妙法蓮華經玄贊 3.35

3.35

"Liberation" refers to the eight liberations, distinguished under three headings: first, enumerating the names; second, elucidating their operational modes (ākāra); third, presenting their essential nature. As for enumerating the names, according to fascicles 12, 15, and 73 of the *Yogācārabhūmi*, fascicle 4 of the *Vastu-saṃgrahaṇī*, fascicle 13 of the *Abhidharmasamuccaya-bhāṣya*, fascicles 4, 2, and 20 of the *Xianyang*, and fascicle 4 of the *Bodhisattvapiṭaka-sūtra*, they are: (1) having form, one contemplates forms—the liberation; (2) inwardly devoid of the perception of form, one contemplates external forms—the liberation; (3) the pleasant liberation, bodily realized, dwelling in its accomplishment; (4) the liberation of the sphere of boundless space; (5) the liberation of the sphere of boundless consciousness; (6) the liberation of the sphere of nothingness; (7) the liberation of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception; and (8) the liberation of the cessation of perception and feeling, bodily realized, dwelling in its accomplishment. As for elucidating the operational modes: Fascicle 29 of the *Kośa* says that inwardly having the perception of form while contemplating external forms is named the first liberation; internally not having subdued the seer's perception of form, one contemplates external forms as impure—this is termed contemplating external forms. Here, however, it is not so: according to the text of the *Abhidharmasamuccaya*, for a beginner, their body is in the desire realm, already free from desire-realm desires, but they have not yet relied on formless concentration to subdue the seer's perception of form, because they are not yet free from form-realm desire. If one is long-practiced, already free from form-realm desire, the seer's perception of form is established and manifests, yet one contemplates all inner and outer forms in the desire realm, forming the perception of light. Because the first three liberations give rise to the abhibhv-āyatanas, kṛtsnāyatanas, etc., one immediately contemplates the small, great, and other forms subsumed under the abhibhv-āyatanas, forming the perception of light. Because one eliminates the hindrance to transformations, one forms the perception of light; because one does not eliminate lustful desire, one does not form the perception of impurity. When the *Yogācārabhūmi* says only that not having obtained formless concentration and not being free from form-realm defilement, one contemplates external forms as the first liberation, this is said solely with reference to the beginner. For the second liberation, the *Kośa* says that inwardly having already subdued the seer's perception of form, one solely contemplates the external sphere as impure—this is called inwardly devoid of the perception of form, contemplating external forms. In the Mahāyāna it is not so; according to the *Abhidharmasamuccaya*: "For one long-practiced, having already relied on formless concentration to subdue the seer's perception of form, or for a beginner, the seer's non-form perception is established and manifests, yet one contemplates external forms forming notions of small, great, etc., unlike the first where one contemplates both inner and outer forms forming [the notion of] light, because one is not yet sovereign." Here, one solely contemplates forms from which desire has already been abandoned, conceiving them as small, great, etc., which is called contemplating external forms; because defilement has already been abandoned, it is designated with the name "external"; because the contemplating mind becomes gradually superior, it contemplates somewhat more concisely. Therefore the *Yogācārabhūmi* says: "Furthermore, one does not reflect on the luminous characteristic of that perception, but merely forms a resolute conviction regarding external forms, namely contemplating small, great, etc., without producing [the notion of] light and so forth. If one has already attained dispassion toward a state, that state is called external; therefore, solely contemplating those forms from which defilement has already been abandoned is named external. Moreover, because the first liberation does not state 'external' when contemplating forms, and its internal possession of form does not state 'internal' either, it generally takes inner and outer sense faculties, sense objects, and other forms as objects, forming the perception of light. Therefore, here in this second one, internally there is form because of the presence of the sense faculties and other forms; as for its contemplating external forms, it solely contemplates external sense objects as small, great, etc., without taking the sense faculties and the like as objects to form notions of small, great, etc." The *Yogācārabhūmi* also says: "That formless realm concentration does not manifest means: this states that contemplating external forms does not rely on formless concentration, because formless concentration cannot take external forms as objects; or, having already abandoned form-realm desire, one does not rely on formless concentration to subdue the perception of form, but merely relies on form-realm concentration, so that the seer's perception of non-form manifests—hence it is stated thus." The above two liberations initially form the perception of light and later form the perception of small and great; the first is broad and the latter narrow, so the two contemplations differ. Fascicle 20 of the *Xianyang* says that these two liberations eliminate the obstacle to transformation, in order to attain mastery over transformation. Since transformation is pervasive and present in all four dhyānas, the first two liberations can be based on all four dhyānas. The initial practice mostly relies on the first two dhyānas, existing only in their fundamental stages (maula) and not in the preparatory stages (sāmantaka); for their cultivation motivated by aspiration completely lacks fruitional supernormal power (abhijñā-phala), whereas this cultivation carried out at leisure possesses fruitional supernormal power. This differs from the *Kośa*, where the first two dhyānas can eliminate greed for visible form in the desire realm and the first dhyāna, and thus one practices the contemplation of impurity. Regarding the third liberation, the *Kośa* says that pure marks turn into pure, luminous, fresh operational modes; hence, it is only in the fourth dhyāna, which is free from the eight afflictions, that the mind is clear and pure. Although other stages have similar liberations, they are not established as such, because they are not supreme. Now, according to the Mahāyāna, it means that if someone has already attained upekṣā and smṛti that are completely pure and immaculate, relying on this to cultivate the pure noble practices to perfection, they have already attained with respect to inner pure and impure forms the perception of mutual relativity, the perception of mutual interpenetration, and the perception of a single taste. This is the operational mode of the third liberation: namely, relative to pure forms, one regards other forms as impure, not without relativity, for if one saw only a single category, the two cognitions of pure and impure would not exist—this is called the first perception. Moreover, within the pure, the nature of impurity penetrates; within the impure, the nature of purity penetrates; because enveloped by thin obscuring skin, within what is commonly called pure there are thirty-six kinds of impure substances present—this is called the second perception. Interpenetrating like this, subsuming all forms together into a single taste of pure conceptual understanding—this is the third perception, and only then is it called accomplishment. Only the stage of the fourth dhyāna possesses purity of upekṣā and smṛti, because the treatises state that it transcends all suffering and pleasure, all agitation has been stilled, and it is well polished and refined; other stages are not so, hence it is only the fourth. This, too, inwardly lacks the perception of form and contemplates external forms. Since this was already stated earlier, it is briefly not discussed here, and a distinct name is established.