Yet they assign pristine cognition and its objects to the ultimate truth by virtue of their infallible conclusive reality, which is free from conditions to be clarified and
established
because it is perman- ent, steadfast and unchanging.
Dudjom Rinpoche - Fundamentals and History of the Nyingmapa
In this way
It is said that when the Teacher himself [Sakyamuni] became the strongest of charioteers in the hells, he was instantly liberated by awakening to that enlightened family which embodies great compassion, and was
185
born as a god in Trayatrirpsa.
He subsequently became the boy
Bhaskara, the son of a potter, in Jambudvlpa and aspired to enlighten-
in the presence of the Tathagata Sakyamuni. 186 Similar things are
saId about the series of his [ordinary] lives in which he took birth as
the daughter of a friend and so on.
lf living beings were without this enlightened family, those who ex .
penence suffering would not even feel regret. It would be reasonable for some not to think that samsara should be rejected and nirvana acquired, and even the desire for liberation would not arise in minds. However, untaught by anyone, some persons feel compassion When others experience suffering, and are disturbed by the experience
of suffering. One should know such phenomena to be the virtuous
194 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
power of the seed of beginningless reality. It says in the Supreme Con-
tinuum of the Greater Vehicle eCh. l, vv. 40-1):
Without the seed of buddhahood,
One would not feel regret for suffering;
One would have neither the desire,
Nor the prayer, nor the aspiration for nirva1)a.
This perception of suffering as a negative
And happiness as a positive attribute,
In relation to existence and nirva1)a,
Is present owing to the existence of the enlightened
family;
For it is not found in those lacking that family.
Passages which speak of beings belonging to no family or to a cut-off family are rhetorical devices which indicate through negation the base- ness in those who have not awakened to the enlightened family. Indeed, there are no living beings who do not belong to the enlightened family which naturally abides. The Sutra of the Nucleus of the Tathagata (Tathagatagarbhasutra, T 258) says:
Son of the enlightened family, this is the reality of all things. Whether the tathagatas have appeared or not, these sentient beings always possess the nucleus of the tathagata.
And in the Sutra ofQueen Srfmala eSrfmaladevfsirrzhanadasutra, T 92): The nucleus of the sugata
Completely pervades living beings.
Therefore, the mind is developed in the enlightened attitude of the greater vehicle consequent on awakening into the [first] enlightened family, which has two aspects and is the causal basis. Subsequently, the stains which obscure the buddha-body of reality are removed by experiencing, above all, the non-conceptualising pristine cognition dur- ing meditative equipoise; and the stains obscuring the two buddha- bodies of form are skilfully removed by conduct that is relevant to the two provisions with the assistance of illusion-like compassion during the aftermath [of that meditation].
Then, there is obtained the culminating result of this separation from obscuration (bral-'bras), the essential buddha-body. It is defined as al) expanse encompassed by inconceivable, uncorrupted, enlightened attri- butes, or the ground in which the buddha-body of form that appears to others is reflected like the moon in the sky. It naturally manifests as pristine cognition itself, without being extraneously sought, and is endowed with the three bodies of the buddhas manifest in and of them- selves. The Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle (Ch. 2, v. 3) says:
The Enlightened or Buddha Famity 195 which is called natural inner radiance is as the sky
It IS unobscured by the dense clouds . Of suddenly arisen conflicting emotions
And ignorance of the knowable.
This endowed with all enlightened
attnbutes of the taintless Buddha
Constant, steadfast and eternal, is
on the pristine cognition which discerns thIngs non-conceptually.
And [Ch. 2, vv. 38-9]:
beginning, middle, or end and indivisible, NeIther two, nor three, taintless and non-
conceptualising,
That which is the natural expanse of realIty,
Is perceived by the yogin during meditative equipoise.
with enlightened attributes that are Immeasurable,
That out. number the sands of the Ganges, limitless and wIthout peer,
This taintless expanse of the Tathagata
Has the entire range of faults, along with theIr propensities.
Arising from that [essential body], the two buddha-bodies of form have the same uncorrupted pristine cognition. They become naturally present a co-emergent cause, consisting of the basis of the pure
of requiring training, as well as the conditions of their aspIratIOns and their experience of the two provisions The o f t h e s e b o d i e s o f f o r m i s t h e n e s t a b i i s h e d of teaching in forms manifest to others who q re traInIng, In the manner, for example, of the moon reflected in
wat4eOf. As the above [Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle Ch 2
VV.
-1] says: W' h
) . ,
It a body which manifests the diverse rays ofthe true doctnne,
so that the liberation of living beings be achIeved,
by whIch the world is pacified
Their . deeds, like the king of wish-fulfilling gems
h'
t elr forms whIch cause [beings]
,
Are h .
A llhw out In eXIstence despite their diverse forms.
To t'
en er. Into, npen and prophetically declare the path
.
196
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 197
Also constantly abide therein, Just as form occupies space.
And as Nagarjuna [in the Eulogy to the Expanse ofReality, v. 101] says:
Since within the taintless body of reality
An ocean of pristine cognition abides,
The benefit of sentient beings emerges therefrom
In the manner of diverse gemstones.
In short, as [Longcenpa has said] in the Great Chariot (shing-rta chen-
mo):
On the path, one would not require the two provisions of the greater vehicle. In the result, one would not distinguish between the nirvana of the three vehicles; and as a conclusive result, one could not cro·ss beyond the abyss of nihilism. The refuge of ultimate reality would never be found.
It was with an intention directed toward this mode [of the nucleus] that the all-knowing doctrinal master [Longcenpa] said in the Precious Wish-fulfilling Treasury (yid-bzhin rin-po-che'i mdzod):
One who without knowing this mode [of the nucleus] determines emptiness verbally
As free from extremes of being and non-being
Harbours the view of the summit of existence,
Ignorant ofthe causal basis ofseparation from obscuration. Since he is outside this teaching,
He may as well cover himself with ashes,
Like those who hold the mind to emerge from space.
Such a wrong view is gathered within [the nihilism of] the Followers of Brhaspati [Barhaspatya]. The Doha also says:
I88
In this context, one should know that, among the three buddha-bodies, the body of reality, which is an expanse invisible to those requiring training outside the range of the Buddha alone, is present as subtle pristine cognition, the inner expanse that is unique and of a single savour. The two
buddha-bodies ofform endowed with pure enlightened activ- ity, which are the pristine cognition that manifests to others, outwardly radiate through its blessing and the aspiration of those requiring training. They appear in the manner of the moon in the sky [body of perfect rapture] and the moon in water [body of emanation].
I87
And in the Treasury of Philosophical Systems:
Since the three buddha-bodies are primordially present as the twofold enlightened family, the apparitional aspect of the buddha level or [the enlightened family] of inner growth is the body of perfect rapture and its empty aspect or [the enlightened family] which naturally abides is the body of reality. From the indivisible blessing of these two, the em- anational body gives teaching in form manifest to others who
require training, and is exemplified as the reflection of a universal emperor (cakravartin) shining on a golden moun-
tain.
One who, without knowing this, is attracted to the concept that a single uncompounded emptiness of explicit negation is the family which naturally abides, and that the enlightened famIly of mner growth is exclusively compounded and newly produced by the path, is found to interrupt the realisation which belongs to the of
learning as a conclusive result and so to adhere to the cessation of pious attendants' tradition, which resembles an expired butter lamp m that it establishes no order of buddha-body, pristine cognition and so forth. If one were to take this view, one would not even savour the fragrance of the truth of cessation according to the greater vehicle: In
the ground, one would fall into the extreme of conceptual elaborauon .
The Archer
"Those who hold the mind to emerge from space Never attain to liberation. "
If one were to think that on the paths of learning one develops anew, by the two causal provisions, what was previously non-existent, then the body of reality, or essential body of the buddha, and the body of perfect rapture would be compounded and impermanent. If one were to hold this view, it is said one would harbour the immeasurable defects of looking upon the continuum [of enlightened mind] as an ephemeral the suffering of change as something unrenounceable; the of the body of indestructible reality, which is pristine cogni- tlOn. as the sky, as non-existent; and the body of indestructible Itself as impermanent. Because of such limitless faults, one would deVIate from the meaning of the greater vehicle.
So: rather than merely differentiate the twofold enlightened family bemg the apparitional and emptiness aspects of a single expanse, it the fla,:les. s intention. of the all-knowing doctrinal master [Longcenpa] is It to be thIS supreme essence or natural expression which
mdivisible, uncorrupted and uncompounded. In the Great Chariot he says:
There are nine similes which reveal as spontaneously present the enlightened attributes of the Buddha's body of form, from the naturally radiant apparitional aspect of the tamtless mind-as-such, the naturally pure essence, the mind in which the genuine pristine cognition of the Buddha ori-
says:
198
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 199
ginally abides. And the comparison of its emptiness aspect, the enlightened attributes of the body of reality, with the sky is explained in all the sl1tras and tantras. However, these two are inseparable in the virtuous seed of beginningless reality. This [seed] firstly is called the enlightened family which naturally abides because it is unchanging, and se- condly is called the enlightened family of inner growth be- cause enlightened attributes are extensively manifest after the stains have been purified. Yet its root is inner radiance, the pristine cognition which is intuitive awareness.
Similarly, in the Extensive Sutra of the Commitments (dam-tshig mdo- rgyas), a teaching of the all-seeing Rongzompa, the naturally present pristine cognition in which the ground, path and result are inseparable, is said to be the mind or family of enlightenment:
That which is imperishable like a vajra is the mind of Saman- tabhadra, unchanging like a vajra, because it naturally con- tains no distinction between [firstly] the enlightened mind of beginningless time [i. e. the ground], [secondly] the pro- visional mind which is the causal situation [of the path ex- tending] from the development of enlightened mind to the attainment of the vajra-like contemplation, and [thirdly] the mind of the body of reality along with its actions which is the essence of the result, similar to the Wish-granting Tree and the precious Wish-fulfilling Gem.
These quotations serve to illustrate that all the paQ. Qitas and ac- complished masters of the Ancient Translation School, including the king of the doctrine Terdak Lingpa189 and his brother, have affirmed the same system exclusively. This can be known in detail from the Lecture Notes on the Nucleus of the Sugata (bde-gshegs snying-po'i stong- thun), the Lion's Roar in Affirmation ofExtrinsic Emptiness (gzhan-stong khas-len seng-ge'i nga-ro) and the Proof of Mind in its Natural State (gnyug-sems sgrub-pa) along with its branches, which are all teachings of the all-knowing Mipham jampel Gyepa. 190
The lord of living beings Atisa,191 too, has determined in conformity with them that the uncompounded expanse of reality, the coalescence of appearance and emptiness, which is empty of imaginary deeds and defilements, and inseparable from the uncorrupted enlightened attri- butes is the enlightened family [or the nucleus of the tathagata]. In his Song with a View to the Expanse of Reality (Dharmadhtitudarsanagfti, T 2314) he says:
Just as the son of a pregnant woman is within her womb But is not perceived,
So, covered by conflicting emotions,
The expanse of reality is also unperceived.
Since the expanse of reality is not a self,
It [resembles] neither woman nor man;
One should examine just how one clings subjectively To that which is liberated from all objects.
When the mind is purified by all three actions, Namely, [the meditations on] impurity, impermanence
and suffering,
The sl1tras which point out emptiness
Are accordingly spoken by the Conqueror. Conflicting emotions are reversed by all these topics, But this seed [of reality] is not diminished.
And also:
The natural expression of reality's expanse,
Like space is without cause or condition: Without birth, old age, duration and destruction, Without being compounded,
The inseparable attributes of the Buddha
And, similarly, the attainment of this enlightened family Are not false, deceptive or harmful.
They are the original, natural quiescence.
Then, among the esoteric instructions of the dakin! entitled Valid of the Transmitted Precepts T 2331) whIch were introduced from by Tilopa,192 it is said:
Just as a butter lamp within a vase
Does not appear outside,
But if the vase is broken,
The lamplight is visible thereafter,
So is one's own body like the vase
And inner radiance like the butter lamp:
When well broken by the guru's instruction,
The pristine cognition of the buddhas becomes radiant.
the Ganges Great Seal (phyag-chen ganga-ma, T 2303) which hOpa Imparted to Naropa: 193
Just as, for example, the nature of space transcends colour and form,
And is uncovered and unchanged by positive and negative values,
So does the nucleus of one's own mind transcend colour and form,
And is uncovered by positive and negative doctrines of virtue and sin.
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
As the nucleus of the sun, for example, radiant and clear, Is not obscured by the darkness of a thousand aeons,
So the inner radiance of the nucleus which is one's own
mind
Cannot be obscured by the sarpsara of aeons.
Then, in the Teaching Cycle of Lord Maitripa (mnga'-bdag mai-tri-pa'i gdams-skor) there is the Ten Verses on the Real (Tattvadasaka, T 2236) composed by master Advayavajra,194 which says:
Since you desire to know, the nature of just what is Is neither represented nor representationless; Unadorned by the guru's speech,
Even the Madhyamaka is mediocre.
The great brahman [Saraha]195 in his Song ofInstruction Given to Lord Marpa196 (mnga'-bdag mar-pa-Ia gdams-pa'i mgur, DZ Vol. 5) has also said:
Emptiness and compassion are indivisible. The uninterrupted mind in its natural state Is the original purity of just what is:
Space is seen in union with space.
The venerable Milarepa197 has also revealed this in general in Il- luminating the Substance of the Aural Lineage (snyan-brgyud dngos-po gsal-byed, DZ Vol. 5, pp. 443-55) which he gave to Nyiwa Rincen [Gam- popa]:198
In every corporeal being
This truth of the nucleus originally abides.
Through it sentient beings have the basis of buddhahood. When one arrives at the result from the cause,
It is reached primordially, not just presently.
Then, particularly in his Song of Indestructible Reality in Answer to Questions Posed in a Trilogy by the Goddess of Longevity, which is the Root of the Aural Lineage of Ngamdzong (ngams-rdzong snyan-brgyud rtsa-ba tshe-ring skor-gsum-gyi zhus-Ian rdo-rje'i mgur, mgur-'bum, Ch. 29),199 he differentiates between the two truths, which provisionally have synonyms, beginning as follows:
With reference to the ultimate truth,
Due to negation there is not even buddhahood. . .
And:
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 201 Be then conclusively evokes the expressive power of ultimate reality
for which there are no synonyms as follows:
Since appearances in the form of existing substances And reality which is non-existing emptiness
Are essentially inseparable and of a single savour, There is not just intrinsic awareness or extrinsic
awareness,
But a vast coalescence of everything.
And finally, he literally reveals the way in which the taintless, sublime, pristine cognition is directly perceived in the following verses:
So, one skilled in realisation
Perceives not consciousness but pristine cognition, Perceives not the apparition of reality, but reality itself, And thence the force of compassion emerges.
The enlightened attributes of the buddhas,
Including power, fearlessness and retention,
Emerge in the manner of a precious gemstone.
They are the measure of my realisation as a yogin.
Zhang Rinpoche20o in his Culmination ofthe Supreme Path (lam-mchog mthar-thug, DZ Vol. 5, pp. 744-77) has said:
The buddha-body of reality, or the nucleus
Which is the culmination of definitive meaning,
Is the essentially pure expanse of inner radiance. Whether the conquerors of the three times appear or not, Whether it is realised by the sublime assembly or not, Whether it is spoken of by the sages or not,
Whether it is delivered by learned commentators or
not,
This reality which is pure unelaborate inner radiance, Abides from the beginning, spontaneously present, Without increase or decrease.
Though the skies have been ravaged over many
immeasurable aeons
By the conflagrations, whirlwinds and the like Which create and destroy the world,
The sky is unharmed, without increase or decrease. Similarly, the radiant sunlight obscured by clouds Ostensibly varies in the intensity of its radiance When the thick darkness and cloud mass dissolve, And yet the nucleus of the sun neither increases nor
200
With reference to the relative truth, The Sage has said everything exists,
Both sarpsara and nirvaI). a.
decreases.
202
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 2Uj
This unchanging buddha-body of reality, which so
abides,
Is nothing other than one's own mind.
The diversity of sarpsara without exception arises
from the mind.
When one's own mind is not realised,
The suffering of the world of sarpsara and its contents
increases
Through the confusion [caused] by erroneous,
bewildered appearances.
When one's own mind is genuinely realised,
The limitless pristine cognition of nirva1)a arises as
supreme bliss.
Thus, everything without exception issues from one's
own mind-as-such.
If one knows reality in relation to oneself,
One will know reality in relation to all sentient
beings.
One who knows that knows all things including
nirvana.
One knows all things completely transcends the
three realms.
If that one thing is known, one becomes learned in all
things.
The Lord of Conquerors, the venerable Karmapa [III], Rangjung Dorje,201 has additionally given an extensive explanation of the clas. sifi- cation of the enlightened family in accordance with the transmissIOns of the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle and the Collection. of the Greater Vehicle in his autocommentary on the Profound Inner Meanmg (zab-mo nang-don). Therein he says that the enlightened family of inner
growth is not to be regarded as newly arising, as is the opinion of some. In such ways he clearly reveals [the family] to comprise both [of reality] and pristine cognition. That is, the expanse of reahty enlightened family which naturally abides, and the pristine cogmtlOn, pure in respect of the eight aggregates [of consciousness], is the en- lightened family of inner growth. Indeed, he proves both of to be naturally pure in accord with the transmission of the AnaLysIs of the
Middle and Extremes (Ch. 1, v. 17) which he quotes as follows: Just as water, gold and the sky are pure,
So are [these families] held to be pure.
The same point is also clearly revealed in his Two Short Treatises (gzhung- chung gnyis).
The venerable Karmapa VII [Chodrak Gyamtsof02 asserts, too, that the expanse or emptiness in which the sixty-four enlightened attributes are inseparable is the emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects. These and the statements made by the All-Knowing Situ [VIII, Dhar- makara]203 and others are renowned among the Kagyupa traditions.
Again, in the Commentary on the Eulogy [entitled Taintless Gem RosalY, i. e. bstod-'grel, SK Vol. 5]204 which is his culminating personal statement, Sakya Pa1)gita first establishes the way in which the character of the mind is obscured by suddenly arisen stains despite the mind's naturally pure reality. He then establishes the ways in which the stains can be purified since they are suddenly arisen and buddhahood attained by their removal. At this point, he sets forth the intention of the Collection of Madhyamaka Reasoning (Yuktikaya) T 3824-8) that, with reference to reality, there is no transformation at this moment [of buddhahood], and the intention of the Collection of Eulogies (Stavakaya, T 1118-36) which is that, with reference to the apparitional mode of enlightened attributes, there is transformation [of consciousness into pristine cogni- tion]. Then, after setting forth the viewpoints, one of which holds that these two [intentions] are essentially not contradictory and the other of which holds that there is no pristine cognition in buddhahood, he offers his personal statement, refuting the assertions that there is neither the pristine cognition nor the body of buddhahood, and says that these two [intentions] are inseparable.
Furthermore, in his Answers to the Questions ofNyemo Gomchen (snyi- mosgom-chen-gyidris-lan, SKVol. 5)205itissaidbywayofillustration:
When the mind is realised to be empty, it cannot be estimated according to [the standards set in] the three piIaka and the four tantrapiIaka, for that is equivalent to the cessation of the pious attendants; but when it is realised to be coalescence, such an estimation can be made. In the exclusively empty aspect of mind, the Three Precious Jewels are incomplete. In the coalescence of awareness and emptiness, the seed [of buddhahood] is complete, and if the meaning of that coales- cence is well realised, [buddhahood] is actualised completely.
He then states that:
After freedom from conceptual elaboration has been estab- lished, the coalescence is experientially cultivated.
And also that:
The view assumed during the causal phase is poisonous,
The view assumed during the resultant phase is poisonless. . .
204 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 205
Regarding this passage, he claims that the former refers merely to freedom from conceptual elaboration, or the emptiness which is analyt- ically appraised by study and thought. The latter, having no use for that, is identical in essence to the pristine cognition of the buddha level, which arises from the empowerment and the two stages [of creation and perfection] and results in the coalescence of bliss and emptiness, and of awareness and emptiness. Such statements are renowned among the glorious Sakyapa.
Again, in the Three Emphases of the Path (lam-gyi gtso-bo mam-gsum, P 6087) of the great being Tsongkapa,206 the expressive power of ulti- mate reality without synonyms, in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced, is brought into relief as follows:
Whoever perceives the cause and result
Of all things of saq1sara and nirv3I). a,
To be always infallible,
And destroys all their referential bases,
At that time enters the path pleasing to the buddhas. As long as one continues to differentiate
Between the two understandings of
Appearances which are infallibly interdependent And emptiness which is free from assertions,
One will not yet realise the Sage's intention.
But when [these understandings] are simultaneous,
without alternation,
And if, having merely seen interdependence to be
infallible,
True conviction has destroyed all postures of
objective clinging,
At that time, the scrutiny of the view is perfected.
Similar passages are found in the all-knowing Talpo Sangye's207 Ocean of Definitive Meaning on Retreat Practice (ri-chos nges-don rgya-mtsho), and in other works.
Despite the mere subtle distinctions provisionally asserted in these [various] philosophical systems, such as concern the degree to which appearances and emptiness are respectively emphasised, and the differ-
208 ent delineations of the two truths, in actuality the secret activities
which are the intention of great sublime beings who perceive the truth of reality are of a common savour. They are inseparable like water and salt; for, within the space of the supreme pristine cognition, the conclU- sive ultimate reality which is without synonyms and free from the intellect, the two truths have a common savour. Therefore, [their sys- tems] are not objects to be appraised by the childish intellects of inhib- ited perception.
The lord Atisa has said:
Since, in the manner of an ocean,
Its depths and other shores are not found By words, examples and the intellect,
It is the great, profound reality.
And also:
Do not be critical of the doctrine;
One should aspire to what one reveres.
Remembering this, as well as the points expressed in the Short Tantra of Cakrasan,-zvara (Tantrardjasrflaghusan,-zvara, T 368), the Texts of Mai- treya, the Jewel Garland, and other sources, it is clearly of extreme importance that one personally preserve this [understanding].
_
7 The Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka
Once this has been determined, then in accordance with the intention of the Texts of Maitreya, the Collection of Eulogies, and other works there no longer reason to deny that the uncorrupted appearances: includmg the buddha-body and pristine cognition, are naturally present and uncompounded, because they do not essentially differ from the expanse of reality.
This conclusive reasoning, which scrutinises the two truths, proves that the expanse ofreality is the coalescence ofappearance and emptiness without contradiction. If it were otherwise, the Prasailgika view itself would be disproved. Therefore it is proven, according to the logic of conventional truth, that the actual appearance of this reality is invisible to sentient beings at the present but visible on the buddha level, and the manifestation of this bewildering apparition of present propensities is visible to sentient beings but invisible to buddhas. The former is similar to that which appears respectively when one is asleep and when one is not asleep, and the latter resembles the dreams which respectively occur when one is not awake and do not occur when one is awake. As
such, this subsequent delineation of the two truths can easily be known. One should know that because this allocation of truth and falsehood and so forth is made conventionally, it is not proven to have veridical existence when the truth is investigated according to the essential view
of the apologists for extrinsic emptiness (gzhan-stong-pa).
This system also holds that the ultimate reality without synonyms,
expanse ofreality in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced,
IS the ground attained in the single, conclusive vehicle. Therefore it is
spoken of in the mantra texts as E-VA¥, the continuum of the basis,
the embodiment of indestructible reality, the great seal, the emptiness
endowed with all supreme aspects, the mind in its natural state,
the naturally present pristine cognition and so forth. If known as
such, no one can contradict that this reality is the conclusive definitive meaning.
This mode [of ultimate reality] is identical in meaning to those modes mentioned in the outer tantras of the way of mantras, namely, one's own real nature (bdag-gi de-kho-na-nyid), the blessing which is the ulti- mate truth. without symbols (don-dam mtshan-ma med-paJi byin-rlabs) the deny of the expanse of indestructible reality (rdo-rje dbyings-kyi
ha). . 209 It is also identical to those modes of the inner tantras namely the d··· ,
IVIsible t? e range of the intellect according to
ay. oga, the mdivisible pnstme cognition and expanse of reality to Anuyoga, and the original ground in which primordial p. unty and spontaneous presence are coalesced according to the conclu- SIve Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po).
If, at the outset, this mode of ultimate reality is not established these Subsequent modes will not become established. But if this mode is well understood, one acquires the power to discern that the later modes are
[106b. 4-116b. l] Nothing that is explained in accordance with the lexical, general, concealed or conclusive [exegetical styles, see pp. 292-3] is errone- ous. Yet when the crucial meaning is briefly expressed: In the situation of the coarse, Outer Madhyamaka of the Prasailgika and Svatantrika, one establishes, in accord with the provisional emphasis revealed in the inter- mediate promulgation, that there is no contradiction between all things being without independent existence and the modes ofrelative appearance, which are dependently originated; and then one is united in the conclusive ultimate reality for which there is no synonym. During the subtle, inner Madhyamaka, however, the only distinction made over and above this same basic structure is that the objective expanse of reality, established by the view revealed and realised in the final promulgation, is not merely the bare emptiness of one-sided explicit negation, but is the naturally present, uncorrupted, uncompounded [abiding nature] which is not dif- ferentiated from the appearances adorned by the buddha-body and pristine cognition. During meditative absorption, when balanced in the expanse of reality without conditions to be clarified or established, both modes of Madhyamaka make no distinction regarding the cessation of all elaborate signs of the subject-object dichotomy therein. However, during the after- math of meditative absorption, they are distinguished between the former [Outer Madhyamaka] which classifies the two truths, allocating emptiness to the ultimate and appearances to the relative, and the latter [Great Madhyamaka] which determines the two truths to be [respectively] the harmony and disharmony of the abiding and apparitional natures (gnas- snang mthun mi-mthun).
None the less, since the reality of the latter cannot be established unless the former has been established, the conclusive ultimate reality without synonyms is to be established at the outset in accordance with the Prasailgika intention of the Collection of Madhyamaka Reasoning. This reality lies within the range of the coalescent, sublime, pristine cognition, and in it things are uncreated, unimpeded, peaceful from the start and naturally beyond sorrow [i. e. in nirvat:laJ.
,
Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka 207
208 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Two Troths according to Great Madhyamaka 209
gradually established without difficulty. Therefore, it is important to know this mode [of ultimate reality] by whatever means.
If a thorough examination is made in this way, the character of the two truths is well distinguished by relying on the coarse Outer Madhyamaka, which is the basis of discriminative awareness. Then, once the meaning of the two kinds of selflessness has been ascertained, and if a certainty free from the darkness of doubt is developed, one is gradually united with and experiences the truth of the great non-dual pristine cognition of the subtle inner Madhyamaka, which is the result of coalescence, during periods of meditative equipoise. Thus, there is not the slightest disharmony between the two kinds of Madhyamaka of defini- tive meaning with respect to the conclusive intention [of the buddhas].
The Prasangika do not claim that the ultimate reality referred to by synonyms, which lies within the range of the dualising intellect or consciousness, is conclusive other than as a provisional introduction. They do, however, say that the coalescent ultimate reality without synonyms, which is within the range of the genuine pristine cognition of individual intuitive awareness, is the unique ultimate truth, charac- terised as the ineffable, unthinkable and inexpressible perfection of discriminative awareness.
The proponents of extrinsic emptiness, in the same way, convention- ally assign consciousness and its objects to the deceptive, false, relative appearance, making them as false on the conventional level as lightning and clouds.
Yet they assign pristine cognition and its objects to the ultimate truth by virtue of their infallible conclusive reality, which is free from conditions to be clarified and established because it is perman- ent, steadfast and unchanging.
Therefore, when one meditates [according to these two kinds of Madhyamaka], they are found to make the same essential point. When the pristine cognition or ultimate reality experienced during sublime meditative equipoise according to the greater vehicle, which the a11- knowing great Longcenpa expressed within our own [Nyingma] tradi- tion, is objectified, it is impossible for conceptual elaborations such as the postures of clinging to explicit negation and implicitly affirmative negation to exist therein, regardless of the concepts of being and non- being upheld by philosophical systems.
There is no philosophical system to be upheld during this great sameness, which is a coalescence free from conceptual activity. How- ever, when the aftermath of that meditative equipoise is conventionally objectified, the structure of the ground, path and result and so forth is differentiated in accordance with quotations from the authentic liter- ary transmissions.
This essential point which is indubitably upheld is not contradicted in either of the two kinds of Madhyamaka [for the following twO reasons]. Firstly, both of them refute all signs and ideas of conceptual
elaboration, including being and non-being, in relation to the experience of meditative equipoise or the investigation of the truth, and afterwards are determined and balanced in a great sameness free from conceptual elaborations, without conditions to be clarified or established. Secondly, they both differentiate and uphold the two truths professed according to their respective philosophical systems in the situation of the relative or conventional truth during the aftermath ofthat meditative absorption. One should not, therefore, be exhausted by the conceptual elaboration of and proof, pursuing mere words instead of relying on their meanmg.
One who is attracted and adheres to any agreeable standpoint concern- ing appearances and emptiness cannot reverse the evil view of clinging to extremes. This is why the expanse of reality, the conclusive ultimate truth without synonyms in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced, should be well established as sameness throughout the extent of existence and quiescence.
The mode of establishing this [sameness] is also taught in the eighteenth chapter of [Longcenpa's] Wish-fulfilling Treasury. Accord- ingly, though all relative things that conventionally appear are non-exist- ent in fact, bewildering apparitions appear by the power of the bewil- derment of propensities, without past, without future, without existence during the present interval between them. However, these are empty forms which have never existed in reality, like the combed-out hairs that appear to the vision of one drugged by datura. Appearances and emptiness are not differentiated because the ground that differentiates between appearances and emptiness has ceased to exist, and attributes such as the naturally radiant buddha-body and pristine cognition of ultimate reality are free from the flux of the three times. For they are an uncorrupted expanse and original sameness, neither different nor distinct by nature.
One should know that even the two truths designated by the intellect
are of a supremely pure, indivisible sameness, throughout the extent
of existence and quiescence, because they are merely names and words,
not existing independently in reality. As the text [Wish-fulfilling Treas- ury] says:
Since it is beyond the interrupted and classified objects of relative appearance,
And transcends the two designated truths, All elaboration is pacified.
The indivisible truth is neither proven nor
disproven;
Since, in the expanse, appearances and emptiness
are naturally without duality,
This truth is also said to be indivisible.
210 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
And when the two truths are allocated through their abiding and appari- tional natures, which depend on the universal logic of conventions, the text says:
Thus all things of sarpsara which are bewildering appearances
Are the relative truth because they are false and fallacious.
The reality of nirvat:la which is profound, calm inner radiance,
Is held to be the ultimate truth of unchanging natural expression.
So it is that, after precedence has been given to the establishment of the two truths as an indivisible great sameness without conceptual elaborations, as described above, the objects and subjects, in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in total harmony, are then both allocated to the ultimate reality, and the objects and subjects in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in a state of disharmony, are both allocated to relative appearances. This determination should be made according to their infallibility in conventional terms; otherwise, the whole structure of conventional truth would be deranged, because one would not know whether the apprehension of a conch-shell as white or yellow would be veracious.
It is appropriate, therefore, that all things of nirvat:la attained through the power of the abiding and apparitional modes in harmony be assigned to the ultimate reality, and all things of sarpsara which originate through the power of their disharmony, to the relative appearance. If scrutinised according to conventional analysis, all the apparitions of buddha-body and pristine cognition are uncreated by the bewilderment of deeds and
defilements, and are proven to be true and not fallacious because they originate from the power of genuine pristine cognition, and are unpol- luted by obscurations. The things of sarpsara, on the other hand, are said not to be true because they are the opposite. Their respective truth and falsehood is proven by the logic which conventionally analyses them to be fallacious or not. In this respect, the subject in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in harmony is called pristine cog- nition because it is without the dichotomy of apprehending subject and apprehended object. The subject which apprehends them as dishar- mony is called consciousness because it is endowed with the dichotomy . of subject and object. The object of which the abiding and apparitional modes are in harmony is reliable because it is never reversed by reve- lations of invalid cognition. To give a mundane example: It resembles the intellect which apprehends a rope as a rope. The object of which the abiding and apparitional modes are disharmonious, on the other hand, is not reliable because, like the intellect which apprehends a rope
as s? ake, it is. reversed on perceived as an invalid cognition. ThIs IS expressed In the Sutra Revealed by Aksayamati (Ak$ayamatzmrdesasutra, T 175) when it says: .
Pristine cognition is permanent And consciousness is impermanent.
In this way, this expanse and non-dual pristine cognition are perman- ent because they are no different from reality. The Sutra ofthe Arrayed Bouquet says:
Though a multitude of world systems, Inconceivable in number, have been incinerated, The sky remains undestroyed:
Such is the naturally present pristine cognition.
And in Tantra of the Supreme Radiance of Truth without Conceptual ElaboratlOns (spros-bral don-gsal chen-po'i rgyud, NGB Vo1. 6):
In all the tantras and transmissions I have revealed When the words "unchanging" and And "like indestructible reality" are expressed,
of the naturally present, pure,
pnstIne cognItIon.
An? the Commentary on the Nucleus of Indestructible Reality [rdo-rye
snymg- grel, T2515; or the Cammentary(onHevajra) by Vajragarbha, T1180]:
Just as, though a vase has been destroyed,
T. he. space [within] remains undamaged, though the mind has been destroyed, PnstIne cognition remains undamaged.
[in the Eulogy to the Expanse of Reality, vv. 20-1] the sublime Nagafjuna has said:
As cloth that may be purified by fire,
When soiled with various stains,
Is placed in the midst of fire
The stains are burnt, but no; the cloth,
So, too, when the mind that is inner radiance Possesses stains such as attachment
These burnt by the fire of pristine cognition, But not so its Inner radiance. 21o
Two Truths according to Great Madh)Iamaka 211
ce reference to this apparition of reality, though creation and d SSatIOn are indeed ostensible, they cannot harm the ultimate unbewil
h···· ,- ap :. menta nature w lch IS reahty itself, because they are
ered funda I
pantIOna1 modes' I ' h b .
ex In re atIOn to t e ewlldered consciousness. For th though space ostensibly expands and contracts depending on e SIze of the] vessel, it cannot be proven that space is compounded
212 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
and impermanent. In its own essence, this reality or pristine cognition possesses four enlightened attributes of hidden meaning beyond the range of the childish intellects of inhibited perception. Namely, it is pure because it is originally uncovered by minute blemishes, permanent because it is naturally without change, blissful because it is never oppres- sed by suffering, and true self because it pervades all sarpsara and
nirvaI). a and pacifies elaborate concepts of self and selflessness. The lord Maitreya has said in the Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle
(Ch. 1, v. 35):
Owing to its purity, self, bliss and permanence,
The transcendental perfection of enlightened attributes
is the result.
And in the Litany of the Names of Maiijusn (v. 46) accordingly:
Purest of the pure by nature,
It is beginninglessly
The self free from elaborations.
Furthermore, all the outer and inner phenomena subsumed by the components, psychophysical bases and activity fields are apparitions which arise from reality, and yet, by the power of its natural purity, with reference to the conclusive abiding mode, they do not stray from the natural sameness of the Original Buddha [Samantabhadra] and are
of the nature of the buddha-body and pristine cognition. They are seen as such by the conclusive buddha-eye which is free from all obscura- tions. Therefore it says in the Satra of the Arrayed Bouquet:
Those who well abide in natural sameness With respect to self and sentient beings, And are dynamic and non-acquisitive, Are said to be the sugatas.
With purity of form and feeling,
Of perception, consciousness and attention, The countless tathagatas
Become the supreme sages.
And in the Kalacakra Tantra:
Sentient beings are buddhas. There are no other great buddhas In this world system.
And in the Tantra of the Secret Nucleus (Ch. 2, v. 4):
Emaho! The chiliocosms ofthe ten directions are originally
void.
The three spheres of existence are. pure buddha-fields.
The reality of the five impurities is the blissful abode.
The reality of the five components is the perfect Buddha. Since he possesses the nucleus of all that is supreme, The Conqueror does not search elsewhere for the doctrine. A doctrine which is said to be other than that,
Though searched for, is not found by the Conqueror.
If one were, on the other hand, to think that the Buddha would not even speak of the characteristic bases of suffering and its origin, such as the components, he does, by dint of necessity. As Maitreya says:211
Self is revealed,
And selflessness is also taught. The conquerors reveal both self And the total absence of self.
Accordingly, while buddhas have no thought of self, it is not contradic- tory, as known in the greater vehicle as a whole, for them to enter into the mundane consensus that speaks of an ego and its possessions, or to perceive that a personal self, though not really existing, appears as such to the childish. Although they perceive phenomenal existence as buddha-body and pristine cognition, it is not contradictory for them to teach in that way having seen that ostensible suffering and its origin are unimpeded in the face of the impure bewilderment of sentient beings.
It is similarly not proven that, if sentient beings are buddhas, a buddha implicitly suffers when a sentient being suffers in the hells and so forth. There is no flaw because ultimately sarpsara does not exist, an? one who is born therein, in the relative apparitional mode, not beIng a buddha whose obscurations have been purified, experiences ? ewildering dream-like appearances by the power of obscuration which Inheres in one's own mind. In the abiding mode, on the other hand suffering and so forth do not exist. It says in the Tantra ofthe Extensiv; Magical Net:
If there is no understanding of intrinsic awareness or genuine perception,
The field of SukhavatI212 is even seen as a state of evil existence.
If the truth which is equivalent to the supreme of vehicles is realised,
Even states of evil existence are and
,should know,that t? ese two [modes] are exclusively by
lOgIC of conventIOn, SInce all the appearances of Impure samsara
areb 'ld ' .
eWI enng appearances which do not correspond to [the buddhas']
per ' ,
b CeptIOn, all the appearances of pure mrval)a such as the buddha-
Two Tntths according to Great Madhyamaka 213
ody and pnstIne cogmtIOn are unbewildered.
214 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka 215
Now, concerning all these appearances of impure sarpsara, including the hells which appear to one's own bewildered perception by the power of having an evil mind, it is said in the Introduction to the Conduct of a Bodhisattva (Ch. 5, vv. 7-8):
Who made the [hellish] core of molten iron? Whence originated these infernos?
The Sage has said that all these
Are [products of] an evil mind.
The intentions of the siitras and the tantras agree that the pure array of the buddhas' fields and bodies and so forth appears through the purity of one's own mind. This can also be known from the debate between Brahma Sikhin and Sariputra concerning the purity of this field [which contains our own world]. 213
It is said particularly in the tantrapiraka of the unsurpassed way of
mantras that [the buddha-bodies and fields] originate through the purity
of the internal structure of the energy channels, currents and seminal
points and of mind-as-such. Therefore, while all things are not truly
existent apart from being mere labels designated by the ideas of one's
own mind, the infallibility with which these very objects designated by
thought appear in circumstances dependent on different intellects, is
called proof by the logic of convention. Not one of us at the present
time, who has gathered the appropriate deeds and awakened to the
appropriate propensities, can contradict in the case of fire, for example,
the statement that fire is hot, since it is validly proven that the nature
of fire does appear to be hot; and the same would appear to be true
for virtue, evil and the like. Ultimately, however, no such one-sided
determination can be made. This is known because fire does not appear
214
to be hot to the creature Agnisud
powered beings can display various emanations and transformations of substances.
It is said [in the Collection ofthe Greater Vehicle, Ch. 8, para. 20, v. a]: Since a single substance is differentiated by minds,
It appears to be non-existent in reality.
Therefore, on thorough scrutiny, when this, one's own unique body, is observed by the organisms within it, by vultures without, by those who desire it and those who do not, by oneself and others, and by many such enemies and friends, it is said to be seen and in different ways - as a dwelling place, as food, as purity or impunty, as the possession of oneself or of another, as ugliness, beauty or an object of indifference and so on. If it is perceived by sublime beings the
Then, if scrutinised even further, when one searches for that which is called the body, it can be known by penetrating analysis even now that it is not an object of reference and that it does not inherently exist even to the extent of the minutest atomic particle. Therefore, when this [analysis] is applied to all outer and inner phenomena, including the bodies of others, they can be established to be without independent exist- ence. In ultimate reality, all things should be known as the great same-
ness of reality, naturally without divisions and [the need for] clarifica- tions. Conventionally, however, one ought to ascertain that the phenomena which appear to ordinary sentient beings at the present time are false in comparison with those which appear in the face of that [ulti- mate reality], because they are impure, bewildered appearances. One also ought to ascertain that even the appearances [discerned by] bodhisattvas on the path are impotent in the face of that [ultimate real-
ity], because there is a pure basis for perception which is progressively higher than theirs. The abiding mode is conclusively proven because nothing is to be gained beyond the perception of the conclusive buddha level. In short, the goal of that which is expressed is inexpressible, the goal of ideas is non-conceptualising, the goal of consciousness is pristine cognition, and the goal of the apparition of reality is reality itself. There- fore, the inconceivable pristine cognition that is reality is a great purity
of natural expression, transcending the symbolic range of the subject- object dichotomy.
However, if one were to object that there would then be no point in on the path, this is not the case. Since sentient beings medItate on the path in order to purify these bewildering appearances which arise suddenly as in a dream through their lack of realisation, and the propensities of the bewildering thoughts which cling to them, there need be no clinging to the idea that the doctrines of the path and result are truly existent. It is as when a sorceror removes fears on the
path by an army of his emanations, or when a phlegmatic eye disease IS cured.
Therefore, with reference to the conclusion that is to be realised all thO ,
. mgs subsumed by the relative and ultimate truths should be estab- lIshed as naturally indivisible, in the"great pure sameness free from Conceptual elaborations, the original natural expression of the buddhas.
Yet one should not be attracted to or fall into any elaborate viewpoint
.
Rely not upon individuals but upon the doctrine,
Rely not upon words but upon their meaning,
,
body is said to be without independent existence and so forth, and on the . h1
conclusive buddha level it is said that the pure physical component IS t essence ofVairocana. Statements ofthis kind are not contradictory.
e '
and so forth, and because em-
regard' d l' .
mg. ua IStlC concepts such as being and non-being, appearance
'.
h' . . ss, or punty an Impunty, as are partially appraised by
and emptlne . d
C 11diSh mtellects of inhibited vision.
To sum up, the Transcendent Lord has said:
Rely not upon the provisional but the definitive meaning
216 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Rely not upon consciousness but upon pristine cognition.
This is why, in the context of the abiding mode of the two truths which are to be known, the result is incontrovertibly appraised by the logic of scriptural authority, reason and esoteric instructions. One should know that the entire intention of the sutras and the tantras, which are the scriptures of the Tathagata, is subsumed in a single nucleus, just as butter is condensed from milk, and cream from butter, so that the climax of the philosophical systems, according to the causal vehicle of dialectics, is this Great Madhyamaka, supreme among vehicles. Its meaning is revealed in the texts of Maitreya, such as the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, and in the sublime Nagarjuna's Col- lection ofEulogies, which subsume the essence of the definiJive meaning of both the intermediate and final promulgations of the transmitted precepts.
It says in the Sutra of the Descent to Lahka (Ch. 6, v. S):
In the five doctrines and three essential natures, In the eight aggregates of consciousness
And in the two kinds of selflessness,
The entire greater vehicle is subsumed.
And in the Intermediate Mother:
Maitreya, regard any imaginary form as not substantially
existent. One might regard any conceptualised form as sub- stantially existent because thoughts exist substantially, but do not confer independent status upon it. Then you should regard the very form of reality as being disclosed by ultimate reality, for it is neither substantially existent nor non- existent.
8 ! (ey to the Appraisal of Causal Vehicle Texts
215
[116b. 3] Having distinguished between the relative truth or apparitional nature, and the ultimate truth or abiding nature, the definitive order of the precious treasure store of the true doctrine that is to be appraised has been established. The precious key to its appraisal is structured in two parts, of which the first concerns the provisional and definitive meanmgs.
THE PROVISIONAL AND DEFINITIVE MEANING OF THE TRUE DOCTRINE
[116b. 3-118a. 2] The reality of all things, the expanse of just what is, the inner radiant intention of mind-as-such, which is of the essence of space, naturally pure and unchanging, beyond creation, cessation and duration, is the definitive meaning; and all the transmitted precepts and treatises which reveal it are subsumed within the definitive meaning. All the apparitions of reality that appear, dream-like and manifesting as the diverse, successive forms such as those of creation, cessation, coming and going, purity and impurity, components, psychophysical and activity fields, which are all appraised and exaggeratedly IndIcated by a succession of words, thoughts and expressions, are called theyrovisional meaning; and all the transmitted precepts and treatises whIch reveal them are subsumed within the relative truth. For example, those which boast in word, expression and thought that mind-as-such rese:nbles space are relative, whereas the fundamental nature ofultimate being the definitive meaning, is genuine. Such is said in the
Tulogy to the Inconceivable Madhyamaka (Madhyamakacintyastava, 1128, vv. S6c-S7c):
The emptiness of all things
Is indeed revealed as the definitive meaning. That in which creation, cessation and so on,
218 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
And living beings, life itself and so on are revealed, Is the relative truth of provisional meaning.
The Sublime Sutra of the King of Contemplation says:
As spoken by the Teacher, the Sugata,
Know the details of the siltras of definitive meaning; All doctrines which teach of sentient beings, Individuals2I6 or creatures
Should be known as the provisional meaning.
And in the Sublime Sutra Revealed by
If one asks what are the siltras of definitive meaning and what are the siltras of provisional meaning, those siltras " which are taught in order that one might enter the path are called the provisional meaning, and those siltras which are taught in order that one might enter the result are called the definitive meaning. Those siltras which teach of self, sentient beings, life itself, creatures, individuals, personalities, per- sonal selves, actors, subjects of sensation, explanations ac- cording to diverse terms, and of that which is not a possessor
as a possessor, are called the provisional meaning. The siltras which teach of emptiness, of that which is signless, aspira- tionless, not manifestly conditioned, uncreated, unorigi- nated, insubstantial, without self, without sentient beings, without life itself, without individuals, without a possessor and without any properties even as far as the approach to liberation, are called the definitive meaning. This text is said to rely on the siltras of definitive meaning, but not to rely on the siltras of provisional meaning.
In short, the fundamental abiding nature and the siltras which reveal it are said to be the definitive meaning and its siltras, while all those doctrines which guide the intellect of sentient beings by many methods to the means of entering that fundamental nature, and reveal the impure bewilderment, its classifications and so on, are called the provisional meaning and the doctrine of the provisional meaning.
THE INTENTION AND COVERT INTENTION OF THE TRUE DOCTRINE
[l18a. 2-121a. 4] The second part concerns the [buddhas'] intention (dgongs-pa, Skt. abhipraya) and covert intention (ldem-dgongs, Skt. abhisandhi). The former, intention, applies to those teachings which are included within slightly exaggerated explanations and reveal indirect
Key to Causal Vehicle Texts 219 methods and purposes. The Ornament ofthe Sutras ofthe Greater Vehicle
(Ch. 12, v. 18) says:
Passages directed towards sameness and other meanings,
And similarly towards other times,
And towards the thoughts of individuals
Should be known as the four kinds of intention.
Accordingly, the [buddhas'] intention is directed towards sameness, as is exemplified in the following words spoken with an intention directed towards the sameness of the body of reality:
At that time, I became the Tathagata Vipasyin.
When this intention is directed towards other meanings it is exemplified by the following words which were spoken with an intention directed towards the three essenceless natures:
All things are without essence.
Now, the imaginary is without essence in respect of attributes, because in truth it definitely does not exist. The dependent is without essence in respect of creation, because creation from the four alternative limits does not exist: Things are not created from themselves because both that which was created and creation itself consist of instantaneous time moments, which renders them mutually exclusive substances. Nor are things created from something else, because the specific characteristics of that something else do not, on analysis, exist. Then, things are not created from both [themselves and other causes], because they are mutually exclusive substances; and, [finally], without a cause, creation is impossible. The creation of whatever is apparitional and so forth instantly appears inasmuch as it is dependently originated, in the man- ner of a mere dream or illusion. Such is said in the Sutra o/the Adornment of Pristine Cognition's Appearance from:
MafijusrI, dreams appear but do not exist. Similarly all things, too, appear but do not exist.
down to:
They are illusory, like a mirage, a castle in the sky, the moon in water, a reflected image and an emanation.
b Then, the absolute is without essence in respect of ultimate reality . therein [the views that] ultimate reality exists, or that the self Impure, and other such conceptual elaborations are essenceless. Such IS said in the Sutra which Decisively Reveals the Intention:
With an intention directed towards essencelessness of attri-
220 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Key to Causal Vehicle Texts 221
butes, essencelessness of creation and essencelessness of ul- timate reality, I reveal all things to be without essence.
The [buddhas'] intention is also directed towards other times, as exem- exemplified in the words:
By merely grasping the name of the Tathagata Vimalacan- draprabha, you will attain buddhahood.
Although buddhahood is not attained by that alone, [the intention is that] one who has accumulated many provisions in the past will at some time become a buddha.
The intention directed towards the thoughts of individuals is exemplified by [the buddhas'] downgrading of moral discipline and praise of liberality in the presence of certain individuals who are con- ceited with respect to their own moral discipline.
Secondly, concerning the covert intention: It is explained that in order to induce another party, who delights in any view whatsoever, to enter into the correct path or meaning, [the buddhas] adopt a style conforming to the needs of that person by relying somewhat on that one's vocabulary and mannerisms, but their meaning does not so con- form. It is said in the Ornament of the Sutras of the Greater Vehicle (Ch. 12, vv. 16-17):
The covert intention in respect of entry,
And, in addition, the covert intention in respect of
attributes,
The covert intention in respect of antidotes,
And the covert intention in respect of interpretation, Directed respectively towards pious attendants
and the essence,
And similarly towards the discipline of faults, And towards profundity of expression,
Are the four kinds of covert intention.
The covert intention in respect of entry is illustrated as follows. In order that certain members of the family of the pious attendants who have not entered the greater vehicle out of fear of emptiness may so enter, [the buddhas] would say that form does exist therein, and thereby the listener would enter assuming that [form] really exists, while the speakers[thebuddhas]wouldintendthatallappearanceislikeadream, •
The covert intention in respect of attributes is exemplified as follows. In order that the essenceless abiding nature [of reality] may be known, [the buddhas] reveal all things to be essenceless. The three essenceless natures, namely, the imaginary, the dependent and the absolute, have previously been explained.
The covert intention in respect of antidotes is exemplified by the following words which were spoken with an intention directed towards those beings who would think that, "Sakyamuni is inferior to other teachers because he is smaller in body, shorter in life-span and so on":
At that time, I [Sakyamuni] became the Tathagata Vairocana.
In this way, the listener understands their buddha-bodies of form to be the same, while the speaker [Sakyamuni] intends that their provisions are equally perfect, that their attainments of the body of reality are equal, and that their deeds on behalf of living beings are equal. As it is said in the Treasury of the Abhidharma (Ch. 7, v. 34):
All buddhas are identical in their provisions, Their body of reality and their conduct
On behalf of beings,
But not so in their life-span,
Race and physical stature.
The covert intention with respect to interpretation refers to teachings given in a form which is extremely difficult to understand in order to pacify the faults of those who think:
This doctrine is inferior to others Because it is easy to understand.
For example, it is said in the Collection ofMeaningful Expressions (Ch. 33, v. 62):
He should kill his father and mother,
And if he destroys the king and the two purities, The country and its surroundings,
This man will become pure in nature.
Now, the father and mother are lust and acqUISItIOn because they
compound sarpsara.
It is said that when the Teacher himself [Sakyamuni] became the strongest of charioteers in the hells, he was instantly liberated by awakening to that enlightened family which embodies great compassion, and was
185
born as a god in Trayatrirpsa.
He subsequently became the boy
Bhaskara, the son of a potter, in Jambudvlpa and aspired to enlighten-
in the presence of the Tathagata Sakyamuni. 186 Similar things are
saId about the series of his [ordinary] lives in which he took birth as
the daughter of a friend and so on.
lf living beings were without this enlightened family, those who ex .
penence suffering would not even feel regret. It would be reasonable for some not to think that samsara should be rejected and nirvana acquired, and even the desire for liberation would not arise in minds. However, untaught by anyone, some persons feel compassion When others experience suffering, and are disturbed by the experience
of suffering. One should know such phenomena to be the virtuous
194 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
power of the seed of beginningless reality. It says in the Supreme Con-
tinuum of the Greater Vehicle eCh. l, vv. 40-1):
Without the seed of buddhahood,
One would not feel regret for suffering;
One would have neither the desire,
Nor the prayer, nor the aspiration for nirva1)a.
This perception of suffering as a negative
And happiness as a positive attribute,
In relation to existence and nirva1)a,
Is present owing to the existence of the enlightened
family;
For it is not found in those lacking that family.
Passages which speak of beings belonging to no family or to a cut-off family are rhetorical devices which indicate through negation the base- ness in those who have not awakened to the enlightened family. Indeed, there are no living beings who do not belong to the enlightened family which naturally abides. The Sutra of the Nucleus of the Tathagata (Tathagatagarbhasutra, T 258) says:
Son of the enlightened family, this is the reality of all things. Whether the tathagatas have appeared or not, these sentient beings always possess the nucleus of the tathagata.
And in the Sutra ofQueen Srfmala eSrfmaladevfsirrzhanadasutra, T 92): The nucleus of the sugata
Completely pervades living beings.
Therefore, the mind is developed in the enlightened attitude of the greater vehicle consequent on awakening into the [first] enlightened family, which has two aspects and is the causal basis. Subsequently, the stains which obscure the buddha-body of reality are removed by experiencing, above all, the non-conceptualising pristine cognition dur- ing meditative equipoise; and the stains obscuring the two buddha- bodies of form are skilfully removed by conduct that is relevant to the two provisions with the assistance of illusion-like compassion during the aftermath [of that meditation].
Then, there is obtained the culminating result of this separation from obscuration (bral-'bras), the essential buddha-body. It is defined as al) expanse encompassed by inconceivable, uncorrupted, enlightened attri- butes, or the ground in which the buddha-body of form that appears to others is reflected like the moon in the sky. It naturally manifests as pristine cognition itself, without being extraneously sought, and is endowed with the three bodies of the buddhas manifest in and of them- selves. The Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle (Ch. 2, v. 3) says:
The Enlightened or Buddha Famity 195 which is called natural inner radiance is as the sky
It IS unobscured by the dense clouds . Of suddenly arisen conflicting emotions
And ignorance of the knowable.
This endowed with all enlightened
attnbutes of the taintless Buddha
Constant, steadfast and eternal, is
on the pristine cognition which discerns thIngs non-conceptually.
And [Ch. 2, vv. 38-9]:
beginning, middle, or end and indivisible, NeIther two, nor three, taintless and non-
conceptualising,
That which is the natural expanse of realIty,
Is perceived by the yogin during meditative equipoise.
with enlightened attributes that are Immeasurable,
That out. number the sands of the Ganges, limitless and wIthout peer,
This taintless expanse of the Tathagata
Has the entire range of faults, along with theIr propensities.
Arising from that [essential body], the two buddha-bodies of form have the same uncorrupted pristine cognition. They become naturally present a co-emergent cause, consisting of the basis of the pure
of requiring training, as well as the conditions of their aspIratIOns and their experience of the two provisions The o f t h e s e b o d i e s o f f o r m i s t h e n e s t a b i i s h e d of teaching in forms manifest to others who q re traInIng, In the manner, for example, of the moon reflected in
wat4eOf. As the above [Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle Ch 2
VV.
-1] says: W' h
) . ,
It a body which manifests the diverse rays ofthe true doctnne,
so that the liberation of living beings be achIeved,
by whIch the world is pacified
Their . deeds, like the king of wish-fulfilling gems
h'
t elr forms whIch cause [beings]
,
Are h .
A llhw out In eXIstence despite their diverse forms.
To t'
en er. Into, npen and prophetically declare the path
.
196
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 197
Also constantly abide therein, Just as form occupies space.
And as Nagarjuna [in the Eulogy to the Expanse ofReality, v. 101] says:
Since within the taintless body of reality
An ocean of pristine cognition abides,
The benefit of sentient beings emerges therefrom
In the manner of diverse gemstones.
In short, as [Longcenpa has said] in the Great Chariot (shing-rta chen-
mo):
On the path, one would not require the two provisions of the greater vehicle. In the result, one would not distinguish between the nirvana of the three vehicles; and as a conclusive result, one could not cro·ss beyond the abyss of nihilism. The refuge of ultimate reality would never be found.
It was with an intention directed toward this mode [of the nucleus] that the all-knowing doctrinal master [Longcenpa] said in the Precious Wish-fulfilling Treasury (yid-bzhin rin-po-che'i mdzod):
One who without knowing this mode [of the nucleus] determines emptiness verbally
As free from extremes of being and non-being
Harbours the view of the summit of existence,
Ignorant ofthe causal basis ofseparation from obscuration. Since he is outside this teaching,
He may as well cover himself with ashes,
Like those who hold the mind to emerge from space.
Such a wrong view is gathered within [the nihilism of] the Followers of Brhaspati [Barhaspatya]. The Doha also says:
I88
In this context, one should know that, among the three buddha-bodies, the body of reality, which is an expanse invisible to those requiring training outside the range of the Buddha alone, is present as subtle pristine cognition, the inner expanse that is unique and of a single savour. The two
buddha-bodies ofform endowed with pure enlightened activ- ity, which are the pristine cognition that manifests to others, outwardly radiate through its blessing and the aspiration of those requiring training. They appear in the manner of the moon in the sky [body of perfect rapture] and the moon in water [body of emanation].
I87
And in the Treasury of Philosophical Systems:
Since the three buddha-bodies are primordially present as the twofold enlightened family, the apparitional aspect of the buddha level or [the enlightened family] of inner growth is the body of perfect rapture and its empty aspect or [the enlightened family] which naturally abides is the body of reality. From the indivisible blessing of these two, the em- anational body gives teaching in form manifest to others who
require training, and is exemplified as the reflection of a universal emperor (cakravartin) shining on a golden moun-
tain.
One who, without knowing this, is attracted to the concept that a single uncompounded emptiness of explicit negation is the family which naturally abides, and that the enlightened famIly of mner growth is exclusively compounded and newly produced by the path, is found to interrupt the realisation which belongs to the of
learning as a conclusive result and so to adhere to the cessation of pious attendants' tradition, which resembles an expired butter lamp m that it establishes no order of buddha-body, pristine cognition and so forth. If one were to take this view, one would not even savour the fragrance of the truth of cessation according to the greater vehicle: In
the ground, one would fall into the extreme of conceptual elaborauon .
The Archer
"Those who hold the mind to emerge from space Never attain to liberation. "
If one were to think that on the paths of learning one develops anew, by the two causal provisions, what was previously non-existent, then the body of reality, or essential body of the buddha, and the body of perfect rapture would be compounded and impermanent. If one were to hold this view, it is said one would harbour the immeasurable defects of looking upon the continuum [of enlightened mind] as an ephemeral the suffering of change as something unrenounceable; the of the body of indestructible reality, which is pristine cogni- tlOn. as the sky, as non-existent; and the body of indestructible Itself as impermanent. Because of such limitless faults, one would deVIate from the meaning of the greater vehicle.
So: rather than merely differentiate the twofold enlightened family bemg the apparitional and emptiness aspects of a single expanse, it the fla,:les. s intention. of the all-knowing doctrinal master [Longcenpa] is It to be thIS supreme essence or natural expression which
mdivisible, uncorrupted and uncompounded. In the Great Chariot he says:
There are nine similes which reveal as spontaneously present the enlightened attributes of the Buddha's body of form, from the naturally radiant apparitional aspect of the tamtless mind-as-such, the naturally pure essence, the mind in which the genuine pristine cognition of the Buddha ori-
says:
198
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 199
ginally abides. And the comparison of its emptiness aspect, the enlightened attributes of the body of reality, with the sky is explained in all the sl1tras and tantras. However, these two are inseparable in the virtuous seed of beginningless reality. This [seed] firstly is called the enlightened family which naturally abides because it is unchanging, and se- condly is called the enlightened family of inner growth be- cause enlightened attributes are extensively manifest after the stains have been purified. Yet its root is inner radiance, the pristine cognition which is intuitive awareness.
Similarly, in the Extensive Sutra of the Commitments (dam-tshig mdo- rgyas), a teaching of the all-seeing Rongzompa, the naturally present pristine cognition in which the ground, path and result are inseparable, is said to be the mind or family of enlightenment:
That which is imperishable like a vajra is the mind of Saman- tabhadra, unchanging like a vajra, because it naturally con- tains no distinction between [firstly] the enlightened mind of beginningless time [i. e. the ground], [secondly] the pro- visional mind which is the causal situation [of the path ex- tending] from the development of enlightened mind to the attainment of the vajra-like contemplation, and [thirdly] the mind of the body of reality along with its actions which is the essence of the result, similar to the Wish-granting Tree and the precious Wish-fulfilling Gem.
These quotations serve to illustrate that all the paQ. Qitas and ac- complished masters of the Ancient Translation School, including the king of the doctrine Terdak Lingpa189 and his brother, have affirmed the same system exclusively. This can be known in detail from the Lecture Notes on the Nucleus of the Sugata (bde-gshegs snying-po'i stong- thun), the Lion's Roar in Affirmation ofExtrinsic Emptiness (gzhan-stong khas-len seng-ge'i nga-ro) and the Proof of Mind in its Natural State (gnyug-sems sgrub-pa) along with its branches, which are all teachings of the all-knowing Mipham jampel Gyepa. 190
The lord of living beings Atisa,191 too, has determined in conformity with them that the uncompounded expanse of reality, the coalescence of appearance and emptiness, which is empty of imaginary deeds and defilements, and inseparable from the uncorrupted enlightened attri- butes is the enlightened family [or the nucleus of the tathagata]. In his Song with a View to the Expanse of Reality (Dharmadhtitudarsanagfti, T 2314) he says:
Just as the son of a pregnant woman is within her womb But is not perceived,
So, covered by conflicting emotions,
The expanse of reality is also unperceived.
Since the expanse of reality is not a self,
It [resembles] neither woman nor man;
One should examine just how one clings subjectively To that which is liberated from all objects.
When the mind is purified by all three actions, Namely, [the meditations on] impurity, impermanence
and suffering,
The sl1tras which point out emptiness
Are accordingly spoken by the Conqueror. Conflicting emotions are reversed by all these topics, But this seed [of reality] is not diminished.
And also:
The natural expression of reality's expanse,
Like space is without cause or condition: Without birth, old age, duration and destruction, Without being compounded,
The inseparable attributes of the Buddha
And, similarly, the attainment of this enlightened family Are not false, deceptive or harmful.
They are the original, natural quiescence.
Then, among the esoteric instructions of the dakin! entitled Valid of the Transmitted Precepts T 2331) whIch were introduced from by Tilopa,192 it is said:
Just as a butter lamp within a vase
Does not appear outside,
But if the vase is broken,
The lamplight is visible thereafter,
So is one's own body like the vase
And inner radiance like the butter lamp:
When well broken by the guru's instruction,
The pristine cognition of the buddhas becomes radiant.
the Ganges Great Seal (phyag-chen ganga-ma, T 2303) which hOpa Imparted to Naropa: 193
Just as, for example, the nature of space transcends colour and form,
And is uncovered and unchanged by positive and negative values,
So does the nucleus of one's own mind transcend colour and form,
And is uncovered by positive and negative doctrines of virtue and sin.
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
As the nucleus of the sun, for example, radiant and clear, Is not obscured by the darkness of a thousand aeons,
So the inner radiance of the nucleus which is one's own
mind
Cannot be obscured by the sarpsara of aeons.
Then, in the Teaching Cycle of Lord Maitripa (mnga'-bdag mai-tri-pa'i gdams-skor) there is the Ten Verses on the Real (Tattvadasaka, T 2236) composed by master Advayavajra,194 which says:
Since you desire to know, the nature of just what is Is neither represented nor representationless; Unadorned by the guru's speech,
Even the Madhyamaka is mediocre.
The great brahman [Saraha]195 in his Song ofInstruction Given to Lord Marpa196 (mnga'-bdag mar-pa-Ia gdams-pa'i mgur, DZ Vol. 5) has also said:
Emptiness and compassion are indivisible. The uninterrupted mind in its natural state Is the original purity of just what is:
Space is seen in union with space.
The venerable Milarepa197 has also revealed this in general in Il- luminating the Substance of the Aural Lineage (snyan-brgyud dngos-po gsal-byed, DZ Vol. 5, pp. 443-55) which he gave to Nyiwa Rincen [Gam- popa]:198
In every corporeal being
This truth of the nucleus originally abides.
Through it sentient beings have the basis of buddhahood. When one arrives at the result from the cause,
It is reached primordially, not just presently.
Then, particularly in his Song of Indestructible Reality in Answer to Questions Posed in a Trilogy by the Goddess of Longevity, which is the Root of the Aural Lineage of Ngamdzong (ngams-rdzong snyan-brgyud rtsa-ba tshe-ring skor-gsum-gyi zhus-Ian rdo-rje'i mgur, mgur-'bum, Ch. 29),199 he differentiates between the two truths, which provisionally have synonyms, beginning as follows:
With reference to the ultimate truth,
Due to negation there is not even buddhahood. . .
And:
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 201 Be then conclusively evokes the expressive power of ultimate reality
for which there are no synonyms as follows:
Since appearances in the form of existing substances And reality which is non-existing emptiness
Are essentially inseparable and of a single savour, There is not just intrinsic awareness or extrinsic
awareness,
But a vast coalescence of everything.
And finally, he literally reveals the way in which the taintless, sublime, pristine cognition is directly perceived in the following verses:
So, one skilled in realisation
Perceives not consciousness but pristine cognition, Perceives not the apparition of reality, but reality itself, And thence the force of compassion emerges.
The enlightened attributes of the buddhas,
Including power, fearlessness and retention,
Emerge in the manner of a precious gemstone.
They are the measure of my realisation as a yogin.
Zhang Rinpoche20o in his Culmination ofthe Supreme Path (lam-mchog mthar-thug, DZ Vol. 5, pp. 744-77) has said:
The buddha-body of reality, or the nucleus
Which is the culmination of definitive meaning,
Is the essentially pure expanse of inner radiance. Whether the conquerors of the three times appear or not, Whether it is realised by the sublime assembly or not, Whether it is spoken of by the sages or not,
Whether it is delivered by learned commentators or
not,
This reality which is pure unelaborate inner radiance, Abides from the beginning, spontaneously present, Without increase or decrease.
Though the skies have been ravaged over many
immeasurable aeons
By the conflagrations, whirlwinds and the like Which create and destroy the world,
The sky is unharmed, without increase or decrease. Similarly, the radiant sunlight obscured by clouds Ostensibly varies in the intensity of its radiance When the thick darkness and cloud mass dissolve, And yet the nucleus of the sun neither increases nor
200
With reference to the relative truth, The Sage has said everything exists,
Both sarpsara and nirvaI). a.
decreases.
202
Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 2Uj
This unchanging buddha-body of reality, which so
abides,
Is nothing other than one's own mind.
The diversity of sarpsara without exception arises
from the mind.
When one's own mind is not realised,
The suffering of the world of sarpsara and its contents
increases
Through the confusion [caused] by erroneous,
bewildered appearances.
When one's own mind is genuinely realised,
The limitless pristine cognition of nirva1)a arises as
supreme bliss.
Thus, everything without exception issues from one's
own mind-as-such.
If one knows reality in relation to oneself,
One will know reality in relation to all sentient
beings.
One who knows that knows all things including
nirvana.
One knows all things completely transcends the
three realms.
If that one thing is known, one becomes learned in all
things.
The Lord of Conquerors, the venerable Karmapa [III], Rangjung Dorje,201 has additionally given an extensive explanation of the clas. sifi- cation of the enlightened family in accordance with the transmissIOns of the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle and the Collection. of the Greater Vehicle in his autocommentary on the Profound Inner Meanmg (zab-mo nang-don). Therein he says that the enlightened family of inner
growth is not to be regarded as newly arising, as is the opinion of some. In such ways he clearly reveals [the family] to comprise both [of reality] and pristine cognition. That is, the expanse of reahty enlightened family which naturally abides, and the pristine cogmtlOn, pure in respect of the eight aggregates [of consciousness], is the en- lightened family of inner growth. Indeed, he proves both of to be naturally pure in accord with the transmission of the AnaLysIs of the
Middle and Extremes (Ch. 1, v. 17) which he quotes as follows: Just as water, gold and the sky are pure,
So are [these families] held to be pure.
The same point is also clearly revealed in his Two Short Treatises (gzhung- chung gnyis).
The venerable Karmapa VII [Chodrak Gyamtsof02 asserts, too, that the expanse or emptiness in which the sixty-four enlightened attributes are inseparable is the emptiness endowed with all supreme aspects. These and the statements made by the All-Knowing Situ [VIII, Dhar- makara]203 and others are renowned among the Kagyupa traditions.
Again, in the Commentary on the Eulogy [entitled Taintless Gem RosalY, i. e. bstod-'grel, SK Vol. 5]204 which is his culminating personal statement, Sakya Pa1)gita first establishes the way in which the character of the mind is obscured by suddenly arisen stains despite the mind's naturally pure reality. He then establishes the ways in which the stains can be purified since they are suddenly arisen and buddhahood attained by their removal. At this point, he sets forth the intention of the Collection of Madhyamaka Reasoning (Yuktikaya) T 3824-8) that, with reference to reality, there is no transformation at this moment [of buddhahood], and the intention of the Collection of Eulogies (Stavakaya, T 1118-36) which is that, with reference to the apparitional mode of enlightened attributes, there is transformation [of consciousness into pristine cogni- tion]. Then, after setting forth the viewpoints, one of which holds that these two [intentions] are essentially not contradictory and the other of which holds that there is no pristine cognition in buddhahood, he offers his personal statement, refuting the assertions that there is neither the pristine cognition nor the body of buddhahood, and says that these two [intentions] are inseparable.
Furthermore, in his Answers to the Questions ofNyemo Gomchen (snyi- mosgom-chen-gyidris-lan, SKVol. 5)205itissaidbywayofillustration:
When the mind is realised to be empty, it cannot be estimated according to [the standards set in] the three piIaka and the four tantrapiIaka, for that is equivalent to the cessation of the pious attendants; but when it is realised to be coalescence, such an estimation can be made. In the exclusively empty aspect of mind, the Three Precious Jewels are incomplete. In the coalescence of awareness and emptiness, the seed [of buddhahood] is complete, and if the meaning of that coales- cence is well realised, [buddhahood] is actualised completely.
He then states that:
After freedom from conceptual elaboration has been estab- lished, the coalescence is experientially cultivated.
And also that:
The view assumed during the causal phase is poisonous,
The view assumed during the resultant phase is poisonless. . .
204 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
The Enlightened or Buddha Family 205
Regarding this passage, he claims that the former refers merely to freedom from conceptual elaboration, or the emptiness which is analyt- ically appraised by study and thought. The latter, having no use for that, is identical in essence to the pristine cognition of the buddha level, which arises from the empowerment and the two stages [of creation and perfection] and results in the coalescence of bliss and emptiness, and of awareness and emptiness. Such statements are renowned among the glorious Sakyapa.
Again, in the Three Emphases of the Path (lam-gyi gtso-bo mam-gsum, P 6087) of the great being Tsongkapa,206 the expressive power of ulti- mate reality without synonyms, in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced, is brought into relief as follows:
Whoever perceives the cause and result
Of all things of saq1sara and nirv3I). a,
To be always infallible,
And destroys all their referential bases,
At that time enters the path pleasing to the buddhas. As long as one continues to differentiate
Between the two understandings of
Appearances which are infallibly interdependent And emptiness which is free from assertions,
One will not yet realise the Sage's intention.
But when [these understandings] are simultaneous,
without alternation,
And if, having merely seen interdependence to be
infallible,
True conviction has destroyed all postures of
objective clinging,
At that time, the scrutiny of the view is perfected.
Similar passages are found in the all-knowing Talpo Sangye's207 Ocean of Definitive Meaning on Retreat Practice (ri-chos nges-don rgya-mtsho), and in other works.
Despite the mere subtle distinctions provisionally asserted in these [various] philosophical systems, such as concern the degree to which appearances and emptiness are respectively emphasised, and the differ-
208 ent delineations of the two truths, in actuality the secret activities
which are the intention of great sublime beings who perceive the truth of reality are of a common savour. They are inseparable like water and salt; for, within the space of the supreme pristine cognition, the conclU- sive ultimate reality which is without synonyms and free from the intellect, the two truths have a common savour. Therefore, [their sys- tems] are not objects to be appraised by the childish intellects of inhib- ited perception.
The lord Atisa has said:
Since, in the manner of an ocean,
Its depths and other shores are not found By words, examples and the intellect,
It is the great, profound reality.
And also:
Do not be critical of the doctrine;
One should aspire to what one reveres.
Remembering this, as well as the points expressed in the Short Tantra of Cakrasan,-zvara (Tantrardjasrflaghusan,-zvara, T 368), the Texts of Mai- treya, the Jewel Garland, and other sources, it is clearly of extreme importance that one personally preserve this [understanding].
_
7 The Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka
Once this has been determined, then in accordance with the intention of the Texts of Maitreya, the Collection of Eulogies, and other works there no longer reason to deny that the uncorrupted appearances: includmg the buddha-body and pristine cognition, are naturally present and uncompounded, because they do not essentially differ from the expanse of reality.
This conclusive reasoning, which scrutinises the two truths, proves that the expanse ofreality is the coalescence ofappearance and emptiness without contradiction. If it were otherwise, the Prasailgika view itself would be disproved. Therefore it is proven, according to the logic of conventional truth, that the actual appearance of this reality is invisible to sentient beings at the present but visible on the buddha level, and the manifestation of this bewildering apparition of present propensities is visible to sentient beings but invisible to buddhas. The former is similar to that which appears respectively when one is asleep and when one is not asleep, and the latter resembles the dreams which respectively occur when one is not awake and do not occur when one is awake. As
such, this subsequent delineation of the two truths can easily be known. One should know that because this allocation of truth and falsehood and so forth is made conventionally, it is not proven to have veridical existence when the truth is investigated according to the essential view
of the apologists for extrinsic emptiness (gzhan-stong-pa).
This system also holds that the ultimate reality without synonyms,
expanse ofreality in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced,
IS the ground attained in the single, conclusive vehicle. Therefore it is
spoken of in the mantra texts as E-VA¥, the continuum of the basis,
the embodiment of indestructible reality, the great seal, the emptiness
endowed with all supreme aspects, the mind in its natural state,
the naturally present pristine cognition and so forth. If known as
such, no one can contradict that this reality is the conclusive definitive meaning.
This mode [of ultimate reality] is identical in meaning to those modes mentioned in the outer tantras of the way of mantras, namely, one's own real nature (bdag-gi de-kho-na-nyid), the blessing which is the ulti- mate truth. without symbols (don-dam mtshan-ma med-paJi byin-rlabs) the deny of the expanse of indestructible reality (rdo-rje dbyings-kyi
ha). . 209 It is also identical to those modes of the inner tantras namely the d··· ,
IVIsible t? e range of the intellect according to
ay. oga, the mdivisible pnstme cognition and expanse of reality to Anuyoga, and the original ground in which primordial p. unty and spontaneous presence are coalesced according to the conclu- SIve Great Perfection (rdzogs-pa chen-po).
If, at the outset, this mode of ultimate reality is not established these Subsequent modes will not become established. But if this mode is well understood, one acquires the power to discern that the later modes are
[106b. 4-116b. l] Nothing that is explained in accordance with the lexical, general, concealed or conclusive [exegetical styles, see pp. 292-3] is errone- ous. Yet when the crucial meaning is briefly expressed: In the situation of the coarse, Outer Madhyamaka of the Prasailgika and Svatantrika, one establishes, in accord with the provisional emphasis revealed in the inter- mediate promulgation, that there is no contradiction between all things being without independent existence and the modes ofrelative appearance, which are dependently originated; and then one is united in the conclusive ultimate reality for which there is no synonym. During the subtle, inner Madhyamaka, however, the only distinction made over and above this same basic structure is that the objective expanse of reality, established by the view revealed and realised in the final promulgation, is not merely the bare emptiness of one-sided explicit negation, but is the naturally present, uncorrupted, uncompounded [abiding nature] which is not dif- ferentiated from the appearances adorned by the buddha-body and pristine cognition. During meditative absorption, when balanced in the expanse of reality without conditions to be clarified or established, both modes of Madhyamaka make no distinction regarding the cessation of all elaborate signs of the subject-object dichotomy therein. However, during the after- math of meditative absorption, they are distinguished between the former [Outer Madhyamaka] which classifies the two truths, allocating emptiness to the ultimate and appearances to the relative, and the latter [Great Madhyamaka] which determines the two truths to be [respectively] the harmony and disharmony of the abiding and apparitional natures (gnas- snang mthun mi-mthun).
None the less, since the reality of the latter cannot be established unless the former has been established, the conclusive ultimate reality without synonyms is to be established at the outset in accordance with the Prasailgika intention of the Collection of Madhyamaka Reasoning. This reality lies within the range of the coalescent, sublime, pristine cognition, and in it things are uncreated, unimpeded, peaceful from the start and naturally beyond sorrow [i. e. in nirvat:laJ.
,
Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka 207
208 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Two Troths according to Great Madhyamaka 209
gradually established without difficulty. Therefore, it is important to know this mode [of ultimate reality] by whatever means.
If a thorough examination is made in this way, the character of the two truths is well distinguished by relying on the coarse Outer Madhyamaka, which is the basis of discriminative awareness. Then, once the meaning of the two kinds of selflessness has been ascertained, and if a certainty free from the darkness of doubt is developed, one is gradually united with and experiences the truth of the great non-dual pristine cognition of the subtle inner Madhyamaka, which is the result of coalescence, during periods of meditative equipoise. Thus, there is not the slightest disharmony between the two kinds of Madhyamaka of defini- tive meaning with respect to the conclusive intention [of the buddhas].
The Prasangika do not claim that the ultimate reality referred to by synonyms, which lies within the range of the dualising intellect or consciousness, is conclusive other than as a provisional introduction. They do, however, say that the coalescent ultimate reality without synonyms, which is within the range of the genuine pristine cognition of individual intuitive awareness, is the unique ultimate truth, charac- terised as the ineffable, unthinkable and inexpressible perfection of discriminative awareness.
The proponents of extrinsic emptiness, in the same way, convention- ally assign consciousness and its objects to the deceptive, false, relative appearance, making them as false on the conventional level as lightning and clouds.
Yet they assign pristine cognition and its objects to the ultimate truth by virtue of their infallible conclusive reality, which is free from conditions to be clarified and established because it is perman- ent, steadfast and unchanging.
Therefore, when one meditates [according to these two kinds of Madhyamaka], they are found to make the same essential point. When the pristine cognition or ultimate reality experienced during sublime meditative equipoise according to the greater vehicle, which the a11- knowing great Longcenpa expressed within our own [Nyingma] tradi- tion, is objectified, it is impossible for conceptual elaborations such as the postures of clinging to explicit negation and implicitly affirmative negation to exist therein, regardless of the concepts of being and non- being upheld by philosophical systems.
There is no philosophical system to be upheld during this great sameness, which is a coalescence free from conceptual activity. How- ever, when the aftermath of that meditative equipoise is conventionally objectified, the structure of the ground, path and result and so forth is differentiated in accordance with quotations from the authentic liter- ary transmissions.
This essential point which is indubitably upheld is not contradicted in either of the two kinds of Madhyamaka [for the following twO reasons]. Firstly, both of them refute all signs and ideas of conceptual
elaboration, including being and non-being, in relation to the experience of meditative equipoise or the investigation of the truth, and afterwards are determined and balanced in a great sameness free from conceptual elaborations, without conditions to be clarified or established. Secondly, they both differentiate and uphold the two truths professed according to their respective philosophical systems in the situation of the relative or conventional truth during the aftermath ofthat meditative absorption. One should not, therefore, be exhausted by the conceptual elaboration of and proof, pursuing mere words instead of relying on their meanmg.
One who is attracted and adheres to any agreeable standpoint concern- ing appearances and emptiness cannot reverse the evil view of clinging to extremes. This is why the expanse of reality, the conclusive ultimate truth without synonyms in which appearances and emptiness are coalesced, should be well established as sameness throughout the extent of existence and quiescence.
The mode of establishing this [sameness] is also taught in the eighteenth chapter of [Longcenpa's] Wish-fulfilling Treasury. Accord- ingly, though all relative things that conventionally appear are non-exist- ent in fact, bewildering apparitions appear by the power of the bewil- derment of propensities, without past, without future, without existence during the present interval between them. However, these are empty forms which have never existed in reality, like the combed-out hairs that appear to the vision of one drugged by datura. Appearances and emptiness are not differentiated because the ground that differentiates between appearances and emptiness has ceased to exist, and attributes such as the naturally radiant buddha-body and pristine cognition of ultimate reality are free from the flux of the three times. For they are an uncorrupted expanse and original sameness, neither different nor distinct by nature.
One should know that even the two truths designated by the intellect
are of a supremely pure, indivisible sameness, throughout the extent
of existence and quiescence, because they are merely names and words,
not existing independently in reality. As the text [Wish-fulfilling Treas- ury] says:
Since it is beyond the interrupted and classified objects of relative appearance,
And transcends the two designated truths, All elaboration is pacified.
The indivisible truth is neither proven nor
disproven;
Since, in the expanse, appearances and emptiness
are naturally without duality,
This truth is also said to be indivisible.
210 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
And when the two truths are allocated through their abiding and appari- tional natures, which depend on the universal logic of conventions, the text says:
Thus all things of sarpsara which are bewildering appearances
Are the relative truth because they are false and fallacious.
The reality of nirvat:la which is profound, calm inner radiance,
Is held to be the ultimate truth of unchanging natural expression.
So it is that, after precedence has been given to the establishment of the two truths as an indivisible great sameness without conceptual elaborations, as described above, the objects and subjects, in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in total harmony, are then both allocated to the ultimate reality, and the objects and subjects in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in a state of disharmony, are both allocated to relative appearances. This determination should be made according to their infallibility in conventional terms; otherwise, the whole structure of conventional truth would be deranged, because one would not know whether the apprehension of a conch-shell as white or yellow would be veracious.
It is appropriate, therefore, that all things of nirvat:la attained through the power of the abiding and apparitional modes in harmony be assigned to the ultimate reality, and all things of sarpsara which originate through the power of their disharmony, to the relative appearance. If scrutinised according to conventional analysis, all the apparitions of buddha-body and pristine cognition are uncreated by the bewilderment of deeds and
defilements, and are proven to be true and not fallacious because they originate from the power of genuine pristine cognition, and are unpol- luted by obscurations. The things of sarpsara, on the other hand, are said not to be true because they are the opposite. Their respective truth and falsehood is proven by the logic which conventionally analyses them to be fallacious or not. In this respect, the subject in which the abiding and apparitional modes are in harmony is called pristine cog- nition because it is without the dichotomy of apprehending subject and apprehended object. The subject which apprehends them as dishar- mony is called consciousness because it is endowed with the dichotomy . of subject and object. The object of which the abiding and apparitional modes are in harmony is reliable because it is never reversed by reve- lations of invalid cognition. To give a mundane example: It resembles the intellect which apprehends a rope as a rope. The object of which the abiding and apparitional modes are disharmonious, on the other hand, is not reliable because, like the intellect which apprehends a rope
as s? ake, it is. reversed on perceived as an invalid cognition. ThIs IS expressed In the Sutra Revealed by Aksayamati (Ak$ayamatzmrdesasutra, T 175) when it says: .
Pristine cognition is permanent And consciousness is impermanent.
In this way, this expanse and non-dual pristine cognition are perman- ent because they are no different from reality. The Sutra ofthe Arrayed Bouquet says:
Though a multitude of world systems, Inconceivable in number, have been incinerated, The sky remains undestroyed:
Such is the naturally present pristine cognition.
And in Tantra of the Supreme Radiance of Truth without Conceptual ElaboratlOns (spros-bral don-gsal chen-po'i rgyud, NGB Vo1. 6):
In all the tantras and transmissions I have revealed When the words "unchanging" and And "like indestructible reality" are expressed,
of the naturally present, pure,
pnstIne cognItIon.
An? the Commentary on the Nucleus of Indestructible Reality [rdo-rye
snymg- grel, T2515; or the Cammentary(onHevajra) by Vajragarbha, T1180]:
Just as, though a vase has been destroyed,
T. he. space [within] remains undamaged, though the mind has been destroyed, PnstIne cognition remains undamaged.
[in the Eulogy to the Expanse of Reality, vv. 20-1] the sublime Nagafjuna has said:
As cloth that may be purified by fire,
When soiled with various stains,
Is placed in the midst of fire
The stains are burnt, but no; the cloth,
So, too, when the mind that is inner radiance Possesses stains such as attachment
These burnt by the fire of pristine cognition, But not so its Inner radiance. 21o
Two Truths according to Great Madh)Iamaka 211
ce reference to this apparition of reality, though creation and d SSatIOn are indeed ostensible, they cannot harm the ultimate unbewil
h···· ,- ap :. menta nature w lch IS reahty itself, because they are
ered funda I
pantIOna1 modes' I ' h b .
ex In re atIOn to t e ewlldered consciousness. For th though space ostensibly expands and contracts depending on e SIze of the] vessel, it cannot be proven that space is compounded
212 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
and impermanent. In its own essence, this reality or pristine cognition possesses four enlightened attributes of hidden meaning beyond the range of the childish intellects of inhibited perception. Namely, it is pure because it is originally uncovered by minute blemishes, permanent because it is naturally without change, blissful because it is never oppres- sed by suffering, and true self because it pervades all sarpsara and
nirvaI). a and pacifies elaborate concepts of self and selflessness. The lord Maitreya has said in the Supreme Continuum ofthe Greater Vehicle
(Ch. 1, v. 35):
Owing to its purity, self, bliss and permanence,
The transcendental perfection of enlightened attributes
is the result.
And in the Litany of the Names of Maiijusn (v. 46) accordingly:
Purest of the pure by nature,
It is beginninglessly
The self free from elaborations.
Furthermore, all the outer and inner phenomena subsumed by the components, psychophysical bases and activity fields are apparitions which arise from reality, and yet, by the power of its natural purity, with reference to the conclusive abiding mode, they do not stray from the natural sameness of the Original Buddha [Samantabhadra] and are
of the nature of the buddha-body and pristine cognition. They are seen as such by the conclusive buddha-eye which is free from all obscura- tions. Therefore it says in the Satra of the Arrayed Bouquet:
Those who well abide in natural sameness With respect to self and sentient beings, And are dynamic and non-acquisitive, Are said to be the sugatas.
With purity of form and feeling,
Of perception, consciousness and attention, The countless tathagatas
Become the supreme sages.
And in the Kalacakra Tantra:
Sentient beings are buddhas. There are no other great buddhas In this world system.
And in the Tantra of the Secret Nucleus (Ch. 2, v. 4):
Emaho! The chiliocosms ofthe ten directions are originally
void.
The three spheres of existence are. pure buddha-fields.
The reality of the five impurities is the blissful abode.
The reality of the five components is the perfect Buddha. Since he possesses the nucleus of all that is supreme, The Conqueror does not search elsewhere for the doctrine. A doctrine which is said to be other than that,
Though searched for, is not found by the Conqueror.
If one were, on the other hand, to think that the Buddha would not even speak of the characteristic bases of suffering and its origin, such as the components, he does, by dint of necessity. As Maitreya says:211
Self is revealed,
And selflessness is also taught. The conquerors reveal both self And the total absence of self.
Accordingly, while buddhas have no thought of self, it is not contradic- tory, as known in the greater vehicle as a whole, for them to enter into the mundane consensus that speaks of an ego and its possessions, or to perceive that a personal self, though not really existing, appears as such to the childish. Although they perceive phenomenal existence as buddha-body and pristine cognition, it is not contradictory for them to teach in that way having seen that ostensible suffering and its origin are unimpeded in the face of the impure bewilderment of sentient beings.
It is similarly not proven that, if sentient beings are buddhas, a buddha implicitly suffers when a sentient being suffers in the hells and so forth. There is no flaw because ultimately sarpsara does not exist, an? one who is born therein, in the relative apparitional mode, not beIng a buddha whose obscurations have been purified, experiences ? ewildering dream-like appearances by the power of obscuration which Inheres in one's own mind. In the abiding mode, on the other hand suffering and so forth do not exist. It says in the Tantra ofthe Extensiv; Magical Net:
If there is no understanding of intrinsic awareness or genuine perception,
The field of SukhavatI212 is even seen as a state of evil existence.
If the truth which is equivalent to the supreme of vehicles is realised,
Even states of evil existence are and
,should know,that t? ese two [modes] are exclusively by
lOgIC of conventIOn, SInce all the appearances of Impure samsara
areb 'ld ' .
eWI enng appearances which do not correspond to [the buddhas']
per ' ,
b CeptIOn, all the appearances of pure mrval)a such as the buddha-
Two Tntths according to Great Madhyamaka 213
ody and pnstIne cogmtIOn are unbewildered.
214 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Two Truths according to Great Madhyamaka 215
Now, concerning all these appearances of impure sarpsara, including the hells which appear to one's own bewildered perception by the power of having an evil mind, it is said in the Introduction to the Conduct of a Bodhisattva (Ch. 5, vv. 7-8):
Who made the [hellish] core of molten iron? Whence originated these infernos?
The Sage has said that all these
Are [products of] an evil mind.
The intentions of the siitras and the tantras agree that the pure array of the buddhas' fields and bodies and so forth appears through the purity of one's own mind. This can also be known from the debate between Brahma Sikhin and Sariputra concerning the purity of this field [which contains our own world]. 213
It is said particularly in the tantrapiraka of the unsurpassed way of
mantras that [the buddha-bodies and fields] originate through the purity
of the internal structure of the energy channels, currents and seminal
points and of mind-as-such. Therefore, while all things are not truly
existent apart from being mere labels designated by the ideas of one's
own mind, the infallibility with which these very objects designated by
thought appear in circumstances dependent on different intellects, is
called proof by the logic of convention. Not one of us at the present
time, who has gathered the appropriate deeds and awakened to the
appropriate propensities, can contradict in the case of fire, for example,
the statement that fire is hot, since it is validly proven that the nature
of fire does appear to be hot; and the same would appear to be true
for virtue, evil and the like. Ultimately, however, no such one-sided
determination can be made. This is known because fire does not appear
214
to be hot to the creature Agnisud
powered beings can display various emanations and transformations of substances.
It is said [in the Collection ofthe Greater Vehicle, Ch. 8, para. 20, v. a]: Since a single substance is differentiated by minds,
It appears to be non-existent in reality.
Therefore, on thorough scrutiny, when this, one's own unique body, is observed by the organisms within it, by vultures without, by those who desire it and those who do not, by oneself and others, and by many such enemies and friends, it is said to be seen and in different ways - as a dwelling place, as food, as purity or impunty, as the possession of oneself or of another, as ugliness, beauty or an object of indifference and so on. If it is perceived by sublime beings the
Then, if scrutinised even further, when one searches for that which is called the body, it can be known by penetrating analysis even now that it is not an object of reference and that it does not inherently exist even to the extent of the minutest atomic particle. Therefore, when this [analysis] is applied to all outer and inner phenomena, including the bodies of others, they can be established to be without independent exist- ence. In ultimate reality, all things should be known as the great same-
ness of reality, naturally without divisions and [the need for] clarifica- tions. Conventionally, however, one ought to ascertain that the phenomena which appear to ordinary sentient beings at the present time are false in comparison with those which appear in the face of that [ulti- mate reality], because they are impure, bewildered appearances. One also ought to ascertain that even the appearances [discerned by] bodhisattvas on the path are impotent in the face of that [ultimate real-
ity], because there is a pure basis for perception which is progressively higher than theirs. The abiding mode is conclusively proven because nothing is to be gained beyond the perception of the conclusive buddha level. In short, the goal of that which is expressed is inexpressible, the goal of ideas is non-conceptualising, the goal of consciousness is pristine cognition, and the goal of the apparition of reality is reality itself. There- fore, the inconceivable pristine cognition that is reality is a great purity
of natural expression, transcending the symbolic range of the subject- object dichotomy.
However, if one were to object that there would then be no point in on the path, this is not the case. Since sentient beings medItate on the path in order to purify these bewildering appearances which arise suddenly as in a dream through their lack of realisation, and the propensities of the bewildering thoughts which cling to them, there need be no clinging to the idea that the doctrines of the path and result are truly existent. It is as when a sorceror removes fears on the
path by an army of his emanations, or when a phlegmatic eye disease IS cured.
Therefore, with reference to the conclusion that is to be realised all thO ,
. mgs subsumed by the relative and ultimate truths should be estab- lIshed as naturally indivisible, in the"great pure sameness free from Conceptual elaborations, the original natural expression of the buddhas.
Yet one should not be attracted to or fall into any elaborate viewpoint
.
Rely not upon individuals but upon the doctrine,
Rely not upon words but upon their meaning,
,
body is said to be without independent existence and so forth, and on the . h1
conclusive buddha level it is said that the pure physical component IS t essence ofVairocana. Statements ofthis kind are not contradictory.
e '
and so forth, and because em-
regard' d l' .
mg. ua IStlC concepts such as being and non-being, appearance
'.
h' . . ss, or punty an Impunty, as are partially appraised by
and emptlne . d
C 11diSh mtellects of inhibited vision.
To sum up, the Transcendent Lord has said:
Rely not upon the provisional but the definitive meaning
216 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Rely not upon consciousness but upon pristine cognition.
This is why, in the context of the abiding mode of the two truths which are to be known, the result is incontrovertibly appraised by the logic of scriptural authority, reason and esoteric instructions. One should know that the entire intention of the sutras and the tantras, which are the scriptures of the Tathagata, is subsumed in a single nucleus, just as butter is condensed from milk, and cream from butter, so that the climax of the philosophical systems, according to the causal vehicle of dialectics, is this Great Madhyamaka, supreme among vehicles. Its meaning is revealed in the texts of Maitreya, such as the Supreme Continuum of the Greater Vehicle, and in the sublime Nagarjuna's Col- lection ofEulogies, which subsume the essence of the definiJive meaning of both the intermediate and final promulgations of the transmitted precepts.
It says in the Sutra of the Descent to Lahka (Ch. 6, v. S):
In the five doctrines and three essential natures, In the eight aggregates of consciousness
And in the two kinds of selflessness,
The entire greater vehicle is subsumed.
And in the Intermediate Mother:
Maitreya, regard any imaginary form as not substantially
existent. One might regard any conceptualised form as sub- stantially existent because thoughts exist substantially, but do not confer independent status upon it. Then you should regard the very form of reality as being disclosed by ultimate reality, for it is neither substantially existent nor non- existent.
8 ! (ey to the Appraisal of Causal Vehicle Texts
215
[116b. 3] Having distinguished between the relative truth or apparitional nature, and the ultimate truth or abiding nature, the definitive order of the precious treasure store of the true doctrine that is to be appraised has been established. The precious key to its appraisal is structured in two parts, of which the first concerns the provisional and definitive meanmgs.
THE PROVISIONAL AND DEFINITIVE MEANING OF THE TRUE DOCTRINE
[116b. 3-118a. 2] The reality of all things, the expanse of just what is, the inner radiant intention of mind-as-such, which is of the essence of space, naturally pure and unchanging, beyond creation, cessation and duration, is the definitive meaning; and all the transmitted precepts and treatises which reveal it are subsumed within the definitive meaning. All the apparitions of reality that appear, dream-like and manifesting as the diverse, successive forms such as those of creation, cessation, coming and going, purity and impurity, components, psychophysical and activity fields, which are all appraised and exaggeratedly IndIcated by a succession of words, thoughts and expressions, are called theyrovisional meaning; and all the transmitted precepts and treatises whIch reveal them are subsumed within the relative truth. For example, those which boast in word, expression and thought that mind-as-such rese:nbles space are relative, whereas the fundamental nature ofultimate being the definitive meaning, is genuine. Such is said in the
Tulogy to the Inconceivable Madhyamaka (Madhyamakacintyastava, 1128, vv. S6c-S7c):
The emptiness of all things
Is indeed revealed as the definitive meaning. That in which creation, cessation and so on,
218 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
And living beings, life itself and so on are revealed, Is the relative truth of provisional meaning.
The Sublime Sutra of the King of Contemplation says:
As spoken by the Teacher, the Sugata,
Know the details of the siltras of definitive meaning; All doctrines which teach of sentient beings, Individuals2I6 or creatures
Should be known as the provisional meaning.
And in the Sublime Sutra Revealed by
If one asks what are the siltras of definitive meaning and what are the siltras of provisional meaning, those siltras " which are taught in order that one might enter the path are called the provisional meaning, and those siltras which are taught in order that one might enter the result are called the definitive meaning. Those siltras which teach of self, sentient beings, life itself, creatures, individuals, personalities, per- sonal selves, actors, subjects of sensation, explanations ac- cording to diverse terms, and of that which is not a possessor
as a possessor, are called the provisional meaning. The siltras which teach of emptiness, of that which is signless, aspira- tionless, not manifestly conditioned, uncreated, unorigi- nated, insubstantial, without self, without sentient beings, without life itself, without individuals, without a possessor and without any properties even as far as the approach to liberation, are called the definitive meaning. This text is said to rely on the siltras of definitive meaning, but not to rely on the siltras of provisional meaning.
In short, the fundamental abiding nature and the siltras which reveal it are said to be the definitive meaning and its siltras, while all those doctrines which guide the intellect of sentient beings by many methods to the means of entering that fundamental nature, and reveal the impure bewilderment, its classifications and so on, are called the provisional meaning and the doctrine of the provisional meaning.
THE INTENTION AND COVERT INTENTION OF THE TRUE DOCTRINE
[l18a. 2-121a. 4] The second part concerns the [buddhas'] intention (dgongs-pa, Skt. abhipraya) and covert intention (ldem-dgongs, Skt. abhisandhi). The former, intention, applies to those teachings which are included within slightly exaggerated explanations and reveal indirect
Key to Causal Vehicle Texts 219 methods and purposes. The Ornament ofthe Sutras ofthe Greater Vehicle
(Ch. 12, v. 18) says:
Passages directed towards sameness and other meanings,
And similarly towards other times,
And towards the thoughts of individuals
Should be known as the four kinds of intention.
Accordingly, the [buddhas'] intention is directed towards sameness, as is exemplified in the following words spoken with an intention directed towards the sameness of the body of reality:
At that time, I became the Tathagata Vipasyin.
When this intention is directed towards other meanings it is exemplified by the following words which were spoken with an intention directed towards the three essenceless natures:
All things are without essence.
Now, the imaginary is without essence in respect of attributes, because in truth it definitely does not exist. The dependent is without essence in respect of creation, because creation from the four alternative limits does not exist: Things are not created from themselves because both that which was created and creation itself consist of instantaneous time moments, which renders them mutually exclusive substances. Nor are things created from something else, because the specific characteristics of that something else do not, on analysis, exist. Then, things are not created from both [themselves and other causes], because they are mutually exclusive substances; and, [finally], without a cause, creation is impossible. The creation of whatever is apparitional and so forth instantly appears inasmuch as it is dependently originated, in the man- ner of a mere dream or illusion. Such is said in the Sutra o/the Adornment of Pristine Cognition's Appearance from:
MafijusrI, dreams appear but do not exist. Similarly all things, too, appear but do not exist.
down to:
They are illusory, like a mirage, a castle in the sky, the moon in water, a reflected image and an emanation.
b Then, the absolute is without essence in respect of ultimate reality . therein [the views that] ultimate reality exists, or that the self Impure, and other such conceptual elaborations are essenceless. Such IS said in the Sutra which Decisively Reveals the Intention:
With an intention directed towards essencelessness of attri-
220 Fundamentals: Vehicles ofDialectics
Key to Causal Vehicle Texts 221
butes, essencelessness of creation and essencelessness of ul- timate reality, I reveal all things to be without essence.
The [buddhas'] intention is also directed towards other times, as exem- exemplified in the words:
By merely grasping the name of the Tathagata Vimalacan- draprabha, you will attain buddhahood.
Although buddhahood is not attained by that alone, [the intention is that] one who has accumulated many provisions in the past will at some time become a buddha.
The intention directed towards the thoughts of individuals is exemplified by [the buddhas'] downgrading of moral discipline and praise of liberality in the presence of certain individuals who are con- ceited with respect to their own moral discipline.
Secondly, concerning the covert intention: It is explained that in order to induce another party, who delights in any view whatsoever, to enter into the correct path or meaning, [the buddhas] adopt a style conforming to the needs of that person by relying somewhat on that one's vocabulary and mannerisms, but their meaning does not so con- form. It is said in the Ornament of the Sutras of the Greater Vehicle (Ch. 12, vv. 16-17):
The covert intention in respect of entry,
And, in addition, the covert intention in respect of
attributes,
The covert intention in respect of antidotes,
And the covert intention in respect of interpretation, Directed respectively towards pious attendants
and the essence,
And similarly towards the discipline of faults, And towards profundity of expression,
Are the four kinds of covert intention.
The covert intention in respect of entry is illustrated as follows. In order that certain members of the family of the pious attendants who have not entered the greater vehicle out of fear of emptiness may so enter, [the buddhas] would say that form does exist therein, and thereby the listener would enter assuming that [form] really exists, while the speakers[thebuddhas]wouldintendthatallappearanceislikeadream, •
The covert intention in respect of attributes is exemplified as follows. In order that the essenceless abiding nature [of reality] may be known, [the buddhas] reveal all things to be essenceless. The three essenceless natures, namely, the imaginary, the dependent and the absolute, have previously been explained.
The covert intention in respect of antidotes is exemplified by the following words which were spoken with an intention directed towards those beings who would think that, "Sakyamuni is inferior to other teachers because he is smaller in body, shorter in life-span and so on":
At that time, I [Sakyamuni] became the Tathagata Vairocana.
In this way, the listener understands their buddha-bodies of form to be the same, while the speaker [Sakyamuni] intends that their provisions are equally perfect, that their attainments of the body of reality are equal, and that their deeds on behalf of living beings are equal. As it is said in the Treasury of the Abhidharma (Ch. 7, v. 34):
All buddhas are identical in their provisions, Their body of reality and their conduct
On behalf of beings,
But not so in their life-span,
Race and physical stature.
The covert intention with respect to interpretation refers to teachings given in a form which is extremely difficult to understand in order to pacify the faults of those who think:
This doctrine is inferior to others Because it is easy to understand.
For example, it is said in the Collection ofMeaningful Expressions (Ch. 33, v. 62):
He should kill his father and mother,
And if he destroys the king and the two purities, The country and its surroundings,
This man will become pure in nature.
Now, the father and mother are lust and acqUISItIOn because they
compound sarpsara.
