The attainment of cessation refers to the absorption into cessation, a meditation in which cessation is the object. From the sixth ground onward bodhisattvas attain a unique absorption into cessation that does not occur on or before the fifth ground. This is because their way of absorbing into cessation is held by the superior practice of the perfection of wisdom.39 For this reason, sixth grounders are said to have an intelligence that is advanced in the union of serenity and insight.
The ripening result is being born as the lord of the Heaven of Delighting in Emanations.
Sixth ground bodhisattvas are unsurpassable by the hearers and solitary realizers in terms of their intelligence. From the seventh ground onward, bodhisattvas outshine fundamental vehicle arhats through the power of their wisdom. Because sixth grounders are close to the seventh ground, hearers cannot surpass these bodhisattvas or outshine their wisdom.
Because they have a unique absorption in cessation, excel in the practice of the perfection of wisdom, are unsurpassable by hearer arhats, and are close to the seventh ground where they overcome hearer and solitary realizer arhats by the power of their mind, sixth ground bodhisattvas overcome those with the pride of superiority — the pride of fundamental vehicle arhats. Of course, their “pride” is not afflictive pride because as arhats, they have eliminated all afflictions.
453.The seventh is the Far Advanced
because the number [of excellent qualities] has advanced far,
since on this [ground] they enter moment by moment
into the equipoise of cessation.
454.Through the maturation of that [ground],
they become the powerful ruler of the celestials.
They become a great leader of Jnanacharyas,
knowing the realizations of the aryas’ [four] truths.
Seventh ground bodhisattvas have advanced much further than sixth grounders. In one very short instant, they are able to enter into and arise from the unique absorption in cessation — emptiness — that was attained on the sixth ground. Because they excel in the practice of the perfection of skillful means, their way of entering into and arising from absorption in cessation is more adept: they can do it very quickly, and their intelligence is sharper, more proficient, and agile. Their agility in meditation resembles that of a skilled cyclist who does not wobble or become unsteady however fast he may go.
Arya bodhisattvas outshine hearers and solitary realizers in two ways — once on the first ground and again on the seventh ground. On the first ground, they outshine them through their lineage, because in addition to having the wisdom directly perceiving emptiness, they have the practices of special method supported by bodhichitta. This is similar to a monarch’s child; from the moment she is born, she is served and honored even by the monarch’s senior ministers. This is due to her royal lineage, which surpasses the lineage of the ministers. Similarly, first ground bodhisattvas are of the tathagata lineage and are on their way to awakening. Just as the ministers are initially more knowledgeable than the royal child, hearer arhats have eliminated all afflictive obscurations whereas first grounders have not. However, just as the royal child will one day become the monarch while the ministers will not, arya bodhisattvas will one day become buddhas. This is the meaning of first ground bodhisattvas outshining hearer and solitary realizer arhats through their lineage.
On the seventh ground, bodhisattvas outshine fundamental vehicle arhats through the power of their wisdom, because they can enter into and arise from meditation on emptiness in each brief instant. This is extremely difficult to do because in meditative equipoise on emptiness the mind and emptiness are one taste, but these bodhisattvas can go back and forth between cognizing ultimate truth and conventional truth very quickly. Seventh ground bodhisattvas are like the monarch’s child as an educated and intelligent youth. Because she is close to being a monarch herself, she outshines the ministers, just as seventh grounders outshine hearer arhats by the power of their wisdom.
The ripening result is being able to take birth as a king of gods in the Heaven of Controlling Others’ Emanations.
These bodhisattvas have wisdom understanding the four truths, the thirty-seven aids to awakening, and the forward and reverse orders of the twelve links superior to that which they had previously attained. They also possess an excelling practice of the perfection of method that supports that wisdom. As a result of these qualities and attainments, they have powerful intelligence, and they become great leaders among the knowledgeable teachers.
455.The eighth is the youth’s ground, the Immovable,
because, free of conceptions, they are unshakable.
The range of their physical, verbal,
and mental activities is inconceivable.
456.Through the maturation of this [ground],
they become a Brahma who rules a thousand worlds;
they are unsurpassed by the hearers and solitary realizers
in determining the meaning of the Dharma.
Bodhisattvas on the eighth ground cannot be moved by the apprehension of signs or by the conception apprehending a self — both refer to true-grasping — or by the stains of the afflictive obscurations. Ordinary bodhisattvas and other ordinary beings who have not abandoned true-grasping are not able to understand the range of the physical, verbal, and mental activities of these bodhisattvas just as they are. That is, the way in which those bodhisattvas engage in virtuous activities of body, speech, and mind and the vastness of their virtuous activities is inconceivable for others.
The ripening result of the eighth ground is the ability to become a great Brahma king of the thousand worlds and thereby perform actions that are vastly beneficial for others. Hearer and solitary realizer arhats cannot surpass these bodhisattvas in analyzing, understanding, and explaining the meaning of the Dharma.
Eighth ground bodhisattvas and fundamental vehicle arhats have both eradicated the afflictive obscurations, and there is no difference between them from this point of view. However, they differ from the viewpoint of method because fundamental vehicle arhats do not have the exceptional factors of the method side of the path that bodhisattvas have. In order to gain these factors, those arhats have to follow the guidance of a spiritual mentor of the universal vehicle and generate bodhichitta by training in the seven-point cause-and-effect instruction or in equalizing and exchanging self and others. Upon gaining uncontrived bodhichitta, they then enter the bodhisattva path of accumulation, and from there up to the eighth ground they do not have any further objects to be abandoned since they have already abandoned afflictive obscurations. Upon reaching the eighth ground, they have to begin to abandon cognitive obscurations. From the path of accumulation through the end of the tenth ground, they must create great merit by training in the vast bodhisattva practices and then fulfill the collections of merit and wisdom in order to become a buddha.
457.The ninth, like a regency,
is called Excellent Intelligence,
since by attaining true awareness,
[these bodhisattvas] have excellent understanding on this [ground].
458.Through the maturation of this [ground],
they become the lord of a million worlds;
they are unsurpassed by arhats and such
regarding qualms in the minds of beings.
As they are close to buddhahood, ninth ground bodhisattvas are like royal heirs who will soon be enthroned as monarchs. They excel in the four specific perfect understandings — the Dharma, its actual words, its meaning, and confidence or eloquence in expounding the Dharma — that, while not the same as the buddhas’ understandings, are concordant with them. This ground is called Excellent Intelligence because these bodhisattvas have attained an exceptional practice of those four. The ripening result is being able to take rebirth as a Brahma lord over a million worlds.
When people ask these bodhisattvas questions, they are able to reply correctly without mistakes or contradictions between the explicit and implicit meanings or between earlier and l
ater statements. Of course these bodhisattvas are not able to answer in the totally unmistaken and perfect way that buddhas do, but because they are so close to the buddhas’ ground, they are extremely capable of accomplishing the aims of sentient beings by resolving their qualms and teaching them in accordance with their dispositions, thoughts, and interests. In this respect these bodhisattvas cannot be surpassed by arhats.
459.The tenth is the Cloud of Dharma
because [bodhisattvas] rain down the holy Dharma,
and these bodhisattvas are anointed
with rays of light by the buddhas.
460.Through the maturation of that [ground],
they become the celestial ruler of the Pure Abode,
master of inconceivable objects of wisdom,
supreme among great lords.
Rain falls from a cloud and causes crops to grow. Similarly, through a vast rain of teachings, tenth ground bodhisattvas cause the growth of “crops” of excellent virtue in the mental continua of trainees.
During meditative equipoise, tenth grounders enter into innumerable millions of concentrations, and at the conclusion of the vajra-like concentration all the buddhas radiate light from the hair curl on their foreheads and bestow the empowerment of great rays of light on these bodhisattvas, blessing them so they obtain omniscient mind. At this time, all their cognitive obscurations are completely extinguished and these bodhisattvas become fully enlightened buddhas.
The ripening result is birth in the pure abode of Akanishta. Literally, Akanishta means “not below,” indicating that it is above all other realms. This Akanishta is above the Akanishta of the seventeen levels of the form realm, which is a place within cyclic existence. At the end of their continua as sentient beings all bodhisattvas take birth and attain awakening in the pure abode of Akanishta according to the sutra system and the Madhyamaka tenet system. Bodhisattvas of the final continuum are bestowed the empowerment of great light rays, and when they become buddhas the signs and marks that they possess become the actual signs and marks of the enjoyment body. According to the sutra system, it is not possible to attain awakening in the desire realm, although this is possible according to the tantric system.
Through the uninterrupted path that is the actual antidote to the objects to be abandoned on the tenth ground, bodhisattvas eradicate all remaining stains. This abandonment becomes the true cessation of a buddha — a buddha’s nature truth body, the emptiness of that buddha’s mind. The bodhisattva’s exalted wisdom realizing emptiness becomes the wisdom truth body — the omniscient mind — of that buddha. All exalted wisdoms in the continuum of a buddha are omniscient mind.
In general, the emanation bodies arise from the enjoyment body, which is their dominant condition. A supreme emanation body comes into the world and performs the twelve deeds of a buddha, including turning the Dharma wheel. When tenth ground bodhisattvas become buddhas, they attain the four bodies simultaneously, although the supreme emanation body comes later. A buddha can also emanate as many other things, such as water, earth, fire, and various objects that benefit beings. All of them accomplish the aims of sentient beings. The supreme emanation body is the only emanation that comes into the world and performs the twelve deeds — from entering the mother’s womb to passing into parinirvana.
Tenth ground bodhisattvas become supreme among great lords, meaning that they become buddhas. Bodhisattvas on all ten grounds are called “great lord” but only buddhas are called “supreme great lord.” They are masters of inconceivable objects of wisdom, meaning they have the omniscient wisdom of all the buddhas.
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38.Although inherent existence has never existed, it is said to have ceased when one directly realizes the emptiness of inherent existence because the appearance of inherent existence and grasping at inherent existence are not present at that time. That wisdom realizes only emptiness.
39.Prasangika proponents say that absorption in cessation is an exalted wisdom of single-pointed meditative equipoise on emptiness that depends on the supramundane path that attains it and the mind of the peak of existence. There are two ways of talking about the common and unique absorptions in cessation: (1) The unique is qualified by a superior practice of the perfection of wisdom on the sixth ground and above, while the common one is shared with the first through the tenth grounds; (2) The absorption into emptiness as asserted by the Prasangika system is unique, and that which is explained in Vasubandhu’s Treasury of Knowledge and Asanga’s Compendium of Knowledge (Abhidharmasamucchaya) is common. According to some schools, the absorption in cessation is a state in which the coarse mind and mental factors have been temporarily stopped. This type of absorption in cessation does not realize emptiness.
14. The Magnificent Qualities of a Buddha
ULTIMATE EXCELLENT QUALITIES
Having explained the temporal excellent qualities and the excellent qualities of the bodhisattvas on the ten grounds, Nagarjuna now turns to the culmination of the path, the resultant excellent qualities of a buddha, which can be subsumed in the ten powers of a buddha. In addition, he teaches us a daily recitation practice that will contribute to amassing the incalculable merit necessary to attain buddhahood. Regularly reciting and contemplating these twenty verses will open our heart to the compassion, wisdom, and power that will enable us to be of greatest benefit to all sentient beings.
461.These ten are renowned
as the ten bodhisattva grounds.
The buddhas’ ground is different —
in all ways immeasurably vast.
462.It is merely called
“Possessing Ten Powers.”
Each of those powers is as limitless
as the countless number of beings.
The Boundless Qualities of a Buddha Summarized in Ten Powers
The first half of verse 461 summarizes the ten bodhisattva grounds as explained by the Buddha in the sutras. Since bodhisattvas become buddhas, Nagarjuna proceeds to describe the buddhas’ ground, which is superior to the ten grounds of bodhisattvas in all aspects. It is inconceivably vast and its qualities limitless; it is merely said to possess the ten powers, which comprise all the buddhas’ qualities.
Even one instant of consciousness of an awakened being is able to see all phenomena extremely clearly, just as we see things in the palm of our hand. While buddhas are in meditative equipoise they can engage in all the activities of subsequent attainment. For them, the actions of meditative equipoise and the actions of subsequent attainment are non-contradictory. This attribute is unique to buddhas; even very high bodhisattvas cannot do both simultaneously.
Generally speaking, we say that any consciousness in the continuum of a buddha is omniscient mind, a final exalted wisdom that realizes all phenomena directly. The wisdom of meditative equipoise of a buddha is omniscient mind; it is able to directly see all phenomena of the subsequent attainment and at the same time has nondual perception of emptiness. Similarly, a buddha’s wisdom of subsequent attainment that sees the wide diversity of conventional phenomena can simultaneously realize their emptiness nondually.
Buddha’s ground is vast in its reach and replete with the ten powers, each of which possesses inconceivable qualities. Just as sentient beings are immeasurable, the qualities of a buddha’s powers are immeasurable. Just as space is limitless, stretching out in the ten directions, so too are a buddha’s qualities. The objects known by each of the ten powers are immeasurable, so the powers that know them are also limitless. The ten powers are explained in the Greater Sutta on the Lion’s Roar (Mahasihanada Sutta) in the Pali canon and in the Sutra of the Ten Grounds in the Sanskrit tradition, as follows:
1.Power of knowing sources and non-sources. A source is the cause of something; for example, virtue is the source of happiness and nonvirtue is the source of pain. Countless sentient beings of the three times have their own innumerable, different kinds of great, middling, and small suffering, and each of these arise from innumerable causes — the countless afflictions
and nonvirtuous karmas in the continua of those beings. Sentient beings also experience countless different kinds of happiness and pleasant feelings that arise from innumerable virtuous causes. A non-source is the non-arising of something; for example, happiness never arises from nonvirtue and suffering never comes from virtue. Knowing all this in detail in the briefest moment is the power of the exalted wisdom that understands sources and non-sources.
Some discussion arises regarding this power. Since it realizes sources and non-sources, both sources and non-sources should exist. But happiness resulting from nonvirtue is a non-source and doesn’t exist; the same is the case for virtue producing suffering. Because these are nonexistent and cannot be realized by a reliable cognizer, are they non-sources or not? If you say that there are no non-sources, then non-sources cannot be realized, in which case the power realizing non-sources must also not exist. That power is omniscient mind, and saying this is nonexistent doesn’t work! While we cannot realize that suffering comes from virtue since that does not exist, we can realize its nonexistence. We can realize that virtue is not the source of suffering and nonvirtue is not the source of happiness.
2.Power of knowing the ripening of karma. The innumerable sentient beings of the past, present, and future experience innumerable ripening results. The specific karmic causes for each of those rebirths is understood in detail with this power.
3.Power of knowing the various interests. This power knows all the various interests and thoughts of each sentient being — what they appreciate and how to best communicate with them — all in an instant.
4.Power to know sentient beings’ different dispositions. The term translated as “disposition” can also be translated as “element.” This power knows the disposition of each sentient being as well as the divisions and characteristics of the elements, such as the eighteen elements and the sixty-four elements.
5.Power of knowing sentient beings’ various faculties. This knows the superior and inferior faculties of sentient beings. Superior faculties are aryas’ unpolluted five faculties of faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, and wisdom. Inferior faculties are the three poisons in the minds of the sentient beings. This power knows which faculties are very strong and which are not.
Practical Ethics and Profound Emptiness Page 41