異部宗輪論

CHAPTER 1

THE CAUSE FOR THE ARISING

After the Blessed One,

Had entered parinirvana,

A period of time had passed,

Of more than one hundred years.

Then, within the sacred teaching,

Various schools appeared,

And from that point there arose,

Matters that brought no benefit.

Precisely because of attachment to,

Such divergent doctrines,

There gradually arose,

Still other schools.

Therefore, one must rely upon,

The teachings spoken by the Buddha,^[1]

Distinguishing those divergent attachments,

So that they may become disenchanted with them.

Vasumitra, the bodhisattva,

Fully endowed with awakened wisdom,

Went forth in the lineage of the Sakyans,

Practicing as a true bhiksu.

Upon seeing such a state of affairs,

He carefully reflected upon it.

He further contemplated impartially,

Throughout the entire world,

How doctrinal views and theories,

Continually drifted and revolved,

And then attacked and refuted,

The teachings of the Blessed One.

On the basis of those views,

He analyzed and explained them clearly,

Declaring that everyone should,

Clearly discern the Buddha's teaching,

Relying entirely upon,

The Noble Truths as the standard.^[2]

It is just as when someone,

Sifts gold from sand;

A Buddhist likewise,

Must select what is true.

Commentary:

^[1] The Chinese text uses the term A-ji-ma 阿笈摩 (also called A-han, A-jia-ma, or A-han-mu), a transcription of Āgama. It is rendered by meaning as Dharma Rule, Dharma Source, Dharma Treasury, Teaching, and so forth. It refers to the foundational collections of Buddhist scriptures written in Sanskrit, which gather the fundamental doctrines taught by the Buddha, such as the Four Noble Truths, the Noble Eightfold Path, dependent origination, karma, and so forth. Their contents resemble those of the Nikāyas in the Pali textual tradition. Modern scholars explain the term Āgama as deriving from the Sanskrit root ā√gam, meaning “to come,” and render it as Destination, Knowledge, Sacred Words, or Collection of Sacred Instructions.

There are four collections: 1) the Dīrgha Āgama (長阿含, Skt. Dīrghāgama); 2) the Madhyama Āgama (中阿含, Skt. Mādhyamāgama); 3) the Saṃyukta Āgama (雜阿含, Skt. Saṃyuktāgama); and 4) the Ekottarika Āgama (增壹阿含, Skt. Ekottarikāgama).

^[2] The Noble Truths 聖諦 are precisely the Four Noble Truths. It may be said that the entire Dharma taught by the Buddha is founded upon the Four Noble Truths; if any doctrine is not founded upon the Four Noble Truths, it is not the Buddha's teaching. In the Greater Discourse on the Simile of the Elephant's Footprint, the Buddha taught: “Venerable friends, just as the footprints of all animals that walk are encompassed within the elephant's footprint, which is declared foremost among them in terms of size, so too, venerable friends, all wholesome qualities are gathered within the Four Noble Truths” (Vietnam Buddhist Research Institute, Majjhima Nikāya I, p. 184).

Similarly, in the Simsapā Forest Discourse (Saṃyutta Nikāya, p. 442), the Buddha taught that what he knew was like all the leaves in the forest, whereas what he taught was like the leaves in the palm of his hand. He did not teach everything because those other matters were not fundamental to the holy life and did not lead to dispassion, liberation, nirvana, or peace. What he did teach concerned suffering, the origin of suffering, the cessation of suffering, and the path leading to the cessation of suffering. Why? Because these matters are connected with the goal, are fundamental to the noble life, and lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, peace, direct knowledge, awakening, and nirvana.

Here, Vasumitra means that if the schools do not rely upon the Four Noble Truths to ascertain suffering and the path to the cessation of suffering, but instead fabricate contentious disputes and vie with one another over superiority and inferiority, right and wrong, then all of it is contrary to the Buddha-Dharma, for it has no connection with the holy life or liberation and ultimately leads only to suffering.

CHAPTER 2

THE DIVISION INTO SCHOOLS

Thus have I heard it transmitted: more than one hundred years after the Buddha entered nirvana, when the time of the Buddha had grown distant, as though the sun had long since disappeared, in the city of Kusumapura in the kingdom of Magadha there was a king named Asoka,^[1] who ruled the entire continent of Jambudvipa,^[2] transformed both devas and humans through his virtue, and elicited through spiritual resonance the appearance of a white parasol.^[3]

At that time, divisions began to arise among the Buddhist community. Because the four assemblies (the four assemblies being: 1) the Assembly of Dragon-Elephants, 2) the Assembly of Those at the Periphery, 3) the Assembly of the Learned, and 4) the Assembly of the Great Elders)^[4] discussed the five theses of Mahadeva^[5] and could not reach agreement, they divided into two schools: the first was the Mahasamghika (Mahàsamghikàh), and the second was the Sthavira (Sthaviràh).

The five theses [of Mahadeva] are expressed in the following verse:

“Led astray by another; moreover, there is ignorance.

The mind still harbors doubt; through another, one gains realization.

And through the utterance of suffering, the Noble Path arises.

All the foregoing are true teachings of the Buddha.”^[6]

a. The Division of the Branch Schools of the Mahasamghika

Thereafter, within approximately two hundred years after the Buddha's nirvana (ABN), the Mahasamghika divided into three schools: 1) the Ekavyavaharika (Ekavyavahàrikah), 2) the Lokottaravada (Lokottaravadinah), and 3) the Kukkutika (Kankkutikàh).

Next, also within two hundred years ABN, another school arose from the Mahasamghika, called the Bahusrutiya (Bàhusrutiyàh). Thereafter, again within two hundred years, yet another school appeared from the Mahasamghika, called the Prajnaptivada (Prajnàptivadinàh).

Around the end of the second century, a non-Buddhist ascetic who was also named Mahadeva^[7] abandoned the wrong and returned to the right, then went forth and received full ordination in the Mahasamghika on Mount Caitya. He was exceedingly learned and diligent, and therefore joined the Sangha of this school in once again undertaking a detailed examination of the five theses above. As a consequence, disputes and mutual opposition arose anew, and the school divided into three: 1) the Caityasaila (Caityasailàh), 2) the Aparasaila (Aparasailàh), and 3) the Uttarasaila (Uttarasailàh).^[8]

Thus, the Mahasamghika underwent four or five divisions. Counting both the root school and its branches, there were nine in all: 1) the Mahasamghika, 2) the Ekavyavaharika, 3) the Lokottaravada, 4) the Kukkutika, 5) the Bahusrutiya, 6) the Prajnaptivada, 7) the Caityasaila, 8) the Aparasaila, and 9) the Uttarasaila.

b. The Division of the Branch Schools of the Sthavira

The Sthavira alone remained harmonious and united throughout this period. It was not until the beginning of the third century ABN that a minor dispute arose, whereupon it divided into two schools: 1) the Sarvastivada, also called the Hetuvada (Hetuvàdàh); and 2) the original Sthavira (Sthaviràh), which was renamed the Haimavata (Haimavàtàh).

Thereafter, also during the third century ABN, another school arose from the Sarvastivada, called the Vatsiputriya (Vatsiputriyas). Next, also during the third century ABN, four other schools arose from the Vatsiputriya: 1) the Dharmottariya (Dharmaguptas), 2) the Bhadrayaniya (Dhadrayàniyàh), 3) the Sammitiya (Sammitiyàh), and 4) the Sandagirika (Sandagirikàh).

Next, also during the third century after the Buddha's nirvana, another school arose from the Sarvastivada, called the Mahisasaka. Thereafter, likewise during the third century after the Buddha's nirvana, another school arose from the Mahisasaka, called the Dharmaguptaka. This school revered Maudgalyayana^[9] as its teacher. Toward the end of the third century after the Buddha's nirvana, another school arose from the Sarvastivada, called the Kasyapiya, also known as the Suvarsaka. At the beginning of the fourth century after the Buddha's nirvana, yet another school arose from the Sarvastivada, called the Sautrantika, also known as the Samkrantivada. This school revered Ananda^[10] as its teacher.

Thus, within the Sthavira lineage there were seven or eight divisions. Counting the original school together with its branches, there were eleven schools: 1) Sarvastivada, 2) Haimavata, 3) Vatsiputriya, 4) Dharmottariya, 5) Bhadrayaniya, 6) Sammitiya, 7) Sannagarika, 8) Mahisasaka, 9) Dharmaguptaka, 10) Kasyapiya, and 11) Sautrantika.

I shall now explain the fundamental and divergent views of these schools.

Commentary:

^[1] Wuyou (無憂, “Free from Sorrow”) is a translation of Aśoka (阿育), transliterated in Chinese as A-yu. He was an emperor of the Maurya dynasty who reigned from 273 to 232 BCE. After a series of military campaigns, King Aśoka achieved complete victory and ruled most of South Asia, from Afghanistan to present-day Bengal and southward as far as Mysore.

He was the first king of ancient India (Skt. bhāratavarṣa) to unite such a vast territory, one even larger than present-day India. As a king who supported Buddhism, he erected many stone pillars to commemorate sacred sites associated with the Buddha's life and constructed monasteries and stupas throughout India. His name has therefore always been closely associated with Buddhist tradition and history.

He is also known by the name inscribed on the famous stone pillars that remain to this day: “Beloved of the Gods, He Who Looks with Affection” (天愛喜見; Skt. devānaṃpriya priyadarśi), meaning “one beloved by the devas,” or “one who regards things with a joyful heart.”

^[2] Southern Jambudvipa 南贍部州 (Jambudvipa), also called Southern Jambudvipa, is a term commonly used for one of the four continents of the world: Southern Jambudvipa, Northern Uttarakuru, Western Godaniya, and Eastern Purvavideha. Here, however, “Southern Jambudvipa” refers only to the entire territory of India.

^[3] The white parasol is an auspicious sign among auspicious signs. Formed from white clouds that covered the whole of Southern Jambudvipa, it represented King Aśoka's dominion over the entire realm.

^[4] The Record of Explanations (X53n0844): These were the four Buddhist assemblies in the time of King Aśoka. 1) The Assembly of Dragon-Elephants, also called the Assembly of the Great Nation, consisted of disciples of Mahadeva. Relying on the prestige and power of the king, officials, and great ministers, they became extremely influential and were very arrogant and fierce by nature. Because of them, disputes arose, and from that point the Buddha-Dharma began to divide. 2) The Assembly of Those at the Frontier, also called the Assembly of the Outer Regions, likewise consisted of disciples of Mahadeva, but they did not provoke disputes and possessed neither imposing virtue nor influence. 3) The Assembly of the Learned consisted of those devoted to extensive study, observance of the precepts,

and cultivation in accordance with the noble path. 4) The Assembly of Great Virtuous Ones referred to the noble Sangha members who had attained the four fruits; this was precisely the Sthavira school.

^[5] The Mahavibhasa, fascicle 99: Mahadeva 大天 was a monk from India. Tradition holds that he was the son of a merchant from Mathura and was born more than one hundred years after the Buddha's nirvana. Before going forth, he committed three heinous offenses; later, he repented and entered monastic life at Kukkutarama Monastery.

He possessed great spiritual powers and the threefold knowledge. He once went to propagate the Dharma in Pataliputra, where King Aśoka took refuge in him. He was also the sole missionary dispatched to Mahisa-mandala, where he preached the Sutra of the Divine Messengers, through which forty thousand people attained the path.

He proposed five theses, known as the Five Theses of Mahadeva, as a result of which the Buddhist Sangha divided into two schools: the Mahasanghika, of which he became the founding patriarch, and the Sthavira.

^[6] The original verse reads as follows:

餘所誘無知　　猶豫他令入

(Yu suo you wu zhi, You yu ta ling ru Dao yin sheng gu qi, Shi ming zhen fo jiao)

^[7] According to this treatise, this Mahadeva was different from the first Mahadeva, who proposed the five theses concerning an arhat, and the two lived one hundred years apart. However, another tradition holds that these two were the same person. This is presented here for further consideration.

^[8] Paramartha's version (T.2033) states that there were only two schools: the Caityasaila and the Uttarasaila, rather than three as in Xuanzang's version. Thus, according to Paramartha, the Mahasanghika underwent a total of four or five divisions but comprised only eight schools altogether, with no Aparasaila school.

^[9] Xuanzang's translation uses the expression Caishushi (採菽氏), which is a translation of the name Maudgalyayana, one of the Buddha's great disciples during his lifetime.

^[10] Venerable Ananda (Ānanda), one of the Buddha's great disciples, was foremost in learning and eloquence. His name is commonly translated as “Joy,” “Rejoicing,” or “Undefiled.”

CHAPTER 3

THE VIEWS OF THE SCHOOLS BELONGING TO THE MAHASANGHIKA

a. The Fundamental Views^[1] of the Mahasanghika, Ekavyavaharika, Lokottaravada, and Kukkulika Schools

The Mahasanghika, Ekavyavaharika, Lokottaravada, and Kukkulika schools shared the following fundamental views:

1) All Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, transcend the world.

2) None of the Tathagatas possess any defilement.

3) Every utterance of the Tathagatas turns the Dharma wheel.

4) The Buddha teaches all dharmas with a single sound.^[2]

5) All words spoken by the Blessed One accord with true meaning.

6) The physical body of the Tathagata is limitless.

7) The majestic power of the Tathagata is also limitless.

8) The lifespan of the Tathagata is also limitless.

9) The Buddhas guide sentient beings and inspire pure faith in them, yet never experience weariness or satisfaction.

10) The Buddha neither sleeps nor dreams.^[3]

11) The Tathagata answers questions without having to pause for reflection.

12) The Buddha never speaks names, phrases, or syllables, because he constantly abides in samadhi; nevertheless, sentient beings believe that he speaks names, phrases, and syllables, and consequently their minds become joyful and inspired.^[4]

13) In a single mind-moment, the Buddhas fully comprehend all dharmas.

14) In a single mind-moment associated with prajna, the Buddhas know all dharmas.

15) The Blessed Buddha's knowledge of the exhaustion of the defilements and knowledge of non-arising^[5] remain continuously present and active until nirvana.

16) When entering the womb, no bodhisattva appropriates as his own substance the embryonic stages of kalala, arbuda, pesi, and ghana.^[6]

17) All bodhisattvas manifest in the form of a white elephant when entering their mothers' wombs.^[7]

18) All bodhisattvas emerge from the womb through the right side.^[8]

19) No bodhisattva ever gives rise to thoughts of sensual desire, anger, or harmfulness.

20) Wishing to benefit sentient beings, a bodhisattva who vows to be born in an evil realm is immediately reborn there according to his wish.

21) In a single mind-moment, through knowledge at the culmination of direct insight,^[9] one comprehensively knows all the distinctive characteristics of the Four Truths.

22) The five bodily consciousnesses—eye-consciousness, ear-consciousness, nose-consciousness, tongue-consciousness, and body-consciousness—may be defiled or free from defilement.^[10]

23) In the Form Realm and the Formless Realm, each being possesses all six consciousnesses.

24) The substance of the five material faculties consists of masses of flesh; therefore, the eye does not see forms, the ear does not hear sounds, the nose does not smell odors, the tongue does not taste flavors, and the body does not cognize tangible contact.

25) While in a state of meditative equipoise,^[11] one still utters speech, still has a disciplined mind, and has purified attention.^[12]

26) All that was to be done has been accomplished,^[13] and no dharma whatsoever is accumulated any further.

27) Stream-enterers can thoroughly comprehend the intrinsic nature of mind and mental factors.

28) Some arhats may still be induced by others, may still have ignorance and doubt in their minds, may attain awakening through another’s assistance, and may have the noble path arise through the utterance of the word “suffering.”

29) Suffering can lead one onto the noble path.

30) The utterance of the word “suffering” can assist in awakening.

31) Wisdom applied as preparatory practice can eliminate suffering and can also bring about happiness.^[14]

32) Suffering as a feeling is also nutriment.

33) One may also abide for a long time in the eighth stage.^[15]

34) Up to and including the stage of the Dharma of intrinsic nature,^[16] it may be said that regression is still possible.

35) Stream-enterers may still regress.

36) Arhats do not regress.

37) There is no mundane right view.

38) There is no mundane faculty of faith.

39) Nor are there any karmically indeterminate dharmas.

40) Only upon entering the certainty of the noble path may one be said to have eliminated all fetters.^[17]

41) Stream-enterers may still commit evil karma, except for the uninterrupted offenses.^[18]

42) All sutras taught by the Buddha are of definitive meaning.

43) There are nine kinds of unconditioned dharmas: 1) cessation through discrimination, 2) cessation not through discrimination, 3) space, 4) the sphere of infinite space, 5) the sphere of infinite consciousness, 6) the sphere of nothingness, 7) the sphere of neither perception nor non-perception, 8) the nature of the factors of dependent origination—the twelve factors of dependent origination, and 9) the nature of the factors of the noble path—the eight factors of the noble path.

44) The nature of mind is originally pure, but because it is tainted by adventitious afflictions, it is said to be impure.

45) Latent tendencies are neither mind nor mental factors, and they also have no object.^[19]

46) Latent tendencies differ from active fetters,^[20] and active fetters differ from latent tendencies. Therefore, latent tendencies are said not to be associated with mind, whereas active fetters are associated with mind.

47) The past and the future have no real substance.

48) None of the objects of mind^[21] are objects of knowledge, objects of conceptual cognition, or objects of penetrating realization.

49) Nor is there an intermediate-existence body.^[22]

50) Stream-enterers also attain dhyana.^[23]

The foregoing are the fundamental tenets.

b. Divergent Tenets of the Mahasanghika, Ekavyavaharika, Lokottaravada, and Kukkutikavada Schools

The divergent tenets of these four schools maintain that:

1) Just as the Noble Truths have distinct characteristics, so too do the forms of direct insight^[24] each have distinct characteristics.

2) Some dharmas arise of themselves; some dharmas are produced by something else; some dharmas are produced by both; and some dharmas arise from conditions.

3) Two minds may arise simultaneously.

4) The noble path and the afflictions may both manifest simultaneously.^[25]

5) Karma and its result of maturation both evolve simultaneously.

6) A seed is itself the germ.^[26]

7) The four great elements and the six material faculties undergo transformation, but mind and mental factors do not undergo transformation.^[27]

8) Mind pervades the entire body.

9) Mind expands and contracts according to the faculty and its object.^[28]

The foregoing are the divergent tenets of the four schools, and as this process continued, the schools produced immeasurable distinctions.

c. Fundamental Tenets of the Bahusrutiya School

The fundamental tenets of the Bahusrutiya school maintain that:

1) The five utterances of the Buddha—impermanence, suffering, emptiness, non-self, and the peace of nirvana—are supramundane teachings because these five utterances can reveal the path to liberation. The other utterances of the Tathagata are mundane teachings.

2) Some arhats may be induced by others, may still have ignorance and doubt in their minds, may attain awakening through another’s assistance, and may have the noble path arise through the utterance of the word “suffering.”

Apart from these, most of their other doctrines agree with those of the Sarvastivada school.

d. Fundamental Tenets of the Prajnaptivada School

The fundamental tenets of the Prajnaptivada school maintain that:

1) Suffering is not a skandha.

2) The twelve ayatanas do not truly exist.

3) Conditioned phenomena mutually depend upon and combine with one another and are therefore provisionally designated as suffering, but there is no agency of a person.^[29]

4) There is no untimely death; rather, everything occurs because of karma from previous lives.

5) Because the increase of karma serves as the cause, the result of maturation undergoes transformation.

6) Attainment of the noble path depends upon merit and cannot be attained through cultivation.

7) The noble path also cannot be destroyed.

Apart from these, most of their other doctrines agree with those of the Mahasanghika school.

e. Fundamental Tenets of the Caitika, Aparasaila, and Uttarasaila Schools

The fundamental tenets of the three schools—the Caitika, Aparasaila, and Uttarasaila—maintain that:

1) Bodhisattvas have not yet escaped the lower realms.^[30]

2) Reverently making offerings to stupas and shrines does not yield great merit.

3) Arhats may still be induced by others, may still have ignorance, and so forth.

These five points, together with most of their other doctrines, agree with the teachings of the Mahasanghika school.

Commentary:

^[1] The Record of Exposition (X53n0844): They are called “shared tenets of the original school” (本宗同義) because, when doctrinal debate first began and their teachings were established, all four schools—the Mahasanghika, Ekavyavaharika, Sarvastivada, and Kukkutikavada—held identical views; hence they were called the fundamental tenets. However, after they had formed separate schools, each tradition established doctrines of its own, and those doctrines contradicted the views it had originally held when it was first established—the original views from which it came into existence.

They were therefore called “divergent tenets of the later schools” (末宗異義). Similarly, when the Bahusrutiya school arose from the Mahasanghika school, the views it held at the time of its initial establishment were called its fundamental tenets. After it had formed as a separate school, views that contradicted its original views were called its divergent tenets.

Comparing “shared tenets of the original school” (本宗同義) with Paramartha’s two translations, the expression 根本見 in T.2032 and 義本 in T.2033 both mean the original, fundamental views. Likewise, “divergent tenets of the later schools” (末宗異義), compared with 中間見 in T.2032 and 異義 in T.2033, likewise means views that arose later or views differing from the original views.

In light of the three translations above, the terms “same meaning” and “different meaning” found in the original are omitted here, and throughout this treatise they are rendered concisely as “fundamental views” and “divergent views” for ease of understanding. We shall see that both “fundamental views” and “divergent views” refer to one and the same school; these names are established on the basis of the difference in time and character between the earlier and later views, rather than indicating the differences and similarities between a branch school and its parent school.

^[2] The sound here is precisely the Brahma sound. According to the Commentary, the Buddha cultivated for immeasurable kalpas, and His merit and majestic power are inconceivable. When He uses a single sound to utter a certain word, sentient beings, each according to their own kind, naturally understand it and thereby bring the various defilements of worldly toil to an end. The Mahavibhasa Treatise, fascicle 79, says:

“The Buddha teaches the Dharma with a single voice; sentient beings, each according to their kind, all understand.

Each says that the World-Honored One speaks in their own language, expounding the meanings solely for their sake.”

The Sarvastivada does not accept this position; that is, according to them, the Buddha cannot teach the Dharma using a single sound. See the sixty-first position of the Sarvastivada below.

^[3] Drowsiness arises because the mind is distracted; dreams arise because of deluded thoughts, sensual desire, volition, and other mental factors. The Buddha constantly abides in samadhi and therefore has no need to sleep. He has also brought deluded thoughts and sensual desire to an end and therefore no longer dreams. The Sarvastivadins hold that the Buddha sleeps but does not dream, while other schools may hold that the Buddha both sleeps and dreams. Therefore, it is stated here that the Buddha neither sleeps nor dreams.

^[4] The Abhidharmakosa, 2, 47a-b, states that the collection of names 名身 (namakaya), the collection of phrases 句身 (padakaya), and the collection of syllables 文身 (vyanjana) are collective designations for ideas, phrases, and syllables. Of these, the collection of names refers to terms such as form (rupa), sound (sabda), and so forth; the collection of phrases refers to complete phrases or propositions such as: “Alas, all conditioned phenomena are impermanent.” The collection of syllables refers to syllables such as the vowels and consonants: a, a, i, i, k, p, t, and so forth.

The minds of all Buddhas constantly abide in samadhi, so they need not exert discursive thought in order to speak in the conventional manner with elegant words, phrases, and literary expressions; rather, all their Dharma teachings are proclaimed entirely through spontaneous functioning. Precisely because of this spontaneity, their speech is always sublime, lucid, fluent, and incisive. Thus, whoever hears it gives rise to joy and delight and courageously resolves to undertake cultivation.

^[5] The Knowledge of the Exhaustion of the Outflows 盡智 (Asrava-ksaya jnana), also called the direct realization of the Knowledge of the Exhaustion of the Outflows, is the knowledge that knows with certainty, in accordance with reality, and realizes the principle of the Four Noble Truths; it eliminates the afflictions associated with the outflows in the three realms and frees one from the bonds of birth and death in the present life.

Therefore, it is called the Knowledge of the Exhaustion of the Outflows. The Knowledge of Non-arising 無生智 (Anutpada jnana) is the knowledge that clearly knows all dharmas to be unborn. It is the ultimate uncontaminated wisdom that, having clearly seen and realized the Four Noble Truths, completely eradicates the afflictions, transcends the transformations of arising and ceasing, and exhausts the three kinds of outflows—sensual desire, existence, and ignorance—so that the bonds and latent tendencies will never arise again in the future.

Therefore, it is called the Knowledge of Non-arising.

^[6] These are four of the five stages of fetal development (the five stages within the womb, also called the five stages of embryonic formation). Buddhism divides the 266 days (38 weeks) of fetal development, from conception until birth, into five successive stages as follows: 1) Kalala 羯刺藍 (S: Kalala), also called Ca-la-la or Yet-la-lam, translated into Chinese as coagulated fluid or mixed impurity, is the first week after conception. 2) Arbuda 頞部曇 (S: Arbuda), also called A-bo-dam, translated into Chinese as “formation,” is the second week. 3) Pesi 閉尸 (S: Pesi), also called Te-thi or Ti-thi, translated into Chinese as coagulated mass or lump of flesh, is the third week. 4) Ghana 鍵南 (S: Ghana), also called Kien-nam or Yet-nam, translated into Chinese as firm coagulation or solid flesh,

is the fourth week. 5) Prasakha 撥羅奢厶 (S: Prasakha), translated into Chinese as limbs or branching limbs, is the stage from the fifth through the thirty-eighth week, that is, until the day of birth.

During this stage, the hands and feet begin to form, and the fetus acquires the complete bodily form of a human being.

Corresponding to the five stages within the womb are the five stages outside the womb, comprising: 1) Infancy: from birth to six years of age. 2) Childhood: from seven to fifteen years of age. 3) Youth: from sixteen to thirty years of age. 4) Middle age: from thirty-one to forty years of age. 5) Old age: from forty-one years of age until death.

^[7] Manifesting in the form of a white elephant symbolizes gentleness, pure goodness, and great majestic power without belligerence or ferocity. Other animals, such as lions, possess great power but are fierce and inclined to kill; therefore, the bodhisattva does not manifest in such forms.

^[8] Birth through the side signifies the Middle Way. One born from the head is a person of vast merit and blessings, whereas those of inferior karmic recompense are born through the ordinary manner of childbirth. The bodhisattva transcends the mundane world and clings to neither extreme; therefore, he manifests birth through the side, signifying the Middle Way. Furthermore, birth through the side transcends all ordinary defilements, such as being subject to impurity within the mother’s womb, the discharge of bodily fluids, and the suffering of childbirth. The right side symbolizes auspiciousness, for in India the right side is always regarded as an auspicious sign; therefore, the bodhisattva manifests in this way.

^[9] The Subsequent to Direct Insight 現觀邊 (S: Abhi-samayantika): the word “subsequent” means “after.” The Subsequent to Direct Insight is a kind of knowledge that arises immediately after the Path of Seeing and, in a single ksana, can clearly perceive the distinct characteristics of the Four Noble Truths. At the very moment of the Path of Seeing, the knowledge of direct insight may also arise in a single ksana and know the Four Noble Truths, but it apprehends only their general characteristics, because the afflictive obstructions have only just been eliminated and correct discrimination has not yet arisen.

The Sarvastivada and the Mahavibhasa Treatise hold that the Subsequent to Direct Insight is a kind of knowledge that arises after the three contemplations of suffering, its origin, and its cessation among the sixteen direct insights.

^[10] Defiled consciousnesses are readily understood. As for “free from defilement,” this refers to the stage of preparatory practice: when the Path of Seeing is reached, the noble path arises, and one is thereby freed from defilement. This means only freedom from defilement, not its complete termination. It may also be said that the essential nature of the five consciousnesses extends to the uncontaminated; therefore, they are called free from defilement.

^[11] Samahita 等引, or supreme concentration, is a transliteration of Samahita (San-ma-hi-da). It is the name of a kind of concentration. When one enters concentration and the mind is focused in nature, this is called Samahita. “Equal” also refers to the harmonious equanimity of body and mind. Because this state is brought forth in practitioners of concentration through the power of concentration, it is called Samahita.

According to the Illuminating Commentary on the Abhidharmakosa, fascicle 6 (Taisho 41, 124b), Samahita is present in all states of concentration, including those with mind and those without mind. It is found principally in concentrations with mind and is absent from “distraction.” It has three meanings: 1) being free from torpor and restlessness; 2) being capable of bringing forth equanimity of body and mind; and 3) giving rise to skillful means of equanimity. The Expository Commentary on the Cheng Weishi Lun, fascicle 6, likewise holds that, besides being present in concentrations with mind and without mind, Samahita takes as its essential nature the merits of the five skandhas, both contaminated and uncontaminated. Therefore, the scope of Samahita is broader than that of Samapatti.

^[12] Kuiji’s commentary reads “contentious attention” (諍作意), rather than purified attention (淨作意), and explains: disturbed objects are truly complex and difficult to subdue, and are therefore called Contentious; contention here means fault.

^[13] This refers to the fruition of arhatship.

^[14] Only wisdom applied as preparatory practice can eliminate suffering and lead toward nirvana; morality and concentration are incapable of serving as preparatory practices for eliminating suffering in the way that wisdom does.

^[15] According to Kuiji (Commentary, X53n0844), the Eighth Stage (第八地) is the stage of one progressing toward stream-entry. If one counts backward, taking the fruition of arhatship as the first, down to one progressing toward stream-entry, it is the eighth. A practitioner at this stage can pass through states of meditative concentration, enter and emerge from contemplation, and eliminate obstructions or abide in concentration, and so forth, only within a short period of time. An example is the story of the elder Anathapindika offering food. We may also translate it as: “The Eighth Stage must still pass through a long period of time,” meaning that a stream-enterer must still undergo seven more rounds of birth and death before completely eliminating the afflictions and attaining arhatship.

According to the ten stages of the shravakas, the Eighth Stage is also the fruition of once-returning (Sakrd-Àgàmin), distinct from the Immovable Stage, which is the eighth of the ten stages of the bodhisattvas.

The Treatise on the Eighteen Schools, also translated by Paramartha (T.2032), does not state which fruition the Eighth Stage represents, but it holds that the Eighth Stage is still subject to retrogression (第八退). Combined with the following three theses, this gives us a sequence of four mutually consistent theses, all discussing whether or not the fruitions of the shravaka vehicle are subject to retrogression. We may therefore translate it as follows: “The Eighth Stage is still subject to retrogression; even the dharmas of the Stage of the Spiritual Nature may be said to remain subject to retrogression.” This lengthy explanation is offered here for everyone’s reference.

^[16] The dharmas of the Stage of the Spiritual Nature (性地法) are precisely the supreme mundane dharma. The Vibhāṣā, fascicle 3, holds that retrogression remains possible from the initial generation of the aspiration up to the supreme mundane dharma. Because the supreme mundane dharma arises through many successive moments of thought, both retrogression and non-retrogression are possible. At times, one may still retrogress from the first fruition; since retrogression is affirmed here, one who abides in these dharmas of the Stage of the Spiritual Nature has not yet reached the first fruition.

^[17] - Right nature that is free from arising (正性離生), also called the noble nature that is free from arising, is translated by Paramartha as Right Concentration (正定). It is another name for the Path of Seeing, meaning that when practitioners cultivate to the stage of the Path of Seeing, they attain the true nature of nirvana; all afflictions are completely extinguished, and they become permanently free from the arising of afflictions.

According to the Mahāvibhāṣā Treatise, fascicle 3, “arising” is another name for the afflictions, or refers to the unripe wholesome roots that can cause sentient beings to revolve through birth and death; “right nature” means nirvana, or the noble path. Nirvana, or uncontaminated wisdom, can enable sentient beings to escape birth and death, and is therefore called the right nature that is free from arising.

– Fetters (結使, Bandhana) refer to those afflictions capable of binding sentient beings to deluded states, preventing them from escaping the suffering of birth and death. They comprise nine kinds: greed, anger, delusion, conceit, doubt, wrong views, grasping, envy, and stinginess. Fetters are identical in substance to the afflictions and signify bondage; only the names differ.

^[18] Uninterrupted (無間, Ànantarya) means without cessation. It is the karma created by committing one of the five heinous offenses—killing one’s father, killing one’s mother, killing an arhat, causing the Buddha’s body to bleed, or causing a schism in the harmonious Sangha—which brings about the painful result of rebirth in the Uninterrupted Hell.

There are two uses of the term “uninterrupted.” The first is the Uninterrupted Hell, meaning that those who commit the five heinous offenses fall into a hell where, day and night, they undergo myriad kinds of punishment and suffering without ever ceasing; hence it is called the Uninterrupted Hell. The second is uninterrupted karma, meaning that those who commit extremely evil offenses incur karmic results of suffering in hell without any interruption; hence it is called uninterrupted karma. Although the names differ, both refer in nature to the uninterrupted experience of punishment and suffering.

^[19] Latent tendencies (隨眠; S: Anúsaya, P: Anusaya), or the afflictions of latent tendencies (隨眠煩惱), are afflictions that cast people into a state of profound obscurity. Their activity is subtle and difficult to discern. Being associated with objects, mind, and mental factors, and mutually influencing them so as to grow stronger, they are said to increase concomitantly; because they bind people, they are said to fetter concomitantly.

There are six kinds: greed, anger, conceit, ignorance, wrong views, and doubt. These are the six latent tendencies, also called the six fundamental afflictions. Of these, greed is divided into two—sensual greed and greed for existence—making seven latent tendencies.

Views are further divided into five kinds: identity view, extreme view, wrong view, attachment to views, and attachment to prohibitions and observances, making ten latent tendencies. In addition, when their subtle and minute aspects are added to these ten, they constitute ninety-eight latent tendencies.

The Commentary (X53n0844) states: “Latent tendencies are not mind.” This means that when one is in a state of no-mind, when the mind does not arise, even if wholesome dharmas arise, one is still called an ordinary being, because latent tendencies are always present in the body. Therefore, it is said that latent tendencies are not mind. Latent tendencies are also not mental factors, because if they were mental factors, then in a state of no-mind that person would have to be a noble one, since afflictions would no longer be present.

Yet, as stated above, one remains an ordinary being in the state of no-mind; therefore, latent tendencies are not mental factors. Latent tendencies have no object: because latent tendencies are neither mind nor mental factors, they also have no object. If they had an object, the latent tendencies themselves would be mental factors.

^[20] Envelopment and bondage (纏縛, Paryavasthàna), also called afflictions arising in an inverted manner (倒起煩惱), are the bonds that obstruct the cultivation of goodness and the awakening of liberation. Broadly speaking, they refer to all the envelopments and bonds that bind sentient beings to birth and death within the three realms. More narrowly, there are three envelopments, eight envelopments, ten envelopments, and even five hundred envelopments. The Sautrāntika school calls the seeds of affliction, in their latent stage, latent tendencies; conversely, it calls the manifest activity of afflictions, in their evident stage, envelopments.

^[21] The dharma ayatana (法處), or dharma entrance (dhamrànyatanae), is one of the twelve ayatanas and refers collectively to all objects upon which mental consciousness depends. When correlated with the five skandhas, the dharma ayatana consists of feeling, perception, and formations, encompassing sixty-four dharmas: forty-six mental factors, fourteen formations dissociated from mind, non-manifest form, and three unconditioned dharmas.

^[22] Intermediate existence (中有, Antara-Bhava), also called the intermediate shade or intermediate skandha, is the consciousness-body of a sentient being during the interval from death until taking birth in another, new body. The Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 10, records: “Intermediate existence is the period from the instant after the preceding body has just died—the existence at death—until the moment immediately before taking birth in the subsequent body—the existence at birth.” This body of intermediate existence is precisely the continued existence of the “consciousness-body.” It is a spontaneously born body produced by the mind, not formed through external conditions such as semen and blood; hence it is also called the mind-made body (S. manomayakaya).

^[23] Meditative contemplation (靜慮) is the newer translation of Dhyàna (dhyāna), while the older translation is “cultivation through reflection”; it is synonymous with meditative concentration. Because the mind focuses exclusively upon a single, definite object and contemplates only that object, it is called meditative contemplation. This is the nature of mind in the Form Realm, not the mind of the Desire Realm.

Only by becoming free from the afflictions of the Desire Realm can one attain meditative concentration. “Cultivation through reflection” refers to the cause: through one-pointedness of mind, meditative concentration is attained. “Meditative contemplation,” however, refers to its essence: the essence of dhyāna is tranquil, yet it also possesses the function of discerning contemplation; therefore, it is called meditative contemplation.

^[24] Direct realization 現觀 (S, P: Abhisamaya), also called the direct realization of the Noble Truths. According to the Kosa school, at the stage of the Path of Seeing, a practitioner uses uncontaminated wisdom to contemplate the objects of the Four Truths; this is called the direct realization of the Noble Truths. The Abhidharmakosa, fascicle 23, also states: Clearly contemplating an immediately present object by means of contaminated or uncontaminated wisdom, thereby making that wisdom irreversible, is called direct realization.

According to the Consciousness-Only treatises, there are six kinds: direct realization through reflection, direct realization through faith, direct realization through moral discipline, direct realization of the truths through the wisdom of direct realization, subsequent direct realization of the truths through wisdom, and ultimate direct realization.

Because the Mahasanghika held that the mind could directly realize the Four Truths in a single ksana, it advocated “sudden direct realization.” The Sarvastivada, however, held that the Four Noble Truths are directly realized in sequence through sixteen ksanas of the mind’s arising and ceasing, producing eight receptivities and eight cognitions—the sixteen mind-moments of the Path of Seeing—and therefore called this direct realization by the mind.

^[25] The Commentary (X53n0844): The fundamental doctrine holds that the latent tendencies have distinct intrinsic entities; therefore, when the Noble Path manifests, they do not coexist within a single thought-moment. Here, however, it is held that the latent tendencies always continue to exist; thus, when the Noble Path manifests, both are present together. For this reason, it is said that the afflictions and the Noble Path arise together, because the afflictions are precisely the latent tendencies.

^[26] Other schools hold that when the seed ceases, a new sprout arises. Here, however, it is held that material phenomena undergo arising and ceasing as soon as they are formed; therefore, the very substance of the seed transforms into the sprout, rather than the sprout arising only after the seed has perished.

^[27] The Commentary (X53n0844): Dharmas that exist undergo arising and ceasing. However, because the four great elements and the six material faculties require a long period of time from their formation until their destruction, they undergo transformation and change, just as milk changes into curds, curds into clarified butter, and so forth. Mind and mental factors, by contrast, arise and cease in every ksana and therefore do not undergo a transition from an earlier state to a later one as material phenomena do.

^[28] Consciousness arises in dependence upon the faculties (the supporting bases) and objects (the objects of cognition). Although it depends upon them, it is not bound to any object or faculty previously fixed in place; rather, it constantly changes according to the faculty and the object. If the object is vast, consciousness must expand in accordance with that object and is therefore said to “extend” (shu). Conversely, if the object is small, consciousness immediately contracts and is therefore said to “contract” (juan).

^[29] Personal agency 士夫用 (S: Purusakara-phala), also called the fruit of personal agency, the personal fruit, and so forth, is the fruit produced by the coexistent cause and the homogeneous cause. Because of their power, it is called personal agency. The Cheng Weishi Lun, fascicle 8 (Taisho 31, middle of p. 42), records: “Personal agency means that an agent (person) employs various instruments to accomplish an undertaking.” The Cheng Weishi Lun Shuji, fascicle 8, holds that personal agency has two meanings: With reference to a person, it means the power by which something is formed through reliance on human effort, as in the relationship of a farmer to rice.

With reference to dharmas, it means that dharmas are formed through reliance upon instruments, as a merchant relies upon commerce or a farmer upon planting rice. This fruit applies generally to all conditioned dharmas.

Here it is held that suffering exists because of the reciprocal interaction—the interpenetration—of formations and dharmas, without the action of a person. Even when we are beaten, shouted at, and so forth by others, this is also due to formations acting in relation to one another, rather than to a person creating that suffering.

^[30] If a bodhisattva has not yet attained the stage of receptivity, the bodhisattva has not yet transcended the state of an ordinary being. Before attaining that stage, the bodhisattva has not completely eliminated the subtle afflictions and therefore remains unable to escape faults and the bonds of affliction. Consequently, this bodhisattva must be reborn in the realms of ordinary beings in order to cultivate the path; hence it is said that the bodhisattva has not yet escaped the lower realms.

CHAPTER 4

THE VIEWS OF THE SCHOOLS BELONGING TO THE STHAVIRA TRADITION

a. The Fundamental Views of the Sarvastivada School

The fundamental views of the Sarvastivada school maintain that:

1) The Sarvastivada holds that all dharmas fall into two categories: name and form.^[1]

2) The past and the future possess real entities.

3) All dharmas within the dharma ayatana are things that can be known, cognized, and comprehended.

4) Arising and aging (sickness and death) are impermanent, belong to the formation skandha, and are not associated with mind.

5) There are three conditioned dharmas and also three unconditioned dharmas.^[2]

6) Each characteristic of the three kinds of conditioned dharmas possesses its own distinct real entity.

7) Among the Four Truths, three truths are conditioned, while one truth is unconditioned.

8) All Four Noble Truths are dharmas directly realized in sequence.

9) By relying upon the two right concentrations of emptiness and wishlessness, one can enter the fixed state of the Noble Path.^[3]

10) By contemplating the formations of the Desire Realm, one can also attain the fixed state of the Noble Path.

11) Upon entering the fixed state of the Noble Path, the first fifteen mind-moments are called the stage of progressing toward the fruit (progressing toward stream-entry), while the sixteenth mind-moment is called abiding in the fruit (the fruit of stream-entry).^[4]

12) Within a single mind-moment of the highest mundane dharma, there are three grades.^[5]

13) The highest mundane dharma is certainly irreversible.

14) A stream-enterer is no longer subject to regression.

15) Some arhats remain subject to regression.^[6]

16) Not all arhats attain the knowledge of non-arising.

17) Ordinary beings^[7] can also eliminate sensual desire and hatred.

18) Non-Buddhist practitioners can attain the five superknowledges.

19) Among the devas, there are also those who live the holy life.

20) Among the seven meditative attainments,^[8] the factors of awakening can be attained in one, but not in the other meditative attainments.

21) All dhyanas are included within the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.

22) Even without relying upon dhyana, one can attain the fixed state of the Noble Path and can also attain arhatship.

23) If one relies upon a bodily form^[9] in the Form Realm or the Formless Realm, one may attain arhatship but cannot enter the fixed state of the Noble Path.

24) By relying upon a bodily form in the Desire Realm, one can not only enter the fixed state of the Noble Path but can also attain arhatship.

25) Humans living in Uttarakuru cannot free themselves from defilements; therefore, noble beings are not born there or in the Heaven of Non-Perception.

26) The four fruits of the ascetic life do not necessarily have to be attained successively, from lower to higher.

27) Once one has entered the fixed state of the Noble Path, one may also attain the fruits of once-returning and non-returning by relying upon mundane dharmas.

28) It may be said that the Four Foundations of Mindfulness encompass all dharmas.

29) All kinds of latent tendencies are mental factors, are associated with mind,^[10] and have objects.

30) All latent tendencies belong to the fetters, but not all fetters belong to the latent tendencies.

31) All the links of dependent origination are conditioned dharmas.

32) Some arhats cultivate and transform themselves in accordance with each link of dependent origination.^[11]

33) Some arhats devote themselves to cultivation in order to increase meritorious karma.

34) An intermediate-state body exists only in the Desire Realm and the Form Realm.

35) The consciousnesses dependent upon the faculties of the material body, such as eye-consciousness and ear-consciousness, may be either defiled or undefiled. They can apprehend only the individual characteristics of their objects and are incapable of discrimination.

36) Mind and mental factors all possess real entities.

37) Mind and mental factors necessarily have objects of cognition.

38) An intrinsic nature is not associated with itself, and one mind is not associated with another mind.

39) There is what is called mundane right view.^[12]

40) There is a mundane faculty of faith.

41) There are also morally indeterminate dharmas.

42) All arhats possess both dharmas of those in training and dharmas of those beyond training.

43) All arhats attain meditative concentration, but concentration is not always continuously present before them.^[13]

44) Arhats still experience the karmic results of former deeds from the past.

45) There are beings who die while abiding in a wholesome state of mind.

46) In a state of meditative equipoise, death certainly does not occur.

47) The liberation of a Buddha and that of the Two Vehicles are alike, but the noble paths of the three vehicles are each distinct.^[14]

48) The compassion of the Buddhas does not take sentient beings as its object.^[15]

49) If one holds that sentient beings truly exist, together with the notion of liberation, one cannot attain liberation.

50) It may be said that a bodhisattva is still a sentient being, because the bodhisattva has not yet eliminated all fetters.

51) One who has not yet entered the certainty of rightness that transcends the state of an ordinary being cannot yet be called transcendent or liberated.

52) Sentient beings are provisionally established only on the basis of attachment to continuous modes of existence.

53) It may be said that all conditioned formations cease within a single instant.

54) Certainly no dharma passes from a former life into a later life; only the conventionally existent pudgala passes onward.^[16]

55) If, while one is still alive, conditioned formations have completely ceased, the skandhas no longer undergo transition or change.^[17]

56) There is supramundane meditative concentration.

57) There is also undefiled initial application of thought.

58) Wholesome dharmas serve as causes of birth and death in the three realms.

59) In a state of meditative equipoise, no speech is uttered.

60) The eight factors of the Noble Path are the true wheel of Dharma; it is not the case that every utterance of the Tathagata constitutes the turning of the Dharma wheel.

61) The Buddha cannot teach all dharmas with a single sound.

62) The Blessed One also spoke words that did not accord with their literal meaning.

63) Not all sutras taught by the Buddha are of definitive meaning, for the Buddha himself said that certain sutras are of provisional meaning.

The foregoing are called the fundamental tenets of the Sarvastivada. Its divergent tenets, however, are boundlessly numerous.

b. The fundamental tenets of the Haimavata school

The fundamental tenets of the Haimavata school maintain that:

1) Bodhisattvas are still ordinary beings.

2) When a bodhisattva enters the womb, no thought of craving arises.

3) No non-Buddhist practitioner attains the five superknowledges.

4) Nor are there devas who live the holy life.

5) Some arhats can still be led astray by others, still possess ignorance, and still harbor doubt; they attain realization of the path through the aid of others, and the Noble Path arises through an utterance concerning suffering.

Apart from these, most of their other doctrinal assertions accord with those of the Sarvastivada.

c. The fundamental tenets of the Vatsiputriya school

The fundamental tenets of the Vatsiputriya school maintain that:

1) The pudgala is neither identical with the skandhas nor separate from the skandhas; this designation is provisionally established in dependence upon the conjunction of the skandhas, ayatanas, and dhatus.

2) Conditioned formations exist only provisionally and perish within a single instant. Therefore, apart from the pudgala, no dharma can continue from a former life into a later life; yet because this continuity depends upon a person, there is transmigration.

3) Non-Buddhist practitioners also attain the five superknowledges.

4) The five consciousnesses may be either defiled or undefiled.

5) If the fetters belonging to the category of “those to be abandoned through cultivation” in the Desire Realm are eliminated, this is called freedom from desire; it does not refer to those to be abandoned through seeing.^[18]

6) Patience, Name, Characteristic, and the Highest Mundane Dharma—these four dharmas can lead to entry into the certainty of rightness that transcends the state of an ordinary being.^[19]

7) Once the certainty of rightness that transcends the state of an ordinary being has been attained, the first twelve states of mind are called progress toward the fruit, while only the thirteenth state of mind is called abiding in the fruit.

There are many further differences among tenets of this kind. Because they jointly interpreted a verse but did not agree upon its doctrinal meaning, four additional schools arose from this school, the Vatsiputriya: the Dharmottariya, Bhadrayaniya, Sammitiya, and Sannagarika schools. The verse reads as follows:

Though liberated, one still falls back, Because desire arises.

Attaining the joys of “ease and rapture,” “Pleasant practice” leads to bliss.

d. The fundamental tenets of the Mahisasaka school

The fundamental tenets of the Mahisasaka school maintain that:

1) The past and future do not truly exist; the present and the unconditioned truly exist.

2) All Four Noble Truths are directly realized at one time. Upon seeing the truth of suffering, one immediately sees all the other truths; nevertheless, the Noble Truths must first have been seen for them to be seen in this manner.^[20]

3) Latent tendencies are neither mind nor mental factors, nor do they possess an object of cognition.

4) Latent tendencies differ from active fetters, for the intrinsic nature of latent tendencies is not associated with mind, whereas the intrinsic nature of active fetters is associated with mind.

5) Sentient beings have not yet eliminated sensual desire and ill will.

6) No non-Buddhist practitioner attains the five superknowledges.

7) Nor are there devas who live the holy life.

8) There is certainly no intermediate-state body.

9) Arhats do not increase meritorious karma.

10) The five consciousnesses may be either defiled or undefiled.

11) All six consciousnesses are associated with initial and sustained application of thought.^[21]

12) There is a Qi-shou-pudgala.^[22]

13) There is mundane right view.

14) There is no mundane faculty of faith.

15) There is no supramundane meditative concentration.

16) Nor are there undefiled initial and sustained applications of thought.

17) Wholesome dharmas are not causes of birth and death in the three realms.^[23]

18) A stream-enterer may also regress.

19) An arhat certainly does not regress.

20) All eight factors of the Noble Path are included within the Four Foundations of Mindfulness.^[24]

21) There are nine kinds of unconditioned dharmas: 1) cessation through discernment, 2) cessation independent of discernment, 3) space, 4) immovability, 5) the suchness of wholesome dharmas, 6) the suchness of unwholesome dharmas, 7) the suchness of morally indeterminate dharmas, 8) the suchness of the factors of the path, and 9) the suchness of dependent origination.

22) From the moment of entering the womb until death, the primary elements constituting the material faculties undergo transformation; mind and mental factors likewise undergo transformation.

23) The Buddha is present within the Sangha; therefore, making offerings to the Sangha brings extremely great meritorious results, and it is not the case that merit is gained only by making offerings to the Buddhas.

24) The Buddhas and those of the Two Vehicles share the same Noble Path and the same path of liberation.

25) All conditioned formations cease within a single instant; therefore, certainly no dharma passes from a former life into a later life.

The foregoing are precisely the fundamental tenets of the Mahisasaka school.

e. The divergent tenets of the Mahisasaka school

The divergent tenets of this school maintain that:

1) The past and future both possess real substance.

2) There is also an intermediate-state body.

3) All dharmas belonging to the dharma-ayatana are knowable and cognizable dharmas.

4) Karma is volition itself.

5) There is no bodily karma or verbal karma.

6) Initial and sustained application of thought are associated with each other.

7) The great earth endures for a long time.^[25]

8) Reverently making offerings to stupas and shrines brings only small meritorious results.

9) The intrinsic nature of latent tendencies is always present in the present.

10) The skandhas, ayatanas, and dhatus are likewise always present in the present.

The divergent tenets of this school also arose from differing interpretations when jointly explaining the following verse:

These five dharmas bind; From them all sufferings arise:

They are ignorance, greed, craving, The five views, and all karma.

f. The fundamental tenets of the Dharmaguptaka school

The fundamental tenets of the Dharmaguptaka school maintain that:

1) Although the Buddha is within the Sangha, making an offering specifically to the Buddha yields vast merit, whereas an offering to the Sangha does not equal it.

2) Making offerings to stupas and shrines brings exceedingly vast merit.

3) Although the liberation of the Buddha and that of the Two Vehicles are the same, their noble paths differ.

4) No non-Buddhist practitioner can attain the five superknowledges.

5) The bodies of arhats are entirely uncontaminated.

Apart from these, most of their other tenets accord with those of the Mahasanghika school.

g. The Fundamental Tenets of the Kasyapiya School

The fundamental tenets of the Kasyapiya school hold that:

1) Dharmas that have been abandoned and fully known do not exist; those that have not yet been abandoned or fully known do exist.^[26]

2) Karmic results that have already ripened do not exist; karmic results that have not yet ripened do exist.

3) Some formations take the past as their cause, but no formations take the future as their cause.^[27]

4) All formations cease within a single instant.

5) All dharmas of those in training have ripened results.

Apart from these, most of their other tenets accord with those of the Dharmaguptaka school.

h. The Fundamental Tenets of the Sautrantika School

The fundamental tenets of the Sautrantika school hold that:

1) The skandhas can transmigrate from a former life to a subsequent life. (Because of this doctrine,) this school was named the Transference School.

2) If one does not depart from the noble path, one can bring the skandhas completely to an end.

3) There is a root-boundary skandha, and there is a skandha of a single continuum.^[28]

4) Noble dharmas are present even among ordinary beings.^[29]

5) There is a person in the ultimate sense.^[30]

Apart from these, most of their other tenets are identical to those of the Sarvastivada school.

After Tripitaka Master Xuanzang had completed his translation of this treatise, he composed the following verses to express his intention in translating it a second time:

Commentary:

^[1] All dharmas are of two kinds: 1) all dharmas, comprising mind, mental factors, material dharmas, factors dissociated from mind, and the unconditioned; and 2) all times, comprising the three times of past, present, and future. Other schools all hold that form can encompass all dharmas. However, while the coarse material skandha can be known, the other four skandhas and the unconditioned are intrinsically subtle and concealed; without names to reveal them, they could not be known. Therefore, it is held here that all dharmas are included within both name and form.

^[2] Conditioned dharmas are threefold: according to Kuiji’s Record of the Explanation, the three conditioned dharmas are the three times—past, present, and future. Another set of three conditioned dharmas consists of material dharmas, mental dharmas, and that which is neither material nor mental. The unconditioned is also threefold: cessation through discernment, cessation independent of discernment, and unconditioned space.

^[3] Emptiness 空 (sunyata) and Wishlessness 無願 (apranihita) are two of the Three Gates of Liberation (trini vimoksa-mukhani): emptiness, signlessness, and wishlessness. The gate of emptiness consists in contemplating that all dharmas lack intrinsic nature and arise through the conjunction of causes and conditions. If one comprehends this, one attains mastery with respect to all dharmas.

Wishlessness means that, knowing all dharmas to be signless, one seeks nothing within the three realms. If one seeks nothing, one creates no karma of birth and death; if there is no karma of birth and death, there is no resultant suffering, and one attains mastery. (As for the gate of signlessness (animitta): having known all dharmas to be empty, one then contemplates that such characteristics as male and female, identity and difference, and so forth are truly unobtainable.

If one comprehends the signlessness of dharmas in this way, one departs from differentiated characteristics and attains mastery.)

It is said that, relying upon these concentrations, one can enter the certainty of the noble ones because these two concentrations encompass all four aspects of the Truth of Suffering: suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self. Emptiness encompasses both impermanence and emptiness, while wishlessness encompasses both suffering and non-self. By relying upon emptiness, one penetrates impermanence and emptiness; by relying upon wishlessness, one penetrates suffering and non-self. For this reason, it is said that by relying upon emptiness and wishlessness one can attain right concentration.

^[4] They are called the sixteen mental aspects in the contemplation of the Four Truths because each Truth has two kinds: the direct and the analogous. Within both the direct and the analogous, there are acceptance and knowledge. For example, Suffering has four aspects: acceptance of the direct cognition of suffering, knowledge of the direct cognition of suffering, acceptance of the analogous cognition of suffering, and knowledge of the analogous cognition of suffering. (The same applies to Origination, Cessation, and the Path.) Together, these constitute sixteen aspects.

The first fifteen mental moments lead toward the Path of Seeing and are therefore called “progress toward the result” (Paramartha translated this as “progress toward stream-entry”). The final mental moment—the sixteenth, knowledge of the analogous cognition of the Path—abides in the Path of Seeing and is therefore called “abiding in the result” (the fruit of stream-entry).

^[5] The foremost worldly dharma 世第一法 (Laukikagradharma) is the fourth of the four stages of preparatory practice: warmth, summit, acceptance, and the foremost worldly dharma (according to the Consciousness-Only school). The Abhidharmakosa, fascicle 23, states: “Because it is contaminated, it is called worldly; because it is supreme, it is called foremost.” The foremost worldly dharma is the ultimate and most excellent among contaminated worldly dharmas because it can give rise to the noble path and enable attainment of the path-fruit of nirvana.

When practitioners attain the foremost worldly dharma, they rely upon uninterrupted concentration to give rise to superior wisdom that accords with reality. Contemplating both apprehended object and apprehending subject as empty, they immediately realize the stage of the Path of Seeing and are liberated from the cycle of birth and death.

The Record of the Explanation (X53n0844): The three grades of the foremost worldly dharma are divided into three because they are based upon the Three Vehicles.

^[6] According to the Abhidharmakosa, fascicle 25, there are six kinds of arhat: 1) the arhat liable to regression, an arhat who, under the influence of external conditions, may regress from the attained fruit to a lower fruit, such as once-returning or non-returning; 2) the arhat given to reflection, an arhat who, fearing the loss of arhatship, constantly wishes to bring life to an end and enter nirvana without remainder; 3) the guarding arhat, one who constantly guards against losing the fruit of arhatship; 4) the steadfastly abiding arhat, one who has attained arhatship and continually avoids external conditions so as not to regress; 5) the arhat capable of progress, one capable of practicing so as to attain the stage of immovability swiftly;

and 6) the immovable arhat, one of keen faculties who, once having attained arhatship, will never regress under any circumstances.

It is precisely because of this doctrine of six kinds of arhat that the passage above states that “some arhats are still liable to regression.” Nevertheless, the treatise explains that they regress only to lower fruits, such as non-returning, once-returning, or stream-entry, and can continue practicing to attain a higher fruit. Once they attain the state of an immovable arhat, they will no longer regress. It does not say that they return to being ordinary beings like common sentient beings. This is a point requiring attention.

^[7] The original text uses the term “different birth” (異生). This is another designation for an ordinary being. The Commentary on the Sutra of Great Meaning, fascicle 1, states: “An ordinary being should properly be called one of different birth, because, through ignorance, one follows karma and undergoes its results; lacking mastery, one falls among the various destinies, where form and mind, appearance and kind are all different. Therefore, one is called one of different birth.”

^[8] Samāpatti 等至, also called Right Reception or Right Concentration Manifest Before One, is a translation of the term Samāpatti. It is the state in which all distracted thoughts cease and one contemplates and apprehends the object under observation. Through the power of concentration, body and mind are made peaceful and blissful, just as a bright mirror clearly reflects all things. The Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 28, takes the Four Dhyānas and the Four Formless Attainments as samāpattis.

Factors of awakening 覺支 refers precisely to the seven factors of awakening among the thirty-seven aids to the Path. This school holds that only seven samāpattis—namely, the four dhyānas of the Form Realm and the first three attainments of the Formless Realm—possess factors of awakening. The eighth samāpatti, the Sphere of Neither Perception nor Non-perception, and the samāpattis of the Desire Realm do not possess factors of awakening.

^[9] Paramārtha translates this as relying upon the mind of the Form and Formless Realms (依色界無色界心).

^[10] Paramārtha’s version holds that the latent tendencies are not associated with the mind (隨眠煩惱是心法。不與心相應).

^[11] This means that the arhats have fully comprehended the twelve links of dependent origination, but the paths by which they reach awakening and liberation are not identical. One cultivates by way of one link, while another cultivates by way of a different link. Hence it is said, “隨阿羅漢轉” or “隨阿羅漢多行.”

^[12] Right View 正見 (sammā-diṭṭhi) is the correct understanding of the Four Noble Truths, free from the two extremes of existence and nonexistence, and is one of the eight factors of the Noble Path. According to the Mahāvibhāṣā, fascicle 97, Right View may be divided into two kinds: contaminated Right View, namely mundane Right View, which refers to contaminated wholesome wisdom associated with mind-consciousness; because it is directed toward a wholesome path, it brings about wholesome results in the future.

The second is uncontaminated Right View, or supramundane Right View, namely wholesome wisdom associated with mind-consciousness, which even the knowledge of non-arising does not subsume, such as the eight uncontaminated knowledges and acquiescences, the eight knowledges of those under training, and the Right View of those beyond training.

^[13] This is the same as item 22 above.

^[14] The Buddhas and śrāvakas are alike in liberation, meaning that they are equal with respect to the virtue of abandonment—nirvana—but they are not alike with respect to the virtue of wisdom—the noble path of bodhi.

^[15] The Buddha’s loving-kindness and compassion are objectless loving-kindness, having no object. Whenever sentient beings suffer, the Buddhas immediately manifest in accordance with conditions to relieve suffering and bestow happiness. Yet, while relieving suffering and bestowing happiness, they do not take sentient beings as an object.

^[16] Pudgala 補特伽羅 (Skt. Pudgala), also called 福伽羅 or 富特伽羅, is translated as person, sentient being, one who repeatedly takes rebirth, or a nominal being. Because Buddhism teaches non-self, it does not acknowledge a subject that undergoes birth and death; that is, there is no real self, or ultimate pudgala. Yet, as an expedient manner of speaking, the conventional designation of a person is called a nominal self, or conventional pudgala. This item is stated in order to refute attachment to a self among phenomena and attachment to phenomena. Dharmas arise and cease in moment-to-moment continuity, and therefore there is no real entity that transmigrates.

^[17] This means that when all conditioned activities have completely ceased, the skandhas cannot pass from a former life into a later life; therefore, no dharma can transmigrate from one life to another. In item 52, this school refuted attachment to the real existence of a self; in this item, it further refutes attachment to the real existence of dharmas. Taken together, this treatise school advocates refuting both self and dharmas, maintaining that neither possesses a real entity.

^[18] What is abandoned through seeing 見所斷 (Skt. Darśana-heya) comprises those things eliminated through the Path of Seeing, while what is abandoned through cultivation 修所斷 (Bhāvanā-heya) comprises those things eliminated at the stage of the Path of Cultivation. According to the Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 2, what is abandoned through seeing consists of the eighty-eight latent tendencies eliminated at the stage of the Path of Seeing, together with the dharmas coexistent with and accompanying them.

What is abandoned through cultivation consists of the eighty-one grades of conceptual defilements eliminated at the stage of the Path of Cultivation, together with the dharmas coexistent with and accompanying them. What is not to be abandoned pertains to one who has attained arhatship and has no remaining contaminants to eliminate. According to the Mahāyāna Abhidharma-samuccaya, fascicle 4, however, what is abandoned through seeing consists of discriminative delusions and the afflictions or karmic acts produced by the delusions of views.

What is abandoned through cultivation consists of the remaining contaminated dharmas, while what is not to be abandoned consists of uncontaminated and unconditioned dharmas that are intrinsically pure.

^[19] Acquiescence 忍 (Kṣānti), Name 名 (nāma), Characteristic 相 (lakṣaṇa), and the Foremost Mundane Dharma 世第一法 (Laukikāgradharma) are the four wholesome roots for entering the certainty of the noble ones. Acquiescence means acceptance: it is the initial stage of contemplating the general characteristics of the Four Noble Truths and being able patiently to undertake the practice. Name is contemplation of the Four Noble Truths. Characteristic is contemplation of the entities signified by the Four Noble Truths. Finally, the Foremost Mundane Dharma is the ability to know the foundation of all dharmas.

^[20] The Record of Exposition states: “All Four Noble Truths are directly contemplated at a single moment.” This means that at the stage of the Path of Seeing, one immediately gives rise to a mind that contemplates the common characteristics of emptiness and non-self. Upon realizing emptiness and non-self, one comprehensively sees all Four Noble Truths;

this is contemplation of their general characteristics. Seeing the Truth of Suffering and thereby seeing all the other truths pertains to the stage of the Path of Cultivation: if, during the Path of Cultivation, one gives rise to a mind contemplating the particular characteristics of the Four Noble Truths, then upon seeing the Truth of Suffering, one can also see the other three truths, just as a single moment of mind-consciousness can encompass all five skandhas and the ten kinds of form; this is contemplation of particular characteristics.…

Therefore, the ability to see and know such differentiated characteristics at the same moment belongs to the stage of the Path of Cultivation, not to the stage of the Path of Seeing. Only after completing the stage of the Path of Seeing—having finished seeing the general characteristics of the Four Noble Truths—and proceeding to the stage of the Path of Cultivation can one see and know in this manner.

^[21] Initial application 尋 (Vitarka; Pali: Vitakka) is also called initial thought; sustained application 伺 (Vicāra) is also called investigation. These are two of the five factors of dhyāna—the five states that support seated meditation and mental concentration—comprising: initial application (Vitakka), directing the mind toward the sign of concentration; sustained application (Vicāra), keeping the mind closely fixed upon the sign of concentration; rapture (Pīti), delighting in the sign of concentration; bliss (Sukha), the peaceful and joyful feeling arising through contact with the sign of concentration; and one-pointedness (Ekaggatā), concentrating the mind upon a single point, namely the sign of concentration.

Upon attaining the First Dhyāna, which belongs to the Form Realm, all five dhyāna factors are present: initial application, sustained application, rapture, bliss, and one-pointedness. Initial application—directing thought toward the object—suppresses sloth and torpor. Sustained application—continuously examining the object—suppresses doubt.

Rapture suppresses ill will. Bliss suppresses restlessness. One-pointedness suppresses sensual desire.

Beginning with the second level of dhyāna—the Second Dhyāna of the Form Realm—only three dhyāna factors remain present: rapture, bliss, and one-pointedness; initial and sustained application are absent. Of the two subsequent levels, the Third Dhyāna possesses only bliss and one-pointedness, while the Fourth Dhyāna possesses only equanimity and one-pointedness; initial and sustained application are no longer present.

^[22] A terminal pudgala 齊首補特伽羅, meaning a sentient being who has reached the final point of birth and death, is precisely one who has attained the fruit of non-returning (Anāgāmin, translated as “Non-returner”). “Terminal” may be translated as having reached the highest point or the final point. It means the foremost point or, in other words, the final limit of birth and death (X53n0844_p0587: 齊首謂生死之首).

A practitioner who has attained the fruit of non-returning is then born in the Heaven of the Summit of Existence. As death approaches, the fetters extinguish of themselves, and the practitioner attains arhatship and proceeds to nirvana, no longer undergoing a body subject to birth and death. Nor does the practitioner return to be born in any of the inferior realms below in order to cultivate the uncontaminated noble paths and attain arhatship. Because the practitioner is born in the Heaven of the Summit of Existence, the very last realm, and there attains the noble path of liberation without being reborn in any realm whatsoever, that practitioner is called “terminal.”

Marxist philosophy mentions a term known as the limit point or nodal point, meaning that when things reach a limiting point—the final stage of a certain cycle—they must necessarily change into another state and can no longer remain in their former state. Here, the term “tề-thủ” has a similar meaning. Although it does not entirely convey the sense of a “limit point,” it means that when one attains the fruit of non-returning and is born in the Heaven of the Summit of Existence, that practitioner is regarded as having reached the ultimate limit of birth and death.

Such a being will certainly bring birth and death to an end and enter the undefiled noble path, proceeding to nirvana during that very existence in the Heaven of the Summit of Existence. Comparison with Paramartha’s version makes the meaning clearer, for Paramartha uses the term “head of time” (時頭), meaning the initial—or final—point in the temporal sequence of birth and death.

^[23] Kuiji explains that wholesome dharmas are not the primary cause; they serve only to support unwholesome karma in bringing about the karmic result of assuming a body subject to birth and death within the three realms and six destinies. Even when one is born in the Form Realm or the Formless Realm, wholesome karma likewise serves only a supporting function, because evil karma extends throughout both the Form Realm and the Formless Realm. This is opposed to proposition 52 of the Sarvastivada school.

^[24] The Four Foundations of Mindfulness 四念處, also called the Four Establishments of Mindfulness (S. Catvāri smṛty-upasthānāni), are the four bases upon which the mind is established: body, feeling, mind, and dharmas. These are four methods of concentrating mindfulness upon a single point, guarding against and preventing distracting thoughts from arising so as to realize the truth. These four practices are often extensively explained in the early scriptures: through contemplation of individual characteristics and common characteristics, one contemplates the body as impure, feeling as suffering, the mind as impermanent, and dharmas as non-self, thereby successively counteracting the four afflictive misconceptions of ordinary beings: purity, pleasure, permanence, and self.

^[25] The enduring existence of the great earth is stated in order to distinguish it from destruction within a single kṣaṇa. This accords with the explanation of the Sammitiya school.

^[26] The dharmas here are precisely the afflictions. If the afflictions have not yet been eliminated or fully known, the substance of the past afflictions exists, and thus it is said that afflictions exist. But if they have already been eliminated and fully known, the substance of the past afflictions does not truly exist, and thus it is said that the afflictions do not exist.

^[27] This argument is directed against the Sarvastivada school, which holds that present dharmas take future dharmas as efficient causes, while future dharmas in turn take still further future dharmas as subsequent efficient causes. Therefore, this school advances the position that only some dharmas take past dharmas as causes producing present effects, while some dharmas take present dharmas as causes producing future effects; no dharma takes future dharmas as causes producing further future effects. (Paramartha’s version (T. 2033), however, states: 有為法不以過去法為因。以現在及未來法為因, “Conditioned dharmas do not take past dharmas as causes; they take only present and future dharmas as causes.”)

^[28] The Aggregate of a Single Flavor 一味薀 refers to the subtle mental consciousness. This consciousness continuously evolves in an uninterrupted succession from the past into the present, and it always encompasses the other four consciousnesses; hence it is called the Aggregate of a Single Flavor. The Root-and-Periphery Aggregate 根邊薀 collectively refers to the subtle mental consciousness and the five skandhas. “Root” refers to the subtle mental consciousness, because this consciousness serves as the fundamental cause of birth and death, and through this fundamental root the five skandhas arise. “Periphery” refers to the five skandhas, because these five skandhas are interrupted and arise subsequently. These two meanings together form the expression “Root-and-Periphery Aggregate.”

^[29] This means that ordinary beings still possess the supramundane, undefiled seed through which the noble path appears; hence this statement is made.

^[30] The person in the ultimate sense 勝義補特伽羅 is the real self, for they hold that there always exists a genuine but extremely subtle self, difficult to perceive, which sustains the life faculty and directs the activities of the consciousnesses.

Here ends the Treatise on the Wheel of the Tenets of the Different Schools.