法界次第初門 3.16

3.16

Fifth, dhyāna-pāramitā. Dhyāna is in Qin language "cultivation through reflection" (cintā-bhāvanā). All gathering of the mind, binding of mindfulness, and learning of the various samādhis are called cultivation through reflection. There are two kinds of dhyāna: first, worldly dhyāna; second, supramundane dhyāna. Worldly dhyāna refers to the fundamental four dhyānas, the four immeasurables, and the four formless attainments; these are the dhyānas practiced by ordinary people. Supramundane dhyāna also has two kinds: first, supramundane dhyāna; second, supreme supramundane dhyāna. Supramundane dhyāna refers to the six marvelous gates, the sixteen superior stages, transparent contemplation, the nine notions, the eight recollections, the ten notions, the eight liberations, the eight bases of mastery, the dhyāna of refining through the ten kṛtsnāyatanas, the summit dhyāna of the knowledge of vows through the fourteen transformations, the non-contention samādhi, the three samādhis, the lion's play and step-over samādhis, up to the three clarities and the six superknowledges; such dhyānas are all supramundane dhyāna, and are also called dhyāna shared with the two vehicles. Second, supreme supramundane dhyāna refers to the nine great dhyānas such as self-nature, the one hundred and eight samādhis such as Śūraṅgama, and the one hundred and twenty samādhis such as the Buddhas' unmoving [samādhi]; all are supreme supramundane dhyāna. It is also called unshared dhyāna, not shared with ordinary people or the two vehicles. When a bodhisattva cultivates such dhyānas with an upright, straightforward, and pure mind, it is called dhyāna. As for pāramitā, the translated name is as before. If a bodhisattva can fully cultivate five kinds of mental states within the various dhyānas, at that time meditative absorption is called pāramitā. What are the five? First, knowing the true characteristic of dhyāna, being neither scattered nor tasting [attachment], yet able universally to cultivate all dhyānas. The remaining four mental states are categorized as distinguished within dāna. If a bodhisattva can thus fully cultivate these five mental states within the attained dhyānas, then in whatever dhyāna they enter, speaking of the fruit within the cause, they all possess the three meanings. Therefore, the meditative absorptions cultivated by a bodhisattva are all called practicing dhyāna-pāramitā. Only when reaching the fruit of Buddhahood of unsurpassed bodhi is dhyāna-pāramitā fully consummated.