Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. This 47-minute commentary explores how advanced bodhisattvas understand the paths of others. Khensur Rinpoche begins with foundational bodhicitta cultivation, then analyzes the “knower of the path”—a specific realization practitioners develop to guide others. He explains why bodhisattvas must study both the hearer’s path and the solitary realizer’s path, noting they differ not in ultimate aim but in scope and profundity. He covers how such teaching requires threefold motivation: bodhicitta, realization of emptiness, and merit dedication. The session concludes with instruction on the Four Noble Truths, explaining why their teaching order (suffering, cause, cessation, path) differs from their causal sequence, grounded in how a liberation-seeker naturally realizes them. Suited for students of Mahāyāna philosophical commentary.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-10-19 – Side 1 – KR.MP3
UUID: 5705aff6-22fd-467b-9a44-a0c0ce3502b5
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-10-19
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,213
Now if we examine carefully with each of us, we we have all sort of sessions, physical sensations and mental sensations, and that are conscious of them. And in the same way, if we examine carefully, we will find all of the sentient beings too in the same situation that they all have this physical and mental sensation. For us, as a human, it’s quite not that bad. But whereas to other sentient beings, it’s much worse in the sense like there are sentient beings in the higher realm and what’s normally called hungry ghosts and animals where compared to us as humans they’re intense suffering. So try to generate a loving mind thinking, may all this suffering somehow be ceased to happen in this very instant.
And also, prior to generate bodhisattva thinking, I must attain the state of Buddhahood in order to place all these sentient beings to the highest unsurpassed bliss or happiness. So let’s just try to generate this bodhicitta and try to do that. Let’s meditate on it for two or three moments together. In the last cases on this series of topics, we come to the second one which is knower of the path or path knowledge. And 11 topics, 10 which represent the second topic, the knower of path.
And among the eleven, one which was already explained was the first which is called the link of knower of the path or things associated with knower of the path, path knower. And now we come tonight to the second second of the 11 ones. So the second one is called by the name the path knower knowing the path of the hearers. So regarding hearers, it was already explained before. There are three types, hearers, the solitary buddhas or normally translated as solitary realizers, and bodhisattvas.
So here we are talking about the first one, the path knowing the path of the hearers. Regarding the second topic, the path of the hearers, this one comprises four subdivisions, the definition, the division, and the boundaries of the And the third part of the boundary goes by the realization which is for the purpose of attracting those belonging to the hearer’s group, meaning a realization which is meant to attract and draw those belonging to the hearer’s path. So the synonym of this definition is like a Mahāyāna realization, which belongs to the group of path realizations. So that’s the synonym, the second the parenthesis. The realization belonging to the group of realization.
Is that correct? Regarding the boundaries, range it extends from what point to what point. So regarding the boundaries, normally my and my part is of five, the path of accumulation, path of application, path of seeing, part of meditation, no more learning path. So this one extends from the path of seeing up to Buddhahood. So that’s part of the definition.
So this one, the second one, says like the knower of the path, knowing the hearer’s path, the because is the path knower or because it’s the knower of the path belonging to the certain of the three knowledges, it is within the category of knower of the path, therefore it is within the mind of the ārya or superior being in the great vehicle, great vehicle path, meaning it is something which is being practiced by a person who is in the great vehicle path and who has realized the antidote. Knower of the path of the hearers, but why bodhisattva has to practice this is because bodhisattva, ārya pure bodhisattva, whose intention is to attract and finally guide a person who is on the hearer’s path. And in course of trying to guide that person, firstly the bodhisattva himself should be familiar with what kind of practice the person is doing. So therefore firstly the bodhisattva practices the path: knower of the path knowing the hearer’s path and when he knows that and then he explains these paths to the person who belongs to the hearer’s path. So how a bodhisattva superior bodhisattva, how he has to do this practice is like this.
Firstly, he has to explain the teaching to the person of the hearer’s path with the motivation of bodhisattva. So because he’s motivation of bodhisattva, superior bodhisattva, his access has to be motivated by bodhicitta, therefore, in the definition, we see two motivations and out of two motivations, first one is bodhicitta. And also, because the bodhisattva in the course of his trying to explain, he has to realize emptiness himself. Therefore, we have the second motivation, the realization of emptiness. And with that realization of emptiness, the bodhisattva gives teaching to the person belonging to the hearer’s path and afterwards whatever merit the bodhisattva gains, he dedicates the merit.
Therefore, we got the third And then the second or the next one is the knower of the path knowing the path of the solitary buddha, which is non-intentioned and it’s called solitary realizers. So knower of the path knowing the path of the solitary realizer. So this is exactly the same as the previous one. In this case, the superior bodhisattva personally practiced the path which belonged to the person practicing the solitary realizer’s path So regarding this second one or the next one, the knower of the path knowing the path of the solitary realizer, this one is kind of the previous one in the case like it has all the four definitions and the reasons, the synonyms and the boundary. So in the second part of the definition it goes like in the previous one, literally going very close we have something like a kind of realization which is for the person to draw or attract the person belonging to the lineage, so we haven’t got hearers in the first place, belonging to the lineage of the hearer’s path, the hearer’s lineage of hearers.
So that’s our thing we have to keep in this one. In this section we have group of realization which is to attract or guide people belonging to the lineage of the solitary realizer’s path instead of the hearer’s path. And in the last part of the definition, it was something like the realization of the regarding the second part in the four phase division, so this one is exactly the same. We just have to keep in place of the hearer’s, knower of the path knowing the hearer’s path, we have to just instead knower of the path knowing the hearer’s path And regarding the boundary, it is same with the previous one. And why it is same is because it’s seen within the category of knower of the path.
So it will have to have same boundary extending from the path of seeing, the great vehicle path of seeing, up to Buddhahood. And the reason why there are two types of problems knowing, one know of the problem in this case, let’s think about the first two. So the reason why there are these two is because of the difference in the way how persons are of the hearer class and how those of the solitary realizer class practice. So the difference is in the profoundly how in-depth they go in their practice and how in vastness their practices look different. So in accordance to what I call depth and the vastness of their practices, the bodhisattva also has to know in this condition, what I call, way of practicing.
And in trying to subdue and train the persons belonging to these two, bodhisattva also does this practice and is used to guide them according to the way the hearers practice and the solitary realizers practice just according to how vast and how profound they want to have. So that’s principally the two reasons why they are these two. That’s because the superior bodhisattva type of person has to check what is the disposition of the sentient being, what or what they have got in their mind, what’s the inclination and the karma they have. So in accordance to each of their life, inclination, and capacity, the bodhisattva sets forth this teaching. So first we have to find out then we have to give teaching And now it’s occurred in the 11 divisions.
The third one is the minor path of seeing which is explicitly shown in this context of the text. So minor path of seeing is as explained before already in the path teaching, like normally minor path or the five paths comprises the path of accumulation, part of application, path of seeing, part of meditation and no more learning part. And because knower of the path cannot be performed on the first two paths, therefore the knower of the path has to start from the path of seeing. So the minor path of seeing is basically shown clearly and explicitly in this context in the text. And so at this point, the third one is the Mahāyāna path of seeing.
So this would be the fourth in the eleven topics. And with regard to it, it hasn’t got the synonym part, so it has to be the definition, the division, and the boundary. The realization that is a Mahāyāna realization directly realizing the freedom from elaboration shown in this context. So to repeat, how have you got it? A Mahāyāna realization which has directly realized the freedom from elaboration in this context.
Elaboration. Elaboration in this context. This is very literally speaking, it is called the definition of the minor path of seeing of this particular context. The meaning is there is a certain emphasis on the place of these are in this context. We have to put in this context after of Mahāyāna path of seeing, Mahāyāna path of seeing in this context.
Ornament realization. So in the actual text, there is a two-line verse where it shows the Mahāyāna path of seeing where the line goes of this and what does it benefit So regarding the path of seeing which has been shown in this context, so regarding that path of seeing which has been shown in this context of the text, so it is of two kinds. That path of seeing is of two kinds. The first one is called the uninterrupted path and second one is called the complete release, So uninterrupted path of utter purity. Regarding the first of the two, what I call uninterrupted path, so this one let’s say when the great compassion of Buddha, when he first gave teaching in the Indian city called Varanasi, at that So regarding the four truths, perhaps it may be good to write it down.
So the first part regarding the four truths, the first two come from the point of things to be abandoned and it is of course the first two. And the second part of the four truths is from the point of things to adopt, to practice and it also has two aspects of course as well. Regarding from the point of things to the abandoned versus the recent which is the truth of suffering and second is the cause which is the truth of the cause of suffering or literally speaking, quite literally translated it is the truth of the origin And from the point of things to be practiced, to be adopted, the first one is the truth of cessation and then it’s the cause, which is the truth of the path. The truth of the path is the path because it is the one by which as a means one applies and to which one attains the second one, the truth of cessation. Regarding the four truths, how there is the order of the cause being placed before the cessation?
It may be called a kind of a doubt or question. How is it so? Because according to how things happen in order, first comes the cause and then comes the cessation. But still, in this context of the four truths, the cessation is placed before the cause, that’s because there was special meaning behind it. So how it happened?
So how it happens to a person who wants to attain liberation and as a seeker of liberation who sees all these persons within cyclic existence and gains or within his mind arise a renunciation thought seeing the faults of saṃsāra, certain existence, and tries to attain a state of complete freedom from this suffering. So that’s a time of deliberation to examine what are the possible ways by which I can really get rid of all this suffering So this is we understand realize the four truth. So how we realize the four truths is in this order. Firstly, we realize the two truths relating from the point of what is to be abandoned and and from those two, he first realizes the truth of suffering and then he realizes the truth of the origin or truth of the cause. So because of this very reason that in the second order of realizing these truths by a person seeking liberation.
Therefore, this order is self-imposed by its intent. So in this case meaning, according to explanation, this order is from the same point of view how a valid cognition realizes the four truths. So from that point of view, the order has been presented.