The Characteristics and Cultivation of the Roots of Goodness at the Stage of Warmth (Uṣma-gata)

Original text: 论曰。修习总缘共相法念住。渐次成熟乃至上上品。从此念住后。有顺决择分。初善根生。名为暖法。此法如暖。立暖法名。是能烧惑薪。圣道火前相。如火前相故。名为暖。

Explanation: There is a treatise that says: Contemplating the dharmas of mindfulness by collectively observing the common characteristics—the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates of all sentient beings—one's wisdom gradually matures until reaching the highest grade (uttamottama). After this mindfulness practice, there arises the conformative stage of decisive discernment (nirvedha-bhāgīya), conforming to the truths of the Four Noble Truths, and the first wholesome root is born, which is called the heat dharma (ūṣma-gata). This dharma is like warmth, hence the name "heat dharma." It is the firewood that can burn afflictions, the preceding sign of the fire of the noble path. Because it is like the sign preceding fire, it is called "heat." This wisdom is like the appearance of warmth: the mind is perfumed by the Four Noble Truths and inclines toward them, hence the name "heat dharma." The heat dharma is like firewood capable of burning up afflictive delusions; it is the appearance before the fire of the noble path appears, like the state before fire blazes—thus it is called "heat."

Taking the manifestation of the path of seeing as an analogy for the appearance of fire and the burning of firewood: before the fire appears, a change in temperature must first occur—the temperature rises and warmth emerges. This stage corresponds to the wholesome root of the heat dharma. As the temperature continues to rise and the heat reaches a certain degree, the firewood ignites and the fire appears. In between, one sequentially passes through the wholesome root of the peak dharma (mūrdhan), the wholesome root of the patience dharma (kṣānti), and the wholesome root of the foremost worldly dharma (laukikāgra-dharma), and only afterward can one attain the path of seeing. The appearance of the heat dharma shows that through cultivating the four foundations of mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths, the practitioner's mind has undergone a change, able to accord with the truths of the Four Noble Truths and give rise to the conformative stage of decisive discernment, no longer resisting or opposing the truths of the Four Noble Truths—equivalent to an initial acceptance of the truths of the Four Noble Truths.

Original text: 此暖善根分位长故。能具观察四圣谛境。及能具修十六行相。观苦圣谛。修四行相。一非常二苦三空四非我。观集圣谛。修四行相。一因二集三生四缘。观灭圣谛。修四行相。一灭二静三妙四离。观道圣谛。修四行相。一道二如。三行四出。此相差别。如后当辩。

Explanation: The wholesome root of the heat dharma encompasses a relatively extensive and comprehensive range of practices—this is what is meant by its long duration of abiding. During the stage when the heat dharma manifests, one can fully observe the true realm of the Four Noble Truths, and can fully cultivate the sixteen aspects (ṣodaśa-ākāra). Contemplating the noble truth of suffering of the five aggregates, one cultivates four aspects: impermanence, suffering, emptiness, and non-self; contemplating the noble truth of the origin of the five aggregates, one cultivates four aspects: the cause of the arising of the five aggregates, how the five aggregates accumulate, how the five aggregates are born, and what the conditions for the birth of the five aggregates are; contemplating the noble truth of the cessation of the five aggregates, one cultivates four aspects: how the five aggregates cease, the tranquility of nirvāṇa, the subtle realm of nirvāṇa, and liberation from suffering; contemplating the noble truth of the path, one cultivates four aspects: the path cultivated to extinguish the five aggregates, the cultivation that accords with true reality, how to depart from birth and turn toward nirvāṇa, and how to escape the three realms and attain liberation. All the practices involved here have their distinctions, and these distinctive marks will be debated later.