Conditions for Mind Liberation

Question: Does attaining the first dhyāna mean the mind is liberated?

Answer: It is not liberation of the mind. Merely having the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna can only subdue afflictions, but cannot eradicate them, so one cannot attain liberation of the mind. The first dhyāna by itself has no necessary connection with liberation. The condition and standard for liberation of the mind is the merit and benefit of having eradicated the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) combined with the first dhyāna—neither can be lacking.

After eradicating the view of self, within the first dhyāna one can eradicate the two afflictions of greed-desire and ill will, and the mind is liberated from the greed-desire of the desire realm and the ill will of the form realm, no longer bound by these two afflictions—this is called the anāgāmin, the sage of the third fruit who has liberation of the mind. But the delusion of the formless realm has not yet been eradicated. When the afflictions of delusion and ignorance are completely eradicated, one becomes the arhat of the fourth fruit, liberated through wisdom. Only the Mahāyāna bodhisattvas of the third and fourth fruits will in the future be qualified to become sages at the first bhūmi and above.

Therefore, without cultivating meditative concentration and without any meditative absorption (samādhi) state whatsoever, one cannot attain liberation, much less become a Buddha. Likewise, without eradicating the view of self, one cannot attain liberation, much less become a Buddha. These two checkpoints, before one reaches the first bhūmi and the third fruit, must be passed through—no matter what, they cannot be bypassed or avoided, no matter what tricks one may cultivate.

Even if one expounds the Tripiṭaka and the twelve divisions of the scriptures in the most dazzling way, without passing through these two checkpoints, it has nothing to do with liberation or buddhahood, and nothing to do with genuine realization either. No matter how high one's verbal wisdom is—even high as high as the stage of Buddhahood—not a single one of the two checkpoints can be skipped over; they must be passed through. Otherwise it is called lofty talk and grandiose discussion, having nothing to do with liberation, nirvāṇa, or becoming a Buddha.

The condition for liberation of the mind is having fairly good meditative concentration as a foundation. When the manas, within fairly good meditative concentration, with the assistance of the mind consciousness, carries out contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and realizes that the five aggregates (pañca-skandha) are illusory, then it eradicates the view of self and no longer clings stubbornly to the physical body. The manas then obtains the most initial liberation, having the liberating merit and benefit of the first fruit (srotāpanna).

Liberation is in fact the liberation of the manas: it is the manas that is bound by ignorance, and it is the manas that transmigrates through birth and death. If one does not break through the ignorance of the manas but only breaks through the ignorance of the six consciousnesses, then at the time of death, when the manas is drawn along by ignorance, one will continue to sink in the bitter ocean of birth and death. At that time the six consciousnesses have vanished without a trace and simply cannot go on to future lives. At that point it no longer matters whether the mind consciousness has ignorance or not. It is only while the five-aggregate body is alive in the world that a mind consciousness without ignorance can effectively permeate and influence the manas, causing the manas also to break through ignorance and become free of ignorance. If the mind consciousness has ignorance while the five aggregates are alive, it cannot permeate and influence the manas to make it break through ignorance, and thus one will still commit evil bodily, verbal, and mental actions, leaving behind seeds of evil karma for future lives and suffering the misery of birth-and-death transmigration.