Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Opening with the puzzle of whether uncompounded space and emptiness are the same — both permanent, yet not identical — Geshe Pema Tsering’s 45-minute commentary then works through the four types of perfection of wisdom: natural (coextensive with all phenomena), scriptural (any teaching on emptiness, from ordinary students to Buddhas), path (the four Mahāyāna paths up to the last moment before Buddhahood), and resultant (exclusive to Buddhas, defined by four attributes including freedom from both conventional and ultimate designation). He then surveys the first two of the eight major categories of the Seventy Topics: the knower of all aspects and the knower of paths, pausing to explain how bodhicitta and direct realization of emptiness mutually reinforce each other in post-meditative states. A closing Q&A untangles key synonyms — path, ground, consciousness, exalted knower. Suited to students working through the Seventy Topics text.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 04 ST 2003 02 06.mp3
UUID: 5db00dbe-90a9-4a75-bc1c-741449af78aa
Teacher: Geshe Pema Tsering
Collection: Seventy Topics (Geshe Pema Tsering)
Date: 2003-02-06
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 44.9 minutes
Words: ~3,290
Okay. So the thing to take away to think about is that the uncompounded space that is or the space of the metal bowl is not the same as emptiness in that neither of them change and both of them are permanent. So if you can take that away with you to think about them, then you can probably get an understanding of more of how emptiness works with that Oh, yeah. In relation to changing things. So the second one, the scriptural perfection of wisdom, what we’re talking about here is any text that talks about emptiness, any teaching that talks about emptiness, not not necessarily the teachings of the Buddha, but any teaching that is referring to emptiness.
Okay, so the next one, the path perfection of wisdom is any of the five paths. An example given is, that of the path of a a bodhisattva. The reason that this is a, a path of perfection of of wisdom is because it’s a path and because it’s a consciousness. And then, hey. I missed something.
Okay. Sorry. Sorry. This is what I missed. It was from the five paths.
It’s the five paths of a Bodhisattva because those five paths are what actually leads to an understanding of emptiness. The other ten paths aren’t aren’t actually considered the perfection of of wisdom paths. And the the last one being the resultant perfection of wisdom. The resultant perfection of wisdom is mutually inclusive with the ground of a Buddha. Apart from Buddhas, there there is no resultant perfection of wisdom.
Okay. So the definition of a resultant perfection of wisdom is a fully developed exalted wisdom qualified by four attributes. What they mean by fully developed is basically that it’s, it’s a it’s a Buddha. It’s not it hasn’t got anything, left to achieve in terms of Buddha grounds. So the the part where it says it’s qualified by four attributes, the first of the four attributes is its base, and the base of a a resultant perfection of wisdom is actually the path is the ground of a Buddha.
Apart from in the continuum of a Buddha, you don’t find you don’t find a resultant perfection of wisdom. Therefore, if someone has a resultant perfection of wisdom in their continuum, they are necessarily a Buddha. Okay. So the nature of this, second attribute which defines the resultant perfection of wisdom is its nature. Its nature is wisdom, and what it means by this is that its nature is a path.
And then what we have to keep in mind in this case is that a path hang on. There’s a list of them. A path? Where are we? There’s about five things that are synonyms, so I should say them a exalted knower, yeah.
And an exalted knower and a wisdom that are all mutually inclusive. And also aground. Yeah. That was one I missed out. So it’s like an exalted knower, a ground, a path, and a clear knower are all mutually inclusive.
Okay. So its aspect is that it does it is free from both. Is that what they say to you? Free from no. Free from being nondual.
What they actually mean by this that it it it doesn’t either have it is not it’s free from being conventional. It’s free from being ultimate because it’s emptiness. Because the Bodhisattvas cannot understand ultimate and conventional wisdom in the same instant, Buddhas actually have the ability to do this so that, for example, they can see the ultimate emptiness of something and concentrate on other aspects of it at the same time. So the fourth attribute of resultant perfection of wisdom is that it is free from the object of negation and is empty like an illusion. The thing that it is free from, the object of negation that is, is the true existence of phenomena.
So the natural perfection of wisdom, what its boundaries are, what its borders are, is that it exists is all phenomena. So if if you have phenomena, then you have emptiness. If you have empty because it’s emptiness, right? If you have phenomena, you have the natural perfection of wisdom. And if you have the natural perfection of wisdom, you have phenomena, and it becomes almost synonymous with emptiness.
Okay. So the the next one, the scriptural perfection of wisdom, what its boundaries are is that it starts with anyone who hasn’t entered a path, any ordinary beings, Geshe-la said like us, that are teaching or studying or reading or showing in any way the perfection of wisdom. Like for example studying the Heart Sūtra or studying the seventy topics or teaching the seventy topics or the Heart Sūtra, and it goes up through any, bodhisattvas that were teaching that, teaching it or or, learning it. So any of these things are considered within the boundaries of the scriptural perfection of wisdom. So for example, if there’s if there’s people like like us studying any of the Heart Sūtra or any of the perfectional wisdom sutras and this comes within the scriptural perfection of wisdom.
If a bodhisattva is teaching it then it becomes within the scriptural perfection of wisdom. If a hearer is teaching it, it’s also within the scriptural perfection of wisdom as it is with the solitary real realizer and also, obviously, with the Buddha. This one? This one. Oh, yeah.
Okay. So the boundaries of the path perfection of wisdom is anything from the preparation beginning of the preparation sorry accumulation path of the Mahāyāna path enters up until the last moment of the path of meditation so that’s the path of accumulation the path of preparation Man. Okay. So path of accumulation, the path of preparation, the path of seeing, and the path of of meditation. Up until the last moment of the path of meditation, this is the path perfection of wisdom.
And so the last moment of the path of meditation is also the last moment of the consciousness of the sentient being, of the continuum of sentient being. Alright. So the resultant perfection of wisdom is actually just the the ground of a Buddha. Anything that is there become mutually inclusive. Anything that is the ground of a Buddha is also the resultant perfection of wisdom and vice versa.
So therefore, its boundaries are is are that exist only on the ground of a Buddha. Okay, so what we’re talking about when we’re talking about the last moment, the last moments of the continuum of a sentient being is when a bodhisattva is in a meditative equipoise concentrating on emptiness and they’re on the final ground of the path of meditation by being absorbed in the meditation, meditative equipoise which focuses on emptiness at some in some second they will understand everything and once they understand everything then they become a Buddha and cease to be a sentient being. Okay. Right. Now we’re going on to a brief overview of the eight topics that I outlined.
The What do they call it? The eight areas that Thank you very much for the word. The eight categories, the seventy topics are divided into. The first one being the knower of all aspects. The definition of a knower of all aspects is a fully developed exalted wisdom directly realizing the ten topics, mind generation and so forth.
The ten topics are actually in the first chapter of the seventy topics later on. Mind generation, yeah, which is a mind generation which could also be translated actually as bodhicitta. Right? The second one is precepts, the four branches of definitive discrimination, the natural abiding lineage which is also sometimes called Buddha nature, observed objects of Mahāyāna practices, object of intent, achieving through armor-like practices, achieving through engagement, achieving through collections, and definitely issuing achieving. So when someone understands these ten topics directly and has a clear understanding of those, which also means that they have the path which understands those or the ground which understands those, then at that stage they actually become a Buddha And a Buddha which is a knower of all aspects.
Okay. The this an exalted knower of all aspects and an Ārya Buddha or supreme Buddha are actually mutually inclusive. There is also a division of the knower of all aspects into two: an exalted knower of all aspects that knows all aspects of objects of knowledge without exception and an exalted knower of all aspects that knows the main causes and effects in terms of the seventy topics. Now because they know everything they’re not actually an exalted knower of aspects is somebody who knows everything, then you can’t actually divide them into those who know one thing and those who know another thing. So what they’re actually this division is about is dividing their knowledge.
So it’s not dividing them into a group of people who know this and a group of people who know that. It’s dividing their knowledge into, one that’s mainly dealing with cause and effect and another one that is a is a more general overview of knowing everything. And, oh, and sorry. And the other thing was that the reason one of the reasons they divide them into an exalted, knower of aspects that knows the main causes and effects is because the the main cause is this seventy topics, and the main effect is that they become someone an an exalted knower of aspects. So the nature of the minds of both these divisions is exactly the same.
It’s just like a way of dividing by word as opposed to a way of dividing by understanding. And the border of an exalted knower of aspects is the ground of a Buddha. This is we’re not talking about sentient beings here, just Buddhas. So the next one that we’re doing the overview of is a knower of paths. The definition of a knower of paths is a Mahāyāna superior’s clear realiser which is actually mutually inclusive with path.
So a Mahāyāna superior’s path which is conjoined with the wisdom directly realizing emptiness in the continuum of person who possesses it. Right? So basically, Mahāyāna superior’s path, which is conjoined with its wisdom which directly realises emptiness, they work together in the continuum of the person who’s realised them. And, yeah, this this person that’s realized him is is a Mahāyāna superior. Okay.
So when when they actually say Oh, when they say in the translation conjoined with, what they’re actually saying is that they they, like, help each other out. So Mahāyāna superior or Ārya’s, clear realiser of path, is kind of being helped out by the fact that they realise emptiness directly so this clear realisation of emptiness makes every other path or every other consciousness in their continuum clearer and be able to work towards Buddhism quicker, and and they, in turn, help this mind that’s realising emptiness. Okay. So there’s two different ways that these the different minds can help each other out or be of what did they say? Conjoined.
There is like a direct support that can work between the two minds or an indirect support that can work between the two minds. So for example when a person on the path of seeing is in meditative equipoise on emptiness They may have bodhisattva in their mind stream but it isn’t being a direct support to their meditative concentration on emptiness. But for example when they’re in a post meditative state like on the path of meditation and they’re not in direct meditation on emptiness, the two minds can then help each other out. The mind that understands, emptiness and the, mind of bodhicitta work in a direct way to support each other. Okay.
So when, you have both these minds working together, and they’re both clearly working together, then, you call this a direct support. But in other instances, one of the minds can be the because one of the minds is a focus of meditative equipoise, then the other one isn’t directly working with it, but it is still acting as a support. It’s just not acting directly as a as a support. The last part of this definition where it says oh, what’s the first part in English? A Mahāyāna superior is clear realizer.
We have to understand that a clear realizer and a exalted knower and a path are all mutually inclusive. Oh. This one? This one. Oh, yeah.
Okay. So Knowledge of Paths is actually mutually inclusive with Mahāyāna superior’s consciousness or Mahāyāna superior’s or exalted knower. Therefore, it exists on the path of seeing, path of meditation and in the continuum of Ārya Buddhas or superior Buddhas on the path of no more learning. Okay. So it has three divisions.
It has the the what the first division is a path that is a knower of hearer paths. The second one is a knower of solitary realizer paths, and the third one is a knower of Mahāyāna paths. Okay. So we’ll just stop here because time’s gone. He he he thinks there might be questions.
Joe? Think I just said that Yeah. But in post meditation, you can. It does. Yeah.
Or it does. Yeah. How how does the mind and body keep that anchored as a support? Oh. Sure.
So when someone is in direct meditation on emptiness, the the actual mind of bodhicitta doesn’t arise strongly because there’s a single point of concentration on emptiness. When they’re in the post meditative state, then these two minds become very strong, and both of them are very strong. By one being strong, the other becomes stronger. Because if you have the thought to achieve enlightenment, then your your understanding of emptiness becomes stronger. And if you don’t have the understanding of emptiness, then your thought to achieve enlightenment becomes stronger.
Because the mindset when you’re in the post meditative state, the mindset is So so if in the post meditative state, when you have a mind that’s the bodhicitta mind, that bodhicitta mind has a direct acts as a direct benefit over on your understanding of emptiness because it’s in all different ways it’s creating merit it’s it’s it’s it’s fueling your desire to understand more of these things and the the direct understanding of emptiness increases your and your bodhicitta mind because it helps you to understand bodhicitta better. So the two of them help each other to propel them onto further paths and everything. And yeah. Got it? Do you get it?
It works like this because part of its definition is that it needs to be helped along by a direct understanding of emptiness and nobody below the path of seeing actually has a direct understanding of emptiness. So in order to be a knower of path you have to have a direct understanding of emptiness and that doesn’t happen on the lower paths. Oh, yeah. Is emptiness permanent? Yeah.
No. Yeah. It’s emptiness. Uh-huh. Yeah.
They’re not they’re not mutually inclusive, but they are very similar in the fact that uncompounded space is something that can either stop anything or reacts to any of the senses so you can’t touch it, you can’t taste it, you can’t smell any of those things therefore it exists because it’s the lack of something and emptiness is permanent because it’s the lack of something as well. It’s the lack of true existence. But they’re not synonymous because the thing that they’re lacking is different. There there really isn’t such a thing as oh, I think it’s probably a translation problem. There’s really no such a thing as compounded space.
This stuff that we see in front of us, like all the air particles or whatever they are, they aren’t actually they’re space in inverted commas. I mean, they are, but they’re not in, like, the the Namkha, which is the Tibetan word for it. They’re what they call atmosphere or things like that but they don’t actually come under the definition of space. Only I mean uncompounded space isn’t a direct translation either. It just means the the lack of stopping, the lack of inhibition or something of inhibiting movement.
Yeah. So the the the things that we can see, like, we can see air moving when it moves trees and things like that and the things that we can feel with the air, that isn’t uncompounded space. That’s something filling up uncompounded space. Uncompounded space is the lack of something. Yeah.
Oh, yeah. Okay. So when we talk about the the ground of a Buddha, what we’re talking about is basically the is not like a ground like the ground that we’re talking about here. The ground of the Buddha, the word ground on that case actually is synonymous with path or clear understanding or what was the other one? Man there’s like four of them yeah path clear understanding and exalted knower, right?
So they’re basically all consciousnesses, right? They’re all different types of consciousnesses, but they have different names for them. One of what, sorry? They’re also not They’re no. They all mean the same thing.
They’re all like a synonym. Like, if you said consciousness, right, another way of saying consciousness is path. Another way of saying, like, consciousness is ground. It’s just that, like, a metaphorical way of saying it. Yeah.
Exalted knower. Yeah. Yeah. They’re they’re mutually inclusive. So we have path.
Path, exalted wisdom, exalted knower, ground, clear understanding, and vehicle are all synonymous. Yeah. Okay. Hang on. Bear with me a second.
Page three. Page three. Yeah. The second attribute of the resultant perfection of wisdom. Sure.
Okay. Okay, hang on, wait. Got that question. I was just trying to get the other one as well. So we’re talking about the second attribute of the resultant okay.
The second attribute. So it’s just saying that it’s it’s just saying that it’s it’s one of its attributes is that it’s a mind. That that that’s it’s like that’s that’s it’s attribute that it’s a path, it’s a mind, that it’s a no. Yeah. Yeah.
They’re they’re actually the same. They’re not just they’re not just like each other. They’re mutually inclusive. So the it’s not just those two. There’s also the knower of everything.
What’s it called? The knower of knower of aspects, exalted knower of aspects, and the perfection of wisdom and the resultant perfection of wisdom are all mutually inclusive. Just Yeah. Okay. Basically, why they’re using the exalted is because there’s a word that means mind or consciousness, and there’s a word that means is like honorific for consciousness.
So that’s one of them. But they’re actually the two things that are exalted, which is exalted wisdom and exalted knower. Actually, synonymous anyway. It’s it’s basically exalted wisdom is an honorific wisdom, and exalted knower is an honorific knower. Yeah.
Something like that. Yeah. Yeah. A full on knowledge, clearly. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. They’re exactly the same. Except one’s got three ones, but they’re the same. Yeah.
So he said, like, you know, these these attributes we’re talking about is if you say, okay. Your face is is white. You have you have spots there, you know, then that’s the attributes that we’re talking about. So it’s just describing the the the kind of the attributes of the two different the two different two different descriptions of the same thing. Fun.
As exalted wisdom. Yeah. What’s the exalted wisdom? Yeshe. As exalted.
It’s not exalted. It’s like the exalted wisdom is Yeshe. Yeah? Well, Yeshe is honorific. Yeah.
It’s it’s honorific for Sherab. Yeah? And and the other