Contemplating the Five Aggregates and Eliminating the View of Self (Part I) (Second Edition)
Section 3: The Prerequisites for Eradicating the View of Self
1. The Prerequisites for Attaining the Fruits of Realization
When noble disciples observe the five aggregates as they truly are—observing their impermanence, their suffering nature, their mutability, and their not-self nature—they can realize the truth that the five aggregates are without self, are not the self, are not different from self, and are not located in self or self in them. To realize the emptiness of the five aggregates, the prerequisite for attaining the first fruit is that one must complete the cultivation of the thirty-seven aids to the path. Only when the conditions of the path are fulfilled can contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) succeed. If those aids to the path have not been cultivated or have not been cultivated to completion, one cannot contemplate and realize the non-self nature of the five aggregates, and thus cannot attain the fruits of realization. Therefore one must first cultivate the four foundations of mindfulness, 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, and the other thirty-seven factors of the path.
The sequence of cultivating the thirty-seven factors of the path is roughly as follows: cultivation begins with the faculty of faith among the five faculties; the five faculties grow and become the complete five powers; then one enters the eightfold noble path, initiating deliberative cultivation (manasikāra/manana), cultivating the seven factors of enlightenment; within the factor of mindfulness one cultivates the contemplation of the four foundations of mindfulness, obtaining the flavor of wholesome dharmas, arousing the four right efforts; finally, as the result, through diligent and arduous cultivation one obtains the fruit-bliss of the four bases of supernatural power, and the mind attains freedom and liberation.
For each of the thirty-seven factors of the path, not only must the mind consciousness cultivate and acquire it, but the manas must also be permeated and trained; the manas must also cultivate the thirty-seven factors of the path, and must do so completely and fully, acquiring each factor of the path and accomplishing the four bases of supernatural power.
The power of mindfulness of the mind consciousness permeates and trains the manas, so that the manas becomes complete in the power of mindfulness and faith is accomplished. When each dharma is initially permeated, trained, and guided by the mind consciousness, and then made complete by the manas, that is realization, and cultivation is then accomplished. Only when one realizes that body and mind are not truly existent can one attain liberation; merely believing that body and mind are not truly existent cannot bring liberation. The distance between merely believing and actually realizing may be far or near, depending entirely on the level of one's own cultivation. Without cultivation, that gap might span many kalpas.
2. The Condition Required for Contemplative Practice Is the Complete Cultivation of the Thirty-Seven Factors of the Path
When one eradicates the view of self and attains the first fruit of the Small Vehicle, one simultaneously severs the three fetters, the karma of the three evil paths is extinguished, and one will never again fall into the three evil paths in the future—this is the initial benefit to oneself obtained from eradicating the view of self. How does one eradicate the view of self? The World-Honored One already proclaimed this clearly for sentient beings in the Saṃyukta Āgama: we should observe the illusory nature, impermanence, emptiness, mutability, suffering nature, and non-self nature of the five aggregates, contemplating and deliberating upon the essential nature of each of the five aggregates one by one—this is called contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā). Contemplative practice requires considerable meditative concentration (samādhi); only by cultivating the thirty-seven factors of the path well can contemplative practice achieve results. The eighteen realms must also be contemplated one realm at a time for their illusory nature, arising and ceasing, impermanence, and mutability; finally, one confirms that the five aggregates and eighteen realms are not the real self and do not belong to what the self possesses. When the mind genuinely confirms this point, the view of self is severed. From then on, deep in the mind one no longer takes the five aggregates as the real self, and thus the three fetters that bind one to the cycle of birth and death—the view of self, the view of moral precepts and observances, and the view of doubt—are also severed, and one will no longer fall into the three evil paths.
To reach this goal, one needs to study thoroughly the dharma teachings of the Four Noble Truths that the World-Honored One expounded in the Āgama sūtras; once meditative concentration is good, one then contemplates each one in turn—this is the general path for eradicating the view of self. Among these, the eightfold noble path must be accomplished: all bodily, verbal, and mental actions must conform to the eightfold noble path before cultivation can succeed and one can become a sage whom sentient beings admire. Where there is a conscious mind, there are the feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness of the five aggregates. Contemplate the illusory non-self nature of the five aggregates; when both the illusory nature of the physical body and the illusory nature of the conscious mind have been contemplated and realized, and one is fully certain and accepts this, one can eradicate the view of self and attain the fruits of realization. When merit and other conditions are complete, one can contemplate and deliberate upon any dharma whatsoever, can eradicate the view of self, and can also contemplate and realize the eighth consciousness—it all depends on merit, meditative concentration, wisdom, and the timing of conditions.
3. Only a Process of Cultivation Can Yield the Fruit of Cultivation
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 eightfold noble path—these are all dharmas that should be cultivated before seeing the path. The thirty-seven factors of the path cultivated in the Great and Small Vehicles are broadly similar, and their cultivation processes are similar and alike. If without the permeation of these processes a fruit suddenly appears and one becomes a sage, that fruit is extremely unreliable. Fruits and conclusions can be plagiarized; all views can be memorized—one need only read a few more books to be able to recite them, and they can even be imagined.
But these processes cannot be plagiarized by anyone; they are processes that everyone who sees the path and attains the fruit must undergo. Each person's process may differ somewhat depending on the foundation laid in past lives. For those who already attained the fruit in a past life, these processes may perhaps be passed through and experienced very quickly in this life; others cannot do so—they must practice and realize each one, passing through every checkpoint. The Great Vehicle fruits are the same. Only after experiencing all these processes can one's body and mind be transformed, and at the time of attaining the fruit there will be great liberating merit and benefit to be enjoyed. 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 liberating merit to enjoy. A plastic fruit is just like this: it can only be displayed for viewing, but cannot fill the belly.
What is called actual practice is precisely 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. Any cultivation that has only conclusions without process is not actual practice, and studying only theory is also not actual practice. Theory can be learned up to the level of a bodhisattva of the second through tenth bhūmis; even if one understands those principles, one is still one or two measureless kalpas away from actually realizing them. Studying now the theory of what will come only after one or two measureless kalpas, and thinking oneself has mastered it, one then declares oneself a sage. If the road ahead need not be walked, and the actual cultivation processes need not be experienced and practiced, then such cultivation is like a dream, an illusion, a bubble, a shadow—obtaining only sky-flowers and bearing an empty fruit.
4. Arousing the Factor of Mindfulness Is the Prerequisite for Realizing the Dharma
The first of the seven factors of enlightenment is the factor of mindfulness. It means that after studying a certain dharma, one understands it, recognizes it, and remembers it. Once the dharma has entered the mind and the mind holds this dharma, one can ordinarily be mindful of it, think of it, and contemplate it; when encountering sense objects, one can observe this dharma as it truly is—this is the prerequisite for realizing the dharma. If even one link or step in the middle is missing, the factor of mindfulness and the seven factors of enlightenment are incomplete, and the dharma cannot be realized. Once the dharma has entered the mind and can be held in mindfulness, one no longer needs to study it daily with one's hands never leaving the books; otherwise, the factor of mindfulness has not yet arisen. So at what stage of Buddhist study and cultivation does the factor of mindfulness arise?
What kind of person, after finishing the study of the dharma, no matter how they study, cannot take it into the mind, cannot remember it, cannot recall it, and must rely on books to understand the dharma and to contemplate the dharma expounded in the books? For those in whom the factor of mindfulness has not yet arisen, the dharma leaves little impression and little interest—it is just like this; the power of mindfulness is very weak. Only after interest has been raised, and after one knows the importance of the dharma, can the mind now and then keep the dharma in mind.
For example, after studying the Small Vehicle teaching that the five aggregates are without self, one knows from reading books that the six sense objects—form, sound, smell, taste, touch, and dharmas—are all empty, false, and unreal. But after leaving the book and turning around to encounter the realms of the six sense objects, when seeing forms one is still very picky and very concerned, wanting the best and unwilling to suffer the slightest grievance; when hearing sounds one is still very picky and very concerned; when smelling odors one is still very picky and very attached to fragrance and stench; when encountering touch and dharmas it is the same—very picky and attached, completely forgetting that one was just reading the sentence that the six sense objects are illusory and unattainable. These phenomena show that this person has not taken the dharma of the emptiness and falsity of the six sense objects into the mind, has no capacity for holding it in mindfulness, cannot contemplate and observe it, and the factor of mindfulness has not yet arisen. Then when will one realize the impermanence and non-self of the six sense objects? There is no date—perhaps in the year of the donkey, perhaps in the month of the horse.
5. Understanding the Principles Is the Prerequisite for Liberation
To attain liberation, one must cultivate and realize according to the Buddhist principles: eradicate the view of self, realize the emptiness of the five aggregates and eighteen realms, with no self or person and no four marks. Then one must abandon the five hindrances, arouse the first dhyāna, sever afflictions and remove self-grasping, so that at the end of life one can transcend the three realms and attain liberation. Not knowing what the self is or what "I" is, stubbornly grasping at the seven consciousnesses and the five aggregates while shouting emptily about breaking grasping and letting go is merely futile effort.
The liberation and letting go of the Small Vehicle require contemplating the illusory nature of the five aggregates and eighteen realms—contemplating aggregate by aggregate, realm by realm—gradually attaining the first fruit through the fourth fruit and thereby achieving transcendence; there is no other way. Non-Buddhists do not know this principle; after years of cultivation they attain the highest meditative concentration and are born in the highest heaven, stubbornly grasping at the states within concentration as nirvāṇa, not knowing that the state of concentration is merely a mental sense-object. Wherever there is knowing, there is perception, and that is the self, still within the five aggregates, not escaping birth and death—when will liberation come? It is indefinitely far off. Therefore, if the principles are not understood, however strong the meditative concentration, liberation is impossible.
6. Only When Mental Actions Conform to the Eightfold Noble Path Can One Attain the Fruits of Realization
The dharma of the Four Noble Truths—suffering, its origin, its cessation, and the path—is also divided into inner and outer dharmas. 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 has been cultivated to completion, and the Small Vehicle's thirty-seven factors of the path have been cultivated to completion, are the conditions for eradicating the view of self fulfilled, and only then can one attain the fruits of realization. If one's mental actions do not conform to the eightfold noble path, then one is not worthy of being a sage, and cannot attain the fruits of realization. Within the eightfold noble path there is right concentration, divided into the outer concentration dharma of the mind consciousness and the inner concentration dharma of the manas. Therefore the manas must necessarily be in accord with concentration; only when the manas is perfected in concentration can right wisdom arise, can the view of self be eradicated, and can the first fruit be attained. Otherwise everything is a false fruit, a plastic fruit—only to be looked at, not to be used.
7. Only Methods That Are Genuinely Practical Constitute Actual Practice
When the Buddha taught the dharma, there was not only the theoretical part but even more the practical cultivation part; he certainly gave disciples a point of entry for their study and cultivation. Because the Buddha himself was one who had come through, standing at the highest peak, fully capable of guiding sentient beings from all directions at the foot of the mountain to slowly climb up the mountainside and to the summit. Practicing the dharma taught by the Buddha is far, far better than worshipping theories that are splendid and lofty but lack practical, feasible methods of entry. Anyone who cannot provide practical, feasible methods shows that they themselves have never succeeded in cultivation, have never walked that path through—how could those who follow them walk it through?
When people without actual cultivation teach the dharma, they often point sentient beings toward plucking the stars in the sky, yet have no way to build a ladder of clouds for them; the sentient beings behind them can only pitifully stand on tiptoe gazing up at the starry sky—no matter how hard they strive, the distance to the stars remains as far as before, and there is no way to reach them. Some people even think they have plucked a star, when in fact it is only a reflection in the water, and they have not obtained a real fruit. If someone teaches only theory without any method of practice, one should be on guard, and not vainly waste one's precious time.
In genuine, real hands-on practice, as long as one attains meditative absorption (samādhi) through one dharma gate, any other kind of samādhi can be easily entered. Because samādhis are interconnected and the methods are interconnected—once one enters by one method, the other methods are also mastered. The only fear is that people cannot resolve to find one method and actually put in the effort, unwilling to endure hardship, unwilling to expend energy. If one tries every method but only skims the surface like a dragonfly touching water, tasting briefly and stopping, then there is no way to accomplish any dharma gate.
8. The Perfection of the Four Applications of Readiness Is Also a Prerequisite for Attaining the Fruits of Realization
The key to attaining the fruits of the Small Vehicle is the cultivation of the seven factors of enlightenment. The seven factors have already been discussed in outline; the specific cultivation still depends on individual effort, striving to perfect the various conditions, so that attaining the fruit can have some degree of certainty. The process of cultivation is also the process of the four applications of readiness (nirvedhabhāgīya): the four stages of heat, peak, patience, and the supreme worldly dharma are processes of inner processing upon the foundation of written theory. During this processing, corresponding changes will certainly gradually arise in the mind; this is the process by which the contemplation of the 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 has received and accepted them, body and mind will gradually transform, and the seven factors of enlightenment will appear one by one. Only after the factor of concentration appears can great wisdom abandon the dharma-marks of the five aggregates, body, and mind, and then realize the dharma, becoming a person of the first fruit who transcends the supreme worldly dharma. If body and mind undergo no change or transformation, and the seven factors of enlightenment are not accomplished, it is impossible to eradicate the view of self and impossible to attain the fruit.
The mark of heat: through written theory, one personally contemplates and practices, and a mark of heat appears within the mind, like sparks being struck; the mind somewhat accepts the correct theory, has an initial cognition, has interest, and wants to explore its meaning more deeply.
Peak: one's cognition of the theory reaches a certain degree, a certain height; one understands and comprehends the emptiness of the five aggregates, body and mind, reaching the peak of cognition of the five aggregates. At this point it is entirely the cognition and determination (adhimokṣa) of the mind consciousness, not yet reaching the manas; therefore the mind still has agitation and cannot yet rest securely in the cognition of the emptiness of the five aggregates—it is at a stage where one may advance or retreat.
At this stage, some people's minds will fiercely resist, with restless and unsettled thoughts and fluctuating emotions. Some may be extremely distressed, perhaps inexplicably irritable and low in spirits. After passing through this stage, the emotions will return to normal, entering the next stage: not only does the mind consciousness patiently endure the emptiness, but the manas also settles into acceptance. 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/manana) is not yet adequate, one cannot truly confirm the principle; the mind is merely no longer agitated and has become relatively settled. One is also striving to find evidence, striving to directly perceive (pratyakṣa) the substance of the five aggregates, 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 subtler and increasingly keen, and the thought of emptiness becomes ever more firm—but one cannot yet abide in relinquishment, for there is no factor of relinquishment in the mind.
When the factor of relinquishment is accomplished, the mental concepts of self within the mind are relinquished, the mind is empty, and the concept of the emptiness and impermanence of the five aggregates is firmly established; the evidence is sufficient, and the mind completely accepts and confirms that the five aggregates are empty and without self. The fourth stage, the supreme worldly dharma, is accomplished; the view of self is eradicated, and the first fruit is attained.
During the process of contemplative practice, body and mind must constantly undergo changes. Why must changes occur? Because through the mind consciousness's determination (adhimokṣa), the manas gradually gains a certain personal realization of the dharma of the Four Noble Truths, which contradicts its former views, 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 non-self of the five aggregates must be realized by the manas.
9. Keeping the Precepts Helps in Eradicating the View of Self
What are the manifestations of the view of self that takes the physical body as the self? In real life, what kinds of permeation and influence can increase the view of the body? What is the reason the view of the body is hard to eradicate? Why is it that people who eradicated the view of the body in past lives can eradicate it very quickly upon encountering the Buddha-dharma again in this life? Find out all these phenomena, and then gradually subdue the cherishing of the physical body bit by bit, and eradicating the view of the body will go faster. All protection of every aspect of the physical body is due to the view of the body. In what ways is the physical body protected and cherished?
If we look into the precepts of monastics, we will understand why the Buddha established so many and such detailed precepts—they were all established for the sake of subduing the view of the body and the view of self. Some people do not understand this principle and dislike the precepts as too constraining, unwilling to receive them; but if one keeps well the precepts established by the Buddha, one can attain liberation. The Small Vehicle precepts are also called the precepts of individual liberation: if one can keep one precept, one obtains the liberation of that one precept. Therefore, as long as one leaves home to cultivate, one will certainly be able to attain the fourth fruit of arhatship in the future; there will always be a day of attaining liberation. The benefits of leaving home are many, and the most fundamental is purity and freedom, tending toward liberation.
The modern way of life makes it very hard for people to eradicate the view of the body—everything is too focused on enjoying life; living is only about comfort and pleasure, ignoring everything else. Observe your own view of the body: observe from all aspects and angles of daily eating, clothing, dwelling, using, and moving; observe from the aspects of wealth, sex, fame, food, and sleep; observe starting from seeing forms, hearing sounds, feeling touch, smelling odors, and tasting flavors. If you find that you especially value these aspects, are especially concerned about the physical body, especially attentive and caring toward the physical body, and especially particular about the enjoyments of the physical body, then the view of the body is rather heavy, and you should find ways to subdue it.
