The Three Non-Retrogressions: Station, Practice, and Thought

If we speak of this world, in the Tripitaka [teaching] it is the First Fruit; in the Common [teaching] it is the Ground of Seeing; in the Separate [teaching] it is the Initial Abiding; in the Perfect [teaching] it is the Initial Faith. This is called the non-retrogression of position. In the Common [teaching] it is the bodhisattva stage; in the Separate [teaching] it is the Ten Practices; in the Perfect [teaching] it is the Ten Faiths. This is called the non-retrogression of practice. In the Separate [teaching] it is the Initial Ground; in the Perfect [teaching] it is the Initial Abiding. This is called the non-retrogression of thought.

Good, let us look at this.

This is a point-by-point indication of the process of severing afflictions and realizing the truth according to the general doctrinal framework of this world, and at the same time it shows how difficult attaining the Way is in our Saha world. "If we speak of" means if we consider the stages of attainment in our Saha world, what level does the non-retrogression of position correspond to? It is the First Fruit of the Tripitaka teaching—Sotapanna, "one who has entered the stream"—who has cut off the afflictions of views. The Ground of Seeing in the Common teaching is the fourth ground of that teaching; one who has beheld the noumenal principle of the true meaning is called the Ground of Seeing.

The Initial Abiding in the Separate teaching—the special bodhisattva teaching—refers to the Abiding of Initial Mind-Arousing, the first arising of bodhicitta, that is, the Abiding of Arousing the Mind among the Ten Abidings. As for the Initial Faith among the Ten Faiths of the Perfect teaching, such a stage is called the non-retrogression of position. Non-retrogression of position means one has entered the stream of sages and will not fall back into the state of ordinary beings.

As for the non-retrogression of practice, it pertains to the Mahayana bodhisattva path. The Tripitaka teaching no longer applies here; it is set aside, because those in the Tripitaka teaching do not arouse the Mahayana bodhicitta.

Beginning from the Mahayana Common teaching, the non-retrogression of practice corresponds to the bodhisattva of the Common teaching.

The Common-teaching bodhisattva is at the ninth bodhisattva ground; in the Separate teaching it is the Ten Dedications stage; in the Perfect teaching it is the Ten Faiths stage. This is called the non-retrogression of practice.

Non-retrogression of practice means one has cut off the afflictions of views and of thoughts, and goes further to cut off the afflictions like dust and sand, cultivating the Mahayana bodhisattva path without retrogressing.

As for the non-retrogression of thought, attaining it requires shattering ignorance. Shattering ignorance is something in which the Tripitaka teaching has no share, and the Common teaching is likewise set aside. Therefore it is the Initial Ground of the Separate teaching and the Initial Abiding of the Perfect teaching.

The Initial Ground of Joy in the Separate teaching and the Initial Abiding of Arousing the Mind in the Perfect teaching—those who shatter one gradation of ignorance and realize the Dharma body are able to enter the sea of sarvajña (all-knowing wisdom) with every single thought.

Viewed from this doctrinal path, one can see how extremely difficult it is to attain the latter two—non-retrogression of practice and non-retrogression of thought.

Now, in the Pure Land, even those who have committed the five heinous crimes and ten evils, who accomplish [birth] through ten recitations, who are born with karmic residue and take their place in the lowest of the low grade, all obtain the three non-retrogressions.

The foregoing discussion of the difficulty of attaining the three non-retrogressions in this world, in the first place, brings out the supreme excellence of the Dharma Door of Amitabha-recitation.

In the method of birth in the Pure Land just mentioned, the phrase "five heinous crimes and ten evils" is based on the chapter on birth in the lowest grade in the Contemplation Sutra.

Those who commit the five heinous crimes and ten evils and are about to descend into the hell realms, upon hearing a virtuous teacher expound the Dharma Door of Amitabha-recitation and the awe-inspiring power of Amitabha Buddha, arouse a profound sense of shame and remorse and recite the Buddha's name. They recite ten times, or even just once, and thereby accomplish the matter of birth in [the Pure Land]. This is what is meant by being born with karmic residue and taking one's place in the lowest of the low grade.

Now, those who take their place in the lowest of the low grade—beings burdened with grave offenses who would otherwise descend into hell—upon arriving in the Western Land of Ultimate Bliss, are likewise able to obtain the three non-retrogressions and perfectly realize all three. If it were merely the non-retrogression of position and the non-retrogression of practice, this might still be comprehensible. But how could they perfectly realize the non-retrogression of thought? The non-retrogression of thought is the level of a great being of the Dharma body—one who perfectly beholds the Dharma body, perfectly [dwells in] the Land of Eternal Stillness and Light, perfectly severs the fundamental ignorance, perfectly cultivates the thirty-seven factors of enlightenment of the Perfect teaching, and perfectly realizes the wisdom of all modes (sarvajña).

You see, this is truly inconceivable. The degree to which afflictions are severed here represents a supremely perfect and sudden transcendence. And it is precisely those who have committed the five heinous crimes and ten evils who are able to obtain the three non-retrogressions.