The Afflictions to Be Eradicated by the First Fruit

Original text of the Abhidharmakośa-śāstra, Volume Twenty-three: 由于修惑具断有殊。立为三向。谓彼二圣。若于先时。未以世道。断修断惑。名为具缚。

Explanation: For those practicing the path of liberation, because the afflictive delusions that should be eradicated during the course of practice vary greatly, those who eliminate afflictive delusions and karma are established as three fruit-approachers, namely the approacher to the first fruit, the approacher to the second fruit, and the approachers to the third and fourth fruits. The two kinds of noble persons—the dull-facultied faith-follower and the sharp-facultied dharma-follower—if they have not previously, by means of the worldly path, eradicated the afflictive delusions to be eliminated through cultivation, are ordinary beings bound by all afflictions.

This means that cultivation of the path begins from the stage of an ordinary being; ordinary beings must also eradicate the corresponding afflictive delusions. Every ordinary sentient being must pass through various stages of cultivating the path. At the very beginning, one certainly cultivates worldly dharmas, abandoning evil and cultivating goodness within worldly dharmas. The content of this practice is the four right efforts. If the four right efforts have not been cultivated to completion, one cannot eradicate afflictive delusions, and one remains an ordinary being bound by all fetters. Before attaining the path of seeing, ordinary beings mainly cultivate the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment, which include the seven factors of enlightenment and the Noble Eightfold Path. Among the seven factors of enlightenment is the factor of enlightenment of meditative concentration (samādhi); when the factor of enlightenment of meditative concentration is complete, one will subdue and eradicate the middling and lower grades of afflictions in the desire realm.

The Noble Eightfold Path also includes right concentration. Once right concentration is complete, one will likewise subdue and eradicate the lower-grade afflictions in the desire realm. When the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment are cultivated to completion, discipline, meditative concentration, and wisdom will be perfected, and only then will the conditions for the path of seeing be fulfilled; upon encountering the necessary conditions, one can attain purity of the dharma eye and realize the first fruit. If these conditions for cultivating the path are not complete, the causes and conditions will also not be complete, and it will be impossible to attain the path of seeing. Many people skip this stage of practice and claim to have attained the path of seeing and realized the first fruit—that is a mistaken notion of the path of seeing, nothing more than a great false claim.

Original text of the Abhidharmakośa-śāstra: 或先已断。欲界一品。乃至五品。至此位中名初果向。趣初果故。言初果者。谓预流果。此于一切沙门果中。必初得故。

Explanation: Among those practicing the path of liberation, some have previously already eradicated the first through fifth grades of afflictive delusions in the desire realm. At this point, such a person can be called an approacher to the first fruit, because they are heading toward the first fruit; being called an approacher to the first fruit, they will soon attain purity of the dharma eye of the first fruit. The first fruit is also called the fruit of stream-entry (srotāpanna); among all the fruits of the renunciant śramaṇas, it is necessarily the first fruit to be attained.

An approacher to the first fruit must eradicate the five grades of afflictive delusions in the desire realm before they can realize the first fruit. This means that at the ordinary-being stage, an approacher to the first fruit must eradicate the five grades of afflictive delusions in the desire realm. By what means can an ordinary being eradicate the five grades of afflictive delusions? As stated above, in the course of cultivating the path, ordinary beings must cultivate the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment and abandon evil while cultivating goodness; cultivating goodness enables the eradication of evil, and eradicating evil means eradicating the five grades of afflictive delusions in the desire realm. If one only cultivates goodness without attaining the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) of the desire realm, or if the preparatory concentration of the desire realm is not complete, one also cannot eradicate the five grades of afflictive delusions, and cannot become an approacher to the first fruit. Cultivating the preparatory concentration is precisely the factor of enlightenment of meditative concentration among the seven factors of enlightenment, and it is precisely right concentration among the Noble Eightfold Path. If the preparatory concentration of the desire realm is insufficient, right concentration is not complete, the cultivation of the Noble Eightfold Path is not complete, and there is no right path to speak of.

Therefore, the claim made by some people that attaining the path of seeing and realizing the first or second fruit does not require meditative concentration, does not require preparatory concentration, or even that one can realize the fruits without cultivating concentration, gravely violates the principles of the seven factors of enlightenment and the Noble Eightfold Path, violates the true principle of realizing the fruits, and even more gravely violates the teachings of the World-Honored One, Maitreya Bodhisattva, and all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Their claims of realizing the fruits have no such reality and no actual substance; they belittle the cultivation and realization of the Buddha-dharma, and this also proves that they have not gone through the actual stages of practicing the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment; their approach to practice is rather blind, with much speculation. In the Dharma-ending age, many good teachers are indeed only skilled at collecting and disseminating knowledge, without understanding the principles of cultivation and realization.