觀生門第十二
Chapter 12: Contemplating the Gate of Birth
復次，一切法空。何以故？生、不生、生時不可得故，今生已不生，不生亦不生，生時亦不生。如說：
Furthermore, all phenomena are empty. Why is that? Because arising, non-arising, and the moment of arising cannot be found. What has already arisen does not arise again; what has not yet arisen does not arise; and what is in the process of arising also does not arise. As it is said:
生果則不生， 不生亦不生，
離是生不生， 生時亦不生。
If you examine a fruit that has already formed, it is no longer coming into being. If you consider a fruit that has not yet formed, it is also not in the process of coming into being. Apart from these two states—‘already formed’ and ‘not yet formed’— The moment of coming into being itself is also empty of any fixed arising.
生名果起出，未生名未起未出未有，生時名始起未成。是中生果不生者，是生生已不生。何以故？有無窮過故，作已更作故。若生生已生第二生，第二生生已生第三生，第三生生已生第四生；如初生生已有第二生，如是生則無窮。是事不然，是故生不生。復次，若謂生生、已生所用生生，是生不生而生。是事不然。何以故？初生不生而生，是則二種生：生已而生、不生而生，故汝先定說而今不定。如作已不應作、燒已不應燒、證已不應證，如是生已不應更生；是故生法不生。
"Life" refers to the arising and manifesting of things; "non-life" refers to that which has not yet arisen, manifested, or come into being. The moment of "arising" refers to the beginning of coming into existence, where it has just started but is not yet fully formed. Within this, the "life" of a thing that is being born is not truly born. Why? Because if something that is already born could give rise to another birth, there would be an infinite regress—a process of continuous action after the action has already been completed. If the born gives rise to a second birth, and that second birth gives rise to a third, and so on endlessly, this is not logically possible. Therefore, the act of being born does not truly give rise to itself.
Furthermore, if you argue that birth itself, or the state of having been born, can cause another birth—while the original birth itself is not born from anything—this is also untenable. Why? Because if something that hasn't yet been born can give rise to birth, then you end up with two kinds of birth: one from what has already been born, and one from what hasn't been born yet. Your initial claim is thus inconsistent and undefined. Just as something that has been created should not be created again, what has been burned should not be burned again, and what has been realized should not be realized again—in the same way, what has already been born should not be born again. Hence, the phenomenon of "being born" does not truly give rise to a new life.
不生法亦不生。何以故？不與生合故，又一切不生有生過故。若不生法生，則離生有生，是則不生。若離生有生，則離作有作、離去有去、離食有食，如是則壞世俗法。是事不然，是故不生法不生。復次，若不生法生，一切不生法皆應生；一切凡夫未生阿耨多羅三藐三菩提皆應生，不壞法阿羅漢煩惱不生而生，兔馬等角不生而生。是事不然，是故不應說不生而生。
The unproduced does not come into being. Why? Because it does not unite with arising. Furthermore, if all things were unproduced, there would be the fault of something arising from non-arising. If the unproduced came into being, then there would be arising apart from non-arising, which would mean the unproduced itself arises. If arising existed apart from non-arising, then production could exist apart from the producer, movement apart from the mover, and eating apart from the eater. This would destroy conventional worldly truths. Such is not the case, therefore the unproduced does not come into being.
Moreover, if the unproduced could arise, then all unproduced things should arise. All ordinary people who have not yet attained peerless perfect enlightenment should then attain it. The unafflicted arhats, whose defilements do not arise, would see them arise. And impossible things like the horns of a rabbit or the ears of a horse would come into being. Such is not the case, therefore one should not say that the unproduced arises.
問曰：「不生而生者，如有因緣和合時方作者，方便具足是則不生而生，非一切不生而生，是故不應以一切不生而生為難。」
Question: “When we speak of ‘being born from no-birth,’ it means that when causes and conditions come together, something comes into being. When all the right conditions are fully present, something is born from what was not born—this is not the claim that everything is born from nothing. Therefore, you should not criticize by saying that all things are born from nothing.”
答曰：「若法生時方作者，方便眾緣和合生，是中先定有不生，先無亦不生，又有無亦不生，是三種求生不可得，如先說。是故不生法不生。
Answer: "If things arise only when conditions come together, still, what arises hasn't already existed, nor has it been completely non-existent, nor is it both—these three scenarios cannot be found, as previously explained. Therefore, what has not yet arisen does not give rise to itself in the past."
「生時亦不生。何以故？有生生過，不生而生過故。生時法，生分不生，如先說。未生分亦不生，如前說。
A being is not produced even at the moment of birth. Why? Because if there is such a thing as "production," then "the produced" and "the unproduced" would be two separate things, which leads to a contradiction. The process of being born does not contain the state of being unborn, as already explained. Similarly, the state of being before birth also is not the same as the state of being born, as previously stated.
「復次，若離生有生時，則應生時生，而實離生無生時，是故生時亦不生。
Furthermore, if apart from birth there were a time of being born, then it would be appropriate for birth to occur in that time of being born. But in truth, apart from birth there is no time of being born. Therefore, even in the time of being born, there is no birth.
「復次，若人說生時生，則有二生：一、以生時為生，二、以生時生。無有二法，云何言有二生？是故生時亦不生。
Furthermore, if one claims that "arising" occurs at the moment of arising, that would imply two births: one, the state of being in the process of arising, and two, the act of arising itself. Since there are not two separate things, how can we speak of two births? Therefore, there is no arising even at the moment designated as "arising."
「復次，未有生，無生時，生於何處行？生若無行處，則無生時生，是故生時亦不生。
Furthermore, before birth occurs, when there is no arising, where does birth take place? If birth has no place to occur, then there is no arising at the moment of birth. Therefore, even at the moment of birth, there is no actual arising.
「如是生、不生、生時皆不成，生法不成故。無生，住、滅亦如是。生、住、滅不成故，則有為法亦不成；有為法不成故，無為法亦不成；有為、無為法不成故，眾生亦不成。是故當知一切法無生，畢竟空寂故。」
Thus, birth, non-birth, and the time of birth—none of these are real. Since the process of birth does not truly exist, there is no birth. The same applies to abiding and ceasing. Because birth, abiding, and ceasing do not truly exist, conditioned phenomena do not truly exist. Since conditioned phenomena do not truly exist, unconditioned phenomena do not truly exist. And because both conditioned and unconditioned phenomena do not truly exist, living beings also do not truly exist. Therefore, you should know: all phenomena are unborn, for they are ultimately empty and still.
十二門論一卷
Twelve Gate Treatise, One Scroll