大乘義章 12.17

12.17

就初門中，先釋其名、後辨其相。名字是何？一不淨觀、二慈悲觀、三因緣觀、四界分別觀、五安那般那觀。此五經中名五度門，亦曰停心。言度門者，度是出離至到之義，修此五觀能出貪等五種煩惱到涅槃處，故名為度。又斷煩惱度離生死亦名為度。通人趣入，因之為門。言停心者，停是息止安住之義。息離貪等制意住於不淨等法，故曰停心。名字如是。相狀云何？不淨觀中略有二種：一厭他身觀他不淨、二厭自身觀自不淨。觀他身中有其九相：一者死相、二者脹相、三青瘀相、四膿爛相、五者壞相、六者血塗相、七虫敢相、八骨鎖相、九離壞相。《大智論》中加一燒相，少一死相。此義如後九相章中具廣分別。觀自身中有五不淨，如《大智論》說：一種子不淨，是身過去結業為種，現以父母精血為種。二住處不淨，在母胎中生藏之下、熟藏之上，兩界之間安置己體。三自相不淨，是身具有九孔常流，眼出眵淚、耳出結𦡲、鼻中出洟、口出延吐、大小便道流出屎尿。四自體不淨，是身具有三十六物所共合成。如《大智論》說：一髮、二毛、三爪、四齒、五皮、六肉、七骨、八髓、九筋、十脈、十一牌、十二腎、十三心、十四肝、十五肺、十六大膓、十七小膓、十八胃、十九胞、二十屎、二十一尿、二十二垢、二十三汗、二十四淚、二十五結𦡲、二十六洟、二十七唾、二十八膿、二十九血、三十黃陰、三十一白陰、三十二肪、三十三𦙇、三十四腦、三十五膜、三十六精。於此門中，要唯二種：一皮等觀、二除去皮肉為白骨觀。骨觀有三，如《毘曇》說：一者始業觀察自身，從頭至足除去皮肉作其骨相。二已習行觀彼骨鎖，以漸寬廣周滿大地。又觀彼骨展轉相對，大風飄搏變為雪聚，修此骨相極令純熟，不作心想任運現前。三思惟已度於彼骨鎖，以漸略之還至自身。於其所緣清淨寂靜唯觀一色，此是第四自體不淨。五終竟不淨，此身死已埋則成土，虫噉成糞、火燒成灰，究竟推求無一淨相，名終竟不淨。慈悲觀者，普緣眾生作其與樂拔苦之想，名慈悲觀。於中廣有七品修習，如前四無量章中具廣分別。因緣觀者，於彼生死十二因緣分別觀察。是觀不同，略有二種：一順、二逆。逆順不同，略有兩門：一前後分別，從前向後次第觀察名為順觀、從後向前次第推之名為逆觀。二空有分別，有觀名順，順法相故；空觀名逆，逆諸法故。五度門中，因緣觀者就初門說。界分別者，依如《毘曇》，為六界觀，名界分別。言六界者，一地、二水、三火、四風、五空、六識。如論中釋：地為水界潤故不相離，水為地界持不流散，火成熟故不淤壞，風動飄故得增長，以空界故食等出入，識界合故有所造作。此六差別，無我人故。若依《涅槃經》，觀十八界名界分別。十八界義如上廣釋，於此分別知無我人。數息觀者，觀自氣息，繫心數之無令妄失，名數息觀。於中分別略有四種：一者增數，以一為二。二者減數，以二為一。三者亂數，出作入想、入作出想。四者等數，以一為一。心散亂者，為前三數；心不亂者，為後一數。數之至幾，極不過十。於彼十中不滿，心忘還從一起；若心不亂，至十便迴。何故唯十，不增不減？論自釋言「畏心散故，不得過十。懼心聚故，不得減十。」出入息中數何為十？是義不定。內氣增者偏數出息，內氣小者偏數入息，氣息調者入出俱數。如《雜心》說：入五出五，合為十也。出入息中先數何者？如論中說：先數入息，後數出息。良以生時入息在前，故先數入；命終之時出息在後，故後數出。相狀麁爾（此一門竟）。

In the first section, first its names are explained, and afterwards its characteristics are distinguished. What are the names? 1. Contemplation of impurity; 2. Contemplation of loving-kindness and compassion; 3. Contemplation of causes and conditions; 4. Contemplation of the distinction of elements; 5. Contemplation of ānāpāna. In the sūtras, these five are called the five gates of deliverance, and also called stilling the mind. As for 'gates of deliverance': 'deliverance' means leaving behind and arriving; cultivating these five contemplations enables one to emerge from the five afflictions such as greed and reach the place of nirvāṇa, hence it is called deliverance. Furthermore, severing afflictions and crossing over the deliverance from saṃsāra is also called deliverance. Allowing persons to enter, it is called a 'gate' on this basis. As for 'stilling the mind': 'stilling' means cessation and abiding peacefully. Ceasing and leaving behind greed and so forth, one restrains the mind to abide in dharmas such as impurity, hence it is called stilling the mind. The names are as such. What are the characteristics? In the contemplation of impurity, there are briefly two kinds: first, reviling the bodies of others and contemplating the impurity of others; second, reviling one's own body and contemplating one's own impurity. In contemplating the bodies of others, there are nine marks: 1. the mark of death; 2. the mark of swelling; 3. the mark of blue-bruising; 4. the mark of pus and rotting; 5. the mark of decay; 6. the mark of being smeared with blood; 7. the mark of being devoured by worms; 8. the mark of the skeleton; 9. the mark of scattering and destruction. The Dà zhìdù lùn adds the mark of burning and omits the mark of death. This meaning will be fully and broadly distinguished later in the chapter on the nine marks. In contemplating one's own body, there are five impurities, as explained in the Dà zhìdù lùn: 1. Impurity of seed: this body has past karmic fetters as its seed, and presently has the semen and blood of one's father and mother as its seed. 2. Impurity of dwelling place: inside the mother's womb, below the stomach and above the intestines, one's own body is lodged between the two regions. 3. Impurity of intrinsic marks: this body possesses nine apertures that constantly discharge—the eyes discharge rheum and tears, the ears discharge earwax, the nose discharges mucus, the mouth discharges saliva and vomit, and the tracts of urination and defecation discharge feces and urine. 4. Impurity of intrinsic substance: this body is composed of thirty-six items. As explained in the Dà zhìdù lùn: 1. head hair, 2. body hair, 3. nails, 4. teeth, 5. skin, 6. flesh, 7. bone, 8. marrow, 9. sinews, 10. veins, 11. spleen, 12. kidneys, 13. heart, 14. liver, 15. lungs, 16. large intestine, 17. small intestine, 18. stomach, 19. bladder, 20. feces, 21. urine, 22. grime, 23. sweat, 24. tears, 25. earwax, 26. mucus, 27. spittle, 28. pus, 29. blood, 30. bile, 31. lymph, 32. fat, 33. grease, 34. brain, 35. membrane, 36. semen. In this category, essentially there are only two kinds: first, contemplation of the skin and so forth; second, removing the skin and flesh to perform the contemplation of white bones. The bone contemplation has three [stages], as explained in the Abhidharma: 1. A beginner contemplates his own body, removing the skin and flesh from head to foot to form the mark of bones. 2. Having practiced it, one contemplates that skeleton, gradually widening it to fill the great earth. Furthermore, one contemplates those bones mutually facing one another, tossed about by a great wind and turning into a mound of snow; cultivating this bone mark until it is extremely refined and mature, it appears spontaneously without forming conceptualizations in the mind. 3. Having contemplated and crossed over, one gradually contracts that skeleton back to one's own body. Regarding its object, purely and serenely, one contemplates only a single form. This is the fourth, the impurity of intrinsic substance. 5. Impurity of the final end: after this body dies, if buried it turns into dirt; if devoured by worms it turns into dung; if burned by fire it turns into ashes; investigating it definitively, not a single pure mark exists, which is called the impurity of the final end. As for the contemplation of loving-kindness and compassion: universally focusing on sentient beings, one forms the thought of granting happiness and extracting suffering; this is called the contemplation of loving-kindness and compassion. In it, there are broadly seven grades of cultivation, as fully and broadly distinguished above in the chapter on the four immeasurables. As for the contemplation of causes and conditions: one distinguishes and contemplates the twelve links of dependent origination in that cycle of birth and death. These contemplations differ, having briefly two kinds: forward and reverse. The difference between reverse and forward briefly has two approaches: 1. Distinction of before and after: sequentially contemplating from the beginning to the end is called forward contemplation; sequentially investigating from the end to the beginning is called reverse contemplation. 2. Distinction of emptiness and existence: contemplation of existence is called forward because it conforms to the characteristics of dharmas; contemplation of emptiness is called reverse because it reverses all dharmas. Among the five gates of deliverance, the contemplation of causes and conditions is stated according to the first approach. As for the distinction of elements: according to the Abhidharma, it is the contemplation of the six elements, called the distinction of elements. The six elements are: 1. earth, 2. water, 3. fire, 4. wind, 5. space, and 6. consciousness. As explained in the treatise: earth is moistened by the water element so it does not scatter; water is held by the earth element so it does not disperse; fire matures it so it does not rot; wind moves and blows it so it grows; through the space element, food and so forth enter and exit; through the union of the consciousness element, there is activity. These six differ, having no self or person. If following the Nirvāṇa Sūtra, contemplating the eighteen elements is called the distinction of elements. The meaning of the eighteen elements is broadly explained above; in this distinction, one realizes there is no self or person. As for the contemplation of breath-counting: contemplating one's own breath, one ties the mind and counts it without letting it be lost in delusion; this is called the contemplation of breath-counting. In distinguishing it, there are briefly four kinds: 1. Increasing the count, taking one as two; 2. Decreasing the count, taking two as one; 3. Confusing the count, taking breathing out as breathing in, or breathing in as breathing out; 4. Equal counting, taking one as one. For a mind that is distracted, the first three countings occur; for a mind that is not distracted, the latter counting occurs. How far does one count? At most no more than ten. If within that ten it is incomplete and the mind forgets, one returns to begin from one; if the mind is not distracted, upon reaching ten one turns back. Why is it only ten, neither more nor less? The treatise itself explains: 'Fearing that the mind will become distracted, one must not exceed ten. Fearing that the mind will become constricted, one must not fall short of ten.' Between breathing in and breathing out, what is counted as ten? This meaning is not fixed. If internal air is excessive, one predominantly counts the exhalation; if internal air is slight, one predominantly counts the inhalation; if the breath is harmonized, one counts both inhalation and exhalation. As the Saṃyuktābhidharma-hṛdaya states: inhaling five and exhaling five, combined they make ten. Between breathing in and breathing out, which is counted first? As explained in the treatise: first one counts inhalation, afterwards exhalation. Precisely because at the time of birth inhalation comes first, one first counts inhalation; at the time of death exhalation comes last, so afterwards one counts exhalation. The characteristics are thus roughly explained (this concludes the first section).