大乘義章 8.58

8.58

九眾生居，如經中說。何故說者？為破外道總計故也。有諸外道，總計眾生以為神我，擇善而居；佛為破之，故說斯九是眾生居，非我居也。何者是乎？欲界人天以之為一、初禪為二、二禪為三、三禪為四、無想為五、空處為六、識處為七、無所有處以之為八、非想為九。此之九處，眾生樂住，名眾生居。問曰：向前七識住中，不說無想及非想處，今此何故通說為居？釋言：此處殘害心識，故非識住；不滅眾生，是故說為眾生居也。問曰：欲界三塗之中亦有眾生，何故不說為眾生居？釋言：眾生同厭三惡，非樂住處，是以不說。又問：色界第四禪中，除無想天，餘有八天，眾生樂住。何故不說為眾生居？《雜心》釋言「彼四禪中，有五淨居，樂求涅槃，不欲久住，是故不說為眾生居。餘有福生、福愛、廣果，或求淨居、或求無色、或求涅槃，不欲久住，是故亦非眾生居也。」九居之義，略辨如是。

The nine abodes of sentient beings are as explained in the sūtras. Why are they taught? In order to refute the overarching conceptualizations of non-Buddhists. There are various non-Buddhists who conceptually take sentient beings as a whole to be a spiritual self (puruṣa/ātman) which chooses good places to dwell; in order to refute this, the Buddha taught that these nine are abodes of sentient beings, not dwellings of a self. What are they? Humans and gods of the desire realm are taken as the first, the first dhyāna as the second, the second dhyāna as the third, the third dhyāna as the fourth, the non-conceptual [heaven] as the fifth, the station of the infinity of space as the sixth, the station of the infinity of consciousness as the seventh, the station of nothingness as the eighth, and neither-perception-nor-non-perception as the ninth. In these nine places, sentient beings take joy in dwelling; hence they are called abodes of sentient beings. Question: In the previous seven stations of consciousness, the non-conceptual [heaven] and the station of neither-perception[-nor-non-perception] were not mentioned; why are they here universally taught as abodes? Explanation: In these places the mind and consciousness are damaged and harmed, so they are not stations of consciousness; but they do not extinguish sentient beings, so they are taught as abodes of sentient beings. Question: There are also sentient beings in the three wretched paths of the desire realm; why are they not taught as abodes of sentient beings? Explanation: Sentient beings universally detest the three bad [destinies]; they are not places in which they joyfully dwell, and for this reason they are not mentioned. Another question: In the fourth dhyāna of the form realm, excluding the non-conceptual heaven, there are eight remaining heavens where sentient beings joyfully dwell; why are they not taught as abodes of sentient beings? The Saṃyuktābhidharmahṛdaya explains: 'Within that fourth dhyāna, there are the five pure abodes, where beings joyfully seek nirvāṇa and do not wish to dwell long; hence they are not taught as abodes of sentient beings. As for the remaining [heavens]—Punyaprasava, Puṇyakṛt, and Bṛhatphala—beings either seek the pure abodes, seek the formless realm, or seek nirvāṇa, and do not wish to dwell long; hence they are likewise not abodes of sentient beings.' The doctrine of the nine abodes is thus briefly distinguished.