The Unshakable Liberation of Mind

Why the Unshakable Is the Highest Aspect of Mastery

中文主題：不動心解脫——何以「不動」是自在之最勝相

I. The Live Question

The previous paper set the frame for the whole axis: the arhat's mastery is the signature of the exhaustion of taints — the unobstructedness of "nothing left to bind." But anyone who has read the school treatises runs at once into a thorny problem: the canon and śāstra plainly speak of a regressible lineage among arhats — that some arhats fall back? If what is called mastery can still be lost, is it mastery through to the bottom?

This forces the present paper's question. A liberation that can still be shaken and lost, and a liberation for which "there is no cause or condition that could make it fall back," plainly do not stand on one level. Scripture marks the latter with the word unshakable (akuppā) — the highest aspect of the liberation of mind. The question is just this: what does "unshakable" mean within the arhat's mastery? Is it a further merit erected alongside mastery, or some completeness of mastery itself?

This paper argues the latter: the unshakable is the floor of mastery. If mastery can fall back, then there is still a place where it can be taken away — still bondage, not yet the thoroughness of "nothing left to bind"; only when "there is no condition that could make it fall back" is the unobstructedness full. So scripture treats the unshakable not as a flower upon the brocade but as a monk's "named jewel-treasure" (the most precious in the simile of the seven treasures), and makes "the unshakable liberation of mind" the verse-conclusion of "all the fetters of being exhausted." The unshakable is just what the mastery of exhaustion looks like once it is through to the bottom.

This paper continues from the prior and enters Part 2, "Liberation of Mind and Liberation by Wisdom." The prior paper's 2.3 established liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom as the twofold-liberation 定型句 of the exhaustion of taints; this paper takes the "liberation of mind" side and treats its highest qualifier — the unshakable. (The discrimination of liberation by wisdom from liberation both-ways is treated by the next paper, P03.) The argument: §II presents canon and śāstra; §III argues in three layers (the unshakable as the highest aspect of the twofold liberation; the unshakable as "not waiting on time, not falling back"; the unshakable shown only against the contrast of "regressible"); §IV is cut; §V corrects; §VI concludes.

II. Canonical Basis

2.1 Liberation of Mind and by Wisdom: The Twofold-Liberation 定型句 (Continuing the Prior Paper)

The liberation that the exhaustion of taints accomplishes is standardly stated as liberation of mind (ceto-vimutti) and liberation by wisdom (paññā-vimutti) together. Saṃyukta-āgama, fascicle 2:

Exhausting the taints in this Dharma, attaining the taintless, liberated in mind and liberated by wisdom, in this very life knowing and realizing for oneself, dwelling in fullness: "Birth is exhausted, the holy life has been lived, what was to be done is done, one knows there is no more becoming."¹

This is the twofold-liberation 定型句 established in the prior paper's 2.3. This paper takes the "liberation of mind" side for closer treatment. "Liberation of mind" is the aspect of the mind liberated from greed and the other defilements, bound by nothing; and the consummation of this aspect scripture marks with one highest qualifier — "unshakable." What follows clarifies that "unshakable."

2.2 The Śāstric Definition: The Unshakable Lineage-Nature, the Time-Independent Liberation

The sense of "unshakable" the Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 25 (Chapter on the Noble Persons), glosses through "the unshakable lineage-nature" and "the time-independent liberation":

The unshakable lineage-nature is called the last; just this is named the unshakable liberation of mind, because it is without falling-back and is liberation of mind. It is also named the time-independent liberation, because it does not wait on the occasion and is liberation. That is, samādhi manifests at will, not waiting on the conjunction of favorable conditions.²

This is the paper's śāstric pivot. Three points: first, "unshakable" means "without falling-back" — this liberation has no regression, hence "unshakable." Second, "the unshakable liberation of mind" is also "the time-independent liberation" — "not waiting on the occasion," not needing the conditions of the occasion to come together before liberation. Third, the proof is in concentration: "samādhi manifests at will, not waiting on the conjunction of favorable conditions" — to enter concentration the moment one wills, without awaiting requisites, health, a suitable place, and the like. The unshakable is autonomous in both concentration and wisdom, untrammeled by outer conditions — and this is mastery's highest aspect: even the last fraction of unfreedom, "able-only-when-conditions-permit," is exhausted.

The śāstra further cites scripture to prove its non-regression. Kośa, fascicle 25:

Scripture says: the unshakable liberation of mind is realized with the body; I definitely declare there is no cause or condition for falling back from it.³

"Realized with the body" means personally attained; "I definitely declare there is no cause or condition for falling back" means the Buddha declares with finality: no cause or condition whatever can make this liberation fall back. The "unshakability" of the unshakable is here set at its limit — not "hard to lose" but "no condition by which to lose it."

2.3 The Canonical Witness: The Named Jewel-Treasure and the Verse "All the Fetters of Being Exhausted"

The preciousness of the unshakable the Madhyama-āgama figures by the wheel-turning monarch's seven treasures. Madhyama-āgama, fascicle 15 (the simile of the seven treasures):

Śāriputra! Just so, a monk or nun has the unshakable liberation of mind as the named jewel-treasure. Śāriputra! If a monk or nun accomplishes the unshakable liberation of mind as the named jewel-treasure, he can abandon evil and cultivate the good.⁴

The wheel-turning monarch has seven treasures (wheel, elephant, horse, jewel, woman, householder, general) as the insignia of his sovereignty; a monk's "named jewel-treasure" is "the unshakable liberation of mind." To figure it by the most precious of treasures displays the unshakable's supremacy among attainments — not one merit among many, but the insignia to which the merits return.

And what the unshakable accomplishes the Madhyama-āgama, fascicle 29, concludes in verse:

The unshakable liberation of mind: all the fetters of being exhausted.⁵

"All the fetters of being exhausted" — the bonds of the three becomings (of sensuality, of form, of formlessness) severed to the end. The verse joins "the unshakable liberation of mind" directly to "all the fetters of being exhausted" — the aspect of the unshakable is precisely the aspect of "the fetters of being, with not one left to move." This echoes the prior paper's 2.2 ("the fetters of being all ended"): the unshakable is what the liberation-of-mind of ended-fetters looks like once it is through to the bottom.

2.4 Time-Dependent and Time-Independent: The Unshakable Shown by the Contrast of "Regressible"

The sense of "unshakable" shows only against its opposite, "regressible." The Kośa, fascicle 25, sets up six kinds of arhat to sharpen the unshakable:

Arhats are of six kinds — the regressible through to the unshakable; the first five arise from faith-following, named together the time-dependent liberation; the last is the time-independent liberation, arising from the prior view-attained.⁶

The six lineage-kinds of arhat (regressible, reflective, guarding, abiding, attaining-the-penetrable, unshakable): the first five arise from faith-following (the dull faculties), named together "time-dependent liberation"; only the sixth, the unshakable, arises from view-attained (the keen faculties), named "time-independent liberation." The śāstra glosses the name "time-dependent." Kośa, fascicle 25:

This is named together the occasion-cherishing liberation of mind, because it is constantly cherished-and-guarded and is liberation of mind. It is also named the time-dependent liberation, because it must wait on the occasion to be liberation. … Thereby it must wait on the occasion to be able to enter concentration — waiting on requisites, health, a place, and other favorable conditions to come together at the occasion before it can enter.⁷

The first five kinds are named "occasion-cherishing / time-dependent liberation": they must constantly cherish-and-guard what is gained (for fear of falling back), and must wait on favorable conditions (requisites, health, a place) to come together at the occasion before they can enter concentration. By contrast, the unshakable's "not waiting on time, without falling-back" shows the more sharply: the time-dependent waits on conditions to enter and yet fears loss, the unshakable manifests at will and has no condition by which to fall back. The śāstra further sets the two names by the presence or absence of regression. Kośa, fascicle 25:

Or by way of the temporary and the final liberation, the names time-dependent and time-independent liberation are set up, because there is a time of possible regression and a time of no regression; this arises from the view-attained nature in the trainee stage.⁸

The time-dependent has "a time of possible regression" (temporary liberation), the time-independent "no time of regression" (final liberation). This paper takes from the regressible-type distinction only the one contrast of "regressible / non-regressible" to sharpen the unshakable, and stops there — the full doxography of the six lineages (the Sarvāstivāda positing regression, the Dārṣṭāntikas disputing that the arhat does not regress, and so on) lies beyond this paper's theme and is not unfolded.

✅ Doctrinally sound: 2.1 (the twofold-liberation 定型句) and 2.3 (the named jewel-treasure; the fetters-exhausted verse) are explicit canon; 2.2 (the unshakable lineage-nature; the gloss on time-independent; no-condition-for-regression) and 2.4 (the six lineages; the gloss on time-dependent) are Kośa śāstric precision (Noble Persons). The paper takes the single sense "unshakable = without falling-back, not waiting on time," marking it as śāstra. The school dispute over "whether the arhat actually regresses" the paper marks as-is, takes no side on, and does not unfold (its detail belongs to school doctrine, beyond this paper's theme of mastery).

III. Core Argument

3.1 The Unshakable as the Highest Aspect of the Twofold Liberation, Not a Separate Merit Beyond It

Liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom are the twofold liberation of the exhaustion of taints (2.1); and "unshakable" is the highest qualifier of "liberation of mind," not a third liberation erected beyond the twofold. This level must be settled first, or "unshakable" is easily misread as "an attainment higher than ordinary liberation of mind" — addition again.

The "unshakable" is the name for the "through-to-the-bottom" state of the same liberation of mind. "Liberation of mind" says "the mind is liberated from defilement, unbound"; "the unshakable liberation of mind" says "this liberation has no condition by which to fall back." The latter is not a thing beyond the former but the mark of the former's completeness — as "bone-dry" relates to "dry": bone-dry is not another degree of moisture but the degree of "dry" at which not a trace of damp can return. The unshakable relates to liberation of mind as bone-dry to dry.

The similes of 2.3 prove this. Scripture makes "the unshakable liberation of mind" a monk's "named jewel-treasure" (the most precious in the simile of the seven treasures). The monarch's seven treasures are not things beyond his sovereignty but the insignia of its fullness; just so, the unshakable is not a merit beyond liberation of mind but the insignia of its fullness (through-to-the-bottom, without falling-back). And the verse of 2.3, "the unshakable liberation of mind: all the fetters of being exhausted" — what the unshakable concludes is precisely "the fetters of being exhausted," that is, the prior paper's 2.2 "all the fetters of being ended" through to the bottom: the fetters of being exhausted to where not one can move is the unshakable. So the unshakable is the floor of mastery, not something beyond mastery.

3.2 The Unshakable as "Not Waiting on Time, Without Falling-Back": Mastery's Autonomy at Its Limit

The concrete sense of "unshakable" the śāstra exhausts in two phrases (2.2): "without falling-back" and "not waiting on time." These two are precisely mastery's "autonomy" pressed to its limit.

"Without falling-back": the liberation has no regression. The prior paper held mastery to be "nothing left to bind"; if this unbondage can still be lost, then "able-to-be-lost" is itself a kind of unexhausted bond — there is still a place where it can be taken. Only "no condition for falling back from it" (the scripture cited in 2.2) is the thorough unbondage where even "the crack through which to fall back" is exhausted. So "without falling-back" is not gaining one more degree of solidity but exhausting the last fraction of where-it-could-be-taken — still subtraction (mastery's grammar holds consistently to the minus).

"Not waiting on time": samādhi manifests at will, not waiting on requisites, health, a place, and other favorable conditions to come together (2.2). By contrast with the time-dependent's "waiting on conditions to come together at the occasion before entering concentration" (2.4), the unshakable is fully autonomous in the entering and leaving of concentration — entering the moment one wills, untrammeled by outer conditions. This is mastery's autonomy pressed even into concentration: not only is the mind unbound by defilement, but even the fraction of unfreedom of "entry must wait on conditions" is exhausted. Mastery's highest aspect lies just in this "not even the last fraction of condition-waiting unfreedom" — nothing left to bind, and no condition left to wait on.

✅ Doctrinally sound: the two senses of the unshakable, "without falling-back, not waiting on time," are the thoroughgoing of mastery's "nothing left to bind" — without-falling-back exhausts "the crack of regression," not-waiting-on-time exhausts "the unfreedom of condition-waiting." The unshakable is not gaining a degree of solidity but exhausting the last fraction of where-it-could-be-taken-or-must-wait — consistent with mastery's grammar of subtraction.

3.3 The Unshakable Shown Only by the Contrast of "Regressible": Touching the Regressible Type, and Stopping There

"Unshakable" is a relative name — only with "movable (regressible)" as its contrast does "unshakable" have a referent. So scripture sets up six kinds of arhat (2.4), with the first five "time-dependent, regressible" to set off the sixth "time-independent, unshakable." This paper takes that contrast to display the unshakable, but must hold strict measure: it takes only the single line of contrast "regressible / non-regressible," not the full school dispute "whether the arhat actually regresses."

Why stop there? Because "whether the arhat actually regresses" is a school battleground (the Sarvāstivāda positing a regressible type on scriptural authority; the Dārṣṭāntikas and others disputing that the arhat does not regress), and its argument turns on the very substance of the severing of defilement, on what the regression regresses from (the pleasant abiding here-and-now, or the fruit itself), and so on — a special topic of the theory of severing defilement and of school doctrine, beyond this paper's theme of "the aspect of mastery." What this paper needs is only that one contrast, "regressible" — by which to display why the unshakable's "no condition for falling back" is mastery's highest. As for the establishment of the six lineages and the real sense of regression, this paper marks them as-is as school distinctions and suspends them, taking no side.

A simile: to argue "the immovability of bedrock," one needs "a thing that can be pushed" as contrast to display the sense; but to display bedrock's immovability one need not exhaustively investigate "what can push it and the mechanics of pushing" — that is another study. To display the unshakable liberation of mind, the contrast of "a liberation that can regress" suffices; one need not settle the school disputes about "a liberation that can regress." The use of contrast is to set off the paper's subject, not to let the guest usurp the host.

⚠️ A note on level: this paper takes the contrast "time-dependent, regressible / time-independent, unshakable" only to sharpen "the unshakable" as mastery's highest aspect. The school disputes "whether the arhat actually regresses," "what the regressor regresses from," and the like, this paper does not adjudicate and does not unfold — they belong to the theory of severing defilement and to school doctrine, beyond this paper's theme of mastery. The reader should not take this paper as having taken a position on "the sense of arhat regression."

IV. Interdisciplinary Convergence

(This paper deliberately omits the interdisciplinary section; the reason is given in §VI. "The unshakable, without falling-back" does resemble the psychological notion of "acquired stability" or the systems notion of "homeostasis / stability"; yet both are the capacity of a conditioned system to recover equilibrium under perturbation, still presupposing "perturbable and in need of recovery." The unshakable liberation of mind's "no condition for falling back" has exhausted even "the place where it could be perturbed" — not "perturbed yet able to recover" but "nothing to perturb." Only superficially alike; to force the convergence would falsify; better to leave it out.)

V. Madhyamaka Corrections

❌ Misreading one: "the unshakable is a liberation higher than liberation of mind (one more new attainment)." 3.1 breaks this. The unshakable is the name for the "through-to-the-bottom" state of the same liberation of mind (without falling-back, not waiting on time), not a separate merit beyond it — as bone-dry is not another degree of moisture but the consummation of dry. To take the unshakable as "a higher new liberation" falls into addition and splits the unity of the twofold liberation. Scripture's making the unshakable the insignia of "named jewel-treasure" and "fetters exhausted" displays it as the mark of liberation-of-mind's fullness, not a separately erected merit.

❌ Misreading two: "the unshakable = a gained degree of stabilizing power (a positive increment)." The two senses of the unshakable are still subtraction (3.2): without-falling-back exhausts "the crack of regression," not-waiting-on-time exhausts "the unfreedom of condition-waiting." Not "gaining solidity" but "exhausting the last fraction of where-it-could-be-taken-or-must-wait." To read the unshakable as "an added power of concentration" goes against mastery's grammar of subtraction (prior paper's 3.3) — mastery's highest still lies in "nothing left to bind, no condition left to wait on," not in "one more degree of force."

⚠️ Correction three: this paper takes no side on, and does not unfold, "whether the arhat actually regresses." It takes the "regressible / non-regressible" contrast of the six lineages only to sharpen the unshakable (3.3); "whether the arhat actually regresses," "what the regressor regresses from (pleasant abiding or the fruit)," are school battlegrounds, special arguments touching the substance of severing defilement, beyond this paper's theme of mastery. The paper marks them as-is as school distinctions and suspends them; the reader should not take it as having taken a position on regression. The establishment of the unshakable does not hang on adjudicating "whether the regressible type actually regresses" — even were that dispute unsettled, the unshakable aspect of "no condition for falling back" stands on its own by explicit scripture (the citation in 2.2).

⚠️ Correction four: this paper is confined to the "liberation of mind" side and does not cross into the discrimination of "liberation by wisdom / liberation both-ways." Part 2 sets up liberation of mind and liberation by wisdom; this paper takes the highest aspect of liberation of mind (the unshakable). The distinction of liberation by wisdom from liberation both-ways (wisdom only / also cessation-attainment) belongs to the next paper, P03, and is not stated here. Do not take this paper's "unshakable liberation of mind" as already containing the full discrimination of the two liberations — it says only "the through-to-the-bottom of liberation of mind is the unshakable," not "how liberation by wisdom and liberation both-ways divide."

VI. Conclusion

Restatement. The unshakable liberation of mind is the floor of mastery. The unshakable is the highest aspect of the "liberation of mind" within the twofold liberation, not a separate merit beyond it — the name for liberation-of-mind's fullness (through-to-the-bottom, without falling-back), as bone-dry to dry (3.1). Its two senses, "without falling-back, not waiting on time," are the thoroughgoing of mastery's "nothing left to bind": exhausting "the crack of regression" and "the unfreedom of condition-waiting" — still subtraction (3.2). And the unshakable shows only against the contrast of "time-dependent, regressible," so the paper borrows the six-lineage contrast to set off the unshakable, while on the school dispute over regression it stops at a touch and takes no side (3.3).

Practice guidance. What the practitioner should understand about the unshakable is not the expectation "I must cultivate a still-more-stable power of concentration" (which takes the unshakable for a new attainment beyond liberation of mind — addition again), but the recognition that "the unshakable just is liberation through to the bottom — the unobstructedness in which even 'the crack of regression and the unfreedom of condition-waiting' is exhausted." The work that tends toward the unshakable still lies in the thoroughness of severing defilement (especially severing the root of ignorance and the view-defilements), so that liberation has no place to be taken, no condition it must wait on. And especially: do not rest content with "I have gained liberation" and so must constantly cherish-and-guard it for fear of regression (that is precisely the mark of the time-dependent); the true insignia of mastery is "there is no condition that could make it fall back" — not "held securely" but "no way to fall back." To hold securely still has a holder and a held; only "no way to fall back" is thorough.

Carrying the axis forward. This paper enters Part 2 and takes the highest aspect of liberation of mind (the unshakable), showing that mastery's floor lies in "without falling-back, not waiting on time." The next paper, P03, takes the other discrimination of the twofold liberation — the distinction of liberation by wisdom (wisdom only) from liberation both-ways (also cessation-attainment) — showing the coexistence of two types of mastery with respect to "whether concentration is gained." The two papers together compose the full breadth of Part 2, "Liberation of Mind and Liberation by Wisdom": this paper treats liberation of mind through-to-the-bottom vertically (the unshakable), the next discriminates the two liberations' branching horizontally (wisdom / both-ways). The aspect of mastery unfolds along both directions.

Open questions. First, the unshakable's "no condition for falling back" and the school dispute over "whether the arhat actually regresses" this paper suspends (3.3, correction three); yet, taken to the end, whether "the unshakable" and "the regressible type" can coexist within one canonical teaching (that is, scripture positing both the unshakable and the regressible, and how they are reconciled) is a real question of the theory of severing defilement, to be revisited in the papers on severing defilement and the freedom of concentration. Second, this paper cuts §IV (the unshakable and homeostasis are only superficially alike); whether the unshakable of "nothing to perturb," distinct in root from all stability-theories of "perturbed yet able to recover," admits a positively constructible deep structure, is left to a later paper. Third, the unshakable belongs to the autonomy-at-its-limit of "liberation of mind" (not waiting on time, autonomous in concentration); its relation to the "liberation by wisdom" side (what the unshakable of wisdom would look like) this paper does not reach, to be treated after P03 discriminates the two liberations.

Notes

References

Primary Buddhist Sources

• Saṃyukta-āgama (雜阿含經). Trans. Guṇabhadra. T02, no. 0099《雜阿含經》Saṃyukta-āgamaT2, No. 99View on CBETA online reader ↗. (Fasc. 2, the twofold-liberation 定型句.)
• Madhyama-āgama (中阿含經). Trans. Gautama Saṅghadeva. T01, no. 0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗. (Fasc. 15, the named jewel-treasure in the seven-treasures simile; fasc. 29, the unshakable / fetters-exhausted verse.)
• Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya (阿毘達磨俱舍論). By Vasubandhu, trans. Xuanzang. T29, no. 1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗. (Chapter on the Noble Persons, fasc. 25, the unshakable lineage-nature, the time-independent liberation, the six kinds of arhat, the gloss on time-dependent, no-condition-for-regression.)

Modern Scholarship

(This paper cites no modern scholarship; its argument rests entirely on the Buddhist canon, in the open-source spirit of "returning to the source." The interdisciplinary section having been cut, there is no associated modern literature.)

Sūtra & Śāstra Index

Citation	Source	CBETA id
Twofold-liberation 定型句 · liberation of mind and wisdom (continuing the prior paper)	Saṃyukta-āgama, fasc. 2	T02n0099《雜阿含經》Saṃyukta-āgamaT2, No. 99View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0010c15
Śāstric definition of the unshakable liberation of mind · without falling-back · not waiting on time	Kośa, fasc. 25	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129b02
Śāstra citing scripture · the unshakable realized with the body · no condition for falling back	Kośa, fasc. 25	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0130a22
The unshakable liberation of mind as the named jewel-treasure (seven-treasures simile)	Madhyama-āgama, fasc. 15	T01n0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0520b05
Verse · the unshakable liberation of mind · all the fetters of being exhausted	Madhyama-āgama, fasc. 29	T01n0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0614c26
Six kinds of arhat · first five time-dependent · sixth unshakable	Kośa, fasc. 25	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129a21
Gloss on time-dependent · occasion-cherishing liberation · waiting on conditions to enter concentration	Kośa, fasc. 25	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129a26
Setting the time-dependent / time-independent names by presence or absence of regression	Kośa, fasc. 25	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129b05

Series Cross-Reference Index

• ARHAT-P01, "The Exhaustion of Taints Is Mastery" §2.3, §3.3: this paper continues P01's twofold-liberation 定型句 (2.1) and grammar of subtraction (3.2's "the unshakable is still subtraction" directly continues P01's 3.3); the unshakable is the thoroughgoing of P01's "nothing left to bind."
• ARHAT-P03, "Liberation by Wisdom and Liberation Both-Ways Distinguished" (forthcoming): this paper takes the "liberation of mind" side to treat the unshakable; P03 takes the discrimination of the twofold liberation (by wisdom / both-ways), composing with this paper the full breadth of Part 2.
• ★ Realization-axis SRAMANA-P08, "The Five Higher Fetters Exhausted" (seam side-reference): this paper's 2.3 "all the fetters of being exhausted" bears on P08's "the five higher fetters exhausted" — the fetters of being exhausted to where not one can move is this paper's unshakable; Realization speaks of their severing (how exhausted), Attainment of their aspect (exhausted to the unshakable).

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Paper: ARHAT-P02 · 不動心解脫 · The Mastery of the Arhat · Part 2 · The Two Liberations Author: 釋慧鏡 (Shi Huijing) · Project: 指月 / Pointing-at-the-Moon · Series: The Attainment Signatures（證 自在簽名） License: CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 CBETA collation: 全文引用均依 CBETA 電子佛典核校（《雜阿含經》T0099、《中阿含經》T0026、《阿毘達磨俱舍論》T1558）。Pāli 引文採 PTS reference 雙軌標示（vault 未收者俟後補）。 Repository: https://github.com/pointing-at-the-moon/attainment-signatures

Footnotes

1. Saṃyukta-āgama, fascicle 2, T02n0099《雜阿含經》Saṃyukta-āgamaT2, No. 99View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0010c15. The twofold-liberation 定型句: "attaining the exhaustion of taints, the taintless, liberated in mind and liberated by wisdom, in this very life knowing and realizing for oneself, dwelling in fullness," followed by the self-verification 定型句. Continuing ARHAT-P01 §2.3. ↩

2. Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 25 (Chapter on the Noble Persons, part 4), T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129b02. "The unshakable lineage-nature is called the last; just this is named the unshakable liberation of mind, because it is without falling-back and is liberation of mind. It is also named the time-independent liberation, because it does not wait on the occasion and is liberation. That is, samādhi manifests at will, not waiting on the conjunction of favorable conditions." The śāstric definition of the unshakable (without falling-back, not waiting on time). By Vasubandhu, trans. Xuanzang. ↩

3. Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 25, T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0130a22. The śāstra citing scripture: "the unshakable liberation of mind is realized with the body; I definitely declare there is no cause or condition for falling back from it." Proving the unshakable's "no condition for regression." ↩

4. Madhyama-āgama, fascicle 15 (the simile of the seven treasures), T01n0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0520b05. "A monk or nun has the unshakable liberation of mind as the named jewel-treasure … accomplishing it, can abandon evil and cultivate the good." Figuring the unshakable's supreme preciousness by the monarch's seven treasures. ↩

5. Madhyama-āgama, fascicle 29, T01n0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0614c26. Verse: "the unshakable liberation of mind: all the fetters of being exhausted." The unshakable concluding the fetters-of-being exhausted. ↩

6. Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 25, T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129a21. Verse: "Arhats are of six kinds — the regressible through to the unshakable; the first five arise from faith-following, named together the time-dependent liberation; the last is the time-independent liberation, arising from the prior view-attained." The six lineage-kinds (first five time-dependent, sixth unshakable). ↩

7. Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 25, T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129a26. Glossing the name "time-dependent": "the occasion-cherishing liberation of mind, constantly cherished-and-guarded … must wait on the occasion to be liberation … waiting on requisites, health, a place, and other favorable conditions to come together at the occasion before entering concentration." The first five lineages' aspect of waiting-on-conditions and fear-of-regression. ↩

8. Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 25, T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0129b05. "By way of the temporary and the final liberation, the names time-dependent and time-independent are set up, because there is a time of possible regression and a time of no regression; this arises from the view-attained nature in the trainee stage." Setting the two names by presence or absence of regression. ↩