Only After the Thirty-Seven Factors of Enlightenment Are Accomplished Can One Attain Enlightenment

Chapter 5: Only After the Thirty-Seven Factors of the Path Are Accomplished Can One Attain Realization

I. The sequence of cultivating the thirty-seven factors of the path is roughly as follows: one begins cultivation from the faith faculty among the five faculties; once the five faculties grow, the five powers are fulfilled; afterward one enters the Noble Eightfold Path and initiates contemplative cultivation, cultivating the seven factors of enlightenment; within the factor of mindfulness one cultivates the four foundations of mindfulness, attaining the flavor of wholesome dharmas, giving rise to the four right efforts; finally, as the result, through diligent and arduous cultivation one attains the fruit-bliss of the four bases of supernatural power, and the mind attains ease and liberation.

For each of the thirty-seven factors of the path, not only must the mind consciousness diligently cultivate it, but the manas must also be steeped in it, so that the manas and the mind consciousness cultivate together, fully fulfilling each factor of the path, and finally accomplishing the four bases of supernatural power. The mind consciousness uses the power of mindfulness to steep and train the manas, so that the manas' power of mindfulness is fulfilled and the power of mindfulness is accomplished. Each dharma is first guided by the mind consciousness' steeping and training, and fulfilled by the manas; only afterward can this dharma be actually realized.

Only when the manas realizes that body and mind are not truly existent can liberation be attained; if the mind consciousness merely believes that body and mind are not truly existent, liberation cannot be attained. The distance between believing and realizing can be far or near, depending entirely on the individual's level of cultivation; without cultivation, the gap may span many kalpas.

II. The key to attaining fruition in the Small Vehicle is the cultivation of the seven factors of enlightenment. The seven factors have already been discussed in outline. The process of cultivation is also the process of the four applications of knowledge—the four stages of heat, summit, patience, and the supreme worldly dharma. These are processes of further inner processing upon the foundation of textual theory. During this processing, the mind will inevitably undergo corresponding changes gradually; this is the process by which the contemplative practice of dharma meanings gradually resonates with the manas within, and the manas gradually receives and accepts them. Of course, first the mind consciousness receives and accepts them, giving rise to determination (adhimokṣa), and then transmits them to the manas, letting the manas receive and accept them. After the manas receives and accepts them, body and mind will gradually transform, and the seven factors of enlightenment will appear one by one. Only after the factor of meditative concentration appears can great wisdom relinquish the dharma-marks of the five aggregates of body and mind, and then realize the dharma, becoming a first-fruit person, foremost in the world. If body and mind have not changed or transformed, and the seven factors of enlightenment have not been accomplished, it is impossible to eradicate the view of self and attain fruition.

The mark of heat: in the initial stage of study, through textual theory, after personally contemplating and practicing, a mark of heat appears in the mind—like sparks being struck—where the mind somewhat assents to the correct theory being contemplated, has an initial understanding of and interest in the dharma being cultivated, and wishes to continue exploring its meaning in depth.

The mark of the summit: at this stage, one's understanding of the theory has reached a certain degree, a certain height; one has understood and comprehended the emptiness and selflessness of the five aggregates of body and mind, reaching the peak of understanding the five aggregates. At this point one is still in the stage of the mind consciousness' understanding and determination; the manas has not yet fully come to know and determine it. Therefore the mind still has agitation and cannot fully accept and abide in the understanding that the five aggregates are empty and selfless; one is at a stage where one may advance or retreat.

At this stage, some people's minds will fiercely resist, with restless, unsettled thoughts and fluctuating emotions. Some may be extremely distressed, perhaps inexplicably irritable and low in spirits. After passing this stage, the manas becomes somewhat accustomed, and the emotions return to normal, entering the next stage: not only does the mind consciousness patiently accept emptiness, but the manas also patiently accepts it. One will then continue to investigate deeply: why exactly are the five aggregates empty and unreal?

The third stage is patience. Patience means abiding—abiding in the meaning of emptiness, accepting the impermanence of the five aggregates—but it is not yet true realization. Because the evidence is not yet sufficient and the mind's deliberation is still inadequate, one cannot truly confirm this principle; the mind is merely no longer agitated and has become relatively settled. One is also striving to find evidence, striving to directly perceive the substance of the five aggregates of body and mind. At this time, the feelings of body and mind become increasingly tranquil and light, increasingly joyful; meditative concentration becomes better and better, wisdom becomes deeper and more subtle, increasingly keen; the thought of emptiness becomes ever more firm—but one still cannot abide in relinquishment; there is no factor of relinquishment in the mind.

When the factor of relinquishment is accomplished, the notions and thoughts of "I" within the mind are relinquished; the mind is empty; the concept of the five aggregates being empty and impermanent has been firmly established; the evidence is sufficient; the mind completely assents to and confirms that the five aggregates are empty and selfless. The fourth stage, the supreme worldly dharma, is accomplished; the view of self is eradicated, and the first fruit is attained.

During the contemplative practice, body and mind must constantly undergo changes. Why must changes occur? Because through the mind consciousness' determination, the manas gradually gains a certain understanding that contradicts its former notions, gradually overturning its former cognition. When the manas discovers a new continent, it will prompt corresponding changes and reactions in body and mind. Therefore, eradicating the view of self and realizing the selflessness of the five aggregates must be realized by the manas.

The phenomena of awakened clarity that appear after eradicating the view of self, and the phenomena of tranquility and joy arising in body and mind, are brought about by the manas—they are the manas' reactions in body and mind. The mind consciousness cannot make body and mind react, cannot make body and mind experience tranquility and joy. Therefore, eradicating the view of self must be the manas eradicating the view of self, not merely the mind consciousness eradicating it. The mind consciousness' view of self, of course, was eradicated long before.

If no phenomena of tranquility, joy, or awakened clarity appear, yet one still believes the five aggregates are selfless, this is the mind consciousness eradicating the view of self, which has not yet penetrated into the depths of the manas' mind. When the manas first comes to know this principle, phenomena of resistance and irritability will appear, with varying degrees of intensity. Those whose faculties from past lives are good, who have contemplated the five aggregates before, will not have these irritable emotions, will not resist, and will directly have a joyful state of mind appear.

What is called actual practice? This is actual practice. Without these stages and processes, one cannot claim to have truly eradicated the view of self. After truly eradicating the view of self, body and mind will certainly transform, mental conduct will certainly change, sagely nature will certainly appear, and the mind will certainly be empty. How could one still have such severe afflictions? How could so many chaotic phenomena still appear? Impossible. When the mind is empty, one no longer wishes to engage in superfluous activities; there is an initial resonance with non-action. How could so many chaotic affairs occur, let alone so many evil deeds? They simply cannot appear.

If meditative concentration is insufficient, contemplative practice is truly laborious, and the absorption and understanding of dharma meanings will be inadequate. Some profound dharmas and very profound dharmas cannot then be understood and accepted with faith, so doubt will arise; if the doubt-view is not severed, the mind will not be at peace.

III. On the Small Vehicle side, to eradicate the view of self, the thirty-seven factors of the path must be fully cultivated; the seven factors of enlightenment must be fulfilled, and the Noble Eightfold Path must be fulfilled. The phenomena of the factor of joy and the factor of tranquility (rapture) must appear, and next the factor of meditative concentration must manifest. These are inseparable from meditative concentration; they belong to the prelude and aftermath of meditative concentration, within the scope of concentration.

In the process of contemplating the Buddha-dharma, there should arise phenomena of tranquility of body and mind and joy in the heart. This is one of the contents of realizing the seven factors of enlightenment, indicating that the Buddha-dharma has entered the manas' mind and gained a certain degree of the manas' acceptance, though not yet complete. This can also be called the manifestation of the mark of heat of the four applications of knowledge.

The realization of any dharma is indeed related to the manas and related to concentration. The realization of the seven factors of enlightenment demonstrates this fact; thus the relationship between the manas and realization and cultivation has a basis in the Buddhist sutras. Concentration and wisdom and the manas cannot be separated even for a moment. Only when the manas realizes is there true wisdom; only when the manas has meditative concentration can wisdom arise. The mind consciousness' understanding alone has no great wisdom; it is merely a learner's words, called a disciple of intellectual understanding. Regarding the importance of the manas in cultivation and realization, the seven factors of enlightenment are excellent evidence. The Noble Eightfold Path also speaks of eight "rights," all referring to cultivating the manas. "Right" mainly means turning the manas' thoughts and notions around, letting it take charge and decide that all bodily, verbal, and mental actions are right actions. If the manas has not been corrected, the Noble Eightfold Path has not been accomplished.

Feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are all empty and selfless—then who is feeling, perceiving, forming, and cognizing? That which feels, perceives, forms, and cognizes is the mind of the seven consciousnesses, which are also empty and selfless. The mind consciousness that observes feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness as empty is empty and selfless; the mind consciousness that knows the observer is empty is empty and selfless; the minds of the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that know all dharmas are empty and selfless are empty and selfless. Whatever has knowing, mindfulness, or thoughts in the mind is empty and selfless. In the chapter on Avalokiteśvara Bodhisattva's perfect penetration through the ear faculty, all dharmas are emptied—the dharma that empties and the dharma that is emptied are both emptied—and what finally remains, the one thing that truly cannot be emptied, is the tathāgatagarbha of one's own mind. Not even abiding in one's own tathāgatagarbha—then cultivation has reached its destination.

IV. The Four Noble Truths, the four right efforts, the four bases of supernatural power, the five faculties, the five powers, the seven factors of enlightenment, and the Noble Eightfold Path—these contents of the thirty-seven factors of the path—are all processes of cultivation before and after seeing the path. The Great and Small Vehicles are broadly similar, with similar and alike cultivation processes. If without the steeping of these processes a fruit suddenly appears and one becomes a sage, this fruit is very suspicious and extremely unreliable. Fruits and conclusions can be plagiarized; all views can be memorized—just by reading a few more books, one can memorize and imagine them.

But these processes cannot be plagiarized by anyone. They are processes that everyone who sees the path and attains fruition must undergo. Each person's process may differ somewhat due to different faculties from past lives. For those who attained fruition in past lives, these processes in this life may perhaps be passed through very quickly; others cannot do so—they must practice and realize each one, passing through each checkpoint. The same applies to Great Vehicle fruition. Only when these processes have all been undergone can body and mind transform, and at the time of attaining fruition there will be the merit and benefit of liberation. For those who have not undergone these processes, the fruit they obtain is like flowers in the sky—merely to be admired, with no practical value and no merit or benefit of liberation.

The so-called actual practice is the cultivation content of the thirty-seven factors of the path of the Great and Small Vehicles. Apart from these concrete and specific cultivation contents, it is not actual practice. Cultivation with only conclusions and no process is not actual practice; studying only theory is not actual practice. Theory can be learned up to the theory of bodhisattvas at the second through tenth bhūmis; even if one understands those principles, one is still one or two immeasurable kalpas away from actual realization. Studying now the theory of one or two immeasurable kalpas later and thinking one has mastered it, that one is a sage, that the road ahead need not be walked, that the actual cultivation process need not be experienced and practiced—such cultivation is a dream, illusion, bubble, shadow, yielding only sky-flowers and bearing an empty fruit.

V. The dharma of the Four Noble Truths—suffering, origination, cessation, and the path—also divides into inner mental sense-objects and outer mental sense-objects. The Noble Eightfold Path within the cultivation of the truth of the path also divides into inner and outer dharmas. Only when the Noble Eightfold Path is fully cultivated and the Small Vehicle's thirty-seven factors of the path are fully cultivated are the conditions for eradicating the view of self satisfied, and only afterward can fruition be attained. If one's mental conduct does not accord with the Noble Eightfold Path, then one's mental conduct is insufficient to make one a sage, and one cannot attain fruition. Within the Noble Eightfold Path there is right concentration, divided into the mind consciousness' outer concentration dharma and the manas' inner concentration dharma. Therefore the manas must necessarily correspond with concentration; only when the manas is perfected in concentration can right wisdom arise, can the view of self be eradicated, and the first fruit be attained. Otherwise everything is a fake fruit, a plastic fruit—only for viewing, with no practical use.

VI. the Great Mindfulness Sūtra (Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sūtra) is the sutra in which the Buddha taught us methods of contemplative practice. For those who do not know how to practice contemplation, following the line of thought the Buddha leads, contemplating within concentration—that is contemplative practice. At the end of contemplative practice there will be a decisive mind, a final conclusion emerging. If this conclusion accords with the facts and truths the Buddha pointed out to us, that is realization.

In the correct process of contemplative practice, many changes will arise in the mind: the seven factors of enlightenment must appear one by one; the mark of heat must appear in the mind; the first three of the four applications of knowledge must appear. When one finally realizes no-self and emptiness, that is the supreme worldly dharma, and the first fruit is accomplished. If none of these phenomena have appeared, yet one claims to have eradicated the view of self and become a first-fruit person, that is simply self-deception and deceiving others. Ninety-nine percent of people have never practiced such contemplation; the seven factors of enlightenment have not all appeared; the stage of patience has not been truly completed—it is impossible to become that final, foremost-in-the-world first-fruit person.

The cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma has certain strict standards, and the Buddha taught these standards in the sutras: the thirty-seven factors of the path, the seven factors of enlightenment, the four applications of knowledge, the four foundations of mindfulness, and so on—all are cultivation standards spoken by the Buddha. It is only that sentient beings themselves do not understand; if the propagators of the dharma also do not understand, then the world will be full of chaotic phenomena—the streets full of "sages," yet foul and miasmic, with public morals declining daily.

VII. When the Buddha, in the Great Mindfulness Sūtra, spoke of the five hindrances, He said there are inner desire and outer desire, inner ill will and outer ill will, inner sloth-and-torpor and outer sloth-and-torpor, inner restlessness-and-remorse and outer restlessness-and-remorse, inner doubt and outer doubt. What do "inner" and "outer" respectively refer to?

If the mind is divided into inner and outer, the outer mind refers to the mind consciousness that sentient beings can generally discover and observe; the inner mind refers to the mind-manas that sentient beings cannot easily discover and observe. The two consciousness-minds are one manifest and one hidden, one bright and one dark, one deep and one shallow, one easily changed and one firm and hard to change. Cultivation means first implementing at the shallow level of the mind consciousness, then implementing at the deep level of the manas—first initially transforming the mind consciousness, and finally ultimately transforming the manas. Therefore, all afflictions and ignorance: the initial and obvious ones are at the level of the mind consciousness; the final and hidden, profound ones are at the level of the manas.

From this sutra we can see that when the Buddha taught the Small Vehicle dharma, although He did not explicitly speak of the dharma of the manas, He still covertly spoke of the manas—covertly stating that all afflictions and ignorance belong to the manas; severing afflictions means severing the manas' afflictions; liberation is the manas' liberation. All dharmas are implemented upon the manas; solving the problem of the manas solves all dharmas, ultimately and thoroughly reaching nirvāṇa and liberation.

VIII. In the Great Mindfulness Sūtra, when the Buddha spoke of contemplating feeling, He mentioned two kinds of feeling: inner feeling and outer feeling. Outer feeling refers to the feeling of the mind consciousness that is easy to observe, especially the mind consciousness' feeling with respect to the six sense-object realms; inner feeling refers to the manas' feeling, which is hidden relatively deep and not easy to observe. Although the vast majority of people cannot distinguish the mind consciousness from the manas, the mental activities deep within can still be perceived and observed, as long as the mind is very refined.

When the Buddha spoke of contemplating the mind, observing the mind meant observing the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion of the inner mind and outer mind, observing the inner and outer minds' concentration and distraction, expansiveness and narrowness, superiority and unsurpassability, having concentration and lacking concentration, liberation and non-liberation. This shows that the inner mind, the manas, has the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion, has concentration and non-concentration, has liberation and non-liberation. This proves from the Small Vehicle sutras that the manas has these mental factors, although the World-Honored One did not state it explicitly. Because the dharma of the manas could not be understood and realized even by Great Vehicle disciples, let alone deeply and correctly understood by Small Vehicle disciples, the World-Honored One had to speak covertly of the manas' mental factors.

The affliction of doubt has inner doubt and outer doubt; severing doubt must be severing it ultimately—certainly severing the manas' doubt. Therefore the three fetters refer entirely to the manas' fetters; only severing the manas' doubt is severing the three fetters. Severing desire means severing the manas' desire; only then can the mind correspond with the devas of the form realm and be reborn in the form realm heavens. Severing ill will certainly means eradicating the manas' ill will—only then is one an anāgāmin. Severing delusion certainly means eradicating the manas' delusion and ignorance—only then can one transcend the three realms.

The Small Vehicle Buddhist sutras are the easiest to understand, yet what person can truly comprehend the Small Vehicle sutras? Let alone the Great Vehicle sutras—what person can truly fully understand them? Even having attained arhatship, one still cannot fully believe your own mind; wisdom is insufficient and the mind not ultimate; fully believing it easily leads to errors.

IX. In the Great Mindfulness Sūtra, when the World-Honored One spoke of the five aggregates of grasping, He also spoke of the inner and outer dharmas of form, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness. Inner form is the physical body; outer form is the six sense-objects; inner feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are the manas; outer feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are the mind consciousness.

When the World-Honored One spoke of the seven factors of enlightenment, He also divided them into inner seven factors of enlightenment and outer seven factors of enlightenment. The factor of discrimination of dharmas, the factor of effort, the factor of joy, the factor of tranquility (rapture), the factor of meditative concentration, and the factor of relinquishment are all divided into the mind consciousness' outer factors and the manas' inner factors. When the inner seven factors of enlightenment have not been cultivated to accomplishment, it is impossible to attain the Small Vehicle fruit, impossible to eradicate the view of self, let alone to see the mind and see the nature. Without accomplishing the thirty-seven factors of the path, do not speak at all of either Great or Small Vehicle fruition. Without accomplishing tranquility of body and mind, concentration is not accomplished; without the neutral feeling of relinquishment present in the mind, one cannot eradicate the view of self, cannot see the mind and see the nature. These are hard indicators of Buddhist cultivation and realization, which no one can bypass. If one insists on saying that so-and-so has attained fruition and seen the mind, those are all plastic fruits—fine to look at, but they cannot fill the belly and have no real value.

X. The first of the seven factors of enlightenment is the factor of mindfulness. The inner factor of mindfulness is the manas' mindfulness; the outer factor of mindfulness is the mind consciousness' mindfulness. When the manas has no factor of mindfulness, the factor of mindfulness is not accomplished, and the factor of discrimination of dharmas cannot manifest. Therefore the manas must have the mental factor of mindfulness. The Small Vehicle sutras already covertly speak of the manas' mental factor of mindfulness, let alone the Great Vehicle sutras. It is only that sentient beings' ignorance is heavy, they cannot understand the sutras, and cannot discern this.

From the World-Honored One's description of the seven factors of enlightenment, the manas has the factor of discrimination of dharmas, the factor of effort (true diligence), the factor of joy (the manas does not have only neutral feeling), the factor of tranquility, the factor of meditative concentration (corresponding with concentration), and the factor of relinquishment. Afterward, when mental conduct accords with the Noble Eightfold Path, the conditions for attaining Small Vehicle fruition are fulfilled, and one can eradicate the view of self and attain the first fruit; otherwise all are fake fruits, plastic fruits. When conditions are not fulfilled and causes and conditions are not complete, forcibly guiding can only yield a fake fruit.

Among the seven factors of enlightenment, there is the factor of discrimination of dharmas. When one cultivates to this point, one has the ability to discriminate. But when something exceeds one's current level by too much, one again lacks the capacity for judgment—then one must continue cultivating. The factor of discrimination of dharmas must be continually advanced until it is perfectly fulfilled, able to immediately and correctly discern all dharmas without doubt.

(To be continued)