Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche opens this 48-minute commentary with a verse from Candrakīrti’s Entering the Middle Way: a student ready to receive teachings on emptiness will shed spontaneous tears and feel body hair rise on hearing the subject. From that striking criterion, Rinpoche distinguishes qualified from unqualified recipients, then traces how genuine appreciation of emptiness motivates a cascade of supporting practices — ethics for a good rebirth, generosity for adequate resources, patience for access to good teachers — culminating ultimately in enlightenment. He then defines emptiness as the absence of inherent existence, explains why ignorance must be identified first, and draws on Nāgārjuna to show how a mind that takes things as existing independently of causes and conditions is the root of all suffering. Suited to practitioners with some background in Mahāyāna philosophy.
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File: 45 3PA 1994 02 15.mp3
UUID: 5c73bef6-db44-4858-86ff-7a4ea0177bfc
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: 3 Principal Aspects of the Path (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 1994-02-15
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 48.5 minutes
Words: ~2,997
The great practitioner, master, yogi of about a thousand years ago called Candrakīrti, who was an extremely learned practitioner of great attainment on emptiness, writes in his classic text called Entering the Middle Way, where the line says: whoever by hearing merely emptiness has repeated shedding of tears from eyes and the hairs of the body racing upward, that type of person has the seed of the enlightenment mind and that type of person is the qualified vessel or qualified recipient of such instructions. So in accordance with that line, what it indicates is that when it comes to explaining emptiness, the reality of the way things exist, it has to be sorted out which type of people or beings from their side qualify to hear and be explained about emptiness and which type of beings or people from their own side do not qualify to be the qualified vessel or recipient of such instructions and the qualification in the lines mentioned includes the physical appearance on the part of the person when hearing the instructions on emptiness — that there would be clear symptoms even from the person’s physical appearance, behavior, and responses at the time the instructions are heard. In brief, the lines from that great teacher explain what are the signs, the qualifications one can look for, and through that how to determine whether a being or a person is qualified to receive the instruction on emptiness or not.
Of course, the subject of emptiness is the profound aspect of the teachings, and in the Mahāyāna context it is referred to by the similar phrase “the profound,” among the vast and the profound, the two aspects of the teachings. So in the Mahāyāna or great vehicle part, emptiness is referred as the profound, the difficult to comprehend subject. But that as well means from the part of one who explains such topic, it needs to be kept in mind whether by explaining the subject of emptiness, will the explanation help the person or will it damage the person in accordance to the present circumstance of the recipient? It needs to be sorted out. And this is very true because in some cases, if it’s the right recipient or the disciple, then when emptiness is explained, there will be enormous enormous benefit.
But then in other cases, if the explaining of emptiness instead of benefiting the person damages the person, then it would be very detrimental because the person could experience suffering and be in be in adverse circumstances due to not being appropriate in receiving the instructions. And if that is the case, then this would mean that one who explains emptiness or such subject needs to have great compassion to really be concerned that if I do explain to this person, it might damage the person, it might bring unbearable sufferings to the person. So this would indicate that the one who explains need to have great compassion and motivated by compassion needs to explain the subject and this as well is the very intention of explaining the emptiness subject from the first place by Śākyamūni Buddha that one out of compassion first look sort out whether the explanation is going to benefit the recipient or damage the recipient according to present circumstance, and then go ahead with the explanation. Well, this then would mean first one would have to determine whether the person is appropriate to be given this explanation on emptiness, and what are the ways one determines whether the person is an appropriate recipient or not.
Well, the qualification can be seen in marked marked difference on two levels, one on the recipient’s mental level and one on the physical level. The mental level is, for example, if the person is an appropriate recipient of this subject, then hearing the instruction on this topic in this life, there will be immense joy. There will be immense joy in the person’s mind, and this joy is because in previous lives the person has already heard and had familiarity with the emptiness topic, and that familiarity from previous lives was like a propensity, a seed, which in this life, upon coming in contact with the condition of being given this explanation, triggers or activates the seed, and therefore there is joy. And that that be the marked difference amongst listeners. One who is appropriate or a vessel that it indicates on mental level the person qualifies.
And then out of such mental qualification, there would be marked difference in physical symptoms such as at the time of hearing the instruction on emptiness, out of joy in the mind there will as well be other physical symptoms such as the hairs of the body racing upward like in a sign of a sign of immense joy within the mind. So so so that then would mean that the person qualifies even physically. And if there is these two qualifications being seen in the person, then then when emptiness is explained, it would greatly benefit the person because this would mean that there is a continued link of possible improvement of wisdom realizing emptiness within the person’s mind due to having already some familiarity, due familiarity, training, practice, and so forth from our previous lives. So in this way, if one explains emptiness to such a person, then there can be what is called two benefits. One temporary, of bringing such joy on both levels of mind and body, and ultimately, in the long run as well, there will be benefit to the person.
And then there are other benefits on both a temporary and ultimate level. For example, temporarily, there can be the benefit of the person coming to the awareness of how precious the understanding of emptiness is, which the person now has a facility to come in contact with by receiving the instruction. And by having come to the awareness of how precious emptiness is, it makes the person work towards not having this understanding of emptiness decline or degenerate in this life as well as in future lives. So it makes the person engage in further studies, reflections, and practice on the subject and not to let it decline in this life. And to not decline this understanding of emptiness in future lives, the person engages in other necessary practices. For example, the person would engage in a pure practice of morality or ethics through which through which a good or higher rebirth as humans and others can be possible.
And this is because if say a person, although having a contact with instructions and thinking so forth and emptiness, but after dying in this life, if person while being when being alive in this life has not done enough practices and has not not observed pure ethics and so forth. Therefore, when the person dies from this life, then say if the person is born as an animal, then that would mean that in that rebirth as animal, the person would not have continuous contact with any facility to have familiarity or understanding of emptiness. Therefore, decline. The understanding of emptiness in the person’s mind would decline while being born in such lower rebirth and degeneration or declining of understanding of emptiness in that way is something possible. So in that way, in this life, it pushes it makes the person willing to do the necessary practice of observing pure ethics.
But then, let’s say, although a person, by doing the practice of pure ethics, happens to be born in a higher rebirth as a human and so forth next time. But if one in this life has been miserly with one’s belongings and so forth, and because of that has not practiced the practice of giving or generosity, then it is possible, although being born as a human in the next life, one may be born as a very poor person lacking any necessary facility for doing Dharma practices and further familiarity with emptiness. For example, the clear example we have is in Africa, how poor people are there, although being born as a human. So this then would mean that in this this life there would be incentive push for the person as well to do the necessary practice of generosity in which through which in next life the person being born as a human as well is born with necessary facility to continuously practice the Dharma and further familiarity with emptiness. And then there are other practices such as practice of patience, which is also necessary because through practice of patience in next lives, one comes in continuous contact with delightful spiritual teachers, lamas, and pleasant pleasant spiritual companions and so forth.
And through that way of practice on patience one would have in future further circumstances or facility to have continuous practice and contact with the understanding and instructions on emptiness. And then in long run, one while oh, in the long run, while doing the practice of emptiness, one as well combines it with practice of loving kindness, compassion, bodhicitta. And through this combined practice, in the long run, ultimately, the person achieves enlightenment. So that achievement in the long run can be seen as further ultimate benefit. Apart from such qualifications mentioned above, if one finds the person, the recipient, lacking the qualification, then although emptiness may be explained, the person from their side may be damaged — such as by being too critical and straightaway rejecting the whole instruction on emptiness by saying, oh, there can’t be such a thing and it is not good and so forth.
And if the person does criticize the instructions in that way then as consequence there will be so much sufferings the person will experience and in that way, in that way therefore if emptiness emptiness is explained to such non qualified, unqualified person, then it can be damaging to such person. But here, all of you are not such unqualified people. You are all you are all qualified people, appropriate to receive emptiness instructions. Also, although one may not have those prescribed qualifications such as shedding tears spontaneously from the eyes and the hairs of the body raising upward, still, if one at least has an appreciation towards the emptiness topic — by having a joyful liking towards it — then we can say that could be okay for the present time.
Also, those are other benefits and therefore other reasons why one needs to be interested in this topic of emptiness and as well to put effort into learning about it, doing reflection on it, and doing meditative familiarization on the topic. But then we can have another major reason why we need to be engaged in the study and so forth on emptiness, and that is this fact: that we all do not want suffering but we are with suffering, and as well we are with the origins of suffering. Our mind as an ordinary being has both the suffering and the origin of suffering with it but we don’t want them. So then it becomes therefore necessary if we don’t want them while we have them, we must do something about to remove them. And the way to remove them is possible only through the realization of emptiness.
The wisdom realizing emptiness, wisdom realizing the way things are. So that is the way to look at and then here one can please one can please remind oneself to think that because of such main reason, I am going to study and take interest in the topic of emptiness. Well, by emptiness it means non-inherent existence — which is what is to be proved not there, which is what is to be refuted. And that is emptiness: the mere emptiness, or lack of inherent existence, the mere lacking of true existence. Now if there is emptiness then one first needs to understand what is true existence, what is inherent existence which is to be refuted, refuted, which is to be disproved.
And without firstly understanding that, it will not be possible to understand emptiness, because as the reasoning goes, emptiness is just the mere emptiness, mere lacking, mere absence of inherent existence — inherent existence which is what is to be proved not there. So in order to identify that one needs to first know ignorance because because what is which or because the one which grasps or one which thinks as things are inherently existent existing is the ignorance. Or in to paraphrase, because ignorance is the one which grasps or con or thinks with concrete clinging that things are inherently existing. Therefore, it is important one first needs to know ignorance and to know ignorance one needs to analyze, look into how ignorance grasp onto true existence, how ignorance grasp onto inherent existence.
So the term is inherent existence. In other words, one has to analyze how ignorance thinks that everything is inherently existing. Now without and without analyzing ignorance and its manner of grasping, there is no way, there is no other way to identify the object to be proved not there, the what is to be refuted. Well, how one then has to identify the way ignorance grasp? To look into that, we have the teachings from the great master Nāgārjuna who says everything external or internal arise from causes and conditions.
And similarly, ignorance starts, and from it the other twelve interdependent links. Now this means the teacher, meaning the Buddha, has taught that all existing phenomena have reason or are produced by their causes and conditions and that is the way how they exist. If you don’t mind, in the original Tibetan, the word for existing and formed are same word. So that is the way how things are existent, how things are formed. And apart from this way of being formed or being existing that dependent on causes, condition, there is no other way things are formed or existing.
So in this way, everything depend on causes and conditions and there is not anything which does not depend on causes and conditions. Now that’s that’s the way the things are. But the very mind which thinks that things exist or are formed from their own side independently, from their own right, inherently, without depending on their causes and condition is the mind or is the mind of ignorance. The because ignorance in its way of view or perception is the mind which thinks in that way and that is ignorance. Ignorance and being closed-minded are the same thing.
Well, that is the general manner of ignorance, how it perceives, views, and grasps, and so forth — that it perceives and views external or internal things as not dependent on causes and conditions but as existing from their own side independently, inherently, and so forth. And now if we take the specific perspective of ignorance with reference to its way of grasping, then we can have instances such as when ignorance focuses on my I — my I or ego — and my aggregates, or body and personality parts, the aggregates. So when ignorance focuses on my ego or I and my body or aggregates, then the way it perceives these two is that ignorance perceives the ego and the aggregates, or the body or the personality parts, as independently existing from their own side without depending on their causes and conditions, name and labeling — as if the ego, I, and the aggregates are formed or existing by their own side. So this is the particular instance. This is an instance of ignorance focused on my ego and aggregates, and it can therefore be called the ignorance focused on the ego and the body.
So the term for body is interchangeable with aggregates referring to the five aggregates, the five personality parts. So in this way, ignorance does not allow one to does not allow allow one to realize emptiness. And in that way, ignorance obscures the person from realizing emptiness. And not only ignorance obscures the person from realizing emptiness, but as well ignorance causes the person to engage into attachment and hatred through this and through these two ways ignorance causes the person to engage into all sorts of non virtuous actions, actions harmful to others and oneself, and because of that, then the person engages and the actions harmful to others and oneself, the non virtuous actions such as telling lies, slandering, killing, and so forth. And as consequences then it brings all kinds of sufferings so much and unbearable on the person.
And that and in this way, this is how this is how ignorance causes all sorts of sufferings to the person. Ignorance is a consciousness or a mind or awareness within the person. And awareness is defined as that which perceives objects, and consciousness as a state of mind. And so in brief, anyway, that’s what it comes down to. But the point is, by ignorance it means ignorance means the mind of the person who perceives things mistaken in that way.
So it is nothing apart from the person’s mind. And due to that, one must realize that all the sufferings being brought upon the person itself and the whole activity of attachment, hatred, so forth being done by the person are caused by the person’s own distorted state of mind called ignorance. And because of that reason now one needs to terminate this ignorance and therefore we can say in the present context of analysis the ignorance is what is to be terminated and it is what is to be proved not correct not correct as it sees. So we can look at it in that way. Well, then we realize that ignorance is to be terminated, it is to be removed, and it is to be stopped.
But the way to terminate it would not be that easy as we normally would do with other cases.