瑜伽師地論 修所成地

The last of the three-wisdoms stages (hearing → reflection → cultivation) · the master outline of the wisdom of cultivation. One stage that gathers a whole road of practice.

In one line: The Stage of Cultivation gathers the whole road into a single stage — under the four loci (the locus, causes-and-conditions, yoga, and fruit of cultivation) it gathers the seven branches; from the stock-taking of the provisions, "I was born a human being," through the antidotes of tranquillity and insight and the three categories of worldly concentration, into the direct realization of the holy truths, on to the adamantine-like concentration cutting off the last, subtlest obstruction to exhaustion and realizing the utterly pure path and fruit — "there is nothing more remaining, nothing higher, nothing more surpassing."

Three Points of the Eye

1. The four loci gather the seven branches; one map gathers all. The perfection of birth = the locus of cultivation (the foundation) · hearing the true Dharma / having nirvāṇa as the foremost / the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom = the causes-and-conditions of cultivation · the cultivation of the antidotes = the yoga of cultivation · the two purities, worldly and world-transcending = the fruit of cultivation. The treatise states the pairing itself 〔this treatise, fasc. 20 · Dunlun T1828 0426a16〕. To read this one stage is to hold in hand a condensed, whole map of the path of cultivation.

2. Cultivation counteracts "the obstruction of this moment, this position." The three positions (householder / renunciant / secluded, quiet dwelling) each have their obstruction, each paired with its antidote — the perception of impurity counteracts craving · the perception of impermanence counteracts affection · the perception of light counteracts darkness. The worldly purity = the three categories of concentration (attaining concentration 〔the not-yet-arrived concentration〕 → the perfection of concentration 〔the fundamental meditative absorption〕 → mastery of concentration 〔far removed from the secondary afflictions · the twenty-two characters〕). This stage uses its own words; it does not set up the names "the seven attentions" or "the objects for purifying conduct" (those being the establishment of the Śrāvaka Stage as it opens the matter out widely — for side-consultation only, not to be poured back in).

3. The gate beyond the world lies in "entering the direct realization of the holy truths." One grows disenchanted with the "realm of idle proliferation" (the worldly purity) and enters the "realm free of idle proliferation" (the world-transcending purity); the five causes and twenty characters hold the mind. The subtle point within: the "subtle conceit 'I' that turns along interruptedly and uninterruptedly" that is cut off, Kuiji judges to be the innate self-grasping concurrent with the sixth consciousness and with the seventh consciousness 〔T1829 0108c09〕; here this stage's path of cultivation joins with the transformation of the basis in the consciousness-only paths of seeing and cultivating. It ends with the adamantine-like concentration (this stage's sole living simile) reaching the ultimate, cultivated to perfection.

Consciousness-Only · Common Track (appended · a pointer)

This stage inclines toward the śrāvaka's common track of the path of cultivation; the consciousness-only meaning is light but anchored: the images of tranquillity and insight are what consciousness-only manifests 〔Saṃdhinirmocana T676 0698b01〕 · the subtle conceit "I" matched to two consciousnesses 〔T1829 0108c09〕 · the gradual sequence of the five positions awakening to and entering consciousness-only 〔Cheng Weishi Lun T1585 0048b11〕. The opening of the doctrine, and the detail of the ten turnings / twenty characters / sixteen kinds of cultivation, are all found in the Exposition and the Apparatus.

〔Plain reading: a phrase-by-phrase rendering into present-day language following Xuanzang's translation; the technical terms are kept as they stand, seeking only good readability without distortion.〕

The Overall Heading: The Four Loci and Seven Branches

This is the twelfth, the Stage of What is Attained through Cultivation, within the Basic Section. Earlier the Stage of What is Attained through Reflection has already been discussed. What, then, is the Stage of What is Attained through Cultivation? In brief, one should know that it is fully gathered under four loci. Which four loci? The first is the locus of cultivation; the second is the causes-and-conditions of cultivation; the third is the yoga of cultivation; the fourth is the fruit of cultivation. These four loci are in turn gathered under seven branches. Which seven branches? The first is the perfection of birth; the second is the perfection of hearing the true Dharma; the third is having nirvāṇa as the foremost; the fourth is the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom; the fifth is the cultivation of the antidotes; the sixth is the worldly purity of all kinds; the seventh is the world-transcending purity of all kinds. All the meanings of the holy teaching gathered in this way under the four loci and seven branches — to state them in full, one should know them thus. In dependence upon the well-spoken Dharma and Vinaya, all the points of training come to their perfection.

One · The Perfection of Birth

What is the perfection of birth? One should know that, in brief, it has ten kinds. That is: with respect to what is internal there are five kinds; with respect to what is external there are five kinds; the internal and external combined make ten kinds in all.

What are the five internal kinds within the perfection of birth? They are: the perfection of a common lot, the perfection of location, the perfection of the bodily support, the perfection of freedom from karmic obstruction, and the perfection of freedom from the obstruction to conviction.

The perfection of a common lot means: it is as though there were someone born among human beings, obtaining the body of a man, with the male faculty complete.

The perfection of location means: it is as though there were someone born among human beings, and moreover dwelling in a central land and not born in a border region. By "central land" is meant a location where the observances of the four assemblies are found — that is, the monks, the nuns, the laymen-attendants, and the laywomen-attendants; and one not born among the Daśyus and the Mlecchas — that is, in a location where there are no observances of the four assemblies, and no sages, none rightly arrived, none of right conduct, none of the various good and worthy men.

The perfection of the bodily support means: it is as though there were someone born in a central land, lacking not any single limb or part of eye, ear, and the rest, of a nature not stubborn or dull-witted, and not mute either, able to understand all the meanings of the Dharma, whether well-spoken or ill-spoken.

The perfection of freedom from karmic obstruction means: it is as though there were someone whose bodily support was already perfected, who neither himself commits, nor incites another to commit, any one of the karmic obstructions among the five deeds of immediate retribution. Were anyone to commit such a deed, then within his present body he could certainly not be a vessel for realizing the Dharma of the sages.

The perfection of freedom from the obstruction to conviction means: it is as though there were someone who has surely not committed the five deeds of immediate retribution, who does not give rise to conviction toward evil places, and does not raise up a pure mind toward evil places — that is, toward the locations of the various false gods and the locations of the various non-Buddhist paths, he gives rise to no conviction. Because in his former birth, at the place of the Buddha's holy teaching and well-spoken Dharma, he cultivated pure faith, continuing over a long time unbroken; by this cause and condition, in his present birth he gives rise to conviction toward the holy places alone and raises up a pure mind.

What are the five external kinds within the perfection of birth? They are: the perfection of the Great Teacher, the perfection of the conventional true Dharma being set forth, the perfection of the ultimate true Dharma being carried on, the perfection of right conduct not perishing, and the perfection of the conducive means of support.

The perfection of the Great Teacher means: that person, the pudgala, having already become complete in the five internal kinds of the perfection of birth, is moreover able to meet with a Great Teacher's appearing in the world — that is, the so-called Tathāgata, the Worthy, the Perfectly Awakened, the All-Knower, the All-Seer, who with respect to all realms attains freedom from obstruction.

The perfection of the conventional true Dharma being set forth means: that person, the pudgala, meets the Buddha's appearing in the world, and the Buddha in turn widely reveals the wholesome and unwholesome dharmas, the blameworthy and the blameless, and so on at length down to the various dependently-arisen dharmas, and widely distinguishes them — that is, the discourses, the mingled prose-and-verse, the prophecies, the verse-chants, the spontaneous utterances, the accounts of origins, the parables, the tales of past events, the birth-stories, the extensive teachings, the marvels, and the expositions.

The perfection of the ultimate true Dharma being carried on means: the Great Teacher having well revealed the conventional true Dharma, the disciples, in dependence upon this true Dharma, in turn obtain from others the exhortation and instruction spoken in accord with it, cultivate the thirty-seven factors of awakening, and obtain the fruits of the renunciant; and upon the fruits of the renunciant they realize perfection, and are further able to realize all the merits that grow ever more surpassing, superior, and vast.

The perfection of right conduct not perishing means: although the Buddha, the World-Honored One, has entered parinirvāṇa, yet the conventional true Dharma still abides in the world unperished, and the ultimate true Dharma is not hidden away, not cut off.

The perfection of the conducive means of support means: the four causes-and-conditions for the enjoyment of the true Dharma are present, so that one may enjoy the true Dharma. The various faithful elders, householders, brahmins, and the like, knowing that this person carries on in dependence upon his enjoyment of the true Dharma, and fearing lest, wanting for the means of support, he should fall away from the true Dharma he has received, therefore diligently offer him the various robes, food and drink, the various seats and bedding, the medicines needed for treating illness, and the various goods that sustain the body and life.

These ten kinds are named the perfection of birth, internal and external. It is just these ten kinds of the perfection of birth that are named the locus of the yoga of cultivation. Because one takes this basis, this established place, as one's support, one is able to realize all the holy Dharma possessed by the Tathāgata's disciples.

Such holy Dharma, in brief, has two kinds. The first is the Dharma of the trainee; the second is the Dharma of the one beyond training. Now within this meaning, the intent is to take the holy Dharma possessed by the one beyond training — that is, the right view of the one beyond training, on at length down to the right knowledge of the one beyond training. Why so? Because, though the trainees have holy Dharma, yet within their continuum there are still to be found the un-holy afflictions following along and manifesting in activity.

In this way the vast meaning of the holy teaching for the very first branch, the perfection of birth, has just these ten kinds. Apart from this, there is no other perfection of birth, whether in excess or in addition.

Two · The Perfection of Hearing the True Dharma

What is the perfection of hearing the true Dharma? It is: right speaking of the Dharma, and right hearing of the Dharma — these two combined are together named the perfection of hearing the true Dharma.

Again, right speaking of the Dharma, in brief, has two kinds — the so-called conforming and the undefiled. Stated in full, one should know it has twenty kinds, as will be told in the Bodhisattva Stage.

Again, right hearing of the Dharma, in brief, has four kinds: the first is being far removed from pride and arrogance; the second is being far removed from contempt; the third is being far removed from timidity; the fourth is being far removed from distraction. To listen to the Dharma far removed from these four kinds of fault is named right hearing of the Dharma. One should know that, stated in full, it has sixteen kinds, likewise as will be told in the Bodhisattva Stage.

Three · Having Nirvāṇa as the Foremost

What is having nirvāṇa as the foremost? It is: when a disciple of the Tathāgata, carrying on in dependence upon the perfection of birth, listens to the true Dharma in the manner described above, taking nirvāṇa alone as the foremost — seeking nirvāṇa alone, taking nirvāṇa alone as the object in listening to the Dharma — not for the sake of leading others to have faith in oneself, and not for the sake of gain, respect, or praise.

Again, for one who listens to the Dharma taking nirvāṇa as the object, there is a turning of ten dharmas, all having nirvāṇa as foremost. That is, in dependence upon the nirvāṇa-element with remaining basis, and the nirvāṇa-element without remaining basis. One should know: in dependence upon the nirvāṇa-element with remaining basis, there is a turning of nine dharmas having nirvāṇa as foremost; in dependence upon the nirvāṇa-element without remaining basis, there is a turning of one dharma having nirvāṇa as foremost.

〔The nine dharmas of the nirvāṇa with remaining basis are:〕 Taking the hearing-attained wisdom as the cause, one gives rise, with respect to the path, the fruit of the path, and nirvāṇa, to three kinds of conviction — the first is conviction that this nature truly exists; the second is conviction that it has merits; the third is conviction that one has oneself the means able to attain ease. Such conviction having arisen, then, in order to accomplish the reflection-attained knowledge, one makes body and mind dwell far removed from clamor, far removed from the hindering coverings and the various evil ponderings. In dependence upon this, one is able to enter the reflection-attained knowledge that well ascertains the meaning. In dependence upon this, one is further able to enter the two means: the uninterrupted cultivation and the reverent, weighty cultivation. By this sequence, on down to realizing the cultivation-attained knowledge. In dependence upon this, one gives rise to firm conviction toward the faults of birth-and-death, and to firm conviction toward the merits of nirvāṇa. Because of unbroken cultivation, one then enters the direct realization of the truths, first attaining the path of seeing — that is, the liberation of the trainee. Having already attained the trace of the path of seeing, then, upon the higher path of cultivation, because of repeated cultivation, one further realizes the liberation of the one beyond training. Because of realizing this, liberation reaches its perfection. It is just this perfection of liberation that is named the nirvāṇa-element with remaining basis.

It is just this nirvāṇa that, being taken as foremost, causes the preceding nine dharmas to be cultivated in sequence and so come to perfection. One should know that this very perfection of liberation takes the nirvāṇa-element without remaining basis as foremost 〔this being the tenth dharma among the turning of ten dharmas, in dependence upon the nirvāṇa-element without remaining basis〕.

Listening to the true Dharma in this way, taking nirvāṇa as foremost, one should know, is able to obtain five kinds of benefit. Which five? They are: at the time of listening to the Dharma, benefiting oneself and benefiting others; at the time of cultivating right conduct, benefiting oneself and benefiting others; and being able to realize the far limit of the manifold sufferings.

If a Dharma-teacher speaks the true Dharma for the sake of this meaning, then the one who listens to the Dharma listens to the true Dharma with just this intent; therefore at this time it is named benefiting others. Again, listening to the true Dharma with a wholesome mind, one is able to receive the profound and superior savor of the Dharma-meaning spoken, and thereby realize a vast delight, and is further able to draw forth the wholesome roots of renunciation; therefore at this time one is able to benefit oneself.

If there is a Great Teacher who rightly cultivates the Dharma and practices in accord with the Dharma, who, in order to establish the true Dharma, by skillful means displays the attaining of perfect awakening — this being in order to cause that right practice to be set turning — then when that person cultivates the practice of the true Dharma, it is, in the very nature of things, an offering to the Great Teacher; therefore this is said to be benefiting others. Through this right conduct, one is able to realize the nirvāṇa-element that is tranquil and cool, having only remaining basis; therefore this is said to be able to benefit oneself.

If, within the nirvāṇa-element without remaining basis, one enters parinirvāṇa, then this is named realizing the far limit of the manifold sufferings.

This is named the benefit obtained by listening to the true Dharma with nirvāṇa as the foremost. This, then, is named the entire vast meaning of having nirvāṇa as foremost. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

Four · The Maturing of the Liberation-Ripening Wisdom

What is the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom? It is: because the branch of insight (vipaśyanā) is matured, it is also named the maturing of wisdom; because the branch of tranquillity (śamatha) is matured, it is also named the maturing of wisdom. Why so? Because the wisdom within the concentrated mind carries on purely upon the object known.

Again, the branch of insight must, at the very first, take a good friend as its support. The branch of tranquillity is embraced by the perfection of moral discipline (śīla).

Again, in dependence upon being embraced by a good friend, there is, within the true nature of the object known, an aspiration to awaken to it 〔this first dharma〕. In dependence upon being embraced by the perfection of moral discipline, then — with respect to the higher moral discipline, in the case of violating the pure precepts, of unlawful conduct manifesting, of the ruining of proper deportment — if there are various wise fellow practitioners of the holy life who, by seeing, by hearing, or by suspicion, either raise up his offense, or make him call it to mind, or make him follow in learning, then at all these times he is able to bear their reproach 〔this second dharma〕.

Again, in dependence upon the aspiration to awaken to the truth of the object known, one comes to delight in listening 〔this third dharma〕; in dependence upon delight in listening, one comes to raise questions 〔this fourth dharma〕; in dependence upon raising questions, one comes to hear the profound Dharma-meaning not heard before 〔this fifth dharma〕. Because of listening repeatedly, without interruption, one's grasp of that Dharma-meaning turns ever clearer and purer 〔this sixth dharma〕, and one is further able to dispel the doubts previously arisen 〔this seventh dharma〕. Because one's awakened wisdom turns ever clearer and purer in this way, one comes to see the faults in all the flourishing affairs of the world, and with a deep mind grows disenchanted with them 〔this eighth dharma〕. Because one applies attention well with a disenchanted mind in this way, one gives rise to no wish or delight toward any of those flourishing worldly affairs 〔this ninth dharma〕. Because he in this way has no wishing mind toward the various worldly paths of superior rebirth, then, in order to cut off the dharmas leading to the evil destinies, his mind gives rise to a right aspiration 〔this tenth dharma〕. And in order to cultivate and gather the wholesome dharmas able to be antidotes to those, to cultivate and gather all the wholesome dharmas that are antidotes to the afflictions, in order to realize that fruit of the antidote, and also for the sake of his own mind's attaining purity, his mind gives rise to a right aspiration.

These ten kinds of dharmas maturing the liberation-ripening wisdom, as stated above, are able, in sequence, gradually to bring liberation to perfection.

Again, in sequence, three branches have now been stated: namely, the perfection of hearing the true Dharma, having nirvāṇa as the foremost, and the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom. The vast meaning of the holy teaching of these three branches is just these — ten and ten kinds. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

Again, these three branches, one should know, are precisely the causes-and-conditions of the yoga of cultivation. Why so? Because, in dependence upon this sequence, this cause, this condition, the cultivation of the yoga comes to be accomplished and perfected — that is, in dependence upon the perfection of hearing the true Dharma, having nirvāṇa as foremost, and the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom.

Five · The Cultivation of the Antidotes

What is the cultivation of the antidotes? One should know that, in brief, within three positions there are ten kinds of dharmas to be counteracted by the cultivation of the yoga.

What are the three positions? The first is the position of the householder; the second is the position of the renunciant; the third is the position of one cultivating the yoga in secluded, quiet dwelling.

What are the ten kinds of dharmas to be counteracted by the cultivation of the yoga? They are: in the position of the householder, toward the various wives there is the craving associated with sexual desire 〔the first thing counteracted〕; toward the other kinsfolk and the various wealth and treasures there is the affection associated with enjoyment 〔the second thing counteracted〕. These, then, are named the dharmas to be counteracted while dwelling in the position of the householder. Because of these obstructions, one is unable to depart from any kind whatsoever. Even if one manages to renounce the household, because these ponderings, by their agitation, form an obstruction, no gladness arises. For these two kinds of dharmas to be counteracted, one cultivates in turn the perception of impurity and the perception of impermanence — one should know this to be their cultivated antidote.

Again, the one who has renounced the household, within the position of the renunciant, constantly has, in brief, four kinds of undertaking. The first is the undertaking of constantly cultivating the wholesome dharmas by skillful means — that is: "Because I constantly cultivate the various dharmas by skillful means as my support, I shall be able to subdue every consciousness that delights following after the savor of craving, and shall also be able to awaken, as it really is, to the nature of suffering." The second is the undertaking of conviction and delight toward the nirvāṇa free of idle proliferation — that is: "I shall, toward the nirvāṇa free of idle proliferation, keep my mind from turning back, giving rise to no worry, giving rise to no worry of 'Where am I finally to be now?'" The third is the undertaking of roaming the villages from time to time to beg for food — that is: "Taking the enjoyment of begged food as my cause, my body attains long abiding, strength, and fitness, and can constantly cultivate the various wholesome dharmas by skillful means." The fourth is the undertaking of dwelling in a secluded place — that is: "Should I delight in dwelling mixed together with the various householders and renunciants, then there would be the various seeing, hearing, and enjoying associated with the world, the various affairs of distraction; let these not become an obstruction to me at the level of right, careful contemplation, of the mind on a single object."

Within these four kinds of undertaking, one should know there are four kinds of dharmas to be counteracted. In the first undertaking, there is laziness and sloth 〔the third thing counteracted〕; in the second undertaking, there is the view of the reifying self 〔the fourth thing counteracted〕; in the third undertaking, there is the craving after savor 〔the fifth thing counteracted〕; in the fourth undertaking, there is the desirous craving toward the various things of the world 〔the sixth thing counteracted〕. For these four kinds of dharmas to be counteracted, there are, in sequence, four kinds of cultivated antidote: the first is, toward impermanence, cultivating the perception of suffering; the second is, toward the manifold sufferings, cultivating the perception of no-self; the third is, toward food and drink, cultivating the perception of loathsomeness; the fourth is, toward all the world, cultivating the perception of what is not to be delighted in.

Again, within the position of secluded, quiet dwelling and applying attention by skillful means, one should know there are, in brief, four kinds of things to be counteracted. Which four? The first is a mind darkened toward the categories of tranquillity and insight 〔the seventh thing counteracted〕. The second is a craving after savor toward the various concentrations 〔the eighth thing counteracted〕. The third is a mind following after the marks of stirring toward existence 〔the ninth thing counteracted〕. The fourth is putting things off to a later and later day, waiting for some other time, following the pondering of "not dying," unable to cultivate the means blazingly and diligently 〔the tenth thing counteracted〕. For these four kinds of dharmas to be counteracted, one should know there are also four kinds of cultivated antidote: the first is cultivating the perception of light; the second is cultivating the perception of dispassion; the third is cultivating the perception of cessation; the fourth is cultivating the perception of death.

Again, the perception of impurity, in brief, has two kinds: the first is what is embraced by the power of discernment; the second is what is embraced by the power of cultivation.

Within the perception of impurity embraced by the power of discernment, one should know there are five dharmas to be counteracted. Which five dharmas? The first is drawing near to womenfolk. The second is dwelling in an exposed place and losing mindfulness. The third is dwelling in a hidden place and growing lax. The fourth is that which runs through both the hidden and the exposed, arising by the force of unbroken habituation 〔the defilement〕. The fifth is that, though one diligently and skillfully cultivates the impure, one's attention goes astray — that is, one does not contemplate the impure, but turns instead following the mark of the pure; this is named the going-astray of attention.

Within the perception of impurity embraced by the power of cultivation, one should know there are seven dharmas to be counteracted. Which seven dharmas? They are: the nature by which the affairs one is engaged in distract the mind; the nature by which the affairs one is engaged in tend toward action; the nature of being unskilled in applying attention by skillful means, because of not being reverent and not diligent in raising questions. Again, because one is unable to guard the gates of the faculties, though one dwells in an empty, quiet place, there are still the various defiled ponderings that disturb one's mind. Again, because one does not know the measure in food and drink, one's body is unfit. Again, because one is disturbed by ponderings, one takes no delight in seclusion, no delight in the tranquillity-concentration of inner mental stilling. Again, because that body is unfit, one is unable to cultivate insight well, unable to contemplate the various dharmas as they really are.

Of all such dharmas to be counteracted, one should know that, stated all together, on one reckoning there are twelve, and on another reckoning there are fourteen. And just as with these dharmas to be counteracted, so the counteracting bright dharmas are again just as many. In cultivating these two kinds of perception of impurity, one should know there is much to be accomplished.

Again, of the perception of suffering cultivated toward impermanence, in brief there are six kinds of dharmas to be counteracted. Which six? The first is that, toward the wholesome dharmas not yet arisen which should first be made to arise, there is laziness and sloth. The second is that, toward the wholesome dharmas already arisen which should be made to abide unforgotten, cultivated to perfection, and multiplied and made ever more vast, there is all manner of indolence. The third is that, in revering one's teachers and elders and going to raise questions, one cannot be constant and continuous. The fourth is that, toward constantly cultivating the wholesome dharmas and always following after the teacher, one is far removed from pure faith. The fifth is that, because of being far removed from pure faith, one is unable to cultivate constantly. The sixth is inner laxity, and, because of laxity, an inability to follow along constantly in the constant cultivation of the various wholesome dharmas. For these six kinds of dharmas to be counteracted, there are again six dharmas able to serve as antidotes, with much to be accomplished; being the reverse of these, their character should be known.

Again, the perception of light takes the manifold lights as its objective realm, as has already been told in the Stage of Meditative Equipoise. Now within this meaning, the intent is to clarify the light of Dharma taken as objective realm, and the cultivating of the perception of light — that is, the Dharma just as heard, already brought to its consummation and not forgotten in mindfulness, is named the light of Dharma; and the perception concurrent with that and associated with that, one should know, is named the perception of light. Why so? Because what truly darkens the mind is, it is said, when cultivating the categories of tranquillity and insight by skillful means, whatever loss of mindfulness there is toward the various dharmas; and the reverse of this, one should know, is precisely light.

Again, the perception of light concurrent with the reflection-attained wisdom and the cultivation-attained wisdom of the ultimate meaning has eleven dharmas to be counteracted. Which eleven? That is: the perception of light concurrent with the reflection-attained wisdom has four dharmas, and the perception of light concurrent with the cultivation-attained wisdom has seven dharmas; the things thus counteracted come, all together, to eleven.

The four dharmas of the perception of light concurrent with the reflection-attained wisdom are: the first is that, because of not contemplating well and not ascertaining well, doubt follows along toward what one reflects upon. The second is that, dwelling in the night watch, because of laziness, sloth, and much habituation to sleep, one squanders the hours. The third is that, dwelling in the day watch, because of drawing near to evil food, one's body is not supple and pliant, and one cannot conform to the truthful contemplation of the various dharmas. The fourth is that, dwelling mixed together with householders and renunciants, one cannot, toward the Dharma just as heard and brought to consummation, apply attention and reflect in accord with principle. Because doubt thus follows along, and because the causes-and-conditions able to dispel doubt are obstructed, these four kinds of dharmas are what the perception of light concurrent with the reflection-attained wisdom counteracts, causing the reflection-attained — whether the knowing or the seeing — not to attain purity.

What are named the seven dharmas counteracted by the perception of light concurrent with the cultivation-attained wisdom? The first is, cultivating in dependence upon the mark of exertion, the dharma counteracting an exceedingly ardent effort. The second is, cultivating in dependence upon the mark of stilling, the dharma counteracting an exceedingly feeble effort. The third is, cultivating in dependence upon the mark of equanimity, all the delight that is greedily attached to the savor of concentration and concurrent with craving. The fourth is a mind harboring dread toward parinirvāṇa, and, concurrent with anger and aversion, a mind grown timid — these being two dharmas to be counteracted 〔together forming the fourth item〕. The fifth is that, in dependence upon just such an application of attention by skillful means, toward the Dharma one diligently disputes and ascertains, and in the arena of establishing and refuting one gives rise to much talk, continuing unbroken and not letting go; this, at the time of tranquil right reflection, can serve as an obstruction. The sixth is that, toward form, sound, smell, taste, and touch, one grasps at their marks and beauty contrary to right principle, ponders wrongly, and lets the mind be distracted. The seventh is that, toward a matter that should not be pondered, one forcibly reins in the mind and discerns the various dharmas. These seven kinds are the dharmas counteracted by the perception of light concurrent with the cultivation-attained wisdom, most able to obstruct the perception of light concurrent with the cultivation-attained wisdom, causing the cultivation-attained — whether the knowing or the seeing — to carry on impurely.

These dharmas to be counteracted have, once again, eleven dharmas that are the reverse of these, able to serve as antidotes, able to cut off those; one should know that they too cause the reflection-attained and cultivation-attained — whether the knowing or the seeing — to carry on purely.

Again, one who by right skillful means cultivates the various perceptions has three things: the first is having the aspiration to cut off and destroy the dharmas to be counteracted. The second is, within the dharmas to be counteracted that are manifesting in activity, keeping the mind unstained and swiftly making them cease. The third is being able, moreover, to dwell much in the dharmas that serve as antidotes, cutting off and destroying all the dharmas to be counteracted. Because these three dharmas follow along in every cultivation of the antidotes, they are named having much to be accomplished.

This, then, is named the cultivation of the antidotes. This cultivating of the antidotes, one should know, is precisely the cultivation of the yoga. The vast meaning of the holy teaching of this fifth branch, the cultivation of the antidotes, one should know, has only these ten characters. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

Six · The Worldly Purity of All Kinds

What is the worldly purity of all kinds? One should know that, in brief, it has three kinds. The first is attaining concentration; the second is the perfection of concentration; the third is mastery of concentration.

Among these, at the very first there are twenty kinds of dharmas to be counteracted in the attaining of concentration, able to keep a person from attaining the surpassing concentration. Which twenty?

The first is the fault of having as companions fellow practitioners of the holy life who take no delight in cutting off. The second is the fault that, though a companion has virtue, yet the teacher able to expound the means of cultivating concentration has a fault — that is, he explains the means of cultivating concentration wrongly. The third is the fault that, though the teacher has virtue, yet toward the means of cultivating concentration that are spoken, the one who is able to listen, because his aspiration and delight are feeble and his mind is distracted, is unable to receive them. The fourth is the fault that, though the one who is able to listen has delight and aspiration, and gives ear and listens, yet because of dullness and because his awakened wisdom is feeble, he is unable to receive them. The fifth is the fault that, though he has the virtue of wisdom, yet he is a person given to craving, seeking much after gain and respect. The sixth is the fault of much sorrow, of being hard to support and hard to satisfy, of not knowing the contentment of delight. The seventh is the fault that, precisely by the force of such increase, he has many affairs and duties. The eighth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet through indolence and laziness he casts aside his practical effort. The ninth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet the various obstructions arise for him from others. The tenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet toward the sufferings of cold and heat and the like he is unable to endure. The eleventh is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet through the failing of conceit and anger he is unable to receive instruction. The twelfth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet he ponders wrongly upon what is taught. The thirteenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet toward the teaching he has received he has a loss of mindfulness. The fourteenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet he has the fault of dwelling mixed together with householders and renunciants. The fifteenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet he has the fault of enjoying seats and bedding associated with the five failings — the seats and bedding associated with the five failings should be known as will be told in the Śrāvaka Stage. The sixteenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet because in a secluded place he does not guard the various faculties, he has the fault of wrong pondering. The seventeenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet because of unevenness in food and drink, he has the fault of a heavy body and being fit for nothing. The eighteenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet being of a nature given much to sleep, he has the fault of the secondary affliction of much sleep manifesting in activity. The nineteenth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet because he has not first cultivated the category of tranquillity, he has the fault of no gladness toward the inner stilling and seclusion of the mind. The twentieth is the fault that, though he is free of this failing, yet because he has not first cultivated the category of insight, he has the fault of no gladness toward the truthful contemplation that is the higher-wisdom-dharma insight.

These twenty kinds of dharmas are what is counteracted, within the category of tranquillity and insight, in realizing the one-pointedness of mind. Again, these twenty kinds of dharmas to be counteracted, in brief, by four characters, are able to serve as obstruction within the concentration that is to arise. Which four characters? The first is because of being unskilled in the means to concentration; the second is because of having no practical effort at all toward any means of cultivating concentration; the third is because of a wrong practical effort; the fourth is because the practical effort is loose and slack.

These dharmas to be counteracted in concentration have twenty kinds of bright dharma as antidote; being the reverse of these, their character should be known. Because one is thus able to cut off the dharmas to be counteracted, with much to be accomplished, one is then quickly able to settle the mind rightly and realize concentration. Again, this concentration attained, one should know, is precisely what is embraced by the not-yet-arrived level, the access-concentration of the first meditative absorption.

Again, the vast meaning of the holy teaching, both of the dharmas contrary to the attaining of concentration and of the dharmas conducive to the attaining of concentration, one should know, has only these twenty kinds. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition. By these causes-and-conditions, in dependence upon this first worldly purity of all kinds, this true Dharma's being made to bring the pudgala to the attaining of concentration has now been well expounded and well revealed.

Next, one who has thus already attained concentration, within this small and slight surpassing concentration, gives rise to no contentment of delight. Toward the perfection of the surpassing concentration, he further raises up seeking and aspiration. And it is just toward that that he sees its surpassing merits. And because of the seeking and aspiring, and seeing its surpassing merits, for the sake of seeking it, he is heroically vigorous and dwells spurring himself on. Again, because he is not able altogether and forever to cut off the afflictions associated with form and concurrent with the savor of craving, he is named "not gaining the surpassing." Again, because he does not diligently cultivate every one of those wholesome dharmas, he is named "surpassed by others." Again, toward the birthplace among the vast pure gods, he is not sunk down. Again, he is one whom others cannot despise, because of the force of his lowly conviction's increase. Again, his mind being thus not sunk down, within the dharmas that are the objective realm of concentration, he cultivates by the uninterrupted and reverent-weighty means, following along, with just the marks of stilling, exertion, and equanimity previously attained. Again, carrying on thus in accord with the marks of the Dharma, entering concentration again and again and emerging from it again and again, in order to realize the swift higher knowledge, in dependence upon the perfection of concentration and upon delight in hearing the true Dharma, he from time to time diligently raises questions. Again, in dependence upon such perfection of concentration, upon the inner tranquillity that is the right means and is embraced by the fundamental concentration, he realizes seclusion and attains delight in it. And he realizes the insight into dharmas. Contemplating in this way, blazing, bright, and pure, he has manifold delights. One should know that, having come this far, he is now able to enter and realize the fundamental meditative absorption; and this, then, is named the perfection of concentration.

Again, the vast meaning of the holy teaching of this perfection of concentration, one should know, has only these ten characters. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

Next, although, because he has now realized the fundamental concentration, he is named perfect in concentration, yet his mind is still defiled by the various secondary afflictions born of concentration — craving after savor, conceit, view, doubt, ignorance (avidyā), and the rest — and is not yet named perfectly pure and pristine white. In order to keep these secondary afflictions from manifesting in activity, in order to train the mind, in order to tame the mind, he ponders thus: "I ought to realize the mind's mastery, concentration's mastery."

Thereupon, in four loci, with twenty-two characters, he contemplates well. That is: he himself vows to accept the lowly form, deportment, and requisites; and he himself vows to accept the restraining moral discipline; and he himself vows to accept the diligent, uninterrupted cultivation of the wholesome dharmas. If it be for the sake of cutting off all suffering and vexation that he accepts these three loci, then he should rightly contemplate the following-along of the manifold sufferings.

〔The first locus: contemplating the vow to accept the lowly form, deportment, and requisites, by five characters:〕 Because he has shaved off hair and beard, because he has cast off the fine looks of the worldly, because he wears robes of ruined color, he should contemplate his own form as different from ordinary folk — this, then, is named contemplating the vow to accept a lowly form 〔the first character〕. Amid walking, standing, sitting, lying, speech, silence, and the rest, he does not carry on following his desires; subduing pride and conceit as he goes toward another's house, he contemplates carefully and rightly the roaming and begging for food — this, then, is named contemplating the vow to accept a lowly deportment 〔the second character〕. Again, he rightly contemplates the various requisites for sustaining the body, obtained from others and hoarded not at all — this, then, is named contemplating the vow to accept lowly requisites 〔the third character〕. By these five characters, one should know, it is named the contemplation of the first locus. 〔The text names the three — form, deportment, requisites — and concludes them as "five characters."〕

Again, within the well-spoken Dharma and Vinaya, the moral discipline received by the various renunciants is displayed, in brief, by the casting off of two things. The first is displayed by casting off father and mother, wife and child, slaves and servants, friends, kinsfolk, wealth and grain and precious things, and the like. The second is displayed by casting off song and dance, music and mime, laughter and play, revelry and amusement, roving companionship, frivolous idleness, the gatherings of the beloved, and the various affairs of the world. Again, he abides in the moral-discipline restraint, neither privately reproaching himself over the breaking of a precept, nor being reproached and expelled by his fellow practitioners of the holy life in accord with the Dharma; having some breach of moral discipline, he does not act rashly. If there is any lack or breach in his moral discipline, then by this cause-and-condition he earnestly reproaches himself; if he is reproached and expelled by his fellow practitioners of the holy life in accord with the Dharma, then he at once repents and clears himself in accord with the Dharma. Toward the fellow practitioner of the holy life who is able to raise up his offense, his mind harbors no anger or resentment, no injury and no vexation, and he mends himself. By these five characters it is named the contemplation of the second locus.

Having thus well perfected his moral discipline, he should, by five characters, diligently and skillfully cultivate the various categories of the wholesome. That is: from time to time inquiring, receiving, reciting, weighing, and ascertaining, he diligently cultivates the categories of the wholesome — only thus should he receive the faithful gifts of others 〔the first character〕; again, delighting in seclusion, he cultivates the various attentions by right skillful means 〔the second character〕; and again, by day and by night, toward the two dharmas of the declining share and the surpassing share, he knows what is to be cut off and what is to be cultivated 〔the third character〕; and again, toward birth-and-death he sees its great fault 〔the fourth character〕; and again, toward nirvāṇa he sees its surpassing merit 〔the fifth character〕. By these five characters it is named the contemplation of the third locus.

The one who thus diligently cultivates the categories of the wholesome is, in brief, followed along by four sufferings. That is: because, toward the four fruits of the renunciant, he has not yet been able to realize any accordingly, he is still followed along by the suffering of the evil destinies 〔the first suffering〕. Because his very nature is a dharma of birth, aging, sickness, and death, he is followed along by the suffering of inward decay 〔the second suffering〕. Because all that is beloved is a dharma of parting, he is followed along by the suffering of the decay of the beloved 〔the third suffering〕. Because it is made by his own karma, he is followed along by all the causes of suffering 〔the fourth suffering〕. Being thus followed along by these four sufferings, he should, by seven characters, contemplate carefully and rightly. 〔The text names the four sufferings and concludes them as "seven characters."〕 By these seven characters it is named the contemplation of the fourth locus.

When he thus, in these four loci, contemplates rightly by twenty-two characters, he gives rise to this attention in accord with principle: namely, "It is for the sake of seeking such matters that I have vowed to accept the lowly form, deportment, and requisites for sustaining the body, vowed to accept the restraining precepts, vowed to accept the diligent and constant cultivation of the wholesome dharmas; yet now, of these four kinds of suffering, which am I to be freed from? If I thus spur and urge myself on, vowing to accept the three loci, yet am still constantly followed along by the four sufferings, not yet liberated — then I now ought not, being followed along by suffering and not yet having attained mastery upon the surpassing concentration, to rest midway or turn back again." Being thus diligent, applying attention in accord with principle, one comes to deserve the name of the perception of the renunciant and the perception of the śramaṇa.

He, taking as his support the perfect cultivation of the many means, because by the worldly path he has realized the perfection of concentration, yet toward the cutting off of the afflictions has not yet realized it, then again, in dependence upon delight in cutting off, constantly and diligently cultivates. Again, he, having attained the good worldly path, in order to attain mastery of concentration again and again, in dependence upon delight in cultivating, carries on without interruption. Again, toward the faithful elders, householders, brahmins, and the like, though he obtains the various gains and respect, he does not, in dependence upon this gain and respect, give rise to greedy attachment. Nor, toward others' gain and respect, and toward the other faithless brahmins and the like, in the various displeasing bodily deeds and verbal deeds manifesting to his face and behind his back, does his mind give rise to indignation; and moreover toward them he has no mind of injury. Again, the various secondary afflictions within concentration — craving, conceit, view, ignorance, doubt, and the rest — no longer manifest in activity, and he well guards the abiding of mindfulness. Again, it is not that, having realized the surpassing tranquillity, he then, by just such tranquillity, deems all that is to be done already done; nor does he proclaim to others what he has himself realized. He, by thus delighting in cutting off and delighting in cultivating, with a mind free of greed and anger, right mindfulness present before him, is far removed from over-weening conceit. Toward the various robes, obtaining them as is fitting, he gives rise to the contentment of delight; and as with robes, so with the contentment toward the rest — food and drink, seats and bedding, and the like — one should know it is likewise. Again, he rightly understands and so makes use of them — that is, the various requisites of life such as these are only for the sake of curing this body so that it does not decay, staying hunger and thirst for a while, sustaining the holy life, on at length down to knowing the measure in food. He, by thus rightly cultivating, attains mastery upon concentration. Taking that as his support, his mind is pure and white, without stain or blemish, far removed from the secondary afflictions, on at length down to attaining the unshakable, able to draw forth all the surpassing spiritual knowledges and higher wisdoms. This, then, is named mastery of concentration.

The vast meaning of this mastery of concentration, one should know, has only the characters as stated. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

Again, the attaining of concentration spoken of before, the perfection of concentration spoken of in between, and the mastery of concentration spoken of now, are together named the unsurpassed worldly purity of all kinds. One should know that this purity is only within the true Dharma, and not among the various non-Buddhist paths.

Seven · The World-Transcending Purity of All Kinds

What is the world-transcending purity of all kinds? One should know that, in brief, it has five kinds. Which five? The first is the entering into the direct realization of the holy truths; the second is, having entered the direct realization of the holy truths, being far removed from the various obstructions; the third is, having entered the direct realization of the holy truths, in order to realize the swift higher knowledge, applying attention and reflecting upon the various matters of gladness; the fourth is the cultivation of the path just as attained; the fifth is the realizing of the utterly pure path and the merits of its fruit.

What is the entering into the direct realization of the holy truths? It is: there are the disciples of the Tathāgata who have well cultivated the worldly purity, knowing that, through the long night, by the subtle five desires their mind has been amassed; and because it is sustained by food and drink, their mind has been nourished, and because they give rise to craving and delight toward those various desires, they thereby see deeply the faults in the various desires, and toward the higher, surpassing realm see its tranquil virtue. He can readily dwell in the realm of idle proliferation — that is, in the worldly purity of all kinds; but the realm free of idle proliferation is hard to dwell in — that is, the world-transcending purity of all kinds. Therefore toward that 〔realm of idle proliferation〕 he dwells disenchanted, not undisenchanted.

Again, this one who abides in the true Dharma, toward the nirvāṇa-realm free of idle proliferation, has a mind that delights to abide and wishes to realize it. Because of the force of the increase of his lacking the realization of the fruits of the renunciant, he gives rise to disenchantment in five loci: toward his own being associated with defilement, his mind gives rise to disenchantment; toward his own not being associated with purity, his mind gives rise to disenchantment; toward the fault of his own being associated with defilement, his mind gives rise to disenchantment; toward the fault of his own not being associated with purity, his mind gives rise to disenchantment; toward his own vision of purity being hard to accomplish, his mind gives rise to disenchantment.

Among these, in brief, there are three kinds of being associated with defilement. The first is dying untamed and unsubdued, associated with defilement. The second is that after death one will fall into the great pit of the afflictions, associated with defilement. The third is that, by the force of the mastery of those afflictions, one carries on the various evil and unwholesome deeds, going to a place of dread, associated with defilement. He contemplates his own body as lacking the realization of the fruits of the renunciant, and because of that lack he is associated with these three kinds of defilement; having contemplated thus, his mind gives rise to disenchantment.

One should know that being not associated with purity also has three kinds. The first is the ultimate nirvāṇa in which the various afflictions are cut off, named the place without dread. The second is that which is able to realize this — namely, the concentration of the wholesome mind in dependence upon the training in the higher mind. The third is that which is able to realize this — namely, the subtle holy path embraced by the right view of the training in the higher wisdom. He contemplates his own body as not associated with these three kinds of purity, and his mind gives rise to disenchantment.

One should know that the faults of being associated with defilement also have three kinds. The first is birth, the root of the suffering of aging, sickness, and death. The second is birth in a place of no leisure, which is of its own nature suffering. The third is that birth in every place is of an impermanent nature. He contemplates his own body as having these three kinds of faults of being associated with defilement, and his mind gives rise to disenchantment.

One should know that the faults of being not associated with purity have five kinds. The first is birth in a border land, not yet able to be stilled. The second is birth in an evil destiny, not yet able to be stilled. The third is that, toward the householders' various deeds of immediate retribution, one has not yet been able to lay them to rest and block them off. The fourth is that, toward the renunciants' countless tendencies of view, one has not yet come to be un-associated with them. The fifth is that, though by the worldly path one reaches even to the summit of existence, whether in concentration or in birth, yet toward the flowing and turning of birth-and-death that has no first or final limit, one has not yet made a far limit. He contemplates his own body as having these five kinds of faults of being not associated with purity, and his mind gives rise to disenchantment.

Toward one's own vision of purity being hard to accomplish, one should know there are also five kinds. The first is that, if one casts it aside and does it not, one cannot accomplish it oneself. The second is that, toward the remaining matters, it cannot be accomplished by requesting another to do it. The third is that one must certainly do it oneself — because, so long as one has not made one's own mind pure, one certainly will not be freed from the manifold sufferings nor accomplish the auspicious nature. The fourth is that it is not because one presently commits no evil deed that one may say that this is already the accomplishing of purity, or is already named attaining, upon the presently-seen Dharma, the everlasting freedom from the blaze — because, there being no path of antidote, the evil and unwholesome deeds committed before will certainly not perish. The fifth is that that purity comes to be displayed only through the realization of the path of the trainee and the path of the one beyond training. He contemplates purity as hard to accomplish through these five characters, and his mind gives rise to disenchantment.

And again he gives rise to a firm vigor, for the sake of realizing it. Because he contemplates and sees the being-associated and not-being-associated of defilement and purity, his mind gives rise to disenchantment. And because he contemplates and sees the faults of the being-associated and not-being-associated of defilement and purity, his mind gives rise to dread. And because there is laziness and sloth within the realizing of purity and the cutting off of defilement, his mind is thereby held back. And because he applies attention and reflects upon those marks, his mind gives rise to disenchantment; and just because he does much toward these marks, his mind grows utterly disenchanted. And as with disenchantment and utter disenchantment, so with dread and utter dread, with being-held-back and utter being-held-back, one should know it is likewise.

In this way, because he, with the perception concurrent with disenchantment, applies attention and reflects in five loci by twenty characters, he is named to have well cultivated and mended.

Again, there are five causes, embraced by twenty characters, that make him, toward the nirvāṇa that is the stilling and cessation where craving is exhausted, dwell much and swiftly, his mind not turning back, and having no worry either of "Where am I finally to be now?" Which five causes? The first is because of the penetrating attention — that is, because by such penetrating attention, without interval, one is surely able to enter the right nature of assured deliverance, to enter the direct realization of the truths, and to realize the holy knowledge-and-vision. The second is because of the support — that is, because in dependence upon this support, without interval, one is surely able to enter the right nature of assured deliverance, and the rest as told before. The third is because of the gate of entering the objective realm — that is, because by taking this as object one enters the gate of the objective realm, one is surely able to enter the right nature of assured deliverance, and the rest as told before. The fourth is because of the gathering of the provisions — that is, because by this one gathers the provisions, one is surely able to enter the right nature of assured deliverance, and the rest as told before. The fifth is because of the gathering of the means — that is, because one gathers such means, one is surely able to enter the right nature of assured deliverance, on at length down as told in full.

These five causes, one should know, are stated in the reverse sequence, from the cause, in dependence upon the direct realization of the truths — not causes in the forward sequence; being stated in dependence upon the most surpassing cause, in the manner of the matters told before, in the reverse sequence.

〔The first cause, because of the penetrating attention:〕 That is, within the intensified practice of emptiness, wishlessness, and marklessness, toward the mind-mark that, in the attention entered upon subtly manifesting in activity, turns along interruptedly or uninterruptedly and is concurrent with the conceit "I" — this being able to obstruct the attention of direct realization — one rightly penetrates it. Having penetrated it, then, within the spontaneous turning of the mind concurrent with the attention, one is able to cast it off well, causing it to cease without interval. In dependence upon this mind ceasing without interval, by a newly arisen attention, one reflects, as it really is, with the modes of impermanence and the rest. Because of cultivating this attention and cultivating it much, a knowledge arises in which the object-taken and the object-taker are equal and equal. He, at that time, has the disordered mind of the conceit "I" that is able to obstruct direct realization cut off forever, and realizes the one-pointedness of mind. He then reflects: "I have realized the one-pointedness of mind," knowing it as it really is. One should know this is named entering the direct realization of the truths because of the penetrating attention.

〔The second cause, because of the support:〕 Again, if one has first, by the worldly path, attained concentration, and has attained perfection also and mastery also, then he, either toward the mark of "entering concentration" — that is, that by which one enters concentration — or toward the mark of "abiding in concentration" — that is, that by which one abides in concentration — or toward the mark of "emerging from concentration" — that is, that by which one emerges from concentration — applies attention and reflects upon these marks, settles his mind, and enters the direct realization of the truths. If one has attained concentration but not yet perfection, nor yet mastery, then he either reflects upon the mark of stilling, or reflects upon the mark of exertion, or reflects upon the mark of equanimity, settles his mind, and enters the direct realization of the truths. In this way, one should know, because of the support, his mind is settled.

〔The third cause, because of the gate of entering the objective realm:〕 Again, there are two dharmas that most gravely obstruct the cultivation of direct realization. Which two dharmas? The first is the disturbance wrought by wrong pondering, so that the mind is not calm; the second is that toward the matter known his mind is inverted. In order to counteract such obstructions, one should know there are two kinds of dharma for settling the mind upon the object: that is, for the sake of counteracting the first obstruction, one cultivates mindfulness of the in-and-out breath; for the sake of counteracting the second obstruction, one cultivates the various foundations of mindfulness. In this way, one should know, because of the gate of entering the objective realm, his mind is settled.

〔The fourth cause, because of the gathering of the provisions:〕 Again, for one who delights in drawing near the subtle five desires, within the holy Dharma and Vinaya there is nothing that is his sphere of conduct. If, toward robes, food and drink, and the various seats and bedding obtained as is fitting, he gives rise to the contentment of delight, and toward the gain and respect obtained accordingly he subdues his mind — that is, in dependence upon the subtle five desires, not by the gain and respect obtained, his mind then abides firmly; by this cause-and-condition, he is far removed from every place that is not his sphere of conduct. Having become far removed, then in dependence upon the various foundations of mindfulness he delights in cutting off and delights in cultivating. By day and by night, from time to time he contemplates the affairs of decline and flourishing and the like, both his own and others', and his mind gives rise to disenchantment. And again he cultivates the recollection of the Buddha and the rest, making his mind pure. And again he abides within the various holy lineages. In this way, one should know, because of the provisions, his mind is settled — this being stated in dependence upon the most surpassing path of the provisions.

〔The fifth cause, because of the gathering of the means:〕 Again, he, having thus abided in the provisions, in order to cultivate the intensified practice of the attention that is in accord, therefore has two kinds of means of intensified practice. Which two? The first is that he himself, toward the discourses and the abhidharma, recites, receives, and retains them, cultivates right attention, and makes himself utterly skilled toward the matter of the aggregates and the rest. The second is that, in dependence upon the teaching of another teacher — that is, the so-called Great Teacher, the preceptor (upādhyāya), the instructor (ācārya) — from time to time he receives instruction and exhortation, is embraced and given support. And the applying of attention and reflecting that is right intensified practice, one should know, is named the third means. This applying of attention and reflecting that is right intensified practice is named right intensified practice. The meaning here is: the attention that belongs to purity of moral discipline is named the applying of attention and reflecting that is right intensified practice. He himself reflects that his moral discipline is pure, and so has no regret or vexation; because he has no regret or vexation, gladness then arises; on at length down to the mind entering right concentration. Therefore it is expounded that this applying of attention and reflecting that is right intensified practice is named the means of the mind's abiding. Because of such a means, the mind is swiftly settled.

He, at that time, by these five causes and twenty characters holding his mind, within the nirvāṇa-realm that is the stilling and cessation where craving is exhausted, is made to abide well, no longer turning back, his mind without fright or dread, having no worry of "Where am I finally to be now?" One should know that, at the time when the mind is thus settled, it is already named entering the direct realization of the truths. This, then, is named entering the direct realization of the holy truths.

Again, the meaning of this direct realization of the holy truths, stated in full, one should know, is: the marks of the mind's disenchantment are twenty kinds, and the marks of the mind's settling are likewise twenty kinds. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

What is, having entered the direct realization of the holy truths, being far removed from the various obstructions? One should know that this obstruction, in brief, has two kinds. The first is the obstruction of the sphere of conduct; the second is the obstruction of the dwelling place.

The obstruction of the sphere of conduct means: it is as though a holy disciple, either dwelling together with the assembly, following after whatever community-affairs arise, casts aside the categories of the wholesome and gathers with the assembly again and again; or again abides in the practice of constant begging for food, yet holds food and drink dear; or, joining these two, again delights in busying himself with such matters as robes and bowl; or, for the sake of reciting the scriptures, yet delights in idle talk; or, dwelling in the night watch, delights in and clings to sleep; or, dwelling in the day watch, delights in defiled talk of kings, thieves, and the like; or, in some place, has kinsfolk, companions, jesting talk, and the like to dwell with, and toward this place takes no delight in seclusion — that is, because through the long night he has habituated himself again and again to dwelling with them, and by the force of that increase, or again delights in dwelling with a second person. Such things as these are named the obstruction of the sphere of conduct.

The obstruction of the dwelling place means: dwelling in an empty, quiet place and cultivating tranquillity and insight is together named "dwelling." In dependence upon tranquillity and insight, one should know there are again four kinds of obstruction. The first is the nature by which the branch of insight is not conducive; the second is the nature by which the branch of tranquillity is not conducive; the third is the nature by which the mindfulness belonging to both those categories is not conducive; the fourth is the nature by which the location is not conducive. If one deems oneself clever and gives rise to haughtiness, and does not listen from another to the conforming, contemplative true Dharma, this is named the nature by which the branch of insight is not conducive. If one does not still one's bodily, verbal, and mental conduct, but is restless and rash, violates the moral discipline again and again, gives rise to worry and regret and the like, on down to being unable to settle the mind well, one should know this is named the nature by which the branch of tranquillity is not conducive. If, by the force of the increase of lost mindfulness, one does not hold back and guard the mind against the various secondary afflictions such as sinking and agitation, one should know this is named the nature by which the mindfulness belonging to both those categories is not conducive. If one draws near the various seats and bedding associated with the five failings, one should know this is named the nature by which the location is not conducive. Or, in the day watch, there is much clamor and laxity; in the night watch, one is touched by the manifold sufferings of mosquitoes, gadflies, and the like; and there are many dreads, many disasters and pestilences; the requisites are wanting, not to be delighted in; one is embraced by evil friends, without the various good friends. Such things as these are named the obstruction of the dwelling place.

Again, these two obstructions, one should know, have in all two kinds of cause-and-condition able to bring about their being far removed. The first is having many delights of concentration; the second is having much discernment.

Having many delights of concentration, one should know, has in brief six kinds. That is: if there is someone who has attained concentration but not yet perfection, and has not yet attained mastery, he should cultivate the three skillfulnesses of stilling, exertion, and equanimity, whereby there arise many delights of concentration 〔these three〕. If there is someone who, toward concentration, has already attained perfection and has attained mastery also, he should cultivate the three skillfulnesses of entering concentration, abiding in concentration, and emerging from concentration, whereby there arise many delights of concentration 〔these three〕.

What is named having much discernment? It is: the surpassing wholesome wisdom is named discernment. Because of this wisdom, by day and by night, he understands, as it really is, the growth of his own wholesome dharmas; understands, as it really is, the growth of the unwholesome dharmas; understands, as it really is, the decline of the wholesome dharmas; understands, as it really is, the decline of the unwholesome dharmas. And he, just as, by day and by night, whether walking or standing, he draws near robes, food and drink, and the requisites of life; and because of drawing near them, whether the unwholesome dharmas grow and the wholesome decline, or the wholesome dharmas grow and the unwholesome decline — all of this he understands as it really is. Taking just this discernment as his support, toward the various unwholesome dharmas that arise, by the principle of the means of not clinging firmly, he drives them off and removes them; and toward the various wholesome dharmas he is able to cultivate diligently.

In this way, the ten skillfulnesses of these two loci 〔namely, the delights of concentration and discernment〕 are able to cut off and destroy the eleven kinds of obstruction of the two locations; as they arise, they are at once far removed. This, then, is named being far removed from the obstructions. Again, the meaning of this being far removed from the obstructions, stated in full, one should know is as the character stated. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

What is, having entered the direct realization of the holy truths, in order to realize the swift higher knowledge, applying attention and reflecting upon the various matters of gladness? It is: the holy disciple, having already seen the holy truths, has already attained the pure confidence of realization; and taking just this pure confidence of realization as his support, toward the field of the surpassing merits of the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Sangha, he applies attention and reflects, and gives rise to gladness. Again, in dependence upon the matter of his own superior rebirth and the matter of his assured excellence — that is, the flourishing affairs realized as his own bodily wealth and treasure — he applies attention and reflects, and gives rise to gladness. Again, in dependence upon freedom from envy: as toward his own body, so toward others also is he. Again, in dependence upon knowing kindness — that is, toward one who has shown him kindness — recollecting the kindness of the Great Teacher, he applies attention and reflects, and gives rise to gladness. And because in dependence upon that, he is far removed from the manifold sufferings and the causes of suffering, and draws forth the manifold joys and the causes of joy. Because he thus reflects upon the matters of gladness in accord with the path of cultivation, he is then able to realize the swift higher knowledge. Again, the meaning of this reflecting upon the matters of gladness in accord with the path of cultivation, stated in full, one should know is as the character stated. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

What is the cultivation of the path just as attained? It is: that vast, blameless gladness thus arisen in him drenches and floods his mind, and, for the sake of tending toward the ultimate, within the presently-seen Dharma his mind utterly longs. Because his mind thus gives rise to longing, the desire and delight for renunciation manifest again and again in activity — that is: "When shall I be able to abide, complete, in such a holy place, as the arhats abide, complete?" Such desire and delight having arisen, he gives rise to diligent vigor, uninterrupted and constantly applied, and by skillful means diligently cultivates the thirty-seven factors of awakening. Again, because he is thus diligently vigorous, he does not dwell mixed together with householders and renunciants, but draws near the remotest seats and bedding, his mind delighting in seclusion. Again, having thus given rise to desire and delight, given rise to diligent vigor, and delighted in seclusion, he gives rise to no contentment of delight — that is, toward a small portion of surpassing realization his mind has no contentment of delight; toward the higher, more surpassing, more subtle station of the various wholesome dharmas, he dwells in yearning. By these four dharmas he embraces the path of cultivation, and embraces it exceedingly well.

Taking just these four kinds of the path of cultivation as his support, the gladness born of the various matters of gladness as told before, he at that time cultivates to perfection 〔the first dharma〕. Because, by the principle of the means of the utmost diminishing, the afflictions are cut off, and because he obtains the surpassing dharma realized, he also brings his delight to cultivated perfection 〔the second dharma〕. And because the coarse and heavy of the category of confusion that is to be cut off by cultivation is now far removed, he obtains pliancy; and because of pliancy there arises a cooling refreshment of body and mind, embraced to the utmost. These two kinds 〔delight and pliancy〕 he cultivates to perfection 〔the third and fourth dharmas〕. Again, this trainee, because the adamantine-like concentration reaches the ultimate, cultivates to perfection 〔the fifth dharma〕. This, then, is named the cultivation of the path just as attained. Again, the meaning of this cultivation of the path just as attained, stated in full, one should know, is: because he takes the four kinds of dharma as his support, he is able to bring the five dharmas to cultivated perfection. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

What is the realizing of the utterly pure path and the merits of its fruit? It is: within the three positions — the position of pleasure, the position of pain, and the position of neither pain nor pleasure — one is dormant with the various afflictions. There are two kinds of pudgala who are chiefly displayed: the first is the ordinary being; the second is the trainee. Again, there are two kinds able to give rise to the category of defilement: the first is the category of the defilement of grasping; the second is the category of the defilement of conduct. It is just in order to cut off these two categories of defilement — the afflictions able to serve as obstruction at the time of entering the well-spoken Dharma and Vinaya — that these afflictions, able to be the dormant proclivity, deeply and far enter the mind, and are moreover able to give rise to the various sufferings. If one is able, toward these, to cut them off forever without remainder, this is named the realizing of the utterly pure path and its fruit.

Again, the five uncontaminated aggregates embraced by the ten limbs of the one beyond training — namely, the aggregate of moral discipline, the aggregate of concentration, the aggregate of wisdom, the aggregate of liberation, and the aggregate of the knowledge-and-vision of liberation — are named the utterly pure path. And because one realizes this utterly pure path, one is far removed from ten kinds of fault and abides in the holy abode.

What are named the ten kinds of fault? They are: the fault, associated with the suffering of suffering, of all the sorrow, lamentation, grief, and pain, the various vexations and disturbances, in dependence upon the outer various desires 〔the first〕. Again, there is the fault of not guarding the faculties in dependence upon what is inner — because of not guarding the faculties, sorrow, lamentation, and the rest arise 〔the second〕. Again, there is the fault of craving after savor and delighting in abiding 〔the third〕. Again, there is the fault of laxity in going about and abiding 〔the fourth〕. Again, there are the three faults, held in common with no non-Buddhist path — that is, the speech, the pondering, and the seeking that arise from those several wrong views 〔this speech, pondering, and seeking being the fifth, sixth, and seventh〕. Again, there is the fault in dependence upon the far limit of the meditative absorptions 〔the eighth〕. Again, there is the fault, embraced by dependent origination, of giving rise to the category of the defilement of grasping 〔the ninth〕. Again, there is the fault of giving rise to the category of the defilement of conduct 〔the tenth〕. If one is forever un-associated with such ten kinds of fault, having only the final body borne along, the second remaining body never again to arise, one abides finally within the most tranquil nirvāṇa-realm; and among all sentient beings, on up to those born on high in the summit of existence, toward all those various sentient beings one comes to be the most surpassing. Therefore one is said to abide in the holy abode. Because one is able to be far removed from the ten kinds of fault, and moreover able to abide in the place of the holy abode, it is named a merit.

Again, that fruit, and the utterly pure path, and those merits — all this, stated all together in brief, is named the realizing of the utterly pure path and the merits of its fruit. Again, the meaning of this realizing of the utterly pure path and the merits of its fruit, stated in full, one should know is as the character stated. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

If one has attained such supreme holy dharmas of the one beyond training, then such a mind associated with the holy Dharma turns utterly its back upon the subtle five desires; and because there is no maturation, thereafter it no longer continues on. If a worldly mind, though already cut off, still comes to manifest in activity, it, at a later time, ceases spontaneously. Again, the path of existence-karma that follows the path of the afflictions is, within the presently-seen Dharma, already forever cut off; and because of that cutting-off, the path of future suffering no longer turns. Because cause and fruit are thus forever extinguished, it is named the far limit of suffering. There is nothing more remaining, nothing higher, nothing more surpassing.

Among these — the entering into the direct realization of the holy truths; the being far removed from obstructions; the applying of attention and reflecting upon the various matters of gladness in order to realize the swift higher knowledge; the cultivation of the path just as attained; the realizing of the utterly pure path and the merits of its fruit — this, then, is named the world-transcending purity of all kinds. Again, the meaning of this world-transcending purity of all kinds, stated in full, one should know is as the character stated. Apart from this, there is no more, whether in excess or in addition.

Conclusion

In this way, the worldly purity of all kinds spoken of before, and the world-transcending purity of all kinds spoken of here, gathered together into one in brief, are said to be named the fruit of cultivation. In this way, as told before — the locus of cultivation, the causes-and-conditions of cultivation, the yoga of cultivation, and the fruit of cultivation — all of this, stated all together, is the Stage of What is Attained through Cultivation.

One Stage That Gathers a Whole Road — Why the Stage of Cultivation Is "the Master Outline of the Wisdom of Cultivation"

A student, from the first time he hears the true Dharma to the final thought in which he cuts off the last, subtlest obstruction — can this whole road be expounded within a single "stage"?

The Stage of What is Attained through Cultivation is exactly such a stage. The Stage of What is Attained through Hearing and the Stage of What is Attained through Reflection come before it; it stands at the end of the three wisdoms (Jinaputra, in his Commentary on the Yogācārabhūmi, has the hearing-wisdom, the reflection-wisdom, and the cultivation-wisdom accomplished in sequence, the cultivation-attained being distinguished by its drawing forth wisdom through surpassing concentration and by its cultivation of the antidotes). But it is not merely one segment, "the wisdom of cultivation"; rather it gathers the entire sequence of practice — from being complete in the provisions for cultivating the path, through the practice of the antidotes of tranquillity and insight, to the fruit of the two kinds of purity, worldly and world-transcending — into a single stage.

The treatise itself gives the skeleton of its gathering: "In brief, one should know that it is fully gathered under four loci" — the locus of cultivation, the causes-and-conditions of cultivation, the yoga of cultivation, and the fruit of cultivation; and the four loci are opened out into seven branches (the perfection of birth, the perfection of hearing the true Dharma, having nirvāṇa as the foremost, the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom, the cultivation of the antidotes, the worldly purity of all kinds, the world-transcending purity of all kinds). How the four and the seven pair up, the treatise itself states in plain words: the perfection of birth is the locus of cultivation; the three branches — hearing the true Dharma, having nirvāṇa as the foremost, and the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom — are the causes-and-conditions of cultivation; the cultivation of the antidotes is the yoga of cultivation; the two purities, worldly and world-transcending, are the fruit of cultivation (Dunlun, in his Notes on the Yogācārabhūmi, and Kuiji, in his Concise Compendium, both gather it thus).

So to read this one stage is to hold in hand a condensed, whole map of the path of cultivation. Below, then, we walk this map, locus by locus.

Two · Why Begin from "I Was Born a Human Being" — the Perfection of Birth

The first step of practice is not sitting in meditation; it is first to see clearly what one holds in one's hand.

The treatise, in setting out, speaks not of contemplative skill, but first takes stock of what a practitioner "possesses" by birth — the ten kinds of the perfection of birth, five internal and five external. The five internal: obtaining a human body, a male body, the male faculty complete (the perfection of a common lot); being born in a central land that has the sphere of conduct of the four assemblies, not falling into a border region among the Daśyus and the Mlecchas (the perfection of location); the six faculties not lacking, able to understand the meanings of the Dharma whether well-spoken or ill-spoken (the perfection of the bodily support); not committing the five deeds of immediate retribution (the perfection of freedom from karmic obstruction); giving rise to no conviction toward false gods and non-Buddhist places, but raising up a pure mind toward the holy places alone (the perfection of freedom from the obstruction to conviction). The five external: meeting a Tathāgata's appearing in the world (the perfection of the Great Teacher); the Buddha's widely revealing the twelvefold teaching (the perfection of the conventional true Dharma being set forth); the disciples' cultivating the thirty-seven factors of awakening in accord with the Dharma and obtaining the fruits of the renunciant (the perfection of the ultimate true Dharma being carried on); the Buddha though entered into nirvāṇa, yet the true Dharma still abiding in the world unperished (the perfection of right conduct not perishing); the faithful gifts and requisites for the body not wanting (the perfection of the conducive means of support).

Why must these ten be numbered one by one? Because the treatise then, in a single line, lays bare their weight: "It is just these ten kinds of the perfection of birth that are named the locus of the yoga of cultivation" — these ten complete are precisely the "locus" (the foundation) on which practice can stand. Without this foundation, tranquillity and insight have nowhere to be established. Dunlun, glossing the first of the "four loci," says exactly: "The locus — the internal substance and the external conditions must all be complete".

One subtle point deserves notice. The treatise says that the holy Dharma to be realized in dependence on this locus is "the intent is to take the holy Dharma of the one beyond training." Why? "Because, though the trainees have holy Dharma, yet within their continuum there are still to be found the un-holy afflictions following along and manifesting in activity" — within the body of the trainee the holy Dharma still keeps company with the afflictions, and so the one beyond training is taken as the ultimate refuge. At the very starting point of practice, the eye is already fixed upon the end.

Three · What Is Listening For — the Perfection of Hearing the True Dharma and "Having Nirvāṇa as the Foremost"

Two people sitting in the same lecture hall listening to the Dharma can be walking two utterly different roads. Where lies the difference — in which single thought?

The treatise first establishes "the perfection of hearing the true Dharma": right speaking of the Dharma (of two kinds, the conforming and the undefiled) and right hearing of the Dharma (far removed from the four faults of pride, contempt, timidity, and distraction) combined into one. But this is still only "how to listen." The true watershed lies in the next branch — "having nirvāṇa as the foremost."

What is it to take nirvāṇa as the foremost? "Taking nirvāṇa alone as the foremost, seeking nirvāṇa alone, taking nirvāṇa alone as the object in listening to the Dharma, not for the sake of leading others to have faith in oneself, not for the sake of gain, respect, or praise." The whole direction of listening to the Dharma is set toward nirvāṇa, and not toward fame and gain. This single line has calibrated the "compass" of the entire practice of hearing and reflection.

And where the treatise is most subtle is in laying this one thought of the foremost mind out into a whole road, "a turning of ten dharmas in sequence" — Dunlun, in his Notes on the Yogācārabhūmi, points out these ten turnings node by node: taking the hearing-attained wisdom as cause, one gives rise, toward the path, the fruit of the path, and nirvāṇa, to three kinds of conviction (conviction that it truly exists, conviction that it has merits, conviction that one has oneself the means able to attain ease); conviction having arisen, one dwells far removed from clamor and evil ponderings; one enters the reflection-attained knowledge that well ascertains the meaning; one further enters the two means of uninterrupted and reverent-weighty cultivation; by this sequence, on down to realizing the cultivation-attained knowledge; from this one gives rise to firm conviction toward the faults of birth-and-death and toward the merits of nirvāṇa; through practiced cultivation one enters the direct realization of the truths, first attaining the path of seeing, the liberation of the trainee; upon the higher path of cultivation, through repeated practice, one further realizes the liberation of the one beyond training; the perfection of liberation is then the nirvāṇa-element with remaining basis — and all these first nine dharmas take the nirvāṇa-element without remaining basis as their final foremost.

In other words, one thought of a listening mind that "seeks nirvāṇa alone," followed on down, is the whole road of seeing and cultivating. The continuous sequence of the three wisdoms — hearing, reflection, cultivation — is here already quietly set in order. No wonder the treatise gathers the three branches — hearing the true Dharma, having nirvāṇa as the foremost, and the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom — under the single judgment "the causes-and-conditions of the yoga of cultivation": "Because, in dependence upon this sequence, this cause, this condition, the cultivation of the yoga comes to be accomplished and perfected."

As for "the maturing of the liberation-ripening wisdom," the treatise points out why it is that when tranquillity and insight are both accomplished the wisdom matures: "Because the wisdom within the concentrated mind carries on purely upon the object known" — the reason wisdom can ripen is precisely that it is set within the concentrated mind and carries on purely upon the object known. The branch of insight takes a good friend as its support, the branch of tranquillity is embraced by the perfection of moral discipline, and by these ten gates in gradual sequence liberation is brought to perfection (Dunlun lists these ten gates of the maturing).

Four · What Tranquillity and Insight Really "Counteract" — the Three Positions and Ten Cultivations of the Antidotes

By the time one reaches real cultivation, the question grows concrete: at this moment, in this body, in this position, which single obstruction am I to counteract?

The Stage of Cultivation's answer is exceedingly close to the bone: "Within three positions there are ten kinds of dharmas to be counteracted by the cultivation of the yoga" — the three positions being the position of the householder, the position of the renunciant, and the position of one cultivating the yoga in secluded, quiet dwelling. Each position has its own particular obstruction, and each obstruction is paired with its own particular antidote. This is not to speak loosely of "cultivating tranquillity and insight," but to push the lens up close upon the present situation of each and every practitioner.

The position of the householder: toward the various wives there is the craving associated with sexual desire; toward kinsfolk and wealth there is the affection associated with enjoyment — and because of these two obstructions one "is unable to depart from any kind whatsoever." The antidote the treatise gives is direct and plain: cultivate the perception of impurity (to counteract craving), cultivate the perception of impermanence (to counteract affection). The four undertakings of the position of the renunciant each have what they counteract, paired with four perceptions: toward impermanence cultivate the perception of suffering, toward the manifold sufferings cultivate the perception of no-self, toward food and drink cultivate the perception of loathsomeness, toward all the world cultivate the perception of what is not to be delighted in. The position of secluded, quiet dwelling has four antidotes: for the darkened mind, the savor-craving toward concentration, the mind following the marks of stirring, and the pondering of "not dying" — paired with cultivating the perceptions of light, of dispassion, of cessation, and of death.

Here a canon of doctrine must be held firm: the Stage of Cultivation uses, in this place, its own words — the perception of impurity, the perception of impermanence, the perception of light, and the rest — and does not set up the names "the seven attentions" or "the objects for purifying conduct." "The objects for purifying conduct" and "the seven attentions" are the framework set forth in the Śrāvaka Stage (Stage 13) — the Śrāvaka Stage establishes four kinds of object, the second of which is called the objects for purifying conduct, containing the impure, loving-kindness, dependent origination as the nature of conditions, the differentiation of elements, and mindfulness of the in-and-out breath; and it opens too the sequence from apprehending-the-aspect down to the fruit-of-culmination. The three perceptions of this stage share the same use as the gate for purifying conduct of the Śrāvaka Stage (the impure counteracts craving, impermanence counteracts affection, light counteracts darkness and dullness), yet this stage does not set up their names; it only condenses that whole map of the path of cultivation into its own three positions and ten cultivations. One who reads the exposition should walk along with this stage's own words; the names of the Śrāvaka Stage serve only as cross-reading and side-consultation, and must not be poured back in to frame this stage.

At the place of the perception of light the treatise adds one further meaning, most worth savoring: "What truly darkens the mind is, it is said, when cultivating the categories of tranquillity and insight by skillful means, whatever loss of mindfulness there is toward the various dharmas." What darkens the mind is not the darkness of an outer realm, but the loss of mindfulness, while cultivating tranquillity and insight, toward the Dharma one has heard; and so the so-called "perception of light" is the light of "the Dharma just as heard, already brought to consummation and not forgotten in mindfulness" (the light of Dharma), and the perception concurrent with it. The true battlefield of the antidote is, from first to last, in the single thought of the mind's brightness or darkness.

Then how does all this cultivation of tranquillity, insight, and antidote bear upon consciousness-only? A light touch suffices (this stage is, in essence, the common track of the śrāvaka's path of cultivation, and the consciousness-only meaning need not be forced upon it): the images ranged over by tranquillity and insight are what consciousness-only manifests. The Saṃdhinirmocana-sūtra, in its Chapter on Discerning Yoga, states plainly that tranquillity and insight have tranquillity (śamatha) and insight (vipaśyanā) for their substance, and that of the four kinds of image these range over (the image with discernment, the image without discernment, the far limit of the matter, the accomplishing of what is to be done), "I say that the object of consciousness is consciousness-only, because it is what consciousness manifests … because those images are only consciousness". This stage's yoga of cultivation takes tranquillity and insight for its substance, and its scriptural root lies just here. To speak honestly: this is one anchor where this stage joins with consciousness-only, and, being pointed to, it is left at that.

Five · First Cultivating the Worldly Concentration to Completion — the Three Categories of Concentration in the Worldly Purity

Before what transcends the world, there is a stretch of "worldly" skill that must be plainly accounted for. It is no detour; it is the stair by which one enters sanctity.

Here one must recognize the treatise's own structure: the Stage of Cultivation's "worldly purity of all kinds" = the three categories of concentration — attaining concentration, the perfection of concentration, and mastery of concentration. (One should not take the seven-attentions framework of the Śrāvaka Stage and impose it upon this.)

Attaining concentration: the treatise lists twenty kinds of "dharmas to be counteracted in attaining concentration," from "having as companions fellow practitioners who take no delight in cutting off" down to "not first cultivating the category of tranquillity, not first cultivating the category of insight," all of them obstructions to one-pointedness of mind. The twenty obstructions may, in brief, be obstructive by four characters: being unskilled in the means, having no practical effort at all, a wrong practical effort, and a loose and slack practical effort. To cut off these twenty obstructions is swiftly to settle the mind rightly and realize concentration — and this attainment the treatise itself fixes in place: "it is precisely what is embraced by the not-yet-arrived level, the access-concentration of the first meditative absorption." The first step of the worldly purity falls upon the not-yet-arrived concentration.

The perfection of concentration: having attained a small portion of surpassing concentration, one gives rise to no contentment of delight, but toward the surpassing concentration further raises up seeking and aspiration, sees its surpassing merits, and is heroically vigorous; in dependence upon the marks of stilling, exertion, and equanimity previously attained, one cultivates by the uninterrupted and reverent-weighty means, entering and emerging again and again, on to "being able to enter and realize the fundamental meditative absorption." From the not-yet-arrived concentration to advance into the fundamental meditative absorption is the perfection (Dunlun judges this to be the fundamental level, the ten characters).

Mastery of concentration: though the fundamental concentration is realized, one's mind is still defiled by the various secondary afflictions born of concentration — craving after savor, conceit, view, doubt, ignorance (avidyā), and the rest — and is "not yet named perfectly pure and pristine white." For the sake of training the mind and taming the mind, one contemplates well in four loci by twenty-two characters (contemplating the vow to accept the lowly form, deportment, and requisites; the vow to accept the restraining precepts; the vow to accept the diligent cultivation of the wholesome; and the following-along of the four sufferings), and by applying attention in accord with principle one comes "to deserve the name of the perception of the renunciant and the perception of the śramaṇa"; on at length to "attaining mastery upon concentration … one's mind pure and white, without stain or blemish, far removed from the secondary afflictions … attaining the unshakable, able to draw forth all the surpassing spiritual knowledges and higher wisdoms."

The three categories stated together are together named "the unsurpassed worldly purity of all kinds." The treatise's last line draws a boundary: "One should know that this purity is only within the true Dharma, and not among the various non-Buddhist paths." Even though the non-Buddhist paths can cultivate concentration up to the summit of existence, only within the true Dharma is there the one who can make his mind pure and pristine white, draw forth surpassing wisdom, and tend toward the transcending of the world. The worldly concentration cultivated to its utmost is still for the sake of that one gate that transcends the world.

Six · That Gate Beyond the World — the Entering into the Direct Realization of the Holy Truths and the Five Gates of the Path of Cultivation

However pure and white the worldly concentration, it is still within the "realm of idle proliferation." To step out beyond, on what single gate does one rely?

The Stage of Cultivation's world-transcending purity the treatise opens into five gates: first, the entering into the direct realization of the holy truths; second, having entered the direct realization of the holy truths, being far removed from the various obstructions; third, having entered the realization, in order to realize the swift higher knowledge, applying attention and reflecting upon the various matters of gladness; fourth, the cultivation of the path just as attained; fifth, the realizing of the utterly pure path and the merits of its fruit. The whole world-transcending road takes "the entering into the direct realization of the holy truths" as its first gate.

The entering into the direct realization of the holy truths — the student, having well cultivated the worldly purity, seeing deeply the faults of the various desires and seeing the tranquil virtue of the higher, surpassing realm, dwells disenchanted with the "realm of idle proliferation" (the worldly purity), his mind delighting to abide in the "realm free of idle proliferation" (the world-transcending purity). The treatise takes as the well-cultivated-and-mended the "applying attention and reflecting, with the perception concurrent with disenchantment, in five loci by twenty characters," and sets up further the "five causes and twenty characters" that hold the mind, so that it dwells much and swiftly in the nirvāṇa where craving is exhausted and stilled, its mind not turning back. The first of the five causes is "because of the penetrating attention" — and it is exactly here that the subtle meaning of consciousness-only shows itself:

The treatise says that within the intensified practice of emptiness, wishlessness, and marklessness, "the mind-mark that turns along interruptedly or uninterruptedly, concurrent with the conceit 'I,' is able to obstruct the attention of direct realization," and must be rightly penetrated and cast off; in dependence upon the mind ceasing without interval, one reflects, as it really is, with the modes of impermanence and the rest, on to "a knowledge arises in which the object-taken and the object-taker are equal and equal," and "the disordered mind of the conceit 'I' that is able to obstruct direct realization is cut off forever, and one realizes the one-pointedness of mind." What is this "conceit 'I' that turns along interruptedly and uninterruptedly"? Kuiji, in his Concise Compendium, judges it clearly: "The interrupted conceit 'I' is that concurrent with the sixth consciousness; the uninterrupted conceit 'I' is that concurrent with the seventh consciousness; both of these are innate, and so are named subtle". The subtle conceit "I" cut off in entering the direct realization of the truths is matched exactly to the innate self-grasping concurrent with the sixth consciousness and the seventh consciousness. Here the path of cultivation of this stage joins, at a single stroke, with the transformation of the basis in the consciousness-only paths of seeing and cultivating.

And this is precisely the common track of the five positions of consciousness-only: the Cheng Weishi Lun establishes the five positions — the provisions, the intensified practice, penetration (the path of seeing), cultivation (the path of cultivation), and the ultimate — as the gradual sequence of awakening to and entering the consciousness-only nature; the verse of the position of penetration says, "When toward the object the knowledge attains nothing to grasp, then one abides in consciousness-only, being free of the mark of the two graspings"; the verse of the position of cultivation says, "casting off the two coarse-and-heavies, one then realizes the transformation of the basis". This stage's "entering the direct realization of the holy truths → cultivating the path just as attained → realizing the pure path and its fruit" is just this path of seeing → path of cultivation → transformation of the basis, falling upon the common track of the śrāvaka's path of cultivation.

Being far removed from the various obstructions (the obstruction of the sphere of conduct, the obstruction of the dwelling place) and applying attention and reflecting upon the various matters of gladness (giving rise to gladness toward the field of the Three Jewels' merits, in dependence upon the pure confidence of realization, so as to draw forth the swift higher knowledge) — these two gates are the practice, after realization, of consolidating the strength of the path and keeping it from falling back.

The cultivation of the path just as attained — the one who has seen the holy truths, his mind drenched and flooded by a vast, blameless gladness, longs for the holy place where the arhats abide, gives rise to diligent vigor, by skillful means diligently cultivates the thirty-seven factors of awakening, delights in seclusion, and gives rise to no contentment of delight, "dwelling in yearning toward the higher, more surpassing, more subtle station of the various wholesome dharmas." By these four dharmas he embraces the path of cultivation, on at length to —

Seven · The Final Thought, Why It Is Named "Diamond" — the adamantine-like concentration and the Utterly Pure Path and Fruit

The whole road walked to its end, cutting off the last fraction of subtle obstruction — on what kind of concentration does it rely? The treatise gives it a name, and it is the sole simile of this stage.

"Again, this trainee, because the adamantine-like concentration reaches the ultimate, cultivates to perfection." — The adamantine-like concentration. This is, amid the scarcity of simile-words throughout the Stage of Cultivation, the one simile in operation, not to be lightly passed over. Diamond can crush all things and is not crushed by any; the last concentration of the trainee's level is just like diamond, able to cut off the last fraction of subtle obstruction and reach the ultimate, and so cultivates to perfection (Dunlun, glossing the fourth of "the cultivation of the path just as attained," that which brings five dharmas to cultivated perfection, gives as the fifth "attaining the diamond concentration"). The perfection of the path of cultivation hangs upon the cutting-off of obstruction in the final thought of the adamantine-like concentration — the antidotes, the categories of concentration, and the direct realization of the thousand turns and hundred bends before it, at this single thought, let their dust fall away.

The obstruction being cut off to exhaustion, there is then the utterly pure path and the merits of its fruit. The treatise names the five uncontaminated aggregates embraced by the ten limbs of the one beyond training (moral discipline, concentration, wisdom, liberation, and the knowledge-and-vision of liberation) as the utterly pure path; and because one realizes this path, one is "far removed from ten kinds of fault and abides in the holy abode," coming to be most surpassing among all sentient beings, on up to those born on high in the summit of existence — and so it is named "abiding in the holy abode," named a "merit." At this point, "the path of existence-karma that follows the path of the afflictions is, within the presently-seen Dharma, already forever cut off … the path of future suffering no longer turns. Because cause and fruit are thus forever extinguished, it is named the far limit of suffering. There is nothing more remaining, nothing higher, nothing more surpassing."

The worldly purity and the world-transcending purity, gathered in brief into one, are said to be named the fruit of cultivation. And the locus of cultivation, the causes-and-conditions of cultivation, the yoga of cultivation, and the fruit of cultivation, all stated together, are this one Stage of What is Attained through Cultivation. A stock-taking of "I was born a human being" walks all the way to the far limit of suffering where "there is nothing more remaining, nothing higher, nothing more surpassing." The whole road has truly been gathered within a single stage.

Eight · Carrying Forward — How the Later Treatises Take Up This Stage

The Stage of Cultivation is the last of the three-wisdoms stages and the master outline of the wisdom of cultivation; it condenses the whole road into an outline, and the later treatises then each open out and judge deeply upon a single node. The veins of the carrying-forward run as follows.

• The joining of the three-wisdoms stages: the Stage of What is Attained through Hearing (Stage 10), the Stage of What is Attained through Reflection (Stage 11), and the Stage of What is Attained through Cultivation (Stage 12), the three joined together as the three-wisdoms stages (Jinaputra, Commentary on the Yogācārabhūmi). The hearing-wisdom, the reflection-wisdom, and the cultivation-wisdom are accomplished in sequence, the cultivation-attained distinguished by its drawing forth wisdom through surpassing concentration and by its cultivation of the antidotes — and what this stage takes up from above lies precisely in the two stages of hearing and reflection.

• The Section on Ascertainment · the Ascertainment of the Stage of the Wisdom Attained through Cultivation (fascicle 67) takes up this stage and separately opens "the sixteen kinds of cultivation" to ascertain it afresh: among them the cultivation of the image, the cultivation of the far limit of the matter, and the cultivation of the accomplishing of what is to be done take up exactly the four kinds of object of the Saṃdhinirmocana; the cultivation of the antidote is divided into the four gates of disenchantment, cutting-off, sustaining, and far-part, and is matched with "the paths of hearing, reflection, and cultivation · the world-transcending path · the fruit that is the transformation of the basis · the worldly path of cultivation." This stage takes the four loci and seven branches as its outline; the Section on Ascertainment changes to a set of "sixteen kinds of cultivation" and ascertains the same meaning of cultivation afresh.

• The Śrāvaka Stage (Stage 13) opens it out widely: this stage's three perceptions and its sequence of tranquillity and insight in the cultivation of the antidotes are unfolded, in the Śrāvaka Stage, into the four kinds of object (the pervasive, the purifying-of-conduct, the skillful, and the purifying-of-affliction), the five stilling contemplations of the objects for purifying conduct, and the sequence from apprehending-the-aspect down to the fruit-of-culmination. This stage is the condensed map of the path of cultivation; the Śrāvaka Stage is its expanded version — which is why this stage does not set up the names "the seven attentions" or "the objects for purifying conduct," those names being established only when the Śrāvaka Stage opens it out widely.

• The consciousness-only paths of seeing and cultivating: this stage's "entering the direct realization of the holy truths → cultivating the path just as attained → realizing the pure path and its fruit" is, in the Cheng Weishi Lun, judged to be the gradual sequence of five positions — the path of seeing (the position of penetration), the path of cultivation (the position of cultivation), and the transformation of the basis (the ultimate position) — and the Thirty Verses' "gradually awakens to and enters the consciousness-only nature" takes it up; the ancient masters' clear judgment matching the subtle conceit "I" to the sixth and seventh consciousnesses is likewise in the Concise Compendium. This stage's path of cultivation is a foreshadowing, on the śrāvaka's common track, of the consciousness-only transformation of the basis.

• The Stage with Remaining Basis (Stage 16) · the Stage without Remaining Basis (Stage 17): Jinaputra cites the later treatise's "the Stage of Cultivation is also the Stage with Remaining Basis and without Remaining Basis" and "the Stage without Remaining Basis is a portion of five stages" — the conditioned merits of the cultivation-attained are gathered above under the Stage with Remaining Basis, its unconditioned merits under the Stage without Remaining Basis. The fruit of the wisdom of cultivation here passes through into the two nirvāṇa stages. The fruit of one stage is, from the first, the cause of the two later stages.