Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. Kyabje Rinpoche opens this 55-minute commentary on the Ornament of Clear Realization with a guided bodhicitta meditation—generating the intention to free all sentient beings from suffering. He then works through a critical philosophical distinction: comparing two types of base knower realization. The first, far from enlightenment, belongs to lower-vehicle practitioners, lacking great compassion and trapped by truth-grasping—the mistaken belief that phenomena truly exist. The second moves toward Buddhahood, unified by great compassion and the wisdom directly realizing emptiness. Rinpoche clarifies how these two insights correspond to the two collections needed on the path: the merit collection built through compassion, and the wisdom collection through direct realization. Intended for practitioners already familiar with Buddhist philosophy.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-11-23 – 26A – KR.mp3
UUID: de700920-1f20-48bb-919a-5d9c3c6f0c6f
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-11-23
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~3,014
All of the sentient beings have been very kind to oneself or meaning to you because since beginningless time, they have all been in turn your mothers but at the moment all those kind mother sentient beings, all of them are very much being are very much being tormented by sufferings. Therefore, the way of thinking at this point has to I’m going to remove their sufferings and I’m going to place them to ultimate excellent happiness so try to have that thinking. At the moment, you have attained the precious human rebirth and you have all the positive factors and facilities to be able to do the practice of Dharma therefore because this being your situation it is not appropriate for you to remain in that situation without thinking about other kind mother sentient beings therefore make a kind of attitude thinking in order to remove their sufferings and to place them to sublime excellent happiness must first attain the state of Buddhahood. So in this way try to generate the good heart of bodhicitta and in trying to generate that we will meditate together for about five minutes. In the last teaching, the explanation was about the nine features representing the path knower and among the nine features already the explanation covered the first two, path knower not abiding in existence and path knower not abiding in peace and regarding the definitions of those two it seems that the texts on which your explanation was based didn’t explicitly give a clear explanation on some points therefore, would you like to hear what the definition was in the last two?
Can anybody read read back? So maybe it’s not needed the first part where it says being held by great compassion so maybe it’s not needed. Of course, at this point whoever has that partner not abiding in existence that person naturally has what are called great compassion so we omit that and the definition itself becomes great vehicle’s knowledge belonging to the group of realization which is means to sustain the extreme of existence based on conventional truth or based on conventionalities. So that’s fine. What about the second one?
The path knower not abiding in peace definition. Oh, that’s fine. That’s yeah. That’s as it should be. Yeah.
So those first two covered the first two among the nine are representing feature and the third one is called the base knower far from the resultant mother. So resultant mother regarding that the base knower far from the resultant mother. And regarding the resultant mother, so mother refers to the mind and result here refers to the ultimate result. So in brief, resultant mother refers to the state of Buddhahood, the mind of all knowing omniscient mind of Buddhahood. So this third one is talking about the base knower which is distant or far to that result in Buddhahood and regarding the base knower, it is as you might be quite clear, it is the first of the so this is Rinpoche speaking of course and you might be quite clear it is the first of the three in the first set of eight talking about omniscient mind, the path knower and the base knower.
So basically, it’s saying, you know, base knower is that one. So with this third one, the base knower far from the resultant mother, it has three parts definition on divisions and ranging border. So regarding the first one definition it goes being a base knower so why why it is called being a base knower is because it is basically a base knower. So first part being a base knower and second part goes like separated separated off great compassion so this is literally Tibetan speaking and the alternative translation would be without great compassion. So being a base knower without great compassion and the third part goes like, bound by truth grasping.
So that’s the definition of this based knower far from the resultant mother and the definition goes being a base knower without great compassion bound by truth grasping and this base knower is a synonym with the base knower of the negative class so base knower of the negative class will be explained after it is the third or fifth one which in the nine features is the fifth one so the fifth one and this or this one this third one are opposing or contrasting. And regarding the ranging border, it starts from the lower or inferior vehicles, so literally inferior vehicle’s path of seeing up to inferior vehicle’s path of no more training and regarding the inferior vehicle already must be clear with you that basically when explanation categorizes the vehicles, the vehicles comprise of three vehicles and these three vehicles each are what are called five paths so arhats’ vehicle has five paths and solitary realizer or self-realizer have five paths and the great vehicle has five paths and regarding the inferior the lowest one arhats’ vehicle it has five paths which starts from path of accumulation, path of preparation, path of seeing. So this ranging border starts from arhats’ path of seeing up till arhats’ path of meditation and arhats’ path of no more training.
And literally called in the what I call text as the ranging border ranges from inferior vehicles path of seeing up to inferior vehicles path of no more training. So in the definition it has three workable pointers. The first one is the being a base knower and second one without great compassion and third one are what I call bound by truthless or truth grasping or grasping of truth. So in the first one, the first point where it says being a base knower so this is of course is the base knower because it is the base knower among the eight eight what are called eight things or eight categories and it is based on when we talk also from the angle of the three knowledges, the knower, the all-aspect knower, the path knower, the base knower. And the second point of the definition where it says without great compassion so it is of course without great compassion because great compassion is a mind which is focused on all countless sentient beings and things that may all these countless sentient beings be free of suffering and causes of suffering and this is of course absent with this one because with the practitioner of inferior inferior vehicle, there isn’t any great compassion.
Also in previous in the last teaching where it went on saying the or called path knower not abiding in peace through compassion so that itself clearly explains or indirectly that great compassion is not with the arhats and those of the inferior vehicle and here also with the base knower far from the resultant mother we can clearly understand it is because being with the inferior vehicle practitioner therefore the definition where it says without great compassion has meaning from that point of view. So with the third point of the definition where it says are called bound by truth grasping. So truth grasping normally is a mistaken mind which thinks all phenomena actually not being truly existent but still it thinks that they are truly existent and this truth grasping is what in the past teachings where the explanation was about the wisdom knowledge obscuration. So that knowledge obscuration in the past teaching is actually being referred to this one, truth grasping, their synonym. Regarding how truth grasping bound or binds a person, the practitioner in this case is like suppose if we have a person arrested and if he is bound by rope so in that case he hasn’t got any movement of being able to work on or being able to move his limbs and so forth.
So in this case, same the way how the person is bound by truth grasping means that he is very much obscured by the mistaken or truth grasping mind. Like normally, are expressions for people of intense attachment, the expression goes that the person is very much bound by attachment and for people of and for people of intense anger, there’s expressions saying the person is very much bound by anger. So same in the context, old phenomena are not truly exist and not truly formed but still the person having this base knower, this person because of having the truth grasping mind thinking that all phenomena are truly existent, he analyzes the phenomena whether the phenomena are truly existent, truly formed or not and finally he comes to the conclusion that phenomena are truly formed, that phenomena are truly existing, everything is truly coexisting and with that single pointed conclusion that all phenomena, everything is truly existing, he very much is bound in that mistaken conception of thinking everything is truly existent and because of that very bondage he’s not able to what call free himself into seeing the truthlessness nature of things and he is also very much bound to not be able to free himself to go towards liberation and the correction here was we better say it not liberation but instead we say it as omniscience.
Omniscient. So that very bondage of truth grasping makes the person not free enough to go toward omniscience. To explain it more clearly, normally, as we all understand, there are four philosophical schools or four tenets. And among those four tenets let’s say one below the mind only school. So mind only school and one below it the sūtra groups.
So these two especially are let’s say with them the their view or their philosophical conclusion is that everything everything, all phenomena are truly existent that there is not a particle which is what I call or which is not truly existent. So in meaning that they say that everything including the smallest particle is truly existent. So because they have this very view and or philosophical conclusion, it is possible that a person who had previously been who had previously belonged to mind only school and Sūtra Group School afterward when he such practitioner when he does practices on the path and when he is able when the person is able to generate this base knower then still his base knower will be mixed with or combined with his previous previous misconception of things being truly existent. Therefore such type of base knower which is far from the resultant mother and which is very much bound by truth grasping is with such type of person. Any such practitioner who has this base knower, of course, he has been able to generate within his mind stream the base knower but still he’s very far from becoming a Buddha because he has not got the positive condition of great compassion and also is not free of the negative condition of the truth grasping mind.
Therefore, such type of person or practitioner having this base knower is basically very far from being Buddha therefore this this type of base knower is called the base knower far from the resultant mother. So now we come to the next one, the base knower near to the resultant mother and this has a definition which goes like being a knowledge of a great vehicle superior belonging to the group of realization of inferior vehicle. So there’s emphasis on group or time. So being a knowledge of great vehicle superior belonging to the group or time, group or type so perhaps that’s alternative translation group or type. So belonging to the group of realization of inferior vehicle and the emphasis is because it is not exactly inferior or realization.
It is a type or group. And it’s a long long definition. And the second part of definition goes held by the great compassion and the wisdom directly realizing emptiness. So second part goes held by great compassion and the wisdom directly realizing emptiness. So the second part is called synonyms so likewise with the previous one the base knower far from the resultant mother with the previous one we have to have the second part definition and second part is synonym.
So with this one the second part is synonym, this base knower which is near to the resultant mother is synonym to the base knower of the antidote class whereas the previous one the base knower far from the resultant mother is synonym to the base knower of negative class. So regarding the third one, ranging border, it ranges from great vehicle’s path of seeing up to Buddhahood. So of course the great vehicle as path of seeing being laid from point of five paths of the great vehicle: path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation, and no-more-learning. So with the definition we can what I call analyze the first part of definition goes being a great vehicle superiors or knowledge belonging to the group of realization of the inferior inferior vehicle. So that first part itself or we can perhaps break into two pointers of which the first part forms the total realization of the inferior vehicle and the second part will be the great vehicle superior or superior knowledge.
So great vehicle superior, so that’s an ārya or person, great vehicle superior person, great vehicle superior normally. So regarding great vehicle superior of course you all must must have have a a clear understanding of it from the previous teachings that normally Mahāyāna path has five paths. The first part, first two parts the Mahāyāna path of accumulation and Mahāyāna path of preparation these two are called the Mahāyāna ordinary person’s path and the last three, the Mahāyāna path of seeing, Mahāyāna path of meditation and Mahāyāna path of no-more-learning, So regarding the part where it says belonging to the group of the inferior vehicles realization so this part will have to be explained a bit into detail. So regarding the phrase or regarding the phrase belonging to the group of realizations so belonging to the group of realization regarding this phrase itself it has two kinds so belonging to the group of realization of means and belonging to the group of realizations of wisdom and each being or each having two divisions or two varieties like belonging to the group of wisdom of the inferior vehicle, belonging to the group of the wisdom of the great vehicle and same with the means belonging to the group of realization of means of inferior vehicle belonging to the group of the realization of means of the great vehicle.
So is that correct? Looks like two. I think that’s right. And the second part of the definition where it says great vehicle or great compassion and the wisdom directly realizing emptiness. So great compassion great compassion refers to the refers to the belonging to the realization of the means and wisdom realizing, wisdom directly realizing emptiness this refers to the belonging to the realization of the wisdom.
So in meaning, great compassion refers to realization of means and wisdom of emptiness refers to realization of the wisdom. So regarding great compassion being referred or being called as the being called as being called by the phrase belonging to the realization of the means. This is because first it is from the standpoint of when the great vehicle method and wisdom or means and wisdom are analyzed, the means refers to great compassion. Therefore that’s one reason why great compassion in this context is called by that phrase belonging to the realization of means. And another reason is because the great vehicle practitioners like Bodhisattvas, they mainly emphasize their principal practice on compassion and because of that very reason it is also called by that phrase belonging to the realization of the means.
Same thing applies to our meditation and practice of bodhicitta then bodhicitta can also be called by that phrase belonging to the realization of the means. So means in the sense of means and wisdom. And regarding the regarding the wisdom directly realizing emptiness, this is so called by the phrase belonging to the belonging to the realization of the wisdom. Why that is so is because the great vehicle practitioners like bodhisattva, they’re one part of a practice especially emphasized on realization of emptiness. Therefore, that part of our practice which emphasizes on realization of emptiness is called because of that reason it is called on this one, the phrase belonging to the realization of wisdom.
So both implying it, both these two phrases implying whenever there is a Bodhisattva’s method practice and compassion we can call that his mind stream is attuned to realization of means and whenever he’s doing practicing wisdom we can paraphrase it as calling that his mind is attuned to realization of wisdom. So with the great vehicle, the wisdom wisdom practice constitute the collection of the pure wisdom pure wisdom collection. So this is talking about the two collections merits and pure wisdom collections. And so wisdom practice constitute the collection of the pure wisdom collection and the great compassion practice constitute collection of merit merit collection and these two combined together the practitioner has to attain Buddhahood. So in this this way, a Bodhisattva’s method and wisdom in order to accumulate two kinds of collections, collection of merit and collection of pure wisdom.
Great compassion belongs to the realization of great vehicle because it belongs to the realization of great vehicle, it doesn’t belong to the realization of inferior vehicle. Then what are the types of realizations which should belong to the group of realization of inferior vehicle? There are as an example such moments like realization of impermanence, realization of selflessness, realization of suffering. So these are the examples of realizations which belong to the group of inferior vehicle’s realization. To the group of realization of inferior vehicle’s means.
I repeat that. The mind which is interested in attaining liberation is one which belongs to the realization of inferior which belongs to the group of realization of inferior