Kuśalamahābhūmikā
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kuśala-mahā-bhūmikā (T. dge ba’i sa mang; C. da shandi fa 大善地法) is translated as "omnipresent wholesome factors," "wholesome factors of wide extent," etc. It refers to a group of ten mental factors "that ground all wholesome (kuśala) activities," according to the Sarvastivada Abhidharma.[1]
These ten mental factors are:[1]
- Śraddhā - faith, confidence, trust
- Vīrya - energy
- Upekṣā - equanimty
- Hrī - shame at doing evil
- Apatrāpya - decorum, regard for consequence
- Alobha - non-attachment
- Adveṣa - non-aggression
- Ahiṃsā - non-harming
- Praśrabdhi - calmness
- Apramāda - conscientiousness
These ten factors were first enumerated in the Prakaraṇapāda.[2] They are also listed in the Abhidharma-kosa and other texts. The Abhidharma-samuccaya adds the factor of "non-delusion" (amoha) in its list of wholesome factors, for a total of eleven factors.
The Buddhist Psychology of Awakening states:
- "Wholesomeness" is defined in the Buddhist traditions as that which truly moves us away from tendencies toward suffering. That’s the concise way it’s defined. Wholesome means truly moving along on the path to cessation of suffering. Wholesome means that which, when cultivated, moves us out of a narrow way of being and suffering and along the path toward full and complete enlightenment. That’s the sole criterion of judging, and only secondarily does it have something to do with social norms and standards.[3]
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. kuśalamahābhūmikā.
- ↑ Buswell & Lopez 2014, s.v. Vasumitra.
- ↑ Goodman 2020, Chapter 12.
Sources
Buswell, Robert E.; Lopez, Donald S. (2014), The Princeton Dictionary of Buddhism, Princeton University
Goodman, Steven D. (2020), The Buddhist Psychology of Awakening: An In-Depth Guide to the Abhidharma (Apple Books ed.), Shambhala Publications