The Meaning of the Wholesome Roots of the Mūrdhan Stage

Original text:此暖善根。下中上品。渐次增长。至成满时。有善根生。名为顶法。此转胜故。更立异名。动善根中。此法最胜。如人顶故。名为顶法。或由此是。进退两际。如山顶故。说名为顶。此亦如暖。具观四谛。及能具修。十六行相。

Explanation: When this wholesome root of the heat (ūṣma) method gradually grows from the lower grade to the middle grade, and then from the middle grade to the higher grade, reaching fullness, another wholesome root arises, called the wholesome root of the peak (mūrdhan) method. As the wholesome root of the peak method becomes increasingly superior, it is given a different name. Among these continuously growing wholesome roots, the peak method is the most supreme, like the crown of a person's head, hence it is named the peak method. It is also named the peak method because the peak method stands between advance and retreat—ahead is advance, behind is retreat—and the peak method is like the summit of a mountain, therefore it is called the peak. Like the heat method, the peak method is also capable of fully contemplating the Four Noble Truths, as well as fully cultivating the sixteen modes of contemplation.

Original text:如是暖顶。二种善根。初安足时。唯法念住。以何义故。名初安足。谓随何善根。以十六行相。最初游践四圣谛迹。后增进时。具四念住。诸先所得。后不现前。于彼不生钦重心故。

Explanation: These two wholesome roots, the heat method and the peak method, at the time of their initial arising, manifest only when cultivating the mindfulness of dharmas. For what reason is it called "initially setting foot"? This means that with whichever wholesome root, one first enters the contemplative practice of the Four Noble Truths by means of the sixteen modes of contemplation. After the wholesome roots of the heat and peak methods advance further, the cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness becomes complete. The dharmas cultivated previously no longer manifest afterward, because toward those dharmas the mind does not give rise to a particularly reverent attitude—there is no attachment to the dharmas.