No More Learning

98. Vibhdsa, TD 27, p. 822cl4. When one obtains the state of Arhat (or ksayajndna), one has already obtained the First Dhyana, of the andsrava class at the moment of entry into samyaktvaniyama; why say that one obtains it upon obtaining the state of Arhat? The text should say that one obtains this Dhyana at the moment of entry into samyaktvaniyama, and not upon the obtaining of the state of Arhat.
99. Having entered the First Dhyana the ascetic contemplates the Truths. He possesses the first andsrava Dhyana. If he continues his contemplation (pravdhe) the moment of andsrava Dhyana is followed by a moment of andsrava Dhyana; if he leaves (vyutthdnakdle) this contemplation, the andsrava Dhyuna is followed by a pure or suddhaka Dhyana.
100. When an ascetic cultivated the mixed absorption (vi. 42, vii. 23a) when the andsrava and pure (suddhaka) moments succeed one another, there is an ascending absorption, an "absorption that passes over certain spheres" (viii. l8c), i. e. , the First Dhyana is followed by the Second or the Third Dhyana.
101. After the Third Dhyana: 1-2, two of this bhumi {suddhaka and andsrava), 3-6, four, two of the Fourth Dhyana, two of dkdsanantya; 7-10, four, two of the First, and two of the Second Dhyana.
And so on for the Fourth Dhyana and for dkdsanantya.
102. Hsiian-tsang adds: "After [pure] naivasamjndnasamjndyatana there can arise six types of absorption: the pure and the defiled of this same ayatana, the andsrava and the pure of the Second and Third Arapyas. Following upon the First [pure] Dhyana, seven types: the three of the First Dhyana; the andsrava and the pure of the Second and Third. Following upon dkincanya, eight; following the Second Dhyana, nine; following vijndnanantya, ten; following the other pure absorptions, eleven. "
103. Up to here the author has spoken of the samdpattidhydnas, absorptions, or states of contemplation, and their succession; but the kusalasamhita, the "good mind of absorption," which exists in the upapattidhydnas, that is, in Ruapadhatu (-oi dhyana; brahmaloka, etc. ), and which is acquired through arising (upapattildbhika), is also called pure dhyana (fuddhaka dhyana). When a being in Rupadhatu dies, this pure dhyana comes to an end; can it be followed only by a defiled dhyana of the same sphere? No: "At death, following upon the pure, there is a defiled state of some sphere. " In fact, death (maranabhava) is never absorbed (samdhita) (iii. 43): a being in Rupadhatu, at the moment when he dies, never possesses the dhyana of pure absorption. The "mind of reincarnation" (pratisamdhicitta) which follows "the mind at death" (maranabhava) will be defiled, not absorbed.
104. Paramartha translates: "with the exception of the nirvedhabhdgtya. '*
These four categories are the duppativijjha dharmas of Dtgha, iii. 277. See the source
quoted iv. 125, English trans, p. 707, vi. 20a, p. 707.
105. Hdnabhdgtyd succeeds upon hdnabhdgtya when there is no progress, sthitibhdgiya
succeeds when pure absorption is strengthened and when there is progress (visesagamana). 106. Mahdvyutpatti, 68. 5; see ? ? /? , ii. 44d, English trans, p. 229. Visuddhimagga, 374
(Atthasalini, 187): jhdndnulomato jhdnapapilomato jhdnukkantito.
107. According to Paramartha. Hsiian-tsang differs: . . . (3) to cultivate the sdsravas and andsravas in a mixed and continuous order (that is to go from the First sdsrava Dhyana to the Second andsrava Dhyana); (4) to cultivate the sdsravas in a discontinuous order (that is to go from the First Dhyana to the third. . . ); (5) the same with respect to the andsravas; (6) to cultivate the sdsravas and andsravas in a mixed and discontinuous order. The Vibhdsa (TD 27. p. 835b7) differs: 1. a good mind of Kamadhatu, 2. sdsrava absorption, to go and
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return, up to Bhavagra, 3. anasrava absorption, to go and return, 4. sdsrava by skipping over, 5. anasrava by skipping over.
108. Hsuan-tsang: 1. for there is no usefulness for a being of a higher sphere to produce a lower absorption; 2. because his own sphere outweighs this absorption; 3. because the power of this absorption is weak; 4. because he has rejected this absorption; and 5. because this absorption is now the object of disgust.
109- See ii. 45a-b (English trans, p. 236); vi. 73a-b; above p. 1228,1244. Vyakhya:ydvad eva samjnasamapattis tdvad djUdprativedha its vacandt (Anguttara, iv. 426).
110. We have seen that the dhydna "of delight" has for its object dhydna which is pure (fuddhaka), not anasrava. Let us understand then: "It does not bear on the pure dhydna of a lower sphere. "
111. The Vyakhya, the text of which is unfortunately unsure, explains: trsndparicchinnatvdd bhUmtndm iti / yd yasydrh bhumau tasyam eva bhumdv anufayandm (? ) tayd sd bhUmih paricchinnd bhavati / anyathd hi tasyottaratvam (? ) na sidhyed ekabhumisthdndntaravat / ata svauttarddharye'pi sthdndntardndm traydndm traydndm astdndm caikabhumitd sidhyati trsnavyatiharayogdt: It is trsnd which determines the bhumi. It is thus that the three sthdnas or "places" of the heavens of the first three Dhyanas and the eight sthdnas of the heaven of the Fourth Dhyana constitute only one bhumi, even though these places are superimposed one over the other, because the same trsnd becomes active and grows in all of the bhumis to which is belongs (v. 17). See iii. 3c, a definition of the Dhatus.
112. Desire for anasrava is not thirst, but "desire for the good". Kofa, v. 16, p. 794.
113. According to Paramartha, Hsuan-tsang: "It has for its object all samskrta of its sphere, of lower and higher spheres, and asamskrta. Nevertheless the morally neutral asamskrtas are not the object of an anasrava absorption.
114. In order to become detached from the Fourth Dhyana, the ascetic enters into the sdmantaka of the first drupya and considers the Fourth Dhyana as gross, etc. (iv. 49): this is the anantaryamdrga of detachment from the Fourth Dhyana. See iii. 35a, on the sdmantaka of akasdnantya and the Arupyas.
115. Vyakhya: na hi bhavena bhavanihsaranam astiti (see above viii. p. 1225).
116. See iii. 35d, vii. 26a, viu\22c.
117. Consequently priti and sukha are absent: pritisukhayor ayoga iti.
118. Being paths of detachment, they cannot be associated with delight; thus they are pure.
119. Explanation of the term anagamya, vi. 44d, p. 981, note; below, note 125.
Actually the sdmantakas or prefatory absorptions of all the dhyanas and arupyas can be called anagamya, because they do not enter the principal absorptions, and because they cut off the kief as. But Sarhghabhadra says that the name anagamya is reserved for the sdmantaka of the First Dhyana in order to show that this sdmantaka differs from the others. The ascetic produces it before entering any state of absorption and, when he is in one, he
does not experience any delight (dsvddana). The other sdmantakas are produced by the force of a previous absorption; the ascetic who is in it can experience delight. This does not appear to be reconciliable with the definitions of Vasubandhu. The Vibhdsd says, 'It is called anagamya, because it is produced without one having arrived (an-dgamya) at the principle sphere (maulabhumi), for the qualities of the principle sphere are absent from it. "
120. By saying that the sdmantaka is the path by which one becomes detached from a lower sphere: This is according to Paramartha. The Vyakhya explains the first phrase of the Bhdsya: aspasv api dhydndrupyesuyasyayat sdmantakam tasya tena sdmantakacittena
? klispendsamdhitena sarhdbibandha ity esa siddhdnta ity ata idam ucyate yady apt sdmantakacitteneti vistarah. The first thought of a dhyana existence, upapattibhava (iii. 38), belongs to the samantaka of this dhyana; it is defiled by all of the kiefas of the sphere of this dhyana.
121. Vibhasa, TD 27, p. 719cl3. Some say that the samantaka spheres include joy (priti), for the Sutra says that by being supported by joy one abandons sadness (daurmanasya). According to other sources, the joy of the samantaka of the First Dhyana includes movement and is not like of the principle dhyana. . . The following two samantakas include sukha. Vibhasa, 164. 5: The Darstantikas say that the samantakas are only good; it is explained that they are good, defiled, or neutral.
122. Hsiian-tsang adds: "Because he who does not produce the principle absorption is also attached to the samantaka" The Vydkhyd says: By reason of the aptitude (patutva) of the andgamya: he can be andsrava, and he can also be associated with delight. Such is the intention (of this passage). Sarhghabhadra explains: maulapratispardhitvdd dsvddanasamd- pattisadbhdvdt.
123. Pali sources: Points of Controversy, p. 329 (Psychological Ethics, p. 43,52, Theragdthd, 916, with another pancangika samddht) Koia, viii. 2a-b, p. 5, and 23c.
On dhyandntara and the theory of the Sarhmitlyas and Andhakas, see Kathdvatthu, xvii. 7.
124. According to Hsiian-tsang. Paramartha has "This dhyana is not associated with vitarka. It is called dhyandntara, because it differs from the two dhydnas. As it outweighs the First Dhyana, it is not placed in the First Dhyana. It is not placed in the Second, etc. , in view of the absence of vitesa. "
I doubt that the Chinese translators really understood this.
TheVydkhydsays:TheEhas? ahasdhydnavihsatvdt, thatis,thefirstprincipledhyana, through the absence of vitarka, becomes more distinguished and receives the name of dhyandntara: tad eva maulam prathamam dhydnam vitarkdpagamdd viHspam dhyandnta- ram ucyata ity arthah.
125. Sarhghabhadra reproduces the text of Vasubandhu and adds some useful explanations on andgamya and dhyandntara. We shall put this explanations into paragraphs.
a. Dhyandntara, which is included in the First Dhyana, differs from this latter by the fact that it has less vitarka. In the higher sphere (Second Dhyana, etc. ), what are the dharmas whose suppression would give rise to a dhydnantaral Thus there is a dhyandntara in the First Dhyana, but not in the higher spheres.
b. Doesn't the Sutra say that the seven absorptions (samdpatti)--namely the Four Dhyanas and the first three driipyas--are the support [of pure prajfid, of the "qualities," viii. 20a, 27c]? Furthermore how do you prove that there is an andgamya, and a dhyandntara}
? We know that there is an andgamya by Scripture and by reasoning.
The Sutra says, "He who is not capable of entering into the First Dhyana, etc. , and of remaining in it, obtains down here the destruction of the dsravas by means of an dryan or pure (andsrava) prajfid. " If there were no andgamya, what would be the support of this prajHdl
Furthermore, the Sutra of the Good Precepts (Suiila-Sutra? ) says, "There is a person delivered-through-Prajfia {prajMvimukta, vi. 64) who has not obtained the principle dhyana (mauladhydna: the dhyana itself). " Now is it not by being in the dhyana that the ascetic obtains the deliverance-through-? ? ? /? ? ? ? Thus there is a dhyana which is not the mauladhydna, namely the preliminary dhyana, the andgamya. On the mixed character of andgamya, iii. 35d.
d. The Sutra says, with respect to dhyandntara, that there are three samddhis, sa-vitarka,
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sa-vicdra, etc. (viii. 23c).
It says that the First Dhyina contains vitarka and vicdra; and that, in the Second and the following Dhyanas, vitarka and vicdra have ceased. If there were no dhydndntara, what samddhi would "possess vicdra and not vitarka"! Because the citta-caittas cease gradually, it follows that there would be a dhydna with vicdra but without vitarka.
Furthermore, out from dhydndntara, what would be the cause of the arising of Mahabrahma the King of the World (? ? ? ? , viii. 23b)?
e. The Buddha does not speak of andgamya and dhydndntara, because both are included the First Dhyana. The word "dhydna" includes them also.
f. The first "vestibule," sdmantaka, is called andgamya because one would distinguish it from the others. A dhydna does not arise before one has entered into this first sdmantaka. (See above vi. 44d, p. 981. )
126. Elsewhere abhisamskdravdhya; see iv. 78c,. (vahati = gacchati), vi. 66a, 71d. 127. See ii. 4ld.
128. Not in Paramartha. Hsxian-tsang, samdpatti - teng-chih ? ? , samddhi, teng-ch'ih ? ? (to grasp, dhar).
Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 821c2. Opinions differ on the difference between samddhi and samdpatti. Samddhi is understood as a momentary (ksanika) absorption; samdpatti as a prolonged (prdbandhika) absorption. The samddhis always involve the mind (citta); they are sacittaka\ this mind can be either samdhita, absorbed, or vyagra (or viksipta, i. 33c-d), dispersed. The samdpattis (ii. 44d, English trans, p. 231) can be accompanied by mind or not (for example asamjnisamdpatti and samjndveditanirodhydsamdpatti). Thus we have: 1. exclusively samddhi, the [semi]-absorption associated with the vyagra mind [We do not understand how a non-samdhita mind can be in samddhi, see above note 4; but it is certain that a mind in Kamadhatu can be in samddhi, viii. 25a, etc. ]; 2. exclusively samdhita, the states free from mind; and 3. samddhi and samdpatti, all states of absorbed mind. Samatha is a state accompanied by an absorbed mind.
A traditional summary of the Eighth Chapter holds that it treats of 1. the dhyanas, 2. the drupyas, 3. the samdpattis (all of which are "absorbed," samdhita, with or without mind (see ii. 44d, p. 231); and of 4. the samddhis, that is to say in the proper sense of the word, the sUnyatdsamddhi group (viii. 24).
129. Madhyama, TD 1, p. 538c3, Dirgha, TD 1, p. 110a24, Samyukta, TD 2, p. 132al8 (not closely related); Digha, iii. 219,274, Majjhima, iii. 162, Samyutta, iv. 363, Anguttara, iv. 300, Kathdvatthu, ix. 8 and trans, p. 239, note; elsewhere only savitarka-savicdra and avitarka-avicdra are distinguished, Samyutta, v. lll, etc. [The role of avitakka-avicdra in the reading of the mind of another, Digha, iii. 104. ] See Compendium, Introduction, 58, Visuddhimagga, 169.
Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 744b24. The Darstantikas think that there is vitarka and vicdra up to Bhavagra.
130. On vitarka-vicdra, see above note 18.
131. Hsuan-tsang: "This refers to the First Dhyana and its sdmantaka. "
132. Dirgha, TD 1, p. 50bl, Ekottara, TD 2, p. ? ? ? ? ? ; Digha, iii. 219: sunnato samddhi, animitto samddhi, appanihito samddhi; Dhammasangani, 344, 505; Vibhanga, Preface, p. xviii; Atthasdlini, 221 and foil. ; Sutrdlamkdra, xviii, 77-79. Anguttara, iii. 397, animitta cet ? samddhi. Below note 140.
a. Vibhdsd, TD 27, p. 538a27. The samddhis are numberless; why say that they are three? From the point of view of their opposition (pratipalsa), their intention (dfaya), and their object (dlambana): 1. iunyatd-samddhi opposes the belief in a self (satkdyadrsti); as it considers things under the aspects of non-self and emptiness, it is opposed to the aspects of self and mine; 2. apranihitasamddhi is the samddhi in which there is no intention (dsaya), no will (pranidhdna) with respect to any dharma of the Three Dhatus (or bhava, tribhdva,
? threefold existence, i. 8c). There is no complete absence of pranidhdna with respect to the Path; but, although the Path rests on bhava, intention relative to the Path is not related to bhava; 3. dnimittasamddhi has an object free from the nimittas, namely from ? ? ? ? , sabda, etc. For others, the three samadhis, in this order, oppose satkdyadrsti, sUavrata and vicikitsd.
b. The Bodhisattvabhumi, fol. 106a, arranges the samadhis in the following order: iunyatd, apranihita, and dnimitta, and gives a definition of them very different from that of Vasubandhu:
tatra katamo bodhisattvasya iunyatdsamddhih / iha bodhisattvasya sarvabhildpdtmak- ena svabhdvena virahitam nirabhildpyasvabhdvam vastu pasyatah yd cittasya sthitih ayam asyocyate iunyatdsamddhih / apranihitasamddhih katamah / iha bodhisattvasya tad eva nirabhildpyasvabhdvam vastu mithydvikalpasamutthdpitena klesena parigrhitatvdd anekados adust am samanupasyato yd ayat ? am tatrdpranidhdnapurvakd cittasthitir ayam asydpranihitasamddhir ity ucyate / dnimittasamddhih katamah / iha bodhisattvasya tad eva nirabhildpyasvabhdvam vastu sarvavikalpaprapancanimittdny apaniya yathdbhutam s ant at ? manasi kurvato yd cittasthitir ayam asyocyate dnimittasamddhih /.
The second samddhi refers to conditioned (samskrta) things through which one does not form any pranidhdna; the third to unconditioned things (i. e. Nirvana), the object of pranidhdna; the first to non-existent (asat) things, the self, mine, with respect to which one does not form either pranidhdna or apranidhdna, but which one regards solely as empty.
133. Calm = nirodha = Nirvana, has four aspects of nirodha, pranita, sdnta, and nihsarana, vii. 13a.
134. Hsuan-tsang: "This samddhi has the four aspects of nirodha; nirodha can be called ? ama [or sdnta]"
135. On dnimitta as noun and adjective, see Wogihara, Bodhisattvabhumi p. 19-20. On nimitta, see Kola, ii. l4c.
136. The "emptiness" of the Hlnayana should be studied in greater depth.
137. See i. 7c-d, note 33. Majjhima, i. 135: . . . evam eva kho bhikkhave kullupamo mayd dhammo desito nittharanatthdya no gahanatthdya / kullupamam vo bhikkhave djdnantehi dhammd pi vo pahatabba prdg evddhammd.
Vajracchedikd, p. 23: . . . na khalu punah subhute bodhisattvena mahasattvena dharma ugrahitavyo nddharmah / tasmdd iyam tathdgatena samdhdya vdg bhdsitd / kolopamam dharmaparydyam djdnadbhir dharma eva prahdtavydh prdg evddharmd iti.
Bodhicarydvatdra, ix. 33: adhigata upeya pascat kolopamatvdd upayasydpi prahdnam.
Compare the bhisi (vrsi, raft) of the Suttanipdta, 22: "I have passed over . . . there is no (further) use for a raft. "
In Samyutta, iv. 174-175, the magga is a raft, but it is not said that one should abandon it.
The Vajracchedikdpikd (Tanjur, Mdo, xvi. 237b) quotes the Ratnakaranda, where the formula: kolopamam dharmaparydyam . . prdg evddharmdh is completed by the words: ye dharmdh prahdtavyd na te dharma ndpy adharmdh.
One should examine the meaning of dharma and adharma in these sources. 138. See viii. 5.
139. Excluding Kamadhatu, Bhavagra, and the sdmantakas from the sdmantaka of the Second Dhyana.
140. Patisambhiddmagga, ii. 35: tayo me bhikkhave vimokkhd sunnato vimokkho animitto vimikkho appanihito; ibid, ii. 67. Dhammasamgani, 344, Atthasdlint, 223, Visuddhimagga, 658 (Compendium, 111, 216); Nettippakarana, 90, 119, 126; Milinda, 413. Mahdvyutpatti, 73, the Three Vimoksamukhas, Iunyatd, animittam, apranihitam; Madhyamakavrtti, 246: trtni vimoksamukhdni sunyatdnimittdpranihitdkhydni vimuktaye vineyebhyo bhagavatd
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nirdistdni. . . ; Madhyamakdvatdra, 319; Deva, Catuhsatikd, p. 497; Bodhisattvabhumi, 1. 17. 14 (with nirodhasamdpatti, the three Vimoksas constitute the dryavihdra of the Buddha).
141. According to Ekottara, 26. 5
The Vibhdsd (see below) and Hstian-tsang (in the ? ? fa) call these samddhis
chung Jf - samddhis, "repeated" samddhis, "accumulated" samddhis, since they are sunya-sunya . . . The thought that inspires the theory of these samddhis is clearly explained by Sarhghabhadra (in his Prakarandfdsana, TD 29. p. 971b26), "In the same way that one burns the wood of the funeral-pyre which first burned the body, so too when the absorption of emptiness (sunyatdsamddhi) burns the kleias, the ascetic namely produced sunyatdsamddhi in order to obtain disgust-abandon with respect to the first emptiness (=the first sunyatdsamddhi). "
The Vibhdsd treats of these samddhis, TD 27, p. 543a27 (and c5 and following): 1. At what moment does one obtain them? According to one opinion, in darianamdrga, when one obtains abhisamaydntika (vii. 21a); according to another opinion, in bhdvandmdrga, when the detached (virakta) Aryan obtains nirmdnacitta (vii. 49c); according to a third opinion (the orthodox opinion), at the moment of ksayajndna (vi. 44d), because, at this moment, the ascetic cultivates all the impure (sdsrava) good dharmas of the three spheres (vii. 26c). 2. Does one obtain them without effort? 3. After which jndnas? 4. In what spheres (viii. 27b)? 5.