Section Three: Prerequisites for Severing the View of Self

I. Prerequisites for Attaining the Fruit (of Enlightenment)

A noble disciple, by truly observing the five aggregates (skandhas), observing their impermanence, suffering, variability, and non-self nature, can realize the truth that the five aggregates are devoid of self, are not the self, are not different from the self, and do not contain the self. To realize the emptiness of the five aggregates and attain the prerequisite for the first fruition (Sotāpanna), one must complete the cultivation of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment (bodhipakkhiyā dhammā). Only when the conditions for cultivating the path are fulfilled can contemplative practice (vipassanā) succeed. If those aids to the path are not cultivated or are not completed, it is impossible to contemplate and realize the non-self nature of the five aggregates, and thus one cannot attain the fruition. Therefore, one must first cultivate the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, such as the four foundations of mindfulness (satipaṭṭhāna), the four right efforts (sammappadhāna), the four bases of psychic power (iddhipāda), the five faculties (indriya), the five powers (bala), the seven factors of enlightenment (bojjhaṅga), and the Noble Eightfold Path (ariya aṭṭhaṅgika magga).

The sequence of cultivating the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment is roughly as follows: Beginning cultivation with the initial faculty of faith (saddhindriya), the five faculties increase and culminate in the five powers. After this, one enters the Noble Eightfold Path, initiates reflective cultivation (cintāmayī paññā), cultivates the seven factors of enlightenment, and within the factor of mindfulness (satisambojjhaṅga), practices the contemplation on the four foundations of mindfulness. Upon attaining the taste of wholesome dharmas, one arouses the four right efforts. Finally, as a result of diligent and arduous cultivation, one attains the blissful fruit of the four bases of psychic power, and the mind achieves liberation and mastery.

For each of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, not only must the conscious mind (mano-vijñāna) cultivate and attain them, but they must also permeate the mental faculty (manas). The mental faculty must likewise cultivate the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, and they must be fully perfected, attaining each aid and accomplishing the four bases of psychic power.

The mindfulness power cultivated by the conscious mind permeates the mental faculty, enabling the mental faculty's mindfulness power to become complete, leading to the perfection of faith. Each dharma is initially guided and permeated by the conscious mind, and when perfected by the mental faculty, it constitutes realization; cultivation is then accomplished. Only when one realizes that body and mind are not truly existent can liberation be attained. Merely believing that body and mind are not truly existent does not lead to liberation. The distance between belief and realization can be vast or narrow, entirely dependent on the individual's level of cultivation. Without cultivation, the gap may span many kalpas (aeons).

II. The Condition Required for Contemplative Practice is the Perfection of the Thirty-seven Aids to Enlightenment

When severing the view of self (sakkāya-diṭṭhi) and attaining the first fruition of the Śrāvakayāna (Hīnayāna), one simultaneously severs the three fetters (saṃyojana): personality view (sakkāya-diṭṭhi), doubt (vicikicchā), and adherence to rules and rituals (sīlabbata-parāmāsa). The karmic retribution leading to the three lower realms (apāya) is extinguished, and one will never fall into the three lower realms in the future. This is the initial personal benefit gained from severing the view of self. How does one sever the view of self? The World-Honored One (Bhagavān) has already explained it very clearly for sentient beings in the Saṃyuktāgama: we are to observe the falsity, impermanence, emptiness, variability, suffering, and non-self nature of the five aggregates. Observing and contemplating the nature of each of the five aggregates one by one is called contemplative practice (vipassanā). Contemplative practice requires considerable concentration (samādhi); one must cultivate the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment well for contemplative practice to succeed. The eighteen elements (dhātus) must also be contemplated one by one for their falsity, arising and ceasing, impermanence, and variability. Finally, one confirms that neither the five aggregates nor the eighteen elements are the true self, nor do they belong to what is possessed by a self. When one truly confirms this internally, the view of self is severed. From then on, deep within, one no longer regards the five aggregates as the true self. In this way, the three fetters binding one to the cycle of birth and death – the view of self, adherence to rules and rituals, and doubt – are severed, and one will never fall into the three lower realms again.

To cultivate towards this goal, one needs to thoroughly study and penetrate the meaning of the Four Noble Truths (catvāri āryasatyāni) taught by the World-Honored One in the Āgamas. Once concentration is developed, one contemplates step by step. This is the general path for severing the view of self. Among these, the Noble Eightfold Path must be fully practiced; all bodily, verbal, and mental actions must accord with the Noble Eightfold Path for cultivation to succeed and for one to become a sage revered by sentient beings. Where there is a conscious mind, there are the feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness aggregates. By contemplating the falsity and non-self nature of the five aggregates, realizing the falsity of both the physical body and the conscious mind, and becoming very certain and accepting of this, one can sever the view of self and attain the fruition. When conditions such as merit (puṇya) are complete, one can contemplate and reflect on any dharma to sever the view of self, or one can contemplate and realize the eighth consciousness (ālaya-vijñāna). This depends on merit, concentration, wisdom, and the maturity of conditions.

III. The Fruit of Practice Requires the Process of Practice

The contents such as the Four Noble Truths, the four right efforts, the four bases of psychic power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path are all dharmas that should be cultivated before the path of seeing (darśana-mārga). The thirty-seven aids to enlightenment cultivated in the Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna are largely similar, and the cultivation processes resemble each other. If there is no permeation from these processes, yet a fruition suddenly appears, making one a sage, this fruition is extremely unreliable. Fruits and conclusions can be plagiarized; all views can be memorized; one can recite them or imagine them after reading a few books.

However, these processes cannot be plagiarized by anyone. They are necessary experiences for every person who sees the path and attains the fruition. Each person's process may differ slightly due to their past life foundations. Those who attained fruition in past lives may pass through these processes very quickly in this life; others cannot and must practice and realize each step, passing through every checkpoint. It is the same for Mahāyāna fruitions. Only after experiencing all these processes can one's body and mind transform. When the fruition is attained, there is immense liberation and meritorious fruition to be enjoyed. For those who have not undergone these processes, their attained fruition is like a flower in the sky – it can only be admired, having no practical value, no liberation or meritorious fruition to enjoy. A plastic fruit is like this; it can only be placed for viewing, it cannot satisfy hunger.

So-called actual practice refers precisely to the cultivation content of the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment in both Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. Departing from these concrete and specific cultivation contents is not actual practice. Cultivation with only conclusions and no process is not actual practice. Merely studying theory is also not actual practice. One can study the theories of Bodhisattvas up to certain stages (bhūmis). Even if one understands those principles, the actual realization may still be separated by one or two incalculable eons (asaṃkhyeya kalpa). Learning theories now that belong to one or two incalculable eons in the future, and thinking one has mastered them, then concluding one is a sage – without walking the preceding path, without experiencing and practicing the actual cultivation process – such cultivation is like a dream, illusion, bubble, or shadow; one only gains an illusory flower and bears a hollow fruit.

IV. Mental Conduct Must Accord with the Noble Eightfold Path to Attain Fruition

The Dharma of the Four Noble Truths – suffering, origin, cessation, and path – is also divided into external and internal dharmas. The Noble Eightfold Path within the path truth (mārga-satya) is likewise divided into external and internal dharmas. Only after completing the Noble Eightfold Path and the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment of the Hīnayāna are the conditions for severing the view of self fulfilled, after which one can attain the fruition. If one's mental conduct does not accord with the Noble Eightfold Path, then one is insufficient to be a sage and cannot attain the fruition. Within the Noble Eightfold Path, there is right concentration (sammāsamādhi), divided into the external concentration method of the conscious mind and the internal concentration method of the mental faculty. Therefore, the mental faculty must definitely correspond to concentration. Only after concentration perfects the mental faculty can right wisdom arise, enabling the severing of the view of self and the attainment of the first fruition. Otherwise, it is all false fruit, plastic fruit, only for viewing, not for use.

V. Having Very Practical Cultivation Methods Constitutes Actual Practice

The Buddha taught the Dharma, including both theoretical parts and practical cultivation parts, certainly providing disciples with a starting point for study and practice. Because the Buddha himself is one who has traversed the path, standing at the highest peak, he is fully capable of guiding sentient beings from all directions at the foot of the mountain to slowly ascend to the mountainside and the summit. Practicing the Dharma taught by the Buddha is far, far better than venerating theories that are only splendid and lofty but lack practical, feasible starting methods. Anyone who cannot provide practical and feasible methods indicates that they themselves have not succeeded in cultivation; they themselves have not traversed that path. How then could those who follow them possibly succeed?

Those without actual practice who teach the Dharma often instruct sentient beings to pluck stars from the sky but cannot provide them with a ladder. The sentient beings behind can only pitifully crane their necks and gaze longingly at the starry sky; even with great effort, the distance to the stars remains as vast as before, impossible to reach. Some even believe they have plucked a star, but in reality, it is merely a reflection in water, not a real fruit. If someone only speaks theory without practical methods, one should be vigilant and not vainly waste one's precious time.

Truly and genuinely engaging in cultivation, as long as one attains samādhi through one method, any other kind of samādhi can be easily accessed. Because samādhi is interconnected, and the methods are interconnected; by mastering one method to enter, other methods are also grasped. The only fear is that everyone cannot resolve to find one method and actually apply effort, unwilling to endure hardship or expend energy. If one tries every method but only skims the surface like a dragonfly touching water, stopping after a shallow attempt, then it will be impossible to accomplish any method.

VI. The Perfection of the Four Preparatory Practices (Pāli: Padhāniyaṅga; Skt. *Prayogāṅga*) is Also a Prerequisite for Attaining Fruition

The key to attaining fruition in the Hīnayāna is the cultivation of the seven factors of enlightenment (bojjhaṅga), which have been roughly explained. Specific cultivation still relies on individual effort to perfect various conditions as much as possible, so that attaining the fruition can have a certain degree of assurance. The cultivation process is also the process of the four preparatory practices: heat (uṣmagata), summit (mūrdhan), acceptance (kṣānti), and supreme worldly dharma (laukikāgradharma). These four processes are the mind's processing based on textual theory. During this processing, corresponding changes inevitably gradually arise within the mind. This is the process where the meaning of the contemplative practice gradually accords with the internal mental faculty (manas), and the mental faculty gradually accepts and receives it. Of course, the conscious mind first accepts and receives it, giving rise to decisive understanding (adhimokṣa), then transmits it to the mental faculty, enabling the mental faculty to accept and receive it. After the mental faculty accepts and receives it, the body and mind gradually transform, and the seven factors of enlightenment appear one by one. Only after the factor of concentration (samādhisambojjhaṅga) appears does great wisdom arise, enabling the relinquishment of the phenomena of the five aggregates of body and mind, thereby realizing the Dharma and becoming a first-fruition (Sotāpanna) person who transcends the supreme worldly dharma. If the body and mind do not change or transform, and the seven factors of enlightenment are not accomplished, it is impossible to sever the view of self or attain the fruition.

The sign of heat (uṣmagata): Through textual theory, one personally contemplates and observes. A sign of warmth arises internally, like sparks being struck. The mind begins to identify with the correct theory, gaining preliminary cognition and interest, desiring to delve deeper into its meaning.

Summit (mūrdhan): The cognitive understanding of the theory reaches a certain degree and height, comprehending the emptiness of the five aggregates of body and mind, reaching the peak of understanding regarding the five aggregates. At this stage, it is entirely the cognitive understanding and decisive understanding (adhimokṣa) of the conscious mind, not yet reaching the mental faculty. Therefore, the mind is still agitated and cannot abide stably in the cognition of the emptiness of the five aggregates. It is a stage where one can advance or retreat.

At this stage, some people experience fierce internal resistance, restless thoughts, and fluctuating emotions. Some may feel extremely distressed, perhaps inexplicably irritable or emotionally low. After passing this stage, emotions return to normal, and one enters the next stage: not only does the conscious mind abide patiently in emptiness, but the mental faculty also becomes patient. One then continues to deeply investigate why the five aggregates are empty and unreal.

The third stage is acceptance (kṣānti). Acceptance means abiding, abiding in the meaning of emptiness, patiently accepting the impermanence of the five aggregates, but it is not yet true realization. Because the evidence is still insufficient, and the mind's deliberation is still inadequate, one cannot truly confirm the principle; the mind is merely not agitated and is relatively settled. One is also striving to find evidence and diligently observe the true nature of the five aggregates of body and mind through direct perception (pratyakṣa). At this time, the bodily and mental feelings become increasingly tranquil and joyful, concentration improves, wisdom becomes deeper, subtler, and more acute, and the notion of emptiness becomes increasingly firm, but one still cannot abide in equanimity (upekṣā); the factor of equanimity (upekkhāsambojjhaṅga) has not yet arisen within the mind.

When the factor of equanimity is accomplished, the mental conception of "I" is relinquished. The mind becomes empty; the concept of the emptiness and impermanence of the five aggregates is firmly established; the evidence is sufficient; the mind fully accepts, confirms, and recognizes the emptiness and non-self nature of the five aggregates. The fourth stage, the supreme worldly dharma (laukikāgradharma), is accomplished, the view of self is severed, and the first fruition is attained.

During the contemplative practice process, the body and mind must constantly undergo changes. Why do changes occur? Because through the decisive understanding of the conscious mind, the mental faculty gradually gains a certain experiential recognition of the Four Noble Truths, which contradicts previous views, gradually overturning former cognitions. When the mental faculty discovers a new continent, it prompts corresponding changes and reactions in the body and mind. Therefore, severing the view of self and realizing the non-self nature of the five aggregates is necessarily realized by the mental faculty.

VII. Upholding Precepts (Śīla) Aids in Severing the View of Self

What are the manifestations of the view of self that regards the physical body as the self? In real life, what kinds of influences can increase the view of the body (kāyadiṭṭhi)? What is the reason the view of the body is difficult to sever? Why do those who severed the view of the body in past lives quickly sever it again upon encountering the Buddha-Dharma in this life? Find out all these phenomena, then gradually subdue the treasured attachment to the physical body, and severing the view of the body will be faster. All aspects of protecting and caring for the physical body are due to the view of the body. In what aspects do we protect and treasure the physical body?

If we understand the precepts for monastics (bhikṣu/bhikṣuṇī), we know why the Buddha established so many and such detailed precepts. They were all set up to subdue the view of the body and the view of self. Some people do not understand this principle and dislike the precepts for being too restrictive, thus unwilling to undertake them. Yet, if one upholds the precepts established by the Buddha, one can attain liberation. The Hīnayāna precepts are also called "individual liberation" precepts (prātimokṣa). By upholding one precept, one gains liberation in that one aspect. Therefore, as long as one renounces to cultivate, one will certainly attain the fourth fruition of Arhatship in the future; there will always be a day of liberation. There are many benefits to renouncing; the most fundamental are purity, freedom, and the direction towards liberation.

The lifestyle of modern people makes it very difficult to sever the view of the body; it is too focused on life's enjoyments, living only for comfort and pleasure, disregarding everything else. Observe your own view of the body from all aspects and angles of daily life: eating, clothing, dwelling, using, and moving. Observe it from the aspects of wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep. Begin observation from seeing forms, hearing sounds, feeling touches, smelling scents, and tasting flavors. If you find yourself particularly valuing these aspects, particularly concerned about the physical body, particularly attentive to caring for the physical body, particularly particular about the physical body's enjoyments, then the view of the body is relatively heavy, and one should find ways to subdue it.