Special Insight 4: Wisdom of Emptiness (24 January 2012)

0:00 It's still the same. I was just joking because the light is too low. I would have to cover my whole face. Report an error in the passage at 0:00 Highlight the passage at 0:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:16 I know you're just sleeping. Report an error in the passage at 1:16 Highlight the passage at 1:16

1:20 So we'll Report an error in the passage at 1:20 Highlight the passage at 1:20

1:33 just start with a minute of silence and try to set a positive motivation for tonight. we've done direction before. Report an error in the passage at 1:33 Highlight the passage at 1:33

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:42 Maybe we can think about the kindness of others, how much we depend on others for just the basic necessities, Report an error in the passage at 1:42 Highlight the passage at 1:42

2:00 bodhicitta, motivation. We'll Report an error in the passage at 2:00 Highlight the passage at 2:00

· · · silence, 1 minute

3:12 start with the Manjushri prayer on the first page of the white book, Report an error in the passage at 3:12 Highlight the passage at 3:12

3:36 obeisance to my guru and protector Manjushri. Who holds to his heart a scriptural text symbolic of his seeing all things as they are. Whose intelligence shines forth as the sun unclouded by delusions or traces of ignorance. Who teaches in 60 ways with a loving compassion for the father for his only son. All creatures caught in the prison of saṃsāra, confused in the darkness of their ignorance, overwhelmed by their suffering. Report an error in the passage at 3:36 Highlight the passage at 3:36

4:01 You, whose dragon thunder-like proclamation of Dharma arouses us from the stupor of our delusions and frees us from the iron chains of our karma, who wields a sword of wisdom hewing down suffering wherever its sprouts appear, clearing away the darkness of ignorance. You, whose princely body is adorned with the 112 marks of a Buddha, who has completed the stages achieving the highest perfection of a bodhisattva, who has been pure from the beginning, I bow down to you, O Manjushri. Report an error in the passage at 4:01 Highlight the passage at 4:01

4:29 I'm a representative, representative, Report an error in the passage at 4:29 Highlight the passage at 4:29

4:39 With the brilliance of your wisdom, O compassionate one, illuminate the darkness in closing my mind. Enlighten my intelligence and wisdom so that I may gain insight into Buddha's words and the texts that explain them. And then in the gold book on page 76 is the Heart Sūtra. I Report an error in the passage at 4:39 Highlight the passage at 4:39

5:05 prostrate to the Arya Triple Gem. Thus did I hear at one time, the Bhagavan was dwelling on Mass Vultures Mountain in Rajgriya, 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, Avalokitesvara, 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 5:05 Highlight the passage at 5:05

5:37 Then through the power of Buddha, the venerable Ashariputra said this to the Bodhisattva Mahasattva Arya Avalokitesvara. 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 Avalokitesvara said this to the venerable Asharivadiputra. Report an error in the passage at 5:37 Highlight the passage at 5:37

5:58 Shari Putra, 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 as 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. Report an error in the passage at 5:58 Highlight the passage at 5:58

6:25 Shariputra, likewise all phenomena are emptiness, without characteristic, unproduced, unceased, stainless, not without stain, not deficient, not fulfilled. 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. Report an error in the passage at 6:25 Highlight the passage at 6:25

6:56 There is no eye 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. Similarly, there is no suffering, origination, cessation and path. There is no exalted wisdom, no attainment and also no non-attainment. Report an error in the passage at 6:56 Highlight the passage at 6:56

7:20 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 7:20 Highlight the passage at 7:20

7:45 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. Ta-yet-ha-om-ghate-ghate-paragate, Parasamghate-bhodhi-soha-share-put The Bodhisattva Mahasattva should train 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 the lineage. Report an error in the passage at 7:45 Highlight the passage at 7:45

8:23 It is like that. It is like that. One should practice the profound perfection of wisdom just as you have indicated. Even the Tadhatagas rejoice, the Bhagavan having thus spoken, the venerable Sharivadiputra, the Bodhisattva, Mahasattva, Arya, Avalokitesvara, and 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 8:23 Highlight the passage at 8:23

8:48 And then on page 98 is Refuge and Bodhicitta. Report an error in the passage at 8:48 Highlight the passage at 8:48

9:06 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 9:06 Highlight the passage at 9:06

9:30 I go for refuge until I am enlightened to the Buddha, the Dharma and the Supreme Assembly. By the merits I create through listening to the Dharma, may I become a Buddha in order to benefit all sentient beings. Report an error in the passage at 9:30 Highlight the passage at 9:30

9:46 So as you may know, Geshe Dagpa is leaving for India tonight, right? He's supposed to be at the airport around 9, so I'm going to make a special effort to end on time. So if people want to go to the airport, you can go to the airport without being late because of me. All right. So we're talking about the two truths. We're reviewing the two truths. So the two truths, the ultimate truth and concealer truths are sometimes called conventional truths. Report an error in the passage at 9:46 Highlight the passage at 9:46

10:22 So remember that all phenomena are either a concealer truth or an ultimate truth. The conventional way that things exist. Those are conventional truths or concealer truths. And ultimate truths are the final mode of being, the final way that things exist, the ultimate way that things exist, which is the lack of being inherently existent, the lack of existing from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 10:22 Highlight the passage at 10:22

11:05 The way things do conventionally exist, they exist. Report an error in the passage at 11:05 Highlight the passage at 11:05

11:15 They exist from causes and conditions, dependent on causes and conditions. They exist dependent on parts and they exist dependent on conceptual imputation. Report an error in the passage at 11:15 Highlight the passage at 11:15

11:26 So Report an error in the passage at 11:26 Highlight the passage at 11:26

11:30 things do exist by convention through imputation. They don't exist independent of the mind. They don't exist independent of thought. They don't exist from their own side. Report an error in the passage at 11:30 Highlight the passage at 11:30

11:53 So just a review of this term, concealer truth. Most of the time it's translated as conventional truth, but more technically it's concealer truth because the Sanskrit term is samvritti or something like that, which has three different meanings in general. Concealer of emptiness or suchness or mutually dependent objects. Report an error in the passage at 11:53 Highlight the passage at 11:53

12:22 Or worldly designations or conventions. But in the context of conventional truth, when we're talking about the two truths, Lama Tsongkhapa says we're talking about the first meaning, this meaning of concealer. Report an error in the passage at 12:22 Highlight the passage at 12:22

12:41 These conventional truths or concealer truths are only truths for a concealer. They're only truths. healer, right? The... Report an error in the passage at 12:41 Highlight the passage at 12:41

12:52 They're not truths in general, right? Because the meaning of truth is the way it exists is the way that it appears, right? And nothing exists the way it appears except Report an error in the passage at 12:52 Highlight the passage at 12:52

13:08 because this cup seems to appear from its own side from here, whereas actually it's just imputed by the mind, right? Cup came from mind, right? So it doesn't appear as if it came from the mind, right? It appears as if it existed. It exists from its own side. So cup is only a truth for someone who has ignorance. It's not a truth in general. Report an error in the passage at 13:08 Highlight the passage at 13:08

13:47 So this is quite significant. So all concealer truths are not truths. They are falsities. They're deceptive. So if we say in order to realize concealer truths, we have to realize that those things that we're perceiving Our falsities, they don't exist the way they appear. So when we say things, last time we said that when we realize ultimate truths, that doesn't negate conventional truths. Report an error in the passage at 13:47 Highlight the passage at 13:47

14:33 Ultimate truths are the final way things exist. Conventional truths or concealer truths are the way things conventionally exist. So ultimate truths don't negate that this is a cup. But it does negate it being a cup independently from the mind. It doesn't negate that it's a cup conventionally by worldly convention, by worldly consensus. Report an error in the passage at 14:33 Highlight the passage at 14:33

15:04 So it doesn't negate the convention, it just negates it existing from its own side or intrinsically. Report an error in the passage at 15:04 Highlight the passage at 15:04

15:21 So this is very subtle. This is very subtle. So in order to really realize concealer truths, actually we need to realize emptiness before we really are able to realize concealer truths. Because in order to realize concealer truths, we have to realize that the way that things exist is a falsity. It doesn't exist the way that it appears. Report an error in the passage at 15:21 Highlight the passage at 15:21

15:47 Am I making any sense? Report an error in the passage at 15:47 Highlight the passage at 15:47

16:01 Once the direct perception of emptiness has been achieved, You have a deeper understanding of the nature of concealer truths. Is there a spaciousness around the two issues or the two aspects of reality coexisting? In other words, do you have a spaciousness around the two truths? Because right now, while we're on the path of preparation, it can feel kind of tight. Like we're constantly having to remind ourselves of the ultimate nature of reality. Report an error in the passage at 16:01 Highlight the passage at 16:01

16:30 It's not natural. So have you... Have you, in your studies, encountered anything with people? I know people don't talk about having a direct perception of emptiness. And you know, when I had my direct... I was going to say, when you had yours, right? January 12th, 19th. Report an error in the passage at 16:30 Highlight the passage at 16:30

16:56 It's totally different once we've realized emptiness, right? We're, you know, most of us are at this stage where... We are having to constantly remind ourselves because we haven't realized it yet. We're in the process of trying to, right? So first we develop some kind of understanding through hearing the teachings and then reflecting on the teachings and then meditating on the teachings, right? Report an error in the passage at 16:56 Highlight the passage at 16:56

17:19 So we get a deeper and deeper understanding of it. And then they say once you have a direct realization of emptiness, I think it's a direct realization of emptiness. You no longer... You don't believe in appearances. You never believe in appearances anymore. We're not there yet. We're sucked in by appearances all the time. Report an error in the passage at 17:19 Highlight the passage at 17:19

17:45 Well, that person really, really is a jerk. We don't think it came from our mind. When we have a mental affliction, we really believe it exists from its own side. Right, so now we have to keep reminding ourselves. But after we get, definitely after we get the direct realization, it's not so much effort, right? Report an error in the passage at 17:45 Highlight the passage at 17:45

18:07 So over time it becomes less and less effort through familiarity and through the force of realization. So that's my understanding, at least. I mean, I guess you could look at the llamas as an example because they seem to be very spacious and humorous. You know, much more relaxed than we are in some senses. Yeah, for sure. Well, you know, we've done this meditation. It's not really a meditation on emptiness, but, you know, the meditation where we bring up something that's really distressing, right? Report an error in the passage at 18:07 Highlight the passage at 18:07

18:35 A situation where it's distressing. And when you delete the eye, the way you look at that situation, if it's successful, the way you look at that situation is much more spacious, right? Than when... We're still grasping onto that I, right? And so the reason I did that meditation, not because it's a realization of emptiness or even a meditation on emptiness, is just to help us understand the difference between looking at the situation through the filter of a me or an I and without that I being present. Report an error in the passage at 18:35 Highlight the passage at 18:35

19:14 And I think that's quite akin to... How we look at situations once we've realized emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 19:14 Highlight the passage at 19:14

19:26 Because remember, when we realize emptiness, or when we meditate on emptiness, we start with that object of refutation, a real me, and then we search for it, and we can't find it anywhere. We can't find it at all. There's no I at all in our awareness at that time. And it's not... Like we've just deleted the I like in that meditation. We realize that it doesn't exist at all. It doesn't actually exist. Report an error in the passage at 19:26 Highlight the passage at 19:26

20:00 And so there's a non-finding, a non-existence of that, which is similar to that meditation except much more powerful. Report an error in the passage at 20:00 Highlight the passage at 20:00

20:18 So I think everything becomes spacious and I think nothing is heavy at a certain point. There's no more heaviness, right? My Report an error in the passage at 20:18 Highlight the passage at 20:18

20:32 personal opinion is that there's probably still some sadness, like the sadness of all the suffering in the world. There's some sadness, but it isn't not the heaviness of, it's my friend who's suffering, right? Or it's my, you know, I wish I could do something about it. And oh, I'm so bad because I feel so helpless kind of thing, right? That sense of I weighs it all down. Report an error in the passage at 20:32 Highlight the passage at 20:32

21:01 Anyway, but that's just Report an error in the passage at 21:01 Highlight the passage at 21:01

21:06 so right. Report an error in the passage at 21:06 Highlight the passage at 21:06

21:16 So these concealer truths are falsities. So I really want to emphasize that because, I mean, as I said last week, is... Oftentimes we're still reifying the conventionally existent I. We think, okay, well, yeah, I don't ultimately exist, but there's still some conventionally existent I that I can get upset about, that I can still grasp onto, that feels the fear and that feels the anger and the irritation and all of that. Report an error in the passage at 21:16 Highlight the passage at 21:16

21:46 But even, see, with the conventionally existent I, there is nothing to grasp onto. There's no basis to grasp on to even the conventionally existent I because the conventionally existent I is just something made up by the mind. It's just a label. It's nothing solidly there. Report an error in the passage at 21:46 Highlight the passage at 21:46

22:34 For those beings who are in the formless realms, do they still, I guess since they're still in saṃsāra, they still Believe in this sense of I, but how is it different from those with form? Is it just like a different perception of what kind of what I is or is it a more progressive view on or like it's less ignorant because they're formless or it's just a different form of the ignorance? Report an error in the passage at 22:34 Highlight the passage at 22:34

23:12 You know, I mean, in order to get to the form and formless realms, you don't have to have any understanding of emptiness at all. Report an error in the passage at 23:12 Highlight the passage at 23:12

23:20 It's just a matter of deeper and deeper levels of concentration. You go from one level to the next by viewing the upper level as being peaceful and wonderful and beautiful and the lower level as being coarse and suffering and awful. So you just do that and what you're doing is you're suppressing the mental afflictions as you go along and there's less and less suffering that arises. Report an error in the passage at 23:20 Highlight the passage at 23:20

23:50 But you haven't gotten rid of mental afflictions at all. I mean, you've suppressed them, but when the karma changes, you can get reborn back in the desire realm and all the same stuff can happen again. So, how you view the eye, you know, it's not that your understanding of emptiness is necessarily any deeper, but the basis... Report an error in the passage at 23:50 Highlight the passage at 23:50

24:16 On which you impute I would be different, right? Because if you don't have a body, right, in the formless realm, you don't have a body, right? So the sense of I would be imputed on your mind. There's mental aggregates. Yeah, you would still have mental aggregates, right? Because of the five aggregates, four of them are mental and one of them is physical. So they just don't have the form aggregate, but they'll still have feeling, discrimination, compositional factors and consciousness. Report an error in the passage at 24:16 Highlight the passage at 24:16

24:43 So they'll impute I on that. But I suppose that the sense of I would be less strong for them because they don't have strong mental afflictions. But I don't know, I haven't heard anything about that. Report an error in the passage at 24:43 Highlight the passage at 24:43

25:02 Yeah, I would just be speculating about that. But, you know, on this path we're not encouraged to go through, well, it depends on who you ask. But anyway, I mean, our focus is get calm abiding and then immediately go to special insight, right? immediately go to emptiness so we can cut those mental afflictions Report an error in the passage at 25:02 Highlight the passage at 25:02

25:29 So remember, Report an error in the passage at 25:29 Highlight the passage at 25:29

25:37 so to realize concealer truths we have to realize things like pots and cups and myself is a false object and we have to cause disbelief in the conceived object of the apprehension of true existence which means I disbelieve that me that I'm hanging on to, that real me that seems to be in here somewhere. Report an error in the passage at 25:37 Highlight the passage at 25:37

26:07 So the object of refutation of the me is believing that there's a me somewhere here. That there's a me somewhere in here. So I know in my experience I feel that, I have that sense all the time. Report an error in the passage at 26:07 Highlight the passage at 26:07

26:27 Sometimes it feels like there's a me here in the center of the chest. Sometimes it feels like there's a me behind my eyeballs looking out. Report an error in the passage at 26:27 Highlight the passage at 26:27

26:38 Sometimes it feels like there's a me filling the body. So we just have to notice that again and again. So we have to notice that and then search for it and realize that it doesn't actually exist. That is just a figment of our imagination. As Lama Zopa says, that's a... Hallucination that doesn't exist at all. Report an error in the passage at 26:38 Highlight the passage at 26:38

27:16 Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, you the self are nowhere. You Report an error in the passage at 27:16 Highlight the passage at 27:16

27:29 the self are nowhere. Report an error in the passage at 27:29 Highlight the passage at 27:29

27:39 The I exists nowhere on these aggregates, neither inside nor outside does the I exist. It does not mean the I doesn't exist at all. But exists in mere name, Report an error in the passage at 27:39 Highlight the passage at 27:39

28:04 exists nowhere. Report an error in the passage at 28:04 Highlight the passage at 28:04

28:16 So if we have any sense of I being somewhere in here, object of refutation. How Report an error in the passage at 28:16 Highlight the passage at 28:16

28:25 are people doing on noticing the object of refutation? Do you notice that you have a sense that there's an I in there somewhere? Pretty hard to miss. Well, you know, it's one of those things that has always been there so we don't necessarily notice it. All right, so you do. So where are you noticing your I exist? Like where do you... So I want to make sure that... Report an error in the passage at 28:25 Highlight the passage at 28:25

28:59 I have a certain attachment like to the memories, the conception of yourself and what's made you and the experiences and you know, yeah, there's something I imagine to be there. Where is your I? Exactly physically. Where is it? Where does it seem to be? I would say it's like... Just in a thinking place, although it can vary, like you were saying, anywhere from my heart to my forehead, if you're looking for a physical place. Report an error in the passage at 28:59 Highlight the passage at 28:59

29:44 You know, for me, it's hard to actually pinpoint, because I always kind of feel it in a similar area, like kind of right by my chest, and I'm like, okay, yeah, it's there, it's there. But then I kind of don't find it, it's more of a feeling, and then I'm like, okay, it's there. And then I get distracted, right? And then I kind of, for some reason, it's hard for me to kind of be like, oh yeah, To get to that crystal point of being like, oh, it's not there. And it's interesting how I can never completely not find it because it's almost like I'm in denial. Report an error in the passage at 29:44 Highlight the passage at 29:44

30:20 I just don't want to not find it. But it's a general feeling. I constantly feel, but it's not like I feel it with me, but I don't investigate it to see that it's not there. you know, so. Yeah, so we have to. We have to try to take that extra step. Yeah. So the distraction, so that's a very good observation, right? Distraction is very, very pervasive, right, when we try to realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 30:20 Highlight the passage at 30:20

30:49 It's really hard to keep our mind on that non-finding, right? So we have to work on that. One quick thing. Oh, and then I remember Venerable Renee once said, when we meditate on emptiness, we tend to kind of... Stop too soon, like right here. And he says we need to jump right in there, like just like jump off that cliff, right? Report an error in the passage at 30:49 Highlight the passage at 30:49

31:19 We have to be willing to do that and not stop where we feel comfortable, right? It is scary, but we're not going to get anywhere unless we're willing to go in there. And that really helped me when he said that. Report an error in the passage at 31:19 Highlight the passage at 31:19

31:38 That's true. That's true. It's like, okay, yeah, I can kind of not find it. Okay. Okay. You know, let's go have breakfast now, right? But we have to, you know, really go into it if we want to really, it to really have an impact on us, right? And a lasting impact. And then we have to have good concentration for it to be powerful, right? So slowly, slowly. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 31:38 Highlight the passage at 31:38

32:06 Can I say one more thing? I just heard a teaching by Alexander Berzin today, and he was talking about some stuff, and then he said, he was like saying, yeah, but the I doesn't exist. And think about my Star Wars example, and I'm like, oh, I don't know about it. So it was interesting he went into it, and he was saying how Star Wars, everyone knows the movie Star Wars, but that's just a label for just this thing called film. Report an error in the passage at 32:06 Highlight the passage at 32:06

32:33 And each thing, I forgot what it's called, what's film made out of, but he said, it's like, I'm sorry, I guess so, but he said something like, yeah, and then within that you see a frame. And one frame adds up to another one and then it creates like these little mini stories. And then all of a sudden you have many different stories, one right after the next, and they all kind of blend into each other. Report an error in the passage at 32:33 Highlight the passage at 32:33

32:56 And then you encapsulate it into this label called Star Wars, this movie that we know. And I was like, God, that was really helpful to kind of crystallize it because we're all just very familiar with it. And he's like, that's how we think about ourselves. Like instead of Star Wars, like I am I. And then it's like all these little things that happen and there's no such thing as a Star Wars, but it's just a label that we put on. Fire Wars. Report an error in the passage at 32:56 Highlight the passage at 32:56

33:21 Yeah. Yeah, exactly. Exactly. If we really pay attention to the present moment, like what's actually existing in the present moment, you know, some atoms and some movement of mind, right? All of the past is just a thought. All of the future is just a thought. It's all creation of the mind. The eye is just a label that we put on these stories that we've created by our minds. The body is just a label we put on a bunch of atoms that are constantly changing. Report an error in the passage at 33:21 Highlight the passage at 33:21

34:07 A mind is just a label on... You know, that we put on a bunch of different mental events, a bunch of feelings and perceptions that we have over time. So the way the eye exists is so subtle, isn't it? Report an error in the passage at 34:07 Highlight the passage at 34:07

34:26 Another example that they use in the Wheel of Sharp Weapons that I find was very helpful to me is like a song. You think about a song, what is that? It's a sound, another sound, another sound, another sound. And our conceptual mind... It organizes that into one thing that we call a song. A song doesn't exist out there. A song is something that our conceptual mind created out of all of these different moments. Report an error in the passage at 34:26 Highlight the passage at 34:26

35:04 And I find that very similar to the mind because there are many different moments and then we crystallize that by a label. Report an error in the passage at 35:04 Highlight the passage at 35:04

35:24 So we have to realize that that... Me that we're constantly thinking about is just, is false. It's just a creation of our conceptual mind. Report an error in the passage at 35:24 Highlight the passage at 35:24

35:38 A hallucination. Report an error in the passage at 35:38 Highlight the passage at 35:38

35:44 So Lama Zopa says, so in terms of the sequence of realization, right, what has happened, this is in the context of this book that's coming out, is that previously you realized ultimate truth. And then now subsequently you realize the conventional or concealer truth of the eye. So first you realize the ultimate truth or the emptiness and then you can realize the concealer truth. Report an error in the passage at 35:44 Highlight the passage at 35:44

36:14 Your mind now sees that the eye is merely labeled. The eye that is merely labeled is unified with the eye that is empty of existing from its own side. So while seeing the emptiness of the eye, you see it as empty of existing from its own side. And while realizing it, you see it exists in mere name. At the same time, you see that it's empty. So the I is the unification of emptiness and dependent arising. Report an error in the passage at 36:14 Highlight the passage at 36:14

36:44 So we talked about this last time. These two are not seen as separate, but they're unified. The I is merely labeled by the Ma. It's empty from its own. And it's merely labeled. It's empty from its own. It exists conventionally as a dependent arising. So we see those as being unified. Report an error in the passage at 36:44 Highlight the passage at 36:44

37:10 And then we talked about the concealer truths, the divisions, right? There's no real and false concealer truths. They're all false. So then ultimate truths are empty. Report an error in the passage at 37:10 Highlight the passage at 37:10

37:26 Inherent existence of the cup is the ultimate truth of the cup. The lack of inherent existence of the table, the lack of inherent existence. Report an error in the passage at 37:26 Highlight the passage at 37:26

37:42 So we talked about this, right? How ultimate truths exist the way they appear. They are actually truths. Concealer truths aren't actually truths. They're falsities. They're just truths for a big moment. Report an error in the passage at 37:42 Highlight the passage at 37:42

38:05 So ultimate truths are realized by what's called the uncontaminated, exalted wisdom comprehending suchness. Report an error in the passage at 38:05 Highlight the passage at 38:05

38:20 So when we realize emptiness, we realize it conceptually first. We realize it through reasonings, and then we realize it through this mental image in our mind with our conceptual mind. Then that mental image gradually dissolves until we realize it. Report an error in the passage at 38:20 Highlight the passage at 38:20

38:40 So that direct realization of emptiness is this uncontaminated, exalted wisdom, comprehending suchness. Report an error in the passage at 38:40 Highlight the passage at 38:40

38:58 So I just wanted to bring up one other point that we talked about in the previous term. So there's a difference between being an ultimate truth and being ultimately existing. Report an error in the passage at 38:58 Highlight the passage at 38:58

39:14 Emptinesses, the lack of inherent existence, is ultimate truth. So there are things that are ultimate truths. Emptinesses are ultimate truths. But nothing ultimately exists, right? Even emptiness doesn't ultimately exist. So emptiness is an ultimate truth, but it doesn't ultimately exist. For it to ultimately exist, it would have to be findable when we search for it under ultimate analysis. Report an error in the passage at 39:14 Highlight the passage at 39:14

39:47 And so if we search... For cup, we cannot find cup. If we search for the eye, we can't find the eye. So nothing ultimately exists. And even emptiness doesn't ultimately exist because if you search for emptiness, you won't be able to find that either. Even emptiness is merely imputed by the mind. Emptiness only conventionally exists. It's an ultimate truth, but it only conventionally exists. Report an error in the passage at 39:47 Highlight the passage at 39:47

40:23 Next. Okay, so this is new material we didn't cover. So the divisions of ultimate truths. Report an error in the passage at 40:23 Highlight the passage at 40:23

40:34 So it said, right, an emptiness, one emptiness, emptiness is emptiness, right? It's not like there are different kinds of emptiness, right? But you can divide emptinesses depending on their basis. So we can talk about the emptiness of the table and the emptiness of the person and the emptiness of the cup and the emptiness of... Report an error in the passage at 40:34 Highlight the passage at 40:34

41:00 You know, the annoying person at work, the emptiness of our opinions. We can talk about those emptinesses, but all emptinesses are really the same, right? They are the lack of inherent existence, the lack of existence from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 41:00 Highlight the passage at 41:00

41:20 But because we're Galupas, we have to divide things. Report an error in the passage at 41:20 Highlight the passage at 41:20

41:28 So His Holiness the Dalai Lama says, Though there are no essential differences among emptinesses, it is said that emptinesses are divided into 20, 18, 16, or four types in terms of the bases qualified by emptiness, right? The bases, the cup, the table, the person, right? Briefly, all are included within, but briefly, right, all are included within the two categories, selflessness of persons and selflessness of other phenomena. Report an error in the passage at 41:28 Highlight the passage at 41:28

42:02 They're all included in those two, but for reasons that are not completely clear to me, there are these other divisions. And Lama Tsongkhapa, in his text in the middle length, brings out these three different divisions. There's the division of the 16 emptinesses, which is the emptiness of the external, for example, emptiness of the internal. Report an error in the passage at 42:02 Highlight the passage at 42:02

42:35 Emptiness of the internal and external, etc. Which is basically dividing emptiness into... Emptiness of external would be emptiness of forms, sounds, etc. Things that are external. Report an error in the passage at 42:35 Highlight the passage at 42:35

42:55 Emptiness of the internal is basically talking about the sense consciousnesses and the mental consciousnesses. So external things are empty of inherent existence. Our consciousnesses are empty of... Report an error in the passage at 42:55 Highlight the passage at 42:55

43:13 Emptiness of the internal and external. Well, what do they call it? Emptiness of internal Report an error in the passage at 43:13 Highlight the passage at 43:13

43:24 and external. There's these things called the sense powers. There's supposed to be a sense power on this eyeball that empowers us to be able to see. Report an error in the passage at 43:24 Highlight the passage at 43:24

43:34 Those are also empty of inherent existence. Emptiness of emptiness. Emptiness is also empty of inherent existence. The ten directions are also empty. Report an error in the passage at 43:34 Highlight the passage at 43:34

43:49 It's called the emptiness of the great, emptiness of the ultimate. Nirvāṇa is empty of inherent existence, emptiness of things that aren't changing from moment to moment, emptiness of definitions. Report an error in the passage at 43:49 Highlight the passage at 43:49

44:09 So there are all these iterations. And my assumption behind this, which is just my idea behind why they're... They're divining in this way. It's because we hang on to different things as being really solid. Like, okay, so I can see that my thoughts are empty. For example, maybe. Or my cup is empty of inherent existence. But maybe I think nirvāṇa really exists, right? Report an error in the passage at 44:09 Highlight the passage at 44:09

44:46 Enlightenment really exists. That's not just merely imputed by the mind, but even that is merely imputed by the mind, right? Or we may think emptiness really exists, or Buddhas really exist from their own side, but even those are empty. So I think we just need to be reminded again of all the different things that are empty so we don't grasp onto anything. Report an error in the passage at 44:46 Highlight the passage at 44:46

45:20 At least I know I do need to be reminded. And then there's this division of four emptinesses. Emptiness of functioning things, things that function, emptiness of non-functioning things, which are permanent phenomena like analytical cessations and emptinesses and things like that. And then there's this emptiness of self-entity and emptiness of other entity, which are also different ways of talking about the emptiness of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 45:20 Highlight the passage at 45:20

45:53 so... Various divisions of ultimate truth. But the main focus that Lama Tsongkhapa is talking about with regard to divisions of ultimate truth, so he talks about objects and subjects. So when we talk about ultimate truth, normally we're talking about emptinesses, right? Objects. Emptiness of inherent existence. But the consciousness, the subject, the reasoning consciousness, Is also often explained as ultimate truth. So there are these things called subjective ultimates and objective ultimates. Report an error in the passage at 45:53 Highlight the passage at 45:53

46:40 So subjective ultimates being consciousnesses that realize emptiness. So the subjective ultimates. So this is what I was talking about before. So we can realize emptiness through a non-conceptual direct realization of emptiness. A non-conceptual consciousness. Or a conceptual consciousness. Initially we realize it conceptually and then gradually we realize it directly. Report an error in the passage at 46:40 Highlight the passage at 46:40

47:12 So these are both considered subjective ultimate truths. Subjective meaning the mind. Report an error in the passage at 47:12 Highlight the passage at 47:12

47:25 The non-conceptual realization of emptiness. This non-conceptual exalted wisdom is an actual ultimate. So here, Lama Tsongkhapa says it's an actual ultimate truth. Because when this direct non-conceptual realization, Report an error in the passage at 47:25 Highlight the passage at 47:25

47:46 it eliminates, first of all, what's called elaborations of true existence, which means it eliminates conception of true existence. Report an error in the passage at 47:46 Highlight the passage at 47:46

48:05 So that realization of emptiness Report an error in the passage at 48:05 Highlight the passage at 48:05

48:10 realizes these objects that exist or do not exist. It eliminates that. Report an error in the passage at 48:10 Highlight the passage at 48:10

48:25 Every realization of emptiness has that aspect. Eliminating that belief or that conception that things exist truly. Report an error in the passage at 48:25 Highlight the passage at 48:25

48:40 Also, this non-conceptual direct realization of emptiness also eliminates what's called dualistic appearance. So not only does it eliminate the belief that things are truly existent, it eliminates the appearance of existing from there. Report an error in the passage at 48:40 Highlight the passage at 48:40

49:02 No appearance of true existence at all to this direction. So for the first direct realization of emptiness that we have, it's the first time... We've ever seen how things actually exist. The first time we've ever not seen true existence. Every moment of our consciousness up until we realize emptiness perceives things as Report an error in the passage at 49:02 Highlight the passage at 49:02

49:38 every single moment until we directly realize emptiness is mistaken. Every single moment has an element of mistake because everything appears dualistically or truly from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 49:38 Highlight the passage at 49:38

49:59 So the direct realization of emptiness, there's no dualistic appearance, no appearance of things existing from there. Report an error in the passage at 49:59 Highlight the passage at 49:59

50:17 So that's right, the major milestone on the common aria being, well, one of the main milestones. So this non-conceptual direct realization of emptiness eliminates these two, both the conception of inherent existence as well as that dualistic appearance, that appearance of true existence. The conception of true existence and the appearance of true existence. Both of those. Report an error in the passage at 50:17 Highlight the passage at 50:17

50:59 Don't we have to refresh that experience, though? It's not like it's etched in forever. That's what's amazing. They're like, oops, I turned the channel, damn it. Report an error in the passage at 50:59 Highlight the passage at 50:59

51:17 You know, I mean, it's not that, yeah, once you directly realize emptiness, you're out of saṃsāra forever, right? Yeah, it's just the first. Report an error in the passage at 51:17 Highlight the passage at 51:17

51:27 First step on the aria path, right? And then we have to familiarize ourselves with that again and again. Because the first time we directly realize emptiness, we've only uprooted a small portion of our mental afflictions, right? A small portion of the seeds of our mental afflictions. And then we have to do it again and again and again and make it more and more powerful. Report an error in the passage at 51:27 Highlight the passage at 51:27

51:49 So yeah. So on the suture path, we still have... No, I'm not going to tell you. It still takes a while. Yeah. Report an error in the passage at 51:49 Highlight the passage at 51:49

52:02 But still, nonetheless, you know, you're definitely going to attain enlightenment once you've, Report an error in the passage at 52:02 Highlight the passage at 52:02

52:10 just not necessarily, unless you do it on highest yoga tantra path, you know, if you directly realize emptiness using highest yoga tantra, then you're enlightened in that life. So go for that, Lynn. Report an error in the passage at 52:10 Highlight the passage at 52:10

52:51 We may not do it, but it's not impossible that we do it in this lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 52:51 Highlight the passage at 52:51

52:58 Okay. So that's the non-conceptual realization of emptiness, right, eliminates both the conception of a true existence as well as the appearance. The conceptual realization of emptiness, right, realizes emptiness based on a reason, right, a logical reason, right, logical reasoning. So the conceptual realization of emptiness refutes the conception or the belief in true existence. Report an error in the passage at 52:58 Highlight the passage at 52:58

53:30 But it does not eliminate the dualistic appearance. So with a conceptual realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 53:30 Highlight the passage at 53:30

53:43 So emptiness still appears as being inherently existing. So to a conceptual realization of emptiness, things still appear as inherently. Report an error in the passage at 53:43 Highlight the passage at 53:43

53:59 There's still the appearance. You don't believe in that, right? Because you're realizing it's not true. But there's still an appearance of inherent existence. And remember, inherent existence and true existence are interchangeable for Prasangikas. Report an error in the passage at 53:59 Highlight the passage at 53:59

54:19 So Lama Tsongkhapa says, therefore, this conceptual realization of emptiness is an ultimate that accords in aspect with the super mundane ultimate, which means, you know, it's kind of concordant. It's similar to... A realization of emptiness, a direct realization of emptiness, but it's not it because there's still the appearance of inherent existence. Report an error in the passage at 54:19 Highlight the passage at 54:19

54:53 So the actual subjective ultimate, also called non-metaphoric, there's a lot of terms being thrown around here. The actual subjective ultimate is the non-conceptual realization of emptiness, the direct realization of emptiness. Whereas what's called the concordant, Subjective ultimate is the inferential or conceptual realization of emptiness. Does that make sense? Report an error in the passage at 54:53 Highlight the passage at 54:53

55:29 Then there are these objective ultimates, which are emptinesses in general. Report an error in the passage at 55:29 Highlight the passage at 55:29

55:42 Oh, okay. Inferential realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 55:42 Highlight the passage at 55:42

55:50 Well, inferential realization of emptiness is a conceptual realization of emptiness. So in order to get a realization of emptiness, we need to rely on reasonings. So an inferential realization of emptiness is a realization of emptiness conceptually that relies on conceptual reasonings. Report an error in the passage at 55:50 Highlight the passage at 55:50

56:14 And in either case, either a conceptual realization or an inferential realization, as well as a direct realization, both are completely eliminating doubt. right so it Report an error in the passage at 56:14 Highlight the passage at 56:14

56:37 Eliminating any uncertainty, and those are unshakable, right? Those are completely unshakable. Realizations are considered unshakable. Report an error in the passage at 56:37 Highlight the passage at 56:37

56:51 The definition of a realization or valid cognizer is that which... Report an error in the passage at 56:51 Highlight the passage at 56:51

57:03 But anyway, it means unshakable. Incontrovertible is the name that they use. Incontrovertible knower. I had a further question based on that. So if you have an inferential... Direct perception of emptiness, it's not that knock you over the head moment of having a complete physical experience of emptiness where everything disappears, you're in a non-conceptual state, however they describe it is how it occurs. Report an error in the passage at 57:03 Highlight the passage at 57:03

57:42 It's not non-conceptual, but it is a knock-you-over kind of experience. It is a knock-you-over experience. It sounds more intellectual. I mean, it's intellectual, but it's realization nonetheless. What I've heard is, okay, just having doubt. Right. So Arya Davis says, just having doubt about emptiness, right, shadows your saṃsāra. Report an error in the passage at 57:42 Highlight the passage at 57:42

58:08 Correct, having a correct assumption. About emptiness? I think what I've heard is it's like your hairs, the hairs stand on end. Report an error in the passage at 58:08 Highlight the passage at 58:08

58:26 So that's a physical, I mean that's just a correct assumption, that's not even a realization. And then having an inferential realization, I've heard, is like being hit by lightning. Report an error in the passage at 58:26 Highlight the passage at 58:26

58:39 So it is a knock you out. Report an error in the passage at 58:39 Highlight the passage at 58:39

58:44 Yeah. So a direct realization of emptiness, you know. back. Report an error in the passage at 58:44 Highlight the passage at 58:44

58:50 We'll see when we get there. We'll see when we get there. Yeah. Nobody ever talks about it. Yeah, once you get there, you're not supposed to say. Right. Report an error in the passage at 58:50 Highlight the passage at 58:50

59:06 Yeah, so I think any, you know, and it said, right, just, I mean, just when we meditate on emptiness and it's working, right, a lot of fear can arise, right, and that's a good sign, right, so, yeah, so it is, you know. I think we have a knock-you-over kind of experience way before a direct realization of emptiness and way before even an inferential realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 59:06 Highlight the passage at 59:06

59:38 Are you ready for a break? Okay, so we'll take a break and then we'll come back. Report an error in the passage at 59:38 Highlight the passage at 59:38

59:50 Oh, okay. Report an error in the passage at 59:50 Highlight the passage at 59:50

59:58 Oh, that homemade banana cake. Report an error in the passage at 59:58 Highlight the passage at 59:58

1:00:09 It's a Tuesday tradition. Not since I've been here. And they're all empty. And they're all covered with something else. I mean, like a . Report an error in the passage at 1:00:09 Highlight the passage at 1:00:09

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:00:41 The lights in the gompa were on when I arrived at 6 o 'clock. You didn't have the karma to see the lights. Report an error in the passage at 1:00:41 Highlight the passage at 1:00:41

1:00:53 Does anybody want to drive with me to the airport? Report an error in the passage at 1:00:53 Highlight the passage at 1:00:53

1:01:03 I'd love to. Let me think about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:03 Highlight the passage at 1:01:03

1:01:09 he's going to have to be whisked away around, but probably 10 to 10.30. Yeah. so can you stay in the not bad, it's giving my daughter, making sure homework's done, giving my daughter those things that I do in my family chores. She has to do her homework than I No, I just want to check her. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:09 Highlight the passage at 1:01:09

1:01:37 No, I'm going to come up and check it out, thank you so much. Yeah, I mean, it's just... They're all grown up, but, yeah. Yeah, yeah. I loved your comment. You're the manjushi. I didn't make a family. I was the best. she's about? I love... She's been very vague about that. Report an error in the passage at 1:01:37 Highlight the passage at 1:01:37

1:02:00 asked is called Snow Lion. I ordered a book that I'm going to give to her. And I said, what's the third one? And he said, oh, no edition's coming out in March. Well, wait a minute. I'm getting it to do when they were going to get to Report an error in the passage at 1:02:00 Highlight the passage at 1:02:00

1:02:16 And, or I thought I was. So anyway, I don't know if it's going to get to you in time. And do you see things like in the mail in the tree or not? Because I don't know if it's going to fall over the tree. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:16 Highlight the passage at 1:02:16

1:02:30 Yeah, that's, that's the, I mean, I will, I will receive things if they, yeah, yeah, exactly. I would have done. What did you just say? Yeah, and I'll follow them on the list. We'll follow them on the list. Report an error in the passage at 1:02:30 Highlight the passage at 1:02:30

1:02:42 Margaret, I don't know where the microphone, okay. So Report an error in the passage at 1:02:42 Highlight the passage at 1:02:42

1:02:48 this is kind of going backwards a little bit more about the purification and merit. So how instantly does that materialize? Do we have to wait until other lifetimes? I know it's so hard to say, but is it something that materializes instantly? And you think yes, just... The conditions change, therefore the results must change. But I don't know, what do you think? You think I know? Report an error in the passage at 1:02:48 Highlight the passage at 1:02:48

1:03:21 Yes. Report an error in the passage at 1:03:21 Highlight the passage at 1:03:21

1:03:30 That results can happen in this lifetime, for sure. But what kind? It depends on how much purification we need and how well it works and all of that. But for sure. It can make a difference in this lifetime. I mean, I know, I mean, okay, so here's a simple example in my life, which may not have anything to do with purification at all, but I remember when I first, you know, because I did the seven-year master's program, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:03:30 Highlight the passage at 1:03:30

1:04:08 And when I first heard about it, I thought, that would be amazing to do, but there's no way. That I could ever do that or there's no way that I'd be ready to do that now because it was happening like the next year. I thought, okay, well, you know, I rejoice in anybody who can do it, but not me, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:04:08 Highlight the passage at 1:04:08

1:04:42 No, I went to Copan in 1996. Wait, why didn't you just set this Report an error in the passage at 1:04:42 Highlight the passage at 1:04:42

1:04:39 what's really Report an error in the passage at 1:04:39 Highlight the passage at 1:04:39

1:04:54 And that changed my life. And this was the end of 96. The master's program started in 1998, January. So I was brand new to the Dharma. And then I did the three-month Vajrasapha retreat. And I came out of there thinking, hey, I want to do that. Why not? I want to do that program. Why not? You know, before I started, three months before, there was no way. Report an error in the passage at 1:04:54 Highlight the passage at 1:04:54

1:05:26 At the end of those three months, there were three people. We had 11 or 12 people in my bodhicitta group. There were three people from my bodhicitta group that decided to go to that program. There were 40 altogether from people around the world, and three of us came from the same bodhicitta retreat. So does that have something to do with the purification? Maybe. Maybe. I think so. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:26 Highlight the passage at 1:05:26

1:05:59 So I think, yeah. I think purification can definitely make a difference in this lifetime. Report an error in the passage at 1:05:59 Highlight the passage at 1:05:59

1:06:11 And then there's another friend of mine who's doing a calm abiding retreat. He did a two and a half year calm abiding retreat. And he said that he would make progress, he would make progress, he would make progress, and then he would hit a wall. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:11 Highlight the passage at 1:06:11

1:06:26 And no matter how much he sat, no progress. Then he would start doing prostrations. He'd hit a wall, he'd start doing prostrations. He'd do prostrations for a while, and then he noticed his progress would continue. And then he'd hit another wall, and then he'd do a bunch of prostrations, and then his progress would start again. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:26 Highlight the passage at 1:06:26

1:06:48 So, yeah. So, I think we shouldn't underestimate purification. Report an error in the passage at 1:06:48 Highlight the passage at 1:06:48

1:06:59 And nyungnes are supposed to be particularly powerful. Anyway. So, back to objective ultimates. So, Report an error in the passage at 1:06:59 Highlight the passage at 1:06:59

1:07:22 basically. So here, I'm just going to jump to this second sentence. So the meaning of the text is not that if something is an ultimate truth, it must be free from all elaborations of dualistic appearance. So if it's an ultimate truth, it can still have the appearance of true existence, such as the emptiness that's perceived, that's realized by an inferential cognition of emptiness and conceptual realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:07:22 Highlight the passage at 1:07:22

1:08:03 mean, what would Mendel to the trick be besides what we I mean, that's That's the only one that they talk about that's an actual ultimate truth, but it still has dualistic appearance. It still has the appearance of true existence. It's the emptiness that's realized by a conceptual realism. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:03 Highlight the passage at 1:08:03

1:08:28 But then there's this other thing that's a concordant ultimate. So here's something they call the collection of a basis. Such as an aggregate and the appearance of its emptiness is a concordant ultimate. It's not an actual ultimate. It's a concordant element. The ultimate, the collection of a basis and its appearance of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:08:28 Highlight the passage at 1:08:28

1:09:05 So, you know, I tried to find more information about this and I couldn't. So this one's kind of stretching my brain, like the significance of this. but say if I realize Report an error in the passage at 1:09:05 Highlight the passage at 1:09:05

1:09:18 Emptiness of me. So the me, I think they're talking about the illusory me, right? You arise from that and the me appears as illusory. So the me that's qualified by emptiness is the collection of me and the emptiness. The me that appears along with my understanding that it's empty is Report an error in the passage at 1:09:18 Highlight the passage at 1:09:18

1:09:53 not an actual ultimate truth. He's saying it's a concordant ultimate. Because an actual ultimate truth has to be what we call a non-affirming negative, right? A non-affirming negative, a negation of inherent existence without affirming anything, right? A complete negation of existence from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:09:53 Highlight the passage at 1:09:53

1:10:18 So if there's an appearance of a conventional, a conventionality like a me, then that's not an ultimate truth. And there's a big, huge debate between schools on whether or not ultimate truth can be an affirming negative or a non-affirming negative. And I haven't gotten my head around that one yet. But basically, here Lama Tsongkhapa is saying that, you know, if conventionalities appear, right, if the basis appears, it's not an ultimate truth. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:18 Highlight the passage at 1:10:18

1:10:54 Me appears, it's not an ultimate truth. Report an error in the passage at 1:10:54 Highlight the passage at 1:10:54

1:11:00 So maybe if we walk around and I look at Peter and I think there's... There's Peter, he doesn't exist from its own side. That's not an ultimate truth, right? Because I see the appearance of Peter is there, right? If I then meditate on the emptiness of Peter and see that there's no Peter there at all, negate Peter being there, then that would be an ultimate truth. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:00 Highlight the passage at 1:11:00

1:11:31 The appearance of the conventionality makes it not an ultimate truth. It makes it a conventional truth. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:31 Highlight the passage at 1:11:31

1:11:41 Okay, so the actual objective ultimates are emptinesses that are objects of the non-conceptual direct realization of emptiness. The actual objective ultimate are the emptinesses that are objects of the non-conceptual realization of emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:11:41 Highlight the passage at 1:11:41

1:12:14 The ones that are... See, this is confusing to me why they do this, but anyway. The emptinesses are objects of inference. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:14 Highlight the passage at 1:12:14

1:12:23 Are actual ultimates, but they're called concordant. I Report an error in the passage at 1:12:23 Highlight the passage at 1:12:23

1:12:35 don't think so. I don't think so. You know, it's interesting because Lama Tsongkhapa, right, we saw Lama Tsongkhapa said a couple slides ago that those emptinesses that are objects of the conceptual realization of emptiness are not actual ultimates that are free from both elaborations, but they're still actual ultimates, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:12:35 Highlight the passage at 1:12:35

1:12:56 We saw that, right? So they are actual ultimates. But it's interesting, Guy Newland puts it under the concordant ultimate category, and then he says they're just called concordants, but they're actuals. So I don't really want to dwell on that point, because that's kind of, I mean, it's just, yeah, it's maybe not the most important thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:12:56 Highlight the passage at 1:12:56

1:13:23 But anyway, but Lama Tsongkhapa is saying that those emptinesses that are the objects of inference are actual ultimates. Whereas those composites or collections of an object and its emptiness are not actual ultimates. They're concordant ultimates, right? Because they're actually conventionalities, right? Am I making sense? It's a lot of... Report an error in the passage at 1:13:23 Highlight the passage at 1:13:23

1:13:52 It is, and it's like a little... Yeah. Exactly. So just in summary, it seems to be, right, the whole... The point of this seems to be distinguishing between conceptual realizations of emptiness and direct non-conceptual realization of emptiness. Non-conceptual realizations of emptiness are the ones that are really what we're shooting for. Report an error in the passage at 1:13:52 Highlight the passage at 1:13:52

1:14:30 Those are the ones that are completely non-mistaken, non-mistaken in every way. No, I'm mistaken. You realize... That things do not truly exist and there's also not the appearance of true existence. So the direct non-conceptual realization of emptiness is completely non-mistaken. Report an error in the passage at 1:14:30 Highlight the passage at 1:14:30

1:14:54 Sees things the way they are, no false appearance at all. The conceptual realization of emptiness also realizes that things don't truly exist, don't inherently exist, but there's still an element of mistake. There, right? Because there's still the appearance of true existence. It's a very great step along the way, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:14:54 Highlight the passage at 1:14:54

1:15:22 But there's still an element of mistake. There's still a mistaken appearance. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:22 Highlight the passage at 1:15:22

1:15:31 And then the anytime there's an appearance of a conventionality, even though we understand it's empty, that's also not the ultimate. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:31 Highlight the passage at 1:15:31

1:15:44 It's also very good, but that's still just a conventionality. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:44 Highlight the passage at 1:15:44

1:15:55 So that's what I get out of this presentation. Report an error in the passage at 1:15:55 Highlight the passage at 1:15:55

1:16:06 In terms of the one achieves the inferential experience of emptiness through inference, does that occur on the path of accumulation or the path after that, which is the path of preparation? Report an error in the passage at 1:16:06 Highlight the passage at 1:16:06

1:16:23 It would happen on the path of accumulation, if not before. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:23 Highlight the passage at 1:16:23

1:16:32 In order to get to the path of preparation, the second path, you have to have realized emptiness. Directly? Inferentially. Oh, inferentially, okay. Directly doesn't happen until the third path. Okay, what is that called? Oh, seeing, okay. But to get to the second path, the path of preparation, you have to have an inferential realization of emptiness as well as union, calm, abiding, and special insight. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:32 Highlight the passage at 1:16:32

1:16:56 Next week we'll start talking about special insight itself. So it's a pretty big, still big, there's a lot that has to happen between the inferential emptiness to the direct realization then. It's not like kids, yeah, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Report an error in the passage at 1:16:56 Highlight the passage at 1:16:56

1:17:13 So it says, right, sometimes people realize emptiness inferentially before they get bodhicitta and sometimes people get bodhicitta first and then realize emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:13 Highlight the passage at 1:17:13

1:17:24 But either way, you have to realize emptiness inferentially in order to get to the second path. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:24 Highlight the passage at 1:17:24

1:17:34 Yeah, we're in the preparatory stage. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:34 Highlight the passage at 1:17:34

1:17:44 Where are we in the text? Because I'm a little lost where we are. Oh, that's because I'm doing slides. Okay, we are, Report an error in the passage at 1:17:44 Highlight the passage at 1:17:44

1:17:59 I'm just going to start the top of page 307 with the next slide. Report an error in the passage at 1:17:59 Highlight the passage at 1:17:59

1:18:09 Jessica, I don't want to get stuck if we shouldn't, but can we go back one slide? Can you say one more time the difference? I get the difference between actual. And concordant, like non-conceptual and inferential or conceptual. I understand that difference, but what's the difference between the concordant and the called concordant but are actual ultimates? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:09 Highlight the passage at 1:18:09

1:18:36 Are you talking about the example or are you talking about the category? What's the difference between the category? Yeah, what's the difference between the category? Did you say that or not? I was trying to, I think I sort of like missed it, sorry. Report an error in the passage at 1:18:36 Highlight the passage at 1:18:36

1:18:49 It's okay. I mean, I struggle with where to put these. Okay. Okay, so the emptinesses that are objects of inference, Lama Tsongkhapa says they are actual ultimates, but they're not actual ultimates that are free from both elaborations. Right. Right. Because you still see it as, is that right? Because you still see it as truly existent, even though you conceptually realize that it's empty? Report an error in the passage at 1:18:49 Highlight the passage at 1:18:49

1:19:17 Yeah, yeah, so there's still an appearance of true existence to that inferential. Right, I mean, even in the inferential realization of emptiness, right, you're realizing the lack, right, it's still a non-affirming negative, right, so the base, the me, for example, doesn't appear at all, but that emptiness still appears as inherently existent. The emptiness itself. The emptiness itself still appears as inherently existent. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:17 Highlight the passage at 1:19:17

1:19:48 Okay. So there's still that element of dualistic appearance. There's still that element of appearance of true existence. Right. So that's why that emptiness is called concordant where it's an actual. Report an error in the passage at 1:19:48 Highlight the passage at 1:19:48

1:20:08 Okay. I don't know. Okay. Because it actually is empty, but the way that it's appearing is concordant. It's not the way it's appearing. Something like that. Because I see what you're saying. It's almost like when we inferentially understand emptiness, it's almost like we say we take away the inherent existence conceptually and then we replace it with something that we conceptualize as emptiness. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:08 Highlight the passage at 1:20:08

1:20:34 But that emptiness is still our, is still, like what you were saying is emptiness is, our conception of emptiness is not real because it's like a, we've said, okay, I, you know what I'm saying? It's almost like, I don't know, maybe. I can't explain it, but I felt like what you were just trying to say is we aren't really seeing the absence. It's kind of like your keys in the purse example. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:34 Highlight the passage at 1:20:34

1:20:59 We don't have that feeling of the keys aren't in the purse when you go to look for them, but we kind of have placed this conceptual realization that the keys aren't in the purse. Report an error in the passage at 1:20:59 Highlight the passage at 1:20:59

1:21:13 It's not that we don't see the keys, but we kind of conceptually say, okay, the keys aren't. I don't know. It's hard to... Report an error in the passage at 1:21:13 Highlight the passage at 1:21:13

1:21:23 I'm trying to understand what you just said about... Yeah, so an inferential realization is not just overlaying the idea of emptiness. You're actually realizing the lack. So a non-affirming negative, the lack of that real me, that me that's here anywhere. Is realized. Okay. Realized unshakably without any doubt at all. It is realized. It's just that there's still a mistaken appearance. Report an error in the passage at 1:21:23 Highlight the passage at 1:21:23

1:22:01 Right? So the understanding is completely correct. Is correct. Okay. So the understanding is completely correct. But there's still a mistaken appearance. Okay. Right? That's what I'm trying to say here. Okay. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:01 Highlight the passage at 1:22:01

1:22:18 Because with any conceptual consciousness, there's always a mistaken appearance. There's always an element of mistake. We need to go beyond that to a direct realization. And with any conceptual consciousness, there's always this, what's called this meaning generality or this mental image, right? There's the mental, when we realize emptiness conceptually, it's in a mental image. But when it's direct, it's not. Report an error in the passage at 1:22:18 Highlight the passage at 1:22:18

1:22:47 Right, that mental image dissolves. Okay, that actually helps. I don't know. Yeah, it's hard for me to envision how that experience would be different, right? Report an error in the passage at 1:22:47 Highlight the passage at 1:22:47

1:23:05 Because all of our experiences are through mental image to date. We're used to seeing things. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:05 Highlight the passage at 1:23:05

1:23:17 Well, our mental consciousnesses are most conceptual. Our sense consciousnesses are seeing things directly. But it's hard to imagine seeing something directly with a mental consciousness. It's really hard for me to imagine seeing something directly with a consciousness. Like, what? I don't know what that would be like. Report an error in the passage at 1:23:17 Highlight the passage at 1:23:17

1:23:47 Because usually our mental consciousness is conceptual, right? If I think about my mother, there's an image of my mother in my mind. If I think about a problem, there's an image of the problem in my mind. If I think about... Report an error in the passage at 1:23:47 Highlight the passage at 1:23:47

1:24:02 A situation, it's the situation, an image of that situation that's in my mind that I'm looking at Report an error in the passage at 1:24:02 Highlight the passage at 1:24:02

1:24:14 non-conceptually with the mental consciousness is a stretch of my imagination. I just wanted to say like there's different kinds of thinkers, like some people are more visual, some people are more verbal, and maybe it would help, like I feel like it would help me to study the low rig, which is the Tibetan Report an error in the passage at 1:24:14 Highlight the passage at 1:24:14

1:24:37 Way of the mind to get this clearer. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:37 Highlight the passage at 1:24:37

1:24:49 Yeah, I mean we talk about mental images and things like that. And when I talk about mental image too, it's not necessarily visual, right? It can be, like if I remember my favorite song, right? It's a mental image, but it's auditory, right? If I remember what somebody said to me, and I play it again. Report an error in the passage at 1:24:49 Highlight the passage at 1:24:49

1:25:15 It's also a mental image, but it's not visual. Oftentimes we think mental images are visual, but not necessarily. Also tastes, smells. We have mental images of all those. That's how we recognize, oh yeah, this is chocolate. This tastes like chocolate. This tastes like apple pie my mom used to make. Report an error in the passage at 1:25:15 Highlight the passage at 1:25:15

1:25:47 That's not in the discrimination aggregate then, is it? But it's the discrimination that would actually... I'm Report an error in the passage at 1:25:47 Highlight the passage at 1:25:47

1:26:07 sorry, it's just a simple question from my view. Because discrimination aggregate, that arises with conceptual consciousnesses and non-conceptual consciousnesses. They arise with mental consciousnesses as well as sense consciousnesses. So it gets complicated. That's fine, because even when you talk about this, I don't know... Report an error in the passage at 1:26:07 Highlight the passage at 1:26:07

1:26:28 I'm not really following. No, no, that's why it's good to not even forget about it. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:28 Highlight the passage at 1:26:28

1:26:38 But when we go through low rig and minds and mental factors, then we can get into a lot more detail. And there have been requests for that. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:38 Highlight the passage at 1:26:38

1:26:51 When do you think you can do that? No pressure. I think about it. I'm there with you. Report an error in the passage at 1:26:51 Highlight the passage at 1:26:51

1:27:04 Actually, that would be a good class to do after this one because it relates very well. Okay, so, yeah, I mean, this is all confusing and I, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:04 Highlight the passage at 1:27:04

1:27:23 yeah, I hesitated to get into that much detail, but at the same time, it's, you know, Report an error in the passage at 1:27:23 Highlight the passage at 1:27:23

1:27:32 Lama Tsongkhapa actually gets into a lot more detail than I'm not getting into, but at least in general, just talking about actual versus... And conceptual realizations versus direct realizations. That would be the thing to get out of this. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:32 Highlight the passage at 1:27:32

1:27:58 So I'm just going to go through this quickly. So in the classical commentaries, there's inevitably some section that says, why is the number of truths definite as two? Why isn't it three and why isn't it one? And sometimes they say, because three is too much. And one is not enough. But the reason Lama Tsongkhapa presents the two truths, the truths are all encompassing of truths. Report an error in the passage at 1:27:58 Highlight the passage at 1:27:58

1:28:35 Everything that exists is one of those two. There's nothing that's left out. Everything that exists is either an ultimate truth, either an emptiness, or it's a conventional truth, a concealer truth. They are complete. There's nothing left out. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:35 Highlight the passage at 1:28:35

1:28:55 And they are a dichotomy, right? If it's one, it's definitely not the other. If it's a concealer truth, it's definitely not an ultimate truth. If it's ultimate truth, it's definitely not a concealer truth. It's either a deceptive object or it's a non-deceptive object. If it's a deceptive object, it's a concealer truth. Report an error in the passage at 1:28:55 Highlight the passage at 1:28:55

1:29:19 If it's a non-deceptive object, it's an ultimate truth. This is almost what Tsongkhapa is saying. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:19 Highlight the passage at 1:29:19

1:29:26 Anyway, so basically Lama Tsongkhapa is saying if we really understand these two truths, we are not obscured with regard to the Buddha's word, the Buddha's teaching. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:26 Highlight the passage at 1:29:26

1:29:41 And if we don't understand the two truths, then we don't know the suchness of the teaching or it's also translated as the essence of the teaching. This is the main essence of the teaching, the two truths. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:41 Highlight the passage at 1:29:41

1:29:57 Understanding how things do exist and understanding how things don't exist. How they do exist and how they don't exist. How they exist in a deceptive way, conventionally, how they exist not from their own side at all. Not independently, not without conceptual imputation. They do not exist. Out there from their own side at all. But they do exist conventionally. Report an error in the passage at 1:29:57 Highlight the passage at 1:29:57

1:30:37 They do exist and they function. They don't exist at all from their own side. They're completely not findable. And they exist as conventions. They exist by imputation. They function. So that's the magic, magical understanding that we try to get to, right? The union of emptiness and dependent arising. It's completely not unfindable. It's completely not existing from its own side. Report an error in the passage at 1:30:37 Highlight the passage at 1:30:37

1:31:12 And it exists dependently. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:12 Highlight the passage at 1:31:12

1:31:25 So hence Report an error in the passage at 1:31:25 Highlight the passage at 1:31:25

1:31:32 it is very important for those who wish liberation to become skilled in the two truths. All right, so let's do a meditation. Report an error in the passage at 1:31:32 Highlight the passage at 1:31:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:32:18 Let's start with bringing up a sense of I. Report an error in the passage at 1:32:18 Highlight the passage at 1:32:18

1:32:26 So most of us like Report an error in the passage at 1:32:26 Highlight the passage at 1:32:26

1:32:32 to be thought well of. We Report an error in the passage at 1:32:32 Highlight the passage at 1:32:32

1:32:48 want people to think. Or a good person, or an intelligent person, or a competent person. I Report an error in the passage at 1:32:48 Highlight the passage at 1:32:48

1:33:10 want people to think well of me. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:10 Highlight the passage at 1:33:10

1:33:33 So what is this me? Notice the sense of me that wants to be thought well of. Report an error in the passage at 1:33:33 Highlight the passage at 1:33:33

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:34:18 Where does this me seem to exist? Does it seem to exist outside of the body-mind complex? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:18 Highlight the passage at 1:34:18

1:34:32 Or does it seem to exist within the body-mind? Report an error in the passage at 1:34:32 Highlight the passage at 1:34:32

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:35:08 Does it seem to exist in a particular place? Report an error in the passage at 1:35:08 Highlight the passage at 1:35:08

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:36:12 Does it seem to be one thing? This me that wants to be thought well of, does it seem to be a one solid concrete thing? Does it seem to be many things? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:12 Highlight the passage at 1:36:12

1:36:34 And look instinctually. Report an error in the passage at 1:36:34 Highlight the passage at 1:36:34

1:36:44 What does our gut say? Report an error in the passage at 1:36:44 Highlight the passage at 1:36:44

1:37:01 One solid thing. Report an error in the passage at 1:37:01 Highlight the passage at 1:37:01

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:37:51 So this me who wants to be thought well of. Let's search for it. Is Report an error in the passage at 1:37:51 Highlight the passage at 1:37:51

1:38:01 it the body? Is it part of the body? Report an error in the passage at 1:38:01 Highlight the passage at 1:38:01

1:38:11 Is it the whole body, all the parts together? Is Report an error in the passage at 1:38:11 Highlight the passage at 1:38:11

1:38:18 it the physical brain? Or Report an error in the passage at 1:38:18 Highlight the passage at 1:38:18

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:39:08 is it the mind? Is this me, Report an error in the passage at 1:39:08 Highlight the passage at 1:39:08

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:39:45 next moment, Report an error in the passage at 1:39:45 Highlight the passage at 1:39:45

1:39:50 only changing? Report an error in the passage at 1:39:50 Highlight the passage at 1:39:50

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:40:39 Or is it separate from the body and the mind? If I take away the body and I take away the mind, is there still an I left over? This Report an error in the passage at 1:40:39 Highlight the passage at 1:40:39

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:41:53 I may Report an error in the passage at 1:41:53 Highlight the passage at 1:41:53

1:41:59 be found not Report an error in the passage at 1:41:59 Highlight the passage at 1:41:59

1:42:16 separate from the body and mind, Report an error in the passage at 1:42:16 Highlight the passage at 1:42:16

1:42:22 unfindable figment Report an error in the passage at 1:42:22 Highlight the passage at 1:42:22

1:42:29 of our imagination. As Report an error in the passage at 1:42:29 Highlight the passage at 1:42:29

1:42:47 Lama Zopa Rinpoche says, That Report an error in the passage at 1:42:47 Highlight the passage at 1:42:47

1:42:54 self is nowhere. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:42:54 Highlight the passage at 1:42:54

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:43:41 all sorts of mental distress, and it doesn't exist at all. It's Report an error in the passage at 1:43:41 Highlight the passage at 1:43:41

· · · silence, 1 minute

1:44:38 time to go to the airport, so we'll dedicate quickly. Page 246. Report an error in the passage at 1:44:38 Highlight the passage at 1:44:38

1:45:00 May all beings everywhere, plagued by sufferings of body and mind, obtain an ocean of happiness and joy by virtue of my merits. May no living creature suffer, commit evil, or ever fall ill. May no one be afraid or belittled with a mind weighed down by depression. May the blind see forums and the deaf hear sounds. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:00 Highlight the passage at 1:45:00

1:45:21 May those whose bodies are worn with toil be restored on finding repose. May the naked find clothing, the hungry find food. May the thirsty find water and delicious drinks. May the poor find wealth, those weak with sorrow find joy. May the forlorn find hope, constant happiness and prosperity. May there be timely rains and bountiful harvests. May all medicines be effective and wholesome prayers bear fruit. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:21 Highlight the passage at 1:45:21

1:45:51 May all who are sick and ill quickly be freed from their ailments. Whatever diseases there are in the world, may they never occur again. May the frightened cease to be afraid and those bound be free. May the powerless find power. May people think of benefiting each other for as long as space remains, for as long as sentient beings remain, until then may I too remain to dispel the miseries of the world. Report an error in the passage at 1:45:51 Highlight the passage at 1:45:51

1:46:27 Let's dedicate for the long life of all of our spiritual masters. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:27 Highlight the passage at 1:46:27

1:46:39 Healthy return of Gishandakpa from India. Report an error in the passage at 1:46:39 Highlight the passage at 1:46:39

1:47:03 Sorry we didn't have time to discuss the meditation. You've Report an error in the passage at 1:47:03 Highlight the passage at 1:47:03

1:47:12 been playing with it? perfect energy license plate, the perfect energy license Report an error in the passage at 1:47:12 Highlight the passage at 1:47:12

1:47:19 Yeah, me trying to come up with my latest in dinner. I thought that would be good, but tonight I'm saying figment. Report an error in the passage at 1:47:19 Highlight the passage at 1:47:19