Jewels from the treasury vasubandhus ( (137)

Students who read it are able to develop definite com prehension o f the abhidharm a in general, and within that, clearly understand the points taught in the Treasury o f Abhidharma.. A

Kpenchen Thrangu cT(inpoche

A m ong the abhidharm a o f the F oundation and Great Vehicles, the m ain

text that students in m onastic colleges study these days is The Treasury o f

Abhidharma There are many commentaries on the Treasury T he great C him

Jamyangs com m entary and the Eighth Karmapa Mikyo D orjes commentary,

The Springtime Cow o f Easy Accomplishment are very clear and good, but they

are too long W hen new students study them, they are unable to find a way into them In order to help such students, the N in th Karmapa W angchuk Dorje composed a com m entary that is very clear and concise Students who read it are able to develop definite com prehension o f the abhidharm a in

general, and within that, clearly understand the points taught in the Treasury

o f Abhidharma T h at is why it is so beneficial that the N in th Karmapa

W angchuk Dorjes com m entary on the Treasury has been translated.

Am ong the three baskets o f Buddhist teachings, it is im portant to under­ stand the abhidharm a teachings There are three main trainings: the superior training in discipline taught by the vinaya, the superior training in samadhi taught by the sutras, and the superior training in full knowing taught by the abhidharm a O f these three trainings, the prim ary one for destroying the afflictions and attaining the ultim ate result is the superior training in full

knowing Developing this training depends mainly on the pitaka o f

abhidharma, and that in turn depends mainly on the treatises o f abhidharma

O f all these treatises, the easiest and clearest is the Treasury o f Abhidharma, so

if you study the Treasury, it will bring great benefit.

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

Sarnath, India

February 17, 2008

1Translator’s Introduction

English-speaking students o f Buddhism are very fortunate these days: there are m ore and more books on Buddhism , and in-depth study o f Buddhist philosophy and practice is becoming possible in an English medium Im por­ tant texts from all Buddhist schools and traditions, in particular the Indian and Tibetan, are becoming available in excellent, clear English translations that are understandable and beneficial for general readers and specialists alike Since many students o f Buddhism are primarily interested in meditation,

m any o f the texts initially translated focused on m editation But in order

to receive the full benefits o f m editation practice, it is necessary to have a thorough understanding o f the views o f B uddhist philosophy As Master

Vasubandhu says in the Treasury ofAbhidharm a:

W ith conduct, listening, contemplation,

Completely train in meditation

In other words, in order to achieve results in our m editation practice, we must

first m aintain the conduct o f good discipline and then develop the prajna

or “full knowing” born o f listening and contem plation through study of the

B uddhas words and the treatises that explain them W ithout study we are like blind people trying to climb a cliff, it is said, but with the proper understand­ ing that comes from thorough study and contemplation, our m editation will improve and we will be able to enjoy its fruits

O f all the subjects to study, masters in all Buddhist traditions consider the abhidharm a to be one o f the most im portant Abhidharm a is like an encyclo­ pedia o f Buddhism: it pulls together the teachings the Buddha gave in many different sutras and discourses and presents them in a systematic way Studying

it gives an understanding o f what things are and why they are called by the names they are given It provides a solid foundation for further study because other treatises often refer to concepts and phenom ena that are covered most thoroughly in the abhidharma But most im portant, it gives answers to such pressing questions as, what are the natures o f our bodies and minds? H ow are

we born? How do our minds work? How does karma work? W hat causes suf­ fering? H ow do we free ourselves from suffering?

Although the Buddha himself said that his teachings could be divided into the three baskets o f sutras, vinaya, and abhidharma, it would be difficult to

pinp o in t a specific set o f his discourses that could be called abhidharma

Rather, Shariputra, Kátyániputra, and other arhats collected and systematized the teachings the Buddha had given on many disparate occasions in many su­

tras and the vinaya, compiling what are called the seven treatises o f abhidharma

As the different schools o f Buddhism developed, each school also developed its own tradition o f interpreting and explaining the abhidharma, and so there came to be several distinct presentations o f the abhidharma

T h e basis for the study o f abhidharm a in the northern B uddhist tradi­ tions that spread to Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan was provided by M aster

Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury o f Abhidharm a (often called the root verses) and his accompanying Explanation o f the Treasury o f Abhidharma (usu­

ally called the autocommentary) W ritten in the fourth century, these brilliant works eclipsed earlier treatises on the abhidharm a to such an extent that Tibetan translators did not even consider m ost o f the treatises it was based

u pon necessary to translate W ith in the T ibetan tradition, V asubandhu’s

Treasury is considered one o f the five great works o f Buddhist philosophy

T he root is especially prized for the way in which it condenses an immense topic into clean concise, and memorable verses Several o f the verses are so often quoted in works on other topics that they are am ong the most com ­

m only quoted lines in T ibetan Buddhism W hen studying abhidharma, stu­ dents memorize the root— in some m onastic colleges, gathering every

m orning to recite the verses aloud from beginning to end T he m eter o f the verses makes them easy to recite and remember, so th at as students recite them over and over, passages that at first seem im penetrable become clearer and clearer Eventually they become rem inders th at flow easily over the tongue, bringing to m ind the m eaning described in the commentaries For a student new to the abhidharm a, however, V asubandhu’s work on its own is difficult T he root verses are like a key that opens the gate to a vast field o f knowledge, but they are too terse to understand w ithout explanation

O n the other hand, the autocom m entary is imposing for beginners N ot only

is it lengthy— one English translation was published in four volum es— it

covers m any doctrinal disputes between different Buddhist schools in such detail that beginners m ight find it difficult to discern w hat is im portant

O th er points are given only cursory explanation, as if it is assumed that the reader already knows the point or that a master will explain it

For these reasons am ong others, m any Indian and later T ibetan masters wrote commentaries on either the root verses, the autocommentary, or both

Am ong these, the N in th Karmapa W angchuk Dorje’s explanation o f the root

verses entitled Youthful Play is especially useful for those who are new to the

abhidharm a A bout a third the length o f the autocom m entary, its explana­ tions o f the root verses are succinct and clear; its synopses o f the disputes between different schools outline the m ain points w ith o u t providing so

m uch detail that a new student m ight get confused; and it fleshes out several

topics covered only briefly in the autocom m entary Youthful Play gives a

thorough overview o f the abhidharm a for those who wish to study it but cannot do so exhaustively and provides a basis for those who wish to delve further into abhidharm a studies

W hen m ost students o f Buddhism first learn about the abhidharm a, at

first it seems as if it is a set o f scriptures— one o f the three baskets or pitaka

o f the Buddhist canon However, this is only one aspect o f what the word

abhidharma refers to In Vasubandhu’s presentation, there are three types of

abhidharm a: ultim ate abhidharm a, path abhidharm a, and scriptural abhid­ harma Ultim ate or genuine abhidharm a is the stainless, undefiled full know­ ing that correctly discerns what is and what is not, as well as the five undefiled aggregates which accompany it T he nam e abhidharm a is also given to the defiled full knowing and treatises through which one can achieve stainless wisdom T he defiled full knowing of individuals on the path is path abhid­ harm a, and treatises such as the seven treatises o f abhidharm a and this

Treasury are scriptural abhidharm a.

The reason it is im portant to study the abhidharm a is that only this unde­ filed full knowing can liberate us from the suffering o f samsara O rdinary sen­ tient beings lack this full knowing and are unable to properly distinguish what

is from what is not This confusion leads to greed for the things one wants and aversion toward things one finds unpleasant This in turn leads to the ac­ tions which on a longer timeframe bind us to the cycle o f rebirth, but in the short term as well lead to the difficulties o f our lives O ne only has to look at how m any o f our everyday problems— whether major or petty, real or imag­ ined— result from misunderstandings or misplaced hopes and fears to see how

im portant it is to develop the wisdom that sees what is as it is As Vasubandhu

says near the beginning o f the Treasury: