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T1593 The Summary of the Great Vehicle, Revised Second Edition

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BDK English Tripi†aka 46-III THE SUMMARY OF THE GREAT VEHICLE by

Bodhisattva Asaçga Translated from the Chinese of Paramårtha (Taishø Volume 31, Number 1593) by

John P. Keenan Revised Second Edition Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2003

± 1992, 2003 by Bukkyø Dendø Kyøkai and Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transcribed in any form or by any means —electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise— without the prior written permission of the publisher. Revised Second Edition, First Printing, 2003 ISBN: 1-886439-21-4

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 2003111530 Published by

Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research 2620 Warring Street

Berkeley, California 94704

Printed in the United States of America

Copyright

A Message on the Publication of the English Tripi†aka The Buddhist canon is said to contain eighty-four thousand di›erent teachings. I believe that this is because the Buddha's basic approach was to prescribe a di›erent treatment for every spiritual ailment, much as a doctor prescribes a di›erent medicine for every medical ailment. Thus his teachings were always appropriate for the particular su›ering individual and for the time at which the teaching was given, and over the ages not one of his prescriptions has failed to relieve the su›ering to which it was addressed.

Ever since the Buddha's Great Demise over twenty-five hundred years ago, his message of wisdom and compassion has spread throughout the world. Yet no one has ever attempted to translate the entire Buddhist canon into English throughout the history of Japan. It is my greatest wish to see this done and to make the translations available to the many English-speaking people who have never had the opportunity to learn about the Buddha's teachings. Of course, it would be impossible to translate all of the Buddha's eighty-four thousand teachings in a few years. I have, therefore, had one hundred thirty-nine of the scriptural texts in the prodigious Taishø edition of the Chinese Buddhist canon selected for inclusion in the First Series of this translation project.

It is in the nature of this undertaking that the results are bound to be criticized. Nonetheless, I am convinced that unless someone takes it upon himself or herself to initiate this project, it will never be done. At the same time, I hope that an improved, revised edition will appear in the future.

It is most gratifying that, thanks to the e›orts of more than a hundred Buddhist scholars from the East and the West, this monumental project has finally gotten o› the ground. May the rays of the Wisdom of the Compassionate One reach each and every person in the world.

NUMATAYehan

Founder of the English

August 7, 1991 Tripi†aka Project

Editorial Foreword

In January 1982, Dr. NUMATAYehan, the founder of the Bukkyø Dendø Kyøkai (Society for the Promotion of Buddhism), decided to begin the monumental task of translating the complete Taishø edition of the Chinese Tripi†aka (Buddhist canon) into the English language. Under his leadership, a special preparatory committee was organized in April 1982. By July of the same year, the Translation Committee of the English Tripi†aka was o‡cially convened.

The initial Committee consisted of the following members: (late) HANA YAMAShøy¥ (Chairperson), BANDØShøjun, ISHIGAMIZennø, KAMATAShigeo, KANAOKASh¥y¥, MAYEDASengaku, NARAYasuaki, SAYEKIShinkø, (late) SHIOIRIRyøtatsu, TAMARUNoriyoshi, (late) TAMURAKwansei, URYÁZURy¥shin, and YUYAMAAkira. Assistant members of the Committee were as follows: KANAZAWAAtsushi, WATA -NABEShøgo, Rolf Giebel of New Zealand, and Rudy Smet of Belgium. After holding planning meetings on a monthly basis, the Committee selected one hundred thirty-nine texts for the First Series of translations, an estimated one hundred printed volumes in all. The texts selected are not necessarily limited to those originally written in India but also include works written or composed in China and Japan. While the publication of the First Series proceeds, the texts for the Second Series will be selected from among the remaining works; this process will continue until all the texts, in Japanese as well as in Chinese, have been published.

Frankly speaking, it will take perhaps one hundred years or more to accomplish the English translation of the complete Chinese and Japanese texts, for they consist of thousands of works. Nevertheless, as Dr. NUMATAwished, it is the sincere hope of the Committee that this project will continue unto completion, even after all its present members have passed away.

It must be mentioned here that the final object of this project is not academic fulfillment but the transmission of the teaching of the vii

Editorial Foreword

Buddha to the whole world in order to create harmony and peace among humankind. To that end, the translators have been asked to minimize the use of explanatory notes of the kind that are indispensable in academic texts, so that the attention of general readers will not be unduly distracted from the primary text. Also, a glossary of selected terms is appended to aid in understanding the text. To my great regret, however, Dr. NUMATApassed away on May 5, 1994, at the age of ninety-seven, entrusting his son, Mr. NUMATAToshihide, with the continuation and completion of the Translation Project. The Committee also lost its able and devoted Chairperson, Professor HANAYAMAShøy¥, on June 16, 1995, at the age of sixty-three. After these severe blows, the Committee elected me, Vice President of Musashino Women's College, to be the Chair in October 1995. The Committee has renewed its determination to carry out the noble intention of Dr. NUMATA, under the leadership of Mr. NUMATAToshihide. The present members of the Committee are MAYEDASengaku (Chairperson), BANDØShøjun, ISHIGAMIZennø, ICHISHIMAShøshin, KANAOKA Sh¥y¥, NARA Yasuaki, TAMARU Noriyoshi, URYÁZU Ry¥shin, YUYAMAAkira, Kenneth K. Tanaka, WATANABEShøgo, and assistant member YONEZAWAYoshiyasu.

The Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research was established in November 1984, in Berkeley, California, U.S.A., to assist in the publication of the BDK English Tripi†aka First Series. In December 1991, the Publication Committee was organized at the Numata Center, with Professor Philip Yampolsky as the Chairperson. To our sorrow, Professor Yampolsky passed away in July 1996. In February 1997, Dr. Kenneth K. Inada became Chair and served in that capacity until August 1999. The current Chair, Dr. Francis H. Cook, has been continuing the work since October 1999. All of the remaining texts will be published under the supervision of this Committee, in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee in Tokyo. MAYEDASengaku

Chairperson

Editorial Committee of

the BDK English Tripi†aka

viii

Publisher’s Foreword

Publisher's Foreword

The Publication Committee shares with the Editorial Committee the responsibility of realizing the vision of Dr. Yehan Numata, founder of Bukkyø Dendø Kyøkai, the Society for the Promotion of Buddhism. This vision is no less than to make the Buddha's teaching better known throughout the world, through the translation and publication in English of the entire collection of Buddhist texts compiled in the Taishø Shinsh¥ Daizøkyø, published in Tokyo in the early part of the twentieth century. This huge task is expected to be carried out by several generations of translators and may take as long as a hundred years to complete. Ultimately, the entire canon will be available to anyone who can read English and who wishes to learn more about the teaching of the Buddha.

The present generation of sta› members of the Publication Committee includes Marianne Dresser; Brian Nagata, president of the Numata Center for Buddhist Translation and Research, Berkeley, California; Eisho Nasu; and Reverend Kiyoshi Yamashita. The Publication Committee is headquartered at the Numata Center and, working in close cooperation with the Editorial Committee, is responsible for the usual tasks associated with preparing translations for publication.

In October 1999, I became the third chairperson of the Publication Committee, on the retirement of its very capable former chair, Dr. Kenneth K. Inada. The Committee is devoted to the advancement of the Buddha's teaching through the publication of excellent translations of the thousands of texts that make up the Buddhist canon. Francis H. Cook

Chairperson

Publication Committee

A Message on the Publication of the English Tripi†aka NUMATA Yehan v

Editorial Foreword MAYEDA Sengaku vii Publisher's Foreword Francis H. Cook ix Translator's Introduction John P. Keenan xiii The Summary of the Great Vehicle Preface to the Summary of the Great Vehicle 3 Introduction: The Chapter Titles of the Excellent Teaching on Support 9

Chapter I. The Support for the Knowable 13 Chapter II. The Distinguishing Characteristics of the Knowable 37

Chapter III. Entry into the Distinguishing Characteristics of the Knowable 61

Chapter IV. The Distinguishing Characteristics of the Cause and Result of This Entry 71 Chapter V. The Distinguishing Characteristics of the Diverse Practices in Regard to Entering the Cause and Result 79

Chapter VI. The Distinguishing Characteristics of Learning Discipline 85

Chapter VII. The Distinguishing Characteristics of Thought Training 87

Chapter VIII. The Distinguishing Characteristics of Learning Wisdom 91

Chapter IX. The Distinguishing Characteristics of Quiescent Abandonment as a Result of the Trainings 99 xi

Contents

Chapter X. The Distinguishing Characteristics of the Excellence of Wisdom 103 Notes 121 Glossary 125 Bibliography 135 Index 137 A List of the Volumes of the BDK English Tripi†aka (First Series) xii

Translator’s Introduction

Translator's Introduction

The Summary of the Great Vehicle (Mahåyånasaµgraha) is perhaps the most representative text of the Yogåcåra school of Mahayana Buddhism. Yogåcåra, together with Mådhyamika, laid the foundation for subsequent Mahayana thinking. This text is a précis of Yogåcåra philosophy on conscious interiority. Asaçga (ca. 310-390), its author, is the principal thinker of this philosophic lineage. His work comes between earlier texts such as the Scripture on the Explication of Underlying Meaning (Saµdhinirmocana-s¥tra, Taishø No. 676; translated by John P. Keenan, Numata Center, 2000), the Maitreyan Anal y sis of the Middle and the Extremes (Madhyånta-vibhåga), and the Ornament of the Scriptures of the Great Vehicle (Mahåyåna s¥trå laµkåra), the source most frequently cited by Asaçga in his Summary on the one hand and the later work of Vasu bandhu and other commentators on the other. The Summary of the Great Vehicle presents the classic argument for the basic Yogåcåra themes on conscious interiority, attempting to reinterpret within this context the general Mahayana teachings of emptiness and dependent co-arising. The entire Yogåcåra endeavor, it would appear, is aimed at evolving a critical understanding of consciousness that would ground the Prajñåpåramitå (and Mådhyamika) insistence on emptiness within a critically understood notion of the structure and functioning of conscious interiority. It then proceeds to explain the etiology of imaginative illusion, sketch its reversal by o›ering an explanation of the nature of conversion, champion the recovered insight into dependent co-arising in terms of the converted other-dependent pattern of consciousness, and thus allow for a valid, if limited, role for language-formed, conventional discourse, both commonsense and theoretical. xiii

Translator's Introduction

Chapter I launches into the program with a lengthy discourse on the structure of conscious interiority. It was evidently a felt need at the time of Asaçga to go beyond logical attempts to deconstruct the illusion of essentialist thinking (Abhidharma) to an explication of the inner dynamic that results in both illusion and its reversal to wisdom. Consciousness is then presented not as a single inner knower looking out at external things but rather as a constant interplay between the latent container consciousness (ålaya-vijñåna), with all the defiled seeds (b∆jas) of past action, and the manifested, active consciousnesses of thinking, perceiving, and sensing, which bring to maturation those seeds and in turn plant new karmic seeds in the container consciousness—in an ongoing chicken-and-egg fashion for the duration of transmigration. Dependent co-arising denotes not only the interrelationships between things but also the structure of the mind itself, functioning as a synergy of these two levels of consciousness.

The Summary goes beyond the earlier Scripture on the Explication of Underlying Meaning in pro›ering the notion of the thinking consciousness (manas) as the locus of mistaking perceived images for realities. When converted, thinking also functions in interdependency between perceived images and insight; but in its initial appearance as defiled, images are mistaken for realities without any felt need for achieving insight into their meaning.

Chapter II moves to a discussion of the three patterns (tri sva bhåva) in which consciousness functions. The most basic is the otherdependent pattern (paratantra-svabhåva), which, in a word, is the above structure of consciousness as co-arising in an interplay between the container and the active consciousnesses and in the interplay between image and insight in thinking. The imagined pattern (pari kalpita-sva bhåva) is the failure to understand this basic structure and the consequent clinging to things as if they had enduring essences. Frozen at the presentation of images as essences, one mistakenly a‡rms the reality of things that are in their very being empty and nonexistent. All things are empty inasmuch as all the ideas that are projected in the imagined pattern are without essence. The perfected pattern (parini≈panna-svabhåva), which Paramårtha xiv

Translator's Introduction

renders as reality pattern, is the absence of imagining in the otherdependent pattern and the consequent recovery of its basic nature as other-dependent.

Chapter III treats the theme of conscious construction-only, the hallmark of Yogåcåra. It is presented not as a subjective idealism, as has at times been thought, but as a rejection of the normative value of the subject-object polarity. Asaçga rea‡rms emptiness in teaching that in nonimaginative wisdom even the theory of conscious construction-only falls by the wayside, for it is only a conceptional and language-formed explanation and not itself insight into suchness. Chapters IV to IX treat the development of the tyro bodhisattva through the perfections and stages to the full realization of wisdom. Chapter X turns to a treatment of wisdom as the three bodies (trikåya) of the Buddha, focusing in the main on the Dharma body (dharma kåya) so as to emphasize that this ultimate body is not a supernal essence floating o› in some spiritual vacuum but is itself synonymous with emptiness as a nonimaginative awareness of suchness. The other two bodies, the enjoyment body (saµbhogakåya) and the transformation body (nirmå√akåya), are also drawn into this context, and Asaçga insists that all Buddhas, whether seen in meditations in their pure lands or perceived as historical figures, are embodiments of emptiness and not objects to be clung to in mistaken devotion. The Summary has five separate translations, one Tibetan and four Chinese, those by BuddhaΩånta, Paramårtha, Dharmagupta, and Hsüan-tsang. The present English translation is taken from the Chinese translation of Paramårtha (499-569) made in 563. His translation is crucially important not only for deciphering the meaning of this most important Asaçgan text but also in delineating the history of Chinese Buddhist thinking, for it led directly to the establishment of the Chinese She-lun Tsung (School of the Summary). Para mårtha did add passages to Asaçga's text not found in any of the other translations, especially in reference to the theme of Buddha-nature. These added passages figure prominently in Chinese thinking on Yogåcåra and on Buddha-nature.

Translator's Introduction

There are two commentaries to the text: the Commentary on the Summary of the Great Vehicle (Mahåyånasaµgraha-bhå≈ya; Taishø Nos. 1595, 1596, and 1597) by Asaçga's younger brother Vasubandhu (ca. 320-400) and the Interpretation of the Summary of the Great Vehicle (Mahåyånasaµgrahopanibandhana; Taishø No. 1598) by Asvabhåva (first half of the sixth century). Many passages yield their full meaning only when read in conjunction with these commentaries. A preface is provided to the text by Hui-k'ai (517-568), who was a direct disciple of Paramårtha and worked as his amanuensis in writing down his interpretations and, truth be told, as his Chinese-language mentor. Hui-k'ai's preface is written in a somewhat florid style and is intended to recommend Paramårtha and his work to cultured Chinese gentlemen. Its Chinese is di‡cult and the English translation of it here is at times interpretive.

The numbering of paragraphs within the chapters is not present in the Chinese text but is taken from the French translation by Étienne Lamotte, one of the two Western-language works on the Summary available at the time of the first printing of this translation. Lamotte's La Somme du Grand Véhicule d'Asaçga (Mahåyåna saµ graha) 2 volumes (Louvain-la-Neuve: Institut Orientaliste, Université de Louvain, 1973), is based on the Tibetan text, and has long been the standard work on the Summary.

The Realm of Awakening: Chapter Ten of Asaçga's Mahåyåna saµgraha, translated by Paul Gri‡ths, Noriaki Hakamaya, John P. Keenan, and Paul L. Swanson (New York and Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989), consists of an introduction to the thought of Chapter X together with a translation of this chapter of Asaçga's basic text, of Asvabhåva's Interpretation, and of the three Chinese translations and one Tibetan translation of Vasubandhu's Commentary. It is meant to focus on the theme of Chapter X and to highlight the di›erences in translation in the commentarial literature. In addition, Diana Paul's Philosophy of Mind in Sixth-Century China: Paramårtha's

"Evolution of Consciousness" (Palo Alto, CA:

Stanford University Press, 1984) presents the only book-length English-language study of Paramårtha and his thought. It is a wellxvi

Translator's Introduction

researched and readable book.

At the the time of publication of this revised second edition of the Summary of the Great Vehicle, an English translation of Gadjin M. Nagao's two-volume Japanese commentary, Shødaijøron: wayaku to ch¥kai, is being done by Leslie Kawamura, John P. Keenan, Paul L. Swanson, and William S. Waldron. The breadth of Nagao's notes and the elegance of his explanations will make this work the new standard in English for scholarship on Asaçga's Mahåyånasaµgraha. It is a critical study that focuses on all the relevant materials: the Tibetan translation of Asaçga's Mahåyånasaµgraha and all four of its Chinese translations; and all translations of the two classical commentaries, Vasubandhu's Mahåyånasaµgraha-bhå≈ya (one Tibetan version translated by D∆paçkaraΩr∆jñåna and three Chinese translations, by Hsüan-tsang, Dharmagupta, and Paramårtha), and Asva bhåva's Mahåyånasaµgrahopanibandhana (one Tibetan translation by Jinamitra and one Chinese by Hsüan-tsang). Like the present translation, Nagao's enumeration of sections parallels Lamotte's for ease of cross-reference. When completed, this translation of Nagao's work will become the standard for the critical study of Asaçga's basic text. By contrast, the present text addresses itself only to Paramårtha's Chinese translation of the Mahåyånasaµgraha, and is not a comparative textual study, attempting only a faithful rendering of Paramårtha's Chinese. xvii

THE SUMMARY OF THE GREAT VEHICLE

Preface to the

Summary of the Great Vehicle

by Hui-k'ai

In a far-reaching manner, the excellent path is rich in insight, and in an impartial fashion its great compassion is conducive and inexhaustible. Its virtue encompasses living beings. Its truth is unbiased. Yet it is easy to embark on a wrong path, and bewildering illusions are di‡cult to allay. If one begins by discoursing on transcendence, then doubts cannot be eradicated. This is why [the Buddha] established the teaching and constructed the methods in accord with the character and disposition of sentient beings. Before Yao and Shun, there were only a few simple guidelines, but after Chou of Chi there were many prolix rules and regulations. Although [rules] again and again regulated the ceremonies, proposed their instructions, and led the people by means of conventional teachings, the wondrous meaning of the true and the apparent remained hidden and unnoticed. Thus the progression [of the Buddha-Dharma] lay concealed west of the Pamir Mountains, and the teaching was hidden beyond the vast [East China] Sea. From the time when the House of Han (i.e., the Han dynasty) received the mandate, [that teaching] has slowly and gradually spread eastward until in the Chin dynasty it began to grow popular. When the Liang ruled the land, it prospered and became eminent. After about half a thousand years and seven generations [in China] it has come down to the present. Kumåraj∆va led [the people] forth to the pure source and spent his entire life in spreading its fragrance. Tao-an and Seng-jui, quickening [his] fertile ideas, developed it to its highest meaning. Tao-sheng and Seng-chao, searching out their mystic words, interpreted their deepest obscurities.

Whip in hand and loosening the reins, like the billows in a rapid torrent, [people] galloped o› toward either the depths or the 112b

112c

The Summary of the Great Vehicle

shallows and became confused about what is clear and what is obscure. Thenceforth, being excessively fervent and enthusiastic, none failed to run astray in their own directions. Their grasp of the teachings of the ancients and the practices of the patriarchs followed their own dispositions, and the opaqueness of their interpretations exceeded all limit. In my heart I, Hui-k'ai, felt inadequate to assume the satchel [which contained the scriptures] (i.e., to take on the role of teacher), was embarrassed to gather my resources diligently, and [feared I might] lay out a mistaken direction for students and disciples. In sincerity I received instruction and, over a period of several years, visited innumerable places in order to study. Famous teachers were my dear friends, and I readily took their counsel. Yet in my investigations and inquiries I focused on the rustic and shallow without any hope of success. I examined the billows to trace out the source, and there was much I did not understand. I hid this [lack of understanding], my thinking exhausted itself in the literal meaning of texts, and my notions were led astray from the broad meaning. I began the mornings with a sigh and frequently became dispirited. My entire attempt was to question the way according to current practice, yet I failed to see the path. There was a Tripi†aka master (Paramårtha) from the country of Ujjayan∆. He was a brahman. His surname was Bhårata and his personal name was Kulanåtha, which, translated, means "Savior of his Family. " His discernment was profound and extensive.

His visage was superior and his intelligence conspicuous. His eloquence was disciplined and far-reaching. His spiritual practice excelled the crowd, and his enunciation of virtue bypassed the common. When young he had visited all countries and studied under a succession of masters. He had initially studied non-Buddhist texts and fully understood the profundities of these books. He retained the four Vedas in his heart and the six kinds of Vedic commentaries in his innermost mind. He had also studied exhaustively the Three Collections (Tripi†aka) of Buddhist texts. He thoroughly practiced the five classes of insight into the four truths and 4

Preface

meditation. He examined the Great Vehicle and fully comprehended its deepest teachings. Dharma Master [Paramårtha] had made himself fully conversant with the ancient texts and discerned their subtleties. In all his desires he spread the wondrous truth in the border areas and elucidated the doctrine to those who had not yet understood. Committing himself to the path, he did not shrink from long journeys. He bestrode ten thousand miles as if they were a short stroll. He crossed the four seas as if they were small puddles. In the second year of Liang-tai-ching he had just come to live in Chien-yeh, where he encountered the continual chaos at the end of the Liang. For this reason, the Dharma Master avoided the entire area, with the result that the great doctrine remained hidden and did not spread. Before he reached Chin-chiang, he turned back and went to Wu-ling. [At that time] he was not engaged in translating many scrolls, but when afterward he went to Min-yüeh, he preached frequently. The Dharma Master was magnanimous to all, his only lament being that there were few who understood his words. This is why Po-ya cut the strings of his lute [because after Chung Tzuchi died, no one could appreciate his music] and why Pien-ho wept [tears of blood because his] jade [was thought to be false]. [Like Poya, Paramårtha] was skillful in the di‡cult interpretation of subtle passages. [As in the case of Pien-ho], the rarity of his wonderful jewel was exceptional. After a long period of traveling about, the Dharma Master desired to return to his native land. Retracing his steps along the highway, he came to Fan-yü. Ou-yang Wei, of sage visage and lofty spirit, who held the post of elder statesman (i.e., he held the ceremonial rank equal to the following three o‡ces, without any specific duties), was magistrate of Hung-chou and prefect of Yang-shang and had become governor of Tung-ho. He was well versed in the classics and trained in military tactics. He supported the Way and aided the times, bringing peace to the homeless people in Pai-yüeh. He established the true doctrine in Wu-ling. He respected the noble conduct of the Dharma Master and honored his excellent discipline. Requesting that he become the Vinaya master, with full and due respect he observed the proprieties of a disciple. 5

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The Summary of the Great Vehicle

I, [Hui-k'ai], had formerly received instruction and was in some slight degree purified, but the heavy dross [of illusion] lay hidden in my heart and for a short time I had withdrawn [from instruction]. Now I repeatedly honored and cherished [Dharma Master Paramårtha] and danced for joy. Once again I desired to feed on peace and true virtue. I inquired into the Way and expressed my doubts. Although I had been diligent, attentive, and earnest and was not slow-witted or recalcitrant, I had been irresolute and, losing the course, had not committed my heart.

The eldest son Ou-yang Ho, who was magistrate of Heng-chou and prefect of Yang-shang, was noble and moderate in his actions, dignified, upright, and well read in literature and history. In a profound and far-reaching manner he attended to the essentials of governing. He was a refined man of inner depth. His purity and brightness shone forth. He revered eminence and relished the path. He had genuine faith and loved the wonder [of the teaching]. Observing all the proper ceremonies, he personally made a request of my master. The Dharma Master was pleased to receive his request and agreed to engage in translation and interpretation [of the Buddha's teachings].

Dharma Master Hui-chih, abbot of Chih-chih Temple, was unsullied in his observance of discipline and totally engaged in spiritual practice. [Although] his mind was set upon quiet seclusion, when [something] ran counter to the path, he always rose to the occasion, inexhaustible in reforming and untiring in turning a›airs around. Chung-ch'ing, the commandant of the Southern Army, was docile and intelligent in his progression in virtue. His resolution was simple and far-reaching. His excellent humor was pure and unadulterated, [sharp like] an icicle and evenhanded. He assisted in governing; and his fame quickly spread among the people. He deeply valued the Buddha-Dharma and cherished the highest truth. These two wise men, the monk [Hui-chih] and the o‡cer [Chung-ch'ing], became [Paramårtha's] patrons.

With the sun shining each morning, the next year passed in harmony, and in the third month, when spring had arrived at 6

Preface

Chih-chih Temple, Dharma Master [Paramårtha] began his translation and interpretation [of the Summary of the Great Vehicle]. He already understood its grammar and had learned the [Chinese] dialect. All its words had to be elucidated and no meaning left imprecise or unclear. My teacher would sit on his mat until dawn without sleep. I, [Hui-k'ai], was his attentive scribe who copied down just what he said, word for word, phrase for phrase, chapter for chapter. Only after he had finished his examination [of the text] and translated its meaning did we issue the [Chinese] text. This translation was very di‡cult; and it could not be rendered in elegant Chinese. When there were variant readings, we reasoned out the di›erences and then were able to determine the basic meaning, for it is not permissible to issue a text with garbled meaning. Thus the present translation is a compromise between style and substance. We present it to the monks so that they may patiently study it together. If morning and evening they exert themselves without wasting an inch of the sundial, then, in the late spring of the year they begin, the text and its meaning will both be fully understood.

The basic text is in three scrolls, the Commentary in twelve scrolls, and the Interpretation in eight scrolls, which amount to twenty-three scrolls. This treatise is an outline of the Great Vehicle. The deep and wondrous meaning of the true doctrine arises cloudlike [from it], and its pure expressions overflow like the sea. It is both profound and far-reaching. Because of it the two vehicles fade into oblivion. Broad and formidable are its contents, which constitute the course of study on the ten stages. About one thousand one hundred years after the departure of the Tathågata, Bodhisattva Maitreya reached his appointed time, descended from his spirit abode, came down, and drew near. Forgetful of self, he deigned to respond to Dharma Master Asaçga and to interpret extensively the meaning of the Great Vehicle. The name Asaçga means "Nonattachment.

" The Dharma Master

attained the unitary way and embodied its practice. He delved into the final limits of its mystery and made its spiritual reality 7

113b

The Summary of the Great Vehicle

manifest. Because he wished to disseminate its excellent truth, he decided to write down this treatise. The language of conscious construction-only is subtle. But by following it one comes to understand and clarify the wondrous meaning of the three patterns. The elegant and abiding principles that it presents direct the course for sentient beings. The basic text was composed by Asaçga. The Dharma Master's younger brother Vasubandhu, which, translated, means "Heavenly Friend,

" was born into the inferior way (i.e., the

Hinayana) but in virtue he was endowed with the seed lineage [of the Great Vehicle]. His character was lofty and his spirit quick to discern. Having been prodded by his elder brother, he meditated on the broad meaning of the Great Vehicle. Recognizing that the style of all Master Asaçga's treatises was profound and their meaning di‡cult to understand, he was concerned lest later students become confused. Therefore he composed his Commentaryin order to interpret the basic text, in which he subsumed the lesser vehicles and refuted heterodox teachings with the point of his brush. From this point until the end of the second Period of the Counterfeit Dharma, the truly universal and perfect teaching flourished and spread. I, Hui-k'ai, do not regard [his e›orts] as having been in vain. I feel concern that [sentient beings] will employ superficialities and try to sail their mustard-seed boats into the great sea. Thus I urge you to redouble your e›orts to follow in the practice of the path. [This text] brought together anew all the smallest elements [of Asaçga's teaching] to make a great bonfire and illumine sentient beings. By laboring over and carefully reading [the following text], the way of the illustrious gentlemen (chün-tzu) will not be lost. 1

Introduction

The Chapter Titles of

the Excellent Teaching on Support

1. ThisSummary of the Great Vehicleis an Abhidharma teaching on the scriptures of the Great Vehicle.

2 Standing before the Worldhonored One, Bodhisattva Mahåyånasupravi√†a, desiring to manifest the excellent qualities of the Great Vehicle, spoke in accord with the teaching of that Great Vehicle and said: "All World-honored Buddhas have ten excellent teachings, which are unequaled and unsurpassed by any other teachings.

2. These ten teachings are 1) the excellent teaching on the support for the knowable, 2) the excellent teaching on the knowable, 3) the excellent teaching on entering into the knowable, 4) the excellent teaching on the cause and result of this entrance, 5) the excellent teaching on di›erences in the cultivation of the cause and result of this entrance, 6) the excellent teaching on the moral training that depends on these di›erences in cultivation, 7) the excellent teaching on the thought training that relies on this moral training, 8) the excellent teaching on the wisdom training that relies on this thought training, 9) the excellent teaching on abandonment as the result of this training, and 10) the excellent teaching on the di›erentiations of wisdom. The teaching enunciated by the Tathågata surpasses other teachings. An interpretation of the scriptures such as this demonstrates that the truths of the Great Vehicle are the very words of the Buddha.

3. But how can the summary interpretation included herein demonstrate that the Great Vehicle is superior to other teachings? Because this summary interpretation treats ten themes that are found only in the Great Vehicle and not in the lesser vehicle. 9

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What are these ten? They are 1) the container consciousness (ålaya-vijñåna) explained as the support for the knowable, 2) the three patterns of other-dependence (paratantra), imagination (parikalpita), and reality (parini≈panna) explained as the characteristic patterns of the knowable, 3) the doctrine of conscious construction-only (vijñapti-måtratå) explained as the entrance into the knowable, 4) the six perfections (påramitås) explained as the causes and results of this entrance, 5) the ten bodhisattva stages (bh¥mis) explained as the di›erences in the cultivation of these causes and results of this entrance, 6) the discipline (Ω∆la) maintained and kept by bodhisattvas explained as the moral training within these di›erences, 7) the concentrations (samådhi) such as those of the heroic march and the space storehouse explained as thought training, 8) nonimaginative wisdom (prajñå) explained as wisdom training, 9) non-abiding cessation explained as the resultant abandonment, and 10) the three Buddha bodies of essence (dharma kåya), reward (saµbhogakåya), and transformation (nir må√a kåya) explained as resultant nonimaginative wisdom. 4

Because these ten themes are found only in the Great Vehicle and di›er from those of the lesser vehicle, we a‡rm that it is foremost. Because the World-honored Buddha has enunciated these ten themes for bodhisattvas, the ten excellent teachings of all Worldhonored Buddhas who rely on the Great Vehicle are a‡rmed to be superior to other teachings.

4. But how is it that the Great Vehicle with its unequaled presentation in the enunciation of these ten excellent teachings is the very word of the Tathågata? How can one deny that the lesser vehicle is indeed also a great vehicle? Because these ten themes never appear in the lesser vehicle or in any of its interpretative commentaries but do appear in the Great Vehicle and are commented upon therein. Furthermore these ten themes are able to elicit the highest wisdom. They are valid, consistent, and logically cogent, so that sentient beings may attain a wisdom of universal understanding. We present verses:

Introduction

The support of the knowable, its characteristic patterns, Its entrance, its causes and results,

And the di›erences in cultivation,

The three trainings, and abandonment as result, Together with wisdom are the sum of the Great Vehicle. These ten themes are found nowhere else.

Gaining insight into them is the cause of wisdom. Therefore the Great Vehicle is the Buddha's word, Because he taught excellence in these ten themes. 5. Why are these ten themes presented in the above sequence? They are so presented because in their initial practices bodhisattvas must first examine the causes of all things just as they are, and in virtue of such an examination they must engender an intelligent understanding of the twelvefold dependent co-arising. Then they must understand and analyze the basic character of what is dependently co-arisen, through the understanding of which they can separate themselves from the two extreme mistakes of imputing being where nothing exists or subtracting being where it does exist. In this manner their correct meditation will penetrate to all the characteristics of objects just as they really are. Next they must become liberated from all obstacles. Having penetrated to the true characteristics of the knowable, by reliance on the purification of their inner aspirations they must bring the first six perfections, which they have already been cultivating, to completion and cause them to be purified without further defect. Then all the perfections comprised in that inner purification must be cultivated for three eons (kalpas) in the di›erent conditions of the ten stages. Then the three bodhisattva trainings must be brought to fulfillment, after which the results of these trainings will be cessation (nirvana) and the supreme, highest awakening (anuttara-samyak-saµbodhi). This is the sequence wherein they must attain these ten understandings through successive cultivations. The Great Vehicle attains its full plenitude in such a sequence.

Chapter I

The Support for the Knowable

Section 1: Characteristics

1. It is first explained that the support for the knowable is termed the container consciousness (ålaya-vijñåna). Where has the Worldhonored One spoken of this consciousness? Where did he call it the container? In the basic verses that summarize the Abhidharma, he said:

From beginningless time this realm Is the support for all things.

Only if it exists do all the destinies exist And is there an access to cessation. 5

2. Again in the Abhidharma another verse states: The hidden ground upon which all things depend Is consciousness with all its seeds (b∆jas). Thus I call it the container

And have taught such for superior persons. These two scriptural verses express the basic structure and the name of this consciousness.

3. Why did the Buddha teach that this consciousness is named the container? Because the results of the defiled mental states of all sentient beings lie concealed and stored up in it as results, and because this consciousness lies concealed and stored up in all those mental states as their cause. Furthermore it is called the container consciousness inasmuch as all sentient beings, clinging to an image of their selfhood, are themselves contained within [the confines of] this consciousness.

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4. Scriptures, such as the following verse from the Scripture on the Explication of Underlying Meaning(Saµdhinirmocana Sutra), treat the subject:

The appropriating consciousness (ådåna-vijñåna) is deep and subtle

Constantly flowing along with all the seeds of things. I have not taught this to common worldlings,

Because they would reify it and cling to it as a self. 6

5. Why does this verse speak of this consciousness as the appropriating consciousness? Because it appropriates and upholds all the physical sense organs of sentient beings and because it is the support for taking up all the experiences of rebirth. Why is this so? Because all the physical sense organs, having been appropriated by this consciousness, do not pass away until the end of life. When it continues into new rebirths, it is able to engender and make its own their formation, for this is how the physical bodies in the six destinies are appropriated. It is thus that the bodies in the six destinies are made one's own. Because this taking up is due to the appropriating of this consciousness, it is called the appropriating consciousness.

6. It is also called mind (citta), as the World-honored Buddha has spoken of mind, thought, and perception. Thinking is here of two kinds: 1) the immediately disappearing consciousness is thought because it is the condition for the subsequent thought, which arises in synergy with it, for we consider the support for the generation of consciousness to be thinking, and 2) defiled thinking is always yoked to the four passions of belief in selfhood, self-pride, self-love, and primal ignorance. This thinking is the support for the other defiled states of consciousness.

The other six defiled consciousnesses are engendered upon the support of the first kind of thinking and become defiled because of the second. The two are called thought (manas) because they objectify external things and are able to imagine sequentially (manana). 14

Chapter I

7. How can one demonstrate the existence of such a defiled mind? [There are six reasons:] 1) If this defiled state of mind did not exist, then solitary ignorance [unconnected with any other passion] would be impossible; 2) there would be no analogy with the five sense consciousnesses, for just as these five sense consciousnesses must have their own common, simultaneous support, that is, the five sense organs, [so defiled ideas and images must have their support in the defiled mind]; 3) the root meaning of the term "thinking" (manana) would be meaningless [if there were no defiled mind (manas)]; 4) there would be no di›erence between nonconceptual concentration and the concentration that destroys thought, for the defiled mind is present in nonconceptual concentration but not in mind-destroying concentration. If this were not their di›erence, they would be identical; 5) among unconscious gods [who have attained the above concentration], there would be no belief in self, self-pride, and so on, since they would be perfected in the absence of outflows, defects, and defile ments; and 6) at all times the engendering of self-clinging occurs, in all good, evil, and morally neutral mental states. But if the defiled mind did not exist, then self-clinging and the illusions of self and its possessions could arise only with evil thought and not in good or neutral states. However, we avoid this error by allowing that the two minds [antecedent and defiled] arise simultaneously. But if one grants that illusions are activated solely in association with the six sense consciousnesses, one falls into this error. The absence of solitary ignorance; the analogy with the five sense consciousnesses;

The identity between the two concentrations; the meaningless status for the root mind;

The absence of self-clinging in states of no thinking during that period of concentration, which would issue in the absence of outflows;

The nonarising of self-clinging in all good, evil, and neutral [mental] states.

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If there were no defiled mind, the first two would not exist and the latter three would be contradicted.

If it did not exist, then self-clinging would not arise in all states.

Solitary ignorance is the illusory obstacle that causes the realization of insight into true meaning not to arise, and it occurs in all states.

Mind, although defiled, is comprised among morally undefined states, and it is always yoked to the four delusions. Being clouded and yet morally undefined, it is similar to the delusions in the worlds of form and formlessness, for the passions of these two worlds occlude quietude [although they are not morally evil either]. Such thought arises in each and every state without ceasing. 8. [Mind] does not refer to a third category apart from this container consciousness. Therefore the container consciousness comes to term in thinking and, dependent on it as seed, the other consciousnesses come to arise. 9. Why is this thought also called mind (citta)? Because it is a mental accumulation (cita) of the various seminal permeations. 10. Why did [the Buddha] not describe this mind by the terms "container" or "appropriation" in the word-hearers' vehicle? Because it belongs among the subtle objects of understanding. Word-hearers (Ωråvakas) are not expected to attain the preeminent wisdom of omniscience and thus, even though there is no mention of it among them, nevertheless their perfect [word-hearers'] wisdom leads them to fulfill their basic commitment. Thus it was not taught to them. But because all bodhisattvas are expected to attain the preeminent wisdom of omniscience, the Buddha taught it to them. Why? Apart from this wisdom, it is impossible to attain supreme awakening. 7

11. Moreover the Tathågata did present this consciousness in the word-hearers' vehicle, but in di›erent terms. In the Book of Gradual Sayings(Ekottarågama-s¥tra) he stated: "People in the world love their possessions (ålaya), delight in their possessions, cherish their possessions, and are attached to their possessions. "

Chapter I

It was in order to leave behind their possessions that the Tathågata preached the true doctrine to them. It is because they were disposed to listen, give ear, pay attention, seek understanding, and engender true e›ort that they do leave behind and eradicate their possessions, for they put into practice the Tathågata's true doctrine and follow it closely. It is because a Tathågata appears in the world that such a singular, wondrous, inconceivable doctrine as that about the fundamental consciousness is manifested in the world. In this Scripture on the Four Kinds of Good Qualities of the Tathågata's Appearance in the World(Ju lai ch'u shih ssu chung kung te ching) [from the Book of Gradual Sayings,we see that] this consciousness is already taught in the word-hearers' vehicle, although in di›erent terms. Moreover in a scripture of the Mahåsåµghika school this consciousness is presented under the alternate term of "the foundational consciousness, " for it is like the roots of a tree.

The Mah∆Ωåsaka school also teaches this consciousness under an alternate name when it explains "the aggregate that perdures throughout transmigration.

" What does this mean? That although

the continuity of material form and mind is at times severed, the seeds within the mind are not terminated.

12. Thus this container consciousness as the support for the knowable is already presented as a royal road in the lesser vehicle in the terms of appropriation, container, mind, the foundational conscious ness, and the aggregate that perdures throughout transmigration. 13. Certain other masters hold to the opinion that the three terms—mind, thought, and sense consciousness—are synonymous. But this interpretation is incorrect. Inasmuch as it has already been admitted that thought and sense consciousness refer to di›erent things, so one must understand [the term] mind also to refer to something di›erent.

Yet other masters interpret the term "possessions" (ålaya) in the World-honored One's statement that "people in the world delight in their possessions" to refer to the five appropriated aggregates (skan dhas). Yet others think that it refers to the sensations of enjoyment that accompany desire. Others think that it is clinging to a belief in 17

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The Summary of the Great Vehicle

selfhood. All these opinions are confused about this possession. When they draw their opinions from the scriptures and meditations, they do so in the context of the teachings and practices of the lesser vehicle and their proposals do not accord with true reason. If they were not confused about the container consciousness, they would agree that our interpretation that these terms in the lesser vehicle refer to this consciousness is preferable. Why is it preferable? [The term "possessions" does not refer to the appropriated aggregates because:] 1) Those who hold the opinion that possessions refer to the five appropriated aggregates should consider that for those born into one of the evil destinies filled with total pain, these appropriated aggregates are most detestable. It is not reasonable that those people would delight in such totally undelightful aggregates. Rather they constantly wish that those aggregates be severed and done away with. 2) It does not refer to the sensation of enjoyment that accompanies desire, since this sensation does not exist for those above the fourth meditation. If one had already experienced that sensation, then, when he seeks the higher realms, he will engender revulsion in its regard. Therefore it cannot be reasonably held that such persons delight in that sensation. 3) It cannot refer to belief in selfhood, because those within the true doctrine who believe in non-self negate such an attachment and engender no delight in it. Rather it is the container consciousness that is clung to as an inner self by the minds of sentient beings. Even if they are born into a destiny wherein they experience total su›ering, their wish is only that that great mass of su›ering be obliterated and done away with, for they remain bound by self-love directed toward their container consciousness. They never wish or desire to eradicate their own selves. Although those born above the fourth meditation never again delight in the pleasurable sensation associated with desire, yet they are still pursued by and not separated from their love of self in their container consciousnesses.

Likewise, those within the true doctrine, although committed 18

Chapter I

to the doctrine of non-self and opposed to belief in selfhood, yet also have self-love for their container consciousnesses. Thus this interpretation of the term "possessions" as signifying the [container] consciousness is preferable. Therefore this term is an alternate expression for the container consciousness. Section 2: Characteristics

14. Here we treat the structural characteristics of this container consciousness, which in sum are three: its defining characteristic, its characteristic as cause, and its characteristic as result. Its defining characteristic is that, relying on the permeations of all defiled states, it is the basic repository of seeds whereby the arising of those states is maintained. Its characteristic as cause means that this consciousness with all these seeds is the cause for the constant generation of those defiled states. Its characteristic as result means that this consciousness arises as the result of the beginningless permeations of these various defiled states. 15. What state is named permeation? What is the term permeation meant to signify? It is meant to signify the state, arising and passing away in tandem with those [defiled states], that is the generative cause for subsequent changes. It is like a sesame seed imbued with the fragrance of a flower. As the sesame and the flower's scent repeatedly arise and pass away in tandem, the sesame becomes the generative cause for that fragrance. If a person engages in acts of lust, he becomes permeated with lust. As his mind repeatedly arises and passes away in tandem with lust, the lust becomes the generative cause for the [lustful] evolutions of his mind.

A scholar becomes permeated with learning. As his repeated acts of reflective listening arise and pass away in tandem with his thinking, that learning becomes the generative cause for his mind's understanding. Because this permeation becomes habitual, we say that such and such persons are learned in doctrine. This same reasoning also applies in regard to the container conscious-19

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The Summary of the Great Vehicle

ness.

16. Are these defiled seeds identical with or di›erent from the container consciousness? They are not di›erent as if they were separate realities. But, although when joined [to the container consciousness] they are not di›erent from it, yet they are not identical with it either. The container consciousness arises in such a manner that when permeations are engendered, it has full capabilityto engender [defilements] as di›erent. This is why it is called a seminal consciousness. 17. How is it that the container consciousness and these defiled states are simultaneously causes of one another? It is like the light and the wick of a lamp, for the arising of the light and the burning of the wick are simultaneous causes one of the other. It is also like a bundle of reeds that remain standing because [the reeds] simultaneously lean on one another. Know then that the foundational consciousness and its permeations are reciprocal causes in a similar fashion, for this consciousness is the cause for defiled states and defiled states are the causes for this consciousness. Why is this so? Because no other cause can be found apart from these two.

18. How can permeation, which is not di›erentiated and not variegated, be the e›ective, generative cause for all things, which are di›erentiated and are variegated? It is like a garment woven with many threads; it does not have many colors but after it is put into the dyeing vat sundry patterns appear on its surface. In like fashion, at the moment when the container consciousness is permeated by a cluster of varied mental states, its one nature is not variegated. But when it is put into the dyeing vat of karmic results it takes on an incalculable variety of patterns. 19. Dependent co-arising as it appears in the container consciousness is the most subtle and most profound interpretation of dependent co-arising in the Great Vehicle.

8 In summary, there

are two levels of dependent co-arising: that which distinguishes essences and that which distinguishes the pleasurable and the unpleasurable. Dependent co-arising that distinguishes essences 20

Chapter I

means that the arising of all things is supported upon the container consciousness, for it distinguishes the essences of the causes of all the varied things. That which distinguishes the pleasant and the unpleasant is the twelvefold dependent co-arising, for it distinguishes the various di›erent causes for the pleasant and the unpleasant in good or evil destinies.

20. Those who are confused about the first dependent co-arising of the container consciousness imagine an original essence as the cause of transmigration, or think that past actions [create the present], or cling to the creative action of a creator god, or propose the self with its eight inherent qualities, or conversely claim that there is no cause at all.

Those who are confused about the second dependent co-arising imagine a self as the subject of action and experience. They are like the blind men who had never before encountered an elephant. When someone showed them one and had them feel it, some touched its trunk, some its tusk, some its ear, some its foot, some its tail, and some its flank. When asked what an elephant was, some of the blind men responded that it was like a plow handle, others that it was like a wooden pestle, a fan, a mortar, a broom, or a mountain rock. People do not understand these two kinds of dependent co-arising because they are blinded by primal ignorance. Whether they claim that the cause of transmigration is an original essence, past actions, the creative action of a god, the self with its eight inherent qualities, or that there is no cause, or whether they imagine a self as the subject of action and experience, because they do not understand the basic pattern of the container consciousness and its cause-result relationships, they are like those blind men who, not recognizing the shape of the elephant, o›ered such strange explanations. 21. In sum, the basic character of the container consciousness is maturing consciousness endowed with all its seeds. This consciousness is found in all persons in the three worlds and all the six destinies and four kinds of birth without exception. 22. As an aid to memory, this is presented in verses. 21

The Summary of the Great Vehicle

115c

All seeds, external and internal, Are undetermined in two points.

Whether provisional names or true realities, All are characterized by six qualities: Momentariness, simultaneity with results, Sequential continuity,

A determined status, dependence on causes, and Productivity of special results.

23. Stable, morally neutral, permeable, and yoked to the permeator—if unable to be otherwise permeated—this is the basic character of permeation. [These characteristics apply only to the container consciousness because] they are not associated with the six sense consciousnesses, because three [aspects of the six sense consciousnesses, i.e., support, object, and attention,] are di›erent and opposed [to those of the container consciousness], because two moments are not simultaneous, and because one would then overextend the analogy [of permeation]. 24. These external and internal seeds are causes that can bring things into being and maintain them. [For example,] they keep dried seed pods and corpses in being, for these things are destroyed only some time after [the initial causal force of the seeds has been removed].

25. [Although we spoke above about both external and internal seeds, one should be aware that] external seeds are di›erent from internal seeds. Here are verses to explain this meaning: External seeds do not permeate

[As when, for example, they are not planted], But this is not the case with the internal seeds. For it is unreasonable that

Without a permeation of learning

One should attain the result [of a learned mind], And it is impossible that

What has been done should disappear or that What has not been done should be realized. 22

Chapter I

It is in virtue of inner seeds that

The outer come to fruition.

Therefore it is the inner that permeate.

26. The other consciousnesses are di›erent from the container consciousness. They are the active consciousnesses that are present in all births and destinies. Know that they are also called the experiential consciousnesses, as taught in a verse from the Analysis of the Middle and the Extremes(Madyånta-vibhåga): The first is termed causal consciousness

And the second experiential consciousness,

Wherein the mental states of sense experience, Discrimination of names, and activity take place. 27. These two consciousnesses are reciprocal causes one of the other, as a verse from the Mahayana Abhidharma states: All mental states are stored within consciousness And consciousness within all mental states.

These two are causes of each other,

As they are always results of each other.

28. If in the first dependent co-arising, all mental states [of the active consciousnesses] and [the container] consciousness are direct causes of each other, then in the second dependent co-arising, what kind of causality is exercised in regard to all these mental states? It is that of the dominant condition [of primal ignorance]. How many kinds of causality engender the six sense consciousnesses? There are three kinds of causality: dominant condition, object as cause, and immediately antecedent causality. They arise from these three kinds of causality, for [their dominant condition] is dependent arising within the limits of transmigration, their object as cause is the dependent arising in agreeable and disagreeable destinies, and [their immediately antecedent cause] is the dependent arising of the experiencing [of those destinies]. Thus [with their dominant condition being primal ignorance] four kinds of causality are involved.

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Section 3: Demonstrations

29. The container consciousness has now been demonstrated both in its various names and in its structural patterns. But how can one be certain that it is the container consciousness that is so described by the Tathågata through these various names and in these structural patterns—that they do not also describe the active consciousnesses? If the container consciousness were to be established apart from these names and patterns, then neither defiled nor purified states would be possible, for the defiled states of passion, action, and birth, as well as states of both worldly purification and worldtranscendent purification, would not be possible. 30. Why would the defiled state of passion not be possible? Because it is impossible that the seminal permeations activated by the basic passions and the secondary passions come to term in the six sense consciousnesses. Why is this so? Let us consider the case where a visual consciousness arises and passes away in tandem with major or minor delusory passions of desire, and so on. It is this visual consciousness that becomes seeded by the permeations of delusory passions, not any other consciousness. Now after this visual consciousness has passed away, even if another [sense] consciousness intervenes, neither permeation nor a support for permeation can be found. The previous visual consciousness has disappeared and no longer exists, for it passes away and does not exist from the moment the other consciousness intervenes. It is then impossible for it to arise in tandem with existent desire, since a result cannot be engendered from an action that has been totally exhausted and has already passed away.

Furthermore, permeation does not occur in visual consciousness, even if it were to arise simultaneously with desire, and so on. Why? Because the seed does not dwell in the desire, since desire is supported by consciousness and because the continuity of desire is not stable.

Furthermore, desire in the other consciousnesses is not permeation, because their supports [which are the sense organs] are 24

Chapter I

specific to each and because the other consciousnesses do not arise and pass away in tandem with each other.

[Visual consciousness does not permeate itself because two visual consciousnesses] of the same variety cannot permeate because they do not arise simultaneously in tandem with each other. Therefore, visual consciousness is not permeated by the major or minor delusory passions of desire, and so on. It is not permeated by another consciousness of the same kind. This evaluation of visual consciousness also applies to the other sense consciousnesses. 31. Moreover, if a sentient being falls from the state of the unconcsious gods and is reborn into this lower world, then his consciousness from the instant of that rebirth is defiled by the major and minor delusory passions. But [if there were no container consciousness] his consciousness would at the time of rebirth lack seeds, for he would have already eliminated the permeations of delusory passions and their supporting [sense consciousnesses that support defilement].

32. Furthermore, when a countering consciousness has arisen then other worldly consciousnesses are eliminated. If there were no container consciousness, then this countering consciousness would arise in tandem with the seeds of the major and minor delusory passions, which is patently impossible. Why? Because its nature is liberative and because a mind without defiled outflows cannot arise and pass away simultaneously with delusory passions. Also, when after one emerges from insight into truth, [i.e., after the path of meditation that engenders the prior countering consciousness has passed into the path of vision,] and worldly consciousness arises, [if there were no container consciousness] then all the permeations of delusory passions would long since have been eliminated and a mental consciousness that had defiled outflows would arise without seeds [which is clearly impossible]. Therefore, the defilement of passion is impossible apart from the container consciousness.

33. Why is it that the defilement of action is not possible [in the absence of the container consciousness]? The member [of the 25

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The Summary of the Great Vehicle

twelvefold dependent co-arising] "conditioned on karmic formations, consciousness arises" would be impossible, and it is unreasonable to say that "conditioned by appropriation, being arises" [if the appropriating container consciousness does not exist]. Therefore the defilement of action is impossible [if there is no container consciousness]. 34. Why is the defilement of birth impossible [in the absence of the container consciousness]? Because there would be no link to a rebirth. When a person dies in a realm of nonconcentration [i.e., in the world of desire (kåmadhåtu)], he comes to experience rebirth in virtue of a defiled thinking consciousness engendered in the entire intermediary state. When this defiled consciousness is eliminated in the intermediate state, then a consciousness formed in the embryo in the mother's womb experiences rebirth. But if it is this thinking consciousness that becomes the support for the embryo, then within the mother's womb this thinking consciousness would engender another separate thinking consciousness, which cannot happen, since it is impossible for two kinds of thinking consciousness to arise simultaneously in the mother's womb. Also, thinking consciousness cannot be the [consciousness] that formed in the embryo because thinking consciousness finds its support in defilement [while the womb consciousness is undefined], because it would always have an object [while thinking consciousness is at times interrupted], and because that object would be unknown [while the object of perceptive consciousness is known]. If it is this thinking consciousness that is formed in the embryo, then either the thinking consciousness formed in the embryo is itself the seminal consciousness or another consciousness arising upon the support of this consciousness is the seminal consciousness. If one holds the former, then it becomes identical with the container consciousness, simply being the same thing under a di›erent name. If one holds that another supported consciousness is the seminal consciousness, then thinking consciousness, because it is supported and caused by another, is a supported consciousness. But it is not reasonable to call it seminal if it is supported by another. 26

Chapter I

Therefore it is demonstrated that the consciousness that is formed in the embryo is not thinking consciousness but only the maturative and seminal [consciousness, i.e., the container consciousness]. 35. Furthermore after a sentient being has been reborn it would be impossible for him to appropriate the material sense organs apart from the maturing consciousness. This is because the other sense consciousnesses all have their specific supports [in the sense organs] and because they are not stable. It is impossible to have sense organs without an appropriating consciousness. 36. Furthermore the mutual dependence between consciousness and the naming of perceptible things is like the mutual reliance of reeds standing in bundles and is impossible apart from the [container] consciousness. 37. Furthermore apart from the maturing consciousness there could be no mental sustenance for sentient beings who have already been born, because, apart from the maturing consciousness, not any of the consciousnesses of seeing, etc., have ever been seen to be able to sustain sentient beings born into the triple world. 38. If a person relinquishes this life and is reborn above in a land of concentration, it is in virtue of this scattered, defiled thinking consciousness that he experiences rebirth there. But apart from this maturing consciousness, it is impossible for that defiled, scattered mind to be the seed in that land of concentration. 39. Furthermore if a sentient being reborn into the world of formlessness (ar¥pyadhåtu) engenders a defiled but morally good mind, then apart from the seminal, maturing consciousness it would be without seed and without support, thereby rendering impossible a mind both defiled and morally good. 40. If in the world of formlessnessone engenders a mind without outflows then all other worldly states of mind are eliminated. [If then there were no maturing consciousness] then one would become extinct in that destiny.

41. If a sentient being in the destiny of neither conceptualization nor nonconceptualization engenders a mind of no outflows and a 27

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mind of nonbeing then [in the absence of the container consciousness] he would immediately eliminate both these states, because that mind without outflows is a world-transcendent mind, and neither the destiny of neither conceptualization nor nonconceptualization nor the destiny of nonbeing nor the entry into cessation is its support.

42. Furthermore when a person who has performed good actions dies he becomes cold from his head downward. But a person who has done evil becomes cold from the feet upward, [for the former is moving to a higher destiny, but the latter to a lower one]. Apart from the container consciousness, this would not be possible. Therefore apart from the seminal, maturing consciousness the defilement of birth is impossible.

43. Why is worldly purification not possible [if there is no container consciousness]? If a sentient being has not yet become freed from the world of desire with its cravings, if he has not yet attained a mind of the world of form (r¥padhåtu), then he first engenders a good mind in the world of desire and strives to be freed from that world of desire with its cravings. But the thought of applying oneself to meditation is not permeated [by any mind of the world of form], because the thought of engaging in practice in the world of desire does not arise and pass away in tandem with any mind from the world of form. Therefore the good thoughts in the world of form are not the seeds for good thoughts of the world of desire.

Past states of mind in the world of form [from previous lives] have been eliminated by other states of mind through an unlimited number of other rebirths and thus they cannot act as the seed for subsequent states of concentration, because they do not exist. Therefore it is demonstrated that the repeated influences of the seminal, maturing consciousness act as direct cause in regard to subsequent states of concentration in the world of form, while the good thought of engaging in practice acts as their dominant condition. This explanation holds for all realms that are freed from desire. Thus apart from the seminal, maturing consciousness, states of worldly purification are impossible.

Chapter I

44. Why are world-transcendent states of purification impossible, apart from the container consciousness? The World-honored Buddha has taught: "True insight arises from hearing the voice of others and reflecting within oneself correctly. " But this hearing

of the voice of others and this correct reflection are unable to permeate the ear consciousness, or the thinking consciousness, or both together, [with seeds of transcendent purifications]. Why? When a person correctly reflects on the doctrine, as heard and understood, at that moment the ear consciousness is not operative. Furthermore that thinking consciousness also becomes inoperative when other distracting and discriminating ideas are heard. If this thinking consciousness that arises in tandem with correct reflection has long since disappeared, then the permeation of hearing with its permeating energy is already nonexistent. How then could such a no longer existent consciousness be the seed for the arising of a later consciousness?

Furthermore worldly thoughts associated with correct reflection never arise and pass away together with thoughts of world-transcendent purification, which are associated with true insight. Therefore these worldly thoughts are not permeated by those purified thoughts. Having no permeating energy, they cannot become the seed for world-transcendence.

Therefore apart from the seminal, maturing consciousness, the world-transcendent purified mind is also impossible, because the permeating energies of hearing and reflecting are unable to include the seeds of permeating energy for transcending the world. 45. How can this seminal, maturing consciousness, which is the cause for impure states of mind, bring about the countering of such defilement and be cause for the world-transcendent mind? The world-transcendent mind has never been experienced [by impure beings] and so it does not permeate their minds. If it does not permeate, then please explain from what cause does this worldtranscendent mind arise? The world-transcendent mind arises because its seed is the permeation of hearing that flows from the purest reality realm. 9

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46. Is this wisdom permeation of hearing identical with the container consciousness or not? If it is identical with the container consciousness, then how can it issue in the seed to counter this consciousness? If it is not identical, then where does this wisdom seed of hearing find its support?

Until the attainment of the highest awakening of Buddhas, this wisdom permeation of hearing arises in synergy with whatever supporting ground it abides in. Therein it arises together with the maturing consciousness, just as water [is mixed] with milk. But this permeation of hearing is not itself that foundational consciousness, for it is the seed that counters that consciousness. 47. Thus middle-level permeations arise by depending on lower states of permeation, while higher states depend on these middle states, because of [the progression of] hearing, reflection, and meditation cultivated repeatedly. 48. This permeation of hearing, whether lower, middle, or higher, is then the seed of the Dharma body (dharmakåya). Because it arises in countering the container consciousness, it is not comprised within that container consciousness. Since it is an outflow from the world-transcendent, most pure reality realm, even though a worldly state, it brings about the world-transcendent mind. Why? Because even when the world-transcendent purified mind has not yet arisen from this seed, all such superior states of mind counter delusory passions and all evil destinies. Furthermore they counter the decay consequent upon all evil actions, enabling one to maintain life continuity, thus favoring the encounter with all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Although it is a worldly state, this permeation of hearing is comprised within the Dharma body as that which is to be attained by novice bodhisattvas, and in the liberation body as that which is to be attained by word-hearers and solitary enlightened ones (pratyekabuddhas). This permeation of hearing is not the container consciousness, for it is comprised within the Dharma body or the liberation body.

Chapter I

Thus as [this permeation] increases from small to middle to high, to the same degree the maturing consciousness decreases. The support is then converted. When that support is entirely converted,then the container consciousness with all its seeds is entirely eliminated together with all those seeds.

49. If this foundational consciousness arises and passes away in tandem with [the permeation of hearing that] is not the foundational consciousness, just as water is mixed with milk, then how can it be that the foundational consciousness is eliminated and that which is not the foundational consciousness is not eliminated? It is just like the haµsa(goose) that, when drinking, extracts milk from water. In a similar fashion, when worldly states are freed from desire, permeations from nonconcentrated realms are eliminated and permeations from states of concentration increase. This is how a worldly conversion of support becomes a world-transcendent conversion of support. 50. When one enters the concentration that destroys thought, it is not the maturing consciousness that leaves the body, for it has been taught that "consciousness does not leave the body. " This

is because the concentration that destroys thought is a countering not of this consciousness [but of the active consciousnesses]. 51. How is this shown to be so? When one emerges from that concentration, there is no need for consciousness again to be engendered, for this maturing consciousness continues without interruption and, apart from the time of rebirth, need not be reengendered [upon emerging from any concentration]. 52. Some persons say that the concentration that destroys thought does have thought. But this assertion cannot be demonstrated for the following reasons: because the meaning of this concentration would be lost; because [in this concentration] no recognition and no object can be established; because one would err [in implying] that this concentration is associated with good roots, since it is not associated with bad or morally neutral states; because one errs [in holding that] conceptualization and sensation arise 31

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[therein] since then in concentration there would necessarily be contact and since it would have an ability to e›ect other concentrations (but the concentration of destruction is the obliteration of these); and because one errs [in holding that] such good roots as attention and faith arise [therein].

53. [If one tries to avoid the above errors by saying that the thought present in the concentration that destroys thought does not engage in mental activities, this can be refuted for the following reasons:] because one cannot validly remove the support from that which is supported; because there are examples [to this e›ect]; because the non-universal elements cannot be [separated from the universal] elements.

54. [Not present in Paramårtha.]

55. Some think that the sequential arising of form and mind is the seed of all beings, but this is not so, for not only does it involve the errors described above, but it has further separate misconceptions. These further mistakes are that in this opinion it would be impossible for one to fall from the abode of the unconscious gods or to emerge from the concentration that destroys thought, and that the last thought of a saint (arhat) would become impossible. If [that last thought] is apart from this sequence of causes, then this opinion is not valid.

56. Therefore apart from the seminal, maturing consciousness no purified or defiled states are possible. Therefore our interpretation of this mind is demonstrated and one must a‡rm and understand it as we have explained. 57. Here are verses:

When bodhisattvas abide in good mind,

They are freed from the five sense consciousnesses, And without remainder their minds convert their supports. By what other means could they do so?

Countering cannot be the conversion of support, Because in abandonment it is absent.

One would then err in failing to distinguish

Chapter I

Cause from result in regard to abandonment.

The nonbeing of seeds or

Of their [seed-]natures [in the mind]

Cannot be the conversion of support,

Since, because they do not exist,

These two [alternatives] do not exist either, and The meaning of conversion is impossible.

Section 4: Di›erentiations

58. What are the di›erentiations of this container consciousness? In sum there are three or four. There are the three di›erent kinds of permeation: those of language, of belief in selfhood, and of the members of [the chain of] being.

59. There are also the four varieties: the projection of rebirth, its maturation, its referent, and its character. The projection of rebirth means that permeation arises anew, for if it did not it would be impossible for consciousness to arise conditionally upon karmic formations, or for being to arise conditioned upon appropriation. Its maturation means that in virtue of those karmic formations, those beings mature in the six destinies, for without this it would be impossible for any being who had experienced rebirth to be reborn at a later time. Its referent signifies that within the mind there is an image that engenders self-clinging, for without this, clinging to an image of self would be impossible. Its character means that this consciousness has a common character and a specific character, a seed-character as engendering the non-sensible and a seed-character as engendering the sensible. 60. Its common character is the seed of the physical world [that is common to all]. Its specific character is as the seed within each individual. Also its common character is as the seed for the engendering of the non-sensible and its specific character is as the seed for the engendering of the sensible.

When its counteragent arises, that which is countered and eliminated is its specific character, while true insight is purified, 33

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supported upon a consciousness of the common seeds and others' discriminations. It is just as a practitioner of meditation may take di›erent attitudes toward the same object and as many ways of examining things as are established in accord with their mental [dispositions]. We present verses:

That which is di‡cult to eliminate and know Is termed the common entanglements.

The thoughts of practitioners of meditation di›er, For the vastness of images forms the external world. Even though [the external world] is not eliminated, For purified persons therein insight is purified. The perfection of the purified Buddha lands Is due to the purity of Buddha insight. Here is another verse:

It can be established that practitioners of meditation Have sundry attitudes and insights

In regard to the same thing,

Because they are formed in accord

With their mental dispositions.

Because many insights are established, That which is apprehended is conscious construction-only. This foundational consciousness as specific is the seed for engendering a sensation of intelligent beings, for otherwise there would be no cause for the engendering of the sentient world. The common container consciousness as common is the seed for engendering the non-sensible [world], for otherwise there would be no cause for the arising of the physical, receptacle world. 10

61. Furthermore there is a sluggish aspect and a lucid aspect to this [container] consciousness. Consciousness as sluggish refers to the seeds of the major and minor delusory passions. Consciousness as lucid refers to the seeds of all good states with outflows. If these two were absent, one could not establish any di›erence between minds 34

Chapter I

that have superior capabilities and those that do not have superior capabilities, both of which are the results of previous actions. Also there are two kinds of foundational consciousness: finished and not finished. Its character as finished is this consciousness as seed for the good and evil destinies that have already matured as results. Its character as not yet finished is its nature as the seed of language permeation, for from unlimited time it is the seed that engenders fabrication. Without this consciousness, the experience of the final, causal maturation of good or evil actions and omissions and the arising of new language permeations would both be impossible.

Furthermore it has a pattern of resemblance, for consciousness is like a magic trick, a mirage, a dream, or an optical illusion. This primary consciousness resembles these things. If this were not so, then this consciousness, as the seed for unreal imagining, could not be established as the cause of error.

Furthermore it is described as total and not total. It is total inasmuch as it is yoked to all the bonds of sentient beings. When one attains worldly liberation from desire, then that bondage is loosened. For adepts, word-hearers, and all the bodhisattvas, it is in part destroyed and eliminated, while for saints, solitary enlightened ones, and Tathågatas, it is totally destroyed and eliminated. This is because saints and solitary enlightened ones have destroyed only the obstacle of delusory passion, while Tathågatas have destroyed both the obstacle of delusory passion and the obstacle to wisdom. Without this [consciousness], this gradual destruction of passion would be impossible.

62. For what reason is [consciousness that] matures both good and evil states itself not occluded and not defined? There is no contradiction between the morally neutral nature [of the container consciousness] and the simultaneity of good and evil states. It is rather the good and evil that are in mutual opposition. If maturation itself were good or evil, then there would be no way to attain liberation from passion. And since there would be no way to engen-35

The Summary of the Great Vehicle

der either goodness or passion, there could be no liberation and no bondage, for these two [qualities of being not occluded and not defined] would not exist. Therefore the maturing consciousness is certainly not occluded and not defined.

Nguồn: BDK America — English Tripiṭaka (bdkamerica.org).