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{.unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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# The Essentials of the Buddhadharma
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------A Commentary on *The Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path*
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Master Jiqun
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- The Essentials of the Buddhadharma
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- 1. Introduction
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- 1.1. Finding the Common Core
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- 1.2. The Path of Liberation and the Bodhisattva Path
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- 1.3. The Five Essential Elements of Practice
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- 2. Prologue
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- 2.1. The Significance of Studying the Three Principal Aspects of the Path
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- 2.2. Homage to the Lineage Masters
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- 2.3. The Purpose of Composing This Treatise
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- 2.4. An Exhortation to Listen Well
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- 3. Renunciation
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- 3.1. The Importance of Renunciation
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- 3.2. How to Cultivate Renunciation
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- 3.3. The Measure of Having Generated Renunciation
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- 4. Bodhicitta
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- 4.1. The Importance of Bodhicitta
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- 4.2. How to Arouse Bodhicitta
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- 5. The View of Emptiness
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- 5.1. The Importance of the View of Emptiness
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- 5.2. The Measure of Having Generated Right View
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- 6. Concluding Section
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For the keynote lecture of this Bodhi Meditation Retreat, I have chosen Master Tsongkhapa's *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path*. Master Tsongkhapa wrote three works on the stages of the path to enlightenment. In his early years, he first composed the *Great Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment*. Then, on this foundation, he extracted the essential outline to write the *Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment*, which has also been the focus of my Dharma teaching in recent years. The text we are now studying, the *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path*, is a work from Master Tsongkhapa's later years. It sets forth the three most important elements from the *Stages of the Path*. Through this study, we can come to understand the essence of Buddhist practice in the shortest possible time.
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Why have I placed special emphasis on promoting the *Stages of the Path* in recent years? The main reasons are as follows.
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{#一前言 .unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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## 1. Introduction
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{#抓住共同的核心 .unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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### 1.1. Finding the Common Core
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We know that the Buddhadharma is vast and profound. At present, there are three major language traditions in circulation: the Chinese tradition, the Tibetan tradition, and the Pali tradition. The Chinese Buddhist tradition spread mainly throughout Han China, including Japan, Korea, and other regions. The Tibetan Buddhist tradition spread primarily in Tibetan areas of China and also in Bhutan and other places; at present it also has considerable influence in Europe and America. The Pali tradition, also known as Theravada Buddhism, is practiced in Myanmar, Thailand, Sri Lanka, and elsewhere.
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Within these three major language traditions, there are also many schools. In the Chinese tradition alone there are eight major schools. Besides the well-known Pure Land school and Chan school, there are also the Consciousness-Only school, the Three Treatise school, the Tiantai school, the Huayan school, the Vinaya school, and the Esoteric school. Faced with so many schools and approaches to practice, many people find it very difficult to choose what to believe in. This is especially true in today's restless society, where each person has a confused mind and many, many wants. How exactly should we choose the right faith?
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This requires us to understand: among all these sutras, treatises, approaches, and schools, is there a common core? If we understand this core, then no matter what approach we study in the future, we will find that all variations remain true to the core, and our practice will not easily become confused. Otherwise, we will study in contradiction, feeling that different sutras and treatises are saying different things. What relationship do they actually have with one another? Most people simply cannot figure this out.
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As Buddhism has been transmitted, two guiding principles have been at work. One is according with the truth; the other is according with the capacity of beings. According with the truth means staying aligned with the truth of the Buddhadharma, without distortion or deviation. According with capacity means that as Buddhism spreads, it needs to suit different cultures and the varying dispositions of living beings, establishing different modes of expression. When we have not yet understood the core, we face too many formulations, too many modes of expression, and it is hard to avoid confusion and uncertainty. That is why understanding the common core of the Buddhadharma is especially important for students today.
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### 1.2. The Path of Liberation and the Bodhisattva Path
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Although the Buddhadharma has many sutras, treatises, approaches, and schools, it ultimately provides living beings with just two roads: the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path. The doctrines of Theravada Buddhism incline toward the practice of the path of liberation. The doctrines of Chinese and Tibetan Buddhism incline toward the practice of the bodhisattva path.
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What is the path of liberation? What is the bodhisattva path?
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The path of liberation is the road that leads to liberation. This is the core goal of Buddhist practice. The Buddhadharma includes the Śrāvakayāna and the Bodhisattvayāna, but the core goal of both is liberation. Why do we study Buddhism? It is precisely because we have the wish for liberation. The liberation that the Buddhadharma speaks of is, in its essential nature, the removal of the inner confusion of our lives---the state of not seeing ourselves clearly, not seeing the world clearly. This confusion ceaselessly produces afflictions, produces suffering, produces birth and death, produces saṃsāra.
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Once we understand this principle, we can recognize the importance of liberation. It is like when we are living in society: our minds become very unsettled because of complicated work and life, and we wish to visit a monastery to calm the mind. What is the meaning of calming the mind? It is the wish to be free of inner restlessness and affliction. In truth, this is also a manifestation of liberation. We can say that everyone has this need to some extent. When we are tired, when we are troubled, when we are lost, when we are perplexed, we all think about liberation. But because we cannot find the wisdom for ultimate liberation, we more often resort to escape.
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The liberation that Buddhism speaks of is not merely about changing our living environment. More importantly, it is about freeing ourselves from inner confusion and affliction---*this* is the true meaning of liberation. What the practice of the path of liberation does is guide us to accomplish the liberation of our lives.
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If we wish to be liberated, we must first possess the wish for liberation---that is, aspiration. Once we have this wish, we must also know: what exactly are we liberating ourselves from? Once we are clear about the object of liberation, we must then go a step further and understand: what is the capacity for liberation? Do our lives actually possess the capacity for liberation? If we do not, then liberation is hopeless. If we do, then how do we unlock this inner capacity for liberation? In the practice of the path of liberation, discipline, concentration, and wisdom are three standard elements; it is precisely these that help us gain the capacity for liberation and the wisdom of liberation.
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In addition, there is the bodhisattva path, the practice of the Mahayana Buddhadharma, whose goal is buddhahood. What exactly does buddhahood accomplish? A buddha is also called an awakened one. Attaining buddhahood means accomplishing unsurpassed bodhi. *Unsurpassed* means the highest; *bodhi* means awakening and wisdom. Thus, unsurpassed bodhi is the highest awakening, the highest wisdom---the ultimate awakening of life.
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What is the greatest difference between a buddha and a living being? It lies right between delusion and awakening, between being awake and not being awake. On this point, the *Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch* states very directly: "One moment of delusion---you are a living being; the next moment of awakening---you are a buddha." Delusion means not being awake. When the mind falls into a state of unawareness, you are a living being. When the mind is thoroughly awakened, you have become a buddha.
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So what exactly does awakening "awaken" to? Do we have the power to awaken? If we had no power to awaken, how could we ever awaken? This is absolutely crucial. Beneath the Bodhi tree, the Buddha discovered: all living beings fully possess the wisdom and virtue of the Tathāgata; it is only because of clinging and deluded thoughts that they cannot realize it. He told us that every life possesses the latent potential for buddhahood---buddha-nature. The practice of attaining buddhahood is precisely the process of unlocking this buddha-nature. The *Nirvāṇa Sūtra* says that buddha-nature is like the hidden treasure of a poor girl, or the jewel in a strongman's forehead. A poor girl actually possesses a hidden treasure; a wounded strongman actually has a jewel embedded in his forehead. The tragedy is that neither of them knows it.
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That is why the *Platform Sūtra of the Sixth Patriarch* begins by stating: "The self-nature of Bodhi is originally clear and pure. Simply use that mind, and you will straightaway accomplish buddhahood." What is the self-nature of Bodhi? It is buddha-nature, the awakened nature. Every life possesses this awakened nature. It is originally pure. You need only to recognize it, become familiar with it, and apply it, and you will be able to walk out of delusion and advance toward liberation.
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What is the difference between delusion and awakening? Delusion is losing touch with the awakened essence, falling into self-grasping, dharma-grasping, and greed, hatred, and ignorance, forming the deluded system we are now in. Awakening is recognizing the awakened essence, recognizing the potential for buddhahood. This is the beginning of walking toward unsurpassed bodhi. So attaining buddhahood is by no means empty talk---it has a foundation. That foundation is our awakened nature.
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Arousing bodhicitta and practicing the bodhisattva path is the process of taking unsurpassed bodhi as our goal and continuously unfolding our awakened nature. We must not only awaken ourselves, but also lead all living beings to awakening. Only in this way can we fully reveal our awakened nature. Therefore, in the practice of the bodhisattva path, we must awaken ourselves and awaken others, benefit ourselves and benefit others. It is not enough to awaken just ourselves. This is why the bodhisattva path is also called the Mahayana.
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*Yana* means vehicle. The Hinayana is a small vehicle; the Mahayana is a great vehicle. If you think only of liberating yourself, that is the Hinayana. If you wish to help all living beings achieve liberation together, that is the Mahayana. These are the two main roads in Buddhism. No matter how many schools there are, none goes beyond the path of liberation or the bodhisattva path. Once you learn to see things from this angle, you can reduce complexity to simplicity.
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Each school represents a system of practice, with different methods of cultivation. Among the eight schools of Chinese Buddhism, each has its own foundational scriptures. For example, the Huayan school is a system of practice built on the *Avataṃsaka Sūtra*. The Tiantai school is a system of practice built on the *Saddharma Puṇḍarīka Sūtra* (Lotus Sūtra). The Three Treatise school is a system built on the *Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras*, along with the *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā*, the *Śataśāstra*, and the *Dvādaśanikāyaśāstra* composed by the bodhisattvas Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva. The Consciousness-Only school is a system built on the *Saṃdhinirmocana Sūtra*, as well as treatises such as the *Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra* and the *Prakaraṇāryavāca Śāstra*.
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Different systems provide different angles and methods for practice. In their essential nature, none goes beyond the path of liberation or the bodhisattva path.
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### 1.3. The Five Essential Elements of Practice
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Beyond the foundational sutras and treatises, each school also has many commentaries and sub-commentaries. For people today, to carry on traditional schools like Tiantai, Huayan, or Consciousness-Only---even just reading through a single treatise is enormously difficult. Apart from the barrier of classical language, there is also the profound and abstruse doctrine. You may study for a very long time and still feel as if you are lost in clouds and mist. Under these circumstances, if we can gain a clear outline of what each school is about, study will become much easier.
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In the course of many years reflecting on the Buddhadharma, I have found that the core of every school boils down to five essential elements: first, refuge; second, aspiration; third, precepts; fourth, right view; and fifth, śamatha-vipaśyanā. Whether it is the path of liberation or the bodhisattva path, this holds true.
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First is refuge, generating faith in the Three Jewels---the Buddha, the Dharma, and the Saṅgha---including the system of practice that leads us toward liberation. To believe that through studying the Buddhadharma, through studying a particular school, we will surely be led toward liberation and the perfection of unsurpassed bodhi. This faith is the foundation of Buddhist practice.
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If we lack faith, or if our understanding and confidence are insufficient, the result will be that the Buddhadharma carries no weight or standing in our minds. In that case, the Buddhadharma will inevitably fail to influence our lives. Though we may keep studying bits of the Dharma, what truly influences and drives us remains our ingrained mistaken views, remains our old unwholesome habitual tendencies. In the end, the Buddhadharma becomes no more than an embellishment in our lives---or, put differently, it adds a touch of Buddhist color to our lives. Our character and the quality of our life are still dominated by the mistaken views and unwholesome mental states formed by our sense of self. This is a problem that exists for many who study Buddhism.
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To truly generate faith in the Three Jewels means to change the center of gravity of our lives. To shift away from self-centeredness and instead take the Three Jewels as our center. If we take the self as our center, we will invariably develop greed, hatred, and ignorance, which carry us into saṃsāra. Only by taking the Three Jewels as our center can we adjust the direction of our life and be guided toward liberation, toward bodhi.
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There are many roads in life. Just as society has all kinds of professions---industry, commerce, politics, culture---the six realms of saṃsāra also represent six roads. Each road is the result of the development of our mental processes; it is a life path formed by our views, choices, and actions. At present, we are constantly creating the karma of saṃsāra. If we take refuge in the Three Jewels, we can then re-establish the goal of our life. This is the starting point of Buddhist practice. Only from this point can we truly receive the Buddhadharma.
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Second is aspiration---that is, what kind of mind we choose to develop. In truth, our life is composed of various mental factors. We can say that everyone lives within their own inner world. Within this world, there is greed, anger, arrogance, jealousy, anxiety... Based on our thoughts and emotions, we establish different needs and pursue different kinds of lives. These mental factors cause us to develop different mental states and personalities, creating different life circumstances.
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Aspiration means choosing and developing a particular kind of mind. If you wish to have a healthy character, you must develop a wholesome mind, develop positive mental states. Buddhahood is the perfection of wisdom and compassion. If we wish to become a buddha, we must unfold wisdom and nurture compassion, only then can we be fully endowed with the noble quality of life that buddhas and bodhisattvas possess. If we go along with our present ordinary mind, we will develop greed, hatred, and ignorance, and produce an ordinary person's character.
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Every day, we choose things in the outer world and choose different ways of living, yet we neglect the choices within our own minds. For each of us, what exerts the greatest and most lasting influence is actually these mental forces. What Buddhism calls aspiration is precisely telling us how to choose and develop a healthy mind, ultimately bringing a perfected character to fulfillment. If refuge is the foundation of faith, then aspiration is the root of practice. Because genuine practice is nothing other than using the mind skillfully.
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Furthermore, precepts are also very important. They are the rules of the mental path that lead toward liberation. We know that when we drive a car, we must follow the traffic rules. If we do not follow the rules for pedestrian lanes and motor vehicle lanes, we may crash into other cars or even hit people. Within our lives, there are many habitual tendencies connected with the three lower realms. There are the seeds of anger and hatred that lead to the hell realm, the ignorant nature that leads to the animal realm, and the greed that leads to the hungry ghost realm. If we give free rein to these causes of the lower realms, in a future life we are very likely to fall into the animal realm, or even the hungry ghost and hell realms. How can we bring about the results of the three fortunate realms and continue to be born as a human or in a heaven in the future? We must observe the relevant precepts.
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In the same way, when we step onto the path of liberation, we must follow the rules of the mental path for liberation---that is, the prātimokṣa precepts. When we step onto the bodhisattva path, we must follow the rules of the mental path for the bodhisattva path---that is, the bodhisattva precepts. In truth, precepts are precisely this kind of mental-path rules. For example, the prātimokṣa precepts mainly serve to prevent unwholesome actions. The bodhisattva precepts not only prevent unwholesome actions, but also, through an institutionalized approach, actively promote wholesome actions and actions that benefit living beings. This is because many people do not have the habit of doing good deeds, nor the habit of thinking, "I want to benefit all living beings." By receiving and upholding the bodhisattva precepts, we can cultivate the habitual tendencies of a bodhisattva. So we can see that precepts are by no means optional in practice.
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We always feel that precepts are too constraining, that we do not like precepts. Why is this? It is like this: for a law-abiding citizen, no matter what the law stipulates, they will never feel constrained by it. But someone who likes to commit crimes will detest the law. As disciples of the Buddha, if we truly wish to walk the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path, we will discover that precepts help us abstain from not only unwholesome actions, but also the unwholesome habitual tendencies within our minds. This seeming form of constraint is actually a form of genuine care.
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Living beings are truly pitiable. Faced with the chaotic emotions and unwholesome desires within, they often cannot be their own masters. It is like someone who has developed the habit of alcoholism or gambling: they are unwilling and unable to change. This is because such habits represent the powerful force created by ignorance. Precepts, by way of restraining our behavior, help us steer clear of unwholesome needs and thereby halt the growth of these habitual tendencies. This is very important for both practice and life.
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The refuge, aspiration, and precepts described above are the common foundation for studying and practicing the Buddhadharma. When we begin studying Buddhism, we do not necessarily need to choose a particular school right away. We need to build the foundation. When I teach the *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path* and promote the *Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment*, these are all part of building the foundation for practice. Once the foundation is in place, we can then go a step further and choose a school for deeper study.
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What each school provides us mainly falls into two aspects: right view, and śamatha-vipaśyanā. For example, the Buddhadharma's teachings on cause and effect, impermanence, selflessness, the emptiness of dependent origination, the consciousness-only nature of all phenomena, and that all living beings possess buddha-nature---all of these belong to the content of right view. That is to say, they are the view that sees things as they truly are, the wisdom that guides us to see clearly the truth of life and the world. Ordinary people all take what they see with their own eyes as real, not knowing that they are looking at the world through tinted lenses. What we see has already been processed by this deluded system of ours, processed by mistaken views and emotions. The Buddhadharma holds that this mistaken understanding of life itself and of the world is the very root that produces afflictions and suffering.
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How can we eliminate afflictions and suffering? The Buddhadharma tells us to establish correct understanding.
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Correct understanding comprises no more than two aspects. One is understanding the truth of life. For example, every day we say "I" and pay attention to ourselves, but have we ever asked: who am I? What exactly represents me? The second is understanding the truth of the world. We tend to process things through our own filters, treating impermanent phenomena as permanent and painful things as pleasurable. Only when we clearly recognize these can we break free from the state of delusion.
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The Buddhadharma tells us that correct views will develop into wisdom, while mistaken views will develop into afflictions. Only by establishing correct understanding can we make ourselves wise and healthy. The right view that the Buddhadharma provides helps us understand the truth of life and the world from different angles. Of course, the understanding we gain from studying the teachings is largely conceptual. How can we transform this conceptual knowledge into right mindfulness, into our own capacity? The key lies in śamatha-vipaśyanā.
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And so, in the practice of any school---whether the path of liberation or the bodhisattva path---it never goes beyond these five essential elements: refuge, aspiration, precepts, right view, and śamatha-vipaśyanā. Let us consider: can we find any other content of practice beyond these five? The renunciation, bodhicitta, and view of emptiness that Master Tsongkhapa distilled in the *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path* likewise do not go beyond these five elements---they simply present them in a more condensed form. Among them, renunciation and bodhicitta belong to the element of aspiration, while the view of emptiness encompasses both right view and śamatha-vipaśyanā. This is because right view exists at both the worldly and supramundane levels, and supramundane right view is inseparable from śamatha-vipaśyanā.
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Studying the *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path* can help us quickly grasp the essentials of the Buddhadharma. I recommend that everyone memorize these verses.
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{#二序论 .unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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## 2. Prologue
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First, let us recite them together with a sincere heart:
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> Homage to all the venerable supreme masters!
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The essential meaning of all the Buddha's words, the path praised by all the noble bodhisattvas, the great way sought by those who wish for liberation---to the best of my ability I shall now explain it.
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Those not attached to the pleasures of the three realms, who strive to fulfill the purpose of this precious human life, who resolve to follow the path that delights the Buddha: you who have the Dharma connection, listen with a pure mind.
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Without renunciation, there is no way to still the longing for the pleasures of the ocean of existence. Because craving for the pleasures of existence binds all beings, first you must seek renunciation.
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This precious human life so hard to find, and life's impermanence---by meditating on these, you can remove attachment to this life. The unfailing nature of karma, and the suffering of saṃsāra---by contemplating these, you can remove attachment to future lives.
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When, through such practice, you no longer feel even for a moment any hope for the glories of saṃsāra, and day and night you long for liberation alone---when this arises, you have generated renunciation.
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If renunciation lacks bodhicitta, it cannot become the cause of the bliss of unsurpassed bodhi. Therefore, the wise arouse bodhicitta.
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Swept along by the four great torrents, bound tight by the hard-to-stop ropes of karma, trapped in the iron-mesh net of self-grasping, shrouded in the great darkness of ignorance---
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In the boundless ocean of existence, born again and again, ceaselessly tormented by the three kinds of suffering---seeing that all mother beings are in this condition, reflect on this, and arouse the supreme mind.
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Without the wisdom that realizes the way things truly are, even though you have cultivated renunciation and bodhicitta, you cannot cut the root of existence. Therefore, strive to understand dependent origination.
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Whoever sees that all things, worldly and beyond the world, arise from causes as results, unfailingly, and that the objects of clinging are utterly without basis---they have entered the path that delights the Buddha.
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As long as you see the two---the unfailing appearance of dependent origination, and emptiness free from all assertions---as separate and contradictory, you have not yet realized the Buddha's intent.
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When, at last, these two realizations arise at once, without alternation, and merely seeing dependent origination as unfailing brings the certitude that destroys all grasping to objects---at that time, your analysis of the view is complete.
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Moreover, appearance dispels the extreme of existence, and emptiness dispels the extreme of non-existence. When you know how emptiness manifests as cause and effect, you will not be carried away by views that cling to extremes.
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Once you have truly realized the essential points of these Three Principal Aspects of the Path, rely on solitude and apply yourself with diligence---quickly accomplish the ultimate goal.
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Before explaining the content of the Three Principal Aspects in earnest, there are two verses that mainly explain why the author composed this treatise and the importance of practicing the Buddhadharma for our lives, encouraging us to practice diligently in accordance with its content. Now, let us begin unpacking the treatise.
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### 2.1. The Significance of Studying the Three Principal Aspects of the Path
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"*The Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path*." The Three Principal Aspects refer to renunciation, bodhicitta, and the view of emptiness. A *song* (*ge*) is a verse form. When Indian masters composed treatises, they would sometimes first present the content in prose and then summarize it in verse; at other times, they would first compose the verses and then interpret them through prose. Thus, the verse form is a common literary genre in Buddhism.
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"Composed by Master Tsongkhapa." Master Tsongkhapa was the founder of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. His thought primarily inherits from the Kadam school founded by the Venerable Atisha, and its characteristics are emphasis on stages, emphasis on foundation, and emphasis on precepts. So why did Master Tsongkhapa compose treatises related to the *Stages of the Path*? The main reason was that at the time, Tibetan Buddhism was showing a trend of neglecting stages and foundation.
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Present-day Chinese Buddhism likewise has these problems. Many people are fond of the Chan school. They feel that pointing directly at the mind and seeing one's nature to become a buddha is particularly direct and exhilarating, and that there is no need for much formality. But we must understand that Chan sets requirements on the capacity of the student; it is meant to receive those of the sharpest faculties and highest wisdom. What does "sharpest faculties and highest wisdom" mean? It means that the dust on your mind is very thin, and the self-nature of Bodhi can manifest from time to time. This is like when the clouds are very thin: sunlight can easily shine through. If the cloud cover is thick, the sunlight cannot break through.
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We are the same. Although we fully possess the wisdom and virtue of the Tathāgata, our ignorance has created thick layers of clinging and affliction within our minds. If we wish to recognize the awakened essence, we must break through the cloud cover of delusion. People with sharp faculties are those whose cloud cover is thin; people with dull faculties are those whose cloud cover is thick. If our own faculties are insufficient and yet we are still drawn to Chan, we will actually not be able to make progress in practice. In the end, it tends to turn into mere lip-service Chan, or just sitting there lost in deluded thoughts or dozing off.
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We will end up speaking awakened words from within a deluded system, when in truth this awakening has nothing to do with us at all. Although at the moment of speaking, we may feel a certain thrill inside and find it quite satisfying to say these things, when we actually confront life situations, our ignorance, our afflictions, our greed, hatred, and ignorance are not one bit less than anyone else's.
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Studying the *Stages of the Path* can build a ladder for our future practice of Chan or other approaches, helping us transform from dull faculties to sharp ones. In fact, a person's faculties are not fixed and unchanging. If your faculties are sharp in this life, it is not that you were *born* with sharp faculties, but rather that they represent the accumulated practice of past lives. Even if your faculties are sharp now, if you do not take care to maintain them but instead ceaselessly produce the afflictions of greed, hatred, and ignorance, your sharp faculties will become dull. It is like a knife: if every day you hack away at bamboo, hack away at stones, hack away at all kinds of things, but never sharpen it, it will surely become dull. When the Buddhadharma speaks of impermanence, it is telling us that sharp faculties, if not protected, can become dull, and dull faculties, through continuous effort, can also become sharp.
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This includes receiving the bodhisattva precepts. Here too, there are serious problems that arise from neglecting the stages. To become a bodhisattva practitioner, we must first receive the bodhicitta precepts, arousing the noble wish of altruism---that is, the wish that "I want to become a buddha, I want to benefit all living beings." Only when bodhicitta has been cultivated to a certain degree are we truly qualified to receive and uphold the bodhisattva precepts. Without this wish, even if we receive the bodhisattva precepts, it is merely gaining a qualification on the surface.
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The greatest hallmark of a bodhisattva is compassion. If you have not aroused bodhicitta and do not know how to cultivate compassion, what kind of bodhisattva are you? The Consciousness-Only teachings explain that to become a bodhisattva, one must possess the bodhisattva disposition---a delight in helping others. We sometimes say of someone, "They really have the heart of a bodhisattva." This is actually praising their compassion. For such a person, becoming a bodhisattva is relatively easy. Conversely, some people are very selfish, unwilling to pull out even a single hair to benefit the world. Such people lack the bodhisattva disposition. If they wish to become a bodhisattva, it is not absolutely impossible, but it is very difficult and they must redouble their efforts.
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The reason we promote the *Stages of the Path* is precisely because we see that in the course of study and practice, people pay insufficient attention to the foundation and the stages. In Chinese Buddhism, the Chan, Tiantai, Huayan, Consciousness-Only, and Three Treatise schools also have many brilliant methods of contemplation, but because the foundation and stages are lacking, people cannot actually put these contemplations into practice.
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In short, the reason Master Tsongkhapa wrote the *Stages of the Path* and ultimately the *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path* is precisely the reason we should promote this teaching today. We can say that promoting this teaching represents the need of the entire Buddhist community.
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### 2.2. Homage to the Lineage Masters
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> Homage to all the venerable supreme masters!
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According to Indian tradition, before composing a treatise, the author should pay homage to the masters of the lineage. The intellectual sources of Master Tsongkhapa's *Stages of the Path* mainly inherit two great traditions: the profound view and the vast conduct. The profound view represents the tradition of the Emptiness school, which comes from Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva. In Buddhism, Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva symbolizes great wisdom, and is also known as "Mañjuśrī Bodhisattva of Great Wisdom." In addition, there are the patriarchs Nāgārjuna and Āryadeva, who, based on the thought of the *Prajñāpāramitā Sūtras*, wrote many treatises to help us understand: all dependently arisen phenomena that we see are empty, without any fixed and unchanging essence. This thought of emptiness of self-nature is a profound penetration of all phenomena; it is the wisdom that recognizes the truth of things. This truth is also called reality in the Buddhadharma---that is, the true face. The relevant content is included in the section on "the view of emptiness." In the *Middle-Length Treatise* and the *Great Treatise*, it mainly belongs to the "insight" portion of śamatha-vipaśyanā.
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In addition, there is the vast conduct---that is, the vast practices of a bodhisattva. As a bodhisattva practitioner, one must arouse a noble wish. How noble? It is the wish that "I want to benefit all living beings, I want to help all living beings be free from the suffering of saṃsāra, free from the confusion and afflictions of life." Then, based on this wish, one performs all kinds of actions that benefit living beings. The thought of the vast conduct mainly comes from the Yogācāra and Consciousness-Only scriptures. Those who have watched Qian Wenzhong's talks on the *Great Tang Records on the Western Regions* will know that when Master Xuanzang journeyed to India to obtain scriptures, what he primarily wished to study was the *Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra*. This treatise, composed by Maitreya Bodhisattva, comprises one hundred fascicles and is the core text of the vast conduct system. Its "Bodhisattva Grounds" section, which is all about how to learn to be a bodhisattva, is rich and comprehensive, and serves as an important guide for our practice of the bodhisattva path.
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Within Master Tsongkhapa's system of thought, another major influence was the Venerable Atisha and his *Lamp for the Path to Awakening*. That treatise lays out the essential elements and stages that a complete course of practice must possess. The Venerable Atisha placed great emphasis on refuge and bodhicitta, and on the foundations of the Buddhadharma. Because he taught refuge in Tibet over a long period, he became known as the "Refuge Lama." Many Buddhists may think: who doesn't understand refuge? Why would you need to teach it? This is because our understanding of refuge is very superficial. In truth, the entire practice of the Buddhadharma is inseparable from the Three Jewels, inseparable from the meaning of refuge. There is profound significance here. Furthermore, in response to the tendency to disregard karma and its effects, the Venerable Atisha once devoted special attention to teaching karma and its effects. In response to the tendency to disregard bodhicitta, the Venerable Atisha also vigorously promoted bodhicitta. All of these elements were inherited in the system of practice that Master Tsongkhapa constructed.
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Because of these lineages, the *Stages of the Path* and the *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path* that we are now studying are likewise characterized by emphasis on foundation, emphasis on stages, and emphasis on bodhicitta. Understanding that this teaching comes from a pure lineage can help us build faith in the teaching and better understand and accept it. Now let us continue unpacking the verses.
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### 2.3. The Purpose of Composing This Treatise
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The essential meaning of all the Buddha's words, the path praised by all the noble bodhisattvas, the great way sought by those who wish for liberation---to the best of my ability I shall now explain it.
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This verse tells us that Master Tsongkhapa's purpose in composing this treatise was to help us quickly grasp the heart essence of the Buddhadharma.
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In the *Middle-Length Treatise on the Stages of the Path to Enlightenment*, when discussing "the special qualities of this treatise," four characteristics are summarized. The third point states that this treatise and related works can help us quickly grasp the profound intent of the Buddha's teachings. What is meant by profound intent? It is the quintessence and heart essence of the Buddhadharma. And the *Three Principal Aspects of the Path* is the most essential treatise within the Stages of the Path system---the essence of the essence.
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"The essential meaning of all the Buddha's words." The Buddha's words---what is their quintessence, their heart essence?
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Many people, seeing that Buddhism has so many sutras and treatises, while Christianity has only one Bible and Islam only one Quran, wonder: can Buddhism also have a single definitive scripture? With so many theories in the Buddhadharma, what is the core? Every sutra and treatise has many terms and concepts; for someone who has not practiced over a long period, after studying them, one often ends up not knowing where to turn, let alone being able to integrate them thoroughly. To thoroughly integrate the Buddhadharma requires not only scholarship in the doctrine but also genuine experiential realization. Otherwise, one can only become a scholar---researching and comparing, but in the end, everything still remains disconnected from everything else.
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The heart essence that Master Tsongkhapa reveals to us in this treatise is precisely the Three Principal Aspects of the Path: renunciation, bodhicitta, and the view of emptiness.
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Combining renunciation with the view of emptiness forms the essential content of the path of liberation. Renunciation is a wish, but it still needs to be transformed into the capacity for renunciation. That capacity is the view of emptiness, which is also the core of Buddhist practice. Upholding precepts and cultivating concentration are all for the sake of realizing the view of emptiness, and it is through this that liberation and the knowledge of liberation are accomplished.
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Combining bodhicitta with the view of emptiness constitutes the two great cores of the Mahayana Buddhadharma. What does attaining buddhahood accomplish? Precisely the great wisdom and great compassion that are perfected in a buddha. Among these, the view of emptiness helps us accomplish wisdom. And through the cultivation of bodhicitta---generating the wish "I want to benefit living beings, to help living beings advance toward liberation," and putting it into practice through noble altruistic action---we can bring to fulfillment the quality of great loving-kindness and great compassion. Moreover, in the process of benefiting living beings, self-grasping is weakened, which is also conducive to unlocking wisdom.
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Although Buddhism has many approaches to practice, when brought back to the core, it is none other than cultivating wisdom and cultivating compassion. Only by accomplishing wisdom do we have the capacity to remove the confusion and afflictions within our lives and to better benefit living beings. Otherwise, what can we rely on to help others? If we have not accomplished wisdom, if we have not accomplished liberation, we are no better than "a clay bodhisattva crossing a river---hardly able to save itself." Thus it is clear that although the Buddhist scriptures are numerous, the core goes no further than renunciation, bodhicitta, and the view of emptiness. The refuge and precepts within the five essential elements are the foundations of practice, and must ultimately be carried into practice along the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path.
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We must deeply believe that the Three Principal Aspects are indeed the heart essence of the Buddhadharma. Just as, in war, there are crucial fortifications that must be taken, all our efforts in practice serve this purpose. If we do not understand this point, even though we may do many things, they might each go their own way and never converge on the path of practice. Or, if you do them while grasping at appearances, you may, in the very process of doing them, develop an ordinary mind and deviate from the goal of Buddhist practice.
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To do anything well, we must know its center of gravity, its goal, and its method. Renunciation, bodhicitta, and the view of emptiness are not only the content of the *Song of the Three Principal Aspects of the Path*, and the center of gravity of the *Stages of the Path*---they are also the center of gravity, the goal, and the method of the entire practice of the Buddhadharma.
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But if our study remains on the pages of a book and we merely grasp it as knowledge, it is useless. In studying the Three Principal Aspects, we need to bring renunciation, bodhicitta, and the wisdom of emptiness to fulfillment in our mental continuum. This is what matters most. It is just like the Three Jewels: there are the outer Three Jewels, and there are also the inner Three Jewels. When we first begin studying Buddhism, we need to rely on the outer Three Jewels. But this is only an expedient means to help us recognize and unlock the inner Three Jewels. The ultimate focus is each person's own mind.
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"This is the path praised by all the noble bodhisattvas." We must recognize that the Three Principal Aspects are indeed the essence of the Buddhadharma. This center of gravity and these stages of practice are praised by all buddhas and bodhisattvas of the ten directions. The practice of all buddhas and bodhisattvas must also center around renunciation, bodhicitta, and the view of emptiness. In his time, it was after seeing birth, aging, sickness, and death, and after seeing the illusory nature of worldly glory, wealth, and status, that the Buddha left home to practice. This was the process of renunciation. In the course of his practice, he saw the myriad living beings suffering in saṃsāra, and so he made the vow not only to liberate himself but also to help all living beings attain liberation. This was the sublimation from renunciation to bodhicitta. Then, seated in meditation beneath the Bodhi tree, he saw the morning star and awakened to his true nature. This was the perfect realization of the view of emptiness. Thus we can see: this is a core path of practice, and also a swift path---a path praised by all buddhas and bodhisattvas.
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"The great way sought by those who wish for liberation." If you wish to walk out of life's confusion, to advance toward liberation, to advance toward unsurpassed bodhi, the Three Principal Aspects are a regular, main road. Buddhism also encourages expedient means, which are like side roads. But all side roads must eventually converge on this core; otherwise, they will deviate from the goal. In the course of Buddhism's transmission, some schools have at times gone astray precisely because they did not sufficiently recognize these centers of gravity. If we firmly grasp the Three Principal Aspects, we will not deviate in our practice.
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"To the best of my ability I shall now explain it." This is Master Tsongkhapa's humility: based on my present capacity, I will share with you what the core content of the Buddhadharma is.
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The above introduces the significance of studying the *Three Principal Aspects of the Path*---it can help us quickly grasp the essence of the Buddhadharma.
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### 2.4. An Exhortation to Listen Well
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Those not attached to the pleasures of the three realms, who strive to fulfill the purpose of this precious human life, who resolve to follow the path that delights the Buddha: you who have the Dharma connection, listen with a pure mind.
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This verse is Master Tsongkhapa exhorting us to use this present precious human life of leisure and endowment to do the most meaningful thing---that is, to study and practice the Buddhadharma, to study and practice the Three Principal Aspects of the Path.
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"Those not attached to the pleasures of the three realms." The three realms are the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. The pleasures of the three realms are the pleasures within these three realms. Why are the three realms called the three existences (*tribhava*)? *Existence* (*bhava*) means contaminated, flawed. Why are they flawed? Because the pleasures of beings in the three realms are all built on the foundation of confusion and affliction. Among them, there are the pleasures of desire and the pleasures of meditative concentration. Beings in the desire realm mainly pursue the pleasures of desire, such as the pleasures that family, wealth, status, food and sex, and comfortable surroundings bring. We cling to the pleasures of the three realms, chasing after them and indulging in them, content to enjoy wealth, enjoy power, enjoy relationships, enjoy family, with no higher aspiration. But from the perspective of the Buddhadharma, such pleasures are not ultimate.
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First, these pleasures have only temporary meaning for us, not lasting meaning. Second, enjoying these pleasures comes with side effects. This is because such pleasures depend on specific conditions to arise, but everything in the world is impermanent; everything changes. If we cling to these pleasures, the moment the conditions change is the moment suffering arrives. Therefore, to depend on any worldly pleasure is to guarantee suffering for oneself. Third, excessive concern for these pleasures means devoting all one's time to pursuing them. If someone clings to the pleasures that wealth brings, they must pursue wealth every day. If someone clings to the pleasures that status brings, they must constantly busy themselves for status. If someone clings to the pleasures that relationships and family bring, they must spend their entire life managing that relationship, that family.
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Although wealth, status, relationships, and family do have some value in life, that value is very brief. It is precisely because beings in the desire realm cling to the pleasures of the three realms and indulge in the pursuit of wealth, status, relationships, family, and even eating, drinking, and entertainment, that they keep cycling through the three realms, unable to climb out of this quagmire. When we recognize that the pleasures of the three realms are temporary and not ultimate---and are even, in their essential nature, suffering---we can refrain from clinging to them. Only by walking out of saṃsāra can our lives have a higher aspiration and a more far-reaching goal.
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"Who strive to fulfill the purpose of this precious human life." Precious human life refers to a human life of leisure and endowment---that is, a human life with the capacity and the time to hear the Buddhadharma. First, there must be capacity: your mind is sound, your understanding is sound, and your body and senses are sound. Beyond capacity, there must also be time. If you are busy making a living every day and have no time, that will not work either. These are the two basic conditions a precious human life must fulfill.
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Just how much value does such a human life contain? This may seem like a philosophical question, but it is actually a very practical one. Why do I say this? Because everyone has values. What we do and do not do each day, what we want and do not want---our entire life is built on choices. What is the standard behind these choices? It is what you regard as important or unimportant. Whatever you deem important, you will choose to do. Whatever you deem unimportant, you will not choose to do. What is important means it has value; what is unimportant means it lacks value.
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There is no denying that everything in life also has value. When we are thirsty, we drink water, and that mouthful of water has value. When we are hungry, we eat, and that meal has value. But these values are very transient. If we cling to them, they may even bring negative effects. For example, using unhealthy means to pursue pleasure, wealth, and status will bring endless trouble and distress to our lives.
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If we take everything in our present reality as the value of human life, we will find that in the face of death, all of it becomes pale and powerless, because we cannot take anything with us. So what, then, is the meaning and value of being alive? Studying Buddhism helps us recognize that the identity we now have---especially a human life with the capacity and time to hear the Buddhadharma---is a priceless treasure that can realize the greatest value of life. Every life contains the latent potential for buddhahood; every life possesses buddha-nature. The meaning of this precious human life is precisely to help us unlock our inner buddha-nature, to free ourselves from life's confusion, afflictions, and suffering, to accomplish a life of liberation and ease, and then to help countless thousands of others accomplish the same. Let us think: is there any value in the world greater than this?
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Once we recognize the immense value contained in this precious human life, we should strive with diligence to realize that value. People in the world will rise early and work late into the night for a little immediate gain. If we have recognized the value of this human life and still refuse to exert ourselves, still cling to trivial worldly benefits, are we not terribly foolish, terribly short-sighted? This is Master Tsongkhapa's exhortation to us.
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"Who resolve to follow the path that delights the Buddha." To resolve means to set one's determination. We have already recognized the value of human life, and at the same time recognized that the pleasures of the three realms are contaminated and not ultimate. We should therefore resolve to follow the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path that the Buddha has pointed out for us, and practice with diligence. And the core of the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path is precisely the Three Principal Aspects. Practicing in accordance with them can swiftly guide us onto the path of practice.
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"You who have the Dharma connection, listen with a pure mind." Those who have the Dharma connection are those endowed with a connection to the Dharma. That everyone has been able to come here and hear the Buddhadharma shows that you all have a connection with this teaching. Since you already have this connection, how can you best receive the Buddhadharma? You must have the right attitude and approach.
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Buddhism calls our mind-body continuum the five aggregates. *Aggregate* means various elements gathered together, comprising both material and mental components. The material component is the form aggregate. The mental components are the feeling aggregate, the perception aggregate, the mental formations aggregate, and the consciousness aggregate, composed of various mental activities. Buddhism holds that the primary factor in the cycle of birth and death is ignorance. So our life is also a product---a product manufactured by ignorance. Without understanding ourselves, we have formed the present mind-body. This "I" that we now cling to as ourselves is not the real "I." It is merely a substitute we have created because we do not understand ourselves. It is contaminated and imperfect.
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What is the greatest problem for human beings? It is not understanding ourselves. Because we do not understand, we produce mistaken views and all kinds of afflictions, thereby ceaselessly manufacturing suffering. We could say that life is a machine that endlessly produces suffering. What Buddhist practice does is use the Buddhadharma to remake this life product.
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But here lies the difficulty: how can we receive the pure, unadulterated Buddhadharma? The greatest characteristic of ordinary beings is that they have formed a particular cognitive model of themselves and the world. Whatever we receive is usually processed and altered by this existing model. It is like a person wearing tinted glasses: whatever they see is altered by the glasses---it is not seen as it really is. In the process of receiving the Buddhadharma, the same problem can arise, preventing us from receiving the Buddhadharma as it really is.
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How can we avoid this fault and receive the pure Buddhadharma? When listening to the Dharma, we must avoid three faults. In the *Stages of the Path*, this is covered as part of the preliminary foundation.
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The first fault is the overturned vessel. Think of a cup: the cup must be facing upward to hold water. If the cup is turned upside down, can it hold water? If, while listening to the Dharma, your mind is elsewhere, or you are dozing off, or your thoughts are wandering, the Dharma cannot enter your mind.
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The second fault is the soiled vessel. Suppose the cup already contains a good deal of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar, and you then pour water into it. Does the water you pour in still taste like water? It will surely take on the taste of oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar. In the same way, if we receive the Buddhadharma while holding preconceived ideas, what we receive will likewise be processed by mistaken views and emotions---it will not be the pure Dharma.
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The third fault is the leaky vessel. If the cup has a crack, then even as we pour water in, it is also continuously leaking out, and in the end nothing much remains. After everyone listens to the Buddhadharma, if you do not go on to reflect deeply on it, the teachings you have heard will not take root in your scattered mind or be transformed into your own understanding and views. Only through proper reflection can the Buddhadharma be internalized into our views, our mental states, and our character.
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Buddhas and bodhisattvas are both practitioners of the Dharma and embodiments of the Dharma. Having received the Buddhadharma, we too must, through reflection and meditation, internalize the Dharma into our own views and even our character, gradually transforming ourselves from ordinary beings into sages. This is a profound transformation of life, and it must be accomplished through the Dharma. The prerequisite, however, is to let the Dharma enter our minds as it truly is. Otherwise, everything that follows is out of the question.
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There are two ways of studying the Dharma. One is to receive the Dharma and then use it to understand and transform our own lives. The other is to treat the Dharma we study merely as knowledge, with very little change to our views and mental states. In that case, the Dharma may itself become a condition that reinforces our pride. We may feel that because we understand the Dharma, we are a cut above others. The Dharma was originally meant to remedy the flaws in our character, but because we cannot use it correctly, we instead feel that, having the Dharma, this self of ours is superior to others. In that case, the Dharma will be co-opted by self-grasping and become nourishment to sustain it.
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In summary, once we have recognized the value of this human life, we must set our determination on practicing the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path. At the same time, we must hear and receive the Buddhadharma with the right attitude.
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{#三出离心 .unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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## 3. Renunciation
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Next we enter the main body of the text. The first section is on renunciation, comprising three verses.
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Without renunciation, there is no way to still the longing for the pleasures of the ocean of existence. Because craving for the pleasures of existence binds all beings, first you must seek renunciation.
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This precious human life so hard to find, and life's impermanence---by meditating on these, you can remove attachment to this life. The unfailing nature of karma, and the suffering of saṃsāra---by contemplating these, you can remove attachment to future lives.
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When, through such practice, you no longer feel even for a moment any hope for the glories of saṃsāra, and day and night you long for liberation alone---when this arises, you have generated renunciation.
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In the *Stages of the Path*, renunciation belongs to the content of the intermediate-level practitioner. What the intermediate-level practitioner works on has two aspects. One is generating renunciation; the other is accomplishing the capacity for liberation---otherwise, one still cannot become free. The content related to renunciation is what we are now introducing, while the content for accomplishing the capacity for liberation will be introduced in the section on the view of emptiness.
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### 3.1. The Importance of Renunciation
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Without renunciation, there is no way to still the longing for the pleasures of the ocean of existence. Because craving for the pleasures of existence binds all beings, first you must seek renunciation.
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Why, in the practice of the path of liberation, must we first generate renunciation?
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"Without renunciation, there is no way to still..." Without renunciation means lacking renunciation or being unable to arouse it. What is renunciation? It is the wish that "I want to leave saṃsāra behind; I want to be free from the inner confusion and afflictions of my life." Many people may think that renunciation is for monastics and has little to do with lay practitioners. Let us then ask ourselves: do we want to be free from afflictions? If we want to be free from afflictions, if we want to free ourselves from life's confusion, then we must have renunciation. I believe that freedom from confusion and affliction is a shared concern for all who study Buddhism, not just for monastics. It is equally important for lay practitioners.
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Without renunciation, "there is no way to still." Still *what*? The next line tells us:
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"...the longing for the pleasures of the ocean of existence." The ocean of existence means the great ocean of the three realms: the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm. Within these realms there are all kinds of pleasures: the pleasures of eating and drinking, the pleasures of family, the pleasures of relationships, the pleasures of status, the pleasures of wealth, the pleasures of one's living environment, the pleasures of enjoying fine cars and fine homes. All of these belong to the pleasures of saṃsāra. Let us consider: do we not pursue these pleasures every day? Indeed, everyone in the world takes the pursuit of such pleasures as the goal of life. We study, work, earn money, start families---all our efforts are ultimately for survival, for living a good life, for eating well, dressing well, living well, for having a family and a career, for getting ahead.
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Because we care about the pleasures within saṃsāra, we spend all our time desperately chasing them. Without renunciation, there is no way to calm this craving. Only by deeply realizing that the pleasures within saṃsāra are fleeting and that their essential nature is suffering can we truly give rise to renunciation. Beyond this, we must also find a more ultimate form of happiness and a more meaningful dimension of life---this point is extremely important. Otherwise, what reason would we have to give up the pleasures right in front of us?
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So, are there pleasures within saṃsāra? The Buddhadharma tells us that there are, but such pleasures are very brief and come with negative side effects, bringing endless trouble. Let us think: is this not the case? Only by seeing through the nature of the pleasures of the three realms and seeing that the very nature of saṃsāra is suffering can we cease chasing after such pleasures and arouse renunciation.
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"Because craving for the pleasures of existence binds all beings." The pleasures of existence are the pleasures of saṃsāra. Every person is bound by different things. Some are bound by their children, some by family, some by status, some by career, some by relationships. If we care about the pleasures of family, we will be bound by family. If we care about the pleasures of career, we will be bound by career... Let us ask ourselves: why is it that our minds are always full of concerns, always full of worries, always wavering between gain and loss? Who bound you? Who put you in this state? In truth, it is clinging that has bound you.
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As we cling, the force generated by this clinging and craving drives us to ceaselessly chase the object of our clinging. In the process of chasing, this clinging and craving increase. While they increase, they in turn drive us to chase further. In the process of chasing, clinging and craving increase even more... This process is the very mechanism of saṃsāra.
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In truth, saṃsāra is simply repetition---life's dreary repetition. We keep repeating within the cravings we ourselves have created: gamblers think about gambling every day, gamers think about gaming every day, artists think about how to create every day, money-makers think about how to make money every day, those who seek power think about how to pursue power every day... Everyone is trapped within their own sensations, unable to jump out. Because of this clinging, when circumstances change, suffering and affliction arise---we are bound by the pleasures of existence.
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"First you must seek renunciation." Only when we realize that the pleasures of existence are, in their essential nature, suffering can we truly arouse renunciation. The liberation that Buddhism speaks of is precisely helping us jump out of craving and clinging.
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Everyone here is a lay practitioner. When you hear the word "renunciation," some of you may feel afraid: does this mean I have to become a monastic? Actually, you can arouse renunciation without leaving the household life. Once we see through the nature of saṃsāra, we can live in the world with an ordinary mind and act with a compassionate heart. We can still live a worldly life without bringing needless suffering upon ourselves. Because all suffering and clinging are manifestations of caring too much. Whatever degree of clinging and concern we have, when conditions change, we will suffer to that same degree. If we have ten parts of clinging and concern, when conditions change, we will suffer ten parts of harm.
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If we have renunciation, if we clearly understand the realities and needs of our present life, then although we live a worldly life, knowing that everything arises from causes and conditions, we can face all favorable and adverse circumstances with a detached attitude. Even if we do many things, our minds will not cling to them. When the mind does not cling to outer objects, changes in outer conditions cannot harm us.
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In short, renunciation helps us leave behind the inner confusion and afflictions of our lives. After studying the wisdom of the Buddhadharma, our confusion will gradually diminish. When we can view problems through the wisdom of the Dharma, our afflictions will grow fewer. In life, we must face all sorts of issues---family, career, and so on. What impact each issue has on you depends crucially on how you view it. If we view problems through mistaken views, we will ceaselessly produce afflictions. If we view them through the wisdom of the Buddhadharma, no problem will bring affliction---in that very moment, there is liberation. Therefore, wise views are extremely important.
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### 3.2. How to Cultivate Renunciation
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This precious human life so hard to find, and life's impermanence---by meditating on these, you can remove attachment to this life. The unfailing nature of karma, and the suffering of saṃsāra---by contemplating these, you can remove attachment to future lives.
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What exactly should we renounce? There are two main aspects. One is the attachment and craving for this present life. The other is the attachment and craving for future lives. Either one will steer us into saṃsāra. To cultivate renunciation, we must free ourselves from both kinds of attachment and craving.
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"This precious human life so hard to find, and life's impermanence." First, we must contemplate how difficult it is to obtain a precious human life. This is because the form our future life takes depends entirely on our own karma. Over the course of endless continuity of life, we have created a great many causes leading to the three lower realms. If such karma ripens, we will certainly fall. Yet the wholesome karma we have cultivated that leads to a human life is quite scarce. This is why the sutras say that living beings who obtain a human life are extremely few, while those who do not are extremely many.
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The Buddha once asked his attendant Ānanda: "Which do you think is greater---the amount of soil on my fingernail, or the amount of soil on the entire earth?" Ānanda replied, "Of course, the soil of the earth is far greater." The Buddha told him: "Living beings who obtain a human life are like the soil on my fingernail. Living beings who do not obtain a human life are like the soil on the entire earth." From this we can see how very difficult it is to obtain a human identity.
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We have now obtained this identity that allows us to study Buddhism. We should make good use of it to accomplish the transformation of our lives. If we live only for survival, for living a good life, for indulging our desires---animals can do that too. From the perspective of how rare and precious this human life is, we should not wallow in the pleasures right before our eyes, spending our entire lives chasing the pleasures that desires bring. We should pursue a higher meaning of life.
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"Life's impermanence" tells us that this precious human life is very easily lost. Whether our life itself or the happiness in front of us, both can vanish in the blink of an eye. These days we often hear people around us saying, so-and-so has cancer, so-and-so has cancer... When we are healthy, we feel that everything in the present is so lively, so solid. In truth, this life is extremely fragile. This is why the *Stages of the Path* offers three angles to tell us how we should face death squarely.
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First, we must recognize: death is certain. Ordinary people are unwilling to accept this fact; they always feel that death has nothing to do with them. Why are so many people caught off guard when death comes? It is because they have always thought that death is other people's business and has nothing to do with themselves---or at least that it is something in the distant future. They have not prepared at all. So we must face this reality squarely: death is certain; there is no one who will not die. In another fifty or a hundred years, every one of us will have to report to some other place.
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Second, *when* death will come is uncertain. Especially today, beyond natural and man-made disasters, there are also food safety issues, all kinds of epidemics, and so on---there are far too many factors that can cause death. When I see cars speeding along the highway, I think: one moment of carelessness and you could be driving off into another world. So we should not assume we will live to eighty or ninety. It is truly uncertain.
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Third, when the moment of death arrives, all the things we now strive for and manage---our career, our relationships, our family, our social connections---not a single one can be taken with us.
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"By meditating on these, you can remove attachment to this life." After examining the value of life through the lens of death, we will realize that everything we are now doing is weak and powerless. Since the happiness we obtain is so fragile, why do we still want to hold on to it so tightly? Is there anything you can actually hold on to? Can you hold on to your relationships? Can you hold on to your youth? Can you hold on to your status?... Since you cannot hold on to them, we need not cling to them. Otherwise, we are only asking for trouble, only creating afflictions for ourselves. We should not pursue things we cannot grasp. We should pursue the ultimate value of life---that is, unfolding the potential for buddhahood. Through these contemplations, we can eliminate our craving and attachment to the pleasures of this present life.
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"The unfailing nature of karma, and the suffering of saṃsāra." Other religions often hold that a creator, such as God, determines our destiny. And those who accept materialism believe only in the efforts of this present life. But Buddhism's understanding of the world comes down to four words: causes and conditions, cause and effect. Causes and conditions are the various factors involved, including primary and secondary conditions. When conditions are in place, a result is produced.
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In the cause and effect of human life, the core is the thoughts that arise in our minds---that is, the causes. Buddhism classifies these into three types: wholesome, unwholesome, and neutral. These thoughts further manifest through three channels. In the realm of thought, they are called mental karma. When expressed in speech---for instance, scolding someone or praising someone---they are called verbal karma. When expressed through bodily action, they are called bodily karma.
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Every thought that arises and every action we take plants a seed in our mind. That is why Buddhism calls the mind "the mind-field." When these seeds produce an effect, their power is further strengthened. Thus, mental states are developmental. Take greed, for example: if you keep giving rise to greed, the momentum of greed will grow stronger and stronger. In the same way, some people are prone to anger, and if they keep getting angry, the force of anger grows stronger and stronger. Some people are very loving, and if they continuously generate love toward others, the force of compassion grows stronger and stronger... Every mental state has its power, and it will keep growing. Over time, it becomes our mental disposition, our character, and eventually our personality. Because of this disposition and personality, it then draws forth the atmosphere of our lives, and even our living environment. Many people have probably gone through this process themselves.
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Society also uses the concept of karma, as in agriculture, industry, commerce, and so on. When people engage in work in various professions, they tend to develop corresponding personalities. A businessperson will have the personality of a businessperson; a farmer, the personality of a farmer; a soldier, the personality of a soldier; an artist, the personality of an artist... The formation and development of these personalities is precisely the accumulation of karma. Different actions produce different karmic forces, ultimately bringing about different results in our lives. These karmic results are genuinely real.
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Our past understanding of karma has mostly been framed in terms of external cause and effect. Because we cannot see the past, nor can we see future lives, we tend not to believe in karmic force. In truth, karma can also be understood within this very life---understood through the development of our mental path and the formation of our character. This is called mental cause and effect, or present-moment cause and effect. From this angle, karma is much easier to accept.
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Because karma can form different mental dispositions and personalities, we must be especially careful with every thought that arises. Over the course of endless saṃsāra, we have created a great deal of unwholesome karma, and this unwholesome karma will ultimately steer us toward the three lower realms. As long as we have not left saṃsāra, even if our present life is quite good and we enjoy excellent conditions, it is all temporary. We should not cling to it, because the nature of saṃsāra is suffering.
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From another angle: is it true that as long as we enjoy favorable conditions, we will be happy? Not necessarily. External conditions are only supporting factors for the arising of happiness. Whether they bring happiness also depends on our needs. Only when a need arises within us do we feel happy upon obtaining what we need. If we have no need, then even if we obtain something, we feel nothing. I think everyone has experienced this.
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Happiness also has a hard prerequisite: being free of afflictions, free of things weighing on the mind. Only then can we easily be happy. Conversely, if your mind is weighed down with worries and your afflictions are many, no matter what you obtain or what your external circumstances are, you simply cannot be happy. Think about it: isn't this so? Because every life has inner confusion and afflictions, as long as we remain in saṃsāra, none of us can ever attain happiness in the ultimate sense.
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"By contemplating these, you can remove attachment to future lives." Through the above contemplations, we can help ourselves abandon attachment to future lives. So, if we do not pursue happiness, does that mean we will spend our days in misery? Does it mean that life no longer needs happiness? Not at all. What the Buddhadharma wants us to abandon is the non-ultimate happiness within saṃsāra---the happiness that carries intensely negative side effects. It wants us to establish an ultimate happiness, the happiness of liberation.
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The happiness we have now is built on the foundation of delusion and karma, and delusion and karma are machines that perpetually manufacture suffering. What we call happiness is merely what arises when suffering is temporarily alleviated in the process of changing external conditions. The happiness that the Buddhadharma wants us to pursue is a happiness grounded in liberation and wisdom. This is because life is both a source of suffering and a source of happiness. When we find the source of happiness, happiness will flow forth continuously. It is just like the buddhas and bodhisattvas, who abide in happiness at all times because they have found the source that produces it.
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The happiness we have now, by contrast, originates from ignorance and is essentially suffering. If we pursue this kind of happiness, it means we are simultaneously manufacturing suffering. When Buddhism asks us to abandon the happiness of the deluded system, it is not asking us to reject happiness. It is hoping that we will pursue ultimate happiness.
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### 3.3. The Measure of Having Generated Renunciation
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When, through such practice, you no longer feel even for a moment any hope for the glories of saṃsāra, and day and night you long for liberation alone---when this arises, you have generated renunciation.
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When can renunciation be said to have arisen? When, through the above contemplations, you have reached the point where you no longer feel any anticipation for the glories of saṃsāra. For example, high office, riches, romance---all these things that the world regards as the very best---you no longer feel even the slightest expectation toward them. Your single-minded wish is for liberation; your only wish is to leave behind confusion and affliction; you desire only the happiness of liberation. When this is the case, your renunciation has arisen.
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There are two kinds of happiness. One is the happiness of saṃsāra, which is fleeting, comes with side effects, and is extremely troublesome. The other is the happiness of liberation, which is ultimate, without side effects, and brings lasting peace. Once you attain the happiness of liberation, you can abide in it forever---it has no end. After comparing the two, which kind of happiness do you think is better?
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Thus we can see that renunciation is not only an important foundation for monastic practice; it is equally important for lay practitioners. There is a well-known saying: "Engage in worldly affairs with a mind that transcends the world." How can we live in the world without being defiled by the five desires and the six sense objects, like a lotus flower that rises from the mud yet remains unstained? How can we avoid falling into confusion and affliction? We need a mind of detachment.
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Renunciation is precisely what helps us cultivate this detached state of mind. Faced with the same worldly life, why do some people sink deeply, some sink only a little, and some do not sink at all? The key is not the environment, but our own mind. If, within your mind, there is a strong clinging and craving for relationships, wealth, status, and the like, you are one hundred percent bound to sink.
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So, how can we eliminate this clinging and craving? We must deeply realize that the nature of saṃsāra is suffering. With a detached state of mind and a heart of compassion and altruism, we can still do many worldly things; we can still enjoy the five desires and the six sense objects, but without being harmed by them. Conversely, when the mind sinks into the five desires and the six sense objects, you become a slave to that clinging and craving---you can no longer be your own master. You are merely obeying the clinging and craving within you; whether you act or refrain, you are not in control.
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Renunciation helps us cultivate a capacity for non-attachment. Even as we do many things, our minds do not stick to them, and we can thus maintain a detached and free state of mind. In the world, many people are controlled by some kind of craving. Some are controlled by the craving to gamble, some by the craving for drugs, and even more people are controlled by cravings for relationships or wealth. Why are they controlled? It is not that wealth controls you. Rather, it is your clinging to wealth that has formed a powerful craving within your mind. It is this craving that controls you, causing your mind to stick to wealth. Once your mind sticks, you will be driven by wealth---or by relationships, family, power, and so on.
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Only when you do not stick can you speak of transcendence, of "engaging in worldly affairs with a mind that transcends the world." Otherwise, we will forever be slaves to our clinging, craving, and afflictions---forever working for ignorance, working for our inner desires, unable to be our own masters. This is the reality of an ordinary person's life.
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If we wish to become the master of our own life, we must recognize the autonomous power within our mind. Chan asks us to look---who is your master? Do not take deluded thoughts as your master. Do not take emotions as your master. If you take deluded thoughts and emotions as your master, you are "mistaking a thief for your own child." These unwholesome emotions and mistaken thoughts will ceaselessly manufacture afflictions for us, manufacture suffering, manufacture birth and death, manufacture saṃsāra... This kind of life has no end, and saṃsāra has no end.
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Therefore, we must surely recognize the meaning of renunciation. To renounce is to leave saṃsāra behind, to leave behind the inner confusion and afflictions.
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{#四菩提心 .unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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## 4. Bodhicitta
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Next is bodhicitta, comprising three verses.
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If renunciation lacks bodhicitta, it cannot become the cause of the bliss of unsurpassed bodhi. Therefore, the wise arouse bodhicitta.
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Swept along by the four great torrents, bound tight by the hard-to-stop ropes of karma, trapped in the iron-mesh net of self-grasping, shrouded in the great darkness of ignorance---
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In the boundless ocean of existence, born again and again, ceaselessly tormented by the three kinds of suffering---seeing that all mother beings are in this condition, reflect on this, and arouse the supreme mind.
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In Buddhist practice, renunciation is the foundation of the path of liberation, while bodhicitta is the foundation of the bodhisattva path. What is bodhicitta? It is the mind of awakening. More fully, bodhicitta is a mind that is awakened and committed to the welfare of others.
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The *Yogācārabhūmi Śāstra* says that bodhicitta is a kind of aspiration---the wish that "I want to accomplish unsurpassed bodhi, to accomplish the highest awakening, and thereby help all living beings be free from suffering." This wish includes two aspects. For oneself, it is to accomplish perfect awakening. For living beings, it is to be like the Buddha, leading all living beings toward awakening, not merely for one's own sake. Therefore, bodhicitta is first and foremost a noble wish, also called aspiring bodhicitta.
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Bodhicitta is of two types: one is relative, the other ultimate. To arouse the wish "I want to become a buddha, I want to benefit all living beings" is relative (conventional) bodhicitta. Ultimate bodhicitta, which can only be revealed after realizing emptiness, is also known as absolute bodhicitta (*pāramārthika-bodhicitta*).
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Then what is the relationship between bodhicitta and the renunciation discussed earlier? If you only think of freeing yourself from confusion and suffering, that is renunciation---the aspiration of the Hinayana. But the bodhicitta of the Mahayana not only wants to leave saṃsāra oneself, but also, seeing the myriad living beings suffering and struggling in saṃsāra, makes the vow to lead all living beings out of saṃsāra and toward liberation. Therefore, bodhicitta is the extension and fulfillment of renunciation---it is extending the object of liberation from oneself to all living beings.
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Our present lives are mired in delusion and saṃsāra. Because we cannot see ourselves clearly, we ceaselessly manufacture suffering, manufacture afflictions, manufacture birth and death. The bodhisattva sees the faults of delusion and, at the same time, discovers that within every life there is also the latent power of awakening, and resolves to unfold this power. This is the beginning of arousing bodhicitta, the beginning of life's awakening, and the beginning of bodhisattva practice.
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A bodhisattva is also called an awakened sentient being. On one hand, the bodhisattva awakens themselves; on the other, they help living beings awaken. As long as this awakening is not yet perfect, they are a bodhisattva. When this awakening reaches perfection, they become a buddha. Chinese Buddhism belongs to the Mahayana, and the two great pillars of its practice are bodhicitta and the view of emptiness. From this we can see the importance of bodhicitta.
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The *Diamond Sūtra* says that all sages of the three vehicles are distinguished by the unconditioned Dharma. From the standpoint of realizing emptiness, the sages of the three vehicles share a common ground. The crucial difference between Mahayana and Hinayana lies in whether or not one has bodhicitta. Only when you have aroused bodhicitta are you a Mahayana child of the Buddha; otherwise, you belong to the Hinayana. If we wish to walk the bodhisattva path, we must certainly arouse bodhicitta, and confirm this commitment through receiving the precepts.
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In the tradition of Chinese Buddhism, there are only the bodhisattva precepts, but no separate bodhicitta precepts. Because bodhicitta is not emphasized, many people, even after receiving the bodhisattva precepts, lack the wish to benefit living beings and a compassionate heart. They cannot carry on and develop the Mahayana spirit of active altruism, and thus cannot become qualified bodhisattva practitioners.
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In truth, everyone has a measure of sympathy and compassion. How do we expand this seed of compassion? By arousing bodhicitta---by constantly thinking, "I want to help others be free from suffering." In the process of sustaining this thought, compassion grows. Whatever the scope of your heart, to that extent your compassion can develop. When we are truly willing to help all living beings and can feel compassion for all living beings, that is the great loving-kindness and great compassion of the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Conversely, if there is even one living being who falls outside the scope of your compassion, it shows that your cultivation of compassion has not yet reached perfection. Thus, bodhicitta can transform finite compassion into infinite great loving-kindness and great compassion.
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In terms of the results of practice, the śrāvakas cultivate only wisdom; they accomplish only the wisdom of liberation. The buddhas and bodhisattvas, by contrast, not only accomplish the wisdom of liberation but also accomplish infinite compassion, bringing to perfection the twin qualities of compassion and wisdom.
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The *Lotus Sūtra* says that the living condition of ordinary beings is like a burning house. Desires, afflictions, and cravings are blazing fiercely---this is what is meant by the raging blaze of the five aggregates. To study Buddhism is to escape from this burning house. Some may only think of escaping themselves---"seeing the three realms as a burning house and viewing birth and death as enemies." That is the aspiration of the Hinayana, and such a person becomes one who seeks only their own liberation. Others, seeing that there are many relatives still inside, know they cannot just escape alone. They must also lead all living beings to escape the burning house. That is the aspiration of a bodhisattva.
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After giving rise to renunciation, we must also have bodhicitta. Otherwise, for lay practitioners, things can become very awkward. Once you wish to renounce, you lose interest in everything worldly. You are unwilling to work, and problems easily arise in the family. That is why we must arouse bodhicitta and wish to benefit all living beings. Within the family, regard your parents, siblings, and relatives as bodhi companions, as people who need your help. At work, fulfill your duties conscientiously and treat those around you well. Transform narrow, clinging love into selfless, tolerant, non-possessive great love. If you can treat your family---and even more people around you---with this kind of great love, then while fulfilling your worldly responsibilities, you are simultaneously walking the bodhisattva path.
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Whether we practice the path of liberation or the bodhisattva path, it is not necessary to become a monastic. Of course, the conditions for practice are better in the monastic life, but each person must still look at their own causes and conditions. Many bodhisattvas also appear in the guise of householders, so lay practitioners can equally walk the bodhisattva path. How can we remain liberated and at ease while living in the red dust of the world? We must have a sense of transcendence beyond the world. Otherwise, we will sink into the quagmire and find it hard to pull ourselves out. Then we are nothing but a clay bodhisattva crossing a river---not a real bodhisattva at all. Do you want to be a clay bodhisattva, or a real one?
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### 4.1. The Importance of Bodhicitta
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If renunciation lacks bodhicitta, it cannot become the cause of the bliss of unsurpassed bodhi. Therefore, the wise arouse bodhicitta.
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In the practice of the bodhisattva path, bodhicitta is the aspiration that runs through from beginning to end---the most foundational, the most fundamental aspiration.
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"If renunciation lacks bodhicitta." For the practice of the bodhisattva path, if you do not arouse bodhicitta but merely give rise to renunciation, it is not enough. The Buddha initially taught the Śrāvaka teachings, whose goal of practice was to attain the fruit of an arhat. But later, in the *Lotus Sūtra*, he also said: "In the lands of the ten directions, there is only the Dharma of the One Vehicle. There are not two, nor three, except when the Buddha teaches them as expedient means." This tells us: the past teachings of the human and celestial vehicles, the Śrāvakayāna, and the Pratyekabuddhayāna are merely conjured cities along the path of buddhahood---temporary resting places. The ultimate goal is buddhahood. In other words, throughout the worlds of the ten directions, there is only one road---the bodhisattva path, the path to buddhahood.
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The *Lotus Sūtra* also says: "All buddhas, the World-Honored Ones, appear in the world for one great cause." Why did the Buddha appear in this world? It was to accomplish the most important matter---to open the way for living beings to awaken to the Buddha's knowledge and vision. That is to say, to guide living beings to realize the wisdom that the Buddha possesses, and to lead all living beings to buddhahood. This is the true, original intent behind the Buddha's appearance in the world.
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"If renunciation lacks bodhicitta, it cannot become the cause..." If we do not arouse bodhicitta but only give rise to renunciation, only thinking of our own liberation, our practice will never reach perfect fulfillment.
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"...of the bliss of unsurpassed bodhi." Bodhicitta is the cause of unsurpassed bodhi, the cause of ultimate bliss. Some people say that studying Buddhism is not about seeking benefit. This is not entirely true. The *Diamond Sūtra* often speaks of how much merit one gains by reading, reciting, and upholding this sutra. This is also a kind of benefit---and an immeasurable, boundless benefit at that. We can say that buddhahood is the greatest benefit of all.
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The *Stages of the Path* says that the guidance of the Buddhadharma is divided into immediate benefit and ultimate benefit. By studying the Buddhadharma and cultivating wholesome actions, we can attain the fruits of the human and celestial realms---this is immediate benefit. Going further, it can lead us toward liberation and the accomplishment of unsurpassed bodhi---this is ultimate benefit, everlasting happiness. Where does this benefit, this happiness, come from? Not from wealth or status, but from the awakened mind within. Once we find this wellspring, we gain ultimate benefit and happiness. What we are now pursuing, by contrast, are all temporary pleasures and benefits. We should calculate which pursuit is truly worthwhile.
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"Therefore, the wise arouse bodhicitta." Having recognized the importance of bodhicitta for our lives, people of wisdom should develop bodhicitta, rather than developing greed, anger, arrogance, and jealousy. Otherwise, we will manufacture endless, boundless trouble for ourselves.
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### 4.2. How to Arouse Bodhicitta
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Swept along by the four great torrents, bound tight by the hard-to-stop ropes of karma, trapped in the iron-mesh net of self-grasping, shrouded in the great darkness of ignorance---
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In the boundless ocean of existence, born again and again, ceaselessly tormented by the three kinds of suffering---seeing that all mother beings are in this condition, reflect on this, and arouse the supreme mind.
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How do we arouse bodhicitta? These two verses are mainly based on reflecting upon the painful reality of our present life. Before liberation, we and all living beings alike are cycling through the confusion, afflictions, and suffering created by ignorance. To arouse bodhicitta, we must first feel this suffering for ourselves, then extend that feeling to others, recognizing that innumerable living beings are all in this same state. Only when we clearly see the reality of our present life can we truly appreciate the value of bodhicitta.
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So, what exactly is the condition of an ordinary person's life?
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"Swept along by the four great torrents." Living beings are at every moment swept along by four great torrents. Everyone has seen a waterfall. What are its characteristics? One is continuity: when it flows, it flows without interruption. The other is tremendous force: when a waterfall cascades from a height, all the fish and vegetation are instantly swept away---there is simply no resisting it. In the Buddhist scriptures, the waterfall is often used as a metaphor for the continuity of mind. Western philosophy also has a similar expression, using flowing water to describe the activity of consciousness.
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The Buddhadharma holds that the mind is dependently arisen and not eternally fixed. Four words describe its characteristics: similar and continuous. *Similar* means that the mind of the preceding moment and the mind of the following moment are alike. *Continuous* means that the preceding moment guides the following moment, and the following moment pushes forward from the preceding. Within our minds, we are ceaselessly swept along by four great torrents. What are these four torrents?
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The first is the torrent of *desire*, which mainly takes five forms: wealth---the desire for wealth; sex---the desire for sexual pleasure; fame---the desire for reputation; food---the desire for food and drink; and sleep---the desire for sleep. In addition, there are the five desires arising from the senses: the eyes wish to see beautiful forms, the ears wish to hear pleasant sounds, the nose wishes to smell pleasant fragrances, the mouth wishes to taste good food, and the body wishes to be in contact with comfortable surroundings. These desires are continuous and unceasing. This is why people spend every day seeking all kinds of things they need.
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The second is the torrent of *existence*, which includes clinging and afflictions. Toward objects we like, we give rise to clinging, and this in turn brings afflictions. We are always bringing this clinging and these afflictions with us as we encounter every matter, face every problem. This clinging and these afflictions have tremendous force. If we cling to family, afflictions related to family will form. If we cling to career, afflictions related to career will form. If we cling to relationships, afflictions related to relationships will form. When we face these external circumstances, clinging and afflictions are instinctively triggered. Then we face our family, our career... with this clinging and these afflictions. In the very process of facing them, the clinging and afflictions increase further. And so it goes, cycling back and forth, with enormous force. Trapped in these forces of our own making, it is very hard to get out.
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The third is the torrent of *views*, which mainly refers to our mistaken understandings and ideas. In the process of growing up, we have unconsciously absorbed many ideas. Some came from our parents, some from school, some from social trends, and most were never subjected to our own rational scrutiny. The values thus formed are often mistaken. When we observe the world and think about problems through the lens of these values, over time, a powerful force develops that drives our choices and even drives our lives.
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The fourth is the torrent of *ignorance*. Within our lives, besides the self-nature of Bodhi, there is also a powerful force of benightedness, which prevents us from seeing ourselves clearly and from seeing the world clearly.
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Ordinary beings all live under the sway of these four forces, unable to be their own masters. Think about it: is this not our condition? We cannot deny it---these four forces are indeed what dominate us and determine our direction.
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"Bound tight by the hard-to-stop ropes of karma." Karma means action. In the company of these four torrents, we produce all kinds of wholesome and unwholesome actions. These actions determine what you are. The Brahmanical religion of India divided people into four castes---Brahmins, Kṣatriyas, Vaiśyas, and Śūdras---that is, four hierarchical ranks. In modern society, there are distinctions between white-collar, blue-collar, and gold-collar workers, distinctions between employees and bosses. In short, people are classified as noble or base based on external conditions such as lineage, race, and social status. But Buddhism classifies people by their actions. If your actions are noble, you are a noble person. If your actions are base, you are a base person.
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Because actions produce mental states, form character, and in turn create the quality of our lives. This is why Buddhism says that karma determines everything---your actions determine what you are.
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Within the six realms of existence, there is the animal realm, including creatures that swim in the water and fly in the sky, and also the realms of hungry ghosts, hell beings, celestial beings, and humans. All these forms of life are determined by karmic force. And within the human realm, beauty and ugliness, long life and early death, wealth and poverty are all related to karma as well. Furthermore, the various professions in society---workers, farmers, merchants, scholars, soldiers---also produce different personalities and different qualities of life because of karmic differences.
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Karma causes us to take on a certain form of life, to take on a certain identity, to possess certain special abilities, while also bringing with it certain limitations. Fish, for example, can only live in water and cannot survive on land. Humans can neither live in water nor fly without the aid of machines. Men are constrained by their own karmic limitations, and women are constrained by theirs. Again, our eyes and ears provide the functions of seeing and hearing, but because of karmic conditions, what we can and cannot see, what we can and cannot hear, are all determined.
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Although our form of life does affect us, we can transcend it. This is because behind every finite life lies the infinite. Buddhism says that the finite and the infinite are one. Why is it that our lives become trapped within a particular form and cannot break free? The key lies in self-grasping and dharma-grasping.
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We form conceptual fixations about every identity we hold and about every problem we see, every matter we encounter. For example, we take our identity as "me," take our body as "me," take many thoughts as "me"---these are our fixations about ourselves. When we see things in the world, we assume that they simply *are* what they are---for instance, this is a table, this is a Buddha statue, this is a house---all very real. Once this fixation is in place, we then feel that it is good or bad, valuable or worthless. We form aesthetic judgments about it; we form value judgments about it. Many of these judgments are tied to culture, tied to our own needs.
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Then we cling to our own judgments, convinced that things truly are just as we judge them. Think about it: isn't this how it is? Because of this fixation and clinging, we become firmly bound to the object. The reason we are bound is nothing other than our own fixation on the object and the clinging that develops from that fixation.
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"Trapped in the iron-mesh net of self-grasping." You could have remained unbound, but because of your fixations, your cravings, and your clinging, you have firmly bound yourself. In the end, you come to feel that your body is you, that your thoughts are you. Extending further, you then think that your child is you, that your spouse is you, that your career is you... These mistaken fixations are like an iron net, firmly binding you to these objects. If you did not form these mistaken fixations and did not go on to produce clinging, then in truth nothing could bind you. The reason anything can bind you is always your own mistaken fixations and clinging, and the cravings built upon them. And so we can say: originally, nothing could bind you. You have bound yourself.
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"Shrouded in the great darkness of ignorance." Why does this phenomenon occur? It is precisely because of ignorance, which prevents us from seeing ourselves clearly and from seeing the truth of the world. That is why we produce mistaken fixations, and through clinging, form cravings. Then we are driven by these cravings and run after them. The root of all of this is simply not seeing clearly.
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These four lines above are absolutely crucial. The entire state of our lives---indeed, the state of life of all living beings---is governed by these four torrents. The function of karma and the function of self-grasping both have their root in ignorance. Because of ignorance, there is self-grasping. Because of self-grasping, karma is produced. Seeing this state of affairs, let us think: are living beings pitiable or not?
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"In the boundless ocean of existence, born again and again." The ocean of existence is the ocean of birth and death in the three realms. Here, we are born life after life after life, with no end to birth. As it is said: karmic force is inexhaustible, and birth and death are without end. Because of ignorance, self-grasping arises, giving rise to greed, hatred, and ignorance. Because of greed, hatred, and ignorance, karma is created. Because karma is created, birth, death, and saṃsāra follow. Within saṃsāra, we still cannot see clearly; we still rush headlong with the four torrents. Amid these torrents, we continue to cling, create karma, and cycle through saṃsāra, still unable to see clearly...
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In Buddhism, this process is called delusion, karma, and suffering. Because of delusion, we create karma, which draws forth the suffering of saṃsāra. In the midst of suffering, we continue to be deluded. This delusion is precisely the present condition of every one of us. We cannot see ourselves clearly; we cannot see where life comes from or where it will go in the future. Because of delusion, we pass one life after another in affliction and in the cycle of birth and death. In each life, we go through the joys and sorrows of meeting and parting, of coming together and separating. When we arrive, there is a burst of joy; when we depart, a burst of weeping---who knows how many times we have been through this. As the sutras say: in this endless cycle of birth and death, the blood we have shed exceeds the waters of the four great oceans, and the bones we have left behind tower higher than the Himalayas.
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"Ceaselessly tormented by the three kinds of suffering." In this saṃsāra, we are at every moment tormented by three kinds of suffering: the suffering of suffering, the suffering of change, and the pervasive suffering of conditioning. The suffering of suffering is the pain that everyone can feel: the suffering of illness, the suffering of aging, the suffering of death, the suffering of being separated from those we love, the suffering of meeting those we detest---"enemies on a narrow road, seeing each other no matter how you try to avoid it"---the suffering of desperately pursuing something yet never obtaining it, and the suffering brought about by the various restless agitations of body and mind.
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The suffering of change is what we regard as happiness: the happiness of romance, the happiness of family, the happiness of making money. But once you become attached to it, it quickly turns into suffering. Think about it: isn't this so? All the happiness we cherish---the more you cherish it, the greater the harm it brings when it changes. The degree of harm is directly proportional to the degree of attachment.
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The pervasive suffering of conditioning is the suffering brought about by impermanence and change. Why does impermanence become suffering? It is because we wish for everything to be eternal. With such clinging in place, changes in outer conditions then trigger suffering.
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Living beings are constantly tormented by these three kinds of suffering. Now, where do these sufferings come from? They are not imposed on us by others. In the final analysis, they are created by ourselves---created by the four torrents, created by self-grasping, created by the afflictions of greed, hatred, and ignorance.
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"Seeing that all mother beings are in this condition, reflect on this, and arouse the supreme mind." As we reflect on the condition of our lives, do we realize that we ourselves are in this state? Do we feel concern for our own lives? We must not only be concerned for ourselves, but also for the innumerable living beings. As long as they are not awakened sages, all lives are in this condition. And in this endless saṃsāra, all these living beings have at one time or another been our parents, our brothers, our sisters. Can we bear to watch them suffer and do nothing?
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It is relatively easy to arouse bodhicitta behind closed doors, but when we actually face real living beings, it is not so easy. This is because arousing bodhicitta runs counter to our selfish human nature. Some might say: what good does helping living beings do for me? Deep inside, we feel that living beings have nothing to do with us. What is more, many of them may be people we do not even like. This selfish nature is precisely the personality centered on self-grasping. Its hallmark is serving me---serving my survival, serving my comfortable life.
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So what does altruism actually have to do with us? Does it help with liberation? The Buddhadharma tells us that the practice of benefiting others not only helps living beings---we ourselves are its greatest beneficiaries. Why do I say this? In the process of sincerely benefiting others, we can effectively weaken self-grasping. Why are we unable to attain liberation? Why are we unable to bring forth the awakened essence within our lives? It is precisely because our present personality is formed around the core of self-grasping.
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How do we walk out of this deluded system? First, we must weaken self-grasping. Single-mindedly wish to benefit living beings, without a trace of selfishness. As long as any selfishness remains, what is called altruistic practice ultimately still serves self-grasping. It is like someone who does charity work only to make themselves appear more noble---they are still working for the deluded system, still working for self-grasping. Altruism, on the other hand, can not only weaken self-grasping and reveal the inner awakened nature of life, but also, in the process of benefiting living beings, allow compassion to grow.
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Once we recognize the faults of saṃsāra, recognize the situation of mother sentient beings in the six realms, and at the same time recognize the vital importance of arousing bodhicitta for improving both our own lives and the lives of others, we will certainly arouse bodhicitta. If we do not unfold the inner awakening of our lives, what we develop will invariably be the ordinary mind, will be greed, hatred, and ignorance, and we will never be able to walk out of this deluded state. In that case, our lives will have no way out; suffering and saṃsāra will have no end.
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If our reflection on these points is genuine and thorough, we will choose to arouse bodhicitta without the slightest hesitation.
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In this retreat, we have arranged a ceremony for receiving the bodhicitta precepts. When we have aroused the aspiring mind, we must also confirm this choice through a formal commitment. This means that we have officially stepped onto the bodhisattva path. The bodhicitta precepts are extremely rare and precious. Chinese Buddhism is uniquely endowed with them, and I hope everyone will actively take part. Of course, the prerequisite is that you have a clear understanding of this choice, rather than simply joining in for the excitement without knowing what it is about.
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{#五空性见 .unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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## 5. The View of Emptiness
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The third section is "the view of emptiness," which helps us transform from ordinary beings into sages. It comprises five verses.
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Without the wisdom that realizes the way things truly are, even though you have cultivated renunciation and bodhicitta, you cannot cut the root of existence. Therefore, strive to understand dependent origination.
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Whoever sees that all things, worldly and beyond the world, arise from causes as results, unfailingly, and that the objects of clinging are utterly without basis---they have entered the path that delights the Buddha.
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As long as you see the two---the unfailing appearance of dependent origination, and emptiness free from all assertions---as separate and contradictory, you have not yet realized the Buddha's intent.
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When, at last, these two realizations arise at once, without alternation, and merely seeing dependent origination as unfailing brings the certitude that destroys all grasping to objects---at that time, your analysis of the view is complete.
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Moreover, appearance dispels the extreme of existence, and emptiness dispels the extreme of non-existence. When you know how emptiness manifests as cause and effect, you will not be carried away by views that cling to extremes.
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The renunciation and bodhicitta discussed earlier are aspirations. Relatively speaking, they are addressed from the perspective of conventional truth. The Buddhadharma distinguishes two truths: conventional truth and ultimate truth. Conventional truth is established on the basis of the conventional mind; it is inseparable from our mind and consciousness, inseparable from the deluded system of our lives; it is the realm of ordinary beings' understanding. Ultimate truth represents the level of emptiness, the level of truth; it is the realm of sages' understanding.
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### 5.1. The Importance of the View of Emptiness
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Without the wisdom that realizes the way things truly are, even though you have cultivated renunciation and bodhicitta, you cannot cut the root of existence. Therefore, strive to understand dependent origination.
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Whoever sees that all things, worldly and beyond the world, arise from causes as results, unfailingly, and that the objects of clinging are utterly without basis---they have entered the path that delights the Buddha.
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"Without the wisdom that realizes the way things truly are." What is meant by "the way things truly are"? In Buddhism, it is also called reality, also called emptiness, also called suchness, also called the original face. In worldly terms, it is the truth of things.
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First, we must understand that our present understanding does not accord with the truth of things. Our cognitive model of the world is built up by the deluded system, centered on self-grasping. When we look at the world through this mistaken model, it is like a person wearing tinted glasses: the world you see has long since been filtered through the glasses. You think you are seeing the real thing, but in truth it is colored by your own biases.
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What is most fatal is that we do not know how mistaken this understanding is. We cling to it, and it gives rise to a great deal of affliction, a great deal of suffering. Amid this affliction and suffering, we continue to face problems with this mistaken understanding, producing still more affliction, still more suffering. How can we change this state of affairs? We must possess the wisdom that recognizes the truth of life. Who can tell us about this wisdom? Only the buddhas and bodhisattvas. Because the buddhas and bodhisattvas have accomplished great wisdom, they can see the delusion in the lives of ordinary beings and, at the same time, see the truth of the world. If we possess the wisdom that recognizes the truth, if we possess correct views, we can walk out of the deluded system.
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"Even though you have cultivated renunciation and bodhicitta..." If we lack the wisdom that realizes the way things truly are, even though we may cultivate renunciation and cultivate bodhicitta, they remain merely a beautiful wish---they remain conventional bodhicitta. Of course, this kind of bodhicitta is still useful. But it cannot completely cut off the root of saṃsāra or free us from the deluded state of our lives.
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"...you cannot cut the root of existence." What is meant by the root of existence? *Existence* refers to the three realms of existence. The root of existence is the basis that produces saṃsāra---namely, ignorance, delusion, and afflictions. What can cut off the root of saṃsāra? It must be the wisdom of emptiness. This is why Chan speaks of "illuminating the mind and seeing one's nature." Only in this way can we fundamentally cut off the root of delusion.
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"Therefore, strive to understand dependent origination." The wisdom of emptiness has two levels. One is what is gained through hearing and reflection---the worldly level. The other is direct realization---the supramundane level. At the worldly level, it can also help us gradually eliminate afflictions. But for a complete resolution, the supramundane wisdom of emptiness is essential. How can we become equipped with the wisdom of emptiness? We must diligently work to understand dependent origination, learning to look at the world and view all phenomena through the lens of dependent origination.
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"Dependent origination" represents the Buddhadharma's understanding of the world. Buddhism does not hold that the world was created by a god, nor that the world is a product of chance. As mentioned earlier, Buddhism's understanding of the world comes down to four words: causes and conditions, cause and effect. "All phenomena arise from causes and conditions; all phenomena cease when causes and conditions cease. Our Buddha, the great Śramaṇa, always taught in this way." Everything that exists is a manifestation of causes and conditions. When various conditions (causes and conditions) come together, things arise. When conditions deteriorate, things disappear. This is why we speak of arising and ceasing through conditions, gathering and dispersing through conditions.
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Just like this table, this house, this flower---indeed, all things---they are all assemblies of many causes and conditions. Apart from causes and conditions, they have no self-nature. What is self-nature? Take this flower, for instance: is there a flower that can exist on its own, without depending on conditions? Let us think further: is there anything in this world that can exist on its own, apart from conditions? No. Everything is born from causes and conditions; all existence is merely an illusory appearance of causes and conditions. We call this thing a "table," but in truth, "table" is simply an imputed name. Must it necessarily be called a table? Not really. Table, house---all things---are likewise just imputed names. But after people assign these names, they cling to this thing as being a table, cling to the real existence of the table, taking it as independently existing, not dependent on conditions. They then go further and deem it good or bad, very valuable or worthless. All these definitions are in fact added by people. Objectively speaking, these things are simply a heap of illusory appearances of causes and conditions, illusory appearances of conditions.
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What the Buddhadharma's wisdom of dependent origination tells us---and this is the key point---is that the self-nature of all things is empty. What is self-nature? It is that which can exist eternally without depending on conditions. For instance, a flower that exists eternally independent of conditions, a table that exists eternally independent of conditions, a house that exists eternally independent of conditions... Do any of these exist? None of them do. Yet, in our conceptual framework, we always feel that such a thing exists. We do not know how to observe things from the standpoint of dependent origination; we tend to look at problems in isolation and project our own values onto them, taking it for granted that things must be just as we see them. If they are not, we become unhappy. This is the hallmark of an ordinary being. To study Buddhism, we must learn to look at the world through the right view of dependent origination.
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"Whoever sees that all things, worldly and beyond the world..." Worldly phenomena are contaminated; phenomena beyond the world are uncontaminated. The realm of ordinary beings is contaminated. The realm of buddhas and bodhisattvas, the realm of sages, is uncontaminated.
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"...arise from causes as results, unfailingly." Whether it is the life phenomena of ordinary beings or the life phenomena of sages, none is separate from the law of cause and effect. The teaching of the Four Noble Truths that Buddhism expounds---suffering, its cause, its cessation, and the path---contains two sets of cause and effect. Suffering and its cause represent the cause and effect of saṃsāric existence. Cessation and the path represent the cause and effect of liberation. If you wish to be liberated, you must follow the cause and effect of liberation---from right view and right intention of the Noble Eightfold Path to right mindfulness and right concentration, ultimately arriving at liberation. Therefore, whether worldly or supramundane phenomena, all arise from causes and produce results. This is genuinely true.
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Some people, having heard the Buddhadharma speak of the emptiness of the four great elements, think that they can be indifferent to everything. If you think this way, that is a view of annihilation---the most dangerous of all. The Buddhadharma says: "Better to have a view of self as vast as Mount Sumeru than to arouse a view of emptiness as fine as a single hair." That is to say, it would be better to have an extremely weighty view of self---even vaster than Mount Sumeru---than to have even the slightest annihilatory view. This is because those who hold the view of annihilation do not believe in cause and effect; they fear nothing and have no moral bottom line. That is truly terrifying.
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Nowadays, many people hold the view of annihilation. This is because we are deeply influenced by the materialist notion that "a person dies like a lamp going out." They feel that after death there is nothing at all, and so they fear nothing. Modern people pursue nothing but profit, lacking any moral bottom line or code of conduct. All of this is connected to the absence of belief in cause and effect and the absence of a sense of awe. Thus we can say that the view of annihilation has a negative impact on both the growth of an individual's life and the stability of society as a whole. It is extremely dangerous.
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The Buddhadharma holds that the world operates according to the laws of dependent origination and cause and effect. The *Stages of the Path* speaks of four general principles of karma: karma is definite; karma does not bring results for actions not performed; karma once performed does not dissipate; and karma expands and grows. This tells us: the karma we create will certainly bring its result; karma we have not created will not bring a result; karma we have created will not be lost; and karma is developmental. As the saying goes, "Even after a hundred thousand eons, the karma one has created does not perish. When the causes and conditions converge, one must bear the result oneself." When you plant a karmic seed in your mind, even if a hundred thousand eons pass, that seed is still there. Once the conditions ripen, the time has come to experience the result. As it is said, "It is not that there is no retribution---the time has simply not yet come. When the time comes, retribution is certain."
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We should not think that when we die, everything is wiped clean. It is not that simple. If everything simply ended, that would be easy to deal with. The trouble is precisely that we cannot simply die and be done with it. This torment of affliction, this suffering of saṃsāra, this suffering of the hell realms---they make you unable to bear living, yet unable to die. Even if you wanted to die, it would not be so easy.
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"And that the objects of clinging are utterly without basis." Cause and effect certainly exist, but the clinging we impose upon the phenomena of cause and effect does not. The Buddhadharma has a vivid analogy for this principle. It is like seeing a rope at night when the light is poor. You mistake the rope for a snake, feel very frightened, and are scared into illness. Objectively speaking, does the rope exist? Yes. Does the snake exist? No. But in our understanding, there is a snake, and no rope.
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"The objects of clinging" refers to our mistaken fixations. It tells us: you mistake the rope for a snake, but the solid, real snake that bites---the snake you believe in---objectively does not exist at all. It is just like our present understanding: we feel that the body is me, that thoughts are me, and that this or that is me. We feel that this table is very real, very valuable or not valuable, good-looking or not good-looking... None of this belongs to the table itself. Objectively, it does not exist; we have added it on.
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Why must we eliminate these mistaken fixations? Because these fixations bind us to things, ceaselessly driving us this way and that, and then developing into afflictions. Because of mistaken fixations, we ceaselessly produce suffering and endlessly cycle through saṃsāra. We must recognize that these imputations are mistaken and do not actually exist. Only then can we let go of clinging. Otherwise, we will believe that something is good, that it has value, that we need it, and that obtaining it will make everything wonderful... Thus we live within the feelings produced by all kinds of imputations. Only by recognizing that the objects of clinging do not actually exist and by seeing them as they truly are can we be free from clinging and craving toward these phenomena and transcend them.
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As long as there is clinging, you are bound. So it is you yourself who take a rope and tie yourself to the table. No one else binds you. We keep manufacturing ropes, one moment tying ourselves to a car, the next moment tying ourselves to a house, the next moment tying ourselves to some person. Then we tie more and more, the tangle grows bigger and bigger, and eventually we cannot move at all. Think about it: aren't we doing this every day? Once we see the truth of life clearly, we will realize that ordinary beings are truly foolish---and not just a little.
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"They have entered the path that delights the Buddha." When you truly realize that all phenomena arise from causes and conditions and that cause and effect are not false, and at the same time recognize that the imputations you impose on cause and effect and dependent origination are non-existent, you can then gain correct understanding and the wisdom of emptiness. This is the wisdom by which the Buddha guides us to realize and attain liberation---a sharp sword to help us cut our bonds, and a great gate for walking out of saṃsāra. Without this sharp sword, without opening this gate, we can never cut off our afflictions or transcend saṃsāra.
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### 5.2. The Measure of Having Generated Right View
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The following verses explain the measure of having generated right view, helping us understand the relationship between emptiness and existence.
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As long as you see the two---the unfailing appearance of dependent origination, and emptiness free from all assertions---as separate and contradictory, you have not yet realized the Buddha's intent.
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When, at last, these two realizations arise at once, without alternation, and merely seeing dependent origination as unfailing brings the certitude that destroys all grasping to objects---at that time, your analysis of the view is complete.
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We already have our own understanding of emptiness and existence. For example, we think this table exists, and that nothingness is emptiness. When we speak of existence, we easily imagine it as eternal, truly unchanging. When we speak of emptiness, we tend to think of it as total nothingness. In our conceptual framework, emptiness and existence are opposites---they cannot coexist. If something exists, it cannot be empty; if it is empty, it cannot exist. Our minds are filled with views of permanence and views of annihilation. These mistaken views manufactured by ignorance bring us suffering; they bring us saṃsāra. So what is the Madhyamaka right view that Master Tsongkhapa reveals to us?
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"The unfailing appearance of dependent origination." What is dependent origination? It is the phenomenon that arises from the coming together of causes and conditions. This is genuinely true, not non-existent. We must certainly recognize that cause and effect exist. But in what sense do they exist? This is the crucial point. Whenever we speak of "existence," we immediately think of it as real, fixed, and eternal. But when the Buddhadharma speaks of "existence," it often adds one more word: "illusory." This existence is an illusory existence, an illusory appearance of causes and conditions---not a truly unchanging existence. Within this existence, apart from the combination of conditions, no fixed and unchanging self-nature can be found.
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In ancient times, people believed that matter could be divided down to the smallest indivisible unit---something like atoms, called "subtle particles" (*paramāṇu*) in India---and that these particles constituted the entire universe. But from the perspective of the Buddhadharma, there is no such indivisible entity. Early Consciousness-Only masters criticized this idea, questioning: if there is an indivisible entity, then does this subtle particle have shape? Because as a material entity, it must have shape. If it has shape, it must also have six faces, which means it can be further divided. The Madhyamaka teaching of emptiness of self-nature likewise refutes this indivisible entity, holding that any given thing is a combination of conditions, and that no entity existing independently of conditions can be found. Modern quantum mechanics, through its analysis of the material world, proposes wave-particle duality, which from another angle also confirms the Buddhadharma's view---that there is no entity that cannot be further divided.
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In summary, from the material world to our mental phenomena, nothing has a fixed, unchanging self-nature that is independent of conditions. Although we see that dependent origination is not false---we see that it exists---we must be clear that this existence is an illusory existence of compounded causes and conditions; it is not truly real.
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"Emptiness free from all assertions---these two..." The emptiness we ordinarily understand is the emptiness of nothing at all---a one-sided emptiness, a skewed emptiness, a blank emptiness. The emptiness that Buddhism speaks of is the emptiness of self-nature. Because all phenomena are dependently arisen, without self-nature, without any essential quality that exists independently of conditions, they are therefore said to be empty. This is what the *Heart Sūtra* means by "form is not different from emptiness; emptiness is not different from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form."
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"Form is not different from emptiness; emptiness is not different from form" tells us that the existence of material phenomena and the emptiness of self-nature are not two different things, but two different descriptions of the same matter. For example, this table is both form and emptiness. Going further: "Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form." Because form is dependently arisen and without self-nature, right here and now it is empty. This emptiness of self-nature does not hinder the appearance of dependent origination. The very moment of dependent origination is itself empty; the very moment of emptiness is itself dependent origination. The emptiness of dependent origination, and the dependent origination of emptiness, simultaneously describe the same thing---there is not the slightest conflict.
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Anyone who has read the *Diamond Sūtra* knows the famous formula within it: "What is called X is not X; therefore it is called X." For example, take this table: what is called a table is not a table; therefore it is called a table.
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"What is called a table" tells us that this table is a coming together of causes and conditions. "Is not a table" tells us that the existence of the table is composed of many elements that are not tables. "Therefore it is called a table" tells us that we impute a name---"table"---onto these many non-table elements. The table itself is actually empty; it exists dependent on conditions, not in its own right. If we try to investigate the essence of a table, apart from conditions, we simply cannot find it, because it is nothing but a heap of illusory appearances. So we can say that the essence of a table is empty.
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Does this mean there is no table? That is not right either. The phenomenon of a table does exist, and we have also assigned it the imputed name "table." But this phenomenon is an illusory appearance assembled from conditions, and its essence is empty, without self-nature. If we recognize that the table is empty, without self-nature---that it is merely an illusory appearance of conditions---this is the understanding of the Middle Way; this is the right contemplation of prajñā.
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We must also learn to apply the right contemplation of prajñā to observe every matter and every person in our lives. Your wealth: what is called wealth is not wealth; therefore it is called wealth. Your family: what is called family is not family; therefore it is called family. Or alternatively: family is not different from emptiness; emptiness is not different from family. Family itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is family. By observing in this way regularly, we can free ourselves from the mistaken fixations about wealth and family, and the clinging and afflictions built upon them will then dissolve accordingly.
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Buddhism speaks of three kinds of prajñā: from prajñā of the written word to prajñā of contemplation, and from prajñā of contemplation to prajñā of reality. To study the Buddhadharma is to gain the wisdom of the Buddhadharma, to transform it into our own views, and through it to observe the world and handle every matter.
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"As long as you see the two as separate and contradictory, you have not yet realized the Buddha's intent." If at any point you think that dependent origination and emptiness are opposites, in conflict, two separate matters---existence is simply existence, emptiness is simply emptiness, what exists is not empty and what is empty does not exist---then it means you have not yet understood the right view of the Buddhadharma, and have not yet grasped the Madhyamaka right view that the Buddha reveals to us.
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"When, at last, these two realizations arise at once, without alternation." Once you have wisdom, when you face external objects, at the same time as you see existence, you can also see that it is empty, without self-nature. At the same time as you see emptiness, you can also see the clear presence of illusory appearances. This kind of observation of existence and emptiness is what is meant by "arising at once, without alternation." It is not first observing existence and then observing emptiness, or first observing emptiness and then observing existence---that would be alternating.
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This is precisely what the *Heart Sūtra* says: "Form is not different from emptiness; emptiness is not different from form. Form itself is emptiness; emptiness itself is form. The same is true of feeling, perception, mental formations, and consciousness." In addition, the sutra says: "No eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, or mind; no form, sound, smell, taste, touch, or phenomena; no realm of sight and so forth up to no realm of consciousness. No ignorance and also no ending of ignorance, up to no old age and death and also no ending of old age and death." This too guides us to observe that the five aggregates, the twelve sense bases, and the eighteen realms are empty in their very substance. Going further, we observe that birth and death, saṃsāra, are empty. Everything---at the very moment we see the existence of dependent origination, we recognize that its essence is empty. Yet while recognizing its emptiness, we can also understand the manifestation of illusory appearances of causes and conditions. This non-duality of emptiness and existence is what is meant by "without alternation."
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"Merely seeing dependent origination as unfailing." Unfailing means that everything of dependent origination is clearly a matter of cause and effect---it is not non-existent. But when ordinary people see dependent origination, they fall into the imagined nature. The Consciousness-Only school's threefold division of reality is "the imagined nature, the dependent nature, and the perfected nature." The dependent nature refers to all dependently arisen phenomena. The imagined nature is the mistaken understanding we produce about these dependently arisen phenomena. Through this threefold division, we can separate our mistaken understanding of phenomena from the phenomena themselves.
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In the conceptual framework of ordinary beings, we have long been accustomed to conflating the two. For example, when we see something, we feel that it is very valuable. But in truth, this is an imputation you have added, without any essential connection to the thing itself. Likewise, when you feel something is beautiful or ugly, that too is an imputation you have made about it. These imputations arise after you absorb a certain culture and combine it with your own needs. In fact, what you feel about something is not equivalent to what it is in itself. These two must absolutely be separated. But ordinary people tend to think: however this thing seems to me, that is how it is. Once we have this kind of understanding, we produce clinging, along with various emotions and afflictions such as greed and anger. The Consciousness-Only school's concept of the imagined nature tells us that mistaken understanding is invariably accompanied by clinging; the two are inseparable.
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How can we, when facing external objects, see only dependently arisen phenomena without triggering clinging and craving toward them? We must enter the level of contemplation, the level of the wisdom of emptiness. Then, when facing any problem, the mind is like a mirror, presenting everything just as it is without bringing judgment and clinging into play---neither adding anything nor subtracting anything.
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Our usual understanding, by contrast, is like coating the mirror with a layer of color and then viewing things through this layer of color. What you see, then, is all reflected through this layer of color. And so, whenever we deal with any issue, we always bring with us the mistaken views and unwholesome emotions that have formed over a long time. This is the condition of an ordinary being---I think many people have experienced this for themselves.
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"Brings the certitude that destroys all grasping to objects." Practice is about removing this layer of color---no longer wearing tinted glasses, no longer letting the mind fall into mistaken views and unwholesome emotions, but instead entering the level of the wisdom of emptiness. Then everything you see is exactly as it is---presented as it truly is---and at the same time, there is no clinging whatsoever.
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"At that time, your analysis of the view is complete." At this point, your view is complete. Only then can you truly see dependent origination---see that all existence is merely illusory appearances of causes and conditions, and that its essence is without self-nature. And while it is without self-nature, right here and now, this does not hinder its manifestation through causes and conditions. With the Madhyamaka right view in place, we will see very clearly.
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"Moreover, appearance dispels the extreme of existence." Once we possess right view, we can free ourselves from extreme views. In Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva's *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā*, there is a verse: "Neither arising nor ceasing, neither permanent nor annihilated, neither coming nor going, neither identical nor different. To him who taught this dependent origination, the perfect queller of all conceptual constructs, I bow my head in homage---the foremost of all teachers." Arising and ceasing, permanence and annihilation, coming and going, identity and difference---these are all extreme views. And the *Heart Sūtra*'s "neither defiled nor pure, neither increasing nor decreasing, neither arising nor ceasing" likewise helps us break through the extreme views of defilement and purity, increase and decrease, arising and ceasing.
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When we speak of arising, we tend to think of it as having self-nature, overlooking causes and conditions. For example, the birth of a child---it seems as though the parents just produced it, and when the child dies, it is simply gone. In truth, the arising and ceasing of any phenomenon are simply the gathering and dispersing of conditions, the functioning of many causes and conditions. Apart from causes and conditions, nothing is born, and nothing can be said to have disappeared. With this Madhyamaka right view, we can, while seeing dependent origination, recognize that this existence is merely an illusory appearance of causes and conditions, thereby dispelling the extreme of existence, dispelling the view of permanence.
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"And emptiness dispels the extreme of non-existence." When we understand emptiness, we must realize that this is the emptiness of self-nature---not that there is nothing at all, but simply that there is no self-nature. This emptiness does not hinder the existence of dependent origination. Therefore, when we speak of emptiness, we must dispel the extreme of non-existence---that is, the one-sided emptiness, skewed emptiness, blank emptiness, and the view of annihilation.
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"When you know how emptiness manifests as cause and effect." When we realize that everything is without self-nature and is empty, at this level, cause, effect, and dependent origination are clearly present, and we will not negate dependent origination and cause and effect. That is to say, emptiness and existence can coexist.
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"You will not be carried away by views that cling to extremes." Only with the Madhyamaka right view in place can we avoid being driven by extreme views and the clinging to extreme views.
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First, establish the Madhyamaka right view at the level of hearing and reflection. Then, through the meditative practice of śamatha-vipaśyanā, through the prajñā of contemplation, transform the right view of hearing and reflection into the supramundane Madhyamaka right view, realizing the prajñā of reality. Right view is the wisdom that knows the truth of things. As the first factor of the Noble Eightfold Path, it can free us from the confusion and afflictions within our lives. Because saṃsāra has ignorance as its root, only wisdom can completely cut off ignorance. Therefore, on the path to liberation, right view is the very core.
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Studying the *Three Principal Aspects of the Path* provides us with an important right view---the prajñā-Madhyamaka view of emptiness.
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{#六结束分 .unnumbered}
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{.unnumbered}
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## 6. Concluding Section
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Once you have truly realized the essential points of these Three Principal Aspects of the Path, rely on solitude and apply yourself with diligence---quickly accomplish the ultimate goal.
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In conclusion, this is Master Tsongkhapa's exhortation to us: now that you have understood the essence of the Buddhadharma, you should earnestly reflect upon it, practice it, and realize it, to accomplish the liberation of your life.
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"Once you have truly realized the essential points of these Three Principal Aspects of the Path." The renunciation, bodhicitta, and view of emptiness described above are the author's---Master Tsongkhapa's---summary introduction to practice. The view of emptiness, for instance, is explained in just five verses. If we were to fully elaborate, the three great treatises---Nāgārjuna Bodhisattva's *Mūlamadhyamakakārikā* and *Dvādaśanikāyaśāstra*, and Āryadeva Bodhisattva's *Śataśāstra*---are mainly devoted to introducing the view of emptiness. The six hundred fascicles of the *Mahāprajñāpāramitā Sūtra* also focus on guiding us to establish the view of emptiness. The *Heart Sūtra*, which I have been teaching often these past few years, likewise helps us establish the Madhyamaka right view, including how to apply right view in meditation. You may wish to listen to those teachings; they will help you deepen your practice.
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"Once you have truly realized... rely on solitude and apply your diligence in reflection." Once we have truly and thoroughly understood the content of the Three Principal Aspects, and can correctly grasp and accept the Dharma principles set forth within them, we should then find a quiet place and diligently engage in reflection and meditation, bringing the right view of hearing and reflection into our mental practice.
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"Quickly accomplish the ultimate goal." What is the ultimate goal? It is buddhahood---the accomplishment of unsurpassed bodhi. This is the most important and most meaningful undertaking in life.
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That everyone here has the causes and conditions to listen to the *Three Principal Aspects of the Path* is due to your roots of goodness, merit, and karmic connections from past lives. Having studied the *Stages of the Path* and the *Three Principal Aspects of the Path*, we can say that we have now recognized the core of the Buddhadharma. For those of you who have come from various places to attend this meditation retreat, if you have the resolve to study Buddhism further, you can organize groups to practice together. At present, we have started "Stages of the Path classes" in Shanghai, Suzhou, and other places. These mainly involve listening to the 114-lecture CD series of the *Middle-Length Treatise* that I recorded for the students of the Jiechuang Buddhist Studies Institute; the content is far more complete than what we have covered here. We also have a book called *The Way of the Stages of the Path*, which gives an outline of how to practice the *Stages of the Path*. If you wish to go further along the bodhi path, you should study it well.
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Based on my own experience in study and practice, this is the fastest and most effective method to help everyone walk the path of liberation and the bodhisattva path. If you all apply yourselves sincerely, we will provide further support.
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iacore