The Criteria for Breaking Precepts

Question: The Śūraṅgama Sūtra says that Ānanda had attained the first fruit, yet was seduced by Mātaṅgī and almost broke his precepts. If he had not been saved by the Śūraṅgama mantra, would he have fallen into the three evil destinies because of breaking the precepts?

Answer: Ānanda was lured into the prostitute's house by Mātaṅgī's mother using an external-path evil mantra; he did not walk into the prostitute's house of his own accord. Ānanda's meditative concentration (samādhi) at the first fruit was clearly insufficient to withstand the powerful evil mantra of the external path. The evil mantra had an obstructive effect on Ānanda, causing him to lose his power of resistance, but Ānanda would absolutely never voluntarily violate any precept, and would not fall into the three evil destinies. It is like a person whose meditative concentration is insufficient to resist the bewitching power of alcohol—once alcohol enters the mind, one becomes dazed and unclear. This alcohol may not have been drunk voluntarily, but was forcibly poured into one by another person, or poured in through a scheme. Ānanda's situation was that an external path forcibly applied a mantra spell upon him; because his power was insufficient, he could not resist it—it was not that Ānanda was willing to accept the evil mantra. Once the evil mantra entered his mind, Ānanda had no way to regain clarity. When a person is under the hallucinatory effect of a psychedelic drug, they lose awareness of themselves; this is not a matter of personal will, not a voluntary willingness to lose oneself. Therefore it does not constitute a voluntary act of breaking precepts driven by mental afflictions, and he would not fall into the three evil destinies. If, while being bewitched, Ānanda did not give rise to greedy desire, then no matter what, Ānanda would not be guilty of breaking the precepts, nor would it count as passively breaking them. To remain completely unmoved, without any greedy desire, requires cultivation to the third fruit or above, with greedy desire fully eliminated. Ordinary people need the control of the mind consciousness, but the mind consciousness is easily controlled by external forces. Therefore, if one only cultivates the mind consciousness and broadly studies and hears much, the power of the Path cannot become sound and complete—the result is exactly what happened to Ānanda. 

If there is an extremely strong external force acting upon a practitioner whose power of the Path is insufficient, then it is inevitable that they will be affected, because when the aggregate of form (rūpa) among the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) is not exhausted, one must be influenced by the aggregate of form; when the aggregate of feeling (vedanā) among the five aggregates is not exhausted, one must be influenced by the aggregate of feeling; when the aggregate of perception (saṃjñā) is not exhausted, one must be influenced by the aggregate of perception. This is something that cannot be helped. 

When can one be free from the influence of the five aggregates and attain the exhaustion of the aggregate of form, the aggregate of feeling, and the aggregate of perception? At the very least, this is only possible after attaining the fourth dhyāna. Only within the fourth dhyāna can the aggregates of form, feeling, and perception be fully eliminated; otherwise, anyone will be influenced by the five aggregates. Where there is a body, there is this great calamity; without a body, there is no calamity. This is precisely why one must cultivate the Path, must cultivate meditative concentration, and must cultivate all the way to the manas, in order to eliminate the five aggregates subject to feeling and attain liberation of mind. 

Those of the Small Vehicle judge whether a person has violated or broken the precepts solely by outward behavior: as long as the behavior conforms to the five precepts, the bhikṣu precepts, or the bhikṣuṇī precepts, they say the precepts are not broken. But the Great Vehicle judges whether a bodhisattva has violated or broken the precepts mainly by whether the bodhisattva's mind has violated the precepts—whether there has been any stirring of the mind in their actions. If the mind has not been stirred, then it is pure. However, ordinary people can only see outward behavior and cannot see a person's true mental activity, so cases of misjudgment are extremely numerous. If a person appears to be doing good deeds on the surface, appearing to benefit others, while their mental activity is entirely for personal gain—their behavior being a cover and a false appearance, the mind's aim inconsistent with the behavior—then that person is not doing good deeds, not benefiting others, but benefiting themselves. Such deception using behavior as a false appearance brings not only no merit but also transgression.