Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 10.7-minute teaching on the Ornament of Clear Realization, Kyabje Rinpoche examines how the order of realizations differs among practitioners of different capacity. He distinguishes three levels of intelligence: those who enter the hearer’s path first (duller capacity), those entering the great vehicle directly with middling capacity, and those of sharpest intelligence. The crucial distinction: sharp practitioners realize emptiness first, then generate the awakening heart; middling practitioners develop the awakening heart first, then realize emptiness later. Śākyamūni Buddha exemplifies sharpest intelligence. Rinpoche then situates this within the graduated path (Lamrim), showing how all practitioners must cultivate refuge, understanding of karma, renunciation, and compassion as foundations—before progressing to the generation and completion stages of tantra.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-06-15 – Side 2 – KR.MP3
UUID: b5ec380b-bef2-42af-b529-c14ffa6e3321
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-06-15
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~693
# Khensur Rinpoche 19890615 Ornament Side 2
**Collection:** Rinpoche Recordings — Ornament of Clear Realisation (1989-90)
**Duration:** 10.7 minutes
**Words:** 692
**Model:** Deepgram Nova-3
**Corrections applied:** 0
**Transcribed:** 2026-02-28 21:48
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So in general it’s said that those of the hearer’s vehicle are of three levels of intelligence. There’s the sharpest, the middling, and the dullest. Hearers are usually the dullest, solitary realizers middling, and the great vehicle person is the sharpest of the three. But then again we can say that those who go through a lesser vehicle path before entering into the great vehicle path are usually the duller of intelligence. Whereas those who enter directly into a great vehicle path are the middling and sharpest intelligence.
So there are two types of beings who enter directly into the great vehicle as far as their intelligence: the sharpest and then the middling of intelligence. The sharpest faculties of intelligence have a realization of emptiness before they enter into the path. So then they first develop a realization of emptiness and then they generate the mind of enlightenment or the awakening heart. Whereas the person of middling intelligence first generates the awakening heart, whereby he enters into the path or she enters into the path, and then develops the realization of emptiness. So an example of a sharpest intelligent practitioner would be Śākyamūni Buddha, who before he entered into the path had realization of emptiness and then went on to generate the awakened heart and progressed through the paths and came to Buddhahood.
So the trainees who are intent on the ornament and those who are seeking to practice the three mothers—the extensive, middling, and abbreviated—are those of sharpest faculty or intelligence. And therefore first they generate the realization of emptiness and then go on to generate the awakening heart. So how are you going? Are you going the roundabout way and going the hearer’s path first? Oh, you’re going directly.
So within the lamrim it is developed in dependence upon the meditations of the middling being, of middling capacity. One develops renunciation as opposed to the meditations of the being of small capacity. So in accordance with the meditations of the middling capacity, in order to generate the mind of renunciation, we have to develop the thought to definitely emerge from cyclic existence. The word renunciation is translated directly as definite emergence.
To definitely emerge from cyclic existence. And this is only found at the level of being of middling capacity. The being of small capacity is only intent upon not being reborn in a bad migration. It doesn’t have this thought to definitely emerge out of cyclic existence. Whereas the being of highest capacity generates the mind of great compassion and the awakening heart.
And as a prerequisite to this, he or she has already developed renunciation. So as explained in the thought transformation text, the actual practice is the development of the awakening heart. But as a preparation or as a preliminary to the actual practice of developing the awakening heart, we have to cultivate the realizations of the small and middling being’s capacity as a preliminary. So the main practices of the being of small capacity is the realization of refuge and the law of cause and effect. So the actual mode of progress through the meditations would be initially developing the realization of refuge, developing conviction with respect to the law of cause and effect, which would entail understanding what is to be adopted and what is to be rejected, and contemplating the disadvantages of cyclic existence, which leads to the mind of renunciation, and in dependence upon that, developing great compassion and finally the awakening heart.
So in the case of those of the sharpest intelligence, even prior to having developed the awakening heart, they would have had realization of emptiness. Therefore, that is to say they would have understood the view. Therefore, once they have developed the awakening heart, then they have all the three principal aspects of the path: renunciation, the awakening heart, and the correct view. And having that as a basis, they then enter into the practice of secret mantra or tantra. They practice the two stages of generation and completion.