The Esoteric Significance of the Śūraṅgama Sūtra
Chapter Five Volume Five: The Perfect Penetration Dharma Gates Realized by the Twenty-Five Sages
I. Original text: 世尊普告众中。诸大菩萨。及诸漏尽。大阿罗汉。汝等菩萨。及阿罗汉。生我法中。得成无学。吾今问汝。最初发心。悟十八界。谁为圆通。从何方便。入三摩地。
憍陈那五比丘。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我在鹿苑。及于鸡园。观见如来。最初成道。于佛音声。悟明四谛。佛问比丘。我初称解。如来印我。名阿若多。妙音密圆。我于音声。得阿罗汉。佛问圆通。如我所证。音声为上。
Explanation: The World-Honored One said to the great bodhisattvas and the arhats: "You great bodhisattvas and arhats were born within my Dharma and have accomplished the fruit of those beyond training (aśaikṣa). I now ask you: when each of you first made the aspiration to cultivate and sought to realize the eighteen dhātus (realms), which dhātu served as your dharma gate of perfect penetration, and by what method of cultivation did you enter samādhi?"
The five bhikṣus led by Kaundinya immediately rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: "At the Deer Park (Mṛgadāva) and at the Kukkuṭārāma, we personally witnessed the Tathāgata's first attainment of the Way, when You taught us the Four Noble Truths — suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self — and we realized the Four Noble Truths upon the Buddha's voice and sounds. When the Buddha asked us bhikṣus about our cultivation and realization of the principle of the Four Noble Truths, we said that we had just realized and understood them, whereupon the Tathāgata confirmed us as 'Ājñāta' (Ājñāta-Kaundinya), having awakened to the secret and perfect penetration through the Buddha's subtle sounds of Dharma. We attained arhatship by means of sounds. The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as we ourselves realized it, realization through sounds is supreme."
The five bhikṣus led by Kaundinya realized perfect penetration through the dhātu of sound among the eighteen dhātus, while the other twenty-four sages each realized perfect penetration through their respective object-dhātus. The five bhikṣus led by Kaundinya had followed the Buddha in cultivating the Way ever since He first left home and went to the Snow Mountains to practice. At that time the Buddha was following non-Buddhist teachers to cultivate the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, so Kaundinya also continuously followed the Buddha in practicing the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, without any other method of cultivation. When the Buddha had attained the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, He still had not obtained the great wisdom of liberation, nor had He become a Buddha. The World-Honored One then knew that merely cultivating meditative concentration alone could not bring liberation, that this was not the method of cultivation for liberation and buddhahood, and so He abandoned the method of solely cultivating concentration.
At that time the Buddha ate only one sesame seed and one grain of wheat per day, starving until He was skin and bones. The Buddha then realized that pure asceticism alone also could not attain the Way, so He abandoned asceticism and went to the Nairañjanā River to bathe. After emerging from the bath, He accepted the milk offered by the herdswoman, and after drinking it, the World-Honored One went beneath the Bodhi tree to investigate the Dharma anew. When the five bhikṣus led by Kaundinya saw that the Buddha was no longer cultivating meditative concentration nor asceticism, they believed the Buddha had regressed from the Path. So the five bhikṣus left the Buddha and went elsewhere to cultivate on their own.
It was not until after the Buddha attained the Way that He sought out the five bhikṣus and taught them the principle of the Four Noble Truths, whereupon they immediately attained the fruit of arhatship. Why did the five bhikṣus attain the fruit so quickly? Because they had followed the Buddha in cultivating the four dhyānas and eight samādhis and possessed a very deep foundation in those dhyānas and samādhis; their meditative concentration was excellent, their observance of precepts was also excellent, their minds were subtle, and their contemplation was deep and thorough. As soon as they heard the Buddha preach the Dharma, in an instant they could perform contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) within meditative concentration and discern the truth of non-self, and thus they attained the fruit. This shows that only when precepts, concentration, and wisdom are all complete can one attain the fruit.
If they had had no foundation in meditative concentration, then after hearing the Dharma they would have had to cultivate concentration as well as understand and contemplate the Buddha's teachings before they could contemplate and practice within concentration, and who knows when they would have attained the fruit; only when meditative concentration is complete does contemplative practice become swift and penetrating. Therefore, accomplishment in the Buddha's Dharma cannot be separated from precepts, cannot be separated from deep meditative concentration, and cannot be separated from the wisdom of contemplative practice. When the Buddha, beneath the Bodhi tree, beheld the morning star at night and awakened to the Way and became a Buddha, this too could not be separated from the four dhyānas and eight samādhis He had cultivated earlier with the non-Buddhist teachers; without the foundation of the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, the Buddha could not have awakened to the Way and become a Buddha.
Therefore, although asceticism is not itself the Way, apart from asceticism there is also no Way. Appropriate asceticism can cultivate and sustain the mind intent on the Path, can cultivate and sustain the mind of renunciation; one who craves comfort and pleasure can hardly have a mind of renunciation, and the Way is hard to attain. Although the non-Buddhists' four dhyānas and eight samādhis cannot liberate one from birth-and-death, apart from the four dhyānas and eight samādhis one likewise cannot be liberated from birth-and-death or accomplish the Buddha-Way.
II. Original text: 优波尼沙陀。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我亦观佛。最初成道。观不净相。生大厌离。悟诸色性。以从不净。白骨微尘。归于虚空。空色二无。成无学道。如来印我。名尼沙陀。尘色既尽。妙色密圆。我从色相。得阿罗汉。佛问圆通。如我所证。色因为上。
Explanation: Upaniṣada immediately rose from his seat, and after bowing at the Buddha's feet, said to the Buddha: "I too observed the Buddha, after He first attained the Way, preaching the Dharma to the bhikṣus. I chose to cultivate the contemplation of the white skeleton, contemplating the impurity of the material body, and a great mind of revulsion toward the body arose in me. I awakened to the nature of all material form: it proceeds from the impure appearance of white bones into fine dust particles, gradually returning to empty space. Awakening that both emptiness and form are nonexistent, I accomplished the Way of those beyond training (aśaikṣa). The Tathāgata confirmed me with the name 'Niṣada' (Vairāṭya, 'fine dust'). Once the dusty forms were exhausted, the subtle form was secret and perfect. I attained arhatship through material form. The Buddha asks about perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, contemplation of form as the cause is supreme."
Upaniṣada cultivated the white-bone contemplation, contemplating the impurity of the material body, visualizing the body as a white skeleton, then visualizing the white skeleton as extremely fine dust, and finally the fine dust vanished and became emptiness. All of this contemplative practice was carried out within very deep meditative concentration. The white skeleton that appeared through his contemplation belongs to form resulting from samādhi, invisible to others; only he himself could see it with the wisdom eye within concentration — this seeing was not with the physical eye, otherwise others could have seen it too. After he saw the white skeleton in concentration, he continued his contemplative practice, visualizing the skeleton into the finest dust particles, approaching the particles of empty space, and finally it dissolved into nothingness; in his mind both form and emptiness were gone, everything was empty. These states all belong to form resulting from samādhi; they are states of meditative absorption (samādhi) with both concentration and wisdom, and relying on such a state of samādhi one can attain liberation from the three realms.
Without meditative concentration, if one tries to contemplate these dharmas, one can only imagine them with the mind consciousness, but one can never imagine out the white skeleton and the dust particles, much less transform the dust into emptiness and then empty the emptiness as well. Therefore, the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā is called genuine practice, and only the result of genuine practice is called genuine realization. The cultivation and realization of all dharmas is like this; there is no other shortcut, and meditative concentration cannot be bypassed.
When Upaniṣada saw form as emptiness, it was not that he saw subtle forms turn into empty space and become nothingness; rather, he realized that the material body is empty, his inner cognition changed, his views and concepts transformed, and a state of great wisdom appeared — a state of samādhi complete with concentration and wisdom. In the samādhi of realizing the Way there is both concentration and wisdom; within the state of concentration, form resulting from samādhi appeared, form became emptiness, both emptiness and form vanished, and all was empty nothingness. But after emerging from the state of concentration, when Upaniṣada saw form it was still form composed of the seeds of the four great elements; he would not turn form into empty space, because form and emptiness are opposed to each other: form cannot be analyzed into empty space, empty space cannot be combined into form, and no matter how subtle the material sense-object, it cannot become empty space or nothingness.
III. Original text: 香严童子。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我闻如来。教我谛观。诸有为相。我时辞佛。宴晦清斋。见诸比丘。烧沉水香。香气寂然。来入鼻中。我观此气。非木非空。非烟非火。去无所著。来无所从。由是意销。发明无漏。如来印我。得香严号。尘气倏灭。妙香密圆。我从香严。得阿罗汉。佛问圆通。如我所证。香严为上。
Explanation: The Youth Fragrant Adornment (Xiangyan Tongzi) at that moment rose from his seat, and after bowing at the Buddha's feet, said to the Buddha: "I heard the Tathāgata teach me to carefully observe all conditioned marks. After taking leave of the Buddha, I began to practice contemplation and reflection alone in a quiet place. One day I saw several bhikṣus burning aloeswood incense, and the fragrance imperceptibly drifted over and entered my nose. I contemplated this fragrance, reflecting in my mind that it did not come from the fragrant wood, nor from empty space, nor from the smoke, nor from the fire; when the fragrance vanished, it did not adhere to anything and had no destination, and when the fragrance came, no place of origin could be found.
As I contemplated thus, my mental activities ceased, all ideation vanished, and I attained the fruit of those beyond training (aśaikṣa), exhausting the outflows and becoming an arhat. The Tathāgata confirmed me with the title 'Fragrant Adornment.' From then on, worldly dusty vapors no longer existed within my realm; the subtle fragrance was secret, subtle, and perfect, and I attained arhatship through fragrant adornment. The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, fragrant adornment is supreme."
When the Youth Fragrant Adornment was observing the fragrance, his power of concentration was extremely deep and subtle, his contemplation very keen and meticulous, his observation penetrating to the finest detail, to the point that samādhi arose. The Youth Fragrant Adornment reflected: "Where does the fragrance of aloeswood come from? If it comes from the fragrant wood, then wherever the wood is there should be such fragrance, yet when the wood is not burning there is no such fragrance. If the fragrance comes from empty space, then since empty space is ever-present, the fragrance should persist constantly, yet it does not. If the fragrance comes from the smoke, yet the smoke of ordinary wood has no such fragrance. If the fragrance comes from the fire, yet other fires have no such fragrance." Finally he determined that the fragrance comes from nowhere and goes nowhere — the fragrance is empty — and so his mind became empty, all afflictions completely fell away, and he attained the fruit of arhatship.
Attaining the fruit of arhatship requires at minimum the first dhyāna, and at most the four dhyānas and eight samādhis. With such deep meditative concentration, the mind is extremely fine and meticulous, and contemplative practice is all direct perception, without sentiment or intellectual interpretation, without imagination or conjecture. The deliberative function of the mind consciousness is very little, while the deliberation (manasikāra) of the manas is used a great deal; therefore understanding relies on the mind consciousness, but realization must rely on the manas. When the mind consciousness knows that something is so but not why it is so, that is understanding; the manas not only knows that it is so but also knows why it is so, and therefore it is realization. The understanding of the mind consciousness is coarse and sketchy, unable to penetrate into fine detail, whereas the realization of the manas is fine and thorough, penetrating surface and depth, knowing the whole ins and outs. All states of samādhi wisdom are realized jointly by the manas and the mind consciousness, complete with concentration and wisdom.
IV. Original text: 药王药上。二法王子。并在会中。五百梵天。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我无始劫。为世良医。口中尝此。娑婆世界。草木金石。名数凡有十万八千。如是悉知。苦醋咸淡。甘辛等味。并诸和合。俱生变异。是冷是热。有毒无毒。悉能遍知。承事如来。了知味性。非空非有。非即身心。非离身心。分别味因。从是开悟。蒙佛如来。印我昆季。药王药上。二菩萨名。今于会中。为法王子。因味觉明。位登菩萨。佛问圆通。如我所证。味因为上。
Explanation: The two Dharma princes, Bhaiṣajyarāja (Medicine King) and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata (Medicine Superior), together with the five hundred Brahmā-heaven beings in the assembly, rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: "For limitless kalpas, we two brothers have been excellent physicians in this world, tasting in our mouths the herbs, medicinal materials, metals, and minerals of this Sahā world — numbering in all one hundred and eight thousand kinds — and we know them all: their bitter, sour, salty, bland, sweet, and pungent flavors, as well as the blended, co-arising, and transformed flavors when these flavors combine. Whether these medicines are cooling or heating in nature, poisonous or non-poisonous, we can know them all completely.
Since serving and making offerings to the Tathāgata, we have gradually come to know that the nature of these flavors is neither empty nor existent, neither identical to body and mind nor separate from body and mind. We investigated the cause of the arising of flavor, and thereby we were enlightened. We were honored to be confirmed by the Tathāgata, who gave us the names Bhaiṣajyarāja Bodhisattva and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata Bodhisattva. In this great assembly we participate as Dharma princes; because we awakened to the clarity of the dharmas through flavor, we ascended to the position of bodhisattvas. The Buddha asks about our dharma gate of perfect penetration: as we ourselves realized it, analyzing the cause of the arising of flavors is the foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration."
The two bodhisattvas Bhaiṣajyarāja and Bhaiṣajyasamudgata entered the Way through the flavor object among the six objects, cultivating to the stage of Dharma prince, becoming bodhisattvas of equality and wondrous awakening closest to the Buddha. In the long process of contacting and tasting the flavors of medicines, a questioning doubt arose in them, wanting to investigate the origin of flavors; investigating back and forth, they could find no place where flavors come from or go to, and thus they realized that flavors are dharmas born of the conjunction of causes and conditions, neither empty nor existent — the emptiness is not true emptiness, the existence is not real existence — they are products conjured up by the tathāgatagarbha in dependence on conditions. Thereupon the great wisdom of prajñā was born, and they were confirmed and prophesied by the Buddha, becoming Dharma princes about to become Buddhas and inherit the Buddha's position. For all the myriad dharmas, if one investigates their causes within deep meditative concentration, then when the causes and conditions and the season ripen, one will realize both the emptiness of the Small Vehicle and the emptiness of the Great Vehicle, clearly understanding the subtle relationship of the non-duality and non-identity of emptiness and existence, and from then on never again being deluded by any dharma.
V. Original text: 跋陀婆罗。并其同伴。十六开士。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我等先于。威音王佛。闻法出家。于浴僧时。随例入室。忽悟水因。既不洗尘。亦不洗体。中间安然。得无所有。宿习无忘。乃至今时。从佛出家。今得无学。彼佛名我。跋陀婆罗。妙触宣明。成佛子住。佛问圆通。如我所证。触因为上。
Explanation: Bhadrapāla and his sixteen companion bodhisattva-mahāsattvas rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: "We first heard the Dharma and left home during the time of Buddha Vīṣvabhū (Awesome Voice King). Once, when the monks were bathing, I entered the bathhouse in accordance with the usual order. While bathing, I suddenly awakened to the causes and conditions of water: it neither washes the dust nor washes the body; in the midst of bathing nothing actually happens — water is water, dust is dust, the body is the body — they do not truly touch or obstruct one another, with no mutual generation or mutual opposition. Thereupon I realized the emptiness of all dharmas, that there is no dharma that can be obtained or possessed.
Seeing all dharmas as empty became my habit, never forgotten through lifetime after lifetime, so that whatever dharma I encountered, my mind regarded it as empty, until this very life when I left home to cultivate the Way following the Buddha and attained the fruit of those beyond training (aśaikṣa). That Buddha gave me the name Bhadrapāla; because of the wondrous contact during bathing, my mind was illuminated, and I took my abode as a son of the Buddha. The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, contact as the cause is supreme."
Why can water neither wash the dust nor wash the body? Because all dharmas lack self-nature, and insentient material form especially lacks self-nature; therefore water has no actual function of washing dust or washing the body. That the dust is washed off is not the merit of water, and that the body becomes clean is not the merit of water. Water and dust do not truly touch, water and the body do not truly touch, and likewise the body and the dust do not truly touch. Since material forms fundamentally have no boundary between them, they cannot change one another. And yet the result? The dust really was washed off, and the body really was washed clean. This is indeed a wondrous thing, so when Bhadrapāla realized the nature of all dharmas, he called this wondrous thing "wondrous contact," and he proclaimed and clarified this realization of wondrous contact so that everyone would know it, inspiring all to realize this wondrous contact themselves.
But to realize this wondrous contact, one must have deep meditative concentration; apart from concentration there is no realization whatsoever. What is produced by sentiment and intellectual interpretation has no actual merit or benefit — like recounting food, it does not fill the belly. Only when concentration is deep can the questioning doubt be deep; able to abide at all times within the questioning doubt, when one encounters the corresponding condition and gathers one's thoughts in deep reflection, one can awaken to the Way. Afterward, one not only knows that it is so but also knows why it is so; samādhi manifests, great wisdom arises, and even great supernatural powers may appear — all genuine realizators are like this.
VI. Original text: 摩诃迦叶。及紫金光。比丘尼等。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我于往劫。于此界中。有佛出世。名日月灯。我得亲近。闻法修学。佛灭度后。供养舍利。燃灯续明。以紫光金。涂佛形像。自尔已来。世世生生。身常圆满。紫金光聚。此紫金光。比丘尼者。即我眷属。同时发心。
我观世间。六尘变坏。惟以空寂。修于灭尽。身心乃能。度百千劫。犹如弹指。我以空法。成阿罗汉。世尊说我。头陀为最。妙法开明。销灭诸漏。佛问圆通。如我所证。法因为上。
Explanation: Mahākāśyapa and the purple-gold-light bhikṣuṇīs and others rose from their seats, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: "In a past kalpa I was born in this world and encountered a Buddha appearing in the world named Tathāgata Sun-Moon-Lamp (Candrasūryapradīpa). I was able to draw near to Him, hear the Dharma, and cultivate and study under Him. After that Buddha's parinirvāṇa, I made offerings to His relics, burned lamps to continue the light before the Buddha, and used purple-glowing gold to gild the Buddha's images. From that time onward, in every life, my body has always been suffused with a gathering of purple-gold light. This purple-gold-light bhikṣuṇī was my relative at that time, who made the aspiration at the same time as me to make offerings to the Buddha and cultivate the Way.
"I have always contemplated that in this world the six objects are impermanent and unreliable, constantly decaying and changing, so my mind has constantly remained empty and tranquil toward all states, and gradually I cultivated the attainment of the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti). Within that cessation, body and mind unmoving, I passed through hundreds of thousands of kalpas as if in a finger-snap. Because I could empty all dharmas, I became an arhat. The World-Honored One declared me foremost in dhūta practice. Through the wondrous Dharma my wisdom's light was opened and illuminated, extinguishing all the outflows of affliction. The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, emptiness of dharmas is supreme and foremost."
The arhat Mahākāśyapa has three characteristics: first, because of gilding Buddha images with purple gold, his whole body has been purple-gold in color for lifetime after lifetime; second, he has practiced dhūta ascetic practices lifetime after lifetime, with few desires and contentment; third, his mind is constantly empty and tranquil, entering the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti). Mahākāśyapa contemplated the impermanence and arising-and-ceasing of the six objects within deep concentration, so his mind was empty and tranquil, with no longing or begging toward the world; only by extinguishing the grasping mind (upādāna) could he enter the cessation of perception and feeling, in which not only does the mind consciousness not know any dharma, but the manas too has no feeling or knowing of any dharma — able to enter nirvāṇa without remainder (Anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa) at any time yet not entering it. He is still in concentration on Mount Kukkuṭapāda (Chicken Foot Mountain), waiting for more than five hundred million years until Maitreya Buddha descends into the world, to hand over Śākyamuni Buddha's golden-threaded kaṣāya robe to Maitreya Buddha.
An empty mind is the most powerful; it can subdue all dharmas and is not subdued by any dharma. Why can the mind empty all dharmas? Because all dharmas are themselves empty, the mind fundamentally cannot grasp any dharma, and thus it cannot help but be empty. Since the mind is empty, what dharma could bind an empty mind? What dharma could conquer an empty mind? No one can do anything to one whose mind is empty; before one whose mind is empty, all dharmas lose their power and can do nothing, while one whose mind is empty can act upon all dharmas and accomplish all endeavors.
VII. Original text: 阿那律陀。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我初出家。常乐睡眠。如来诃我。为畜生类。我闻佛诃。啼泣自责。七日不眠。失其双目。世尊示我。乐见照明。金刚三昧。我不因眼。观见十方。精真洞然。如观掌果。如来印我。成阿罗汉。佛问圆通。如我所证。旋见循元。斯为第一。
Explanation: Aniruddha rose from his seat, and after bowing at the Buddha's feet, said to the Buddha: "When I first left home, I always loved to sleep, and the Tathāgata rebuked me, saying I slept like an animal. Hearing the Buddha's rebuke, I wept and blamed myself, and went without sleep for seven days, ruining both my eyes. The World-Honored One then taught me to cultivate the Vajra Samādhi of Delight in Seeing and Illumination. Once this vajra samādhi was cultivated, without relying on my physical eyes I could see the scenes of the worlds in the ten directions, extremely fine and true, penetrating without obstruction, just like observing an āmalaka fruit in my own palm. The Tathāgata confirmed me as having become an arhat. The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, turning the seeing back to follow its source — this is the foremost."
Aniruddha cultivated this Vajra Samādhi of Delight in Seeing and Illumination, every day using his mind-eye to introspect on what exactly the faculty of seeing that sees form is and how it sees form. His concentration grew ever deeper, his contemplative wisdom ever deeper, until finally he found the source, the samādhi appeared, and the divine eye (clairvoyance) manifested immediately, whereupon he became one of the fourth fruit. In his cultivation, precepts, concentration, and wisdom were completely fulfilled, and he was extremely diligent, so the vajra samādhi inevitably appeared. This is the model of genuine practice — not like some people who are satisfied with diligently learning some knowledge and think they have arrived, their arrogance blazing while amounting to nothing. Knowledge accumulated by the mind consciousness is like a castle in the air; after death nothing remains, and the manas, utterly destitute, goes off to future lives together with the tathāgatagarbha — what can it have?
VIII. Original text: 周利槃特迦。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我阙诵持。无多闻性。最初值佛。闻法出家。忆持如来。一句伽陀。于一百日。得前遗后。得后遗前。佛愍我愚。教我安居。调出入息。我时观息。微细穷尽。生住异灭。诸行刹那。其心豁然。得大无碍。乃至漏尽。成阿罗汉。住佛座下。印成无学。佛问圆通。如我所证。返息循空。斯为第一。
Explanation: Cūḍapanthaka rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: "I lacked the ability to recite and retain, having no capacity for extensive learning. When I first encountered the Buddha and heard Him preach the Dharma, I followed the Buddha and left home to cultivate the Way. I tried to memorize a single verse of the Tathāgata's, and over one hundred days, when I got the first part I forgot the latter part, and when I got the latter part I forgot the first part. The Buddha, pitying my dullness, taught me to dwell in a quiet retreat and regulate the out-breath and in-breath.
"I then began to contemplate the breath; the more I contemplated it, the subtler it became, until gradually the breath ceased entirely and I entered the fourth dhyāna. After emerging from concentration, I contemplated the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the breath, and the momentary arising and ceasing of all bodily formations, of all formations of the aggregate of volitional formations; my mind suddenly opened in clarity, and I realized the emptiness of all formations and the emptiness of the five aggregates, with no more obstruction in my mind toward the world of the five aggregates. Thereupon my afflictions were exhausted, and I became a great arhat of the fourth fruit. Dwelling beneath the Buddha's seat, I was confirmed by the Buddha as one beyond training (aśaikṣa). The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, turning the breath back to follow emptiness — this is the foremost."
Cūḍapanthaka was rather dull regarding Dharma principles and had no power of retention. The Buddha, knowing his faculties, taught him the method of contemplating the breath. His method of realizing the fruit did not start from theory but started from actual bodily activity: contemplating the breath, the mind gradually settled on the breath, concentration grew ever deeper, the mind ever subtler, and the breath ever finer, until at a certain point it ceased. Thereupon Cūḍapanthaka observed the phenomena of the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the breath, and then gradually contemplated through to the phenomena of the arising, abiding, changing, and ceasing of the operations of the five-aggregate body, and realized the emptiness of the formations of the five aggregates, attaining the fruit of arhatship.
Therefore genuine practice requires personal bodily effort; only when the mind is settled at one point can the wisdom of contemplative practice arise, and only with the equal cultivation of Samādhi and Prajñā can one attain samādhi, gain purity of the Dharma eye, transcend birth-and-death, and obtain liberation. Those whose power of contemplative practice is insufficient should cultivate more meditative concentration; those whose practice is not effective should carefully search for the reasons, appropriately adjust the direction and method of their practice, and cultivate with single-minded depth in order to achieve something. True cultivation can never be accomplished by being clever; one must be down-to-earth, leaving footprints with every step. Without resolving to cultivate meditative concentration, everything is a castle in the air.
IX. Original text: 憍梵钵提。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我有口业。于过去劫。轻弄沙门。世世生生。有牛齝病。如来示我。一味清净。心地法门。我得灭心。入三摩地。观味之知。非体非物。应念得超。世间诸漏。内脱身心。外遗世界。远离三有。如鸟出笼。离垢销尘。法眼清净。成阿罗汉。如来亲印。登无学道。佛问圆通。如我所证。还味旋知。斯为第一。
Explanation: Gavāmpati rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and answered the Buddha: "I committed verbal karma — in a past kalpa I mocked a śramaṇa, saying he ate like an ox chewing grass — and from then on I underwent the retribution of five hundred lives as an ox, and in every subsequent lifetime I ate like an ox chewing grass. Later, when I encountered the Buddha, He taught me a method of cultivation called the Dharma Gate of the Pure Mind-Ground of One Taste. Practicing according to the Buddha's instruction, I extinguished mental activity, seeing all dharmas as empty and giving rise to no thoughts.
"Thereupon I entered samādhi and contemplated the knowing of flavors: it has neither a self-body nor any substantial thing — it is empty. As soon as this thought arose, I transcended all the worldly outflows; my mind attained purity, within the body of the five aggregates both body and mind fell away, and there was no longer any body-mind-world; toward the world outside the five-aggregate body my mind also became empty, and the world was gone. Thus my mind departed from the existence of the three realms, like a bird escaping its cage; the defilements and stains were all eliminated, all object-dusts vanished, my Dharma eye became pure, and I became an arhat of the fourth fruit. The Tathāgata personally confirmed that I had reached the stage beyond training (aśaikṣa). The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, when contacting flavors, contemplating the knowing of flavors and then contemplating that knowing as empty — I take this as my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration."
Everyone who has realized the fruit has done so through extremely deep and subtle contemplative practice within concentration, realizing the emptiness of the five aggregates and the eighteen dhātus, thereby emptying both body and mind and breaking the four marks. The only differences lie in the degree of emptiness, the levels of the marks broken through, and hence the different fruits realized. There is absolutely no one who can realize the fruit without keeping precepts, without cultivating concentration, and without contemplative practice. Those who realize the fruit have fulfilled all the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment; there is no one who realized the fruit by relying on the mind consciousness's deliberation, inference, and analysis, and no one who, after realizing the fruit, still has heavy afflictions and creates evil karma everywhere like an ordinary person. One whose mind is empty sees no dharma, sees no dharma worth committing evil karma for; therefore one whose mind still grasps at marks and is not empty certainly has not eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) — such a person is not even a candidate for the srotāpanna fruit, let alone a srotāpanna.
The verbal karma Gavāmpati committed in the past — mocking a monastic — brought such great retribution of evil karma. Nowadays many people have heavy afflictions, and the evil karma they create toward monastics far exceeds mockery and sarcasm by many times over; their retribution in future lives will certainly far exceed Gavāmpati's by many times. What these ignorant people should do, they should consider and weigh clearly themselves; but many people, out of ignorance, will not seriously consider and weigh it, and will simply have to undergo the retribution of this evil karma. And so the beings of the three evil paths follow one after another, never ceasing.
X. The Venerable Pilindavatsa's Cultivation Experience
Original text: 我初发心，从佛入道，数闻如来。说诸世间。不可乐事。乞食城中，心思法门，不觉路中。毒刺伤足，举身疼痛。我念有知，知此深痛；虽觉觉痛，觉清净心，无痛痛觉。我又思惟：如是一身宁有双觉？摄念未久，身心忽空。三七日中，诸漏虚尽，成阿罗汉。得亲印记，发明无学。佛问圆通，如我所证，纯觉遗身，斯为第一。
Explanation: When I first made the aspiration to leave home, I entered the Way following the Buddha and often heard the Buddha speak of the things in the world that should not be delighted in. Once, while begging for food in the city, my mind was reflecting on the method of cultivation; walking along the road, I unknowingly stepped on a poisonous thorn that wounded my foot, and my whole body felt pain. At that moment my mind had a knowing that knew this deep pain. Although the mind consciousness knew that I (the body consciousness) was in great pain, it also knew that the self-natured pure mind does not hurt — He has no sensation of pain.
I then reflected: does one single body have two knowings? As this questioning doubt arose, I held the mind from scattering outward, and before long, body and mind suddenly became empty. Thereafter, within twenty-one days, all afflictions were emptied and exhausted, and I became an arhat of the fourth fruit. Later I received the Buddha's personal confirmation, having reached the stage beyond training (aśaikṣa). Now the Buddha asks about my method of cultivation that penetrates the Buddha's Dharma: as I cultivated and realized it, within the mind there was only initial application and sustained examination (vitarka-vicāra), contemplating a single Dharma meaning, forgetting the existence of the physical body; thus abiding in concentration, wisdom was born, non-self was realized, and the fruit of arhatship was attained.
The knowing that feels the body's pain is primarily that of the body consciousness, which knows the contact-object of pain. There is another knowing, the knowing of the mind consciousness: on the one hand it knows the body consciousness's knowing, knowing that the body consciousness is now in deep pain; on the other hand it knows the subtle aspects of the pain, mainly the feeling of anguish and distress of heartache and discomfort, and further knows the mind consciousness's own heartache — this is the mind consciousness's self-validating cognition (svasaṃvedana), introspecting on its own knowing. Because the Venerable One was single-mindedly devoted to cultivation, although his body was in great pain, his mind remained pure; within the pain he contemplated something that does not hurt, the questioning doubt arose, and so he abided in deep questioning doubt, and meditative concentration appeared. Within that concentration, through deep and subtle contemplative investigation, he reasoned: since there are not two knowings in one body, then the knowing in the body must belong to the true mind tathāgatagarbha that does not hurt, not to the mind consciousness and body consciousness; the mind consciousness, body consciousness, and the five-aggregate body are all empty — and thus he realized the non-self of the five aggregates.
Afterward, due to his power of attention and awareness, the first dhyāna arose, and within twenty-one days he sequentially eradicated the afflictions, becoming an untainted great arhat. This is the process of realizing the fruit and seeing the mind, the process of genuine practice and genuine realization. With the threefold training of precepts, concentration, and wisdom complete — the Venerable One's conduct of precepts was certainly perfect — concentration arose, and only then could the wisdom of liberation finally be born, attaining realization of liberation.
In his account of his cultivation experience, there is not a trace of mere intellectual understanding; it is all the personal realization of actual practice. Unlike certain people today, who rely entirely on the mind consciousness's understanding of the Dharma principles they encounter and take what is understood to be enlightenment. Without even touching the edge of intellectual realization, they consider themselves enlightened. In such so-called enlightenment, the post-enlightenment views are still products of understanding, without the slightest bit having been observed and realized by themselves in the present.
The spiritual faculties (indriya) of people in today's world differ from those of cultivators of past eras by a hundred thousand miles: without the slightest attainment in meditative concentration, they discourse grandly on theory as if it were all their own realization. After years of correction, they remain the same old way — this is all a manifestation of self-grasping.
XI. Original text: 须菩提。即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我旷劫来。心得无碍。自忆受生。如恒河沙。初在母胎。即知空寂。如是乃至。十方成空。亦令众生。证得空性。蒙如来发。性觉真空。空性圆明。得阿罗汉。顿入如来。宝明空海。同佛知见。印成无学。解脱性空。我为无上。佛问圆通。如我所证。诸相入非。非所非尽。旋法归无。斯为第一。
Explanation: Subhūti rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: "For limitless kalpas my mind has penetrated all dharmas without obstruction, and I recall my births as numerous as the sands of the Ganges. When I was first in my mother's womb, I already knew the world to be empty and tranquil, and so on, even knowing that the worlds of the ten directions are all empty and tranquil, with not a single dharma existing; I have also successively taught sentient beings to realize the emptiness (śūnyatā) of all dharmas.
"Through the Tathāgata's teaching and blessing, I awakened to the true emptiness of the self-natured awakened essence; as my realization of this emptiness grew ever more perfect and luminous, I became a great arhat, suddenly entering the Tathāgata's ocean of precious luminous emptiness, my views identical with the Buddha's, and was confirmed by the Buddha as of the fourth fruit beyond training (aśaikṣa). In the liberating merit of the mind-ground and in the degree of emptiness attained in mind-nature, I am foremost among the Buddha's disciples. The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, all marks with characteristics were turned into non-existence and emptied, and both the mind that empties and the dharmas emptied were exhausted and emptied — the dharmas that formerly existed are now reversed into non-existence, all empty. I take this as my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration."
Subhūti's mind has been unobstructed for limitless kalpas, his mind-ground without any obscuration, and he possessed the six superknowledges, including recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti); therefore, in his mother's womb, he already knew that all dharmas are nonexistent and empty. Of course, this knowing must be the manas's knowing — the manas had already realized emptiness limitless kalpas before, so no matter the circumstances or identity, Subhūti knew emptiness. Then, after the mind consciousness arose in the womb, since there was no obscuration, the mind consciousness also knew the emptiness of all dharmas. The manas knows first, the mind consciousness knows after — only such knowing is true, ultimate, and complete knowing.
The emptiness Subhūti realized encompasses both the Small and Great Vehicles, so Subhūti both realized the fruit of arhat of the fourth fruit and suddenly awakened to the Tathāgata's ocean of precious luminous emptiness, his views identical with the Buddha's. From this one can see that Subhūti is at least an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva, having already realized the Way for more than two immeasurable kalpas. In fact, according to the Buddhist sūtras, Subhūti was a Buddha come again; the Buddha's ten great disciples were all Buddha-bodies manifesting as arhats, together with the Buddha jointly delivering the sentient beings of the Sahā world.
XII. Original text: 舍利弗即从座起。顶礼佛足。而白佛言。我旷劫来。心见清净。如是受生。如恒河沙。世出世间。种种变化。一见则通。获无障碍。我于路中。逢迦叶波兄弟相逐。宣说因缘。悟心无际。从佛出家。见觉明圆。得大无畏。成阿罗汉。为佛长子。从佛口生。从法化生。佛问圆通。如我所证。心见发光。光极知见。斯为第一。
Explanation: Śāriputra rose from his seat, bowed at the Buddha's feet, and said to the Buddha: "For limitless kalpas, whatever dharma I have seen, my views have been pure and undefiled. I have taken birth in this way as many times as the sands of the Ganges; the various transformations of the worldly and world-transcending — at a single glance I would penetrate them, obtaining unobstructed understanding. In this life, before I had left home, one day while walking along the road I came upon the three Kāśyapa brothers discussing together the dharma of causes and conditions taught by the Buddha, and as soon as I heard it I awakened to the boundlessness of the mind. Thereupon I left home following the World-Honored One; my views grew ever more perfect and wondrously luminous, I became fearless toward all dharmas, and became an arhat of the fourth fruit.
"As the Buddha's eldest son, I was born from following the Buddha's teaching, transformed and born from the Buddha's Dharma. The Buddha asks about the dharma gate of perfect penetration: as I myself realized it, the mind's seeing emits the great light of wisdom, and this great light of wisdom guides my seeing to become ever more perfect and luminous. This is my foremost dharma gate of perfect penetration."
Śāriputra is known as foremost in wisdom among the Buddha's disciples; everywhere his great wisdom is displayed — his views pure and perfectly luminous, penetrating without obstruction; upon seeing a dharma he immediately knows its depths and source, not falling into worldly marks, not stained by worldly views. That he has taken birth carrying such pure great wisdom for immeasurable kalpas shows that Śāriputra's realization far surpasses that of an eighth-bhūmi bodhisattva. According to the Buddhist sūtras, Śāriputra and the other great disciples of the Buddha were all ancient Buddhas come again, cooperating with Śākyamuni Buddha to spread the Dharma and deliver the karmically connected sentient beings of the Sahā world, together performing one great drama.
