大乘義章 2.22

2.22

In the second section, their substantial characteristics are distinguished. First, material dharmas are distinguished; next, mental dharmas are revealed; and finally, dharmas that are neither matter nor mind are clarified. Within material dharmas, there are two sections of distinction: first, distinguishing their substantial characteristics; second, clarifying the nominal and the real. Regarding the substantial characteristics of matter, the treatises explain them differently. The Abhidharma teaches eleven kinds of matter as the aggregate of material dharmas. Which are the eleven? The five sense organs make five, the five sense objects make ten, and including unmanifest matter makes eleven. The eye, ear, nose, tongue, and body made of the pure four great elements are the five sense organs. Color-form, sound, odor, taste, and tangibility made of the external four great elements are the five sense objects. Within bodily and vocal karma, good, bad, and neutral unmanifest karma are unmanifest matter. Treatises such as the Da zhidu lun also share this explanation. The Tattvasiddhi teaches fourteen kinds of matter as the aggregate of material dharmas. Which are the fourteen? The five sense organs make five, the five sense objects make ten, and adding the four great elements makes the previous fourteen. The five sense organs are as above. As for where they differ: in the Abhidharma system, the substance of the five sense organs is real matter, made by the four great elements and possessing a distinct substance from the great elements, just as when a person paints a picture, the picture is distinct from the person. In the Tattvasiddhi system, the substance of the five sense organs is nominal matter, formed of the four great elements, and outside the sense organs there are no great elements, just as the aggregates form a person, and outside the person there are no aggregates; the sense organs are likewise. The five objects are as above. As for where they differ: in the Abhidharma system, the sense objects made by the great elements are distinct from the four great elements. In the Tattvasiddhi system, color-form, odor, taste, and tangibility can form the four great elements and are not made by the great elements; only the sound object arises from the four great elements. Such is their difference. Earth, water, fire, and wind, formed of the four sense objects, are the four great elements. Question: The Abhidharma speaks of unmanifest matter; why is it not discussed in the Tattvasiddhi system? The tenets differ, so their explanations vary. In the Abhidharma system, unmanifest karma is stated to be a material dharma, so it is discussed under matter. The Tattvasiddhi speaks of it as neither matter nor mind, so it is not discussed under matter. Question again: The Tattvasiddhi separately teaches the four great elements; why does the Abhidharma system not establish them [separately]? This also is due to differing tenets, so their explanations vary. How do their characteristics differ? The Abhidharma teaches that the four kinds of real tangibles—solid, moist, warm, and mobile—constitute the four great elements. These four great elements are subsumed within the tangible object; therefore, they are not separately taught. The earth, water, fire, and wind distinguished by the Tattvasiddhi gather the four sense objects to form themselves and can form the five sense organs. The organs are causes and the objects are results; since they are not subsumed by either organs or objects, they must be discussed separately. (This concludes the first section.)