Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute teaching, Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen maps the Five Mahāyāna Paths and Ten Grounds, starting with what makes a Dharma teaching pure—one traced back to Buddha’s Sutras and practiced by great masters. He explains why the Mahāyāna path fundamentally differs from the smaller vehicle, focusing on seven greatnesses: great objective, achievement, exalted wisdom, effort, skill and means, perfect achievement, and great activity. Bodhicitta—the commitment to achieve full enlightenment for all sentient beings—anchors the teaching. He then walks through the complete path: the two forms of bodhicitta (aspirational and engaging), vows, the view of selflessness, the thirty-seven limbs of enlightenment, and the six perfections. Suited to practitioners with some Buddhist background.
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File: 17 P and G.mp3
UUID: ccf456f2-b4f0-480e-8c03-208bb13cbf0c
Teacher: Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen
Collection: Paths and Grounds (Geshe Dhawa Gyaltsen)
Date: 1995 (exact day not recorded)
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 46.0 minutes
Words: ~2,036
So quoting from the teaching given by master Kedru Tenzin Gyatso, in which the teaching says: whatever practice that you engage in — the Dharma practice — or whatever Dharma teachings that we hear, they should be pure Dharma teachings, which is to say they should be pure. So those pure teachings are those which are taught by Buddha in the Sutras and in the secret teachings like the Tantras, the tantric teachings. And also those pure teachings that have been clarified by those great reformers, those great masters. And pure teaching also should be those teachings that those great masters have practiced, and have gained realizations from. So one should engage in that type of teaching.
So the pure Dharma teaching that we should hear or explain is that which is originated from these Sutras — the teachings from those Sutras — and not one that is explained by the foolish ones. So there are many false teachings, and besides that, there are other explanations or other teachings which are given. And through following some of these false teachings, some people explain that they have some experience out of these false teachings. So whatever we practice, those teachings should be pure ones — pure in the sense that those teachings have been practiced by those past masters, and realization has been gained out of that. And also, they should be teachings that originated from the Sutras, the teachings taught by Buddha — as example, how the source of water, or the spring, is rooted to its spring or a snow mountain. So similarly, our Dharma practice and the pure Dharma that we practice should be rooted to these Sutras taught by Buddha.
So all those teachings that have been clarified by those great masters, those great reformers — the essence of all those reformers, the essential teachings and quintessential teachings of those reformers — if summarized, can be summarized into these three: the practice that is done by the small scope, the practice that is done by the medium scope, and the practice that is done by the great scope. So it can be summarized into these three.
So we shouldn’t just stick to the practice of the small scope, but we should also do those practices that are explained as common practice in the small scope. And similarly, the common practice that is explained in the medium scope — these are what we should also study or learn about, just not just sticking to one like the small scope or the medium scope. So the reason that one shouldn’t just stick to the small scope or the medium scope is that we are practicing Mahāyāna teachings.
So whatever practice that we do — whether it becomes a Mahāyāna practice or not — totally depends upon our motivation. So the teaching that we will be listening to is a Mahāyāna teaching. So once one sets up a Mahāyāna motivation — setting up a Mahāyāna motivation to listen to the teachings — we do a short meditation here.
So I have finished explaining briefly on the Hīnayāna paths and grounds. So today, Geshe-la will explain the Mahāyāna paths and grounds, giving a short explanation of the Mahāyāna paths and grounds.
So as explained in the past teachings, there are five paths. There are five Mahāyāna paths. And also there are the ten grounds, the ten bhūmis. So a Mahāyāna path — a clear realization or the knowledge that leads to Mahāyāna enlightenment — is what a Mahāyāna path is. So within the Mahāyāna path, there are two paths which are known as the causal path and the resultant path.
The causal Mahāyāna path and the resultant Mahāyāna path. So these two paths can also be understood as: the causal path — the causal mind’s path — known as the Bodhisattva path. And the resultant path — the resultant mind’s path — known as the paths of the Buddhas.
So the Bodhisattva path is also a clear realization of a Bodhisattva — that which leads to achieving Mahāyāna liberation. So that is the Bodhisattva path. And what is bodhicitta? Normally we hear bodhicitta where we talk about bodhicitta a lot. So this mind, bodhicitta — what it observes is the entire sentient beings.
So it has the aspect of wishing to achieve the fully enlightened state, which means freeing from both the causes and result of sufferings, and achieving both the causes and the result of happiness. So to be able to do that, to be able to fulfill this wish, what we need on one side is the part of great compassion. And another part we need is the wisdom. And the wisdom and the great compassion together is what brings about this bodhicitta.
So the path which is conjoined with these two — or this bodhicitta — is the Mahāyāna path. And which has two: the resultant Mahāyāna path and the causal Mahāyāna path. So like Bodhisattva paths and trainings of the Bodhisattvas — and the training of complete aspects — and achievement through armor. And then Bodhisattva knowledge. There are different terms which are used for the same thing, like the Bodhisattva path. And from the Mahāyāna path, as explained in the past, there are also five, which are the path of accumulation, path of preparation, path of seeing, path of meditation, and the path of no more learning. Altogether these five — the first four are the causal Mahāyāna paths, and then the last one is the resultant Mahāyāna path.
So in order to generate this Mahāyāna path within the person, the person first has to be a Mahāyānist. So the family of Mahayanists — or the Mahāyānist follower — should be one who has no fear in the meaning of emptiness. And plus, out of great compassion, voluntarily accepting to work for others. That type of person. That type of person is known as the Mahāyāna family — or the follower of the Mahāyāna.
So for that person, first of all, in order to become a Mahāyāna follower, one first needs to generate the refuge. So how that particular person comes to seek refuge is that he or she generates great faith in the three refuge objects — by seeing the qualities and the activities of those enlightened beings, the activities of their body, speech, and mind — and aspires to their qualities and has interest in cultivating those qualities. And also, one who has fear in the suffering of the lower realms, and also in the general sufferings of saṃsāra. And also having fear in saṃsāra’s pleasures and in the peaceful state — having fear in saṃsāra’s comfort or saṃsāra’s pleasures, plus also having fear in the peaceful state.
So having fear in all these, and having interest in, and going towards, those refuge objects, and seeking refuge in them. So when a person does that, then that person enters the Mahāyāna path. So of those who enter the Mahāyāna path, there are two types of followers or beings: one who from the very beginning enters the Mahāyāna path, and another who first enters the small and medium scope and then enters the Mahāyāna path. So there are these two types.
So similarly, we do talk about the great vehicle and the small vehicle — like Mahāyāna and Hīnayāna. So in Tibetan, Mahāyāna means vehicle, or in English translation it is vehicle. So the next syllable, or word, means great — so great vehicle — and similarly small vehicle. And when we say great vehicle, the vehicle has seven greatnesses. Like the great vehicle — they are great in seven. They have seven greatnesses. So whatever is a Mahāyāna path, it should have these seven greatnesses.
So those seven greatnesses: the first is the great objective. So the great objective is that which possesses or holds the great Sūtra teachings. The second is the great achievement. And through the practice of compassion and bodhicitta, one achieves these two purposes — the purposes of self and others. And then the third is the great exalted wisdom. Which is the exalted wisdom that realizes this true selflessness.
And then the fourth is the great effort. So to achieve Mahāyāna enlightenment, one has to accumulate merit for three great aeons. And without accumulating merit for three great aeons, there is no way one can achieve Mahāyāna enlightenment. And that is how it is great — it is a great effort.
And then next is the great skill and means. So the Hearers and the Pratyekabuddha mainly engage — they mainly practice to abandon delusions. They put great effort into abandoning delusions. But the Bodhisattvas, or the Mahāyānist Bodhisattvas, they don’t take that as their main practice. Instead, they come into saṃsāra, and even then they don’t take abandoning delusions as their main thing. Because of their method, how they practice is known as the great skill and means. How they have the intention to take birth into saṃsāra and use delusions — like attachment — and transform that and use it to benefit others.
So then the sixth is the perfect achievement. So the great perfect achievements are that through these practices — like great compassion, bodhicitta, and so on — as a result, one achieves the qualities of the Buddha, like the ten powers and so on.
And then the seventh is the great activity. So they have great activity — not only when they are training on the path as Bodhisattvas, not only when they are training on the path, but even when they have achieved the fully enlightened state, they still have this great activity of working for others.
So any path that possesses these seven qualities, or that has these seven greatnesses, is known as the Mahāyāna path. So the path that has these seven greatnesses — there are also Bodhisattva paths which have these seven greatnesses. And similarly, there are the paths of Buddhas which also have these seven greatnesses. And similarly, all Mahāyāna paths are also known as the great achievements. The great achievements.
So again, the great achievements here — you achieve six. The six achievements. Which are: one is the greatness of abiding, which is abiding in the Mahāyāna path, abiding with the Mahāyāna motivation. And then another greatness is the great effort, which is the great effort that works for both purposes — the purpose of self and others. And then the great result. And another one is the great result — the great result that brings about the great enlightenment as a result. And then next is the great promise — making this great promise to work for all sentient beings. And then next is the great tolerance, which is able to tolerate all kinds of sufferings for the purpose of others. And then next is the great act — a great act that removes the suffering of all sentient beings.
So either of these two — the one with seven greatnesses or the one with six greatnesses — any path which has this greatness, one of these two, is known as the Mahāyāna path or the Bodhisattva path.
So the doorway to Buddhism is the refuge. Seeking refuge is the doorway to Buddhism. And then renunciation is the doorway to liberation. And then bodhicitta is the doorway to the Mahāyāna. So bodhicitta — which is the doorway to the Mahāyāna — has two types: the aspirational bodhicitta and the engaging bodhicitta.
So first, to generate bodhicitta within oneself, one takes the vow of these two bodhicittas — that is, the aspirational bodhicitta and the engaging bodhicitta. And then next, one takes the view — or holds the view — of true selflessness. You hold the view of true selflessness. And then you meditate — you meditate on the thirty-seven limbs of enlightenment. And then as a practice, you engage in the means of gathering the accumulations, and engage in the practice of the six perfections and so on. And through that, as a temporal achievement, one achieves one of the ten bhūmis. And as an ultimate achievement, you achieve the enlightened state, the fully enlightened state.
So the first — the two bodhicittas.