Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 99-minute session, Kyabje Rinpoche opens with bodhicitta motivation, then begins the first of the four trainings — training in all aspects. He establishes an 11-topic framework for understanding how bodhisattvas familiarize themselves with 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers, focusing on the 27 aspects of the basis of knowers via the four noble truths. Working through each aspect, he offers concrete examples: impermanence as constant moment-by-moment change; the role of karma and mental latencies; five analogies of non-external establishment (dream, shadow, reflection, mirage, illusion); and how worlds arise through beings’ karmic latencies across rebirths. The teaching is systematic and detailed, pitched at serious practitioners already familiar with the preceding commentary on the three exalted knowers.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1990-05-10 – T10 – Tape 10. . 1st of the Four Trainings – KR.mp3
UUID: 17f13967-ba74-4028-906b-8ef214b8fd97
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1990-05-10
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,282
In mindful of the great kindness of sentient beings, we have to begin to repay that kindness. How are we to repay this great kindness of sentient beings? If we could establish all sentient beings in happiness, in complete happiness, and free them from all their suffering, then this would be the supreme way that we could repay their gratitude. Therefore, for the sake of all sentient beings, I must eliminate all my erroneous thoughts and bring about all the excellent qualities within me but through my practice. And if I act this way, if I practice in this way, I can bring about all the excellent qualities within myself and therefore I can free all sentient beings from their suffering.
And developing this motivation and the kind hearted attitude and the awakening heart has the intention to listen to these teachings and put them in the practice to achieve this end. And therefore to develop this motivation, in order to achieve that end, I’m going to listen to the essence of the great vehicle, the meaning of the perfection of wisdom and therefore setting our motivation in meditation for the next five minutes. We’re discussing the Ornament for Clear Realization, the main subjects of which are condensed into the eight categories and 70 topics. Thus far we have completed the first of the eight categories, the three exalted knowers, the exalted knower of all, the knower of path and knower of basis. Now we’re going to begin the discussion of the first of the four trainings.
The first of the four trainings is complete training in the aspect. Previously we went over the definition or the nature of the complete training in all aspects and maybe you took note of the definition. Did you take note? So it’s the definition of a complete training in the aspects. It’s a bodhisattva’s yoga held by the wisdom that meditates on the compendium of the aspects of the three exalted knowers.
A bodhisattva’s Yoga held by the wisdom or conjoined with the wisdom that meditates on the compendium or condensation, the compendium of the aspects of the three exalted knowers. So if this is divided, there are 173 divisions. And the boundary is from the path of accumulation up to the end of the continuum. The subject matter of the training of the aspects is the most extensive in that it contains all of the explanations of the three remaining trainings. So the knower of the aspects and the mind of a bodhisattva are synonyms.
So the exalted knower of a bodhisattva and the knower, the exalted knower of the aspects are synonyms, mutually inclusive. They’re different names given to the same object. What’s the name? It’s an extremely expansive subject. So, in order to come to an understanding of the training of the aspects, it is illustrated by means of 11 topics.
This is in the case when we discussed the exalted knower of all aspects, the omniscience. We discussed it in a manner by means of a method of 10 topics. Here we’re going discuss in terms of 11 topics. So the presentation of the 11 topics of the training and the aspects. So the 11 topics which we’re going to take up.
So the 11 topics, by means of which we will come to an understanding of the training and the aspects. The first is we’re going to understand the object. The training aspect is a meditative, exalted meditator, exalted knower. So it’s going to be meditating, and it’s going to be meditating on objects. So the first topic by which we’ll come to an understanding are the aspects of that object.
So the first subject is aspects. The second is the agent, that which is actually doing the meditating, the agent. The third is the qualities of this agent. The third is the excellent qualities of the agent. That is this exalted knower that’s doing this meditating.
The excellent qualities of that agent. The fourth is the faults of that agent. What faults are to be eliminated from this exalted knower. The fifth is the nature of this agent. The sixth is the concordant factors of liberation of the great vehicle which is synonymous with the path of accumulation.
Concordant factors of liberation within the great vehicle which is synonymous with the path of accumulation. The seventh is concordant renunciation, which factors is synonymous with the path of preparation. That’s the first seven. So the eighth topic is the signs of irreversibility. Signs of irreversibility.
That means that having attained this level, one will not fall to the lower vehicle. The ninth topic is the equality of cyclic existence and peace, and this means that this is the equality of cyclic existence and peace from the viewpoint of they’re both being non truly existent. They’re equally non truly existent. The tenth is the pure lamp, And this is the the Pure Land is the abode of the Buddhas. In such a place which is non contaminated, there is no suffering.
So the eleventh topic is skill and means. So these are all with respect to this agent that we’ve been talking about, this exalted wisdom, skill and means with respect to the agent in the sense that this agent or this exalted wisdom is likened and is similar to the skillful means of a Buddha at this point. So the bodhisattva is seeking to accustom himself to the training in all aspects, and the method that he or she makes use of is by means of familiarization of these 11 topics. These 11 topics, if they are known well, then one will understand the training in the aspects well. It will appear to the mind very quickly, clearly.
And the mind can be familiarized to the training aspects by means of familiarizing with these 11 topics. So we’ve enumerated these 11 topics, and now we’re going to go through each of them with commentary and explanation on each one so you’ll come to an understanding of what I know of the aspects is. So the first is aspects. The exalted knower within the continuum of the bodhisattva is the meditator. And what is it meditating on?
What is the object of its meditation? It is, as was explained previously, the three exalted knowers. So it is familiarizing itself or meditating, habituating itself to the 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers. This is the object of meditation. These 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers is the object of meditation.
That which is doing the meditating is the training in aspects. So the training in the aspects is meditating on an object, 173 aspects of the three exalted knowers. If we were to divide those 173 aspects up, the knower of basis has 27 aspects, The knower of paths has 36 aspects. The knower of all aspects or omniscience has 110 aspects making a total of 173. So this is a way of simple review that in explaining these 27 aspects of a noble basis, these 27 aspects were explained in terms of the four noble truths to sufferings, to sources of suffering, to paths and to paths leading to the cessation of suffering.
Remember she was just quoting a verse from the ornament which lays out the 27 aspects of the basis of knowers and in terms of the four noble truths. Aspects in terms of the basis of knowers, first the true sufferings has four aspects, true sources of suffering has four aspects, true cessation has four aspects, and true path leading to cessation of suffering has 15 aspects making a total of 27. The total of the aspects of the first three truths is 12, and the two paths are 15, making a total of 27. So if we begin to enumerate these 27 aspects, the first In terms of the first noble truth of suffering, the first aspect would be impermanence. And by impermanence, we mean voluntary disintegration.
And this is exemplified by our own contaminated aggregate. So what we mean by impermanence that was mentioned, it’s the momentary disintegration and especially in terms within, with reference to true sufferings in terms of the contaminated aggregates, that is our own aggregates. This is the moment by moment change which is constantly occurring our aggregates. They do not remain the same even for a moment. Just like a clock, you know, it’s continually ticking away.
It never remains in one place even for the slightest moment, even a part of a moment. It’s continually moving on, changing into something else. It is unremittingly changing from moment to moment, transforming into something else, constant change. This is the impermanence of the aggregates and this is to be recognized. And it says in Dharmakīrti’s commentary to the Nagas Compendium of Prime Cognition that that which revolves in the cyclic existence is one’s own aggregates.
This is the traveler. This is what is actually evolving within cyclic existence, one’s own aggregates. Initially we began with, as very small babies, had no teeth. This had a little bit of fuzz on our head. But now look at us, we’re completely changed.
But we don’t remember that constant change that we went through. Actually we would, when we look back we see a gross change, we don’t realize, I don’t identify that we’ve been changing, there was not a moment when we aren’t changing. Even when we’re asleep, we’re undergoing constant change. Even when we’re, as we sit here, we’re constantly changing, not for one moment, but we forget about that we were quite different than we are now even on a gross level. So, from the moment of our birth until our death, it’s as if we’re running a horse race, and at the finish line is our own death, and it’s every moment we’re quickly approaching the finish line.
From where does our suffering arise, these suffering aggregates which we experience, they arise out of, what is the source of this suffering? It’s karma and afflictive emotions. We are under the control of karma and afflictive emotions. Why are these aggregates suffering? It’s because they’re under the control of karma and afflictive emotions.
And then the third of the four characteristics of true sufferings is emptiness. And what we mean by emptiness is that the person and the aggregates are empty of being different natures. They’re the same nature. The person and that person’s aggregates are the same nature, same entity, same entity, same nature. They’re empty of being different natures, different entities.
This is what it means by the term empty, emptiness here. The fourth characteristic is that the person is selfless. So what is the source of all of this suffering? This is termed true sources of suffering, and the true sources of suffering are karma and afflicted emotions. So likewise, the second truth, the true sources of suffering or true origins of suffering has four characteristics.
The first is cause, and this refers to that the this is the reverse that the true sufferings, that true sources are the causes of suffering. The second characteristic is origin. The third is strong production. And the fourth is condition.
That is to say that the sources are not only the cause, but they also act to assist or accompany the bringing about suffering. In that way they act as true suffering, the true sources of suffering. So these two noble truths, the true sources of suffering and true sufferings are that which is to be abandoned. So the latter truths, true cessations and true paths are that, since they are beneficial, are that which are to be practiced. What we mean by cessation, So again, the third noble truth, true cessation, has four characteristics.
And the first of these is cessation. That is to say, it acts to cease or stop to bring to a halt the suffering aggregates. The suffering aggregates are a result and by ceasing the causes, we cease the aggregate and the aggregate is suffering. So the first characteristic is cessation. The second characteristic is pacification, and this means that true cessation are a pacification.
This is a pacification of suffering. It brings about a non existence of suffering. It destroys suffering. And through the pacification of suffering, bliss and peace is attained. The third characteristic is auspiciousness, This means to say that the cessation which is brought about is excellent by its nature since it is in the nature of bliss and peace and a cessation of suffering.
Therefore it is termed auspicious highness. And then the fourth characteristic is definite emergence. Definite emergence. And this is the abandonment which is abandonment of suffering and that is to say the abandonment of cyclic existence. The abandonment which is the abandonment of suffering or cyclic existence.
So the four characteristics of true cessation are cessation, pacification, auspicious highness, and definite emergence. So therefore we’ve counted off 12. So we have a remaining 15 aspects which are to be discussed in terms of the three paths. But here what is meant by three paths is in terms of antidote, the uncontaminated antidote to the afflictive obstruction, and then the second is the contaminated antidote to the knowledge obstruction, and the third is the uncontaminated antidote to the knowledge obstruction. So the first type of path is an uncontaminated antidote to the afflictive obstruction.
The second is contaminated antidote to the knowledge obstruction and the third is uncontaminated antidote to the knowledge obstruction. There are three types of pads. So the first of these three types of paths, the uncontaminated and the antidotes to the afflictive obstructions. It is explained in terms of four of these. We’re going to explain this in terms of four different paths of realizing.
The first is the path which directly realizes the selflessness of the doer. Path that directly realizes the selflessness of the doer. Somebody who does something, doer. The second is the exalted knower or path which directly realizes the selflessness of the knower. That is that we understand various objects as objects of knowledge and we know those objects.
Therefore that person who’s doing that knowing is a knower and there’s a path which directly realizes the selflessness of that knower. So then the third path, first to explain that in terms of a student that goes to school and he moves from one lower class to a higher class and goes through different grades in that manner. He, I don’t know what the word I was saying, he travels. What would you say? Graduates.
The advancer, we’re going have to come up with a good word. He graduates, I don’t know. I’ve traveled with travelers, have, because it’ll make more sense. There’s a person who’s going from one grade to a higher to a higher. In terms of the path that one goes from a lower path to a higher path, there is this practitioner who is moving from a lower path to a higher path.
He is the traveler of the path and therefore the third is the path which directly realizes the selflessness of the traveler. Then the fourth would be terms of our present mind. It possesses various afflictive emotions and these afflictive emotions are to be eliminated from our mind and therefore we say that the mind is to be subdued. So this fourth type of path would be the path which directly realizes the selflessness of the subdurer of the afflictive emotion. That which says the subduing, the subduer of the afflictive emotion.
It’s the force. This is in the case of an army which overcomes the enemy, the bodhisattva. Being a practitioner overcomes the enemy of the afflicted emotion, overwhelms the afflicted emotion. That which does the overwhelming, it subdues the enemy, it’s the doer. Getting back to the true paths, the first characteristic of true paths is path and path has four characteristics and it was as just was explained.
The first characteristic is path and has four divisions. The path which directly realizes the selflessness of the doer, the selflessness of the knower, the selflessness of the traveler and the selflessness of the subduer. The second characteristic of true paths has five paths, five aspects. The second is suitability. So the second characteristic of true paths is suitability.
The first is the path, the second is suitability. These five aspects are presented by way of analogy of the non external phenomena that do not exist externally. Five analogies establishing the non existence of externally existent phenomena. Five analogies established in the non external existence. The non existence of externally established phenomena.
The non existence of externally established phenomena. There are five analogies. The first is by way of dream, way of dream many different things appear to us, horses, elephants, but actually they’re not there. This is the first analogy. The second is a shadow when we stand up or we see a shadow that seems to follow us.
It appears to be a person but in fact is not a person. The third is the reflection. When we look in the mirror for example we see a face but in fact it’s not a face. The fourth is mirage and the fifth is an illusion. So the fourth is mirage, fifth is illusion.
These are the five analogies of the non existent externally established phenomena. So these five analogies are contained within the class of the path which is the contaminated antidote to the knowledge obstruction. Contaminated antidotes to the knowledge obstruction, they are contaminated because they are conceptual. So these are all conceptions realizing the non existence of externally established phenomena by way of these five analogies. And finally this third type, the uncontaminated antidotes to the knowledge obstruction, there are six, which is a total of 15.
Then the third characteristic of true path is achievement. This has the six parts, are the six aspects, which are the uncontaminated antidotes to the knowledge obstruction. These six aspects are all direct realizers, directly realizing, the exalted wisdoms directly realizing non existence established as follows. Non existence of externally established thoroughly afflicted phenomena is the first. Through the pure phenomena is the second.
The latencies of the afflictive emotions is the third. The functional phenomena is the fourth. Division of phenomena is the fifth and all phenomena as objects the third phenomena characteristic. The first is thoroughly afflicted phenomena, completely pure phenomena, the third is latency of the afflictive emotion, the latency. The fourth is functional phenomena.
The fifth is division, the divisions of phenomena, the various divisions. And the sixth is all phenomena as objects. So the 27 aspects of the basis the result of noble basis is in terms of the four noble truths. The first three noble truths each having four making 12 and then the final noble truth, true path having four aspects in terms of uncontaminated antidotes to the afflictive emotions, five in terms of contaminated antidotes to the knowledge obstruction and six in terms of uncontaminated antidotes to the knowledge obstruction which makes 15, so fifteen and twelve is 27. Exalted knower in the continuum of the superior which realizes these 27 aspects as an exalted of the basis.
The exalted knower in the continuum of the superior which realizes these 27 aspects as the exalted knower of bases. In respect to knower of bases, are two in terms of there are the 27 agents and 27 objects. The agent simply means that which is doing the knowing, that which is doing the realizing of these 27 aspects. There are 27 agents and 27 knowers and likewise there are 27 objects of that knowing. This is in the case,
This is in the case of the eye consciousness which is perceiving the flower. The eye consciousness is the knower. It’s the agent. That which it is knowing, it’s the known, is the red flower. So that’s the object, the appearing object.
So there’s the agent which knows and that object which is known. And this is in the case of the eye consciousness which is observing the flower. It would remove the erroneous which misperceived the flower, which misunderstood the flower. It would eliminate that consciousness. Likewise, the exalted knower basis through meditation eliminates all of the erroneous consciousness with respect to those objects.
These were mentioned in terms of realizing the non existence of being externally established. The non existence of externally established phenomena. When we look around us we say, Well, doesn’t the house and the door, etc. Aren’t those external to us? Well they are external to us in the sense that they’re not in our continuum, but they’re not externally established.
They’re external but not externally established. So what do we mean when we say that if the object is not established externally, how is it established? It is established by way of the power of the latencies of karma. That the various karma, the latencies of karma are implanted in the mind and upon these karmic latencies being activated there arises the knowing consciousness and the object being known. All phenomena arise under the power of karma, the latencies of karma.
So we should think in terms of that if in fact phenomena did not rely upon being established due to the force and the latencies of karma, then they would be externally established phenomena. But there is no such thing as an externally established phenomena. So the world in general is created out of our common karma, but one’s individual environment is created out of one’s own uncommon karma. One’s self and one’s place are created out of one’s own individual karma, one’s uncommon karma. So the Buddha said that all phenomena rely upon the mind, are dependent upon mind.
This is to say that all phenomena arise dependent upon the latencies of the mind, whether that karma, the karmic latencies are skillful or unskillful. If you live in a nice place, a nice home, this is a product of a skillful karma that you created. This unpleasant home and it’s a product of your own unful karma that you’ve created. So the students should think about what type of teaching they’d like to have with respect to this subject. We can explain it in an extremely advanced, not an extensive manner, in a detailed manner or we can just go through it abruptly in all of these.
For example, with the exalted knower of bases there’s 27 aspects and paths 36 and omniscient aspects there’s 110. Which would we prefer an extensive detailed explanation or just a rough explanation. Should think about what type of teaching you like. If you like extensive teaching, you’re quite willing to teach it in an extensive detailed manner. Some of you might not like that and then things become difficult for you if you don’t want an extensive teaching.
If you have a rough teaching this time, then you again, when you study the same subject, you would would you would have all this experience having heard all these topics in rough manner and then your study would go quite easily. If you went through it again, on the other hand, there weren’t any detailed explanations, perhaps you would all get rather tired of the subject. So we’ll take five minutes for questions. It’s okay if you don’t have questions. There was a time, for example, beings inhabited a particular world and then due to the force of their karma, they began to take rebirth in higher realms such as the God realm, such as the formless realm, the various concentrations, first concentration, second concentration, etc.
As more and more beings rebirth in these realms, they went through the cycle of this particular world, the cycle of creation remaining, destruction and emptiness. During this period these beings were existing within the God realm, but they still had karma to be born in these lower types of realms in these various worlds which they previously inhabited. Then finally there came a time when this previously created karma was activated and upon activation of the karma they created the birthplace where they actually took birth, this world. They’re taking a birth and the creation of this world came about the same time. They created a birthplace by the force of their karma and that’s where they take birth into this world from the celestial realm.
While they had this karma while in the celestial realm and when this karma was activated, the force of this karma created a birthplace for them to take birth and a birthplace was this world. So the evolution of the earth was such that by the power of karma, first there was an emptiness, and then by the power of the karma there came a great wind. This wind was swirling around until it created a mass like a stone. Upon this stone a great rain came forming the various oceans and the various beings began to take birth. So, you know, we ask, well, where did the first sentient being come from? And there was no first sentient being.
There was no first latency of karma. If we would just reply to ourselves, where did I come from? We can’t point to a first moment. Where did I as a human being come from?
I came from a previous rebirth. Where did that rebirth come from? I came from a previous rebirth and where did that one come from? From a previous rebirth. There’s no beginning to it.