No More Learning

? A Lamp for the Path and Com. m. entary
of
A TISA
Translated and Annotated by
Richard Sherburne, S. J.
FOREWORD BY HIS HOLINESS TENZIN GY A TSO, THE FOURTEENTH DALAI LAMA
London
GEORGE ALLEN & UNWIN LTD Boston Sydney
? (C)Richard Sherburne, S. J. , 1983
This book is copyright under the Berne Convention. No reproduction without permission. All rights reserved.
George Allen & Unwin (Publishers) Ltd 40 Museum Street, London WClA lLU
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First published in 1983
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
Atisa
Lamp for the path and commentary.
I. Lamaist doctrines-Early works to 1800 I. Title II. Sherburne, Richard 294. 3'4 BQ7950. A874
ISBN 0-04-294124-5
ISBN 0-04-294129-6 (pbk)
Set in 11 on 12 point Times by Bedford Typesetters Ltd and printed in Great Britain
by Billing and Sons Ltd, London and Worcester
? To my lama and kalyanamitra, Tulku Kunga Labrang, the Dezhung Rinpoche:
for his patient guidance and tutelage; To my mentor, Turrell V. Wylie:
for his continual scholarly insistence; To my colleague and collaborator,
Nancy Moore Gettelman:
for her unfailing trust and spirited encouragement;
To my reader and editor, Gerald Yorke:
for priceless and valued help in the English language.
For all their wise assistance and kind friendship, I could barter only my own ignorance and this result.
-Richard Sherburne, S. J. Seattle University Spring, 1983
? THE DALAl LAMA
THEKCHEN CHOELING McLEOD GANJ 176219 KANGRA DISTRICT HIMACHAL PRADESH
Foreword
Atisa, the author of A Lamp For The Path To Enlightenment (Bodhipathapradipa), is held in special regard by Tibetans. He had a vision that he would not live so long if he left India and went to Tibet. Nevertheless, this Indian saint and scholar made the arduous journey across the Himalayas and travelled throughout Tibet teaching and giving guidance in the full realisation that by so doing he would shorten his life by many years. The place where he died, not far from Lhasa, was and remains to this day an important place of pilgrimage for Tibetans.
Atisa's life itself exemplifies the religious path taught by the Buddha. He travelled far and wide to study with teachers who could explain the practices from their own experience, and having learned the importance of altruism directed. towards all living beings, strove to transform himself into an embodiment of love and compassion. He recognised the importance of ethical conduct, meditative stabilisation and wisdom and practised all three. Before coming to Tibet he was accepted in his own land as foremost authority on discipline, meditation and Buddhist
philosophy. Like other great and kind Indian masters who taught Buddhism to Tibetans, he also gave due importance to Tantra. Atisa taught that Buddha's message was primarily a method to relieve the suffering of living beings. He sought to heal the division which threatened the spread of Buddhism in Tibet by emphasising the central Buddhist teachings and by showing
clearly that each teaching was relevant at the appropriate time and for the appropriate person. He stressed the value in all branches of the Buddha's teaching.
This book, which was written by Atisa with special needs of his Tibetan disciples in mind, is the prototype of the stages of the
? V111 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
(Lam rim) literature which reached its full bloom amongst later Tibetan teachers and scholars. It presents the important practices in a concise and easily understandable manner and orders them in terms of the development and ability of the mind.
Such practices as these are timeless and of benefit to all. Just as we Tibetans have benefited greatly from them through the centuries, I hope those in other countries will find here a method to attain the lasting peace they desire. The translation of the text into English here by the noted Christian scholar, Richard Sherburne, S. J. , illustrates cooperation between religions that enhances mutual understanding and draws the world together in recognition of the common goal of bettering humankind.
July 14, 1982
? Foreword Introduction Abbreviations
A Lamp for the Enlightenment Path [Poem] Commentary on the Lamp for the Path
DEDICATION AND THEME
Vehicle ofthe Perfections
Part One: Higher Conduct
CHAPTER 1 THE TRIPLE REFUGE
CHAPTER2 THEENLIGHTENMENTTHOUGHT CHAPTER3 THEMONASTICLIFE
CHAPTER4 THE BODHISATTVA VOW
Part Two: Higher Meditation CHAPTER 5 THE SUPERKNOWLEDGES
Part Three: Higher Insight
Page
vii x xiv
1 1-6 15
7-9 23 10-19 41 20-21 65 22-33 87
34-40 113
41-59 129
60-67 165 68 181
190 191 192 204 221
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7 COLOPHONS
Appendices
INSIGHT AND MEANS
Vehicle ofMysticism
T ANTRA
Chart I: The Five Paths Chart II: Tantric Initiations Glossary
Bibliography
Index
Contents
Stanzas
? Introduction
The Lamp for the Enlightenment Path and its Commentary are eleventh-century Buddhist texts which were written at Tho-ling ("High-flying") Monastery in the central Himalayas near Mount Kailas. Although little known to "outsiders", these texts have been used and cherished by the Buddhist communities within Tibet and inner Asia for
well over nine centuries. The monk who composed them wrote originally in Sanskrit (now lost) while simultaneously translating them into Tibetan, and they were included as authentic commentary in the earliest canon of Mahayana scripture.
The Lamp proved to be a unique model for a religious literary style that received much attention and development in Tibet: the concise but comprehensive manuals that show the "steps of the path" (lam-rim, as the genre is called) and are kept as lifelong guides for the spiritual endeavour. Both beginner and adept find a map for the Path in the poem, which was to be memorised, while the Commentary
p:r:ovides the eminently practical explanation for further reflection and study. The Lamp and its companion were a new direction and emphasis for Tibetan Buddhist life because they presented for the first time the harmonious relationship between Buddhism's essential monastic basis and the compassionate Bodhisattva's high ideal, flowering in the true and necessary mystical experience of Tantra.
Compassion, Calm and Insight, Emptiness and Bliss become key concepts because of the emphasis in these texts, well supported not only by the authority of Siitra but by the brilliance of Buddhist minds for centuries. The fascination of so integrated a goal in the Lamp and
Comfnentary made them into the curriculum for training and study in Tibet's first distinctive religious order, the Bka'-gdams-pa ("Word-Instructed"). While the author was not the Order's founder in actual fact, it was his charisma and insight (and dying wish) that led his immediate disciples to found the group of monks who now
? are popularly known in the West as "Yellow Hats"- the order to which the Dalai Lamas. have belonged. The spirituality of these texts has consequently exerted a very strong influence on the religious and cultural development of the Buddhist peoples of the Roof of the World.
The so far unmentioned author of these works is Atisa ( A D 9 8 2 - 1 0 5 4 ) , a n I n d i a n m o n k k n o w n t o T i b e t as J o - b o - r j e ("The Noble Lord"). All Tibetan historians mark his arrival at Tho-ling in 1042 as the rebirth of Buddhism in their country - the "Second Spread" (phyi-dar) of the religion that had first crossed their mountains in the seventh century.
Born in western Bengal of noble family in the final century of Buddhist glory in India- just prior to the Muslim destruction- AtiSa was a gifted student in both secular and religious learning. As a young man, it is said, he travelled to north-west India and the valley of Swat where he was initiated in the prevalent mystical experience of his day, studying and practising Tantra for some years. At the age of
twenty-nine he took the vows and ordination of the Buddhist monk, continuing his Mahayana studies for ten years in far-off Sumatra, then a great monastic centre with close ties to Pala Bengal. When he returned to India it was to the great monastery at Vikramasila, a Pala foundation, where, then in his prime, he held the post of respected Elder (sthavira) and became a popular teacher (acarya)-
popular especially with Tibetan student monks, by whose eagerness he was attracted and whose language he quickly mastered. He was of course already an accomplished master of Sanskrit, a pa1J. qita.
While Atlsa does not reach the stature of a Nagarjuna or Asanga, the great Buddhist ornaments of earlier centuries, he is nevertheless a man of deep personal holiness and charisma coupled with considerable literary ability and productivity. His insight is balanced with the practical, as is evidenced in the many short incisive texts he wrote for
his students both at Vikramasila and at neighbouring Odantapurl. All his biographers record his charm and wit, and Pis adventuresome spirit needs little testimony: he was sixty years old when he arrived at Tho-ling, after a
INTRODUCTION XI
? Xii A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
year's journey that would tax even the modern traveller. His missionary labours in Tibet extended over thirteen years, beginning at Tho-ling, where he composed the Lamp a,nd Commentary in 1042-3; he then moved east to Bsam- yas and to Lha-sa, teaching ? t many monasteries, writing,
and counselling renewal of spirit. He died at Snye-thang just south of Lha-sa where his relics are enshrined in a temple overlooking the Skyid-chu near its confluence with the mighty Brahmaputra.
If Tibetan monastic life in Atisa's time was somewhat in disarray, it was due to both political and religious influences. After Buddhism's original royal patronage in the seventh century, temples and monasteries had fanned out as far as the reaches of the Tibetan empire itself- from within the borders of T ang China to what is now Russian Turkestan, sweeping the entire arc of the Himalayas from
Kashmir to Burma. But two centuries of growth was summarily stopped in a merciless persecution that began in 836 under Glang-dar-ma, upon whose assassination the Tibetan empire itself fragmented. After a century and a half of suppression and decline, refugee monks began slowly to return to ancient ruins and find patronage under local princes and families. Direct descendants of the old royal family in western Tibet were particularly eager to
restore Buddhist life, building impressive monasteries like Tho-ling and financing the education of promising Tibetan youths in Kashmir and northern India.
It was a prince of this line, Byang-chub-'od, grand- nephew of the builder of Tho-ling and an ordained monk, who heard about Atisa through the Tibetans who had studied at Vikramasila, and pressed the urgent invitation for him to come and assist in the work of restoring true observance of monastic life.
The urgency of the invitation was not so much that corruption existed because of the years of suppression and isolation, but rather that serious misinterpretations of Buddhist ideals and practice had arisen through the pitfalls of Tantra. This movement of a devotional and mystical system had been growing among Brahmanists and Buddhists in India for some centuries and held great appeal
? for the Tibetans. But it is well known that the subtle and profound elements of much of the "swift path" are clothed in sexual imagery that lends itself to misuse by the uninitiated and unguided. Atisa was the first to integrate and balance the Buddhist paths and win an audience that would carry on his teaching. The Lamp and Commentary show his views and are his major work.
INTRODUCTION xiii
? Abbreviations
AK(LVP) L'Abhidharmakosa de Vasubandhu by La Vallee Poussin (1971) ,
BCA FBT
Ot.
ss TBT
Bodhi-caryii-avatiira by Santideva Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras by Lessing and Wayman (1968)
Tibetan Tripitaka - Peking Edition kept in the 1;-ibrary of Otani Univ,ersity
Sikshii-samuccaya of Santideva, translation by Bendall and Rouse (1922)
The Buddhist Tantras by Wayman (1973)
MANUSCRIPT P AGE NUMBERING OF THE TIBET AN TEXTS
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma
(Ot. 5344: Dbu rna: Khi: 274b-277b]
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma'i dka' 'grel
[Ot. 5345: Dbu rna: Khi: 277b-339b]
? A Lamp for the Enlightenment Path
[Root Text: Poem]
Stanzas Page
DEDICA TION AND THEME (Three Persons) 1-5 5
VEHICLE OF THE PERFECTIONS HIGHER CONDUCT
The Triple Refuges
The Enlightenment Thought The Monastic Life
The Bodhisattva Vow
HIGHER MEDITATION
The Superknowledges Calmness
HIGHER INSIGHT
The Means and Insight Higher Vision
VEHICLE OF MYSTICISM Path of Mantra
COLOPHON
6-9 5 10-19 6-7 20-21 7 22-33 7-8
34-37 8-9 38-41 9
42-46 9-10 47-59 10-11
60-67 11-12
68 12
? A Lamp for the Enlightenment Path
COMPOSED BY A TISA IS CONT AINED HEREIN.
In the Sanskrit language:
Bodhi-patha-pradipa.
In the Tibetan language:
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma.
Homage to the Bodhisattva Maftjusri, the ever-youthful!
[274bJ
? 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
I bow in great reverence to all past, present, and Future Victors, to their Doctrine and Communities. I shall light a Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, At the request of my good disciple Byang-chub-'od.
In that they are Inferior or Mediocre or Superior, Persons should be understood as three:
The characteristics of each are very clear, and
I shall note how they differ from one another.
One who by every means he finds,
Seeks but the pleasure of sarpsara,
And cares but for himself alone, that one Is known as the Inferior Person.
One who puts life's pleasures behind And turns himself from deeds of sin,
Y et cares only about his own peace, That person should be called Mediocre.
One who wholly seeks a complete end
T o the entire suffering of others because
Their suffering belongs to his own [conscious] stream, That person is a Superior.
For those pure beings whose desire Is the highest of Enlightenments,
I shall explain the right means Which were taught me by my Gurus.
Facing a painted image of the Perfect Buddha, Or in front of holy reliquaries and the like, Give worship with flowers and incense
And whatever objects may be at hand.
Then with the Sevenfold Worship expressed In the Deeds o f Samantabhadra,
And a mind that does not tum back until The Heart of Enlightenment is reached,
With great faith in the Three Jewels, Bending knee to the ground,
And folding the hands, [275a]
First take the Three Refuges thrice.
A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT P A TH 5
? 6 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Then, because the Thought of Love for All creatures is the prerequisite,
One looks out on all the world, Suffering in death, transmigration, And r~birth in the three bad destinies:
At sight of that suffering, one suffers;
And he who wants to free the world
From the very cause of such suffering, Must beget this Thought of Enlightenment That is pledged never to turn back.
Every quality that belongs to Begetting thoughts of such Resolution Has been well explained by Maitreya In his siitra, the Stalks in Array.
Read that siitra or hear it from a Guru, and when
The infinite benefits of Pedect Enlightenment Thought Are seen, then for that very reason you
Will? beget the Thought again and again.
The merit of this is shown extremely well
In the siitra called the Questions ofViradatta; And to give the essence of it,
I quote three of its verses here:
"If a form could be had for the full Merit of the Enlightenment Thought, It would surpass even one
That filled the whole realm of space. "
"Or take a man who owns jewels, and with them Fills every one of the Buddha-fields-
Reckoned as more than the grains of Ganga's sands- Then offers all this to the Lord of the World;"
"Y et another who merely folds his hands, And inclines his thought to Enlightenment. The latter's worship is higher by far, Because in it there is found no limit. " 1
When you get the thoughts of aspiring to Enlightenment, Then with great effort strive to expand them fully;
? 19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT P A TH 7 And to recall your resolve in your other births,
Observe fully the Training I explained to you.
A right resolve will not be furthered
Without vows that have progress in mind; [275b] Therefore he who seeks growth in the resolve for Perfect Enlightenment, earnestly takes them.
Only he who has lasting vows in One of Pratimoksa's seven ranks
Is fit for the Vow'of the Bodhisattva; There is no other way for it to be.
The Tathagata has said that of
The seven ranks of Pratimoksa,
The glorious Pure Life is highest;
By which he meant the vows of a Monk.
According to the ritual given in the Conduct Chapter of the Bodhisattva Levels, One takes the Vow from any good Guru Who has the proper characteristics.
One who is learned in the ritual of the Vow, And himself lives the Vow he has taken,
And has the compassionate forbearance
To impart it- know him to be the good Guru.
But if, after trying, one cannot Find just such a Guru as this,
I will explain another ritual
For taking the vow in a correct way.
In this latter way, Mafijusri in a former life
As Ambaraja begat the Enlightenment Thought; And as told in the sutra called
The Ornament ofManjwri's Buddha-field,
I write it down clearly here now:
"In the presence of the Lords, I beget
The Thought of Perfect Enlightenment,
And issuing invitation to all creatures,
I will save them all from the cycle of rebirth. "
? 8 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
"Beginning from this moment and henceforth, Until I obtain the Highest Enlightenment,
I shall not permit ill-will or anger,
Avarice or envy, to occupy my mind. "
"I shall practise the Pure Life,
And renounce sin and base desire;
I shall imitate the Buddha
By rejoicing in the vow of Conduct. "
"Myself, I am not keen to reach Enlightenment in some swift way;
I shall remain until the final end
For the sake of but a single creature. "
"I shall purify the innumerable [276a]
Inconceivable fields of the universe,
And from the taking of this [new] name, [henceforth] I shall live in the ten directions. "
"Purifying the actions of
My body and speech entirely,
I shall cleanse my mind's activity as well; No unvirtuous deed will ever be mine. " 2
In essence, one's purity of body, speech and mind Means keeping vows with a mind for progress;
For by practising well the Three Conduct Trainings, Appreciation of those same Three becomes greater.
Hence, when one has striven in the vows which make up The pure and perfect Bodhisattva Vow,
He will bring to complete perfection
The very Equipment for Perfect Enlightenment.
All the Buddhas have held that
Perfecting this Equipment,
The nature of which is Merit and Knowledge, Lies essentially in the superknowledges.
Just as a bird with unfledged wings Cannot fly up into the sky,
So without the superknowledges' power, One cannot work for the good of others.
? 36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
The merits which a man with the Superknowledges gains in a single day Could not be had in a hundred lives By one who lacked those knowledges.
He who seeks to bring to perfection swiftly The Equipment for Perfect Enlightenment Strives hard for the superknowledges,
For they are not accomplished by sloth.
As long as Calmness is not attained,
The superknowledges will not occur; Therefore, in order to achieve Calmness, One must keep striving over and over.
One who neglects the Limbs of Calmness, Even though he strive to meditate
For thousands of years, never
Will achieve Concentration.
Therefore, when well established in the Limbs
That are stated in the Chapter on Concentration Equipment, One can then set the mind in virtue,
Fixed on any Topic he chooses.
When yogic Calmness is achieved,
So too are the superknowledges; [276b] But obscuration is not destroyed Without the Perfection of Insight.
Hence, to remove all obscuration
Of his affliction and his knowledge,
The yogin must continually cultivate the Perfection of Insight together with Means.
Scripture says that bondage is from Insight being divorced from Means, And the Means from Insight as well. Therefore, neglect not this union.
T o remove any doubts about
What Insight is, and what are Means, I make clear the difference
Between the Means and Insight.
A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT PATH 9
? 10 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
The Victors have explained that the Means. Are all the Equipments of virtue,
Starting with the Perfection of Giving,
Up to, but excluding, that of Insight.
One who combines mastery of the Means With a true cultivation of Insight
Will swiftly attain Enlightenment, but Not by cultivating merely Non-self.
"Insight" is fully explained as knowing The Emptiness of intrinsic nature,
In comprehending that Aggregates and Sense-bases and Elements do not arise.
An existent's aJjsing is impossible;
A non-existent's is like flowers in the sky; For a thing to be both is absurd fallacy; So neither do they originate together.
Since an entity does not arise from itself, And is not from another, or even from both, Nor is it yet without cause; therefore it has No intrinsic nature by way of own-existence.
Furthermore, if one analyses all things
As identities or multiplicities, Own-existence is not perceived; hence one is Certain that intrinsic natures do not exist.
The reasoning of the Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness, And of texts like the Basic Stanzas on the Middle Way, Explains the proof that all entities
Are empty of intrinsic nature.
Wherefore, lest my text become too long, I do not elaborat<:< it here,
But will explain only proven tenets
In order to further contemplation.
Thus, not to perceive intrinsic nature [277a] In any phenomenon whatever
Is to contemplate it~ Non-Self; which
Is the same as contemplating with Insight.
? A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT P A TH 11
54 And this Insight which does not see Intrinsic nature in any phenomena
Is that same Insight explained as Wisdom. Cultivate it without conceptual thought.
55 The world of change springs from conceptual Thought, which is its very nature;
The complete removal of such
Thought is the Highest NirvaQa.
56 Moreover, the Blessed One declared: "Conceptual thinking is the great ignorance, And casts one into sal! lsara's ocean; but Clear as the sky is his contemplation who Remains in Concentration without concepts. "
57 And he also says in the Non-Conceptual Progress Formula: "When a son of the Victor meditates on
This holy Doctrine without conceptual thought,
He gradually attains the non-conceptual. "3
58 When through scripture and reason one has Penetrated the non-intrinsic
Nature of all non-arising phenomena,
Then contemplate without conceptual thought.
59 And when he has thus contemplated Thatness, And by stages has attained "Warmth" and the rest, Then he will gain the "Joyous" [Level] and on up: Buddha-Enlightenment is not far off.
60 Through the rites of "Appeasement" and "Prosperity" And the rest, effected by the force of Mantra,
And also by the strength of the Eight Great Powers, Starting with that of "Good Flask", and others,
61 It is maintained that the Equipment for Enlightenment is perfected with ease;
And if one wants to practise Mantra as prescribed In the Tantras: Action, Practice, and on,
? 12 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
Then, to gain the Preceptor-Initiation,
One must first win a holy Guru
By giving him attendance and precious things And by obedience to his word.
And when the Preceptor-Initiation has been Conferred by the Guru who was won over, Then one is purified of all sin, and [277b] Becomes fit to exercise the Powers.
The Secret and Insight Initiations
Should not be taken by religious celibates, Because it is emphatically forbidden
In the Great Tantra ofPrimal Buddha.
If those Initiations were taken by one who stays In the austerity of a religious celibate,
It would violate his vow of austerity
Since he would be practising what is forbidden.
Transgressions would occur which defeat
The man of religious observance;
And by his certain fall to bad destinies,
He could not even succeed [in Mantra practice].
Having acquired the Preceptor-Initiation,
He may listen to all Tantras and explain them; Perform Fire-offering, Gift-worship, and the like: There is no wrong in wisdom about reality.
I, the Elder, Dipamkarasri,
Have seen this explanati<? n in texts
Such as the siitras; and at Byang-chub-'od's request Have explained concisely the Path to Enlightenment.
[Colophon]
This completes the Lamp for the Enlightenment Path composed by the great Acarya, glorious Di:pamkarajniina. Translated and edited by the great Upiidhyiiya of India himself, and by the revisor-translator Dge-ba'i blo-gros. This text was composed at the Tho-ling temple of
Zhang-zhung.
? A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT PATH 13 Notes to the Root Text
Notes on the contents of the basic poem are given in the text of the Commentary where the stanzas are repeated, except for the following source identifications:
1 Ot. 760 (28), Vol. 25:86. 2.
2 Ot. 760 (15), Vol. 23:129. 2.
3 Ot. 810, Vol. 32:232. 5.
? I
II
III
IV
Dedication and Theme
DEDICATORY VERSE
THE TEXT
Reasons for Writing
THEME: THREE PERSONS
Stanza Page
1a 16
1b 17
2 18
The Commentary on a Lamp for the Enlightenment Path
Inferior 3 Mediocre 4 Superior 5
THE RIGHT MEANS FOR THE SUPERIOR PERSON
6 20
A
B
c D E
Triple Refuge
Twofold Enlightenment Thought Superknowledges
Means and Insight Tantra
? Commentary on the Difficult Points of the Lamp for Enlightenment Path
In the Sanskrit language:
Bodhi-miirga-pradfparrz-paiijikii-niima.
In the Tibetan language:
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma'i dka' 'grel.
Dedicatory Verse
I pay homage to the noble and blessed Tara. I pay homage to Mafijusri, prince of old.
T o Cakrasa111vara the Triple-pledge King, To Lokesvara and Tara in respect I bow.
Bowing down in sincerity to the Gurus: Maitreya; Asanga ang Guru SuvaTQadvipa,
And to Mafijugho~a: Santideva and Bodhibhadra, I will write this Commentary to give sunlight.
Since the Lamp for the Path is only a moonbeam [278a] On the good path to Enlightenment's heart;
Whatever details may be unclear in it,
This sun-like Commentary will light the way.
The so far unmentioned author of these works is Atisa ( A D 9 8 2 - 1 0 5 4 ) , a n I n d i a n m o n k k n o w n t o T i b e t as J o - b o - r j e ("The Noble Lord"). All Tibetan historians mark his arrival at Tho-ling in 1042 as the rebirth of Buddhism in their country - the "Second Spread" (phyi-dar) of the religion that had first crossed their mountains in the seventh century.
Born in western Bengal of noble family in the final century of Buddhist glory in India- just prior to the Muslim destruction- AtiSa was a gifted student in both secular and religious learning. As a young man, it is said, he travelled to north-west India and the valley of Swat where he was initiated in the prevalent mystical experience of his day, studying and practising Tantra for some years. At the age of
twenty-nine he took the vows and ordination of the Buddhist monk, continuing his Mahayana studies for ten years in far-off Sumatra, then a great monastic centre with close ties to Pala Bengal. When he returned to India it was to the great monastery at Vikramasila, a Pala foundation, where, then in his prime, he held the post of respected Elder (sthavira) and became a popular teacher (acarya)-
popular especially with Tibetan student monks, by whose eagerness he was attracted and whose language he quickly mastered. He was of course already an accomplished master of Sanskrit, a pa1J. qita.
While Atlsa does not reach the stature of a Nagarjuna or Asanga, the great Buddhist ornaments of earlier centuries, he is nevertheless a man of deep personal holiness and charisma coupled with considerable literary ability and productivity. His insight is balanced with the practical, as is evidenced in the many short incisive texts he wrote for
his students both at Vikramasila and at neighbouring Odantapurl. All his biographers record his charm and wit, and Pis adventuresome spirit needs little testimony: he was sixty years old when he arrived at Tho-ling, after a
INTRODUCTION XI
? Xii A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
year's journey that would tax even the modern traveller. His missionary labours in Tibet extended over thirteen years, beginning at Tho-ling, where he composed the Lamp a,nd Commentary in 1042-3; he then moved east to Bsam- yas and to Lha-sa, teaching ? t many monasteries, writing,
and counselling renewal of spirit. He died at Snye-thang just south of Lha-sa where his relics are enshrined in a temple overlooking the Skyid-chu near its confluence with the mighty Brahmaputra.
If Tibetan monastic life in Atisa's time was somewhat in disarray, it was due to both political and religious influences. After Buddhism's original royal patronage in the seventh century, temples and monasteries had fanned out as far as the reaches of the Tibetan empire itself- from within the borders of T ang China to what is now Russian Turkestan, sweeping the entire arc of the Himalayas from
Kashmir to Burma. But two centuries of growth was summarily stopped in a merciless persecution that began in 836 under Glang-dar-ma, upon whose assassination the Tibetan empire itself fragmented. After a century and a half of suppression and decline, refugee monks began slowly to return to ancient ruins and find patronage under local princes and families. Direct descendants of the old royal family in western Tibet were particularly eager to
restore Buddhist life, building impressive monasteries like Tho-ling and financing the education of promising Tibetan youths in Kashmir and northern India.
It was a prince of this line, Byang-chub-'od, grand- nephew of the builder of Tho-ling and an ordained monk, who heard about Atisa through the Tibetans who had studied at Vikramasila, and pressed the urgent invitation for him to come and assist in the work of restoring true observance of monastic life.
The urgency of the invitation was not so much that corruption existed because of the years of suppression and isolation, but rather that serious misinterpretations of Buddhist ideals and practice had arisen through the pitfalls of Tantra. This movement of a devotional and mystical system had been growing among Brahmanists and Buddhists in India for some centuries and held great appeal
? for the Tibetans. But it is well known that the subtle and profound elements of much of the "swift path" are clothed in sexual imagery that lends itself to misuse by the uninitiated and unguided. Atisa was the first to integrate and balance the Buddhist paths and win an audience that would carry on his teaching. The Lamp and Commentary show his views and are his major work.
INTRODUCTION xiii
? Abbreviations
AK(LVP) L'Abhidharmakosa de Vasubandhu by La Vallee Poussin (1971) ,
BCA FBT
Ot.
ss TBT
Bodhi-caryii-avatiira by Santideva Fundamentals of the Buddhist Tantras by Lessing and Wayman (1968)
Tibetan Tripitaka - Peking Edition kept in the 1;-ibrary of Otani Univ,ersity
Sikshii-samuccaya of Santideva, translation by Bendall and Rouse (1922)
The Buddhist Tantras by Wayman (1973)
MANUSCRIPT P AGE NUMBERING OF THE TIBET AN TEXTS
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma
(Ot. 5344: Dbu rna: Khi: 274b-277b]
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma'i dka' 'grel
[Ot. 5345: Dbu rna: Khi: 277b-339b]
? A Lamp for the Enlightenment Path
[Root Text: Poem]
Stanzas Page
DEDICA TION AND THEME (Three Persons) 1-5 5
VEHICLE OF THE PERFECTIONS HIGHER CONDUCT
The Triple Refuges
The Enlightenment Thought The Monastic Life
The Bodhisattva Vow
HIGHER MEDITATION
The Superknowledges Calmness
HIGHER INSIGHT
The Means and Insight Higher Vision
VEHICLE OF MYSTICISM Path of Mantra
COLOPHON
6-9 5 10-19 6-7 20-21 7 22-33 7-8
34-37 8-9 38-41 9
42-46 9-10 47-59 10-11
60-67 11-12
68 12
? A Lamp for the Enlightenment Path
COMPOSED BY A TISA IS CONT AINED HEREIN.
In the Sanskrit language:
Bodhi-patha-pradipa.
In the Tibetan language:
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma.
Homage to the Bodhisattva Maftjusri, the ever-youthful!
[274bJ
? 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
I bow in great reverence to all past, present, and Future Victors, to their Doctrine and Communities. I shall light a Lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, At the request of my good disciple Byang-chub-'od.
In that they are Inferior or Mediocre or Superior, Persons should be understood as three:
The characteristics of each are very clear, and
I shall note how they differ from one another.
One who by every means he finds,
Seeks but the pleasure of sarpsara,
And cares but for himself alone, that one Is known as the Inferior Person.
One who puts life's pleasures behind And turns himself from deeds of sin,
Y et cares only about his own peace, That person should be called Mediocre.
One who wholly seeks a complete end
T o the entire suffering of others because
Their suffering belongs to his own [conscious] stream, That person is a Superior.
For those pure beings whose desire Is the highest of Enlightenments,
I shall explain the right means Which were taught me by my Gurus.
Facing a painted image of the Perfect Buddha, Or in front of holy reliquaries and the like, Give worship with flowers and incense
And whatever objects may be at hand.
Then with the Sevenfold Worship expressed In the Deeds o f Samantabhadra,
And a mind that does not tum back until The Heart of Enlightenment is reached,
With great faith in the Three Jewels, Bending knee to the ground,
And folding the hands, [275a]
First take the Three Refuges thrice.
A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT P A TH 5
? 6 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Then, because the Thought of Love for All creatures is the prerequisite,
One looks out on all the world, Suffering in death, transmigration, And r~birth in the three bad destinies:
At sight of that suffering, one suffers;
And he who wants to free the world
From the very cause of such suffering, Must beget this Thought of Enlightenment That is pledged never to turn back.
Every quality that belongs to Begetting thoughts of such Resolution Has been well explained by Maitreya In his siitra, the Stalks in Array.
Read that siitra or hear it from a Guru, and when
The infinite benefits of Pedect Enlightenment Thought Are seen, then for that very reason you
Will? beget the Thought again and again.
The merit of this is shown extremely well
In the siitra called the Questions ofViradatta; And to give the essence of it,
I quote three of its verses here:
"If a form could be had for the full Merit of the Enlightenment Thought, It would surpass even one
That filled the whole realm of space. "
"Or take a man who owns jewels, and with them Fills every one of the Buddha-fields-
Reckoned as more than the grains of Ganga's sands- Then offers all this to the Lord of the World;"
"Y et another who merely folds his hands, And inclines his thought to Enlightenment. The latter's worship is higher by far, Because in it there is found no limit. " 1
When you get the thoughts of aspiring to Enlightenment, Then with great effort strive to expand them fully;
? 19
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22
23
24
25
26
A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT P A TH 7 And to recall your resolve in your other births,
Observe fully the Training I explained to you.
A right resolve will not be furthered
Without vows that have progress in mind; [275b] Therefore he who seeks growth in the resolve for Perfect Enlightenment, earnestly takes them.
Only he who has lasting vows in One of Pratimoksa's seven ranks
Is fit for the Vow'of the Bodhisattva; There is no other way for it to be.
The Tathagata has said that of
The seven ranks of Pratimoksa,
The glorious Pure Life is highest;
By which he meant the vows of a Monk.
According to the ritual given in the Conduct Chapter of the Bodhisattva Levels, One takes the Vow from any good Guru Who has the proper characteristics.
One who is learned in the ritual of the Vow, And himself lives the Vow he has taken,
And has the compassionate forbearance
To impart it- know him to be the good Guru.
But if, after trying, one cannot Find just such a Guru as this,
I will explain another ritual
For taking the vow in a correct way.
In this latter way, Mafijusri in a former life
As Ambaraja begat the Enlightenment Thought; And as told in the sutra called
The Ornament ofManjwri's Buddha-field,
I write it down clearly here now:
"In the presence of the Lords, I beget
The Thought of Perfect Enlightenment,
And issuing invitation to all creatures,
I will save them all from the cycle of rebirth. "
? 8 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
"Beginning from this moment and henceforth, Until I obtain the Highest Enlightenment,
I shall not permit ill-will or anger,
Avarice or envy, to occupy my mind. "
"I shall practise the Pure Life,
And renounce sin and base desire;
I shall imitate the Buddha
By rejoicing in the vow of Conduct. "
"Myself, I am not keen to reach Enlightenment in some swift way;
I shall remain until the final end
For the sake of but a single creature. "
"I shall purify the innumerable [276a]
Inconceivable fields of the universe,
And from the taking of this [new] name, [henceforth] I shall live in the ten directions. "
"Purifying the actions of
My body and speech entirely,
I shall cleanse my mind's activity as well; No unvirtuous deed will ever be mine. " 2
In essence, one's purity of body, speech and mind Means keeping vows with a mind for progress;
For by practising well the Three Conduct Trainings, Appreciation of those same Three becomes greater.
Hence, when one has striven in the vows which make up The pure and perfect Bodhisattva Vow,
He will bring to complete perfection
The very Equipment for Perfect Enlightenment.
All the Buddhas have held that
Perfecting this Equipment,
The nature of which is Merit and Knowledge, Lies essentially in the superknowledges.
Just as a bird with unfledged wings Cannot fly up into the sky,
So without the superknowledges' power, One cannot work for the good of others.
? 36
37
38
39
40
41
42
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44
The merits which a man with the Superknowledges gains in a single day Could not be had in a hundred lives By one who lacked those knowledges.
He who seeks to bring to perfection swiftly The Equipment for Perfect Enlightenment Strives hard for the superknowledges,
For they are not accomplished by sloth.
As long as Calmness is not attained,
The superknowledges will not occur; Therefore, in order to achieve Calmness, One must keep striving over and over.
One who neglects the Limbs of Calmness, Even though he strive to meditate
For thousands of years, never
Will achieve Concentration.
Therefore, when well established in the Limbs
That are stated in the Chapter on Concentration Equipment, One can then set the mind in virtue,
Fixed on any Topic he chooses.
When yogic Calmness is achieved,
So too are the superknowledges; [276b] But obscuration is not destroyed Without the Perfection of Insight.
Hence, to remove all obscuration
Of his affliction and his knowledge,
The yogin must continually cultivate the Perfection of Insight together with Means.
Scripture says that bondage is from Insight being divorced from Means, And the Means from Insight as well. Therefore, neglect not this union.
T o remove any doubts about
What Insight is, and what are Means, I make clear the difference
Between the Means and Insight.
A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT PATH 9
? 10 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
The Victors have explained that the Means. Are all the Equipments of virtue,
Starting with the Perfection of Giving,
Up to, but excluding, that of Insight.
One who combines mastery of the Means With a true cultivation of Insight
Will swiftly attain Enlightenment, but Not by cultivating merely Non-self.
"Insight" is fully explained as knowing The Emptiness of intrinsic nature,
In comprehending that Aggregates and Sense-bases and Elements do not arise.
An existent's aJjsing is impossible;
A non-existent's is like flowers in the sky; For a thing to be both is absurd fallacy; So neither do they originate together.
Since an entity does not arise from itself, And is not from another, or even from both, Nor is it yet without cause; therefore it has No intrinsic nature by way of own-existence.
Furthermore, if one analyses all things
As identities or multiplicities, Own-existence is not perceived; hence one is Certain that intrinsic natures do not exist.
The reasoning of the Seventy Stanzas on Emptiness, And of texts like the Basic Stanzas on the Middle Way, Explains the proof that all entities
Are empty of intrinsic nature.
Wherefore, lest my text become too long, I do not elaborat<:< it here,
But will explain only proven tenets
In order to further contemplation.
Thus, not to perceive intrinsic nature [277a] In any phenomenon whatever
Is to contemplate it~ Non-Self; which
Is the same as contemplating with Insight.
? A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT P A TH 11
54 And this Insight which does not see Intrinsic nature in any phenomena
Is that same Insight explained as Wisdom. Cultivate it without conceptual thought.
55 The world of change springs from conceptual Thought, which is its very nature;
The complete removal of such
Thought is the Highest NirvaQa.
56 Moreover, the Blessed One declared: "Conceptual thinking is the great ignorance, And casts one into sal! lsara's ocean; but Clear as the sky is his contemplation who Remains in Concentration without concepts. "
57 And he also says in the Non-Conceptual Progress Formula: "When a son of the Victor meditates on
This holy Doctrine without conceptual thought,
He gradually attains the non-conceptual. "3
58 When through scripture and reason one has Penetrated the non-intrinsic
Nature of all non-arising phenomena,
Then contemplate without conceptual thought.
59 And when he has thus contemplated Thatness, And by stages has attained "Warmth" and the rest, Then he will gain the "Joyous" [Level] and on up: Buddha-Enlightenment is not far off.
60 Through the rites of "Appeasement" and "Prosperity" And the rest, effected by the force of Mantra,
And also by the strength of the Eight Great Powers, Starting with that of "Good Flask", and others,
61 It is maintained that the Equipment for Enlightenment is perfected with ease;
And if one wants to practise Mantra as prescribed In the Tantras: Action, Practice, and on,
? 12 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
62
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67
68
Then, to gain the Preceptor-Initiation,
One must first win a holy Guru
By giving him attendance and precious things And by obedience to his word.
And when the Preceptor-Initiation has been Conferred by the Guru who was won over, Then one is purified of all sin, and [277b] Becomes fit to exercise the Powers.
The Secret and Insight Initiations
Should not be taken by religious celibates, Because it is emphatically forbidden
In the Great Tantra ofPrimal Buddha.
If those Initiations were taken by one who stays In the austerity of a religious celibate,
It would violate his vow of austerity
Since he would be practising what is forbidden.
Transgressions would occur which defeat
The man of religious observance;
And by his certain fall to bad destinies,
He could not even succeed [in Mantra practice].
Having acquired the Preceptor-Initiation,
He may listen to all Tantras and explain them; Perform Fire-offering, Gift-worship, and the like: There is no wrong in wisdom about reality.
I, the Elder, Dipamkarasri,
Have seen this explanati<? n in texts
Such as the siitras; and at Byang-chub-'od's request Have explained concisely the Path to Enlightenment.
[Colophon]
This completes the Lamp for the Enlightenment Path composed by the great Acarya, glorious Di:pamkarajniina. Translated and edited by the great Upiidhyiiya of India himself, and by the revisor-translator Dge-ba'i blo-gros. This text was composed at the Tho-ling temple of
Zhang-zhung.
? A LAMP FOR THE ENLIGHTENMENT PATH 13 Notes to the Root Text
Notes on the contents of the basic poem are given in the text of the Commentary where the stanzas are repeated, except for the following source identifications:
1 Ot. 760 (28), Vol. 25:86. 2.
2 Ot. 760 (15), Vol. 23:129. 2.
3 Ot. 810, Vol. 32:232. 5.
? I
II
III
IV
Dedication and Theme
DEDICATORY VERSE
THE TEXT
Reasons for Writing
THEME: THREE PERSONS
Stanza Page
1a 16
1b 17
2 18
The Commentary on a Lamp for the Enlightenment Path
Inferior 3 Mediocre 4 Superior 5
THE RIGHT MEANS FOR THE SUPERIOR PERSON
6 20
A
B
c D E
Triple Refuge
Twofold Enlightenment Thought Superknowledges
Means and Insight Tantra
? Commentary on the Difficult Points of the Lamp for Enlightenment Path
In the Sanskrit language:
Bodhi-miirga-pradfparrz-paiijikii-niima.
In the Tibetan language:
Byang-chub lam-gyi sgron-ma'i dka' 'grel.
Dedicatory Verse
I pay homage to the noble and blessed Tara. I pay homage to Mafijusri, prince of old.
T o Cakrasa111vara the Triple-pledge King, To Lokesvara and Tara in respect I bow.
Bowing down in sincerity to the Gurus: Maitreya; Asanga ang Guru SuvaTQadvipa,
And to Mafijugho~a: Santideva and Bodhibhadra, I will write this Commentary to give sunlight.
Since the Lamp for the Path is only a moonbeam [278a] On the good path to Enlightenment's heart;
Whatever details may be unclear in it,
This sun-like Commentary will light the way.
Though I have no talent for treatise composing, I am writing this clearer explanation,
At my devout and ardent disciple's request,
So that the Buddha's teaching may increase, and Disputes over scripture may be put to rest.
For wise men to produce wonders, and
A verage men to understand with ease,
And so lesser men will put aside their passions, I write this Commentary on Difficult Points.
With so much meaning in so short a text, This treatise may be hard to comprehend; And without holy men [for guidance]
One will altogether go astray.
? COMMENTARY ON THE DIFFICULT POINTS 17
Therefore, an intelligent person
Wins the favour of a Guru, and
Asks for the right personal guidance which Is in accord with the Guru-tradition.
The Text
The instruction I give here came like drops of honey and nectar to me from the holy Gurus SuvaTQ. advlpa and the glorious and venerable Bodhibhadra. And faced with the repeated requests of Byang-chub-'od, my disciple of princely rank, and of the Monk Tshul-khrims rgyal-ba, my disciple of long-standing, I am going to gather up those drops of personal guidance I received, and follow both what my Gurus gave me, and what the siitras and treatises have to say.
Because Byang-chub-'od is ever asking me For the sevenfold explanation, saying:
"The meaning is not clear in your root text", I will write for the sake of his request.
He was referring to what the great scholar Acarya V asubandhu said:
"Those who preach a siitra's meaning
Should give short instructions which include:
[1] its usefulness, [2] a summary, [3] the word definitions, [4] its relevance, [5] objections, [6] responses, and
[7] explanation. " 1
Ifmen ofinsight rely on a Guru and are taught according to this method, they quickly comprehend the good Path of Mahayana- the Path of the great Wagons and the way of the Superior Person. [278b]
And thus I will explain the Path of the Bodhisattvas, According to the siitras,
Texts, and my Gurus' teaching.
? 18 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
Where does my explanation begin? It begins right there in the basic text, starting with the first stanza:
I BOW IN GREAT REVERENCE TO ALL PAST, PRESENT, AND
FUTURE VICTORS, TO THEIR DOCTRINE AND COMMUNmES.
I SHALL LIGHT ALAMP FOR THE PATH TO ENLIGHTENMENT,
AT THE REQUEST OF MY GOOD DISCIPLE, BYANG-CHUB-'OD. (Stanza 1]
The first half of the stanza is easy to understand. In the second half, by "GOOD DISCIPLE" I mean a fit vessel for the doctrine of Mahayana. And who is this good disciple? He is the man we call Byang-chub-'od. "AT THE REQUEST oF" refers to his saying to me:
"In this area of Tibet there are persons who misinterpret the Mahayana Path of the Buddha's teaching. Gurus and Spiritual Friends are arguing back and forth about things they themselves do not comprehend. They all have their own logic to analyse their suppositions about the Profou. nd View and Broad Practice. With so much disagreement on all sides, I beg you to clear up these
doubts for us. "
And so, because of his repeated entreaty and for his sake, I do light this lamp for the Path to Enlightenment, following the teaching of the siitras and tradition.
If you ask where that Lamp for the Path to Enlighten- ment is to be found, it is the main part of my basic text from the stanza on the Superior Person [6] through to the last stanza [67] on Tantra.
Theme: Three Persons
In the opening stanzas about the Three Persons I show who is and who is not a fit vessel for Mahayana. The definitions of the Inferior and Mediocre Persons are easy to under- stand. It is this stanza which shows who is the fit vessel for Mahayana: [279a1
ONE WHO WHOLLY SEEKS ACOMPLETE END
TO THE ENTIRE SUFFERING OF OTHERS BECAUSE
THEIR SUFFERING BELONGS TO HIS OWN (CONSCIOUS] STREAM, THAT PERSON IS ASUPERIOR. (5]
? COMMENTARY ON THE DIFFICULT POINTS 19 This is what the commentaries have to say about the subject:
Or again:
"The Bodhisattva loves all creatures From the bottom of his heart;
As one loves an only child,
Ever desiring to seek its good. " 2
"As the dove loves her own chicks best, Sitting to brood them beneath her breast; So like her, with aversion overcome, Treat every creature with affection. "3
And the great scholar, Acarya Vasubandhu:
"A lesser man uses his resources to provide for the happiness of his own [conscious] stream. The mediocre man is not happy and so turns aside only [his own] suffering, but thereby remains in suffering. The holy man, because sufferings exist in his own stream, has the sole care to tum aside the very basis for others' suffering and give them happiness; for he suffers on account of their suffering. " 4
And he adds:
"Those who suffer because others are suffering, and who rejoice and are happy at the happiness of others belong to that class of men for whom there is no 'My'. They do not look to their own happiness, but rather make great effort, thinking 'I am able to save others from the great river of suffering. ' By its very nature their compassion rejoices both in their own suffering and at the happiness of others because of the strength they have cultivated in
compassion. "5 [279b]
Consequently, the person who by nature cannot bear to see his neighbour afflicted with calamity, who proposes to barter his own [happiness] for others' [suffering], who looks
? 20 A LAMP FOR THE PATH AND COMMENTARY
upon every creature as his only child - as a father cannot bear to see an only son trapped in a blazing fire, or falling into an abyss or being swept away by a flood- I praise that kind of man here as being the fit vessel for Mahayana.
The Right Means for the Superior Person
It was with that kinq of Great Being in mind, that I wrote: I SHALL EXPLAIN THE RIGHT MEANS
WHICH WERE TAUGHT ME BY MY GURUS. (6)
By "GuRus" I mean the venerable and glorious Bodhibhadra and the venerable Suvafl). advlpa. As to "THE RIGHT MEANS", I will explain them fully in the following order: [A] Taking Refuge in the Three [Jewels], [B] the two aspects of Enlightenment Thought, [C] begetting the Superknowledges in order to work for the special good of others, [D] accumulating the Two Equipments through the union of Means and Insight, and [E] accumulating the Two Equipments through the extra-ordinary method of Mantra, that great [system] of Mahayana which swiftly perfects the good of self and others.
Notes to Dedication
1 Science ofPreaching, Ot. 5562, Vol. 113:245. 4.
2 OrnamentofSutras, Ot. 5521. Vol. 108:10. 3.
3 ibid.
4 Explanation of"Treasure ofPhenomenology", Ot. 5591, Vol. 115:189. 1. The
quotation is of paramount importance because it is evidently Atlsa's doctrinal and literary source for the "Three Persons" distinction ofspiritual qualities he introduces to all the later Tibetan lam-rim ("Steps on the Path") writings. The teaching device of triads in presenting qualitative degrees - low- medium-high - is common enough in all literature (aller guten Ding sind drei), and eminently so in Buddhism. But the three types of person presented here by Vasubandhu (and Atisa following him) are not to be taken as the same triple division of Paths (Hearer, Solitary Buddha, Bodhisattva) that the Perfection of Wisdom literature uses, since the inferior person is not even concerned about liberation- as the Hearer would be.