Bodhisattvacaryavatara, 29 November 1994, part 1

Firstly, we shall meditate for few minutes on kind thought where we shall meditate on what is known as the precious mind of enlightenment. In our case, out of being compassionate towards ourselves, we prepare in actions so that we may not have any sufferings in future. Similarly, by being loving to ourselves, we prepare and engage in actions so that we may have happiness in the future. If that’s the case with ourselves, then we can think in the same line how all other beings equally do want happiness and they all equally do not want suffering. So in that sense of situation, ourselves and all other beings equally do want happiness and equally do not want suffering.

Because of such reasons it is therefore appropriate from our side to be compassionate towards all beings. And out of that compassion, about removing the sufferings, the problems, dissatisfactions of all other beings. Similarly, we need to be loving to all beings where we are thinking about bringing unchanging, excellent, the ultimate happiness to all beings. In brief, in our meditation here, through such way of thinking, we shall briefly try to develop within ourselves loving kindness and compassion towards others. Well, therefore, on the thought considering others more dear than ourselves, we need to develop compassion and loving kindness towards others, towards all beings.

Once we have developed these two thoughts, then the next is to develop the superior thinking or universal responsibility, which can be developed in our mind by thinking firstly how presently as human myself when one thinks in terms of one’s self one thinks as a human, I have all the capability to follow a meaningful and unmistaken spiritual path. Therefore as a human with such capability I do have the capability to help others by following a meaningful spiritual practice and by that way making progress on the qualities of one’s mind to help others. So through such a way of thinking about oneself or one’s present rebirth as human with its capability one then eventually develop the determination that even if it comes to the point where I alone have to bear the responsibility to remove all others suffering and to bring happiness to all others I am prepared to take that responsibility. So such determination is then greatly admired as superior thinking or interestingly the universal responsibility. In conventional working of social things and responsibility, we can look at the example this way where say if there is a child who got the right schooling and then later on make into life very successful, been successful in whatever job or work the child has been doing and in that way everything about the child’s livelihood and our facility and from the part of the child’s physical strength is so good.

Then on the other hand let’s say if the same child’s parents due to circumstance and aging not only physically become feeble and weak but materially and in terms of earning their livelihood they have become so destitute then it is appropriate for the parents to So it is appropriate for the parents to expect that the child should look after the parents. This is in classical context of social working where there is such intimate affection for one another. So in such case it is appropriate for parents to expect that the child should look after them and help them in all ways possible. Similarly from the part of the child it is the child’s responsibility to look after the parents and do all that is necessary. Let’s say if the child happens to neglect the parents then we would say it is extremely mean from the part of the child and the world at large would laugh at us.

The word used in the Tibetan was boy, but it could be changed into a girl or a daughter. That doesn’t have to be specific gender, but in the translation already was adapted to child. So through such way of thinking then, eventually bring your state of mind thinking for the benefit of all aged mothers and 10 beings who are countless like the limitless extent of the space. I must at any rate overcome all my mental weaknesses and attain all perfection of the mind through that way I must at any rate attain Buddhahood. And to attain Buddhahood I will engage in the necessary learning, reflection reflection and meditative familiarization of the part especially here the evening’s topic of the study and practice which is emptiness one of the two fold principle aspects of training in the Mahāyāna or in the great vehicle path towards enlightenment.

Buddha Śākyamūni in his discourse called the king of meditative concentration explains whoever grasp onto the self as truly existent is a child or infantile, and one would be deceived by that way, whereas the nature of every phenomena is in the nature of suchness or that very reality. In brief here, in the discourse of King of Meditative Concentration, the Buddha explains the way how to meditate on emptiness because that discourse very specifically go into great extent about how to meditate on emptiness. What in meaning the advice in the following part explains is when one meditates on emptiness first, the reference upon which one meditates on emptiness should be I or self or the person. And once one has meditated well on that then one can shift afterwards one’s meditation on emptiness upon other phenomena such as the aggregates, the personality component parts and then just about any other things or phenomena and if one does that way then it is effective, not only effective, it is a way by which one would know or realize emptiness better through a more skillful skillful method. Or if it is asked for what purpose one needs to meditate on emptiness?

Well, Well, the purpose is this way where we as a mundane being with imperfection of mind, have our own experiences of suffering. Not only that, we don’t we don’t have things going our way when we want them going our way, and things don’t happen our way when we want them in our way. Not only that, the things we wish to have for ourselves, they don’t come. And things we don’t wish to have with ourselves, they come in abundance. In brief, in this way, as mundane being in the cycle of suffering in saṃsāra, everything thereabout is not going just right, not going right, not going right.

Therefore in this way all are in the nature of unwantedness, a real object of disgust. If so, we need to be freed from such existence and the very method by which we can be able to be free from all of them once and for all from their very root is the method of realization of emptiness, and that’s precisely the purpose for which we need to meditate on emptiness. In the case of bodhisattvas, the greatly realized practitioners who dedicate their effort all for others. In their case they meditate on emptiness by knowing that it is through realization of emptiness one can be able to overcome one’s own suffering as well the sufferings of all other beings. Of course, they do have the basic motive of the mind being in altruism cherishing others more important than oneself.

But with regards to the actual method, how the bodhisattvas go about removing others suffering is firstly by actualizing the realization of emptiness themselves through which the freedom from one’s own suffering and eventually the freedom of others from their suffering could be possible. So this point seem to be important for all us to take a special Why is it so that to remove one’s as well of others, why is it so that in order to remove one’s suffering and suffering of all other beings, one needs to meditate on emptiness? Well, the reason is because the reason is that because all sufferings have their roots in the ignorance the ego grasping. In order to uproot that very root of all sufferings, one needs to apply realization of emptiness, understanding the ego does not exist in that way because that is the only method by which ignorance, the ego grasping can be terminated once and for all. So that then fits very well the reason why then one needs to meditate on emptiness.

Well then, how we are to go about terminating the ignorance, the ego grasping mind? On that point the great teacher, Dharmakīrti, says without expelling its object it cannot be forsaken. What that means is the object or the object of ignorance, the ego grasping is the apparently or supposedly existing supposedly, truly existing ego or I or person. That That is the object at which the ego grasping, the ignorance mind grasp at. So that oh, it is the object.

Now in order to remove the ego grasping, which grasp at that very object, firstly, one needs to expel that object. Here, expelling that object therefore then means to understand that the ego or self which one mistakenly grasped as truly existent actually does not exist so it does not exist by its own characteristic. It does not exist inherently. So the very so that is how its expulsion has to be. And here, the meaning of that advice then says, no matter whatever other types of wholesome mind or wholesome thought one develops, if one is not able to expel that object, the object about that self or ego, then it is not possible at all to get rid of ignorance, ego grasping.

So the mind by which one can be able to expel the inherent existence about the ego is only the realization of emptiness. And in that way it is thus explained, Unless one has that realization, which we understand the ego has no inherent existence, one would not be able to overcome the ignorance, the ego grasping. Well, in that way, Buddha Śākyamūni, in our citation last Tuesday evening, says in the discourse of the same name, king of meditative concentration, says, not by any other means. That means, so that part means any other means apart from realization or emptiness would not bring about liberation from the cycle, liberation from suffering. Liberation from cycle or suffering is of same meaning with peace because that state of liberation, free of suffering itself is peace.

So in other words, then it can be understood that the Buddha here advises one will not be able to attain eternal peace unless one has overcome ignorance, which is possible only through realization of emptiness. Similarly, great teachers on emptiness understanding such as Nāgārjuna, Śāntideva, Gyaltsab Je, and all other who explain emptiness, unanimously of same emphasis explains that is the point, meaning realization of emptiness is only way out from suffering. So through such way of relating about importance of realizing emptiness, then one needs to develop the awareness that I must make towards realizing emptiness and in an attempt towards realizing emptiness one may then listen to the teachings, read books and study the scriptures and books and discuss amongst one’s companion practitioners and based on those preliminary part, one they one then may need to do the actual practice of meditating on emptiness. Because there aren’t that many sessions of Tuesday evening teachings on emptiness left, meaning before Rinpoche leaves, it it therefore seems necessary here towards the conclusion to briefly go through the purpose and the need to realize emptiness and then how to meditate meditate on on emptiness emptiness itself. Itself.

So please can you keep well in your mind. So to meditate on sorry, all phenomena can be classified into two, a person and phenomena or phenomena being anything apart from a person. And one first needs to meditate on emptiness of person or of ego but let’s before going into that let’s first briefly say about what has been covered so far well last Tuesday evening and those preceding immediately before that we have looked into how to establish emptiness of phenomena by way of applying the reasoning of dependent arising. So in that way emptiness about phenomena roughly has been covered in our study by applying the reasoning of dependent arising. And here, this evening, we shall start from the way of meditating on emptiness by firstly taking the person as the topic of emptiness in accordance with the advice by Buddha Śākyamūni where where impliedly it explains that the realization of the emptiness about person is easier to realize compared with the realization of emptiness upon phenomena.

So therefore we shall first look into how to meditate about on the of person. In the selflessness of person, which is another way of saying the emptiness of person, in that meditation, firstly it is extremely important to identify well what is a person because based on that identification then one can do the actual meditation whether that person is actually existing or not or whether it is and its nature is of emptiness or not. So the emptiness about the person, the meditation on the emptiness about the person will go well if one firstly has identified how well what person is. So in that way, let’s first identify what person is. So what person is is firstly, there are five aggregates form, feeling, recognition, activity and consciousness or in other words body, feeling, recognizing part of mind, activity and the whole mind or consciousness.

Now person is merely merely labeled I upon the composite or or upon the five aggregates. So in that way based on the five aggregates the label given as I is what a person actually is nominally speaking. Now although although all Buddhist tenets unanimously agree that person is the label or label as I or ego given upon the basis of five aggregates or in other words they do equally agree that person is labeled ‘I’ with dependence on the five aggregates yet when it comes to what actually that ego or person or ‘I’ is then each of the Buddhist or various Buddhist tenets explain differently. The lower tenets they go as far as saying that the five aggregates are the person and some they say the mere composite of the five aggregates is the person. Some say it is a type of mind called ālaya consciousness which is the person And some say it is the mental consciousness, which is the person.

Here, we have to define or identify a person in accordance with the Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka, which is the highest Buddhist tenet because our Tuesday evening our Tuesday evening reference teaching is in accordance with that tenet. The ninth chapter is in accordance with that tenet’s understanding. So what that tenet, the highest Buddhist tenet explains is firstly it says that the person is not any of those which is asserted by the other lower Buddhist tenets that it explains the person is not the five aggregates, it’s not the mere composite of the five aggregates, it’s not the omnibasis mind, it is not mental consciousness as well. It is not the continuum of the five aggregates either. Then how the highest Buddhist tenet, the Prāsaṇgika explains a person is.

Before going into that, let’s first make it clear that person is no different to I or in English you might say ego so ego I whichever so I and ego or person means same they are of same meaning so then let’s look at how ego I or person is defined by the highest Buddhist tenet. It explains that firstly, we do get this feeling or notion I whenever we think of ourselves so there is feeling of I I and this is more vivid when we think say in the form of I am going, I am sitting, I am talking, I am eating, so forth. So there is that notion or feeling or concept of I. So that very basis, that very base which is I I, that is explained to be the person by highest Buddhist tenet. For example, when we think of knows, then that very thought or notion of nose that arises on the basis of nose, and that thought or notion does not arise on the basis of something non-nose, something that is not nose.

Similarly hand, when we get the notion of hand, that thought or notion arises on the basis of hand and that notion does not arise on the basis of anything that is not hand. Similarly, head that also arises on the basis of head. So the head is the basis of that in that way. So like that I which is the person, what is person or I? Well that very basis with dependence or upon which there arises the notion of I or me.

So that is here the Prāsaṇgika explains should be identified sorry in other words should be identified as the person that that very base base is a base upon which there arises the thought I that is the person. What it means says what is to be realized and what realizes are relative. Similarly, explanation are in accordance with what is renowned in the mundane, meaning what is renowned conventionally. So what that part in meaning says is the Prāsaṇgika, the highest Buddhist tenet in its perspective and its explanation when it comes to conventional phenomena is very much in parallel hand in hand or in accordance with way in mundane conventionality things are known or things are accepted and known. In that way there’s explanation in terms of conventional explanation of things is very acceptable and in accordance with the only conventions Whereas we don’t find the same in the case of other Buddhist tenets, for example, those who assert partless particles which is at that time far beyond the concept of normal or the convention of mechanistic view.

It was quite dramatic at that point. Similarly mind only Tenet’s theory of explaining things being of mind and the imprints on it is quite way remote to only conventional way of thinking. Therefore, in accordance with such perspective to say that aggregates are the person, the composite of aggregates aggregates are person, mental consciousness is the person, omnibasis is the person, are not only refutable when applied reasoning, they don’t withstand the test of reasoning but also in way of conventional relate relating of a mundane mind how things relate in one’s experience they don’t match that one so we can relate that they even contradict with conventional experience of our mind how it thinks and relates with things.