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ཡེ་ཤེས་
ye shes
Hopkins Comments ?
No direct match.| 91 other match(es) |
Reference Notes from other Works [i.e. Footnotes/Endnotes]
| Book | Author/Translator | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Myriad Worlds (2003) | 'jam mgon kong sprul Kalu Rinpoché Translation Group McLeod, I. McLeod, I. |
21. These accounts are to be found in '"`UNIQ--nowiki-00000000-QINU`"'Du shes gsum ldan spong ba pa'i gzugs brnyan padma gar gyi dbang phyug phrin las 'gros 'dul rtsal gyi rtogs pa brjod pa'i dum bu smrig rgyu'i bdud rtsi, a text written by Kongtrul himself describing his previous incarnations. See note 1 above.
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| Myriad Worlds (2003) | 'jam mgon kong sprul Kalu Rinpoché Translation Group McLeod, I. McLeod, I. |
21. These accounts are to be found in '"`UNIQ--nowiki-00000008-QINU`"'Du shes gsum ldan spong ba pa'i gzugs brnyan padma gar gyi dbang phyug phrin las 'gros 'dul rtsal gyi rtogs pa brjod pa'i dum bu smrig rgyu'i bdud rtsi, a text written by Kongtrul himself describing his previous incarnations. See note 1 above.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2145. Dzogchen Ponlop Rinpoche (oral communication, July 25, 2013) explains the four pāramitās and their close connection to the presentation of ultimate reality in the vajrayāna as follows. (1) As for the pāramitā of supreme purity, ultimately, the tathāgata heart is primordially unobscured by, and primordially liberated from, any adventitious stains. This represents its "natural purity."On the level of seeming reality, the tathāgata heart appears to be obscured by the adventitious stains together with their latent tendencies. Once all of these have been relinquished through the path, the tathāgata heart also possesses "the purity of having been freed from adventitious stains." This twofold purity of the tathāgata heart represents the pāramitā of supreme purity. This description is very close to the vajrayāna's speaking of "the inseparability of the two realities that is the great purity and equality" (Tib. dagga mnyam chen po bden gnyis dbyer med), "apparitional existence's being primordial buddhahood" (Tib. snag srid ye nas sangs ryas) and "the kāya of complete purity" (suviśuddhikāya). (2) As for the pāramitā of the supreme self, ordinary beings assume the existence of a self and cling to it, while śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas hold on to the view of there being no self. Just as ordinary beings are afraid of the nonexistence of a self, so śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas are afraid of the existence of a self. However, in the pāramitā of the supreme self, both of these views and attitudes are completely transcended. For, ultimately, any reference points about a self as well as any reference points about the lack of a self are equally nothing but wrong views. The basic nature that is beyond all reference points of self and no-self represents the primordially present buddha wisdom that pervades and dwells in everything. This is the pāramitā of the supreme self, which is also called "wisdom dharmakāya" (jñānadharmakāya; as explained in the Abhisamayālaṃkāra). In the vajrayāna, this corresponds to the teachings on "vajra pride" and so on. (3) The pāramitā of supreme bliss means that the tathāgata heart is completely free from all elements of clinging. Also, on the level of seeming reality, all kinds of manifestations of the reality of suffering and the reality of the origin of suffering are experienced. That is, there are many phenomena that move and change, and whatever has the nature of moving and changing has the nature of suffering. Ultimately, the basic nature is without any movement and change, and to abide in that basic nature entails the experience of bliss. In the vajrayāna, this is expressed as "the wisdom of great bliss" and "immutable wisdom" (Tib. 'pho med ye shes). In other words, if there is no movement or transference (Tib. 'pho ba), there is bliss, which is also called "the kāya of great bliss" (mahāsukhakāya). (4) The pāramitā of supreme permanence refers to buddha wisdom's never changing into anything other than this very wisdom. In the fruitional buddha wisdom, there is no clinging to saṃsāra and nirvāṇa being different. Rather, the complete equality of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is realized as the great unconditioned state, which is free from any extremes of clinging to entities or nonentities. In the vajrayāna, this corresponds to "the vajrakāya,"which cannot be changed through anything whatsoever, just like a vajra or a diamond. A diamond cuts all other gems, but it cannot be cut by anything. Likewise, the nature of the mind cannot be altered by anything, and it is solely from this perspective that it is called "permanent." It is not referred to as permanent because there is some permanent entity called "the nature of the mind" or "tathāgata heart." Thus, the notion of permanence here is not like the one in elementary texts such as The Collected Topics (Tib. Bsdus grva) or in the Vaibhāṣika and Sautrāntika schools. Rather, according to Sakya Pandita, even Dharmakīrti in his teachings on valid cognition used "permanent"only in the sense of being the reverse of "impermanent"but not in the sense of a permanently existent entity. In other words, when the equality of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa is realized, there is no clinging to any extremes such as permanence and impermanence. This is what is understood by the pāramitā of supreme permanence.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1478. DP sems nges par rtogs pa dang / sems yang dag par shes pa la ni / chos nyid kyi rtogs pa dang / chos nyid kyi rigs pa yin no. VT (fol. 13v7–14r1) glosses "realization" (saṃjñāpanaṃ) as prabodhaḥ.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2611. This passage is almost literally found at the end of RGVV's above-mentioned quote from the Avataṃsakasūtra about the canvases with a trichiliocosm drawn on them (J24; D4025, fol. 87a.4–5). As mentioned before, the Sanskrit pratyabhijñā (Tib. so sor mngon par shes pa) for "recognizing"can also mean "to remember" and "to come to one's self or to recover consciousness,"which is quite fitting here in the sense of (re)awakening to one's true nature of being a buddha.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1023. The Uttaratantra teaches two different models of the causal relationship between the seven vajra points. The first model in I.3 identifies the three jewels and the basic element as causes (or as three conditions and one cause, respectively) and the last three vajra points, as results. The second model in I.23 and I.26 as well as RGVV on I.2 describes the basic element as the cause, the last three vajra points as conditions, and the three jewels as results. Ngog Lotsāwa refers to these two models as "the cycle of the nonabiding nirvāṇa" and "the cycle of the three jewels," which he describes extensively at the beginning of his commentary (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 2a.2–6a.5). For details, see Kano 2006, 136–47 and 370–82, and CMW on Uttaratantra I.26.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1505. With Takasaki, the Sanskrit of this line could also be read as "everything is to be understood as being empty in all respects,"but I read it following DP shes bya thams cad rnam kun stong pa zhes.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2680. Compare Laṅkāvatārasūtra X.256–57 (D107, fol. 168b.5–6; translation according to the Sanskrit, the Kangyur versions, and the versions quoted in different Indian texts):
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1846. In accordance with this sentence's paralleling Uttaratantra I.81–82, zag med kyi ye shes is emended to zag med kyi las.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1888. As mentioned before, the Uttaratantra teaches two different models of the causal relationship between the seven vajra points. Model (1) in I.3 identifies the three jewels and the basic element as causes (or as three conditions and one cause, respectively) and the last three vajra points as results. Model (2) in I.23 and I.26 as well as RGVV on I.2 describes the basic element as the cause, the last three vajra points as conditions, and the three jewels as results. The beginning of Ngog Lotsāwa's commentary (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 2a.2–6a.5) elaborates on these two models and calls them (1) "the cycle of the nonabiding nirvāṇa" and (2) "the cycle of the three jewels" (for details, see Kano 2006, 136–47 and 370–82). YDC (244–45) uses almost identical terms for these two cycles ("the cycle of nirvāṇa" and "the cycle of the three jewels") in terms of the relationship between the seven vajra points and their definite number but otherwise differs in several points from Ngog. (1) In terms of the cycle of the three jewels, the vajra points are definite as seven—the three that are results and the four that are the cause and the conditions. The three jewels are definite as the three results because they are the objects of refuge that are the results of those who wish for liberation, who are definite as having three dispositions (śrāvakas, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas). Or, the three jewels are gradually accomplished on the last three bhūmis (see RGVV; J3–4), while all three are perfectly accomplished on the buddhabhūmi. As for the cause and the conditions being definite as four, the basic element is the substantial cause, while the remaining three vajra points are the cooperating conditions. Here, there are two modes in which this happens: (a) the close causes included in a single mind stream and (b) the distant causes included in different mind streams. (1a) The basic element from the path of accumulation up through the seventh bhūmi is the cause. The triad of profound awakening on the eighth bhūmi, the qualities of wisdom on the ninth bhūmi, and consummate enlightened activity on the tenth bhūmi represents the three conditions. Through these four that are the cause and the conditions coming together at the end of the continuum of the ten bhūmis, the three jewels are directly accomplished. (1b) The basic element in one's own mind stream during the time of its not having awakened is the cause. The triad of awakening, the qualities, and enlightened activity that has already manifested in the mind stream of someone else represents the conditions. This is so for the following reasons. By virtue of profound awakening, that other awakened person teaches one the profound and by virtue of the qualities, the vast. By virtue of enlightened activity, one is made to directly engage in these two. In that way, the three jewels are accomplished progressively by virtue of the awakening of the basic element in one's own mind stream. There is no flaw in three results arising from a single cause because this single cause accomplishes those three results through the power of the three conditions—by virtue of the condition of awakening, the Buddha is accomplished; by virtue of the qualities, the dharma is accomplished; and by virtue of enlightened activity, the saṃgha is accomplished. This is what the former masters say. Nevertheless, the three jewels that are the ultimate results are one and only labeled as three. Also, the meaning of attainment here refers only to what has been present primordially in a self-arisen manner finally becoming manifest. (2) According to the cycle of nirvāṇa, the three of awakening, the qualities, and enlightened activity represent the results. Among them, awakening is one's own welfare, while the sambhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya promote the welfare of those to be guided who are close and distant, respectively. Thus, in terms of the two welfares, the results are definite as three. The basic element is the cause, and the three jewels are the conditions. For, by virtue of the Buddha, the dharma, and the saṃgha performing the activities of the teacher, the path, and the companions, the basic element awakens and thus is accomplished as the results that consist of awakening and so on. It may be objected that the basic element is not tenable as a cause because it is the expanse—emptiness. Though it is not tenable as a cause that produces something, it is suitable as a cause of becoming free because the three jewels are nothing but the stained basic element's having become stainless. Nor is it the case that the three jewels and the three of awakening, the qualities, and enlightened activity are repetitious because there is the difference of their being either causes or results in the context of these two cycles. See also the presentation of these two cycles in a text by Sherab Jungné (Tib. Shes rab 'byung gnas; 1187–1241), the nephew and successor of Jigden Sumgön (Roberts 2011, 398–400).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1151. In the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, in terms of their respective functions, the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities are described as "buddha activities" and are numbered as such up to thirty-two. Thus, the sūtra does not contain a separate section on thirty-two kinds of buddha activity apart from this description of the functions of the ten powers, four fearlessnesses, and eighteen unique qualities. This section is followed by a further general discussion of buddha activity (D147, fols. 215a.3–217a.4), which includes the example of purifying a beryl. For further details and variations on the correspondences and the contents of the passages in RGVV about the qualities of the three jewels up through the thirty-two kinds of enlightened activity of buddhas as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, see CMW (435–52) and Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b (fols. 9a.6–19a.1; translated in Kano 2006, 391–414), and GC (75.5–78.15; translated in Mathes 2008a, 304–11).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1525. VT (fol. 14r4–5) glosses "powerful form" (vibhūtirūpaṃ) as "the excellence or accomplishment of his own form" (svarūpasaṃpatti) and "objects" (artha) as "buddha realms and so on."DP dbang 'byor gzugs don corresponds to the Sanskrit vibhūtirūpārtha but Ut (D) has 'byung med gzugs don ("nonelemental forms and objects"), which is also found in the versions in most Tibetan commentaries (such as GC, HLS, and JKC) and commented on accordingly. Rongtön's commentary (Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs 1997, 160) says that vibhūti can mean either "powerful" or "nonelemental,"but that it here means the former.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1918. Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fol. 8a.4–5.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1143. Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra, D147, fol. 215b.1–7. GC (41.11–24) explains "the dharma wheel of irreversibility" as follows. Since wisdom is irreversible on the eighth bhūmi, it is called "the bhūmi of irreversibility." This means that before that, some people become tired of sitting on a cushion and meditating, thus rising from their cushion as well as from their meditative equipoise. Thus, they do not have poised readiness for meditative equipoise. On the eighth bhūmi, bodhisattvas do not rise from their resting in meditative equipoise in the nature of nonarising. Therefore, it is referred to as "poised readiness for nonarising." Since it also means being irreversible from unarisen wisdom, the teachings that are primarily given on this bhūmi are called "irreversible." Since they are transferred into the mind streams of disciples, they are called a "wheel," which consists of the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra and the other sūtras belonging to this dharma wheel of irreversibility. Those to be guided directly by this dharma wheel are "sentient beings with various causal natures,"with "natures" referring to their dispositions. These sentient beings are the results arisen from different dispositions and thus possess them as their causes. This corresponds to the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra speaking of "those who have entered all yānas." The fruition of this dharma wheel is "to enter the domain of the tathāgatas"—suchness or the nature of phenomena. Thus, such bodhisattvas realize the true nature of a tathāgata, such as knowing the minds of sentient beings in terms of the true nature of these minds, and, upon having become buddhas, attain the arhathood of the unsurpassable yāna. Therefore, they are called "unsurpassable venerable ones" (see also n. 1183 on "irreversible bodhisattvas"). As for the three dharma wheels with respect to the example of cleansing a beryl, GC (42.25–43.2) says that the first one washes away the afflictions that arise from views about a self. The second one purifies coarse and subtle thoughts of clinging to (real) entities. The third one purifies what are called "the appearances of objects in the mind" because these are obstructions to seeing the tathāgata heart well. Note that GC (44.20–74.26; Mathes 2008a, 243–304) goes into great detail in establishing the superiority of the third dharma wheel in all respects. The Eighth Situpa, in his introduction to the table of contents of the Derge Kangyur (Chos kyi 'byung gnas 1988, 52–53), says that the three wheels of turning the dharma as presented in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra are the wheel that speaks of revulsion toward saṃsāra, the wheel about the three doors to liberation, and the irreversible wheel. As for the rationale behind this division, according to the Uttaratantra (II.41 and II.57–59), those to be guided enter the path of peace (of śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas) through first being exhorted by way of the teaching on developing revulsion toward their attachment to saṃsāra. Then, through speaking about emptiness, they are matured in the mahāyāna. Finally, through the contents of the irreversible wheel, they engage in the object of all tathāgatas and receive the great prophecy about their own awakening (on the eighth bhūmi). The Seventh Karmapa's commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 74–84) compares the three turnings in the Saṃdhinirmocanasūtra and the three stages in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra, concluding that the first and second stages match perfectly in terms of both their topics and recipients, while the third ones are not the same. For the wheel of irreversibility in the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra corresponds to the teachings on the tathāgata heart in general and the third phase explained in the Uttaratantra. The Eighth Karmapa's commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2003, 1:32–35) agrees with this and elaborates as follows. "The wheel of prophecy"in the Uttaratantra is the dharma wheel that teaches that all sentient beings are endowed with the tathāgata heart. It is obvious that Maitreya coined this conventional terminology as a comment on the presentation in the Dhāraṇīśvararājasūtra. As for Maitreya's third "wheel of prophecy" and Nāgārjuna's third "wheel that puts an end to all views,"Karmapa Rangjung Dorje said that these two come down to the same essential point in a general way, in the sense that whatever is the final wheel must necessarily be the wheel that teaches freedom from reference points. However, more specifically, Nāgārjuna's final "wheel that puts an end to all views" states nothing but sheer freedom from reference points, while Maitreya's final "wheel of prophecy" explains that wisdom free from reference points is the distinctive feature of what is to be experienced by personally experienced wisdom. This is the only difference in terms of these two wheels not representing the same essential point. As for what is of expedient and definitive meaning in the three wheels in the Uttaratantra, the Eighth Karmapa quotes the great Kashmiri paṇḍita Ratnavajra as follows: "The wheel that introduces to the path of peace is the expedient meaning. The wheel of maturation is the wheel that is predominantly of definitive meaning and contains some parts of expedient meaning. The wheel of prophecy is the wheel of nothing but the definitive meaning." According to the Seventh Karmapa (Chos grags rgya mtsho n.d., 85), in themselves, the Dhāraṇīśvararājaparipṛcchāsūtra and the Uttaratantra do not explicitly make a distinction in terms of expedient and definitive meaning. However, Asaṅga's RGVV (J76; D4025, fols. 113b.7–114a.4) states that Uttaratantra I.155, through saying that the buddha heart is empty of adventitious stains but not empty of being the buddha heart, teaches the unmistaken emptiness by virtue of its being free from the extremes of superimposition and denial. Thus, implicitly, these texts hold that statements about the buddha heart's being empty (of itself) are of expedient meaning. Ngog Lotsāwa's commentary on the Uttaratantra (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 1b.2–2a.1) also connects the dharma wheel of irreversibility with the Uttaratantra, saying that the latter explains the true reality of the meaning of the mahāyāna—the intention of the sūtras of definitive meaning (the irreversible dharma wheel), which teach the dharmadhātu as the single principle. The other four Maitreya works, through explaining the meanings of the sūtras of expedient meaning, make beings into suitable vessels for this perfect dharma because they present seeming reality as well as the ultimate that is based on the thinking of others. For further details on the three turnings of the wheel of dharma, see Bu ston rin chen grub 1931, 2:45–56; Brunnhölzl 2004, 527–49; Brunnhölzl 2010, 23–28 and 213–15; and Brunnhölzl 2012a, 48–49).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
579. Tib. 'Jam dbyangs gsar ma shes rab 'od zer.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
871. Tib. Lce sgom shes rab rdo rje.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1831. In analogy to the passage in the text below about the unconditioned basic element that cannot be disconnected, CMW bral is extended to bral shes pa.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
572. Tib. 'Bro lo tsā wa shes rab grags.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
582. There were two lineage masters between Tugjé Dsöndrü and Dölpopa—Gyalwa Yeshé (Tib. Rgyal ba ye shes; 1257–1320) and Yönten Gyatso (Tib. Yon tan rgya mtsho; 1260–1327)—that are not explicitly mentioned by Tāranātha.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1450. DP "Just as an unknown treasure is not obtained due to its gems being obscured, so the self-arisen in people [skye la is difficult to construct] is obscured by the ground of the latent tendencies of ignorance" (ji ltar nor ni bsgribs pas na / mi shes gter mi thob pa ltar / de bzhin skye la rang byung nyid / ma rig bag chags sa yis bsgribs /).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1300. I follow MB °jñānaraśmayaḥ and DP ye shes kyi 'od zer against J °raśmayaḥ.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1193. The translation of I.18bc follows Schmithausen's relating buddhajñānād anuttarāt to avaivartyā, which is confirmed by VT (fol. 11v5) anuttarād buddhajñānād avivartyā āryā bhavanti. However, lines I.18bc could also be read as "Buddha wisdom is unsurpassable. Therefore, the irreversible noble ones . . . ,"which is suggested by DP sang rgyas ye shes bla med phyir / 'phags pa phyir mi ldog pa ni / and RGVV's comments on these lines.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1057. Tib. Nyang bran pa chos kyi ye shes.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1117. J dharmakāyaḥ so 'yam avinirbhāgadharmā 'vinirmuktajñānaguṇo, DP chos kyi sku gang yin pa de ni 'di lta ste . . . de bzhin gshegs pa'i chos dag dang / rnam par dbyer med pa'i chos dang ldan pa ma bral ba'i ye shes kyi yon tan can yin no. Schmithausen 1971 suggests to understand the compound avinirmuktajñāna° as vinirmuktatvena jñānam yeṣām na bhavati ("with which knowing them to be divisible [from the dharmakāya] never happens"). The corresponding passage grol bas shes pa in the Śrīmālādevīsūtra (D45.48, fol. 272b.1) seems to support that (though it should read ma grol bas shes pa, which is instead found for the afflictions, which are actually realized as being divisible). Schmithausen also suggests a second possibility of reading this compound as vinirmuktaṃ jñānaṃ yeṣām na bhavati ("whose realization is not divisible [from the realization of the dharmakāya]"). I follow Schmithausen 1971 and Mathes 2008a in translating "qualities that cannot be realized as being divisible" (which corresponds to how the Śrīmālādevīsūtra uses this phrase). However, guṇa is here in the singular, which seems also how GC (24.15–17) understands it (though taking avinirmuktajñāna to mean "inseparable wisdom"). GC comments that the dharmakāya is endowed with inseparable attributes because they are of the same nature as buddha wisdom. Even at the time of being obscured by the afflictions, it possesses the quality of inseparable wisdom (or the feature of wisdom's being inseparable from it). In brief since the tathāgata heart and its qualities have a connection of identity, the term "kāya" refers to "nature."
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2572. Parts of the Tibetan tradition, such as Sakya Paṇḍita in his Tshad ma rigs gter (Sa skya paṇḍita kun dga' rgyal mtshan 1992a, 328) and Gorampa's commentary on it (Go bo rab 'byams pa bsod nams seng ge 1979a, 3:281), sometimes present a threefold division of awareness (rig pa): (1) awareness of something other (gzhan rig), (2) self-awareness (rang rig), and (3) awareness of the lack of nature (rang bzhin med par rig pa). The first means that mind is aware of something that seems to be other than itself, such as outer material objects (sense perception and mental perception). The second refers to mind's being aware of itself in a nondual way, that is, without any identifiable difference between mind as the perceiving subject and mind as the perceived object. The third is the direct realization of the true nature of all phenomena, that is, that they are without any nature. Obviously, (1) pertains only to ordinary beings. Awareness (2) is found in both ordinary beings and noble ones (those who directly perceive the nature of phenomena) in a general sense, though the profundity of nondual experience differs. Awareness (3) occurs only in noble beings from the path of seeing onward. It is also called "the wisdom that realizes identitylessness," "yogic valid perception," or "personally experienced wisdom" (Skt. pratyātmavedanīyajñāna, Tib. so so rang rig pa'i ye shes). The latter term emphasizes that this wisdom is one's own unique, immediate, and vivid experience, not just some imagined idea of something one has heard or read of. Mind's realizing the nature of all phenomena includes mind's being aware of its own ultimate nature, which is the unity of awareness and emptiness. The nature of such a realization is to be free from the triad of something that is aware, something of which it is aware, and the act of being aware, while at the same time being an incontrovertible transformative experience in the noble ones' own minds (Skt. pratyātmāryajñāna, Tib. ‘phags pa'i so so rang gi ye shes). The difference between (2) and (3) is reflected in the rather specific Buddhist use of the Sanskrit words svasaṃvid, svasaṃvedana, and svasaṃvitti (all translated into Tibetan as rang rig) for (2), while pratyātmagati, pratyātmādhigama, pratyātmavid, and the latter's derivatives, such as pratyātmavedya and pratyātmavedanīya (all translated into Tibetan as so so rang rig) are used for (3). More literally, pratyātmavedanīyajñāna means "the wisdom of what is to be experienced or realized personally or by oneself (that is, the nature of phenomena)."Of course, there is some overlap in the semantic range of these two groups of words, and, as the examples of Jñānaśrīmitra and two of the Karmapas in the text below show, the words in the first one may also sometimes be used in the second sense. However, the emphasis in the latter group is clearly on one's own firsthand knowledge or experience of something, be it identitylessness, emptiness, or the union of dharmadhātu and awareness (the nature of one's mind). As for the corresponding Tibetan expressions rang rig and so so rang rig, in themselves, they do not mirror this distinction and are often taken to mean just the same. If the Tibetan tradition gives a distinct explanation of the meaning of so so in so so rang rig pa'i ye shes, this is usually done in two ways. First, in the explanation usually preferred by adherents of shentong, so so refers to the fact that the final unmediated realization of the nature of our mind can be accomplished only by this very mind's wisdom and not by anything extrinsic to it, such as a teacher's instructions or blessings. In other words, the only way to really personally know what the wisdom of a buddha or bodhisattva is like is to experience it in our own mind. In this sense, such wisdom is truly inconceivable and incommunicable, which is part of what the term "personally experienced wisdom" indicates, since it is one's very own "private"experience unshared with others. Of course, in this context, it should be clear that "personal" or "private" does not refer to an individual person in the usual sense, since the wisdom of the noble ones encompasses the very realization that there is no such person or self. Nevertheless, it is an experience that occurs only in distinct mind streams that have been trained in certain ways, while it does not happen in others. The second explanation of so so, usually given by adherents of Rangtong, is that, just like a mirror, this wisdom clearly sees all phenomena in a distinct way without mixing them up. Certain Indian and Tibetan masters, such as Jñānaśrīmitra (one of Maitrīpa's teachers), the Seventh Karmapa, and the Eighth Karmapa, use self-awareness and personally experienced awareness/wisdom as equivalents in the sense of this wisdom's representing the most sublime expression of the principle that mind is able to be aware of itself in a nondual way, that is, free from any aspects of subject and object. Jñānaśrīmitra's Sākārasiddhi (in Jñānaśrīmitra, Jñānaśrīmitranibandhāvali, 478.10–13) says: "In Uttaratantra [I.9, we find] the words ‘the dharma is to be personally experienced.' Since it has been said that false imagination exists, there is no refuge other than self-awareness (uttaratantre ca/ pratyātmavedyo dharmaḥ/ ity evākṣaraṃ/ na cābhutaparikalpo 'stīti bruvataḥ svasaṃvedanād anyāc charaṇam)." Obviously, this kind of self-awareness that is a refuge is to be clearly distinguished from the ordinary notion of self-awareness (2), which basically means that all beings are aware of their own direct experiences, such as being happy or sad. The Seventh Karmapa's Ocean of Texts on Reasoning (Chos grags rgya mtsho 1985, 2:163) first equates self-awareness and personal experience in a general way: "Perception (the subject [in question]) is established to be free from conception through self-aware perception itself, because it is experienced through self-awareness as a cognition that does not appear as being suitable or not being suitable to conflate terms and referents. For, every person's conceptions that are based on apprehending names and referents as being suitable to be conflated are to be experienced personally by the experiencer that is self-awareness."Later, the Karmapa (ibid., 2:338) also identifies the personally experienced wisdom of a buddha's omniscience as an instance of self-awareness: "It is not contradictory for awareness to be what it is aware of. For, when this awareness knows the minds of others, it must be aware of knowing itself, and the wisdom of the knowledge of all aspects is [also] a personal experience of itself." In this vein, the Eighth Karmapa's Lamp says (19–20, 21, and 41): "The [cognizing] subject that is the type of realization that realizes this very [dharmakāya] does not depend on any other hosts of reference points, but is self-awareness by nature. Therefore, by virtue of this self-awareness's being pure through its very [own] purity, it is not dependent on anything else," and "the great Mādhyamika, venerable Asaṅga, holds that [during the vajra-like samādhi] at the end of the path of familiarization, in this very mind stream that will become a buddha and in which tathāgatahood abides, remedial self-awareness dawns and thus everything to be relinquished [at this point] is relinquished without exception," and "liberation is to have attained the mastery of self-aware wisdom over the sugata heart of one's own mind stream." In addition, the Lamp repeatedly identifies the realization of buddhahood as being self-awareness and self-arisen.
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596. Tib. Bdud 'joms 'jigs bral ye shes rdo rje.
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1315. J omits this word, but see MB anāsravābhijñā° and DP zag pa med pa'i mngon par shes pa.
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1101. Tib. ye shes gzhan stong
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259. Tib. Rog shes rab 'od.
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1230. DP "tathāgata wisdom" (de bzhin gshegs pa'i ye shes).
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272. Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs 1997, 75–76.
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555. Note also that Rongtön's very brief and rather generic Stages of Meditation on the "Uttaratantra" (Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs 1999, 529) explicitly states that there is a meditative tradition of practicing the contents of the Uttaratantra, saying that he presents the manner of making the Uttaratantra a living experience by summarizing the meaning that is explained in Nāropa's pith instructions (though Rongtön's text contains no details on this).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
324. Tib. Grva pa mngon shes. He was a tertön and was also instrumental in the transmission of the four medicine tantras in Tibet.
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1051. Tib. Ye shes rdo rje dpal bzang po.
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982. These five are Dogden Jampel Gyatso (Tib. Rtogs ldan 'jam dpal rgya mtsho; 1356–1428), Paso Chökyi Gyaltsen (Tib. Ba so chos kyi rgyal mtshan; 1402–1473), Drubchog Chökyi Dorje (Tib. Grub mchog chos kyi rdo rje, aka Dben sa myon pa—"The Crazy One from Wensa"; born fifteenth century), Wensapa Lobsang Tönyö Trubpa (Tib. Dben sa pa blo bzang don yod grub pa; 1504/1505–1565/1566), and Sangyé Yeshé (Tib. Sangs rgyas ye shes; 1525–1591). This transmission is called "Ganden ear-whispered lineage" or "Wensa ear-whispered lineage." Note though that the Paṇchen Lama's text does not mention Tsongkhapa as the origin of these Mahāmudrā teachings but says that they are the system of Chökyi Dorje. In fact, the members and contents of the short and long lineages of this transmission as presented here appear to have been established only at the time of Yeshé Gyaltsen (Tib. Ye shes rgyal mtshan; 1713–1797).
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1532. For the last two lines, C has "It is the matrix because it has the nature of stainless wisdom and pure attributes" (corresponding to amalajñānaśukla°), which is the preferred reading of Schmithausen. However, my translation follows MB padaṃ tad amalajñānam (MA amalaṃ jñānam) śukla°, which is confirmed by DP dri med shes de dkar po yi / chos kyi rten yin phyir na gnas /. In the Yogācāra system in general, as exemplified by Mahāyānasaṃgraha I.48, the usual distinction between the vimuktikāya and the dharmakāya is that the former designates the removal of only the afflictive obscurations as attained by śrāvaka and pratyekabuddha arhats, while the latter represents the removal of both afflictive and cognitive obscurations as well as the possession of all buddha qualities. Thus, when speaking about the dharmakāya as the actual state of buddhahood in a general sense, it is understood that both types of obscurations have been relinquished in it, and it is in this sense that it can be said that the dharmakāya includes the vimuktikāya. Here, the Uttaratantra describes these two kāyas as the two aspects of relinquishment (purity) and realization (wisdom), respectively, of unconditioned perfect buddhahood, without relating them to any distinction between buddhas and arhats (more commonly, it is the svābhāvikakāya that is said to represent the aspect of the purity or the relinquishment of all obscurations). Note, however, that VT (fol. 14r5–6) glosses the vimuktikāya as "the sambhogakāya and the nirmāṇakāya free from the latent tendencies of the afflictions and so on" and its "perfection" (II.21c) as "the production of the accumulation of generosity and so on."Likewise, the vimuktikāya's being "understood in two ways" (II.22b) is glossed as "as the difference between sambhogakāya and nirmāṇakāya." As for II.21–26, most Tibetan commentaries agree that the nonconceptual wisdom of meditative equipoise (familiarizing with the wisdom of knowing suchness) perfects the vimuktikāya (the ultimate relinquishment), while the wisdom of subsequent attainment (training in the wisdom of knowing variety) purifies the stains of the dharmakāya (the ultimate realization). As for "the vimuktikāya and the dharmakāya being understood in two ways and in one way,"RYC (148–49) relates the two ways to the vimuktikāya (its being liberated from both afflictive and cognitive obscurations), while the one way pertains to the dharmakāya and consists of consummate wisdom. GC (479–80) agrees with describing the vimuktikāya in two ways and the dharmakāya in one way, saying that the former is uncontaminated (because of being free from the afflictive obscurations and their latent tendencies) and all-pervasive (because of lacking the obscurations of attachment and obstruction with regard to all knowable objects). The dharmakāya is unconditioned because it has the nature of being absolutely indestructible. YDC (344–45) explains that the vimuktikāya refers to buddhahood in terms of its aspect of relinquishment, while the dharmakāya refers to it in terms of the aspect of its qualities. Therefore, though śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas make efforts in familiarizing with the lack of a self, they do not train in the entire variety of knowable objects and therefore only attain the vimuktikāya but not the dharmakāya. As for "being understood in two ways,"the vimuktikāya is to be understood in one of these two ways—being uncontaminated because afflictive and cognitive obscurations including their latent tendencies have ceased. The dharmakāya is to be understood in the other one of these two ways—being the wisdom that pervades all knowable objects because it engages them through lacking the obscurations of attachment that obscure suchness and the obscurations of obstruction that obscure variety. Both the vimuktikāya and the dharmakāya are to be understood furthermore in the one way that is common to them both—being unconditioned because they have the nature of being absolutely indestructible. Therefore, YDC says, through the Uttaratantra 's verses on the nature and the function of awakening, it is clearly taught that buddhas have the wisdom of self-appearance and that this existent wisdom is unconditioned, which is to be understood well by the intelligent. JKC (137–40) agrees with YDC on the vi-muktikāya's being uncontaminated because it is endowed with the relinquishment of lacking any contaminations. The dharmakāya is all-pervasive because it is endowed with the realization of pervading all knowable objects (Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs 1997, 161 and 'Ju mi pham rgya mtsho 1984b, 448.4 also show the same pattern). Both kāyas are unconditioned because they have the nature of not being produced by causes and conditions. Rongtön, GC, YDC, and JKC agree that these three characteristics of the vimuktikāya and the dharmakāya represent one's own welfare, while both kāyas are also the foundation of all pure attributes, which represents the welfare of others (RYC speaks only of the dharmakāya as being that foundation). Still, lines II.30ab "one's own welfare and that of others is taught through the vimuktikāya and the dharmakāya"are taken by all commentaries to mean that the vimuktikāya represents one's own welfare and the dharmakāya the welfare of others (which is basically just another way of looking at this). For the meanings of "everlasting," "putridity," and so on, in II.24cd–26ab, see CMW.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1857. CMW ye shes kyi emended to ye shes kyis.
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1375. Ibid., fol. 242a.5–7. The passage in "[ ]" is from this sūtra (de snying rje chen po'i sems skyes nas sems can thams cad yongs su bskyab pa'i phyir zag pa zad pa'i ye shes 'dris par byas pa las sems can rnams la lta bas phyir phyogs te / slar log nas so so'i skye bo'i sa na yang kun du snang ngo /). It seems that both the Sanskrit and DP are missing something here since the first part of this paragraph up through "in order to protect all sentient beings" is clearly an (unfinished) quotation, while the remainder is a further explanation of this quotation.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2741. Ratnaguṇasaṃcayagāthā XII.3. Rin chen ye shes 2010 omits the fourth line and has "children of the victors"instead of "victors"in the second line.
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2747. Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan 1992b, fols. 12a.2–a.
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2751. Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs 1997, 80–83.
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370. Tib. Shes rab rgyal mtshan.
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263. Tib. Nges shes sgron me (translated with a commentary in Pettit 1999, 194–413).
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333. Tib. Ye shes 'byung gnas.
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2000. CMW yongs su dag shes par bya ba'i don zhes pa sbyar bar bya'i gzhi emended to yongs su dag par bya ba'i don zhes pa sbyang bar bya ba'i gzhi.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
327. See A khu Shes rab rgya mtsho, Dpe rgyun dkon pa 'ga' zhig gi tho yig, in Chandra 1963, vol. 3, no. 11338, which lists "an exposition of the Uttaratantra composed by the translator Su Gawé Dorje as his notes on what paṇḍita Sajjana taught" (paṇḍita sajjana'i gsung la lo tsā ba gzu dga' rdor gyi zin bris byas pa'i rgyud bla ma'i rnam bshad).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
369. Tib. Zangs dkar lo tsā ba 'phags pa shes rab.
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222. Tib. Ye shes sde.
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2886. Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993a, fol. 86b.3–5.
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291. Tib. Ye shes sde.
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1420. With DP (chugs pa med pa thogs pa med pa'i ye shes kyi gzigs pa mnga ba'i de bzhin gshegs pa), I take asaṅgāpratihataprajñājñānadarśanam as a bahuvrīhi compound qualifying tathāgatatvam.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2832. Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan 1992, fols. 49b.5–50a.5.
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15. Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan 1992a, 344–45. See also Stearns 2010, 316nn28–29.
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2722. Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 28b.4–29b.2.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1842. CMW rtsol ba bya emended to btsal bar bya. 1843. Given that CMW's introduction accords so much with teachings on Mahāmudrā, it is quite peculiar that CMW here uses the term tha mal gyi shes pa not in its classical sense as the key term of Mahāmudrā (referring to mind's nature in its natural uncontrived state, and then usually translated as " ordinary mind") but in the sense of the truly ordinary states of mind that obscure mind's nature.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2842. Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs 1997, 143–45.
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554. Shes rab phun tshogs 2007, 9.
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438. Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs 1997, 53.
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2202. Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 39b.5–40a.4.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1227. J pratyabhijñā (Tib. so sor mngon par shes pa) can also mean "to remember" and "to come to one's self" or "recover consciousness,"which is quite fitting here in the sense of (re)awakening to one's own true nature of being a buddha.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1092. Tib. Dol pa. This is probably Dol pa shes rab rgya mtsho (1059–1131), a student of Potowa Rinchen Sal.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1905. In accordance with RGVV and the identical correct phrase in CMW (434) in the text below, CMW byung ba'i shes par shes rab kyis is emended to byung ba'i shes pas.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1135. C, CMW (447–48), GC (30.9–14), and Ngog Lotsāwa's commentary (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fol. 16b.2) all confirm that this example comes from the Daśabhūmikasūtra. The corresponding passage says: "O sons of the victors, it is as follows. For example, to whichever extent pure gold is heated in a fire by a skilled goldsmith, to that extent it becomes refined, pure, and pliable as he pleases. O sons of the victors, likewise, to the extent that bodhisattvas make offerings to the buddha bhagavāns, make efforts in maturing sentient beings, and are in a state of adopting these kinds of dharmas that purify the bhūmis, to that extent their roots of virtue that they dedicate to omniscience will become refined, pure, and pliable as they please" (for the Sanskrit, see Mathes 2008a, 505).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
824. Tib. dkar po gcig thub. This term is found in the writings of Gampopa, Lama Shang, and some other early Kagyü masters. As a physician, Gampopa was of course familiar with this medical term for certain powerful remedies (plants and minerals) that are said to cure all diseases. However, the term occurs only three times in his preserved teachings. For example, in his Answers to Pamo Truba (Phag gru'i zhus lan; Collected Works, 1:472), he says that once the realization of the inconceivable nature of phenomena has arisen, it "becomes the single white panacea—knowing one, all is liberated" (dkar po chig thub gcig shes kun grol song ba). A more substantial source for this term's being linked specifically with Mahāmudrā is the twelfth chapter (dkar po chig thub tu bstan pa'i le'u) of Lama Shang's Ultimate Profound Path of Mahāmudrā (see Martin 1992, 290–92; the term is also mentioned at the end of chap. 9, p., 285). Just as the white panacea, Mahāmudrā is considered to be the single sufficient remedy for all diseases of mental affliction and obscuration, allowing mind to regain its own nature's fundamental sanity. The notion of any spiritual practice's being a single self-sufficient cause for awakening was criticized by Sakya Paṇḍita and others and even unjustly equated with the "view of Hvashang" (who, in one of his writings, also used the example of a single panacea). The latter view became a Tibetan stereotype for the exclusive cultivation of a thought-free mental state—as representing realization of the ultimate—along with a complete rejection of the aspect of means, such as the accumulation of merit and proper ethical conduct. However, the teachings on Mahāmudrā are far from merely advocating nonthinking or some type of mental blankness. This is also what Lama Shang explains, and the last verse of his above-mentioned chapter explicitly says that, as long as there is clinging to a self, karma and its maturation exist and it is essential to relinquish negative actions and accumulate merit. Later, Padma Karpo's Treasure Vault of the Victors (Padma dkar po 2005) gave a highly detailed account of all the main sources of the Mahāmudrā system and its relation to Madhyamaka, the sūtras, and the tantras, invalidating claims that Mahāmudrā is not found in the sūtras or that it is simply equivalent to the doctrine of Hvashang (for more details, see Broido 1987, D. Jackson 1990a, and Takpo Tashi Namgyal 1986, 97–108). "The view of Hvashang"refers to the approach ascribed by Tibetans to the Chinese Ch'an master Hvashang Mahāyāna from Dunhuang, as it is reported to have been refuted in the debate at Samyé by Kamalaśīla. This led to Tibetans henceforth, by decree of the king, largely adopting the Indian approach of the gradual path versus what was perceived as the "Chinese"model of instantaneous awakening. From that time onward in Tibet, Hvashang's name and view became a pejorative cliché freely applied to what certain people considered flawed Buddhist approaches in the above sense. However, there are a number of different Tibetan versions of the debate at Samyé, with the more verifiable one giving a different account of what Hvashang actually said. In addition, the Tibetan and Chinese documents on the debate found at Dunhuang differ greatly from the "official"Tibetan story. For example, Tibetan fragments of Hvashang's own teachings and Wang Hsi's Tun-wu ta-tch'eng cheng-li chüeh (which presents Hvashang and not Kamalaśīla as the winner in the debate) show Hvashang's view and meditation instructions to be much more refined and detailed than the usual indigenous Tibetan accounts. The Dunhuang documents also provide clear evidence that Ch'an teachings had been translated into Tibetan and continued to be transmitted in Tibet even after their supposed prohibition as one of the outcomes of the debate at Samyé. In any case, it was mostly due to subsequent intra-Tibetan disputes that this encounter and its issues gained such importance in Tibet. For the complexity of the events surrounding the debate at Samyé, see also Gomez 1983, Broido 1987, Karmay 1988, and D. Jackson 1990a.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
230. Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fol. 4a.2–6.
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296. The ones used here include IM (155–56), BA (347–50), GC (4), Rong ston shes bya kun gzigs (1998, 142), Śākya mchog ldan (1988b, 239–41), HLS (129–32), Kun dga' grol mchog (1981, 82–84), Tāranātha (1982–1987, 4:483–89 and 4:491–514), 'Ju mi pham rgya mtsho (1984d, 5–6), JKC (4–10), TOK (1:460–61 and 2:543–44), Chos grags bstan 'phel (1990, 2–8), and Shes rab phun tshogs (2007, 2–9).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1858. CMW ye shes kyi shes pa emended to ye shes kyis shes pa.
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993. Bdud 'joms 'jigs bral ye shes rdo rje 1991, 191–205.
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1469. Ibid., fol. 274b.2–4. D45.48 reads: "Therefore, Bhagavan, the tathāgata heart is the abode, support, and foundation of the [qualities] that do not abide as being different [from it], are connected [to it], and are known to be liberated from their cocoon (sbubs nas grol ba'i shes pa can). Bhagavan, thus, the tathāgata heart is also the abode, support, and foundation of the external conditioned phenomena that are not connected [to it], do not abide as being different [from it], and are not known to be liberated (shes pa grol ba ma lags pa)."
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1226. DP "wisdom of the noble ones" ( 'phags pa'i ye shes).
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1177. In the Yogācāra system, the typical triad of "mind (citta/sems)," "mentation (manas/ yid)," and "consciousness (vijñāna/rnam shes)"refers to the ālaya-consciousness, the afflicted mind, and the remaining six consciousnesses.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2105. Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 27b.6–28a.4. *2106. GC (241.6–14) comments on I.24cd–25 that the main subject of the Uttaratantra is the awakening (bhang chub) of a buddha (sangs rgyas). Since the first two reasons in I.25 teach the progression of the stains becoming pure, they teach the two aspects of being cleansed (bhang) and being purified (snags). Since the latter two reasons teach the qualities and their functions, they teach the two aspects of final realization (chub) and unfolding (ryas). In terms of the ground, the first two reasons mainly teach the basic element's aspect of being free from reference points because they teach that due to suffering and its origin being adventitious, they are primordially empty (and the basic element is empty of them). The latter two reasons mainly teach the aspect that the basic element abides as the phenomenon of basic awareness because they teach its qualities and activity. This is also the case because it is due to the basic element's aspect of being free from reference points that it represents the nirvāṇas of the three yānas by virtue of this aspect's being realized partially or in its entirety. It is due to the aspect of the basic element's being awareness that it represents the phenomena of saṃsāra because the entirety of saṃsāra arises from the ālaya-consciousness that represents a mere reflection of this phenomenon of awareness appearing. The Third Karmapa's autocommentary on his Profound Inner Reality (Rang byung rdo rje n.d., 21) explains the four inconceivable points as follows: "The [inconceivable] point of the ‘basic element' is that the buddha heart is [primordially] not tainted by any stains, but does not become buddhahood until all afflictive and cognitive stains have been relinquished. The [inconceivable] point of awakening is that [the basic element] is associated with these stains since beginningless time, but because these stains are adventitious, they are not established as any real substance. The [inconceivable] point of the qualities [of awakening] is that the sixty-four qualities of buddhahood exist in all sentient beings right now in a complete way, but if they are not triggered through the condition of the immaculate dharmas (the natural outflow of the utterly stainless dharmadhatu), their power does not come forth. [The inconceivable point of enlightened activity is that] there is no difference in enlightened activity's [effortless, spontaneous, and nonconceptual] operation in terms of all sentient beings and buddhas being either the same or different. Thus, its inconceivability is its being free from all expressions, yet serving as the basis for all expressions." For more details, see Brunnhölzl 2009, 129–31.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1847. CMW ye shes kyi rtog pas emended to ye shes kyis rtog pa'i.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
718. Compare GC's explanation in the section "Gö Lotsāwa's Unique Mahāmudrā Interpretation of the Uttaratantra" that all five levels of the completion stage of the Guhyasamājatantra are also found in a passage of the Laṅkāvatārasūtra. Sahajavajra's Tattvadaśakaṭīkā on 7cd (P3099, fols. 190b.1–191a.2) explains that mental nonengagement does not refer to a complete absence of mental engagement, such as closing one's eyes and then not seeing anything like a vase or a blanket at all. Rather, mental nonengagement refers to the very nonobservation of a nature of entities, be it through analysis or the guru's pith instructions. Therefore, mental nonengagement with regard to characteristics means nothing but fully penetrating the very lack of characteristics. To think, "This is unthinkable and nonconceptual," is just thinking, but mental non-engagement does not mean that there is absolutely no cognition of the lack of nature. Padma dkar po (2005, 38–42) gives three meanings of amanasikāra, supporting them with the Saṃvarodayatantra, the Hevajratantra, and the Mañjuśrīnāmasaṃgīti, respectively. (1) The letter i in that term represents a locative case (referring to a place or a basis), with a location or basis being what is negated by the first letter a. Thus, the term refers to there being no location, basis, or support on which to focus. Hence, to hold one's mind firmly on its focal object through the mode of apprehension of the mental factor of mental engagement is necessary during the practice of ordinary forms of calm abiding, but here this is to be stopped. (2) Without considering the locative i, what is negated through the first letter a is mental engagement, that is, mental activity. This refers to eagerly engaging in the mode of apprehension of the mental factor, impulse, or intention (cetanā), which is the mental activity of mental formation—mind's engaging in virtue, nonvirtue, and what is neutral. The eight formations or applications are needed in order to remove the five flaws in ordinary calm abiding, but Mahāmudrā meditation is free from doing and does not arise from accumulating. All mental activities are presented here as entailing reference points or focal objects, so what is taught by this is the utter peace of all reference points or focal objects. Therefore, it is said:
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
597. For details on Düjom Rinpoche's position on rangtong and shentong or coarse outer Madhyamaka and subtle inner Madhyamaka (or Great Madhyamaka), as well as buddha nature, see Bdud 'joms 'jigs bral ye shes rdo rje 1991, 162–216. Though he advocates the superiority of Great Madhyamaka to some degree, he also discusses the complementarity of rangtong and shentong as well as that of the second and third dharma wheels.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
407. VT (fols. 12v7, 13r2, 15r7) calls the basic verses mūla (III.4) and the commentarial verses vyākhyāśloka (I.64–65 and I.67–68). Jñānaśrīmitra's (c. 980–1040) Sākārasiddhiśāstra (in Jñānaśrīmitra, Jñānaśrīmitranibandhāvali, 503.20–22) calls the basic verses "mūla" (III.1) and the commentarial verses vivṛti (III.2–3; see also 502.17, 503.15, 536.22, and Schmithausen 1971, 124). Ngog Lotsāwa (Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fol. 34b.4) calls the basic verses rtsa ba lta bu'i tshigs su bcad pa.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2622. This section of the text begins by contrasting the subject-object pairs of ordinary beings and noble ones. "Knowable objects" (Tib. shes bya) and the "cognitions" (Tib. shes pa) that cognize them only refer to the sphere of seeming reality. The ultimate subject and object, respectively, are nonconceptual wisdom ("the nature of phenomena") and the dharmadhātu, which are summarized in the term "dharmadhātu wisdom,"the fifth and most fundamental among the five wisdoms (such as mirrorlike wisdom). Needless to say, to speak of the ultimate subject and object is just on the conventional level, since personally experienced, self-aware wisdom is completely nonconceptual and nondual. Thus, to speak of wisdom (the nature of all phenomena) "perceiving" the dharmadhātu is just another way of saying that mind's luminous nature rests in itself in a completely uncontrived, nondual, nonconceptual, and nonreferential manner. Unlike Shentongpas who equate the nature of phenomena with wisdom as the cognizing subject, Rangtongpas usually take the nature of phenomena to be nothing but emptiness (the object), while nonconceptual wisdom is a part of seeming reality. Emptiness is said to pervade all seeming and ultimate subjects and objects alike, which is considered as the equality of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. In the shentong system, to say that the dharmadhātu pervades the knowable objects and cognitions of ordinary beings, but has absolutely no connection to them is the same as the repeated statement above that the sugata heart, just as space, is the foundation of the adventitious stains, but is not connected to them. Next, there is a reference to Maitreya's Dharmadharmatāvibhāga, in which "phenomena"refer to all subjects and their objects within the sphere of the dualistic mind, which are none other than the sum of the adventitious stains (or saṃsāra). "The nature of phenomena" is discussed in this text in great detail under the topic of "fundamental change." The nature of this fundamental change is explained as suchness's having become free from all adventitious stains, which means that these stains no longer appear, while only suchness itself appears. The basis or foundation of this fundamental change is described in detail as nonconceptual wisdom. Though the Dharmadharmatāvibhāga does not call this nonconceptual wisdom "sugata heart" and does not explicitly say that it is not empty of itself, it describes four flaws that would occur if said fundamental change (and thus nonconceptual wisdom) did not exist, as well as four advantages that its existence entails. Also, as mentioned before, the text uses the examples of water, gold, and space in the same way as many other Yogācāra works do, such as the Madhyāntavibhāga, the Mahāyānasūtrālaṃkāra, and the Viniścayasaṃgrahaṇī (for details, see Brunnhölzl 2012b, 184–95, 250–98, and 305–28). As for the explanation in the last paragraph of the Lamp in the text above, it corresponds to RGVV's comments on Uttaratantra I.39 and describes how the realization of the noble ones resting in mind's luminous nature is nothing other than what is called "nonabiding nirvāṇa."To speak of the sugata heart as the nature of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa being inseparable is like saying that the appearances in a dream are actually nothing but the mind of the waking state, because it is the very same mind that is the basis for both dreams and the waking state. On the notions of "the nonabiding nirvāṇa" and "the inseparability of saṃsāra and nirvāṇa"from the perspective of the tathāgata heart, see also the first paragraph of section 2.3.4. and the last paragraph of section 2.4.3. in the text below.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1523. DP gnas yongs su gyur pa 'jig rten las 'das pa rnam par mi rtog pa dang / de'i rjes la thob pa ye shes kyi rgyu can bral ba'i 'bras bu'i ming can gnas yongs su gyur ba'i rgyu yin. The general Buddhist abhidharma lists five types of results: (1) matured results, (2) dominated results, (3) results that accord with their cause, (4) results caused by persons, and (5) results of freedom (or separation). The latter is defined as "the exhaustion or relinquishment of the specific factors to be relinquished through the force of the remedy that is prajñā." Thus, in the general abhidharma, a result of freedom is defined as an absence of factors to be relinquished and thus is an unconditioned nonentity (while the other four results are conditioned entities). A nonentity is defined as "what is not able to perform a function,"but here as well as elsewhere in the Uttaratantra and RGVV, it is made clear many times that buddhahood, despite being unconditioned and a result of freedom, is able to perform the functions of accomplishing the welfare of all sentient beings and so on. The entire fourth chapter is ample testimony to that, representing the detailed answer to the question in RGVV's introduction to IV.13ff (J99), "It has been declared that buddhahood is characterized by being without arising and without ceasing. How is it then that from this unconditioned buddhahood, which has the characteristic of lacking functionality, effortless, uninterrupted, and nonconceptual buddha activity manifests functionality for as long as the world lasts?"In addition, Uttaratantra II.18– 20 describes enlightened activity in terms of eternal space-like buddhahood's being the cause for others experiencing pure objects of their six sense faculties. II.38–41 on the topic "manifestation"speaks about the undifferentiable space-like dharmadhātu's making efforts in accomplishing the liberation of beings through all kinds of appearances, thus being the cause for introducing beings to the path and maturing them. When introducing this topic, RGVV (J85) says, "Now, this tathāgatahood manifests as being inseparable from its unconditioned qualities, just like space. Nevertheless, since it is endowed with unique attributes, one should see that it, through its particular applications of inconceivable great means, compassion, and prajñā and by way of the three stainless kāyas (svābhāvika[kāya], sāmbhogika[kāya], and nairmāṇika[kāya]), manifests as the cause that brings about the benefit and happiness of beings in an uninterrupted, endless, and effortless manner for as long as [saṃsāric] existence lasts."RGVV on I.7 (J8) explicitly affirms that unconditioned buddhahood entails enlightened activity: "Even though it is unconditioned and has the characteristic of being inactive, from tathāgatahood all activities of the perfect Buddha unfold without effort in an unimpeded and uninterrupted manner until the end of saṃsāra." In this regard, it is noteworthy that the Tathāgatagarbhasūtra repeatedly emphasizes that the full revelation or manifestation of the tathāgata heart as buddhahood automatically entails the performance of buddha activity as its main characteristic, thus "describing a tathāgata primarily in terms of dynamic activity" (Zimmermann 2002, 65). Furthermore, SM 8c says that "suchness operates in accordance (anuvṛtti) with the welfare [of beings]."Yamabe (1997, n. 32) also refers to "the Hsien-yang sheng-chiao lun (Taishō 31, 581c5–8), which states that all the actions of the buddhas arise on the basis of the *asaṃskṛta-dharmakāya."
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1060. Tib. Shes rab brtson 'grus.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2416. RGVV (DP) gnas yongs su gyur pa 'jig rten las 'das pa rnam par mi rtog pa dang / de'i rjes la thob pa ye shes kyi rgyu can bral ba'i 'bras bu'i ming can gnas yongs su gyur ba'i rgyu yin. In RGVV, the whole paragraph beginning with this sentence belongs to the topic of the function (and not the fruition) of awakening, which—as HLS agrees—is only explained in Uttaratantra II.18–28, as being the function of twofold wisdom.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
769. Tib. Sne'u zur pa ye shes 'bar.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
326. Interestingly, the biography of Ra Lotsāwa Dorje Tra (Tib. Rva lo tsā ba rdo rje grags; born 1016) states that Ngog Lotsāwa, together with Dsen Kawoché, Nyen Lotsāwa Tarmatra (Tib. Gnyan lo tsā ba dar ma grags), and others had already studied the treatises of Maitreya with paṇḍita Prajñāna, a teacher of Dsen, at the dharma council at Toling (Tib. Tho gling) organized by King Dsedé (Tib. Rtse lde) in 1076. Rva Ye shes seng ge, Mthu stobs dbang phyug rje btsun rwa lo tsā ba'i rnam par thar pa kun khyab snyan pa'i rnga sgra (Zi ling: Mtsho sngon mi rigs dpe skrun khang, 1989), 206.2–8. According to this, the Uttaratantra and the Dharmadharmatāvibhāga would have been known already at least in the Toling area in western Tibet before they were transmitted to Dsen and Ngog by Sajjana.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
387. Tib. Nyang bran pa chos kyi ye shes.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
608. Tib. Rta nag pa rin chen ye shes.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1079. Dol po pa shes rab rgyal mtshan 1992b.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2824. Rngog lo tsā ba blo ldan shes rab 1993b, fols. 42b.2–43a.2. Note that both Gyaltsab Darma Rinchen and Rongtön are greatly influenced by Ngog's comments (see in the text below). For further details on Ngog's position on tathāgatagarbha, which seeks to adapt the teaching of the Uttaratantra to the Madhyamaka understanding of emptiness, as well as its impact on later Tibetan commentators, see Kano 2006, 129–253 and 367–495 and Kano 2009.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1586. DP omit "vision" (°nidarśanāc) and say "the wisdom of liberation that sees all objects to be known" (shes bya'i don kun gzigs pa'i grol ba'i ye shes).
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
1394. Here, DP insert the following two verses:
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
397. The works by Karma Gönshön and Karma Trinlépa are not available at present, though Dpal brtsegs bod yig dpe rnying zhib 'jug khang (2004, 1404 and 1405) lists a Rgyud bla ma'i 'grel pa rton pa bzhi ldan mkhas pa dga' byed (87 fols.) and a Rgyud bla ma'i bsdus don rton pa bzhi ldan mkhas pa dga' byed (7 fols.) by Karma Gönshön. A khu Shes rab rgya mtsho, Dpe rgyun dkon pa 'ga' zhig gi tho yig, in Chandra 1963, vol. 3, no. 11337, has a Rgyud bla ma'i ṭikka by that author.
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| When the Clouds Part | Asaṅga Maitreya Brunnhölzl, K. |
2593. This refers to the typical Yogācāra triad of "mind (citta/sems)," "mentation (manas/ yid)," and "consciousness (vijñāna/rnam shes)" as indicating the ālaya-consciousness, the afflicted mind, and the remaining six consciousnesses. Shentongpas (such as Dölpopa, Jamgön Kongtrul Lodrö Tayé, and Mikyö Dorje in his commentary on the Abhisamayālaṃkāra) often speak of the "ālaya-consciousness"versus the "ālaya" or "ālaya-wisdom"in the sense of the sugata heart. According to Khenchen Tsültrim Gyatso Rinpoche, from a shentong point of view, the problem with the position that Tibetans call "Mere Mentalism" (taking smallest moments of self-aware consciousness free from the duality of apprehender and apprehended to be ultimately existent) is that it fails to realize that, ultimately, the ālaya and self-awareness are nothing but the luminous nature of the mind. Naturally, any attempt to establish the ālaya and self-awareness as really existing phenomena on the level of seeming reality cannot withstand Madhyamaka reasoning. In Mere Mentalism, self-awareness is the inward-facing aspect in each moment of consciousness (be it a sense consciousness, a thought, or an emotion) that experiences itself without being differentiable into an experiencer and what is experienced. Once the illusion of external objects is seen through, it is this self-awareness that realizes the absence of any subject-object duality and is itself free from such duality. This is called "the ultimate dependent,"which is equivalent to the perfect nature when understood as the dependent nature's being empty of the imaginary nature. The self-awareness (in the sense of the personally experienced wisdom of the sugata heart) that is discussed in the Lamp and other shentong texts operates on the level of ultimate reality alone and is never connected with afflictions or any states of mind of seeming reality, but is empty of both the imaginary and the dependent natures. Just as all phenomena depend on space for their existence and interactions, while space neither depends on, nor is connected to, them, all seeming phenomena—the adventitious stains—operate within the infinite space of the inseparability of mind's expanse and awareness, but this nature of the mind neither depends on, nor has any connection with, these stains. This is explained at length in Uttaratantra I.52–63. Without exception, the afflictions and the resulting karma and suffering of ordinary beings arise from "improper mental engagement,"that is, their fourfold mistakenness of taking what is impermanent to be permanent, what is suffering to be happiness, what is impure to be pure, and what lacks a self or identity to have a self or identity. From the perspective of the Uttaratantra and RGVV, even the opposites of these four (as realized by śrāvakas and pratyekabuddhas) are not "proper mental engagement." For, such proper mental engagement consists of "the power of yoga"—the nondual and nonconceptual meditative equipoise of realizing the four pāramitās of supreme permanence, bliss, purity, and self, which are beyond any clinging to the above four mistakennesses and their opposites (for details on these four pāramitās, see section 2.2.1. in the text below). Since such yoga entails the freedom from the duality of apprehender and apprehended, it lacks the fundamental ignorance of "improper mental engagement,"which is also known as "false imagination." |