An Explanation of the Twelve Nidānas in the Āgama Sutras

Section 2: The Forty-Four Kinds of Wisdom and the Seventy-Seven Kinds of Wisdom

(356) The Forty-Four Kinds of Wisdom

Original text: 尔时。世尊告诸比丘。有四十四种智。谛听善思。当为汝说。何等为四十四种智。谓老死智。老死集智。老死灭智。老死灭道迹智。

Explanation: The World-Honored One told the bhikṣus: There are forty-four kinds of wisdom; you should listen carefully and contemplate well, and I shall now explain them to you. What are the forty-four kinds of wisdom? They are the wisdom that truly knows (realizes) aging-and-death, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of aging-and-death, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of aging-and-death, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of aging-and-death; the wisdom that truly knows birth, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of birth, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of birth, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of birth;

Original text: 如是生有。取爱受触。六入处名色识行智。行集智行灭智。行灭道迹智。是名四十四种智。

Explanation: The wisdom that truly knows existence (bhava), the wisdom that truly knows the arising of existence, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of existence, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of existence; the wisdom that truly knows grasping, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of grasping, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of grasping, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of grasping; the wisdom that truly knows craving, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of craving, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of craving, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of craving.

The wisdom that truly knows feeling, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of feeling, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of feeling, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of feeling; the wisdom that truly knows contact, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of contact, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of contact, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of contact; the wisdom that truly knows the six sense bases, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of the six sense bases, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of the six sense bases, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of the six sense bases;

The wisdom that truly knows name-and-form, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of name-and-form, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of name-and-form, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of name-and-form; the wisdom that truly knows the six consciousnesses, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of the six consciousnesses, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of the six consciousnesses, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of the six consciousnesses; the wisdom that truly knows volitional formations, the wisdom that truly knows the arising of volitional formations, the wisdom that truly knows the cessation of volitional formations, and the wisdom that truly knows the path leading to the cessation of volitional formations. These are the forty-four kinds of wisdom that need to be known.

These wisdoms all refer to the wisdom of realizing the eleven links of dependent origination among the twelve links of dependent origination. To realize them, one must engage in contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) and contemplative observation truthfully and in accordance with principle within profound meditative concentration (samādhi); one must not rely on emotional thinking and intellectual understanding, for intellectually understood principles have no actual function and cannot subdue the afflicted mind, let alone eradicate it. With ignorance still present, the cycle of birth and death cannot be stopped. Understanding the dharma of dependent origination is not difficult; what is difficult is contemplative practice within samādhi, investigating within samādhi, investigating clearly the origins and workings of each link, truly recognizing that each link is a bond of birth and death, is suffering and empty, and is not the self. In this way one can break the chain of birth and death, opening up, severing, and destroying the bonds, so that one's own mind attains liberation and freedom.

(357) The Seventy-Seven Kinds of Wisdom

Original text: 尔时。世尊告诸比丘。有七十七种智。谛听善思。当为汝说。云何七十七种智。生缘老死智。非余生缘老死智。过去生缘老死智。非余过去生缘老死智。未来生缘老死智。非余未来生缘老死智。及法住智。无常有为。心所缘生。尽法。变易法。离欲法。灭法。断知智。

Explanation: The World-Honored One told the bhikṣus: There are seventy-seven kinds of wisdom; you should listen carefully and contemplate well, and I shall explain them to you. What are the seventy-seven kinds of wisdom? The first kind of wisdom is knowing that when the condition of birth exists in the world, there must be aging-and-death; the second kind of wisdom is knowing that when birth ceases, aging-and-death must cease; the third kind of wisdom is knowing that in past lives, because there was birth, there must have been aging-and-death; the fourth kind of wisdom is knowing that when the birth of past lives ceased, the aging-and-death of past lives must have ceased;

The fifth kind of wisdom is knowing that in future lives, because there will be birth, there must be aging-and-death in future lives; the sixth kind of wisdom is knowing that when the birth of future lives ceases, the aging-and-death of future lives must cease; the seventh kind of wisdom is the wisdom of the stability of dharmas (dharma-sthiti-jñāna) knowing that birth conditions aging-and-death, knowing that birth is an impermanent conditioned dharma, a dharma produced as an object of the mind's conditioning by the seven consciousnesses, a dharma that can be exhausted, a dharma of constant change, a dharma of craving that can be abandoned, a dharma that can be extinguished; the wisdom of the stability of dharmas is also the wisdom of knowing how to sever birth.

Original text: 如是生。有取爱受。触六入处。名色识行。无明缘行智。非余无明缘行智。过去无明缘行智。非余过去无明缘行智。未来无明缘行智。非余未来无明缘行智。及法住智。无常有为。心所缘生。尽法。变易法。无欲法。灭法。断知智。是名七十七种智。佛说此经已。诸比丘闻佛所说。欢喜奉行。

Explanation: There are seven kinds of wisdom regarding birth; regarding existence, grasping, craving, feeling, contact, the six sense bases, name-and-form, the six consciousnesses, the volitional formations of the manas, and ignorance among the twelve links of dependent origination, there are likewise the same seven kinds of wisdom each, totaling seventy-seven kinds of wisdom. For example, with ignorance conditioning volitional formations: the first kind of wisdom is knowing that because of ignorance, there must be volitional formations; the second kind of wisdom is knowing that when ignorance ceases, volitional formations must cease; the third kind of wisdom is knowing that because ignorance existed in past lives, there must have been volitional formations;

The fourth kind of wisdom is knowing that when the ignorance of past lives ceased, volitional formations must have ceased; the fifth kind of wisdom is knowing that in future lives, because there will be ignorance, there must be volitional formations; the sixth kind of wisdom is knowing that when the ignorance of future lives ceases, the volitional formations of future lives must cease; the seventh kind of wisdom is the wisdom of the stability of dharmas, knowing that ignorance is an impermanent conditioned dharma, a dharma produced as an object of the mind's conditioning by the seven consciousnesses, a dharma that can be exhausted, a dharma of constant change, a dharma in which desire can be absent, a dharma that can be extinguished; the wisdom of the stability of dharmas regarding ignorance is also the wisdom of knowing how to extinguish ignorance completely.

(358) Conditions That Follow Dependent Origination Increase Suffering; Conditions That Reverse It Decrease Suffering

Original text: 尔时。世尊告诸比丘。有增法减法。谛听。善思。当为汝说。云何增法。所谓此有故彼有。此起故彼起。谓缘无明行。缘行识。乃至纯大苦聚集。是名增法。

Explanation: The World-Honored One told the bhikṣus: There is a dharma of increase and a dharma of decrease; I shall explain them to you. You should listen carefully and contemplate well, and I shall now explain them to you. What is the dharma of increase? The dharma of increase refers to: when this exists, that exists; when this arises, that arises. Because this dharma exists, that dharma is brought forth and appears, thereby increasing that dharma. That is, conditioned by ignorance there are volitional formations; conditioned by volitional formations there is consciousness; and so on down to the gathering of the great mass of suffering of aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress conditioned by birth. This is the dharma of dependent origination following the forward flow of birth and death among the twelve links, called the dharma of increase, the dharma that increases the suffering of birth and death.

Original text: 云何减法。谓此无故彼无。此灭故彼灭。所谓无明灭则行灭。乃至纯大苦聚灭。是名减法。

Explanation: What is the dharma of decrease? The dharma of decrease refers to: when this does not exist, that does not exist; when this ceases, that ceases. Because this dharma disappears and no longer exists, that dharma disappears along with it; when this dharma ceases, that dharma ceases accordingly. That is, when ignorance ceases, volitional formations cease accordingly; when volitional formations cease, the six consciousnesses cease along with them; and so on down to the complete cessation without remainder of the great mass of suffering of aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress when birth ceases. This is the dharma of the cessation of dependent origination reversing the flow of birth and death among the twelve links, called the dharma of decrease, the dharma that decreases the suffering of birth and death.

(359) Consciousness Dwelling on Objects Conditions the Future Mass of Suffering

Original text: 尔时。世尊告诸比丘。若思量。若妄想生。彼使攀缘识住。有攀缘识住故。有未来世生老病死忧悲恼苦。如是纯大苦聚集。若不思量。不妄想。无使攀缘识住。无攀缘识住故。于未来世生老病死忧悲恼苦灭。如是纯大苦聚灭。

Explanation: The World-Honored One told the bhikṣus: If a person's mind engages in deliberation (manasikāra) and produces deluded imaginings, this causes the six consciousnesses that grasp at the objects of the six sense objects to arise and dwell upon the objects of the six sense objects. Because the six consciousnesses dwell upon the objects of the six sense objects, there will be future birth, aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress—the gathering of the great mass of suffering. If a person no longer deliberates and has no deluded imaginings, the six consciousnesses that grasp at the objects of the six sense objects will not arise and dwell upon the objects of the six sense objects. Because there are no six consciousnesses grasping at and dwelling upon the six sense objects, the great mass of suffering of future birth, aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress will cease and not appear.

The deliberation and deluded imaginings spoken of here both refer to the deliberation and deluded-imagining nature of the manas. When the manas deliberates upon and imagines the various dharmas, the six consciousnesses will arise and perform bodily, verbal, and mental actions to satisfy and fulfill the manas's deluded imaginings; thus the six consciousnesses will dwell upon the imagined objects, bodily, verbal, and mental actions will manifest, karmic seeds will be retained, and there will be name-and-form in future lives to undergo birth, aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress. If the manas no longer deliberates upon the various dharmas and has no deluded imaginings, the six consciousnesses will not arise, bodily, verbal, and mental actions will not appear, no karmic seeds will be retained, and there will be no birth, aging, death, sorrow, grief, suffering, and distress in future lives.