Miscellaneous Discussions on Buddhism (Part One)
Chapter Two: Bodhisattvas and Arhats
1. What Is a Bodhisattva?
A bodhisattva is one who has not only become awakened himself, but also awakens others—able to benefit both himself and others. Such a person is called a bodhisattva. If one only seeks one's own benefit, disregarding the interests of others, with only oneself in mind, then the basic character of a bodhisattva is not yet present, and such a person cannot be called a bodhisattva. For such a person, walking the path of the Mahāyāna bodhisattva will be very arduous, and the practice of the bodhisattva path will have great deficiencies and obstructions. Only by making great vows to extensively benefit sentient beings can a bodhisattva receive the protection of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas as well as the Dharma-protecting dragons and devas, and only then can he attain buddhahood in the future. Otherwise, midway through the practice, when obstructive conditions abound, he will fall into the Hīnayāna. The Buddha also made countless pure great vows to save and deliver all sentient beings, hoping that all sentient beings could be delivered and liberated to the other shore of nirvāṇa. Bodhisattvas should learn the Buddha's four immeasurable minds of loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity; only then can their cultivation of the Path advance continuously, ultimately attaining buddhahood and becoming the unsurpassed, perfectly equal enlightenment.
If Buddhist practitioners wish to transcend the state of ordinary beings, they must continuously subdue their mental nature, make great vows, and practice the bodhisattva path, so that their mental nature gradually tends toward the sages and draws near the mental nature of the sages; only then can they ultimately transcend the ordinary and enter the sacred, becoming sages. In practicing the Buddha-dharma, one cannot apply oneself only at the theoretical level; most importantly, one should work on one's own mind-ground, working on subduing one's mental nature. Only in the future can one possess the great magnanimity of a bodhisattva's loving-kindness, compassion, joy, and equanimity, and become a bodhisattva-mahāsattva of true meaning. This is correct practice.
2. Only One Who Delivers Sentient Beings Is a Bodhisattva
A bodhisattva is an awakened sentient being who benefits himself and benefits others; if he does not deliver sentient beings, that is the mentality of an arhat, not a bodhisattva. Through delivering sentient beings, a bodhisattva, on the one hand, cultivates his own merit, and on the other, increases wisdom. Most importantly, in the process of attaining buddhahood, a bodhisattva must continuously form karmic connections with more and more sentient beings, so that he can possess immeasurable, boundless disciples of every level, and only in the future can he establish a Buddha-land.
For a bodhisattva to become a Buddha and establish a Buddha-land, he must have countless disciples of every level supporting and cooperating with him, so that he can extensively deliver immeasurable sentient beings. Without disciples, he is all alone, and cannot establish a Buddha-land. Moreover, the advancement of one's own cultivation of the Path also depends on one's disciples. It is like a pyramid: if one is the apex of the tower, without a base, how can there be an apex? This means that delivering sentient beings is delivering oneself; a bodhisattva must deliver sentient beings unconditionally in order to become a Buddha. Conversely, the advancement of one's own cultivation of the Path also cannot be separated from the guidance and help of good spiritual friends (kalyāṇa-mitra) and all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, so forming karmic connections with true good spiritual friends is also very important.
3. The Difference Between Bodhisattvas and Arhats
A bodhisattva values the making of the resolve; because he resolves to deliver sentient beings out of the ocean of suffering, in the future he can attain unsurpassed bodhi and become perfectly and equally enlightened. An arhat, however, only seeks personal liberation and escape from the cycle of birth and death, without considering the suffering of sentient beings' birth and death; therefore he chooses to enter nirvāṇa without remainder, extinguishing body and obliterating wisdom.
Bodhisattvas are divided into fifty-two stages according to the levels of their cultivation and realization. Bodhisattvas who have seen the mind attain the fruits of both the Great and Small Vehicles simultaneously; therefore there are first-fruit bodhisattvas, second-fruit bodhisattvas, third-fruit bodhisattvas, and fourth-fruit bodhisattvas. Thus, after a bodhisattva sees the mind, he also eradicates the view-delusions and thought-delusions, but does not eradicate all the thought-delusions, leaving a little behind to ensure that the five aggregates of future lives will arise, so that he can continue to benefit himself and others and attain buddhahood. An arhat can only completely eradicate the view-delusions and thought-delusions; because he does not pursue seeing the mind and seeing the nature, and does not wish to become a Buddha, he also cannot eradicate the beginningless ignorance, nor eradicate the delusions like sands of the Ganges. Only bodhisattvas have the ability to eradicate these delusions of ignorance; when they are completely eradicated, one becomes a Buddha.
An arhat who has cultivated the four dhyānas and eight samādhis can have superknowledges and meditative absorption (samādhi), but their superknowledges are very limited; whereas bodhisattvas who cultivate the four dhyānas and eight samādhis also have superknowledges and meditative absorption, and moreover possess countless mind-made bodies (manomaya-kāya) with which to benefit and bring joy to countless sentient beings. The superknowledges of bodhisattvas are immeasurably and boundlessly vast—something arhats cannot compare with.
A bodhisattva is also an arhat and has the conduct of an arhat: he must also have meditative concentration, a mind of purity without afflictions, and the wisdom of liberation. A bodhisattva's conduct will only be higher than an arhat's, never lower. A bodhisattva must possess all the virtues of an arhat, except not wishing to enter nirvāṇa without remainder—only this is a true great bodhisattva. If a bodhisattva has very heavy afflictions, he is of course inferior to an arhat, and even inferior to a first-fruit srotāpanna; then he is not a true bodhisattva.
4. What Is "Retaining Delusions to Moisten Rebirth"?
"Retaining delusions to moisten rebirth" means retaining a bit of thought-delusion afflictions without eradicating them, to moisten rebirth in future lives. If all afflictions are completely eradicated, and the manas has no attachment whatsoever to the dharmas of the three realms, then at the end of life one can, like a fourth-fruit arhat, extinguish the five aggregates and enter nirvāṇa without remainder. After a bodhisattva sees the mind, and until before the eighth bhūmi, he must retain a bit of thought-delusion without eradicating it completely; because of this bit of thought-delusion, he can be reborn life after life with a body of the five aggregates, and only then can he continue to study and practice the Buddha-dharma, benefiting himself and others. If a bodhisattva, after seeing the mind, eradicates all thought-delusion afflictions, then like an arhat, when his lifespan ends he will extinguish the five aggregates and enter nirvāṇa without remainder; then there would be no more bodhisattva, and he could no longer continue studying and practicing the Buddha-dharma.
When cultivating to the seventh bhūmi, because the bodhisattva has completely eradicated thought-delusion afflictions and his meditative concentration is extremely good, able to enter the cessation absorption (nirodha-samāpatti) anytime and anywhere, he might inadvertently enter nirvāṇa. The Buddha therefore constantly watches over the bodhisattva to ensure he does not enter extinction and smoothly enters the eighth bhūmi to continue practicing. If there are no pure great vows to sustain him, bhūmi-attained bodhisattvas can easily enter nirvāṇa without remainder, because their meditative concentration becomes ever better and their attachment to the worldly dharmas of the three realms ever fainter; by the seventh bhūmi, they think of entering nirvāṇa in every thought. Therefore the Buddha taught bodhisattvas that when entering the first bhūmi, they must all make the ten inexhaustible vows from the Avataṃsaka Sūtra; these vows have no end until buddhahood. Because of the power of these vows, they will be reborn life after life without entering extinction; with the arising of the five aggregates, they can extensively deliver immeasurable sentient beings, ultimately attaining the fruit of buddhahood.
5. What Are "Bodhisattvas of True Meaning" and "Bodhisattvas in Name Only"?
A bodhisattva of true meaning (artha-bodhisattva) is one who has already realized the definitive dharma and seen the mind and seen the nature—a bodhisattva of true meaning who has entered the stage of seeing the Path, a bodhisattva at the seventh abode or above. A bodhisattva in name only is one who has the name but not the reality, who has not yet attained enlightenment, who has not realized the true dharma—a bodhisattva only in name. A bodhisattva of true meaning is a long-cultivating bodhisattva whose mental conduct greatly differs from that of a bodhisattva in name only, whose roots of goodness and merit are extremely deep, and whose wisdom is deep and sharp.
Bodhisattvas in name only are mostly newly studying bodhisattvas who easily lose their resolve when encountering adversity, who have little habit of generosity (dāna), and whose six pāramitās of the bodhisattva have not yet been cultivated to accomplishment. Long-cultivating bodhisattvas extensively cultivate the six pāramitās, often have a very strong habit of giving, always think of benefiting others, and have diminished selfishness. Therefore long-cultivating bodhisattvas have great merit; in studying and practicing the Buddha-dharma they will encounter the true Dharma, will soon realize the Way, and moreover can awaken by themselves without the help of others. Long-cultivating bodhisattvas were once bodhisattvas in name only in the past, and bodhisattvas in name only will in the future become long-cultivating bodhisattvas.
6. How Should One Practice to Seek Seeing the Mind and Seeing the Nature?
If we truly wish in this life to seek seeing the mind and seeing the nature, we must strictly follow the bodhisattva's six pāramitās in study and practice. Regarding the study of wisdom, one should read through and recite the six hundred fascicles of the Great Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, gaining some understanding of its principles, especially the Heart Sūtra and the Diamond Sūtra. It would be even better if one could also read and recite the Āgama sūtras; understanding the principle that the five aggregates are false and unreal, and realizing that the five aggregates are without self and without reality, helps in investigating Chan and enables quick awakening into the true reality of all dharmas. If at this time one attains the fruit of the Small Vehicle, that is the sixth abode of the bodhisattva's fifty-two stages, only one stage away from seeing the mind. At this point, investigating Chan, realizing the Way is very fast—much faster than those who do not understand the Āgamas and have not attained the fruit—and one will not awaken wrongly, will not take the various states of the mind consciousness as the eighth consciousness, nor will one awaken to an emptiness of nothing at all and consider it ultimate.
Moreover, understanding the Āgama sūtras lays a solid foundation for the later practice of the bodhisattva path. Only when the principles of both the Great and Small Vehicles are understood can one enter the first bhūmi; later, at the third or fourth bhūmi, one will again contemplate the Small Vehicle's Four Noble Truths and twelve links of dependent origination. Present study and practice, whether understood or not, realized or not, are all stored as seeds in the tathāgatagarbha; in the future, when conditions are met, they will blossom and bear fruit. But the seeds stored in the tathāgatagarbha differ depending on whether one understands or not, so no study of the Buddha-dharma is ever wasted. Even if an animal cannot understand the Buddha-dharma, after hearing it, it will be planted in its tathāgatagarbha; in the future, upon encountering the Buddha-dharma, it will joyfully accept it.
Regarding the study of meditative concentration, one must cultivate to preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi), the highest concentration of the desire realm, so that whether walking, standing, sitting, or lying down, one can investigate Chan and contemplate the Buddha-dharma with an undispersed mind and subtle, meticulous thinking; only then can one enter the Path. Regarding precepts, one must definitely receive the bodhisattva precepts; only with the bodhisattva precepts can one bring forth the great bodhi vow and the mind to attain buddhahood and benefit sentient beings. Upholding the bodhisattva precepts, with the protection of all Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and Dharma-protecting deities, one's progress on the Path will be very fast.
Regarding patience, the main thing is acceptance of the tathāgatagarbha dharma without slandering it, and patience with the middle-way principle of the tathāgatagarbha's non-arising and non-ceasing; only then can one gradually accord with the tathāgatagarbha and finally realize it. Regarding generosity, the main thing is generosity toward the Mahāyāna dharma: for monasteries that propagate the Mahāyāna dharma and for monastic masters, one must assist their propagation and safeguard their interests; accumulating blessings this way is very fast, and the merit is also the greatest. It is like farming: whatever harvest you want, plant the corresponding seeds in that field; if you plant in the wrong field or the wrong seeds, you will not reap the corresponding fruit. Regarding diligence, one must be diligent and unremitting in all the above studies and practices, striving to do them. The entire process of study and practice is cultivating the bodhisattva's six pāramitās; only when they are relatively complete can one see the mind and realize the Way.
7. How to Be a Good Bodhisattva?
If one wishes to progress quickly in practice and be a good bodhisattva, one's speech with others should be gentle, not sharp and aggressive; one should be good at harmonizing disputes, and try one's best to gather in and embrace sentient beings. One should strive to accomplish the bodhisattva's four means of embracing (catvāri-saṃgraha-vastūni); embracing sentient beings comes first, and making enemies is a great taboo in being a bodhisattva. In a bodhisattva's eyes there should be no adversaries; all sentient beings are objects of his embracing. Therefore do not treat the monastery as a battlefield, endlessly debating in pursuit of victory or defeat, of who is high and who is low, who is strong and who is weak.
The "self" within each person's mind must be strictly guarded; do not always show one's edge, using a strong ego-mind to provoke and annoy others. One should be good at subduing and concealing the self; subduing afflictions is true practice, not always wanting to subdue and suppress others. A bodhisattva's mental nature should be gentle; toward others, one should move them with feeling and persuade them with reason, and should not refuse to yield even when in the right. Sometimes yielding a step to others actually wins them over and embraces them more effectively.
Both delivering people and practicing require the mutual tempering of firmness and gentleness: firm toward oneself and firm toward adverse circumstances, but as gentle as possible toward people. Only thus can one gather all sentient beings around oneself and become one with them. If one's speech keeps people a thousand miles away, it can only make sentient beings keep their distance and become estranged, unable to form good karmic connections with them; such a person is not a qualified bodhisattva and cannot embrace sentient beings.
When the mental nature is rigid, it is easily broken and prone to sudden violence; when the mental nature is soft, it bends but does not break. As a bodhisattva, one should have elasticity—able to bend when bending is needed, yet able to return to the original position without alteration. A bodhisattva should by nature be good at harmonizing all kinds of disputes, and should not constantly provoke endless conflicts. Learning to be a good bodhisattva—gentle, compliant, and harmonious, learning to embrace sentient beings—is a required course for every bodhisattva. Refusing to yield even when in the right is a great taboo for a bodhisattva; sharp and aggressive speech is a great taboo for a bodhisattva. Violating this alienates sentient beings and forms evil karmic connections with them, thus violating the bodhisattva's four means of embracing.
8. The Relationship Between Bodhisattvas and Sentient Beings
When Buddha Maitreya descends to be born, at the first assembly of teaching the Dharma, ninety-six koṭis of humans and devas will attain the Way, and the listeners will be countless. At the second assembly, ninety-four koṭis of humans and devas will be delivered; at the third assembly, ninety-two koṭis of humans and devas will be delivered. The listeners at each will be countless.
Buddhas and bodhisattvas never mind having many sentient beings studying the Dharma; they all hope the beings they deliver will be as many as possible, because they have compassion for sentient beings' suffering and pity for their wandering suffering of birth and death. Therefore bodhisattvas widely transmit the Buddha-dharma with great compassionate minds, delivering as many sentient beings as possible. Bodhisattvas embrace the spirit of self-sacrifice—"the spring silkworm's silk ends only at death; the candle's tears dry only when it turns to ash"—burning themselves to illuminate sentient beings. How can we not be grateful to bodhisattvas and look up to them in homage? If there were no bodhisattvas dwelling in the world transmitting the Dharma, the world would never have the Buddha-dharma, and sentient beings would never have the opportunity to encounter the Buddha-dharma and seek liberation.
Bodhisattvas are worthy of respect and praise; arhats are not entirely so. The Buddha never acknowledged arhats as His true Buddhist sons, because they do not know how to repay the Buddha's kindness, do not repay the kindness of sentient beings, care only about personal liberation and escaping suffering to gain happiness, and lack compassion. Therefore the Buddha often rebuked them as scorched sprouts and rotten seeds. From this point of view, the Mahāyāna dharma is forever superior to the Hīnayāna dharma, because its magnanimity is greater, because it truly benefits sentient beings, and because it has compassion for sentient beings.
Only when sentient beings cultivate to the third fruit and eradicate afflictions does that ego-nature completely dissolve; then they will not form factions and fight, and will not flaunt the self. We see that all Buddhas praise one another and recommend one another; the Buddha would even, in the identity of a bodhisattva, turn back his ship of compassion to support other Buddhas in propagating the Dharma, unafraid of lowering his status—as long as sentient beings can be delivered. Buddha after Buddha cooperate with, praise, and help one another. Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva should have become a Buddha long ago, yet does not take the position of Buddha,专门ly assisting all Buddhas in propagating the Dharma, serving as the Buddhas' helper, without contending for any glory of buddhahood, completely without self. All Buddhas and bodhisattvas are models for us to learn from.
Without evil karmic conditions, a bodhisattva cannot remove afflictions; without evil karmic conditions, he also cannot eliminate karmic obstructions. Without sentient beings, a bodhisattva of course cannot be a bodhisattva; without disciples to deliver, a bodhisattva cannot advance his own cultivation of the Path. Without delivering sentient beings, one indeed cannot accomplish one's own cultivation of the Path. The wisdom a bodhisattva obtains is all born and increased in the process of delivering sentient beings. Without the tempering of sentient beings, a bodhisattva's wisdom cannot grow. Just as the true and the false combine and mutually depend, bodhisattvas and sentient beings truly depend on each other—without this, there is no that. Many people study Buddhism without making great resolves, selfish and self-interested, not considering the suffering of sentient beings; as a result, their own cultivation of the Path can hardly advance, and they remain treading in place for a long time. Without delivering sentient beings, one cannot become a Buddha. It is sentient beings who bring about the accomplishment of every Buddha, and the Buddha in turn helps every sentient being escape the abyss of birth and death. In fact it is all mutually beneficial—no good thing is obtained alone.
Often observe one's own suffering, and at the same time observe the suffering of sentient beings. Upon seeing one's own and sentient beings' suffering, one should bring forth a mind of compassion for sentient beings, and bring forth the mind to attain liberation together with sentient beings—this is bringing forth the bodhi mind (bodhicitta). With this mind, with the blessing of all Buddhas and bodhisattvas, one's cultivation of the Path advances, and one can forge ahead bravely on the path to buddhahood.
9. Do Bhūmi-Attained Bodhisattvas Have No Feeling of Suffering?
Wherever there is a body, there is suffering. When a fourth-fruit arhat lives in the world, it is called nirvāṇa with remainder (sopadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), meaning there is still residual suffering that can manifest depending on the physical body, and the arhat must experience this residual suffering. An arhat's body can still feel pain, cold and heat, wind and sun, mosquito and insect bites; he can still feel hunger and fullness, thirst, fatigue, and the various illnesses and pains of the physical body. After an arhat's nirvāṇa, it is called nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa), meaning there is no longer a physical body, no longer a conscious mind, and no suffering whatsoever can find him.
Bodhisattvas from the first bhūmi up to the seventh bhūmi are, in terms of Small Vehicle fruits, equivalent to fourth-fruit arhats of wisdom-liberation (prajñā-vimukti). As long as a physical body exists, they will feel suffering. But the feelings in a bodhisattva's mind are far lighter than those of ordinary people; there are many things they do not care about, and they no longer have any pursuits in worldly dharmas, so the suffering they feel is slight—most of their pursuit is in the Buddha-dharma. There are still many sufferings in teaching sentient beings, especially in this evil world of the five turbidities, where sentient beings are crude and hard to tame, with deep heavy afflictions, low faculties, unable to distinguish true from false, good from bad. Bodhisattvas must exhaust their efforts, and thus cannot avoid some suffering. When Śākyamuni Buddha was in the world, because of ascetic practice in the snowy mountains, His back suffered wind-cold, and He also manifested back pain for sentient beings, manifesting slight suffering.
10. The Mental Conduct of Bodhisattvas Cannot Be Fathomed by Sentient Beings
The mental conduct of bodhisattvas cannot be fathomed by sentient beings; especially bodhisattvas practicing hidden conduct—their mental conduct sentient beings cannot understand. For example, when Śākyamuni Buddha was a bodhisattva, he once killed a person. This person, on a boat, was about to kill the five hundred bodhisattvas on board. The Buddha, knowing this, in order to protect this person from falling into the Avīci hell, killed him with extremely heavy compassion, sparing him from creating hellish karma, and was willing himself to fall into hell and suffer retribution because of it. There are other such examples showing the compassionate skillful means of Buddhas and bodhisattvas in delivering sentient beings, which cannot all be told; otherwise sentient beings with heavy afflictions would use them as excuses to create evil karma.
To judge whether a person is good or evil, one cannot look only at the person's outward behavior at the moment; one must mainly look at the person's mental conduct and mind-ground, at what the purpose of his actions is and what results they can achieve. Such wisdom ordinary people generally do not possess; great bodhisattvas can grasp the measure and the timing, and know well what to take and discard and what expedients to use. Sentient beings can only see surface phenomena, not the essence, and do not know the true purpose. Therefore, in many matters, bodhisattvas cannot tell sentient beings plainly, because sentient beings cannot understand—their wisdom being shallow.
To deliver sentient beings, bodhisattvas hide among them, transforming into the bodies of butchers, prostitutes, customers of prostitutes, gamblers, mingling with sentient beings—the purpose being to rescue sentient beings from the fiery pit of birth and death. As long as they can rescue sentient beings, bodhisattvas do not hesitate to blacken their own names, do not shrink from sentient beings' misunderstanding and misinterpretation, and do not hesitate to pay any price. How many people can see the bodhisattvas' compassion and their mental conduct of patient forbearance under burden?
11. Bodhisattvas' Attitude Toward Birth and Death
Those who follow the stream of birth and death are ordinary beings; those who go against the stream of birth and death are arhats; those who neither follow nor oppose are bodhisattvas; those who reach the other shore are Buddhas. Toward the stream of birth and death, the bodhisattva's attitude is neither following nor opposing. Because if he follows the stream of birth and death, the bodhisattva transmigrates in suffering; if he cannot deliver himself, how can he deliver others? If he goes against the stream of birth and death, he must abandon birth and death and, like an arhat, enter nirvāṇa without remainder; then there would be no body of the five aggregates, and he could neither continue his own cultivation to attain buddhahood, nor extensively deliver sentient beings—thus violating his own vows. Therefore, toward birth and death, the bodhisattva neither opposes nor follows.
12. The Three Contemplations Cultivated by Bodhisattvas
The order of the three contemplations cultivated by bodhisattvas is emptiness, the provisional, and the middle. The contemplation of emptiness is contemplating that all dharmas are subject to arising and ceasing, empty and illusory, realizing the emptiness of all dharmas. On the basis of this contemplation of emptiness, continuing to cultivate, after realizing the eighth consciousness, one contemplates that all dharmas are manifested by the eighth consciousness; therefore all dharmas are provisional, all conjured by the eighth consciousness. On this basis, continuing to cultivate, one contemplates that all dharmas are the conditioned functioning of the eighth consciousness, that there are no dharmas at all—only the eighth consciousness; all dharmas in their entirety are thusness (tathatā), and the worlds of the ten directions are the one true dharma-realm. At this point, the fruit of buddhahood is complete, the Buddha-way is accomplished, the Buddha-way has been walked in full, the Buddha-dharma has been cultivated to its end, and one becomes one beyond training (aśaikṣa) in the Great Vehicle.
13. The Gentle Compassion of Bodhisattvas Toward Sentient Beings
Toward a bad child like Pāpīyas, the master, while rebuking him, also strokes his head and pats his shoulder, telling him to be obedient and behave, that he too will become a Buddha in the future, and to stop making trouble. For the sake of the fact that all sentient beings can become Buddhas, for the sake of sentient beings' suffering, the bodhisattva, while displaying a fierce aspect, is at the same time full of compassion, with a thousand turns of tender feeling.
A bodhisattva who has cultivated the mind of compassion, seeing the disorderly appearance of sentient beings, on the one hand sighs and pities their foolishness, and on the other, with a mind like empty space, embraces everything. The inner mind is not only boundlessly vast but also extremely soft. Now my mind is incomparably gentle, and I very much love those mischievous rascals, because since childhood I have dealt with those naughty little fellows, and I do not dislike them.
Worldly people's love is premised on some benefit to the small individual self; if that personal benefit is not guaranteed, that so-called love will disappear, or turn into hatred. But the great love of Buddhas and bodhisattvas is selfless and without ego; it is for the benefit of sentient beings. Therefore they are willing to pay any price for Buddhism and for sentient beings, without minding sentient beings' slander and unreasonable troublemaking.
A bodhisattva should have some realization: knowing that all dharmas are transformed by the tathāgatagarbha, that in fact there are no dharmas at all—all are the empty mark and emptiness (śūnyatā) of the tathāgatagarbha. Hiding within the tathāgatagarbha enjoying coolness—how free, how comfortable that would be! Just these past two days a disciple said: quickly find the tathāgatagarbha, then hide within the tathāgatagarbha enjoying cool tranquility, with no marks of disputes and disturbances in the mind.
The Sarvadharmāpravṛtti-nirdeśa Sūtra: "pravṛtti" (行) means movement and operation; in reality all dharmas have no substance and no operation. Why is this so? All dharmas are the mark of nirvāṇa—tranquil and without action, neither arising nor ceasing, without bonds or fetters, and also without liberation, ever self-tranquil like empty space.
All dharmas are the mark of the tathāgatagarbha. Seeing the tathāgatagarbha, one does not see any dharmas—this is hiding within the tathāgatagarbha. What dharma is not the tathāgatagarbha? All are the emptiness (śūnyatā) of the tathāgatagarbha. Therefore there is no mark of worldly dharmas of the three realms, no marks of good and evil, no marks of disorder, no marks of opposition. The bodhisattva constantly roams in ultimate emptiness, the mind constantly in samādhi without attachment. If there is attachment, he is not a bodhisattva; if he sees marks of good and bad in all things, he is not a bodhisattva. Therefore my mind is gentle, soft to the utmost, beyond words.
14. A Bodhisattva Must Have the Character of a Bodhisattva
After seeing the mind, one is a true Mahāyāna bodhisattva. If one's mental nature has not been truly transformed before seeing the mind, and one does not yet possess the mental nature of a qualified Mahāyāna bodhisattva, then it is difficult, or impossible, to become a true Mahāyāna bodhisattva. A bodhisattva should have the character of a bodhisattva; a person should have a personality; a Buddha has the character of a Buddha—one's mental nature should accord with one's stage of attainment; only this is normal. Otherwise one is a false bodhisattva, a false Buddha. A person without a proper personality is not a complete person, not a person in the true sense.
15. The Buddha-dharma Has No Exclusive Owner
Bodhisattvas receive teachings from the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions for immeasurable kalpas. The parts of the Dharma they teach correctly belong to the Dharma of the Buddhas of the ten directions; the erroneous parts belong to their own still-imperfect realization. The Buddha-dharma cannot belong to one single Buddha, still less to a certain bodhisattva, and ordinary beings certainly cannot possess the Buddha-dharma. What belongs to a Buddha is the Buddha-dharma; what belongs to a bodhisattva is the bodhisattva-dharma; what belongs to an ordinary being is the ordinary-being dharma. People of each level have the dharma of each level. Therefore everyone should make great resolves, perfect the Buddha-dharma as soon as possible, and thus attain buddhahood sooner.
16. Bodhisattvas' Realization Cannot Be Separated from the Three Uncontaminated Studies of Precepts, Concentration, and Wisdom
Regarding the observation of dharmas, the most ultimate is the Buddha; the post-enlightenment observation of bodhisattvas cannot be thorough and ultimate—the degree is insufficient. Therefore the realization of bodhisattvas is divided into countless levels; it is impossible to awaken to all dharmas at once, nor can all awaken to the utmost thoroughness. Bodhisattvas differ in merit, in meditative concentration, and in wisdom, so the levels they awaken to differ. At a certain point, if a bodhisattva does not cultivate the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, later dharmas cannot be awakened to—he is restricted. The vast majority of the Buddha-dharma is realized through extremely deep meditative concentration.
Some people insist on denying the function of meditative concentration. If a bodhisattva does not cultivate meditative concentration, his cultivation of the Path fundamentally cannot advance; he gets stuck at a certain stage, stuck at a certain level and unable to get past. Subtle and extremely subtle dharmas require the cooperation of meditative concentration and superknowledges to be realized, to be fully realized. Profound wisdom is also realized with the cooperation of extremely deep meditative concentration and superknowledges.
17. How Bodhisattvas Subdue Afflictive Obstructions Like an Arhat
For a bodhisattva to forever subdue afflictive obstructions (kleśāvaraṇa) like an arhat, he must possess the concentration of the first dhyāna; only then does he have the ability to eradicate the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion. After that, the afflictions of ignorance of the four abodes within the three realms can be eradicated but are deliberately not completely eradicated, leaving only a bit of slight thought-delusion affliction uncut—this is called "forever subduing afflictive obstructions like an arhat." By the time one cultivates to this point, one is already a bodhisattva of complete mind at the first bhūmi. Without the first dhyāna concentration, not a single affliction can be eradicated—at most temporarily suppressed—which differs greatly from the first-bhūmi bodhisattva's subduing of afflictive obstructions. The first-bhūmi bodhisattva's subduing of afflictive obstructions like an arhat is done under the condition of possessing concentration of the first dhyāna or above, having eradicated greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views, with a little of the four-abode ignorance still remaining, not completely eradicated; if it were all eradicated, one would enter nirvāṇa without remainder. Therefore the bodhisattva is able to eradicate but does not, deliberately retaining them—this is called "retaining delusions to moisten rebirth."
If one continues advancing on the bodhisattva path, after enlightenment one must cultivate the first dhyāna concentration; only with first dhyāna concentration can one eradicate the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion and become a third-fruit person; only third- and fourth-fruit people have the ability to enter the first bhūmi; after entering the first bhūmi, one can forever subdue afflictive obstructions like an arhat. This is a road the bodhisattva must take and cannot bypass; if one does not walk it this life, sooner or later one must walk it in a future life; otherwise one cannot attain the third fruit, still less enter the first bhūmi. Meditative concentration is a hard requirement; however difficult, it must be cultivated—without meditative concentration, there is no talk of any fruit. The establishment of each fruit has corresponding standards; without the corresponding concentration, there is no talk of the corresponding wisdom. Concentration and wisdom are one body—the equal cultivation of samādhi and prajñā.
The three uncontaminated studies of precepts, concentration, and wisdom taught by the Buddha are the general guideline of practice. We cannot do without precepts, nor can we cultivate wisdom directly without receiving and upholding precepts, nor can we cultivate wisdom directly without concentration or cultivating concentration. Without precepts, concentration cannot arise; without concentration, true wisdom cannot arise. Without the moisture of the water of concentration, even if there is wisdom, it is shallow wisdom and dry wisdom, without real inner benefit, unable to subdue the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; and without eradicating the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, there is no beneficial effect of the merit of liberation. Especially in this defiled age of the Dharma's decline, our practice must not abandon or violate the Buddha's teachings; only by strictly practicing according to the three uncontaminated studies taught by the Buddha can we achieve something. Before enlightenment, practice the three uncontaminated studies; after enlightenment, still practice the three uncontaminated studies; bhūmi-attained bodhisattvas must still practice the three uncontaminated studies. Only thus can one quickly and perfectly accomplish all dharmas and attain buddhahood soon.
18. Bodhisattvas Cannot Eradicate Thought-Delusion Afflictions Completely Like Arhats
One-thought ignorance includes the affliction of the abode of views in one place, desire-realm craving, form-realm craving, and formless-realm craving. Bodhisattvas do not eradicate one-thought ignorance completely, but retain delusions to moisten rebirth. "Delusion" means confusion, the karma of foolishness, ignorance; in the Small Vehicle it mainly refers to confusions and inversions in thought and views such as greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, and doubt. "View" means view-delusion, the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi), confusion and inversion in views and knowledge. A person who has completely eradicated one-thought ignorance is a fourth-fruit person, equivalent in the Great Vehicle to an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva. When a bodhisattva enters the first bhūmi, his Small Vehicle fruit is close to a fourth-fruit person; at complete mind of the first bhūmi, he could completely extinguish one-thought ignorance and eradicate self-grasping, becoming a true fourth-fruit person. But before the eighth bhūmi, a bodhisattva must not eradicate self-grasping completely, must not eradicate one-thought ignorance completely; otherwise he would leave the three realms and enter nirvāṇa without remainder, and then there would be no body of the five aggregates to benefit himself and others, nor could he become a Buddha. Therefore bodhisattvas make the ten inexhaustible great vows to benefit sentient beings forever without end, and cannot leave the three realms to escape suffering. Therefore, before eradicating self-grasping completely, bodhisattvas begin to eradicate grasping at dharmas.
To extensively deliver sentient beings and not enter nirvāṇa without remainder, a bodhisattva must eradicate all view-delusions, leaving only a tiny bit of thought-delusion affliction uncut. What thought-delusion affliction should be retained as appropriate? One should retain the slightest thought-delusion affliction, namely formless-realm craving—one may slightly crave a bit of the meditative states of the formless realm, to ensure one does not enter nirvāṇa, retaining a physical body life after life to benefit oneself and others. Or one may retain craving for the Buddha-dharma; relying on this craving, one remains in the three realms and continues practicing the Buddha-dharma. If one retains the craving afflictions of the desire realm, it will seriously obstruct the Path: one will not only lose first dhyāna concentration, but also regress from the realization of the third fruit and lose the virtues of the first bhūmi. Therefore bhūmi-attained bodhisattvas definitely eradicate desire-realm craving very thoroughly, leaving not a bit; desire-realm greed and hatred must be completely eradicated, conceit must also be eradicated; only craving for the meditative states of the formless realm, or craving for the Buddha-dharma, may be retained uncut; all other delusions, karma, and afflictions must be completely eradicated. By the sixth or seventh bhūmi, craving for the formless-realm meditative states must also be eradicated for the Path to advance; only diligent pursuit of the dharma of buddhahood can ensure not entering nirvāṇa without remainder.
A first-bhūmi bodhisattva begins to realize one portion of the wisdom of tolerance of non-arising dharmas (anutpattika-dharma-kṣānti), and can use the wisdom of wonderful observation (pratyavekṣaṇā-jñāna) to observe that among the dharmas produced by the combination of the aggregates, sense bases, and realms, there is no self and no belonging-to-self. When sentient beings have not yet cultivated the wisdom of wonderful observation, they lack the ability to observe and realize the selflessness of dharmas, and thus lack the ability to eradicate grasping at a self of dharmas. Because the first-bhūmi bodhisattva must retain delusions to moisten rebirth, retaining a body of the five aggregates life after life in the world to benefit himself and others, he cannot completely eradicate self-grasping—otherwise he would leave the three realms—but at this point he begins to eradicate grasping at dharmas. After the first-bhūmi bodhisattva studies the Hundred Gates of the Hundred Dharmas (百法明门), he realizes that among the hundred dharmas produced by the combination of the aggregates, sense bases, and realms, there is no self and no belonging-to-self; then he enters the second bhūmi to practice breaking innate grasping at dharmas. When grasping at dharmas is completely eradicated, one is a tenth-bhūmi or sattva-bhūmi (equal-enlightenment) bodhisattva.
19. How Do Bodhisattvas View Sentient Beings?
A bodhisattva is an awakened sentient being (bodhi-sattva): he is himself a sentient being with awakening, and then goes to awaken other sentient beings—not only benefiting himself, but also benefiting others. A bodhisattva is also a great-minded sentient being: not seeking personal comfort, but only wishing sentient beings be free from suffering, with a magnanimous, tolerant mind that embraces everything—like Maitreya Bodhisattva, whose big belly can contain what the world cannot contain. In the eyes of a true bodhisattva, there is no right and wrong, no opposition; the mind is unobstructed, and he makes no enemies of any people, matters, or things. A bodhisattva sees everything as himself, as images of his own mind—outside the mind there are no things. In a bodhisattva's eyes there are no evil people, only sentient beings whose conditions are not yet ripe and who cannot yet be taught and transformed.
When bodhisattvas observe sentient beings, they do not look at surface good and evil, but focus on the substance—looking at roots of goodness, at potential, at merit, at conditions, at wisdom. Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva often transforms into various forms to deliver sentient beings. But the beings he delivers are not necessarily good people on the surface, but people whose conditions have matured. For a person whose conditions have matured, even if outwardly evil, the roots of goodness are incomparably deep. After being delivered, the strength of his good deeds is hundreds of thousands, millions of times, even immeasurably times, stronger than that of a small good person. In the Śūraṅgama Sūtra, a prostitute was delivered by the World-Honored One to become a fourth-fruit arhat, while those good people remained ordinary beings; the bhikṣu Yongshe violated grave precepts, yet was delivered by the World-Honored One to become an enlightened great bodhisattva, while those precept-upholding bhikṣus remained ordinary beings. In the Tang dynasty there was a hunter who often killed deer; when his conditions for leaving home matured, he met a Chan master, and with a few exchanges of words the master delivered him to become a bhikṣu cultivating the Way; before long he saw the mind and realized the Way.
So matters of good and evil are hard to determine, and the faculties of sentient beings are also hard to determine. Very often, a person regarded as evil, because of deep roots of goodness and high wisdom, upon meeting conditions to practice, advances extremely fast; while small good people whose mental nature is not yet open chase behind and cannot catch up. The Buddha said liberation through wisdom, buddhahood through wisdom; a mind unobstructed in nature that embraces everything—that is wisdom.
Look at our tathāgatagarbha: it never opposes any dharma, always embraces all people, matters, and things—regardless of wholesome and unwholesome, true and false, good and bad—whatever sentient beings do is fine; it all accords and passes. When sentient beings ascend to heaven, it accords with ascending to heaven; when sentient beings enter the earth, it accords with entering the earth. Thus it perfectly accomplishes all dharmas. Any dharma, it can manifest without the slightest obstruction. Meeting the straight, it is straight; meeting the crooked, it is crooked; meeting the square, it is square; meeting the round, it is round—its nature firm and upright, yet it does not mind bending when bending is needed. Thus it is never subject to sudden violence, never shattered, never arising or ceasing. When the mental nature is unobstructed, there are immeasurable merits and virtues of wisdom and power.
20. The Realm of Sentient Beings Neither Increases nor Decreases; Arhats Entering Nirvāṇa Are Not Annihilated
The Buddha said that arhats only eradicate the manifest activity of afflictions, not the habit energies; habit energies are eradicated beginning from the first bhūmi and only finished at complete mind of the seventh bhūmi. An eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva no longer has afflictive habit energies, but still has the ignorance like sands of the Ganges not completely eradicated; when completely eradicated, one becomes a Buddha. Mahākāśyapa was a great arhat liberated in both ways (ubhayato-bhāga-vimukta); upon hearing music, he still danced—this was habit energy, not the manifest activity of afflictions. The bhikṣu Nanda was a great arhat; when teaching the Dharma, he looked first at the women and then at the men—this was habit energy, not the manifest activity of afflictions. There was also an arhat who called the Ganges goddess "little maidservant"—this was the habit of conceit, not the manifest activity of self-conceit. These habit energies arhats do not yet have the ability to eradicate, yet they can still enter nirvāṇa—but they cannot become Buddhas.
Because their beginningless ignorance and the ignorance like sands of the Ganges have not been broken, they have not realized the true reality of the dharma-realm; that is, they still have foolishness—there is still a great deal of the principle of the dharma-realm they do not understand. The World-Honored One, out of compassion, deliberately planted Mahāyāna seeds in their minds before they entered nirvāṇa. With this seed, when conditions mature, the seed sprouts; the Ālayavijñāna will again produce the six sense faculties, and several consciousnesses will arise again, with the five aggregates and eighteen realms complete. After birth, due to the function of the Mahāyāna seeds, they will seek to see the mind and see the nature, and then awaken and realize true reality. Therefore an arhat is not equal to a Buddha, and is far inferior to the World-Honored Buddha. One who does not know even one dharma is not a Buddha. The Buddha's designation is omniscience/wisdom of all aspects (sarvākārajñatā); the arhat has the wisdom of all knowledge (sarvajñatā), without the word "aspects"—meaning he still does not understand the seed functions of the Ālayavijñāna. To attain buddhahood would still take an extremely long, long time; if he does not enter nirvāṇa but turns his mind toward the Mahāyāna path, it can be somewhat faster.
Nirvāṇa is the complete extinction of all dharmas of the five aggregates and eighteen realms—why then does the Buddha still plant seeds in them? If this seed were planted in the seven consciousnesses, and the seven consciousnesses are all to be extinguished, what use would planting the seed be? Certainly there is something in nirvāṇa that is not extinguished—only thus did the Buddha take such painstaking care. Of course it is the arhat's eighth consciousness that is not extinguished; the seed is planted there, and one day it will sprout and bear fruit; the arhat will come out of nirvāṇa, with a physical body to continue cultivation.
The Buddha said the realm of sentient beings neither increases nor decreases. If, after an arhat's nirvāṇa, there were nothing at all, and even the eighth consciousness mind no longer existed, this sentient being would disappear forever, and the realm of sentient beings would decrease. Then with each person entering nirvāṇa, the dharma-realm would have one fewer sentient being; with countless people entering nirvāṇa, the dharma-realm would have countless fewer; if everyone studied the arhat's dharma and entered nirvāṇa, there would be no sentient beings in the dharma-realm, and the world would be empty nothingness. Could this possibly be so? This would contradict what the Buddha said. The dharma-realm forever neither increases nor decreases; the number of sentient beings will not decrease nor increase. After an arhat enters nirvāṇa, it is not that there is nothing at all—it is not annihilatory emptiness (uccheda-śūnyatā).
When the Buddha's śrāvaka disciples studied with the Buddha, they all first knew the abiding of dharmas, and afterward realized nirvāṇa—knowing that there is a dharma that abides permanently without extinction, and then knowing that nirvāṇa is extinguishing the five aggregates and eighteen realms of oneself; after all are extinguished, it is still not annihilatory emptiness. Therefore fourth-fruit arhats do not fear extinguishing themselves and dare to extinguish themselves. There is a certain reason in this: no one is willing, after death, to be done with everything and have nothing at all; no sentient being is willing to disappear forever from the dharma-realm.
21. The Realm of Great Arhats Liberated in Both Ways with the Three Knowledges and Six Superknowledges
The three knowledges: the knowledge of the exhaustion of contamination, the knowledge of the divine eye, and the knowledge of past lives. The knowledge of the exhaustion of contamination means the manifest activity of the afflictions of greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views is completely eradicated, with no view-delusions or thought-delusions remaining. The knowledge of the divine eye means developing the divine eye superknowledge, able to observe the great thousand worlds above in the heavens and below on earth. The knowledge of past lives means being able to know one's own and others' affairs across the previous and following eighty thousand great kalpas. The six superknowledges: the superknowledge of psychic power, the divine eye, the divine ear, knowing others' minds, recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti), and the exhaustion of contamination. Non-Buddhists can only attain the first five superknowledges, not the superknowledge of the exhaustion of contamination. Liberation in both ways combines wisdom-liberation and concentration-liberation. Wisdom-liberation: meditative concentration reaching the first dhyāna, with the wisdom of liberation from birth and death, escaping the three realms by wisdom. Concentration-liberation: having the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and superknowledges but no wisdom of liberation; at the end of life one can escape the three realms by meditative concentration and attain liberation. Possessing the two virtues of wisdom-liberation and concentration-liberation—one is a great arhat liberated in both ways with the three knowledges and six superknowledges.
22. The Different Cultivation Results of Bodhisattvas and Arhats
The result of an arhat's cultivation is eradicating the view of self, eradicating self-grasping, and liberation from the dharmas of the three realms. Through cultivating the dharma of the Four Noble Truths, contemplating the falsity of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and realizing that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are truly not the self, one eradicates the wrong view of taking the five aggregates as self and attains the first fruit; when greed, hatred, and delusion become very faint, one becomes a second fruit; then cultivating the first dhyāna concentration, eradicating craving and hatred, one becomes a third fruit; eradicating self-conceit, eradicating craving for the form and formless realms, and eradicating all attachment to the five aggregates, one becomes an arhat of wisdom-liberation.
The result of bodhisattvas' cultivation is seeing the mind and seeing the nature, realizing the true mind and self-nature; thereby, on the one hand realizing the falsity of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, and on the other knowing the operation of the eighth consciousness within the body of the five aggregates. Thus wisdom opens up, and one has the fundamental non-discriminative wisdom. The stage at initial enlightenment is generally that of an abode-stage bodhisattva; later, realizing the contemplation of illusion, the contemplation of mirage, and the contemplation of dream, one becomes one of the ten abodes, ten practices, and ten dedications; then realizing one portion of the wisdom of tolerance of non-arising dharmas, one enters the first bhūmi, enters the Tathāgata's family, and becomes a sage—before this, all are worthy ones (贤人). If one has awakened in many previous lives and awakens again this life, it is not necessarily the seventh abode; perhaps higher. Therefore at enlightenment, the depth of each person's awakening differs; the deeper the awakening, the higher the stage.
To see the mind and attain enlightenment, becoming a Mahāyāna bodhisattva, one must cultivate the bodhisattva's six pāramitās. The six pāramitās can be cultivated one by one, or cultivated together; the focus of practice in each period should differ, emphasizing the most basic and the relatively weak parts. If generosity and precept-keeping are relatively weak, one should focus on these two pāramitās, while also cultivating the later ones simultaneously; if concentration power is relatively weak, one should also practice meditative concentration to strengthen it. Regarding precepts, one should try to receive and uphold both the five precepts and the bodhisattva precepts: first take refuge and receive the five precepts, and after upholding them well, receive the bodhisattva precepts. The last is the pāramitā of prajñā; the cultivation of prajñā should run through the entire process of practice.
23. Those Who Wish to Become Buddhas Cannot Leave the Three Realms
To become a Buddha, one cannot think only of escape; otherwise, in the future, like an arhat, one would leave the three realms, unable to become a Buddha, and no one would deliver sentient beings. Making the firm resolution to command oneself to abandon everything—this is the Hīnayāna arhat's mentality of knowing only self-benefit. Abandoning everything, there would be no five aggregates in the world to continue cultivation, nor could one attain buddhahood. To become a Buddha, a little mind of renunciation is enough; if a strong mind of renunciation arises, that is walking the Small Vehicle path, and in the future one will certainly enter nirvāṇa, extinguishing all dharmas, wanting nothing more—then one cannot become a Buddha. Not wanting the world, not wanting even thought—then there is no world of the five aggregates, no tools and environment for cultivation. Abandoning this mind of one's own and all external things is abandoning the tools of cultivating the Way—then one cannot become a Buddha.
After an arhat's nirvāṇa, no worldly dharma whatsoever remains; when the manas is extinguished, it takes away the ten thousand dharmas—none exist anymore. The remaining eighth consciousness has no mark whatsoever; even the Buddha's eye cannot glimpse it. Since everything except the eighth consciousness, the tathāgatagarbha, is unreliable, not long-abiding, and sooner or later will perish, why should we be so greedily attached? How good it is to live each day according to conditions!
24. The Different Wisdoms of People of the Three Vehicles
The stages of attainment in Buddhism are divided according to the states of realized wisdom, because it is liberation through wisdom and buddhahood through wisdom. For example, cultivating the Small Vehicle's dharma of the Four Noble Truths and eradicating the view of self, one gains the wisdom of the selflessness of persons as the first fruit, and gains the wisdom of the omniscience of liberation as a fourth-fruit arhat. The Middle Vehicle's pratyekabuddha cultivates the dharma of the twelve links of dependent origination, likewise realizing the wisdom of the selflessness of persons, but this wisdom of selflessness is higher than that of the arhats. The pratyekabuddha who cultivates the dharma of causes and conditions can contemplate and deduce the root and source of sentient beings' birth, aging, sickness, and death: the root is ignorance, and the source is the eighth consciousness. This wisdom is far higher than that of the arhats who cultivate the Four Noble Truths; moreover, the solitary realizer (pratyekabuddha) can awaken alone even when no Buddha or Dharma dwells in the world—his wisdom is even more profound.
They all attain liberation and escape birth and death, but their states of wisdom differ greatly; therefore the fruit of the Middle Vehicle pratyekabuddha is higher than the fruit of the Small Vehicle arhat. There is also the higher fruit of the Mahāyāna bodhisattva. When Mahāyāna bodhisattvas see the mind, they also realize the wisdom of the selflessness of persons; not only do they know, like the pratyekabuddhas, that the source of sentient beings is the eighth consciousness, but they also realize the eighth consciousness, this self-natured pure nirvāṇa (prakṛti-pariśuddha-nirvāṇa)—this wisdom is even more profound, beyond the reach of the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas.
Mahāyāna bodhisattvas not only realize the selflessness of persons like the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, but can also realize the selflessness of dharmas; not only can they eradicate afflictions like the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, but can also eradicate the habit energies of afflictions. Though all attain liberation, their states of wisdom cannot be mentioned in the same breath. Mahāyāna bodhisattvas can not only eradicate segmented birth-and-death (pariccheda-maraṇa) like the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, attaining nirvāṇa with remainder and nirvāṇa without remainder, but can also eradicate transformational birth-and-death (parināma-maraṇa), ultimately reaching the great nirvāṇa without birth and death—the non-abiding nirvāṇa (apratiṣṭhita-nirvāṇa) of the Buddha-ground. That is to say, bodhisattvas can attain the four kinds of nirvāṇa, while śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas can only attain two kinds. The wisdom of bodhisattvas is deep and boundless, so they attain the great bodhi fruit; the wisdom of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas is limited, so what they attain is the middle bodhi fruit and the small bodhi fruit. Wisdom is the source of all power.
25. The Phenomenon of Regression from Small Vehicle Fruits
When a fourth-fruit arhat returns to the secular world, he regresses from the fourth fruit to the third fruit; after leaving home again and distancing himself from the secular world, he becomes a fourth-fruit arhat again. If the fourth fruit can regress, the third fruit of course can too. Meditative concentration can also disappear, and mental conduct can regress. Even the second fruit can regress to the first fruit. A fourth-fruit arhat who has eradicated attachment can still regress and develop attachment again—how much more so the third fruit.
There are specific examples in the Buddhist sūtras as proof. Without having attained that stage of fruit, one cannot appreciate it. Being at a low level, one cannot understand a high level, nor comment on it. Grasping the truth of facts requires personal experience. Just like many people now who are clearly at the stage of ordinary beings yet debate all day about the states of the Buddha-ground, arguing until red in the face—it is all armchair theorizing, utterly meaningless.
26. Sages of Both the Great and Small Vehicles Are Worthy of Offerings
The meaning of offering is rather broad: upholding is offering; providing what is needed is offering; practicing according to the teachings is offering; respect is offering; faithful acceptance is offering; prostration is offering; recitation is offering; mindful remembrance is offering; praise is offering.
Arhats have completely eradicated afflictions and self-grasping; their minds transcend the desire, form, and formless realms and are foremost in the world—of course they are worthy of offerings from the assembly of humans and devas in the world. Bodhisattvas eradicate afflictions, retain delusions to moisten rebirth, benefit themselves and others, and sacrifice themselves for sentient beings—all the more worthy of offerings from humans and devas. All sentient beings should make offerings to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats, as long as they have the ability to make offerings and know how to do so. Even a dog can make offerings to Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats; lions and tigers can also make offerings—serving as guards and attendants of Buddhas, bodhisattvas, and arhats, respecting and prostrating to them, obeying their teachings—all are offerings, yielding immeasurable blessings. Even bacteria fermenting the food and drink of Buddhas and bodhisattvas is also a kind of offering; only bacteria are ignorant and mindless, so the blessings they receive are very slight. Ghosts and spirits can even more make offerings to the Three Jewels, planting blessings in the field of the Three Jewels, and by relying on the blessing power of the Three Jewels escape the evil destinies and attain the fruit of liberation.
27. Third-Fruit People Eradicate Afflictions
When there is no craving toward sense objects, one is a third-fruit person, having eradicated the manifest activity of the afflictions of greed and hatred. When there is no attachment to sense objects, one is a fourth-fruit arhat, having eradicated the manas's self-grasping and craving for the three realms. Before the third fruit, however pure the mind, it is only suppressing afflictions, not eradicating them; the afflictions are hidden in the mind, rarely manifesting, but when major matters arise, they certainly cannot be hidden—afflictions will surely manifest. Those who can truly and comprehensively detect their own afflictions are very few, so people often think they have no afflictions, or think they are second-fruit people, when in fact they are far from the second fruit.
28. How Arhats Who Retain Mahāyāna Seeds Emerge Again from Nirvāṇa Without Remainder
Because arhats have extinguished the karmic seeds of birth and death in the three realms' world, they no longer cling to the three realms. At the end of life, they not only extinguish the body of the five aggregates, but the manas's mental factors of deliberation (manasikāra) also do not decisively continue to remain; the tathāgatagarbha then no longer produces the consciousness seeds of the manas, and so the manas is extinguished, leaving only a tathāgatagarbha—becoming the state of nirvāṇa without remainder.
If the arhat, before nirvāṇa, had cultivated the Mahāyāna Buddha-dharma and heard the Mahāyāna sūtras taught by the Buddha—"once it reaches the ear-root, it forever becomes a seed of the Path"—the seeds of the Mahāyāna dharma were planted and stored in the tathāgatagarbha. The arhat's tathāgatagarbha is called the vipāka-consciousness (异熟识); the Mahāyāna seeds within the vipāka-consciousness will sooner or later ripen, take root and sprout. Within nirvāṇa without remainder, once the vipāka-consciousness discerns that the conditions for the Mahāyāna seeds have ripened, it produces the consciousness seeds of the manas in accordance with those conditions, and the manas arises. Then the manas still needs a physical body as a support, so the vipāka-consciousness produces an intermediate body (antarā-bhava) for Him; within the intermediate body, the manas still wants to rely on a real physical body, and so, relying on karmic seeds and conditions, it enters the womb and is born into the three realms. After growing up, when the conditions for the Mahāyāna dharma ripen, he devotes himself to the study and practice of the Mahāyāna dharma, becoming a bodhisattva life after life, and finally attains buddhahood.
