解脫道論 膖脹想取相次第與初禪

The source says that a beginning meditator “forms the perception of a treasure toward this corpse,” followed by delightful retention, constant cultivation that extinguishes the hindrances, and the arising of the factors of jhāna. The earlier “revulsion toward the swollen-corpse perception is its function” and the present treasure-perception coexist; their relation is not explained.

Four Things to Contemplate and Repeated Direct Contemplation

When the mind is distracted and the impure sign does not arise, the source lists four things to contemplate: the road there and back, the place of meditation, the pervasive sign, and taking the sign in ten modes. Repeatedly contemplating directly in this way, the sign arises again as though seen with the eyes.

Three Answers All Close on the First Jhāna

Why does the practice of impurity arouse only the first jhāna? Three answers follow. The first lists “has not made contemplation,” “becomes a binding-place,” and always following applied and sustained thought. The second gives color and form, not-one-mode contemplation, and the source sentence about inability to be apart from applied and sustained thought. The third gives the unbearable thing, inability to raise the mind, the means of applied and sustained thought, and “由如 foul excrement.” All three close with the first jhāna rather than the remaining jhānas. Their unexplained terms remain undefined.

The Unbearable Thing and Joy and Pleasure

How do joy and pleasure arise toward an unbearable thing? The answer first says, “The unbearable thing is not the cause, for the arising of joy and pleasure.” The first half excludes the unbearable thing as cause; how the latter phrase attaches remains unexplained. It then explicitly lists two reasons—well cutting off the heat of the hindrances and mastery of the cultivated mind—and closes with the arising of the practice of joy and pleasure.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Sequence for Taking the Swollen-Corpse Sign and the First Jhāna · Doorway · Summer 2026

The Meaning of Taking the Sign in Ten Modes and Contemplating the Road There and Back

Question: What is the meaning of taking the sign in ten modes?

Answer: It is “for binding at the mind.” The grammatical relation within the source phrase 為於心縛 is unclear.

What is the meaning of contemplating the road there and back? It is for arousing the method of sequence.

The Method of Sequence

The method of sequence means this: if a meditator enters a secluded place, the mind is sometimes distracted, and because one does not contemplate constantly, the impure sign does not arise. Therefore the meditator gathers the whole mind and should contemplate the road there and back, contemplate the place of meditation, contemplate the pervasive sign, and contemplate taking the sign in ten modes.

When the meditator repeatedly contemplates it directly in this way, the sign arises again, as though seen with the eyes. This is called arousing the method of sequence.

Perceiving a Treasure and the First Jhāna

A beginning meditator forms the perception of a treasure toward this corpse. Delighting in this way, the mind gains retention. Through constant cultivation, the mind extinguishes the hindrances and the factors of jhāna arise.

The meditator, secluded from sensual desire and unskillful qualities, with applied and sustained thought, with joy and pleasure formed by seclusion, enters the concentration of the first jhāna together with the swollen sign.

Why the Practice of Impurity Arouses Only the First Jhāna

Question: Why does the practice of impurity arouse the first jhāna and not the remaining jhānas?

The first answer gives two source expressions: “this practice has not made contemplation” and “this becomes a binding-place.” The precise meanings of the two phrases, and whether “binding-place” refers to the same thing as the earlier “binding at the mind,” are not explained. The passage continues that this practice always follows applied and sustained thought. Only when applied and sustained thought are constantly present can its sign arise; the mind does not become settled apart from them. Therefore the first jhāna arises, not the remaining jhānas.

The second answer first says that this impure sign has color, form, and so forth and is aroused by “not-one-mode contemplation.” The three characters 不一行 receive no separate explanation. The next sentence reads, “As for one who contemplates the practice, this is a matter of applied and sustained thought; one cannot bear being apart from applied and sustained thought as the practice of contemplation” 〔T32 425b22–23〕. How the short phrases connect is unclear. It is certain only that the source joins contemplation of the practice, a matter of applied and sustained thought, and inability to be apart from applied and sustained thought in a single sentence. The conclusion remains: therefore only the first jhāna arises, not the remaining jhānas.

The third answer first says that this impure sign is an unbearable thing, using the expression “an unbearable thing.” Faced with an unbearable thing, one cannot raise the mind. The source then reads, “At the impure place, because the mind has joy and pleasure, except/applied-and-sustained-thought/means”; it does not explain how 除覺觀方便 should be segmented or how it joins the preceding and following statements. The next statement says that through the power of the means of applied and sustained thought, the practice at this time is “由如 foul excrement.” The two characters 由如 are retained from the base and not silently corrected to 猶如. The conclusion again is: therefore only the first jhāna arises, not the remaining jhānas.

How Joy and Pleasure Arise toward an Unbearable Thing

Question: How do joy and pleasure arise toward an unbearable thing?

The answer first says, “The unbearable thing is not the cause, for the arising of joy and pleasure.” What can be established is that the unbearable thing is not the cause under discussion; how “for the arising of joy and pleasure” attaches to the first half is not further explained.

Two other items are then listed: because the heat of the hindrances has been well cut off, and because the cultivated mind has gained mastery, the practice of joy and pleasure arises.

The remainder is as explained at length at the beginning.

（The swollen sign is finished.）

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Sequence for Taking the Swollen-Corpse Sign and the First Jhāna · Vernacular · Summer 2026

This passage answers three connected questions: what it means to take the sign in ten modes and contemplate the road there and back, why this practice reaches only the first jhāna, and how joy and pleasure arise in relation to an unbearable thing. It also says: “A beginning meditator forms the perception of a treasure toward this corpse. Delighting in this way, the mind gains retention” 〔T32 425b14–15〕.

The Method of Sequence: Four Things to Contemplate and Repeated Direct Contemplation

“Question: What is the meaning of taking the sign in ten modes? Answer: It is for binding at the mind” 〔T32 425b07–08〕. The meaning of “binding” is not explained here, and whether it refers to the same thing as the later “binding-place” remains uncertain. “What is the meaning of contemplating the road there and back? It is for arousing the method of sequence” 〔T32 425b08–09〕. The method of sequence is explicitly stated: “If a meditator enters a secluded place, the mind is sometimes distracted, and because one does not contemplate constantly, the impure sign does not arise. Therefore the meditator gathers the whole mind and should contemplate the road there and back, contemplate the place of meditation, contemplate the pervasive sign, and contemplate taking the sign in ten modes. When the meditator repeatedly contemplates it directly in this way, the sign arises again, as though seen with the eyes” 〔T32 425b09–13〕. The source lists in order distraction and failure of the impure sign to arise, gathering the whole mind, four statements of “should contemplate,” repeated direct contemplation, the sign arising again, and the simile “as though seen with the eyes.” Four witnesses omit 禪 from “place of meditation”; both readings are recorded without judgment.

The two questions each have a short answer. Taking the sign in ten modes is answered as “for binding at the mind,” while contemplating the road there and back is answered as “for arousing the method of sequence” 〔T32 425b09〕. The four items of the method of sequence all begin “should contemplate”: the road there and back, the place of meditation, the pervasive sign, and taking the sign in ten modes. The final statement clarifies repetition with “repeatedly contemplates directly,” names what arises with “the sign arises again,” and gives “as though seen with the eyes” as the resulting simile 〔T32 425b11–13〕.

What Is Seen: Perceiving the Corpse as a Treasure

“A beginning meditator forms the perception of a treasure toward this corpse. Delighting in this way, the mind gains retention. Through constant cultivation, the mind extinguishes the hindrances and the factors of jhāna arise” 〔T32 425b14–16〕. The source explicitly places four things in sequence: forming the perception of a treasure toward the corpse, delighting and gaining retention in the mind, constantly cultivating and extinguishing the hindrances, and the arising of the factors of jhāna. Earlier the function of the swollen-corpse perception was said to be “revulsion” 〔T32 424c19–20〕; here the corpse is perceived as a treasure. Both statements coexist, and the treatise does not explain how revulsion and the treasure-perception relate. The formula then stands: “secluded from sensual desire and unskillful qualities, with applied and sustained thought, with joy and pleasure formed by seclusion, one enters the concentration of the first jhāna together with the swollen sign” 〔T32 425b16–17〕. This is the full first-jhāna formula, with “together with the swollen sign” at its end to identify this practice.

The sequence of the two sentences must not be abridged. The first proceeds from treasure-perception and delightful retention to constant cultivation, extinguishing the hindrances, and the arising of jhāna factors. The next says in order: secluded from sensual desire, secluded from unskillful qualities, with applied and sustained thought, formed by seclusion, with joy and pleasure, entering the concentration of the first jhāna, and finally the swollen sign 〔T32 425b14–17〕. Treasure-perception, abandoning the hindrances, jhāna factors, and the first-jhāna formula are all written in this order by the source.

Three Answers: Why Only the First Jhāna?

“Question: Why does the practice of impurity arouse the first jhāna and not the remaining jhānas?” 〔T32 425b17–18〕. Three answers follow. The first begins with “this practice has not made contemplation” and “this becomes a binding-place,” then says it always follows applied and sustained thought, that only through their constant presence can its sign arise, and that the mind does not settle apart from them 〔T32 425b18–20〕. “Has not made contemplation” and “becomes a binding-place” receive no separate explanation; neither does the relation of “binding-place” to the earlier “binding at the mind.” The second says that the impure sign has color, form, and so forth and is aroused by “not-one-mode contemplation,” followed by the received sentence “As for one who contemplates the practice, this is a matter of applied and sustained thought; one cannot bear being apart from applied and sustained thought as the practice of contemplation” 〔T32 425b22–23〕. The attachment of “not one mode” and the phrases of the following sentence remains uncertain. The third says in order that the impure sign is an unbearable thing; one cannot raise the mind toward an unbearable thing; then comes “At the impure place, because the mind has joy and pleasure, 除覺觀方便”; and finally, through the power of the means of applied and sustained thought, “the practice at this time is 由如 foul excrement” 〔T32 425b26〕. The syntax of 除覺觀方便 is unclear, while 由如 is kept as the base wording and not altered. The three answers are preserved according to their own sentences and are not combined into a universal sequence for every jhāna.

The three answers also begin differently. The first uses two statements ending “because” to list “has not made contemplation” and “becomes a binding-place,” then immediately says that the practice always follows applied and sustained thought. The second begins from the color, form, and so forth of the impure sign and not-one-mode contemplation. The third begins from an unbearable thing and inability to raise the mind 〔T32 425b18–25〕. The latter two are each introduced by “It is further said.” Their source expressions are not exchanged. Their only common feature is the conclusion explicitly written in this question: the first jhāna arises, not the remaining jhānas.

Each of the three conclusions lands on the first jhāna. The first closes, “Therefore the first jhāna arises, not the remaining jhānas” 〔T32 425b20–21〕. The second, after the phrase about being unable to be apart from applied and sustained thought as the practice of contemplation, says, “Therefore only the first jhāna arises, not the remaining jhānas” 〔T32 425b23／425b26–27〕. The third, after the unbearable thing, inability to raise the mind, power of the means of applied and sustained thought, and “由如 foul excrement,” gives the same conclusion, “Therefore only the first jhāna arises, not the remaining jhānas” 〔T32 425b23／425b26–27〕. Each answer states its own grounds and then repeats first jhāna rather than the others.

The latter two answers are both introduced by “It is further said” 〔T32 425b21·425b23〕, making three answers with the first; no other jhāna is separately named between them. All three answers close on the first jhāna rather than the remaining jhānas.

Pause at the Question: Where Does Joy and Pleasure Come from toward an Unbearable Thing?

“Question: How do joy and pleasure arise toward an unbearable thing? Answer: The unbearable thing is not the cause, for the arising of joy and pleasure. Further, because the heat of the hindrances has been well cut off, and because the cultivated mind has gained mastery, the practice of joy and pleasure arises” 〔T32 425b27–29〕. Pause here. The first statement excludes the unbearable thing as the cause, but does not explain how “for the arising of joy and pleasure” attaches to it. Two reasons are then separately listed: the heat of the hindrances has been well cut off, and the cultivated mind has mastery. The explicit answer goes no further than these source expressions.

The answer first excludes the unbearable thing as cause, then uses two “because” statements to list cutting off the heat of the hindrances and mastery of the cultivated mind, and closes with “the practice of joy and pleasure arises” 〔T32 425b27–29〕. The negative, the two stated reasons, and the conclusion are preserved in the order of a single answer.

The final statement, “The remainder is as explained at length at the beginning” 〔T32 425b29〕, points backward in the usual way, while the parenthetical note “The swollen sign is finished” closes the practice. Its name has now appeared in three forms: the question says “developed sign” 〔T32 424c15〕; the body has “swollen-corpse perception” 〔T32 411a11／424c18／424c19／424c19／424c20–21／425c28〕; and the closing note has “swollen sign” 〔T32 425b29〕. All three forms are retained.

“The remainder is as explained at length at the beginning” belongs to the body text as a backward reference; “The swollen sign is finished” is the immediately following parenthetical closing note. Their different textual levels are preserved.

Conclusion

Return to what is seen: the method of sequence lists four things to contemplate, repeatedly contemplating directly until the sign arises again as though seen with the eyes. It next speaks of perceiving the corpse as a treasure, delightful retention, extinguishing the hindrances, and the arising of jhāna factors. The earlier “revulsion is its function” and the present treasure-perception coexist without an explained relation. The final two questions say respectively that this practice arouses only the first jhāna, and that the unbearable thing is not the cause of joy and pleasure while cutting off the heat of the hindrances and mastery of the cultivated mind allow the practice of joy and pleasure to arise. The parenthetical note closes the swollen sign here.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Sequence for Taking the Swollen-Corpse Sign and the First Jhāna · Exposition · Summer 2026