Characteristics of Wisdom Developed through Deliberation

Original text of the Abhidharmakośa-bhāṣya, Volume 23: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 formed by reflection (cintāmayī-prajñā) should also be described according to the standard of the wisdom formed by hearing (śrutamayī-prajñā). After the wisdom formed by hearing reaches fullness, one will develop deep weariness and aversion toward birth and death in saṃsāra, become weary of the worldly, and delight in the tranquil virtues of nirvāṇa. After this, contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) of weariness with the world will be brought forth more and more, directly perceiving the world as repulsive. In this way, one's diligence in cultivating the path and contemplative practice will grow ever more vigorous, the contemplative practice ever deeper, and the wisdom ever more excellent. This will even give rise to the conformative stage of decisive discernment (nirvedha-bhāgīya) that accords with the truths that the five aggregates are suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self. Then the supreme wholesome roots subsumed under the wisdom formed by reflection appear—this is the mindfulness of dharmas that one cultivates, which contemplates the common characteristic (sāmānya-lakṣaṇa) of the four noble truths with the five aggregates as the overall object.

The common characteristic means that the five aggregates of all sentient beings are equally suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self; the five aggregates of all sentient beings share this common attribute. In contrast to this is the specific characteristic (viśeṣa-lakṣaṇa), which is the attribute of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates of an individual sentient being. The mindfulness of dharmas must be contemplated sequentially from both the specific and the common characteristic perspectives in order for the practice to reach completion.

What is described here are the features and characteristics of the wisdom formed by reflection. The most essential is the presence of a mind weary of the world of the five aggregates—weariness of the threefold world, yearning for the pure virtues of nirvāṇa, a mind that accords with the nature of the five aggregates as suffering, empty, impermanent, and non-self, a mind that does not contradict the principle of the four noble truths, and a proper and truthful discernment regarding the four foundations of mindfulness, giving rise to the conformative stage of decisive discernment. "Conformative" means according with and not departing from the four noble truths. If the mind resists non-self, impermanence, suffering, and emptiness, then there is no conformative stage of decisive discernment, and the wisdom of hearing is also not complete and full.

If a learner has not yet developed the mind of renunciation toward the world of the five aggregates, still harbors desires and hopes for the world, praises worldly dharmas, clings to the dharmas of the threefold world and refuses to let go, and is attached to worldly family and kin with deep emotional attachment, then that person has no wisdom formed by reflection and does not accord with the principle of the four noble truths. In that case, the wisdom formed by cultivation (bhāvanāmayī-prajñā) 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 awakened to the true mind, one finds that very few are weary of the world, while the vast majority are full of greed and hope for the world. Therefore, these so-called fruits differ far too much from the true fruits; when one considers their future-life retributions, it is truly lamentable.

Some will say: "We who study the Mahāyāna dharma and aspire to the buddha-way need to retain the five aggregates and cultivate within the world of the five aggregates, benefiting ourselves and benefiting others; we should not renounce the world of the five aggregates—to renounce the world is to lack the bodhisattva lineage." This is mistaken. Bodhisattvas should, like the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, develop weariness toward the world; it is only that although they are weary, they do not leave it. They absolutely do not, like ordinary worldlings (pṛthagjana), take delight in the world and cling to it. Knowing full well that the world is illusory and transformed, how could a bodhisattva's wisdom harbor any hopes and desires toward an illusory world? If there are desires, greed, and delight, it shows that their wisdom is deficient and flawed, and that they do not understand the principle of emptiness and illusion. Bodhisattvas know the world is empty and illusory; their minds are plain and detached, without desires or demands. It is only for the sake of the path and for sentient beings, in accordance with their vows, that they must walk in the world. The mind of an ordinary worldling, however, is not a matter of "must"; rather, they delight in the world, savor the world, and cannot bear to leave it. Therefore, whether one is a learner of the small vehicle or the great vehicle, as long as one has cultivated the wisdom formed by reflection, one will inevitably develop renunciation and weariness toward the world. A bodhisattva who has not left desire behind is not a true bodhisattva.

Both the wisdom formed by hearing and the wisdom formed by reflection involve meditative concentration (samādhi); the difference is only in its depth. If one does not even have basic, coarse meditative concentration, then the wisdom formed by hearing cannot possibly be complete and full, let alone the wisdom formed by reflection and the wisdom formed by cultivation. Every kind of wisdom is inseparable from meditative concentration. Without concentration, the mind is scattered and the spirit unfocused; then hearing and reflection are incomplete. Shallow concentration means shallow wisdom; deep concentration means deep wisdom. In the subsequent process of accumulating the wisdom formed by cultivation, one must possess the preparatory concentration/threshold concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) in full in order to investigate and realize attainment, and thereby see the path. When the preparatory concentration is not complete, one may have the wisdom of hearing and the wisdom of reflection, and may even have the wisdom of cultivation, but the wisdom of cultivation cannot reach fullness, and thus one cannot see the path.