Selected Lectures on the Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra
Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume Fourteen
Original text: 又有三种诸烦恼趣。令诸有情流转生死。谓于胜欲。发意悕求。名初烦恼趣。于色无色界胜自体中。发意悕求。名第二烦恼趣。于邪解脱。发意悕求。名第三烦恼趣。
Explanation: There are also three kinds of practices that incline toward afflictions, causing sentient beings to transmigrate through birth and death. The first is when beings, because of their desire for wholesome dharmas, are bound by that desire for wholesome dharmas and also cannot escape the three realms; they must, life after life within the three realms, pursue the Buddha-dharma until they attain buddhahood—this is the desire for wholesome dharmas of bodhisattvas who have generated great resolve. Because they do not leave the three realms, they have the afflictions within the three realms and experience some subtle feelings of suffering; this is the first inclination toward afflictions.
The second is when beings, toward the superior karmic rewards of the form realm and the formless realm, give rise to a mind of longing, and thereby are bound within birth and death, unable to attain liberation. Beings in the form realm and the formless realm surpass in their own existence the beings of the desire realm and have superior karmic rewards. But because beings long for the superior karmic rewards of the form and formless realms, long for the meditative concentrations of the form and formless realms, and long for the enjoyment of merit in the form and formless realms, they are bound by the karmic rewards of the form and formless realms, cannot escape the three realms, and thus have the suffering of birth and death within the three realms. This is the second inclination toward afflictions of sentient beings.
The third is when beings give rise to a mind that seeks false liberation; because their views and methods of practice are mistaken and not in accord with reality, not only do they fail to attain liberation, they sink ever deeper into the abyss of birth and death. They have the desire for liberation, but they have not encountered the true dharma of liberation; they encounter non-Buddhist paths, practice non-Buddhist teachings, and wish to attain liberation through non-Buddhist methods that are not in accord with reality; as a result, they are bound by the wrong views of the non-Buddhist paths and cannot attain liberation. This is the third inclination toward afflictions.
Whether the longing is for the true dharma or for false dharmas, the ultimate longing is initiated by the manas; initially it is initiated by the mind consciousness through contact with these two kinds of dharmas, gradually influencing the manas, which then begins to diligently cultivate and study either the true dharma or false dharmas, so that one can ultimately attain liberation or fall into ever deeper bondage of birth and death.
Original text: 又有三种诸有情类。欲为根本作业方便。一为得胜欲。二为得胜自体。三为证胜解脱道。
Explanation: There are also three kinds of sentient beings who take desire as the fundamental starting point of their practice and adopt various methods to practice, wishing to attain the goal of liberation. The first desire is that beings practice in order to obtain the most superior karmic reward, to realize the fruit of the Mahāyāna bodhisattva and accomplish the Buddha-way; this is the most supremely excellent, without compare, called the unsurpassed dharma, and its karmic reward is the unsurpassed fruit.
The second desire is that beings practice in order to obtain more superior pleasures of the five desires and greater blessings; the result may be rebirth in the heavens to enjoy blessings, but when the blessings are exhausted they fall again. As for the physical karmic reward, they obtain the physical body of a deva and a deva's realm of existence, but the result is still bondage within birth and death.
The third desire is that beings, through practice, ultimately wish to obtain the superior karmic reward of liberation that escapes the three realms; the result is that they can escape the three realms and attain temporary liberation, but cannot accomplish the Buddha's ultimate liberation.
Desire is the cause of birth and death, and the pursuit of the Mahāyāna Buddha-dharma can lead one not to enter nirvāṇa without remainder, but to remain forever in the three realms broadly benefiting sentient beings. The six consciousnesses have desires, and the manas has even more desires; it is chiefly because of the manas's desires that birth and death do not cease and transmigration does not stop. If only the six consciousnesses have desire and the manas has none, then the desires of the six consciousnesses also have no effect—they arise and immediately cease—and birth and death would surely be ended. If only the six consciousnesses sever desire but the manas does not, the manas will surely act as master with desires, the six consciousnesses will surely create karma of craving, birth and death cannot be ended, and transmigration cannot cease. If the manas has desires for the three realms, it cannot sever its craving-attachment for the three realms and cannot escape the three realms.
Because arhats have severed the manas's grasping at self, they have severed craving-attachment for the three realms—that is, they have severed desire for the three realms—and only then can they escape the three realms and enter nirvāṇa without remainder. If an arhat turns his mind toward the Mahāyāna, because he has given rise to a mind of joyous delight for the Mahāyāna dharma and has desire for the Mahāyāna dharma, the manas is bound by this desire; at the end of life he will certainly not enter nirvāṇa without remainder, but will certainly have a desire-realm physical body and five aggregates and continue to cultivate and study the Mahāyāna dharma, seeking to see the mind, see the nature, and attain buddhahood—this is the desire for wholesome dharmas of the bodhisattvas of the common vehicle (通教). If only the mind consciousness has the desire for wholesome dharmas and the manas does not, then the manas is not bound by the desire for wholesome dharmas, has no desire or seeking for the dharmas of the three realms, and at the end of life will certainly take nirvāṇa without remainder.
If the manas has already severed the desire for food and drink, then even if the mind consciousness pays much attention to and takes extra glances at fine delicacies of the desire realm, the manas will not give rise to craving, will not want to greedily eat fine food, but will simply accord with conditions. If the manas has already severed sexual desire, then even if the mind consciousness takes extra glances at the opposite sex, there will be no subsequent mental activity, because the manas, acting as master, does not cling or crave, and the mind consciousness cannot have superfluous thoughts and desires.
If the manas has already severed craving, and does not crave anything regarding food, clothing, shelter, or daily use, then even if the mind consciousness encounters a luxurious and extravagant living environment, craving will not arise; its eating, clothing, shelter, and daily use will still follow its former habits—this is the manas's habituation. The bodily, verbal, and mental actions of eating, clothing, shelter, and daily use are directed by the manas and must conform to the manas's habits.
Wanting to become a Buddha is a superior desire; wanting to see the mind and see the nature is a superior desire; wanting to eradicate the view of self (satkāya-dṛṣṭi) and realize the fruit of liberation is a superior desire. If only the mind consciousness has this superior desire and the manas does not, then the manas will not act as master to diligently practice, will not voluntarily cultivate the three uncontaminated trainings, will not voluntarily keep the precepts, will not voluntarily cultivate meditative concentration (samādhi), will not voluntarily read the sūtras and deliberate, much less give rise to the mind for contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and investigating the meaning of the dharma, and likewise will not, from morning to night, keep every thought on practice. Only when the manas has the superior desire can it actively impel the six consciousnesses to practice, keeping the mind consciousness's every thought on studying and practicing Buddhism, enabling the mind consciousness to find ways to remove all interference and obstacles and practice diligently.
After studying Buddhism, the mind consciousness has subdued its craving for meat, knowing that eating meat creates unwholesome karmic connections with sentient beings and has karmic consequences; but the manas has not subdued its craving for meat. When encountering meat, the mind consciousness knows it should not be eaten, while the manas somewhat wants to eat it; the mind consciousness then exhorts the manas, saying, "You cannot eat meat; you should eat vegetarian food," and the manas temporarily endures. But when, after a while, the mind consciousness stops exhorting and one is not attentive, the manas decides to take a bite to satisfy the craving, and so a bite of meat is eaten. The mind consciousness, having complied with the manas and relaxed its vigilance, the manas decides to take another bite. If the mind consciousness does not condemn the manas, the manas will indulge itself and keep eating, until finally the mind consciousness can no longer control the manas and simply gives in: "Well, I've already eaten anyway." Failure to quit smoking follows the same principle; failure to quit gambling or drugs is all the same principle—the mind consciousness truly cannot control the manas; the manas's habits far exceed the mind consciousness's rationality, and so the mind consciousness has no choice but to follow the manas.
Therefore, if only the mind consciousness practices and the mind consciousness severs afflictions while the manas does not sever afflictions, that is not true severance of afflictions. If the mind consciousness eradicates the view of self but the manas does not, that is not true eradication of the view of self. If the mind consciousness understands the principle but the manas does not, that is not true understanding. No one can walk on one leg alone; the two legs of the mind consciousness and the manas must move in step, or one following the other, in order to walk the path well. People whose minds incline toward the wholesome—almost everyone has had the experience of the mind consciousness guiding and exhorting the manas—because the manas cannot deliberate and does not know good from bad, the mind consciousness must be troubled to do the work, repeatedly instructing the manas toward the wholesome, and only then can the bodily, verbal, and mental actions be wholesome. This one point alone—the manas's role as master with decision-making power—demonstrates the manas's powerful functions and effects.
Judging from these various examples, if the manas has no longing and no desire, no dharma can be established; everything would cease to exist, and one would necessarily abide in nirvāṇa without remainder.
Original text: 复有三种从因所生有漏法因。若于此中。不如正理修方便者。能生诸苦。若能如理修方便者。于苦于因。能知能断。谓于欲界系法。染污希求。于色无色界系法亦尔。
Explanation: There are also three kinds of causes from which contaminated dharmas are produced, such that the uncontaminated cannot be accomplished. These three causes are: first, toward dharmas of the desire realm that bind one's own mind so that liberation is impossible, there is a defiled intention that gives rise to longing, craving-attachment to desire-realm dharmas, unable to escape. Second, toward dharmas of the form realm that bind one's own mind so that liberation is impossible, there is a defiled intention that gives rise to longing, craving-attachment to the form realm, unable to escape. Third, toward dharmas of the formless realm that bind one's own mind so that liberation is impossible, the mind gives rise to longing, craving-attachment without letting go, and liberation is not attained.
If, in practice, one cannot contemplate these three causes that produce contaminated dharmas in accord with reality, seeing their faults, and has no corresponding methods to counteract them, then in the end they can produce suffering and the faults of birth and death; if, in the course of practice, one can contemplate their faults in accord with reality and has corresponding skillful means to counteract them, distancing oneself from longing and desire for the three realms and understanding the causes of suffering in the three realms, then one can sever suffering and the faults of birth and death.
On the surface, the worldly dharmas of the three realms all bind the six consciousnesses, but in fact what they chiefly bind is the manas; it is because the manas grasps at the dharmas of the three realms that the five aggregates can be born and survive within the three realms, transmigrating through birth and death in the three realms. If the manas does not crave the dharmas of the three realms, the craving of the six consciousnesses has no effect—moreover, the six consciousnesses are dharmas that cease and are extinguished, having already perished at the time of conception into the next life.
Because of the manas's craving-grasping, karmic seeds are stored in the tathāgatagarbha; in the next life, one will certainly be reborn into the three realms on account of the manas's craving-grasping and the karmic seeds. If the manas craves the desire realm, it is bound by the desire realm; if the manas craves the form realm, it is bound by the form realm; if the manas craves the formless realm, it is bound by the formless realm. If the manas craves the desire realm as well as the form realm and the formless realm, then it is impossible to be born into the form realm or the formless realm; one will certainly be bound by the craving-grasping of the lowest level.
Therefore, within the desire realm, if one wishes to sever desire, it cannot be merely the surface severance of desire by the mind consciousness; the manas deep within the mind must also sever desire. Otherwise, one certainly cannot attain the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna, nor escape the desire realm and be born into the form realm or the formless realm. The craving-grasping for the form realm and the formless realm follows the same principle.
