Three Types of Arhats

Original text of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra:大慧。阿罗汉者。谓诸禅三昧解脱力。明烦恼苦。妄想非性。故名阿罗汉。大慧白佛言。世尊。世尊说三种阿罗汉。此说何等阿罗汉。世尊。为得寂静一乘道。为菩萨摩诃萨方便示现阿罗汉。为佛化化。

Explanation: The Buddha said, "Mahāmati, what is an arhat? An arhat is one who has realized the four dhyānas, the eight liberations, and meditative absorption (samādhi), and by the liberating power of samādhi, clearly understands the suffering of all afflictions in the world. Therefore he has eradicated all afflictions of the innate ignorance of a single thought, and knows that the deluded thoughts of one's own mind have no real nature. Thus his mind is free from all deluded thoughts, and deluded thoughts no longer arise—hence he is called an arhat." Mahāmati said to the Buddha, "World-Honored One, You have spoken of three kinds of arhats. Which kind of arhat is being spoken of here? Is it the arhat who has attained the quietude of the One Vehicle path, or the arhat expediently manifested by a bodhisattva-mahāsattva, or the arhat manifested through the Buddha's transformation?"

Original text:佛告大慧。得寂静一乘道声闻。非余。余者。行菩萨行。及佛化化。巧方便。本愿故。于大众示现受生。为庄严佛眷属故。大慧。于妄想处。种种说法。谓得果得禅。禅者入禅。悉远离故。示现得自心现量。得果相。说名得果。

Explanation: The Buddha told Mahāmati, "What I am now speaking of are the śrāvakas who have attained the quietude of the One Vehicle path. In order to attain liberation as quickly as possible, they diligently cultivate the four dhyānas and eight liberations, and by the power of meditative concentration they attain liberation and enter Nirvāṇa without remainder. It is not the other two kinds of arhats that I am speaking of—the arhats who practice bodhisattva conduct and the arhats manifested by the Buddha. These are arhat conduct expediently and skillfully manifested; by the power of the original vows of bodhisattvas and the Buddha, they manifest taking birth among the assembly in the identity of an arhat, and this is also for the sake of adorning the Buddha's retinue.

Mahāmati, where sentient beings give rise to deluded thoughts, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas expound the Dharma in various ways, saying that by cultivating in such a way one can attain the fruit of arhatship, that by cultivating in such a way one can attain the four dhyānas and eight liberations, and that by cultivating meditative concentration one can enter samādhi. All of these also belong to unreal deluded thoughts—they are illusory, unarisen marks, and should all be abandoned (in order to enter into what is real). The Buddhas and bodhisattvas manifest the opening of great wisdom, with the realm of immediate manifestation from one's own mind (sva-citta-pratyakṣa) welling forth, and manifest the appearance of attaining the first fruit through the fourth fruit, giving it a name and calling it 'attaining the fruit.' In reality there is no fruit, nor is there anyone who attains the fruit—it is all deluded thought. (Only that which is unborn and unceasing within one's own mind is not deluded thought.)