集大乘相論

Homage to Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva Mahāsattva. I now explain in brief the characteristics of the Mahāyāna. From the bodhicitta there arises the Great Compassion that accords with it, which is called all dharmas; thus one should know clearly that all dharmas are without self. Therefore I now declare this characteristic that is to be known.

Herein, what is called all dharmas? They are: the Aggregates (skandhas), the Bases (āyatanas), the Elements (dhātus), Dependent Origination, the Pāramitās, the Stages (Bhūmis), Emptiness, the Factors of Awakening (bodhipakṣya), the Noble Truths, the Meditative Absorptions (dhyāna), the Immeasurables, the Formless attainments, the Equipoises (samāpatti), the Liberations, the Samāpattis, the Preliminary practices, the Gates of Liberation, the Supernatural Powers (abhijñā), the Dhāraṇīs, the Powers (bala), the Fearlessnesses (vaiśāradya), the Unobstructed Knowledges (pratisaṃvid), the Great Loving-kindness, the Great Compassion, the Buddha's Distinctive Qualities (āveṇika-dharma), and the various fruits of the Śrāvakas.

To know clearly all characteristics—suchness, the true limit of reality, signlessness, and the dharmas of the dharma-realm: this is called all dharmas.

The Aggregates means the five aggregates. What are the five? Form, Feeling, Perception, Formations, and Consciousness.

Among these, Form is the five faculties and the five objects. The faculties are: the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, and the body. The objects are: form, sound, smell, taste, and touch.

That upon which eye-consciousness depends is called the pure eye-faculty. That depended upon by ear-consciousness is the pure ear-faculty. That depended upon by nose-consciousness is the pure nose-faculty. That depended upon by tongue-consciousness is the pure tongue-faculty. That depended upon by body-consciousness is the pure body-faculty.

Form is of two kinds: color-form (visible color) and shape-form. Color-form is: blue, and so forth; shape-form is: long, and so forth.

Sound is of three kinds: that arising from the great elements as appropriated, that arising from the great elements as unappropriated, and that arising from both.

Smell is of two kinds: fragrant and foul.

Taste is of six kinds: bitter, sour, sweet, pungent, salty, and bland.

Touch is of eleven kinds: hardness, fluidity (flowing evenly), warmth, cold, gentle motion, strong motion, roughness, hunger, thirst, and so forth. Such touches, spoken of in general, are of three kinds: agreeable, disagreeable, and that which is intermediate between these two.

Those things produced by the eye, and so forth, in this way, if differentiated according to element and according to the three times, then there are boundless subtle modes of activity, each distinct. One should know that these are a brief account of the Form Aggregate.

What is the Feeling Aggregate? Feeling is of three kinds: painful feeling, pleasant feeling, and feeling that is neither painful nor pleasant. Yet these three kinds of feeling, if differentiated in dependence upon the eye and so forth, then there are six divisions, and these in this way become eighteen. As in the lower realm, when the modes of activity are spoken of individually, then this Feeling Aggregate, if differentiated according to Element and Destiny, has boundless divisions and modes of activity. One should know that such things are a brief account of the Feeling Aggregate.

What is the Perception Aggregate? Perception is of six kinds: the modes of activity of these six kinds depend upon the eye and so forth, differentiating the objective signs that they grasp—of six kinds. The sign that is grasped is form and so forth; yet the nature of that which is depended upon cannot be differentiated. Whether differentiated or not differentiated, these are the two dharmas: Form and Feeling. Such things all arise from their own kind within the Aggregates of self. This Perception Aggregate, if differentiated according to element and so forth, has boundless modes of activity. One should know that this is a brief account of the Perception Aggregate.

What is the Formations Aggregate? It means the dharmas possessed by the mind (caitta), the wholesome portion such as Faith and so forth, and the afflicted portion such as greed, hatred, and delusion. Such mental dharmas—the modes of activity possessed by the various states of mind—proceed in dependence upon the eye and so forth. This Formations Aggregate, if differentiated according to element and so forth, has boundless divisions and modes of activity. One should know that such things are a brief account of the Formations Aggregate.

What is the Consciousness Aggregate? It is the six bodies of consciousness. This Consciousness Aggregate, if differentiated in dependence upon the faculties such as the eye and so forth, and the objects such as form and so forth, and the characteristics of that consciousness, down to the wholesome, the unwholesome, and the indeterminate—has boundless divisions and modes of activity. One should know that such things are a brief account of the Consciousness Aggregate.

As summarized above, this is called the five Aggregates.

The Bases means the twelve bases: the six inner bases are the eye, the ear, the nose, the tongue, the body, and the mind; the six outer bases are form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas. Herein one should know that: the five faculties such as the eye and so forth, and the five objects such as form and so forth, are the ten form-bases. The mind-base is the various consciousnesses. The remaining dharmas are precisely the dharma-base.

The Elements means the eighteen elements, namely: the six faculty-elements, the six object-elements, and the six consciousness-elements. Herein, eye-consciousness and so forth, when differentiated, are six, that is, there are six contacts: eye-contact down to mind-contact. The consciousness of form and so forth has three kinds of characteristic: wholesome, unwholesome, and intermediate. These modes of activity—the contacts of the eye and so forth—serve as the cause that produces the three Feelings; that is, those three Feelings arise from the contact of the eye and so forth, being six; each of these six, when differentiated, is of three kinds, namely: painful, pleasant, and neither painful nor pleasant.

Thus, spoken of in general, contact and feeling are each of eighteen kinds. As was pointed out above in the Feeling Aggregate, the modes of activity are likewise so.

Furthermore, the characteristics of earth, water, fire, wind, space, and consciousness are called the six Elements.

That which is called Dependent Origination—what are its modes of activity? It is the twelvefold dependent origination. What are the twelve? They are: ignorance down to old-age-and-death.

Among these, ignorance is the not-correctly-practicing within the firmly real dharma of karma and its fruit. Because of this ignorance, the various afflictions arise; therefore, in that which is without self, one grasps and reckons it as the Aggregates of self and so forth, and so there comes to be something obtained. Ignorance conditions formations. Formations are of three kinds: meritorious formations, demeritorious formations, and imperturbable formations. Meritorious formations are the ten wholesome paths of action; demeritorious formations are the ten unwholesome paths of action; imperturbable formations are the Formless equipoises.

Such formations as these, because ignorance is the cause, are the formations that are produced.

Formations condition Consciousness; therefore the consciousnesses—eye-consciousness and so forth—and the seeds of the fruits that are loved and not loved grow and increase.

Consciousness conditions Name-and-Form. This Name-and-Form, because of Consciousness, is the establishing of that name. Name has a place of arising; therefore the four Aggregates such as Feeling and so forth are Name-and-Form, that is, they are established in accordance with what is fitting for the name.

Name-and-Form conditions the Six Bases. Those six bases are thus established by the six Bases such as the eye and so forth.

The Six Bases condition Contact. Contact means the eye, form, and so forth, as was said before.

Contact conditions Feeling. Feeling is of three kinds, as was also said before. Herein the modes of activity of Contact and Feeling are to be known.

Feeling conditions Craving. Craving is due to ignorance.

Craving conditions Grasping. Grasping means clinging to and holding forms and so forth, giving rise to delighting action and so forth.

Grasping conditions Becoming. The modes of activity of Becoming are precisely as the characteristics of Formations and Consciousness spoken of before.

Becoming conditions Birth. That is, it is Name-and-Form that has a place where it arises. Because of that ignorance, there is the dharma of birth. The very own-nature of this ignorance also has no states.

Birth conditions Old-age and Death. Old-age means the decay and transformation of the Aggregates. Death means the disintegration of the Aggregates. The end of the dharma of birth is not real; the body obtained previously is entirely cast away. Thereafter ignorance again revolves back within the later Aggregates, increasing all the afflictions and faults. These all have as their cause the karma and afflictions of ignorance's own kind; therefore afflicted karma is produced. These three not being severed, one therefore continuously revolves and rolls on within saṃsāra.

Knowing thus, one should, by means of the real dharma, give rise to the antidote. To know clearly that the own-nature of ignorance and so forth is without self—this is the brief account of the Twelvefold Dependent Origination.

That which is called the Pāramitās—what are its modes of activity? There are ten. Among these, Giving is of three kinds: the giving of Dharma, the giving of fearlessness, and the giving with loving-kindness.

Discipline is of three kinds: the discipline of restraint, the discipline of accumulating wholesome dharmas, and the discipline of benefiting sentient beings.

Patience is of three kinds: the patience of carefully contemplating Dharma, the patience of enduring enmity and harm, and the patience of bearing suffering.

Vigor is of three kinds: the vigor of preliminary application, the vigor of utter thoroughness, and the vigor of accomplishment.

Concentration is of three kinds: the concentration that departs from faults, the concentration that draws forth, and the concentration that accomplishes its work.

Wisdom is of three kinds: the wisdom accomplished through hearing, the wisdom accomplished through reflection, and the wisdom accomplished through cultivation.

The three kinds of Skillful Means: the skillful means that departs from faults, the skillful means that rescues, and the skillful means that swiftly realizes peace and bliss.

Vow is of three kinds: the vow to accomplish one's own practice, the vow to liberate sentient beings from the bondage that binds them, and the vow to purify the Buddha-field.

Power is of three kinds: the power to bring affairs and undertakings to completion, the power to extinguish the afflictions, and the power to subdue Māra and enemies.

Knowledge is of three kinds: non-conceptual knowledge, the knowledge of impartial awakened understanding, and the knowledge that extinguishes the offenses of sentient beings.

Such Pāramitās as Giving and so forth take bodhicitta as foremost, and toward all sentient beings give rise to the contemplation of loving-kindness. Yet these Pāramitās, with respect to all worldly practices, see no characteristic of practice, nor is there anything obtained. Within the Aggregates and so forth, the transcendent is precisely the characteristic of selfless liberation. The place of true realization is contemplated according to principle.

That which is called the Stages is the ten Stages. The Stage of Joy cultivates the Pāramitā of Giving; the Stage of Stainlessness cultivates the Pāramitā of Discipline; the Stage of Radiance cultivates the Pāramitā of Patience; the Stage of Blazing Wisdom cultivates the Pāramitā of Vigor; the Stage Hard to Conquer cultivates the Pāramitā of Concentration; the Stage of Manifestation cultivates the Pāramitā of Wisdom; the Stage Gone Afar cultivates the Pāramitā of Skillful Means; the Immovable Stage cultivates the Pāramitā of Vow; the Stage of Excellent Wisdom cultivates the Pāramitā of Power; the Stage of the Dharma-Cloud cultivates the Pāramitā of Knowledge.

In such Stages as these, the dharma that is obtained is the principle of selflessness, and in all of them the loving mind without distinction is realized. Yet when such Pāramitās as Giving are cultivated, then abiding in what is obtained is the most pure of all, and the power of vow, vast and great, is accomplished pervasively, not held in common with all the Śrāvakas; therefore these Pāramitās, with respect to the characteristics of their objective supports, are without difference, because whether persons or dharmas, all depart from characteristics—all being Empty.

That which is called Emptiness is the eighteen Emptinesses, namely: the eye and so forth being empty is called Inner Emptiness; form and so forth being empty is called Outer Emptiness; the impartial knowledge that contemplates the eye and so forth, and form and so forth, is called Inner-and-Outer Emptiness. The portions of the world such as the directions and so forth, when each is examined and is empty, are called Great Emptiness.

With respect to the various differentiations, to depart from the characteristics of grasping and rejecting is called Emptiness. This Emptiness being again empty is called the Emptiness of Emptiness. When, in the ultimate meaning, one carefully examines and finds it unobtainable, this is called the Emptiness of Ultimate Meaning.

When all conditioned dharmas, such as the practices of Giving and so forth, are entirely impartial, this is called the Emptiness of the Conditioned. The unconditioned dharmas, having no characteristic of awakening-arising, are called the Emptiness of the Unconditioned. Within the dharma of Emptiness, there is not the slightest dharma that can revolve—scattered and not gathered together—this is called the Emptiness of Dispersion.

All those dharmas being without any limit is called the Emptiness without Bound. Within all dharmas, ultimately there is not a single other dharma that is not Empty—this is called Ultimate Emptiness. Such dharmas as the Aggregates and so forth, having such an own-nature, having no place of arising, and departing from the characteristic of self-grasping-and-rejecting, this is called the Emptiness of Own-Characteristic.

All dharmas being Empty without distinction is called the Emptiness of All Dharmas. Within the Aggregates of self, grasping and rejecting being unobtainable is called the Emptiness of the Unobtainable. This Unobtainable means that the characteristics of form and so forth are unobtainable, there being only the nature of karma—this is called the Emptiness of Signlessness.

Whether persons or dharmas, their own-nature being empty, is called the Emptiness of Own-Nature. Within the natures, departing from the nature of grasping-and-rejecting, is called the Emptiness of No-Nature. Because that no-nature means that, apart from the Aggregates and so forth, there is no separate, distinct nature; if, apart from the Aggregates and so forth, the own-nature arises without differentiation, this obstructing characteristic is called the Emptiness of Nature's Own-Nature.

If one differentiates in this way to the very end, then one is able to be liberated from the bondage of form and so forth, no longer differentiating further the portions of Existence, Non-existence, and bound; departing from the grasping and rejecting of the Aggregates and so forth—this is precisely the single characteristic; and the nature of that single characteristic is without duality. This being so is precisely the Pāramitā that abides in a single object.

The principle of own-nature emptiness, departing from the characteristics of conceptual elaboration—this is precisely what is contemplated by true Selflessness.

That which is called the Factors of Awakening is the thirty-seven factors of awakening, namely: the Four Foundations of Mindfulness down to the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Four Foundations of Mindfulness are: Body, Feeling, Mind, and Dharmas.

Among these, the Foundation of Mindfulness of Body is: to contemplate that the body has no existence, that it is an accumulation of various kinds yet without clinging, departing from the characteristics of grasping and rejecting—this is called the Foundation of Mindfulness of Body.

The Foundation of Mindfulness of Feeling, the Foundation of Mindfulness of Mind, and the Foundation of Mindfulness of Dharmas are also contemplated thus.

Furthermore, within the very Foundation of Mindfulness of Dharmas, if one differentiates inner, outer, and intermediate, then there are three kinds, namely: Vigor, Concentration, and Right Mindfulness. These three, mutually corresponding, are able to contemplate the most excellent bodhicitta and the various wholesome practices of the Bodhisattvas. Within all dharmas, that which corresponds to selflessness—this is the most excellent mindfulness.

Spoken of briefly in this way, this is called the Four Foundations of Mindfulness. The remaining dharmas are also to be known in this way.

The Four Right Exertions are the antidotes to the portions that are not of awakening, that is: what has arisen, to cause it to be cut off; what has not arisen, to cause it not to arise—this is called the diligent cutting off of the two portions of non-awakening that are to be countered. The portion of awakening that has not arisen, to cause it to arise; what has already arisen, to cause it to increase and grow—this is called the diligent cultivation of the two wholesome things. Spoken of briefly in this way, this is called the Four Right Exertions.

The Four Bases of Supernatural Power are: Aspiration, Vigor, Concentration (samādhi), and Wisdom. The corresponding practices in this way, the superior fruit obtained—by means of that which is obtained, one contemplates the objective support of aspiration, namely the four kinds of samādhi; yet that body and mind, departing from the various supports, abide in the perception of departing from greed, relying on tranquil stillness, having no practice that is performed. Spoken of briefly in this way, this is called the Four Bases of Supernatural Power.

The Five Faculties and the Five Powers are precisely knowing clearly all the fruit-characteristics, that is, the faculties and powers of Faith, Vigor, Mindfulness, Concentration, and Wisdom, corresponding and superior. Spoken of briefly in this way, this is called the Five Faculties and the Five Powers.

Furthermore, what is cultivated therein in this way is the two portions of awakened understanding, namely: the Stage of Warmth and the Stage of the Summit. The Stage of Warmth is the cultivation of the Four Foundations of Mindfulness; the Stage of the Summit is the cultivation of the Four Right Exertions.

Furthermore, there are two excellent portions of awakened understanding: the dharma of Patience and the dharma of the Supreme Worldly Dharma. The Stage of Patience is the cultivation of the Four Bases of Supernatural Power; the Stage of the Supreme Worldly Dharma is the cultivation of the Five Faculties and the Five Powers.

Such things as these are practiced yet without anything to be done—true and supreme. The Faculties and Powers of Faith and so forth are the modes of activity that condition the Path of Seeing. One should know that what is cultivated on that Path of Seeing is the Seven Factors of Awakening.

The Seven Factors of Awakening are the Awakening-Factor of Mindfulness down to the Awakening-Factor of Equanimity.

Among these, the Awakening-Factor of Mindfulness means to vow to benefit sentient beings and to realize awakening; the characteristic of right mindfulness manifesting without forgetting.

The Awakening-Factor of Dharma-Discernment means taking as its characteristic the resolute discernment of the own-nature of Self and Dharmas.

The Awakening-Factor of Joy means: the path cultivated by oneself, because the cause is undefiled, gives rise to joy and bliss.

The Awakening-Factor of Pliancy means: as the true dharma-nature is realized, because one departs from the seeds of the portion of non-awakening, because the action of the body and the action of the mind become pliant.

The Awakening-Factor of Concentration means: the Four Immeasurables and the vow of awakening entering the knowledge of suchness, purely a single objective characteristic.

The Awakening-Factor of Vigor means: although one contemplates the gate of merit of tranquil stillness, supreme and exalted, yet without clinging to its taste, one advances in cultivating the various practices and again has no laxity, ceasing, or resting.

The Awakening-Factor of Equanimity means: mindful of benefiting sentient beings, as is fitting to be tamed, in accordance with their practice, the various meritorious dharmas of the Pāramitās are impartially differentiated and contemplated without coming or going, because one abides in impartiality.

Spoken of briefly in this way, this is called the Seven Factors of Awakening. Practicing the Seven Factors of Awakening in this way is called the portion of Right Knowledge, and they are able to counter the modes of activity of the afflictive hindrances and the cognitive hindrances. One should know that what is cultivated by the right path is the Noble Eightfold Path.

The Noble Eightfold Path is Right View down to Right Concentration.

Among these, Right View is to know clearly that all dharmas are without the characteristic of self, to abide in impartiality, and the various inverted sufferings—these two portions are what is contemplated by the characteristic of supreme and subtle wisdom.

Right Intention means to give rise to intention without interruption, the cause of action being to realize the fruit in accordance with the vow.

Right Speech means that all words depart from false differentiation, speaking in accordance with reality.

Right Action means that what is done is without inversion, not harming sentient beings, rescuing sentient beings, and so forth, departing from the false in one's cultivation.

Right Livelihood, with pure livelihood, departs from the various wrong and false, and one cultivates oneself in what is to be cultivated and realizes it.

Right Effort means: although one reaches the most supreme station, yet one still advances and progresses, the body not wearying, the mind giving rise to courageous valor.

Right Mindfulness means that such things as the Foundations of Mindfulness and so forth are contemplated in accordance with reality, with the loving mind adorning the skillful means of one's own vow, not forgetting any of all dharmas.

Right Concentration means that the actions of the body and so forth always rely on supreme merit, abiding in non-conceptual knowledge—that is, corresponding to the characteristic of impartial meditative absorption.

Spoken of briefly, such things as these are called the thirty-seven factors of the dharma of Awakening. In accordance with the fitting modes of activity, they are here gathered together into a brief summary.