Saṃyukta-āgama (296), Part Three

(3) Original text:多闻圣弟子于此因缘法。缘生法。正知善见。不求前际。言我过去世。若有若无。我过去世何等类。我过去世何如。不求后际。我于当来世。为有为无。云何类何如。内不犹豫。此是何等。云何有此为前。谁终当云何之。此众生从何来。于此没当何之。

Explanation: The well-learned noble disciples possess right knowledge and right view regarding this dharma of causes and conditions and the dharma of conditioned arising; they do not crave or cling to past lives, saying things like "my past lives may have existed or may not have existed," "what kind of beings was I in my past lives," or "what did I do and what status did I have in my past lives"; nor do they crave or seek future lives, saying things like "will my future lives exist or not exist," "what kind of beings will I be," or "how will I live." In their minds, the well-learned noble disciples also do not harbor such doubts as: what kind of being is this, why did it previously have such a status, what kind of being will it ultimately become, from what place did this being come, and where will it go after dying in this world.

A practitioner seeking tranquility and liberation does not consider what status he had in past lives, nor does he seek what his future lives will be like; all thoughts about past lives have completely ceased, and all delusive thoughts about future lives have also ceased; he only seeks to extinguish suffering and attain liberation in this present life. If he still thinks about how his future lives should be this way or that way, he is not a person seeking liberation. However, a practitioner treading the bodhisattva path must consider how to cultivate in future lives, how to save and liberate sentient beings, and how to accomplish the Buddha Way. Therefore, for the arhat seeking liberation, there is no aggregate of form of the five aggregates in his liberation, whereas in the mind-liberation of a Mahāyāna bodhisattva, the aggregate of form of the five aggregates must necessarily be present.

Original text:若沙门婆罗门。起凡俗见所系。谓说我见所系。说众生见所系。说寿命见所系。忌讳吉庆见所系。尔时悉断悉知。断其根本。如截多罗树头。于未来世。成不生法。是名多闻圣弟子。于因缘法缘生法。如实正知。善见善觉。善修善入。佛说此经已。诸比丘闻佛所说。欢喜奉行。

Explanation: If śramaṇas and brāhmaṇas were formerly bound by the worldly views of ordinary mundane people that they themselves had given rise to—that is, bound by the view of self, bound by the view of sentient beings, bound by the view of a life-span, and bound by various worldly views of taboos and auspicious celebrations that are not in accordance with reason—then when they realize the dharma of causes and conditions, all of these are completely severed, cutting off the root of the view of self and the view of what belongs to self. It is just like cutting off the top of a tāla tree, so that these views not in accordance with reason can never again arise in future lives. In this way, the well-learned noble disciples truly and correctly understand the dharma of causes and conditions and the dharma of conditioned arising as they really are, being able to skillfully see their true principle, skillfully awaken to the true principle, and skillfully cultivate and enter the Path.