瑜伽師地論 有尋有伺等三地 · 相施設建立

The second gate, speaking specifically of the seven characteristics of applied and sustained thought themselves.

In one line: Applied thought takes "volition" as its substance (shallow, not searching deeply), sustained thought takes "wisdom" as its substance (deep, searching deeply); applied and sustained thought are one kind of "discernment," but discernment is not only applied and sustained thought; across the six destinies, applied and sustained thought run from wholly suffering to wholly pleasurable, from disturbing the mind to not disturbing the mind — tracing out the staircase of cultivating concentration.

Three Points of the Eye

1. The seven characteristics: essential nature (applied thought = volition · sustained thought = wisdom) · object (the meaning expressed by name, phrase, and letter) · mode of apprehension (searching is applied thought · examining is sustained thought) · co-arising (bringing up speech) · distinctions (the seven kinds of discernment, as before) · ascertainment · coursing-about. Applied and sustained thought turn along with linguistic concepts — hence cultivating concentration must let them come to rest.

2. Ascertainment: applied-and-sustained thought ⊂ discernment: whatever is applied and sustained thought is necessarily discernment, but discernment is not necessarily applied and sustained thought — measured against supramundane wisdom, all the minds and mental factors of the three realms are "discernment." To transcend applied and sustained thought is the first step; to exhaust discernment (transforming consciousness into wisdom) is the ultimate.

3. The six-destiny faces of coursing-about = why cultivating concentration works: the hells and hungry ghosts (invariably grieving · disturbing the mind) → animals and humans (much suffering, little pleasure · disturbing the mind) → the gods of the desire realm (much pleasure, little suffering · disturbing the mind) → the gods of the first dhyāna (invariably glad · not disturbing the mind). The crux: by the first dhyāna applied and sustained thought are not extinguished, yet they turn from "disturbing the mind" to "not disturbing the mind" — cultivating concentration is not a throttling of applied and sustained thought to death, but the mind of concentration letting them stir no more; deeper still, "with sustained thought only" and "with neither applied nor sustained thought," they come to rest layer by layer.

Appended · Pointers

Applied thought as volition · sustained thought as wisdom, in their substance → the four indeterminate factors in the Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas (this series); applied-and-sustained thought ⊂ discernment → the Consciousness-Only teaching of discernment · transforming consciousness into wisdom. For the opening-up of the doctrine, see the exposition.

The second of the five gates. The preceding gate, "Realms" (界), framed out the scope of the three stages; this gate, "Characteristics" (相), speaks specifically of the very characteristics of the two mental factors "applied thought and sustained thought" (尋、伺) themselves.

Opening: The Seven Characteristics of Applied and Sustained Thought

What is "the designation of characteristics"? The rubric states them: essential nature, object, mode of apprehension, co-arising, distinctions, ascertainment, and coursing-about. One should know that the characteristics of applied and sustained thought are, broadly, of seven kinds: first, essential nature; second, object; third, mode of apprehension; fourth, co-arising; fifth, distinctions; sixth, ascertainment; seventh, coursing-about.

One, essential nature (what applied thought and sustained thought each take as their substance): applied thought is that which, toward its object, "does not search deeply," and takes the mental factor "volition" (思) as its substance; sustained thought is that which, toward its object, "searches deeply," and takes the mental factor "wisdom" (慧) as its substance.

Two, object (what applied and sustained thought take as object): what applied and sustained thought take as object is the "meaning" (the sense) expressed through the name (the name-body 名身), the phrase (the phrase-body 句身), and the letter (the letter-body 文身).

Three, mode of apprehension (how applied and sustained thought operate): upon this very same object, that manner of "searching" is applied thought; that manner of "examining" is sustained thought.

Four, co-arising (what applied and sustained thought bring up together with them): the moment applied and sustained thought stir, they bring up speech (they set language going).

Five, distinctions: there are seven kinds of distinction — with-marks, markless, on down to the undefiled — the same as before (the seven kinds of discernment stated in the Stage of the Mental).

Six, ascertainment (whether applied-and-sustained thought and "discernment" are one and the same thing): Question — are applied and sustained thought just discernment? And conversely, is discernment just applied and sustained thought? Answer: whatever is applied and sustained thought is necessarily discernment; but some discernment is not applied and sustained thought. How so? Measured against supramundane wisdom, all the remaining minds and mental factors within the three realms count as "discernment," yet they are not all applied and sustained thought. (In other words: applied and sustained thought are one kind of discernment; the scope of discernment is wider.)

Seven, coursing-about (how applied and sustained thought operate in the beings of the several destinies): the treatise asks with six questions — the applied and sustained thought of the beings of the hells is of which sort of "coursing" (emotional bent)? What object does it contact? What does it draw forth? With what is it associated? What is it seeking? What function does it set in motion? As it questions for the hells, so it questions likewise for the applied and sustained thought of animals, hungry ghosts, humans, the gods of the desire realm, and the gods of the first dhyāna. The answers are:

• The applied and sustained thought of the hells: it is invariably a bent of grief; what it contacts is entirely unlovely objects; what it draws forth is entirely suffering; it is associated with "grief"; it is forever seeking release from suffering; and what it sets in motion is the function of disturbing the mind. The applied and sustained thought of the hells invariably undergoes suffering, and the applied and sustained thought of the hungry ghosts is likewise so.
• The applied and sustained thought of animals, humans, and the mighty hungry ghosts: for the most part a bent of grief, and in small part a bent of gladness; for the most part contacting unlovely objects, in small part lovely objects; for the most part drawing forth suffering, in small part pleasure; for the most part associated with grief, in small part with joy; for the most part seeking release from suffering, in small part seeking to meet with pleasure; and what it sets in motion is still the function of disturbing the mind.
• The applied and sustained thought of the gods of the desire realm: for the most part a bent of gladness, in small part of grief; for the most part contacting lovely objects, in small part unlovely ones; for the most part drawing forth pleasure, in small part suffering; for the most part associated with joy, in small part with grief; for the most part seeking to meet with pleasure, in small part release from suffering; what it sets in motion is still the function of disturbing the mind.
• The applied and sustained thought of the gods of the first dhyāna: it is invariably a bent of gladness, invariably contacting the inner lovely states, invariably drawing forth pleasure, invariably associated with joy, seeking only "not to be parted from this pleasure," and moreover it no longer sets in motion the function of disturbing the mind (the mind of concentration being already still, applied and sustained thought no longer disturb the mind).

The second gate, "Characteristics," speaks specifically of the two mental factors, applied thought and sustained thought, themselves. The preceding gate used applied and sustained thought to divide out the three stages; only in this gate does the treatise turn back and set applied and sustained thought out clearly — their essential nature, their relation to "discernment," and their differing faces across the six destinies.

First, Getting Applied and Sustained Thought Exact: Applied Thought Is "Volition," Sustained Thought Is "Wisdom"

We commonly say, loosely, that "applied and sustained thought are coarse and fine deliberation." This gate gives the precise definition: applied thought is that which, toward its object, does not search into the depths — its substance is the mental factor "volition" (思); sustained thought is that which searches into the depths — its substance is the mental factor "wisdom" (慧). The one is shallow, the other deep; the one is a coarse stirring of the mind, the other a fine scrutiny. The ancient masters gloss this essential nature with the utmost precision — Dunlun, in his Notes: 「不推度是思，推度是慧，是則尋伺」 tr. "not searching is volition, searching is wisdom — this, then, is applied and sustained thought" (that instant of not searching deeply is "volition"; that instant of searching deeply is "wisdom"). What both take as object is "the meaning expressed by name, phrase, and letter" — that is to say, applied and sustained thought turn along with linguistic concepts, which is why the treatise says that the moment they stir they "bring up speech." This also points to the pivot of the later cultivation of concentration: to still the mind, one must let this applied-and-sustained thought that runs along with concepts come to rest.

An Important Ascertainment: Applied and Sustained Thought Are Discernment, but Discernment Is Not Only Applied and Sustained Thought

Here the treatise inserts a concise piece of analysis: whatever is applied and sustained thought is necessarily discernment; but some discernment is not applied and sustained thought. Why? Because once "supramundane wisdom" is taken as the measuring-stick, all the remaining minds and mental factors within the three realms — however fine — count one and all as "discernment," yet they are not all applied and sustained thought.

This one line draws the scope clear: applied and sustained thought are but one member of the great family called "discernment." What the practitioner is to transcend looks, on the surface, like the coarse and fine of applied and sustained thought, but at the root it is the whole of "discernment" — only when supramundane wisdom comes forth is discernment truly left behind. This is precisely the direction of the Consciousness-Only "transforming consciousness into wisdom": the resting of applied and sustained thought is the first step; the exhaustion of discernment is the ultimate.

The Six-Destiny Faces of Applied and Sustained Thought: A Chart of "Why Practice Works"

Most interesting is the seventh, "coursing-about." Using six questions (the emotional bent, what object is contacted, what is drawn forth, with what it is associated, what it seeks, what function it sets in motion), the treatise arranges the differing faces of applied and sustained thought across the six destinies into a staircase running from suffering to pleasure:

• The hells and the hungry ghosts: applied and sustained thought are invariably of grief, what they meet is entirely bad objects, what they draw forth is entirely suffering, they are forever seeking release from suffering, and they constantly "disturb the mind."
• Animals, humans, and the mighty hungry ghosts: suffering and pleasure mixed, much suffering and little pleasure, still "disturbing the mind."
• The gods of the desire realm: it has turned over — much pleasure and little suffering, yet still "disturbing the mind."
• The gods of the first dhyāna: invariably glad, invariably contacting the inner lovely states, invariably drawing forth pleasure, seeking only not to be parted from pleasure — and moreover no longer disturbing the mind.

What this staircase states is precisely "why cultivating concentration works." Note the turn in the last line: by the first dhyāna, applied and sustained thought have not vanished (the first dhyāna is itself "with applied and sustained thought"), but they have changed from "disturbing the mind" to "not disturbing the mind" — the very same applied and sustained thought are a disturbance within a scattered mind, yet abide without disturbing within a mind of concentration. Practice is not a matter of forcibly throttling applied and sustained thought to death, but of settling the mind so that applied and sustained thought naturally stir no more. As the power of concentration deepens further, reaching "with sustained thought only" and then "with neither applied nor sustained thought," applied and sustained thought layer by layer truly come to rest. This is the graded sequence of practice-and-realization that the three stages of applied-and-sustained thought lay out all along, and from the "coursing-about" chart of this very gate it can already be seen plainly.

Carrying Forward

Applied thought = volition · sustained thought = wisdom, as their essential nature → the definition of the four indeterminate factors (applied thought · sustained thought) in the Treatise on the Hundred Dharmas (this series); applied-and-sustained thought ⊂ discernment, all but supramundane wisdom being discernment → the Consciousness-Only sense of "discernment" and of transforming consciousness into wisdom; the staircase of applied-and-sustained thought from disturbing the mind to not disturbing the mind → connecting on to the three gates of "correct / incorrect attention" and "defilement," and to the later cultivation-and-realization of the meditative absorptions.