翻譯名義集 4.60

4.60

[Dhyāna] Here translated as "quiet contemplation" (jinglü). The Dazhidulun says: "In the language of Qin, it is called cultivation through reflection (siwei xiu), meaning that dhyāna-pāramitā encompasses all of it." The Fajie cidi states: "There are two kinds of dhyāna: first, worldly dhyāna; second, world-transcending dhyāna. Worldly dhyāna refers to the fundamental four dhyānas, the four immeasurables, and the four formless absorptions, which are the dhyānas practiced by ordinary people. World-transcending dhyāna has two further kinds: first, world-transcending dhyāna; second, the supreme world-transcending dhyāna. World-transcending dhyāna refers to the six subtle gates, the sixteen superior contemplations, the clear penetration, the nine cemetery contemplations, the eight mindfulnesses, the ten contemplations, the eight liberations (aṣṭa vimokṣāḥ), the eight spheres of mastery (aṣṭa abhibhv-āyatanāni), the ten totalities (daśa kṛtsnāyatanāni), the refined dhyānas, the fourteen transformations, the apex dhyāna of aspiration-knowledge, the samādhi of non-contention, the three samādhis, the lion's sprint samādhi, and the leap samādhi, up to the three knowledges and the six supernatural powers; dhyānas such as these are all world-transcending dhyāna. The supreme world-transcending dhyāna refers to the nine kinds of great dhyāna, beginning with intrinsic dhyāna." The Commentary on the Vimalakīrtinirdeśa says: "The mirror of wisdom of the Buddha's mind is fully bright; why would it trouble itself with reflective thinking? As an ultimate non-learner (aśaikṣa), how could it be said to cultivate? Furthermore, it is translated as 'abandoning evil'; in the Tathāgata's purely immaculate wisdom, what evil remains to be abandoned? Thus meanings such as 'reflection' are all on the level of the cause." The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra explains four kinds of dhyāna: "The dhyāna practiced by the ignorant refers to the practice of śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and non-Buddhists who contemplate the non-self of persons, individual marks, common marks, the skeleton, impermanence, suffering, and impurity, taking attachment as foremost; observing such marks without variation, progressing forward and backward, their conceptions are not extinguished—this is called the dhyāna of the ignorant. The dhyāna of examining meaning refers to having realized that the non-self of persons, individual marks, common marks, non-Buddhists, and self and other are all devoid of intrinsic nature, one then contemplates the non-self of dharmas; the characteristics and meaning of those stages gradually advance—this is called the dhyāna of examining meaning. The dhyāna that grasps Suchness refers to the false imagination of the two kinds of non-self; when false imagination abides in Suchness, false imagination does not arise—this is called the dhyāna that grasps Suchness (in the Rulengqie it is called the dhyāna of observing True Suchness). The Tathāgata dhyāna refers to entering the Tathāgata ground, engaging in the noble knowledge of self-realization, abiding in the three kinds of bliss, and accomplishing the inconceivable deeds of sentient beings—this is called the Tathāgata dhyāna. The verse says: 'The dhyāna practiced by ordinary people, / The dhyāna of examining marks and meaning, / The dhyāna that grasps Suchness, / And the pure dhyāna of the Tathāgatas.'"