Four appearances
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four appearances (四相).
A. The four appearances of any saṁskṛta dharma are the four stages of a process:
(1) arising,
(2) continuing,
(3) changing, and
(4) ending. In the case of a sentient being, these four are (
(1) birth,
(2) aging,
(3) illness, and
(4) death (see ten appearances). In the case of a world, these four are
(1) formation,
(2) continuation,
(3) destruction, and
(4) void.
B. The four appearances in the Diamond Sūtra (T08n0235) are the self-images of a sentient being:
(1) an autonomous self, which relates to everything conceived or perceived as non-self;
(2) a human being with something in common with or different from other human beings;
(3) a sentient being with something in common with or different from other sentient beings;
(4) an everlasting soul that remains the same as it assumes different bodies for different lives. The latter three self-images are derived from the first. They are also called the four views (四見). A fifth self-image is given in the Buddha Store Sūtra (T15n0653, 0799b22–23): (5) a living being with a lifespan to terminate, preserve, or prolong.