Overall Teaching

The Bodhisattva in the fourth dhyāna directs his mind to suffering and rebirth of beings, the previous lives of himself and others, and dependent origination forwards and backwards. After attaining knowledge of the four noble truths, he attains full awakening. The devas, buddhas, and bodhisattvas praise him.

Summary

1. After having vanquished Māra, the Bodhisattva proceeded to meditate through the four dhyānas.

a.     With his mind thus purified and subtle, with his divine eye he saw the suffering and rebirth of beings out of ignorance, with results dependent upon their deeds and level of knowledge or ignorance.

b.     He then recollected the previous lifetimes of himself and other sentient beings, going back countless lifetimes and cycles of destruction and formation of the cosmos.

c.     He then, at the break of dawn, directed his mind to the knowledge that ends suffering. 

i. He noted how beings undergo old age, sickness, and death, and out of ignorance don’t know how to remove themselves from it:

ii.   Asking what was the prerequisite for old age and death, he realised that it was birth. 

iii. Asking what was the prerequisite for birth, he realised that it was the existence. 

iv. Asking what was the prerequisite for existence, he realised that it was clinging.

v. Asking what was the prerequisite for clinging, he realised that it was craving. 

vi. Asking what was the prerequisite for craving, he realised that it was feeling. 

vii. Asking what was the prerequisite for feeling, he realised that it was contact.

viii. Asking what was the prerequisite for contact, he realised that it was the six sense fields. 

ix. Asking what was the prerequisite for six sense fields, he realised that it was name and form.

x. Asking what was the prerequisite for name and form, he realised that it was consciousness. 

xi. Asking what was the prerequisite for consciousness, he realised that it was formations. 

xii. Asking what was the prerequisite for formations, he realised that it was ignorance.

d.     He then noted this cycle in reverse from ignorance up to old age and death. 

e.     With these factors in his mind a light began to shine.

f.      The Bodhisattva then, asking what must be so for old age and death to not occur, realised that it was birth.

i. Asking what must be absent for birth not to occur, he realised that it is existence—and so on down to ignorance: without ignorance, there are no formations—and so on up to old age and death, and thus the heap of pure anguish is brought to an end.

2.     On that occasion, the Bodhisattva realised the four truths: (1) the defiled is suffering, (2) the source of the defiled, (3) how the defiled is brought to cessation, (4) the path leading to the cessation of the defiled.

3. He also noted the defilement of desire, craving, ignorance, and beliefs and how they come to an end with no residue.

a.     He thus knew the identity, source, cessation, and path to the cessation of all twelve links of dependent origination.

4.     Thus at the final station of the night the Bodhisattva had attained full awakening.

5. The devas were about to praise his attainment of Buddhahood, when some devas noted that usually a Buddha gives a sign upon his attainment: at this the Tathāgata arose to the height of seven palm trees and declared: “The path has been interrupted; Impurities have been extinguished. The outflows have dried up and flow no longer; The path, now ended, I travel no longer. This is called the end of suffering!” Thereupon the devas strew him with flowers.

6.   Many analogies are given to describe the awakening of the Tathāgata: e.g. he became the king of physicians, who had entered the city of omniscience, and who had mingled perfectly with all buddhas and became inseparable from the comprehension of the Dharmadhātu.

7.  For the first seven days he abided at the seat of awakening reflecting upon his attainment of Buddhahood and the worlds in the ten directions shook in the six ways. The buddhas congratulated the Tathāgata with a jewel parasol that covered the entire trichiliocosm from which issued forth a network of light rays illuminating infinite worlds in all directions.

8. Bodhisattvas and devas throughout the ten directions praise his yielding of the fruits of liberation and implored him to swiftly shower down the rain of true Dharma.

9. Then the desire realm goddesses, knowing that the Tathāgata had attained Buddhahood, they approached the seat of awakening and praised his attainments. They noted how he outshines all in the universe and has so many other qualities which are worthy of reverence by all in the three realms.

a.     Thereupon the Buddha extended his hand and bid them return to their own places.

10. While sitting at the seat of awakening, he manifested countless displays of awakening that cannot be revealed in an aeon. For instance, the world became perfectly level and the unfortunate states were dried up in an instant and the tuft of hair on his forehead outshone even the sun and moon.