The Profound Meaning of Vijñānavāda in the Diamond Sutra (53)

Why do all the sages and saints, having realized the true Dharma and attained the unconditioned dharmas, still exhibit differences? The sages and saints include Śrāvaka Arhats from the first to the fourth fruition, Pratyekabuddhas who have attained various stages by realizing dependent origination, and Bodhisattvas from the seventh abiding stage of enlightenment (Mingxin) to the stage of Wonderful Enlightenment. Śrāvakas of the first and second fruitions are sages, while those of the third and fourth fruitions and Pratyekabuddhas are saints; Bodhisattvas before the first ground (bhūmi) are sages, and from the first ground onward, they are all saints. What they have realized are all unconditioned dharmas, yet the content and levels of these unconditioned dharmas differ greatly.

The first-fruition Śrāvaka realizes the emptiness of the five aggregates and the absence of self, severs the three fetters, and thus never again enters the three evil destinies. Regarding the actions leading to the three evil destinies, they act without doing; this is the preliminary unconditioned state of the five aggregates.

The second-fruition Śrāvaka, having realized the emptiness of self, experiences diminished mental activities, attenuated defilements, and a somewhat purified and more unconditioned mind. The third-fruition Śrāvaka further realizes the illusoriness of the five aggregates, manifests the meditative state of the form realm, attains the first dhyāna, extinguishes greed, severs hatred, cuts off afflictions, purifies the mind, and ceases to create unwholesome karma; the seventh consciousness begins to be truly unconditioned. The fourth-fruition Śrāvaka becomes further unconditioned, eradicating self-conceit, severing attachment to the form and formless realms, exhausting all defilements, attaining liberation through wisdom, becoming unconditioned regarding the three realms, and able to transcend the three realms with the wisdom of liberation. An Arhat with liberation through concentration can enter the fourth dhyāna, cease both breath and pulse, realize the immovable unconditioned state, enter the state of no-perception, realize the cessation of the aggregate of consciousness, and attain an unconditioned mind. An Arhat with complete liberation can enter the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti) at will, extinguishing the two mental factors of feeling and perception within the root consciousness (manas), realizing the unconditioned state of the cessation of perception and feeling, and can attain nirvāṇa at any time, transcending the three realms. Because Śrāvakas realize the absence of self in the five aggregates, their mental activities become increasingly unconditioned and purified, and there are significant differences in the unconditioned states among them.

Pratyekabuddhas include solitary enlightened ones (Svayambhu) and those enlightened by conditions (Pratyekabuddha). Solitary enlightened ones, due to wholesome roots cultivated over many lifetimes, deeply contemplate a phenomenon of birth and death in the world during an age without Buddha or Dharma. They retreat to solitude to practice, investigate the root cause of these phenomena of birth and death, deduce the twelvefold and tenfold chains of dependent origination, discover that ignorance is the root of sentient beings' cycle of birth and death, and realize that the source is the eighth consciousness, thereby attaining Pratyekabuddhahood. Those enlightened by conditions follow the Buddha, hear his teachings, awaken to the twelvefold and tenfold chains of dependent origination, and attain fruition. Their wisdom regarding unconditioned dharmas is more profound than that of Śrāvaka Arhats, yet the fruition, wisdom, and supernatural powers of Pratyekabuddhas also vary in depth and level, meaning the degree of unconditionedness in their mental activities differs.