大乘法苑義林章 1.47

1.47

Second, concerning the analysis of the name: in Sanskrit it is vijñapti, translated here as 'consciousness' (shi). Consciousness means discernment. The self-characteristic of consciousness, what is associated with consciousness, what is transformed by consciousness, the divisional states of consciousness, and the true nature of consciousness—these five phenomena, both in fact and principle, are not separate from consciousness, and therefore it is named 'consciousness-only'. Were it not so, tathatā would not be consciousness-only; nor is it that there is only one mind and nothing else. Subsuming the rest into consciousness, the name 'consciousness' is established in general. Not being subsumed into the true, it is not named 'suchness'. In Sanskrit it is mātra, translated here as 'only' (wei). 'Only' has three meanings: First, the meaning of excluding and retaining. It excludes the two selves, person and phenomena, which are conceptually constructed, and retains the marks of consciousness and nature of consciousness that are other-dependent and consummate. The Cheng weishi lun states: 'The word "only" is to ward off the self and dharmas that are separated from consciousness, not minds and mental factors that are inseparable from consciousness.' Second, the meaning of certainty. Hence the old verse of the Madhyāntavibhāga states: 'Herein, emptiness is certainly present, and therein this is also present.' This means that in conventional facts there is certainly the true principle, and in the true principle there are certainly conventional facts; within what consciousness expresses, these two are certain, revealing the absence of the two graspers. Third, the meaning of manifesting the superior. Master Gopa's Commentary on the Viṃśikā states: 'This exposition of consciousness-only adduces only the principal and superior; the principle also encompasses mental factors. It is like saying "the king arrives," which does not mean there are no ministers.' Here we mostly adopt 'excluding and retaining' to explain 'only'. Consciousness is mind: because it is the fundamental cause of accumulating, arising, and painting, the sūtras call it 'mind-only'; because it is the fundamental cause of discriminating and discerning, the śāstras call it 'consciousness-only'. Or, the meaning in the sūtras extends to cause and fruition, so they say 'mind-only' in general; the śāstras speak of it only in the cause, so they refer only to 'consciousness-only'. Consciousness has the meaning of discernment; in the causal stage the function of consciousness is predominant, so consciousness is said to be 'only'—their meaning is not different. The Viṃśikā states: 'Mind, mentation, consciousness, and discernment are distinctions of names.' Consciousness is 'only': this is a karmadhāraya compound. Or, Materialist non-Buddhists, Bhavya, and others establish 'object-only'; to exclude them, one says 'the only of consciousness'—a tatpuruṣa compound is without flaw. The term 'consciousness-only' is stated in order to make one abandon consciousness and rely on wisdom. In the subject that contemplates, wisdom is strong and consciousness is weak; if taken as objects, none are separate from mind. Now taking it as the object contemplated, it is named consciousness-only. Furthermore, not departing from the tatpuruṣa interpretation, it is called consciousness-only. Decisiveness follows the subject, hence one can rely on wisdom. Moreover, looking from the perspective of what is aspired to, the sūtras all name it solely as prajñā; looking from the perspective of what is turned away from, the treatises denote it exclusively as vijñapti. Because phenomena are subsumed under the principal of the unconditioned, it is said that all dharmas are suchness. Because phenomena are subsumed under the principal of the conditioned, it is said that all dharmas are consciousness-only. Because phenomena are subsumed under the principal of discernment, it is said that all are prajñā. This is the second [section], analyzing the name and title.