The Threefold Knowledge and Six Supernatural Powers of the Great Arhat with Complete Liberation

The great Arhat with the Threefold Knowledge and Six Supernatural Powers possesses the Threefold Knowledge: knowledge of the extinction of defilements (āsravakṣaya-jñāna), knowledge of the divine eye (divya-cakṣus), and knowledge of past lives (pūrva-nivāsānusmṛti-jñāna).

Knowledge of the extinction of defilements means that all active afflictions such as greed, hatred, delusion, arrogance, doubt, and wrong views are completely eliminated, with no remaining view delusions or thought delusions.

Knowledge of the divine eye entails the supernatural power of the divine eye, enabling observation of all phenomena in the great chiliocosm above and below.

Knowledge of past lives allows one to know the events of eighty thousand kalpas in both past and future directions for oneself and others.

The Six Supernatural Powers are: supernatural power of miraculous feet (ṛddhividhi-jñāna), supernatural power of the divine eye (divya-cakṣus), supernatural power of the divine ear (divya-śrotra), supernatural power of knowing others' thoughts (paracitta-jñāna), supernatural power of knowing past lives (pūrva-nivāsānusmṛti-jñāna), and supernatural power of the extinction of defilements (āsravakṣaya-jñāna).

Non-Buddhists can attain only the first five supernatural powers, but not the supernatural power of the extinction of defilements. Complete liberation combines wisdom liberation (prajñā-vimukti) and concentration liberation (samādhi-vimukti). Wisdom liberation refers to attaining the first dhyāna concentration and possessing the wisdom to liberate oneself from birth and death, using this wisdom to transcend the three realms. Concentration liberation involves mastering the four dhyānas and eight samāpattis along with supernatural powers, but lacks the wisdom of liberation; upon the end of life, one can rely on concentration to transcend the three realms and attain liberation. Possessing both the merits of wisdom liberation and concentration liberation constitutes the great Arhat with complete liberation, endowed with the Threefold Knowledge and Six Supernatural Powers.