大般涅槃經集解 65.48

65.48

Sengliang comments: This explains the defilements of the present life, clarifying that mental factors have no separate substance, but simply arise within conditions, or are divided into four according to their lightness or heaviness. How so? When the mind does not understand conditions and takes what is not good to be good, this is called ignorance. Attachment to what is good and generating defilement is called craving. Craving's nature is greedy seeking, which is called grasping. Giving rise to bodily and vocal karma is called existence. The reason it is said 'is precisely' is that the original name is not compromised; it is merely renamed according to what is prominent, and the substance combines them, establishing them as distinct factors. Sengzong says: If we discuss cause and effect giving rise to one another successively, the prior cause and posterior effect are not simultaneous. Some are not necessarily sequential: just as ignorance serves as the cause for karmic formations, naturally from coarse defilements subtle ones arise in turn, and even up to craving and feeling, all can have the sense of being created again. This is the mutual generation through sequential conditions. 'Ignorance is craving, and craving is...': from beginning to end it is a single spirit-mind; although cause and effect are distinct, they cannot be separated, hence it is said 'is precisely.'