Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, Volume Ten (Twelve Links of Dependent Origination)

(38) The direct realization of precepts means that one has already been able to firmly uphold the various precepts established by the Buddha without violating them, and can no longer create karmic actions leading to the three evil destinies. A person who has accomplished the direct realization of precepts will absolutely never again deliberately kill, take what is not given, commit sexual misconduct, speak falsely, or consume alcohol; their bodily, verbal, and mental actions are pure and untainted, and they have already been liberated from the suffering of the three evil destinies, having distanced themselves from the ten unwholesome paths of action. Their present body has attained the fruit of stream-entry up to the fruit of arhatship, as well as the fruit of the pratyekabuddha, the fruit of the bodhisattva, and the fruit of Buddhahood — that is to say, only those who have accomplished the noble fruits can possess the direct realization of precepts. 

According to what is said in the fifty-fifth fascicle of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra cited above, noble persons of the initial fruit and above who are endowed with the direct realization of precepts will no longer violate the five precepts or the various precepts they have undertaken to keep; their minds do not correspond to the three evil destinies, so they will not create the karma of the ten unwholesome paths leading to the three evil destinies, and will not violate the five precepts, the bhikṣu and bhikṣuṇī precepts, or the bodhisattva precepts. If someone cannot even keep the five precepts, then based on the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra and the Prakaraṇāryavācā-śāstra, one can conclude that this person does not have the realization of the initial fruit or above; the claimed attainment of fruit is a misjudgment, a false realization, and cannot be trusted. 

Regarding the direct realization of truth through the wisdom of direct realization (Abhisamaya-jñāna-satyābhisamaya), according to what is said in the fifty-fifth fascicle of the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, during the process of cultivating the path of preparation, one must first accumulate the merit provisions for seeing the path to an extremely complete degree, and the mind must have been effectively subdued and made pliant. Relying on and conforming to the limit of the worldly determination of the division of nirvedhabhāgīya, uninterrupted wholesome roots arise — meaning that through cultivating the path of preparation, the manas has been sufficiently permeated and influenced by wholesome dharmas, the mind-ground has become soft, subdued, and pliant, and the wholesome roots have manifested. In the cultivation of the Buddha's path, "uninterrupted" generally refers to the manas; the mind consciousness is intermittent, constantly ceasing, and unreliable. Only when one has cultivated to the manas can wholesome dharmas be considered to have reached a stage, can there be a qualitative leap, and can one's path-cultivation rise to a higher level.

After the manas gives rise to wholesome roots, the mind will initially dispel the false dharmas of sentient beings, meaning that one has initially realized the path and realized that the five aggregates are empty, false, and illusory. At this point, one can remove the coarse afflictions (dausthulya) that are eliminated at the first seeing of the path. This meaning has already been stated very clearly: when seeing the path at the initial fruit, the manifest activities of coarse afflictions will be eliminated, and some coarse afflictions can be removed. Only after the manas has also seen the path can coarse afflictions be eliminated; the mind consciousness has no way to eliminate afflictions. 

After attaining the initial fruit, the wisdom realization of seeing the path at the initial fruit will manifest and continue uninterruptedly, and then the merit and wisdom of seeing the path arise a second time; the mind further dispels the various false dharmas of the sentient beings of the five aggregates, the view of self is further deeply eradicated, and one attains the second fruit, able to remove the middle-grade coarse afflictions eliminated at seeing the path. This means that seeing the path at the initial fruit is not ultimate; the view of self has only been eliminated in its initial, soft grade, and there are still two more middle-grade eliminations, and the coarse afflictions are also not completely eliminated; at seeing the path of the second fruit, one must continue to eliminate coarse afflictions. The second fruit, of course, is also realized by the manas, so that uninterrupted wisdom can arise and coarse afflictions can be further eliminated. 

After attaining the second fruit, the wisdom realization of seeing the path at the second fruit will manifest and continue uninterruptedly, and then the merit and wisdom of seeing the path arise a third time, more deeply giving rise to the universal dispelling of the false dharmas of the five aggregates of all sentient beings; the view of self is further and more deeply eradicated, and by this merit, all the manifest activities of coarse afflictions that are eliminated at seeing the path are eliminated. The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, fifty-fifth fascicle, says that this seeing of the path is the dual path of first-dhyāna meditative concentration and contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) wisdom; not only must there be profound contemplative wisdom of eradicating the view of self, there must also be first-dhyāna meditative concentration in order to eliminate all coarse afflictions. This is the eradication of the view of self by the noble ones of the third and fourth fruits, called the seeing of the path of the third and fourth fruits. 

The earlier initial and second fruits do not require first-dhyāna meditative concentration, but they definitely require preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), and the preparatory concentration must be complete; otherwise, the contemplative wisdom of eradicating the view of self will not arise, and one cannot eradicate the view of self and attain the initial and second fruits. When attaining the third fruit, one is endowed with the three grades of vipaśyanā contemplative wisdom of eradicating the view of self through three instances, and is also endowed with the three grades of meditative concentration of seeing the path of śamatha, plus the dual operation of meditative concentration and wisdom; combined, these are established as the three minds, and thus in a single instant, the śamatha and vipaśyanā of the third fruit are all completely present.

All benevolent ones who study the Four Noble Truths must rely on the Dharma, not on persons; all should follow the standard of eradicating the view of self and seeing the path taught by Bodhisattva Maitreya in the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra to measure whether oneself or others have truly seen the path with the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā, or merely a false seeing of the path of self-promotion. By clarifying the standard of seeing the path, one will not confuse and mislead others, commit the grave karma of false speech, or damage the Buddha's teachings.