འཕགས་པ་དགངས་པ་ངས་པར་འགྲལ་པ་ཞས་བྱ་བ་ཐག་པ་ཆན་པའ་མད 63

63

the defining characteristic of the phenomena undermining comprehension and so forth, the defining characteristic of the phenomena in harmony with comprehension, and the defining characteristic of the benefits and shortcomings resulting respectively from having comprehension or not.

3. “Maitreya, there are five contexts: the context of the surrounding universe, the context of beings, the context of Dharma, the context of discipline, and the context of methods of discipline.

“Maitreya, you should know that all objects of designation are also included within these three topics.”

“Blessed One, what differences are made between the comprehension of the objects of designation that is produced by the wisdom arising from hearing the Dharma, the comprehension of the objects of designation that is produced by the wisdom arising from contemplating the Dharma, and the comprehension of the objects of designation that is produced by the wisdom arising from practicing mental stillness and insight?”

“Maitreya, through the wisdom arising from hearing the Dharma, the bodhisattvas rely on the literal meaning of words but not on their underlying intent, which they do not understand; although they are in harmony with liberation, their comprehension is [limited to] the objects of designation that do not liberate them.

“Maitreya, through the wisdom arising from contemplating the Dharma, the bodhisattvas do not rely exclusively on the literal meaning of words but also on the underlying intent, which they understand; although they are in great harmony with liberation, their comprehension is [still limited to] the objects of designation that do not liberate them.

“Maitreya, through the wisdom arising from practicing mental stillness and insight, the bodhisattvas, relying on the literal meaning of words or not, rely on the underlying intent, which they understand by means of an image, an object of concentration corresponding to a cognitive object; they are in great harmony with liberation, and their comprehension includes the objects of designation that liberate them. Maitreya, such is the difference between them.”