Audio recorded at Buddha House Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 144-minute session — the penultimate class of the series — Khensur Rinpoche explains why the Heart Sūtra’s “there is no form” means non-appearance within meditative equipoise, not the non-existence of phenomena. He names the ten bodhisattva grounds, traces the ten abandonments mapped across them, and describes the vajra-like meditative stabilization that burns away the final obscuration to deliver Buddhahood in a single moment. A ferris wheel at the Royal Adelaide Show illustrates how realizing emptiness cuts ignorance at the root — halting the twelve limbs of interdependent arising the way cutting the power stops the wheel. The session closes on a sharp philosophical contrast: lower schools hold that consciousness is the “traveler” through rebirths, while the Madhyamaka Consequentialist school holds it is the nominally imputed “I.” Suited to practitioners following the series from the beginning.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 10 HS 2000 12 05.mp3
UUID: 45067a5b-19a7-46ad-8803-c3db0ceb1d81
Teacher: Khensur Rinpoche
Collection: Heart Sūtra (Khensur Rinpoche)
Date: 2000-12-05
Recorded at: Buddha House Adelaide
Duration: 144.2 minutes
Words: ~5,737
We accumulate the numbers of virtues for demerit as well as our practice becomes very effective and beneficial if it’s done with the motivation of altruistic intention. Likewise oneself, all motherly sentient beings also have one nature wishing happiness and do not want suffering. Although both self and others innately or by nature same wishing happiness and do not want suffering, but the difference is we human beings just don’t wish happiness. Then we know how to cultivate the causes of the happiness and abandon the causes of the suffering. But other motherly sentient beings, are numbers of sentient beings, just, they have a mere wish to free from sufferings, but they don’t know how to abandon all this, abandon the causes of the sufferings and cultivate the causes of the happiness.
And therefore, because of lack of understanding, they undergoes through huge sufferings. Because they have no knowledge of abandoning the causes of sufferings and cultivate the causes of happiness, therefore it is our duty to help the sentient beings to free from suffering. So therefore, we should cultivate a very cultivate a great compassion with a special insight, a special insight, wishing, wanting to free both self and others from all the sufferings and their causes. And then cultivate a love, wishing both self and others to have all the have entire happiness in their causes. And I shall take responsibility to bring all sentient beings all the happiness.
We need to bring all the sentient beings towards the state of ultimate happiness and free from the sufferings, but at this stage we haven’t attained the potential to fulfill such wish. The Lord Buddha Śākyamūni has attained the ability to free sentient beings from the suffering through avoiding or abandoning all the negativities and attaining entire good qualities. By attaining enlightenment, the state of Buddhahood, then one can benefit numbers of sentient beings because after having attained the Buddhahood, then one can emanate oneself into numbers of forms and each emanation can benefit sentient beings in many ways to overcome all the sufferings. So we can attain Buddhahood or become Buddha. Once we have attained Buddhahood, then we can benefit the sentient beings like the Buddhas, like Buddhists.
So, I need to attain enlightenment in order to benefit sentient beings. For that reason, for that purpose, I shall attain enlightenment. In order to attain to Buddhahood, one needs to realize the emptiness. Therefore, for that purpose I shall hear, listen to this Mahāyāna teaching of emptiness and bring all the adherence into contemplation and meditation, along with that motivation we shall perform a few meditation for a few minutes. We do the refuge prayers and the seven-limb prayer, then the Heart Sūtra. The great masters set forth that those who don’t understand emptiness is not the basis for liberation.
And without knowing emptiness, one suffers in the prison of six realms or six migrating states, which means that if one do not understand the teaching or realize, do not understand the emptiness, then one can’t attain enlightenment. And because by not attaining enlightenment, one circles in the cyclic existence of six realms or six migrations, which is the imprisoned or the prison of suffering. So, up to here, till last week, we have finished the first three Mahāyāna parts, which are the path of accumulation, part of preparation, and the path of seeing. So, the duration or the period of the path of meditation is quite long, and it’s longer than the path of seeing. And it’s because during the path of meditation one abandons lots of negativities and cultivates lots of positive virtues.
Therefore, the duration of the path of meditation is longer than the path of seeing. It is because during the path of seeing, one directly realizes the emptiness, and in doing the bhavana meditation, one maintains that realization and meditates on that realization, the realization of directly realizing emptiness. It’s called either meditate or gom or gom, the word to word translation is to familiarize with one’s attainment or one’s realization. This is what is called the ten Mahāyāna grounds. And the last ground is the the bhavana meditation goes from the beginning of the first ground till the tenth, which are divisions of bhavana meditation.
My wife won’t call us. I don’t know what to do. Nothing. There are the names of the ten grounds. The names of the, do you call it?
The joyous ground, which is the first ground. Stainless, second ground. Joyous, second is strenuous. The lightening, which is third ground. Third ground is called Uecheva means like sending forth of light.
It’s a rough translation. I’ll get back to you later on. And, actually the third one is luminous or radiance of light, and the fourth one is radiant, which means blazing of light. And the fifth one is how to attain. Sixth one I’ll say the first one is called the joyous ground, or extremely joyous.
Second one is stainless. Third one is luminous. And the fourth one is radiant. And fifth one is difficult to overcome. And the sixth one is the approaching.
The seventh one is going beyond, going far. The eighth one is the immovable. The ninth one is the good intelligence. The tenth one is the cloud of Dharma or doctrine? So, these are the ten grounds of the path of meditation.
So, we’ll follow through the text and we don’t have much time to go one to one detail. So, you can follow your text, the copy you have. The path of seeing starts from, Śāriputra, thus in emptiness there is no form. So, we have only one teaching or class left, which is next week. Therefore, we’ll try to go as much as we can today.
So, text goes at that time, the text follows at that time, in emptiness there’s no form. At that time, which means, because one was in the meditation, equipoise on emptiness during the path of seeing. So, the first ground of the path of meditation, one has realized emptiness directly during the path of seeing. During the time of the first ground of the path of meditation, one only sees or one only has the appearance of emptiness rather than that they And also one is single pointedly meditation on emptiness. So during that period, one single pointedly meditation on emptiness, and beside those emptiness there is no other.
Only the wisdom realizing emptiness is very The mind of wisdom realizing emptiness is only is very forcefully during that time, and other than those which are not really forced not really they manifest it, so only the wisdom realized in emptiness is manifested at that time. So therefore, during the path of meditation, one only sees or one is single pointedly meditating on So, follow the root text. No. Follow your text. Says that at that time, in emptiness, there is no form.
So, this is how it says the texts go forth. At that time, in emptiness there is no form, which means because at the first ground of the path of meditation, one is single pointedly meditating on emptiness. Therefore, it’s called, which is also in the meditative equipoise, which is called the wisdom of meditative equipoise of the path of meditation, on the side of the path of meditation at that time, one only sees the emptiness. Rather than emptiness, can’t, doesn’t see anything. Therefore, it says that the form and so forth, because it’s only single pointedly meditating on emptiness, it doesn’t see. There’s no form in the meditation.
There’s no form in the rest of the five aggregates. So, when he says there’s no form, it doesn’t mean the form and so forth, the rest of the aggregates, do not exist. What it means is, inside of that meditative equipoise, the wisdom of meditative equipoise or the path of seeing, on the side of that meditation equipoise, the form and so forth doesn’t exist. Or it’s no form, no appearance. Because those form and so forth are non-appearance or are not in the side of the meditative equipoise, for them, because of this, emptiness is in the side of meditative equipoise.
The path of seeing, part of meditation. Likewise or like five aggregates, also the five, six sense powers like eye, sense power, ear, nose, tongue, body, and the mental are non appearance in the side of path of seeing? Part of meditation. And the six objects of basis or as a basis like form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation or tangible object and phenomena, the six are also non appearance inside of the path of meditation. So, briefly speaking, all those twelve, I’ll call the twelve sources, are the non appearance inside of the path of meditation.
And also, the eighteen space of perception, or it’s also been called the eighteen constituents, are also non-appearance in the side of the path of meditation. So, the eighteen constituents or space of perceptions are set forth by adding extra words on the previous six sense powers, space of eye sense powers, space of ear, nose, tongue, body, and the mental. So the additional word is called here the constitute or space. And also, should add the same additional word, the space or constituents of form, sound, smell, taste, tactile sensation or tangible object, and the phenomena. And there are the six consciousnesses which are based on the five sense powers, which are the eye consciousness, ear consciousness, nose consciousness, tongue, body, and the mental consciousness.
So by adding these six to the previous twelve, it becomes the eighteen space of perception or the eighteen constituents. So, everything what we have set for here are included or available within us. And then after the eighteen constituent follows the twelve limbs. As for the twelve limbs of interdependent arising, there are two sets called the ever afflicted and the completely or ever purified twelve limbs of interdependent arising. So what it says is also the first one, the the ever afflicted twelve limbs of interdependent arisings are also non apparent in the side of the wisdom realizing emptiness of the path of seeing.
The ever afflicted twelve limbs of interdependent arising are starting from ignorance, formation or karma, consciousness, name and form, sense sources, contact, feelings, craving, grasping, existence, birth, and aging and death. I think I missed one. Regpa is the contact. No. Did you get twelve?
So these twelve limbs of interdependence, six of them are causes and six are the results. All these twelve limbs are available within us or within one. Because of this, we circle in the cyclic existence. And the Heart Sūtra says there’s no ignorance and there is no free or abandoned of the ignorance, which means one has completely abandoned the ignorance, free from the ignorance, which is called the purified. Which is the beginning of the first of the twelve purified dependent arising.
There’s no ignorance and extinction of the ignorance. It says there’s no ignorance because when one realizes the emptiness directly, then it is the beginning of extinguishing or abandoning the ignorance. By the twelve limbs, the ever afflicted twelve limbs of interdependent, it comes the completely or ever purified twelve limbs of interdependent arising. In order to abandon or eliminate the ignorance of the ever afflicted dependent arising, one needs to realize the emptiness. So by realizing emptiness directly, one abandons the ignorance.
By abandoning the ignorance, one abandons the By abandoning the ignorance, then there is no result, is all the connecting karma, which is the result of the ignorance. By abandoning the second one, then one abandons the rest gradually or one by one, the one after next in the sense of consciousness, the name and form, and so forth. So, and the great master Vasubandhu set forth, But if one sees the truth, there is no projection, which means that if one sees the emptiness or the selflessness, then one abandons the ignorance. Because of that, by abandoning the ignorance, one will not cultivate the actions which are called the projecting karma or projecting action, which bring one towards the cyclic existence. This is how there’s no projection, which means there’s no projecting karma which lets one to circle in the samsaric existence.
It is like, for example, if there is a huge waterfall which destroys all the city and so forth, if one understands where is the main source of that water and obstruct the hole or whatever which stops the water and also protects the rest of the cities and so forth. Likewise, if one abandons the sources of the twelve limbs of interdependence, is ignorance, then by abandoning it, one automatically stops the rest of the limbs. So, the two limbs. So, both the ever afflicted and ever purified twelve limbs of interdependence are non-appearance in the samapatti meditation. So it’s called the ever afflicted and the purified twelve limbs of interdependent, or in other version, one can say the twelve limbs of interdependent in the right, like the, yeah, this.
Yeah, order and the irreversible, a reversal order, which means firstly, because of ignorance comes connecting karma and so forth, and the reversal order is because of abandoning the ignorance, then there’s no connecting karma, knows name, consciousness, so forth, which is called the reversal order. And so, all this in Hatsutra text goes very detailed, which there’s no counting all the eighteen constitutions, twelve sources, and so forth, which seems to be detailed explanation. And the brief explanation starts from like in the side of the meditative equipoise or the path of seeing, there are no appearances of the four truths, the true suffering, the true origin of the suffering, true path, and the true cessation. Not only the Four Noble Truths are non-appearance in the side of the path of meditation, also the wisdom which realizes the four truths is also non-appearance. It seems that teachings starting from the five aggregates, still the true suffering and the true origin of the sufferings, it seems that come under the phenomena or the ever afflicted limbs of interdependence.
So, it’s called the ever afflicted part, which means those are the objects of abandonment. And then the text follows, there’s no attainment and no non attainment as well, which means the attainment and no attainment and no non attainment. The first one, there’s no attainment which is speaking from the point of view of attainment. So, when it says there’s no attainment that attained, the attainment includes all the results of the practices, like the results which are attained by the Buddhas, the attainments, the qualities of the Buddhas, which are like ten powers, eighteen unique qualities of the Buddha, and so forth. There are numbers of qualities.
So what it means is all these qualities are the results or the qualities of the Buddha are also the non appearance in the side of meditative equal parts of the path of $1. No non attainments, which means that where are the non attainments which are within the sentient beings, which means the sentient beings haven’t attained all these good qualities of the Buddhas. All these non attainments which are within the sentient beings are also non appearance in the sight of that part of meditation. Starting from the form, all these five aggregates and twelve sources, so forth. The reason why it’s said because all these phenomenas are not the phenomena of emptiness, which means, as for the phenomena, they are set forth to be like the ultimate and the conventional.
So what the text has written, all these five aggregates and so forth, are the conventional terms, therefore, are the conventional terms. All these phenomena are the conventional phenomena, or conventional, therefore they are not the emptiness. So, because of this, all these phenomena and the form and so forth are non apparent in the side of the meditative Vipassana part of meditation. So, all these conventional phenomena are non appearance in the side of the meditation equipoise of the path of seeing. If there are appearance in the side of the path of meditation, the fault is then all these phenomena becomes or the inherent existence or they exist inherently.
So, by this, by here we have completed all, we have reached the first nine grounds of the Mahāyāna path. So, during those first nine during the first nine grounds of the Mahāyāna grounds, one abandons the obscuration towards the omniscient, which is called the ignorance of grasping attitude. As for the abandonment, there are set forth to be three main abandonments, the great, middling, and the smallest. The three abandonments. Each abandonments are classified into three divisions.
The largest of the lodge, middling of the lodge, the smallest of the lodge, and then largest of the middle one, largest of the so forth. So it’s classified into non abandonments, and these all, the non abandonments are the obstructions towards the omniscience, which is called the ignorance of grasping attitude. So, these abandonments are called the non abandonments, and those abandonments are abandoned during the first, during the ten grounds. And as we said, the first main three abandonments, great middling and the small, and then each one is classed and divided into three, which becomes nine. The first one, the largest of the large, is also divided into two called the cross and the subtle abandonments.
So, here we have set forth the division of the largest of the large, which was into two, the coarse subtle, by dividing that one into two, it comes the ten abandonments. So, here comes the ten abandonments. And there are ten grounds. So each ground abandons each abandonment. It comes like each path has the two divisions called the uninterrupted path and the liberated path, which means the first one, during the uninterrupted path, one applies the contraction or the antidote towards the abandonment and one abandons and attempts to liberate it from that abandonment and lock it and it won’t return, jump towards the next uninterrupted path, apply the antidote towards the second abandonment which follows.
And so, the last part of the meditation, which is called the vajra-like meditative equipoise, yeah, meditative equipoise or meditative stabilization of the path of meditation, abandons the last abandonment. So, up to here, one has achieved all the grounds of the ordinary beings, the bodhisattvas, and so forth. The last part, which is called the vajra-like meditative stabilization of the path of meditation, is a very, very important path or ground. It’s very powerful and very special and this is the ground where one attains Buddhahood.
So, and at this stage, back to the text, the line says, Therefore, Śāriputra, because bodhisattvas have no attainment, goes and then through relying on the path of wisdom, which means that during that path, which is the last vajra-like meditative equipoise of the path of meditation, doing that one abandons all the entire abandonments. It’s like the huge fire burns down everything. Whenever one attains that vajra-like meditative stabilization, that is the antidote towards the last abandonment, and one will abandon the last abandonment, and all the earlier or the rest of the abandonments have been abandoned before that, and one will abandon the last abandonment. So, this is what the text says, Bodhisattvas have no attainment and so forth. What it means is, whenever one attains the vajra-like meditative stabilization of the path of meditation, and during that time, then one has no obscuration, one does not have fear towards emptiness, and there is no change, law, it’s not mistaken or reversible, which means one can’t make any mistakes like seeing clean for the unclean object and just the same opposite of what the real object is.
So which means one do not have all these fears, falls and so forth, obscurations. And one will not suffer in the cyclic existence or saṃsāra and the solitary peace. And within a moment or within a second, one attains the nirvana, or one attains the Buddhahood, perfecting it. So, says that such bodhisattva has attained enlightenment or become Buddha by training in that perfection wisdom.
Likewise, all the Buddhas and bodhisattvas of the three times, the past, present, and the future, are also attained enlightenment or become Buddha by training in the perfection wisdom, which shows the one path towards the enlightenment. So up to here is the teaching of how to attain enlightenment for those bodhisattvas who have the low faculty. Yeah, as for the bodhisattvas, they’re like Bodhisattvas with the self faculty and the low faculty. This is what’s So, we all have attained enlightenment here now. And the worst word here, the text says the dull faculties.
So, the text and the part, start the teaching, set forth to those Bodhisattvas with the self faculty. Which text starts the mantra for the perfection, wisdom, so forth, which I will explain next week. So we shall do some, say, the research in the sense to avoid the misunderstandings here. Yeah, purify the, we call it like discussion in the world, not us, but to purify all the doubts. Therefore, everyone here here to become enlightened.
So don’t feel tired, be patient. The great master Chonkapa has composed a text called The Praise of Dependent Arising, which was for the Lord Buddha Śākyamūni. And what says is, whatever teaching you give begins from the dependent arising. And all the teachings are also set forth to attain enlightenment, and there’s no such teachings which do not bring one towards the peace or liberation. So what it means is that everything, the teachings set forth by Lord Chakrabhumi was set forth by considering the dependent arising or the dependent origination as a basis, but with the basis of that dependent origination, he set forth the numbers of teachings of the Hīnayāna and the Mahāyāna, the sūtra and the tantras.
Which are also the method to attain emptiness through this one attains or being attains the liberation. Also, even the tantra, it also said that all the obstacles, negativities, hindrances are abandoned through dependent arising, so therefore one should cultivate dependent origination. So, the Heart Sūtra is the one which establishes or teaches the emptiness. So, therefore, we should examine, it’s not clearly stated in the text how sentient beings suffer some circles in the cyclic existence and suffer and how they free from the cyclic existence. So, We have explained the five aggregates in the earlier classes.
Where or how sentient beings circled in the cyclic existence? Their circles in the first four aggregates, which are the aggregates of form, feeling, recognition, and the compositional factors. So, they say the first four aggregates are the basis where one circles, which is the basis of circling in the cyclic existence or saṃsāra. The fifth aggregate, the mental aggregate, is set forth to be the one which circles the circular, which circles in the saṃsāra or the four aggregates. This system, or this is the assertion or asserted by the schools below the Prāsaṇgika or constituents schools.
The fifth aggregate which is called the mental or mind which is recognized as the I, and that is the one called the circular. The fifth aggregate of the consciousness or mind is set forth to be the circular and below the Prāsaṇgika school, and the consciousness, or it is also called the I or self. This is the proof set forth by the great master Legden Je saying that which is the one, the consciousness, the way one calls the I or self. So, the master says that the self is the one which takes the rebirths, moves from one life to the next, which is the consciousness or the mind. And so, the consciousness is the one where we call or perceive as the I.
So, that consciousness which travels from one birth to the next, it enters a body and then experiences the sufferings of that body and so forth, and whenever it finishes making use of that form, it leaves that form or a body and enters the other one and experiences the new one’s suffering and so forth, and then leaves and then changes the form, means leave the old one and achieve the new one. Through this, by moving from one body to the next, it circles in cyclic existence. Within these five aggregates there are the four which are the basis of taking boat or a circle, and one the circular or one the circles, which is the consciousness. Then the Heart Sūtra sets forth the other divisions like the twelve sources, eighteen constituents, or space of perceptions, which are set forth, which seem to be like the broader explanation of the five aggregates, like expanding the five aggregates, like saying, likewise, within those, the I, yeah, and so forth are the way one are the objects, and the consciousness is the one which So, the consciousness is the one which takes the rebirth and the rest of the forms and the first four aggregates and the other twelve sources like EI and so forth are the object where one consciousness takes the rebirth.
So and now the question is how one takes circles in the cyclic existence. Through the twelve limbs of interdependent, one circles in the cyclic existence. And the twelve, this is the indirect implication or the teaching of the text, which is not clearly written. Through the twelve limbs of interdependent, the six of them are the causes, and the six are the results. By cultivating the the the the the six courses of the twelve limbs of interdependent, one received the six results.
And through cultivating all these twelve limbs of dependent arising, circles in saṃsāra. So, so by cultivating the twelve limbs of dependent arising, one circles in the cyclic existence or some sort of like a wheel, and it is like the Royal Adelaide show, and the kids go there in like huge gigantic wheel, I don’t know, so it’s like we circle like that. So we circle in the cyclic existence like that wheel at the Royal Adelaide Show. And so in order to stop that the wheel to circle, one needs to look for the source. Where is the main switch which lets the other main connection, the wire connection. And by knowing that and cut the wire off the connect cut the connection or the wire, the wheel suddenly stops.
So, likewise, one needs to abandon the root of the cyclic existence, which is the ignorance. So one needs to abandon the ignorance, the root of the cyclic existence in order to stop circling in the saṃsāra. So which which abandons the root of the cyclic existence, ignorance? And that is the first limbs of the purified twelve limbs of interdependent, which is the extinction of ignorance, is the one which abandons the ignorance. So, the great master Tsongkhapa has stated that all the sufferings of the saṃsāra, both the internal suffering of the body and the external sufferings called the container and what is contained, all the sufferings of the saṃsāra come out of the root, which is ignorance.
So, in order to abandon that or eliminate the root of cyclic existence, the ignorance, Okay. No, the battery is okay. So, by seeing, one abandons the root of cyclic existence, the ignorance. By seeing, which means, by realizing or seeing emptiness directly, one abandons the root of the cyclic existence, So, the emptiness is the one. The wisdom realizing emptiness is the one which abandons the root of the cyclic existence, the ignorance.
So how one can see or how one can realize the emptiness? For that purpose, the Buddha Śākyamūni has set forth the twelve, the teachings of dependent arising or dependent origination, which is the purpose to see or realize the emptiness. So, and it also the Buddha said, one who sees the dependent arising, will see the Dharma or doctrine. One who sees the doctrine or Dharma will see the Buddha. What it means is whoever understands or realizes the dependent arising, one sees the Dharma which is one sees the emptiness or realized emptiness.
By realizing emptiness, one achieves Buddhahood or one sees the Buddha. What it is, So, the teaching of dependent arising and emptiness are set forth as a method to free all the sentient beings, free sentient beings from the cyclic existence or saṃsāra. Also, this is how those are also set forth in the three ever liberated doors which we have explained in the earlier classes. And so therefore, we should develop a good wisdom and also develop a pure renunciation or a mind wish to free from cyclic existence. And along with that pure renunciation or with the wish to free from cyclic existence, one should cultivate or train in the dependent arising and through the power of training in that and one will or one should cultivate to, one should try to realize the emptiness, and by realizing emptiness, one can attain the ultimate peace of all lives.
So, and in the earlier classes, I have set forth the logic of proving how the imputed eye towards the five aggregates is free of inherent existence, which was that the imputed eye towards the five aggregates is free of inherent, free of or empty of inherent existence because it is dependent origination or it’s dependent arising. So through the power of the logic of dependent arising, one attains the, one realizes the emptiness. And the example was given as the mistaken wisdom, which sees snake for the coil of the rope, the rounded rope. So should try to cultivate, train in, or one should try to cultivate, train in the logic of dependent arising and to realize the emptiness. So the saṃsāra is not a permanent thing.
It can be abandoned or it can be diminished. It can be minimized. It can be minimized. It can be, you know, say reduced and also the root of the cyclic existence. Ignorance can also be abandoned, weaker, can make weaker, so forth.
And if, for the best, if one realizes emptiness, one can abandon all this, all the saṃsāra, of the saṃsāra, so forth. But even if one fails to realize the emptiness, but by training in, activating the wisdom realized in emptiness, just by trying, knowing what does emptiness means and how, by knowing how one can establish the logical proof of, a logical statement to prove something is free of inherent existence. Just by knowing that helps one to, just by knowing that harms the saṃsāra or ignorance very strongly. So, all this previous explanation of five aggregates, twelve limbs, eighteen elements of perception, and so forth are set forth as the detailed explanation. After that set forth the four noble truths, the no true suffering, no true origins, which are in terms of brief explanation or briefly speaking.
Example, what it means is the no suffering, which is true suffering. True suffering is the cyclic existence or the basis where one circles, and the two origins, which are the action and the disturbing emotions, are the one which lets one to circle in the saṃsāra, which shows the causes and the result. The next two, which are the true path and the true cessation, the true path is the one which is the method which frees one from the cyclic existence, which is called the true path is the wisdom realizing emptiness is the path or true path. And by training, by cultivating in the methods of freeing from cyclic existence, which is the true path, then one attains the true cessation, which is free from cyclic existence. One has attained liberation and had achieved the happiness which the happiness free from sufferings, ultimate happiness.
So The way of circling in the cyclic existence, which we have set forth just before, are from according to the schools below the Prāsaṇgika, the consequential school, which we have said before that the first four aggregates are how they assert their assertion is the first four aggregates are the basis of the samsarcic existence where one circles, and the fifth aggregate, the consciousness, is the one, the circular or one circles. So now, likewise, for the twelve limbs and eighteen constituents, the consciousness is the one which circles in the twelve sources and eighteen constituents. But here now, middle, the utmost class, the consequentialist schools, the school of middle way, called the Prāsaṇgika, set forth different. The Prāsaṇgika says all the five aggregates, twelve sources, eighteen constituents are the basis of one circles in the basis of circling. And the eye which is labeled to its it’s called the nominal eye which is to imputed to the five aggregates is the one which circles in twelve limbs.
So which circles in the cyclic existence of five aggregates, twelve sources, eighteen constituents. So you can see that the imputed I, which always exists, which is always there within us, not just within us, it’s very taut and solid, stays very firmly inside. So, the consequentialists said the consciousness is not the I. So, consequentialists don’t assert that the consciousness is the traveler or circular. They said that all the five aggregates are the basis of circling and the imputed eye towards the five aggregates is the one or is the eye which circles in the cyclic existence. It is which is the one, the imputed eye is the one which circles in the cyclic existence.
For example, when the mistaken consciousness mistakenly perceives the snake on the rope, the rounded, whatever, say the rope as a snake and at that time the consciousness projected the snake to the rope. Likewise, the projected eye towards the five aggregates is the eye, is the one which circles in the cyclic existence. Okay. So, okay, we’ll stop here today and it’s been very long, twenty to ten, and so we won’t take any questions today. If you have questions, you can ask it in the next class next week.
So therefore, as the Westerners like to meditate a lot, and if you want to meditate, then meditate what we have said just before. I request you to meditate on what we have said for.