Yogi: Can aversion trigger discriminating wisdom?

Sayadaw: Understand that by the definition of the unwholesome minds, aversion does not know the difference between good and bad, it does not understand the difference between cause and effect, it does not understand what is beneficial and not.

By its own definition, unwholesome minds don’t have the capacity to have discernment. There is no way that an unwholesome mind becomes a wholesome mind. 

There is not a transformation, but what we don’t realize is that there are many qualities of minds in the mind. Wholesome minds that arise can be mixed with aversion – we can have aversion together with intelligence, wisdom and compassion. And, compassion has goodwill towards others and the desire to help others. That’s the work of compassion.

But we don’t see the difference between the minds and we mix it up. We have to learn to recognize that the quality of mind that is unwholesome, that doesn’t like what is happening, is just the aversion. The one that wants to help is the compassion. The one that understands what to do is wisdom.

So, we have to differentiate each one for the function that is their job instead of thinking of it in layman terms like ‘I got angry and decided to do something about it’, but we don’t realize that ‘I got angry’ is just the aversion, but wanting to do something about it, that’s the wisdom. They are each doing their jobs.

If it’s only aversion, it only wants to destroy.