Commentary on the Abhidharmakośa, Volume XXIII (Hearing Wisdom and Contemplative Wisdom)
Commentary on the Abhidharmakośa, Volume Twenty-Three (The Wisdom of Learning and the Wisdom of Reflection)
Written by Fabao of the Tang Dynasty
The wisdom acquired through learning and the wisdom acquired through reflection are the wisdoms that arise before the four preparatory practices—the four roots of goodness of heat, summit, patience, and the supreme worldly dharma. These two wisdoms are not firm; upon encountering adverse conditions they will regress. When cultivation reaches the wisdom acquired through cultivation that comes after the wisdom acquired through reflection, the wisdom of contemplative practice will no longer regress. Among the four roots of goodness, only when the root of goodness of patience appears do the roots of goodness no longer regress, and the wisdom of contemplative practice also no longer regresses. Only after the four preparatory practices have been completed will realization-wisdom appear—the wisdom born of realizing the Four Noble Truths, also called direct perception wisdom, dharma knowledge, analogous knowledge, and so forth.
Original text: 杂缘法念住总有四种。二三四五蕴为境别故。唯总缘五名此所修。彼居此中修四行相。总观一切身受心法。所谓非常苦空非我。然于修习此念住时。有余善根能为方便。彼应次第修令现前。谓彼已熟修。杂缘法念住。
Explanation: When cultivating the mindfulness of dharmas among the four establishments of mindfulness, one must also intersperse contemplation of the establishment of mindfulness of the body, of feeling, and of mind; one not only takes the mindfulness of dharmas as object, but also intersperses taking the other three establishments of mindfulness as objects. Because the four objects—feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—corresponding to the cultivation of the mindfulness of dharmas are each distinct, one must take the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as a whole as object in cultivating the mindfulness of dharmas. With the mind taking the mindfulness of dharmas as object, the practitioner must cultivate four characteristics: suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self, contemplating from an overall perspective the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of body, feeling, mind, and dharmas. Moreover, when cultivating this mindfulness of dharmas, there are other roots of goodness such as heat, summit, patience, and the supreme worldly dharma that can serve as expedients to verify the results of cultivation; the practitioner should cultivate them in sequence, causing the four roots of goodness to appear one by one. When these four roots of goodness appear, it shows that the practitioner has already cultivated the mixed-object mindfulness of dharmas very proficiently.
Original text: 将欲修习。此念住时。先应总缘。修无我行。次观生灭。次观缘起。以观行者。先观诸行。从因生灭。便于因果。相属观门。易趣入故。或有欲令。先观缘起。此后引起。缘三义观。此观无间。修七处善。
Explanation: When the practitioner is about to cultivate this mindfulness of dharmas, he should first, from an overall perspective, take the five aggregates as object and contemplate the characteristic of non-self; next observe the arising and ceasing of the five aggregates—this is contemplating the characteristic of impermanence of the five aggregates; next contemplate the dependent origination of the five aggregates—this is contemplating the characteristic of emptiness of the five aggregates. Because the contemplative practitioner first contemplates the formations of body, feeling, mind, and dharmas as arising and ceasing in accordance with causes and conditions, it is thus expedient to contemplate non-self and impermanence from the perspective of the interrelation of cause and effect, and it is easy to enter the principle of the Four Noble Truths. Some people wish to first observe the dependent origination of the five aggregates, and afterwards elicit the contemplation taking the three dharma-meanings of aggregates, sense bases, and elements as object. This method of contemplation is the uninterrupted cultivation of the seven bases of goodness, namely, separately observing the suffering, origin, cessation, path, flavor, disadvantage, and escape of the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness.
Original text: 于七处善。得善巧故。能于先来。诸所见境。立因果谛。次第观察。如是熟修。智及定已。便能安立。顺现观谛。谓欲上界。苦等各别。于如是八。随次第观。修未曾修。十六行相。彼由闻慧。于八谛中。初起如斯。十六行观。如隔薄绢。睹见众色。齐此名为。闻慧圆满。
Explanation: Because skillfulness was attained in cultivating the seven bases of goodness, one can, regarding all objects previously contemplated, establish the truth of cause and effect, that is, clearly understand the suffering, origin, cessation, and path of the five aggregates, and sequentially observe the seven bases of goodness of the five aggregates. After cultivating the wisdom of contemplative practice and meditative concentration proficiently in this way, one can establish the wisdom of the truths conforming to direct realization. Conformity to the truths of direct realization means wisdom conforming to the respective Noble Truths of suffering, origin, cessation, and path of the desire realm and the form and formless realms; although at this time there is not yet direct-perception contemplative wisdom, the root of goodness of the heat dharma can arise, not contradicting the principle of the Four Noble Truths.
In this way, regarding the eight meanings of the four establishments of mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths, one contemplates in sequence and cultivates the sixteen characteristics never cultivated before. Due to the wisdom acquired from hearing the Dharma, the practitioner, in the contemplation of these eight truths, first gives rise to the contemplation of these sixteen characteristics. The wisdom at this time is like viewing all forms through a layer of thin silk gauze; at this point the wisdom of learning is cultivated to completion.
When the wisdom of learning is cultivated to completion, contemplating the four establishments of mindfulness and the five aggregates is like seeing forms through a layer of thin silk—one can see the outline of forms, but they are still unclear, hazy and dim. Before the wisdom of learning appears, seeing all dharmas is even more obscure and unclear, with very heavy ignorance. When one cultivates to the wisdom of learning, ignorance becomes somewhat thinner; when one cultivates to the wisdom of reflection and the wisdom of cultivation, ignorance becomes even thinner; and when realization-wisdom appears, part of the ignorance is eradicated and the three fetters are severed.
Comparing against the characteristics of the wisdom of learning and the cultivation process described in the treatise above, examine to what degree your own wisdom of learning has been cultivated, and whether it has been cultivated to completion. Even if it has been cultivated to completion, this is merely the stage of the wisdom of learning, still very far from realization-wisdom. If after cultivating for many years one has not even completed the wisdom of learning, one should examine where one falls short, how to make up the gap, and what measures should be taken, then spur the horse onward and diligently cultivate the Path.
Original text: 思所成慧。准此应说。次于生死。深生厌患。欣乐涅槃。寂静功德。此后多引。厌观现前。方便勤修。渐增渐胜。引起如是。能顺决择。思所成摄。最胜善根。即所修总缘。共相法念住。
Explanation: The wisdom of reflection should also be described according to the standard of the wisdom of learning. After the wisdom of learning is complete, one will deeply develop weariness and disgust toward birth-and-death and saṃsāra, become weary of the mundane world, and delight in the tranquil merits of nirvāṇa. After this, one will elicit more and more contemplative practice of weariness with the world, directly realizing the repulsiveness of the world; thus one will be ever more diligent in cultivating the Path and contemplative practice, the contemplation ever deeper, the wisdom ever more excellent. This even elicits the members of conformity to definitive discrimination that conform to the truth of the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates, and the supreme root of goodness subsumed by the wisdom of reflection appears—this is the cultivated mindfulness of dharmas that takes, from the five aggregates as a whole, the common characteristics of the Four Noble Truths as object.
Common characteristics mean that the five aggregates of all sentient beings are equally suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self; the five aggregates of all sentient beings all possess these common attributes. In contrast is the specific characteristic—the attributes of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates of an individual sentient being. The mindfulness of dharmas must be observed sequentially from both the specific-characteristic and common-characteristic perspectives in order for the cultivation to be complete.
Here the appearance and characteristics of the wisdom of reflection are described. The most essential is having a mind weary of the world of the five aggregates, weariness of the three-realm world, yearning for the pure merits of nirvāṇa, the mind conforming to the suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self nature of the five aggregates, not contradicting the principle of the Four Noble Truths, having proper and truthful discrimination regarding the four establishments of mindfulness, and giving rise to the members of conformity to definitive discrimination. "Conformity" means conforming to and not deviating from the Four Noble Truths; if the mind resists the principle of non-self, impermanence, suffering, and emptiness, then there is no conformity to definitive discrimination, and the wisdom of learning is also not complete and full.
If a student has not yet developed the mind of renunciation toward the world of the five aggregates, still harbors desires and hopes toward the world, praises worldly dharmas, clings to the dharmas of the three-realm world and refuses to abandon them, and is attached to worldly family and kin with deep emotional attachment, then there is no wisdom of reflection and no conformity to the principle of the Four Noble Truths. In that case, the wisdom of cultivation is even less complete, and one is far too distant from realizing the Path. By observing the words and deeds of many so-called people who have realized the fruits and seen the mind, it is found that extremely few are weary of the world; the vast majority are full of greed and hope toward the world. Therefore these so-called fruits differ too greatly from the true fruits; considering their future-life retributions makes one sigh deeply.
Some people will say: "We who study the Mahāyāna dharma and wish to accomplish the Buddha Way must retain the five aggregates and cultivate within the world of the five aggregates, benefiting self and benefiting others; we should not renounce the world of the five aggregates—to renounce the world is to not be of the bodhisattva lineage." This is quite wrong. A bodhisattva should, like the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, develop weariness toward the world; it is only that although weary, he does not leave it, and he absolutely does not, like ordinary beings, delight in and cling to the world. Knowing full well that the world is illusory, how could a bodhisattva's wisdom harbor any hopes and desires toward the illusory world? Having desires, greed, and delight shows that his wisdom is deficient and flawed, not understanding the principle of emptiness and illusion. The bodhisattva knows the world is empty and illusory; his mind is plain and mild, without desires or seeking, but for the sake of the Path-work and sentient beings, in accordance with his vow-power, he cannot but walk in the world. The ordinary being's mind, however, is not "cannot but," but rather delights in the world, savors the world, and cannot bear to leave it. Therefore, whether a Hīnayāna or Mahāyāna student, as long as one cultivates the wisdom of reflection, one will inevitably develop weariness and desirelessness toward the world; a bodhisattva who does not leave desire is not a true bodhisattva.
In both the wisdom of learning and the wisdom of reflection there is meditative concentration, differing only in depth. If one does not even have basic, coarse meditative concentration, the wisdom of learning cannot possibly be complete and full, let alone the wisdom of reflection and the wisdom of cultivation. Each kind of wisdom is inseparable from meditative concentration; without concentration the mind is scattered and the spirit unfocused, so learning and reflection are incomplete; shallow concentration means shallow wisdom, deep concentration means deep wisdom. In the subsequent accumulation of the wisdom of cultivation, meditative concentration must be complete with preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) before one can investigate and attain realization, thereby seeing the Path. When preparatory concentration is not complete, there can be the wisdom of learning and the wisdom of reflection, and there can also be the wisdom of cultivation, but the wisdom of cultivation cannot be complete, and thus one cannot see the Path.
Original text: 准上论文。即是三义七处等后。起总相念住。入暖法也。三义观者。即蕴处界。三科义也。七处善者。如实知色苦。色集。色灭趣。色灭行。色味。色患。及色出离。如实知受想行识七亦尔。如实知色。是四智知。谓法类智。世智苦智。
Explanation: Comparing with what is said in the treatise above, one should know that after observing the three-fold meaning of the aggregates, sense bases, and elements and the seven bases of goodness, the mindfulness of dharmas taking the common characteristics of the five aggregates as object will arise, entering into the root of goodness of the heat dharma. The contemplation of the three meanings is the observation of the three dharma-categories of aggregates, sense bases, and elements; the seven bases of goodness are truly knowing the suffering of the form aggregate, the origin of the form aggregate, the cessation-path of the form aggregate, the path cultivated for the cessation of the form aggregate, the flavor of the form aggregate, the disadvantage of the form aggregate, and the escapability of the form aggregate; and truly knowing these seven bases of goodness of the feeling aggregate, the perception aggregate, the volitional formations aggregate, and the consciousness aggregate are likewise on the same principle as the seven bases of goodness of the form aggregate. Moreover, truly knowing the form aggregate will give rise to four kinds of knowledge: dharma knowledge, analogous knowledge, worldly knowledge, and suffering knowledge.
A liberated person possesses ten kinds of knowledge: dharma knowledge, analogous knowledge, worldly knowledge, knowledge of others' minds, knowledge of suffering, knowledge of origin, knowledge of cessation, knowledge of the path, knowledge of exhaustion, and knowledge of non-arising. Because of truly observing the seven bases of goodness of each aggregate among the five aggregates, one will with wisdom truly know the form aggregate; the knowledge of the form aggregate has four kinds: dharma knowledge, analogous knowledge, worldly knowledge, and suffering knowledge. Dharma knowledge is, regarding all dharmas from an overall perspective, knowing with wisdom their non-self, impermanence, suffering, and emptiness; analogous knowledge is the wise observation of dharmas of the same category within the totality of dharmas; worldly knowledge is the wise handling of dharmas in the mundane world, expediency-teaching according to the sharpness or dullness of worldly beings' faculties; suffering knowledge is the truthful observation of the world of the five aggregates, knowing with one wisdom that all dharmas in the world are suffering and not to be taken up.
