Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. A striking claim anchors this 45-minute session by Geshe Pema Tsering: the Vaibhāṣika (Great Exposition School) holds that a Buddha’s physical body is an object of abandonment, not Buddha itself, and that cognitive continuity is severed at nirvana without remainder. This final section of the school’s sevenfold framework covers two obscurations — afflictive ones blocking liberation, non-afflictive ones blocking omniscience — and explains how the three vehicles share the same selflessness view but accumulate very different merit: three lifetimes for hearers, one hundred eons for solitary realizers, three countless eons for bodhisattvas. The school also denies the existence of an enjoyment body and treats each vehicle as a final, non-converging path. A Q&A closes with a student pressing whether “small” and “great” enlightenment differ in kind.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 03 Tenets 2001 10 23.mp3
UUID: 4403fea9-510d-4c82-a87c-c1b8adedfcfe
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Principles of the Tenets (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2001-10-23
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 45.4 minutes
Words: ~3,008
Yeah. Yeah. So as it’s as it’s said that we should engage in the practice of virtue, of Dharma, and abandon non Dharma, non virtue, and so forth. And in fact, in order to engage in this process, initially, we need to hear teachings on the nature of Dharma itself. So it’s recommended that first, before we do anything else, we should hear or study the Dharma.
And then by hearing the Dharma, studying the Dharma, it’s possible for us to determine how to practice virtue and eliminate non virtue, how to practice Dharma and eliminate non-Dharma. So this depends on initially listening to, studying, hearing the Dharma itself. So here, through initially engaging and listening to the Dharma, then it is possible to then begin to determine what is dharma, what is non dharma, to eradicate what is non dharma, and eventually attain dharma itself, the state of nirvana, the state beyond sorrow, and so on. But all of this in initially begins with listening or hearing the dharma. So in fact, all are all engaged in listening or studying the dharma.
So he really engaged in listening, hearing a dharma. So then it depends also on what our motivation is. And for us, the best motivation is not simply for our own benefit, but also to include other beings within our motivation. So our motivation becomes a great vehicle, practice, and so on. And through that, then it is possible to attain the state of complete enlightenment.
So then reflecting that we need to bring into our field of view all sentient beings, that we need to include them in our aspiration. Then in fact, doing this, our practice becomes a great vehicle practice. It becomes a practice that benefits other beings because our goal there is to attain the state of a complete fully enlightened Buddha who is able to help all sentient beings. So prior to listening to this teaching, we should strongly develop a compassionate motivation in order to listen. So this we’ll meditate on for a couple of minutes at present.
So now having established our motivation here, a motivation that is seeking the state of complete enlightenment, then we should, therefore, be mindful we have this motivation and listen to the teachings. So I think we’re up to the stage of the seventh point, explaining the principles of grounds and paths. Everyone has anyway a text to work from? So here we’re at the seventh division of the initial seven divisions that were given for the Great Exposition School, the Vaibhāṣika School. So we’ve already completed six, and now we’ve started with the seven.
So this is explaining the principles of grounds and paths, and that is divided into abandonments and the principles of grounds and paths. So here, we start with abandonments. And abandonments or objects of abandonment here really refer to the obscurations. And in terms of obscurations, there are two, the afflictive obscurations and the non afflictive obscurations. So higher schools actually assert also too, but they assert knowledge obscurations as well as afflictive obscurations.
This particular school doesn’t assert knowledge obscurations as it said. However, for them, even the convention or the term or the designation knowledge obscurations does not exist. Instead, they have a division of obscuration into afflictive obscurations and nonafflictive obscurations. So the first one, the afflictive obscurations interrupt the attainment of emancipation or liberation. So they stop.
They interfere or they create an obstacle to attaining the state of liberation. The non afflictive obscurations interrupt the attainment of omniscience. So this the second type of obscuration here, the obscurations to the obtainment of omniscience are regarded as being non afflictive. They don’t afflict in the same way as the first type of obscuration does. So here, from among those two, the instance of the first type, the afflictive obscurations, is the conception holding the person to be self arisen and substantially existent.
And the seeds are the three poisons derived by the power of that. So here, the first refers to this conception, holding to the self of person or a person to be a self arisen and substantially existent entity. So this is referring to the subtle self grasping at a subtle self as previously mentioned. Also, it refers to the seeds of the three poisons derived by the power of that self grasping. So all of that, the self grasping, subtle self grasping, and the three poisons that are based on that, and the seeds of the three poisons and so on.
All of these are afflictive obscurations. So the second, the instance of the second, here the non afflictive obscurations which interrupt the obtainment of omniscience, their instance is the latency of the conception holding the person to be a self arisen and substantially existent entity, and the mental decline derived by the power of that. So all of that, all of those states are regarded as non afflictive obscurations. So that completes the brief explanation of the abandonment. And so then we move on to the principles of grounds and paths, the second of the original two divisions.
So here we have the explanation of the principles of grounds and paths. And so this is an explanation of how a being proceeds within the three vehicles along the paths and on the grounds that are presented within the three vehicles. So here, in fact, three vehicles are mentioned. There are three vehicles that is the hearer’s vehicle, the solitary realizer vehicle, and the great vehicle. There are three that are actually presented.
And what a vehicle is, is really the pristine awareness which is able to carry a being to the resultant state of their path. So there are three vehicles here, which are three types of pristine awareness, which are able to accomplish the aspirations of those who enter the different vehicles. So here, in fact, there are three vehicles, and either of the small vehicles refers to the vehicle of the solitary realizer or the vehicle of the hearer. And it’s a small vehicle because it is concentrating on the individual purpose, the purpose of one being and attaining a result for one being. On the other hand, the great vehicle is termed great because it’s taking into its field not only the person themselves, but all other beings as well, and seeking to establish the purpose of others.
So therefore, it’s termed a great vehicle. So there are two vehicles here that are also so designated by the scope of their motivation. So, in fact, here, the vehicle is designated as that pristine awareness which is actually able to carry the burden of either one being, which refers to the two small vehicles, the hearer’s vehicle and the solitary realizer vehicle, or able to carry the purpose of others, which refers to the great vehicle. So that pristine awareness that’s able to carry the burden is either a small scope or a great scope. And so therefore we have the idea of the three vehicles.
Now initially here the author then talks about the hearer vehicle and he states, those of hearer type unite the view comprehending the person to be empty of being self arisen and substantially existent with a small collection of merit and obtain small enlightenment through familiarity with that view for three lives, etcetera. Then the next vehicle is that of the solitary realizer, and here it’s presented in this way again. Those of solitary realizer type unite the view comprehending that, that is the emptiness, comprehending a person to be empty of a self arisen and substantial existent self. With an intermediate, they combine that, unite that with an intermediate collection of merit and obtain intermediate enlightenment through familiarity with that view after one hundred eons, etcetera. On the other hand, bodhisattvas unite the view comprehending that, that is that subtle selflessness, with a great collection of merit and obtain great enlightenment through familiarity with that view after three countless eons.
So, in fact, the view that’s comprehended or the view that is used or united with those three vehicles is the same. That is is the view comprehending the subtle selflessness of the person, which is that a person is free of having a self arisen substantially existent self. But the difference in these three vehicles is the way that merit is accumulated because initially, the hearer type, through employing that view, accumulates merit for three lifetimes and so forth. A solitary realizer will accumulate merit in relation to that view for one hundred eons, but a bodhisattva in developing that view will accumulate merit through that view for three countless eons. So there is a difference in the merit of those three parts.
So there is a difference in the way they accumulate merit because bodhisattvas, through accumulating merit for three countless eons, progress up to and including the great stage of the path of accumulation, and They actualize from the heat stage of the path of preparation till the path of no more learning in one meditation session. So that is the presentation here. So again, restating what was said in brief just before, those of solitary realizer type through accumulating merit for one hundred great eons, etcetera, progressed up to and including the great stage of the path of accumulation. They actualize from the heat stage of the path of preparation till the path of no more learning in one meditation session. So then, again, for the hearer type, it said those of hearer type accumulate merit while on the four learner paths.
So this is different from the previous two vehicles where they accumulate merit over a long period up until the path of accumulation, up and including the path of accumulation, then progress very quickly beyond that stage. Here, for those on the hearer path, they collect merit on the first four learner paths, that is the path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, and meditation. And then through having attained the ārya path, they must train in the learner path for up to fourteen birth existences. So then on attaining the path of seeing, they take a further up to a further fourteen births in order to complete the path. So this is particularly different from the presentation of the vehicle of the bodhisattva and the vehicle of the solitary realizer.
So, therefore, they also assert here, they’re referring to the great exposition exposition school of the Vaibhāṣika. They assert that the form aggregate of a Buddha is not Buddha because it is an object of abandonment. So this is a different assertion from the higher schools who actually assert the physical body of a Buddha is Buddha. The reason they don’t accept it to be the body of a Buddha to be Buddha is that they hold it to be an object of abandonment. And they hold it to be an object of abandonment because it is subsumed by the former life and physical basis of a bodhisattva on the path of preparation.
So, in fact, it became or it was established in this birth as the body of a being on the path of preparation. So, therefore, it is an object of abandonment for this particular school. Yeah. Yep. And then, again, they give a further reason for why they hold it to be an object of abandonment and that is because that is pervasive because the physical basis of a bodhisattva on the path of preparation is an aggregate projected by former karma and affliction.
Yeah. And because of that, they do not accept that the enjoyment body or the Sambhogakāya exists. Yes. So here, they don’t accept the enjoyment body. In the higher schools, in fact, the four Buddha bodies are asserted, which is the enjoyment body, the emanation body, the Dharma body, and which is divided into the nature Dharma body and the primordial awareness Dharma body.
But this school, the lower school, the Vaibhāṣika, do not assert that there is any such thing as an enjoyment body. And they also assert that when a supreme emanation body passes into nirvana, a supreme emanation body such as the Śākyamūni Buddha passes into nirvana without remainder, their continuum of cognition is severed. In fact, they assert that the five aggregates of a Buddha are severed when a Buddha passes into nirvana without remainder. Also, assert that although Ārya Buddhas abandon all truths of suffering and origin without exception, it is not contradictory that the truth of suffering exists in their continuum. In fact, higher schools assert that they cannot possess the truth of suffering within their continuum.
That would be contradictory. But in this school, even though they’ve abandoned all truths of suffering in origin, the truth of suffering can still remain, can still exist and be experienced, but this would be impossible in high schools. So here, in fact, they say that an Ārya Buddha, in fact, does abandon the truth of suffering, but it doesn’t mean that by abandoning the truth of suffering, the truth of suffering cannot continue to exist in their continuum. Because as they say, abandoning without exception or affliction, focusing on the truth of suffering is posited as the abandonment of the truth of suffering. But simply abandoning that does not necessarily abandon or doesn’t mean that the truth of suffering does not exist within their continuum.
And then further here in solitary realizer arhats from the time of obtainment of the state of an arhat till they relinquish their composite of lifespan are positive as obtaining nirvana with remainder. So, for them, that is the meaning or the definition of nirvana with remainder. On the other hand, those who relinquish their composite of lifespan are posited as obtaining nirvana without remainder. And then again, at the time of nirvana with remainder, though all afflictive obscurations without exception are abandoned, still non abandoned, non afflictive obscurations exist. At the time of nirvana without remainder, though non afflictive obscurations are not destroyed by the strength of their antidote, they don’t exist because at that time, for that being, the continuum of cognition is severed.
In this particular school also, the the three vehicles are regarded as final within themselves. In higher schools, one ultimate or final vehicle is asserted. But in this particular school, three vehicles are regarded as final, that in fact not all of the vehicles merge into one vehicle. They remain separate. So why they assert three ultimate vehicles or final vehicles is that when a being in the hearer’s vehicle attains nirvana without remainder, their continuum of awareness and so forth is severed.
So, there’s no possibility of them entering another vehicle. Similarly, when a being who enters the solitary realizer vehicle reaches the state of an arhat with remainder, and from that stage they enter the nirvana without remainder, then their continuum of awareness is severed. And for them, there is no possibility of entering another vehicle. And so that’s also the same for bodhisattvas. So ultimately, there are three vehicles and they don’t merge into one vehicle.
So then also we have advocates of phenomena being truly established. These refer really Advocates of phenomena are referring to those advocates or proponents of lower school views. When differentiating interpretive and definitive sutras, differentiate them by means of whether they are acceptable just as they are stated or not. And then also both schools who are advocates of objects being externally established do not accept that the canon of the Great Vehicle is the speech of the Buddha. And that is because advocates of the Great Exposition generally accept the sutras are definitive, that all sutras in fact are to be accepted as they’re stated.
But the advocates of higher schools such as the Sautrāntika School do accept that there are definitive and interpretive sutras or discourses by the Buddha. So that in brief is the exposition or the presentation of the Great Exposition School, the seven divisions of the Great Exposition School. So that means, therefore, we’ve completed the seven the sevenfold division, that is the definition, classification, etymology, the method of asserting objects, the method of asserting object possesses, the method of asserting selflessness, explaining the principles of grounds and paths, all of those have been discussed now within the context of the great exposition school. So, having briefly discussed these seven points, is it of some benefit? People have some insight into the meaning of these seven divisions.
Is there some benefit? Did you well understand the seven divisions? Well, we could start it now on the next section, the section of the sutras. How would you feel about that? Yeah.
It’d be fine to ask some questions just at present before we move on to the next section. So that’s the hearer enlightenment, isn’t it? Yeah. That’s hearer enlightenment. So that’s obtaining the enlightenment that a hearer would obtain.
Here, in fact, size here is determined by the amount of merit that’s accumulated in order to attain that state. And here, because it’s a small amount of merit that it’s accumulated over a period of three lifetimes to fourteen lifetimes and so on, it’s a small accumulation of merit, so it’s regarded as a small enlightenment. Whereas, for instance, the enlightenment of a bodhisattva, because the merit is accumulated for three countless eons, that enlightenment is termed great. So, for instance, the diff there’s a great difference between the merit accumulated by a bodhisattva or a solitary realizer or a hearer. Did you understand?
I understand what you’re saying, but is not enlightenment enlightenment is enlightenment. And here, within the three vehicles, there is a difference in the difficulty of obtaining their different enlightenments. So, because of that, one is regarded as small, one is intermediate, one is great. There is a difference in the presentation of these small, intermediate, and great enlightenments of the different vehicles within the different schools. So here, it’s a presentation of the the