Observing the Five Aggregates to Cut Through the View of Self (Part 2)
Chapter 8: Abhidharmakośa-śāstra Commentary, Volume 23 (The Four Wisdoms of Hearing, Contemplation, Cultivation, and Realization)
The wisdom acquired through hearing and the wisdom acquired through contemplation are the wisdoms that arise before the four preparatory practices—the four roots of goodness of heat (ūṣma-gata), peak (mūrdhan), patience (kṣānti), and the supreme worldly dharma (laukikāgra-dharma). These two kinds of wisdom are not firm enough; when encountering adverse conditions, they will regress. Only when cultivating to the wisdom acquired through cultivation that comes after the wisdom acquired through contemplation will the contemplative practice (vipaśyanā-caryā) wisdom no longer regress. Among the four roots of goodness, only when the root of goodness of patience appears do the roots of goodness no longer regress, and the contemplative practice wisdom also no longer regresses. Only after the four preparatory practices have been completed will realization-wisdom appear—the wisdom born of realizing the Four Noble Truths, also called direct perception wisdom (pratyakṣa), dharma wisdom, analogical wisdom (anvaya-jñāna), and so on.
Section 1: The Wisdom of Hearing
Original text:杂缘法念住总有四种。二三四五蕴为境别故。唯总缘五名此所修。彼居此中修四行相。总观一切身受心法。所谓非常苦空非我。然于修习此念住时。有余善根能为方便。彼应次第修令现前。谓彼已熟修。杂缘法念住。
Explanation: When cultivating the mindfulness of dharmas among the four foundations of mindfulness, one must also interspersedly contemplate the mindfulness of the body, the mindfulness of feelings, and the mindfulness of the mind; one must not only take the mindfulness of dharmas as object, but also interspersedly take the other three foundations of mindfulness as objects. Because the four kinds of realms corresponding to the cultivation of the mindfulness of dharmas—the aggregates of feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness—are each different, one must contemplate the mindfulness of dharmas by taking the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness as objects in their totality. In taking the mindfulness of dharmas as object, the practitioner must cultivate the four aspects of the truth of suffering: suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self, contemplating from an overall perspective the characteristics of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of body, feeling, mind, and dharmas. Moreover, when cultivating the mindfulness of dharmas, there are other roots of goodness such as heat, peak, patience, and the supreme worldly dharma, which can serve as expedient means to verify the results of cultivation; the practitioner should cultivate them sequentially, causing the four roots of goodness to manifest one by one. When these four roots of goodness manifest, it indicates that the practitioner has already very skillfully cultivated the interspersed mindfulness of dharmas.
Original text:将欲修习。此念住时。先应总缘。修无我行。次观生灭。次观缘起。以观行者。先观诸行。从因生灭。便于因果。相属观门。易趣入故。或有欲令。先观缘起。此后引起。缘三义观。此观无间。修七处善。
Explanation: When the practitioner is about to cultivate this mindfulness of dharmas, one should first take the five aggregates as object in their totality and contemplate the characteristic of non-self; next, one should observe the arising and ceasing of the five aggregates—this is contemplating the characteristic of impermanence of the five aggregates; next, one should contemplate the dependent origination of the five aggregates—this is contemplating the characteristic of emptiness of the five aggregates. Because the contemplative practitioner first contemplates the formations of body, feeling, mind, and dharmas, which arise and cease in accordance with causes and conditions, it is thus convenient to contemplate non-self and impermanence from the perspective of the interrelation of cause and effect, making it easy to enter the principle of the Four Noble Truths. Some people wish to first contemplate the dependent origination of the five aggregates, and afterwards elicit the contemplation taking the three dharma-meanings [of aggregates, sense bases, and realms] as object. This method of contemplation is the uninterrupted cultivation of the seven stations of goodness, that is, separately contemplating the suffering, origin, cessation, path, gratification, danger, and escape with respect to the five aggregates of form, feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness.
Original text:于七处善。得善巧故。能于先来。诸所见境。立因果谛。次第观察。如是熟修。智及定已。便能安立。顺现观谛。谓欲上界。苦等各别。于如是八。随次第观。修未曾修。十六行相。彼由闻慧。于八谛中。初起如斯。十六行观。如隔薄绢。睹见众色。齐此名为。闻慧圆满。
Explanation: Because skillfulness has been attained in cultivating the seven stations of goodness, one can, with respect to all the realms previously contemplated, establish the truth of cause and effect—that is, clearly understand the suffering, origin, cessation, and path of the five aggregates—and sequentially contemplate the seven stations of goodness of the five aggregates. After cultivating contemplative practice wisdom and meditative concentration in this way until proficient, one can then establish the truths conforming to direct realization. The truths conforming to direct realization are the wisdoms conforming to the truths of suffering, origin, cessation, and path, each distinct, of the desire realm and the form and formless realms respectively; although at this time there is not yet the wisdom of direct contemplative realization, one can nevertheless give rise to the root of goodness of heat, without contradicting the principle of the Four Noble Truths.
Thus, with respect to the eight principles of the four foundations of mindfulness and the Four Noble Truths, one contemplates in accordance with their sequence, cultivating the sixteen aspects that have never been cultivated before. Due to the wisdom acquired from hearing the Dharma, the practitioner, in the contemplation of these eight truths, first gives rise to the contemplation of these sixteen aspects. The wisdom at this time is like viewing all forms through a layer of thin silk gauze; at this point, the wisdom of hearing is said to be fully cultivated.
When the wisdom of hearing is fully cultivated, contemplating the four foundations of mindfulness and the five aggregates is like seeing forms through a layer of thin silk—the outline of forms can be seen but is still unclear, hazy and dim. Before the wisdom of hearing appears, seeing all dharmas is even more hazy and indistinct, with heavy ignorance. When one cultivates to the wisdom of hearing, ignorance becomes somewhat thinner; when one cultivates to the wisdom of contemplation and the wisdom of cultivation, ignorance becomes even thinner; and when realization-wisdom appears, a portion of ignorance is eradicated, and the three fetters are severed.
Comparing against the characteristics of the wisdom of hearing and the process of cultivation described in the treatise above, examine to what degree your own wisdom of hearing has been cultivated, and whether it has been fully cultivated. Even if it has been fully cultivated, this is merely the stage of the wisdom of hearing; there is still a very long distance from realization-wisdom. If after cultivating for many years you have not even fully cultivated the wisdom of hearing, you should examine where you fall short, how to make up the gap, and what measures should be taken—whip the horse onward and cultivate the Path diligently.
Section 2: The Wisdom of Contemplation
Original text: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 acquired through contemplation, following the standard of the wisdom acquired through hearing, should also be discussed. After the wisdom of hearing is fully cultivated, one will develop deep weariness and revulsion toward birth-and-death in saṃsāra, become weary of the mundane world, and delight in the tranquil virtues of nirvāṇa. After this, one will elicit more and more contemplative practice that wearies of the worldly, directly perceiving the world as repulsive; thus one will be ever more diligent in cultivating the Path and contemplative practice, the contemplation ever deepening, the wisdom ever more excellent. Eventually one elicits the nirvedha-bhāgīya (conducive-to-discrimination) that conforms to the truth of the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of the five aggregates, and the supreme root of goodness subsumed under the wisdom acquired through contemplation appears—this is precisely the cultivated mindfulness of dharmas that takes the common characteristics of the Four Noble Truths with the five aggregates as object in their totality.
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 all possess this common attribute. In contrast is the individual characteristic—the attribute of suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self of a single being's five aggregates. The mindfulness of dharmas must be contemplated sequentially from both the individual and common characteristic perspectives in order for the cultivation to be complete.
What is described here are the appearance and characteristics of the wisdom acquired through contemplation. The most essential is the presence of a mind wearied of the world of the five aggregates, wearied of the world of the three realms, yearning for the pure virtues of nirvāṇa, the mind conforming to the suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self nature of the five aggregates, not contradicting the principle of the Four Noble Truths, having proper and truthful discrimination regarding the four foundations of mindfulness, giving rise to the nirvedha-bhāgīya. "Conforming" means following and not deviating from the Four Noble Truths; if the mind resists the principle of non-self, impermanence, suffering, and emptiness, then there is no nirvedha-bhāgīya, and the wisdom of hearing is also not fully complete.
If a student has not yet given rise to the mind of renunciation toward the world of the five aggregates, still harbors desires and hopes toward the world, praises worldly dharmas, clings to the dharmas of the three realms and refuses to let go, is attached to worldly family and relatives with deep emotional attachment—then there is no wisdom acquired through contemplation, no conformity to the principle of the Four Noble Truths. In that case, the wisdom acquired through cultivation is even less complete, and one is very far from realizing the Path. By observing the words and deeds of many so-called people who have realized the fruits and seen the mind, one finds that extremely few are weary of the world; the vast majority are full of greed and hope toward the world. Therefore, these so-called fruits differ too greatly from true fruits; considering their future retributions, one cannot help but sigh.
Some people will say: we who study the Mahāyāna Dharma and wish to achieve buddhahood must retain the five aggregates and cultivate within the world of the five aggregates, benefiting self and benefiting others; we should not renounce the world of the five aggregates, and renouncing the world would mean not being of the bodhisattva lineage. This is quite wrong. Bodhisattvas should, like the śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas, grow weary of the world—only that though weary, they do not leave it; they absolutely do not, like ordinary beings, delight in and cling to the world. Knowing full well that the world is illusory, how could the bodhisattva's wisdom harbor hopes and desires toward the illusory world? Having desires, greed, and delight indicates that one's wisdom is deficient and flawed, not understanding the principle of emptiness and illusion. The bodhisattva knows the world is empty and illusory; his mind is plain and mild, without desires or demands, but for the sake of the Path-work and sentient beings, in accordance with his power of vows, he cannot but walk in the world. The ordinary being's mind, however, is not "cannot but"—rather, it delights in the world, savors the world, and cannot bear to leave it. Therefore, whether a Hīnayāna or Mahāyāna student, as long as one cultivates the wisdom acquired through contemplation, one will inevitably grow weary of the world and become free of desire; a bodhisattva who does not free himself from desire is not a true bodhisattva.
Both the wisdom acquired through hearing and the wisdom acquired through contemplation involve meditative concentration, differing only in depth. If one does not even have basic, coarse meditative concentration, the wisdom of hearing cannot be fully complete, let alone the wisdom of contemplation and the wisdom of cultivation. Each kind of wisdom is inseparable from meditative concentration; without concentration, the mind is scattered and the spirit unfocused, so hearing and contemplation are incomplete—shallow concentration means shallow wisdom, deep concentration means deep wisdom. In the subsequent process of accumulating the wisdom acquired through cultivation, meditative concentration must reach the preparatory concentration (anāgamya-samādhi) before one can achieve realization through investigation and thereby see the Path. When the preparatory concentration is not complete, one may have the wisdom of hearing and the wisdom of contemplation, and may even have the wisdom of cultivation, but the wisdom of cultivation cannot be complete, and thus one cannot see the Path.
Original text:准上论文。即是三义七处等后。起总相念住。入暖法也。三义观者。即蕴处界。三科义也。七处善者。如实知色苦。色集。色灭趣。色灭行。色味。色患。及色出离。如实知受想行识七亦尔。如实知色。是四智知。谓法类智。世智苦智。
Explanation: Comparing with what is said in the treatise above, one should know that after contemplating the three categories of aggregates, sense bases, and realms, and the seven stations of goodness, the mindfulness [of dharmas] taking the common characteristic of the five aggregates arises, entering into the root of goodness of heat. The contemplation of the three meanings is the contemplation of the three categories of aggregates, sense bases, and realms; the seven stations of goodness are truly knowing the suffering of the form aggregate, the origin of the form aggregate, the cessation of the form aggregate, the path cultivated for the cessation of the form aggregate, the gratification of the form aggregate, the danger of the form aggregate, and the escape from the form aggregate; and truly knowing these seven stations of goodness of the feeling, perception, volitional formations, and consciousness aggregates is likewise on the same principle as the seven stations of goodness of the form aggregate. Moreover, truly knowing the form aggregate gives rise to four kinds of wisdom: dharma wisdom, analogical wisdom, worldly wisdom, and suffering wisdom.
A liberated person possesses ten kinds of wisdom: dharma wisdom, analogical wisdom, worldly wisdom, the wisdom of others' minds, the wisdom of suffering, the wisdom of origin, the wisdom of cessation, the wisdom of path, the wisdom of exhaustion, and the wisdom of non-arising. Because one has truly observed the seven stations of goodness of each aggregate among the five aggregates, one knows the form aggregate with wisdom; the wisdoms knowing the form aggregate are four: dharma wisdom, analogical wisdom, worldly wisdom, and suffering wisdom. Dharma wisdom is, with respect to all dharmas in their totality, contemplating and knowing with wisdom their non-self, impermanence, suffering, and emptiness; analogical wisdom is the wise contemplation of dharmas of the same category within the totality of dharmas; worldly wisdom is the wise handling of dharmas in the mundane world, teaching and transforming in accordance with the sharpness or dullness of worldly sentient beings' faculties; suffering wisdom is the truthful observation of the world of the five aggregates, knowing with wisdom that all dharmas in the world are suffering and not to be grasped.
Section 3: The Four Preparatory Practices and Four Roots of Goodness of the Wisdom Acquired Through Cultivation
1. Does the contemplative practice of the four foundations of mindfulness have any relation to the Four Noble Truths? In the process of contemplating the four foundations of mindfulness, each foundation of mindfulness must contemplate the principle of the Four Noble Truths; combined together, this contemplates the sixteen aspects. When the sixteen aspects are contemplated completely, one will obtain four kinds of wisdom-realms, which are the four roots of goodness. These four roots of goodness are heat, peak, patience, and the supreme worldly dharma, also called the four preparatory practices (nirvedha-bhāgīya). This is a stage that must be experienced before seeing the Path. The four preparatory practices and four roots of goodness belong to the wisdom acquired through cultivation; before this belongs to the wisdom of hearing and the wisdom of contemplation, which are relatively shallow and have not yet permeated the manas. When the manas has been permeated, being touched and changed, conforming to suffering, emptiness, impermanence, and non-self, giving rise to the nirvedha-bhāgīya, then there is the wisdom acquired through cultivation. With the wisdom acquired through cultivation, only when it is fully complete can one see the Path. Therefore, the four preparatory practices are extremely important; everyone should understand them, and I will gradually explain some of the Dharma in this area.
The theory that still needs to be completed for everyone is the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, explained in a bit more detail, so that each person knows whether they are cultivating the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment and to what degree. Finally, I will discuss, in the process of cultivation before seeing the Path, which relatively coarse afflictions of the desire realm need to be severed within meditative concentration; subtle afflictions can only be severed after seeing the Path and cannot be severed before it, and afflictions of the form realm even less so. With this, the Hīnayāna Dharma is basically sufficient, and there is no need to explain more.
In cultivating the Path, in fact ninety percent of the time is spent in individual effort, with very little time used for hearing the Dharma and absorbing theoretical views to guide one's practice, so as not to go astray onto wrong paths. When the theoretical views absorbed are more or less sufficient, it is entirely a matter of individual single-minded effort; spending more time studying theory would delay matters. Therefore, I do not wish to explain too much Dharma in the future, lest it delay everyone's actual practice. If in the future I find there are still theoretical deficiencies, I will slowly supplement them; specifically, actual practice should be the main focus—theory being sufficient is enough; greedily taking in more will not be of much use and wastes time.
In the stage of cultivating the four preparatory practices, because the manas has been effectively permeated, both body and mind will change: the mind becomes purer than before, afflictions become lighter, and bodily, verbal, and mental actions become somewhat transformed and purified. Only in this way can one gradually correspond to the quality of mental conduct of the sages after seeing the Path, and only then can one see the Path. Therefore, it is not the case that when one's body and mind have changed and afflictions have lightened, one has seen the Path and realized the fruit—one is still far from it. Those who constantly suspect that they have awakened to the Mahāyāna Dharma—if they have not cultivated these dharmas, not cultivated them to fullness and completeness—should henceforth cut off this doubt: no need to doubt, you have not awakened, not even intellectual awakening. Some people, after "awakening," show little change in body, mind, and world compared to before, or no change at all, having merely gained some more views; some people do not even have sufficient views. Such people have not cultivated the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, have not reached the four preparatory practices, and are merely at the stage of hearing and contemplation—such a misunderstanding is simply enormous. Why does such a misunderstanding arise?
2. Knowing that 1+1=2—to which of the four wisdoms of hearing, contemplation, cultivation, and realization does it belong?
All four wisdoms—hearing, contemplation, cultivation, and realization—know that 1+1=2, but the difference between knowing and knowing is enormous. A one-year-old child can know that 1+1=2; even a well-trained dog can know that 1+1=2; a university professor also knows that 1+1=2; a mathematician also knows that 1+1=2—how great is the difference among these? That 1+1=2 belongs to the difficult problems within Goldbach's conjecture; among Chinese mathematicians, only Chen Jingrun and Hua Luogeng ever undertook to argue and prove it, but Hua Luogeng and other mathematicians did not work it out either, did not give an effective proof, and it is unknown whether Chen Jingrun completely proved it. Among hundreds of millions of people, not even one has the ability to prove 1+1=2; among hundreds of millions, no more than one can undertake the proof; fewer than one in a thousand or ten thousand can ponder 1+1=2, while those who can know that 1+1=2 are countless.
So all of us know that 1+1=2—how much watered-down content is there in this knowing? By the same token, many Buddhist students have studied the principle of the Four Noble Truths and the Dharma of tathāgatagarbha for several years, or only two or three years, or even only two or three months, and then claim they have realized and awakened—the watered-down content here is of course correspondingly enormous. Most people have not reached the level of cultivation, have had no conditions for truthful, down-to-earth practice; none of the conditions for seeing the Path are fulfilled—how can one speak of the wisdom of cultivation and the wisdom of realization? Merely having the wisdom of contemplation is already quite good. Therefore, the path of studying Buddhism and cultivating practice is not so easy to walk; do not overestimate yourself and underestimate the Buddha's Dharma, otherwise, with old karma not yet eliminated, you add new karma—how could you attain liberation in future lives?
For children in kindergarten, elementary school students, and middle school students, to truly realize that 1+1=2, how should they strive? How should they perfect the causal conditions for proving 1+1=2? With a realization ratio of one in a hundred million, one in a billion, one in ten billion—how likely do you think these children are to realize it in the future? How should they strive? Unless they are mathematical geniuses, there is almost no possibility. For the proof of 1+1=2, the most important thing is the intermediate logical calculation steps; the result has already been given, but the intermediate proof process is missing and needs to be completed. In the process of argumentation, one must forget the result and treat the result as unknown. As for the hardship in the process of argumentation, just learn about Chen Jingrun and you will know—the cost was great.
There are also some Buddhist sons who have cultivated and come into contact with the Four Noble Truths and the prajñā and Yogācāra teachings, but their proportion among all Buddhist students is still very, very small. Among these people, there are varying degrees of knowing and understanding of the Hīnayāna and Mahāyāna dharmas; among the four wisdoms, most belong to the wisdom of hearing, a few to the wisdom of contemplation, and extremely few have the wisdom of cultivation—but those who reach the level of realization-wisdom may be exceedingly rare, perhaps one in a hundred million. So for Buddhist students who already know the principle of the Four Noble Truths and the prajñā emptiness principle of tathāgatagarbha but have not yet realized it, how should they realize and personally verify it? Or for Buddhist students who have already understood the Buddha's Dharma and intellectually awakened to it, how should they go on to personally realize and verify it? What causal conditions need to be perfected, and what efforts made, to truly realize it?
As for those who have understood the Buddha's Dharma and intellectually awakened to it, in order to truly realize the Dharma, they need to forget everything they have understood and awakened to, treating the result as unknown, and not bring it into the process of investigation. This requires the wisdom of cultivation—actually practicing the thirty-seven aids to enlightenment, morality-concentration-wisdom, the bodhisattva's six perfections, perfecting the various conditions for seeing the Path, and investigating in accordance with the Dharma within profound meditative concentration. Therefore, those who have intellectually awakened to the Dharma need to forget what they have understood, let go of the views and understanding learned previously, abandon the desire for fame and gain, the competitive mind, and vanity, be willing to start over from the beginning, step by step, down-to-earth, neither anxious nor impatient—only then is realization possible. A great price must be paid along the way, and it is arduous—one part sweat, one part harvest; no matter how great the price, it is worth it.
