Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 50-minute session on Maitreya’s Ornament of Clear Realization, Kyabje Rinpoche unpacks what the perfection of wisdom means and how it arises through three stages: listening to the teachings, reflecting on their meaning, and meditating to realize them. He establishes three defining attributes: it exists uniquely in a Buddha’s mind, it is the final realization of emptiness that refutes true existence, and it overcomes all mental faults. He then distinguishes two paths by a practitioner’s intelligence level. The most intelligent first realize emptiness—grasping this removes the obstruction to Buddhahood—before generating the awakening heart commitment to achieve enlightenment for all beings. Those of middling intelligence first cultivate love and compassion, then generate the awakening heart, then realize emptiness. The talk closes by contrasting endless desire with the peaceful mind of contentment.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1990-02-15 – 30A – KR.mp3
UUID: 3714fc94-8cc8-4756-a0f4-36c03d0b3bbc
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1990-02-15
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~2,543
All sentient beings equal to space and complete perfect happiness and to separate them from all suffering. So the composer of the Ornament of Clear Realization, Maitreya begins his text with the perfection of wisdom was explained in eight categories. Translated as wisdom gone beyond, transcendental wisdom, perfection of wisdom, the same words. What exactly do we mean? First, we listen to the Buddhist teachings again and again, and then we, from listening to the Buddhist teaching again and again, the wisdom arising from listening, we experience the wisdom arising from listening.
Then upon this we begin to reflect upon the meaning of what has been said or what we have listened to, trying to understand, examining. From this the wisdom arising from thinking is experienced. Upon this we then proceed into meditation, habituation, familiarization. From this the wisdom arising from meditation arises. The wisdom arising from meditation is what we mean by the wisdom gone beyond or the perfection of wisdom.
So when we refer to the perfection of wisdom, we’re talking about this wisdom which has come to the final conclusion to the culmination. That is the culminating process of listening, reflecting and meditating. There Therefore, such a type of wisdom has come to culmination, has come to perfection, has come to, has gone beyond transcended. Therefore, it is called referred to as a perfection of wisdom and if we ask where does that perfection of wisdom reside, resides within the mind of the Buddha. So the perfection of wisdom is a type of consciousness, it a wisdom and wisdom only consciousnesses and therefore wisdoms only abide in beings.
And what type of being does this does such a type of wisdom reside in only in Buddhist superiors? So the perfection of wisdom wisdom has has And three if you refer to this handout you will see the three. That it’s the attribute of basis in that it exists exclusively in the continuum of a Buddhist superior. The attribute of entity or sometimes referred to as nature in that it is a path and is the final, the culmination of emptiness. And then the third attribute is that it’s freedom from object of negation.
There are two objects of negation, and this wisdom is free from the object of negation. So if we make to help us understand these, the way these three attributes are applied, we’ll use an analogy and we use the analogy of the bodhisattva vows. Now, where does a bodhisattva vow reside? Reside? It resides in the being who has taken these vows.
So, the bodhisattva vows reside in a being who has accepted, has taken on these vows. Likewise, the perfection of wisdom resides in with a being and the only being in which it resides is a is a Buddha. It does not exist in the continuum or minds of non Buddhas. Then what is its nature? It is the final realization of emptiness, the culmination realization of emptiness.
It is a consciousness which is free of all faults, which possesses all excellent qualities and is a path. It is a path. So then the third attribute that is to say freedom from the object of negation. Are two types of objects of negation and what we mean by negation is to make non existent, to refute and this exalted wisdom, it makes non existent a particular type of fault or it refutes something and makes it non existent. What the wisdom is refuting is true existence because it has negated true existence we say it has attained.
It is free from the object of negation. It is free from the object of negation because it has refuted true existence. The other object of negation is the fault within the mind. That is to say, this particular fault that has been made non existent is the root of all our suffering, of our suffering of body, speech and mind. The afflictive emotions but even beyond that the root of the afflictive emotions, the conception of true existence which or this conception of true existence is the obstruction to omniscience or the knowledge of obstruction.
Obstruction. Therefore, eliminating this fault completely from the mind, which is the cause, which is the elimination of suffering and its cause, having abandoned it, all faults are completely abandoned and therefore it is said that this wisdom has is free from this object of negation, which is all faults of the mind. So this is what we’re referring to when we speak of the perfection of wisdom the perfection of the wisdom gone beyond. It is the final attainment which is to say omniscience. There is nothing higher than this.
The being who possesses within their continuum this perfection of wisdom is a Buddha and this being has brought to fulfillment both the welfare of others and the welfare of oneself. That they are effortlessly able to establish sentient beings in liberation. Simply by teaching one verse of Dharma, they are able to establish numberless sentient beings in liberation. Simply by emitting one ray of light from their body, they are able to establish numberless sentient beings in liberation. Their qualities are unimaginable.
So in order to attain this ultimate quality, what do we need to do? Initially, we must listen to the text, the scriptures which set forth the teachings on emptiness. And the teachings were set forth by the Buddha when he on the perfection of wisdom in their most extensive form at Rajgriha where he set forth the perfection of wisdom in 100,000 verses which constitutes 12 volumes. Then he taught again a middling version of the perfection of wisdom in three volumes constituting 20,000 verses. And then he taught it in the perfection of wisdom in an abbreviated fashion made up of 8,000 verses.
These are the these are his discourses on the perfection of wisdom. We listen to these but also the various commentaries to these texts such as the text we’re now studying, The Ornament of a Clear Realization. And dependence upon listening to these, the wisdom arising from listening will be experienced. So this is the this is the term the hearer it’s termed the scriptural perfection of wisdom. The scriptural perfection of wisdom.
The very scriptures setting forth the perfection of wisdom are to be listened to, read, and depends upon this, the wisdom arising from listening is experienced. So this is what we’re involved in at the moment in the teaching of the present text, Ornament for Clear Realization. We are listening to this text which teaches emptiness and the dependence upon listening to this teaching again and again, the wisdom arising from listening will be experienced. So we are beginning this this threefold activity where which will culminate in the achievement in the attainment of Buddhahood and the process of the of listening, reflecting, and meditating. And now we’re we’re we will all be be able to generate the wisdom arising from listening.
So in in dependence upon the scriptural perfection of wisdom, we develop the wisdom that’s such as the perfection of wisdom discourses and their commentaries such as the ornament. We developed the wisdom arising from listening. Now, what do these scriptures teach? They teach the profound which is emptiness, and also the vast, which is, for example, the three exalted knowers, the eight categories, and the 70 topics. These are the subjects being presented.
So what do we realize from from this process within the if we look at the various trainees within the great vehicle and look first at those who are most intelligent which we suppose that you are. Among these two, the profound and the vast, the intelligent, the most intelligent practitioner, that is the trainee, will upon listening to the scriptures develop the wisdom arising from listening will be experienced. And then he or she will go on to reflect upon the meaning, examine, and realize emptiness first. That is the profound. So, through this process, having listened and experienced and generated the the wisdom realizing the the wisdom generated arising from listening with respect to emptiness arises, the examining, reflecting, and then the wisdom arising from reflection with respect to emptiness arises.
So, what is being realized is emptiness in this process of making use of the perfection of wisdom and therefore the emptiness itself is termed the natural perfection of wisdom or the natural perfection of wisdom as it’s mentioned here. That which is realizing the natural perfection of wisdom are the various paths and grounds. This is what is familiarizing itself with the emptiness which is being understood. So the it is the grounds in the path which are being generated, and therefore, they are termed the path perfection of wisdom. Path perfection of wisdom.
So if as we go along, if you don’t understand something then you’re it’s perfectly acceptable to ask questions in a week at when the situation arises. So, it’s necessary in order to, for the bodhisattva to generate the paths of the great vehicle. Previous to initially, the future bodhisattva is just like ourselves. They have not generated a path. They train in, for example, the ornament and through the threefold arising of the wisdom, generating the wisdoms arising from listening, reflecting and meditating and then they realize initially the most intelligent realize emptiness.
They then go on having realized emptiness, they then go on to generate the awakening heart and actually enter into the great vehicle path. On the other hand, the the training of middling intelligence, Not quite as clever. This, again, the trainee would listen and reflect upon the meaning of the ornament. By ornament I mean Ornament for Clear Realization. But he or she would not realize emptiness at that time.
He or she, the trainee would go on to generate the awakening heart through perhaps making use of the seven cause and effect recognizing all sentient beings as your mother, remembering their kindness, developing a gratitude for their kindness, pleasant love, great compassion, the exceptional resolve and finally generating the mind of enlightenment or the awakening heart. When he is then or she is then a bodhisattva, they would, the bodhisattva would then go on to meditate on emptiness and realize emptiness. So, the middling intelligent bodhisattva first generates the awakened heart and then goes on to realize emptiness. So there are the two modes of progress according to the level of intelligence of the trainees. The level of the highest intelligent trainee who first realizes emptiness and goes on to generate the awakening heart.
Then there’s the individual of lesser intelligence who comes to an understanding but does not realize emptiness. But initially realizes the awakening heart through the meditating on love and compassion, etcetera. Having done that generates the calm abiding and the realization of emptiness. So, you know, we can, we have to examine for ourselves what type of method that approach that we might make for ourselves. So if we, you know, differentiate these two types of individuals, those of highest intelligence, those of middling intelligence by way of their attitude, the way they go about doing things.
In general, if they have some type of work to be done. Those are the highest intelligence. First they examine, they investigate very carefully what it is that they’re going to set out to do. They wonder can I do this or not? And when they come to a definite ascertainment, yes, I can do it, then they go ahead.
They engage in whatever the action is. On the other hand, those of middling intelligence, they hear about this type of work and they say, this would be a wonderful thing to do. I really have to do that. So they don’t even bother to examine. They just write off.
They go to they set out and to try to accomplish whatever the task is. In the end they may give up. They may find they’re not able to do it. So there’s this quality of the difference in the attitude and the way they go about the task. Therefore, if we apply this to the subject, the trainee of the highest intelligence, he first or she first realizes emptiness.
They want to know that they can achieve Buddhahood whether it’s possible or not. So examine, they investigate, and say, Yeah, I can do it because I can realize emptiness. They could realize emptiness. And then they set off on the path to achieve Buddhahood. Whereas the trainee of middling intelligence, he just, it’s such a wonderful thing, Buddhahood, and they set right out to try to to enter the path immediately and so there’s this different approach.
So the trainee of the highest intelligence first realizes emptiness before developing the awakening heart. What is the reason for this particular sequence of realizations? Having heard from his spiritual friend or his Lama, his spiritual teacher, the wonders of Buddhahood that it’s the fulfillment of the welfare of both oneself and others thinking how wonderful it would be to attain this. But he but he questions. He goes on to ask, can I really accomplish it?
Can I really attain it? And he investigates. What is the obstruction? What prevents a person from attaining Buddhahood? What stops one from attaining Buddhahood?
The to attainment of Buddhahood is the conception of true existence or the obstruction to omniscience. Knowledge obstruction. So if can I get rid of this obstruction in order to attain Buddhahood? If I can get rid of that obstruction, then I can do it.
So he goes on to realize, to come to an understanding of how he can get rid of the conception of true existence by generating the wisdom understanding emptiness. He then goes on generate the wisdom, the realization of emptiness, and he said, Ah, I can get rid of the obstruction to Buddhahood because I the obstruction to Buddhahood is conception of true existence and the antidote to conception of true existence is the wisdom understanding emptiness and I have realized emptiness. Therefore, there’s no obstruction for me to attain Buddhahood. Therefore, I can vow, I can make the firm determination to make the commitment that for the sake of all sentient beings, I will attain Buddhahood. So the practitioner of highest intelligence, once having accepted this goal, once having committed oneself to the achievement of Buddhahood, will not rest until it’s actualized.
No matter what may occur, he will not abandon this commitment to achieve perfect enlightenment. There’s no end to our desires, if we allow our desires to grow. If we have $100 then we’ll want a thousand. If we have a thousand dollars we’ll want a 10,000. If we have that we’ll want more.
There’s a constant growing of our desires the more and more we have. And with that there’s a coming of all of the various negative negativities such as all the various unhappinesses which arise as a consequence. You know we get uptight, have hypertension, all of these problems that we have because of our great desires. On the other hand, if if we have little desires then our mind is always relaxed and comfortable.