Buddhist paths to liberation

Theravada tradition - Path of purification

The classical outline of the Theravada path to liberation are the Seven Purifications, as described by Buddhaghosa in the Visuddhimagga. These purifications are:

1. Purification of Conduct (sīla-visuddhi)
2. Purification of Mind (citta-visuddhi)
3. Purification of View (ditthi-visuddhi)
4. Purification by Overcoming Doubt (kankha-vitarana-visuddhi)
5. Purification by Knowledge and Vision of What Is Path and Not Path (maggamagga-ñanadassana-visuddhi)
6. Purification by Knowledge and Vision of the Course of Practice (patipada-ñanadassana-visuddhi)
   1. Knowledge of contemplation of rise and fall (udayabbayanupassana-nana)
   2. Knowledge of contemplation of dissolution (bhanganupassana-nana)
   3. Knowledge of appearance as terror (bhayatupatthana-nana)
   4. Knowledge of contemplation of danger (adinavanupassana-nana)
   5. Knowledge of contemplation of dispassion (nibbidanupassana-nana)
   6. Knowledge of desire for deliverance (muncitukamyata-nana)
   7. Knowledge of contemplation of reflection (patisankhanupassana-nana)
   8. Knowledge of equanimity about formations (sankharupekka-nana)
   9. Conformity knowledge (anuloma-nana)
7. Purification by Knowledge and Vision (ñanadassana-visuddhi)
   1. Change of lineage
   2. The first path and fruit
   3. The second path and fruit
   4. The third path and fruit
   5. The fourth path and fruit

The "Purification by Knowledge and Vision" is the culmination of the practice, in four stages leading to liberation.

The emphasis in this system is on understanding the three marks of existence, dukkha, anatta, anicca. This emphasis is recognizable in the value that is given to vipassana over samatha, especially in the contemporary vipassana movement.

Sarvastivada tradition

The Sarvāstivāda Vaibhāṣika school developed an influential outline of the path to awakening, one which was later adapted and modified by the scholars of the Mahayana tradition. This was called the "five paths" (pañcamārga), and can be seen in their Abhidharma texts as well as Vasubadhu's Abhidharmakośa (AKBh).

The five paths are:

1. Mokṣa-bhāgīya (The state leading up to release) or Saṃbhāra-mārga (path of accumulation). According to Vasubandhu, this entails morality, learning the teaching and the practice of the four foundations of mindfulness.
2. Nirveda-bhāgīya (The state leading up to penetration) or Prayoga-mārga (The path of preparation). Vasubandhu's AKBh says that here one observes the four noble truths in terms of its sixteen aspects.
3. Darśana-mārga (The path of seeing or insight). According to the AKBh, in this path one continues to observe the four noble truths until one realizes it and abandons eighty eight afflictions (kleshas).
4. Bhāvanā-mārga, (The path of cultivation). According to the AKBh, in this stage, one continues to practice and abandons 10 further kleshas.
5. Aśaikṣā-mārga (The path of no more learning or consummation). One is fully freed of all obstructions and afflictions and are thus perfected or fulfilled (niṣṭhā).

Bodhisattva path

Mahāyāna Buddhism is based principally upon the path of a bodhisattva. Mahāyāna Buddhism encourages everyone to become bodhisattvas and to take the bodhisattva vows. With these vows, one makes the promise to work for the complete enlightenment of all sentient beings by following the bodhisattva path. The path can be described in terms of the six perfections or in terms of the five paths and ten bhumis.

Six paramitas

The six paramitas are the means by which Mahayana practitioners actualize their aspiration to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all. In Mahāyāna Buddhism, the Prajñapāramitā Sūtras, the Lotus Sutra (Skt., Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra), and a large number of other texts, list the six perfections as follows:

1. Dāna pāramitā: generosity, the attitude of giving
2. Śīla pāramitā : virtue, morality, discipline, proper conduct
3. Kṣānti (kshanti) pāramitā : patience, tolerance, forbearance, acceptance, endurance
4. Vīrya pāramitā : energy, diligence, vigor, effort
5. Dhyāna pāramitā : one-pointed concentration, contemplation
6. Prajñā pāramitā : wisdom, insight

Five paths and ten bhumis

Five paths

The Mahayana commentary the Abhisamayalamkara presents a progressive formula of five paths (pañcamārga, Wylie Tibetan lam lnga) adopted from the Sarvastivada tradition's Abhidharma exposition. The Five Paths as taught in the Mahayana are:

1. The path of accumulation (saṃbhāra-mārga, Wylie Tibetan: tshogs lam). Persons on this Path:
   1. Possess a strong desire to overcome suffering, either their own or others;
   2. Renunciate the worldly life.
2. The path of preparation or application (prayoga-mārga, Wylie Tibetan: sbyor lam). Persons on this Path:
   1. Start practicing meditation;
   2. Have analytical knowledge of emptiness.
3. The path of seeing (darśana-mārga, Wylie Tibetan: mthong lam) (Bhūmi 1). Persons on this Path:
   1. Practice profound concentration meditation on the nature of reality;
   2. Realize the emptiness of reality.
   3. Corresponds to "stream-entry" and the first Bodhisattva Bhumi.
4. The path of meditation (bhāvanā-mārga, Wylie Tibetan: sgom lam) (Bhūmi 2–7). Persons on this path purify themselves and accumulate wisdom.
5. The path of no more learning or consummation (aśaikṣā-mārga, Wylie Tibetan: mi slob pa'I lam or thar phyin pa'i lam) (Bhūmi 8–10). Persons on this Path have completely purified themselves.

Ten Bhumis

The "bodhisattva bhūmis" ("enlightenment-being grounds/levels") are subcategories of the Five Paths. The Sanskrit term bhūmi literally means "ground" or "foundation", since each stage represents a level of attainment and serves as a basis for the next one. Each level marks a definite advancement in one's training that is accompanied by progressively greater power and wisdom. The Avatamsaka Sutra refers to the following ten bhūmis:

1. The Very Joyous (Skt. Paramudita), in which one rejoices at realizing a partial aspect of the truth;
2. The Stainless (Skt. Vimala), in which one is free from all defilement;
3. The Luminous (Skt. Prabhakari), in which one radiates the light of wisdom;
4. The Radiant (Skt. Archishmati), in which the radiant flame of wisdom burns away earthly desires;
5. The Difficult to Cultivate (Skt. Sudurjaya), in which one surmounts the illusions of darkness, or ignorance as the Middle Way;
6. The Manifest (Skt. Abhimukhi) in which supreme wisdom begins to manifest;
7. The Gone Afar (Skt. Duramgama), in which one rises above the states of the Two vehicles;
8. The Immovable (Skt. Achala), in which one dwells firmly in the truth of the Middle Way and cannot be perturbed by anything;
9. The Good Intelligence (Skt. Sadhumati), in which one preaches the Law freely and without restriction;
10. The Cloud of Doctrine (Skt. Dharmamegha), in which one benefits all sentient beings with the Law (Dharma), just as a cloud sends down rain impartially on all things.

Tibetan Buddhism

Lam Rim

Lam Rim describes the stages of the path. Tsong Khapa mentions three essential elements:

• The aspiration for awakening
• Bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain this for all living beings
• Insight into emptiness

Annuttara-yoga tantras

In the highest class of tantra, two stages of practice are distinguished, namely generation and completion. In some Buddhist tantras, both stages can be practiced simultaneously, whereas in others, one first actualizes the generation stage before continuing with the completion stage practices.

Generation stage

In the first stage of generation, one engages in deity yoga. One practices oneself in the identification with the meditational Buddha or deity (yidam) by visualisations, until one can meditate single-pointedly on being the deity.

Four purities

In the generation stage of Deity Yoga, the practitioner visualizes the "Four Purities" (Tibetan: yongs su dag pa bzhi; yongs dag bzhi) which define the principal Tantric methodology of Deity Yoga that distinguishes it from the rest of Buddhism:

1. Seeing one's body as the body of the deity
2. Seeing one's environment as the pure land or mandala of the deity
3. Perceiving one's enjoyments as bliss of the deity, free from attachment
4. Performing one's actions only for the benefit of others (bodhichitta motivation, altruism)

Completion stage

In the next stage of completion, the practitioner can use either the path of method (thabs lam) or the path of liberation ('grol lam).

At the path of method the practitioner engages in Kundalini yoga practices. These involve the subtle energy system of the body of the chakras and the energy channels. The "wind energy" is directed and dissolved into the heart chakra, where-after the Mahamudra remains, and the practitioner is physically and mentally transformed.

At the path of liberation the practitioner applies mindfulness, a preparatory practice for Mahamudra or Dzogchen, to realize the inherent emptiness of every-'thing' that exists.

Four yogas of mahāmudrā

Mahāmudrā' literally means "great seal" or "great symbol". The name refers to the way one who has realized mahāmudrā. "Mudra" refers to the fact that each phenomenon appears vividly, and "maha" refers to the fact that it is beyond concept, imagination, and projection.

Mahāmudrā is sometimes divided into four distinct phases known as the four yogas of mahāmudrā. They are as follows:

1. One-pointedness;
2. Simplicity, "free from complexity" or "not elaborate";
3. One taste;
4. Non-meditation, the state of not holding to either an object of meditation nor to a meditator. Nothing further needs to be 'meditated upon' or 'cultivated at this stage.

These stages parallel the four yogas of dzogchen semde. The four yogas of Mahāmudrā have also been correlated with the Mahāyāna five Bhumi paths.

Zen

Although the Rinzai Zen-tradition emphasises sudden awakening over the study of scripture, in practice several stages can be distinguished. A well-known example are the Ten Ox-Herding Pictures which detail the steps on the Path.

Two Entrances and Four Practices

The Long Scroll of the Treatise on the Two Entrances and Four Practices, attributed to Bodhidharma, refers the entrance of principle (理入 lǐrù) and the entrance of practice (行入 xíngrù).

• "Entrance of principle" refers to seeing through the obscurations of our daily mind and manifesting our true nature, that is, Buddha nature; it is referred to in one short passage:

To enter by principle means to realize the essence through instruction and to believe that all living things share the same true nature, which isn't apparent because it's shrouded by sensation and delusion. Those who turn from delusion back to reality, who "meditate on walls," the absence of self and other, the oneness of mortal and sage, and who remain unmoved even by scriptures, are in complete and unspoken agreement with principle. Without moving, without effort, they enter, we say, by principle.

• "Entrance of practice" deals with practicing a "detached perspective on the varying circumstances of one's own life," through different daily practices. In the section on the latter, the four practices are listed as being at the core of Bodhidharma's teaching. These are:
  • Practice of the retribution of enmity: to accept all suffering as the fruition of past transgressions, without enmity or complaint.
  • Practice of the acceptance of circumstances: to remain unmoved even by good fortune, recognizing it as evanescent.
  • Practice of the absence of craving: to be without craving, which is the source of all suffering.
  • Practice of accordance with the Dharma: to eradicate wrong thoughts and practice the six perfections, without having any "practice"

According to John R. McRae, "the "entrance of principle" refers to interior cultivation, mental practice undertaken deep within the individual's psyche, and the "entrance of practice" refers to practice undertaken actively and in interaction with the world." Yet, McRae also notes that it's not clear what exactly the "entrance of principle" entailed. The phrase "wall contemplation," biguan, is not explicated. Later tradition graphically depicted it as practicing dhyana while facing a wall, but it may be a metaphor, referring to the four walls of a room which prevent the winds from entering the room.

Sudden and gradual

In the 8th century the distinction became part of a struggle for influence at the Chinese court by Shenhui, a student of Huineng. Hereafter "sudden enlightenment" became one of the hallmarks of Chan Buddhism, though the sharp distinction was softened by subsequent generations of practitioners. Once the dichotomy between sudden and gradual was in place, it defined its own logic and rhetorics, which are also recognizable in the distinction between Caodong (Soto) and Lin-ji (Rinzai) chán. But it also led to a "sometimes bitter and always prolix sectarian controversy between later Chán and Hua-yen exegetes".

In the Huayan classification of teachings, the sudden approach was regarded inferior to the Perfect Teaching of Hua-yen. Guifeng Zongmi, fifth patriarch of Hua-yen ànd Chán-master, devised his own classification to counter this subordination. Guifeng Zongmi also softened the edge between sudden and gradual. In his analysis, sudden awakening points to seeing into one's true nature, but is to be followed by a gradual cultivation to attain Buddhahood. Chinul, a 12th-century Korean Seon master, followed Zongmi, and also emphasized that insight into our true nature is sudden, but is to be followed by practice to ripen the insight and attain full Buddhahood. To establish the superiority of the Chán-teachings, Chinul explained the sudden approach as not pointing to mere emptiness, but to suchness or the dharmadhatu.

This is also the standpoint of the contemporary Sanbo Kyodan, according to whom kensho is at the start of the path to full enlightenment. This gradual cultivation is described by Chan Master Sheng Yen as follows:

Ch'an expressions refer to enlightenment as "seeing your self-nature". But even this is not enough. After seeing your self-nature, you need to deepen your experience even further and bring it into maturation. You should have enlightenment experience again and again and support them with continuous practice. Even though Ch'an says that at the time of enlightenment, your outlook is the same as of the Buddha, you are not yet a full Buddha.

Rinzai-Zen

In Rinzai, insight into true nature is to be followed by gradual cultivation. This is described in teachings such as the Three Mysterious Gates of Linji, and the Four Ways of Knowing of Hakuin.

Sōtō-Zen

Although Sōtō emphasizes shikan-taza, just-sitting, this tradition too had description of development within the practice. This is described by Tozan, who described the Five ranks of enlightenment.