Observing the Five Aggregates to Cut Through the View of Self (Part 2)
Section 5: The Merits of the Arhat
Original text:从此金刚喻三摩地。无间永害。一切烦恼品。粗重种子。其心于彼。究竟解脱。证得毕竟。种姓清净。于诸烦恼。究竟尽中。发起尽智。由因尽故。当来苦果。毕竟不生。即于此中。起无生智。彼于尔时。成阿罗汉。诸漏已尽。所作已办。无复所作。证得自义。尽诸有结。已正奉行。如来圣教。心善解脱。
Explanation: From this vajra-like meditative concentration (samādhi) onward, the dausthulya seeds of all categories of afflictions are severed forever without interruption, and the mind is ultimately liberated from all afflictions, attaining ultimate purity of lineage (gotra). At the very moment all afflictions are ultimately exhausted, the knowledge of exhaustion (kṣaya-jñāna) arises; because the causes are exhausted, the future fruit of suffering will never again arise. At the same time as the afflictions are exhausted, the knowledge of non-arising (anutpāda-jñāna) regarding the world of the five aggregates arises. At that time, the practitioner of the third fruit becomes an arhat of the fourth fruit: all outflows are exhausted, what was to be done has been done, there is nothing more to be done, his own goal has been realized, all bonds of existence have been exhausted, the sacred teachings of the Tathāgata have been properly carried out, and the mind is well liberated.
The arhat of the fourth fruit possesses the unimpeded knowledge of exhaustion and the knowledge of non-arising. The unimpeded knowledge of exhaustion means being able to exhaust all afflictions of the world without interruption, extinguish all suffering of the three realms, and know how to escape the world of the three realms to attain liberation—such wisdom is called the unimpeded knowledge of exhaustion. The knowledge of non-arising means realizing that the world of the five aggregates is suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self, understanding that the world of the five aggregates is illusory and therefore non-arising and unreal—such wisdom is called the knowledge of non-arising.
Original text:已具成就。十无学法。谓无学正见正思惟。乃至无学。正解脱正智。于诸住中。及作意中。能随己心。自在而转。随所乐住。或圣或天。或梵住中。即能安住。随乐思惟。所有正法。能引世间。或出世间。诸善义利。即能思惟。
Explanation: He has fully accomplished the ten dharmas of one beyond training (aśaikṣa): right view beyond training, right deliberation beyond training, and so on, up to right liberation beyond training and right wisdom beyond training—these ten dharmas are all complete, requiring no further training. In all abidings and in all attentions (manaskāra), he can act freely according to his own mind; wherever he delights to abide—whether in the noble abiding, the divine abiding, or the pure abiding—he can immediately settle there. Whatever true dharmas he delights to contemplate, which can lead to worldly or supramundane wholesome benefits, he can contemplate them at once.
Original text:言圣住者。谓空住无愿住。无相住。灭尽定住。言天住者。谓诸静虑。诸无色住。言梵住者。谓慈住悲住喜住舍住。又于尔时。至极究竟。毕竟无垢。毕竟证得。梵行边际。离诸关键。已出深坑。已度深堑。已能摧伏。彼伊师迦。是为真圣。摧灭高幢。已断五支。成就六支。
Explanation: The so-called noble abiding refers to abiding in emptiness, abiding in wishlessness, abiding in signlessness, and abiding in the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti). The so-called divine abiding refers to the various meditative absorptions (dhyāna) and all the abidings of the formless realms. The so-called pure abiding (brahma-vihāra) refers to abiding in loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity. Furthermore, at that time, having reached the ultimate, utterly without defilement, he has ultimately attained the far limit of the pure holy life, departed from all critical points, escaped the deep pit, crossed the deep chasm, and been able to crush that Iṣīka (the lofty mountain of self-conceit)—he is a true noble one who has destroyed the banner of arrogance. He has already severed the five parts and accomplished the six parts.
Original text:一向守护。四所依止。最极远离。独一谛实。弃舍希求。无浊思惟。身行猗息。心善解脱。慧善解脱。独一无侣。正行已立。名已亲近。无上丈夫。具足成就。六恒住法。谓眼见色已。无喜无忧。安住上舍。正念正知。如是耳闻声已。鼻嗅香已。舌尝味已。身觉触已。意了法已。无喜无忧。安住上舍。正念正知。
Explanation: He constantly guards the four supports—the Buddha, the Dharma, the Saṅgha, and the precepts—remains supremely aloof from all worldly dharmas, unimpeded in liberation, with only one truth alone in his mind, without longing for the world of the five aggregates, with pure and undefiled contemplation, his bodily actions at ease and tranquil without any fetters. His mind is well liberated and his wisdom is well liberated; in the world his mind takes no dharma as a companion, is not bound to any dharma, and bears the characteristic of no dharma. His right conduct has been established—this is called having drawn near to the unsurpassed great man, the Buddha, the World-Honored One. He has fully accomplished the six constant abidings: having seen forms with the eye, he is neither joyful nor sorrowful, abiding in supreme equanimity, with right mindfulness and right awareness. Likewise, having heard sounds with the ear, smelled scents with the nose, tasted flavors with the tongue, felt touches with the body, and cognized dharmas with the mind, he is neither joyful nor sorrowful, abiding in supreme equanimity, with right mindfulness and right awareness.
Original text:彼于尔时。领受贪欲。无余永尽。领受瞋恚。无余永尽。领受愚痴。无余永尽。彼贪瞋痴。皆永尽故。不造诸恶。习近诸善。其心犹如。虚空净水。如妙香檀。普为一切。天帝天王。恭敬供养。住有余依。般涅槃界。度生死海。已到彼岸。亦名任持。最后有身。
Explanation: The arhat at this time: the greed that arises when receiving the objects of the six sense objects is forever exhausted without remainder; the anger that arises when receiving the objects of the six sense objects is forever exhausted without remainder; the delusion that arises when receiving the objects of the six sense objects is forever exhausted without remainder. Because greed, anger, and delusion are all forever exhausted, he no longer commits evil deeds but cultivates and draws near to wholesome dharmas. His mind is like empty space and pure water, and like wondrous sandalwood fragrance, universally revered and offered to by all the lords of devas and heavenly kings. He abides in the realm of nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), has crossed the ocean of saṃsāra and karma, and reached the other shore; this is also called sustaining the final body of existence.
Original text:先业烦恼。所引诸蕴。自然灭故。余取无故。不相续故。于无余依。般涅槃界。而般涅槃。此中都无。般涅槃者。如于生死。无流转者。唯有众苦永灭。寂静清凉灭没。唯有此处。最为寂静。所谓弃舍。一切所依。爱尽离欲。永灭涅槃。
Explanation: Because the five aggregates drawn forth by past karma and afflictions naturally cease, there is no further grasping toward the world of the three realms, and future lives will no longer continue in succession. He attains parinirvāṇa in the realm of nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), yet there is no one who attains parinirvāṇa; likewise, in birth-and-death there is no one who transmigrates. There is only the eternal cessation of all suffering—tranquil, cool, and extinguished, with all dharmas ceased. Only this place of nirvāṇa is the most tranquil: abandoning all supports, with craving exhausted and free of desire, the five aggregates forever extinguished, entering nirvāṇa without remainder.
Original text:当知此中。有如是相。阿罗汉苾刍。诸漏永尽。不能习近。五种处所。一者不能故思。杀害诸众生命。二者不能。不与而取。三者不能。行非梵行。习淫欲法。四者不能知而妄语。五者不能贮畜受用。诸欲资具。如是不能。妄计苦乐。自作他作。自他俱作。非自他作。无因而生。又亦不能。怖畏一切。不应记事。又亦不能。于云雷电。霹雳灾雹。及见种种。怖畏事已。深生惊怖。
Explanation: You should know that attaining the fruit of arhatship has such characteristics: an arhat bhikṣu, with all afflictive outflows forever extinguished, can no longer engage in the following five kinds of conduct: first, he cannot deliberately intend to kill the lives of sentient beings; second, he cannot take what has not been given; third, he cannot engage in impure sexual conduct or practice lust; fourth, he cannot knowingly speak falsehood; fifth, he cannot store up and use the various resources for sensual enjoyment. The arhat also cannot falsely conceive that pleasure and pain are created by the self-nature of pleasure and pain itself, or created by Maheśvara (the Great God), or created jointly by both, or that they arise without cause, being neither created by the self-nature of pleasure and pain nor by Maheśvara. Moreover, he cannot feel deep terror and fear at clouds, lightning, thunderbolts, hailstorms, or upon seeing various frightening things.
Original text:当知此中。金刚喻定。所摄作意。名加行究竟作意。最上阿罗汉果。所摄作意。名加行究竟果作意。由如是等。多种作意。依出世道。证得究竟。如是一切。名声闻地。此是一切。正等觉者所说。一切声闻。相应教法根本。犹如一切。名句文身。是所制造。文章咒术。异论根本。
Explanation: You should know that in the practice of the path, the attention (manaskāra) embraced by the vajra-like concentration (samādhi) is called the attention of the culmination of preparation; the attention embraced by the supreme fruit of arhatship is called the attention of the fruit of the culmination of preparation. Through such various kinds of attention, relying on the supramundane path, the ultimate is realized. All of this is called the Stage of the Śrāvaka. This is the fundamental teaching spoken by all perfectly awakened ones, corresponding to all śrāvakas—just as all names, phrases, and syllables (nāma-pada-vyañjana) are the basis for composing writings, mantras, and heterodox treatises.
