Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, Volume Thirty-Four (1)

Original text:若乐往趣出世间道。应当依止四圣谛境。渐次生起七种作意。所谓最初了相作意。最后加行究竟果作意。乃至证得阿罗汉果。修瑜伽师于四圣谛。略摽广辩增上教法。听闻受持。或于作意已善修习。或得根本静虑无色。

Explanation: If a practitioner delights in proceeding toward the supramundane path, they should rely on the realm of the Four Noble Truths and gradually generate seven kinds of attention (manaskāra). These seven kinds of attention are, respectively, the initial attention on discerning characteristics (laksana-pratisaṃvedana-manaskāra), followed by the attention of determination (adhimokṣa-manaskāra), the attention of separation (praviveka-manaskāra), the attention of gathering joy (rati-saṃgrahaṇa-manaskāra), the attention of observation (mīmāṃsā-manaskāra), the attention of the culmination of preparation (prayoga-niṣṭhā-manaskāra), and finally the attention of the fruition of the culmination of preparation (prayoga-niṣṭhā-phala-manaskāra), until attaining the fruit of an arhat. Yogic practitioners, with respect to the principle of the Four Noble Truths, briefly survey and extensively investigate and discern the intensified teachings, hearing and upholding them; they may have already well cultivated such proper attention, or they may have attained the fundamental dhyānas — the four dhyānas and eight samādhis — and even reached the formless realm absorptions.

This passage broadly reveals the content and sequence — or the process — of cultivation from an ordinary person to an arhat of the fourth fruit. If sentient beings wish to be liberated from worldly suffering and realize the bliss of nirvāṇa, they must cultivate and study the Four Noble Truths. In the process of cultivating the Four Noble Truths, one must generate seven kinds of attention. What is called "attention" (manaskāra) refers to noticing, attending to, and applying the mind — the direction toward which the mind inclines; it also refers to contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and observation. When the attention differs, the inclination differs, and the fruit differs accordingly. Only when the attention of the fruition of the culmination of preparation finally arises is the ultimate fruit obtained: attaining the fruit of an arhat, gaining liberation, and transcending the world.