What a Practitioner Possesses

If one possesses the first dhyāna, and so on — and so on at length. Question: why is this treatise composed? Answer: in order to refute those who deny that the very nature of possession and non-possession is anything real, and in order to make plain that the nature of possession and non-possession is indeed genuinely real, this treatise is composed. If one possesses the first dhyāna, and the rest, how many of the four dhyānas, and the rest, does one possess, and how many does one not possess? Answer: if one possesses the first dhyāna, then, with respect to the four dhyānas, one possesses either one, two, three, or four of them. "One" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world: if reborn in the desire realm, one possesses the first dhyāna only through having attained it by freedom from defilement; if reborn in the Brahmā world, one possesses the first dhyāna either through freedom from defilement or through birth — and, because one's craving for the Brahmā world has not yet been exhausted, one does not possess any of the upper three dhyānas. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted.

This covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara: if reborn in the desire realm, one possesses both the first and second dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in the Brahmā world, one possesses the first dhyāna either through freedom from defilement or through birth, and possesses the second dhyāna only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in Ābhāsvara, one possesses only the uncontaminated portion of the first dhyāna, never its contaminated portion, since it has been relinquished upon transcending that ground, and possesses the second dhyāna only through freedom from defilement — and, because one's craving for Ābhāsvara has not yet been exhausted, one does not possess either of the upper two dhyānas. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for Ābhāsvara has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted.

This covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara or Śubhakṛtsna: if reborn in the desire realm, one possesses the lower three dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in the Brahmā world, one possesses the first dhyāna either through freedom from defilement or through birth, and possesses the second and third dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in Ābhāsvara, one possesses only the uncontaminated portion of the first dhyāna, and possesses the second and third dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna, one possesses only the uncontaminated portion of the first two dhyānas, and possesses the third dhyāna only through freedom from defilement — and, because one's craving for Śubhakṛtsna has not yet been exhausted, one does not possess the fourth dhyāna. "Four" refers to someone whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted. This covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception: if reborn in the desire realm, one possesses all four dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in the Brahmā world, one possesses the first dhyāna either through freedom from defilement or through birth, and possesses the upper three dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in Ābhāsvara, one possesses only the uncontaminated portion of the first dhyāna, and possesses the upper three dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna, one possesses only the uncontaminated portion of the first two dhyānas, and possesses the third and fourth dhyānas only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in Bṛhatphala, one possesses only the uncontaminated portion of the lower three dhyānas, and possesses the fourth dhyāna only through freedom from defilement; if reborn in the formless realm, one possesses only the uncontaminated portion of all four dhyānas. As for the four immeasurables, one possesses either none, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone reborn in the formless realm — this covers a noble one reborn in any of those four grounds, who possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna but not any of the four immeasurables, since these have been relinquished upon transcending that realm. "Three" refers to someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala — this covers a noble one reborn in either of those two grounds, who possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with three immeasurables, excluding the immeasurable of joy, since it has been relinquished upon transcending that ground. "Four" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara: if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all four immeasurables; if reborn in Ābhāsvara, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all four immeasurables. As for the four formless spheres, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has not yet been exhausted — this covers a worldling or a noble one whose craving for the desire realm has been exhausted but whose craving for the form realm has not yet been exhausted, and who therefore possesses the first dhyāna but none of the formless spheres. "One" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of infinite space, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with one formless sphere: if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna and first formless sphere; if reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of infinite space, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated first formless sphere — and, because one's craving for what lies above has not yet been exhausted, one does not possess the upper three formless spheres. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of infinite consciousness.

all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with two formless spheres: if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna and first two formless spheres; if reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of infinite space, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated first two formless spheres; if reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and first formless sphere, together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated second formless sphere — and, because one's craving for what lies above has not yet been exhausted, one does not possess the upper two formless spheres. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of nothing-at-all.

all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with three formless spheres: if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna and first three formless spheres; if reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of infinite space, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless spheres; if reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and first formless sphere, together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated second and third formless spheres; if reborn in the sphere of nothing-at-all, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and first two formless spheres, together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated third formless sphere — and, because one's craving for what lies above has not yet been exhausted, one does not possess the one remaining upper formless sphere. "Four" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all has been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with all four formless spheres: if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna and first three formless spheres, together with the contaminated fourth formless sphere alone; if reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of infinite space, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless spheres and the contaminated fourth formless sphere alone; if reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and first formless sphere, together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated second and third formless spheres and the contaminated fourth formless sphere alone; if reborn in the sphere of nothing-at-all, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and first two formless spheres, together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated third formless sphere and the contaminated fourth formless sphere alone; if reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception,

one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and first three formless spheres, together with the contaminated fourth formless sphere alone. As for the eight liberations, one possesses either none, one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, or eight of them. "None" refers to someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted — this covers a noble one reborn in Śubhakṛtsna who possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna but no liberation at all, since the first two liberations have been relinquished upon transcending that ground, while the remaining six liberations have not yet been attained, not having become free from Śubhakṛtsna's own defilement — and it is for this reason that this case is said to be "none." "One" refers to someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for that ground has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Bṛhatphala whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of infinite space whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted — this covers a noble one reborn in any of these grounds who possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with one liberation: here, if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna with craving for that ground exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the pure liberation and no other, since the first two have been relinquished upon transcending that ground and the remaining five have not yet been attained; if reborn in Bṛhatphala with craving for that ground not yet exhausted, one likewise possesses only the pure liberation, for the same reasons as explained above; if reborn in the sphere of infinite space with craving for that ground not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated liberation of the sphere of infinite space and no other, since the first three have been relinquished upon transcending that ground and the remaining four have not yet been attained. "Two" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world whose craving for Ābhāsvara and Śubhakṛtsna has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala whose craving for Bṛhatphala has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of infinite space whose craving for that ground has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of infinite consciousness, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with two liberations: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for Śubhakṛtsna not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first two liberations, and no other, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for Śubhakṛtsna not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala with craving for Bṛhatphala exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the third liberation, and both the contaminated and uncontaminated fourth liberation, and no other, since the first two have already been relinquished and the remaining four have not yet been attained; if reborn in the sphere of infinite space with craving for that ground exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated fourth and fifth liberations, and no other, since the first three have already been relinquished and the remaining three have not yet been attained; if reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness with craving for that ground not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the uncontaminated fourth liberation and both the contaminated and uncontaminated fifth liberation,

and no other, for the same reasons as explained above. "Three" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of infinite space or infinite consciousness whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of nothing-at-all whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world,

as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of nothing-at-all, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with three liberations: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for Śubhakṛtsna exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first three liberations, and no other, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for Śubhakṛtsna exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala with craving for the sphere of infinite space exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the third liberation, and both the contaminated and uncontaminated fourth and fifth liberations, and no other, since the first two have already been relinquished,

since the remaining three have not yet been attained. If reborn in the sphere of infinite space with craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless liberations, and no other, since the first three have already been relinquished and the remaining two have not yet been attained. If reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness with craving for that ground exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and fourth liberation together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated fifth and sixth liberations, and no other, for the reasons explained above. If reborn in the sphere of nothing-at-all with craving for that ground not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the fourth and fifth liberations, and both the contaminated and uncontaminated sixth liberation, and no other, for the reasons explained above. "Four" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara whose craving for Bṛhatphala has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of infinite space, infinite consciousness, or nothing-at-all whose craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all has been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception who has not attained the cessation-attainment — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara clear up through the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with four liberations: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for Bṛhatphala exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first three liberations, and both the contaminated and uncontaminated fourth liberation, and no other, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for Bṛhatphala exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala with craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the third liberation and both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless liberations, and no other, since the first two have already been relinquished and the remaining two have not yet been attained; if reborn in the sphere of infinite space with craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless liberations and the seventh liberation, and no other, since the first three have already been relinquished and the remaining one has not yet been attained; if reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness with craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna and fourth liberation together with both the contaminated and uncontaminated fifth and sixth liberations, and the seventh liberation, and no other, for the reasons explained above; if reborn in the sphere of nothing-at-all with craving for that ground exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the fourth and fifth liberations and both the contaminated and uncontaminated sixth liberation, and the seventh liberation, and no other, for the reasons explained above; if reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception without having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the first three formless liberations, and the seventh liberation, and no other, since the first three have already been relinquished and the remaining one has either not yet been attained or has already been relinquished. "Five" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala whose craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all has been exhausted but who has not attained the cessation-attainment, or someone reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception who has attained the cessation-attainment — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, Bṛhatphala, or the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with five liberations: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for the sphere of infinite space exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first three liberations and both the contaminated and uncontaminated fourth and fifth liberations, and no other, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for the sphere of infinite space exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala with craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all exhausted but without having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the third liberation and both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless liberations and the seventh liberation, and no other, since the first two have already been relinquished and the remaining one has not yet been attained; if reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the first three formless liberations, and the last two liberations, and no other, all others having already been relinquished. "Six" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala who has attained the cessation-attainment — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with six liberations: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world,

with craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first three liberations and both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless liberations, and no other, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or Bṛhatphala having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the third liberation, both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless liberations, and the last two liberations,

and no other, all others having already been relinquished. "Seven" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara whose craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all has been exhausted but who has not attained the cessation-attainment — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with seven liberations: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all exhausted but without having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna, the first three liberations, both the contaminated and uncontaminated first three formless liberations, and the seventh liberation,

and no other, the eighth not yet having been attained. If reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all exhausted but without having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above. "Eight" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara who has attained the cessation-attainment — this covers a noble one reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with all eight liberations: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all eight liberations; if reborn in Ābhāsvara having attained the cessation-attainment, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all eight liberations. As for the eight bases of vanquishing, one possesses either none, four, or eight of them. "None" refers to someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the formless realm — this covers a noble one reborn in Śubhakṛtsna or the formless realm, both of whom possess the uncontaminated first dhyāna but none of the eight bases of vanquishing: for one reborn in Śubhakṛtsna with craving for that ground not yet exhausted, the first four have already been relinquished and the remaining four have not yet been attained; for one reborn in the formless realm, all eight have already been relinquished. "Four" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for that ground has been exhausted, or someone reborn in Bṛhatphala — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with four bases of vanquishing: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for Śubhakṛtsna not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first four bases of vanquishing, and no other, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for Śubhakṛtsna not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above; if reborn in Śubhakṛtsna with craving for that ground exhausted, or reborn in Bṛhatphala, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the last four bases of vanquishing, and no other, all others having already been relinquished. "Eight" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Ābhāsvara whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted.

This covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with all eight bases of vanquishing: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for Śubhakṛtsna exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all eight bases of vanquishing; if reborn in Ābhāsvara with craving for Śubhakṛtsna exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all eight bases of vanquishing. As for the ten totality-bases, one possesses either none, one, two, eight, nine, or ten of them. "None" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, Ābhāsvara, or Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of nothing-at-all or of neither-perception-nor-non-perception — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara or Śubhakṛtsna, or in either of the last two formless spheres, all of whom possess the first dhyāna but none of the ten totality-bases: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for Śubhakṛtsna not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna but none of the ten totality-bases, these not yet having been attained.

If reborn in Ābhāsvara or Śubhakṛtsna with craving for Śubhakṛtsna not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna but none of the ten totality-bases, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in either of the last two formless spheres, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna but none of the ten totality-bases, all having already been relinquished. "One" refers to someone reborn in the sphere of infinite space whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness — this covers a noble one reborn in either of these two grounds, both of whom possess the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with one totality-base: here, if reborn in the sphere of infinite space with craving for that ground not yet exhausted, one possesses the single totality-base of infinite space, and no other, since the first eight have already been relinquished and the remaining one has not yet been attained; if reborn in the sphere of infinite consciousness, one possesses the single totality-base of infinite consciousness, and no other, all others having already been relinquished. "Two" refers to someone reborn in the sphere of infinite space whose craving for that ground has been exhausted — this covers a noble one reborn there who possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the last two totality-bases, and no other, all others having already been relinquished. "Eight" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, Ābhāsvara, or Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Bṛhatphala whose craving for that ground has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with the first eight totality-bases: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for Śubhakṛtsna exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first eight totality-bases, and no other, these not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara or Śubhakṛtsna,

with craving for Śubhakṛtsna exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, or if reborn in Bṛhatphala with craving for that ground not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above. "Nine" refers to someone reborn in the desire or form realm whose craving for the form realm has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with the first nine totality-bases: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for the form realm exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with the first nine totality-bases, and no other, the tenth not yet having been attained; if reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala with craving for the form realm exhausted but craving for what lies above not yet exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna, the rest as explained above. "Ten" refers to someone reborn in the desire or form realm whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted — this covers both a worldling and a noble one reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world, as well as a noble one reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala, all of whom possess the first dhyāna together with all ten totality-bases: here, if reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world with craving for the sphere of infinite space exhausted, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all ten totality-bases; if reborn in Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala with craving for the sphere of infinite space exhausted, one possesses the uncontaminated first dhyāna together with all ten totality-bases. As for the eight kinds of knowledge, one possesses either two, four, five, six, seven, or eight of them. "Two" refers to a worldling, or to someone at the stage of patient acceptance of suffering-in-the-Dharma.

Here, this covers a worldling, or one who has previously become free from the desire realm's own defilement, who, based on the stage of proximate access, possesses the contaminated first dhyāna at the stage of patient acceptance of suffering-in-the-Dharma; or, based on any of the five upper grounds, possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna at that same stage — in every one of these cases, one possesses two kinds of knowledge, namely, the knowledge of others' minds and mundane wisdom. "Four" refers to the stage of the dharma-knowledge of suffering and the patient acceptance of suffering-in-class — at this stage, if based on the stage of proximate access, one possesses the contaminated first dhyāna; if based on any of the five upper grounds, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna — and, in every case, one possesses four kinds of knowledge, namely, the knowledge of others' minds, mundane wisdom, the knowledge of suffering, and dharma-knowledge. "Five" refers to the stage of the class-knowledge of suffering and the patient acceptance of origin-in-the-Dharma — the contaminated or uncontaminated first dhyāna possessed at these two stages should be distinguished exactly as above, and, in every case, one possesses five kinds of knowledge, namely, the previous four together with class-knowledge. "Six" refers to the stages from the dharma-knowledge of origin clear through the patient acceptance of cessation-in-the-Dharma — the first dhyāna possessed at these stages is exactly as explained above, and, in every case, one possesses six kinds of knowledge, namely, the previous five together with the knowledge of origin. "Seven" refers to the stages from the dharma-knowledge of cessation clear through the patient acceptance of the path-in-the-Dharma — the first dhyāna possessed at these stages is exactly as explained above, and, in every case, one possesses seven kinds of knowledge, namely, the previous six together with the knowledge of cessation. "Eight" refers to the stage of the dharma-knowledge of the path and every stage beyond it — here, the first dhyāna possessed at the stage of the dharma-knowledge of the path and the patient acceptance of the path-in-class is likewise exactly as explained above; at the stage of the class-knowledge of the path, one necessarily possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna, and, among the stages above the class-knowledge of the path, whoever is reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world necessarily possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna, while whoever is reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara upward possesses only the uncontaminated first dhyāna — and, in every case, one possesses all eight kinds of knowledge, namely, the previous seven together with the knowledge of the path. As for the three concentrations, one possesses either none, two, or three of them. "None" refers to every worldling, who possesses the contaminated first dhyāna but not any concentration, these not having been attained. "Two" refers to every noble one at any stage prior to the arising of the patient acceptance of cessation-in-the-Dharma — if based on the stage of proximate access, one possesses only the contaminated first dhyāna; if based on any of the five upper grounds, one possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna — and, in every case, one possesses two concentrations, namely, emptiness and wishlessness. "Three" refers to every noble one from the arising of the patient acceptance of cessation-in-the-Dharma onward — here, the first dhyāna possessed from the patient acceptance of cessation-in-the-Dharma clear through the knowledge that is the patient acceptance of the path-in-class is exactly as explained above; at the stage of the class-knowledge of the path, one necessarily possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna, and, among the stages above the class-knowledge of the path, whoever is reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world necessarily possesses both the contaminated and uncontaminated first dhyāna, while whoever is reborn anywhere from Ābhāsvara upward possesses only the uncontaminated first dhyāna — and, in every case, one possesses all three concentrations. Just as with the possession-analysis for the first dhyāna, so too, correspondingly, for the possession-analysis clear through the fourth dhyāna — that is, just as the first dhyāna is paired against the four dhyānas, and so on clear through the three concentrations, in explaining its own possession, exactly the same holds for pairing the fourth dhyāna against the four dhyānas, and so on clear through the three concentrations, in explaining its possession, each according to what is appropriate — whether for a worldling or a noble one, whether attained through freedom from defilement or through birth, whether contaminated or uncontaminated, whether none, a portion, or the complete set, and so on — all of this should be worked out in full detail.

There are seven types of noble person: the faith-follower, the dharma-follower, the one liberated by conviction, the one who has arrived through insight, the body-witness, the one liberated by wisdom, and the one liberated in both respects. Question: how many of the flavor-associated, and the rest, four dhyānas and four formless spheres does the faith-follower, and the rest, possess, and how many does he not possess? Answer: the faith-follower possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of the flavor-associated four dhyānas. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has been exhausted, since, at the very moment of becoming free from that defilement, all of the flavor-associated dhyānas are severed at once.

"One" refers to someone whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses only the flavor-associated dhyāna belonging to the one ground above. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for Ābhāsvara has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses only the flavor-associated dhyāna belonging to the two grounds above. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses only the flavor-associated dhyāna belonging to the three grounds above. "Four" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the flavor-associated dhyāna belonging to all four grounds — since, whenever the defilement of a lower ground has not yet been exhausted, one necessarily still possesses the flavor-associated dhyāna of the ground above it, and whenever the defilement of a lower ground has already been exhausted, one necessarily no longer possesses the flavor-associated dhyāna of that lower ground itself. As for the pure four dhyānas, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the desire realm has not yet been exhausted, since none of the pure dhyānas have yet been attained at all. "One" refers to someone whose craving for the desire realm has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the pure dhyāna belonging to the one ground below. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses only the pure dhyāna belonging to the two grounds below. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for Ābhāsvara has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses only the pure dhyāna belonging to the two grounds below.

"Four" refers to someone whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted, who possesses the pure dhyāna belonging to all four grounds in full — since, whenever the defilement of a lower ground has not yet been exhausted, one necessarily does not yet possess the pure dhyāna of the ground above, whereas whenever the defilement of an upper ground has already been exhausted while one's body still abides below, one necessarily possesses the pure dhyāna of that lower ground. This is stated on the assumption that the faith-follower is necessarily located in the desire realm. As for the uncontaminated four dhyānas, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone who, based on the stage of proximate access, enters correctly determined liberation from birth — here, either because one has not yet become free from the desire realm's own defilement, or because, although free from it, one is nevertheless incapable of cultivating the uncontaminated, one possesses none at all. "One" refers to someone who, based on the first dhyāna or the meditative interval, enters correctly determined liberation from birth, who possesses the uncontaminated dhyāna belonging to the one ground below, and no other, either not yet having attained it or being incapable of cultivating it. "Two" refers to someone who, based on the second dhyāna, enters correctly determined liberation from birth, who possesses the uncontaminated dhyāna belonging to the two grounds below, and no other, for the reasons explained above. "Three" refers to someone who, based on the third dhyāna, enters correctly determined liberation from birth, who possesses the uncontaminated dhyāna belonging to the three grounds below, and no other, for the reasons explained above. "Four" refers to someone who, based on the fourth dhyāna, enters correctly determined liberation from birth, who possesses the uncontaminated dhyāna belonging to all four grounds in full, all of these having already been attained and being capable of cultivation. The path of seeing, based on a lower ground, can never cultivate an upper one, since it is the very first attainment of the path; the uncontaminated, based on an upper ground, necessarily can cultivate a lower ground as well, since it moves freely and is unbound by any fixed ground.

As for the flavor-associated four formless spheres, one possesses either one, two, three, or four of them. "One" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the flavor-associated attainment of the one sphere above, since he has necessarily not yet become free from the defilement of the peak of existence. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the flavor-associated attainment of the two spheres above. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the flavor-associated attainment of the three spheres above. "Four" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the flavor-associated attainment of all four spheres in full, for the reasons explained above. As for the pure four formless spheres, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has not yet been exhausted, since none of the pure formless attainments have yet been attained at all. "One" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the pure attainment of the one sphere below. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the pure attainment of the two spheres below. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, who possesses the pure attainment of the three spheres below. "Four" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of nothing-at-all has been exhausted, who possesses the pure attainment of all four spheres in full, for the reasons explained above. As for the uncontaminated three formless spheres, one possesses none of them at all, since there is no path of seeing there — and the same holds for both the faith-follower and the dharma-follower, since these two types of noble person are entirely undifferentiated in path, ground, concentration, freedom from defilement, and basis, differing only in faculty. As for the flavor-associated four dhyānas possessed by the one liberated by conviction, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has been exhausted. "One" refers to someone whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for Ābhāsvara has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Four" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has not yet been exhausted — the possession in each case, and the reasons for it, are all exactly as explained above. As for the pure four dhyānas, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the desire realm has not yet been exhausted — if reborn in the formless realm with craving for the desire realm not yet exhausted, none have yet been attained at all; and one reborn in the formless realm has, in any case, already relinquished all of them. "One" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm whose craving for the desire realm has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in the Brahmā world, Ābhāsvara, Śubhakṛtsna, or Bṛhatphala whose craving for that same ground has not yet been exhausted. "Two" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world whose craving for the Brahmā world has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Ābhāsvara whose craving for that ground has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for that ground has been exhausted. "Three" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm or the Brahmā world whose craving for Ābhāsvara has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted, or someone reborn in Ābhāsvara or Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted. "Four" refers to someone reborn in the desire realm, the Brahmā world, or Śubhakṛtsna whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted. Here, the one liberated by conviction can, in principle, be reborn in any ground whatsoever — and since a contaminated wholesome dharma, once one is reborn in an upper ground, is necessarily relinquished with respect to any lower ground, it can be described in just the way explained above. As for the uncontaminated four dhyānas, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the desire realm has not yet been exhausted. "One" refers to someone whose craving for the desire realm has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for Ābhāsvara has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Four" refers to someone whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted. This is stated with reference to one who attains the fruit and becomes free from defilement by successive stages, or with reference to one who enters correctly determined liberation from birth based on whatever excellent dhyāna he has happened to attain — for, were it not so qualified, this passage's own statement would be incorrect, since there are cases of someone whose craving for the Brahmā world has been exhausted who nevertheless does not possess two, someone whose craving for Ābhāsvara has been exhausted who nevertheless does not possess three, and someone whose craving for Śubhakṛtsna has been exhausted who nevertheless does not possess four.

What sort of case is this? It refers to someone who has become free from the defilement of the Brahmā world clear through Śubhakṛtsna, and who, basing himself on the first dhyāna clear through the third dhyāna, enters correctly determined liberation from birth — such a person, by the time of reaching the class-knowledge of the path, still does not possess the uncontaminated second dhyāna clear through the fourth. Alternatively, this passage's statement that one possesses them at the time of the class-knowledge of the path, even though one does not yet possess the second clear through the fourth at that very moment, is made because one is certain to possess them not long afterward, and so this moment, too, is spoken of as "possessing" them.

That is, not long after the class-knowledge of the path, one is certain to give rise to the path of the excellent fruit, at which point one cultivates them at once. As for the flavor-associated four formless spheres, one possesses either one, two, three, or four of them — and so on at length. As for the pure four formless spheres, one possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them — and so on at length; the full explanation here should be understood just as in the discussion of the dhyānas above. As for the uncontaminated three formless spheres, one possesses either none, one, two, or three of them. "None" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has not yet been exhausted.

"One" refers to someone whose craving for the form realm has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Two" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted but whose craving for what lies above it has not yet been exhausted. "Three" refers to someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted. This, too, is stated with reference to one who attains the fruit and becomes free from defilement by successive stages — for, were it not so qualified, this passage's own statement would be incorrect, since there are cases of someone whose craving for the form realm has been exhausted who nevertheless does not possess one, someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite space has been exhausted who nevertheless does not possess two, and someone whose craving for the sphere of infinite consciousness has been exhausted who nevertheless does not possess three. What sort of case is this? It refers to someone who has become free from the defilement of the form realm clear through the sphere of infinite consciousness, and who enters correctly determined liberation from birth — such a person, by the time of reaching the class-knowledge of the path, still does not possess the uncontaminated formless attainment; or, since he is certain, not long afterward, to give rise to the path of the excellent fruit and thereby come to possess it, this moment, too, is spoken of as "possessing" it. The same holds for the one liberated by conviction and the one who has arrived through insight, since these two types of noble person,

too, are entirely undifferentiated in path, ground, concentration, freedom from defilement, and basis, differing only in faculty. As for the body-witness: he possesses none of the flavor-associated four dhyānas; as for the pure four dhyānas, he possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them — and so on at length; he possesses all of the uncontaminated four dhyānas; as for the flavor-associated four formless spheres, he possesses one and does not possess the other three; as for the pure four formless spheres, he possesses either one or four — "one" referring to someone reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, and "four" referring to someone reborn in the desire or form realm; he possesses all of the uncontaminated three formless spheres. As for the one liberated by wisdom: he possesses none of the flavor-associated four dhyānas; as for the pure four dhyānas, he possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them — and so on at length; he possesses all of the uncontaminated four dhyānas; he possesses none of the flavor-associated four formless spheres.

As for the pure four formless spheres, he possesses either one, two, three, or four of them — and so on at length; he possesses all of the uncontaminated three formless spheres. As for the one liberated in both respects: he possesses none of the flavor-associated four dhyānas; as for the pure four dhyānas, he possesses either none, one, two, three, or four of them — and so on at length; he possesses all of the uncontaminated four dhyānas; he possesses none of the flavor-associated four formless spheres; as for the pure four formless spheres, he possesses either one or four — "one" referring to someone reborn in the sphere of neither-perception-nor-non-perception, and "four" referring to someone reborn in the desire or form realm; he possesses all of the uncontaminated three formless spheres. The full explanation here should be understood just as above.