解脫道論 捨心修行與具足

This doorway first gives rise to the third jhāna in dependence on loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy. It then sees the drawbacks of those three and the merits of equanimity, and finally gives rise to the fourth jhāna arisen together with equanimity. In the statement of drawbacks, the original lists “because affection and anger are near,” “arising together with play,” and “arising together with leaping gladness,” but does not assign these three in fixed correspondence to loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy. That attachment remains unresolved.

The definition uses parents facing their one child as a simile: they regard the child as “neither to be cherished nor not to be cherished” and accomplish equanimity. Nonattachment is its characteristic, equality its flavor, and subduing anger and affection its arising. The cultivation first takes a person regarded as neither worthy nor unworthy of affection, then proceeds to an enemy, a friend, and the four directions. The original provides only this order; it does not say which person is easier or harder.

The mode of attention uses the simile of friends long separated: on first meeting, joy and happiness arise in the heart; after living together, the heart becomes balanced. In the same way, after dwelling long in loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy, one comes to be embraced by equanimity. Fulfillment lists 殺除瞋愛、不起無明, “killing—removing anger and affection; ignorance does not arise,” and loss of equanimity is stated under two causes. The passage does not reinterpret ignorance as a particular psychological state. (The section on equanimity is concluded.)

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Cultivation and Fulfillment of Equanimity · Doorway · Summer 2026

The Questions and Definition

Question: What is equanimity? How is it cultivated? What is its characteristic? What is its flavor? What is its arising? What merits does it have? What does its cultivation consist in?

Answer: Take parents facing their one child as the simile. By regarding the child as neither to be cherished nor not to be cherished, they accomplish equanimity and maintain a balanced mind toward the child. The treatise next says 於一切眾生捨護中心, “toward all beings, equanimity / guarding / a balanced mind.” How 捨護 connects with 中心 remains syntactically unresolved. This is called equanimity.

For equanimity to remain without distraction is called cultivation. Nonattachment is its characteristic, equality is its flavor, and subduing anger and affection is its arising. Its merits are the same as those of loving-kindness.

Cultivation: Entering the Fourth Jhāna in Dependence on the First Three Immeasurables

Question: What does its cultivation consist in?

Answer: From the beginning, the meditator successively arises together with loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy, and has arisen into the third jhāna. After attaining the third jhāna, the meditator freely sees the drawbacks of loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy. The base text then runs together the phrases “because affection and anger are near,” “arising together with play,” and “arising together with leaping gladness.” It does not specify how “because affection and anger are near” and the following two items attach to loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy, so they cannot be fixed as three corresponding pairs. By countering the drawbacks seen, the meditator also sees the merits of equanimity.

Having thus seen the drawbacks of loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy and the merits of equanimity, the meditator begins with a person regarded as neither worthy nor unworthy of affection. Mindfulness is made to arise together with equanimity, the mind is brought to fulfillment, and the mind of equanimity grows. After repeated cultivation, the mind becomes gentle and capable of sustaining it.

The meditator next cultivates toward an enemy and then toward a friend. The remainder is as explained in detail before, until equanimity fills the four directions.

Cultivating in this way, the meditator accomplishes the fourth jhāna arisen together with equanimity and establishes it in three ways: beings have been comprehensively included, villages and fields have been comprehensively included, and all directions have been comprehensively included.

Attending to Beings

Question: When the meditator is presently cultivating equanimity, how does the meditator attend to beings?

Answer: The treatise first says that the attention explained in relation to loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy should also be applied. In relation to beings, one removes “producing joy” and “practicing joy,” and attends within happiness. The base text does not determine whether 作意所說, “what was said concerning attention,” is an independent opening to the answer or is to be read with the following sentence.

It is like a person long separated from a friend. On first meeting, the base text uses the difficult term 榮侍 and says that joy and happiness arise in the heart; after living together, the heart becomes balanced. In the same way, after dwelling long in loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy, one again comes to be embraced by equanimity. Equanimity is cultivated through this mode of attention. The meaning of 榮侍 is not explained in this passage.

Someone else says that one should attend through the phrase 眾生眾生者, “beings, beings.” The passage does not explain the repetition of “beings.”

Fulfillment and Nonfulfillment

What constitutes the fulfillment or nonfulfillment of equanimity? When equanimity is accomplished, the original says 殺除瞋愛，不起無明, “killing—removing anger and affection; ignorance does not arise.” Equanimity is lost through two circumstances: one is 以自親生怨，以起無明, “enmity arises through one’s own intimates; ignorance arises,” and the other is 以對治生怨，以嗔愛起, “enmity arises through the counteragent; anger and affection arise.” The treatise lists only these two and does not establish a separate psychological definition of “ignorance.”

(The section on equanimity is concluded.)

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Cultivation and Fulfillment of Equanimity · Vernacular · Summer 2026

This is the last doorway among the four immeasurables. State first what the passage itself shows: it does not begin with equanimity alone, but first says, “From the beginning, the meditator arises together with loving-kindness, arises together with compassion, arises together with appreciative joy, and has arisen into the third jhāna”〔T32 437c16–17〕. It then sees the drawbacks of loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy and the merits of equanimity, and only at the end says “the fourth jhāna arisen together with equanimity”〔T32 437c25〕. This complete phrase occurs at〔T32 437c25–26〕. The clearest line of the passage is therefore not a newly supplied theory of emotion, but the jhāna sequence expressly listed in the base text: the first three immeasurables, the third jhāna, seeing drawbacks and merits, cultivation of equanimity, and the fourth jhāna. Each of the three paragraphs also has its own office. The first defines equanimity and lists its cultivation, characteristic, flavor, arising, and merits. The second answers the question of practical cultivation, moving from the third jhāna to the fourth jhāna and its three ways of establishment. The third separately asks how to attend to beings, then closes with fulfillment and the loss of equanimity. These three paragraphs must first be distinguished, so that no item is moved into another paragraph as its explanation.

The Final Turn of a Single Simile: Even “Cherishing” Does Not Appear

The opening again has seven questions: “What is equanimity? How is it cultivated? What is its characteristic? What is its flavor? What is its arising? What merits does it have? What does its cultivation consist in?”〔T32 437c11–12〕. The answer begins: “It is like parents facing their one child: regarding the child as neither to be cherished nor not to be cherished, they accomplish equanimity. They develop a balanced mind toward that child; in the same way, toward all beings, equanimity / guarding / a balanced mind—this is called equanimity”〔T32 437c12–14〕. One question must remain open here: does “neither to be cherished nor not to be cherished” mean absence of love, or another kind of love? The passage makes no such classification, so neither account is added. Only three steps are certain: parents and their one child, neither to be cherished nor not to be cherished, and a balanced mind. The same balanced mind is then extended to all beings. In 捨護中心, whether 捨 attaches to what precedes or follows also remains unresolved, so no single punctuation is imposed. The five matters are expressly listed: “For equanimity to remain without distraction is called cultivation. Nonattachment is its characteristic, equality is its flavor, subduing anger and affection is its arising, and its merits are equal to those of loving-kindness”〔T32 437c14–15〕. These answer cultivation, characteristic, flavor, arising, and merits in order; the final question, “What does its cultivation consist in?” is left for the second paragraph. The seven questions are not compressed into one, nor are the two senses of cultivation merged.

Drawbacks and Transition: Because Affection and Anger Are Near

Why do the first three immeasurables have drawbacks? The wording gives the reason “because affection and anger are near,” then lists “arising together with play” and “arising together with leaping gladness”〔T32 437c18–19〕. One question remains open: do these three respectively refer to loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy? The passage neither pairs them item by item nor explains their syntactic attachment. They therefore cannot be fixed into three corresponding groups, still less expanded into a psychological cause for each doorway. Only this sequence is certain: in dependence on the first three immeasurables the meditator gives rise to the third jhāna, sees the drawbacks of loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy, sees the merits of equanimity, then cultivates equanimity and gives rise to the fourth jhāna〔T32 437c16–19·437c25–26〕. The “transition” explained here stops with that expressly stated jhāna sequence; it does not split “because affection and anger are near” into a taxonomy absent from the treatise.

The Sequence Runs Backward: The Enemy Precedes the Friend

The second paragraph first writes together “having seen the drawbacks of loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy” and “having seen the merits of equanimity”〔T32 437c20〕. Only then does it say: “Beginning with a person regarded as neither worthy nor unworthy of affection, mindfulness is made to arise together with equanimity, the mind is brought to fulfillment, and the mind of equanimity grows”〔T32 437c20–22〕. The five characters 念 and 捨心增長 are absent from all four other witnesses and are retained from the base text. Next, “having cultivated and cultivated repeatedly, the mind becomes gentle and capable of sustaining it”〔T32 437c22–23〕places cultivation, gentleness of mind, and capacity to sustain it in that order. The following step expressly says: “The meditator cultivates in sequence toward an enemy, and from there toward a friend; the remainder is as explained in detail before and may be known, until it fills the four directions”〔T32 437c23–24〕. The enemy precedes the friend: that is the source order. The treatise does not say which is easier or call the final position a test, so no rationale based on degrees of intimacy is supplied. The reading delivered here is: preserve the original sequence; do not supply degrees of difficulty—the person regarded as neither worthy nor unworthy of affection, the enemy, the friend, and the four directions, omitting none and reversing none to accord with general expectation. “The fourth jhāna arisen together with equanimity is established in three ways: beings have been comprehensively included, villages and fields have been comprehensively included, and all directions have been comprehensively included”〔T32 437c25–27〕immediately follows. All three ways of establishment are read in the source order; the stated count is three, and the following list also has three: beings, villages and fields, all directions.

The Question of Attention: The Course of a Long-Separated Reunion

“Question: When the meditator is presently cultivating equanimity, how does the meditator attend to beings?”〔T32 437c27–28〕. The answer first says: “What was said concerning attention should be applied to loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy. Toward beings, remove producing joy and practicing joy; attend within happiness”〔T32 437c28–29〕. Whether 作意所說, “what was said concerning attention,” is an independent opening or joins the following sentence remains unresolved. The internal boundary of “remove producing joy and practicing joy; attend within happiness” should likewise not be rewritten as a sequence of stages unstated by the treatise. A simile follows: “It is like a person long separated from a friend. On first meeting, 榮侍, joy and happiness arise in the heart; after living together, the heart becomes balanced”〔T32 437c29–438a02〕. The simile gives only three steps: long separation, joy and happiness at the first meeting, and a balanced heart after living together. The term 榮侍 is not self-explained, and all four other witnesses read 營待, so it is not assigned a definition. The application then expressly says: “In the same way, after dwelling long in loving-kindness, compassion, and appreciative joy, one again comes to be embraced by equanimity”〔T32 438a02〕. Finally comes another account: “Someone else says: attend in this way—‘beings, beings’” (復有人說：眾生眾生者如是作意)〔T32 438a03–04〕. The passage does not identify the speaker or explain the repeated “beings.” The answer’s order is the statement on attention, the reunion simile, its application, and another account. These four layers follow one another without being combined. “The heart becomes balanced” in the simile and “comes to be embraced by equanimity” in its application also retain their own terms. Reading this section requires distinguishing the stated simile, application, and other account while leaving the three unresolved points in their respective places.

Fulfillment and Loss of Equanimity: The Fork of Ignorance

“What is the fulfillment and nonfulfillment of equanimity? When equanimity is accomplished, 殺除瞋愛; ignorance does not arise”〔T32 438a04–05〕. The fulfillment statement originally lists 殺除瞋愛 and 不起無明. “Equanimity is lost through two causes: through one’s own intimates, enmity arises; ignorance arises. Through the counteragent, enmity arises; anger and affection arise”〔T32 438a05–06〕. The loss statement likewise gives only its two original groups. The passage does not separately explain ignorance, so it is not forced into a psychological definition; “anger and affection arise” is also retained only as the original phrase. Fulfillment lists two items, and loss expressly marks two causes; the count and original items are preserved in both places. The inline note “(The section on equanimity is concluded.)” closes the doorway. From fulfillment to loss, the reading remains the same: first identify the phrases expressly listed by the treatise, then leave their unexplained relations where they stand.

Take away three points: one thing seen—this doorway depends on the third jhāna arisen through the first three immeasurables, sees their drawbacks and the merits of equanimity, and then gives rise to the fourth jhāna arisen together with equanimity; one way of reading—preserve the original sequence and do not supply degrees of difficulty: the person regarded as neither worthy nor unworthy of affection, the enemy, the friend, and the four directions; and one line—the long-separated friends become joyful at the first meeting and balanced after living together, while fulfillment lists 殺除瞋愛、不起無明 and loss lists two causes without imposing a psychological definition on ignorance. Two expressly numbered statements offer a further check. The fourth jhāna is “established in three ways,” followed by exactly three items—beings, villages and fields, and all directions. Equanimity is lost “through two causes,” followed by exactly two groups—enmity through one’s own intimates with arising ignorance, and enmity through the counteragent with arising anger and affection. First check the stated count against the list, then address unresolved syntax, so that one’s own inference does not replace an explanation the source lacks.

Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Cultivation and Fulfillment of Equanimity · Exposition · Summer 2026