成唯識論了義燈 6.15

6.15

Question: When persons of the first two fruits attain the anāsrava noble path of the first sāmantaka and, after turning their minds [to Mahāyāna], undergo transformation-body rebirth, which anāsrava [attainment] do they give rise to? Answer: That of the fourth dhyāna stage. Why? Because through this turn of mind and superior cultivation, they attain the fourth dhyāna. Therefore, the Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra, fascicle eighty, states: "If one skillfully cultivates the four bases of psychic power (ṛddhipāda), one may remain for an eon, or more than an eon." Although that text, following the preceding passage, speaks definitively regarding non-learners, now as for the first three fruits: if they did not skillfully cultivate, they should not be able to sustain their lifespan; since they are admitted to attain supernormal powers and only then can sustain their lifespan, they supremely cultivate dhyānas and the formless [attainments]. Yogācāra fascicle sixty-nine states: "What is the knowledge of resolution (praṇidhijñāna)? It is based on the sharp-rooted arhat liberated in both parts cultivating the limit of the fourth dhyāna as support." Although this speaks of non-learners, one should know by analogy that learners who have turned their minds are also like this. If they lacked the knowledge of resolution, how could they know that their lifespan is about to end and undergo transformation-body rebirth? Question: Since they only undergo transformation-body rebirth depending on the superior anāsrava concentration of the fourth [dhyāna], why do they not sever the afflictions of the lower stages? If they were admitted to sever them, they should attain the non-returner (anāgāmin) before undergoing transformation-body rebirth. Why does the Nirvāṇa Sūtra state: "A srotāpanna passes through eighty thousand eons; a sakṛdāgāmin passes through sixty thousand eons"? Answer: Although they generate the anāsrava, they rely on the viśeṣamārga and not the ānantaryamārga; therefore, they do not attain the fruit. Thus, the Abhidharmasamuccaya-vyākhyā, fascicle nine, explaining entering the quiescent liberation of the formless realm without having detached from desire of the form realm, states: "Noble ones who have already attained the fourth dhyāna do not seek rebirth in the formless realm; abandoning the path that severs bonds, they rely on the viśeṣamārga and can gradually enter the quiescent liberation concentration of the formless realm." Saying that they have not detached from the desire of the form [realm] refers to not severing the seeds; the quiescent liberation concentration is the concentration of cessation (nirodhasamāpatti). If lesser fruits are even able to do this, how much more so those who have already turned their minds? Question: By analogy, when those non-learners proceed toward the Great [Vehicle], it is rapid; why do learners who have turned their minds not take the fruit? Answer: Although they know it is rapid, because they are weary of the lesser fruit, they do not take it.