Samyukta Āgama (293), Part Three

(Three) When arhats cultivate to the very end, all grasping is abandoned, craving is exhausted, desire is extinguished, and they reach cessation and nirvāṇa. Their minds no longer grasp at any dharma, no longer cling to any dharma, and no longer wish to possess more dharmas—this is the cessation of grasping. Once grasping ceases, there is no craving; when craving is exhausted, desire is extinguished. There are no longer any notions or pursuits regarding the world of the three realms. If there are still notions and aspirations, the manas' grasping will not cease, and there will be another lifetime; if craving is not exhausted and desire not abandoned, there can be no cessation and nirvāṇa. Therefore, after desire is extinguished there is cessation, and cessation is nirvāṇa. In this way, the five aggregates are all extinguished, leaving only the nirvāṇa mind—the eighth consciousness—which is without arising, abiding, changing, or ceasing. This is the state of nirvāṇa.

The Dharma of the Four Noble Truths and the Dharma of the twelve links of dependent arising are conditioned (saṃskṛta) dharmas of the Small Vehicle, and the Small Vehicle's conditioned dharmas cannot be separated from the unconditioned (asaṃskṛta) dharma of the ālayavijñāna. The Buddha taught that the arising of all dharmas is conditioned; their abiding is conditioned; their changing is conditioned; and their perishing is also conditioned. The universe and the great thousand worlds all have arising, abiding, changing, and perishing—all are conditioned dharmas. The unconditioned means neither arising nor abiding, neither changing nor perishing. What dharma is like this? Only the eighth consciousness is like this. Within these conditioned dharmas—the bodily, verbal, and mental actions—the unconditioned dharma is contained; otherwise, the conditioned dharmas could not manifest. The conditioned and the unconditioned operate simultaneously; when the conditioned perishes, what remains is the unconditioned—this is cessation and nirvāṇa.

Where there is the conditioned, there is suffering. All suffering is a result; where there is a result, there is a cause. Bodily, verbal, and mental actions are the cause. Once the cause is created, the result may appear in a future life, or it may appear right now. As long as the conditions are complete, the result appears; if the conditions are not complete, it is stored as a cause, as a seed, to bear fruit in the future. Cultivation is precisely the planting of causes. When will the fruit appear? Whenever the conditions become complete, that is when the fruit is attained. What are the conditions for enlightenment? They are the six perfections (pāramitās) of the bodhisattva. When the bodhisattva's six perfections are fulfilled, the fruit of seeing one's true mind will appear. If one wishes to attain the fruit quickly, one should quickly fulfill the conditions of the bodhisattva's six perfections. If one does not care about cultivating the six perfections, the conditions for seeing the true mind will not be complete, and in which life one will see the true mind becomes uncertain.

Some people arrange to attain the fruit of cultivation at the time of death, seeking rebirth in the land of bliss (Sukhāvatī) in the West at the end of life. However, the conditions for rebirth in the land of bliss at the time of death may not necessarily be complete. No one can guarantee that the conditions for rebirth will certainly be complete at the time of death; if the Buddha has not given such a guarantee, anyone else's guarantee is useless. Unless one can guarantee that, while still alive in this life, the conditions for rebirth can be fulfilled—so that while still alive, the land of bliss can appear within one's meditative concentration (samādhi), or Amitābha Buddha appears within one's samādhi—only through the power of such samādhi and the Buddha's blessing power can rebirth at the time of death be guaranteed.