Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Khensur Rinpoche shows how what appears to be mere grammatical scaffolding—eight structural categories in the Ornament of Clear Realization—actually encodes the complete path to enlightenment. In this 40-minute commentary, he unpacks how omniscience, path knower, base knower, and five progressive stages of preparation correspond to the five paths of the Great Vehicle. He traces how the text presents perfection of wisdom teachings on emptiness indirectly, then clarifies them through these eight categories. The session includes careful philosophical analysis distinguishing Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka from Middle Way schools’ approaches to emptiness. Throughout, he emphasizes that grappling with such difficulty is itself transformative practice, purifying negative karma and building spiritual momentum.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-05-25 – Side 2 – KR.MP3
UUID: 922e9b76-f7a5-4480-bedb-27070b39540d
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-05-25
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~1,929
Practitioner superior. So these words in the first line, these words vary. Those just serve to isolate those subjects. They don’t have any particular meaning. They’re just particles in Tibetan.
They’re sometimes translated as vary. Then the word then beginning in the second line, it’s a continuation on from the first line. So it doesn’t have any particular meaning. Then I said the very knower of all. What is meant by all here are the 12 sources.
And the knower is the knower of the selflessness of persons. So it knows the selflessness of persons by means of the 12 sources. And this refers to a knower of a path, a base knower. The three types of knowers. This is a base knower.
Then the the the third line, realize completely should read complete. Should rather So than completely realizing it is realizing the complete what is being realized is realization of all the aspects of the three knowers. Complete realization of all the aspects of the three knowers. This is what this line means. Complete realization of all the aspects of the three knowers.
And this refers to what is called the preparation for complete for completing the aspects. The preparation for completing the aspects. Preparation for completing the aspects. Sometimes termed complete application, complete application. Preparation for completing the aspects.
Then we I said went to the peak and this refers to peak preparation, peak preparation. Sometimes called peak application, peak preparation. And I think I said by means of going to the end, that’s not correct. That should be by means the sequential. And this refers to sequential preparation.
Sequential preparation. Sequential preparation. Yeah. By means of the momentary is wrong. It should be by means of the sequential.
That’s right. By means of the sequential. Then the next line is that complete enlightenment is actualized in one moment. I think I said. This means that one is very near to enlightenment.
It’s only one moment away. One is very close to the ground of Buddhahood. And therefore this refers to momentary preparation. Momentary preparation. Then we said the truth body, and this refers to the resultant truth body, which is synonymous with Buddhahood.
And this means that one has brought to an end the path of being a sentient being. It’s the culmination of practice synonymous with Buddhahood. And then we said those are the eight. And this refers to this simply as stating that these are the eight categories. So did that wear you out?
So Maitreya took the hidden teaching, took the subject which was the perfection of wisdom, which was not emptiness and was hidden, and presented them and commentated on them through these eight categories. So the the text, the the way in which the the perfection of wisdom is being commentated on is by means of expressing the hidden teaching in terms of eight categories, and each comprising an individual chapter. Therefore eight chapters. The first category being the exalted aspect, or that is to say omniscience, which is the first chapter. The second chapter is the path knower.
path knowers are explained, are taught in the second chapter. Base knower is taught in the third chapter. Preparation for complete aspects is taught in the fourth chapter. Peak preparation is taught in the fifth chapter. Sequential preparation is taught in the sixth chapter.
Momentary preparation in the seventh and resultant truth body in the eighth. So each of the eight chapters explains one of the eight categories. The first is is exalted knower of all aspects, exalted knower of all aspects. But in the future I’m just going to refer to it as omniscience. It’s easier to say.
Exalted knower of all aspects or omniscience. It’s the first chapter. Second is path knower. Third is base knower. The fourth is preparation for completing the aspects.
The fifth is peak preparation. Sixth is sequential preparation. Seventh is momentary preparation. Eight is resultant truth body. So you’re probably worn out.
So we’ll take questions now. So here when we refer to truth body we’re referring to the resultant truth body. And this means that this refers to the ultimate result of a sentient being practicing the path. The ultimate result achieved by a sentient being practicing the path is a resultant truth body. So this most simply refers to a Buddha, Whatever excellent qualities, whether they’re body, speech, or mind, the It simply most refers to a Buddha.
So there are five paths in the great vehicle. We begin with, you know, the practitioner meditates on compassion. The first moment that he or she develops the awakening heart, bodhicitta, they enter into the first of the five paths, the path of accumulation. This is where it’s called accumulation because this is where they begin to collect the necessary this is when they begin to create the necessary accumulations. So they call it accumulation, the collection of merit and wisdom.
They begin here. Now this is on the path of accumulation. They do not have special insight with respect to emptiness. Those who have entered into the Great Vehicle directly. There are different ways of traveling the path.
The most intelligent enter into the great vehicle directly. Those who are lesser intelligent go by way of entering into the hearer’s path. And therefore they have a realization of emptiness previous to entering into the path of the great vehicle. But for those who have entered the path of the great vehicle directly, on the path of accumulation, they do not have special insight with respect to emptiness. Then they go on to achieve the second of the five paths, the path of preparation.
Now both of these paths, accumulation and preparation, are paths of ordinary beings. When they go on to achieve the third path, the path of seeing, they become a superior. So the paths of superior, the next path, the path of meditation, and the fifth path, the path of no more learning. These three paths are the paths of superiors and not ordinary beings. The first two paths are the paths of ordinary beings.
So therefore these top three paths are called the paths of superiors. So the perfection of wisdom presented the teachings on emptiness directly and the stages of realization in a hidden manner. So the Maitreya composed this text in order to teach clearly, set forth clearly the stages of realization. So the main teaching of ornament are the stages of realization. That is the paths and grounds.
But even though it’s not the main teaching, emptiness is still presented. It teaches everything that was presented in the perfection of wisdom. But emptiness is not the main teaching. The main teaching is the stages of realization or the paths and grounds. So whatever was presented in the perfection of wisdom is taught in the ornament but that which was hidden, that is the stages of realization, the paths and grounds, is presented as the main teaching.
The main subject taught. The main subject taught. So there’s no particular relationship between the three mother sutras and heart of wisdom. They all teach emptiness but it’s not it’s a heart of wisdom presents it in a very teaches emptiness in extremely abbreviated fashion. But there’s not any type of commentary and root text relationship between these two, the three mother sutras and heart of wisdom.
So heart of wisdom says there’s no eye, ear, nose, tongue. There’s no form, sound, smells, taste, or touchable, tangibles. So when the Heart of Wisdom makes these various statements that there’s no eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, etc, it just doesn’t mean just in general. It means there is no naturally existent eye, no naturally existent ear, no naturally existent nose, no naturally existent tongue. Because it’s set forth in such an abbreviated condensed fashion, it’s necessary in understanding this text to expand what is actually written there.
Therefore, we’d have to understand when it says there is no ear, we must understand there is no naturally existent ear. So this is one meaning that is set forth. Another meaning is that for superior in meditative equipoise, for superior meditative equipoise conventionalities do not appear. Only emptiness appears. Therefore, things like eyes, ears, nose, tongues, bodies they do not appear.
Therefore, there is no eye. When it says there is no eye, there is no eye appearing to a superior meditative equipoise. Only emptiness. And these are not emptiness. They are conventionalities.
So there’s also this meaning. So in the teachings on emptiness there are two objects of negation. There is the negation of natural existence. And there is the negation which is the appearance of conventionalities to a superior’s meditative equipoise. And the heart of wisdom is spoken from the point of view of the Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka school.
But the three mother sutras, extensive, middling, and abbreviated, are spoken simply from the point of view of the Middle Way School. Within the Middle Way School there are two schools, Autonomy Middle Way and Prāsaṇgika Madhyamaka school. And the Three Mother Sutras are simply taught from the point of view of Middle Way in general. Question? So, you know, the wearing your, what do you say, tying yourself out in this way has great meaning.
It’s not like engaging in various types of worldly activities, where you wear yourself out and you don’t get any real results from all your efforts from wearing yourself out. That the ornament is extremely profound and vast text. It’s of the great vehicle. And so seeking to understand it, going through the difficulties, wearing yourself out in this way we have extremely great benefit in the future. That trying to making this effort is a way of we purify a great deal of negativity and reflecting on the meaning we accumulate a great deal of positive potential.
And therefore from this in the future that you will reap great benefit. It’s not something wearing yourself out in this way is greatly is much different than wearing yourself out in pursuit of worldly activities. So, you know, whether or not you understand it is perhaps not all that important. Just hearing it, we implant some latencies. If we are actually able to understand things and understand the great qualities of of the great vehicle, then we develop more and more faith.
The Buddha himself said that hearing a Dharma teaching is extremely rare in the world. So in this way, we can, in the future quickly enter into the great vehicle and through the practice of the bodhisattvas attain Buddhahood. So, to become a great expert or a master, it’s necessary to engage in study. Studying is not easy. It requires a lot of hard work.
That these great masters don’t spring up by themselves like flowers. To achieve this great knowledge that they have, one must make a great deal of effort and go through a great deal of difficulty. So you know you’re collecting a great deal of positive potential, know, that when Vajrasattva appreciates and takes a great deal of joy in what you’re doing. It is going to bear a great future in the future. But, you know, as we talked about in the trainings on the mind training, that you should make very great prayers to bring to fruition or to cOmination your efforts that may my hearing come to a culmination, may my practice of the path come to a culmination, that these such types of prayers have great power.