Master Gangxiao: The General Meaning of the *Zhang Zhong Lun*, Part Three

The General Meaning of the Zhang Zhong Lun, Part Three

Within the three realms there are only provisional names; in reality there is no external object. This is owing to delusive grasping. Hoping to open a gate for those who have not yet realized the truth — by which they may discern the self-nature of dharmas and attain an undistorted understanding — I have composed this treatise.

This is the first passage. It explains why Dignāga composed the Zhang Zhong Lun. In Buddhism we often call this the occasion for composing a treatise. We're the same way, really — when I sit down to write something, there has to be some reason for it, right? ~~Say I have a viewpoint I want to set forth, or — to take a humbler example — say I'm so poor I haven't a bite to eat, and I write an article to earn a couple of coins. That counts as a purpose too, though I wouldn't call it lofty. So what was Dignāga's purpose in composing the Zhang Zhong Lun? It certainly wasn't to earn a bowl of rice. He says that within the three realms, everything is in fact only a provisional name; there is no truly existent external object to be found. Yet people don't know this, and so they cling stubbornly to what appears before them. From that clinging, delusion arises and karma is created, and they go on revolving through the six paths of the three realms, suffering all the while — and suffering without even knowing why. Now I, Dignāga, wish to lay out this principle for those who don't yet understand it, so they may see that external objects are not in fact real, and aren't worth the cost of cycling through the realms in pain for their sake. I want them to know that the reason they suffer is that they fail to recognize external objects aright. This is what is called benefiting sentient beings.

The "three realms" mentioned in the treatise are the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. The desire realm is where sentient beings dwell who are deeply governed and tormented by all manner of desires. The form realm is where coarse, vulgar desires have already been cut off, though these beings still possess a body and remain mentally active. The formless realm has neither desires nor physical form — nothing material at all, only mental activity. The six paths spoken of in Buddhism all lie within the three realms. How do these three realms arise? Sentient beings each carry their own particular afflictions and subsidiary afflictions, countless and varied; broadly divided into three kinds, these serve as the supporting basis for the worlds we inhabit.

"External object" refers to what our six senses — eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind — grasp and seek to know, namely forms, sounds, smells, tastes, tangibles, and the like.

"Delusive grasping" — "delusive" means unreasonable, mistaken; "grasping" means false discrimination, held fast in the mind and not let go.

"Gate" — gate, path, means of access. Correct, non-inverted discourse serves as the gate through which sentient beings may discern the self-nature of dharmas.

"Nature" — what we commonly call "substance" or "essence." In truth, nothing possesses a self-essence; all are produced by causes and conditions. Yet we speak of everything as though it had a self-essence, and so this treatise aims to break that very notion.

"Distorted understanding" — an inverted view.