Contemplating the Five Aggregates and Eliminating the View of Self (Part I) (Second Edition)
Chapter 8: The Criteria and Characteristics for Verifying the Eradication of the View of Self
Section 1: Only When Preparatory Concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) Is Fully Attained Can the First Fruit Be Realized
1. Original text of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume 53: 若依未至定。证得初果。尔时一切。能往恶趣恶戒种子。皆悉永害。此即名为。圣所爱戒。
This clearly states that when one realizes the first fruit, preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) must necessarily be present; only after realizing the fruit can the karmic seeds of the three evil destinies be eradicated so that they no longer arise. When the karma that leads to the three evil destinies is no longer created, it is called the precept conduct that the noble ones delight in.
If preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) is not fully attained, or if there is no preparatory concentration at all, one cannot actually engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the five aggregates, cannot truly reject the self of the five aggregates, the view of the self of the five aggregates cannot be eradicated, and one cannot realize the fruit and attain purity of the Dharma eye. As for the mind consciousness's knowledge that the five aggregates are without self—mere knowing is only knowing; it does not count as realization, being merely intellectual understanding. Only when the manas personally realizes it can the eradication of the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) be said to have occurred, and only with unshakable certainty can the bond and fetter of views be severed. Meditative concentration and the manas are tightly bound together; with meditative concentration, the manas can avoid being obscured by afflictions and deluded thinking, and avoid being disturbed by the ceaseless discriminating of the six consciousnesses, so one can diligently apply effort, thereby realize the fruit and clearly understand the truth.
2. After Realizing the Fruit, One's View of the Five Aggregates Is Transformed
In the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) on the falsity and non-self of the five aggregates, many people at times merely slightly believe in their minds that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are false and illusory, and then consider themselves to have eradicated the view of self and realized the first fruit. This is actually not so; perhaps they are still a great distance away from truly eradicating the view of self. Those views are only the very superficial cognition of the sixth consciousness (manovijñāna); the mind consciousness has not deeply accepted the principle that the five aggregates are false and illusory, does not know in what way they are false, and the manas has accepted it even less. To so lightly consider oneself to have eradicated the view of self is a misunderstanding—it is not a true eradication of the view of self.
When the manas has not yet accepted that the five aggregates are false and illusory, one has not truly realized that the five aggregates are not self, has not eradicated the view of self, has not severed the three fetters, and has not eliminated the karma of the three evil destinies. Such contemplative practice remains merely on the lips, not deep and subtle enough, nor concrete enough; deep within the mind there is no notion that the five aggregates are not self, and one's mental actions cannot change. If one has only a superficial understanding of some theories with the mind consciousness, and one's thinking is not systematic, not deep and subtle enough, one cannot obtain genuine benefit.
Many people's practice remains at the level of the sixth consciousness (manovijñāna), shouting "emptiness" with their mouths while their conduct remains in existence. Such Buddhist study and practice cannot yet transform oneself and yields no benefit at all. The reason is that the seventh consciousness (manas) does not accept the superficial theoretical analysis of the sixth consciousness. In most cases, the sixth consciousness has not yet engaged in systematic thinking and contemplative practice, while the seventh consciousness needs, on the basis of the mind consciousness's continuous deep and subtle contemplative thinking and practice, to enter deep meditative concentration and carry out its own contemplative practice, in order to clearly understand and realize the principle, and to realize the principle that the five aggregates are not self. Because the scope of the seventh consciousness's cognitive grasping is too broad and its wisdom to discern all dharmas is insufficient, it needs the sixth consciousness as a helper to assist the manas in contemplative practice; only then can the manas give rise to wisdom-based cognition, clearly understanding the principle and realizing the Dharma.
There are many people who talk about practice verbally but cannot do it at all in their hearts, all because the manas has not clearly understood the principle and has not been subdued. For example, Buddhists believe that generosity (dāna) quickly accumulates merit; when encountering an opportunity for giving, they promise to donate a certain amount of money to cultivate merit, but when it comes to actually giving, they hesitate in their minds, and some simply find an excuse not to give. Why is this? Because the mind consciousness's wish to give is a surface phenomenon; the manas is still unclear about how great the benefits of giving really are, and its attachment to money remains very firm, so it is unwilling to let go of the money.
Everything is directed by the manas as the master; the contemplative practice on the falsity of the five aggregates must also be realized by the manas to count. This requires us to permeate and cultivate the manas over a long period, letting Him clearly understand the principle, and personally investigate within meditative concentration; only then can His attachment gradually loosen and lessen, and our practice becomes effective and shows results. The manas is the consciousness of self-grasping; He carries the afflictions and habitual tendencies of beginningless kalpas and is very hard to change. Only the arhat of the fourth fruit can eradicate His attachment, and only at the end of life is He willing to relinquish His own five aggregates and enter Nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa). The prerequisite for eradicating the manas's self-grasping is that the view of self must first be eradicated; only afterward can the grasping be gradually severed.
3. Examining Whether the View of Self Has Been Eradicated from the Perspective of Cultivating the Thirty-seven Factors of the Path
Among those in the secular world who have never encountered the Buddha-dharma, some also believe that the body is subject to arising and ceasing, is impermanent, is not real, and is merely a false shell that one makes use of. Have all these people eradicated the view of the body (satkāya-dṛṣṭi)? Some of them do not care what they eat or wear, where they live or what they use, and do not care even when the body falls ill—have they eradicated the view of the body? None of them have. They do not care about the body because certain conditions and circumstances constrain them, such as poverty, stinginess, and so forth, or because they have pursuits in other areas and for the time being cannot attend to the material body. Once conditions are complete, they will still treasure the material body greatly, crave and cling to it, and pursue its pleasures.
Eradicating the view of the body requires comprehensive examination—examining it in terms of precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom, from the aspect of the Thirty-seven Factors of the Path, from the level of the mind's thoughts, and from the level of mental actions; one must not generalize from a part to the whole. Although some people do not care about certain bodily matters, that may be because their living conditions are inadequate, or because of inner foolishness, or because they have shifted their attention to other matters connected with the body, having pursuits in other areas with some special purpose; for the sake of the body they would even create karma of the three evil destinies, and they are unwilling to give up the material life they possess—therefore this is not eradication of the view of the body.
All bodily, verbal, and mental actions form seeds, like archived records, which anyone with supernatural powers (abhijñā) can consult at any time; this archive never disappears, though karmic seeds can disappear. Attachment has karmic seeds of attachment; non-attachment has karmic seeds of non-attachment. The tathāgatagarbha's records differ, and the karmic retributions differ. That is to say, in doing one thing, if the mental actions differ, the tathāgatagarbha's records differ, the karmic seeds differ, and the karmic retribution differs.
4. Actual Practice Is Far More Difficult Than Imagined
Many people study the Buddha-dharma for two years, believe that the five aggregates are not self, and claim they have already eradicated the view of self and realized the first fruit. This belief is too superficial and solves nothing. One must engage in deep, subtle, and thorough contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), changing the cognition within one's mind bit by bit, in order to touch the manas, so that both consciousnesses—the mind consciousness and the manas—can reverse their former mistaken cognition and gain new understanding of the five aggregates themselves. Only when the change has reached a considerable degree can the view of self be eradicated.
Eradicating the view of self is not so easy. Since beginningless kalpas, sentient beings' wrong views (mithyā-dṛṣṭi) have been too deep; they cannot be cleared away in a day or a few days just by talking and thinking. For long kalpas they have taken the five aggregates as self, deeply rooted; those incorrect views cannot be straightened out in a short time. The Buddha-dharma is not so easy to cultivate and realize—those who have walked the path all know this. Only those without much cultivation presumptuously take for granted that realizing the fruit and becoming a Buddha is quite easy. Without experience, everything is imagination, and imagined things are of course all easy; only when one starts to actually practice does one feel the difficulty.
Always wanting to be unconventional, eager for quick success and instant gains, craving grandiose achievements, always wishing oneself to be special and extraordinary—all these are the self. This self is very hard to remove; truly clearing away that self is in fact extremely, extremely difficult. Some people are simply unwilling to hear such words, but however unwilling they are to hear them, these are facts. Honest advice grates on the ear; good medicine tastes bitter—both benefit oneself without any harm.
Those who have been cultivating since long kalpas in past lives have, in every kalpa and every lifetime, been steeped in immeasurable Buddha-dharmas, accumulated considerable experience, seen through many principles of things, personally experienced much, and have deep roots of goodness, merit, and wisdom; only they can deeply know that the cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma is not so simple and easy. Only those without much experience regard practice as very easy—reading a bit of the Lotus Sutra (Saddharma-puṇḍarīka Sūtra) or some other sūtra and then becoming a Buddha; the mind consciousness slightly knows a little something, without actually understanding the substance of it, and considers itself greatly accomplished. In fact, these views are all conceit (māna), great conceit; the view of self is deeply rooted, and such people's sense of self is more severe, making the eradication of the view of self more difficult.
People with a heavy sense of self have many kinds of manifestations; they will try every means through various channels to show off that self of theirs, letting everyone know and understand them, everyone flatter and worship them—only then do they feel comfortable. This feeling of comfort is arrogance. With the self held high and great, the view of self is heavier and eradication is more difficult.
5. Who Is Qualified to Validate Their Own Realization
Buddhist practitioners should all practice in a down-to-earth manner, one solid step at a time, steadily and securely, truly eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind, not mere intellectual understanding and understanding-based awakening. This requires the fundamental training of meditative concentration. I repeatedly require meditative concentration; this is the fundamental basis for the transformation of body and mind attaining liberation. Without meditative concentration, the result is understanding, definitely not realization. I have put forward the criteria for realizing the fruit and seeing the mind; everyone should examine themselves according to these criteria to see whether they have truly eradicated the view of self or merely have intellectual cognition of the principle. If Buddhists are not manic and restless, all will surely obtain the greatest benefit, and Buddhism will certainly develop steadily.
However, I still do not encourage everyone to validate themselves, because you lack experience and do not know the subtle points and pitfalls within; you easily indulge and excuse yourselves, thereby becoming understanding-based awakeners, unable to actually engage in contemplative practice; having eaten half-cooked rice, you suffer indigestion, and your cultivation of the Path will hardly make further progress. When validation is given to everyone face to face, it can greatly enhance contemplative wisdom; afterward, upon encountering any dharma, you will be able to contemplate it, and wisdom and path-cultivation will advance by leaps and bounds, saving a great deal of practice time.
Those with understanding-based awakening can also understand some gong'an (public cases) and explain simple ones, but they do not know the details within, knowing only that it is so but not why it is so, because they lack contemplative wisdom. For the first and second fruits, I do not encourage everyone to validate themselves; the criteria there are hard to grasp. Some people feel their afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion have become very light, and conclude they are at the second fruit. But they do not know the criteria and concepts of what counts as light greed, hatred, and delusion, and often get it wrong. The lightness of hatred is easy to grasp, but the lightness of greed is not easy to grasp; greed is very subtle and fine, not easy for oneself to recognize clearly. For example, emotional attachment is also greed; heavy emotional attachment means heavy greed. Because habitual tendencies are deep, one does not know one's own emotional attachment is heavy, and often considers one's greed light—this is a misunderstanding.
There is also the mind of delusion, which is even harder to grasp and judge; when one is foolish, one cannot judge the degree of one's own foolishness—only those who have been through it can clearly see each person's degree of foolishness. There is also the mind of conceit, because everyone has conceit; only at the fourth fruit can the root and sprouts of conceit be completely pulled out; it is just that each person's degree of conceit differs. If the habitual tendencies of conceit are heavy and one has become accustomed and adapted to them, it is very hard to examine whether one's conceit has lightened. With conceit too heavy, realizing the second fruit is also impossible. In these aspects, sentient beings themselves can hardly grasp them; therefore one cannot determine one's own stage of fruit, for mistakes have serious consequences. One who has long dwelt in a dung pit does not smell the stench, because it has become habitual and one has adapted; one often does not know one's own afflictive habitual tendencies, because one has long since adapted to them, and they are not easy to introspect upon.
