Yogācārabhūmi-śāstra: Volume 34 (Part 1)

If one delights in pursuing the path beyond the world, one should rely on the state of the Four Noble Truths and gradually generate seven types of mental contemplation: beginning with the initial discernment of characteristics, followed by subsequent discernment, withdrawal, delighting in solitude, analytical reflection, culminating application, and finally the mental contemplation of the fruition of culminating application. This progression continues until the attainment of arhatship. Practitioners of yoga, having briefly studied and extensively analyzed the intensified teachings on the Four Noble Truths, receive and uphold them through hearing. They may have already skillfully cultivated appropriate mental contemplation, or attained the fundamental meditative absorptions of the form realm and even reached the formless realm.

This passage broadly reveals the content and sequence—or process—of cultivation from an ordinary being to a fourth-stage arhat. Sentient beings who wish to liberate themselves from worldly suffering and realize the bliss of Nirvana must cultivate the Four Noble Truths. During this practice, they must generate seven types of mental contemplation. The term "mental contemplation" refers to attention, focus, and mental engagement—the direction toward which the mind inclines. It also signifies contemplative practice and observation. Different mental contemplations lead to different orientations, resulting in different outcomes. Only when the mental contemplation of the fruition of culminating application arises does one attain the ultimate fruit—arhatship—achieving liberation and transcending the worldly realm.