A Commentary on the Mahāyāna Sūtra on the Manifestation of Consciousness

Original text: 如是我闻。一时薄伽梵。在王舍城。迦兰陀竹林，与大比丘众。千二百五十人俱。皆阿罗汉。诸漏已尽。无复烦恼。逮得自在。心善解脱。慧善解脱。

"Āsrava" refers to the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion; "exhausted" means completely eliminated. When the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion have all been eliminated, this is called the exhaustion of the āsavas. After eliminating self-view and attaining the first fruit, one cultivates the first dhyāna and begins to eliminate a portion of the afflictions, attaining the third fruit. After the first dhyāna arises, one first eliminates the affliction of greed and desire, then the affliction of hatred and resentment; together with the elimination of the three fetters of the first fruit, this eliminates the five lower fetters, and at the fourth fruit one further eliminates the five upper fetters. At this point, the scattered mind of ordinary worldlings (pṛthagjana), the mind of self-conceit, the craving for the three realms, self-grasping, self-love, and so forth are all eliminated—that is, the manas' grasping at self has been completely exhausted. All the view-delusions and thought-delusions of greed, hatred, delusion, conceit, doubt, and wrong views have been completely eliminated, with not the slightest craving for the dharmas of the three realms; when all these afflictions have been utterly eliminated, this is "exhaustion of the āsavas." If there are still afflictions, there are still āsavas; with āsavas one cannot escape the three realms and must continue to suffer within them.

For example, a third-fruit person who has not fully eliminated the afflictions of self-conceit and self-grasping cannot directly leave the three realms; he may need to further contemplate and practice contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) in the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava), and only after completely eliminating the afflictions can he leave the three realms. Some third-fruit persons, after death, ascend to the heavens and eliminate their remaining afflictions there before they can leave the three realms. Afflictions bind oneself within the three realms and six paths, unable to escape; therefore every sentient being must, after resolving and eliminating afflictions, be able to leave the three realms. Only by attaining the fourth fruit of arhatship, possessing the wisdom that exhausts the worldly, can one exhaust the worldly dharmas of the three realms. That is to say, the arhats all know how to extinguish their own five aggregates in order to escape the world—this belongs to the wisdom of those of the small vehicle. The arhats are all endowed with all-knowledge, endowed with the wisdom to escape birth and death; this is called liberation by wisdom (paññāvimutti).

Only by eliminating afflictions can one attain freedom. What does this "freedom" refer to? It refers to the freedom of the seven consciousnesses: without the bondage of afflictions, toward all dharmas of the world the mind is unobstructed, the mind attains liberation, unbound. Of course, all dharmas of the world do not include the Mahāyāna dharmas. Regarding the Mahāyāna dharmas, the arhat is still not free, because he has not realized the Mahāyāna dharmas. But in the worldly life of the five-aggregate world, his mind is free, able to not be bound by any of the six sense-objects; his craving and fetters for the three realms have all been completely eliminated, his mind has already attained liberation, and his wisdom has also attained liberation. Liberation of mind (cetovimutti) means the mind has attained freedom; liberation by wisdom refers at the very least to an arhat liberated by wisdom.

Arhats are divided into two types: those liberated by wisdom and those liberated in both ways. An arhat liberated by wisdom has only cultivated up to the first dhyāna, not yet to the fourth dhyāna, and lacks the five superknowledges, yet in terms of wisdom he already has the capacity to attain liberation. What does it mean to attain liberation through wisdom? It means that with this wisdom he can leave the three realms; although he has not yet attained the second, third, or fourth dhyāna, he has the first dhyāna, his afflictions are completely eliminated, and without the bondage of afflictions and self-grasping, at the end of his life he can extinguish the five aggregates and eighteen elements and leave the three realms. Having the wisdom of liberation, one is no longer bound by worldly dharmas—this is called "well liberated in mind, well liberated in wisdom."