Thus, the afflictions that are taught in this context are not identified as a or b, but only as c because the afflictions taught here function as the causes for noble bodhisattvas takin
Trang 1423 T h is is th e com m e ntary by th e Korean master W o n ch ’uk (a.k.a Yiian-ts’e; 6 1 3 -6 9 6 ),
w hich was translated in to Tibetan as D 4016.
424 II.209cd (D 107, fol 109a.5-6).
425 PGSD (pp 1 5 2 -5 3 ) agrees that the noble o n e s o f th e inferior yánas m u st enter the maháyána on the path o f accum ulation For in order to b eco m e a buddha, one m ust progress through all five paths o f the m aháyána in their due order Furthermore, the direct realization
o f p h en om en al identitylessness m ust be preceded by realizing it in the m anner o f an object generality As for the justification that the noble ones o f inferior yánas w h o have entered the
m aháyána are nevertheless ordinary beings, in the m ind streams o f those on the maháyána paths o f accumulation and preparation w h o had previously attained the realization o f arhat-
h o o d in o n e o f the inferior yánas, som etimes phases in w hich the direct realization o f personal identitylessness is manifest are possible, but, mostly, such a realization exists in them in the manner o f a powerful seed For they do not need to make efforts in familiarizing with personal identitylessness (the rem edy fo r the afflictions) because they have already relinquished the afflic tions As for the tim e w hen such phases o f direct realization occur in them, through the power
o f being habituated to m entally engaging in their ow n welfare it is possible for said persons to fall back into the inferior yánas, but they do not need to enter these yánas via their respective paths o f accumulation because they are able to directly dwell in their previous respective paths
o f arhathood The m in d streams o f those on the maháyána paths o f accum ulation and prepara tion w h o had previously attained merely the fruitions o f stream-enterer and once-returner are not e n d o w ed with the m anifest fo rm o f the prajňá o f directly realizing personal identitylessness because they are en d o w ed with the manifest form o f the m aháyána path o f realizing the nature
o f phen om en a in the m anner o f an object generality Therefore, it is justified that both those
on the maháyána paths o f accum ulation and preparation w h o had previously been noble ones
in the inferior yánas are ordinary beings because, am o ng the persons in the m aháyána, they are those w h o realize the nature o f phenom ena in the m anner o f an object generality The gist o f this is that šrávaka arhats m ust cultivate the know ledge o f the path because they are sentient beings and will b eco m e buddhas.
426 PGSD (pp 1 5 1 -5 2 ) says that all sentient beings will necessarily and definitely becom e buddhas because (a) their m ind streams are pervaded by the disposition as the primary cause, (b) the adventitious stains as the adverse con d ition s are suitable to be relinquished, and (c) the enlightened activities o f buddhas as the favorable conditions are suitable to engage these m ind streams The first reason applies because o f Uttaratantra 1.28 (“T h e perfect buddhakáya radiates ”) The secon d o n e applies because Pramánavárttika II.208cd says:
M ind is naturally lum inous,
The stains are adventitious.
The third on e applies because Uttaratantra IV 12 says:
Because o f setting out for the sake o f others,
Because o f seeing sentient beings and o n ese lf as equal,
A nd because o f what is to be don e not being com pleted,
There is no end o f activity.
Also, in the initial p r o o f statement, the reasons entail the predicate For the Jňánálokálamkárasútra
says, “The light rays o f the orb o f the sun o f the Tathágata touch even those w h ose m ind streams are definitely [set] on wrongdoing, thus benefiting them and increasing their roots o f virtue through producing future causes [for h appiness].” The CandrapradipasUtra says:
All these beings w ithout exception will be buddhas,
Trang 2{Also the Prasphutapadà (P5194, fol 54a.7) and the Munimatdlamkara (P5299, fol 186a.8- 186b 1 ) present this passage as stem m ing from th e Samâdhirâjasùtra (its early and shorter version being know n as Candrapradïpasütra), but I could not locate it in said sütra.} In general, samsara is said to be without end, as Madhyamakàvatâra VI.194ac says:
The beginning is first and the end is last—
Since these two do not exist, samsara
Is said to be w ithout beginning and end.
“But is this not contradicted by Catuhéataka XIV.25cd saying:
Having seen the identitylessness in objects,
The seeds o f [samsaric] existence cease?”
There is no flaw since this is said with the intention that merely the samsara o f persons with realization has an end.
427 D3787, fol 147b.6-7.
428 See W aym an and W ayman 1974, p 85.
429 D4038, fol 119b.6.
430 1.67.
431 IV.66cd (the first line in PSD reads ’on k y a n g sn y in g rje yis).
432 PGSD (pp 14 7 -5 0 and 153-55) speaks o f five branches o f the know ledge o f the path
in two main categories— (a) the three that newly produce this know ledge and (b) the two that benefit others once it has arisen, (a) The first are defined as “the branches o f the know ledge o f the path that serve as its causes—m aking efforts in order to attain the unattained know ledge o f the path.” T hey con sist o f (1) the physical support that is free from manifest afflictions as its obstructions (“eclipsing the g o o d s through light” in AA II 1), which corresponds to a bodhisat tva during the last m o m en t o f the supreme dharma w h o is free from such afflictions, (2) the mental support o f having generated bodhicitta as the favorable condition o f the know ledge o f the path (“definite object”), and (3) the mahàyàna disposition having awoken as the substantial cause o f the know ledge o f the path (“pervasiveness”), w hich corresponds to the lucid and aware mental consciousness that serves as the cause for the know ledge o f the path, (b) The branches that benefit others are defined as “the branches o f the kn ow led ge o f the path that serve as its nature or its result.” T hey consist o f (4) the nature o f the k now ledge o f the path corresponding
to the mahàyàna paths o f seeing and familiarization on which the causes fo r being reborn in samsàra for the sake o f others—the latent tendencies o f the afflictions—are deliberately retained and not relinquished (5) The function or activity o f the knowledge o f the path corresponds to the enlightened activity that arises based on the know ledge o f the path functioning as its d o m i nant condition In general, the explanation that the afflicted m ind exists in the m ind streams o f all ordinary beings is a coarse o n e—though bodhisattvas during the last m o m e n t o f the supreme dharma are ordinary beings, they do not possess the afflicted m ind because they are free from pride, that is because it is explained that realization arises only in those m ind streams in which pride has been overcom e As for the afflictions taught here being actual versus nominal, in g e n eral, the term “afflictions” is applied to (a) manifest afflictions, (b) their seeds, and (c) their latent tendencies, (a) The definition o f a manifest affliction is “the form o f awareness that appre hends the focal object and aspect o f its specific object by w ay o f agitating the m ind stream.” Its instances consist o f the primary and secondary afflictions together w ith all the primary m ind s and m ental factors that are congruently associated w ith them, (b) The d efinition o f a seed o f
Trang 3affliction is “the potential that is input into the m ind stream through a preceding affliction o f the sam e type and, w hen m eeting with certain conditions, gives rise to a later affliction o f this type.” These seeds are tw o fo ld —the seeds that operate sim ultaneously with th e afflictions an d th e seeds during w h o se o w n tim e the afflictions have already ceased The first correspond to the potentials that consist o f later form s o f ignorance being produced through preceding o n es o f the same type The secon d correspond to the seeds o f the afflictions in the m ind streams o f noble šrávakas while abiding in meditative equipoise, (c) The definition o f latent tendencies is “the very subtle stains that are the im pregnations o f negative tendencies w hich are input into the mind stream through preceding afflictions o f the sam e type and, even w hen meeting with certain conditions, absolutely lack the potential for the arising o f a later affliction o f this type.” Their syn on ym s are “the latent tendencies o f the afflictions,” “the impregnations o f their negative tendencies,” and “the ground o f the latent tendencies o f ignorance.” (a) and (b) are fully qualified afflictive obscurations, while (c) represent the nom inal ones Thus, the afflictions that are taught in this context are not identified as (a) or (b), but only as (c) because the afflictions taught here function
as the causes for noble bodhisattvas taking rebirth in samsára for the welfare o f others, while (as
Uttaratantra 1.67 says) they have already relinquished the samsáric births and deaths that occur under the sw ay o f karma and afflictions The afflictions (c) are tw o fo ld — the latent tendencies
o f the afflictions that function as obstructions to enlightenm ent and the latent tendencies o f the afflictions that serve as its aids The on es in question here are not the first because it is said that afflictive and cognitive obscurations are relinquished together Therefore, they are the secon d because noble bodhisattvas deliberately retain these as branches o f gathering the accum ulations
fo r the welfare o f others The Kàsyapaparivartasùtra says:
Just as the m anure o f the excrement o f city people
Benefits the fields o f sugar cane farmers,
So the m anure o f the afflictions o f bodhisattvas
Benefits the production o f the buddhadharmas.
Asanga [Mahây ânasamgr aha X.28; D 4048, fol 40b 1-2 ) states:
In those w h o are en d ow ed with great means,
The afflictions b eco m e the branches o f en ligh ten m en t
A n d even samsára has the nature o f peace.
Therefore, the Tathàgata {PGSD: “bodhisattvas”} is inconceivable.
As for bodhisattvas taking rebirth through said afflictions, the causes for such rebirths are as follows Those w h o train in the inferior yánas and ordinary beings are born under the sway o f karma and afflictions For by virtue o f not having relinquished the seeds o f karma and afflic tions, they cause birth and death in samsára despite beings not w ish in g so A rhats o f the inferior yánas and noble bodhisattvas take rebirth in samsára in dependence on the causes that consist
o f the ground o f the latent tendencies o f ignorance and uncontam inated karma For they must assum e bodies o f a m ental nature—through the ground o f the latent tendencies o f ignorance, they do so in order to attain the nirvána w ithout remainder and, through u n contam inated karma, they do so in order to gather the accum ulations for the welfare o f others—and have fully relinquished the causes that consist o f karma and afflictions As for the m anner o f taking rebirth,
it is explained that those w h o train in the inferior yánas and ordinary beings, m otivated by the afflictions, accum ulate contam inated karma and thus accom plish the two links o f dependent origination that consist o f birth and aging in samsára Arhats o f the inferior yánas and noble bodhisattvas, through the ground o f the latent tendencies o f ignorance functioning as the c o n dition and uncontam inated karma as the cause, assume bodies with a m ental nature, thus
Trang 4seeing, there is a reason to deliberately retain the latent tendencies o f the afflictions that serve as the causes for their taking rebirth in samsara for the welfare o f others because they are the chil dren o f the victors w ho engage in prom oting the welfare o f sentient beings fo r as long as the samsara o f those to be guided lasts MCG (fols 5 5 b l-5 6 a 2 and 56b 4-57a.4) follow s the format
o f PSD, but adds that the Buddha’s light arises from his w isdom , while the light o f gods arises from karma (2) As for the manner o f the arising o f the k now ledge o f the path, temporarily speaking since it arises from the generation o f bodhicitta (emptiness with a heart o f com p as sion), this is its definite object U ltim ately since all sentient beings have the tathágata heart, all šrávakas and pratyekabuddhas also are pervaded by the fact that the k n ow led ge o f the path in the single m aháyána is suitable to arise in them (3) The nature o f the know ledge o f the path is
to gain mastery over the afflictions and thus to not manifest until samsára ends and the welfare
o f all sentient beings is fully accomplished Here it is com passion that is labeled as natural afflic tions, or it is through the skill in m eans o f bodhisattvas that the afflictions are not relinquished Generally, afflictions are twofold in nature—those that bind in samsára and latencies In noble ones, the former do not exist The latter do exist, but, through the skill in m eans o f bodhisattvas, they becom e aids for enlightenm ent, just like poison turning into medicine T h ough bodhisatt vas attain the path o f seeing, through mastering uncontam inated karma and what is to be relinquished on each b hum i, unlike šrávakas, th e y do not relinquish said latencies, but retain them as the causes for being reborn in samsára By virtue o f being embraced by prajňá and compasssion, said latencies are not fully qualified afflictions since they assist in accom plishing the buddhadharmas (4) is as described in PSD A ccording to MPZL (pp 6 5 -6 9 ), the nature o f the branches o f the kn ow led ge o f the path is to be the special conditions fo r com pleting or per fecting that knowledge These branches consist o f the branches o f (1) relinquishing the adverse conditions o f said knowledge, (2) accom plishing its favorable conditions, and (3) perfecting its function (1) The explicit teaching in the sutras about the pride o f the gods being overcom e through their light being eclipsed points to the hidden teaching o f the proper support for the arising o f the knowledge o f the path The purpose o f this hidden teaching is taught through the pertinent distinctive feature o f relinquishm ent— having relinquished the manifest afflictions Implicitly, this teaches the following In terms o f p ositive determination, those w h o dwell on the level o f the suprem e dharma o f the maháyána path o f preparation are suitable as supports for the knowledge o f the path because they have relinquished the manifest afflictions In terms o f negative determination, tho se w h o are free from attachm ent due to having gone through m u n dane paths are not such supports because they have not relinquished the manifest afflictions o f the Peak o f Existence (2) To accom plish the favorable conditions consists o f (a) the generation
o f bodhicitta (the condition), (b) the awakening o f the disposition (the cause), and (c) the nature o f the m eans (the aid), (a) T hrough the generation o f bodhicitta, w hich is oriented toward perfect enlightenm ent, it is taught that the object must be definite Implicitly, this teaches the following In terms o f positive determination, those on the maháyána path o f preparation are suitable as supports for the knowledge o f the path because they have generated bodhicitta
In terms o f n egative determination, arhats free from attachm ent are not such supports because they lack bodhicitta (b) Through the disposition having awoken, it is taught that its pervasive ness must be definite Implicitly, this teaches the following In terms o f positive determination, through the pow er o f the disposition having aw ok en in those on the m aháyána path o f prepara tion, they are necessarily suitable for the arising o f the k n ow led ge o f the path This teaches that, ultimately, there is definitely only a single yána In terms o f negative determ ination, the persons
in w h om the disposition has temporarily not been awoken are not supports for the knowledge
o f the path, (c) The aid—the nature o f com p assion —teaches that one m ust be en d ow ed with the
m eans o f not relinquishing the afflictions Implicitly, this teaches the follow ing In terms o f positive determination, the knowledge o f the path (which has the nature o f prajňá) is united with its aid, m eans (which has the nature o f com passion) In terms o f negative determination,
Trang 5(3) Through th e k now ledge o f t h e path consisting o f special m eans a n d prajňá, it is taught that this k now ledge is en d ow ed with the special function o f the m eans to accomplish the welfare o f others In terms o f p o sitiv ed eterm in a tio n , this teaches that, th o u g h the ultim ate function o f the know ledge o f the path that consists o f special m eans and prajňá k n o w s the true end, it does not manifest the true end in an u n tim ely m anner, but accom plishes the fruition that is the n o n a b id ing nirvána Its temporary function is to accom plish the welfare o f others through gathering those sentient beings w h o have not been gathered as retinues, m aturing those w h o were gath ered, and liberating those w h o were matured In terms o f negative determ ination, this teaches that šrávakas and pratyekabuddhas fall into the extrem e o f peace because they are inferior in terms o f accom plishing the final fruition, and on ly accomplish their o w n w elfare because they are inferior in terms o f temporarily prom oting the welfare o f others As for the m ean ing o f not relinquishing the afflictions (the branch that is the nature o f the know ledge o f the path), to assert these afflictions as fully qualified afflictive obscurations entails flaws such as those b o d h i sattvas w h o h ave previously g on e through inferior paths lacking this branch o f the know ledge
o f the path and, in particular, the branches o f the know ledge o f the path not being complete in bodhisattvas on the three pure bhumis (because all afflictive obscurations have been relin quished on these bhum is) As for asserting said afflictions as cognitive obscurations, there appears the tradition o f claiming such things as bodhisattvas deliberately not cultivating the practice o f the equipm ent o f the remedies and the culm inating training Also, neither the asser tion that these afflictions are latencies nor the explanation by others that bodhisattvas do not take the afflictive obscurations as their primary factors to be relinquished can transcend the flaws o f the previous tw o assertions In particular, the explanation that bodhisattvas do not take the afflictions as their primary factors to be relinquished fo r their o w n welfare entails in n um er able flaws, such as havin g to assert that bodhisattvas deliberately do not relinquish both types o f
o b scu ration s and deliberately do not cultivate any rem edial paths Q u o tin g som e o f the above passages from the Ságaramatipariprcchasútra in PSD, MPZL says that they teach the following
W hat is labeled as “afflictions” are the eight dharmas o f bodhisattvas entering samsára as they please (w hich have the nature o f com passion) The reason for labeling them as afflictions is their resem bling the latter in that they connect with the three realms Thus, it is the function o f the skill in m eans o f bodhisattvas engaging in the welfare o f sentient beings out o f com passion for
as long as samsára lasts that is labeled as “afflictions” because it is similar to (som e of) their fea tures As for the purposes o f such labeling, in general, though ordinary beings w h o are free from attachm ent (through m un d an e paths) have relinquished the afflictions o f respectively lower lev els, they did not relinquish those o f the respectively higher ones and consequently are helplessly reborn in samsára O n the other hand, though noble bodhisattvas do not relinquish the afflic tions temporarily, they are not born in samsára under their influence, but are skilled in the
m eans to enter samsára as they wish through the pow er o f com passion In particular, since šrávakas and pratyekabuddhas reject any wish o f entering samsára for the welfare o f others like poison, they are not skilled in such means, whereas bodhisattvas are skilled in said means fo r as long as samsára lasts M ost specifically, since šrávaka and pratyekabuddha arhats have exhaus tively relinquished the afflictions (the causes for entering samsára), they fall into the extreme o f peace T h o u g h bodhisattvas on the three pure b h u m is h ave also exhaustively relinquished the afflictions, they do not abide in the extreme o f peace, but, under the sw a y o f com passion, are skilled in the m eans to enter samsára as the y please Thus, there is the purpose o f realizing the greatness o f their skill in these means As fo r šrávakas and pratyekabuddhas, w h o are not skilled
in means, lack com passion, and fall into the extrem e o f peace, on ce they, through the pow er o f the m aháyána disposition h avin g awoken in them , manifest com passion as the m eans and thus giv e rise to bodhicitta, the y also enter the path o f the m aháyána, engage in samsára fo r the w e l fare o f others as they wish, and so on It appears that the p ro fo un d m eanings o f these essential