The Profound Yogācāra Meaning of the Diamond Sutra (61)

Original text: 世尊。佛说我得无诤三昧。人中最为第一。是第一离欲阿罗汉。我不作是念。我是离欲阿罗汉。世尊。我若作是念。我得阿罗汉道。世尊则不说须菩提是乐阿兰那行者。以须菩提实无所行。而名须菩提是乐阿兰那行。

Explanation: Subhūti said: World-Honored One, the Buddha has said that I have attained the samādhi of non-contention, that among all śrāvakas I am the foremost, the most superior, and that I am the arhat foremost in freedom from desire. World-Honored One, I do not entertain such a thought: 'I am an arhat free from desire.' World-Honored One, if I were to entertain such a thought—'I have attained the way and fruit of an arhat'—then the World-Honored One would not say that Subhūti is one who delights in the practice of tranquility (araṇā-vihāra). Because Subhūti truly has nothing to attain, nothing to do, and nothing to practice, it is only then that Subhūti is named one who delights in the practice of tranquility. An arhat of the fourth fruit has not only eliminated self-view but also eliminated attachment to self; the manas' craving and attachment to the self's five aggregates have been completely severed, the conceit of self has been fully eliminated, and the mind is utterly without self. Since there is no self, one will not argue with others over superiority or inferiority, right or wrong, true or false, long or short, strong or weak; the mind becomes tranquil and cool—this is the samādhi of non-contention. And Subhūti is the most non-contentious, the most tranquil, the most accommodating toward people and affairs.

Freedom from desire means departing from all kinds of desires, all the hopes and cravings belonging to the desire realm, with sexual desire as the primary one, including wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep, and the five sense objects of form, sound, scent, taste, and touch. After realizing the first fruit, when the first dhyāna arises and the state of the form realm manifests, body and mind experience supreme bliss. Because this blissful contact far surpasses the various pleasures of the desire realm, and also surpasses the pleasure of sexual desire, one then no longer delights in sexual desire, no longer delights in the five sense objects of the desire realm, and no longer delights in wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep—this is the severing of desire. Then, upon also severing anger, the five lower fetters are completely eliminated, and one becomes an arhat of the third fruit. The arhat of the fourth fruit, all the more, has severed and departed from desire.

Subhūti severed desire most thoroughly and is the foremost person free from desire. Yet Subhūti has no thought that 'I am an arhat free from desire.' If Subhūti had this thought, then he would have a self and would have the matter of 'freedom from desire,' and his mind would not be tranquil or pure; the World-Honored One would then not say that Subhūti is one who delights in the practice of tranquility. Because there is nothing happening in Subhūti's mind—without desire and without contrivance—and because he sees as empty all dharmas within the eighteen realms, regarding all formations as empty, Subhūti accordingly has nothing to practice. Within the empty and illusory dharmas, within the false dharmas, there is nothing to be done; everything done is empty, and there is no such thing at all. Only in this way is Subhūti one who delights in the practice of tranquility, one who acts without contrivance.