Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 45-minute teaching on Śāntideva’s Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra chapter nine, Kyabje Rinpoche addresses the foundational step before emptiness realization: understanding what must be negated. He uses an archery metaphor — the target is false belief in true existence, the arrow is the reasoning of dependent arising (Buddhism’s supreme reasoning for proving emptiness), and the archer is your meditating mind. He then unfolds this through the magician’s illusion: horses conjured by spell and trick appear real but exist only through causes and conditions. Similarly, all phenomena appear self-existent yet depend entirely on external bases, causes, conditions, and our mind’s grasping. If the magician’s horses could exist from their own side, why would they need the spell? By this logic, nothing can. For serious practitioners with prior study of Buddhist philosophy.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1994-11-15 – 15B – 9th Chapter – KR.mp3
UUID: 83c37544-98ab-408e-97a9-65694144f231
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Bodhisattvacaryāvatāra
Date: 1994-11-15
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,898
Rejected by ignorance. What are the implications? Are there any fallacies or not? So in this way, that very contemplation in this way about this topic really are in essence, the actual meditation on emptiness. Without coming without coming to an idea about the apparent existence from the part of phenomena which becomes without coming to the understanding about that which is to be negated there is no way one would come to realize emptiness.
So one firstly towards the strip to realize emptiness, one needs to have clear idea or understanding about what is actually to be disproved. What is that which is to be negated, to be proven. If one fails to have that part, then it would be like what are examples such as one trying to shoot an arrow without firstly seeing the target, one trying to wage war without firstly identifying who the enemy or enemies are. In the case of the first example, if one has not seen the target in the first place, then no matter one makes a big gesture about being so hyped up about shooting the arrow, one would not hit the target because one would not first see, would not be able to identify where the target is. One has not done that.
Similarly, as regards the second example, if one has not first identified who the enemies are, then one might end up getting into going all sorts of directions, but not being able to actually combat the enemy and be not able to have a successful war. That’s in classical period of the examples. So the target here is the that which is to be negated. That is the target or the object of disproving, the object of negation. Then if that is the target, which is the arrow?
Well, in accordance with the perfect teaching by Buddha Śākyamūni, presenting the reasoning of dependent arising, there is this format of reasoning, say in the case of Sprout. It goes, let Sprout be the investigative referent. It is not inherently existing because it is dependent arising. In other words, because it is dependent originated phenomena. So that very reasoning itself is the arrow to shoot at the target, reasoning.
The person shooting the arrow in this case is the person doing the meditation on emptiness. By applying the reasoning, which is like sharp pointed arrow, one would be able to eventually By applying the reasoning, which is like a sharp pointed arrow, one would eventually come to actually make a strike at the target, which in the present meaning case is to disprove that which is to be disproven, that which is to be negated. If that happens, then in the case of example, it would have been like where the accuracy of the shooter of the arrow hits the target, and the target is bombarded or collapsed, whatever the case be that it has made to that. Similarly here, by applying the reasoning, one then would strike the target, one would come to disprove their disprove their apparent existence from the part of the phenomena from its own side and then the object of negation or in a that which is to be negated actually gets negated then one understands emptiness. By applying the reasoning which can be seen as shooting the arrow when one is able to have the wisdom decisively coming to understand that the apparent apparent existence from the part of the phenomena is not to be found, in other words that that which is to be negated is not does not exist, it is not there at all.
When that comes about meaning when one has that wisdom or realizing that that which is to be negated is not there then that in meaning is what is called realization of emptiness. To hit the target in its proper context of example one needs an arrow. Here the arrow is the reasoning proving lack of true existence about phenomena. That is the arrow. Without arrow, one would have nothing to hit at the target.
Similarly, if one has not got good idea idea about the reasoning then one will not come to understand what is that which is to be negated. In that case it becomes that without the arrow one has not made to the target. Regarding the reasonings to prove emptiness about phenomena there are many reasonings amongst all the many reasonings the one which is considered the best, the sublime, most effective is the reasoning of dependent arising which literally is the reasoning of dependent arising origination, dependent arising arising. And it is given the metaphor as the king like reasoning, which in its case, in the path in society, king is considered by everyone as the topmost. So in that context, this reasoning as well at that time is given the metaphor as the king like.
Amongst the many reasonings to prove selflessness or non true existence, Buddha Śākyamūni has advised that the reasoning of dependent arising is like the king, the foremost reasoning and all other reasonings are like its entourage, which are already in meaning included in that reasoning. The great fourteenth century master teacher therefore says in his praise to dependent origination arising. Therefore says in his praise to dependent origination arising taught by the Buddha that the matchless reasoning of the essence of Buddha’s teaching has taught is taught is the reasoning of dependent arising. Accordingly, what that means is Buddha Śākyamūni has taught many reasonings of all. The most matchless one which surpasses all other reasonings is the reasoning of dependent arising, which proves the very essence of the teachings of the Buddha.
So meaning, therefore, even in such writings and teachings we find reference admiring the dependent arising reasoning as the matchless one. And therefore, Śāntideva appropriately says the line which quoted at the beginning of the evening, the truth of the ignorant ones is no different to illusion. What that means is the mundane beings who have not realized view and who are in that sense ignorant ones, they fabricate phenomena as truly existent although they are not truly existent and that is their truth but that is no different to the illusions produced by a magician who through in classical periods a magician would do that. Who who through certain spell, charming trick of a tree or a pebble of a rock or stone would transform out of them to a spectator illusion of horse or ox or elephant. So there is no difference between the two.
That is the remark made here. What that example part means is in the classical period, a magician would chant some mantras, a formula and then would charm a substance the basis it could be a twig of a tree or a small pebble, a piece of a stone and then would throw it in the arena of the shore before the spectators and then the eyes of the spectators get tainted by this spell charm and to the spectators therefore they appear, transform out of these bases, the horses, elephant, and so forth. They do appear as such to the spectators and spectators as well cling on to the grasping that there really are horses and elephants existing there. Like that example, in our case, we have in our mind, within our self, our continuum, within our continuum, in other words, in our mind stream, we have grasping that phenomena truly exist, literally grasping at true existence. Out of that true existence we project, fabricate that phenomena exist from their own part and phenomena apparently does seem to appear existing from their own path.
So there is from our part both the appearance of the phenomena as existing from their path as or from our side, the clinging that phenomena do exist from their side. In the case of the spectators, there do appear to their side horses and elephants. But in actual fact, there really is no, there are no elephant, horses and elephant existing by their own characteristics. In other words, that there, in actual fact, there are no horses and elephants actually existing there. Although to repeat back backwards that that is how to spectators how it appears.
And that very appearance is caused by the spell charm made on the basis of the illusion, the tricks, and the purpose. Similarly, in our case, as a mundane being, to our mind phenomena or things do appear as if they exist from their own characteristics, from their own side. And from our side as well we cling on to that. It is so much that the very moment that phenomena or things appear they do appear to our mind as if they exist from their own side and we do cling on to that. But likewise, in the actual fact, there is not a single phenomena to be found existing from their own side.
To put it very precisely, we can even say that there is not even a particle about any phenomena or thing which exist from their own side truly. There there isn’t at all. In the case of magical illusion that the spectacle of horses and elephants appearing comes about depending on many causes and conditions. The magician’s spell charm being charmed upon the substances, and then the substances gathered there, meaning being present there, the trick of a tree or a pebble, and then when these are gathered then the spectacle, the illusion appears. Now if the illusion, the horses and the elephants do exist from their own side independently, or truly inherently, then it would mean that they don’t have to depend at all on the magician’s spell and the gathering of the substance, the base the substance basis of the spell charm.
From their side, the there should be an actual horse or an elephant actually appearing as if we normally in conventional actually existing horse or elephant would exist that it should be there, conventionally existing. But that is not how it is that the illusory horses and elephants to appear in that way and exist. So do depend upon those factors. In the same way, any objects say table or our self or any other object or phenomena that they do appear to us as existing from their own side as well from our part. We cling on to the misconception that they do exist from their own side independently or truly.
But as regards their actual fact that they do appear so is dependent on so many factors gathering together becoming the causes and conditions upon which the whole appearance of those phenomena even as truly existing happens. To start with in our mind as an ordinary being in our mind there is grasping at true existence as well the imprint of grasping a true existence. When when these are present along with that when the external object appears then combination of these factors give rise to the appearance of the external phenomena as are truly existing from their own side. That it is this can be put in more detailed way that it is due to the cup and the table and so forth, any other objects being present there along with there being ignorance, the grasping of true existence as well the imprint of ignorance, the imprint of grasping a true existence when these are gathered then there does appear these objects or these phenomena as existing by their own characteristic, existing on their own side. So in this way even their apparent existence as from their own side for that to appear to our mind as well is dependent on so many factors conditions and so forth.
So they are dependently arising, dependently originated phenomena and this is what at this point in the ninth chapter the the teacher then explains it is similar to the case of a magician’s illusory spectacle. The illusory horses and elephants do appear as existing from their side as well there is clinging from the part of the spectators. Similarly in our case things do do appear as existing from their side as well we from our part we do have clinging that that is so. But yet all these in the respective case arises with dependence on causes and factors getting together, that without dependence on their causes and factors that would not appear or be coming to being so. This very then is the essence of the present and analysis that because in these ways they depend on causes and conditions they are non independent, they are not independently existing phenomena that they are dependently originated phenomena.
Shall stop here for this evening. And as regards this present reasoning, the reasoning of dependent origination, we shall go through it more in future Tuesday evening sessions and to put the translation, Rinpoche would like therefore to continuously explain about this reasoning reasoning dependent arising, and the reason why I would like to continue explaining about it is because this reasoning is extremely precious in the sense through it one can come to so much understanding regarding the reality, the way things exist. So in that way, we’ll continue it in next Tuesday evenings and so forth. One needs a good wisdom as for good memory mindfulness. Whatever is gone over, one needs to retain them, not forget them.
And then in next part, meaning additional instructions and insight one gains, one brings them as additional instruction on top of what one has not forgotten and retained and retain it as well and then progress will come about. It would be like the example if one is to build a house, firstly one needs to have a good foundational base, and upon that one one has to stack all the necessary cornerstone and base, and then the wall and then the house becomes good. So in this way it would be very very good if one goes about in that way. As regards the learning part and taking interest in the instruction by way of hearing and so forth are very important where our mind which does the learning part is like the field and instructions and the insight we gather are like the seed being planted onto the field of mind and as the seed, it’s nurturing and so forth gets more and more looked after, then there will be very good germination, a spark of realizations on the view and its understanding. Without sowing the seed, there will be no sprout germinating.
So if there are any questions we shall have few minutes, it’s a bit late. First of all, one has to identify well what the thought is, and then one makes the analysis whether the thought exists from its own characteristic or not. And when one finds that the thought does not exist from its own characteristics, so in other words, does not exist from its own side, then one is getting to a point where the arrow is making to the target. Well, When one is directly realizing emptiness during that session, while mind is on direct realization, then there would be no labeling because all dualism has subsided. But obviously, before going into session, one would have the notion things are labeled and including emptiness itself, but not during the actual session when the mind is meditating on emptiness.
During that time, the person doesn’t have to label at emptiness. Of course, generally, phenomena are labeled by their name, but interpretively that’s why there is emptiness of emptiness. It doesn’t exist. It wouldn’t be very enjoyable. It’s like someone who on drugs gets spaced out.
It’s so much enjoyable seriously that out of so immense joy joyfulness, enjoyableness that there is spontaneous shedding of tears from the eyes and the hair of the body rising upward. Upwards. In our general case, some people, they are so happy even if you console them, they still keep crying. Coming to actual serious point definitely there is immense bliss in the mind. Already already before going into the attempt to realize emptiness, one would have trained so much on altruism, wanting to remove the sufferings of sentient beings and bring them happiness.
And if that was already of what has proceeded, then at the time when one realized emptiness, one gets the notion, the awareness, that now I have got the means by which I can actually do that. So out of such realization or awareness recognition, one really feels so much joyfulness in the mind. For example, if we have very important project to accomplish and if the project is as well so huge that it requires so much time and effort, hard work so forth, and in the actual or accomplishing of the project one really put put so much effort then if it comes to a point one has one day accomplished successfully the project we can then imagine how a person would feel so much joyfulness. Now that when compared to the joyfulness, in the case of emptiness realization it might be said there is hundreds thousand times more joyfulness in it compared to that. One would gain greater faith in the teachings than Dharma, one would have greater diligence towards the teaching and more conviction in the teachings.
Okay. Thank you. Thank you.