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Key passages
The teacher's own words, quoted from the transcript below and chosen automatically as representative.
- 13:29
Form is empty, emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form. Form is also not other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty.
- 13:57
Shariputra, therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, No discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no visual form, no sound, no odor, no taste, no object of touch and no phenomenon.
- 14:52
Shariputra, therefore, because there is no attainment, bodhisattvas rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom, the mind without obscuration and without fear. Having completely passed beyond error, they reach the end point of nirvāṇa. All the Buddhas who dwell in the three times also manifestly completely awaken to unsurpassable, perfect, complete enlightenment in reliance on the perfection of wisdom.
- 29:43
But the only way to get out of this cycle of suffering is to realize emptiness, to realize the ultimate nature of phenomena. So the subject matter, the main subject matter of the Heart Sūtra is emptiness and how to realize emptiness. So the focus is the wisdom side in the Heart Sūtra.
- 52:23
I'll wait and talk about that with the next slide. That's a big subject. So emptiness is included in the third of the three principal aspects of the path.
Transcript
0:00 Okay, well welcome everyone. Report an error in the passage at 0:00
0:08 So actually I see a few new faces here so maybe we'll just go around and everybody say their name and then I'll probably immediately forget but I'll do my best. Also I want to pass around this list for people to put their names and their email addresses because I tend to send out the slides and homework and things via email. Report an error in the passage at 0:08
0:33 That would be good. Report an error in the passage at 0:33
0:38 Just put your name on it, just so I have your... Yeah. And then I'm also asking for phone number, just in case we need to cancel class at the last minute, and email might not be the best way to do it. Report an error in the passage at 0:38
1:11 Maybe give both. Report an error in the passage at 1:11
1:18 Okay, so Tim, we're going around and saying our names. So why don't you start? Report an error in the passage at 1:18
1:51 Okay, we always start class by doing a meditation. First to meditate on the breath just to settle our minds and try to stay in this present moment and let go of thoughts of the day, let go of thoughts of the future and just be present. Report an error in the passage at 1:51
2:17 So we'll do that for a few minutes. Report an error in the passage at 2:17
· · · silence, 5 minutes
6:58 Let's try to set a positive motivation for being here this evening, Report an error in the passage at 6:58
7:06 preferably not just for our own benefit. Report an error in the passage at 7:06
7:14 Whatever we learn here this evening. Be beneficial for others as well. Report an error in the passage at 7:14
7:42 So remembering that all sentient beings are the same in wanting to be happy and not wanting to suffer in Report an error in the passage at 7:42
· · · silence, 1 minute
8:25 the kindness of sentient beings. We Report an error in the passage at 8:25
8:34 depend on others for our food, our clothing, our homes, Report an error in the passage at 8:34
8:50 even our bodies. And Report an error in the passage at 8:50
· · · silence, 1 minute
9:34 it doesn't make sense to only be concerned about our own happiness. When there are countless other beings and only one of us. Report an error in the passage at 9:34
9:56 And cherishing others is the doorway to all happiness. Report an error in the passage at 9:56
10:06 And cherishing only ourselves is the cause of suffering. Try Report an error in the passage at 10:06
10:28 to cherish others more and more and Report an error in the passage at 10:28
10:42 ultimately to seek complete enlightenment so that we can really benefit others. Then Report an error in the passage at 10:42
· · · silence, 1 minute
11:52 we'll read the Heart Sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 11:52
12:15 Thus did I hear at one time, the Bhagavan was dwelling on mass vultures, mountain and Rajgri, together with a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. At that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. Also at that time, the bodhisattva, mahasattva, Arya Avalokiteshvara, Looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom and beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 12:15
12:49 Then through the power of Buddha, the venerable Shariputra said this to the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya Avalokiteshvara. How should any son of the lineage train who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom? He said that, and the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Al-Bhukti-Trasvara said this to the Venerable Shariputra. Shariputra, any son of the lineage or daughter of the lineage who wishes to practice the activity of the profound perfection of wisdom should look upon it like this, correctly and repeatedly beholding those five aggregates also is empty of inherent nature. Report an error in the passage at 12:49
13:29 Form is empty, emptiness is form. Emptiness is not other than form. Form is also not other than emptiness. In the same way, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness are empty. Shariputra, likewise, all phenomena are emptiness, without characteristic, unproduced, unceased, stainless, not without stain, not deficient, not fulfilled. Report an error in the passage at 13:29
13:57 Shariputra, therefore, in emptiness there is no form, no feeling, No discrimination, no compositional factors, no consciousness, no eye, no ear, no nose, no tongue, no body, no mind, no visual form, no sound, no odor, no taste, no object of touch and no phenomenon. There is no I element and so on up to and including no mind element and no mental consciousness element. There is no ignorance, no extinction of ignorance and so on up to and including no aging and death and no extinction of aging and death. Report an error in the passage at 13:57
14:40 Similarly, there is no suffering, origination, cessation and path. There is no exalted wisdom, no attainment and also no non-attainment. Shariputra, therefore, because there is no attainment, bodhisattvas rely on and dwell in the perfection of wisdom, the mind without obscuration and without fear. Having completely passed beyond error, they reach the end point of nirvāṇa. All the Buddhas who dwell in the three times also manifestly completely awaken to unsurpassable, perfect, complete enlightenment in reliance on the perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 14:40
15:20 Therefore, the mantra of the perfection of wisdom, the mantra of great knowledge, the unsurpassed mantra, the mantra equal to the unequaled, the mantra that thoroughly pacifies all suffering, should be known as truth since it is not false. The mantra of the perfection of wisdom is declared. Report an error in the passage at 15:20
15:40 Om Gathe Gathe Paragathe Parasam Gathe Bodhi Soha The Bodhisattva Mahasattva should train in the profound perfection of wisdom like that. Then the Bhagavan arose from that concentration and commended the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avokiteshvara saying, Well said, well said, son of lineage. It is like that. It is like that. One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom just as you have indicated. Even the Tathagatas rejoice. Report an error in the passage at 15:40
16:14 The Bhagavan having thus spoken the venerable Sharivadiputra, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Alvakiteshvara, those surrounding in their entirety along with the world of gods, humans, asuras and Gandharvas were overjoyed and highly praised that spoken by the Bhagavan. So Report an error in the passage at 16:14
16:45 the Heart Sūtra. So the Heart Sūtra is one of the most famous sutras that we're taught. Teachings by the Buddha, the Buddha Shakyamuni. Report an error in the passage at 16:45
17:01 So sutras in general are teachings by the Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 17:01
17:11 And so Shakyamuni Buddha, I'm just briefly to review his life story. According to the Mahāyāna, he was manifesting enlightenment in his life. right? Report an error in the passage at 17:11
17:29 So he had actually gotten enlightened a long, long time before. But then he decided to come to the world when the world was in degenerate times and really needed the teachings, the Dharma, and was ready for it. So he took a birth as a prince in India. He grew up in the lap of luxury and at the age of 29 he renounced his princely life and went off and practiced meditation for six years. Report an error in the passage at 17:29
18:15 He practiced extreme asceticism for six years and found that that wasn't working and then he found the middle way. He sat under the Bodhi tree in Bodh Gaya and attained enlightenment. Report an error in the passage at 18:15
18:30 One night under the Bodhi tree. Report an error in the passage at 18:30
18:35 Then after he became enlightened, he didn't teach right away until he was urged to teach. And then once he started teaching, he taught for, well he became enlightened when he was the age of 35 and he died in his 80s. So he taught for 45 or 50 years. And all of his teachings, Can be condensed into three turnings of the wheel of Dharma. So the three turnings of the wheel are the wheel of formidable truths, the wheel of the lack of intrinsic identity, and the wheel of fine discrimination. Report an error in the passage at 18:35
19:28 So these three wheels were taught for different audiences. They're different subject matters and taught for different audiences over the course of his life. Report an error in the passage at 19:28
19:41 Initially he taught the wheel of the Four Noble Truths and he taught them to disciples who were not ready for the most profound truth. So he taught the Four Noble Truths, the true sufferings, true origins, true cessations and true paths and we'll get into those Four Noble Truths later. Report an error in the passage at 19:41
20:06 But in general he taught that things existed Truly, he taught that things existed inherently in the first turning of the wheel. And so this was for disciples who weren't yet ready for the teachings on emptiness. So Shakyamuni Buddha used a lot of skillful means in his lifetime in teaching different people in different ways depending on their minds, depending on what they were ready for. Report an error in the passage at 20:06
20:37 So the first... The Wheel of Four Noble Truths was taught for disciples whose minds were in accordance with the two lower schools of tenants, the Vibashikas and the Sotrantikas. Those schools weren't established at that time, but for those students who were only ready for those philosophical views. Two lower tenant schools, Vibashikas and Sotrantikas. Report an error in the passage at 20:37
21:22 The Report an error in the passage at 21:22
21:26 place in which the first wheel was taught was in Sarnath in Deer Park in India. So that's near what is now Varanasi in India. Report an error in the passage at 21:26
21:46 Then there's the second noble truth, or I mean the second turning of the wheel. The wheel of lack of intrinsic identity, or the lack. This is where the Buddha taught. Report an error in the passage at 21:46
22:00 Basically he taught emptiness. He taught the emptiness of inherent existence, the emptiness of true existence. Report an error in the passage at 22:00
22:09 Or you can also say the emptiness of things existing from their own side. So according to the highest school of philosophical tenets, lack of true existence, lack of inherent existence, and lack of... Existence from its own side are synonymous. Okay, so that's lack of true existence, lack of inherent existence, lack of existence from its own side, along with some other terms. Report an error in the passage at 22:09
22:43 But I'll use those different terms kind of interchangeably. Report an error in the passage at 22:43
22:51 So this turning of the wheel was taught for disciples of kind of the sharpest faculty, the ones that were ready for the most profound teachings. Report an error in the passage at 22:51
23:07 There's a lot of different opinions on when the second turning of the wheel took place. Some said it was in the second year of his teachings. Some said it was when he was 51 years old. Others say that it was in his 58th year. Report an error in the passage at 23:07
23:32 And others say that the three turnings of the wheel didn't really have a time. It was just that these three turnings of the wheel were divided up based on what he taught. And so he taught different things at different times for different disciples. Report an error in the passage at 23:32
23:52 So the disciples that this was intended for were the Mahāyāna disciples. So there are the two vehicles, the Hinayana vehicle and the Mahāyāna vehicle. Report an error in the passage at 23:52
24:06 The Hinayana vehicle, so the first turning of the wheel was for those in the Hinayana vehicle. Report an error in the passage at 24:06
24:14 The second was in the Mahāyāna vehicle. And then within the Mahāyāna school of tenants, there are two major sub-schools, the Mind Only school or the Chita Matra, Chita Matra or Mind Only, and then the Madhyamika school or the Middle Way school. Report an error in the passage at 24:14
24:38 So the second turning of the wheel had as its audience... The disciples of the Madhyamika. So people whose thought were in accordance with the Madhyamika, the highest school. Report an error in the passage at 24:38
24:59 And then there's a corpus of sutras called the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, the Prajnaparamita Sutras. And those were taught in the second turning of the wheel. Report an error in the passage at 24:59
25:12 And these were the teachings basically on emptiness and the teachings on how to get. To the realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 25:12
25:35 And then the third turning of the wheel is the wheel of fine discrimination. Report an error in the passage at 25:35
25:41 Oh, did I say? That the Heart Sūtra is included in one of the Prajnaparamita Sutras or the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. So the Heart Sūtra was taught in the context of the second turning of the wheel. Report an error in the passage at 25:41
26:01 And then the third turning of the wheel is the wheel of fine discrimination. So this was taught for the disciples of the mind-only school. Or those who thought in accordance with the mind only school. And I won't get into the details of that, but basically in the first turning the wheel the Buddha taught that everything has true existence. Report an error in the passage at 26:01
26:30 The second turning the wheel he taught that nothing has true existence. And the third turning the wheel he taught that some things have true existence and some things don't have true existence. So he taught for all different types of people. Report an error in the passage at 26:30
26:54 And the place in which the third turning of the wheel was taught was actually many places. And the most famous was a place called Vaishali in India. Report an error in the passage at 26:54
27:09 Vaishali. Report an error in the passage at 27:09
27:26 Okay, then we get to the title of the Heart Sūtra. So in the language of India, which in specific Sanskrit is Bhagavati. Report an error in the passage at 27:26
27:39 Prajnaparamita Hridaya. Actually, I don't know if I'm pronouncing that correctly. In the language of Tibet, or in Tibetan, it's Chomdende Ma Sherap Ki Paru Du Chin Par Nyingpo, or something like that. Report an error in the passage at 27:39
27:57 And in English, the Heart Sūtra is just the short name for this sūtra. The more literal name is the heart of the transcendent and victorious perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 27:57
28:13 So just a description, a brief description of the title. So Bhagavati in Sanskrit is the female form of the word Bhagavan. And Bhagavan refers to a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 28:13
28:31 So Bhagavati is a female Buddha or the Blessed Mother. okay. Report an error in the passage at 28:31
28:46 In this context, the meaning of Bhagavati is the realization of emptiness in the continuum of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 28:46
28:59 The realization of emptiness in the continuum of a Buddha. In order to get out of cyclic existence, in order to end our suffering forever, we need to realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 28:59
29:15 On the path, we practice method and we practice wisdom. We practice method, we practice compassion, we practice generosity, we practice ethics, etc. On the method side, and all of that will get us to, it will create causes of happiness, it will get us to a higher rebirth. Report an error in the passage at 29:15
29:43 But the only way to get out of this cycle of suffering is to realize emptiness, to realize the ultimate nature of phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 29:43
29:54 So the subject matter, the main subject matter of the Heart Sūtra is emptiness and how to realize emptiness. So the focus is the wisdom side in the Heart Sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 29:54
30:14 And then just going over the etymology of the Tibetan, the Chomden Dema, which is the Bhagavati or the Blessed Mother. So Chom means destroyer or to overcome or conquer. Report an error in the passage at 30:14
30:30 So this is showing that the Buddha has destroyed the obstacles, the obscurations, and specifically the four maras. So when Chakyamuni Buddha sat down underneath the Bodhi tree and attained enlightenment, we often hear that he overcame the four maras. You have to overcome the four maras in order to attain enlightenment. So the four maras are the Māra of the afflictions, Report an error in the passage at 30:30
31:02 Or the kleshas, the mental afflictions. So this is ignorance, this is anger, this is attachment, jealousy, miserliness, pride, etc. All of these things, these mental afflictions which cause us to create the causes of suffering again and again. It's our own mental afflictions that are the reason why we create the causes of suffering again and again. Report an error in the passage at 31:02
31:35 So the Buddha has destroyed these mental afflictions forever. They've destroyed all of the mental afflictions and all of the potential for the mental afflictions. Report an error in the passage at 31:35
31:52 The second Māra is Report an error in the passage at 31:52
32:01 the Māra of the aggregates or the contaminated aggregates. So the aggregates are for a person, are the form aggregate, which is our body. Report an error in the passage at 32:01
32:17 And our bodies... Report an error in the passage at 32:17
32:21 We're born through the force of karma and afflictions. And so our bodies are true sufferings. They will cause us problems again and again. Report an error in the passage at 32:21
32:37 So the form aggregate is our body. And then the other four aggregates are our mental aggregates, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness. And we'll get into these five aggregates more later in the class. Report an error in the passage at 32:37
33:07 So the third Māra is the Māra of death, basically. Report an error in the passage at 33:07
33:19 So we in cyclic existence have to take rebirth again and again. We have to die and be reborn and we have to die and be reborn and we have to die and reborn, which is a tremendous suffering for us. So the Buddha has gone beyond that cycle and doesn't need to. The Report an error in the passage at 33:19
33:42 Buddha has gone beyond that cycle. And doesn't have uncontrolled death and rebirth anymore. Report an error in the passage at 33:42
33:54 So these first three maras are obstacles specific to ourselves. And then the third Māra, or the fourth Māra, is the Māra of the sons of the gods. Or the Māra of Devaputra. And this is an external being that can cause interferences in our practice. Report an error in the passage at 33:54
34:22 Devaputra or Sons of the Gods. Report an error in the passage at 34:22
34:42 So the first syllable in Tibetan, Chom, indicates that the Buddha has destroyed all of these Maras. The second syllable, Den, means to possess. So this indicates that the Buddha possesses all excellent qualities. Report an error in the passage at 34:42
35:05 So the Buddha has obtained omniscience and possesses all of these excellent qualities. Report an error in the passage at 35:05
35:18 Then De. Chomdende means to transcend or go beyond. So the Buddha has transcended or gone beyond saṃsāra. And not only saṃsāra, so the Buddha has gone beyond suffering, has gone beyond saṃsāra, and has also gone beyond nirvāṇa in the sense of solitary peace. So the Buddha hasn't settled for just their own, yeah, his own peaceful, Report an error in the passage at 35:18
35:52 Liberation, but has attained complete enlightenment so that he can really benefit others. So once you've attained complete enlightenment, you have the omniscience, you have the wisdom to know how to benefit others, and also you have the power to manifest in countless different forms in order to help others. Report an error in the passage at 35:52
36:16 And then the last syllable, ma, means mother in Tibetan. Report an error in the passage at 36:16
36:29 So the significance of this is that this teaching... On emptiness is the mother of all Buddhas and the mother of all Aryas. So the ticket out of saṃsāra is to realize emptiness. And so this realization of emptiness has given birth to all of the Buddhas and the Aryas. And the Aryas are beings who have directly realized emptiness and are on their way out of saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 36:29
37:16 So that's the first word, Bhagavati. Or Chomdendema in the title of the text. Then we have Prajnaparamita. Prajnaparamita or perfection of wisdom. So Prajna in Sanskrit means wisdom. Paramita means perfection or literally gone to the other shore. Report an error in the passage at 37:16
37:48 Prajnaparamita, gone to the other shore. to chin Report an error in the passage at 37:48
37:55 So Prajnaparamita is perfection of wisdom. And then Hridaya is heart or essence. Report an error in the passage at 37:55
38:10 So this sūtra, heart sūtra, the Prajnaparamita sutras are the perfection of wisdom sutras. There are many different ones, actually 21 in all. And the longest Prajnaparamita sūtra is 100,000 verses. Report an error in the passage at 38:10
38:30 And then the other... Other famous ones are 25,000 verses and 8,000 verses. And so the Heart Sūtra, this sūtra here, is said to contain the essential meaning of all of those other Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. They contain the essence, it contains the essence or the heart of the meaning of all the Prajna Paramita Sutras, which is why it's called the Heart. Report an error in the passage at 38:30
39:02 of the Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra. So Report an error in the passage at 39:02
39:24 I'll just briefly go through this four types of perfection of wisdom or four types of Prajnaparamita. So the real, the actual Prajnaparamita, you know we hear this term Prajnaparamita, Prajnaparamita, what does that really mean, perfection of wisdom? So the real perfection of wisdom is the resultant perfection of wisdom, which is the realization of emptiness in the continuum of a Buddha. Report an error in the passage at 39:24
39:52 It's the realization of emptiness that a Buddha has, that a completely enlightened being has. So that is our result. That is what we're shooting for. Report an error in the passage at 39:52
40:20 Then there are three other types of perfection of wisdom that are merely called perfection of wisdom, but they're not actually perfections of wisdom. There's a path perfection of wisdom, which is... The cause of the resultant perfection of wisdom. It's the cause of the actual perfection of wisdom. And that's the direct realization of emptiness in the continuum of a bodhisattva, of someone who has bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 40:20
40:51 That's the realization of wisdom in the continuum of a bodhisattva. And it is the cause of the resultant perfection of wisdom. So we need to practice, we need to first cultivate the path perfection of wisdom and then we'll attain the resultant perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 40:51
41:18 Then there's a scriptural or textual perfection of wisdom and those are all the scriptures, those are all the teachings of the Buddha that teach emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 41:18
41:32 So it's by studying these scriptures that we can attain the final perfection of wisdom. So the Heart Sūtra is included in the scriptural perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 41:32
41:51 And the natural perfection of wisdom is emptiness itself. It's the object of the realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 41:51
42:08 The natural perfection of wisdom is emptiness itself. So it's the object of the wisdom realizing emptiness. It is the object of meditation. So Report an error in the passage at 42:08
42:40 those are the facts. Report an error in the passage at 42:40
42:44 So I already mentioned this, the three main Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are the 100,000, the 25,000 and the 8,000 stanzas. Report an error in the passage at 42:44
42:56 But all of the meanings of those Perfection of Wisdom Sutras are said to be included in the Heart Sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 42:56
43:09 So it's said that the Buddha taught extensively and briefly depending on to the... On the needs of the disciples, right? So some of us need a lot of words in order to understand, and some disciples need a medium number of words, and some disciples need very few words, right? So the Heart Sūtra is one of the shorter Prajnaparamita Sutras for those who don't need many words. Report an error in the passage at 43:09
43:54 So before we get into the text of the Heart Sūtra, I just wanted to review briefly where does this subject of emptiness fit into the entire path, right, in the entire context of the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 43:54
44:15 Does everybody know this already? Am I, uh... Report an error in the passage at 44:15
44:22 That's a good question. Okay, maybe I'll review it. Report an error in the passage at 44:22
44:34 Okay, so I already talked about... In order to attain Buddhahood, we need both the wisdom side and the method side. The method side, developing compassion, generosity, etc. Report an error in the passage at 44:34
44:52 Creating the causes of happiness. And all the practices on the method side help us create happiness within cyclic existence. Report an error in the passage at 44:52
45:09 So we can be really kind to others and really compassionate. Really generous. And this will bring us a lot of happiness. But it won't bring us lasting happiness. As long as we're in saṃsāra, we will be under the control of karma and afflictions and suffering can arise again and again. Report an error in the passage at 45:09
45:37 And the only way to get out of saṃsāra, the only way to get out of suffering completely, to end our suffering forever, Is to get out of saṃsāra. And the way we get out of saṃsāra is to realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 45:37
45:58 So understanding emptiness is quite a difficult subject. It seems that we hear these teachings again and again. And slowly, slowly we seem to get a little bit of understanding. But oftentimes we Westerners, we listen to a teaching and think, okay, well, I should understand it the first time. But with emptiness, we can't really approach it that way. Report an error in the passage at 45:58
46:28 We'll get frustrated if we expect to understand everything right away. Because we've had this ignorance since beginningless time. So according to the Dharma, we've been around forever. Report an error in the passage at 46:28
46:48 Since time without beginning. And we've had ignorance forever. So it'll take some time to get over our ignorance. So we'll listen to these emptiness teachings and we'll see how much we can get out of it. And hopefully we can get a lot out of it. Report an error in the passage at 46:48
47:12 But if there are things that you don't understand, don't get frustrated. We'll hear these things again and again. And the more we practice and the more we really purify our minds, the more merit we create, the easier and the more clear these teachings become. Report an error in the passage at 47:12
47:42 So we really need to understand emptiness if we want to end our suffering. Report an error in the passage at 47:42
47:54 And in the context of the Lamrim, there are the three scopes. Well actually let me talk about the three principal aspects of the path first. So the lamrim is divided up into kind of the three sections. First on renunciation. So there are a bunch of the lamrim subjects that help us get renunciation. Meditating on impermanence and death. Report an error in the passage at 47:54
48:22 Meditating on the suffering of saṃsāra. Meditating on the suffering of the lower realms. Karma. All of these teachings help us understand that we cannot attain lasting happiness in saṃsāra. It helps us to renounce believing that we can attain lasting happiness in saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 48:22
48:50 Then the second aspect of the three principal aspects is bodhicitta. so bodhicitta His conventional bodhicitta is the desire to attain complete enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. So that's based on great compassion. So all bodhisattvas, they develop this great compassion first. And great compassion is this desire that all sentient beings be free from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 48:50
49:27 All sentient beings without exception. So this is based on equanimity. It's not this, well, I really want my friends and family to be free from suffering, but I don't care about those annoying people. Report an error in the passage at 49:27
49:44 So great compassion is seeing everybody as being equal in wanting happiness and being equally concerned about all beings and wanting all beings to be free from suffering. Report an error in the passage at 49:44
50:01 So then based on great compassion, right, then the bodhisattva, It generates this resolve that I myself must free all beings from saṃsāra. Not only do I want all beings to be free from suffering, but I myself will do it, Report an error in the passage at 50:01
50:24 not waiting for somebody else to do it. Then on the basis of that resolve, then the bodhisattva develops bodhicitta, which is understanding that Report an error in the passage at 50:24
50:40 The only way to really, really benefit others is to attain complete enlightenment. So now we may have a lot of compassion for others, but we're limited in our wisdom. We don't really know what will benefit others. We can try to help others, but we don't know if it will really benefit them. And Report an error in the passage at 50:40
51:10 the best way to benefit sentient beings is to help them get free from saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 51:10
51:17 And so we need to be free from saṃsāra ourselves in order to teach others how to become free from saṃsāra. So bodhicitta is based on that understanding and striving for complete enlightenment so that you can bring others to that state. Report an error in the passage at 51:17
51:38 So that's the second of the three principal aspects of the path within the lamrim. And then the third is the wisdom realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 51:38
51:53 So the wisdom realizing emptiness. So with bodhicitta and the wisdom realizing emptiness, then we can attain Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 51:53
52:07 So emptiness overcomes our ignorance that misconceives the nature of reality. Actually, Report an error in the passage at 52:07
52:23 I'll wait and talk about that with the next slide. That's a big subject. Report an error in the passage at 52:23
52:37 So emptiness is included in the third of the three principal aspects of the path. Report an error in the passage at 52:37
52:48 And then lamrim also is divided up into the small scope, the medium scope and the great scope. So in the small scope, Report an error in the passage at 52:48
53:04 one strives for a better rebirth. In the medium scope, one strives to get out of cyclic existence. In the great scope, one strives to attain complete Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 53:04
53:25 So the emptiness teachings are in the context of the great scope. Well, in the middle scope, in the great scope, in order to attain liberation from saṃsāra, one needs to realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 53:25
53:45 Also in the context of the great scope, there's a teaching on the six perfections in the great scope, and the sixth perfection is the perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 53:45
54:05 That was a really, really brief summary of the Lamrim. And then in the context of the four noble truths, the four truths, The truth of suffering, the inevitability of suffering in saṃsāra. The second truth is the cause of suffering or true origins. The cause of suffering are our mental afflictions, our anger, ignorance, jealousy, etc. and our karma. Report an error in the passage at 54:05
54:43 So based on our mental afflictions and our karma, we develop suffering again and again. Report an error in the passage at 54:43
54:54 And then the third noble truth is the... True cessations, Report an error in the passage at 54:54
55:05 understanding that suffering can end, we can end our suffering. Report an error in the passage at 55:05
55:15 True paths is the fourth noble truth and true paths fundamentally Report an error in the passage at 55:15
55:24 basically comes down to the realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 55:24
55:33 So in order to get out of cyclic existence we need to realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 55:33
55:46 So at 7.30 now, maybe we'll take a break. We'll take a break for 10 minutes before we come back. But before we do that, no, I'll ask you at the end of class. Never mind. We'll just take a break now. Report an error in the passage at 55:46
56:22 Think that problems are out there. That annoying person is out there. Particularly those annoying people are definitely out there, right? It's not our minds that are labeling them annoying. They're definitely annoying out there, right? Report an error in the passage at 56:22
56:48 So the wisdom realizing emptiness will overcome that belief that there are problems out there, there are annoying people out there, there are beautiful things out there, there are causes of happiness out there. Report an error in the passage at 56:48
57:11 Chocolate cake, now that's a cause of happiness, right? Out there. Report an error in the passage at 57:11
57:24 Okay, so this is our mistake. Believing that things exist out there. Report an error in the passage at 57:24
57:36 So let's take, and actually our biggest mistake is believing that we exist solidly. We're this solid, independent entity. So if somebody cuts me off on the road, that jerk cut me off. This me, who is this me that just got cut off? Report an error in the passage at 57:36
58:11 This me, you know, when we have that me, right, we have this sense of this kind of single solid entity me that just got cut off. Report an error in the passage at 58:11
58:24 Or if somebody insults us, they insulted me. How could they say that about me? Report an error in the passage at 58:24
58:35 So when people insult us, when people cut us off, when people... Tick us off. Those are great opportunities to really check. Okay, who is this me that we believe exists? Report an error in the passage at 58:35
58:57 What does that me feel like? What does that me look like? That me. Report an error in the passage at 58:57
59:05 So I get cut off and who is that me? Is it, if we take apart this me, is it my hair that just got cut off? Is that the me? You know, is it my nose that just got cut off? Report an error in the passage at 59:05
59:32 Is it my ear? Report an error in the passage at 59:32
59:42 No, so we can check one by one. We can take things apart and say, okay, well, is this the me that just got cut off? Is this the me? Is this the me? Report an error in the passage at 59:42
59:52 Is it the mind that just got cut off? Who is this me? Report an error in the passage at 59:52
1:00:02 Or is it the collection of all those things? Is it the collection of all those things that just got cut off? Is that what the me is, the collection of the body and the mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:02
1:00:27 So in this context, we'll talk about the three. Levels of dependent arising. So things don't exist solidly out there from their own side. The self doesn't exist solidly independently out there. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:27
1:00:43 So we'll talk about the three levels of dependent arising in the context of a pencil and then in the context of the me, the cause of all the problems. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:43
1:01:01 So these three levels of dependent arising are listed in... In order of the least subtle to the most subtle. So the first level is dependent on causes and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:01
1:01:20 So this pencil is dependent on causes and conditions. And what does that refer to? That refers to basically the creation, the origin of this pencil. It was created in dependence on, Report an error in the passage at 1:01:20
1:01:39 I don't know, a machine. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:39
1:01:44 A machine that created, you know, this part and created this part and created the lead. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:44
1:02:07 So this pencil seems to, you know, if we look at it, it looks like it's out here. It looks like it's one thing. And it looks like, you know, it just stands on its own out here, right? It doesn't look like it depended on a machine. Like if we think about it, yeah, we know that it was created from something else. But it doesn't look that way, right? And sometimes we forget. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:07
1:02:43 Specifically in relation to, I mean, I like to think in terms of, let's say, that annoying person. The annoying person we think exists out there and has always been annoying, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:43
1:03:04 And if we think about the fact that that person was created from causes and conditions, it helps disperse our annoyance. If we think, oh yeah, that person, if we understand that that person had a really difficult childhood, let's say, or we understand that, oh, that person is suffering from a horrible disease. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:04
1:03:40 That person is annoying because of these causes and conditions that contributed to that person's behavior. It's not that that person is annoying for no reason. We tend to think that they're just annoying, they're always annoying, and there's no reason why that they're annoying, they're just annoying. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40
1:04:02 But when we start thinking about, okay, that person is annoying based on all of these causes and conditions, then that can help. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:02
1:04:15 Lessen our annoyance. So the pencil is dependent on causes and conditions. The annoying person is dependent on causes and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:15
1:04:28 Ourselves, we are dependent on causes and conditions. We are dependent on the sperm and the egg of our mother and father. We're dependent on all of the food we've eaten in our lives, all of our teachers and all of the people who have been kind to us. We're dependent on countless causes and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:28
1:04:57 So all impermanent phenomena are dependent on causes and conditions. And all the schools of Buddhist tenets or Buddhist philosophy, philosophical tenets, would agree that phenomena are dependent on causes and conditions. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:57
1:05:18 The second level of dependent arising is being dependent on parts. So this pencil is dependent on parts. It's dependent on this thing. It's dependent on... Report an error in the passage at 1:05:18
1:05:36 This thing, and if I take the whole thing apart, it's dependent on this thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:36
1:05:46 Oops, and there's the lead. It's dependent on this thing. Okay, right. So, okay. So, okay. So, right. So there's no pencil without these parts, right? And actually, if I lay these out like this, is there a pencil here? Is there a pencil in my hand? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:46
1:06:24 You can't really say this is a pencil anymore. Maybe I put it all together again, then it's a pencil. But if I take all the parts away, you can't say that there's a pencil anymore. If I take all the parts apart, oops, creating a mess. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:24
1:06:44 We can't say that there's a pencil. A pencil depends on its parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:44
1:06:58 Similarly, the self depends on its parts. Our self is dependent on our aggregates, our mind and our body. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:58
1:07:12 There's no self that's apart, that's separate from the mind and the body. There's a mind and a body, and the self is dependent on the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:12
1:07:24 Sometimes we think that there's a self that's separate from the mind and the body, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:24
1:07:36 that self that owns the mind and the body. You know, I have a body and I have a mind. Who is this I that has a body and has a mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:36
1:07:47 It seems like there's something else, right, sometimes besides the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:47
1:07:58 So the second level of dependent arising says that the self depends on these parts. There's no self that's separate from the mind and the body. And if we look for it, if I take, Report an error in the passage at 1:07:58
1:08:15 let's say I move this body behind the screen, you can no longer say that Emily is sitting on this cushion. I say Emily is sitting on this cushion in dependence on the fact that the body is sitting on the cushion. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:15
1:08:39 We can't say Emily is over there if the body is over here. That doesn't make any sense. So it's not that there's a self and then there are the parts that are separate from the self. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:39
1:08:59 The self is dependent on the parts. You know, we are all sitting in the gompa, right? We can say we are all sitting in the gompa because our bodies are sitting in the gompa. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:59
1:09:24 So sometimes it seems like the self is the body, right? I am sitting in the gompa, right? So that I that's sitting in the gompa is the body, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:24
1:09:40 Sometimes it seems like the self is the mind, right? I am really happy. Who's that I? That I is the mind, right? The mind is really happy. I can say I am really happy because the mind is really happy. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:40
1:10:06 So sometimes it seems like the self is the mind. Sometimes it seems like the self is the body. Sometimes it seems like the self is neither the mind nor the body, right? When we think, you know, I have a body and I have a mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:06
1:10:30 So what is the self? Sometimes it's the body and sometimes it's the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:30
1:10:40 Then we get to the third level of dependent arising, dependent on imputation. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:40
1:10:50 So if we talk about the self first, so the self is imputed or labeled or designated in dependence on what Report an error in the passage at 1:10:50
1:11:05 they usually say four or five aggregates, in dependence on the mind and the body. Sometimes independence on the mind, sometimes independence on the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:05
1:11:20 So the self is merely labeled on the mind and or body. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:20
1:11:37 Similarly, the pencil is merely labeled on its parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:37
1:11:49 So let's go back to the pencil for a minute. So sometimes we think, oh, see, the phenomena is the collection of the parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:49
1:12:06 Sometimes we think the phenomenon is the collection of the parts. The collection of the parts of the pencil is the pencil. But as we can see from here, here's the collection of the parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:06
1:12:22 And is it a pencil? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:22
1:12:32 It's a collection of the parts of the pencil, but it's not a pencil anymore, is it? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:32
1:12:41 Or if we do the same thing with our body. We put our ear in a pile. We put our other ear. We take our nose and put it in a pile. Put our hand. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:41
1:12:53 Our legs. You know, we pile up all the parts of the body. Is that a body? No, Report an error in the passage at 1:12:53
1:13:05 we're not the collection of the parts either. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:05
1:13:13 Because if we're the collection of the parts, if we piled it up in a big heap, then that would be, you know, this would be a pencil. But Report an error in the passage at 1:13:13
1:13:32 no. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:32
1:13:37 So if I put this pencil back together, or these parts back together, tell me when it becomes a pencil again. Is it a pencil yet? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:37
1:13:53 Is it a pencil yet? Report an error in the passage at 1:13:53
1:14:20 Okay. Is it a pencil yet? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:20
1:14:28 Does it have to have a lead for it to be a pencil? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:28
1:14:38 So this pencil has lead in it. This thing has lead in it. Is it a pencil yet? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:38
1:14:51 Okay. Let's see. Oh, it's writing. So is it a pencil? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:51
1:14:58 So it became a pencil when it functioned. Is it a pencil yet? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:58
· · · silence, 1 minute
1:15:00 So Report an error in the passage at 1:15:00
1:15:05 what if we Report an error in the passage at 1:15:05
1:15:17 did the same thing? I won't do the same thing with this clock because I won't go back together again. What if we did the same thing with this clock? Report an error in the passage at 1:15:17
1:15:30 If I took the battery out, is it still a clock? Report an error in the passage at 1:15:30
1:15:53 Or if the battery was really, really weak and it wasn't keeping time correctly, is it a clock? Is it a clock? When does it stop becoming a clock? Report an error in the passage at 1:15:53
1:16:12 If there's no battery in it, is it a clock? If it's broken, is it a clock though? It's... Report an error in the passage at 1:16:12
1:16:40 For the recording, yeah. So the clock keeping time could be a comparison of the mind. So then its mind wouldn't be functioning. It wouldn't be able to identify with what in a person would be the mind. Did I say that? Okay. No, that makes sense. That makes sense. So I'd say no, it's not a clock. So you'd say no. But what if Emily stopped breathing right now and her body was still up there, would it still be Emily? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:40
1:17:18 Would we be correct in saying that was where Emily was? Well, if she died, I guess is the better way to say it. It would be specific. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:18
1:17:33 So let's go back to the clock. Let's not jinx the whole thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:33
1:17:43 That was a nice example, Jay. But I prefer the clock. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:43
1:17:52 Would people agree with that? If this clock had no battery in it, so what Felicia said, then it wouldn't have a mind, so it wouldn't be a clock then. Would everyone agree with that? um Report an error in the passage at 1:17:52
1:18:19 So some people would probably agree with that and some people would probably not agree with that, maybe. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:19
1:18:28 Well, so a clock by definition needs to function, correct? Otherwise it would not be a clock. It has a function in terms of telling time or offering time. So if it can't function, then by definition it is not a clock. Let me ask you another question. Let me ask you another question. Let's say my car runs out of gas. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:28
1:19:01 Good cover-up. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:01
1:19:06 So does that car function? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:06
1:19:12 And is it still a car? Well, that's different. Like, say a clock is a wind-up clock. When it's not wound up, is it still a clock? If it's not doing its function, technically speaking, I don't see how it can. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:12
1:19:27 It can still function as a clock, though. I mean, it may be a non-functioning clock, but it's... I think that... think that turned. Right. Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:27
1:19:39 So, okay. So, I mean, there's no definitive answer. And oftentimes we hear in teachings that it is the function that determines whether it's Report an error in the passage at 1:19:39
1:20:01 a correct imputation, let's say. That this is a clock because it functions as a clock. And you hear that said again and again. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:01
1:20:18 And that's not, I mean, in my mind, that's not completely, that's not the whole answer. Because as we see, like the car running out of gas, we probably all still say that it's a car. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:18
1:20:39 But it doesn't function as a car. But it's still a car. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:39
1:20:52 So a phenomenon is... Report an error in the passage at 1:20:52
1:21:01 Merely imputed, Report an error in the passage at 1:21:01
1:21:06 and it validly exists. Okay, this thing validly exists as a clock based on worldly convention. There's no clock that exists out here from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:06
1:21:30 It seems as if there's this entity out here that's a clock. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:30
1:21:38 But really, what you see are some shapes and some colors. You see some gray. And actually you guys probably don't even see the display so well from back there. We see some shapes and some colors, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:21:38
1:22:01 That's all we see. And then our mind kind of searches our memory banks. Okay, well what is that? What is that? Oh, that's a clock. So the mind determined it was a clock, right? It's not as if it was a clock out here. There's some shapes and some colors. The mind... Tries to figure out what it is. The mind labels it clock. And then it appears back to you as a clock. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:01
1:22:36 It looks as if there's a clock coming from out here. But first, actually, first, it's just that some sense data appears. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:36
1:22:54 A visual form, shapes, colors, where we hear sounds, smell, odors. Taste, objects of touch. First, there's sense data. It Report an error in the passage at 1:22:54
1:23:16 appears to our five senses. This clock appears to our eye consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:16
1:23:26 Then our mind, our conceptual mind in particular, labels it clock. And then it appears back to you as a clock. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:26
1:23:44 And I'll send these slides out to people who haven't received them yet. I sent them out already to people I knew who were coming. And so if your email address is on here, you'll get these slides. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:44
1:24:00 So first sense data, then we impute clock, then it appears back to us as a clock Report an error in the passage at 1:24:00
1:24:11 existing from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:11
1:24:20 So I did this exercise in the last class, but maybe we'll do it again. So if you'll look here, Report an error in the passage at 1:24:20
1:24:30 Notice how it looks like there's a clock out here projecting its image to your eyes. And so get that strong sense of a clock being out here projecting its image. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:30
1:25:01 Once you have that, then focus on some small aspect of it, like just this button, let's say, this middle button. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:01
1:25:14 notice how the appearance clock. Clock disappears. We Report an error in the passage at 1:25:14
1:25:33 can kind of go back and forth, look at the whole thing and see clock appear. Focus on some small part and see clock disappear. Are Report an error in the passage at 1:25:33
1:26:09 people seeing that? The clock appear and disappear, appear and disappear. Just merely through what the mind focuses on. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:09
1:26:23 So what appears depends on the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:23
1:26:43 So if we go back to that annoying person again, let's say that annoying person yells Report an error in the passage at 1:26:43
1:26:57 at us. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:57
1:27:02 So first the sense data appears. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:02
1:27:08 Sounds. We hear sounds. Then our conceptual mind interprets that data and decides that's really annoying or that guy's wrong. How can that guy do that to me or say that to me? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:08
1:27:31 And then that person appears back to us as annoying. After we've labeled them annoying, they appear back as annoying. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:31
1:27:44 It starts with just some sense data, some sounds that our minds then interpret, organize, create stories around, and then they appear back to us as being annoying, and we believe it. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:44
1:28:13 Bigger the story that we create. The bigger the affliction that arises and the more suffering that we have. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:13
1:28:38 So that's how our mental afflictions arise, is through our conceptual mind creating stories, interpreting, organizing data and Report an error in the passage at 1:28:38
1:28:56 believing in it. And oftentimes our minds go over it again and again and again. I can't believe that that person did, you know. That person, I can't believe they said that, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:56
1:29:11 I've been so nice to that person. We get ourselves worked up. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:11
1:29:30 It's like if we get an email from somebody that's not a very nice email. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:30
1:29:39 There's some black and white shapes on the screen and maybe some other colors. We see some shapes and some colors and then we create a whole big story about it. something, oh, yeah, you know. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:39
· · · silence, 1 minute
1:29:55 We get ourselves worked up. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:55
1:30:02 We've created that suffering for ourselves with our conceptual minds. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:02
1:30:13 And then we believe it came from them. We believe that it's their fault. If it wasn't for that person, then I wouldn't get all worked up. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:13
1:30:27 If only that person would quit, then everything would be fine. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:27
1:30:40 But Report an error in the passage at 1:30:40
1:30:44 it was a creation of our own minds. We didn't have to get annoyed. We created that annoyance. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:44
1:30:56 And we all do this, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:56
1:31:04 But I find it's helpful to go back to the data, the sense data. Oh, there's some colors and some shapes. And if I get really annoyed, that doesn't do any good, right? I suffer. And then all the other people have to put up with me while I'm really annoyed. So other people suffer as well. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:04
1:31:29 But if we can just let it go, Report an error in the passage at 1:31:29
1:31:36 then our minds are happier. And the people around us are happier. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:36
1:31:45 So there's really no benefit to getting annoyed, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:45
1:31:52 Sometimes it feels good. You know, maybe we think it feels powerful. Or we feel self-righteous, right? I'm right and they're wrong. But are we happy? Are we happy when we're annoyed? Are we happy when we're self-righteous? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:52
1:32:15 Actually, I'm getting off the topic. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:15
1:32:19 So it just originates a sense data. And it doesn't exist out there. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:19
1:32:38 So I strayed from the whole clock business. So the view in the Dharma, in the highest school, the Prasangika school, is that clock exists. Clock exists conventionally, but it doesn't exist out there from its own side. It exists conventionally. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:38
1:33:07 What does it mean to exist conventionally? It exists as being merely imputed or merely labeled on the collection of the parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:07
1:33:21 It's merely labeled on the parts. It's not the parts. It's merely labeled on the parts. Like we saw with this. The collection of the parts was not the pencil. Pencil is merely labeled on the pencil. And as we put the pencil back, At some point we labeled it pencil. At Report an error in the passage at 1:33:21
1:33:56 some point it was valid to label it pencil. And what makes it valid to label it pencil is worldly convention, worldly agreement. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:56
1:34:12 And some things we could see we agreed on and some things we didn't agree on. So it's not just the function, right? It's Report an error in the passage at 1:34:12
1:34:25 kind of what we define as being a pencil. What we define as being a clock, what we agree on as being a clock, even if it's running slow, most of us would still say, oh, it's still a clock. And if you take out the battery, I would say it's still a clock, even though it's not running. It's a clock that needs a battery, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:25
1:34:58 So it's merely labeled, and a correct label depends on worldly convention. Worldly agreement. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:58
1:35:14 I mean, it's a little more complicated than that, but we won't go into that right now. But in general, it's based on worldly agreement. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:14
1:35:27 David. I was going to ask if the parts are merely imputed, and then I remembered the parts are really just made out of other parts. Yeah. You know, ad infinitum. Yeah. Yeah. Even the parts are merely imputed. Yeah, sometimes we think, okay, well, the basis, the basis or the... In the basis of designation are the parts. Okay, well, they're really there. There's no clock there, but there's something there. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:27
1:35:55 There's an object there. There's a piece of plastic there. But if we search for that, it's the same thing we won't be able to find. Look for that piece of plastic. Look for that object, even object. Oftentimes we think it's only about the label. Okay, well, okay, there's no clock there, but there's something there, out there. Report an error in the passage at 1:35:55
1:36:16 There's a solid entity out there, but when you search for that, there's not a solid entity here. Actually, we know from physics, right? There's a Report an error in the passage at 1:36:16
1:36:32 lot of different particles here, right? Atoms, neutrons, electrons, lots of space actually here. It looks like a solid thing, but we know that it doesn't exist the way it appears. We know that intellectually. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:32
1:36:54 We forget it again and again. But if we really think about it, we know that things don't exist the way they appear. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:54
1:37:05 And for all ordinary beings, everything that appears to us appears as mistaken. Everything we've ever seen appears as mistaken. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:05
1:37:30 Mistaken because it appears to exist truly, inherently. inherently from its own It appears to exist from its own side, and then we believe it, but nothing exists from its own side. It appears to exist from its own side, but nothing exists from its own side. Every perception we've ever had until we realize emptiness directly is mistaken. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:30
1:38:07 Every perception we've ever had is mistaken until we've realized emptiness directly. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:07
1:38:21 Anna, mic. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:21
1:38:28 I'm just not understanding the levels, because it seems that we need all of them simultaneously, so I don't understand the levels. So, no, that's a good question. So, yes, I mean, according to the highest school, the Prasangikas, the Marimika Prasangikas school, the most subtle view, phenomena are dependent on all three. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:28
1:38:56 And Report an error in the passage at 1:38:56
1:39:00 a slight technical note is the first one. It only applies to impermanent phenomena, phenomena that are changing from moment to moment. There are also certain permanent phenomena like space, uncompounded space, etc. Those things are not dependent on causes and conditions. But all impermanent phenomena are dependent in all three ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:00
1:39:28 subtlety is such that only the Madhyamika Prasangikas, only the highest school, that. Things are dependent on imputation. A lot of the lower schools would say, oh, well, the parts are, the parts of the clock are the clock. The collection of the parts is the clock. The aggregates, the five aggregates, the mind and the body, are the person. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:28
1:39:59 So the schools below prasangikas would say that the parts are the thing itself. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:59
1:40:11 So when we haven't gone through the... The different philosophical schools of tenets. So only prasangikas assert dependent on imputation. Well, all three. Then there's a lower school of Marimika called Marimika Svatantrika. They also assert dependent on parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:11
1:40:37 So they would assert these two levels. The schools lower than that only assert the first level of dependent arising. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:37
1:40:50 So that's the difference in subtlety. Some schools only assert the first one, some schools the first two, and the highest school all three. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:50
1:41:05 I mean, I went through that really quickly, but at least that gives us an imprint. Yeah, Janet. I Report an error in the passage at 1:41:05
1:41:20 don't know if this is too far off of this discussion, but the first... The first one you said was for all impermanent phenomena. Would that be impermanent, meaning compounded? And then where does uncompounded phenomena fit into these three? Uncompounded phenomena are these two levels, the second and the third. Okay, we were discussing that. I was having a harder time seeing the parts of space. Report an error in the passage at 1:41:20
1:41:54 Yeah, I mean the parts of direction. Like you could say, excuse me, getting too excited. You know, upper space, you know, on the east, the west, the north, the south, Report an error in the passage at 1:41:54
1:42:18 those kinds of parts. So all phenomena, all phenomena have parts. All phenomena without exception have parts. All phenomena can be further divided. Is emptiness in that category too? Emptiness. Emptiness is also... Because I don't seek hearts to that. So you can say... Only from a conventional point of view can you designate parts on it, it seems. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:18
1:42:48 So it's confusing a little bit. Well, there are teachings on the 20 kinds of emptiness and the 16 kinds of emptiness. And also... Yeah, I mean, basically... You divide emptiness based on the basis of emptiness. So there's the emptiness of the cup, there's the emptiness of the person, there's the emptiness of the computer, there's the emptiness of the projector, there's the emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:42:48
1:43:18 So you can divide emptiness in that way. So basically we're talking about conventionally speaking of emptiness is depending upon parts. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:18
1:43:32 Well, everything that exists, exists conventionally. Even emptiness exists conventionally and not ultimately. I guess that's my point. Okay. Okay. I mean, did I understand your question correctly? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:32
1:43:53 All right. Well, we're out of time. So we'll actually get into the text, the sūtra, next time. This was just a little introduction to emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:43:53
1:44:11 I don't have a prayer book. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:11
1:44:17 So we'll do the dedication prayers on page 6. We'll do the first two and then we'll do the long life prayer for His Holiness the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:17
1:44:38 Through the merits of these virtuous actions may I quickly attain the state of a guru Buddha and lead all living beings without exception into that enlightened state. Thank Thank you. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:38
· · · silence, 1 minute
1:44:48 May the supreme jewel bodhicitta that has not arisen arise and grow, and may that which has arisen not diminish but increase more and more. In the land encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and good. All-powerful Chenrizig, Tenzin Gyatso, please remain until saṃsāra ends. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:48
1:45:30 So, oh, before I forget, there's homework. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:30
1:45:38 So I think people, you know, obviously there's nothing mandatory in this class, but I think if people do do the homework, I think you'll get more out of the class. So throughout the class I will assign homework and exercises here and there, and so I think it will be helpful for people if they do them. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:38
1:46:11 Otherwise, maybe we go to class and maybe we learn something and then it doesn't affect our lives for the rest of the week until the next class. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:11
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Talk by Emily Hsu, recorded 26 October 2007. Original at Tse Chen Ling Center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies via Internet Archive: https://archive.org/details/EH_HeartSutra_200710. Licensed CC BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. Transcript generated automatically and may contain errors; the audio is the authoritative version.
Recorded at Tse Chen Ling Center, San Francisco, and archived by the center on Internet Archive. More from Tse Chen Ling