Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Over more than 100 minutes, Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen conducts a detailed commentary on Nāgārjuna’s Bodhicitta Vivarana, a foundational Mahāyāna text that bridges the Perfection Vehicle and Secret Mantra. He opens by distinguishing three paths of Buddhist practice—the lower vehicle focused on personal liberation, the vast Pāramitāyāna path of the bodhisattvas spanning ten grounds and five paths, and the profound secret mantra tradition that combines bliss and emptiness. He then walks through the root text line by line, exploring what emptiness means in the Madhyamaka Prāsaṇgika school: that mind arises nominally through causes but is not inherently established, mirroring the example of unobstructed space. He explains how wisdom realizing emptiness must be joined with the method aspect of bodhicitta—the aspiring and engaging minds—and traces the progressive realization of emptiness through the three initial paths, culminating in direct perception at the path of seeing. The teaching concludes with four reasons for cultivating bodhicitta: to liberate ordinary beings, to free aryas from obstruction to omniscience, to ease the suffering of beings in lower realms, and to place all sentient beings in full enlightenment. Throughout, Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen illustrates these profound teachings with stories of great compassionate masters and warnings on the urgent need for ethical conduct.
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File: Line in 0225.mp3
UUID: 8aeb5626-5bac-407e-87dc-ed56baf8a004
Teacher: Geshe Jampa Gyaltsen
Collection: Awakening Heart
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~3,169
So we will meditate one or two minutes on generating the motivation to listen to the bodhicitta Vivarana, which is the explanation of the very essence of the great vehicle. And this motivation must be the motivation to place all mother sentient beings without exception in a state of unequaled and peerless bliss and happiness in keeping with the traditional explanation that any activity we engage in, whether it be the activity of listening or of explaining the teachings, be engaged in in dependence on a good motivation. So with this as a motivation, let us engage the three activities of hearing, thinking, and meditating. So as says in a famous quote, the obstructions to omniscience are to be dispelled through the three objects, the three causes and the three effects. The three objects or the three objects of observation here refer to the objects of observation of the lower, of the vast, and of the profound.
The lower here refers to the lower vehicle, which is lower from the standpoint of its thought, which is attaining liberation for one’s own benefit alone from the standpoint of its behavior, which is dispelling suffering through, meditating on impermanence and, for instance, selflessness. From the standpoint of its motivation, which is the wish to dispel afflictions within oneself and from the standpoint of its result, which is the mere attainment of a cessation of suffering for one’s own self. Now the practitioner of the lower scope is a being who fears greatly cyclic existence. And since the foremost cause of cyclic existence is desire, he endeavors by all means to put an end to desire. On the other hand, the two other references or reference which are indicated by Ārya Nāgārjuna are the practice of the vast and of the profound.
These are Mahāyāna practices. The vast is a practice of the Pāramitāyāna, the entire perfection vehicle with the training of the 10 grounds, the five paths and so forth, which is vast in its extent. It is vast in its thought. It is vast in the deeds one engages in and it is vast in its result, which is the attainment of the three bodies of an enlightened being. Then the third category is the category of the profound, which actually here refers indirectly to secret mantra.
Now
Profound in general refers to emptiness, and these teachings are for the beings of sharp faculties. Such beings are able to eradicate desire from the very root root, and they are able to do so through bringing bliss on the path, both physical and mental bliss. Then with bliss, they understand emptiness and from emptiness even greater bliss arises. Desire itself becomes the means for establishing bliss and enhancing it. And then in dependence on this bliss, the object emptiness is meditated upon and one attains swiftly in one instant the completion of both collections and the four bodies of a Buddha.
So Rinpoche had initiated a commentary on this text previously and had given some advice last time. Today, we will continue our commentary on the text. So this text of bodhicitta Vivarana is in general a Mahāyāna treatise, And, it starts with a presentation of the Pāramitāyāna and swiftly passes to a presentation of the Mantrayāna and specifically from within the four collections of Tantra to Anuttara Yoga Tantra. So, this is a very profound treatise and in dependence on listening carefully to it, we will accumulate a vast amount of merit. We have to generate both faith and veneration for the teacher who imparts these teachings.
And although this is difficult, through listening to this treatise, we will implant strong karmic imprints within our mind. So implanting karmic imprints can be compared to a good farmer planting grains in fertile soil. They will eventually ripen and give rise to a crop In the same way, through planting karmic imprints in our mind, later on, we will reap reap the results. And our commentary reads onwards, therefore and the therefore here actually refers to the view of the Madhyamaka Prāsaṇgika view, which is the peerless, faultless view, the supreme of all views, which is unmistaken in all respects. And at present, we are on the the bottom of page three thirty six beginning with three thirty seven of the Tibetan texts.
It’s the bottom of middle bottom of page nine of your text. Now what exactly is emptiness in our system, the Madhyamaka system? This is actually a question which he says which is addressed by Svatāntrika Madhyamaka to the Prasangikas, asking what the emptiness of mind is in the Prāsaṇgika system. And to this, it is responded. Our mind, primordially, the Tibetan is gdod nas.
Gdod nas has the same meaning as with no beginning, tome, this means that every single instant of mind arises from a previous instant of mind and therefore there is no first instant of mind. So our mind primordially, I. E, unborn by its very nature. Unborn here means that it is said not to depend on other natures.
Is our minds being unborn? This refers to the minds not being established, by its own characteristic. Since its whole existence at the time of its cause entails that it is not necessary to be born again. So since mind is an impermanent phenomenon, bodhicitta says, it is a thing, a bhava, then it is necessarily or it necessarily has a cause. In the same way as a sprout does not exist at this time of the seed, In the same way, we cannot say that mind exists at the time of its own cause.
Or in the same way, for instance, as a flower also does not exist at the time of its seed. Likewise, mind itself does not exist at the time of the cause of mind. This is the meaning of this line. And therefore, the mind which does not exist at the time of the cause is also not generated by its very nature. What is meant here is that even though the mind indeed is generated, it is not inherently established.
Then that mind is not generated by whatsoever nature. Whatsoever nature here refers to an inherently existing nature. So mind itself is indeed a generated phenomenon, an impermanent phenomenon, but it is not an inherently existing phenomenon. If one were to inquire regarding that mind, what sort of nature it had, it has the nature of emptiness. In other words, bodhicitta says, it is not established by its own characteristics nor is it inherently established.
So generally speaking, mind arises. We can see this if we observe our own mind. We can recollect this evening the mind we had this morning. Therefore, the mind we had this morning arose. Oh, this is not the point of this analysis.
What is being said here is that mind does not arise truly. Mind does not arise by its own characteristics. Mind does not arise inherently, and mind does not arise by its own nature. Mind does arise nominally and through mere conceptual imputation.
And moving onwards with the commentary, entities nonexistence by their very nature is akin to space. This is an example which is given for the emptiness of phenomena. For instance, uncompounded space is posited as the mere negation of obstructive contact. If we reflect on what uncompounded space is as opposed to for instance Rinpoche’s table, When Rinpoche touches his table, there is obstructive contact. His hand cannot pass through the table.
But un uncompounded space is unobstructive. There is no nothing which prevents Rinpoche’s hand from passing through it. And, in the context of the example given here, emptiness is said to be akin to space in that it is unobstructed because it lacks the obstruction of inherent existence. In other words, it lacks the obstruction of the object of negation. Now, while mind itself arises in dependence on causes and conditions.
Space in general is a permanent phenomenon which does not arise in dependence on causes and conditions, and emptiness likewise is a permanent phenomenon which does not arise in dependence on causes. And on the bottom of page nine, likewise, since it is said in the mother of the conquerors, this refers to the one of the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras of which there are 21. Subhūti, this was one of the great Bodhisattvas. The perfection of meditation on the perfection of wisdom is space like meditation. So here meditation and emptiness is compared to space like meditation.
And moving onwards with our text, page 10, such a view is completed by the bodhicitta which has the essence of both aspiring and engaging bodhicitta. So here at the level of the Pāramitāyāna, wisdom must be conjoined with method and method must be conjoined with wisdom. It is through the indissociable conjunction of method and wisdom that full enlightenment is gained. And therefore, the object of meditation which is the mere emptiness of the object of refutation is apprehended by both the engaging and the wishful minds of bodhicitta. And these in turn over long periods of time of training give rise to ultimate bodhicitta.
Now, it is important to understand here that at the level of the Pāramitāyāna, these two minds, the mind of wisdom and the method aspect of the path are generated separately, but but must be trained in. On the other hand, at the level of the Tantrayāna, these are generated within one mind. Since it is taught after generating it in the nature of ultimate bodhicitta, one must meditate. Here, one therefore apprehends this, mind realizing emptiness using, the mind of bodhicitta. Nāgārjuna’s bodhicitta Vivarana says, just as the Bhagavan Buddhas.
The Bhagavan Buddhas, here refer to the lineage, Buddhas of the five lineages, Vairochana, Ratnasambhava, Amitābha, Amoghasiddhi, and Akṣobhya. And our root commentary continues after this line as well as the Bodhisattvas. This refers to the great Bodhisattvas, which are the eighth ground Bodhisattvas. So therefore here Rinpoche says, the process which is initiated is one whereby one first meditates on emptiness and through meditating on emptiness gains direct realization of emptiness and becomes an ārya. This process occurs during the first, two, paths of the Bodhisattva Yana, the path of accumulation and preparation.
During these two paths, one realizes emptiness, but does not realize it directly. It is at the level of the third path, the path of seeing that one has direct realization of emptiness. So these three paths are alluded to in the, Dharani of the perfection of wisdom, Gate Gate Pāragate. The first Gate refers to the path of accumulation. The second is the path of preparation.
The third to the path of seeing. And it is at the point of the path of seeing only that one can say that one has conventional bodhicitta. And then our text reads onwards, as well as I will cultivate the same state of mind. So here generally speaking, Rinpoche says, this verse of the root text, I will cultivate the same state of mind defines the basis on which we train. In the same way as for instance, when one offers prostrations, there is a place in which one prostrates, a prostrator and a purpose to prostrations.
Here likewise, one will define the location, the being and the purpose of the activity. So our commentary reads onwards, in whom bodhicitta is present. This actually refers to the being who is training, the being specifically in whom ultimate bodhicitta is
Present. In such the great alignment of the essence of the two aspects of the Rūpakāya and the Dharmakāya, which is the wisdom engaging without the obstruction of desire or phenomena is present. Such a being is an Ārya Bodhisattva. And as much as he’s an Aria Bodhisattva, he or she is free of desire and therefore by extension of all the afflictions. If one inquires by whom it here the ultimate bodhicitta will be generated by myself, the practitioner.
These are this is ourselves who listen to the commentary in which way, in that very way in which a great enlightenment was generated in the mind of the Buddha Bhagavans, the Bodhisattvas at the time of the path of training. And this Rinpoche says is through engaging the three activities of hearing, thinking and meditating. Should one inquire why it is necessary, middle of page 10. This actually, is setting the question why is it necessary to generate bodhicitta because it is necessary to free swiftly those ordinary beings and so forth who are not freed from the obstructions to liberation. So then what she says, if we ask why it is necessary to generate bodhicitta within our mind stream, it is necessary to destroy the afflictions within our mind stream, which are the root of the sufferings, one undergoes in cyclic existence.
And at present, we are totally overwhelmed under the control of these afflictions, so we want to be freed from them. Should one inquire why it is necessary? This is the reason for which bodhicitta, ultimate bodhicitta has to be generated. There are four reasons here. First, because it is necessary to free swiftly those ordinary beings and so forth who are not freed from the obstructions to liberation.
Generally speaking, there are two categories of obstructions, the obstructions to liberation and the obstructions to full omniscience. The obstructions to full omniscience are the karmic imprints of the afflictions which remain in the mind. Both have to be eliminated and it is because we suffer and even certain aryas suffer from the obstructions to omniscience that they do not understand the actual mode of phenomenon. So this has to be dispelled. And this is the first reason for generating a bodhicitta as well as to free swiftly the assembly of the aryas who are not freed from the obstructions to omniscience, from the terror of the obstructions to omniscience.
So this refers to the, lower vehicle Ārya being, the Arhats who, even though they have attained liberation, have not attained full enlightenment and still are afflicted by Jñeyāvarana, by the obstructions to omniscience. The third reason is as well as to grant breath to beings in the evil realms, in other words, lower realms whose breath has been taken away by suffering. This refers to beings who have fallen in the lower realms and whose suffering is so great that they actually blaze with suffering. They suffer from fire and sometimes the suffering is so great they are fire for practical purposes. And the fourth reason for generating bodhicitta is in brief, to place swiftly all sentient beings who are not completely liberated.
In other words, who have not attained liberation into a state of complete liberation, which is a state where they are freed from all afflictions that is in a parinirvāṇa. And by extension, here, Khensur Rinpoche says in the the state of full Buddhahood. Although that is ex although it is explained as other than the intent of the treatise, those as yet unfreed are sentient beings of the three evil realms, the three lower realms, in other words, who are not liberated from the lower realms because of their oblivion to virtuous states of mind under the power of insupportable sufferings of suffering, such as heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and so forth. These are beings, Khensur Rinpoche says, whose sufferings are so great that they actually forget the very meaning of virtue. Now in this very life, we do know of elderly people who, suffer from Alzheimer’s and who do not recognize their own relatives.
The sentient beings in the lower realms, are so tormented by suffering that they are totally incapable. They are oblivious to, the virtuous states of mind. And then by extension, they are totally unable to practice any type of ethics or morality.
For instance, on the bottom of page 10, after the lord of the world, Ārya Avalokiteśvara went to the hell realms, the ground of the hell realms felt like milk. So the ground of the hell realms in function of the hell realms can be blazing or freezing, but through the blessings of Avalokiteśvara, it became cool like milk for the sake of beings. Likewise, on page 11, it is also said in the Sūtra of the stacking of vessels. This is actually an account of the life and the deeds of Avalokiteśvara. For the sake of the heresy one imbued with great compassion went.
The touch of the ground became lotus like and freed of suffering such as the heat. Likewise, those with, and you have to correct the translation, needle like lips. So those with needle like lips here actually refer to the pretas whose lips and whose throat by extension is so thin that no food can penetrate, upon whose mouth his hand is centered, the hand of with nectar’s word overcoming hunger and thirst in virtuous states of mind, he placed those of equal body fortune to bumblebees and so forth, attained the recitation of the names of the triple gem. Although gods, human beings, and ordinary beings are unfreed because their mental continuums are bound by the three poisons, these are desire, anger, and ignorance of the afflictions. The meaning of freeing them is placing them on a path partially concordant with liberation, which liberates from cyclic existence, regenerating the realization of ugliness, love, and the correct view.
These are the respective antidotes for ugliness to desire, for love to anger, and for the correct view of emptiness to ignorance, which act as antidotes to the three poisons. So in Tibet, there were great beings such as, Patrul Rinpoche Orgyen Sangbo, who reflected on the suffering of all beings so much that he cried endlessly and wet his garments with his tears. Such beings did exist. We ourselves unfortunately are not in this category. Unlike these great beings, we are completely mindless.
We do not think about how to practice virtue, which is a road upwards, and how to abstain from non virtue, which is a road downwards. We are completely oblivious to this. And instead, all we think about is talking, eating, fighting and so forth. And in so doing, we prepare the road for lower rebirths for us. So Rinpoche would like to encourage us instead of behaving in this way to engage in practice, which is the road to virtue, and to abstain from non virtue, which is the road to the lower realms.
There are many beings in in hell, in the hell realms. And the only difference between us and them them, the only thing which separates us from them is a small amount of breath in and out of our mouths. When that is cut, you will be born in the hell realms. Cause for rebirth in the lower realms, in the hell realms is nonvirtue. So if we practice nonvirtue, that’s where we go.
If we don’t, we don’t go there. Okay. Thank you.