解脫道論 念天

The doorway opens by saying: “On the basis of the virtues that lead to birth among deities, one recollects one’s own virtues.” The cultivation passage likewise says: “One should recollect oneself and recollect the deities.” Both passages place oneself and the deities side by side.

After listing the deities, the source says that they accomplished faith and were born from here into those realms, and “I too have faith in this way.” It then lists virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom, and concludes, “I too have wisdom in this way.” The five qualities are subsequently listed again: faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom. Faith and wisdom are explicitly joined to “I too have it in this way”; the same sentence is not supplied for the three intervening qualities.

The final question asks why the virtues of deities are recollected rather than human virtues. The answer first says that the virtues of deities are most excellent and their birth is most excellent, followed by 地成妙處、心於妙處修行成妙. The division and grammatical subject of the latter two clauses remain unclear. The answer’s four occurrences of 妙 are preserved without making them four securely defined items.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Recollection of Deities · Doorway · Summer 2026

Questions and Definition

Question: What is recollection of deities? What is its cultivation? What is its characteristic? What is its function? What is its proximate cause? What are its virtues? How is it cultivated?

Answer: On the basis of the virtues that lead to birth among deities, one recollects one’s own virtues. That mindfulness, recollection, and right mindfulness is called recollection of deities.

For that mindfulness to remain without distraction is called cultivation. For its characteristic, the source reads: “arousing one’s own virtues and the virtues of deities, 等.” The sentence certainly names both one’s own virtues and the virtues of deities, but this unit does not explain whether 等 marks other members of a class, equality, or another connective function. It is therefore not rendered as saying that the two are equal. Love and respect for virtue is its function; faith in the fruit of virtue is its proximate cause.

Eight Virtues

A person who cultivates recollection of deities attains eight virtues. The source then gives the following sequence: the five qualities—faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom—increase; the person becomes recollected, loved, and respected by deities; at the teaching of the fruit and result of virtue, there is great delight and leaping up; the person esteems oneself and is valued by deities; recollection of virtue and recollection of giving enter within it; the person tends toward a good destination and toward the cream. Although the source states “eight virtues,” the wording does not clearly separate eight items, and 於 in the phrase about teaching the fruit of virtue has a variant. The eight boundaries cannot be securely reconstructed from this unit. The sequence is therefore retained in order without being divided into a definitive list.

Method of Cultivation

What is the method of cultivation? A beginning meditator enters a secluded place and sits, gathering the whole mind. With an undistracted mind one recollects the deities: there is the Heaven of the Four Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, Yanmo Heaven, Doushuai Heaven, the Heaven of Delight in Transformation, the Heaven of Mastery over Others’ Transformations, Brahmā-body Heaven, and the phrase “there are deities constantly born.” Whether “deities constantly born” is the name of a heaven is not explained here.

Through the accomplishment of faith, deities were born from here into those realms; I too have faith in this way. So too with virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom: those deities accomplished them and were born from here into those realms; I too have wisdom in this way.

One should recollect oneself and recollect the deities: faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom.

Conclusion

Through this doorway, this practice, and these virtues, the meditator brings recollection of deities to mind, and the mind becomes faithful. Through faith and mindfulness the mind becomes undistracted. With the undistracted mind, the hindrances are extinguished, the jhāna factors arise, and access jhāna comes to abide.

Why Recollect the Virtues of Deities Rather Than Human Virtues?

Question: Why are the virtues of deities recollected rather than human virtues?

The answer first says that the virtues of deities are most excellent and their birth is most excellent. It then reads 地成妙處、心於妙處修行成妙. These two clauses also answer with forms of “excellent,” but how 地成妙處 should be divided, and whether the latter clause says that the mind, the excellent place, or cultivation “becomes excellent,” remain syntactically unclear. No single resolution is imposed. On this basis, the source says to recollect the virtues of deities rather than human virtues. The remainder is as explained fully at the beginning. (Recollection of deities is finished.)

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Recollection of Deities · Vernacular · Summer 2026

The sixth of the ten recollections is recollection of deities. With its completion, fascicle six also ends, and mindfulness of breathing begins in the next fascicle. The opening states: “On the basis of the virtues that lead to birth among deities, one recollects one’s own virtues” 〔T32 429b17〕. The characteristic is likewise “arousing one’s own virtues and the virtues of deities, 等” 〔T32 429b19〕. The cultivation passage first says that through accomplished faith the deities were born from here into those realms, and then says, “I too have faith in this way” 〔T32 429b28–29〕. At the end it again says, “I too have wisdom in this way” 〔T32 429c01〕. This is the explicit placement of the deities and “I” side by side. The source does not turn the strength of the comparison into a psychological mechanism, so only the stated juxtaposition is retained.

Definition and Eight Virtues

The passage says: “That mindfulness, recollection, and right mindfulness is called recollection of deities. That mindfulness remains without distraction: this is cultivation. Arousing one’s own virtues and the virtues of deities, 等, is its characteristic; love and respect for virtue is its function; faith in the fruit of virtue is its proximate cause” 〔T32 429b17–20〕. Mindfulness, recollection, and right mindfulness are three explicitly named terms. Remaining without distraction is cultivation; love and respect for virtue is the function; faith in the fruit of virtue is the proximate cause. The characteristic names “one’s own virtues and the virtues of deities, 等,” but this unit does not explain whether 等 signifies equality, a class of comparable things, or another syntactic connection. It therefore does not establish that the two kinds of virtue are equal or support an additional psychological function.

The order of these four sentences can be checked directly. The passage first states what is recollected through “on the basis of the virtues that lead to birth among deities, one recollects one’s own virtues,” then gives mindfulness, recollection, and right mindfulness, and then cultivation, characteristic, function, and proximate cause 〔T32 429b17–20〕. In the characteristic sentence, “arousing” clearly answers to “is its characteristic,” but the final graph in “one’s own virtues and the virtues of deities, 等” receives no separate explanation. The function merely says “love and respect for virtue,” and the proximate cause merely says “faith in the fruit of virtue.” The source does not say that love and respect necessarily produce faith or that these are successive stages. They remain parallel items.

The virtues passage states: “If a person cultivates recollection of deities, eight virtues are attained. The five qualities increase, namely faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom; the person becomes recollected, loved, and respected by deities. At the teaching of the fruit and result of virtue, there is great delight and leaping up; the person esteems oneself and is valued by deities. Recollection of virtue and recollection of giving enter within it; the person tends toward a good destination and toward the cream” 〔T32 429b20–24〕. The source states eight but does not separate every item with list punctuation. The graph 於 in the phrase about teaching the fruit and result of virtue is 施 in the Ming witness; the two readings directly change the boundaries of the list. The eight items therefore cannot be securely divided by this unit. The sequence is retained without unique punctuation or a forced count. What is explicit is the increase of the five qualities—faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom—along with such expressions as being recollected, loved, and respected by deities; great delight and leaping up; esteem for oneself; being valued by deities; recollection of virtue and giving entering “within it”; tending toward a good destination; and tending toward the cream. The source does not explain the referent of “within it,” so it does not establish a theory in which prior doorways become the material of a later doorway.

Cultivation: The Deities, Oneself, and the Five Qualities

The method begins: “A beginning meditator enters a secluded place and sits, gathering the whole mind. With an undistracted mind one recollects that there is the Heaven of the Four Kings, the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, Yanmo Heaven, Doushuai Heaven, the Heaven of Delight in Transformation, the Heaven of Mastery over Others’ Transformations, Brahmā-body Heaven, and deities constantly born” 〔T32 429b24–28〕. It starts with secluded sitting and gathering the mind, then recollects the listed heavens with an undistracted mind. The first six are linked in a series; Brahmā-body Heaven is separated by a comma, and the passage ends with “there are deities constantly born.” Whether “deities constantly born” is the name of a heaven is not explained here, so it remains uncertain and is not used to impose a count. The source then reads: “Through accomplished faith, the deities were born from here into those realms; I too have faith in this way. So too with virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom: those deities accomplished them and were born from here into those realms; I too have wisdom in this way. One should recollect oneself and recollect the deities: faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom” 〔T32 429b28–429c02〕. Only the first and last qualities, faith and wisdom, are explicitly linked to “I too have it in this way”; the intervening virtue, learning, and giving continue through “so too.” The omitted middle formulations are not supplied. The last sentence clearly says to recollect oneself and the deities, but its punctuation does not decide whether the five qualities that follow belong only to the deities or to both the deities and oneself. The uncertainty is retained.

The Five Qualities: Explicit Statements and Open Questions

The sequence faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom appears twice in this unit. The first occurrence says “the person’s five qualities increase” in the passage on eight virtues 〔T32 429b21〕. The second repeats the same five terms after “one should recollect oneself and recollect the deities” 〔T32 429c01–02〕. The first is introduced by “namely,” while the second directly follows the recollection sentence. Their positions differ, but names and order are the same. The cultivation passage also says that the deities accomplished faith and were born into those realms and that “I too have faith in this way”; it continues with virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom and ends with “I too have wisdom in this way” 〔T32 429b28–429c01〕. The list itself and the first-and-last comparison can be established. The source does not say how each quality is to be operated or use the list as a test of success. Elsewhere in the same unit, “faith in the fruit of virtue” is given as the proximate cause 〔T32 429b20〕, while the virtues passage separately says “at the teaching of the fruit and result of virtue, there is great delight and leaping up” 〔T32 429b22–23〕. Each remains in its source position; they are not combined into a causal psychological account.

Final Question: Why Not Recollect Human Virtues?

The conclusion states: “Through this doorway, this practice, and these virtues, the meditator brings recollection of deities to mind, and the mind becomes faithful. Through faith and mindfulness the mind becomes undistracted. With the undistracted mind, the hindrances are extinguished, the jhāna factors arise, and access jhāna comes to abide” 〔T32 429c02–05〕. It gives, in order, bringing recollection to mind, faith, non-distraction, extinguishing the hindrances, arising of the jhāna factors, and abiding of access jhāna. The source then asks separately: “Why recollect the virtues of deities rather than human virtues?” The answer says: “The virtues of deities are most excellent; their birth is most excellent; 地成妙處; 心於妙處修行成妙. Therefore one recollects the virtues of deities rather than human virtues. The remainder is as explained fully at the beginning. Recollection of deities is finished” 〔T32 429c05–08〕. The boundaries of “virtues are most excellent” and “birth is most excellent” are clear. How 地成妙處 and 心於妙處修行成妙 should be divided and what their grammatical subjects are remains unclear. Although the answer contains four occurrences of 妙, that does not establish four syntactically regular items, still less a scale of comparison or a psychological effect.

The final question explicitly contrasts recollecting the virtues of deities with not recollecting human virtues 〔T32 429c05〕, and the answer repeats the same conclusion at its end 〔T32 429c07〕. Its reasons contain four occurrences of 妙, but not four equally structured clauses. “The virtues are most excellent” and “birth is most excellent” are similar in form; the relation of 地 to 處 in 地成妙處 and what “becomes excellent” in 心於妙處修行成妙 remain unresolved. The source order and the uncertainty are therefore preserved.

Three explicit groups remain. The doorway first says, “On the basis of the virtues that lead to birth among deities, one recollects one’s own virtues” 〔T32 429b17〕. Its cultivation compares “the deities were born from here into those realms” with “I too have faith in this way” and “I too have wisdom in this way” 〔T32 429b28–429c01〕. The five compared and repeated qualities are faith, virtue, learning, giving, and wisdom. The final answer uses 妙 four times, while the grammar of its final two clauses remains open. These statements are sufficient to present the unit without adding itemized self-testing, a psychology of stronger and weaker comparison, or diagnostic claims. Fascicle six ends here 〔T32 429c09〕. The next passage, mindfulness of breathing, opens fascicle seven, “The Practice Chapter, Part Four”; its chapter heading is at 429c16, and 08-43 begins with “Question: What is mindfulness of breathing?” 〔T32 429c17〕.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Recollection of Deities · Exposition · Summer 2026