Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: Volume 34 (Part 71)

Original Text: If a practitioner enters a state where, due to momentary lapse of mindfulness, intense afflictive bonds arise, they can swiftly eliminate these bonds through immediate mental application. Moreover, they will ultimately not fall into the lower realms, will never intentionally contemplate teachings contrary to what they have learned, will not even harm the lives of animals, will never regress or abandon their practice, and will become incapable of committing the five heinous karmas. They definitively know that suffering and happiness are not created by themselves alone, not created by a supreme being alone, not created jointly by themselves and a supreme being, nor do they arise causelessly without being created by either themselves or a supreme being.

Explanation: A practitioner possessing the four insights of direct realization, when encountering external conditions, may temporarily give rise to intense afflictive bonds due to a lapse in mindfulness. Merely by applying momentary mental attention, they can swiftly eliminate these bonds. Furthermore, they will ultimately avoid falling into the lower realms, will never deliberately consider doctrines contradicting their training, will not even harm the lives of animals, will never regress from or renounce their practice, and will become incapable of committing the five heinous karmas. They attain certain knowledge that suffering and happiness are not created by the intrinsic nature of suffering and happiness itself, not created by a creator deity like Maheśvara, not created jointly by the intrinsic nature and a creator deity, nor do they arise causelessly without being created by either the intrinsic nature or a creator deity.

These are the meritorious benefits experienced by a practitioner at the stage of the Supreme Mundane Dharma within the Four Preparatory Practices. Even before attaining the first fruition (Srotāpanna), they gain the capacity to swiftly eliminate intense afflictive bonds, avoid falling into the lower realms, and remain unwavering and unrelenting on the path of liberation through the Four Noble Truths. This demonstrates that the merit accrued during the Four Preparatory Practices before the Path of Seeing is indeed substantial, and the benefits realized after attaining the Path of Seeing will be even greater. Truly, the wisdom of liberation is most sublime.