Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 47-minute session, Khensur Rinpoche lays out the architecture of the Ornament of Clear Realization through its eight categories and 70 topics. He explains the three exalted knowers—knower of aspects (omniscience), path knower, and base knower—as the theoretical scaffold, and the four preparations (completing aspects, peak, final, momentary) as the practical means to abandon the two obstructions blocking Buddhahood. A distinctive feature is his pedagogical flexibility: he shows how this material scales into six categories or condenses to three, depending on the student’s capacity and intelligence level. The talk frames why each category exists: what it accomplishes, how the elements build on one another, and their relationship to the Mahāyāna path. Suited for practitioners beginning serious study of the Abhisamayālaṅkāra or seeking to understand the architecture of the bodhisattva path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-06-01 – Side 1 – KR.MP3
UUID: dfedcbc7-f32f-4070-8c71-0315f6b18b3e
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-06-01
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,402
In order to place in complete peace and happiness all sentient beings equal to space, I must attain perfect complete Buddhahood. And therefore, in order to bring that about, I’m going to listen to this teaching on the profound great vehicle as a means to practice and achieve my aim. And with such a motivation that is that the awakening heart listens to this teaching on the great vehicle. So the main subject of ornament are the main subjects are the eight categories and 70 topics that have been explained previously. So the eight categories are like the pillars of a house.
They’re supporting the the house. And the the eight categories are the pillars of supporting the ornament. And as a means to come to an understanding of the eight categories, they are detailed into 70 topics. So as we’ve as these are extremely important, that is to say the categories, we’re going to enumerate them again. So there are the three exalted knowers.
That is the exalted knower of all aspects, which I’m going to refer to as omniscience. And then there’s the path knower and the base knower. And then there are the four preparations, sometimes referred to as applications or trainings. There’s the preparation for completing the aspects, preparation for completing the aspects. There’s peak preparation.
And then the next, I think I called it sequential preparation, I think I call it final preparation. Final preparation. That’s more literal translation. Final preparation. And then the fourth is momentary preparation.
And then the eighth of the eight categories is the resultant truth body, the results of practice. So you should try to understand these eight categories well. That is to say, understand without any mistakes what we mean when we say knower of bases, knower of path knower, base knower — these eight categories to understand what they mean. If on the other hand these the enumeration of the topic of the categories of ornament can be as extensively set forth in eight categories. It can also be set forth in a middling type of presentation into six categories and an abbreviated presentation of the categories into three.
Eight, six, and three. So this way of numerating just simply is combining various categories into one. There’s really no difference. It’s just a matter of combining. So if we take into the categorization into six, it simply combines the three knowers the three exalted knowers into one.
So the topic of the category of three exalted knowers is combined into one category. And then there are four preparations. One resultant truth body making six categories. So if we were asked to posit the six categories of ornament, we would say that the first category is the three exalted knowers. And then we would go on to list the four preparations, the preparation for complete aspects, peak preparation, final preparation, and momentary preparation.
And then the sixth would be resultant truth body. Then if we were to condense these down into a presentation of three categories, We would condense the three exalted knowers into one category, the four preparations into one category, and then the third would be resultant truth bodies. So we’d have the category of the three exalted knowers, the category of preparation, and the category of resultant truth body making three categories. So these are set forth according to the degree of intelligence of the listener, the trainee who is intent on understanding the subject. For those of highest intelligence, it’s only necessary to set forth three categories.
The detailed, more detailed enumeration is not necessary. Those of middle intelligence is necessary to expand the subject into six categories and those of lesser intelligence into eight categories. So are they good whenever you don’t understand something, just speak up and we can explain it right then and there. Clarify it. So, So, now, why is it necessary to present these three exalted knowers?
The knower of aspects, base knower, and path knower. In the case of the base knower, that of the three types There are four types of superiors. There is the hearer superior, solitary realizer superior, bodhisattva superior, and buddha superior. Now of the two hearer superior and solitary realized superior. If there were no base knower, there would be no path for them to attain liberation.
Base knower is their method for attaining liberation. Therefore it’s necessary to understand base knower in order for these two types of superiors to understand the goal of their path, liberation. And then, with respect to the third type of superior, the bodhisattva superior, he is intent on explaining the three vehicles to the three types of practitioners of each of these vehicles. That is the vehicles of the hearer, solitary realizer, and bodhisattva vehicle. So the method he uses as a means to explain the path according to each of these three types of practitioners is called the path knower.
The path knower is his method for explaining the path of each of the three types of vehicles to each of their the practitioners of each of these three vehicles. Then with respect to the Buddhist superiors, they for them, if there were no knower of aspects, then there would be no way of turning the wheel of Dharma for trainees. The knower of aspects, that is omniscience, is the method for turning the wheel of Dharma for all sentient beings. Therefore, through this understanding this, they achieve their end of turning the wheel of Dharma. So these are the reasons for presenting the three exalted knowers amongst the eight categories.
With respect to the presentation of the four preparations amongst the eight categories. For those trainees who are intent on the ornament, they are set out as the method to overcome the two obstructions to the attainment of Buddhahood. The two obstructions to Buddhahood are the afflictive obstructions, sometimes called the obstructions to liberation, and the knowledge obstructions, sometimes called the obstructions to omniscience. These are the faults which hinders us from attaining Buddhahood. These must be abandoned in order to achieve Buddhahood, Whether we’re just like ourselves, ordinary people, or whether we’re Bodhisattvas, we still have to abandon these two obstructions in order to attain Buddhahood.
Knowledge obstructions or obstructions to omniscience. Same, just different translations. What do we mean by afflictive obstructions? When we studied awareness and knowledge, studied the six root and 20 proximate afflictive emotions. Some of the six root afflictions such as ignorance, hatred, desire, pride, afflicted doubt, and afflicted view.
And then the various 20 proximate or secondary afflictions. These are afflictive obstructions. The six root and 20 secondary afflictions are the afflictive obstructions. Then knowledge obstruction. This is the conception of true existence.
According to the Middle Way school, there is no such thing as true existence. But we hold, in fact, that things exist truly. So this conception of true existence is a distorted conception. The conception of true existence along with its predispositions are the knowledge obstructions. So in order to attain Buddhahood, we have to abandon the two obstructions the afflictive obstructions and knowledge obstructions.
Whether it’s an ordinary person or a bodhisattva, they still must abandon these two obstructions. The method whereby which helps us which enables us to abandon these two obstructions are the four preparations. Therefore, in order to attain Buddhahood, we must cultivate the four preparations. So, in a way, to make use of analogy, that we have to do some kind of preparation on the first day, and then the next day we actually do the work that we’re setting out to do. Likewise, these four preparations are, as the word implies, they are the method to help us prepare, to do the preparation to achieve what we’re actually seeking.
That is to say, Buddhahood. So these four trainings are the means of preparing to abandon the various afflictions, the obstructions. And then the result, the actual what we’re actually seeking to achieve is the resultant truth body. That is to say Buddhahood. So there are the preparations, the four trainings, the four preparations, and then the result is the resultant truth body, which is the actual achievement by these means.
So the bodhisattva aspires to achieve the actual end of Buddhahood. The quality of a Buddha is that in one shortest amount span of time he is able to understand all phenomena that exist. And this span of time is one sixty-fourth of a finger snap. In that amount of time he understands all phenomena. And this is what a bodhisattva is seeking to accomplish.
In order for him or her to accomplish that end, he must cultivate the various practices which bring that about. Cultivating these practices to bring about such a type of ability, such a type of understanding, then he is going to accomplish it. Because at the so that the seeking to attain Buddhahood and this ability to understand all phenomena in one sixty-fourth of a finger snap of time, we must as sentient beings seek to train in a manner which is going to bring that about. And in training as a sentient being, we seek to as a sentient being, are seeking to understand all phenomena in a finger snap of time. Not one sixty fifth of a finger snap of time, but in a finger snap of time, that length of time.
It’s difficult to understand It’s difficult to understand the practices of a bodhisattva. They’re very profound. So as a sentient being, the bodhisattva is seeking to understand all phenomena in one finger snap length of time. And he is able to achieve that at the fourth preparation. We call it momentary preparation.
In one moment he’s able to understand all phenomena. He hasn’t achieved Buddhahood yet, but he’s able to understand all phenomena in one finger snap of time. We’ll call that the yeah, one finger snap of time. In order to achieve that end, that momentary preparation, the bodhisattva cultivates understanding of all phenomena serially or sequentially, not all at once. This is why I originally translated as sequential preparation.
But sometimes that translation is used, literally it’s final preparation. So in order to achieve this, the momentary preparation is necessary to understand all phenomena sequentially and cultivate that ability. Therefore, it’s necessary to cultivate third from the last preparation, final preparation or sequential preparation. So these are cause and effect. In order to achieve momentary preparation, it’s necessary to cultivate final preparation.
As a means of training well in final preparation, it is necessary to gain control over the ability of the three exalted knowers, or attain power through cultivating the three exalted knowers. So in order to attain final preparation, it’s necessary to attain the power or ability in cultivating the three exalted knowers. So in coming to attain the power of the aspects of the three exalted knowers, this is achieved through peak preparation. One gains control through the cultivation, or one gains the power, attains the power through cultivating the aspects of the three exalted knowers by means of peak preparation. In order to attain this power of the aspects of the three exalted knowers, it’s necessary as a prerequisite to train in the preparation for completing the aspects.
So there are five paths in the great vehicle. There’s accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation, and no more learning. The attainment of the first of these five paths, the path of accumulation and the first preparation. The preparation for completing the aspects are simultaneous. One attains the first preparation and the first path at the same time.
So the first preparation is attained at the path accumulation, and then the second preparation is attained on the second path of preparation. That is the peak preparation is attained on the second path of preparation. And then the third preparation, that is the final preparation, is explained in the sixth chapter. The main subject taken up in the sixth chapter is final preparation. And this is achieved subsequent to peak preparation.
And then, momentary preparation is achieved subsequent to final preparation. So the end result we’re seeking is the fifth of these five paths, that is the path of no more learning, which is Buddhahood. Previous to that, in order to attain that we have to achieve the momentary preparation, which is that we’re able to understand all phenomena in a finger snap of time. As a means to achieve that end we have to go through the prerequisite of training. The method to achieve that is final preparation.
In order to achieve that, we have to train in peak preparation. In order to achieve that we have to train in preparation for completing the aspects. So these are the reasons for setting forth the four preparations. So then the ultimate result of this practice of meditation is the resultant truth body. So this is the way we set forth the eight categories.
So the the the Buddha is seeking to the the bodhisattva is seeking to abandon the the two obstructions, the afflictive obstructions and the knowledge obstructions. And he does this by means of training in the four preparations, practicing the four preparations. In this training process he’s meditating, or she’s meditating. What is the object of meditation during these four preparations? The object of meditation are the aspects of the three exalted knowers.
The three exalted knowers are consciousnesses. They’re minds, they’re consciousnesses. But they have qualities or aspects to them which in meditating they are taken as the objects of the meditation during training in the Four Preparations. So the aspects of the three exalted knowers are taken as the objects of meditation or the objects of realization in the training and the four preparations. So we’re taking an example that for example, we’re going to meditate on emptiness.
Now the person is the meditator. The person and the meditator is going to meditate on emptiness. Now that which is actually doing the meditation or do we know how do we come to understand emptiness? Well, we use our mind. We think about emptiness.
So the mind is thinking about emptiness. Emptiness is the object of our meditation. We’re using our mind to think about emptiness, and the meditator, the person, is where the mind is located. The mind is in the continuum of the person.