Great Madhyamaka

Commentary on the Uttaratantra Shastra by Asanga (Excerpt)
A Teaching on the Tathagatagarba by Rangjung Dorje
How the Cause of Liberation is Produced by Longchen Rabjam
Great Madhyamaka by Taranatha
The Lion's Roar Proclaiming Extrinsic Emptiness by Mipham Rinpoche
Great Madhyamaka by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
Superiority of Great Madhyamaka to Mind Only by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
The Provisional and Definitive Meaning of the Transmitted Precepts by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
The Enlightened or Buddha Family by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche
Main Points of the Lineage of Vast Activity by Karl Brunnhölzl
The Lineage of Vast Activity Is Not the Same as "Mere Mentalism" by Karl Brunnhölzl

Commentary on the Uttaratantra Shastra by Asanga (Excerpt)

2007-01-04T23:17:00.001-08:00

Those whose minds stray from emptiness are those bodhisattvas who have newly entered the [great] vehicle. They deviate from the principle of what emptiness means in terms of the Heart of the Thus-Gone Ones (tathagatagarbha). [Among them,] there are those who assert the door to liberation that is emptiness due to the destruction of [real] entities, saying, "The subsequent extinction and destruction of an existing phenomenon is perfect nirvana." Or, there are also those who rely on emptiness by mentally focusing on emptiness [as some real entity], saying, "In a way that is distinct from form and so on, what is called 'emptiness' exists as some entity which is to be realized and meditated on." So, how is the principle of what emptiness means in terms of the Heart of the Thus-Gone Ones expressed here?

There is nothing to be removed from it
And not the slightest to be added.
Actual reality is to be seen as it really is—
Who sees actual reality is released.

The basic element is empty of what is adventitious,
Which has the characteristic of being separable.
It is not empty of the unsurpassable dharmas,
Which have the characteristic of being inseparable.

What is elucidated by this? There is nothing to be removed from this basic element of the Thus-Gone Ones that is naturally completely pure, since the emptiness of [all] expressions of afflicted phenomena (the adventitious stains) is its nature. Nor is the slightest to be added to it, since the expressions of purified phenomena (the fact of inseparable dharmas) are its nature. Hence, it is said [in The Sutra of the Lion's Roar of Queen Srimala] that the Heart of the Thus-Gone Ones (tathagatagarbha) is empty of all the cocoons of afflictions, which are separable [from it] and realized as being relinquished. It is not empty of the inconceivable Buddhadharmas, which are inseparable [from it], realized as not being relinquished, and greater in number than the sands of the river Ganga.

Thus, one clearly sees that when something does not exist somewhere, the [latter] is empty of that [former]. In accordance with reality, one understands that what remains there always exists. These two verses unmistakenly elucidate the defining characteristic of emptiness, since it [thus] is free from the extremes of superimposition and denial. Here, those whose minds stray away and are distracted from this principle of emptiness, do not rest [in it] in meditative concentration, and are not one-pointed [with regard to it] are therefore called "those whose minds stray from emptiness." Without the wisdom of ultimate emptiness, it is impossible to realize and reveal the nonconceptual expanse.

A Teaching on the Tathagatagarba by Rangjung Dorje

2007-01-04T23:15:00.001-08:00

I pay homage to all the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas.

"Though beginningless, it has an end.
It is pure by nature and has the quality of permanence.
It is unseen because it is obscured by a beginningless covering.
Like, for example, a golden statue that has been obscured."
That was taught (by the Buddha).

"The element of the beginningless time
Is the location of all phenomena.
Due to its existence, there are all beings
And also the attainment of nirvana."
(That was taught by the Buddha.)

"All beings are Buddhas,
But obscured by incidental stains.
When those have been removed, there is Buddhahood."
That is a quotation from a Tantra.

The "element" has no creator,
But is given this name because it retains its own characteristics.
"Beginningless" means that
There is nothing previous to it.
The "time" is that very instant.
It hasn't come from somewhere else.

"Phenomena" are explained to be
Samsara and nirvana appearing as a duality.
This is named "the ground of the latencies of ignorance."
The movement of mental events, correct thoughts
And incorrect thoughts are the cause of that arising (of samsara and nirvana).
The condition for their causes is taught to be the alaya (the universal ground).

The "location" is the Buddha nature.
Incorrect conceptualisation is completely located within the mind's purity.
This purity that exists in that way
Exists, but is not seen due to ignorant conceptualisation.
Therefore, there is samsara.
If they are dispelled, there is nirvana,
Which is termed "the end."

"Beginning" and "end" are dependent upon conceptualisation.
Mental events are like winds
That cause karma and kleshas to arise.
The (karma and kleshas) manifest the skandhas, dhatus,
Ayatanas, and all the phenomena of dualistic appearances.
Someone who strives for and discards these (appearances) is deluded.
What can be negated through rejecting your own projections?
What can be gained by acquiring your own projections?
Isn't this belief in duality a fraud?

Though this understanding is taught as a remedy,
The understanding of non-duality is not truth.
It is not conception of non-conceptuality.
The understanding of emptiness gained through breaking down forms and so on,
Isn't it itself a delusion?
But it is taught so that attachment to things as real will cease.

There isn't anything that is either real or false.
The wise have said that everything is like the moon's reflection on water.
The "ordinary mind" is called
The "dharmadhatu" and "the Buddha nature."
The enlightened cannot improve it.
Unenlightened beings cannot corrupt it.
It is described by many names,
But its meaning cannot be known through verbal expression.

It is unceasing manifestation.
(It is taught) to have sixty-four qualities.
Though this is (just) a simplified description,
It is said that each of the sixty-four has millions (of qualities).

There are ten strengths:
(1) the knowledge of appropriate and inappropriate actions;
(2) the knowledge of the ripening of karma, (3) of natures,
(3) aptitudes, and (5) aspirations;
(6) the knowledge of the destinations of all paths,
(7) (the possession) of dhyana;
(8) divine sight, (9) the memory of previous lives, and (10) peace.

Due to those (ten strengths), there are the four fearlessnesses:
(1) teaching that one abides in enlightenment, within all phenomena,
(2) teaching the path,
(3) teaching cessation, and
(4) being beyond dispute.

Due to those causes there are these eighteen (distinct qualities):
(1) no error, (2) no empty chatter, (3) no forgetfulness,
(5) continuous meditation, (5) the absence of a variety of identifications,
(6) the absence of an undiscriminating neutrality,
(7) the possession of an undeteriorating aspiration,
(8) diligence, (9) mindfulness, (10) samadhi, (11) prajna,
(12) the wisdom that sees complete liberation,
(13)-(15) every action being preceded by wisdom, and
(16)-(18) time being unable to obscure.
If those thirty-two (qualities) are possessed, there is the dharmakaya.

In our present (state), we deny the (presence of the Buddha nature) and these qualities.
There is no understanding of it as it is.
The non-existent "fabrications" are conceived of as existent.
The "completely true" is not known.
Thus we create our own torment.
Oh! Understanding these qualities of the dharmakaya
To be true is the knowledge of truth,
But in their present state, beings with meagre ability
Reject the knowledge of truth and fabricate untruth,
Which is adopted by the agitation that follows it.

Through knowing (the Buddha nature) as it is
One obtains its powers.
There is nothing whatever to be removed;
There isn't the slightest thing that needs to be added.
The truth is truly seen.
If the truth is seen, there is complete liberation.
The "element" is devoid of the incidental impurities,
Which have the characteristic of being separate.
It is not devoid of the unsurpassable qualities,
Which have the characteristic of inseparability.

In (the Buddha nature) are the qualities of the two form kayas:
The thirty-two major and (eighty) secondary signs.
Those qualities that are attained are one's own body.

The body is not created by self, Phwya, Shiva, Brahma, external real particles,
Or by elements beyond experience.
When the impure development of the five senses,
When the (duality) of perceiver and perceived
Is purified, the name "attainment" is given.

Therefore, the purified nadis, vayus, and bindus are the pure form kayas.
The unpurified are the impure form kayas.
For example, the qualities of an encrusted
Beryl are not evident.
When it is cleaned with yak-hair cloth and salty-water,
And cleaned with vinegar and woollen cloth,
Purified, it becomes the jewel that fulfils all needs and desires.

In the same way, for the purpose of clearing away
The three encrustations of the kleshas, knowledge, and meditation
From the aquamarine of the mind,
There is their total cessation through the paths of accumulation and juncture,
The seven impure bhumis and their pure bhumis.

When incorrect conceptualisation
Encounters correct conceptualisation,
Just as both (kindling-) sticks are burned by the fire, there is freedom
from (both) conceptualisations.
There is freedom from the concepts of elimination,
Remedies, suchness, and the idea of a result.

At that time, the flowers of the physical signs blossom
In the one who has the body of space.

The three phases of impurity, both purity and impurity,
And of complete purity are respectively:
(The phases) of beings, Bodhisattvas, and the Tathagatas.
Though this is what is said, Buddhahood is not newly created.
As it was before, it is the same after.
It is the changeless Buddha nature.
The "change" is becoming free of the stains.

If someone has the negative view
That the Buddha qualities have no cause,
Or conceive them not to be within oneself,
But created by external causes and conditions,
What difference is there between that and the eternalist and nihilist views of non-Buddhists?

The apparent momentary birth and cessation of the "mental events" (of Buddhas)
Correspond to the impure mental events (of beings).
If (the mental events of the Buddhas) were not like that,
The activity of the form kayas would cease.
However, they are not given the name "mental events,"
But (the name) "discriminating wisdom."

The nature of material elements
Is (either) accompanied by clinging (or) their powerful essence is manifested.
There is no difference whatsoever in appearances
To the deluded and the undeluded.
The (only) difference is the presence or absence of clinging to dualism.
If that was not so,
How could the Buddhas apply their activity?

The examples of the wish-fulfilling jewel and so on
Are explained to represent the manifestation of non-conceptual power.
However, this does not exist solely within the beings of others.
If that were so, it would be the wisdom of other beings.
And if that were so, then wisdom would be delusion.

If one states that (wisdom) has attachment for its own appearances,
Then a mirror that has appearances within it
Would (also) have thoughts of attachment.

All the delusions that beings have
Appear to (a Buddha's) wisdom.
The wisdom is however unstained by the delusions.
For example, though the material elements
Appear to originate and cease within space,
Space is unstained, is without any origin or cessation.

In that same way, though the wisdom of the Buddhas
Enters beings, it is not stained.
It is not given the name "delusion."
It is called "(the wisdom of) accomplishment of action."

The mind that has the absence of the three obscurations
Is "(the wisdom of) equality" and it is "peace."
Due to having love and great compassion (for beings)
The sambhoga(kaya), etc., appears to them.
This is stated in order to refute those who say
That the attainment of Buddhahood is the same as the Hinayana (attainment).

Wisdom is the three permanences:
Permanence of nature is the dharmakaya;
Permanence of continuity is the sambhogakaya;
Uninterruptedness is the nirmanakaya.

There are three impermanences:
Mentally fabricated emptiness is impermanent;
The mind of moving thoughts is impermanent;
The composite six consciousnesses are impermanent.

However, the three permanences are present.
The three impermanences are stains.
The three permanences are wisdom.

This is not the same as the Tirthika "self,"
Because that is a mental fabrication and (Buddha nature) is not.
This is not the same as the nirvana of the Shravakas and Pratyekabuddhas
Because (in that) all the qualities of the form kayas are not manifested.
This is not the same as the body of an (ordinary) being
Because it is not created due to the defilements.

It will not change back to the previous state
Because it has manifested exactly as it is.

There will never (again) be the appearance of the stains
Because there is freedom from differentiating conceptualisation.

Therefore, the mind, this Buddha,
Is present now, but is not known.

(From the "Sutralankara"):
"When there is realization, at that time,
Just as when the heat of metal ceases,
And conjunctivitis in the eyes cease,
Because Buddhahood (has occurred), one cannot say that
Mind and wisdom either exist or do not exist."

(From the "Mahayanavimshika"):
"Because in the pristine meaning there is no birth,
There is also no liberation there.
Buddhahood is like space.
It has the same qualities as beings.
As 'this side' and 'the opposite side' are birthless,
The composites are truly empty.
This is the experience of omniscient wisdom."

(From the "Uttaratantra")
"It is subtle, so it is not the object of learning.
It is ultimate, so it is not the object of contemplation.
The dharmata is profound, so it is not the object of
Mundane meditation, and so on."

This experience of wisdom that knows itself,
This ultimate arises through trust in self-origination.
Oh! Because they do not understand this,
The children wander in the ocean of samsara!

Through the power of great Shakyamuni,
Of Manjushri, Maitreya, and Avalokiteshvara,
This was written by Rangjung Dorje.

May all beings have unmistaken knowledge
And full attainment of the Buddha nature!

This completes the definitive presentation of the Buddha nature,
which is the essence of the vajrayana.

SHUBHAM! (Auspiciousness!)

How the Cause of Liberation is Produced by Longchen Rabjam

2007-01-04T23:13:00.000-08:00

If it is asked on what these goodnesses depend, and from what they are produced, the real goodness in accord with liberation, the true path, is accumulated as a cause of separation [from defilement]. Therefore, it depends on the alaya of the various habitual patterns. The fruition of separation attained by this cause of separation depends on the gotra or the essence. The essence is therefore the true cause of changeless liberation. That is the main point:

The gotra is the support of the goodness of liberation.
In having this we have the luminous nature of mind.
Spotless dharmadhatu is the naturally present gotra.
In its apparent aspect this is the two rupakayas.

These are described by the Uttaratantra's nine examples.
This nature of compassion exists eternally.
The Sugata has said that this is the "growable" gotra:
Its root is the luminosity of insight-wisdom.
Its essence is [basic] goodness, that does not have the three poisons.

This is taught as it is in the final Word of the true meaning sutras, the great teachings of all the buddhas. These are:

The Sutra of the Questions of King Dharantsvara,
The Glorious Mala of the Lion's Roar Sutra,
The Sutra Requested by the Girl Precious One,
The Sutra Requested by the Goddess Immaculate One,
The Sutra of the Dwarf Angulamala,
The Noble Complete Great Nirvana Sutra,
The Sutra requested by Maitreya,
The Tathagatagarbha Sutra, and
The Sutra of the Wheel Curing Sickness.

These sutras say that within all sentient beings is primordially existing dharmadhatu, the naturally pure space which is the nature of mind. This is tathagatagarbha. It exists primordially. It is changeless. Its apparent aspect is rupakaya, the source of the major and minor marks. Its aspect of emptiness is dharmakaya, primordially and spontaneously present, free from all the extremes of complexity.

Its qualities, in their spontaneous presence are exemplified by a jewel; in their changelessness, by space; In moistening and pervading all sentient beings, it is exemplified by pure water. The Uttaratantra says:

Like a jewel, space, or pure water;
Its nature has never had kleshas.

Even at the very time it is obscured by defilements, its essence is undefiled suchness. The nature of mind is primordial luminosity. The Gyu Tongpa says:

Mind is not mind. The nature of mind is luminosity.

That is the dhatu of buddhahood, the gotra or enlightened family which all sentient beings possess. The Uttaratantra says:

Because the perfect buddha kaya radiates,
Because of suchness being inseparable,
And because of possessing the dhatu every sentient being
Always possesses the very essence of buddhahood.

This should be known to be the good dhatu of the Dharma. It is fundamentally enlightened from the beginning. The Expressor of Marks says:

Buddhahood is without beginning and end.
The primordial buddha is without any bias.

The Two Examinations says:

Sentient beings are buddhas, in actuality,
But obscured by incidental obscurations.
When these are cleared away, then they are buddhas.

Even at the time of being a sentient being, the nature of mind has the apparent buddha qualities of rupakaya and the buddha qualities of the emptiness aspect as dharmakaya; but they are obscured by unremoved defilements. This is called the dhatu or enlightened family.

At the time of buddhahood mind is free from all defilements is called enlightenment. This difference is merely the appearance or non-appearance of the perfected power of the nature, mind itself. It is not maintained that first, at the time of being a sentient being, the qualities are non-existent, and later they are newly produced. This is because they are changeless. The Sutra of the Supreme Appearance of the Essence says:

The dhatu has no temporal beginning.
It exists as the true state of all dharmas.
Since it exists, all beings have reached nirvana.
As it was before, it will be later.
So it is in the changeless state of suchness.

The luminous nature of mind is not obscured by the kleshas. The Uttaratantra says:

The nature of the mind is luminosity.
It is just as changeless as the space of the sky.
By the rising of false conceptions, desire and so forth obscure it,
But its nature is not obscured by incidental defilements.

The divisions are the primordial gotra and the removable gotra, whose arising depends on clearing away incidental defilements. As for their beginningless existence as dharmin and dharmata, the Nirvana Sutra says:

O son of noble family, the nature of mind is naturally luminous and naturally essenceless. The way naturally pure mind appears is by participating in buddha qualities that blaze with the major and minor marks, and not being separate from them. Nevertheless its empty and apparent natures are distinguished.

The established gotra, superimposed on the primordial gotra, is the incidental upaya and prajña of the four paths of learning. It is produced by mind and so forth. Purification occurs through the activities of the two accumulations of merit and wisdom. The Gandavyuha Sutra says:

Kye, sons of the Victorious One! This which is called the gotra of enlightenment is genuine dharmadhatu. It is vast like the sky. When its naturally luminous nature has been seen, training in accord with the great accumulations of merit and wisdom is purified.

The Uttaratantra says:

Like the buried treasure and the fruit
The two aspects of the gotra should be known
They are the beginningless natural presence
And supremacy that truly is received.

As is taught, arising from these two gotras,
The trikaya of the Buddha is attained.
By the first arises the first of the kayas,
By the second rise the subsequent two.

All the splendor of svabhavikakaya,
Like the precious statue of the Buddha.
Is self-arising and therefore unproduced.
It is a mine of precious qualities.

Because of its great dominion over the dharmin
It is fully expressed, like a universal monarch.
Its phenomenal nature is like a reflection,
With emanation-bodies like forms of gold.

Svabhavikakaya is mind itself, the naturally existing gotra. This is like a naturally existing jewel. From within it comes the gotra with the nature of the dharmin. Here there are the universal monarch of sambhogakaya, and its reflected emanation, arising in dependence on it, nirmanakaya, the supreme emanation for those who are to be tamed. At the time of existing as a sentient being, these do not appear, because defilement obscures them.

By accumulating merit through visualization and so forth, defilements that obscure rupakaya are cleared away. By the accumulation of wisdom through emptiness meditation and so forth, obscurations are cleared away from the dharmata-svabhavikakaya, the body of the self-existing-essence, the nature of dharmas.

The support, the naturally existing gotra, is like clear water. Within it the supported, the established gotra, rises like a variety of reflections. The two exist primordially, like reflector and reflection.

Within the gotra that exists as the ground, the incidentally established gotra exists as the phenomena of knowing mind, as knowable objects. These are respectively support and supported.

The dharmin exists separably with dharmata, the naturally existing gotra. As a separable fruition, it is non-existent. The produced gotra is an antidote to purify defilements. Though the two kayas exist as if they were produced effect and producing cause, there is no actual causation. That gotra makes the perfect buddha qualities be born as the realization of the paths of learning. This is their liberation or ripening as the level of buddhahood. The Mahayanasutralankara says:

The nature and the vast extent of its blossoming;
That these exist as support and what is supported;
Their existence and non-existence; their buddha qualities
Are what should be known as the meaning of liberation.

Sugatagarbha pervades all sentient beings. By the nine examples it is taught to exist within the covering of the kleshas. The Uttaratantra says:

A buddha in a decaying lotus, bees and honey.
Gold within a covering of an unclean nature.
Treasure in the earth, the germ within a fruit,
An image of the Buddha covered up with rags.
A king within the belly of a poor and ugly woman.
Jewels in the earth, within such forms as these,
Obscured by incidental defilements of the kleshas,
This dhatu so exists inside of sentient beings.

These nine examples are related to the obscured dhatu as it exists in ordinary individuals, arhats among the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas dwelling on the paths of seeing and meditation. Ordinary people are those who have not entered into the path; or those who have entered but with their being obscured by the assembly of the four obscurations, passion, aggression, ignorance, and all of these together. From the four examples of the dhatu within them, first, as for the example of how the essence exists when obscured by propensities of desire, the Uttaratantra says:

Existing in a lotus that is evil-colored,
A Tathagata-statue, blazing with a thousand marks,
Having once been seen with the undefiled eye of the gods,
The statue would be removed from its mud-born lotus cover.
For tathagatas dwelling in places without torment
Their intrinsic buddha eye sees what will later be unobscured.
Their intrinsic endless compassion will free it from obscuration.

Second, the example of the dhatu existing in a covering characterized by propensities of aggression:

Like honey that is surrounded by a swarm of bees,
Capable persons have a wish that they could acquire it.
Having seen it is there, by using skillful means,
They completely free it from the swarm of insects,

By the all-knowing eye of the great Sage himself
Having seen that the honey of the dhatu or gotra,
Has obscurations that are like the swarm of bees,
He makes them be completely abandoned and disappear.

Third, the example of the dhatu existing in a covering characterized by propensities of stupidity:

Just as kernels of grain still covered by their husks
Are not usable in that form by human beings,
And they remove the grain from out of the covering husk.
Using the part they want for food and otherwise

Just so, mixed with defiling kleshas of sentient beings,
As many victorious ones as there are in the three-fold world,
If they are not liberated from being mixed with kleshas,
So many will not be made into victorious ones.

Fourth, the example of the essence existing in a covering manifesting kleshas characterized by the arising of passion, aggression and stupidity all together:

Just as on a journey someone's treasured gold
In the confusion might fall into a filthy place,
That dharmin by falling there, would not have been destroyed,
Remaining there like that for many hundreds of years.

By a god who had the pure eye of the gods,
If the gold existing there was seen and found
People would say the god established that precious thing,
This supremely precious thing, that actually was abandoned,

So the buddha qualities of sentient beings.
Have sunk and disappeared among the filth-like kleshas.
When that was seen by the Sage, to purify them of filth,
For all beings he caused the Dharma to arise.

As for the example of the dhatu existing in a covering of habitual patterns of ignorance, in the arhats of the shravakas and pratyekabuddhas:

Just as in the house of a poor man, under the floor,
An inexhaustible treasure might be lying buried;
But he would not know about the existence of the treasure,
Nor would the treasure say to him that it was there;

So with the precious treasure that is within the mind,
Spotless dharmata, with no adding or taking away,
When it is not realized, we experience
The impoverishment of suffering, continuously arising.

If the covering is abandoned when seen, here is the first of the two examples of what the essence is like:

Just as in a mango or in other fruits
There are undestroyed dharmas of seed and germination,
And then if there is plowed earth, as well as water and such,
The stuff of a king of trees will gradually be established.

So in the fruit of the ignorance of sentient beings,
Within the covering skin is the excellent dharma-element
Which similarly depending on the condition of goodness
Will gradually become the stuff of a King of Sages.

As for the second example:

As a precious statue of the Victorious One
Might be covered up in dirty tattered rags,
But still a divine one on the path might see and reveal it,
And then it would be said, "He really dwells on the path."

So the sugata nature, wrapped in beginningless kleshas,
Having once been seen, even within an animal,
There would be a real means by which it could be freed.

From the two examples of how, within the covering of defilements to be abandoned by cultivation, there exists the splendor of the good dhatu of dharmas, as for the first:

Just as an ugly woman with no one to protect her
Staying in a shelter for the poor and homeless
Might hold a splendid king in the confines her womb,
But would not know this lord of men was in her belly.

In the refuge mission of life within this world,
Defiled sentient beings are like that pregnant woman.
With no more than she has, she will one day have her protector.
Gestation of the spotless dhatu is similar.

As for the second example:

Just as gold ore that has a big nugget inside of it
Has a external nature that is very drab,
But, having seen it, those who know it for what it is,
In order to purify the gold that is inside,
Undertake to remove the outer covering.

Having seen the luminous nature that is within us,
Although it has been covered up by the incidental;
The source of seeing what is precious in sentient beings
Removes the obscurations of supreme enlightenment.

Though the obscurations to the pure ground are many, the same text says:

Passion, aggression, and ignorance; active or as an imprint;
What is to be abandoned by seeing and meditation;
The higher bhumis respectively impure and pure,
Many defilements are taught by the covering lotus and so forth.
Transcending all the divisions of closely-connecting kleshas,

By these defilements fools and those with the learning of arhats,
Are meant by respectively four and one of these examples.
Seeing and cultivation, and the pure and impure levels
Have two and two comparisons to their impurities.

Joining these examples of defilements and the essence to a determination of their meaning, the same text says:

Just as when a lotus arises from the mud,
When it first manifests, the mind is very joyful,
But afterward it decays and there is no more joy;
The joy arising from desire is like that.

Just as delicious honey is completely crawling
With irritated bees that sting like an army of spears;
Just so, if aggression rises, and swarms within our minds
Suffering will be produced within our hearts.

Just as the essence, the kernels of rice and other grain,
Is hidden by an external husk which covers it,
So sight of the essential meaning, buddhahood,
Has been obscured within the shell of ignorance.

Just as filth is something that is unsuitable,
So are those who have desire for these poisons.
That is because depending on the cause of their desire,
What is like filth will be arising everywhere.

Just as when wealth is hidden underneath the ground,
One who does not know this will not attain the treasure,
So the self-arising treasure of the nature
Is hidden in the ground of habitual patterns of ignorance.

Just as by gradual growing of the sprout and so forth
The shell of the seed is sundered, and it falls away,
So by seeing the suchness of the natural state
What is to be abandoned by seeing is reversed.

Those who conquer the essence of transitory collections
Through being connected to the path of the noble ones,
Make wisdom the thing to abandon on the path of meditation.
This is taught to be like being wrapped in rags.

The defilements supported by the first seven bhumis,
Are like the defilement found in the covering of a womb.
Non-thought is like being free of the covering of the womb,
This completes the ripening of the insight of wisdom.

Defilements associated with the three highest bhumis
Should be known to like a covering of mud and clay.
By a great being's having attained the vajra view,
The vajra-like samadhi destroys that covering.

Thus the many defilements of desire and so forth
Are like the examples of a decaying lotus and so forth.

The Enumeration of Dharmas of the Complete Passing Beyond Suffering of the Noble Ones says:

Then the Bhagavan spoke to Kashyapa. O son of noble family, it is, for example, like this. A wealthy king had on his forehead a vajra jewel. With other wealthy ones, radiating power, it touched the heads of those other wealthy ones.

Then the jewel on the forehead sunk inside his flesh, and he did not know where it had gone. Because a wound arose, he asked a doctor, "Cure me." From this instruction, a very capable doctor would not treat him for that wound of the jewel going into his flesh, saying these words, "Kye most powerful one, why are you asking about your forehead-jewel?"

That wealthy one, from aversion, would say to the doctor, "Because my forehead jewel should not go anywhere." He would think, "Is it an illusion that it is not there?" This would produce much suffering.

Then that doctor producing joy in that wealthy one would say, "Do not produce suffering like that. If you emanate power, the jewel will sink into your flesh, and a mere reflection will appear externally. If you emanate power, hatred will arise. Though the power of the jewel has sunk into your flesh, you did not feel it."

Not believing these words that were said, the king would say, "Doctor don't lie. If it sinks into my flesh, which is matter and blood that is very opaque, it is not reasonable that a reflection would appear."

Then the doctor would say, "A mirror is likewise opaque, but a jewel will also clearly appear in that. When you have seen that this is like that, a wondrous, marvelous perception will arise."

O son of noble family, all sentient beings are like that. Since they do not venerate the spiritual friend, though they have the buddha nature they cannot see it. It is obscured by passion, aggression, and ignorance. Many different beings who have so been overcome are within samsara and suffering.

From that nature, O son of noble family, from within the bodies of all sentient beings come the ten powers, the thirty-two major marks, and the eighty excellent minor marks.

This has been taught in many ways. The Hevajra says:

Within the body there exists the great wisdom
The truth of this has abandoned all conceptions.
Universal, it pervades all things.
Embodied existence does not arise from the body.

The Precious Mala says:

I and limitless sentient beings are primordial buddhas.
By the power of discursive thoughts there is samsara.
From that I shall produce the supreme mind of enlightenment.

The Wisdom of the Moment of Death says:

Whoever realizes mind is a buddha. Produce the supreme perception by not searching anywhere else.

The Praise of the Vajra of Mind says:

Water that exists within the earth
Exists there pure without defilement.
Just so, within the covering of the kleshas,
Wisdom exists without defilement.

The Secret Essence says:

Throughout the ten directions and four times,
Perfected buddhas are nowhere to be found.
Except for the perfect buddha, the nature of mind,
Do not look for any other buddha.
The victorious ones themselves, if they should search,
Would never find it anywhere else at all.

So it is taught, there and elsewhere. In brief, by the example of the great billion-fold expanse of the three-fold thousand worlds it should be known that within all sentient beings primordially exists the kayas and wisdoms of buddhahood, without adding and subtracting, like the sun and its light. That dhatu is always naturally pure. Its self-nature never changes. Its defilements are false conceptions and mere temporary changes. The commentary on the Uttaratantra says:

O great rishi, The kleshas are darkness. Complete purity is light. The kleshas are weak. Clear seeing is strong. The kleshas are temporary. Natural purity is the root.

So it is taught there and elsewhere. Since the dhatu is primordially without defilement, it is pure. Since it is changeless, it is the true self. Since it always exists, it is permanent. Though it falls into the sufferings of samsara, it is not overcome by them, and so it is the perfection of bliss. The Uttaratantra says:

Purity, self-nature, bliss, and permanence
Are the perfect qualities of the fruition.

The dhatu of the tathagata pervades all sentient beings.. The Mahayanasutralankara says:

Just as space is maintained as eternal and omnipresent,
This too is maintained to be eternal and omnipresent.
Just as space is an aspect found within all forms,
This too is in all the assembly of sentient beings.

When this essence is obscured by clouds, they do not stain it, any more than the sun when is stained when it is obscured by clouds. At the time of primordial buddhahood, the dhatu exists indestructibly and inseparably. The commentary to the Uttaratantra says:

The dhatu of the Tathagata existing in the three occasions is present within all beings. All their kleshas and phenomenal appearances are composed of this changeless reality.

As regards the three occasions, the Uttaratantra says:

These are the three-fold stages of impurity,
Both pure and impure, and being completely pure.
They are said to be the stage of sentient beings,
That of bodhisattvas, and that of tathagatas.

The impure situation is that of sentient beings. That which is both pure and impure is that of bodhisattvas. Complete purity is the situation of the buddhas. As nothing is like the gotra, it cannot be exemplified by anything at all. The same text says:

Since it is completely beyond the world
No example is seen within the world.
Therefore the Tathagata and the dhatu
Are taught to be similar in this respect.

As to how it is incomparable, it is essentially single. Therefore, to explain it by many examples from different situations would be merely partial characterization of it.

It may be asked, "How can this gotra be seen as it is?" Beings who do not see the natural state are accepted by the spiritual friend. Those who have devotion to the vehicles of the shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas; and also beings dwelling on the bhumis realize it in a single way. This realization is one with that of the bodhisattvas dwelling on the tenth bhumi. As for this being the way it really is, it is not seen otherwise even by the buddhas themselves. The commentary to the Uttaratantra says:

Seeing clouds and the sun, whether from here on the earth or from the sky above the clouds, we have a similar apprehension. The noble ones whose eye of the mind is pure also see all this very clearly. Bhagavan, your completely pure understanding of dharmakaya sees all the limitless knowable objects pervading the space of the sky.

The dhatu or essence is the buddha field of the three kayas of one's own mind itself, along with their wisdoms, existing as the circle of the ornament. How is this seen? Since this is buddhahood, it is properly explained in these texts. By having faith in the paths of learning it is entirely apprehended. The former text says:

The absolute truth of the self-arisen ones
Has to be realized by means of faith.
The blazing light in the circle of the sun
Is not seen by those who have no eyes.

The Sutra on the Essence of Buddhahood says:

No matter what they rely on, individual sentient beings, shravakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas do not see the essence of the buddhas as it is. For example, as a blind man cannot see what is painted by others in oil colors. When they say, "It is like this pillar," he touches the pillar with his hands and grasps it as cold. They say, "It is like the wings of a swan." By hearing the sound of the wings of a swan the color of a pillar is grasped as a fluttering sound. He asks, "What is the color of those wings like?" "It is like a conch." By touching a smooth conch, he grasps it as smooth. Just as a blind person does not know colors as they are, seeing the highest nature of buddhahood is very difficult.

It is also very hard for sentient beings to realize it. The same text says:

A king assembled many blind men, and having shown them an elephant. Asked to describe the characteristics of an elephant, those who had touched the trunk said, "it is like a hook." Those who touched the eye said, "It is like a bowl. Those who touched the ear said, "It is like a winnowing basket. Those who touched the back said, "It is like a tray. Those who touched the tail said, "It is like a rope." These blind men were not talking about anything other than an elephant, but they had not understood its totality.

The buddha nature is also like that. Those who have said different things, that it is emptiness, like illusion, luminous and so forth, have not realized its totality.

Beings who are noble ones have a little realization of it, but not as it is. The Nirvana Sutra says:

O son of noble family For example, it is like this. A blind man in order to have his eyes healed went to a capable physician. The physician holding a gold knife removed the hindrance. Having cut off the cataract that obscured the eye. He lifted up a finger. When he showed it, the blind man said, "I do not see it." If he showed two or three fingers, the patient would say, "I see a little bit."

O son of noble family, if this Sutra of Complete great Nirvana is not taught, as many are not among the bodhisattvas, even after they have perfected the ten paramitas, even when they exist on the tenth bhumi, they will not see the nature of buddhahood. It is like that. When this is taught by the Tathagata, they will see it a little.

The birds soaring in the sky above must examine where the pure sky is. If a swan is in the top of a tree it examines whether it is a tree or water, and thinking about the top of a ship on the ocean, or in space, also knows the top of the second. Though by such examples the essence is not seen, it is taught to be the manner of non-ascertaining seeing.

If it is asked, "What is the use of teaching this essence that is subtle and difficult to examine, and that is not seen with certainty while we are sentient beings?"

By teaching that the essence of buddhahood exists within the being of oneself and others, having reversed our discouragement, knowing that establishing liberation is not difficult, we gain confidence. Eliminating contempt for other sentient beings, we respect everyone equally with the teacher as buddhas. Having eliminated not knowing that realization of the kayas and wisdoms exists within one as true reality, prajña realizes the space of the absolute. Knowing the natural state like that, it eliminates glorifications and deprecations of is and is not, eternalism and nihilism. Then wisdom realizes true reality, and the supreme self. Having eliminated pride and desire for anything more, it sees self and other as equal. It is taught that these are the five necessities for the arising of the great kindness for others. The Uttaratantra says:

Like clouds, dreams, and illusions, and the other examples
All the dharmas of knowables are always emptiness.
When this has been taught by victorious ones to sentient beings
Why do they also teach them that they have the essence?

To answer that question:

Contempt for lesser ones and disenheartened beings,
Joining those who grasp untruth to the truth of Dharma,
For those who have abundant faults of ego-grasping
It is taught so that those like that will abandon them.

As for those who wrongly slight the body, those enslaved by the golden net of wrong view, or those who support realization of the true meaning of the sutras and secret mantra with partialities, their "essential meanings" are really provisional. The intention is taught that, "If the cause occurs, the fruition will arise."

It is not like that. That is like the eternal self of the Hindu extremists. "The two kayas of buddhahood arise from the two accumulations. This should be stated as definitely true."

O you with your lotus net of eternalism, you truly do not know the intention of saying that there were three turnings to the wheel of Dharma. You are truly grasping the extreme of emptiness.

The first turning of the word, intended for beginners and those of weak mind, made the four noble truths and renunciation into an antidote. This was so that these beings could eliminate samsara, as a means of complete liberation from what is to be abandoned.

In the second turning, intended for them eventually when they had completely abandoned this and for those of intermediate capacity of mind, he taught the eight examples of illusion and emptiness like space. This was a means of liberating them from the bondage of grasping the antidote.

For those who reached that goal and from the viewpoint of those of the highest powers, he taught the self-nature of knowables as it really is. This is not like the self of the heretics. Their impossible self is a nonexistent, exaggerated nature. They make measures of greater and lesser, and therefore they do not maintain the dharmas of the kayas and wisdoms.

The true meaning is not that self and non-emptiness were taught simply as an antidote for you who are attached to egolessness and emptiness. The Nirvana Sutra says:

O son of noble family, moreover it is like this. For example a woman was nursing her small child who was afflicted by mouth rot, and when the child was struck by sickness, that woman too was tormented by suffering, and sought out a physician. The physician gave her as medicine, oil and milk and shakara. When the child was given this to drink, he instructed the woman with these words. "Because we are giving medicine to this child, for a little while until you, the mother, are cured, it shouldn't be given your milk to drink." So he would instruct her.

Then so that it would not nurse, he put bile on the nipples. The child would have said that her nipple was smeared with poison and not suitable for sucking. The child, tormented by thirst, desired the breast, but having tasted it, would not take it.
After being treated by the physician the woman would wash her breast clean. When the child cried, she would go to it. "Now take the breast and nurse," she would say. That child, though tormented with thirst, because of the former taste it experienced, would not come when called.

In this instance the mother would give these instructions. "You have drunk the medicine I gave you before. With this medicine, until the mother is cured, since it is not proper that the nipple be given for nursing, it was smeared with bile. Now, even taking your medicine, the nipple will have no taste in your mouth." When she said that, gradually approaching as before, the child would drink.

Son of noble family, The Tathagata also, in order to liberate all sentient beings, is the persistent teacher of egolessness to sentient beings. By his having persistently done that, the attitude of "ego" is non-existent. Suffering is completely eliminated. This is in order to clear away the bad views of the worldly charvakas. By meditating on the dharma of egolessness, the body will become completely pure.

Just as that woman, because of her son, smeared bile on her breast, the Tathagata too is like that. So that there will be emptiness meditation, he teaches that all dharmas are selfless.

Just as that woman later washed off the bile and called her child, saying take the nipple and nurse, my teaching tathagatagarbha is like that. O monks so that you will not be afraid, as the mother called the child, and it gradually drank her milk, O monks, you too should make a distinction. Tathagatagarbha should not be said to be non-existent. In my former sayings in the Prajñaparamita Sutras, which taught emptiness, understand that the intention was merely naturelessness. Otherwise by meditating on the emptiness of nothing at all, the fruition produced would accord with the cause, and the kayas and wisdoms would not arise.

Emptiness expresses the idea that the apparent dharmin, from the time it appears, is empty of complexities grasped as one and many, and empty of individual existences, like the reflections in a mirror, that all extremes are completely non-existent, and that non-existent now and primordially, things are not like their confused appearance. The Heart Sutra says:

Form is emptiness. Emptiness is form. Emptiness is nothing other than form. From is nothing other than emptiness. Similarly, feeling, perception, formations, and consciousness are empty.

The Middle Length Prajñaparamita says:

Every dharmin in its own turn is taught to be empty of essence. But if it is also formless, how will there be the view that form is empty?

The Uttaratantra says:

The emptiness that has the supreme of all aspects
Is emptiness that is expressed as form.

And also:

Here there is nothing at all that is to be cleared away,
And nothing that is to be added to what there is.
Within reality the real is what is seen.
If thus we see the truth, we will be liberated.

Of what has the characteristic of separability
The dhatu, pure of the incidental, is empty.
Of that which has the characteristic of being inseparable,
The unsurpassable dharmas, the dhatu is not empty.

Its commentary says:

Why is this taught here? For the reason that it is not contradictory with saying that this dhatu of the Tathagata is by nature completely pure from all the kleshas that are to be cleared away. It is free from incidental obscurations because it is its nature to be so. Within this there is nothing to be added for reasons of phenomenal appearance. Completely undivided dharmata is also its nature. Therefore, sugatagarbha, which has divisions and what is separable, is empty of all the separable coverings of the kleshas. What is indivisible and inseparable from it is the buddha dharmas beyond being encompassed by thought, surpassing the grains of sand in the Ganges. They are not empty.

When something does not exist in something else, the latter is said to be empty of the former, but we must subsequently assert that whatever remains there eternally exists and is known truly as it is.

Though obscurations of the two primordial kayas of buddhahood, are cleared away by the two accumulations, they are not producing cause and produced effect. If they were, dharmakaya and sambhogakaya would be composite productions, and hence impermanent. However, dharmakaya is changeless. The Madhyamakavatara says:

The kaya of peace is like a wish fulfilling tree,
Like a wish-fulfilling, gem it is inconceivable.
Till beings are liberated, it is always in the world,
And it will appear without complexity.

The Uttaratantra says:

The Mara of Death has been conquered by the Lord of Dharma.
Being without essence, he is the permanent lord of the world.

Contradicting this idea that it has cause and effect it also says:

Uncompounded and self-existing,
Unrealized by other conditions,
Having wise and compassionate power,
Buddhahood has the two benefits.

That refutes its having a producing cause and produced effect. Saying it is "egoless," "emptiness," "non-dual," and so forth should be understood in this way. The Great Nirvana of the Noble Ones says:

The secret essence of the Tathagata is shown to be the completely pure buddha nature that neither changes nor transmigrates. If it so exists, it is logically wrong for those who are skilled in prajña not to maintain that. To say it is non-existent would be false speaking, and likewise that it has development or succession. Those of the race of fools espouse nihilism, not knowing the secret essence of the Tathagata.
If it is said to suffer, the blissful nature could not be within the body. Stupid fools think, "All bodies are impermanent." This is like sending the freshness of awareness into clay. Those skilled in prajña make distinctions. They do not say that everything [conncected with body] is impermanent in every way. Why? Because within our bodies there exists the seed of buddha nature.

Stupid fools grasp the thought that all the dharmas of buddhahood are selfless. For those skilled in prajña, selflessness too is just an abstract label. It should be discriminated as having no true existence. Knowing this, one will produce no doubts about the matter.

When someone says that tathagatagarbha is emptiness, stupid fools give rise to views of nihilism and non-existence. Those skilled in prajña make a distinction. Within human beings there is the single Tathagata. It is said to be eternally existent, unchanging, and does not transmigrate.

If by the condition of ignorance, composite things are said to arise, stupid fools, when they have heard this, think that insight and ignorance must be distinguished as two. Those skilled in prajña realize that their natures are non-dual. That which is non-dual is reality.

When someone says that by formations consciousness arises, stupid fools grasp formations and consciousness as two. Those who are skilled in prajña realize their natures as non-dual. Non-duality is purity.

All dharmas have no self, and tathagatagarbha also has no self. When this is said, stupid fools grasp it dualistically. Those skilled in prajña realize that their natures are non-dual. Self and selflessness are intrinsically non-dual. Tathagatagarbha has been supremely praised by the buddha bhagavats as immeasurable, beyond evaluation, and limitless. I too have taught this in all the sutras about the qualities it possesses.

So it should be known. The Sutra of Miraculous Display says:

Those who have wrong craving have the characteristic of never transcending suffering.

When this is taught regarding these and those of the cut off family, we may think that not all beings are pervaded by the garbha; but it is not like that. The intention is that those with wrong craving who abandon the Mahayana Dharma will not be liberated for a long time. Those who are reversed from the path are only temporarily cut off from the family of those in whom the path is established. They are not cut off from the dhatu, the luminous nature of mind. The commentary to the Uttaratantra says:

"Those who have wrong craving have the characteristic of never transcending suffering." This teaches that wrong craving causes hostility towards the Dharma of the mahayana. This is said with the intention that this hostility to the mahayana Dharma will be reversed at another time. Because the dhatu exists with a nature that is completely pure, it is not proper to say that some will never become pure. Therefore the Bhagavat's intention was that all sentient beings without distinction are capable of being completely purified. Though samsara is beginningless, it does have an end. The naturally pure and eternal is obscured by a covering of beginningless obscurations, and therefore not seen, just as gold might be hidden.

Since within the dhatu of dharmas all goodness exists, it can always be purified. Though, samsara is beginningless, it has an end. By that is it established.

The reasons that the two gotras are awakened are two. As for the reason that dharmakaya, the naturally-existing gotra, is awakened, the Madhyamakavatara says:

When people hear about emptiness, as ordinary persons,
The highest joy will arise within them again and again.
Their eyes are wet with tears that flow because of this joy.
The hairs of their bodies rise with wonder and stand on end.

Within them the seed of attaining buddhahood exists!
They have become the vessels of direct and straightforward teachings.
Now the absolute truth has really been taught to them.

As for the reason that the dharmin-gotra of rupakaya is awakened, the Mahayanasutralankara says:

Why do we become connected vessels,
Practicing compassion, and devotion,
With dedication to what is truly good?
This is truly explained as due to the gotra.

Regarding the benefits of awakening the gotra, the same text says:

The lower realms are far off, and liberation is quick.
After that occurs, we experience little suffering.
By sadness sentient beings will then be quickly ripened.

Once the gotra is awakened, from then on we are liberated from the lower realms, like growing jasmine naturally falling to the ground. There is little suffering. By their intense weariness sentient beings will be ripened.

If there were no such gotra within sentient beings, no matter what sufferings arose, we would not be saddened. The attitude that aspires to nirvana and rejects samsara could not arise. The attitude of desiring liberation could also not arise. That in some, without being taught by anyone, compassion for the suffering of others arises, and that some who experience suffering develop renunciation and so forth is also due to the power of goodness of the beginningless dhatu of dharmas. The Uttaratantra says:

If there were no dhatu of buddhahood,
Suffering would never make us sad.
There would be no longing for nirvana,
Or effort and aspiration to that goal.

Being able to see the comparative attractiveness of samsara and nirvana, seeing their faults and virtues is due to the existence of the gotra. If the gotra did not exist, neither would these.

Thus from the extensive teaching that by having the gotra the essence of buddhahood exists within us, now some summary verses are interposed:

Without exception all sentient beings have sugatagarbha.
In the covering veil of incidental obscurations,
Exists the primordial lamp, the luminous dhatu of dharmas.
This is the kayas and wisdoms. This itself is the Dharma.
Nothing can be added, and nothing taken away.

Existing within us, this itself is self-existing.
By devoting ourselves to this essence of emptiness and compassion,
Having attained this dhatu, called by the name "enlightenment,"
We benefit all the host of beings without remainder.

Primordially self-arising, like the sun in space,
When it is obscured by clouds, temporarily dimming the daylight,
Then we experience the dreamlike sufferings of samsara.
So make a powerful effort to clear away obscuration.

Confused incidental appearance, appearances of the six realms,
Are emanated like dreams, from habitual patterns and karma,
Appearing as what never was, is not, and shall not be.
The spontaneous presence of wisdom primordially exists.
It is always there, but nevertheless it is not seen.

As what we perceive in sleep, is not seen to be within us,
Dharmas defiled with false conceptions are vain and futile.
Do not grasp them, but train in the luminous nature of mind.
Grasp the two benefits, bringing wealth to oneself and others.

"If this gotra really exists in everyone, why, pray tell, are we still wandering in samsara?" We exist this way, not knowing our own face, because we vainly grasp at a meaningless ego. We are the lineage-holders of our own kleshas from earlier to later, and as such we are in bad company. We have poverty-mentality. We are conditioned by relative reference point. This is samsara. The Mahayanasutralankara says:

Well-trained in our kleshas, and in bad company.
With impoverished attitude, and relative reference point;
Briefly stated, these are the four that should be known.
These are the degradations that have defiled the gotra.

The Details of Light says:

Primordial luminosity itself becomes ignorant.
So-called "rising" of mind produces attachment to ego.
By these objects being grasped as being so-called "others,"
Beings become confused, within the realm of samsara.
Because of their karma of inappropriate joys and sorrows,
They have the experience of individual beings.

The All-Creating King says:

This phenomenal play, which is wonderful and marvelous,
Is actionless existence, like the space of the sky.
Ignorance without apprehension of anything,
Rises immediately from nothing but itself.

This is the path that is alike for everyone.
This is the nature as it is within all beings.
Defiled by the removable, it therefore is confused.

Also it says there:

By gathering in the light that exists in all directions
To the limits of the four directions, above and below,
In an unpredictable rainbow whose colors are never fixed
The different kinds of gotra will manifest in appearance.
Suchness moves, but particles never move at all.
This is the principle one of all the five elements.

The primordial, luminous nature of mind, empty-luminous self-arising wisdom, is in essence emptiness like the sky. Its nature is luminosity like the sun and moon. The radiance of its compassion arises ceaselessly, like reflections in the surface of an untarnished mirror. The natures of dharmakaya, sambhogakaya, and nirmanakaya come from within sugatagarbha. Sugatagarbha is entirely without bias and partiality. Its empty essence is also the accommodating space of arising. Its luminous nature naturally abides as the five lights, and these naturally appear as objects. Arising as compassion, this cognitive knowledge of insight-wisdom is maintained to be confusion. The Secret Essence says:

E MA HO! from out of sugatagarbha,
From out of our karmic relationships comes confusion.

At this time, the aspect that does not know its intrinsic wisdom to be its own nature is co-emergent ignorance. The aspect that fixates its own projections as other is the ignorance of false conception. Because of not knowing that all this has arisen within the natural state, by the power of attachment of ego-fixation to its objects, habitual patterns of the vessel, the external world, ripen as body. Habitual patterns of the essence, sentient beings within the world, ripen as mind. This is confusion, the various phenomena of the five poisons. The All-Creating King says:

When the nature of me, the doer of all, is not realized,
The dharmas created by me are imputed with fixed existence.
By the force of desire and craving, apparent things exist.
As impermanent illusion their nature is destroyed.
The partless nature becomes like colors to the blind.

The root of confusion is not knowing what we are. The Prajñapramitsamgatha says:

As many sentient beings as there may be,
Of lesser, middle, or of higher rank,
All of these have risen from ignorance.
So it has been taught by the Sugata.

The Prajñaparamita in Eight Thousand Lines teaches that confusion is conditioned by dualistic grasping:

Grasping an I and a mine, beings whirl in samsara.

The Prajñaparamita in Twenty Thousand Lines says:

Childish sentient beings perceive the non-existence of skandhas as skandhas. They perceive the non-existence of ayatanas as ayatanas. They perceive the non-existence of things that arise interdependently as interdependent arising. Therefore, they are completely within the grasp of the ripening karma of all these dharmas that are wrongly perceived in their interdependent arising.

As to how these dharmas arise, from the two ignorances come samsaric formations. From that comes the succession of births of individual beings. Name and form are established. When the body has been established by the embryonic stages from an oval to birth, there are contact, perception, feeling, the six ayatanas, and old age and death. So with the twelve links of interdependent arising, we cycle through samsara.

"The primordial natural state cannot exist within samsara. It is not possibler that sugatagarbha should be samsaric."

Not so! It is like clear, unmuddied water becoming solid rock-like ice, in a transparent winter wind. From the primordial state, conditioned by the arising of grasping and fixation, confused appearance presents itself as a variety of solid things. A song from the Dohakosha says:

When the wind gets into water and thereby stirs it up
The softness of the water becomes as hard as rock.
When we are stupefied through being disturbed by concepts,
What was formless becomes completely hard and solid.

Sugatagarbha is the primordially pure, changeless essence, dharmakaya, designated as the alaya of reality. When this becomes confused, dharmakaya and the connected wealth of the nature of mind, rupakaya and the buddha fields, all the perfect entities of wisdom, are obscured through the confused grasping and fixation of ignorance.

This is the due to the alaya of the various habitual patterns. Within sugatagarbha, since beginningless time, have been planted various seeds or habitual patterns of confusion. Their great power becomes individual experiences of the higher and lower realms, and so forth. When we are within dream-like samsara, fixating I and ego, experiencing desire, aggression, and the five poisons, collecting karma and kleshas, from meaningless confusion, we live with a variety of attachments to truly existing entities.

Day and night the wheel of confused appearance continuously turns, and since its succession is groundless, we are never liberated from it. It is like the confusion of a dream. Wandering because of kleshas, because of good and evil, is like a prince wandering along a road, separated from his kingdom. It is intrinsically a time of suffering. Since the prince was born into a royal family, the happiness of true wealth is naturally within him; but now he suffers temporarily. As to what is taught by this example, the Song of the Oral Instruction of the Inexhaustible Treasury, says:

Beings bound in samsara, as if they were tangled in vines,
In the desert of ego-grasping are utterly mad with thirst:
Like a prince without a kingdom, separate from his father,
Without a chance for happiness, he gives in to despair.

As to the way that tathagatagarbha exists at this time of wandering futilely on the plan of samsara, the Tathagatagarbha Sutra says:

Kye, Son of the Victorious One, it is like this. For example, the measure of a three-fold thousand world system is one billion. That billion perfectly records the number of all worlds of the three-fold great thousand world system. Similarly the measure of the great surrounding wall of the world is written "the great surrounding wall of the world." The measure of characteristics is written "characteristics." The measure of the second or middle thousand world realms is "the second or middle thousand world realm." The measure a thousand world realms, is "a thousand world realms." The fourth thousand world realms is "the fourth thousand world realms." The measure of the great ocean is "the great ocean." The measure of Jambuling is "Jambuling." The measure of the eastern continent Videha is "Videha." The measure of the western continent, Aparagodaniya is "Aparagodaniya." The measure of the northern continent Kurava is "Kurava." The measure of mount Meru is "Mount Meru." The measure of the palaces of the gods of the terrestrial realm is written "the palaces of the gods of the terrestrial realm." The measure of the palaces of the gods of the desire realm is "the palaces of the gods of the desire realm." The measure of the palaces of the gods who course in the form-realm is written "the palaces of the gods who course in the form-realm."

A billion is the measure of worlds in a threefold-thousand world system. A billion is also the measure of such worlds that enter into a single atom. Just as an atom enters into those billion worlds, similarly all the particles of atoms without remainder enter into the measure of that billion.

Then living, active beings are born on middle earth, learned and wise with clear minds. Their eye is the divine eye. Everything is completely pure and luminous. By their divine eye they view phenomena. They see those billion worlds within this small atom. Some sentient beings cannot fully understand that. They think, "Kye ma, by what Mother, by great force of effort was this billion worlds later put in this atom?" All such beings, thinking that, invented a powerful agent. They thought that atom particle had been opened by a subtle vajra to that billion-fold world system in which all sentient beings lived. From one like that, the rest did the same.

Kye Son of the Victorious One, like that the measureless wisdom of the Tathagata dwells within all sentient beings. Within the mind-continuum of all sentient beings it dwells without deception. These mental continuums of sentient beings do not have a measure like that of the wisdom of the Tathagata. Fools bound by grasping perception do not know the wisdom of the Tathagata. They do not know it at all. They have never experienced or manifested it. Seeing how each sentient being is within dharmadhatu is the perception of a master. It is the desireless wisdom of the Tathagata.

Kye ma, these sentient beings do not know the wisdom of the Tathagata as it is. Those sentient beings in whom the Tathagata's wisdom continues to function were directly taught the path of the noble ones. All the perception-created bonds were cleared away. They were eliminated.

Great Madhyamaka by Taranatha

2007-01-04T23:12:00.000-08:00

In Tibet, the Great Madhyamaka, which is Yogacara Madhyamaka, is known as Shentong. It was elucidated in the scriptures of Maitreya, Asanga, Vasubandhu and Dignaga. It was also profoundly illuminated in Nagarjuna's Praise to Dharmadhatu. Shentong was the viewpoint of both masters, Nagarjuna and Asanga.

According to Shentong, all the following are regarded as compounded and transient and thereby unreal: the three uncompounded dharmas, regarded as unconditioned by all schools up to and including Cittamatra, but which are actually imputed and insubstantial; all basic samsaric dharmas such as external objects, the eight types of consciousness, and the fifty one dharmas of mental events; and everything included in the path and result, such as all newly arisen aspects within the fruition of Buddhahood and whatever appears to those yet to be tamed. From the vantage point of ultimate truth, whatever appears as sight and sound, all the phenomena within dharma and dharmata, everything included in subject and object, are compounded and transient and thereby unreal.

The ultimate truth is dharmadhatu and self-luminous awareness, which is non-dual pristine wisdom. This is called uncompounded dharmata. When examined by reason, nothing but this can be established as true. However, in the Rangtong way of comparing it to space, it is insubstantial; for that reason, they assert that it is not ultimate truth.

The Shentong school is faultless, endowed with all good qualities

All Mahayanists accept Mahayana sutras as the words of the Buddha. However, Cittamatrins hold four sutras – Sandhinirmocana, Lankavatara, Ghanavyuha and Avatamsaka – as definitive and the rest of them as provisional. The founders of this school are the five hundred masters of the early Mahayana. The holders of the general Madhyamaka consider the Third Turning sutras as provisional and the Prajnaparamita sutras of the Second Turning as ultimate. The real founders of this school are Buddhapalita and so on as mentioned above. Their followers claim that the eight proponents of the 'free of inherent nature,' like Rahulabhadrika, and Nagarjuna adhered to their view alone.

The Great Madhyamaka bases its view on the sutras of all Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. The view that establishes ultimate dharmata as true is presented in a general way in the following scriptures: Katyayana Sutra, Sunyata Nama Mahasutra and many other sutras from the First Turning; the Maitreya Pariprcchanama Sutra, the Prajnaparamita in five hundred stanzas, and many other sutras from the Second Turning; and also many sutras from the Third Turning including the four important ones mentioned above.

The most definitive presentation of this subject is found in the Tathatagatagarbha Sutra, Mahabheriharaka Sutra, Angulimala Sutra, Srimaladevi Sutra, Mahaparinirvana Sutra, Ratnamega Sutra, Prasanta Viniscaya Sutra and so forth. Based on these sutras, the subtle and distinct view reveals pure dharmadhatu as buddha-nature. In a subtle and distinctive way, these secretly whispered teachings describe pure dharmadhatu, buddha-nature, dharmakaya – permanent and unchanging – with all the ultimate qualities of the Buddha, primordially and naturally present.

Arya Maitreya was the author who elucidated the meaning of the sutras through his literature. In the Abhisamayalankara, he gave a brief and general explanation. In the Mahayana Sutralankara, Madhyanta-vibhanga and Dharmata-vibhanga, he clearly explained this view in detail. The extraordinary and most subtle view of these essential sutras is presented in the Uttaratantra. Asanga and Vasubandhu wrote commentaries on these texts. In Asanga’s commentary on the Uttaratantra, this extraordinary view is utterly clear and elaborate. In their entirety, the commentaries of these two brothers are clearly Shentong Madhyamaka. In Vasubandhu’s commentary on the Prajnaparamita in 20,000 stanzas and his commentary on the Dharmata-vibhanga, the Shentong view is extensive and exceedingly clear. His disciples, Dignaga and Sthiramati, and many other good students in his lineages taught widely the doctrine of general Shentong. The subtle Shentong, since it is difficult to fathom, was spread by ear to ear transmission only to the best students.

Later, there emerged many in India who confused the Shentong Madhyamaka and Cittamatra schools. For that reason, the majority of Tibetans misunderstood them as the same. In Tibet, a variety of scholars translated these texts, but translators like Zugawe Dorje and Tsen Khawoche, who were within Maitrya’s meditative lineage, held the pure view. The omniscient Dolpopa Sherab Gyaltsen spread the lion’s roar of the distinctive and profound Shentong across the land.

The Madhyanta-vibhaga says:

Impure perception exists;
That does not have both.
Emptiness is there,
And that is also there.
It is not emptiness
Nor non-emptiness;
In that way everything is explained.
It is, it is not, it is –
That is the Middle Way.

While defining the relative truth, impure perception which gives rise to appearance exists on a relative level. Subjective and objective appearances which are manifested to that are just imputations of the mind. For that reason, these are not real, even at the level of relative truth. Therefore, relative truth is freed from both extremes. By accepting that conceptual mind only exists on a relative level, one is freed from the extreme of nihilism. By transcending the imputed subjective and objective poles, one is freed from the extreme of eternalism.

The primordial wisdom of emptiness is free of contrivance. It is truly and naturally present within our impure perception and consciousness. When dharmata is covered, obscured consciousness remains as temporary and removable, and the defilements are unreal. Therefore, it is said that ultimate truth is also freed from both extremes.

Because emptiness is truly established and all dharmas – like concepts within the range of subject and object – are unreal, ultimate truth is beyond the extremes of 'is' and 'is not,' eternalism and nihilism. Therefore, subjective and objective duality of the relative level are only deluded appearance. Because nothing is independently established, it is empty of self-nature. When divided into self and other, it is not possible to be another's nature. Therefore, it is never non-emptiness. The nature of primordial wisdom is ever-present and never changes. For that reason, it is not empty of its nature; it is permanent.

Generally, if it is empty and emptiness, it need not be empty of its own nature. Primordial wisdom is empty of all contrivance and dualism which is other than its own nature. That is why it is empty.

Three Natures

The three natures are the imaginary, the dependent, and the perfected.

Whatever is grasped by mental designation is the imaginary nature. Non-entities and the appearances of objects arising in the mind are imaginary. The relationship between name and object, such as grasping the name as the object or mistaking the object as the name, are also imaginary. Outer, inner, fringe and center, big and small, good and bad, space and time, and so on, whatever is grasped by thought is imaginary in nature.

The dependent nature is simply consciousness which arises as subjective and objective poles, based on the habitual tendencies of ignorance.

The perfected nature is self-aware, self-luminous, and free from contrivance. The synonyms of the perfected nature are dharmata, dharmadhatu, suchness, and ultimate truth.

The dependent and imaginary natures are equally false and relative. However, it is necessary to separate them into individual categories. The imaginary nature does not exist even on a relative level. The dependent nature exists on a relative level. The perfected nature does not exist on a relative level, yet it truly exists on an ultimate level. Therefore, imaginary nature exists by designation, and the dependent nature exists as tangible. The perfected nature does not exist in either of these two ways, rather it exists in an uncontrived way.

The imaginary nature is non-existent emptiness. The dependent nature is existent emptiness. The perfected nature is ultimate emptiness.

Lord Maitreya said:

If one understands non-existent emptiness
And likewise existent emptiness
As well as ultimate emptiness,
It is said that one understands emptiness.

The imaginary nature has no characteristics.
The dependent nature has no arising.
The perfected nature ultimately has no nature.
These are the three non-natures.
All phenomena are revealed to be without nature
By establishing the non-natures of the three natures.

According to this system, all phenomena are permeated by emptiness and free of inherent nature; therefore, all phenomena are empty and non-empty. This is the Shentong view. And Shentongpas are the real exponents of 'free of inherent nature.' The Rangtong masters, like Bhavaviveka and Buddhapalita and others, are considered the main teachers of the 'free of inherent nature,' based solely on popular belief.

Is the perfected nature real? Does it arise, dwell, or cease? Does it come or go? Is it changeable? Is it space or time? Is it one or many? It is none of these. If all of those qualities are present, then the perfected nature would not be real. The perfected nature is unborn, non-dwelling, and unceasing. It does not come or go. It is not one or many. It has no cause and no fruition. Within itself, it is free of the characteristics, the qualities, and basis. It is beyond all space and time. Within itself, it is free of all relative phenomena. It is indivisible because it cannot be separated into distinct parts. Because it is the nature of all phenomena, it is ever-present and all pervasive.

The Meaning of the Great Madhyamaka

Secondly, we will discuss the meaning of the Great Madhyamaka.

The Sutralankara states:

In all suchness there is no differentiation.
The Tatagatha itself is purified;
All beings have the essence of that.

Suchness and the Tathagata are of the same stuff which is called buddha-nature. The meaning of Tathagatagarbha, Sugatagarbha, and the essence of the Buddha is the same. That abides equally in the Buddha, in all phenomena, and in all sentient beings. In sentient beings, buddha-nature is present as a seed. In the Buddhas, buddha-nature is completely actualized. The ultimate Buddha is the same as the seed in the mindstream of sentient beings. Therefore, all sentient beings have buddha-nature.

The buddha-nature that is in sentient beings is called gotra and dhatu. If the buddha-nature in the Buddha is not like a seed and buddha-nature in beings is like a seed, are these not two different things? No. Buddha is suchness itself. Even when we talk about Buddhas as people, to them buddha-nature is not hidden and has become actualized. And when we talk about a seed, it gives a meaning of something hidden inside and therefore does not apply to the Buddhas. Although that suchness of the Buddhas always abides in sentient beings, because beings do not see it, it can be described as hidden or as a seed. When the seed is described as unchanging, then it can be said that Buddhas also have the seed of buddha-nature. For that reason buddha-nature is free from both entity and non-entity; that is why it is truly unconditioned and ultimately uncompounded.

In the most profound and subtle understanding, there is no dispute that the dharmadhatu of the Buddha is naturally present with all the qualities of the Buddha. That is inseparable from the dharmadhatu of sentient beings; therefore what is wrong if we say that buddha-nature, which is in sentient beings, is also present with all the qualities of the Buddha.

The Uttaratantra states:

Luminosity is uncreated, inseparable and all-pervasive. Its limitless qualities are more numerous than the grains of sand on the banks of the Ganges.

Thus, if the seed of the Buddha is present with all the unconditioned qualities, it has all the qualities of the ultimate Buddha.

The wisdom of all-pervading space (dharmadhatu) entails only ultimate truth. Although the other four wisdoms are mainly ultimate because of primordial nature, they have certain aspects which are newly attained through the practice of the path and which are relative. The ten powers and the four fearlessnesses are similar. Physical qualities such as the major and minor marks, and the sixty attributes of speech, are relative and absolute in equal aspects. The svabhavikakaya is nothing but ultimate truth. The dharmakaya is predominately ultimate. As long as we do not differentiate real and imputed, sambhogakaya and nirmanakaya are relative and absolute in equal aspects. What appears to others as Buddha activity is relative. The potency and power of wisdom are absolute. The ultimate aspect of the kayas, wisdoms, qualities and activities is primordially present in buddha-nature. When an individual becomes enlightened, these are not newly attained; they are just freed from the stains that obscure them. Whatever is newly attained is the relative aspect. The ultimate aspect of the qualities of past and future Buddhas are the same nature. The relative aspect of those are also the same after one attains enlightenment, but at the time of enlightenment they are different. Therefore, it is impossible to say that the nature of relative qualities is the same or different.

What is newly attained, or generated by practicing the path, is called the ‘generated result;’ it is not real. The ‘liberated result’ occurs just by removing obscurations from the primordially abiding Buddha. It is not really cause and effect. It is just called 'liberated cause' of the path as a description. The liberated result is explained in the Abhidharma: “When intellect is exhausted, that is freedom.” This is not the cessation of all mental activity. In the Dharanisvaraja Sutra it says, “It is primordially exhausted, therefore it is called cessation.” This is the ultimate liberated result and the truth of cessation. If you ask: is removing obscurations the same meaning as ‘exhaustion of intellect’? The answer is no. From the vantage point of dharmadhatu obscurations are not removed; removing is from the individual point of view. One may sometimes use the term ‘exhaustion of intellect’ to refer to the time of enlightenment, but actually there is nothing to exhaust. Dharmadhatu is primordially pure because it has never been stained; for that reason cessation is not newly created by mind. Buddha-nature which is non-dual wisdom permeates all phenomena equally. It is ornamented with all the ultimate qualities of the Buddha. The great perfected nature is unchanging and free from all contrivances; it is endowed with all aspects of wisdom. This is the only unmistaken reality. The wisdom of the noble ones is undiluted and truly established by experience. Since it is unchanging, it is permanent, stable, and enduring.

Buddha-nature and its qualities such as the marks and signs were taught in the tantras of the Secret Mantrayana in their entirety. Whatever is called relative, dualistic, and diluted appearance, or in short, all phenomena of sight and sound, can not stain the perfected nature. The perfected nature does not exist separately as untarnished dharmadhatu but really abides in relative truth. The imaginary nature is just diluted appearance. Since reality is like the hare’s horns, it is unstained because there is nothing to be stained. Buddha-nature, the perfected nature, is never empty of itself. All that is other and relative is primordially empty. Ultimate truth, the perfected nature, is shentong ‘empty of other’ not rangtong ‘empty of itself.' What is relative is empty of other-nature as well as empty of self- nature. What is ultimate is empty only of other nature. This way of teaching is called Shentong Madhyamaka.

In order to overcome the attachment to worldly dharmas, we practice the renunciation of suffering and impermanence. To renounce selfishness one should bring bodhicitta into the mindstream. In order to renounce gross attachments to relative phenomena, we meditate on understanding relative truth as unreal. In order to renounce subtle attachments we meditate on non-thought by dissolving relative thoughts into space. Through practice we will gradually see the face of buddha-nature, which is non-thought. Whatever path we practice, the purpose is to see the perfected nature.

Refuting Criticism

Now, we will refute the criticisms by others of Shentong Madhyamaka. Although criticisms are addressed in detail in The Ornament of Shentong Madhyamaka, here I include an abbreviated version. Others quote the Lankavatara Sutra to say, “If buddha-nature has all the marks and signs, how is it different from the ‘soul,' or Atman, of non-buddhists? In reply the Buddha said, “It is not the same because of emptiness.” Others interpret the sutras to say that buddha-nature is unreal; if it had marks and signs it would be analogous to non-buddhist traditions. Buddha-nature, they say, is insubstantial like space. To them we reply: to think everything which is empty is untrue, insubstantial and non-existent is a fault of attachment to your own inadequate doctrine.

The reason buddha-nature is not analogous to non-buddhist traditions is this: the sutras say the marks are empty, but they do not say that they are not present. To say that buddha-nature with its radiant, perfected marks and signs is provisional is nothing more than deception. Anyone who criticizes the proponents of ‘the permanent nature’ as non-buddhist likewise reject the Tatagathagharba sutras. It is also incorrect to say that the meaning of permanence refers to continuity. The continuum-permanence is even in samsara and duality. If permanence referred to continuity, then all compounded things would be permanent.

If you think that first it was defiled and later it became pure, it follows that it is impermanent. From the vantage point of dharmata, first it was not impure, later it did not become pure. Whether it seems defiled or pure depends on the individual’s mind-stream. Just because individuals change their perspective, it is wrong to conclude that dharmata is changed.

If people find it unreasonable that sentient beings have the Buddha’s wisdom in their mind-stream, they are contradicting the Buddha’s direct statement “The Buddha’s wisdom resides in the multitude of sentient beings.” They also say: it is incorrect that sentient beings have the Buddha’s qualities, because if sentient beings have the ten powers of wisdom in their mind-stream, then they should have the full power of discrimination. What they say is not correct, because we do not assert that everything in the mind-stream of sentient beings is Buddha. If buddha-nature and its qualities, remaining in the mind-stream of sentient beings, makes sentient beings omniscient, then the Buddha sitting on his throne, would also make the throne omniscient. Of course the eight consciousnesses, in the mind-stream of sentient beings, are not Buddha. The Buddha which remains in the mind-stream of sentient beings is not there as something within something else on a relative level. It remains there as its nature on an ultimate level.

Let’s briefly review the Three Turnings of the Wheel of Dharma. First is the Turning of the Four Noble Truths. Second is the Turning of Emptiness. The Third is the Turning of Full Revelation. The First Turning consists of the sutras taught to the Shravakas, or the sutras of the Hinayana. The Second Turning consists of the root sutras of the Mahayana, but certain points are not fully revealed. The Third Turning is like the commentary of the Second where the most definitive teachings are fully revealed.

Each of three natures – imaginary, dependent, and perfected – have two aspects. The imaginary nature consists of the subjective and objective imaginary natures. The dependent nature consists of the impure and pure dependent nature. The perfected nature consists of the unchanging nature and the unmistaken nature.

The actual imaginary nature is the objective aspect. The actual perfected nature is the unchanging aspect and not the unmistaken aspect, though they are the same nature. The unmistaken aspect of perfected nature is included in the pure dependent nature. The subjective part of the imaginary nature and the dependent nature are identical. If examined by reason, the actual dependent nature is included in the imaginary nature but its natural state is the perfected nature. Therefore, all phenomena are included in the perfected and imaginary natures. All phenomena of samsara and nirvana are classified into the three natures or the two truths, relative consciousness and ultimate wisdom. Relative perception of form, sound, touch, and smell and so forth is unreal. The natural state of the sights and sounds are within the aspect of primordial wisdom. Therefore, they are real. In this way there is no contradiction between relative and ultimate truth.

As requested by some interested students, this was spoken by Taranatha at the hermitage of Cholong Changtse, the North Peak of the Dharma Valley.

May it be Auspicious!

Translated by the Tibetan IV class at The Naropa University under the guidance of Ringu Tulku. May 1, 1999

The Lion's Roar Proclaiming Extrinsic Emptiness by Mipham Rinpoche

2007-01-04T23:11:00.000-08:00

Read or save as PDF: The Lion's Roar Proclaiming Extrinsic Emptiness

Namo Guru Manjusriye.

Respectfully I bow to the lion among men, the Friend of the Sun,
To the great compassionate Maitreya, Asanga, and their lineage,
And to the one who makes the fearless lions roar in Tibet!
The secret treasure of infinite victors and their scions,
The essential nectar of instructions of sutras and tantras of definitive meaning,
The finest of the experience and realization of
The learned and accomplished ones of India and Tibet:
Here I will explain a little of the profound Madhyamika view.

Here, the philosophers of extrinsic emptiness take the sutras of the final turning, which teach the irreversible, fearless, permanent path of the Victor's teaching of definitive meaning, the Mahayanottaratantrasastra, which is the teaching of the regent Maitreya, the lord of the tenth bhumi, the profound meanings taught by the sublime Asanga and his brother, the scriptural commentaries on the definitive meaning such as the Lord Nagarjuna's hymnic corpus, the tantras, such as the glorious Kalacakra, as well as their interpretive commentaries (dgongs 'grel), which elucidate them, such as the three cycles of commentaries on mind (sems 'grel skor gsurn), as having the same essential significance. Although this [extrinsic emptiness], which causes one to enter the textual system of the great Madhyamaka of profound and definitive meaning, has an extremely profound and vast intention underlying it, nowadays those who undertake to expound philosophy say whatever comes into their mind in this regard, whether they understand it or not. They are extremely deluded.

Now, to say a little bit about this system. In order to understand definitively the philosophical system of extrinsic emptiness, one must first understand the absence of inherent existence according to the texts of Nagarjuna. If one does not understand this, one will not understand how deceptive reality is empty with respect to itself, and how ultimate reality is empty with respect to the other. So, one must first understand for oneself the absence of conceptual elaborations.

Having realized the ultimate reality that is free of elaboration by means of subjective (yul can) non-conceptual gnosis, the subject and object that are concordant with respect to the abiding nature of things and the way things appear are together called "ultimate" (paramartha = don dam), and the subject and object for which abiding nature and appearance are discordant are called "superficial" (samvrti = kun rdzob). If one analyzes with a conventional validating cognition, they are, respectively, nonmistaken and mistaken, or nondelusory and delusory. So, whatever is neither mistaken nor delusory is ultimate, and the other is considered deceptive.

Both of these ways of positing the two truths—the well-known distinction of appearance and emptiness, and the harmony and discordance of the abiding and apparent natures as just explained—were originally explained in the sutras and great treatises. These are not the original creations of the philosophers of extrinsic emptiness. They were explained in the Dharmadharmatavibbanga and in the Mahayanottaratantra:

It is empty of adventitious elements,
Which have the character of being differentiable;
It is not empty of the unsurpassable dharmas,
Which have the character of being nondifferentiable.

And, in its commentary:

The Buddha essence is capable of being differentiated and separated; it is empty of the shell of negative emotions. It is not empty of the Buddha qualities, which are not differentiable, not separate, and are more numerous than the sands in the river Ganges.

The great system-builder Nagarjuna said:

Just as the stains on a fireproof cloth
That is sullied by various stains
Are consumed when the cloth is placed in fire
While the cloth itself is not,
Likewise the stains of the luminous mind
Are consumed in the fire of wisdom;
They are not luminous.
All the sutras on emptiness
Taught by the Victor
Counteract negative emotions;
They do not harm that element [of luminosity].

The Dharma king, the awareness-holder Manjusrikirti said:

The emptiness [that results from] analysis of the aggregates
Is without essence, like the plantain tree;
The emptiness supremely endowed with qualities
Is not like that.

Thus, the statement "not empty from its own side" must by all means be understood in terms of the latter way of positing the two truths; this means that it should be understood in terms of the position of the two truths being mutually exclusive, where one is the negation of the other (gcig la gcig dkag). It must never be understood according to the manner of positing the two truths as different isolates of the same essence (ngo bo gcig dang Idog pa tha dad). Accordingly, the delusory appearances of the discordance of abiding nature and appearance appear from the perspective of delusion; because they are not established that way in reality, they are considered deceptive. The other [namely, the ultimate truth] is established as it appears from a nondeluded perspective; since it is not invalidated by valid cognition, it is said to exist ultimately and to be truly established.

This [ultimate truth] does not have to be a truly established appearance that is separate from emptiness. Being established from the very beginning as the emptiness supremely endowed with qualities—the coalescence of the expanse of phenomena and emptiness—it has already been accepted as the ultimate reality that is the nature of things. Thus, such an ultimate is not empty from its own side. To take a conventional example, a coiled rope is ultimate reality; a snake should be posited as deceptive reality in relation to it. They should be differentiated as conventionally established and nonestablished, respectively, as it is impossible for them to be either both false or both true.

Thus, the ultimate is not empty of its own essence, because the ultimate has both a nondeluded subject and a nondelusory object, because what exists there cannot be invalidated (gnod pa) by a valid cognition that proves otherwise, because it is what is proven after the reasoning establishing emptiness has already been applied, and because in establishing it according to conventional validating cognition, no one in this world, including the gods, can dispute it in accordance with the Dharma.

Since the ultimate is true and nonmistaken from its own side, it is never empty of dharmas that exist in that way; if it were empty, there would have to be some valid cognition that posited it as deluded and untrue, and that is impossible. If it were possible, and the peace of nirvana were unreliable, then this position would, except for devils and tirthikas bereft of valid cognition, not be something for those with faith in this teaching to expound.

This ultimate reality that is the nature of things exists primordially in this way, but the deluded perceptions that do not realize it are validly established as untrue and deluded and in this context are called "deceptive" (samvrti = kun rdzob), which accords with the meaning of the word [samvrti], which is "having obscurations." So, the ultimate is empty of that deception; it is empty of the very subject and object that comprise the deluded perceptions that are termed "deceptive." For example, a rope is empty of being a snake.

Thus, one is very much compelled to accept [this position]. According to other philosophical systems that claim to refute extrinsic emptiness, truthlessness [in Gelug Prasangika] is the probandum of an ultimate analysis, but one should not take it [i.e., truthlessness] as a negandum. Likewise, [according to other Prasangikas such as Go ram pa,] non-elaboration is the probandum of ultimate reasoning but is not a negandum. So, [according to these interpretations,] if one does not uphold the position of truthlessness and the absence of elaboration, one will not be able to establish anything as "our own philosophical system." Moreover, if ultimate reality were empty of its own essence just like deceptive reality, then one would not be able to establish the ultimate as nondelusory and as the abiding nature of things, nor would one be able to establish deceptive reality as delusory and not established by way of its own essence—for emptiness is here understood in terms of what kind of empty basis is empty of what kind of dharma (chos).

If ultimate reality were empty from its own side, there would be no way to distinguish between deluded and nondeluded appearances by means of a valid cognition of truth and falsity, and it would be just like the rope and snake being either both existent or both non-existent. That emptiness of deceptive phenomena definitely qualifies as emptiness, because that true existence [that is negated in relation to conventional phenomena in the Gelug Prasangika system] is not established, and because the apprehension of true existence is a deluded cognition that is misleading and [causes] wandering in samsara. Thus, since that delusory subject and object [bound up with the misapprehension of true existence] are both considered deceptive reality in this context [of intrinsic emptiness], and since [the ultimate] is empty of them [from the perspective of gnosis], if the fact of [ultimate reality] being empty of that [deluded dichotomy of subject and object] did not qualify as emptiness, then the emptiness of true existence would also not qualify as emptiness, and the elimination of the apprehension of true existence would not qualify as meditation on emptiness.

So emptiness, which is the absence of subject and object [established] with respect to the elimination of the elaborations of object and object-possessor, is perfectly complete in this system. Since all elaborations of the dualistic perception of subject and object are comprised by the delusory object and object-possessor, in this context they are posited as deceptive reality. If the fact of ultimate reality being empty of that [subject-object dichotomy] did not qualify as emptiness, then the absence of elaboration would not qualify as emptiness, and the mind that meditates on non-elaboration would not qualify as meditation on emptiness, either. "Well, isn't that ultimate not truly existent and free of elaboration?" How could something that is neither nontruly-existent nor nonelaborated be the ultimate? It is the same as the case of deceptive reality [as considered in our system, for we, like you, accept that true existence does not even conventionally exist]. "Well, if the ultimate is not truly existent and empty, then how can you say that it is truly existent and not empty from its own side?" Here you have utterly failed to understand that, in this context, true existence and non-emptiness exist and are established from the perspective of conventional validating cognition, so this is just ignorant quibbling on your part.

"Well, then aren't you saying that it is both truly existent and not truly existent, and both emptiness and non-emptiness?" How could that be? You consider appearance to be deceptive reality, and emptiness to be ultimate reality. Just as you consider it inappropriate to eliminate truthlessness and non-elaboration when analyzing ultimate reality, in our system, which considers delusion as deceptive reality and nondelusion as ultimate reality, we do not think it appropriate to negate the nondelusory nature of the ultimate, nor to establish nondelusion as true. Thus, the great system-builder Asanga [sic] said, "When something does not exist in something else, that something is empty of it; whatever is left over there exists."

Thus, when establishing a system (gzhung) of proof and refutation, one must by all means refute what is not established by reasoning, and one should accept what is proven by reasoning, without refuting it. If one were to refute everything, one would reverse the valid cognitions that establish the difference between authentic and inauthentic signifying dharmas (rjod byed chos) and signified meanings (brjod bya'i chos), and it would be impossible to develop any kind of certitude whatsoever.

"Well, don't you have a position about the object of individual cognition, the dharmadhatu that is beyond refutation and proof?" Why do you say that? one should ask. "Because you set forth a system that, on the one hand, negates a negandum and, on the other hand, has a position of establishing a probandum, and thus you abide in a state that reifies something without claiming to negate everything."

Since the dharmadhatu that is realized in an individual's experience is beyond refutation and proof, this we accept as the ultimate reality. In the present context [of extrinsic emptiness], such an ultimate, which is already established [for you, as well as for us], is conventionally established to exist as the ultimate, so these two [positions] of refuting one thing and establishing another are not contradictory. If we did not have this position, which proves that ultimate reality is conventionally not empty of its own essence, then the ultimate that is free of refutation and proof would be non-existent [conventionally]. Therefore, just as reversing the conventional position that things have no inherent existence would be tantamount to establishing that they do have inherent existence, if it were not proven that ultimate reality is not empty from its own side, then that ultimate would not be ultimate, but deceptive.

Given that it is already established that the ultimate is not truly existent from its own side and is without elaboration, one might think that the verbal expression "the ultimate is not empty from its own side" disqualifies it from being empty and is the untenable view that existence and peace are not equal and that the ultimate is isolated (rkyang pa), permanent (rtag pa), and unchanging (ther zug). This, however, is a case of not having even a partial understanding of this great philosophical system.

According to the position that emptiness is the absence of true existence and is free of elaboration, how could it have true existence or elaboration? The mere statement that the ultimate is established as the ultimate is a conventional distinction about what is empty and not empty by means of showing that [ultimate reality] is not deceptive reality; this [conventional distinction between ultimate and relative] is the probandum here. If to accept this [distinction] conventionally were to hold a view that reified emptiness as a thing, then to accept the absence of true existence would be to hold an untenable view clinging to emptiness as a nonthing, and to accept non-elaboration would also be to hold an untenable view reifying emptiness as an inexpressible thing.

In brief, in this context [of extrinsic emptiness] the bases of the designations of ultimate and deceptive are, respectively, the absence of delusion and the distinct apprehension of objects by subjects that are deluded about them. The nondelusory ultimate is the object of a nondeluded mind, is true, and is accepted as being empty of the delusion of deceptive reality. Conventionally, it is not empty [of truth], because it is held to be the experience of sublime beings.

If the ultimate were empty from its own side, then it would not be possible to posit it as the basis for the emptiness of deceptive reality. Since it would not be possible to determine the difference between what exists and what does not exist as an object of sublime perception, the ultimate would not be the ultimate, and the deceptive would not be deceptive but would be entirely on the same level as the ultimate.

Therefore, it is completely inappropriate not to accept this position. Whatever faults are found therein would equally apply to the position of those who expound emptiness as truthlessness or non-elaboration. Also, it is not the case— since samsara and nirvana here have become different [because of being] non-existent and existent, respectively—that there is no equality of existence and peace (srid zhi mnyam nyid). It is utterly impossible even conventionally for [something to be] both a deluded samsara and a nondeluded nirvana. Though samsara appears, it does not exist as such; the nature of samsara is the originally pure ultimate reality that abides in great nirvana, and this is the probandum here, which is termed "the equality of existence and peace." In any system where all phenomena abide primordially in the ultimate expanse, this is called "the equality of existence and peace." There is no position whereby samsara and nirvana have a common basis. Also, the ultimate is not empty of being the ultimate, because if the ultimate were empty of itself, it would not be ultimate, but would become the deluded appearances of deceptive reality.

Listen, you [Gelugpas] who would vehemently dispute this philosophical position! Don't you say that a vase is not empty of being a vase, but is empty of true existence? If it is reasonable to accept that all conventionally existent dharmas are not empty of themselves but are empty of something else—true existence—then you must also accept the position that the ultimate is not empty of being the ultimate, together with the reasoning [that establishes that position, because "ultimate" is no less a conventionality than "vase," etc.]!

"If the ultimate is not empty of being the ultimate, then it would not be empty of true existence"—but the same could be said of vases, etc. Thus, although our ultimate is not empty of being the ultimate, since it is empty of deceptive reality, it goes without saying that it is empty of true existence, [which is a] false, deluded appearance. If the fact that we accept that it is empty of all dualistic appearances of deceptive reality [which are constituted by the misperception of true existence] does not qualify our [conception of ultimate reality] as empty, then how could the elimination of the superimposed, isolated object of true existence—which is not empty of all dualistic phenomena of deceptive reality—possibly qualify as emptiness? Just as you say that true existence is negated, but truthlessness never can nor should be negated, likewise we negate the deluded appearances of deceptive reality, [but maintain that] the nondelusory ultimate never can nor should be negated.

In brief, in your line of reasoning that establishes truthlessness without negating deceptive reality, the basis [for the designation] of emptiness (stong gzhi) winds up being deceptive reality, so ultimate reality is not empty of deceptive reality. We say that the basis [for the designation] of emptiness is ultimate reality, and that it is empty of deceptive reality. You maintain an ascertained (phyang chad) emptiness, which is the emptiness of true existence, with respect to a basis of emptiness, which is truthlessness as absolute negation; and [you maintain] an ascertained deceptive appearance, which is not empty from its own side, but is empty of an extrinsic (yan gar ba) true existence. [Thus, in your system] appearance and emptiness, as bases of emptiness, are never mixed together, and the equality of existence and peace is utterly impossible in either of the two levels of truth. Therefore, please look into the important details of this point.

In our system, both objective emptiness and the subject, which is gnosis, are ultimate. In the final analysis, both of these are the nondifference of the two truths of appearance and emptiness, so the ultimate expanse of phenomena is not an ascertained emptiness. It is not empty of the inseparable Buddha bodies and gnoses, and abides as the primordial, spontaneously present essence body (ngo bo nyid sku = svabhakaya). Your ultimate, which is the ascertained emptiness of absolute negation, is a nonentity (dngos med) that is distinct from conventional appearances; it will never, ever be endowed with even a fragment of the Buddha bodies and gnoses. The conventional appearances that are different from it exist, but they are of no use [for understanding] that emptiness, because [appearances and emptiness] are utterly incapable of being combined. Thus, since the object of the root of samsara—which is the apprehension of true existence—does not exist, the subject and object both are deceptive delusions, so in your system deceptive reality should be considered as just true existence and the apprehension of true existence.

[In your system] conventional appearances are not ultimate, because they are not emptiness, and they are not deceptive reality, because they are nondeluded appearances or are immune to ultimate analysis—because, although they are not immune to analysis with respect to true existence, they are immune to analysis insofar as they are not conventionally empty from their own side. Thus, truthlessness and all conventions would be ultimate reality, true existence alone would be deceptive reality, and the apprehension of true existence would be a substantial entity, like vases and so forth.

Though it is reasonable to assert that the object of truly existing appearance and the subject of apprehending true existence together are the deceptive reality wherein the abiding nature of things and appearances are discordant, and that truthlessness and the apprehension of truthlessness are the ultimate wherein abiding nature and appearance are concordant, it is not reasonable to assert that both subject and object without dualistic appearance are the ultimate, and that the existence [of dualistic appearance] is deceptive reality. If vases and so on were not empty from their own side, the dualistic appearance of existents and the mind that apprehends duality would become the subject and object wherein abiding nature and appearance are concordant, and the absence of dualistic appearances and the apprehension of duality would become delusion, wherein abiding nature and appearance are discordant.

In brief, in your system the rational negandum is only true existence; to meditate on emptiness is to abandon only appearances of true existence and the apprehension of true existence, and nothing else.

"In the meditative absorption of those training on the sublime paths ('phags slob kyi mnyam bzhag), why shouldn't all deceptive appearances empty of true existence be nonapparent? Though they are not objects of rational negation, they are negated on the path, and cease to appear."

That path, which is like a shade tree, causes existent things not to appear. If the fact of non-existence appears, why can one not see what exists? Because one sees their non-existence! As it is said, "What is this form of darkness?" Such a path is amazing!

In our system, when the ultimate is seen directly, the domain (gocara. = spyod yul) is non-conceptual wisdom without the dualistic appearance of subject and object. How can it have the appearance of true existence or the apprehension of true existence? How can it have the objects of elaboration and elaborations [about them]? This is designated as the ultimate. Taking that nondeluded ultimate as the basis of emptiness, it is said that it is empty of the subject and object that comprise the deluded samsaric appearances of deceptive reality.

Though the the ultimate essence is beyond elaborations,
When establishing the ultimate, our position is that
What is ultimate and what is deceptive
Are differentiated as nondelusion and delusion;
What is wrong with that?
Although all dharmas are unelaborated because they have no inherent existence,
Those who refute non-elaboration and focus on absolute negation
Maintain a one-sided position of "absence of inherent existence";
They hold these words alone as their philosophical refuge.
But, by taking the position of "truthlessness,"
Even though they do not wish to accept the position
That the ultimate is not empty from its own side,
They cannot avoid it.
If one explains that ultimate reality is not empty from its own side,
It is good to establish the ultimate as the ultimate;
If one were to explain that a vase is not empty from its own side,
All dharmas would be non-empty, would be seen as permanent,
And emptiness would be a trivial nonsubstantiality—
Thus one would establish the basis of the view as a dichotomy of permanence and annihilation.
If the ultimate is established and known by conventional valid cognition
As permanent, real, and non-empty,
One seizes all qualities of the path and eliminates
All base views that cling to the extremes of permanence and impermanence.
"Whatever is permanent is not necessarily a view of permanence,
And whatever is annihilated is not necessarily the extreme of annihilation;
Whatever is existent is not necessarily the extreme of existence,
And whatever is not existent is not necessarily the extreme of non-existence"—
This is [universally] accepted by Tibetans renowned as scholars.
Thus, if one analyzes well with conventional valid cognition,
One can realize with a discriminating mind whether
Permanence, impermanence, emptiness, non-emptiness,
Reality, unreality, existence, and non-existence are extremes.
For the gnosis that analyzes the final ultimate
There are no elaborations of existence, non-existence, and so forth;
This is accepted by all the learned and accomplished philosophers of extrinsic emptiness.
Your position is that, even from the perspective of an ultimate analysis,
There is an elaboration of "truthlessness";
If something exists from the perspective of an ultimate analysis,
And is the object of sublime perception,
Why should it be contradictory to say that it is
Not empty, truly existent, and perceived as such?
Therefore, what contradiction is there in explaining this according to how it is imagined?
If the perception of truthlessness were empty of truthlessness,
How would that be any different than not seeing truthlessness at all?
If you think that truthlessness is seen as empty,
Then why not see a vase and so forth as empty?
You think that vases and so on are empty of true existence but not of themselves—
For if they were, vases and so forth would not exist conventionally—
But why would this be any different than saying that
From the perspective of seeing the ultimate, the ultimate is not empty?

In brief, if someone should ask, "What is the meaning of the statement The ultimate is not empty from its own side'?" we reply that it means that the ultimate reality is not empty of being the ultimate reality. To this they reply, "Then, the ultimate would be truly existent," [to which we reply,] "But if a vase is not empty of being a vase, it would be truly existent!" Now they ask, "If a vase were empty of being a vase, then that vase would become a non-vase, so why wouldn't the vase become conventionally non-existent?" Indeed, it would. Thus, if the ultimate reality were empty of being the ultimate reality, the ultimate reality would become nonultimate reality, [for] this would be the same as the ultimate being conventionally non-existent.

Therefore, if it is reasonable for truthlessness, non-elaboration, emptiness, and the ultimate to be accepted as the probanda of an ultimate rational cognition, but unreasonable for them to be accepted as neganda [of such a cognition], then you must definitely assert that truthlessness and so forth exist. The fact that you do not accept their non-existence means that you accept that [in the perspective of conventional validating cognition] the ultimate and emptiness are true, existent, and non-empty, and do not accept that they are untrue, non-existent, and empty.

The pristine cognition of the equipoise that sees the ultimate must see, apprehend, have as objects, and accept as real the aforementioned truthlessness and so forth. Therefore, it would be wrong to claim that pristine cognition does not see, apprehend, have as an object, or witness the non-existence of that [truthlessness], etc. Everyone accepts that ultimate emptiness is the perspective of sublime vision, exists, is established as true, and so forth.

"If it is accepted as truly existing, clinging to emptiness as true will not be eliminated"—but [you also say] it is not appropriate to negate clinging to it as conventionally true. The thought that what is [in fact] true is established as such is not the clinging to truth (bden 'dzin) that should be eliminated by reasoning or the path, just as apprehending truthlessness as truthlessness is not a negandum.

A true existence that is immune to an ultimate analysis is not something that needs to be analyzed here, for it has already been determined [as false] by the reasoning that establishes the ultimate, and because the emptiness of true existence is included in the explanation of the [ultimate] being empty of deceptive reality. Thus, just as you say that although there is no true existence in truthlessness, the apprehension of truthlessness should never be eliminated, in quite the same way [we assert that] although it is empty of dharmas that are immune to ultimate analysis, the apprehension of that ultimate per se is truly established and not empty of its own essence, is not something to eliminate.

Just as you assert that by analyzing with an ultimate analysis nothing is found to be immune to analysis, and that no dharma that is not negated by such analysis is ultimately established, you likewise maintain that true existence is the only negandum of rational cognition that analyzes the ultimate, and is abandoned by non-conceptual gnosis. [You also say that] if one were to assert that anything that is reified as a dharma is to be negated and abandoned by those two [viz., by analysis and gnosis], that would be the extremely wrong view of Hashang. According to that position, rational cognition (rig shes) and pristine cognition (ye shes) negate and abandon, respectively, the dualistic appearances of deceptive reality. But this establishes well the fact that the objective ultimate that is empty of deceptive reality, the subjective (yul can) pristine cognition, and the ultimate dharmas that are seen by pristine cognition are not negated or abandoned. If all objects (dmigs pa) were always taken as objects of negation and abandonment, all dharmas in their multiplicity and mode of existence (ji lta ba dang ji snyed pa'i chos thams cad) would be the neganda of reasoning and the path, and that would result in a spacelike nihilistic emptiness of complete nothingness.

Thus, by disavowing our position, all those Tibetans who look down on this theory established by exponents of extrinsic emptiness wind up establishing all the theories of extrinsic emptiness automatically. Thus whatever is existent, whatever is non-existent, whatever is real, and whatever is non-empty are not necessarily extremes; nor are all minds that apprehend [things in those ways] the apprehension of extremes. As it is said:

The Buddha thoroughly comprehends what exists as existent,
And what does not exist as non-existent.

Modes of existence, modes of non-existence, what is truly existent and non-existent, what is empty and non-empty, and so forth, are differentiated and systematized by the analytical wisdom of meditative aftermath (rjes thob shan 'byed pa'i shes rab). As these are established by the valid cognition that investigates the meaning of whatever exists, without confusing any conventionalities and differentiating each [phenomenon], they are not objects of negation.

The supreme protector, Lion of the Sakyas,
Sounded this lion's roar to his fearless retinue,
Gratifying those who found confidence in it
With prophesies [of irreversibility].
The rivers of the intentions of
The lord of the tenth bhumi, the regent Ajita,
And those dwellers on sublime ground, Nagarjuna and Asanga,
Are united in the expanse of gnosis;
Any contradictions seen therein
Are just the faults of one's own mind.
Although all dharmas are empty of essence,
The element of luminosity, the bodies, and gnosis
Are spontaneously present, like the sun and its rays.
The meaning of the Great Madhyamaka, the coalescence of appearance and emptiness,
Is not deceptive for sublime perception, and is the ultimate truth.
The dualistic appearances of conventional reality are deceptive delusions;
Opening the eyes of wisdom that discern modes of existence and appearance,
This excellent, supreme explanation is like a bejeweled lamp.
For that reason intelligent, honest, and fortunate ones
Will develop eyes to see this profound meaning;
Dwelling in the mansion of the essence of definitive meaning,
May they be rich with the joys of benefiting themselves and others!
Like the fresh brilliance of the harvest moon, may the virtue of this effort
Permanently banish the burning torment of the five degenerations;
May the lily garden of the scriptures and realizations of the Lord of Sages
Explode into blossom, and may the ocean of liberation swell!
In all my lives may I be protected by the Gentle Lord (jam mgon bla ma)
And perfect my skill in scriptures, reasoning, and personal instructions;
From the heights of the peak of the supreme vehicle,
May I proclaim this fearless lion's roar!

To this, the essential abbreviated kernel of a composition spoken by the unique lion among Tibetan philosophers, the Lord Lama, the omniscient Mipham 'Jam dpal dGyes pa'i rdo rje, I added my own words as the introductory and concluding verses. It was edited (zhal bshus) by 'Jam dbyang bLo gros rgya mtsho at his residence, the college of glorious Shechen Tennyi Dargye Ling. May this cause the tradition of the Great Madhyamaka of definitive meaning to spread in all directions, and to persist!

Great Madhyamaka by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

2007-01-04T21:31:00.000-08:00

Read or save as PDF: Great Madhyamaka

Concerning the subtle, inner Great Madhyamaka of definitive meaning, it is stated in the Jewel Lamp of the Madhyamaka by the master Bhavya (skal-ldan):

The Madhyamaka of the Prasangika and the Svatantrika is the coarse, Outer Madhyamaka. It should indeed be expressed by those who profess well-informed intelligence during debates with [extremist] Outsiders, during the composition of great treatises, and while establishing texts which concern supreme reasoning. However, when the subtle, inner Madhyamaka is experientially cultivated, one should meditate on the nature of Yogacara-Madhyamaka.

In this way, two Madhyamaka are spoken of, one outer and coarse, the other inner and subtle.

Concerning the latter, the regent Ajita [Maitreya] has extensively analysed the meaningful intention of the topics of vast significance which revealed all things in terms of the three essential natures. This he did by means of discourses connected with the irreversible intention of the final turning of the doctrinal wheel and with the utter purity of the three spheres [of subject, object and their interaction].

Whereas in the aforementioned tradition of Mind Only, the dependent nature is the ground of emptiness and is explained to be the absolute, empty of imaginary objects of refutation, here it is the absolute reality (chos-nyid yongs-grub) that is claimed to be empty of imaginary objects of refutation. Accordingly, the components, psychophysical bases and activity fields, which are dependently conceived, are said to be a ground which is empty of the imaginary self and its properties; and the ground which is empty of that dependent ground of emptiness is absolute reality. This ground of emptiness never comes into existence because it is empty of the phenomena of samsara, which are characterised as suddenly arisen and which are divided according to essential stains and substantial faults. However this ground is not empty of the amassed enlightened attributes of nirvana which spontaneously abide from the beginning.

Accordingly, it is said in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.l, v.155):

The seed which is empty of suddenly arisen phenomena
Endowed with divisive characteristics
Is not empty of the unsurpassed reality
Endowed with indivisible characteristics.

And in the Commentary [on the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, Mahayanottaratantrasastravyakhya, T 4025, p.76]:

If one asks what is revealed by this passage, the reason for there being no basis of all-conflicting emotions requiring to be clarified in this naturally pure seed of the tathagata is that it is naturally free from suddenly arisen stains. It contains nothing at all which can be established as a basis for purification, for its nature is reality, pure of divisive phenomena. So it is that the nucleus of the tathagata (tathagatagarbha) is empty of divisions which may be removed and of the entire nest of conflicting emotions, but it is not empty of the inconceivable attributes of the buddhas which outnumber all the sands of the River Ganges and are non-divisive and inalienable.

Now it is also said that the imaginary implies that attributes are without substantial existence, the dependent that creation is without substantial existence and the absolute that ultimate reality is without substantial existence. The first two of these [indicate] that the conceptual aspects of the subject-object dichotomy, which are suddenly arising fictions, are empty of their own essence, and the latter refers to emptiness as the naturally expressed, fundamental essence itself which has no substantiality. Since this [ultimate reality] is naturally pure, it abides, through its function of emptiness, as the enlightened attributes of the buddha-body of reality (dharmakaya), and through its apparitional function as the ground on which the buddha-bodies, fields, celestial mansions and so forth arise. Through its function of awareness, it is spontaneously present from the beginning, free from causes and free from results, because it is the supporting ground of the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses and the like. This natural expression of the buddhas, which is called the nucleus of the sugata (sugatagarbha), does not abide as the seed of creation, destruction, transformation, change, increase or decrease, cause or condition, and so forth, and it is ever uncovered, without being an object of metaphor, thought or expression. It is said in the Play of Manjusri (Manjusrivikriditamahayanasutra, T 96):

Sister, although suddenly arising conflicting emotions do emerge in relation to the natural inner radiance, the natural inner radiance cannot be defiled by those suddenly arisen all-conflicting emotions.

And the regent Ajita has said [in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, Ch.l, v.5]:

Uncompounded and spontaneously present,
Unrealised through external conditions,
Endowed with knowledge, love and power
Is the buddhahood possessing the two benefits.

If one were otherwise to apprehend all things as being exclusively empty of their own essence, in the manner of the proponents of intrinsic emptiness (rang-stong-pa), then it is said that according to the same extreme [argument] the buddha-body of reality would also be empty of itself. The buddha-bodies, pristine cognitions (jnana), fields and so forth would be non-existent, the accumulation of the provisions and purification of obscurations, which depend upon these, would also be nonexistent, and indeed the teachings through which the causal and resultant vehicles reveal all the means of purifying stains, whatever their basis or path, would be diminished. The ground of purification being non-existent, there would be no need to effect purification. Being empty of pristine cognition, there would be no work on behalf of others and no [enlightened] understanding. There being nothing existent, even with respect to the relative appearances of the impure dependent nature, there would also be no enlightened attributes to transform these impurities into the pure dependent nature. There would be no self to become the ground of bondage and liberation, and there would be no doctrine to be realised by each one individually. Many such faults would persist and by nature give rise to the source of unbearable views. This can be known from quotations such as the following from the Sutra of the Dialogue with Kasyapa from the Sublime Pagoda of Precious Jewels (Aryaratnakutakasyapaparivartasutra, T 87):

O Kasyapa, whoever, referring to emptiness, relies upon emptiness deviates from this discourse of mine; theirs is said to be a great deviation. O Kasyapa, it is better to abide in a view [which clings to] individual existence to the extent of Mount Sumeru, than with manifest egotism to adopt a view to emptiness. If you ask why, O Kasyapa, I have explained that although that which arises from all views is emptiness, Kasyapa, that which exclusively regards emptiness is untenable.

If one were, on the other hand, to object that this would not be emptiness, it is not the case, as the Sublime Sutra of the Descent to Lanka says:

If you ask what is the emptiness which is the ultimate reality of all things, the great pristine cognition of the sublime beings, it is as follows. The attainment of the pristine cognition of the sublime beings, which is one's own intrinsic awareness, is empty of the propensities of all views and faults. This is called the emptiness which is the ultimate reality of all things, the great pristine cognition of sublime beings.

This ultimate reality that is empty of extraneous entities (gzhan-stong), is similarly found in sutras belonging to the intermediate promulgation of the doctrinal wheel. It is said in the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness in Twenty-five Thousand Lines:

In this context, if you ask what is the emptiness of other substances, it applies whether the tathagatas have appeared or not. As the abiding nature of reality, as reality itself, the expanse of reality (dhammadhatu), the faultlessness of reality, the nature of just what is, the unmistakable nature of just what is, the unalterable nature of just what is, and as the genuine goal, it abides as just what is. Therefore, this reality, which is empty of extraneous entities, is called the emptiness of other substances. Subhuti, this is the greater vehicle of the bodhisattvas, great spiritual warriors.

And it is extensively mentioned in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, as cited above in the passage (Ch.l, v.155) which begins:

The seed which is empty of suddenly arisen phenomena
Endowed with divisive characteristics...

The nature of this expanse in the minds of sentient beings is like a treasure of precious gems within the earth, uncovered by stains in respect of its own essence, and yet it simultaneously assumes the suddenly arisen forms of samsara, in the manner, for example, of water and ice. It says in the Sutra of the King of Contemplation:

Pure, clear and inwardly radiant,
Undisturbed and uncompounded
Is the nucleus of the sugata.
It is the reality that abides from the beginning.

And in the master Nagarjuna's Eulogy to the Expanse of Reality (v.23):

The water that lies within the earth
Remains immaculately pure.
The pristine cognition within conflicting emotions, too,
Remains similarly immaculate.

Such quotations maintain that the status of the nucleus [of the tathagata] according to the definitive meaning is inconceivable.

This nucleus of the tathagata, with respect to its own essence, is the same throughout samsara and nirvana, without good or evil. As it is said [in the Ornament of the Sutras of the Greater Vehicle, Ch.9, v.37]:

The nature of just what is, in all things, is undifferentiated.
When purified, it is the nature of the tathagata.
Therefore all living beings possess that nucleus.

Such extensive quotations have an intention directed towards the absolute nature, which is unchanging reality. Therefore the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.l, v.51) says:

Subsequently just as it was before
Is the unchanging reality.

When beings are circumstantially classified in relation to the stains which suddenly arise, they fall into three categories. As it is explained in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.l, v.47):

According to their respective order of being impure,
Purifying that which is impure and being utterly pure,
They are called sentient beings, bodhisattvas and tathagatas.

And in the Commentary [on the Supreme Continum of the Greater Vehicle, p.40]:

Therefore, those in the circumstance of being impure are called sentient beings, those in the circumstance of purifying that which is impure are called bodhisattvas and those in the circumstance of being utterly pure are called tathagatas.

Similarly, everything appears according to distinctions such as the three vehicles, to differentiations based upon hierarchical classifications such as the ten levels and the five paths, and likewise to ethical hierarchies such as good and evil sentient beings, pious attendants and self-centred buddhas, and sublime bodhisattvas and buddhas. However, the natural inner radiance, which is the expanse of reality and the ultimate truth, pervades everything without [distinctions between] good and evil or decrease and increase, just as, for example, vases appear to be distinguished according to their quality, there being clay vases, wooden vases, vases of precious gems and so on, while the space within these vases is identical in that it is without qualities. Accordingly, the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.l, vv.49-50) says:

Just as space is omnipresent,
Having a thoughtless nature,
So the natural expression of mind,
The immaculate expanse, is all-pervasive.
Its general characteristic pervades the limits
Of negative and positive attributes,
In the manner of the space
Within inferior, mediocre and superior material forms.

If one then asks what exactly the three circumstances just mentioned are, beings are separated between samsara and nirvana according to the distinction of whether they are liberated or not liberated from the stains that obscure the nucleus. As the same text says:

One covered by the net of conflicting emotions
Is truly called a sentient being.
On becoming free from conflicting emotions
One is called a buddha.

Regarding this threefold circumstance, ordinary persons who are obscured by the great darkness of obscuration have nothing but a portion of enlightened attributes. By contrast, the arhats among the pious attendants and self-centred buddhas are more sublime than them in enlightened attributes since they have gradually reduced the stains covering the nucleus by the greater or lesser potency of the antidotes which have power to remove them. Then, the bodhisattvas appear to be even more sublime, having attained the levels, and surpassed those who have not renounced all aspects of ignorance. Beyond that, the buddhas free from all obscurations appear yet more sublime.

Therefore, this ultimate truth which is the expanse [of reality] is not qualitatively perceived according to its abiding nature by the three lower kinds of sublime being, namely, the pious attendants, self-centred buddhas and bodhisattvas. It is not manifestly perceived by one who abides on the paths of provision and connection except as a mere volition of the scrutinising intellect. Again, although it is partially perceived on the paths of insight and meditation, the expanse cannot be perfectly perceived through these paths, apart from a mere proportion of its enlightened attributes, just as a small child does not perceive the all-encompassing sun apart from the mere glimpse of its rays through an aperture.

As has previously been cited [from the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, Ch.2, v.68]:

Because it is not an object of speech,
Is subsumed by ultimate reality,
Is not within reason's domain,
Is beyond exemplification,
Is unsurpassed and is subsumed neither by existence nor quiescence,
The objective range of the Conqueror is inconceivable
Even to sublime beings.

It is on the buddha level that the natural expression [of reality] is directly and perfectly perceived. As explained in the Commentary on the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (p.77):

Just as the sun in the sky appears
Through an aperture in the clouds,
In this situation you are not fully perceived
Even by sublime beings endowed with pure eyes of
Intelligence; for their intelligence is partial.
However, Transcendent Lord, you who are the pure body of reality,
Pervading the spacious expanse of limitless knowledge
Are totally perceived by those whose intelligence is limitless.

Would it then be, one might object, that sentient beings become buddhas who have accumulated the two provisions and renounced the two obscurations by means of this naturally radiant expanse, which is effortlessly present in the nature of sentient beings? That is not so, because there are two kinds of renunciation, one that is naturally pure and the other that becomes free from the suddenly arisen stains. The former is the reality which, in respect of its own essence, abides without changing in the fundamental nature of great primordial purity. It is said in the Sutra of the Adornment of Pristine Cognition's Appearance which Penetrates the Scope of All Buddhas (Sarvabuddhavisayavatara-jnanalokalamkarasutra, T 100):

Manjusri, since the mind is naturally radiant, it is naturally undefiled by all-conflicting emotions, and is only [provisionally] defiled by all the subsidiary conflicting emotions which suddenly arise. That which is naturally radiant is the very absence of all-conflicting emotions. For one who is without all-conflicting emotions, there is no antidote through which all-conflicting emotions should be renounced.

And in the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness in Twenty-five Thousand Lines:

"Kausika, what do you think of this? Are sentient beings created or do they expire?" He replied, "Venerable Subhuti, that is not the case. If you ask why, it is because sentient beings are pure from the beginning."

And also in the same text:

Since form is naturally radiant, it is pure without all-conflicting emotions. Since feeling, perception, habitual tendencies and consciousness are naturally radiant, they are pure without all-conflicting emotions. Since all manifestations up to omniscience are naturally radiant, they are pure and without all-conflicting emotions.

According to such extensive quotations, natural renunciation is that which transcends the phenomena of consciousness and is a genuine liberation from all obscurations. It is complete from the beginning in ultimate truth because absolute reality is naturally pure.

The second kind of renunciation is the removal of the suddenly arising obscurations by an appropriate antidote. Although, as previously explained, the unactualised enlightened attributes which exist in the ground unrefined by the path are present in the situation of sentient beings, no defect is thereby introduced to this philosophical system because it is not claimed that sentient beings are buddhas free from all obscurations.

In the same way, there are also two kinds of realisation, namely, the naturally present pristine cognition realised through the intrinsic awareness of primordial reality, and the dependently produced pristine cognition realised through the power of meditating on the path. The former is characterised as supramundane, being the naturally present pristine cognition or discernment through individual intrinsic awareness which realises the ultimate reality. Thus [the Litany of the Names of Manjusri, v.l55ab] says:

It is awareness of itself, awareness of others,
And awareness of all.
It is the all-knowing sacred total awareness.

The two fundamental kinds of renunciation and realisation are complete in their own essence, which is the abiding nature of ultimate reality. As the venerable Maitreya [in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, Ch.l, v.154]170 says:

Therein there is nothing to be clarified
And nothing to be minutely established.
Genuinely regarding that genuine reality,
Genuinely perceiving it, one will be free.

The second kind of realisation is that pattern of realisation which is expanded by the power of meditating on the path. It is called the absolute which is incontrovertible because enlightened attributes of obscurationless power are actualised once the two provisions of pristine cognition through meditative equipoise and merit during the aftermath have been accumulated. As the Ornament of the Sutras of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.9, v.22abd) says:

Though there is no distinction
Between the former and the latter,
It is the nature of just what is,
Untainted by all obscurations,
That is held to be the buddha.

Superiority of Great Madhyamaka to Mind Only by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

2007-01-04T16:09:00.000-08:00

This system, according to which the relative is empty of its own essence and the ultimate empty of other entities, is variously revealed in both the intermediate and final promulgations. However, in particular, the presence of profound, radiant and non-dual pristine cognition, the nucleus of the sugata, as the ground of emptiness is extensively taught in the pitaka of the final transmitted precepts, and in those which speak of all things as merely apparitional aspects of mind.

Derived from these [precepts], certain masters of the past have been obliged to admit that the mind is ultimately real and thereby originated the school of the Vijnanavada [proponents of consciousness], which is one of those known at the present day as the four philosophical systems. While not reaching the genuine intention, that mind described as the mind of which all things are merely apparitional aspects partakes of two circumstances, one under which its intention is directed to the consciousness of the ground-of-all, and the other under which its intention is directed to the absolute reality (chos-nyid yongs-grub).

When the former is intended, it is said not to be the ultimate truth because it is impermanent, the bewildered subject and object being relative appearances. For example, the Sutra of the Adornment of Pristine Cognition's Appearance which Penetrates the Scope of All Buddhas says:

Saradvatiputra, that which is called mind includes the consciousness of mind and intellect, the mental body, the faculty of the intellect and the base of the intellect. This is what is called the mind. If you ask how emptiness relates with it, Saradvatiputra, the mind is empty of the mind. In it there is no actor. If there were some actor, then its actions would be experienced as such by others. The mind is not manifestly conditioned even by the mind.

Though it is taught that all things are merely apparitional aspects of mind, there is no occasion so to speak in connection with the ultimate truth, for the pristine cognition (jnana) transcending mind, intellect and all aspects of consciousness is revealed in the ultimate truth. Accordingly, it is said in the Sublime Sutra of the Descent to Lanka:

One who has become without mind, intellect, the consciousness of the intellect, conceptualising thoughts and perception, will become receptive to the uncreated doctrine. O Mahamati, since the doctrine which is apparitionless and divorced from conceptualising thoughts is revealed, this ultimate reality is without order or orderly intervals.

And also [Ch.3, vv.40-1]:

Having renounced the mind and intellect,
Consciousness, perception and thoughts,
The pious attendants who have obtained the conceptualising doctrine
Become the sons of the Conqueror.
Through the distinctions of [buddha-]field and [bodhisattvas'] receptiveness,
[They gain] the virtuous pristine cognition of the Tathagata.

There are, in addition, proponents of the Mind Only philosophical system who hold that consciousness is not transcended in the ultimate truth. But this is simply a subjective perception of samsara, unable to sublimate the world. The ultimate truth is characterised as the uncorrupted expanse, and as the obscurationless pristine cognition which realises it, namely, the supramundane, individual, intrinsic awareness of the sublime beings.

The distinction between these two [views] has been extensively taught in passages such as the following from that [same] sutra of the greater vehicle [Descent to Lanka, p.64]:

In this context, Mahamati, pristine cognition is of three kinds: mundane, supramundane and most supramundane. Of these, that which having been created is destroyed is consciousness; and that which is neither created nor destroyed is pristine cognition. Moreover, Mahamati, that which falls into the dichotomy of being symbolic or non-symbolic, that which falls into the dichotomy of being and non-being, and that which is created from causes of diverse character, is consciousness; whereas that which is characterised as utterly transcending the dichotomy of symbolic and non-symbolic is pristine cognition. And yet again Mahamati, that which is characterised as accumulating them is consciousness, and that which is characterised as diminishing them is pristine cognition.

Now these three kinds [of pristine cognition respectively] generate the realisation of individual and general characteristics, the realisation of that which is created and destroyed and the realisation of that which is neither created nor ceases. The mundane pristine cognition is that of the extremists who manifestly cling to theses of being or non-being and of all ordinary childish persons. The supramundane pristine cognition is that of all pious attendants and self-centred buddhas who openly cling to thoughts which fall into individual and general characteristics. The most supramundane pristine cognition is the analytical insight of the buddhas and bodhisattvas into apparitionless reality. It is seen to be without creation or cessation, for they comprehend the selfless level of the Tathagata who is free from theses concerning being and non-being.

Furthermore, Mahamati, that which is characterised as unattached is pristine cognition, and that which is characteristically attached to various objects is consciousness. And again, Mahamati, that which is characterised as being produced from the triple combination [of subject, object and their interaction]171 is consciousness and that characterised as the essential nature which is not so produced is pristine cognition. Then again, Mahamati, that which is characterised as not to be attained is pristine cognition, since each one's own sublime pristine cognition does not emerge as a perceptual object of realisation, [but is present] in the manner of the moon's reflection in water. On this it must be said [Ch.3, vv.38-9]:

The mind accrues deeds and so forth,
But pristine cognition breaks them down;
By discriminative awareness, too, the apparitionless
Reality and powers are well obtained.
It is the mind which objectifies.

And similarly it is said in the Sublime Sutra of Clouds of Precious Jewels (Aryaratnameghasutra, T 231):

This doctrine genuinely transcends all written and spoken words. It genuinely transcends the entire range of expressions. It genuinely transcends all verbalisation. It is free from all conceptual elaboration and free from all that is accepted or rejected. It is free from all opening and closing, and free from all sophistry. It is not to be analysed and is not within the range of sophistry. It genuinely transcends the range of sophistry. It is non-symbolic, free from symbolism and genuinely transcends the range of symbolism. It genuinely transcends the range of the childish. It genuinely transcends the range of all demons, and genuinely transcends the range of all conflicting emotions. It genuinely transcends the range of consciousness. It does, however, lie within the range of the indeterminate, dynamic, quiescent and sublime pristine cognition. The individual, intrinsic awareness of these attributes is a topic which is taintless, uncovered, pure, bountiful, supreme, sacred, perfect, permanent, firm, enduring and imperishable. Whether the tathagatas have appeared or not, this expanse of reality is exclusively present.

The inconceivability of the ultimate, sublime pristine cognition, extensively revealed by such quotations, does not lie within the path [followed] by the proponents of the Mind Only system. It is admitted that this naturally radiant, intrinsic awareness, the perception free from the subject-object dichotomy, is itself the true basis of buddhahood, and it is held that the subject is dependently real. It is therefore difficult for anyone holding consciousness to exist substantially in ultimate reality to understand literally the selflessness of phenomena. In the same vein the Sutra of the Descent to Lanka (Ch.10, vv.359 and 358) also says:

Being mind only, it is apparitionless.
Being apparitionless, it is uncreated.
These middle paths
Have been explained by myself, and others too.
Realising that there is only mind,
External substances are clarified.
By reversing the pattern of conceptualising thought,
That path becomes the middle one.

So it is that this intention of the final transmitted precepts, abiding in the Great Madhyamaka of definitive meaning, is clearly revealed in the commentaries of great bodhisattvas and in the compositions of the two promulgators who were masters of the greater vehicle [Nagarjuna and Asanga] along with their followers. Although certain masters may well have developed other systems and tenets elsewhere out of necessity, it is difficult to estimate whether they are ordinary or sublime beings. There may well be occasion to speak in the manner [of these masters] owing to various basic intentions once one has reached the level of the sublime ones, but childish persons like ourselves should understand the importance of not accumulating evil deeds which renounce the doctrine, having clung to a single extreme [view].

If this system [of Great Madhyamaka] were also to be described as Mind Only because the three essential natures are taught therein, then the three essential natures are extensively revealed, too, in the intermediate transmitted precepts such as the Intermediate Mother:

Maitreya, regard any imaginary form as not substantially existent. One might regard any conceptualised form as substantially existent because thoughts exist substantially, but do not confer independent status upon it. Then you should regard the very form of reality as being disclosed by ultimate reality, for it is neither substantially existent nor not substantially existent.

And again in the Epitome of the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness in Eight Thousand Lines (Astasahasrikapindartha, T 3809, vv.27-9):

The transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness (prajnaparamita)
Genuinely depends on three teachings:
The imaginary, dependent and absolute alone.
By negative expressions and the like
All that is imaginary is refuted.
By apparition and other such similes
The dependent is correctly revealed.
Through the fourfold purification
The absolute is well known.
Other than the transcendental perfection
Of discriminative awareness,
The buddhas have no teaching.

Similarly, in the master Nagamitra's Introduction to the Three Bodies (Kayatrayavataramukha, T 3890), the three essential natures are also summarised as the causal basis for the attainment of the three buddha-bodies, and in the Commentary [on the Introduction to the Three Bodies, Kayatrayavrtti, T 3891] composed by the proponent of the Great Madhyamaka, Jnanacandra, the same point is explained. Despite all the definitive structures of the three essential natures which have been set forth in all such texts of Great Madhyamaka, those who propound that they belong not to the Madhyamaka tradition but just to that of Mind Only have not even seen these relevant texts. As the Sutra of the Descent to Lanka (Ch.10, vv.256-7) says:

One who relies on Mind Only,
Does not discern external objects.
Relying on the apparitionless,
Mind Only should be transcended.
Relying on the genuine object of reference,
The apparitionless should be transcended.
A yogin who abides in the apparitionless
Does not perceive the greater vehicle.

Accordingly, after Mind Only has been provisionally taught and then genuinely transcended, the apparitionless Madhyamaka is taught; and when that too has been transcended, the apparitional Madhyamaka is revealed. If that is not reached, it is said that the profound meaning of the greater vehicle is not perceived. It is, in general, erroneous to describe everything expressed by the word mind as the Mind Only doctrine; for there are occasions when the abiding nature free from all extremes, [known] inclusively as the nature of just what is, the genuine goal, the natural nirvana, the expanse of reality, the mind of inner radiance, and the intellect of Samantabhadra, is indicated by the word mind. The Long Mother says:

Subhuti, that mind is not the mind.
The nature of that mind is inner radiance.

One should not therefore mistake that which is spoken of as mind-as-such, the inner radiance transcending the mind of samsara and its mental events, for the Mind Only system which does not transcend consciousness. The latter is characterised in the Sutra of the Descent to Lanka (Ch.3, v.32 and Ch.10, v.486) as follows:

Connected with propensities of conceptualising thought,
The diversity which arises from the mind
And appears externally to mankind,
Is the mundane Mind Only [view].

There is indeed a distinction between the mundane and the supramundane Mind Only which is identical in meaning to the distinction between consciousness and pristine cognition, as previously explained. Similarly, those terms revealed in the most profound [sutras] of the greater vehicle which are synonyms of mind should be likewise known. It would indeed be a grave error to equate the tenets of mundane Mind Only with the great Sage's buddha-body of reality (dharmakaya) and the mass of its inseparable enlightened attributes, exceeding all the sands of the River Ganges, which are inclusively known as the uncorrupted expanse, the inconceivable expanse, ultimate virtue, unchanging and firm reality, truth in the ultimate abiding nature of reality, the primordially liberated buddha-body, freedom from all conceptual elaborations of the four extremes, and renunciation of the two concepts of selfhood. These are spontaneously present, utterly transcending the phenomena of consciousness.

In general, those whose intelligence is authoritative, without falling into prejudice, do not differentiate between the two modes of emptiness [rang-stong and gzhan-stong] when abiding in the Madhyamaka [view], which is the summit of the four philosophical systems dependent on different traditions of promulgation which have been precisely enumerated. This is clearly understood through the respective treatises of the two great masters, Nagarjuna and Asanga, whom the Conqueror had prophetically declared would comment on the intention of the definitive meaning; and in conformity with them, it has been similarly explained by the all-knowing dialectician Ratnakarasanti, the venerable Bhavya, the Guru of Suvarnadvipa, the lord Atisa and others. Even the master Haribhadra gives confirmation of it because, when explaining the intention of the Ornament of Emergent Realisation [in his Minor Commentary, T 3791], he resolves that this non-dual pristine cognition alone is the genuinely existing essence. He then asserts this resolution to be made through the sequence of [discriminative awareness] produced by reflection, or through the yoga produced by the meditation of a yogin on the third level. And he additionally confirms this by explaining the recognition of just what is to be pristine cognition, and by explaining, in his commentary on the essential buddha-body (svabhavikakaya), that the remaining three buddha-bodies, through which it abides, are reality.

In this way, the emptiness directly revealed through the intermediate promulgation is claimed to have the definitive meaning of outright explicit negation in order that it might cut through the egotism of the co-emergent intellect in corporeal beings; as well as through the view of self, which is newly postulated by the philosophical systems of the eternalistic extremists; and through the subjective, conceptual elaborations of those of our own [Buddhist] philosophical systems which propound substantial existence. Since [this intermediate promulgation] teaches that one meditates on emptiness when meditating on nothing at all, and realises just what is when nothing at all is perceived, that [reality] and its significance are indeed perceived. The view of this [promulgation] is therefore in the range of understanding or proper realisation of selflessness.

It is difficult to destroy attachment to superficial characteristics (mtshan-'dzin). However, in order for the discriminative awareness born of study and thought to refute it, the Prasangika and Svatantrika reasoning which cuts through conceptual elaboration is sharp. But when the experiences of meditation are established, it is this tradition of the Great Madhyamaka, as taught in the third promulgation, which is supremely profound and vast. This naturally present pristine cognition, the ultimate truth of the naturally pure expanse, is the original abiding nature of all things, and it is the pristine cognition to be experienced by individual intrinsic awareness. As it is said in Rahula's Praise of the Mother [yum-la bstod-pa, T 1127, attributed to Nagarjuna]:

Homage to the Mother of the conquerors of the three times,
Who is the ineffable, unthinkable, inexpressible
Transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness,
Essential nature uncreated and unceasing as the sky,
Within range of the individual intrinsic awareness
That is pristine cognition.

And [in the Sutra of Extensive Play, Ch.25, v.l]:

I have found a nectar-like doctrine
Profound, calm, unelaborate, radiant and uncompounded.

By such quotations, the inconceivable pristine cognition has been illustrated, and through the vision of its nature the ultimate truth is perceived. It is wrong to refer to the mere emptiness, which is nothing at all, as the ultimate truth.

Thus, absolute reality is the pristine cognition of the non-dual nature of just what is. It is indicated by the words buddha-body of reality (dharmakaya) or essential buddha-body (svabhavikakaya) which genuinely transcends the phenomena of consciousness. Yet, also comprised within this doctrine, which is misrepresented as the philosophical system known as the Mind Only, are: the definitive order of the three continua as taught in the way of secret mantra; the definitive order of the ground, path and result of purification and so forth which are adhered to by followers of the greater vehicle in both its causal and resultant aspects, and which include [the terminology] of deities, mantras, embodiments of indestructible reality, supreme bliss, emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects, the imperishable seminal point which is the fundamental support of body, speech and mind; and also the uncommon definitive order of the ground, path and result.

One should know that the intention of the final promulgation, even though not within the path upheld by the proponents of intrinsic emptiness (rang-stong-pa), is without contradiction by examining, one by one, the commentaries of the great lords of the tenth level and the teachings belonging to the tantrapitaka of the way of secret mantra.

Therefore, while the intention of the final transmitted precepts is not the same as that of the mundane Mind Only system in any of its forms, the purposes of the lower phases of the vehicle are gradually gathered within the higher, so that [Mind Only and the like] are not contradictory apart from their vindication of an extreme position. Indeed, one must truly comprehend that the great distinction of the higher over the lower phases is a feature of the precious teaching of the sublime Sugata. Otherwise, after one had been given teaching on suffering, selflessness, impurity and impermanence according to the first promulgation and everything had been established as emptiness according to the intermediate transmitted precepts, if one were then to grasp literally the meaningful intention revealed according to the final transmitted precepts concerning bliss, purity, permanence and true self, without knowing how to accept them with an attitude confident in the four kinds of reliance, one would engage in conceptualising thoughts which would confuse those who require training and wrongly scrutinise the teaching.

With an intention directed toward this, the Commentary on the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (p.74) says accordingly:

To sum up, there are four kinds of individuals who do not possess the eye which perceives the nucleus of the tathagata. If you ask who these four are, they are as follows: ordinary persons, pious attendants, self-centred buddhas and bodhisattvas who have newly entered the vehicle. As it has been said, "O Transcendent Lord, this nucleus of the tathagata is not within the range of those who fall into views concerning worldly existence, who openly delight in deception and whose minds waver towards emptiness."

This same point can also be proven thoroughly from all the transmitted precepts and treatises, but here one will suffice.

The Provisional and Definitive Meaning of the Transmitted Precepts by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

2007-01-04T16:07:00.000-08:00

When these teachings are allocated between the provisional meaning (drang-don) and the definitive meaning (nges-don), the three successive promulgations of the doctrinal wheel have the same common purpose, that is, to purify the stains covering the single nucleus of the tathagata (tathagatagarbha). They differ only in the greatness of their means which respectively purify the gross, subtle and very subtle stains that suddenly arise to obscure it. Thus, by teachings such as impermanence, the first promulgation arouses the mind from samsara and causes it to approach nirvana. In the second, the three approaches to liberation become an antidote to attachment to superficial characteristics, which include the mundane view of self; and the third intends that the extensive way of the sugatas be comprehended through the topics of that irreversible promulgation. This is extensively mentioned in passages such as the following from the Sutra of the Dialogue with King Dharanisvara (Dharanisvarapariprcchsasutra, T 147):

Son of the enlightened family, it is in the same way as, for example, a skilled jeweller, who knows well how gems are refined, takes an impure stone from a species of precious gemstones and, after wetting it in dirty salt water, has it cleaned with goats' hair, and similarly after then wetting it in a beverage has it cleaned with a woollen cloth, and afterwards, in the very same way, wets it in a herbal solution and has it cleaned with fine clean linen; when it is well refined, the stainless gem is said to be a great gemstone of the species beryl . Likewise, when a sentient being has first been induced to enter the Vinaya by the disturbing topics such as suffering and impermanence, and has then been made to realise the way of the tathagatas by means of the three approaches to liberation, he subsequently is made to enter the objective range of the tathagatas by the topics of the irreversible promulgation. To enter in this way and realise reality is to become an unsurpassed object of offering.

Thus, the three successive [promulgations] of transmitted precepts are classified into those of provisional meaning and those of definitive meaning. It says in the Sutra which Decisively Reveals the Intention (Sandhinirmocanasutra, T 106):

The first promulgation of the doctrinal wheel by the Transcendent Lord, through which the four sublime truths were taught to those who enter the vehicle of the pious attendants, is surpassed, circumstantial, of provisional meaning and continues to be a basis for debate. Then, beginning with the Transcendent Lord's teaching that things have no essence, the second promulgation of the doctrinal wheel which teaches emptiness to those who correctly enter the greater vehicle is surpassed, circumstantial, of provisional meaning and continues to be a basis for debate. And then, beginning with the Transcendent Lord's teaching that things have no essence, the third promulgation of the wheel of the exceedingly wondrous and amazing doctrine, which is well distinguished, was revealed to those correctly entering the entire vehicle. That promulgation of the doctrinal wheel is unsurpassed, not circumstantial, of definitive meaning and does not become a basis for debate.

The allocation of provisional and definitive meaning is determined in ways such as these.

The intermediate promulgation has accordingly been allocated provisional meaning because in this turning of the doctrinal wheel the enlightened attributes of ultimate reality, such as the powers of the sugatas, are mostly revealed to be empty of their own essence (rang-stong), though they are not actually empty of their own essence, and because it does not teach that these attributes are well distinguished and without inherent contradiction. For such reasons it is said to be surpassed and so on. Definitive meaning, on the other hand, is allocated to the third promulgation because [therein] things of relative appearance are empty of their own essence and the ultimate reality is empty of extraneous entities, so that the nature of these [attributes] is qualitatively well distinguished and then revealed.

If there are those who say that definitive meaning is contained in the intermediate promulgation because it teaches the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness (prajnaparamita), but that the final promulgation has an intention of provisional meaning because it teaches the contrary, then they have not made an accurate examination. The attributes, such as uncreated and unceasing original quiescence, which are terms relating to the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness, are most extensively revealed in the final promulgation and very profoundly revealed in the vehicle of indestructible reality.

However, there is no distinction in the essence of the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness, which is said to be distinguished as surpassed or unsurpassed depending on whether it is unclearly, clearly or very clearly revealed; for all the limitless [attributes] which are revealed by names such as the nucleus of the sugata (sugatagarbha), the expanse of reality (dharmadhatu), the mind of inner radiance, the naturally pure enlightened family, the genuine goal and the emptiness which is the essential nature devoid of substantiality, are identical in the naturally present, non-dual pristine cognition (jnana). This same [pristine cognition] is the transcendental perfection of discriminative awareness (prajnaparamita). Therefore the master Dignaga [in his Epitome of the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness, v.l] has said:

Being the transcendental perfection of
Discriminative awareness,
This non-dual pristine cognition is the Tathagata.
Since it possesses the meaning
Which is to be accomplished,
This term applies to the central texts and path.

The final transmitted precepts are conclusively proven to be the definitive meaning by all [scriptural] transmissions and [logical] reasoning. The Conqueror himself made the classification of provisional and definitive meaning, and moreover, in his own words said:

A monk who is called Asanga
Learned in the meaning of these treatises,
Will differentiate in many categories
The sutras of provisional and definitive meaning.

The final [transmitted precepts] were accordingly allocated conclusive definitive meaning by this sublime [Asanga], whom the Conqueror had prophetically declared would differentiate the provisonal and definitive meanings.

There are, on the other hand, no authoritative passages declaring the intermediate [transmitted precepts] to have definitive meaning and the final [transmitted precepts] provisional meaning. Indeed, even if the proponents of the Vijnanavada could have composed these final transmitted precepts as such, they would have mistaken the correct sequence revealed by the above simile of the refinement of gemstones and by other similes which refer to the medical treatment of ill-health and the study of letters. There would be no need even for the definitive order made by the Conqueror himself and the sublime [Asanga], and there would be limitless other such faults. In addition, after first teaching the provisional meaning and intermediately the definitive meaning to those who require training, the provisional meaning would then be repeated, so that one would be obliged to consider just what is the Buddha's intention vis-a-vis the teaching. It should be known that by proceeding in this way, there would be all kinds of unbearable evils, such as allocating the conclusive definitive meaning to philosophical systems which propound substantial existence, slandering the buddhas and great bodhisattvas as holders of a relative teaching, and abandoning this doctrine of the nucleus (garbha).

Furthermore, since the three vehicles have reference to the definitive meaning gathered in the final promulgation, the definitive meaning is conclusively proven. This is extensively mentioned in passages such as the following from the Sutra of the Irreversible Wheel (Avaivartacakra-sutra, T 240):

Then, in reverence to the Transcendent Lord, the great bodhisattva Madhuranirghosa arose from his lotus posture and asked, 'Transcendent Lord, what is the dimension of this world system of Patient Endurance?"

He replied, "Son of the enlightened family, in the western direction of this world system there is a world system which outnumbers the sands of the River Ganges."

Then he asked, 'Transcendent Lord, in that world system which Transcendent Lord teaches the doctrine?"

"He is called the Tathagata Sakyamuni."

"What manner of doctrine does he teach?"

"He begins from the three vehicles."

"What are the three vehicles?"

"He reveals the doctrine beginning with the three vehicles, which are the vehicle of the pious attendants, the vehicle of the self-centred buddhas and the greater vehicle."

"Do these conform to the doctrine revealed by the Transcendent Lord Buddha?"

"Son of the enlightened family, the doctrines revealed by the [different] Transcendent Lord Buddhas do conform."

"Just in what respect do the doctrines revealed by the Transcendent Lord Buddhas conform?"

And he replied, "The doctrines revealed by the Transcendent Lord Buddhas conform to the irreversible promulgation."

The Enlightened or Buddha Family by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

2007-01-04T16:05:00.000-08:00

When this buddha family of the unsurpassed greater vehicle is classified, the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch. 1, v.149) says:

One should know this enlightened family to be twofold:
One similar to treasure and the other to a fruit tree.
The [first] is that which naturally abides from the beginning,
And the [second] is supreme through having been genuinely acquired.

So there is both an enlightened family which naturally abides and an enlightened family which is attained. Concerning the former, the Sutra of Final Nirvana says:

Son of the enlightened family, the reality of the mind which is natural, inner radiance, and naturally without essence is not differentiated by the naturally pure mind as it appears, decorated with the enlightened attributes of blazing major and minor marks, but it is differentiated by its nature of appearance and emptiness.

Therefore, when this enlightened family is classified, it is threefold owing to its function of being the ground in which the culminating three buddha-bodies of the result arise. It consists of [firstly] the enlightened family in which reality naturally abides, which resembles an image made of precious gems in that it is the spontaneously present causal basis or ground separating (bral-rgyu) the essential buddha-body (svabhavikakaya) or the uncorrupted expanse [from obscuration]; [secondly] the enlightened family in which the apparition of this reality naturally abides, which resembles a universal emperor in that it is the causal basis separating the buddha-body of perfect rapture (sambhogakaya) from obscuration; and [thirdly] its apparitional reflection, which resembles a golden image in that it is the causal basis separating the emanational body (nirmanakaya) from obscuration. In actuality, however, the reality in which these three are of an inseparable essence is the great, naturally present, uncompounded buddha-body of reality (dharmakaya), the pristine cognition of supreme sameness (samata-jnana), coalescing appearance and emptiness without conceptual elaboration. Since it is the great, indivisible reality in which the ground differentiating appearance and emptiness has ceased, it is exemplified by the nature of the Tathagata. As the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.l, v.146) says:

Since it is supramundane, in the world
There are no examples to which it may be referred.
Therefore the nature of the Tathagata
Is revealed to be similar to the seed.

When this enlightened family is actualised without obscuration, the conclusive truth of cessation according to the greater vehicle is the essential buddha-body endowed with two purities.
The [second] enlightened family, the one in which [reality] is attained, includes those who awaken to the [aforementioned] twofold family, in which the expanse, or reality, and pristine cognition, or [reality's] apparition, naturally abide, and those who consequently study to integrate the two provisions of skilful means and discriminative awareness. These two provisions in turn are subsumed by the provisional path of learning (saiksamarga) which includes the generation of enlightened mind, in order that the suddenly arisen stains covering [the nucleus] might be removed. The Sutra of the Arrayed Bouquet says:

Sons of the Conqueror, this which is called the enlightened family is devoted to the expanse of reality (dharmadhatu). It is one in which, having seen the natural, inner radiance vast as the sky, studies are pursued in furtherance of the great provisions of merit and pristine cognition.

So the former enlightened family is the ground of separation from obscuration and the latter is the path which removes the stains covering [the nucleus]. It is said that though the truth of the path depends on the ground-of-all and is subsumed in the causal basis of separation from obscurations, it does bring about the basis of unchanging authentic liberation. This is because its function of attainment which effects the result of separation [from obscurations] depends on the enlightened family or the nucleus.

For anyone to know that this enlightened family, which naturally abides, does exist, it is inferred to exist through the signs [visible in those who] awaken to it, just as one, in general, infers fire from smoke. The signs that one has awakened to the natural enlightened family of the buddha-body of reality are indicated in the Introduction to the Madhyamaka (Ch.6, vv.4-5c):

One who, having heard about emptiness even as an ordinary person,
Experiences within, sheer delight again and again,
And who, owing to this delight, is brought to tears,
And whose body-hair stands erect,
Has the seed of intelligence which attains to perfect buddhahood.
That one is a vessel for this very instruction,
To whom the ultimate truth should be revealed.

The signs that one has awakened to the enlightened family of the buddha-body of form, which is the apparition of reality, are indicated in the Ornament of the Sutras of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.3, v.5):

Even prior to practice,
Correct conduct with respect to compassion,
Volition, patience and virtue,
Is truly explained to be a sign of that family.

Then, the benefits which result when one awakens to that enlightened family are mentioned, too, in the same text (Ch.3, v.8):

Though a long time has been passed in evil existences,
Liberation will swiftly be attained;
There, too, less suffering will be experienced,
And being disillusioned, one will mature sentient beings.

As long as one has once awakened to this enlightened family, one will not be born in evil existences, and even if one is so born, one will be liberated in merely the time it takes to bounce a ball of yarn. There, too, suffering will diminish, and through strong disillusionment [with samsara], one will indeed bring sentient beings to maturity. In this way it is said that when the Teacher himself [Sakyamuni] became the strongest of charioteers in the hells, he was instantly liberated by awakening to that enlightened family which embodies great compassion, and was born as a god in Trayatrimsa. He subsequently became the boy Bhaskara, the son of a potter, in Jambudvipa and aspired to enlightenment in the presence of the Tathagata Sakyamuni. Similar things are said about the series of his [ordinary] lives in which he took birth as the daughter of a friend and so on.

If living beings were without this enlightened family, those who experience suffering would not even feel regret. It would be reasonable for some not to think that samsara should be rejected and nirvana acquired, and even the desire for liberation would not arise in their minds. However, untaught by anyone, some persons feel compassion when others experience suffering, and are disturbed by the experience of suffering. One should know such phenomena to be the virtuous power of the seed of beginningless reality. It says in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.l, vv.40-1):

Without the seed of buddhahood,
One would not feel regret for suffering;
One would have neither the desire,
Nor the prayer, nor the aspiration for nirvana.
This perception of suffering as a negative
And happiness as a positive attribute,
In relation to existence and nirvana,
Is present owing to the existence of the enlightened family;
For it is not found in those lacking that family.

Passages which speak of beings belonging to no family or to a cut-off family are rhetorical devices which indicate through negation the baseness in those who have not awakened to the enlightened family. Indeed, there are no living beings who do not belong to the enlightened family which naturally abides. The Sutra of the Nucleus of the Tathagata (Tathagatagarbhasutra, T 258) says:

Son of the enlightened family, this is the reality of all things. Whether the tathagatas have appeared or not, these sentient beings always possess the nucleus of the tathagata.

And in the Sutra of Queen Srimala (Srimaladevisimhanadasutra, T 92):

The nucleus of the sugata
Completely pervades living beings.

Therefore, the mind is developed in the enlightened attitude of the greater vehicle consequent on awakening into the [first] enlightened family, which has two aspects and is the causal basis. Subsequently, the stains which obscure the buddha-body of reality are removed by experiencing, above all, the non-conceptualising pristine cognition during meditative equipoise; and the stains obscuring the two buddha-bodies of form are skilfully removed by conduct that is relevant to the two provisions with the assistance of illusion-like compassion during the aftermath [of that meditation].

Then, there is obtained the culminating result of this separation from obscuration (bral-'bras), the essential buddha-body. It is defined as an expanse encompassed by inconceivable, uncorrupted, enlightened attributes, or the ground in which the buddha-body of form that appears to others is reflected like the moon in the sky. It naturally manifests as pristine cognition itself, without being extraneously sought, and is endowed with the three bodies of the buddhas manifest in and of themselves. The Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch.2, v.3) says:

That which is called natural inner radiance is as the sky.
It is unobscured by the dense clouds
Of suddenly arisen conflicting emotions
And ignorance of the knowable.
This buddhahood endowed with all enlightened attributes of the taintless Buddha,
Constant, steadfast and eternal, is attained
Dependent on the pristine cognition which discerns things non-conceptually.

And [Ch.2, vv.38-9]:

Without beginning, middle, or end and indivisible,
Neither two, nor three, taintless and non-conceptualising,
That realisation, which is the natural expanse of reality,
Is perceived by the yogin during meditative equipoise.
Endowed with enlightened attributes that are immeasurable,
That outnumber the sands of the Ganges, limitless and without peer,
This taintless expanse of the Tathagata
Has renounced the entire range of faults, along with their propensities.

Arising from that [essential body], the two buddha-bodies of form have the same uncorrupted pristine cognition. They become naturally present through a co-emergent cause, consisting of the basis of the pure vessel of the beings requiring training, as well as the conditions of their former aspirations and their experience of the two provisions. The maturing result (smin-'bras) of these bodies of form is then established through their function of teaching in forms manifest to others who require training, in the manner, for example, of the moon reflected in water. As the above [Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, Ch.2, vv.40-1] says:

With a buddha-body which manifests the diverse rays of the true doctrine,
Persevering so that the liberation of living beings be achieved,
Their deeds, like the king of wish-fulfilling gems,
Are without inherent existence despite their diverse forms.
All their forms which cause [beings]
To enter into, ripen and prophetically declare the path by which the world is pacified
Also constantly abide therein,
Just as form occupies space.

And as Nagarjuna [in the Eulogy to the Expanse of Reality, v. 101] says:

Since within the taintless body of reality
An ocean of pristine cognition abides,
The benefit of sentient beings emerges therefrom
In the manner of diverse gemstones.

In short, as [Longcenpa has said] in the Great Chariot (shing-rta chen-mo):

In this context, one should know that, among the three buddha-bodies, the body of reality, which is an expanse invisible to those requiring training outside the range of the Buddha alone, is present as subtle pristine cognition, the inner expanse that is unique and of a single savour. The two buddha-bodies of form endowed with pure enlightened activity, which are the pristine cognition that manifests to others, outwardly radiate through its blessing and the aspiration of those requiring training. They appear in the manner of the moon in the sky [body of perfect rapture] and the moon in water [body of emanation].

And in the Treasury of Philosophical Systems:

Since the three buddha-bodies are primordially present as the twofold enlightened family, the apparitional aspect of the buddha level or [the enlightened family] of inner growth is the body of perfect rapture and its empty aspect or [the enlightened family] which naturally abides is the body of reality. From the indivisible blessing of these two, the emanational body gives teaching in form manifest to others who require training, and is exemplified as the reflection of a universal emperor (cakravartin) shining on a golden mountain.

One who, without knowing this, is attracted to the concept that a single uncompounded emptiness of explicit negation is the enlightened family which naturally abides, and that the enlightened family of inner growth is exclusively compounded and newly produced by the path, is found to interrupt the realisation which belongs to the paths of learning as a conclusive result and so to adhere to the cessation of the pious attendants' tradition, which resembles an expired butter lamp in that it establishes no order of buddha-body, pristine cognition and so forth. If one were to take this view, one would not even savour the fragrance of the truth of cessation according to the greater vehicle. In the ground, one would fall into the extreme of conceptual elaboration. On the path, one would not require the two provisions of the greater vehicle. In the result, one would not distinguish between the nirvana of the three vehicles; and as a conclusive result, one could not cross beyond the abyss of nihilism. The refuge of ultimate reality would never be found.

It was with an intention directed toward this mode [of the nucleus] that the all-knowing doctrinal master [Longcenpa] said in the Precious Wish-fulfilling Treasury (yid-bzhin rin-po-che'i mdzod):

One who without knowing this mode [of the nucleus] determines emptiness verbally
As free from extremes of being and non-being
Harbours the view of the summit of existence,
Ignorant of the causal basis of separation from obscuration.
Since he is outside this teaching,
He may as well cover himself with ashes,
Like those who hold the mind to emerge from space.

Such a wrong view is gathered within [the nihilism of] the Followers of Brhaspati [Barhaspatya]. The Doha also says:

The Archer says:
"Those who hold the mind to emerge from space
Never attain to liberation."

If one were to think that on the paths of learning one develops anew, by the two causal provisions, what was previously non-existent, then the body of reality, or essential body of the buddha, and the body of perfect rapture would be compounded and impermanent. If one were to hold this view, it is said one would harbour the immeasurable defects of looking upon the continuum [of enlightened mind] as an ephemeral compound; the suffering of change as something unrenounceable; the possession of the body of indestructible reality, which is pristine cognition vast as the sky, as non-existent; and the body of indestructible reality itself as impermanent. Because of such limitless faults, one would deviate from the meaning of the greater vehicle.

So, rather than merely differentiate the twofold enlightened family as being the apparitional and emptiness aspects of a single expanse, it is the flawless intention of the all-knowing doctrinal master [Longcenpa] to establish it to be this supreme essence or natural expression which is indivisible, uncorrupted and uncompounded. In the Great Chariot he says:

There are nine similes which reveal as spontaneously present the enlightened attributes of the Buddha's body of form, deriving from the naturally radiant apparitional aspect of the taintless mind-as-such, the naturally pure essence, the mind in which the genuine pristine cognition of the Buddha originally abides. And the comparison of its emptiness aspect, the enlightened attributes of the body of reality, with the sky is explained in all the sutras and tantras. However, these two are inseparable in the virtuous seed of beginningless reality. This [seed] firstly is called the enlightened family which naturally abides because it is unchanging, and secondly is called the enlightened family of inner growth because enlightened attributes are extensively manifest after the stains have been purified. Yet its root is inner radiance, the pristine cognition which is intrinsic awareness.

Similarly, in the Extensive Sutra of the Commitments (dam-tshig mdo-rgyas), a teaching of the all-seeing Rongzompa, the naturally present pristine cognition in which the ground, path and result are inseparable, is said to be the mind or family of enlightenment:

That which is imperishable like a vajra is the mind of Samantabhadra, unchanging like a vajra, because it naturally contains no distinction between [firstly] the enlightened mind of beginningless time [i.e. the ground], [secondly] the provisional mind which is the causal situation [of the path extending] from the development of enlightened mind to the attainment of the vajra-like contemplation, and [thirdly] the mind of the body of reality along with its actions which is the essence of the result, similar to the Wish-granting Tree and the precious Wish-fulfilling Gem.

These quotations serve to illustrate that all the panditas and accomplished masters of the Ancient Translation School, including the king of the doctrine Terdak Lingpa and his brother, have affirmed the same system exclusively. This can be known in detail from the Lecture Notes on the Nucleus of the Sugata (bde-gshegs snying-po'i stong-thun), the Lion's Roar in Affirmation of Extrinsic Emptiness (gzhan-stong khas-len seng-ge'i nga-ro) and the Proof of Mind in its Natural State (gnyug-sems sgrub-pa) along with its branches, which are all teachings of the all-knowing Mipham Jampel Gyepa.

The lord of living beings Atisa, too, has determined in conformity with them that the uncompounded expanse of reality, the coalescence of appearance and emptiness, which is empty of imaginary deeds and defilements, and inseparable from the uncorrupted enlightened attributes is the enlightened family [or the nucleus of the tathagata]. In his Song with a View to the Expanse of Reality (Dharmadhatudarsanagiti, T 2314) he says:

Just as the son of a pregnant woman is within her womb
But is not perceived,
So, covered by conflicting emotions,
The expanse of reality is also unperceived.
Since the expanse of reality is not a self,
It [resembles] neither woman nor man;
One should examine just how one clings subjectively
To that which is liberated from all objects.
When the mind is purified by all three actions,
Namely, [the meditations on] impurity, impermanence, and suffering,
The sutras which point out emptiness
Are accordingly spoken by the Conqueror.
Conflicting emotions are reversed by all these topics,
But this seed [of reality] is not diminished.

And also:

The natural expression of reality's expanse,
Like space is without cause or condition:
Without birth, old age, duration and destruction,
Without being compounded,
The inseparable attributes of the Buddha
And, similarly, the attainment of this enlightened family
Are not false, deceptive or harmful.
They are the original, natural quiescence.

Then, among the esoteric instructions of the dakinl entitled Valid Cognition of the Transmitted Precepts (Ajnasamyakpramana, T 2331) which were introduced from Akanistha by Tilopa, it is said:

Just as a butter lamp within a vase
Does not appear outside,
But if the vase is broken,
The lamplight is visible thereafter,
So is one's own body like the vase
And inner radiance like the butter lamp:
When well broken by the guru's instruction,
The pristine cognition of the buddhas becomes radiant.

And in the Ganges Great Seal (phyag-chen ganga-ma, T 2303) which Tilopa imparted to Naropa:

Just as, for example, the nature of space transcends colour and form,
And is uncovered and unchanged by positive and negative values,
So does the nucleus of one's own mind transcend colour and form,
And is uncovered by positive and negative doctrines of virtue and sin.
As the nucleus of the sun, for example, radiant and clear,
Is not obscured by the darkness of a thousand aeons,
So the inner radiance of the nucleus which is one's own mind
Cannot be obscured by the samsara of aeons.

Then, in the Teaching Cycle of Lord Maitripa (mnga'-bdag mai-tri-pa'i gdams-skor) there is the Ten Verses on the Real (Tattvadasaka, T 2236) composed by master Advayavajra, which says:

Since you desire to know, the nature of just what is
Is neither represented nor representationless;
Unadorned by the guru's speech,
Even the Madhyamaka is mediocre.

The great brahman [Saraha] in his Song of Instruction Given to Lord Marpa (mnga'-bdag mar-pa-la gdams-pa'i mgur, DZ Vol. 5) has also said:

Emptiness and compassion are indivisible.
The uninterrupted mind in its natural state
Is the original purity of just what is:
Space is seen in union with space.

The venerable Milarepa has also revealed this in general in Illuminating the Substance of the Aural Lineage (snyan-brgyud dngos-po gsal-byed, DZ Vol.5, pp.443-55) which he gave to Nyiwa Rincen [Gampopa]:198
In every corporeal being

This truth of the nucleus originally abides.
Through it sentient beings have the basis of buddhahood.
When one arrives at the result from the cause,
It is reached primordially, not just presently.

Then, particularly in his Song of Indestructible Reality in Answer to Questions Posed in a Trilogy by the Goddess of Longevity, which is the Root of the Aural Lineage of Ngamdzong (ngams-rdzong snyan-brgyud rtsa-ba tshe-ring skor-gsum-gyi zhus-lan rdo-rje'i mgur, mgur-'bum, Ch.29), he differentiates between the two truths, which provisionally have synonyms, beginning as follows:

With reference to the ultimate truth,
Due to negation there is not even buddhahood...

And:

With reference to the relative truth,
The Sage has said everything exists,
Both samsara and nirvana.

He then conclusively evokes the expressive power of ultimate reality for which there are no synonyms as follows:

Since appearances in the form of existing substances
And reality which is non-existing emptiness
Are essentially inseparable and of a single savour,
There is not just intrinsic awareness or extrinsic awareness,
But a vast coalescence of everything.

And finally, he literally reveals the way in which the taintless, sublime, pristine cognition is directly perceived in the following verses:

So, one skilled in realisation
Perceives not consciousness but pristine cognition,
Perceives not the apparition of reality, but reality itself,
And thence the force of compassion emerges.
The enlightened attributes of the buddhas,
Including power, fearlessness and retention,
Emerge in the manner of a precious gemstone.
They are the measure of my realisation as a yogin.

Zhang Rinpoche in his Culmination of the Supreme Path (lam-mchog mthar-thug, DZ Vol.5, pp.744-77) has said:

The buddha-body of reality, or the nucleus
Which is the culmination of definitive meaning,
Is the essentially pure expanse of inner radiance.
Whether the conquerors of the three times appear or not,
Whether it is realised by the sublime assembly or not,
Whether it is spoken of by the sages or not,
Whether it is delivered by learned commentators or not,
This reality which is pure unelaborate inner radiance,
Abides from the beginning, spontaneously present,
Without increase or decrease.
Though the skies have been ravaged over many immeasurable aeons
By the conflagrations, whirlwinds and the like
Which create and destroy the world,
The sky is unharmed, without increase or decrease.
Similarly, the radiant sunlight obscured by clouds
Ostensibly varies in the intensity of its radiance
When the thick darkness and cloud mass dissolve,
And yet the nucleus of the sun neither increases nor decreases.
This unchanging buddha-body of reality, which so abides,
Is nothing other than one's own mind.
The diversity of samsara without exception arises from the mind.
When one's own mind is not realised,
The suffering of the world of samsara and its contents increases
Through the confusion [caused] by erroneous, bewildered appearances.
When one's own mind is genuinely realised,
The limitless pristine cognition of nirvana arises as supreme bliss.
Thus, everything without exception issues from one's own mind-as-such.
If one knows reality in relation to oneself,
One will know reality in relation to all sentient beings.
One who knows that knows all things including nirvana.
One who knows all things completely transcends the three realms.
If that one thing is known, one becomes learned in all things.

The Lord of Conquerors, the venerable Karmapa [III], Rangjung Dorje, has additionally given an extensive explanation of the classification of the enlightened family in accordance with the transmissions of the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle and the Collection of the Greater Vehicle in his autocommentary on the Profound Inner Meaning (zab-mo nang-don). Therein he says that the enlightened family of inner growth is not to be regarded as newly arising, as is the opinion of some. In such ways he clearly reveals [the family] to comprise both the expanse [of reality] and pristine cognition. That is, the expanse of reality is the enlightened family which naturally abides, and the pristine cognition, pure in respect of the eight aggregates [of consciousness], is the enlightened family of inner growth. Indeed, he proves both of these to be naturally pure in accord with the transmission of the Analysis of the Middle and Extremes (Ch.l, v.17) which he quotes as follows:

Just as water, gold and the sky are pure,
So are [these families] held to be pure.

The same point is also clearly revealed in his Two Short Treatises (gzhung-chung gnyis).

The venerable Karmapa VII [Chodrak Gyamtso] asserts, too, that the expanse or emptiness in which the sixty-four enlightened attributes are inseparable is the emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects. These and the statements made by the All-Knowing Situ [VIII, Dharmakara] and others are renowned among the Kagyupa traditions.

Again, in the Commentary on the Eulogy [entitled Taintless Gem Rosary, i.e. bstod-'grel, SK Vol.5] which is his culminating personal statement, Sakya Pandita first establishes the way in which the character of the mind is obscured by suddenly arisen stains despite the mind's naturally pure reality. He then establishes the ways in which the stains can be purified since they are suddenly arisen and buddhahood attained by their removal. At this point, he sets forth the intention of the Collection of Madhyamaka Reasoning (Yuktikaya, T 3824-8) that, with reference to reality, there is no transformation at this moment [of buddhahood], and the intention of the Collection of Eulogies (Stavakaya, T 1118-36) which is that, with reference to the apparitional mode of enlightened attributes, there is transformation [of consciousness into pristine cognition]. Then, after setting forth the viewpoints, one of which holds that these two [intentions] are essentially not contradictory and the other of which holds that there is no pristine cognition in buddhahood, he offers his personal statement, refuting the assertions that there is neither the pristine cognition nor the body of buddhahood, and says that these two [intentions] are inseparable.

Furthermore, in his Answers to the Questions ofNyemo Gomchen (snyi-mo sgom-chen-gyi dris-lan, SK Vol. 5) it is said by way of illustration:

When the mind is realised to be empty, it cannot be estimated according to [the standards set in] the three pitaka and the four tantrapitaka, for that is equivalent to the cessation of the pious attendants; but when it is realised to be coalescence, such an estimation can be made. In the exclusively empty aspect of mind, the Three Precious Jewels are incomplete. In the coalescence of awareness and emptiness, the seed [of buddhahood] is complete, and if the meaning of that coalescence is well realised, [buddhahood] is actualised completely.

He then states that:

After freedom from conceptual elaboration has been established, the coalescence is experientially cultivated.

And also that:

The view assumed during the causal phase is poisonous,
The view assumed during the resultant phase is poisonless...

Regarding this passage, he claims that the former refers merely to freedom from conceptual elaboration, or the emptiness which is analytically appraised by study and thought.The latter, having no use for that, is identical in essence to the pristine cognition of the buddha level, which arises from the empowerment and the two stages [of creation and perfection] and results in the coalescence of bliss and emptiness, and of awareness and emptiness. Such statements are renowned among the glorious Sakyapa.

Again, in the Three Emphases of the Path (lam-gyi gtso-bo mam-gsum, P 6087) of the great being Tsongkapa, the expressive power of ultimate reality without synonyms, in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced, is brought into relief as follows:

Whoever perceives the cause and result
Of all things of samsara and nirvana,
To be always infallible,
And destroys all their referential bases,
At that time enters the path pleasing to the buddhas.
As long as one continues to differentiate
Between the two understandings of
Appearances which are infallibly interdependent
And emptiness which is free from assertions,
One will not yet realise the Sage's intention.
But when [these understandings] are simultaneous, without alternation,
And if, having merely seen interdependence to be infallible,
True conviction has destroyed all postures of objective clinging,
At that time, the scrutiny of the view is perfected.

Similar passages are found in the all-knowing Tolpo Sangye's Ocean of Definitive Meaning on Retreat Practice (ri-chos nges-don rgya-mtsho), and in other works.

Despite the mere subtle distinctions provisionally asserted in these [various] philosophical systems, such as concern the degree to which appearances and emptiness are respectively emphasised, and the different delineations of the two truths, in actuality the secret activities which are the intention of great sublime beings who perceive the truth of reality are of a common savour. They are inseparable like water and salt; for, within the space of the supreme pristine cognition, the conclusive ultimate reality which is without synonyms and free from the intellect, the two truths have a common savour. Therefore, [their systems] are not objects to be appraised by the childish intellects of inhibited perception.

The lord Atisa has said:

Since, in the manner of an ocean,
Its depths and other shores are not found
By words, examples and the intellect,
It is the great, profound reality.

And also:

Do not be critical of the doctrine;
One should aspire to what one reveres.

Remembering this, as well as the points expressed in the Short Tantra of Cakrasamvara (Tantrarajasrilaghusamvara, T 368), the Texts of Maitrey a, the Jewel Garland, and other sources, it is clearly of extreme importance that one personally preserve this [understanding].

Main Points of the Lineage of Vast Activity by Karl Brunnhölzl

2007-01-04T15:57:00.000-08:00

The following presentation of the major points of the lineage of vast activity relies mainly on the texts by Maitreya, Asanga (in particular his Synopsis of Great Vehicle), and Vasubandhu. The methodological basis for looking at any philosophical or religious text is well expressed by Schmithausen:

I presuppose that the texts I make use of are to be taken seriously, in the sense that one has to accept that they mean what they say, and that what they mean is reasonable within its own terms.

Having attempted to follow this approach with regard to Centrist texts, I believe that the works of Yogacara in general and the lineage of vast activity in particular are to be treated in the same way, without looking at them through the eyes of Centrism or any other system extrinsic to them. The Distinction between the Middle and Extremes says:

False imagination (abhuta-parikalpa) exists.
Duality does not exist in it.
Emptiness exists within it,
And it also exists within this [emptiness].

Neither empty nor nonempty—
In this way, everything is explained.
Because of existence, because of nonexistence, and because of existence,
This is the middle way.

To explain this from the point of view of cutting through reference points, it is said that, on the level of seeming reality, consciousness that appears as various appearances—that is, mere false imagination—exists. Since the apprehending part and the apprehended part that appear within this false imagination are merely mentally imputed, they are not even existent on the conventional level. Thus, seeming reality is free from the two extremes:

It is free from the extreme of nonexistence and the extreme of extinction through accepting the mere nominal existence of false imagination on the seeming level.
It is free from the extreme of permanence and the extreme of existence through lying beyond all mutually dependent and imputed phenomena, such as an apprehending and an apprehended aspect.

As for emptiness free from reference points, it ultimately exists within consciousness—that is, within false imagination—as the mode of the true nature of this false imagination. When emptiness is thus said to exist, it cannot be over-stressed that this means that it exists as the ultimate mode of being of all phenomena and not itself as any reified entity. For Yogacaras, existence and nonexistence are not ontological assertions but rather phenomenological descriptions of what is experienced in the mind. Thus, in the phase of ordinary beings with stains dualistic consciousness (that which bears the nature of emptiness) exists within the nature of phenomena as adventitious stains that are separable. "Adventitious" means that these stains do not really exist and are the factors to be relinquished Thus, ultimate reality is also free from the two extremes:

It is beyond the extremes of nonexistence and extinction, because emptiness is ultimately established as undeceiving.
It is beyond the extremes of existence and permanence, since all phenomena that consist of the duality of apprehender and apprehended—such as false imagination—do not really exist.

So, the seeming—apprehender and apprehended—is merely something that emerges as an appearance of mistakenness. Apart from this mere appearance, there is nothing that is established through a nature of its own. Therefore, the seeming is empty of a nature of its own. In terms of the dichotomy of self and others, it is obviously also empty of what is other than itself, since something that is established as the nature of something other than itself is not possible among knowable objects. Therefore, the seeming is empty in all aspects—self and other—and thus not something nonempty. On the other hand, emptiness can be said to be established from the very beginning through its own nature—the lack of nature—which is always unchanging. It is solely in this way, nominally speaking, that it can be said to be not empty of its own nature and always existent. Furthermore, it is empty of everything other, that is, the adventitious stains.

The three natures—the imaginary, the other-dependent, and the perfect nature—are described in The Sutra That Unravels the Intention:

Gunakara, what is the imaginary characteristic of phenomena? It is what is presented as names and symbols in terms of a nature or the particulars of phenomena in order to subsequently designate conventional terms in accordance with [this]. Gunakara, what is the other-dependent characteristic of phenomena? It is just the dependent origination of phenomena. This is as follows: "Since this exists, this originates. Since this has arisen, that arises. Through the condition of unawareness, formations [arise] ..." up to "Thus, nothing but this great mass of suffering will happen." Gunakara, what is the perfect characteristic of phenomena? It is the suchness of phenomena.

The other-dependent nature is the mere consciousness of false imagination that appears as the entities of apprehender and apprehended, because these are appearances under the influence of something other, the latent tendencies of unawareness. It appears as the outer world with its various beings and objects; as one's own body; as the sense consciousnesses that perceive these objects and the conceptual consciousness that thinks about them; as the clinging to a personal self and real phenomena; and as the mental events, such as feelings, that accompany all these consciousnesses. Thus, false imagination bifurcates experience into seemingly real subjects that apprehend seemingly real objects. This split into subject and object—the imaginary nature—does not exist even on the seeming level, but the mind that brings about this split exists and functions on this level.

The imaginary nature is the entire range of what is superimposed by conceptions as a self and really existent phenomena onto the various apprehended aspects within the other-dependent nature. In other words, what appears as one's own body and mind forms the bases for imputing a personal self. All that appears as other beings, outer objects, and the consciousnesses that relate to them provides the bases for imputing really existent phenomena. This imaginary nature exists only conventionally as a nominal object for the consciousnesses of ordinary sentient beings. It is in no way substantially established, since it does not withstand analysis. In detail, it consists of the following:

the aspects that appear as conceptual objects, such as the mental image of a form
the connections of names and referents (the notion that a name is the corresponding referent and the mistaking of a referent for the corresponding name)
all that is apprehended through mental superimposition, such as outer, inner, middle, end, big, small, good, bad, direction, time, and so on
all nonentities, such as space

The perfect nature is emptiness in the sense that what appears as other-dependent, false imagination is primordially never established as the imaginary nature. This emptiness is the sphere of nonconceptual wisdom, and its nature is phenomenal identitylessness. The Sutra That Unravels the Intention says:

Lack of nature, phenomenal identitylessness, suchness, and the observed object for purification, these are the perfect characteristic.

Why is this emptiness called "the perfect nature"? It is perfect because it never changes into something else, is the supreme among all dharmas, and is the observed object to be focused on during the process of purifying the mind from adventitious stains. Due to its quality of never changing into something else, it ls also named suchness. Since it is unmistaken, it is called the true end. As it is the utter peace of all discursiveness, it is signlessness. Because it is the sphere of ultimate wisdom (jnana), it is the ultimate. Through realizing it, the dharmas of the noble ones are attained. Thus, it is the expanse of dharmas (dharmadhatu).

Just like the limitless expanse of space, the nature of the expanse of dharmas is of one taste. Therefore, ultimately, there are no divisions in it. However, conventionally, the perfect nature may be presented as twofold:

the emptiness of nonentities (abhava/avastu)
the emptiness of the nature of nonentities

The first is the emptiness in the sense that the other-dependent nature is devoid of any personal (pudgala) and phenomenal (dharma) identities (atman). This has the nature of a nonimplicative negation (prasajyapratisedha). The second is the emptiness in the sense that this very other-dependent nature is not established as the nature of these two types of identity. This has the nature of an implicative negation (paryudasapratisedha) and refers to the actual nature of other-dependent cognition, or what is called "mind's natural luminosity." Another classification of this nature into two is as follows:

the unchanging perfect nature (suchness)
the unmistaken perfect nature (the wisdom that realizes this suchness)

It can also be presented as these two:

the path of purification
the observed object of this path

1) The path of purification is again divided into two:

cause
result

1a) The cause of the path of purification is the naturally abiding disposition. It is constituted by the uncontaminated seeds in the ground consciousness that are primordially present by the very nature of phenomena. These seeds are the latent tendencies of listening to the genuine dharma, the natural outflow of the expanse of dharma. The latent tendencies of listening are the seeds that spring from listening to and understanding the meaning of the Buddhadharma and thus serve as the cause for the Dharma Body. However, since they abide in the mind stream from the very beginning through the nature of phenomena, they are merely revived through listening; they are not newly created. Asanga's Synopsis of the Great Vehicle says:

The [supramundane wisdom] originates from the natural outflow of the completely pure expanse of dharmas, that is, the latent tendencies of listening that comprise all seeds.

One may say, "What are these latent tendencies of listening? Are they the very entity of the ground consciousness or are they not? If they were the very entity of the ground consciousness, how should they be suitable as the seeds of its remedy? And if they are not its entity, then what is the matrix of these seeds of latent tendencies of listening?" The matrix that is entered by these latent tendencies of listening in dependence on the enlightenment of Buddhas is the consciousness of complete ripening. [The latent tendencies of listening] enter it in a way of staying together with it like milk and water. They are not the ground consciousness, because they are the very seeds of its remedy. . .

The small, medium, and great latent tendencies of listening are to be regarded as seeds of the Dharma Body. Since they are the remedy for the ground consciousness, they are not of the nature of the ground consciousness. [In the sense of being a remedy,] they are something mundane, but since they are the natural outflow of the supramundane, the utterly completely pure expanse of dharmas, they are the seeds of supramundane mind. Although supramundane mind did not originate, they are the remedy for entanglement through being afflicted, the remedy for migration in the unpleasant realms, and the remedy that makes all wrongdoing vanish. They are what is in complete concordance with meeting Buddhas and bodhisattvas.

Although [these latent tendencies in the minds of] beginner bodhisattvas are mundane, they should be regarded as constituted by the Dharma Body and [those of] the hearers and solitary realizers as constituted by the Body of Complete Release. These [latent tendencies] are not the ground consciousness but are constituted by the Dharma Body and the Body of Complete Release. To the extent that they gradually shine forth in a small, medium, and great way, to that same extent also the consciousness of complete ripening wanes and changes state too. If it has changed state in all aspects, the consciousness of complete ripening becomes devoid of seeds and is also relinquished in all aspects.

One might wonder, "How is it that the ground consciousness, which abides together with what is not the ground consciousness like water and milk, can wane in all aspects?" This is like geese drinking milk from water. It is similar to the change of state when, being free from mundane desire, the latent tendencies of what is not meditative equipoise wane, while the latent tendencies of meditative equipoise increase.

Thus, Asanga's explanation implies that the mere actuality of the nature of phenomena, suchness or emptiness, is not the naturally abiding disposition. Rather, the naturally abiding disposition is what realizes this actuality: It is these latent tendencies of listening, the aspect of supreme knowledge (prajna) that realizes the nature of phenomena (not, however, as a distinct thing different from itself). The reason given is that the latent tendencies of listening render the sets of the six inner sources of individual sentient beings distinct from each other. Thus, the naturally abiding disposition is what is called "the distinct feature of the six sources" (sadayatanavisesa). This means that, through the latent tendencies of listening that serve as the cause for the path of the great vehicle, the six inner sources that exist within the continuum of that person who has revived these latent tendencies are made distinct from the inner sources of those sentient beings who have not revived such tendencies. These tendencies are the indicator that the person who is endowed with them has the disposition of the great vehicle. The same goes for the latent tendencies of listening that serve as the causes for the paths of hearers and solitary realizers respectively.

Why are the latent tendencies of listening included in the perfect nature? As the above quote from The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle shows, they are neither the imaginary nor the other-dependent nature, since they constitute the remedy for affliction and so on.

1b) The results in terms of the path of purification are the actual paths that are an outcome of the latent tendencies of listening, that is, the paths of the three vehicles, such as the thirty-seven dharmas concordant with enlightenment and the six perfections.

2) The observed object of these paths—the genuine dharma—is also included in the perfect nature. It is not the imaginary nature, since the genuine dharma is the cause for purification. It is also not the other-dependent nature, since this dharma does not originate from the seeds of affliction. Rather, the dharma is the result that is the natural outflow of having realized the completely pure expanse of dharmas.

In brief, the other-dependent nature is like the basic materials from which an illusionist creates an illusion. The imaginary nature is like the various mistaken appearances of illusory animals that may appear to the audience due to these materials, although there clearly are no such animals in the materials. The perfect nature is like the space that pervades all of this. It is not a superimposition like the imaginary nature; in other words, it is not a superimposition in the sense that nonexistents are taken to exist or that existents are taken not to exist. Nor does the perfect nature originate from other-dependent conditions, which are the seeds of the latent tendencies for affliction. However, the perfect nature cannot be said to be either identical to or different from the other-dependent nature. Therefore, in its nature, the perfect nature is inseparable from the other-dependent nature and is merely mentally imputed as something different, because the perfect nature is the nature of phenomena and the other-dependent nature is what bears this nature.

As for the division into seeming reality and ultimate reality, the imaginary and the other-dependent natures are only seemingly established, since they are the mistaken mind and the appearances due to this mistakenness. The perfect nature is ultimately established, since it is real as the object of the ultimate supramundane wisdom.

The seeming may be classified as threefold:

The imaginary nature is the imaginary seeming.
The other-dependent nature is the seeming in terms of consciousness.
The terms that express the perfect nature are the seeming in terms of expression.

The ultimate is also threefold:

Suchness is the ultimate object.
Nirvana is the ultimate attainment.
The path is the ultimate practice.

As The Distinction between the Middle and Extremes says:

What is imaginary, consciousness,
And also expressions are coarse.

and

Object, attainment, and practice
Are asserted as the three aspects of the ultimate.

The imaginary and the other-dependent natures are equal in three respects: They do not really exist, are appearances of mistakenness, and are something seeming and false. Nevertheless, it is necessary to classify them separately through their characteristics. The imaginary does not even exist on the level of the seeming, While the other-dependent exists on the level of the seeming. The perfect does not exist on the level of the seeming, but it exists as the ultimate nature.

Furthermore, the imaginary nature is called "the lack of nature in terms of characteristics;" the other-dependent nature is "the lack of nature in terms of arising;" and the perfect nature is "the ultimate lack of nature." Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses says:

Based on the three kinds of lack of nature
Of the three kinds of nature,
It is taught that all phenomena
Are without nature.

The imaginary nature is like mistakenly apprehending the visual appearances that are caused by blurred vision to be floating hairs and such. Since this is nothing but names and superimpositions, it does not exist at all. Therefore, the imaginary nature is "the lack of nature in terms of characteristics."

The other-dependent nature consists of dependently originating appearances, like the plain visual appearances seen by someone with blurred vision. These appear in an illusionlike manner but are without any nature of their own and do not really arise. Therefore, the other-dependent nature is "the lack of nature in terms of arising."

The ultimate lack of nature of the perfect nature has two aspects. First, although there is no personal identity, the perfect nature is what functions as the remedy for the notion of a personal identity. Just as an illusory ship to cross an illusory ocean, it serves as the means to cross the ocean of cyclic existence to the other shore of nirvana. This remedial aspect is actually contained within the other-dependent nature, but it is the cause for realizing the ultimate. Therefore, it is included in the category of "the ultimate lack of nature." The second aspect of the perfect nature is the one from which enlightenment is attained through actively engaging in it. This aspect is undifferentiable from phenomenal identitylessness. Like space, it is omnipresent and not established as anything whatsoever. It can be compared to the free space that is the natural object of unimpaired vision when the eye defect of blurred vision has been cured and one realizes that what appeared as floating hairs never actually existed anywhere. This aspect is "the ultimate lack of nature" per se.

The above is how the three natures and the threefold lack of nature are taught in the sixth and seventh chapter of The Sutra That Unravels the Intention. There, the Buddha also says:

Having this threefold lack of nature in mind—the lack of nature in terms of characteristics, the lack of nature in terms of arising, and the ultimate lack of nature—I have taught, "All phenomena lack a nature."

On the seeming level, the imaginary is nominally existent and the other-dependent is substantially existent. The perfect nature does not exist in any of these two ways, but it exists in a way of being without reference points. Thus, the imaginary is also called "the emptiness of the nonexistent," the other-dependent "the emptiness of the existent," and the perfect "the ultimate emptiness." As Maitreya says in his Ornament of the Sutras:

If one knows the emptiness of the nonexistent,
Likewise the emptiness of the existent,
And also natural emptiness,
Then this is expressed as "knowing emptiness."

Therefore, it is asserted in this system that all knowable objects are pervaded by emptiness and the lack of nature. One may wonder, "If the perfect nature exists as something really and ultimately established, does it then exist as something that arises, abides, and ceases; as something that comes and goes, changes, or disappears; as something in space and time; as a unity or a multiplicity?" None of these is the case. The kinds of existents just mentioned necessarily do not really exist and are just seeming appearances. The perfect nature, however, is not connected with any seeming phenomena whatsoever. It is without arising, abiding, and ceasing and also without coming and going. It is neither a unity nor a multiplicity, neither a cause nor a result. The triad of definition, definiendum, and illustrating example is irrelevant to it. It is free from all reference points, such as space and time. Because of all this, it is said to be naturally permanent. Likewise, it is partless, because it cannot be divided into different pieces. It is omnipresent and all-encompassing, because it is the true nature of all phenomena.

The Lineage of Vast Activity Is Not the Same as "Mere Mentalism" by Karl Brunnhölzl

2007-01-04T15:55:00.000-08:00

Since Tibetan texts so often mention—more or less pejoratively—those called Mere Mentalists or Proponents of Cognizance, we should investigate their purported assertions and positions. Karmapa Mikyo Dorje briefly identifies them as those within the general Yogacara tradition who interpret the framework of the three natures in a realistic sense. They are portrayed as asserting that consciousness is really and ultimately existent, referring to the other-dependent nature in general and the ground consciousness in particular. Mere Mentalists are also said to describe the perfect nature as the really existent other-dependent nature being empty of the imaginary nature. Based on the passage in various sutras that "the whole universe which consists of the three worlds is mere mind," another major position that is often ascribed to them is that only mind is real and that everything in the universe is nothing other than mind and created by it. However, as will be shown immediately below, these positions attributed to the Mere Mentalists cannot be ascribed to the lineage of vast activity, since none of them is found in the texts of this lineage and most of them are explicitly rejected.

The lineage of vast activity denies any real or ultimate existence of "mere mind" (citta-matra) or "mere cognizance" (vijnapti-matra). For example, Asanga's Synopsis of Ascertainment refutes both "Sramanas and Brahmans who claim some substantially existing mere mind" by using reasoning and scripture. Vasubandhu's Commentary on The Distinction between the Middle and Extremes says:

Based on the observation of mere cognizance, the nonobservation of [outer] referents arises. Based on the nonobservation of referents, also the nonobservation of mere cognizance arises. Thus, one engages in the characteristic of the nonexistence of both apprehender and apprehended. Therefore, observation is established as the nature of nonobservation, because if there is no referent to be observed, an observation [of it] it is not suitable. Thus, one should understand observation and nonobservation as being equal.

Sthiramati's subcommentary on this text elaborates:

Thus, in its nature, observation is nonobservation.... [This means that] there is no difference between the nonobservation of referents and the observation as mere cognizance in that [both] do not exist. Thus, they are to be understood as equal.... [The latter] is just called "observation," since an unreal object appears [for it]. However, since there is no [actual] referent, nothing is observed by this ["observation"]. Therefore, ultimately, its nature is nonobservation.... Hence, it is said that it does not exist as the nature of observation. In such observation, neither is the nature of observation to be eliminated, nor is the nature of nonobservation to be established. They are the same in that they are undifferentiable.... "So why is [mere] cognition called 'observation' then?" In its nature, it is nonobservation, but [it is designated] in this way, since an unreal object appears [for it], as this is the convention in the world and the treatises.

Maitreya's Ornament of Sutras says:

The mind is aware that nothing other than mind exists.
Then, it is realized that mind does not exist either.
The intelligent ones are aware that both do not exist
And abide in the expanse of dharmas (dharmadhatu) in which these are absent.

Even The Sutra of the Arrival in Lanka, which is so often considered one of the classic sutras of Mere Mentalism in the above sense, declares:

Through reliance on mere mind,
One does not imagine outer objects.
By resting in the observed object of suchness,
One should go beyond mere mind too.

Going beyond mere mind,
One must even go beyond the nonappearance [of apprehender and apprehended].
The yogic practitioner who rests in nonappearance
Sees the great vehicle.

This spontaneously present, peaceful resting
Is completely purified through aspiration prayers.
Genuine identityless wisdom
Sees by way of nonappearance.

The same is clearly stated again and again in other texts of this tradition too, such as Maitreya's Distinction between Phenomena and Their Nature:

Through [outer referents] being observed in this way, they are observed as mere cognizance.
Due to observing [them] as mere cognizance,
Referents are not observed,
And through not observing referents,
Mere cognizance is not observed [either].
Through not observing this [mere cognizance],
One enters into the observation of both being without difference.
This nonobservation of a difference between these two
Is nonconceptual wisdom.
It is without object and without observing,
Since it is characterized
By nonobservation of all characteristics.

Vasubandhu's Instruction on the Three Natures agrees:

Through the observation of [objects] being merely mind,
A referent to be known is not observed.
Through not observing a referent to be known,
Mind cannot be observed [either].
Through not observing both,
The expanse of dharmas is observed.

His Thirty Verses says:

When consciousness itself
Does not observe any observed object,
It rests in the actuality of mere consciousness (vijnaptimatrata),*
Since there is no apprehender without something apprehended.

Being no-mind and nonreferential,
It is supramundane wisdom.
This is the complete change of state
And the relinquishment of the twofold impregnations of negativity.

It is the undefiled expanse
That is inconceivable, positive, and constant.
It is the blissful Body of Release
And the Dharma Body of the Great Sage.

In the gradual process of realizing true reality, the expedient purpose of the step of describing objects as being "merely mind" or "merely cognition" is to prevent the total denial of seeming reality in which subject and object appear. To start by presenting just the unqualified nonexistence of mind (the perceiving subject) courts the danger of falling into a nihilistic extreme by failing to account for the mere appearance of the interaction between mind and its objects. Such is stated in Sthiramati's Subcommentary on The Distinction between the Middle and Extremes:

"[If neither objects nor mind exist,] then why is the nonexistence of mere cognizance not presented right from the start?" The apprehender depends on the apprehended. Consequently, if [it is established that] there is no object to be observed [by the apprehender], one may easily realize [the nonexistence of the apprehender too], since something that has the nature of being [its] observed object has been eliminated. Otherwise, existence would be altogether denied due to the lack of mutual dependence of apprehender and apprehended.

This does not differ from what Candrakirti's Entrance into Centrism says:

The Buddhas said, "If there are no knowable objects,
One easily finds that a knower is excluded."
If knowable objects do not exist, the negation of a knower is established.
Therefore, they first negated knowable objects.

The lineage of vast activity clearly postulates that the actual liberating purpose of "mere mind" lies in going beyond it, that is, transcending duality by pointing beyond this very mind and entering the middle path of emptiness or suchness. In this, The Sutra of the Arrival in Lanka is followed:

The [Buddhas] do not see mere mind.
Since there is nothing to be seen [by it], it does not arise.
This middle path is what is taught
By me as well as by others.

Arising and nonarising
As well as entities and nonentities are emptiness.
The lack of nature of [all] entities
Is not to be conceived in terms of such pairs.

Through the realization that what is seen is of one's own mind,
Clinging to duality is abandoned.
Abandoning means fully understanding
And not destroying mind's imagining activity.

Through the full understanding that what is seen is of one's own mind,
Mind's imagining activity ceases to operate.
Since mind's imagining activity ceases to operate,
Suchness has become free from mind.

From all of these sources, it should be very clear that such Yogacara terms as "mere mind," "mere cognizance," and "mere consciousness" are used in describing a meditative progression or as provisional antidotes for clinging to external referents. However, these notions are in no way ontologically or metaphysically reified. Rather, once their purpose is fulfilled—that is, realizing that both apprehender and apprehended do not really exist—they are put out of commission. The notion of "mere mind" in Yogacara is as self-negating as the notion of emptiness in Centrism. Just as in the case of emptiness, to reify or cling to the antidote only turns it into poison. This is most clearly expressed by the Chinese Yogacara Hsuan Tsang in his Ch'eng wei-shih lun:

Since citta and caittas depend on other things to arise (paratantra), they are like a magician's trick, not truly substantial ('real') entities. But so as to oppose false attachments to the view that external to citta and caittas there are perceptual-objects (ching, visaya) [composed of] real, substantial entities, we say that the only existent is consciousness. But if you become attached to the view that vijnapti-matra is something truly real and existent, that's the same as being attached to external perceptual-objects, i.e., it becomes just another dharma-attachment [and definitely not liberating].

The same point can be found in Centrist texts. For example, Nagarjuna's Sixty Stanzas on Reasoning says:

What is stated as the four great elements and such
Is contained in consciousness.
Since such [consciousness] is left behind through wisdom,
Is it not falsely conceived?

His Commentary on the Mind of Enlightenment agrees:

As the entities of apprehender and apprehended,
The appearances of consciousness
Do not exist as outer objects
That are different from consciousness.

Therefore, in the sense of having the nature of entities,
In all cases, outer objects do not exist.
It is these distinct appearances of consciousness
That appear as the aspects of forms.

The aggregates, constituents, and so on were taught
In order to counteract the clinging to a self.
By abiding in [the view of] mere mind,
Those with good fortune relinquish them too.

And Kamalasila's Stages of Meditation states:

Outer form does not exist.
It is one's own mind that appears [as something] outside.

Furthermore, the lineage of vast activity does not claim that the world is created by mind. There is no such statement in any Yogacara texts. What they do say, though, is that we mistake our mentally projected constructions for some real or external world.

To summarize, ultimate reality in Yogacara is clearly not some real mind or "mere mind." Vasubandhu's verses above explicitly say that it is "no-mind (acitta)" meaning free from dualistic, reifying mind. Instead, Yogacara often explains the characteristics of the ultimate in a way that is as non-affirming as Centrist descriptions. Asanga's Commentary on The Sutra That Unravels the Intention says:

Here, the Buddha teaches the five characteristics of the ultimate. The five characteristics of the ultimate are the characteristic of being inexpressible, the characteristic of being nondual, the characteristic of being completely beyond the sphere of dialectic, the characteristic of being completely beyond difference and nondifference, and the characteristic of being of one taste in everything.

The Ornament of Sutras gives the following five pairs of characteristics of the ultimate:

Neither existent nor non-existent, neither same nor other,
Neither arising nor ceasing, neither increasing nor decreasing,
Not purified and yet purified again—
These are the characteristics of the ultimate.

The lineage of vast activity also does not assert that the ground consciousness is inherently or ultimately existent. Rather, it must be eliminated in order for one to attain enlightenment. As The Sutra That Unravels the Intention says:

Visalamati, bodhisattvas ... do not see an appropriating consciousness.... They do not see a fundamental ground, nor do they see a ground consciousness.

and

The appropriating consciousness is profound and subtle.
All seeds flow [toward it] like the stream of a river.
It is inappropriate to conceive of it as a self.
I did not teach it to naive beings.

Asanga's commentary elaborates on this verse:

The [ground consciousness] is difficult to understand, since it is not [taught] on the lower levels of the teachings, since it abides as bearing the characteristics of the seeds of the [six] operative consciousnesses, and since it does not abide through having any characteristics of its own.

This means that the ground consciousness is nothing but the sum of its seeds and that there is no other underlying, permanent substratum or entity of a ground consciousness apart from the seeds that constitute it. Since the seeming continua of these seeds are impermanent, the ground consciousness is merely a seeming, impermanent continuum too. It also does not actively create anything. Thus, it is not at all like the Hindu atman or a creator. Rather, The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle says:

The ground consciousness is like an illusion, a mirage, a dream, or [the appearances of] blurred vision.

As quoted above, the same text also explains that the ground consciousness is remedied by the latent tendencies of listening. Thus, Vasubandhu's Thirty Verses states:

In arhathood, it becomes annulled.

The ninth chapter ("the grounds without mind") of Asanga's Grounds of Yoga Practice says:

In terms of the presentation of the ultimate, the ground without mind is the expanse of the nirvana without remainder. Why? Because the ground consciousness ceases in it.

The text says that this applies to arhats, bodhisattvas who will not revert, and Buddhas alike and elaborates in several places on the details of the relinquishment of the ground consciousness. Similar statements are also found in the Nivrtti portion of Asanga's Synopsis of Ascertainment and his Synopsis of the Great Vehicle.

The final realization of true reality as explained by the lineage of vast activity is the nonreferential, nondualistic wisdom that realizes and is inseparable from the expanse of dharmas free from both afflictive and cognitive obscurations. This is the Dharma Body of a fully enlightened Buddha. As in Centrism, this wisdom is typically described by Yogacaras by merely excluding what it is not. The Distinction between Phenomena and Their Nature says that nonconceptual wisdom is characterized by the exclusion of five aspects. First, as was explained before about the correct notion of mental nonengagement, nonconceptual wisdom is not just the mere absence of mental engagement. Rather, in the direct seeing of the true nature of phenomena, all reference points have vanished for this wisdom. Thus, since there is no reference point for it to engage in anymore, any mental engagement in reference points naturally subsides. This does not mean, however, that this wisdom lacks wakefulness and one-pointed, sharp mindfulness. It is also not without knowing, since it directly realizes the nature of phenomena. Second, it is not just a state of being beyond coarse and subtle conceptual analysis, since this likewise applies to the upper three meditative concentrations of the form realm. Third, nonconceptual wisdom is not the mere subsiding of all thoughts, for otherwise deep sleep, fainting, being completely drunk, or the meditative absorption of cessation would also qualify as such wisdom. Fourth, it is not something that is by its very nature without thoughts, such as matter. Fifth, it is also not the state of trying not to think anything, since this is just another subtle thought or grasping in itself. The Ornament of Sutras says:

Just as the heat in [a piece of] iron
And blurred vision in the eyes vanish,
The mind and wisdom of a Buddha
Are not expressed as existent or nonexistent.

The Sutra That Unravels the Intention says:

"O Blessed One, through which perfection do bodhisattvas apprehend the lack of nature of phenomena?" "Avalokitesvara, they apprehend it through the perfection of knowledge." "O Blessed One, if they apprehend the lack of nature through the perfection of knowledge, why do they not also apprehend that [phenomena] have a nature?" "Avalokitesvara, I definitely do not say that a nature apprehends the lack of nature. However, without teaching through letters, one is not able to teach the lack of nature, that which is without letters, or what is to be personally experienced. Therefore, I declare that '[the perfection of knowledge] apprehends the lack of nature.'"

As for the Dharma Body, the tenth chapter of The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle makes it very clear that this Dharma Body is not something outside of emptiness. Specifically, it says that it is free from the duality of existence and nonexistence (X.3). Asvabhava's (450-530) Explanation of The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle elaborates:

[The phrase] "[The Dharma Body] is characterized by the nonduality of existence and nonexistence" [means that] it does not have the characteristic of existence, since all phenomena have the essential character of the nonexistence of entities. Nor does it have the characteristic of nonexistence, because its nature is emptiness.

In an insertion into his Chinese translation of Vasubandhu's commentary, Paramartha emphasizes here that all the enlightened bodies of a Buddha must be interpreted through the understanding of emptiness. In both The Sublime Continuum and The Ornament of Sutras, the Dharma Body is said to be spacelike and is equated with the completely pure expanse of dharmas as well as the naturally luminous nature of the mind.

The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle compares the ways of understanding the three
natures:

"In this teaching that is the very extensive teaching of the great vehicle of the Buddhas, the Blessed Ones, how should the imaginary nature be understood?" It should be understood through the teachings on the synonyms of nonexistents.

"How should the other-dependent nature be understood?" It should be understood to be like an illusion, a mirage, an optical illusion, a reflection, an echo, [the reflection of] the moon in water, and a magical creation.

"How should the perfect nature be understood?" It should be understood through the teachings on the four kinds of completely pure dharmas. As for these four kinds of completely pure dharmas, (1) natural complete purity means suchness, emptiness, the true end, signlessness, and the ultimate. Also the expanse of dharmas is just this. (2) Unstained complete purity refers to [the state of] this very [natural purity] not having any obscurations. (3) The complete purity of the path to attain this [unstained purity] consists of all the dharmas concordant with enlightenment, the perfections, and so on. (4) The completely pure object in order to generate this [path] is the teaching of the genuine dharma of the great vehicle. In this way, since this [dharma] is the cause for complete purity, it is not the imaginary [nature]. Since it is the natural outflow of the pure expanse of dharmas, it is not the other-dependent [nature either]. All completely pure dharmas are included in these four kinds [of purity].

The text elaborates further on the unreal nature of the other-dependent nature. However, this lack of reality does not prevent the mere appearance and functioning of various seeming manifestations for deluded and undeluded minds:

Why is the other-dependent nature taught in such a way as being like an illusion and so on? In order to eliminate the mistaken doubts of others about the other-dependent nature.... In order to eliminate the doubts of those others who think, "How can nonexistents become objects?" it is [taught] to be like an illusion. In order to eliminate the doubts of those who think, "How can mind and mental events arise without [outer] referents?" it is [taught] to be like a mirage. In order to eliminate the doubts of those who think, "How can likes and dislikes be experienced if there are no referents?" it is [taught] to be like a dream. In order to eliminate the doubts of those who think, "If there are no referents, how can the desired and undesired results of positive and negative actions be accomplished?" it is [taught] to be like a reflection. In order to eliminate the doubts of those who think, "How can various consciousnesses arise if there are no referents?" it is [taught to be] like an optical illusion. In order to eliminate the doubts of those who think, "How can various conventional expressions come about if there are no referents?" it is [taught] to be like an echo. In order to eliminate the doubts of those who think, "If there are no referents, how can the sphere of the meditative concentration that apprehends true actuality come about?" it is [taught] to be like [a reflection of] the moon in water. In order to eliminate the doubts of those who think, "If there are no referents, how can unerring bodhisattvas be reborn as they wish in order to accomplish their activity for sentient beings?" it is [taught] to be like a magical creation.

and

How should one engage in [appearances as being mere cognizance]?... One engages in this just like in the case of a rope appearing as a snake in a dark house. Since a snake does not exist, [to see it] in the rope is mistaken. Those who realize [that the rope] is its referent have turned away from the cognition of [seeing] a snake where there is none and dwell in the cognition of [apprehending] a rope. [However,] when regarded in a subtle way, such is also mistaken, since [a rope] consists of [nothing but] the characteristics of color, smell, taste, and what can be touched. [Thus,] based on the cognition of [seeing color] and so on, the cognition of [apprehending] a rope has to be discarded too. Likewise, based on the cognition of [seeing] the perfect nature, ... also the cognition of mere cognizance is to be dissolved.... Through engaging in mere cognizance, one engages in the other-dependent nature.

How does one engage in the perfect nature? One engages in it by dissolving the notion of mere cognizance too.... Therefore, there is not even an appearance of [phenomena] as mere cognizance. When bodhisattvas ... dwell in the expanse of dharmas in an immediate way, what is observed and what observes are equal in these bodhisattvas. In consequence, what springs forth [in them] is equal, nonconceptual wisdom. In this way, such bodhisattvas engage in the perfect nature.

From the point of view that Yogacara presentations are based on the view that everything is experienced only in our mind, the three natures can be summarized in yet another way. The imaginary nature stands for our habitual way of misperceiving the other-dependent nature. We insist that dependently originating mere appearances in the mind are real and distinct subjective and objective entities, such as inner consciousness and external objects. However, even if such dualistic appearances have no ground, they still appear and are experienced. The perfect nature refers to perceiving the unity of dependently originating mere appearances and emptiness. This means realizing that any imaginary subject-object duality and all superimpositions of personal and phenomenal identities never existed in other-dependent appearances. In other words, this is the realization of the unity of form and emptiness.

Thus, the three natures are not three different ontological "things." It is not that by subtracting one (the imaginary nature) from the other (the other-dependent nature), one arrives at the third (the perfect nature). Rather, Yogacara talks about the other-dependent nature as the experiential ground for a dynamic process of disillusioning and refining our perception, with the imaginary nature and the perfect nature being the "extremes" of mistaken and pure perception respectively. Thus, the other-dependent nature stands for the continuity of experience, which is impure when imagined as the imaginary nature and pure or perfected when this imaginary nature has been seen through. Since the realization of the perfect nature is still an experience and not something abstract or just nothing, it is said that the other-dependent nature in its pure aspect is the perfect nature. In this way, "other-dependent nature" is just a term for the compound meaning of the imaginary nature and the perfect nature, which points to the underlying experiential continuity of a mind stream that becomes increasingly aware of its own true nature.

In summary, in the lineage of vast activity, there is clearly no trace of reifying any of the three natures. Again, this just follows what The Sutra of the Arrival in Lanka says:

When scrutinized with insight,
Neither the imaginary, nor the dependent,
Nor the perfect [nature] exists.
So how could insight conceive of an entity?

In his explanation of the four purities that comprise the perfect nature (natural complete purity, unstained complete purity, the complete purity of the path, and the completely pure object), Vasubandhu adds that the first two purities are the unchanging perfect nature, while the last two are the unmistaken perfect nature. Both his and Asvabhava's commentary identify natural complete purity with Buddha nature. As for the genuine dharma as the completely pure object, Vasubandhu elaborates on why the teachings of the great vehicle are completely pure and are therefore included in the perfect nature:

Thus, whatever dharma arises from the imaginary arises from afflicted causes. Whatever [dharma] arises as the other-dependent is not true. However, since it is the natural outflow of the pure expanse of dharmas, [the completely pure object] is neither of these, is not untrue, and arises from the perfect [nature] itself.

When the genuine dharma becomes an object of a conceptual consciousness or is verbally expressed during the initial stages of the path, it is imaginary. Since the inner subject of such processes is false imagination—that is, the other-dependent nature in its unawareness of the ultimate—the dharma also becomes entangled with and thus blurred by the other-dependent nature. Finally, on the level or nondual, nonconceptual wisdom that directly realizes the expanse of dharmas (the actual, complete purity of the path), there is no more separation or difference between subject and object. This is the culmination of the path as the passage from engagement in the dharma to its clear manifestation as the nature of one's entire being: enlightenment. Surely, the immediate experience of the expanse of dharmas itself is beyond thought and expression, but its natural expression or outflow for the benefit of others is the genuine dharma as it is compassionately communicated by those who have this experience. This represents the passage from enlightenment to communicating the dharma to others, which is clearly expressed in The Prajnaparamita Sutra in Eight Thousand Lines:

When the dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One is taught, the disciples reveal and seize the nature of phenomena. While [being in the state of] having revealed and seized the nature of phenomena, whatever they explain, whatever they teach, whatever they relate, whatever they express, whatever they clarify, and whatever they perfectly illuminate, all of this is not in contradiction to the nature of phenomena. Venerable Sariputra, when the nature of phenomena is explained by the children of good family in this way, it is not in contradiction to the nature of phenomena. It is the natural outflow of the dharma taught by the Thus-Gone One.

Inasmuch as such genuine dharma itself is the natural expression of the expanse of dharmas, it is not subject to change. It is only the experiential, inner subjectivity of the practitioner engaging in this dharma that may be fully aware of the ultimate source of this natural expression or not. The former experience is then called "nondual, nonconceptual wisdom," while the latter is other-dependent consciousness.

In Yogacara, everything is contained within the expanse of dharmas, or natural complete purity. Although the Yogacara system is expressed within the framework of the three natures, the ground consciousness, and such, it is important to keep in mind that this entire edifice is grounded in and built from within the perspective of direct insight into the expanse of dharmas. The dharma as well as the ensuing path of engaging in it stem from this natural ground, and when this ground is directly realized, then both this dharma and the path merge back into the expanse of dharmas. As The Ornament of Sutras says:

It is said that enlightenment is attained
By those nonconceptual bodhisattvas
Who regard all that has been explained
As mere conception.

This also points to the relationship between the four purities. The latent tendencies of listening as the outflow of "one's own" expanse of dharmas (natural purity) are the remedy for the ground consciousness (the ground of delusion) in the same mind stream. On the path, it is not that consciousness is an indiscriminate blend of both illusion and truth. Rather, within the naturally pure, fundamental space of the expanse of dharmas, the purity of the path manifests from engaging in the completely pure object, that is, the genuine dharma as the natural expression of others' realization of the expanse of dharmas. This path results in a radical change of state of one's inner subjectivity; that is, dualistic consciousness unaware of the expanse of dharmas is revealed as nondual wisdom and expanse inseparable. This is nothing other than unstained complete purity. Vasubandhu's commentary on The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle says:

Unstained complete purity means that the very same suchness [natural complete purity] becomes Buddhahood. This is characterized as pure suchness in that it is free from the stains of afflictive and cognitive obscurations.

As for the statement that the perfect nature is the other-dependent nature empty of the imaginary nature (which is said to be the position of the Mere Mentalists), it is also found in the texts of the lineage of vast activity. However, according to The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle, its meaning is to be understood as follows: The aspect of affliction refers to the existence of the imaginary nature in the other-dependent nature. The aspect of complete purity refers to the existence of the perfect nature in the other-dependent nature. Thus, the other-dependent nature itself is involved in both of these aspects. This is what the Buddha had in mind when he taught the three natures. The analogy for this meaning is gold ore, which may also be said to involve three aspects: stone, gold, and gold ore as their compound. Before being processed in an oven, gold ore looks like ordinary stone, although it actually is gold. In itself, it is just the compound of stone and gold. After having been processed in a furnace, only the gold is visible and not the stone. Likewise, as long as ordinary consciousness has not been touched by the fire of nonconceptual wisdom, this consciousness appears as the nature of false imagination, but not as the true reality, which is the perfect nature. Once ordinary consciousness has been touched by the fire of nonconceptual wisdom, this consciousness appears as the perfect nature and no longer as the nature of false imagination. Thus, the consciousness that is false imagination—the other-dependent nature—is involved in both aspects, just as gold ore contains both stone and the gold that exists within it.

Thus, the other-dependent nature may be considered under two aspects. In its first aspect, it is contaminated by false imagination, with the result that a world of dualistic appearances is constructed. Appearances are imputed to possess an intrinsic nature of their own, though they do not exist in this way from the ultimate point of view. This is why the other-dependent nature in its imaginary aspect is called the basis for the appearance of all entities. Since we are trapped by such imagination into a false view of things that leads to suffering, the other-dependent nature is said to pertain to suffering. The second aspect of the other-dependent nature is its being uncontaminated by the above processes and being identical to the perfect nature. This is said to be the aspect pertaining to purity. In other words, if there is absolutely nothing, not even some illusory, impure, and dualistic mind at the beginning of the path to liberation, then there cannot be any purified, nondual mind as the result of this path. Thus, the mere fact of emptiness or the expanse of dharmas alone is not enough for enlightenment; there has to be an experience of it.

One of the crucial reasons to propose the other-dependent nature is to account for the continuity of a mind stream from impure to pure experiences. In the lineage of vast activity, it is only in this sense that the other-dependent nature being empty of the imaginary nature is said to be the perfect nature. These are also referred to as the pure and the impure other-dependent nature. The Synopsis of the Great Vehicle says:

In one sense, the other-dependent nature is other-dependent; in another sense, it is imaginary; and in yet another sense, it is perfect. In what sense is the other-dependent nature called "other-dependent"? It is other-dependent in that it originates from the seeds of other-dependent latent tendencies. In what sense is it called "imaginary"? Because it is both the cause of [false] imagination and what is imagined by it. In what sense is it called "perfect"? Because it does not at all exist in the way it is imagined.

and

Thus, in terms of its imaginary aspect, this very other-dependent nature is samsara. In terms of its perfect aspect, it is nirvana.

Such statements may also be seen as justifications for the relationship between the three natures as it is usually described by the proponents of other-emptiness: that the perfect nature is empty of both the imaginary and the other-dependent natures. Vasubandhu's Brhattika (his major commentary on the Prajnaparamita sutras) likewise interprets the three natures in this sense. In any case, due to the dual status of the other-dependent nature (pure and impure) at different stages of the path, whether it is said that the perfect nature is the other-dependent nature empty of the imaginary nature or that the perfect nature is empty of both the imaginary and the other-dependent natures, the meaning is the same.

As for the notion of Buddha nature, there is no reifying interpretation of it in any of the texts of the lineage of vast activity. The teachings on Buddha nature are not meant as a philosophical or even ontological alternative to emptiness. Buddha nature or the luminous nature of the mind is not seen as a monistic absolute beside which all other phenomena have an illusionlike status. Rather, it is the undeluded state of mind in which its self-delusion has fully and irreversibly ceased to operate. The main example that is used for it is space. However, in order to clarify that the insubstantial expanse of the mind is not like mere inert, outer space but that it is the luminous, natural unity of wisdom and expanse, the teachings on Buddha nature also give many examples for the luminous aspect of mind's nature and its boundless, inseparable qualities. Asanga's commentary on The Sublime Continuum's most famous two verses explains:

Those whose minds stray from emptiness are those bodhisattvas who have newly entered the [great] vehicle. They deviate from the principle of what emptiness means in terms of the Heart of the Thus-Gone Ones (tathagatagarbha). [Among them,] there are those who assert the door to liberation that is emptiness due to the destruction of [real] entities, saying, "The subsequent extinction and destruction of an existing phenomenon is perfect nirvana." Or, there are also those who rely on emptiness by mentally focusing on emptiness [as some real entity], saying, "In a way that is distinct from form and so on, what is called 'emptiness' exists as some entity which is to be realized and meditated on." So, how is the principle of what emptiness means in terms of the Heart of the Thus-Gone Ones expressed here?

There is nothing to be removed from it
And not the slightest to be added.
Actual reality is to be seen as it really is—
Who sees actual reality is released.

The basic element is empty of what is adventitious,
Which has the characteristic of being separable.
It is not empty of the unsurpassable dharmas,
Which have the characteristic of being inseparable.

What is elucidated by this? There is nothing to be removed from this basic element of the Thus-Gone Ones that is naturally completely pure, since the emptiness of [all] expressions of afflicted phenomena (the adventitious stains) is its nature. Nor is the slightest to be added to it, since the expressions of purified phenomena (the fact of inseparable dharmas) are its nature. Hence, it is said [in The Sutra of the Lions Roar of Queen Srimala] that the Heart of the Thus-Gone Ones is empty of all the cocoons of afflictions, which are separable [from it] and realized as being relinquished. It is not empty of the inconceivable Buddhadharmas, which are inseparable [from it], realized as not being relinquished, and greater in number than the sands of the river Ganga. Thus, one clearly sees that when something does not exist somewhere, the [latter] is empty of that [former]. In accordance with reality, one understands that what remains there always exists. These two verses unmistakenly elucidate the defining characteristic of emptiness, since it [thus] is free from the extremes of superimposition and denial. Here, those whose minds stray away and are distracted from this principle of emptiness, do not rest [in it] in meditative concentration, and are not one-pointed [with regard to it] are therefore called "those whose minds stray from emptiness." Without the wisdom of ultimate emptiness, it is impossible to realize and reveal the nonconceptual expanse.

Thus, what remains after the adventitious stains are realized to be non-existent is clearly not some reified entity, but the naturally pure expanse of dharmas free from reference points, just as it is.

Immediately after the above verses, The Sublime Continuum explains the reason for teaching Buddha nature, even though it is impossible for anyone but a Buddha to directly realize it:

Having taught in certain places that, just like clouds, dreams, and illusions,
All knowable objects are empty in all aspects,
Why did the Victors teach here
That the Buddha-Heart exists in all sentient beings?

They taught this in order to eliminate
The five flaws in those in whom they exist.
These are faintheartedness, denigrating inferior sentient beings,
Clinging to what is not the actual, denying the actual dharma, and excessive attachment to oneself.

Accordingly, Karmapa Mikyo Dorje in his Lamp That Excellently Distinguishes the Tradition of the Proponents of Other-Emptiness states that the existence of Buddha nature is taught in order to awaken all sentient beings' disposition for Buddhahood and to relinquish the five flaws. Some scholars say that the teachings on the existence of Buddha nature in all sentient beings have to be interpreted as merely an expedient meaning, since they—according to the above verses—only serve to eliminate these five flaws. The Karmapa counters this argument in good Consequentialist manner by drawing absurd consequences from it. He says that if these teachings were only of expedient meaning, there would be no need to give up these five flaws. This means that there would be no flaw in looking down on inferior beings, because beings do not really have Buddha nature. Consequently, there is no reason to believe that such beings have Buddha nature's enlightened qualities. There would also be no flaw in denying the possibility of enlightenment, since the nonexistence of Buddha nature means the nonexistence of the Dharma Body. When rejecting enlightenment, one would not fall into the extreme of false denial, since Buddha nature as its very ground never existed. Rather, one would express just the true way things are. Thus, it would also be fine to be fainthearted and lack confidence in ever attaining enlightenment, since Buddha nature does not indeed exist in one's own mind stream. Hence, to have self-confidence in it being one's true nature would be an attitude that does not at all correspond to the facts.

The Karmapa does not explicitly mention this, but following his same line of argument for the remaining two flaws, people would be fully entitled to be proud and self-satisfied when achieving any new qualities. Since there would be nothing behind the delusions and obscurations that manifest as cyclic existence, it would be justified to take these deluded states as the only reality. Consequently, any attempt at practicing the Buddhist path would be pointless. Moreover, if the teachings on Buddha nature are understood as an expedient meaning, that is, as mere skillful means to address some specific flaws, it would follow that all other teachings of the Buddha as well, including those on emptiness, are of expedient meaning, since it is common to all teachings of the Buddha that they were given for specific purposes and as remedies for specific problems. Thus, there would be nothing of definitive meaning in the Buddha's teachings.

The above absurd consequences by the Karmapa in no way imply that he affirms any reified existence of Buddha nature. This is very clearly described in his commentary on The Ornament of Clear Realization:

In this context, in order to know exactly what the mode of the supreme vehicle is, one must know what is the true reality, the nature of phenomena. In the mantra vehicle, this is explained as being the principal of the divisions of all dispositions, the lord of the circle of the ultimate mandala, and the remaining, irremovable continuum of all aspects of ground, path, and fruition in which the three poisons are relinquished and whose own nature is not impermanent. This actual mode of being is declared as "the Heart of the Thus-Gone Ones" by venerable Maitreya. His intention was that this Heart is the Dharma Body endowed with twofold purity and that, by labeling a part with the name of the whole, sentient beings have one dimension, that is, "natural purity," of the Buddha-Heart endowed with twofold purity. In this way, he spoke of "sentient beings who have the disposition of the Buddhas." ...

In his Autocommentary on The Profound Inner Reality," [the Third Karmapa Rangjung Dorje] ... explains that those who possess impure mental impulses are sentient beings and thereby elucidates that the expanse of dharmas does not exist in such sentient beings. He presents these very sentient beings as being the adventitious stains, that is, what is produced by false imagination which deviates from the expanse of dharmas. By giving the pure mind names such as "ordinary mind," "original protector," and "original Buddha," he says that exactly this [mind] is what involves the mode of being inseparable from the Buddha qualities. This kind of [pure mind] is also the [Buddha-] Heart that actually fulfills this function.

At this point one might ask, "What does this pure mind refer to?" It is "the luminous nature of the mind." The meaning of "luminous" is that the [deluded] mind that has deviated [from its nature] is [nevertheless] naturally pure. It is said that such a naturally pure Heart exists in sentient beings, [but] that is also not meant literally. Rather, by taking the naturally luminous Heart as the basis, [the fact] that impure sentient beings exist in it as that which is to be purified is stated [as] "Buddha exists in sentient beings." Yet, it is likewise [only] under the influence of other-dependent mistakenness that sentient beings exist as what is to be purified, whereas, according to the definitive meaning, the adventitious stains which are to be purified do not exist right from the start.

Thus, the teachings on Buddha nature do not mean that there is some nucleus of Buddhahood enclosed in sentient beings behind the obscuring adventitious stains. Rather, our whole existence as sentient beings is in itself the sum of adventitious stains that float like clouds in the infinite, bright sky of Buddha nature, the luminous, open expanse of our mind that has no limits or boundaries. Once these clouds dissolve from the warm rays of the sun of wisdom shining in this space, nothing within sentient beings has been freed or developed, but there is just this radiant expanse without any reference points of cloudlike sentient beings or cloud-free Buddhas.

In brief, not only is there no statement in the texts of Maitreya, Asanga, and Vasubandhu that mind, the ground consciousness, any of the three natures, or even Buddha nature is really or ultimately existent, but this is precisely what is explicitly and repeatedly denied. This is also expressed in The Sutra of the Arrival in Lanka:

Having thoroughly meditated on all phenomena being free from mind, mental cognition, consciousness, the five dharmas, arid the [three] natures, Mahamati, a bodhisattva mahasattva is skilled in phenomenal identitylessness.

Most modern scholars who do not base their writings and research on Gelugpa presentations alone also agree that the essential purport of the system of Maitreya, Asanga, and Vasubandhu is not at all idealistic and that there is no claim of a really existing mind or other such entities. In fact, in much the same way as the Centrists, Yogacaras like Asanga and Vasubandhu introduce and employ expedient concepts, such as "mere mind," only for the sake of dissolving previous ones. Once these concepts on different levels have fulfilled their purpose of redressing specific misconceptions, they are replaced by more subtle ones, which are similarly removed later in the gradual process of letting go of all reference points.

The outcome of the above presentation is that the refutations in the Centrist texts of Mere Mentalism in general and of a really existing self-awareness or ground consciousness and so on in particular cannot be directed against the system of these masters. I have gone to some length here to provide evidence for this for two main reasons. First, it is quite an important point that Centrism and the lineage of vast activity are not mutually exclusive. Second is the need to redress the common but mistaken conflation of the lineage of vast activity with what Tibetans call Mere Mentalism, which invariably leads to its rejection.

-----------------

* Sometimes Yogacaras differentiate between cittamatra and cittamatrata, vijnaptimatra and vijnaptimatrata, and so on, the latter indicating the actual nature of the former, i.e., the perfect nature.

Great Madhyamaka

Contents:

Commentary on the Uttaratantra Shastra by Asanga (Excerpt)

A Teaching on the Tathagatagarba by Rangjung Dorje

How the Cause of Liberation is Produced by Longchen Rabjam

Great Madhyamaka by Taranatha

The Lion's Roar Proclaiming Extrinsic Emptiness by Mipham Rinpoche

Great Madhyamaka by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

Superiority of Great Madhyamaka to Mind Only by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

The Provisional and Definitive Meaning of the Transmitted Precepts by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

The Enlightened or Buddha Family by H.H. Dudjom Rinpoche

Main Points of the Lineage of Vast Activity by Karl Brunnhölzl

The Lineage of Vast Activity Is Not the Same as "Mere Mentalism" by Karl Brunnhölzl