The Defilements to Be Abandoned by the Second Fruit

Original text of the Abhidharmakośa Śāstra: 若先已断。欲界六品。或七八品。至此位中名第二果向。趣第二果故。第二果者。谓一来果。遍得果中。此第二故。

Explanation: If one has previously eradicated six grades of delusions of the desire realm, or seven or eight grades of delusions, and cultivates to this stage, one is called a candidate for the second fruit (second-fruit aspirant), because one is heading toward the second fruit. The second fruit is the once-returner fruit (sakṛdāgāmin); after one round of rebirth each in the human realm and the heavenly realm, one attains nirvāṇa without remainder. Among all the fruits that should be attained, the once-returner fruit ranks second in sequence, hence it is called the second fruit.

The three grades of delusions of the desire realm—the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades—are somewhat deeper and subtler than the previous five grades of delusions, and somewhat harder to eradicate. Once they are cultivated and eradicated, the power of eradication will be higher, and the fruit will naturally be higher than that of the first-fruit aspirant and the first fruit, whose eradication covers only five grades. The nine grades of afflictive delusions of the desire realm are all related to the dharmas of the desire realm: they are the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion toward the forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas of the desire realm; the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion toward the food, clothing, and livelihood necessities of the desire realm; and the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion toward sexual desire. The first grade, the lowest-of-the-low grade of afflictive delusions, is the coarsest, the most turbid, the most inferior, the most faulty, the least one should possess, and the most one should remove. The second grade comes next, the third grade after that, and so on up to the fifth grade; after these are cultivated and eradicated, one is a first-fruit aspirant, situated between an ordinary being and the first fruit, still classified as an ordinary being, not exempt from transmigrating through the three evil destinies. Only upon reaching the first fruit can the suffering of transmigration through the three evil destinies be extinguished.

If one wishes to eradicate the five grades of afflictive delusions of the desire realm, one must uphold the precepts and cultivate meditative concentration. When the concentration of the desire realm arises, the five grades of afflictive delusions will be subdued and eradicated. Having eradicated these afflictive delusions, one continues to uphold the precepts and cultivate concentration, giving rise to the wisdom of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), realizing that the five aggregates are suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self; meditative absorption (samādhi) appears, one attains purity of the dharma eye, and attains the first fruit. Among these, meditative concentration is the key. Without the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) of the desire realm, no afflictive delusions can be subdued and eradicated, and the first-fruit aspirant stage cannot be attained either. Why can preparatory concentration eradicate the five grades of delusions? Because concentration steadies the mind. First the body is steadied; only when the body is steadied can the mind then become steady. When the mind is steady, it is subdued, inclining less toward forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas, and the afflictions are naturally severed. The afflictive delusions eradicated by the second-fruit aspirant and the second fruit are somewhat subtler and deeper than those eradicated by the first-fruit aspirant and the first fruit, but they still belong to the afflictive delusions of the desire realm; only one grade remains before the afflictive delusions of the desire realm are eradicated completely without remainder. With the preparatory concentration of the desire realm they can be eradicated, and with the concentration of the form realm and the formless realm they can be eradicated even more easily.

Some people say that attaining the fruits and seeing the mind do not require meditative concentration, that there is no need to eradicate afflictions, and that the afflictions of a first-fruit attainer are exactly the same as those of an ordinary being. Such statements precisely show that this person has never genuinely gone through the stage of cultivating the path; his own mind must certainly be in accord with the afflictions of an ordinary being, and so the so-called attestation of fruit and seeing of the mind become highly doubtful. A person without meditative concentration naturally does not know the beneficial effects and merits of meditative concentration, and naturally will not eradicate any afflictions; his afflictions are of course identical to those of an ordinary being, without any difference. But in reality it is not so. Meditative concentration has the power of eradication; it has merit and virtue; it is the most crucial link and booster of cultivating the path. Without this crucial link of meditative concentration, the wisdom that eradicates the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) will not arise. The understanding of the mind consciousness does not play the decisive role; it is the wisdom of the manas that is decisive, determining whether the afflictions of ignorance exist or not, determining the direction of future lives, and determining whether or not there is liberation.

Attaining the first fruit is comparable to being reborn with a completely transformed body and bones. The manas is the backbone: whatever kind of bone one has determines whatever kind of womb one takes. If the ignorance and afflictions of the manas are not severed and the bones do not change, one cannot shed the womb of an ordinary being; what womb one enters in the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) is determined by the bones of the manas. Why can meditative concentration enable the manas to be reborn with a transformed body and bones? Because meditative concentration subdues the six consciousnesses; the six consciousnesses move less and more slowly, so the manas's domination and regulation of the six consciousnesses naturally decreases, the grasping mind weakens, the mind can dwell more on the meaning of the Dharma, its capacity to absorb and digest the meaning of the Dharma is strengthened, its deliberation (manasikāra/manana) on the meaning of the Dharma becomes more focused, it gradually penetrates the meaning of the Dharma, wisdom arises, afflictions are eradicated, and one obtains partial or complete liberation. Without meditative concentration, the six consciousnesses' grasping at the six sense objects never ceases, the manas's command over the six consciousnesses never ceases, one cannot dwell on the meaning of the Dharma, wisdom cannot arise, afflictions are not severed, and liberation is hopeless.