Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 46-minute commentary on the Ornament of Clear Realization, Khensur Rinpoche addresses a fundamental question: why does Mahāyāna practice begin with bodhicitta, the awakening heart? He argues that without this motivation, whatever one practices is not Mahāyāna practice. From this foundation, he covers instruction and teachings, then provides a detailed analysis of the path of preparation’s four stages: heat, peak, patience, and supreme mundane dharma. The core teaching is Buddha nature — the naturally abiding lineage — which Rinpoche explains as the emptiness that allows the mind to progressively transform through the Buddhist paths. For practitioners with foundational Mahāyāna training.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-08-24 – Side 1 – KR.MP3
UUID: 545b1773-e026-4a3c-acac-d93278155953
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-08-24
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,468
So we should listen to this profound teaching on the great vehicle with the attitude of the precious awakening heart seeking to attain perfect, complete, unsurpassable Buddhahood in order to establish all sentient beings equal to space and complete bliss and happiness. So we’re gonna spend two minutes trying to adjust our mind to develop this motivation of the awakening heart. So in the discussion of the the topics under the first chapter of omniscience or the exalted knower of all aspects, there are 10. And amongst these 10, the very first, have covered the first two, mind generation and instruction or precept. Now why is it that mind generation is presented first?
In the ornament there are 70 topics. Among all the 70 topics the very first is mind generation, that is to say the awakening heart. This is because this is an explanation of the great vehicle. And if what we’re doing is to be a practice of the great vehicle, then it must be motivated by the awakening heart. If there’s no awakening heart, then there’s no practice of the great vehicle.
Whatever we do, it must begin with the motivation of the awakening heart. If we have this motivation, then our practice will be of the great vehicle. If we don’t have this practice, then it’s not of the great vehicle. Therefore, it’s necessary initially to develop the motivation of the awakening heart, and this is the reason it is presented first. In having developed the motivation of the kind heart, the awakening heart, in order to actually practice the great vehicle we must know the Dharma, we must know the doctrine.
And if we do not understand the doctrine, then there’s no practice. In order to understand the doctrine, to come to know how to practice the Dharma, then we have to avail ourselves of a knowledgeable lama, a spiritual master, someone who understands the practices and we listen to his instructions or her instructions. Therefore, instructions which are the teachings of the Buddha and the great pandits of the past who commentated on the teachings of Buddha, making up the sutras and the various commentaries which were written about the teachings of the Buddha. In dependence upon these, we come to know what is to be to practice. So therefore, is the reason that the second topic is instruction.
In order to practice, we must have instructions, and that is the second topic. So having listened to the instructions, the various the teachings of the Buddha and the various commentaries, then we have to proceed to actually put these instructions into practice. That is, we have to actually cultivate or meditate on the instructions that which we have learned, that which we have come to know. Now the trainee who is intent on the ornament is the bodhisattva. And so now we’re looking at his practices.
How does he actually go about practicing in order to cultivate the great vehicle? Therefore, now he set out the various practices of the bodhisattva. The meanings, we have to meditate, cultivate the meanings of the instructions. Mainly the meanings concern the sutras on transcendental wisdom. And of this, the essence is emptiness.
So we have to develop a cultivation of a meditation on emptiness and the practices which lead to that. And these involve initially, the contemplation, the the development of calm abiding and special insight. So which brings us to the third topic of these 10. That is the branches of definite discrimination. This is in order to take emptiness, the development of the special insight observing emptiness is attained through the next topic, the branches of definite discrimination.
And that’s why it now comes next. We’re going to So with respect to the branches of definite discrimination, we’re going to look at it from the point of view of definition, divisions, boundaries. So the definition of branches of definite discrimination is a clear realizer of the great vehicle which is generated subsequent to a concordance with liberation and which is included in the level of wishes and behavior. Okay. So Clear real realizer of the great vehicle which is generated subsequent to a concordance with liberation and which is included in the level of belief.
And conduct. Belief and conduct. A clear realizer of the great vehicle which is generated subsequent to a concordance or similarity with liberation and which is included in the level of belief and conduct. So this is the definition of the branches of definite discrimination. So within the great vehicle there are five paths.
Path of accumulation, path of preparation, path of seeing, path of meditation, and a path of no more learning. The branches of definite discrimination is synonymous. The great vehicle path of preparation is synonymous with branches of definite discrimination. Synonymous. Path the the great vehicle path of preparation is synonymous with the branches of definite discrimination.
So the path of preparation has four levels. And these are generated in the order of first, the generation of what is called the heat level, then the peak level, the patience level, and finally the highest mundane Dharma level. So the first level of the path of preparation, the great vehicle path of preparation is termed the heat level. And how is it generated and how does it get this name, heat level? Upon coming to the tenth ground where the most subtle one has reached the stage of the end of the continuum of being a sentient being, at that point it’s necessary to generate antidote to the most subtle knowledge obstruction.
This antidote is likened to a fire. It’s analogous to a fire. It burns away this obstruction, this final obstruction. Fire can destroy all things like wood, for example. It can destroy wood.
So therefore, they take this as an analogy of the destructive power of fire to get rid of the obstruction, to get rid of the obstacles. And therefore This is the uninterrupted the path of the tenth ground. This fire is generated which is able to rid of the most subtle knowledge of obstruction. The initial flame of this fire occurs at the first level of the path of preparation. Therefore, that’s why it’s termed heat.
Then the second level is termed peak, And in general, distorted conceptions, distorted views are able to destroy our roots of positive actions. It is at this point, having achieved the peak stage, that distorted conceptions and distorted views can no longer destroy the roots of one’s positive actions, and therefore it derives this name peak. And the third level is termed for patience or sometimes forbearance. And prior to the attainment of the level of patience, one is liable to take rebirth in bad migrations due to the power of actions and afflictive emotions. At this point, having achieved this level, under that one is no longer liable to take such type of rebirth.
Then the fourth level is termed Supreme Mundane Dharma or Highest Mundane Dharma. This is the highest path of an ordinary being. Above this one attains the path of seeing, which is a path of a superior, of an ārya. Because this is the highest path of an ordinary person, a mundane person, it is termed supreme mundane Dharma. Then the boundaries of branches of definite discrimination are that it is only found on the path of preparation.
It is not beneath the path of preparation, such as on the path of accumulation, nor above, such as on the path of seeing, but only on the path of preparation. Then the fourth topic which is the basis of achieving or the basis of great vehicle achievement which is the naturally abiding lineage. We’ll look at that from the point of view of definitions, divisions, and boundaries. The definition of basis of achieving is the naturally abiding lineage being the element of qualities which serves as the basis of achieving the great vehicle. The naturally abiding lineage being the element of qualities which serves as the basis of achieving the great vehicle.
So what we mean by the basis of achieving is a way of positing, a way of presenting emptiness. The type of emptiness we’re talking about is the emptiness of, for example, the five paths. The path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation, no more learning. As we talked about with respect to the path of preparation, were four levels, the heat peak, patience, and supreme. Within the ornament, the presentation of the branches of definite discrimination and here the basis of achieving the naturally abiding lineage there is that which is directly explained and that which is generally explained.
In the terms of general explanation, then we can assume that the naturally abiding lineage, which is the basis for achieving, is the emptiness of the first four paths, the path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, and meditation. The emptiness of the path of no more learning is not a naturally abiding lineage. It has been fully evolved. It is not classified as a naturally abiding lineage. These first four paths, that’s the general explanation.
In terms of the direct explanation where the actual words are set forth directly, where the words are clearly set out, the naturally abiding lineage which is the basis of achieving is these three paths, the middle three paths: preparation, seeing, and meditation. So there is the direct explanation, actual explanation or direct, actual maybe a better word, where the words are clearly set out. In terms of that, naturally abiding lineage is the emptiness of these three paths: preparation, seeing, and meditation. But in general we can say the that natural abiding lineage, which is the basis of achieving, it also includes accumulation. The word isn’t actually set out.
Generally we can assume that, but directly the words only set out these three. So a naturally abiding lineage is an emptiness. It is, but specifically it is an emptiness of a path. An emptiness of a path. A path is not truly existent.
The refutation of that true existence of a path is that path’s emptiness. So naturally abiding lineage is an emptiness in terms of paths, taking paths as a basis, that emptiness is naturally abiding lineage. Naturally abiding lineage is an emptiness. So we have we have a Buddha lineage. Generally, this is translated as Buddha nature, And more strict translation would be Buddha lineage.
Buddha nature. We have Buddha nature. This Buddha nature or Buddha lineage is natural abiding lineage. It naturally abides, a natural abiding nature, natural abiding lineage. It is the existence of this naturally abiding lineage which allows for the transformation of the entity of the mind.
As we move up a path, we go from a lower path to a higher path, the mind is constantly changing. It’s being transformed. That which allows for this is its lineage, is its emptiness. We go from the path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation, no more learning. Always transforming the mind.
When we finally transform it completely, attain the path of no more learning, then the mind itself is the wisdom truth body. And the emptiness of that mind is the nature truth body. So the lineage is constantly changing because it is the basis of emptiness of the mind, taking the mind as the basis of emptiness. And then one was the first four paths and the other was middle three paths. Yeah.
Why that different? Or you just want know that information? No. I didn’t think. Okay.
Okay. If we did not possess this naturally abiding lineage, we would not be able to achieve Buddhahood. The mind could not be transformed. The transformability of the mind is a sign that we possess. The transformability of the mind to achieve Buddhahood is a sign that we possess naturally abiding lineage, or another way, Buddha nature.
Natural Buddha nature. So first, this naturally abiding lineage is an emptiness in terms of the various path consciousnesses. First we attain the path of accumulation. The emptiness of that path, that path consciousness, is the natural abiding lineage of the path of accumulation. Then we meditate, meditate, meditate, and the mind is transformed into the path of preparation.
That emptiness of that mind is naturally abiding lineage and the nature of the path of preparation, the emptiness of the path of preparation. We go meditate, meditate, meditate and that mind is transformed into the path of seeing. And again, the basis of that emptiness is now the path of seeing. The mind is transformed into the path of meditation and the emptiness now is the emptiness of the path of meditation. Finally the mind is transformed, it attains omniscience, it attains the wisdom truth body and the emptiness of that present mind then becomes the nature truth body, the emptiness of the omniscient mind.
For For example, emptiness of the path, or just just emptiness emptiness of of mind in general? So the way that one progresses through the paths is by emptiness, by meditating on the emptiness of the the mind of that the emptiness of the mind of that path, the emptiness of that path. By when one is on the path of accumulation, by meditating on the emptiness of the path of accumulation, one attains the path of preparation. By meditating on the emptiness in terms of the path of preparation, one attains the path of seeing. So it is due to the presence of the condition of the emptiness of the mind at each of the paths that there is the possibility for transformation to take place.
And this is the kindness of the lineage. If there was not this presence of the condition of the emptiness of that mind at that particular stage, then it could not be transformed into something else. And this is what we mean by the Buddha nature, the Buddha lineage. The condition of the presence of the transformability which is the emptiness of that particular mind. So that’s right.
I mean, have to progress from lower to higher, you know, from working through the various paths. In general, when we said that you meditate on the emptiness of the path that you’re on, for example, on the path of accumulation, the main object of meditation is the emptiness of the path of accumulation, which brings about the transformation of the mind into the entity of the path of preparation. But we actually meditate on infinite variety of emptinesses, mainly the emptiness of the particular path which you’re on. Because when we talk about the the naturally abiding lineage, we’re talking about the emptiness in terms of various paths, taking various bases. The emptiness are differentiated from the point of view of the basis