請觀音經疏闡義鈔 4.19

4.19

From "From one" onwards, it explains cultivation and realization. It is divided into three: first, it directly indicates the sūtra text. In this single section, the meaning of the six gates is fully provided in the sūtra. To discuss their operational characteristics in detail, they are completely presented in the Indeterminate Śamatha-Vipaśyanā and the Successive Gateways of Dhyāna. "This is the counting gate" means gathering the mind on the count without letting it race about and scatter; this is called cultivating the counting gate. "Achieving mindfulness of the breath" means the aware mind effortlessly proceeds from one to ten without adding exertion; at that time one should let go of the previous practice of counting and cultivate the following gate, with single-mindedness relying on and following the inhalation and exhalation of the breath. With conceptual mindfulness conditioning the breath, one knows the breath coming in and going out, and the mind abides in the breath as its conditioning object. Therefore the sūtra says, "without a scattered mind," etc. "Neither sluggish nor slippery" and so forth means that when cultivating cessation, one is not mindful of counting or following, but condenses and quiets the mind; hence it says "neither sluggish nor slippery," etc. The sūtra's "like an infant," etc., is an analogy for the characteristics of cultivating cessation being neither sluggish nor slippery. As for "infant" (yinger), the Cangjie Pian says: "A male is called er, a female is called ying." Here, ying generally applies to both male and female. The Shiming says: "The newborn of human beings is called an infant (yinger): the front of the chest is called ying; holding it before the chest and nursing it [is how the name came about]." "Further down are three gates": the sūtra text "from the tip of the heart to the tip of the nose" is the contemplation gate; "returning into the heart root" is the turning-back gate; "causing the mind to be clear and pure" is the purification gate.