Audio recorded at Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide. Transcript auto-generated and AI-corrected; may contain errors.
About this talk. In this 76-minute teaching, Kyabje Rinpoche tackles why practitioners so often abandon the bodhisattva path despite initial commitment, and answers through the concept of irreversibility—a stable realisation that makes turning back impossible. He builds the framework systematically: first establishing how to understand any training through its definition, its superiority to smaller paths, its capacity to generate Buddhahood (illustrated through the analogy of a seed becoming a crop), and its concrete examples. He then situates irreversibility within the five-path structure, explaining which practitioners achieve it at which stage and what internal stability and external signs—tears flowing, transformed speech, unfailing compassion—accompany this realisation. He draws on the Ornament of Clear Realization throughout and closes with teachings on the Heart Sūtra. Pitched at practitioners already committed to the bodhisattva path.
File metadata (for organising)
File: 1990-10-18 – Side 1 – Part of tape blank – KR.mp3
UUID: 1ff5da32-433a-4182-ba39-cef3d0e41f12
Teacher: Kyabje Rinpoche
Collection: Ornament of Clear Realization
Date: 1990-10-18
Recorded at: Tibetan Buddhist Institute, Adelaide
Words: ~3,364
So the second of these divisions was differentiating the characteristics and the trainings. Many trainings and these are included within the continuum of the great vehicle practitioners such as the hearers, the solitary realizers and also the bodhisattvas. And what we mean by differentiating characteristics is coming to understand the superiority of the training of the bodhisattva as compared to the trainings of the hearers and solitary realizers. Being able to differentiate in terms of superiority. So the third division is functional characteristics.
And the actual trainings that refers to the trainings of the great vehicle their meditation they have a certain ability to bring about a result. So what is meant by the functional characteristic is the knowing of the ability or capacity to bring about the result, knowing what the training, knowing what the ability or the capacity of the training is in terms of what it can do or achieve. That is to say, the actual trainings, that is, the great vehicle trainings, have the ability to develop Buddhahood or omniscience. Therefore, understanding that through the meditative process we can achieve that result is to understand the function. We know what the function is of the training because we know what its ability is, its capacity.
Its function is to bring about the result of Buddhahood. And this is the functional characteristic. As in the case that a seed is able to bring about a crop or ultimately a harvest, that seed has that ability, has that potential, that capacity, how do we know that the seed has this capacity, this potential? We take the seed and we plant it in a field and we add water, fertilizer, etc. And then a sprout arises.
And and depending upon that sprout, ultimately a crop will grow. Likewise, with respect to the trainings, they have a capacity or an ability to bring about a result. In dependence upon them, a certain result will arise, a certain benefit will arise. And what is that ultimate benefit? It is omniscience.
Is to say, omniscience is able to bring about the ultimate welfare of both oneself and other. Therefore, the trainings have that potency or that capacity to bring about this welfare. And it is in understanding this, in dependence upon this reason, that one will be inclined to engage in meditating the trainings. And therefore, this is what is meant by the functional characteristic, understanding what it’s able to do, its capacity. So this is an extremely deep, profound method which is being set out here.
Initially we understand the nature of a training, that is what its characteristics are, that is to say its definition. We then go on to understand what are the qualities which arise out of them what are the qualities of meditating training. And then what are the faults, the obstacles involved in meditating the training. We understand that the actual training, that is a great vehicle training, is superior to the training of a hearer, for example, because the training of actual training, the training of the great vehicle, is able to bring about Buddhahood, which the training of a hearer does not have that ability. Then we understand what is the actual capacity, the ability of the trainings, and what are they able to bring about as far as the results.
Understanding this, then we develop a great joy in understanding the results of meditating on the trainings understanding that one can eliminate all the various faults and bring to consummation all the excellent qualities, that we can abandon the faults. And one will make great effort in meditating the training through understanding this methodology. So this fourth was the essential characteristic. And there’s no other explanation covering this forth because this represents the various examples of training. What is meant by the essential characteristics are examples of the trainings.
And there’s no other explanation than simply having the examples which have already been set forth. So there’s no other explanation in terms of this fourth division that is of essential characteristics. You know, because initially we went through the defining characteristics of how we are to know what a training is. That is to say, we understand its definition. Then we understood that the great vehicle training is superior to the hearer’s training, differentiating its superiority.
Then we understand its various capacities, what it’s able to achieve in terms of what result we can achieve by it. And this is the function it’s able to perform. This is its functional characteristic. And this is all in terms of a specific training. And the specific trainings are the basis of illustration.
This is what is meant by here, the essential characteristic. What do you say we say example? The basis of illustration. Just like if you wanted to know what an example of a pot. An example of a pot is a round bellied flat bottomed container able to hold water made of gold.
That would be an example of a pot. And therefore, here we are simply we can know what the various examples are of trainings by the previous three divisions. And therefore, there’s no other explanation. So, now we are out of this presentation of these four divisions of the characteristics of training, we develop a great aspiration to actually meditate. Because we understand without meditating on the training there’s no way that we can achieve Buddhahood.
Therefore there is great one wants to make a there’s a great intention or aspiration to meditate. But then the question arises, well, when do we actually meditate on the training? Thus far we’ve passed through five of 11 topics of training. The first was the first is aspect, then training, and So we’ve come to the sixth of the 11 aspects of the complete aspect in all trainings. The first being the aspects, then second is training, then qualities, then faults, then nature.
And now we’re at the sixth, which is aid to liberation which is the path of accumulation. So with respect to the great vehicle, are five paths: the path of accumulation, preparation, seeing, meditation, and no more learning. So when do we begin the meditation on the training? It begins on the path of accumulation. The path of accumulation and great here we’re talking about great vehicle the path of accumulation and aid to liberation are synonymous.
Same. Aid to liberation and path of accumulation. So at this time of the teaching of the ornament, for those who are intent on the realization of the ornament, for that disciple, there is a principle teaching of the training and a non principle teaching of the training. There are within the principle teaching there. There are there are 19 trainings.
And when the non principle teaching there is one making a total of 20 teachings with respect to training. Is what is meant here is the principle teachings, as was mentioned previously, that one only attains the special insight with respect to emptiness at the path of preparation. So this is the beginning of the 19 principle teachings training. Now there is one beneath that at the path of accumulation, is a calm abiding with respect to emptiness. And this is the one non principle teaching on the training.
So beginning with the path of accumulation, the non principle teaching on training is the meditation on the calm abiding with respect to emptiness. That’s the first training teaching on training. But it’s a non principle teaching. Then begins at moment of preparation, one attains a special insight with respect to emptiness. And this is a principle teaching with respect to the training.
And then the rest of there is a total of 19 which are which are then set out in order from thereon. So, do we? So we begin first non principle teaching of training, the path of accumulation. Now we begin to meditate the first principle teaching of training. And this is at the point of path of preparation.
And this brings us to the seventh topic, that is, aid to definite discrimination. Aid to definite discrimination and path of preparation are synonyms. This is where we begin the first of the 19 principle teachings, meditations of training. And the eighth topic is, here it says, irreversible aspiration to virtue. Another way to translate it more literally would be the sign of irreversibility.
So the definition of a sign of irreversibility or irreversible aspirant to virtue is a bodhisattva aspiring to virtue who attained a sign of irreversibility? Is a bodhisattva who has attained any of the 44 signs a bodhisattva who has attained any of the 44 signs such as turning away from manifest attachment to form. And here form the various the five aggregates of forms feeling, perceptions, thought constructions and consciousnesses, etc. It says etc. So a bodhisattva has attained any of the 44 signs such as turning away from manifest attachment to form, etc.
As truly existent, and so forth. So, a bodhisattva who has attained any of the 44 signs, such as turning away from manifest attachment to form, etcetera, as truly existent, and so forth. Nice. What do we mean by sign of irreversibility? There are many individuals who though they have entered into the great vehicle path are not able to carry out the practices of that path because the practices are so very vast that they require a long time.
And it requires, in order to actually achieve Buddhahood, it requires a great deal of a collection of accumulations, the collection of accumulations. And many people become discouraged and feeling they can’t carry out this task, can’t do it, and they fall down or down to the lesser vehicle. They reverse. So there’s many occasions where someone tells about doing some type of activity, type of work and how great it was to be able to do that and all that they got out of it. And you think, Well, should do that myself.
I’m going to do that. And so you begin to undertake the activity of the work and you find it extremely difficult, more difficult than you had imagined it would be. And finally you end up saying, I can’t do this, and you give up. So the same holds true with respect to the great vehicle path. There are many who hear about the magnificence of the path, the great benefits of achieving Buddhahood, the excellence of achieving Buddhahood.
And they said, they think to themselves that I must achieve this, seeing all the various excellent qualities. And they go ahead and begin meditating on the awakening heart and they actually enter into the great vehicle. But then when they get onto the great vehicle path, they begin to understand the vastness of the practices necessary in order to travel the great vehicle path. And they begin to become discouraged and they say, I can’t do this. I’m going to set out for I’m going to practice just the lesser vehicle path in order that I can achieve happiness of liberation for myself.
This occurs only on the path of accumulation. But when after the path of accumulation, when we attain the path of preparation, it is here that we develop a union of calm abiding and special insight with respect to emptiness. So, though on the path of preparation there are the three levels of practitioners those of the sharp faculties, middling faculties and dull faculties. They have these three levels of intelligence. Still they all have developed the special insight with respect to emptiness.
And by the force of this, that none of them, having attained the path of preparation, will turn away from continuing on the path that there is no reversing from the path of the great vehicle. So, though all three of these levels of practitioners will not reverse from the great vehicle because of this distinguishment with respect to their intelligence at the path of preparation, it is only that practitioner of the highest intelligence of sharp faculties who will attain the sign of irreversibility. So though all three attain irreversibility, but it is only the sharpest faculty practitioner who attains the sign of irreversibility at this time. So, what does is attained at the attainment of the sign of irreversibility? Internally, is a great one attains a great stability of realization.
One, you know, has this is the sharpest the practitioner of sharpest intelligence. And due to their realization of emptiness and their meditation on the awakening heart, by this combination of method and wisdom, a very stable, forceful realization arises. Due to this internal factor, it has an external effect by which he manifests special bodily qualities, which are externally manifesting special bodily qualities such that people who see this person by their physical appearance understand that this individual has great realization. An example would be someone who is an individual of sharp faculties meditating on the awakening heart, having forcefully developed the awakening heart, there arises out of this meditation the internal qualities such that there never arises a moment of a thought which thinks about attaining happiness only for oneself alone. There is no a type of thinking arises by the forcefulness of the development of the awakening heart.
This is the internal quality. Also, due to the force of this internal quality, has external effects. And this will affect the physical as well as the verbal the body and speech of such a person such that one another who is looking at them will be able to infer from their physical demeanor that they must will be able to infer all they must have high realization by their very physical demeanor. Sign. Physical sign.
So the practitioner of sharpest intelligence achieves a sign of irreversibility at the heat level of preparation. The being of middle intelligence achieves a sign of irreversibility at the path of seeing. And practitioner of dullest intelligence achieves the sign of irreversibility at the eighth ground. So previously, we had covered the first of the 11 aspects of complete training, any aspects that was of aspects. And then today we’ve covered seven more: training, qualities, faults, characteristics, aid to liberation, aid to definite discrimination, irreversible aspiration, a sign of irreversibility, making a total of eight topics we’ve covered so far.
I thought I’d be able to cover all 11 today but we couldn’t we didn’t get to three of them still have three remaining So, we were to go into this extensively, it would take an extremely long time. It’s worthwhile to go through it roughly like this because we establish some latencies for its understanding. And by establishing the latencies with respect to the ornament, we are establishing latencies of the perfection of wisdom sutras of the mother and father which are constituted of the perfection of wisdom of 8,000, 20,000, and 100,000 verses. By and because the essence of the great vehicle is contained within the perfection of wisdom sutras by establishing the latency of those perfection wisdom sutras we’re establishing the latencies, for all of the sutras on the great vehicle. So this is a wonderful opportunity because this is extremely beneficial and important to have.
Next we’ll cover we’ll finish the fifth chapter and then go on to the sixth seventh and eighth chapters That’s right. I think that’s probably my mistake. I divided training up into into yeah the they say Ju so the first is so that that which is being meditated on is the first aspects go through 11 Then then training or preparation. Second. And the the qualities of training.
The faults of training. The characteristics of training, the great vehicle aid to liberation, sixth, Then the seventh is great vehicle aid to definite discrimination. And then the eighth is what we just explained was the sign of irreversibility. Then the ninth is the equality of mundane existence and peace. Then the tenth is the pure land.
Eleventh is skill and means that means skillful and means and bringing about the welfare of sentient beings skillful means skill and means Those are the 11 topics. I think I misled you somewhere. Brenda, question. Some of the external of the external signs of having achieved a sign of irreversibility and for example in terms of speech by the force of one’s internal quality of altruism one’s speech is at no time harmful to others it’s always whatever one says brings about the welfare of others. It’s always heard and received in that way.
It never never is thought felt to be hurtful. And physically one whenever one sees a sentient being suffering and being troubled by suffering their tears flow from the eyes the hair on your body stands on end and this happens all the time whenever you see sentient being going through suffering, not just once but continually all the time when you see suffering. So that would be a bodily sign of irreversibility. It said of the thirty-seven practices of the Buddha’s offspring by the name of Gyalsé Ngülchu Thogme. Thogme.
It was said that when he meditated his clothes were always soaking wet from tears. Depressed. Aside from those times, we’re very dry. So, though the Buddha is never separated from his meditative equipoise, he still appears to meditate, but this is only not his sake, but only for the sake of his students that he puts on a display of meditating in order for them to so that they will make effort to emulate what him in the way he is practicing. So, it’s only a display to you know, he goes through this appearance in order as a show in order to show them the way in which to emulate in order to help them to seek to emulate the way he is practicing so that he’s sitting in meditation for that reason, not for his.
So this was the display in order to inspire the two principal characters in the sūtra, Avalokiteśvara and Śāriputra, to carry on this dialogue of questions and answers in order to help clarify the meaning of emptiness. And this was the way he was able to bless their minds through this display of him in meditation. So in the Heart of Wisdom Sūtra, the Buddha speaks only a few words. He says, very good, very good, our son, good family, etcetera. So most of the sūtra is taken up with the dialogue of questioning and answering between Chenrezig and Śāriputra, and the Buddha has very little to say in the sūtra.
So, though most of the sūtra does not arise out of the Buddha’s mouth himself, it is still considered the speech of the Buddha and that is because that the dialogue which arose between Avalokiteśvara and Śāriputra arose out of the blessings of the Buddha, and therefore it is considered a speech of the Buddha, though it didn’t come out of his own mouth. So, I mean, we could talk without end about this because in terms of the Buddha displaying himself for the benefit of his students, the Buddha has achieved Buddhahood. None of what he does, having achieved Buddhahood, is for his own ends. He has achieved his own end and everything after that point is purely for the sake of his students. So for example, his display of meditating was not for his meditation practice, but it was in order for him to show his students the necessity that if they want to achieve Buddhahood then they’re going to have to make effort in meditation.
So, we aren’t able to emulate the Buddha. We aren’t willing to make the effort that he went through to achieve Buddha as he did. We spend most of our time eating good food, sleeping, talking, laying around. Maybe once in a while, but we read a text or we do a little bit of meditation. If we were to go one day without eating, it would be extremely difficult for us.
So, we have been, but we are planting latencies, and gradually we will become Buddhas.