仁王護國般若波羅蜜多經疏 2.96

2.96

Exposition: The two characters "formless" are as explained before. The "four formless attainments" are: 1. the sphere of infinite space, 2. the sphere of infinite consciousness, 3. the sphere of nothingness, and 4. the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception. The definition of concentration is as before; lacking vitarka and vicāra, they have the karmas aroused by superior, pure concentration. As the Abhidharmakośa says: "When cultivating preparatory practice, one contemplates infinite space, detaches from the fourth dhyāna, and arises to establish the sphere of infinite space. Relying on this neighboring threshold path of uninterruptedness, one reviles the lower defiled state, contemplating any one aspect among coarseness, suffering, or obstruction; in the paths of liberation, one delights in the fundamental space, contemplating any one aspect among calm, subtle, or detachment, thereby attaining birth in those four skandhas to form a body, with a lifespan of twenty thousand kalpas based on the life-faculty and nikāya-sabhāga. The three spheres beginning with consciousness should be understood accordingly, with lifespans of forty thousand kalpas, and sixty and eighty thousand kalpas, because their concentrations are progressively superior." Next is the third: concluding that karma and retribution are empty. In this there are two: first, clarifying that karma and retribution are empty.