The Heart Sutra (2 November 2007)

0:01 So is empty of inherent nature. 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 0:01 Highlight the passage at 0:01

0:31 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 0:31 Highlight the passage at 0:31

1:14 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 obstruction 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 1:14 Highlight the passage at 1:14

1:54 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 1:54 Highlight the passage at 1:54

2:14 Om Gathe Gathe Paragathe Parasam Gathe Bodhishoha Shariputra, 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 Avalokiteshvara, saying, Well said, well said, son of lineage, it is like that. Report an error in the passage at 2:14 Highlight the passage at 2:14

2:40 It is like that. One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom just as you have indicated. Even the Tatikas rejoice. The Bhagavan having thus spoken the venerable Sharivadiputra, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokiteshvara, 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. Report an error in the passage at 2:40 Highlight the passage at 2:40

3:17 Today we're going to get into the actual text. Report an error in the passage at 3:17 Highlight the passage at 3:17

3:26 So just a reminder of the title of the text. In Sanskrit, it was Bhagavati, Prajnaparamita, Hridaya. And in Tibet, Chomden De, Ma, Shropki Paru Ducin Par Nyingpo. Report an error in the passage at 3:26 Highlight the passage at 3:26

3:43 So Bhagavati refers to the Blessed Mother or Female Buddha. Prajnaparamita is the perfection of wisdom. And Hridaya is the heart or essence. So this is the essence. Report an error in the passage at 3:43 Highlight the passage at 3:43

4:02 the Well, the translation here is the heart of the transcendent and victorious perfection of wisdom. It can also be translated as the heart or the essence of the perfection of wisdom, the blessed mother perfection of wisdom. Report an error in the passage at 4:02 Highlight the passage at 4:02

4:21 So in the Dharma in general, the mother indicates the wisdom side and the father indicates the method side. So the subject of this text is... Emptiness, right? So it's the wisdom side of the teachings. Report an error in the passage at 4:21 Highlight the passage at 4:21

4:43 Okay. Then I wanted to give the structure of the text to you all. So the Heart Sūtra starts with a prologue, which has two parts, a common prologue and an uncommon prologue. And then the actual body of the sūtra is divided up into three sections. How Shariputra asked his question. How Avalokiteshvara answered the question and then how that was admired by the teacher. So if we look at this, the actual text, so the prologue includes the first line, well the first two paragraphs. Report an error in the passage at 4:43 Highlight the passage at 4:43

5:33 So it starts with thus did I hear at one time and then it ends with beheld those five aggregates is empty. So that's the prologue or the introduction to the Heart Sūtra. And then the actual sūtra is the rest of the sūtra. And we'll talk about how that's broken up a little bit later. Report an error in the passage at 5:33 Highlight the passage at 5:33

6:02 So first of all, the common prologue. So the common prologue is common to all the perfection of wisdom sutras. So we talked last time about how the Heart Sūtra is a part of a corpus of... Teachings by the Buddha on emptiness and those are called the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras and there are 21 Perfection of Wisdom Sutras all together ranging from as much as 100,000 verses or stanzas to I think the shortest Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra is one word for those who don't need many words of explanation. Report an error in the passage at 6:02 Highlight the passage at 6:02

6:46 The Heart Sūtra is one of the shorter Perfection of Wisdom Sutras, but the Heart Sūtra is said to contain the essence of the meaning of all of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. There's a lot packed into this short text. David, do you have a question? Report an error in the passage at 6:46 Highlight the passage at 6:46

7:09 I don't remember off the top of my head. If I find it, I'll let you know and see if you realize emptiness like that. Report an error in the passage at 7:09 Highlight the passage at 7:09

7:21 so. As I said last time, the Buddha taught in many different ways with many words and with few words for the different dispositions of his students. So some students needed only a few words and some students needed a lot more. But it's said that a lot of his students attained arhatship or liberation at the time of the Buddha because they were... Report an error in the passage at 7:21 Highlight the passage at 7:21

7:53 Their continuums were ripe. Now we're in degenerate times and it takes a little bit more for us to attain liberation. Report an error in the passage at 7:53 Highlight the passage at 7:53

8:07 So the common prologue consists of four excellences. Sometimes it's talked about five excellences, but four excellences are included in the common prologue of all of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. And so these four excellences are the excellence of the teacher, The excellence of the time, the excellence of the place and the excellence of the retinue or the audience. So this kind of gives an introduction to who was teaching at that time, where and who was attending the teaching. Report an error in the passage at 8:07 Highlight the passage at 8:07

8:44 So at the beginning of each Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra. Report an error in the passage at 8:44 Highlight the passage at 8:44

8:54 The excellence of the teacher, surprise, surprise, was the Bhagavan himself. So this was Buddha Shakyamuni. He was the teacher. Report an error in the passage at 8:54 Highlight the passage at 8:54

9:05 Then the time, actually before I get into that. So the Heart Sūtra starts with the sentence, thus did I hear at one time. So thus did I hear. So this is indicating that somebody else wrote down the words of the sūtra. So it wasn't Shakyamuni Buddha who wrote down. The words of the sūtra was somebody else. Most commonly it is said that it was one of Buddha's disciples called Ananda who had this incredible memory. Report an error in the passage at 9:05 Highlight the passage at 9:05

9:43 He was able to memorize word by word all of the teachings of the Buddha and recount them. Report an error in the passage at 9:43 Highlight the passage at 9:43

9:57 Thus did I hear... know and Report an error in the passage at 9:57 Highlight the passage at 9:57

9:52 and then these Report an error in the passage at 9:52 Highlight the passage at 9:52

10:05 So these are the words of someone who is testifying that they have directly heard these words and are now compiling them. Report an error in the passage at 10:05 Highlight the passage at 10:05

10:15 So this is saying that somebody directly heard the words and is just compiling them and not making them up. Report an error in the passage at 10:15 Highlight the passage at 10:15

10:27 So in general, as I said, many people say that all of the sutras were compiled by Ananda. And then there's some who say, no, it was actually Vajrapani. Who was present in listening to all of these sutras. But it seems like, well Geshe Dagpa at least thinks that it was in fact Ananda who compiled them. Report an error in the passage at 10:27 Highlight the passage at 10:27

11:01 He says, because we have the evidence in other places, such as in the last chapter of the Prajnparamita. Where the Lord Buddha actually says to Ananda, now that you have compiled them, I want you to take these sutras and entrust them to a place where they'll be safe over a period of time. Report an error in the passage at 11:01 Highlight the passage at 11:01

11:24 So the Prajnaparamita Sutras, there's quite a long history of the Prajnaparamita Sutras, but they were saved and they were lost to this world for a while until something like 400 years after the Buddha. Then they were rediscovered and brought back to the world. At the time of Nagarjuna. Report an error in the passage at 11:24 Highlight the passage at 11:24

11:55 So then we'll go to the time. So the time of this sūtra, there's a number of different opinions, but in general the excellent time is saying that this was a teaching of the time of the Buddha when he was actually alive. It wasn't something that happened after he died, but it was while he was still alive. Report an error in the passage at 11:55 Highlight the passage at 11:55

12:21 There's another Report an error in the passage at 12:21 Highlight the passage at 12:21

12:27 opinion that the... This refers to the period after the Buddha had traveled to Rajgir from Vashali in India. So he had demonstrated his miraculous powers and he was about 57 years old when he delivered this sūtra. So there are a number of different opinions I just wanted to share with you. Report an error in the passage at 12:27 Highlight the passage at 12:27

12:55 So that's the excellence of time. And then the third excellence is the excellence of place. And so this is called Mass of Vultures Mountain. It's in India, in Rajgir, which is in the Bihar province of India, which is near Bodhgaya, now the present-day Bodhgaya, which is where the Buddha attained enlightenment, right under the Bodhi tree in Bodhgaya. Report an error in the passage at 12:55 Highlight the passage at 12:55

13:25 And then the retinue. Report an error in the passage at 13:25 Highlight the passage at 13:25

13:29 It says, the Bhagavan was dwelling on Massa Vultures Mountain in Rajgir, together with a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. So who was present at this teaching? This great community of monks. Monks are big shoes. So these are fully ordained monks that were there, but not only fully ordained monks, but this term great indicates that they were... Report an error in the passage at 13:29 Highlight the passage at 13:29

13:59 Actually, Arhats. So this was a community of beings that had attained complete liberation from saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 13:59 Highlight the passage at 13:59

14:12 And then this term community here, community or saṅgha, indicates that, I mean, in general, a saṅgha is considered a community of at least four fully ordained monks. Report an error in the passage at 14:12 Highlight the passage at 14:12

14:29 And then a great community of bodhisattvas. bodhisattvas Are beings who have attained uncontrived bodhicitta. So this is conventional bodhicitta. And what bodhicitta is, is on the basis of great compassion for all sentient beings, wishing to free all sentient beings from suffering without exception, not preferring some sentient beings over others. Report an error in the passage at 14:29 Highlight the passage at 14:29

15:05 But wanting to free all sentient beings from suffering, then developing this bodhicitta, realizing that the best way to benefit others is to attain complete enlightenment oneself, right? So to eliminate the afflictive obstructions, to eliminate the anger, the jealousy, the attachment, the ignorance, etc. And to attain complete enlightenment, which then one attains omniscience. Report an error in the passage at 15:05 Highlight the passage at 15:05

15:33 And then one really knows how to benefit others. So a bodhisattva has developed this wish to attain complete enlightenment for the welfare of others. Report an error in the passage at 15:33 Highlight the passage at 15:33

15:46 So this is bodhicitta. So bodhicitta has these two wishes, the wish to attain complete enlightenment and the wish to benefit all sentient beings. So bodhicitta has these two aspects, wanting to attain complete enlightenment, Because that's the best way to benefit others. And the reason is to benefit all sentient beings without exception. Report an error in the passage at 15:46 Highlight the passage at 15:46

16:18 So in general, let me just continue with that. So in general, we have to cultivate bodhicitta through training. And so when we sit down and we meditate on the kindness of sentient beings, how all sentient beings have been our mother, how they all want happiness, etc., meditating on the suffering of sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 16:18 Highlight the passage at 16:18

16:48 So when we do this, we're trying to cultivate bodhicitta. And if bodhicitta arises as the result of meditation, then that's contrived bodhicitta. That's something where we need to make effort to develop bodhicitta. So that's the stage most of us are at. We're still trying to generate bodhicitta through effort. So at the point where the bodhicitta just arises spontaneously, If you see the suffering of sentient beings or something and then spontaneously we have this wish to attain complete enlightenment for the benefit of all sentient beings, then that's the point at which you have uncontrived bodhicitta and that's the point in which we become a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 16:48 Highlight the passage at 16:48

17:36 That's the point in which we enter the Mahāyāna path, the point we become a bodhisattva Report an error in the passage at 17:36 Highlight the passage at 17:36

17:46 with uncontrived bodhicitta. So it's not just about compassion. It's based on compassion, but it's much beyond just compassion. Report an error in the passage at 17:46 Highlight the passage at 17:46

18:06 It's wishing to attain complete enlightenment for the welfare of all sentient beings. So forgoing your own individual liberation, your own solitary peace, and working for complete Buddhahood so that you can benefit others. Report an error in the passage at 18:06 Highlight the passage at 18:06

18:25 Some of these bodhisattvas. Janet, you had a question? Report an error in the passage at 18:25 Highlight the passage at 18:25

18:35 I was just wondering, because the great in great community of monks indicates that there are hearts, does the great in the great community of bodhisattvas also indicate that they've had direct realizations of emptiness, that they're on the path of seeing at that point? Or does it specify that? I didn't see anything on there because I was wondering the same thing. But I didn't see anything. Here it just talks about them being bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 18:35 Highlight the passage at 18:35

19:14 But I'll check. I'll check more. I'll do some research and find out if they need to be arias, ari bodhisattvas that have directly realized emptiness, or if they were just normal bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 19:14 Highlight the passage at 19:14

19:27 It's said that... A lot of the bodhisattvas that were present, like Avalokiteshvara and Manjushri, etc., they were actually, in fact, Buddhas who were just manifesting as bodhisattvas. And, for example, Avalokiteshvara was said to be manifesting as being a tenth ground bodhisattva, which is the last phase just before you attain Buddhahood. Report an error in the passage at 19:27 Highlight the passage at 19:27

19:54 So, yeah, I mean, yeah. So it was a high level. I was listening to this teaching. Report an error in the passage at 19:54 Highlight the passage at 19:54

20:15 It's kind of interesting that it seems like someone who's directly realized emptiness wouldn't even need this teaching, but I don't know. Report an error in the passage at 20:15 Highlight the passage at 20:15

20:27 So then the last thing about this common prologue is this word together. Together indicates that all the people or the beings who were present were harmoniously engaged in the same activity and there was no dissension. Report an error in the passage at 20:27 Highlight the passage at 20:27

20:48 So that's a common prologue. Thus did I hear at one time, the Bhagavan was dwelling on Mass Vulture's mountain in Rajgir, together with a great community of monks and a great community of bodhisattvas. Report an error in the passage at 20:48 Highlight the passage at 20:48

21:01 So common in the sense of being common with all of the perfection of wisdom sutras, having these four excellences. Report an error in the passage at 21:01 Highlight the passage at 21:01

21:14 Then the next section in the sūtra is the uncommon prologue. And that starts with... Report an error in the passage at 21:14 Highlight the passage at 21:14

21:30 At that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. Then 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 21:30 Highlight the passage at 21:30

22:03 So at that time, the Bhagavan was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena. So Report an error in the passage at 22:03 Highlight the passage at 22:03

22:14 during the time of this teaching, the Buddha was actually absorbed in a meditation on emptiness. He was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. Report an error in the passage at 22:14 Highlight the passage at 22:14

22:30 First I'll go into profound perception. So this is the wisdom realizing emptiness. So the profound side indicates emptiness. Profound. Emptiness is profound. It's difficult to understand. It's very profound and it's our ticket out of saṃsāra. Understanding emptiness is our ticket out of suffering. Report an error in the passage at 22:30 Highlight the passage at 22:30

22:59 That's the object of the meditation. The object of the meditation is emptiness. What is emptiness? Emptiness is the lack of something. Report an error in the passage at 22:59 Highlight the passage at 22:59

23:13 Emptiness of inherent existence. The lack of a certain way of existing. Report an error in the passage at 23:13 Highlight the passage at 23:13

23:24 The lack of a clock being out here from its own side, existing solidly the way it appears to exist. It's the lack of something is the emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 23:24 Highlight the passage at 23:24

23:42 Emptiness is considered what's called a non-affirming negative. It's a negation of something, right? It's a negative. It's a negation of inherent existence. And Report an error in the passage at 23:42 Highlight the passage at 23:42

23:57 it's a non-affirming negation in the sense that it's a negation of something and it's not affirming something else. So for an example of an affirming negation would be something like, this Report an error in the passage at 23:57 Highlight the passage at 23:57

24:16 is the one that I've heard is, the fat man doesn't eat during the day. So doesn't eat during the day. It indicates a negation, not eating during the day, but the fact that he's fat means that he probably eats during the night. So that's an example of a negation that implies something else. Whereas emptiness is a non-affirming negation in that it negates inherent existence. Report an error in the passage at 24:16 Highlight the passage at 24:16

24:58 It negates... Solid, independent existence. It negates existence from its own side, but it's not affirming something else when we realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 24:58 Highlight the passage at 24:58

25:16 So that's the object of the meditation on emptiness, is negation. So the process we go through, for example, if we're... Report an error in the passage at 25:16 Highlight the passage at 25:16

25:30 First we identify the object of negation, so we identify this strong Report an error in the passage at 25:30 Highlight the passage at 25:30

25:39 experience that there's a clock out here, like there's this one thing out here kind of projecting its image to your eyes. We have this strong feeling that things exist out there, independent of our minds. There's a clock out here and it doesn't matter if anybody is looking at it or thinking about it, there's still a clock. Report an error in the passage at 25:39 Highlight the passage at 25:39

26:13 We seem to think that. There's a clock regardless of whether anyone's looking at it. Report an error in the passage at 26:13 Highlight the passage at 26:13

26:23 And so last time we talked about the annoying person. We think that the annoying person is annoying from their own side. We don't think that it's our mind making them annoying. But they must be annoying from their own side. Well, that's the object of negation. And so we start with that, and then we search for that annoying person among what's called the basis of designation. Report an error in the passage at 26:23 Highlight the passage at 26:23

26:54 So we search for the annoying person among the body and the mind. And if we do that meditation correctly, we won't be able to find. Report an error in the passage at 26:54 Highlight the passage at 26:54

27:09 That annoying person from their own side. Like is the hair the annoying person? Is the eyebrows the annoying person? Are the nostrils the annoying person? Et cetera. So in the process of realizing emptiness, we search and we search and we can't find the object of negation and it's the non-finding of the object of negation. Report an error in the passage at 27:09 Highlight the passage at 27:09

27:40 Which is the realizing emptiness. Not finding the object of negation is realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 27:40 Highlight the passage at 27:40

28:11 So maybe we can liken that to wondering if there's a cat in this room. So if we're trying to figure out if there's a cat in this room, we search everywhere and we can't find the cat. So it's the non-finding of the cat which helps us realize that there's no cat in this room. Report an error in the passage at 28:11 Highlight the passage at 28:11

28:40 So it's the non-finding. We search everywhere and we don't find the cat. Then we realize that there's no cat in this room. Report an error in the passage at 28:40 Highlight the passage at 28:40

28:51 So similarly with emptiness, we search and search and search for this solidly, independently, inherently existing thing. And we search everywhere and then... Not finding it is the understanding of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 28:51 Highlight the passage at 28:51

29:19 So emptiness is the not finding. So that's the profound within profound perception. Then perception is the wisdom realizing emptiness. So the wisdom is the mind side. So it's the mind that's realizing emptiness. Emptiness is the object. Emptiness is the non-finding. Report an error in the passage at 29:19 Highlight the passage at 29:19

29:44 And wisdom is the mind that realizes that. So that's the subject side. The subject, which is the mind, and then the object, which is emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 29:44 Highlight the passage at 29:44

30:01 And this is kind of a technical point, but sometimes people say, oh, I need to cultivate emptiness. I need to cultivate emptiness. I need to develop emptiness. But we're not trying to develop emptiness. Everything is already empty. We're trying to develop the wisdom understanding emptiness. We're trying to develop our minds. Report an error in the passage at 30:01 Highlight the passage at 30:01

30:24 Realizing emptiness, we're not developing emptiness, we're developing the mind realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 30:24 Highlight the passage at 30:24

30:39 So the Bhagavan, the Buddha, was absorbed in the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception or emptiness. And then the categories of phenomena are, in the Abhidharma literature, there's extensive teachings on Different ways to categorize phenomena. You can categorize phenomena in terms of aggregates, which we'll talk about, like the five aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 30:39 Highlight the passage at 30:39

31:08 We can categorize phenomena into 18 constituents in 12 sources. And they're just different ways to slice phenomena and really understand conventional truth. So when we're realizing emptiness, particularly in the early stages, we're trying to realize emptiness intellectually, right, by looking at different phenomena and trying to, okay, let's see, trying to realize the emptiness of the clock, you know, searching for the clock from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 31:08 Highlight the passage at 31:08

31:43 Then switching, okay, we'll try to realize the emptiness of the computer and trying to realize the emptiness of the tonka. And try to realize the emptiness of the self. So in the initial stages, just focusing on one object and trying to realize the emptiness of it, it doesn't necessarily transfer to realizing emptiness of other phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 31:43 Highlight the passage at 31:43

32:11 Like sometimes people can understand, oh yeah, well the self, oh the self is empty, I can understand that. The self isn't really the body, it's not really the mind. you know it's Report an error in the passage at 32:11 Highlight the passage at 32:11

32:23 That can be easier to understand, the emptiness of. But then we have this tendency to want to hang on to something. Well, there must be something, though. The self doesn't exist inherently, but the body and the mind exist. And sometimes you hear teachings about how, well, there's really no self. There's just a body and there's a mind. Report an error in the passage at 32:23 Highlight the passage at 32:23

32:57 But in the profoundest level of teachings, there's equally no inherently existent self, there's equally no inherently existent body, there's equally no inherently existent mind. So sometimes we see that there's no clock from its own side, but there's a piece of plastic there from its own side at least. Report an error in the passage at 32:57 Highlight the passage at 32:57

33:24 So then we have to analyze, try to find that. Okay, well maybe there's no plastic there, but at least there's atoms from their own side. Then we go and analyze those and okay, well no, even there's no atoms from their own side. Well, okay, well at least there's energy. There's energy from its own side. Well, look for the energy and we won't be able to find the energy either. Report an error in the passage at 33:24 Highlight the passage at 33:24

33:51 So anything we look for, we won't be able to find from its own side. So, um... Report an error in the passage at 33:51 Highlight the passage at 33:51

34:07 So that's the significance of talking about the concentration on the categories of phenomena called profound perception. So realizing the emptiness of different phenomena, Report an error in the passage at 34:07 Highlight the passage at 34:07

34:22 realizing the emptiness of the clock, the computer, the self, the body, the mind, atoms, energy, karma. Sometimes people think, okay, at least karma must exist from its own sign. It functions, right? It must exist from its own sign. And it's true it functions but even karma doesn't exist from its own side. It's merely labeled by the mind. Report an error in the passage at 34:22 Highlight the passage at 34:22

35:00 So the next part of the Uncommon Prologue is 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 35:00 Highlight the passage at 35:00

35:18 So at the same time the Buddha You know, Buddha Shakyamuni was absorbed in meditation on emptiness. Avalokiteshvara was also absorbed in the, well, he was also, yeah, meditating on emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 35:18 Highlight the passage at 35:18

35:38 So also at that time, the bodhisattva, so we talked about what a bodhisattva is, right? Somebody who's generated uncontrived bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 35:38 Highlight the passage at 35:38

35:51 Mahasattva. So Mahasattva here. Indicates that it's a bodhisattva who's on the bumis or the grounds. So there are ten bodhisattva grounds. So when a bodhisattva first realizes emptiness directly, when that bodhisattva enters the first bodhisattva ground or bumi. So a mahasattva indicates that somebody who's directly realized emptiness isn't and is on one of the ten bodhisattva grounds. Report an error in the passage at 35:51 Highlight the passage at 35:51

36:34 Then Arya. So Arya is a being who's directly realized emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 36:34 Highlight the passage at 36:34

36:47 So what is this direct realization of emptiness? Report an error in the passage at 36:47 Highlight the passage at 36:47

36:55 Right, so when we first start to understand emptiness, right, we listen to teachings and we think about those teachings. We try to use reasoning. Okay, well... Things are empty of inherent existence because they're dependent arisings. And we try to infer that things are empty because of that particular reason, that things are dependent arisings. Report an error in the passage at 36:55 Highlight the passage at 36:55

37:21 Oh, okay, well, dependent arising, does that mean, if it's a dependent arising, does it mean that it's empty of inherent existence? You know, so we use logic, right? Report an error in the passage at 37:21 Highlight the passage at 37:21

37:32 So at that point, we're still using our conceptual mind. We're using logic. To try to understand emptiness. Whereas as we progress on the path, and we'll talk about this a little bit later in class, but as we progress on the path, then slowly, slowly we will realize emptiness directly, not through logic, but we will see it directly. Report an error in the passage at 37:32 Highlight the passage at 37:32

38:10 It's like the difference between... Report an error in the passage at 38:10 Highlight the passage at 38:10

38:16 Maybe I'll just talk a little bit about the conceptual mind and a non-conceptual mind for people who aren't clear about that. So if you look up here at this screen, your eye consciousness is seeing this screen non-conceptually, directly. Report an error in the passage at 38:16 Highlight the passage at 38:16

38:41 You see it, you see the colors and shapes. Then if you close your eyes and you think about it, The image of the screen comes to your mind. Report an error in the passage at 38:41 Highlight the passage at 38:41

39:00 So that's our memory, which is a conceptual consciousness that is seeing the screen through a mental image. Report an error in the passage at 39:00 Highlight the passage at 39:00

39:15 So conceptual consciousness is always seeing things through a mental image, Report an error in the passage at 39:15 Highlight the passage at 39:15

39:24 an image that we've created in our minds. Report an error in the passage at 39:24 Highlight the passage at 39:24

39:38 Is what you just said is conceptual consciousness is a mental image of memory. Is that what a blind person would see? Because when you talk a lot about emptiness and kind of speaking with blind folks, they don't see the room as we see. They don't see even if you describe things. They fill in the blanks. So what in regards to if we were all conceptually blind and trying to explain the concept of a mirror? Report an error in the passage at 39:38 Highlight the passage at 39:38

40:10 It's not something they can grasp. Right. So if they're trying to understand a mirror without ever having experienced it, then that would be a conceptual consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 40:10 Highlight the passage at 40:10

40:27 And so when I talk about seeing something directly or experiencing something directly, for most of us... We experience things directly through our senses, so through our eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body. Report an error in the passage at 40:27 Highlight the passage at 40:27

40:50 So we experience, let's say we experience the screen directly in the first moments, but then usually our conceptual consciousness kicks in pretty quickly and kind of fills in the rest and then tries to understand the words on the screen, for example. Trying to understand the words on the screen is our conceptual mind. Or let's say this. Report an error in the passage at 40:50 Highlight the passage at 40:50

41:21 So your eye consciousness sees some shapes and colors. So the direct perception, you see some gray and some shapes. That's all the eye consciousness sees is just some shapes and some colors. Then the conceptual mind... Jumps in and says, okay, well, what is that? Oh, that's a clock. And the conceptual mind basically searches the memory and tries to identify what this thing is and fills in the rest of the picture. Report an error in the passage at 41:21 Highlight the passage at 41:21

41:59 And I've talked about this a number of times before, so those who have heard this aren't too bored. So you just see some shapes and colors here. You don't ever see the back, you know, you don't see the back of the clock, but your mind fills in the back of the clock, right? So it's the conceptual mind that's filling out the picture. Report an error in the passage at 41:59 Highlight the passage at 41:59

42:27 We see some shapes and colors, and our conceptual mind fills in the rest of the story, you know, as they say. Report an error in the passage at 42:27 Highlight the passage at 42:27

42:39 And when we really understand that process of the conceptual mind, like what is direct perception and what is... Conceptual mind. We can start seeing how we're creating our suffering. We create our suffering through our conceptual minds. Report an error in the passage at 42:39 Highlight the passage at 42:39

42:59 The guy at work criticizes us. What do we directly perceive? Some sounds. What does our conceptual mind do with that? We interpret that. We create stories. We get ticked off. Report an error in the passage at 42:59 Highlight the passage at 42:59

43:21 But directly, all we heard were some sounds. And conceptually filled in the rest. Report an error in the passage at 43:21 Highlight the passage at 43:21

43:43 You know, Buddha and Buddhas perceive things non-conceptually, right? Yeah. But they would perceive more than just sounds. They would perceive the meaning of... So I'm always wondering what it is they're perceiving directly. And I think, oh, it's emptiness. And maybe I just can't know this kind of thing. Yeah. But I Report an error in the passage at 43:43 Highlight the passage at 43:43

44:10 didn't even finish that question. Okay. Right. So what I was talking about was direct perception in the sense of pertaining to the senses. So that's the kind of direct perception most of us have. But also there's a mental consciousness. And it's with our mental consciousness that we can directly perceive emptiness. So when one becomes an aria, when one realizes emptiness, not through a mental image that we've created with our conceptual mind, but when we've seen emptiness, Report an error in the passage at 44:10 Highlight the passage at 44:10

44:47 Then we become an aria. Report an error in the passage at 44:47 Highlight the passage at 44:47

44:52 Hard to imagine what that looks like. So then we become an aria. And then when we become a Buddha, a Buddha is said to have only a non-conceptual mind, no conceptual mind. And the Buddha sees ultimate truth and conventional truth simultaneously. So the Buddha sees ultimate truth, which is emptiness, and conventional truth, which is... Report an error in the passage at 44:52 Highlight the passage at 44:52

45:18 Basically everything else simultaneously. So the Buddha directly sees all phenomena at all times. Report an error in the passage at 45:18 Highlight the passage at 45:18

45:31 Hard to imagine. So Report an error in the passage at 45:31 Highlight the passage at 45:31

45:40 that was Arya. And then Avalokiteshvara. In Tibetan it's Chenrezig. So we hear a lot about Chenrezig who is the Buddha of compassion but in this context manifesting as a bodhisattva. Report an error in the passage at 45:40 Highlight the passage at 45:40

46:00 Then perfection of wisdom. Here is emptiness, right? So we talked about that last time. So Avalokiteshvara looked upon the very practice of the profound perfection of wisdom. So Avalokiteshvara looked upon the practice of emptiness and beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. So this also, beheld those five aggregates also as empty of inherent nature. So this is what I was talking about before, how You know, some, you know, the lower schools actually say that the self, you know, there is no self. There's a selflessness, selflessness of persons, right? Report an error in the passage at 46:00 Highlight the passage at 46:00

46:45 So persons in the sense of beings, right? Not just human beings, but beings, human beings, dogs, hungry ghosts, et cetera, gods, et cetera. They're all, there is no self. Report an error in the passage at 46:45 Highlight the passage at 46:45

47:04 So the lower schools would say, okay, well there's no self of persons, but there is a self of phenomena. There's no self of persons, but there is a self of phenomena. But then the Mahāyāna schools all say, no, there's no self and all phenomena are also empty of inherent existence. So there's no inherently existent self and also there's no inherently existent body and mind, etc. Report an error in the passage at 47:04 Highlight the passage at 47:04

47:45 So Avalokiteshvara is realizing that not only is the self empty, but the five aggregates are also empty. And really all phenomena, without exception, are empty of inherent existence. Report an error in the passage at 47:45 Highlight the passage at 47:45

48:01 Okay, so is this making any sense? Report an error in the passage at 48:01 Highlight the passage at 48:01

48:07 Anna? Report an error in the passage at 48:07 Highlight the passage at 48:07

48:13 I'm just not sure how to look upon this event. Because there is a place, a physical place, right? Yeah. Near Budgaya. Right. And the Buddha, Shakyamuni, was there. And he was a human being. Right. He was manifesting as a human being. Right. Yeah. And then Avalokiteshvara was there. Report an error in the passage at 48:13 Highlight the passage at 48:13

48:39 We know him to be a Buddha. We know him to be Chinrezig. And His Holiness the Dalai Lama is a manifestation. Right. So I'm not sure how to look upon this. Am I supposed to look upon this as an event that took place at one time? With these beings there? Or is it allegorical? And I find it strange that you would mention, as an example, Avalokiteshvada. Report an error in the passage at 48:39 Highlight the passage at 48:39

49:15 Since we know who he is, why couldn't it have been and a bodhisattva was there? Report an error in the passage at 49:15 Highlight the passage at 49:15

49:23 I'm getting confused between reality and allegory. Yeah, yeah. Oh, uh-huh. Report an error in the passage at 49:23 Highlight the passage at 49:23

49:30 So this was an actual event that took place in India, in Rajgir, on this mountain. There's an actual mountain called Mass Vultures Mountain. And this is, you know, so there was Shariputra, there was Avalokiteshvara there, and there was a bunch of other, you know, arhats and bodhisattvas there. And this sūtra mainly is... Report an error in the passage at 49:30 Highlight the passage at 49:30

49:58 A conversation between Shariputra and Avalokiteshvara. Report an error in the passage at 49:58 Highlight the passage at 49:58

50:05 But the Buddha was there also. So it's not allegorical. This is an actual historical event. It's not maybe exactly how it may appear because Avalokiteshvara was just manifesting as a bodhisattva. But there was a physical body there. You know, conversing with Shariputra. Report an error in the passage at 50:05 Highlight the passage at 50:05

50:41 Right, right, exactly. That's just, yeah, the ten, yeah, the thousand arms, et cetera, right. So that's one manifestation, right, of Lama Kishvara, right. Yeah, so he was probably looking like an ordinary being. Report an error in the passage at 50:41 Highlight the passage at 50:41

51:08 Yeah, it could be something. Yeah, I don't know the exact number, but yeah, there are many different, many, many different. manifestations of Al-Va Kateshwar, and 108 that we know of, right, right? Wow, so... Report an error in the passage at 51:08 Highlight the passage at 51:08

51:28 right exactly Report an error in the passage at 51:28 Highlight the passage at 51:28

51:32 always a good thing to keep in mind person might be Avila Kiteshvara person who's trying my patience Report an error in the passage at 51:32 Highlight the passage at 51:32

51:43 Okay, are you guys ready for a break? All Report an error in the passage at 51:43 Highlight the passage at 51:43

51:56 impermanent phenomena. So all phenomena that change from moment to moment, all the objects of our senses, etc., those can all be included in the five aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 51:56 Highlight the passage at 51:56

52:11 But in the context of the sūtra, in general we're talking about the aggregates that are called the basis of designation or the basis of imputation of the person. So the person has five aggregates, right? And so the aggregates, there's a form aggregate, which is the body, basically. Report an error in the passage at 52:11 Highlight the passage at 52:11

52:41 And then there are four mental aggregates, feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness. So for a person, the form aggregate is the body and then the mind is included in the other four aggregates. So feeling, the feeling aggregate is a mental factor, feeling, and it's the mental factor that experiences. Report an error in the passage at 52:41 Highlight the passage at 52:41

53:06 It experiences what experiences pain, pleasure and neutrality. So whenever we experience physical pain, you know that physical pain that we experience is the feeling aggregate. It's a mental factor of feeling. When we experience physical pleasure, that's also the mental factor of feeling or the aggregate of feeling. Report an error in the passage at 53:06 Highlight the passage at 53:06

53:46 Also, feeling has a mental... So there's physical pleasure and pain, and then there's mental happiness and suffering. So mental happiness and suffering both are the feeling aggregate. Report an error in the passage at 53:46 Highlight the passage at 53:46

54:05 So the feeling aggregate and the mental factor of feeling is extremely important because every experience of pleasure that we ever have is a result of virtuous karma that we've created. Report an error in the passage at 54:05 Highlight the passage at 54:05

54:20 Every experience of pleasure or happiness that we have is a result of a virtuous karma that we've created. And every painful feeling we have is a result of... A non-virtuous karma that we've created. Report an error in the passage at 54:20 Highlight the passage at 54:20

54:43 So that's the aggregate of feeling. Then there's the aggregate of discrimination, which is said to apprehend the uncommon signs of an object or the mental factor that distinguishes between objects so that, let's say, we recognize them, right? So the aggregate. Or the mental factor that distinguishes between the clock and the hand. It distinguishes those as being separate objects. Report an error in the passage at 54:43 Highlight the passage at 54:43

55:21 So that would be non-conceptually. And then also where we get in trouble is where we judge good and bad, right and wrong. Report an error in the passage at 55:21 Highlight the passage at 55:21

55:36 Discriminate enemy versus friend, etc. That's also the aggregate of discrimination. Report an error in the passage at 55:36 Highlight the passage at 55:36

55:50 Then the compositional factors aggregate is the aggregate that includes all of the rest of the mental factors. So there are said to be at least 51 mental factors, but there are countless mental factors. So mental factors, like all of our mental afflictions are included in mental factors, like anger, attachment, ignorance, jealousy, pride. Report an error in the passage at 55:50 Highlight the passage at 55:50

56:14 All of those are included in the compositional factors aggregate. Also virtuous mental factors like faith, conscientiousness, etc. Those equanimity, those are all compositional factors, aggregate. Report an error in the passage at 56:14 Highlight the passage at 56:14

56:39 And then the consciousness aggregate are the six primary minds, the six main minds, the eye consciousness, the ear consciousness, the nose consciousness. The tongue consciousness, the body consciousness and the mental consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 56:39 Highlight the passage at 56:39

57:00 Okay, so those are the five aggregates. And so those are the basis of imputing the self. The Report an error in the passage at 57:00 Highlight the passage at 57:00

57:13 body and the four mental aggregates are the basis of imputing the self. So if Report an error in the passage at 57:13 Highlight the passage at 57:13

57:29 my body walks out of the gompa, I can say I walked out of the gompa. Because the body walked out of the gompa. So in that case, the body is the basis of imputing the I or the self. Report an error in the passage at 57:29 Highlight the passage at 57:29

57:47 I walked out of the gompa. What actually walked out of the gompa? The body walked out of the gompa. Report an error in the passage at 57:47 Highlight the passage at 57:47

58:01 We have a stomach ache. I have a stomach ache. I have a stomach ache. The body has a stomach ache. The basis of imputation in that case would be, once again, the body. Report an error in the passage at 58:01 Highlight the passage at 58:01

58:30 I am sleepy. I am sleepy. What is the basis of imputation there? Of the I? Report an error in the passage at 58:30 Highlight the passage at 58:30

58:41 The body? Is the body sleepy? Could be. Yeah. Could be. But maybe the mind too. So maybe it's a combination of the body and the mind. So sometimes the basis of imputation is just the body. Sometimes it's the body and the mind. Sometimes it's just the mind. Report an error in the passage at 58:41 Highlight the passage at 58:41

59:09 I am sad. I am sad. Who is the I? What is the basis of imputation of the I that's sad? Report an error in the passage at 59:09 Highlight the passage at 59:09

59:31 It's the mind. Maybe it's the mental factor of feeling. Report an error in the passage at 59:31 Highlight the passage at 59:31

59:40 So see how the basis of imputation changes depending on what we're talking about. So it's very useful as we go through the day. To just look and see, okay, well, what's the basis of imputation of I right now? I'm going to the store. What's the basis of imputation? Report an error in the passage at 59:40 Highlight the passage at 59:40

1:00:06 The body, right? Yeah, the body is going to the store. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:06 Highlight the passage at 1:00:06

1:00:14 So Report an error in the passage at 1:00:14 Highlight the passage at 1:00:14

1:00:18 on the basis of apprehending the aggregates, then we can label I. On the basis of seeing the body, I can label I. On the basis of feeling sad, I can label I am sad. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:18 Highlight the passage at 1:00:18

1:00:46 So there's no I that's separate from the five aggregates, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:46 Highlight the passage at 1:00:46

1:00:56 Is it possible for the aggregates to be here, sitting on the cushion, and for the I to be out shopping in the bookstore? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:56 Highlight the passage at 1:00:56

1:01:10 Right. Right. So there can't be an I that's completely separate from the aggregates, right? Janet? But often I'm not in the room that I'm sitting in, but then it would be the mental consciousness or the mental consciousness that is somewhere else. Right, right. Like often I'll, you know, maybe be sitting here, but I'll be downstairs or I could be in the bookstore. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:10 Highlight the passage at 1:01:10

1:01:43 Even home or halfway around the world. Well, your mind is thinking about, let's say you're sitting in the Gompa and you're thinking about your trip to Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:43 Highlight the passage at 1:01:43

1:01:56 But I mean, still, it's like when I come back, I say, I wasn't here. It's like you kind of go with your mental consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:56 Highlight the passage at 1:01:56

1:02:09 Well, let me ask you this. Would it be valid to say that... You know, I use, I think, Report an error in the passage at 1:02:09 Highlight the passage at 1:02:09

1:02:13 Janet was in Tibet. If you're thinking about Tibet, would it be valid to say Janet was in Tibet? Maybe for that time. I mean, not really. Not literally. Not literally. But, you know, I mean, it's like, I guess the problem I have is like the consciousnesses, the eye, ear, nose, all of those consciousnesses aren't. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:13 Highlight the passage at 1:02:13

1:02:46 They don't seem to be necessarily confined to just this body. I mean, they move out from the body and they can move away from the body. And so if the eye is labeled on those, then the eye can also move its places away from the body, the actual physical form. Okay. But is there an eye that can be separate from the mind and the body? Sometimes it gets confusing then. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:46 Highlight the passage at 1:02:46

1:03:21 In that case, it does almost seem like it, but it isn't. You have to recognize that it is one of the consciousnesses. Yeah, yeah, exactly. I mean, we can sit and debate about that. But in general, does it make sense to... Report an error in the passage at 1:03:21 Highlight the passage at 1:03:21

1:03:40 To a certain I that's completely separate from the mind and the body. Let's say you're sitting in the gompa and you're thinking about Tibet. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:40 Highlight the passage at 1:03:40

1:03:56 Maybe on some level you could say, oh yeah, I was lost in Tibet. But that's independence on the mind. I can't say Janet was in the bathroom. You know, when the mind was thinking about Tibet and the body was sitting in the gompa, we can't see. Janet was in the bathroom, right? That doesn't make any sense, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:56 Highlight the passage at 1:03:56

1:04:21 I'd be in Tibet. No, I'm not implying that it would be separate, but sometimes it almost gives the, it almost seems as though because... bad. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:21 Highlight the passage at 1:04:21

1:04:37 It's like you're seeing something like going out not connected with the body, so you think, oh, well, maybe there's something separate, but it's like now going on this mental, on the consciousnesses. The consciousnesses we usually think of as confined to this body, but I don't think they are. Right, right. Yeah, that's true. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:37 Highlight the passage at 1:04:37

1:05:03 You're making things more complicated. Kayden. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:03 Highlight the passage at 1:05:03

1:05:08 But that's true. So in general, it's said that the eye is imputed on the basis of, what they say, four or five aggregates, depending on the situation. Sometimes it's imputed independence on the mind. Sometimes it's imputed independence on the body. Sometimes imputed independence on the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:08 Highlight the passage at 1:05:08

1:05:33 But does it seem like sometimes if we took away the mind and we took away the body, would there still be something left? Would there still be an I left? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:33 Highlight the passage at 1:05:33

1:05:48 I take away the body and I take away the mind. Is there still an I somewhere? Report an error in the passage at 1:05:48 Highlight the passage at 1:05:48

1:06:03 All right, so that's something for us to all check up, right? Really think about that. Like the whole concept of an eternal soul or something, you know, maybe it's not dependent on the mind and then not dependent on the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:03 Highlight the passage at 1:06:03

1:06:26 Don't forget the microphone. Right. I was just going to say, I mean, sometimes we would like that to be true. That there's this I that's eternal and goes on, that idea of a soul. But it's still a mental projection, even if you see yourself as outside of your body or outside of your experience. It's still dependent on there being a mind and a body. So you can't really separate a self out of that if there's no mind and if there's no body. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:26 Highlight the passage at 1:06:26

1:06:54 They're so dependent on each other. Does that make any sense? Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:54 Highlight the passage at 1:06:54

1:07:11 So when we realize emptiness, there are many different reasonings we can use. So first we check, is the I the same as the aggregates or is it different from the aggregates? So different in the sense of, is it separate? Like can you take away the body and the mind and is there an I left? So we analyze that. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:11 Highlight the passage at 1:07:11

1:07:44 Then, you know, maybe we come to the conclusion, okay, well, it doesn't make sense that there's an I that's separate from the mind and the body. Try to find that I that's separate from the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:44 Highlight the passage at 1:07:44

1:07:56 Where is it? What does it look like? Does it make any sense? You know, the mind is sad and I say, I'm happy. Does that make any sense? I'm really happy. The mind is sad, so, you know, what is this I that's happy? Report an error in the passage at 1:07:56 Highlight the passage at 1:07:56

1:08:18 Okay, then we check, okay, is the, so is the self the mind and the body? Is it the mind and the body? You know, is it the same? So maybe it's not different from the mind and the body, but maybe the self is the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:18 Highlight the passage at 1:08:18

1:08:45 So then we check and then we search. Oh yeah, you know, a lot of times we think, oh yeah, the self is really the mind, right? Self is the mind. It must be the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:45 Highlight the passage at 1:08:45

1:09:02 And then we do the analysis. Okay, well, is it the mind? Is it the mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:09:02 Highlight the passage at 1:09:02

1:09:14 Okay, then we can think, okay, well, I Report an error in the passage at 1:09:14 Highlight the passage at 1:09:14

1:09:25 am tall. So is that self, the mind? The mind is tall. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:25 Highlight the passage at 1:09:25

1:09:43 So it's very, very useful to really check on all of the different aspects of the mind, or the I, that we think. You know, how the I manifests. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:43 Highlight the passage at 1:09:43

1:09:57 And then, what about that I that has a mind and the I that has a body? The Report an error in the passage at 1:09:57 Highlight the passage at 1:09:57

1:10:08 I that has a mind and has a body. What Report an error in the passage at 1:10:08 Highlight the passage at 1:10:08

1:10:17 could that be? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:17 Highlight the passage at 1:10:17

1:10:21 It's still the same thing. It's just that there's this illusion that's created by the body and the mind creating an identity out of those two things that creates this I, but it doesn't really exist. It's an illusion. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:21 Highlight the passage at 1:10:21

1:10:42 There's a sensation of an I. Or the idea of an eye or the thought of an eye, but it's still just a mind and a body. Yeah. And so then we get more subtle than that, Peter. So then you're saying the eye is the mind and the body, right? So the eye isn't more than the mind and the body. So we can establish that the eye isn't separate or more than the mind and the body. And then we check up, okay, is the eye the mind and the body? Report an error in the passage at 1:10:42 Highlight the passage at 1:10:42

1:11:17 Or is it just the mind or is it just the body? Is it the collection of the mind and the body? Then we check up. What about in regards to the formless realm, so where they talk about a consciousness without the body? Right, yeah. Yeah, so in the formless realm... Or in conventional reality, I mean, I understand, but... Yeah. So in this realm, in the desire realm, right, where beings have a body, right, so the mind and the body are the basis of imputation. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:17 Highlight the passage at 1:11:17

1:11:47 of the person or the I. the formless realm, it's just the mind that's the basis of imputation the person. But how can you separate the two then? I understand conventional reality, but when you're looking for the core of what is the consciousness of the mind, then you have to eliminate automatically the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:47 Highlight the passage at 1:11:47

1:12:11 If you have the potential from calm abiding or to be born in a formless realm, And to be without the body but have some sense of consciousness, mind, then the body is automatically eliminated, it seems, just from that logic. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:11 Highlight the passage at 1:12:11

1:12:31 Okay. Well, we haven't established yet that the I is the mind and the body, right? And some of the lower schools would say, yeah, the I is... Report an error in the passage at 1:12:31 Highlight the passage at 1:12:31

1:12:50 At least findable among the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:50 Highlight the passage at 1:12:50

1:12:56 But the high school would say, no, the eye is not the mind. It is not the body. We'll search the mind and the body for the eye. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:56 Highlight the passage at 1:12:56

1:13:10 And if we do it correctly, we won't be able to find it. So the eye is not the mind and the body. The eye is merely labeled on this ever-changing mind and body. So the body is constantly changing, the mind is constantly changing, and the eye is labeled on this ever-changing mind and body. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:10 Highlight the passage at 1:13:10

1:13:40 So the mind isn't the eye, the body isn't the eye, and the eye is merely labeled on something that's not the eye. The eye is merely labeled on something that's not the eye. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:40 Highlight the passage at 1:13:40

1:14:00 So this is the position of the highest school, right? But just hearing the position of the highest school isn't going to help us very much, right? We need to really do the work, right? We need to really search for it. And maybe in this class we can actually go through maybe like the seven-fold reasoning or something, why the self can't be the mind and the body. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:00 Highlight the passage at 1:14:00

1:14:27 You know, what are the consequences if I say that this is... The self is the I. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:27 Highlight the passage at 1:14:27

1:14:38 If people are up for that, maybe we can do that one of these classes. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:38 Highlight the passage at 1:14:38

1:14:50 So I thought we would get a lot further than this, but I'm always wrong. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:50 Highlight the passage at 1:14:50

1:15:04 I mean, yeah. I personally think it's better to go more slowly than just kind of superficially glean over the points. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:04 Highlight the passage at 1:15:04

1:15:18 But what I wanted to do is review the homework from last week. Maybe see if there are any questions first. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:18 Highlight the passage at 1:15:18

1:15:29 Review the homework. Okay, so before we review the homework, so is everybody clear on what these five aggregates are? In the context of a person, actually. I didn't explain it in the context of other phenomena, which maybe I'll do quickly. But in the context of... Report an error in the passage at 1:15:29 Highlight the passage at 1:15:29

1:15:55 Anna, you're unclear about something? I just want to know if you can maybe define compositional a little more. I don't understand why you use the word compositional factors. Basically, the Report an error in the passage at 1:15:55 Highlight the passage at 1:15:55

1:16:19 five aggregates are the form, feeling, discrimination, consciousness, and then everything else falls into the category of... Compositional factors, everything else in the continuum of a person. So the compositional factors, it's composed of everything else, all of the other mental factors, basically. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:19 Highlight the passage at 1:16:19

1:16:41 You know, those parts of the I that aren't included in the other four aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:41 Highlight the passage at 1:16:41

1:16:56 Yeah, anger, attachment, ignorance, faith, no feeling. Feeling is an experience of pleasure, pain or neutral. So there's a feeling that would accompany the mental factor of anger. So there are various mental factors that arise simultaneously. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:56 Highlight the passage at 1:16:56

1:17:23 So let's say anger arises. The associated feeling would be unpleasant. Anger isn't pleasant. So there's a feeling that also arises at the same time. rises. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:23 Highlight the passage at 1:17:23

1:17:39 And there's a host of other mental factors that arise at the same time. Ignorance may arise at the same time. There's a mental factor of intention that's directing the mind toward a particular object that arises simultaneously. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:39 Highlight the passage at 1:17:39

1:17:58 And we had a class on minds and mental factors that ended up taking like four months or something like that. So I can't really explain it really quickly. But there are 51 main mental factors, but actually there are countless different mental factors. That's just one way of dividing up the different functions of the mind. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:58 Highlight the passage at 1:17:58

1:18:25 In the example of anger, it would fall into two categories, one feeling and one compositional factor. Well, anger itself is a separate mental factor. It's a compositional factor. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:25 Highlight the passage at 1:18:25

1:18:43 There's also a feeling that arises, but the feeling is considered to be in the feeling aggregate. But the anger itself is in the compositional factors aggregate. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:43 Highlight the passage at 1:18:43

1:19:04 Janet and then Peter. What's a non-associated compositional factors? Okay. I'll explain that in a minute. Okay. Yeah, because I haven't explained the five aggregates in the context of all impermanent phenomena yet. But in the context of a person, the compositional factors aggregate is only those mental factors besides feeling and discrimination. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:04 Highlight the passage at 1:19:04

1:19:34 Peter, did you have a question? Report an error in the passage at 1:19:34 Highlight the passage at 1:19:34

1:19:39 Isn't the point that the five aggregates are constantly overlapping and intersecting? It's not that they're five separate categories, that you have five separate experiences. They're constantly involved with each other. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:39 Highlight the passage at 1:19:39

1:19:53 Coming up in different permutations. Yeah, yeah. I mean, it's like, yeah, Report an error in the passage at 1:19:53 Highlight the passage at 1:19:53

1:20:03 I mean, there are ways of, okay, this categorization is one way to think about the body and the mind, right? Not that they're completely separate, but conceptually we can think about five aggregates. Like, there's a clock here. Conceptually, I can think about the color of the clock as separate from the shape of the clock, as separate from the function of the clock, as separate from, you know, etc., right? Report an error in the passage at 1:20:03 Highlight the passage at 1:20:03

1:20:42 The sound of the clock. So conceptually, I can think about the same object in many different ways. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:42 Highlight the passage at 1:20:42

1:20:51 So similarly... Well, I mean, I wouldn't say the five aggregates are the same, but the five aggregates, yeah, they do work together, but they're not kind of separate and independent from each other. Yeah, that's a good question. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:51 Highlight the passage at 1:20:51

1:21:16 Okay, then let me just talk about the five aggregates in general. So sometimes we see the term five appropriated aggregates or the five contaminated appropriated aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:16 Highlight the passage at 1:21:16

1:21:32 So basically, when we see five appropriated aggregates, we're always talking about the aggregates in the continuum of a person, the appropriated aggregates, the aggregates that a person takes on when they attain rebirth. So when someone's reborn, then they attain the five aggregates, the appropriated aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:32 Highlight the passage at 1:21:32

1:21:59 Then sometimes contaminated appropriated aggregates because for sentient beings our aggregates are contaminated in the sense of being. We took these aggregates or appropriated these aggregates due to the force of our karma and our afflictions, through the force of our ignorance and our attachment, etc., through the force of our karma. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:59 Highlight the passage at 1:21:59

1:22:28 We had to be reborn and we had to take these aggregates, right? Because we are not beyond karma and afflictions yet. So that's the five contaminated appropriated aggregates. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:28 Highlight the passage at 1:22:28

1:22:42 But then if we just see five aggregates, that can mean the aggregates in the continuum of a person or one way of categorizing all impermanent phenomena. So one way of categorizing... Impermanent phenomena. So the form aggregate in that case would be not just our body, but all forms, all visual forms, all sounds, all smells, all tastes, all objects of touch. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:42 Highlight the passage at 1:22:42

1:23:20 So all objects of the senses are the form aggregate. This table would be the form aggregate. The computer would be the form aggregate in general. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:20 Highlight the passage at 1:23:20

1:23:34 Then the feeling aggregate would be the feeling not just in the continuum of me, but all feelings of all beings. Discrimination, similar, discrimination of all beings. And then also consciousness, all of the six consciousnesses of all beings, not just my consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:34 Highlight the passage at 1:23:34

1:23:58 So that would be in the context of the five aggregates in general. In the context of the five aggregates of a person, It's the five aggregates in my continuum that are the basis of imputation of me. I can't use Jay's aggregates as the basis of imputation for me. I'm sitting by the wall. It's not that his aggregates are the basis of imputation of me. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:58 Highlight the passage at 1:23:58

1:24:34 My aggregates are the basis of imputation of me. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:34 Highlight the passage at 1:24:34

1:24:40 But in the context of the five aggregates in general, we're talking about all forms, all feelings, all discrimination, all consciousnesses of all beings. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:40 Highlight the passage at 1:24:40

1:24:54 Then compositional factors also would include not only all of the mental factors, but then a category called non-associated compositional factors. And I'll just talk about this briefly because it's not so relevant to the Heart Sūtra teachings. Because I have it written down, the non-associated compositional factors. So in general, impermanent phenomena are divided into three categories. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:54 Highlight the passage at 1:24:54

1:25:41 Forms, minds, and those things that are neither form nor mind, form nor consciousness. So what are these non-associated compositional factors? So that's just a category of impermanent phenomena that are neither... Report an error in the passage at 1:25:41 Highlight the passage at 1:25:41

1:26:04 So, for example, time. Time is not a form. It's not a mind. But it's an impermanent phenomenon. It's changing from moment to moment. It's a non-associated compositional factor. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:04 Highlight the passage at 1:26:04

1:26:27 Another one that might puzzle you about is person. Person is not a form. Person is not a mind. A person possesses a body and a mind. A person isn't form, it isn't mind, it itself is a non-associated compositional factor. So Report an error in the passage at 1:26:27 Highlight the passage at 1:26:27

1:27:02 I think that's good for now. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:02 Highlight the passage at 1:27:02

1:27:07 If people did their homework, let's go through the homework. And then I have homework for next week also. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:07 Highlight the passage at 1:27:07

1:27:20 So number one, after Shakyamuni Buddha became enlightened, he taught three wheels of Dharma. So briefly explain the subject matter of each and for whom each was taught. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:20 Highlight the passage at 1:27:20

1:27:33 So what's the first? Wheel of Dharma, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:33 Highlight the passage at 1:27:33

1:27:43 the Four Noble Truths. And for whom was that taught? Report an error in the passage at 1:27:43 Highlight the passage at 1:27:43

1:28:05 So you could say the lower capacity or the Hinayana school of tenets, the schools of tenets. So the Vibashikas and the Sotrantikas. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:05 Highlight the passage at 1:28:05

1:28:25 What about the second wheel? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:25 Highlight the passage at 1:28:25

1:28:33 No self. More than that? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:33 Highlight the passage at 1:28:33

1:28:41 So lack of intrinsic identity. And who was that? So what does that mean? Yeah, so teachings of emptiness. And who was the audience? Report an error in the passage at 1:28:41 Highlight the passage at 1:28:41

1:29:02 Us. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:02 Highlight the passage at 1:29:02

1:29:08 We like to think so. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:08 Highlight the passage at 1:29:08

1:29:15 We're all Prasangikas, right? Because that's the highest school. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:15 Highlight the passage at 1:29:15

1:29:26 So this is the beings of the highest capacity, right? And so which school of tenets? I mean, I didn't even talk about the schools of tenets, but for people who know. So which school of tenets is it? Report an error in the passage at 1:29:26 Highlight the passage at 1:29:26

1:29:52 Not just Prasangikas, but all of the Madhya. Yeah, all of the Madhyamikas. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:52 Highlight the passage at 1:29:52

1:30:07 Yeah, well, there's, I mean, right, so there's two schools of Madhyamika, and both assert the... Lack of true existence of phenomena. The Svatantrikas assert that things inherently exist but they don't truly exist. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:07 Highlight the passage at 1:30:07

1:30:25 I won't get into what that means right now. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:25 Highlight the passage at 1:30:25

1:30:33 So the Svatantrika Marimikas would interpret the Heart Sūtra in a different way than the Prasangikas. But still... what the, yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:33 Highlight the passage at 1:30:33

1:30:45 The Heart Sūtra and the, well, the second wheel of Dharma was taught for Madhyamikas in general. And then the third wheel was subject matter? Report an error in the passage at 1:30:45 Highlight the passage at 1:30:45

1:31:02 Yeah, good. Yeah, exactly, exactly. Yeah, but you, yeah, you read the notes, great. So right, so the third wheel is the wheel of fine discrimination for the chitta mantras. So in that teaching, it discriminates between some phenomena as being truly existing and some phenomena are not truly existing. So they talk about three natures and some of them are truly existing and some of them are not. So we won't go into that either in this class. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:02 Highlight the passage at 1:31:02

1:31:41 So the Heart Sūtra is included in which of those three turnings of the wheel? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:41 Highlight the passage at 1:31:41

1:31:52 Okay, number two. The title of the text. In Sanskrit, Tibetan and English. In Sanskrit? Report an error in the passage at 1:31:52 Highlight the passage at 1:31:52

1:32:18 Okay. Maybe we'll explain the terms in the text. So it's Bhagavati Prajnaparamita Hridaya, right? So Bhagavati in means what? Report an error in the passage at 1:32:18 Highlight the passage at 1:32:18

1:32:40 Yeah. So literally Bhagavati is a female Buddha or a blessed mother, right? But in this context it means the wisdom realizing emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:40 Highlight the passage at 1:32:40

1:32:51 And not just the wisdom realizing emptiness, but the wisdom realizing emptiness in a Buddha. So there's a wisdom realizing emptiness in sentient beings as well, but the wisdom realizing emptiness in a Buddha is much more powerful. So in this context, the meaning of Bhagavati is the wisdom realizing emptiness in the continuum of a Buddha. Okay, in Tibetan, the Bhagavati is Chomden Dema. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:51 Highlight the passage at 1:32:51

1:33:22 So what does Chom mean? Report an error in the passage at 1:33:22 Highlight the passage at 1:33:22

1:33:29 Destroyer. Yeah. Destroy, conquer, overcome. And what does the Buddha overcome or destroy? The four maras. Right. Great. You remember what the four maras are? Report an error in the passage at 1:33:29 Highlight the passage at 1:33:29

1:33:55 Devaputra. Yeah. So the four maras, the aggregates, what did you say? The aggregates, the kleshas, the aggregates, death and... Yeah, the sons of gods are Devaputra. We Report an error in the passage at 1:33:55 Highlight the passage at 1:33:55

1:34:12 don't really have time to go through what each of those four are. So the Buddha has overcome basically all obstacles, all obstructions. Den means what? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:12 Highlight the passage at 1:34:12

1:34:28 Hear something? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:28 Highlight the passage at 1:34:28

1:34:34 Exactly. Possess. And what does the Buddha possess? All excellent qualities. Then Dei means? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:34 Highlight the passage at 1:34:34

1:34:45 Dei means to transcend. So the significance is that the Buddha transcends what? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:45 Highlight the passage at 1:34:45

1:34:56 So the Buddha transcends both saṃsāra and nirvāṇa. The Buddha goes beyond saṃsāra, but also nirvāṇa in the sense of solitary peace. The Buddha doesn't settle for their own solitary peace, but work to attain complete Buddhahood. And ma means? Okay, everybody got that one. Report an error in the passage at 1:34:56 Highlight the passage at 1:34:56

1:35:26 right. Okay. Prajnaparamita means perfection Report an error in the passage at 1:35:26 Highlight the passage at 1:35:26

1:35:39 of wisdom. Right. So Prajna means wisdom and paramita is perfection. Exactly. And Hridaya means? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:39 Highlight the passage at 1:35:39

1:35:55 Great. And why is it called the heart or the essence? The Report an error in the passage at 1:35:55 Highlight the passage at 1:35:55

1:36:09 essence of all the sutras? Right. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:09 Highlight the passage at 1:36:09

1:36:15 So the essence of all the perfection of wisdom sutras. Yeah. Great. Okay. And the four types of perfection of wisdom. What's one? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:15 Highlight the passage at 1:36:15

1:36:30 Resultant perfection of wisdom. And what's the resultant perfection of wisdom? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:30 Highlight the passage at 1:36:30

1:36:38 Is it emptiness? No, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait. Is it emptiness in the continuum of Buddha? Right, yeah, because we talked about the distinction today, right? The wisdom realizing emptiness in the continuum of Buddha. Great, okay. What's another type of perfection of wisdom? Textual, okay. And what is that? Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:38 Highlight the passage at 1:36:38

1:37:14 Is it from studying? Yeah. The textual perfection of wisdom is the text or the sutras that explain emptiness. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:14 Highlight the passage at 1:37:14

1:37:29 And then what's another type of perfection of wisdom? What's perfection of wisdom? And what's that? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:29 Highlight the passage at 1:37:29

1:37:40 Okay. It's the cause of the resultant. Okay. But what is it? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:40 Highlight the passage at 1:37:40

1:37:54 Yeah. I'm repeating it. So it's the wisdom realizing emptiness in the continuum of a bodhisattva. And it's the cause of the resultant perfection of wisdom. Okay. And then the other, the fourth perfection of wisdom? Report an error in the passage at 1:37:54 Highlight the passage at 1:37:54

1:38:11 Natural perfection of wisdom. And what's that? Great. Emptiness itself. So which one are actual perfections of wisdom? So some of them are just called perfections of wisdom, but what's the real perfection of wisdom? So the resultant perfection of wisdom. The wisdom realizing emptiness in the continuum of a Buddha. So that's what we're trying to achieve. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:11 Highlight the passage at 1:38:11

1:38:45 Great. Excellent. So here's homework for next time, which is on two sides. And I didn't cover all of this material. Report an error in the passage at 1:38:45 Highlight the passage at 1:38:45

1:39:02 So I'll keep one of these. I don't know if there's enough. So we'll cover questions one, two. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:02 Highlight the passage at 1:39:02

1:39:16 My gosh. One and two and number six and Report an error in the passage at 1:39:16 Highlight the passage at 1:39:16

1:39:30 then three, four and five will wait till the following week. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:30 Highlight the passage at 1:39:30

1:39:44 Okay, so we'll dedicate the merit. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:44 Highlight the passage at 1:39:44

1:39:58 Dedication prayers on page six. We'll do the first two and then the long life prayer for His Holiness, the Dalai Lama. Report an error in the passage at 1:39:58 Highlight the passage at 1:39:58

1:40:13 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. 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. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:13 Highlight the passage at 1:40:13

1:40:34 In the land encircled by snow mountains, you are the source of all happiness and good. All-powerful Chenrezig, Tenzin Gyatso, please remain until saṃsāra ends. Report an error in the passage at 1:40:34 Highlight the passage at 1:40:34

1:40:59 So maybe during this week? Report an error in the passage at 1:40:59 Highlight the passage at 1:40:59