Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 95-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche systematically explains the ten powers — capacities unique to Buddhas for knowing reality. He begins with the power to know sources and non-sources: how skillful actions reliably produce happiness while harmful actions produce suffering, illustrated through seeds bearing fruit consistent with their type. He covers the subtle ripening of karma — only Buddhas can trace tiny causes to their tiny effects in full detail. He addresses a Buddha’s knowledge of each being’s innate disposition and potential; the varying grades of the five faculties (faith, effort, mindfulness, concentration, wisdom); rebirth destinations; afflicted versus pure phenomena; memory of all past lives; and complete abandonment of afflictions. The session closes with Q&A on Buddha nature. For serious students of Buddhist practice and doctrine.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1990-10-04 – KR.mp3
UUID: 38a43592-e1eb-4114-b7fd-fa2659c78aed
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1990-10-04
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~4,432
I must, for myself and all sentient beings, eliminate all my various faults and bring into consummation all my excellent qualities, that is, I must attain Buddhahood. By means of attaining Buddhahood, I will lead all sentient beings to that same state, having eliminated all their various faults and bringing them complete happiness. And towards that end I am going to listen to this teaching, Seventy-fourth Teaching, The Ornament of Clear Realizations of the perfection of wisdom, which is the essence of the great vehicle. And we will spend the next five minutes cultivating the motivation for listening to this present teaching. So, last week we were discussing the 110 aspects of the exalted knower of all aspects. And this was in terms of three divisions division into 37, 34, and 39.
And we completed the explanation in thirty seven and thirty four, and we enumerated the 39 aspects. And now we’re going to go through the meaning of those 39 aspects. So, we’re going to be discussing these 39 aspects. The first in terms of categories, the first category is the 10 powers. So the first of these 10 powers is the power of exalted knowledge of sources and non sources.
So this is as it is stated here in this text. So these aspects which we are now listing are unique to the Buddhas. Let’s say these qualities are only possessed by the Buddhas. They are not possessed by the bodhisattvas, the hearers, the solitary realizers. So in talking about sources, generally we usually say that are actions that there are skillful actions, verbal, physical, verbal, and mental skillful actions, and there are those that which are unskillful.
What do we mean by a source? When we say that from skillful causes a positive result will arise, that is to say that happiness will arise, this is in accordance with the reality, the way things actually are, the way things are, in fact. And then again, on the other hand, from the unskillful causes, a negative result will arise, that is to say suffering. That is to say, from negative actions comes suffering from positive actions comes happiness.
These are both in accordance with the nature of reality. And this concordance with the way things actually are is what we mean by sources. So just another example with that in dependence upon a seed, a sprout grows. This is this is the way things work, operate in reality. It accords with the way things are.
It is quite reasonable. From negative actions, suffering arises from positive actions, happiness arises. This is in accordance with the way things are. It is a description of reality. This is what we mean by sources.
Then non sources. If it were possible, it is not possible, but if it were possible that from skillful causes a suffering the causal skillful actions could give a result of suffering. Or on the other hand, if the causal unskillful actions could give a result happiness, then this would be a non source. It’s not possible that this can occur, but if it were to proceed like this, it would be a non source. Further examples that if we were to plant the seed of a chili and out of that seed of a chili a hot fruit will grow.
That is, that would be in accordance with its nature, the way the reality operates. On the other hand, if we were to plant a chili seed and from that a sweet fruit were to arise, this would not be in accordance with its nature. It would not be in accordance with the or the reality way things actually exist. This would be a non source. So the fact that causal skillful actions happiness arises from causal unskillful actions suffering from causal unskillful actions suffering does not arise from causal unskillful actions happiness does not arise.
Who is it that in fact knows the way in which these things proceed? That is to say, it is only a Buddha who knows the reality of this process. And therefore this is a quality which is unique to the Buddha in understanding the way in which reality is operating in this way. So the first power was the power of exalted knowledge of sources and non sources. The second power is the power of exalted knowledge of the ripening fruition of actions.
You have to add ripening fruition of actions. In general, the skillful actions and unskillful actions have many types of results. They have results which are in accordance with the cause, environmental results, etcetera. But here the ripening result or the ripening fruition maybe ripening result might be better is the main result. Of the various types, the ripening result is the main result, whether it’s skillful or unskillful.
So with respect to actions and their results, are many varying degrees of subtlety where you can enumerate actions in terms of minor actions, middling actions and great actions. And then each of these is further subdivided into minor great actions, minor middling actions, minor, minor actions, middling great actions, middling middling actions, and middling, minor actions, great, great actions, great, middling actions, and great, minor actions. So as was mentioned that there is a variety of degrees of subtlety with respect to relationship between causes and results. For example, that when it’s hot and you just a little cool breeze comes by and you get a little bit of pleasure from that. It’s a very minor kind of pleasure.
Or on the other hand you’re cold and maybe a warm breeze goes by and you get a minor type of happiness out of that. So these causes are extremely subtle, bringing about very subtle types of results. It is only a Buddha who understands the actions necessary to create which act as a cause. How did actions created the cause for these extremely subtle minor pleasures? Only a Buddha is able to make that presentation of the almost insignificant causes which bring about these almost insignificant pleasures.
Only a Buddha has that exalted knowledge, and therefore the second power is the power of exalted knowledge of the ripening result of actions. For example, you know, we’ve attained this human body and it’s a beautiful body, handsome body, and this body is a ripening result of karma. It has come about through the action of karma. How did this body come about? How was it created?
From those actions that we created, how were those actions created? That if we were to ask, know, who was it that created the causes for having attained this body? Was a celestial being when I was a celestial being in the past or when I was a human being in the past? And was I a great being or a minor being type of being? Where I when I created this action?
What time did I create this cause for having attained this human body? All of these various questions only Buddha is able to answer them to understand what the causes brought about this ripening result. So this is the power of exalted knowledge of the ripening result of actions. And the third is the power of exalted knowledge of the varieties of interests or maybe aspirations, dispositions, dispositions, interests. So if know if we were to look around the room there are and ask what are the dispositions of the 11 different of the 11 people in this room that we as ordinary people we couldn’t answer.
That there would be 11 different dispositions since there are 11 different people in the room. If we had 100 people we would have 100 different dispositions. If we had 1,000 people we’d have 1,000 different dispositions. And in fact, sentient beings, because they’re numberless, there are numberless dispositions of sentient beings. And only a Buddha is able to understand the disposition of each and every sentient being.
Third power, the power of exalted knowledge and the varieties of dispositions, that in dependence upon what do the varieties of dispositions arise, it arises in dependence upon a variety of different constituents, Element. Constituents. And what here is meant by constituents is that which is synonymous with constituents is lineages. That is, for example, having the lineage or the nature of one gone to bliss or the Buddha essence. Are a each individual has a different lineage, nature.
And dependence upon these natures or lineages, our constituents from these various dispositions arise. So understanding is only a Buddha who is able to understand the various lineages of each particular individual and therefore their various dispositions. And this is the power of exalted knowledge of the varieties of dispositions. So out of that each sentient being has has a various various lineage stage they have Buddha nature and these these lineages and this Buddha nature acts as the basis for the generation of the various excellent qualities. It is the root of all the various excellent qualities.
And out of this these are termed the constituents of the individual that which makes up the individual are these lineages or elements. From in dependence upon these constituents each person has a particular disposition. In dependence upon each person’s particular disposition, they will carry out various types of works, engage in various practices. In dependence upon these works and practices, they will achieve a particular final result. So this fourth, which just explained the fourth, which it should read worldly constituents or would rather than disposition.
Dispositions is the third in hither variety. So there’s variety there’s no word there’s no worldly. So it’s and it should be cons constituents and this this this constituents refers to lineage this is synonymous So then the fifth power, the power of the exalted knowledge. So the fifth power is the power of the exalted knowledge of of superior and non superior faculties. And what is being referred to here is the various levels of the various degrees of the grades of faculties.
And here when we talked we explained previously the five faculties faculty of faith, effort, mindfulness, meditative stabilization, and wisdom. These are the five faculties and the grades of these as to whether they’re superior or non superior. When we talk about faculties, we’re not referring to I faculty, your faculty, etcetera. So you know when we talk about the faculty we were talking about the sharpness or the dullness of for example the wisdom of the individual whether this or we can say intellect whether a sharp intellect or a dull intellect. So the quality of the wisdom of the individual.
There are different degrees. And we refer to this as an example that one quality is wisdom. We refer to these as faculties. And there are the other are the five faculties as we have taught previous as was taught previously. For example the five faculties are of faith.
For example faith in the Buddha Dharma. The faculty of effort mindfulness in which there meditation and wisdom. When we talk about these faculties we don’t mean the eye faculty, ear faculty, etc. It’s the same word. But we’re talking about these five faculties.
There are various levels of each of these five faculties. The first being the faculty of faith and this would be for example faith in the Buddha, Dharma the Sangha and Karma and its results. That one could have a various degree of faith in these objects. One could have a small faith, a middling faith, great faith and then each of these would have a different degrees, small, small, small, middling, small grade, etc. So each of these faculties has a varying degree of potency.
Same would apply to effort, mindfulness, meditative stabilization, and wisdom. When we talk about small, we’re referring to an inferior type. And those individuals who have dull faculties, they would have an inferior corresponding inferior degree of that faculty. Those who have sharp faculties, they have a corresponding great degree of that faculty. Because there are these varying degrees of strength of the faculty according to each being, every sentient being has these five faculties of faith, etc.
But they have varying degrees of their development. There are numberless sentient beings and it’s only a Buddha who knows the degree of development of the various faculties of each of the numberless sentient beings. Therefore, it’s only a Buddha who has this exalted knowledge of the grades of superior and non superior. Non superior referring to those of dull intellect or dull faculties. The sixth power is the power of exalted knowledge of going everywhere.
Each of us knows, there are 11 people in this room and each of us knows that we’re all going to experience death. Where are we going to go upon our death? Some of us may take rebirth as a human, some may take rebirth as a celestial being. Others as an animal. Those who take rebirth as a human may be poor, others rich.
And how can we know where and what type of rebirth we’re going to take? We simply can’t. We don’t know that. And, there are a number of sentient beings. And, you know, there are And, how can we know where each of them is going to take a rebirth?
Whether they’re going to take rebirth as an insect, as a cat? Where they’re going to be reborn, whether they’re going to be reborn in a bad migration or a happy migration, whether they will be reborn as Bodhisattvas hearers or solitary realizers. That all of this occurs under the influence of karma where each individual is going to take rebirth. And it is only a Buddha who has the capacity to be able determine, who understands where this person is going to be will take rebirth here, this person is going to take rebirth here, who that capacity, that ability. Therefore, this is the power of exalted knowledge of going everywhere.
The seventh power is that the power of exalted knowledge of thoroughly afflicted phenomena and very pure phenomena. There are, I said by thoroughly afflicted phenomena, mean the afflictive emotions, and there’s said to be 84,000 afflictive emotions. With respect to very pure phenomena, these are numberless. These are the paths of the various skillful actions which act as the path leading to liberation. And that these afflictive emotions bring about what type of suffering and which types of very pure phenomena bring about which type of happiness are only known by a Buddha.
The next power is the power of exalted knowledge of exalted knowledge mindful of former lives. Exalted knowledge mindful of former states. Former states, former lives, former rebirths. Have taken, previous to this life, we took rebirth. Before that previous rebirth, we took rebirth.
And before that previous rebirth, we took rebirth. But we can’t remember these various rebirths that we have taken. But a Buddha is able to remember his previous rebirth. He can say, I took rebirth at such and such a place. And he can remember the rebirth before that one.
He can say, I was born as a child of this particular mother. And he can be born before that previous rebirth, I was the son of this particular father. In fact, he is able to remember all of his previous rebirths. Not only that, he is able to recall the rebirth of every sentient being. And this is the exalted knowledge of former states.
Then the power of exalted knowledge of transmigration and rebirth, or the taking of rebirth. This, is an exalted knowledge of knowing that upon taking rebirth, upon death and the transmigration that the individual will take rebirth in such and such a place. And then upon death and transmigration that sentient being will take rebirth in such and such a place. Then again upon the death transmigration, this individual take rebirth in such a place. And being able to have the knowledge of numberless sentient beings as to their process of transmigration and rebirth where they will take rebirth.
Then the of the exalted knowledge of the extinction of contamination. And here contamination refers to the afflictive emotion. And this is the knowledge knowledge of whether an individual has abandoned afflictive emotions or not abandoned afflictive emotions, whether they have attained the level of a foe destroyer or not attained the level of a foe destroyer, they have attained the path of accumulation, preparation, the path of seeing. That is to say, the knowledge which is able to understand the attainment, the measure of the excellent qualities that an individual has attained. Whether they’ve abandoned the afflictive emotions or not and what level of abandonment they have they have attained is only a Buddha who has that knowledge.
So the Buddha said it is only a Buddha who can know the measure of a Buddha. It is only a Buddha who can know the measure of a Buddha. That is to say that it is only a Buddha who is able to discriminate whether the measure of achievement of individuals all the way up to a Buddha, whether they have what levels of achievement of the excellent qualities, what levels of faults they have abandoned, whether they have entered into the path or not. A non Buddha cannot know the degree of attainment of a Buddha, cannot understand that. So the Buddha said it’s not proper to speak of the attainment of others, not since no one can know the attainment of others but a Buddha.
And this is, we can’t know whether someone’s a bodhisattva, whether they’re a foe destroyer, or whether they’re just an ordinary being. The way they appear may not be, in fact, the way they actually are. And if we were to attribute a a put down, denigrate someone, if we were to degrade. If we were to degrade someone who has in fact achieved high qualities, for example, someone who has in fact abandoned all the various afflictive emotions, then this would create a great deal of negativity on our part. Though someone may in fact appear to be full of anger, uptight, have jealousy, but we cannot know as if this is in fact the way they are in reality.
And if we were to put them down or degrade them, denigrate them, this would create a great deal of negativity on our part. If we were to say, well, you know, that we can’t know whether a bodhisattva or not, but a Buddha is able to know all of the exalted qualities of that. What do we mean by a Buddha’s exalted quality? What is the quality of the exalted knower of a Buddha? In the case of bodhisattvas and foe destroyers, they may have there are two obstructions that we have to overcome.
They may have overcome the first of these afflictive obstructions, but they but it is only a Buddha who has abandoned the knowledge obstruction. The knowledge obstruction is just as the term itself explains. Knowledge obstructions are an obstruction to knowing. That is what is being known and the knowledge which is being obstructed is the nature of all phenomena whatsoever. Example, if I were to hide my hand underneath my robe, then you can’t see my hand.
My hand exists but you can’t see it. And because there is an obscuration, there’s something obstructing you from seeing my hand. The knowledge obstruction is the same. It obscures from knowing all phenomena. It obstructs from knowing all phenomena.
That if, without the abandonment, without having destroyed the knowledge obstruction, then there’s no way that we can know the nature of all phenomena. If my hand is hidden in my robe, then you cannot know my hand. If I if I remove if I remove my robe, then you can see my hand very clearly. Until we have removed the the knowledge obstruction, we cannot know the the the final nature of all phenomena. It is only a Buddha who has abandoned the the knowledge obstruction.
Therefore and has removed the obscuration from knowing all phenomena. But a bodhisattva has not removed that obstruction. It is only a Buddha who has done that and therefore it is only a Buddha who understands whatsoever exists. So a Buddha is one who has eliminated all the various faults and has brought to completion all the various excellent qualities. And it is the faults which obstruct us from knowing.
This is what hinders us from understanding. And it is the bringing to consummation of excellent qualities which is the evolution of our wisdom. So in Tibetan the word for Buddha is Sangye. San means to clear, cleared away all the various faults. Gye means to evolve, evolve the understanding, the wisdom.
So clearly evolved. For example, if I can see the lines on my hands very clearly, I have no obstruction, no hindrance to seeing those. And likewise, the Buddha is able to see all phenomena whatsoever just as we as clearly as we see the lines on our hand. So these are the you know, we’re going through the uncommon or unique aspects of the exalted knower of all. The exalted knower of all aspects is that this exalted knower arises out of the elimination of all the various faults and having brought the consummation of the excellent qualities.
Yeah. Thought it was very much. So we’ll stop there, but if we have some questions. Good question. On your which one do you want them to have?
Oh, I saw. What actions and results? Well, what I mean is is an action. An action which brings about a neutral result. Four.
An action which brings about a neutral result. So there there are there are three types of karmas. Action. There are skillful, unskillful, and unspecified. And unspecified will bring about an unspecified result, a neutral result.
But there a a skillful action can bring about either a happy result or it can bring about a result an indifferent or another way to translate it a result of equanimity. For example in the fourth concentration there is there is neither there’s no happiness, but there’s a sense of equanimity. And this is a result of a skillful action. So you want to know if your actions which never which never ripe? I mean, For example, if you were to get angry right now, you would create this unskillful action, but immediately subsequent to that, you thought that wasn’t a good thing to do and you applied well the complete four opponent powers.
This would purify that karma such that it would not have a result. So that would be an action without a result. They come. Come to So there’s a relationship between the the five Buddha lineages and these and these lineages we’ve been talking about and the in dependence upon those. So, I mean, say that only a Buddha possesses the five Buddha Buddha lineages, but in dependence upon this lineage we will attain Buddhahood and we will attain the five Buddha lineages.
So this is the relationship. Out of this lineage one attains the lineage of the five Buddha lineages. So there are innumerable lineages. The five Buddha lineages which are spoken of are condensation of these. There are many ways that we can condense the lineages.
They can be condensed into eight, five, three, or one Buddha lineages. This is condensation. In general, we can say that there are innumerable Buddhas each having their own lineage. When we talk about the five Buddha lineages, this is specifically referring to a way of classifying Buddhas in terms of the five aggregates. This is through purifying the impure aggregates, removing the faults of the five aggregates, we achieve the five Buddha lineages.
It’s simply a way of So in general, there there are numberless forms. There are numberless, for example, feelings. Mean there are numberless types of happy feelings that we can have, but when we condense all the happy feelings we can say that there are three types When we condense all the feelings, we can say that there are three pleasurable, unpleasurable, and neutral feeling. And we can condense that just down into the one feeling of the aggregate of feeling. And likewise, there are perception, innumerable each of the five aggregates.
Therefore, there are innumerable Buddha lineages. So, there are two types of Buddha nature. There’s natural Buddha nature and evolving Buddha nature. The evolving Buddha nature is the clear light of the mind, that is to say the emptiness of the mind. That which does the attaining of Buddhahood is the evolving Buddha nature.
That is the mind itself. A particular individual’s enlightenment or enlightenment in general? So, I mean, it was you’re you’re the way you were raising your question was kinda very it’s kinda curious. But to answer your question as you phrased it, that the the Buddha does not see a beginning to enlightenment. Why doesn’t he see it?
Because it doesn’t exist. He doesn’t see what doesn’t exist. Just like we he doesn’t see horns on a rabbit’s head. He also doesn’t see the big the beginning of life because it doesn’t exist. He understands that which exists.
He doesn’t understand that which does not exist. I don’t know if that’s what you wanted to know or not. If if there was if a if a if a beginning existed, he would know it. And since he knows that there is no beginning, since he knows that the beginning does not exist, since he understands that beginnings do not exist, he does not understand that there is a beginning. He does not know that there is a beginning because he understands that there is no beginning.
The analogy is not quite correct because that potency is changeable in its nature. It arises in dependence upon causes and conditions and is momentarily arising and disintegrating. But the natural Buddha nature is established simultaneously with, the natural Buddha nature is non disintegrating. It is non changing. Natural Buddha nature.
Why doesn’t it get impacted by causes and conditions? It’s unconditioned. Emptiness. Only It’s a dependent arising, but it’s not arising. It depends on causes and condition.
It arises in dependence upon its parts and arises dependent upon terms and concepts. So this this is the subtle presentation of dependent arising when things are dependent upon terms and concepts. Condition phenomena are dependent upon causes and conditioned product. Conditioned phenomena. Compounded phenomena.