Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche begins with the awakening heart motivation—the resolve to attain full enlightenment to liberate all beings—then pivots to the philosophical foundation of this path. Drawing on Nāgārjuna and Candrakīrti, he introduces the five modes of reasoning for understanding emptiness: analysis of entity, cause, result, their combination, and dependent arising. The Buddha counsels analytical verification rather than faith alone, using a three-fold method Rinpoche illustrates through assaying gold. He presents emptiness not as mere doctrine but as the key to severing ignorance—the root of cyclic suffering. The teaching emphasizes reasoned analysis over scriptural authority, suitable for practitioners ready to engage the subtle analytical reasoning required by this tradition.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1991-05-30 – 12A – KR.mp3
UUID: f77f8fb0-31ab-42df-9319-08e6eb2928f5
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Entering the Middle Way
Date: 1991-05-30
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,369
Begin by adjusting your motivation, developing the awakening heart. So now we have a wonderful opportunity which is presented to us by this complete human life by means of which we can practice the Dharma. What is it that we want? We want a type of happiness which is completely free of any suffering, which is unremitting and unchanging. And how are we going to achieve this unchanging happiness bereft of all suffering?
It is dependent upon our own minds. And how are we to develop such a mind? It is by the elimination of all the various flaws and faults within the mind and the development of all the various positive healthy states of mind. And how are we going to achieve this in whereby we’re going to eliminate the various unhealthy factors within our mind and cultivate the various healthy factors.
It is through the development of positive patterns within the mind. Out of these positive patterns of mind will arise various positive types of conduct. So we have these two factors we’re working with: components of mind and body. Through positive patterns of mind, we will then conduct ourselves in a positive, physical fashion. So of the two, mind and body, the main is that of mind, that all our experiences trace back to the mind itself.
So what types of positive patterns are we seeking to cultivate? The healthiest that we can begin to cultivate is that of the kind heart, and this is embodied in the thought that considering ourselves and others and how we are troubled and the various sufferings that we all experience, developing love and compassion, a type of kindheartedness which seeks to lead others out of their suffering and to establish them in complete happiness. Can we But though this is a very healthy intention, very positive, can we actually achieve it? And when we look, we see that we don’t presently have the ability to bring it about, in fact. How can we achieve this in fact?
If I were to eliminate all of my various faults and develop all of my excellent qualities to the consummate end, then I would have the ability whereby to lead all beings from out of their suffering and out of their happiness out of their suffering and to establish them in complete happiness. What do we yes. And then initially, how how am I to eliminate all my various thoughts? How am I to bring to consummation my excellent qualities? So into this end, we must necessarily be able to identify the various faults, and we must be able to come to understand the various methods whereby to eliminate these faults.
So it entails these two aspects, identifying, recognizing our faults, and understanding the various methods to eliminate them. And how am I to go about identifying the various faulty factors and learning about the methods whereby to eliminate these factors, the methods to eliminate these factors? By listening to the various texts on the great vehicle, by reflecting on the meaning, and then by cultivating them in meditation, then we can begin to identify what are the faulty factors and implement the methods to remove them from our minds. So for the next few minutes we’re going to cultivate as our motivation the awakening heart. That in order to achieve this in that I am going to physically going to listen to the various teachings whereby I can come to reflect upon them and and cultivate them.
And to implement these within my physical being whereby I shall be seeking to eliminate all the various coarse faults of my body, verbally, to eliminate all my coarse faults of speech, and to put my body and mind and speech to the end of benefiting all sentient beings. So cultivate the awakening heart motivation for listening to this present teaching. So, quoting from a verse by the great Master Nāgārjuna from his text, The Treatise on the Fundamental Wisdom, wherein the Buddha himself prophesied that there would appear in India such a Master of the Middle Way. And within this text Nāgārjuna says that, Not born from other, nor born from self, born from both, and nor born without cause. Nothing whatsoever is produced in either of these ways.
So Nāgārjuna composed the text, Fundamental Treatise on Wisdom in order to revive the then degenerated middle way view in order to revive it and propagate it. He composed this text in which the quote was taken from that nothing whatsoever is born from self produced from self other, no cause, or both. Both are no cause. So in coming to an understanding of emptiness, it’s not sufficient merely to rely upon scriptural authority, mainly one has to rely upon cultivating cultivation through reasoning and by means of investigating the nature of emptiness. The Buddha himself said that in coming to an understanding of emptiness, do not rely upon solely do not solely rely upon scriptural authority, but mainly rely upon your own reasoning.
So, in that same text the Buddha went on to say that those who have that one is not to accept my teachings simply out of respect or liking for myself, that is not sufficient reason. So the Buddha went on to say the reason that I teach is to benefit the students, those disciples. And I teach in varied manners according to each of the students and therefore simply to accept what I say out of faith in me is not sufficient but one must analyze it and reason with it according to one individual understanding. So, how are we to carry on an investigation of the teachings as to their actual validity? We should carry on, we should analyze in manner of a three pronged analysis to determine whether the teaching is valid or not.
And upon seeing no fault, upon applying the three pronged analysis, then we can accept it. So we are to apply this threefold analysis with respect to the teachings, and the analogy which is made use of is that in the case of the buying of gold, that when one purchases gold, of course the seller is going to say it’s of the highest quality, but we cannot simply accept it on the word of the seller, that we have to assay the gold. And we should there’s a threefold method of assaying the gold. First, it is burnt and upon burning, this is a coarse way to investigate. And if that passes that test, then it is cut and this is a more subtle way of assaying the gold.
And finally, it is rubbed with a black stone to see whether a mark is left upon the gold. And then if this test is satisfied, then we can understand the fine quality of the gold and we can be assured it it is in fact pure. And the same as threefold analysis is to be applied to assay the teachings as to their validity and their purity. So we are to apply an analytic reason to the a process of analysis to the teachings of the Buddha. And there are three levels of analysis which we are to make to apply to whatever has been taught.
And the first of these is that it should not be there should be no fault found through means of direct cognition. Types of valid cognition, the first is of direct cognition. It should not in any way be contradicted by our direct cognition of the way things are. Having passed that test, then it should be not contradicted by an inference by means of cogent evidence, or inference by another way of translating inference by means of the actual fact inference by means of the actual fact, or cogent evidence. If it then if having passed that test, then we go on to the most subtle, and that is to say it should be not contradicted by inference of the hidden.
And then having, if the, whatever the teaching is, if it is able to withstand analysis and not to be contradicted by means of this threefold reasoning, threefold analytic process, then it can be safely said to be without fault, is valid, and can be accepted and trusted as being actual fact. So emptiness is a subtle phenomenon, and it’s necessary to let it be understood through reasoned analysis. It cannot be understood solely on the basis of scriptural authority, and it is by means of exercising reasoned analysis, making use of our reasoning, that we will develop our wisdom. In general, the reasoned understanding of emptiness is presented by Nāgārjuna in his Treatise Wisdom in almost an infinite variety of methods in order to settle the meaning of emptiness. So the meaning of emptiness is settled by means of hundreds of infinite variety of reasons.
As was mentioned, Nāgārjuna presents in his Treatise on the Fundamental Wisdom almost an infinite variety of reasons as a means to settle the meaning of emptiness. In the present text, Entering Into the Middle Way, composed by Candrakīrti, is a commentary written to the treatise. And in it, Candrakīrti seeks to multiply the number of reasons and to clarify those reasons. Because what is being mainly taught is emptiness, and we are seeking to understand the meaning of emptiness, we must make use of the reasonings by which we understand the meaning of emptiness. Mainly we’re going to present the various, of the various reasons by means of which we can meditate on coming to an, in order to come to an understanding of emptiness, we can make use of five modes of reasoning.
These are the, by this is, we can make use of correct signs or correct reasons, and there are five. So the first is in terms of entity as a sign. And we are analyzing as to whether the entity of all phenomena is truly existent or not. And in order to come to an understanding of that, we determine by means of the reason one or many. One or many.
So beginning to investigate as to the entity, whether the entity is truly existent or not, and we’re going to take as our basis of illustration a sprout. And sprout in Tibetan language is nyugu. And this was taken directly from into Tibetan as nyugu, and maybe we can take it into the Australian language as nyugu. But anyway, it means the sprout, and a sprout is, you know, a farmer plants a seed, and corn or rice or barley, and a shoot arises. And this small shoot is what we’re talking about, what we call a nyugu or a sprout.
So this is this first reasoning is really an excellent reasoning for non-true existence. We’re going to analyze the sprout itself, the entity of the sprout itself as to whether it truly exists or not, and we’re going to analyze it in terms of the reason of one and many. Okay. So the first one we’re going to the first type of reasoning will be in terms of the entity. The second line of reasoning will involve the cause.
A sprout arises from a cause, that is to say something produces the sprout. So we’re going to investigate, we’re going to analyze whether the cause of the sprout is truly existent or not. And the reasoning that we’re going to make use of is called the diamond slivers reasoning. Reasoning by way of the diamond slivers. So, the first is that we’re going to reason in terms of entity.
The second we’re going to reason in terms of the cause. The third mode of reasoning we’re going to reason in terms of the result. The sprout is itself a result, but it also gives rise to a result. So we’re going going to analyze the result or the effect or result of the sprout as to whether the result of that sprout is truly existent or not. And the line of reasoning we’re going to make use of is called the refutation of production from existent or nonexistent.
That’s the type of reasoning that we’re going to make use of. So, So we’ve looked at in terms of, so this is a very detailed way of reasoning. We’re going to look at whether the entity that is the sprout itself is truly existent or not, then whether the cause of the sprout is truly existent or not, whether the result of the sprout is truly existent or not. Then the fourth mode of reasoning, we say, well, if each, if the cause and the result, each of those are not true existent, maybe both are true existent. So, we’re going to see whether the cause and the result taken together are truly existent or not.
And the line of reasoning that we make use of is called refutation of the four modes of production. Refutation of the four modes of production. Then the fifth line of reasoning is called the king of reasonings, and this is the reasoning in terms of dependent arising. So these five lines of reasoning are extremely powerful and very beneficial. According to a verse in which the Buddha is speaking about what is the root of sentient beings wandering in cyclic existence and continually suffering. The Buddha was said to have compassion hundreds of times greater than that of a parent for their child.
Just as in the case of when a child is suffering, the parents are unable to sleep or eat, and it’s due to their great compassion and caring for their child. Likewise, the Buddha constantly was concerned about the freeing beings from their suffering, and always was seeking means and methods whereby to free them from their suffering. So the Buddha sought the root of the continual process of wandering within cyclic existence. And he saw that all of the various sufferings traced back to the obscuring ignorance, which prevented one from understanding emptiness, peace, and birthlessness, the unborn. So, the Buddha set forth these five reasonings as a means by which to understand emptiness, peace, and birthlessness rather than unborn, birthlessness.
So mainly, among the first three reasonings, the first