成善巧品第三
Chapter 3: Skillful Means
於諸蘊、界、處， 及眾緣起法、
處非處、根、諦， 善巧事應知。
身者自在等， 無因身者住，
流轉作諸業， 及增上二種。
於身者等起， 實我所住持，
流轉者作者， 及諸增上義。
染污若清淨， 起七種愚癡，
對治此應知， 攝七種善巧。
妄計我身者， 依止諸根住，
於境界迴轉， 受用愛非愛。
言說所依住， 作者有覺者，
由於差別蘊， 總見一身者。
迷惑初因故， 計常因無因。
我住持諸根， 能觸及能受。
從此死生處， 計有流轉者，
法非法作者， 及彼果增上。
於修習邪行， 計為染污者；
於修習正行， 妄計解脫者。
佛未出於世， 如是愚癡轉；
由佛現世間， 說七種善巧。
知世等別故， 能除一合想，
即離與解脫， 眾生不可得。
多種及總略， 共有差別轉，
增益損減智， 蘊善巧應知。
見三因生故， 說名界善巧，
從無始自種， 多種種生起，
由此及於此， 取者不可得，
依自智成故， 能除下劣性。
知諸觸諸受， 由二種生門，
依止於觸故， 當知處善巧。
知法處天處， 後後所依止，
由世俗諦故， 了知二種性。
知未斷無常， 因能生諸果，
自相續相似， 名緣起善巧。
眾生不可得， 而有捨續者，
由了達甚深， 四種緣起故。
不作，不趣、得， 二、餘體不轉，
淨見無餘業， 非我自在二。
如是智能知， 處非處善巧，
於自果定處， 異此說非處。
於能取生住， 及染污清淨，
無理我觀餘， 於彼果增上。
於如是方便， 名為根善巧，
謂於取生住， 染淨增上故。
二自性苦故， 合故不應理，
由無因有因， 及五種譬喻。
如是隨覺故， 應知諦善巧，
隨覺未曾見， 未受義因緣。
當知諸善巧， 差別二十三，
異攝論為先， 後最極清淨。
One should skillfully know the aggregates, sense bases, elements, Dependent Arising, and the principles of what is possible and impossible. One should know the faculties, the truths, and the appropriate activities.
Regarding "the one with a body," self, and so on, The views of a causeless abider, the one who experiences and creates karma, And the two kinds of authority (over the body and the outcome)— Seven kinds of ignorance arise regarding these concepts of impurity and purity.
To overcome this, one should understand the seven types of skillful knowledge. One falsely imagines a "self with a body" dwelling in the sense faculties, Turning among objects of experience, enjoying pleasant and unpleasant things. The self is seen as the basis of speech, the doer, the knower; Due to the differing aggregates, one sees a single "body-owner."
Confused about the first cause, one imagines a permanent cause or no cause. One thinks, "I sustain the faculties, I contact and I feel." From passing from this life to the next, one imagines a transmigrator, The doer of good and bad deeds, and the controller of those results. One falsely believes in a defiled being when practicing wrongly, And falsely imagines a liberated being when practicing rightly.
Before the Buddha appeared in the world, such ignorance prevailed. With the Buddha's advent, he taught these seven types of skillful knowledge.
By seeing these distinctive categories, the idea of a single "mass" gets destroyed. Then, separation from it and liberation are realized, and no "sentient being" can be found.
The skillful knowledge of the aggregates concerns their many types, their totality, Their shared characteristics, how they transform, and the wisdom of adding or subtracting them wrongly.
The skillful knowledge of the elements sees that all things arise from three causes. Since beginningless time, from their own seeds, they have arisen in countless forms. The grasper is not found within: "From this... by this..." Since they exist through their own nature, this knowledge removes inferior views.
The skillful knowledge of the sense bases understands that both contact and feeling Arise from two types of doors and dependently upon contact.
By knowing that the realm of phenomena and the heavenly realms are the basis for each subsequent state, And by understanding through conventional truth, one knows two kinds of nature.
The skillful knowledge of dependent origination knows that what hasn't been cut off is impermanence, That causes give rise to results, that there is a continuity of similarity within one's own mental stream.
Though no sentient being can be found, there is still a "giving up" and "continuation." This is understood by realizing the profound four meanings of dependent origination.
[Regarding actions], by not acting and not attaining, the two [self and other] do not function. The remaining body does not turn; there is a pure vision of no remaining karma. It is not the self, nor a controller—there are these two aspects.
Thus, the wise know the skillful knowledge of what is possible and impossible. For what is impossible for a particular result is said to be "not the place" for it.
For the faculties that enable birth, abiding, defilement, and purification, There is no logical self to be seen as their controller with authority over these results. This skillful knowledge of the faculties is applied to what enables birth, abiding, Defilement, purification, and their respective authority.
The truths involve two kinds of natures (the truth of suffering)—it is illogical to mix them. There is both no cause and a cause, as illustrated by five examples. Thus, through this understanding, one should know the skillful knowledge of the truths, An understanding of what was never before seen or experienced and its causal conditions.
One should know that the types of skillful knowledge are twenty-three in number. The commentary of others is the starting point, and the ultimate purity is the final goal.