Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra, Volume 34 (74)

Original text: 谓若行境界。于能随顺上品猛利烦恼缠处。由失念故。暂起微劣诸烦恼缠。寻能作意。速疾除遣。唯一度来生此世间。便能究竟作苦边际。得不还果及不还相。如前已说。

Explanation: When a practitioner of the second fruit faces sense objects, at places that accord with the very fierce afflictive entanglements of the highest grade in the desire realm, if due to loss of mindfulness slight and weak afflictive entanglements arise, he can immediately direct his attention and swiftly dispel those afflictive entanglements. When he comes again to be reborn in this world, he will come only one more time, and then he can reach the ultimate end of suffering, attaining the third fruit, the fruit of the non-returner (anāgāmin), along with the marks of non-returning, as has been explained previously.

The afflictions to be severed by a first-fruit practitioner through seeing the path are the low-grade afflictions of the desire realm, the coarsest and heaviest part of the afflictions of desire-realm beings—the afflictions possessed by humans and beings of the three evil destinies. Beings in the heavens have no coarse and heavy afflictions; they have middle-grade and high-grade afflictions, and humans also have middle-grade and high-grade afflictions. If one does not delight in and does not accord with the afflictions of desire-realm beings, one can sever the middle-grade and high-grade afflictions of the desire realm and attain the second fruit. By severing the low, middle, and high grades of afflictions in the desire realm, one can become far removed from desire-realm craving, give rise to the meditative concentration of the first dhyāna, and attain the third fruit.

Therefore, the first fruit is realized through seeing the path, while the second and third fruits begin cultivating the path. The afflictions to be severed through cultivating the path are subtler and harder to sever than those of the first fruit, but once severed, wisdom advances. From the first fruit to the fourth fruit, cultivating the path means severing afflictions; the degree of meditative concentration and of afflictions is used to demarcate the stages of fruit and the levels of wisdom. Thus the ultimate and fundamental purpose of studying theory is to sever afflictions and purify one's bodily, verbal, and mental actions. If one does not do this and only values theory, it cannot be called cultivating the path.