大乘義章 16.21

16.21

第二次就行門分別。行門有七：一是念處、二是正懃、三如意足、四是五根、五是五力、六七覺分、七八正道。故毘曇云「處方便一意，軟鈍及利根，見道思惟道，佛說三十七。」處是四念；方便正懃；一意是其四如意足，守心一境故名一意；軟鈍五根；利根五力；見道八正；修道七覺。就此七中，三門分別：一就行約人隨位分別、二就一人修入分別、三約位分別。就行約人隨位別者，初之三門就行分別，次二約人，後二隨位。行中三者，道品正用智慧為體，念處是慧，故先明之。慧由懃策方能除斷，如火得風方能焚燒，故明正懃。懃過心動，不能見法，如水風增令火疾滅，須以定攝，如意是定，故明如意。行別如是。言約人者，人有利鈍。前三道品，在鈍人心名為五根，在利人心說為五力，譬如世間利刀割物疾疾能過，利人如是，故名為力。人別如是。言隨位者，位別見修。前三道品，在見諦道名為八正，在修道中說為七覺。問曰：聖位見前修後，何故名中先彰七覺後論八正？此說次第，非行次第。何故說時不依行次？論有成釋，蓋依增數法門故爾。前念處等四四為門；增四至五，故根與力五五為門；增五至七，故次七覺；增七至八，故後宣說八正道分（此一門竟）。

Second, distinguishing by practice aspects. There are seven practice aspects: first, the applications of mindfulness; second, the right exertions; third, the bases of supernormal power; fourth, the five faculties; fifth, the five powers; sixth, the seven factors of awakening; seventh, the eightfold noble path. Thus the Abhidharma says: "Mindfulness, skillful means, one-pointedness of mind, / Weak and dull, as well as sharp faculties, / The path of seeing, and the path of cultivation— / The Buddha taught [these] thirty-seven." "Mindfulness" is the four applications of mindfulness; "skillful means" is the right exertions; "one-pointedness of mind" is the four bases of supernormal power, called "one-pointedness of mind" because it keeps the mind focused on a single object; "weak and dull" are the five faculties; "sharp faculties" are the five powers; "the path of seeing" is the eightfold noble [path]; "the path of cultivation" is the seven factors of awakening. Among these seven, they are distinguished through three gates: first, distinguishing by practice, in relation to persons, according to stage; second, distinguishing in terms of a single person's cultivation and entry; third, distinguishing according to stages. As for distinguishing by practice, in relation to persons, according to stage: the first three gates are distinguished by practice, the middle two in relation to persons, and the last two according to stage. Regarding the three within practice: the requisites of enlightenment primarily take wisdom as their nature; the applications of mindfulness are wisdom, hence they are explained first. Wisdom can only eliminate and sever [defilements] when urged on by exertion, just as fire can only burn when it catches wind; hence the right exertions are explained. When exertion is excessive, the mind is agitated and cannot see phenomena, just as when water and wind increase they cause fire to be quickly extinguished; it must be gathered together by samādhi; supernormal power is samādhi, hence the bases of supernormal power are explained. Distinguishing by practice is thus. As for saying "in relation to persons": persons have sharp and dull [faculties]. In the mind of a dull person, the preceding three requisites of enlightenment are called the five faculties; in the mind of a sharp person, they are called the five powers. For example, just as in the world a sharp knife cuts things and passes through very swiftly, sharp persons are like this, and hence they are called "powers." The distinction of persons is thus. As for saying "according to stage": the stages are divided into seeing and cultivation. In the path of seeing the truths, the preceding three requisites of enlightenment are called the eightfold noble [path]; in the path of cultivation, they are called the seven factors of awakening. Question: In the noble stages, seeing precedes and cultivation follows; why then in the names are the seven factors of awakening made manifest first, and the eightfold noble [path] discussed later? Answer: This is the order of exposition, not the order of practice. Why is it that the exposition does not follow the order of practice? Treatises have established an explanation: it is simply because it follows the teaching of numerical increase. The preceding applications of mindfulness and so forth have groups of four as their gate; increasing from four to five, therefore faculties and powers have groups of five as their gate; increasing from five to seven, therefore the seven factors of awakening come next; increasing from seven to eight, therefore the factors of the eightfold noble path are proclaimed last. (This concludes the first gate.)