Commentary on the Satipaṭṭhāna Sutta (Second Edition) (Newly Revised)
Chapter 2: Contemplating the Contemplation of the Body
Section 4: Contemplating Earth, Water, Fire, and Wind
Original text: 复次诸比丘。比丘从界（要素）。如存在。如志向。而观察此身。即知此身中。有地界水界火界风界。
Explanation: The Buddha said to the bhikkhus that a bhikkhu should contemplate the material body from the perspective of the four great elements that compose it—for example, contemplating the material body from the reality of its present existence, and contemplating it from its direction of tendency and its final ending and destination—and in the end he will know that within this body there are the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element.
"Element" (dhātu) is also called "essential factor," meaning the functional boundaries and functional differences of the four great elements. For example, the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind are four essential factors, four kinds of boundaries. The functional differences of these essential factors differ, their boundaries differ, their attributes differ, and their natures differ. The nature of the earth element is hardness; the nature of the water element is wetness; the fire element is warmth; the wind element is motility. These four essential factors have completely different attributes, and there are boundaries distinguishing them from one another. The four great elements are the basic elements that compose the material body. If one begins observing the material body from this starting point, one can understand the compositional structure of the material body, and one will understand that the material body is illusory, is suffering, is impermanent, and is also without self.
"Existence" refers to the current state of existence of our life-form, the part that can be observed right now. Earth, water, fire, and wind compose all the parts of the body from top to bottom, from inside to outside, including all solid and liquid substances. After observing what is present, one knows that all the substances in the material body, from head to toe, from outside to inside, are composed of the four great elements: the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element. The material body, whether the skin and internal organs, whether the hard bones or the various flowing liquids, is all composed of the combination of these four great seeds. The earth element is of a hard nature; if there were no hard earth element in the body, we could not stand up. Being unable to stand, we could not walk, sit, or lie down—we would be like a puddle of mud, because the body would have no support.
The body contains the water element, and the water element is wetness. Without wetness, the body would be as dry as a mummy, and life could not be sustained. The body contains the fire element, and the fire element is warmth and temperature. As long as a sentient being is alive, the body has warmth—from the internal organs to the skin to the surface, there is warmth, and there is temperature from head to toe. The wind element has the nature of motility and fluidity. If there were no wind in the body, we could not breathe, the blood could not circulate, and food could not be digested; the various operations and activities of the body rely on the function of wind. The four great elements do not function independently; rather, they together compose the various parts of the body—the muscles, bones, and internal organs—only the proportions of the four great elements required by each part differ.
Every part of the material in the body is composed of the four great elements. When the four great elements combine in different proportions and compositions, the attributes of the resulting material differ. If the earth nature predominates, the material's attributes are close to the hardness of earth. Bones are the hardest; that is because the earth element's proportion is greater, so the material manifests hardness. But bones also contain the water element; if bones had no water component, they would be dry, without lubricity, and would break easily. Bones not only have a water component but also a fire component, so bones are warm; while alive, bones have temperature. Bones also contain wind—blood and marrow flow within them.
There is also the space element (ākāśa-dhātu) among the elements composing material form, though it is not mentioned here. In the sūtras, the four great elements are often used to represent the five great elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space, without specifically mentioning the space element, except when emphasizing the function of the space element. Because the space element participates, the amount of its proportion makes the density and structure of the resulting material different, and the hardness of the material also differs. When the space element's proportion is greater, the earth element's proportion is correspondingly smaller, and the material is loose and porous; conversely, when the material's density is greater, it is hard. Bones also have spaces within them; if there were no spaces in the bones, blood could not pass through the bones, wind could not pass through the bones, and some people could not contract rheumatic diseases.
When people grow old, they develop osteoporosis and their bones become brittle. This is because the nutritive substances of the earth and water elements decrease, calcium is lacking, and the space element's proportion increases somewhat. After supplementing calcium, the tathāgatagarbha absorbs the nutrients of the calcium and then manifests the bones, so the density of the bones increases and they do not break easily. This shows that the space element is still present in the bones, and the five great elements of earth, water, fire, wind, and space are complete. The muscles contain the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, among which the earth element's proportion is still greater, but compared to the earth element's proportion in the bones, it is somewhat less. There are also the sinews, in which the earth element's proportion is also greater. Further inside are the internal organs; the organs also contain earth and water elements, fire element, as well as wind and space elements.
Then there are the liquid parts such as blood, marrow, brain matter, sweat, urine, and so on, in which the water element's proportion is greater and the earth element's proportion is smaller. Liquid water contains impurities, so it contains not only the water element but also the earth element. Water has fluidity, so there is the wind element. Water has a certain temperature, so there is the fire element; the less the fire element, the colder the water, until it completely freezes into ice. After freezing, the fire and wind elements' proportions become smaller and smaller, becoming negligible. All matter is formed by the combination of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind in different proportions and compositions; therefore matter is called material form (rūpa), and material form is composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind.
The four great seeds are stored in the tathāgatagarbha. In accordance with the various external conditions, the tathāgatagarbha continuously transmits the four great seeds outward, continuously forming and altering the compositions of various substances, and thus our material body changes at every moment. The constant change of the material body shows that the tathāgatagarbha is constantly transmitting the four great seeds to the material body; the proportions of the four great elements transmitted at each moment differ, and the four great elements change, so our body changes.
Our body changes moment by moment, because the tathāgatagarbha outputs the four great seeds moment by moment. Since the four great elements output in the preceding moment and the following moment differ, the body gradually undergoes alteration. So the body changes every day: just now it was fine, and a moment later some part begins to ache, or some special condition appears—this is the four great elements falling out of harmony; the tathāgatagarbha has altered the structure of the four great elements, and the material body shows disharmony.
Sometimes a disharmonious material body will also improve, and the body becomes stronger and healthier; this is because the tathāgatagarbha has again adjusted the four great elements. So the state of the material body is not fixed but changes moment by moment. The food and drink taken in differ, karmic conditions differ, the nutrients the tathāgatagarbha absorbs differ, cellular metabolism differs, and the body constantly changes—from birth, to growing into adulthood, to gradually aging, and finally breaking apart and dying.
The material body changes moment by moment, and the tathāgatagarbha transmits seeds moment by moment to sustain the material body. When obstructive conditions appear, the body falls ill. When the four great elements that the tathāgatagarbha absorbs and transmits show differences, the four great elements fall out of harmony, the body becomes abnormal, and symptoms of illness appear. The material body arises and changes depending on various conditions: if the food eaten differs, the external objects of contact differ, the mental states differ, the meditative concentrations differ, and the karmic conditions differ, the body will undergo different changes. All these are due to changes in the four great elements that cause the material body to change. Observing from these aspects, one knows that within our material body there is the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element.
Original text: 诸比丘。犹如熟练之屠牛者。或屠牛者弟子之杀牛。于四衢道。片片分解已犹如坐。
Explanation: Bhikkhus, it is like a skilled butcher who slaughters cattle, or like a butcher's disciple slaughtering a cow: after cutting the cow into pieces piece by piece, he sits at the crossroads leading in all four directions hawking the meat.
The World-Honored One used this analogy to teach the bhikkhus how to contemplate the composite nature and the illusory, impermanent nature of the material body—decomposing the material body into the four great elements, distinguishing from it the earth element, water element, fire element, and wind element. Such decomposition is like a cattle butcher, or a butcher's disciple: when they slaughter cattle, in order to conveniently sell the meat, they slaughter the cattle at the crossroads leading in all directions. After killing the cow, they cut its body into pieces one by one, and then hawk it on the spot. The butcher may first cut the cow's throat, then pierce its heart, and after killing it, dissect it. The hide is stripped off, the flesh cut away, the internal organs taken out and separated, the blood drained out first, leaving only the bones; after decomposing it piece by piece, he hawks it everywhere along the streets.
Original text: 诸比丘。如是比丘。从界如存在。如志向。而观察此身。知此身有地界水界火界风界。
Explanation: Bhikkhus, in this way, a bhikkhu contemplates this material body from the four great elements of a living sentient being, and from its final ending after death, and knows that the material body has the earth element, the water element, the fire element, and the wind element.
When a bhikkhu contemplates his own material body, he should, like the cattle butcher, decompose the body for observation—not only decomposing it piece by piece, but in the end decomposing it into the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. Observing one's own body from head to toe, from outside to inside, decompose all the various tissues and structures, and finally divide them into the earth element, water element, wind element, and fire element—decomposing them into the four elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, returning to the primordial state before the material body was born. From the internal organs, to the bones, muscles, and skin, observe each one in turn: all are composed of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. Remove one element, and the body falls apart and disintegrates.
The body cannot lack the earth element, nor can it lack the water, fire, or wind elements. When the wind element becomes abnormal, breathing is obstructed, and one contracts wind diseases, or asthma, rheumatism, and the like. Diseases related to the water element include cysts, rheumatism, skin diseases, and so on; disharmony of the water element involves many diseases. When the fire element is out of harmony, the body develops sensations of chills and fever—fever, cold body—which are all symptoms of fire-element disharmony. When the earth element is out of harmony, the body develops pain, fatigue and weakness, osteoporosis, hunchback, bone fractures, and so on. These diseases are all caused by the disharmony of earth, water, fire, and wind; when the proportions and compositions of the four great elements change, the material body changes.
Observing the internal organs, decompose them one by one into solid and liquid parts for observation, then decompose them into the smallest cells for observation, and finally decompose the cells into the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind. In the end one knows that every part of the body is composed of the four great elements. Then, is the material body composed of these elements a true dharma? Are the material forms composed of various elements true dharmas?
One can observe the table and chairs before one: the table and chairs are assembled from wood, nails, and ironware. If the wooden boards fall off or are destroyed, and the nails scatter, do the table and chairs still exist? Are the scattered remains still a table and chairs? Is this table and chair merely a surface-level illusion of existence? Is its substance in fact a composite false image, empty? The material body is the same: it is synthesized from the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind; once the four great elements are decomposed, is there still a material body? Of course not. So the material body is an illusion that appears to exist on the surface, not real, without substance; the material body is therefore not the true, unchanging self.
At the end of life, once the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind decompose, the material body disintegrates and becomes a corpse. At the time of death, when the four great elements decompose, the bodily sensations are extremely painful. The Buddha said that when sentient beings die and the four great elements decompose, it is as painful as skinning a live turtle alive—peeling open the shell of a living turtle is extremely painful. If we have not created purely wholesome karma, then at death, when the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind decompose, it will also be extremely painful.
After the material body decomposes, where do the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind go? They are收回 into the tathāgatagarbha. Because the four great elements came out of the tathāgatagarbha, the seeds will return to the tathāgatagarbha, and when the conditions are complete, they will be transmitted out again to manifest the material body of the next life. Although the four great seeds in the tathāgatagarbha are countless in number, the quantity is fixed; they do not increase and arise endlessly. These extremely numerous seeds are transmitted out simultaneously to form the material body, to form the six sense objects, and to form the universe's material environment (bhājana-loka). These seeds return to wherever they came from—output in a kṣaṇa, then returning to the tathāgatagarbha in a kṣaṇa. Seeds do not disappear for no reason, nor do new seeds arise for no reason, because the originally existing seeds are unborn.
After a sentient being's four great elements decompose, he dies, and the tathāgatagarbha, following the manas's craving and grasping, produces an intermediate-state body (antarā-bhava). The intermediate-state body is extremely, extremely subtle matter, composed of extremely subtle four great elements, and has motility. Because the intermediate-state body is not very substantial matter, it has no obstruction; it possesses the five superknowledges, and the body can nimbly float about everywhere, unrestricted by regions. So when the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind decompose, the material body disintegrates, becomes a corpse, and gradually disappears.
Look at this composite material body that arises and ceases—is it the real self? What is the concept of the real self? The real self does not change, is not impermanent, does not shift back and forth, does not arise and cease, is not composite, and is not suffering. So this self composed of the four great elements is not real; we should not take this composite material body as the self. It is merely a false shell composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind—a false appearance. The false appearance deceives the cognizing mind, making the cognizing mind feel that it is the self, that it is real, that it has real functions—but in fact none of that is so. By observing the impermanence, arising-and-ceasing, impurity, and composite nature of the material body, one knows it is empty, illusory, and only temporarily existent. After contemplating in this way gradually, one can eradicate the view of the body.
Original text: 佛说。如是。或于内身观身而住。于外身观身而住。
Explanation: The Buddha said: In this way, the mind either dwells in the contemplation of the internal body, or dwells in the contemplation of the external body.
The internal body is the entire material body; the external body is also a dharma among the five aggregates and eighteen realms. Form objects include mountains, rivers, and the great earth, houses and trees, the universe and starry sky, and the buddha-lands of the ten directions—these belong to external form objects. Sound objects are also part of what composes sentient beings; they are the external environment of the material body, called the external body. Because the proportions of the four great seeds output by the tathāgatagarbha differ, the form objects produced differ, and their properties differ. Take the same land: if the compositions of the earth, water, fire, and wind seeds it contains differ, the land's attributes differ, and its functions differ. Lands differ from one another; if the space element's proportion within differs, the land's density differs—the greater the space element's proportion, the softer the land. Conversely, the land is harder; the less the space within, the denser, tighter, and harder it is. So when the five great seeds of earth, water, fire, wind, and space are combined in different proportions, the attributes of the resulting matter differ, and their natures and functions differ.
Vajra (diamond) is a kind of treasure, also composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. Since it is likewise constituted of the four great elements, why is it called vajra and not stone? Because the composition of the four great elements within it differs from stone: the space element's proportion is extremely small and the density extremely great, so it is extremely hard. Hard things have few spaces and great density; soft things have large spaces. Thus the five great seeds compose all kinds of matter.
Carefully observe the internal body—from the skin to the muscles, to the sinews, to the bones, to the marrow, internal organs, and blood—all solid and liquid substances must be observed. The final conclusion is that all are formed by the combination of the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind, all are false, arising and ceasing, and not real. Observing external form objects is in fact observing inner material sense-objects, for external form objects cannot really be observed. These form objects are also all composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind, so these form objects are illusory.
Sound is a kind of material sound wave, composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. Sound as a material form differs from form objects. Sound has conductivity; it must pass through a medium to be transmitted to a certain area, and its transmitted energy decreases progressively until it finally disappears. So sound can penetrate matter, passing through walls without obstruction, but it still consumes energy. Sound waves are transmitted and travel through the air and finally reach the ear faculty; first they vibrate the eardrum. So when a sound appears, one first feels the vibration of the ear faculty, and only later knows what the sound is, the direction it came from, its loudness or softness, its kind, its nature, and so on. Form objects, however, are obstructed by matter: even a thin sheet of paper can block form objects from passing through, preventing them from facing the eye faculty—let alone a thick wall.
There is also the smell object. The smell object is the various odors—whether fragrant or foul, any odor belongs to matter. These substances are also composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. Whatever is a combination of the four great elements is subject to arising, ceasing, change, impermanence, decay, and non-self. When the conditions disperse, the odor also disappears, so the smell object is also illusory.
Next observe the taste object\: the flavors of sour, sweet, bitter, and spicy. These taste objects also have material attributes, composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind; they arise and cease and change—where there is combination there is dispersal. When food enters the mouth, the tongue faculty tastes it; finally the four great elements decompose, the conditions disperse, and the taste object disappears. In the mouth, through chewing, the food's flavor changes; after being swallowed into the stomach, its flavor is completely altered. However fragrant and delicious the food eaten, once in the stomach, bacteria decompose and digest the food, and the smell is extremely foul—not the fragrance when first eaten. After the earth, water, fire, and wind decompose, the material's attributes change. These taste objects are also subject to arising and ceasing, impermanent, formed by the aggregation of conditions, and are also illusory dharmas, not real.
There is also the touch object\: the light of the sun shining down, the wind in the air blowing on the body—whatever can make contact with the body belongs to the touch object. For example, feeling full, feeling hungry, or feeling thirsty, and other sensations—all belong to the touch object. The body's states of lightness and ease, heaviness, fatigue, and comfort all belong to the touch object. These touch objects are also composed of the four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind; what is composite is illusory, and what is formed by the aggregation of conditions is false. We should not crave and cling to these touch objects, and should not let the material body crave enjoyment, because they are all inherently illusory; enjoyment is also illusory,幻化, mutable, and impermanent, and moreover it depletes one's own merit.
When enjoying, the deposits in the bank of the tathāgatagarbha are consumed, and the blessings painstakingly cultivated in the past are reduced. If one's blessings are insufficient, progress on the path is very difficult. As for having blessings to enjoy now, that is because we cultivated blessings in the past and practiced generosity. But each person's merit is, after all, limited in quantity: enjoy a little and there is a little less; if it is all spent on daily enjoyment, the remaining merit will be insufficient to advance one's practice of the Path. The blessings cultivated through generosity in the past are all stored in the tathāgatagarbha; when enjoying, one withdraws from the bank of the tathāgatagarbha—the more one enjoys, the smaller the bank deposit becomes. If one has blessings but does not enjoy them, and the deposit of merit keeps accumulating, it will also earn high interest, compounding, and the merit will grow ever greater.
If everything is enjoyed and withdrawn, there will be no deposits left in the bank. If one's blessings are insufficient, studying Buddhism will be full of obstacles everywhere, nothing goes smoothly; wanting to eradicate the view of self cannot be done, wanting to see the mind cannot be done; even wanting to suppress afflictions a little cannot be done; wanting to cultivate meditative concentration cannot succeed, and wanting to keep the precepts cannot be kept perfectly. Whether the practice of all worldly and world-transcending dharmas goes smoothly or not, succeeds or not, depends entirely on one's own merit. So we should economize on our blessings as much as possible, think more about our own practice of the Path, and think about our cultivation in future lives.
If one has blessings but does not enjoy them, or enjoys them sparingly, what is accumulated will still be stored in one's own bank of the tathāgatagarbha. This bank of the tathāgatagarbha, first, will never go bankrupt, and second, cannot be stolen by others. Robbers can rob worldly banks, or swindlers can cheat the money away, but no one can do anything to this bank of the tathāgatagarbha—he cannot find this bank, and even if he found it, he could not pry open the safe. So blessings not yet enjoyed are stored in the tathāgatagarbha, forever belonging to oneself. As long as there are deposits in the bank of the tathāgatagarbha, one is a person of blessings; everything one does will go smoothly, and if applied to cultivation, progress on the Path will be very fast.
There is also the dharma object. The dharma object is the form included in the dharma base (dharma-āyatana) that can manifest simultaneously upon the five sense objects; it is also material form. The dharma object faces the manas and is also composed of subtle four great seeds of earth, water, fire, and wind. The form included in the dharma base is also a kind of form, distinct from the previous five sense objects; it arises in dependence on the inner five sense objects and is more subtle than the five sense objects. The inner five sense objects are somewhat coarser than the dharma object, but more subtle than the external five sense objects. What has been described above are the six sense objects. The six sense objects are the six sense-object realms among the eighteen realms. The entirety of the eighteen realms composes the sentient being's false body. The so-called sentient being—the five aggregates and eighteen realms combined together are called a sentient being.
Original text: 又于内外身。观身而住。或于身观生法而住。于身观灭法而住。又于身观生灭法而住。
Explanation: The mind should also dwell in simultaneously observing the internal body and the external body, or dwell in observing the dharmas arising in the body, or dwell in observing the dharmas ceasing in the body, or dwell in simultaneously observing the arising dharmas and ceasing dharmas of the material body.
When the power of meditative concentration is very good, one can observe the internal body and at the same time observe the external body—the internal and external bodies must be observed simultaneously. If the power of concentration is insufficient, one cannot observe anything clearly, and after observing for a while the mind becomes scattered. When the power of concentration is complete, one can observe many things, deliberate on many principles, and observe clearly and deliberate clearly. When the mind is clear and lucid, neither scattered nor drowsy, that is called concentration. So when our mind is relatively clear and lucid, using this clear and lucid mental state to deliberate on the Buddha-dharma, wisdom can open. When all things are seen clearly, thought through clearly, planned clearly, observed clearly, and done clearly, that is called wisdom.
When contemplating the body, one should observe what dharmas have arisen in our material body. If earth-natured things increase, polyps and lumps will grow out, and cysts may arise. What the body did not have before but now appears is called an arising dharma—for example, a tumor grows out, adding an object. Then observe what dharmas have ceased. "Ceasing" means a dharma that existed before but now no longer does—for example, various illnesses disappear, the body lacks a part, or the body becomes thinner, the four great elements of earth, water, fire, and wind having changed. Then simultaneously observe the changes of the internal body: what dharma has arisen—what did not exist before but now appears—and then observe what dharma has ceased—what existed before but now does not. Observing back and forth in this way, one knows the body is constantly arising and ceasing and changing. What arises and ceases and changes is not real, cannot be fixed and eternally unchanging, and therefore is not the self.
One should have this concept: the self is real, unchanging, without alteration; the self is not suffering; the self is eternal; the self is permanently abiding and never changing; the self is real, not composite; the self is not a dharma produced by conditions. These concepts should be established and firmly placed within the mind. Then observe again: all dharmas arise, cease, and change, being produced by conditions—one then knows that all dharmas are certainly not real. These theories are taught to everyone only as guidance; as for what degree one can realize, it depends on individual comprehension and the wisdom of individual contemplative practice. All theory must be personally realized and cognized by oneself; through constant observation and personal awakening, one can truly recognize the essence of all dharmas.
What arises, ceases, and changes is not a true dharma, nor the real self. Once this concept is formed, one then observes all things: are they arising and ceasing? Are they impermanent? Are they combinations of conditions? If one observes carefully, one will know that all dharmas are indeed arising-and-ceasing and without self. Not being the self, they are also not what the self possesses—non-self and not belonging to the self. Then the view of the body is severed, and perhaps the view of self is severed. The material body is not the self, and the eighteen realms are also not the self. Finally, contemplate the four feeling aggregates in contemplative practice: the form aggregate is not the self; observe that the feeling aggregate, perception aggregate, volitional formations aggregate, and consciousness aggregate are all not the self; then the view of self regarding the entire five aggregates is severed, the three fetters are subsequently severed, and one becomes a person of the first fruit. What dharmas arise in the material body and at the same time what dharmas cease—the phenomena of simultaneous arising and simultaneous ceasing can all be observed. Only when the power of concentration is relatively strong and the mental power is sufficient can this be observed.
Original text: 尚又智识所成。及忆念所成，皆会有身之思念现前。彼当无所依而住，且不执着世间任何物。诸比丘，比丘如是，于身观身而住。
Explanation: After everything has been observed clearly, because of constantly contemplating the body, that which is formed by the cognition of wisdom, as well as that which is formed by mindful recollection, the thoughts in the mind are all thoughts concerning the material body. You should dwell without relying on anything, and moreover not cling to anything in the world. Bhikkhus, a bhikkhu should, in this way, dwell contemplating the body in the body.
Empty out the material body from the thoughts of the mind; do not, in the mind, take the material body as the self and as truly existent and rely on it. Acknowledge that the material body is not the self, and then do not constantly rely on this body in every thought. When there is no body in the thoughts, the view of the body is severed, and at the same time the mind should not retain any other thing or any other dharma. When the thoughts have neither body nor things, there is a clear, lucid, objective knowing. What is this knowing? It is the knowing of the mind consciousness and the manas. The existence of this knowing shows that the mind is unified and there is meditative concentration; at this time one can cultivate to the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), and can even cultivate to the first dhyāna. When practicing the Great Vehicle, if one then replaces this knowing with the huatou (critical phrase), one can investigate Chan. So some methods of practice in the Great and Small Vehicles are interconnected, not separated like a ditch that cannot be crossed. When the Great Vehicle dharma is penetrated, using the Great Vehicle method to observe the Small Vehicle dharma again, one understands the Small Vehicle dharma even more clearly. If the Great Vehicle dharma is not understood, the Small Vehicle dharma also cannot be completely and thoroughly understood—there will always be points not penetrated.
Great Vehicle bodhisattvas who have attained the bhūmis understand the Small Vehicle's dharma of the Four Noble Truths and the Middle Vehicle's dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination better than the arhats of the fourth fruit and the pratyekabuddhas; their theoretical understanding is many times more thorough than that of the arhats and pratyekabuddhas. The two observe from different angles and with different depths; Great Vehicle bodhisattvas observe more meticulously and subtly, with deeper wisdom. So the wisdom of Great Vehicle bodhisattvas far surpasses the wisdom of Small Vehicle arhats. The bodhisattvas' angles and levels of observing dharmas are higher and deeper than those of the arhats. After the contemplative practice is complete, when the thoughts in the mind are all of the material body as self, empty out the concept of the material body; once the material body is recognized as not the self, the thoughts no longer have any dependence on the material body, and there is only the knowing. Using this knowing to investigate Chan, one can then see the mind and attain realization.
