The Gap Between Eradicating the View of Self and Eradicating Attachment to Self

The first fruit of eradicating the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and the fourth fruit of eradicating self-grasping are separated by a very, very great distance. The reason why self-grasping cannot be eradicated after the view of self has been eradicated is that the degree to which the principle of non-self is realized at the first fruit is still shallow and its scope still narrow, so that the manas is unable to eradicate self-grasping in one sudden stroke. After attaining the first fruit, one must continue the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the principle that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are without self, ever more deeply; as the contemplative practice grows ever deeper, the realization of non-self becomes ever more profound. When the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna arises and afflictions are eradicated, self-grasping will become ever more faint, and grasping ever more slight; soon one can completely eradicate self-grasping.

If there is the support of the fourth dhyāna, then at the very moment of eradicating the view of self, self-grasping can be eradicated in one sudden stroke, because meditative concentration can subdue all afflictions; with only slight grasping at the body, all that remains lacking is the wisdom that negates the five aggregates as self. Once one possesses the wisdom that the five aggregates are without self, one can completely eradicate self-grasping and become an arhat of the fourth fruit — this is exactly how the non-Buddhist practitioners of the Buddha's time were. If the view of self is eradicated thoroughly, then self-grasping is eradicated as well.