大乘起信論廣釋卷第三．四．五 4.116

4.116

論。人我見者至說有五種　釋曰。次下辨相。於中有二。初明人我見。後釋法我見。初中亦二。總標。別釋。此初也。然其五種非皆我見。而言我見有五種者。依初凡夫分別我見起。後四種迷教邪執。從所依說總名我見。如何初一唯我見耶。謂執法身常遍實有。即是外道執我相故。故新論云。執如來藏同於虛空。常恒遍有即同唯識。一者執我。體常周遍量同虛空故。掌珍云。若說真如是一是常周遍法界。即是外道所執我故。此即心外而見於理生不常見故。是我執故。深密經同此。頌云。我於凡愚不開演。恐彼分別執為我。由是五見。初一我見。而是所依。後四能依。初一能起。後四所起。初一依果起迷識遍因果起執。此佛法內學大乘人凡夫所是。故下文皆舉迷於大乘教起。故依凡夫說五我見。

[Treatise:] The view of personal self [... is said to be of five kinds].
[Commentary:] Next, analyzing the characteristics. Here there are two parts: first, explaining the view of personal self; second, explaining the view of dharma-self. The first also has two parts: a general formulation, and specific explanations. This is the first. Now, the five kinds are not all the view of self; that it says the view of self is of five kinds means that relying on the initial conceptualized view of self of ordinary persons, the subsequent four kinds of erroneous attachments misunderstanding the teachings arise; spoken of from the basis, they are collectively termed 'view of self'. Why is the first one solely the view of self? It refers to grasping the dharmakāya as permanent, omnipresent, and substantial, which is the mark of self grasped by non-Buddhists. Hence the new translation says: "Attaching to the tathāgatagarbha as identical to empty space, permanently and omnipresently existing, which is identical to [the non-Buddhist view described in] the *Vijñaptimātratāsiddhi*: 'first, attaching to the self whose substance is permanent and all-pervading, whose measure is identical to empty space'." The *Karatala-ratna* (*Zhangzhen*) says: "If one says tathatā is one, permanent, and completely pervades the dharmadhātu, this is precisely the self grasped by non-Buddhists." This is seeing the principle outside the mind and giving rise to the view of permanence; therefore it is grasping at a self. The *Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra* agrees with this, stating in verse: "I do not reveal it to the foolish and ordinary, fearing they would conceptualize and grasp it as a self." Therefore, among the five views, the first one is the view of self, being that which is relied upon; the latter four rely upon it. The first one is that which can give rise; the latter four are that which is given rise to. The first one gives rise to confusion regarding the fruit; the omnipresent consciousness gives rise to attachment regarding cause and fruit. These are ordinary persons who study the Mahāyāna within the Buddha-Dharma; therefore, the following texts all present them as arising from misunderstanding the Mahāyāna teachings. Thus, relying on ordinary persons, five views of self are spoken of.