清淨道論 修法——安立其器・取相似相・近行安止Visuddhimagga · The Method of Development—Preparing the Device, Acquiring the Learning and Counterpart Signs, Access and Absorption
一塊晨曦色的泥盤，一張手又四指寬——器具素到近乎寒酸，因為器具本來就不是重點。宿世有作的人看一塊耕地就能生相、增大、得五分法之禪、以禪為近因建觀而證阿羅漢；沒有的人才照師教造：避開青黃赤白之雜，石抹刀磨平如鼓面，離盤二肘半，椅高一張手又四指。坐下之前先把心擺正——欲厭、道敬、果望三個念頭；張眼以平常之度，不觀顏色、不作意特相，把心安在「地」這個概念上，「地、地」地念，百次、千次、乃至更多。
閉眼時盤仍落在心裡，那是取相——從這一刻起就離開泥盤。以尋一再擊打，蓋漸伏、心得近行，似相才生起：如從袋中取出的鏡盤、洗淨的螺貝、雲間出來的月輪，比取相清淨百千倍，而且無色無形——不是眼識的對象，是「得定者的現起之相，由想所生」。相是心造的，不在盤上。
似相一出，蓋伏心沉：近行定捨蓋而得，安止定以支現起而得。近行如幼兒被扶起又一再跌坐，安止如壯士一站一整天。似相極難得，能就這一坐增大而得安止最好；不能，就如守轉輪王之胎般守護它——守護其相的人，不會退失所得。
A disk of dawn-colored clay, one span plus four fingers across: the device is almost austere because the device was never the point. A practitioner with past practice can look at a plowed field and have the sign arise, enlarge it, obtain absorption according to the fivefold system, establish insight with absorption as its proximate cause, and attain arahantship. Others follow the teacher’s method: avoid admixtures of blue, yellow, red, and white; smooth the disk with a stone trowel until it resembles a drumhead; sit two and a half cubits away on a chair one span plus four fingers high. Before sitting, align the mind with three thoughts—aversion to sensuality, reverence for the path, and hope for its fruit. Open the eyes to their ordinary extent, neither examining color nor attending to a characteristic; set the mind on the concept “earth,” repeating “earth, earth” a hundred times, a thousand times, and still more.
When the disk remains in the mind with the eyes closed, that is the learning sign—and from then on the clay disk is left behind. Repeatedly strike the object with applied thought; as the hindrances are suppressed and the mind reaches access, the counterpart sign arises: like a mirror disk taken from its case, a washed conch bowl, or the moon emerging between clouds, a hundred or thousand times more purified than the learning sign, yet without color or shape. It is not an object of eye-consciousness but “a mode of manifestation for a practitioner who has obtained concentration, born of perception.” The sign is mind-made; it is not on the disk.
When the counterpart sign appears, the hindrances are suppressed and the mind settles. Access concentration is gained through abandonment of the hindrances; absorption concentration through the manifestation of the factors. Access is like a child lifted to its feet who falls again; absorption, like a powerful man standing all day. The counterpart sign is exceedingly difficult to gain. It is best to enlarge it and attain absorption in that very sitting; if this cannot be done, guard it as one guards the embryo of a wheel-turning monarch: a practitioner who guards the sign does not lose what has been gained.
本單元白話為本編自巴利原典之譯疏（tr. mine）；底本事項詳本單元考據。
§5 安立其「器」 — 地遍曼荼羅 〔CSCD §55–56〕
現在，「應當不缺失一切修習之法而修習」——這裡，就一切業處¹而作的詳論，是從地遍開始的。
這樣斷除了小障的比丘，食後從乞食回來，除去食倦，在僻靜之處安樂而坐，應當於已造作的或未造作的地上取相。這是已經說過的：
「取地遍的人，於已造作的或未造作的地上取相：有邊限的，不是無邊限的；有端際的，不是無端際的；有周緣的，不是無周緣的；有周邊的，不是無周邊的；如簸箕大小，或如淺盤大小。他把那相善加把取，善加憶持，善加確定。他把那相善加把取、善加憶持、善加確定之後，見其功德，作寶想，起恭敬，心生愛樂，把心繫在那個所緣上：『我依這條道路，必定能從老死解脫。』他就離欲、離不善法……乃至（廣說如前）……入初禪而住。」
其中，凡是在過去世也曾於教中或以仙人出家而出家、並曾於地遍生起四分法與五分法之禪的人——這樣有福、具足親依止的人，在未造作的地上，於耕地之處或打穀場上，相就會生起，如摩羅迦長老（Mallakatthera）那樣。據說那位具壽只是看著耕地之處，與那塊地一樣大小的相就生起了。他增大那相，生起五分法之禪，以禪為近因而建立觀，證得阿羅漢。
至於沒有這樣宿作的人，就應當不違背在阿闍梨座下所學得的業處之法，避開四遍過（kasiṇadosa）而造作遍。青、黃、赤、白之雜，就是地遍的四過。所以不取青等色的土，應當取如恆河所流的土那樣、晨曦色的土來造遍。而且不應當在寺中沙彌等往來之處造，應當在寺邊隱蔽之處、山崖下或葉庵中，造可搬移的或就地固定的。其中，可搬移的，是在四根木棒上綁上布片、皮革或蓆子，在上面把除去了草根、沙、礫的、揉得極細的土塗成上面所說大小的圓盤而作成；作遍作之時，把它鋪在地上而觀。就地固定的，是在地上如蓮台之形釘入木樁、以藤蔓纏縛而作。若那種土不夠，就在下面填入別的土，在上層以極清淨的晨曦色之土作成一張手又四指寬的圓盤。正是就這個尺寸而說「如簸箕大小，或如淺盤大小」；而「有邊限的，不是無邊限的」等，則是為了說明它的界限而說的。
因此，這樣作成上面所說的尺寸與界限之後——木製的抹刀會使〔土面〕現出不同分的顏色，所以不取木製的，而以石製的抹刀磨平，令它平整如鼓面；然後掃淨那個地方，沐浴回來，在離地遍曼荼羅二肘半的地方，坐在一張已經鋪好的、腳高一張手又四指的椅子上。坐得比這更遠，遍就不現起；更近，遍的瑕疵就顯出來。坐得更高，就得低頭去看；更低，膝就疼痛。所以應當依上面所說的方式坐好，以「諸欲少味」等方式觀察諸欲的過患，於出離諸欲、作為超越一切苦之方便的出離（nekkhamma）生起希求，以隨念佛、法、僧的諸德而生起喜與悅²，心想「這就是現在一切佛、辟支佛、聖弟子所行過的出離之道」，於此行道生起恭敬，又心想「我依這條道路，必定能分得遠離之樂味」而生起策勵，然後以平常的方式張開雙眼取相而修習。
張得太開，眼就疲勞，圓盤也顯得太清楚，因此相不生起；張得太小，圓盤就不清楚，心也退縮，這樣相也不生起。所以應當像在鏡面上看自己面相的人那樣，以平常的方式張眼取相而修習；不應當觀察顏色，也不應當作意其特相（lakkhaṇa）。話雖如此，顏色並非棄之不顧，而是把它與所依〔的地〕合為一色，以增盛之力把心安立在施設之法（paññatti）上而作意。「地」有 pathavī、mahī、medinī、bhūmi、vasudhā、vasundharā 等種種名，其中隨自己所喜、與自己的想相順的，就說那一個。話雖如此，「地」（pathavī）這個名最為顯明，所以就依其顯明而修習「地、地」。時而張眼，時而閉眼而轉向。乃至取相未生起之時，就這樣修習百次、千次、乃至更多。
§6 二相之生起——取相與似相 〔CSCD §57〕
他這樣修習之時，若閉眼轉向而〔那圓盤〕像張眼時一樣落入心境，那時就叫作取相（uggahanimitta）已生起。從它生起之時起，就不應當再坐在那個地方，應當進入自己的住處，坐在那裡修習。為了免去洗腳的麻煩，他應當備一雙單層底的鞋和一根拐杖。若年少的定因某種不合宜的因緣而失去，他就穿上鞋、拿起拐杖，到那個地方去取相回來，安樂而坐地修習，一再地作意，以思、以尋（vitakka）反覆擊打〔那所緣〕。他這樣做時，諸蓋漸次被鎮伏，諸煩惱止息，心以近行定³而得定，似相（paṭibhāganimitta）生起。
這裡，前面的取相與這〔似相〕的差別是這樣：取相上還看得出遍的瑕疵；似相則如從袋中取出的鏡盤，如洗淨的螺貝，如從雲間出來的月輪，如雲端的白鷺——像是破開取相而出來的一樣，比它清淨百倍、千倍地現起。而它既無顏色，也無形狀；因為若是那樣，它就會是眼所能識的、粗的、可以思惟的、為三相所擊打的，然而它不是那樣的。它只是得定者的一種現起之相，由想所生。
§7 近行定與安止定 〔CSCD §58〕
從它生起之時起，諸蓋就已被鎮伏，諸煩惱已止息，心已以近行定而得定。
定有兩種：近行定與安止定⁴。心以兩種行相而得定：在近行地，或在獲得地。其中，在近行地，心以捨斷諸蓋而得定；在獲得地，則以〔諸禪〕支的現起而得定。
這兩種定的差別在此：在近行，諸支還沒有力量；由於諸支沒有力量，就像幼小的孩子被扶起站著卻一再地跌倒在地上一樣，近行生起時，心時而以相為所緣，時而落入有分（bhavaṅga）⁵。在安止，諸支則有了力量；由於它們有力量，就像強壯的人從座位起來、可以站立一整天一樣，安止定生起時，心一次斷除有分的轉起，就能整夜、整日地持續，依善速行（javana）⁶的次第而轉起。
其中，與近行定一同生起的這似相，要令它生起實在極難。所以，若能就在那一次結跏趺坐中增大那相而證得安止，那是最好；若不能，他就應當不放逸地守護那相，如守護轉輪王之胎一樣。因為：
守護其相的人，不會退失所得；
若無守護，則所得者一再失去。
註
¹ 業處（kammaṭṭhāna）：所修之所緣與其修法之總名；其受取之法與四十業處之開列在〈取業處〉一品，本品唯就地遍開演。
² 念（sati）：憶持所緣而不忘失之心所，論中恆與智、精進、定並行。與今日通行之「正念」一語所指之泛然覺察不同科，宜依本論所立而讀。
³ 近行定（upacāra-samādhi）：諸蓋已伏而尚未入安止之一級定。本品次節（§7）詳辨此定與安止定之別。
⁴ 安止定（appanā-samādhi）：心全然入於所緣而不動之定；本論以諸支有力與否辨其與近行定之別。
⁵ 有分（bhavaṅga）：心相續之底流，一心路起則斷之，路盡則復落入其中。
⁶ 速行（javana）：心路中相續而轉之數個剎那。
The vernacular of this unit is this edition’s own rendering-with-exposition from the Pāli original (tr. mine); see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars.
§5 Preparing the “Device”—The Earth-Kasiṇa Maṇḍala 〔CSCD §55–56〕
Now, as to the statement, “The meditation subject should be developed without neglecting the entire method of development”: the detailed treatment applicable to all meditation subjects¹ begins here with the earth kasiṇa.
A bhikkhu who has thus removed the minor impediments returns from the alms round after the meal, dispels any drowsiness caused by eating, and sits comfortably in a secluded place. He should acquire the sign on earth that has been prepared or has not been prepared. This has already been said:
“A practitioner taking up the earth kasiṇa acquires the sign on earth that has been prepared or has not been prepared: bounded, not unbounded; with a limit, not without a limit; with a circumference, not without a circumference; with a perimeter, not without a perimeter; as large as a winnowing basket or as large as a shallow bowl. He takes firm hold of that sign, retains it well, and determines it well. Having taken firm hold of the sign, retained it well, and determined it well, he sees its advantages, perceives it as a treasure, raises up respect, and brings forth delight in the mind. He ties the mind to that object: ‘By this path I shall surely be liberated from aging and death.’ Secluded from sensual pleasures, secluded from unwholesome states … up to … he enters and dwells in the first absorption.”
Here, a practitioner who in a past life went forth in the Dispensation or went forth as an ascetic and who then brought forth absorptions in the earth kasiṇa according to the fourfold and fivefold systems—such a practitioner, endowed with merit and the supporting condition—will have the sign arise on unprepared earth, on a plowed field or threshing floor, as it did for the Elder Mallaka (Mallakatthera). It is said that merely by looking at a plowed field, that venerable one had a sign arise as large as the field itself. He enlarged the sign, brought forth absorption according to the fivefold system, established insight with absorption as its proximate cause, and attained arahantship.
A practitioner without such prior practice should make a kasiṇa without departing from the method of the meditation subject learned at the teacher’s feet and should avoid the four faults of a kasiṇa (kasiṇadosa). The earth kasiṇa’s four faults are admixtures of blue, yellow, red, and white. Thus he should not use clay of a blue or other such color, but clay the color of dawn, like the clay carried by the Ganges. Nor should he make the kasiṇa where novices and others pass to and fro in the monastery. He should make it in a concealed place at the monastery’s edge, beneath a cliff, or in a leaf hut, either portable or fixed in place. For a portable one, a piece of cloth, leather, or matting is tied over four sticks, and on it clay cleared of grass roots, sand, and gravel and kneaded extremely fine is spread into a disk of the size already stated. During preliminary work, it is laid on the ground and observed. A fixed one is made by driving stakes into the ground in the form of a lotus calyx and binding them with vines. If there is not enough clay of the prescribed kind, other clay is placed underneath, and on the upper layer a disk one span plus four fingers across is made from perfectly clean dawn-colored clay. It is precisely this measure that is meant by “as large as a winnowing basket or as large as a shallow bowl”; “bounded, not unbounded,” and the rest are said to explain its boundary.
After it has been made with the measure and boundary just described, a wooden trowel should not be used, because it makes differently colored patches appear on the surface. Instead, it should be smoothed with a stone trowel until even like the face of a drum. The place is then swept clean, the practitioner bathes, and he sits two and a half cubits from the earth-kasiṇa maṇḍala on a prepared chair whose legs are one span plus four fingers high. If he sits farther away, the kasiṇa does not appear; if closer, its imperfections become visible. If the seat is higher, he must bend his head to look; if lower, his knees ache. He should therefore sit in the manner just described, contemplate the dangers of sensual pleasures by such means as “sensual pleasures afford little gratification,” and give rise to longing for renunciation (nekkhamma)—withdrawal from sensual pleasures, the means of passing beyond all suffering. Recollecting the qualities of the Buddha, Dhamma, and Saṅgha, he gives rise to rapture and gladness. Thinking, “This is the path of renunciation followed now by all Buddhas, paccekabuddhas, and noble disciples,” he gives rise to respect for the way of practice. Thinking further, “By this path I shall surely obtain a share in the savor of the pleasure of seclusion,” he gives rise to ardor. He then opens his eyes to their ordinary extent, acquires the sign, and develops it.
If the eyes are opened too wide, they tire and the disk appears too distinctly, so the sign does not arise. If they are opened too little, the disk is unclear and the mind becomes sluggish, so the sign does not arise that way either. Therefore he should open his eyes to their ordinary extent, like a person looking at his own reflection in a mirror, and acquire and develop the sign. He should not examine its color or attend to its characteristic (lakkhaṇa). Yet its color is not to be disregarded. Rather, the color is treated as one with its supporting earth, and by force of prominence the mind is established on the concept (paññatti) and attention is given to it. “Earth” has various names, including pathavī, mahī, medinī, bhūmi, vasudhā, and vasundharā; the practitioner may use whichever name he likes and which agrees with his perception. Still, the name “earth” (pathavī) is the clearest, so in accordance with its clarity he develops “earth, earth.” At times he opens his eyes and at times closes them and adverts. Until the learning sign arises, he develops it in this way a hundred times, a thousand times, and still more.
§6 The Arising of Two Signs—The Learning Sign and the Counterpart Sign 〔CSCD §57〕
As he develops it in this way, when he closes his eyes and adverts and the disk enters the mind’s range just as it did when his eyes were open, the learning sign (uggahanimitta) is said to have arisen. From the time it arises, he should no longer sit in that place. He should enter his own dwelling and sit there to develop it. To avoid the trouble of washing his feet, he should keep a pair of single-soled sandals and a walking stick ready. If his still-young concentration disappears because of some unsuitable condition, he puts on the sandals, takes the walking stick, goes to that place, and reacquires the sign. Then he sits comfortably and develops it, repeatedly attending to it and striking the object again and again with thinking and with applied thought (vitakka). As he does so, the hindrances are gradually suppressed, defilements subside, the mind becomes concentrated with access concentration³, and the counterpart sign (paṭibhāganimitta) arises.
Here, the difference between the preceding learning sign and this counterpart sign is as follows. Imperfections in the kasiṇa can still be discerned in the learning sign. The counterpart sign, however, is like a mirror disk taken from a case, a well-washed conch bowl, the disk of the moon emerging from between clouds, or a white crane at the edge of a cloud. As if breaking out from the learning sign, it appears a hundred times, a thousand times more purified. Yet it has neither color nor shape; for if it did, it would be cognizable by the eye, gross, susceptible to reflection, and struck by the three characteristics, but it is none of these. It is merely a mode of manifestation for a practitioner who has obtained concentration, born of perception.
§7 Access Concentration and Absorption Concentration 〔CSCD §58〕
From the time the counterpart sign arises, the hindrances have been suppressed, the defilements have subsided, and the mind has become concentrated with access concentration.
Concentration is of two kinds: access concentration and absorption concentration⁴. The mind becomes concentrated in two modes: on the plane of access or on the plane of attainment. On the plane of access, the mind becomes concentrated through abandonment of the hindrances; on the plane of attainment, it does so through the manifestation of the absorption factors.
The difference between these two kinds of concentration is this. In access, the factors are not yet strong. Because they are not strong, just as a young child repeatedly falls to the ground when lifted up and set on his feet, when access arises the mind sometimes takes the sign as its object and sometimes falls into the life-continuum (bhavaṅga)⁵. In absorption, the factors are strong. Because they are strong, just as a powerful man can rise from his seat and remain standing all day, when absorption concentration arises the mind cuts off the occurrence of the life-continuum once and can continue throughout a whole night and day, occurring in the sequence of wholesome impulsions (javana)⁶.
The counterpart sign that arises together with access concentration is exceedingly difficult to bring forth. Therefore, if the practitioner can enlarge that sign and attain absorption in that very cross-legged sitting, this is best. If he cannot, he should guard the sign heedfully, as one guards the embryo of a wheel-turning monarch. For:
A practitioner who guards the sign does not lose what has been gained;
without such guarding, what has been gained is repeatedly lost.
Notes
¹ Meditation subject (kammaṭṭhāna): a collective designation for the object practiced and the method of practice. The way it is received and the enumeration of the forty meditation subjects occur in the chapter “Taking a Meditation Subject”; the present chapter explains only the earth kasiṇa.
² Mindfulness (sati): the mental factor that retains the object without forgetting it; in the treatise it consistently operates together with wisdom, energy, and concentration. It belongs to a different classification from the broad awareness commonly designated by the modern expression “mindfulness” and should be read according to the framework established in this treatise.
³ Access concentration (upacāra-samādhi): a level of concentration in which the hindrances have been suppressed but absorption has not yet been entered. The next section of this chapter (§7) distinguishes it in detail from absorption concentration.
⁴ Absorption concentration (appanā-samādhi): concentration in which the mind is fully absorbed in its object and does not move. This treatise distinguishes it from access concentration according to whether the factors are strong.
⁵ Life-continuum (bhavaṅga): the underlying flow of the mental continuum; it is interrupted when a cognitive process begins and resumes when the process ends.
⁶ Impulsion (javana): the successive moments that occur within a cognitive process.
盤不是重點，相才是｜從一塊晨曦色的泥盤，到心裡那個無色無形的似相
大局 — 造器、取相、二定：定段的三步在此一次走完
本單元是全品的工法核心（白話 §5–§7）：先造盤（安立其「器」——連坐姿、起修的心、張眼之度都有工法），再取相（閉眼時盤落入心境是取相，蓋伏而心得近行時似相生起），再立二定（近行定與安止定之別）。全書「盯住一個所緣 → 心裡長出淨化過的相 → 守著那個相沉入定」三步，論主在這三段裡示範得最素、最完整。
§01 造盤——安立其「器」 → 白話 §5
宿世曾於教中或以仙人出家而出家、曾於地遍生起四分法與五分法之禪的人，不用造盤：像摩羅迦長老，只看著一塊耕地，與地同大的相就生起；他增大那相，生起五分法之禪，以禪為近因建立觀，證得阿羅漢（白話 §5）——一塊耕地走完全程。論主先講這種例外，是要你知道盤不是重點，相才是。沒有那種宿作的人，就照師教造：避開四遍過——青、黃、赤、白之雜（顏色會把「地」帶偏成色遍），取晨曦色、如恆河之流的土；在隱蔽處造，可搬移的或固定的皆可；尺寸一張手又四指——經文「如簸箕、如淺盤」說的正是這個大小，「有邊限」等語則是說它必須有界；用石抹刀磨平如鼓面（木刀會留下雜色）。
連坐姿都有工法：離盤二肘半，椅高一張手又四指——遠了盤不現，近了瑕疵顯，高了要低頭，低了膝蓋痛。然後是起修的心：先觀諸欲過患、於出離生希求，再隨念三寶而生喜悅，於「一切佛所行過的出離之道」生恭敬，於「我必分得遠離之樂味」生策勵——欲厭、道敬、果望，三個念頭把心擺正了，才張眼取相。
取相的工法有三個「不」：張眼以平常之度（太開眼累、盤太清楚，相反而不生；太小盤不清、心退縮）；不觀察顏色；不作意特相（不去分析地的硬性）。要把顏色與所依合為一色，把心安放在施設之法上——「地」這個概念——然後「地、地」地念。地有種種名，取最顯明的「pathavī」即可。百次、千次、乃至更多——論主連「修多久」都不給你浪漫的想像。
§02 那個「相」不是泥盤——取相、似相與二定 → 白話 §6–§7
〔讀法〕最容易誤解的一點：修地遍不是「一直盯著泥巴」。泥盤只是引子。真正要等的，是閉眼時心中那個明淨、無瑕、可隨意調動的相——似相（白話 §6）。它不是肉眼看到的東西，是心把粗糙的所緣淨化後、自己造出來的版本。
似相一出，五蓋暫伏，這就是近行定；守著它不丟，心才沉進安止（初禪）。〔白話 §7〕〔讀法〕對現代讀者的用處：這套「粗所緣 → 心中淨相 → 入定」的機制，不限於泥盤——呼吸、其餘九遍、十不淨、身至念，凡論主所列會生似相的二十二業處（03-05），深修到某個點，都會出現這個「相穩→心沉」的轉折；梵住等則不由似相入定（03-05 論自明之）。地遍只是把它演得最清楚。
〔讀法〕解碼框架慣以三相貫說此程：所盯的盤面是「遍作相」，閉眼初得是「取相」，淨化而出是「似相」。本章正文唯出後二名——「遍作相」是框架之語，不是本章之文。
白話 §6 把兩個相的分界說得很細。閉眼轉向時盤像張眼時一樣落入心境，是取相——從這一刻起就離開泥盤，回住處修（還要備鞋與拐杖：年少的定若失去，就回去把相取回來——論主連「相丟了怎麼辦」都排了工序）。以尋一再擊打所緣，蓋漸伏、心得近行，似相才生起。二相之別：取相上還看得出盤的瑕疵；似相「如從袋中取出的鏡盤，如洗淨的螺貝，如雲間出來的月輪，如雲端的白鷺」，比取相清淨百千倍——而且無色無形：它不是眼識的對象，是「得定者的現起之相，由想所生」。這一句是本品的義理樞紐：相是心造的，不在盤上。
白話 §7 再把二定立起來：近行定捨蓋而得，安止定以支現起而得。差別用兩個喻：近行的支還弱，如幼兒被扶起又一再跌坐——心時而在相上、時而落入有分；安止的支有力，如壯士一站一整天——一斷有分，整夜整日相續。所以論主叮嚀：似相極難得，能就這一坐增大而得安止最好；不能，就如守轉輪王之胎般守護它——「守護其相的人，不會退失所得」。
給一般讀者
若只帶走一件事：相是心造的，不在盤上（白話 §6）。造盤的每一條規矩（土色、尺寸、距離、張眼之度）都只為了讓心少受干擾地長出那個相；相一出，泥盤就可以放下。近行如幼兒被扶起又跌坐、安止如壯士一站一整天（白話 §7）——你在任何一個所緣上修，遲早會遇到這兩個階段，本單元把它們的分界先替你畫好。守相之法在 04-03。
想讀本單元全文：白話 §5–§7 即造器・取相・二定三段之逐段全譯（tr. mine，譯自公版巴利原典；底本事項詳本單元考據）。
The Disk Is Not the Point; the Sign Is | From a Disk of Dawn-Colored Clay to the Formless, Colorless Counterpart Sign in the Mind
The Big Picture — Making the Device, Acquiring the Sign, and the Two Concentrations: the Three Steps of the Concentration Division Completed Here in One Sequence
This unit is the technical core of the whole chapter (Vernacular §5–§7). First comes making the disk—preparing the “device,” with a method extending even to posture, the mind at the start of practice, and the degree to which the eyes are opened. Next comes acquiring the sign: when the disk enters the mind while the eyes are closed, that is the learning sign; when the hindrances are suppressed and the mind reaches access, the counterpart sign arises. Finally come the two concentrations: the distinction between access concentration and absorption concentration. The treatise presents, in these three sections, the plainest and most complete demonstration of the three steps used throughout the work: “hold to a single object → allow a purified sign to arise in the mind → remain with that sign as the mind settles into concentration.”
§01 Making the Disk—Preparing the “Device” → Vernacular §5
A practitioner who in a past life went forth in the Dispensation or as an ascetic and who brought forth absorptions in the earth kasiṇa according to the fourfold and fivefold systems need not make a disk. Like the Elder Mallaka, merely looking at a plowed field may cause a sign as large as the field to arise. He enlarged that sign, brought forth absorption according to the fivefold system, established insight with absorption as its proximate cause, and attained arahantship (Vernacular §5)—a plowed field carries him through the entire path. The author begins with this exception to show that the disk is not the point; the sign is. A practitioner without that prior practice follows the teacher’s instructions: avoid the four faults of a kasiṇa, admixtures of blue, yellow, red, and white, which divert “earth” into a color kasiṇa; take dawn-colored clay like that carried by the Ganges; make the device in a concealed place, either portable or fixed; use the measure of one span plus four fingers. The canonical phrases “as large as a winnowing basket or shallow bowl” designate this size, while “bounded” and the rest mean that the disk must have a boundary. Smooth it with a stone trowel until it resembles the face of a drum, since a wooden one leaves variegated colors.
Even posture has its technique: sit two and a half cubits from the disk, with the chair one span plus four fingers high. Farther away, the disk does not appear; closer, its imperfections show. A higher seat requires bending the head; a lower one makes the knees ache. Then comes the mind with which practice begins: first contemplate the dangers of sensuality and long for renunciation; next recollect the Three Jewels and give rise to gladness and respect for “the path of renunciation followed by all Buddhas”; then arouse effort through the thought, “I shall surely obtain the savor of the pleasure of seclusion.” Aversion to sensuality, reverence for the path, and hope for its fruit—these three thoughts set the mind straight before the eyes open to acquire the sign.
The method of acquiring the sign has three negatives. Open the eyes to their ordinary extent: too wide and the eyes tire while the disk is too distinct, preventing the sign from arising; too narrow and the disk is unclear while the mind becomes sluggish. Do not examine the color. Do not attend to the characteristic—do not analyze the hardness of earth. Treat color and its supporting earth as one and set the mind on the concept, “earth,” repeating “earth, earth.” Earth has many names, but the clearest is pathavī. Repeat it a hundred times, a thousand times, and still more. The treatise permits no romantic picture of “how long practice takes.”
§02 That “Sign” Is Not the Clay Disk—The Learning Sign, the Counterpart Sign, and the Two Concentrations → Vernacular §6–§7
〔Reading〕 The point most easily misunderstood is that developing the earth kasiṇa does not mean “staring forever at clay.” The clay disk is only a prompt. What the practitioner actually awaits is the bright, purified, flawless, and maneuverable sign in the mind—the counterpart sign (Vernacular §6). It is not something seen by the physical eye. It is the mind’s own version of the coarse object after purifying it.
When the counterpart sign appears, the five hindrances are temporarily suppressed: this is access concentration. By retaining it without loss, the mind can settle into absorption—the first absorption. 〔Vernacular §7〕 〔Reading〕 For a modern reader, the usefulness of this mechanism—“coarse object → purified mental sign → entry into concentration”—is not confined to a clay disk. Breathing, the other nine kasiṇas, the ten kinds of foulness, and mindfulness of the body—all twenty-two meditation subjects that the author says produce counterpart signs (03-05)—reach, in deep development, this turning point where “the sign stabilizes → the mind settles.” The divine abidings and others do not enter absorption through counterpart signs, as 03-05 expressly states. The earth kasiṇa simply displays the mechanism most clearly.
〔Reading〕 The decoding framework commonly uses three signs to describe this process: the disk that is observed is the “preliminary sign,” its first appearance with closed eyes is the “learning sign,” and the purified version is the “counterpart sign.” The body of this chapter names only the latter two. “Preliminary sign” is a term of the framework, not a term in this chapter’s text.
Vernacular §6 draws the boundary between the two signs with precision. When the disk enters the mind after the eyes close just as it did when they were open, this is the learning sign. From that instant the practitioner leaves the clay disk and practices in his dwelling. He even keeps sandals and a walking stick ready: if the still-young concentration disappears, he goes back to recover the sign—the author specifies a procedure even for “what to do when the sign is lost.” Applied thought strikes the object repeatedly; the hindrances are gradually suppressed, the mind reaches access, and only then does the counterpart sign arise. The difference: the disk’s imperfections remain visible in the learning sign; the counterpart sign is “like a mirror disk taken from its case, a washed conch bowl, the moon emerging between clouds, or a white crane at a cloud’s edge,” a hundred or thousand times more purified—and without color or shape. It is not an object of eye-consciousness but “a mode of manifestation for a practitioner who has obtained concentration, born of perception.” This is the chapter’s doctrinal hinge: the sign is mind-made; it is not on the disk.
Vernacular §7 then establishes the two concentrations. Access concentration is gained through abandonment of the hindrances; absorption concentration is gained through the manifestation of the factors. Two similes show the difference. The factors in access are still weak, like a child lifted to its feet who repeatedly falls—the mind is sometimes on the sign and sometimes drops into the life-continuum. In absorption the factors are strong, like a powerful man standing for an entire day—once the life-continuum is interrupted, continuity remains throughout the night and day. The author therefore warns that the counterpart sign is exceedingly difficult to gain. It is best to enlarge it and reach absorption in that very sitting; if this is impossible, guard it as one guards the embryo of a wheel-turning monarch: “A practitioner who guards the sign does not lose what has been gained.”
For the General Reader
If you retain only one thing, let it be this: the sign is mind-made; it is not on the disk (Vernacular §6). Every rule for making the disk—color of the clay, dimensions, distance, and degree of opening the eyes—serves only to let the mind bring forth the sign with fewer disturbances. Once the sign appears, the clay disk can be relinquished. Access is like a child lifted up only to fall again; absorption is like a powerful man standing all day (Vernacular §7). On any object, practice eventually meets these two stages; this unit draws their boundary in advance. The way to guard the sign appears in 04-03.
To read this unit in full: Vernacular §5–§7 is the complete passage-by-passage translation of the three sections on preparing the device, acquiring the signs, and the two concentrations (tr. mine, from the public-domain Pāli original; see this unit’s apparatus for the base-text particulars).
考據Apparatus
一、科判定位
本單元之定位 本單元承本品譯底之第 2 段（全品十一段之第 2），譯底欄小節作 Bhāvanāvidhānaṃ；段號自〔CSCD §55〕至〔CSCD §58〕，實落段號 4 個；白話 3 節（§5–§7）——「安立其「器」 — 地遍曼荼羅」、「二相之生起——取相與似相」、「近行定與安止定」。前承第 1 單元〔進場——擇處・十八過・五支・小障〕，後接第 3 單元〔七隨順〕。本單元所承之校文 § 為 §A・§B・§C（其題與章§逐字見本品《總覽》）。本段之事實唯自切界與本篇《總覽》之對齊表字面取，餘皆下列品級之段所載。
（品級段——本品之科判定位，十一單元同載，一字不改）
譯底 本品之譯底＝CSCD（內用不上站）。本層一切巴利逐字取自本品原典欄之譯底，
定位二式並用：〔Vism IV.x〕式唯限本品《總覽》movement 表既載者，〔CSCD §NN〕式對
譯底欄逐字可核。二系不明對映，本欄不推估、不換算。本品無自家對頁之巴利，故頁域一概不記。
品名 第四品〈地遍〉，巴利作 Pathavīkasiṇaniddesa。譯底欄之品題行作
4. Pathavīkasiṇaniddeso〔CSCD §51〕。品末之自標作
Iti sādhujanapāmojjatthāya kate visuddhimagge／Samādhibhāvanādhikāre／Pathavīkasiṇaniddeso nāma／Catuttho paricchedo.（四行）〔CSCD §90〕——論自繫本品為《清淨道論》定修習一部之第四品。
章§域 本品《總覽》movement 表所載之章§，首列作〔Vism IV.21–31〕，末列作 〔Vism IV.139 起〕，止點未載；本欄不代補、不外推。
段號域 譯底欄之段號自〔CSCD §51〕至〔CSCD §90〕，實落段號 39 個。其中一號號無而
文在：〔CSCD §66〕末之偈頌一段，譯底欄於其處未落段號，下一號逕作 [§68]。本欄不補號、
不引未落之號；該偈頌之文一律繫〔CSCD §66〕引之。不默示號序連續。
小節 譯底欄自帶 ### 小節 18 個（含品題行一），末小節作 Pañcakajjhānakathā。
本品之分節地圖與其對譯底欄之跨度，見本品《總覽》。
前品接點 本品首段以 yaṃ vuttaṃ 標其所承，逐句取前已說之句而開演之：
samādhibhāvanāya ananurūpaṃ vihāraṃ pahāya anurūpe vihāre viharantenā〔CSCD §51〕、
Khuddakapalibodhupacchedaṃ katvā〔CSCD §54〕、
sabbaṃ bhāvanāvidhānaṃ aparihāpentena bhāvetabbo〔CSCD §55〕。三句皆論自標為前已說者，
其所在之品譯底欄未標，本欄不代考定；依本書品序，取業處之品在本品之前。
後品接點 〔CSCD §55〕自標
ayaṃ pathavīkasiṇaṃ ādiṃ katvā sabbakammaṭṭhānavasena vitthārakathā hoti——就一切業處之
詳論，自地遍始。本品唯開演地遍一遍；〔CSCD §63〕作 pathavīkasiṇādikassa，以「地遍等」
該其餘之遍，其開演不在本品。
二、詞義與譯語
本目只記本品用法與其定位；名相定讀以規範詞表為準，詞表所未定者，本目不代定。
本編詞表已定之詞引其定讀，不逐品重解——本品所涉之既立詞為 upacāra-samādhi（近行定）·
appanā-samādhi（安止定）·ārammaṇa（所緣）·guṇa（德）·Porāṇā（古師，見〔CSCD §76〕
之 Tenāhu porāṇā）·paricchedo（品，見〔CSCD §90〕之品末）。以下唯列本品新出者，
及本編既有校讀與規範詞表須併觀之處。
器與相
| 巴利 | 本編用語 | 本篇用法之要 | 定位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| kasiṇamaṇḍala | 遍之曼荼羅 | 所造之圓盤；坐處去盤 aḍḍhateyyahatthantare（二肘半） | 〔CSCD §56〕 |
| cattāro kasiṇadosā | 四遍過 | Nīlapītalohitaodātasambhedavasena——青黃赤白四色之雜為過，故不取彼色之土 | 〔CSCD §55〕 |
| aruṇavaṇṇā mattikā | 晨曦色之土 | 造盤所取之土色；量作 vidatthicaturaṅgulavitthāraṃ vaṭṭaṃ（一張手又四指之圓） | 〔CSCD §55〕 |
| uggahanimitta | 取相 | 論自釋：yadā nimīletvā āvajjantassa ummīlitakāle viya āpāthamāgacchati, tadā uggahanimittaṃ jātaṃ nāma hoti | 〔CSCD §57〕 |
| paṭibhāganimitta | 似相 | 與取相之別：uggahanimitte kasiṇadoso paññāyati，似相則 sataguṇaṃ sahassaguṇaṃ suparisuddhaṃ hutvā upaṭṭhāti；且 neva vaṇṇavantaṃ, na saṇṭhānavantaṃ、upaṭṭhānākāramattaṃ saññajam | 〔CSCD §57〕 |
| cakkavattigabbha | 轉輪王之胎 | 護相之喻語：taṃ nimittaṃ appamattena cakkavattigabbho viya rakkhitabbaṃ | 〔CSCD §58〕 |
定與心路
| 巴利 | 本編用語 | 本篇用法之要 | 定位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| duvidho samādhi | 二種定 | 二目並出作 upacārasamādhi ca appanāsamādhi ca；二地作 upacārabhūmiyaṃ vā paṭilābhabhūmiyaṃ vā，前以蓋斷、後以支現 | 〔CSCD §58〕 |
（多戶列——本列之段號跨數單元，所指之各單元同載，一字不改）
| 巴利 | 本編用語 | 本篇用法之要 | 定位 |
|---|---|---|---|
| bhavaṅga | 有分 | 安止前 bhavaṅgaṃ upacchinditvā，安止後 bhavaṅgapāto；本品凡五處作斷有分之式 | 〔CSCD §58〕·〔CSCD §69〕 |
本編既有校讀與規範詞表須併觀之四處 ①sappāya 規範詞表定「相宜」，既有校讀作
「七隨順」；②ekaggatā 規範詞表定「心一境性」，既有校讀於禪支表作「一境性」；
③upekkhāsatipārisuddhi 既有校讀作「念清淨」，本目依論自釋作「捨念清淨」；
④cetaso ekodibhāva 既有校讀作「內淨一心」，本目依論自釋分作「內淨」與「心之一趣」。
四處皆依論自釋取讀。又，既有校讀之三相次第作「遍作相→取相→似相」，而
parikammanimitta（遍作相）一名於本品譯底欄零命中——譯底欄唯出 uggahanimitta 與
paṭibhāganimitta 二相之名，parikamma 一詞則唯作遍作之心與遍作之時二用〔CSCD §55〕·
〔CSCD §69〕。誌之不判。
三、異讀
材料之面 本品無自家對頁之巴利，故無校勘段可錄；可查之面唯譯底欄自身。誌錄不判。
普查之實測 譯底欄全篇逐字普查：異讀括注式（(sī.)・(syā.)・(kaṃ.)・(pī.) 等）
零命中；異誦之標識詞 pāṭho 零命中；方括注唯 [§NN] 段號與版頁記二式，
無一為異讀之記。全篇之圓括注 48 處，逐一檢之，皆為所引之出處標記，無一載異讀。
查無即記無：譯底欄自身無異讀之記。
掃描面之界 本欄之查唯及譯底欄一面；他本之對勘不在本欄之面，本欄不代考定， 亦不以本欄之零命中推斷他本。
四、論主引據
論主自引之處，逐處繫段號錨；出處唯本文自標者記之，不代考定。「本文自標之出處」欄 之括注逐字照錄。
| 位置 | 引式〔逐字〕 | 所引之要 | 本文自標之出處 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §55〕 | Vuttañhetaṃ –／''Pathavīkasiṇaṃ uggaṇhanto pathaviyaṃ nimittaṃ gaṇhāti | 地遍取相之全式 | 未標出處 |
引式之數〔本欄實測〕 Vuttañhetaṃ 7 處・Vuttampi cetaṃ 2 處・Yathāha 5 處・
Tenāha 2 處（其一作 Tenāha bhagavā）・Tenevāha 1 處・Tenāhu porāṇā 1 處・
Vibhaṅge pana 5 處・Vibhaṅgepi vuttaṃ 2 處・peṭake vuttaṃ 1 處・Tatrāyaṃ pāḷi 1 處・
aṭṭhakathāsu 2 處。本文自標之圓括注出處 48 處。此數唯就本品之域，不及全書。
所引之類〔本欄實測〕 48 處括注析為 62 個出處分項，就其標識分：vibha. 12・
saṃ. ni. 11・dī. ni. 11・dha. sa. 8・a. ni. 7・ma. ni. 6・paṭi. ma. 4・
mahāni. 2・paṭṭhā. 1（一括注載二出處以上者，逐項計入）。此外：未繫括注而以「諸義注」
「《藏釋》」「《二集義注》」「古師」自標其所從來者 5 處〔CSCD §52〕·〔CSCD §69〕·
〔CSCD §70〕·〔CSCD §71〕·〔CSCD §76〕；標書名而未繫號者 2 處〔CSCD §80〕；
引而全未標出處者 2 處〔CSCD §55〕·〔CSCD §62〕。
五、譬喻·修辭
本目只記本品譬喻之所在與其所配，不作文學評價。
甲・譬喻
| 位置 | 譬喻 | 所配之義 |
|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §56〕 | ādāsatale mukhanimittadassinā viya | 開眼之量：如照鏡見面相，不過張不過斂 |
| 〔CSCD §57〕 | thavikato nihatādāsamaṇḍalaṃ viya・sudhotasaṅkhathālaṃ viya・valāhakantarā nikkhantacandamaṇḍalaṃ viya・meghamukhe balākā viya | 似相出時之四喻：囊中取出之鏡盤・善洗之螺杯・雲間出之月輪・雲端之鶴 |
| 〔CSCD §58〕 | daharo kumārako ukkhipitvā ṭhapiyamāno punappunaṃ bhūmiyaṃ patati | 近行之支未強：如扶立之幼兒屢仆 |
| 〔CSCD §58〕 | balavā puriso āsanā vuṭṭhāya divasampi tiṭṭheyya | 安止之支已強：如壯夫起立終日 |
| 〔CSCD §58〕 | cakkavattigabbho viya rakkhitabbaṃ | 護相如護轉輪王之胎 |
乙・事例 本品所舉之人事，逐處繫段號，唯記其所證之義，不代考定其人其地。
| 位置 | 事例 | 所證之義 |
|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §55〕 | mallakattherassa viya——長老觀耕地而相自起 | 宿習具足者於未造之地亦得相 |
〔上表人地之名，本層唯逐字照錄譯底欄之巴利；漢語定讀不於本目立。〕
丙・修辭之可核觀察 ①四禪之生起段用同一句式：tattha dosaṃ disvā（見前禪之過）→
santato manasikatvā（作意後禪為寂）→ nikantiṃ pariyādāya（盡前禪之愛）→
tadeva pathavīkasiṇaṃ ārammaṇaṃ katvā 而繼以意門轉向之起。本欄實測：tattha dosaṃ disvā
5 見・nikantiṃ pariyādāya 5 見・oḷārikattā aṅgadubbalā 5 見（第五見皆在五分法之段）・
tadeva pathavīkasiṇaṃ ārammaṇaṃ katvā 4 見（其末之意門轉向，〔CSCD §69〕作連聲形，
餘三處作 manodvārāvajjanaṃ uppajjati，故此長式 3 見）；作意之動詞二形——
santato manasikatvā 2 見・santato manasikaritvā 3 見。
②四禪之收句一律作 tividhakalyāṇaṃ dasalakkhaṇasampannaṃ … adhigataṃ hoti pathavīkasiṇaṃ，
本欄實測 4 見。③後三禪之末皆以 Sesaṃ paṭhamajjhāne vuttanayameva 收，本欄實測 3 見；
五分法之段則作 Sesaṃ vuttappakārameva，2 見。④省略式 …pe… 全篇 18 見，皆在所引之
經文內。⑤viya 為本品譬喻之主要標識，全篇 63 見；Seyyathāpi 6 見，皆為所引經之喻起句。
⑥「地、地」之作意句全篇 7 見，貫遍作與四禪之生起——''pathavī pathavī''ti 形 5 見，
pathavī pathavīti 形 2 見。⑦本品之偈頌以縮排出之，
計 34 行。以上諸數唯就本品之域實測，不及全書。
六、章內互讀
每指皆帶段號錨；所指之品唯就本品文中可核之名相立，並依本書品序記其品題——本品之段號 與 Vism 章§二系不明對映，故所指之品不繫章§，亦不推估換算。不代考定。
| 本品之處 | 所指 | 可核之由 |
|---|---|---|
〔CSCD §55〕 pathavīkasiṇaṃ ādiṃ katvā sabbakammaṭṭhānavasena vitthārakathā hoti | 定修習一部之諸品 | 論自標一切業處之詳論自地遍始 |
〔CSCD §55〕 jhānapadaṭṭhānaṃ vipassanaṃ paṭṭhapetvā arahattaṃ pāpuṇi | 慧之諸品 | 論自言依禪為近因而起觀得阿羅漢，觀之開演不在本品 |
（多戶列——本列之段號跨數單元，所指之各單元同載，一字不改）
| 本品之處 | 所指 | 可核之由 |
|---|---|---|
〔CSCD §51〕・〔CSCD §54〕・〔CSCD §55〕之三處 yaṃ vuttaṃ 式 | 取業處之品 | 三句皆論自標為前已說者，本品逐句開演之 |
七、傳本
作者、傳本與注疏源流諸問題，本編不於考據內立說。
I. Placement in the Outline
Location of this unit This unit takes the second segment of the chapter’s working base—the second of eleven segments in the chapter. The source column gives the subsection title Bhāvanāvidhānaṃ; its paragraph numbers run from 〔CSCD §55〕 through 〔CSCD §58〕, with four actual numbered paragraphs. The vernacular has three sections (§5–§7): “Preparing the ‘Device’—The Earth-Kasiṇa Maṇḍala,” “The Arising of Two Signs—The Learning Sign and the Counterpart Sign,” and “Access Concentration and Absorption Concentration.” Unit 1, 〔Entering the Practice—Choosing a Dwelling, the Eighteen Faults, Five Factors, and Minor Impediments〕, precedes it; Unit 3, 〔The Seven Suitabilities〕, follows. This unit takes construal sections §A, §B, and §C (their titles and chapter sections appear verbatim in this chapter’s Overview). The facts in this paragraph derive only from the literal cut boundaries and the alignment table in the chapter Overview; all other statements belong to the chapter-level paragraphs below.
(Chapter-level paragraphs—identically reproduced in all eleven units of this chapter)
Working base The working base for this chapter is CSCD (internal and never published). Every Pāli quotation in this layer is taken verbatim from the source column’s working base,
using two locator systems: the form 〔Vism IV.x〕 is restricted to items already listed in this chapter’s Overview movement table, while 〔CSCD §NN〕 checks
directly against the working-base column. Where the relation between the two systems is unknown, this column neither estimates nor converts it. This chapter has no internally collated Pāli pagination, so page ranges are not recorded.
Chapter title Chapter 4, “Earth Kasiṇa,” is Pathavīkasiṇaniddesa in Pāli. The title line in the working-base column reads
4. Pathavīkasiṇaniddeso 〔CSCD §51〕. The chapter’s closing self-designation reads
Iti sādhujanapāmojjatthāya kate visuddhimagge / Samādhibhāvanādhikāre / Pathavīkasiṇaniddeso nāma / Catuttho paricchedo. (four lines) 〔CSCD §90〕—the treatise itself places this as the fourth chapter in the concentration-development division of the Visuddhimagga.
Chapter-section range The first chapter section recorded in this chapter’s Overview movement table is 〔Vism IV.21–31〕; the last begins at 〔Vism IV.139 onward〕, with no endpoint recorded. This column does not supply or extrapolate an endpoint.
Paragraph-number range The paragraph numbers in the working-base column run from 〔CSCD §51〕 to 〔CSCD §90〕, with thirty-nine actual numbers. One number is absent although
its text is present: the verse paragraph at the end of 〔CSCD §66〕 carries no paragraph number in the working-base column, and the next number is [§68]. This column neither supplies a number
nor cites an unattested one; that verse is always attached to 〔CSCD §66〕. No continuous sequence of numbers is implied.
Subsections The working-base column contains eighteen ### subsection headings, including the chapter title line; the final subsection is Pañcakajjhānakathā.
For the chapter’s subdivision map and its spans in the working-base column, see the chapter Overview.
Connection to the preceding chapter The chapter’s opening passage marks what it takes up with yaṃ vuttaṃ, then develops, phrase by phrase, the statements already made:
samādhibhāvanāya ananurūpaṃ vihāraṃ pahāya anurūpe vihāre viharantenā 〔CSCD §51〕,
Khuddakapalibodhupacchedaṃ katvā 〔CSCD §54〕,
sabbaṃ bhāvanāvidhānaṃ aparihāpentena bhāvetabbo 〔CSCD §55〕. The treatise itself marks all three as previously stated;
their location is not identified in this chapter’s working-base column, and this apparatus does not independently determine it. In the order of this treatise, the chapter on taking a meditation subject precedes the present chapter.
Connection to the following chapters At 〔CSCD §55〕 the treatise itself says,
ayaṃ pathavīkasiṇaṃ ādiṃ katvā sabbakammaṭṭhānavasena vitthārakathā hoti—the detailed treatment of all meditation subjects
begins with the earth kasiṇa. This chapter develops only the earth kasiṇa. At 〔CSCD §63〕, pathavīkasiṇādikassa embraces “the earth kasiṇa and the rest”
of the kasiṇas, but their development does not occur in this chapter.
II. Terms and Renderings
This heading records only how terms function and are located in this chapter; the normative glossary governs their established readings, and this heading does not decide terms that the glossary leaves unsettled.
Terms already settled in this edition’s glossary are cited as settled rather than re-explained chapter by chapter. The settled terms occurring here are upacāra-samādhi (access concentration),
appanā-samādhi (absorption concentration), ārammaṇa (object), guṇa (quality), and Porāṇā (the ancient teachers; see Tenāhu porāṇā at 〔CSCD §76〕
), together with paricchedo (chapter; see the chapter’s closing self-designation at 〔CSCD §90〕). What follows lists only terms new to this chapter
and places where this edition’s earlier construal and the normative glossary must be read together.
The Device and the Signs
| Pāli | Rendering | Usage in this unit | Locus |
|---|---|---|---|
| kasiṇamaṇḍala | kasiṇa maṇḍala | the disk constructed; the seat is aḍḍhateyyahatthantare (two and a half cubits) from the disk | 〔CSCD §56〕 |
| cattāro kasiṇadosā | four faults of a kasiṇa | Nīlapītalohitaodātasambhedavasena—admixture of blue, yellow, red, and white is a fault, so clay of those colors is not used | 〔CSCD §55〕 |
| aruṇavaṇṇā mattikā | dawn-colored clay | the color of the clay used for the disk; its measure is vidatthicaturaṅgulavitthāraṃ vaṭṭaṃ (a circle one span plus four fingers across) | 〔CSCD §55〕 |
| uggahanimitta | learning sign | the treatise explains it as yadā nimīletvā āvajjantassa ummīlitakāle viya āpāthamāgacchati, tadā uggahanimittaṃ jātaṃ nāma hoti | 〔CSCD §57〕 |
| paṭibhāganimitta | counterpart sign | its distinction from the learning sign: uggahanimitte kasiṇadoso paññāyati, whereas the counterpart sign sataguṇaṃ sahassaguṇaṃ suparisuddhaṃ hutvā upaṭṭhāti; it is also neva vaṇṇavantaṃ, na saṇṭhānavantaṃ and upaṭṭhānākāramattaṃ saññajam | 〔CSCD §57〕 |
| cakkavattigabbha | embryo of a wheel-turning monarch | the simile for guarding the sign: taṃ nimittaṃ appamattena cakkavattigabbho viya rakkhitabbaṃ | 〔CSCD §58〕 |
Concentration and the Cognitive Process
| Pāli | Rendering | Usage in this unit | Locus |
|---|---|---|---|
| duvidho samādhi | two kinds of concentration | named together as upacārasamādhi ca appanāsamādhi ca; their two planes are upacārabhūmiyaṃ vā paṭilābhabhūmiyaṃ vā, the former through abandonment of the hindrances and the latter through manifestation of the factors | 〔CSCD §58〕 |
(Multi-unit row—the paragraph numbers in this row span several units, so the same row is reproduced identically in each unit concerned)
| Pāli | Rendering | Usage in this unit | Locus |
|---|---|---|---|
| bhavaṅga | life-continuum | before absorption, bhavaṅgaṃ upacchinditvā; after absorption, bhavaṅgapāto; this chapter has five formulas for interrupting the life-continuum | 〔CSCD §58〕 · 〔CSCD §69〕 |
Four places where this edition’s earlier construal and the normative glossary must be read together (1) The normative glossary renders sappāya as “suitable,” while the earlier construal reads it as
“seven suitabilities.” (2) The normative glossary renders ekaggatā as “one-pointedness,” while the earlier construal’s table of absorption factors reads “singleness.”
(3) The earlier construal renders upekkhāsatipārisuddhi as “purification of mindfulness,” while this heading, following the treatise’s own explanation, reads “purity of mindfulness due to equanimity.”
(4) The earlier construal renders cetaso ekodibhāva as “inner purity and unified mind,” while this heading, following the treatise’s own explanation, distinguishes “inner purity” from “the mind’s unification.”
All four are read through the treatise’s own explanation. Further, the earlier construal orders three signs as “preliminary sign → learning sign → counterpart sign,” yet
the term parikammanimitta (“preliminary sign”) has zero occurrences in this chapter’s working-base column. The working-base column names only uggahanimitta and
paṭibhāganimitta; the word parikamma occurs solely for the preliminary-work mind and the time of preliminary work at 〔CSCD §55〕 and
〔CSCD §69〕. This is recorded without decision.
III. Variant Readings
Material available This chapter has no internally collated Pāli pagination and therefore no collation passages to record; the only searchable surface is the working-base column itself. The facts are recorded without decision.
Measured complete survey A verbatim survey of the entire working-base column found parenthetical variant markers such as (sī.), (syā.), (kaṃ.), and (pī.)
in zero occurrences; the variant-reading marker pāṭho in zero occurrences; and only the two square-bracket forms used for [§NN] paragraph numbers and edition page notations,
none of which marks a variant reading. The forty-eight parenthetical annotations in the chapter were each inspected and all are source references; none records a variant.
When none are found, none are recorded: the working-base column itself records no variant readings.
Limit of the surveyed surface This survey extends only to the working-base column. Comparison with other editions is outside its surface; this heading neither decides such comparison nor infers anything about other editions from the zero occurrences here.
IV. The Commentator’s Citations
Each citation by the author is attached to a paragraph-number anchor. A source is recorded only when identified by the text itself and is not independently determined. Parentheses in the “Source Identified by the Text” column are reproduced verbatim.
| Location | Citation Formula 〔verbatim〕 | Point of the Citation | Source Identified by the Text |
|---|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §55〕 | Vuttañhetaṃ – / ''Pathavīkasiṇaṃ uggaṇhanto pathaviyaṃ nimittaṃ gaṇhāti | the full formula for acquiring the sign of the earth kasiṇa | no source identified |
Number of citation formulas 〔measured in this heading〕 Vuttañhetaṃ occurs 7 times; Vuttampi cetaṃ, 2; Yathāha, 5;
Tenāha, 2 (one is Tenāha bhagavā); Tenevāha, 1; Tenāhu porāṇā, 1;
Vibhaṅge pana, 5; Vibhaṅgepi vuttaṃ, 2; peṭake vuttaṃ, 1; Tatrāyaṃ pāḷi, 1;
and aṭṭhakathāsu, 2. The text itself marks forty-eight parenthetical source references. These counts apply only to this chapter, not to the whole work.
Kinds of cited sources 〔measured in this heading〕 The forty-eight parenthetical annotations divide into sixty-two source items. By the labels actually given, they comprise vibha. 12,
saṃ. ni. 11, dī. ni. 11, dha. sa. 8, a. ni. 7, ma. ni. 6, and paṭi. ma. 4,
with mahāni. 2 and paṭṭhā. 1 (when one parenthesis contains two or more sources, each is counted separately). In addition, there are sources identified as “the commentaries,”
“the Peṭaka,” “the commentary on the Duka,” or “the ancient teachers” at five places without a parenthetical reference 〔CSCD §52〕 and 〔CSCD §69〕,
〔CSCD §70〕, 〔CSCD §71〕, and 〔CSCD §76〕; two places give a title without a reference number 〔CSCD §80〕;
and two citations give no source at all 〔CSCD §55〕 and 〔CSCD §62〕.
V. Similes and Rhetoric
This heading records only where the chapter’s similes occur and which meanings they illustrate; it offers no literary evaluation.
A. Simile
| Location | Simile | Meaning Illustrated |
|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §56〕 | ādāsatale mukhanimittadassinā viya | the degree to which the eyes are opened: like seeing one’s face in a mirror, neither too wide nor too narrow |
| 〔CSCD §57〕 | thavikato nihatādāsamaṇḍalaṃ viya · sudhotasaṅkhathālaṃ viya · valāhakantarā nikkhantacandamaṇḍalaṃ viya · meghamukhe balākā viya | four similes for the counterpart sign: a mirror disk taken from its case, a well-washed conch bowl, the moon emerging between clouds, and a white crane at the edge of a cloud |
| 〔CSCD §58〕 | daharo kumārako ukkhipitvā ṭhapiyamāno punappunaṃ bhūmiyaṃ patati | the factors in access are not strong: like a young child set on his feet who repeatedly falls |
| 〔CSCD §58〕 | balavā puriso āsanā vuṭṭhāya divasampi tiṭṭheyya | the factors in absorption are strong: like a powerful man who rises and remains standing all day |
| 〔CSCD §58〕 | cakkavattigabbho viya rakkhitabbaṃ | guarding the sign as one guards the embryo of a wheel-turning monarch |
B. Account Every person and event mentioned in this chapter is attached to a paragraph-number anchor. Only the point illustrated is recorded; this apparatus does not independently determine the person or place.
| Location | Account | Meaning Illustrated |
|---|---|---|
| 〔CSCD §55〕 | mallakattherassa viya—an elder looks at a plowed field and the sign arises on its own | a practitioner with sufficient prior practice gains the sign on unprepared earth |
〔The personal and place names in the table above are reproduced in Pāli verbatim from the working-base column; this heading does not establish Chinese readings for them.〕
C. Verifiable rhetorical observations (1) The passages on the arising of the four absorptions employ the same sequence: tattha dosaṃ disvā (seeing the defect in the preceding absorption) →
santato manasikatvā (attending to the following absorption as peaceful) → nikantiṃ pariyādāya (exhausting attachment to the preceding absorption) →
tadeva pathavīkasiṇaṃ ārammaṇaṃ katvā, followed by the arising of mind-door adverting. Measured here, tattha dosaṃ disvā
occurs 5 times; nikantiṃ pariyādāya, 5; and oḷārikattā aṅgadubbalā, 5 (the fifth instance in each case occurs in the passage on the fivefold system), while
tadeva pathavīkasiṇaṃ ārammaṇaṃ katvā occurs 4 times (for the final mind-door adverting, 〔CSCD §69〕 uses a sandhi form,
while the other three places use manodvārāvajjanaṃ uppajjati, so the longer form occurs 3 times). The verb for attending has two forms:
santato manasikatvā, 2 occurrences, and santato manasikaritvā, 3.
(2) The closing sentence for each of the four absorptions always contains tividhakalyāṇaṃ dasalakkhaṇasampannaṃ … adhigataṃ hoti pathavīkasiṇaṃ,
measured here at 4 occurrences. (3) The last three absorptions all close with Sesaṃ paṭhamajjhāne vuttanayameva, measured here at 3 occurrences;
the passage on the fivefold system instead uses Sesaṃ vuttappakārameva, 2 occurrences. (4) The abbreviation …pe… occurs 18 times throughout the chapter, all within quoted
canonical passages. (5) viya is the chapter’s principal simile marker and occurs 63 times; Seyyathāpi occurs 6 times, each opening a simile in a quoted discourse.
(6) The attention formula “earth, earth” occurs 7 times across preliminary work and the arising of the four absorptions—5 in the form ''pathavī pathavī''ti
and 2 in the form pathavī pathavīti. (7) Verses in this chapter are indented and
number thirty-four lines. All counts apply only to this chapter, not to the whole work.
VI. Intratextual Cross-Reading
Each reference carries a paragraph-number anchor. The chapter indicated is established only from terms verifiable in the present chapter and is named according to this treatise’s chapter order—the working-base paragraph numbers and the Vism chapter-section system have no established correspondence, so the chapter indicated is not assigned a chapter section and no conversion is estimated. No independent determination is made.
| Location in This Chapter | Points To | Verifiable Basis |
|---|---|---|
〔CSCD §55〕 pathavīkasiṇaṃ ādiṃ katvā sabbakammaṭṭhānavasena vitthārakathā hoti | the chapters in the concentration-development division | the treatise itself states that the detailed treatment of all meditation subjects begins with the earth kasiṇa |
〔CSCD §55〕 jhānapadaṭṭhānaṃ vipassanaṃ paṭṭhapetvā arahattaṃ pāpuṇi | the chapters on wisdom | the treatise itself says that insight was established with absorption as its proximate cause and arahantship attained; the development of insight is not in this chapter |
(Multi-unit row—the paragraph numbers in this row span several units, so the same row is reproduced identically in each unit concerned)
| Location in This Chapter | Points To | Verifiable Basis |
|---|---|---|
the three yaṃ vuttaṃ formulas at 〔CSCD §51〕, 〔CSCD §54〕, and 〔CSCD §55〕 | the chapter on taking a meditation subject | the treatise itself marks all three phrases as previously stated and develops them phrase by phrase in this chapter |
VII. Transmission
This edition advances no position in its apparatus on questions concerning authorship, textual transmission, or the history of commentaries.