Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A live translation puzzle opens this 64-minute commentary by Geshe Pema Tsering: a single Tibetan particle can mean either “in a pure land” or “to create a pure land,” and Geshe-la argues the second reading is correct. He explains how bodhisattvas on the eighth through tenth grounds — having realised the equality of saṃsāra and nirvana — begin purifying themselves and their environment to establish a Buddha’s pure land, using a seed-germination analogy: all prior practice fertilises the seed; reaching the pure grounds is when it finally sprouts. The session then covers skillful means: the instruction, drawn from the perfection-of-wisdom sutras, to meditate on the emptiness of one’s own practices — and on the emptiness of that emptiness — as the method for actually accomplishing the pure land.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 16 OCR 2005 04 28.mp3
UUID: 319eae5e-64ad-4190-8d1b-e00c7765e9d6
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Ornament for Clear Realisations (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2005-04-28
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 63.7 minutes
Words: ~3,962
It’s we’re gonna finish We’re gonna finish the what do you call it? Clear Ornament of Realizations. Yeah. That’s it. I’ve heard that somewhere before.
In two weeks, and then we’re supposed to be starting on the Sublime Continuum. Such a good word, sublime. Anyway, I said to Geshe-la, like, we’re doing that ahead of schedule. So if these guys are interested, could you spend one week actually teaching us the prayer that we say every week and going through it? And he goes, they wouldn’t be interested in that.
So Yes. Right. Are you sure? Yeah. Because, like, he was Yes.
I’m He goes, okay. If they wanna know, that means that I should know to teach them. Anyway, okay. We’ll see what I can do. I just thought of it on I don’t know because I just he said to ask you guys because he’s saying it all the time.
So, please develop the right motivation or the most appropriate motivation for listening to teachings from the clear ornament of realization. Ornament of ornament. Right. Ornament of clear realizations. That is that by listening to these teachings, and specifically tonight, we’re going to look at topic number ten, which is application in a pure land.
So by listening to these teachings, may that act as a cause for us to actually develop the ability to practice this application in a pure land, which is one of the final things that you do before you become a Buddha. And as through becoming Buddhas, then be able to benefit all sentient beings. Okay. So what the application in the pure lands refers to is just discussed in a sūtra. I don’t know if Geshe will say which sūtra.
Hang on. Okay. So in the in one of the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras, the Buddha talks about the application in the pure land. And the way that he describes this application in the pure land is by saying that in order for for bodhisattvas to become buddhas, the way that they should practice is the six perfections. And if a bodhisattva was to practice the six perfections, then as that creates the causes for Buddhahood, then the realm that they would establish or the realm that they would create through those practices would be a pure land.
So, what we see at the moment is the realm that is created by the beings who inhabit Earth. So, there’s all sorts of things that we see in the Earth. We see beings suffering from intense starvation, suffering from intense heat. Intense heat, and there’s also starvation. Anyway, from starvation and thirst and diseases and all of these things.
Right? So, all of those suffering, these types of suffering that beings experience on earth that we can see come about because of the karma that they have created, that they’re experiencing the results of. The delusions that they have and the karma that they created based on those delusions has led them to experiencing the result of being born or creating, you know, coming together to create a place like earth, having the collective karma of being born on earth and experiencing results of being being in human body on this planet. And we can see those results with our eyes. Now if someone was a highly realized bodhisattva that was creating the causes for attaining Buddhahood or that they were a Buddha themselves, the environment that they created would be nothing like the environment that we experience now.
So we experience the results of karma and the delusions that we have experienced or created in the past. By the same token, the Buddhas and Bodhisattvas would experience the results of practicing the six perfections which would be a pure land. So there would be no suffering in that environment. There would be no experience of thirst, experience of hunger, there would be no confusion, there would be no tiredness. There wouldn’t be any of these things in that environment because it’s the result of practicing the six perfections as opposed to the result of karma and delusion.
Alright. This is why Yeah. Yeah. You could say. Uh-oh.
Uh-oh. Alright. So this is what it says in the this translation that we have in front of us on page one hundred and fifteen. The world of sentient beings, likewise, the world of the environment are pure. Establishing purity.
Establishing them in the purity of that is the purity of a Buddha land. Alright. So the reason that this is explained after after it’s explained after the equanimity of saṃsāra and the application of the equality of cyclic existence and peace is because having understood the equanimity of cyclic existence and peace. The next thing what that leads to is the establishment of a pure land. Right?
So the understanding that there is emptiness, that nirvana and Samsāra are equal in being empty leads to the development of a pure land in which a person will be the Buddha of that pure land. So once you’ve understood that Samsāra and nirvana are both equal in being empty of inherent existence and there is no even slight clinging to one and holding on to the other, then the next thing that comes from that is this development of a pure land in in which one becomes the Buddha. So as it says in the commentary to the commentary to the to the ornament of clear realizations by Haribhādra, it says, having equality towards both of these, that being saṃsāra and nirvana, and meditating on that meditating on that equality means that a person will turn into a Buddha in a pure land. By having an understanding of the equality of saṃsāra and nirvana, that means that you are not only transforming yourself into a Buddha, but your environment into a pure land. If you understand the equality or the equanimity of saṃsāra nirvana.
It’s it’s the environment that change your perception of the environment that changes as well as the being themselves. Mhmm. So this this practice of the application in a pure land. Sorry. Today is best to ask you a slow question.
So I went to say that what they said in the translation in your application in a pure land and realized that this didn’t quite fit with what Geshe-la was saying. So I just I went I went to set it up. That doesn’t make sense. And so I had to double check with him. So he said that he I said they translated it here as application in a pure land, and what you’re saying sounds application to create a pure land as opposed to an application in a pure land.
And then there’s this strange grammatical twist in Tibetan that you can say the same sentence and it can mean application in a pure land or it can mean application in order to get a pure land. Land. Alright? See, because it’s the it’s one particle that’s used in two different cases. Alright?
So he said that it doesn’t make sense to him why it would be application in a pure land because if you’re in a pure land, you weren’t doing any applications. Yeah? And so it’s what it’s talking about is getting rid of the things that create impurities in both the person and the environment in order to manifest the Sambhogakāya. Alright? In order to manifest the enjoyment body, which is the body of the Buddhas, the teachers, Ārya or supreme Bodhisattvas.
So bodhisattvas who perceived emptiness and are at that level, are on their way along the path of meditation begin to perceive the pure lands of Buddhas and perceive the Buddha’s teaching as, excuse me, the Sambhogakāya aspect as opposed to the Nirmana Kaya aspect or an emanation of something. So they purify both themselves and their environment, right, state, to create a pure realm in which Bodhisattvas can receive teachings and the pure aspect of themselves which is the Sambhogakāya. So this is working for the benefit of other sentient beings by creating an environment in which fully highly realized bodhisattvas can receive direct teachings without any obscurations through the environment. Alright? And it’s working for themselves to work towards Buddhahood.
Yeah. So there’s these two aspects. There’s a purification of themselves and a purification of the environment. Okay. So So there’s this word in Tibetan, which means world.
Well, it’s what they’ve translated as world anyway. It literally means a container or a base for existence. So it can actually mean you can that’s when they say the world of sentient beings, it doesn’t mean a world in which sentient beings live. It means the world of a sentient being. A sentient being is considered a world a container.
He said he said, you better be careful about explaining this because if they understand it, that’s good. If they don’t understand it, you’re just gonna be talking and they’re gonna get bored. So this is so but otherwise, like, you’ve got a translation here that says world of sentient beings, and that sounds like a world in which sentient beings live, doesn’t it? That’s not what it means. It means a sentient being is considered a world unto themselves.
Alright? Or a container unto themselves in which things can happen. Yeah? And so it’s the same with the world of the environment. It’s like the external container in which things can happen.
Alright? He said, now have you made it clear? Hopefully. So he’s he said is the idea of a Yes. Yes.
Something clear. Right. So on the one hand, the application of the environment, the world of the the application of a pure land that focuses on the environment is getting rid of the causes for experience of anything that could be rough or distracting in the environment. And on the other hand, it is creating the causes for the environment to be pleasant, so turning the ground into gold and so on. This is getting rid of obstacles, creating positive qualities for the environment as well as the being in the environment.
What this means is that the wisdom that is the clear knower no. Clear realization, there’s the wisdom of the eighth ground is is an application to create a pure land because it is particularly engaged purify hang on, that’s the same thing twice. Sorry. Because it is particularly engaged in the practice to purify through its it’s the power of its prayers and its virtuous actions, the environment and the beings in it so Buddhahood can manifest and the Buddha Land of a Buddha can manifest. So this is why the definition of the application of a pure land is a Yoga of the pure grounds which is the eighth, ninth and tenth grounds, empowered with the ability of causal roots of virtue, prayers and so forth to establish a special Buddha land where oneself will be a Buddha.
So in that you can see the two different parts. There’s the Buddha land, right? Which is the environment, which is the world of the environment where oneself will be a Buddha. So that oneself being a Buddha is said to be the world of a sentient being. So a sentient being transforming into a Buddha.
So there’s two different parts to it. What this means is that up until the eighth ground, up until the pure grounds, the Bodhisattvas don’t actually have the ability to practice in this way. They don’t have the ability because they haven’t seen the equanimity of Samsāra and nirvana. They haven’t got the ability to train in developing or to apply themselves to developing this reality of becoming the Buddha in the Pure Land. They don’t have the ability to do this because there are still some clingings or obscurations to their equanimity of Samsāra nirvana.
And while they are still either striving for one striving for one or trying to work away from the other, then there’s they don’t have that equanimous base from which they can develop this Pure Land and the Buddha that they will be in that Pure Pure Land. On the Pure Grounds where they’ve completely gotten out of Samsāra and developed this equanimity, then they are able to work towards this state through the power of their prayers and their roots of virtue. So, Geshe-la said that he thinks it’s important that he or it might be helpful if he explained why it says here, the Pure Grounds are empowered with the ability of causal roots of virtue, so forth to establish a special Buddha land where oneself will be Buddha. Especially the bit where it says the Pure Grounds are empowered with the ability of causal roots of virtue, prayers and so forth. What this means is that beings on the eighth, ninth and tenth grounds of the path of meditation have the ability or the have the ability or the The power.
So this is one word in Tibetan that has this idea of they translate of ability. It also has this idea that comes along with it of potential and power. So it’s not just an ability to do something but it’s a state state that has a projectile force. It’s called kinetic energy. Yeah.
So it has the ability. It’s like kinetic energy. It has the ability to bring something about even though it’s not in motion at that time. Right? So yes.
Potential energy. And yeah. So Kinetic energy. When it’s actually moving. Right?
So the yes. Like it pardon? Potential kinetic Yeah. I was just saying it’s not just because it’s it’s it’s got this idea that it’s not just kinetic energies when something’s moving, but it also means, I thought it had kinetic energy when it was just sitting there because it could has the potential to move. Anyway, I haven’t done so.
That’s potential. Okay. Alright. So it’s but it’s got that same principle that once it gets going that there’s a there’s a well, in this case, an unstoppable force behind it. Yeah?
So there’s a the the this potential is there. This potential is there. And on it’s growing, it’s growing, it’s growing through powers and the virtues and the six the practice of the six perfections that’s been carried on until you get to the pure realms, right? The pure grounds, the eighth, ninth and tenth grounds. And at that stage, on the eighth then it becomes kinetic.
So that potential actually like reaches the point where it pushes you towards being a Buddha. So it’s been building up and building up and building up Then at this stage, becomes this like yeah. This this potential force that pushes you to becoming a Buddha. And in not just the Buddha, but the Buddha’s pure land as well. Alright.
So Geshe-la said, it’s like becoming a Buddha if you use the analogy of growing a tree. Seed is like either he said the ultimate seed is Buddha nature. There’s also the seed of bodhicitta. What they’ve been doing to that point is watering, like the practice of the six perfections and the creation of virtue and recognizing emptiness are like fertilizing the seed, watering the seed, heating the seed. So there’s all of these different things you’re doing to get the seed to germinate.
What this is talking about is like when it sprouts. So you know the sprout means that there’s a tree coming. So it’s like the potential is beginning to manifest. It’s become kinetic. Can you say that?
So the actual potential is beginning to and that’s the force that leads to the development of Buddhahood and the Buddha the pure land of a Buddha. Yeah. Yeah. Mhmm. Okay.
So Geshe said, when you know when you go to sprout, you’re about to have a a plant. Right? And it’s the same thing with this when you have these grounds, you’re about to become a Buddha. Right? So it’s the preceding moment that’s already that that power is beginning to manifest.
So the divisions again of this, to be very specific, the divisions of the application in the Pure Land is the application that’s focused on the the environment that is the container and the environment that is the contents. Now what this is talking about it’s fun translating plays on words. So so that you have there’s a there’s talking about a container which actually is a container, which is the environment, and then you have the container which is the contents of the other container which is the sentient beings in that environment. Right? So it’s interesting because this is actually talking about the application as opposed to the result.
The being who is doing this application is the sentient being that becomes a Buddha and the environment becomes the pure land of a Buddha. Their environment, they transform into the pure land of a Buddha. So it says the contents which is said to be the world of a sentient being is still a sentient being even though the result will very shortly be that that sentient being ceases to exist and becomes a Buddha. What comes after so application in skillful means for me, and then you guys, like, finish. Okay.
So that’s that was it that was it for the application in the pure land. That’s all there is to it, and we’re now up to to week eleven. Right. So in this Buddha said, practice the emptiness hang on. This is a bit difficult.
A Sorry. Sorry. Okay. Right. So in the Prajñāpāramitā Sutras, the Buddha said, practice the meditation that focuses on the emptiness of the thirty seven practices of a Bodhisattva.
The thirty seven practices of a Bodhisattva that are included within the Prajñāpāramitā. Practice the meditative equipoise of concentration on emptiness. On emptiness of things being exactly Sorry. Sorry. Just the the translating sutras on the spot is pretty difficult, but it’s it’s pretty repetitive, so I should be able to do it.
It’s just that it’s trying to figure out how to translate, like, very subtle stuff. But, anyway, it says, I’m sorry. I’m I’m sorry I didn’t do that very well. Because there was this word that I thought meant one thing and it means something entirely different. Alright.
So the Buddha said, meditate on the emptiness of of the six perfections. Right? The thirty seven practices, the six perfections. Then he said meditate on anything, on the emptiness of anything that is the meditative equipoise of focused in meditative concentration. Meditate have meditative concentration focused on the meditative concentration that perceives the lack of characteristics.
So it’s recognizing the emptiness of the meditative concentration that focuses on emptiness, so you’re meditating on objects of meditation that is the meditation focused on the lack of aspiration. The next one is meditation that focuses on the emptiness of these thirty seven practices of a Bodhisattva. You should meditate on all of these practices and all of their lack of inherent existence. Basically meditating on the emptiness of that which you’re meditating upon. So it’s talking about the objects here, the objects of the practices, like the object, the thirty seven practices of bodhisattvas and the six perfections and the signlessness of meditation and the wishlessness of meditation and then saying even those practices themselves are recognizing them as being empty.
So the reason it’s called skillful means that these are all the skillful means that you use to get there, but you also have to recognize the emptiness of those skillful means. Mhmm. Uh-huh. So the Buddha is explaining to people then, he he’s saying that this is a skillful method. You employ these activities and then you recognize the emptiness of those activities that you’re employing as well.
So you use the skillful means and you recognize the emptiness of these So then in another section, the Buddha says bodhisattvas, Buddha says bodhisattvas investigate the emptiness of form and then investigate the emptiness of that emptiness. Alright? So he’s instructing them to do all of these different practice that lead to a deepening of the realizations. So you’re not just focusing on and so I guess they said you they’re looking at the emptiness of form, then the emptiness of form’s emptiness, and then the emptiness of the emptiness of form’s emptiness.
Yeah? So there’s this a depth as their understanding of emptiness is getting into very subtle levels Alright. So this background that the Buddha was saying, this is what you do and this is how you do it and stuff. It is why Maitreya in the ornament of clear realizations I knew the end, and I still can’t get the name right. The way he says these two verses, objects along with this application that pass beyond the levels, not abiding according to the force, the characteristics of not being shared, not attached, not observing, signs, extinguishment of wishes, the signs of that in an immeasurable are the ten types of skillful means.
So this stuff that the Buddha was talking about in the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra, that idea of meditating on signlessness and the emptiness of signlessness, meditating on emptiness, all of those things is these ten signs. This is what Maitreya is referring to with these ten types of skillful means that he talks about in these two verses. Okay? So it comes from the Prajñāpāramitā Sūtra and sūtra quote that I massacred earlier trying to translate is is the source for it. Right?
So, that’s that’s the process and where it comes from, this idea that the Buddha put forward of using the skillful means to look even at the things that you’re meditating on. Now, the reason that this instruction, the application in skillful means comes after the application of developing a pure realm is that you have this idea of working towards a pure realm, but you need a way to do it. Yes? So the application in skillful means is how you get there, how you develop the pure realm. So you’re getting rid of the obstructions to knowledge through these different skillful means that are examining even the objects of the meditations and practices that are the skillful means that you use.
Yeah? And that’s how you are working towards attaining Buddhahood. This one? Then, so the reason that you want a pure realm, right, and then you would do it and try and develop this is because in that, you can lead beings in the most subtle ways to becoming Buddhas because there’s no obstructions to their understanding in those states. So in order to lead beings, also need to develop your skill in skillful means.
So there’s this twofold process happening. You’re working towards developing the pure land and being the Buddha in the pure land, and then you’re working developing the ability to lead other beings. Oh, yeah. That is why. Okay.
So there’s four different ways of approaching the understanding of the this skillful means. Now the first is to talk about the objects of the practices, objects of the objects of the applications. And then there is the nature of the the nature of the mind that is performing these Oh, yeah. Thank you. Thank you.
The nature of the subject that is performing these applications and then to look at these individually and then to look at it in general by way of looking at the entities and the objects themselves. But we can do that next week.