Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 49-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche explores how the two accumulations of merit and wisdom correspond to the two truths of reality and ultimately give rise to the two bodies of a Buddha. He opens with Nāgārjuna’s presentation of Buddhahood as the union of dharmakaya (the truth body, realizing emptiness) and rupakaya (the form body, fulfilling others’ welfare), then traces the causal pathway: wisdom realizing emptiness leads to dharmakaya, while bodhicitta and the six perfections lead to rupakaya. He connects this framework to the Prajñāpāramitā teachings on vast and profound practices, and concludes with personal reflection on cultivating bodhicitta over decades, emphasizing that transformation takes sustained effort and daily contemplation rather than ritual alone. Suited to serious practitioners familiar with Madhyamaka philosophy.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 2023-05-02 – 1A – Semkye and Jenang Melb – KR.mp3
UUID: 204053d4-dc0f-4c14-bd26-f4911c4bc5fb
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Chenrezig
Date: 2023-05-02
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,618
Can the members recite the Heart Sūtra, please? Nāgārjuna states in the Sixty Verses on Reasoning, he makes an aspirational prayer that may by the virtue of this deed and that all beings accomplish the accumulations of merit and wisdom, and thereby actualize the resultant state which is the embodiment of the two noble kayas, the noble kaya of dharmakaya, the truth body, and the noble kaya of form body, rupakaya. So here Nāgārjuna explains how the state of Buddhahood, which is the ultimate object of aspiration, is in fact a state that is characterized by the union of two kayas, the two embodiments of the Buddhahood. And these being and these represent the fulfillment of the two interests, the self interest of the practitioner and also the interest of others other sentient beings. And the perfection of the the self interest is represented by the form kaya, the form body or the rupakaya, while the perfection of others’ well-being sorry, the perfection of one’s own self interest, the practitioner’s own self interest is represented by the dharmakaya, the truth body, while the perfection of others’ well-being, welfare is represented by the realization of the form body, the rupakaya.
So this shows there is a correspondence between the causal stage and the resultant state of Buddhahood. On the causal stage, for example, it is the realization of emptiness, it’s the wisdom realizing emptiness that is complemented by bodhicitta, the altruistic intention, which is the primary factor that give rise to the actualization of dharmakaya. Because dharmakaya is defined as a state, ultimate enlightened state, where there is a total dissolution of all forms of conceptual and verbal elaborations. So when we speak of dharmakaya as being a state that is constituted by total dissolution of all elaborations. We understand elaborations in different there are many different kinds of elaborations.
For example, like there is the elaboration of conceiving intrinsic existence of things. There is the elaboration of the intrinsic existence itself, which needs to be negated. There is the elaboration of seeing the multiplicity of the world of objects. Then there is also the elaboration of having the simple perception of the conventional reality. And dharmakaya is defined as a state where all these various elaborations have been totally dissolved.
Insofar as the Buddha’s omniscient mind’s insight or experience of emptiness is concerned, there is a totality and there is a unity. And given that dharmakaya is a state that represents the total dissolution of these conceptual elaborations. So at the causal stage, the factor that gives rise to the eventual realization of dharmakaya must also share correspondence and resemblance to that. And that is the main cause for giving rise to the actualization of dharmakaya is the non conceptual direct realization of emptiness that takes place on the path of seeing onwards. And in order for such non conceptual direct experience of emptiness to arise, it must be preceded by first understanding of emptiness developed at the level of intellect on the beginner’s stage, such as when the practitioner is mere ordinary person.
So you can see that there is a direct correlation between the causal factors that give rise to the realization of dharmakaya and the dharmakaya, which is the resultant state. And similarly, the causal factor that give rise to realization of the form body is primarily the Bodhisattva path of deeds embodied in the principles and practices of the six perfections. Primarily the six perfections and also the underlying motive of the enlightened intention. And because the Buddha’s form body, unlike the Dharmakāya, represents the perfection and fulfillment of others’ well-being. And form body of the Buddha is characterized by a world of diversity, world of multiplicity.
It also represents the manifestations of the Buddha’s enlightened speech in correspondence to the diverse needs and interest of the sentient beings. And also, it, assumes many different forms of emanation in relation to the needs of the sentient beings. So just as the the form body of the Buddha is characterized by diversity, the causal conditions that give rise to that must also share that similarity of diversity. Therefore, it is the practices of the six perfections, it is the practices of the cultivation of enlightened intention, bodhicitta, that really eventually give rise to the realization of the form body. So the question is, what makes it possible for these two accumulations to exist, accumulation of merit and accumulation of wisdom as a means for actualizing the perfect Buddhahood, which is an embodiment of the Rūpakāya and Dharmakāya.
Now the reason why there are two primary causal factors, the two primary accumulations, is because in reality, the reality is constituted by two worlds, one could say, or two levels of reality. There is the world of diversity, there is the world of everyday experience, and there is the world which is described as the world of perception, the world of appearance. And yet there is also the world of ultimate nature of reality, the way in which things really exist. And the world of appearance is constituted by diversity, multiplicity, and so on, while the world of ultimate reality is constituted by unity, oneness, and so on. And given that there are two different aspects to the reality and correspondence to these two natures of reality or two aspects of reality, there are two primary aspects of the path, the method aspect of the path, which is characterized by diverse skillful means, such as the perfections and so on, while there is the wisdom aspect of the path which is characterized by the practice of cultivating the wisdom of emptiness.
And so therefore, we can see a very close correlation between the actual nature of reality, the reality of the two truths, the world of two truths, and the path which is based upon it, which is constituted by accumulation of merit and accumulation of wisdom, and the eventual fruition of that path, which is the attainment of Buddhahood, which is characterized by the union of form body and truth body, dharmakaya and rupakaya. And this insight into the two primary, two principal aspects of the path can also be found in the understanding of the Prajñāpāramitā wisdom scriptures, where one understands when one understands these scriptures, one understands it in terms of two different levels of two different aspects of subject matter. On the one hand, there is the explicit subject matter, which is the teachings on emptiness. Then there is the hidden subject matter, which is the stages of the path that is associated with one’s deepening realization of emptiness. So these two aspects of the path are also called the vast practices, which refers to the skillful means aspect, and profound practices, which refers to the practices associated with cultivating the wisdom of emptiness.
Therefore, Nāgārjuna, when summarizing the essential points that he had spoken about in his fundamentals of the middle way, he makes this concluding statement that all the teachings that the Buddha has presented, he did so by means of the two teachings on the two truths. Similarly, has stated in his supplement to the middle way, Madhyamakāvatāra, where he writes in a poetic stanza that comparing the conventional truth to a wing and the realization of emptiness as the other wing. And by using these two wings of conventional truth and ultimate truth, one can cross the the ocean of reality and and transcend it. So today we will begin the session with the ceremony for generating the mind for enlightenment. Basically, the bodhicitta, the generation of bodhicitta, the altruistic intention is something that one needs to cultivate within oneself on the basis of training the mind and engaging in the thought processes, rather than expecting it to arise in the context of participating in a ceremony.
For example, Atisha has stated that the two minds of enlightenment, referring to the altruistic intention, which is the conventional bodhicitta, and the ultimate bodhicitta, which is the realization of emptiness, direct realization of emptiness. He wrote that, as far as, these two minds of enlightenment are concerned, even if, the realization of these takes eons, and this is fine for him. So the point being made is that, it is something that is, that will take time. Although this is just an aside and an anecdote, one of the great Tibetan masters, meditators, he stated that he spent twelve years of meditation on the meaning of two mantras from the Yamāntaka Sadhana. These two mantras, he is said to have made the comment that he spent twelve years meditating on the meaning of these two mantras, which are associated with the meditation on emptiness, which shows that the kind of dedication that was required. But for us, when we do the Yamāntaka Sadhana, we recite these two mantras very easily, and then it’s gone.
So although the ceremony that we are performing today, although by participating in this ceremony, we cannot expect ourselves to actually gain the realization of bodhicitta, the altruistic intention in us, simply by participating in this ceremony. But what we can do is to, as a result of participating in this ceremony of generating the altruistic intention, then if we take it upon ourselves to constantly engage in the thought processes of training the mind by reciting these verses on a daily basis, and then try to deepen our experience of it by engaging in the thought processes, then gradually we will become more and more familiar with the sentiments of these verses. And we will also become more and more familiar with the ideals of the bodhicitta. And gradually we might be able to gain deeper levels of experience. Of course, it is unrealistic to expect that as a result of performing this ceremony, when we end the session and we leave this hall, that all the students would have become Bodhisattvas, and the teacher would have become fully enlightened and transcend.
For example, in the case of my own personal experience, as I briefly mentioned yesterday, that I took deep interest in the practices in my teens, and then particularly in my late 20s, especially after coming to exile in India, in my late 20s, I really began to make very strenuous efforts in my deepening my understanding of the teachings on emptiness, and did a lot of meditation on this. Although even today I cannot claim to have the realization of emptiness, but I felt that as a result of deepening my studies of understanding of emptiness in India in the late twenties, as I delved further and further, I felt that I could sort of almost smell what realization of emptiness must feel like. I could smell its odour. And I felt at that time, developed opinion that, yes, the idea of liberation, the idea of moksha does make tremendous sense. Yes, realization of moksha, attainment of liberation is possible.
And also I felt that if I were to attain liberation, if I were to attain the truth of cessation, then I can afford to take a very long rest. I’ll lie down and I’ll take a long rest, a long respite. And at that time, however, whenever I thought about bodhicitta, the altruistic intention, although I had tremendous admiration for the sentiments and the ideals the practice of bodhicitta represented. At that time, I used to feel quite remote from these practices. They seemed so impossible.
They seemed so difficult. However, in my thirties, when I started to receive teachings on the Śāntideva’s text Bodhicaryāvatāra, and began serious practice of Śāntideva’s teachings. Then gradually my feelings changed, and I felt that although I cannot claim to have realization of bodhicitta, particularly the bodhicitta of exchanging and equalizing self and others, but in my 30s as a result of these efforts, I felt that at least if I have the opportunity to engage in the serious practice, bodhicitta is something that is achievable, that can be realized, it is something that I can realize, then I began to really feel much more closer, a sense of closeness and a sense of, intimacy with the sentiments and the ideals of the bodhicitta practice. So the point is that it shows that the realization and experience of these matters is something that takes time. Of course, among the members of the audience here, there might be some a few individuals who, as a result of their past karmic potentials, that for you, the realization may take place much more quickly.
But as for the rest of us, it is important to understand that realizations take time, and it takes time and effort. But however, it is very clear that transformation can and do take place in one’s mind. And it’s also quite clear that when such positive transformations do take place, then this has a tremendous impact within one’s mind that it gives one a sense of deep satisfaction, a sense of fulfillment that one has made one’s existence meaningful. And also it really gives rise to a tremendous feeling of inner strength. So if we were to cultivate these ideals on a daily basis, cultivate the familiarity with them, cultivate the familiarity with such insights as the understanding of no-self as a result of engaging in deep analysis.
And also when you cultivate familiarity with the altruistic intention bodhicitta, the aspiration to attain Buddhahood. And as you deepen your familiarity with these practices on a day to day basis, on a daily basis, then gradually you will really cultivate a kind of a basic outlook of mind which has a kind of a strength and depth so that when, as I pointed out in one of my earlier talks, that when you have that kind of very strong, basic, spiritual kind of outlook, then it makes it more difficult for very forceful negative emotions such as hatred and anger to arise in you. And of course, when forceful emotions like anger and hatred arises, at that very instant it is almost impossible to really call to one’s mind the practice of bodhicitta and the practice of realization of no self, emptiness. However, as a result of your deepening familiarity with these practices, if you have cultivated a basic, very healthy and sound outlook, then not only does it prevent future arising of forceful negative emotions, but also even when these negative emotions do arise, they tend to be more fleeting. They don’t tend to last and leave lasting damages in you.
And between these two, of course, in dealing with negative emotions such as anger and hatred, it seems that the cultivation of bodhicitta, the altruistic intention, is much more powerful and has a more kind of direct impact. However, it is the deepening of one’s insight into emptiness that really will give you a deep sense of conviction in effectiveness of these spiritual practices. I mean, of course, sometimes there is a tendency, and also it tends to become the custom or kind of a tradition that sometimes in our Dharma practice, we tend to take the rituals and the chanting and the recitation of the mantras as somehow being the main practice. And we tend to neglect the actual contemplations, the reflections that are important, such as the meditations that I described, which of course is also harder than doing the chanting and reciting the mantra. So it is important to recognize that in fact, engaging in these contemplations, these reflections is in fact the main practice.
This is the most important, you know, while chanting.