Samyuktagama Sutra (347), Part Two

(2) Original text: 复问。云何尊者。离苦息乐。忧喜先断。不苦不乐舍。净念一心。具足第四禅。不起诸漏。心善解脱耶。答言。不也须深。复问。若复寂静。解脱色无色。身作证具足住。不起诸漏。心善解脱耶。答言。不也须深。须深复问。云何尊者。所说不同。前后相违。云何不得禅定。而复记说。比丘答言。我是慧解脱也。作是说已。众多比丘。各从座起而去。

Explanation: Susīma asked again: "Venerable sir, how does one leave behind the feeling of suffering, extinguish the feeling of pleasure, sever the minds of sorrow and joy, abide in the equanimity that is neither suffering nor pleasure, with pure and single-pointed mind, fully possessing the fourth dhyāna, without giving rise to any afflictive outflows, and be well liberated in mind?" The bhikṣu replied: "Liberation is not cultivated in that way." Susīma asked again: "How does one make the mind tranquil, become liberated from the bondage of the form realm and the formless realm, personally realize it with the body, dwell fully in liberation, without giving rise to any afflictive outflows, and be well liberated in mind?" The bhikṣu replied: "Liberation is not cultivated in that way." Susīma asked again: "Why does what the Venerable One says differ from the actual realization of liberation, contradicting itself from beginning to end? How can one claim self-realization of no further rebirth without attaining meditative concentration (dhyāna) and samādhi?" The bhikṣu replied: "I am liberated by wisdom." After saying this, the many bhikṣus rose from their seats and departed.

Susīma believed that attaining the fruits could only be accomplished through cultivating the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, not knowing that one needs to use wisdom to know the dharma of liberation and realize the dharma of liberation. That is why he developed a misunderstanding, thinking that the self-realized states described by those arhats were inconsistent with the state of liberation. Among arhats, there are those liberated by wisdom, those liberated by meditative concentration (samādhi), and those liberated by both. For liberation by wisdom, one only needs to possess the first dhyāna; the wisdom of liberation must be complete, so that at the end of one's lifespan one can rely on the wisdom of liberation to enter nirvāṇa without remainder (anupadhiśeṣa-nirvāṇa). As for an arhat liberated by concentration, he must have the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, and at the same time possess the wisdom of liberation, relying mainly on meditative concentration to attain liberation and enter nirvāṇa without remainder; his lifespan is held in his own hands and can be long or short. As for an arhat liberated by both, he must not only have the four dhyānas and eight samādhis, but also the cessation of perception and feeling (nirodha-samāpatti), and the wisdom of liberation must also be complete; only then can he enter nirvāṇa without remainder anytime and anywhere within the cessation of perception and feeling, without having to wait until the end of his lifespan.