Theoretical Realization and Practical Realization
Chapter 5: Enlightenment Can Only Be Attained After the Thirty-Seven Factors of the Path Are Accomplished
I. The cultivation sequence of 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 Eightfold Noble Path and initiates deliberative cultivation (manasikāra), cultivating the seven factors of enlightenment; within the mindfulness factor of enlightenment one cultivates the contemplation of the four foundations of mindfulness, attaining the flavor of wholesome dharmas, giving rise to the four right efforts; finally, as the fruit, 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, fulfilling each factor of the path completely, 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's power of mindfulness becomes complete and the power of mindfulness is accomplished. Each dharma is first guided by the mind consciousness's steeping and training, and is fulfilled by the manas; only afterward can this dharma be directly 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 of enlightenment have already been discussed in outline. The process of cultivation is also the process of the four applications of countenance (catvāra-nirvedha-bhāgīya) — warmth, summit, patience, and the supreme worldly dharma — which are, on the basis of textual theory, a further process of inner processing. During this processing, corresponding changes will certainly gradually arise in the mind; this is the process by which the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of the Dharma's meaning gradually resonates with the inner manas, and the manas gradually accepts and receives it. Of course, first the mind consciousness accepts and receives it, giving rise to determination (adhimokṣa), and then transmits it to the manas, letting the manas accept and receive it. After the manas accepts and receives it, body and mind will gradually transform, and the seven factors of enlightenment will appear one by one. Only after the concentration factor of enlightenment appears can great wisdom discard 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 (satkāya-dṛṣṭi-prahāṇa) and attain fruition.
The mark of warmth: in the initial stage of study, after personally deliberating and contemplating through textual theory, a mark of warmth appears in the mind, like sparks being struck; the mind somewhat assents to the correct theory being deliberated, has an initial cognition of and interest in the dharma being cultivated, and wishes to continue exploring its contents in depth.
The mark of the summit: at this stage, one's cognition 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 pinnacle of cognition of the five aggregates. At this point one is still in the stage of the mind consciousness's cognition and determination (adhimokṣa); the manas has not yet fully cognized and determined it, so the mind still has restlessness and cannot fully accept and abide in the cognition 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 have intense resistance, with restless, unsettled thoughts and fluctuating emotions. Some may be extremely distressed, perhaps inexplicably irritable and low-spirited. After passing through this stage, the manas becomes somewhat adapted, the emotions return to normal, and one enters 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: exactly why 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 (manasikāra) is still inadequate, one cannot truly confirm this principle; the mind is merely no longer restless 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 equanimity, for there is no equanimity factor of enlightenment in the mind.
When the equanimity factor of enlightenment is accomplished, the notions and thoughts of "I" within the mind are discarded; the mind is empty; the concept that the five aggregates are 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 arise? Because through the mind consciousness's determination (adhimokṣa), the manas gradually gains a certain understanding that conflicts with previous notions, gradually overturning previous 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 various phenomena of tranquility and joy in body and mind, are brought about by the manas; they are the manas's 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's 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's mind. When the manas first cognizes this principle, phenomena of resistance and irritability will appear, with varying degrees of severity. Those whose faculties (indriya) from past lives were 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 arise.
What is called genuine practice? This is genuine 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, noble nature will certainly appear, and the mind will certainly be empty. How could there still be 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 the Dharma's meaning will be inadequate. Some profound dharmas and extremely 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. In the Small Vehicle, to eradicate the view of self, the thirty-seven factors of the path must be cultivated to completion; the seven factors of enlightenment must be fulfilled, and the Eightfold Noble Path must be fulfilled. The phenomena of the joy factor of enlightenment and the tranquility factor of enlightenment must appear, and next the concentration factor of enlightenment must manifest — all of these are inseparable from meditative concentration, belonging to the prelude and aftermath of concentration, within the domain of meditative concentration.
In the process of deliberating on the Buddha's Dharma, phenomena of tranquility and lightness of body and mind and inner joy should arise; this is one of the contents of realizing the seven factors of enlightenment, indicating that the Dharma has entered the manas's mind and gained a certain degree of the manas's acceptance — though not yet complete. This can also be called the mark of warmth of the four applications of countenance manifesting.
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 scriptural basis. Concentration and wisdom and the manas cannot be separated even for an instant. Only when the manas realizes is there true wisdom; only when the manas has meditative concentration can wisdom arise. The mind consciousness's solitary intellectual understanding has no great wisdom — it is merely a learner's words, called a disciple of the school of intellectual understanding. Regarding the importance of the manas in cultivation and realization, the seven factors of enlightenment are excellent evidence. The Eightfold Noble Path also speaks of eight "rights," all referring to cultivating the manas; "right" mainly means turning the manas's thoughts and notions around, letting it preside over and determine that all bodily, verbal, and mental actions are right action. If the manas has not been corrected, the Eightfold Noble Path has not been accomplished.
Feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are all empty and selfless — then who is feeling, perceiving, forming volitions, and cognizing? That which feels, perceives, forms volitions, and cognizes is the mind of the seven consciousnesses, which are also empty and selfless. The mind consciousness that observes feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as empty is empty and selfless; the mind consciousness that knows the observer is empty is empty and selfless; the sixth and seventh consciousnesses that know all dharmas are empty and selfless are empty and selfless. Whatever has knowing, mindfulness, or thought in the mind is empty and selfless. The cultivation method in the Śūraṅgama's chapter on Avalokiteśvara's perfect penetration through the ear faculty is to empty out all dharmas — the dharmas that can be emptied and those that are emptied are all emptied out — and what finally remains, the one thing that truly cannot be emptied, is the tathāgatagarbha of one's own mind; and not abiding even in one's own tathāgatagarbha, the cultivation is complete.
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, the Eightfold Noble Path — these contents of the thirty-seven factors of the path are all the cultivation process before and after seeing the Path; the Great and Small Vehicles are largely similar, their cultivation processes alike. If without the steeping of these processes a fruit suddenly appears and one becomes a noble one, that fruit is very suspicious and extremely unreliable. Fruits and conclusions can be plagiarized; all views can be memorized — one need only read a few more books to 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 depending on the quality of their faculties (indriya) from past lives. Those who attained fruition in past lives may pass through these processes very quickly in this life; others cannot — they must practice and realize each one, passing through every checkpoint. The same applies to the Great Vehicle fruits. Having undergone all these processes, one's body and mind can 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, without practical value, without the merit and benefit of liberation.
So-called genuine 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 genuine practice. Cultivation with only conclusions and no process is not genuine practice; studying only theory is not genuine practice. Theory can be learned up to the theory of bodhisattvas at the several 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 noble one, 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, gaining only sky-flowers and bearing an empty fruit.
V. The Dharma of the Four Noble Truths — suffering, origination, cessation, and the path — is also divided into inner mental sense-objects (inner dharma-viṣaya) and outer mental sense-objects. The Eightfold Noble Path within the cultivation of the truth of the path is also divided into inner and outer dharmas. Only when the Eightfold Noble Path is cultivated to completion and the Small Vehicle's thirty-seven factors of the path are cultivated to completion are the conditions for eradicating the view of self satisfied, and only then can fruition be attained. If one's mental conduct does not conform to the Eightfold Noble Path, then one's mental conduct is insufficient to make one a noble sage, and one cannot attain fruition. Within the Eightfold Noble Path there is right concentration, divided into the mind consciousness's outer concentration-dharma and the manas's 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 it is all fake fruit, plastic fruit — only for viewing, without practical use.
VI. The Great Mindfulness Sūtra (Mahāsatipaṭṭhāna Sūtra) is the sūtra in which the Buddha teaches us the method of contemplative practice. For one who does not know how to contemplate, following the line of thought the Buddha leads, deliberating within concentration — that is contemplative practice; at the end of contemplation there will be a decisive mind, a final conclusion emerging. If this conclusion conforms to 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 warmth must appear in the mind; the first three of the four applications of countenance must appear; and when one finally realizes selflessness and emptiness, that is the supreme worldly dharma, and the first fruit is accomplished. If none of these phenomena have appeared and one claims to have eradicated the view of self and become a first-fruit person, that is simply self-deception and deception of 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 for them to become that final, foremost-in-the-world first-fruit person.
The cultivation and realization of the Buddha's Dharma has certain strict standards, and the Buddha taught these standards in the sūtras: the thirty-seven factors of the path, the seven factors of enlightenment, the four applications of countenance, the four foundations of mindfulness, and so on — all are the cultivation standards taught by the Buddha. It is only that sentient beings themselves do not understand; and if the propagators of the Dharma also do not understand, then the world will be full of chaotic phenomena — the streets full of so-called noble 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-attachment and outer desire-and-attachment, 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-root, the manas, which sentient beings find difficult to 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: what is initial and manifest is at the level of the mind consciousness; what is final and hidden and profound is at the level of the manas.
From this sūtra we can see that when the Buddha taught the Small Vehicle Dharma, although He did not explicitly speak the dharma of the manas, He still covertly spoke of it — covertly stating that all afflictions and ignorance belong to the manas; severing afflictions is severing the manas's afflictions; liberation is the manas's liberation. When all dharmas are implemented upon the manas and the manas's problems are solved, all dharmas can be solved, ultimately reaching nirvāṇa and liberation.
VIII. In the Great Mindfulness Sūtra, when the Buddha spoke of contemplating feeling, He spoke of 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's feeling regarding the six sense-object realms; inner feeling refers to the manas's 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 the mind can still be perceived and observed, provided the mind is very meticulous.
When the Buddha spoke of contemplating the mind, one is to observe the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion of both the inner mind and the outer mind; to observe the inner and outer minds' concentration and distraction, expansiveness and narrowness, superiority and unsurpassedness, 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 sūtras that the manas has these mental factors (caittas), 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 no choice but to speak covertly of the manas's mental factors.
The affliction of doubt has inner doubt and outer doubt; severing doubt must be severing it ultimately — it must be severing the manas's doubt. Therefore the three fetters refer entirely to the manas's fetters; only severing the manas's doubt is severing the three fetters. Severing desire-and-attachment means severing the manas's desire-and-attachment; only then can the mind correspond with the devas of the form realm and be reborn in the form realm heavens. Severing ill-will must be severing the manas's ill-will; only then is one an anāgāmin. Severing delusion must be severing the manas's delusion and ignorance; only then can one transcend the three realms.
The Small Vehicle sūtras are the easiest to understand, yet what person can truly comprehend the Small Vehicle sūtras? Let alone the Mahāyāna sūtras — what person can truly understand them completely? Even having attained the arhat fruit, one still cannot completely believe your own mind; wisdom is insufficient, the mind is not ultimate, and completely trusting 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, volitional formations, and consciousness. Inner form is the physical body; outer form is the six sense-objects; inner feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness are the manas; outer feeling, perception, volitional 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 discrimination-of-dharmas factor, the effort factor, the joy factor, the tranquility factor, the concentration factor, and the equanimity factor are all divided into the mind consciousness's outer factors and the manas's 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. If the thirty-seven factors of the path are not cultivated to accomplishment, do not even speak of the fruits of either the Great or Small Vehicle. If tranquility and lightness of body and mind are not accomplished, concentration is not accomplished; if the neutral feeling (upekṣā-vedanā) of the inner mind does not exist, one cannot eradicate the view of self, cannot see the mind and see the nature. These are the hard benchmarks of the Buddha-Dharma's cultivation and realization, which no one can bypass. If one insists 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 mindfulness factor. The inner mindfulness factor is the manas's mindfulness; the outer mindfulness factor is the mind consciousness's mindfulness. When the manas has no mindfulness factor, the mindfulness factor is not accomplished, and the discrimination-of-dharmas factor cannot manifest. Therefore the manas must have the mental factor of mindfulness; the Small Vehicle sūtras covertly speak of the manas's mindfulness mental factor, let alone the Mahāyāna sūtras. It is only that sentient beings, heavy with ignorance, cannot understand the sūtras and cannot discern this.
From the World-Honored One's description of the seven factors of enlightenment, the manas has the discrimination-of-dharmas factor, the effort factor (true diligence), the joy factor (the manas does not have only neutral feeling), the tranquility factor, the concentration factor (corresponding with concentration), and the equanimity factor. Only afterward, when one's mental conduct conforms to the Eightfold Noble Path, can the conditions for attaining the Small Vehicle fruit be fulfilled, can the view of self be eradicated and the first fruit attained; otherwise all are fake fruits, plastic fruits. When the conditions are not fulfilled and the causes and conditions are not complete, forced guidance can only yield a fake fruit.
Among the seven factors of enlightenment there is the discrimination-of-dharmas factor; 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 discrimination-of-dharmas factor must be continuously advanced until it is perfectly complete, able to immediately and correctly discern all dharmas without doubt.
