The need of a gradual path: Do not present emptiness to an unprepared student; he might react in rejecting everything, or
misunderstand
completely -- going to the other extreme, nihilism.
Aryadeva - Four Hundred Verses
.
.
-- Wisdom: the final antidote, based on emptiness
-- (The two accumulations: merit and wisdom)
-- The truth is very subtle and hard to appreciate; people are more attracted first with short term superficial easy solutions -- it takes a shock to start looking for something deeper
-- See for yourself the truth about dependent origination and emptiness; do not rely just on scriptures and blind faith -- You do not need to adopt any other views, knowledge, practices
-- Why waste time with superficial inefficient ridiculous solutions
-- Do not get impressed by those superficialities; they are dead ends
.
L3: [I. Why most ordinary people do not follow this teaching] L4: [A. Difficulty of finding a listener with the prerequisite qualities]
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L5: [1. Prerequisite qualities of the listener]
.
\ ###
\ 276.
\ An unprejudiced, intelligent and interested
\ Listener is called a vessel.
\ Neither the teacher's nor the student's
\ Good qualities will be taken as faults.
.
(i. e. Prerequisites: Not everybody is receptive enough at first. Many find faults in the teachings because they are conditioned by their own accumulated karma. One has to be open-minded, intelligent and interested. )
.
(-- The twelfth chapter begins by examining what qualities make one an ideal recipient for explanations concerning emptiness. Only benefit ensues for both student and teacher when the nature of reality is explained to such a person, while in the absence of these qualities the consequences may be grave.
-- The ideal recipient for instruction on emptiness is therefore open-minded, intelligent and interested.
-- Question: even though you have explained selflessness very clearly and extensively and the Tathagata fully understood and gave instruction on it, why do most people not follow this teaching?
-- Answer: Although the one who formulated it and those who elucidate it may be the perfect embodiment of greatness, a listener with great qualities is extremely hard to find.
-- What qualities does one need?
-- Answer: One should be unprejudiced, without attachment to one's own position or aversion to others' positions. Heart of the Middle Way says:
~ One will never know peace
~ While prejudice afflicts the mind.
-- If one is not unprejudiced one will fail to understand a good explanation because of thinking it is someone else's. One must have the intelligence to distinguish between good and bad explanations, otherwise one may reject correct explanations and adopt incorrect ones. A keen interest in good explanations is needed, for without that one will make no effort and simply be like the lifeless picture of a human being. One should appreciate and be attentive to the teaching and the teacher. A listener with these five qualities is said to be a vessel for the teaching. Someone with all these attributes will recognize the teacher's good qualities and fully understand the clarity and orderliness of the teaching, as well as the good intentions of other listeners. The teacher's lack of self-interest and the like will not be seen as faults and other than as they are, but only as virtues. Nor will the good qualities of the listeners be construed as faults. )
.
L5: [2. Disadvantages of not possessing the prerequisite qualities]
.
\ ###
\ 277.
\ He explained existence and its causes,
\ The means to peace and peace itself.
\ What people do not understand
\ Is seen as the Subduer's [fault].
.
(i. e. When with too much bad karma: People judge from their own erroneous position, under the influence of accumulated karma, thinking it is impartial. )
.
(-- Someone who is not genuinely open-minded and unbiased easily misunderstand even what has been well and clearly explained.
-- Although the teacher may be perfect, if the listeners lack the prerequisite qualities, they will not recognize their own faults but will consider faults as virtues and virtues as faults.
-- The Subduer taught about worldly existence in the form of the five contaminated and suffering aggregates and about true sources, the cause of worldly existence. He taught about true paths, the means to peace, such as the eightfold path of the Exalted, and also about peace, liberation and nirvana. He taught the four noble truths for those who seek liberation, but ordinary people who make no effort to hear, think and meditate are unaware that they do not possess all the qualities of a suitable vessel. Whatever they fail to understand correctly, they see as the Subduer's fault, saying he did not explain it in sufficient detail. However, merely that does not mean the Teacher is to blame. A blind person's inability to see is not the sun's fault. )
.
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L5: [3. Eliminating arguments]
L6: [a. Proving the Subduer's omniscience]
L7: [(1) Appropriateness of being glad about the teaching of emptiness which annihilates suffering and its sources]
.
\ ###
\ 278.
\ These strange people all agree that by
\ Giving up everything one attains nirvana.
\ For what reason do they dislike
\ That which puts an end to all?
.
(i. e. Grasping at the Hinayana approach: Some people can accept the Hinayana teachings but refuse to see the benefits of the Mahayana teachings because they are grasping at their own views as if it was an absolute truth, an absolute path. )
.
(-- Although one may accept that liberation can be achieved by overcoming faulty states of mind, lack of open- mindedness prevents one from recognizing that only a correct understanding of reality can eradicate them completely. -- Assertion: Although the Subduer's discussion of high rebirth is extremely clear, we do not understand or approve of his discussion of definite goodness, since the teaching that everything is without inherent existence refutes the very nature of things.
-- Answer: These strange Samkhyas, Vaisesikas and the like, who believe in liberation, all agree that one attains nirvana by giving up attachment to everything associated with disturbing emotions, such as pleasure, pain and so forth. Why do they dislike it when the person and aggregates are said to be empty of existence by way of their own entities? The understanding of this destroys all that is associated with disturbing emotions. Therefore they should be glad. Sutra says:
~ In nirvana there are no phenomena.
~ Whatever does not exist then never existed.
~ The suffering of those with ideas of existence and non-existence
~ Who act accordingly will not be pacified.
.
Since only the Buddha's words contain undistorted statements about suchness, and Samkhyas and so forth do not make even the slightest mention of it, one should recognize it as a unique teaching. )
.
L7: [(2) Why there is no liberation in any teaching other than the Teacher's]
.
\ ###
\ 279.
\ How will one who does not know
\ The means to give it up, do so?
\ Certainly, therefore, the Subduer said
\ There is no peace in any other [teaching].
.
(i. e. It is not about artificially dropping all, but about directly seeing the real nature of everything: They do not know how to drop all attachments; they have no methods. It only by directly seeing the real nature of our own mind, and thus of everything, that all attachments and fears are automatically dropped. It is not by artificially trying to drop them all that one attain Nirvana. Nirvana is not produced by doing this or not doing that, by getting this or dropping that; it is beyond causality space and time. )
.
(-- Question: If these strange people all agree that one attains nirvana by giving up everything, what difference is there between you and the Forders?
-- Answer: They are different in that they merely have the wish to give everything up but do not know how to do so.
-- How can those belonging to other systems give up cyclic existence while they cling to the wrong methods? They do not know that the means to give it up is to understand that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence. Therefore certainly with this in mind the Subduer said, "The first practitioner of virtue has come about thus. The second and third have come about thus. The fourth has come about thus. Others' doctrines lack such practitioners of virtue. " On account of this he said, "There is no peace in any teaching other than this. ")
.
L7: [(3) Means to gain certainty regarding extremely hidden matters taught by the Teacher]
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.
\ ###
\ 280.
\ Whoever doubts what the Buddha said
\ About that which is hidden
\ Should rely on emptiness
\ And gain conviction in him alone.
.
(i. e. Gradually gaining confidence and faith in this Buddha's teachings can be done first by understanding intellectually the importance and efficacity of realizing the emptiness of all dharmas in the elimination of all causes of suffering. One also realize then that a mere intellectual understanding is not enough to actualize Nirvana, but one has to directly see this truth in his own mind in action in the present. )
.
(-- It is thus vital to gain conviction in the importance and efficacity of understanding emptiness.
-- Question: If he is omniscient, he must have super-knowledge of hidden things such as the size of Mount Meru and the continents, but how can one be sure of that?
-- Answer: One can ascertain it with the help of inference.
-- One might wonder whether what the Buddha has said is true or not regarding the size of the abodes, bodies and lifespans of the six kinds of gods of the Desire Realm and so forth from whom one is separated by time and place, and regarding the size of the human physical world and so on, all of which are hidden to common beings. To dispel such doubts one should take as example the fact that the feature of the two truths which are very subtle and difficult to understand -- the teaching that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence together with the feasibility of all actions and agents -- are actually as he explained. Understanding through this that the extremely hidden things he taught are just as he described, one should gain conviction that he alone is omniscient. Having ascertained dependent arising free from fabricated extremes through correct reasoning without relying on scriptural citations as proof, one should ascertain extremely hidden things relying on the Buddha's words as reason. Regarding the general presentation of this, the explanations of Dignaga and his spiritual son are like those of the great trailblazers. In this context objects can be understood through the presentation of four kinds of valid cognition. )
.
L6: [b. Showing that others' teachers are not authentic]
.
\ ###
\ 281.
\ Those who find it hard to see
\ This world are ignorant of others.
\ Those who follow them will be
\ Misled for a very long time.
.
(i. e. Not all paths are equal. Some paths proposed by ignorants only create more attachment to views, more conditioning (bad karma), more obstacles to Liberation. )
.
(-- Through lack of intelligence people follow misleading teachers and are led astray into thickets of wrong views.
-- Non-Buddhist teachers who have difficulty in discerning even the way coarse cause and effect operate in relation to the physical environment and inhabitants of this world are ignorant regarding other subtle matters. People who follow them will thus come under the influence of innate and intellectually formed attitudes which must be given up, and they will be misled for a very long time. Those interested in their own good should leave false teachers. They should trust and value the true one. )
.
L4: [B. Difficulty of understanding the meaning of the fundamental mode of existence] L5: [1. Why emptiness is feared]
L6: [a. Why some, although seeking liberation, follow the Forders]
.
\ ###
\ 282.
\ The unwise take no delight in letting
\ Their mind follow a guide
\ Who has done that which is
\ Most difficult -- attained nirvana.
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.
(i. e. Lack of interest: Because they do not find short term gratification for their self, and fear emptiness. See next verse. )
.
(-- Lack of interest prevents one from finding out how to gain liberation and from following what was explained by the Buddha who taught from his own experience.
-- Question: Why do those who seek liberation follow the Forders?
-- Answer: Because they are afraid to listen to teaching on emptiness. It is as follows: "the four lines of this verse".
-- To be taken care by a spiritual friend and go to the city of Nirvana, having rid oneself of the stains of conceiving things as truly existent, is very difficult. Though one with great compassion who did what was difficult to do has come to guide them, unwise people take no delight in letting their minds follow this guide because they fear emptiness. )
.
L6: [b. Recognizing a person who fears emptiness]
.
\ ###
\ 283.
\ When it is not seen, fear does not begin.
\ When seen, it stops completely.
\ Thus one can say with certainty;
\ Those who know a little are afraid.
.
(i. e. Fear of emptiness: They fear because they know a little, but not enough, about emptiness. )
.
(-- Ingrained ideas about the self prevent ordinary people from considering the possibility of emptiness and cause them to fear it.
-- Question: Who is afraid?
-- Answer: People like cowherds, who see neither virtues not faults in it, can hear about emptiness a hundred times without beginning to feel afraid, because they do not regard it as either beneficial or harmful. When one perceives emptiness directly through a gradual process of hearing, thinking and meditating, fear stops completely because one is free from conceptions of a self which are the cause of fear. Thus one can say with certainty that fear arises in people who have only a little knowledge of emptiness. It is like the following analogy: A well-trained person is not afraid to mount a mad elephant, nor is an extremely stupid person. Yet someone who knows a little about the dangers and benefits involved feels frightened. )
.
L6: [c. Why childish people fear emptiness]
.
\ ###
\ 284.
\ Childish beings are certainly only
\ Familiar with that which involves them.
\ Because of unfamiliarity
\ They fear that which extricates them.
.
(i. e. All of this because of unfamiliarity with emptiness: It is a childish reaction due to unfamiliarity with emptiness)
.
(-- Question: Why do they fear emptiness?
-- Answer: Because of a lack of familiarity.
--- Childish beings are certainly only familiar with innate and intellectually formed conception of a self which involve them in cyclic existence. Since such childish beings have no previous familiarity with a teaching that extricates one from the cycle of birth and death, they fear emptiness. One should therefore give up doctrines that are wrong and unwholesome.
-- Emptiness should be taught to those who, because they feel grateful to the Tathagata, are suitable vessels, but who, because of their great fear, are tempted to reject it. )
.
L5: [2. Faults of impeding others' understanding of emptiness]
.
\ ###
\ 285.
\ If someone who is shrouded in
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\ Complete ignorance and impedes suchness
\ Will not even attain good fortune,
\ What need to mention liberation? .
(i. e.
The need of a gradual path: Do not present emptiness to an unprepared student; he might react in rejecting everything, or misunderstand completely -- going to the other extreme, nihilism. )
.
(-- Since rejecting emptiness makes it difficult to attain a good rebirth and impossible to achieve liberation, great care must be taken to prepare students sufficiently and ensure that they are receptive, otherwise this precious teaching acts as a poison instead of panacea.
-- Someone who not only has a total disregard for emptiness but is completely shrouded in ignorance and impedes teaching, hearing and thinking about suchness out of jealousy, meanness and the like will not even attain the good fortune of a high rebirth. This being so, what chance is there of such a person attaining liberation, since such actions are grave ill deeds? Rejecting dependent arising free from fabricated extremes is a more serious ill deed than killing a hundred million people, so one must take care in this matter to avoid deceiving oneself. )
.
L5: [3. Taking care to lapse from the view of suchness]
.
\ ###
\ 286.
\ Lapsing from ethics is preferable
\ To lapsing from the view.
\ Through ethics one gains a high rebirth;
\ The supreme state is reached by means of the view.
.
(i. e. Even if only emptiness is the final antidote: But, ultimately, only the wisdom realizing the emptiness of all dharmas is the final antidote to all karma formation and sufferings. All other methods can only create merit and better rebirth conditions; but we are still stuck in samsara. It is always necessary to combine wisdom to any method. )
.
(-- Since denying emptiness is most detrimental to oneself and others, a lapse in ethical conducts is preferable. One should never lapse from the view of emptiness, for while the result of ethical conduct is a high rebirth, the view that understands emptiness takes one to the supreme states of liberation and enlightenment. Sutra says:
~ A lapse in ethics is preferable;
~ A lapse in view is not. ) .
L5: [4. Stages leading towards suchness]
.
\ ###
\ 287.
\ For the unreceptive, conceptions of a self are best;
\ To teach them selflessness is not.
\ They would go to bad rebirths,
\ While the extraordinary attain peace.
.
(i. e. It is preferable to start with morality based on protecting a self from unwanted rebirths; until they are calm and their great fear is appeased enough. )
.
(-- A skilled teacher can recognize who is and who is not ready to receive such instruction.
-- The wise only teach the view of suchness after carefully examining the vessel. It is also said:
~ Taught to fools, it confuses them
~ And does not further peace.
~ When snakes drink milk
~ Their poison only increases.
-- It is best to teach the uneducated and unreceptive that there is a self in accordance with their conceptions of a self, for their attachment to the self will cause them to give up harmful behavior, making it easier for them to find a happy rebirth. It is not good to teach them emptiness, for they will ruin their three doors by rejecting or misunderstanding it. Thus teaching emptiness has a disadvantageous as well as an advantageous aspect. On the one hand, rejecting it through lack of appreciation or denying cause and effect because of taking non-existence to be the meaning of emptiness leads
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to a bad rebirth. On the other hand, the extraordinary who have mastered suchness attain peace. ) .
L5: [5. Recognizing suchness]
L6: [a. Recognizing the fundamental mode of existence]
.
\ ###
\ 288.
\ There is no other door to peace,
\ And it destroys wrong views.
\ That which is the object of
\ All Buddhas is called selflessness.
.
(i. e. But, ultimately, only emptiness is the final antidote; all other temporary views or methods are destroyed by emptiness. Ultimately, there is no absolute views, only adapted skillful means. All views and methods are empty of inherent existence - even this one. )
.
(-- The text continues by briefly identifying the nature of reality and explaining its importance, since neither liberation nor enlightenment can be reached without understanding it.
-- One must definitely understand suchness to reach enlightenment in any of the three vehicles.
-- Since the root of worldly existence cannot be cut without understanding emptiness, there is no other door to peace. Dependent arising's lack of inherent existence is called the fundamental mode of existence, ultimate truth, emptiness and selflessness, and is the object of Hearer and Solitary Realizer Exalted one and of all Exalted Buddhas. Understanding it destroys wrong views holding to extremes. )
.
L6: [b. Why fear arises in the weak]
.
\ ###
\ 289.
\ The unreceptive are terrified
\ Just by its very name.
\ What so-called strong man is seen
\ Who does not frighten the weak?
.
(i. e. The weak are always afraid of power: So it should not be presented to the beginners, they would have great fear. ) .
(-- Selflessness must not be taught to the weak-minded for the very word "emptiness" terrifies the unreceptive. Does one see any so-called strong man who does not frighten the weak? For instance, just the sight of a lion or tiger frightens small animals. )
.
L4: [C. The profound is not taught for the sake of argument]
L5: [1. Although not taught for the sake of debate this very teaching burns up wrong contentions]
.
\ ###
\ 290.
\ This principle is not taught
\ By Tathagatas for the sake of debate,
\ Yet it burns up others' contentions
\ As fire does its fuel.
.
(i. e. It is not another view or system: It is a negation without affirming anything. It is like space. It destroys all other views, but not in order to gain personal advantages. It means that the real nature of everything is not inherent existence, not non-existent, not both existent and non-existent together, and not anything else - another view. The real nature of everything is beyond all conceptualization, all systems, all views. - Emptiness itself is not an absolute truth; it is also just another adapted skilful means. When there is no belief in inherent existence, there is no need for its antidote: emptiness. Emptiness is also empty of inherent existence because dependently arisen. )
.
(-- The purpose of studying it is soteriological and not to outshine opponents in debate. Nevertheless, since a person
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.
\ ###
\ 293.
Aryadeva - The Treatise of the Four Hundred Stanzas on the Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas [3. 2]
who understands emptiness cannot be beguiled by wrong views based on false arguments, understanding it automatically destroys the deceptive reasoning used by others.
-- Assertion: Since this teaching destroys all wrong views, it should be taught to the unreceptive in order to defeat its opponents.
-- Answer: Tathagatas do not teach this principle only to outshine opponents in debate but as the door to liberation. Nonetheless this teaching of emptiness burns up others' wrong contentions just as fire consumes its fuel without formulation the intention to burn. The Master also says:
~ Like the dew on the tips of the grass
~ When it meets with the rays of the sun,
~ Opponents' arguments and errors
~ Evaporate when they meet you. ) .
L5: [2. Why this is so] L6: [a. Actual meaning]
.
\ ###
\ 291.
\ Whoever knows this teaching
\ Will not relish others.
\ Thus to me this teaching seems
\ Like the door to destruction.
.
(i. e. Emptiness is merely the antidote to any view, to inherent existence: It destroys all other views because they are all based on the inherent existence of something or another. By realizing the real nature of anything, its dependence and lack of inherent existence, one automatically drop any attachment or fears associated with it. Ultimately all views are seen as flawed, or not absolute; but still can be used when appropriate as adapted skillful means. )
.
( -- Question: How does this teaching burn up others' contentions, when understanding of it arises in the mind of someone with interest in it?
-- Answer: Whoever comes to know the nectar-like taste of this teaching, the emptiness of inherent existence, through hearing, thinking and meditating will not relish views adhering to the true existence of things. The Master Aryadeva therefore says that this teaching of emptiness seems to him like the door and means to the destruction of wrong views. Alternatively he says it with texts on emptiness in mind, in that the words of the Buddha that teach emptiness also seem like this to the Master. )
.
L6: [b. Why the Exalted do not experience fear]
.
\ ###
\ 292.
\ For those who think there is
\ In reality no self and abide in this thought,
\ How will existence cause pleasure
\ Or non-existence cause fear?
.
(i. e. No more cause for attachments and fears: By realizing the real nature of anything, its dependence and lack of inherent existence, one automatically drop any attachment or fears associated with it. )
.
( -- Question: Why does emptiness not cause the Exalted fear?
-- Answer: Because they have destroyed the seed of attachment to the self.
-- Since they have no attachment to views of a self or hostility toward selflessness, how will those who think that external and internal phenomena are in reality selfless and who abide in a direct understanding of this be pleased by the existence of the self or frightened by selflessness? Fear therefore does not arise in those who have direct understanding of selflessness because they have eliminated the cause of fear. )
.
L5: [3. Appropriateness of compassion for those following wrong paths]
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\ Seeing the many Forders
\ Who are seeds of futility,
\ Who would not feel pity
\ For people who long for a teaching? .
(i. e. All views, all absolute systems are necessarily flawed: Once one has enough understanding of the emptiness of everything, then a strong feeling of compassion automatically emerge from his heart toward all other beings stuck in samsara without knowing what is right and what is wrong. )
.
(-- How could such a person not fail to pity those who are led away from the truth by false teachers?
-- The Forders' many venomous snakes drive their students into thorny thickets of wrong views holding things to be truly existent, the seed of uninterrupted futile suffering in cyclic existence, daily killing their life force of virtue consistent with liberation. Seeing this and knowing the nature of these teachings, who with a Bodhisattva's disposition would not feel pity for those who long for a teaching that will liberate them from cyclic existence? Therefore one must show sentient beings the path of non-inherent existence so that they will not be ravaged by the Forders' snakes. )
.
L4: [D. Showing the comparative subtlety and coarseness of our own and others' teaching]
L5: [1. General explanation of why those of inferior intelligence value others' teaching but not the Buddha's]
.
\ ###
\ 294.
\ The teaching of the Sakyas,
\ Nirgranthas and Brahmins are perceived
\ By the mind, the eyes and the ears.
\ Thus the Subduer's teaching is subtle.
.
(i. e. People first prefer easy, concrete and superficial methods that are in accord with their own illusions and conditioning. But Liberation cannot be produced by any of those superficial methods alone. It is only through realizing the very subtle nature of everything that one can be truly Liberated from the whole cycle of samsara. On the other hand, to be able to appreciate this one needs to have already accumulated enough merit through virtuous methods. )
.
(-- Since emptiness is difficult to understand, and since the transformation of one's attitude, the focus of Buddhist practice, is hard to achieve, many people choose physical and verbal forms of practice by which they hope to attain liberation.
-- Question: Why, despite their inclination toward virtue, do people mostly follow Forders' systems and not the Buddha's teaching?
-- Answer: Since the teaching of the Sakyas, the Nirgranthas and Brahmins is understood by the mind, the eyes and the ears respectively, the Subduer's textual system is more subtle and thus most people do not follow it. The sun-like view, the understanding of non-inherent existence, is said to illuminate one's mindstream. It destroys all the thickets of unwholesome views. Seeing all products as being like dreams makes one's mindstream stainless. All this must be understood through meditative equipoise, and thus the Sakyas's teaching is subtle. Since the practices of Nirgranthas consist of a lack of hygiene and physical pain caused by the sun and wind, they can be understood by merely seeing them, and since Brahmins take recitation alone as the essence of their practice, it can be understood by hearing it. These are therefore easier to comprehend. )
.
L5: [2. Specific explanation]
L6: [a. Those seeking liberation should not try these systems] .
\ ###
\ 295.
\ Brahmin practices are said
\ Mainly to be an outward show.
\ The practices of Nirgranthas
\ Are said to be mainly stultifying.
.
(i. e. Most of these methods are not even wholesome enough, or creating enough merit, because they are just for the benefits of the appearances and of the ego. Instead of helping to diminish the ego and the illusions, they amplify them. ) .
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(-- Assertion: If ordinary people engage in outsiders' practices because they may be perceived by coarse forms of awareness, it is right for you to do so too.
-- Answer: Since most Brahmin practices such as recitation, burnt offerings, auspicious incantation, repentance, confession and so forth are mainly an outward show for the sake of reward and respect, it is said that they should not be performed by those who seek liberation. Similarly it is said that most of the Nirgranthas' practices, such as allowing their hair to become matted and employing the five fires, are stultifying. Therefore those who seek liberation should avoid them completely. )
.
L6: [b. How those of inferior intelligence develop respect]
.
\ ###
\ 296.
\ Brahmins are revered
\ Because they adopt the orthodox.
\ Nirgranthas are pitied
\ Because they adopt the deluded.
.
(i. e. Do are done for short terms benefits and do not constitute a proper progressive path. They do not bring one closer and closer to the real nature of everything.
-- Wisdom: the final antidote, based on emptiness
-- (The two accumulations: merit and wisdom)
-- The truth is very subtle and hard to appreciate; people are more attracted first with short term superficial easy solutions -- it takes a shock to start looking for something deeper
-- See for yourself the truth about dependent origination and emptiness; do not rely just on scriptures and blind faith -- You do not need to adopt any other views, knowledge, practices
-- Why waste time with superficial inefficient ridiculous solutions
-- Do not get impressed by those superficialities; they are dead ends
.
L3: [I. Why most ordinary people do not follow this teaching] L4: [A. Difficulty of finding a listener with the prerequisite qualities]
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L5: [1. Prerequisite qualities of the listener]
.
\ ###
\ 276.
\ An unprejudiced, intelligent and interested
\ Listener is called a vessel.
\ Neither the teacher's nor the student's
\ Good qualities will be taken as faults.
.
(i. e. Prerequisites: Not everybody is receptive enough at first. Many find faults in the teachings because they are conditioned by their own accumulated karma. One has to be open-minded, intelligent and interested. )
.
(-- The twelfth chapter begins by examining what qualities make one an ideal recipient for explanations concerning emptiness. Only benefit ensues for both student and teacher when the nature of reality is explained to such a person, while in the absence of these qualities the consequences may be grave.
-- The ideal recipient for instruction on emptiness is therefore open-minded, intelligent and interested.
-- Question: even though you have explained selflessness very clearly and extensively and the Tathagata fully understood and gave instruction on it, why do most people not follow this teaching?
-- Answer: Although the one who formulated it and those who elucidate it may be the perfect embodiment of greatness, a listener with great qualities is extremely hard to find.
-- What qualities does one need?
-- Answer: One should be unprejudiced, without attachment to one's own position or aversion to others' positions. Heart of the Middle Way says:
~ One will never know peace
~ While prejudice afflicts the mind.
-- If one is not unprejudiced one will fail to understand a good explanation because of thinking it is someone else's. One must have the intelligence to distinguish between good and bad explanations, otherwise one may reject correct explanations and adopt incorrect ones. A keen interest in good explanations is needed, for without that one will make no effort and simply be like the lifeless picture of a human being. One should appreciate and be attentive to the teaching and the teacher. A listener with these five qualities is said to be a vessel for the teaching. Someone with all these attributes will recognize the teacher's good qualities and fully understand the clarity and orderliness of the teaching, as well as the good intentions of other listeners. The teacher's lack of self-interest and the like will not be seen as faults and other than as they are, but only as virtues. Nor will the good qualities of the listeners be construed as faults. )
.
L5: [2. Disadvantages of not possessing the prerequisite qualities]
.
\ ###
\ 277.
\ He explained existence and its causes,
\ The means to peace and peace itself.
\ What people do not understand
\ Is seen as the Subduer's [fault].
.
(i. e. When with too much bad karma: People judge from their own erroneous position, under the influence of accumulated karma, thinking it is impartial. )
.
(-- Someone who is not genuinely open-minded and unbiased easily misunderstand even what has been well and clearly explained.
-- Although the teacher may be perfect, if the listeners lack the prerequisite qualities, they will not recognize their own faults but will consider faults as virtues and virtues as faults.
-- The Subduer taught about worldly existence in the form of the five contaminated and suffering aggregates and about true sources, the cause of worldly existence. He taught about true paths, the means to peace, such as the eightfold path of the Exalted, and also about peace, liberation and nirvana. He taught the four noble truths for those who seek liberation, but ordinary people who make no effort to hear, think and meditate are unaware that they do not possess all the qualities of a suitable vessel. Whatever they fail to understand correctly, they see as the Subduer's fault, saying he did not explain it in sufficient detail. However, merely that does not mean the Teacher is to blame. A blind person's inability to see is not the sun's fault. )
.
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L5: [3. Eliminating arguments]
L6: [a. Proving the Subduer's omniscience]
L7: [(1) Appropriateness of being glad about the teaching of emptiness which annihilates suffering and its sources]
.
\ ###
\ 278.
\ These strange people all agree that by
\ Giving up everything one attains nirvana.
\ For what reason do they dislike
\ That which puts an end to all?
.
(i. e. Grasping at the Hinayana approach: Some people can accept the Hinayana teachings but refuse to see the benefits of the Mahayana teachings because they are grasping at their own views as if it was an absolute truth, an absolute path. )
.
(-- Although one may accept that liberation can be achieved by overcoming faulty states of mind, lack of open- mindedness prevents one from recognizing that only a correct understanding of reality can eradicate them completely. -- Assertion: Although the Subduer's discussion of high rebirth is extremely clear, we do not understand or approve of his discussion of definite goodness, since the teaching that everything is without inherent existence refutes the very nature of things.
-- Answer: These strange Samkhyas, Vaisesikas and the like, who believe in liberation, all agree that one attains nirvana by giving up attachment to everything associated with disturbing emotions, such as pleasure, pain and so forth. Why do they dislike it when the person and aggregates are said to be empty of existence by way of their own entities? The understanding of this destroys all that is associated with disturbing emotions. Therefore they should be glad. Sutra says:
~ In nirvana there are no phenomena.
~ Whatever does not exist then never existed.
~ The suffering of those with ideas of existence and non-existence
~ Who act accordingly will not be pacified.
.
Since only the Buddha's words contain undistorted statements about suchness, and Samkhyas and so forth do not make even the slightest mention of it, one should recognize it as a unique teaching. )
.
L7: [(2) Why there is no liberation in any teaching other than the Teacher's]
.
\ ###
\ 279.
\ How will one who does not know
\ The means to give it up, do so?
\ Certainly, therefore, the Subduer said
\ There is no peace in any other [teaching].
.
(i. e. It is not about artificially dropping all, but about directly seeing the real nature of everything: They do not know how to drop all attachments; they have no methods. It only by directly seeing the real nature of our own mind, and thus of everything, that all attachments and fears are automatically dropped. It is not by artificially trying to drop them all that one attain Nirvana. Nirvana is not produced by doing this or not doing that, by getting this or dropping that; it is beyond causality space and time. )
.
(-- Question: If these strange people all agree that one attains nirvana by giving up everything, what difference is there between you and the Forders?
-- Answer: They are different in that they merely have the wish to give everything up but do not know how to do so.
-- How can those belonging to other systems give up cyclic existence while they cling to the wrong methods? They do not know that the means to give it up is to understand that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence. Therefore certainly with this in mind the Subduer said, "The first practitioner of virtue has come about thus. The second and third have come about thus. The fourth has come about thus. Others' doctrines lack such practitioners of virtue. " On account of this he said, "There is no peace in any teaching other than this. ")
.
L7: [(3) Means to gain certainty regarding extremely hidden matters taught by the Teacher]
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.
\ ###
\ 280.
\ Whoever doubts what the Buddha said
\ About that which is hidden
\ Should rely on emptiness
\ And gain conviction in him alone.
.
(i. e. Gradually gaining confidence and faith in this Buddha's teachings can be done first by understanding intellectually the importance and efficacity of realizing the emptiness of all dharmas in the elimination of all causes of suffering. One also realize then that a mere intellectual understanding is not enough to actualize Nirvana, but one has to directly see this truth in his own mind in action in the present. )
.
(-- It is thus vital to gain conviction in the importance and efficacity of understanding emptiness.
-- Question: If he is omniscient, he must have super-knowledge of hidden things such as the size of Mount Meru and the continents, but how can one be sure of that?
-- Answer: One can ascertain it with the help of inference.
-- One might wonder whether what the Buddha has said is true or not regarding the size of the abodes, bodies and lifespans of the six kinds of gods of the Desire Realm and so forth from whom one is separated by time and place, and regarding the size of the human physical world and so on, all of which are hidden to common beings. To dispel such doubts one should take as example the fact that the feature of the two truths which are very subtle and difficult to understand -- the teaching that all phenomena are empty of inherent existence together with the feasibility of all actions and agents -- are actually as he explained. Understanding through this that the extremely hidden things he taught are just as he described, one should gain conviction that he alone is omniscient. Having ascertained dependent arising free from fabricated extremes through correct reasoning without relying on scriptural citations as proof, one should ascertain extremely hidden things relying on the Buddha's words as reason. Regarding the general presentation of this, the explanations of Dignaga and his spiritual son are like those of the great trailblazers. In this context objects can be understood through the presentation of four kinds of valid cognition. )
.
L6: [b. Showing that others' teachers are not authentic]
.
\ ###
\ 281.
\ Those who find it hard to see
\ This world are ignorant of others.
\ Those who follow them will be
\ Misled for a very long time.
.
(i. e. Not all paths are equal. Some paths proposed by ignorants only create more attachment to views, more conditioning (bad karma), more obstacles to Liberation. )
.
(-- Through lack of intelligence people follow misleading teachers and are led astray into thickets of wrong views.
-- Non-Buddhist teachers who have difficulty in discerning even the way coarse cause and effect operate in relation to the physical environment and inhabitants of this world are ignorant regarding other subtle matters. People who follow them will thus come under the influence of innate and intellectually formed attitudes which must be given up, and they will be misled for a very long time. Those interested in their own good should leave false teachers. They should trust and value the true one. )
.
L4: [B. Difficulty of understanding the meaning of the fundamental mode of existence] L5: [1. Why emptiness is feared]
L6: [a. Why some, although seeking liberation, follow the Forders]
.
\ ###
\ 282.
\ The unwise take no delight in letting
\ Their mind follow a guide
\ Who has done that which is
\ Most difficult -- attained nirvana.
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.
(i. e. Lack of interest: Because they do not find short term gratification for their self, and fear emptiness. See next verse. )
.
(-- Lack of interest prevents one from finding out how to gain liberation and from following what was explained by the Buddha who taught from his own experience.
-- Question: Why do those who seek liberation follow the Forders?
-- Answer: Because they are afraid to listen to teaching on emptiness. It is as follows: "the four lines of this verse".
-- To be taken care by a spiritual friend and go to the city of Nirvana, having rid oneself of the stains of conceiving things as truly existent, is very difficult. Though one with great compassion who did what was difficult to do has come to guide them, unwise people take no delight in letting their minds follow this guide because they fear emptiness. )
.
L6: [b. Recognizing a person who fears emptiness]
.
\ ###
\ 283.
\ When it is not seen, fear does not begin.
\ When seen, it stops completely.
\ Thus one can say with certainty;
\ Those who know a little are afraid.
.
(i. e. Fear of emptiness: They fear because they know a little, but not enough, about emptiness. )
.
(-- Ingrained ideas about the self prevent ordinary people from considering the possibility of emptiness and cause them to fear it.
-- Question: Who is afraid?
-- Answer: People like cowherds, who see neither virtues not faults in it, can hear about emptiness a hundred times without beginning to feel afraid, because they do not regard it as either beneficial or harmful. When one perceives emptiness directly through a gradual process of hearing, thinking and meditating, fear stops completely because one is free from conceptions of a self which are the cause of fear. Thus one can say with certainty that fear arises in people who have only a little knowledge of emptiness. It is like the following analogy: A well-trained person is not afraid to mount a mad elephant, nor is an extremely stupid person. Yet someone who knows a little about the dangers and benefits involved feels frightened. )
.
L6: [c. Why childish people fear emptiness]
.
\ ###
\ 284.
\ Childish beings are certainly only
\ Familiar with that which involves them.
\ Because of unfamiliarity
\ They fear that which extricates them.
.
(i. e. All of this because of unfamiliarity with emptiness: It is a childish reaction due to unfamiliarity with emptiness)
.
(-- Question: Why do they fear emptiness?
-- Answer: Because of a lack of familiarity.
--- Childish beings are certainly only familiar with innate and intellectually formed conception of a self which involve them in cyclic existence. Since such childish beings have no previous familiarity with a teaching that extricates one from the cycle of birth and death, they fear emptiness. One should therefore give up doctrines that are wrong and unwholesome.
-- Emptiness should be taught to those who, because they feel grateful to the Tathagata, are suitable vessels, but who, because of their great fear, are tempted to reject it. )
.
L5: [2. Faults of impeding others' understanding of emptiness]
.
\ ###
\ 285.
\ If someone who is shrouded in
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\ Complete ignorance and impedes suchness
\ Will not even attain good fortune,
\ What need to mention liberation? .
(i. e.
The need of a gradual path: Do not present emptiness to an unprepared student; he might react in rejecting everything, or misunderstand completely -- going to the other extreme, nihilism. )
.
(-- Since rejecting emptiness makes it difficult to attain a good rebirth and impossible to achieve liberation, great care must be taken to prepare students sufficiently and ensure that they are receptive, otherwise this precious teaching acts as a poison instead of panacea.
-- Someone who not only has a total disregard for emptiness but is completely shrouded in ignorance and impedes teaching, hearing and thinking about suchness out of jealousy, meanness and the like will not even attain the good fortune of a high rebirth. This being so, what chance is there of such a person attaining liberation, since such actions are grave ill deeds? Rejecting dependent arising free from fabricated extremes is a more serious ill deed than killing a hundred million people, so one must take care in this matter to avoid deceiving oneself. )
.
L5: [3. Taking care to lapse from the view of suchness]
.
\ ###
\ 286.
\ Lapsing from ethics is preferable
\ To lapsing from the view.
\ Through ethics one gains a high rebirth;
\ The supreme state is reached by means of the view.
.
(i. e. Even if only emptiness is the final antidote: But, ultimately, only the wisdom realizing the emptiness of all dharmas is the final antidote to all karma formation and sufferings. All other methods can only create merit and better rebirth conditions; but we are still stuck in samsara. It is always necessary to combine wisdom to any method. )
.
(-- Since denying emptiness is most detrimental to oneself and others, a lapse in ethical conducts is preferable. One should never lapse from the view of emptiness, for while the result of ethical conduct is a high rebirth, the view that understands emptiness takes one to the supreme states of liberation and enlightenment. Sutra says:
~ A lapse in ethics is preferable;
~ A lapse in view is not. ) .
L5: [4. Stages leading towards suchness]
.
\ ###
\ 287.
\ For the unreceptive, conceptions of a self are best;
\ To teach them selflessness is not.
\ They would go to bad rebirths,
\ While the extraordinary attain peace.
.
(i. e. It is preferable to start with morality based on protecting a self from unwanted rebirths; until they are calm and their great fear is appeased enough. )
.
(-- A skilled teacher can recognize who is and who is not ready to receive such instruction.
-- The wise only teach the view of suchness after carefully examining the vessel. It is also said:
~ Taught to fools, it confuses them
~ And does not further peace.
~ When snakes drink milk
~ Their poison only increases.
-- It is best to teach the uneducated and unreceptive that there is a self in accordance with their conceptions of a self, for their attachment to the self will cause them to give up harmful behavior, making it easier for them to find a happy rebirth. It is not good to teach them emptiness, for they will ruin their three doors by rejecting or misunderstanding it. Thus teaching emptiness has a disadvantageous as well as an advantageous aspect. On the one hand, rejecting it through lack of appreciation or denying cause and effect because of taking non-existence to be the meaning of emptiness leads
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to a bad rebirth. On the other hand, the extraordinary who have mastered suchness attain peace. ) .
L5: [5. Recognizing suchness]
L6: [a. Recognizing the fundamental mode of existence]
.
\ ###
\ 288.
\ There is no other door to peace,
\ And it destroys wrong views.
\ That which is the object of
\ All Buddhas is called selflessness.
.
(i. e. But, ultimately, only emptiness is the final antidote; all other temporary views or methods are destroyed by emptiness. Ultimately, there is no absolute views, only adapted skillful means. All views and methods are empty of inherent existence - even this one. )
.
(-- The text continues by briefly identifying the nature of reality and explaining its importance, since neither liberation nor enlightenment can be reached without understanding it.
-- One must definitely understand suchness to reach enlightenment in any of the three vehicles.
-- Since the root of worldly existence cannot be cut without understanding emptiness, there is no other door to peace. Dependent arising's lack of inherent existence is called the fundamental mode of existence, ultimate truth, emptiness and selflessness, and is the object of Hearer and Solitary Realizer Exalted one and of all Exalted Buddhas. Understanding it destroys wrong views holding to extremes. )
.
L6: [b. Why fear arises in the weak]
.
\ ###
\ 289.
\ The unreceptive are terrified
\ Just by its very name.
\ What so-called strong man is seen
\ Who does not frighten the weak?
.
(i. e. The weak are always afraid of power: So it should not be presented to the beginners, they would have great fear. ) .
(-- Selflessness must not be taught to the weak-minded for the very word "emptiness" terrifies the unreceptive. Does one see any so-called strong man who does not frighten the weak? For instance, just the sight of a lion or tiger frightens small animals. )
.
L4: [C. The profound is not taught for the sake of argument]
L5: [1. Although not taught for the sake of debate this very teaching burns up wrong contentions]
.
\ ###
\ 290.
\ This principle is not taught
\ By Tathagatas for the sake of debate,
\ Yet it burns up others' contentions
\ As fire does its fuel.
.
(i. e. It is not another view or system: It is a negation without affirming anything. It is like space. It destroys all other views, but not in order to gain personal advantages. It means that the real nature of everything is not inherent existence, not non-existent, not both existent and non-existent together, and not anything else - another view. The real nature of everything is beyond all conceptualization, all systems, all views. - Emptiness itself is not an absolute truth; it is also just another adapted skilful means. When there is no belief in inherent existence, there is no need for its antidote: emptiness. Emptiness is also empty of inherent existence because dependently arisen. )
.
(-- The purpose of studying it is soteriological and not to outshine opponents in debate. Nevertheless, since a person
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.
\ ###
\ 293.
Aryadeva - The Treatise of the Four Hundred Stanzas on the Yogic Deeds of Bodhisattvas [3. 2]
who understands emptiness cannot be beguiled by wrong views based on false arguments, understanding it automatically destroys the deceptive reasoning used by others.
-- Assertion: Since this teaching destroys all wrong views, it should be taught to the unreceptive in order to defeat its opponents.
-- Answer: Tathagatas do not teach this principle only to outshine opponents in debate but as the door to liberation. Nonetheless this teaching of emptiness burns up others' wrong contentions just as fire consumes its fuel without formulation the intention to burn. The Master also says:
~ Like the dew on the tips of the grass
~ When it meets with the rays of the sun,
~ Opponents' arguments and errors
~ Evaporate when they meet you. ) .
L5: [2. Why this is so] L6: [a. Actual meaning]
.
\ ###
\ 291.
\ Whoever knows this teaching
\ Will not relish others.
\ Thus to me this teaching seems
\ Like the door to destruction.
.
(i. e. Emptiness is merely the antidote to any view, to inherent existence: It destroys all other views because they are all based on the inherent existence of something or another. By realizing the real nature of anything, its dependence and lack of inherent existence, one automatically drop any attachment or fears associated with it. Ultimately all views are seen as flawed, or not absolute; but still can be used when appropriate as adapted skillful means. )
.
( -- Question: How does this teaching burn up others' contentions, when understanding of it arises in the mind of someone with interest in it?
-- Answer: Whoever comes to know the nectar-like taste of this teaching, the emptiness of inherent existence, through hearing, thinking and meditating will not relish views adhering to the true existence of things. The Master Aryadeva therefore says that this teaching of emptiness seems to him like the door and means to the destruction of wrong views. Alternatively he says it with texts on emptiness in mind, in that the words of the Buddha that teach emptiness also seem like this to the Master. )
.
L6: [b. Why the Exalted do not experience fear]
.
\ ###
\ 292.
\ For those who think there is
\ In reality no self and abide in this thought,
\ How will existence cause pleasure
\ Or non-existence cause fear?
.
(i. e. No more cause for attachments and fears: By realizing the real nature of anything, its dependence and lack of inherent existence, one automatically drop any attachment or fears associated with it. )
.
( -- Question: Why does emptiness not cause the Exalted fear?
-- Answer: Because they have destroyed the seed of attachment to the self.
-- Since they have no attachment to views of a self or hostility toward selflessness, how will those who think that external and internal phenomena are in reality selfless and who abide in a direct understanding of this be pleased by the existence of the self or frightened by selflessness? Fear therefore does not arise in those who have direct understanding of selflessness because they have eliminated the cause of fear. )
.
L5: [3. Appropriateness of compassion for those following wrong paths]
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\ Seeing the many Forders
\ Who are seeds of futility,
\ Who would not feel pity
\ For people who long for a teaching? .
(i. e. All views, all absolute systems are necessarily flawed: Once one has enough understanding of the emptiness of everything, then a strong feeling of compassion automatically emerge from his heart toward all other beings stuck in samsara without knowing what is right and what is wrong. )
.
(-- How could such a person not fail to pity those who are led away from the truth by false teachers?
-- The Forders' many venomous snakes drive their students into thorny thickets of wrong views holding things to be truly existent, the seed of uninterrupted futile suffering in cyclic existence, daily killing their life force of virtue consistent with liberation. Seeing this and knowing the nature of these teachings, who with a Bodhisattva's disposition would not feel pity for those who long for a teaching that will liberate them from cyclic existence? Therefore one must show sentient beings the path of non-inherent existence so that they will not be ravaged by the Forders' snakes. )
.
L4: [D. Showing the comparative subtlety and coarseness of our own and others' teaching]
L5: [1. General explanation of why those of inferior intelligence value others' teaching but not the Buddha's]
.
\ ###
\ 294.
\ The teaching of the Sakyas,
\ Nirgranthas and Brahmins are perceived
\ By the mind, the eyes and the ears.
\ Thus the Subduer's teaching is subtle.
.
(i. e. People first prefer easy, concrete and superficial methods that are in accord with their own illusions and conditioning. But Liberation cannot be produced by any of those superficial methods alone. It is only through realizing the very subtle nature of everything that one can be truly Liberated from the whole cycle of samsara. On the other hand, to be able to appreciate this one needs to have already accumulated enough merit through virtuous methods. )
.
(-- Since emptiness is difficult to understand, and since the transformation of one's attitude, the focus of Buddhist practice, is hard to achieve, many people choose physical and verbal forms of practice by which they hope to attain liberation.
-- Question: Why, despite their inclination toward virtue, do people mostly follow Forders' systems and not the Buddha's teaching?
-- Answer: Since the teaching of the Sakyas, the Nirgranthas and Brahmins is understood by the mind, the eyes and the ears respectively, the Subduer's textual system is more subtle and thus most people do not follow it. The sun-like view, the understanding of non-inherent existence, is said to illuminate one's mindstream. It destroys all the thickets of unwholesome views. Seeing all products as being like dreams makes one's mindstream stainless. All this must be understood through meditative equipoise, and thus the Sakyas's teaching is subtle. Since the practices of Nirgranthas consist of a lack of hygiene and physical pain caused by the sun and wind, they can be understood by merely seeing them, and since Brahmins take recitation alone as the essence of their practice, it can be understood by hearing it. These are therefore easier to comprehend. )
.
L5: [2. Specific explanation]
L6: [a. Those seeking liberation should not try these systems] .
\ ###
\ 295.
\ Brahmin practices are said
\ Mainly to be an outward show.
\ The practices of Nirgranthas
\ Are said to be mainly stultifying.
.
(i. e. Most of these methods are not even wholesome enough, or creating enough merit, because they are just for the benefits of the appearances and of the ego. Instead of helping to diminish the ego and the illusions, they amplify them. ) .
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(-- Assertion: If ordinary people engage in outsiders' practices because they may be perceived by coarse forms of awareness, it is right for you to do so too.
-- Answer: Since most Brahmin practices such as recitation, burnt offerings, auspicious incantation, repentance, confession and so forth are mainly an outward show for the sake of reward and respect, it is said that they should not be performed by those who seek liberation. Similarly it is said that most of the Nirgranthas' practices, such as allowing their hair to become matted and employing the five fires, are stultifying. Therefore those who seek liberation should avoid them completely. )
.
L6: [b. How those of inferior intelligence develop respect]
.
\ ###
\ 296.
\ Brahmins are revered
\ Because they adopt the orthodox.
\ Nirgranthas are pitied
\ Because they adopt the deluded.
.
(i. e. Do are done for short terms benefits and do not constitute a proper progressive path. They do not bring one closer and closer to the real nature of everything.
