The Pure Abodes and the Five Courses of Final Nibbāna

Why Differentiation Remains After Non-Return

中文主題：淨居與五種般涅槃——不還之後何以仍有分化

I. The Question

The previous paper set the non-returner's great matter: crossing the desire-realm. The five lower fetters exhausted, "not returning to this world," rebirth leaps from within the realm to beyond it — subtraction's first breach of the wall of a "realm." If one extrapolates in a straight line from "fruit measured by severance," the story should now be simple: after crossing, await only the exhaustion of the five higher fetters to become an arahant — a single road.

But scripture gives a telling complication: after crossing, "non-return" is not uniform. With the five lower fetters equally exhausted and ascending equally to the form-realm's Pure Abodes, the non-returner's path to arriving at nibbāna divides into five — final nibbāna in-between, on-rebirth, with-exertion, without-exertion, and upstream. Some attain final nibbāna in the intermediate-existence state (between death and rebirth), the swiftest; some must ascend successively through the heavens up to Akaniṣṭha before attaining it, the slowest. A natural perplexity follows: the realm crossed and the severance the same, why still five paths? The quantum of severance being equal, why is the journey unequal?

The thesis: the five courses are not five fruit-positions but the differentiation of one quantum of severance across the remaining journey. All five are non-returners — identical in severance (five lower exhausted, five higher not), so the fruit-position is one. Yet the severance of the remaining five higher fetters opens into five paths — by sharpness or dullness of faculty, presence or absence of mixed cultivation, more or less of effort — as to "when, where, and with how much exertion" they are severed. In other words: the fruit-position is fixed by "what is already severed" (same), the journey by the conditions of "how the unsevered is severed" (different). Subtraction here shows a deep property: "equal severance of fetters" does not entail "uniformity of journey."

This distinction guards against misreading "difference of journey" as "difference of fruit-position." The five courses are not five grades of noble one (as if in-between were higher than upstream), but five modes of arrival at one and the same position — like those landing from one ferry-crossing, some swift, some slow, the shore being one shore. The paper argues accordingly: Section II presents the basis (the scriptural co-listing of the five courses, the location of the Pure Abodes, the treatise's definitions); Section III, the core argument, establishes in three layers that the five courses are a differentiation of journey, not of fruit-position (severance equal, hence one position; conditions of severing the remainder differing, hence the journey divides; the spark-simile's correspondence with timing); Section IV omits convergence; Section V offers corrections; Section VI concludes (and closes Part 4).

II. The Canonical Basis

2.1 Scriptural co-listing: the five lower exhausted as premise, the five courses in sequence

The five courses of final nibbāna the Āgamas list in sequence on the common premise of "the five lower fetters exhausted." Saṃyukta-āgama, fascicle 27 (sūtra 736, the seven fruits of the seven factors of awakening):

命終時而得五下分結盡，中般涅槃；若不得中般涅槃，而得生般涅槃；若不得生般涅槃，而得無行般涅槃；若不得無行般涅槃，而得有行般涅槃；若不得有行般涅槃，而得上流般涅槃。¹

"At the time of death, attaining the exhaustion of the five lower fetters, [one attains] in-between final nibbāna; if not in-between, then on-rebirth final nibbāna; if not on-rebirth, then without-exertion final nibbāna; if not without-exertion, then with-exertion final nibbāna; if not with-exertion, then upstream final nibbāna."

Note the structure: all five share "the five lower fetters exhausted" as common premise (one quantum of severance), listed in turn by "if not the former, then the latter" — this "if not the former, then attaining the latter" phrasing precisely intimates that the five are successive alternative paths under one premise, not five high-and-low positions. The scriptural sequence here is: in-between → on-rebirth → without-exertion → with-exertion → upstream (without-exertion before with-exertion).

2.2 The seven destinations of the good and the iron-fire-spark simile

The same differentiation the Madhyama-āgama, fascicle 2 (the Sūtra on Where the Good Go, Chapter of the Seven Dharmas), depicts with the "seven destinations of the good" matched to seven similes of "iron-fire scattering sparks," opening the five into seven:

少慢未盡，五下分結已斷，得中般涅槃，是謂第一善人所往至處……〔鐵火迸星〕纔燃便滅……上已即滅……墮地而滅……得生般涅槃……得行般涅槃……得無行般涅槃……得上流阿迦膩吒般涅槃，是謂第七善人所往至處。²

"Conceit not yet wholly gone, the five lower fetters already severed, one attains in-between final nibbāna — this is the destination of the first good person… [iron-fire scattering sparks] extinguished just as it kindles… extinguished having risen… extinguished on falling to the ground… attains on-rebirth final nibbāna… with-exertion… without-exertion… attains upstream Akaniṣṭha final nibbāna — this is the destination of the seventh good person."

"Iron glowing white-hot, struck with a hammer, sparks flying into the air" — sparks of a struck red-hot iron. The sparks are extinguished at varying speeds: extinguished just as they kindle (swiftest), extinguished having risen, extinguished on falling to the ground… up to landing far off and extinguished only after long. This figures the speed-differences of the five courses (opened into seven): the in-between attainer like a spark extinguished just as it kindles (final nibbāna in the intermediate state), the upstream one like a spark flung far and extinguished only after long (attaining nibbāna only after successive ascent). The simile's beauty is that it depicts purely a difference of speed (one and the same spark, extinguished sooner or later), not a difference in the size of the fire (not high-and-low) — exactly fitting "one and the same position, arrival sooner or later." "Upstream Akaniṣṭha" is the upstream one ending in Akaniṣṭha (= 色究竟, the highest Pure Abode).

2.3 The location of the Pure Abodes and the treatise's definitions

The place the five courses traverse is the form-realm's fourth-jhāna five Pure Abodes. The Abhidharmakośa, fascicle 8, lists the eight heavens of the fourth jhāna, of which the last five are the Pure Abodes:

第四靜慮處有八者，一無雲天、二福生天、三廣果天、四無煩天、五無熱天、六善現天、七善見天、八色究竟天。³

"The fourth-jhāna stations are eight: (1) 無雲, (2) 福生, (3) 廣果, (4) 無煩, (5) 無熱, (6) 善現, (7) 善見, (8) 色究竟."

The last five (無煩, 無熱, 善現, 善見, 色究竟) are the five Pure Abodes (abodes of the noble ones). The definitions of the five courses the Kośa, fascicle 24, marks in verse and develops in prose:

〔頌〕此中生有行，無行般涅槃，上流若雜修，能往色究竟……〔論曰〕此不還者總說有七，且行色界差別有五：一中般涅槃、二生般涅槃、三有行般涅槃、四無行般涅槃、五者上流……言中般者，謂往色界住中有位便般涅槃。言生般者，謂往色界生已不久便般涅槃。⁴

"[Verse] Herein in-between, on-rebirth, with-exertion, without-exertion final nibbāna; the upstream, if of mixed cultivation, can go to Akaniṣṭha… [Prose] These non-returners are in sum seven; in the form-realm-course they differ as five: (1) in-between, (2) on-rebirth, (3) with-exertion, (4) without-exertion, (5) upstream… 'In-between' means one attains final nibbāna while dwelling in the intermediate-existence state on the way to the form-realm. 'On-rebirth' means one attains final nibbāna not long after rebirth in the form-realm."

The treatise defines each: in-between = attains final nibbāna in the intermediate-existence state (between death and rebirth); on-rebirth = attains not long after rebirth in the Pure Abodes; with-exertion = attains after long time and much exertional effort; without-exertion = attains after long dwelling, without much effort, spontaneously; upstream = ascends successively (the sense of "upward-flowing"), attaining nibbāna only up at Akaniṣṭha. Note the treatise-verse sequence here: in → on-rebirth → with-exertion → without-exertion → upstream (with-exertion before without-exertion), differing from the scriptural sequence (2.1, without-exertion first). This divergence is a scripture-treatise difference, marked and followed by authorial decision (see §V).

The upstream course further has a difference of terminus. Kośa, fascicle 24:

果差別者，色究竟天及有頂天為極處故。謂若於靜慮有雜修者，能往色究竟方般涅槃。即此復有三種差別，全超、半超、遍歿異故。⁵

"As to the difference of result: Akaniṣṭha and the Peak of Existence are the ultimate stations. If one has mixed cultivation in the jhānas, one can go to Akaniṣṭha and there attain final nibbāna. This in turn has three kinds: full-leap, half-leap, and death-at-all-stations."

The upstream one's terminus: the wisdom-inclined (with mixed-cultivation jhāna) take Akaniṣṭha as ultimate, the concentration-inclined take the Peak of Existence (the summit of the formless realm). Their mode of ascent further divides into full-leap (leaping the intermediate stations at once, from Brahmā's Retinue straight to Akaniṣṭha), half-leap (ascending gradually but able to skip one station), and death-at-all-stations (taking rebirth at every station, reaching Akaniṣṭha last). The treatise's determination is here at its finest.

⚠️ A note on register: the names and co-listing of the five courses, the seven destinations of the good, and the iron-fire-spark simile (2.1–2.2) are stated outright in the Āgamas; the assignment of the eight fourth-jhāna heavens, the definitions of the five courses, the intermediate-existence state, full-leap / half-leap / death-at-all-stations, and the Akaniṣṭha / Peak-of-Existence termini (2.3) are the Kośa's determination, consonant with scripture but finer; drawn on here with its register as treatise marked.

III. The Core Argument

3.1 The severance equal, hence the position one: all five are non-returners

The common premise of the five courses scripture marks plainly: "the five lower fetters exhausted" (2.1), "the five lower fetters already severed" (2.2). All five are identical in what is severed — all sever the five lower fetters, all leave the five higher unsevered. By the "fruit measured by severance" established since P01: the fruit-position is fixed by which fetters are severed. The severance being the same, the position is the same — all five are non-returners, without exception and without high-or-low.

This is the first cornerstone for understanding the five courses, and it directly inherits the whole axis's master-thesis of subtraction. Were fruit measured by experience or state (rebutted in earlier papers), the "difference of speed" among the five courses would easily be read as "difference of height" — as if the in-between attainer realized something higher, the upstream lower. But measured by severance, the five are identical in severance and the position must be identical; "difference of speed," not being among the severed fetters, constitutes no difference of position. The ruler of subtraction again shows its clarifying force: it holds "difference of journey" outside "fruit-position," because the position acknowledges only severance, not speed.

So "in-between" and "upstream" are not two fruits but two modes of arriving at one fruit (the non-returner). As in the seven-destinations spark-simile (2.2) — the sparks flung out, though extinguished at varying speeds, are all the same spark from the same iron, not a difference of big spark and small. The five courses are five timings of final nibbāna of one and the same non-returner, not five grades of noble one.

3.2 The conditions of severing the remainder differing, hence the journey divides: why the five paths are five

The position being one, whence the difference of the five paths? From the difference in the conditions of severing the remaining five higher fetters. The five lower are exhausted (same), yet the five higher are unsevered (same in being unsevered); and "how the unsevered comes to be wholly severed" differs from person to person — by sharpness or dullness of faculty, presence or absence of mixed-cultivation jhāna, more or less of exertional effort — opening into five paths as to "when, where, with how much exertion" the five higher are severed.

Course by course (per the treatise's definitions, 2.3): in-between — the sharpest-faculties one, severing the five higher and attaining final nibbāna already in the "intermediate-existence state" after death and before rebirth in the Pure Abodes, without needing actual rebirth there, swiftest. On-rebirth — attaining not long after rebirth in the Pure Abodes. With-exertion — after rebirth, requiring long time and much exertional effort to sever fully. Without-exertion — after long dwelling, severing fully spontaneously without much effort. Upstream — for one whose five higher fetters are harder to sever, requiring successive ascent through the Pure Abodes, up to Akaniṣṭha (wisdom-inclined) or the Peak of Existence (concentration-inclined) before severing fully, slowest; whose ascent further divides into full-leap, half-leap, death-at-all-stations (2.3).

The axis of division of the five paths lies wholly in the three conditions of "severing the remainder": timing (intermediate state / after rebirth / long after), exertion (much effort / not much effort / spontaneous), location (final nibbāna at once / one station / successive ascent up to Akaniṣṭha). These three are all conditions of "how the five higher fetters are severed," not the content of "what is already severed." So the five paths are a differentiation of journey (the process of severing the remaining fetters), not of fruit-position (the quantum of fetters already severed). Subtraction here shows its deep property: the severed being fixed, the severance of the remainder still has degrees of freedom in its "process-parameters" (time, exertion, place) — and this freedom is why the five paths are five.

✅ Doctrinally sound: the Kośa's definitions of the five courses (in-between = nibbāna in the intermediate state / on-rebirth = not long after rebirth / with-exertion = much effort / without-exertion = not much effort / upstream = nibbāna only after successive ascent) establish that the difference of the five paths lies wholly in the timing, exertion, and location of "severing the remainder," not in the quantum of severance. The five lower exhausted is the same (one position); the conditions of severing the five higher differ (five journeys); hence the five courses are a differentiation of journey, not of fruit-position.

3.3 The spark-simile's correspondence with timing: a difference of speed, not of height

That the five courses are "a differentiation of journey, not of fruit-position," the scriptural spark-simile (2.2) gives the aptest internal proof. The sparks flung from struck iron are all the same iron, the same hammer, the same flinging — their difference lies solely in the speed of extinguishing: extinguished just as they kindle, extinguished having risen, extinguished on falling to the ground… up to landing far off and extinguished only after long. What the simile depicts is purely "one and the same spark, extinguished sooner or later," with not a word of "the size or height of the spark."

This simile corresponds tightly with the five courses' "timing of severing the remainder": the in-between attainer like a spark extinguished just as it kindles (severed fully in the intermediate state), the on-rebirth one like a spark extinguished having risen (not long after rebirth), the with- and without-exertion like a spark extinguished on falling to the ground (severed after rebirth, differing in exertion), the upstream like a spark flung far and extinguished only after long (severed only after successive ascent). The spark's "flinging out" figures the crossing of the desire-realm (the same change of kind, the same iron-spark); the spark's "extinguishing" figures the full severance of the five higher and final nibbāna (trending to the remainderless); and the "flight-distance and time" between is the journey required to sever the remaining fetters. All the extinguishing of one spark, hence the position is one; extinguished sooner or later, hence the journey divides.

Thus the full picture of the five courses is clear: crossing the desire-realm is one change of kind (the previous paper, the spark flung out); the five courses are, after the change of kind and before the remainderless, the five speeds into which the journey of severing the remaining fetters opens by condition. Closing through the approach-fruit grammar (continuing P02): all five courses lie after the non-returner's fruit (the resting aspect of the five lower exhausted) is established and within the arahant's approach (the five higher being severed, the next paper P08) — the five courses are precisely the five temporal phases into which the arahant-approach unfolds under differing conditions. So the five courses inherit from above (the non-return fruit) and open below (the arahant-approach), the bridge from Part 4 to Part 5.

IV. Interdisciplinary Convergence

(This paper deliberately omits the interdisciplinary-convergence section; the rationale appears in Section VI. Although "many paths to one endpoint, at differing speeds" resembles physics' "different paths converging on one attractor" or reaction kinetics' "one product by many routes at differing rates," those are the probabilistic dynamics of conditioned phenomena, alike in face but unlike in spirit with the cessation-severance of the five higher fetters; a forced convergence would misrepresent, so better omitted.)

V. Middle-Way Corrections

❌ Misreading 1: "the five courses are five high-and-low grades of noble one (in-between high, upstream low)." The whole paper dismantles this. The five are identical in severance (five lower exhausted, five higher unsevered), so the position must be identical — all non-returners, no high-or-low (3.1). "Difference of speed" is a difference of journey, not among the severed fetters, hence no difference of position. To read "in-between is swifter" as "in-between is higher" is the variant of "measuring fruit by something other than severance" the earlier axis rebutted. The five courses are five arrivals at one fruit, not five grades of fruit.

⚠️ Correction 2: scripture and treatise differ in the sequence and naming of the five courses; this paper marks the divergence rather than harmonizing it. First, the sequence: SĀ 736 (2.1) gives "in-between, on-rebirth, without-exertion, with-exertion, upstream" (without-exertion first); the Kośa verse (2.3) gives "in-between, on-rebirth, with-exertion, without-exertion, upstream" (with-exertion first). This is a scripture-treatise difference; this paper follows the scriptural sequence in the basis section and the treatise sequence in the argument section, marking each source, not forcing them into one sequence — which comes first touches the determination of severing-effort, a matter the author may revisit. Second, the Pure-Abode names "善現 / 善見" may be transposed in variant editions; this paper follows the Kośa fascicle 8 sequence (2.3). All such divergences are marked plainly, not silently unified.

⚠️ Correction 3: "the in-between course depends on the intermediate existence" touches a sectarian dispute; this paper states its sense without adjudicating the dispute. The Kośa establishes "the in-between course" as necessarily depending on an "intermediate existence" (the body between death and rebirth), and uses this to argue that the intermediate existence is real (fascicle 8). But "whether an intermediate existence exists" is a major sectarian dispute (the Sarvāstivāda affirm it, the Vibhajyavāda and others may not). This paper takes "in-between = nibbāna in the intermediate-existence state" as the Kośa's definition in order to state the five courses, but does not thereby adjudicate the sectarian dispute over the reality of the intermediate existence — that dispute is beyond this paper's measuring-theme. The reader should know: "the in-between course" is established on the Sarvāstivāda intermediate-existence teaching; other schools may construe it otherwise.

VI. Conclusion

Essential restatement. After the non-returner's "non-return," things are not uniform: ascending to the five Pure Abodes, the path to arriving at nibbāna divides into five — in-between, on-rebirth, with-exertion, without-exertion, upstream. The five are identical in severance (five lower exhausted), hence one position (all non-returners, no high-or-low, 3.1); the severance of the remaining five higher fetters differs by conditions of timing, exertion, and location, hence the journey divides into five (3.2); scripture's iron-fire-spark simile depicts this as "one and the same spark, extinguished sooner or later," purely a difference of speed, not of height (3.3). The five courses establish subtraction's deep property: "equal severance of fetters" does not entail "uniformity of journey" — the fruit-position is fixed by severance, the journey by the conditions of severing the remainder.

Guidance for practice. The understanding a practitioner should form of the five courses is not a height-choosing mind of "may I gain the in-between (higher) and not the upstream (lower)" — the five are one fruit, with no height to choose; but rather the recognition that "after crossing the realm, severing the remaining fetters is still real work." Non-return is not the endpoint; all five courses are en route to "trending to the remainderless"; the in-between's speed and the upstream's slowness hang on sharpness or dullness of faculty, presence or absence of mixed cultivation, more or less of effort — and among these, what can be increased by one's own power (mixed-cultivation jhāna, diligent effort) is exactly where the practitioner should still apply himself after crossing the realm. Do not, on the grounds that "all are non-returners anyway," slacken in severing the remaining fetters; the position being the same, the speed of trending to the remainderless is effort not wasted.

Open questions (and the close of Part 4). This paper cut Section IV because, though "one endpoint, many paths, differing speeds" formally resembles convergence on an attractor or multi-route reaction kinetics, those are conditioned probability, alike in face but unlike in spirit with the cessation of the five higher fetters. A genuine question for later: the sequence of the five courses (the scripture-treatise divergence) and the "near / middle / far" three-grade division by which the destinations of the good open five into seven — does their basis require importing the Kośa's intermediate-existence and mixed-cultivation teachings to be fully grounded? This touches the intermediate-existence dispute and the sense of mixed cultivation, beyond this paper's theme. With this, Part 4 (the non-returner) is complete in two papers: P06 established the change-of-kind threshold of "crossing the desire-realm," P07 the journey-differentiation of the "five courses" after crossing. The next Part, Part 5 (the arahant-fruit, from P08), will treat the severance of the last and subtlest five higher fetters (greed for form, greed for the formless, conceit, restlessness, ignorance) — the "remaining fetters" of the five courses' "journey of severing the remainder" are precisely the five higher; P08 will treat head-on why these last five walls are the subtlest and hardest, and why the arahant-approach halts at the threshold (the mastery of the fruit belonging to the Attainment axis). The five courses are the five temporal phases of the arahant-approach; P08 probes the arahant-approach's object of severance itself.

Notes

References

I. Buddhist Primary Sources

• Saṃyukta-āgama (雜阿含經). Trans. Guṇabhadra. T02, no. 0099《雜阿含經》Saṃyukta-āgamaT2, No. 99View on CBETA online reader ↗. (Fascicle 27, the seven fruits of the seven factors of awakening, the five courses co-listed.)
• Madhyama-āgama (中阿含經). Trans. Gautama Saṅghadeva. T01, no. 0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗. (Fascicle 2, the Sūtra on Where the Good Go, the seven destinations of the good, the iron-fire-spark simile.)
• 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 World (分別世品, fascicle 8, the eight Pure-Abode heavens); Chapter on the Noble Ones (分別賢聖品, fascicle 24, the definitions of the five courses, the upstream terminus).

II. Modern Scholarship

(This paper cites no modern scholarship; the argument rests entirely on Buddhist primary sources, following the open-source spirit of "return to the source." The interdisciplinary-convergence section having been cut, no corresponding modern literature appears.)

III. Index of Canonical Citations

Point	Source	CBETA id
Five courses co-listed; five lower exhausted as premise (scriptural sequence, without-exertion first)	SĀ fasc. 27, sūtra 736	T02n0099《雜阿含經》Saṃyukta-āgamaT2, No. 99View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0196c14
Seven destinations of the good; iron-fire-spark simile; upstream Akaniṣṭha	MĀ fasc. 2, Where the Good Go	T01n0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0427a22
The eight fourth-jhāna heavens; the last five are the Pure Abodes	Kośa fasc. 8	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0041a20
Definitions of the five courses; nibbāna in the intermediate state; treatise-verse sequence with-exertion first	Kośa fasc. 24	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0124b06
Upstream terminus Akaniṣṭha / Peak of Existence; full-leap, half-leap, death-at-all-stations	Kośa fasc. 24	T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0124c06

Cross-Reference Index

• SRAMANA-P01, "Measuring Fruit by Subtraction": this paper's §3.1 "severance equal, hence position one" directly inherits P01's master-thesis that "the fruit-position is fixed by which fetters are severed"; the five courses sharing one fruit are exactly a confirmation of fruit measured by severance.
• SRAMANA-P06, "The Five Lower Fetters Exhausted": this paper inherits its "crossing the desire-realm" change of kind; the spark's "flinging out" figures the crossing (P06), the spark's "extinguishing" figures severing the remainder and final nibbāna (this paper), the two similes continuous.
• SRAMANA-P02, "The Hinge of Approach and Fruit," §3.3: this paper's §3.3 closes through the approach-fruit grammar — all five courses lie after the non-return fruit (the resting aspect of the five lower exhausted) and within the arahant-approach (the five higher being severed), the five temporal phases of the arahant-approach.
• SRAMANA-P08, "The Five Higher Fetters Exhausted" (forthcoming): this paper's §VI foreshadows — the "remaining fetters" of the five courses are the five higher; P08 probes head-on the arahant-approach's own object of severance, the five higher, and why the approach halts at the threshold.

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Paper: SRAMANA-P07 · 淨居與五種般涅槃 · The Four Śrāmaṇya-phalas · Part 4 · Anāgāmin Author: 釋慧鏡 (Shi Huijing) · Project: 指月 / Pointing-at-the-Moon · Series: The Realization Paths（行 階位歷程） 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/realization-paths

Footnotes

1. Saṃyukta-āgama, fascicle 27 (sūtra 736, the seven fruits of the seven factors of awakening), T02n0099《雜阿含經》Saṃyukta-āgamaT2, No. 99View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0196c14. The five courses listed in sequence on the premise of the five lower fetters exhausted; scriptural sequence here: in-between, on-rebirth, without-exertion, with-exertion, upstream (without-exertion before with-exertion). Collated against the CBETA digital canon. ↩

2. Madhyama-āgama, fascicle 2 (the Sūtra on Where the Good Go, Chapter of the Seven Dharmas), T01n0026《中阿含經》MadhyamāgamaT1, No. 26View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0427a22. The seven iron-fire-spark similes matched to the seven destinations of the good (the five courses opened into seven, the in-between divided into near/middle/far three); "upstream Akaniṣṭha final nibbāna" = the upstream course ending in Akaniṣṭha. ↩

3. Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, fascicle 8 (Chapter on the World), T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0041a20. The eight fourth-jhāna heavens, the last five (無煩, 無熱, 善現, 善見, 色究竟) being the five Pure Abodes. By Vasubandhu, trans. Xuanzang. ↩

4. Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, fascicle 24 (Chapter on the Noble Ones, part 3), T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0124b06. The verse and prose definitions of the five courses; treatise-verse sequence here: in-between, on-rebirth, with-exertion, without-exertion, upstream (with-exertion before without-exertion, differing from the scriptural sequence in ¹). ↩

5. Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, fascicle 24, T29n1558《阿毘達磨俱舍論》Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣyaT29, No. 1558View on CBETA online reader ↗_p0124c06. The upstream terminus: Akaniṣṭha (wisdom-inclined, with mixed cultivation) / the Peak of Existence (concentration-inclined); the three modes of ascent: full-leap, half-leap, death-at-all-stations. ↩