The Youth Fragrant Adornment from the Twenty-Five Holy Methods of Perfect Penetration in Volume Five of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra

Original text:香严童子。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我闻如来教我谛观。诸有为相。我时辞佛。宴晦清斋。见诸比丘烧沉水香。香气寂然。来入鼻中。我观此气。非木非空。非烟非火。去无所著。来无所从。由是意销。发明无漏。如来印我。得香严号。尘气倏灭。妙香密圆。我从香严。得阿罗汉。佛问圆通。如我所证。香严为上。

Explanation: At this point, the Child of Fragrant Adornment rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: I heard the Tathāgata teach me to carefully contemplate all conditioned marks. After I took leave of the Buddha, I began to engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and deliberation alone in a quiet place. One day, I saw several bhikṣus burning aloeswood incense, and the fragrance drifted over unnoticed and entered my nose. I contemplated this fragrance, deliberating in my mind that this fragrance did not come from the fragrant wood, nor did it come from empty space, nor did it come from the smoke, nor did it come from the fire. After the fragrance disappeared, it did not adhere to anything and had no destination; and when the fragrance came, no place of origin could be found. As I contemplated thus, my mental thoughts ceased entirely, all mental conceptions vanished, and I realized the fourth fruit, beyond training (aśaikṣa), exhausting the defilements and becoming an arhat. The Tathāgata confirmed that I had received the title of Fragrant Adornment. From then on, the defiled odors of the world no longer existed within my realm, and the wondrous fragrance was subtle, secret, and perfect. I realized arhatship through fragrant adornment. The Buddha asked me about the dharma gate of perfect penetration; according to what I have realized, fragrant adornment is the foremost.

When the Child of Fragrant Adornment contemplated the fragrance, his power of meditative concentration was extremely deep and subtle, his deliberation was very keen and refined, and his observation was so meticulous that meditative absorption (samādhi) arose. The Child of Fragrant Adornment deliberated: from where does the fragrance of aloeswood come? If it came from the fragrant wood, then wherever the fragrant wood is located, there should be such a fragrance; yet when the aloeswood is not lit, there is no such fragrance. If the fragrance came from empty space, then since empty space is always present, the fragrance should persist constantly; yet this is not so. If the fragrance came from the smoke, yet the smoke of ordinary wood carries no such scent. If the fragrance came from the fire, yet other fires carry no such fragrance. In the end, he determined that the fragrance comes from nowhere and goes nowhere—that the fragrance is empty. Thereupon his mind became empty, all afflictions fell away completely and cleanly, and he attained the fruit of arhatship.

To attain the fruit of arhatship, at minimum one must possess the first dhyāna of meditative concentration, and at the highest, the four dhyānas and eight samādhis. With such deep meditative concentration, the mind is extremely fine and meticulous, and the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) is all direct perception, without sentimental interpretation or intellectual understanding, without imagination or conjecture. The deliberative function of the mind consciousness is very slight, while the deliberation (manasikāra) of the manas is employed extensively. Therefore, understanding relies on the mind consciousness, but realization must depend on the manas. When the mind consciousness knows that something is so but not why it is so, that is understanding; the manas not only knows that it is so, but also knows why it is so—therefore it is realization. The understanding of the mind consciousness is coarse and cursory, unable to reach fine detail, whereas the realization of the manas is fine and detailed, penetrating to the surface and depths, knowing the whole ins and outs of the matter. All realms of meditative concentration (samādhi) and wisdom are realized jointly by the manas and the mind consciousness, with meditative concentration and wisdom both complete.