Saṃyukta-āgama (293), Part Three

(3) When arhats cultivate to the very end, all grasping is abandoned, craving is exhausted, desire ceases, and there is tranquility and nirvāṇa; the mind does not grasp at any dharma, does not cling to any dharma, and does not wish to possess more dharmas — this is the cessation of grasping. After grasping has ceased, there is no craving; when craving is exhausted, there is no desire; toward the world of the three realms there are no longer any thoughts or pursuits. If there were still thoughts and aspirations, the grasping of the manas would not be severed, and there would be another next life; if craving is not exhausted and desire not abandoned, there can be no tranquility and nirvāṇa. Therefore, after there is no desire, there is tranquility; with tranquility there is nirvāṇa. In this way the five aggregates are all extinguished, leaving only the nirvāṇa mind, the eighth consciousness, which is without arising, abiding, changing, or ceasing — this is the state of nirvāṇa.

The dharma of the Four Noble Truths and the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination are conditioned dharmas of the Small Vehicle, and the conditioned dharmas of the Small Vehicle cannot be separated from the unconditioned dharma, the Ālayavijñāna. The Buddha taught that the arising of all dharmas is conditioned (saṃskṛta), their abiding is conditioned, their changing is conditioned, and their perishing is also conditioned. The great thousand worlds of the universe all have arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing — all are conditioned dharmas. The unconditioned means neither arising nor abiding, neither changing nor ceasing. What dharma is like this? Only the eighth consciousness is like this. Within these conditioned dharmas — bodily, verbal, and mental actions — the unconditioned dharma is already contained; otherwise, the conditioned dharmas could not manifest and operate. The conditioned and the unconditioned operate simultaneously; when the conditioned ceases, what remains is the unconditioned — this is tranquil extinction and nirvāṇa.

Where there is the conditioned, there is suffering; all suffering is a result. Where there is a result, there is a cause; bodily, verbal, and mental actions are the cause. Once the cause has been created, the result may appear in a future life, or it may appear right now. As long as the conditions are complete, the result appears; if the conditions are not complete, it is stored as a cause, as a seed, to bear fruit in the future. Cultivation is precisely the planting of causes. When will the result appear? Whenever the conditions become complete, that is when the fruit is obtained. What are the conditions for enlightenment? They are the six perfections of the bodhisattva. When the six perfections of the bodhisattva are brought to fulfillment, the fruit of seeing the mind will appear. If one wishes to obtain the fruit quickly, one must quickly fulfill the conditions of the six perfections of the bodhisattva; if one does not care about cultivating the six perfections of the bodhisattva, the conditions for seeing the mind will not be complete, and in which life one will see the mind becomes uncertain.

Some people arrange for the fruit of their cultivation to be obtained at the time of death, seeking rebirth in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) at the end of life. But the conditions for rebirth in the land of bliss at the time of death may not necessarily be complete; no one can guarantee that the conditions for rebirth at the time of death will certainly be complete. If the Buddha has not given a guarantee, then no one else's guarantee is of any use. Unless one can guarantee that, while still alive in this life, the conditions for rebirth can be fulfilled — that while still alive, the land of bliss can appear within one's meditative concentration (samādhi), or that Amitābha Buddha appears within one's meditative concentration — only through the power of such samādhi and the Buddha's power of blessing can rebirth at the time of death be guaranteed.