Features of the Vajropama-samādhi in the Sarvāstivāda School

作者： 惟善 点击数： 更新时间：2025-08-02 23:35:23

The jingang yuding 金剛喻定 is a particular kind of samādhi. Its hardness and strength is comparable to that of a diamond, which can break/cut through everything, but cannot be broken/cut through by anything. The Sanskrit for jingang yuding (also called jingang ding 金剛定, jingang sanmei 金剛三昧, and jingang xin 金剛心) is vajropama-samādhi; practitioners cultivate/induce it on arrival at the final stage as it is a samādhi that removes the most subtle defilements; its understanding employs hardness and sharpness, just like a diamond. According to Sarvāstivādin belief, the vajropama-samādhi’s special function is that of enabling the removal of all defilements along with their subtle traces (vāsanā) before a practitioner obtains arhatship. Ven. Professor Dhammajoti points out that the Sarvāstivādins in fact assert that the Buddha’s perfect wisdom — in contrast to that of an arhat — consists in the complete and absolute eradication of all defilements along with their subtle traces (vāsanā), and this happens only when the practitioner finally attains the vajropama samādhi, whose strength (concentration) is comparable to that of a diamond that cuts through everything but cannot be cut by anything.1 The vajropama-samādhi as one of the four cultivations of samādhi is described concisely in both the Abhidharmakośabhaṣya (AKB) and the *Abhidharma-nyāyānusāra (Ny). However, the*Abhidharma-mahā vibhāṣā-śāstra (MVŚ)’s exceptionally rich elaboration of this topic diverges significantly from these texts in terms of ideas and perspectives. What is the vajropama-samādhi? The MVŚ explains: [It is because through this samādhi] all defilements can be abandoned (斷), destroyed (破), pierced (穿), and shattered (碎). It   is like a diamond by which –– be it a piece of iron, a tooth, a shell,   a gem or a stone –– anything can be abandoned, destroyed, pierced   or shattered. Therefore, this samādhi is called diamond-like   (vajropama). If the sentient beings who are bound [with defilements] could produce this samādhi, then at that moment all   the defilements pertaining to the three dhātus would be suddenly   abandoned; how do we know this? It is because when the vajro- pama-samādhi manifests, the defilements of darśana-heya (abandonable by vision) and bhāvanā-heya (abandonable by   cultivation)2 pertaining to the three dhātus are suddenly abandoned. (T27, 142.2–3)

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