瑜伽師地論 聲聞地 · 第四瑜伽處 · 世間道 · 七種作意離欲

After attention has been attained, the road divides into two courses (worldly / world-transcending). This leaf expounds freedom from desire on the worldly path: it requires the seven attentions, which suppress the taint of the desire realm — superior, middle, and inferior class — in succession. The point of the eye: the "suppression" of the worldly path stops at the active manifestation and does not harm the very substance of the seed — 「非是畢竟永害種子」 "it is not the ultimate permanent harming of the seeds"; this is the ceiling of the worldly path, and the severing of the seed is left to the world-transcending path's vajra-like concentration.

In one line: At the opening of the Fourth Yoga-Station, the "uddāna here" gives ten sub-topics (freedom from desire through the seven attentions · the several concentrations · extensively expounded · the two concentrations · the five supernormal powers · the differences of birth · the several characteristics · investigating all the truths · extensively distinguishing cultivation · culmination), the first half the worldly path, the latter half the world-transcending path 〔Kuiji's seven gates T43 0119b26; Dunlun's six gates T42 0470a06〕. This leaf = the worldly path · freedom from desire through the seven attentions: apprehending-the-aspect (by the six matters 〔meaning · thing · characteristic · class · time · principle〕 knowing the coarse aspect of the desire realm and the calm aspect of the first absorption · still mingled with hearing and reflection) → resolute-conviction (beyond hearing and reflection · giving rise to resolute conviction again and again) → seclusion (the first severing-path arises · severing the superior-class afflictions) → joy-gathering (delighting in severance · touching a partial joy-and-bliss of seclusion · severing the middle-class afflictions) → investigation (examining whether covetous desire yet remains · casting off overweening pride) → culmination-of-effort (the counteragent-attention arises · severing the inferior-class afflictions) → fruit-of-culmination (entering the root first absorption · perfecting the five factors · named the successive realizing of freedom from the desire of the desire realm); the seven attentions are gathered into four attentions (conforming · counteragent · conducive-to-purity · conducive-to-investigation), the seventh fruit-attention not gathered.

Three Points of the Eye

1. The seven attentions = the ladder of freedom from desire · matched with the severing of the superior, middle, and inferior classes: seclusion severs the superior class · joy-gathering severs the middle class · the culmination of effort severs the inferior class 〔T30 0467a03〕. Apprehending-the-aspect knows the coarse and the calm by the six matters; the ancient masters pick out the lesser and greater vehicle: 「小乘解六行皆須作，今大乘唯一行即得」 tr. "the lesser vehicle, expounding the six aspects, must do them all; the greater vehicle now attains it by a single aspect alone" 〔Kuiji T43 0119c14; Dunlun citing Kuiji T42 0470c01〕. For the coarse class the treatise sets up eight similes in a row (chain of bones · congealed blood-and-flesh · torch of straw · portion of glowing coals · great venomous snake · what is seen in a dream · ornaments obtained on loan · fruit at a tree's tip), Kuiji glossing each — "like a torch of straw, extinguished in a moment; like a portion of fire, able to burn up mountains and marshes (a little desire can burn up the roots of goodness)" 〔T30 0465c25; Kuiji T43 0119c23〕. The attention of seclusion's "apprehending-the-aspect does not sever, yet the afflictions do not arise" the ancient masters point out with the simile of the two ends of the scale: apprehending-the-aspect and resolute-conviction, though they do not sever the afflictions, make the afflictions not arise, just as one at the first fruit, not yet having cultivated freedom from desire, has attained the not-yet-arrived concentration 〔Kuiji T43 0120a01; Dunlun T42 0471a02〕.

2. ★ The culmination of effort's "suppressing the active mind / suppressing the seeds · not the permanent harming of the seeds" — the ceiling of the worldly path (the point of the eye): the treatise itself judges 「此由暫時伏斷方便，非是畢竟永害種子」 tr. "this is by the expedient of provisional suppression-and-severance, and is not the ultimate permanent harming of the seeds" 〔T30 0466c18〕. The ancient masters expound further: 「此伏斷若伏上心，若伏種子，二俱須伏」 tr. "this suppression-and-severance, whether the suppressing of the active mind or the suppressing of the seeds, must in both cases suppress" · suppressing to the point of "the seeds' capacity to produce the fruit of active manifestation" is then named an uninterrupted path 〔Kuiji T43 0120a11; Dunlun citing Kuiji T42 0471a13〕. The worldly path suppresses the capacity of active manifestation and does not harm the substance of the seed — set against the world-transcending path's vajra-like concentration that "without interval permanently harms the coarse-and-heavy seeds of all the classes of affliction" (13-04-04); the doctrine of seeds in the śrāvaka's cultivation of the path buds here.

3. The two courses · the four persons · pertaining to the higher grounds · the four-fold gathering: one who has attained attention has "only two courses" (worldly / world-transcending); the four persons who delight in the worldly path = non-Buddhists · those of weak faculties who first cultivate tranquillity · those of sharp faculties whose roots of goodness are not yet matured · bodhisattvas who delight in a future life (the ancient masters divide the ordinary beings "with the full bond" from those in training "not with the full bond"; Tai's "four kinds of person suppressing the afflictions by the six aspects") 〔Dunlun T42 0470a25/b01/b12; Kuiji T43 0119c07〕. The seven attentions pertain to the higher grounds (the first absorption up to the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception each have seven attentions · unfolded to the second absorption's apprehending-the-aspect, which contemplates the coarse aspect of applied and sustained thought). The four-fold gathering: apprehending-the-aspect and resolute-conviction = conforming · seclusion and culmination-of-effort = counteragent · joy-gathering = counteragent together with conducive-to-purity (cultivating the six recollections) · investigation = conducive-to-investigation; the seventh fruit-attention is not gathered (「第七作意是果·此四及前六皆因·因可相攝非果」 tr. "the seventh attention is a fruit; these four and the former six are all causes; causes may subsume one another, but a fruit is not subsumed") 〔Kuiji T43 0121a10; Dunlun T42 0472a25〕.

Note: the name and number of the seven attentions also appear in the Stage of Meditative Equipoise of the Basic Section (fasc. 11–12 · a parallel within the same treatise · the ancient masters expound them there first); here they are set up again in the śrāvaka's cultivation of the path of freedom from desire. The ancient masters, in two dispositions: Dunlun's Notes fasc. 8, part one 〔T42 0469c25ff · treatise fasc. 33–34 · setting up six gates and expounding sub-topic by sub-topic · citing Kuiji / Tai / Jing〕; Kuiji's Concise Compendium fasc. 9 〔T43 0119b23ff · setting up seven gates and expounding sub-topic by sub-topic · in fuller detail on this leaf〕; Jinaputra's Commentary has only a gloss of the name in the introductory-purport preface, with no clause-by-clause dedicated exposition of the Fourth Yoga-Station 〔T30 0887b20〕. This leaf has no Ascertainment-Section parallel drawn by the ancient masters. The unfolding of the doctrine is given in the 〈Exposition〉.

The opening of the Fourth Yoga-Station. First the "uddāna here" that sets out the ten sub-topics of the whole station is stated; then the division is drawn: after a practitioner has attained attention, only two courses — the worldly and the world-transcending — remain to be walked. This leaf expounds the method of freedom from desire on the "worldly path": one can become free from the desires of the desire realm only through the seven attentions (apprehending-the-aspect · resolute-conviction · seclusion · joy-gathering · investigation · culmination-of-effort · fruit-of-culmination-of-effort); and among them, the attention that apprehends the aspect knows, through six matters (meaning · thing · characteristic · class · time · principle), the coarse aspect of the desire realm and the calm aspect of the first meditative absorption. The technical terms are kept as of old, rendered clause by clause into today's language; no doctrinal exposition is added, no treatise is cited, no Sanskrit is annotated; where the treatise's wording is compressed, it is restored within 〔 〕.

Opening · The Uddāna Here (the Ten Sub-topics of the Whole Station)

Further, this "uddāna here" (summary verse) says: 　　Freedom from desire through the seven attentions, and the several concentrations, extensively expounded;
　　the two concentrations, the five supernormal powers, the differences of birth, the several characteristics.
　　Investigating all the truths, penetrating them as they really are,
　　extensively distinguishing cultivation, with culmination as their last.
〔These ten sub-topics are the whole outline of the Fourth Yoga-Station; below, the division is first drawn between the two courses — the worldly and the world-transcending — and this leaf belongs to the worldly path.〕

One · The Division of the Two Courses — the Worldly Path and the World-Transcending Path

The yoga practitioners who have attained attention have already entered upon such a partial delighting-in-severance 〔that is, the partial severance accomplished by the attention formed before〕. From this point on, there are only two paths, and no other. Which two? One is the "worldly 〔path〕," the other is the "world-transcending 〔path〕." Those yoga practitioners in the first stages of the undertaking, relying on this attention, either think "I shall proceed to the worldly course" or think "I shall proceed to the world-transcending course," and repeatedly cultivate this attention again and again. As they cultivate it exceedingly much herein, all the pliancy and one-pointedness of mind, passing through the various stations of a day and a night and the like, grow more and more expansive. If this attention operates firmly, continuously, and vigorously, it gives rise to a resolute conviction toward a pure object, and it can rightly grasp the characteristics of both the tranquillity (śamatha) class and the insight (vipaśyanā) class; at this time he either delights in proceeding on the worldly path and sets his intensified effort in motion, or delights in proceeding on the world-transcending path and sets his intensified effort in motion.

Two · Which Persons Delight in Proceeding on the Worldly Path

Question: How many kinds of person (pudgala, sentient being) are there here who, in the present life (this very life), delight in proceeding on the worldly path and set their intensified effort in motion, and do not proceed on the world-transcending path? Answer: In brief there are four kinds. First, all non-Buddhists; second, those in the true Dharma whose faculties are weak and inferior, who have first cultivated the practice of "tranquillity"; third, those whose faculties are indeed sharp but whose roots of goodness are not yet matured; fourth, all bodhisattvas — who delight in realizing great awakening in a future life, and not in the present life (as a matter of seeking realization now). These four kinds of person, in the present life, delight in proceeding on the worldly path and set their intensified effort in motion. 　Those who delight in proceeding on the worldly path and set their intensified effort in motion are further of two kinds: first, those "with the full bond," namely the ordinary beings (worldlings); second, those "not with the full bond," namely those still in training (the noble ones still on the ground of training, who have not yet realized the state beyond training). How is this? It is that one first regards the desire realm as of coarse nature, and regards the first meditative absorption (whether the "concentration" that is cultivated and attained, or the "birth" that is taken through rebirth) as of calm nature; and, setting intensified effort in motion, becomes free from the desires of the desire realm; and thus, by successive stages — down to setting intensified effort in motion so as to become free from the desire of the sphere of nothing-whatever — it should be understood, in all cases, to be like this. 　Further, relying on the meditative absorptions and the like, one can draw forth the attainment of no-perception and the like, and can set in motion the five supernormal powers and the like; and further, taking just this "birth" and this "characteristic," all of it is to be expounded extensively below 〔see the next leaf, "the several concentrations, extensively expounded"〕. 　In order to become free from the desires of the desire realm, the yoga practitioners who diligently cultivate the practice of contemplation can obtain freedom from the desires of the desire realm only through the "seven attentions."

Three · The Seven Attentions

Which seven attentions? They are: the attention that apprehends the aspect, the attention of resolute conviction, the attention of seclusion, the attention that gathers joy, the attention of investigation, the attention of the culmination of effort, and the attention that is the fruit of the culmination of effort.

(i) The Attention that Apprehends the Aspect — Knowing, through Six Matters, the Coarse Aspect of the Desire Realm and the Calm Aspect of the First Absorption

What is the attention that apprehends the aspect? It is just such an attention as can rightly know and apprehend "the coarse aspect of the desire realm" and "the calm aspect of the first meditative absorption." How does one know the coarse aspect of the desire realm? It is by rightly investigating the "six matters of the desire realm." Which six matters? First, meaning; second, thing; third, characteristic; fourth, class; fifth, time; sixth, principle.

First, investigating the coarse "meaning" of the desires: one rightly investigates — these desires have many faults, many injuries and afflictions, many plagues (as of a pestilence), many calamities. In the desires, the meaning of "many faults," down to the meaning of "many calamities," is called the coarse meaning. Second, investigating the coarse "thing" of the desires: one rightly investigates — within the desires there is "inner covetous desire," within the desires there is "outer covetous desire." Third, investigating the "own-characteristic" (and the common-characteristic) of the desires: one rightly investigates — this is "affliction-desire" (the covetous-desire affliction itself), this is "thing-desire" (the object-thing coveted). This latter is again of three kinds: that which conduces to the site of pleasant feeling, that which conduces to the site of painful feeling, that which conduces to the site of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling. That which conduces to the site of pleasant feeling is the basis of covetous desire, is the basis of the "distortion of perception and the distortion of mind"; that which conduces to the site of painful feeling is the basis of ill-will, is the basis of anger and enmity; that which conduces to the site of neither-painful-nor-pleasant feeling is the basis of delusion, is the basis of concealment, vexation, deceit, dissimulation, non-conscience, and non-shame, and is the basis of the "distortion of view." Thus one rightly investigates: these desires are pursued by the most evil feelings, are pursued by the most evil afflictions. This is called investigating the own-characteristic of the desires. Investigating the "common-characteristic" of the desires: one rightly investigates — all these desires are pursued and bound by the suffering of birth, the suffering of aging, down to the suffering of not obtaining what one seeks, and so on. A person who partakes of desires is driven onward by "the desire for fullness," and still has not been liberated from the phenomena of birth and the rest; and those desires, though supreme, marvelous, and complete, exist only for a while. This is called investigating the common-characteristic of the desires. 〔The one matter "characteristic" is opened into the two gates of own-characteristic and common-characteristic.〕 Fourth, investigating the coarse "class" of the desires: one rightly investigates — these desires all fall within the black class (the tainted-and-evil kind), like a chain of bones, like a lump of congealed blood-and-flesh, like a torch of straw, like a portion of glowing coals, like a great venomous snake, like what is seen in a dream, like ornaments obtained on loan, like fruit at a tree's tip. The sentient beings who pursue the desires must, within the desires, undergo six kinds of suffering: the suffering that comes of pursuit, the suffering that comes of safeguarding, the suffering that comes of the loss and ruin of loved ones, the suffering that comes of insatiability, the suffering that comes of unfreedom, and the suffering that comes of evil conduct (all as should be understood before). As the World-Honored One has said: to become intimate with the desires has five kinds of fault — first, these desires have exceedingly little relish and much distress and affliction, many faults; second, in becoming intimate with them, they make a person without weariness, without sufficiency, without satiety; third, they are ever reproached and reviled through countless approaches by the buddhas and the disciples of the buddhas, by the wise and good who conduct themselves rightly and reach rightly; fourth, in becoming intimate with them, they cause the fetters (afflictions) to accumulate and grow; fifth, in becoming intimate with them, I say "there is no evil, unwholesome deed that is not committed." These desires make a person insatiable, are held in common by many people, are the cause of unlawful conduct and evil conduct, increase the craving for desire, are shunned by the wise, hasten toward extinction, rely on a host of conditions, and are a ground of the peril and ruin of all heedlessness; they are phenomena that are impermanent, false, and deceptive, like a magical conjuration deluding the foolish. Whether the desires of the present life, the desires of a later life, the desires of the heavens, or the desires among humans, all are the domain of Māra, the abode of Māra; in these sites can arise countless evil, unwholesome phenomena "that arise dependent on the mind" — namely covetousness, ill-will, and rancor, contention, and the rest, which can make obstruction when the noble disciple is rightly cultivating and training. By these differentiating causes and conditions, these desires for the most part fall within what is subsumed under the black class. This is called investigating the coarse class of the desires. Fifth, investigating the coarse "time" of the desires: one rightly investigates — these desires, in the past, future, and present periods, at all constant times and at all perpetual times (ever and enduringly), have many faults, many injuries and afflictions, many plagues, many calamities. This is called investigating the coarse time of the desires. Sixth, investigating the coarse "principle" of the desires: one rightly investigates — these desires must, by great provisions, by great pursuit, by great toil, and by all manner of countless differing sites of craft and occupation, be gathered together, arise, and grow. Again, these desires, though well arisen, though well grown, are for the most part for the sake of "the outer things one takes hold of" — that is, father and mother, wife and children, servants and bond-maids, hirelings and hands, friends and kin, and one's retinue; or else for the sake of countering the coarse-and-heavy four great elements (earth, water, fire, wind) that are the inner form of one's own body, nourished by gruel and rice (food and drink), and requiring, moreover, constant covering, bathing, and massage; and this very body is a body-of-phenomena that will decay, will break off, will disperse, will be extinguished, and, along with it, various sufferings and afflictions arise. Food can counter the suffering of hunger and thirst; clothing can counter the suffering of cold and heat, and can cover the places of shame; bedding can counter the suffering of fatigue and drowsiness, and can further counter the suffering of walking meditation and of standing; medicine on the occasion of illness can counter the suffering of illness. Therefore these desires (the necessaries) can only counter the various sufferings and afflictions that arise from time to time, and are not to be received with defiled attachment, but are to be received only with right mindfulness — just as a person hard-pressed by a grave illness, for the sake of ridding himself of the illness, takes a foul and impure medicine. Again, these desires have the "authoritative measure" (the attested measure of the noble teaching) to prove that they have a coarse aspect; and these desires, in all their being-thus-and-so coarse aspects, I also, within my own mind, by "the seeing of manifest knowledge" (direct inner seeing), know and attest; and these desires have the "comparative measure" (inferential reckoning) by which one may know that they have a coarse aspect. Again, these desires, from beginningless time, are by nature coarse and foul; this is a matter of "accomplished dharma-nature, hard-to-conceive dharma-nature" (thus of themselves, inconceivable), and are not to be pondered, not to be discriminated. This is called investigating the coarse principle of the desires. Thus it is that, by the six matters, one knows and apprehends the coarse aspect of the desires of the desire realm. And one can further know and apprehend the calm aspect present in the first meditative absorption: that is, all that is of coarse nature in the desire realm is absent in the first meditative absorption; because it is apart from the various coarse natures of the desire realm, it is said that there is calm nature in the first meditative absorption. This is called knowing and apprehending the calm aspect present in the first meditative absorption. Precisely by such a "concentration-ground attention," one knows the desire realm as the coarse aspect and knows the first meditative absorption as the calm aspect, and therefore it is named the "attention that apprehends the aspect." This attention that apprehends the aspect, it should be said, is still one mingled with "hearing and reflection" (not yet purely cultivation).

(ii) The Attention of Resolute Conviction

He, having thus investigated in accord with principle, knows that the desires are the coarse aspect and the first meditative absorption is the calm aspect; from this point on, he passes beyond hearing and reflection and uses "cultivation" alone, gives rise to resolute conviction toward the characteristics of the object, and cultivates tranquillity and insight. Having cultivated them, then, just as the coarse aspect and the calm aspect investigated before, he gives rise, again and again, to resolute conviction. This is called the attention of resolute conviction.

(iii) The Attention of Seclusion

Precisely by this resolute conviction well cultivated, well practiced, and well cultivated much, as its cause and condition, the "path that severs the afflictions" first arises; and precisely the attention that operates together with this arisen path that severs the afflictions is here named the attention of seclusion.

(iv) The Attention that Gathers Joy

Because one can first sever those afflictions of the desire realm that were formerly to be severed, and can dispel the coarse-and-heavy nature of that class of afflictions; from this point on, one takes delight in "severance," takes delight in "seclusion," sees supreme merit within the severances, and touches-and-attests a partial joy-and-bliss of seclusion. From time to time, one makes a "gladdening attention" and deeply rejoices; from time to time, one makes a "wearied-detachment attention" and deeply wearies-and-recoils — for the sake of dispelling dullness-and-drowsiness, agitation, and the like. This is called the attention that gathers joy.

(v) The Attention of Investigation

He, thus delighting in severance and delighting in cultivation, rightly cultivating the intensified effort, upheld by the wholesome class, so that the fetters of afflictions bound to the desire realm no longer become active whether while moving or while abiding. He then makes the thought: "As for the covetous-desire affliction within the desires, do I still have it, unawares? Or is it gone?" To examine this matter, he then takes up some one lovable, pure characteristic and attends to it in thought. Because he has not yet permanently severed the latent proclivities, when he ponders this pure-and-marvelous characteristic, there again arises "a mind that draws near to intimacy, a mind that proceeds toward intimacy, a mind that borders on intimacy" (a mind approaching the object of desire), so that he cannot abide in equanimity, cannot weary-of, subdue, or go against 〔that desire〕. He then makes the thought: "As for the desires, I am not yet liberated; my mind is not yet rightly attained to liberation; my mind is still subdued by the formations — like water held 〔by a vessel, and not free〕 — and is not yet subdued by the dharma-nature. I should now, in order permanently to sever the remaining latent proclivities, rightly and diligently abide in delighting-in-severance and delighting-in-cultivation." This is called the attention of investigation.

(vi) The Attention of the Culmination of Effort

From this he redoubles his delight in severance and delight in cultivation, cultivates tranquillity and insight, gravely investigates, cultivates the counteragents, and from time to time investigates what was formerly already severed. By this cause and condition, his mind attains release-from-bond from all the afflictions bound to the desire realm. This is 〔accomplished〕 by the expedient of "provisional suppression-and-severance," and is not the ultimate permanent harming of the seeds of the afflictions. At this time, the "path of preliminary effort" of the ground of the first meditative absorption has reached its culmination, and the counteragent-attention against all afflictions has arisen. This is called the attention of the culmination of effort.

(vii) The Attention that Is the Fruit of the Culmination of Effort

From this, without interval (immediately following), by this cause and condition, one enters upon the root first meditative absorption concentration; and precisely the attention that operates together with this root first meditative absorption concentration is named the attention that is the fruit of the culmination of effort.

Four · Entering the First Absorption — Perfecting the Five Factors, Free from the Desire of the Desire Realm

Further, while "the attention of seclusion and the attention that gathers joy" are presently operating, the "joy-and-bliss born of seclusion" that gladdens the body appears from time to time, thin and slight; while "the attention of the culmination of effort" operates, that joy-and-bliss grows more and more expansive and appears, from time to time, deep and weighty; while "the attention that is the fruit of the culmination of effort" operates, the joy-and-bliss born of seclusion pervades all the parts of the body, filling every one, without a gap. He, at this time, secluded from the desires, secluded from all evil and unwholesome phenomena, "with applied and sustained thought, joy-and-bliss born of seclusion," in the first meditative absorption abides fully endowed with the perfected five factors 〔applied thought · sustained thought · joy · bliss · one-pointedness of mind〕, and this is named "abiding in the fruit of cultivation that counters the desire realm," and is named "the successive realizing of freedom from the desire of the desire realm."

Five · What Affliction Each of the Seven Attentions Severs

Further: the attention that apprehends the aspect can rightly know what is to be severed, and can rightly know what is to be attained, and gives rise to aspiration in the mind for the severing of what is to be severed and the attaining of what is to be attained; the attention of resolute conviction rightly sets intensified effort in motion for the sake of severing and for the sake of attaining; the attention of seclusion can cast off all the "superior-class" afflictions; the attention that gathers joy can cast off all the "middle-class" afflictions; the attention of investigation can, with regard to what is attained, become free from overweening pride and settle its mind; the attention of the culmination of effort can cast off all the "inferior-class" afflictions; the attention that is the fruit of the culmination of effort can rightly receive the fruit of all those attentions well cultivated.

Six · The Seven Attentions Subsumed under Four Attentions

Further: if it is the attention that apprehends the aspect, or the attention of resolute conviction, both together are named "conforming attention" — operating together with "the counteragent of wearied-destruction"; if it is the attention of seclusion, or the attention of the culmination of effort, both together are named "counteragent attention" — operating together with "the counteragent that severs"; if it is the attention that gathers joy, it is named "counteragent attention," and also "attention conducive to purity"; if it is the attention of investigation, it is named "attention conducive to investigation." Thus, the remaining four kinds of attention should be understood to be subsumed, in all cases, within six attentions — namely conforming attention, counteragent attention, attention conducive to purity, and attention conducive to investigation.

Seven · These Seven Attentions Pertain to the Higher Grounds as Well

Just as the first meditative absorption concentration has seven kinds of attention, so the second, third, and fourth meditative absorption concentrations, and the concentrations of the sphere of infinite space, the sphere of infinite consciousness, the sphere of nothing-whatever, and the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, should be understood each to have seven kinds of attention as well. 　〔Apprehending-the-aspect is illustrated by the second meditative absorption〕 If, at the first-absorption ground which "has applied and sustained thought," one knows the coarse aspect, and, at the second-absorption ground which "has neither applied nor sustained thought," one knows the calm aspect, in order to enter the second meditative absorption — this, it should be understood, is named the 〔second absorption's〕 attention that apprehends the aspect. That is, one who has already entered the first meditative absorption concentration, and has attained the first meditative absorption, regards the several "applied and sustained thoughts" as of coarse nature, and can rightly know: if, on the concentration-ground, with respect to an object that first arises spontaneously and courses hurriedly, that "coarse mind-speech nature" is "applied thought"; and, with respect to that object that arises along with it, courses along with it, and passes slowly and gradually, that "fine mind-speech nature" is "sustained thought." He further rightly knows: this applied thought and sustained thought are "of the nature of mental phenomena" (dharmas of the mental factors), arising when the mind arises, coexistent, associated, and operating with the same single object. He further rightly knows: this applied thought and sustained thought arise inwardly and are subsumed under the "outer sense-fields." He further rightly knows: all this applied and sustained thought is subsumed under past, future, and present, arises from causes, arises from conditions, now increasing and now decreasing, not abiding long, existing only for a while, appearing spontaneously, making the mind restless, making the mind scattered, operating without calm; and when one seeks the higher ground, the "abiding-in-suffering" pursues it — therefore all of it is subsumed under the black class. 〔Applied and sustained thought〕 pursue the several desires, and afford only a partial excellence toward the "joy-and-bliss born of seclusion"; according to whatever ground they are in, their intrinsic nature can make 〔the mind〕 have such an aspect; at all constant times and all perpetual times, the mental activity with applied and sustained thought, with its object, operates restlessly and does not attain calm. By such various aspects, he knows and apprehends the coarse aspect within the several instances of applied and sustained thought. He further rightly knows: the second meditative absorption has neither applied nor sustained thought, and all these coarse aspects spoken of are absent; therefore it is said that the second meditative absorption has its calm aspect — because those coarse aspects are all secluded-from. In order to enter the second meditative absorption, the remaining 〔six〕 attentions, according to what is fitting, are as should be understood before. And thus, down to the wish to enter the concentration of the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, in ground after ground, according to what is fitting, it should be understood that there are, in all cases, seven kinds of attention. 　Further, that coarse aspect is present pervasively in all the lower grounds: from the desire realm below, successively up to the sphere of nothing-whatever. It should be understood that the coarse aspect is, in brief, of two kinds: first, "the predominance of the abiding-in-suffering of the lower grounds" (the abiding-in-suffering of the lower grounds being weighty) — because, as against the higher ground, what is abided-in is not calm; second, "the shortness of the measure of life-span and its time-portion" — because, as against the higher ground, the measure of life-span grows successively less. These two coarse aspects, by the aforesaid six matters, according to what is fitting, one should rightly investigate. In whatever ground one delights in freedom from desire, one accordingly investigates the calm aspect in the higher ground, and by successive stages, down to the attaining of 〔that ground's〕 attention that is the fruit of the culmination of effort.

The teaching arc: the Third Yoga-Station set the foundation of "concentration" firmly in place (preliminary practice → the nine stations of mind → the purifying of hindrances → the accomplishing of one who has attention); by the Fourth Yoga-Station, the road forks — for one who has already attained attention, only two paths remain onward: the worldly path (suppressing the afflictions by the six aspects, becoming free of the taint of the lower ground, and being reborn upward among the several heavens) and the world-transcending path (contemplating the four truths, severing the afflictions, and realizing nirvāṇa). This leaf first expounds how the worldly path "becomes free from desire." What the treatise gives is not a single formula but seven stages of work: apprehending-the-aspect · resolute-conviction · seclusion · joy-gathering · investigation · culmination-of-effort · fruit-of-culmination — step by step suppressing the taint of the desire realm, of the superior class, the middle class, and the inferior class, in succession. The point of the eye lies at the last stage of work: the "suppression" of the worldly path can suppress what is active but cannot suppress the root of the seeds — 「此由暫時伏斷方便，非是畢竟永害種子」 tr. "this is by the expedient of provisional suppression-and-severance, and is not the ultimate permanent harming of the seeds." That one thread of the seed is left for the world-transcending path's vajra-like concentration to "permanently harm." The ceiling of the worldly path is drawn just here.

After Cultivating to "Having Attention," Only Two Roads Remain

At the end of the Third Yoga-Station, the practitioner accomplished "having attention" — he attained a partial right attention of the form-realm concentration-ground. The treatise says that, at this step, 「唯有二趣，更無所餘」 tr. "there are only two courses, and nothing further remains": one is the worldly 〔path〕, the other is the world-transcending 〔path〕. The practitioner cultivates this attention much; his pliancy and one-pointedness of mind grow more expansive by day and night; and once the attention is firm and vigorous, he rightly grasps the characteristics in both the tranquillity class and the insight class, readying himself to set intensified effort in motion toward either the worldly path or the world-transcending path.

Which persons will walk the worldly path? The treatise lists four kinds: all non-Buddhists; those in the true Dharma whose faculties are weak and inferior, who have first cultivated the practice of tranquillity; those whose faculties are indeed sharp but whose roots of goodness are not yet matured; and — all bodhisattvas, because they delight in realizing great awakening in a future life and do not seek realization in the present life. The ancient masters expounded the fourth kind thoroughly: the bodhisattva's buddha-fruit is a matter of the future; though he does set intensified effort in motion in the present life, it is a walking of the worldly path "to ripen sentient beings within birth-and-death"; and the moment his mind turns toward the future buddha-fruit, that is the world-transcending path 〔Kuiji; Dunlun citing Kuiji〕. Among these four kinds, there are further the ordinary beings "with the full bond" and those still in training "not with the full bond" — showing that the worldly path is no monopoly of ordinary beings: noble ones still in training can also use it to suppress the afflictions and be reborn upward. Shentai (Tai) reads it further as "four kinds of person suppressing the afflictions by the six aspects," naming each one by one 〔Dunlun citing Tai〕.

To Become Free from the Desires of the Desire Realm Is to Walk Seven Stages of Work

To become free from the desires of the desire realm, the treatise says one 「由七作意方能獲得」 tr. "can obtain it only through the seven attentions." These seven stages of work are one road that suppresses the taint of the desire realm in succession:

The attention that apprehends the aspect — first see the "desire" clearly and see the "concentration" as calm: by the six matters (meaning · thing · characteristic · class · time · principle) investigate the coarse aspect of the desires of the desire realm, and know the calm aspect of the first meditative absorption. This is still only the stage mingled with hearing and reflection. The attention of resolute conviction — passing beyond hearing and reflection, using cultivation alone, giving rise to resolute conviction toward the coarse aspect and the calm aspect again and again. The attention of seclusion — the "path that severs the afflictions" first arises, severing the superior-class afflictions of the desire realm. The attention that gathers joy — delighting in severance and in seclusion, touching a partial joy-and-bliss of seclusion, severing the middle-class afflictions. The attention of investigation — turning back to examine whether one still has any covetous desire toward the desires, casting aside the overweening pride of "I am already free from desire." The attention of the culmination of effort — the counteragent-attention against all afflictions arises, severing the inferior-class afflictions. The attention that is the fruit of the culmination of effort — one enters upon the root first meditative absorption concentration, the joy-and-bliss born of seclusion pervades the parts of the body, and one abides with the perfected five factors — this is named "the successive realizing of freedom from the desire of the desire realm."

The seven stages of work are matched with the successive severing of the superior, middle, and inferior classes: seclusion severs the superior class, joy-gathering severs the middle class, the culmination of effort severs the inferior class. The ancient masters further pick out a distinction between the lesser and the greater vehicle: the lesser vehicle, expounding these six matters and six aspects, must do all six in full; the greater vehicle, however, 「唯一行即得」 tr. "attains it by a single aspect alone," accomplishing it by any single one of the six aspects, whatever attention it be 〔Kuiji; Dunlun citing Kuiji〕.

The Attention that Apprehends the Aspect: Seeing the Coarseness of "Desire" down to the Bone

The first of the seven attentions costs the most contemplative force. Apprehending-the-aspect must investigate the "coarseness" of the desires to the full — and the treatise strikes eight similes in a row to display how perilous, brittle, and tainted-and-evil the desires are: the desires are 「猶如骨鎖、如凝血肉、如草炬火、如一分炭火、如大毒蛇、如夢所見、如假借得的莊嚴具、如樹端的果」 tr. "like a chain of bones, like a lump of congealed blood-and-flesh, like a torch of straw, like a portion of glowing coals, like a great venomous snake, like what is seen in a dream, like ornaments obtained on loan, like fruit at a tree's tip". Kuiji brings out each simile's point: like a chain of bones, they are detestable; like congealed blood-and-flesh, they are unreal and to be wearied of; like a torch of straw, they are extinguished in a moment; like a portion of glowing coals (a bit of fire) they can burn up mountains and marshes — a little desire can burn up the roots of goodness 〔Kuiji〕. The eight similes all take one and the same image: desire looks to have relish, but is in truth a chain of bones and congealed blood, a torch of straw and glowing coals — not to be touched, not to be kept. Only when one has seen the coarseness of the desires to this degree can the mind give rise to "wearied-detachment" toward the desire realm and to "gladness" toward the first meditative absorption — the work of apprehending-the-aspect lies precisely in this one thought of "gladness toward the above, wearied-detachment toward the below."

The Two Ends of the Scale: Apprehending-the-Aspect Has Not Yet Severed the Afflictions, Yet the Afflictions No Longer Arise

Here there is a difficult point the ancient masters love to ask. When the attention that apprehends the aspect arises, the practitioner is still of a form-realm mind, and the afflictions of the desire realm have not been severed at their root — this is like a steelyard, at the instant when its two ends dip low and rise high: how, then, can one count it as "having attained apprehending-the-aspect," as having conformed to seclusion?

Kuiji poses and answers it well of his own accord: before apprehending-the-aspect, the hearing and reflection of the desire realm had also performed a "wearying-of desire," yet could not conform to the severing of the afflictions of the lower realm; only at apprehending-the-aspect and resolute-conviction can one conform to seclusion and sever the desires of the lower realm. Therefore apprehending-the-aspect and resolute-conviction, though they cannot "sever" the afflictions, can make the afflictions "not arise" — just as one at the first fruit has not yet cultivated freedom from desire, yet has already attained the not-yet-arrived concentration; and just as, when a wholesome mind arises, the evil mind does not arise — but this "not arising" is "a not-arising not by way of severance" (not that it is severed and so does not arise, but that the wholesome mind holds it down so that it does not arise); only at the attention of seclusion is it truly a "not-arising by way of severance" 〔Kuiji; Dunlun〕. This simile of the two ends of the scale points out exactly, and clearly, that subtle position of the worldly path — "suppressed, but not yet severed."

★ Suppression — To What Point Does It Suppress? — The Ceiling of the Worldly Path

When the seven attentions reach "the culmination of effort," it is the closing stage of freedom from desire on the worldly path, and also the point of the eye of this leaf. The treatise itself draws a line: from all the afflictions of the desire realm the mind 「心得離繫」 tr. "attains release-from-bond," but 「此由暫時伏斷方便，非是畢竟永害種子」 tr. "this is by the expedient of provisional suppression-and-severance, and is not the ultimate permanent harming of the seeds". — Released from bond, yet not with the seeds of the afflictions severed at their root.

The ancient masters expound this line more finely. Kuiji asks: this "suppression" — what does it suppress? He answers: 「此伏斷若伏上心，若伏種子，二俱須伏」 tr. "this suppression-and-severance, whether it be the suppressing of the active mind or the suppressing of the seeds, must in both cases suppress" — one must suppress both the active mind that has arisen and the seeds; but only when one suppresses to the point that "the seeds' capacity to produce the fruit of active manifestation" is blocked does it count as an uninterrupted path 〔Kuiji; Dunlun citing Kuiji〕. In other words: the worldly path's suppression of the afflictions by the six aspects can suppress the seeds' vigor of "producing active manifestation," yet cannot suppress away the very substance of the seeds. This is the ceiling of the worldly path — it can carry you to freedom from desire and rebirth upward, even to birth in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, yet cannot sever the root of birth-and-death.

That one thread of the seed is settled only at the end of the world-transcending path: once the vajra-like concentration (vajropama-samādhi) arises, it 「無間永害一切煩惱品麁重種子」 tr. "without interval permanently harms the coarse-and-heavy seeds of all the classes of affliction" (see 13-04-04). The worldly path's suppression of the active manifestation's capacity, and the world-transcending path's harming of the seeds' very substance — the one suppressing, the other harming — the watershed of the two paths lies just upon this "seed." The doctrine of seeds in the śrāvaka's cultivation of the path buds precisely from this one word "suppress" of the culmination of effort.

Seven Stages of Work, Gathered into Four Modes of Mind

Finally, the treatise gathers the seven attentions into four modes of mind: apprehending-the-aspect and resolute-conviction are together named "conforming attention" (operating together with the counteragent of wearied-destruction); seclusion and the culmination of effort are together named "counteragent attention" (operating together with the counteragent that severs); joy-gathering is both a counteragent and an "attention conducive to purity" — the ancient masters say that "conducive to purity" is the cultivating of the six recollections (recollection of the Buddha and the rest), taking as one's object the pure nirvāṇa and the qualities of the Buddha, and so it is named pure 〔Kuiji〕; investigation is named "attention conducive to investigation." As for the "fruit" stage, the attention that is the fruit of the culmination of effort, the ancient masters say it is not gathered into these four gates — because the seventh attention is a fruit, while the former six and these four are all causes; causes may subsume one another, but a fruit is not subsumed 〔Kuiji; Dunlun〕. Seven causes and one fruit, orderly and distinct.

Carrying Forward

This set of seven attentions is used not only at the first meditative absorption. The treatise says, "just as the first meditative absorption concentration has seven kinds of attention," so the second, third, and fourth absorptions, and up to the sphere of infinite space and the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, 「各有七種作意」 tr. "each have seven kinds of attention" — change the ground, and one regards the lower ground as coarse and the higher ground as calm, and walks the seven stages of work once again. Unfolded to the apprehending-the-aspect of the second meditative absorption, one has already come to regard "applied and sustained thought" as the coarse aspect (applied thought being the coarse mind-speech nature, sustained thought the fine mind-speech nature); and the extensive expounding of the concentration-characteristics of the four absorptions and the four formless attainments then unfolds in the next leaf (13-04-02, "the several concentrations, extensively expounded").

And that "thread of the seed" left by this leaf — suppressing the active manifestation, not yet harming the seed — is the buried foreshadowing of the whole Fourth Yoga-Station: it runs all the way to the path of seeing of the world-transcending path (the seed-basis of the knowledge-of-dharma and the knowledge-in-kind · 13-04-03), and to the "permanent harming of the seeds" of the vajra-like concentration (13-04-04). The worldly path delivers a person to the summit of the three realms; only the world-transcending path uproots the root of birth-and-death. The whole map of the śrāvaka's freedom from desire and cultivation of the path is, from these seven stages of work, formally spread open.