102 CHAPTER FIVEteaching. The second is conforming assent, attained in the sixth bodhisattva-
stage and consisting of an intense but not definitive conviction. The third is
ultimate acceptance that dharmas are non-arising. This full acceptance, the
later texts allege, is to be attained with the eighth stage.
The early theory of stages seems to have recognized only seven bod-
hisattva-stages, with acceptance that the dharmas are non-arising coming in
the seventh. The number of stages was increased from 7 to 10 about 200 C. E.
Variant lists of stations and stages circulated for a while, but eventually became
standardized as follows (Strong EB, sec. 4.4.4):
(a) The stage of the "lineage," where the beginner strives to acquire a stock of
merit and knowledge. This extends from the first thought of Awakening
until the "experience of heat;' the first signpost of success in meditation.
(b) The stage of"practicing with conviction." Here the bodhisattva culti-
vates four "factors of penetration;' namely, "meditative heat," "climax,"
"patience;' and "the highest mundane Dharma." These meditative experi-
ences overcome and expel the antithesis between subject and object, lead-
ing to nondiscriminative knowledge. Stages (a) and (b) are preparatory to
the actual bodhisattva-stages.
(c) The 10 bodhisattva-stages, namely: (1) the joyful, (2) the stainless, (3) the
illuminating, (4) the flaming, (5) the very-hard-to-conquer, (6) the face-
to-face, (7) the far-going, (8) the immovable, (9) the good-insight, and
(10) the Dharma-cloud. Each stage is practiced in concert with a perfec-
tion, with four perfections being added to the early list of six: (7) skill in
means, (8) determination, (9) power, and (10) knowledge. The first bod-
hisattva-stage is the Path of yision, following immediately after "the high-
est mundane Dharma." Stages 2 to 10 form the Path of meditative
cultivation, in which nondual awareness is perfected.
(d) The Buddha-stage follows the diamondlike samadhi (concentration),
which is the last event on the Path of cultivation. This samadhi plays an
important role in Mahayana Abhidharma also, where it is realized by bod-
hisattvas as they sit on the Diamond Throne of Awakening. In it they ful-
fill the perfections of dhyana and prajfi.a in the moment just before
attaining bodhi, destroying all the residues of defilement. Mahayana doc-
trine maintains that the ultimate Path consists in awareness that the causes
of suffering have been destroyed and will never arise again. In this sense,
the bodhisattva's final realization is identical with the arhant's.There were some differences of opinion concerning the duration of the
bodhisattva career, but the prevalent view was that it takes three immeasurable
aeons: one to or through the first bodhisattva-stage, one from there through
the seventh stage, and one for stages eight to ten. Some later Mahayanists ob-
jected to this elaborate schematization, for a variety of reasons. The corre-
spondence between the stages and perfections conflicts with the earlier
teaching that the six perfections are mutually dependent. The spiritual states
described are very similar to those in Hinayana descriptions of the arhants'