唯識三十論頌

Dharmapāla Bodhisattva and others, relying upon these Thirty Verses, composed the Treatise on the Establishment of Consciousness-Only (Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi). Now the reasons are set forth in brief.

Within these Thirty Verses, twenty-four verses clarify the characteristics (lakṣaṇa) of consciousness-only, the one verse that follows clarifies the nature (svabhāva) of consciousness-only, and the last five verses clarify the stages of practice of consciousness-only.

Entering into the twenty-four verses, the first one and a half verses speak briefly of the characteristics of consciousness-only. The next twenty-two and a half verses speak extensively of the characteristics of consciousness-only.

That is to say, someone asks: "If there is only consciousness, why do the World-Honored One and the sacred teachings speak of the existence of self (ātman) and dharmas?" The verse is set forth in answer.

The verse says:

1. The provisional designations "self" and "dharmas"

Arise because of their many characteristics that evolve.

Those characteristics rest upon the transformations of consciousness.

The transforming consciousness is of three kinds:

2. Namely, Maturation, Cogitation,

And the consciousness that Discerns objects.

Next, the twenty-two and a half verses speak extensively of the characteristics of consciousness-only. Since the preceding verse-text briefly set forth the three transformers, it now speaks more extensively and clearly of the characteristics of the three transformers. So what, then, are the characteristics of the first transformer?

The verse says:

The first is the ālaya,

Which is Maturation and All-Seeds;

3. Unknowable in its grasping and appropriation,

Its location, and its discernment; ever accompanied by contact,

Attention, sensation, conception, and volition;

It is associated solely with the sensation of equanimity.

4. It is unobstructed and indeterminate in nature.

So too are contact and the rest.

It ever evolves like a torrent of water,

And is relinquished at the stage of the Arhat.

Having spoken of the first transformer, what then are the characteristics of the second transformer?

The verse says:

5. Next is the second transformer,

This consciousness named Manas.

Resting upon the former and taking it as object,

It has cogitation as its nature and characteristic.

6. It is ever accompanied by four afflictions:

Namely, self-delusion and self-view,

And self-conceit and self-love,

Together with contact and the rest, complete.

7. It is obstructed and indeterminate in nature,

Bound according to where one is born.

In the Arhat, in the meditation of cessation,

And on the supramundane path, it is no more.

Having spoken of the second transformer, what then are the characteristics of the third transformer?

The verse says:

8. The third transforming consciousness

Has six kinds, each distinct.

Discernment of objects is its nature and characteristic,

Being wholesome, unwholesome, or indeterminate.

9. These are the universal mental factors,

The object-specific, the wholesome, the afflictions,

The secondary afflictions, and the indeterminate; all are associated with the three sensations.

10. First, the universal are Contact and the rest;

Next, the object-specific are Aspiration,

Resolve, Mindfulness, Concentration, and Insight.

Their objects of cognition are not the same.

11. The wholesome are Faith, Conscience, and Shame,

The three roots of non-greed and the rest,

Diligence, Tranquility, Non-heedlessness,

Equanimity in action, and Non-harming.

12. The afflictions are greed, hatred,

Delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views.

The secondary afflictions are wrath,

Resentment, concealment, vexation, envy, stinginess,

13. Deceit, flattery, harming, arrogance,

Lack of conscience and lack of shame,

Restlessness and torpor,

Lack of faith and indolence,

14. Heedlessness and forgetfulness,

Distraction and incorrect understanding.

The indeterminate are remorse, drowsiness,

Initial application and sustained application—these two pairs, each twofold.

Having spoken of the mental factors associated with the six consciousnesses, how then can one know the arising and the stages of their manifestation?

The verse says:

15. Depending upon the root consciousness,

The five consciousnesses manifest according to conditions.

They arise together, or not,

Like waves dependent upon water.

16. The mental consciousness ever manifests,

Except for those born in the heaven of no-conception,

And the two mindless meditations,

Together with deep sleep and fainting.

Having extensively distinguished the characteristics of the transformers as that which transforms and the two divisions of support, how can one know that, depending upon the transformations of consciousness, "self" and "dharmas" are provisionally spoken of and have no separate real existence, and that therefore all is said to be consciousness-only?

The verse says:

17. These consciousnesses evolve and transform

Into that which discriminates and that which is discriminated.

Because of this, all of these are empty;

All is consciousness-only.

If there is only consciousness, with utterly no external conditions, then whence come the various discriminations?

The verse says:

18. Because of the All-Seeds consciousness,

Transforming thus and thus,

And because of the force of mutual evolution,

Discriminations of many kinds arise.

If there is inner consciousness but no external conditions, then whence does the continuity of birth-and-death for sentient beings arise?

The verse says:

19. Because of the residual habits (vāsanā) of the various karmas,

Together with the residual habits of the two graspings,

When the former Maturation is exhausted,

A subsequent body of Maturation is born.

If there is only consciousness, why does the World-Honored One in many places in the sūtras speak of the three natures?

One should know that the three natures also do not depart from consciousness.

Why is this so?

The verse says:

20. Because of the various pervasive imaginings,

One pervasively imagines manifold things.

This pervasively imagined and grasped-at nature

Is wholly without self-nature.

21. The self-nature of dependent arising

Arises through the discrimination of conditions.

The perfected and accomplished real nature is, with respect to that,

Ever far removed from the former nature.

22. Therefore this and the dependent-arising

Are neither different nor not different.

Like the natures of impermanence and the rest,

When this is seen, then that is seen.

If there are three natures, how can the World-Honored One say that all dharmas are without self-nature?

The verse says:

23. Just upon these three natures,

Those three non-natures are established.

Therefore the Buddha, with hidden intent, declared

That all dharmas are without nature.

24. The first is the non-nature of characteristic;

Next is the non-nature of self-arising;

Last is the nature, removed from the former nature,

Which is the nature grasped as self and dharmas.

25. This is the supreme meaning of all dharmas,

And is likewise Suchness (Tathatā).

Because it is ever just so in its nature,

It is the true nature of consciousness-only.

The last five verses clarify the stages of practice of consciousness-only. The treatise says: "Upon what is the nature and the characteristic of consciousness-only thus established, and how many stages are there?"

That is to say, there must be present the two kinds of Mahāyāna lineage (gotra): The first is the lineage of original nature. This means the lineage that, resting upon the root consciousness from time without beginning until now, naturally thus attains the uncontaminated cause of dharmas. The second is the lineage produced by cultivation. This means the lineage formed by hearing and perfuming the equal outflow of the Dharma-realm. Possessing these two lineages, one can then awaken and enter.

What are the five stages?

The first is the stage of provisions (sambhāra). This means cultivating the portion of the Mahāyāna conducive to liberation, and, resting upon nature and characteristic, being able to understand deeply and believe rightly. What is its characteristic?

The verse says:

26. So long as one has not yet roused the consciousness

That seeks to abide in the nature of consciousness-only,

Toward the latent tendencies of the two graspings

One is still unable to subdue and destroy them.

The second is the stage of applied practice (prayoga). This means cultivating the portion of the Mahāyāna conducive to penetrating discernment. In the stage of applied practice one can gradually eliminate the grasper and the grasped. What is its characteristic?

27. Setting up some little thing before oneself,

Taking it to be the nature of consciousness-only,

Because there is still something attained,

One does not truly abide in consciousness-only.

The third is the stage of penetration (prativedha). This means the bodhisattvas abiding in the path of seeing, who in the stage of penetration understand and realize things as they truly are. What is its characteristic?

28. When, with respect to the object of cognition,

Wisdom attains nothing whatsoever,

Then one abides in consciousness-only,

Because one is freed from the characteristic of the two graspings.

The fourth is the stage of cultivation (bhāvanā). This means the bodhisattvas abiding in the path of cultivation, who in the stage of cultivation see the principle as it truly is and constantly cultivate it. What is its characteristic?

29. Without attainment and inconceivable,

It is the supramundane wisdom.

Because the two coarse and heavy obstructions are cast off,

One thereupon realizes the transformation of the basis (āśraya-parāvṛtti).

The fifth is the stage of ultimate fruition (niṣṭhā). This means abiding in unsurpassed perfect enlightenment, emerging from all obstructions, perfect and luminous, able to transform and guide sentient beings to the very end of future time. What is its characteristic?

30. This is the uncontaminated realm,

Inconceivable, wholesome, eternal,

The blissful body of liberation,

The Dharma-body of the Great Sage (Mahāmuni).

THE THIRTY VERSES ON CONSCIOUSNESS-ONLY (Triṃśikā-vijñaptimātratā)

(The End)