The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra's Proof of the Manas' Eradication of the Identity View and the Self View

Original text:大慧。身见有二种。谓俱生及妄想。……是须陀洹妄想身见。彼以人无我。摄受无性。断除久远无知计著。

大慧。俱生者。须陀洹身见。自他身等。四阴无色相故。色生。造及所造故。展转相因相故。大种及色不集故。须陀洹观有无品不现。身见则断。如是身见断。贪则不生。是名身见相。

……须陀洹断三结。贪痴不生。若须陀洹作是念。此诸结我不成就者。应有二过。堕身见。及诸结不断。大慧白佛言。世尊。世尊说众多贪欲。彼何者贪断。佛告大慧。爱乐女人。缠绵贪著种种方便。身口恶业。受现在乐。种未来苦。彼则不生。所以者何。得三昧正受乐故。是故彼断。非趣涅槃贪断。

Brief Explanation: The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra says that the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) has two kinds: one is the imagined view of self, which is the mind consciousness's view of self, and this must be eradicated; the other is the innate view of self, the view of self one is born with, which is the manas's view of self, and this too must be eradicated. Only when both kinds of view of self are eradicated is one one who has eradicated the view of self. This is citing the Buddha's words in the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra, not my personal view. I hope everyone will take note and no longer think that eradicating the view of self at the level of the mind consciousness alone suffices for eradicating the view of self; the Buddha's words are the standard.

In the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra the Buddha says that after the srotāpanna has eradicated the view of self, greed for the physical body does not arise, and therefore he no longer commits evil deeds for the sake of the physical body. This is what the Buddha said, not the claim by some that, as stated in the Abhidharmakośa, the srotāpanna of the first fruit commits no evil whatsoever.

All dharmas take the Buddha's words as the standard. Anyone whose words are inconsistent with the Buddha's words must not be believed or accepted, no matter what famous master he is or what fruit he has attained.

All Buddhist learners should take studying the Buddha's Dharma as the main thing, and take believing and accepting the Buddha's words as the main thing. Do not engage in personality cults, do not harbor an attachment to famous teachers, and resolve to be a rational learner and practitioner of Buddhism. In study and practice, take studying the Buddhist sutras as the main thing and the Buddha's words as the guiding principle. Be sure to be a true son of the Buddha, a Buddhist disciple worthy of the name, rather than the disciple of some famous teacher.

Eradicating the view of self is divided into eradicating the mind consciousness's view of self and the manas's view of self. Likewise, eradicating the view of self of the cognizing mind must all the more be divided into eradicating the mind consciousness's view of self and the manas's view of self — divided into the mind consciousness's imagined view of self and the manas's innate view of self, these two kinds.

Anyone who has eradicated only the mind consciousness's view of self is not one who has eradicated the view of self. One must again cultivate meditative concentration, contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), and investigate the non-self of the five aggregates (pañca-skandha), striving above all to eradicate the manas's view of self; otherwise the law of cause and effect will not spare you.

In the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra the Buddha further says that the srotāpanna has eradicated the three fetters, and greed and delusion do not arise. This means that a certain kind of greed does not arise, not that all greed ceases to arise; that all greed ceases to arise is for the anāgāmin. For one of the first fruit, the view of self and the three fetters have been eradicated, and the lingering, entangling greed for the opposite sex does not arise, because of the blissful feeling of meditative concentration (samādhi). The so-called blissful feeling of samādhi refers to the meditative experience and the phenomenon of awakened clarity at the moment of realizing the first fruit. Therefore, attaining the first fruit requires meditative concentration — preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) — and only then, when realizing the first fruit, will there be the state of samādhi, including meditative concentration and the wisdom of eradicating the view of self.

Therefore, when someone says that attaining the first fruit does not require meditative concentration, it is a grave error, contrary to the Buddha's intent, and a misguidance of sentient beings. Anyone who believes he has eradicated the view of self and attained the first fruit, if no phenomenon of the blissful feeling of samādhi appeared at the time of attaining the fruit, has definitely not eradicated the view of self and definitely has not attained the first fruit. If after attaining the fruit the afflictions remain just as before, then he definitely has not eradicated the view of self, has not eradicated the three fetters, and definitely has not attained the fruit. Then one must take responsibility for oneself and for the retribution of future lives, and once again cultivate meditative concentration, contemplative practice, and investigate the Dharma of the non-self of the five aggregates.

If one is not vigilant, blindly believing and accepting the teachings of those with whom one has affinities, lacking rationality and deeply mired in emotional attachment, one is bound to suffer losses. One must swallow some bitter medicine of regret to save oneself and avoid falling into the evil destinies; otherwise the retribution is fearsome. Anyone who has proclaimed to others that he has attained the fruit, seen the mind, and attained enlightenment — and whose attainment of the fruit and seeing of the mind was at the level of the mind consciousness — must surely repent, in order to extinguish the evil karma of grave false speech and avoid the terrible retribution in future lives.

Some people insist on contending with me, saying that eradicating the view of self does not require the manas to eradicate the view of self. Now there is scriptural proof from the Buddha's sutras — who exactly is wrong, who is misleading sentient beings and leading them down a crooked path?

Others contend with me, saying that neither attaining the fruit nor seeing the mind requires any meditative concentration. Here the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra further makes clear that attaining the fruit and seeing the mind absolutely require meditative concentration. Now it is clear: this is not contending with me, but contending with the Buddha, contending with the Buddha's sutras, contending with the truth. What the result will be — consider it yourself.

Still others say that eradicating the view of self and attaining the first fruit is merely a cognitive recognition by the mind consciousness's wisdom, requiring no change in one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions. Then there is no longer any rationale or excuse left. The Buddha's sutras state it plainly and clearly: after the first fruit eradicates the three fetters, one must certainly eradicate a portion of greed and delusion, and the afflictions must be somewhat subdued. Those first-fruit people who still commit evil deeds have no excuse whatsoever: as long as the afflictions are deep and heavy and one commits evil deeds of bodily, verbal, and mental actions, one definitely has not eradicated the view of self and attained the first fruit. The Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra stands as proof.

For one of the first fruit, the Dharma eye begins to become pure; there must be the meritorious function of a pure Dharma eye, and there must be a portion of the meritorious function of liberation. If there is not, then one definitely has not eradicated the view of self and definitely has not attained the fruit. The Buddha's words are the standard. Some people are very fond of placing a great big sage's hat on their own heads — do they not know that such a hat cannot just be casually put on oneself?

In the Sahā world, especially now in the Dharma-ending age, more than two thousand years after the Buddha, the phenomenon of sages all over the streets absolutely cannot appear. Even when Śākyamuni Buddha was in the world, the phenomenon of sages all over the streets did not appear. The evil world of the five turbidities is, after all, called the evil world of the five turbidities; it differs vastly from other worlds, and differs vastly even from the era when Maitreya Buddha will appear in the world. Sages filling the world is purely wishful thinking, a fond fantasy — one might not even see it in a dream.

Anyone who believes he has eradicated the view of self and seen the mind, yet still engages in improper relations between men and women, definitely has not eradicated the view of self and the three fetters, and definitely has not seen the mind. In the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra the Buddha says that because of the blissful feeling of samādhi, one does not indulge in the pleasures between men and women. How could one who has eradicated the three fetters still be entangled in foolish, lingering, tender affection between men and women? That shows one does not have the blissful feeling of samādhi; with the blissful feeling of samādhi, one would reject the pleasures between men and women and no longer delight in them, because the blissful feeling of samādhi is far superior to the pleasure between men and women. No one would choose the lowest and basest pleasant feeling while abandoning the superior pleasant feeling — even an abnormal person would not do so.

There are truly many who commit grave false speech, all the result of the machinations of the self. The view of self has not been eradicated, and then they add on a self that has attained the fruit and a self that has seen the mind. One "self" is already enough to turn heaven upside down; to add yet another self on top of that — how outrageous! Such a person will surely commit great evil karma in order to manifest the so-called majestic power of these two selves.