金剛般若經旨贊 2.256

2.256

As for 'conditioned': it refers to phenomena arising from conditions, indicated by possessing the four characteristics, revealing that they are changing and created phenomena. However, they have general and specific, combined and differentiated characteristics. As for the generally combined characteristics, they are grouped into three: the first three similes reveal the characteristic of intrinsic nature—that is, seeing, mark, and consciousness are the intrinsic nature of the conditioned, because all conditioned things do not depart from these. The next three similes reveal the characteristic of enjoyment—that is, the receptacle, the body, and feeling are what is enjoyed and what enjoys; the receptacle is what is enjoyed, while the body and feeling are what enjoys, because enjoyment is necessarily established through these three. The last three similes reveal the characteristics of the three time periods—that is, events of the past, present, and future, because phenomena of the future necessarily come through these three. Or they are grouped into four: 1. The characteristic of intrinsic nature, which refers to the first three above, whose meaning is as explained before. 2. The characteristic of attachment to the taste of where one abides, which refers to the characteristic of the receptacle world enjoyed above, because the objects therein are the inverted objects of the taste where one abides. 3. The characteristic of conforming to the past, meaning the two phenomena of the body and feeling that function above; the body is impermanent and pursued by the past, and feeling conforms to the faults of suffering. Previously, being both enjoyment, they were combined into one; now, because subject and object are differentiated, they are opened into two. 4. The characteristic of conforming to departure, meaning the three times above, because by contemplating the changing and unstable nature of the three times, departure is accomplished. The Treatise, relying on the former meaning, speaks in verse: