Aspects of Mahayana Buddhism and its Relation to Hinayana c8.s4.11

c8.s4.11

This account of the second bhūmi leaves us little doubt as to its similarity to the Adhiśīla practices of the Hīnayānists, without, of course, taking into account the adhyāśayas developed by the Bodhisattvas. In the Visuddhimagga it is stated that the sila practices lead to the purification of all impurities relating to conduct,² and serve as the basis for the attainment of sotāpanna and sakadāgāmi stages. In the first chapter of the Visuddhimagga, Buddhaghosa dilates on the various silas to be observed by the householders, lay-devotees, monks and nuns, supplementing it by the second chapter on the thirteen dhutaṅgas, which he considers necessary for the ascetics (yogi) to bring their silas to perfection.³ The Nikāyas usually mean by the silas the commonly known ten silas and the 250 pātimokkha rules.⁴ By the complete performance of silas and a little of samādhi and paññā,⁵ an adept becomes a sotāpanna and a sakadāgāmi. We know that a sotāpanna is free from the three samyojanas and the two anusayas, viz., diṭṭhi and vicikicchā.¹ By bringing the three hindrances, rāga (attachment), dosa² (hatred), and moha (delusion) to their minimum (tanutta), and by getting rid of anusayas, kāmārāga and paṭigha and by practising a little more of samādhi, and paññā, he becomes a sakadāgāmi. In the Paṭisambhidāmagga,³ it is stated that an adept in sotāpattiphala, sakadāgāmimagga, etc., obtains aññindriya (the faculty of perfect knowledge), and the dhammas that were already existing in him become unmanifest (avyākata), and the new thoughts that arise in his mind are pure, transcendental and conducive to Nibbāna.⁴ A sotāpanna also gets rid of diṭṭhāsava completely and the other three āsavas so far as they lead to hell, while a sakadāgāmi of olārika (gross) kāmāsava, and partially of bhavāsava and avijjāsava.⁵ In addition to the attainments required in the sotāpattimagga, the adept must also think of the transitoriness and essencelessness of the five upādāna khandhas.⁶