Trisvabhāva-nirdeśa (Kochumuttom 1982 trans.)

A TREATISE ON THE THREE NATURES

Vasubandhu

Translated from the Sanskrit by Thomas A. Kochumuttom in A Buddhist Doctrine of Experience.

The imagined, The other-dependent, The absolutely accomplished : These are the three natures, Which should be thoroughly known by the wise.
That which appears is the other-dependent, For it depends on causal conditions; The form in which it appears is the imagined, For it is merely an imagination.
The perpetual absence of the form In which the other-dependent appears, Is to be understood as The absolutely accomplished nature, For it is never otherwise.
What is it that appears? It is the imagination of the non-existent. How does it appear? In the form of duality. What will result from its non-existence? There will be the state of non-duality.
What is meant by the imagination of the nonexistent? It is thought, For by it [the subject-object duality] is imagined. The form in which it imagines a thing Never at all exists as such.
The citta takes on two modes, as cause and effect, It is then respectively called The store-consciousness and the active consciousness, The latter being seven-fold.
The first is called citta, meaning 'collected', Because in it are collected the seeds Of defilements and habits; The second, however, is called citta, Because it acts in diverse ways.
Collectively [i.e. as a collection of store-consciousness and seven active consciousnesses] It is the imagination of the unreal forms [of subjectivity and objectivity]; That, too, is said to be three-fold: Maturing, caused and phenomenal.
Of them, the first, [namely the maturing one], Is the basic consciousness, Because its nature is to become matured; The others, [namely the caused and the phenomenal ones], Are the active consciousness, For, the latter for its reality, depends On the knowledge of the perceived-perceiver distinction.
The profundity of the three natures Is indeed recognized, because The defiled and the pure are each Existent as well as non-existent, Dual as well as unitary; Also because The three natures are not mutually different In definition.
The imagined nature is said To be defined both as existent and as nonexistent, For on the one hand it is grasped as existent, While, on the other, It is totally non-existent.
The other-dependent nature is said To be defined both as existent and as nonexistent, For, it exists as an illusion, It does not exist, though, in the form in which it appears.
The absolutely accomplished nature is said To be defined both as existent and as non-existent, For, it exists as a state of non-duality, It is also the non-existence of duality.
The nature that is imagined by the ignorant is said To be both dual and unitary, For, as it is imagined A thing has two forms, But as those two forms do not exist, It is unitary.
The other-dependent nature is said To be dual as well as unitary, For, it appears in dual form, While it has an illusory unity as well.
The absolutely accomplished nature is said To be dual as well as unitary, For, on the one hand, It is by nature the absence of duality, And, on the other hand, It is in the nature of unity without duality.
What is to be known as being defined As defilement are the imagined and the other-dependent natures, While the absolutely accomplished nature Is recognized as the definition of purity.
The absolutely accomplished nature Is to be understood As not different in definition from the imagined nature, For, the latter being in the nature of unreal duality, Is by nature the absence of that duality.
The imagined nature, too, Is to be understood As not different in definition from the absolutely accomplished one, For, the latter being in the nature of non-duality, Is by nature the absence of duality.
The absolutely accomplished nature Is to be understood As not different in definition from the other-dependent nature, For, the latter being non-existent in the form in which it appears, Is by nature the non-existence of that form.
The other-dependent nature, too, Is to be understood As not different in definition from the absolutely accomplished one, For, the former being in the nature of nonexistent duality, Is by nature non-existent in the form in which it appears.
For the sake of proficiency A particular order of the natures Is recommended, which takes into account The conventions [about them], and How one understands them.
The imagined nature is essentially of conventional values, The other, [namely the other-dependent nature], Is essentially that which brings about such conventional values, And the third, [namely the absolutely accomplished nature], Is the nature freed of all conventional values.
First, the other-dependent nature, Which is essentially the absence of duality Is understood; Then, the unreal duality, Namely the duality that is mere imagination, Is understood.
Then is understood The absolutely accomplished nature, Which is positively the absence of duality, For, that very nature is then said To be both existing and non-existing.
All these three natures [Depend for their definition On [the concept of] non-duality; For, [with reference to the imagined nature], There is the unreality of duality, [With reference to the other-dependent nature], It is not in the dual form in which it appears, And, [with reference to the absolutely accomplished nature], It is by its very nature the absence of that duality.
It is like the magical power, Which by the working of incantations Appears in the nature of an elephant; There is altogether no elephant at all But only its form.
The elephant stands for the imagined nature, Its form for the other-dependent nature, And, that which remains when the elephant has been negated, Stands for the absolutely accomplished nature.
So, the imagination of the unreal By the working of the basic thought Appears in the nature of duality; There is altogether no duality at all, But only its form.
The basic consciousness is like the incantations, Suchness is like the piece of wood, The [subject-object] discrimination is like the form of the elephant And the duality is like the elephant.
In comprehending the truth of things All three definitions have to be taken together, [Although methods of) knowledge, rejection and attainment Are to be employed respectively.
There, knowledge is non-perception, Rejection/destruction is non-appearance, Attainment, effected by perception. Is direct realization.
By the non-perception of duality The form of duality disappears; The non-duality resulting from its disappearance Is then attained.
It is just as the case of magic, In which the non-perception of the elephant The disappearance of its form, and the perception of the piece of wood, Take place all at once.
The attainment of liberation becomes effortless By getting rid of misunderstanding, Intellectually seeing the meaninglessness, And following the threefold knowledge.
Through the perception That there is only thought, There arises the non-perception of knowable things ; Through the non-perception of knowable things, There arises the non-perception of thought, too.
From the non-perception of duality There arises the perception of the essence of reality; From the perception of the essence of reality There arises the perception of unlimitedness.
The wise man, having perceived the unlimitedness, And seeing the meaning of oneself and others, Attains the unsurpassed enlightenment, Which is in the nature of the three bodies.