Afflictions That a Srotāpanna Should Eliminate

Original text of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, Volume Twenty-three: 由于修惑具断有殊。立为三向。谓彼二圣。若于先时。未以世道。断修断惑。名为具缚。

Explanation: For those practicing the path of liberation, because the afflictive delusions that should be eliminated during the course of practice vary greatly, those who eliminate afflictive delusions and karma are established as three fruits-toward, namely the first-fruit-toward, the second-fruit-toward, and the third-and-fourth-fruit-toward. The two kinds of noble persons—the dull-facultied faith-follower and the sharp-facultied dharma-follower—if they have previously not eliminated the afflictive delusions of cultivation to be eliminated by means of the worldly path, such a person is an ordinary being bound by all afflictions.

This means that cultivation of the path begins with practice as an ordinary being; ordinary beings must also eliminate the corresponding afflictive delusions. Every ordinary sentient being must pass through various stages of cultivating the path. At the very beginning, one certainly cultivates worldly dharmas, abandoning evil and cultivating goodness within worldly dharmas. The content of this cultivation is the four right efforts. If the four right efforts have not been cultivated to completion, one cannot eliminate afflictive delusions, and one remains an ordinary being bound by all fetters. Before seeing the path, ordinary beings mainly cultivate the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, which include the seven factors of enlightenment and the noble eightfold path. Among the seven factors of enlightenment is the factor of meditative concentration; when the factor of meditative concentration is complete, one will subdue and eliminate the low-grade afflictions of the desire realm.

The noble eightfold path also includes right concentration. Once right concentration is complete, it will likewise subdue and eliminate the low-grade afflictions of the desire realm. When the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment are cultivated to completion, precepts, meditative concentration, and wisdom will be perfected, and only then are the conditions for seeing the path fulfilled; upon encountering the necessary conditions, one can attain purity of the dharma eye and realize the first fruit. If these conditions for cultivating the path are not fulfilled, the necessary conditions will also not be complete, and seeing the path will be impossible. Many people skip this stage of practice and yet speak of seeing the path and realizing the first fruit—that is a mistaken notion of seeing the path, nothing but a great false claim.

Original text of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya: 或先已断。欲界一品。乃至五品。至此位中名初果向。趣初果故。言初果者。谓预流果。此于一切沙门果中。必初得故。

Explanation: Among those practicing the path of liberation, some have previously already eliminated the first through the fifth grade of afflictive delusions of the desire realm. At this point, such a person can be called a first-fruit-toward, because they are heading toward the first fruit; hence they are called a first-fruit-toward, and before long they will realize the first fruit and attain purity of the dharma eye. The first fruit is also called the fruit of stream-entry (srotāpanna); among all the fruits of the renunciant śramaṇas, it is necessarily the fruit first attained.

A first-fruit-toward eliminates the five grades of afflictive delusions of the desire realm, and only then can they realize the first fruit. This means that at the stage of an ordinary being, a first-fruit-toward must eliminate the five grades of afflictive delusions of the desire realm. By what means can an ordinary being eliminate the five grades of afflictive delusions? As stated above, in the course of cultivating the path, ordinary beings must cultivate the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment and must abandon evil and cultivate goodness; by cultivating goodness one can abandon evil, and abandoning evil means eliminating the five grades of afflictive delusions of the desire realm. If one only cultivates goodness without attaining the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) of the desire realm, or if the preparatory concentration of the desire realm is not complete, one also cannot eliminate the five grades of afflictive delusions, and cannot become a first-fruit-toward. Cultivating preparatory concentration is the factor of meditative concentration among the seven factors of enlightenment, and it is right concentration among the eightfold path. If the preparatory concentration of the desire realm is insufficient, then right concentration is not complete, the cultivation of the eightfold path is not complete, and there is no right path to speak of.

Therefore, the claim made by some people that seeing the path at the first or second fruit does not require meditative concentration, does not require preparatory concentration, and even that one can realize the fruit without cultivating concentration gravely violates the principles of the seven factors of enlightenment and the noble eightfold path, violates the true principle of realizing the fruits, and even more gravely violates the teachings of the World-Honored One, Maitreya Bodhisattva, and all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Their claims of realizing the fruit have no such thing and no such reality; they belittle the cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma, and it also proves that they have never gone through the actual stages of practicing the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment. Their approach to practice is rather blind, with much speculation. Many good teachers in the Dharma-ending age are indeed only skilled at collecting and disseminating knowledge, and do not understand the principles of cultivation and realization.