No More Learning

Through measureless, unthinkable emanations It acts on behalf of all sentient beings. ISO
In this context, the great all-knowing Longcenpa has explained that the two pristine cognitions of the expanse of reality and sameness are the pristine cognition which qualitatively knows [the view] because their function is to perceive the abiding nature [of reality], while the three pristine cognitions are the pristine cognition which quantita- tIvely knows [phenomena] because their functions are respectively to be the ground for the arising [of all forms], to discern objects and to act on behalf ofliving beings. As it is said in the Penetration o fSound:
By the actuality of qualitatively knowing [the view]
The abiding nature of reality is known for one's own sake.
142 Fundamentals: Nature ofthe Buddha-bodies
Five Buddha-bodies and Five Pristine Cognitions 143
By that of quantitatively knowing [phenomena] The mental condition of those requiring training is
known.
The body which instructs the different beings who
require training
Is none other than the reflection of such
compassion.
The siitras speak of the rank of the great [emanations] ,:ho these three buddha-bodies and five pristine cognitions as [bemg attamed when] the empowerment of great light rays is conferred by the myriad tathagatas of the ten directions on a bodhisattva. This happens as the bodhisattva attains buddhahood, having relied on the unobstructed path at the end of the continuum, culminating the paths and ten levels according to the causal phase of the greater vehIcle. Thereby the two obscurations [covering] the bodhisattva's own level are purified.
However, it is variously explained in the Unsurpassed Tantras of the way of mantras and their commentaries that there is no method of purifying the subtle propensities which transfer to the three appearances of the variable [desire realm], the [form realm] and the experiential [formless realm] through [the umon of] the white and red seminal points [sperm and ovum] and the vital energy without relying on the empowerment of supreme desire. lSI The Magical Net of Mafijusrf (v. 135cd) is of the same opinion when it says:
Attaining disillusionment through the three vehicles, One abides in the result through the single vehicle.
Thus, the necessity of attaining the culmination of the causal by relying on the mantras can be known from the very names gIVen to the causal and resultant vehicles.
One might then object that the definitive structure of the result which is taught in the causal phase of the greater vehicle would become mean- ingless; and yet there is no fault. Though that [structure] has revealed to those dull persons who aspire through the causal it is in the mantras that the culmination of the siitras' definitive meamng abides. It does not follow that the buddhahood of the mantras does not refer to the buddhahood of the path of siitras. After the result had been spoken of in the siitras under such as the absolute inner radiance of reality and the true self,ls- then the most extensIve abiding nature of reality and the complete means which realise it were revealed in the mantras. Just as, when the end of the long path ters the short path, wherever they originated, they are both IdentIcal in their purpose.
Again, if one were to object that the path of the siitras then become a meaningless teaching apart from the mantras, that IS 110t the
case. Just as none but a person of powerful physique and intelligence can set out on a path of deep ravines and precipices, even though the distance be very short, there are great risks for all those who require training through the mantras apart from those of highest acumen and most potent intelligence. Then, just as one feeble in body and intelli- gence sets out on a journey which, though long, is without the fear of deep ravines and the like, and so encounters few risks by proceeding slowly, such is the teaching of the long path of the siitras. It is therefore a most essential point that one should know [the Teacher's] methods of teaching the doctrine to be unsurpassed; for the All-knowing One is learned in skilful means. If it were otherwise, the two vehicles of cause and result would deviate from his basic intention, they would not be gathered together in the single culminating vehicle, the definitive
meaning would also be divided in two, and other great flaws such as
these would exist. One must learn therefore that the Conqueror's en- lightened activity is never to be wasted.
5 Distinctive Attributes of the Buddha- bodies and Pristine Cognitions
Third, the blessing which arises from the body of reality according to the vehicle of dialectics is nothing but the two buddha-bodies of form; but as for the body of reality according to the mantras, the five bodies and various other apparitions arise from its blessing, which is the expanse [of reality] and pristine cognition, the coalescence of appear- ance and emptiness.
The buddha-body of perfect rapture and the body of emanation similarly have their distinctive attributes, which are outlined as follows. The vehicle of dialectics holds that the two buddha-bodies of form are created by causes and conditions, while the body of form according to the mantras is not created by causes and conditions. As the above [Extensive Magical Net] says:
For it does not depend on causes and conditions. . .
When classified, [the buddha-body of form] has two aspects, namely, the distinctive attributes of the body of perfect rapture and those of the emanational body.
The distinctive attributes of the buddha-body of perfect rapture are also twofold. Concerning the distinctive attributes of the rapture that is experienced, the body of perfect rapture according to the vehicle of dialec- tics experiences rapture in positive areas, but not in negative areas. The body of perfect rapture according to the mantras experiences rapture in both areas. Then there are distinctive attributes of the means of the experi- ence. In the vehicle of dialectics there are no means of experiencing rapture in negative areas, whereas the mantras do have means of experiencing rapture in both positive and negative areas.
Then, the distinctive attributes of the emanational body are also twofold. The distinctive attribute of its object, the one who requires the training, is that, according to the vehicle of dialectics, the emana- tional body only instructs those requiring training who are positively disposed, but not those of a negative character; whereas the emanational body according to the mantras is impartial regarding the character of those requiring to be trained. The distinctive attributes oftheir methods instruction are such that the emanational body in the vehicle of dIalectics has no means of instructing those of negative disposition, whereas the emanational body of the mantras is endowed with the means of instructing those of both positive and negative dispositions who require training.
In addition, one should know that other distinctions also exist. For example, the body of reality is distinguished by utterly unchanging supreme bliss. The body of perfect rapture endowed with the five is the apparitional aspect consisting of all the fields, teachers and retmues, which is spontaneously present in the great inner radiance of the ground, manifest in and of itself (rang-snang), but it is not com- POunded by external perception (gzhan-snang). The emanational body
[63a. 5-66b. 2] As for the distinctive attributes of the and pristine cognitions which are revealed in the causal and resultant vehIcles: In order to classify intellectually the distinctive attributes of the causal and resultant vehicles, the great scholars of supreme discernment in the past have examined the distinctive attributes of the buddhas as assessed in the sutra and the mantra texts in the following way.
The buddha-body of reality has three distinctive attributes of essence, characteristic and blessing, among which the first, the essence, is that the body of reality according to the vehicle of dialectics is sky-like unelaborate emptiness. As it is said in the Introduction to the Madhya- maka (Ch. l1, v. 16):
When the dry brushwood of all that is knowable is
burnt,
The peace which results is the body of reality of the
conquerors.
At that time there is neither creation nor cessation,
For the cessation of mind has been actualised by that body.
The buddha-body of reality according to the mantras, however, the natural expression of the expanse [of reality] and pristine cognItIOn, the coalescence of appearance and emptiness. As it is said in the Tantra of the Extensive Magical Net:
In the world with its moving and motionless
creatures,
In the nature of all such appearances, There is no substantial existence.
Secondly, as for its characteristic: The body of according the vehicle of dialectics has fallen into the extreme of emptmess, whereas the body of reality according to the mantras does not fall into extremes of eternalism and nihilism since there is no dichotomy between appear- ance and emptiness.
Distinctive Attributes 145
146 Fundamentals: Nature ofthe Buddha-bodies
Distinctive Attributes 147
has power to act on behalf of those who require training, ,having mastered the myriad ways that are suitable for the four of enlightened activity to be applied by means of the four kInds of
instruction. ,, ' bh' Then as for the actions performed on behalf of lIvmg bemgs y t, IS
[emanational] body: Whenever a tathagata his level, the oceans of the myriad realms of the sentlent bemgs v:ho training and all the distinctive attributes of the of which are derived from his own essence, are nothmg but the dIsplay of great compassion. All [those requiring training and the of
training] are of a common savour and are spontaneously effort, disregarding causes and conditions such p,rovlslon of ment accumulated by those requiring training and dlstmctlOns of the, Con- queror's aspiration. Therefore, the natural expression the of all sentient beings, and the all-pervasive natural expressIOn of realIty, which is the pristine cognition of the buddhas and the, nucleus of, the
sugata, are inseparable from each other, without commg and gomg, transferring and changing, as the oil that pervades the sesame seed. Enlightened activity is present therein, pervadi,ng the na- ture of reality, and its uncompounded essence IS charactenstlcally per- manent, pervasive and spontaneous.
It says in the Sutra of the Introduction to the Development of the Power of Faith (Sraddhabaladhanavataramudnisutra, T 201):
MafijusrI, in all the myriad world systems of the ten direc- tions all the domains of the extremists and all the mundane and ;upramundane activities which occur originate through the spontaneously present pristine cognition of the Tathagata. If you ask why it is so, it is because he possesses
distinct attributes.
Commenting on the meaning of [the buddhas'] permanence, the Su-
preme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch. 4, v. 12) says:
Since he is disillusioned with dependence,
Perceives himself and sentient beings equally,
And has not completed his deeds,
He does not cease to act for the duration of sarpsara.
Then, commenting on the meaning of his pervasiveness and spontane- ous presence, it says (Ch. 1, v. 76):
Ever spontaneously present to living beings Throughout infinite space,
Endowed with unimpeded intelligence,
He genuinely proceeds to benefit sentient beings.
And in the Hundred Parables on Deeds:
The ocean domain of sea monsters
May well pass beyond time,
But for the sake of his sons requiring training, The Buddha will not pass beyond time.
Accordingly, this spontaneously present enlightened activity has re- gard for the awakening of the different minds requiring training in accord with their fortune, but is non-conceptual with respect to the effort amassed by the continuum of nirvaI). a. It is an encounter between the expressive power of the nucleus of the tathagata and the phenomena which suddenly arise in the manner of sarpsara. As a result, those who have matured the sprout of enlightenment, those who are in the process of maturing it and the means which brings about maturation are the amazing play of the sugatas' enlightened activity and compassion. These are, respectively, the spiritual benefactors who reveal the path of liber- ation, the adherents of the path and the antidotes which purify the stains arising on the path.
It is said in the Tantra of the Extensive Magical Net:
Through the blessing of his great compassion
In all the worlds of the ten directions,
As many as there are atoms,
The enlightened activities on behalf of living beings
are inconceivable.
Through body, speech, mind, attributes
And activities which are spontaneously present, Those requiring training, inexhaustible in extent, Are purified of evil existences and enlightened. The perfect provision of pristine cognition is
everywhere revealed.
It is additionally maintained that [the buddhas], without moving from the pristine cognition of meditative equipoise, act on behalf of sentient beings during the aftermath of their meditation. As has been explained [in the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, Ch. 2, v. 7cd]:
Both the non-conceptualising state
And its aftermath are held to be pristine cognition.
Then, concerning the claim that the benefit of living creatures is basically caused by the increase in positive attributes of those requiring training, and conditioned by the former aspiration of the buddhas, the Introduction to the Madhyamaka (Ch. ll, v. 17) says:
The fields and bodies are like the Wishing Tree,
148
Fundamentals: Nature a/the Buddha-bodies
They are non-conceptualising in the manner of the Wish-fulfilling Gem;
Ever remaining to guide the world until beings have been liberated,
They appear to those who are free from elaboration.
Yet it is difficult to say that even these words reach the culmination of the definitive meaning, apart from their mere reference to a single aspect of the revelation [of buddha nature] for the sake of ordinary beings who require training.
This completes the anthology explaining the appearance of the Con- queror or Teacher endowed with the three buddha-bodies, the second part of this book, the Feast in which Eloquence Appears, which is a definitive ordering of the precious teaching of the vehicle of indestruct- ible reality according to the Ancient Translation School.
Part Three
Causal Vehicles of Dialectics
Introduction
[66b. 2-66b. 4] Having briefly described the appearance ofthe Conqueror as the teachers endowed with the three buddha-bodies in the world system of Patient Endurance, now, among the promulgations of the doctrinal wheel delivered by these teachers, I shall first explain the definitive structure of the three turnings of the doctrinal wheel according to the causal [vehicles]. This includes a statement ofthe overall meaning according to classifications and a recapitulation of the meaning sub- sumed in their particular sections.
1 The Three Promulgations of the Doctrinal Wheel
[66b. 4-68b. l] At the outset, the doctrinal wheel of the causal vehicle was promulgated in three successive stages by [Sakyamuni], the su- preme emanational buddha-body and sage. The first commenced with the four truths, the second concerned the absence of attributes, and the third the excellent analysis [of reality].
THE FIRST PROMULGA TION
The first is as follows: After discerning the utterly impure realms of sentient beings, the Teacher who promulgated the first turning of the doctrinal wheel intended to encourage these beings by the disturbing topics ofimpermanence, impurity, suffering, selflessness, ugliness, and so forth, and then cause them to forsake the attitude which actually clings to sarpsara. For in this way they would achieve appropriate insight into ultimate truth and adhere to the path of the greater vehicle.
At the Deer Park of in the district of VaraI! asI, he repeated the four [truths] of suffering, its origin, the path and cessation [of sarpsara] three times to an assembly consisting of his five noble com- panions.
The modes of the doctrine revealed in this context include the Four Transmissions of the Pitaka of the pious attendants and self-centred buddhas who belong to the lesser vehicle.
THE SECOND PROMULGA TION
Concerning the second: The Tathagata's perseverance was not inter- rupted merely by that first promulgation of the doctrinal wheel. Sub- sequently, the Teacher promulgated the intermediate turning of the doctrinal wheel, intending that the realisation of the ultimate truth, Which is referred to by synonyms in order to bring about the partial
154 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
cessation of conceptual elaboration, should become the actual founda- tion for the path of the greater vehicle. In this way egotism would be averted once beings had comprehended the buddha nature through the extensive topics of emptiness, signlessness, and aspirationlessness in relation to all things.
In places such as Vulture Peak near Rajagrha and chiefly to the communities of bodhisattvas, he revealed the Bodhisattvapiraka of the greater vehicle, which extensively teach the ineffable, unthinkable, inexpressible reality of just what is, whereby all things from form to omniscience are totally divorced from substantial existence.
The long versions [of these piraka] are the Billion Lines on the Trans- cendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness C*Satakotiprajfta- paramita) and the Transcendental Perfection ofDiscriminative Awareness in One Hundred Thousand Lines. The intermediate versions include the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness in Twenty-five Thousand Lines, and the short versions include the Transcendental Per- fection of Discriminative Awareness in Eight Thousand Lines; however, one should know there are an inconceivable number in addition to these.
THE THIRD PROMULGA TION
Concerning the third: The Tathagata's perseverance was not interrupted merely by that second promulgation of the doctrinal wheel. Sub- sequently the Teacher promulgated the final turning of the doctrinal wheel, directing his intention towards the nucleus of the path of the greater vehicle, and actually revealed the ultimate truth for which there is no synonym. This he did after opposing all bases for the views concerning being and non-being and the like by causing sentient beings to penetrate the objective range of the Buddha through the topics of that irreversible promulgation153 and through topics concerning the utter purity of the three spheres [of subject, object and their interaction].
In places such as Mount Malaya, the Point of Enlightenment154 and VaisalI, at indeterminate times and to the host of great bodhisattvas who required the essential training, he excellently analysed all things from form to omniscience in accord with the three essential natures of the imaginary (parikalpita), the dependent (paratantra) and the absolute and having established the nature of the ground, path and result, he extensively revealed the abiding reality of the of the tathagata.
Included in this promulgation are the Billion Verses of the Great Collection of the Most Extensive Siitras according to the Greater Vehicle (*Mahavaipulyamahayanasutrantamahasalflgraha), the Great Bounteous- ness of the Buddhas, the Sutra of the Descent to Lanka, the Sutra of the Bounteous Array (Ghanavyuhasutra, T 110), the Great Satra of Final
. _
Nzrva1Ja and the Satra which Decisively R
mocanasutra, T 106).
The Three Promulgations 155 I h J .
evea s t e ntentzon CSandhinir-
The hold that the doctrinal wh I ' .
sions were given comprise eXclusivel the ee s m these transmis-
tika hold that the three paths of insi ht mSIght. The Sautran- ing are comprised in the doctrinal '1 and no-more-Iearn- vehicle claim all five paths to be ee. s, followers of the greater
This causal vehicle when cIa c? fintdame m doctrinal wheels. , SSI Ie accordmg t . t h·l .
systems, has two divisions, namel t . 0 1 S P 1 osophlcal ants and self-centred buddha y, he vehIcle ofthe pious attend-
The former also eh greater. of the
Sautrantlka.
ot the and the
2 The Lesser Vehicle
apprehend. Therefore, there is held to be no intrinsic awareness but only mind and mental events, which are both aware ofexternal objects.
The basic is that of the disjunct conditions including the medItatIve absorptIOns and including nouns, words, and syllables, which are held to exist substantially throughout the three times. For example, a vase exists during the past time of the vase, yet it also exists during the future and the present times. It is held that any action, even when completed, has inexhaustible substantiality.

[68b. 1-69a. 6] The among the pious attendants, hold all that is knowable to be comprised in five categories. These are, namely, the basic category of apparent forms, the dominant mind, the concomit- ant mental events, the relational conditions and the uncompounded entities.
Of these five basic categories the first is as follows. Apparent forms are characterised as relatively true with reference to things, the idea of which can be lost when their gross material substance composed of indivisible atomic particles is destroyed, or when analysed by the intel- lect. They are characterised as ultimatelyC true when the idea which apprehends them cannot be lost upon their destruction or analysis. As it is said in the Treasury of the Abhidharma (Ch. 6, v. 4):
Whatever, on its destruction or intellectual analysis, Ceases to convey an idea, like a vase or water,
Is relatively existent; all else is ultimately real.
The hold that the relative truth, while not existing in an ultimate sense, is veridically existent; for they admit that all substances are exclusively veridical.
The second basic category, [that of the dominant mind], refers to the consciousnesses of the five senses, along with the mental faculty, which perceive external objects.
The third refers to all the fifty-one mental events, such as feeling and perception, which, together with the dominant consciousness, ap- prehend objects. When the sense organs regard their objects, [mind and mental events] are held to have the same reference, the same scrutiny, and to occur at the same time with the same sensory basis, and the same substance. In this way, the comprehension of objects by consiousness and the comprehension of the specific qualities of objects by mental events arise simultaneously with the objects which they
V asubandhu
".
the uncompounded entities . are three in number - space ces-
satIOn [ f . .
the futuO due scrutmy: the cessation [of
i h re ansmg of any object] mdependent of mdlvldual scrutiny. It as deld that, together with the truth of the path and its concomitants
n the cons . f h
a CIOusness 0 t e mental faculty with its concomitants these
free from corruption, whereas all the remaining entities Ove] are corrupt.
The Lesser Vehicle 157
'
158 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics SAUTRANTIKA
[69a. 6-70a. 3] Most of the Sautrantika tenets are identical to those of the the distinctions between them being that, while accept- ing, for example, the imperceptible forms which maintain [a behavioural pattern resulting from] an attitude of renunciation156 - which are held by the to be form - the Sautrantika hold they are merely given the name form because they originate from form, and they deny that the three times have substantial existence. The sense organs are held to have consciousness as their possessor and the sense objects, too, are held to be the referential condition by which a sensum is transmitted to perception. The basic categories of mind and mental events, which are the consciousnesses of the five senses and their con- comitant mental events, refer to objects such as form, yet external objects such as form and sound are not actually perceived, a sensum being transmitted in the manner of the reflection on a mirror. Accord- ingly, the sensum of an object such as form transmitted prior to the present moment is covertly transmitted so that the sensum correspond- ing to the object such as form arises at the present moment. After that moment, when the present transmitter of the sensum is transmitted in the subsequent moment, an external sensum is perceived to arise, and is then referred to as an object. The subject-object dichotomy thus becomes a subjective process and is called the comprehension of objects. As it is said in the Ascertainment of Valid Cognition eCh. l):
An object is said to be experienced When its resemblance is experienced.
The Sautrantika maintain that, while appearances are essentially con- sciousness, they are deceptive because the sensa which are transmitted are not externally existing [objects]. However the intrinsic awareness which clearly experiences all perceptual objects is not erroneous. They deny that relational conditions have substance apart from being mere functions of form, mind and mental events, and they profess that the three uncompounded entities are insubstantial like the son of a barren woman.
PIOUS A TTENDANTS
[70a. 3-70a. 6] Now, those who definitely adhere to these of the pious attendants observe in their conduct all the appropnate elght vows. And by meditating on the four moments they apply to the four truths, beginning with impermanence,LJ/ the vidual is realised to be divorced from [the concept] of a substantially existing independent self.
The Lesser Vehicle 159
As a result of this experience, the two kinds of obscuration, [that is, those of the three poisons with their seeds and of ignorance apart from conflicting emotions] are destroyed on the culmination of the five paths through the vajra-like contemplation (vajropamasamadhi)158 on the path of meditation. Obscuration is abandoned in such a way that it ceases
to be acquired. Then, the result of an arhat with or without residual [impurity] is actualised.
SELF-CENTRED BUDDHAS
[70a. 6-70b. 6] The self-centred buddhas, on the other hand, in addition to [the moments] beginning with impermanence as they apply to the four truths, meditate on the twelve modes of dependent origination. While their progression on the path is generally identical to that of the pious attendants, [the difference between them is that] the pious attend-
ants hold self with respect to the individual subject to be abandoned but the indivisible atomic matter of objects to continue in ultimate reality. The self-centred buddhas, _however, hold all these objects to be fallacious and non-existent in ultimate reality apart from mere mental phenomena. And they are partially identical to the Mind Only (Cit-
tamatra)159 position in their opinion that the internal subjective con- sciousness genuinely does exist. As it is said in the Ornament ofEmergent
Realisation (Ch. 2, v. 8):
Since they renounce the idea of objects
And since they do not renounce the subject,
One must know the path genuinely subsumed therein Is that of a rhinoceros-like160 recipient.
Havi. n? " meditated in this way on selflessness as far as the great path of
provlslons, every attainment from the feeling of warmth on the path
o. f to the path of no-more-learning is actualised in a single SIttmg.
Thus, the two vehicles of the pious attendants and the self-centred bUddhas are differentiated according to the degree of [their adherents'] :cumen,. an? yet there no great difference in their pattern of thought
nd reahsation, for whlch reason they possess the same
3 The Greater Vehicle
which arouse corrupt states, in accordance with the quota- tion begmnmg:
All things originate interdependently.
They are compounded by the conditions of ignorance.
And continuing down to:
Thus only this great mass of suffering has arisen.
The latter includes the buddha-bodies, pristine cognitions and fields of the utterly pure The former are so called because they depend on extraneous COndItIOnS of deeds and propensities, and the latter because they originate from the condition of obscurationless power.
Then, the essential nature of the absolute is classified into both the unchanging and the incontrovertible. The former consists of the nucleus of inne. r radiance, the unchanging natural expression of the expanse of reahty, or the truth which is the abiding nature. As the Sutra of the Bounteous Array says:
This nucleus is well defined As the ground-of-all.
,the when the of the uncorrupted path has been reac. hed, It IS explamed that this same nucleus is incontrovertibly ac- tuahsed because the conflicting emotions which cover the genuine resultant ground-of-all are entirely purified. ' , This philosophical system of Mind Only (Cittamdtra) is classified mto ? oth those who hold sensa to be veridical (Sakaravada) and those to be false (Nirakaravada). The former profess that, to
The greater vehicle or the vehicle of the bodhisattvas has two divisions which are made also on the basis of its philosophical schools, namely,
the Vijfianavada and the Madhyamaka.
VIJNANA V ADA
[71a. 1-72b. 3] The Vijfianavadin merely confirms that objects are not perceived and indeed that substance is covert in accordance with the Sautrantika refutation which, on analysis, did not find the temporal parts of consciousness and the spatial parts of atoms postulated by the Vaibhasika. For this reason the Sutra of the King of Contemplation
(Samad'hirajasutra, T 127) says:161
o sons of the Conqueror, this threefold realm is only mind.
This philosophical school is therefore called the Vijfianavada of consciousness] because it maintains all, things to be merely the appan-
tiona1 aspect of mind.
The Vijfianavadin also admits, in conformity with the transmission
of the final turning of the doctrinal wheel, that all things are definitively
ordered according to three [essential natures] of reality, namely, the
imaginary, the dependent and the absolute.
Among these, the essential category of the imaginary is classified
into the nominal imaginary and the imaginary of delimited character- istics.
The former, since it indicates the conventional, includes the essential features of, or the particular names and symbols applied to, all things, which are exaggerated by the intellect despite being non- existent in reality. The latter is exemplified by the'two [postulated]
selves [of individuals and phenomena]. The essential nature of the dependent is also divided into both impure dependence and pure de- pendence. The former includes everything subsumed by the five basic
he of the eye which apprehends the colour blue the blue eXIst b l ' , '
s as ue, Just as It appears, The latter are slightly superior
the former in holding that everything such as the appearance of
has no substantiality of either object or intellect and that nothm 'I' '
g matena eXIsts apart from consciousness through which the
pro ', f' '
penSItIes 0 Ignorance are exaggerated and appearances then vitiated
Or enhanced by the ignorance of the intellect.
d,:hen, further classified, [those holding sensa to be veridical] are
1 erentIated according to the categories of objects and consciousness
So that ther h I " ' b" e are t ose c aImmg perception has an equal number of
o )ectlVe and subjective factors, those claiming there is a diversity of
sensa but n t f ' , ,
, 0 0 conSCIOusness, and those claImmg that [sensa and
resemble the two halves of one egg. 162 Those holding
1:;sa,to be false, too, are divided between the maculate and the immacu-
b ehsmce,they hold that the essence of mind is either vitiated or not
yt estamsofig ,,
ent 'I norant prOpenSItIeS, Among those claiming perception
al s an equal number of objective and subjective factors, there are
The Greater Vehicle 161
162 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Greater Vehicle 163
adherents of the eight aggregates of consciousness, and adherents of the six aggregates of consciousness. And among those claiming there is diversity of sensa but not of consciousness, there are some who hold to the six aggregates of consciousness and others who hold to a single consciousness. Such classifications become limitless.
While this school is somewhat superior to the vehicles of the pious attendants and the self-centred buddhas, it does not correctly under- stand the nature of the absolute category which is the ultimate truth. This is because, although both those holding sensa to be veridical and those holding sensa to be false realise that the sensa of external objects are not true, they do admit the intrinsic awareness which is naturally radiant, non-dual perception to exist absolutely as the ultimate truth. 163
MADHY AMAKA
Secondly, the Madhyamika are divided into both adherents of the coarse, Outer Madhyamaka which claims there is no substantial exist- ence, and the subtle, inner Great Madhyamaka of the definitive mean- ing. The former includes both the Svatantrika-Madhyamaka and the Prasangika-Madhyamaka systems.
Outer Madhyamaka Svatantrika-Madhyamaka
[72b. 4-73b. 4] The philosophical systems of the Sautrantika and Mind Only (Cittamatra) fall into the extreme of clinging to substan- tial existence, and so do not depart from conceptual elaboration, which is subjectively oriented. However, the Svatantrika system occupies the centre (madhyama) because therein all things are held to be of the nature of the middle way which does not fall into either of the two extremes.
Moreover, the tenet that all things exist in the perceptual aspect of the bewildered intellect of relative appearance, but are ultimately non- existent in the awareness of the unbewildered intellect is claimed by the Svatantrika-Madhyamika.
'Vhen these [two truths] are classified, there is held to be both a correct relative (tathyasart7:vfti) in which appearances are causally effective, and an erroneous relative (mithyasan:zvfti) in which ances are not causally effective. On the ultimate level, too, there is held to be an ultimate truth which is referred to by synonyms (paryayaparamarthasatya) in order to cut through. a single aspect of conceptual elaboration, such as the view that a shoot is not self-pro- duced, and an ultimate truth without synonyms (aparyayaparamartha- satya) which cuts through conceptual elaboration of the four extremes,
beginning with the view that a shoot is produced neither from itself, nor from another source and so on. Their characteristic nature is that the relative [truth] does not resist scrutiny inasmuch as it can be refuted by the scrutinising intellect, and the ultimate truth does resist scrutiny inasmuch as it cannot be refuted by the intellect.
Nagarjuna
Accordingly, in order to realise that the relative or phenomenal ap- pearances which cannot be denied are not [inherently] existent one is made to perceive that they do not exist as veridical The substances of external objects and of consciousness are held to be empty
a. nd only a pristine cognition undifferentiated into any of the exaggera- tIonandde . . f[. o.
preciatlOn 0 VIews concermng] bemg and non-being is admItted. So it is that the Short Commentary (Sphu{artha, T 3793) begins:
By the pristine cognition which is individual, intrinsic awareness . . .
o•
. .
t at w IC IS to be refuted [I. e. the mherent existence
cue as the Valra Fragments (rdo-rje'i gzegs-ma) which scrutinises the Refutation of Production from Entities or Non-Entities od-med skye-'gog) which scrutinises results; the Refutation of the Four
The refutati
f .
OJ. relatIve s h
f h
hO h· ] . I
on 0
IS a so proven by reason and logical axioms,
164 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Greater Vehicle 165
Limits of Production (mu-bzhi skye-'gog) which scutinises [both causes and results]; the Supreme Relativity (rten-'brel chen-po), arranged in syllogisms of implicitly affirmative negation (ma-yin dgag); and the Absence of the Singular and the Multiple (gcig-dang du-bral) arranged in syllogisms of explicit negation (med-dgag). 164
As a result, illusion and so forth, which are the objects of proof [in this system], are not proven by means of implicitly affirmative nega- tion which delimits their scope,165 but they are adduced by means of explicit negation which excludes166 through mere negation [the possibil- ity of] genuine substantial existence. In this way, a hypothetically con- ceived unborn nature is claimed by the Svatantrika-Madhyamika to be a characteristic of ultimate truth, unelaborate as the sky.
In addition, by proving that which does not ultimately exist to be relatively existent, this system continues the flaws of the eternalist- nihilist dichotomy. Their understanding of mere explicit negation, a hypothetically conceived freedom from conceptual elaboration, abides not in the definitive meaning, and even the intellectual reasoning which refutes conceptual elaboration does not transcend the details of concep- tual elaboration.
Prasaitgika-M adhyamaka
[73b. 5-77a. 4. ] Secondly, the Prasangika-Madhyamika demarcate the two truths by distinguishing between the bewildered intellect and the unbewildered intellect. The dichotomy between subjective conscious- ness and objective data never appears within the range of the meditative absorptions of sublime bodhisattvas and the all-knowing pristine cogni- tion of the buddhas, just as dreams are not perceived when one is not asleep. As the master Nagarjuna says:
Just as, for example, on falling asleep,
A man sees by the power of dreams
His son, wife, mansion and lands,
But sees them not upon awakening,
So it is that when those who know relative
appearance
Open the eyes of intelligence,
Part from the sleep of unknowing,
And wake up, they no longer perceive it.
The subjective entry into pristine cognition is also called quies<;ence, and when all the conceptual elaborations of mind and mental events have been interrupted and obstructed, that which abides in the cessation of supreme quiescence, the expanse of reality free from all thoughts and expressions, is called the reality of unbewildered intelligence. As Candraklrti has explained [in his Introduction to the Madhyamaka,
Ch. ll, v. 13]:
Thus, because reality is uncreated,
Intellects too are uncreated.
Therefore the reality known within the contents
of these [intellects]
Is known conventionally, in the manner, For example, of the mind
Which correctly cognises its object
On the emergence of objective sensa.
Aryadeva
Andalso[Ch. 1l,v. 16]:
When the dry brushwood of all that is knowable is burnt,
The peace which results is the body of reality of the conquerors.
At that time there "is neither creation nor cessation, For the cessation of mind has been actualised by that
body.
So it is that this state is called the realisation of ultimate truth and the object of this [realisation] is the fundamental abiding nature, the natur- ally pure expanse of reality.
166 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
However the bewildered intellect of false perception vitiates [this reality] its propensities of common ignorance. In the manner of a person with a certain eye disease clinging to the ? f and the vision of combed-out hairs, the sensa of the subJect- object dichotomy which appear as the various of the SIX
of beings along with their experiences of happmess . and and low, and the different sensa which appear to bemgs dunng the aftermath of meditation, that is, the world and ItS contents as are generally known, are both assigned to the two of
appearance, according to whether are the sensa of ImpaIred or unimpaired faculties. As the Introductwn to Madhyamaka (Ch. 6, v. 24)
says:
There are two kinds of false perception, One endowed with clear sense faculties,
The other with impaired faculties.
The perception of the impaired faculties
Is deemed wrong observation by those of excellent
faculties.
By virtue of this, all the things of sarpsara, along :with mind, the events and their objective sensations, are relative also applies to the attainment of the levels associated the impure forms 167 which are within the . u. mmpeded range . of mmd and mental events and to other such appantIOnS among the SIX gates of consciousness. In short, all that is or IS
amassed on the side of relative appearance and estabhshed as ment. Relative appearances are also divided into the erroneous which appears to those of impaired faculties, the correct. relative which appears as the object ofunimpaired faculties. The former mcludes the perceptiort of two moons and dreams which are reputed to untrue even when they appear within the range of mundane perceptIOn. The latter includes the perception of one moon which is reputed to be true
when it appears within the range of mundane
Now, that which diversely appears to the
The Greater Vehicle 167 And in the Destruction of Bewilderment by Nagarjuna [Madhyamaka-
bhramaghtita by A. ryadeva, T 3850]:168
When genuiqe scholars have accordingly
Destroyed all the propensities of ignorance
By the sun of knowledge, without exception,
The objective mind and mental events are not seen.
In this way, the ultimate truth is characterised as the essence free from all conceptual elaborations of the subject-object dichotomy, in which all the stains of the mind and its mental events are quiescent in the expanse of reality, and which is not extraneously perceived because it is not discursive thought, or words, phrases and other such particular existents. Ultimate truth is also characterised as the abiding nature of reality which is beyond thought, free from all conceptual elaborations, and untouched by philosophical systems. As explained in the Root Stanzas on the Madhyamaka entitled Discriminative Awareness (cf. Ch. 25, v. 24):
It is characterised as quiescent
Without being extraneously perceived, Unelaborated by conceptual elaborations,
And not different from non-conceptualisation.
To sum up: The expanse that is characterised as the profound, calm mind of the sublimest of buddhas free from all obscurations, the all- knowing pristine cognition which realises that [expanse], the essence of the pristine cognition of sublime bodhisattvas' meditative equipoise, and the sensations of higher insight which appear during the aftermath [of meditation] are all the ultimate truth.
. Although the Prasarigika also appraise things to have no independent existence through the five logical axioms, they do not, in the manner of the Svatantrika, alternately prove relative appearances to be false once refuted them, or prove freedom from conceptual elabora- tion. having once refuted conceptual elaboration with respect to ultimate realIty and so forth. Rather, this unbewildered intention of the dialectic escorts the inexpressible, inconceivable abiding in which no things are differentiated according to theories of non-being, both being and non-being or neither being nor non- bemg. It has refuted all the philosophical systems which have been upheld. Accordingly, the Refutation of Disputed Topics (v. 29) says:
If I were to possess some proposition, I would at that time be at fault.
Since I am without propositions,
I am entirely without fault.
ibly true under the circumstances of t. he ,:hlc of
clings to duality, is never referred to m meditative eqmpOlSe 0 sublime beings or in a buddha whose has and whom bewildering appearances never appear, Just as the VISIon of com
ed-out hairs experienced by one of impaired eyesight never
n one of good eyesight. Accordingly it is scvid in the above [IntroductW
to the Madhyamaka, Ch. 6, v. 29]:
Having investigated any erroneous objects
Such as the vision of hairs in blindness,
One should know the [relative truth] also to include Anything seen by anyone of pure vision.
168 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
And in the Four Hundred Verses T 3846, Ch. 16, v. 25):
One who adheres to no standpoint,
Of being, non-being, both being and non-being, Or neither being nor non-being,
Over a very long period cannot be censured.
And also in the Jewel Lamp of the iVIadhyamaka (Madhyamakaratna- pradfpa, T 3854):
Substances which are postulated
Do not even subtly exist.
Since they have been uncreated from the beginning, They are as the son of a barren woman.
If it is objected that [in the Prasailgika view] the very definitive structure of the two truths would become non-existent, it is the case that in the abiding nature of reality all dualistic doctrines such as the two truths are transcended. The Prasailgika do label the apparitional world according to its mere exaggerated status, but they do not adhere to it in the manner of those philosophical systems which cling to it as [inherently] true. As it is said in the Introduction to the Madhyamaka (Ch. 6 v. 18ab):
Just as you hold substances to have dependent existence,
I have not admitted even relative existence. And in the Sutra of the King of Contemplation:
As for the unwritten doctrines [of emptiness], Those which are heard and revealed
Are indeed heard and revealed
After the unchanging [reality] has been exaggerated.
Therefore, the provision of pristine cognition has been accumu- lated through meditation which coalesces meditative equipoise in ity, or discriminative awareness, and the great compassion of skIlful means and when the provision of merit has been accumulated by all things as an apparition during the aftermat. h of meditation, finally the buddha-body of reality and the two bodIes of form are obtained. As it is said in the Jewel Garland (Ratniivalf, T 4158, Ch. 3, v. 12):
This body of form of the buddhas Originated from the provision of merit.
The body of reality, to be brief,
Springs from the provision of kingly pristine
The Greater Vehicle 169
Thus the Madhyamaka of the ground refers to the two truths, the Madhyamaka of the path to the provisions, and the Madhyamaka of the result to the coalesence of the two buddha-bodies.
Great Madhyamaka
[77a. 4-84a. 4] Secondly, concerning the subtle, inner Great Madh- yamaka of definitive meaning, it is stated in the Jewel Lamp of the Madhyamaka by the master Bhavya (skal-Idan):
The Madhyamaka of the Prasailgika and the Svatantrika is the coarse, Outer Madhyamaka. It should indeed be expres- sed by those who profess well-informed intelligence during debates with [extremist] Outsiders, during the composition of great treatises, and while establishing texts which concern supreme reasoning. However, when the subtle, inner
Madhyamaka is experientially cultivated, one should medi- tate on the nature of Yogacara-Madhyamaka. 169
cognition.
Asanga
170 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Greater Vehicle 171
In this way, two Madhyamaka are spoken of, one outer and coarse,
the other inner and subtle.
Concerning the latter, the regent Ajita [Maitreya] has extensively
analysed the meaningful intention of the topics of vast significance which revealed all things in terms of the three essential natures. This he did by means of discourses connected with the irreversible intention of the final turning of the doctrinal wheel and with the utter purity of the three spheres [of subject, object and their interaction].
Whereas in the aforementioned tradition of Mind Only, the depend- ent nature is the ground of emptiness and is explained to be the absolute, empty of imaginary objects of refutation, here it is the absolute reality (chos-nyid yongs-grub) that is claimed to be empty of imaginary objects of refutation. Accordingly, the components, psychophysical bases and activity fields, which are dependently conceived, are said to be a ground which is empty of the imaginary self and its properties;
and the ground which is empty of that dependent ground of emptiness is absolute reality. This ground of emptiness never comes into existence because it is empty of the phenomena of sarpsara, which are charac- terised as suddenly arisen and which are divided according to essential stains and substantial faults. However this ground is not empty of the amassed enlightened attributes of nirvaI). a which spontaneously abide
from the beginning.
Accordingly, it is said in the Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle
(Ch. 1, v. 1SS):
The seed which is empty of suddenly arisen
phenomena
Endowed with divisive characteristics
Is not empty of the unsurpassed reality "Endowed with indivisible characteristics.
1
And in the Commentary [on the Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle,
Mahiiyiinottaratantrasiistravyiikhyii, T 402S, p. 76]:
If one asks what is revealed by this passage, the reason for there being no basis of all-conflicting emotions requiring t. o be clarified in this naturally pure seed of the tathagata IS that it is naturally free from suddenly arisen stains. It nothing at all which can be established as a basis for punfi- cation for its nature is reality, pure of divisive phenomena.
So it that the nucleus of the tathagata is empty of divisions . . which may be removed and of the entire nest of emotions, but it is not empty of the inconceivable of the buddhas which outnumber all the sands of the RIver
Ganges and are non-divisive and inalienable.
Now it is also said that the imaginary implies that attributes are without
substantial existence, the dependent that creation is without substantial existence and the absolute that ultimate reality is without substantial existence. The first two of these [indicate] that the conceptual aspects of the subject-object dichotomy, which are suddenly arising fictions, are empty of their own essence, and the latter refers to emptiness as the naturally expressed, fundamental essence itself which has no sub- stantiality. Since this [ultimate reality] is naturally pure, it abides, through its function of emptiness, as the enlightened attributes of the buddha-body of reality, and through its apparitional function as the ground on which the buddha-bodies, fields, celestial mansions and so forth arise. Through its function of awareness, it is spontaneously pres- , ent from the beginning, free from causes and free from results, because it is the supporting ground of the ten powers, the four fearlessnesses and the like. This natural expression of the buddhas, which is called the nucleus of the sugata, does not abide as the seed of creation, destruc- tion, transformation, change, increase or decrease, cause or condition, and so forth, and it is ever uncovered, without being an object of metaphor, thought or expression. It is said in the Play of Maiijusrf (Maiijusrfvikrftjitamahiiyiinasutra, T 96):
Sister, although suddenly arising conflicting emotions do emerge in relation to the natural inner radiance, the natural inner radiance cannot be defiled by those suddenly arisen all-conflicting emotions.
And the regent Ajita has said [in the Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle, Ch. l, v. S]:
Uncompounded and spontaneously present, Unrealised through external conditions, Endowed with knowledge, love and power
Is the buddhahood possessing the two benefits.
If one were otherwise to apprehend all things as being exclusively empty of their own essence, in the manner ofthe proponents of intrinsic emptiness (rang-stong-pa), then it is said that according to the same [argument] the buddha-body of reality would also be empty of Itself. The buddha-bodies, pristine cognitions, fields and so forth be non-existent, the accumulation of the provisions and purifi- of obscurations, which depend upon these, would also be non- eXIstent, and indeed the teachings through which the causal and result- vehicles reveal all of purifying stains, whatever their
SIS or path, would be dImInIshed. The ground of purification being non-existent, there would be no need to effect purification. Being empty of pristine cognition, there would be no work on behalf of others and [enlightened] understanding. There being nothing existent, even WIth respect to the relative appearances of the impure dependent
172 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
nature, there would also be no enlightened attributes to impurities into the pure dependent nature. There would be no self to become the ground of bondage and liberation, and there would be no doctrine to be realised by each one individually. Many such faults would persist and by nature give rise to the source of unbearable views. This can be known from quotations such as the following from the Sutra o f the Dialogue with Kasyapa from the Sublime Pagoda o f Precious Jewels (Aryaratnakutakasyapaparivartas11tra, T 87):
o Ka§yapa, whoever, referring to emptiness, relies upon emptiness deviates from this discourse of mine; theirs is said to be a great deviation. 0 Kasyapa, it is better to abide in a view [which clings to] individual existence to the extent of Mount Sumeru, than with manifest egotism to adopt a view to emptiness. If you ask why, 0 Kasyapa, I have explained that although that which arises from all views is emptiness, Kasyapa, that which exclusively regards empti- ness is untenable.
If one were, on the other hand, to object that this would not be emptiness, it is not the case, as the Sublime Siitra ofthe Descent to Lanka says:
Ifyou ask what is the emptiness which is the ultimate reality of all things, the great pristine cognition of the sublime beings, it is as follows. The attainment of the pristine cogni- tion of the sublime beings, which is one's own intrinsic awareness, is empty of the propensities of all views and faults. This is called the emptiness which is the ultimate reality of all things, the great pristine cognition of sublime beings.
This ultimate reality that is empty of extraneous entities (gzhan-stong), is similarly found in siltras belonging to the intermediate promulgation of the doctrinal wheel. It is said in the Transcendental Perfection of Discriminative Awareness in Twenty-five Thousand Lines:
173
t rea er
The nature of, this expanse in the minds of sentient beings is like a treasure precIOUS gems within the earth, uncovered by stains in respect Its own essence, and yet it simultaneously assumes the sud- denly ansen of sarpsara, in the manner, for example, of water and Ice. It says m the Sutra of the King of Contemplation:
Pure, clear and inwardly radiant, Undisturbed and uncompounded Is the nucleus of the sugata.
It is the reality that abides from the beginning.
And in the master Nagarjuna's Eulogy to the Expanse ofReality (v. 23):
The water that lies within the earth Remains immaculately pure.
The pristine cognition within conflicting
emotions, too,
Remains similarly immaculate.
Such q,uotations that the status of the nucleus [of the tathagata] accor? mg to the defimtlve meaning is inconceivable.
ThIs nucleus of the tathagata, with respect to its own essence, is the throughout sarpsara and nirvat:la, without good or evil. As it is saId [m the Ornament ofthe Sutras ofthe Greater Vehicle, Ch. 9, v. 37]:
The nature of just what is, in all things, is undifferentiated.
When purified, it is the nature of the tathagata. Therefore all living beings possess that nucleus.
fUCh extensive quotations have an intention directed towards the abso- nature, which is unchanging reality. Therefore the Supreme Con-
tznuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch. l, v. 51) says: Subsequently just as it was before
Is the unchanging reality.
In this context, if you ask what is the emptiness of other substances, it applies whether the tathagatas have appeared or not. As the abiding nature of reality, as reality itself, the expanse of reality, the faultlessness of reality, the nature of just what is, the unmistakable nature of just what is, the unalterable nature of just what is, and as the genuine goal, it abides as just what is. Therefore, this reality, which is empty of extraneous entities, is called the emptiness of other substances. Subhl1ti, this is the greater vehicle of the bodhisattvas, great spiritual warriors.
. .
':Vhen beings are circumstantially classified in relation to the stains whlch suddenly' h [; 11 ' " ,
in t
.
ans:, t ey a mto three categones. As It IS explained he Supreme Contmuum of the Greater Vehicle eCh. l, v. 47):
to order of being impure, unfymg that IS Impure and being utterly pure,
They are called sentIent beings, bodhisattvas and tathagatas.
The Greater Vehicle And it is extensively mentioned in the Supreme Continuum o+the G
. I ' '}
Vehzc e, as CIted above in the passage eCh. l, v. lss) which begins:
The seed which is empty of suddenly arisen phenomena Endowed with divisive characteristics. . .
174 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
And in the Commentary [on the Supreme Continum ofthe Greater Vehicle,
p. 40]:
Therefore, those in the circumstance of being impure are called sentient beings, those in the circumstance of purifying that which is impure are called bodhisattvas and those in the circumstance of being utterly pure are called tathagatas.
Similarly, everything appears according to distinctions such as the three vehicles, to diffLfentiations based upon hierarchical classifications such as the ten levels and the five paths, and likewise to ethical hierar- chies such as good and evil sentient beings, pious attendants and self- centred buddhas, and sublime bodhisattvas and buddhas. However, the natural inner radiance, which is the expanse of reality and the ultimate truth, pervades everything without [distinctions between] good and evil or decrease and increase, just as, for example, vases appear to be distinguished according to their quality, there being clay vases, wooden vases, vases of precious gems and so on, while the space within these vases is identical in that it is without qualities. Accordingly, the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle (Ch. 1, vv.