Three Kinds 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 various dhyānas and meditative absorptions (samādhi), and by the liberating power of samādhi, clearly understands the suffering of all worldly afflictions. Thus he has eliminated all fundamental ignorance and afflictions, and knows that the delusive constructions of his own mind have no real nature. Therefore his mind is free from all delusive thoughts, and delusive thoughts no longer arise—such a one 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 single vehicle path, or the arhat that a bodhisattva-mahāsattva expediently manifests, or the arhat manifested by the Buddha to transform beings?"

Original text of the Laṅkāvatāra Sūtra: 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 is the arhat who turns toward the path of quietude and liberation. In order to attain liberation as quickly as possible, they diligently cultivate the four dhyānas and eight absorptions, and by the power of meditative concentration attain liberation, entering nirvāṇa without remainder. It is not the other two kinds of arhats that I am speaking of. The arhats who practice the bodhisattva's conduct and the arhats manifested by the Buddha are skillful and expedient manifestations of arhat conduct; due to the power of the original vows of bodhisattvas and the Buddha, they manifest taking birth in the assembly in the guise of an arhat, and this is also for the sake of adorning the Buddha's retinue.

"Mahāmati, the Buddhas and bodhisattvas, at the places where sentient beings give rise to delusive thoughts, 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 absorptions, and that by cultivating meditative concentration one can enter samādhi. All of these also belong to unreal delusive thinking—they are illusory, without any mark of arising, 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 welling forth; they manifest attaining the appearances of the fruits from the first fruit to the fourth fruit, and give this a name and mark, calling it 'attaining the fruit.' In reality there is no fruit, nor is there any person who attains the fruit—it is all delusive thinking. (Only that which neither arises nor ceases within one's own mind is not delusive thinking.)