According to the Madhyamikas, we can speak of two aspects of perception. From one point of view, it is valid; from another point of view, it is deceptive or deluded. From this understanding we can attribute two aspects to a single event of cognition. Just because we have valid, direct experiences of objects does not mean that these things and events experienced by us possess objective, intrinsic existence.
Practicing Wisdom
“Every statement of view, however certain one may strive to make it, can never, on the relative level, be more than a point of view.”
Translator’s Introduction to “The Wisdom Chapter” Jamgön Mipham
By studying others’ points of view, it is possible for us to discover new and refreshing perspectives on the world.
From “The Meaning of Life, Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect” By H.H. The Dalai Lama Chapter 1: The Buddhist Worldview section: Behavior and View
Behavior
The root of all of the Buddhist teaching is compassion.
View
Dependent-arising is the general philosophy of all Buddhist systems even though many different interpretations are found among those systems. In Sanskrit the word for dependent-arising is pratityasamutpada. The word pratitya has three different meanings – meeting, relying, and depending- but all three, in terms of their basic import, mean dependence. Samutpada means arising. Hence, the meaning of pratityasamutpada is that which arises in dependence upon conditions, in reliance upon conditions, through the force of conditions. On a subtle level, it is explained as the main reason why phenomena are empty of inherent existence.
It is thus: due to ignorance there is compositional action; due to compositional action there is consciousness; due to consciousness there is name and form; due to name and form there are the six sense spheres; due to the six sense spheres there is contact; due to contact there is feeling; due to feeling there is attachment; due to attachment there is grasping; due to grasping there is the potentialized level of karma called “existence”; due to existence there is birth; and due to birth there is aging and death.
With regard to the twelve links of dependent arising, there are basically two modes of explanation, one in terms of thoroughly afflicted phenomena and the other in terms of pure phenomena. In the Buddha’s root teaching of the four noble truths, there are two sets of cause and effect: one set for the afflicted class of phenomena and another for the pure class. Just so, here in the twelve links of dependent-arising there are procedures in terms of both afflicted phenomena and pure phenomena. Among the four noble truths, true sufferings -the first truth- are effects in the afflicted class of phenomena, and true sources — the second truth — are their causes. In the pure class of phenomena, true cessations, the third truth, are effects in the pure class, and true paths, the fourth truth, are their causes. Similarly, when it is explained in the twelve links of dependent-arising that action is produced and so forth due to the condition of ignorance, the explanation is in terms of the afflicted procedure; when it is explained that action ceases and so forth due to the cessation of ignorance, it is in terms of the procedure of the pure class. The first is the procedure of the production of suffering, and the second is the procedure of the cessation of suffering.
The twelve links of dependent-arising are thus laid out in terms of a process of affliction and in terms of a process of purification, and each of these is presented in forward and reverse orders. Thus, in the forward process, it is explained that:
Due to the condition of ignorance, action arises; due to compositional action, consciousness arises; due to consciousness, name and form arises; due to name and form, the six sense spheres arises; due to the six sense spheres, contact arises; due to contact, feeling arises; due to feeling, attachment arises; due to attachment, grasping arises; due to grasping, “existence” arises; due to existence, birth arises; and due to birth there is aging and death.
Because this mode describes how suffering is produced, it is an explanation of the sources that produce suffering. In reverse order it is explained that:
The unwanted sufferings of aging and death is produced in dependence upon birth; birth is produced in dependence upon existence; existence is produced in dependence upon grasping; grasping is produced in dependence upon attachment; attachment is produced in dependence upon feeling; feeling is produced in dependence upon contact; contact is produced in dependence upon sense spheres; sense sphere are produced in dependence upon name and form; name and form is produced in dependence upon; consciousness; consciousness is produced in dependence upon action; action is produced in dependence upon ignorance.
Here emphasis is on the first of the four noble truths, true sufferings themselves, which are the effects. Then, in terms of the process of purification, it is explained that:
When ignorance ceases, action ceases; when compositional action ceases, consciousness ceases; when consciousness ceases, name and form ceases; when name and form ceases, the six sense spheres cease; when the six sense spheres cease, contact ceases; when contact ceases, feeling ceases; when feeling ceases, attachment ceases; when attachment ceases, grasping ceases; when grasping ceases, “existence” ceases; when existence ceases, birth ceases; and when birth ceases, aging and death ceases.
This explanation is given in terms of the purified class of phenomena with emphasis on the causes, the true paths, second among the four noble truths. In reverse order, it is explained that:
The cessation of aging and death arises in dependence upon the cessation of birth; the cessation of birth arises in dependence upon the cessation of existence; the cessation of existence arises in dependence upon the cessation of grasping; the cessation of grasping arises in dependence upon the cessation of attachment; the cessation of attachment arises in dependence upon the cessation of feeling; the cessation of feeling arises in dependence upon the cessation of contact; the cessation of contact arises in dependence upon the cessation of the sense spheres; the cessation of the sense sphere arises in dependence upon the cessation of name and form; the cessation of name and form arises in dependence upon the cessation of consciousness; the cessation of consciousness arises in dependence upon the cessation of action; the cessation of action arises in dependence upon the cessation of ignorance.
Here, within the process of purification the emphasis is on the effects— true cessations, the third of the four noble truths.
“Undertaking this and leaving that, Enter into the teaching of the Buddha Like an elephant in a thatch house, Destroy the forces of the Lord of Death. Those who with thorough conscientiousness Practice this disciplinary doctrine Will forsake the wheel of birth, Bringing suffering to an end.”
Shakyamuni Buddha (top left), The Mantra OM MA-NI PAD-ME HUM (top center), Avalokiteśvara (top right). “Monster holding the wheel” signifies that the entire process of cyclic existence is caught within transience/impermanence.
(A) Hub
The Three Poisons: Desire; Hatred, Root Ignorance Depicted respectively as: Rooster, Pig, Snake
(B) Half Circles Surrounding Hub
Indicate virtuous (white, ascending) and non-virtuous (black descending) actions
(D1) ignorance: … an old, blind person hobbling with a cane (D2) compositional action: a potter making a wheel (D3) consciousness: a monkey —— cause-consciousness —— effect-consciousness (D4) name and form: person(s) in a boat (D5) sense spheres: an empty house with six windows (D6) contact: a man and women touching, kissing (D7) feeling: an arrow in person’s eye (D8) attachment: persons partying (D9) grasping: a person grabbing at fruit in a tree (D10) existence: a couple copulating or pregnant woman (D11) birth: a women giving birth (D12) aging and death:person with burdens
Reference: “The Meaning of Life: Buddhist Perspectives on Cause and Effect by His Holiness The Dalai Lama
From “Lady of the Lotus Born” chapter 5 “Practice” herein an excerpt wherein Guru Rinpocheand Yeshe Tsogyal address thepractice of austerity.
“This precious human form is a stream of gold. If you have gained it and are wise to use it, You will find continuous sustenance.”
Pledge to Practice austerity in…
Nourishment
Clothing
Speech
Body
Mind
Doctrine
Selfless Kindness
Compassion
“Thus [practice the eight great teachings that are hard to practice] holding others dearer than self without thought for life, for body, for worldly power and you will embody all the Buddha’s Teaching.”
From “Mother of the Buddha’s’Meditation on the Prajnaparamita Sutra” compiled by Lex Hixon. Herein, selections from “Mahayana Immeasurability” wherein Subhuti enlightens Shariputra in the presence of Lord Buddha.
Buddha, bodhisattva, prajnaparamita-these are merely abstract terms, composed of certain sounds and letters, correlated with certain conventional perceptions and concepts. What they point at has never substantially come into being. What they indicate is an uncreated and, hence, ungraspable and unthinkable presence. The same is true of the terms self and universe. Although we speak conventionally about the personal self, assuming that we are encountering it constantly, no self with separate identity of any kind has ever come substantially into being. That all structures and processes have never been created simply means that they appear vividly and function coherently without possessing any independent essence that can be isolated, grasped or formulated in any way.
…
When this most radical truth is unfolded to an aspirant without causing the slightest fear or anxiety, then one can know, with confidence, that the aspirant is a bodhisattva, an adamantine awareness who flows as Perfect Wisdom. With each breath, thought and perception, bodhisattvas investigate and meditate upon Prajnaparamita,
…
The absence of the substantial creation of any form is not different from the radiantly transparent, harmonious and coherent functioning of all forms. Thus absolute openness and relative functioning are not divided. They are not two alternative dimensions, but utter simplicity. If one labels and thereby expériences this expansive simplicity as material form and personal consciousness, one is foolishly numbering and labeling that which has no multiplicity and no identity. The bodhisattva investigates and meditates upon all structures, processes and dimensions as simplicity, and therefore does not approach or even encounter any substantial forms or independent states of consciousness.
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These diamond beings meditate: “Our longing to be free from suffering is simply the longing of all that lives to be free from suffering.” Bodhisattvas permeate their daily awareness with this commitment: “We can never desert for an instant even one of these beloved beings. We can only live to liberate them all without exception from their terrible burden of delusive suffering. We can never generate the slightest thought of hatred or even irritation toward any of these precious beings, even though they may torture or destroy our bodies during a hundred consecutive lifetimes.” This is the spirit with which bodhisattvas dedicate their mind and heart to conscious beings, recognizing all beings as their very own most intimate consciousness.
One who exists solely as this boundaryless mind and heart of wisdom and love will not perceive difficulties simply because one never perceives separation, substantiality or limit. The ease, freedom and delight of Mother Prajnaparamita flows through the awareness of the bodhisattva, a constant reminder that no personal self exists substantially or independently, just as no apparent structure of the universe exists substantially or independently. This principle of ontological transparency applies to every subjective or objective structure or process that can possibly be experienced by any consciousness.
Thus the consecrated heart of love is identical with the clear mind of transcendent insight. There is no substantial coming into being of any difficulty or nobility, just as there is no substantial coming into being of any bodhisattva, pilgrimage or path.
“Since, out of all the various paths, it is the Mahayana that you have now taken up, all practices–the ten positive actions, the four boundless qualities, the six transcendent perfections, the four concentrations, the four formless states, sustained calm and profound insight-should be done with perfect Buddhahood as your sole aim, and with the three supreme methods: giving rise to bodhicitta as preparation, remaining free of conceptualization during the actual meditation and closing with prayers of dedication.”
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Arouse bodicitta of great liberation of Buddhahood , contemplate the characteristics of a Buddha:
The Ten Conditions for Omniscience to Develop: The first topic of The Ornament of Clear Realization is the ten causes or causal conditions for wisdom of the Buddha, to be developed:
We must first develop a desire to help all sentient beings reach enlightenment.
2. Practice instructions
We must learn about the Buddhist path and apply ourself to these instructions. These instructions are found in the five paths.
3. The four stages of definite separation
We must go to through the four stages on the Path of Junction: 1. warming to the experience of emptiness 2. summit to the experience of emptiness 3. forbearance, realization of the dharmata 4. highest worldly dharma, threshold to experiencing true reality.
4. Buddha-nature, the basis for our practice
Our whole development of realization relies on the fact that we and all other sentient beings possess Buddha-nature (Skt. gotra, Tib. rigs).
5. The Objects of Focus
We must realize the emptiness of phenomena and we develop understanding of these through understanding eleven kinds of subjects such as understanding created and uncreated, ordinary and extraordinary, positive and negative actions, etc.
6. The Purpose
We need to understand the purpose for studying the Prajnaparamita and cultivating the bodhisattva path.
7. Armor-like Practice
Finally, there are four different practices we need to do to understand. This practice is perfecting the six paramitas.
8. Applied Practice
We need to then apply the four dhyana meditations to our practice
9. The Practice of Accumulation of wisdom.
We need to practice the accumulation of merit and the accumulation of wisdom
10. The Practice of Certain Release
We need to understand the inseparability of samsara and nirvana
These five paths (Sanskrit panca-marga, Tibetan lam lnga), toward enlightenment, are referred to many times in “The Ornament of Clear Realization” A Commentary on the Prajnaparamita of the Maitreya Buddha:
Path of Cultivation/Meditation (S. bhavana-marga, sgom lam) Development of insight, entry into the second through ninth bodhisattva levels
Path of No-More-Learning (S. asaiksha-marga, T. mi slob pa’i lam) Also called, Path of Fulfillment (S. nishtha-marga). Attaining complete mediation (S. samadhi), and Buddhahood
Maitreya Bodhisattva at the Thikse Monastery in Ladakh, India. Cropped source Wikimedia
Arouse skillful means of bodhichitta to ensure accumulation of positive merit; avoid conceptualization so merit is not destroyed by circumstance; seal action by dedicating accumulated merit…
“By this accumulation of virtues, May I attain all-seeing omniscience and may all faults be annihilated. The whirling turbulent waves of birth, old age, sickness and death, from this ocean of Samsara, May I liberate beings.”
All beings are Buddhas, but this is concealed by adventitious stains. When their stains are purified their Buddhahood is revealed.
