Entering the Middle Way, 15 August 1991, part 1

Side of the the teacher and from your side of the listener. If we had developed our motivation and kind heart, then there will be benefit for all of us. And that is beneficial intention. So, how are we to proceed in generating the thought of bodhicitta? Begin with the development of compassion, which is embodied in the thought that may myself and all sentient beings be free from suffering and the causes of suffering.

And going on to also cultivate love, which is reflected in the thought, may myself and all other sentient beings have happiness and the causes of happiness. Then we should continue cultivating the thought that in order to to establish both myself and all other sentient beings in a type of happiness which is completely devoid of all suffering, a type of happiness which is an unchanging happiness, then I myself must train and I must must bring my training to a culmination. And to that end in order to bring my training to complete culmination that I must understand well the meaning of emptiness. In order to do that I am going to listen and upon listening reflect upon what has been set forth and then finally meditate upon it. All of this in order to benefit all of the sentient beings and we’ll cultivate such an attitude of motivation for the next three minutes. So in the present context of our explanation we are going to begin an explanation of the base and that is the two truths.

The two truths being conventional truths or another way to translate that term is truth for a concealer and the ultimate truth. So with respect to the teachings on truth, there is the class of teachings in which there are the two truths are taught and the class of teachings in which the four truths are taught. When the present discussion is of truth, it is the discussion of the teaching on the two truths. The difference between these two presentations in terms of two truths are a condensation whereas the four truths is a more detailed explanation. The way in which the four truths are divided is that there is the two truths which constitute the class of what is to be abandoned.

That is to say the unwanted suffering which is the result are to be abandoned. These are true suffering and that which causes true suffering, true sources are the second truth of abandonment. And then the latter of the four truths, these two truths are truths which are to be practiced, which are seen as beneficial and there is the first of these which is a result that is to say liberation which is the true cessation and that which is the cause of this result which is our true path. So, there is a division of four truths into class of two of abandonment and a class of two which are practices. So, the four truths are more detailed explanation of the truth whereas these four truths can be condensed down into the two truths and within the context of the presentation of the two truths, it is that the previous three truths of true suffering, true sources of suffering, and true paths leading to cessation of suffering are condensed down as conventional truth.

Then there is the true cessation which is liberation that is the state of happiness free of any suffering which is condensed into this single truth is represented as the ultimate truth or emptiness. The two truths are presentation not in terms of what is to be practiced and abandoned but they are presented in order to know the mode of phenomena, in order to generate wisdom, in order to be able to distinguish the nature of phenomena. With respect to results, there is a differentiation in their quality and this is in terms of suffering which we wish to eliminate and in terms of the happiness which we seek. This distinguishment results into positive and negative. We bring about the cessation of the negative factors that is to say suffering, etcetera and we institute the positive that is the happiness, etcetera by means of the power of the path of method and wisdom.

It is through method and wisdom which constitutes the path that we are able to fulfill bring about the desired result that is the cessation of the negative components and the accomplishment of the positive component. In order to eliminate the suffering results, in order to bring about the happy results it’s necessary that we generate these two factors within our mind those are method and wisdom. How are we to generate these two components of method and wisdom within our mind the way in which we are to go about it? It is necessary in order to do this that we come to understand the basis that is to say the two truths. So how are we to come to an understanding of the two truths?

Analogy would be as in the case when some new people have arrived and we question well who is that? Who is that? Who is that? We don’t know who they are. We know they’ve arrived but we don’t know who they are.

And we have to have someone who knows them introduce us to each of them. This person is this person, this person is that person, this person is that person. And by being introduced to each of these individuals we come to know who these arrivals are, new arrivals are. If we were never introduced to them, we would never know who they are. So the same holds true with respect to gaining understanding of the two truths.

We have to be introduced to them by an individual that is to say initially through the process of listening, listening to an explanation of the two truths, but to actually listen to the two truths we generate the wisdom out of listening. So we are going to be introduced to these two truths, the two truths of conventional truth and ultimate truth and there is a difference in the degree of difficulty in understanding these two truths. Let’s say there is an order in which they are to be presented in the fact that there is a difference in the difficulty of understanding one truth as compared to more easy, it’s more easy to understand the other truth. There are these two truths. First with respect to conventional truth, what is the conventional truth?

These are we can see all the various types of conventional truths. For example, the table, the flower, the red, the color red, the color white, yellow, blue, all these various phenomena that we see are conventional truths. But even with respect to the class of conventional truth there are varying degrees of difficulty with understanding those. There are those conventional truths which are readily understood, those which we must reflect upon, and those which we must consider very deeply in order to understand them. There are three classes of conventional truths.

So we take a flower, it is a conventional truth. So why is a flower a conventional truth? We’re to explain it in very rough terms. When we take the example of a flower, if we were to investigate as to what the flower is, examine are the petals the flower, is the stem the flower, upon in the course of carrying out this analysis of seeking to find the flower, we will not find the flower because we will not find what it is we’re looking for, the indicated object. But if we do not search for the indicated object then we can find it.

We know it’s merely imputed by term, by name. That which is merely imputed by term when not searched for can be found. This is a conventional truth. By conventional truth we mean those types of phenomena which are merely imputed by name which which appear to the mind and when not investigated or not searched for remain before the mind. Those types of phenomena which appear to the mind when we are not investigating trying to find the object.

Those types of phenomena are If we take ourselves individually as an example that you know we are human beings and we exist, but when we proceed to carry on investigation to seek to find this human being which exists, we look to its various parts to see whether the leg is the person, whether the hand is the person, the head is the person, the chest is the person, the stomach, the intestines, the lungs are the person. We are not able to find the person, but without this process of investigating then the person exists, the person is able to carry on various activities. This person as an unanalyzed object which is able to function, carry on activities is the conventional truth, a conventional truth. As a conventional truth we’ll take the example of a flower. When we look at the flower, the flower appears to exist from its own side without being merely imputed.

At that moment a particular consciousness which then accedes to that appearance as being the way the object exists. It grasps to that appearance to be the way in fact the object exists. This consciousness which is grasping to that appearance as the way the object actually exists is the conception of true existence, or self-grasping ignorance. So there is this appearance of the flower existing not being imputed but existing from its own side. Then the ignorance which is the conception of true existence grasped at that appearance as the way the object actually exists as if it were not imputed but existing from its own side. So, it grasped at that appearance as being true.

It is only true for ignorance. This is what we mean by conventional existence and this is another translation of the term truth for concealers. It is only true for a concealer. It is only true for ignorance. In fact, it is not true.

That is to say the flower is merely imputed from the flower is merely imputed, it does not exist from its own side. That is its actual mode of existence. It is this appearance to be existing from its own side and not to be imputed is only true in terms of ignorance, for ignorance. Therefore, the word truth for concealer or what is generally translated as conventional truth. So we take an analogy of television.

When you watch a television, actor appears on the screen and this actor appears to have all the functions of a person that is able to speak and move, has a hand which moves. It appears like it’s really a person. So, this appearance appears to the eye consciousness as real and out of this appearance if the appearance is attractive then we can develop an attachment for it. If it’s unattractive, we can develop an aversion for it. So though to the consciousness the appearance is that of a real person though it appears to be a real person, we know it’s really not a real person.

It is merely an image of people. For the eye consciousness, the image appears to be a real person but in fact it is not true that it is a real person. It is false that it is a real person. That the object does not exist as it appears through the eye consciousness is common knowledge amongst mature people but for individuals who for example who are intellectually handicapped or for small children then they would not know that the fact that this object does not exist the way it appears. Because it does not exist the way it appears, it is termed a falsity.

This is a coarse falsity. We can easily understand it. So in the case of the flower, it appears to be not merely imputed but to be established from its own sign. That’s its appearance. But this appearance is just like the image appearing on television, the image of it, the image appearing on television to appear like a person.

The image which comes upon the screen as being a person, appearing to be a person. Just as the image appearing on the screen is not a person though it appears likewise the flower existing from its own side not imputed is also non existent. So this is the non existence — just as the non existence of the image on the screen to be a person is the reality of that object likewise the non existence of the flower to exist from its own side without being imputed is the reality of the flower. This non existence of the object as it appears is the final mode of abiding of the object, which is referred to as the ultimate truth. The appearance of the flower to exist from its own side without being merely imputed is the falsity. The non existence of that mode of abiding is its ultimate nature.

So with respect to the flower there are the two truths. The flower itself is a conventional truth and the non existence of the flower as it appears being its final mode of abiding is its ultimate truth. Likewise, just as we we can apply the two truths to the flower, we can apply the two truths to all phenomena.. If we listen to, upon listening to the presentations of the two truths and upon investigation come to an understanding of this presentation then we will generate wisdom with respect to the two truths. And it is the development of wisdom with respect to the two truths which constitutes the path of method and wisdom.

And it is by means of the path of method and wisdom that we can cease unwanted suffering and bring about desired happiness. So it’s extremely important that we develop wisdom because the ultimate result of the cessation of undesired suffering and bringing about the desired happiness is achieved through in terms of the mind itself and this is done through the generation of bodhicitta. All of the various cessation of undesired components and the development of positive components is achievable in terms of wisdom. The two truths are understood in terms of one’s own individual self, in terms of individuals. And the two truths are intimately related in the sense that they are mutually dependent upon one another..

In terms of our own individual mind, our mind is dependent upon the emptiness of our mind is dependent upon the mind. The emptiness is dependent upon the mind.. But the mind is not the emptiness of the mind and the emptiness of the mind is not the mind. So, though these two, the emptiness of the mind and the mind have an intimate relationship, they are mutually contradictory.