Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 23-minute discussion, Kyabje Rinpoche fields questions from students on the Abhisamayālamkāra, the foundational text that systematizes the perfection of wisdom into eight topics and seventy sub-topics. The exchange covers distinctions between the vehicle paths—inferior, great, perfection, and secret mantra—the eleven attributes characterizing the path knower, principal obscurations at each stage, and final obstacles bodhisattvas overcome. Rinpoche emphasizes that mastery of this material is exceptionally rare, even among monks trained in Tibet’s three great monasteries, and that genuine understanding depends on accumulated karmic imprints from past practice. He encourages students to persist in study and meditation despite difficulty, knowing that each effort plants fresh imprints to ripen when Buddha Maitreya arrives.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1989-11-30 – 28A – KR.mp3
UUID: dd6c3157-7902-4cb2-a840-1e27c4565bec
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1989-11-30
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~1,013
As you have noted down, so you can look at the border. What’s the ranging border of base knower? What’s the ranging border of the partner? And then can think and talk or answer where partner is and in whose mind stream the base knower. So Judy has answered that omniscient mind is in Buddha, in a Buddha’s continuum.
And the other two, based on partner, are in inferior vehicle superior. Is it right? The others. No. No.
So this is debating. Debating. Yeah. It is. Review review So again and again.
What about base knower? What is the first attribute or feature which represents path knower? Which is the first one among the 11 which represents the path knower? Normally, Normally, how many normally so first question, normally, how many attributes or features there are which represent? And second question, which one is the first one? I know I said so I already answered.
So which one would be the first one? First among 11. So first one. How many features or how many attributes represent base? Which one is the first one?
So among the 11 which represent the path knower, which one is the last one? What is the chief of so you would say instead of obscuration. What is the chief obscuration bodhisattva has to abandon? What is the principal obscuration bodhisattva has to abandon? Knowledge obstruction.
Knowledge. Knowledge also. I guess all that is. What is the principal thing Bodhisattvas has to meditate or practice? Oh, really?
Selflessness of a person? Of bodhisattva. What’s the principal goal to achieve? What’s the principal practice the person of inferior vehicle does? Principal practice.
Sorry. Seven limbs of? What’s the principal goal? What’s the chief or principal obscuration to abandon? Afflictive obstruction.
Yeah. Quit. Yeah. You you can say. Did you say nourishment?
How many parts are there with hearers? What are they called? You have to send errors part of documentation errors part. So with the great vehicle, you have to say great vehicle is path of accumulation and so forth, and hearer’s path of accumulation and so forth. And how many are there with the solitary buddhas or normally called?
How many are there with solitary realizers? How many parts are there with solitary realizers? Maybe as auspicious sign, we call make we do a traditional debate because to teacher, we can’t. So either things in debate to me or I debate to them. So I see it quite late, 09:30.
Stop. No. It has been good. I’ll call it discussion, question, answer, and the answers way to the point. It has been very good.
Generally, there are two vehicles, inferior and great vehicle. And the great vehicle itself has two, what I call, two aspects divisions can be the word, the perfection vehicle and the secret mantra vehicle or normally called tantra. And regarding the perfection vehicle, it has all of different sets of teachings covered by that vehicle and among all the different teachings of perfection vehicle, the most important one is the subject of the perfection of wisdom. And this perfectional wisdom, how many different discourses of the past Buddha and his following masters what I call, wrote commentary on. All they have been summarized into the text normally called Abhisamayālamkāra.
In English, normally called text Ornament of Clear Realization or. And in this one, the whole perfection of wisdom has been categorized or has been summarized into the eight eight things and 70 topics, and it has been incredibly good that we have been able to work on the in the act of studying or explaining and listening to this subject on the on these. And it it’s something which must which must not have happened just by itself. There must have been incredible amount of merits we all have accumulated in the past to be able to be to be able to have this fortune of being able to study together and think about it and get used to our mind in meditative contemplation. So it has been incredibly good.
And regarding the subject of being able to understand and not being able to understand that mainly depends on having previous previous imprint in our mind stream. If we had previous imprint then it’s quite easy at the present moment to be able to understand, comprehend. Whereas if we didn’t have any imprint connection from past, then at the moment, it might seem a bit difficult to understand. But still, if we continue to strive towards studying getting used to this whole subject, then we are what we call planting imprint. And somehow in future, it will be definite that we can master the whole whole subject in theory and practice as well.
And especially if we do fervent prayers that in future when the Buddha Maitreya comes to the universe, may I be born as the first among his disciples? So if one especially with all those imprints does such fervent prayers then in future when that time arises when future Buddha Maitreya comes to the universe, we will definitely be born as the chief disciples and be able to make progress. In Tibet, before the occupation, there used to be three principal great monasteries. And among students of those three great monasteries, if we are to make rough, just just work of the amount of work on number of the monks, there must have been about more than 30,000 monks altogether. And all among them, we can count, or we can say that the number of the monks who completely mastered in practice and in total comprehension about such subjects like this one, we can say it’s quite few maybe in a 100 there would be perhaps not even one who who achieved complete mastery.
So it is quite difficult especially in the case of not having previous imprints. But still, at moment, if we do meditation on this subject, get used to it, do further study, then it leaves imprint. And in future, there will be not much hardship in mastering these subjects.