THEN MAHAMATI ASKED
the Blessed One: Pray tell us how many kinds of disciples there are?
The Blessed One replied: There are as many kinds of disciples as there
are individuals, but for convenience they may be divided into two groups:
disciples of the lineage of the Arhats, and disciples
known as Bodhisattvas. Disciples of the lineage of the Arhats
may be considered under two aspects: First, according
to the number of times they will return to this life of birth-and-death; and
second, according to their spiritual progress. Under the first aspect, they may
be subdivided into three groups: The "Stream-entered," the
"Once-returning," and the "Never-returning."
The Stream-entered
are those disciples, who having freed themselves from the attachments to the
lower discriminations and who have cleansed themselves from the twofold
hindrances and who clearly understand the meaning of the twofold egolessness, yet who still cling to the notions of
individuality and generality and to their own egoness.
They will advance along the stages to the sixth only to succumb to the
entrancing bliss of the Samadhis. They will be reborn
seven times, or five times, or three times, before they will be able to pass
the sixth stage. The Once-returning are the Arhats,
and the Never-returning are the Bodhisattvas who have reached the seventh
stage.
The reason for
these gradations is because of their attachment to the three degrees of
false-imagination: namely, faith in moral practices, doubt, and the view of
their individual personality. When these three hindrances are overcome, they
will be able to attain the higher stages. As to moral practices: the ignorant,
simple-minded disciples obey the rules of morality, piety and penance, because
they desire thereby to gain worldly advancement and happiness, with the added
hope of being reborn in more favorable conditions. The Stream-entered ones do
not cling to moral practices for any hope of reward for their minds are fixed
on the exalted state of self-realisation; the reason
they devote themselves to the details of morality is that they wish to master
such truths as are in conformity with the undefiled out-flowings.
As regards the hindrance of doubt in the Buddha's teachings, that will continue
so long as any of the notions of discriminations are cherished and will
disappear when they disappear. Attachment to the view of individual personality
will be gotten rid of as the disciple gains a more thorough understanding of
the notions of being and non-being, self-nature and egolessness,
thereby getting rid of the attachments to his own selfness that goes with those
discriminations. By breaking up and clearing away these three hindrances the
Stream-entered ones will be able to discard all greed, anger and folly.
As for the
Once-returning Arhats; there was once in them the
discrimination of forms, signs, and appearances, but as they gradually learned
by right knowledge not to view individual objects under the aspect of quality
and qualifying, and as they became acquainted with what marks the attainment of
the practice of dhyana, they have reached a stage of
enlightenment where in one more rebirth they will be able to put an end to the
clinging to their own self-interests. Free of this burden of error and its
attachments, the passions will no more assert themselves and the hindrances
will be cleared away forever.
Under the second
aspect disciples may be grouped according to the spiritual progress they have
attained, into four classes, namely, disciples (sravaka),
masters (pratyekabuddha), Arhats,
and Bodhisattvas.
The first class of disciples mean well but they find it difficult to
understand unfamiliar ideas. Their minds are joyful when studying about and practising the things belonging to appearances that can be
discriminated, but they become confused by the notion of an uninterrupted chain
of causation, and they become fearful when they consider the aggregates that
make up personality and its object world as being maya-like,
empty and egoless. They are able to advance to the fifth or sixth stage where
they are able to do away with the rising of passions, but not with the notions
that give rise to passion and, therefore, they are unable to get rid of the
clinging to an ego-soul and its accompanying
attachments, habits and habit-energy. In this same class of disciples are the
earnest disciples of other faiths, who clinging to the notions of such things
as, the soul as an eternal entity, Supreme Atman, Personal God, seek a Nirvana
that is in harmony with them. There are others, more materialistic in their
ideas, who think that all things exist in dependence upon causation and, therefore,
that Nirvana must be in like dependence. But none of these, earnest though they
be, have gained an insight into the truth of the
twofold egolessness and are, therefore, of limited
spiritual insight as regards deliverance and non-deliverance; for them there is
no emancipation. They have great self-confidence but they can never gain a true
knowledge of Nirvana until they have learned to discipline themselves in the
patient acceptance of the twofold egolessness.
The second class of
masters are those who have gained a high degree of intellectual understanding
of the truths concerning the aggregates that make up personality and its
external world but who are filled with fear when they face the significance and
consequences of these truths, and the demands which their learning makes upon
them, that is, not to become attached to the external world and its manifold
forms making for comfort and power, and to keep away from the entanglements of
its social relations. They are attracted by the possibilities that are
attainable by so doing, namely, the possession of miraculous powers such as dividing
the personality and appearing in different places at the same time, or
manifesting bodies of transformation. To gain these powers they even resort to
the solitary life, but this class of masters never get
beyond the seductions of their learning and egoism, and their discourses are
always in conformity with that characteristic and limitation. Among them are
many earnest disciples who show a degree of spiritual insight that is characterised by sincerity and undismayed willingness to
meet all the demands that the stages make upon them. When they see that all
that makes up the objective world is only manifestation of mind, that it is
without self-nature, un-born and egoless, they accept it without fear, and when
they see that their own ego-soul is also empty, un-born and egoless, they are
untroubled and undismayed, with earnest purpose they seek to adjust their lives
to the full demands of these truths, but they cannot forget the notions that
lie back of these facts, especially the notion of their own conscious ego-self
and its relation to Nirvana. They are of the Stream-entered class.
The class known as Arhats are those
earnest masters who belong to the once-returning class. By their spiritual
insight they have reached the sixth and seventh stages. They have thoroughly
understood the truth of the twofold egolessness and
the imagelessness. of
Reality; with them there is no more discrimination, nor passions, nor pride of
egoism; they have gained an exalted insight and seen into the immensity of the
Buddha-lands. By attaining an inner perception of the true nature of Universal
Mind they are steadily purifying their habit-energy. The Arhat
has attained emancipation, enlightenment, the Dhyanas,
the Samadhis, and his whole attention is given to the
attainment of Nirvana, but the idea of Nirvana causes mental perturbations
because he has a wrong idea of Nirvana. The notion of Nirvana in his mind is
divided: he discriminates Nirvana from self, and self
from others. He has attained some of the fruits of self-realisation
but he still thinks and discourses on the Dhyanas,
subjects for meditation, the Samadhis, the fruits. He pridefully says:
"There are fetters, but I am disengaged from them." His is a double
fault: he both denounces the vices of the ego, and still clings to its fetters.
So long as he continues to discriminate notions of dhyana,
dhyana practice, subjects for dhyana,
right-knowledge and truth, there is a bewildered state of mind,--he
has not attained perfect emancipation. Emancipation comes with the acceptance
of imagelessness.
He is master of the
Dhyanas and enters into the Samadhis,
but to reach the higher stages one must pass beyond the Dhyanas,
the immeasurables, the world of no-form, and the
bliss of the Samadhis into the Samapattis
leading to the cessation of thought itself. The dhyana-practiser,
dhyana, the subject of dhyana,
the cessation of thought, once-returning, never-returning, all these are
divided and bewildering states of mind. Not until all discrimination is
abandoned is their perfect emancipation. Thus the Arhat, master of the dhyanas,
participating in the Samadhis, but unsupported by the
Buddhas yields to the entrancing bliss of the Samadhis-and passes to his Nirvana. The Arhat is in the class of the Once-returning.
Disciples and
masters and Arhats may ascend the stages up to the
sixth. They perceive that the triple world is no more than mind itself; they
perceive that there is no becoming attached to the multiplicities of external
objects except through the discriminations and activities of the mind itself;
they perceive that there is no ego-soul; and, therefore, they attain a measure
of tranquillisation. But their tranquillisation
is not perfect every minute of their lives, for with them there is something
effect-producing, some grasped and grasping, some lingering trace of dualism
and egoism.
Though disengaged
from the actively functioning passions, they are still bound in with the
habit-energy of passion and, becoming intoxicated with the wine of the Samadhis, they still have their abode in the realm of the
out-flowings. Perfect tranquillisation
is possible only with the seventh stage. So long as their minds are in
confusion, they cannot attain to a clear conviction as to the cessation of all
multiplicity and the actuality of the perfect oneness of all things. In their
minds the self-nature of things is still discriminated as good and bad,
therefore, their minds are in confusion and they cannot pass beyond the sixth
stage. But at the sixth stage all discrimination ceases as they become engrossed
in the bliss of the Samadhis wherein they cherish the
thought of Nirvana and, as Nirvana is possible at the sixth stage, they pass
into their Nirvana, but it is not the Nirvana of the Buddhas.
THEN SAID MAHAMATI
to the Blessed One: Will you tell us now about the disciples who are
Bodhisattvas?
The Blessed One
replied: The Bodhisattvas are those earnest disciples who are enlightened by
reason of their efforts to attain self-realisation of
Noble Wisdom and who have taken upon themselves the task to enlighten others.
They have gained a clear understanding of the truth that all things are empty,
un-born, and of a maya-like nature; they have ceased
from viewing things discriminatively and from considering them in their relations;
they thoroughly understand the truth of twofold egolessness
and have adjusted themselves to it with patient acceptance; they have attained
a definite realisation of imagelessness;
and they are abiding in the perfect-knowledge that they have gained by self-realisation of Noble Wisdom.
Well stamped by the
seal of "Suchness" they entered upon the
first of the Bodhisattva stages. The first stage is called the Stage of joy (Pramudita). Entering this stage is like passing out
of the glare and shadows into a realm of "no-shadows"; it is like
passing out of the noise and tumult of the crowded city into the quietness of
solitude. The Bodhisattva feels within himself the awakening of a great heart
of compassion and he utters his ten original vows: To honor and serve all Buddhas; to spread the knowledge and practice of the
Dharma; to welcome all coming Buddhas; to practise
the six Paramitas; to persuade all beings to embrace the Dharma; to
attain a perfect understanding of the universe; to attain a perfect understanding
of tile mutuality of all beings; to attain perfect self-realisation
of the oneness of all the Buddhas and Tathagatas n self-nature, purpose and resources; to become
acquainted with all skillful means for the carrying out of these vows for the
emancipation of all beings; to realise supreme
enlightenment through the perfect self-realisation of
Noble Wisdom, ascending the stages and entering Tathagatahood.
In the spirit of
these vows the Bodhisattva gradually ascends the stages to the sixth. All earnest
disciples, masters and Arhats have ascended thus far,
but being enchanted by the bliss of the Samadhis and
not being supported by the powers of the Buddhas,
they pass to their Nirvana. The same fate would befall the Bodhisattvas except
for the sustaining power of the Buddhas, by that they
are enabled to refuse to enter Nirvana until all beings can enter Nirvana with
them. The Tathagatas point out to them the virtues of
Buddahood which are beyond the conception of the
intellectual-mind, and they encourage and strengthen the Bodhisattvas not to
give in to the enchantment of the bliss of the Samadhis,
but to press on to further advancement along the stages. If the Bodhisattvas
had entered Nirvana at this stage, and they would have done so without the
sustaining power of the Buddhas, there would have
been the cessation of all things and the family of the Tathagatas
would have become extinct.
Strengthened by the
new strength that comes to them from the Buddhas and
with the more perfect
insight that is
theirs by reason of their advance in self-realisation
of Noble Wisdom, they re-examine the nature of the mind-system, the egolessness of personality, and the part that grasping and
attachment and habit-energy play in the unfolding drama of life; they
re-examine the illusions of the fourfold logical analysis, and the various
elements that enter into enlightenment and self-realisation,
and, in the thrill of their new powers of self-mastery, the Bodhisattvas enter
upon the seventh stage of Far-going (Duramgama).
Supported by the
sustaining power of the Buddhas, the Bodhisattvas at
this stage enter into the bliss of the Samadhi of perfect tranquillisation.
Owing to their original vows they are transported by emotions of love and
compassion as they become aware of the part they are to perform in the carrying
out of their vows for the emancipation of all beings. Thus they do not enter
into Nirvana, but, in truth, they too are already in Nirvana because in their
emotions of love and compassion there is no rising of discrimination;
henceforth, with them, discrimination no more takes place. Because of
Transcendental Intelligence only one conception is present-the promotion of the
realisation of Noble Wisdom. Their insight issues
from the Womb of Tathagatahood and they enter into
their task with spontaneity and radiancy because it
is of the self-nature of Noble Wisdom. This is called the Bodhisattva's
Nirvana-the losing oneself in the bliss of perfect self-yielding. This is the
seventh stage, the stage of Far-going.
The eighth stage, is the stage of No-recession (Acala).
Up to this stage, because of the defilements upon the
face of Universal Mind caused by
the accumulation of habit-energy since beginningless
time, the mindsystem and all that pertains to it has
been evolved and sustained. The mind-system functioned by the discriminations
of an external and objective world to which it became attached and by which it
was perpetuated. But with the Bodhisattva's attainment of the eighth stage
there comes the "turning-about" within his deepest consciousness from
self-centered egoism to universal compassion for all beings, by which he
attains perfect self-realisation of Noble Wisdom.
There is an instant cessation of the delusive activities of the whole
mind-system; the dancing of the waves of habit-energy on the face of Universal
Mind are forever stilled, revealing its own inherent
quietness and solitude, the inconceivable Oneness of the Womb of Tathagatahood.
Henceforth there is
no more looking outward upon an external world by senses and sense-minds, nor a
discrimination of particularised concepts and ideas
and propositions by an intellectual-mind, no more grasping, nor
attachment, nor pride of egoism, nor habit-energy. Henceforth there is only the
inner experience of Noble Wisdom which has been attained by entering into its
perfect Oneness.
Thus establishing
himself at the eighth stage of No-recession, the Bodhisattva enters into the
bliss of the ten Samadhis, but avoiding the path of
the disciples and masters who yielded themselves up to their entrancing bliss
and who passed to their Nirvanas, and supported by his vows and the
Transcendental Intelligence which now is his and being sustained by the
power of the Buddhas,
he enters upon the higher paths that lead to Tathagatahood.
He passes through the bliss of the Samadhis to assume
the transformation body of a Tathagata that through
him all beings may be emancipated. Mahamati, If there
had been no Tathagata-womb and no Divine Mind then
there would have been no rising and disappearance of the aggregates that make
up personality and its external world, no rising and disappearance of ignorant
people nor holy people, and no task for Bodhisattvas; therefore, while walking
in the path of self-realisation and entering into the
enjoyments of the Samadhis, you must never abandon
working hard for the emancipation of all beings and your self-yielding love
will never be in vain. To philosophers the conception of Tathagata-womb
seems devoid of purity and soiled by these external manifestations, but it is not
so understood by the Tathagatas,--to them it is not a
proposition of philosophy but is an intuitive experience as real as though it
was an amalaka fruit held in the palm of the hand.
With the cessation
of the mind-system and all its evolving discriminations, there is cessation of
all strain and effort. It is like a man in a dream who imagines he is crossing
a river and who exerts himself to the utmost to do so, who is suddenly
awakened. Being awake, he thinks: "Is this real or is it unreal?" Being
now enlightened, he knows that it is neither real nor unreal. Thus when the
Bodhisattva arrives at the eighth stage, he is able to see all things
truthfully and, more than that, he is able to thoroughly understand the
significance of all the dream-like things of his life as to how
they came to pass and as to how
they pass away. Ever since beginningless time the
mind-system has perceived multiplicities of forms and conditions and ideas
which the thinking-mind has discriminated and the empirical-mind has experienced
and grasped and clung to. From this has risen habit-energy that by its
accumulation has conditioned the illusions of existence and non-existence,
individuality and generality, and has thus perpetuated the dream-state of
false-imagination. But now, to the Bodhisattvas of the eighth stage, life is
past and is remembered as it truly was--a passing dream.
As long as the
Bodhisattva had not passed the seventh stage, even though he had attained an
intuitive understanding of the true meaning of life and its maya-like
nature, and as to how the mind carried on its discriminations and attachments
yet, nevertheless, the cherishing of the notions of these things had continued
and, although he no longer experienced within himself any ardent desire for
things nor any impulse to grasp them yet, nevertheless, the notions concerning
them persisted and perfumed his efforts to practise
the teachings of the Buddhas and to labor for the
emancipation of all beings. Now, in the eighth stage, even the notions have
passed away, and all effort and striving is seen to be unnecessary. The
Bodhisattva's Nirvana is perfect tranquillisation,
but it is not extinction nor inertness; while there is an
entire absence of discrimination and purpose, there is the freedom and
spontaneity of potentiality that has come with the attainment and patient
acceptance of the truths of egolessness and imagelessness. Here is perfect solitude, undisturbed by any
gradation or continuous succession, but radiant with the potency and freedom of
its self-nature which is the self-nature of Noble Wisdom, blissfully peaceful
with the serenity of Perfect Love.
Entering upon the
eighth stage, with the turning-about at the deepest seat of consciousness, the
Bodhisattva will become conscious that he has received the second kind of
Transcendental-body (Manomayakaya). The
transition from mortal-body to Transcendental-body has nothing to do with
mortal death, for the old body continues to function and the old mind serves
the needs of the old body, but now it is free from the control of mortal mind.
There has been an inconceivable transformation-death (acintya-parinama-cyuti)
by which the false-imagination of his particularised
individual personality has been transcended by a realisation
of his oneness with the universalised mind of Tathagatahood, from which realisation
there will be no recession. With that realisation he
finds himself amply endowed with all the Tathagata's
powers, psychic faculties, and self-mastery, and, just as the good earth is the
support of all beings in the world of desire (karmadhatu),
so the Tathagatas become the support of all beings in
the Transcendental World of No-form.
The first seven of
the Bodhisattva stages were in the realm of mind and the eighth, while
transcending mind, was still in touch with it; but in the ninth stage of
Transcendental Intelligence (Sadhumati), by
reason of his perfect intelligence and insight into the imagelessness
of Divine Mind which he had attained by self-realisation
of Noble Wisdom, he is in the realm of Tathagatahood.
Gradually the Bodhisattva will realise his Tathagata-nature and the possession of all its powers and
psychic faculties, self-mastery, loving compassion, and skillful means, and by
means of them will enter into all the Buddha-lands. Making use of these new powers,
the Bodhisattva will assume various transformation-bodies and personalities for
the sake of benefiting others. Just as in the former mental life, imagination
had risen from relative-knowledge, so now skillful-means rise spontaneously
from Transcendental Intelligence. It is like the magical gem that reflects
instantaneously appropriate responses to one's wishes. The Bodhisattva passes
over to all the assemblages of the Buddhas and
listens to them as they discourse on the dream-like nature of all things and
concerning the truths that transcend all notions of being and nonbeing, that
have no relation to birth and death, nor to eternality
nor extinction. Thus facing the Tathagatas as they
discourse on Noble Wisdom that is far beyond the mental capacity of disciples
and masters, he will attain a hundred thousand Samadhis,
indeed, a hundred thousand nyutas of kotis of Samadhis, and in the
spirit of these Samadhis he will instantly pass from
one Buddha-land to another, paying homage to all the Buddhas,
being born into all the celestial mansions, manifesting Buddha-bodies, and
himself discoursing on the Triple Treasure to lesser Bodhisattvas that they too
may partake of the fruits of self-realisation of
Noble Wisdom.
Thus passing beyond
the last stage of Bodhisattvahood, he becomes a Tathagata himself endowed with all the freedom of the Dharmakaya. The tenth stage belongs to the Tathagatas. Here the Bodhisattva will find himself seated
upon a lotus-like throne in a splendid jewel-adorned palace and surrounded by
Bodhisattvas of equal rank. Buddhas from all the
Buddha-lands will gather about him and with their pure and fragrant hands
resting on his forehead will give him ordination and recognition as one of
themselves. Then they will assign him a Buddha-land that he may possess and
perfect as his own.
The tenth stage is
called the Great Truth Cloud (Dharmamegha),
inconceivable, inscrutable. Only the Tathagatas can realise its perfect Imagelessness
and Oneness and Solitude. It is Mahesvara, the