Mahāyāna Sūtra of the Revelation of Consciousness (5)

Therefore, the Dharma of the Hīnayāna arhat is not the ultimate Dharma; it can only be studied and practiced for a period of time. As bodhisattvas who study the Mahāyāna Dharma, although the Hīnayāna Dharma inevitably must be cultivated and realized, we do not take the path to nirvāṇa; after our own accomplishment, we must still benefit others — this is the bodhisattva's aspiration. The bodhisattva's mind is vast: not only must one liberate oneself, but one must also liberate all sentient beings who, like oneself, suffer the pain of saṃsāra, enabling them all likewise to attain ultimate liberation. This is the conduct of the great-mind bodhisattva, and therefore bodhisattvas are also called sentient beings of great mind.

"Having already cut off the suffering of transmigrating through birth and death in the three realms of existence": the arhats have already severed the suffering of birth and death as they transmigrate through the three realms. "Existence" includes the existence of the desire realm, the existence of the form realm, and the existence of the formless realm — that is, the desire realm has the dharmas of the desire realm, the form realm has the dharmas of the form realm, and the formless realm has the dharmas of the formless realm. The "existence" of these three realms is all suffering. Not only are the three evil destinies suffering, but our human realm is also suffering. What about the devas? They likewise have suffering. Is there no suffering within "pleasure"? There is suffering within pleasure as well; moreover, this so-called "pleasure" is itself a kind of suffering, and after the pleasure passes, there is suffering too. The suffering the Buddha spoke of includes three kinds: the suffering of suffering, the suffering of conditioning, and the suffering of deterioration. Although the devas do not have the suffering of suffering, they still have the suffering of conditioning and the suffering of deterioration, because their kind of pleasure is not permanent and cannot be retained; sooner or later it will vanish — this kind of suffering is called "the suffering of conditioning." When the feeling of pleasure disappears, it is called "the suffering of deterioration." Especially at the end of life, the devas will manifest the five signs of decay: first, the body becomes foul and malodorous; second, the flower crown withers; third, dust falls upon the robes; fourth, sweat appears under both armpits. The deva's body becomes foul and offensive to smell, and no deva is willing to approach him — they all avoid and keep away from him; the deva can no longer remain seated on the precious throne in heaven, the flower crown on his head withers, whereas previously his robes were always clean and never gathered dust, now his robes have dust on them, and a sweaty odor appears under both armpits. When these phenomena appear, it indicates that the deva's life is about to end and that he is about to undergo suffering — this is called the devas' "manifestation of the five signs of decay." The arhats have already completely severed the suffering of birth and death within these three realms; in the future they will no longer undergo the feeling of the suffering of birth and death, and will no longer take rebirth in the three realms.

"With the wisdom and power of right knowledge, skillfully knowing the inclinations of sentient beings' minds." The arhats cultivate the Four Noble Truths of suffering, origination, cessation, and the path, attain the wisdom of liberation, and are endowed with omniscience of all knowledge (sarvākārajñatā). With this wisdom, they can truly observe where sentient beings' mental activities incline. By seeing the dharmas that sentient beings crave and delight in, they can know which of the six destinies a sentient being will incline toward at the end of life, and can also know whether a sentient being can attain liberation and enter nirvāṇa without remainder. The minds of most sentient beings are attached to the worldly dharmas of the three realms; in the future they cannot escape the bondage of worldly dharmas — all must undergo the bondage of the six sense objects, incline toward the six destinies, incline toward the worldly five aggregates, incline toward the six sense objects of form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas, and cannot escape the cycle of birth and death.