Bodhisattvacaryavatara, 22 November 1994, part 1

First, we shall start. The development of kind thought which we shall be going to do is in the fashion of the practice done by the Buddha itself, Buddha Śākyamūni, how in the Buddha’s case while training as a practitioner, the Buddha developed this supreme of kind thoughts. How the actual practice on kind thought done was in this way where one thinks may all beings be free of suffering and the causes or the sources of suffering. May all beings be with happiness and the causes of happiness. So by way of meditating in this in this way, one develops compassion and loving kindness.

Having been motivated by compassion and loving kindness, the Buddha then made the determination determination to work for the welfare of all beings even if it came down that Buddha itself was prepared alone to take that responsibility to work for all beings. So in that way, the next part in the Buddha’s development of kind thought, the practice meditated upon was what is known as universal responsibility or superior thinking. So although at that point the Buddha had developed the universal responsibility, superior thinking where the Buddha was prepared to take upon itself or upon Buddha the sole responsibility to work in removing others suffering and to bring happiness to all beings. But as in but as an unenlightened being at that time, the Buddha realized that it is is only if one becomes freed of all mental shortcomings and acquires all perfections of the mind that one can actually accomplish the project project or the very purpose, the goal to remove others sufferings and to bring happiness to them. So in that way, eventually, in the training of kind thought, the Buddha then then made the determination to attain enlightenment in order to help all beings.

And that very determination is known as the precious mind of enlightenment. Following that, in order to attain enlightenment, the Buddha did practices for three great countless eons. Eventually, the Buddha attained enlightenment. Having attained enlightenment, then subsequent to that, the Buddha gave various teachings to cater for the various mental disposition of different beings. Historically speaking there were three series of teachings given which came to be known as the turning of the wheel of Dharma three times.

Buddha in the discourse known as the king of meditative concentration advises that whoever does analysis on the two lack of self will come to realize it through that one can have the possibility to meditatively familiarize with that realization out of which will come the attainment of the wonderful fruit or results. In brief here at this point the Buddha gives the advice that one would attain liberation from suffering and its cause is if one has the realization about non true existence of phenomena. Meaning of the advice here says, firstly, all phenomena or everything can be grouped into being of two kinds. One is a person, the self, the identity with which someone is related to be a person. And apart from person there are the other phenomena such as the other components of the aggregates and they all considered tend to be considered as phenomena as meaning things apart from a person and then person itself when it comes to be identified what it is one can say it is merely labeled entity upon the five aggregates or the five personality component parts form or the body, feeling recognition, activity, and consciousness or mind.

In brief, the point here is to start with everything can be grouped into two groups a person and anything other than person being called phenomena. Now here as a person trying to realize reality one first needs to hear about the instructions which opens the door of awareness about the nature of these two types of phenomena. Out of hearing the instruction one then needs to do profound reflection contemplation through which one analyzes whether these phenomena do actually exist solidly truly inherently by their own characteristic or not and through reflection one does that analysis and out of that one becomes quite ascertained certain about the nature of phenomenon that they don’t truly exist or they don’t inherently exist. Only then one then only then one has the basis upon which one can do meditative familiarization or one can do meditation upon upon reality so that is the process of one’s approach to learning reflection and meditative familiarization on reality to start with. And this then how one arrives to the understanding about reality by way of those three process or approach in one’s practice.

Now that understanding needs to go hand in hand with the single pointed mastery or single pointed concentrated mastery of one’s mind able to remain undistractedly on the topic of meditation which is reality so in that way that understanding needs to go hand in hand with calm abiding and along with calmed abiding gradually when that understanding develops then one attains Vipashyana, the special insight and two together then calm abiding and special insight two together will help the person overcome all sufferings and the origins of suffering which are the impure thoughts, the shortcomings of mind and through that way a person can attain nirvana, the state beyond sorrow, literally the sorrow transcendence. And as far as why nirvana literally is called sorrow transcendence is because here sorrow refers to suffering as well as origin of sufferings, the sources of sufferings which are the delusions, the impure thoughts. So the advice here then pinpoints the point that through the combined practice of calm abiding and special insight one can overcome all mental shortcomings and attain nirvana, the sorrow transcendence, and by that way one attains liberation. So in this way, if one’s practice is complete with the calm abiding, which is the single pointed concentration power of mind together with special insight which is the understanding of reality then along with that along these two, if one maintains the actual practice of meditating on emptiness, then that is the only way by which a person can attain liberation or state free of all mental shortcomings and sufferings.

And in order to precisely emphasize this point therefore in the continuation of the advice here the Buddha then says apart from this whatever other means one may approach one will never attain peace. So that part of the advice then means if someone does not include in one’s practice meditation on emptiness and the method to attain wisdom realizing emptiness then no matter whatever all sorts of practices one may do no matter how meaningful those practices may be if one has not included the meditation on emptiness in one’s practice then there is no possibility for that for the person to attain liberation. Also here, this point which was just made that only through meditation on emptiness liberation would be attained no other means would lead to that is a point or advice which is not made lightly and it is not made without any basis. There must be reasons for the Buddha to give that advice that meditation on emptiness only and solely is the means by which a person can attain liberation. As far as the reasons go we can look at this way in the case of one who has not attained liberation there is this composite of aggregate the existence with personality which has which becomes the basis for experiencing all mundane dissatisfaction and suffering so we have this what scripturally call the contaminated appropriated aggregate.

If we look at the source of where this contaminated acquired aggregate has come we would find that it is a product of our doings of the past. So in that way it came from karma and then karma itself we can trace down having our actions karma or actions we can trace down to having been a product of impure thoughts and impure thoughts if we trace further and further we would find they come from ego grasping at person or in other words the misconceived grasping that person or oneself actually exists truly independently and the ego grasping at person itself when tracked down we would find comes about because of ego grasping at phenomena and how that happens is because when one has grasping at the aggregates and so forth existing truly then there is a grasping at phenomena and that leads to grasping that oneself as a person exists independently and truly so in that way at the root of all our sufferings and problem is the ego grasp ego grasping at phenomena, the grasping that phenomena or things exist truly. So that is the root source of all our problems. Now in order to attain freedom from all our problems and sufferings we then need to go down to that very root and overcome that which only is possible if one has actualized the realization of lack of or emptiness of true existence from the parts of phenomena and so forth.

So we need to cut the root by that way and to give an example it would be like tree where if it’s not cut from its root then the stem leaves fruits so forth would come about if if it is chopped from its root then everything would collapse and dry up and so on. Nāgārjuna therefore very precisely writes in his one of the writings that as long as there is grasping at aggregates, there will be grasping at person. As long as there is grasping at person, there will be actions, meaning ignorance based actions out of that will come rebirth and in that way one will continuously wander in the cycle so the meaning of that part of the writing in essence says, if to start with as mundane beings one have as a mundane being one has the misconception grasping or viewing that the aggregates or the personality parts truly exist then along with that automatically there will be grasping that oneself as a person or being exists truly and if that happens then that will lead in turn for one to engage in ignorance based actions to create karma and one would then receive the experience of these consequential sufferings produced by those karma.

Now we don’t have to take something on the face of it because it has been said so on by such and such being in the past. That’s not necessary. Instead, we take something as acceptable only if when we find it to be valid appropriate when we analyze through our thinking and applying reasonings. So that would in turn then mean although something may have been said by a very acclaimed being, but we still need to analyze and think about what was said. Oh, I’ll go into this.

So if one has good wisdom, one can come to understand. How we can understand the truth about those sayings is, for example, if someone calls you in the sense speaking to it personally, so if someone calls you either in the way of just making an expression or or hello or whatever your name being called in whatever fashion then that very moment when you are being called and addressed to instantly you get the feeling oh I’m being called my name is being mentioned so you can probably relate that that’s what happens generally that someone calls you, you really do get the feeling, oh, I’m being called. My name is being mentioned. So whenever there is a mention of oneself and one gets the feeling that I am being called, then in such cases, we would find that there is an appearance of the notion I, an appearance of the notion I or the arising of the notion I so that is the grasping at I as a person me so in the sense me in that sense I but before that if we analyze and think how that happens is already for the notion of I to arise they would first have to they would first have to arise the notion of one’s aggregates which means the personality parts.

So there is firstly the arising of the picture or the appearance of personality parts the aggregates and then there arises the notion of oneself me or I. Of course that that is the sequence of how it happens that first the notion of the aggregates of the personality parts arise and following that only the notion of I or me arise but of course there’s just a very short duration of the sequence but that is how it does happen. So in that way we then can relate exactly when there is a notion of I. Firstly it is preceded by the notion of one’s personality parts. So the moment there so when there arises the notion of I, there is already preceding of the notion of aggregate toward personality parts.

So definitely there is a time lapse of one being earlier and one being later although it is momentary time lapse between the two so we certainly can then say that firstly there is the thought grasping at aggregate and then that is followed by the thought grasping at person which is thought thinking I or me. Now when we look at it when the thought grasping at aggregate arises, the very moment one’s aggregate or personality parts appear to one’s thought automatically at the same time as ordinary being. The grasping that the aggregate or the personality part exists by their own characteristics together arise at that very moment. The two happens at the same time. Following then there arises the notion I am being called.

So there is a notion I. When when that arises that very moment also comes along with the comes along with the grasping from one side that the person or I or me exist from its own characteristic, another way of saying that it exists truly by itself. So that way, this is how then the second grasping, the grasping at person arises. Why that description is so, in another words why that description is true is because because I is the I is based is a label based upon the aggregate. So aggregates are the basis upon which the label I is given.

So if that’s the case that the I or the aggregates or the personality parts are the basis upon which the I, the label is given then that would mean that for the notion about what is labeled should come after the what is the basis of the label the aggregate also in that way that is how exactly it stands true that firstly for the ego grasping at person to arise there firstly should be the preceding ego grasping at phenomena, which in this case is the grasping at the aggregates. If we give an analogy example, then we can say, if there’s a mirror, then the very moment one’s face looks at the mirror, the reflection of one’s face appears on the mirror. So it is factual that if the meeting of the two happens the mirror and one’s face then the moment they meet come in contact there is inevitably the reflection of one’s face on the mirror. So you have you have one you have a scene where one’s face is here and the mirror is over there. And the moment the face looks at the mirror, there is a reflection of one’s face appearing on the mirror.

That is the general scene. Now if we observe, then if we observe, what happens at that moment is the moment one sees one’s face reflected in the mirror, one gets a notion, oh, it’s my face. And there. So that’s what happens. So it’s not a case where where firstly our firstly the reflection of our face appears on the mirror only then we get the notion my face.

Instead the fact stands the moment one’s face reflects on the mirror one gets the simultaneous notion grasping it is my face. So the grasping happens at the same same time in that case. So like that example in our case with grasping at our aggregates, the moment we think our our aggregates meaning the personality part, at that very moment we also automatically think that they exist from their own characteristic, their own side. Although how how so to speak unconscious but meaning uncontrollably how uncontrollably that happens it happens. The very moment we get a notion of our personality parts a body and so forth that very moment we as well think that they truly exist they exist by their own characteristics.

So this is something we all can relate that that is how it happens. Also, the very moment the reflection of one’s face appears in the mirror, one grasp at the same time that is my face. In the case of a child who is not in the case of a child who does not know the conventional labeling name and so forth, in another words, a child who is not who is not schooled in the language of naming things, then the moment the child sees its face reflected on the mirror, there is not only the grasping that that is my face, that it is my face, it is me. Instead, it is very intense grasping from the part of the child. So there is a story in the past.

There was a group of kids who were being taught the alphabets. They do sell that. So there were a story where a group of kids were being taught alphabet and basic schooling. And there was one among them who seemed to be very thick and never seemed to pick up quickly. So the others formed opinion thinking, he’s very dumb.

He doesn’t understand anything. And then whoever made that remarks tried to prove it to the others saying we can test how dumb he is and one day they come up with the piece of a dough which a roasted dough which actually can be eaten in the case of Tibet so you can probably have the example twisted to say a bread so that per the kid trying to prove the other person or kid as a dumb brought a piece of bread and in front of the bread the kid put mirror and this dumb kid actually grabbed the moment. So the so the bread reflected in the mirror, grabbed at the mirror thinking that there is a bread to be grabbed there. So in the case of a untrained or unschooled into the notions of labeling especially as a kid, that there is the moment things appear there is a strong grasping that they really do exist from their own side solidly and truly. And then to interpret on the joke part of the dumb kid probably the latter part was the kid which generally usually looked dumb wasn’t dumb when it came to eating.

In our case, as mundane being who have not yet realized emptiness, the reality, we are very much like such child, the infant not trained on to the notion of identifying well by way of actual label and so forth. How that is very how it the example fits that we are very much like the child is because by not knowing the actual state of phenomena or things that the moment things appear, we we uncontrollably, due to feelings of mundane mind, we uncontrollably grasp at the notion of the misunderstanding that, oh, it is really there existing truly, solidly, inherently. So we have a strong grasping at the same time the moment things appear that we really grasp at them to be existing or from their side solidly.