transcript of the teachings by khen rinpoche geshe …...the heart sutra that you recite at the...

Amitabha Buddhist Centre Special Insight From Medium-Length Exposition of the Stages of the Path

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Transcript of the teachings by Khen Rinpoche Geshe Chonyi on Special Insight at Amitabha Buddhist Centre

Root text: Medium-Length Exposition of the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment by Lama Tsongkhapa. Course book: Tsong-kha-pa’s Final Exposition of Wisdom, by Jeffrey Hopkins; Snow Lion Publications, 2008. For overall structure and to facilitate easy cross reference, the main headings from the course book are included in these transcripts; they are indented and in italics. Lesson 5 4 May 2019 Root text, p.37—38. Purification & accumulation. Liberation from samsara. What is the meditation on emptiness? 2. Root of cyclic existence. How to delineate the view in particular. Identifying afflictive ignorance.

As I have mentioned previously, what we are studying has to do with the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra. When the meaning of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutra is condensed, we get the Heart Sutra that you recite at the beginning of the class. The main subject matter of the sutra is profound emptiness. In order to clarify the profound emptiness that was taught by the Buddha, the Indian pandits such as Nagarjuna, Aryadeva, Buddhapalita and Chandrakirti composed treatises. Later, in the snowy land of Tibet, there were many masters who also composed commentaries to explain the meaning of this profound emptiness. In our context, we are studying the commentary by Lama Tsongkhapa. He explained the thoughts of Nagarjuna and Aryadeva in an unmistaken way. PURIFICATION & ACCUMULATION We should think how fortunate we are that now we have the opportunity to engage in hearing and contemplation with respect to this profound emptiness. As also mentioned previously, Aryadeva stated that those with little merit will not even have any doubt with respect to emptiness. In other words, you need a certain amount of merit even to be interested in emptiness and to generate a doubt tending towards fact with respect to whether or not phenomena are empty. “Maybe emptiness is like that. Maybe phenomena are empty.” Even a doubt like that has the power to shake the very foundation of samsara. It is said that this kind of doubt can shatter samsara. So, it is the start to the process of understanding emptiness. It takes merit even to wonder whether or not emptiness is the case. If we have this kind of thought, “Maybe emptiness is like that,” this is a sign of great fortune because based on


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that, we can go on to engage in hearing and contemplating with respect to emptiness. Even though we may not be able to realize emptiness at this point in time, just having an intellectual understanding of emptiness is a sign of great fortune. Why is that the case? One reason is that simply by having an understanding of emptiness, even though you may not have realized it, you will be able to purify countless negative deeds. Therefore, having faith, conviction and belief in emptiness is also a sign of great fortune. In the lam-rim teachings, it is stated that there are six methods to purify negativities. These six methods include, for example, reciting sutras and certain mantras and constructing representations of the body, speech and mind of the Buddha. Included among the six methods is the meditation on emptiness. Furthermore, it is stated that among the six methods, the meditation on emptiness is the best way to purify negativities. The meditation on emptiness is said to be so powerful that it is able to purify any kind of misdeeds no matter how serious or grave they are. On top of that, it is also said that the meditation on emptiness is the best method for creating virtue. For example, it is said that you will be able to accumulate so much merit by doing 100,000 prostrations. But by meditating on emptiness for just one minute, you will create far more merit than doing 100,000 prostrations. Therefore, the meditation on emptiness is very powerful both in terms of the purification of misdeeds and the accumulation of merit. Naturally, you will wonder why the meditation on emptiness is so powerful. Why is it that the meditation on emptiness is so powerful? By doing 100,000 prostrations, offering 100,000 mandalas, reciting 100,000 mantras and so on, you can accumulate a lot of merit. However, the effect on and the transformation of the mind is not obvious. It is not necessary perceivable. But when you meditate on emptiness, based on a good understanding of the meaning of emptiness, say, for just two to five minutes, you will be able to observe in your mind some kind of transformation immediately. This is because your unsubdued mind can be traced to your afflictions. When you make 100,000 offerings, 100,000 prostrations and so on, these practices do not directly counteract the afflictions that cause your mind to be untamed. But when you meditate on emptiness even for a short while, your meditation will be able to directly harm those afflictions that are responsible for making your mind unsubdued and you can feel the transformation immediately. You can perceive some kind of effect immediately. Perhaps that is why the meditation on emptiness is said to be so powerful. In essence, we need to gain an unmistaken understanding of what emptiness is. On that basis, we can engage in contemplation and meditation. If we are able to do that, then we will be able to accomplish the purification of all negativities and we will be able to complete the accumulation. So, by seeing the significance of emptiness, we want to know what it is. For the purpose of finding out about emptiness, we engage in the reading of the explanations, the hearing of teachings and engaging in discussions. Because by doing so, we know that we will be able to purify negativities and we will be able to complete the accumulation.


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Of course, this will only be achieved if, in the first place, we have an unmistaken understanding of emptiness. If our understanding of emptiness is mistaken, then it is not going to be beneficial. So, understanding the purpose of knowing about emptiness, we generate joy and enthusiasm for learning about emptiness. LIBERATION FROM SAMSARA There is a sutra citation from the Superior Sutra of the Questions of AryaRastapala contained in the Pile of Jewels Sutra. Lama Tsongkhapa quotes it at the beginning of his text, Treatise Differentiating Interpretable and Definitive Meanings: The Essence of Eloquence. This sutra stanza says, “Due to being endowed with compassion, through hundreds of skillful means and reasonings, you cause transmigrating beings who wander due to not knowing the modes of emptiness, quiescence and no production to enter into understanding.” Why is it that we wander endlessly in samsara, being born, then dying, being born again and then dying again and so on? In the sutra, the Buddha explained that sentient beings wander in samsara due to not knowing emptiness. The Buddha saw that the main cause of transmigrating beings wandering in samsara is their lack of knowledge regarding emptiness. This means that if one wants to get out of samsara, then there is really no choice. One has to know emptiness. If one knows emptiness, then one can be liberated from samsara. The Buddha saw there is such a thing as emptiness and it can be known. He understood that in order for living beings to be free from samsara, they have to know this emptiness. There really is no choice. He has to teach emptiness in order to help sentient beings. The Buddha was motivated by this compassion. He was powerlessly moved by this compassion and through hundreds skillful means and reasonings, using examples and various methods, he taught emptiness so that sentient beings can become free of samsara. What causes us to revolve within samsara? It is the afflictions in our own continuum. There is no other agent out there that is forcing us to circle in samsara. We are controlled by our own afflictions. Our afflictions make us powerless and make us lose our freedom. Being led by our own afflictions, we do not have any freedom. This very lack of freedom is suffering. When we say that we are powerless, what that means is that we are controlled by our karma and afflictions. This very lack of freedom, i.e., being powerless, is itself suffering. In other words, if we have freedom, then we are in a happy state. If we do not have freedom, then we are suffering. People usually say freedom is happiness. But when they say freedom is happiness, they are only thinking of temporal happiness. They think, “If I have freedom, I will be carefree. Then I will be happy.” They are not really thinking in terms of long-term and everlasting happiness. In essence, if our mind lacks freedom, our mind is not free as we are basically controlled by our afflictions. These afflictions cause us to create karma and because we create karma, we suffer. What is the root of our afflictions? If you trace the origin of these afflictions, you will find


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the root is the ignorance that is the conception of true existence. This ignorance that is the conception of the self is the root of cyclic existence. This is an erroneous mind. Why do we say that it is an erroneous mind? This is because the object does not exist in the way our ignorant mind apprehends it to exist. That is, this mind apprehends the object to exist in a certain way but in reality, the object does not exist in that way. Due to beginningless familiarization, we come under the influence of ignorance and we apprehend the collection of the five aggregates to be the 'I'. The collection of the five aggregates is taken to be the basis of imputation and apprehended to be the 'I'. Through the power of the mistaken mind, there is this apprehension of the existence of the 'I' or a person with respect to the collection of the five aggregates. The mind apprehends or grasps at the existence of this 'I' on the collection of the five aggregates. There is this appearance of the person existing upon the five aggregates. Then one grasps at that appearance of the person existing upon the five aggregates. Whenever we say we are walking, eating, lying down and so forth, we have this natural grasping mind that thinks, “The 'I' exists over there.” This is something we have to understand—how our mind has this mistaken grasping of the 'I' or the person. There is this appearance of the 'I' existing upon the aggregates. There is also this grasping at or apprehension and conception of the 'I' existing upon the aggregates. This kind of conception or apprehension is mistaken. Simply put, that is ignorance. That is the conception of a self. This is how it grasps at the 'I'. This mistaken conception is the root of all the afflictions such as anger, pride and attachment and so on. From these afflictions, all kinds of suffering, including physical and mental suffering, arise. What is this conception of the self? Simply put, it is this thought that there is an 'I' that is established upon the collection of the five aggregates. This is a mistaken mind. It is the root of all our problems. This conception of the self thinks that there is an 'I' existing from the side of the aggregates, that there is an 'I' existing upon the collection of the five aggregates. It is because of the grasping to the self or the conception of the self that all kinds of fears, worries, anxieties and so forth arise. The analogy of the snake and the rope To state the standard lam-rim example, let’s say you are walking along a dark path. Then you perceive this appearance of a snake. Actually what is lying on the path is a coil of rope. Due to many conditions such as the poor lighting and so on, first, you have this appearance of the snake. In accordance with the appearance of the snake, you grasp this rope to be a snake. As a result of that, you become frightened. We should think about this analogy well. If you understand this analogy well, then you will be able to understand the meaning that is illustrated. In this example, there is really no snake. However, one has the appearance of the snake and then very naturally, one thinks that there is a snake. There is a conception of a snake. One will not think, “Oh, this is a wrong conception.” At that point in time, the mind seems to be completely correct. One does not know that this grasping to the snake is incorrect. One is unable to know that it is incorrect at that point in time. As a result of that kind of thought, then one becomes very frightened. One has fear.


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From this example, you can see very clearly that all this is created by the mind. Even though this is just imputed and labelled by the mind, at that point in time, you are not able to know that it is not simply imputed by your own mind. This analogy is very clear. At that point in time when your mind grasps to the rope as a snake in a very strong way, there is no thought of, “This is all created by my mind. This is just labelled by my own mind.” In this example, there is a rope lying on a dark path. You grasp at this rope to be a snake. As a result of that grasping, it gives rise to fear. This is a mistaken mind. In order to eliminate that fear, you have to examine whether or not there is a snake. What you can do is you can approach this so-called snake slowly and check. When you go close enough, you can see that there is no snake and that there is just a rope. Immediately, all your fear will evaporate. In this example, the snake is merely imputed by the mind. From the side of the rope, there is no snake there. So, there is no snake existing upon the rope. The snake is merely imputed by the mind. What is the meaning illustrated by this analogy? As explained before, due to our afflictions, we create karma. Due to karma, we appropriate contaminated aggregates. In dependence on these aggregates, there is this grasping to the ‘I’. There is the

appearance of an ‘I’ existing upon these aggregates. There is an ‘I’ that appears from the side of these aggregates.

As a result of this appearance, we think there is an ‘I’ existing from the side of the aggregates.

There is an ‘I’ that is merely imputed in dependence on the aggregates. So, an ‘I’ that is not merely imputed in dependence on the aggregates does not exist at all. The mind grasps at the ‘I’ in a way in which the ‘I’ does not exist. Such a mind is a mistaken mind.

Khen Rinpoche: I don’t know if this is clear. Is it clear? Or shall I repeat one more time? We apprehend an ‘I’ to exist upon the collection of the aggregates. Does such an ‘I’ exist

upon the aggregates? No, it does not. Then how does the ‘I’ exist? The ‘I’ is merely imputed in dependence on the collection

of the aggregates. This ‘I’ does not exist on the collection of the aggregates. It is merely imputed in dependence on the collection of the aggregates.

In this analogy, there is no snake existing on the rope. The snake is imputed in dependence on the rope. In the same way, there is no ‘I’ existing on the collection of the aggregates. The ‘I’ is merely imputed in dependence on the aggregates. Just as there is no snake existing on the rope, there is no ‘I’ existing on the collection

of the aggregates. Just as the snake is imputed in dependence on the rope, the ‘I’ is imputed in

dependence on the collection of the five aggregates. Just as the snake is imputed by conception, the ‘I’ is also merely imputed by

conception. The similarity ends there. This is because even though in both cases, there is this mere imputation by conception, in the example, the snake that is merely imputed by conception


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does not exist conventionally. However, the ‘I’ that is merely imputed by conception does exist conventionally. The main thing we have to know is how we apprehend the ‘I’. This means we have to understand how we grasp to our own ‘I’, not somebody else’s ‘I’. We usually think that the collection of aggregates is the ‘I’, i.e., the ‘I’ exists on or from the side of the collection of the aggregates. The ‘I’ appears in this way and we grasp it in these ways. All of us have this kind of adherence. We adhere to the ‘I’ as existing from the side of the aggregates, from that side, over there. The ‘I’ seems to exist over there. It appears to exist over there and we apprehend it as existing over there. This is a mistaken mind. This is ignorance. To know that this mind is a mistaken mind is the purpose of the meditation on emptiness. It is to know that the object as it is apprehended by this mind does not exist. WHAT IS THE MEDITATION ON EMPTINESS? Sometimes, we wonder what the meditation on emptiness is. How do you meditate on emptiness? First of all, you have to know how you apprehend the ‘I’. You have to understand this grasping to the ‘I’ is mistaken. The ‘I’ does not exist the way it appears. So, you have to meditate decisively on this. What is involved in the meditation on emptiness? It is to decide that this ‘I’ does not exist the way it appears to your mistaken mind. You have to think about this and come to this decision that this ‘I’ does not exist the way it appears to your mistaken mind. You have to know that the mistaken mind is mistaken. You have to know that the ‘I’ that appears to this mind does not exist at all. If you are able to understand and appreciate this, then your fears, anxieties, anger and attachment will all evaporate. By relying on the teacher’s instructions and the scriptures, you will be able to know the mistaken mind is mistaken. In that way, all your afflictions such as fear, anger and attachment will all be pacified. Summary

We have to know this ignorance, the conception of the self, is the root of all mistaken minds.

What is this conception of the self? It is the mind that apprehends the ‘I’ as existing in dependence on the collection of the aggregates. This conception of the self is the root of samsara. It is the selflessness of persons. It is the view of the transitory collections.

By knowing that this conception of the self is a mistaken mind, to know that this mistaken ‘I’ is mistaken, that will cause us not to generate attachment and anger.

Because we do not generate attachment and anger, then we do not create karma. Because we do not create karma, then we do not have to circle in samsara. This is

because once you do not create karma, you will not be born. If you will not be born, you will not age, you will not fall sick and you will not die. If you are able to eliminate this karma, then there is no more birth, sickness and death.

If you think about all these points carefully, then you can really see the importance of understanding emptiness. If you do not understand emptiness, then you will have to be born in samsara and you have to experience aging, sickness and death uninterruptedly within samsara. Seeing this, you will understand that there is no choice but to understand emptiness.


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If you wish to become free from suffering, then really there is no choice but to realize emptiness. If you don’t wish to be free from suffering, then that doesn’t matter. But if you do wish to be free of suffering and to be free of samsara, then you understand that really there is no choice but to understand emptiness, to understand that this mind, the conception of the self, is a mistaken mind. In the lam-rim we talk about the precious human rebirth. We talk about how the human rebirth is very precious and that we should make it meaningful. How do we make our precious human rebirth meaningful? The final way of doing this is to engage in hearing and contemplation with respect to emptiness and to arrive at an understanding of what emptiness is. If we are able to do that, then we are able to shake the root of cyclic existence. If not for this understanding of emptiness, it is difficult to make our precious human rebirth meaningful in samsara. In order to become free from samsara, you have to realize emptiness. So, you should engage in hearing and engaging in contemplation in order to leave imprints on your mind. If you do that, there is some hope that you can become free of samsara. This is something you should remember. You should try your best to understand emptiness and engage in studying, reading, discussion, contemplation and so on with that in mind. You should make the effort to realize emptiness. No matter what you do, you should think, “I am so fortunate. I am so fortunate.” We have to know that we conceive of an ‘I’ existing upon the aggregates. We need to know that this mind is mistaken and that it is ignorance. We need to recognize that this mind is a mistaken mind. We need to know that the object as it is apprehended by this mind does not exist. By meditating on these points, we will be able to find the view of emptiness. We need to make effort to be able to come to the conclusion that the object that is conceived by this mistaken mind does not exist at all. If we are able to come to such a conclusion and we are able to meditate on such a conclusion, then this is the meditation on emptiness. It is said that for those who are of sharp faculties, coming to such a conclusion constitutes knowing emptiness. All the time, we have this thought of the ‘I’ existing over there, on the aggregates. Because we do not know that this mind is mistaken and we do not know that the object as conceived by such a mistaken mind does not exist, we are led to suffering. If instead, we are able to know that this mistaken mind is mistaken and that the object as conceived by this mistaken mind does not exist, then all our fears will vanish. It is said for those of sharp faculties, when they come to such a conclusion, they will feel so much joy. We have been grasping to such an ‘I’ existing since beginningless time. Whatever we do is for the sake of this ‘I’ and as a result, we experience so much strife. Once we are able to understand that this mind is mistaken and the ‘I’ that is conceived by this mistaken mind does not exist, then we will be free from all the fears and so on. It is explained that those who are of sharp faculties will experience great joy, just like a beggar who discovers a treasure.


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How about those of dull faculties? It is said they will generate fear when they think, “Oh, this mind grasping to an ‘I’ that exists since beginningless time is mistaken.” If they understand that this ‘I’ as conceived by the mistaken mind does not exist, they will actually come to the conclusion that the ‘I’ does not exist. Thus they will generate fear. Those of dull faculties will think that the ‘I’ does not exist. “I do not exist. This ‘I’ do not exist.” Although they will generate fear, it is said that this fear is better than nothing. This fear is actually a sign of an understanding of emptiness. Because of this fear, one will be led in the direction of emptiness. It is said if one meditates on emptiness and experiences fear, one should not stop. In fact, one should continue meditating on the fact that things do not exist the way they are conceived by this conception of the self. By continuing in this way, one will realize emptiness. When one generates this fear, thinking, “Oh, I do not exist,” this is not falling into the extreme of annihilation. If one does not meditate on emptiness, one simply generates the thought, “I don’t exist.” As a result, there is no fear. This actually does not harm the conceived object of the conception of the self even though one thinks, “I don’t exist.” This is falling into the extreme of annihilation. The point is that when those of dull faculties meditate on emptiness and they experience fear, this is not falling into the extreme of annihilation. This is because when one falls into the extreme of annihilation, one will not experience fear. This is because one would actually still be grasping or adhering to an ‘I’. Initially, you need to have some understanding of what is the self that is being negated. If you do not know what the self you are negating is then this is going to be a bit troublesome. So, you must know what is this self that is being negated. What is the self that is conceived by the conception of self? As we have said earlier, the conception of the self apprehends the ‘I’ as existing from the side of the aggregates. It does not see that this ‘I’ as being merely imputed. The ‘I’ conceived by the conception of the self does not exist at all. So, we need to identify from the outset this ‘I’ that is conceived by this mistaken mind is the conception of the self. If such an ‘I’ were to exist in the way it is conceived by this ignorant misconception of the self, then there are two possibilities. Either it is one with the aggregates or it is different from the aggregates. This is something we will analyze by reasoning. This is important. You must have some idea of the object of negation, the ‘I’. It is based on this idea of what the object of negation, the ‘I’, is that you can go on to do analysis. If it were to exist, is it one with the aggregates or is it different from the aggregates?


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Then when you are able to recognize that it does not exist, you meditate on its non-existence. You need to come to this conclusion that the ‘I’ as conceived by ignorance (the conception of the self) does not exist. You meditate on that. What I have described is necessary if you want to meditate on emptiness. If you fail to do that and you simply think, “The person is not the nose. It is not the hand. It is not the leg. It is not the stomach. It is not the head.” and so on and you do just this kind of contemplation, this is not the meditation on emptiness. If you think, “This is not the person and so on. I do not exist.” This is not the meditation on emptiness. This is said to be very easy. Simply saying that the person is not the nose, the person is not the hand and so on and thinking in this way will not lead you to the meaning of emptiness. Just thinking that the conventionally existent ‘I’ is not the nose, not the hand and so on is easy. You don’t need to study the great texts to be able to know this. Someone who has not studied the texts can know that the person is not the nose, the person is not the leg and so on. If that is really the way to meditate on emptiness, then there is no need for you to study the texts. However, having said that, this meditation can be useful. For example, if you are angry, you can engage in this kind of contemplation, thinking, “I am angry. Where is this ‘I’ (who is angry)?” Then you check and you cannot find this ‘I’. That can be helpful in reducing your anger. But this in itself is not the meditation on emptiness. Even though intellectually we know that the person is not the nose, the person is not the leg, the person is not the head and so on, still we have this intuitive sense that there is an ‘I’ existing there on the aggregates. So simply doing this kind of analysis and checking, “Oh, the ‘I’ is not the nose, the ‘I’ is not the hand …” and so on is not going to harm the conception of the self. Even though you may know, “My nose is not the ‘I’” and so on, you are not able to find the ‘I’. The conception of the self is not harmed at all. It remains very stable. Even though you may know using this kind of analysis that the ‘I’ is not the nose, the ‘I’ is not the hand and so on, deep down in your heart, there is still this grasping to the ‘I’. Therefore, this kind of analysis does not constitute a meditation on emptiness. In order to be a correct meditation on emptiness, that meditation must harm ignorance and the conception of a self. I have completed the explanation on emptiness!

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2. ROOT OF CYCLIC EXISTENCE (p.37) How to delineate the view in particular

This is the second of two outlines we saw previously. This section has three parts: … … … seek the view of selflessness. (p. 37)


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In Trijang Rinpoche’s outline, the first part—identifying afflictive ignorance—has five outlines. The first of these is as follows:

A. Although attachment and the like are factors opposed to insight, they are not the main ones

Identifying afflictive ignorance The antidotes to the other afflictive emotions, … … … serves as an antidote to all [afflictive emotions]. (p.37)

So, this is the reason and the conclusion is:

Hence, ignorance is the basis of all faults and defects. (p.37) Next, we have a citation from Chandrakirt’s Clear Words.

Chandrakirti’s Clear Words says: … … … thoroughly depend on bewilderment. (p. 37—38)

Lama Tsongkhapa provides his summary on that citation saying:

Thus, you must meditate on suchness … … … identification of ignorance is extremely important. (p. 38)

On page 37, in the first line of this citation from Chandrakirti’s Clear Words, it is mentioned that there are these “extensive teachings in nine forms—the sets of sutras and so forth.” What are these extensive teachings in nine forms? They are the 12 branches of scriptures that we usually talk about. When these 12 branches of scriptures are condensed, then they become these teachings in nine forms. These are based upon the two truths. Usually, we speak about the 84,000 heaps of teachings. These 84,000 heaps of teachings are the antidotes to the 84,000 afflictions. These 84,000 afflictions can be divided into four groups: 1. 21,000 related to ignorance 2. 21,000 related to attachment 3. 21,000 related to anger 4. 21,000 related to a combination of ignorance, attachment and anger. For example, among the antidotes to attachment, the Buddha taught the meditation on ugliness. As an antidote to anger, he taught the meditation on love. However, the antidote to attachment that involves meditating on ugliness and the unclean nature (of the object) does not serve as an antidote to anger.


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So, the antidotes to attachment are specific antidotes, i.e., they counteract attachment but not the other afflictions. Similarly, the antidotes to anger counteract specifically anger and not the other afflictions. However, the antidote to ignorance (or bewilderment) serve as an antidote to all the afflictions. Therefore, it is said to be more pervasive than the other kinds of antidotes. So, the antidote to ignorance, the meditation on emptiness, is very powerful because it can serve as the antidote to all afflictions. In order to meditate on emptiness, first, you have to know what bewilderment is. You have first to identify what bewilderment is. The second of the five outlines mentioned earlier is:

B. Although in general, the mere factors opposed to insight are posited as ignorance, here it is the factors opposed to an insight into lack of true existence

Ignorance is the opposite of knowledge, … … … its opposite is its contradictory equivalent. (p. 38)

You must memorize this passage because this passage explains what ignorance is. Lama Tsongkhapa’s words are very powerful. Usually, when we talk about ignorance, we take it to mean not knowing. You can know something and if you do not know something, then you are ignorant. We take it to be just not knowing. In fact, in Asanga’s five treatises on the grounds, he posited ignorance as simply not knowing. His explanation of ignorance as not knowing is related to the example that we mentioned earlier, like mistaking a rope for a snake because of the conditions of the darkness and the lack of clarity. Because there is this thick darkness, there is a lack of clarity. Hence the mind mistaking the rope for the snake is generated. So, this lack of clarity is the not knowing that he posits as ignorance. According to Asanga, because of this lack of clarity with respect to the reality of the aggregates, one generates the thought that the ‘I’ exists. He says that this lack of clarity is a condition that results in the grasping to the ‘I’. He says ignorance and the view of the transitory collections are different. Because the view of the transitory collections is generated from ignorance, so ignorance is just this lack of clarity with respect to how the aggregates exist. Because of this lack of clarity acting as a condition, then there is the view of the transitory collections that grasps to the ‘I’. For Asanga, ignorance is simply not knowing. It is merely not knowing. Because there is this mere not knowing, subsequently, this grasping to the ‘I’ is produced. Once the view of the transitory collections, the grasping to the ‘I’ is produced, then all the afflictions will follow. From the point of view of the Consequence Middle Way School (Prasangika Madhyamaka


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School), ignorance is not merely not knowing. Ignorance is the opposite of knowing. As it states here, “Ignorance is the opposite of knowledge …” What do we mean by knowledge? It is not just any knowledge but the wisdom knowing suchness. This knowledge has an opposite mode of apprehension to ignorance. The mode of apprehension of this knowledge is the opposite of the mode of apprehension of ignorance. The wisdom knowing suchness has a certain mode of apprehension. If you take that mode of apprehension, the mind that has the exact opposite mode of apprehension is ignorance. As mentioned previously, this ignorance is a mind that grasps to an ‘I’ existing upon the collection of the aggregates. For ignorance, there is an ‘I’, a person existing upon the aggregates. But for the wisdom realizing selflessness, such an ‘I’ doesn’t exist. There is no ‘I’ existing upon the aggregates. Rather, the ‘I’ is merely imputed. To make this really precise, this is what we say: Ignorance grasps to the ‘I’ existing upon the aggregates. The wisdom realizing selflessness apprehends the ‘I’ as non-existing upon the

aggregates. We have to know that emptiness is a non-affirming negative. Interpreted by Toh Sze Gee. Transcribing team: Phuah Soon Ek, Patricia Lee, Lau Geok Chin, Alison Wong, Rachel Tan, Aki Yeo, Julia Koh and Vivien Ng. Edited by Cecilia Tsong.

transcript of the teachings by khen rinpoche geshe …...the heart sutra that you recite at the...

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