Contemplating the Five Aggregates and Eliminating the View of Self (Part I) (Second Edition)
Chapter Seven The Meritorious Benefits of Eradicating the View of Self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa)
Section One The Liberating Meritorious Benefits After Eradicating the View of Self
1. The Difference Between Bondage and Liberation
After the view of self has been eradicated, the felt experiences of the physical body still remain; it is only that the mind no longer holds inverted views, wisdom has arisen, and one gradually gains the ability to attain liberation. After truly eradicating the view of self, craving for self will lessen, and one no longer craves the form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharmas one possesses; when meeting adversity one can take it in stride and no longer suffers as before. After eradicating the view of self and no longer accepting the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) as self, whatever happens to the physical body feels indifferent—this is the initial felt experience of liberation. There are also further liberating benefits: for example, when arhats failed to beg any food, they filled their bellies with cow dung and felt it made no difference; even sleeping in a graveyard, they felt it made no difference; the clothes they wore were picked up from corpses in the Śītavana charnel forest, patched over and over, and they themselves felt it made no difference—this is the meritorious benefit of liberation in which the mind is liberated and does not cling to form, sound, scent, taste, touch, or dharmas.
If one "cares," there is bondage within the mind and the mind is not liberated; only indifference is true liberation. Being content whatever environmental conditions the body and mind are in—that is liberation, that is ease; conversely, if nothing will do, if one is never content no matter what, that is the bondage of birth and death, non-liberation, a mind not at ease. The more one grasps at and frets over self, the harder accomplishment becomes; one who craves and cherishes the self is bound most severely.
Practitioners of the past lived alone deep in the mountains; food was austere, lodging was austere, provisions were austere, yet none of it mattered to them. Because they cultivated the Path in order to accomplish their Path-endeavors, not for the enjoyment of the physical body, they did not grasp at the body and the five aggregates. Why do people today cultivate so slowly, without accomplishment? Precisely because life is too comfortable, the craving mind is heavy, the mind of renunciation hardly arises, the mind for the Path is not strong, meditative concentration hardly arises, contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) does not succeed, and the inner thoughts and views cannot be turned around. If we wish to resolve the great matter of birth and death, we must deeply and minutely contemplate the principle of the Four Noble Truths. First we must have a deep and keen recognition of the Noble Truth of Suffering; only by knowing suffering can one sever its accumulation (samudaya), and only by yearning for cessation, cultivating the path (nirodhābhiprāya-mārga-bhāvanā), can the mind at last attain liberation and ease.
2. The Meritorious Benefits of Realizing the First Fruit
The path-of-seeing stage of both the Great and Small Vehicles falls at the first-fruit stage. Its degree of wisdom and recognition is like meeting a person and gaining an initial understanding of them—not yet deep, thorough, or complete, yet utterly different from the understanding and recognition one had before ever meeting. In the course of subsequent association with this person, one gradually comes to know them to some extent, the impression deepens, one gains some grasp of their speech and conduct; as time lengthens and understanding grows, the knowledge becomes deep and thorough, and trust keeps strengthening. Realizing the first fruit and just having seen the mind are like this too. Although the first-fruit path of seeing has not eradicated the root afflictions (mūla-kleśa), overall the afflictions have been subdued and lightened to a considerable degree; body and mind have both changed, and the mental disposition differs essentially from that of an ordinary being—this is the meritorious benefit of seeing the Path and realizing no-self.
If, because the first fruit has not eradicated the root afflictions and thus differs from third-fruit persons who have severed afflictions, one concludes that one's afflictions should be just like an ordinary being's, that is a huge misunderstanding, enough to mislead many people, leading some ordinary beings to believe that heavy afflictions are normal and do not prevent them from being first-fruit persons; in fact, heavy afflictions are not normal. If afflictions have not been effectively subdued, it shows he has not seen the Path, his cultivation has borne no fruit, body and mind have not changed, he cannot have eradicated the view of self, and he has not truly understood the principle of no-self. Many who hold this view do not even conceal their afflictive nature, yet take it for granted that they have realized the fruit and eradicated the view of self, not the least bit doubting whether their so-called fruit is real or fake, unaware of how fearsome is the karma of impersonating a sage.
After the first-fruit path of seeing, through subsequent encounters with conditions and objects one gradually deepens the contemplative practice of the no-self of the five aggregates and eighteen realms (dhātus); as the no-self nature strengthens and the afflictions are further subdued and lightened, one becomes a second-fruit person; deepening further the recognition of the no-self of the five aggregates, cultivating away the five hindrances (pañca-nīvaraṇa), and bringing forth first-dhyāna concentration, the affliction of sensual craving is gradually extinguished, and then the affliction of ill will is extinguished as well—one becomes a third-fruit person who has severed the afflictions of craving and ill will; with still more diligent cultivation, deepening the contemplative practice of the no-self of the five aggregates until the insight of no-self is very thorough, all afflictions drop away entirely and grasping at self (ātma-grāha) is fully severed—one becomes an arhat of the fourth fruit.
The course of cultivation from ordinary being to the fourth fruit is similar to hearing of a person, then meeting that person, and then becoming thoroughly familiar with and understanding them; it is impossible to know someone very well the instant one first meets them. Realizing the first fruit is the same: right at the path of seeing, the inner degree of no-self cannot yet be so thorough as to have severed the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; but there must be a difference from before eradicating the view of self and realizing no-self—something has changed; the body-mind world must have changed, and there must be initial meritorious benefits of liberation. Without initial liberating merit, there has been no true eradication of the view of self, no true seeing of the Path and realization of no-self. Once no-self is realized, the afflictions arising from the view of self will be subdued.
3. The No-Self Cultivation of a Person Who Has Eradicated the View of Self
When observing with the Great and Small Vehicles combined, the observation of the six sense bases, six sense objects, and six consciousnesses must be thorough. The six consciousnesses are manifested by the eighth consciousness in the very moment, arising instant after instant, ceasing instant after instant. The six sense bases are manifested by the eighth consciousness; the manas, too, arises and ceases instant after instant; the five material faculties are produced by the eighth consciousness transmitting the seeds of the four great elements, arising and ceasing instant after instant; the six sense objects are generated by the eighth consciousness transmitting the seeds of the four great elements, likewise arising and ceasing instant after instant. Because the eighteen realms change so rapidly, they appear continuous, as if unchanging, leading us to mistake them as utterly real; the conscious mind is thus beguiled, and out of this illusion craving arises—yet there is not a single dharma that is not arising and ceasing instant by instant.
The "me" of this moment is not the "me" of a moment ago: bodily cells are arising, ceasing, and changing; food passes in and out of the body; the physical body alters from instant to instant. If one can discern the arising-ceasing changes over a stretch of time, one can broadly know the impermanence of the body's arising and ceasing. Compared with ten years ago the body feels strikingly different—everything about it has greatly changed; the mind's thoughts and cognitions have changed; the whole person has been replaced. When the mind is fully merged into contemplative practice, one can realize that the entire false self, the five aggregates, is false, impermanent, arising and ceasing, empty, illusory, and not-self.
If one can study the Small Vehicle's Four Āgamas well—first eradicating the view of self, then seeing the mind—the view of self is easily severed thoroughly, and the subduing of afflictions and afflictive obstructions (kleśāvaraṇa) is swift. If one goes straight to investigating Chan and sees the mind, and moreover concentrative power is insufficient with much of it mere intellectual understanding, genuine realization is unlikely; the view of self cannot be severed, and this false self will keep coming out to stir up storms, creating afflicted karmic actions and obstructing one's Path-endeavors. Subduing the self is supremely important both for cultivation and for benefiting self and others; once subdued, one benefits endlessly life after life, and the mind gives rise to no anguish.
One who has, for many lifetimes, eradicated the view of self concerning the physical body and the conscious mind will never be attached to their own body, will not fuss over it, will not pay heavy prices for its sake, and will not, whenever something happens, first calculate their own gains and losses; in working for others or for a group they will never seek reward, nor scheme back and forth. They will not clash with others over personal benefit; for the most part they are modest, yielding, and marked by a no-self nature; least of all will they quibble or dispute over the smallest personal interests; with such magnanimity, others are glad to be around them.
Through the above contemplative practice, once the no-self of the five aggregates is realized, one is at minimum a first-fruit person; those with light afflictions directly attain the second fruit. If one has already attained first-dhyāna concentration, one can gradually sever craving and hatred and attain the third fruit. Each person's merit and conditions differ, and the length of their cultivation differs, so the fruit-stage attained differs. Those of sharp faculties, upon hearing the Dharma and contemplating it briefly, can realize the fruit, without long, repeated contemplative practice, without having to contemplate everything completely and exhaustively in every detail; by contemplating through to breakthrough from just one aspect, one single point, the entire five aggregates melt away like ice and crumble, breached in full. From then on one sits in the conjured city of the five aggregates, busily doing the deeds of a dream. Even if one's faculties are not especially sharp, with deep practice over a long time one can still realize the first fruit and sever the three fetters, forever cutting off the three evil destinies—this too is a great fortune. Whatever effort and price is spent on this is thoroughly worthwhile.
4. After Eradicating the View of Self, Both Body and Mind Are Transformed
After truly eradicating the view of self, the person is still the same person, but the mind is no longer the old mind; the mental conduct has greatly transformed—this is the meritorious benefit of eradicating the view of self. With true eradication of the view of self, the whole person changes; it is no longer as before—afflicted as one was afflicted, greedy as one was greedy, conceited as one was conceited, hateful as one was hateful; the old mentality is absolutely impossible. If the mental conduct remains exactly as before, unchanged, that is only a theoretical eradication of the view of self, not the real thing.
Having truly realized no-self, the body-mind world must change; it is not merely knowing no-self in theory—in actual conduct one manifests no-self everywhere, because the views have been set right from their inversion. Theoretical views are of little use; they cannot solve the actual problem of birth and death. One who feels the view of self has been eradicated in theory but in fact has not eradicated it should again deeply cultivate meditative concentration and contemplate in accordance with reality, making up the missing thirty-seven factors of enlightenment (bodhipākṣika-dharma); one must make certain the view of self is genuinely and truly eradicated, so that the body-mind world transforms—only then are there real meritorious benefits, with a shadow of liberation within the mind.
5. The Phenomenon of Alert Clarity at the Time of Eradicating the View of Self Is Produced by the Manas
The phenomenon of alert clarity that appears after eradicating the view of self, and the various phenomena of tranquility (praśrabdhi) and joy arising in body and mind, all appear through the stirring of the manas's wisdom; they are the manas's emotional reactions registering upon body and mind. The mind consciousness cannot make body and mind react, cannot produce in them the felt experience of tranquility and joy; therefore the eradication of the view of self must be the manas eradicating the view of self—the mind consciousness's view of self is, of course, severed at the same time. If no phenomenon of tranquility, joy, or alert clarity appears, yet one still holds that the five aggregates are no-self, this is the mind consciousness eradicating the view of self; it has not yet penetrated into the depths of the manas's mind. When the manas first cognizes this principle, phenomena of resistance and agitation of varying intensity will appear; those with better endowments from past lives, who have already contemplated the five aggregates, will not have these agitated emotions, will not resist—a joyful state of mind will appear directly.
This is the result of actual practice; without the stage and process of actual practice, one cannot be said to have truly eradicated the view of self. After truly eradicating the view of self, body and mind must transform, mental conduct must change, the sagely nature must emerge, and the mind must be empty and without self—how could there still be such grave afflictions, how could so many chaotic phenomena appear? Impossible. With the mind emptied, one no longer wishes to engage in superfluous doings, having initial correspondence with the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta); how could so many chaotic affairs occur—let alone so many evil deeds? They simply cannot appear.
If meditative concentration is insufficient, contemplative practice is truly a struggle, and the absorption and understanding of the Dharma's meaning falls short. Some profound and very profound dharmas then cannot be understood or faithfully accepted at all. When one cannot understand or faithfully accept, doubt arises; with the doubt-view unsevered, the mind is not at peace.
6. Does Fear Remain After Realizing the Fruit?
After eradicating the view of self there is a certain meritorious benefit of liberation, and this benefit varies to a degree with each person's measure of realization. The so-called meritorious benefit of liberation is that the grasping quality of one's psychological feelings and thoughts about the physical body and the five aggregates has lessened and faded; one can take many things in stride and no longer quibbles much—especially when meditative concentration is present, the grasping is lighter and fainter still. This also depends on the degree of the wisdom that eradicates the view of self and of meditative concentration; it differs from person to person.
Yet when major matters arise one still feels afraid; afterwards, on reflection, the fear subsides; in third- and fourth-fruit persons it is very slight. But to feel no fear at all is impossible. Just as the fourth-fruit arhats attending the Buddha—when an elephant, made drunk, came charging, they were afraid and ran off; even fourth-fruit persons who have severed grasping at self fear a drunken elephant. Why? Because they had not realized the tathāgatagarbha and still held the five-aggregate body to be truly existent and suffering to be truly existent; it is only that these are ceaselessly arising, ceasing, and changing, beyond anyone's hold—they had not realized the principle that the five aggregates are illusory, conjured by the tathāgatagarbha; therefore they still had fear. An arhat liberated in both ways (ubhayatobhāgavimukta), upheld by profound meditative concentration, has no fear and is comparatively more serene and at ease.
An eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva has not the slightest fear whatsoever; a fourth-bhūmi bodhisattva, with the measure of wisdom-realization plus supernatural powers (abhijñā), likewise has no fear. Bodhisattvas from the fourth bhūmi upward have not only severed grasping at self but also severed part of the grasping at dharmas (dharma-grāha); not only have they realized the profound tathāgatagarbha, they also possess the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, and realize that all dharmas are illusory appearances, not truly existent, and that the five-aggregate body is empty and illusory; therefore they feel fear toward no dharma. Because the Small Vehicle arhat has not realized the tathāgatagarbha, he holds that the five aggregates still have their functions and uses in the world, and so he enters nirvāṇa to hide from suffering. The fruit-realization of the Small Vehicle and that of the Great Vehicle differ greatly in level; the Dharma realized in the Small Vehicle is not ultimate, whereas only the Great Vehicle Dharma penetrates to the source of the fundamental mind—it is the ultimate Dharma. Thus it is said that first-fruit persons who have eradicated the view of self still fear certain larger matters, because they still have grasping at the physical body, cannot sever it too thoroughly, and the problem of grasping at dharmas remains.
7. Retribution After Realizing the Fruit
When the no-self of the five aggregates is realized, the three fetters are severed, and the karma of the three evil destinies can no longer bind one; heavy offenses receive light retribution—in the future one will not go to the three evil destinies to suffer retribution for the three-evil-destiny karmic deeds created in past lives; the retributions of that karma merely manifest within the human realm, where one suffers as a human. If a rare individual, because of extremely heavy afflictions, creates new three-evil-destiny karma, then they cannot avoid going again to the three evil destinies for retribution, and the fruit-stage realized will also be lost, including Great Vehicle fruit-stages.
After severing the afflictions, one becomes a bodhisattva on the bhūmis at the third fruit nearing the fourth; by virtue of their Great and Small Vehicle wisdom-realization, the emptiness they realize is deeper, subtler, and vaster than that of first-fruit persons and virtuous-stage bodhisattvas; the mind is emptier and purer, more of the three-evil-destiny karma is eliminated, there is all the less need to receive retribution in the three evil destinies, and the suffering endured among humans is also less. And because the afflictions have been severed, there remains only craving connected with the Buddha-Dharma; one will no longer create three-evil-destiny karma out of affliction, and therefore will no longer fall into the hells.
Yet there will also be individual exceptions: out of craving for the Dharma, grasping at dharmas, or folly, one may create great evil karma, causing the bodhisattva fruit-stage to vanish entirely and incurring tremendous evil retribution in the human realm. If within the Buddha-Dharma one defies the World-Honored One's teachings and creates evil karma that injures the Tathāgata and injures the Buddha's teaching, then the bodhisattva fruit-stages of the three virtuous stages and ten bhūmis must all be forfeited.
8. The Felt Experience of No-Self
So long as one contemplates with a quiet mind, one can view the physical body lightly, grow distant from it, and further refuse to identify the body as self; the mind can then change. Then one thinks: Why the trouble? Busying oneself all day for the body—what is it all for? Scrambling back and forth in the world—what can one actually get? All day long "I, I, I"—for what, exactly? What is this "me"? Life after life lived for the physical body, yet the body is like a block of wood, a stinking skin-bag; lived for the perceiving mind, yet that perceiving mind is so illusory and unreal; to create evil karma for the sake of body and mind is a bargain in which the loss outweighs the gain.
Cultivation truly demands calming down to reflect and contemplate, turning the light around to shine upon oneself, asking oneself over and over: What, in the end, does one want from this life? What does one hope to obtain, and what can one obtain? Living to the very end it is nothing but emptiness upon emptiness—apart from emptiness, what else is there? Without quiet contemplation the mental conduct cannot change; as ever, talking is talking and doing is doing, one gains not the slightest benefit, and merely wags one's tongue in front of others. All day long the conceit of self never stops: "I am better than anyone, more capable than anyone; no one compares to me; apart from me there is no one"—this is the very root of the cycle of birth and death.
When one truly perceives that there is no self, a hollow feeling arises in the mind; what one formerly leaned on and relied upon has suddenly vanished, no longer anything one can depend on; at first one may not be able to adjust, but after a while, once accustomed, it is fine. With no "me" in the mind, you will feel wonderfully light; the mind can find rest, the burden is laid down, as if relieved of a heavy load; thereafter meditative concentration can gradually strengthen.
When there is a self, how heavy the heart is—rushing about for this "me," creating karma without end, never knowing when it will stop. When there is a self, one cares about everything—chasing fame and profit, showing off, hoping everyone notices one, hopes everyone values one, hopes everyone envies one, hopes everyone worships one, hopes everyone regards one as a god—how heavy that heart must be!
9. The Liberating Meritorious Benefits of the Second, Third, and Fourth Fruits
Contemplating the impermanent, suffering, empty, and no-self nature of the five aggregates, beginning from the ordinary-being stage and continuing until the arhat fruit is realized, once the craving of the three realms is severed to the full, the contemplative practice concludes; one has then reached beyond training (aśaikṣa), and as for the cultivation of severing afflictions and escaping birth and death, there is nothing further to learn or realize. Before the third fruit there are still Small Vehicle dharmas to be learned and realized; one has not yet reached the degree of escaping the three realms and attaining liberation, and must continue the study and practice of contemplation; only at the fourth fruit is one the Small Vehicle's beyond-training one, with nothing left to learn of the dharma of liberation, having fully penetrated it, possessing the ability to escape the suffering of the birth-and-death cycle and enter Nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa).
After realizing the first fruit by contemplating the five aggregates as not-self, one continues deepening the contemplative practice; the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion lessen, becoming extremely slight—such is a second-fruit person. Continuing further, once the five hindrances are subdued and first-dhyāna concentration manifests, one can first sever the craving of the desire realm, and then ill will is severed to the full—one becomes a third-fruit person, the mind liberated from the desire realm. With the conceit of self severed to the full, grasping at self severed to the full, and the craving of the three realms severed to the full, one becomes a fourth-fruit one beyond training. Here the Small Vehicle's cultivation comes to an end; when one's conditions with the three realms run out, at the end of life one enters Nirvāṇa without remainder, thenceforth liberated from the birth-and-death suffering of the three realms, never again receiving birth within them.
One whose mind is liberated cannot be bound by the world's five desires and six sense objects; amid the five desires and six dusts one is at ease, without craving or loathing, without delight or anguish; the mind is not stained by worldly toil and affliction, nor does it grasp at the self's five aggregates. Cultivating to this degree is at the very least the third-fruit realm; if one further severs to the full the manas's grasping nature toward self, one is a fourth-fruit arhat. The third-fruit person, possessing first-dhyāna concentration, has severed the mind of sensual craving to the full and severed craving for the five aggregates, but craving for the dharmas of the form realm and formless realm is not yet fully severed, and the manas's grasping nature remains; therefore they cannot yet attest it with their own body, claiming complete liberation and the ability to depart the three realms entirely. The fourth-fruit arhat, having severed grasping at self to the full, can prove complete liberation; no dharma in the world can bind them, the mind clings to no dharma whatsoever; therefore they have the ability to extinguish their own five aggregates, depart the three realms, and receive no further existence.
10. The Purpose of Buddhist Cultivation and Realization Is to Eradicate Ignorance
In the first-fruit person the major afflictions have been subdued; they will no longer commit killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, or false speech, but minor afflictions remain; compared with ordinary beings, their mental disposition is without self, the afflictions have grown slight and been effectively subdued. Yet even for ordinary beings in the process of cultivation and realization, if the practice is effective, their afflictions too are gradually subdued, different from before any cultivation and realization. For one who has initially eradicated the view of self, the afflictions centered on "I" will no longer be so heavy; after all, the initial view of self is gone; only the degree of no-self differs, the degree to which the disposition has been subdued differs, and the meritorious benefits of liberation enjoyed differ—but all have their benefits, all have partial liberation.
All the cultivation and realization in the Buddha-Dharma has as its purpose the eradication of ignorance (avidyā); where there is ignorance there are all sorts of afflictions; thus realizing the fruit and seeing the mind are in the end about resolving the problem of afflictions—when ignorance is gone the afflictions are gone; whatever degree of ignorance is eliminated, that degree of affliction is subdued, or that degree of affliction is severed. If the first fruit of eradicating the view of self is not tied to subduing ignorance and affliction, then what use are eradicating the view of self and seeing the mind at all? Is acquiring theoretical knowledge enough? What is the purpose of learning theory, if not to sever ignorance and sever afflictions? Why are we not liberated, why is there the suffering of birth and death? Is it not precisely because of afflictions and ignorance? If even the fundamental aim and goal of studying Buddhism is gone, have you already been knocked dizzy and disoriented? That no one here is yet a Buddha—what is the reason? Is it not that there are various ignorances and afflictions of various different levels?
Realizing the fruit and severing afflictions is like cutting through the root of a great tree; the root cut through completely corresponds to the fourth fruit. Before the root is cut through completely, it is cut away bit by bit, severed bit by bit. Realizing the first fruit corresponds to having begun cutting the root and already removed a small part—the three fetters; the second fruit removes more—greed, hatred, and delusion have grown very faint; the third fruit severs craving and ill will, corresponding to removing most of the root, the great tree ready to topple at any moment; the fourth fruit corresponds to the root removed entirely—at any moment one may enter Nirvāṇa without remainder.
11. If a Third-Fruit Person Loses First-Dhyāna Concentration, Does the Fruit-Stage Regress?
The Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra says that even if a third-fruit person loses meditative concentration, the fruit-stage does not regress. Because the root afflictions have been severed and will not arise again; even if the branch-and-leaf afflictions arise, the mind no longer truly has afflictions as before; the small afflictions that occasionally manifest are only at the mind-consciousness level, not at the deep level of the manas; once arisen they swiftly vanish—they are not real afflictions, and in no way impair that liberating wisdom, and so they do not affect the fruit-stage. As for whether root afflictions, once severed, can ever arise again—no instance is seen in the Buddhist sutras, nor has one been met in real life; therefore it is uncertain, and exceptions cannot be ruled out.
The circumstances of the Small Vehicle third fruit and the Great Vehicle third fruit differ. Small Vehicle third-fruit persons, since they rarely deliver sentient beings, are generally monastics with few affairs, or almost none; the beings they encounter are few and simple, unmixed; the mind can hold its purity, concentration is easy to maintain and not easily lost, and so the fruit-stage does not regress—though there may be exceptions. Although the third-fruit person has first-dhyāna concentration, it is not present at every moment; they cannot remain in samādhi at all times; getting things done within first dhyāna is difficult—faced with matters demanding much thought and care, they get headaches and vexation; their first dhyāna is certainly there when seated in meditation and when deliberately sustained; upon rising from the seat it may be sustained, or part of it may fall away. For instance, there is no concentration while sleeping at night, and concentration lightens when one is thinking especially hard.
Then with concentration lightened and with sleeping at night, can the fruit-stage be held? Of course it can; one cannot say that one is a third-fruit person while awake and becomes a first- or second-fruit person or an ordinary being asleep. Thus, temporarily losing first dhyāna, the fruit-stage does not regress. The first-fruit person has preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), and that concentration too is easily lost, yet the first-fruit stage does not regress. Great Vehicle seventh-abode bodhisattvas also have preparatory concentration, also easily lost, but the stage does not regress—such are called stage-nonregressing bodhisattvas, and they will not become ordinary beings; as for bogus seventh-abode bodhisattvas, regression does not even come up, for they never actually entered the seventh abode at all.
Take another example: the Buddha attained Buddhahood within fourth-dhyāna concentration, fully endowed with the four dhyānas, the eight samādhis, and the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti); yet the Buddha cannot remain perpetually in concentration above the second dhyāna—in such concentration there is no awareness or knowing, making living and delivering sentient beings impossible; in his ordinary moving, standing, sitting, and lying down the Buddha can only sustain first-dhyāna concentration; the arhat liberated in both ways, endowed with the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, likewise cannot remain perpetually in concentration above the second dhyāna; in moving, standing, sitting, and lying down he may sustain first dhyāna, or may not. But one cannot say that not being within the four dhyānas and eight samādhis the Buddha is no longer Buddha, or the arhat no longer arhat; therefore, not being in meditative concentration, the fruit-stage does not change. Even if the Buddha were to teach the Dharma within first-dhyāna concentration for a month, a year, or even a kalpa, never entering concentration above the second dhyāna, the Buddha's fruit-stage would never regress. The Sutra of Perfect Enlightenment says: 譬如销金矿，一成真金体，不复重为矿。This means that the Buddha has already been refined from ignorance and affliction into Buddhahood and will never again have ignorance or affliction; the Buddha-stage therefore never regresses.
Then if first-dhyāna concentration is lost for a long time, does the third-fruit person's fruit-stage regress? This must be judged by how well wisdom is maintained and by the specific state of bodily, verbal, and mental actions; whether the fruit-stage regresses must be determined by whether the root afflictions manifest, whether bodhicitta has regressed, and whether one still remains unattached to worldly fame and offerings—it cannot be decided by concentration alone. As for the arhat who disrobed and lost the fourth fruit—that was because slight craving afflictions arose for a time; later, grown weary of worldly life, he went forth again and cultivated back to the fourth fruit; third- and fourth-fruit persons have severed the afflictions and can no longer manage worldly life; even if they return to lay life, they will come back. To sum up, whether the fruit-stage has regressed should be judged by the fruit-virtue: examine whether the third-fruit person's fruit-virtue has changed, and see whether their thought and conduct still accord with the virtue of a third-fruit person. The result of concentration should be the severing of afflictions and the birth of liberating wisdom; if that result is unchanged and not lost, then the fruit-stage does not regress.
The Great Vehicle bodhisattva's third fruit is harder to hold than the Small Vehicle third fruit, because the bodhisattva takes delivering sentient beings as paramount: many beings encountered, many affairs, many places demanding attention, rather pressed, with no time to cultivate oneself; concentration is hardest of all to maintain, and losing it is normal. But a first-bhūmi bodhisattva is a practice-nonregressing bodhisattva; if the bodhisattva's conduct of delivering beings does not regress, still holds great bodhicitta, walks the great bodhisattva path untiringly, gives rise to no afflictions, seeks no worldly fame and offerings, can relinquish self and devote himself single-mindedly to the cause of Buddhism, and the consciousness-only seed wisdom does not regress—then how could the first-bhūmi bodhisattva's fruit-stage regress? If these fruit-virtues vanish, craving and ill will arise, and one takes up the pursuit of fame and offerings, then the fruit-stage has regressed.
A third-fruit bodhisattva has only first-dhyāna concentration and not yet the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti); after death, conceived again into the human world, they will forget everything cultivated in former lives, have no first dhyāna, and outwardly be no different from an ordinary person. Yet the manas is the same one as in the former life; the manas's views, virtue, merit, and bodhicitta are as in the former life, carried over into this one; even the concentration and wisdom are strong, so their mental conduct differs vastly from ordinary people's; although the mind consciousness has been perfumed by worldly dharmas and become defiled, and will in turn perfume the manas, creating some unwholesome karma, this defilement is limited and slight; the manas's pure nature plays the decisive role—once they meet the Buddha-Dharma again they quickly awaken, swiftly clearing away this defilement; it will not become an obstruction on the path of cultivation, and they will swiftly realize the third fruit again, see the mind once more, and enter the first bhūmi.
So whether the third-fruit stage regresses rests on whether the fruit-virtue remains; one cannot look at concentration alone. Concentration serves to sever afflictions and induce wisdom; having already served that purpose, its loss for a time hardly matters—one need only quickly cultivate it back when needed. It is like a lighter that kindles the firewood; once the firewood has caught, it no longer matters if the lighter's flame goes out.
12. After the Mind Is Empty, Do Realms Still Appear?
So long as sentient beings have the manas present and the five aggregates present, the tathāgatagarbha will output karmic seeds and the seeds of the seven great elements, manifesting the dharmas the five aggregates require, and all manner of realms appear. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas have the manas and the five aggregates; therefore all Buddhas and bodhisattvas live amid every realm of the world, broadly delivering sentient beings with affinity; yet this in no way affects their realization-measure of the mind's emptiness or their realization-virtue of no-self. For the mind being empty does not mean all dharmas must be extinguished before it can be called "mind empty"; rather, it is not taking any dharma as real, not pursuing any dharma, not grasping any dharma—that is the mind being empty.
The mind being empty means the mind empties the dharmas and does not fall into existence—not that the dharmas are extinguished while the mind is left behind. If all dharmas were to be extinguished, first the manas would have to be extinguished, then the five-aggregate body extinguished as well; that sentient being would vanish, and the dharmas would extinguish along with it. In that case the person is gone—unable to cultivate the Buddha-Dharma, unable to become a Buddha. Some arhats do precisely this at the end of life; but before the end of life, the arhat's manas and five aggregates still exist, and the tathāgatagarbha must manifest all the dharmas the arhat needs in order to live, realms included.
The crux of this question is what "mind empty" means: it is viewing the dharmas as empty and contemplating them as empty, not extinguishing the dharmas so that they are empty and nonexistent. Many people misunderstand "mind empty," taking emptiness to mean nonexistence; in truth, the mind being empty means that whatever dharma appears, the mind knows the dharma's essence is empty, and therefore neither pursues nor grasps it, nor gives rise to afflictions.
If emptiness meant nonexistence, then for someone who believes himself empty—does he still eat and work? Does the physical body still carry on any activity? Has he extinguished himself or not? One who believes himself empty—why does he still speak with his mouth, why still type with his hands? Is not emptiness supposed to mean nonexistence? This misunderstanding is enormous. The Buddha is the one who has realized emptiness most thoroughly, yet the Buddha too has five-aggregate activity and teaches the Dharma amid the realms, broadly delivering sentient beings. Moreover, he teaches the dharma of the five aggregates and the world's formation, abiding, decay, and voidness—does teaching thus amount to admitting the five aggregates are real? To admitting the world is real? Neither.
The Buddha teaches the five aggregates so that sentient beings may correctly understand them and, through cultivation, realize that the five aggregates are all empty; he teaches the world so that sentient beings may correctly understand the world and, through cultivation, realize that the world is false and illusory, thereby arriving at the mind's emptiness. Thus "mind empty" refers to a state of the mind, not to making the realms empty; the realms are empty to begin with—there is no need to empty them further. Cultivation is not the cultivating of realms but the cultivating of mind: it suffices to empty the mind's grasping at realms. Whether or not the mind is empty, the realms still appear; whatever realm appears, the mind must empty it—neither thinking of, abiding in, nor grasping the realm.
13. The Most Secure and Reliable Dharma-Gate of Cultivation
Question: Is it eradicating the view of self and realizing the fruit that gives assurance of escaping saṃsāra, or is recollection of the Buddha (buddhānusmṛti) and rebirth in the land of bliss (sukhāvatī) more assured for escaping the cycle of birth and death? Is there a dharma-gate of "one investment, ten-thousandfold returns" that is relatively secure?
Answer: The core ideas of your question are: 1. How can one be assured of escaping saṃsāra and attaining liberation? 2. Is cultivating Pure Land recollection of the Buddha faster and more secure than eradicating the view of self? In my view, the most secure and reliable way to attain liberation and escape the birth-and-death cycle is to reach, right now, the virtue and capability of the sages: let the body-mind world be as the sages' is—not only matching the sages in views and insight, but also in meditative concentration and supernatural powers, in moral cultivation and mental disposition, in capacity of mind, power of vows, and aspiration, and equally in the four immeasurable minds of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. In short, only by matching the sages in every respect can one be liberated and at ease as they are, in tranquil nirvāṇa, unbound by karmic power.
The principles of the Four Noble Truths enable sentient beings to see through and see as empty the five-aggregate world of the Sahā world, and thereby to let go of the Sahā world's myriad conditions, single-mindedly recollect the Buddha, and seek rebirth in the Land of Bliss; when the mind resonates with the Pure Land, rebirth is easy. If one has attained the path-to-the-first-fruit (srotāpanna-phala-pratipannaka) and the first fruit itself, rebirth in the land of bliss is all the more assured. Without the support of the Four Noble Truths' principle, recollection of the Buddha becomes absent-minded, stuck fast in the Sahā world's tangle of conditions, squandering precious time. Therefore cultivating the Four Noble Truths and recollecting the Buddha are not in conflict; the two can merge and further each other.
Realizing the fruit and seeing the mind both represent a state of mind that has left behind the ordinary being's cycle of birth and death; reaching such a state means one's virtue and capability have grown very profound. Give this profound virtue and capability a name—define it as eradicating the view of self and realizing the fruit, define it as seeing the mind and seeing the nature, define it as the first-fruit srotāpanna through the fourth-fruit arhat, define it as the bodhisattvas of the three virtuous stages, define it as the bodhisattvas from the first to the eighth bhūmi. Even if no name is given and no definition made, so long as these virtues and capabilities are complete, one is liberated—one has left the ordinary being's realm of birth-and-death cycling.
Therefore, no matter how beings cultivate or what they cultivate, reaching this state is what counts; elevate the body-mind world by eight degrees, by several levels, and the state one occupies is then, right now, a liberated state. Transforming the body-mind world is the fundamental thing; elevating one's own virtue and capability is the fundamental thing; everything else is accessory. If one cannot elevate one's virtue and capability, cannot transform one's body-mind world, none of the other accessories will appear—what use is clinging to accessories alone? What the most secure and reliable dharma-gate of cultivation is—by now everyone should know, yes?
The various fruit-manifestations, fruit-virtues, and fruit-retributions are all actualized by the tathāgatagarbha; according to what does the tathāgatagarbha manifest these retributions? According to the cultivator's mind—the mental conduct and the bodily, verbal, and mental actions. If the mental conduct falls short and the bodily, verbal, and mental actions fall short, the tathāgatagarbha cannot manifest any fruit-virtue or fruit-retribution—how then could there be first fruit through fourth fruit, the three virtuous stages, and bodhisattvas who have entered the bhūmis? How could there be rebirth in the land of bliss? For these retributions, any individual's definitions and preferences count for nothing; only what the tathāgatagarbha manifests is real and true. So rather than disputing and haggling over fruits, it is far more substantial to cultivate in a down-to-earth way, in accord with principle and Dharma. 5. How should one cultivate so as to obtain a human body and not fall into the three evil destinies?
Eradicating the view of self, realizing the fruit, and seeing the mind and seeing the nature can exempt one from three-evil-destiny karma; resonating with the human [destiny], one can obtain a human body in later lives and not fall into the three evil destinies. The sutras say that those who fulfill the five precepts can obtain a human body; if one can keep the five precepts entirely without violation and no major evil karma presents itself at the end of life, a human body is likewise assured. But what counts as keeping the five precepts well without violation? The transformation of the mental disposition is key; the elimination of karmic obstacles is key; the fullness of merit is key; the subduing of afflictions is key; possessing the wisdom of emptiness (śūnyatā) is key; possessing meditative concentration is key. Precepts, concentration, and wisdom (śīla-samādhi-prajñā) not only subdue and sever afflictions, transform the disposition, and eliminate karmic obstacles, but also grow one's merit; these factors combined can assure a human body.
Beyond this, if only the merit and mental disposition correspond with the human [destiny], even without realizing the Path one can obtain a human body. According to Chan historical records, some past Chan investigators, though they had not realized the Path, possessed very deep concentration; at the end of life, by the power of concentration and the power of merit (puṇya-bala), they could be reborn directly into a certain lay devotee's household; those of great merit could even seize the womb, being born before full term. Those whose concentration deepened to the fourth dhyāna could relinquish life and depart at will; even without seeing the Path they could be reborn directly in the human or heavenly destinies; after seeing the Path, all the more so—reborn among humans and devas, spared the suffering of the three evil destinies.
So long as one strictly keeps the precepts without violation, concentration reaches preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) and first dhyāna, one stands at the stage of investigating Chan, and one's wisdom is sound—from this cultivation of precepts, concentration, and wisdom comes great merit and light karmic obstacles; those with heavy karmic obstacles cannot cultivate to this stage, nor can those of small merit. Thus rebirth in the human destiny is assured, with no going to the three evil destinies. What stage is this? It is the stage just before seeing the Path, equivalent to the path-to-the-first-fruit, one's cultivation nearing the first-fruit stage. The conditions for obtaining a human body are merit matching the human [destiny], with virtue, mental disposition, and the power of wisdom (prajñā-bala) matching as well; no obscuring obstruction from major karmic obstacles, and the karmic seeds of major evil karma either eliminated or unable to manifest—only thus can one be reborn as a human.
One who, abiding in preparatory concentration, contemplates so as to eradicate the view of self is roughly at the path-to-the-first-fruit stage; at this stage one is already assured of rebirth as a human in the next life, continuing this life's cultivation—cultivation, one may say, proceeds unbroken, never interrupted by the three evil destinies. One whose contemplative practice of the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna) is quite accomplished, whose disposition is wholesome and kind, who has concentration and deep wisdom, complete precepts-concentration-wisdom, no obscuration from major karmic obstacles, deep and abundant merit, the bodhisattva disposition (gotra), and a mind that does not correspond with the three evil destinies—such a one can also be spared the suffering of the three evil destinies in later lives, continuing among humans to plant good roots deep and sow the roots of virtue. This virtue is crucial—it is the watershed dividing the three good destinies from the three evil destinies. Without virtue, one cannot manage to be a human being. With such exemplary cultivators as models, everyone should have confidence in their own cultivation; so long as one cultivates along the correct track, attaining the path-to-the-first-fruit is not too difficult, and the likelihood of obtaining a human body in later lives remains considerable.
