起信論疏筆削記 16.24

16.24

Commentary: "Non-Buddhists..." and so on: This refers to the Sāṃkhya masters who, relying on the concentration of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, develop worldly supernormal powers. In accordance with their erroneous path, they know the events of eighty thousand kalpas in the past, but beyond this they do not know; through the supernormal power of knowing birth and death, they know the matters of dying here and being born there over eighty thousand kalpas in the future, but later they also do not know. What they posit is that the unmanifest nature is permanent, and from this are produced all the dharmas of the world. Because it is dark and difficult to know, it is called the unmanifest nature. How are they produced? From the unmanifest, intellect first arises; from intellect, the sense of 'I' arises; from the sense of 'I', the five subtle elements arise, namely form, sound, smell, taste, and touch; from the five subtle elements, the five great elements arise, namely earth, water, fire, wind, and space; from the five great elements, the eleven indriyas arise, namely the five sensory faculties—eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body; the five action faculties—hands, feet, mouth, and the organs of excretion and reproduction; and the manas faculty. At that time, saṃsāra is said to be accomplished, and they grasp a puruṣa as the master of enjoyment. When the self contemplates superior objects, the unmanifest nature transforms and produces them for the self to enjoy. Because the self enjoys them, it is bound by objects and cannot attain liberation. If the self does not contemplate them, the unmanifest nature does not transform, and the puruṣa attains liberation, which is called nirvāṇa. These are the twenty-five tattvas, with the unmanifest nature being the first, because it can transform and give rise [to the rest].