No More Learning

Thus, the three successive [promulgations] of transmitted precepts are classified into those 1)f provisional meaning and those of definitive meaning. It says in the Sutra which Decisively Reveals the Intention (Sandhininnocanasutra, T 106):
The first promulgation of the doctrinal wheel by the Tran- scendent 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 con- tinues 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 con- tinues to be a basis for debate. And then, beginning with the Transcendent Lord's teaching that things have no es- sence, 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 be- come 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 pro- visional 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 ofthese [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 perfec- tion of discriminative awareness, 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
Provisional and Definitive Meaning 189
to the transcendental perfection of discriminative aw
extensively revealed in the final promulgation and afire mdolst
Id·hh· . Yproouny revea e m t e ve . Icle of mdestructible reality.
However, there IS no distinction in the essence of the tra d I
i'. fd·. . .
penectlon 0 Iscnmmatlve awareness
which is said to b
nscenenta d · · . h
'
as surpassed or unsurpassed depending on wheth
e IstmgUls ed . .
I I
clear y or very c early revealed; for all the limitless [attributes] which
er It IS unclearly are revealed by names such as the nucleus of the h
1"
h · . sugata, t e expanse of Ity, t e n:md of mner radiance, the naturally pure enlightened
famIly, the genume goal and the emptiness which is the esse t· I d. dfb . . . nIanature 0 su are Identical in the naturally present, non-dual
pnstme cognItIOn. ThIS same [pristine cognition] I·S the t
d ranscenental
· f·. . .
per ectIOn 0 dlscnmmatlve awareness
D · - emaster Ignaga
fi . h·E.
Therefiore th
[m IS pztome ofthe Transcendental Perfection ofDiscrimin t' A
ness, v. 1] has said:
Being the transcendental perfection of
Discriminative awareness,
pristine cognition is the Tathagata. It. possesses the meaning
WhIch IS to be accomplished
This term applies to the cent;al texts and path. I81
a Ive
ware-
Th. e. final precepts are proven to be the meanmg by [scriptural] transmissions and [logical] reason- . . . e hImself made the classification of provisional and
e lnItlVe meamng, and moreover, in his own words said:
A monk who is called Asanga
in the meaning of these treatises,
WIll dIfferentiate in many categories
The siitras of provisional and definitive meaning.
The final [tra . d
defi . . ns. mItte precepts] were accordingly allocated conclusive
by this whom the Conqueror had meanings. y declared would dlfferentlate the provisonal and definitive
Thereare onthe th h d . .
the inter '. 0 . er a n , no authontatlve passages declaring
the final7tedlate to have definitive meaning and the p ransmItted precepts] provIsIOnal meaning. Indeed even if
roponents of the Vi(- -d ld ' transmitt d nanava a cou have composed these final
sequence as such, . would have mistaken the correct and by oth . . y above SImIle of the refinement of gemstones and the S}7lles refer to the medical treatment of ill-health order made 0 There ,:ould be no need even for the definitive
there w y onqueror hImself and the sublime [Asailga] and ould be lImItless other such faults. In addition, after first

.
190 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
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.
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 Siitra of the Irreversible Wheel (Avaivartacakra- sutra, T 240):
Then, in reverence to the Transcendent Lord, the great bodhisattva 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 Trans- cendent 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 Transcen- dent Lord Buddhas conform to the irreversible promulga- tion. "
6 The Enlightened or Buddha Family
[95 6- 06b. 4 When this buddha family of the unsurpassed greater vehIcle IS clasSIfied, the Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle (Ch. 1
v. 149) says: '
One 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 nurtured.
So . there is both. an family which naturally abides and an famIly whIch IS nurtured. Concerning the former, the Sutra
of Fmal Nzrva1Ja says:
? on of the family, the reality of the mind which
IS radiance, and naturally without essence is
not dIfferent. Iated by naturally pure mind as it appears,
WIth the enlIghtened attributes of blazing major
and mInor marks, but it is differentiated by its nature of appearance and emptiness. 183
owYherefo. re, this enli? "htened family is classified, it is threefold bto Its funct. IOn of beIng the in which the culminating
Ii ht of the result anse. It consists of [firstly] the en-
. g ened famIly In which reality naturally abides which resembles an lInagemadeof' . . . '
causal b ' precIOUS gems In that It IS the spontaneously present
(sv -bh - a. sIs 0=ground separating (bral-rgyu) the essential buddha-body [s a aVlkakaya). or the uncorrupted expanse [from obscuration]' enhgh. tened family in the apparition of this realit; cau I a. Ides, whIch resembles a unIversal emperor in that it is the ob sa . asis separating the buddha-body of perfect rapture from
a gscludratl? n; and [thirdly] its apparitional reflection, which resembles
oen1m . h"
age In t at It IS the causal basis separating the emanational
192 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
body from obscuration. In actuality, however, the reality in which these three are of an inseparable essence is the great, naturally present, un- compounded buddha-body of reality, the pris. tine cog. nition of supreme sameness coalescing appearance and emptmess without conceptual Since it is the great, indivisible reality in the gro. und differentiating appearance and emptiness has cease? , It IS exemplIfied by the nature of the Tathagata. As the Supreme Contznuum ofthe Greater Vehicle (Ch. 1, 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 [of buddhahood].
When this enlightened family is actualised without 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 [reahty] IS includes those who awaken to the [aforementioned] twofold famIly, In which the expanse, or reality, and pristine cognition, or apparition, naturally abide, and those who to mteg- rate the two provisions of skilful means and awareness. Thesetwoprovisionsinturnaresubsumedbythe pathof learning (saik$amarga)184 which includes of enlIghtened mind, in order that the suddenly arisen stams covenng [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. It is one in which, having seen the natural, inner radiance vast as 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 fr? m obscuration and the latter is the path which removes the stains covenng [the nucleus]. It is said that though the truth of t? e path on the ground-of-all and is subsumed in the causal basIs of froI? obscurations it does bring about the basis of unchangmg authentic liberation. This is because its function of attainment which effects result of separation [from obscurations] depends on the enhghtene family or the nucleus. . . it
For anyone to know that this enlightened famIly, . Y abides, does exist, it is inferred to exist through the sIgns [VISIble 1D those who] awaken to it, just as one, in general, infers fire from The signs that one has awakened to the natural enlightened. famIly the buddha-body of reality are indicated in the IntmductlOn to the Madhyarnaka (Ch. 6, vv. 4-Sc):
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 193 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. S):
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 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
185
born as a god in Trayatrirpsa.
He subsequently became the boy
Bhaskara, the son of a potter, in Jambudvlpa and aspired to enlighten-
in the presence of the Tathagata Sakyamuni. 186 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.
lf living beings were without this enlightened family, those who ex .
penence 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 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
194 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
power of the seed of beginningless reality. It says in the Supreme Con-
tinuum of the Greater Vehicle eCh. 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 nirva1)a.
This perception of suffering as a negative
And happiness as a positive attribute,
In relation to existence and nirva1)a,
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 base- ness 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 ofQueen Srfmala eSrfmaladevfsirrzhanadasutra, 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 dur- ing 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 al) expanse encompassed by inconceivable, uncorrupted, enlightened attri- butes, 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 them- selves. The Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle (Ch. 2, v. 3) says:
The Enlightened or Buddha Famity 195 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 endowed with all enlightened
attnbutes of the taintless Buddha
Constant, steadfast and eternal, is
on the pristine cognition which discerns thIngs non-conceptually.
And [Ch. 2, vv. 38-9]:
beginning, middle, or end and indivisible, NeIther two, nor three, taintless and non-
conceptualising,
That which is the natural expanse of realIty,
Is perceived by the yogin during meditative equipoise.
with enlightened attributes that are Immeasurable,
That out. number the sands of the Ganges, limitless and wIthout peer,
This taintless expanse of the Tathagata
Has 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 a co-emergent cause, consisting of the basis of the pure
of requiring training, as well as the conditions of their aspIratIOns and their experience of the two provisions The o f t h e s e b o d i e s o f f o r m i s t h e n e s t a b i i s h e d of teaching in forms manifest to others who q re traInIng, In the manner, for example, of the moon reflected in
wat4eOf. As the above [Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle Ch 2
VV.
-1] says: W' h
) . ,
It a body which manifests the diverse rays ofthe true doctnne,
so that the liberation of living beings be achIeved,
by whIch the world is pacified
Their . deeds, like the king of wish-fulfilling gems
h'
t elr forms whIch cause [beings]
,
Are h .
A llhw out In eXIstence despite their diverse forms.
To t'
en er. Into, npen and prophetically declare the path
.
196
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 197
Also constantly abide therein, Just as form occupies space.
And as Nagarjuna [in the Eulogy to the Expanse ofReality, 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):
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 cro·ss 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 ofthe causal basis ofseparation 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:
I88
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 ofform endowed with pure enlightened activ- ity, 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].
I87
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 em- anational 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 moun-
tain.
One who, without knowing this, is attracted to the concept that a single uncompounded emptiness of explicit negation is the family which naturally abides, and that the enlightened famIly of mner growth is exclusively compounded and newly produced by the path, is found to interrupt the realisation which belongs to the of
learning as a conclusive result and so to adhere to the cessation of pious attendants' tradition, which resembles an expired butter lamp m 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 elaborauon .
The Archer
"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 the suffering of change as something unrenounceable; the of the body of indestructible reality, which is pristine cogni- tlOn. as the sky, as non-existent; and the body of indestructible 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 bemg the apparitional and emptiness aspects of a single expanse, it the fla,:les. s intention.
of the all-knowing doctrinal master [Longcenpa] is It to be thIS supreme essence or natural expression which
mdivisible, 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, from the naturally radiant apparitional aspect of the tamtless mind-as-such, the naturally pure essence, the mind in which the genuine pristine cognition of the Buddha ori-
says:
198
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 199
ginally abides. And the comparison of its emptiness aspect, the enlightened attributes of the body of reality, with the sky is explained in all the sl1tras 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 se- condly is called the enlightened family of inner growth be- cause enlightened attributes are extensively manifest after the stains have been purified. Yet its root is inner radiance, the pristine cognition which is intuitive 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 Saman- tabhadra, unchanging like a vajra, because it naturally con- tains no distinction between [firstly] the enlightened mind of beginningless time [i. e. the ground], [secondly] the pro- visional mind which is the causal situation [of the path ex- tending] 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 paQ. Qitas and ac- complished masters of the Ancient Translation School, including the king of the doctrine Terdak Lingpa189 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 ofExtrinsic 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. 190
The lord of living beings Atisa,191 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 attri- butes is the enlightened family [or the nucleus of the tathagata]. In his Song with a View to the Expanse of Reality (Dharmadhtitudarsanagfti, 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 sl1tras 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 dakin! entitled Valid of the Transmitted Precepts T 2331) whIch were introduced from by Tilopa,192 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.
the Ganges Great Seal (phyag-chen ganga-ma, T 2303) which hOpa Imparted to Naropa: 193
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.
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
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 sarpsara 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,194 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]195 in his Song ofInstruction Given to Lord Marpa196 (mnga'-bdag mar-pa-Ia 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 Milarepa197 has also revealed this in general in Il- luminating the Substance of the Aural Lineage (snyan-brgyud dngos-po gsal-byed, DZ Vol. 5, pp. 443-55) which he gave to Nyiwa Rincen [Gam- popa]: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-Ian rdo-rje'i mgur, mgur-'bum, Ch. 29),199 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:
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 201 Be 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 Rinpoche20o in his Culmination ofthe 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
200
With reference to the relative truth, The Sage has said everything exists,
Both sarpsara and nirvaI). a.
decreases.
202
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 2Uj
This unchanging buddha-body of reality, which so
abides,
Is nothing other than one's own mind.
The diversity of sarpsara without exception arises
from the mind.
When one's own mind is not realised,
The suffering of the world of sarpsara 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 nirva1)a 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 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,201 has additionally given an extensive explanation of the clas. sifi- cation 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 Meanmg (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 [of reality] and pristine cognition. That is, the expanse of reahty enlightened family which naturally abides, and the pristine cogmtlOn, pure in respect of the eight aggregates [of consciousness], is the en- lightened family of inner growth. Indeed, he proves both of to be naturally pure in accord with the transmission of the AnaLysIs of the
Middle and Extremes (Ch. 1, 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 Gyamtsof02 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, Dhar- makara]203 and others are renowned among the Kagyupa traditions.
Again, in the Commentary on the Eulogy [entitled Taintless Gem RosalY, i. e. bstod-'grel, SK Vol. 5]204 which is his culminating personal statement, Sakya Pa1)gita 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 cogni- tion]. 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- mosgom-chen-gyidris-lan, SKVol. 5)205itissaidbywayofillustration:
When the mind is realised to be empty, it cannot be estimated according to [the standards set in] the three piIaka and the four tantrapiIaka, 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 coales- cence is well realised, [buddhahood] is actualised completely.
He then states that:
After freedom from conceptual elaboration has been estab- lished, 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. . .
204 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 205
Regarding this passage, he claims that the former refers merely to freedom from conceptual elaboration, or the emptiness which is analyt- ically 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,206 the expressive power of ulti- mate 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 saq1sara and nirv3I). a,
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 Talpo Sangye's207 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 differ-
208 ent 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 conclU- sive ultimate reality which is without synonyms and free from the intellect, the two truths have a common savour. Therefore, [their sys- tems] are not objects to be appraised by the childish intellects of inhib- ited 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 Cakrasan,-zvara (Tantrardjasrflaghusan,-zvara, T 368), the Texts of Mai- treya, the Jewel Garland, and other sources, it is clearly of extreme importance that one personally preserve this [understanding].
_
7 The Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka
Once this has been determined, then in accordance with the intention of the Texts of Maitreya, the Collection of Eulogies, and other works there no longer reason to deny that the uncorrupted appearances: includmg the buddha-body and pristine cognition, are naturally present and uncompounded, because they do not essentially differ from the expanse of reality.
This conclusive reasoning, which scrutinises the two truths, proves that the expanse ofreality is the coalescence ofappearance and emptiness without contradiction. If it were otherwise, the Prasailgika view itself would be disproved. Therefore it is proven, according to the logic of conventional truth, that the actual appearance of this reality is invisible to sentient beings at the present but visible on the buddha level, and the manifestation of this bewildering apparition of present propensities is visible to sentient beings but invisible to buddhas. The former is similar to that which appears respectively when one is asleep and when one is not asleep, and the latter resembles the dreams which respectively occur when one is not awake and do not occur when one is awake. As
such, this subsequent delineation of the two truths can easily be known. One should know that because this allocation of truth and falsehood and so forth is made conventionally, it is not proven to have veridical existence when the truth is investigated according to the essential view
of the apologists for extrinsic emptiness (gzhan-stong-pa).
This system also holds that the ultimate reality without synonyms,
expanse ofreality in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced,
IS the ground attained in the single, conclusive vehicle. Therefore it is
spoken of in the mantra texts as E-VA¥, the continuum of the basis,
the embodiment of indestructible reality, the great seal, the emptiness
endowed with all supreme aspects, the mind in its natural state,
the naturally present pristine cognition and so forth. If known as
such, no one can contradict that this reality is the conclusive definitive meaning.
This mode [of ultimate reality] is identical in meaning to those modes mentioned in the outer tantras of the way of mantras, namely, one's own real nature (bdag-gi de-kho-na-nyid), the blessing which is the ulti- mate truth. without symbols (don-dam mtshan-ma med-paJi byin-rlabs) the deny of the expanse of indestructible reality (rdo-rje dbyings-kyi
ha). . 209 It is also identical to those modes of the inner tantras namely the d··· ,
IVIsible t? e range of the intellect according to
ay. oga, the mdivisible pnstme cognition and expanse of reality to Anuyoga, and the original ground in which primordial p. unty and spontaneous presence are coalesced according to the conclu- SIve Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po).
If, at the outset, this mode of ultimate reality is not established these Subsequent modes will not become established. But if this mode is well understood, one acquires the power to discern that the later modes are
[106b. 4-116b. l] Nothing that is explained in accordance with the lexical, general, concealed or conclusive [exegetical styles, see pp. 292-3] is errone- ous. Yet when the crucial meaning is briefly expressed: In the situation of the coarse, Outer Madhyamaka of the Prasailgika and Svatantrika, one establishes, in accord with the provisional emphasis revealed in the inter- mediate promulgation, that there is no contradiction between all things being without independent existence and the modes ofrelative appearance, which are dependently originated; and then one is united in the conclusive ultimate reality for which there is no synonym. During the subtle, inner Madhyamaka, however, the only distinction made over and above this same basic structure is that the objective expanse of reality, established by the view revealed and realised in the final promulgation, is not merely the bare emptiness of one-sided explicit negation, but is the naturally present, uncorrupted, uncompounded [abiding nature] which is not dif- ferentiated from the appearances adorned by the buddha-body and pristine cognition. During meditative absorption, when balanced in the expanse of reality without conditions to be clarified or established, both modes of Madhyamaka make no distinction regarding the cessation of all elaborate signs of the subject-object dichotomy therein. However, during the after- math of meditative absorption, they are distinguished between the former [Outer Madhyamaka] which classifies the two truths, allocating emptiness to the ultimate and appearances to the relative, and the latter [Great Madhyamaka] which determines the two truths to be [respectively] the harmony and disharmony of the abiding and apparitional natures (gnas- snang mthun mi-mthun).
None the less, since the reality of the latter cannot be established unless the former has been established, the conclusive ultimate reality without synonyms is to be established at the outset in accordance with the Prasailgika intention of the Collection of Madhyamaka Reasoning. This reality lies within the range of the coalescent, sublime, pristine cognition, and in it things are uncreated, unimpeded, peaceful from the start and naturally beyond sorrow [i. e. in nirvat:laJ.
,
Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka 207
208 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Two Troths according to Great Madhyamaka 209
gradually established without difficulty. Therefore, it is important to know this mode [of ultimate reality] by whatever means.
If a thorough examination is made in this way, the character of the two truths is well distinguished by relying on the coarse Outer Madhyamaka, which is the basis of discriminative awareness. Then, once the meaning of the two kinds of selflessness has been ascertained, and if a certainty free from the darkness of doubt is developed, one is gradually united with and experiences the truth of the great non-dual pristine cognition of the subtle inner Madhyamaka, which is the result of coalescence, during periods of meditative equipoise. Thus, there is not the slightest disharmony between the two kinds of Madhyamaka of defini- tive meaning with respect to the conclusive intention [of the buddhas].
The Prasangika do not claim that the ultimate reality referred to by synonyms, which lies within the range of the dualising intellect or consciousness, is conclusive other than as a provisional introduction. They do, however, say that the coalescent ultimate reality without synonyms, which is within the range of the genuine pristine cognition of individual intuitive awareness, is the unique ultimate truth, charac- terised as the ineffable, unthinkable and inexpressible perfection of discriminative awareness.
The proponents of extrinsic emptiness, in the same way, convention- ally assign consciousness and its objects to the deceptive, false, relative appearance, making them as false on the conventional level as lightning and clouds. Yet they assign pristine cognition and its objects to the ultimate truth by virtue of their infallible conclusive reality, which is free from conditions to be clarified and established because it is perman- ent, steadfast and unchanging.
Therefore, when one meditates [according to these two kinds of Madhyamaka], they are found to make the same essential point. When the pristine cognition or ultimate reality experienced during sublime meditative equipoise according to the greater vehicle, which the a11- knowing great Longcenpa expressed within our own [Nyingma] tradi- tion, is objectified, it is impossible for conceptual elaborations such as the postures of clinging to explicit negation and implicitly affirmative negation to exist therein, regardless of the concepts of being and non- being upheld by philosophical systems.
There is no philosophical system to be upheld during this great sameness, which is a coalescence free from conceptual activity. How- ever, when the aftermath of that meditative equipoise is conventionally objectified, the structure of the ground, path and result and so forth is differentiated in accordance with quotations from the authentic liter- ary transmissions.
This essential point which is indubitably upheld is not contradicted in either of the two kinds of Madhyamaka [for the following twO reasons]. Firstly, both of them refute all signs and ideas of conceptual
elaboration, including being and non-being, in relation to the experience of meditative equipoise or the investigation of the truth, and afterwards are determined and balanced in a great sameness free from conceptual elaborations, without conditions to be clarified or established. Secondly, they both differentiate and uphold the two truths professed according to their respective philosophical systems in the situation of the relative or conventional truth during the aftermath ofthat meditative absorption. One should not, therefore, be exhausted by the conceptual elaboration of and proof, pursuing mere words instead of relying on their meanmg.
One who is attracted and adheres to any agreeable standpoint concern- ing appearances and emptiness cannot reverse the evil view of clinging to extremes. This is why the expanse of reality, the conclusive ultimate truth without synonyms in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced, should be well established as sameness throughout the extent of existence and quiescence.
The mode of establishing this [sameness] is also taught in the eighteenth chapter of [Longcenpa's] Wish-fulfilling Treasury. Accord- ingly, though all relative things that conventionally appear are non-exist- ent in fact, bewildering apparitions appear by the power of the bewil- derment of propensities, without past, without future, without existence during the present interval between them. However, these are empty forms which have never existed in reality, like the combed-out hairs that appear to the vision of one drugged by datura. Appearances and emptiness are not differentiated because the ground that differentiates between appearances and emptiness has ceased to exist, and attributes such as the naturally radiant buddha-body and pristine cognition of ultimate reality are free from the flux of the three times. For they are an uncorrupted expanse and original sameness, neither different nor distinct by nature.
One should know that even the two truths designated by the intellect
are of a supremely pure, indivisible sameness, throughout the extent
of existence and quiescence, because they are merely names and words,
not existing independently in reality. As the text [Wish-fulfilling Treas- ury] says:
Since it is beyond the interrupted and classified objects of relative appearance,
And transcends the two designated truths, All elaboration is pacified.
The indivisible truth is neither proven nor
disproven;
Since, in the expanse, appearances and emptiness
are naturally without duality,
This truth is also said to be indivisible.
210 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
And when the two truths are allocated through their abiding and appari- tional natures, which depend on the universal logic of conventions, the text says:
Thus all things of sarpsara which are bewildering appearances
Are the relative truth because they are false and fallacious.
The reality of nirvat:la which is profound, calm inner radiance,
Is held to be the ultimate truth of unchanging natural expression.
So it is that, after precedence has been given to the establishment of the two truths as an indivisible great sameness without conceptual elaborations, as described above, the objects and subjects, in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in total harmony, are then both allocated to the ultimate reality, and the objects and subjects in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in a state of disharmony, are both allocated to relative appearances. This determination should be made according to their infallibility in conventional terms; otherwise, the whole structure of conventional truth would be deranged, because one would not know whether the apprehension of a conch-shell as white or yellow would be veracious.
It is appropriate, therefore, that all things of nirvat:la attained through the power of the abiding and apparitional modes in harmony be assigned to the ultimate reality, and all things of sarpsara which originate through the power of their disharmony, to the relative appearance. If scrutinised according to conventional analysis, all the apparitions of buddha-body and pristine cognition are uncreated by the bewilderment of deeds and
defilements, and are proven to be true and not fallacious because they originate from the power of genuine pristine cognition, and are unpol- luted by obscurations. The things of sarpsara, on the other hand, are said not to be true because they are the opposite. Their respective truth and falsehood is proven by the logic which conventionally analyses them to be fallacious or not. In this respect, the subject in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in harmony is called pristine cog- nition because it is without the dichotomy of apprehending subject and apprehended object. The subject which apprehends them as dishar- mony is called consciousness because it is endowed with the dichotomy . of subject and object. The object of which the abiding and apparitional modes are in harmony is reliable because it is never reversed by reve- lations of invalid cognition. To give a mundane example: It resembles the intellect which apprehends a rope as a rope. The object of which the abiding and apparitional modes are disharmonious, on the other hand, is not reliable because, like the intellect which apprehends a rope
as s? ake, it is. reversed on perceived as an invalid cognition. ThIs IS expressed In the Sutra Revealed by Aksayamati (Ak$ayamatzmrdesasutra, T 175) when it says: .
Pristine cognition is permanent And consciousness is impermanent.
In this way, this expanse and non-dual pristine cognition are perman- ent because they are no different from reality. The Sutra ofthe Arrayed Bouquet says:
Though a multitude of world systems, Inconceivable in number, have been incinerated, The sky remains undestroyed:
Such is the naturally present pristine cognition.
And in Tantra of the Supreme Radiance of Truth without Conceptual ElaboratlOns (spros-bral don-gsal chen-po'i rgyud, NGB Vo1. 6):
In all the tantras and transmissions I have revealed When the words "unchanging" and And "like indestructible reality" are expressed,
of the naturally present, pure,
pnstIne cognItIon.
An? the Commentary on the Nucleus of Indestructible Reality [rdo-rye
snymg- grel, T2515; or the Cammentary(onHevajra) by Vajragarbha, T1180]:
Just as, though a vase has been destroyed,
T. he. space [within] remains undamaged, though the mind has been destroyed, PnstIne cognition remains undamaged.
[in the Eulogy to the Expanse of Reality, vv. 20-1] the sublime Nagafjuna has said:
As cloth that may be purified by fire,
When soiled with various stains,
Is placed in the midst of fire
The stains are burnt, but no; the cloth,
So, too, when the mind that is inner radiance Possesses stains such as attachment
These burnt by the fire of pristine cognition, But not so its Inner radiance. 21o
Two Truths according to Great Madh)Iamaka 211
ce reference to this apparition of reality, though creation and d SSatIOn are indeed ostensible, they cannot harm the ultimate unbewil
h···· ,- ap :. menta nature w lch IS reahty itself, because they are
ered funda I
pantIOna1 modes' I ' h b .
ex In re atIOn to t e ewlldered consciousness. For th though space ostensibly expands and contracts depending on e SIze of the] vessel, it cannot be proven that space is compounded
212 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
and impermanent. In its own essence, this reality or pristine cognition possesses four enlightened attributes of hidden meaning beyond the range of the childish intellects of inhibited perception. Namely, it is pure because it is originally uncovered by minute blemishes, permanent because it is naturally without change, blissful because it is never oppres- sed by suffering, and true self because it pervades all sarpsara and
nirvaI). a and pacifies elaborate concepts of self and selflessness. The lord Maitreya has said in the Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle
(Ch. 1, v. 35):
Owing to its purity, self, bliss and permanence,
The transcendental perfection of enlightened attributes
is the result.
And in the Litany of the Names of Maiijusn (v. 46) accordingly:
Purest of the pure by nature,
It is beginninglessly
The self free from elaborations.
Furthermore, all the outer and inner phenomena subsumed by the components, psychophysical bases and activity fields are apparitions which arise from reality, and yet, by the power of its natural purity, with reference to the conclusive abiding mode, they do not stray from the natural sameness of the Original Buddha [Samantabhadra] and are
of the nature of the buddha-body and pristine cognition. They are seen as such by the conclusive buddha-eye which is free from all obscura- tions. Therefore it says in the Satra of the Arrayed Bouquet:
Those who well abide in natural sameness With respect to self and sentient beings, And are dynamic and non-acquisitive, Are said to be the sugatas.
With purity of form and feeling,
Of perception, consciousness and attention, The countless tathagatas
Become the supreme sages.
And in the Kalacakra Tantra:
Sentient beings are buddhas. There are no other great buddhas In this world system.