The Perfection of Wisdom - Skilful in all dhammas


We read in the Khuddhaka Nikaya, Culaniddesa, “Ajita’s Questions”:

“ ‘Kusalo sabbadhammanay’, means:

he is skilful in all dhammas.

He knows that conditioned dhammas are impermanent,

that conditioned dhammas are dukkha and that all dhammas are anatta.”

 

In order to directly understand and penetrate the truth we should study the

Dhamma in all details, so that we come to know the precise meaning of the term

“all conditioned realities”, sankhara dhammas. This includes everything that

appears right now, and this is impermanent, it arises and falls away. The

dhammas which arise and fall away are dukkha and all dhammas are anatta,

non-self. 

 

We read further on about different ways in which realities are taught:

 

“Again, he is skilful in the khandhas (aggregates),

the dhatus (elements),

the ayatanas (bases),

the paticcasamuppada (dependent origination),

satipatthana,

the samma-padhanas (four right efforts),

the indriyas (faculties),

the balas (powers),

the factors of enlightenment,

the path,

the fruit,

nibbana.

This means, he is in this way skilful in all dhammas.”

 
The five khandhas of rupas, feelings, remembrance, formations and  consciousness are present at this very moment. The elements, the ayatanas (bases), the dependent origination, refer to dhammas which are very intricate and arise in interdependence on one another. The four right efforts, the faculties and the powers are related to panna. There must be right effort with panna so that the characteristics which are appearing can be understood. The person who is skilful in all dhammas is, as we read, skilful in the factors of enlightenment which pertain to the realization of the four noble Truths, the magga-citta, path-consciousness, which attains enlightenment and the phala-citta, fruition-consciousness, which is the result of the magga-citta, and nibbana. We are not skilful in all dhammas if we merely listen for a short time.
We read further on:

“And again, the ayatanas (bases) are:

the eye and visible object,

the ear and sound,

the nose and odour,

the tongue and flavour,

the bodysense and tangible object,

the mind (manaayatana) and dhammas (dhammaayatana),

and these are called: all dhammas.”

  The person who has developed panna can, when he listens to the Dhamma and also understands the characteristics of the dhammas that are appearing, realize at that moment the arising and falling away of realities. He is skilful in the ayatanas, such as seeing and what appears through the eyesense at this very moment.


Topic 280