The Meaning of the Summit Wholesome Root

Abhidharmakośa-śāstra, Volume Twenty-Three (Part Three)

Original text:此暖善根。下中上品。渐次增长。至成满时。有善根生。名为顶法。此转胜故。更立异名。动善根中。此法最胜。如人顶故。名为顶法。或由此是。进退两际。如山顶故。说名为顶。此亦如暖。具观四谛。及能具修。十六行相。

Explanation: When this wholesome root of the heat (ūṣmagata) stage grows gradually from the low grade to the middle grade, and then from the middle grade to the high grade, until it reaches fullness, another wholesome root arises, called the wholesome root of the peak (mūrdhan) stage. When the wholesome root of the peak stage becomes increasingly superior, it is given a different name. Among these continuously growing wholesome roots, the peak stage is the most supreme, just like the top of a person's head, and thus it is named the peak stage. It is also named the peak stage because the peak stage stands between advancing and regressing—forward is advancing, backward is regressing—and the peak stage is like the summit of a mountain, hence it is called the peak stage. The peak stage, like the heat stage, is capable of fully contemplating the Four Noble Truths, as well as fully cultivating the sixteen aspects of contemplation.

Original text:如是暖顶。二种善根。初安足时。唯法念住。以何义故。名初安足。谓随何善根。以十六行相。最初游践四圣谛迹。后增进时。具四念住。诸先所得。后不现前。于彼不生钦重心故。

Explanation: These two wholesome roots, the heat stage and the peak stage, at the time of their initial arising, appear only when cultivating the contemplation of dharmas (dharma-smṛtyupasthāna). For what reason is it called "initially establishing a foothold"? This means that, accompanied by whatever wholesome root, one first enters the contemplative practice of the Four Noble Truths by means of the sixteen aspects. After the wholesome roots of the heat and peak stages advance further, the cultivation of the four establishments of mindfulness becomes complete. What was cultivated and attained before no longer manifests afterward, because toward those dharmas the mind does not give rise to a particularly reverent and weighty attitude—there is no attachment to the dharmas.