The Relationship Between Dhyana and the Path of Seeing

Concentration (dhyāna), beginning from access concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), can counteract afflictions (kleśa) and subdue them. Only by subduing afflictions, removing or lessening the obscurations, can one attain the fruit of Stream-entry (srotāpanna). Although a Stream-enterer possesses only the insight (darśana) and has severed only the three fetters (saṃyojana) eradicated by insight, the severing of these three fetters necessarily requires access concentration. Although access concentration requires meditative cultivation to arise, it is not equivalent to the afflictions eradicated by cultivation (bhāvanā); they are not the same thing.

The insight of a Stream-enterer pertains to the cognitive afflictions (darśana-heya-kleśa) severed at the time of path of seeing (darśana-mārga); the afflictions of habitual tendencies (bhāvanā-heya-kleśa) remain unsevered. Although the afflictions of habitual tendencies are gradually severed through further cultivation on the path of cultivation (bhāvanā-mārga) after the path of seeing, they also fall under the scope of insight. The more thorough and complete the insight, the deeper the degree to which self (ātman) and what belongs to self (ātmīya) are eradicated, the emptier the mind, and the fainter the afflictions.

Although the cognitive afflictions of the Stream-enterer are severed at the initial path of seeing, this initial seeing of the path is also the result of gradual cultivation. Without cultivation, one cannot eradicate the cognitive afflictions. The content of cultivation is the Thirty-seven Aids to Enlightenment (saptatriṃśad bodhipakṣikā dharmaḥ). One of these thirty-seven is concentration (dhyāna). Without cultivating the thirty-seven aids or without fulfilling their cultivation, one cannot see the path, much less sever the cognitive afflictions. Therefore, access concentration is the necessary condition that a Stream-enterer must possess for seeing the path.

Before attaining the path of seeing as a Stream-enterer, one must subdue the previous afflictions of greed (rāga), hatred (dveṣa), and delusion (moha) to a certain degree, so that they do not influence or obscure one's seeing of the path. During the practice of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, the extremely heavy afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion are gradually subdued, the afflictions gradually become faint, the mind gradually becomes pliant, and wisdom gradually becomes clear. All obscurations, like dense clouds, gradually thin out, allowing the sunlight of wisdom to penetrate the clouds and become manifest. It is then that one sees the path.

The faintness and thinness of afflictions before seeing the path are only relative to the severe afflictions present before; it is not the same degree of faintness of greed, hatred, and delusion as at the stage of the Once-returner (sakṛdāgāmin). The two are different, both spoken of from a relative perspective. Although the vocabulary is the same, the connotations are absolutely different; therefore, the two should not be confused.

The Four Noble Truths (catvāri āryasatyāni): The Noble Truth of Suffering (duḥkha-āryasatya), The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering (samudaya-āryasatya), The Noble Truth of the Cessation of Suffering (nirodha-āryasatya), The Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering (mārga-āryasatya). Among these, the Noble Truth of the Path Leading to the Cessation of Suffering is the truth of the path (mārga-satya), the theory upon which cultivation is based. The study and practice of this theory begins before attaining the fruit of Stream-entry and continues until the attainment of the fourth fruit, Arhatship (arhat). Therefore, cultivation does not begin only after seeing the path; it begins when one first encounters the Four Noble Truths. It begins when one first practices the contemplation on the four foundations of mindfulness (smṛtyupasthāna). How could one see the path without cultivation? Among the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment are the four right efforts (samyakpradhāna): 1. To prevent unwholesome states that have not yet arisen from arising; 2. To abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen; 3. To cultivate wholesome states that have not yet arisen; 4. To maintain and increase wholesome states that have already arisen. These aspects of cultivation—cultivating the wholesome and abandoning the unwholesome—are precisely what counteract the afflictions of sentient beings. Only after counteracting them and subduing the afflictions, making them faint, can one see the path.