解脫道論 義疏通講 · 冊7

The Path of Freedom begins its account of the thirty-eight practices in this passage 〔T32 411a09〕. The five Chinese characters 三十八行處 occur only three times in the entire treatise, and all three occurrences are in this passage (411a09·411a16·411a17)—once in the question, once at the close of the list, and once when the nine classifications are established. Outside this passage, the same item is shortened to 三十八行, “thirty-eight practices.” The opening sentence of this passage already says 授三十八行, “gives the thirty-eight practices” 〔T32 411a08〕; at the end of this chapter the wording is still 於三十八行隨其所樂, “among the thirty-eight practices, according to what he likes” 〔T32 412a27–28〕.

The central observation may be stated at the outset: the author formally names these thirty-eight items only once; thereafter, as each classification is applied, the same things receive different names. The reader’s basis for recognizing that something is still the same item lies not in the names, but in the numbers.

This passage is the clearest example. Fewer than ten lines after the names have been listed, the first classification, jhāna, opens and three changes of name appear at once.

The Opening: The Two Characters 爾時 Connect to the Previous Chapter

The passage opens, 爾時依止師觀其所行，授三十八行，當復教示令二行相應, “at that time, the teacher on whom one depends observes the practice he follows, gives the thirty-eight practices, and should then instruct him so that 二行相應, ‘correspondence with two practices,’ is brought about” 〔T32 411a08–09〕.

爾時, “at that time,” is not an empty expression. The whole preceding Chapter on the Analysis of Practice distinguishes practitioners of lustful, angry, and deluded temperaments. Its final sentence is 欲行人樂色，瞋行人樂諍，癡行人樂懈怠, “a person of lustful temperament delights in forms, a person of angry temperament delights in contention, and a person of deluded temperament delights in indolence” 〔T32 411a05–06〕—the people have been distinguished. The subject of the sentence that follows this distinction is not the meditator but the teacher: it is the teacher who 觀其所行, “observes the practice he follows,” and it is also the teacher who 授, “gives.”

The name 依止師, “teacher on whom one depends,” occurs only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411a08〕. Chapter Five discusses the work of seeking a teacher throughout, using the names 禪師, “jhāna teacher” 〔T32 408c04〕, 和上, “preceptor” 〔T32 408c11〕, and 闍梨, “teacher” 〔T32 409a20〕; it never once uses 依止師. At the moment when the practices are to be given, the author uses this name for the first time—it takes the relation of “dependence,” not the relation of “instruction,” as its point. The author does not explain why the name changes, and this edition does not speak on his behalf.

The sentence also leaves something unfinished: 當復教示令二行相應, “one should then instruct him so that 二行相應, ‘correspondence with two practices,’ is brought about.” What are the two practices? The four characters 二行相應 occur only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411a09〕. This passage does not list them, and the text never mentions them again. The literal wording is retained without supplying them.

The List: Four Numbered Groups, Followed by Four Unnumbered Items

The thirty-eight items are listed according to a definite form. First comes 謂十一切入：地、水、火、風、青、黃、赤、白、空處、識處一切入, “namely the ten kasiṇas: earth, water, fire, wind, blue-green, yellow, red, white, space, and consciousness kasiṇas” 〔T32 411a09–11〕. The next three groups are each carried forward by 又, “again”—又十不淨想, “again, the ten perceptions of impurity” 〔T32 411a11〕, 又十念, “again, the ten recollections” 〔T32 411a13〕, and 又四無量心：慈、悲、喜、捨, “again, the four immeasurables: loving-kindness, compassion, appreciative joy, and equanimity” 〔T32 411a15〕. Each of the four groups carries its own number.

At the fifth point, the form breaks: 觀四大、食不淨想、無所有處、非非想處, “contemplating the four elements, the perception of repulsiveness in food, the base of nothingness, and the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception” 〔T32 411a15–16〕—four items are named in succession without 又, “again,” and without a number. The passage then gathers them together with 斯謂三十八行處, “these are called the thirty-eight practices” 〔T32 411a16〕.

Ten plus ten plus ten plus four is thirty-four; these last four unnumbered items complete the thirty-eight. The author does not perform this final addition for the reader.

Nine Classifications: Their Names All Use 以, but Their Questions Have Two Forms

此三十八行處，以九行當知最勝, “these thirty-eight practices should be understood in their excellence through nine classifications” 〔T32 411a17〕—this sentence is the framework of the entire chapter. These seven Chinese characters 以九行當知最勝 occur only once in the whole treatise 〔T32 411a17〕.

The nine classifications are named with complete regularity: 一以禪、二以正越、三以增長、四以緣、五以事、六以勝、七以地、八以取、九以人, “first, through jhāna; second, through right going beyond; third, through increase; fourth, through condition; fifth, through things; sixth, through excellence; seventh, through ground; eighth, through grasping; and ninth, through person” 〔T32 411a17–19〕. All nine use 以, “through.”

When the individual classifications are opened, however, the questions do not have one form. The present classification asks 問：云何為禪, “Question: What is the classification through jhāna?” 〔T32 411a19〕—it uses 為, not 以. Later, 云何以正越, “how is it through right going beyond?” 〔T32 411b04〕, uses 以, while 云何為緣, “what is the classification through condition?” 〔T32 411b13〕, returns to 為. The names of the nine classifications are regular; the questions that open them are not. Both forms are retained without being made uniform.

The First Classification: The Initial Statement Says “Accomplish,” but the Individual Questions Say “Included in”

The jhāna classification first states six classes: 謂十行處成禪外行, “ten meditation subjects produce access to jhāna” 〔T32 411a19–20〕; 又十一行處成就初禪, “another eleven meditation subjects accomplish the first jhāna” 〔T32 411a20〕; 又三行處成就三禪, “another three meditation subjects accomplish the third jhāna” 〔T32 411a20–21〕; 又一行處成就四禪, “another single meditation subject accomplishes the fourth jhāna” 〔T32 411a21〕; 又九行處成就四禪五禪, “another nine meditation subjects accomplish the fourth and fifth jhānas” 〔T32 411a21–22〕; and 又四行處成就無色四禪, “another four meditation subjects accomplish the four formless jhānas” 〔T32 411a22–23〕.

The first class uses 成, “produce,” while all five of the others use 成就, “accomplish.”

The passage then asks about each class separately. Here the expression changes in all five: 云何十一行處初禪所攝, “which eleven meditation subjects are included in the first jhāna?” 〔T32 411a25〕; 云何三行處，三禪所攝, “which three meditation subjects are included in the third jhāna?” 〔T32 411a26–27〕; 云何一行處四禪所攝, “which one meditation subject is included in the fourth jhāna?” 〔T32 411a27–28〕; 云何九行處，四禪五禪所攝, “which nine meditation subjects are included in the fourth and fifth jhānas?” 〔T32 411a29〕; and 云何四行處，四無色所攝, “which four meditation subjects are included among the four formless states?” 〔T32 411b02〕—all five initially said to “accomplish” are changed to “included in” in their questions. Only the first class remains unchanged, asking 云何十行處成禪外行, “which ten meditation subjects produce access to jhāna?” 〔T32 411a23〕, just as in the initial statement.

One still more conspicuous difference appears: the initial statement says 成就無色四禪, “accomplish the four formless jhānas” 〔T32 411a22–23〕, while the question says 四無色所攝, “included among the four formless states” 〔T32 411b02〕—the four Chinese characters 無色四禪 occur only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411a22–23〕 and, only one sentence later, the order has been reversed to 四無色.

Three Changes of Name, All within This One Passage

We may now return to the observation made at the beginning. Changes of name do not begin only later; three already occur within this passage.

First, 念身, “mindfulness of the body,” changes to 觀身, “contemplation of the body.” In the list of ten recollections, the eighth item is 念身 〔T32 411a14〕. In the class of access to jhāna, the text says 除數息及觀身, “set aside breathing and contemplation of the body” 〔T32 411a23–24〕; in the first-jhāna class, it says 十不淨想及觀身, “the ten perceptions of impurity together with contemplation of the body” 〔T32 411a25–26〕. The same item is 念, “mindfulness,” when named in the list and 觀, “contemplation,” when used. The form 觀身 occurs five times in the whole treatise, two of them here 〔T32 411a23–24·411a26〕.

Second, 空處一切入, “space kasiṇa,” changes to 空一切入, “empty-space kasiṇa,” and then changes again to 虛空一切入, “kasiṇa of empty space.” The list has 空處、識處一切入, “space and consciousness kasiṇas” 〔T32 411a10–11〕; the class of the fourth and fifth jhānas says 除空一切入、識一切入, “set aside the empty-space kasiṇa and the consciousness kasiṇa” 〔T32 411a29–411b01〕; and the formless class has 虛空一切入、識一切入, “the kasiṇa of empty space and the consciousness kasiṇa” 〔T32 411b02–03〕. The same two items bear three sets of names within one passage.

Third, 行處, “meditation subject,” changes to 行, “practice.” Five of the six classes use 行處, but the closing formula of the last says 是名四行, “these are named four practices” 〔T32 411b03–04〕. The Chinese phrase 是名四行 occurs only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411b03–04〕.

Pause Here: Why Are Mindfulness of the Body and Mindfulness of Breathing the Two Taken Out?

This point deserves a pause.

The ten recollections were originally one group, and the author named them together. When they are classified by jhāna, however, the group is divided into three parts: eight belong to access to jhāna, mindfulness of breathing belongs to the fourth and fifth jhānas, and mindfulness of the body—here already renamed contemplation of the body—belongs to the first jhāna. The sentence 除數息及觀身，餘八念及觀四大、食不淨想，是謂十外行, “set aside breathing and contemplation of the body; the other eight recollections, together with contemplating the four elements and the perception of repulsiveness in food, are called the ten access practices” 〔T32 411a23–24〕, does two things at once: it removes those two and then brings in two from another group—contemplating the four elements and the perception of repulsiveness in food—to return the count to ten.

The question lies precisely here: among the ten recollections, why can only these two enter jhāna, while the other eight can only serve as access to jhāna? The author does not say.

This passage cannot answer the question. Only one thing can be checked: these two items are precisely the two whose designations are least stable in the whole treatise. Mindfulness of the body changes its name within this passage; mindfulness of breathing becomes 數息念, “breathing-mindfulness,” later in this chapter 〔T32 411b01–02〕. The classification of these two items also continues to move in every later classification in the chapter—the two items described as both 內營事, “internally managed objects,” and 外事, “external things,” are precisely these two 〔T32 411c03〕.

The author does not explain the reason, and this edition does not speak on his behalf. It places only the checkable facts side by side: the other eight recollections never change their names from beginning to end, and they never cease to belong to access to jhāna.

A Way of Reading: When Reading Classificatory Prose, Add the Numbers First

The reading method this passage offers lies in the tension between names and numbers.

Names change; numbers do not. Therefore, when reading a passage that divides things through a given classification, the first step is not to memorize the names but to add the numbers for each classification and see whether they equal the total.

Applied to this passage: ten access practices, eleven in the first jhāna, three in the third jhāna, one in the fourth jhāna, nine in the fourth and fifth jhānas, and four formless—ten plus eleven plus three plus one plus nine plus four is exactly thirty-eight. This addition proves two things at once. First, the six classes distribute all thirty-eight items, with none left over and none repeated. Second, the changed names in the middle—contemplation of the body, empty-space kasiṇa, and kasiṇa of empty space—still refer to the original items, because otherwise the numbers would not agree.

The sums within the classes also agree. The ten access practices comprise eight recollections plus contemplating the four elements and the perception of repulsiveness in food: eight plus one plus one is ten. The eleven in the first jhāna comprise the ten perceptions of impurity plus contemplation of the body: ten plus one is eleven. The nine comprise eight kasiṇas plus breathing-mindfulness: eight plus one is nine. The four formless are four items listed one by one. Every level closes exactly.

This method may be carried through the other eight classifications of this chapter and through every classificatory passage in the treatise: do not begin by arguing over terminology; first add the numbers. If they add up, continue reading accordingly. If they do not, something must be happening there—a character may be missing, something may have been added, or an item being counted may not belong within the original total. Later in this chapter there are just such places.

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Take away three things. One observation: the Chinese phrase 三十八行處, “thirty-eight practices,” occurs only three times in the whole treatise, all in this passage (411a09·411a16·411a17). The author formally names the set only here; outside this passage it is shortened to 三十八行, “thirty-eight practices” 〔411a08·412a27–28〕. After the names have been fixed, three changes already occur within this same passage—念身, “mindfulness of the body,” becomes 觀身, “contemplation of the body” 〔411a23–24·411a26〕; 空處一切入, “space kasiṇa,” becomes 空一切入, “empty-space kasiṇa” 〔411a29–411b01〕 and then 虛空一切入, “kasiṇa of empty space” 〔411b02–03〕; 行處, “meditation subject,” becomes 行, “practice” 〔411b03–04〕. One way of reading: when reading classificatory prose, add the numbers for each classification. Here ten plus eleven plus three plus one plus nine plus four is exactly thirty-eight. The addition shows both that the distribution is exhaustive and that the changed names still denote the original items. One place to pause: among the ten recollections, why do only mindfulness of the body and mindfulness of breathing enter jhāna, while the other eight only produce access to jhāna 〔T32 411a23–24〕? The author does not state the reason. What can be checked is only that these two items undergo the most changes of designation in the treatise, while the other eight never change their names and never cease to belong to access to jhāna.

Three smaller matters should also be kept in view. The name 依止師, “teacher on whom one depends,” occurs only once in the whole treatise 〔411a08〕; throughout Chapter Five, the work of seeking a teacher uses the names 禪師, “jhāna teacher,” 和上, “preceptor,” and 闍梨, “teacher,” without a single use of 依止師. The Chinese phrase 二行相應, “correspondence with two practices,” occurs only once in the whole treatise 〔411a09〕 and the two practices are not listed. The six classes have three forms of closure: two use 是謂, “are called”; one uses 是名, “are named”; and three have no closing formula, while the last class alone says 四行, “four practices,” rather than 行處, “meditation subjects.”

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · The Thirty-Eight Practices and Their Jhāna Classifications · Exposition · Summer 2026

This is the longest passage in the chapter: more than eight hundred Chinese characters, with four classifications in succession. It reads like a table: a certain number are one way and the remaining number are not; a certain number belong to another category and the remaining number do not. The names are so dense that reading becomes difficult.

The central observation should come first: this passage contains ten divisions, and in nine of them the numbers add up to exactly thirty-eight. Only one does not. The one that does not is precisely the only place in the passage where a new name appears.

The ten are: going beyond form, going beyond objects, and going beyond perception and feeling—the three aspects of the second classification; what can be made to increase—the third classification; conditions for direct knowledge and conditions for insight—the two aspects of the fourth classification; and the threefold division of objects, the nine headings for internal and external managed objects, the six headings concerning the three times, and moving versus unmoving—the four levels of the fifth classification. Add each in turn:

Eight plus thirty, three plus thirty-five, and one plus thirty-seven—the three aspects of right going beyond all yield thirty-eight. Fourteen plus twenty-four—increase yields thirty-eight. Thirty-seven plus one—conditions for insight yield thirty-eight. Twenty-one plus twelve plus five—the threefold division of objects yields thirty-eight. Two, two, one, twenty-one, four, four, two, one, one—the nine managed-object headings add up to thirty-eight. Two, one, one, six, two, twenty-six—the six headings concerning the three times add up to thirty-eight. Four plus thirty-four—moving and unmoving yield thirty-eight.

Nine divisions, and every one closes.

Only the division on conditions for direct knowledge does not: “九行處為神通緣，除無色一切入,” “nine fields are conditions for direct knowledge, excluding the formless kasiṇas” 〔T32 411b13–14〕, followed below by “餘三十行，不成神通緣,” “the remaining thirty practices do not become conditions for direct knowledge” 〔T32 411b14–15〕. Nine plus thirty is thirty-nine.

Second Classification: Its Name Is Right Going Beyond, but Its Closing Says Only Going Beyond

Begin with the form. At the beginning of the chapter, the second classification is named “二以正越,” “second, through right going beyond” 〔T32 411a17–18〕. Its question likewise says “云何以正越,” “How is it through right going beyond?” 〔T32 411b04〕—both places contain 正, “right.” Yet when the classification is complete, its closing says “如是以越可知,” “Thus, they can be known through going beyond” 〔T32 411b09–10〕. The character 正, “right,” has dropped out.

The two-character form 正越, “right going beyond,” occurs twice in the entire treatise 〔T32 411a18·411b04〕. Both occurrences are in this chapter, in the classification’s name and question; the closing no longer uses it.

The questions for the four classifications in this passage are not uniform either. Right going beyond and increase use 以, “through,” while condition and things ask “云何為緣,” “What is the classification through condition?” 〔T32 411b13〕 and “云何為事,” “What is the classification through things?” 〔T32 411b17〕, using 為, “what is.” Four classifications have two forms of question. Yet the closing sentences all use 以, “through”: thus through going beyond, thus through increase, thus through condition, and thus through things. All four are the same. The questions vary; the closings are orderly.

Three Aspects of Going Beyond: Form, Objects, and Perception and Feeling

Each aspect gives both a positive and a negative count. Those that go beyond form are “除無色一切入，餘八一切入,” “the eight kasiṇas remaining after the formless kasiṇas are excluded” 〔T32 411b05〕—from the ten kasiṇas, space and consciousness are removed, leaving eight; the remaining thirty do not go beyond form. Those that go beyond objects are “二無色一切入及無所有處,” “the two formless kasiṇas and the base of nothingness” 〔T32 411b07〕—two plus one is three; the remaining thirty-five do not. The one that goes beyond perception and feeling is the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; “餘三十七行，不成為越想受,” “the remaining thirty-seven practices do not become ways of going beyond perception and feeling” 〔T32 411b09〕.

These three names will be used again later. 越色, “going beyond form,” occurs six times in the whole treatise; two are in this passage, and the remaining four are all in Chapter Eight’s classifications concerning the formless concentrations 〔T32 421a08·421a28·422b12〕. 越事, “going beyond objects,” and 越想受, “going beyond perception and feeling,” each occur twice; all four occurrences are in this passage, and neither form is used elsewhere in the treatise.

One point is worth remembering. In the going-beyond-objects heading, the Taishō base reads 二, “two,” in “the two formless kasiṇas,” while four witnesses read 三, “three.” Addition can show how the two readings stand: the heading announces “three meditation subjects,” and the items listed are the two formless kasiṇas plus the base of nothingness—two plus one is exactly three. If the reading is “three formless kasiṇas,” then three plus one is four, which does not agree with the announced three. The three columns of the critical note are reproduced as they stand; the agreement or disagreement of the numbers is recorded without adjudication, and the body follows the base.

Fourth Classification: A Name Not Found in the List

Now return to the place that does not add up.

The text says “九行處為神通緣,” “nine fields are conditions for direct knowledge” 〔T32 411b13〕, and then lists the nine: “八一切入，及分別虛空一切入,” “the eight kasiṇas and the discriminated space kasiṇa” 〔T32 411b14〕. Eight plus one is nine. Yet the negative side says “the remaining thirty practices”—eight plus thirty is thirty-eight, while nine plus thirty is thirty-nine.

The difficulty lies in the name 分別虛空一切入, “the discriminated space kasiṇa.” These five characters occur only once in the entire treatise 〔T32 411b14〕. When the thirty-eight items are listed at the beginning of the chapter, the kasiṇa group is “地、水、火、風、青、黃、赤、白、空處、識處一切入,” “earth, water, fire, wind, blue-green, yellow, red, white, the space kasiṇa, and the consciousness kasiṇa” 〔T32 411a10–11〕; this name is absent. Elsewhere in this chapter, the item is 虛空一切入, “kasiṇa of empty space” 〔T32 411b02–03〕, a form occurring nine times in the whole treatise, and again it is not this same string.

Two readings are therefore possible, and the treatise excludes neither. If “the discriminated space kasiṇa” is the kasiṇa of empty space among the thirty-eight, this classification selects nine and the remainder should be twenty-nine, though the text says thirty. If it is an additional item outside the thirty-eight, then only eight of the thirty-eight are selected here, and eight plus thirty is exactly thirty-eight, while “nine” counts that additional item as well.

The author does not say. This edition does not say on his behalf. It places only what can be checked side by side: the name occurs once in the whole treatise and is not in the opening list, while eight plus thirty agrees and nine plus thirty does not.

Fifth Classification: The Longest Section and Its Three Levels of Division

The classification through things forms the body of this passage. It first gives a threefold heading: “二十一行處是分別事，十二行處是為實事，五行處不應說分別事、實事,” “twenty-one meditation subjects are discriminated objects, twelve meditation subjects are actual objects, and five meditation subjects should not be spoken of as discriminated objects or actual objects” 〔T32 411b18–19〕. Twenty-one plus twelve plus five is thirty-eight.

It then answers each division in turn. The discriminated objects are “excluding the consciousness kasiṇa, the other nine kasiṇas, the ten perceptions of impurity, mindfulness of breathing, and mindfulness of the body” 〔T32 411b20–21〕—nine plus ten plus two is twenty-one. The actual objects are “the consciousness kasiṇa, the base of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, and the ten jhāna-access practices” 〔T32 411b22〕—one plus one plus ten is twelve. Those that should not be spoken of are “the four immeasurables and the base of nothingness” 〔T32 411b23–24〕—four plus one is five. Within the threefold division, every division also closes by itself.

Once those answers are complete, the author raises no new question. He goes directly into nine headings, beginning “復次二行處，內營事內事,” “Further, two meditation subjects are internally managed objects and internal objects” 〔T32 411b24〕. When the nine are complete, he begins six more headings with “又二行處過去事,” “Further, two meditation subjects have past objects” 〔T32 411c13〕. When those six are complete, he gives the moving and unmoving pair, beginning “又四行處動事,” “Further, four meditation subjects have moving objects” 〔T32 411c21〕. Three levels of division are completed under a single question.

Each of the three levels closes by itself. For the nine managed-object headings, two plus two plus one plus twenty-one plus four plus four plus two plus one plus one is thirty-eight. For the six headings concerning the three times, two plus one plus one plus six plus two plus twenty-six is thirty-eight. For moving and unmoving, four plus thirty-four is thirty-eight.

The moving and unmoving heading also carries its own explanation: “its object moves, but its sign does not move” 〔T32 411c23〕—fire, wind, worm-decayed perception, and breathing have moving objects, while the sign taken from them does not move. This is the only place in the entire treatise where the text explains the matter in this way.

Pause Here: The Nine Headings Add Up, but There Are Not Enough Items

This is a place to pause and ask.

The numbers in the nine managed-object headings add up to thirty-eight without any difference. Yet when the names listed under the nine headings are counted one by one, there are only thirty-four.

Where is the difference? The fourth and sixth headings give the same name. The fourth says “又二十一行處外營事外事者，謂十不淨想、四無量心、四色一切入、虛空一切入及念佛念僧,” “the twenty-one meditation subjects that are externally managed objects and external objects are the ten perceptions of impurity, the four immeasurables, the four color kasiṇas, the kasiṇa of empty space, recollection of the Buddha, and recollection of the Saṅgha” 〔T32 411c04–06〕—ten plus four plus four plus one plus two is twenty-one, and the four color kasiṇas are included. The sixth says “又四行處設內營事設外營事設外事，謂四色一切入,” “the four meditation subjects set as internally managed objects, set as externally managed objects, and set as external objects are the four color kasiṇas” 〔T32 411c08–09〕—four items, and again they are the four color kasiṇas.

Meanwhile, among the thirty-eight items, the earth, water, fire, and wind kasiṇas do not appear anywhere in the nine headings.

The numbers agree but the items do not: four are repeated and four are missing, exactly four on each side.

This passage cannot answer why. Three things can be checked. First, 四色一切入, “the four color kasiṇas,” occurs three times in the whole treatise. Two are these two places in this passage, and the third is Chapter Eight’s “the four color kasiṇas are foremost” 〔T32 424b20〕—it is an established name used by the treatise itself, not one coined here. Second, the space between the two headings is precisely where this passage’s critical notes are densest: two linked notes occur in the sixth heading’s general statement 〔T32 411b27·411b28〕, and the item-by-item explanation has a corrected reading at 〔T32 411c09〕—the Taishō base reads 說外事, while 【CB】 and 【麗-CB】 correct it to 設外事; the present text follows the corrected reading. Third, the author neither supplies a correction nor states a total.

The text is reproduced without changing a word or supplying what is absent.

A Method of Reading: In a Long List, Do Not Memorize Names; Remember the Sum

The reading method this passage offers lies in the addition used at the beginning.

Faced with classificatory writing that continues in a long sequence, one readily tries to memorize the names item by item. Yet names change in this treatise. The same item is 食不淨想, “perception of repulsiveness in food,” at the beginning of the chapter 〔T32 411a15–16〕, but appears twice here in reversed order as 不淨食想, “repulsiveness-in-food perception” 〔T32 411c08·411c17〕. At the beginning it is 虫臭想, “worm-infested perception” 〔T32 411a13〕, but in the moving-object heading it is 虫爛想, “worm-decayed perception” 〔T32 411c22〕. At the beginning it is 觀四大, “contemplating the four elements” 〔T32 411a15〕, but once here it is 觀於四大, “contemplation directed to the four elements” 〔T32 411c08〕. The first classification says “謂十行處成禪外行,” “ten meditation subjects produce access to jhāna” 〔T32 411a19–20〕, and then “是謂十外行,” “these are called the ten access practices” 〔T32 411a24〕; in this passage, the form becomes 十禪外行, “ten jhāna-access practices” 〔T32 411b22〕. The names cannot be memorized because they are not themselves fixed.

The reading method is therefore this: whenever one division is complete, add up its numbers.

If the sum works, that division can be read through with confidence: its distribution is exhaustive, and the names that changed along the way still indicate the original items. If the sum does not work, stop there and look: has a name been added, as with “the discriminated space kasiṇa” among the conditions for direct knowledge, or has one item been repeated and another omitted, as with the four color kasiṇas and the earth, water, fire, and wind kasiṇas in the nine managed-object headings? Here addition is not merely a check; it is a tool for finding a problem.

The same method will be used once more later in this chapter. At the end of the eighth classification the text says “又五行處，初坐禪人不應修行,” “Further, five meditation subjects should not be cultivated by a person first sitting in jhāna,” followed by “餘二十三,” “the remaining twenty-three” 〔T32 412a12〕. Five plus twenty-three is twenty-eight, not thirty-eight. At precisely that place, the Taishō edition has a critical note.

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Take away three things. One observation—this passage has ten divisions, and in nine of them the numbers add up to exactly thirty-eight: eight plus thirty for going beyond form; three plus thirty-five for going beyond objects; one plus thirty-seven for going beyond perception and feeling; fourteen plus twenty-four for increase; thirty-seven plus one for conditions for insight; twenty-one plus twelve plus five for the threefold division of objects; the nine managed-object headings; the six headings concerning the three times; and four plus thirty-four for moving and unmoving. Only the division on conditions for direct knowledge gives nine plus thirty, which is thirty-nine 〔T32 411b13–15〕, and that is precisely the only place in the passage where a name absent from the opening list appears: 分別虛空一切入, “the discriminated space kasiṇa,” occurs only once in the whole treatise 〔T32 411b14〕. One reading method—when reading a long list, do not memorize names; remember only the sum. Names change in this treatise—食不淨想, “perception of repulsiveness in food,” versus 不淨食想, “repulsiveness-in-food perception”; 虫臭想, “worm-infested perception,” versus 虫爛想, “worm-decayed perception”; 觀四大, “contemplating the four elements,” versus 觀於四大, “contemplation directed to the four elements”; 禪外行, “access to jhāna,” versus 十外行, “ten access practices,” versus 十禪外行, “ten jhāna-access practices.” Whenever a division ends, add it once. If it adds up, read on; if it does not, stop and see whether an extra name has appeared or one item has been repeated while another is missing. One place to pause—the nine managed-object headings have a numerical sum of thirty-eight but actually list only thirty-four items 〔T32 411b24–411c13〕. The fourth and sixth headings both name “the four color kasiṇas” 〔T32 411c06·411c09〕, while the earth, water, fire, and wind kasiṇas do not occur anywhere in the nine headings: four are repeated and four are missing. The author does not say why; this edition neither adjudicates nor alters the wording nor supplies what is absent.

Three smaller points should also be remembered. The classification is named 正越, “right going beyond,” but its closing says 如是以越可知, “Thus, they can be known through going beyond” 〔411a18·411b04·411b09–10〕; the two occurrences of 正越 in the whole treatise are both in the name and the question. The four classifications in this passage use two question forms—two with 以, “through,” and two with 為, “what is”—but one closing form, all with 以. 越事, “going beyond objects,” and 越想受, “going beyond perception and feeling,” each occur twice in the whole treatise, all four occurrences being in this passage, while the other four occurrences of 越色, “going beyond form,” are all in Chapter Eight’s classifications concerning the formless concentrations.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Right Going Beyond, Increase, Condition, and Things · Exposition · Summer 2026

This passage has three hundred Chinese characters and three classifications, making it the shortest unit in the chapter. Yet the one sentence in the whole chapter most worth pausing over stands at its end.

State the observation first: in the last two sentences of the grasping classification, one sentence changes the person’s name and one changes the number; that number occurs precisely where the chapter has its sole critical note.

“又五行處，初坐禪人不應修行，四無色及捨,” “Further, there are five meditation subjects that a beginning meditator should not cultivate: the four formless states and equanimity” 〔T32 412a11–12〕—this is the first sentence. “餘二十三，初學禪人應取,” “The remaining twenty-three should be grasped by a beginning learner in jhāna” 〔T32 412a12〕—this is the second.

The first sentence says 初坐禪人, “beginning meditator,” while the second says 初學禪人, “beginning learner in jhāna.” The first expression occurs thirty-six times in the whole treatise, while the second occurs once 〔T32 412a12〕—thirty-six against one, and the one stands in the adjacent sentence.

The three Chinese characters 餘二十三, “the remaining twenty-three,” carry a Taishō critical note: the Song, Yuan, and Ming witnesses read “thirty-two,” while the Palace witness reads “thirty-three.”

First Look at the Three Numbers

Five plus twenty-three is twenty-eight. Five plus thirty-two is thirty-seven. Five plus thirty-three is thirty-eight.

Of the three readings, only the Palace reading agrees with thirty-eight.

This can be said because all the other addition in the passage agrees. The first four items of the grasping classification are: “謂十七行處，以見應取相,” “for seventeen meditation subjects, the sign should be grasped through seeing” 〔T32 412a07〕; “又一行處以觸應取相，謂念數息,” “for one further meditation subject, the sign should be grasped through touch, namely mindfulness of breathing” 〔T32 412a08–09〕; “又一行處，或以見或以觸應取，謂風一切入,” “one further meditation subject should be grasped either through seeing or through touch, namely the wind kasiṇa” 〔T32 412a09–10〕; and “餘十九行處，以聞分別應取,” “the remaining nineteen meditation subjects should be grasped through 聞分別, ‘hearing-discrimination’” 〔T32 412a10–11〕. Seventeen plus one plus one plus nineteen is exactly thirty-eight.

The number seventeen also closes on its own: “除風一切入及無色一切入，餘七一切入、十不淨想,” “apart from the wind kasiṇa and the formless kasiṇas, the other seven kasiṇas and the ten perceptions of impurity” 〔T32 412a07–08〕—from the ten kasiṇas, remove wind, space, and consciousness, leaving seven; add the ten perceptions of impurity, making seventeen.

Thus only the last two sentences do not agree. The three readings in the critical note are recorded as they stand; whether their numbers agree is recorded but not adjudicated, and the present text follows the base.

The Excellence Classification: Five Items but Uneven Names

Return to the sixth classification. The excellence classification has five items, and each is linked to the reason for its excellence.

“以八一切入是名定勝故，彼第四禪得勝地故,” “the eight kasiṇas are called concentration-excellence because the fourth jhāna attains 勝地, ‘excellent ground’” 〔T32 411c25–26〕; “十不淨想及食不淨想是名想勝,” “the ten perceptions of impurity and the perception of repulsiveness in food are called perception-excellence” 〔T32 411c26–27〕, followed by eight reasons in succession—“以色、以形、以空、以方、以分別、以和合、以執著故、以不淨想事故,” “because of color, shape, space, direction, discrimination, combination, and attachment, and because of the matter of perception of impurity” 〔T32 411c27–29〕, a sequence occurring once in the whole treatise; “四無量心以無過為勝，受饒益故,” “the four immeasurables take freedom from fault as excellence, because they receive benefit” 〔T32 411c29–412a01〕; and “觀四大是名慧勝，以執著空故,” “contemplating the four elements is called wisdom-excellence, because of attachment to emptiness” 〔T32 412a01–02〕.

Among these items, three use “X-excellence”—concentration-excellence, perception-excellence, and wisdom-excellence—placing first the factor that is excellent.

The third item is different: “以十念處是名勝念，微細故、隨念故,” “for the ten stations of recollection, this is called excellence of recollection, because of subtlety and recollection” 〔T32 411c29〕. 勝念, “excellence of recollection,” occurs once in the whole treatise 〔T32 411c29〕, while the reverse Chinese form 念勝 does not occur anywhere in the work.

Within the same group of five, the named forms place the qualifying expression in one order, while this one reverses it.

The fourth item has yet another form: it does not attach “excellence” to a name at all, but says “take freedom from fault as excellence.” Five items have three forms of naming.

Pause: Why Is This One Item Alone Reversed?

This is worth pausing over.

Concentration-excellence, perception-excellence, and wisdom-excellence read as “excellent in concentration,” “excellent in perception,” and “excellent in wisdom.” Following that pattern, the ten stations of recollection should be “recollection-excellence.” Yet the treatise gives “excellence of recollection.”

The passage cannot answer why. Two things can be checked.

First, the lengths of the reasons attached to the five items differ greatly: perception-excellence has eight; excellence of recollection has two, subtlety and recollection; wisdom-excellence and taking freedom from fault as excellence each have one; and concentration-excellence has one while adding the separate sentence “the four formless concentrations become excellent” 〔T32 411c26〕. The density with which the author gives reasons differs from item to item.

Second, the numbers of the five items close on their own: the eight kasiṇas plus the four formless concentrations make twelve; the ten perceptions of impurity plus the perception of repulsiveness in food make eleven; the ten stations of recollection make ten; the four immeasurables make four; and contemplating the four elements makes one—twelve plus eleven plus ten plus four plus one is exactly thirty-eight. The author does not state the total, yet the division is exhaustive.

The naming is uneven, but the numbers do not wander. The author does not explain why, and this edition does not explain it on his behalf.

The Ground Classification: Three Aspects but Two Kinds of Place-Name

The seventh classification also has an uneven point.

The three aspects are: “十二行處不生於天上，謂十不淨及念身、食不淨想,” “twelve meditation subjects do not arise in the heavens: the ten impurities, mindfulness of the body, and the perception of repulsiveness in food” 〔T32 412a03–04〕; “又十三行處不生於色有，初十二及數息念不生色有,” “further, thirteen meditation subjects do not arise in form existence: the first twelve together with breathing-mindfulness do not arise in form existence” 〔T32 412a04–05〕; and “除四無色處，餘行處不生於無色有,” “apart from the four formless bases, the other meditation subjects do not arise in formless existence” 〔T32 412a05–06〕.

The first aspect speaks of “the heavens,” while the second and third speak of “form existence” and “formless existence.” There are three aspects but two forms for what is indicated as a place: one is the name of a place; the other two are names of kinds of existence. The treatise does not explain the difference.

There are two further small points. The opening list of the chapter says “ten perceptions of impurity,” while here it says “the ten impurities, mindfulness of the body, and the perception of repulsiveness in food” 〔T32 412a03–04〕, omitting the word “perceptions.” Within this single passage, the formless group has three forms—“four formless concentrations” 〔T32 411c24–25〕, “four formless bases” 〔T32 412a05〕, and “four formless states” 〔T32 412a12〕.

The second aspect also does something worth recording: “the first twelve together with breathing-mindfulness do not arise in form existence.” It does not list those twelve items again, but says only “the first twelve,” referring back to the preceding number. This is the author’s own use of the reading method handed over by the previous unit: the author himself uses a number to point to the items.

A Reading Method: When a Name Changes Form, Look Back for a Critical Note on That Line

The reading method this passage hands over lies in the observation at the beginning.

The preceding unit said that names change while numbers do not, so add the numbers at each point. The present passage goes one step further: a change in a name and a variation in written form often fall in the same place.

The final two sentences of the grasping classification are just such a place: 初坐禪人, “beginning meditator,” becomes 初學禪人, “beginning learner in jhāna,” a form occurring only once in the entire treatise; in the same sentence, “the remaining twenty-three” has “thirty-two” in three witnesses and “thirty-three” in the Palace witness. Within a single sentence, two gestures of the copyist appear at once.

The reading method is therefore this: when a name suddenly changes form, do not rush to explain its doctrine; first look back to see whether the Taishō gives a critical note on that line. If it does, set the note and the changed name side by side—they may be traces of the same event in two places. If it does not, the wording belongs to the author and should be retained without being made uniform.

Applied here: the occurrence of 初學禪人, “beginning learner in jhāna,” stands on a line with a critical note, so both are recorded; the occurrence of 勝念, “excellence of recollection,” has no critical note, so it is retained. Neither is changed, but they are known not to be of the same kind.

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Take away three things. One observation—within the last two sentences of the grasping classification, the person’s name and the number go awry at once 〔T32 412a11–12〕: 初坐禪人, “beginning meditator,” occurs thirty-six times in the whole treatise, while 初學禪人, “beginning learner in jhāna,” occurs once; the two names stand together in adjacent sentences. In the same sentence, “the remaining twenty-three” is precisely the chapter’s sole critical note—the three witnesses read “thirty-two,” while the Palace witness reads “thirty-three,” and only five plus thirty-three makes thirty-eight. Of the three readings, only the Palace number agrees with the full count; the agreement is recorded but not adjudicated, and the present text follows the base. One reading method—when a name suddenly changes form, look back to see whether that line has a critical note: if it does, set them side by side, because the change in the name and the variation in a character are often two traces of the same event; if it does not, it is the author’s own wording and should be retained without being made uniform. Applied here, 初學禪人 has a critical note on its line, while 勝念 does not; neither is changed, but they are known to be of different kinds. One place to pause—among the five items of the excellence classification, concentration-excellence, perception-excellence, and wisdom-excellence all take the form “X-excellence,” but the item concerning the ten stations of recollection alone reverses it as “excellence of recollection” 〔T32 411c29〕, while the reverse Chinese form does not occur anywhere in the work; the fourth item does not attach excellence to a name but says “take freedom from fault as excellence” 〔T32 412a01〕. The author does not give the reason. What can be checked is only that the lengths of the reasons differ greatly—eight for perception-excellence, two for excellence of recollection, and one each for the others—while the numbers of the five items close on their own: twelve plus eleven plus ten plus four plus one is exactly thirty-eight.

Three smaller points should also be remembered. 真實事, “true object,” occurs once in the whole treatise 〔411c25〕, and the treatise does not explain its relation to the preceding classification’s 實事, “actual object”; in the three aspects of the ground classification, the first says “the heavens,” while the second and third say “form existence” and “formless existence,” and the second refers back with “the first twelve” rather than listing the items again; the formless group has three forms within this single passage—four formless concentrations 〔411c24–25〕, four formless bases 〔412a05〕, and four formless states 〔412a12〕.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Excellence, Ground, and Grasping · Exposition · Summer 2026

At the opening of this chapter, nine classifications are established: 「一以禪、二以正越、三以增長、四以緣、五以事、六以勝、七以地、八以取、九以人」, “first through jhāna, second through right going beyond, third through increase, fourth through condition, fifth through things, sixth through excellence, seventh through ground, eighth through grasping, and ninth through person” 〔T32 411a17–19〕.

When the first eight classifications have been explained, each one has a closing sentence: 「如是以禪可知」, “Thus, they can be known through jhāna” 〔T32 411b04〕; 「如是以越可知」, “Thus, they can be known through going beyond” 〔T32 411b09–10〕; 「如是以增長可知」, “Thus, they can be known through increase” 〔T32 411b12〕; 「如是以緣可知」, “Thus, they can be known through condition” 〔T32 411b17〕; 「如是以事可知」, “Thus, they can be known through things” 〔T32 411c23–24〕; 「如是以勝可知」, “Thus, they can be known through excellence” 〔T32 412a02〕; 「如是以地可知」, “Thus, they can be known through ground” 〔T32 412a06〕; and 「如是以取可知」, “Thus, they can be known through grasping” 〔T32 412a13〕.

Eight classifications, eight closes.

After the ninth classification, “person,” has been explained, this sentence does not appear. The corresponding five-character close through person does not occur anywhere in the work.

The observation can be stated at the outset: nine classifications are established, but only eight close; the ninth not only has no closing sentence, it also gives no opposed pair of numbers. Everywhere in the first eight classifications, so many fields of practice are of one kind and so many outside that group are not; from beginning to end, this passage does not contain even one occurrence of the character 餘.

The First Eight Classifications Divide Things; the Ninth Divides Persons

There is a reason for this difference.

What the first eight classifications divide are the thirty-eight items: their inclusion under jhāna, the three aspects of going beyond, whether or not they can be increased, whether or not they serve as conditions, whether their things are discriminated or actual, wherein their excellence lies, in what ground they arise, and by what a sign is grasped—what is divided is always those thirty-eight things. Thus, each classification can balance its account: so many on the positive side and so many on the negative side, totaling thirty-eight.

The ninth classification does not divide things; it divides persons. 「問：云何以人？答：欲行人，四無量不應修行，以淨相故」, “Question: How is it through person? Answer: A person of lustful temperament should not cultivate the four immeasurables, because they have a pure sign” 〔T32 412a13–14〕. From this question onward, the author proceeds by saying what each kind of person should not cultivate and what each should cultivate.

Persons are not the thirty-eight items, so they cannot be added up that way.

The pattern of the classification therefore changes completely: it gives no numbers, establishes no opposed pair, and does not end with the corresponding through-person close.

The only occurrence of 「如是以」, “in this way, through,” in this passage comes in the latter half: 「如是以略，唯成三人，是故無妨」, “In this way, stated in summary, only three persons are constituted; therefore there is no hindrance” 〔T32 412b10〕. It closes that objection, not this classification.

Three Things Not to Be Cultivated, Each Joined to a Simile

The first half of the ninth classification begins by stating what three kinds of person should not cultivate.

A person of lustful temperament should not cultivate the four immeasurables, because they have a pure sign: 「欲行人作意淨想非其所行，如痰病人多食肥腴非其所宜」, “For a person of lustful temperament to attend to a perception of purity is not the practice appropriate to that person—just as for a person with a phlegm illness to eat much rich, fatty food is not suitable for that person” 〔T32 412a14–16〕. A person of angry temperament should not cultivate the ten perceptions of impurity, because they are perceptions of anger: 「如瞻病人飲食沸熱非其所宜」, “just as for a person tending the sick to consume boiling-hot food and drink is not suitable for that person” 〔T32 412a17–18〕. A person of deluded temperament, whose wisdom has not increased, should not be made to take up a field of practice, because means are absent: 「若離方便，其精進無果，如人騎象無鉤」, “If means are absent, that person’s effort bears no fruit—like a person riding an elephant without a hook” 〔T32 412a19–20〕.

All the similes in this chapter are here. Not one occurs in the first three passages; three appear in succession in the final passage.

The first two similes have the same pattern: a certain thing for a certain person, closing with the same words, “is not suitable for that person.” The third does not: it says nothing about suitability, but instead says, “that person’s effort bears no fruit.”

This third simile has one connection worth remembering. The words “without a hook” occur twice in the entire treatise: once in Chapter Five, where a person without a good friend is “like an elephant without a hook” 〔T32 408b04〕, and once here, where a person without means is “like a person riding an elephant without a hook” 〔T32 412a19–20〕.

The same elephant is without a hook in two places. Chapter Five concerns the absence of a person; this passage concerns the absence of a means. The author does not connect them, and this edition does not connect them on the author’s behalf; it merely places the two passages side by side.

Six Persons, One Assignment for Each

After stating what should not be cultivated, the author assigns what should be cultivated to the six kinds of person one by one: a person of lustful temperament 「應修不淨想及觀身」, “should cultivate the perception of impurity and contemplation of the body” 〔T32 412a20〕; a person of angry temperament 「應修四無量心」, “should cultivate the four immeasurables,” or 「當修色一切入」, “should cultivate a color kasiṇa” 〔T32 412a22〕; a person of faithful temperament 「當修六念處，念佛為初信定故」, “should cultivate the six stations of recollection, with recollection of the Buddha first, because faith becomes settled” 〔T32 412a22–23〕; a person of intellectual temperament 「當修觀四大、於食不淨想、念死、念寂寂」, “should cultivate contemplating the four elements, the perception of repulsiveness in food, mindfulness of death, and recollection of quietude” 〔T32 412a23–24〕, and moreover 「於一切行處無所妨礙」, “has no hindrance with respect to any field of practice” 〔T32 412a25〕; a person of discursive temperament 「當修念數息，以斷覺故」, “should cultivate mindfulness of breathing, because it cuts off discursive thought” 〔T32 412a25–26〕; and a person of deluded temperament 「以言問法、以時聞法、以恭敬法與師共住，令智增長」, “should ask about the Dhamma in words, hear the Dhamma at the proper time, and dwell with the teacher in reverence for the Dhamma, causing wisdom to increase” 〔T32 412a26–27〕.

Two things should be remembered here.

First, what the person of deluded temperament receives is not a field of practice, but three things. Asking about the Dhamma, hearing the Dhamma, and dwelling with the teacher—this is the only one among the six persons who is not assigned an object, but is instead assigned a way of relating to another person. The preceding chapter speaks of seeking a good friend; here the text returns to the teacher.

Second, the name changes again. What the person of faithful temperament should cultivate is called “six stations of recollection” 〔T32 412a22–23〕—these three Chinese characters occur once in the entire treatise. The opening list calls them “further, the ten recollections” 〔T32 411a13〕; the third passage calls them “ten stations of recollection” 〔T32 411c29〕; this passage calls them “six stations of recollection”; and in the latter half it simply says “should cultivate the stations of recollection” 〔T32 412b04〕. One group has four forms within this chapter. The treatise does not list which six constitute the six stations of recollection. They are transcribed as they stand, without supplementation.

Pause Here: In “I See That as Excellent,” What Is Excellent?

After the six persons have been assigned, the author writes three sentences.

「於三十八行隨其所樂，應當修念死及觀四大最勝」, “Among the thirty-eight practices (三十八行), according to what that person delights in; yet mindfulness of death and contemplating the four elements should be cultivated as most excellent” 〔T32 412a27–28〕. 「復說於分別行處，我見彼勝」, “It is further said: in regard to fields of practice, I see that as excellent” 〔T32 412a28–29〕. 「六人於所分別，略而為三」, “The six persons, in what is distinguished, are summarized as three” 〔T32 412a29–412b01〕.

The middle sentence merits a pause and a question.

The four Chinese characters 「我見彼勝」, “I see that as excellent,” occur once in the entire treatise 〔T32 412a29〕. This is a first-person judgment spoken by the author himself—the treatise speaks this way in very few places. Another is “as when I see a person drinking alcohol and eating” in Chapter Eight 〔T32 416b17〕, but that passage introduces a simile rather than delivering a judgment.

The four characters 「分別行處」, “fields of practice,” in this sentence are precisely the title of this chapter. 分別行處 occurs four times in the entire treatise: twice on the chapter-heading line 〔T32 411a07〕, once at the end of Chapter Four in 「復次已分別行處已」, “again, fields of practice have already been distinguished” 〔T32 408a25〕, and only this one occurrence enters the body of the present chapter.

The question is: what does “that” refer to?

The preceding sentence has just said that mindfulness of death and contemplating the four elements are most excellent, so “that” could refer to those two. Yet the words “it is further said” sound as though they introduce another statement—“It is further said: in regard to fields of practice, I see that as excellent”—in which case what is excellent could instead be the very act of distinguishing fields of practice: I see clearly distinguishing the fields of practice as excellent.

The treatise does not specify. This edition does not decide on its behalf. It records only what can be checked: this sentence is the sole occurrence in which the chapter’s title enters its body, and it is also a rare first-person judgment in the treatise, placed one step before the whole chapter draws to its close.

Three Pairs, with the Third Pair Breaking the Pattern

The latter half begins with an objection: 「問：若然，於初有妨」, “Question: If so, there is a hindrance at the outset” 〔T32 412b01〕. If the six persons are summarized as three, is there not then a hindrance at the outset?

The author answers by dividing each of the three kinds of person according to two faculties.

「二欲行人，謂鈍根、利根」, “There are two persons of lustful temperament, namely dull-faculty and keen-faculty” 〔T32 412b01–02〕. The dull-faculty person of lustful temperament cultivates contemplation of impurity, while the keen-faculty person of lustful temperament cultivates the stations of recollection; both “can remove lust.” 「二瞋行人，謂鈍根、利根」, “There are two persons of angry temperament, namely dull-faculty and keen-faculty” 〔T32 412b04–05〕. The dull-faculty person cultivates the four immeasurables, while 「利根瞋恚行人，以智增長修行，勝處是所教」, “the keen-faculty person of angry temperament cultivates as wisdom increases; 勝處, ‘place of excellence,’ is what is taught” 〔T32 412b06–07〕; both “can remove anger.”

At the third pair, the pattern breaks: 「二癡行人，謂無根、鈍根」, “There are two persons of deluded temperament, namely 無根, ‘without a root,’ and dull-faculty” 〔T32 412b08〕.

Not dull-faculty and keen-faculty, but 無根, “without a root,” and dull-faculty. The term 無根 occurs twice in the entire treatise, both occurrences on this one line 〔T32 412b08〕. The treatise does not explain this name or state its order in relation to the dull and keen faculties.

The break in the pattern is not limited to the name. Each of the four members of the first two pairs receives a teaching; only one member of the third pair does: 「為無根癡行人，不應教修行處」, “For the 無根, ‘without a root,’ person of deluded temperament, no field of practice should be taught” 〔T32 412b08–09〕; 「為鈍根癡行人，為除覺，應教修念數息」, “For the dull-faculty person of deluded temperament, mindfulness of breathing should be taught in order to remove discursive thought” 〔T32 412b09–10〕.

Six persons are summarized as three: three pairs with six members, yet one member is given nothing.

There is another small point. The first two pairs close with “lust can be removed” and “anger can be removed,” while the third closes with “in order to remove discursive thought”—three things are removed: lust, anger, and discursive thought, but delusion is not among them. In the first half, a person of deluded temperament receives asking about the Dhamma, hearing the Dhamma, and dwelling with the teacher; in the latter half, that person receives mindfulness of breathing in order to remove discursive thought. The author never gives delusion itself a counteraction.

The author does not give a reason, and this edition does not supply one.

A Way of Reading: Look for Where a Parallel Set Breaks Its Pattern

The way of reading offered by this passage is simple: when a set of parallel items appears, first count whether it is even; where it is not even is the place to look.

This method is used three times within the passage.

First, nine classifications but eight closes—the ninth classification is the uneven one, and it is uneven because it divides persons rather than things.

Second, three pairs, but the third pair is “without a root and dull-faculty”—delusion is the uneven one, and the person of deluded temperament is precisely the only kind of person in this chapter who is given no method counteracting the named temperament.

Third, three similes, but only the first two share a form—the third simile is the uneven one, and it concerns not the unsuitability of an object but the absence of means.

Where a pattern breaks is often where the author is pointing to something distinct. This method does not require prior mastery of the technical names; it asks only that readers read a parallel set as a parallel set, then see which cell is empty and which cell has changed form.

Applied to the chapter as a whole, the answer is clear: the nine classifications divide with great regularity, except for the final classification, which gives neither numbers nor a closing sentence. By the time persons are reached, the work of distinction has been completed; what follows is not further division but cultivation—and the methods of cultivation begin in the next chapter with 「問：云何地一切入」, “Question: What is the earth kasiṇa?” 〔T32 412b22〕.

Closing with a Sentence That Does Not Look Like a Conclusion

The final two sentences of this chapter are: 「於是法，一切入及數息，以空增長，無妨成一切行」, “Within this Dhamma, the kasiṇas and mindfulness of breathing, 以空增長, ‘increase through emptiness,’ constitute every practice without hindrance” 〔T32 412b11–12〕; and 「若已得勝功德，勝一切行所行之處，故成不妨」, “If excellent qualities have already been attained, they surpass the fields traversed by all practices; therefore there is no hindrance” 〔T32 412b12–13〕.

The six Chinese characters 「一切入及數息」, “the kasiṇas and mindfulness of breathing,” occur twice in the entire treatise—once in the chapter’s opening classification through jhāna 〔T32 411b01〕 and once here. The same six characters stand at the beginning and end.

The three Chinese characters 「勝功德」, “excellent qualities,” occur three times in the entire treatise: once in the preface of Chapter One 〔T32 399c24〕, once in Chapter Three 〔T32 404b26–27〕, and once in the final sentence of this passage. The whole chapter closes with this term, and the treatise gives no further explanation.

After this sentence comes the closing title of fascicle three 〔T32 412b14〕. Turn the page, and the next heading is “Part One of Chapter Eight, the Chapter on the Doorways of Practice” 〔T32 412b21〕.

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Take away three things. One observation—nine classifications are established, but only eight close: each of the first eight ends with 「如是以…可知」, “Thus, they can be known through …” 〔411b04·411b09–10·411b12·411b17·411c23–24·412a02·412a06·412a13〕, while the ninth has no such close (the corresponding through-person formula occurs nowhere in the work) and gives no opposed pair of numbers (the whole passage contains no occurrence of 餘); the passage’s sole 「如是以」 is 「如是以略」, “in this way, stated in summary” 〔412b10〕, which closes the objection, not this classification. The checkable reason is that the first eight classifications divide thirty-eight items and can therefore balance their accounts, while the ninth divides persons and cannot. One way of reading—when a parallel set appears, first count whether it is even; the uneven place is where one should look. This passage uses that method three times: nine classifications and eight closes (the ninth is uneven), three pairs with the third made up of “without a root and dull-faculty” (delusion is uneven), and three similes with the first two sharing the close “is not suitable for that person” (the third is uneven). One place to pause and ask—「復說於分別行處，我見彼勝」, “It is further said: in regard to fields of practice, I see that as excellent” 〔T32 412a28–29〕. 「我見彼勝」, “I see that as excellent,” occurs once in the entire treatise and is a rare first-person judgment (another first-person statement is the simile 「如我見人飲酒及食」, “as when I see a person drinking alcohol and eating” 〔416b17〕); 分別行處 in the sentence is the title of this chapter and enters the body of the present chapter only here. What “that” refers to—mindfulness of death and contemplating the four elements in the preceding sentence, or the act of distinguishing fields of practice—the treatise does not specify, and this edition does not decide on its behalf.

Three smaller things should also be remembered. Both occurrences of 無根, “without a root,” in the entire treatise are in this passage 〔412b08〕; among three pairs with six members, the 無根 person of deluded temperament is one member for whom “no field of practice should be taught”—six persons are summarized as three, yet one member is assigned no field. Three things are removed—lust, anger, and discursive thought—but delusion is not among them. And “without a hook” occurs twice in the entire treatise: Chapter Five’s “like an elephant without a hook” 〔408b04〕 concerns the absence of a person, while this passage’s “like a person riding an elephant without a hook” 〔412a19–20〕 concerns the absence of a means—the same elephant, but a different absence.

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Shi Huijing · Waken · The Path of Freedom · Fields of Practice for Six Persons and Their Summary as Three · Exposition · Summer 2026