What Is the State When the Five Aggregates of Grasping Are Exhausted?

The five aggregates of grasping are five kinds of obstruction for the seven consciousnesses of sentient beings. They obstruct the manifestation of the vast meritorious functions of the seven consciousnesses and obstruct their supernatural powers and wondrous functions, so that what the seven consciousnesses know and do is confined within a small range and cannot go beyond it. At the same time, they also obstruct the manifestation of the meritorious functions of the eighth consciousness, so that the great perfect mirror wisdom (ādarśajñāna) cannot manifest. Only through cultivating the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, attaining meditative concentration at the level of the fourth dhyāna and above, can one gradually break through the limitations of the five aggregates of grasping, break out of the cage of the five aggregates of grasping—like a bird leaving its cage—gain freedom, and soar through the vast expanse of heaven and earth.

To extinguish and break through the five aggregates of grasping requires meditative concentration at the fourth dhyāna or above. The fourth dhyāna is the samādhi of purity through abandoning thought; when the mind has no thoughts, there are no obstacles whatsoever, and any supernatural power or functional capacity can be brought forth, eliminating the obstructions upon body and mind and encountering no hindrance whatsoever. The aggregate of form (rūpa) is the physical body and all material dharmas, and it is also the realm of the six sense-objects; it has an obstructing and hindering effect on the seven consciousnesses, especially on the six consciousnesses. When the manas wants to use the six consciousnesses to accomplish something, the six consciousnesses cannot do it. This is why it is said that the five aggregates of grasping also obstruct the seventh consciousness.

 When the aggregate of form is exhausted, the physical body and the material dharmas of the sense-objects no longer obstruct the six consciousnesses. What does this mean? What is the obstruction of the aggregate of form against the six consciousnesses? Due to the influence of the physical body and material form, the eye consciousness wants to see distant things but cannot see them; it wants to see the heavens above and the earth below but cannot see them; it wants to see other celestial bodies but cannot see them, let alone other buddha-lands—seeing form is confined within a limited range of distance and space. The eye consciousness wants to see beyond high walls, beyond the other side of great mountains, and forms in deep water or underground, but cannot see them, blocked by material form; the eye consciousness wants to see form in pitch-dark places without light but cannot—seeing form is confined to places with light.

Similarly, the ear consciousness wants to hear distant sounds but cannot; when dense material substances lie in between, sounds cannot be heard; sounds beyond a certain range cannot be heard—hearing sounds is obstructed by spatial distance and material form. The nose consciousness cannot smell scent-objects from far away, nor can it smell scent-objects wrapped in dense materials. The tongue consciousness cannot taste flavor-objects that do not contact the tongue faculty. The body consciousness cannot feel tangible objects that do not contact the body faculty. The mind consciousness does not know the people, things, and events of past and future lives—that is, it lacks the recollection of past lives (pūrvanivāsānusmṛti).

If one cultivates to the fourth dhyāna, the aggregate of form can be broken through, and seeing forms, hearing sounds, and feeling tangibles will no longer be obstructed by the aggregate of form. Then the divine eye, divine ear, divine nose, and divine tongue powers will appear, the body's supernormal power of traveling at will (ṛddhi) will also appear, and the mind consciousness's power of knowing others' minds and the recollection of past lives will also appear. This is what is called the freedom of the five supernatural powers. Non-Buddhist practitioners who cultivate the four dhyānas and eight samādhis also have these five powers. There is also the power of the exhaustion of outflows (āsrava-kṣaya), which non-Buddhists cannot attain, because that is the power of wisdom that comes from utterly severing afflictions. Non-Buddhists have not eliminated self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi), so self-grasping cannot be utterly severed, and they cannot have the power of the exhaustion of outflows. After the aggregate of form is exhausted, one must gradually break through the domains of the aggregates of feeling (vedanā), perception (saṃjñā), formations (saṃskāra), and consciousness (vijñāna); what one sees will then be vast and unobstructed, without limitation.

Only when the domain of the aggregate of feeling is completely broken through can one be free from the limitations and control of bodily sensations. No matter what happens to the physical body, the mind remains unaffected; fire burning, knives cutting, or water flooding can do nothing to this flesh body, and facing any state of experience, the mind remains suchness is immovable. When the domain of the aggregate of feeling has not been broken through, the tactile sensations of the flesh body will affect the fluctuations of the six consciousnesses.

All these supernatural powers are initiated by the manas. Originally, the manas also wanted to know vast realms, but because the six consciousnesses were obstructed by the five aggregates of grasping, the manas was helpless. Now that the obstructions have been cleared away, the manas's wishes can be fulfilled without hindrance. This requires an enormous amount of merit as support, as well as the support of precepts and the power of meditative concentration. Lacking any one of these three conditions, no supernatural power can be brought forth.