四大種，即地、水、火、風，是生命之樹的四粒種子，亦作四大；西方人稱之為唯心主義的四個基本元素。種是因義。世界的一切都是四大種所造；這怎麼理解？由身體和外部世界都是心的投影來理解，如新生兒的視力才20幾厘米，世界無非是吃奶和大小便產生的快樂感覺。隨着成長，身體和外部世界逐漸長大，直至長成三千大千世界（參見第12章）。

The four elements, namely earth, water, fire, and wind, are the four seeds of the tree of life, also known as the four elements; Westerners call them the four basic elements of Theism. Seed is the meaning of cause, reason. Everything in the world is created by the four great seeds; how is this to be understood? It is understood by the fact that the flesh body and the external world are projections of the heart (i.e., mind), as in the case of a newborn baby with a visual acuity of only 20 centimeters or so, and that the world is nothing more than the happy sensations produced by eating milk urinating and defecating. As it grows, the body and the external world grow until it grows into the Three-Grand Great-Grand Worlds (see Chapter 12).

10.2-1 地是界的比喻The metaphor of earth as a boundary

人使用極限進行思維，即使用界進行認知，界如邊、表、正義等。界無形，古德用地來比喻界。高山大地是界的形象。能持，孕育萬物是界的功能。堅韌是界的體性。界有了地的形象比喻，人們就可以輕易地理解出界的生、依、立、持、養，這五種因性。界是種子義、能持義。種子義是約無意識中能生起諸法的功能，即十八界法各由自種生起而有差別相。能持義是約能持諸法自相義；即十八界法各持自相不亂，所以名界。

Man uses limits for thinking, i.e., people use boundaries for cognition, boundaries such as edges, tables, justice, etc. The boundaries are invisible, so Ancients used the earth as a metaphor for the boundaries. The mountains and the lands are the images of the boundaries. Capable of holding, nurturing all things is the function of the boundaries. Toughness is the physical nature of the boundaries. With the images of the earth as a metaphor for the boundaries, one can easily understand the five causal qualities of the boundaries, namely, birth, dependence, establishment, holding, and nourishment. The boundaries mean seeds and the ability to hold. The meaning of seed is about the function of the unconscious that can give rise to all laws, i.e., each of the eighteen boundaries of laws is born from its own seed and has a different phenomenon. The meaning of being able to hold is about being able to hold the self-phenomenon of the law; that is, each of the eighteen boundaries of laws holds its self-phenomenon unperturbed and is therefore called a boundary.

10.2-2 水是識的比喻 Water is a metaphor for sense

這樣，識就有了江、河、湖、海、雲、雨等的巨大形象。識性如水，如粘、附着、流動性等。此大種以流濕為體性，能攝為功能，也有生依立持養五種因性。

In this way, senses have the great images of rivers, streams, lakes, seas, clouds, rain, etc. The nature of senses is like water, such as stickiness, attachment, fluidity, and so on. This Big Seed has flow and wetness as its physical nature, can assimilate as its function, and has the five causal qualities, namely, birth, dependence, establishment, holding, and nourishment.

10.2-3 火是無意識的比喻 Fire as a metaphor for the unconscious

古人常用火來比喻無意識；這樣，無意識就有了猛焰、烈日、赤火的形象。火以溫熱為體性，能熟為功能。能熟，如日熟谷。大種火亦有生依立持養五種因性。

The ancients often used fire as a metaphor for the unconscious; in this way, the unconscious took on the images of a fierce flame, a blazing sun, and red fires. Fire has warmth and heat as its physical nature, and the ability to ripen as its function. It is capable of ripening, as the sun ripening grain. The big seed, Fire, also has the five causal qualities of birth, dependence, establishment, holding, and nourishment.

10.2-4 風是境的比喻 Wind as a metaphor for the environment

古德用風來比喻不斷變化的環境，境就有了疾猛大風為形象。境以輕動為體性，能長為功能，也有生依立持養五種因性。通過以上四種比喻，就有了人們所說的地、水、火、風，這四大種。此四大種都是通性無記的。通性是說此四大種都與無意識相通。無記是說人對四大種沒有記憶，不能被回憶。世界萬物都是由這四大種和合所成。若大種有變化，依其所造的一切事物都會隨之而改變。

The ancients used wind as a metaphor for the ever-changing environment, so the environment has the images of a swift and strong wind. The environment has the nature of easily drifting, the ability to grow as a function, and the five causal qualities of birth, dependence, establishment, holding, and nourishment. Through these four analogies, there are what people call earth, water, fire, and wind, the four big seeds. These four big seeds are all conterminously memoryless. Conterminous, is saying that the four big seeds are all connected to the unconscious. Memoryless, is saying that people have no memory of the four big seeds and cannot be recalled. Everything in the world is made from the combination of these four big seeds. If there is a change in the Four Big Seeds, all things made according to them will change accordingly.

返回生命樹的目錄Return Catalog of Life Tree