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The Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eight-fold Path are one way of formulating these teachings. The Gradual Path to Enlightenment is another. These two are compatible, and knowing both enables us to look at the same thing from different perspectives. In the early eleventh century, the Indian Buddhist master, Atisha condensed essential points from the sutras and ordered them into the text, Lamp of the Path. These were then expanded upon in the fourteenth century by the Tibetan Buddhist master, Lama Tzong Khapa into the text The Great Exposition on the Gradual Path to Enlightenment (Lam Rim Chemmo). Venerable Chodron comments on this text and relates these practical teachings to our daily lives.
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Lamrim Outline in: Tapes of teachings given at DFF in Seattle can be ordered from DFF. Pls refer to: |
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Excerpts: When we meditate on emptiness, we drop an atom bomb on this truly existent I. The atom bomb is the reason of dependent arising—the I is not truly existent because it is a dependent arising. It’s not true. What appears true, what appears to exist from its own side, isn’t true. Thus it is empty of true existence.
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Emptiness and Dependent Arising January 29, 2005, Sravasti Abbey This material also incorporates clarification of a few points during an interview with Rinpoche in Wisconsin, July, 2005. This document has not yet been checked by Rinpoche. Thubten Chodron: I have a question about emptiness that comes from Geshe Sopa-la’s teaching last summer. A couple of things are confusing to me. One is: In the four point analysis we are supposed to search for the inherently existent I. However, in the syllogism—the I, for example, is not inherently existent because it’s a dependent arising—the I that is the subject of the syllogism is the conventional I, not the inherently existent one. So which I are we searching for? How are we to meditate on this?(1) Lama Zopa Rinpoche: We ordinary beings who haven’t realized emptiness don’t see things as similar to illusions. We don’t realize that things are merely labeled by mind and exist by mere name. Generally speaking, we don’t see the mere appearance of the I(2) until we become enlightened, because whenever our mind merely imputes something, the next second the negative imprint left on the mental continuum by previous ignorance projects true existence. In the first moment, the I is imputed; in the next it appears back to us as real, as truly existent, as not merely labeled by mind. Until we achieve enlightenment we have this appearance of true existence. Except for the meditative equipoise on emptiness of an arya, all other consciousnesses of sentient beings have the appearance of true existence. During an arya’s meditative equipoise on emptiness things don’t appear truly existent. It is without the dualistic view (in two senses, first) not only is there no appearance of true existence, but there is no appearance of subject and object. This wisdom mind and its object are inseparable, like water put in water. The arya’s meditative equipoise on emptiness hasn’t completely eliminated the dualistic view from the person’s mindstream forever, but it has absorbed it temporarily. That is how the wisdom meditates on emptiness. It realizes emptiness directly, becoming inseparable from emptiness. After arising from meditative equipoise on emptiness, everything appears truly existent again, even though the meditator no longer believes that this appearance is true. In this way, the meditator sees things as like an illusion in that they appear one way (truly existent) but exist in another (dependent, merely labeled). These post-meditation times are called subsequent attainment, or rjes-thob in Tibetan. So the appearance of true existence is there until we attain enlightenment. That’s why it is said that every consciousness of sentient beings except an arya’s meditative equipoise on emptiness is a hallucinating mind—everything that appears to it appears truly existent. So whatever appears and whenever there is the thought “I,” aryas have the appearance of a truly existent I during the time of subsequent attainment. If this is the case for aryas, there is no question that ordinary bodhisattvas on the path of accumulation and the path of preparation, who have not realized emptiness directly(3), have a hallucinating mind. Everything that appears to them appears truly existent. Needless to say, whenever we common people, who haven’t realized emptiness, think “I,” we don’t think of a merely labeled I. Generally speaking, when we common people talk about I, it’s the real I, the I existing from its own side. During our conversations every day, we don’t talk about some other I; we’re always thinking and speaking about a truly existent I. That is how we see and think of things. Ordinarily people do not question that appearance. Nor are they aware that they assent to that appearance, grasping it as real and true. So when we think “I” or point to I, naturally we think it’s truly existent. We don’t have any appearance other than that of true existence. Then we believe that appearance to be the way things actually exist. So when we say “I,” we’re automatically pointing to and thinking about a truly existent I because the merely labeled I is not appearing any more. But the I that appears to us is false; it doesn’t truly exist. When we meditate on emptiness, we drop an atom bomb on this truly existent I. The atom bomb is the reason of dependent arising—the I is not truly existent because it is a dependent arising. It’s not true. What appears true, what appears to exist from its own side, isn’t true. Thus it is empty of true existence. But its being empty doesn’t mean the I doesn’t exist. The real I, the truly existent I, the I that exists by its own nature, the I that exists from its own side, is not true. It doesn’t exist. However, the conventional I, the I that exists by being merely labeled, the I that is a dependent arising, that I exists. In the Heart Sutra, Avalokiteshvara says no form, no feeling, and so on. This is like throwing an atom bomb on the appearance of truly existent things. That appearance is not true. Those truly existent things that appear to us do not exist. Then what comes in our heart is that they’re empty. It’s not that they don’t exist. They exist, but they’re empty. Why? Because they’re dependent arisings. Because they are dependent arisings, they are empty of true existence; because they are dependent arisings, they exist (conventionally). Use the reason “It’s not true because it’s a dependent arising.” Do analytical meditation to search for the I, then do stabilizing meditation when you see its emptiness. For us ordinary beings, whatever we contact, talk about, or think about—everything—appears truly existent and we believe in that appearance. We grasp things as truly existent. However, when you realize the emptiness of the I or any other phenomenon and train your mind in that realization, you see that this phenomenon is merely labeled by mind. Even though true existence still appears to you, you don’t assent to that appearance; you don’t believe that phenomena truly exist. You know they exist by being merely labeled by mind, even though they appear truly existent. You have discovered that they’re not true, that they exist in mere name. Someone whose mind has realized emptiness in the meditation session sees things as like an illusion in the subsequent attainment time. He knows they exist by being merely labeled by mind. So even though that meditator has the realization that everything is a dependent arising and is merely labeled by mind dependent on the base, he still has the appearance of true existence. But now he points at that and say to himself, “This appearance isn’t true because it’s a dependent arising.” There is nothing contradictory in this—things are both empty and arise dependently. Because this meditator has realized the emptiness of I, he has also realized that the I exists by mere name and is merely imputed by mind in dependence on the aggregates—this is the Prasangika view. The I is there. It exists, but you don’t grasp it as truly existent, even though it still appears to be. For example, let’s say you see a mirage and have the vision that water is there. But since you just came from that place, you know that only sand is there, so you don’t believe that it’s water. You think, “That water is not true. It doesn’t exist as it appears because there’s no water there. There’s the appearance of water—that appearance of water exists. But there is no water.” Many things are like that. Once when I was in Italy I saw a lady in a store but she turned out to be a mannequin. Then there was another figure that I thought was a mannequin but it was a lady. So this is similar: the appearance is false, it appears one way but exists in another. TC: In the texts, it says that we don’t realize that things are merely labeled by mind until after we realize emptiness. So how can we use the reason that things are merely labeled by mind as a proof that things are empty if we can’t realize that they’re merely labeled by mind until after we’ve realized emptiness? LZR: It’s like this. There’s no contradiction. Being merely labeled by mind indicates how things come into existence. At this moment, this is not something you know through analytical meditation, not something you know by realizing emptiness. Usually in the philosophical teachings, it says that whatever appears appears truly existent. That’s what normally happens due to the hallucinating mind. The only time true existence doesn’t appear to sentient beings is during the meditative equipoise on emptiness of an arya. But in Pabongka’s text it says there is mere appearance of the object for a brief moment. Through analysis you can get the idea. For example, when you see a drum, analyze it at the same time. Be aware that your mind is labeling “drum” by seeing that base. Be aware at the same time as you’re labeling. Analyze: to be able to label drum you have to see a specific phenomenon. Even though the table is round like a drum, you won’t label “drum” on the base you label “table.” It has to be a specific base that performs the function of making sound and that has material to produce sound when hit. You have to see that base first. Then because of the function it performs—what it’s used for—the mind merely labels drum. Seeing that base—its shape, color, etc.—and knowing it has that function become the reason to label “drum.” When you are aware and analyze at the same time as the labeling process is occurring—that is, you’re analyzing while you’re labeling drum—th |