The Afflictions to Be Eliminated by the Sakṛdāgāmin

Original text of the Abhidharmakośa Śāstra: 若先已断。欲界六品。或七八品。至此位中名第二果向。趣第二果故。第二果者。谓一来果。遍得果中。此第二故。

Explanation: If one has previously eliminated six grades of thought-delusion in the desire realm, or seven or eight grades, then upon reaching this stage one is called a once-returner candidate (the second-fruit candidate), because one is heading toward the second fruit. The second fruit is the fruit of once-returning (Sakṛdāgāmin); with one more round of rebirth each in the human world and the heavens, one attains nirvāṇa without remainder. Among all the fruits that should be attained, the fruit of once-returning ranks second in sequence, and therefore it is called the second fruit.

The three grades of thought-delusion in the desire realm—the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades—are somewhat deeper and subtler than the previous five grades, and somewhat harder to eliminate. Once they are cultivated and eliminated, the virtue of elimination will be higher, and the fruit will naturally be higher than that of the first-fruit candidate and the stream-enterer, whose elimination covers only five grades. The nine grades of afflictive thought-delusion in the desire realm are all related to the dharmas of the desire realm: they are the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion toward the forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas of the desire realm; the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion toward food, clothing, and the necessities of life in the desire realm; and the afflictions of greed, hatred, and delusion toward sexual desire. The first grade—the lowest-of-the-low grade of afflictive delusion—is the coarsest, the most turbid, the most inferior, the most grievous in its faults, the most unfitting to possess, and the most in need of removal. The second grade comes next, the third grade after that, and so on up to the fifth grade; after these are cultivated and eliminated, one is a stream-enterer candidate, situated between an ordinary being and a stream-enterer, still included among ordinary beings, not exempt from transmigrating through the three evil destinies. Only upon reaching the stage of stream-entry can the suffering of transmigration through the three evil destinies be extinguished.

If one wishes to eliminate the five grades of afflictive delusion in the desire realm, one must uphold the precepts and cultivate meditative concentration. When desire-realm concentration arises, it will subdue and eliminate the five grades of afflictive thought-delusion. Having eliminated these afflictions, one continues to uphold the precepts and cultivate concentration, giving rise to the wisdom of contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā), realizing that the five aggregates (pañcaskandha) are suffering, empty, impermanent, and without self; meditative absorption (samādhi) appears, one gains purity of the Dharma eye, and attains stream-entry. Among these, meditative concentration is the key. Without the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) of the desire realm, no afflictive delusion can be subdued or eliminated, and the state of stream-enterer candidate cannot be attained either. Why can preparatory concentration eliminate the five grades of thought-delusion? Because concentration stabilizes the mind: it first stabilizes the body, and only when the body is settled can the mind settle in its wake. When the mind is settled, it is subdued, inclining less toward forms, sounds, smells, tastes, touches, and dharmas, and the afflictions are naturally eliminated. The afflictive delusions eliminated by the second-fruit candidate and the once-returner are somewhat subtler and deeper than those eliminated by the stream-enterer candidate and the stream-enterer, but they still belong to the afflictions of the desire realm; only one grade remains before the afflictions of the desire realm are eliminated completely without remainder. Desire-realm preparatory concentration can eliminate them, and the concentrations of the form realm and the formless realm can eliminate them even more easily.

Some people say that attaining the fruits and seeing one's true mind (明心) do not require meditative concentration, that there is no need to eliminate afflictions, and that the afflictions of a stream-enterer are exactly the same as those of an ordinary being. Such statements precisely reveal that this person has never genuinely gone through the stage of cultivating the path; their own mind must certainly be in accord with the afflictions of an ordinary being, and so their claimed realization of the fruits and awakening to the true mind is highly doubtful. A person without meditative concentration naturally does not know the benefits and merits of concentration, and naturally will not eliminate any afflictions; their afflictions are of course identical to and no different from those of an ordinary being. But in reality this is not so. Meditative concentration has the virtue of elimination, as well as merit and virtue; it is the most crucial link and booster in cultivating the path. Without this crucial link of meditative concentration, the wisdom that eliminates self-view (ātma-dṛṣṭi) will not arise. The mind consciousness's intellectual understanding does not play a decisive role; it is the wisdom of the manas that is decisive—determining whether ignorance and afflictions exist, determining the direction of future rebirths, and determining whether or not there is liberation.

Attaining the first fruit is comparable to being reborn with a completely transformed body. The manas is the backbone: whatever kind of bone it is determines what kind of embryo it is. If the manas's ignorance and afflictions are not eliminated and the bones do not change, one cannot shed the embryo of an ordinary being; which womb the neutrino-body (antarā-bhava) enters is determined by the bones of the manas. Why can meditative concentration enable the manas to be reborn with a transformed body? Because concentration subdues the six consciousnesses; when the six consciousnesses move less and more slowly, the manas's domination and regulation of the six consciousnesses naturally decreases, the grasping mind weakens, and the mind can dwell more on the meaning of the Dharma. The capacity to absorb and digest the meaning of the Dharma is strengthened, deliberation (manana) upon the Dharma becomes more focused, one gradually penetrates and integrates the meaning of the Dharma, wisdom arises, afflictions are eliminated, and one gains partial or complete liberation. Without meditative concentration, the six consciousnesses' grasping at the six sense objects never ceases, and the manas's command over the six consciousnesses never ceases; then one cannot dwell on the meaning of the Dharma, wisdom cannot arise, afflictions are not eliminated, and liberation is hopeless.