Supplementary Explanation on the Wisdom of Hearing and the Wisdom of Contemplation

Original text of the Commentary on the Abhidharmakośa, Volume 23: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: In comparison with what is stated in the above treatise, one should know that after contemplating the meanings of the three categories—the aggregates, sense bases, and elements—and the seven aspects of thorough knowledge, the mindfulness station directed toward the general characteristics of the five aggregates will arise, and one enters into the wholesome root of the heat stage (ūṣmagata). The contemplation of the three aspects refers to the contemplation of the three categories of dharmas: the aggregates, the sense bases, and the elements. The seven aspects of thorough knowledge mean truly knowing the suffering of the form aggregate, the arising (samudaya) of the form aggregate, the path leading to 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 aspects of thorough knowledge of the feeling aggregate, the seven aspects of thorough knowledge of the perception aggregate, the seven aspects of thorough knowledge of the volitional formations aggregate, and the seven aspects of thorough knowledge of the consciousness aggregate all follow the same principle as the seven aspects of thorough knowledge of the form aggregate. Moreover, by truly knowing the form aggregate, four kinds of wisdom arise: the dharma knowledge, the conformity knowledge (anvaya-jñāna), the worldly knowledge, and the suffering knowledge.

A liberated person possesses ten kinds of wisdom: dharma knowledge, conformity knowledge, worldly knowledge, suffering knowledge, knowledge of others' minds, knowledge of arising, knowledge of cessation, knowledge of the path, knowledge of exhaustion, and knowledge of non-arising. Because one has truly contemplated the seven aspects of thorough knowledge of each of the five aggregates, one will, through wisdom, truly know the form aggregate; the wisdom that knows the form aggregate is of four kinds: dharma knowledge, conformity knowledge, worldly knowledge, and suffering knowledge. Dharma knowledge is the wisdom that contemplates all dharmas in their totality, knowing them to be without self, impermanent, suffering, and empty; conformity knowledge is the wisdom that contemplates dharmas of the same category within the totality of dharmas; worldly knowledge is the wise handling of dharmas in the mundane world, skillfully guiding sentient beings in the worldly realm according to whether their faculties are sharp or dull; suffering knowledge is the true contemplation of the world of the five aggregates, knowing through wisdom that all dharmas in the world are suffering and should not be grasped.