English
"In direct and reverse order" here, however, it speaks of the direct order, which is the arising of conditioned things from conditions, and the reverse order, which is the cessation from cessation. But "direct order" means going from the beginning to the end, and "reverse order" means going from the end to the beginning. And by the reverse order teaching starting from the middle, such as "What is the origin of these four nutriments?" and by the direct order teaching, such as "Eye-consciousness arises dependent on the eye and forms; the coming together of the three is contact; dependent on contact is feeling," it is a summary of two connections, "among things that bind, bhikkhus, When one dwells observing delight in things, craving grows, from craving, clinging, and so on, in a single compound, two abridgements. Penetration is the understanding of the inherent nature of ignorance and so on. As it is said: "Penetration is the understanding of the unperverted inherent nature, characterized by self-marks, of those various things spoken of in various places." A part of unwholesome volitional formations is accompanied by passion, the other is dispassionate. Or, because of not being an opponent to passion, all unwholesome volitional formations are accompanied by passion; the other, because of being an opponent, is dispassionate. "For a long time, monks, this has been clung to, cherished, and grasped by the uninstructed ordinary person: 'This is mine, this I am, this is my self'," the consciousness of self-grasping is said to be a distinct object. Thus, the emptiness of consciousness is profound. The idea that the self knows and transmigrates, due to the strength of attachment to the notion of activity, and the non-arising of activity, the non-arising of rebirth-linking, are also profound. The separation of name from form, and form from name, due to their non-conjunction. The non-separation of name from name should be understood. If non-separation is intended by single arising and single cessation, it applies to form from form as well. Alternatively, in the one- and four-constituent existences, name and form are separate due to not co-existing. In the five-constituent existence, they are non-separate due to co-existing, and this should be understood. The meaning of dominance is the condition of being an faculty. The meanings of world, door, and field, as stated in "This is the world, this is the door, this is the field," should be applied to the five sense faculties like the eye. Even for the mind-base, because it perishes, and because mind-contact and so on are doors and fields, these meanings are indeed possible. Illumination, the characteristic of suitability for manifesting objects like forms that have come into range, is the object-state of the eye and so on, and the knowing of the mind-base. The meaning of impingement is especially for the five like eye-contact, but it should also be applied to the other six. And contact is the nature of contact. O, the essence is impact, the others are modes of attendance. The experience of the object-essence is spoken of by way of essence, the felt aspect by way of characteristic. Because of the strength of the conviction "the self feels," the non-living aspect of feeling is profound. The feeling of a non-living thing is a non-living feeling; the meaning of a non-living feeling is the non-living feeling aspect. The aspect of taking is common to all four clingings; the aspect of grasping is for sensual clinging, for the other three, it is the aspect of conviction, etc. Because of the saying "the wilderness of views," it is also the aspect of views being difficult to overcome. Or, because of firm grasping, the aspect of being difficult to overcome should be applied to all four. In the compound "in births, destinations, standings, and abodes," the elision of the locative case should be observed; therefore, with it, there is a compound of the words "striving" and "conditioning." "The limb of old age and death" means death is primary; thus, aspects like decay, etc., are shown to be profound only in relation to death. For, old age is the progression of decrepitude, etc., through the decay of new and new things; or, the aspect of decay is said to be old age. For, it is proper to say that the cessation of newness is decay. The aspect of change is for both. Or, the state of decay and decline for old age is by way of continuity, while for death, the aspect of breaking and changing by way of conventional moments should be applied. "Ways of meaning" means ways of meanings. By their nature, unity, etc., are led or brought by the meanings of ignorance, etc.; thus, unity, etc., are called their ways. For, "they are led" means "ways." Or, the meanings themselves, being led or known by way of unity, etc., are called "ways of meaning." Or, "ways" are that by which they are led, and meanings are led by unity, etc., by "one," etc.; therefore, unity, etc., are the ways of meanings, hence "ways of meaning." It shows that the non-interruption of continuity is unity, as a seed that has reached the state of a tree and continues in the state of a tree is spoken of as unity due to the non-interruption of continuity; similarly here, the non-interruption of continuity of ignorance, etc., is unity. "Of a broken continuity" means from the apprehension of unrelated diversity, one who grasps "one being is cut off, another being has arisen" is an annihilationist view. he grasps. Why from anywhere? If there were an arising of one thing from another, why would there not be an arising of oil from sand, or milk from sugarcane? Therefore, there is no cause for anything, thus he grasps the view of no cause. And because of the certainty even in the absence of a cause, that oil, milk, and bodies arise from sesame, cows, semen, and blood, he grasps the doctrine of destiny. This should be understood appropriately. Why? Because no one has ever gone beyond the fear of transmigration by breaking open this wheel of existence, not even in a dream—this is the connection. Durabhiyāna means difficult to overcome. Like a wheel of lightning means like a circle of lightning. For that is only grinding, there is no non-grinding that occurs. In the same way, the wheel of existence, because it produces only suffering, is called "constant grinding." Showing the proof for "no one has gone beyond the fear of transmigration by breaking it open with the sword of knowledge," it is said, "And this has been said," and so on. A tangle of threads is tantākulaka. Born like a tangle of threads is tantākulakajātā, meaning exceedingly entangled by defilements, kamma, and results. A nest for a bird on a branch is guṇāguṇḍika. He does not transcend the four kinds of woe: woe (apāya) due to the absence of growth, bad destination (duggati) due to being a state of suffering, and ruin (vinipāta) due to being a collection of happiness, and transmigration (saṃsāra) as stated by "the succession of aggregates," and so on. Or all transmigration itself is here called by names like woe due to meanings such as the cessation of growth, being merely a mass of suffering. The description of the discourse on the wheel of existence is finished. The description of the Suttanta division is finished. 2. Abhidhamma Division Description 243. Dependent origination, like earth and space, is described by way of conceptualization of widely spread and extensive phenomena. For the Blessed One, in the Suttanta division, demonstrates it by making it widely spread and extensive, common to all beings and all minds, as if spreading and extending the unspread and unextended earth and space, without confining it to a single mind. There, by way of various minds means of non-co-arisen and co-arisen. It is said with reference to the shown nature of various mind-states that have arisen dependent on conditions. There are nine root-terms, these are the nine root-terms, the methods. It is said, "because four fours of turns are included in each method," here it should be said, "by each four." For the four-turn methods are here established as the method-nature of the shown fours. 1. Description of the Four Conditions Not taking ignorance as a factor, it is then said, "conditioned by ignorance are formations," and so on, that factors with conditions and factors arisen from conditions are stated as factors, thus it says, "no, because it is not a factor." And having done so, in the exposition (Vibh. 226), having separately explained ignorance as "therein, what is ignorance?", formations and so on, possessing those respective conditions, are explained by "therein, what are formations conditioned by ignorance?", and so on. The first turn among the three types, entering into the second and subsequent turns, is called "all-inclusive" because it is common to all differences such as specific conditions, and thus it takes those specific turns. For the first turn is not merely the sixth sense-base, but also name is a condition for contact, or name is not merely for the sixth sense-base, but also for contact, for the purpose of showing specific conditions, and for showing that specific meaning by which the teaching of the Mahānidāna Sutta proceeded, it is stated omitting the sixth sense-base factor, and thus its entry into the second turn is stated, not from the inclusion of all factors. Where, that is, in the four turns and in each turn. Otherwise, it is said that formations are otherwise than in the Suttanta Bhājanīya. Not stated, "form is the six sense-bases," and in those four turns, sorrows and so on are not stated, but are stated in the Suttanta Bhājanīya. And what is stated there is to be understood as stated otherwise here as "the sixth sense-base." Because it is common to all places, that is, common to all turns in the manner stated, or common to all places where consciousness arises.