大乘起信論義記 3.435

3.435

言不依氣息者，數息觀境；言形色者，骨瑣等青黃赤白四相也；空地水等五相，皆是事定所緣境界；見聞覺知是識一切處，通前為十一切處。亦可見聞等是舉散心時所取六塵，於此等諸塵推求了達，知唯自心，不復緣託，故言不依。次除依前倒境所生妄想之心亦遣也，故云一切諸想隨念皆除。所遣既無，能遣不立，泯然寂靜，方名止也，故云亦遣除想。何故乃令能除所除一切心想並不存者？釋云：以一切法本來無想，今欲順於法性故須爾也。念念不生滅等者，轉釋成法性無相所以也，良以想無自性，窮之即空，故無生滅自體可得，此乃即生無生、即滅無滅故也，如陽炎水本自乾耳。

“Does not rely on breath” refers to the object of counting the breaths; “physical forms” refers to the four marks—blue, yellow, red, and white—such as the skeleton meditation; the five marks of space, earth, water, and so on are all objects of focus in phenomenal samādhis; “seeing, hearing, perceiving, or cognizing” refers to the consciousness-totality, which together with the preceding makes ten totalities (*kṛtsnāyatana*). Alternatively, “seeing, hearing, and so on” can refer to the six dust-objects grasped by the scattered mind: investigating and thoroughly penetrating these objects, one knows they are only one’s own mind and no longer relies on or connects with them; thus it says “does not rely.” Next, the deluded conceptualizing mind generated in reliance on the aforementioned contrary objects is also cast off; hence it says “all conceptualizations are eliminated with each thought.” Since that which is cast off no longer exists, that which casts off is not established: settled and serene, this alone is called calm; hence it says “and the thought of eliminating them is also cast off.” Why are all minds and conceptualizations, both the eliminator and the eliminated, made not to remain? The explanation states: because all phenomena are fundamentally without conceptualization; now, wishing to conform to dharmatā, one must do so. “Unarising and unceasing from thought to thought, and so forth” further explains why dharmatā is signless: truly, because conceptualizations have no self-nature, exhaustively investigating them shows them to be empty; therefore, no intrinsic substance of arising and ceasing can be found. This is because arising itself is non-arising, and ceasing itself is non-ceasing, just as water in a mirage is fundamentally dry of itself.