Commentary on the Samādhi Meditation Sūtra
Chapter 5: The Dharma Gate for Treating Delusion
Original text: 若愚痴偏多。当学三种思惟法门。或初习行。或已习行。或久习行。若初习行当教言。生缘老死。无明缘行。如是思惟。不令外念。外念诸缘。摄之令还。
Explanation: If delusion is predominant, one should cultivate the three kinds of contemplation dharma gates. Among those with predominant delusion, there are those who are just beginning to practice, those who have already practiced for some time, and those who have practiced for a long time. If one is a beginner, one should teach him the dharma gate of the twelve links of dependent origination, such as "birth conditions aging-and-death" and "ignorance conditions volitional formations (avidyā-pratyayāḥ saṃskārāḥ)," guiding him to contemplate, letting him realize that the faults of life can produce the suffering of aging and death, and that the faults of ignorance can give rise to all karmic formations, thereby transmigrating through birth and death. Relying on such contemplation, do not let the mind chase outward after objects; if the mind's thoughts shift and scatter, gather them back and restrain them.
Ignorance conditions volitional formations: because the manas has ignorance, not knowing the ultimate reality of the dharmadhātu and being unwilling to abide in tranquil thusness (tathatā), it gives rise to the intent to greedily seek outward; the Ālayavijñāna, in accordance with the manas's ignorance, produces the mental formations of the manas, and the manas's mind becomes restless and agitated, wanting to grasp the dharmas of the three realms as well as the body and mind of the five aggregates, wanting to have bodily, verbal, and mental actions.
Birth conditions aging-and-death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress (śoka-parideva-duḥkha-daurmanasyopāyāsa): because the body of the five aggregates is by nature subject to arising, ceasing, and illusory transformation, after birth the Ālayavijñāna holds and sustains it, continuously outputting the seeds of the four great elements, letting the material body continuously grow, gradually age, and finally die. Within this process there will be immeasurable suffering of birth and death, with endless sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress. These sufferings of birth, aging, sickness, and death are all born of the Ālayavijñāna in dependence on conditions; the root is still the grasping nature (upādāna) of the manas, as well as the manas's craving; only by extinguishing the manas's craving can all feelings of suffering be extinguished.
Original text: 若已习行当教言。行缘识。识缘名色。名色缘六入。六入缘触。触缘受。受缘爱。爱缘取。取缘有。如是思惟。不令外念。外念诸缘。摄之令还。
Explanation: If one has practiced for some time, one should teach him to cultivate the links within the twelve links of dependent origination: volitional formations condition consciousness, consciousness conditions name-and-form, name-and-form conditions the six sense bases (ṣaḍāyatana), the six sense bases condition contact, contact conditions feeling, feeling conditions craving, craving conditions grasping, grasping conditions existence. Contemplate each one in order, not letting the mind chase outward and scatter; if the mind scatters, gather the mind back and contemplate with single-pointed focus.
Volitional formations condition consciousness: due to the manas's restless agitation and its mental formations of seeking outward, the Ālayavijñāna satisfies the manas's mental factor of volition (cetanā), producing the six consciousnesses, letting the manas use the six consciousnesses to accomplish its own wishes and create all bodily, verbal, and mental actions.
Consciousness conditions name-and-form: because the manas's mental formations are continuous and the six consciousnesses' bodily, verbal, and mental actions are continuous, the Ālayavijñāna will automatically store the karmic seeds, thereby planting the seeds for rebirth in future lives. At the time of death, the manas's mental formations being unceasing and seeking a body of the five aggregates, the Ālayavijñāna will produce an intermediate body (antarābhava). In the intermediate state, the manas is not satisfied with the temporary material body and wants a body of the five aggregates for the next life; when the conditions of father and mother are complete, the Ālayavijñāna follows the manas into the womb, and name-and-form comes into being.
Name-and-form conditions the six sense bases: after the name-and-form—the fertilized egg—is formed, the Ālayavijñāna, in accordance with the manas's perception of a body of the five aggregates, continuously transforms and fashions the material body according to the karmic seeds and karmic conditions; the eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, and tongue faculty grow upon the material body, and the body faculty also continuously grows and matures; thus the five faculties are created by the Ālayavijñāna, and together with the manas, the six sense bases are complete.
The six sense bases condition contact: after the conditions of the six sense bases are complete, because the manas wants to perceive the six sense objects, the Ālayavijñāna transmits the external six sense objects through the five faculties into the five supreme faculties (indriya); the six faculties then make contact with the six sense objects, and this contact is also produced by the Ālayavijñāna.
Contact conditions feeling: when the six faculties can contact the six sense objects and the manas wants to discern the six sense objects, the Ālayavijñāna will produce the ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue consciousness, body consciousness, and mind consciousness to jointly discern the realms of the six sense objects (in the mother's womb, the eye consciousness cannot yet be produced to see forms). Thus the six consciousnesses have experiential feelings toward the six sense objects—all three feelings of suffering, pleasure, and neither-suffering-nor-pleasure are present; the manas also has its own feeling therein, and these feelings are also born of the Ālayavijñāna.
Feeling conditions craving: because of the three feelings of the six consciousnesses, the manas has its own feeling based on the feelings of the six consciousnesses; it also has feelings when it itself contacts the sense-object realms—either the pleasurable feeling accompanied by craving, or the suffering feeling of aversion and rejection, or neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā). Because of these feelings, craving arises, especially the manas's craving; based on this, the Ālayavijñāna can produce all subsequent bodily, verbal, and mental actions, producing more dharmas. The feelings of the six consciousnesses and the feeling of the manas are all produced by the Ālayavijñāna outputting consciousness seeds; the craving of the six consciousnesses is also produced by the Ālayavijñāna outputting consciousness seeds; especially the manas's craving is born of the Ālayavijñāna conditioned upon the manas's feeling.
Craving conditions grasping: because the manas has craving, the nature of grasping (upādāna) arises, wanting to possess and grasp the myriad dharmas of the three realms and the six sense objects. This grasping nature is also produced by the Ālayavijñāna outputting consciousness seeds; apart from the Ālayavijñāna there would be no manas, let alone the manas's feeling, craving, and grasping nature.
Grasping conditions existence: due to the manas's grasping of the myriad dharmas of the three realms, the Ālayavijñāna, in accordance with the manas's mental formations, continuously produces all the dharmas of the three-realm world. Existence conditions birth: after the dharmas of the three-realm world are produced, the living environment for the body of the five aggregates is complete, and thus the Ālayavijñāna will give birth to the body of the five aggregates.
Original text: 若久习行当教言。无明缘行。行缘识。识缘名色。名色缘六入。六入缘触。触缘受。受缘爱。爱缘取。取缘有。有缘生。生缘老死。如是思惟不令外念。外念诸缘。摄之令还。
问曰。一切智人是有明。一切愚人是无明。是中云何无明。答曰。无明名一切不知。此中无明能造后世有。有者无。无者有。弃诸善。取诸恶。破实相。着虚妄。
Explanation: If one has practiced for a long time, one should teach him: ignorance conditions volitional formations, volitional formations condition consciousness, consciousness conditions name-and-form, name-and-form conditions the six sense bases, the six sense bases condition contact, contact conditions feeling, feeling conditions craving, craving conditions grasping, grasping conditions existence, existence conditions birth, birth conditions aging-and-death. All twelve links of birth and death should be contemplated carefully, not letting the mind flow outward and scatter; if the mind scatters and chases after external objects, restrain it and bring it back.
Someone asks: all wise ones have illumination (vidyā), and all foolish people have ignorance—what is ignorance here? The answer: ignorance means not knowing all matters and principles; ignorance can induce the birth of the three-realm world in future lives, so that future lives never cease; ignorance means that the wisdom one should have is absent, while the ignorance and afflictions one should not have exist; it abandons all wholesome dharmas and takes up unwholesome dharmas; it rejects the ultimate reality, being foolish regarding the ultimate reality, and clings to false and illusory marks.
Original text: 如无明相品中说：
不明白益法 不知道德业
而作结使因 如火钻燧生
恶法而心着 远弃于善法
夺众生明贼 去来明亦劫
常乐我净想 计于五阴中
苦习尽道法 亦复不能知
种种恼险道 盲人入中行
烦恼故业集 业故苦流回
不应取而取 应取而反弃
驰闇逐非道 蹴株而躄地
有目而无慧 其喻亦如是
是因缘灭故 智明如日出
Explanation: As said in the chapter on the characteristics of ignorance: not understanding the dharmas that are pure and beneficial, and not knowing what morally virtuous karmic actions are, therefore the bonds of ignorance arise, just as fire is produced when fire is struck from flint. When the mind attaches to unwholesome dharmas, it will cast wholesome dharmas far away and abandon them. This is the thief that robs sentient beings of their mental illumination; once ignorance arrives, illumination is stolen away. Taking the five aggregates to be permanent, blissful, self, and pure—eternally existing, pure and delightful, the true self—such inverted ideation is the bond of ignorance; even the Four Noble Truths of suffering, its origin, cessation, and the path are not known. It is like a blind person traveling into various perilous paths: because of afflictions, karmic formations continuously accumulate; because of afflictive karma, the wheel of the suffering of birth and death turns without cease. What should not be grasped is grasped, and what should be taken up is abandoned. Galloping through darkness along a wrong path, one kicks against a low tree stump and falls to the ground. "Having eyes but no wisdom" is the metaphor for ignorance; when ignorance is extinguished through cultivating the dharma of dependent origination, the light of wisdom will appear like the rising sun.
Original text: 如是略说。无明乃至老死亦如是。问曰。佛法中因缘甚深。云何痴多人能观因缘。答曰。二种痴人。一如牛羊。二种种邪见。痴惑闇蔽邪见痴人。佛为此说当观因缘以习三昧。
Explanation: To state it briefly: from ignorance all the way to aging-and-death, one contemplates in the same way. Someone asks: the dharma of dependent origination in the Buddhadharma is most profound; how can people with predominant delusion contemplate the dharma of dependent origination? The answer: there are two kinds of deluded people: the first are ignorant and unknowing like cattle and sheep; the second refers to people with various kinds of wrong views, deluded, confused, and inverted, their minds dark, closed, and unenlightened. For these deluded people with wrong views, the Buddha taught that they should contemplate and observe the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination in order to cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi).
The seated meditation taught by the Buddha has us first work on our thinking and views, sweeping the mind clean; when the mind-ground is clear and bright, meditative concentration naturally appears. As the saying goes, "true skill lies beyond the poem"—meditative concentration is not in the legs. Those who do not cultivate the mind and merely stubbornly rely on sitting cross-legged can hardly develop meditative concentration; even if they manage to develop it, it is a dead samādhi, like entering darkness without a single ray of light.
Summary: No matter what dharma gate one cultivates in practice, it is all cultivating the mind. The mind can penetrate all dharmas, the mind can reach all dharmas, the mind can illuminate all dharmas. Once the mind is illuminated, practice is complete, and from then on one is beyond training (aśaikṣa) and dwells in the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta).
