釋禪波羅蜜次第法門 8.6

8.6

First, explaining the name: as to why this dhyāna is called the contemplation of penetrating clarity, the method of this contemplation comes from the text of the Mahāsaṃnipāta Sūtra without a distinct title. When various meditation masters of the northern lands cultivated and attained this dhyāna and wished to transmit it to others, not knowing its name, they intended to place it within the fundamental dhyānas, yet its phenomenal characteristics are vastly different. If set against the sixteen sublime practices, the names are completely unrelated; if placed within the liberations and stations of mastery, the contemplative methods are markedly distinct. Since it did not correspond either forward or backward, the various masters created a distinct title for it, naming it the dhyāna of penetrating clarity contemplation.