. The highest condition first says, “the mind retreats, various disturbances arise, and one becomes discontented with the place of practice”〔T32 413c07–08〕. The following clause, 若不樂於初戲笑言語，以由欲心成高〔T32 413c08–09〕, cannot be punctuated or connected with certainty and receives no settled construal. The additional clause is retained as: “if the modes of various signs are obtained, one becomes high through the mind of desire that delights in pleasure”〔T32 413c09〕. The lowest condition first says, “because of retreat and disturbance, one becomes discontented with the meditation subject”〔T32 413c10〕. It next lists, “If discontented, at the place made by aversion in the initial locus of practice, one becomes low through a mind of aversion”〔T32 413c10–11〕, and then adds: “after long weariness with applied thought and examination, the mind falls away from an excellent state and becomes low through a mind accompanied by painful feeling”〔T32 413c12〕. These are the conditions explicitly stated for each of the four; they are not recast as a single psychological progression.

The wording of the four conditions is not uniform. The hasty clause says, “If effort is exerted hastily, then …”; the delayed clause says, “If effort is exerted with delay …”; high and low are first named and then each receives an additional clause〔T32 413c05–12〕. The source presents them this way. The syntax does not warrant defining the first two as “doing” and the latter two as “feeling,” nor constructing a progressive sequence of decline from their order.

The remedial passage preserves another lexical irregularity. The earlier list names “the greatest hasty exertion” and “the greatest delayed exertion.” In the remedies the first clause still reads, “if the mind practices hastily and declines into agitation,” but the second reads, “if the mind practices with 進作 and declines into indolence”〔T32 413c14〕. The passage neither changes 進作 to 遲作 nor explains their relation, and the two phrases must be retained separately. The next two clauses directly use “one with a high mind” and “one with a low mind” to continue the high and low of the list〔T32 413c15–17〕.

A Conditions-and-Remedies Table: How to Read a Remedial Passage

Subduing comes next: “If the mind practices hastily and declines into agitation, subdue it with the faculty of mindfulness and the faculty of concentration, causing agitation to be relinquished. If the mind practices with 進作 and declines into indolence, subdue it with the faculty of mindfulness and the faculty of vigor, causing indolence to be relinquished. If a high mind declines into desire, bring about direct knowing, causing desire to be relinquished. If a low mind declines into aversion, bring about direct knowing, causing aversion to be relinquished”〔T32 413c13–17〕.

This supplies a way of reading: when meeting a remedial passage, first arrange the correspondence between condition and remedy. The treatise writes each condition together with its medicine, using a parallel construction in all four: if one declines into a condition, with or by bringing about something, cause that condition to be relinquished.

The four must remain separate. For hasty practice declining into agitation, the source explicitly lists the faculties of mindfulness and concentration to subdue it and cause agitation to be relinquished. For 進作 declining into indolence, it explicitly lists the faculties of mindfulness and vigor to subdue it and cause indolence to be relinquished. Both of the first two clauses list the faculty of mindfulness, but one adds concentration and the other vigor. For a high mind declining into desire, the source says only “bring about direct knowing, causing desire to be relinquished.” For a low mind declining into aversion, it likewise says only “bring about direct knowing, causing aversion to be relinquished.” The latter two do not mention the faculty of mindfulness; the practice assigned to the first two cannot be expanded into a rule common to all four. What 現知 means here cannot be determined from this passage and receives no settled interpretation. A table preserves only the treatment explicitly assigned by each clause. Its purpose is to keep the wording of one clause from being transferred to another, not to formulate a new general rule.

Once the four are balanced, the treatise closes: “In these four conditions the mind becomes purified and one-pointed. This shows that through the three ways concentration of mind is accomplished, and the form of the maṇḍala is seen at will”〔T32 413c17–18〕. The three ways now join: balanced observation adjusts the eyes, skillful means adjusts the sign, and freedom from disturbance adjusts the practitioner. With all three carried out, concentration of mind is accomplished. “Seen at will” states the result: a disk form formerly visible only through a careful measure of opening and closing the eyes can now be seen at will. This sentence is absent from the Song, Yuan, Ming, and Gong editions. The present passage retains the Taishō sentence; the effect of the two readings upon the transition cannot be determined from the passage and is not adjudicated.

A Pausing Question: How Do the Acquired Sign and Counterpart Sign Differ?

“When the one-pointed mind and perception have been accomplished, the signs that arise are of two kinds: the acquired sign and the counterpart sign”〔T32 413c18–20〕.

Pause here: how does each sign appear in this passage? The treatise answers in two sections. What can be compared directly are the conditions and phrases each section gives.

The acquired sign: “with an undistracted mind directly observing the maṇḍala, perception arises from the maṇḍala, appearing as though seen in space”〔T32 413c20–21〕. The source then uses “sometimes” for five pairs, ten items: “sometimes far, sometimes near; sometimes left, sometimes right; sometimes large, sometimes small; sometimes ugly, sometimes beautiful; sometimes many, sometimes few”〔T32 413c21–23〕. Far and near, left and right, large and small, ugly and beautiful, many and few are all present. The final sentence says: “One does not observe the maṇḍala with the eyes; through the skillful means of attention the acquired sign arises; this is called the acquired sign”〔T32 413c23–24〕. This section establishes that perception for the acquired sign arises from the maṇḍala, its appearances vary as listed, and it arises through the skillful means of attention. The source does not explain those changes as the practitioner's mastery over the sign.

The counterpart-sign section begins: “Through practicing that repeatedly, the counterpart sign arises”〔T32 413c24–25〕. It then defines it: “Whenever attention is directed, it appears in accordance with the mind. It is not that a thought arises after seeing the maṇḍala; one simply forms the mental act and closes the eyes, and it is as previously observed”〔T32 413c25–27〕. It next lists far, near, left and right, front and back, inside and outside, above and below, saying the same applies to what is seen when attention is directed, and it repeats “appears in accordance with the mind”〔T32 413c26／413c28〕. The acquired-sign passage lists far and near and the other five pairs under “sometimes”; the counterpart-sign passage says that at the moment of attention it appears according to the mind. This difference is directly supported by the wording. “Through practicing that repeatedly” only says that the counterpart sign arises after repeated practice; the passage does not explain a finer mechanism between them.

If arranged only by the verbs in the passage, the acquired-sign section proceeds through directly observing the maṇḍala, perception arising from the maṇḍala, appearing as though in space, not observing with the eyes, and causing the acquired sign to arise through the skillful means of attention〔T32 413c20–24〕. The counterpart-sign section proceeds through practicing the former repeatedly, appearance at the time of attention, closing the eyes and seeing it as before, and seeing it according to attention directed to far, near, and the other positions〔T32 413c24–28〕. Both speak of attention, and both list appearances. The former explicitly gives five “sometimes” pairs; the latter twice says “appears in accordance with the mind.” The comparison stops at these textual differences and supplies no unspoken mechanism.

Three Meanings of Sign and What Follows Its Attainment

Once the signs have arisen, the treatise pauses over one word: “What does ‘sign’ mean?”〔T32 413c29〕. In the midst of practice, it first tests the name—a characteristic manner of this treatise. The answer has three levels. Cause: “As the Buddha instructed the bhikkhus, those evil unwholesome dharmas arise with a sign; this is the meaning of condition as cause”〔T32 413c29–414a01〕. The sign is a cause; with such a sign, that dharma arises, just as evil unwholesome dharmas each have a sign as their condition. Knowledge: “As the Buddha said, through forming a perception it should be relinquished”〔T32 414a02〕. The sign is something known; once known, it can be relinquished. Image: “as when one sees the image of one's own face and imagines that image”〔T32 414a03〕. The sign is an image, like a person's own face-image. The following phrase 彼分無異義〔T32 414a03–04〕 is retained. What “no difference” attaches to cannot be determined here, so no settled construal is imposed. All three meanings are supported by the Buddha's words or an immediate simile; the citations are detailed in the apparatus. A single sign has three aspects: as condition it can give rise, as something known it can be discerned, and as image it is like the face-image in relation to the face. Of the three, the image meaning responds most closely to the counterpart sign's “appearing with closed eyes.” Cause and knowledge each have their own citation, but the passage does not assign them separately to one of the two signs. The image meaning again uses a face-image. In the preceding mirror simile〔T32 413b18–19〕, seeing the face in dependence on the mirror illustrates the concentration sign arising in dependence on the disk. Here seeing one's own face-image illustrates the meaning “image.” The same face speaks first of dependence and now of image; the two comparisons do different work. Together they preserve two facts of the passage: the sign arises in dependence on the disk, and it is an image.

The final stroke is brief: “At that time the sign is obtained, and the meditator gives rise to a mind of reverence toward the teacher”〔T32 414a04〕. The source records reverence toward the teacher after attainment of the sign but gives no reason for it. Then comes the admonition: “Having obtained the excellent sign, one should guard it; if it is not guarded, it will be lost”〔T32 414a04–05〕. The order is obtaining the sign, reverence toward the teacher, taking the excellent sign and guarding it. How to guard it is explained by the next question, “How should it be guarded?”〔T32 414a05–06〕.

Conclusion

Return to the central observation: the sign is not acquired by looking. The four faults of disturbance concern the practitioner's exertion, not the disk; even delight arising upon signs appears in the list of faults. The first two conditions use respectively mindfulness with concentration and mindfulness with vigor; the last two speak only of bringing about direct knowing and relinquishing. With the four purified, the mind becomes one-pointed and the sign can be seen at will. The acquired sign takes perception from the maṇḍala and arises through the skillful means of attention, with five “sometimes” pairs listing its appearances. After repeated practice, the counterpart sign appears at the time of attention in accordance with the mind and, with eyes closed, is as previously observed. Once the sign is obtained, the source lists reverence toward the teacher and the guarding of the excellent sign. How it is guarded belongs to the next passage.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Balancing Disturbance: The Acquired Sign and Counterpart Sign · Exposition · Summer 2026