What is the state when the five aggregates of clinging are exhausted?

The five aggregates of grasping (pañca-upādāna-skandha) are five kinds of obscuration for the seven consciousnesses of sentient beings; they obstruct the manifestation of the vast meritorious functions of the seven consciousnesses and obstruct their wondrous supernatural powers, so that what the seven consciousnesses know and do is confined within a small range and cannot be transcended. At the same time, they also obstruct the manifestation of the meritorious functions of the eighth consciousness, so that the great mirror-like wisdom (ādarśa-jñāna) cannot manifest. Only through cultivating the four dhyānas and eight meditative absorptions, attaining meditative concentration above the fourth dhyāna, can one gradually break through the limitations of the five aggregates of grasping, burst out of their cage like a bird flying free from its cage, gaining freedom to soar through the vast expanse of heaven and earth.

To extinguish and break through the five aggregates of grasping requires meditative concentration above the fourth dhyāna. The fourth dhyāna is the concentration of purity through equanimity and mindfulness (upekṣā-smṛti-pariśuddhi); when the mind has no thoughts, there are no obstructions whatsoever, and any supernatural power of the Path can be brought forth, eliminating the obscurations of body and mind without any hindrance. The aggregate of form is the physical body and all material dharmas, and it is also the realm of the six sense objects; it has an obscuring and obstructing effect on the seven consciousnesses, especially on the six consciousnesses. When the manas wants to use the six consciousnesses to do something, the six consciousnesses cannot do it—this is why it is said that the five aggregates of grasping also obscure the seventh consciousness.

 When the aggregate of form is exhausted, the physical body and the material dharmas of the sense realm no longer obscure the six consciousnesses. What does this mean? What is the obscuration of the aggregate of form upon the six consciousnesses? Due to the influence of the physical body and material form, the eye consciousness wants to see distant things but cannot see them; it wants to see the heavens above and the earth below but cannot see them; it wants to see other celestial bodies but cannot see them, let alone other buddha-lands—seeing form is confined within distance and space. The eye consciousness wants to see beyond high walls, beyond high mountains, or forms in deep water and underground, but cannot see them, blocked by material form; the eye consciousness wants to see form in pitch-dark places without light but cannot—seeing form is confined to places with light.

Similarly, the ear consciousness wants to hear distant sounds but cannot; when dense material substances lie in between, sounds cannot be heard; sounds beyond a certain range cannot be heard—hearing sounds is obstructed by spatial distance and material form. The nose consciousness cannot smell scent-objects from far away, nor can it smell odor-objects wrapped in dense materials. The tongue consciousness cannot taste flavor-objects that do not contact the tongue faculty. The body consciousness cannot feel touch-objects that do not contact the body faculty. The mind consciousness does not know people, things, and events of past and future lives—that is, it lacks the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti).

If one cultivates to the fourth dhyāna, the aggregate of form can be broken through, and seeing form, hearing sounds, and feeling touch will no longer be obstructed by the aggregate of form. Then the divine eye, divine ear, and the powers of nose and tongue will appear, the body's supernormal power of traveling (ṛddhi) will appear, and the mind consciousness's power of knowing others' minds and the recollection of past lives will also appear. This is what is called mastery of the five supernormal powers. Non-Buddhist practitioners who cultivate the four dhyānas and eight absorptions also have these five powers, but there is one more—the power of the exhaustion of defilements (āsrava-kṣaya-abhijñā)—which non-Buddhists cannot attain, because that is the wisdom power of utterly extinguishing afflictions. Non-Buddhists have not eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), so self-grasping cannot be fully severed, and thus they cannot have the power of the exhaustion of defilements. After the aggregate of form is exhausted, one must gradually break through the domains of the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness, and then what one sees will be vast and unobstructed, without limitation.

Only when the domain of the aggregate of feeling is completely broken through can one be free from the limitations and control of bodily sensations. No matter what happens to the physical body, the mind remains unaffected; fire burning, knives cutting, or water flooding can do nothing to this flesh body, and facing any realm, the mind remains suchness is immovable (tathatā-acalita). When the domain of the aggregate of feeling has not been broken through, the tactile sensations of the physical body will affect the fluctuations of the six consciousnesses.

All these supernormal powers are initiated by the manas. Originally, the manas also wanted to know vast realms, but because the six consciousnesses were obscured by the five aggregates of grasping, the manas could do nothing about it. Now that the obscurations have been cleared away, the manas's wishes can be fulfilled without obstruction. This requires an enormous amount of merit as support, as well as the support of precepts and the power of meditative concentration. Lacking any one of these three conditions, no supernormal power can be brought forth.