Jewels from the Treasury

Jewels from the Treasury

Vasubandhu’s

Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma

and Its Commentary,

Youthful Play
An Explanation of the Treasury of
Abhidharma
by the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje

Foreword by Khenchen rangu Rinpoche

Translated from the Tibetan with reference to the Sanskrit
by David Karma Choephel

KTD Publications
Woodstock, New York
KTD Publications and the translator David Karma Choephel
would like to acknowledge the generous support of the
Tsadra Foundation in the publication of this book.
 Published by:
KTD Publications
335 Meads Mountain Road
Woodstock, NY 12498, USA
www.KTDPublications.org

Cover painting of Vasubandhu and illustrations of Vasubandhu

and the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje by Karma Dradul.

© 2012 KTD Publications and David Karma Choephel

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011944417

ISBN 978-1-934608-25-8

Ebook edition by dharmaebooks.org

Dharma Ebooks is a project of Dharma Treasure, which
operates under the editorial guidance of the 17th Gyalwang
Karmapa, Ogyen Trinley Dorje. The proprietary rights of
Dharma Ebooks belong to Dharma Treasure Corporation.
 Table of Contents

Foreword by Khenchen rangu Rinpoche

Translator’s Introduction
A Note on the Translation of the Root Verses
Acknowledgments

VERSES ON THE TREASURY OF ABHIDHARMA

FIRST AREA Teachings on the Elements
SECOND AREA Teachings on the Faculties
THIRD AREA Teachings on the World
FOURTH AREA Teachings on Karma
FIFTH AREA Teaching on the Kernels
SIXTH AREA Teachings on the Paths and Individuals
SEVENTH AREA Teachings on Wisdom
EIGHTH AREA Teachings on the Absorptions

The Commentary:
YOUTHFUL PLAY. AN EXPLANATION OF THE TREASURY OF
ABHIDHARMA
FIRST AREA Teachings on the Elements
SECOND AREA Teachings on the Faculties
THIRD AREA Teachings on the World
FOURTH AREA Teachings on Karma
FIFTH AREA Teachings on the Kernels
SIXTH AREA Teachings on the Paths and Individuals
SEVENTH AREA Teachings on Wisdom
EIGHTH AREA Teachings on the Absorptions

APPENDIX A English Equivalents of Tibetan Terms

APPENDIX B English Equivalents of Sanskrit Terms
APPENDIX C Tibetan and Sanskrit Equivalents of English Terms
Works Cited
 FOREWORD BY

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche

Among the abhidharma of the Foundation and Great Vehicles, the

main text that students in monastic colleges study these days is
The Treasury of Abhidharma. There are many commentaries on the
Treasury. The great Chim Jamyang’s commentary and the Eighth
Karmapa Mikyö Dorje’s commentary, The Springtime Cow of Easy
Accomplishment, are very clear and good, but they are too long.
When new students study them, they are unable to find a way into
them. In order to help such students, the Ninth Karmapa Wangc-
huk Dorje composed a commentary that is very clear and concise.
Students who read it are able to develop definite comprehension of
the abhidharma in general, and within that, clearly understand the
points taught in the Treasury of Abhidharma. That is why it is so
beneficial that the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje’s commentary
on the Treasury has been translated.

Among the three baskets of Buddhist teachings, it is important to

understand the abhidharma teachings. There are three main train-
ings: the superior training in discipline taught by the vinaya, the
superior training in samadhi taught by the sutras, and the supe-
rior training in full knowing taught by the abhidharma. Of these
three trainings, the primary one for destroying the afflictions and
attaining the ultimate result is the superior training in full know-
ing. Developing this training depends mainly on the piṭaka of
abhidharma, and that in turn depends mainly on the treatises of
abhidharma. Of all these treatises, the easiest and clearest is the

9
Treasury of Abhidharma, so if you study the Treasury, it will bring
great benefit.

Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, Sarnath, India, February 17, 2008

10
 Translator’s Introduction

English-speaking students of Buddhism are very fortunate these

days: there are more and more books on Buddhism, and in-depth
study of Buddhist philosophy and practice is becoming possible in
an English medium. Important texts from all Buddhist schools and
traditions, in particular the Indian and Tibetan, are becoming avail-
able in excellent, clear English translations that are understandable
and beneficial for general readers and specialists alike. Since many
students of Buddhism are primarily interested in meditation, many
of the texts initially translated focused on meditation. But in order
to receive the full benefits of meditation practice, it is necessary to
have a thorough understanding of the views of Buddhist philoso-
phy. As Master Vasubandhu says in the Treasury of Abhidharma:

With conduct, listening, contemplation,

Completely train in meditation.

In other words, in order to achieve results in our meditation prac-

tice, we must first maintain the conduct of good discipline and
then develop the prajñā or “full knowing” born of listening and
contemplation through study of the Buddha’s words and the trea-
tises that explain them. Without study we are like blind people
trying to climb a cliff, it is said, but with the proper understanding
that comes from thorough study and contemplation, our medita-
tion will improve and we will be able to enjoy its fruits.

Of all the subjects to study, masters in all Buddhist traditions con-

sider the abhidharma to be one of the most important. Abhidharma
is like an encyclopedia of Buddhism: it pulls together the teachings

11
the Buddha gave in many different sutras and discourses and pre-
sents them in a systematic way. Studying it gives an understanding
of 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 phenomena that are covered
most thoroughly in the abhidharma. But most important, it gives
answers to such pressing questions as, what are the natures of our
bodies and minds? How are we born? How do our minds work?
How does karma work? What causes suffering? How do we free
ourselves from suffering?

Although the Buddha himself said that his teachings could be di-
vided into the three baskets of sutras, vinaya, and abhidharma, it
would be difficult to pinpoint a specific set of his discourses that
could be called abhidharma. Rather, Shariputra, Kātyāniputra, and
other arhats collected and systematized the teachings the Buddha
had given on many disparate occasions in many sutras and the
vinaya, compiling what are called the seven treatises of abhidhar-
ma. As the different schools of Buddhism developed, each school
also developed its own tradition of interpreting and explaining the
abhidharma, and so there came to be several distinct presentations
of the abhidharma.

The basis for the study of abhidharma in the northern Buddhist

traditions that spread to Tibet, China, Korea, and Japan was pro-
vided by Master Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma
(often called the root verses) and his accompanying Explanation of
the Treasury of Abhidharma (usually called the autocommentary).
Written in the fourth century, these brilliant works eclipsed earlier
treatises on the abhidharma to such an extent that Tibetan transla-
tors did not even consider most of the treatises it was based upon
necessary to translate. Within the Tibetan tradition, Vasuband-

12
hu’s Treasury is considered one of the five great works of Buddhist
philosophy. The root is especially prized for the way in which it
condenses an immense topic into clear, concise, and memorable
verses. Several of the verses are so often quoted in works on other
topics that they are among the most commonly quoted lines in Ti-
betan Buddhism. When studying abhidharma, students memorize
the root—in some monastic colleges, gathering every morning to
recite the verses aloud from beginning to end. The meter of the
verses makes them easy to recite and remember, so that as students
recite them over and over, passages that at first seem impenetra-
ble become clearer and clearer. Eventually they become reminders
that flow easily over the tongue, bringing to mind the meaning
described in the commentaries.

For a student new to the abhidharma, however, Vasubandhu’s work

on its own is difficult. The root verses are like a key that opens the
gate to a vast field of knowledge, but they are too terse to under-
stand without explanation. On the other hand, the autocommen-
tary is imposing for beginners. Not only is it lengthy—one English
translation was published in four volumes—it covers many doctri-
nal disputes between different Buddhist schools in such detail that
beginners might find it difficult to discern what is important. Other
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 among others, many Indian and later Tibetan
masters wrote commentaries on either the root verses, the auto-
commentary, or both. Among these, the Ninth Karmapa Wang-
chuk Dorje’s explanation of the root verses entitled Youthful Play is
especially useful for those who are new to the abhidharma. About
a third the length of the autocommentary, its explanations of the
root verses are succinct and clear; its synopses of the disputes be-

13
tween different schools outline the main points without providing
so much detail that a new student might get confused; and it flesh-
es out several topics covered only briefly in the autocommentary.
Youthful Play gives a thorough overview of the abhidharma for those
who wish to study it but cannot do so exhaustively and provides a
basis for those who wish to delve further into abhidharma studies.

When most students of Buddhism first learn about the abhidharma,

at first it seems as if it is a set of scriptures—one of the three baskets
or piṭaka of the Buddhist canon. However, this is only one aspect
of what the word abhidharma refers to. In Vasubandhu’s presenta-
tion, there are three types of abhidharma: ultimate abhidharma,
path abhidharma, and scriptural abhidharma. Ultimate or genuine
abhidharma is the stainless, undefiled full knowing that correctly
discerns what is and what is not, as well as the five undefiled ag-
gregates which accompany it. The name abhidharma is also given
to the defiled full knowing and treatises through which one can
achieve stainless wisdom. The defiled full knowing of individuals
on the path is path abhidharma, and treatises such as the seven trea-
tises of abhidharma and this Treasury are scriptural abhidharma.

The reason it is important to study the abhidharma is that only

this undefiled full knowing can liberate us from the suffering of
samsara. Ordinary sentient beings lack this full knowing and are
unable to properly distinguish what is from what is not. This con-
fusion leads to greed for the things one wants and aversion toward
things one finds unpleasant. This in turn leads to the actions which
on a longer timeframe bind us to the cycle of rebirth, but in the
short term as well lead to the difficulties of our lives. One only
has to look at how many of our everyday problems—whether ma-
jor or petty, real or imagined—result from misunderstandings or
misplaced hopes and fears to see how important it is to develop

14
the wisdom that sees what is as it is. As Vasubandhu says near the
beginning of the Treasury:

Without full discernment of dharmas, there is not

Any method to totally quell the afflictions.
Because of afflictions, the world wanders the seas of existence.

Although the necessity for studying the treatise is to realize the

undefiled full knowing that correctly discerns dharmas, the actual
topic is all defiled and undefiled dharmas—in effect, all dharmas,
as there are no dharmas which are neither defiled nor undefiled.
As Wangchuk Dorje notes in his commentary, the reason to divide
dharmas into these two categories is to indicate which dharmas we
need to give up and which dharmas we need to adopt in order to
bring ourselves to liberation and happiness. Defiled dharmas are
those dharmas in relation to which our defilements or afflictions
can occur and are primarily the dharmas included in the two truths
of suffering and origin. Undefiled dharmas include the truths of
cessation and path—those dharmas, which when we understand
them correctly, either are liberation or bring us to liberation.

Following a brief overview that identifies defiled and undefiled

dharmas, the Treasury then presents eight areas or chapters.1 The
first area, “Teachings on the Elements,” gives an overview of the
classification of all phenomena into the aggregates (skandha), sense

1. The autocommentary also has a ninth area, “Teachings on the Individual,”

which refutes the existence of an individual self. Tibetan sources generally explain
that Vasubandhu wrote the ninth chapter later than the root verses, at the time
that he was writing the autocommentary. The fact that this area comes after
Vasubandhu’s concluding advice—“All those who want freedom, be careful!”—
tends to support this position. The verses for this area do not appear in the Derge
Tengyur root verses, and Youthful Play, like most Tibetan commentaries, does not
comment on this area.

15
bases (āyatana), and elements (dhātu). It then further classifies
dharmas by what realm they are present in; whether they are virtu-
ous, nonvirtuous, or neutral; how they are produced; and so forth.
The second area, “Teachings on the Faculties,” presents an overview
of the sensory and other faculties, mental factors, nonconcurrent
formations, and causes, results, and conditions. Taken together,
these two areas provide a general categorization of all phenomena
and demonstrate how phenomena relate to one another as perceiv-
er and perceived, cause and result, and so forth.

The next area, “Teachings on the World,” gives a presentation of

sentient beings and the world that contains them. Although many
Western texts call this “Buddhist cosmology,” Tibetan commen-
taries say that this is a presentation of the truth of suffering: by
understanding what possible rebirths there are, how one is reborn,
and the places one can be reborn, one can see how none of these
transcend impermanence and suffering. The first half of the area
describes the different types of wanderers, or sentient beings, and
explains how they take birth, what sustains them during their lives,
and how they die. This includes a thorough explanation of the be-
tween or bardo state and the twelve links of interdependence. The
second half of the area presents the arrangement of the outer world
with Mount Meru surrounded by rings of mountains, oceans, and
continents, including detailed descriptions of the god realms above
and the hell realms below.

This area is one of the most fascinating for Tibetans and non-Ti-
betans alike, not least because the description of the outer world
does not match our modern understanding of the physical uni-
verse. Many modern Tibetan khenpos and scholars explain that
this is because our common perceptions of the world arise out of
our shared karma. Since beings today have different karma than

16
those of Vasubandhu’s time, the world naturally appears quite diffe-
rently to us today. Another possible explanation is that the Bud-
dha and later scholars including Vasubandhu needed to teach in
ways that the people of their time could understand, and therefore
they described the world according to the prevalent beliefs of their
times. However we reconcile ourselves to this, at the very least this
area is rich with descriptions of the mountains, seas, and places that
provide much of the imagery of Buddhist literature.

The fourth and fifth areas then present the causes for the world as
we know it to arise: karma and the afflictions, which are the two
parts of the truth of origin. The fourth area, “Teachings on Karma,”
explains all the different aspects of karma: what the virtuous and
nonvirtuous actions are, what gives them their karmic strength,
and how their results are experienced. The fifth area, “Teachings
on the Kernels,” analyzes all the different aspects of the afflictions,
focusing on the afflicted kernels, the subtle seeds of the afflictions
within our beings that can flare up into full blown afflictions—
the defilements, floods, yokes, and graspings also described in this
chapter. This area describes in detail what the kernels focus on, how
they tie us to samsara, how they develop into manifest afflictions,
and so forth. As Vasubandhu says, “The root of existence is the ker-
nels,” so fully understanding them is critical to understanding why
we remain in samsara and how we can free ourselves from it. For
this reason, it is not uncommon to hear Tibetan scholars say that
this is the most important area in the Treasury. The fifth area also
discusses how to abandon the kernels and the result of abandoning
them, the perfect knowings that are the truth of cessation.2

The truth of the path is taught in the first part of the sixth area,
“Teachings on the Paths and Individuals,” which describes the

2. Mi bskyod rdo rje, 2003, vol. 1, 98.

17
meditations one follows from the beginning stages of the ordinary
individual through the paths of seeing and meditation. The four
parts of the path of joining—the precursors to clear realization—
and the path of seeing are described in particular detail. The area
also describes the qualities and results that arise on the path, the
results of the spiritual way, and the different types of noble individ-
uals in the listener vehicle.

The last two chapters, “Teachings on Wisdom” and “Teachings on

Absorption,” describe the wisdom and deep meditation that arise
in different individuals, presenting the qualities of the Buddha and
arhats. Knowing about their qualities helps create enthusiasm for
practicing the path: If we do not feel that there will be any benefit
to listening, contemplating, and meditating, it will be hard to mo-
tivate ourselves to make the necessary effort. But if we understand
what kinds of qualities we can attain, then we will have joy at the
prospects of following the path to liberation.

Thus the eight areas collect the Buddha’s teachings into a treasury
that we can use and enjoy. It covers a vast scope—the natures of
phenomena, the natures of our minds and bodies, why we exist as
we do, and how we can free ourselves—but as Wangchuk Dorje
says, Master Vasubandhu is “skilled in concise and simple words,
and composed a text with few difficult words.” Together with the
Karmapa’s clear explanations, it truly is what Wangchuk Dorje calls
a “feast for those with intelligence and interest.”

The translation of these works has occupied me intermittently over

the last few years since 2005, a period one could argue is not really
long enough to fully penetrate a topic some scholars spend decades
studying. Yet I hope that by these efforts English speakers will be
able to begin an exploration of the abhidharma. May they be able
to bathe in the cooling waters of the oceans of abhidharma and

18
cleanse themselves of the stains of misunderstanding and wrong
view. May they develop the confident full knowing born of study
and contemplation and then progress down the paths of medita-
tion. May all who read these words soon be free of all the sufferings
and difficulties of this life and live within the greatest ease and con-
tentment. Sarva mangalam!

19
 A Note on the Translation of
the Root Verses

One of the peculiar qualities of Vasubandhu’s Verses on the Treasury

of Abhidharma is its extreme concision, both in the original San-
skrit and in the Tibetan translation. The root verses do not give
full explanations of most points. Instead, they give short remind-
ers—sometimes only a short phrase or a single word—that help the
student organize and remember the large body of knowledge pre-
sented in the commentaries. As such, they are brilliant and helpful
both during the process of studying the abhidharma and later for
remembering it, but difficult to penetrate at first.

For this reason, many contemporary translators of texts such as this

take the approach of filling in the root verses to make them more
understandable—adding words or phrases from the commentaries
so that it can be understood on the first pass. This can certainly be
helpful, but if one were to insert enough extra language to make
every line of this particular text immediately clear, the resulting
translation would read more like a prose commentary than the
original verses; it would lack the concision and rhythm that make
the Tibetan so memorable.

This translation takes a different approach, following—albeit im-

perfectly—the example set by the Indian master Jinamitra and the
great Tibetan translator Bande Kawa Paltsek in the Tibetan trans-
lation. It is an attempt to match both the structure and content of
Vasubandhu’s verses as closely as possible in English. Where Vasu-
bandhu is concise, this translation is similarly concise. Where the
antecedents of pronouns are not specified in the original, they are

20
left unspecified here. Just as the original is metered verse, this trans-
lation is also set in meter in order to make it easier to remember
and recite. In Vasubandhu’s original and in the Tibetan transla-
tion there are many lines that only make sense after one looks at a
commentary, and readers will find this English translation similar
in this regard as well. That being said, I have also tried to avoid
being too literal in the translation, as in many passages too strict an
adherence to the Sanskrit and Tibetan grammar and versification
would have rendered the English unnecessarily opaque. For this
reason the meter of the English translation is less regular than the
original, some stanzas have extra lines, and other liberties have been
taken.

People reading abhidharma for the first time may find it helpful
to compare the root text as they read it to Wangchuk Dorje’s com-
mentary, which explains all the words of the root in the order they
appear in the verses. Students who are studying the text in-depth
may want to recite the root verses aloud and consult the other com-
mentaries available in English. I hope that as students grow more
familiar with the verses and their explanations, they might have
moments such as I had studying this text in Tibetan, when passages
that had seemed inscrutable suddenly became clear and the beauty
of Vasubandhu’s argument and manner became apparent.

21
 Acknowledgments

I am deeply grateful to Khenchen Thrangu Rinpoche, who has sup-

ported, encouraged, and helped me in all ways while I have been
translating this, and to Khenpo Losal of the Vajra Vidya Institute,
who taught the class in which I first studied these texts and later
helped clarify many points. Especial thanks are due to Venerable
Lodro Sangpo from Gampo Abbey, who reviewed the first draft,
and Michele Martin, who reviewed the manuscript when it was
almost finished. They both made dozens of helpful suggestions that
improved this translation immeasurably. I would also like to thank
the Tsadra Foundation for their generous support of this publi-
cation as well as for their general encouragement throughout the
entire process of bringing this work to publication.

I pray that these people and all the numerous others who have
helped and encouraged me in many ways have success in all they do
and swiftly bring themselves and others to the enduring happiness
of buddhahood.

22
Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma

by Vasubandhu

23
 In Sanskrit: Abhidharmakośakārikā
In Tibetan: chos mngon pa mdzod kyi tshig le’ur byas pa
In English: Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma

I prostrate to youthful Manjushri.

24
 FIRST AREA

Teachings on the Elements

1. It is he who has conquered entirely the darkness toward all

And guides sentient beings from the mire of samsara.
He teaches the meaning as it is: I prostrate to him,
en fully explain this treatise, e Treasury of Abhidharma.

2. Abhidharma is stainless full knowing, along with its

following;
at by which and treatises by which one gains it.
Since this collects them completely in meaning,
Or since they are its base, it’s e Treasury of Abhidharma.

3. Without full discernment of dharmas, there is not

Any method to totally quell the afflictions.
Because of afflictions, the world wanders the seas of existence.
at is why the Teacher taught this, they claim.

4. Defiled and undefiled dharmas:

Except the truth of path, composites
Are defiled since defilements can
Develop in relation to them.

5. e undefiled is the truth of path

And the three noncomposites, too,
Which are space and the two cessations.
Space is that which does not obstruct them.

25
6. Cessation that is analytic
Is a removal. ey are distinct.
e other cessation blocks arising
Forever; it’s nonanalytic.

7. Composite dharmas are the five

Skandhas of form, et cetera.
Just these are time, the bases for talk,
Emancipatible, and grounded.

8. e defiled is the aggregates

Of grasping and is disputed, too.
ey’re suffering, origin, and the world,
Locus of views, existence, too.

9. e skandha of form: five faculties,

Five objects, the imperceptible.
Supports of consciousnesses are
e eye, et cetera—lucid forms.

10. Two types of form, or twenty types,

And there are the eight types of sound,
And taste is sixfold, scent is fourfold,
Touch is elevenfold in nature.

11. Distracted, and mind-free as well,

Virtue or non, continuous,
And caused by the great sources: this
Is called the imperceptible.

12. e sources are the elements

Of earth and water, fire and air.

26
eir functions are to hold, et cetera.
ey are hard, wet, and hot, and moving.

13. According to the world’s conventions,

Color and form are considered earth,
Water, and fire. e atmosphere
Is the element itself, and like those, too.

14. Only these faculties and objects

Are called ten bases and elements.
Feeling’s experience. Conception
Is the perception of attributes.

15. Formation differs from four skandhas.

ese three and imperceptibles
And noncomposites are called the
Sense base and element of dharmas.

16. Consciousness is distinctly knowing.

e sense base of mind is also that,
And also seven elements—
Six consciousnesses and the mind.

17. Six consciousnesses that have just

Immediately past are mind.
To establish the support of the sixth,
We posit eighteen elements.

18. One aggregate, one sense base, and

One element include them all.
It’s by their nature—they do not
Possess another’s entity.

27
19. Of course there are two eyes, et cetera,
But since their type, sphere, consciousness
Are similar, they’re just one element.
To beautify, they come in pairs.

20. e meaning of aggregate is heaped,

Sense base means the gate for arising,
And element means family.
Delusions, faculties, and interests
Are threefold, so the three are taught:
e aggregates, et cetera.

21. Because they are the root of quarrels

And cause samsara and the order,
Feeling and conception are taught
As different aggregates than factors.

22. Since noncomposites do not suit

Aggregate’s meaning, they are not taught.
e order is by coarse, all-afflicted,
e pot, and so forth, the realms’ meanings.

23. e object is present, so first five.

e object is source-derived, so four.
Since at great distance or since quickly,
Or else in order of location.

24. One is specific and the main,

And one has many dharmas, the highest,
So one is called sense base of form,
And one is called sense base of dharma.

28
25. e eighty thousand aggregates
Of Dharma the Sage taught are all
Words or are names, and thus they are
Included in form or in formation.

26. Some say their length equals the treatise,

Or depends on aggregates, et cetera.
But aggregates of Dharma taught
Correspond to antidotes for conduct.

27. Likewise the other aggregates,

Sense bases, or else elements:
Examine their own characters;
Include them in what has been explained.

28. Openings are the element

Of space—they’re light and dark, it’s claimed.
e element of consciousness
Is defiled consciousness, arising’s basis.

29. e showable here is form alone.

e obstructive is the ten with form.
Eight neutral are just those except
For form and sound. e others are threefold.

30. ey all are in the Desire realm.

e Form realm has fourteen: except
e elements of scent and taste,
And the nose and tongue consciousnesses.

31. e Formless realm has elements

Of mind, dharma, mind consciousness.

29
ose three are defiled or undefiled.
And those remaining are defiled.

32. ose which consider and examine:

Five elements of consciousness.
e final three are of three types.
ose which remain are free of both.

33. e nonconceptual have no thoughts

at recognize or that remember.
ese two distract the mind’s full knowing
Or are all memory in mind.

34. e seven elements of mind

And half of dharma, too, have focus.
e nine are not appropriated:
ose eight and sound. Nine others: twofold.

35. Touch has two types. e other nine

With form and part of the element
Of dharmas, too, are source-derived.
e ten with form, conglomerates.

36. e cutter and that which is cut

Are four external elements,
As are the burnt and that which weighs.
e burner and weighed are disputed.

37. e five internal are produced

By ripening and development.
Sound is not ripened. e compatible
And ripening produce eight unobstructive.

30
38. Others are threefold. One has substance.
e last three are a moment. e eye
And element of consciousness:
Gained singly or together, too.

39. Twelve are internal, except form,

And so forth. Dharma must be active.
e remaining are inactive, too—
at which does not perform its function.

40. Ten are discards of meditation.

Five also. e last three, three types.
Seeing does not discard the unafflicted,
Nor form, nor what is not born from the sixth.

41. e eye and part of the element

Of dharma are views: they are eightfold.
Five minds concurrent with five consciousnesses,
Not thoughts that recognize, are not view.

42. e eye sees form when it is active.

Supported consciousness does not,
Because a form that is obstructed
Cannot be seen, or so they claim.

43. Both of the eyes can see, as well,

Because they both can clearly see.
e eye, ear, and mind do not meet
eir objects. ree perceive elsewise.

44. e nose and other two perceive

An object that in size is equal.

31
 e last’s support is past. e five
Arise together with them, too.

45. Because when those change, they change, too,

e eye and so on are the supports.
Because of that and being specific,
ose indicate the consciousnesses.

46. e body cannot have a lower eye.

e eye cannot see forms of higher.
Neither the consciousness. eir forms,
And two of body, too, on any.

47. e ear is similar, as well.

e three are all of their own level.
e consciousness of body is lower,
Own level. Mind is indefinite.

48. Two consciousnesses, five external.

Noncompound dharmas are permanent.
One part of dharmas and those taught
As the internal twelve are faculties.

This completes the first area called “Teachings on the Elements”

from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

32
 SECOND AREA

Teachings on the Faculties

1. Five exercise their power over

Four meanings. Four over two, it’s claimed.
e five and eight, over all-afflicted
And over the utterly pure.

2. For power to focus on their own

Or all objects, six faculties.
For power over femaleness and maleness:
e body’s female and male faculties.

3. For power to maintain one’s likeness,

e all-afflicted, and the pure;
Life, feelings, and five faculties
Of faith and so forth are proposed.

4. To attain high, higher, and nirvana,

Et cetera, there are faculties of
Producing all-knowing, all-knowing,
And having all-knowing as well.

5. ere are as many faculties as

e mind’s supports, distinctions, and
at which maintains, those which afflict,
Gatherers, and the utterly pure.

6. Or as supports for entry, birth,

Remaining, and enjoying there are

33
Fourteen, and likewise for the reverse
ere are the other faculties.

7. e faculty of suffering
Is any unpleasant bodily feeling.
Pleasant is pleasure. On third dhyana
e mind’s is the faculty of pleasure.

8. On others, it is mental pleasure.

Unpleasant feelings in the mind
Are unhappiness, and neutral feelings
Are middling since both are thought-free.

9. On the paths of seeing, meditation,

And of nonlearning, nine are three.
ree stainless. ose with form, life force,
And suffering are defiled. Nine twofold.

10. Life force is fully ripened. Twelve

Are twofold, except the last eight
And mental unhappiness. at one
Must have full ripening. Ten twofold:

11. Mind, other feelings, faith, so forth.

Eight virtuous. Unhappiness
Is twofold. Mind and other feelings
Are threefold, and the rest are onefold.

12. Except the stainless, in Desire.

Except male, female faculties,
And sufferings: in Form. In Formless
ere are none with form, nor any pleasures.

34
13. Mind and three feelings are threefold.
e two discard unhappiness.
By meditation, nine. Five not
Discarded, also. ree are not.

14. In Desire, at first one gains the two

Full ripened. Not miraculous birth—
With that, six, seven, or else eight.
ere are six in Form and one above.

15. When dying in Formless, just life force

And mind and neutral feeling cease.
In Form, eight cease. With miraculous
Birth in Desire, ten, nine, or eight.

16. In gradual deaths, the four will cease.

In virtuous, add five to all.
Two outer results are gained with nine.
e two with seven, eight, or nine.

17. Because it’s possible to attain

Arhat with eleven, it is taught.
One who possesses neutral feeling,
Life force, or mind must have the three.

18. ose who have pleasure or body, four,

And five have those who’ve eyes, et cetera,
Or mental pleasure. ose who have
Suffering, seven, and the female

19. Faculty and so forth have eight.

ose with the faculty of having

35
All-knowing have eleven. With
Producing all-knowing, thirteen.

20. ose without virtue who’ve the fewest

Have eight: life, body, feelings, mind.
e childish of the Formless likewise
Have neutral, life force, mind, and virtues.

21. e most that one could have is nineteen

Except the stainless, with two organs;
And nobles who are attached could have
All but one organ and two stainless.

22. In Desire, atoms without sound

Or faculties: eight substances.
With body faculty, nine substances.
Another faculty, ten substances.

23. e mind and factors must arise together.

All with the characteristics of composites.
Attainment, sometimes. Factors are fivefold,
Since there are different major grounds and so forth.

24. Feeling, volition, and conception,

Intention, contact, intelligence,
And mindfulness, attention, interest,
Samadhi are with all cognitions.

25. Faith, carefulness, and pliancy,

Equanimity, shame, modesty,
Two roots, and nonhostility,
And diligence are with all virtue.

36
26. Delusion, carelessness, and laziness,
Nonfaith, and torpor, agitation:
With all afflicted. With nonvirtue,
Immodesty and shamelessness.

27. Aggression, grudge, deceit, and envy,

Contentiousness, hypocrisy,
Stinginess, pretense, arrogance, and
Hostility: grounds of minor afflictions.

28. Minds in Desire, when virtuous, have

Considering and examining,
So they have twenty-two mental factors.
Some are augmented by regret.

29. With unmixed minds that are nonvirtuous

And have view, too, the twenty arise.
If the four afflictions; or aggression,
Et cetera; or regret, twenty-one.

30. In the obscured, eighteen. It’s said

With other neutrals, there are twelve.
Since sleep does not preclude any other,
Whenever it occurs, it’s added.

31. Of these, regret, sleep, and nonvirtues

Are not on the first dhyana’s levels.
In special, no considering;
Above that, no examining, either.

32. Shameless is disrespect; immodesty is

To view the unwholesome without fear.

37
Affection’s faith; respect is shame.
ese two are in Desire and Form.

33. Considering and examining

Are coarse and fine. Pride is self-inflation.
Arrogance is clinging to one’s features,
Which then consumes the mind completely.

34. Cognition, mind, and consciousness

Are equivalent. e mind and factors
Have a support, a focus, aspects,
Concurrence also that is fivefold.

35. Formations that are nonconcurrent

Include attainment, nonattainment,
Same class, Conception Free, absorptions,
And life force and the characteristics,

36. Collections of names and so forth, too.

Attainment is to get or have.
Attainment, nonattainment are of
What is in one’s stream, or two cessations.

37. Attainment of three times is threefold;

Of virtue so forth, virtue so forth;
Of any realm is in that realm;
Of what’s not in a realm is fourfold;

38. Of neither learner nor non, three;

Of what is not abandoned, twofold.
Neutral attainment: at same time,
Except clairvoyance, emanations.

38
39. Of form of the obscured, as well.
In Desire, of forms does not precede.
Nonattainment is unobscured neutral;
Of past and unborn, it is threefold.

40. Of Desire, et cetera, and the stainless, too.

Path’s nonattainment is asserted as
An ordinary being. It’s forfeited
When one attains that or shifts level.

41. Same status: sentient beings’ resemblance.

Conception-free stops mind and factors
Of beings in Conception Free.
Full ripening. ey’re in Great Result.

42. Likewise conception-free absorption.

Last dhyan. From wishing for release.
It’s virtue. Experienced on birth only.
Not nobles. Gained in one time only.

43. Cessation’s like that, too. Its purpose

Is staying. Born on Peak, it’s virtue.
Experienced in two or indefinite,
e nobles attain it by training,

44. e Sage by awakening. Not at first,

Since it was gained by thirty-four moments.
Both have support of Desire and Form.
Cessation is first among humans.

45. Life force is life. It is that which

Supports one’s warmth and consciousness.

39
e characteristics are birth,
And aging, staying, impermanence.

46. ey’ve birth of birth, et cetera, and

Engage eight dharmas or else one.
Without the causes or conditions,
Birth can’t produce what is produced.

47. Collections of names and so forth are

Collections of names, speech, and letters.
Desire and Form. Indicate beings.
Compatible and neutral. Likewise

48. Same status. Fully ripened, too.

ree realms, and its attainment is twofold.
Characteristics, too. Absorptions,
Not having are compatible.

49. Enabling cause, the coemergent,

Cause of same status, the concurrent,
e universal, and full ripening
Are the six causes, it’s proposed.

50. e enabling cause is other than self.

e coemergent: mutual result,
Such as sources; mind and its followers;
Characteristics and their base.

51. ey’re mental factors, two vows, and

e mind’s and their characteristics.
ey follow mind in terms of time,
Results, et cetera, virtue, et cetera.

40
52. Same status cause is similar,
Own class and level, born before.
Nine levels’ paths are mutual,
Of equal or superior.

53. Produced by training is just those two.

From listening, reflecting, so forth.
Concurrent cause is mind and factors
With a support that is concurrent.

54. e universal, of afflicted.

Own level. Universal. Five.
Full-ripening cause can only be
Nonvirtue or a defiled virtue.

55. e universal and same status

Are in two times; three in three times.
Composites and removal are
Results. Noncompounds don’t have those.

56. Full-ripened result is of the last;

e dominant result, of first.
Compatible: same status and
e universal. Personal, two.

57. Fully ripened is a neutral dharma,

Shows beings, not neutral, born later.
Compatible is like its cause.
Removal is to mentally

58. Extinguish, and the result born

From something’s power is personal.

41
Composites that aren’t previous are
e dominant of composites only.

59. e five hold a result in the present.

Two causes issue in the present.
Two present and past causes issue,
And one past cause issues results.

60. e afflicted, fully ripened, others,

And the first noble respectively
Arise from all except full ripening,
Universal, those two, and same status.

61. is is for mind and mental factors.

e rest are like; exclude concurrent.
ere are four conditions, it is taught.
e one called causal is five causes.

62. e mind and factors that have arisen,

But not the last, are immediate.
e objective is all dharmas, and
e enabling is the dominant.

63. Two causes’ function is directed

Toward ceasing. e three toward arising.
e two conditions other than
at are the opposite of those.

64. Four produce mind and mental factors,

And three, the two absorptions. Others
Arise from two, not God and so forth,
Since they’re successive and so forth.

42
65. When sources cause the sources, twofold;
When causing source-derived, fivefold.
ree ways the source-derived are mutual;
ey cause the sources in one way.

66. Minds in Desire: virtue, nonvirtue,

Obscured, or else unobscured neutral.
In Form and Formless, those except Nonvirtue.
Two are undefiled.

67. Nine minds arise from a virtuous mind

Of Desire. It can arise from eight.
Nonvirtuous mind arises from ten.
From it are four. Like that, the obscured.

68. e unobscured arises from five.

Directly from it, seven minds.
In Form, from virtuous, eleven.
at is directly after nine.

69. Obscured is from eight, and from it, six.

e unobscured mind is from three.
From that one, six. In Formless, too,
It’s similar. From virtuous mind

70. Arise nine minds. at after six.

From obscured, seven. at is so.
e learner’s from four. From it five.
Nonlearner’s mind arises from five,

71. And from it there arise four minds.

To make this dozen into twenty:

43
 Divide the virtue of three realms
In what’s attained on birth, from training.

72. Produced by ripening, the path

Of activities, crafts, emanations:
e neutral are fourfold in Desire.
In Form, the crafts must be excluded.

73. With the three realms’ afflicted minds

One can acquire six, six, or two.
With virtuous in Form, it’s three.
With learner, four. With others, those.

This completes the second area called “Teachings on the Faculties”

from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

44
 THIRD AREA

Teachings on the World

1. Hells, hungry ghosts, and animals,

And humans, and six types of gods
Are the Desire realm. By dividing
e hells and continents, there are twenty.

2. Above that there are seventeen

Higher abodes of the Form realm.
Each of the dhyanas has three levels,
But the fourth dhyana has eight levels.

3. e Formless realm has no abodes.

Because of birth, it has four types.
ere, likeness and life force as well
Support the mind’s continuum.

4. e names, the hells, and so forth, show

Five wanderers. ey’re unafflicted
And neutral. Sentient beings are called,
But not those in the between state.

5. A different body and conception;

A different body, same conception;
Reverse; same body and conception;
And the three places without form

6. Are seven places of consciousness.

e others have that which destroys it.

45
With beings on Peak and Concept Free,
ey’re said to be nine places for beings.

7. Since one remains against one’s wishes,

e others are not. Four more places:
Four aggregates that are defiled,
On their own level. Consciousness

8. Alone is not explained as a place.

Combined, there are four alternatives.
ere sentient beings have four modes
Of birth: from egg, et cetera.

9. Humans and animals have four.

Hell beings have miraculous birth,
As do gods and the between states.
From the womb as well are hungry ghosts.

10. In this, it is that which arises

Between the states of death and birth.
It has not reached its destination,
So the between state is not born.

11. Analogous to a grain’s continuum,

It is not born from interruption.
Since a reflection is not proven,
Nor similar, it’s not an example.

12. On one, no two are simultaneous.

It’s discontinuous, born from two.
Since mentioned, it exists. Scent-eaters,
And five are taught, and Sutra of Wanderers.

46
13. Since it is propelled by the same karma,
It has the body of the next.
e previous is prior to death
But onward from the moment of birth.

14. ey’re seen by their class, divine eye.

e miracles of karma have power.
Full facultied and unobstructive,
ey cannot turn back. ey eat smells.

15. e mind mistaken, out of lust

It goes into its destination.
Others from longing for a smell
Or place. ey fall head first to hell.

16. One enters wittingly, one stays,

As well, and one emerges, too.
Others are ignorant of all,
And always if oviparous.

17. e three—wheel wielding as well as

Two self-awakened—enter the womb
Because their karma or their wisdom
Or both are vast, respectively.

18. ere is no self—mere aggregates.

Continuums of between states
Assembled by afflictions and karma
Enter the womb. It’s like a lamp.

19. Just as propelled, the continuum

Arose in stages, then from karma

47
And afflictions goes to the next world—
Beginningless wheel of existence.

20. ese are twelve links of interdependent

Origination in three parts.
e previous and next, two each;
e middle, eight, with all complete.

21. Previous afflictions: ignorance.

Previous karma is formations.
e aggregates at linking: consciousness.
And name-and-form is on from there

22. Until the six sense bases emerge.

ose are until three are assembled.
Contact is till one knows the causes
Of pleasure and of pain, et cetera.

23. en feeling until sex. And craving

Is greed for possessions and for sex.
Close grasping is then chasing after
In order to obtain enjoyments.

24. Performing actions that result

In an existence is becoming.
Linking rebirth again is birth.
Up until feeling, aging and death.

25. ey claim that this is periodic.

e link’s called by the principal.
It’s taught to reverse ignorance
About the previous, next, and middle.

48
26. ree are afflictions. Two are karma.
Seven are bases and results.
Cause and result of two is concise:
One can infer them from the middle.

27. Afflictions bear afflictions, action.

From that, the bases, and from those
Arise the bases and afflictions.
at is existence’s progression.

28. Here what is arising is a cause;

What has arisen is a result.
An other dharma, opposite to knowing,
Ignorance is like untruth, unfriendly, et cetera.

29. Because of fetter and such words.

Not bad full knowing, since that is view.
Since it’s concurrent with that view;
It’s taught that it afflicts full knowing.

30. Skandhas that are not form are name.

Six contacts happen from assembly.
Five are obstructive contact, and
e sixth is designated contact.

31. Aware and unaware and other contact

Are stainless and afflicted and the rest.
Malicious, lustful contact, and
ree felt as pleasant and so forth.

32. From that, six feelings can arise:

Five bodily, the other mental.

49
And that has eighteen types as well
Because of movement of the mind.

33. In Desire, all focus on their own,

And twelve can have Form in their sphere.
e three on higher. On two dhyanas
Are twelve which can move toward Desire.

34. Eight focus on their own; the two

On Formless. e two dhyans have six.
Six on Desire, the four on own,
And one can focus on the higher.

35. On preparations for the Formless,

Four move toward Form, one moves toward higher.
In actual, one with own object.
All of the eighteen are defiled.

36. Others have been or will be explained.

In this, afflictions are like seeds,
Like nagas, and like roots and trees,
Like husks as well, it is proposed.

37. Karma’s like rice within its husk,

Like medicine and flowers. e bases,
Like food and drink that have been got.
Among these four states of existence,

38. e state of rebirth is afflicted

By all the afflictions of its level.
e others, threefold. ree in Formless.
Wanderers abide from sustenance.

50
39. e sustenance food is in Desire.
Its nature is the three sense bases,
But not the sense base form, since that
Does not affect its organ or the freed.

40. Contact, volition, and consciousness are

Stained sustenance. ey are in three.
It’s born from mind, the searching state,
Scent-eater, and the between state,

41. And reestablishing. Two have the purpose

Of developing its base and the supported.
Two have the purpose to propel,
Establish the next life, in order.

42. To sever, to restore, and to

Detach, regress, die, and be born
Are the mind consciousness alone.
At death and birth, there’s neutral feeling.

43. Not in one-pointed or no mind.

Nirvana in two neutral minds.
In gradual death, if low or human,
Divine or no rebirth, mind dies

44. In the feet, navel, or the heart.

Water, et cetera, severs the pith.
Nobles are destined for the correct;
e heinous deeds for the mistaken.

45. Now the container world is said

To have below a mandala

51
Of wind one million and six hundred
ousands in depth, uncountable.

46. en water to a depth of one

Million one hundred twenty thousand.
en it becomes eight hundred thousand
In depth. e rest turns into gold.

47. e mandalas of water and gold

Are in diameter one million
Two hundred and three thousand and
Four hundred fifty leagues across.

48. ey’re thrice that in circumference.

On that are Meru, the Yoke Holder,
Plow Holder, and Acacia Tree,
And likewise Lovely to Behold,

49. And Horse’s Ear and Bowing Down,

Rim Holder Mounts, then continents.
Outside there is the Outer Ring.
Seven are gold. at one is iron.

50. Mount Meru is four precious ores.

Down eighty thousand into water
Plunges Mount Meru; above as well
It lofts to eighty thousand leagues.

51. e eight are each half less in width.

eir heights are equal to their widths.
Between them, seven Playful Seas;
Across the first is eighty thousand.

52
52. is one is the Vast Inner Sea.
Its sides are triple to its width.
e other seas are each half less.
e rest is the Great Outer Ocean.

53. Across it is three hundred and

Twenty-two thousand leagues.
erein Is the Rose-Apple Land, two thousand
Leagues on three sides, shaped like a cart,

54. With one of three and one half leagues.

Superior Body is half-moon like.
ree of its sides are like here; one
Is three and one half hundred leagues.

55. e Bountiful Cow Land is round,

Seven thousand and five hundred leagues.
Across its mid, twenty-five hundred.
Unpleasant Sound: eight, equal, square.

56. Between are eight subcontinents:

Deha, Videha, Kurava,
Kaurava, Chāmara, Avara,
And Śaṭhā and Uttaramantriṇa.

57. To the north of here, across the nine

Black Mounts is the Snow Mountain, then
On the near side of Perfume Mountain
Is a lake with waters fifty across.

58. Below this twenty thousand leagues,

e Incessant Hell is just that size.

53
Above that there are seven hells,
And all eight have an extra sixteen:

59. On each of their four sides there are

e Burning Ground and Rotten Corpse,
e Razor Road and those, the River.
Eight other cold hells—Blisters, et cetera.

60. e sun and moon are at mid Meru,

Fifty plus one in diameter.
So midnight, sunset, and mid-day
And sunrise are at the same time.

61. After the second rainy month’s

Ninth day of waxing, nights grow longer
And then in the fourth month of autumn,
Grow shorter. Days are the reverse.

62. e days or nights by minutes lengthen.

It’s as the sun moves south or north.
From moving too close to the sun,
Moon shades itself with its own shadow.

63. On that there are four terraces,

e distance between which is ten thousand,
Extending sixteen thousand leagues,
And eight, four, and two thousand leagues.

64. e Basin Holders, Garland Holders,

e Always Intoxicated, and
e gods of the Four Great Kings’ Realm
Live there and in seven mountain ranges.

54
65. On Meru’s peak is irty-ree,
Each side of which is eighty thousand.
On peaks in each of its four corners
ere dwell the Vajra-Holder yakshas.

66. e central city Lovely to Behold,

Twenty-five hundred leagues per side,
Has golden ground of one and half
Leagues deep; it is soft and variegated.

67. Within is Utterly Conquering,

With sides two hundred fifty leagues.
Outside are Colorful Chariots,
Roughening, Mixing, and Joyous Grove.

68. To their four sides twenty leagues away,

ere are the four excellent grounds.
On the northeast corner is All-Gathering.
On the southwest corner is Good Dharma.

69. e gods above that live in palaces.

Six ways they act upon desire:
ey couple in a pair, embrace,
Or else hold hands or laugh or look.

70. e children born in those realms are

Like children aged from five to ten.
ose born in the Form realms are born
Full grown, with even their robes complete.

71. ere are three ways desirables

Arise for Desire gods and humans.

55
Pleasure arises in three ways
On three of the dhyanas—thus nine levels.

72. ere is as far above a realm

As there is below to the lowest realm.
Except through magic or another,
ey cannot see what is above.

73. One thousand worlds, each with four lands,

A sun and moon, and a Great Mountain,
Desire god realms, and Brahma’s World,
Are called a General Prime ousand.

74. A thousand of those, the second thousand,

And that is called a Middle World Realm.
A thousand of those is the ree ousands.
ey are destroyed and formed together.

75. e ones on the Rose-Apple Land

Are four, or three and half cubits tall.
On the East, the Bountiful Cow, and North,
ey’re twice as tall as on the previous.

76. e bodies of Desire Gods grow

From a quarter earshot in height to
One and half earshots. In the first
Of Form, they are one-half league tall.

77. Above, a half league taller each.

Beyond the highest of Lesser Light,
eir bodies double on each level.
At Cloudless, though, discard three leagues.

56
78. Unpleasant Sound’s life span, one thousand.
On two, it is shorter by half each.
Here it’s uncertain: from ten years
At end; incalculable at first.

79. And fifty human years are just

One day and night among the lowest
Of gods of Desire. eir life span is,
Of such a day, five hundred years.

80. Above both day-length and span double.

In Form, there’s neither day nor night,
So their life span in aeons is
Equal in number to their height.

81. In Formless each, by twenty thousand

Aeons, is longer than the previous.
On Lesser Light and up, they are
Great aeons. Below that, half aeons.

82. e Reviving and so forth, six hells,

Have days that equal Desire Gods’ lives.
Of such a day, their life spans equal
e life spans of Desire realm Gods.

83. Extremely Hot, half aeon; the Incessant,

An intermediate aeon. e longest life
For animals, an aeon. Hungry ghosts
Live month-long days five hundred years.

84. If every hundred years one took

A seed from a cart of sesame,

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When that is empty is life in Blisters.
In others, twenty times as long.

85. Untimely death except in Unpleasant.

e units of form, name, and time
Are particles, letters, and instants.
Called atoms, molecules, and iron,

86. And water, rabbit, sheep, and ox,

And particles of sunlight, nits,
What comes from that, and also knuckles—
Each seven times larger than the previous.

87. ere are four and twenty fingers to

A cubit; four in every fathom.
Of those, five hundred make an earshot,
Which is a hermitage, it is said,

88. And eight of those are called a league.

One hundred twenty instants is
An instant of that. Sixty of those
Is a minute. Hours and days and months

89. Are thirty times as long as previous.

Including the impossible days
ere are twelve months in every year.
e many types of aeon are explained.

90. An aeon of destruction lasts from when

ere are no hell beings till the world’s destroyed.
Formation is from primordial wind
Until a being exists in hell.

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91. An intermediate aeon lasts
From when life is incalculable
Till it is ten years. en another
Eighteen increasing and decreasing,

92. en one increasing. During those,

Lives are as long as eighty thousand.
In this way this world that is formed
Lasts twenty intermediate aeons.

93. Forming, destroying, and remaining

After destruction are the same.
ese eighty make up one great aeon.
en after three uncountable

94. Of these appears a Buddha during

e decrease to one hundred years.
In both, self-buddhas. Following
One hundred aeons, a rhino appears.

95. Wheel-wielding emperors appear

When life is not less than eighty thousand.
With wheels of gold, silver, copper, iron,
ey rule over one, two, three, or else

96. Four continents, in reverse order.

At once, there are never two, like buddhas.
When their opponents welcome them,
Or they themselves advance or gird
For battle or just brandish weapons,
ey triumph without causing harm.

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 97. e Sage’s marks remain in place,
Clear and complete, so they’re superior.
e earliest beings are like Form gods.
ey gradually feel greed for tastes,

98. Grow lazy, and then gather and hoard.

Land holders then appoint field chieftains.
Because of their strong karmic paths,
eir life span shortens to ten years.

99. It’s weapons, pestilence, and famine

at bring an aeon to its end,
For seven days, then seven months,
en seven years respectively.

100. en fire and water and then wind

Bring three additional destructions.
ese crest respectively at the
ree dhyanas—second and so forth—

101. Because those correspond to their faults.

But not the fourth, since it’s immovable.
Not permanent, its palaces
And beings arise, and then they perish.

102. ere are seven by fire, then one by water.

When seven by water are thus finished,
en seven by fire, and after that,
Finally wind will bring destruction.

This completes the third area called “Teachings on the World” from
the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

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 FOURTH AREA

Teachings on Karma

1. From karma various worlds are born.

Volition and what that creates.
Volition is mental karma, which
Creates the karma of body and speech.

2. ose two are percepts and impercepts.

Bodily perceptible is shape.
It is not movement, since composites
Are momentary, as they perish.

3. Nothing can happen without cause.

e cause would become the destroyer.
Two would perceive it; not in particles.
Perceptible speech is speech’s sound.

4. ree kinds and stainless form are taught;

Increase; and paths not done; et cetera.
In subsequent moments, the impercepts
Of Desire are born from the past sources.

5. Stained karmas of the body and speech

Take their own sources as a cause.
e undefiled, of where it arises.
Impercepts aren’t appropriated.

6. ey are causally compatible

And indicate a sentient being.

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ey arise from sources which must be
Compatible, appropriated.
e ones born of samadhi arise
From unappropriated sources
at are produced by development
And are not separate.

7. ere are no neutral imperceptibles.

e others are threefold. Nonvirtue is
In Desire. ere are impercepts in Form, too,
And percepts where there is considering.

8. ere’s no obscured in Desire, either,

Because there is no motivation.
Ultimate virtue is liberation;
Inherent: roots, shame, modesty;

9. Concurrent with that is concurrent;

Actions and such are motivated.
Nonvirtue is the opposite.
e stable is the ultimate neutral.

10. Two motivations are the causal

And the contemporaneous motives.
e first one is the instigator;
e second is the executor.

11. e consciousness that seeing discards

Is the instigator. And the mind
at is a discard of meditation
Is both. e five are executors.

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12. e executors from the virtuous
And other instigators are threefold.
e Sage’s are alike or virtuous.
ose born of ripening are neither.

13. ree types of imperceptibles

Are vows, wrong vows, and neither.
Vows Are individual liberation
And dhyan-produced, and undefiled.

14. ere are the eight called pratimokṣa,

But they are four in substance since
Name alone changes with the organ.
ey’re separate but not exclusive.

15. By swearing to hold five, eight, ten,

Or all the precepts, one becomes
A pursuer of virtue, or a faster,
Or else a novice, or a bhikshu.

16. is is called discipline, fine conduct,

Karma, and vow. e percept and
Impercept of the first are individual
Liberation and the path of action.

17. e eight have pratimokṣa vows.

When one has dhyana, one has that.
e nobles have the undefiled.
e latter two follow the mind.

18. e two, on Not Unable’s paths

Of no obstacles, are called discarding.

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Mindfulness and awareness are
Restraint of mind and faculties.

19. One who has pratimokṣa has

e present imperceptible
Until it’s canceled. From the first
Moment and on, one has the past.

20. It’s so for those with wrong vows, too.

ose who possess the vows of dhyana
Possess the past and future. Nobles
At first do not possess the past.

21. In equipoise, on noble paths:

e present imperceptible.
If in between, at first the middle;
From then on, one has the two times.

22. ose with wrong vows can have the virtuous,

And those with vows can have nonvirtuous
Impercepts as long as they are
Very sincere or strongly afflicted.

23. ose who are acting all possess

e percept of the present time.
From the first moment until canceled,
ey have the past, but not the future.

24. ere’s no possession of the past

Obscured, nor of the unobscured.
Wrong vows, and harmful conduct, and
Immoral, karma, and its path.

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25. As it’s between, the mind is weak,
us one who acts has just the percept.
When a noble’s percept has been canceled
Yet still is unborn, they have the impercept.

26. e dhyana vows are gained with the level

Of dhyana itself. e undefiled
By nobles. Pratimokṣa is through
e perceptible of others, et cetera.

27. e vows are taken for life or else

e period of one day and night.
ere is no one-day-long wrong-vow,
Because there’s no such oath, it’s heard.

28. While kneeling low with no adornments,

Recite the words. Till morrow’s morn
One swears before another at dawn
To all the precepts of the fast.

29. ere are four, one, and three precepts

Of discipline, and carefulness,
Austerity respectively.
ose bring unmindfulness and arrogance.

30. Others may also fast, of course,

But only after going for refuge.
By promising to pursue virtue
e vow is made, it’s taught, like bhikshus.

31. If that is so and all is thus bound,

How is there single conduct, et cetera?

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Hold that, and it is held, it’s heard.
ey’re weak, et cetera, like the mind.

32. All those who go for refuge to

e three take refuge in the dharmas
at make the Buddha and the Sangha—
No learning and both—and nirvana.

33. Since sexual misconduct is reviled,

Since easy, since abstention is attained.
e vow’s attained just as it’s sworn;
It is not total celibacy.

34. If one transgresses any precept,

He would end up by telling a lie.
Of the prohibited unwholesome,
Intoxicants, as one will hold the others.

35. e vows of Desire must be attained

In relation to all, both, and present.
e dhyana and undefiled vows
Relate to actual and all times.

36. Vows in relation to all beings;

Distinctions in branches and cause.
Wrong vows are gained in relation to
All and all branches; not to causes.

37. Wrong vows can be attained from action,

Or else they’re gained through a commitment.
e other impercept is gained
From field, commitment, and respect.

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38. e individual liberation
Is canceled by returning vows,
Or dying, or two organs arising,
Severing the roots, or passing the night.

39. Some say it’s canceled by the downfalls;

By the True Dharma’s decline, say others.
Kashmiris propose that when it happens,
ere are both, like having debts and riches.

40. e virtue of dhyana can be canceled

By shifting level or regressing.
Formless is same; noble by gaining
A result, refining, or regressing.

41. Wrong vows are canceled by gaining vows

Or dying or two organs arising.
Mid-vows, when force or undertaking,
Act, object, life, or the roots cease.

42. e Desire realm’s immaterial virtue,

By severing roots and rebirth higher.
e immaterial afflicted
Perishes when its anti arises.

43. Except sexless, neuters, hermaphrodites,

Unpleasant Sound, humans can have
Wrong vows. e vows are similar.
e gods as well. Humans have three.

44. e gods born in Desire and Form

Have dhyan-produced. Except for beings

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In special dhyana and Concept Free,
ey’ve undefiled—in Formless, too.

45. Pleasant, unpleasant, and other karma

Are virtue, nonvirtue, and other.
Merit, nonmerit, and unmoving.
e three experienced as pleasure, et cetera.

46. Merit is virtuous karma of

Desire. Unmoving is of higher:
Because the karma fully ripens
On just those levels, it does not move.

47. Virtue’s experienced as pleasure

rough the third dhyana.
Above that It’s felt as neither pain nor pleasure.
Nonvirtue is felt as suffering here.

48. Some say that in the lower, there

Is middling, too, since there is ripening
In special dhyan, and since the three
Can ripen without earlier or later.

49. Inherently, concurrently,

rough focus, as full ripening,
Or else directly manifesting:
Five ways that karma is experienced.

50. ey’re definite or indefinite.

ere are three definite because
ere’s visibly experienced,
Et cetera. Some propose five types,

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51. And others, four alternatives.
ree karmas will propel a likeness.
In all realms, there are four propulsions.
In hell, there are three virtuous.

52. A child detached stably from a realm

Does none experienced on birth there.
Nobles do none experienced in others,
Even those not stable toward Desire or Peak.

53. ere are twenty-two propulsions in

e between state of the Desire realm.
ese are a visible result.
ese are one single likeness only.

54. An action done out of intense

Afflictions or sincerity,
To the field of qualities, continuous,
Or killing parents: that is definite.

55. Karma has visible results

From excellence of field and intention,
From stable detachment from the level
When it has definite full ripening.

56. To help or harm those risen from

Cessation, unprovocative,
Love, seeing, or arhat’s result,
Brings swiftly experienced results.

57. Virtuous karma that is free of

Considering will fully ripen

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Only as feelings in the mind.
Nonvirtue ripens on the body.

58. A distraught mind is mental mind.

It’s born from fully ripened karma,
From fear or harm, imbalance, sorrow
Among the attached, not in the North.

59. e crooked, faulty, degenerate

Are born of deceit, hate, desire.
Four types of karma are distinguished
As white and black, et cetera.

60. Nonvirtue, virtue of Form realm,

And of Desire, respectively
Are karma that is black, white, both.
What douses them is undefiled.

61. Forbearance of dharmas and eight paths of

No obstacles that bring detachment:
ese are the twelve volitions that
Are karma which destroys the black.

62. Volition of the ninth is what

Extinguishes the black and white.
e last path of no obstacles
To dhyan’s detachment douses white.

63. Some say the two are what is felt

In hell and elsewhere in Desire.
Others call seeing’s discards black;
e rest in Desire, black and white.

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64. Nonlearners’ karma of body and speech
And just their mind respectively
Are silence of the three.
All three Fine conducts are three purifiers.

65. Nonvirtue of the body, et cetera,

Is proposed as three harmful conducts.
To covet and so forth aren’t action
But are three harmful mental conducts.

66. Fine conduct is the opposite.

Among them, to consolidate grossly,
e various virtues and nonvirtues
Are taught as the ten karmic paths.

67. Six nonvirtues are imperceptible.

e one is both. If done, they are as well.
e seven virtues are both. What samadhi
Produces is an imperceptible.

68. e preparations are perceptible.

ey might be imperceptible, or not.
e aftermath is opposite of that.
e preparations come from the three roots.

69. ey follow the three roots immediately,

So coveting and so forth come from them.
e virtues, preparation, aftermath,
Arise from nongreed, nonhate, nondelusion.

70. Hatred brings killing and harsh words

And malice to completion. Greed

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Brings coveting, adultery,
And also stealing to completion.

71. Wrong view, completed by delusion.

e rest by three, it is proposed.
e bases, they are sentient beings,
Enjoyments, name-and-form, and words.

72. When killers die before or else

Together, there’s no actual—
ey’ve been born in another body.
In wars and so forth all of them
Have the same goal, so all possess
e karma, like the perpetrator.

73. To take life is to kill another

Intentionally, unerringly.
To steal is to make another’s wealth
One’s own by force or thievery.

74. To lie with one who shouldn’t be lain with:

Four kinds of sexual misconduct.
To say one thing while thinking another,
When clearly understood, is lying.

75. at which is experienced by eye,

By ear, mind consciousness, and three,
Is seen, heard, cognized, and perceived
Respectively, it is explained.

76. Divisive speech is words said with

An afflicted mind to divide others.

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Harsh speech is words that are unpleasant.
Any afflicted words are chatter—

77. Some say afflicted speech that’s other

an those, like flattery, song, shows,
Or else bad treatises. To covet
Is wrongly greeding for others’ wealth.

78. Malice is hate for sentient beings.

Believing there’s no virtue or
Nonvirtue is wrong view. Of these,
ree are paths and seven karma, too.

79. e nihilist view severs the roots

Of Desire that were attained at birth.
Denial of cause and result. All.
Gradual. By humans. ey are cut

80. By men and women acting on views.

e severance is nonpossession.
Restored by doubt and view of existence;
Who’ve done a heinous deed, not here.

81. Up to eight nonvirtues and volition

Can simultaneously arise;
When they are virtuous, up to ten,
And yet not one, not eight, not five.

82. In hell, there is chatter and harsh words,

And malice in two ways; wrong view
And covetousness by possession.
ere are three in Unpleasant Sound.

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83.e seventh is manifest there, too.
Elsewhere in Desire, the ten nonvirtues.
ree virtues are in all by way
Of being possessed or manifest.

84. Beings in Concept Free and Formless

Have seven by possession, and
In the rest they’re manifest as well,
Except in hell and Unpleasant Sound.

85. It’s proposed these all give dominant,

Compatible, and ripened results.
Since it makes suffering, and kills,
And destroys vigor, three results.

86. Acting with body and speech from greed:

Wrong livelihood. It’s hard to cleanse,
So it’s taught separate. Saying it’s greed
For sustenance contradicts the sutras.

87. e karma of stained discarding paths

Brings five results. e stainless, four,
As do the other defiled karmas,
Whether they’re virtue or nonvirtue.

88. e remaining that are undefiled

Have three results, as does the neutral.
e virtue and so forth of virtue
Are four and two and likewise three.

89. Nonvirtue’s virtue and so forth

Are two, three, four, respectively.

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e virtue and so forth of neutral
Are two and three and likewise three.

90. Results of past in all three times

Are four, as are the middle’s future.
e middle has two, and the unborn
Has three results that are unborn.

91. On its own level, four results.

On different levels, three or two.
ree learner and so forth of learner.
Results of karma of nonlearners,

92. e learners’ dharmas and so forth,

Are one or three or otherwise two.
Results of karmas other than those
Are learner, et cetera, two, two, five.

93. Results of the discards of seeing,

Et cetera, are three, four, and one.
Two, four, and three results of karmas
at are discards of meditation.

94. Results of what is not discarded

Are one, two, four, respectively.
Improper is afflicted action,
Degenerate ways as well, some say.

95. One action propels one rebirth.

ere are multiple completing factors.
e two absorptions without mind
Do not propel, nor does attainment.

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96. e karma of the heinous deeds;
Severe afflictions; lower realms,
Beings in Concept Free, and the North
Are agreed to be three obscurations.

97. e heinous deeds are in three lands.

e sexless and so forth do not
Since little benefit, no shame.
Five wanderers have the remaining.

98. A schism of the Sangha is

Discord by nature, nonconcurrent.
It’s not afflicted; it is neutral.
e Sangha does possess the schism.

99. e unwholesome act is telling lies;

It is possessed by the schismatic.
It ripens for an aeon in Incessant.
Additional bring additional pain.

100. A bhikshu acting upon views,

Who is disciplined, divides. Elsewhere.
Childish. Accepting other teachers
And paths divides. It does not last.

101. It is called a schism of the Wheel.

Rose-Apple Land. Not less than nine.
Ritual schisms happen in
ree continents, with at least eight.

102. At first, at end, before there are faults

Or a pair; or when the Sage has passed,

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When boundaries are not established,
A schism of the Wheel can’t happen.

103. Since fields of benefit and qualities

Are abandoned and annihilated.
Even if organs change, it is.
She whose menses bore one is the mother.

104. Intent to beat the Buddha is not,

Nor if they become an arhat later.
When one has prepared a heinous act,
Detachment is impossible.

105. To tell a lie in order to split

e Sangha is the gravest crime.
Of worldly virtues, the volition
Of Peak bears the greatest result.

106. To violate one’s arhat mother,

To kill a certain Bodhisattva
Or learner, and to rob what has
Been gathered for the Sangha’s purpose

107. Are similar to heinous deeds.

e fifth is to destroy a stupa.
Gaining forbearance, nonreturner,
And arhat totally blocks karma.

108. Since when is he the Bodhisattva?

Since doing the karma of the marks.
High realms, high caste, full faculties,
Male, recalls lifetimes, irreversible.

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109. A male in Rose-Apple Land, when present,
With the volition to awaken,
rough contemplation, propels these
Over one hundred aeons more.

110. Each arises from one hundred merits.

e last of three uncountables, Vipashyin,
Dipa, Ratnashikhin
Appeared. e first was Shakyamuni.

111. Giving all to all compassionately

Perfected generosity.
While not detached, to cut his limbs
Did not perturb him: patience and discipline.

112. By praising Tiṣya, diligence.

Samadhi and mind, just prior to.
e three are merit, action, or
e basis, like the karmic paths.

113. What makes one gives is generosity,

Wishing to offer or to help.
It is body and speech karma, and
Intention, resulting in abundance.

114. Generosity brings benefit

To self or other, both or neither.
Distinctions of the donor and
Of things and field distinguish it.

115. Donors excel through faith, et cetera,

And make gifts with respect and such.

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is brings them honor and abundance
In time and with no obstacles.

116. From excellently colored things

And so forth, there comes beauty, fame,
Affection, and most youthful flesh,
Pleasing to touch in all the seasons.

117. e fields of wanderers, suffering,

Benefit, qualities are highest.
e highest is from freed to freed
Or by the Bodhisattva. Eighth.

118. Although they are not noble, gifts

To parents, the ill, or Dharma teachers,
e Bodhisattva’s last rebirth
Bring yields surpassing any measure.

119. Aftermath, field, base, preparation,

Volition, and intention, too:
When these are great or small in scope,
e karma, too, is great or small.

120. Intentional, complete, without

Regret, no anti, ripening,
Association: due to these
Karma is called accumulated.

121. Giving to stupas is merit caused

By giving: as with love, not taken.
Cause and result are infallible,
So bad fields, too, bear pleasant fruit.

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 122. Immoral is nonvirtuous form
at twofold discipline discards.
at which the Buddha barred as well.
Four qualities of the utterly pure:

123. Not sullied by immoral or

Its cause; based on the anti and peace.
Infusing the mind with meditation
Is the virtue of equipoise.

124. For high realms, discipline is prime,

And for removal, meditation.
Because one dwells in joy for aeons
In high realms, four are Brahma’s merit.

125. To give the Dharma is teaching sutras,

Without affliction, as they are.
Precursors to merit and nirvana,
And realization are three virtues.

126. reefold industrious karma with

Its motivation: writing letters
Or carving; poetry and counting;
Enumeration, in that order.

127. Obscured, bad, and unwholesome are

Afflicted dharmas. Stainless virtues
Are sublime. Practice compounded virtue.
And liberation is unexcelled.

This completes the fourth area called “Teachings on Karma” from

the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

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 FIFTH AREA

Teaching on the Kernels

1. e root of existence is the kernels.

ey’re six: desire, and likewise anger,
Pride, ignorance, and view, and doubt.
ese six are taught as seven when

2. Desire is split. at which arises

In two realms is desire for existence
Since it looks inward. It is taught
To rebut the idea it is freedom.

3. Five views are personality;

Wrong view; and holding the extremes;
Overesteeming view; and discipline,
Austerity. ere are thus ten.

4. ey’re ten and seven, seven and eight,

Excluding three or else two views.
When suffering and so forth of
Desire Is seen, they are discarded in order.

5. Four are discards of meditation.

Excluding anger, these same are
In Form. e Formless is like that.
us they’re proposed as ninety-eight.

6. e Peak’s that forbearance destroys,

Are discards just of seeing. On others,

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Of seeing and meditation. What forbearance
Does not destroy are just of meditation.

7. As me, mine; permanent and ceasing;

As nonexistent; overesteeming
e low; and viewing what is not cause
Or path as such: these are five views.

8. Since clinging to Ishvara, et cetera,

As cause, initially mistakes
em to be permanent and self,
Just seeing suffering discards it.

9. Among three views, there are four errors,

Since they’re mistaken, since they’re thoughts
at judge, since they exaggerate.
Mind and conception, from their power.

10. e prides are seven. Nine types, three.

Destroyed by seeing, meditation.
Discards of meditation are
Entangled with killing and so forth.

11. Craving destruction, too. In nobles,

e prides, et cetera, that think “me”—
Developed by view—do not occur.
Nor does nonvirtuous regret.

12. e views and doubts that one discards

By seeing suffering and cause
And simultaneous and unmixed
Ignorance are the universals.

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13. Of these, the nine can focus higher,
Excluding two views. What arises
Along with them is universal
As well, attainment not included.

14. Wrong views and doubts discarded by

Seeing cessation and the path,
Concurrent and plain ignorance:
ese six take the undefiled as sphere.

15. Cessation that is of their level.

Because paths can be mutual causes,
e paths of the six and nine levels
Are objects of whose sphere they are.

16. Desire does not, since it’s discarded.

Nor hatred, since they do not harm.
Since they are peace, pure, and supreme,
Pride does not, nor does overesteeming.

17. e universal kernels can

Develop through a focus on
Any that is of their own level.
Nonuniversal, on own class.

18. Not those whose sphere is high or stainless

Since those are not made mine, since anti.
e ones concurrent with one, then
Develop through concurrence with that.

19. In higher, all neutral. In Desire,

e personality, extreme,

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And simultaneous ignorance.
e rest here are nonvirtuous.

20. Desire, aversion, and delusion

In Desire are the roots of nonvirtue.
ere are three roots of neutral: craving,
And ignorance, intelligence.

21. Others act dually, loftily,

So they are not. e Bāhyaka
Propose these four: craving, view, pride,
Delusion. From ignorance, three dhyanists.

22. Categorical, distinguishing,

And questioning, and the declining
Responses answer queries on death,
Rebirth, superior, self or other.

23. One is tied down to things toward which

Desire and anger, pride as well,
Of both the past and present have
Arisen but not been abandoned.

24. e future mental tie to all.

e others tie in their own time.
e nonarising, to all times.
All that remain tie one to all.

25. e times always exist, it was said.

Since two, objects exist, result.
Because they say these all exist,
ey’re called ose Who Say All Exists.

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26. ey’re four, called thing and character
And state and relative dependence.
e third is best, because the times
Are there presented through their action.

27. ey’d block. What’s it? Not different,

Not logical as time. If they
Exist, why don’t they arise and perish?
So deep are the natures of dharmas.

28. Suffering is seen, they’ve been discarded;

Still other universals bind them.
e first has been abandoned, yet
Still tied by stains whose sphere it’s in.

29. ose of Desire, discards of seeing

Suffering and cause, of meditation,
Are in the sphere of their own three,
Of one of Form, of stainless, too.

30. And those of Form are in their own,

ree low, one high, and stainless, too.
ose of the Formless, in the sphere
Of these three of three realms, of stainless.

31. Discards of seeing path and cessation,

Are in the same spheres, plus their own.
e undefiled are in the sphere
Of three realms’ last three and the stainless.

32. Two ways the afflicted can have kernels;

e unafflicted, through development.

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Out of delusion, doubt; from that,
Wrong view, then personality.

33. From that, extreme, then overesteeming

Discipline, overesteeming view.
For one’s own view, there’s pride, attachment,
And hate for others, in this order.

34. e kernels being not abandoned,

e object being present near,
And inappropriate attention
Fulfill the causes of afflictions.

35. In Desire, defilements are the afflictions

Except delusion, and the entanglers.
In Form and Formless, kernels alone
Are the defilements of existence.

36. Since they are neutral and look inward

On levels of equipoise, they’re one.
e root is ignorance, so it
Is taught as a separate defilement.

37. e floods and yokes are like that, too,

But views are separate, since they’re sharp.
Not as defilements—without helpers,
ey do not tend to put, it’s claimed.

38. ose just explained and ignorance,

With views divided into two,
Are grasping. Ignorance produces
No clinging, and it is combined.

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39. Since they are subtle, since connected,
Since they develop in two ways,
Since they pursue, because of these,
ey are explained to be the kernels.

40. Because they put and ooze, because

ey carry away, attach, and grasp:
ese are the explanations of
e words defilement and so forth.

41. When these are classified as fetters,

Et cetera, they’re taught as five types.
Alike in substance, overesteeming,
e two views are a separate fetter.

42. Since they are both nonvirtuous only,

And are autonomous, it’s taught
at jealousy and stinginess
Are fetters separate from those.

43. ere are five that lead to the lowest.

e two prevent transcendence of Desire.
e three will send one back.
e three include the gates and roots.

44. Not having any desire to go,

Wrong path, and doubt about the path
Prevent one from arriving at
Liberation, so these three are taught.

45. ere are just five that lead to higher:

e two desires of Form and Formless,

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Excitement, pride, delusion, too.
ree bonds by force of the three feelings.

46. ose mental factors, different from

Afflictions, in the aggregate of
Formations are near afflictions, too.
ey are not to be called afflictions.

47. Shamelessness and immodesty

And jealousy and stinginess,
Excitement, regret, torpor, sleep:
ese are the eight types of entanglers.

48. Aggression and concealment. From desire

Come shamelessness, excitement, stinginess.
Concealment is disputed. Ignorance
Gives rise to torpor, sleep, immodesty.

49. From doubt, there comes regret.

Aggression And jealousy are caused by anger.
ere also are six filths of affliction:
Pretense, deceit, and arrogance,

50. Contentiousness, resentment, and

Hostility. Desire leads to
Pretense and arrogance. From anger,
Resentment and hostility.

51. From overesteeming views, contentiousness.

View motivates deceit. Of these,
Immodesty, and shamelessness,
Excitement, torpor, sleep are twofold.

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52. e rest, discards of meditation,
Are autonomous, as are the filths.
ey are nonvirtue in Desire.
ree twofold. Above they are neutral.

53. Deceit and pretense are in Desire

And on first dhyan, as Brahma deludes.
Torpor, excitement, arrogance
Are in three realms. e rest in Desire.

54. Discards of seeing, sleep, and pride:

On the level of mind consciousness.
Autonomous near afflictions, too.
e others, in six consciousnesses.

55. Desire can be concurrent with

e pleasures. Hate is the reverse.
Ignorance with all. e nihilist,
With pleasure of mind, unhappiness.

56. Doubt with unhappiness. e others

With happiness when in Desire.
And all with neutral. Higher levels
Are with those which are on their level.

57. Regret, and jealousy, and anger,

Hostility, resentment, and
Contentiousness, with unhappiness.
But stinginess, with opposite.

58. Deceit, pretense, concealment, sleep

Concur with both, while arrogance

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Is with two pleasures. Neutral feeling
With all. e other four with five.

59. e obscurations are in Desire.

eir incompatibilities,
And nourishment and action are
e same, so therefore two are one.
Because they harm the aggregates,
Because of doubt, there are just five.

60. By knowing the focus perfectly,

Extinguishing what focuses
On that, and discarding the focus.
Extinguished by the anti’s birth.

61. ere are four types of antidotes:

Discarding, base, and distancing,
Disgust, so called. Afflictions are
Discarded through their focus, it’s said.

62. rough different characteristics, and

rough incompatibility,
rough separate place and time, like distance
Of sources, discipline, region, times.

63. ey are extinguished once.

Removal Is then attained again and again
On birth of anti, attaining the
Results, refining faculties.

64. Nine perfect knowings: in Desire,

Upon exhausting the first two,

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ere’s one. Exhausting two, there are two.
And likewise just those three above.

65. What leads to lowest,

Form, and the extinction
Of all defilements: three more perfect knowings.
e six are the results of forbearance;
e rest are the results of knowing.

66. ey’re all results of Not Unable.

Five of the dhyanas, or else eight.
e one is of the preparations;
One of three actual Formless, too.

67. ey all are of the noble paths.

Two of the worldly. Subsequent, too.
e three results of dharma knowing,
Six of its similar kind, and five.

68. Since they are undefiled attainment

Of a removal, weaken the Peak,
And utterly destroy two causes,
ey’re perfect knowings. Transcending realms.

69. Not one. ose on the path of seeing

May possess fully up to five.
ose on the path of meditation
May possess six or one or two.

70. ey are combined when one becomes

Detached from realms or gains a result.

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 Some forfeit one, two, five, or six;
But five cannot be gained.

This completes the fifth area called “Teachings on the Kernels”

from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

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 SIXTH AREA

Teachings on the Paths and Individuals

1. It’s taught afflictions are discarded

By seeing truth and meditating.
e path of meditation is twofold,
But seeing, so called, is undefiled.

2. e truths are four, it is explained.

us suffering and origin,
Cessation and the path. is is
e order in which they are realized.

3. e attractive and the unattractive,

And the defiled other than those
Are suffering without exception
Because they have three sufferings.

4. If not engaged by mind when it’s

Destroyed or mentally excluded,
It’s relative, like vases or water.
Ultimate being is different.

5. With conduct, listening, contemplation,

Completely train in meditation.
Full knowing of listening, et cetera,
Are subjects of name, both, and meaning.

6. ose with two distances. Not the

Insatiable, dissatisfied.

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To crave for more is insatiable;
To want what is not had, dissatisfied.

7. e opposite is their antidote.

ese two are in three realms or stainless.
Nongreed, the noble family.
Of these, three are content by nature.

8. e three teach conduct; the last, action.

As anti for the arising of craving.
To quell desire for things one grasps
As mine or me, for a time, forever.

9. One enters that through the repulsive

And mindfulness of in, out breath,
For those with excess desire or thoughts.
e skeleton for all desirous.

10. At first imagine bones that spread

As far as the sea, then narrow down.
e trained discard bones from the foot
To half the skull. Perfect attention

11. Holding the mind between the eyebrows.

Repulsive is nongreed. It’s on
Ten levels, focusing on the
Appearance of Desire. By humans.

12. e mindfulness of breath is full knowing.

It’s on five levels; its sphere is wind.
Desire realm. Outsiders do not.
Six types are counting and so forth.

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13. In and out breath, on those of the body,
Called beings, are not appropriated.
ey arise from a compatible cause
And are not observed by lower mind.

14. After accomplishing tranquility

Meditate on the founds of mindfulness
By examining two characteristics
Of body, feeling, mind, and dharmas.

15. Full knowing from listening, et cetera.

e others from connection, focus.
e order is as they arise,
Four antis for the erroneous.

16. It is the foundation of dharmas

at focuses on them combined.
ey view them as impermanent,
And suffering, empty, and selfless.

17. e warmth arises out of that.

It has the four truths as its sphere
With sixteen aspects. Out of warmth
Comes peak, which is like that as well.

18. rough dharma, they both aim at aspects,

Develop through the others, too.
From that, forbearance. Two like that.
Dharmas develops all of them.

19. e object of the great is suffering

Of Desire realm. It is one moment.

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So is supreme dharma. ey are all
Five aggregates, without attainments.

20. e four precursors to realization

Must be produced by meditation
On Not Unable, special, and
e dhyanas. Two below, perhaps.

21. Support of Desire realm, and women

Gain supreme dharma on both supports.
e nobles forfeit them when leaving
A level; nonnobles at death.

22. e first two by regressing, too.

e actual sees truth in this.
If one regresses, gained anew.
Both forfeitures are nonpossession.

23. When peak is gained, roots can’t be severed;

Forbearance goes not to low realms.
Two can withdraw from the learners’ family
And become buddhas. Others, third.

24. e Teacher and rhino, all on one

Seat and dhyan’s end until awakening.
Before that, the precursor to freedom.
e swiftest in three lives are freed.

25. From listening and contemplation,

ree karmas are propelled by humans.
From the supreme of worldly dharmas
Comes undefiled dharma forbearance

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26. Of suffering of Desire, from which
Arises dharma knowing of
Just that itself. And likewise for
e rest of suffering arises
e subsequent forbearance, knowing.
ree other truths are like that, too.

27. us clear realization of the truths

Is sixteen minds. ere are three types,
Called seeing, focusing, and action,
On the same level as supreme.

28. Respectively, forbearance, knowing are

Paths of no obstacles and liberation.
From seeing the unseen, fifteen
Moments of these are the path of seeing.

29. During these, sharp and dull faculties

Are followers of faith and dharma.
ey’re entering the first result
If no discards of meditation

30. Or up to five have been destroyed.

e second, till the ninth’s extinguished.
One who is detached from Desire
Or higher is entering the third.

31. ose who are entering a result

Abide in it on the sixteenth.
Sharp and dull faculties are then
Convinced through faith, attained through seeing.

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32. To gain a result is not to gain
e path of higher progress. us
ose dwelling in result, not striving
To improve it, are not enterers.

33. Each level has nine kinds of faults,

Likewise nine qualities, because
e lesser and so forth of lesser,
Middle, and great are separate.

34. ose dwelling in result without discarding any

rough meditation, at most seven times.
ose freed from three or four, with two or three
More lives, from family to family.

35. If they have conquered up to five,

ey’re also entering the second,
And when the sixth set is extinguished,
At that time, they are a once-returner.

36. When they have extinguished seven or eight

Classes of faults, one life, one obstacle.
ey also are entering the third.
When ninth has perished, nonreturner.

37. ey pass into nirvana in between,

On birth, with effort, without effort, or
ey’re bound for higher. If they alternate
e dhyanas, they are bound for Below None.

38. ey leap, half leap, or die in all

e realms, and others go to the Peak.

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Four other types are bound for Formless.
Another transcends sorrow here.

39. Dividing the three in three more,

Nine bound for Form can be explained,
Distinguished by their different
Karma, afflictions, faculties.

40. Without dividing those bound higher,

ere are seven holy wanderers,
ey act on holy, not unholy;
ey go without return, so holy.

41. Nobles who in Desire transform

eir lives don’t go to other realms.
Both they and those born higher do not
Regress or refine faculties.

42. ey alternate the fourth dhyan first,

Achieved by alternating moments
In order to take birth and dwell,
Also from fear of the afflictions.

43. Because there are five types of that,

Only five births in pure abodes.
Nonreturners who have gained cessation
Are called made manifest by body.

44. ey are entering arhat until

e Peak’s eighth blockage is extinguished,
And on ninth’s path of no obstacles.
at is the vajra-like samadhi.

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45. Attaining its extinction and
Knowing thereof, nonlearner arhat.
Transworldly brings detachment from
e Peak. Two kinds detach from others.

46. Nobles detached through worldly paths

Attain removal that is twofold.
Some say through the transworldly, too,
Since if they forfeit, no afflictions.

47. As when one’s freed from half the Peak’s

Or born above, they’re not possessed.
Undefiled Not Unable can
Remove attachment to all levels.

48. In victory over the three levels

e final path of liberation
Comes out of dhyan or preparation.
Above, not from the preparations.
Eight nobles are victorious
Over their own and higher levels.

49. e worldly paths of liberation

And of no obstacles have peace
And coarse, et cetera, as their aspects,
And as their sphere, the high and low.

50. From knowing extinction comes the nonarising

Intelligence if they’re unshakable.
If not, then knowing extinction or the view
Of the nonlearner, which all arhats have.

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51. e spiritual way is the stainless paths;
Results are compound and noncompound.
ey’re eighty-nine: they are the paths
Of liberation, with extinctions.

52. ere are five reasons they are presented

As four results: relinquishing
e previous path on the result,
Acquiring another, and combining

53. Extinctions, gaining the eight knowings,

And also gaining sixteen aspects.
Results of worldly paths are mixed,
Supported by unstained attainment.

54. It is Brahma’s method, Brahma’s wheel,

Since Brahma is the one who turned it.
e Dharma Wheel is the path of seeing,
Since it goes fast, has spokes, et cetera.

55. ree gained in Desire, the last in three.

Above there is no path of seeing,
As there’s no weariness, and scriptures say,
“Commence here; come to the end there.”

56. It is said there are six arhats, five

Of whom come from the convinced through faith.
eir freedom is occasional.
Unshakable one cannot be shaken,

57. So that is nonoccasional freedom

Born out of the attained through seeing.

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Some from the first are in their family,
And some become through purification.

58. e four regress from family,

Five from result. Not from the first.
Six families of learners and nonnobles.
ere’s no refining on the path of seeing.

59. Regression from attained, from not attained,

And from enjoyment: these are called three types.
e Teacher has the last; the unshakable,
e middle, too; and others have the three.

60. While they’re regressed, they do not die.

ey don’t do what should not be done.
Nine paths of no obstacles and liberation
For unshakable from strong familiarity.

61. One each for the attained through seeing.

ey’re undefiled, refined by humans.
Nonlearners on support of nine,
And learners on six levels, since

62. Refinement forfeits the result

And progress; the result is gained.
Two buddhas, seven listeners:
Nine have nine different faculties.

63. e seven individuals

Are made by training, faculties,
Absorption, liberation, both.
ey’re six: the three paths each have two.

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64. ose who have gained cessation, liberated
By both; the others by full knowing.
From their absorption, faculties,
And results, learners are called perfect.

65. Nonlearners are perfect through two.

In brief, there are four types of path:
ey’re called distinctive, liberation,
No obstacles, and path of joining.

66. e dhyanas’ paths are easy; those

Of other levels, difficult.
Dull minds are slow to clearly know;
e other ones know clearly quickly.

67. Knowing extinction and nonarising

Is enlightenment. ey factor in it,
So the thirty-seven are its factors
In terms of name. In substance, ten:

68. Faith, diligence, and mindfulness, full knowing,

Samadhi, equanimity, and joy,
Considering, discipline, and pliancy.
e mindfulness foundations are full knowing.

69. And diligence, called right endeavor.

e feet of miracles, samadhi.
e main is mentioned. ey are also
All qualities produced by training.

70. Respectively, the seven groups

Emerge among beginners and

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Precursors to clear realization,
On meditation, and on seeing.

71. e branches of bodhi and the path

Are undefiled. e rest are twofold.
ey all are on the first of dhyanas
And Not Unable, except joy.

72. On second, all except considering,

And on the two, except those two,
And special dhyan. On the three Formless,
Not those, nor factors of discipline.

73. ey’re in Desire and on the Peak,

Except enlightenment and path.
Seeing three truths gains discipline
And faith in Dharma out of knowing;

74. In the Buddha and his Sangha, too,

Upon the path’s clear realization.
e Dharma is three truths and paths
Of the self-buddhas and bodhisattvas.

75. In terms of substance, they are two:

ey’re faith and discipline. ey’re stainless.
ey’re bound, so liberation is
Not called a learner’s branch. It’s twofold.

76. Conquering afflictions, noncompound;

While interest is composite.
at is the branch; two liberations.
Enlightenment, as taught, is knowing.

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 77. Nonlearners’ minds are liberated
From obscurations of the future.
e path that is about to cease
Fully discards its obscurations.

78. Just noncompound is called the elements.

Extinction of all attachment is detachment;
Of others, is the element of abandonment;
Of bases, called cessation’s element.

79. Forbearance and knowing suffering

And cause can bring revulsion.
All that discard remove attachment.
ere are thus four alternatives.

This completes the sixth area called “Teachings on the Paths and
Individuals” from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

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 SEVENTH AREA

Teachings on Wisdom

1. Stainless forbearances aren’t knowing.

Minds Of extinction, nonarising are not views.
e other noble minds than those are both.
Others are knowing. Six are views as well.

2. e knowings are defiled and undefiled.

e first is called the relative.
Two types of undefiled are only
e subsequent and dharma knowings.

3. All is the object of the relative.

e sphere of dharma is suffering, et cetera,
Of Desire realm. e sphere of subsequent
Is suffering, et cetera, of the higher.

4. rough the distinctions of the truths,

Just these are four—these four are knowing
Of nonarising and extinction.
When these two first arise, they are

5. Subsequent knowing of suffering

And cause. Four know another’s mind.
at can’t know higher levels, faculties,
Or individuals, destroyed, unborn.

6. Dharma and subsequent don’t know

Each other. Listeners know two

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Moments of seeing. Rhinos, three.
e Buddha without training, all.

7. Knowing extinction is recognizing

e truths are fully known, et cetera.
“ere is no more to know,” et cetera,
Is nonarising mind, it’s said.

8. From nature, antidote, or aspects,

Or aspects and the sphere, or training,
Or its work being done, or from
Development of cause, there are ten.

9. e dharma knowings of cessation

And path on meditation’s path
Are antidotes for the three realms.
e subsequent is not Desire’s.

10. e subsequent and dharma knowings

Have sixteen aspects. Relative
Knowing is like, or different, too.
ey have four from aspects of their truths.

11. Undefiled knowing others’ minds

Is like that, too. For stained, the aspects
Are the specifics of the known.
e sphere of each is a single substance.

12. e remaining possess fourteen aspects,

Except for empty and for selfless.
Unstained: no more than sixteen aspects,
But others say there are, from the Treatise.

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13. In substance, there are sixteen aspects.
An aspect is full knowing. at
And that with focus can perceive.
All that exists is the perceived.

14. e first is threefold. Others, virtue.

e first is on all of the levels.
e one called dharma is on six.
e subsequent on nine. Six likewise.

15. Knowing others’ minds is on four dhyanas.

at has Desire and Form as support,
And dharma has support of Desire.
e others, on three realms’ support.

16. Cessation mind is one foundation

Of mindfulness, and knowing minds Is three.
ose which remain are four.
Nine are the sphere of dharma mind.

17. Nine of the path and subsequent mind;

And two of suffering and cause.
Ten are of four, and none of one.
ere are ten dharmas to apply.

18. e three realms, and the stainless, and

e noncompound are twofold each.
Just relative knows what is outside
Its own collection to be selfless.

19. On the first of undefiled moments,

ose who are attached possess one knowing.

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On second, three. After on each
Of four moments they have another.

20. As they arise on the path of seeing,

Future forbearances and knowings
Like them are gained. On that upon
ree subsequent, the relative, too.

21. us they are called clear realization’s end.

ey are nonarising dharmas. On its own
And lower levels. Cessation’s is the last.
eir own truths’ aspects. Born of effort.

22. Attached gain six on the sixteenth.

ose detached from Desire gain seven.
Later on paths of meditation,
e attached attain the seven knowings.

23. In victory over seven levels,

Gaining clairvoyance and unshakable,
Paths of no obstacles for alternating.
Eight paths of liberation from the highest.

24. On learner’s liberation of refining,

One gains six or else seven knowings, or . . .
Six on paths of no obstacles.
Likewise on vanquishing the Peak.

25. On knowing extinction, there are nine.

Unshakable attains ten knowings,
Refining there, on the last as well.
Eight are attained on those not mentioned.

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26. One gains them where one is detached,
On which is gained, and lower, too.
On knowing extinction, defiled, too; all levels.
ose previously gained are not attained.

27. ose called acquiring and maintaining

Are attainment of composite virtue.
Attainment of the antidote
And distancing are of defiled.

28. e Buddha’s unshared qualities

Are eighteen: powers and so forth.
e possible and not, ten knowings,
Karma, result is eight. e dhyanas,

29. Et cetera, faculties, and interests,

Capacities, are nine. Path might
Be ten. e two are relative.
Extinction is six or else ten.

30. e powers of previous places and

Of death and birth are on the dhyanas.
e others, on all levels. Why?
Because his powers cannot be hindered.

31. His body has Nārāyaṇa power.

Some say his joints. It is the power
Of elephants times ten seven times.
is is the sensory base of touch.

32. ere are four types of fearlessness.

ey’re similar to the first, tenth,

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Second, and seventh of the powers.
e three are mindfulness, awareness.

33. e great compassion, relative mind,

Is greater from its gathering,
Its aspect, sphere, and being equal.
ere are eight ways that it is different.

34. All buddhas are the equal in

Accumulation, dharma body,
And acts for wanderers’ benefit,
But not in life span, caste, or size.

35. e dharmas common with the learners

And ordinary beings are
e unprovocative, the knowledge from
Aspiring, unhindered, clairvoyance, et cetera.

36. e unprovocative is relative

Knowing on dhyana’s end. Unshakable.
Human. Unborn afflictions of Desire,
Including their basis, are its sphere.

37. e knowledge from aspiring is

Similar, focusing on all.
Likewise unhindered knowledge of dharma,
Meaning, expression, eloquence.

38. ree are, in order, knowing names,

Meaning, and speech without obstruction.
e fourth is logical and fluent
Clear speech, and mastery of path.

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39. Its focus is on speech and path.
It is nine knowings, on all levels.
Knowledge of meaning, ten or six,
On all. e rest are relative.

40. Knowledge of dharma is in Desire

And dhyan; of speech, Desire and first.
If incomplete, they’re not attained.
ose six are through the highest end.

41. It’s sixfold: it is dhyana’s end,

Gained by progressing through all levels,
Coming to highest development.
Other than Buddha, they are from training.

42. Sixfold clairvoyance manifests magic,

e ear, mind, knowing previous lives,
Death and rebirth, and knowing extinction.
ese are the mind of liberation.

43. e four are knowing relative,

And knowing minds is the five knowings.
Clairvoyance of extinction is
Like power. Five are on four dhyanas.

44. eir object is own and lower level.

Familiar is attained by detachment.
e third one is the three foundations,
And magic, ear, and eye are the first.

45. Clairvoyance of ear and eye are neutral.

e rest are virtue. ree are knowledge,

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Because they stop the ignorance
Of prior lives, et cetera.

46. e last one is nonlearner’s. When two others

Arise in their mindstream, they are so called.
Although learners may have these, their streams
Have ignorance, so these are not called knowledge.

47. e first, third, sixth are miracles.

e miracle of teaching is best,
Since it is unconfused and brings
Benefit and a pleasant fruit.

48. e magical is samadhi. Motion

And emanations are from that.
e Teacher moves with mental speed;
Others: propulsion, interest.

49. In Desire, emanations are

Four external sense bases. Twofold.
In Form, two. Minds of emanation
Create them, too. ese are fourteen

50. Results of dhyan, respectively,

From two to five, not lower’s result.
It’s gained like dhyan, arising from
e pure and self. Out of it, two.

51. ey’re emanated by own level,

But speech by lower levels, too.
With emanator, except the Teacher.
After it’s blessed, another starts it.

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 52. ere are blessings for the dead as well,
Not for the unstable. Some say not.
First, many emanate the one;
When mastered, it is opposite.

53. Produced by meditation, neutral;

But those produced by birth are threefold.
Magic from mantra, medicine,
And karma, for five types in all.

54. ey are the divine eyes and ears,

Clear forms on levels of the dhyanas.
ey’re always active, nothing lacking.
eir sphere is distant, subtle, et cetera.

55. e arhat, rhino, and the Teacher

See a thousand squared or cubed or countless.
Others are gained on birth as well.
It cannot see the between state.

56. Knowing minds is three, created by

e intellect and mantra, too.
Hell beings know at first. With humans,
ere are not any gained on birth.

This completes the seventh area called “Teachings on Wisdom”

from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

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 EIGHTH AREA

Teachings on the Absorptions

1. e dhyans are twofold. ey are four.

Rebirth there has been fully explained.
Absorption is one-pointed virtue,
Its following, five aggregates.

2. It has examining, joy, pleasure.

e earlier branches are discarded.
Formless are like. Four aggregates,
Born of withdrawal from lower levels.

3. ey are called, with three preparations,

Destruction of conception of form.
In Formless realms, there is no form.
en form arises from cognition.

4. ey’re called the Infinite Consciousness,

Space, Nothing at All, from training so.
Since it is feeble, no conception,
But it’s not nonconception, either.

5. us actual absorption is

Eight substances. Seven are threefold:
Concurrent with enjoyment, pure,
And undefiled. e eighth is twofold.

6. e one concurrent with enjoyment

Has craving. Virtue of the worldly

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Is pure, which is what that enjoys.
e undefiled transcends the world.

7. e first has five: considering,

Examining, joy, pleasure, and samadhi.
ere are four branches on the second:
Serenity, joy, and so forth.

8. Five on the third: there’s equanimity,

And mindfulness, awareness, pleasure, rest.
e last has four: mindful, equanimous,
Not pain nor pleasure, and samadhi.

9. In substance, they are eleven.

Pleasure On the first two is pliancy.
Serenity is faith, and two
Scriptures say joy is mental pleasure.

10. In the afflicted, there is no joy or pleasure;

Serenity; awareness, mindfulness;
Or equanimity, pure mindfulness;
Some say no pliancy, no equanimity.

11. e fourth is free from the eight faults,

So it’s immovable. ey are
Considering, examining, breaths,
And pleasure and the other three.

12. Dhyanas of birth have happiness,

And pleasure and the neutral feeling;
Neutral and happiness; and pleasure
And neutral; and the neutral feeling.

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13. On second and so forth, the body,
Eye, and ear consciousnesses, and
What makes them perceive is of the first.
It’s neutral; it is not afflicted.

14. ose who do not possess them gain

e pure through detachment or from birth;
e undefiled is through detachment;
Afflicted, by regressing, birth.

15. Right after undefiled, the virtue

Of levels up to two above
Or below can arise. From pure,
e same, or own level’s afflicted.

16. From the afflicted, own pure, afflicted,

And one pure of the lower, too.
From pure at death, all the afflicted,
But from afflicted, not the higher.

17. Four types of pure tend toward regression,

Et cetera. Respectively,
ey tend toward birth of the afflictions,
Of own, of higher, of undefiled.

18. Tendencies to regress, et cetera,

Are followed by two, three, three, one.
Going through eight levels up and down,
Both types in sequence, or skipping one,

19. en going to the third of the

Different type is skipping absorption.

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e dhyans and Formless, on their own
Or lower support. No use for lower.

20. On Peak, they manifest Nothingness

Of nobles, then extinguish defilements.
Enjoyment focuses on own existence.
All that exists is virtuous dhyan’s sphere.

21. Defiled of lower is not the sphere

Of virtuous actual of Formless.
e undefiled discard afflictions,
As do pure preparations, too.

22. For those, there are eight preparations.

ey’re pure, not pleasure and not pain.
e first is also noble. Some say, threefold.
In special dhyan, there’s no considering.

23. It’s threefold, neither pain nor pleasure,

And has Great Brahma as result.
Below, samadhi has considering,
Examining. Above, there’s neither.

24. e signless has aspects of peace,

And emptiness engages selfless
And emptiness. No wishing has
All other aspects of the truths.

25. ey’re pure or stainless.

When they’re stainless,
ey are three gates of liberation.
ere are three more samadhis, called
e empty of emptiness, et cetera.

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26. Two focus on nonlearner’s aspects
Of empty and impermanent.
e signlessness of signlessness,
On peace, nonanalyzed extinction.

27. Defiled, by humans, unshakable,

Except the seven preparations.
First dhyana’s virtue is meditation
On samadhi which is happiness.

28. Clairvoyance of eye is that which sees.

Produced by training is discernment.
e vajra-like of the last dhyana
Extinguishes all the defilements.

29. Immeasurables are four, because

ey’re antidotes for malice, et cetera.
Love and compassion are nonhatred,
And joy is pleasure of the mind,

30. And equanimity is nongreed.

eir aspects are thinking,
“May they be Happy! Not suffer! Joyous! Beings!”
eir sphere is beings of Desire.

31. On the two dhyanas, there is joy.

Others on six. Some say on five.
ey don’t abandon. ey arise
In humans. One must have the three.

32. Of eight emancipations, the first two,

Repulsive, are on the two dhyanas.

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e third, on the last, is nongreed.
Virtuous Formless equipoise.

33. It is absorption of cessation

at follows the subtlest of the subtle.
One rises from that through own level’s
Pure or the noble of the lower.

34. Sights of Desire are the first’s object.

e Formless’ sphere is suffering
And such of own and higher levels,
Compatible with subsequent knowing.

35. Eight overpowering sense bases.

Two like the first emancipation;
Two like the second. Others are like
Emancipation of the lovely.

36. Ten all-encompassing sense bases.

Eight are nongreed on the last dhyana.
eir sphere is Desire. Two are pure Formless;
eir sphere is their four aggregates.

37. Cessation has been explained. e rest

Are gained through detachment or by training.
e Formless are supported by
ree realms. e rest arise in humans.

38. In two realms, the power of cause and karma

Produces Formless equipoise.
ose two and also dharma nature
Produce the dhyanas in Form realm.

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 39. e Teacher’s True Dharma is twofold:
In essence, scripture and realization.
ese are upheld only by those
Who teach them and accomplish them.

40. I mostly have explained this abhidharma

According to the Kashmiri Exposition.
Any mistakes herein are solely ours;
e Sages are the authority in Dharma.

This completes the eighth area called “Teachings on the Absorp-

tions” from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

41. e Teacher, the eye of the world, has been closed;

e beings who were witness have mostly perished.
ose who haven’t seen thatness, those who are bad logicians
And headstrong have confounded the teachings.

42. e one self-born, those who cherish his teachings,

Have passed into the supreme peace. ere’s no refuge
Or counsel for beings, and the stains that slay qualities
Run rampant in this at their pleasure.

43. And so, as we know that for the Sage’s teachings,

It’s as if the last breaths now rasp in the throat,
at this is a time when the stains have great strength:
All those who want freedom, be careful!

This completes the Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma composed

by Master Vasubandhu. Translated into Tibetan by the Indian Ab-
bot Jinamitra and the Tibetan translator Bande Kawa Paltsek, and

121
then corrected and finalized. Translated from the Tibetan into En-
glish by Karma Choephel, and then compared to the Sanskrit orig-
inal and corrected.

122
 The Commentary:

Youthful Play
An Explanation of the Treasury of
Abhidharma
by the Ninth Karmapa Wangchuk Dorje

123
In Tibetan: chos mngon pa mdzod kyi rnam par bshad pa chos mngon
rgya mtsho’i snying po mkhyen brtse’i zhal lung gzhon nu rnam rol legs
bshad chos mig rnam ’byed grub bde’i shing rta zhes bya ba bzhugs so//

In English: An Explanation of the Treasury of Abhidharma called the

Essence of the Ocean of Abhidharma, The Words of Those who Know
and Love, Explaining Youthful Play, Opening the Eyes of Dharma, the
Chariot of Easy Practice

I prostrate to the youthful Manjushri.

124
 FIRST AREA

Teachings on the Elements

He displays many deeds that so marvelously appear

In the oceans of glorious realms;
The sunlight from his smallest marks, from his nails,
When it strikes even the tiniest of spots,
Destroys the unbearable gloom of three poisons.
He discerns with the light of full knowing
All dharmas, and manifestly shows to all wanderers
What he sees as it is: I bow to this guide.

They unite the intellect and courage of samsara and nirvana;

They are great ships of the transcendent full knowing
That frees one from the ocean of existence.
I laud the peerless Shariputra and the other arhats.

Many ascetic virtues directed their minds, and then

Kaśyapa and the others in the line of Second Teachers
Brought splendid glory to the Buddhist teachings:
I praise the elders of the teachings, the spiritual friends.

In order to thread the exquisite cloths of the heavens of

knowables
Through even the eyes of the needles of students’ faculties,
They distilled the essence of the compilations of teachings,
The oceans of specifics. I rejoice well in what they did.

Especially the Second Omniscient One, Vasubandhu,

Who had been learned in the five sciences for many lives,

125
 Compiled the essence of the oceans of abhidharma
Into this Treasury of Abhidharma. I dedicate myself to this.

Here the fearless teacher Victorious Mikyö

Knew this without relying on others, and
From power of love, composed the detailed commentary.
With great respect I praise its words and meaning.

On a throne raised by the gods and all the world,

He conquers Mara’s hordes in one sitting,
And radiates vast inexhaustible light.
He who wears the Red Crown shines clear on the lake of my
mind.

He is the chariot who makes the sunlight,

Naturally bright, shine on the students’ lands.
May Namgyal Drakpa, who has plumbed the depths
Of oceans of abhidharma, be pleased.

I who am the ninth rebirth called Karmapa,

Have sprinkled my heart with Manjushri’s water.
By uttering the words of Saraswati,
I shall shine this lamp on abhidharma’s basket.

Our Teacher, the unsurpassable, complete, perfect Buddha Shakya-

muni himself, has liberated his mind from the two obscurations
and their imprints. He clarified the right dharma, the unmistaken
secret profound meaning that had not previously been evident to
any being, even to the gods, through great knowledge mantras and
light rays. In order to bestow benefit upon all beings, he turned all
the Wheels of Dharma, which cannot be measured by numbers,
topics, words, or measure.

126
As prophesied by the Thus-Gone-One himself, the eighth-lev-
el bodhisattvamahāsattva Vasubandhu composed many treatises
which teach the listener school’s view, meditation, conduct, and
result to help beings gradually enter the teachings. Because it is the
root of all of the True Dharma and is the canon of the matrices,3 he
condensed the ocean of explanations from the Exposition school
into this treatise, The Treasury of Abhidharma.

The explanation of this has two sections: I. History in terms of a

reason to compose this, and II. The actual meaning of the treatise.

I. History in terms of a reason to compose this

For many inconceivable aeons in the past I have practiced merit at

the feet of uncountable buddhas. From this merit, I have encoun-
tered the teachings of the Dakpo Kagyu, had the fortune to rely
upon undisputed masters, and received instructions on the Three
Baskets and so forth. For that reason, I have attained some slight
bit of ability to comment on the thought of the buddhas, bodhisat-
tvas, heroes, yoginis, and masters of practice.

Whether you classify the True Dharma as explaining, debating, and

composing, or as listening, contemplating, meditating, as a cause
to practice the Dharma it is necessary to have as one’s master some-
one who has received the instructions passed down from the Lord
Buddha in an unbroken stream through the liberated holders of
the lineage. Without this, one can practice, but as the stream of the
teachings has been broken, blessings will not arise. For this reason,
one might say one is practicing the path, but realization will not
arise in one’s being, it is heard.

3. Skt. matṛika, Tib. ma mo. Another term for abhidharma because it classifies
phenomena into groups or matrices of two or three.

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Therefore, I shall tell the manner in which I have listened to The
Treasury of Abhidharma. According to the tradition passed down
from the great Ngok Lotsawa, it is not necessary to explain the lin-
eage from the perfect Buddha to the earlier masters. Why? you ask.
Master Vasubandhu listened to all the vehicles of the dharma from
his elder brother Noble Asanga, and he from Lord Maitreya, who
listened to them from perfect Buddha—a very short lineage. From
Master Vasubandhu, it was passed to Mahapandita Sthiramati,
Master Pūrṇavardhana, Mahapandita Shāntipa, Lord Puṇyashila,
Ngok Lotsawa, Chim Lhaje Gocha, Chim Tsondrü Senge, Chim
Don Gyalwa, Chim Tsondrü Gyaltsen, Chim Loten, Chim Nam-
kha Drak, Chim Lobsang Drak, Rongpa Chögyal, Nyangmang
Rinchen, Martön Palden Rinchen, Rongton Shākya Gyaltsen,
Sangwa Logyal, Jamchen Rabjampa, the great being Karma Trin-
leypa, and the omniscient Mikyö Dorje. He passed it on to my ab-
bot, who, to indicate him by his name, is the lord of the complete
and perfect teachings, the glorious great Konchok Shākya Tsowoy
Bang.4 Mikyö Dorje also taught it to the great Master Vijayakīrti.
From these two, the lineage has passed to me.

II. The actual meaning of the treatise. This has three topics: A.
Identifying and translating the name, B. The translator’s prostra-
tion, and C. The explanation of the text.

A. Identifying and translating the name

In Sanskrit: Abhidharmakośakārikā
In Tibetan: chos mngon pa mdzod kyi tshig le’ur byas pa
In English: Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma

There are four main languages of India—Apabhraṃśa, Piśaci,

4. The Fifth Shamar Konchok Yenlag.

128
Prakṛit, and Sanskrit. Of these four, in Sanskrit this treatise is called
Abhidharmakośakārikā. To translate that, abhi means manifest,
dharma means dharma (phenomenon), kośa means treasury, and
kārikā means verse. In English it is called Verses on the Treasury of
Abhidharma.

B. The translator’s prostration

I prostrate to youthful Manjushri.

As he is free of the roughness of the stains of body, speech, and

mind, he is gentle and pleasant, or mañju. As he is the protector
and glory of all wandering sentient beings, glory or shrī. Because
he appears as if he were the age of fifteen, he is called youthful. I
prostrate means that I bow down with body, speech, and mind.

C. The explanation of the text. This has four topics: 1. The homage
and the pledge to compose, 2. Explanation of the treatise’s name,
3. Teaching the necessity and purpose, and 4. Explaining the actual
body of the treatise.

1. The homage and the pledge to compose

1.
It is he who has conquered entirely the darkness toward all
And guides sentient beings from the mire of samsara.
He teaches the meaning as it is: I prostrate to him
en fully explain this treatise, e Treasury of Abhidharma.

“It is he” means the complete and perfect Buddha, the Bhaga-
van. There are four possibilities of buddha and bhagavan. First, a
self-buddha5 is a buddha but not a bhagavan. Second, a bodhisattva

5. Skt. pratyekabuddha, Tib. rang sang rgyas. Although commonly translated as

129
in his last existence6 is a bhagavan but not a buddha. Third, the
Buddha is both. Fourth, ordinary beings are neither.

The Buddha has conquered entirely the darkness toward all the
internal and external sense bases7 that does not know whether they
are afflicted. By extending the hand that teaches dharma, he guides
sentient beings from the mire of the three realms of samsara. He
does this by unerringly teaching the meaning that benefits sentient
beings just as it is, not by displaying miracles or by bestowing ho-
liness.8 I prostrate to him, the Teacher who has such qualities, by
composing this treatise and then fully explain this treatise, The
Treasury of true Abhidharma. This is said as a pledge to compose
the treatise. Well, what sort of qualities does this Teacher have? you
ask. He has the qualities of both the sublime benefit for self and
the sublime benefit for others. The first of these is the qualities of
abandonment and realization, which are both taught by the words,
“It is he who has conquered entirely the darkness toward all.” The
qualities of benefit for others is taught by “And guides sentient be-
ings from the mire of samsara.”

There are four possibilities of being someone who explains the

meaning as is and being a Teacher. Shariputra, for example, is the
former but not the latter. The non-Buddhist Pūraṇa Kāśyapa, for

solitary realizer, that translation is awkward and not entirely accurate, as not all
self-buddhas attain realization in solitude. In the Tibetan, the syllable rang indi-
cates that they attain enlightenment on their own, without a teacher in their last
lifetime. Hence they are self-awakened or a self-buddha.
6. For example, such as the Prince Siddharta before he attained enlightenment.
7. The internal sense bases are the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and
the external sense bases are form, sound, scent, taste, touch, and dharmas.
8. Some non-Buddhists believe that the gods such as Brahma or Śakra can liber-
ate beings through their miraculous powers or by bestowing holiness or blessings
upon them.

130
example, is the latter but not the former. The Buddha, for example,
is both, and those other than them are neither.

To say a few words to elaborate on this, there are three points: 1)

Identifying the Teacher who is the object of homage; 2) Obscura-
tions that hinder attaining buddhahood; and 3) The antidote to
abandon those.

First, identifying the Teacher who is the object of homage: The one who
is the Teacher here is the complete perfect Buddha. To recognize his
nature, it is the dharma body alone, which is the truth of the path
with the five undefiled aggregates. The schools9 do not say that this
body supports the form bodies of enjoyment or emanation. The
schools also do not agree that the bodily support on which the
amṛita nectar of enlightenment has been attained, such as the flesh
of Prince Siddharta, is a Buddha, because it is the full ripening of
karma and afflictions. Similarly, a bhikshu, too, is posited to be the
bhikshu vows, not the individual who holds them. Likewise, learn-
ers, nonlearners, and nobles are said to be the truth of the path, not
the individuals. To call the individual a buddha or bhikshu is to call
that which is supported by the name of that which supports it. It
is like, for example, the designations “goldsmith” and “horseman.”

The Sutra school says that one can assert that the form body is
characteristically the buddha. One does this optionally in situa-
tions where one does not wish to distinguish the path from the
individual, or else when positing that the Buddha as he is generally
thought of is merely the one to whom one goes for refuge. They
do not, however, accept that this is the actual Buddha, because in
their school the form body is posited as something to discard and
as defiled.

9. The eighteen original schools of Buddhism.

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Second, obscurations that hinder attaining buddhahood: The word
“darkness” in the verse is a metaphor for the obscurations, be-
cause just as darkness hinders seeing, the obscurations also hinder
seeing the correct meaning. There are two types of obscurations
here: afflictive obscurations that primarily obscure liberation, and
nonafflicted obscurations that primarily obscure omniscience. The
first is held to be the six kernels10 that are the root of existence, the
cognitions that are concurrent with them, and their attainment.
The Sutra school proposes that liberation is a no-negation,11 the

10. Skt. anuśaya, Tib. phra rgyas. The six are the subtle afflictions of desire,
anger, pride, ignorance, view, and doubt. The kernels are discussed at length in
area V.
Many translations from the Tibetan translate this term as “subtle-expander” or a
similar term, matching the literal meaning of the Tibetan compound and reflect-
ing Vasubandhu’s explanation of the meaning of the Sanskrit term in V.39. How-
ever, this sounds clumsy and awkward in English. Translations from the Sanskrit
often either leave the Sanskrit anuśaya untranslated or translate it as “predilec-
tion.” The word predilection has some merits but is frequently used in a positive
sense in English. As the kernels are always afflicted, that seems inappropriate. The
word kernel matches the meaning of phra rgyas in that a kernel is something small
that can develop into something larger.
Additionally, different schools of Buddhism have differing opinions as to the
nature of the kernels. Theravadins and the Kashmiri Vaibhashikas posit that they
are latencies, like seeds, whereas the Great Vehicle abhidharma presents them as
manifest, though subtle. The English word kernel can mean seed, but it also is
used in other contexts to describe a manifest but subtle quality, as in the phrase “a
kernel of truth.” Thus kernel can be used to describe both the Theravada and the
Great Vehicle positions without prejudice.
11. Tib. med dgag. A no-negation generally negates the existence of something.
In other words, the Sutra school proposes that liberation is merely the absence of
obscurations, but is not in itself a thing. The same term is sometimes translated
as nonaffirming negation, but here a simpler translation is preferred, although one
must note that just as not every Tibetan negation that uses the word med is a med
dgag, not every negation that uses no is a no-negation.

132
mere absence of that which creates suffering or obscures omni-
science, but here it is presented as a thing. In this situation, it can-
not be said to be either material or cognitive.

The second, nonafflictive obscuration, is primarily the mental fac-

tor delusion that is an impediment to all-knowing. It has the char-
acteristic of cognitive obscuration and has four types: 1) not know-
ing because the Buddha’s qualities are profound and subtle; 2) not
knowing by being fully removed from the object; 3) not knowing
by being fully removed from the time; and 4) not knowing because
the classifications of meaning are infinite. Shariputra, for example,
has the first and third; Maudgalyana, for example, has the second;
and Noble Rahula has the fourth. From the commentary:12

In this way, they are extremely removed from the Buddha’s

qualities, object, and time, and they have nonafflicted un-
knowing of the infinite classifications of meaning.

Well then, do the listeners and self-buddhas conquer the darkness

taught here or not? If they do that darkness could not be proven
to be something only the Buddha abandons. If they do not, they
would not have made an end to suffering. This is because it is said
in a sutra:

If I did not clearly know, did not completely know one dhar-
ma, I would not say I have made an end to suffering… If I did
not completely know and discard one dharma, I would not
say I have made an end to suffering…

So you might say. These two faults cause no harm, because listener

12. That is, Vasubandhu’s autocommentary.

133
and self-buddha arhats conquer nonafflictive darkness, but do not
conquer it entirely. This is because it is said in the commentary:

Of course we agree that they conquer the darkness to all, but

not entirely.

Here we do not assert the presentation of cognitive obscurations

as the concept of perceived and perceiver explained in the Great
Vehicle, but we must assert the designation cognitive obscuration
because there are both scriptural and logical proofs. First, the scrip-
tural proof: with regards to the verse, “At once, there are never two,
like Buddhas,”13 Pūrṇavardhana explains, “They are free of afflict-
ed obscurations, so they are equal, but they are not equally equal
because they are not free of cognitive obscurations.” Second, the
logical proof: holding the coarse and the continuum as substantial,
obscurations that hinder refining faculties, holding dharmas of ex-
clusion as not empty of their essence, holding the aggregates and so
forth to be wholes, obscurations to the six perfections, obscurations
to the attainment of final absorptions, and the four causes of un-
knowing are posited to be cognitive obscurations, because they are
cognitions that are deluded about the nature but are not afflicted
cognitions.

The schools also do not reject the selflessness of phenomena and

thatness, because they assert the four seals that proclaim the view,
and the thatness of things. However, they do not assert the selfless-
ness of phenomena pervaded by emptiness of perceived and per-
ceiver that is renowned in the Great Vehicle.

Third, analyzing the antidote: The actual antidote that discards the
four causes of unknowing is asserted to be the nonlearners’ wisdom

13. See III.96d.

134
of the ten powers, because previously on the learners’ paths there
is no full knowing that perceives in a way that is exclusive of their
essence.14

Well then, the Buddha may have abandoned the four causes of
unknowing, but he has not abandoned their attainment, which he
must still possess, you say.15 This is not a fault, because the arising of
the future wisdom of the Buddha and the cessation of the present
attainment of the four causes of unknowing are simultaneous—
when the wisdom arises, the attainment of the four causes ceases,
just as when you light a lamp, darkness is dispelled.

2. Explanation of the treatise’s name

2.
Abhidharma is stainless full knowing, along with
its following;
at by which and treatises by which one gains it.
Since this collects them completely in meaning,
Or since they are its base, it’s e Treasury of Abhidharma.

Ultimate abhidharma is stainless, or free of defiled stains, full

knowing16 that fully discerns dharmas, along with its following,
the five aggregates. In the autocommentary:

14. An actual antidote is unable to coexist with what it discards, so therefore

other wisdoms, which unlike the wisdom of the ten powers can coexist with the
causes of unknowing, are not their actual antidote.
15. The Kashmiri Great Exposition asserts that the attainment or possession of
something is itself a substantial thing separate from that which is possessed. See
II.36 ff.
16. Variously translated in other translations as wisdom, discernment, supreme
knowledge, or left untranslated but anglicized as prajna, this term refers to both
an ordinary mental factor present with every cognition as well as, especially in

135
 “Full knowing” is full discernment of dharmas. “Stainless” is
undefiled. “Along with its following” includes what accompa-
nies it, the five undefiled aggregates. This is what is taught as
abhidharma. At this point, this is ultimate abhidharma.

Path abhidharma is that by which one attains it, the ultimate

abhidharma, or that which is clearly directed toward its realization.
From the autocommentary:

Because it is clearly directed toward the characteristics of dhar-

mas, it is abhidharma.

What is meant here by “that which” is the full knowing of nonno-

bles on the path: the defiled full knowing of listening, contemplat-
ing, and meditating, along with its following of the other aggre-
gates that are associated with it. This can either arise from training
or be attained upon birth.

The treatises that teach those topics by which one gains it, stainless

Great Vehicle scriptures and treatises, the sixth transcendence, transcendent full
knowing. Although at first glance, these might seem to be entirely different,
the Buddha characterizes both in the sutras as fully distinguishing dharma from
nondharma. In other words, it is fully knowing what is true and what is not, or
intelligence.
The English word wisdom seems a good translation for the term ye shes (jñāna),
so it seems best not to use it for shes rab to avoid confusion between the two.
Discernment seems quite appropriate for the mental factor that accompanies
ordinary cognitions but somehow “transcendent discernment” does not sound
particularly inspiring. Supreme knowledge is a very literal translation of the Tibetan
explanations of the etymology of the word, but it is rather opaque. No one could
argue that prajna has the wrong meaning, but English speakers do not naturally
understand it and might think of it as being something exalted and foreign—not
something that is associated with everything that happens in our minds. For these
reasons, full knowing seems the best translation.

136
full knowing, is textual abhidharma. In the Prince’s commentary17
it says, “Others say that what is called the ‘Treatise’ is Jñānaprasthā-
na… ”

The meaning of the title: Why is this treatise called The Treasury of
Abhidharma? Since this treatise collects them, the essential points
of the seven treatises of abhidharma including the ocean of exposi-
tions, completely in meaning, or else since they, the seven treatises
of abhidharma, are its, this treatise’s, base, it is called The Treasury
of Abhidharma. The meaning is taught here through the examples
of a base and a treasury.

3. Teaching the necessity and purpose

1.
Without full discernment of dharmas, there is not
Any method to thoroughly quell the afflictions.
Because of afflictions, the world wanders the seas
of existence.
at is why the Teacher taught this, they claim.

All treatises have a topic, necessity, vital necessity, and connection.

The topic of abhidharma is explicitly taught by the word dharmas,
which is explained as all that is defiled or undefiled. Alternative-
ly the principal meaning of the topic is full knowing that is full
discernment of dharmas. The necessity is to easily realize this full
knowing that is full discernment of dharmas.

The text teaches the vital necessity in the negative; the actual, pos-
itive vital necessity is implied. Without what is necessary, the full
knowing that is full discernment of defiled and undefiled dharmas,

17. Prince Yaśomitra’s Sphuṭārthābhidharmakośavyākhyā, an explication of the

autocommentary.

137
there are afflictions which cannot be abandoned. Why is that? Be-
cause without that full knowing there is not any method to totally
quell the afflictions. Because of the afflictions, the worldly beings
accumulate karma and wander the great seas of existence. They
do not achieve freedom, and that, helping them attain freedom, is
why the Teacher taught this abhidharma.

And so here, from among the four of the topic, necessity, vital ne-
cessity, and connection, the first is principally full knowing that
fully discerns defiled and undefiled dharmas. The second is to eas-
ily realize that full knowing on the basis of this treatise. The third
is to attain nirvana on the basis of that realization. The fourth is
that the latter are attained through the former. The way they are
taught in the treatise is as follows: “Dharmas” teaches the topic.
“Full discernment” teaches the necessity. “Without…” and “there
are afflictions” teach the vital necessity obliquely. The connection
is implicitly taught. Well then, who first taught this abhidharma?
you ask. In the tradition of the Great Exposition school, the seven
treatises of abhidharma were first spoken in sections by the Teach-
er in various lands and to various individuals. Later, seven arhats
collected them into treatises. For example, it is like the Udānavar-
ga, a collection of verses spoken by the Teacher at different times
and compiled by the monk Dharmatrāta. The seven treatises are
Jñānaprasthāna by Kātyāniputra, Prakaraṇapāda by Vasumitra, Vi-
jñānakāya by Devakṣema, Dharmaskandha by Shariputra, Prajñāp-
tiśastra by Maudgalyāyana, Dhātukāya by Vasumitra, and Saṃgīti-
paryāya by Mahākauṣṭhila. Pūrṇavardhana lists it alternatively as
“Saṃgītiparyāya by Shariputra.” If the abhidharma were not the
words of the Buddha, even though it says in the sutras, “Bhikshus,
these are the three baskets,” the three baskets would be incomplete.

138
The phrase “They claim” is a skeptical phrase from the Sutra school:
in these treatises there are various wrong positions such as the prop-
osition that noncomposites are substantial. As the Teacher did not
say anything erroneous, these are the fabrications of the masters
who assembled the abhidharma, they say.

4. Explaining the actual body of the treatise. This has two topics:
a. Presenting the body, and b. Extensively explaining the limbs.

a. Presenting the body. This has two topics: i. An overview, and ii.
An explanation.

i. Overview

4a
Defiled and undefiled dharmas:

Having said that dharmas are the topic of this treatise, what are
they? you ask. The presentation “Defiled and undefiled dharmas”
teaches everything concisely as a mutual exclusion.18 This is an ac-
tual exclusion, because there is no third possibility. Well then, it
would be logical to recite, “Composite and noncomposite are dhar-
mas” you say. This is not a fault, because saying “defiled” teaches
what is to be rejected and “undefiled” teaches what should be most-
ly taken up, so it is recited in this way to teach that.

Here, the undefiled is not set forth as a no-negation, a mere absence

of defilements, because a mere absence cannot be a thing, so it does
not hold its own characteristics. Without holding those, it is not
appropriate to be a dharma, because a dharma is characterized as

18. That is, phenomena can be either defiled or undefiled. They cannot be both,
nor can they be neither.

139
that which holds its own essence. Dharmas are pervasively19 things,
and things must be either composite or noncomposite. Dharmas
are pervasively things, because as it says in the autocommentary:

The Sutra school says there are no noncomposites among

things, and in the Abhidharma also it says, “What are dharmas
that are not things, you say? They are noncomposite dharmas.”
But the Great Expositionists say that is not what this means.
Well then, what does it mean? you say. There are five types of
things: natural things, focused things, possessed things, caus-
al things, and completely grasped things. In this passage, the
term causal thing is meant. Therefore noncomposites are solely
substantial, and they also have neither causes nor results.

This explains noncomposites to be things and substantial. Non-

composite dharmas are also able to perform a function, because
although they cannot perform the function of producing a result,
they are able to perform the function of supporting.

If something is composite, it is not pervasively arisen, because there

are future composites. Not only that, it is not pervasively going
to arise, because one must assert that there are future nonarising
phenomena.20

ii. The explanation. This has two topics: (1) Explaining the defiled,
and (2) Explaining the undefiled.

19. That is, in all times and all situations.

20. That is, there are some future composite phenomena that exist but will not
happen.

140
(1) Explaining the defiled

4b–d
Except the truth of path, composites
Are defiled since defilements can
Develop in relation to them.

Except for the truth of the path, composites are defiled. Saying this
eliminates the possibility that the Truth of the Path and noncom-
posites could be defiled. All that is other than those is only defiled.
Why? you ask. Since defiledments21 and near afflictions can devel-
op in relation to them, the composites except for the path, in terms
of either focus or concurrence.22 Therefore, the characteristic of the
defiled is a dharma on which defilements can develop through ei-
ther focus or concurrence. Its character base23 is composites except
the truth of the path. If something is defiled the defilements do not
pervasively develop in relation to it in those two ways. For example,
even though arhats have abandoned defilements they still have a
defiled body, but the defilements do not develop in relation to their
bodies.

(2) Explaining the undefiled. This has two topics: (a) Overview,
and (b) Specific explanation of noncomposites.

21. The defilements are types of afflictions. See V.35.

22. They develop or expand either when they observe or focus upon an object
or when they are concurrent or associated with a cognition that focuses on an
object. See V.17– 18.
23. Phenomena or bases that have the characteristic of being defiled.

141
(a) Overview

5a–c
e undefiled is the truth of path
And the three noncomposites, too,
Which are space and the two cessations.

The character base of undefiled dharmas is the truth of the path

and the three types of noncomposites. Their characteristic is a
dharma on which defilements cannot develop through either focus
or concurrence. The word “too” means that just as composite has
classifications and dharmas can be counted as either defiled or un-
defiled, noncomposite dharmas also can be counted as three: they
are space and the two cessations.

Some say that this text does not teach that noncomposite dhar-
mas are definitely divided into three. This is not logical: from the
Prince’s commentary:

“What are the three types of noncomposites? you say,” is a

question posed because the answer is not universally known.
To say “three types” is to identify them as just these three.
Some—those in the school of Vatsīputra—say, however, that
the only noncomposite is nirvana.

The Particularists24 propone noncomposite atoms and many such

noncomposites. In order to refute their scriptural traditions, non-
composites are identified to be just these.25

24. The non-Buddhist Vaiśeṣika school.

25. Prince Yaśomitra’s commentary is a textual explication of the autocommen-
tary. The phrases in quotation marks are phrases from the autocommentary itself.

142
(b) Specific explanation of noncomposites. This has three points.

(i) Space

5d
Space is that which does not obstruct them.

Of these three types of noncomposites, according to the Exposition

school the characteristic of space is that which is a noncomposite
thing that does not obstruct them, those phenomena with form,
and that opens the gate to the arising. Among the three, virtue and
so forth, its essence is unobscured neutral.26

(ii) Analytic cessation

6ab
Cessation that is analytic
Is a removal. ey are distinct.

Cessation that is analytic is cessation attained by the power of an-

alyzing suffering and the other noble truths with full knowing. Its
essence is a cessation that is a removal of defiled dharmas.27

The classifications of analytic cessation: Is the cessation of all de-

filed dharmas one or separate? you ask. They, the different analytic
cessations, are distinct: there are just as many substances of remov-
al (cessations) as substances that had been possessed. There are five

26. It is unobscured neutral because it is neither virtue nor nonvirtue, and it is

not concurrent with any affliction. See II.30bc.
27. For example, when one attains the state of arhat, all of the afflictions and
other discards of seeing and meditation have been discarded, so they cease. That
cessation is attained by the power of full knowing, so it is analytic cessation.

143
separate classes of discards28 and there are five separate classes of
antidotes. Therefore, there are five separate analytic cessations.

(iii) Nonanalytic cessation

6cd
e other cessation blocks arising
Forever; it’s nonanalytic.

The essence of nonanalytic cessation is a cessation that is other than

analytic cessation and blocks the arising of the future composite
that is negated forever. To explain the term, it is set forth as cessa-
tion attained by power that is not analytic full knowing: it is not
attained by the power of individually analyzing the aspects of the
four truths but rather is attained by the power of conditions not
being met.

For example, when your mind is distracted by some other form,

if there is a crow behind you where you cannot see it, a cognition
that perceives the crow does not arise. Later when you are no lon-
ger distracted and the cognition could arise, the crow has flown off
someplace else. Therefore the eye consciousness that sees the crow
has become a future nonarising dharma base.

b. Extensively explaining the limbs. This has two topics: i. An

overview of the eight areas, and ii. Teaching the meaning of each
area.

i. An overview of the eight areas. This has three points.

(1) Establishing the number

28. The four classes discarded by seeing the truths of suffering, origin, cessation,
and path plus the one class discarded by meditation.

144
The first two areas give a general presentation of defiled and unde-
filed dharmas. Following that, the middle three areas give specific
explanations of defiled all-afflicted dharmas. The last three areas
present specific explanations of undefiled perfectly pure dharmas.
This presents everything defiled and undefiled that individuals
must focus on as they progress through the paths, and whatev-
er is not included in earlier chapters is taught in the later. These
completely explain the necessary meaning, and thus the number
of chapters is established as eight. Generally, by dividing the topics
into eight chapters, the different topics can be combined into a
coherent whole.

(2) Establishing the order

The order and connections between the areas was explained ex-
tensively by Narthangpa Sherdrag, who composed the verses that
begin, “Just this desire for liberation,” and continue until the lines,
“The treasury that teaches absorption/Is taught after that.”29

The order can be known from these, but to summarize in brief,

the primary topic of abhidharma—the presentation of aggregates
(skandha), elements (dhātu), and sense bases (āyatana)—is ex-
plained first in the treasury that teaches elements. That ends with
a mention of the word faculties, so next there follows an exten-
sive explanation of those in the treasury that teaches faculties. That
chapter mentions the names of the three realms, so an explanation
of those follows in the treasury that teaches the world. One might
wonder whether these various worlds arise without a cause. They
do not. In order to explain that they arise out of karma, next comes
the treasury that teaches karma. Karma can only produce a fully

29. This passage is quoted in its entirety in Mikyö Dorje’s Springtime Cow.

145
ripened result if there are afflictions, so to explain that, next comes
the treasury that teaches the kernels. As Pūrṇavardhana says:

The childish ride the chariot of birth,

Which has the wheels of karma and afflictions,
But without the one wheel of the afflictions,
The single wheel of karma cannot turn.

This chapter also explains that when the afflictions are abandoned,
perfect knowings arise. In order to explain that the afflictions are
abandoned by paths and individuals, next is the treasury that
teaches the paths and individuals. This chapter explains dharma
knowing and subsequent knowing alone, so in order to give an
extensive presentation of all ten knowings, next comes the treasury
that teaches wisdom. That treasury explains the Buddha’s unshared
qualities, and so in order to explain the qualities of the absorptions
and so forth shared in common with learners, next comes the trea-
sury that teaches the absorptions. Elaborating on the final state-
ment, “All those who want freedom, be careful,”30 the Commentary
then explains the logic refuting the individual self in a ninth area.

(3) What topic is taught in which area

This is known from each individual area. The establishment of or-

der and number, which area teaches what, and so forth, are more
extensively taught in the Karṭīk31 and other commentaries, so refer
there.

ii. Teaching the meaning of each area. There are eight areas. The

30. See VIII.43d.

31. This refers to the Eighth Karmapa Mikyö Dorje’s commentary grub bde’i spyi
’jo (The Springtime Cow of Easy Accomplishment), which is called the Karmakaṭīka
(Karmapa’s Commentary) in Sanskrit, or Karṭīk or Ṭīka for short.

146
first is “The Teachings on the Elements.” This has an explanation of
the text of the area and a presentation of the area’s name.

The explanation of the text of the area. This has four sections: I.
Presentation of composites, II. Presentation of the aggregates, ele-
ments, and sense bases, III. Teaching how everything is included in
three dharmas, and IV. The complete classification of the aspects of
elements.

I. Presentation of composites. This has three points.

A. The character base of composites

7ab
Composite dharmas are the five
Skandhas of form, et cetera.

In the above verse, “Except the truth of path, composites,” the

character base for the composites mentioned is composite dhar-
mas that are made by many causes and conditions coming together
and meeting. They are the five skandhas of form, et cetera—the
aggregates of feeling, conception,32 formation, and consciousness.

32. ’du shes, saṃjñā. This is commonly translated as perception, but that has
several meanings in English and this aggregate refers to only one of them. The
aggregate of feeling, part of the aggregate of formations, and the aggregate of con-
sciousness are also perception, and so calling this aggregate perception is potential-
ly confusing and misleading. What this aggregate refers to is the mental process of
forming an idea about the object: it is like when one sees a vase and thinks “That
is big” or “That is small.” Additionally, in other contexts the word ’du shes matches
the usage of the English words conception or idea.

147
B. Synonyms

7cd
Just these are time, the bases for talk,
Emancipatible, and grounded.

All the teachers of abhidharma explained and systematized the

sutras. In the sutras it says, “Bhikshus, the times are three… ” and
“The bases for talk are three… ” and “Whatever is clearly com-
posited and gathered is emancipation,” and “What dharmas are
grounded? you ask. All composites.” What is the meaning of these?
you ask.

Just these composites are called time, or adhvā. The word adhvā
means either “time” or “path.” In the meaning of “path,” compos-
ites are like the paths by which an individual went, is going, or will
go to the market. In the meaning of “time,” the composites of the
three times are called “time” because they have ceased, are ceasing,
or will cease. Alternately, as they are consumed by impermanence,
they are called “time.”

Composites are either directly or indirectly the topic of speech,

so they are called the bases for talk. They are called emancipati-
ble, because if one transcends these composites, nirvana will be at-
tained. And they are also called grounded because they have causes.

C. Specific explanation of the synonyms of composites.

8.
e defiled is the aggregates
Of grasping and is disputed, too.
ey’re suffering, origin, and the world,
Locus of views, existence, too.

148
Among these composites, that which is explained as defiled is the
aggregates of grasping, because grasping is afflicted, and the aggre-
gates possess grasping in three ways: 1) Grasping is the afflictions,
by which one accumulates karma out of which the aggregates arise,
so calling them the aggregates of grasping is like saying “grass and
a hay fire.” 2) Because the aggregates produce the afflictions, it is
like saying “flowering tree” or “fruit tree.” 3) The aggregates are
obtained by engaging objects under the power of afflictions, so it is
like saying “the King’s men.”

They are called disputed, too: afflictions, just like worldly disputes,
harm oneself and others, so they are disputes. Because the aggre-
gates increase those, they are disputed.

As they possess the three sufferings and are incompatible with no-
bles, they are also called suffering. Nobles see that the third suf-
fering, the suffering of formation that pervades all composites, is
ultimately suffering.

As suffering originates from these, they are also called the origin. As
they are supported on something that disintegrates, they are called
the “disintegrating support” or world.33 As views develop by focus-
ing on them, they are called the locus of views. From beginningless
time, in the way of causally compatible cause and result they have
been born without interruption and arise again, they are also called
existence, so they are called by these synonyms, too.

II. Presentation of the aggregates, elements, and sense bases.

This has four topics: A. The individual natures of the aggregates, el-
ements, and sense bases, B. The reason they are given the names ag-

33. The Sanskrit loka and Tibetan word ’jig rten translated as world literally
mean “disintegrating support.”

149
gregate, sense base, and element, C. The reason for teaching three
dharmas, and D. The orders of the three dharmas.

A. The individual natures of the aggregates, elements, and sense

bases. This has three topics: 1. Extensive explanation, 2. Teaching
them in consolidation, and 3. Dispelling doubts.

1. Extensive explanation. This has three topics: a. The explanation

of the aggregate, elements, and sense bases of form, b. The aggre-
gates, sense bases, and elements of feeling, conception, and forma-
tion, and c. Those of consciousness.

a. The explanation of the aggregate, elements, and sense bases

of form. This has three topics: i. Overview, ii. Explanation, and iii.
How this is presented as elements and sense bases.

i. Overview

9ab
e skandha of form: five faculties,
Five objects, the imperceptible.

Above where it says, “the five / Skandhas of form, et cetera,” the

skandha of form mentioned is the five faculties of eye and so forth,
the five objects of form and so forth, and the imperceptible form34
to make exactly eleven.

These dharmas, the eleven dissimilar things, are called form and
characterized as the same with the characteristic of appropriate for
form. The meaning of this is set forth as “able to be damaged.” The
meaning of that in turn is that they can be destroyed or conquered.
This in turn means that through the internal collision of forms,

34. See I.11.

150
they become dissimilar to the previous form—they are susceptible
to the damage of production. Alternatively, the meaning of appro-
priate for form is obstructive.

Well then, should not atoms be inappropriate for form, you say?
Atoms are either substance or sense base. Of these two, in the first
case, the particles of the eight substances and so forth are not si-
multaneously assembled in a single atom. However, when they do
assemble, being appropriate for form itself makes them into some-
thing that can be damaged, so they are included within form. Well
then, if these atoms of substance are form, then are they not the
object of eye consciousness and so forth, you say? In general, they
are not, because as explained in the autocommentary:

A single atom of the faculties or atom of an object does not

produce a consciousness.

Therefore, if you include these atoms of substance in an aggregate,

it has to be form. However, when they are considered a sense base,
they are not included in the sense base of form, because they do
not actually produce an eye consciousness that perceives them. This
means the same as the passage in the Compendium of Abhidharma35
that talks of “those of the five forms of the sense base of dharmas,”
so it is included in the forms of the sense base of dharmas. There-
fore, not all the forms included in the sense base of dharmas are
imperceptible, and the eleven classifications of form are not all in-
cluded in the aggregate of form.

Well then, are they permanent or impermanent, you say? Some say
that these are what is meant in the explanation of noncomposite
empty particles from the Kalachakra, so they are permanent. Of

35. The Abhidharmasamuccaya by Asanga.

151
course you might say so, but that is nothing more than talk that
does not go anywhere. If that were so, our own position becomes
the same as the assertion by the extremist36 Particularists and oth-
ers. Their assertion that atoms are permanent is a position that the
Master37 shreds. From the Prince:

The Particularists propose many things such as noncomposite

atoms and so forth, and this is to refute their scriptural tradi-
tion.

Because it has been established that there are only three noncom-
posites and because permanent composite particles have been re-
futed, you should be more careful. Therefore, in this Great Expo-
sition presentation, atoms are proposed to be impermanent only.
Otherwise, it would be logical to describe them as noncomposite
substance, and they are not described as such.

In the second case of atoms as sense base, when they are combined,
atoms become something showable that can obscure and obstruct
made out of the particles of the eight substances. This can be
demonstrated through the example of a vase.38 As will be explained:

In Desire, atoms without sound

Or faculties: eight substances.39

36. Non-Buddhist schools are called extremist because they hold views of the
extremes of either permanence or nihilism.
37. I.e., Master Vasubandhu.
38. The eight substances are earth, water, fire, air, form, scent, taste, and touch.
Material objects in the Desire realm, such as vases, are made out of at least these
eight substances. See II.22ff
39. See II.22ab.

152
ii. The explanation. This has three topics: (1) Explaining the five
faculties, (2) Explaining the five objects, and (3) Explaining imper-
ceptible form.

(1) Explaining the five faculties

9cd
Supports of consciousnesses are
e eye, et cetera—lucid forms.

The supports of the consciousnesses that perceive the five objects

are the eye, et cetera, including the ear, nose, tongue, and body:
the five internal lucid forms. The shapes of each of the faculties
from the eye faculty to the body faculty are in succession flax, a
knot of birch, a copper needle, a half-moon, and fur that is soft to
the touch. The male and female faculties are like a thumb and the
inside of a drum, respectively.

(2) Explaining the five objects. This has five points.

(a) Explaining form

10a
Two types of form, or twenty types,

There is a concise classification two types of form, color and shape,

or to classify it extensively, there are twenty types:

They’re blue and yellow, red and white;

And light, dark, cloudy, smoky, dusty,
As well as misty, sunny, and shaded;
And long and short, square, round, high, low,
As well as even and uneven.

153
 The first twelve are the colors, and
Four colors are the primary;
The other eight are secondary.
The last eight are the forms of shape.

(b) Explaining sound

10b
And there are the eight types of sound,

And to classify it concisely, there are the eight types of sound.

The first is sound supported by appropriated sources40 that indi-
cates meaning to beings and is pleasant, such as lovely songs sung
by sentient beings. The second is sound supported by appropri-
ated sources that indicates meaning to beings and is unpleasant,
such as scolding. The third is sound supported by appropriated
sources that does not indicate meaning to beings and is pleasant,
such as the sound of a drum or clapping. The fourth is sound sup-
ported by appropriated sources that does not indicate meaning
to beings and is unpleasant, such as the sound of the body being
struck. The fifth is sound supported by nonappropriated sources
that indicates meaning to beings and is pleasant, such as magically
emanated songs. The sixth is sound supported by nonappropriated
sources that indicates meaning to beings and is unpleasant, such
as emanated scolding. The seventh is sound supported by nonap-
propriated sources that does not indicate meaning to beings and is
pleasant, such as the sound of wind-chimes in the wind. The eighth
is sound supported by nonappropriated sources that does not indi-

40. That is, sounds produced by matter that is considered part of a being’s body
and is pervaded by the faculties. See I.34bc. Sources refers to earth, water, fire, and
air; see I.12–13.

154
cate meaning to beings and is unpleasant, such as the sound of an
avalanche.

(c) Explaining taste

10c
And taste is sixfold,

And taste is sixfold: sweet, sour, bitter, pungent, salty, and astrin-
gent.

(d) Explaining scent

10c
scent is fourfold,

Scent is fourfold: sweet smelling, foul smelling, strong, and weak.

(e) Explaining touch

10d
Touch is elevenfold in nature.

For touch, the four sources of earth, water, fire, and air are causal
touch, and soft, rough, heavy, light, cold, hunger, and thirst com-
prise resultant touch. These eleven are in nature touch only.

(3) Explaining imperceptible form. This has two topics: (a) Actual
explanation, and (b) Its cause, the four sources.

155
(a) Actual explanation

11.
Distracted, and mind-free as well,
Virtue or non, continuous,
And caused by the great sources: this
Is called the imperceptible.

The imperceptible form of a vow or so forth41 follows the being who

possesses it (i.e., the person who took the vow) even when he is dis-
tracted from the mind state that motivated him when he attained
the vow. It also follows the stream of a being who is in one of the
two mind-free absorptions. It follows the continuum of someone
whose mind is not distracted as well. Imperceptible form is defi-
nitely only virtue or nonvirtue, because neutral minds are weak
and so cannot motivate one to attain an imperceptible form. This
excludes the eyes, ears, and so forth, which are neutral.

Continuous means that the imperceptible form remains in one’s

continuum until that which forfeits it arises. Therefore, it is con-
tinuously present in times of distraction and so forth. This distin-
guishes it from mere perceptible forms or perceptible speech. The
continuum of the attainment42 of a vow is also present both when
the mind is present and not, is either virtuous or nonvirtuous, and
is connected to a being’s stream of being, but it is not an imper-
ceptible form. Imperceptible form is distinguished from the mere

41. The Great Exposition school posits that vows and some other actions have
actual, substantial forms that cannot be perceived. These forms stay with the
being who took the vow until the vow is forfeited. The Sutra and Mind Only
schools do not accept such forms as real or substantial. These are discussed further
in area IV.
42. See II.36c ff.

156
attainment of a vow because it is caused by the great sources, the
elements of earth and so forth. Imperceptible form is by nature
form and action, but whereas others can distinguish an individual’s
motivation when they perceive perceptible forms such as body and
speech, others cannot discern an individual’s motivation from im-
perceptible forms. This is what is called the imperceptible, to teach
the Master’s opinion.
The Master Saṅghabhadra says there are some faults in this presen-
tation:

It is incomplete and contradicts the treatise.

It undermines, implies what is not must be,
And states an extra “as well.” It fails
To distinguish where it should distinguish.

These six faults and their refutation are thoroughly explained in the
Karṭik, so refer there.

(b) Its cause, the four sources. This has four points.

(i) The sources’ classifications

12ab
e sources are the elements
Of earth and water, fire and air.

When it says above, “And caused by the great sources,” what are
these sources? you ask. The sources43 are the elements of earth and

43. Tib. ’byung ba, Skt. bhūta. Although earth, water, fire, and air are commonly
called elements in English, the literal translation of sources is used to avoid ambi-
guity because of other uses of the word element, as in the eighteen elements. In
Tibetan, ’byung ba and khams (element) can both refer to earth and so forth, so
source is used when the Tibetan uses the word ’byung ba and element when the

157
water, fire and air. From beginningless time they have never been
known not to arise and they are the source that makes the form of
the result arise, so they are called sources. They are the greatest of
the causes of the resulting forms and form the greater part of their
functions, so they are great. As they hold their own characteristics
and the form of the result, they are called dhātu44 or elements.

(ii) Their functions

12c
eir functions are to hold, et cetera.

The function of earth is to hold from falling down, et cetera: wa-

ter has the function of cohering without spreading; fire, ripening
without rotting or decaying; and air the function of making things
increase further and further.

(iii) Their characteristics

12d
ey are hard, wet, and hot, and moving.

Earth is hard and solid. Water is wet and liquid. Fire is hot and
burning, or heat. Air is moving a continuum from one place to
another. Respectively, these are the characteristics of each of these
elements.

Tibetan word is khams.

44. The Sanskrit word dhātu derives from the verb that means “to hold.”

158
(iv) Dispelling doubts

13.
According to the world’s conventions,
Color and form are considered earth,
Water, and fire. e atmosphere
Is the element itself, and like those, too.

Well then, what is the distinction between earth and the element
of earth? you ask. The elements of earth and so forth must fulfill
the above characteristics, but earth and so forth do not, because ac-
cording to the world’s conventions, color and form are considered
earth. For example, it is like saying earth is a yellow square. In the
same way water and fire are too: water is said to be a white circle
and fire a red triangle. The atmosphere is also in common parlance
the element of wind itself.

Alternatively, earth and the others are like those, so their color and
shape are called thus, too. It is said that the mandala of wind is a
blue arc, but this last is said to be inconsistent with the Treatise.45

iii. How the form aggregate is presented as elements and sense

bases

14ab
Only these faculties and objects
Are called ten bases and elements.

The Master is skilled in concise and simple words and composed

a text with few difficult words. He teaches that this very aggregate
of form itself is elements and sense bases. By saying the identifying

45. Jñānaprasthāna by Kātyāniputra.

159
words, “Only these five faculties and five objects,” he teaches that
imperceptible forms are not included. When designating the five
faculties and five objects as sense bases, they are called the ten sense
bases that have form, and when designating them as elements, as
the ten elements that have form.

b. The aggregates, sense bases, and elements of feeling, con-

ception, and formation. This has four points.

i. Feeling

14c
Feeling’s experience.

The essence of the aggregate of feeling is to clearly experience in

dependence by the manner of engaging help or harm. To classify
feeling, there are the six from feeling that arises from contact as-
sembled by eye up to feeling that arises from contact assembled
by mind. Alternatively, there are also pleasant, suffering, neutral,
mentally pleasant, and mental unhappiness.

ii. Conception

14cd
Conception
Is the perception of attributes.

The essence of the aggregate of conception is when one focuses on

one of the six objects, to say, “These aspects are blue, and these are
yellow,” discerning the individual fine distinctions. Thus in essence,
it is the perception of attributes. To classify, there are the six of
conception that arises from contact assembled by eye and so forth.

160
iii. Formation

15a
Formation differs from four skandhas.

The essence of the aggregate of formation is composites that dif-

fer from the four skandhas or aggregates: the previous three and
consciousness that will be explained. Here, nonconcurrent forma-
tions46 are proposed to be substantial. By saying “composites,” non-
composites are excluded.

If you classify formations concisely, there are two types: mental

factors and nonconcurrent formations. If you classify them exten-
sively, there are 73 mental factors and 14 actual nonconcurrent
formations and their compatibles. The Teaching the Ten Areas47 also
presents seven hundred classifications.

iv. Teaching these as the sense base and element of dharmas

15b–d
ese three and imperceptibles
And noncomposites are called the
Sense base and element of dharmas.

These three—feeling, conception, and formation—and impercep-

tible forms and the three noncomposites, when presented as sense
bases, are called the sense base of dharmas, and when presented as
elements, the element of dharmas.

c. The aggregate, elements, and sense base of consciousness.

46. Formations that are not concurrent or associated with mind, such as attain-
ment, etc. See II.35b ff.
47. Tib.: gnas bcu bstan pa.

161
This has four topics: i. The essence of consciousness, ii. Presenting
it as a sense base, iii. Presenting it as elements, and iv. A specific
explanation of the element of mind.

i. The essence of consciousness

16a
Consciousness is distinctly knowing.

The essence of aggregate of consciousness is distinctly, or by its own

power, knowing the focus, object, and aspects, the bare meaning.
By saying “its own power,” mental factors are excluded, because
they do not know by their own power, and by saying “knowing,”
the other three bases of the knowable48 are excluded, because they
are not cognition. Several methods of classifying consciousness are
proposed, such the Great Vehicle’s and so forth, but in this tradi-
tion only the six from the eye formation to the mind consciousness
are proposed.

ii. Presenting consciousness as a sense base

16b
e sense base of mind is also that,

When presenting it as a sense base, the sense base of mind is also

that, these six very collections of consciousness.

48. Form, nonconcurrence, and noncomposites. The Kashmiri Great Exposi-

tion posits five bases of the knowable—form, mind, mental factors, nonconcurrent
formations, and noncomposites—which have substantial existence.

162
iii. Presenting consciousness as elements

16cd
And also seven elements—
Six consciousnesses and the mind.

Consciousness itself is not just presented as the sense base of mind,

it is also seven elements, because it is proposed as the six con-
sciousnesses from the eye consciousness to the mind consciousness
and the element of mind.

iv. The specific explanation of the element of mind. This has two
points.

(1) Identifying the character base

17ab
Six consciousnesses that have just
Immediately past are mind.

What is this mind element that is different from the six collections
of consciousness? you ask. Of course, there really is not any such
thing. However, the six collections of consciousness that have just
immediately past, without any other cognition occurring in be-
tween, provide the support for the next mind consciousness, so
they are called the sense base of mind or the element of mind. Say-
ing “six” indicates that it is in all six consciousness. Saying “past”
makes the distinction with present consciousness: the present is
taught as consciousness and the past as the faculty of mind or the
element of mind. Saying “immediately past” indicates that it is the
mind that has recently passed.

The explanation here of the mind element as immediately past is

163
in relation just to the mind consciousness that it supports. It is not
pervasively in the actual past, because it is said in the autocommen-
tary that each of the eighteen elements has three times.49 From the
autocommentary:

If that were not so, the element of mind would be past only
and would not be either future or present, but all eighteen
elements are also proposed to have three times.

(2) The proof

17cd
To establish the support of the sixth,
We posit eighteen elements.

Well then, the six elements of consciousness and the element of

mind can each be included within the other, so in substance there
are only seventeen or twelve, you say. In substance, it is so. Howev-
er, in terms of characteristics, they are not the same. Just as the five
sense consciousnesses each have a dominant condition as support,50
the mind consciousness also needs a supporting dominant condi-
tion. The sixth mind consciousness has no other support, so in
order to fully establish the supporting dominant condition of the
sixth consciousness, the six consciousnesses are divided into past
and present parts, and the past part is presented as the so-called
mind element. Thus we posit eighteen elements: the six faculties as
support, the six consciousnesses that are supported, and the focus
of six objects.

49. That is to say, a future mind consciousness is supported by the cognition

that immediately precedes it, which is also in the future (in most instances).
50. The eye consciousness has the dominant condition of the eye, the ear con-
sciousness the dominant condition of the ear, etc.

164
2. Teaching them in consolidation. This has two points.

a. The actual consolidation

18ab
One aggregate, one sense base, and
One element include them all.

Is there also a consolidated presentation of the aggregates, elements,

and sense bases? you wonder. There is. The one aggregate of form
includes the ten sense bases that have form, the ten elements that
have form, and imperceptible form. The one sense base of mind
includes the aggregate of consciousness and the seven elements of
cognition. The one element of dharma includes the aggregates of
feeling, conception, and formation and the sense base of dharma.
It also includes imperceptible form. Thus three categories include
them, all dharmas.

b. The manner of consolidation

18cd
It’s by their nature—they do not
Possess another’s entity.

Is this consolidation a characteristic consolidation where what is

included is the same as what includes, like made and impermanent,
or is it a nominal consolidation like the four means of magnetiz-
ing51 or the fourfold assembly,52 where what is included is different
from what includes?
51. The four ways bodhisattvas magnetize or attract beings: generosity, pleasant
speech, meaningful conduct, and agreement in purpose.
52. Bhikshus, bhikshunis, and male and female householders who hold the five
lay precepts.

165
It is not a nominal, but a characteristic consolidation where what
is included is the same as what includes, because it is by their own
nature that what is included is contained within that which in-
cludes. This is because that which is included possesses the specif-
ic characteristics of that which includes. They do not possess the
characteristics of other dharmas’ entities. Being included by some-
thing different is only an occasional or temporary inclusion, so that
is only nominally an inclusion.53

3. Dispelling doubts

19.
Of course there are two eyes, et cetera,
But since their type, sphere, consciousness
Are similar, they’re just one element.
To beautify, they come in pairs.

Well then, there are two eyes, two ears, and two nostrils, so should
there not be twenty-one elements? you ask. Of course there are two
eyes, et cetera, but since their type, being merely eyes and so forth,
and sphere, or the type of object they perceive such as form and so
forth, are similar; and because they produce and support the same
type of eye consciousness and so forth, they are similar, so there-
fore they are proven to be just one element. The phrase “et cetera”
means that the ears and nose should be known to be the same.

Well then, it is therefore unnecessary for two to arise, you say. Here
in order to beautify the body support, they come in pairs. Well
then, why is it that owls and so forth have two eyes but are not

53. In other words, the ten sense bases that have form are by their nature the
aggregate of form and possess the characteristics of form. They do not possess the
characteristics of feeling, etc. It is not a nominal inclusion where what is included
and what includes have different characteristics.

166
beautiful? you say. This is because they are by nature not beautiful;
it is not that having two eyes makes them not beautiful. If they only
had one eye, they would be even uglier, so for that reason two only
is beautiful.

B. The reason they are given the names aggregate, sense base,
and element

20a-c
e meaning of aggregate is heaped,
Sense base means the gate for arising,
And element means family.

From a sutra:

Any form at all, whether past or future or present, internal or

external, coarse or subtle, base or sublime, that is far away or
near, these are all included in one: they are counted within the
form aggregate…

The sutra continues in the same way up to the aggregate of con-

sciousness. As is said, the meaning of the term aggregate is many
things of the same type such as form and so forth heaped together;
sense base means the gate for the arising and expansion of mind
and mental factors; and element means the origin of later things of
the same family.54

Well then, noncomposites would therefore not be an element be-

cause they are permanent and produce no future noncomposites,

54. The Sanskrit and Tibetan words actually mean “caste,” which has a sense
of potential or cause, hence the explanation of the term as “origin.” Because the
word caste has negative connotations in English, it is commonly translated as
“family.”

167
you say. Noncomposites have no similar class, but because they are
the source for mind and mental factors by way of being their focus,
they are designated as an element.

C. The reason for teaching three dharmas. This has three points.

1. Actual

20d-f
Delusions, faculties, and interests
Are threefold, so the three are taught:
e aggregates, et cetera.

Why did the Lord Buddha teach the three dharmas of aggregates,
sense bases, and elements? you ask. The delusions of holding men-
tal factors, form, and both form and mind to be a whole self, and
the distinctions of the three sharp, middle, and dull faculties, and
the three types of interest that seek concise, medium, and extensive
explanations are all threefold, so the three are taught: the aggre-
gates, et cetera, including sense bases and elements.

2. The reason for teaching feeling and conception as separate

aggregates

21.
Because they are the root of quarrels,
And cause samsara and the order
Feeling and conception are taught
As different aggregates than factors.

Why are both feeling and conception presented as separate aggre-

gates from the other mental factors? you ask. Because they are the
root of the quarrels among both householders and monastics, they

168
are presented separately. Householders dispute water, fields, and so
forth, and the root of these disputes is feelings: they want pleasure
for themselves and suffering for others, so they quarrel. Monas-
tics conceive of their own and others’ views as good or bad and
then prove and refute them. Because the root of these disputes is
erroneous conceptions, the aggregate of conception is presented
separately.

Alternatively, as they are the principal cause of samsara, they are

presented separately. By clinging to feelings, out of mistaken con-
ceptions one views egolessness as the self, and the four erroneous
conceptions55 become the support for many afflictions, so the wheel
of samsara turns. This means that these aggregates are the root of all
faults and problems, and therefore should be abandoned.

Alternatively, they are the cause of the order in which the five ag-
gregates are taught, which will be explained below.56 Feeling and
conception are taught as different aggregates than the mental fac-
tors.

3. The reason for not teaching noncomposites as an aggregate

22ab
Since noncomposites do not suit
Aggregate’s meaning, they are not taught.

Why are noncomposites presented as elements and sense bases but

not as aggregates? you ask. There is a reason that noncomposites
are not presented as an aggregate: since noncomposites cannot be
destroyed, demolished, or so forth, they do not suit aggregate’s
55. The four erroneous conceptions are of the permanent, self, clean, and bliss-
ful. See V.9.
56. I.22cd.

169
meaning. A separate so-called “aggregate of noncomposites” is in-
appropriate: because they are not many things aggregated, they are
not taught as aggregates.
This fault does not apply to presenting atomic substances as aggre-
gates. From the autocommentary:

In that case, if the meaning of aggregating were the meaning

of aggregate, the aggregates would have nominal existence,57
because they are many substances gathered together, like ag-
gregating or an individual, you say. It is not so, because even
a single atom of substance is an aggregate. In that way, as a
single unit has no aggregating itself, do not say that the mean-
ing of aggregating is the meaning of aggregate.

As this explains, the aggregates are not pervasively many things

aggregated, but the aggregates are appropriate to be many things
aggregated.

D. The orders of the three dharmas. This has three points.

1. The order of the five aggregates

22cd
e order is by coarse, all-afflicted,
e pot and so forth, the realms’ meanings.

The order of the five aggregates is presented by the order of coarse-

ness, the order in which the all-afflicted arise, the order of the pot
and so forth, and the order of the three realms’ meanings.

Because form is obstructive, it is the coarsest of all, so it is taught

57. As opposed to substantial existence. In other words, they would merely be

labels applied by the mind to a collection of other things.

170
first. Next, feeling is coarse because it is variable. Next, conception
is also coarser than the final two: it delineates attributes and so is
easy to know. Next, formation is by nature to clearly formulate, “I
must make myself happy; I must not make myself unhappy.” As
consciousness is merely focusing, it is the subtlest of all. This teach-
es the order from coarse to subtle.

Also the order can be taught through the order in which all-afflicted
dharmas such as greed and so forth arise. First, males and females
have lust for each others’ bodily forms, and that creates desire for
pleasant feelings. From that come mistaken conceptions, and from
those, formation comes under the power of the all-afflicted. That
makes consciousness afflicted as well.

Alternatively, they are comparable to the pot and so forth—food,

flavorings, cook, and eater. Form is comparable to a pot, feelings
to food, conceptions to flavorings, formation to the cook, and con-
sciousness is comparable to the eater. Alternatively, it is also taught
by comparing it to the order of the Desire, Form, and Formless
realms, and the Peak of Existence,58 or the three realms. Desire is
differentiated by form, the Form realm by feeling, the first three
Formless realms by conception, and the Peak of Existence by for-
mation. Consciousness is present in all, so it is taught last. This is
like the order of a field, seeds, shoots, and so forth.

58. The fourth Formless level of Neither Conception nor Non-Conception.

171
2. The order of the six faculties

23.
e object is present, so first five.
e object is source-derived, so four.
Since at great distance or since quickly,
Or else in order of location.

They are easy to realize as the object they perceive is in the pres-
ent—the objects of form and so forth—so first the five that have
form—the eye and so forth—are taught. Mind is the subject that
perceives objects of the three times and noncomposites that are not
included in the times, so it is difficult to realize, like for example re-
alizing that all dharmas are egoless. For that reason, it is taught last.

Among the five, the four from eye up to tongue are subjects that
perceive only the object, forms of source-derived that are results of
the four sources,59 so those four are taught first. Body is not neces-
sarily like that because it is a subject that perceives both the sources
and the source-derived.

Among these four, there is a reason that eye and ear are explained
first, before the nose and tongue. Since the eye and ear perceive
form and sound without contacting the object, they can engage an
object at a great distance. Of these two, eye can engage an object at
a much greater distance, so it is mentioned first. For instance, you
can see a river from far off but not hear its sound. The nose and
tongue both engage what is near, but since the nose engages the
object more quickly than the tongue, it is explained first. It is like
when the tongue does not yet taste the food, but the nose smells
its aroma.

59. See I.35.

172
Or else the faculties are taught in the order of the height of their
location or position. Mind is supported by them and does not stay
in a location, so it is taught last.

Establishing the order of the six faculties also establishes the order
of the objects and the consciousnesses. For example, it is just as
when the ranks of six kings are established, the ranks of the queens
and princes are also established.

3. An aside to dispel a doubt

24.
One is specific and the main,
And one has many dharmas, the highest,
So one is called sense base of form,
And one is called sense base of dharma.

If the first ten sense bases are all form, why is only the object of eye
the sense base of form? And if all twelve sense bases are dharmas by
nature, why is only the object of mental cognition the sense base of
dharma? you ask.

The reason for the first is the one object of eye has no other name,
so it is designated by applying the general name “form” to the
specific sense base. One says, “This is it,” to indicate something,
and in common usage that is known as form. And others say that
the sense base of form is the main or principal form for three rea-
sons: 1) because form is coarse as it has twenty types; 2) because it
is the sphere of the fleshly eye, the divine eye, and the eye of nobles’
full knowing; and 3) because it is obstructive and showable.

The reason for the second is that the one object of mind has or
includes many dharmas—the three middle aggregates, impercep-

173
tibles, and noncomposites—and that the sense base of dharma in-
cludes the highest of dharmas, the analytical cessation of nirvana.
So in order, the one object of eye alone is called the sense base of
form, and the one object of mind alone is called the sense base of
dharma.

III. Teaching how everything is included in three dharmas. This

has three topics: A. How the aggregates of Dharma are included,
B. Including other dharmas in the aggregates, elements, and sense
bases, and C. Additionally teaching the essence of two elements.

A. How the aggregates of Dharma are included. This has two top-
ics: 1. Actual, and 2. The size of the aggregates of the Dharma.

1. Actual,

25.
e eighty thousand aggregates
Of Dharma the Sage taught are all
Words or are names, and thus they are
Included in form or in formation.

In the sutras where it says, “The eighty thousand aggregates of

Dharma,” how are these included within the five aggregates? you
ask. The eighty thousand aggregates of Dharma that the Sage, the
Buddha, taught are all, according to the Sutra school, words or
sound, or according to the Great Exposition, they are names that
are the object of mind by nature. Thus they are included in the
aggregate of form or in the aggregate of formation respectively, it
is proposed.

2. The size of the aggregates of the Dharma. This has two points.

174
a. Refuting other positions

26ab
Some say their length equals the treatise,
Or depends on aggregates, et cetera.

What is the size of each of the aggregates of Dharma? you ask.

Some schools say that their length equals the length of treatise
composed by Shariputra, which has six thousand stanzas. Other
schools propose that the size of each aggregate of Dharma depends
on how long it takes to teach the aggregates, faculties, sense bases,
et cetera completely, but there is not a fixed number of verses.

b. Presenting the Master’s own position

26cd
But aggregates of Dharma taught
Correspond to antidotes for conduct.

But in the Master’s own position, the size of the aggregates of

Dharma taught, such as meditation on repulsiveness and so forth,
correspond to the number of afflictions. They are taught as anti-
dotes for sentient beings’ conduct motivated by the three poisons
and the eighty thousand afflictions of pride and so forth. The word
“but” is explained as indicating that this is the Master’s own po-
sition: there are twenty-one thousand as antidotes for each of the
three poisons and twenty-one thousand as antidotes for conducted
motivated by the three poisons mixed in equal parts for a total of
eighty-four thousand. This is explained in the Retention of the Jewel
Tala60 and other texts, it is said.

60. dkon mchog ta la’i gzungs.

175
B. Including other dharmas in the aggregates, elements, and
sense bases

27.
Likewise the other aggregates,
Sense bases or else elements:
Examine their own characters;
Include them in what has been explained.

Just as the eighty thousand aggregates of Dharma are included in

the five aggregates, likewise the various other dharmas named ag-
gregates, sense bases, or else elements should be thoroughly exam-
ined on the basis of their own characteristics. Then include them
in what has been explained, the five aggregates, eighteen elements,
and twelve sense bases.

The five undefiled aggregates taught61 are included in the five aggre-
gates taught here as follows: the aggregate of discipline is included
in form, and the last four are included in formation.

Among the ten all-encompassing sense bases,62 the eight sense bases
of earth, water, fire, air, blue, yellow, white, and red are also collect-
ed in nongreed, so they are included in the sense base of dharma.
Including all that is associated with them, they are the five aggre-
gates, and they are included in the sense bases of mind and dharma.
The eight overpowering sense bases63 are, as the above, included in
the sense bases of mind and dharma. All-encompassing sky and

61. The aggregates of discipline, samadhi, full knowing, liberation, and the

wisdom that sees liberation.
62. See VIII.36–7.
63. See VIII.35.

176
consciousness, and the four sense bases of the Formless64 have four
aggregates, so they are included in the sense bases of mind and
dharma.

Also in the sutras there are said to be the six elements of earth,
water, fire, air, space, and consciousness. The first four are touch,
the fifth is form, and the sixth is included in the seven elements of
mind.

In brief, within the eighteen elements there are three groups of six,
one group of four, six groups of three, and two groups of two: they
are grouped in forty-four. The Great Ṭīka65 explains this expanded
manner of grouping them, so refer there.

C. Additionally teaching the essence of two elements. This has

two points.

1. The element of space

28ab
Openings are the element
Of space—they’re light and dark, it’s claimed.

The characteristics of earth and the other three have been explained,
and the characteristics of space and consciousness have also been
explained. But the characteristics of the elements of the latter two
have not been explained. Are thus space and consciousness them-
selves those two elements? you ask.

They are not. They say that the openings in doorframes, smoke
holes, mouths, and noses are the element of space. The Great Ex-

64. A synonym for the four Formless absorptions.

65. The Eighth Karmapa’s commentary.

177
position school posits that this is because in the daytime they are
mostly light and at nighttime they are mostly dark. “It is claimed”
is a skeptical word from the Sutra school. The Sutra school posits
that space itself is the element of space.

2. Consciousness

28cd
e element of consciousness
Is defiled consciousness, arising’s basis.

The element of consciousness is defiled consciousness because

those six elements themselves provide the basis of arising from re-
birth-linking (the moment of conception) to death and because
undefiled consciousness is unsuitable for that.

Therefore earth and the other three are included in the element of
touch. The element of space is included in the aggregate of form.
The element of consciousness is included in the seven elements of
consciousness.

IV. The complete classification of the aspects of elements. This

has seven topics: A. Classifying in two categories, B. Classifying in
three categories, C. Differentiating them by what they possess, D.
Classification of those with form, E. Three modes of production, F.
Distinctions of attainment, and G. Classifying as external, internal,
and so forth.

A. Classifying in two categories. This has two points.

1. Showable and unshowable

29a
e showable here is form alone.

178
Well then, among these eighteen elements, how many can be
shown and how many cannot? you ask. The showable here in this
discussion of the eighteen elements is the element of form alone,
because phrases such as “It is here” or “Someone has it” indicate it
to another. The remaining seventeen are not showable.

2. Obstructive and unobstructive

29b
e obstructive is the ten with form.

How many of the eighteen elements are obstructive, and how many
are unobstructive? you ask. The obstructive are those that block:
only the ten with form are appropriate for form and are obscuring
and obstructive.

There are three types of obstructiveness: resistance, contact of ob-

ject, and contact of focus. In the first, when there is one obstructive
thing in a particular location, that thing blocks the arising of an-
other obstructive thing in that same location. For example, if there
is a hand somewhere, another hand cannot arise there, or where
there already is a stone, another stone cannot arise.

Contact of object is when the subject, the eye and so forth, contacts
its object of form and so forth. The Treatise on Designation gives
four possibilities of eyes that contact their object when in the water
but not when out, and four possibilities of those that contact their
object at night but not day.

Contact of focus is when the concurrent dharmas66 contact their

focus.

66. Mind and mental factors.

179
B. Classifying in three categories. This has two points.

1. Categories of virtue and so forth

29cd
Eight neutral are just those except
For form and sound. e others are threefold.

Well then, of the eighteen elements, how many are virtuous, non-
virtuous, and neutral? you ask. Of the eighteen elements eight are
solely neutral. They are just those that have been explained as ob-
structive except for form and sound. They are neutral by their very
nature. The ten that are other than those eight are threefold—
virtuous, nonvirtuous, and neutral. Form and sound can become
virtuous or nonvirtuous by the power of virtuous or nonvirtuous
motivation. The eight unobstructive elements—the seven of con-
sciousness and the element of dharma—can be virtue, nonvirtue,
or neutral.

2. Categories of the three realms

30.
ey all are in the Desire realm.
e Form realm has fourteen: except
e elements of scent and taste,
And the nose and tongue consciousnesses.

31ab
e Formless realm has elements
Of mind, dharma, mind consciousness.

Well then, how many of the eighteen elements are in the realms of
Desire, Form, and Formless? you ask. They, the eighteen, are all in

180
the Desire realm, because in the Desire realm one is not detached
from their nature and craves them, making them one’s own.

The Form realm has fourteen. Which ones? you ask. All those ex-
cept the element of scent, and the element of taste, and the ele-
ment of the nose consciousness and the element of tongue con-
sciousness. In the Form realm, there is no scent or taste because
scent and taste are food and only those who are free of desire for
food are born there. Therefore, there are neither nose nor tongue
consciousness because their objects, scent and taste, do not exist.

Well then, there should not be an element of touch because there

is no food, you say. There is no touch that is food, but the element
of touch is presented because those in the Form realm wear clothes
and so forth. Well then, there should not be faculties of nose or
tongue either, you say. These two are presented because they beau-
tify the bodily support.

The Formless realm has the three elements of mind, dharma, and
mind consciousness. The remaining are not there, because one is
free from craving for form, so the ten that have form do not exist
there, and therefore the first five consciousnesses that arise from
them do not exist either.

C. Differentiating them by what they possess. This has three

points.

1. Whether or not they have defilements

31cd
ose three are defiled or undefiled.
And those remaining are defiled.

181
Well then, of these eighteen elements, how many are defiled and
how are many undefiled? you ask. Those last three elements of
mind, dharma, and mind consciousness have both defiled or un-
defiled aspects. The defiled aspect is that which is included in the
first two truths. The undefiled aspect is that which is included in
the truth of path and noncomposites. Those fifteen remaining are
solely defiled. The ten with form are the truth of suffering, and the
cognitions of the five sense gates look outward, so they are not on
the level of equipoise and are thus discards of meditation. Also,
“defilements can / Develop in relation to them.”67

2. Whether or not they have consideration and examination

32.
ose which consider and examine:
Five elements of consciousness.
e final three are of three types.
ose which remain are free of both.

33.
e nonconceptual have no thoughts
at recognize or that remember.
ese two distract the mind’s full knowing
Or are all memory in mind.

Well then, of the eighteen elements, how many have both consid-
eration and examination? How many have examination but not
consideration? How many have neither consideration nor exam-
ination? you ask.

Of the eighteen elements, those which consider and examine are

67. See I.4cd.

182
the first five elements of consciousness, because they are coarse as
they look outward and because they are on levels that are connect-
ed with consideration and examination.

The final three elements of mind and so forth are of three types:
they can have both consideration and examination, or no consider-
ation and just examination, or neither consideration nor examina-
tion. The first type is the mental factors of the last three elements
that are included in Desire and the mere first dhyana’s actual prac-
tice except for consideration and examination themselves, because
they are on levels that are not detached from consideration and
examination. The second type is the mental factors of the last three
elements that are in the special dhyana except for examination, be-
cause these have abandoned consideration and are on a level that
is concurrent only with examination. The third type is the non-
concurrent of those three elements in Desire and the first dhyana,
and the last three elements of the second dhyana and higher. In the
second dhyana and higher, they may be concurrent, but they are
on levels where consideration and examination have been aban-
doned. Examination in Desire and the actual practice of the first
dhyana does not fall within any of these three categories because it
is concurrent with consideration but not with examination. That is
because examination has no second examination.

Those elements which remain, the ten with form, are free of both
consideration and examination, because they are not concurrent.

Well then, if the five collections of consciousness have consider-

ation and examination, that contradicts the sutras’ explanation of
them as nonconceptual, you say. According to the Great Exposi-
tion school, there are three types of thoughts: essential thoughts,

183
thoughts that recognize, and thoughts that remember.68 The eye
consciousness and other four do have essential thoughts, but they
are nonconceptual because they have no thoughts that recognize
or thoughts that remember. For example, it is like saying a horse
with only one foot is a horse with no feet. Essential thoughts will be
explained below. These two, thoughts that recognize and thoughts
that remember, by their nature respectively 1) distract the mind’s
full knowing when the mind is not in equipoise, and 2) are all
memory in association with mind, whether the mind is in equi-
poise or not.

3. Whether or not they have a focus

34ab
e seven elements of mind
And half of dharma, too, have focus.

Well then, how many of these eighteen elements have a focus, and
how many do not? you ask. Of these eighteen elements, the seven
elements of mind always have focus. And not only those but the
mental factors that are half of dharma, too, have a focus. The re-
maining ten elements with form and the portion of the element of
dharma that is nonconcurrent have no focus.

D. Classification of those with form. This has five points.

1. Classification of appropriated and nonappropriated

34cd
e nine are not appropriated:
ose eight and sound. Nine others: twofold.

68. Tib. ngo bo nyid kyi rtog pa, nges par rtog pa, and rjes su dran pa’i rtog pa.

184
Well then, of these eighteen elements, how many are appropriated
and how many are not? you ask. The meaning of appropriated is
that which is suitable to be the support for the arising of pleasure
or pain when helped or harmed by contact with something with
form. The opposite is nonappropriated. In this context, of the eigh-
teen elements, nine are solely not appropriated. They are those
eight explained as having focus, with the second half of the element
of dharma also added to make the whole element of dharma. These
eight are not in the collection of faculties, so they cannot be either
helped or harmed. And sound can be connected with the one’s
stream of being, but it is not in the collection of faculties, so it can-
not be helped or harmed. Therefore it is not appropriated either.

The five of eye and so forth and the four of form and so forth—the
nine other elements are different from those that are not appropri-
ated. They are twofold because they can be either appropriated or
nonappropriated. The five faculties of the present are appropriated.
Form, scent, taste, and touch that are of the present and not sep-
arate from the faculties are appropriated. Those external elements
that are separate from the faculties and not included in the stream
of one’s being—including hair, body hair, teeth, and nails with the
exception of their roots—are not appropriated. All that is past or
future is solely not appropriated.

2. Classification of source and source-derived

35a–c
Touch has two types. e other nine
With form and part of the element
Of dharmas, too, are source-derived.

Well then, of the eighteen elements, how many are sources? How
many are source-derived? you ask. The element of touch has two

185
types of source and source-derived. Earth, water, fire, and air are
the sources. Soft, rough, heavy, light, cold, hunger, and thirst are
source-derived. The other nine with form—the eye and so forth—
are source-derived, and likewise part of the element of dharmas,
too—imperceptible form—is solely source-derived. These are
source-derived because they are derived from the cause of the four
sources, which act to produce them. The remaining that do not
have form are proven to be neither sources nor source-derived.

3. Classification of conglomerated and nonconglomerated

35d
e ten with form, conglomerates.

Well then, how many of the elements are accumulated, and how
many are not? you ask. Of the eighteen elements, the ten elements
with form are conglomerates, because they are solely collections
or conglomerations of atoms. The definite article “the” is for em-
phasis: the elements that are unobstructive are proven not to be
conglomerated.

4. Classification of cutter and that which is cut

36ab
e cutter and that which is cut
Are four external elements,

How many of the elements can cut and how many can be cut?
you ask. Of the eighteen elements, the cutter, such as an axe, and
that which is cut, such as wood and so forth, are the four external
elements of form, smell, taste, and touch. Thus it is determined
that these four elements can be both cutter and cut; the others are
proven to be neither.

186
5. Classifications of burning and weighing

36cd
As are the burnt and that which weighs.
e burner and weighed are disputed.

Well, how many of the elements can be burned? How many are
measurers? you ask. Just as the cutter and cut are the four elements,
the wood and so forth which is burnt and that which weighs,
scales and so forth, are also the four external elements. The facul-
ties are neither because they are lucid, like light rays. Because it has
no continuum, sound is also not that which is burnt, that which
burns, that which is weighed, nor that which weighs. The burner
and that which is weighed are disputed by earlier masters. Some
say the four external elements only are that which burns and that
which is weighed. Some say that which burns is the element of fire
alone, and that which is weighed is heaviness alone.

E. Three modes of production. This has two points.

1. General

37.
e five internal are produced
By ripening and development.
Sound is not ripened. e compatible
And ripening produce eight unobstructive.

38a
Others are threefold.

Well, how many are produced by full ripening, development, and

compatible cause? you ask. Of the eighteen elements, only the five

187
internal faculties of the eye and so forth are produced by full rip-
ening and produced by development. They can be produced by
full ripening because the faculties of the lower realms are produced
by the full ripening of nonvirtue and those of the higher realms are
produced by the full ripening of virtue. They can also be produced
by development through the four causes of food, sleep, fine con-
duct, and samadhi.

Sound can be either produced by development or produced by

compatible cause but is not produced by full ripening, because it is
the manifestation of one’s desires. Well then, it says in the Treatise
on Designation:69

Now listen well to how a Tathagata

Attains his qualities of voice and speech:
Fully abandoning harsh words and chatter
Will bring the marks of a Tathagata.

Is this not contradictory, you say? It is not contradictory. The mean-

ing of this passage is that abandoning harsh words and chatter pro-
duces the fully ripened result of a fine throat. The throat produces
the melody of Brahma,70 but that melody is not itself a fully ripened
result.

Those elements that the compatible cause and full ripening pro-
duce are the eight unobstructive elements. Of those eight, those
that are produced by a cause of same status or universal cause are
produced by compatible cause. Those that have are produced by a

69. mdo sde gdags pa

70. A reference to the Buddha’s voice as he is sometimes called Brahma. See
VI.54.

188
cause of full ripening are produced by full ripening.71 They cannot
be produced by development. By essence they are not aggregations
of particles and they are unobstructive, so they cannot be devel-
oped.

The others, the four that remain—form, scent, taste, and touch—
are threefold: they have all three modes of production.

2. Particulars

38ab
One has substance.
e last three are a moment.

Of the eighteen elements, noncomposite dharma alone has perma-

nent, stable substance.

The last of the eighteen elements, the three undefiled elements of

mind, dharma, and mind consciousness when assembled on the
first moment of forbearance of knowing dharmas of suffering72 are
a moment that is not produced by compatible cause, because prior
to that there is no undefiled path compatible with them.

This teaches particular points of the lines, “The compatible / And

ripening produce eight unobstructive.” The mind and so forth of
the first undefiled moment and the noncomposite portion of the
element of dharma are not produced by any of these three modes
of production.

The mind concurrent with dharma forbearance of suffering is the

71. Cause of same status, universal cause, and cause of full ripening are discussed in
II.49ff.
72. The first moment of the path of seeing. See VI.28.

189
element of mind and the element of mind consciousness. This pres-
ents it from the point of view of its function. All that is concurrent
with this; its attainment; its arising, abiding, and perishing; and the
undefiled vows attained at that moment are the element of dharma.

F. Distinctions of attainment

38b–d
e eye
And element of consciousness:
Gained singly or together, too.

Does someone who newly attains the eye element also newly attain
the eye consciousness? you ask. To distinguish how the eye and
the element of consciousness can be gained singly, there are four
alternatives. The four are 1) newly attaining the eye but not newly
attaining the eye consciousness, 2) newly attaining the latter but
not the former, 3) or attaining both together or simultaneously,
and 4) not newly attaining either. The first is like dying in the
Formless realm and taking birth in any one of the second, third, or
fourth dhyanas.

The second is like taking rebirth in Desire from the second dhya-
na. The third is like taking birth in Desire from the Formless. The
fourth is taking birth in the Formless from the Formless. The word
“too” additionally includes these following:

The ear
And element of consciousness:
Gained singly or together, too.

The others are similar.

190
G. Classifying as external, internal, and so forth. This has seven
topics: 1. Internal and external, 2. Active and inactive, 3. Discard
of seeing and so forth, 4. Whether or not it is view, 5. Which ele-
ment is the object of which consciousness, 6. Permanent/imperma-
nent, and 7. Whether or not they are faculties.

1. Internal and external

39ab
Twelve are internal, except form
And so forth.

Well then, of the eighteen elements, how many internal and exter-
nal elements are there? you ask. Of the eighteen elements, twelve
are internal: all except the external elements of form and so forth.

2. Active and inactive. This has two points.

a. Actual

39bc
Dharma must be active.
e remaining are inactive, too—

Of these, how many are active and how many are inactive? you ask.
Of the eighteen elements, the element of dharma must be solely
active, because the object of the action of the mind consciousness
of either nobles or ordinary individuals is definitely pervasively ac-
tive.73 This tradition, which does not assert a self-aware cognition,
proposes that this is because the cognition that thinks, “All dhar-
mas are egoless,” has everything as its object except for itself and the

73. In this context, active means that the element of dharma always supports
the consciousness that perceives it.

191
assembly of mental factors that is coemergent with it. If one posits
self-awareness, then the cognition itself also becomes its own ob-
ject, but not positing that is a tenet of the Great Exposition school.

The remaining seventeen elements are inactive. The word “too”

indicates that they can also be active.

b. The meaning of inactive

39d
at which does not perform its function.

What is the distinction between active and inactive? you ask. Any
element which does not perform its own function is inactive, and
the opposite of that is active. The eye is active when it looked,
looks, or will look at form. It is the same for the other faculties up
to the body. The eye is said to be inactive in four instances: when
it does not see form and has ceased, is ceasing, will cease, or is a
nonarising dharma base. So say the Kashmiris, but the Westerners
say that some nonarising dharma bases possess consciousness and
some do not, so there should be five. The five external elements of
form and so forth are also the same. The seven mind-elements can
be either active or inactive.

The six elements from the eye up to the mind are specific to one
individual—it is impossible that two individuals could look with
the same eye and so forth. Therefore, whichever of those is active
or inactive for one individual is active or inactive for all. The five
elements from form to touch are common to multiple individu-
als. Furthermore, it is possible that one individual might watch a
dance, for example, whereas another individual might not watch
that dance. Therefore these five elements are active in relation to
those who are watching or so forth, and inactive in relation to those

192
who are not watching or so forth. Therefore, since the eye and so
forth are specific to one being, they are presented as either active
or inactive in relation to one being. Since form and the other four
are common to many individuals, they are presented in relation to
many beings.

The action of the six internal elements is to provide the subject of

the object and the support for consciousness. The action of the
six elements that are objects is to be the object of the faculties and
the focused object of the consciousnesses. The action of the six el-
ements of consciousness is to be supported by the faculties and to
provide the subject for the objects. Therefore when these perform
these functions, they are active, and when they do not, they are in-
active. When these are nonarising dharma bases, they are inactive,
and when they have arisen or will arise, they are active.

In the abhidharma tradition of the Great Vehicle, only the five fac-
ulties are divided into active and inactive; the others are not.

3. Discard of seeing and so forth. This has two points.

a. Actual

40ab
Ten are discards of meditation.
Five also. e last three, three types.

Well then, how many of these are discarded by seeing? How many
by meditation? How many are not discarded? you ask. The ten with
form are solely discards of meditation, and the first five conscious-
nesses are also discarded by meditation. These fifteen are discards
because they are defiled, but they are not discarded by seeing be-
cause the former ten have form, and the latter five look outward.

193
The last three elements are all three types, because the eightyeight
afflicted kernels, what is concurrent with them, and their attain-
ment are discarded by seeing; everything else that is defiled is dis-
carded by meditation; and the undefiled parts are not discarded.

b. Refuting the Vatsiputrīya’s position

40cd
Seeing does not discard the unafflicted,
Nor form, nor what is not born from the sixth.

According to the Vatsiputrīyas,74 ordinary individuals and the body

and speech karma of the lower realms are discards of seeing, because
when the path of seeing is attained, they are blocked, they say.

The path of seeing does not discard ordinary individuals, because

they are unafflicted, unobscured neutral. Ordinary individuals are
proven to be unafflicted neutral because they are neither virtuous
nor afflicted. If they were virtuous, then there could be no non-
virtuous ordinary individuals and the roots of virtue could not be
severed.75 If ordinary individuals were afflicted, then someone who
had become detached through a worldly path would not be an
ordinary individual. Since neither of these are the case, ordinary
individuals are proven to be unobscured neutral. Something that
is unobscured neutral is pervasively not a discard of seeing, like a
vase, for example. Discards of seeing are definitely afflicted.

Nor does the path of seeing discard the body and speech of those in
the lower realms, because they have form.

74. A school of Buddhism noted for its unorthodox positions, notably that
there is an inexpressible self of the individual.
75. Severing the three roots of virtue—nongreed, nonhatred, and nondelu-
sion—is ceasing to have them. See IV.79–80.

194
Here there are four alternatives of being free of something and dis-
carding it. The first, being free without discarding, is like the status
of an ordinary individual when the path of seeing is attained. The
second is like the arhat’s faculties that have form—the arhat has
abandoned them but is not free of them. The third is like discards
of seeing when the path of seeing has been attained. Fourth is all
the undefiled paths not included above and noncomposites.

Nor does seeing discard the consciousnesses of the five gates and
their associations, because they are on a level that is not born from
the sense base of mind, and because they look outward. They are
not the sixth mental consciousness.

4. Whether or not it is view. This has a. Actual and b. Elaboration.

a. Actual

41ab
e eye and part of the element
Of dharma are views: they are eightfold.

Well then, how many of the elements are views? How many are
not? you ask. The active part of the eye and part of the element
of dharma—the five afflicted views, the correct worldly view, the
learner’s view, and the nonlearner’s view—are views: they are
eightfold types of view. The other sixteen elements, the inactive
eye, and the remaining portions of the element of dharma are not
views. The five afflicted views will be explained below.76 The correct
worldly view is presented as a virtuous, defiled full knowing that is
concurrent with mental consciousness. The latter two are set forth
as the undefiled views of learners and nonlearners.

76. See V.7.

195
b. Elaboration. This has six topics: i. Refuting the full knowing of
faculties as view, ii. Proving that the eye is view, iii. Distinctions of
the faculty perceiving the object, iv. Ascertaining the time of the
support, v. The reason for supporter and supported, and vi. Ascer-
taining the levels of faculty, object, consciousness, and support.

i. Refuting the full knowing of faculties as view

41cd
Five minds concurrent with five consciousnesses,
Not thoughts that recognize, are not view.

Why is it that only the full knowing concurrent with mental con-
sciousness can be view? you ask. The five virtuous minds or full
knowings that arise in concurrence with five consciousnesses of
the sense gates, since they are not thoughts that have the volition
to recognize the object, are not view.

ii. Proving that the eye is view. This has two topics.

(1) Actual

42a
e eye sees form

Well then, since the eye is also nonconceptual, it should not be a

view, you say. Because the active eye sees form, it is view.

(2) Dispelling doubts. This has (a) Examining whether all eyes see,
(b) Examining whether it is eye or eye consciousness that sees, and
(c) Examining whether both eyes see.

196
(a) Examining whether all eyes see

42a
when it is active.

Well then, do all eyes see? you ask. When it is active, the eye sees,
but the inactive eye does not.

(b) Examining whether it is eye or eye consciousness that sees

42b–d
Supported consciousness does not,
Because a form that is obstructed
Cannot be seen, or so they claim.

Well then, it is not the eye that sees, it is the eye consciousness it
supports that sees, you say. That which sees is the eye. The sup-
ported consciousness that the eye supports does not. Why is this
so? Because that consciousness is unobstructive. If it were to see, it
would have to see a form that is obstructed by walls and so forth,
and those cannot be seen.

“Or so they claim” is the Master’s skeptical word for the Great
Exposition school: Later Great Expositionists thought that the eye
consciousness sees and that the faculties do not see. They spoke of
many faults in the faculty of eye seeing and so forth.

The Sutra school explains that on the basis of eye and form, the eye
cognition arises. There is a conventional label of “seeing form,” and
following this convention, one says, “The eye sees, the conscious-
ness knows,” as a manner of designation, but one should not be
attached to this label, they explain.

197
(c) Examining whether both eyes see

43ab
Both of the eyes can see, as well,
Because they both can clearly see.

Does one eye see, or do both see? you ask. Both of the eyes see, as
well, because if one eye sees, it sees unclearly, but if one opens both
eyes, they both can see more clearly than before. The phrase “as
well” means that either one of them is capable of seeing.

iii. Distinctions of the faculty perceiving the object. This has two
points.

(1) Meeting or not meeting

43cd
e eye, ear, and mind do not meet
eir objects. ree perceive elsewise.

Well then, do the six faculties perceive their objects by meeting

them or not? you ask. Three—the eye, ear, and mind—do not
meet their objects when they perceive them. This is because both
the eye and ear see or hear forms or sounds that are far off, and as
the mind has no form, it is impossible for it to meet anything. The
three—nose, tongue, and body—perceive elsewise from not meet-
ing: they perceive by meeting their object, because without inhal-
ing, scent is not perceived, and it is proven that far-away tastes and
touches are not perceived. The meaning of meeting and not meeting
is proposed as particles striking and joining or not.

198
(2) Equal or unequal

44ab
e nose and other two perceive
An object that in size is equal.

Do the eye and so forth perceive objects that are equal or unequal to
themselves in size? you ask. As the nose and other two, the tongue
and body, perceive an object that they meet, it is proposed all three
perceive an object that in size is equal. They perceive just as much
of the object as meets the faculty. The eye, ear, and mind, however,
do not necessarily perceive things that are their own size. The eye
perceives things that are larger, equal to, and smaller than itself; the
ear hears sounds that are large, medium, and small; and the mind
is not corporeal, so there is no determination of its size.

iv. Ascertaining the time of the support

44cd
e last’s support is past.
e five Arise together with them, too.

The object of the eye consciousness and so forth is always present,

but the object of the mind consciousness can be in any of the three
times. Are their supports the same? you ask. They are not. The sup-
port of the last of the six elements of consciousness, the mind con-
sciousness, is the immediately past mind only; it is not the present
or future mind. The supports of the first five elements of conscious-
ness, the eye and so forth, are present because they arise together
with them, the five consciousnesses. The word “too” means, “The
immediately past mind supports them, too.”

v. The reason for supporter and supported. This has two points.

199
(1) The reason for designating just the faculty as support

45ab
Because when those change, they change, too,
e eye and so on are the supports.

If the consciousnesses arise from both the faculties and the objects,
why is it that only the faculty is designated as support? you ask. The
reason for that is because when those, the eye and other faculties,
change, they, the consciousnesses, change, too. Benefit or harm
to the faculties, such as pain and so forth, can help or harm the
consciousnesses, or create pain or pleasure in them, or make them
clear or unclear. If form and so forth is changed, however, it is not
definite that such a change will arise in the consciousness. There-
fore, the eye and so on are the supports for mind consciousness.

(2) The reason the supports distinguish the consciousnesses

45cd
Because of that and being specific,
ose indicate the consciousnesses.

Well, if both the faculty and object produce consciousnesses, why

do we say “eye consciousness” but not “form consciousness”? you
ask. They are called the eye consciousness and so forth because of
that reason given above that faculties alone are the supports of the
eye consciousness and so forth, like saying, “The King’s men.”

In addition, within a single individual’s continuum, form is a cause

common to both the eye and mental consciousnesses, but the eye
is the specific cause of the eye consciousness only. Form can also be
the cause of eye consciousness in other individuals’ streams of be-
ing, but the eye is the cause of consciousness for only one individ-

200
ual. Therefore, because they are specific, those faculties form the
basis on which we indicate the eye and so forth consciousnesses. It
is like saying “a shoot of rice” or “the sound of a drum.”

vi. Ascertaining the levels of faculty, object, consciousness, and

support. This has four topics: (1) The levels of the eye, form, eye
consciousness, and support, (2) Teaching that the ear is comparable
to that, (3) Ascertaining the nose, tongue, and body, and (4) Teach-
ing the mind as uncertain.

(1) The levels of the eye, form, eye consciousness, and support

46.
e body cannot have a lower eye.
e eye cannot see forms of higher.
Neither the consciousness. eir forms,
And two of body, too, on any.

Well, what body supports the consciousness? When the eye sees
form, are the body, eye, form, and consciousness on the same level
only or can they also be on different levels? you ask. When someone
in the Desire realm looks with his own eye at a form of the Desire
realm, all four are on the same level. When that same Desire-realm
individual looks at form of the Desire realm with the eye of the first
dhyana, the body and form are both on the level of Desire, but the
consciousness and eye are on the level of the first dhyana. When he
looks at forms of the first dhyana, the form is also on the level of
the first dhyana.

When the Desire-realm individual looks at his own level’s forms

with the eye of the second dhyana, both the body and form are on
the Desire-realm individual’s own level, but the eye is on the level
of the second dhyana, and the eye consciousness is on the level of

201
the first dhyana, because there is no eye consciousness above the
first dhyana.77 When he looks at the form of the first dhyana, the
eye consciousness and form are on the level of the first dhyana, the
body is of the Desire realm and the eye is on the level of the second
dhyana. In the same way, the others can be extensively known.

This is determined as follows: The body of a higher level cannot

have or support a lower level’s eye, because one has the superior eye
of their own level, so there is no need to manifest the inferior eye of
a lower level. The eye of a lower level cannot have the power to see
the forms of higher levels, because the eye of the lower is coarse and
the forms of the higher are subtle. Neither is the higher level’s eye
consciousness supported by a lower level’s eye, because the superior
consciousness of the higher is not supported by the inferior eye of
the lower, just as a clay jug does not hold lion’s milk.78 Their—the
higher, lower, and own levels’—forms of all types are visible to the
eye consciousness of the first dhyana as its object. It is possible for
the two, the form and eye consciousness, of the body, too, to be
on any the levels—one’s own level, the higher levels, and the lower
levels.

(2) Teaching that the ear is comparable to that

47a
e ear is similar, as well.

As has been explained for the eye, the ear is similar, as well. The
verse could be modified:

77. This is because there is no consideration or examination on those levels. See

VIII.13.
78. Lion’s milk is said to be so potent that it will shatter a vessel made of any-
thing other than gold.

202
 The body cannot have a lower ear.
The ear cannot hear sounds of higher.
Neither the consciousness. Their sounds,
And two of body, too, on any.

(3) Ascertaining the nose, tongue, and body. This has two points.

(a) General

47b
e three are all of their own level.

The object, body, and support of the three—the nose, tongue, and
body consciousness—are all of their own level.

(b) Specifics

47cd
e consciousness of body is lower,
Own level.

Are these three always like that? you ask. That is in general. In spe-
cific, when perceiving the touch of the second dhyana and above,
the consciousness of body is that of the lower first dhyana. When
someone in either Desire or the first dhyana feels a touch, they per-
ceive it with the consciousness of their own level.

(4) Teaching the mind as uncertain

47d
Mind is indefinite.

The mind’s object, body, and consciousness are indefinite, because

sometimes they are all on a comparable level and sometimes they

203
are on lower or higher levels. This will be explained extensively in
the “Teachings on Absorption,” so refer there.

5. Which element is the object of which consciousness

48a
Two consciousnesses, five external.

Which of the six consciousnesses knows which of the eighteen el-

ements? you ask. The two consciousnesses of faculty and mind
take the five external elements from form to touch as their ob-
jects—form is the object of both the eye and mind consciousness-
es, sound of both ear and mind consciousnesses, and so on. The
internal twelve elements and dharmas are the objects of the mind
consciousness only.

6. Classifying as permanent or impermanent

48b
Noncompound dharmas are permanent.

Of the elements, how many are permanent? How many imperma-

nent? you ask. Of the eighteen elements, there is none that is whol-
ly permanent. However, a portion of the element of dharmas is
permanent: noncompound dharmas are permanent. The remain-
ing seventeen and a half elements have arising and disintegration,
so they are proven to be impermanent.

7. Classifying by whether or not they are faculties

48cd
One part of dharmas and those taught
As the internal twelve are faculties.

204
Of these, how many are faculties? How many are not faculties? you
ask. Of the eighteen elements, one part of the element of dhar-
ma—life force, the five feelings, faith and the other four, and the
three undefiled faculties, making fourteen—and those of elements
taught as the internal twelve—the eye and so forth—are facul-
ties. The remainder are not faculties. One portion of the body is
the male and female faculties. Those that remain, the five external
elements of form and so forth, and the remainder of the dharma
element, are proven not to be faculties.

The presentation of the area’s name

is completes the first area called “Teachings on the

Elements” from the Verses of the Treasury of
Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the first area called “Teachings

on the Elements” from The Explanation of the Verses of the Trea-
sury of Abhidharma called The Essence of the Ocean of Abhidhar-
ma, The Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining the Youthful
Play, Opening the Eyes of Dharma, the Chariot of Easy Practice.

A few words here:

Through the analysis that knows all knowables,

The dharma nature will be known just as it is.
Since they are the base for both attachment and
detachment,
I have explained the presentation
Of aggregates, sense bases, and the elements.

205
 SECOND AREA

Teachings on the Faculties

You make the lotus of your students’ intellect blossom

And expel the darkness of the night of ignorance.
To the great Master praised as the regent,
The friend, the sun, I prostrate, then

In this, rather than imposing my own concepts,

But by penetrating the depths of unchanging intelligence
Of the entire progression of schools of sutra and tantra,
I will release the mass of deep scriptural meaning.

The second area, the “Teaching on the Faculties,” has an explana-

tion of the text of the area and a presentation of the area’s name.
The explanation of the text of the area has three topics: I. The na-
ture of the faculties, II. The manner in which composites arise, and
III. The explanation of causes, conditions, and results.

I. The nature of the faculties. This has two topics: A. Identifying

each faculty, and B. Understanding the aspects of the faculties’ na-
tures.

A. Identifying each faculty. This has three topics: 1. Explaining the

names of each faculty, 2. Establishing the number of faculties, and
3. The individual characteristics of the faculties.

1. Explaining the names of each faculty. This has two points.

206
a. According to the Great Exposition tradition

1.
Five exercise their power over
Four meanings. Four over two, it’s claimed.
e five and eight, over all-afflicted
And over the utterly pure.

In the first chapter, where it says “The internal twelve are facul-
ties,”79 what are the faculties? Where it says, “Composite dharmas
are the five…”80 what is the manner in which these composites
arise? you ask. In order to explain the answers to these questions in
depth, this second area is presented.

The meaning of the word faculty is as explained in the autocom-

mentary:

What is the meaning of faculty (indriya)? you ask. The root

idi signifies supreme controlling power. Exercising power over
that, they are faculties. For that reason, exercising power is the
meaning of faculty.

There are twenty-two faculties: the five sense faculties of eye, ear,
nose, tongue, and body; the mind faculty; the faculty of life force;
the male and female faculties; the five feelings of pleasure, suffer-
ing, mental pleasure, mental unhappiness, and neutral; the five of
faith, diligence, mindfulness, samadhi, and full knowing; and the
three undefiled of producing all-knowing, all-knowing, and having
all-knowing.

79. See I.48d.

80. See I.7a.

207
Of these twenty-two faculties, which faculty exercises power over
what? you ask. Except for the inactive faculties,81 the five faculties
of eye and so forth exercise their power over four meanings each:
beautifying the support, protecting the body, producing the con-
sciousnesses and their concurrences, and exercising exclusive power
over the perception of their own object.

The four faculties of male, female, life force, and mind each exer-
cise power over two purposes. The first two differentiate sentient
beings and differentiate their specifics, such as shape, whether they
have large or small breasts, and whether they have high or low voic-
es. The faculty of life force exercises power over rebirth-linking in
a likeness82 and correctly maintaining the likeness’ continuum. The
faculty of mind exercises power over rebirth-linking in the next
existence and harmonizing the other faculties with the mind.83 The
meaning of life force exercising power over rebirth-linking is as
said:

If at that time, a scent-eater84 has either of two minds—a mind

associated with affection or a mind associated with anger—be-
come manifest…

81. Faculties that are not performing their function. See I.40.
82. A likeness is the continuum of similarity throughout a being’s lifetime. The
Tibetan word ris mthun pa refers both to the continuum of a being in a similar
body during the course of one lifetime and to discards that are of similar types.
In this translation, when it refers to the continuum of a being, the term likeness is
used, as the Tibetan ris can also mean an image or likeness of something.
83. That is, if the mind is virtuous, then the actions and so forth that arise from
its power will also be virtuous.
84. Beings in the between state, so called because they cannot eat solid food but
subsist on scent instead.

208
The meaning of the mind exercising power over rebirth-linking is
extensively explained in the sutra that says, “This world is led by the
mind… ” “It’s claimed” is a skeptical word from the Sutra school
for the Great Exposition.

e five defiled feelings and the eight faculties of faith, diligence,

mindfulness, samadhi, full knowing, producing all-knowing,
all-knowing, and having all-knowing exercise respectively power
over the all-afflicted and over the utterly pure. e five feelings
produce greed, hatred, and delusion. During the paths of accumu-
lation and joining, the five from faith to full knowing are the cause
of the utterly pure, and in the paths of seeing, meditation, and
nonlearning, the eight are utterly pure in essence.

b. According to the Sutra school tradition

2.
For power to focus on their own
Or all objects, six faculties.
For power over femaleness and maleness:
e body’s female and male faculties.

3.
For power to maintain one’s likeness,
e all-afflicted, and the pure;
Life, feelings, and five faculties
Of faith and so forth are proposed.

4.
To attain high, higher, and nirvana,
Et cetera, there are faculties of
Producing all-knowing, all-knowing,
And having all-knowing as well.

209
By saying, “It is claimed,” the Sutra school said the Great Expo-
sition tradition was illogical. Now to present their own tradition:
There are six faculties from eye to mind. Of these, the five internal
elements wield the power to focus on their own objects, and the
mind wields power over focus on all six objects of form and so
forth. For that reason, there are six distinct faculties.

For exercising power over that which defines femaleness, the fe-
male faculty is presented, and for power over that which defines
maleness, the male faculty is presented. The body’s female and
male faculties are presented as a part of the body faculty, from
which they are not separate.

For exercising power to maintain one’s own likeness, over the

all-afflicted, and over the utterly pure, respectively the faculty of
life force, the faculties of the feelings, and the five faculties of faith
and so forth are proposed.

This defines the faculties of producing all-knowing, all-knowing,

and having all-knowing as faculties. To exercise the power to attain
the high (allknowing), the higher (having all-knowing), and nirva-
na without remainder, et cetera, in order there are the three facul-
ties of producing all-knowing, allknowing, and having all-know-
ing, which are presented. The words, “as well” mean that just as
the eye and so forth are faculties, these three are also faculties. The
words “et cetera” indicate that these three faculties also exercise
power respectively to abandon the discards of seeing, to abandon
the discards of meditation, and to reside blissfully in the visible—
that is, in this lifetime.

2. Establishing the number of faculties. This has two points.

210
a. The Great Exposition tradition

5.
ere are as many faculties as
e mind’s supports, distinctions, and
at which maintains, those which afflict,
Gatherers, and the utterly pure.

If exercising power is a faculty, there are many powers such as creat-

ing karmic formations out of ignorance, speaking with the mouth,
and so on, so fixing the number of faculties at twenty-two is illog-
ical, you say. This is not a fault. Those exercise some small bit of
power but do not exercise exclusive power, so they are not present-
ed as faculties.

Therefore to provide the mind’s support, there are the six faculties
from eye to mind. To create distinctions in the bodily support,
there are the female and male faculties. To maintain one’s likeness
in a similar body, there is the life force faculty. To make the con-
sciousnesses all-afflicted, there are the feelings. Because they are the
basis for gathering the utterly pure accumulations, there are the
five of faith and so forth. And for power over the essence of the ut-
terly pure, the last three faculties are presented. There are this many
dharmas to exercise power over, and there are as many faculties as
that, so their number is determined.

b. The Sutra school tradition

6.
Or as supports for entry, birth,
Remaining, and enjoying there are
Fourteen, and likewise for the reverse
ere are the other faculties.

211
Or else one can alternatively establish the number of faculties as
follows: as they provide support for entry into samsara, there are
the six from the eye to the mind. As they are the cause for birth
in samsara, there are the male and female faculties. As it leads to
remaining there, there is the life-force faculty. And as they are the
cause of enjoying or making use of samsara, there are the feelings.
Thus there are the fourteen faculties for the purpose of entering
samsara.

And just as the entry into samsara has faculties for its support, birth,
remaining, and enjoyment, likewise for the reverse of samsara as
well, there are the faculties that exercise power over the support,
birth, remaining, and enjoyment of the utterly pure. The support
for the birth of the utterly pure is the five of faith and so forth. For
power over the initial birth of the utterly pure, there is the faculty
of producing all-knowing. For power over remaining in the utterly
pure, there is the faculty of all-knowing, and for power over en-
joying the utterly pure, there is the faculty of having all-knowing.
These faculties are other than those that enter samsara; they are
faculties that reverse samsara.

3. The individual characteristics of the faculties. This has two

topics: a. The characteristics of the five faculties of feeling, and b.
The characteristics of the three stainless faculties.

a. The characteristics of the five faculties of feeling. This has

three topics:

i. Bodily feelings of pleasure and suffering, ii. Mental feelings of

pleasure and suffering, and iii. Neutral feelings.

i. Bodily feelings of pleasure and suffering. This has two points.

212
(1) Suffering

7ab
e faculty of suffering
Is any unpleasant bodily feeling.

Among the twenty-two faculties, the seven faculties that have form
and the faculty of mind have been explained. Life force and the five
of faith and so forth will be explained below. Here the five faculties
of feeling and the three undefiled faculties will be explained.

In this section, body is proposed to mean any of the faculties that

have form. The faculty of suffering is any unpleasant bodily feel-
ing associated with the five sense faculties, whatever it might be.

(2) Pleasure

7cd
Pleasant is pleasure. On third dhyana
e mind’s is the faculty of pleasure.

Any pleasant feeling associated with the sense faculties is the fac-
ulty of pleasure. Not only that, any pleasant feeling that arises in
association with the mind on the third dhyana is the faculty of
cognitive pleasure. This is because the five sense-gate conscious-
nesses are not present on that level, so there is no bodily feeling.
The joy of the first two dhyanas is mental pleasure, but on the
third level one is free of attachment to joy, so the pleasure felt on
the third level is also not mental pleasure. Therefore, the faculty of
pleasure combines the bodily pleasure of the sense faculties and the
cognitive pleasure of the third dhyana.

ii. Mental feelings of pleasure and suffering. This has two points.

213
(1) Mental happiness

8a
On others, it is mental pleasure.

On levels that are other than the third dhyana—Desire and the
first two dhyanas—any pleasant feeling that is associated with the
mental consciousness, whatever it might be, is the faculty of men-
tal pleasure, because on those levels one is not free of attachment to
joy. The distinction between cognitive pleasure and mental pleasure
is that mental joy of the levels from Desire to the second dhyana is
merely produced by thought and is unstable. That is mental plea-
sure. On the third dhyana, the pleasant feeling in the mind that
remains stably is cognitive pleasure.

(2) Unhappiness

8bc
Unpleasant feelings in the mind
Are unhappiness,

Any unpleasant feelings that arise in association with the mind

consciousness are the faculty of mental unhappiness.

iii. Neutral feelings. This has two points.

(1) Characteristics

8cd
and neutral feelings
Are middling

And the faculty of neutral feeling is a middling experience that is

neither pleasant nor unpleasant.

214
(2) The reason neutral is not divided into bodily and of mental

8d
since both are thought-free

Is this neutral feeling of body or of mind? you ask. Neutral is both

bodily and mental since the middling neutral feelings of both body
and mind are thought-free and born from within. The feelings of
pleasure and suffering of both body and mind are not like that, so
they are explained separately.

b. The characteristics of the three stainless faculties

9ab
On the paths of seeing, meditation,
And of nonlearning, nine are three.

On the paths of seeing, meditation, and of nonlearning, the nine

faculties of mind, pleasure, mental pleasure, neutral feelings, and
the five including faith and so forth are called the three stainless
faculties. This is because on the path of seeing these nine are the
faculty of producing all-knowing; on the path of meditation they
are the faculty of all-knowing, and on the path of no learning they
are the faculty of having all-knowing.

B. Understanding the aspects of the faculties’ natures. This has

four topics: 1. Teaching the full classification of their aspects, 2.
How they are acquired, 3. The number of faculties present when
attaining a result, and 4. How the faculties are possessed.

1. Teaching the full classification of their aspects. This has six

points: a. Whether they are defiled and undefiled, b. Whether they
are fully ripened or not, c. Whether they produce fully ripened re-

215
sults, d. Aspects of virtuous, nonvirtuous, and neutral, e. Aspects of
which realm they are in, and f. Whether they are discarded.

a. Whether they are defiled and undefiled

9cd
ree stainless. ose with form, life force,
And suffering are defiled. Nine twofold.

How many of the faculties are defiled and how many are undefiled?
you ask. The three faculties that were just explained are stainless or
undefiled only. Those seven faculties with form, the faculty of life
force, and the faculty of suffering are solely defiled, because they
are discarded by meditation. The nine faculties including mind,
pleasure, mental pleasure, neutral, and the five of faith and so forth
are twofold—either defiled or undefiled—because when they are
associated with the paths of seeing, learning, and no learning, they
are undefiled, but otherwise they are defiled.

b. Whether they are fully ripened or not

10a–c
Life force is fully ripened.
Twelve Are twofold, except the last eight
And mental unhappiness.

Well then, how many of these are fully ripened results, you ask.
The faculty of life force is fully ripened only, because in the higher
realms it is propelled by defiled virtue, and in the lower realms it is
propelled by nonvirtue.

In the great Ṭika there is an extensive discussion of whether life

force is fully ripened or not, the distinction between life force and

216
life, proposals by Venerable Ghoṣaka and others, the necessity for
the Teacher to prolong or forsake his life, and so forth. The Master’s
explanation is in agreement with Venerable Ghoṣaka. From the au-
tocommentary:

Therefore, that life force [of an individual who has extended

his life through the power of meditation] is not fully ripened,
but other than that, it [life force] is fully ripened.

The necessity for an arhat to prolong or forsake his life is as said:

When one has acted well with Brahmic conduct

And meditated fully on the path,
There will be joy at extinguishing one’s life,
As if it were like being free of sickness.

Twelve faculties can be either of the two—either fully ripened or

not. The twelve are the faculties except for the last eight and mental
unhappiness: the seven that have form plus mind and four of the
feelings. The seven that have form—eye, and so forth—are not ful-
ly ripened when produced by development, but are when produced
by full ripening. Mental feelings that are virtuous or afflicted, that
are associated with the paths of activity such as crafts, or that are
associated with emanated minds, are not fully ripened. Those other
than that are fully ripened.

The last eight of faith and so forth are only virtuous. Mental un-
happiness is always either virtuous or nonvirtuous. For these rea-
sons, these nine are proven not to be fully ripened.85

85. Fully ripened results are always unobscured neutral. See 57d.

217
c. Whether they produce fully ripened results

10cd
at one
Must have full ripening. Ten twofold:

11a
Mind, other feelings, faith, so forth.

How many of these have full ripening? How many do not? you
ask. That one faculty of mental unhappiness alone must always
have full ripening, because it is always either nonvirtue or defiled
virtue. Ten faculties are twofold as they can either have full ripen-
ing or not. These ten are the mind faculty, the other four feelings
excluding mental unhappiness, and the five of faith and so forth.
The nonvirtue of mind and the four feelings as well as the defiled
virtue of all ten have full ripening; the neutral and undefiled of all
ten have no full ripening. The seven that have form and life force
are neutral, and the last three are undefiled, so they are proven not
to have full ripening.

d. Aspects of virtuous, nonvirtuous, and neutral

11b–d
Eight virtuous. Unhappiness
Is twofold. Mind and other feelings
Are threefold, and the rest are onefold.

How many of these are virtuous, nonvirtuous, and neutral? you

ask. The last eight are always virtuous. Mental unhappiness is two-
fold: either virtue or nonvirtue. Mind and the other four feelings
are threefold, because they can be concurrent with all three, and

218
the rest, the seven that have form plus life force, are onefold—neu-
tral only.

e. Aspects of which realm they are in

12.
Except the stainless, in Desire.
Except male, female faculties,
And sufferings: in Form. In Formless
ere are none with form, nor any pleasures.

Among the faculties, how many are in the Desire, Form and Form-
less realms? you ask. Except the three stainless faculties, nineteen
of the faculties are found in the Desire realm. Except the male and
female faculties, and the mental and bodily sufferings, fifteen of
the faculties are also found in the Form realm. Those four faculties
are not found there for the following reasons: Because those in the
higher realms are free of desire for sex, there are no male or female
faculties. Because the body is extremely pure and the cause of bodi-
ly suffering, nonvirtue, is not present, there is no bodily suffering.
Because one’s continuum is moistened by tranquility meditation,
and the nine causes of mental unhappiness86 have been discarded,
there is no mental unhappiness.

Of those fifteen faculties, in the Formless realm there are none of

the five with form, nor are there any bodily and mental pleasures,
so there are the eight faculties of life force, mind, neutrality, and
the five of faith and so forth. The five with form are not in Formless

86. The nine causes of mental unhappiness are: thinking they have hurt me,
they are hurting me, or they will hurt me; thinking they have hurt, are hurting, or
will hurt my friend or relative; and thinking they have helped, are helping, or will
help my enemy.

219
because there is no form there. There is neither pleasure nor mental
happiness there because one is detached from both of those.

It should be known that the three stainless faculties are in all in-
stances outside of the realms.

f. Whether they are discarded

13.
Mind and three feelings are threefold.
e two discard unhappiness.
By meditation, nine. Five not
Discarded, also. ree are not.

How many of them are discarded by seeing? How many by medi-

tation? How many are not discarded? The mind and the three feel-
ings of pleasure, mental pleasure, and neutral feeling are threefold:
one part is discarded by seeing, one part by meditation, and the
third part is not discarded. Those that are concurrent with discards
of seeing are discarded by seeing. Those that are defiled virtue are
discards of meditation. Those that are undefiled are not discarded.
The two paths of meditation and seeing discard mental unhappi-
ness. The faculties discarded by meditation only are the nine—the
seven with form, life force, and suffering because they are defiled
dharmas which are not discarded by seeing. The undefiled por-
tion of the five faculties of faith and so forth are not discarded.
The word “also” indicates that their defiled portion is discarded
by meditation. The last three are not discarded because they are
undefiled.

2. How the faculties are acquired. This has two topics: a. The ac-
tual way they are acquired, and b. Additionally, the way they cease.

a. The actual way they are acquired. This has three topics: i. Ob-

220
taining them in the Desire realm, ii. In the Form realm, and iii. In
the Formless realm.

i. Obtaining them in the Desire realm. This has two points.

(1) General

14ab
In Desire, at first one gains the two
Full ripened.

In each realm, how many fully ripened faculties are acquired at

first? you ask. In Desire, in the first three of the four modes of
birth—birth from egg, warmth and moisture, and the womb—at
first one gains the two faculties that are fully ripened by nature
because the two faculties of body and life force are acquired.

Well then, is not the mind faculty also acquired? you ask. Of course
it is acquired, but it is afflicted, as explained in the verse, “The state
of rebirth is afflicted.”87 For that reason, it is not fully ripened.88

(2) Specific

14bc
Not miraculous birth—
With that, six, seven, or else eight.

Not just two fully ripened faculties are attained in miraculous birth.
With that, miraculous birth, in the case of a miraculous birth of

87. See III.38a.

88. A fully ripened result must be unafflicted neutral, so the afflicted mind
consciousness at birth cannot be a fully ripened result.

221
a being with no sexual organs, such as humans in the first aeon,89
that being attains six fully ripened faculties: the first sense faculties
of eye and so forth, and life force. Or if the being has one sexual
organ, they also attain either one of the sexual faculties for a total of
seven. Or if the being has two sexual organs, they attain both for a
total of eight fully ripened faculties acquired. In the higher realms,
there is no miraculous birth with two sexual organs, but there is in
the lower realms.

ii. Obtaining them in the Form realm

14d
ere are six in Form

There are six faculties acquired in Form, because the five sense fac-
ulties and life force are acquired.

iii. Obtaining them in the Formless realm

14d
and one above.

And only the one faculty of life force is newly acquired above that
in the Formless realm, because there are no other fully ripened fac-
ulties in that realm.

b. Additionally the way the faculties cease. This has two topics:
i. General, and ii. The particulars of when a virtuous mind is pos-
sessed.

i. General. This has three topics: (1) The manner of cessation in

89. See III.98.

222
Formless, (2) The manner of cessation in Form, and (3) The man-
ner of cessation in Desire.

(1) The manner of cessation in Formless

15ab
When dying in Formless, just life force
And mind and neutral feeling cease.

When dying in the three realms, which of the faculties cease simul-
taneously? you ask. When dying in the Formless realms, just the
three of life force, and mind, and neutral feeling cease simultane-
ously.

(2) The manner of cessation in Form

15c
In Form, eight cease.

In Form, those three and the five sense organs, for a total of eight
faculties, cease simultaneously.

(3) The manner of cessation in Desire. This has two points.

(a) The manner of cessation for miraculous birth

15cd
With miraculous
Birth in Desire, ten, nine, or eight.

For beings born by miraculous birth in Desire who have two sexual
organs, ten faculties stop simultaneously: the eight just mentioned
plus the two sexual organs. For those with one organ, nine, or for
those with no organs, eight.

223
(b) For birth from womb

16a
In gradual deaths, the four will cease.

In gradual deaths, the four faculties of life force, mind, neutral

feeling, and body will cease simultaneously.

ii. The particulars of when a virtuous mind is possessed

16b
In virtuous, add five to all.

When dying in a virtuous mind-state, add the five faculties of faith

and so forth to all, the faculties that cease in each of the six differ-
ent types of death in the Three Realms discussed above. Therefore
in the Formless realm, eight faculties stop simultaneously; in the
Form realm, thirteen; and in the Desire realm fifteen or so forth
stop simultaneously.

There is no gradual death in the two higher realms because one is

born there by miraculous birth.90 The undefiled faculties do not
cease at death.

3. Number of faculties present when attaining a result. This has

three points.

a. How many are present when the last two results are attained

16c
Two outer results are gained with nine.

90. Beings born in a single instant by miraculous birth likewise die in a single
instant without a gradual process of death.

224
When counting either from the top or the bottom, the two outer
results of arhat and stream-enterer are both gained with nine facul-
ties each. The result of stream-enterer is attained with the six com-
mon faculties—mind and the five of faith and so forth—plus the
faculties of neutral feeling, producing all-knowing, and all-know-
ing for a total of nine. Arhatship is attained by the same six com-
mon faculties; any one of the feelings of pleasure, mental pleasure,
or neutral; and the faculties of all-knowing and having all-knowing
for a total of nine.

b. Second, when the middle two results are attained

16d
e two with seven, eight, or nine.

The two results of once-returner and nonreturner are attained with

seven, eight, or nine faculties. If they are attained by successive
results and the worldly path, then they are attained by the five of
faith and so forth, mind, and neutral feeling. If it is a transworldly
path, in addition to those there is the faculty of all-knowing for a
total of eight. When attained by skipping results, they are attained
by nine. The result of once-returner is attained by the same facul-
ties as lead to stream-enterer, and nonreturner is attained by nine:
the six common faculties, any one of the three feelings, producing
allknowing, and all-knowing.

c. Third, refuting a challenge

17ab
Because it’s possible to attain
Arhat with eleven, it is taught.

225
If it is possible to attain the state of arhat with nine faculties, then
that is contradictory of the treatise Jñānaprasthāna where it states
that arhat is attained with eleven faculties, you say. That explana-
tion of attaining the state of arhat with eleven faculties and this
explanation of attaining it with nine are not contradictory. This
is because it is possible that some might attain the state of arhat,
regress from the result over and over again,91 and then re-attain it
with eleven faculties, so it is taught there as eleven. Here it is taught
as nine faculties in terms of attaining arhat a single time.

The manner in which it is possible to attain arhat by eleven is as fol-

lows: First one attains the state of arhat with the faculty of pleasure.
Then one regresses from the result, and restores the result with the
faculty of mental pleasure. Then one regresses again and restores
again with the faculty of neutral feeling.

4. How the faculties are possessed. This has three topics: a. Must-
haves, b. Minimum possessed, and c. Maximum possessed.

a. Must-haves.This has seven points: i. Three must-haves, ii. Four

must-haves, iii. Five must-haves, iv. Seven must-haves, v. Eight
must-haves, vi. Eleven must-haves, and vii. Thirteen must-haves.

i. Three must-haves

17cd
One who possesses neutral feeling,
Life force, or mind must have the three.

If someone has any particular faculty, then how many faculties

must they necessarily possess? One who possesses any one of the

91. The Great Exposition asserts that some arhats temporarily regress or fall
from the state of arhatship when subtle afflictions arise in their beings. See VI.22.

226
faculties of neutral feeling, life force, or mind must have all three
of them. This pervades, because the three are must-haves.

Well then, when absorbed in the two mind-free states, because

there is neither mind nor neutral feeling, therefore one must not
have life force either, you say. Mind and neutral feeling are not
manifestly present, but because they have been attained, it is logical
that they are possessed.

ii. Four must-haves

18a
ose who have pleasure or body, four,

Those who have either the faculty of pleasure or the body faculty,
they must have four faculties, because that one is added to the three
must-haves for a total of four which must necessarily be had.

iii. Five must-haves

18bc
And five have those who’ve eyes, et cetera,
Or mental pleasure.

Those who have any one of the faculties of eye, et cetera—ear,

nose, and tongue—then they must have five, because in addition
to that, they have the three must-haves and the body faculty. Or if
they have mind pleasure, they must have five, because one has the
three must-haves, pleasure, and mental pleasure.

Does someone who has been born in the second dhyana and who
has not attained the third dhyana possess a faculty of pleasure? you
ask. They possess the afflicted pleasure of the third dhyana.

227
iv. Seven must-haves

18cd
ose who have
Suffering, seven,

Those who have the faculty of suffering must have seven, because
they must have body, life force, mind, and the four feelings exclud-
ing mental unhappiness.

v. Eight must-haves

18d
and the female

19a
Faculty and so forth have eight.

Those who possess either the female faculty and so forth, the male
faculty, must have eight faculties, because they have that one in
addition to the seven mentioned above. Not only that, one who
possesses mental unhappiness must also have eight because they
have mental unhappiness in addition to those seven. Those who
possess the five faculties of faith and so forth must have the three
must-haves in addition to those five for a total of eight.

vi. Eleven must-haves

19bc
ose with the faculty of having
All-knowing have eleven.

Those with either of the faculties of all-knowing or having

228
all-knowing must have eleven faculties because in addition to ei-
ther of those, they must have the three must-haves, pleasure, men-
tal pleasure, and the five of faith, and so forth.

vii. Thirteen must-haves

19cd
With
Producing all-knowing, thirteen.

With the faculty of producing all-knowing, one must have thirteen

faculties, because one must have mind, life force, body, the feelings
with the exception of mental unhappiness, the five of faith, and so
forth, and producing all-knowing. As this is the path of seeing, they
must have either the male or the female faculty, but since it is not
definite which of the two is possessed, neither is mentioned here.

b. Minimum possessed. This has two points.

i. The minimum possessed by those with no virtue

20ab
ose without virtue who’ve the fewest
Have eight: life, body, feelings, mind.

What is the minimum number of faculties that one can have? you
ask. In Desire, those who are at the moment of death and are with-
out virtue from severing its roots are the ones who have the fewest
faculties. They have the eight faculties of life force, body, five feel-
ings, and mind.

229
ii. The minimum possessed by the childish in the Formless
realm

20cd
e childish of the Formless likewise
Have neutral, life force, mind, and virtues.

The childish92 beings of the Formless realm likewise have eight be-
cause they have the faculties of neutral feeling, life force, mind,
and the five virtues of faith and so forth.

c. Maximum possessed. This has two points.

i. Ordinary individuals

21ab
e most that one could have is nineteen
Except the stainless, with two organs.

What is the maximum number of faculties that one can possess?

you ask. The most faculties that one individual could possibly have
is nineteen, as one can have all of them except the three stainless
faculties. Who could possess all these? you ask. Some individuals
with two sexual organs could possess them.

ii. Nobles

21cd
And nobles who are attached could have
All but one organ and two stainless.

92. Childish beings are ordinary beings who have not yet matured into nobles
by directly seeing the four noble truths.

230
And nobles who are stream-enterers or once-returners and who are
attached93 could also have nineteen faculties. As it is impossible for
nobles to have two sexual organs, they can possess all the faculties
but one organ and either the first and last or the last two stainless
faculties. If they are detached from the Desire realm, they do not
have mental unhappiness, so it specifies that they are attached.

II. The manner in which composites arise. This has two topics: A.
Those with form, and B. Those without form.

A. Those with form. This has three points.

1. Those that arise with eight substances

22ab
In Desire, atoms without sound
Or faculties: eight substances.

In the Realm of Desire, atoms, the smallest agglomerated masses

that appear to the mind to have parts but are without either sound
or faculties of body and so forth, definitely arise simultaneously
with the eight substances, because they arise simultaneously with
the substances of the four sources and the four source-derived.94

2. Those that arise with nine substances

22c
With body faculty, nine substances.

Those smallest masses with the body faculty have nine substances,

93. Attached means still attached to the Desire realm—that is, not having aban-
doned the afflictions that lead to rebirth in Desire.
94. That is, they are made out of the four sources and four source-derived.

231
because they have that faculty in addition to the previous eight, for
a total of nine.

3. Those that arise with ten substances

22d
Another faculty, ten substances.

If in addition they have another faculty, they have ten substances,

because in addition to the previous nine they have any one of the
eye and so forth.

Saying “agglomerated” above eliminates single partless particles

that do not arise in a collection.

B. Those without form. This has two topics: 1. Overview, and 2.

Explanation.

1. Overview

23a–c
e mind and factors must arise together.
All with the characteristics of composites.
Attainment, sometimes.

The primary mind and its associated mental factors must arise to-
gether at the same time because they cannot mutually cannot arise
without each other. As is said in a sutra:

Without the mental factors,

The mind cannot arise at all,
Just like the sun and the sun’s rays,
It is always simultaneous with them.

232
All composites must arise simultaneously with the characteristics
of composites: arising, staying, aging, and disintegrating. The at-
tainment that is included within their stream of being arises at
the same time as the dharma that is attained, like a body and its
shadow. This is in terms of attainment that arises at the same time;
attainment that arises earlier or later is not so.

The word “sometimes” is a word of inquiry. Its purpose is to in-

form that the attainment of the two cessations arises, but the cessa-
tions that are attained do not arise.

2. Explanation. This has two topics: a. An extensive explanation of

those that are concurrent with mind, and b. An extensive explana-
tion of nonconcurrent formations.

a. The extensive explanation of those that are concurrent with

mind. This has two topics: i. Brief overview, and ii. Extensive ex-
planation.

i. Brief overview

23cd
Factors are fivefold,
Since there are different major grounds and so forth.

Mental factors are fivefold groups, since there are the different ma-
jor grounds and so forth.

ii. Extensive explanation. This has four topics: (1) The classifica-
tion of the major grounds, (2) Which mental factors arise in asso-
ciation with which cognition, (3) Drawing distinctions between
similar factors, and (4) Teaching synonyms.

(1) The classification of the major grounds. This has five topics:

233
(a) The major ground of cognition, (b) The virtuous major ground,
(c) The afflicted major ground, (d) The nonvirtuous major ground,
and (e) The major ground of minor near afflictions.

(a) The major ground of cognition

24.
Feeling, volition, and conception,
Intention, contact, intelligence,
And mindfulness, attention, interest,
Samadhi are with all cognitions.

Feeling, which in essence is experience; volition, which makes the

mind move to the object; and conception of attributes; intention
which wishes to attain its aim; contact which, after the object, fac-
ulty and consciousness combine, determines whether an object is
pleasant, unpleasant, or neutral; intelligence or full knowing which
distinguishes defiled and undefiled dharmas; and mindfulness,
which can hold the mind on its focus without forgetting it; atten-
tion, which aims the minds toward and engages the focus; interest,
which is desire which perceives qualities in the focus; and samadhi,
which makes the mind one-pointed, are the ten factors called the
major ground of cognitions. They are called so because they arise in
association with all cognitions.

(b) The virtuous major ground

25.
Faith, carefulness, and pliancy,
Equanimity, shame, modesty,
Two roots, and nonhostility,
And diligence are with all virtue.

234
Faith is the sincere purity of a mind that is free of the dirt of the
afflictions and near afflictions. Carefulness is to value virtuous
dharmas such as faith and to protect the mind from the defiled.
And pliancy is workability of the mind that can withstand aiming
toward its focus. Between immeasurable equanimity and the for-
mation equanimity, equanimity here is the latter: it is the mind
that spontaneously engages without dullness or agitation. Shame
and modesty are both presented from the aspect of abstaining from
the inherently un wholesome. They will be explained below.95 The
two virtuous roots of nondesire and nonhatred are the antidotes
for greed and hatred. Nondelusion is designated as an aspect of full
knowing, so it is included within the major ground of cognition
and not mentioned here. Nonhostility is a loving heart, and dili-
gence is a mind that is excited about virtuous actions. These ten are
called the virtuous major ground because they are associated with
all virtuous cognitions.

(c) The afflicted major ground

26a–c
Delusion, carelessness, and laziness,
Nonfaith, and torpor, agitation:
With all afflicted.

Delusion is not knowing about karma, cause and effect, and so

forth. Delusion and ignorance are equivalent. Carelessness is the
opposite of carefulness: it is a mind not habituated to virtue. And
laziness is the opposite of diligence: it is not being excited about
virtue. Nonfaith is the opposite of faith: it is impurity in the mind.
And torpor makes the mind unworkable and hazy. Agitation is

95. See verse 32b.

235
disturbance in the mind. These six are the greater afflicted major
ground because they arise with all afflicted cognitions.

(d) The nonvirtuous major ground

26cd
With nonvirtue,
Immodesty and shamelessness.

In association with all nonvirtuous cognitions, immodesty and

shamelessness must always arise.

(e) The major ground of minor near afflictions

27.
Aggression, grudge, deceit, and envy,
Contentiousness, hypocrisy,
Stinginess, pretense, arrogance, and
Hostility: grounds of minor afflictions.

Aggression is to get angry with beings who might cause harm and
fight with them. Grudges or resentment is to hold a grudge after
getting angry. Deceit is a mind that does not accept faults to be
faults and has the aspect of fooling, and envy or jealousy is not
being able to bear it when someone else has something desirable.
Contentiousness is to embrace misdeeds as truly fine. As it is ex-
plained, “Contentiousness is attachment to misdeeds.” Hypocrisy
is to hide one’s faults and keep them secret. Stinginess is not giving
dharma or material things to others out of greed for them. Pretense
is to contrive that one has qualities that one really does not out of
greed for goods, fame, or so forth. Arrogance will be taught be-

236
low,96 and hostility is to wish suffering upon sentient beings. These
ten are called the grounds of the minor near afflictions because the
only root affliction they are concurrent with is ignorance, because
they are discarded only by meditation, and because they only arise
in association with cognitions in the mental consciousness that are
discarded by meditation. Thus the companions they are concurrent
with, their class of discards, and the support they arise from are all
minor.

Within these five groups there are thirty-eight mental factors. These
do not include the indefinite factors, which Vasumitra and Pūrṇa-
vardhana list in their commentaries:

Considering, examining,
Regret, and sleep, and anger, greed,
And pride, and doubt, so called: these eight
Are taught to be indefinite.

These eight are called indefinite because unlike the major grounds,
they do not definitely arise with any particular cognition.

Including these eight indefinite, there are forty-six mental factors.

Why are they not all mentioned here? you ask. Although they are
not explained, they can be understood from the meaning. The defi-
nite ones are explicitly taught, and the indefinite are implicitly un-
derstood.

In the Great Vehicle abhidharma there are said to be fifty-one men-

tal factors. Why are they condensed into forty-six here? you ask. As
five of the Great Vehicle’s factors have only nominal existence, they
are not included in this enumeration of those with substantial exis-
tence. The virtuous factor of nondelusion, the root affliction view,
96. See III.33–34.

237
and the near affliction of nonawareness are designations given to
different aspects of full knowing. The near affliction of distraction
is a designation given to one aspect of samadhi. Forgetfulness is a
designation for one part of mindfulness.97

(2) Which mental factors arise in association with which cogni-

tion. This has two topics: (a) Which mental factors arise in asso-
ciation with cognitions in Desire, and (b) Which factors arise in
association with cognitions in the upper realms.

(a) Which mental factors arise in association with the cognitions

in Desire. This has four topics: (i) What is associated with virtuous
cognitions, (ii) Nonvirtuous cognitions, (iii) Neutral cognitions,
and (iv) Sleep added as a clarification.

(i) What is associated with virtuous cognitions. This has two

points.

A. General

28a–c
Minds in Desire, when virtuous, have
Considering and examining,
So they have twenty-two mental factors,

Minds in Desire, when virtuous, have or are accompanied by the

associated mental factors of the first two major grounds, consid-
ering, and examining, so therefore they have twenty-two mental
factors that arise.

97. Nonawareness is a weak aspect of full knowing, distraction is weak samadhi,

and forgetfulness is weak mindfulness.

238
B. Specific

28d
Some are augmented by regret.

Some virtuous cognitions of Desire have twenty-three associated

mental factors because it is possible that regret might arise in asso-
ciation with them, so the number of mental factors is augmented
by one. Regret must be either virtuous or nonvirtuous.

(ii) What is associated with nonvirtuous cognitions

29.
With unmixed minds that are nonvirtuous
And have view, too, the twenty arise.
If the four afflictions; or aggression,
Et cetera; or regret, twenty-one.

In association with unmixed minds, concurrent with unmixed ig-

norance, that are nonvirtuous and have the last three views,98 too,
the twenty mental factors arise. This is because the major ground
of cognition, the afflicted major ground, the nonvirtuous major
ground, consideration, and examination arise with these cogni-
tions. If the cognition is associated with one of the four indefinite
afflictions of greed, hatred, pride, or doubt; or one of the near
afflictions such as aggression, et cetera; or regret, then there are
twenty-one, because that affliction of greed or so forth is added to
the previous twenty.

(iii) What is associated with neutral cognitions. This has two

points.
98. The last three views are wrong view, over-esteeming views, and over-esteem-
ing discipline and austerity. See V.7.

239
A. Obscured neutral cognitions

30a
In the obscured, eighteen.

In the obscured neutral cognitions that have personality and ex-

treme views,99 eighteen mental factors arise. The major ground of
cognition, the afflicted major ground, consideration, and examina-
tion all arise. The distinction between obscured and unobscured is
that although both are basically neutral, obscured neutral obscures
or hinders liberation, but unobscured does not.

B. Unobscured neutral cognitions

30ab
It’s said
With other neutrals, there are twelve.

It is said that with the other neutrals, the unobscured neutral cog-
nitions, there are twelve mental factors that arise, because in addi-
tion to the major ground of cognition, consideration and examina-
tion also arise.

(iv) Sleep added as a clarification

30cd
Since sleep does not preclude any other,
Whenever it occurs, it’s added.

99. Personality view is viewing the aggregates as me or mine, and extreme view
is holding the self to be permanent or to have a definite end. See V.7.
Many translations from the Tibetan translate personality view rather literally as
“view of the transitory collection”. Here the example of translators from the Ther-
avada tradition who say personality view is followed for ease of comprehension.

240
Since sleep does not preclude any other, in that it can arise with all
cognitions, whether virtuous, nonvirtuous, or neutral, whenever
it occurs, associated with a principal cognition, it is added. If you
added it to the verses, they would read as follows:

Minds in Desire, when sleepy and virtue,

Have considering and examining,
So there are twenty-three mental factors,
Some are augmented by regret.

With sleepy, unmixed, nonvirtuous minds

That have view, too, twenty-one arise.
If the four afflictions or aggression,
Et cetera, or regret, twenty-two.

In the obscured, nineteen. It’s said

With other neutrals, there are thirteen.

(b) Which factors arise in association with cognitions in the up-

per realms. This has two topics: (i) Which are on the first dhyana,
and (ii) Which are on the second dhyana and above.

(i) Which are on the first dhyana. This has two points.

A. Which are on the mere actual practice

31ab
Of these, regret, sleep, and nonvirtues
Are not on the first dhyana’s levels.

Of these concurrent factors that have been proposed, regret, sleep,

and the nonvirtuous cognitions—anger, shamelessness, immodes-
ty, and the seven near afflictions other than deceit, pretense, and ar-

241
rogance—are not on the first dhyana’s levels. This is because regret
and sleep are incompatible with samadhi, and one’s continuum has
been moistened by tranquility, so there is no nonvirtue.

B. On the special actual practice

31c
In special, no considering;

In the special first dhyana not only are those factors absent, there is
no considering because it has been abandoned.

(ii) Which are on the second dhyana and above

31d
Above that, no examining, either.

Above that special dhyana on the levels from the second dhyana to
the Peak of Existence there is no examining, because those levels
transcend it. The word “either” teaches that deceit and pretense are
also absent. In the first dhyana there is pretense and deceit, as will
be explained below:

Deceit and pretense are in Desire

And on first dhyan, as Brahma deludes.100

(3) Drawing distinctions between similar factors. This has four

topics: (a) The distinction between shamelessness and immodesty,
(b) The distinction between affection and respect, (c) The distinc-
tion between consideration and examination, and (d) The distinc-
tion between pride and arrogance.

100. See V.53ab.

242
(a) The distinction between shamelessness and immodesty

32ab
Shameless is disrespect; immodesty is
To view the unwholesome without fear.

Well then, what is the distinction between shamelessness and im-

modesty? you ask. Shamelessness is disrespect for qualities and
those who have qualities such as one’s abbot, masters, and so forth.
Immodesty is to view the unwholesome, such as killing and so
forth, without fear.101

(b) The distinction between affection and respect. This has two
points.

(i) Actual

32c
Affection’s faith; respect is shame.

Affection is faith in qualities and those who have qualities, and

respect is shame that honors qualities and those who have quali-
ties. Faith and respect in either qualities or individuals can also be
presented as having four possibilities.

(ii) What realms these are in

32d
ese two are in Desire and Form.

Those two, affection and respect toward individuals, are found in

101. In other texts, the distinction between shamelessness and immodesty is said
to be whether one disregards oneself or another when committing misdeeds.

243
the Desire and the Form realms, but they are not found in the
Formless because in that realm individuals are not within each oth-
er’s sphere of perception.

(c) The distinction between consideration and examination

33ab
Considering and examining
Are coarse and fine.

There is a distinction between considering and examining: they

are respectively the coarse and fine mental factors that engage the
aspects of the object’s essence and particulars.

Well then, it is illogical that these both could arise simultaneously

around a single cognition, you say. It is logical because by their
combined power, the cognition becomes neither too coarse nor too
fine. For example, if you were to put butter in cold water and then
place it in the sun, by the power of both the water and the sun the
butter would get neither too hot nor too cold. Some say that the
explanation of both considering and examining arising in associa-
tion with a single cognition is in terms of a continuum, but they
are not simultaneous.

(d) The distinction between pride and arrogance

33b–d
Pride is self-inflation.
Arrogance is clinging to one’s features
Which then consumes the mind completely.

Pride and arrogance are separate because pride is the self-inflation

of thinking that one is superior to others in terms social standing

244
and qualities, while arrogance is clinging to one’s own features,
such as social standing or body, which then consumes or uses up
the mind completely.

(4) Teaching synonyms. This has two points.

(a) Synonyms of cognition

34ab
Cognition, mind, and consciousness
Are equivalent.

In the sutras where it says, “Cognition, mind, and consciousness,”

what is the distinction between these three? There are many asser-
tions of distinctions between these three in the Great Exposition,
Sutra, and Yogic Conduct schools, but in our own tradition, the
element of cognition, the sense base of mind, and the aggregate of
consciousness are equivalent.

The Great Exposition school proposes that as they distinguish be-

tween virtue, nonvirtue, and so forth, they are presented as cogni-
tions. As they know form and so forth, they are mind. As they know
distinctions in the object, they are presented as consciousness.

(b) Parallels with mental factors

34b–d
e mind and factors
Have a support, a focus, aspects,
Concurrence also that is fivefold.

The mind or mental factors are equivalent in having the eye and so
forth as support, having a focus on form and so forth, and having
an aspect such as thinking, “Blue!”

245
The concurrence also between mind and mental factors is fivefold:
there is concurrence of support, focus, aspect, time, and substance.

b. The extensive explanation of nonconcurrent formations. This

has three topics: i. Overview, ii. Explanation, and iii. Teaching oth-
er distinctions between dharmas as a summary.

i. Overview

35.
Formations that are nonconcurrent
Include attainment, nonattainment,
Same class, Conception Free, absorptions,
And life force and the characteristics,

36a
Collections of names and so forth, too.

The fourteen formations that are nonconcurrent include 1) attain-

ment, 2) nonattainment, 3) same class, 4) beings in the Concep-
tion Free abode, and the two absorptions of 5) the conception-free
and 6) cessation, 7) and life force and 8-11) the four characteristics
of composites, and collections of 12) names and so forth including
13) words, and 14) letters. The word “too” includes schism in the
Sangha and the substance that is not wasted.

These are called nonconcurrent formations because they are in the

aggregate of formations and not concurrent with mind.

ii. The explanation. This has seven topics: (1) The explanation of
attainment and nonattainment, (2) Of same status, (3) Of noncon-
ception, (4) Of the two absorptions, (5) Of life force, (6) Of the
characteristics, and (7) Of names, words, and letters.

246
(1) The explanation of attainment and nonattainment. This has
three topics: (a) Identifying their essence, (b) What they are of, and
(c) Distinctions.

(a) Identifying their essence

36b
Attainment is to get or have.

To classify attainment, there is the attainment of getting or acquir-

ing and the attainment of having or possessing. The first has two:
getting something anew, such as the first undefiled moment, and
getting after regressing, such as getting what one had previously
regressed from when attaining the actual practice of the dhyanas
and formless absorptions. The attainment of having also has two:
possessing the continuum, such as the second moment of the vows
of individual liberation where one possesses the continuum of the
first moment, and possession from the beginning, such as ordinary
individuals who possess the afflictions of existence from the very
beginning.

(b) What they are of. This has two points.

(i) General

36cd
Attainment, nonattainment are of
What is in one’s stream

Attainment and nonattainment are of composites that are includ-

ed in one’s own stream of being, not of what is included in another
being’s continuum or not included in anyone’s continuum.

247
(ii) Specifics

36d
or two cessations.

The two noncomposite cessations are not connected with anyone’s

continuum, but since that which they negate can be connected to
beings’ continuums, there is attainment and nonattainment of the
two cessations. Nonanalytic cessation is possessed by all sentient
beings because it is said in the abhidharma:

Who possesses undefiled dharmas? you ask. Answer.

All sentient beings.

Analytic cessation is possessed by all nobles except those in the

first moment who still have all the bonds.102 It is also possessed by
certain ordinary individuals. There is no possession of space, so
therefore there is no attainment of it either. If something cannot
be attained, there is no nonattainment of it either, it is said in this
school.

The Great Exposition says that there are many scriptural and logi-
cal proofs that attainment and nonattainment are substantial. The
Master makes many criticisms of this. From the commentary:

Therefore this possession and nonpossession are in all aspects

nominal dharmas, and they are not substantial dharmas.

102. Since afflictions are only abandoned starting from the second moment of
the path of seeing, nobles on the first moment of the path of seeing who have not
previously attained the dhyanas have not yet abandoned any afflictions and thus
have not been freed from any of their bonds. Once they attain the second mo-
ment, they possess the analytic cessation of the afflictions that focus on suffering
in Desire. See IV. 61 and VI.28.

248
Some Great Expositionists reply, “You make many harmful logical
criticisms, but we will not give up the position that possession,
nonpossession, attainment, and nonattainment are substantial be-
cause it is the position of our school.” So they say, but such is the
speech of someone who cannot distinguish whether he is querying
or replying. In this land of Tibet, too, such fools who cannot bear
losing a debate say, “Whether or not this position of mine is com-
patible with the sutras and tantras, it holds.” Many such people
turn their backs and listen to the echoes of their own voices.

The characteristic of attainment is a nonconcurrent formation that

is the substance that makes one possess the dharma that is attained.

(c) Distinctions. This has two topics: (i) Distinctions of attainment,

and (ii) Distinctions of nonattainment.

(i) Distinctions of attainment. This has six topics: A. Distinctions

of time, B. Distinctions of essence, C. Distinctions of realm, D.
Distinctions of learner and nonlearner, E. Distinctions of whether
or not it is discarded, and F. The particulars of the distinction of
time.

A. Distinctions of time

37a
Attainment of three times is threefold;

The attainment of that which is attained, dharmas of the three

times, is threefold: there are past, future, and present attainments.
The attainments are like the supreme bull or garuda in the fore, like
the body and its shadow, or like a calf pulled behind.

249
B. Distinctions of essence

37b
Of virtue so forth, virtue so forth;

The attainments of virtue and so forth—neutral and nonvirtue—

are themselves also those three, virtue and so forth.

C. Distinctions of realm

37cd
Of any realm is in that realm;
Of what’s not in a realm is fourfold;

The attainment of dharmas of any of the three realms is included

in that realm. The attainment of a Desire-realm dharmas is itself
included in the Desire realm. It is the same in the other realms.

The attainment of what is not in a realm—the two cessations and

the truth of the path—is fourfold. It can be included in Desire,
Form, Formless, and not included in any of the three realms. The
attainment of nonanalytic cessation can be in any of three realms.
The attainment of analytic cessation of Form or Formless attained
by a worldly path is of either Form or Formless. The attainment of
analytic cessation by a transworldly path and the attainment of the
truth of the path are not included in any of the three realms.

D. Distinctions of learner and nonlearner

38a
Of neither learner nor non, three;

250
Learner means the undefiled paths of seeing and meditation, and
nonlearner means the undefiled path of no-learning. The attain-
ment of these two is, in order, learner and nonlearner. What is
neither learner nor nonlearner is either defiled or noncomposite.
There are three types of attainment of these two: the attainment
of defiled dharmas or nonanalytic cessation and the attainment of
analytic cessation by the worldly path are neither learner nor non-
learner. The attainment of these through the path of the learner is
learner, and their attainment through the path of the nonlearner is
nonlearner. Although it is on the path of learning, the path of no
obstacles of the vajra-like samadhi forms the support for the attain-
ment of removal that is the nonlearner path of liberation, so it is
designated as nonlearner’s attainment.

E. Distinctions of whether or not it is discarded

38b
Of what is not abandoned, twofold.

The attainment of the discards of seeing and meditation are in or-

der discards of seeing and meditation. The attainment of what is
not abandoned by either seeing or meditation is proposed to be
twofold: it is either a discard of meditation or it is not a discard.
The attainment of nonanalytic cessation and the attainment of an-
alytic cessation through worldly paths are abandoned by medita-
tion. The attainment of analytic cessation through noble paths and
the attainment of the truth of the path are not discarded.

F. The particulars of the distinction of time. This has three points.

251
1. The particulars of unobscured neutral

38cd
Neutral attainment: at same time,
Except clairvoyance, emanations.

The particulars of “Attainment of three times is threefold” are as fol-

lows: Well then, must attainment definitely arise in all three times
or not? you ask. Not necessarily. Unobscured neutral attainment
arises at the same time as the attained dharma. It does not arise
earlier or later because it does not have manifest action and is weak.

However, not all attainments of unobscured neutral are simultane-

ous with the arising of the dharma. Excepted are the attainments
of the two clairvoyances of divine eye and ear, and the neutral em-
anated mind. The attainment of these three arises in all three times
because they are accomplished by specific training and therefore
are strong.

2. The particulars of obscured neutral

39a
Of form of the obscured, as well.

The attainment of the form of the obscured neutral, as well, such

as the perceptible form of Great Brahma’s lips moving when he de-
ceives his entourage, does not arise earlier or later but arises simul-
taneously because the motivation is weak and the form is material.

3. The particulars of virtuous and nonvirtuous

39b
In Desire, of forms does not precede.

252
In Desire, the attainment of the perceptible forms of virtuous and
nonvirtuous conduct and of the imperceptible forms of vows and
wrong vows103 does not arise preceding the dharma that is attained
but does arise at the same time as or later than it.

However, the attainment of the forms of the dhyana vows and the
undefiled vows made manifest in the Desire realm is strong and
follows the mind, so it is in all three times.

(ii) Distinctions of nonattainment. This has five points.

A. Distinctions of essence

39c
Nonattainment is unobscured neutral;

Nonattainment is unobscured neutral only because those who

have abandoned afflictions and those who have severed the roots
of virtue both possess them, so they can be neither afflicted nor
virtuous. Its characteristics are a nonconcurrent formation that is
exclusive of attainment and unobscured neutral.

B. Distinctions of time

39d
Of past and unborn, it is threefold.

The nonattainment of past and unborn future dharmas, it is three-

fold as it has aspects of all three times. Present dharmas have no
present nonattainment, because it is impossible for the attainment
and nonattainment of a particular dharma to coexist simultaneous-
ly.

103. Wrong vows are commitments to perform misdeeds. See IV.13.

253
C. Distinctions of realm

40a
Of Desire, et cetera, and the stainless, too.

The nonattainment of dharmas of Desire, et cetera, the three

realms, are included in those same realms. And the nonattain-
ment of the stainless, undefiled dharmas can be in any of the three
realms, too, because it is included within the continuum of the
beings of those realms.

D. No undefiled nonattainment

40bc
Path’s nonattainment is asserted as
An ordinary being.

The undefiled path’s nonattainment is nonattainment, and those

who have it in their beings are asserted as an ordinary being. The
reason is explained in the Treatise:104

What is the ordinary individual itself? The nonattainment of

the nobles’ dharmas.

Another reason is because there is no undefiled nonattainment.

Well then, is this nonattainment of the nobles’ dharmas set forth as
the nonattainment of nobles’ dharmas in general or nonattainment
of individual dharmas? you ask. It is set forth as nonattainment in
general.

Here there are distinctions and disagreements between the Great

Exposition and Sutra schools, and the Master’s explanation is in

104. Jñānaprasthāna.

254
accord with the tradition of the Sutra school. According to him,
a stream of being in which noble dharmas have not arisen is an
ordinary individual. A stream of being in which they have arisen
is a noble individual. He does not present ordinary individual as a
dharma distinct from individual.

E. Distinctions of the way they regress

40cd
It’s forfeited
When one attains that or shifts level.

It, that nonattainment, is forfeited when one attains that, a noble

dharma, or shifts level from lower to higher, such as from Desire
to Form.

Well then, is there the nonattainment of nonattainment and the

attainment of attainment and so forth? you ask. Those do exist, but
according to the Great Exposition tradition there is not an endless
cycle of attainments of attainments of attainments, and so forth.
From the autocommentary:

Do the attainment and nonattainment of attainment and nonat-

tainment exist? Reply. Both of both exist. Therefore, does it not
follow that attainments become infinite? Because they possess each
other mutually, they do not consequently become infinite. Includ-
ed in the nature of dharmas, three arise: the dharma, its attainment,
and the attainment of the attainment. Thus when the attainment
arises, one possesses the attainment of the attainment, and when
the attainment of attainment arises, only attainment is possessed,
so for that reason it is not infinite.

Alas, says the Master, in this tradition of infinite attainments, the

attainments are having a grand feast. Fortunately, they are unob-

255
structive so there is room to move, but were it otherwise there
would not be room for a second living being in all of space. So it
is explained.

Nonattainment is finite.

(2) Same status

41a
Same status: sentient beings’ resemblance.

Same status is what makes sentient beings be comparable to or

resemble one another in conduct, nature, thought, and so forth.
Its characteristic is a nonconcurrent formation that is the substance
that makes sentient beings resemble one another. To classify it,
there are two: not separate and separate. The first is like all sentient
beings, who merely by being sentient beings are the same class.
The second is like gods and humans, bhikshus and novices, and so
forth, where the substances that create the similarity among them
are separate from the beings themselves.

(3) The explanation of nonconception. This has three points.

(a) Identifying the character base

41bc
Conception-free stops mind and factors
Of beings in Conception Free.

Conception-free is the substance that stops the mind and mental

factors of beings in Conception Free, gods who take birth there for
five hundred great aeons.

256
(b) Which of the four results it is

41d
Full ripening.

It is the fully ripened result of the conception-free absorption be-

cause it has no compatible cause with separate substance, and be-
cause it is not produced by development as they have no form.

(c) What level it is on

41d
ey’re in Great Result.

They, these gods, live in one part of Great Result, the highest level
of dhyana attainable by ordinary beings—their abode is not a dif-
ferent sort of place from Great Result. This is similar, for example,
to the levels of Great Brahma and Brahma’s Ministers, which are
not different realms.

The characteristic of a being in Conception Free is the result of the

conception-free absorption that is the substance of cessation in the
continuum of the long-lived gods.

Do such gods have no consciousness at all? you ask. They do have

some consciousnesses because consciousness arises at birth and
death. The Master explains that because concurrences of body and
mind have ceased, these are nominal, but they are not substantial.

(4) The explanation of the two absorptions. is has two top-
ics: (a) Explaining their individual essences, and (b) Teaching their
supports together.

(a) Explaining their individual essences. This has two topics: (i)

257
The essence of conception-free absorption, and (ii) The essence of
the conception-free absorption.

(i) The essence of the conception-free absorption

42.
Likewise conception-free absorption.
Last dhyan. From wishing for release.
It’s virtue. Experienced on birth only.
Not nobles. Gained in one time only.

Just as beings in Conception Free stop mind and mental factors,

likewise the conception-free absorption also stops mental factors,
because it is the cause of beings in Conception Free—it has such
beings as its results.

Its level is the last, fourth dhyana, because its fully ripened result
ripens in Great Result. It is the contemplation of entering absorp-
tion from wishing for the definite release of liberation—the indi-
vidual who enters it conceives of the being in Conception Free as
liberated and the absorption that achieves that as the path. That
individual strives for pure conduct through the wrong path. It, the
absorption, is virtuous in motivation. That virtue is experienced
on birth only105 because it causes one to take the existence of Con-
ception Free in the next birth. The only ones who enter it are ordi-
nary individuals; it is not entered by noble individuals, who see it
as an abyss. It is never attained in the past or the future; it is gained
in the one time of the present only, like the vows of individual
liberation.

Its characteristic is an absorption that stops mind and mental fac-

tors and that is included in the level of the fourth dhyana.
105. That is, experienced in one’s next rebirth. See IV.50bd.

258
(ii) The essence of the absorption of cessation. This has three
points.

A. Actual

43.
Cessation’s like that, too. Its purpose
Is staying. Born on Peak, it’s virtue.
Experienced in two or indefinite,
e nobles attain it by training.

The absorption of cessation is the cessation of mind and mental

factors, just like that, the conception-free absorption, too. This
absorption does not place attention on emancipation, but rather
one enters it for the purpose of staying within the pacification of
conceptions and feelings. The mental support it is born on is the
Peak of Existence, because it is easiest to stop the mind and concur-
rent mental factors right after that subtlest of subtle minds. What
motivates it is virtue. Its karmic ripening is experienced either on
rebirth or in other lifetimes because it can be experienced in two
instances: in the next life one is either reborn on the Peak of Exis-
tence or in the Form realm and then in the lifetime after that on
the Peak. Or it can be experienced indefinitely because one could
attain nirvana on the same support as one attained the absorption.
Its characteristic is an absorption that stops the concurrences and
that is included in the level of the Peak of Existence. Only noble
individuals can support it; the childish cannot. Even the nobles
do not attain it merely by becoming detached; they attain it by
training, which includes efforts that produce mental strength. Like
the vows of individual liberation, it is only attained in the present;
there is no past or future attainment of it.

259
B.The specifics of how it is attained

44a
e Sage by awakening.

The Sage’s absorption of cessation does not depend upon training;

it is something that is attained by acquiring awakening or the en-
lightenment that is the knowing of extinction and nonarising. It
does not depend upon training, because as is said in a sutra:

You who are ultimate virtue

Have nothing at all come from training.
Whatever you wish for is certain:
Just by the mere wish it’s obtained.

C. The elaboration

44ab
Not first,
Since it was gained by thirty-four moments.

Some Kashmiris in the Western school say that the Buddha sat
under the Bodhi tree and produced the path of seeing. Then he
arose from that absorption and entered the absorptions of the Peak
of Existence and lower levels. Others respond that the Bodhisattva
did not make those manifest at first, before he attained the knowl-
edge of extinction. This is since he produced the sixteen moments
of clear realization of truth, the nine paths of no-obstacles of the
path of meditation that are the antidotes for the Peak and the nine
paths of liberation without interruption. After that it, enlighten-
ment, was gained by these thirty-four moments. Earlier when he
was an ordinary individual studying with Ārāḍa and Udraka, the

260
Bodhisattva had become detached from and abandoned all the dis-
cards of meditation of lower levels from Desire to Nothingness.
In actuality, he did not need to abandon the lower level’s afflicted
discards of seeing.

In the tradition of the Foundation Vehicle, ordinary individuals

cannot produce the absorption of cessation. However, the Karṭīk
explains that according to the Highest Mantra ordinary individuals
can have the samadhi of listeners’ cessation of absorption.

(b) Teaching their supports together

44cd
Both have support of Desire and Form.
Cessation is first among humans.

Both of these absorptions have as bodily support the realms of

Desire and Form, but they do not have the Formless as their sup-
port. This is because beings in Conception Free are the result of
the fourth dhyana, and because the absorption of cessation is made
manifest by the body, but there is no body in the Formless realm.

In general both of these absorptions have the two realms as support,

but there is a distinction: when cessation has not previously arisen,
it must be produced first among humans, because the concurrences
there are coarse, so one grows weary with them. In the Form realm,
the concurrences are pacified, so there is no weariness, and for that
reason one does not meditate on it there first. If one has previously
attained cessation but regressed from it, it is produced in the Form
realm by the power of previous habituation. The conception-free
absorption does not come from such weariness; rather one enters it
by the wrong view that conceives of it as liberation.

261
Well then, if there is no mind while one is in these absorptions,
where does the mind that arises from them come from? you ask.
The Great Exposition proposes that the past mind also has sub-
stantial existence, so it arises from that. The Sutra school proposes
that mind and body contain each others’ seeds, so the body that
has faculties also has the seeds of the mind, from which the mind
arises. The Mind Only school proposes that when one is in either
of these absorptions, the all-ground exists unceasingly, so the mind
of arising is born from that.

(5) The explanation of life force

45ab
Life force is life. It is that which
Supports one’s warmth and consciousness.

The faculty of life force is the life of beings in the three realms. It,
life, is that which supports or causes one’s warmth and conscious-
ness to remain continually. In the lower two realms, it provides the
support for both of those, and in the Formless for consciousness
only. Its characteristic is a nonconcurrent formation that is life.

(6) The explanation of the characteristics. This has two topics: (a)
Classifications, and (b) Dispelling doubts

(a) Classifications

45cd
e characteristics are birth,
And aging, staying, impermanence.

The characteristics of composites are birth that produces dhar-

mas, and aging that makes things old, staying that makes things

262
remain, and impermanence that makes things disintegrate—the
suffix -nence means the condition of things.

Well then, it says in the sutras, “The characteristics of composites

are threefold.” Is this not contradictory? you say. There, in order to
produce weariness among disciples, staying is taught only implicit-
ly, which makes that teaching provisional. The abhidharma teaches
four, so it is a characteristic, not a provisional, teaching.

(b) Dispelling doubts. This has three points.

(i) Teaching that the characteristics have characteristics

46a
ey’ve birth of birth, et cetera, and

Well then is there the birth of birth, the aging of aging, and so
forth? you ask. They, birth and so forth, have the birth of birth, et
cetera, including the aging of aging and so forth.

(ii) Refuting that it is endless

46b
Engage eight dharmas or else one.

Well then, it becomes endless, you say. It does not become endless.
This is because they engage eight dharmas or else one dharma:
birth, for example, engages in the production of the three of aging,
staying, and impermanence, the four of birth of birth and so forth,
and one character base such as a vase, for a total of eight. The birth
of birth engages in the production of the dharma of birth only.
Aging and so forth are known to be the same.

263
The characteristics of the four are as follows. A nonconcurrent for-
mation that is the substance which makes the composite that is
its character base possess arising is the characteristic of birth. A
nonconcurrent formation that is the substance which makes the
composite that is its character base grow old is the characteristic
of aging. A nonconcurrent formation that is the substance which
makes the composite that is its character base remain is the charac-
teristic of staying. A nonconcurrent formation that is the substance
which makes the composite that is its character base disintegrate is
the characteristic of impermanence.

(iii) Refuting the logical absurdity

46cd
Without the causes or conditions,
Birth can’t produce what is produced.

If future birth produces composites, then why do not the future

composites arise all at once? you ask. According to this presenta-
tion, future composites will not arise at once, because without the
assembly of cause and the conditions, birth alone cannot produce
that which is produced.

(7) The explanation of names, words, and letters. This has two
topics: (a) Essence, and (b) Particulars.

(a) Essence

47ab
Collections of names and so forth are
Collections of names, speech, and letters.

The “Collections of names and so forth, too… ” mentioned earlier

264
are the collection of names,106 speech, and letters. The character-
istic of a name is a nonconcurrent formation that tells merely the
essence of the meaning. Its character base is like saying, “Vase,” for
example.

Speech and word are equivalent, because it is said in the Commen-

tary, “Speech is words…” The characteristic of either speech or
word is a nonconcurrent formation that indicates the combination
of the essence and particulars of the meaning. Its character base is
like saying, “Impermanent composite,” for example.

The characteristic of letters is a noncomposite formation that is the

basis for designating names and words. Its character base is like, for
example the Sanskrit vowel A or consonant Ka.107

(b) Particulars. This has four points.

(i) Distinctions of level

47c
Desire and Form.

These three collections are included only in Desire and Form, be-
cause they arise in dependence upon speech. Some say that there
are words in Formless, but the Great Exposition says that is illog-
ical. If you examine it further, however, the three collections of
names, words, and letters that are formations, both that with which
the mind speaks and that which the mind says, are in the Form-

106. The Sanskrit root text assembled by V.V. Gokhale here reads saṃjñā or
conception, not name. This translation follows the Tibetan.
107. Note that in Sanskrit and Tibetan, the letter is considered the phoneme or
sound, not the sign on the page.

265
less, because as is said, “The melodious banner is heard in all three
worlds.” So is it explained in the Karṭīk.

(ii) Distinctions of whether they indicate beings

47c
Indicate beings.

They arise from beings’ efforts and are in the collection of aggre-
gates included within a stream of being, so they indicate beings;
that is, they are included in a being’s continuum.

(iii) Distinctions of sources

47d
Compatible

As they are produced by a cause of same status,108 they are causally

compatible only. This is because they arise as all that is desired, so
they are not produced by full ripening, and because they do not
have form, so they are not produced by development.

(iv) Distinctions of virtue, nonvirtue, and neutral.

47d
and neutral.

They are solely unobscured neutral because those who have severed
the virtuous roots or gained detachment also possess them, so they
are neither virtue nor nonvirtue in their essence. The Commentary
explains it thus, but the Prince explains that these three have both
virtuous and neutral aspects. From the Prince:

108. See II.52a.

266
 Is this said because the Buddha’s speech is virtuous, or is this
said because the Buddha’s speech is neutral? you ask. It is
virtuous, and it is also neutral. Which is the virtuous? you
ask. The perceptible speech of the Tathagata uttered with a
virtuous mind. Which is the neutral? you ask. The perceptible
speech of the Tathagata uttered with a neutral mind. Also,
following this, “This which is called the Buddha’s speech, what
kind of dharma is it?” you ask. It is that which arranges the
collection of names, the collection of words, and the collec-
tion of letters in order, and places them in order, and correctly
joins them in order.

iii. Teaching other distinctions between dharmas as a summary

47d
Likewise

48.
Same status. Fully ripened, too.
ree realms, and its attainment is twofold.
Characteristics, too. Absorptions,
Not having are compatible.

Just as names and so forth indicate beings, are produced by com-

patible cause, and are unobscured neutral, likewise same status is
like that also. The part of that which is like full ripening is pro-
duced by full ripening, too. It is of the three realms: it is included
in all three, and its attainment is twofold: produced by compatible
cause and by full ripening. The characteristics, birth and so forth,
too, are like attainment. The two absorptions and not having or
nonattainment are produced by the causally compatible.

267
III. The explanation of causes, conditions, and results. This has
four topics: A. The explanation of causes, B. The explanation of
results, C. The explanation of dharmas common to causes and re-
sults, and D. The explanation of conditions.

A. The explanation of causes. This has three topics: 1. Classifying

as an overview, 2. Explaining the nature of each cause, and 3. Iden-
tifying their times as a summary.

1. Classifying as an overview

49.
Enabling cause, the coemergent,
Cause of same status, the concurrent,
e universal, and full ripening
Are the six causes, it’s proposed.

Above where it says, “Without the causes or conditions,”109 what

are the causes and conditions? you ask. That which abides in the es-
sence that does not block the production of a result is the enabling
cause. That which aids a result that is simultaneous with itself is
the coemergent cause. That which aids results that are of similar
realm or class is the cause of same status. That which aids the result
that is concurrent through the five concurrences is the concurrent
cause. That which aids the afflicted result is the universal cause.
And that which aids the fully ripened result is the cause of full
ripening. Thus these are the six causes, it is proposed by the Great
Exposition school.

Well then, since the abhidharma is an explanation of the sutras,

what sutra teaches the six causes? you ask. The Great Exposition
says that the sutras that teach the six causes have mostly disap-
109. See II.46c.

268
peared. However, they are explained in the treatise entrusted to
Kātyāyana by the gods, they say.

2. Explaining the nature of each cause. This has six topics: a. En-
abling cause, b. Coemergent cause, c. Same status cause, d. Con-
current cause, e. Universal cause, and f. Cause of full ripening.

a. Enabling cause

50a
e enabling cause is other than self.

The enabling cause of a composite is all the dharmas that are other
in meaning than the composite itself, because they do not prevent
the composite from arising from the collection of its causes. The
potent enabling cause, such as the eye producing the eye conscious-
ness or a seed producing a stalk, is characteristic. The impotent is
like noncomposite as the cause of a stalk, or hell as the cause of the
Formless. The impotent enabling cause is a mere designation of
that which does not block the arising of a result as a cause. It is, for
example, as when a king does not oppress his subjects and they say,
“This king makes us happy.”

b. Coemergent cause. This has three topics: i. Identifying the es-

sence, ii. Examples of character bases, and iii. Elaboration.

i. Identifying the essence

50b
e coemergent: mutual result,

The coemergent cause is those dharmas that are a mutual result

with the cause—they are one another’s results.

269
ii. Examples of character bases

50cd
Such as sources; mind and its followers;
Characteristics and their base.

Examples of coemergent causes are such as the mutual relation-

ships between the sources; between mind and its followers; or be-
tween the characteristics of composites, which are the character-
ized base’s coemergent cause, and their characterized base, which is
the coemergent cause of the characteristics.

iii. Elaboration. This has two points.

(1) Identifying the mind’s followers

51ab
ey’re mental factors, two vows, and
e mind’s and their characteristics.

They, the dharmas that follow primary mind, are the mental fac-
tors; the two vows of dhyana and undefiled vows; and the mind’s
and their—mind’s followers including mental factors—character-
istics of birth and so forth. These are presented as coemergent cause
and result in terms of their mere isolate,110 and will be discussed
thoroughly, below.

110. The isolate is what we perceive when we think of an object. Here the mere
isolate refers to the thing itself.

270
(2) The manner in which they follow mind

51cd
ey follow mind in terms of time,
Results, et cetera, virtue, et cetera.

The manner in which they follow the mind is in terms of being

at the same time as mind, having the same results, et cetera, and
being the same in virtue, et cetera. In detail, there are ten ways in
which they follow mind: 1) time in general; in particular, 2) aris-
ing, 3) staying, and 4) disintegrating; 5) the dominant, personal, or
removal result; 6) causally compatible result, and 7) fully ripened
result; 8) virtue, 9) nonvirtue, and 10) neutral. In these ten ways,
they mutually follow each other and arise, making cause and result,
it is said.

The word same does not mean they are the same substance: if the
principal mind is virtuous, then because the mental factors are sim-
ilarly virtuous and comparable, they are said to be the same. Saying
here that they follow by ten causes is not in terms of substance, but
in terms of type. This is because virtue, nonvirtue, and neutral do
not follow the same mind because it is impossible for neutral and
undefiled minds to either have a fully ripened result or be the same,
and because it is impossible for birth, staying, and disintegrating
to be the same.

There are many ways to count four possibilities or so forth of cause

and caused, but I shall not say them.

A few words here:

271
 Renowned as good, they cling to bad traditions of scholasti-
cism;
Pretending to be learned, they are shrouded in dark ignorance.
While they’ve been sleeping in the darkness of a lesser mind,
They who presumed to be delighting in the heavens of the
scriptures
Have now become old men, while those with young intelli-
gence
Teach themselves their own wonders. Don’t they shine?

c. Same status cause. This has two topics: i. Overview, and ii.
Explanation.

i. Overview

52a
Same status cause is similar,

The character base for the same status cause of is all past and pres-
ent composites with the exception of the last aggregates of an ar-
hat,111 because earlier ones produce and make possible later, similar
ones. The virtuous five aggregates arise from a virtuous cause of
same status, but within virtuous dharmas, defiled virtue and un-
defiled virtue are separate classes. They are similar to virtues with-
in their own class, but merely being virtues does not make them
similar. Otherwise it would follow that the first undefiled moment
would arise from a cause of same status.
Afflicted dharmas are similar to nonvirtue. The obscured neutral
are similar to the afflicted. The obscured neutral and nonvirtue are
mutually similar. The neutral is also similar to neutral.

111. The last aggregates of an arhat passing into nirvana without remainder do

not produce any subsequent aggregates, so they are not same status causes.

272
ii. The explanation. This has four points.

(1) Similarities of the defiled

52b
Own class and level,

The five classes of discards—four classes of discards of seeing, and

one of discards of meditation—and the nine levels of the three
realms produce results of their own class and own, same level.
These are same status, but when the class and level are different,
they are not, because their status is unequal.

(2) Distinction of time

52b
born before.

Composites that are born before—the past and the present com-
posites—are causes of same status of what has not been born, but
the future composites are not, because there is no future cause of
same status.

(3) Particular explanation of the undefiled

52cd
Nine levels’ paths are mutual,
Of equal or superior.

Well then, must the cause of same status definitely be of the same
level and class only? you ask. For the defiled, it definitely must be
so, but the nine levels’ undefiled paths the may be mutual causes
of same status even if not comparable in level. This is because the

273
paths happen to be on those levels only circumstantially and so do
not crave the levels and make them their own. Therefore they are
not included in the realms. However, they are not the same status
cause of lower levels but of the equal or superior levels. Dharma
forbearance of suffering is the same status cause for equal, later
dharmas of its own class, the superior dharma knowing of suffer-
ing, and the paths of seeing, meditation, and no learning.

Similarly, the five faculties of faith and so forth, in terms of gradual

purification, are the cause of same status for the six individuals:
the pair of followers of faith and dharma, the pair of conviction
through faith and attainment through seeing, and the pair of occa-
sional and nonoccasional arhats.

Alternatively, they are the causes of followers of dharma, attain-

ment through seeing, and nonoccasional arhats.112

(4) Teaching how the worldly produced by training is compara-

ble

53ab
Produced by training is just those two.
From listening, reflecting, so forth.

Not only the undefiled, but worldly virtue produced by training is

the same status cause of just those two, the equal and superior. For
example, this is like qualities produced by training such as those
arisen from listening and reflecting and so forth, those produced
by meditation.

The characteristic of the cause of same status is a cause that produc-

es a result of a similar class as itself.

112. These six types of individuals will be explained in VI.29, 31 & 56.

274
d. Concurrent cause

53cd
Concurrent cause is mind and factors
With a support that is concurrent.

The concurrent cause is mind and the mental factors with concur-
rence only: they have a support, focus, aspect, time, and substance
that are concurrent. Its characteristic is a cause that is included
within either mind or mental factors.

e. Universal cause

54ab
e universal, of afflicted.
Own level. Universal. Five.

The universal cause is the common cause of its afflicted results. It

produces results on its own level. The universal cause arises prior
to its result. Its characteristic is a discard of seeing that which is the
specific cause of its afflicted results. The character base is the thir-
ty-three universal kernels113 of the three realms and that which is
associated with them except for their attainment. It is the common
cause of the five classes of afflictions.114

113. Universal kernels are kernels that focus on all levels and classes of discards.
See V.12–13.
114. This last sentence does not appear in Wangchuk Dorje’s commentary but
was filled in from Mikyö Dorje’s Springtime Cow so that all the words of the root
text would be explained.

275
f. Cause of full ripening

54cd
Full-ripening cause can only be
Nonvirtue or a defiled virtue.

The cause of full ripening has a strong essence and the moisture
of craving. Neutral dharmas have the moisture of craving, but are
weak, like a rotten seed. Undefiled dharmas have strength but no
moisture, without which they are like dried-up seeds. For that rea-
son, the full-ripening cause can only be a nonvirtue or a defiled
virtue. Its characteristic is a nonneutral dharma that is a cause that
produces the full ripening of its result.

3. Identifying their times as a summary

55ab
e universal and same status
Are in two times; three in three times.

The universal and same status causes are in the two times of past
and present only, and not in the future, because in the future there
is no earlier or later. The three causes of coemergent, concurrent,
and full ripening are in all three times, because they are recognized
in all three. The enabling cause is in the three times. It can also be
free of time because potent enabling causes are included in any one
of the three times and impotent enabling causes are without time.

B. The explanation of results. This has two topics: 1. Overview,

and 2. Explanation.

276
1. Overview

55cd
Composites and removal are
Results. Noncompounds don’t have those.

All composites are results that have causes because they must de-
pend upon causes. Analytic cessations and the removal of what is
abandoned by the antidote, are results that do not depend upon
causes. Because they are neither clearly desired nor something to
accomplish, space and nonanalytic cessation are not results. For
that reason, from the Treatise:

What dharmas are results? you ask. All composites and analyt-
ic cessation.

Here, because noncomposites are explained as results, they must

have a cause, and because in the section on enabling causes they are
explained as causes, they must also have a result. For that reason,
it follows that they are composite, you say. There is a common
ground between noncomposites and result, but noncomposites do
not have a cause, because they do not have any of those six caus-
es. This is because it is impossible for any of the six causes to be
the cause of nonanalytic cessation, and it is impossible for the five
results to be noncomposite. Well then, perhaps the path is the en-
abling cause of nonanalytic cessation? you think. It is not, because
analytic cessation is noncomposite and has no birth, and because at
the time that analytic cessation is arising and exists, the path is not
something that does not block it.

2. Explanation. This has two topics: a. Which result is of which

cause, and b. The essences of the five results.

277
a. Which result is of which cause

56.
Full-ripened result is of the last;
e dominant result, of first.
Compatible: same status and
e universal. Personal, two.

Well then, what causes are these the results of? you ask. The ful-
ly ripened result is the result of the last cause, full ripening. The
dominant result is the result of the first, the enabling cause.

How is it that an impotent enabling cause that merely does not

hinder has power over a dominant result? you ask. It has the power
of not hindering. For example, the five collections of consciousness
have the ten sense bases as the enabling cause that produces them.
The container of the world has karma as enabling cause. The ear
also by continuum has the power to produce any eye conscious-
ness, because from hearing something, the desire to look arises.
Similarly, from grasping something, the desire to look arises and
so forth.

The causally compatible result is the result of both the same status
and the universal causes.

The personal result is the result of the two coemergent and concur-
rent causes. In the personal result, there is not necessarily a person
who does the making; rather it is designating a mere dharma as a
person, like calling a medicine “crowfoot.” The actions and qual-
ities of a mere dharma are not separate from the dharma itself, so
its personal action is called merely personal. The result of that is the
personal result.

278
b. The essences of the five results. This has five points.

i. The essence of the fully ripened result

57ab
Fully ripened is a neutral dharma,
Shows beings, not neutral, born later.

The fully ripened result is a nonobscured neutral dharma, because

if it were either virtuous or afflicted it would follow that neither
individuals who have severed the roots of virtue nor arhats would
possess them, and because if it were obscured neutral it would be il-
logical to enter the state without remainder from a mind produced
by full ripening.

The phrase, “shows beings” means that it is included within the

stream of an individual’s being, because if it were not included,
one’s particular karmic actions would be wasted or fall upon those
who did not do them. Some results produced by development and
causally compatible results are also included within beings’ con-
tinuums, but in contrast with those, the cause of the fully ripened
result is not neutral. There are also absorptions in the dhyana and
emanated minds produced by samadhi that are neutral, included
in a being’s continuum, and born from a not-neutral karma, but
unlike those, the fully ripened result is born later than its cause—it
is neither immediately following nor simultaneous.

ii. The essence of the causally compatible result

57c
Compatible is like its cause.

279
The causally compatible result is like or similar to its cause, wheth-
er that cause is virtuous, afflicted, or unobscured neutral. If it is
from a cause of same status, it must have a similar continuum and
aspect. If it is from a universal cause, the aspect is not necessarily
similar, but it must be similar in terms of its continuum, level,
and whether it is afflicted. Therefore, there are four possibilities of
things that have a cause of same status but not a universal cause,
etc.

iii. The essence of the result of removal

57d
Removal is to mentally

58a
Extinguish,

Removal is attained by mentally, or through distinctive full know-

ing, extinguishing or abandoning discards. Extinguishing is equiv-
alent to cessation. It is said to refute that mere nonattainment is
removal, Pūrṇavardhana explains.

iv. The essence of the personal result

58ab
and the result born
From something’s power is personal.

And the result born from or attained through something’s power

is similar to what is made by persons, so it is personal. The char-
acter base is all composites that have arisen from causes in that
manner. From the autocommentary:

280
 For example, from a lower level’s mind of training, the sa-
madhi of the higher; from defiled, undefiled; from the mind
of dhyana the emanated mind.

There are four possibilities of causally compatible result and per-

sonal result.

v. The essence of the dominant result

58cd
Composites that aren’t previous are
e dominant of composites only.

Composites that have not previously arisen, prior to the cause

itself—composites that arise at the same time or later than their
cause—are the dominant result of composite causes. The causes
are different from the result itself and arise either earlier or at the
same time only. The word “only” indicates that composites that
arise later and noncomposites do not have the power to hold or
issue results, so they are not presented as having dominant results.

There is no result that is born prior to its cause, because that would
render the cause meaningless. For example, it is impossible to first
be a wheel-wielding emperor and later accumulate the karma that
produces that result. Nor does one see shoots preceding seeds or
other results preceding their cause.

The distinction between personal and dominant results is whether

or not it is the result of a particular agent only. For example, a thing
that is made is a personal result, and it is also the dominant result
of all composites that are simultaneous or prior to it. There are also
four alternatives of personal result and dominant result. The result
of removal is a personal result but not a dominant result. Results

281
whose cause has disappeared or been interrupted are dominant
results but not personal. Simultaneous or immediately following
composites are both. Space and nonanalytic cessation are neither.

C. The explanation of dharmas common to causes and results.

This has two topics: 1. Times when causes hold and issue results,
and 2. What results are produced by how many causes.

1. Times when causes hold and issue results. This has two points.

a. Holding

59a
e five hold a result in the present.

The five latter causes not including the enabling cause hold and
attain the power to produce results in, among the three times, the
present. This is because they cease in the second moment, so there
is no action of holding then, and the future is unborn, so there is
no action in it. The enabling cause also holds its result in the same
way, but as it does not necessarily produce a result, it is not men-
tioned.

b. Issuing

59b–d
Two causes issue in the present.
Two present and past causes issue,
And one past cause issues results.

The two coemergent and concurrent causes, occur at the same time
as their results, so they issue their result in the present, or prain
Sanskrit, which is used in the meaning of first. As they issue their
result from the first, holding and issuing are at the same time. Two

282
types of present and past causes, the same status and universal caus-
es, issue results.115 Some Tibetans explain that it would be better to
translate this line as, “And two through the present and past.” And
the one past cause of full ripening issues its result from the past
only, because the full ripening does not arise either simultaneously
with or immediately following its cause.

2. What results are produced by how many causes. This has two
topics: a. The mode of production of concurrent, and b. Noncon-
current results.

a. The mode of production of concurrent results. This has two

points.

i. Explanation

60.
e afflicted, fully ripened, others,
And the first noble respectively
Arise from all except full ripening,
Universal, those two, and same status.

Well, how many causes is a dharma produced by? you ask. Here
there are four types of dharmas: 1) those that are afflicted, 2) those
produced by full ripening, 3) the others not included in the other
three categories—unobscured neutral not produced by full ripen-
ing such as the paths of conduct, crafts, emanated minds; and vir-
tues other than the first undefiled moment—and 4) the first noble
or first undefiled moment. Respectively, the first type arises from

115. That is, when present same-status and universal causes issue results, the
result arises in the immediately following moment. When past same status
and universal causes issue result, the result arises after an interruption in time.
(Mchims 1989, 201)

283
all the causes except the cause of full ripening. The second is born
from all except the universal. The third is born from all except for
those two, the full ripening and universal. And the fourth is born
all except for the same status. They are born from the rest of the
causes not mentioned.

They are not born from those causes for the following reasons. 1)
The afflicted is not born from a cause of full ripening because it is
afflicted. 2) The fully ripened result is not produced by a universal
cause because it is not afflicted. 3) The third type is not produced
by full ripening or universal cause because it is neither afflicted nor
fully ripened. 4) The first noble moment is not born from same
status because there is no prior undefiled of similar class.

ii. Summary

61a
is is for mind and mental factors.

This is for how the mind and mental factors arise.

b. The mode of production of nonconcurrent results

61b
e rest are like; exclude concurrent.

Dharmas that are nonconcurrent formations or have form that are

1) afflicted; 2) produced by full ripening; 3) the remaining—neu-
trals except the fully ripened and virtues except the first undefiled
moment—and 4) the form of the first undefiled moment are born
from the rest of the causes like that earlier manner of production,
excluding the concurrent cause. 1) Discarding the full ripening
and concurrent causes, the afflicted are born from four causes. 2)

284
Discarding the universal and concurrent, the fully ripened are born
from four causes. 3) Discarding the full ripening, universal and
concurrent, the remainder are born from three causes. 4) The forms
of the first undefiled moment are born from the two causes, the
enabling and concurrent causes; they are not born from the re-
maining four.

Therefore, there is no dharma at all that is born from only one

cause. A few words here:

The power to penetrate the depths of abhidharma’s ocean

With the sharp eye of mind that fully distinguishes dharmas
According to Yangchen Gawa’s thought—
Does this not come out of the power of habitual imprints?

D. The explanation of conditions. This has two topics: 1. Brief

overview, and 2. Explanation.

1. Brief overview

61c
ere are four conditions, it is taught.

Above where it says, “Without the causes or conditions,” what are

the conditions? you ask. There are four conditions, it is taught
in the sutras: the causal condition, immediate condition, objective
condition, and dominant condition.

2. The explanation. This has four topics: a. The essence of each of

the four conditions, b. Which conditions operate at which time, c.
Which things arise from how many conditions, and d. A specific
explanation of the immediate condition.

285
a. The essence of each of the four conditions. This has four
points.

i. Causal condition

61d
e one called causal is five causes.

The one called the causal condition is any one of the five causes
not including the enabling cause. It is something that benefits its
result. Its character base is composite dharmas.

ii. Immediate condition

62ab
e mind and factors that have arisen,
But not the last, are immediate.

The concurrent immediate condition is mind and mental factors

that have arisen in the past or present, but not the last mind and
mental factors of an arhat. Other than that, all mind and mental
factors are the concurrent immediate condition.

As for concurrence, in a single being’s continuum, there cannot

be two simultaneous cognitions of the same substantial type, so
the concurrences are comparable to each individual mental sub-
stance.116 This condition may be separated from its result in terms
of time, but it cannot be interrupted by another cognition. Thus it
is the condition of immediate arising.

116. That is to say, someone who sees a vase, for example, has only one eye
consciousness that perceives the vase but may have another consciousness, such as
an ear consciousness, simultaneously. Each of the consciousnesses has its own set
of concurrent mental factors.

286
Form is not able to be a concurrent immediate condition because it
arises in dissimilar classes interrupted by others. For example, right
after the imperceptible form of Desire, the form of Desire realm’s
vow of individual liberation, the Form realm’s vow of dhyana, or an
undefiled dharma might all arise, which confuses the classes.

Here there are four alternatives between being the concurrent im-
mediate result of a cognition and immediately following a cog-
nition, and also four alternatives between being the concurrent
immediate result of mind and immediately following absorption.
These are discussed at length in the Great Karṭīk, so refer there.

iii. Objective condition

62c
e objective is all dharmas, and

The objective condition of an eye consciousness and so forth, in-

cluding its concurrences, is its own object of defiled form and so
forth, which is a present dharma. The objective condition of the
mind consciousness is all defiled and undefiled dharmas of the
three times, or that are not included in time. The objective con-
dition’s characteristic is a dharma that is suitable to be an object.
Why then, if all dharmas are the objective condition of mind con-
sciousness, so are noncomposites. Therefore, noncomposites must
be things, because they have the function of producing a result,
you say.

The Great Exposition agrees that noncomposites are things, but if

they produced a result, they would either produce it always or else
they would never produce it because the school asserts they are per-
manent things. To sometimes produce and sometimes not produce
is occasional, so they would become impermanent. This would be

287
a fault, they say. Master Jampal Gegpay De states that because non-
composites have no essence, they are merely the object of obser-
vation but are not a condition that produces result. In the Karṭīk,
this is stated to be untenable but I do not see any great discrepancy
between the positions of the Great Exposition and Jampal Gegpay
De. Those of you who have powers of reasoning, scrutinize this.

iv. Dominant condition

62d
e enabling is the dominant.

The enabling cause is explained as the dominant condition. Its

characteristics are not hindering the arising of the result and being
suitable to be a condition.

Well then, if all dharmas are both objective condition and domi-
nant condition, what is the distinction between the two? you ask.
Those which are concurrent and coemergent are dominant condi-
tions but not objective conditions.

Well then, above it explains all dharmas as the objective condition,

but here it says that the coemergent and concurrent dharmas are
not the objective condition. Is this not contradictory? Because this
is in terms of general and specific, it is not contradictory.117 There-
fore, the dominant condition is all dharmas other than oneself:
from the Commentary, “‘All’ is all composites except for its own
essence.”

117. In other words, when a cognition arises, the mental factors that are concur-
rent with it and dharmas that are coemergent with it are not its objective condi-
tions—they are not its object in that specific instance. In general terms, however,
they are suitable to be the objective condition for another cognition.

288
b. Which conditions operate at which time. This has three points.

i. The time in which the coemergent and concurrent causes

operate

63ab
Two causes’ function is directed
Toward ceasing.

In terms of the causal condition, the two coemergent and concur-

rent causes perform their function in the present, directed toward
the ceasing of the result. Their function is threefold: holding the
result, issuing the result, and making use of the object.

ii. The time in which the same status, full ripening, and univer-
sal causes operate

63b
e three toward arising.

The three universal, same status, and full ripening causes perform
their function in the future, directed toward the arising of the re-
sult.

iii. The time in which the immediate and objective conditions

operate

63cd
e two conditions other than
at are the opposite of those.

First, the two concurrent immediate and objective conditions that

are other than that, the causal condition, are the opposite of those

289
above as they perform their function in the opposite order. The im-
mediate condition performs its function at the arising that begins
an action, and the objective condition is perceived by the present
cognition and mental factors, so it performs its function on ceasing.

c. Which things arise from how many conditions. This has two
topics: i. General teaching, and ii. Specific explanation of things
with form.

i. General teaching. This has (1) Presenting our own tradition, and
(2) Refuting other traditions.

(1) Presenting our own tradition. This has three points.

(a) From four conditions

64a
Four produce mind and mental factors,

The causal condition of mind and mental factors is all five causes.
The concurrent immediate condition is previous mind and mental
factors that have not been interrupted by another cognition. The
objective condition is any one of the five objects or all dharmas.
The dominant condition is all dharmas except the cognition’s own
essence and dharmas that arise later. In this way, these four condi-
tions produce mind and mental factors.

(b) From three conditions

64b
And three, the two absorptions.

And three, the causal, immediate, and dominant conditions, pro-

duce the two absorptions of freedom from conception and cessa-

290
tion. As those two are not cognitions that focus, they do not arise
from the objective condition. The causal condition in this context
is the coemergent cause of birth and so forth and the same status
cause of prior dharmas of comparable level. The mind of entry into
absorption and its concurrences are the immediate condition, and
the dominant condition is everything different from them that is
previously or presently arisen.

(c) From two conditions

64bc
Others
Arise from two,

The others, the nonconcurrent formations other than the two ab-
sorptions and that which has form, arise from the two causal and
dominant conditions. They do not arise from the concurrent im-
mediate or objective conditions, because they are not concurrent.

(2) Refuting other traditions

64cd
not God and so forth
Since they’re successive and so forth.

Some outsiders say all beings arise from the sole cause of God In-
dra, the self, the Person, the primal substance, or so forth. To refute
that: all beings who are born are not born from God, a soul, the
primal substance, and so forth, since they are born successively,
and so forth—they are born intermittently in different locations,
times, and substances. Additionally, it follows that all beings would
arise at the same time, because their sole cause is permanent and
single.

291
Here some say that the cause is permanent, but beings arise suc-
cessively out of the power of God’s wishes. If you say so, then it
follows that the causes of beings are multiple, because the wishes
that cause beings are separate and multiple.

ii. Specific explanation of things with form. This has four points.

(1) How the sources function as conditions for the sources

65a
When sources cause the sources, twofold;

When the sources cause the sources, their function is twofold as

the coemergent and same status cause.

(2) How the sources function as conditions for the source-de-

rived

65b
When causing source-derived, fivefold.

When the sources function as causes of the source-derived, their

function is fivefold: 1) because the sources produce the source-de-
rived when it has not previously existed, arising; 2) because as a
master does for his students, they support the source-derived that
has arisen in correspondence with the sources, supporting; 3) like
a wall with a drawing, because they are the support, remaining; 4)
because if there are sources the continuum will not be interrupted,
bearing; and 5) because they increase the source-derived, the in-
creasing cause. With regard to this, Pūrṇavardhana says:

Arise, and correspond, support,

ninterrrupted, and increase:

292
 Since they produce, support, remain,
And bear, and make increase.

(3) How the source-derived function as mutual conditions

65c
ree ways the source-derived are mutual;

There are three ways the source-derived function as mutual causes:

coemergent, same status, and full ripening causes.

(4) How the source derived function as conditions for the

sources

65d
ey cause the sources in one way.

They, the source-derived, function as a cause of the sources in one

way as the cause of full ripening. Here, the previous life’s percep-
tible and imperceptible defiled virtues and nonvirtue produce the
sources in the next life’s collection of faculties.

A few words:

They’ve studied much but do not comprehend;

With low capacities, they mistake the meaning.
Out of unbearable compassion for them,
I strive my utmost in this field of knowledge.

d. A specific explanation of the immediate condition. This has

five topics: i. Classifying the mind in twelve, ii. The eight instances
in which the twelve minds follow one another, iii. Which of the

293
twelve minds is obtained from which, iv. Classifying the mind in
twenty, and v. How afflicted minds and so forth are acquired.

i. Classifying the mind in twelve

66.
Minds in Desire: virtue, nonvirtue,
Obscured, or else unobscured neutral.
In Form and Formless, those except
Nonvirtue. Two are undefiled.

All minds included in samsara and nirvana can be collected into

twelve categories. Minds of nongreed and so forth in the realm
of Desire are virtue; greed and so forth are nonvirtue; those that
possess personality view and so forth are obscured; or else minds
can be unobscured neutral for a total of four in Desire. In Form
and in Formless there are three minds each—those except for non-
virtue—for six. Two minds are undefiled: learner and nonlearner.
Altogether there is a total of twelve.

ii. The eight instances in which the twelve minds follow one an-
other There are known to be eight instances in which mind arises
following upon another mind.

1) The instance of continuation is when virtuous minds and so

forth arise in a continual stream of the same type.

2) The instance of comparable level is when minds of incompatible

type but the same level arise following one another, such as when a
nonvirtuous mind of Desire follows upon a virtuous mind and so
forth of Desire.

3) The instance of entering absorption is when a higher level’s vir-

294
tue arisen from training or either of the undefiled minds arises from
a lower level’s virtue arisen from training.

4) The instance of arising from absorption is when Desire’s virtue

arisen either upon birth or from training, or an upper level’s virtue
arisen from training only, arise immediately after a higher level’s
virtue arisen from training or either of the undefiled minds.

5) The instance of rebirth-linking is when a defiled mind only arises

upon dying with any of the minds of the three realms. The Prince
explains that this mind of birth is in the between state.

6) The instance of being troubled by the afflicted is when an up-

per level’s virtuous pure mind118 becomes afflicted and one thinks,
“May I arise with the virtue of a lower level.” One casts that defiled
mind aside and arises with a virtuous mind. When arising from the
afflicted samadhi of Form, either of the virtues of Desire can arise.
When arising from the afflicted samadhi of Formless, only the vir-
tue arisen from training of the Form realm can arise.

7) The instance of entering an emanation is when a mind of em-

anation of Desire or Form arises from Form’s virtue arisen from
training or from a mind of emanation itself.119

8) The instance of arising from an emanation is when a virtue aris-

en from training of the Form realm only arises from a mind of
emanation.

These eight instances provide the reasons why it is possible or im-

118. The virtuous pure mind of a higher level is the worldly virtuous absorption
of a higher level of dhyana or Formless. See VIII.6.
119. Minds of emanation are the cognitions that arise when a being emanates
something. See VII.49ff.

295
possible for any one of the twelve minds to follow any of the other
minds.

iii. Which of the twelve minds is obtained from which. This has
five topics: (1) Minds of Desire, (2) Minds of Form, (3) Minds of
Formless, (4) The learner’s mind, and (5) The nonlearner’s mind.

(1) Minds of Desire. This has three topics: (a) Virtuous minds, (b)
Nonvirtuous minds, and (c) Neutral minds.

(a) Virtuous minds. This has two points.

(i) How many minds can arise right after a virtuous mind

67ab
Nine minds arise from a virtuous mind
Of Desire.

Nine minds can arise directly from a virtuous mind of Desire:

In the instances of continuation and comparable level, the four of
its own level can arise. In the instance of entering absorption, the
virtue of form and the two undefiled can arise. In the instance of
rebirth-linking from Desire to the two higher realms, the two ob-
scured neutral of the higher realms can arise.

There is no entering absorption of the Formless from a mind of

Desire, because the Formless is separated from Desire by the four
distances of support, aspect, focus, and antidote.

(ii) How many minds a virtuous mind can immediately follow

67b
It can arise from eight.

296
It, the virtuous mind of Desire, can only arise from eight minds: In
the instances of continuation and comparable level, it arises from
the four of its own level. In the instance of arising from absorption,
it arises from the virtue of Form and the two undefiled. In the in-
stance of being troubled by the afflicted, it arises from the obscured
of Form for a total of eight. The word “only” indicates that it does
not arise from the remaining four minds.

(b) Nonvirtuous minds. This has two points.

(i) How many minds a nonvirtuous mind can arise right after

67c
Nonvirtuous mind arises from ten.

The nonvirtuous mind of Desire arises from ten minds. In the

instances of continuation and comparable level, it arises from the
four of its own level. In the instance of rebirth-linking from the
two higher realms to Desire, it arises from the three minds of each
of the upper realms. This is a total of ten.

(ii) How many minds arise right after it

67d
From it are four.

From it, the nonvirtuous mind of Desire, there are four minds that
can arise. In the instances of continuation and comparable level,
only the four of its own level, with the exception of the emanated
mind, can arise.

(c) Neutral minds. This has two topics: (i) Obscured neutral, and
(ii) Unobscured neutral.

297
(i) Obscured neutral

67d
Like that, the obscured.

Like that nonvirtuous mind, the obscured neutral mind of Desire

also can arise from ten minds and immediately after it four minds
can arise.

(ii) Unobscured neutral. This has two points.

A. How many it arises from

68a
e unobscured arises from five.

The unobscured neutral mind of Desire arises from five minds. In

the instances of continuation and comparable level, it arises from
the four of its own level. In the instance of entering an emanation,
the emanated mind of Desire, which is unobscured neutral, can
arise from a virtuous mind arisen from training of Form.

B. How many arise from it

68b
Directly from it, seven minds.

Directly from it, the unobscured mind of Desire, seven minds can
arise. In the instances of continuation and comparable level, the
four of its own level can arise. In the instance of rebirth-linking in
the two higher realms, the obscured of the higher realms can arise.
In the instance of arising from an emanation, the virtuous mind of
Form can arise. Thus a total of seven can arise.

298
(2) Minds of Form. This has two topics: (a) Virtuous, and (b) Neu-
tral.

(a) Virtuous. This has two points.

(i) How many minds arise right after it

68c
In Form, from virtuous, eleven.

In the realm of Form, from a virtuous mind, eleven minds can

arise. In the instances of continuation and comparable level, the
three of its own level can arise. In the instance of entering absorp-
tion, the virtue of Formless and the two undefiled can arise. In
the instance of arising from absorption, the virtue of Desire can
arise. In the instance of rebirth-linking in the higher and lower
realms, the obscured of Formless, the nonvirtue of Desire, and the
obscured of Desire can arise. In the instance of entering an emana-
tion, the unobscured of Desire can arise. This is a total of eleven.

(ii) How many minds it arises right after

68d
at is directly after nine.

That virtuous mind of Form arises directly after nine minds. In the
instances of continuation and comparable level, it arises from the
three of its own level. In the instance of entering absorption, virtu-
ous mind of Desire. In the instance of arising from absorption, it
arises from the virtue of Formless and the two undefiled. In the in-
stance of being troubled by the afflicted, it arises from the obscured
of Formless. In the instance of arising from emanation, it arises
from the unobscured of Desire. Thus it arises from a total of nine.

299
(b) Neutral. This has two topics: (i) Obscured, and (ii) Unobscured.

(i) Obscured. This has two points.

A. How many minds it arises right after

69a
Obscured is from eight,

The obscured mind of the Form realm is arisen from the substances
of eight minds. In the instances of continuation and comparable
level, it arises from the three of its own level. In the instance of re-
birth-linking from either the higher or lower realms, it arises from
the three minds of Formless and the virtuous and unobscured of
Desire, for a total of eight.

B. How many minds arise right after it

69a
and from it, six.

And from it, the obscured mind of Form, six minds can arise. In
the instances of continuation and comparable level, the three of
its own level can arise. In the instance of rebirth-linking in Desire,
the nonvirtuous and obscured of Desire can arise. In the instance
of being troubled by the afflicted, the virtuous mind of Desire can
arise, for a total of six.

(ii) Unobscured. This has two points.

A. How many it arises right after

69b
e unobscured mind is from three.

300
The unobscured mind of Form is arisen from the three of its own
level in the instances of continuation and comparable level.

B. How many arise from it

69c
From that one, six.

From that one, the unobscured mind of Form, six minds can arise.
In the instances of continuation and comparable level, the three of
its own level can arise. In the instances of rebirth-linking in higher
and lower realms, the three afflicted of the higher and lower levels
can arise, for a total of six.

(3) Minds of Formless. This has three topics: (a) Unobscured, (b)
Virtue, and (c) Obscured.

(a) Unobscured

69cd
In Formless, too,
It’s similar.

In Formless, too, it, the unobscured mind, is similar to that: just

like the unobscured of Form, it arises from three minds, and right
after it six minds can arise. In the instances of continuation and
comparable level, the three of its own level can arise, and in the in-
stance of rebirth-linking in the two lower realms, their three afflict-
ed minds can arise.

(b) Virtue. This has two points.

301
(i) How many minds arise from it

69d
From virtuous mind

70a
Arise nine minds.

From the virtuous mind of Formless, there can arise nine minds.
In the instances of continuation and comparable level, the three of
its own level can arise. In the instance of entering absorption, the
two undefiled can arise. In the instance of arising from absorption,
the virtue of Form. In the instance of rebirth-linking in the lower
two realms, the three afflicted minds of the lower levels can arise.
Thus nine arise from it.

(ii) How many minds it arises from

70a
at after six.

That virtuous mind of Formless arises after six minds: In the in-
stances of continuation and comparable level, it arises from the
three of its own level. In the instance of entering absorption, it
arises from the virtue of Form. In the instance of arising from ab-
sorption, it arises from the two undefiled.

(c) Obscured. This has two points.

(i) How many minds arise from it

70b
From obscured, seven.

302
From the obscured mind of Formless, seven minds can arise. In
the instances of continuation and comparable level, the three of its
own level can arise. In the instance of rebirth-linking in the lower
two realms, the three afflicted minds of the lower levels can arise. In
the instance of being troubled by the afflicted, the virtue of Form
can arise.

(ii) How many minds it arises from

70b
at is so.

That obscured mind of Formless is so, like the previous enumer-

ation, in that it can arise immediately after seven minds. In the
instances of continuation and comparable level, it arises from the
three of its own level. In the instance of rebirth-linking from the
two lower levels, it can arise of their two virtues and two unob-
scured minds for a total of seven.

(4) The learner’s mind. This has two points.

(a) How many minds it arises from

70c
e learner’s from four.

The learner’s mind arises from four minds: in the instance of con-
tinuation, from itself, and in the instance of entering absorption,
from the virtuous minds of the three realms.

(b) How many minds arise from it

70c
From it five.

303
From it, the learner’s mind, five minds can arise. In the instance
of continuation, itself and the nonlearner’s can arise, and in the
instance of arising from absorption, the three virtues of the three
realms can arise.

(5) The nonlearner’s mind. This has two points.

(a) How many minds it arises from

70d
Nonlearner’s mind arises from five,

The nonlearner’s mind arises from five minds. In the instance of

continuation, it arises from itself. In the instance of entering ab-
sorption, it arises from the virtue of the three realms that is arisen
from training only. It also arises from the learner’s vajra-like sa-
madhi.

(b) How many minds arise from it

71a
And from it there arise four minds.

And from it, the nonlearner’s mind, there arise four minds. In the
instance of continuation, itself, and in the instance of arising, the
three virtues of the three realms.

In that case, five minds can arise from the nonlearner’s mind,
because in the instance of regression from the result the learn-
er’s mind can arise right after the nonlearner’s, you say. Without
afflictions becoming manifest there is no regression from the state
of nonlearner, and if afflictions do become manifest, it is inter-
rupted by an afflicted mind. Therefore, the obscured minds of the
three realms do not arise directly after the nonlearner’s, because the

304
minds of arising from the undefiled are the virtuous minds of the
three realms. Any one of those three arises from the nonlearner’s
mind, and the afflicted mind arises from that.

iv. Classifying the mind in twenty

71b–d
To make this dozen into twenty:
Divide the virtue of three realms
In what’s attained on birth, from training.

72.
Produced by ripening, the path
Of activities, crafts, emanations:
e neutral are fourfold in Desire.
In Form, the crafts must be excluded.

To make more extensive classifications of this dozen minds into

twenty categories, divide the virtuous of the three realms, into
two: what is attained upon birth and what is arisen from train-
ing. In Desire, unobscured neutral is further classified: produced
by full ripening, which arises from a cause of full ripening without
effort and engages itself from within; the path of activities of go-
ing, walking, sitting, and standing; crafts that manufacture things;
and emanation minds that wish to make emanations first and then
focus on the four objects during emanations. Thus, the unobscured
neutral are fourfold in the Desire realm. In the Form realm, there
is no manufacturing, so the crafts must be excluded and there are
only the remaining three. In Formless, there is the arisen from full
ripening alone. There are also the four afflicted minds of the three
realms and the two undefiled minds. Therefore, in Desire there are
eight, in Form six, in Formless four, and the two undefiled for a

305
total of twenty. Alternatively, there are eight virtue, four afflicted,
and eight unobscured for a total of twenty.

v. How afflicted minds and so forth are acquired. This has four
topics: (1) How many minds are acquired from afflicted minds, (2)
How many minds are acquired from the virtue of Form, (3) How
many are acquired from the learner’s mind, and (4) How many are
acquired from the remaining minds.

(1) How many minds are acquired from afflicted minds. This has
three points.

(a) How many are attained from afflicted minds of Desire

73ab
With the three realms’ afflicted minds
One can acquire six,

Among the minds of the three realms, when the afflicted minds of
Desire become manifest, one can acquire six minds. When taking
birth in Desire from the two upper realms, one attains the two
afflicted minds of Desire and virtue attained upon birth. When
regressing from the state of arhat through nonvirtue, one acquires
the two obscured of the higher realms and the learner’s mind for a
total of six.

(b) How many are attained from afflicted minds of Form

73b
six,

From the afflicted of Form one acquires six. When taking birth in
Form from Formless, one acquires the afflicted of Form and virtue
attained upon birth and the two emanated minds of Desire and

306
Form. When the entanglers120 of Form make one regress from the
state of arhat, one acquires the afflicted of Formless and the learn-
er’s mind, for a total of six.

(c) How many are attained from afflicted minds of Formless

73b
or two.

Or one acquires two minds from the afflicted of Formless: when

the entanglers of Formless make one regress from the state of arhat,
one acquires the obscured of Formless and the learner’s mind.

(2) How many minds are acquired from the virtue of Form

73c
With virtuous in Form, it’s three.

With virtuous minds born in Form first becoming manifest, that

virtuous mind is acquired. When the mind of actual practice of
dhyana becomes manifest, the two emanated minds of Desire and
Form are acquired, for a total of three, as it is explained. However,
it is impossible to acquire all three at once. Pūrṇavardhana states
that at the time of attaining the actual practice of the first dhyana,
three are acquired from absorption.

(3) How many are acquired from the learner’s mind

73d
With learner, four.

With the manifestation of the learner’s mind of dharma forbear-

120. A type of affliction. See V.47ff.

307
ance of suffering, four are acquired: When entering the absorption
of the first undefiled moment, that undefiled path itself is acquired.
When it makes one detached from Desire, the emanated minds of
Desire and Form are acquired. When it makes one detached from
Form, the virtuous of Formless is acquired.

(4) How many are acquired from the remaining minds

73d
With others, those.

With the other minds not just explained—the virtues of Desire

and Formless, the nonlearner, and the three unobscured neutral—
with these six minds, just those themselves are acquired, no others.

Second, presenting the area’s name

is completes the second area called “Teachings on the

Faculties” from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the second area called “Teach-

ings on the Faculties” from The Explanation of the “Verses of
the Treasury of Abhidharma” called The Essence of the Ocean of
Abhidharma, The Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining
the Youthful Play, Opening the Eyes of Dharma, The Chariot of Easy
Practice.

A few words here:

When my mind’s seven horses121 shine their hundred rays

Of acuity in expansive skies of knowables,

121. A metaphor for the sun, which is said to be pulled through the sky by seven
chariots.

308
The minds of students yearning for emancipation
Will blossom in the lotus garden of abhidharma.
The tirtikas who arrogate that they are Brahma
Do not know the intent or meaning of the vast canon.
Audaciously they write their ṭīkas on
The surface meaning of sharp and clear words
Without a fine analysis of difficult points.
Alas! They pretend to know the meaning of the texts,
But are like bees trying to measure the sky’s limits.
Unable to bear this, I strive to explain this text.

309
 THIRD AREA

Teachings on the World

Unstained by ignorance, your wisdom sees

All that is knowable, directly and unhindered.
Lord of ten powers and all-knowing guru,
Jewel of the Shakyas, I bow to you respectfully.

The treasury that teaches the world from abhidharma’s Treasury,

Is like a reflection in this mirror, taught clearly and precisely
Just as all-knowing Vasubandhu explained, without mis-
takes—
This is a feast for those with minds of intelligence and interest!

With these verses as a link between chapters, the third area, the
“Teachings on the World,” has an explanation of the text of the area
and a presentation of the area’s name. The explanation of the text
of the area has two sections: I. The world of sentient beings, and II.
The world that contains them.

I. The world of sentient beings. This has five topics: A. Classifi-

cations of wanderers who are born, B. The nature of interdepen-
dence, the manner of birth, C. Conditions for abiding after birth,
D. The minds of staying and dying, and E. Categorizing beings in
three groups.

A. Classifications of wanderers who are born. This has three top-

ics: 1. Classifying in three realms. 2. Classifying wanderers in five,
and 3. Classifying in the four modes of birth.

310
1. Classifying in three realms. This has three topics: a. Desire
realm, b. Form realm, and c. Formless realm.

a. Desire realm. This has two points.

i. General classification

1a–c
Hells, hungry ghosts, and animals,
And humans, and six types of gods
Are the Desire realm.

Just the names of the three realms have been mentioned, but what
are the three realms? you ask. This area is intended to teach that.
The connection between the chapters in terms of meaning is that
individuals who wish for liberation should among the four truths
internalize the characteristics and character bases of the truth of
suffering first. This develops weariness with the world, it is said.

The actual meaning of this verse is as follows. Beings in the hells

are led there by nonmeritorious causes that do not have even the
slightest pleasant result and cannot find protection until extricated
by the full ripening of karma. The hungry ghosts are overwhelmed
by hunger and thirst. And there are the “bent-goers” or animals
who bend as they go. And humans are predominantly mental. And
the six types of gods of Desire have their palaces in the sky.122 In-
cluding their environment or container, these are the Desire realm.

122. These explanations of the different wanderers reflect the Sanskrit names for
the five different types of wanderers: naraka, preta, tiryañc, manuṣya, and deva.

311
ii. Specific classification

1cd
By dividing
e hells and continents, there are twenty.

To classify these further, by dividing the hot hells into eight and
the humans into the four continents, there are ten lower realms
and ten higher realms. Thus the Desire realm has twenty. The eight
cold hells surround the Reviving Hell and so forth; the Occasion-
al Hells are in indefinite location, number and size; the sub-con-
tinents surround the continents; and demigods are in the Desire
realm, but are included within the other five types of beings. There-
fore these are not counted separately.

b. Form realm. This has two points.

i. General classification

2ab
Above that there are seventeen
Higher abodes of the Form realm.

Above that Desire realm there are seventeen higher abodes from
Brahma’s Abode to Below None, which are called the Form realm,
because they are realms where one is detached from desire but still
attached to form.

ii. Specific classification. This has two points.

(1) The classification of the first three

2c
Each of the dhyanas has three levels,

312
In that Form realm, of the four dhyanas, each of the first three
dhyanas has three levels: the first has Brahma’s Abode and so
forth.123 Each dhyana is divided into three levels because it can be
caused by lesser, medium, or greater absorption.

(2) The classification of the fourth

2d
But the fourth dhyana has eight levels.

On the fourth dhyana, there are the three levels of Cloudless and so
forth124 for ordinary individuals who have meditated on it. Nobles
can have five levels of the absorption of alternation, such as the
lesser, medium, and so forth absorptions of alternation.125 Corre-
sponding to these, there are five pure abodes.126 Thus the level of
the fourth dhyana has eight levels.

c. Formless realm. This has three points.

i. Teaching that there is no classification by abode

3a
e Formless realm has no abodes.
123. The three levels of the first dhyana are Brahma’s Abode, Brahma’s Minis-
ters, and Great Brahma. The three levels of the second dhyana are Lesser Light,
Immeasurable Light, and Radiant Light. The three levels of the third dhyana are
Lesser Virtue, Immeasurable Virtue, and Full Virtue.
124. The three impure levels of the fourth dhyana are Cloudless, Merit Born,
and Great Result.
125. The alternation of dhyanas is where nobles switch rapidly back and forth
between the defiled and undefiled dhyanas. There are five different levels of alter-
nation. See VI.42–43.
126. The five pure abodes are Not Great, Without Pain, Excellent Appearance,
Great Vision, and Below None.

313
In the Formless realm, the four name aggregates127 of birth estab-
lish themselves in that very level on which the being died. There is
no designation of other higher or lower abodes.

ii. Classifying in four by birth

3b
Because of birth, it has four types.

Because of differences in birth, it has different four types: the sense

bases of Infinite Space, Infinite Consciousness, Nothingness, and
Neither Conception nor Nonconception. These absorptions are so
called because of the way one trains to achieve them. First, when
both the conception of form and the part of it that is perceived
have disintegrated, one thinks, “Space is infinite.” From transcend-
ing the negation of the existence of anything perceived in mere
space, there is a not-negation128 of it as a thing and one thinks,
“Consciousness is infinite.” Then one thinks, “This mere awareness
cannot be proven to be any particular essence.” Then one fears that
conceptions are like results and pain, but the lack of conceptions is
total stupidity, so one does not stop the subtle, unclear movement
of conceptions. During the actual absorption, one attains a result
similar to those trainings, so the absorptions are therefore named
after them.

127. The aggregates of feeling, conception, formations, and consciousness. See

III.30a.
128. ma yin dgag. This is a negation that primarily blocks the attributes of
something, such as thinking in this context, “It is not a thing.” A not-negation is
characterized as a negation in which after the object of negation is negated anoth-
er dharma is implied. This is sometimes translated as an “affirming negation.”

314
iii. How the continuum of mind is engaged

3cd
ere, likeness and life force as well
Support the mind’s continuum.

In Desire and Form, the continuum of mind is supported by the

bodily form, but what supports it here? you ask. There in the Form-
less realm, likeness of same status and life force as well support the
mind’s continuum. “As well” means that the continuum by mind
is also supported by karma, nonpossession, attainment, birth, and
so forth.

Well then, why do likeness and life force not support life in the
realms of Desire and Form as well? you ask. That is because in those
realms one is not free of the conception of form, and because life
force and so forth are weak in comparison. The Formless realm aris-
es from a particular absorption that has no conception of form, so
the life force and so forth propelled by previous karma are strong.

In the philosophical school of the Great Exposition, these two sup-

port the mind, and the mind also supports them.

2. Classifying wanderers in five. This has three topics: a. Actual, b.

Particulars of elements, and c. Elaboration on these points.

a. Actual

4ab
e names, the hells and so forth, show
Five wanderers.

Saying the names in the three realms, the hells and so forth, ani-

315
mals, hungry ghosts, humans, and gods, show five types of wan-
derers.129 These include all sentient beings of the previous state.130

The Levels131 says that demigods are lesser gods. Others explain
them as hungry ghosts. Gandharvas are gods. The Yaksha demons
are probably gods but are also explained as hungry ghosts. Naga
serpents, kinnaras, and garudas are animals. Kumbhaṇḍas, ghouls,
banshees, and other demons are mostly hungry ghosts.

b. Particulars of elements

4b–d
ey’re unafflicted
And neutral. Sentient beings are called,
But not those in the between state.

In terms of their self-isolate, they, the five wanderers, are unafflict-

ed, and they are neither virtue nor nonvirtue, but unobscurerd
neutral only. If that were not so and they were either afflicted or
virtuous, the different beings would become mixed up, and those
who have severed the roots of virtue and nobles would not be in-
cluded among wanderers. As the environment of the world is not a
wanderer, only sentient beings are called wanderers, but those in
the between state are not. From the Prajñāptiśastra:

The four modes of birth included the five wanderers, but the
five wanderers do not include the four modes of birth. What is
not included? you ask. The between state.

129. Wandering sentient beings, who wander from realm to realm in samsara.
130. The state prior to death, or in other words, this life. Note that although it is
called the previous state, it comes after birth. See III.13cd.
131. Yogacāryābhūmi by Asanga.

316
Therefore the Great Exposition proposes that beings are unob-
scured neutral only, because they are separate from the cause that
establishes them, karmic becoming. This pervades because the full
ripening propelled by karma is a wanderer.

c. Elaboration on these points. This has four topics: i. The seven

places of consciousness, ii. The nine places for beings, iii. The four
places of consciousness, and iv. Analyzing the four possibilities of
the four places and seven places.

i. The seven places of consciousness. This has two points.

(1) Actual

5.
A different body and conception;
A different body, same conception;
Reverse; same body and conception;
And the three places without form

6a
Are seven places of consciousness.

In these three realms of the five wanderers, seven places of con-

sciousness are explained. 1) Gods and humans of Desire, and those
who arise in the first dhyana in later epochs have a different body
and conception. 2) Great Brahma and the assembly of gods around
him have different robes, colors, and shapes, so they have a differ-
ent body, but as they all conceive that, “Great Brahma created me,”
and Brahma also conceives that “I have created these beings,” so
they have the same conception. 3) In the reverse of the preceding,
the gods of the second dhyana have bodies that are the same in that
their nature is light, but their conception is sometimes pleasure

317
and sometimes equanimity, so their conceptions arise differently.
This is because the pleasure of this level is not stable. 4) The gods
of the third dhyana are the same in having a body that is light by
nature and the conception of pleasure, because the pleasure of this
level is stable. These four places that have form and the three plac-
es without form of 5) Infinite Space, 6) Infinite Consciousness,
and 7) Nothingness are the seven places of consciousness. These
seven places are taught in the sutras. These are called the places of
consciousness because in them the manner of craving supports and
develops the consciousness.

(2) What is not that

6b
e others have that which destroys it.

The others that were not mentioned—the three lower realms,

the fourth dhyana, and the Peak of Existence—are not places of
consciousness because the lower realms have suffering, the fourth
dhyana has both the causal and resultant conception-free absorp-
tion, and on the Peak there is the absorption of cessation, so they
have that which destroys it, consciousness.

ii. The nine places for beings. This has two points.

(1) Actual

6cd
With beings on Peak and Concept Free,
ey’re said to be nine places for beings.

Along with beings on the Peak of Existence and in Conception

Free, they, these seven places of consciousness, are said to be the

318
nine places for beings. This is because sentient beings always re-
main there with pleasure.

(2) What is not that

7ab
Since one remains against one’s wishes,
e others are not.

Since their nature is that one remains in them against one’s wish-
es—one is forced to stay by the demons of karma—the other three
lower realms are not places for beings. They are, for example, like
prisons.

iii. The four places of consciousness. This has two points.

(1) Actual

7b–d
Four more places:
Four aggregates that are defiled,
On their own level.

There are four more places in another manner than the seven
taught in a sutra:

The places for consciousness are approaching form, and ap-

proaching feeling, conception, and formation.

Their nature is the four aggregates of form and so forth that are
defiled and that are on their own level, but not those that are unde-
filed or on other levels. This is because the undefiled is the antidote

319
for consciousness, and it is not logical that one level be the support
of another level’s consciousness.

(2) What is not that

7d
Consciousness

8a
Alone is not explained as a place.

Here, in differentiating the basis for staying and what stays, the
Teacher says that the consciousness, which is what stays, alone is
not explained as a place for consciousness. For example, it is like
not mentioning the king himself.

iv. Analyzing the four possibilities of the four places and seven
places

8b
Combined, there are four alternatives.

Do the seven include the four, or do the four include the seven?
you ask. If you examine how they can be combined, there are four
alternatives. The first alternative (included in the seven but not
in the four) is the consciousness on the seven places. The second
alternative (included in the four but not the seven) is the defiled
aggregates other than consciousness in the three lower realms, in
the fourth dhyana, and on the Peak. The third alternative (included
in both) is the first four defiled aggregates in the seven places. The
fourth alternative (included in neither) is consciousness in the low-
er realms, fourth dhyana, and Peak; and undefiled dharmas.

320
3. Classifying in the four modes of birth. This has three topics: a.
Where one enters: the classification of the modes of birth, b. What
enters: the explanation of the between state, and c. The manner it
goes to the place of birth.

a. Where one enters: the classification of the modes of birth. This

has two topics: i. Actual classification, and ii. Examining which be-
ings have which modes of birth.

i. Actual classification

8cd
ere sentient beings have four modes
Of birth: from egg, et cetera.

There, in those three realms, sentient beings are known to have

four modes of birth: there is birth from egg, et cetera, including
birth from womb, birth from warmth and moisture, and miracu-
lous birth.

The so-called modes of birth are birth. They group together many
different types of sentient beings who have their type of birth in
common. For that reason, they are similar, and so these are the
modes of birth.

ii. Examining which beings have which modes of birth. This has
three points.

(1) Which are possessed by humans and animals

9a
Humans and animals have four.

321
Which wanderers have how many modes of birth? you ask. Hu-
mans and animals can have any of the four modes. The elders Śaila
and Upaśaila, for example, are humans born from eggs. Present hu-
mans are born from the womb. Māndhātar, Āmrapāli and so forth
are born from warmth and moisture. Humans of the first aeon and
Noble Aryadeva have miraculous birth.

Three of the modes of birth for animals are easy to understand;

some nagas and garudas, for example, are born by miraculous birth.

(2) Which are possessed by hell beings, gods, and so forth

9bc
Hell beings have miraculous birth,
As do gods and the between states.

Hell beings have miraculous birth only, as do gods and beings in

the between states.

(3) Which are possessed by hungry ghosts

9d
From the womb as well are hungry ghosts.

Most hungry ghosts are born by miraculous birth, but from the
womb as well are some hungry ghosts born.

Among all the modes of birth, miraculous birth is the best, but the
Teacher demonstrated birth from the womb in order not to fulfill
the predictions of non-Buddhists, who had prophesied that a magi-
cian would appear and deceive the world. He also took birth from
the womb to bring his Shakyan kinsfolk into the Dharma and leave
relics of his body.

322
b. What enters: the explanation of the between state. This has
two topics: ii. The essence and proof, and ii. Distinctions of bodily
form and so forth

i. The essence and proof. This has three topics: (1) Essence, (2)
Dispelling doubts, and (3) Proof.

(1) Essence

10ab
In this, it is that which arises
Between the states of death and birth.

What is the essence of the between state? you ask. In this here, it is
that continuum of the five defiled aggregates which arises between
the cessation of the preceding state of death and the upcoming
state of birth.

(2) Dispelling doubts

10cd
It has not reached its destination,
So the between state is not born.

What is the reason that it is arisen but not born? you ask. It has not
reached its destination, the previous state with complete name-
and-form and the six sense bases propelled by karma, so the be-
tween state is not born.

(3) Proof. This has (a) Logical proofs, and (b) Scriptural proofs.

(a) Logical proofs. This has three topics: (i) Actual proof, (ii)
Teaching that the example is illogical, and (iii) Proving the reason
for that.

323
(i) Actual proof

11ab
Analogous to a grain’s continuum,
It is not born from interruption.

The Buddhist Mahāsāṃghika and Mahīśāsaka schools say that the

birth state only happens immediately following the state of death,
so there is no between state. This is the opponent’s position.

Because the form of the birth state in Desire and Form is similar
to a grain of seed, from which a shoot, from which a trunk, and
so forth arise in an uninterrupted continuum, it is analogous to a
grain’s continuum and to the result of that continuum. Therefore,
because the essence of the continuum of existence arises in a differ-
ent place, it is not born solely from the continuation of a state of
death that has been interrupted. This is a result reason of a prior
cause132 where the reason and the example are taught simultaneous-
ly.

(ii) Teaching that the example is illogical

11cd
Since a reflection is not proven,
Nor similar, it’s not an example.

Well, one does see instances where the cause’s continuum is inter-
rupted but the result arises. For example, the reflection of a face
that appears in a mirror is the result of that face, but it arises even
though it is interrupted in space. For this reason, the birth state also
arises from the interrupted state of death, you say.

132. A reason that proves the prior existence of its cause. For example, the pres-
ence of smoke proves the prior existence of smoke-producing fire.

324
This is not so, since a reflection is not proven to be a form. The
word “nor” includes the alternatives: even if a reflection were prov-
en to be a form, because it is not similar to an actual form, it is not
suitable to be given as an example.

(iii) Proving the reason for that. This has two points.

A. The proof that it is not established as an obstructive form

12a
On one, no two are simultaneous.

On the object of a mirror, the color of the mirror and the color of
the reflection do not both arise simultaneously at one time, because
on one object no two obstructive forms of similar type are able to
arise simultaneously. A reflection is not an obstructive thing, but
it is not logical for it to be any other type of thing either. If it were,
the mirror would not be necessary as a support for the reflection.
The Prince explains:

Therefore, the state of birth is in the continuum of the state of

death, but a reflection is not the same with respect to form, so
the example of the reflection is not proof. The example of the
essence that arises later in a grain’s continuum is something
that has its own continuum, thus it is a compatible example.

B. The proof that the example and meaning are dissimilar

12b
It’s discontinuous, born from two.

It, the reflection of a face’s form in a mirror is discontinuous from

the face’s form because the reflection is connected to the continu-

325
um of the mirror and arises simultaneously as the face’s form. The
reflection is born from the two principal conditions of the mirror
and the face’s form, but here the state of birth is not born from
two causes of the state of death and some other cause, because no
principal cause other than the state of death can be observed. The
primary cause of the state of birth cannot be the semen, blood and
so forth, because miraculous birth arises from space without any
semen or blood.133

(b) Scriptural proofs

12cd
Since mentioned, it exists. Scent-eaters,
And five are taught, and Sutra of Wanderers.

The Great Chim134 summarized this thus:

The Seven States, and Entering the Womb,

Āśvalāyana, and nonreturners,
Sutra of Wanderers, and other words
Explain it, so the between state is taught to be.

To comment on this: From the Sutra of Seven States:135

The states are seven: the state of hell, the state of animals, the

133. It is traditionally explained that a new being is born in a womb when the
father’s semen, the mother’s blood, and the consciousness of the between state
come together.
134. Chim Jamyang, whose commentary on the Treasury is the basis for most
later Tibetan commentaries.
135. The Saptabhavasūtra (srid pa bdun pa’i mdo).

326
 state of hungry ghosts, the state of gods, the state of humans,
the karmic state, and the between state.

Since it is actually mentioned in the Buddha’s teachings, it, the

between state, exists. We do not recite any sutra like that because
it does not appear in our scriptures, you say. Well then, from the
Sutra of Entering the Womb:136

From the manifestation of three situations, the child is con-

ceived in the mother’s womb: a suitable mother who has a
menstrual flow, the parents becoming lustful and joining, and
the scent-eater also being nearby.

The scent-eater mentioned here is a just synonym for the between

state. Also, it is also said in the Āśvalāyana Sutra, “Your scent-eater
who is nearby… ”

We do not recite any such sutras, you say. From another sutra:

The nonreturners are five: complete nirvana in the intermedi-

ate, complete nirvana upon birth, complete nirvana without
effort, complete nirvana with effort, and bound for higher.

Here five nonreturners are taught. And it is proven in the Sutra of

the Seven Holy Wanderers.137 The word “and” means that in addi-
tion to the logical proofs, there are the above scriptures and many
other scriptures that prove it, such as:

136. mgnal ’jug gi mdo. In Minor Topics (Dergye Tengyur, ’dul ba, vol. tha, pp.
136ff ).
137. skye bu dam pa’i ’gro ba bdun ston pa’i mdo.

327
 Put dhyanas in four groups of ten,
The Formless in three groups of seven,
Conception in one group of six,
And all is put in categories.

Well, it is said that the demon named Criticism went directly to

the Incessant Hell in one instant in his own body, so there is no
between state. It is also said that if you commit a heinous deed, you
will be born in hell immediately. So it is said, you say. These do not
mean that there is no between state, but rather that while still alive
the body is surrounded by the flames of hell, and then one dies and
goes to hell in the between state. The latter also means that it is kar-
ma experienced on rebirth without any other intervening existence.

With regard to one sinful brahman:

Brahman, when youth has been carried away

There’s aging and sickness: the demons approach.
Between there is no place for you,
There are no provisions for your journey.

Although this says there is no place in between, this means that

between that life and the lower realms there is no place of birth in
the higher realms; it does not teach that there is no between state.

However, when one is born from Desire or Form into Formless,

there is no between state.

ii. Distinctions of bodily form and so forth This has five topics: (1)
Distinctions of body, (2) Distinctions of miracles, (3) Distinctions
of faculties, (4) Of manner of going, and (5) Of food.

(1) Distinctions of body. This has three points.

328
(a) Actual

13ab
Since it is propelled by the same karma,
It has the body of the next.

Since it, the between state, is a corporeal sentient being propelled

by the one same propelling karma as the upcoming previous state,
it has the body shape and form of the next previous state that will
arise.

(b) Identifying the previous state

13cd
e previous is prior to death
But onward from the moment of birth.

Well then, what is the previous state itself? you ask. The previous
state is the continuum of the five aggregates of grasping themselves
prior to the state of death but onward from the moment of the
state of birth.

Therefore, among the four states, the between state and the pre-
vious state have been explained. The state of birth is the moment
of rebirth-linking as a new being. The last moment of death is the
state of death: it is what occurs before the between state for those
who will take birth among sentient beings with form. Thus the
states of birth and death are moments, and the other two states are
continuums.

329
(c) What they are seen by

14a
ey’re seen by their class, divine eye.

They, the between states of hell, are seen by hell beings, and the
between states of gods are seen by gods of their comparable class,
and they are seen by the clairvoyance of the divine eye that is pro-
duced by meditation and free of the eleven faults. They are not seen
by the extremely pure divine eye attained upon birth. The eleven
faults are as follows:

They’re doubt and inattention,

A body that’s unworkable,
And torpor, sleep, and agitation,
Harsh diligence, and crooked mind,
Anxiety, and various conceptions,
Too talkative, harsh meditation.

Some say that those in the between state of the gods can see the
between states of all five wanderers, and those in the intermediates
states of humans, hungry ghosts, animals, and the hells cannot see
the higher ones.

(2) Distinctions of miracles

14b
e miracles of karma have power.

They have the miracles of being able to fly in space and so forth
out of the force of karma. These miracles have power; these are not
emanated miracles. Not even the Buddha can block them because
of the strength of karma.

330
(3) Distinctions of faculties

14c
Full facultied

They have full and complete faculties of eye and so forth.

(4) Distinctions of manner of going

14cd
and unobstructive,
ey cannot turn back.

They cannot be blocked even by a vajra and so forth because they

are unobstructive. For example, if you melt and smash a ball of
iron, vermin can be seen inside it. Once the between state of a
human, for example, is established, it cannot turn back into a god
or other wanderer. In the higher abhidharma,138 reversal to a higher
between state is accepted.

(5) Distinctions of food

14d
ey eat smells.

They, the beings in the between state of Desire, eat the subtle
smells of food; they do not eat coarse food. Those of lower classes
with limited faculties eat smells that are not nice. Those with devel-
oped faculties eat nice smells.

How long does a being stay in the between state? you ask. There
are many different propositions by Venerable Dharmatrāṇi of the

138. That is, the Great Vehicle abhidharma.

331
Sutra school, the Second Teacher Vasubandhu, Venerable Vasum-
itra, the Great Exposition school, Saṅghabhadra, and so forth. To
summarize them with verses from my own Ṭīka:139

The venerable elders of the Sutra school

Say the between state has indefinite duration.
If a being with provisions for one hundred years
Spends a year in between, once he has eaten that year’s,
He has only enough for some ninety-nine more
In the previous state. By that logic it’s known.

Vasumitra says if the conditions are met,

Within seven days. Or if not, after staying
Seven days there’s migration. And if the conditions
Are still not met, one can remain seven weeks.

Some certain proponents of the Sutra school

And Venerable Asanga and so forth say definitely
They will not stay longer than just seven weeks.

The Great Exposition says if the conditions

For one to be quickly reborn are not met—
For instance, if horses are not in mating season—
By karma, conditions will ripen and cause
Copulation, and they will link rebirth in there.

c. The manner it goes to the mode of birth. This has three topics:
i. What frame of mind it enters with, ii. What shape it enters with,
and iii. Explaining other distinctions of frame of mind.

139. I.e., from the Ṭīka he wrote during his previous incarnation as Mikyö
Dorje.

332
i. What frame of mind it enters with. This has three points.

(1) The frame of mind in birth from the womb and egg

15ab
e mind mistaken, out of lust
It goes into its destination.

With the eye that arises from the power of karma, a being in this
period of the between state sees the place where he will be reborn
from far off. When entering either of the modes of birth from
womb or from egg, if the being will be male, he has lust for mother
and hatred for the father, or if female, lust for the father and anger
for the mother, and if neuter, he has the desire of either the male
neuter or the female neuter. As the being has this particular de-
sire, the mind is mistaken and out of lust goes between the organs
during copulation. Then it wants to sleep, so it goes amongst the
semen and blood into its destination, the uterus. Once it has gone
into the womb, which is like a ball of yarn, it feels affection for the
semen and blood as “mine,” and it stays.

(2) The frame of mind in birth from warmth

15c
Others from longing for a smell

Unlike the two just described, in birth from warmth other beings
go to a clean or unclean place from longing for a smell, according
to their karma.

333
(3) The frame of mind in miraculous birth

15d
Or place.

In miraculous birth, they go out of longing for a place. This is en-

tering the place of birth in a different manner than in either birth
from the womb or the egg.

Well then, how is that one longs for hell? Because the mind is mis-
taken, one is tormented by cold rain and wind. Seeing fire in hell,
one wants to get warm and rushes there. Alternatively, when suffer-
ing from and tormented by heat, one sees the cold hells as cool and
rushes there. Thus is the link to the next rebirth made.
The between state of the gods is like arising from a cushion and
going up. Humans, animals, and hungry ghosts go according to
their situations.

ii. What shape it enters with

15d
ey fall head first to hell.

They, hell beings in the between state, fall head first to hell. This is
because it is said:

All those who slander the austere

And fully restrained seers
Will tumble headlong into hell
And not to anywhere else.

The austerities are general, and the full restraint is abiding in the
twelve purified qualities. The seers are buddhas and bodhisattvas.

334
iii. Explaining other distinctions of frame of mind. This has six
points.

(1) What distinguishes wheel-wielding emperors

16a
One enters wittingly,

When the being in the between state enters the womb, it is not
always because the mind is mistaken at orgasm. The sutras tell of
four instances of entry into the womb. In the first of these, one
stays in and emerges from the womb without awareness, but enters
it wittingly.

(2) What distinguishes self-buddhas

16ab
one stays,
As well,

One not only enters, but stays knowingly as well.

(3) What distinguishes bodhisattvas

16b
and one emerges, too.

And one not only both enters and stays, but emerges knowingly,
too.

(4) What distinguishes ordinary beings

16c
Others are ignorant of all,

335
Others are ignorant of all three: entering, staying, and emerging.

(5) Distinctions of birth from egg

16d
And always if oviparous.

And the being is always deluded if oviparous, or born from an egg.

(6) Explaining the reason for the first three

17.
e three—wheel wielding as well as
Two self-awakened—enter the womb
Because their karma or their wisdom
Or both are vast, respectively.

First those who enter knowingly but stay and emerge unknowingly,
and those who enter and stay knowingly but emerge unknowing,
and those who are knowing in all three, are the three—respectively
the wheel-wielding emperor as well as the two self-awakened indi-
viduals, self-buddhas and tathagatas—that enter the womb know-
ingly. This is because their—wheel wielding emperors’—karma or
merit is vast, or because of their—self-buddhas’—wisdom from
meditating for one hundred aeons is vast, or because of both of the
buddha’s accumulations are vast, respectively. When they enter the
womb, they are not yet buddhas and so forth, but they are called
by their future appellation.

But the self-buddha both entering and staying knowingly and birth
from the egg always being deluded are contradictory, because the
son of King Pañcāla was born from an egg and was a self-buddha,
you say. This is not a fault, because entering and staying knowingly

336
is in terms of the rhinolike, and birth from the egg is in terms of
the congregating self-buddhas,140 according to Pūrṇavardhana’s ex-
planation. Alternatively, entering and staying knowingly is in terms
of birth from the womb.

B. The nature of interdependence, the manner of birth. This has

three topics: 1. The manner the aggregates alone link rebirth, 2. The
beginningless continuum of the aggregates, and 3. Understanding
the nature of interdependence.

1. The manner the aggregates alone link rebirth

18.
ere is no self—mere aggregates.
Continuums of between states
Assembled by afflictions and karma
Enter the womb. It’s like a lamp.

According to outsiders, it follows that there is a self because sen-

tient beings transmigrate to different worlds, you say. This does
not pervade, because there is no self that accepts or rejects in the
internal aggregates that make up the being.

Well then, what provides continuity between the state of death and
rebirthlinking? you ask. There is merely the continuum of the ag-
gregates themselves. Labeling that continuum as the “self ” is not
refuted, because it is suitable to call it by any name. The aggregates
alone have no power to transmigrate to new aggregates without
stopping, because continuums of the between states that are fully
ripened results and personally made results assembled by afflic-

140. There are three types of self-buddha: the rhinolike who achieve realization
in solitude, and the greater and lesser congregators who achieve realization in
groups of five hundred.

337
tions and karma enter the womb. It is like a lamp that is momen-
tary but burns in a continuum of moments.

2. The beginningless continuum of the aggregates

19.
Just as propelled, the continuum
Arose in stages, then from karma
And afflictions goes to the next world—
Beginningless wheel of existence.

Just as it was propelled by ignorance and formation, the contin-

uum arose in stages of consciousness, name-and-form, six sense
bases, contact and feeling. Here death in the womb, death as a
small child, and death in the prime of life are propelled by the
prior accumulation of the being’s own specific karma. The order it
develops is described in the scriptures:

At first it’s mushiness.

From mushiness, the oval.
From the oval comes the oblong,
From the oblong comes the solid.
From the solid, the hands and feet move.
Hair, fur, and nails, and such;
The faculties with form;
And organs develop in sequence.

The faculties produced by sustenance and so forth mature, and

then from accumulating karma and performing afflicted conduct
itself the body disintegrates. Then just as before the continuum of
the between state goes to the next world by aging and death and
by birth. This is because from karma and afflictions comes birth,

338
and from birth, too, karma and afflictions are accumulated, so it is
a beginningless wheel of existence.

3. Understanding the nature of interdependence. This has four

topics: a. The periodic links of interdependence, b. The essence of
each link, c. Teaching the three all-afflicted through examples, and
d. Teaching these links as the four states.

a. The periodic links of interdependence. This has two topics: i.

Overview of the classifications, and ii. Extensive explanation of the
links.

i. Overview of the classifications. This has two points.

(1) Classifying in twelve

20ab
ese are twelve links of interdependent
Origination

The continuum of the aggregates comes from another world to

this next one and goes from here to the next—the period of three
births. In order to refute that the entry into samsara happens either
without a cause or incompatibly with its cause, it is taught that
there are twelve links of interdependent origination: ignorance,
formation, consciousness, name-and-form, six sense bases, contact,
feeling, craving, grasping, becoming, birth, and aging and death.

(2) Condensing into three

20b
in three parts.

These are in the three parts of previous, middle, and next lives, or
the three times.

339
ii. Extensive explanation of the links. This has three topics: (1)
How they are completed in three lifetimes, (2) Grouping them into
afflictions, karma, and bases, and (3) Dispelling others’ doubts.

(1) How they are completed in three lifetimes. This has four top-
ics: (a) Explaining their individual natures, (b) Explaining the three
periods that arise, (c) Teaching that these are periodic, and (d) Re-
butting that this contradicts the sutras.

(a) Explaining their individual natures

20cd
e previous and next, two each;
e middle, eight, with all complete.

Of these three lifetimes, in the previous lifetime and next lifetime

there are two each: they are ignorance and formation, and birth
and aging and death respectively. In the middle, the eight from
consciousness to becoming are presented. This is intended in terms
of all of the links complete, as in the first three modes of birth in
Desire. In miraculous birth, the between state, and the two higher
realms, it is not necessarily thus.141

(b) Explaining the three periods that arise. This has three points.

(i) Explaining what arises in the previous life

21ab
Previous afflictions: ignorance.
Previous karma is formations.

141. In birth from the womb, egg, or warmth and moisture, the being develops
in stages, so all twelve links arise in order. In miraculous birth, the being arises all
at once, there are not the separate stages of development of each of the links.

340
The previous period’s five aggregates during afflicted conduct is the
link of ignorance. In relation to this life, these are called the link
of ignorance, because the afflictions act simultaneously with igno-
rance and the afflictions always arise by the power of ignorance.
It is just as when the king arrives, the attendant also comes. The
five aggregates in the previous lifetime at the time of accumulating
meritorious and other karma are formations.

(ii) Explaining what arises in the middle

21cd
e aggregates at linking: consciousness.
And name-and-form is on from there

22.
Until the six sense bases emerge.
ose are until three are assembled.
Contact is till one knows the causes
Of pleasure and of pain, et cetera.

23.
en feeling until sex. And craving
Is greed for possessions and for sex.
Close grasping is then chasing after
In order to obtain enjoyments.

24ab
Performing actions that result
In an existence is becoming.

The single moment of the five aggregates at the time of rebirth-link-

ing in the mother’s womb is the link of consciousness. And the link
of name-and-form is the five aggregates on from there, the mo-

341
ment of rebirth-linking, until or before the six sense bases emerge.
Name is the four aggregates—like names, they are unobstructive.
Form is the fetal stages of mushiness and so on. The link of those,
the six sense bases, is the five aggregates from the time when those
have completely emerged until the three of object, faculty, and
consciousness are assembled. The link of contact is the five ag-
gregates from then until the object, faculty, and consciousness are
assembled and one knows the causes—a pleasant, unpleasant, neu-
tral, or other object—of pleasure and of pain, et cetera, including
neutral feeling. Then the link of feeling is the five aggregates from
the time one is able to discern the causes of the three feelings until
the lust for sex arises. And the link of craving is the five aggregates
during the period of especial greed for the possession of desirable
things and for sex before one actively seeks the object. The link of
close grasping is the five aggregates during the period when one
begins actively seeking and then chases after everything in order
to obtain the enjoyments of desirable objects such as horses, cattle,
grain, treasures, and so forth as well as the pleasures of sex. The five
aggregates that, in chasing after things, perform actions or kar-
mas that accumulate virtue and nonvirtue and will later produce a
happy or miserable result of existence is the link of becoming. As
it will arise, becoming is a synonym for karma. If you examine it
closely, it is not separate in essence from the interdependent link of
formation.

(iii) Explaining what arises in the next life

24cd
Linking rebirth again is birth.
Up until feeling, aging and death.

342
When karma makes one die in this and migrate to the next, the five
aggregates at the time of the linking of rebirth again are the link of
birth. What is presented as the link of consciousness in this life is
presented as the link of birth in the next lifetime. In order to instill
world-weariness in disciples, the Bhagavan taught that the aggre-
gates from birth up until feeling are the link of aging and death.

(c) Teaching that these are periodic. This has two points.

(i) Actual

25a
ey claim that this is periodic.

There are four ways to classify the links of interdependence: mo-

mentary, prolonged, connected, and periodic. The manner in
which the twelve links are posited as a single moment is described
in the autocommentary:

How are they momentary, you ask? In a single moment there

are all twelve links. This is how: that which is the delusion
that kills out of the power of greed is ignorance. That which
is the volition is formation. Individually knowing things is
consciousness. The four aggregates that arise simultaneously
with consciousness are name-and-form. The faculties that
reside within name-and-form are the six sense bases. The six
sense bases coming together is contact. Experiencing contact
is feeling. That which is greed is craving. The entanglers that
are concurrent with that are grasping. The actions of body and
speech that those motivate is becoming. The arising of those
actions is birth. Their complete ripening is aging. Their disin-
tegration is death.

343
Thus among the four classifications of interdependence, the Bhaga-
van presented the continuum of the five aggregates over the period
of three lifetimes as the twelve links. They of the Great Exposition
claim here in this context that this is the teaching of the links to
be periodic.
The word “claim” indicates that this is the Great Exposition’s po-
sition: it is a skeptical word from the Sutra school, which says it
is admissible to present the six sense bases and name-and-form as
periods of the five aggregates, but how could ignorance and forma-
tion be a period of the five aggregates?

(ii) Dispelling doubts

25b
e link’s called by the principal.

If in all twelve links there are all five aggregates, why is the first
link known simply as ignorance? you wonder. Because at that point
ignorance is principal, the link is called by the name of the prin-
cipal, like saying, “The king has come” when an army with four
divisions142 arrives. In the same way, the links from formation to
aging and death are known by that which is principal at that point.

(d) Rebutting that this contradicts the sutras

25cd
It’s taught to reverse ignorance
About the previous, next, and middle.

In the abhidharma, the links of interdependence are taught with re-

gards to both sentient beings and all other composite phenomena.

142. The four divisions are the infantry, cavalry, elephants, and chariots.

344
In the sutras, however, they are only taught with regard to sentient
beings in order to reverse the doubt and ignorance about the self
in the three times of the previous, next, and middle lives, such as
the doubt, “Did it occur or not? Will it occur or not? What is it like
here in the middle?”

(2) Grouping them into afflictions, karma, and bases. This has
three points.

(i) Actual

26ab
ree are afflictions. Two are karma.
Seven are bases

Of the twelve links, three are afflictions: ignorance, craving, and

grasping. Of these, ignorance is the cause of the current birth, and
craving and grasping are the cause of future birth. The two links of
formation and becoming are karma. These cause the present and
future births. Because they are the support of karma and afflictions,
seven links are bases: the five from consciousness to feeling, birth,
and aging and death.

(ii) Teaching that seven are result

26b
and results.

The seven branches that are the bases for karma and the afflictions
are also results, because the result of ignorance and formation is the
five from consciousness to feeling, and the result of craving, grasp-
ing, and becoming is the two links of birth and aging and death.

345
(iii) The reason for not explaining the previous and next lives in
detail

26cd
Cause and result of two is concise:
One can infer them from the middle.

Well, for this lifetime the five results from consciousness to feeling
and both karma and the afflictions are explained in detail, so why
in the future lifetime are they condensed into the two results of
birth and aging and death? Why are they condensed in the previous
lifetime into the cause ignorance only? you ask. The links of cause
and result of the two past and future lives is taught concisely; the
detailed explanations of the two causes in past lifetime and five
results in future lifetime are not given. This is because one can in-
fer them from the detailed explanation of cause and effect in the
middle. There is no need to tire oneself pointlessly.

(3) Dispelling others’ doubts. This has two points.143

(a) Dispelling doubts as to the quantity

27.
Afflictions bear afflictions, action.
From that, the bases, and from those
Arise the bases and afflictions.
at is existence’s progression.

Well, it follows that samsara has a beginning and an end, because

ignorance has no cause and aging and death no result. If you agree,
it follows that more links should be added, because those two need
143. One page of the original Tibetan manuscript is missing, so the commentary
on the next three points is excerpted from Mikyö Dorje’s Springtime Cow.

346
a cause and result. This would therefore become endless because of
your assertion, you say.

Even if those two links have causes and results, it does not follow
that more links need to be added. The Bhagavan said that the afflic-
tion of craving bears the affliction of grasping, and afflictions bear
the karma of action itself: formation arises out of ignorance, and
becoming arises out of grasping. From that karma of formation
and becoming, the bases of consciousness and birth arise. From
those arise the bases from name-and-form to feeling and aging
and death, and from these bases of feeling and aging and death, the
afflictions of ignorance, craving, and grasping arise. This is how the
links of existence progress.

(b) The distinction between arising and arisen

28ab
Here what is arising is a cause;
What has arisen is a result.

Here in this presentation from the sutras, what is arising in inter-

dependence is a link that is a cause, because something arises from
it. What has arisen in interdependence is proposed as a link that
abides, because it has arisen. Therefore all of the links are proven
to be both arising and arisen, because they are both a cause and a
result. Although this is so, cause and result do not get mixed up,
because when they arise depending on something else, that some-
thing does not depend upon them. For instance, in relation to one’s
own father, one is the child and not the father.

b. The essence of each link. This has two topics: i. Actually ex-
plaining four links, and ii. Teaching that the other links are known
from elsewhere.

347
i. Actually explaining four links. This has four topics: (1) An ex-
planation of ignorance, (2) Of name, (3) Of contact, and (4) Of
feeling.

(1) An explanation of ignorance. This has two topics: (a) Identify-

ing its essence, and (b) Dispelling wrong conceptions.

(a) Identifying its essence

28cd
An other dharma, opposite to knowing,
Ignorance is like untruth, unfriendly, et cetera.

The meaning of ignorance: ignorance is an other dharma that is an

unclear mental factor and is opposite to correct knowing of truth,
karma and result, the jewels, and so on. As nonthings and matter
are also the absence of knowledge or something that is not knowl-
edge, ignorance is not merely either of those two. For example, it
is like untruth, which is understood as a lie, unfriendly as enemies,
nondharma as nonvirtue, “not its meaning” as “the incorrect mean-
ing,” wrong action144 as unmindful action, et cetera.

Well then, from what do we know that ignorance is not merely the
absence of knowing? you ask. It says in a sutra, “Through the con-
dition of ignorance, formation arises.”145 It is also logically proven
because the eye and so forth, which are not knowing, are not the
condition for formations, and rabbits’ horns and such, which are
the nonexistence of awareness, also do not function as the causes
for formations.146

144. The Tibetan word literally means “not-action.”

145. Because ignorance is a condition, it must be a thing and cannot be mere
absence, which is noncomposite and not suitable to act as a condition.
146. This concludes the section excerpted from Mikyö Dorje’s Springtime Cow.

348
(b) Dispelling wrong conceptions. This has two points.

(i) Refuting that ignorance is a mere absence because it is a

name for an affliction.

29a
Because of fetter and such words.

Ignorance is not presented as merely the absence of knowing or not

knowing, because in teaching fetter and such words as the three
bonds, four floods, and four yokes, it is taught as a separate mental
factor.

(ii) Refuting calling bad full knowing “ignorance”

29b–d
Not bad full knowing, since that is view.
Since it’s concurrent with that view;
It’s taught that it afflicts full knowing.

If that is so, then like saying a bad child is not your child, bad
full knowing is ignorance, you say. Ignorance is not such bad full
knowing, since that is an afflicted view. In that case, afflicted bad
full knowing that is not a view is ignorance, you say. That is also not
so, since it, ignorance, is concurrent with that view, and because
views are full knowing, and it is never possible for two substances
of full knowing to be concurrent with each other. Additionally, bad
full knowing is not ignorance, because it is taught that ignorance
afflicts full knowing, making it afflicted.

349
(2) An explanation of name

30a
Skandhas that are not form are name.

The four skandhas or aggregates that are not form—feeling and so

forth—are name in the link name-and-form because they engage
their object by power of names, and because they are unobstruc-
tive, like names.

(3) An explanation of contact

30b–d
Six contacts happen from assembly.
Five are obstructive contact, and
e sixth is designated contact.

31.
Aware and unaware and other contact
Are stainless and afflicted and the rest.
Malicious, lustful contact, and
ree felt as pleasant and so forth.

The six contacts from eye to mind happen from assembly, because
they arise from the assembly of object, faculty, and consciousness
coming together.

Well then, the first five faculties and consciousness arise simulta-
neously, so they meet by assembly, but in contact assembled by
mind it is not definite that all three will be assembled, because it is
not logical that the mind faculty that has ceased, future dharmas
that have not arisen, and the present mind consciousness could be
assembled simultaneously, you say. This does not pervade, because

350
the assembly of cause and result is called an assembly, even though
they are not necessarily simultaneous. Alternatively, the single re-
sult itself has the meaning of assembly, because result is compatible
with the production of a single contact. The many divergent opin-
ions of earlier masters about contact appear in the Great Ṭīka, so
refer there.

Of these contacts, the first five are obstructive contact, because they
are contact that arises based upon obstructive faculties that have
form. And the sixth is called designated contact because one mean-
ing may be labeled with many names, so names are designations,
and this is the contact that focuses on those. The eye consciousness
knows blue, but does not know to think, “This is blue,” whereas the
mind consciousness does know to think, “This is blue”—it knows
what the name of a given meaning is.

Also, these six can become three: aware contact, and unaware or ig-
norant contact, and other contact that is neither of those two. The
first two are respectively stainless, undefiled contact and afflicted
contact, because the aware mentioned here is undefiled full know-
ing, and ignorance in this context is afflicted full knowing, and
these contacts are concurrent with those. The third is the rest other
than those two: it is put forth as contact concurrent with virtuous
defiled or unobscured neutral full knowing, because it is contact
that is not concurrent with either of the two above full knowings.
Within ignorant contact, malicious and lustful contact, which are
labeled by the names of their companions, are especially harmful,
so they are taught separately.
Alternatively, all contact can be included within the three categories
of contact felt or experienced as pleasant and so forth, including
contact experienced as unpleasant and contact experienced as neu-

351
tral, because they are the compatible causes of the experiences of
pleasure and so forth. In this way, there are sixteen types of contact.

(4) An explanation of feeling. This has two topics: (a) General clas-
sification, and (b) A specific explanation of mental feeling.

(a) General classification

32ab
From that, six feelings can arise:
Five bodily, the other mental.

From that contact, there are six feelings that can arise: feeling that
arises from contact assembled by eye and so on. Of these, because
the first five depend upon faculties with form, they are bodily feel-
ing. The mental feeling is other than those five; it is feeling that
arises from contact assembled by mind. Does feeling arise after
contact or together with it? you ask. Some Great Expositionists say
they are together, because they are mutual coemergent causes. The
Sutra school asks, if they arise simultaneously, how can the produc-
er be proven to produce the thing that is produced? In response,
the Great Exposition asks in return, why it would not be proven?
The Sutra school replies that two coemergent dharmas cannot be
proven to be producer and produced because after a dharma has
arisen, there is no power to produce it again. There are many other
such debates between the Exposition and Sutra schools which can
be found in the great Ṭīka itself.

(b) A specific explanation of mental feeling. This has three topics:

(i) Overview, (ii) Explanation, and (iii) Summary.

352
(i) Overview

32cd
And that has eighteen types as well
Because of movement of the mind.

And that mental factor of feeling itself is presented as having eigh-

teen types as well, because of the movement of mind—mental
pleasure, mental unhappiness, and neutral toward form and the
other five objects.

The following appears in the Great Chim’s commentary:

The Great Exposition proposes that feeling moves to the ob-

ject on the support of the mind as its mount. The Sutra school
says mind moves to the object on the support of feeling.

(ii) Explanation. This has three topics: A. Explanation of feelings of

the Desire realm, B. Of Form, and C. Of Formless.

A. Explanation of feelings of the Desire realm. This has three

points.

1. Focusing on own level

33a
In Desire, all focus on their own,

In the realm of Desire, there are all eighteen of those movements of

mind. They all focus on their own level.

353
2. Focusing on Form

33b
And twelve can have
Form in their sphere.

And there are twelve movements of mind of Desire that can have
the Form realm in their sphere. Since there is no scent or taste
there, the six that focus on those two are not included.

3. Focusing on Formless

33c
e three on higher.

The three feelings of Desire that focus on dharmas only can focus
on the higher Formless, because the five objects of form and so
forth do not exist there.

B. Of Form. This has two topics: 1. Explaining the feelings of the

first two dhyanas, and 2. Of the higher two dhyanas.

1. Explaining the feelings of the first two dhyanas. This has three
points.

a. Focusing on objects of Desire

33cd
On two dhyanas,
Are twelve which can move toward Desire.

On the first two dhyanas, as there is no mental unhappiness nor

its six movements, there are the remaining twelve, which can move
toward Desire because they can focus on or perceive its six objects.

354
b. Focusing on Form

34a
Eight focus on their own;

There are eight movements to the four objects (except the four that
move to scent and taste) that focus on their own level of Form.

c. Focusing on Formless

34ab
the two
On Formless.

Dharma alone is the object of the two feelings, mental pleasure and
neutral, when focusing on the Formless.

2. Explaining the feelings of the higher two dhyanas. This has

three points.

a. Focusing on Desire

34bc
e two dhyans have six.
Six on Desire,

The higher two dhyanas have only the six movements of neutral
feeling. The other, mental pleasure, is not present, because it has
been abandoned. Those six focus on all six objects of Desire.

b. Focusing on Form

34c
the four on own,

355
There are the four objects of its own Form realm, because there is
neither scent nor taste.

c. Focusing on Formless

34d
And one can focus on the higher.

And one, neutral feeling, can focus on the object of dharma only
of the higher Formless realm.

C. Explaining the feelings of Formless. This has two topics: 1.

Feelings of the preparations, and 2. Feelings of the actual absorp-
tion.

1. Feelings of the preparations. This has two points.

a. Focus on Form

35ab
On preparations for the Formless,
Four move toward Form,

On the preparations for the Formless level of Infinite Space, the fo-
cus is on four objects, because they move toward the fourth dhyana
of Form, so they focus on its form, sound, feeling, and dharma.

b. Focus on Formless

35b
one moves toward higher.

On the preparation for Infinite Space, one movement of neutral

feeling that focuses on the object dharma moves toward the higher
Formless realm.

356
2. Feelings of the actual absorption

35c
In actual, one with own object.

In the four actual absorptions of Formless and the preparations for

the three higher levels, there is only one movement, because those
levels do not focus on Desire or Form but focus only on their own
level’s dharma as object, with no other movement.

(iii) Summary

35d
All of the eighteen are defiled.

All of the eighteen movements of the mind are defiled because

they all propagate existence, so there are not any undefiled. The
noble path is entered without effort and enters the expanse with no
attributes, but the movements are the opposite of that.

ii. Teaching that the other links are known from elsewhere

36a
Others have been or will be explained.

In that case, if this is a teaching on interdependence, why are only

ignorance, name, contact, and feeling explained, and the others
not? you ask. The other links of form, consciousness, and the six
sense bases have already been explained, or formation, becoming,
craving, and grasping will be explained in the fourth and fifth ar-
eas. The remaining links—birth, and aging and death—are not ex-
plained separately, because they are included within the others.

357
c. Teaching the three all-afflicted through comparisons. This has
three points.

i. Teaching the all-afflicted afflictions through comparisons

36b-d
In this, afflictions are like seeds,
Like nagas, and like roots and trees,
Like husks as well, it is proposed.

In this discussion, the afflictions are like seeds: just as trunks,

branches, and leaves grow from seeds, afflictions, karma, and the
bases grow out of the afflictions. They are like nagas: just as a lake
will not dry up if there is a naga in it, the lake of birth will not dry
up if there is the naga of afflictions. And they are like the roots of
a thicket: just as if you do not pull those out, it will re-grow even if
you cut off the branches, if you do not pull the afflictions out from
the root, wanderers will be reborn. And they are like trees: just as
trees produce flowers and fruit in season, afflictions are the cause
of afflictions, karma, and the bases. They are like the thick husks
of rice grains, as well, it is proposed: if there are husks, the grains
produce a crop but without them do not. Similarly karma that has
the husk of the attainment of afflictions leads to rebirth in the next
lives, but without that, karma alone does not.

ii. Teaching the all-afflicted karma through comparisons

37ab
Karma’s like rice within its husk,
Like medicine and flowers.

Karma is like rice within its husk, because just as if there is a husk,
the germ of a rice grain produces a fruit, karma that has the husk

358
attained through the afflictions produces the result of birth. Like
medicine that gives its power a single time, karma also produces a
single fully ripened result, and does not produce any more. And
like flowers that are the proximate cause for the arising of fruit,
karma is the proximate cause of full ripening, and the afflictions
are the distant cause.

iii. Teaching the all-afflicted bases through a comparison

37bc
e bases,
Like food and drink that have been got.

The bases are like food and drink that have been got. For example,
once food and drink has been obtained, it is no more than some-
thing to enjoy; it is not something that needs to be produced again.
Similarly, the fully ripened bases also are merely something to enjoy
and not to produce in other lifetimes, because after fully ripening
they have no connection to other full ripening in other lifetimes.

d. Teaching these links as the four states

37d
Among these four states of existence,

38a–c
e state of rebirth is afflicted
By all the afflictions of its level.
e others, threefold. ree in Formless.

Among these four states of existence, the between state, the state
of rebirth, the previous state, and the state of death, the state of
rebirth is always afflicted, as there is neither virtue nor unobscured

359
neutral in that state. Whatever level that state of rebirth is on, it is
afflicted by all the afflictions of its own level. However, it is not
afflicted by five autonomous entanglers: jealousy, stinginess, regret,
aggression, and concealment.147 The three states that are other than
the state of rebirth, the between state, previous state, and state of
death, are threefold—virtue, afflicted, and neutral. There are three
states with the exception of the between state in Formless, which
implies that all four states are in Desire and Form.

C. Conditions for abiding after birth. This has three topics: 1.

Overview, 2. Explanation, and 3. As a summary, ascertaining that
there are four types of sustenance.

1. Overview

38d
Wanderers abide from sustenance.

Wanderers all abide from sustenance. There are four types of suste-
nance: food, contact, mental volition, and consciousness.

2. Explanation. This has three topics: a. Explaining food, b. Ex-

plaining the remaining kinds of sustenance, and c. Additionally,
explaining the synonyms for the between state.

a. Explaining food. This has three points.

i. What level it is on

39a
e sustenance food is in Desire.

147. These five are autonomous because they are concurrent only with igno-
rance, not other afflictions. See V.52ab.

360
The sustenance food is only in Desire and not in the two higher
realms because one has no attachment to food there.

ii. What sense base it is

39b
Its nature is the three sense bases,

Its nature is the three sense bases of smell, taste, and touch: the
three faculties of nose, tongue, and body discern a bite of food, and
then one swallows and eats it, so it is food.

iii. Dispelling a doubt

39cd
But not the sense base form, since that
Does not affect its organ or the freed.

Doesn’t it follow that the sense base form is food, because after
discerning color, et cetera, as a bite of food, one eats? you ask. The
sense base form is not food, since if it were, when swallowed it
would have to benefit its faculty (the eye) and the sources that sup-
port that faculty, but it does not. If that does not affect its own or-
gan or faculty, then it is impossible that it affect other faculties, and
seeing the form of enticing food does not affect the nonreturners
and arhats who are freed from desire for food.

b. Explaining the remaining kinds of sustenance. This has two

points.

361
i. Identifying their essence

40ab
Contact, volition, and consciousness are
Stained sustenance.

Contact that arises from the assembly of object, faculty, and con-
sciousness; the mental karma of volition; and consciousness are,
between the two of defiled and undefiled, stained or defiled suste-
nance; they are not undefiled.

The Great Exposition says the undefiled contact, volition, and con-
sciousness are not sustenance, because sustenance sustains existence
by propelling what had not been propelled and completing what
had been propelled, whereas those three exhaust existence and arise
as its antidote.

ii. What realms they are in

40b
ey are in three.

They are in all three realms.

c. Additionally, explaining the synonyms for the between state

40cd
It’s born from mind, the searching state,
Scent-eater, and the between state,

41a
And reestablishing.

362
What seeks out existence? you ask. As it does not depend on future
parents, warmth and moisture, and so forth, and arises from just
mind, it is called born from mind. As its condition is to seek the
state of rebirth, it is called the searching state. As it eats smells for
sustenance, it is called a scent-eater. And it is called the between
state, and as it is clearly directed toward taking birth in a body, it
is called reestablishing.

3. As a summary, ascertaining that there are four types of sus-

tenance

41a-d
Two have the purpose
Of developing its base and the supported.
Two have the purpose to propel,
Establish the next life, in order.

If everything defiled maintains existence, why are only these four

presented as sustenance? you ask. It is taught because they are of
primary importance. Of the first two types of sustenance, food is
presented as having the purpose of developing its, this life’s, base,
the body with its faculties, and contact is presented as having the
purpose of developing the supported mental factors. The other two
are sustenance of volition, which has the purpose to propel the
next life, and the sustenance of consciousness, which has the pur-
pose to actually establish the next life once it has been propelled.
Thus they are presented in this order. In this way, the first two are
like a wet nurse who takes care of someone after birth, and the lat-
ter two are like a mother who gives birth to someone who has not
yet been born.

A few words here:

363
 The wonderful acuity that purifies rebirth
Is not begrimed with filth from creatures of degenerate times.
Within this feast of explanations for those wanting freedom,
There is a great gate to inexhaustible nectar.

D. The minds of staying and dying. This has three topics: 1. Iden-
tifying the mind of death, 2. Where the consciousness stops, and 3.
The cause of severing the pith.

1. Identifying the mind of death. This has two topics: a. General

teaching, and b. Specific explanations.

a. General teaching

42a–c
To sever, to restore, and to
Detach, regress, die, and be born
Are the mind consciousness alone.

To sever the roots of virtue through wrong views; to restore the

virtuous roots through correct view or doubt; and to detach one-
self from realms and levels, to regress from a result through malice
or another inappropriate attention; to die, which is similar to the
motion of the five faculties contracting and their continuum be-
ing cut; and be born, which is rebirth-linking through a mistaken
mind, are the mind consciousness alone, not the others. The men-
tion of birth also includes rebirth-linking in the between state.

b. Specific explanations. This has three points.

i. Distinctions of feeling

42d
At death and birth, there’s neutral feeling.

364
At death and at birth there is neutral feeling only, because pleasure
and suffering are clear, but a clear consciousness is unsuitable for
death or birth.

ii. Distinctions of mind

43a
Not in one-pointed or no mind.

Those who were born in the Desire realm do not die or take birth
while they are resting in one-pointed equipoise or in a state with
no mind. This is because death and birth are not the same status as
samadhi, because samadhi arises from effort and is beneficial, and
because those who are in states with no mind cannot be harmed by
fire, weapons, or so forth.

iii. The manner of entering the state without remainder

43b
Nirvana in two neutral minds.

The mind of the state of death is explained to be virtuous, nonvir-

tuous, or neutral. Of these, an arhat passes into nirvana in one of
two neutral minds. If one proposes that there is fully ripened neu-
tral feeling in Desire, then it is either that of the path of conduct or
full ripened. If one proposes there is not, it is either a virtuous mind
of a path of conduct or an unafflicted neutral mind, it is said. In
particular, those two are weak, which makes them consistent with
severing the continuum of mind, whereas other minds are strong.

365
2. Where the consciousness stops

43cd
In gradual death, if low or human,
Divine or no rebirth, mind dies

44a
In the feet, navel, or the heart.

In that case, what part of the body does the consciousness cease in?
you ask. In dying a gradual death, if they are going to the low or
human or divine god realms, or if they are arhats who have no re-
birth, the mind is said conventionally to die in the feet, the navel,
or the heart, because the body faculty ceases there. Some say that
arhats exit through the crown of their heads. If one dies instanta-
neously, the body faculty stops in an instant along with the mind.

3. The cause of severing the pith

44b
Water, et cetera, severs the pith.

In some of these instances, the duḥkha said to be of the pith being

severed arises. The pith is that part of the body which harming will
cause death. Severing is an intolerable feeling arising there. In cases
when there is a lot of phlegm, this is caused by the element of water
being disturbed. Included by the phrase “et cetera,” when there is
a lot of bile, the element of fire is disturbed, and if there is a lot of
wind, the element of wind is violently disturbed. It is not severed
by the other source, earth: this is similar to the destruction of the
environment, the world.148

148. The world is destroyed by fire, water, and wind. See III.100ff.

366
These three are all in terms of gradual death. In the instantaneous
death of those born by miraculous birth, the faculties are not dis-
carded through a single part of the body, nor is the pith severed.
The gods of Desire do not have their pith severed, but when the five
near signs and five distant signs of death appear, they experience
unfathomable suffering.

E. Categorizing beings in three groups

44cd
Nobles are destined for the correct;
e heinous deeds for the mistaken.

From a sutra:

Three groups of sentient beings are recognized: the group that

is destined for the correct, the group destined for the mistak-
en, and the uncertain group.

Of these three groups that are taught, nobles are destined for the
correct because they are certain to be born in the higher realms and
not the lower, and then attain freedom, and those who have done
the heinous misdeeds are destined for the mistaken, because im-
mediately after dying they are certain to be reborn in hell. Everyone
else is uncertain.

The explanation of sentient beings is thus completed. A few words:

In the full-knowing mirror of my mind,

The characters of what there is to know
From abhidharma are distinct,
Like brilliant stars, or gems in clear lake waters.

367
 Alas! The teachings of this age’s buddha
Are convoluted by those with evil minds!
Deceitfully they’ve criticized,
Sowing dissension, so I’ve tired myself.

But then, when I remember the great kindness

Of the translators, scholars, kings, and aides
Of olden times, my mind is seized
With excitement for the methods of this dharma!

II. The world that contains them. This has three topics: A. The na-
ture of the supporting container, B. Additionally, the sizes of sen-
tient beings, and C. Units of measure.

A. The nature of the supporting container. This has four topics:

1. A general teaching of the container’s nature, 2. An explanation
of particular places, 3. Identifying the world of three thousands,
and 4. Teaching that the three thousands arise and are destroyed
together.

1. A general teaching of the container’s nature. This has two top-

ics: a. An explanation of the three supporting mandalas, and b. An
explanation of the mountains and seas they support.

a. An explanation of the three supporting mandalas. This has two

topics: i. The size of the mandala of wind, and ii. The size of the
other two mandalas.

368
i. The size of the mandala of wind

45.
Now the container world is said
To have below a mandala
Of wind one million and six hundred
ousands in depth, uncountable.

To explain the container, the world: in general, according to sutras

of the Foundation and Great Vehicles, some world realms are up-
side down, some are sideways, some have no cover above, some
have no sun and moon, in some a single sun and moon orbit the
entire three thousands,149 and in some the entire three thousands is
the size of the Bodhi tree. Many such worlds that are said to exist,
but in this presentation it is time to explain the Unbearable World
Realm of our Teacher the Buddha Shakyamuni.150 Now the con-
tainer, this world realm of three great thousands, is said to exist as
follows:

Through the power of sentient beings’ karma, in the space that is

the foundation below it, this world, there is a mandala of wind.
That is one million and six hundred thousand leagues151 in depth
and uncountable leagues across in diameter. It is so hard that even
a vajra of great power cannot destroy it.

ii. The size of the other two mandalas. This has two topics: (1) Ex-

149. One billion worlds. See III.75.

150. This world is called Unbearable because beings here have strong afflictions
that make it difficult to tolerate and because the bodhisattvas who take birth here
have exceptional fortitude.
151. One league is 20,000 cubits. See verse 88.

369
plaining their depth individually, and (2) Explaining their diameter
together.

(1) Explaining their depth individually. This has two topics: (a)
Water, and (b) Gold.

(a) Water. This has two points.

(i) Its size at the time it coalesces

46ab
en water to a depth of one
Million one hundred twenty thousand.

By the power of the karma of sentient beings, sheets of rain the

drops of which are the size of yokes then fall in space from clouds
with golden essences. That becomes a mandala of water to a depth
of one million one hundred twenty thousand leagues. The water
does not immediately spill away because of the force of karma.

(ii) Its size when it abides

46cd
en it becomes eight hundred thousand
In depth.

Then a wind that arises from the karma of sentient beings churns
all the water, and it becomes eight hundred thousand leagues in-
depth.

(b) Gold

46d
e rest turns into gold.

370
Just as when milk boils curd forms, the rest turns into the earth
itself with a nature of gold and a depth of three hundred twenty
thousand leagues.

(2) Explaining their diameter together. This has two points.

(a) Their diameter

47.
e mandalas of water and gold
Are in diameter one million
Two hundred and three thousand and
Four hundred fifty leagues across;

The mandalas of water and gold that lie under each of the hun-
dred million worlds of four continents are in diameter of one mil-
lion two hundred and three thousand four hundred fifty leagues
across. The diameters of these two mandalas are equal.

(b) Their circumference

48a
ey’re thrice that in circumference.

They are thrice that in circumference, it is said, which means that

their circumferences are 3,610,350 leagues.

b. An explanation of the mountains and seas they support. This

has two topics: i. An explanation of the nine mountains, and ii. An
explanation of the eight seas.

i. An explanation of the nine mountains. This has three topics:

(1) Where they are, (2) What cause they are created from, and (3)
Explaining their sizes.

371
(1) Where they are

48b–d
On that are Meru, the Yoke Holder,
Plow Holder, and Acacia Tree,
And likewise Lovely to Behold,

49a–c
And Horse’s Ear and Bowing Down,
Rim Holder Mounts, then continents.
Outside there is the Outer Ring.

The mandala of golden earth is supported above the water, and on

that in the middle there is Mount Meru. It is surrounded by the
seven remaining mountain ranges: Yoke Holder, Plow Holder, and
Acacia Tree, and likewise the Lovely to Behold, and Horse’s Ear
and Bowing Down, and the Rim Holder Mountains. Then there
are the four continents. Outside the continents there is the Outer
Ring, which surrounds it in a ring.

(2) What cause they are created from

49d
Seven are gold. at one is iron.

50a
Mount Meru is four precious ores.

The seven mountain ranges of Yoke Holder and so forth are gold.
That one Outside Ring of mountains is iron. Mount Meru is cre-
ated of four precious ores: its east is silver, the south vaidurya,152

152. A clear and transparent blue crystal, the color of the sky. Frequently mis-

372
the west red crystal, and the north is gold. The color of the four
faces of the Supreme Mountain153 and the color of the sky of their
corresponding continents appear similarly.

The reason for this is that the sheets of rain that fell from space and
formed the mandala of water below the golden earth contained the
elements of gold, various jewels, and so forth. When churned by
the wind, these elements became the Supreme Mountain and the
rest.

(3) Explaining their sizes. This has two topics: (a) Explaining how
far they descend into the water together, and (b) Explaining how
high each ascends above the water individually.

(a) Explaining how far they descend into the water together

50bc
Down eighty thousand into water
Plunges Mount Meru;

Down eighty thousand leagues into the water that is on the golden
earth plunge Mount Meru and the other eight mountain ranges.

(b) Explaining how high each ascends above the water individu-
ally. This has two topics: (i) The size of Mount Meru, and (ii) The
sizes of the others.

(i) The size of Mount Meru

50cd
above as well
It lofts to eighty thousand leagues.

translated as lapis lazuli, it is more likely blue beryl.

153. Another name for Mount Meru.

373
Just as it descends into the water, above as well, it lofts to eighty
thousand leagues. Combining the two, the height of the Supreme
Mountain is 160,000 leagues.

(ii) The sizes of the others. This has two points.

(A) Width

51a
e eight are each half less in width.

The eight including the seven mountain ranges and the Perimeter
Circle are each half less than the previous mountain range in width.
The Yoke Holder is the largest with a width of 40,000 leagues, and
Plow Holder is half that width, or 20,000, and so on until the iron
mountains which are 312½ leagues in width.

(B) Height

51b
eir heights are equal to their widths.

Their, the mountains in these ranges, heights are equal to their

widths.

i. An explanations of eight seas. This has two topics: (1) An ex-

planation of the seven Playful Seas, and (2) An explanation of the
Outer Ocean.

(1) An explanation of the seven Playful Seas. This has three

points.

374
(a) The way the seven Playful Seas are

51c
Between them, seven Playful Seas;

In the areas between them, the mountain ranges, are the seven
Playful Seas. Their waters have the eight qualities.154

(b) The size of the innermost Playful Sea

51d
Across the first is eighty thousand.

52ab
is one is the Vast Inner Sea.
Its sides are triple to its width.

Across the first Playful Sea is eighty thousand leagues. This one is
the Vast Inner Sea. Its sides along the shores of the Yoke Holder
Mountain are triple to its width, or 240,000 leagues.

(c) The size of the other six

52c
e other seas are each half less.

The other Playful Seas are each half less in width than the previous.

154. The eight qualities are that the water is sweet, cool, soft, light, pure, clean,
does not harm the throat, and benefits the stomach. The seas are called playful
because the kings of the nagas disport in and enjoy their waters. (Bod rgya tshig
mdzod chen mo, p. 2730.)

375
(2) An explanation of the Outer Ocean

52d
e rest is the Great Outer Ocean.

53ab
Across it is three hundred and
Twenty-two thousand leagues.

The rest of the water from the Rim Holder Mountains to the outer
iron mountains is the Great Outer Ocean. It is filled with salt wa-
ter. In its width, across it is three hundred and twenty-two thou-
sand leagues.

2. An explanation of particular places. This has three topics: a.

The places of humans, b. The places of hell, and c. The places of
the gods.

a. The places of humans. This has two topics: i. Teaching of the

twelve lands in general, and ii. A particular explanation of the
Rose-Apple Land.

i. Teaching of the twelve lands in general. This has two topics:

(1) Explaining the four continents, and (2) Explaining the eight
subcontinents.

(1) Explaining the four continents. This has four points.

376
(a) The shape and size of the Rose-Apple Land

53b–d
erein
Is the Rose-Apple Land, two thousand
Leagues on three sides, shaped like a cart,

54a
With one of three and one half leagues.

Therein, in that poisonous ocean, to the south of the Supreme

Mountain is the Rose-Apple Land, which is two thousand leagues
on its three long sides. It is shaped like a cart,155 with one short
side of three and one half leagues. Its perimeter measures 6,003½
leagues. Its depth extends eighty thousand leagues down—all four
continents have an equal depth.

(b) The shape and size of Superior Body

54b–d
Superior Body is half-moon like.
ree of its sides are like here; one
Is three and one half hundred leagues.

From the Rose-Apple Land, on the side of the supreme mountain

is the eastern Superior Body, which is half-moon like in shape.
Three of its sides are like here, the Rose-Apple Land, at a length
of 2000 leagues each. One side is three and one half hundred, or
350, leagues long. Its perimeter measures 6,350 leagues. Because

155. Carts whose sides slope down between the two wheels, making a nearly
triangular shape when viewed from behind, can still be seen hauling improbable
loads of hay and sugarcane in rural parts of northern India.

377
its level is seven talas above sea level, or alternatively, because the
humans born there have bodies that are twice as large as humans
here, it is called the Superior Body.

(c) The shape and size of the Bountiful Cow Land

55a–c
e Bountiful Cow Land is round,
Seven thousand and five hundred leagues.
Across its mid, twenty-five hundred.

On the west face of the Supreme Mountain is the Bountiful Cow

Land. It is round, and it is seven thousand and five hundred
leagues in circumference. Across its mid, its diameter is twenty-five
hundred leagues. It is bountiful with cows and jewels, and the river
Sawaka flows through its middle.

(d) The shape and size of Unpleasant Sound

55d
Unpleasant Sound: eight, equal, square.

On the north face of the Supreme Mountain is Unpleasant Sound,

where they speak the language of ghosts, or where one’s death is
prophesied seven days prior to occurring. Its perimeter is eight
thousand leagues, with four equal sides of two thousand leagues
each and square in shape.

Humans’ faces are similar in shape to the continents they live on.

378
(2) Explaining the eight subcontinents

56.
Between are eight subcontinents:
Deha, Videha, Kurava,
Kaurava, Chāmara, Avara,
And Śaṭhā and Uttaramantriṇa.

Between them there are eight subcontinents: Deha and Videha on

the sides of the eastern continent. Kuruva and Kaurava are on the
sides of the northern continent. Chāmara and Avaracāmara are on
the sides of the southern continent. And Śaṭha and Uttaraman-
triṇa are on the sides of the western continent.

ii. A particular explanation of the Rose-Apple Land

57.
To the north of here, across the nine
Black Mounts is the Snow Mountain, then
On the near side of Perfume Mountain
Is a lake with waters fifty across.

To the north of here, the Rose-Apple Land, across the nine Black
Mounts, there is the great Snow Mountain. Then further to the
north of that is Perfume Mountain, and ten leagues away on its
near south side, there is a lake with waters fifty leagues across.
This is the Unheated Lake, whose waters have the eight qualities.
It is difficult for people who do not have miraculous powers to get
there.

On the shore of the Unheated Lake there is a rose-apple tree with

sweet fruit. When its clay-pot sized fruit ripens, the nagas emanate
as fish and eat it, and what is not eaten becomes the gold of the

379
Rose-Apple River, it is heard. Based on this tree, this continent is
called the Rose-Apple Land. There were some trees of this type
around the ancient city of Kapilavastu, because it is told that the
Bodhisattva achieved dhyana under the shade of such a tree.

b. The places of hell. This has two topics: i. An explanation of the

hot and neighboring hells, and ii. An explanation of the locations
of the cold hells.

i. An explanation of the hot and neighboring hells. This has three

topics: (1) An explanation of the location of the Incessant Hell, (2)
An explanation of the locations of Extremely Hot and the other six,
and (3) An explanation of the locations of the neighboring hells.

(1) An explanation of the location of the Incessant Hell

58ab
Below this twenty thousand leagues,
e Incessant Hell is just that size.

Below this Rose-Apple Land twenty thousand leagues, there is the

Incessant Hell, so called, which is the largest of the hells. It is just
that size: twenty thousand leagues in width and depth.

(2) An explanation of location of Extremely Hot and the other

six

58c
Above that there are seven hells,

Above that Incessant Hell there are the seven hells of Extremely
Hot, Hot, Great Wailing, Wailing, Crushing, Black Line, and Re-
viving, one above another.

380
(3) An explanation of the locations of the neighboring hells. This
has two points.

(a) The number of neighboring hells

58d
And all eight have an extra sixteen:

And all eight of the hot hells have an extra sixteen perils.

(b) The location of the neighboring hells

59a
On each of their four sides

They are on each of their, the eight hot hells’, four sides.

(c) The names of each class

59a-c
there are
e Burning Ground and Rotten Corpse,
e Razor Road and those, the River.

There are the Burning Ground, where you sink into a burning
ground up to your knees; and Rotten Corpse, a filthy mire; Razor
Road and those others: the forest of trees with sword-like leaves
and the grove of iron shalmali trees with sharp thorns sixteen fin-
gers in length, all three of which are similar to weapons and thus
grouped together; and the Unfordable River of boiling, ashy water.

381
ii. An explanation of the locations of the cold hells

59d
Eight other cold hells—Blisters, et cetera.

There are also eight more hells that are other than the hot hells
in both type and location. These are the cold hells of Blisters, et
cetera: Bursting Blisters, Chattering Teeth, Whimpering, Howl-
ing, Cracked Like an Utpala, Cracked Like a Lotus, and Greatly
Cracked Like a Lotus.

It says of the occasional hells in the autocommentary:

Their location is uncertain: they are in rivers, mountains,

wastelands, other places and also below.

The animals have as their sphere land, water, and the sky. The hun-
gry ghosts, whose king is named Yama, mainly live five hundred
leagues below the city Rajgir in this Rose-Apple Land.

c. The places of the gods. This has two topics: i. Actual, and ii.
Additionally, distinctions of their inhabitants.

i. Actual. This has two topics: (1) Those connected to the earth,
and (2) Those not connected to the earth.

(1) Those connected to the earth. This has two topics: (a) The
Realm of the Four Great Kings, and (b) The Realm of the Thir-
ty-Three.

(a) The Realm of the Four Great Kings. This has two topics: (i)
Palaces, and

(ii) Places on mountains.

382
(i) Palaces. This has four topics: A. Measuring the sun and moon,
B. The way they function, C. Distinctions of season that depend
upon them, and D. The reason the moon waxes and wanes.

A. Measuring the sun and moon. This has two points.

1. The altitude of the sun and moon

60a
e sun and moon are at mid Meru,

The sun and moon are at the middle of Mount Meru: they orbit at
the same altitude as the peaks of the Yoke Holder mountains.

2. The sizes of the sun and moon

60b
Fifty plus one in diameter.

The orb of the moon is fifty leagues and the orb of the sun is fifty
plus one, or fifty-one, leagues in diameter. They are 6 1/18 leagues
in-depth. The moon is made from water crystal, and the sun from
fire crystal. Their shapes are fine and lovely to behold, and they are
inhabited by the divine children Sun and Moon, who have great
wealth, and their entourages.

The largest of the stars are eighteen earshots156 and the smallest are
one earshot in size.

156. An earshot is 500 fathoms. See III.88.

383
B. The way they function

60cd
So midnight, sunset, and midday
And sunrise are at the same time.

So the way a single sun and single moon function in all four con-
tinents is that midnight in Northern Unpleasant Sound, sunset in
Eastern Superior Body, and midday in the Rose-Apple Land, and
sunrise in Bountiful Cow are all at the same time. In the same way,
when it is midnight in the east, it is sunset in the south, noon in
the west, and dawn in the north, and so forth; the order of times is
related in this way.

C. Distinctions of season that depend upon them. This has three

points.

1. When day length changes

61.
After the second rainy month’s
Ninth day of waxing, nights grow longer
And then in the fourth month of autumn,
Grow shorter. Days are the reverse.

From a commentary:

The seasons, for Buddhists, are first autumn, second spring,

and third rains.

The autumn, spring, and summer mentioned here each have four
months. The four autumn months are Āṣvina, Kārttika, Mārgaṣīrṣa,
and Paiṣa. The four spring months are Māgha, Phālguṇa, Caitra,

384
and Vaiṣakha. The four rainy months are Jyeṣṭha, Āṣādha, Śravaṇa,
and Bhādra.

The first autumn month, Āṣvina, begins on the day following the
full moon of the eighth month of the Tibetan calendar,157 and con-
tinues one month until the next full moon. It is followed by the
second autumn month, Kārttika, and then Mārgaṣīrṣa and so forth
in order. In this tradition, the waning phase is presented as the first
half of the month, and the waxing phase the second.

The month of Jyeṣṭha begins from day after the full moon of the
middle Tibetan summer month (May-June) and continues until
the full moon of the last Tibetan summer month. From the day
after that full moon until the full moon of the first Tibetan month
of autumn is the second month of rains or the rains, the month
of Āṣādha. On the eighth day of its last half or waxing phase, the
days are eighteen hours long and the nights twelve hours long.158
After the second rainy month’s ninth day of the waxing phase of
the moon, the nights grow longer and the days grow shorter. From
the commentary:

The nights grow longer from the ninth day of the waxing
phase of the second rainy month Āṣādha.

And then on the eighth day of the last half in the fourth month
of autumn, the sun reverses, and from the ninth day nights grow
shorter. The days are the reverse of that and grow longer. From the
commentary:

157. This usually falls in early October in the Gregorian calendar.

158. In the ancient India tradition, the day was divided into 30 hours, not 24.
See III.89.

385
 From the ninth day of the last half of the fourth of the winter
months they grow shorter, it is said: this is from the ninth day
of the waxing phase of the second spring month.

2. The amount it changes by

62a e days or nights by minutes lengthen.

The days or nights by the duration of minutes lengthen. The du-

ration of a minute is 1/900th of the length of a day and night.
According to the Kalachakra, it is the duration of the inhalation,
holding, and exhalation of twenty-four breaths. That is explained
as four moments, so in each moment there are six breaths.

3. Position of the sun in the sky

62b
It’s as the sun moves south or north.

It is as the sun moves to the south that the nights lengthen or as it

moves north that the days lengthen.

D. The reason the moon waxes and wanes

62cd
From moving too close to the sun,
Moon shades itself with its own shadow.

What causes the moon to wane? you ask. From the house of the
moon moving too close to the house of the sun, the light of the sun
falls on the moon and the moon’s own shadow falls on the opposite
side, so it appears as if the mandala shades itself with its own shad-
ow and wanes, it is said, like a candle and a pillar.

386
(ii) Places on mountains. This has two topics: A. An explanation
of the terraces on the Supreme Mountain, and B. Which gods live
on which mountains.

A. An explanation of the terraces on the Supreme Mountain

63.
On that there are four terraces,
e distance between which is ten thousand,
Extending sixteen thousand leagues,
And eight, four, and two thousand leagues.

On this Supreme Mountain there are four terraces, the distance

between which is ten thousand leagues. As for the distance they
extend out, the first extends out by sixteen thousand leagues, and
the second by eight thousand, and also the third by four thousand,
and the fourth by two thousand leagues.

The terraces start from the base, so they come up to the middle of
the Supreme Mountain.

B. Which gods live on which mountains. This has two points.

1. Which live on the Supreme Mountain

64a-d
e Basin Holders, Garland Holders,
e Always Intoxicated, and
e gods of the Four Great Kings’ Realm
Live there

On the first of these terraces live the yakshas called the Basin Hold-
ers. On the second live the Garland Holders, on the third the Al-
ways Intoxicated, and the gods of the Four Great Kings’ Realm

387
live there on the fourth: Dhritarashta in the East, Virudhaka in
the South, Virupaksha in the West and Vaishravana in the North,
along with the gods in their retinues.

2. Which live on the seven gold mountains

64d
and in seven mountain ranges.

The cities and villages of these gods are also in the seven mountain
ranges of Yoke Holder and so forth. The class of gods of the Four
Great Kings is much more numerous than the other classes either
individually or together.

(b) The Realm of the Thirty-Three. This has three topics: (i) Gen-
eral teaching, (ii) Describing the location of the Vajra-Holders, and
(iii) An extensive explanation of the Realm of the Thirty-Three.

(i) General teaching

65ab
On Meru’s peak is irty-ree,
Each side of which is eighty thousand.

On Mount Meru’s peak is the Heaven of the Thirty-Three, each

side of which, just like Mount Meru, is eighty thousand leagues,
for a perimeter of 320,000 leagues.

(ii) Describing the location of the Vajra Holders

65cd
On peaks in each of its four corners
ere dwell the Vajra-Holder yakshas.

388
On four peaks that have a height of 500 leagues in each of its—the
Supreme Mountain’s—four corners, there dwell the Vajra-Holder
yakshas in order to protect the careless gods.

(iii) An extensive explanation of the Realm of the Thirty-Three.

This has two topics: A. The city, and B. The groves.

A. The city. This has two points.

1. The city in general

66.
e central city Lovely to Behold,
Twenty-five hundred leagues per side,
Has golden ground of one and half
Leagues deep; it is soft and variegated.

In the center of the ground on the top of the Supreme Mountain is

the city of the god Śakra called Lovely to Behold. It has twenty-five
hundred leagues per side, and has golden ground of one and one
half leagues deep. It is soft to the touch and variegated with one
hundred hues.

2. Indra’s palace

67ab
Within is Utterly Conquering,
With sides two hundred fifty leagues.

Within the center of that city is the palace of Śakra,159 Utterly Con-
quering. It is made out of various precious substances and is lovely
to behold. Elevated four and one half leagues, its glory is greater

159. Śakra is another name for Indra.

389
than any other’s and it overwhelms all. Each of its sides are two
hundred fifty leagues, for a perimeter of one thousand leagues.

B. The groves. This has four points.

1. The actual groves

67cd
Outside are Colorful Chariots,
Roughening, Mixing, and Joyous Grove.

On the outside of the city’s four sides there are four groves, the
grove of Colorful Chariots, the grove of Roughening, the grove of
Mixing, and the Joyous Grove.

2. The grounds

68ab
To their four sides twenty leagues away,
ere are the four excellent grounds.

To their—the four groves’—four sides twenty leagues away, there

are four excellent and pleasant grounds that rival the groves, as it
were.

3. The tree

68c
On the northeast corner is All-Gathering.

On the outside of the northeast corner of the city Lovely to Behold

is the All-Gathering Earth-Piercing wish-fulfilling tree. Its roots are
explained to penetrate five, or according to the Prajñāptiśastra, fifty
leagues into the ground, and it reaches one hundred leagues into

390
the sky. Its branches spread fifty leagues. The scent of its blooming
flowers and petals carries one hundred leagues downwind and fifty
leagues upwind.

4. The gathering place

68d
On the southwest corner is Good Dharma.

On the southwest corner of that city is the gathering place Good

Dharma, where the gods gather and discuss what to do or not to
do. Good Dharma is round in shape with a circumference of 900
leagues and is made of crystal.

This is where the gods of Thirty-Three live.

(2) Those not connected to the earth

69a
e gods above that live in palaces.

The gods above that Heaven of the Thirty-Three live in palaces.

The heavens from Conflict Free to Mastery over Others’ Emana-
tions are here in order.160

ii. Additionally, distinctions of their inhabitants. This has five top-

ics: (1) Acts of desire, (2) Birth of children to the gods, (3) The aris-
ing of desirables and pleasure, (4) The distance between the higher
and lower levels, and (5) The way of ascending.

160. These realms are in order, Conflict Free, Joyous, Joy of Emanations, and
Mastery over Others’ Emanations.

391
(1) Acts of desire

69b–d
Six ways they act upon desire:
ey couple in a pair, embrace,
Or else hold hands or laugh or look.

From the Realm of the Four Great Kings to Mastery over Others’
Emanations, there are six ways they act upon desire. Those of the
lower two realms that are connected to the earth, they couple in
a pair with their male and female faculties touching, like humans.
As there is no flow of sperm or water, there is nothing unclean.
The gods of Conflict Free couple by embracing, or else the gods
of Joyous by holding hands, or the gods of Joy of Emanations by
laughing, or the gods of Mastery over Others’ Emanations by look-
ing. This is because just that is enough to free them from the throes
of desire.

When a boy or girl appears in the lap of either a god or goddess,

that is their son or daughter.

(2) Birth of children to the gods. This has two points.

(a) Children of gods of Desire

70ab
e children born in those realms are
Like children aged from five to ten.

The children born in those god realms are like children aged from
five in the Realm of the Four Great Kings, the age of six in the
Thirty-Three, and so on in a similar fashion up to ten-year-old chil-
dren in Mastery over Others’ Emanations. This is in comparison to

392
the size of children in this land at a time when the life span is one
hundred years.

(b) Children of Form

70cd
ose born in the Form realms are born
Full grown, with even their robes complete.

Those gods born in the Form realm are born full grown with all
parts of their body perfect, with even their robes complete.

(3) The arising of desirables and pleasure. This has two points.

(a) Actual

71ab
ere are three ways desirables
Arise for Desire gods and humans.

In the sutras, the three ways desirable objects arise are explained as
a distinction among beings. There are three ways desirable things
arise for Desire realm gods and humans. It is like this: first, hu-
mans and four classes of gods enjoy what arises from the power of
previous karma. Second, out of the power of karma, the gods of Joy
of Emanation emanate whatever they themselves desire and then
enjoy it. Thirdly, out of the power of karma, the gods of Mastery
over Other’s Emanation enjoy whatever they or others emanate in
common just as they desire.

393
(b) Additionally the arising of the pleasure of Form

71cd
Pleasure arises in three ways
On three of the dhyanas—thus nine levels.

The sutras explain that pleasure arises in three ways: pleasure that
arises from solitude, the joyous pleasure that arises from samadhi,
and pleasure without joy. These are all three on the first three of the
dhyanas, thus they are explained as nine levels.

(4) The distance between the higher and lower levels

72ab
ere is as far above a realm
As there is below to the lowest realm.

There is as far above a realm up to the next higher realm as there

is below to the lowest realm of the Rose-Apple Land. Just as there
are eighty thousand leagues from the Thirty-Three down to the
Rose-Apple Land, there is the same number from it up to Conflict
Free. Just as there are one hundred sixty thousand leagues from
Conflict Free down to the Rose-Apple Land, there is the same
number from it up to the Joyous. Continuing in that way, finally
just as it is eighty trillion leagues from Great Vision down to the
Rose-Apple Land, it is equally distant from there up to the realm
of Below None.

(5) The way of ascending

72cd
Except through magic or another,
ey cannot see what is above.

394
Can beings born in lower realms go to higher realms and see them?
you ask. Except through the magic of higher realms that one has
attained or the help of another individual who has attained it, they
who are in lower realms cannot go to higher realms and see what is
above. Individuals from higher realms can easily descend to lower
realms, and when they have descended it is possible for those of
similar level to see them, but those of dissimilar level do not see
them.161

3. Identifying the world of three thousands. This has three points.

a. The General Prime Thousand

73.
One thousand worlds, each with four lands,
A sun and moon, and a Great Mountain,
Desire god realms, and Brahma’s World,
Are called a General Prime ousand.

One thousand worlds, each single world with four lands of the
Rose-Apple Land and so forth, a sun and a moon, and a Great
Supreme Mountain, the six Desire God Realms, and Brahma’s
World, are called a General Prime Thousand.

b. The middle second thousand

74ab
A thousand of those, the second thousand,
And that is called a Middle World Realm.

161. For example, when gods of the realm of Brahma’s Ministers descend to
Brahma’s Realm, the gods of that realm can see them because they are similarly
on the level of the first dhyana, but if they should descend to the Desire realm,
beings who have not attained the level of first dhyana could not perceive them.

395
A thousand of those General Prime Thousands is the second thou-
sand, and that is called a Middle World Realm. The middle is a
thousand of the lesser thousands, or a million Rose-Apple Lands.

c. Identifying the Great Thousands of Three Thousands

74c
A thousand of those is the ree ousands.

A thousand of those second thousands is the Three Thousands. It

has a billion of the four continents.

4. Teaching that the three thousands arise and are destroyed

together

74d
ey are destroyed and formed together.

When those are destroyed, they are all destroyed together, and
when they are formed, they are formed together.

B. Additionally, the sizes of sentient beings. This has two topics:

1. Bodily height, and 2. Life span.

1. Bodily height. This has three topics: a. Height of humans, b.

Height of gods of Desire, and c. Height of gods of Form.

a. Height of humans. This has two points.

i. Humans on the Rose-Apple Land

75ab
e ones on the Rose-Apple Land
Are four, or three and half cubits tall.

396
The human ones on the Rose-Apple Land are four cubits or three
and half cubits tall.

ii. Humans on the other three continents

75cd
On the East, the Bountiful Cow, and North,
ey’re twice as tall as on the previous.

On the East, the Bountiful Cow, and the North, they are twice as
tall as on the previous, as it is said. Therefore, if the inhabitants of
the Rose-Apple Land when the life span is one hundred years are
four cubits tall, the inhabitants on the other three lands are eight,
sixteen, and thirty-two cubits tall respectively.

b. Height of gods of Desire

76a–c
e bodies of Desire Gods grow
From a quarter earshot in height to
One and half earshots.

The heights of the bodies of the six Desire Gods grow from a quar-
ter earshot in height in Four Kings to one and half earshots in
Others’ Emanations.

397
c. Height of gods of Form

76cd
In the first
Of Form, they are one-half league tall.

77.
Above, a half league taller each.
Beyond the highest of Lesser Light,
eir bodies double on each level.
At Cloudless, though, discard three leagues.

In the first of the realms of Form, Brahma’s Realm, they, the gods
there, are one-half league tall. Above Brahma’s Realm on Brahma’s
Ministers, Great Brahma, and Lesser Light, they are a half league
taller on each level, or one league, one and a half leagues, and two
leagues respectively. Beyond highest of Lesser Light, on Immea-
surable Light and higher, their bodies double in size on each level.
At Cloudless, though, discard three leagues from the doubled size.
In this way, the height goes from four leagues on Immeasurable
Light to sixteen thousand on Below None.

In Formless there is no body, so there is no body height.

2. Life span. This has two topics: a. Actual, and b. Examining

whether there is premature death.

a. Actual. This has two topics: i. Life span in the higher realms, and
ii. Life span in the lower realms.

i. Life span in the higher realms. This has three topics: (1) Life
span of humans, (2) of Desire gods, and (3) of Form and Formless.

398
(1) Life span of humans. This has two points.

(a) Life span on the other three continents

78ab
Unpleasant Sound’s life span, one thousand.
On two, it is shorter by half each.

On Unpleasant Sound, the life span is one thousand years. On the

two continents of Bountiful Cow and Superior Body, it, the life
span on is shorter by half of the previous each, or five hundred and
two hundred fifty years.

(b) Life span on the Rose-Apple Land

78cd
Here it’s uncertain: from ten years
At end; incalculable at first.

Here on the Rose-Apple land, it, the life span, is uncertain—some-

times it is long, and sometimes it is short. The shortest is ten years
at the end, and the longest is the incalculable life span of the hu-
mans of the first aeon.

(2) Life span of Desire gods. This has two points.

(a) Life spans in the Realm of the Four Great Kings

79.
And fifty human years are just
One day and night among the lowest
Of gods of Desire. eir life span is,
Of such a day, five hundred years.

399
And fifty human years are just one day and night among the low-
est of gods of Desire, the gods of the Four Great Kings. Their life
span is, of such a day, counting thirty such days as a month and
twelve months as a year, five hundred years. This is nine million
human years.

(b) Life spans in the other five

80a
Above both day-length and span double.

In the five god realms above that, both the day-length and the life
span double: therefore in the Thirty-Three, there are one hundred
human years per day and they live for one thousand of their own
years, and so on up to Others’ Emanations, where the life span is
sixteen thousand years with a day-length of sixteen hundred hu-
man years.

(3) Life span of Form and Formless. This has three points.

(a) In the Form realm

80b–d
In Form, there’s neither day nor night,
So their life span in aeons is
Equal in number to their height.

In the Form realm there is neither day nor night, so one cannot
count years, but there is a life span: their life span in aeons is equal
in number to their bodies’ height in leagues.

One could recite the verse as follows:

400
 In the first
Of Form, they live one half aeon long.

Above each lives a half aeon longer.

Beyond the highest of Lesser Light,
Their life spans double on each level.
At Cloudless, though, discard three aeons.

(b) In the Formless realm

81ab
In Formless each, by twenty thousand
Aeons, is longer than the previous.

In the Formless level of Infinite Space, the life span is twenty thou-
sand aeons. Each of the higher level by twenty thousand aeons is
longer than the previous or lower level. On Infinite Consciousness,
Nothingness, and the Peak of Existence, the life spans are forty,
sixty, and eighty thousand aeons respectively.

(c) As an elaboration, examining the length of the aeons

81cd
On Lesser Light and up, they are
Great aeons. Below that, half aeons.

On the divine abode of Lesser Light and up, they, the aeons used
to measure life spans here, are great aeons.162 Below that on Great
Brahma and so forth, they are half of a great aeon, or forty inter-
mediate aeons that are presented as an aeon. In the world, in the
space of three spans of twenty intermediate aeons the world forms,

162. There are eighty intermediate aeons per great aeon. See III.94a.

401
and then it stays, and then is destroyed. Thus these sixty intermedi-
ate aeons are explained as the one and half aeon life span on Great
Brahma.

ii. Life span in the lower realms. This has four topics: (1) Hot
hells, (2) Animals, (3) Hungry ghosts, and (4) Cold hells.

(1) Hot hells. This has three points.

(a) Life span in the upper six

82.
e Reviving and so forth, six hells,
Have days that equal Desire Gods’ lives.
Of such a day, their life spans equal
e life spans of Desire realm Gods.

The Reviving Hell and so forth, the first six hot hells, have days
that are equal in length to the six Desire realm gods’ life spans. Of
such a day, there are thirty days to a month and twelve months to a
year, and their life spans in such years are five hundred, one thou-
sand, two thousand, four thousand, eight thousand, and sixteen
thousand years, equal in number of years to the life spans of the
Desire realm gods.

(b) Life span in Extremely Hot

83a
Extremely Hot, half aeon;

In the Extremely Hot hell, the life span is a half intermediate aeon.

402
(c) Life span in the Incessant Hell

83ab
the Incessant,
An intermediate aeon.

The life span in the Incessant Hell is an intermediate aeon.

(2) Animals

83bc
e longest life
For animals, an aeon.

The longest life span for animals is an aeon, as garudas and the
lord of the nagas live for an intermediate aeon. The shortest is just
an hour.

(3) Hungry ghosts

83cd
Hungry ghosts
Live month-long days five hundred years.

Hungry ghosts live month-long days that are equal in length to a

human month. Of such days, they live for five hundred years. That
is fifteen thousand human years.163

(4) Cold hells. This has two points.

163. The Tibetan original gives a figure of 1,900,000 years, which appears to be

a misprint. According to the calculation, it should be 15,000 years.

403
(a) Life span in the Blisters

84a–c
If every hundred years one took
A seed from a cart of sesame,
When that is empty is life in Blisters.

If every one hundred years one took a single seed from a cartful of
sesame seeds, which in the land of Magadha contains eighty bush-
els, when that is empty is the life span of those in Blisters. Some
say it is twenty times that.

(b) Life span in the other seven

84d
In others, twenty times as long.

In the other seven, the life spans are each twenty times as long as
the life span of the next higher.

b. Examining whether there is premature death

85a
Untimely death except in Unpleasant.

There is untimely death except in Unpleasant Sound, so life span

is uncertain.

C. Units of measure. This has two topics: 1. What is combined,

and 2. Units that measure what has been combined.

404
1. What is combined

85bc
e units of form, name, and time
Are particles, letters, and instants.

The smallest units of aggregated form, name, and time are parti-
cles, letters, and instants respectively. Particles in this context are
aggregated particles that are objects of the faculties and perform
the functions of obscuring and obstructing. The particles of sub-
stance164 are not meant here, because they are too small for the fac-
ulties to perceive and have no parts.165

The letters that are the units of name are the letters in names and
words, which are the vocal sounds that are the basis for forming
names.

2. Units that measure what has been combined. This has two
topics: a. Units of distance, and b. Units of time.

a. Units of distance. This has three topics: i. Units from atoms to

knuckles, ii. Units up to earshots, and iii. The size of the actual
unit, the league.

164. That is, single particles of the individual sources and the source-derived.
165. See Cf. I.9ab.

405
i. Units from atoms to knuckles

85d
Called atoms, molecules, and iron,

86.
And water, rabbit, sheep, and ox,
And particles of sunlight, nits,
What comes from that, and also knuckles—
Each seven times larger than the previous.

The units called atoms, molecules, and iron and water, rabbit,
sheep, and ox, and particles of sunlight, nits, what comes from
that or lice, and also knuckles are each seven times larger than the
previous.

ii. Units up to earshots. This has two points.

(1) Actual

87a–c
ere are four and twenty fingers to
A cubit; four in every fathom.
Of those, five hundred make an earshot,

There are four and twenty fingers to a cubit, and four cubits in ev-
ery fathom. Of those fathoms, five hundred make an earshot.

(2) Hermitage

87d
Which is a hermitage, it is said.

One earshot outside of town is a hermitage, it is said.

406
iii. The size of the actual unit, the league

88a
And eight of those are called a league.

And eight of those earshots are called a league.

b. Units of time. This has two topics: i. The length of a year, and ii.
The length of an aeon.

i. The length of a year. This has two points.

(1) The length of the months used to measure

88b–d
One hundred twenty instants is
An instant of that. Sixty of those
Is a minute. Hours and days and months

89a
Are thirty times as long as previous.

One hundred twenty instants of the limit of time is an instant of

that. Sixty of those is a minute. Thirty of those is an hour. Hours
and days and months are thirty times as long as the previous.166

(2) The actual year

89bc
Including the impossible days
ere are twelve months in every year.

166. To compare with modern units of time, an “instant” would be 13.333 milli-
seconds. An “instant of that” is 1.6 seconds. A “minute” is 96 seconds. An “hour”
is 48 modern minutes.

407
Including the six impossible days, there are twelve months in ev-
ery year. The way impossible days are discarded is described in the
commentary:

When one and one half months of autumn,

Of rains, and of the spring have passed,
The wise from the half month remaining,
Discard one impossible day.

ii. The length of an aeon. This has three topics: (1) Identifying
aeons, (2) The way the long beginning diminishes, and (3) De-
structive aeons.

(1) Identifying aeons. This has two topics: (a) Overview, and (b)
Explanation.

(a) Overview

89d
e many types of aeon are explained.

In the sutras and treatises, the many types of aeon are explained:
intermediate aeons, aeons of destruction, aeons of formation, and
great aeons.

(b) Explanation. This has three topics: (i) Explaining aeons of de-
struction and formation, (ii) Explaining aeons of abiding, and (iii)
Explaining great aeons.

(i) Explaining aeons of destruction and formation. This has two

points.

408
A. Aeons of destruction

90ab
An aeon of destruction lasts from when
ere are no hell beings till the world’s destroyed.

An aeon of destruction lasts from the time at end of an aeon of

abiding when the life span is eighty thousand years, there is no
birth of a new hell being in the Incessant Hell and its prior in-
habitants have all died, so that it is empty. Then in the same way,
the other hells, hungry ghost, and animal realms are also gradually
destroyed. Then the humans of the Rose-Apple Land, without any
teacher, attain the first dhyana by the dharma nature, gradually
die and are reborn in the Brahma’s World. The eastern and west-
ern continents are the same. The humans of Unpleasant Sound are
reborn as Desire gods, and the Desire gods are then successively
reborn in the first dhyana. Those in the first dhyana attain the sec-
ond dhyana by dharma nature and are born in the second dhyana
and so forth. In this way the destruction of sentient beings lasts for
nineteen intermediate aeons.

Then seven suns that are four times as hot as our sun appear, and
all the brooks, rivers, the four great rivers, the Unheated Lake, and
the great oceans up to the Supreme Mountain dry up. Smoke bil-
lows and fires burn: the container of the world becomes one great
fire and everything up until Brahma’s World is burnt without even
a trace left over and the container world is destroyed. This lasts
one intermediate aeon, which makes a total of twenty intermedi-
ate aeons. In the same way everything up to the second dhyana is
destroyed by water, and everything up to the third dhyana is de-
stroyed by wind.

409
B. Aeons of formation

90cd
Formation is from primordial wind
Until a being exists in hell.

The aeon of formation is after the destruction by fire, water, and

air. It lasts one intermediate aeon from the primordial formation
of the wind mandalas that are the ground first under Full Virtue,
Radiant Light, Great Brahma, and then in order down to Conflict
Free, until the previously described formation of the mandala of
wind and so on.

After that, in the same order, from the first rebirth of one being
from the fourth, third, or second dhyana into Full Virtue, Radi-
ant Light, or Great Brahma, beings are reborn in the god realms
in descending order. Humans are born successively in the north,
west, east, and southern continents, and as a result of humans in
the Rose-Apple Land acting nonvirtuously, they are reborn in the
animal, hungry ghost, and hell realms, until a being attains the ex-
istence of the prior state in the Incessant Hell. This lasts nineteen
intermediate aeons.

(ii) Explaining aeons of abiding. This has A. Explanation, and B.

Summary.

A. Explanation. This has four points.

1. The long beginning

91a–c
An intermediate aeon lasts
From when life is incalculable
Till it is ten years.

410
The aeon of abiding is twenty intermediate aeons. Of these, an
intermediate aeon lasts from when the life span of humans is in-
calculable, then decreases to eighty thousand years, and then until
it is a life span of ten years. This one intermediate aeon is called the
long beginning.

2. The eighteen intermediate cycles

91cd
en another
Eighteen increasing and decreasing,

Then after that there are another eighteen intermediate aeons that
have life spans that increase to eighty thousand and decrease to ten
years. These are known as the intermediate cycles that are different
from the long beginning.

3. The long ending

92a
en one increasing.

The word then links this to the previous verse. At the end of all
these there is one intermediate aeon known as the long ending that
has life spans that lengthen or increase. Therefore, there are twenty
intermediate aeons of abiding.

4. The maximum increase of the life span

92ab
During those,
Lives are as long as eighty thousand.

411
During those periods of increase, the life span increases to as long
as eighty thousand years.

B. Summary. This has two points.

1. Actual

92cd
In this way this world that is formed
Lasts twenty intermediate aeons.

In this way this world that is formed lasts twenty intermediate

aeons.

2. Teaching that destruction and formation are also equal

93ab
Forming, destroying, and remaining
After destruction are the same.

Aeons of forming, destroying, and the empty aeons that remain

after destruction are all of the same duration, twenty intermediate
aeons.

(iii) Explaining great aeons. This has two topics: A. Actual, and B.
Additionally, the way the three individuals appear.

A. Actual

93c
ese eighty make up one great aeon.

These eighty such intermediate aeons make up one great aeon.

412
As explained by the words “Just these are time,”167 the nature of an
aeon is the five aggregates.

B. Additionally, the way the three individuals appear. This has

three topics: 1. How buddhas arise, 2. How self-buddhas arise, and
3. How wheel-wielding emperors arise.

1. How Buddhas arise. This has two points.

a. The cause of the buddhas

93d
en after three uncountable

94a
Of these appears a Buddha

Then after three uncountable of these great aeons of gathering ac-

cumulations appears a Buddha. Here so-called uncountable is a
novemdecillion (1060), a number described in Short Discourses; it
is the name of a number that exists, not something that cannot be
counted.

Well, what are the numbers? you ask. They are:

One, ten, hundred, thousand,

Ten thousand, hundred thousand,
Million, ten and hundred million,
These are the common numbers.
Billion, ten and hundred billion,
Trillion, ten and hundred trillion,
Quadrillion, ten and hundred quadrillion,

167. See I.7c.

413
 Quintillion, ten and hundred quintillion,
Sextillion, ten and hundred sextillion,
Septillion, ten and hundred septillion,
Octillion, ten and hundred octillion,
Nonillion, ten and hundred nonillion,
Decillion, ten and hundred decillion,
Undecillion, ten and hundred undecillion,
Duodecillion, ten and hundred duodecillion,
Tredecillion, ten and hundred tredecillion,
Quattuordecillion, ten and hundred quattuordecillion,
Quindecillion, ten and hundred quindecillion,
Sexdecillion, ten and hundred sexdecillion,
Septendecillion, ten and hundred septendecillion,
Octodecillion, ten and hundred octodecillion,
And novemdecillion: that is one uncountable.

b. The time when they appear

94ab
during
e decrease to one hundred years.

The Buddhas appear during the decrease of beings’ life spans to

one hundred years. They do not appear during the period of in-
crease or when the life span is less then one hundred years, because
it is difficult for beings to develop weariness during the former, and
because the latter is a bad and lowly time of the five degenerations
of life, time, afflictions, views, and sentient beings.

2. How self-buddhas arise. This has two points.

414
a. The time when self-buddhas appear

94c
In both, self-buddhas.

In both times when the life span is increasing and when it is de-
creasing, selfbuddhas appear. The eighty thousand attendants of
King Given by Fire became self-buddhas during a period of in-
crease, and Excellent White Tip appeared on earth during a period
of decrease, at which time there were five hundred self-buddhas
who appeared in the Deer Park of the Fallen Sages.

b. Their cause

94cd
Following
One hundred aeons, a rhino appears.

Following one hundred aeons of the three trainings, the accumu-

lations of enlightenment, as the cause of awakening, a rhinocer-
os-like self-buddha attains self-enlightenment and appears.

3. How wheel-wielding emperors arise. This has three topics: a.

The time they appear, b. Classifications of their types, and c. Dis-
tinctions in qualities.

a. The time they appear

95ab
Wheel-wielding emperors appear
When life is not less than eighty thousand

Wheel-wielding emperors, who wield political power through

415
their all-powerful weapons, wheels, appear during a time when hu-
man life ranges from uncountable to not less than eighty thousand
years. When the life span is shorter than that, there is not sufficient
wealth for one to appear.

b. Classifications of their types. This has four points.

(1) Actual classification

95c
With wheels of gold, silver, copper, iron,

They have wheels of gold, silver, copper, and iron: the supreme,
nearly supreme, middle, and least.

(2) Which continents they have power over

95d
ey rule over one, two, three, or else

96a
Four continents, in reverse order.

They rule over one continent, two continents, three continents, or

else four continents, in reverse order.

(3) Elaboration

96b
At once, there are never two, like buddhas.

There is only one wheel-wielding emperor at a time: at one time,

there are never two. It is like buddhas, for example, of whom there
are never two that appear in the world at the same time.

416
(4) How they achieve victory

96c–f
When their opponents welcome them,
Or they themselves advance or gird
For battle or just brandish weapons,
ey triumph without causing harm.

The way the four wheel-wielding emperors are victorious over all is
respectively when their opponents welcome them, or they them-
selves advance, or merely gird for battle, or after preparing just
brandish their weapons. They triumph without taking life or caus-
ing any other harm.

c. Distinctions in qualities

97ab
e Sage’s marks remain in place,
Clear and complete, so they’re superior.

Wheel-wielding emperors also have the major marks, so what is the

difference between their marks and the Sage’s? you ask. The Sage’s
marks remain in their place without moving. They are more radi-
ant and their parts are clear and complete with a thousand spokes
and so on, so they are superior.

(2) The way the long beginning diminishes. This has three topics:
(a) The particulars of the first aeon, (b) How it diminishes, and (c)
What happens at the end of the diminishing.

417
(a) The particulars of the first aeon

97c
e earliest beings are like Form gods.

Just after the formation of the world, the earliest human beings are
born miraculously, do not eat food, have radiant bodies, perform
miracles, and live for incalculable numbers of years, like the Form
realm’s gods.

(b) How it diminishes. This has three points.

(i) How the Age of Threefold Qualities arose168

97d
ey gradually feel greed for tastes,

Then they gradually ate the three foods of honey-like nectar of the
earth, yellow dust, and the grove of reeds, so their bodies became
heavy and their radiance weakened and became dark. By the force
of karma, the sun, moon, and so forth then provided light. Those
who ate a lot of those foods developed a bad color, and those who
ate a little had good color. Because of this, those with good color
scorned those with bad, and acted nonvirtuously, so those foods

168. “Age of Threefold Qualities” refers to the second age during an aeon. The
first age is the Age of Perfection, during which humans have six qualities: 1)
bodies as radiant as the gods of Form, 2) the ability to mentally create things with
magic, 3) enjoyable food to eat, 4) all their limbs complete, 5) all faculties com-
plete, and 6) equality and long life for all sentient beings, et cetera. This is the age
referred to in verse III.97c. During the Age of Threefold Qualities, humans have
the three qualities of primarily giving up the three misdeeds of mind, as during
the time of the Buddha Kanakamuni. Alternatively, it is an age when humans
have three of the six qualities of the Age of Perfection. (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2004,
vol. 2, 728–729).

418
disappeared. Then they began to feel greed for the taste of the salu
rice crops that grew without toil, so filth and so forth appears. They
developed male and female faculties, and their shapes and colors
became different. When they saw each other, desire arose, and they
acted indecently. Others criticized this, and they built houses and
such for propriety.

(ii) How the Age of Twofold Qualities and the Age of Strife
arose169

98ab
Grow lazy, and then gather and hoard.
Land holders then appoint field chieftains.

When they wanted to take the salu rice, they grew lazy, and then
some started to gather and hoard, so they began threshing the rice
and also reaping it. When that happened, it did not grow, so then
those beings became unfriendly. Each took full possession of his
own, and they divided the fields. The land holders stole from each
other, and a man who was good by nature was then appointed and
installed as the field chieftain. He was granted a sixth of the crop
and called the King Respected by Many.

(iii) How the life span becomes ten years

98cd
Because of their strong karmic paths,
eir life span shortens to ten years.

169. During the Age of Twofold Qualities, humans have two qualities of
primarily giving up malice and covetousness, as during the time of the Buddha
Kashyapa. Alternatively, it is an age when humans have two of the six qualities of
the Age of Perfection. The Age of Strife is an age of great turmoil, as during the
time of the Buddha Shakyamuni. (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2004, vol. 2, 729).

419
Because of acting out of their strong nonvirtuous karmic paths,
their life span shortens to ten years for humans, and they are not
able to live any longer than that.

(c) What happens at the end of the diminishing. This has two
points.

(i) Teaching how the three ages of calamities happen

99ab
It’s weapons, pestilence, and famine
at bring an aeon to its end,

When the human life span is ten years, it is ages of weapons, pesti-
lence, and famine that bring an intermediate aeon to its end.

(ii) The duration of those three

99cd
For seven days, then seven months,
en seven years respectively.

Those sentient beings are killed by weapons for seven days, then
by pestilence for seven months and seven days, and then by famine
for seven years, seven months, and seven days in succession. The
plural of the word days in the root indicates that the seven days
also follow the latter two. When these happen in the Rose-Apple
Land, something somewhat similar also happens on the other two
continents.

(3) Destructive aeons. This has three topics: (a) How levels up to
the third dhyana are destroyed, (b) How the fourth is destroyed,
and (c) The number of destructions by fire, water, and wind.

420
(a) How levels up to the third dhyana are destroyed. This has
three points.

(i) What destroys what

100ab
en fire and water and then wind
Bring three additional destructions.

Then when all sentient beings have been gathered in one dhyana,
there is destruction by fire for seven days, and then by water from
rain and floods, and then destruction by extremely violent wind,
so these bring three additional destructions: not even an atom re-
mains.

(ii) The crests that remain undestroyed

100cd
ese crest respectively at the
ree dhyanas—second and so forth—

These three additional destructions crest respectively at the three

dhyanas because those dhyanas remain after destruction. The crest
of destruction by fire is the second dhyana. The phrase “and so
forth” indicates that the crest of destruction by water is the third
dhyana, and the crest of destruction by wind is the fourth dhyana.
This is because the first dhyana and below are destroyed by fire, the
second and below by water, and the third and below are destroyed
by wind.

421
(iii) The reasons for those

101a
Because those correspond to their faults.

This is because those, fire, water, and wind, correspond to their,

the three dhyana’s internal faults: considering and examining are
like fire; joy and pleasure are like water; and the inhalation and ex-
halation are like wind. They are destroyed by fire, water, and wind,
respectively.

(b) How the fourth is destroyed. This has two points.

(i) Teaching that it is not destroyed by fire, water, or air

101b
But not the fourth, since it’s immovable.

But there is not an external cause for destruction on the fourth

dhyana since it is immovable by the eight faults, as will be ex-
plained in the eighth area.170

(ii) The actual way it is destroyed

101cd
Not permanent, its palaces
And beings arise, and then they perish.

The container of the fourth dhyana is not permanent, because its

palaces and beings arise, and then they perish.

170. See VIII.11.

422
(c) The number of destructions by fire, water, and wind

102.
ere are seven by fire, then one by water.
When seven by water are thus finished,
en seven by fire, and after that,
Finally wind will bring destruction.

There are seven times when there are destructions by fire. After
those, there is the one destruction by water. Then after a succession
of seven destructions by fire, there is another destruction by water,
and when seven destructions by water are thus finished, then there
is a sequence of seven destructions by fire, and after that at the end
of every sixty-four great aeons, there is finally destruction by wind.

Second, presenting the area’s name

is completes the third area called “Teachings on the

World” from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the third area called “Teachings

on the World” from The Explanation of the “Verses of the Treasury
of Abhidharma” called The Essence of the Ocean of Abhidharma, The
Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining the Youthful Play,
Opening the Eyes of Dharma, The Chariot of Easy Practice.

A few words here:

Because of the second Vasubandhu, Vijayakīrti’s

Full explanation of these signs and meanings
And the development of my intelligence,
I have explained the Treasury of the world.
May the great masses of virtue greatly please

423
The mighty guides appearing in all three times.
May their one hundred peals of laughter
Pacify the tumult of false teachers.

424
 FOURTH AREA

Teachings on Karma

The illumining master, the Karmaka, skilled

In shining in the playful, ocean-like skies
Of the Land of Snows, playing in vibrant compassion:
I prostrate to him who’s omniscient. And then
From love and compassion for those
Whose six-legged, wingèd intelligence
Could go to the ends of the skies
Of his unexcelled explanations,
This short commentary of mine
Whose cool rays make clear the Karmapa’s intent
Comes from the great ocean of the abhidharma.

The fourth area, the “Teachings on Karma,” has an explanation of

the text of the area and a presentation of the area’s name. The ex-
planation of the text of the area has three topics: I. How everything
arises from karma, II. Understanding karma itself, and III. Teach-
ing the synonyms of dharmas as a summary.

I. How everything arises from karma

1a
From karma various worlds are born.

What created the environment of the world and its inhabitants,

sentient beings, described above? It was not created out of fore-
thought by Ishvara or some other god. Instead, from various virtu-

425
ous and nonvirtuous karmas the environments and inhabitants of
various happy and wretched, good and bad worlds are born.

II. Understanding karma itself. This has three topics: A. Identify-

ing karma, B. The presentation of karma, and C. The meaning of
karma as explained in the sutras.

A. Identifying karma. This has three points.

1. Classifying karma in two

1b
Volition and what that creates.

What is karma like? you ask. If you classify it, there are two types:
volitional karma and what that volition creates, intended karma.
This is because it is said in the sutras, “Karma is twofold: volitional
and intended karma.” Intended karma is also classified in two, so
there are three types.

2. Their individual essences

1cd
Volition is mental karma, which
Creates the karma of body and speech.

Of those three, the mental factor volition is the mental karma.

That which volition creates, intended karma, is the karma of body
and the karma of speech.

3. Perceptible or imperceptible karma

2a
ose two are percepts and impercepts.

426
Those two, karma of body and speech, are the perceptible karma
of body, the imperceptible karma of body, and the perceptible and
imperceptible karmas of speech.

B. The presentation of karma. This has three topics: 1. Classifying

karma in two, 2. The presentation of general features of the three
karmas, and 3. The presentation of imperceptible karma.

1. Classifying karma in two. This has two topics: a. Perceptible,

and b. Imperceptible.

a. Perceptible. This has two points: i. Perceptible of body, and ii.

Perceptible of speech.

i. Perceptible of body. This has three points.

(1) Identifying its essence according to the Great Exposition

tradition

2b
Bodily perceptible is shape.

When the mind thinks, “I will prostrate,” bodily perceptible ac-

tion, such as prostrating and joining one’s palms, is proposed to be
shape.

427
(2) Refuting the doubts of the Vatsiputrīya school

2cd
It is not movement, since composites
Are momentary, as they perish.

3ab
Nothing can happen without cause.
e cause would become the destroyer.

Followers of the Vatsiputrīya school agree that some composites

such as rainstorms or flames are momentary but mostly do not
assert momentary impermanence. Therefore perceptible actions of
body are not impermanent because they are actions that move the
body from one location to another. They are not unmoving actions,
they say.

This is illogical. It, karma or action of the body, is not movement to

another location without ceasing since it is composite, like cogni-
tion and so forth. To prove that this is pervasively true, all compos-
ites are without a doubt momentary phenomena that are destroyed
immediately upon arising, as without a doubt they immediately
perish independent of other causes or conditions. The disintegra-
tion of composites does not depend upon some other cause because
nothing that depends upon a cause can happen without a cause,
but lightning and so on are directly seen to perish without any
cause at all.

In that case, some things such as lightning are like that, but we can
see that hammers and such are the cause of the destruction of clay
jugs and so forth, you say. If that were so, the cause of the red color
of a clay jug that is heated, fire, would become the destroyer of the

428
red color of the heated jug: it would follow that the creator was also
the destroyer.

(3) The tradition of the Sutra school

3c
Two would perceive it; not in particles.

The Sutra school holds that shape does not exist substantially, be-
cause when it is destroyed, there is no mind that perceives it, just as
with a vase. If shape were to exist, the two faculties of body and eye
would both perceive it, because the eye would see shape directly
and know it, and also when the body faculty touches it, a cogni-
tion that thinks “long” or so forth would occur. One cannot agree,
because then it would be senseless to have multiple faculties, and
the correspondence between the sense bases and substances would
be weakened. Any existing obstructive form at all must exist in the
atoms that are aggregated. Long and other such shapes do not sub-
stantially exist, because there is not any such thing in the particles,
because atoms have no parts.

At this point, there are many arguments and counter-arguments

between the Great Exposition and Sutra schools, but I shall not go
into them here.

ii. Perceptible of speech

3d
Perceptible speech is speech’s sound.

The perceptible karma of speech is speech’s sound—sound that

has the nature of speech—because it makes the desire that moti-
vates the speaker to talk perceptible to others.

429
b. Imperceptible forms. This has two topics: i. Proof they exist
substantially, and ii. Presentation of their features.

i. Proof they exist substantially

4ab
ree kinds and stainless form are taught;
Increase; and paths not done; et cetera.

The Sutra school says that imperceptible forms do not substantially

exist. This is because they are merely promises not to do something
any more from this time forward until forfeited which are mere-
ly given the label imperceptible form; because they are designated
based upon the past sources, but the past sources do not exist in
essence; and because they do not fulfill the characteristics of form.

The Great Exposition school says that imperceptible forms exist

substantially. As proof of this, a sutra says:

The three types of form include all forms. There is form that
is showable and obstructive. There is also form that is not
showable but is obstructive. There is also form that is neither
showable nor obstructive.

Thus imperceptible forms exist because three kinds of form are

taught. A sutra also says:

These forms for which greed or anger do not arise are called
undefiled dharmas.

Thus it is also proven because stainless form is taught, and without

imperceptible forms it would not be logical for there to be such
forms.

430
If it is one of the seven material merits or the seven immaterial
merits, the merit increases greatly.171 The seven material merits are:

To give a monastery or a temple,

A bed, or sustenance continuously,
A passing guest, or nursing for the sick
Or generosity in times of darkness:
These are the seven material merits.
The seven immaterial merits are:
To hear he172 dwells or plans to come or else
Has embarked upon the road, arrived; to see him,
To hear the Dharma, hold the basic precepts:
If these should make true faith and joy arise,
These are the seven immaterial merits.

Additionally, it would follow that the karmic paths not done by

oneself but that one incites others to do would not exist because
there is no imperceptible form. The phrase “et cetera” means that
imperceptible forms exist also because it is taught that there is form
in the sense base of dharmas, because the eightfold noble path is
taught, and because it is taught that vows obstruct immorality like
a dike and water. There are many additional proofs, so impercepti-
ble form is proven to exist.

At this point, there are many refutations, presentations, and po-

sitions from others, including the Yogic Action, Sutra school,

171. As taught in the Vinaya, the seven material and immaterial merits are merit
that “increases always and continuously, whether one is going, staying, lying
down, or not lying down” (Dge ’dun grub, 647). The autocommentary clarifies
that if there were no imperceptible form, it would not be logical for merit to
increase in such a way (folio 169).
172. The Buddha or a listener disciple of the Buddha (Dge ’dun grub, 647).

431
Dārṣṭāntika, earlier masters, the venerable elders of the Great Ex-
position, the Master, and so forth. These appear in the Ṭīka.

ii. Presentation of their features. This has four topics: (1) The fea-
tures of their cause, (2) of their level, (3) of their essence, and (4)
Other attributes of their cause.

(1) The features of their cause. This has two points.

(a) Attributes of the cause of the first moment

A small number of the present and future forms that act as causes
arise from the past sources. In the first moment of an imperceptible
form of Desire—at the time of swearing a vow or so forth—the
sources of the basis and the sources of the support are both coemer-
gent sources of the present imperceptible.

(b) Attributes of the cause of subsequent moments

4cd
In subsequent moments, the impercepts
Of Desire are born from the past sources.

In subsequent moments, the imperceptible forms of Desire are

born from the sources of the basis, past sources, and the present
sources of the bodily support.

(2) The features of their level. This has two points.

(a) Attributes on the defiled levels

5ab
Stained karmas of the body and speech
Take their own sources as a cause.

432
The sources of which level function as their cause? you ask. The
imperceptible forms of stained or defiled karmas of the body and
speech from the Desire realm up to the fourth dhyana take their
own level’s sources as a cause.

(b) Attributes on the undefiled levels

5c
e undefiled, of where it arises.173

Undefiled forms take the four sources of the support of the level
where they arise. If the undefiled vow is attained on the support of
a Desire-realm body, its great sources also must arise or originate
out of the sources of the Desire realm. If the undefiled vow is at-
tained on a support of the first dhyana, its great sources also must
be from the first dhyana.

(3) The features of their essence

5d
Impercepts aren’t appropriated.

6ab
ey are causally compatible
And indicate a sentient being.

Imperceptible forms are unobstructive, so they are not appropri-

ated, and as they are always either virtuous or nonvirtuous, it is
impossible for them to be neutral. As they are not produced by de-
velopment, by implication they are produced by compatible cause.

173. Author’s note: As undefiled sources are impossible, these are the sources of
the level where the individual’s bodily support was born.

433
They indicate a sentient being because they are included within
the continuum of one.

(4) Other attributes of their cause. This has two points:

(a) Attributes of the causes of imperceptible forms of Desire

6cd
ey arise from sources which must be
Compatible, appropriated.

They, imperceptibles of Desire, arise from the cause of the great

sources in the continuum of the assemblage of the body, which
must be causally compatible and appropriated.

(b) Attributes of the causes in the dhyanas and undefiled levels

6e-h
e ones born of samadhi arise
From unappropriated sources,
at are produced by development
And are not separate.

Since they follow the mind, the ones born of samadhi—undefiled

and dhyana vows—arise from the cause of unappropriated sourc-
es. Because they are developed by samadhi, they are produced by
development. They are born from one set of four sources, as the
four sources that produce all seven different abandonments are not
separate.174

174. That is to say, the sources that produce the imperceptible form of abandon-
ing taking life are not separate from the sources that produce the imperceptible
form of abandoning stealing, sexual misconduct, and so on.

434
Here there are different assertions made by the Great Exposition,
Sutra school and Mind Only school.

2. The presentation of general features of the three karmas. This

has two topics: a. Presenting the actual meaning, and b. Explaining
motivation in detail.

a. Presenting the actual meaning. This has three topics: i. Distinc-

tions of virtue and so forth, ii. What is in which realm, and iii. The
individual classification of the three dharmas.

i. Distinctions of virtue and so forth

7ab
ere are no neutral imperceptibles.
e others are threefold.

Among the three types of karma explained above,175 there are no

neutral imperceptible karmas that are neither virtuous nor non-
virtuous. The perceptible and volitional karmas that are other than
that are threefold. For example, there are virtuous perceptibles
such as joining palms in prayer, nonvirtuous such as taking life,
and neutral such as the crafts and so forth—all three are possible.
Likewise volition can be all three.

ii. What is in which realm. This has four points:

(1) Which realm nonvirtue is in

7bc
Nonvirtue is
In Desire.

175. Here, the three types of karma are volitional karma, perceptible karma of
body and speech, and imperceptible karma of body and speech. See IV.1 & 2.

435
Nonvirtuous karma is only in the Desire realm. It is not in the
higher realms, because beings in those realms have discarded
shamelessness and immodesty.

(2) Which realms imperceptibles are in

7c
ere are impercepts in Form, too,

There are the imperceptibles of dhyana and undefiled vows in

Form, too. The word “too” indicates they are also in Desire. They
are not in Formless.

(3) Which realm mere perceptibles are in

7d
And percepts where there is considering.

And there are perceptibles, including action, in those levels where

there is considering—Desire and the first dhyana. They are not in
the second dhyana and higher, because there is neither the motiva-
tion of consideration and examination, nor obscured neutral.

(4) Which realm obscured perceptibles are in

8ab
ere’s no obscured in Desire, either,
Because there is no motivation.

Not only in the levels without consideration, but there is no ob-

scured neutral perceptible in the Desire realm either. What is the
reason? Because there is no motivation for it: in Desire, the ob-
scured is only associated with personality and extreme views, and

436
these are always discards of seeing only, so they directed inward.
For that reason they are not suitable as the motivation for percep-
tible karma.

iii. The individual classification of the three dharmas. This has

three topics: (1) The classification of virtue, (2) of nonvirtue, and
(3) of neutral.

(1) The classification of virtue. This has four points.

(a) Ultimate virtue

8c
Ultimate virtue is liberation;

What is called ultimate virtue is the liberation of nirvana, because

it is both exalted and truly virtuous. That is because it is the su-
preme happiness that is free of suffering, like freedom from illness,
for example.

(b) Inherent virtue

8d
Inherent: roots, shame, modesty;

Inherent or intrinsic virtue is the three virtuous roots of nongreed,

nonhatred, and nondelusion; shame; and modesty, because they
do not depend upon concurrence or motivation, like beneficial
medicine, for example.

(c) Concurrent virtue

9a
Concurrent with that is concurrent;

437
Dharmas that are concurrent with that, inherent virtue, are con-
current virtue, because there are no virtues in a mind that is not
concurrent with the roots of virtue, like drink that is mixed with
medicine.

(d) Virtue of motivation

9b
Actions and such are motivated.

The actions or karmas of body and speech motivated by those and

such things, including birth, attainment, cessation, the absorption
of the conception-free are motivated virtue, like the milk from a
mother who has drunk a beverage mixed with beneficial medicine.

(2) The classification of nonvirtue

9c
Nonvirtue is the opposite.

Nonvirtue, which also has four types, is the opposite of the four
virtues. All that is in the end samsaric is ultimate nonvirtue. The
three nonvirtuous roots, shamelessness, and immodesty are inher-
ent nonvirtue. Dharmas that are concurrent with those are con-
current nonvirtue. The karmas of body and speech that these mo-
tivate, as well as the characteristics of birth and so forth and the
attainment of nonvirtue, are motivated nonvirtue. An example to
illustrate this would be milk from a mother who has drunk a bev-
erage mixed with harmful drugs.

438
(3) The classification of neutral

9d
e stable is the ultimate neutral.

That which is stable is the ultimate neutral: space and nonanalytic

cessation among the noncomposites. The inherent neutral is that
which is obscured by personality and extreme view in the Desire
realm and by all afflictions in the higher realms. The concurrent
neutral is that which is concurrent with the mind of crafts, et cet-
era. Motivated neutral is the perceptibles of body and speech in the
path of conduct and so forth, birth and so forth, and attainment.

b. Explaining motivation in detail. This has three topics: i. Classi-

fication of motivation, ii. The nature of each classification, and iii.
Examining the four possibilities of their dharma bases.

i. Classification of motivation

10ab
Two motivations are the causal
And the contemporaneous motives.

Well then, if the cognition of a discard of seeing cannot motivate

a perceptible, then it contradicts the sutra that says, “From that
wrong view come wrong thought, wrong speech, and extreme ac-
tions,” you say.

It is not a contradiction. In general, there are two types of motiva-

tions, which are called the causal and the contemporaneous (with
the action) motivations.

439
ii. The nature of each classification

10cd
e first one is the instigator;
e second is the executor.

The first one of the two motivations is the instigator because it is

both cause and motivation and because it impels the karma. The
second one, the contemporaneous motive, is the executor because
one engages in action according to it at the time of the action.
Without the contemporaneous motivation, there might be the
causal motivation, but the action will not be brought to a percep-
tible end. For example, it is like someone who resolves to go to the
market but dies in the interim and does not reach the market.

iii. Examining the four possibilities of their dharma bases. This

has five topics: (1) The possibility of being only the instigator, (2)
The possibility of being both, (3) The possibility of only being the
executor, (4) The possibility of analyzing the way they mutually
engage, and (5) The possibility of being neither.

(1) The possibility of being only the instigator

11ab
e consciousness that seeing discards
Is the instigator.

The consciousness that seeing discards is the perceptible’s instiga-

tor only, because the causal motivation is a motivation that is the
basis for the consideration and examination. At the time that the
executor is looking outward, the six groups of consciousness arise
in succession, so the earlier motivation that looked inward does not
exist and thus cannot be the executor.

440
(2) The possibility of being both

11b–d
And the mind
at is a discard of meditation
Is both.

And of the different kinds of mind consciousness, those that are

a discard of meditation are both instigator and executor, because
they engage when focused outward and inward.

(3) The possibility of only being the executor

11d
e five are executors.

The five sense consciousnesses are only executors because they are
thoughtfree consciousnesses.

Undefiled consciousness is neither because it rests in equipoise,

looks inward, and is exclusive of engagement.

(4) The possibility of analyzing the way they mutually engage.

This has two points.

(a) General

12ab
e executors from the virtuous
And other instigators are threefold.

Additionally, it is not definite that the instigator and executor are

similar. The executors that come from the virtuous and other,
nonvirtuous and neutral, instigators are also threefold: these exec-

441
utors can be either virtuous, nonvirtuous, or neutral, so there are
a total of nine combinations. For example, the vows of individual
liberation have a mental factor of virtuous intention as their causal
motivation. For the contemporaneous motivation at the time of
the ceremony, however, either the continuation of that intention,
hatred, or the mind of the path of activities176 might be manifest, so
the attainment of the vow could be any one of these.

(b) Specific

12c
e Sage’s are alike or virtuous.

The Sage’s instigator and executor are alike because his virtue en-
gages out of virtue and neutral engages out of neutral. The word
“or” is a conjunction. Alternatively, following a neutral instigator,
the executor, is virtuous, but after a virtuous instigator there can
only be a virtuous executor and never a neutral one because it is
impossible that the Buddha’s powers could decrease.

(5) The possibility of being neither

12d
ose born of ripening are neither.

Those cognitions that are born of full ripening are neither insti-
gator nor executor, because they are born naturally without effort.

3. The presentation of imperceptible karma. This has two topics:

a. An overview of the classifications, and b. The extensive presen-
tation.

176. That is, a neutral mind that is thinking about sitting, going, standing, and
so forth.

442
a. An overview of the classifications

13ab
ree types of imperceptibles
Are vows, wrong vows, and neither.

There are said to be three types of imperceptibles. They are vows

that bind the continuum of immorality; their opposite, wrong
vows that arise as extremely harmful conduct of body and speech;
and the mid-vow that is neither of those two.

b. The extensive presentation. This has two topics: i. Explaining

vows in particular, and ii. Explaining the three types of karma to-
gether.

i. Explaining vows in particular. This has two topics: (1) Overview,

and (2) Explanation.

(1) Overview

13b–d
Vows
Are individual liberation
And dhyan-produced and undefiled.

The discipline that a dharma practitioner maintains in Desire is

called the vow of individual liberation. And the discipline that
dhyana primarily produces and that is effective in the Form realm
is called the vow of dhyana. And undefiled discipline is called the
undefiled vow.177

177. The Sanskrit saṃvara and Tibetan sdom pa normally translated here and in
many other works as “vow” actually mean restraint of one’s actions, not neces-
sarily an oath or oral commitment. The dhyana and undefiled vows are thus the
restraints on one’s behavior that naturally arise out of abandoning the discards

443
(2) Explanation. This has three topics: (a) The explanation of vows
of individual liberation, (b) The explanation of the undefiled vows
and vows of dhyana, and (c) Additional points.

(a) The explanation of vows of individual liberation. This has two

topics: (i) Teaching them together, and (ii) Teaching them sepa-
rately.

(i) Teaching them together. This has three points.

A. Classifying in eight in terms of name

14a
ere are the eight called pratimokṣa,

There are the eight vows called vows of pratimokṣa, individual lib-
eration: the vows of the bhikshu or “almsman,” the vows of the
bhikshuni, the vows of the śikṣamāṇa or “nun postulant,” the vows
of the male and female śramanera or novices, the male and female
upāsaka lay precepts or “pursuer of virtue,” and the vows of fasting
or upavāsastha. The vows of fasting can be held by the sexless and
neuters as well as males and females, so the male and female fasting
vows are not counted separately.

B. Combining in four in terms of substance

14bc
But they are four in substance since
Name alone changes with the organ.

The vows are eight in terms of name, but they are four in substance:
the bhikshu vows, novice vows, fasting vows, and pursuer of vir-

and attaining the dhyanas or undefiled paths.

444
tue vows. The reason for this is since just the name alone changes
to bhikshuni with the change of sexual organs of a bhikshu.178 As
there is no cancellation, attainment, or shift in the essence of the
vows, they are proven to be the same continuum as before.

C. How they relate

14d
ey’re separate but not exclusive.

When a single individual has all three vows, they are definitely,
solely separate in their characteristics because otherwise, if one
should forfeit the bhikshu vows, one would also forfeit the other
two, which is not the case.
In that case, because they abandon the same class but are substan-
tially separate, they should be simultaneously exclusive179 in the
stream of a single being, you say. They are not simultaneously ex-
clusive of each other in that way because taking a later vow is not
the cause of forfeiting the previous.

(ii) Teaching them separately. This has four points.

178. That is, if a male bhikshu should lose his male sexual organs and gain
female organs, he becomes a bhikshuni. There are stories of such spontaneous sex
changes in the sutras and vinaya.
179. Two things that cannot exist without harm on the same basis at the same
time are said to be simultaneously exclusive. Traditional examples include owls
and crows, or discards and antidotes.

445
A. Their individual essences

15.
By swearing to hold five, eight, ten,
Or all the precepts, one becomes
A pursuer of virtue, or a faster,
Or else a novice, or a bhikshu.

What makes someone a pursuer of virtue and so forth? you ask.

By swearing (1) to hold for the rest of one’s life the five precepts
of abandoning taking life, taking what is not given, sexual mis-
conduct, lying, and intoxicants; (2) to hold for one day the eight
precepts of abandoning the root four plus intoxicants; refraining
from dancing, ornaments, and so forth counted as one; no high
beds; or food after noon; (3) to hold for the rest of one’s life the
ten precepts of those eight with dancing and ornaments counted
separately to make nine, plus abandoning taking gold and silver for
a total of ten; or (4) to hold for the rest of one’s life all the precepts
of abandoning all the harmful conducts of body and speech, is how
one becomes respectively (1) a pursuer of virtue, (2) or a faster, or
(3) else a novice, or (4) a bhikshu.

B. Synonyms

16ab
is is called discipline, fine conduct,
Karma, and vow.

This is called discipline as it correctly settles one and is the at-

tainment of cool relief from the torments of immorality.180 As it is
praised by the wise, it is called fine conduct. As its nature is action,

180. The Sanskrit word śīla translated as “discipline” literally means “cool.”

446
it is karma. And as it binds the body and speech, it is called the vow
of individual liberation.

C. Explaining their names

16b–d
e percept and
Impercept of the first are individual
Liberation and the path of action.

At the time of correctly taking a vow, the perceptible and imper-

ceptible of the first moment are called individual liberation be-
cause they liberate the individual from misdeeds. They are also
called the vow of individual liberation because they bind the harm-
ful conduct of body and speech. And they are also called the actual
path of action, because they are not the aftermath but part of the
actual basis.181

The perceptibles and imperceptibles of the second moment are

similar to individual liberation and are born from individual liber-
ation, so they are called a vow of individual liberation only. How-
ever, they are not actually individual liberation, because one has
already been liberated by the first moment alone.

D. The individuals who possess them

17a
e eight have pratimokṣa vows.

The eight individuals from bhikshu to faster have pratimokṣa vows

of individual liberation.

181. Karmas have three aspects: preparation, the actual basis or action, and the
aftermath. See IV.68, below.

447
(b) The explanation of the undefiled vows and vows of dhyana.
This has three points.

(1) Who possesses them

17bc
When one has dhyana, one has that.
e nobles have the undefiled.

When one has dhyana—when dhyana has arisen—one definitely

has that, the vow of dhyana. In the preparations182 as well there are
vows of dhyana and undefiled vows, so the preparations are also
taught as dhyanas, just as when we say, “There is a rice field in this
town,” the area surrounding a town is called the town.

The nobles, individuals who are learners and nonlearners, have the
undefiled vows.

(2) Teaching how they follow the mind

17d
e latter two follow the mind.

During the discussion of the coemergent cause, it was mentioned

that the two vows follow the mind. Of these three vows, the latter
two, vows of dhyana and undefiled vows, follow the mind.183 The
vows of individual liberation do not follow the mind because they
follow one even when one has a different cognition or is in a mind-
free state such as the absorption of cessation.

182. The preparations for dhyana are levels of meditation that discard the obscu-
rations that prevent one from attaining dhyana. See VIII.22.
183. See II.51cd

448
(3) Teaching how they are vows that discard

18ab
e two, on Not Unable’s paths
Of no obstacles, are called discarding.

The two, vows of dhyana and undefiled vows, if supported on the

level of Not Unable,184 and produced as the essence of the path of
no obstacles, discard immorality and the afflictions that motivate
it, so they are called discarding vows. Therefore there are four pos-
sibilities between dhyana or undefiled vows and discarding vows.

(c) Additional points

18cd
Mindfulness and awareness are
Restraint of mind and faculties.

The sutras say:

Restraint of body is excellent.

Restraint of speech is excellent.
Restraint of mind is excellent.
Restraint in all is excellent.

They also say, “Whoever binds the faculty of the eye abides by a
vow.” What is the nature of the vows or restraint of the mind and
faculties explained there? you ask. They do not have the nature of
an imperceptible. Well then, what are they? you ask. Mindfulness,
which does not forget what to do and what not to do, and aware-

184. The preparations for the first dhyana, so called because it can act as the
antidote for the discards of all levels. See VI.47cd.

449
ness, which knows what that is, are both also said to be restraint of
the mind and restraint of the faculties because these two prevent
the mind and faculties from acting incorrectly toward the object
and bind them.

ii. Explaining the three types of karma together. This has four
topics: (1) How long they are possessed, (2) How they are attained,
(3) Causes that cancel them, and (4) What support possesses them.

(1) How long they are possessed. This has four topics: (a) How
imperceptibles are possessed, (b) How perceptibles are possessed,
(c) Synonyms of wrong vows, and (d) Explaining their four possi-
bilities.

(a) How imperceptibles are possessed. This has three topics: (i)
How vows that are not equipoise are possessed, (ii) How vows of
equipoise are possessed, and (iii) How mid-vows are possessed.

(i) How vows that are not equipoise are possessed. This has two
points.

A. Vows

19.
One who has pratimokṣa has
e present imperceptible
Until it’s canceled. From the first
Moment and on, one has the past.

One who has pratimokṣa or vows of individual liberation has the

present imperceptible as long as they have the vows until it is can-
celed by that individual returning the vows and so forth. From the
first moment and on until the vows are canceled, one also has the
past.

450
B. Wrong vows

20a
It’s so for those with wrong vows, too.

It is so for those individuals who have wrong vows, too, as they

possess their wrong vows similarly.

(ii) How vows of equipoise are possessed

20b–d
ose who possess the vows of dhyana
Possess the past and future. Nobles
At first do not possess the past.

21ab
In equipoise, on noble paths:
e present imperceptible.

Those who possess vows of dhyana, from the moment they arise
until they are canceled, must always possess both the past and the
future imperceptible. Noble individuals, at the time of the first
undefiled moment, do not possess the past undefiled vow, since it
has not previously arisen. This is because the vow has never arisen
before the dharma forbearance of knowing suffering, so the past
imperceptible cannot have been possessed. Those who abide in the
equipoise of the worldly paths and possess the vows of dhyana and
those in the equipoise of the noble path who possess undefiled
vows have the present imperceptible, so they have all three times.

(iii) How mid-vows are possessed. This has two points.

451
A. Actual

21cd
If in between, at first the middle;
From then on, one has the two times.

If there is the imperceptible of a mid-vow that is in between a vow

and a wrong vow, in the first moment, the imperceptible of the
middle time between the past and future, the present, is possessed.
From then, the first moment, on until the mid-vow is canceled,
one also has the past, so one possesses two times.

B. As an elaboration, how those who have vows or wrong vows

possess mid vows.

22.
ose with wrong vows can have the virtuous,
And those with vows can have nonvirtuous
Impercepts as long as they are
Very sincere or strongly afflicted.

When those with wrong vows do something virtuous such as a

prostration out of great sincerity, they can have the virtuous mid-
vow, and when those with vows do something nonvirtuous, such
as killing or beating someone out of the force of afflictions, they
can have the nonvirtuous mid-vow’s imperceptible. These remain
with them as long as they are very sincere or strongly afflicted.

452
(b) How perceptibles are possessed

23.
ose who are acting all possess
e percept of the present time.
From the first moment until canceled,
ey have the past, but not the future.

24ab
ere’s no possession of the past
Obscured, nor of the unobscured.

Those who abide by vows, wrong vows, or mid-vows and are ac-
tually, perceptibly acting, all possess the perceptible of body and
speech of the present time. From the first moment until the action
is canceled by the cause of cancellation, they also have the past.
But there is not any possession of the future perceptible because it
does not follow the mind.

There is no possession of the past obscured, nor of the unobscured

neutral perceptibles, because they are extremely weak and thus are
unable to create past or future attainment.

(c) Synonyms of wrong vows

24cd
Wrong vows, and harmful conduct, and
Immoral, karma, and its path.

The body and speech are not bound, so they are wrong vows. And
they are criticized by the exalted and produce an unpleasant result,
so they are harmful conduct. And they are the opposite of disci-
pline, so they are immorality. They are karma of body and speech,

453
so they are karma. When the actual taking of life is completed, they
are included in the actual basis, and so for that reason they are its
karmic path.

(d) Explaining the four possibilities of possessing perceptibles

and imperceptibles.

25.
As it’s between, the mind is weak
us one who acts has just the percept.
When a noble’s percept has been canceled
Yet still is unborn, they have the impercept.

The first possibility: as it, a mid-vow is between a vow and a wrong

vow, the mind is weak. Thus one who performs a virtuous or non-
virtuous act has just the perceptible only. The second possibility is
when a noble individual’s perceptible from their previous lifetime
has been canceled and yet their perceptible for this life still is un-
born; that noble has no perceptible but does have the impercepti-
ble.185 The third possibility is such as when someone who has vows
prostrates. The fourth possibility is such as an ordinary individual
in the Formless realm. Because the last two possibilities are easy to
understand, they are not mentioned in the root text.

(2) How they are attained. This has three topics: (a) How vows are
attained, (b) How wrong vows are attained, and (c) How mid-vows
are attained.

185. That is, someone who becomes a Noble in one lifetime loses the perceptible
at death. When they are reborn, even as a baby they still have the imperceptible
form, but they do not possess the perceptible until they actually do something
virtuous.

454
(a) How vows are attained. This has two topics: (i) Actual, and (ii)
What vows are attained in relation to.

(i) Actual. This has three topics: A. How vows of dhyana are at-
tained, B. How undefiled vows are attained, and C. How the vows
of individual liberation are attained.

A. How vows of dhyana are attained

26ab
e dhyana vows are gained with the level
Of dhyana itself.

The dhyana-produced vows are gained by attaining the actual

practice and preparations of the mind of the level of dhyana it-
self because they arise simultaneously with the mind of dhyana.
Not Unable is attained by training. The actual practice is attained
by detachment. If the first dhyana arises out of the higher second
dhyana, it is attained when either the preparations or the actual
practice arise.

B. How undefiled vows are attained

26bc
e undefiled
By nobles.

The undefiled vows are attained by the arising of the noble levels:
any one of the six levels of undefiled dhyana.

C. How the vows of individual liberation are attained. This has

two topics: 1. General overview, and 2. Specific explanations.

455
1. General overview

26cd
Pratimokṣa is through
e perceptible of others, et cetera.

Those vows called pratimokṣa individual liberation are attained

through the perceptible speech and prayers to the Sangha of oth-
ers including abbots, masters and so forth, because others can per-
ceive that the vow has been born in one’s being, and one can also
perceive for oneself the proof that it is born within one’s continu-
um. The phrase “et cetera” includes the desire to take the vow, the
knowledge of attaining it, and renunciation.

The vows of the bhikshu and bhikshuni are attained from the Sang-
ha. The novice monk, novice nun, and male and female pursuer of
virtue vows are attained from an individual. The phrase “et cetera”
is mentioned in order to include the ten ways the Great Exposition
vinaya says the bhikshu vows may be taken. The ten ways the vows
are taken are taught in the autocommentary:

(1) The buddhas and self-buddhas take bhikshu vows sponta-

neously. (2) The five supports, by developing certainty.186 (3)
Ājñāta and the others, by being summoned, “Bhikshu, come
hither.” (4) Mahākāshyapa, by accepting the Buddha as Teach-
er. (5) Sodāyin, by delighting the Buddha with his response
to a question. (6) Mahāprajapatī, by accepting the dharmas

186. Five supports refers to the first five disciples, All-Knowing Kauṇḍinya,
Aśvajit, Vaṣpa, Mahānāman, and Bhadrika, who became bhikshus when they
developed certainty in the Buddha’s first teaching of the Sutra of the Wheel of
Dharma.

456
 of respect.187 (7) Dharmadinnā, by messengers.188 (8) People
in remote lands, by five upholders of the vinaya. (9) People
in central lands, by an assembly of ten. (10) The assembly of
the good group of sixty took bhikshu vows by repeating three
times that they go for refuge.

At this point, the glorious Shakya Chokden explains that the Bud-
dha taking vows spontaneously refers to him renouncing his house-
hold and so forth, but this is an imaginary fabrication. It is thor-
oughly and completely refuted in the Great Karṭīk The Springtime
Cow of Easy Accomplishment itself, so I shall not beat that dead
thing over again.

Philosophies one’s own mind imagines,

Not heard of in the Noble Land,
May delight all the fools in Tibet,
But alas, can they bring true relief
To all those who want liberation?

2. Specific explanations. This has four topics: a. The time vows are
taken for, b. Ascertaining the time period of wrong vows, c. Specif-
ics of fasts, and d. Specifics of the five lay precepts.

187. Mahāprajapatī and other five hundred first bhikshunis received their vows
when they accepted the eight additional strictures for bhikshunis, called here
dharmas of respect but also sometimes called heavy dharmas. (Dge ’dun grub, 72).
188. Dharmadinnā had been betrothed since before birth but wished to go forth
and become a bhikshuni. Her parents would not let her, but the Buddha sent a
nun as a messenger to give her dharma instructions, through which she achieved
the result of stream-enterer. On the day she was to be sent off to be married, the
Buddha once again sent the nun to give her vows and instructions, and through
these instrutions she achieved the state of arhat. She was then released from her
betrothal and went to join the bhikshunis. (Dge ’dun grub, 73ff ).

457
a. The time vows are taken for

27ab
e vows are taken for life or else
e period of one day and night.

The seven classes of vows of individual liberation are taken for the
rest of this life, or else the fasting vows are taken for the period of
one day and night. The end of the period of the vows of individual
liberation is either the end of life or the end of a day and night.

Here the Great Exposition proposes that fasting vows can only last
one day and night. The Sutra school says there is no harm in fasting
vows lasting for many days. The Master explains there is no logical
problem with fasting vows lasting many days, but fasting vows are
taken for a single day only because that is how it was established by
the Buddha. The modern tradition of taking fasting vows for every
month, where one takes a vow today, for example, and maintains it
on the eighth or some other day of every lunar month, is said to be
Lord Atisha’s tradition.

Some scholars say that this is illogical. If one were to take fasting
vows for one particular day of every month, would such a vow arise
or not? In the first instance, one would have to maintain the fasting
vow continually from that day on. In the second instance, there
would be no possibility of maintaining the vows on the eighth day
or full moon of the subsequent months, so they say.

Well then, it follows that one can take the eight precepts of fasting
for the rest of one’s life, because you have explained that the indi-
vidual who swears to uphold the eight precepts of fasting for the
rest of his life is a righteous pursuer of virtue.189 You cannot deny
189. A righteous pursuer of virtue is one who takes the eight precepts of the

458
the proof, and the pervasion holds. If you agree, it contradicts your
position that the fasting vows cannot last longer than one day and
night.

Our own position is that when one promises to maintain the fast-
ing vows on the full moon or eighth day of the following lunar
months, the vow arises out of the power of resolve in the mind.
Extensive proofs and rebuttals of this appear in the great Ṭīka.

b. Ascertaining the time period of wrong vows

27cd
ere is no one-day-long wrong-vow,
Because there’s no such oath, it’s heard.

There is no one-day-long wrong vow. What is the reason? you ask.

Because there is no such oath where one says, “May I possess a
wrong vow for one day and night,” it is heard.

c. Specifics of fasts. This has three topics: i. General presentation,

ii. Establishing the quantity of precepts, and iii. The need to begin
by going for refuge.

i. General presentation

28.
While kneeling low with no adornments,
Recite the words. Till morrow’s morn
One swears before another at dawn
To all the precepts of the fast.

How does one swear to the day-long fast? It is taken while the per-

fasting vow for the rest of their life, not just one day.

459
son who is taking the vow is kneeling on one or both knees with
their palms joined lower than the preceptor. One should adorn
oneself with no new adornments. One recites the words, repeating
after the preceptor. The period for which the vow is taken is until
the sun rises on the morrow or next day’s morn, one complete day
and night. The time when one commits is when one swears before
another at dawn before eating any food to all the precepts of the
fast.

ii. Establishing the quantity of precepts. This has two points.

(1) Actual

29a–c
ere are four, one, and three precepts
Of discipline, and carefulness,
Austerity respectively.

There are four root precepts, one precept of abandoning alcohol,

and the last three precepts. These are the precepts of discipline,
which abandon the inherently unwholesome; and the precept of
carefulness, remaining in mindfulness; and the precepts of austeri-
ty, which are compatible with those precepts, respectively.

(2) Dispelling doubt

29d
ose bring unmindfulness and arrogance.

Those, drinking alcohol and eating food after noon, respectively

bring unmindfulness of what to do and what not to do and weak-
en the mindfulness of the fast. High seats, song, dance, and so forth
not only weaken mindfulness, they make one arrogant.

460
iii. The need to begin by going for refuge

30ab
Others may also fast, of course,
But only after going for refuge.

Can only people who hold the lay precepts take the fasting vows,
or may others as well? you ask. Others than just those who have
the pursuer of virtue vows may also fast, of course, but only after
first going for refuge to the Three Jewels on that day. Otherwise the
vow will not arise.

d. Specifics of the five lay precepts. This has five topics: i. Ex-
plaining the meaning of a quotation from a sutra, ii. Rebutting that
it is contradictory of the sutras, iii. Distinctions between lesser and
greater vows, iv. Explaining the sources of refuge, and v. Specifics
of the precepts.

i. Explaining the meaning of a quotation from a sutra

30cd
By promising to pursue virtue
e vow is made, it’s taught, like bhikshus.

From the Mahānāman Sutra:190

Mahānāman, thus if a householder dressed in white clothes

who possesses the male faculty of a man goes for refuge in the
Buddha and goes for refuge to the Dharma and Sangha, and
then also says the words, “Accept me as a pursuer of virtue,” by
that alone he becomes a pursuer of virtue.

190. Ming chen gyi mdo

461
Can one become a pursuer of virtue who holds the lay precepts
merely by going for refuge? you ask. The Aparāntakas say one can.
The Kashmiris say that alone does not make one a pursuer of virtue,
but by promising after going for refuge, “Accept me as a pursuer
of virtue for the rest of my life,” the vow is made and arises—one
becomes a pursuer of virtue.

Well then, reciting the liturgy “Just as the noble Arhats… ”191 then
become meaningless, you say. It does not, because it is taught not
as a way to attain something that has not yet been attained but as
a way to know what limits have been attained and must be upheld.
For example, it is like reciting the precepts of a bhikshu or a novice
after attaining the vows.

ii. Rebutting that it is contradictory of the sutras

31a–c
If that is so and all is thus bound,
How is there single conduct, et cetera?
Hold that, and it is held, it’s heard.

If that is so and all five precepts of a pursuer of virtue are thus

bound, how is it that the Buddha spoke of four types of pursuers
of virtue: those who abandon taking life alone as single conduct, et
cetera, including those who hold two precepts as partial conduct,
those who hold three or four as majority conduct, and those who
hold all five as complete pursuers of virtue?

In response, the Great Exposition says that the intent of this is that
at first all of these attain all five precepts completely. Later one vi-

191. This is a text recited during the ceremony for taking the vow in which one
promises to turn away from killing, stealing, and so forth, just as the Noble arhats
did.

462
olates some precepts, but one holds that, another of the precepts,
without violation. And that is how it, single conduct or any of the
others, is held, it is heard.

iii. Distinctions between lesser and greater vows

31d
ey’re weak, et cetera, like the mind.

The cause for them, vows, being weak, et cetera, middling and
strong, is that although there are differences in how many precepts
are held, one’s motivation is primary, so the vow is stronger or
weaker, like the stronger or weaker faith in one’s mind.

iv. Explaining the sources of refuge

32.
All those who go for refuge to
e three, take refuge in the dharmas
at make the Buddha and the Sangha—
No learning and both—and nirvana.

What are the Three Jewels to which we go for refuge? you ask. All
those who go for refuge to the Three Jewels, take refuge in the
Buddha: they go for refuge in the dharmas that make the Buddha,
the truth of the path of no more learning. And going for refuge in
the Sangha is going for refuge in the dharmas that make the Sang-
ha, the truth of the path of no learning and learning both. And
going for refuge to the Dharma is going for refuge in the dharma
that makes the jewel of the Dharma, nirvana, which is the cessation
of all afflictions and suffering without exception.

463
The Great Exposition proposes that the dharma body alone is the
Buddha who is the source of refuge, and the form body is not the
Buddha. Likewise, the Sangha that is the source of refuge is the
truth of the path only, while the Sangha that is its support is not
the Sangha that is a source of refuge. The Sutra school proposes
that both the support of the form body and the dharma body it
supports are the Buddha who is the source of refuge, and both the
support of the Sangha and the truth of the path it supports are the
Sangha that is the source of refuge.

v. Specifics of the precepts. This has three topics: (1) The mean-
ing of presenting sexual misconduct as a precept, (2) The meaning
of presenting lying as a precept, and (3) The meaning of presenting
intoxicants as a precept.

(1) The meaning of presenting sexual misconduct as a precept.

This has two points.

(a) Actual

33ab
Since sexual misconduct is reviled,
Since easy, since abstention is attained.

In all the other vows, abandoning sexual activity in its entirety is

presented as a precept. Why in the lay precepts is abandoning sex-
ual misconduct presented as a precept? you ask. The reason for
this is since lustful sexual misconduct dishonors another’s spouse,
because it is on its own a cause for rebirth in the lower realms, be-
cause it is utterly reviled in the world, and because not all sexual
activity is like that. It is also since it is easy for householders to
vow to abandon lustful misconduct, whereas abandoning sexual
activity is difficult because of habituation from beginningless time.

464
In addition, it is since abstention from lustful misconduct in other
lifetimes as well is a vow that the nobles have attained.

(b) Dispelling a doubt

33cd
e vow’s attained just as it’s sworn;
It is not total celibacy.

If a pursuer of virtue should subsequently take a bride, that alone

does not violate his vow. The vow is attained just as it is sworn, so
one promises not to commit sexual misconduct. It is not saying, “I
will not act out of desire and will practice total celibacy.”

(2) The meaning of presenting lying as a precept

34ab
If one transgresses any precept,
He would end up by telling a lie.

Why is lying presented as a precept? you ask. It is because if some-

one should transgress any precept, when asked about it they might
possibly say, “I did not do that.” He would possibly end up by
telling a lie on top of their previous violation. Abandoning lying is
presented as a lay precept in order to prevent that.

(3) The meaning of presenting intoxicants as a precept

34cd
Of the prohibited unwholesome,
Intoxicants, as one will hold the others.

465
Of the prohibited unwholesome acts,192 why is only abandoning
intoxicants presented as a precept? you ask. The reason is that if
one abandons drinking intoxicating beverages, one will hold the
other precepts.

(ii) What vows are attained in relation to. This has two topics: A.
Individual explanations, and B. Combined explanation.

A. Individual explanations. This has two points.

1. Where the vows of individual liberation are attained from

35ab
e vows of Desire must be attained
In relation to all, both, and present.

When one attains any one of the vows of individual liberation,

dhyana, or undefiled from one basis,193 does one also attain the re-
maining from that basis? you ask. No. The vows of individual lib-
eration of Desire must be attained in relation to all three aspects
of karma: the preparation, the actual act, and the aftermath. They
are attained in relation to both inherently unwholesome acts and
prohibited unwholesome acts, and in relation to both that which
indicates and does not indicate sentient beings. And because they
engage the mind’s support, they are attained in relation to the pres-

192. There are two types of unwholesome actions: inherently unwholesome acts

and prohibited unwholesome acts. Inherently unwholesome acts include killing,
stealing, and so on, which are unwholesome by their very nature. Prohibited
unwholesome acts are actions such as consuming intoxicants or eating after noon
that the Buddha prohibited lay practitioners or bhikshus from doing. According
to the Prince, although they are not necessarily unwholesome, someone who has
vows commits a misdeed by doing them because they have disrespected the word
of the Buddha. See IV.122c.
193. Here basis refers to the aggregates, elements, and sense bases.

466
ent aggregates, sense bases, and elements. They are not attained
from the future or past because these are not counted as sentient
beings.

2. Where the vows of dhyana and the undefiled vows are at-
tained from

35cd
e dhyana and undefiled vows
Relate to actual and all times.

If the dhyana and undefiled vows are attained in relation to the

actual basis but not the preparation and aftermath, what need is
there to mention the prohibited unwholesome? These vows are at-
tained in relation to the aggregates, elements, and sense bases of all
three times.

B. Combined explanation

36ab
Vows in relation to all beings;
Distinctions in branches and cause.

Are these vows attained in relation to all sentient beings, precepts

and cause, or are they attained in relation to specific ones? The
vows are attained in relation to all sentient beings, but there are di-
visions in branches and cause. The bhikshu vows are attained from
all seven branches, and the lesser vows from four.194 If you propose
the three virtuous roots as a cause, the three arise together, and if
you propose greater, middling, and lesser volition as cause, they do

194. That is to say, the bhikshu vows give up all seven misdeeds of body and
speech; the lesser vows only give up four: killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, and
lying.

467
not arise together, so there is division. They are attained if one is
free of the five qualifications.195

(b) How wrong vows are attained. This has two points.

(i) Where they are attained from

36cd
Wrong vows are gained in relation to
All and all branches; not to causes.

Wrong vows are attained in relation to all sentient beings and all
the branches of karmic paths. Because it is impossible to have all
three roots of nonvirtue simultaneously, they are not attained in
relation to all causes, the Great Exposition proposes.

The Master explains that vows have the intention to help all sen-
tient beings, so it is logical to attain vows with regard to all sentient
beings, but butchers and so forth do not have wrong intentions
with regards to their parents, so how could they attain their wrong
vows in relation to all sentient beings? He considers that illogical.

(ii) How they are attained

37ab
Wrong vows can be attained from action,
Or else they’re gained through a commitment.

Wrong vows can be attained from being born in a particular caste

and beginning the preparations for the action of killing and so

195. The five qualifications are setting qualifications with regards to sentient be-
ings, branches, places, time, and occasion—that is, saying one will only abandon
killing certain sentient beings, or only abide by certain branches in certain places
or for a certain time, etc.

468
forth, or else they are gained through a commitment: “I will pur-
sue this for my livelihood.”

(c) How mid-vows are attained

37cd
e other impercept is gained
From field, commitment, and respect.

After vows and wrong vows, the other virtuous or nonvirtuous im-
perceptible of a mid-vow is gained from the field, such as with
the seven material merits of offering a monastery and so forth.196 It
can also be attained by making promises and commitments such
as, “I will not eat until I have prostrated to the Buddha” or “I will
donate food for one month or half a month,” or from the opposite
of such commitments. And it is gained from paying respect. The
imperceptible of the mid-vow is attained through a strong afflicted
or sincere intent.

(3) Causes that cancel them. This has four topics: (a) Causes that
cancel vows, (b) Causes that cancel wrong vows, (c) Causes that
cancel mid-vows, and (d) Causes that cancel other dharmas.

(a) Causes that cancel vows. This has three topics: (i) Causes that
cancel vows of individual liberation, (ii) Causes that cancel vows of
dhyana, and (iii) Causes that cancel undefiled vows.

(i) Causes that cancel vows of individual liberation. This has two
points.

196. Fields are the categories of recipients of the action. See IV.117. For the mate-
rial merits See IV.4a.

469
A. General teaching

38.
e individual liberation
Is canceled by returning vows,
Or dying, or two organs arising,
Severing the roots, or passing the night.

With the exception of fasts, the vows of individual liberation are

canceled by going in front of a cognizant person and resolutely
returning vows because this produces a perceptible that is exclusive
of the previous complete commitment. Or they are canceled by
dying and leaving that class of beings because one has cast away
the support with which one made the commitment. Or they are
canceled by the two male and female sexual organs arising simulta-
neously because that weakens the male or female body that was the
support for taking the vows. They are also canceled by severing the
roots of virtue completely because the basis of the vows, the roots
of virtue, have been severed.

The fasting vows are canceled by those causes or by the passing of

the night because they had only been resolved for a single day and
night. These five are the causes that cancel the taming of individual
liberation.

The vows of individual liberation are called taming because they

make the faculties tame.

In the Vinaya, the sexual organs changing three times, and the per-
son taking the vow not being twenty and knowing that he is not
twenty, are explained as causes of cancellation.

B. Presenting different proposals. This has three points.

470
1. Proposing the root downfalls as a cause of cancellation

39a
Some say it’s canceled by the downfalls;

Some say if it, either the bhikshu or novice vow, is canceled by any
one of the four root downfalls happening.

2. Proposing the disappearance of dharma as a cause of can-

cellation

39b
By the True Dharma’s decline, say others.

The vows are canceled by the True Dharma’s decline because there
would be no poṣadha197 or similar rituals, say the others, the red-
robed Dharmaguptas

3. The Kashmiri proposal that root downfalls do not cause can-

cellation

39cd
Kashmiris propose that when it happens,
ere are both, like having debts and riches.

The Kashmiris propose that when it, one of the root downfalls,
happens, it is like a person who has debts and also has riches, for
example. Similarly, whichever root downfall has happened is can-
celed and broken, but the other ones remain unviolated, so there
are both immorality and maintained discipline. This is because

197. The service conducted by bhikshus on the full and new moons to purify
any transgressions and restore their vows.

471
otherwise when you take one you would take all, they say. They
also say there is scriptural proof.

(ii) Causes that cancel vows of dhyana. This has two points.

A. Actual

40ab
e virtue of dhyana can be canceled
By shifting level or regressing.

All of the virtue of dhyana can be canceled by shifting one’s level

by both shifting from a lower to a higher level, which cancels the
virtue of the lower level, and by shifting from a higher to a lower
level, which cancels the virtue of the higher level. Or it can also be
canceled by regressing from absorption. It is possible that the vir-
tue of the preparations for both dhyana and the undefiled can be
canceled by death, it is explained.

B. Supplementary point

40c
Formless is same;

Just as the virtue of the dhyanas is canceled by shifting levels and

regressing, the virtue of Formless is canceled like that, too.

(iii) Causes that cancel undefiled vows

40cd
noble by gaining
A result, refining, or regressing.

472
The noble or undefiled vow is canceled by gaining a result or by
refining faculties. The first cancels those included in the path of en-
tering, and the second those included in the paths of dull faculties.
Some that are included in the two higher paths are also canceled
by regressing.

(b) Causes that cancel wrong vows

41ab
Wrong vows are canceled by gaining vows
Or dying or two organs arising.

Wrong vows are canceled by gaining either of the two vows, or

they are canceled by dying, or by two organs arising simultaneous-
ly, because the body is discarded and the support weakened.

(c) Causes that cancel mid-vows

41cd
Midvows, when force or undertaking,
Act, object, life, or the roots cease.

The imperceptible of the midvow is canceled when the force of the

sincerity or afflictions that propelled the imperceptible ceases, like
a potter’s wheel or the flight of an arrow.198 It is also canceled by
giving up on what has been properly undertaken, saying, “Under-
taking this is enough,” and by the action ceasing when one does
not do the action as one had undertaken. It is also canceled by the
cessation of the object: stupas, monasteries, temples, beds, seats,

198. That is, when the force that propelled the potter’s wheel or arrow is used
up, the wheel stops and the arrow falls to the ground.

473
snares, traps, weapons, and poison.199 It is canceled by the cessation
of life. It is also canceled by the roots of virtue ceasing or being
severed. If one frees oneself from the desire of the Desire realm,
the roots of nonvirtue are severed and the nonvirtuous mid-vow is
canceled.

(d) Causes that cancel other dharmas. This has two points.

(i) The cause for canceling immaterial virtue

42ab
e Desire realm’s immaterial virtue,
By severing roots and rebirth higher.

The Desire realm’s immaterial virtue is canceled by severing the

roots of virtue and by rebirth in the higher Form and Formless
realms.

(ii) The cause for canceling the immaterial afflicted

42cd
e immaterial afflicted
Perishes when its anti arises.

All that is immaterial and afflicted of the three realms perishes and
is canceled when its own antidote’s path arises.

(4) What support possesses them. This has two topics: (a) How
wrong vows are possessed, and (b) How vows are possessed.

199. For example, if one makes a commitment to circumambulate a stupa every

day for a year but that stupa is destroyed before the end of the year, the mid-vow
of the commitment is canceled.

474
(a) How wrong vows are possessed

43a–c
Except sexless, neuters, hermaphrodites,
Unpleasant Sound, humans can have
Wrong vows.

Except for the sexless, neuters, hermaphrodites with two sexual

organs, and those who live on Unpleasant Sound, humans can
have wrong vows.

(b) How vows are possessed. This has two topics: (i) General
overview, and (ii) Which support possesses which vow.

(i) General overview

43cd
e vows are similar.
e gods as well.

The vows are just like or similar to wrong vows: they can be pos-
sessed only by men and women of the three continents. Not only
that, the gods can possess them as well. Other wanderers cannot
possess them because their minds are unclear since they cannot
forbear the antidote of discrimination; because they have very little
modesty and shame; or because they have the obscurations of full
ripening.200

(ii) Which support possesses which vow. This has two topics: A.
Which vows humans possess, and B. Which vows gods possess.

200. The obscurations of full ripening are rebirth in the lower realms, Concep-
tion Free, and Unpleasant Sound. See IV.96.

475
A. Which vows humans possess

43d
Humans have three.

Humans can have the three vows: individual liberation, dhyana,

and undefiled.

B. Which vows gods possess. This has two points.

1. Who possesses the dhyana vow

44ab
e gods born in Desire and Form
Have dhyan-produced.

The gods born in the realms of Desire and Form have dhyana-pro-
duced vows, but the gods of Formless do not because there is no
form on their level and those attained on lower levels have been
canceled when they shifted levels.

2. Who possesses the undefiled vow

44b–d
Except for beings
In special dhyana and Concept Free,
ey’ve undefiled—in Formless, too.

Undefiled vows can be possessed in Desire. Except beings in the

special dhyana level of Great Brahma and beings born in Concep-
tion Free, they, the gods born in Desire and Form, can have un-
defiled vows. Gods born in Formless, too, can have them in terms

476
of possession. They are not manifest in Formless because there is
no form there.

C. The meaning of karma as explained in the sutras. This has two

topics: 1. General teachings, and 2. Specific explanations.

1. General teachings. This has four topics: a. Classifying in terms

of cause and result, b. Teaching the many enumerations of karma,
c. Which karma has how many results, and d. Other presentations
of karma.

a. Classifying in terms of cause and result. This has three topics:

i. Classifying in terms of result, ii. Classifying in terms of cause,
and iii. Classifying in terms of both cause and result.

i. Classifying in terms of result. This has four topics: (1) Classi-

fying in three as virtue, etc., (2) Classifying in three as merit, etc.,
(3) Classifying in three by experience, and (4) The explanation of
the latter two.

(1) Classifying in three as virtue, etc.

45ab
Pleasant, unpleasant, and other karma
Are virtue, nonvirtue, and other.

The sutras say, “Karma is threefold.” Karma that produces pleas-

antness, and that does not produce pleasantness but produces un-
pleasantness, and other karma that does not produce either pleas-
antness or unpleasantness are in succession virtue, nonvirtue, and
the other, neutral.

477
(2) Classifying in three as merit, etc.

45c
Merit, nonmerit, and unmoving.

The sutras also say that there are the three types of meritorious,
nonmeritorious, and unmoving karma.

(3) Classifying in three by experience

45d
e three experienced as pleasure, et cetera.

Additionally, there are another three types of karma that are taught:
karma experienced as pleasure, et cetera, including karma experi-
enced as suffering and karma experienced as neutral.

(4) The explanation of the latter two. This has two topics: (a) Ex-
plaining merit and so forth, and (b) Explaining the three ways it is
experienced and additional points.

(a) Explaining merit and so forth. This has two points.

(i) Meritorious karma

46ab
Merit is virtuous karma of
Desire.

Because it is the antidote for nonmerit, merit is virtuous karma of

the Desire realm.

478
(ii) Unmoving karma

46b–d
Unmoving is of higher:
Because the karma fully ripens
On just those levels, it does not move.

Unmoving karma is virtuous karma of the higher Form and Form-

less levels. Well then, a sutra says, “In this first dhyana, there is
analysis and examination, so the nobles move…” Does this not
explain that the three dhyanas are moving? you ask. This is said
because those levels have the faults of samadhi; it is not in terms of
unmoving karma.

Completing karma201 of the Form and Formless realms cannot fully

ripen on another level. What is the reason? Because the karma fully
ripens on just those levels. This pervades because it is unmoving:
it does not move to other levels in dependence upon conditions.

Well then, in Desire as well the full ripening does not move to
other levels because in Desire there are no separate levels, you say.
This is not a fault. There are no separate levels there, but wanderers
of the higher realms and lower realms are separate. In the higher
realms it definitely ripens in one type of wanderer only.

These are taught solely in terms of the defiled.

(b) Explaining the three ways it is experienced and additional

points. This has three topics: (i) The actual explanation of the three
ways karma is experienced, (ii) Additionally, teaching the five ways
karma is experienced, and (iii) Understanding the particulars of
experience.

201. See IV.95ab.

479
(i) The actual explanation of the three ways karma is experi-
enced. This has two points: A. The essence of each individually,
and B. Presenting others’ positions.

A. The essence of each individually. This has three points.

1. Karma experienced as pleasure

47ab
Virtue’s experienced as pleasure
rough the third dhyana.

Defiled virtue from the Desire realm through the third dhyana is
karma experienced as pleasure because the beings in those three
levels have the pleasure of body and mind. The feeling of pleasure
in Desire and on the first dhyana is bodily pleasure. On the second
dhyana, it is mental pleasure. On the third dhyana, it is cognitive
pleasure.202

2. Karma experienced as neutral

47bc
Above that
It’s felt as neither pain nor pleasure.

Above that third dhyana it, virtuous karma, is felt or experienced

as neither pain nor pleasure because in those levels there are feel-
ings of neither pleasure nor suffering.

202. Cf. II.7c–8a.

480
3. Karma experienced as suffering

47d
Nonvirtue is felt as suffering here.

The nonvirtuous karma is karma felt or experienced as suffering

here in the Desire realm. “Here” indicates that the feeling of suf-
fering is only in Desire. Not only is the feeling itself the result of
nonvirtue, but the faculty and object including the characteristics
of consciousness in the assembly of sense bases is also its result.

B. Presenting others’ positions

48.
Some say that in the lower, there
Is middling, too, since there is ripening
In special dhyan, and since the three
Can ripen without earlier or later.

Some say that in the lower levels of the third dhyana and lower,
there is middling, the karma experienced as neutral, too. Why?
you ask. It is since in the actual practice of the first dhyana, there
is fully ripened feeling in special dhyana, and that is a level where
there is only neutral feeling.

Additionally, the Treatise says:

In this way, can the full ripening of the three karmas fully
ripen without any earlier or later? you ask. They can.

This is since it is proposed that the three karmas can fully ripen
without earlier or later in the Desire realm, which is impossible in
the other realms.

481
(ii) Additionally, teaching the five ways karma is experienced

49.
Inherently, concurrently,
rough focus, as full ripening,
Or else directly manifesting:
Five ways that karma is experienced.

Inherent experience is feeling. Concurrent experience is contact:

the contact that is compatible with the experience of pleasure is
experienced as pleasure. Objects are experienced through the focus
on them. Karmas are experienced as full ripening of the result. Or
else experience through directly manifesting is feeling, because it
is said:

At the time that the feeling of pleasure is experienced, at that

time the two feelings cease.203

The karma experienced in these ways can be experienced as plea-

sure, suffering, or neutral, so thus there are five ways that karma is
experienced.

(iii) Understanding the particulars of experience. This has two

topics. A. Overview, and B. Explanation

203. According to Mikyö Dorje, when the feeling of pleasure is being experi-
enced, it does not depend upon another feeling to be experienced: the other two
feelings are blocked and an additional feeling of its own class is also blocked, so
there can be no additional feeling on which it depends. Thus it is directly experi-
enced.

482
A. Overview

50a
ey’re definite or indefinite.

They, the three ways karma is experienced, are twofold: the defi-
nitely experienced and the indefinitely experienced.

B. Explanation. This has three topics: 1. General classification, 2.

Their individual attributes, and 3. Teaching on karma that will
definitely be experienced.

1. General classification. This has two points: a. Own tradition,

and b. Others’ traditions.

a. Own tradition

50b–d
ere are three definite because
ere’s visibly experienced, Et cetera.

There are three types of definitely experienced karma because

there is karma that is visibly experienced in this lifetime, et cetera,
including karma experienced on birth and karma experienced in
other lifetimes.

b. Others’ traditions. This has two points.

i. The tradition that proposes it as five

50d Some propose five types,

Some earlier masters propose that the indefinitely experienced kar-

ma is divided into indefinite full ripening and the indefinite period,
so that there are five types of karma. The way this is counted is that

483
there are two indefinite: karma with definite ripening but indefi-
nite time frame, and karma with both indefinite. Adding the three
definite of visibly experienced and the others, this makes a total of
five. Alternatively, in addition to the three (visibly experienced and
the other two) whose time frame is definite, there is karma whose
essence will be definitely experienced as something four, and both
essence and time frame indefinite for five.

Visibly experienced karma ripens in the very same life in which it is

committed. Karma experienced on birth is experienced in the next
life. Karma in other lifetimes is experienced after that.

ii. The tradition that proposes it as four possibilities

51a
And others, four alternatives.

And others, the Dārṣṭāntikas, say there are four alternatives: defi-
nite period but indefinite full ripening, definite full ripening but
indefinite period, both definite, and both indefinite. Examples can
be found in the Ṭīka.

2. Their individual attributes. This has two topics: a. Which kar-

mas propel likeness, and b. How many karmic propulsions there
are for the realms and beings.

a. Which karmas propel likeness

51b
ree karmas will propel a likeness.

In one moment, can all four of the visibly experienced and so forth
be propelled? you ask. They can. Of those four karmas, visibly ex-
perienced does not propel a likeness, but experienced on birth and

484
the other three karmas will propel a likeness.204 The former does
not propel likeness, but because it occurs in a likeness that has been
propelled by another karma, it produces its result in that very one.

b. How many karmic propulsions there are for the realms and
beings. This has two topics: i. General, and ii. Specific.

i. General

51c
In all realms, there are four propulsions.

How many propulsions are there for each realm and wanderer? In
all realms and for all beings there are four virtuous and nonvirtu-
ous propulsions. The intent here is that nonvirtuous propulsions
occur in Desire only.

ii. Specific. This has two topics: (1) How many propulsions there
are in the state of birth, and (2) How many propulsions there are
in the between state.

(1) How many propulsions there are in the state of birth. This has
three points.

(a) How many there are in the birth state of hell

51d
In hell, there are three virtuous.

“For all beings” above was in general, but in specific, in hell, while
there are four nonvirtuous propulsions, there are the three virtuous
karmas of karma experienced on birth, karma experienced in other

204. That is, they propel a new being that will maintain a continuum of simi-
larity or likeness.

485
lifetimes, and indefinitely experienced karma. There is no visibly
experienced virtuous karma because there is no pleasant full ripen-
ing in hell.

(b) How many there are in the birth state of superior ordinary
individuals

52ab
A child detached stably from a realm
Does none experienced on birth there.

A childish ordinary individual with sharp faculties who is detached

stably from a realm and who does not regress in that lifetime does
no karma that is experienced on birth there in that level, but does
perform the others.

(c) How many there are in the birth state of Nobles

52cd
Nobles do none experienced in others,
Even those not stable toward Desire or Peak.

Nobles who are stably detached from a particular level not only
perform no karma experienced on birth in that level, they also do
not accumulate karma experienced in other lifetimes, because they
will not return to that level. They do perform visibly experienced
and indefinitely experienced karma. Even those who are not stably
detached from Desire and the Peak of Existence do not perform
any karma experienced on birth or in other lifetimes because when
they regress from those, they regress from either the result of a non-

486
returner or arhat, and if one regresses from those results, it is im-
possible to die without first restoring them.205

(2) How many propulsions there are in the between state. This
has two points.

(a) Classifications

53ab
ere are twenty-two propulsions in
e between state of the Desire realm.

Can karma be propelled in the between state? you ask. There are
twenty-two propulsions in the between state of the Desire realm.
When one will take birth in an egg or from the womb only, there is
one propulsion into the between state itself, five into the periods of
the womb explained above, and five into the period after birth,206
for a total of eleven. By distinguishing between definite and indef-
inite propulsions, this makes twenty-two types. In Form there are
no propulsions into the womb.

(b) Proving that the eleven definite are visibly experienced

53cd
ese are a visible result.
ese are one single likeness only.

These eleven definite propulsions are karma that has a visibly expe-
rienced result, because these aggregates at the time of performing

205. See VI.60ab.

206. The five periods in the womb are mushiness, oval, oblong, round, and
hands and feet moving. See III.19. The five periods of this life are childhood,
youth, prime of life, middle age, and old age.

487
the karma and the aggregates at the time of experiencing the result
are the continuum of one single likeness only that is propelled by
a single karma.207

3. Teaching on karma that will definitely be experienced. This has

three topics: a. General explanation, b. Explaining visibly experi-
enced in particular, and c. Teaching other ways karma and result
can be experienced.

a. General explanation

54.
An action done out of intense
Afflictions or sincerity,
To the field of qualities, continuous,
Or killing parents: that is definite.

How is karma definitely experienced? you ask. A nonvirtuous ac-

tion that is done out of a motivation that is intensely afflicted,
or virtuous actions performed with a motivation that is intensely
sincere, help or harm that may be performed without intense mo-
tivation but is done to the field of qualities—the three jewels and
five individuals who will be explained below—and those virtuous
or nonvirtuous preparations that are done continuously, or, like
the Persians, killing parents with a meritorious intention:208 that,
any of these karmas, is definitely experienced.

b. Explaining visibly experienced in particular. This has three

points.

207. That is, the eleven results are all visibly experienced within the continuum
of the being in the between state, before that being dies again.
208. A reference to an ancient Persian custom of euthanasia.

488
i. Visibly experienced by power of the karma

55ab
Karma has visible results
From excellence of field and intention

Karma has visibly experienced results from the excellence of the

field, like the bhikshu named Defeated by Quarreling who once
called some Sangha members women during an argument and later
became a woman. It is also from excellence of intention, like the
blind eunuch of King Kaṇika who gave a gift that saved five hun-
dred bulls from castration and then regained his manhood.

ii. Visibly experienced by the power of the antidote

55cd
From stable detachment from the level
When it has definite full ripening.

From stable detachment from the level of Desire or another level,

when it, the karma, has a definitely experienced result, it is visibly
experienced. What is this karma like? you ask. This is karma whose
period is indefinite, but whose full ripening is definite.

iii. Distinctions of the field

56.
To help or harm those risen from
Cessation, unprovocative,
Love, seeing, or arhat’s result,
Brings swiftly experienced results.

What is karma that is visibly experienced like? you ask. To give

489
help or bring harm to the Sangha of the Buddha’s bhikshus or to
the five individuals—those who have just (1) risen from the ab-
sorption of cessation that is like going to nirvana, (2) aroused from
the unprovocative samadhi,209 (3) aroused from the samadhi of lov-
ing-kindness that has the supreme pure intention, (4) aroused from
new transformation of abandoning all the discards of seeing that
is the stainless path of seeing, or (5) aroused from the new trans-
formation of abandoning all the discards of meditation that is the
arhat’s result—brings swiftly experienced results. Others on the
path of meditation do not have these causes, so help or harm to
them is not necessarily visibly experienced.

c. Teaching other ways karma and result can be experienced.

This has four points.

i. The way feelings are experienced

57.
Virtuous karma that is free of
Considering will fully ripen
Only as feelings in the mind.
Nonvirtue ripens on the body.

Full ripening is primarily feeling, so is there any type that is only

mental feeling and not bodily feeling? you ask. There is. Virtuous
karma that is free of considering, from the levels of the special
dhyana to the Peak of Existence, will fully ripen only as feelings
in the mind, or mental feelings, because bodily feeling is always
accompanied by considering. This implicitly teaches that the full
ripening of virtuous karma on the first dhyana and below is both
mental and bodily feeling. Nonvirtuous karma fully ripens on the

209. See VII.36.

490
body as bodily feeling only. It is not mental, because the suffering
of mind is mental unhappiness, which is not a fully ripened result,
as was explained in the “Teaching on Faculties.”210

ii. Where the distracted mind is

58a
A distraught mind is mental mind.

Well then, where does a distraught mind come from, and what is
its cause? you ask. A distraught and crazed mind is in the mental
mind or consciousness. It is not in the consciousnesses of the five
gates, because these do not think with thoughts that recognize and
thoughts that remember.

iii. What results produce that

58bc
It’s born from fully ripened karma,
From fear or harm, imbalance, sorrow

It, the distraught mind, is born from being confused by others

through substances or mantras, from being given intoxicants, and
from other full ripenings of karma. The mind is also made dis-
traught from the conditions of the mind being adversely affected
by fear from seeing the ugly form of a nonhuman, and when an-
gering it, the harm of being stricken with illness, an imbalance of
the elements when agitated by wind, bile, or phlegm, and sorrow
at the death of a beloved child.

210. See II.10c.

491
iv. What beings can have that

58d
Among the attached, not in the North.

Which sentient beings can become distraught? It happens among

the sentient beings who are attached, but not in the Northern Un-
pleasant Sound, because if gods can be crazed, what need is there to
speak of humans, hungry ghosts, hell beings, and animals? Except
for the Bhagavan, nobles can be distraught because of imbalances
of the elements, but they cannot be distraught by other causes or
karma, because definite karmas ripened earlier when they were or-
dinary individuals, and the indefinite ones do not ripen when they
are nobles.

ii. Classifying in terms of cause

59ab
e crooked, faulty, degenerate
Are born of deceit, hate, desire.

As taught in a sutra, there is the karma of body, speech, and mind

that is said to be crooked, faulty or harmful, and degenerate. These
are respectively karma born of deceit that is dishonest, hate that is
most extremely harmful, and desire that is hard to separate from.

iii. Classifying in terms of both cause and result. This has two
topics: (1) Overview, and (2) Explanation.

492
(1) Overview

59cd
Four types of karma are distinguished
As white and black, et cetera.

The sutras teach four types of karma that are distinguished as

white karma that has a white full ripening, and black karma that
has a black full ripening, et cetera, including mixed white-and-
black karma that has a mixed whiteand-black full ripening, and
that which is neither white nor black and has no full ripening but
extinguishes karma.

(2) Explanation. This has three topics: (a) General teaching, (b)
Specific explanation of the extinguisher, and (c) Presenting other
traditions.

(a) General teaching

60.
Nonvirtue, virtue of Form realm,
And of Desire, respectively
Are karma that is black, white, both.
What douses them is undefiled.

Nonvirtuous karma is always afflicted only and produces only un-

pleasant full ripening. Virtue itself of the Form realm is not mixed
with nonvirtue and produces only pleasant full ripening. The vir-
tue of Desire is not mixed in its essence, but appears mixed with
nonvirtue in one person’s being, so its full ripening can be mixed
with unpleasant full ripening of nonvirtue. For that reason, respec-
tively these are the karma that is taught in a sutra:

493
 Black karma that fully ripens as black, white karma that fully
ripens as white, black and white karma that ripens as both
black and white…

That which does not have full ripening, is not afflicted, and dis-
cards or douses them, the other three karmas, is undefiled karma,
which is described as:

Karma that is neither white nor black, has no full ripening,

and extinguishes other karma.

(b) Specific explanation of the extinguisher. This has three topics:

(i) That which extinguishes the black, (ii) That which extinguishes
the white-andblack, and (iii) That which extinguishes the white.

(i) That which extinguishes the black

61.
Forbearance of dharmas and eight paths of
No obstacles that bring detachment:
ese are the twelve volitions that
Are karma which destroys the black.

Not all undefiled karmas or paths extinguish all three karmas. The
four forbearances of knowing dharma of suffering and the other
truths that are part of the path of seeing and first eight undefiled
paths of meditation of no obstacles that bring detachment from
the Desire realm are the twelve volitions that are karma which de-
stroys the black, because they abandon Desire’s dharmas of nonvir-
tuous misdeeds. The four dharma knowings and the eight detached
paths of liberation are not, because the paths of no obstacles have
already extinguished the black. The four subsequent forbearances

494
and four subsequent knowings are not antidotes for the black be-
cause they are only antidotes for the higher realms.211

(ii) That which extinguishes the white-and-black

62ab
Volition of the ninth is what
Extinguishes the black and white.

The volition of the ninth path of no-obstacles that detaches one

from the Desire realm is what extinguishes the black-and-white
karma, because it abandons the ninth black afflicted karma of De-
sire by severing the attainment of its essence, and it also abandons
the white of Desire by freeing one from intentional desires.

(iii) That which extinguishes the white

62cd
e last path of no obstacles
To dhyan’s detachment douses white.

The last to arise of the four paths of no obstacles to detachment

from the essence of the four dhyanas—the volition that abandons

211. This passage refers to the different moments and paths that one progresses
through as one discards the defilements. The forbearances of knowing dharma (or
dharma forbearances) are the moments of the path of seeing where one can with-
stand seeing each of the four truths of the desire realm. The knowing of dharma
(or dharma knowings) are the knowings that arise out of seeing the truths of De-
sire. There are also the subsequent forbearances that can withstand seeing the nature
of the truths of the two higher realms and the subsequent knowings that arise from
those. There is a dharma forbearance, dharma knowing, subsequent forbearance,
and subsequent knowing for each of the four truths. See VI.28. The undefiled
paths of meditation of no obstacles refers to the nine paths of no obstacles that
abandon the discards of meditation for the Desire realm. See VI.33.

495
the ninth meditation discard—douses or extinguishes white kar-
ma. As long as that ninth discard has not been discarded, when it
focuses on something, it is possessed as a discard. When discarded,
it is discarded in terms of removing the desire of intention.

(c) Presenting other traditions

63.
Some say the two are what is felt
In hell and elsewhere in Desire.
Others call seeing’s discards black;
e rest in Desire, black and white.

Some masters say the two, black karma and black-and-white kar-
ma, are as follows: karma which is felt or experienced in hell is black
karma that fully ripens as black, and karma experienced by other
wanderers elsewhere in Desire is logically both black and white.
Some limited completing karmas are said to be neutral. Others say
that the karmas of seeing’s discards are not mixed with virtue, so
they are only black. The rest produced in Desire, the discards of
meditation, are black-and-white karma, because it is possible for
them to be either virtuous or nonvirtuous.

b. Teaching the many enumerations of karma. This has two top-

ics: i. Classifying in terms of function, and ii. Explaining karmic
paths in particular.

i. Classifying in terms of function. This has five points.

496
(1) Explaining the silence of the three

64a–c
Nonlearners’ karma of body and speech
And just their mind respectively
Are silence of the three.

Nonlearners’ undefiled karma of body and speech and just their

undefiled mind, respectively are said in the sutras to be the silence
of the three, body, speech, and mind. These have in the ultimate
sense silenced and abandoned all the impediments of the three
gates, and are free of everything afflicted.

(2) Explaining the three cleansers

64cd
All three
Fine conducts are three purifiers.

The sutras tell of the three cleansers of body, speech, and mind. All
three fine conduct of body, speech, and mind, are respectively the
three purifiers of body, speech, and mind, because defiled fine con-
duct temporarily and undefiled fine conduct permanently abandon
the stains of harmful action. The purpose of this is to rebut the
non-Buddhist views that merely sitting without talking or falsely
cleansing by washing on a river bank could cleanse or purify the
stains.

(3) Three types of harmful conduct

65ab
Nonvirtue of the body, et cetera,
Is proposed as three harmful conducts.

497
What are the three harmful actions the sutras teach? you ask. The
three nonvirtuous karmas of body, et cetera, including speech and
mind, produce unpleasant full ripening, so they are proposed as
the three harmful conducts of the three gates.

(4) Three types of harmful mental conduct

65cd
To covet and so forth aren’t action
But are three harmful mental conducts.

To covet and so forth, to have malice and wrong views, are not
inherently action but are the three harmful conducts of mind. The
reason is that they are greed, hatred, and delusion, so they are not
karma, because they are afflictions contained within the six root
afflictions.212 The Dārṣṭāntikas say the Conceived for That Purpose
Sutra213 teaches that covetousness and so forth only are mental kar-
ma.

(5) Three types of fine conduct

66a Fine conduct is the opposite.

Fine conduct is the virtues that are the opposite of those three
types of harmful conduct of the three gates. These are the virtuous
karma of the three gates, the absence of covetousness, the absence
of malice, and the correct view.

212. Afflictions and karma are exclusive of one another because they are the
two separate classifications of the truth of origin and because the afflictions cause
karma.
213. Skt: Saṃcetanīyasūtra, Tib.: ched du bsam par bya ba’i mdo.

498
ii. Explaining karmic paths in particular. This has two topics: (1)
Overview, and (2) Explanation.

(1) Overview

66b–d
Among them, to consolidate grossly,
e various virtues and nonvirtues
Are taught as the ten karmic paths.

Among them, fine conduct and harmful conduct, to consolidate

grossly or present very coarsely the actual basis, the various vir-
tuous and nonvirtuous karmas are taught in the sutras as the ten
virtuous and nonvirtuous karmic paths in order to know what to
take up and what to give up. Saying “various” indicates that this
is a coarse consolidation that does not include everything. What
is not included? you ask. The preparations and aftermaths of the
seven karmas of body and speech, and the mental karma of volition
are not included. Additionally, many nonvirtues such as destroying
stupas or beating sentient beings, and many virtues such as aban-
doning drinking alcohol, generosity, and pleasant speech are not
included.

(2) Explanation. This has four topics: (a) Classifications of percep-

tible and imperceptible, (b) The three virtuous and three nonvirtu-
ous roots, (c) Teaching the three completing factors, and (d) Teach-
ing the individual karmas.

(a) Classifications of perceptible and imperceptible. This has two

topics: (i) Actual and (ii) Additionally, ascertaining which are the
preparation and the aftermath.

(i) Actual. This has two points.

499
A. Ascertaining which nonvirtue is

67ab
Six nonvirtues are imperceptible.
e one is both. If done, they are as well.

The six nonvirtues of body and speech excluding sexual misconduct

are solely imperceptible when they arise from ordering somebody
to do something. The one, sexual misconduct, cannot be complet-
ed by ordering someone else and must be done oneself, so it is both
perceptible and imperceptible. If one does them oneself, they—the
previous six—are both perceptible and imperceptible as well when
completed at the time that the perceptible has not ceased, but im-
perceptible only when completed at the time that the perceptible
has ceased.

B. Ascertaining which virtue is

67cd
e seven virtues are both. What samadhi
Produces is an imperceptible.

The seven virtuous, material karmic paths are both perceptible and
imperceptible because correct discipline is without a doubt depen-
dent upon the perceptible. The dhyana and undefiled vows which
samadhi produces are only imperceptible because they are depen-
dent on just the mind.

Previously it said in the Ṭīka that undefiled vows have both percep-
tible and imperceptible aspects, but I cannot find the source and
wonder whether it might be a typographical error.

Here some say that the verse, “The percept and/Impercept of the

500
first”214 presents the four possibilities of individual liberation and
the vows of individual liberation, so the first moment of taking
the vow correctly is individual liberation but not a vow. This is not
harmed by the root text and commentary on the lines, “If done,
they are as well./The seven virtues are both…” because this teaches
that there are both perceptibles and imperceptibles at the time of
the actual basis of the seven karmic paths of body and speech. The
perceptible of the first moment of taking a vow is not an actual
karmic path, so they explain that a vow of individual liberation is
not pervasively imperceptible.

Such twisted explanations appear to make many contradictions of

both the root verses and the commentary, so it is like the chatter of
common beings who have eaten thorn apple215 and is not worthy
of being spoken by wise exalted beings such as yourselves. Modern
students of the abhidharma, look at the entire root and commen-
tary and choose your words carefully!

(ii) Additionally, ascertaining which are the preparation and the

aftermath

68a–c
e preparations are perceptible.
ey might be imperceptible, or not.
e aftermath is opposite of that.

The preparations for the seven virtuous and seven nonvirtuous kar-
mic paths have without a doubt a perceptible nature. If they are
undertaken out of intense entanglers216 or sincerity, they might be

214. See verse IV.16bc.

215. A hallucinogenic plant, datura alba.
216. A type of affliction. See V.47–53.

501
imperceptible, or if with a weak mind, not. The aftermath of the
karmic path is the opposite of that, the preparations. Until it is
canceled, there is definitely an imperceptible. If one performs an
action that is in accord with the actual basis, there is also a percep-
tible, but if not, there is none.

Well then, what is the distinction between preparation, actual basis

of the karmic path, and aftermath? you ask. When someone wishes
to kill a living creature, the actions from getting up off the seat,
approaching that being, taking a weapon, and striking the creature
once or twice, until actually taking the life of that being, are the
preparations. The perceptible and imperceptible moment of strik-
ing the creature and taking its life is the actual karmic path. The
following imperceptible moments and the perceptible skinning the
animal, selling, cooking, eating its meat, and so forth are the after-
math. It is similar with the other six.

Covetousness, malice, and wrong view do not depend upon the

actual basis or the aftermath, but become a karmic path by merely
manifesting.

(b) The three virtuous and three nonvirtuous roots. This has two
topics: (i) Nonvirtuous, and (ii) Virtuous.

(i) Nonvirtuous. This has two points.

A. Roots of nonvirtue of body and speech

68d
e preparations come from the three roots.

From a sutra:

502
 Bhikshus, taking life is threefold: that produced by greed,
hatred, and delusion…

The others up to wrong view are taught similarly. The meaning of

this is that the motivation of the preparations for the seven karmic
paths of body and speech come or arise from the three nonvirtuous
roots. Taking life produced by desire is killing out of craving for
meat and so forth; that produced by hatred is killing for revenge;
and that produced by delusion is animal sacrifice, or the Persians
killing their elderly parents or those who are extremely ill, and so
on. Stealing and so forth are similar.

B. Roots of nonvirtue of the mind

69ab
ey follow the three roots immediately,
So coveting and so forth come from them.

They follow the three roots, the three poisons, immediately, so

coveting and so forth also come from them.

(ii) Virtuous

69cd
e virtues, preparation, aftermath,
Arise from nongreed, nonhate, nondelusion.

The virtuous karmic paths, their preparations, and their after-

math, arise from nongreed, nonhate, and nondelusion, because
they are motivated by a virtuous mind and such virtuous minds are
concurrent with nongreed and so forth. These discard the nonvir-
tuous aftermaths.

503
For example, the perceptible and imperceptible karmas of a nov-
ice who wishes to take full ordination up until they complete the
actual basis are the preparation. The perceptible and imperceptible
attained during the phrase “For that purpose, if the Sangha grants
full ordination…” on the third repetition of the motion is the ac-
tual basis, and those from then on are the aftermath.217

(c) Teaching the three completing factors. This has three topics:
(i) Actual, (ii) What their bases are, and (iii) Delineating what is or
is not the actual basis.

(i) Actual. This has four points.

A. The three completed by hatred

70ab
Hatred brings killing and harsh words
And malice to completion.

Hatred brings killing and harsh words and malice to completion,

because killing eradicates life, and a harsh mind is manifest in the
other two.

B. The three completed by desire

70b–d
Greed
Brings coveting, adultery,
And also stealing to completion.

217. When someone takes full ordination as bhikshu, the vow is attained on the
third repetition of the motion to grant them ordination, which is why the imper-
ceptible and perceptible actions at that moment are the actual basis.

504
Greed brings coveting, adultery or sexual misconduct, and also
stealing to completion.

C. The one completed by delusion

71a
Wrong view, completed by delusion.

Wrong view is brought to its completion by delusion, because it is

confused about dharma.

D. The three completed by all three

71b
e rest by three, it is proposed.

The rest—the three that remain, lying, divisive speech, and idle
chatter—are brought to completion by any one of the three—
greed, hatred, or delusion—it is proposed.

(ii) What their bases are

71cd
e bases, they are sentient beings,
Enjoyments, name-and-form, and words.

The basis or object for taking life is sentient beings. The basis for
lying with someone else’s spouse and so forth is enjoyments. The
basis for wrong view is feeling and the other four aggregates of
name and the aggregate of form, and the basis for the other four of
lying and so forth is a collection of words, because speech engages
words.

505
(iii) Delineating what is or is not the actual basis. This has two
points.

A. Those which seem to be but are not

72a–c
When killers die before or else
Together, there’s no actual—
ey’ve been born in another body.

If a killer and his victim should die together or the killer should die
first, is there an actual basis of karma or not? you ask. When killers
die before or else together with their victims, there is no actual
karmic path, because at the time that the taking of life is complet-
ed, they, the killer, have been reborn in another body than the one
in which they performed the preparations.

B. Those that do not seem to be but are

72d–f
In wars and so forth all of them
Have the same goal, so all possess
e karma, like the perpetrator.

Well then, when many people gather and agree to make war or so
forth, if one person actually deprives another sentient being of life,
do the others also have the misdeed of taking life or not? you ask.
In wars, hunts, and so forth, all of those sentient beings have the
preparations for the same goal and so forth, so all those who are
not actually killers possess the actual karmic path of taking life,
like the perpetrator who did the actual killing. Those who were
conscripted against their will possess it if they later develop a mind

506
intent upon the same goal, but if they do not wish to do harm even
at the cost of their own life, they do not possess it.

(d) Teaching the individual karmas. This has four topics: (i) The
characteristics of each karma, (ii) How many can simultaneous-
ly engage volition, (iii) Which wanderers have how many karmic
paths, and (iv) Teaching the results of the karmic paths.

(i) The characteristics of each karma. This has two topics: A.

Identifying each one, and B. Explaining wrong view in particular.

A. Identifying each one. This has four points: 1. Karma of the

body, 2. Karma of speech, 3. Karma of mind, and 4. The distinc-
tion between karma and karmic paths.

1. Karma of the body. This has three points.

a. Taking life

73ab
To take life is to kill another
Intentionally, unerringly.

What is the nature of taking life and the other karmic paths? you
ask. To take life is to kill another being—someone other than
oneself—intentionally, thinking “I will kill him.” It is unerringly
killing the one whom the killer intended to kill. Thus it has three
aspects, otherwise it possesses merely the harm of the preparation.

Life is a nonconcurrent formation or the distinctive wind that oc-

curs based on the support of the body and mind. Taking it is mere-
ly preventing it from continuing.

507
b. Taking what is not given

73cd
To steal is to make another’s wealth
One’s own by force or thievery.

To steal or take what’s not given is to make another’s wealth one’s

own either by force through actually robbing or by thievery, taking
without being detected. Here also it must be intentional and un-
erring. Merely taking without the intention to make it one’s own
does not constitute a fault, and taking Yajñadatta’s things when one
wanted to take Devadatta’s merely produces the fault of prepara-
tion, not that of the actual basis.

Well then, if one takes what has been offered to a stupa, an un-
owned treasure, or the wealth of a dead monk, from whom is one
taking without being given? you ask. In the first instance, one is
taking from the Buddha, in the second, from the king of that re-
gion, and in the third from the Sangha, which are extremely grave
faults.

c. Sexual misconduct

74ab
To lie with one who shouldn’t be lain with:
Four kinds of sexual misconduct.

To lie with someone who should not be lain with and so forth are
the four kinds of lustful sexual misconduct: lying with someone
who should not be lain with, with the wrong part of the body, in
the wrong place, and at the wrong time. The first is with someone
who has been taken as another’s spouse and so forth. The second
is in the mouth, the anus, and so forth. The third is in the open or

508
near stupas, and so forth. The fourth is with pregnant or nursing
mothers, and so forth.

2. Karma of speech. This has four points: A. Lying, B. Divisive

speech, C. Harsh speech, and D. Idle chatter.

a. Lying. This has two points.

i. Actual

74cd
To say one thing while thinking another,
When clearly understood, is lying.

To say one thing while thinking another about the subject that is
being spoken of, when the meaning is clearly understood, is lying.
If the words are not understood, it becomes merely idle chatter.

ii. The meaning of seeing, hearing, and so forth

75.
at which is experienced by eye,
By ear, mind consciousness, and three,
Is seen, heard, cognized, and perceived
Respectively, it is explained.

What are seeing, hearing, consciousness, and realizing? you ask.

That which is experienced by the eye consciousness, and likewise
by the ear consciousness, the mind consciousness, and by the three
consciousnesses of nose, tongue, and body is seen, heard, cognized,
and perceived respectively, it is explained. The reason that scent,
taste, and touch are taught in a single group is that they are similar
in being only neutral, or in Master Saṅghabhadra’s presentation,
they are similar in terms of being perceived upon contact.

509
b. Divisive speech

76ab
Divisive speech is words said with
An afflicted mind to divide others.

What is divisive speech? you ask. It is words whose meaning can

be understood, that are unerringly said with or motivated by an
afflicted mind in order to divide others. It is not intended to help.

c. Harsh speech

76c
Harsh speech is words that are unpleasant.

Harsh speech is words of an afflicted mind that are unpleasant,

understandable, and unerring, which one actually says to another
out of a desire to speak.

d. Idle chatter. This has two points.

i. Actual

76d
Any afflicted words are chatter—

Any afflicted words, spoken with an afflicted motivation, are idle

chatter. Lying and the others are all three idle chatter, but because
they are more harmful, they are classified separately.

510
ii. Others’ proposals

77a–c
Some say afflicted speech that’s other
an those, like flattery, song, shows,
Or else bad treatises.

Some others say that afflicted speech that is other than those pre-
vious three are idle chatter, like, for example, flattery spoken sweet-
ly out of a desire for personal gain, honor, and fame; singing songs
out of desire; shows intended to make people laugh and so forth.
Or else it is also like reciting bad treatises out of attachment to
their erroneous views. Other words intended to bring fame and so
forth are also idle chatter.

3. Karma of mind. This has three points.

a. Covetousness

77cd
To covet
Is wrongly greeding for others’ wealth.

Coveting is wrongly or inappropriately greeding for others’

wealth—wealth that belongs to another. It is the desire to take
something by force or thievery.

b. Malice

78a
Malice is hate for sentient beings.

511
Malice is hate for sentient beings that has the aspect of wanting to
harm others.

c. Wrong view

78bc
Believing there’s no virtue or
Nonvirtue is wrong view.

Believing there is no virtue or nonvirtue is like this: saying that

there is no generosity, no burnt offerings, no offerings, and no fine
conduct is denial of cause. Saying there is no fully ripening of the
result of fine conduct and harmful conduct is denial of result. Say-
ing that this world, the next world, fathers, mothers, and mirac-
ulous birth of sentient beings do not exist is denial of function.
Saying there are no arhats in the loka is a view that destroys existing
things. Such views are wrong views. The root teaches the denial of
cause explicitly as an illustration of the others.

4. The distinction between karma and karmic paths

78cd
Of these,
ree are paths and seven karma, too.

Of these nonvirtues, the three of mind are the gates to enter karmic
volition, so they are karmic paths, but they are not karma. And
the seven karmic paths of body and speech are karma of body and
speech, so they are karmic paths and are karma, too.

B. Explaining wrong view in particular. This has two topics: 1.

How the roots of virtue are severed, and 2. How they are restored.

1. How the roots of virtue are severed. This has six points.

512
a. What severs them

79a
e nihilist view severs the roots

The nihilist view that there is no cause and result from the ten non-
virtues severs the roots of virtue. The others are exclusive of virtue
but do not sever the roots.

However, the Treatise says:

Well then, what are the great roots of nonvirtue? you ask. The
roots of nonvirtue are that which severs the roots of virtue and
that which is discarded first of all by those who attain detach-
ment from Desire.

Is this not contradictory? you say. It is not contradictory. The intent

of this is that the roots of nonvirtue lead to wrong view. Therefore
it is like saying that the thief who set the fire burned the town down
even though he is not himself the actual combustion.

b. What is severed

79b
Of Desire that were attained at birth.

Which roots of virtue are severed? you ask. The roots of virtue of
Desire that were attained at birth are completely severed, because
the person who has the wrong view that severs the roots of virtue
does not have the virtue or nonvirtue of the two higher realms,
and because the attainment of those that were attained by training
in listening, contemplating, and meditating was previously severed
when he had the lesser of lesser wrong views.

513
c. What the views that sever them focus on

79c
Denial of cause and result. All.

What is the focus of views that cut the virtuous roots? you ask.
Wrong views that are a denial of cause, saying there is no fine or
harmful conduct, and result, saying there is no full ripening of
result, sever the roots.

Some say those that focus on the defiled and realms of the same sta-
tus sever the roots, but those that focus on the undefiled and realms
of different status do not sever them. Here the Great Exposition
explains that denial of cause and effect and all that focuses on the
same or different status or on defiled or undefiled sever them.

d. How they are severed

79d
Gradual.

Some say that like the discards of seeing, the roots of virtue are
severed at once. Here, however, similar to the afflictions discarded
by meditation, the nine roots of virtue are gradually severed by the
nine wrong views from the least of lesser wrong view, middling of
lesser wrong view, and so forth up to the greatest of greater wrong
views, which severs the smallest of small roots of virtue. This is also
the Master’s explanation.

514
e. What support they are severed on

79d
By humans. ey are cut

80a
By men and women acting on views.

They are severed by humans but not by other wanderers, because in

the lower realms afflicted and unafflicted full knowing are not sta-
ble, the gods perceive karma and result directly, and in Unpleasant
Sound there is no intention to perform misdeeds, so they are not
severed there. Thus they are cut or severed by the men and women
of the three continents. The sexless, neuters, and so forth, do not
sever them. Among them craving is very powerful, so they do not
cut them, because they have unstable intentions, like beings in the
lower realms. The roots are severed by those who act on strong
views, because they have stable, sinful intentions and are ensnared
by nonvirtue.

f. Its essence

80b
e severance is nonpossession.

When the roots of virtue have been severed, the attainment of the
virtuous roots also does not arise, so it is said that if the nonposses-
sion or nonattainment of the virtuous roots arises, they have been
severed.

2. How they are restored. This has two points.

515
a. Actual

80c
Restored by doubt and view of existence;

How are the virtuous roots restored? you ask. What was severed is
restored when doubt about cause and effect arises and when the
correct view that believes in the existence of cause and effect arises.
At that time, their attainment arises, which is called their resto-
ration. When that arises, the attainment of the nine attained upon
birth arises simultaneously, but they become manifest gradually,
just as a patient recovers his strength gradually.

b. How they are restored in those who have committed a hei-

nous deed

80d
Who’ve done a heinous deed, not here.

If one has not done a heinous deed, the roots can be restored in
the very same lifetime. The virtuous roots of individuals who have
done a heinous deed cannot be restored here, in this lifetime. If
they were severed by conditions, they will be restored in the be-
tween state before birth in hell, and if severed by causes, they are re-
stored when about to die and transmigrate from hell. There are four
possibilities of those who have severed the roots of virtue and those
who are destined for the mistaken:218 the first is Pūraṇa Kāśyapa
and the other five logicians. The second is King Ajātaśatru. The
third is Devadatta. The fourth is people other than those.

218. See III.44cd.

516
(ii) How many karmic paths can simultaneously engage volition.
This has two points.

A. How many nonvirtues can simultaneously engage volition

81ab
Up to eight nonvirtues and volition
Can simultaneously arise;

To analyze how many karmic paths and one volition can arise si-
multaneously: as far as the nonvirtues, because it is possible for any
one of the three of mind and the seven of body and speech—either
done by oneself or by ordering others—to be completed simultane-
ously, from one up to eight nonvirtues and volition can simulta-
neously arise. Nine or ten cannot arise, because it is impossible for
the three of mind to arise simultaneously, and sexual misconduct
cannot be completed by ordering another.

B. How many virtues can simultaneously engage volition

81cd
When they are virtuous, up to ten,
And yet not one, not eight, not five.

When they, the karmic paths, are virtuous, up to ten can arise
with a single volition in general, and yet in particular, there is not
only one single karmic path and volition, because the absence of
covetousness and absence of malice come together with a virtuous
mind, and there is no vow that has the nature of only abandoning
one discard.

Volition does not arise simultaneously with only eight, because a

bhikshu who has abandoned seven has seven when he has an afflict-

517
ed or neutral contemporaneous motivation, and when he has a vir-
tuous mind of the five sense consciousnesses, nongreed and nonha-
tred both arise, so there are nine, and if it is mental consciousness,
there is also the correct view for ten.

It does not arise simultaneously with only five, because if one is

a novice or holds the lay precepts it is impossible to have a single
virtue of mind in addition to the four discards: if it is one of the
five sense consciousnesses, in addition to the four discards there are
nongreed and nonhatred, which both arise for a total of six, and if
it is mental consciousness, in addition to those there is correct view
for a total of seven.

(iii) Which wanderers have how many karmic paths. This has two
topics: A. Which have nonvirtue, and B. Which have virtue.

A. Which have nonvirtue. This has three points.

1. How many there are in hell

82a–c
In hell, there is chatter, and harsh words,
And malice in two ways; wrong view
And covetousness by possession.

How many of the virtuous and nonvirtuous paths are there, both
manifest and in terms of possession? you ask. In hell, as there is
lamentation and wailing, there are idle chatter, and the harsh
words of quarrels with one another, and the malice that motivates
them. These three exist in the two ways of being manifest and by
possession. There is covetousness and wrong view by possession,
as they have not been abandoned by an antidote, but they are not

518
manifest, because there are no things to desire and karma and result
are directly perceived.

In the hells, killing someone does not make them die, there is no
ownership of sexual partners or things, there is no need to lie, and
there is no one who is near to one’s heart so everyone is already
divided. For that reason, the five from taking life to divisive speech
are not manifestly present, nor is there any attainment of them.

2. How many there are in Unpleasant Sound

82d
ere are three in Unpleasant Sound.

83a
e seventh is manifest there, too.

There are three of mind that are possessed in Unpleasant Sound,

but they are not manifest, because there is no clinging to mine,
their beings are gentle, there is nothing cruel, and they do not have
sinful intentions. The seventh, idle chatter of singing songs out of
desire and so forth, is manifest there, in Unpleasant Sound, too.
The other six of taking life and so forth are not manifest, because
they do not have sinful intentions, the lifespan is definite, and there
is no ownership of sexual partners or things. Whoever wishes to
behave impurely takes the hand of the woman he desires and goes
near a tree. If she is someone who may be lain with, the tree screens
them and they lie together, and if not, the tree does not screen
them and they do not.

519
3. How many there are in the Desire realm other than those two

83b
Elsewhere in Desire, the ten nonvirtues.

Elsewhere in other Desire realms excluding the hells and Unpleas-

ant Sound, the ten nonvirtuous karmic paths are present both
manifestly and by possession. Among animals, hungry ghosts, and
gods, they are included in the nonvirtuous mid-vows, and among
humans they can also be included in wrong vows.

Gods do not kill gods, but do kill hungry ghosts and other wander-
ers. Others say that gods do kill gods, because when the gods and
demigods battle, if the limbs or torso are cut they rejuvenate, but if
the head or neck is cut, it cannot be healed and they die.

B. Which have virtue. This has two topics: 1. Where the three of
mind are, and 2. Where the seven of body and speech are.

1. Where the three of mind are

83cd
ree virtues are in all by way
Of being possessed or manifest.

The three virtues of mind—the absence of covetousness and so

forth—are present in all realms and all five wanderers by way of
being possessed or being manifest.

2. Where the seven of body and speech are. This has two topics:
a. How many there are in Formless and Conception Free, and b.
How many there are among other wanderers.

520
a. How many there are in Formless and Conception Free

84ab
Beings in Concept Free and Formless
Have seven by possession, and

Sentient beings in Conception Free and Formless have the sev-

en karmic paths of body and speech by possession. They have ei-
ther the dhyana or the undefiled vows, because nobles born in the
Formless possess the past and future undefiled vows, and because
beings in Conception Free have the vows of dhyana. “And” is a
conjunction with the next line.

b. How many there are among other wanderers. This has two
points.

i. General

84c
In the rest they’re manifest as well,

In the rest, the realms and wanderers other than the Formless and
Conception Free, they, the seven virtuous karmic paths, are man-
ifest as well. Among animals and hungry ghosts, there are those
except for the ones included in vows. In the Form realm, there are
those included in the vows of dhyana, and except for the gods and
the Northern Unpleasant Sound, there are both those in vows and
those in mid-vows. There might be any of the three vows.

ii. Exceptions

84d
Except in hell and Unpleasant Sound.

521
However, this is except for in hell and Unpleasant Sound, because
there is no correctly undertaken discipline there.

(iv) Teaching the results of the karmic paths. This has two topics:
A. Actual, and B. Additional points.

A. Actual. This has two points.

1. The position

85ab
It’s proposed these all give dominant,
Compatible, and ripened results.

It is proposed that these virtuous and nonvirtuous karmic paths

are all give dominant results, causally compatible results, and fully
ripened results. To illustrate this through the example of taking
life, the dominant result of the karmic path of taking life is that one
does not have any beautiful external things and so forth. The caus-
ally compatible result is that one is born as a human but has a short
life and so forth. The fully ripened result is to be born in the hells.

2. The reason

85cd
Since it makes suffering, and kills,
And destroys vigor, three results.

Why do these karmic paths create the three results? you ask. To
illustrate with taking life, since one makes another being suffer,
there is the fully ripened result of enduring the suffering of the
hells, and because killing prevents life from continuing, the causal-
ly compatible result is a short life. Because it destroys vigor in the
region of the heart, the dominant result is to be born with little

522
vigor or power. There are these three results. The remaining, taking
what is not given and so forth, are similar.

The lesser, medium, and greater results of the virtues are respec-
tively birth among humans, gods of Desire, and the gods of the
higher realms. The causally compatible and dominant results are
the opposite of the nonvirtues’ results: a long life in a place with
great vigor, power, and so forth.

B. Additional points. This has three topics: 1. Identifying wrong

livelihood of speech, 2. The reason for presenting it separately, and
3. Refuting other traditions.

1. Identifying wrong livelihood of speech

86ab
Acting with body and speech from greed:
Wrong livelihood.

The Bhagavan taught about wrong speech, wrong action, and

wrong livelihood. The first two of these are the karma of speech and
the karma of body produced by hatred and delusion. Acting with
body and speech from greed is not only wrong speech and wrong
action, it is also wrong livelihood.

2. The reason for presenting it separately

86bc
It’s hard to cleanse,
So it’s taught separate.

The dharma of greed is subtle and also seizes the mind, it is not easy
even for the extremely wise to guard themselves from the karmas
it motivates, and it is hard to cleanse or purify for the rest of one’s

523
life. Therefore it is taught separately from wrong speech and wrong
action.

3. Refuting other traditions. This has two points.

a. Presenting their position

86cd
Saying it’s greed
For sustenance

It is said that if it is body and speech karma aroused by greed for

sustenance, that alone is wrong livelihood. It is not logical for the
dancing and singing that please us to be wrong livelihood.

b. Refuting it

86d
contradicts the sutras.

Because this proposal contradicts the Discipline Sutra,219 it is not

logical. It is said in that sutra:

Watching elephant fights and so forth is presented as wrong

livelihood. What is the reason? you ask. Because it is enjoying
a wrong object.

c. Which karma has how many results. This has six topics: i. How
many results defiled and undefiled have, ii. Virtuous and so forth,
iii. Karma of the three times, iv. Karma of one’s own level and other
level, v. Learner, nonlearner, and so forth, and vi. How many re-
sults discards of seeing and so forth have.

219. The Śīlaskandhikā (sh’i la’i mdo).

524
i. How many results defiled and undefiled have. This has four
points.

(1) How many results defiled paths that abandon have

87ab
e karma of stained discarding paths
Brings five results.

Of the five results explained above, which karmas have how many
results? you ask. The karma of stained or defiled discarding paths,
paths of no obstacles, bring all five results. Their fully ripened result
is the pleasant full ripening included in their own level. The caus-
ally compatible result is the later similar dharmas that arise from
samadhi. The result of removal is only removal: it is not that which
has abandoned. The personal result is the dharmas it brings forth:
the path of liberation, that which is coemergent with that, what
is attained in the future, and also that which has abandoned. The
dominant result is all composites different from its own essence,
except for those that arise earlier.

(2) How many results undefiled paths that abandon have

87b
e stainless, four,

The karmas of the stainless paths that abandon have four results.
As there is no full ripening of the undefiled, this does not include
the fully ripened result. The other four are as above.

525
(3) How many results the defiled that are not paths that aban-
don have

87cd
As do the other defiled karmas,
Whether they’re virtue or nonvirtue.

As do the stainless, the other defiled karmas except for the paths
that abandon, whether they are virtue or nonvirtue, have four re-
sults: those except for the result of removal.

(4) How many results the undefiled that are not paths that
abandon and the neutral have

88ab
e remaining that are undefiled
Have three results, as does the neutral.

The remaining karmas that are undefiled, other than the paths that
abandon, have the three results excluding the fully ripened result
and result of removal, as do the karmas that are neutral.

ii. How many results virtuous and so forth have. This has three
results.

(1) How many results virtuous karma has

88cd
e virtue and so forth of virtue
Are four and two and likewise three.

The virtuous and so forth results of virtuous karma are, if they are
virtuous, the four excluding the fully ripened result, and if nonvir-

526
tuous, the two personal and dominant results, and likewise if they
are neutral, the three results discarding the causally compatible and
result of removal.

(2) How many results nonvirtuous karma has

89ab
Nonvirtue’s virtue and so forth
Are two, three, four, respectively.

Nonvirtue’s virtuous results and so forth—nonvirtuous and neu-

tral results—are the two of personal and dominant, the three ex-
cluding the result of removal and fully ripened result, and the four
excluding only the result of removal respectively.

How is it that nonvirtue, which has full ripening, and neutral,

which does not, can be causally compatible even though they are
dissimilar? you wonder. This is not a problem, because nonvirtue
and obscured neutral are similar in being afflicted. They are suitable
as a cause of same status, because nonvirtue can also be the causally
compatible result of the neutral, and the unobscured neutral per-
sonality view and extreme view are the causally compatible results
of the nonvirtuous universal desire and so forth220 discarded by see-
ing suffering and origin.

(3) How many results neutral karma has

89cd
e virtue and so forth of neutral,
Are two and three and likewise three.

The virtuous and so forth results of karma that is just neutral, if

220. See V.12.

527
they are virtuous, are two: the personal result that arises immedi-
ately after and the dominant result. This excludes the other three.
And the nonvirtues produced by neutral karmas are the three ex-
cluding the result of removal and, as there is no nonvirtuous full
ripening, the fully ripened result. As it is actually produced, there is
the personal result. There are also dominant results. When neutral
produces nonvirtue, they are similar in being afflicted, so there is
a causally compatible result, because the five classes of nonvirtue
from the discards of seeing suffering to the discards of meditation
are the causally compatible result of the neutral personality and
extreme views. And likewise the neutral results of neutral are only
the three excluding the fully ripened result and result of removal.

iii. How many results karma of the three times has. This has three
points.

(1) Results of the past

90ab
Results of past in all three times
Are four,

The results of past karma in all three times are the four excluding
the result of removal.

(2) Results of the present

90bc
as are the middle’s future.
e middle has two,

As the results of the past are four, the future results of karma that is
in the middle between the past and future—that is, the present—

528
are four as well. The present results of the middle present karma are
the two personal and dominant results.

(3) Results of the future

90cd
and the unborn
Has three results that are unborn.

And the unborn or future karma also has three results that are
unborn or in the future, excluding the causally compatible result
and result of removal.

iv. How many results karma of one’s own level and other level
have

91ab
On its own level, four results.
On different levels, three or two.

When the results of karma are dharmas that are on its, the action’s,
own level, there are four results excluding the result of removal. If
the result is an undefiled dharma on a different level, there are three
results, excluding full ripening and the result of removal, which is
not included in any realm. Or else if the result is defiled, it is the
two personal and dominant results.

v. How many results learner, nonlearner, and so forth have. This

has three points.

(1) Results of learners’ dharmas

91c
ree learner and so forth of learner.

529
There are three results that are learner and so forth, nonlearner
and neither of those two, of learner’s dharmas. They are the same
in number. The first two (results that are learner and nonlearner)
exclude full ripening and removal, the last excludes full ripening
and causally compatible.

(2) Results of nonlearner’s dharmas

91d
Results of karma of nonlearners,

92ab
e learners’ dharmas and so forth,
Are one or three or otherwise two.

The results of the karma of nonlearners, if they are the learner’s

dharmas and so forth, are the one dominant result. Or if they are
nonlearner itself, the three, excluding full ripening and removal.
Or otherwise if they are neither, the two of personal and dominant.

(3) Results of dharmas other than those two

92cd
Results of karmas other than those
Are learner, et cetera, two, two, five.

Results of karmas which are other than those learner and non-
learner, are if they are learner, et cetera, the two personal and dom-
inant; if nonlearner, also those two; and if neither, all five results.

vi. How many results discards of seeing and so forth have. This
has three points.

530
(1) How many results discards of seeing have

93ab
Results of the discards of seeing,
Et cetera, are three, four, and one.

Results of the karma of the discards of seeing, if they are discards

of seeing, et cetera, are the three excluding full ripening and the
result of removal. If they are discards of meditation, they are the
four, excluding the result of removal. And if they are not discards,
they are the one, dominant result only.

(2) How many results discards of meditation have

93cd
Two, four, and three results of karmas
at are discards of meditation.

There are two, four, and three results of karmas that are discards
of meditation. If they are discards of seeing, they are the two dom-
inant and personal. If they are discards of meditation, they are the
four excluding the result of removal. If the result is a discard, they
are the three excluding full ripening and causally compatible.

(3) How many results karmas which are not discarded have

94ab
Results of what is not discarded
Are one, two, four, respectively.

Those results of karmas that are not discarded are, if the results are
discards of seeing, the one dominant result. If they are discards of
meditation, they are the two personal and dominant, and if they

531
are not discards, they are the four excluding full ripening. These are
presented respectively.

d. Other presentations of karma. This has two topics: i. Which

karmas are caused by which cause, and ii. The distinction between
propelling and completing karma.

i. Which karmas are caused by which cause

94cd
Improper is afflicted action;
Degenerate ways as well, some say.

From the Treatise:

The treatises teach action that is improper, proper, and neither

proper nor improper. What are the characteristics of these?
you ask.

Some say that improper karma is afflicted karma, because of inap-

propriate attention itself. Alternatively, actions that have degener-
ated from the abandonment of the five wrong ways of acting are
improper actions as well, some say, because the way the person
walks, sits, eats, dresses are improper or not in accord with custom,
so it is called improper action. Proper action is virtuous karma.
Others say it is ways that are not degenerate. Karma other than
those two is neither.

ii. The attributes of propelling and completing karma. This has

three points.

532
(1) The attributes of propelling karma

95a
One action propels one rebirth.

Does one action propel only one rebirth or does it propel multiple
rebirths? Likewise, do multiple actions propel one rebirth or do
they propel multiple rebirths? you ask. This is the position of this
school: one action propels only one rebirth. One action does not
propel multiple rebirths, and multiple actions do not propel one
rebirth.
Well then, in a sutra, Elder Aniruddha said to the monks:

By that one merit fully ripening, I was born seven times

among the gods of the Thirty-Three, until I was born now in
the clan of the rich Shakyas.

Is this not contradictory? you ask. It is not. The meaning of this

is that when he was born in the higher realms, he remembered
his previous birth and out of enthusiasm performed more virtue,
which led him to be reborn there again. For example, it is like when
one finds a single coin, uses it to make a profit, becomes rich, and
then says, “I got rich from a single coin.”

(2) The attributes of completing karma

95b
ere are multiple completing factors.

If many karmas propelled a single birth, many similar likenesses

would be propelled, which is not logical. It is proposed that there
are multiple completing factors for a likeness propelled by a single

533
karma. Beings born as human from a single propelling karma are
similar in being born as humans, but some have beautiful bodies
and so forth because of virtuous completing factors, and some have
ugly bodies and so forth because of nonvirtuous completing fac-
tors. It is like, for example, a single artist drawing the outlines and
several other artists filling in the color.

(3) Dispelling doubts about propulsion

95cd
e two absorptions without mind
Do not propel, nor does attainment.

There are other things with full ripening than just propelling kar-
ma. The two absorptions without mind do not propel a likeness,
because they do not arise simultaneously with action. Nor does
attainment of propelling karma propel a likeness, because what
is attained and the result are separated. Not only that, all Āryan
karma and worldly beings’ precursors to clear realization221 are not
propelling karma, because they are directed against the karma of
becoming.

2. Specific explanations. This has three topics: a. Explanation of

the three obscurations to discard, b. Explanation of the three bases

221. Tib. nges ’byed cha mthun, Skt. nirvedha-bhāgīya. The four stages of the
path of joining that lead to the path of seeing. Most translators from the Tibetan
translate this term as either “partial concordance with definite discernment” or
“aids to penetration,” neither of which seem particularly informative. The Sanskrit
bhāgīya means “leading to,” so here precursor is used to indicate that these four
stages of the path of joining are the precursors to the clear realization of the path
of seeing. Clear realization is used rather than “penetration” or the literal “definite
discernment” for comprehensibility.

534
of meritorious action to rely upon, and c. Explanation of the three
virtuous precursors.

a. Explanation of the three obscurations to discard. This has

three topics: i. The essence of the three obscurations, ii. Which
obscurations are where, and iii. Explaining karmic obscurations in
particular.

i. The essence of the three obscurations

96.
e karma of the heinous deeds;
Severe afflictions; lower realms,
Beings in Concept Free, and the North
Are agreed to be three obscurations.

Those who kill their own father or commit the other karma of
the heinous deeds have karmic obscurations. Neuters, et cetera,
and the severely afflicted in whom afflictions continually arise have
afflicted obscurations. Those in the lower realms, sentient beings
in Conception Free and humans of the North, Unpleasant Sound,
have obscurations of full ripening. Because these obscure the Āryan
paths, they are agreed to be three obscurations.
Well then, karma that definitely ripens in places with no leisure
such as the lower two realms, the first two modes of birth, and so
forth should also be a karmic obscuration, you say. It should not.
Here it is easy to show the basis, result, wanderer, birth, individual,
and five causes of heinous karma, and easy to label it convention-
ally, so only heinous karma is taught and the others are not. This
means that heinous karmas are taught because they are extremely
powerful and the most important.

ii. Which obscurations are where. This has three points.

535
(1) The heinous deeds in general

97ab
e heinous deeds are in three lands.
e sexless and so forth do not

First of all, the heinous deeds are found in three lands or con-
tinents, but because they are not found in Northern Unpleasant
Sound or among other wanderers, what need is there to mention
other realms? In those three, they are found only among men and
women. The sexless and so forth, neuters and hermaphrodites, do
not have them.

(2) The specifics of the heinous deed of killing one’s parents

97c
Since little benefit, no shame.

If the sexless and so forth should kill their parents, it is not a hei-
nous deed since their parents gave them bodies that are not con-
ducive to liberation, so there is little benefit, and because although
their births depended upon their parents, they have very little or no
shame and modesty.

(3) Where the other two obscurations are found

97d
Five wanderers have the remaining.

All five wanderers have the remaining afflictive and fully ripened
obscurations, because among humans, those on Unpleasant Sound
and among gods, the beings in Conception Free have them.

536
Killing an arhat or killing one’s father or mother is the karmic path
of taking life. Drawing blood from the Tathagata with harmful in-
tent is the preparation for taking life, and creating a schism in the
Sangha is the karmic path of lying.

iii. Explaining karmic obscurations in particular. This has two

topics: (1) Heinous deeds, and (2) The near heinous deeds.

(1) Heinous deeds. This has three topics: (a) Actual heinous kar-
ma, (b) Its karma and result, and (c) Additional points on karma
and result.

(a) Actual heinous karma. This has two topics: (i) An extensive
explanation of the heinous deed of creating a schism, and (ii) Ex-
plaining all five heinous deeds together.

(i) An extensive explanation of the heinous deed of creating a

schism. This has three topics: A. Essence, B. Its result, and C. Ex-
plaining it in terms of its aspects.

A. Essence. This has two topics: 1. The schism that is the division,
and 2. The schism that is that which divides.

1. The schism that is the division. This has two points.

a. Essence

98a–c
A schism of the Sangha is
Discord by nature, nonconcurrent.
It’s not afflicted; it is neutral.

A schism of the Sangha is a dharma that is discord between two

camps of the Sangha by its nature. It is substantially existent and

537
nonconcurrent with mind. Because it is not afflicted and not virtu-
ous, it is unobscured neutral, so it is not a heinous karma.

b. Who possesses it

98d
e Sangha does possess the schism.

The Sangha does possess the schism; but the schismatic Devadatta
does not possess it.

2. The schism that is that which divides. This has two points.

a. Essence

99a
e unwholesome act is telling lies;

The perceptible and imperceptible unwholesome act of speech of

the schism is telling lies.

b. Who possesses it

99b
It is possessed by the schismatic.

It, the lie, is possessed by the schismatic Devadatta who split the
Sangha.

B. Its result. This has two points.

1. Actual

99c
It ripens for an aeon in Incessant.

538
It ripens for the schismatic of the Wheel222 as an entire intermedi-
ate aeon in the Incessant Hell because there is no longer lifespan
than that in the Desire realm. The other heinous deeds are not
definitely destined for the Incessant.

2. Dispelling doubts

99d
Additional bring additional pain.

If heinous karma cannot be experienced in other lifetimes and

must be experienced on rebirth only, how can the results of multi-
ple heinous karmas ripen on someone who has committed several?
Multiple additional heinous karmas bring two, three, four, or five
times as much suffering. The being is born with a huge body that
has especially tender flesh, so they experience an immense amount
of extremely unbearable additional pain.

C. Explaining it in terms of its aspects. This has three topics: 1.

Aspects of a schism of the Wheel, 2. Explaining a ritual schism, and
3. Identifying times when a schism of the Wheel does not arise.

1. Aspects of a schism of the Wheel. This has eight points: a. Who

is the schismatic, b. Where the schism occurs, c. Who is divided, d.
What they are divided by, e. How long it lasts, f. Explanation of the
term, g. Which continents it is on, and h. The number of bhikshus.

a. Who is the schismatic

100ab
A bhikshu acting upon views,
Who is disciplined, divides.

222. See IV.101a.

539
The schism is perpetrated by a bhikshu, and not by a householder,
who would not be an equal in the body of bhikshus that is divid-
ed, or a bhikshuni and so forth who would not have such pow-
er of persuasion over the bhikshus. The bhikshu who creates the
schism acts upon and enters into the five views of personality view
and so forth. Only such a one can uphold another Teacher or path
through his ability to analyze and discern, because he is ensnared in
stable wicked intentions. It is not someone who acts out of craving
because such a person does not have stable intentions toward the
all-afflicted and utterly pure. A bhikshu who is disciplined divides
the Sangha: someone with weak discipline does not have enough
power behind his words to be able to create a schism.

b. Where the schism occurs

100b
Elsewhere.

The schism happens elsewhere than where the Bhagavan actually

is. Because it is difficult to overcome his splendor and his words
are potent, it is not possible to create a schism where he actually
resides.

c. Who is divided

100c
Childish.

Only childish ordinary beings can be divided. Āryans cannot be di-

vided because they have directly perceived the dharmas of scripture
and realization and because they have undivided faith.

540
d. What they are divided by

100c
d Accepting other teachers
And paths divides.

Accepting other teachers than the Tathagata and paths other than
the one he taught, such as the five bases of not drinking milk, not
eating meat, not using salt, wearing uncut robes, and staying in
monasteries in towns, is enough to divide the Sangha.223

e. How long it lasts

100d
It does not last.

It, the schism, does not last longer than from sun-down to sun-up,
because the Sangha will definitely be reunited before daybreak.

f. Explanation of the term

101a
It’s called a schism of the Wheel.

This schism of the Sangha is called a schism of the Wheel, because

it breaks the Dharma Wheel of the Tathagata and creates an obsta-
cle to entering the path.

223. Devadatta created the schism during the Buddha’s time by convincing his
followers that the Buddha’s behavior was not sufficiently ascetic and that bhikshus
should not drink milk, eat meat, and so forth.

541
g. Which continents it is on

101b
Rose-Apple Land.

It happens in Rose-Apple Land, not the other continents, because

there is no Teacher there, so there is no rebellious person such as
Devadatta who wishes to be the Teacher’s equal.

h. The number of bhikshus

101b
Not less than nine.

In number, there are not less than four bhikshus on each side and
the schismatic in the middle, so it is completed by nine or more,
but not by fewer. This sets the minimum.

2. Explaining a ritual schism

101cd
Ritual schisms happen in
ree continents, with at least eight.

Ritual schisms are created by sowing discord among two groups

who perform poṣadha and other rituals within a single boundary.
This is in any of the three continents where the Teachings are. The
ritual schism does not need a schismatic, so it is completed with at
least four bhikshus on each side, or eight or above.

542
3. Identifying times when a schism of the Wheel does not arise

102.
At first, at end, before there are faults
Or a pair; or when the Sage has passed,
When boundaries are not established,
A schism of the Wheel can’t happen.

At first, immediately after the Wheel of Dharma has been turned,

everyone is happy, overjoyed, and harmonious, and at the end im-
mediately after the parinirvana, everyone is focused on imperma-
nence and they are united in grief, so schisms do not arise. Or in
between before there are faults in śīla or views; or before the one
supreme pair who quickly reunite the Sangha appears; or as there is
no one to compete with, when the Sage has passed; as the schism
is disunity within the boundaries of one monastery, when bound-
aries are not yet established: in these times, a schism of the Wheel
cannot happen.

(ii) Explaining all five heinous deeds together. This has two top-
ics: A. Establishing the quantity of the five heinous deeds, and B.
As an elaboration, refuting a doubt.

A. Establishing the quantity of the five heinous deeds

103ab
Since fields of benefit and qualities
Are abandoned and annihilated.

Why is it that among the karmic paths of taking life and so forth,
only killing one’s mother and so forth are heinous deeds? you ask.
Since parents produce a body that is suitable for attaining freedom,
they are the field of benefit, and the other three are a supreme field

543
of qualities. These are abandoned in one’s mind. In the first three
life is annihilated, and in a schism the Sangha’s harmony is de-
stroyed. The Tathagata cannot be killed by anyone, but one makes
the preparations to do so.

B. As an elaboration, dispelling doubts. This has three topics: 1.

Dispelling doubts about killing one’s mother, 2. Dispelling doubts
about drawing blood with an evil intent, and 3. Dispelling doubts
about killing arhats.

1. Dispelling doubts about killing one’s mother. This has two

points.

a. Examining when sex changes

103c
Even if organs change, it is.

Even if their sexual organs change to the other sex, it is a heinous

deed to kill one’s parents. From the Treatise:

If one kills a man who is neither his father nor an arhat, can
it become a heinous unwholesome act? you ask. It can. If one
kills his mother whose organ has changed…

Murdering one’s father whose sex has changed is comparable.

b. Dispelling the doubt about when the fetus is transplanted

into another womb

103d
She whose menses bore one is the mother.

If one is conceived in one woman’s womb and then transplanted

544
into another, murdering which of the two is a heinous deed? you
ask. She whose menses bore one is the mother, so murdering her
is a heinous deed. The other is similar to a mother so of course she
deserves respect, but murdering her is not actually a heinous deed.

2. Dispelling doubts about drawing blood with an evil intent

104a
Intent to beat the Buddha is not,

Drawing blood from the Buddha becomes a heinous act because

of the intention to kill the Buddha, but if one draws blood when
intending to beat up the Buddha, it is not a heinous deed, because
there is no intention that he die.

3. Dispelling doubts about killing arhats

104b
Nor if they become an arhat later.

Nor is the killing a heinous deed if one strikes someone who is not
an arhat with a weapon and they become an arhat later, after be-
ing struck. This is because one did not make the preparations with
regard to the arhat.

(b) Its karma and result. This has two points.

(i) General teaching

104cd
When one has prepared a heinous act,
Detachment is impossible.

If one has made preparations for a heinous karma, is it possible

545
to attain a result of detachment without stopping them? you ask.
When one has done preparations for a heinous act and not stopped
them, attaining the result of detachment that transcends the world,
the loka, is impossible.

(ii) Explaining the specifics

105ab
To tell a lie in order to split
e Sangha is the gravest crime.

Among these heinous deeds, which is the most harmful? you ask.
To tell a lie in order to split the Sangha even while knowing the
difference between dharma and nondharma is proposed to be the
gravest of crimes, because it pierces the Tathagata’s dharma body
and because it hinders worldly ones on the path to the higher realms
and the freedom of enlightenment. Among the heinous deeds, kill-
ing one’s mother, killing an arhat, and drawing blood from the
Tathagata with an evil intent are each successively heavier than the
previous; killing one’s father is lighter.

(c) Additional points on karma and result

105cd
Of worldly virtues, the volition
Of Peak bears the greatest result.

Among the fine conducts, which has the greatest result? you ask. Of
all worldly virtuous karmas, the volition of the Peak of Existence
bears the greatest fully ripened result, because it ripens as eighty
thousand great aeons in the higher realms. In terms of results of
removal, among all virtues, there is none greater than the vajra-like

546
samadhi, and in terms of personal results, supreme loka dharma224
has the greatest.

(2) The near heinous deeds. This has three topics: (a) Actual, (b)
Additionally, explaining what blocks the three paths, and (c) Par-
ticular explanation of the certain bodhisattva.

(a) Actual

106.
To violate one’s arhat mother,
To kill a certain Bodhisattva
Or learner, and to rob what has
Been gathered for the Sangha’s purpose

107ab
Are similar to heinous deeds.
e fifth is to destroy a stupa.

Not only the five heinous deeds lead to birth in hell; the five that
are near to them also lead to birth in hell. What are they? you ask.
To violate one’s arhat mother through sexual misconduct, to kill
a certain Bodhisattva or killing an Āryan learner, and to rob food
for one day or more that has been gathered for the Sangha’s pur-
pose. These four are similar to the first four heinous deeds of kill-
ing one’s mother and so forth so they are near it. The one near the
fifth is to destroy a stupa, the place of offering to the body, speech,
and mind. Here killing a certain bodhisattva is far more harmful
than killing one’s father, so it is difficult to understand why it is
given as a near heinous deed.

224. The last of the precursors to clear realization. See VI.19bc.

547
(b) Additionally, explaining what blocks the three paths

107cd
Gaining forbearance, nonreturner,
And arhat totally blocks karma.

Gaining forbearance on the path of joining, nonreturner, and ar-

hat respectively totally blocks the definite karma for rebirth in the
lower realms, Desire and the two upper realms, because that karma
can only be experienced in those realms. It is like when you quit a
country and free yourself from debt.

(c) Particular explanation of the certain bodhisattva. This has two

topics: (i) General teaching, and (ii) In particular the deeds of the
Teacher

(i) General teaching. This has three topics.

A. Threshold

108ab
Since when is he the Bodhisattva?
Since doing the karma of the marks.

Since when is he the certain Bodhisattva? you ask. Since the time
of doing the deeds that accumulate the karma that has as its full
ripening the thirtytwo major marks, he attains buddhahood in one
hundred aeons.

B. Dharmas that are his qualities

108cd
High realms, high caste, full faculties,
Male, recalls lifetimes, irreversible.

548
From that time on he is free of the four faults, so he is born in the
high realms of gods and humans. He has high caste birth in the
Great Sala Tree House of the Kshatriya caste and so forth. He is
born with full faculties and as a male only. He has the two qual-
ities of recalling his lifetimes and being irreversible or unable to
be turned away from attaining awakening. In order to benefit all
sentient beings, he is not discouraged by any aspect of suffering or
any misunderstanding.

C. Explaining his aspects

109.
A male in Rose-Apple Land, when present,
With the volition to awaken,
rough contemplation, propels these
Over one hundred aeons more.

110a
Each arises from one hundred merits.

Only a being on the support of a male in Rose-Apple Land can

propel the karmas that will ripen as the marks; inhabitants of other
continents or females cannot. He accumulates them when a Teach-
er who is the object for accumulating the karma is actually present.
Whether the volition of, “May I become a buddha in this way” is
manifest or hidden, he performs the karmas only with the volition
that focuses on awakening. Karma born of listening is low, and
that born of meditation does not ripen in Desire, so this is born
through contemplation. He propels these over one hundred great
aeons more, so they are not visible results. From his diligence in
praising the Buddha Tiṣya, our Teacher shortened that by nine ae-
ons, and propelled the karma through more than ninety-one aeons.

549
As it says in a sutra, “Village chief, I remember from ninety-one ae-
ons to now completely… ” so he naturally remembers his lifetimes.
Each of the fully ripened thirty-two major marks that are thus pro-
pelled arises from one hundred merits or volitions. As far as the
quantity counted as one hundred, some say that it is the same as
all the merit from generosity of all sentient beings. There are many
other such proposals.

(ii) In particular the deeds of the Teacher. This has two topics: A. How
he accumulated merit, and B. How he perfected the transcendenc-
es.

A. How he accumulated merit

110b-d
e last of three uncountables,
Vipashyin, Dipa, Ratnashikhin
Appeared. e first was Shakyamuni.

When our Teacher was a bodhisattva, how many buddhas did he

pay respects to in each of the incalculable aeons? you ask. In the
first incalculable aeon, he paid respects to seventy-five thousand
buddhas, in the second, seventy-six thousand, and in the third, to
seventy-seven thousand buddhas. Among them, the last buddhas
of the first three uncountable aeons respectively were the buddhas
Vipashyin, Dipankara, and Ratnashikhin, who had appeared. Be-
fore all of those, the first buddha to appear was called the Sage of
the Shakyas, or Shakyamuni. He appeared in a time of strife, and
his life span, the duration of his teachings, his mother, and so on,
were all similar to our Teacher’s. During his time, our Teacher was a
potter named Illumination who offered him sweet water, massages
with ointment, and service, and then prayed, “May I, too, awaken
in the same fashion as him.”

550
B. How he perfected the transcendences. This has four topics:
1. How he perfected transcendent generosity, 2. How he perfected
transcendent discipline and patience, 3. How he perfected tran-
scendent diligence, and 4. How he perfected transcendent dhyana
and full knowing.

1. How he perfected transcendent generosity

111ab
Giving all to all compassionately
Perfected generosity.

Giving all from his eyes to his feet to all who needed it, not from
hope for a high state but compassionately, he completely perfected
transcendent generosity.

2. How he perfected transcendent discipline and patience

111cd
While not detached, to cut his limbs
Did not perturb him: patience and discipline.

While he was not detached at the time, to cut his limbs did not
even perturb him. At that time he perfected the transcendence of
patience and discipline.

3. How he perfected transcendent diligence

112a
By praising Tiṣya, diligence.

When the Bhagavan was a bodhisattva, he saw the Tathagata Tiṣya

in a mountain cave in the absorption of the all-encompassing fire
element and stood on one foot praising him for seven days with a

551
single verse. By reciting praises of Tiṣya in this way, he gathered
nine aeons’ merit and completed the perfection of transcendent
diligence.

4. How he perfected transcendent dhyana and full knowing

112b
Samadhi and mind, just prior to.

He produced the vajra-like samadhi and at that time completed the

transcendences of dhyana and mind or full knowing just immedi-
ately prior to enlightenment.

Because these six go beyond in terms of their own excellence, they

are transcendences.

b. Explanation of the three bases of meritorious action to rely

upon. This has three topics: i. Explaining the terms in general, ii.
The nature of each classification, and iii. Specific explanation of the
generosity of dharma.

i. Explaining the terms in general

112cd
e three are merit, action, or
e basis, like the karmic paths.

From a sutra:

The bases of meritorious action born from generosity, born of

discipline, and born of meditation…

The three are either merit that has an attractive full ripening, ac-
tions with the nature of karma, or the basis for engaging the in-

552
tention that is both, so they are said to be the bases of meritorious
actions. For example, it is like was explained with the ten karmic
paths: some are both karma and karmic path, and some only kar-
mic paths. To illustrate this with the merit born of generosity first,
the karmas of generosity of body and speech are all three, the voli-
tion is both merit and action, and the dharmas simultaneous with
that are merit only. The other two follow the same pattern. The
reason these three are explained is that achieving possessions, kar-
ma, and liberation, or alternatively achieving possessions, a human
or divine body, and a body in one of the higher two realms depend
upon these.

ii. The nature of each classification. This has two topics: (1) Ex-
plaining merit born of generosity, and (2) Explaining the other two
merits.

(1) Explaining merit born of generosity. This has three topics: (a)
The essence of generosity, (b) Classifications, and (c) Distinctions.

(a) The essence of generosity. This has two points.

(i) Actual

113a–d
What makes one give is generosity,
Wishing to offer or to help.
It’s body and speech karma, and Intention,

That which makes one give itself is called generosity. Clothes and
so forth that are given are called by that name, but they are not ac-
tually generosity because they are neutral. Likewise, giving without
the motivation of virtuous volition, such as out of fear, a wish for a
response, desire, or so forth, is not virtuous, so it is not giving that

553
is generosity. Thus generosity is giving with a wish to offer or to
help, which are distinguished in terms of the recipient.225 It is the
body and speech virtuous karma, and motivating intention that
is concurrent with nongreed along with its associations. From the
commentary:

When beings make gifts of their own

Possessions with virtuous minds,
At that time, the virtuous aggregates
Are said to be called generosity.

(ii) Its result

113d
resulting in abundance.

The basis of meritorious action born from generosity results in

great abundance. It is abundance’s nature that it should arise from
this source.

(b) Classifications

114ab
Generosity brings benefit
To self or other, both or neither.

When nobles who are not detached or ordinary individuals who

are detached give to a stupa, that is generosity that brings benefit
to one’s self only, because it does not benefit another. Or when
nobles who are detached give to another sentient being, with the

225. That is, offerings are made to the Three Jewels and those superior to oneself
out of respect, and gifts are given to those below oneself out of a wish to help.

554
exception of visibly experienced results, it is generosity that is only
for the benefit of the other, because it benefits the others. It is
not for the nobles’ own benefit, because they have transcended the
level where it fully ripens. When nobles who are not detached or
ordinary individuals who are detached give to another sentient be-
ing, that is generosity for the benefit of both self and other. Or
when nobles who are detached give to a stupa, it is generosity for
neither’s benefit: it is no more than offering to pay respect and to
repay kindness.

(c) Distinctions. This has two topics: (i) Overview, and (ii) Expla-
nation

(i) Overview

114cd
Distinctions of the donor and
Of things and field distinguish it.

Distinctions of the donor and of the things given and the field of
the recipient, distinguish it, generosity.

(ii) Explanation. This has five topics: A. Distinctions of donor, B.

Distinctions of what is given, C. Distinctions of field, D. Identify-
ing superior generosity, and E. Elaborations.

A. Distinctions of donor. This has three points.

1. Actual

115a
Donors excel through faith, et cetera,

555
Donors are excellent when they give with faith, et cetera—quali-
ties such as discipline, learning, and so forth. Included in the phrase
“and so forth” is giving with charity, full knowing, few desires, and
so forth.

2. Distinctions in the manner of giving

115b
And make gifts with respect and such.

When one makes gifts with the preparation of respect for the re-
cipient and such, including giving with one’s own hand, at a good
time, and without harming anyone else, the generosity becomes
superior.

3. Its result

115cd
is brings them honor and abundance
In time and with no obstacles.

From these four causes of generosity, there are four distinctions,

respectively. This first will bring them honor, and the second will
bring vast abundance. The third brings the abundance in a timely
manner, and from the fourth, one will receive the abundance with
no obstacles.

B. Distinctions of what is given. This has two points.

1. Actual

116ab
From excellently colored things
And so forth,

556
From excellently colored things and so forth, including fragrance,
taste, and touch, gifts are superior.

2. Their result

116b–d
there comes beauty, fame,
Affection, and most youthful flesh,
Pleasing to touch in all the seasons.

From these ways of being generous, respectively there comes beau-

ty; one will have fame that spreads in all directions, like fragrance;
one will have affection, like delicious taste, and one’s body will
have the most youthful flesh that, like a precious queen, is pleasing
to touch in all the seasons of the year. During the cold seasons, it
will be warm; during the hot seasons, it will be cool; and during
normal seasons, it will be natural.

C. Distinctions of field

117ab
e fields of wanderers, suffering,
Benefit, qualities are highest.

There are the four superior fields. Of these, the one that is superior
in terms of wanderers is, for example, as is said:

If you give to those born in the places of animals, hope for one
hundred times the full ripening. If you give to humans with
faulty śīla, hope for one thousand times the full ripening.

The superior field of suffering is such as among the seven material

557
merits,226 giving nursing, or giving during cold seasons. The superi-
or field of benefit is giving to parents and other benefactors. When
it is through qualities that the field is highest or superior, it is as
is said:

If one gives to those who have discipline, one can hope for
one hundred thousand times the result.

D. Identifying superior generosity. This has two topics: 1. Su-

preme generosity, and 2. Immeasurable generosity.

1. Supreme generosity. This has two points.

a. Actual

117cd
e highest is from freed to freed
Or by the Bodhisattva.

The highest of all the different types of generosity is from one who
is freed and has no desire to one who is freed and has no desire, or
generosity given by the Bodhisattva in order to benefit all sentient
beings. That is giving by one who is not freed to those who are not
freed, but it is also supreme, because it is generosity given in order
to benefit all sentient beings.

b. Identifying the supreme of the eight types of generosity

117d
Eighth.

Likewise, from a sutra:

226. See the commentary to IV.4a.

558
 Generosity is eightfold: giving to the near; giving out of fear;
giving because someone has given to you; giving so that some-
one will give to you; giving because your parents gave before;
giving for the purpose of the higher realms; giving out of
desire for fame; and giving in order to attain the mind’s orna-
ment, the mind’s necessities, the collection of yogas, and the
supreme purpose.

Of these, the eighth, giving for the purpose of attaining the mind’s
ornament and so forth, is supreme.227

2. Immeasurable generosity

118.
Although they are not noble, gifts
To parents, the ill, or Dharma teachers,
e Bodhisattva’s last rebirth
Bring yields surpassing any measure.

It is said in the sutras that giving to stream-enterers and other no-

bles brings great and immeasurable merit. In addition, although
they are not nobles but ordinary individuals, gifts to parents, the
ill, or Dharma teachers, or the Bodhisattva in his last birth228 bring
yields surpassing any measure in terms of result.

Well then, the others are in the fields of benefit, suffering, and
qualities, but what are the Dharma teachers included in? you ask.

227. Attaining the mind’s ornament means miraculous powers. The mind’s
necessities are the eightfold noble path. The collection of yogas are tranquility and
insight meditation. The supreme purpose is attaining arhatship and nirvana. (Mi
bskyod rdo rje 2005, Vol. 3, 331)
228. That is, before he attained the Noble paths while sitting under the Bodhi
tree in Bodhgaya.

559
They give all beings who are blinded by ignorance the eye of full
knowing, teach what is Dharma and what is not, and accomplish
the undefiled dharma body, and in brief, accomplish the activity of
the buddhas, so they are spiritual friends. For that reason, they are
the field of benefit.

E. Elaborations. This has three points.

1. Distinctions in size

119.
Aftermath, field, base, preparation,
Volition, and intention, too:
When these are great or small in scope,
e karma, too, is great or small.

What makes the distinction between heavy and light karma? you
ask. The aftermath of completing the karmic path, the field to
which help or harm is done, the base of any of the karmic paths
of the three gates, the preparation that begins the karmic path, the
volition that motivates karmic paths of body and speech, and the
intention, too, that thinks, “I will do this in this way.” When these
six causes are great or small in scope, the karma, too, is great, that
is, heavy, or small, that is, light.

2. The distinction between accumulated and not accumulated

120.
Intentional, complete, without
Regret, no anti, ripening,
Association: due to these
Karma is called accumulated.

560
When we say that we have done and accumulated karma, what is
accumulated karma? It is karma that is neither unwitting nor invol-
untary but that is done after consideration, or intentionally; that
is completed, by which it will have full ripening, and that is done
without regret after the karma is completed; that has no antidote;
that is karma that has a definitely experienced full ripening; and
that has all the corresponding associations.229 Due to these, karma
is called accumulated.

3. Dispelling doubts

121.
Giving to stupas is merit caused
By giving: as with love, not taken.
Cause and result are infallible,
So bad fields, too, bear pleasant fruit.

When someone who is detached gives to a stupa, there is no en-

joyment of the gift, so how is it meritorious? you ask. There are
two types of merit: merit that is caused by giving, and merit that is
caused by enjoyment. The merit of giving to stupas is merit caused
not by enjoyment, but merit that is caused by giving. For example,
it is as with meditation on loving-kindness or the others of the four
immeasurables, or like the correct worldly view, which are merito-
rious, even though it is not taken or does not benefit another.

Well then, if it is logical that being generous with gifts to a good

field produces a pleasant result, how is it that giving to a bad field
brings a pleasant result? Because whatever type a cause might be,
the result born from it is infallibly of the same type, so it is logical
that giving to a bad field, too, should bear a pleasant fruit or re-

229. That is, the associated mental factors.

561
sult. For example, grape seeds produce sweet fruits, and neem seeds
produce bitter fruits.

(2) Explaining the other two merits. This has three topics: (a) The
nature of each, (b) The result of both, and (c) Additionally, an ex-
planation of the four merits of Brahma.

(a) The nature of each. This has two topics: (i) Merit born of dis-
cipline, and (ii) Merit born of meditation.

(i) Merit born of discipline. This has three points.

A. Identifying what is discarded

122ab
Immoral is nonvirtuous form
at twofold discipline discards.

Immorality is the form of unwholesome nonvirtues from taking

life to idle chatter. The four or seven abandonments of nonvirtuous
form is discipline. That discarding is the twofold discipline of the
perceptible by which one discards immorality and the impercepti-
ble that is the discarding.

B. Its antidote, discipline

122c
at which the Buddha barred as well.

Discipline is not pervasively the antidote for immorality. There are

things that may be done in particular times or circumstances but in
other times and circumstances become the causes of the inherently
unwholesome. This is because that which not immoral by nature
but which the Buddha’s word barred, such as swearing not to eat

562
at wrong times, has both perceptible and imperceptible forms and
is discipline as well. Having sworn to the precept of abandoning
something, if one does it, it becomes immoral, because it is disre-
spectful of the Bhagavan’s word. This teaches implicitly that it is
not immoral for those who have not sworn to the discipline.

C. The merit of purifying it

122d
Four qualities of the utterly pure:

123ab
Not sullied by immoral or
Its cause; based on the anti and peace.

There are four qualities of the utterly pure discipline, because the
opposite of that is impure. What are the four? you ask. It is not
sullied by immoral nonvirtue—it does not arise as a fault; it is not
sullied by its, nonvirtue’s, cause, the root and near afflictions; it is
based on its, immorality’s, antidote, the four foundations of mind-
fulness; and as it is dedicated toward freedom, it is based on peace.

(ii) Merit born of meditation

123cd
Infusing the mind with meditation
Is the virtue of equipoise.

Meditation infuses the mind with meditation, the qualities of sa-

madhi, and makes it similar to samadhi, so it is called the virtue of
the samadhi of equipoise and what is associated with it. For exam-
ple, it is like infusing oil with the scent of flowers.

563
(b) The result of both

124ab
For high realms, discipline is prime,
And for removal, meditation.

Well then, if it is logical that generosity produces abundance, what

comes from discipline and meditation? you ask. Of course generos-
ity can be the cause of the high realms, but for the sake of attaining
a body in the high realms, maintaining discipline is primary, and
for the sake of removal of desire, what is principal is meditation,
because these and just these are their primary causes.

(c) Additionally, an explanation of the four merits of Brahma

124cd
Because one dwells in joy for aeons
In high realms, four are Brahma’s merit.

Because building a stupa for the Tathagata’s relics in a place where

there was not one before, offering a monastery for the Sangha of
the four directions and building a temple there, reconciling a split
among the listeners of the Tathagata, and meditating on immea-
surable love are four causes for one to dwell, living in joy, for forty
intermediate aeons one after the other in the high realms, they are
similar to the merit of Brahma’s Ministers, so the merit of these
four is called Brahma’s merit. This is said in the sutras and ex-
plained by earlier masters. The Great Exposition explains that these
are equal to what was explained as the size of each of the merits that
fully ripens as a major mark.

564
iii. Specific explanation of the generosity of dharma

125ab
To give the Dharma is teaching sutras,
Without affliction, as they are.

To give the Dharma is teaching the sutras, et cetera, including the

rest of the twelve precepts, with a mind without afflictions that
does not desire rewards and fame, not teaching them wrongly but
correctly and just as they are.

c. Explanation of the three virtuous precursors

125cd
Precursors to merit and nirvana,
And realization are three virtues.

Of the three precursors, the precursor to merit propels an attractive

full ripening included in existence. And the precursor to freedom
is something that, once it has arisen, becomes a dharma base that
attains nirvana.230 As a sign of its presence, when one hears about
the faults of samsara and qualities of nirvana, one’s hair stands on
end out of faith. And the four of warmth and so forth that will
be explained are the precursors to clear realization.231 Thus are the
three virtues of the precursors taught.

III. Teaching the synonyms of dharmas as a summary. This has

three points.

230. Both individuals who have entered the path and those who have not en-
tered the path have the precursors to merit. The precursor to freedom is equiva-
lent to the path of accumulation. (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2003, vol. 2. 127)
231. See VI.17ff.

565
A. The synonyms of the three worldly karmas

126.
reefold industrious karma with
Its motivation: writing letters
Or carving; poetry and counting;
Enumeration, in that order.

The threefold, engaged through the industrious learner’s method,

karma of body, speech, and mind with its motivation is writing
letters or carving them into stamps; reciting poetry, and counting;
and tallying enumerations with the mind, and vows. These are pre-
sented in that order.

B. Synonyms of the afflicted

127ab
Obscured, bad, and unwholesome are
Afflicted dharmas.

They obscure freedom, they are bad since they are solely something
to reject, and they are unwholesome since they are disparaged by
the exalted. These three are synonyms of afflicted dharmas.

C. Synonyms of the virtuous

127b–d
Stainless virtues Are sublime.
Practice compounded virtue.
And liberation is unexcelled.

The undefiled or stainless virtues are the ultimate of purity, so they

are called sublime. Practice compound virtues, because they pro-

566
duce an attractive result and are something to be familiar with.
Because other things lack these two reasons, they are not some-
thing one practices. All other dharmas are excelled by something,
but there is no dharma at all that is superior to the liberation of
nirvana, so it is also called unexcelled, because it is virtuous and
permanent. This is the supreme dharma that is superior to all other
dharmas.

Second, presenting the area’s name

is completes the fourth area called “Teachings on Kar-

ma” from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the fourth area called “Teach-

ings on Karma” from The Explanation of the “Verses of the Treasury
of Abhidharma” called The Essence of the Ocean of Abhidharma, The
Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining the Youthful Play,
Opening the Eyes of Dharma, The Chariot of Easy Practice.

A few words here:

The behavior of unruly beings, the poisonous nightshade

Of millions of manifestations of black piled on black—
My mind had been sickened by distractions and clamor,
And so at that time I climbed up into one-pointed solitude.

And then out of faith in the buddhas and bodhisattvas,

Unbearably great fervor opportuned tears,
And now day and night by transcending through dharma,
I’ve sworn in my mind to discard life’s distractions.

With the good eye medicine of prajñā I’ve purified

The cataracts of ignorance, no more to arise.

567
I’ve gained the mind’s eye of the Wheel of the teachings
To explain and debate and compose in these times.

And thus I’m emboldened with complete sincerity

To explain the Tathagata’s intent as it is
In all of the Sugata’s scriptures, particularly
The Treasury of Dharma’s matrix, abhidharma.

In the stainless space of examining, the radiant

White treasury that teaches on karma is completed.
With all of the branches of scriptures and words,
In White Cave, this place so delightful to dwell,

The monk of the Shakya, Vajreshvara composed this.

By the power of virtue that’s gained in three times
By the tenth emanation to enter Karma’s teachings,
May these teachings flourish to the end of four times.

568
 FIFTH AREA

Teachings on the Kernels

Your wisdom itself, from its origin truly awake,

Makes gifts that illumine all wanderers with help and with
happiness
By tearing away all the darkness of the fleeting stains—
You great precious Kagyupas, grant us your blessings.

The thicket of suffering and origin’s faults not ripped out,

We have not arrived in complete freedom’s happiest place,
So in order to cut out its radix, the kernels,
I’ll open the door to the Treasury that teaches the kernels.

The fifth area, the “Teachings on the Kernels,” has an explanation

of the text of the area and a presentation of the area’s name. The
explanation of the text of the area has three topics: I. The nature
of the kernels, II. What discards the kernels, and III. The results of
discarding the kernels.

I. The nature of the kernels. This has two topics: A. Teaching the
kernels as the root of existence, and B. Understanding the kernels.

A. Teaching the kernels as the root of existence

1a
e root of existence is the kernels.

“From karma are various worlds born,” it is explained. That karma

is accumulated by the power of the afflicted kernels: without the

569
kernels, existence would not be able to be manifestly established, so
for that reason, know that the root of existence is the kernels.

B. Understanding the kernels. This has three topics: 1. Classifica-

tions of the kernels, 2. How the kernels arise, and 3. Enumeration
of the kernels.

1. Classifications of the kernels. This has three topics: a. Clas-

sifications of the essence, b. Classifications of the aspects, and c.
Classifications of what has the kernels.

a. Classifications of the essence. This has two topics: i. General

classification, and ii. Specifically classifying views and pride.

i. General classification. This has four topics: (1) Classifying as

six, (2) Classifying as seven, (3) Classifying as ten, and (4) Classi-
fying as ninety-eight.

(1) Classifying as six

1bc
ey’re six: desire, and likewise anger,
Pride, ignorance, and view, and doubt.

To classify the kernels concisely, there are six. What are the six?
They are desire, and likewise anger, pride, ignorance, and view,
and doubt, because they are ascertained to be six in their focus.
The word “likewise” means that anger and the others can likewise
develop in relation to anything that desire focuses on.

(2) Classifying as seven. This has two points.

570
(a) Actual classification

1d
ese six are taught as seven when

2a
Desire is split.

These six kernels are taught as seven kernels when desire is split
into the desire for Desire and the desire for existence, because then
there are desire for Desire, anger, desire for existence, pride, igno-
rance, view, and doubt.

Here the meaning of what are called kernels is proposed by the

Great Exposition to be manifest afflictions, by the Vatsiputrīyas to
be attainment, and by the Sutra school to be seeds.

(b) Identifying desire for existence

2a–d
at which arises
In two realms is desire for existence
Since it looks inward. It is taught
To rebut the idea it is freedom.

That desire which arises in the two Form and Formless realms is
explained to be desire for existence since they, the two desires of
Form and Formless, are attachment to absorption and its support,
so they are similar in looking inward. The reason it is taught that
these are desire for existence is to rebut the wrong idea that it, ex-
istence in those two realms, is freedom.

571
(3) Classifying as ten

3.
Five views are personality;
Wrong view; and holding the extremes;
Overesteeming view; and discipline,
Austerity. ere are thus ten.

In the abhidharma, the kernels are also classified as ten by dividing

view into five views. These are the view of personality, and wrong
view, and the view of holding the extremes, the view of overest-
eeming view, and the view of overesteeming discipline and auster-
ity. There are thus five views and five nonviews, for a total of ten
kernels.

(4) Classifying as ninety-eight. This has two topics: (a) Actual,

and (b) Additional point.

(a) Actual. This has three topics: (i) Explaining the thirty-six in-
cluded in the level of Desire, (ii) Explaining the sixty-two included
in the levels of the higher realms, and (iii) Summary.

(i) Explaining the thirty-six included in the level of Desire. This

has two points.

A. Explaining the thirty-two discarded by seeing

4.
ey’re ten and seven, seven and eight,
Excluding three or else two views.
When suffering and so forth of Desire
Is seen, they are discarded in order.

572
The Sutra of Abhidharma explains the kernels as ninety-eight. To
summarize, they are the discards of seeing and meditation of all
three realms. Of these, they, the discards of seeing of the Desire
realm are thirty-two: from the previously explained ten, they are all
ten of suffering, and seven of origin, seven of cessation, and eight
of path. For origin and cessation, there are these ten excluding the
three views of personality, extreme, and overesteeming discipline
and austerity, or else for the path, the first two personality and ex-
treme views, because a discard must mistakenly engage the truths
either directly or indirectly, and those views do not mistakenly en-
gage those truths.

When the nature of the truths of suffering and so forth—origin,

cessation, and path—of Desire is seen, they are discarded in order.

B. Explaining the four discarded by meditation

5a
Four are discards of meditation.

The four that cannot be discarded by seeing the truth—desire,

anger, pride, and ignorance—are discards of meditation, because
they are discarded by meditating on the path.

In summary, there are twelve views, four types of doubt, five types
of desire, five types of anger, five types of pride and five types of
ignorance for a total of thirty-six kernels that function in Desire.

573
(ii) Explaining the sixty-two included in the levels of the higher
realms

5bc
Excluding anger, these same are
In Form. e Formless is like that.

In the higher realms, one’s being is moistened by tranquility, the

bodily support is clear, and the basis for anger’s development, the
feeling of suffering, is absent. Therefore excluding anger, these
same thirty-one kernels function in the Form realm. The Formless
is like that Form realm with thirty-one kernels. Thus for the higher
realms one should recite the verses thus:

They’re nine and six and six and seven,

Excluding anger, three, two views.
When suffering and so forth of Form
Is seen, they are discarded in order.
Three are discards of meditation.

(iii) Summary

5d
us they’re proposed as ninety-eight.

Thus by classifying the six kernels in terms of aspect, class, and

realm, they, the kernels are proposed as ninety-eight by the mas-
ters of the abhidharma.

Here in the Compendium of Ascertainments,232 the view of overest-

eeming discipline and austerity is said to mistakenly engage all four

232. Nirnayasaṃgraha (rnam par gtan la dbab pa bsdu ba) by Asanga.

574
truths, so there are ninety-four discards of seeing. The discards of
meditation are explained similarly to this explanation. In the Com-
pendium of Abhidharma,233 all five views as explained to mistaken-
ly engage all four truths, so there are 112 discards of seeing, and
the views of personality and holding extremes also have instinctive
types that are discards of meditation, for a total of sixteen discards
of meditation. Drangti explains that the former is the tradition of
the Sutra school and the latter of the Mind Only school. The Great
Chim says that both are the Mind Only tradition, but the first is in
terms of actually exclusive aspects and the latter in terms of mere
exclusion.

(b) Additional point

6.
e Peak’s that forbearance destroys,
Are discards just of seeing. On others,
Of seeing and meditation. What forbearance
Does not destroy are just of meditation.

Well then, are the discards of seeing definitely discarded by seeing?

It is not definite. There are two types of discards that are destroyed:
those destroyed by forbearance and those destroyed by knowing.
The first is equivalent to the discards of seeing and the second to the
discards of meditation. The discards born on the Peak of Existence
that forbearance destroys are definitely discards just of seeing, but
those on the other eight levels that forbearance destroys can be
discarded by both the path of seeing and the path of meditation.
When nobles discard them, they are discarded by the path of see-
ing, and when the childish discard them, by the path of meditation.
Those discards of meditation that forbearance does not destroy are

233. Abhidharmasamucchaya (mngon pa kun las bstus pa) by Asanga.

575
discards just of the path of meditation, because it is impossible for
the path of seeing to abandon a discard of meditation.

The path of meditation can be either defiled or undefiled. Of these

two, the former is the eight preparations for the levels from the
first dhyana to the Peak, which take coarseness and purity as their
aspects. The second, the undefiled path of meditation, is the subse-
quent knowing of path and so forth.234

ii. Specifically classifying views and pride. This has two topics:
(1) Classifying views, and (2) Classifying pride.

(1) Classifying views. This has three topics: (a) The nature of each
of the five views, (b) The reason the fifth is not a discard of seeing
the origin, and (c) Classifying as the four erroneous.

(a) The nature of each of the five views

7.
As me, mine; permanent and ceasing;
As nonexistent; overesteeming
e low; and viewing what is not cause
Or path as such: these are five views.

What is the nature of the five views? you ask. When focusing on
the aggregates of grasping, viewing them as me and mine is per-
sonality view. Viewing that me itself as permanent or ceasing is
extreme view. Viewing the truth of suffering and so forth as non-
existent is wrong view. Overesteeming the low, personality view,
and the others, is overesteeming the view. And viewing what is not
the cause—Indra, the Lord of Living Creatures Brahma, and so

234. Subsequent knowing of the path is the sixteenth moment of clear realiza-
tion. See VI.25–27.

576
forth—as the cause, viewing what is not the cause of high realms—
entering fire and water and so forth235—as the cause of high realms,
or viewing what is not the path—mere śīla and austerity—as such
is overesteeming discipline and austerity. These are the natures of
each of the five views.

(b) The reason the fifth is not a discard of seeing the origin

8.
Since clinging to Ishvara, et cetera,
As cause, initially mistakes
em to be permanent and self,
Just seeing suffering discards it.

If viewing as a cause what is not a cause is overesteeming discipline

and austerity, why is it not also a discard of seeing origin? you ask.
This is since clinging to or holding Ishvara, et cetera—things that
are not causes—as causes initially engage by power of mistaken
views of them as permanent and as a self. Directly seeing the char-
acteristics of the truth of suffering eliminates clinging to perma-
nence and a self. When that has been abandoned, viewing Ishvara
and so forth who are not causes to be causes is also discarded. For
that reason just seeing suffering discards it, clinging to Ishvara and
so forth as causes.

(c) Classifying as the four erroneous. This has two points.

235. Entering fire refers to the non-Buddhist practice of sitting in the middle
of five fires: fires in each of the four directions and the sun above. Entering water
refers to ritual bathing in the Ganges and so forth.

577
(i) Actual

9a–c
Among three views, there are four errors,
Since they’re mistaken, since they’re thoughts
at judge, since they exaggerate.

Well then, must the errors necessarily be just the two errors of self
and permanence? you ask. Not necessarily. From among the three
views of personality, extreme, and holding view supreme, there
are four errors presented as one set. Clinging to a self is presented
from personality view. The view of permanence is presented out of
extreme view. Views of the clean and blissful are presented out of
holding views supreme.

Well then, other afflictions are not presented as errors, so why are
these three presented as errors? you say. They are presented as errors
because of three reasons: because they are solely mistaken about
their focus, since they are thoughts that judge, and since they ex-
aggerate. Other afflictions do not fulfill one or more of those rea-
sons, so they are not presented as errors.

(ii) Additional point

9d
Mind and conception, from their power.

Well then, both mind and conception must not be errors, because
they do not make one have thoughts that judge. If you agree, it is
contradictory of the sutras which tell of both erroneous mind and
erroneous conception, you say. This is not contradictory, because
mind and conception are concurrent with those erroneous views
and so are presented as erroneous from their power.

578
Well then, the feelings that are concurrent with those three also
become erroneous, you say. In common parlance, feelings are not
called erroneous, so they do not become so.

(2) Classifying pride. This has three points.

(i) Actual classification

10a
e prides are seven. Nine types, three.

There are not only classifications of views: pride can be classified

as well. There are seven types of pride: pride, superior pride, more
proud than pride, pride in thinking me, pride of exaggeration,
pride in thinking almost, and mistaken pride. The first is the con-
ceit of thinking one is better than an inferior, and that one is equal
to his equals. The second is thinking one is superior to his equals.
The third is thinking one is superior to his betters. The fourth is the
conceit of thinking, “That’s me” when focusing on the aggregates of
grasping. The fifth is the conceit of thinking one has attained clair-
voyant powers when one has not. The sixth is the conceit of think-
ing one is almost as good as his superiors. The seventh is thinking
one has qualities he does not.

In the treatise Jñānaprasthāna, there are nine aspects of pride that

are taught. The nine types are included in three: pride, superior
pride, and pride in thinking almost.

(ii) What antidotes discard them

10b
Destroyed by seeing, meditation.

579
Those seven prides are destroyed by either the path of seeing or the
path of meditation, because those concurrent with discards of see-
ing are extinguished by seeing and those concurrent with discards
of meditation are extinguished by meditation.

(iii) Why discards of meditation do not manifest themselves in

nobles’ beings even though they have not been discarded

10cd
Discards of meditation are
Entangled with killing and so forth.

11.
Craving destruction, too. In nobles,
e prides, et cetera, that think “me”—
Developed by view—do not occur.
Nor does nonvirtuous regret.

The nobles have not abandoned the discards of meditation, but do

they act upon them? you ask. Kernels that are discards of medita-
tion are entangled with the seven nonvirtues of killing and so forth
and with what focuses on those. They have not been abandoned
but they do not become manifest among nobles, because they are
developed through the condition of wrong views, which nobles
have abandoned. Similarly both craving destruction by thinking,
“What would be wrong with ceasing to exist?” and craving birth,
too, by thinking, “What would be wrong with becoming the lord
of the gods?” do not manifest themselves in nobles, because they
are developed by extreme views, which nobles have discarded.

In nobles, the nine types of pride, et cetera, and the pride that
thinks “me” that are included among the discards of meditation
do not manifestly occur, because they are developed by personality

580
view, which nobles have abandoned. Nor does nonvirtuous regret
become manifest because it is developed by doubt, which the no-
bles have discarded.

b. Classifications of the aspects. This has five topics: i. Classifi-

cation of universal or not, ii. Distinctions of focusing on the unde-
filed or not, iii. Developed by concurrence and by focus, iv. Clas-
sification as nonvirtuous and neutral, and v. Which kernels tie one
down in the three times.

i. Classification of universal or not. This has three points.

(1) Universals of same status realm

12.
e views and doubts that one discards
By seeing suffering and cause
And simultaneous and unmixed
Ignorance are the universals.

Among the kernels, how many are universal, and how many are
not universal? you ask.236 There are eleven universal kernels of same
status: seven views—the five views discarded by seeing the truth
of suffering plus the two discarded by seeing the truth of origin,
wrong view and overesteeming view—two doubts that one dis-
cards by seeing the truths of suffering and cause; and the igno-
rance that is simultaneous with those; and unmixed ignorance that
is not mixed with other kernels. These are the universal kernels of

236. Universal means a kernel that can focus on any of the classes of discards.
Nonuniversals can only focus on their own class. For example, a universal kernel
of seeing suffering can focus on the discards of seeing any of the truths or med-
itation, but a nonuniversal kernel of suffering can only focus on the truth of
suffering.

581
same status because they focus on all five classes of discards of their
own level.

(2) Universals of realms of dissimilar status

13ab
Of these, the nine can focus higher,
Excluding two views.

Of these eleven universals, the nine kernels can focus on higher

levels and realms, so they are universals of realms of dissimilar sta-
tus. This is excluding the two of personality and extreme views,
because these view only the aggregates of one’s own being mistak-
enly. The way these nine focus is that sometimes they focus on one
realm of dissimilar status and sometimes on two, as is stated in the
Treatise.

(3) Explaining other universals than those

13b–d
What arises
Along with them is universal
As well, attainment not included.

Are only kernels universal? you ask. What arises along with and
at the same time as them, the kernels—feelings, etc., and arising,
etc.—is universal as well. However, attainment is not included,
because the kernels and attainment have dissimilar results, attain-
ment does not produce full ripening, and their compatible causes
are also dissimilar.

Here there are four alternatives between universal kernels and uni-
versal causes.

582
ii. Distinctions of focusing on the undefiled or not. This has two
topics: (1) Those that focus on the undefiled, and (2) Those that do
not focus on the undefiled.

(1) Those that focus on the undefiled. This has two points.

(a) Overview

14.
Wrong views and doubts discarded by
Seeing cessation and the path,
Concurrent and plain ignorance:
ese six take the undefiled as sphere.

How many of them focus on the defiled? How many focus on the
undefiled? you ask. The two wrong views and two doubts discard-
ed by seeing cessation and the path, the ignorance that is concur-
rent with them, and plain, unmixed ignorance: these six take the
undefiled cessation and path as their sphere; those two are their
object. In aspects, they engage them through denial, through being
of two minds or other doubt, or through unclear aspect.

The mistaken engagements that focus on mistaken engagement of

cessation and path and the mistaken engagements of suffering and
origin focus on the defiled.237

237. Discards of seeing are sometimes called “mistaken engagements,” and they
are classified in two types: direct mistaken engagements and mistaken engage-
ments of mistaken engagements. Direct mistaken engagements focus on one of
the four truths in an erroneous manner. For example, doubt that is discarded by
seeing cessation actually focuses on the truth of cessation but sees it mistakenly,
doubting its truth. Mistaken engagements of mistaken engagements focus not on
the actual truth, but on one of the direct mistaken engagements. For example,
desire discarded by seeing the path does not focus on the path, but might take the
form of attachment to the view of holding austerity and discipline supreme, etc.

583
(b) Explanation

15.
Cessation that is of their level.
Because paths can be mutual causes,
e paths of the six and nine levels
Are objects of whose sphere they are.

The object of the wrong views discarded by seeing cessation is the

antidote, cessation that is of their own level. Because paths can
be mutually causes of same status, the paths compatible with the
dharma knowing of the six levels of dhyana are objects of the three
of wrong views, et cetera, of Desire that have those paths as their
sphere. And all the paths compatible with the subsequent know-
ing of the nine undefiled levels are the objects of wrong view, et
cetera, of the eight higher levels whose sphere they, the paths, are
in, because these paths are definitely in the family of antidotes of
those levels.

(2) Those that do not focus on the undefiled

16.
Desire does not, since it’s discarded.
Nor hatred, since they do not harm.
Since they are peace, pure, and supreme,
Pride does not, nor does overesteeming.

Desire does not focus on cessation and path since its focus is that
which is discarded only. Otherwise it would be like intention to-
ward virtuous dharmas. Hatred focuses on things that generate
hostility, so nor does hatred focus on cessation and path, since they

(Mi bskyod rdo rje 2003, vol. 1, 357–8)

584
do no harm. Additionally, since they are both peace, because they
are pure and purifying, and because they are supreme, respectively,
pride does not focus on the peaceful, nor are they the object of
the views of overesteeming—the fifth view that holds what is not
a purifier to be so, and the view of holding view supreme, which
holds the inferior to be supreme. In this way, those that focus on
the undefiled are direct mistaken engagements. Those that focus
on the defiled of those two classes are mistaken engagements of
mistaken engagements.

iii. Developed by concurrence and by focus. This has two points.

(1) Those which develop through focus

17.
e universal kernels can
Develop through a focus on
Any that is of their own level.
Nonuniversal, on own class.

18ab
Not those whose sphere is high or stainless,
Since those are not made mine, since anti.

Among the kernels, how many develop in terms of their focus?

How many develop in terms of concurrence? you ask. The uni-
versal kernels can develop through a focus on any of the afflicted
five classes that is of their own level. The nonuniversal develop
through focus on their own class. This is in general.

Specifically, the kernels that do not develop through focus are those
universal kernels whose sphere is the higher levels and the nonuni-
versals whose sphere is the stainless. This is since the kernels de-

585
velop in relation to things that are divided into sets by craving and
made into “mine” through self-view, whereas those are not made
mine. It is also since the undefiled and higher levels are in the class
of their antidotes, so they are overwhelmed. For example, a burn-
ing stone is not a place where one can rest the sole of one’s foot.

(2) Those which develop through concurrence

18cd
e ones concurrent with one, then
Develop through concurrence with that.

The ones, kernels, which are concurrent with one cognition, feel-
ing, or other dharma, then develop through concurrence with that
dharma. The word “then” draws the distinction that this is as long
as it has not been abandoned. Kernels, such as the two concurrenc-
es with pleasure and greed, that have been abandoned when past
are on the past level, and when future, they are simultaneously on
the future level. However, they do not develop, as in the example
of Shariputra.238

Therefore, all kernels that focus on the undefiled and all those
which focus on the higher realms’ defiled develop only through
concurrence. The remainder develop through either focus or con-
currence. There are none which develop solely through focus.

iv. Classification as nonvirtuous and neutral. This has three top-

ics: (1) Actual, (2) Specifics of the roots, and (3) An elaboration.

238. Shariputra has past kernels from when he was an ordinary individual, but
because he has become an arhat, they do not develop.

586
(1) Actual

19.
In higher, all neutral. In Desire,
e personality, extreme,
And simultaneous ignorance.
e rest here are nonvirtuous.

How many of the kernels are nonvirtuous? How many are neutral?
you ask. The kernels that arise in the higher Form and Formless
realms are all neutral, because the full ripening of afflicted dharmas
is suffering, and that is in neither of those two as there is no cause
for harming another. In Desire, the view of personality, the view of
holding extremes, and simultaneous ignorance—ignorance con-
current with them—are neutral, because they are not exclusive of
generosity and other such virtuous dharmas, and because they look
inward so they are unable to motivate harmful conduct. The rest,
kernels other than those three, here in the Desire realm are non-
virtuous.

(2) Specifics of the roots. This has two topics: (a) The roots of
nonvirtue, and (b) The roots of the neutral.

(a) The roots of nonvirtue

20ab
Desire, aversion, and delusion
In Desire are the roots of nonvirtue.

How many of them are roots of nonvirtue? How many are not? you
ask. All desire, aversion, and delusion in the Desire realm, except
those concurrent with personality view and extreme view, are the
roots of nonvirtue. Only those that are both nonvirtues and also

587
the roots of nonvirtue are agreed to be the roots of nonvirtue. The
remaining kernels of doubt and pride are nonvirtuous, but they are
not the roots of nonvirtue.

(b) The roots of the neutral. This has two points.

(i) Kashmiri tradition

20cd
ere are three roots of neutral: craving,
And ignorance, intelligence.

21ab
Others act dually, loftily,
So they are not.

How many of them are roots of the neutral? How many are not?
you ask. The Kashmiris say that there are three roots of the neutral.
They, the roots, are craving, and ignorance, and intelligence or full
knowing. The latter can be arisen from full ripening, but those that
are slightly neutral are the roots of the neutral.239 Others, doubt and
pride, which are other than those kernels, act in doubt’s case dually
and unstably, and in pride’s case loftily, they do not deserve to be
called roots. In common parlance, roots are said to be things that
are stable and underneath. So thus they, doubt and pride, are not
roots, because they are dissimilar to roots, it is said.

239. For example, craving that is concurrent with enjoyment. Cf. VIII.5.

588
(ii) Aparāntakas’ tradition

21b–d
e Bāhyaka
Propose these four: craving, view, pride,
Delusion. From ignorance, three dhyanists.

The Bāhyaka (Aparāntakas) propose these four roots of the neu-

tral: craving, view, pride, and delusion. What is the reason? you
ask. From the power of ignorance, there arise the three meditators
of dhyana, who have excessive craving, view, and pride.

(3) An elaboration

22.
Categorical, distinguishing,
And questioning, and the declining
Responses answer queries on death,
Rebirth, superior, self or other.

What are the fourteen neutral, indeterminate dharmas mentioned

in the scriptures? you ask. They are questions whose answer was not
actually indicated, so they are called neutral or indeterminate. Giv-
ing a categorical response, distinguishing response, and question-
ing response, and the declining response are four ways to answer
queries. The first of these is like when asked, “Will all beings die?”
answering, “They will die.” The second is like when asked, “Will
all who die be reborn?” answering, “Those who have not extin-
guished the afflictions will be reborn, but those who have will not.”
The third is like when asked, “Is this person inferior or superior?”
responding with the question, “In relation to whom? In relation to
gods he is inferior. In relation to the lower realms, he is superior.”

589
The fourth is like when asked, “Is the self other than the aggregates
or not?” This is asking about nonexistent attributes, like whether
the child of a childless woman is blue or white, so it is something
to put aside only. The fourteen indeterminates are similar.

v. Which kernels tie one down in the three times. This has four
topics: (1) The things to which one is tied, (2) Examining the three
times, (3) Discarded yet possessed, and (4) Which dharmas are the
objects of which cognitions.

(1) The things to which one is tied. This has two topics: (a) How
specific afflictions bind, and (b) How general afflictions bind.

(a) How specific afflictions bind.240 This has two points.

(i) How they bind in the past and present

23.
One is tied down to things toward which
Desire and anger, pride as well,
Of both the past and present have
Arisen but not been abandoned.

One is tied down to any thing that is an object, toward which

object desire, and anger, and pride as well, of both the past and
present have arisen but not been abandoned. The individual is tied
down to them because they are specific afflictions. For example, it
is like when a calf is tied to a stake with a rope, the calf cannot leave
the area where it is tied.

240. Specific afflictions are afflictions that arise because of a specific object. For
example, when focusing on a pleasant object, desire arises. When focusing on an
unpleasant object, anger arises. When one focuses on a pleasant object and gets
conceited, pride arises.

590
(ii) How they bind in the future

24a–c
e future mental tie to all.
e others tie in their own time.
e nonarising, to all times.

The future desire, anger, and pride associated with the mental con-
sciousness that has arisen but not been abandoned tie one to all
things of the three times, because all three times are the object of
mind. Desire and anger that are future arising dharma bases of the
five groups of consciousness other than the mental tie one down in
their own time, the future focus. The desire and anger of the five
groups of consciousness that are nonarising dharma bases tie one
down to the things they focus on in all three times, like flax.241

(b) How general afflictions bind

24d
All that remain tie one to all.

As long as they have not been discarded, all that remain—view,

doubt, and ignorance of all three times—tie one to all things that
are objects of focus of all three times in all five classes, because they
are general afflictions242 as they are tied to all five aggregates.

(2) Examining the three times. This has two topics: (a) Presenting
the position of this school, and (b) Rebutting criticism.

241. Yaśomitra explains that just as flax is directed toward the production of its
flowers and seeds, future phenomena must be directed toward an object of any of
the three times. (Tengyur, ngu pa, 113A).
242. General afflictions can arise with regard to any object.

591
(a) Presenting the position of this school. This has three topics:
(i) The position that all three times exist substantially, (ii) Present-
ing the proof, and (iii) Teaching that this is the tradition of the
Great Exposition.

(i) The position that all three times exist substantially

25a
e times always exist,

Well then, do past, present, and future composites exist substan-

tially or not? If so, they must be permanent. If not, one cannot be
tied to them in the present, you say. The position is that the times
always, at all times, exist.243

(ii) Presenting the proof. This has two points.

A. Scriptural proof

25ab
it was said.
Since two,

The times exist because it was taught in a sutra:

Bhikshus, if there were no past form, the well-versed noble

listeners would not view past forms, but because past form
exists, the well-versed noble listeners view past form…

243. In this and following points, time refers to composite dharmas of the past,
present, and future. See I.7c. In other words, the Great Exposition school posits
that past and future objects have substantial existence in the same way that pres-
ent objects do.

592
So it was said. It is also since it was said that consciousness arises
from the two, object and faculty.

B. Logical proof

25b
objects exist, result.

The past and future exist in their own time because if the focused
object exists, consciousness arises, but if it does not exist, con-
sciousness does not arise. Since the past and future can be objects
of the mind consciousness, they must therefore exist. Also because
there is production by past karma of a later fully ripened result, we
know the past exists.

(iii) Teaching that this is the tradition of the Great Exposition.

This has three points: A. Actual, B. Divisions of schools, and C.
Analyzing which of the four traditions is best.

A. Actual

25cd
Because they say these all exist,
ey’re called ose Who Say All Exists.

Someone who claims to be a Sarvāstivādin must certainly hold this

position, it is known. Because they say these three times all exist,
they are called Those Who Say All Exists, or Sarvāstivādin. Those
who distinguish and say the present and past karma that has not
yet produced a result exist, but the future and the past that has
produced a result do not exist, are called Vibhajyavādin, those who
say there is a distinction.

593
B. Divisions of schools

26ab
ey’re four, called thing and character
And state and relative dependence.

They, the Sarvāstivādins, have four traditions, called transforming

thing, transforming characteristics, transforming state, and rela-
tive dependence.

The first of these is the tradition of the Venerable Dharmatrāta. He

says that as dharmas progress through time, the thing transforms,
but the substance does not transform. For example, if you destroy a
gold vessel and make it into something else, the shape has changed
but the gold’s color and nature do not change. The second is the
tradition of Venerable Ghoṣaka. He says that as dharmas prog-
ress through time, in the past it possesses the characteristics of the
past, but it does not not possess the characteristics of the other two
times. The others times are similar. For example, when one man
feels manifest lust for one woman, he is not free of desire for others.

The third is the tradition of Venerable Vasumitra. He says that as

dharmas progress through time, when the action has not been done,
they are future. When the action is being done, they are present.
When the action has been done and ceased, they are past. When
they go from one time period to another, they are different in terms
of being in a different state, but not in terms of substance. For ex-
ample, if you put a token in the ones column it is called “one,” but
if you put it in the hundreds column it is called “one hundred.”

The fourth is the tradition of Venerable Buddhadeva. He says that

as dharmas progress through time, in relation to earlier and later

594
they are called differently. For example, one woman can be both a
mother and a daughter.

C. Analyzing which of the four traditions is best

26cd
e third is best, because the times
Are there presented through their action.

The first tradition is subsumed within the non-Buddhist Saṃkhya

tradition because it says that dharmas completely transform. In the
second, since everything has the characteristics of all the times, the
times would get mixed up. The fourth is illogical as well, since
at any one time all three times would be present. Therefore of all
these traditions, the third, transforming state, is the best position,
because the times of past and so forth are there presented through
or in terms of their action. Any dharma that has not yet performed
its action is future. When it is doing its action, it is present. When
the action is done and ceased, it is past, so it is heard.

(b) Rebutting criticism. This has two points.

A. The criticism

27a-c
ey’d block. What’s it? Not different,
Not logical as time. If they
Exist, why don’t they arise and perish?

They, the two times, would block the action from happening be-
cause they have action and exist substantially. Additionally, what is
it, so-called action—is it different from time or not? If it is different
from time, then it is noncompound, and so action would be per-

595
manent. However, if it is not different, all the times would have ac-
tion, so it would not be logical for the action not to be performed
in the past and the future times as well.
If the action exists, then it is not separate from time, but in the two
times the action has not arisen or it has destroyed, so it does not
exist, you say. That also does not make sense. If you propose that
just as they are in the present, they, actions, also exist in the other
two times, one must ask why do they not arise and perish in them?
It would follow that action should not be arisen and should have
perished in the present.

B. Its rebuttal

27d
So deep are the natures of dharmas.

The Great Exposition says that the past and future must exist. To
those who cannot be convinced, they say, “So deep are the natures,
the inherent essences, of dharmas, which without a doubt are not
the sphere of sophists.”

(3) Discarded yet possessed. This has two points.

(a) Discards of seeing

28ab
Suffering is seen, they’ve been discarded;
Still other universals bind them.

When one has discarded a thing, has it been removed—that is, is

one free of it? Has everything one has removed been abandoned?
you ask. When one has removed something, one has abandoned
it, but it is possible to abandon something without removing it.

596
When suffering is seen, they, all those kernels, have been discard-
ed upon seeing suffering, but still the other remaining universals
that are discarded by seeing the origin bind them.

(b) Discards of meditation

28cd
e first has been abandoned, yet
Still tied by stains whose sphere it’s in.

Among the nine types of discards of meditation, the first, the great-
er of greater, may have been abandoned and removed,244 yet one is
still tied to it by the focus of the remaining stains whose sphere it
is in, the middle greater, lesser greater, and so forth afflictions that
focus on it.

(4) Which dharmas are the objects of which cognitions. This has
two topics: (a) Which cognitions focus on the five dharmas of each
of the three realms, and (b) Which cognitions focus on the unde-
filed.

(a) Which cognitions focus on the five dharmas of each of the

three realms. This has two topics: (i) Which cognitions focus on
the first two discards of seeing and the discards of meditation, and
(ii) Which cognitions focus on discards of seeing cessation and
path.

(i) Which cognitions focus on the first two discards of seeing

and the discards of meditation. This has three points.

244. This is one point where Wangchuk Dorje’s position differs from the auto-
commentary. The autocommentary says these stains have been abandoned but not
removed, answering the question posed in 28ab.

597
A. Which cognitions focus on those on the level of Desire

29.
ose of Desire, discards of seeing
Suffering and cause, of meditation,
Are in the sphere of their own three,
Of one of Form, of stainless, too.

In order to easily understand with few words how many kernels de-
velop through focus on the different classes of things, this is taught
in brief. To briefly categorize all dharmas that are objects, there are
the five classes of discards in each of the three realms plus undefiled
dharmas, for a total of sixteen classes. The perceiving subjects, cog-
nitions, are likewise also sixteen. The word cognition is used as an
illustration—it includes all the concurrences.

Among these, those of Desire that are discards of seeing suffering

and its cause, the origin, and those which are discards of the path,
meditation—three dharmas—are in the sphere of the five subjects
each: their own three cognitions of Desire, of one virtuous cogni-
tion, the preparation for the first dhyana included within medita-
tion discards of the Form realm, and also the consciousness that is
compatible with stainless dharma knowing.

B. Which cognitions focus on those on the levels of Form

30ab
And those of Form are in their own,
ree low, one high, and stainless, too.

And those same three classes of dharmas245 of the Form realm are
in the sphere of eight cognitions. They are the objects of the three

245. I.e., the discards of seeing suffering, of seeing origin, and of meditation.
598
of their own cognitions in the Form realm, three from the lower
Desire realm—the two universals of dissimilar status and virtuous
discards of meditation—one cognition from the preparation for
Infinite Space from the higher Formless, and the consciousness
that is compatible with stainless subsequent knowing, too.

C. Which cognitions focus on those on the levels of Formless

30cd
ose of the Formless, in the sphere
Of these three of three realms, of stainless.

Those same three classes of dharmas of the Formless are the focus
of ten cognitions. They are in the sphere of these three classes of
cognitions of three realms, or nine cognitions, plus the sphere of
stainless cognition.

(ii) Which cognitions focus on discards of seeing cessation

and path

31ab
Discards of seeing path and cessation,
Are in the same spheres, plus their own.

The dharmas of the three realms that are discards of seeing path
and cessation are the in the same sphere of all the previous minds,
plus the cognitions of their own class.

(b) Which cognitions focus on the undefiled

31cd
e undefiled are in the sphere
Of three realms’ last three and the stainless.

599
The undefiled are in the sphere of each of the three realms’ last
three of the five classes of discards—they are in the sphere of the
direct mistaken engagements of cessation and path, and of virtuous
discards of meditation—and also the stainless undefiled cognition.
Thus they are the sphere of ten cognitions.

c. Classifications of what has the kernels

32ab
Two ways the afflicted can have kernels;
e unafflicted, through development.

If the fifteen dharmas and cognitions are put forth as defiled, do

they have kernels only through the development of the kernels? you
ask. First of all, it is presented that there are two ways or reasons by
which the afflicted cognitions can have kernels. When their com-
panions, the kernels, have not been abandoned, the kernels develop
in them, so they are presented as having the kernels. Kernels that
have been abandoned do not develop in but do coexist with afflict-
ed minds, which are thus presented as having those kernels.

If the kernels have been abandoned, how can they coexist with an
afflicted mind? you ask. When abandoning the kernels, they are
not separated from the afflicted mind and then discarded. Instead
they are abandoned together with it. Since this merely makes it so
that they will not arise in the future, they still coexist in the period
of the past, it is said.

All defilements of the unafflicted minds, such as defiled virtue, are

presented as having them, the kernels, through the development of
the kernels through focus.

2. How the kernels arise. This has two points.

600
a. The order in which they arise

32cd
Out of delusion, doubt; from that,
Wrong view, then personality.

33.
From that, extreme, then overesteeming
Discipline, overesteeming view.
For one’s own view, there’s pride, attachment,
And hate for others, in this order.

First out of total delusion about the truths comes doubt, and then
from hearing or contemplating wrongly, wrong view arises. From
that denial of the selfless nature of the aggregates then comes the
view of personality. From that comes holding the extremes of one-
self as permanent or ceasing, and then, from that extreme view,
comes the belief in the purifying power of discipline and austeri-
ties, the view of overesteeming discipline and austerities, and then
overesteeming that inferior view itself. Next, for one’s own view,
there is pride and attachment that arise, and out of excessive at-
tachment to one’s own view, there is hate for others. Thus they
arise in this order.

b. The causes of their arising

34.
e kernels being not abandoned,
e object being present near,
And inappropriate attention
Fulfill the causes of afflictions.

601
There are three principal causes that produce the afflictions: The
kernels being not abandoned—if one has not severed the attain-
ment of the origin of the kernels, they have not been abandoned;
the object that is compatible with the arising of the afflictions be-
ing present near; and by the immediate condition of being mis-
taken about the appearance of the object, inappropriate attention.

These produce the afflictions. These three are the power of cause,
object, and training. These fulfill the principal causes of the afflic-
tions.

However, they do not necessarily all have to be fulfilled, because

from the power of the object alone arhats can regress, it is heard.
The Sutra school is skeptical of this: it says that arhats cannot re-
gress from abandonment.

3. Enumeration of the kernels. This has three topics: a. The actu-

al enumeration, b. What the kernels are concurrent with, and c.
Teaching the five obscurations.

a. The actual enumeration. The first has two topics: i. Points from
the sutras, and ii. Points from the treatises.

i. Points from the sutras. This has two topics: (1) Actual, and (2)
Explaining terms.

(1) Actual. This has three topics: (a) Defilements, (b) Floods and
yokes, and (c) Grasping.

(a) Defilements. This has three topics: (i) Defilements of Desire, (ii)
Defilements of existence, and (iii) The reason ignorance is taught
separately as a defilement.

602
(i) Defilements of Desire

35ab
In Desire, defilements are the afflictions
Except delusion, and the entanglers.

In the Desire realm, the defilements are the afflictions except the
five delusions—the twelve views, four doubts, and five each of de-
sire, anger, and pride for thirty-one—and the ten entanglers of
shamelessness and so forth that will be explained below.246 Thus
there are forty-one defilements of Desire.

(ii) Defilements of existence. This has two points.

A. Identifying the character base

35cd
In Form and Formless, kernels alone
Are the defilements of existence.

In Form and in Formless, excluding ignorance, there are the twelve

views, four doubts, five desires, and five prides for twenty-six that
function in Form and also twenty-six that function in Formless.
These fifty-two kernels alone are the defilements of existence.

B. The reason the two higher realms’ are defilements of exis-

tence

36ab
Since they are neutral and look inward
On levels of equipoise, they’re one.

246. See V.47ff.

603
Since they, the kernels of both of the higher realms are neutral, and
since they do not primarily act on an object but mainly engage by
looking inward, and since they are on levels of equipoise, for those
three comparable reasons they are combined into one and called
the defilements of existence.

(iii) The reason ignorance is taught separately as a defilement

36cd
e root is ignorance, so it
Is taught as a separate defilement.

The root of the defilements of Desire, etc., and of samsara is igno-

rance, so it is especially harmful. For that reason, the fifteen types
of ignorance of the three realms are taught as a separate defilement.

(b) Floods and yokes

37.
e floods and yokes are like that, too,
But views are separate, since they’re sharp.
Not as defilements—without helpers,
ey do not tend to put, it’s claimed.

The floods number four: except for the views, the defilements of
Desire are the floods of Desire. The defilements of existence them-
selves are the floods of existence. There are the floods of views and
the floods of ignorance. The yokes should be known like that, too.
But the views are by nature full knowing, so they are taught sep-
arately as floods and yokes since they are sharp, it is heard. Why
are they not taught as separate defilements? you ask. The views are
not taught as separate defilements, as the meaning of defilement is
“that which puts one in samsara,” but without helpers, the views

604
are sharp so they do not tend to put one into samsara. The aside
“it is claimed” is said in order to teach that ignorance should not
be taught as a separate floods or yoke because it is also stable and
unclear, explains Purṇavardhana.

Thus there are twenty-nine floods of Desire, twenty-eight of exis-

tence, thirty-six of views, and fifteen of ignorance. The first is the
fifteen floods of desire, anger, and pride; four types of doubt; and
ten entanglers for a total of twenty-nine. The second is five types
each of desire and pride for each of the two realms plus eight types
of doubt for a total of twenty-eight. The third is twelve views for
each of the three realms, or thirty-six. The fourth is the fifteen types
of ignorance of the three realms. The yokes are the same.

(c) Grasping

38.
ose just explained and ignorance,
With views divided into two,
Are grasping. Ignorance produces
No clinging, and it is combined.

Among those just explained, the twenty-nine substances of the

yokes of Desire and the five types of ignorance, or thirty-four sub-
stances only, are grasping at Desire: five each of desire, anger, pride,
and ignorance; four doubts; and ten entanglers. The thirty-eight
substances of the floods of existence, including ignorance, are
grasping at belief in a self: five each of desire, pride, and ignorance
for each higher realm; and eight doubts. However, it is not that this
does not make four247 because the views are divided into the two of
grasping at views and grasping at discipline and austerity.

247. There are four graspings presented in the sutras: grasping at Desire,

605
Grasping at discipline and austerity has one each for both suffering
and path in each of the three realms, for a total of six. Why are
these pulled out separately from view? you ask. They are enemies of
the path and deceive both householders and those who have gone
forth, so they are taught separately as grasping.

Well then, why is ignorance explained as combined with the other

graspings and not taught separately? you ask. The reason for this
is because the meaning of grasping is clinging to existence, but
unmixed ignorance is not strong and produces no clinging to ex-
istence, and it, mixed ignorance, is combined with the afflictions
other than view and taught as grasping.

(2) Explaining terms. This has two points.

(a) Explaining the meaning of kernels

39.
Since they are subtle, since connected,
Since they develop in two ways,
Since they pursue, because of these,
ey are explained to be the kernels.

What is the reason to teach the afflictions as kernels and so forth?

you ask. Since they are subtle causes or engagements, since they
are connected with attainment, since they develop in two ways
through focus and concurrence, and since until they are discarded
they pursue not secretly but manifestly, because of these four rea-

grasping at views, grasping at overesteeming discipline and austerity, and grasping

at belief in a self (Mchims 2009, p. 471). Since unlike the floods, ignorance is
combined into the other graspings, some people might wonder how there could
be four graspings, and Wangchuk Dorje is addressing such a concern with this
statement.

606
sons, they are explained to be the kernels. The first and third are
the actual explanation of the word, and the other two explain the
meaning.248

(b) Explaining the meaning of defilements and so forth

40.
Because they put and ooze, because
ey carry away, attach, and grasp:
ese are the explanations of
e words defilement and so forth.

Also, because they, the afflictions, put and yoke one into samsara
in an unmoving way and ooze and flow through the wounds of
the six sense bases;249 because they lead or carry one away to other
wanderings and other lands; because they yoke and attach one to
places and things; and because they cling to the body of existence,
or closely hold and grasp the consciousness of Desire and so forth,
these are the explanations of the words defilement and so forth,
including floods, yokes, and grasping.250

ii. Points from the treatises. This has two topics: (1) Overview,
and (2) Explanation.

248. This is an explanation of the Sanskrit anuśaya (kernel) as a compound of

words meaning “subtle” and “expand.” The Tibetan term phra rgyas literally means
“subtle expander.”
249. The words for defilement in Sanskrit and Tibetan, āsrava and zag pa, literal-
ly mean the pus and nastiness that oozes out of wounds.
250. Put and ooze are the explanations of defilement, carry away is the expla-
nation of flood, attach is the explanation of yoke, and grasp is the explanation of
grasping.

607
(1) Overview

41ab
When these are classified as fetters,
Et cetera, they’re taught as five types.

When these afflictions are classified as the fetters, et cetera, in-

cluding bonds, kernels, near afflictions, and entanglers, they are
taught as five types.

(2) Explanation. This has four topics: (a) Fetters, (b) Bonds, (c)
Near afflictions, and (d) Entanglers.

(a) Fetters. This has three topics: (i) Explaining the nine fetters, (ii)
Those which lead to the lowest, and (iii) Those which lead to the
higher.

(i) Explaining the nine fetters. This has three points.

A. Identifying the nine fetters

From a sutra:

The fetters are nine: the fetters of greed, anger, pride, igno-
rance, view, holding supreme, doubt, jealousy, and stinginess.

B. The reason that views are divided into two different fetters

41cd
Alike in substance, overesteeming,
e two views are a separate fetter.

Among the fetters, why are three views taught separately as the fet-

608
ter of view and two views taught separately as the fetter of holding
supreme? you ask. The first three and last two views are alike in
having eighteen substances each, and because the last two views
overesteem the first three—the first three are what is overesteemed
and the last two are similar in overesteeming the inferior—so the
latter two views are said to be a separate fetter from the first three.

C. The reason jealousy and stinginess are explained separately

as fetters

42.
Since they are both nonvirtuous only,
And are autonomous, it’s taught
at jealousy and stinginess
Are fetters separate from those.

Among the eight entanglers, why are jealousy and stinginess ex-
plained as separate fetters? you ask. Since they, jealousy and stingi-
ness, are both nonvirtuous only and, as they are concurrent only
with ignorance, autonomous, it is taught that jealousy and stin-
giness only are fetters separate from those—the other six entan-
glers—which are not like that.

(ii) Those which lead to the lowest. This has two points.

A. Actual

43a–c
ere are five that lead to the lowest.
e two prevent transcendence of Desire.
e three will send one back.

The sutras explain that there are five fetters that lead to the low-

609
est: personality view, overesteeming discipline and austerity, doubt,
pleasure seeking, and malice. Lowest means the lowest of the three
realms, the Desire realm: the inferior is indicated by the word “low-
est.” These five are precursors to that.

Because they are consistent with Desire, the two guards of plea-
sure-seeking and malice prevent one from transcending the prison
of Desire. If the guards are careless and one should escape, the
three of personality view and so forth will send one back.

The Mind Only school says that the first three lead to the lowest of
sentient beings, ordinary individuals, and the latter two lead to the
lowest of the realms, the Desire realm.

B. Dispelling a doubt

43d
e three include the gates and roots.

44.
Not having any desire to go,
Wrong path, and doubt about the path
Prevent one from arriving at
Liberation, so these three are taught.

Why is it that when stream-enterers have discarded all the discards

of seeing without exception, they are said to have only abandoned
personality view, overesteeming discipline and austerity, and doubt?
you ask.

These three are taught to include the gates and the roots of the
afflictions discarded by seeing. The gates of the afflictions are one-
fold, twofold, and fourfold. Personality view includes one gate, dis-

610
cards of seeing suffering. Overesteeming includes the two outside
gates, discards of seeing suffering and path. Doubt includes all four,
discards of seeing the four truths.

The Master explains that these teach the blocks to discard that pre-
vent stream-enterers from entering liberation. In order, they are
inherently not having any desire to go to liberation, entering the
wrong path, and doubt about path. These three alone prevent one
from arriving at liberation, so these three are taught as an illustra-
tion of the primary obstacles.

(iii) Those that lead to the higher

45a–c
ere are just five that lead to higher:
e two desires of Form and Formless,
Excitement, pride, delusion, too.

Just as the Bhagavan explained that five fetters that lead to the low-
est, there are just five fetters that are explained to lead to the higher
Form and Formless—the two desires of Form and Formless, ex-
citement, pride, and delusion or ignorance, too—because without
discarding them one cannot transcend the higher realms.

(b) Bonds

45d
ree bonds by force of the three feelings.

The three bonds of desire, hatred, and delusion develop toward

pleasant, unpleasant, and neutral feelings by the force of the three
feelings. Desire and hatred can develop on neutral feelings, but

611
do not develop as much as delusion does. Because delusion corre-
sponds to neutrality in being lacking intensity, it develops greatly.

(c) Near afflictions

46.
ose mental factors, different from
Afflictions, in the aggregate of
Formations are near afflictions, too.
ey are not to be called afflictions.

Those mental factors that are different from the root afflictions
in meaning and are afflicted dharmas included in the aggregate
of formations are near to the root afflictions, so they are the near
afflictions, too. They are not to be called the root afflictions, be-
cause they are not roots. These are the entanglers and the filths, as
well as the displeasure and yawns mentioned in the Minor Topics.251

(d) Entanglers. This has three topics: (i) Actual meaning, (ii) A
supplementary explanation of the filths, and (iii) Explaining the
distinctions among entanglers.

(i) Actual meaning. This has two topics: A. Identifying their es-
sence, and B. What they are causally compatible with.

A. Identifying their essence. This has two points.

251. Kṣudravastaka or gzhi phran tshegs.

612
1. Those taught in the treatise Prakaraṇapāda

47.
Shamelessness and immodesty
And jealousy and stinginess,
Excitement, regret, torpor, sleep:
ese are the eight types of entanglers.

How many entanglers are there? you ask. They are shamelessness,
immodesty, jealousy, stinginess, excitement, regret, torpor, and
sleep: these are the eight types of entanglers. Virtuous regret and
sleep are not included among these.

2. Those proposed by the Great Exposition

48a
Aggression and concealment.

The Great Exposition proposes that in addition to those, aggres-

sion and concealment are also entanglers, for a total of ten.

B. What they are causally compatible with

48a-d
From desire
Come shamelessness, excitement, stinginess.
Concealment is disputed. Ignorance
Gives rise to torpor, sleep, immodesty.

49ab
From doubt, there comes regret.
Aggression And jealousy are caused by anger.

613
The near afflictions are the causally compatible results of the root
afflictions, so this verse teaches which root afflictions they arise out
of. From desire come three: shamelessness, excitement, and stin-
giness. Some say concealment is causally compatible with craving,
but some say it is causally compatible with ignorance, so it is dis-
puted. Ignorance gives rise to the causally compatible results of
torpor, sleep, and immodesty. From doubt, there comes regret.
Aggression and jealousy are results caused by anger.

(ii) A supplementary explanation of the filths. This has two points.

A. The classification of the filths

49cd
ere also are six filths of affliction:
Pretense, deceit, and arrogance,

50ab
Contentiousness, resentment, and
Hostility.

Just as filth comes out of the body, there are also six filths that
come out of the root afflictions: pretense, deceit, and arrogance,
contentiousness, resentment, and hostility. The natures of these
have already been taught above.252

252. See II.27.

614
B. Their individual causes

50b–d
Desire leads to
Pretense and arrogance. From anger,
Resentment and hostility.

51ab
From overesteeming views contentiousness.
View motivates deceit.

Of the six filths, desire leads to pretense and arrogance. From anger
arise resentment and hostility. From overesteeming views comes
contentiousness. The affliction wrong view motivates deceit.

(iii) Explaining the distinctions among the entanglers. This has

three points.

A. Distinctions of whether they are discarded by seeing or by

meditation

51b–d
Of these,
Immodesty, and shamelessness,
Excitement, torpor, sleep are twofold.

52ab
e rest, discards of meditation,
Are autonomous, as are the filths.

Of these ten entanglers that have been explained, the five of im-
modesty, and shamelessness, excitement, torpor, and sleep are
twofold: they are discarded by both seeing and meditation. Those

615
concurrent with discards of seeing are abandoned by seeing, and
those concurrent with discards of meditation are abandoned by
meditation. Other than those five, the rest—the five of jealousy
and so on included among the near afflictions—are only discards
of meditation and are autonomous, because those five are concur-
rent only with ignorance. Just as the five of jealousy and so forth
are autonomous discards of meditation, likewise the six afflicted
filths are discards of meditation and autonomous.

B. Distinctions between nonvirtuous and neutral

52cd
ey are nonvirtue in Desire.
ree twofold. Above they are neutral.

They, the seven entanglers that have been explained, excluding tor-
por, excitement, sleep, deceit, and so forth, are nonvirtue in the
Desire realm. The three of torpor, excitement, and sleep are two-
fold: either nonvirtue or neutral. Above that Desire realm, they, the
near afflictions that can possibly be found there, are neutral.

C. Distinctions of realm and level

53.
Deceit and pretense are in Desire
And on first dhyan, as Brahma deludes.
Torpor, excitement, arrogance
Are in three realms. e rest in Desire.

Both deceit and pretense are in Desire and on the first two dhyanas.
When noble Aśvajit asked Great Brahma where the four sources
cease, even though he did not know, Brahma replied saying, “I am
Brahma, I am Great Brahma.” As Brahma tried to delude Aśvajit

616
with such inappropriate answers as these, there is pretense, which
also proves that there is deceit.

Torpor, excitement, and arrogance are in three realms. Exclud-

ing those three, pretense, and deceit, the rest—the eleven that re-
main—arise in the Desire realm only.

b. What the kernels are concurrent with. This has two topics: i.
Which cognitions they are concurrent with, and ii. Which feelings
they are concurrent with.

i. Which cognitions they are concurrent with

54.
Discards of seeing, sleep, and pride:
On the level of mind consciousness.
Autonomous near afflictions, too.
e others, in six consciousnesses.

All the root and near afflictions that are discards of seeing and the
discards of meditation, sleep, and pride are all only on the level
of mind consciousness. The eleven autonomous near afflictions
are like that, too. The ones contained among discards of medita-
tion other than those, including the three poisons, shamelessness,
immodesty, torpor, excitement, carelessness, laziness, and faithless-
ness, are supported in all six consciousnesses.

ii. Which feelings they are concurrent with. This has two topics:
(1) Which root afflictions are concurrent with which feelings, and
(2) Which near afflictions are concurrent with which feelings

(1) Which root afflictions are concurrent with which feelings. This
has two points.

617
(a) In Desire

55.
Desire can be concurrent with
e pleasures. Hate is the reverse.
Ignorance with all. e nihilist,
With pleasure of mind, unhappiness.

56a–c
Doubt with unhappiness. e others
With happiness when in Desire.
And all with neutral.

Desire can be concurrent with the pleasures of body and mind.

Hate is the reverse, concurrent with duḥkha of body and mind.
Ignorance is concurrent with all five feelings. The nihilistic view
is concurrent with nonvirtuous pleasure of mind and for those
with meritorious karma, with unhappiness. Doubt is concurrent
with unhappiness. The other five kernels are on the mental level
and have a joyous aspect only, so they are concurrent with happi-
ness. This is in terms of strong instances when they arise in Desire.
When they are directed toward ceasing, they are weak, so they are
all ascertained to be concurrent with neutral and all afflictions.

(b) In the higher realms

56cd
Higher levels
Are with those which are on their level.

The afflictions of higher levels of Form and Formless are, according

to their level, concurrent with those consciousnesses and faculties

618
of feelings that are present on their own level. Which conscious-
nesses and feelings are present on which levels has already been
explained.253

(2) Which near afflictions are concurrent with which feelings.

57.
Regret, and jealousy, and anger,
Hostility, resentment, and
Contentiousness with unhappiness.
But stinginess, with opposite.

58.
Deceit, pretense, concealment, sleep
Concur with both, while arrogance
Is with two pleasures. Neutral feeling
With all. e other four with five.

Because regret, and jealousy, and anger, hostility, resentment, and

contentiousness engage with the aspect of discontent and are on
the level of mind, they are concurrent with unhappiness. But stin-
giness is concurrent with the opposite, mental pleasure, because
it arises from the cause of greed and engages with the aspect of
joy. Deceit, pretense, concealment, and sleep are concurrent with
both mental pleasure and mental unhappiness, because sometimes
one deludes another out of mental pleasure, and sometimes out of
mental unhappiness. It is similar for pretense, concealment, and
sleep, while arrogance is concurrent with the two pleasures, the
pleasure of mind of the second dhyana and below and the pleasure
of the third dhyana. Neutral feeling, as it goes with all the near
afflictions, is concurrent with all, just as above. The other four, the

253. See I.30–31 and II.12.

619
entanglers of shamelessness, immodesty, torpor, and excitement,
are concurrent with the five faculties of feeling, because the first
two are the nonvirtuous major ground and the other two are the
afflicted major ground.

c. Teaching the five obscurations. This has two topics: i. Their

essences, and ii. Establishing their quantity.

i. Their essences

59a
e obscurations are in Desire.

From a sutra:

Pleasure-seeking, malice, torpor and sleep, excitement and

regret, and doubt are the five obscurations.

Of these that are taught, torpor, excitement, and doubt are in all
three realms, so are those of all three realms obscurations, or just
those of Desire? you ask. It is the latter. From a sutra:

These are an unmixed, complete, and total heap of nonvirtue.

They are thus: the five obscurations.

This says that they are solely nonvirtue. The obscurations of the
dhyanas and absorptions are in Desire but not in the other realms.

ii. Establishing their quantity. This has two points.

620
(1) The reason this is not contradictory with the explanation of
them as seven

59b–d
eir incompatibilities,
And nourishment and action are
e same, so therefore two are one.

Why are both torpor and sleep and both excitement and regret
taught as one obscuration each even though they are separate men-
tal factors? you ask. The reason is because their incompatible anti-
dotes, and cause or nourishment, and karmic action are the same,
so therefore both sets of two are made into one.

Thus the antidote for both torpor and sleep is the conception of
light. Their nourishment is lethargy, displeasure, yawning, the
heaviness of undigested food, and depression. Their action is to
depress the mind. Likewise, the antidote for both excitement and
regret is tranquility. Their nourishment is thoughts of those dear to
one, thoughts of one’s homeland, thoughts of immortality, and re-
membering exciting games and so forth from the past. Their action
is to distract the mind.

(2) The reason they are established as five

59ef
Because they harm the aggregates,
Because of doubt, there are just five.

Because they, pleasure-seeking and malice, harm the aggregate of

discipline; torpor and sleep harm the aggregate of full knowing; and
excitement and regret harm the aggregate of samadhi; and because

621
without samadhi and full knowing one will have doubts about the
truth, it is explained that there are just these five obscurations.

II. What discards the kernels. This has five topics: A. How they are
discarded, B. Classifications of the antidotes that discard, C. What
they are divided from and discarded, D. What distances one from
what has been discarded, and E. Teaching that the abandonment is
attained over and over.

A. How they are discarded. This has two points.

1. How discards of seeing are abandoned

60a–c
By knowing the focus perfectly,
Extinguishing what focuses
On that, and discarding the focus.

There are three ways that discards of seeing are abandoned. They
are discarded by knowing the focus perfectly, by extinguishing the
afflicted subject that focuses on that, and by discarding the focus.

The first method discards the first two classes, discards of seeing
suffering and origin of all three realms, with the exception of the
nine universals that focus on higher realms, or thirty-eight kernels.
It also discards the twelve types of wrong view and doubt of the
three realms discarded by seeing cessation and path, for a total of
fifty kernels. In addition, it discards the portion of the six igno-
rances from those two classes that focuses on the undefiled and the
portion of the nine universals of Desire that focuses on its own lev-
el. Just as knowing something is a scarecrow blocks the perception
of it as a human, these kernels are discarded by simply seeing the
actual characteristics of the four truths.

622
The second method discards the portion of the nine universals
of Desire that focus on higher realms. Even though one does not
know the truths of the higher realms, when the subject that focuses
on these truths, the universals of same status of the kernels’ own
level, is extinguished, they are blocked.
The third method discards all twenty-three discards of seeing ces-
sation and path that focus solely on the defiled, and the portion of
their six ignorances that focus on the defiled. When their focus, the
subjects of the undefiled, are discarded, they have no objects, so
they also do not arise.

These three methods of discarding happen at the same time with

separate isolates: there is no order of earlier or later.

2. How discards of meditation are abandoned

60d
Extinguished by the anti’s birth.

The discards of meditation in one’s own being are extinguished not

by completely knowing the focus and so forth. Rather, the nine
lesser, medium, and so forth discards are extinguished by the nine
lesser, medium, and so forth antidotes’ birth. They are discarded by
severing the attainment of the essence. Those in others’ beings are
discarded through becoming free of the desire of interest, because
one does not have the attainment of them and because when the
afflictions in one’s own being have been discarded through severing
the attainment, they will also be abandoned.

623
B. Classifications of the antidotes that discard

61a-c
ere are four types of antidotes:
Discarding, base, and distancing,
Disgust, so called.

There are four types of antidotes: the discarding antidote, the path
of no obstacles that completely severs the attainment of the discard;
the base antidote, the path of liberation consolidates the abandon-
ment; and the distancing antidote, the distinctive path distances
one from what has been discarded; and the antidote of disgust, so
called, which is any path that sees a realm as deficient and creates
disgust.

C. What they are divided from and discarded

61cd
Afflictions are
Discarded through their focus, it’s said.

When the afflictions are discarded, what are they proposed to be

discarded through? you ask. They cannot be divided from the con-
currences, because they cannot be detached from their own group.
Therefore the afflictions are to be discarded through their focus,
it is said, because if that is discarded they cannot arise through a
focus on it.

624
D. What distances one from what has been discarded

62.
rough different characteristics, and
rough incompatibility,
rough separate place and time, like distance
Of sources, discipline, region, times.

There are four ways of being distant: being far apart through hav-
ing different characteristics even within one assemblage; being
far apart through being incompatible with the antidote; being far
apart through separate places, and being far apart in time. In order,
these are like the distance of the four sources, the distance between
immorality and discipline, the distance between the two regions of
east and west, or, in the Treatise’s explanation, the distance between
the two times of past and future.

E. Teaching that the abandonment is attained over and over

63.
ey are extinguished once. Removal
Is then attained again and again
On birth of anti, attaining the
Results, refining faculties.

Is the attainment of the removal of abandonment by the previously

explained methods of discarding only caused by abandoning the
discards with the antidote? you ask. It is not. When the antidotes
have discarded what they abandon, those are extinguished once.
Their removal is then attained again and again, becoming better.
It improves in this way upon the birth of the antidote, the path of

625
liberation; upon attaining the four results of the spiritual way;254
and upon refining faculties from dull to sharp. This is a total of
six instances. This teaches all of the causes for obtaining improved
attainments of removal.

III. The results of discarding the kernels. This has five topics: A.
The classification of the results, B. Which perfect knowings are the
result of what, C. Establishing their quantity, D. How they are pos-
sessed by individuals, and E. Forfeiting and attaining.

A. The classification of the results

64.
Nine perfect knowings: in Desire,
Upon exhausting the first two,
ere’s one. Exhausting two, there are two.
And likewise just those three above.

65ab
What leads to lowest, Form, and the extinction
Of all defilements: three more perfect knowings.

Well then, is the abandonment of all discards presented as a single

perfect knowing? you ask. It is not. There are nine perfect knowings
of abandonment. Firstly, in the realm of Desire, upon exhausting
the first two discards by seeing suffering and origin, there is one
perfect knowing. In the Desire realm only, upon exhausting two
discards by seeing cessation and path, there are two perfect know-
ings, one each, for a total of three perfect knowings in Desire. And
just as there are three perfect knowings of the abandonment of dis-
cards of seeing in Desire, likewise there are just those three above

254. Stream-enterer, once-returner, nonreturner, and arhat. See VI.51–53.

626
in Form and Formless: the first upon abandoning those discarded
by seeing suffering and origin, the second upon abandoning those
discarded by seeing cessation, and the third upon abandoning the
discards of seeing the path. Thus the abandonment of the discards
of seeing of the three realms is six perfect knowings.

On the path of meditation, there is one perfect knowing of the

abandonment of the discards that lead to the lowest. It is called by
that term because it has extinguished all the defilements of the De-
sire realm. In the abandonment of the defilements of Form, there
is the perfect knowing of the extinction of desire for Form, its pri-
mary fetter. And the extinction of all defilements is also one: the
perfect knowing of the total elimination of all fetters. Thus there
are three more perfect knowings on the path of meditation.

B. Which perfect knowings are the result of what. This has three
points.

1. Which are the results of the knowings and forbearances

65cd
e six are the results of forbearance;
e rest are the results of knowing.

Among them, the six perfect knowings of the abandonment of dis-

cards of seeing are the results of forbearance, and the rest, perfect
knowing of the abandonment of that which leads to lowest, etc.,
are results of the knowings: results of the path of meditation, be-
cause the path of meditation is pervasively knowing and has no
forbearances.255

255. As will be explained below in areas VI and VII, the forbearances are solely
on the path of seeing; the path of meditation is made up of the knowings which
follow that.

627
2. Which are the results of what levels

66.
ey’re all results of Not Unable.
Five of the dhyanas, or else eight.
e one is of the preparations;
One of three actual Formless, too.

They, the nine perfect knowings, are all results of the preparations
for the first dhyana, Not Unable, as that level can act as the anti-
dote for all discards:

Undefiled Not Unable can

Remove attachment to all levels.256

In the tradition of the Great Exposition, there are five perfect know-
ings that are results of the actual dhyana: the three of the aban-
donment of the discards of seeing of the two higher realms and
the latter two perfect knowings of the abandonment of discards of
meditation of the two realms. If on the basis of the dhyanas, nonre-
turners previously detached produce the path of seeing, they attain
the three perfect knowings of the abandonment of the two higher
realms’ discards of seeing, and when they produce the path of med-
itation, they also attain the last two perfect knowings. The four
perfect knowings of the abandonment of Desire’s discards have al-
ready been attained earlier by the level of Not Unable, so they are
not attained, they say.

The phrase “or else” indicates the position of Venerable Ghoṣaka.

According to him, if nonreturners previously detached produce the
path of seeing on the actual practice of dhyana, the three isolates

256. See VI.47cd.

628
of the perfect knowings of the abandonment of Desire’s discards
of seeing are individually obtained at that time, so there are eight
results of the dhyanas. They also, of course, obtain the isolate of
the perfect knowing of the abandonment of that which leads to the
lowest, but that is only attained incidentally with the perfect know-
ing of the abandonment of the higher realms’ discards of seeing the
path, so it is not counted separately, he says.

Of the Formless, there is one perfect knowing that is a result of the

preparations for Infinite Space: the extinction of desire for Form.
That is a worldly path, but only nobles are presented as having per-
fect knowings as result, so it is possible to attain undefiled removal.
The one perfect knowing of the total elimination of all fetters is the
only result of three undefiled actual Formless, too.

3. Which are the results of what paths

67.
ey all are of the noble paths.
Two of the worldly. Subsequent, too.
e three results of dharma knowing,
Six of its similar kind, and five.

They, the nine perfect knowings, all are results of the noble paths,
because they are results revealed by the dharma and subsequent
knowing of the paths of seeing and meditation. The two perfect
knowings of that which leads to the lowest and extinction of desire
for Form are the results of the worldly paths in nobles’ beings. The
results of subsequent knowing on the path of meditation are two
perfect knowings, too: extinction of attachment to Form and the
total elimination of the fetters.

629
The three perfect knowings of abandonment of that which leads
to the lowest and so on are results of dharma knowing contained
in the path of meditation, because dharma knowing is the antidote
for the discards of meditation of all three realms. The six perfect
knowings, excluding the perfect knowings of the abandonment of
the higher realms’ discards of seeing, are the results of its similar
kind, dharma knowing including dharma forbearance, and the per-
fect knowings similar in kind to subsequent knowing are five: the
three perfect knowings of the abandonment of the higher realms’
discards of seeing that are the results of subsequent forbearance and
knowing, and the last two perfect knowings.

C. Establishing their quantity. This has two points.

1. Establishing the quantity of the six of the abandonment of

discards of seeing

68a-d
Since they are undefiled attainment
Of a removal, weaken the Peak,
And utterly destroy two causes,
ey’re perfect knowings.

Well then, of those two types of discards, there are eight, twelve, or
eightyone abandonings, so should there not be the same number of
perfect knowings? you ask. First of all, since they, the removals that
are results of the forbearances, gain undefiled attainment of a re-
moval, weaken the afflictions of the Peak of Existence, and discard
and utterly destroy the universals of the two causes, suffering and
origin, they are superior through three causes, so they are presented
as perfect knowings.

630
2. Establishing the quantity of the three of the abandonment of
discards of meditation

68d
Transcending realms.

The abandonment that is the result of the knowing of the path of

meditation attains the name perfect knowing through those three
causes and from completely transcending any one of the three
realms.

D. How they are possessed by individuals

69.
Not one. ose on the path of seeing
May possess fully up to five.
ose on the path of meditation
May possess six or one or two.

70ab
ey are combined when one becomes
Detached from realms or gains a result.

Ordinary individuals do not have even one perfect knowing, be-

cause they do not have any undefiled attainment of removal. Those
nobles on the path of seeing do not possess any up through the
fifth moment, but may possess fully one from the sixth moment,
two from the eighth, three from the tenth, four from the twelfth,
and up to five on the fourteenth and fifteenth moments.257 Those
nobles on the path of meditation who are attached or who have

257. Moment here refers to the fifteen moments of the path of seeing. See
VI.27–28.

631
regressed from detachment may possess the first six, or if they have
previously been or later become detached from Desire, they possess
the one perfect knowing of the abandonment of that which leads
to the lowest. Or if they are detached from Form, they possess the
two perfect knowings of abandonment of the afflictions of Form
and that which leads to the lowest. Arhats possess the last, single
perfect knowing of the exhaustion of all defilements.

Why are nonreturners who are not detached from Form and ar-
hats presented as having one perfect knowing? you ask. The rea-
son for that is they, the individual abandonments, are combined
when one becomes detached from a realm or has newly gained a
result. When these two are combined, the individual attainments
of removal for each abandonment are forfeited and a single one is
acquired, so the individual abandonments are combined and pre-
sented as a single perfect knowing.

E. Forfeiting and attaining

70cd
Some forfeit one, two, five, or six;
But five cannot be gained.

How many perfect knowings can one forfeit and attain? you ask.
Some forfeit one perfect knowing: if one regresses from the state of
arhat or detachment, one perfect knowing is forfeited. Nonreturn-
ers who are detached from Form forfeit two if they regress from
detachment from Desire. Nonreturners previously detached forfeit
five when abiding in subsequent knowing of path, or some forfeit
six in instances when the successive nonreturner258 has gradually
detached himself from Desire.

258. A nonreturner who progresses through the results in succession.

632
Likewise, there can be attainment of one, two, or six, but five
cannot be gained, because it is impossible to regress from the state
of a previously detached nonreturner. There is attainment of one
in instances such as when a nonreturner attains arhatship. There
is attainment of two in instances such as when an arhat regresses
through the afflictions of Formless. There is attainment of six in
instances such as when an arhat or nonreturner regresses through
the afflictions of Desire.

Second, presenting the area’s name

is completes the fifth area called “Teachings on the

Kernels” from the Verses of the Treasury of Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the fifth area called “Teachings

on the Kernels” from The Explanation of the “Verses of the Treasury
of Abhidharma” called The Essence of the Ocean of Abhidharma, The
Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining the Youthful Play,
Opening the Eyes of Dharma, the Chariot of Easy Practice.

A few words here:

The trunk of rebirth and stained karma’s great tree

Is the kernels, two types of discards, and if you
Should wish to uproot their attainments, their seed,
As the lord of twice-drinkers,259 when scorched by the sun,
Dives into the lake spread with full lotus blossoms,
All those who have freedoms and riches and zeal
Should plunge into dharmas that classify kernels.
When satisfied sippling this nectar that is drunk
From the ladle of listening, contemplate well.

259. That is, the elephant.

633
In a place that is peaceful, one-pointedly meditate—
How wondrous these victuals of undefiled bliss!

634
 SIXTH AREA

Teachings on the Paths and Individuals

To the all-seeing Teacher, the physician for wanderers,

To the unequaled Gautam I prostrate.
This sixth part, the treasury that tells of individuals—
The focus of two paths, the truths,
The manner to train in abiding in discipline,
And listening, reflecting, meditating,
How five paths arise, those who enter and dwell,
Results of the spiritual, factors—
The treasury that fully classifies these
Is what I shall now explain.

The sixth area, the “Teachings on the Paths and Individuals,” has an
explanation of the text of the area and a presentation of the area’s
name. The explanation of the text of the area has three topics: I.
Explanation of the paths, II. Explanation of individuals, and III. A
specific explanation of paths.

I. Explanation of the paths. This has four topics: A. The link be-
tween chapters, B. The essence of the paths, C. The focus of the
paths, and D. How the paths arise.

A. The link between chapters

1ab
It’s taught afflictions are discarded
By seeing truth and meditating.

In the fifth area, abandonment is given the name perfect knowing.

635
With regards to that abandonment, it is taught above that afflic-
tions of the kernels are discarded by seeing truth, the path of see-
ing, and by meditating on the truths, the path of meditation. Here
it is those paths that abandon that are explained.

B. The essence of the paths

1cd
e path of meditation is twofold,
But seeing, so called, is undefiled.

Which of those paths are defiled and which are undefiled? you ask.
The path of meditation is twofold: the defiled worldly path and
the undefiled transworldly path. But the path of seeing, so called,
is transworldly undefiled only, because it is the antidote for all
three realms including the Peak of Existence, because it discards
the nine sets of discards of seeing of the three realms at one time,
and because the worldly paths do not have such power to discard.

C. The focus of the paths. This has two topics: 1. Explaining the
four truths, and 2. Explaining the two truths.

1. Explaining the four truths. This has three points.

a. Essence

2a
e truths are four, it is explained.

The truths mentioned in the line, “By seeing truth,” are four, it is
explained. The line “The undefiled is the truth of path”260 explicitly

260. I.5a.

636
teaches the truth of the path. The line “Cessation that is analytic”261
explains the truth of cessation. The line “They’re suffering, origin,
and the world… ”262 explains the truths of suffering and origin.

b. Order

2b–d
us suffering and origin,
Cessation and the path. is is
e order in which they are realized.

Is that the only order in which they must be known? you ask. It is
not. Well then, what is the order? you ask. Thus they are the truths
of suffering and origin, cessation and the path. This is the order.
The word “thus” means that their essences are just as has been al-
ready described. They are presented in the order in which they are
realized, because on the path of seeing, one clearly realizes duḥkha
first and then origin, cessation, and path. The reason for that is
that on the paths of accumulation and joining, the truths are fully
realized in that order. For example, when you see illness, you think
of its cause, and then out of the desire to eliminate the illness you
look for the method, which is medicine. Because only nobles see
the truths from suffering to path as something that is just as it is,
they are called the noble truths. Because ordinary individuals see
the truths and so forth incorrectly, they are not called ordinary
individuals’ truths.

261. I.6a.
262. I.8c.

637
c. Elaboration

3.
e attractive and the unattractive,
And the defiled other than those
Are suffering without exception
Because they have three sufferings.

There are three types of suffering: the attractive are the suffering
of change, and the unattractive are the suffering of suffering, and
the defiled other than those two are the suffering of formation.
Everything defiled without exception is suffering due to any one of
the three sufferings, because they, the defiled composites, have the
three sufferings.

The three of attractive and so forth appear in an order that is com-

patible with the three feelings, so pleasant feeling is the suffering
through change. From a sutra: “Pleasant feeling is pleasant when
it arises. It is pleasant while it stays. When it changes, it is suffer-
ing.” Unpleasant is by its very nature suffering. From a sutra: “The
feeling of suffering is suffering when it arises. It is suffering while it
stays.” Feeling that is neither pleasant nor unpleasant is manifestly
formed by conditions so it is suffering only through formation,
because it is said, “Whatever is impermanent is suffering.”

2. Explaining the two truths

4.
If not engaged by mind when it’s
Destroyed or mentally excluded,
It’s relative, like vases or water.
Ultimate being is different.

638
The sutras teach the four truths, but they also teach relative and
ultimate truth. What are those two? you ask.

If a thing is not engaged by mind when it is destroyed by a hammer

or so forth, or when it is mentally excluded through full knowing,
it exists relatively, like vases or water. They are true merely in con-
ventional terms.263

Ultimate being or existence is different from such relative things

that may be damaged. It is dharmas such as form, subtle particles,
instants, and noncomposites that the mind can engage even when
they are destroyed or when a dharma is excluded by mind.264 As
that is the highest meaning of wisdom, it is ultimate, and as it is
also truth, it is the ultimate truth.

The respective characteristics of the two truths are those things that
when destroyed or disintegrated the mind that perceives them is
discarded or not discarded.

Here the explanation in the Ṭīka of “permanent subtle particles

of substance” means merely that they do not disintegrate through
destruction by force; it seems not to mean permanent as in the
context of permanent and impermanent, I would think.

D. How the paths arise. This has two topics: 1. An overview of

how to enter the paths, and 2. An explanation of how to meditate.

263. When a vase is destroyed by a hammer, someone who looks at its remains
will think of them as shards, not as a vase. When one examines water with full
knowing, one sees that it is merely a collection of particles of the eight substances
and no longer conceives of it as water. Thus vases and water are said to exist only
in relative or conventional terms.
264. When examining form, for example, whether one tries to destroy it or
exclude it with mind, the perception of form is not discarded.

639
1. An overview of how to enter the paths. This has two points.

a. Actual

5ab
With conduct, listening, contemplation,
Completely train in meditation.

Those who wish to see the truth should first abide in the disciplined
conduct of definite renunciation, retain the meaning from listen-
ing that is compatible with seeing the truths and then, by know-
ing the meaning they have listened to, contemplate appropriately.
Possessing both of these qualities, then they should completely and
unerringly train in the samadhi meditation on the meaning they
have contemplated. Contemplation arises from listening, and med-
itation arises from contemplation.

b. The essence of the three full knowings make one enter

5cd
Full knowing of listening, et cetera,
Are subjects of name, both, and meaning.

Some members of the Great Exposition say that the natures of the
three full knowings born out of listening, et cetera, contemplation
and meditation, are respectively conscious subjects that take the
name only, both the name and meaning, and the meaning only
as their object, like beginner, intermediate, and expert swimmers
grabbing onto a float when learning to swim, it is heard. The Mas-
ter says that if that is so, there is no contemplation separate from
listening or meditation. Therefore he explains that the three are the
full knowings born respectively from credible scriptures, analyzing
with logic, and samadhi.

640
2. An explanation of how to meditate. This has two topics: a. At-
tributes of the support, the meditator, and b. The stages of the path
one meditates upon.

a. Attributes of the support, the meditator. This has three topics:

i. The support that will complete the path, ii. The support that will
not complete the path, and iii. As an elaboration, an explanation of
the noble families.

i. The support that will complete the path

6a
ose with two distances.

How can meditation be completed? you ask. Those who first are
with or possess the two distances from bodily distractions and
mental negative thoughts will entirely complete meditation.

ii. The support that will not complete the path. This has two top-
ics: (1) What is to be discarded, and (2) The antidote.

(1) What is to be discarded

6a–d
Not the
Insatiable, dissatisfied.
To crave for more is insatiable;
To want what is not had, dissatisfied.

Those two distances are easy for those who have few desires and
who are satisfied. They are not easy for the insatiable or the dis-
satisfied. The proponents of the abhidharma say that when one has
received an excellent dharma robe and so forth, to crave for more is
to be insatiable, and to want what is not had is to be dissatisfied,

641
it is heard. The Master explains that mental displeasure at getting
only a few, poor things is insatiability, and not getting many good
things but wanting to is dissatisfaction.

(2) The antidote

7ab
e opposite is their antidote.
ese two are in three realms or stainless.

The opposite of insatiability and dissatisfaction is their antidote:

it is contentment and satisfaction. These two, contentment and
satisfaction, are in the three realms, or they are stainless, for four
types. They are both nongreed by nature.

iii. As an elaboration, an explanation of the noble families. This

has two points.

(1) Overview

7c
Nongreed, the noble family.

Among these types of nongreed, those that produce nobles are

called the noble family.

642
(2) Explanation

7d
Of these, three are content by nature.

8.
e three teach conduct; the last, action.
As anti for the arising of craving.
To quell desire for things one grasps
As mine or me, for a time, forever.

Of these four noble natures, the first three, satisfaction with having
a dharma robe, alms, and a bed, are content by nature. The fourth
noble family is joy for being without what has been abandoned
and for meditating. This is also nongreed by nature, because it is
directed against existence and the desire for existence.

The four noble natures explained by the Bhagavan teach both

method and action to students who yearn for liberation. Of these,
the first three teach the conduct, and the last teaches action. As it
says in a sutra, “If you do this action by these methods, before long
you will attain liberation.” They are taught as an antidote for the
arising of craving. The four cravings are taught in a sutra:

Bhikshus, if craving arises, it arises for a dharma robe, for alms, for
a bed, and a seat. If it stays, it stays. If it is manifest attachment,
it is attachment. Bhikshus, if craving arises, it arises thus for birth
and destruction.

The first three are desire for things one grasps as mine such as
dharma robes and so on, and the fourth is to desire or crave for
the thing grasped as me, the body. The conduct quells craving for
things grasped as mine for a time or temporarily, and action quells

643
craving for both the things grasped as mine and those grasped as
me forever.

b. The stages of the path one meditates upon. This has two top-
ics: i. Methods for tranquility meditation, and ii. Methods for in-
sight meditation.

i. Methods for tranquility meditation. This has two topics: (1) The
order in which to begin, and (2) The actual methods of samadhi
meditation.

(1) The order in which to begin

9a–c
One enters that through the repulsive
And mindfulness of in, out breath,
For those with excess desire or thoughts.

How should someone who is thus a suitable vessel enter medita-

tion? you ask. One first enters that by the meditation on the repul-
sive and meditation on mindfulness of in-breath and out-breath,
as these will tame the mind. Whose mind? you ask. This is for those
with greatly excessive desire or excessive thoughts.

(2) The actual methods of samadhi meditation. This has two top-
ics: (a) Methods for meditation focused on the repulsive, and (b)
Methods for meditation focused on the breath.

(a) Methods for meditation focused on the repulsive. This has

three topics: (i) Overview, (ii) Explanation, and (iii) Particular at-
tributes.

644
(i) Overview

9d
e skeleton for all desirous.

There are four types of desire: greed for color, shape, touch, and re-
spect. The antidote for the first is to meditate upon the bluishness,
foulness, and redness of a corpse. The antidote for the second is to
think of it wasting and being torn apart. The antidote for the third
is to meditate on it being eaten by bugs, and the bones being just
barely held together. The antidote for the fourth is to meditate on
an unmoving corpse. Meditating on the skeleton is the antidote for
all the desirous, because it does not allow for any of the four types
of greed.

(ii) Explanation. This has three points.

A. The method for beginners

10ab
At first imagine bones that spread
As far as the sea, then narrow down.

At first, the beginner yogi who is meditating on repulsiveness at

first turns their attention to their forehead or any other suitable
body part and imagines that the flesh gradually rots and falls off,
visualizing their body as a skeleton. Then they imagine bones that
spread and fill everything as far as the sea, and then narrow the
visualization down to only their own body. This is the yoga for the
beginner.

645
B. The method for the trained

10cd
e trained discard bones from the foot
To half the skull.

In order to enhance this gathering of the mind, the completely

trained yogi discards bones from the body, starting with the foot,
and directs their attention on the remainder. Then one discards
or casts away all the bones up to half of the skull and focuses the
attention on half the skull.

C. The method to perfect the attention

10d
Perfect attention

11a
Holding the mind between the eyebrows.

When honing in the meditation, yogis who have perfected atten-

tion on the repulsive discard half the skull as well, and hold the
mind on a bone that is just the size of a thumb between the eye-
brows, it is heard.

(iii) Particular attributes

11b–d
Repulsive is nongreed. It’s on
Ten levels, focusing on the
Appearance of Desire. By humans.

The nature of the repulsive meditation is nongreed. It is on the ten

646
levels: nine of the four dhyanas, their four preparations and special
dhyana, plus the level of Desire. In Desire there is no equipoise, but
this is meant in terms of similarity. Its focus is on the appearances
of Desire, which are color and shape. Because it focuses on color
and shape, it is proven that it does not focus on names, it focuses
on meaning. Its support: if it is not even among other wanderers,
what need is there to mention other realms? It is only produced
by humans. However, it is not in Northern Unpleasant Sound,
because there is no path to detachment there.

(b) Methods for meditation focused on the breath. This has two
topics: (i) Common overview, and (ii) Particular explanation.
(i) Common overview

12a–c
e mindfulness of breath is full knowing.
It’s on five levels; its sphere is wind.
Desire realm. Outsiders do not.

The mindfulness of in-breath and out-breath is the full knowing

that knows the two just as they are. However, because it is pro-
duced by and arises out of the power of mindfulness, it is called
mindfulness. It is concurrent only with neutral feeling. As it focus-
es on just the in-breath and out-breath, it is only on the five levels
where those two are: the lower three preparations, special dhyana,
and Desire. Some say neutral feeling is also present in the actual
practice of the three lower dhyanas, so according to their proposal,
there are eight levels. Its sphere is wind, and it has the gods and
humans of Desire realm as its support. It is practiced only among
practitioners of this Dharma; outsiders do not practice it.

(ii) Particular explanation. This has three points.

647
A. Classifications of the methods of meditation

12d
Six types are counting and so forth.

The six types of causes that perfect it are counting and so forth:
following, placing, closely considering, modifying, and completely
purifying.

In the first, counting, if one tries to count too many, they will be-
come distracted, and if too few, discouraged, so one counts from
one to ten only. If two are counted as one, then it is incomplete, or
if one is counted as two, there are extra. If the in-breath is perceived
as the out-breath or the out-breath perceived as the in-breath, the
count is confused: these three faults must be avoided.

In following the breath, pay attention as the in-breath goes from the
throat, heart, navel, and calves down to the feet, and then as the
out-breath goes out the nostrils out to a hand’s width or arm span.

In placing, consider that it is like a string of jewels from the tip of

the nose to the feet that is beneficial and warm.

In closely considering, the object of the wind is a form comprised

of the eight substances, and the perceiving subject of full knowing
includes the four name aggregates, so consider it as the five aggre-
gates.

In modifying, the mind that focuses on the breath engages higher

and higher along the path as far as supreme dharma, and in com-
pletely purifying, up to the path of seeing and so forth. Alternatively,
some say that modifying is from the four foundations of mindful-
ness to vajra-like samadhi, and completely purifying is the knowing
of extinction, et cetera.

648
As a summary of these, the autocommentary says:

The mindfulness of breathing in

And breathing out is counting, following,
Placing, considering, modifying,
And purifying: these six types.

B. The essence of the object

13a–c
In and out breath, on those of the body,
Called beings, are not appropriated.
ey arise from a compatible cause

What level are the in-breath and out-breath on? They are on those
levels that have a body from Desire to the third dhyana, because
they both are a part of the body. Both the in-breath and out-breath
are called or counted as a sentient being, because they can be at-
tained, not attained or possessed, and because they are imagined as
one’s being. Because they are engaged separately from the faculties,
they are not appropriated. As they are produced by a cause of same
status, they arise from compatible cause and not from develop-
ment or full ripening, because they can diminish even if the body
grows, and when cut, they can be restored.

C. Distinctions in the subject

13d
And are not observed by lower mind.

The mind of one’s own level and higher levels realizes the in-breath
and outbreath, but if the in-breath and out-breath of a higher level

649
are not observed by even the lower mind of conduct and emanated
minds, what need is there to mention the virtuous or afflicted?

ii. Methods for insight meditation. This has three topics: (1) The
path of accumulation, (2) The path of joining, and (3) The path
that directly realizes the truths.

(1) The path of accumulation. This has two topics: (a) Overview,
and (b) Explanation.

(a) Overview

14ab
After accomplishing tranquility
Meditate on the founds of mindfulness

Through the two gates of entry, meditation on repulsiveness and

on the breath, the samadhi of tranquility has been accomplished,
but without the full knowing of insight, the afflictions cannot be
discarded from their root, because as a sutra says, “The afflictions
are what is conquered by wisdom.” For that reason, having pacified
the afflictions or distractions, after accomplishing the tranquility
of a mind that remains within, then meditate on the foundations
of mindfulness in order to generate the full knowing of insight that
discards the afflictions from their root. By meditating on them,
insight will be accomplished, as it says in a sutra: “Bhikshus, the
one path to go down is this one. It is this: the four foundations of
mindfulness.”

(b) Explanation. This has two topics: (i) Common features, and
(ii) The method for meditating on the mindfulness of dharmas in
particular.

(i) Common features. This has four points:

650
A. Method of meditation

14cd
By examining two characteristics
Of body, feeling, mind, and dharmas.

The foundations of mindfulness are known by examining the two

specific and general characteristics of body, feeling, mind, and
dharmas. The specific characteristics of the body are the sources
and source-derived; of feeling is experience; of mind is focus; and
of dharmas are the conceptions, formations, and noncompound
dharmas other than body, feeling, and mind. The general charac-
teristics are that composites are impermanent; defiled dharmas are
suffering; and all dharmas are empty and selflessness. The charac-
teristic of suffering is incompatibility with the nobles.

B. Essence

15ab
Full knowing from listening, et cetera.
e others from connection, focus.

The essence of the four foundations of mindfulness is full knowing.

From a sutra: “The viewing of body in the body is the foundation
of mindfulness.” This is full knowing that is born from listening, et
cetera, contemplating and meditating, but not that attained upon
birth. The word mindfulness is used because these are produced by
the power of mindfulness, or in the Master’s explanation, this si-
multaneously applies mindfulness, so it is explained as thus. Thus
full-knowing is the natural foundation of mindfulness. Its com-
panions, the others that are concurrent with it, from their connec-
tion with it are called connected foundations of mindfulness. Their

651
focus—body, feeling, mind, and dharmas—are the focus of both,
so they are called the focused foundation of mindfulness. For this
reason, a sutra says, “Bhikshus, that which we call ‘all dharmas’ is a
synonym for the four foundations of mindfulness.”

C. Order

15c
e order is as they arise,

The order of earlier and later is, according to some from the Great
Exposition, the same as the order in which they arise, because the
earlier ones are coarser and easier to realize, so that is how they
are seen, they say. The Master says it is because on the basis of the
body desire arises, which is attached to or manifestly desires feeling,
which disturbs the mind, and because of that afflictions are not
abandoned.

D. Establishing their quantity

15d
Four antis for the erroneous.

The body is like feces, so it is unclean. Feelings are suffering. The

mind changes quickly, so it is impermanent. Dharmas have no in-
dependent single self, so these four foundations of mindfulness are
taught as antidotes for the erroneous ideas of cleanliness, bliss, per-
manence, and the self. More than that are unnecessary, but fewer
would not include everything.

652
(ii) The method for meditating on the mindfulness of dharmas
in particular

16.
It is the foundation of dharmas
at focuses on them combined.
ey view them as impermanent,
And suffering, empty, and selfless.

Having familiarized oneself with the foundations of mindfulness

that focus on body and so forth, it, that familiarization, is the
foundation of dharmas that rests focusing on them in general or
combined. They, the yogis, generally combine all the foundations
of body and so forth and view them as the four aspects of imper-
manence, suffering, emptiness, and selflessness.

(2) The path of joining. This has four topics. (a) How it arises, (b)
Essence, (c) Features, and (d) Preliminaries.

(a) How it arises. This has five topics: (i) Warmth, (ii) Peak, (iii)
Forbearance, (iv) Supreme dharma, and (v) Common features.

(i) Warmth

17a–c
e warmth arises out of that.
It has the four truths as its sphere
With sixteen aspects.

The warmth of virtuous roots gradually arises out of that medita-

tion on the dharma foundation of mindfulness. Just as when you
rub two sticks, warmth arises as a sign of forthcoming fire, this
is called warmth. It, warmth, has the four truths as its sphere: it

653
focuses on the truths of the higher and lower realms in succession,
since it cannot focus on them in a single moment. As training for
dharma knowing and forbearance, it meditates in a general way
on the four truths of the Desire realm as the sixteen aspects.265 As
training for subsequent knowing and forbearance, it meditates on
the four truths of the two higher realms as sixteen aspects. Thus it
is the near training for the path of seeing, so it is the path of joining
in the sense of training. It is meditation with the sixteen aspects of
impermanence and the others.

(ii) Peak. This has two points.

A. The actual peak

17cd
Out of warmth
Comes peak, which is like that as well.

Out of the gradual increase of warmth through the lesser, medium,

and greater comes the peak, which is like that, warmth, as well in
focus and aspects: it focuses on the four truths and views them as
the sixteen aspects. Because it is the peak of unstable roots of virtue,
it is called the peak.

B. Common features of both warmth and the peak

18ab
rough dharma, they both aim at aspects,
Develop through the others, too.

Through the foundation of mindfulness of dharma, they, both

warmth and the peak, first aim at and engage the aspects in the

265. The sixteen aspects of the four truths are described in VII.13.

654
four truths. They are also developed or familiarized and refined
through the others—those other than the foundation of mindful-
ness of dharma—all four foundations of mindfulness.

(iii) Forbearance. This has two points.

A. Actual

18cd
From that, forbearance. Two like that.
Dharmas develops all of them.

What arises from that development of the lesser, middle, and great-
er peak is called forbearance. When one is childish, one fears for
oneself and cannot bear to see the truth. When one has attained
warmth and the peak, one can bear the lesser and medium truth
but one falls away from that. Because at this stage one has great
forbearance for seeing the truth without falling away from it at all,
it is called forbearance.

The two, lesser and middle forbearance, are like that, the peak, in
the way they aim at the aspects of the truths. The foundation of
mindfulness of dharmas develops all of them, lesser, middle, and
greater forbearance. The first two each have individual aims and
development, so they are also like that, but greater forbearance is
a single instant, so it is not like that. This is said in terms of how
it engages the truths. It does not engage them through the other
foundations because it is near supreme dharma and the path of see-
ing. Thus it is the mindfulness of dharmas, which is close to those.

655
B. Explaining the particular features of greater forbearance

19ab
e object of the great is suffering
Of Desire realm. It is one moment.

Because it is near supreme dharma, the object of the greater for-

bearance is the suffering of Desire realm: it focuses on that in any
one of its four aspects. It is one moment; it does not have a con-
tinuum.

(iv) Supreme dharma

19c
So is supreme dharma.

So is supreme dharma similar to greater forbearance: it focuses on

the suffering of Desire and is one moment. It is worldly, but it is
the supreme of worldly dharmas, or alternatively its power leads to
the path of seeing, which has no cause of same status, so it is the
supreme of all that is worldly. For these reasons, it is called supreme
dharma.

(v) Common features

19cd
ey are all
Five aggregates, without attainments.

20a
e four precursors to realization

656
They, the four, are all inherently the foundations of mindfulness,
so they are primarily full knowing and its associations. They are
also equipoise, so they have an imperceptible form. For that reason,
they are the five aggregates. They are without attainments, which
are not included as warmth and the others, because the nobles have
the attainments in a manifest way. Otherwise it would follow that
nobles would also manifestly have warmth and the others.266 In this
way, warmth, the peak, forbearance, and supreme dharma are the
four precursors to clear realization.

(b) Essence

20b
Must be produced by meditation

All four of the precursors to clear realization must be produced by

meditation: they do not arise from listening or contemplating.

(c) Features. This has five topics: (i) Distinctions of level, (ii) Dis-
tinctions of support, (iii) Distinctions in how they are forfeited,
(iv) Distinctions in qualities, and (v) Distinctions in family.

(i) Distinctions of level

20cd
On Not Unable, special, and
e dhyanas. Two below, perhaps.

266. In other words, if the attainments were part of the four precursors to clear
realization, then noble beings, who have the manifest attainments of the four
precursors, would still have the four precursors in a manifest way. However, the
precursors are no longer manifest in nobles, who have progressed on to higher
levels.

657
These are on the levels of the preparation for the first dhyana Not
Unable, the special dhyana, and the four actual practices of the
dhyanas, or six levels. As these are contained in those six levels,
there are no precursors to clear realization on the levels of Formless.
This is because clear realization is the practice of the path of seeing,
which is not present on the levels of Formless. The reason there is
no path of seeing there is because the path of seeing focuses on the
Desire realm, and Formless does not focus on the Desire realm.

In the tradition of Venerable Ghoṣaka, the two, warmth and the

peak, are also below in the Desire realm. The word “perhaps” in-
dicates that this is a separate tradition in which those two would
be on seven levels: the six levels of dhyana and Desire. In that case,
since they could be supported on a level of Desire, they would not
necessarily be meditation-produced.

(ii) Distinctions of support

21ab
Support of Desire realm, and women
Gain supreme dharma on both supports.

The first three can be newly produced in those men and women
of the three continents who have not previously had them. Those
that have already arisen can become manifest among the gods, and
the fourth can be produced among the gods, so they all have the
support of Desire realm, and women can gain supreme dharma
on both male and female supports.267 Men can only attain it with

267. Someone who first attains supreme dharma as a woman and then subse-
quently changes sex and attains a male body (either in the same life or the next),
reattains supreme dharma on that male support as well.

658
a male support, because they also attain a nonanalytic cessation of
becoming female.

(iii) Distinctions in how they are forfeited. This has two topics:
A. How the nobles forfeit them, and B. How ordinary individuals
forfeit them.

A. How the Nobles forfeit them

21cd
e nobles forfeit them when leaving
A level;

The nobles forfeit them, the paths of joining attained on the sup-
port of a particular level, when they leave a level and are born in
a higher. Because their roots of virtue are greatly increased by the
path of seeing, unlike ordinary individuals they do not forfeit them
through regression or death.

B. How ordinary individuals forfeit them. This has two points: 1.

Actual, and 2. Elaboration.

1. Actual

21d
nonnobles at death.

22a
e first two by regressing, too.

Nonnoble ordinary individuals who are detached forfeit them

when they transmigrate from one level to be reborn in a higher at
death, and by discarding their likeness. Those not detached also
forfeit them by discarding their likeness, even when not transmi-

659
grating to a new level. The first two, warmth and the peak, are for-
feited during the period of an ordinary individual, by regressing,
too, through the afflictions that are incompatible with them. Even
ordinary individuals cannot regress from forbearance or supreme
dharma.

2. Elaboration. This has three points.

a. The particulars of forfeiture through death

22b
e actual sees truth in this.

Someone who has produced the precursors to clear realization of

the level of the actual practice of the first dhyana will definitely see
the truth in this very lifetime, because they have great revulsion.
The explanation of forfeiture through regression and death is for
those on Not Unable, so there is no contradiction.

b. How they are re-attained

22c
If one regresses, gained anew.

If one who has regressed from the precursors to clear realization

later attains them again, one gains them anew, like the vows of
individual liberation. One does not re-attain the same ones previ-
ously forfeited, because they are something that is unfamiliar and
created through effort.

c. The essence of the two types of forfeiture

22d
Both forfeitures are nonpossession.

660
What are the natures of forfeiture and regression? you ask. All loss
of attainment is called forfeiture, and in particular, forfeiture be-
cause of an incompatible affliction is called regression. Both forfei-
tures are in essence nonpossession: nonattainment from forfeiting
the attainment.

(iv) Distinctions in qualities

23ab
When peak is gained, roots can’t be severed;
Forbearance goes not to low realms.

When peak is gained, if one regresses, one might commit heinous

misdeeds and go to the lower realms, but the roots of virtue can-
not be severed, because one has attained sincere faith in the Three
Jewels through training in their qualities. When lesser forbearance
is attained, there is also the attainment of the freedom of not going
to lower realms. When greater forbearance is attained, one also at-
tains freedom from being reborn in certain modes of birth, births,
bodies, and so forth.

(v) Distinctions in family. This has two points.

A. The families that can change

23cd
Two can withdraw from the learners’ family
And become buddhas. Other, third.

Two, those who have attained warmth and the peak, can withdraw
from the learner’s family of listeners, develop the mind of great
enlightenment, and become buddhas, but those who have attained
forbearance cannot, because from then on there is no birth in the

661
lower realms, but a bodhisattva takes birth there for others’ benefit.
Those other than the Buddha, self-buddhas, on the third stage of
the path of joining, forbearance, can also change because they do
not go to the lower realms even for others’ benefits. Once supreme
dharma has been attained there is no changing family.

B. The families that cannot change

24ab
e Teacher and rhino, all on one
Seat and dhyan’s end until awakening.

The Teacher, the Buddha, and the rhinolike self-buddha cannot

change family at any time after reaching warmth, because all the
paths from the precursors to clear realization arise on one seat and
only on dhyana’s upper end, the fourth dhyana, until awakening
to enlightenment.

(d) Preliminaries

24cd
Before that, the precursor to freedom.
e swiftest in three lives are freed.

25ab
From listening and contemplation.
ree karmas are propelled by humans.

Do the precursors to clear realization arise right from the begin-

ning, or must something precede them? you ask. Before that pre-
cursor to clear realization, one must produce the virtuous roots of

662
the precursor to freedom.268 The absolutely swiftest of all in three
lifetimes are liberated. For example, just as one plants a seed, the
fruit forms and the fruit ripens: in the first lifetime one produces
the virtuous roots of precursor to liberation, in the second the pre-
cursor to realization, and in the third produces the noble path. The
being gradually enters, ripens, and is completely liberated in this
dharma.

The precursors to liberation arises from listening and contempla-

tion; they do not arise from meditation. They are primarily karma
of mind, but because they are embraced by prayers, they are also
karma of speech, so they are the three karmas of body, speech, and
mind. They are propelled by humans of the three continents only,
and not by others, who lack either full knowing or world-weariness.

(3) The path that directly realizes the truths. This has four topics:
(a) How the sixteen moments of cognition arise, (b) Teaching the
three types of clear realization, (c) Which levels support it, and (d)
Classifying the cognitions as sixteen.

(a) How the sixteen moments of cognition arise

25cd
From the supreme of worldly dharmas
Comes undefiled dharma forbearance

26.
Of suffering of Desire, from which
Arises dharma knowing of
Just that itself. And likewise for

268. Precursor to freedom or liberation is a synonym for the path of accumula-

tion.

663
 e rest of suffering arises
e subsequent forbearance, knowing.
ree other truths are like that, too.

27ab
us clear realization of the truths
Is sixteen minds.

From the supreme of worldly dharmas, the undefiled dharma for-

bearance immediately arises. That focuses on suffering of Desire. It
is forbearance for the sake of the dharma knowing of duḥkha, so it
is called exactly that, like saying “flowering tree” or “fruit tree.” Im-
mediately after or from that forbearance, there arises the dharma
knowing of just that itself, the suffering of Desire. This is given the
designation dharma knowing of suffering in the Treatise. This is in
all respects an undefiled moment, so it is called undefiled dharma
knowing.

Just as forbearance of dharma knowing of suffering and the dhar-

ma knowing arise, likewise forbearance of subsequent knowing
for the rest of suffering of Form and Formless arises immediately
following the dharma knowing of suffering. It focuses on general
characteristics and is called the subsequent forbearance, or the for-
bearance of subsequent knowing of suffering. Then the so-called
subsequent knowing of suffering arises.

Just as the four forbearances and knowings of the truth of suffering

arise, the four forbearances and knowings of each of the other three
other truths of origin, cessation and path arise like that, too. Thus
in this way, through this progression, the clear realization of truth
is sixteen moments of mind.

664
(b) Teaching the three types of clear realization

27bc
ere are three types,
Called seeing, focusing, and action,

There are three types of clear realization. Directly realizing the

truth with undefiled full knowing is called the clear realization of
seeing. The feelings and so forth that are concurrent with that full
knowing and also the full knowing itself focus on the truth, so they
are called the clear realization of focusing. The clear realization of
the action is knowing, discarding, making manifest, and meditat-
ing during the path. It is the five aggregates of a single assembly:
discipline that is not concurrent with full knowing, arising and so
forth, attainment and so forth, and that which is concurrent with
full knowing. This is because these all perform those actions. Thus
there are said to be three clear realizations of truth.

(c) Which levels support it

27d
On the same level as supreme.

The sixteen cognitions of clear realization explained above are on

the same level as supreme dharma. These are the six levels explained
earlier.269

(d) Classifying the cognitions as sixteen. This has two points.

269. See VI.20b–d.

665
(i) Classifying them as paths of no obstacles and paths of liber-
ation

28ab
Respectively, forbearance, knowing are
Paths of no obstacles and liberation.

Respectively the eight forbearances and eight knowings here are,

presented in this order, the paths of no obstacles that discard the
four classes of discards of Desire and the four classes of discards
contained in the higher realms and the paths of liberation, for a
total of sixteen.

(ii) Explaining the term path of seeing

28cd
From seeing the unseen, fifteen
Moments of these are the path of seeing.

These sixteen cognitions are not all the path of seeing. From see-
ing what had been the unseen, fifteen moments of these sixteen
cognitions, from forbearance of dharma knowing of suffering to
forbearance of subsequent knowing of path, are the path of seeing.
The sixteenth moment of cognition is the path of meditation only.
This is because there is no previously unseen truth to see; instead it
familiarizes one with seeing the truth.

II. Explanation of individuals. This has three topics: A. Explaining

the four pairs of individuals, B. Classifying into seven enumera-
tions, and C. Combining them into six substances.

A. Explaining the four pairs of individuals. This has three topics:

666
1. Explaining entering stream-enterer, 2. Explaining those previ-
ously detached, and 3. Explaining successive results.

1. Explaining entering stream-enterer. This has two points.

a. Classifications of mind

29ab
During these, sharp and dull faculties
Are followers of faith and dharma.

During the period when they are abiding in these fifteen moments
of the path of seeing, the two types of individuals with sharp and
dull faculties are called, if of dull faculties, followers of faith and
if of sharp faculties, followers of dharma. This is because those of
dull faculties clearly realize the truth because of the spiritual advice
of other masters during their previous period as ordinary individ-
uals, whereas those of sharp faculties did not rely on other masters
during their previous time as ordinary individuals. They realize the
meaning of the scriptures on their own through full knowing and
clearly realize the truth.

b. Distinctions in abandonment and realization

29cd
ey’re entering the first result
If no discards of meditation

30a
Or up to five have been destroyed.

They, those two individuals, are entering the first of all results to
be attained and are called entering the result of stream-enterer if no

667
discards of meditation have been discarded previously by a world-
ly path and they possess all the bonds. Or if up to five discards
of meditation have been destroyed by the worldly path, they are
entering the first result, just as they were when they still possessed
all the bonds. The phrase “up to” includes one, two, three, four, or
five discards.

2. Explaining those previously detached. This has two topics: a.

Enterers, and b. Abiders in result.

a. Enterers. This has two points.

i. Entering once-returner

30b
e second, till the ninth’s extinguished.

They are entering the second result of once-returner if any one of

the sixth, seventh, eighth, or up until the ninth discard of medita-
tion is extinguished.

ii. Entering nonreturner

30cd
One who is detached from Desire
Or higher is entering the third.

One who is detached from Desire or a higher level up to Nothing-

ness is entering the third result of nonreturner.

b. Abiders in result. This has two points.

668
i. Actual

31ab
ose who are entering a result
Abide in it on the sixteenth.

Those, whether follower of faith or dharma, who are entering a

result abide in it, that result, on the sixteenth moment. Arhatship
is not attained at first, because the path of seeing does not abandon
discards of meditation, and because it is impossible to have previ-
ously detached oneself from the Peak of Existence by the worldly
path.

ii. The names they are called

31cd
Sharp and dull faculties are then
Convinced through faith, attained through seeing.

Between those with sharp and those with dull faculties, those with
dull faculties are then, at the time one abides on the sixteenth mo-
ment, called convinced through faith, and those with sharp facul-
ties are called attained through seeing, because they are respective-
ly brought about by great faith and full knowing.

3. Explaining successive results. This has four topics: a. Entering

and abiding in stream-enterer, b. Entering and abiding in once-re-
turner, c. Entering and abiding in nonreturner, and d. Entering
and abiding in arhat.

a. Entering and abiding in stream-enterer. This has two topics: i.

Entering, and ii. Abiding.

i. Entering. Entering has already been taught above.

669
ii. Abiding. This has (1) General teaching, and (2) Individual ex-
planations.

(1) General teaching. This has two points.

(a) Teaching that the mere abider in result is not an enterer

32.
To gain a result is not to gain
e path of higher progress. us
ose dwelling in result, not striving
To improve it, are not enterers.

When stream-enterers have abandoned the fifth discard and are

on the sixteenth cognition, why are they not entering the result
of once-returner? you ask. At that time, they have gained a mere
result of stream-enterer, but that is not to gain the path of higher
progress. Thus those stream-enterers are dwelling in result, not
striving to attain the second result that improves it. Those who are
not making efforts to attain a result are not enterers in that result.

By this logic one can also know the reason why someone who has
abandoned the eighth discard of Desire and abides on the sixteenth
moment is not called entering the result of nonreturner, and the
reason why someone who is detached from Nothingness and abides
on the sixteenth moment is not entering the result of arhat.

670
(b) Classifications of the path of enterer and discards of medi-
tation

33.
Each level has nine kinds of faults,
Likewise nine qualities, because
e lesser and so forth of lesser,
Middle, and great are separate.

The nine sets of afflictions of Desire have been taught, and likewise
each level from the first dhyana to the Peak of Existence has nine
kinds of faults each. Likewise, in the same way as the faults, each
of the levels also has nine sets of qualities—the antidotes, the paths
of no obstacles—and also the paths of liberation. This is because
the lesser and so forth, middle, and greater of lesser—the lesser,
middle, and greater of middle, and the lesser, middle, and greater
of greater—are all separate. The lesser of lesser path discards the
greater of greater afflictions, and the greater of greater path discards
the lesser of lesser afflictions. This is because at the very beginning
the greater path is impossible and when the greater path arises, the
greater afflictions are impossible.

(2) Individual explanations. This has two topics: (a) Seven-timer,

and (b) From family to family.

(a) Seven-timer. This has two points.

(i) Ascertaining the seven-timer

34ab
ose dwelling in result without discarding any
rough meditation, at most seven times.

671
Those who dwell in a result without discarding any of Desire
realm’s afflictions which are discarded through meditation, if they
reach the uppermost limit, will be reborn in at most seven more
lives—they are a seven-timer. Since not all stream-enterers are sev-
en-timers, this is the lowest of all results.

Stream-enterers are so called because they have entered the stream

of the path to nirvana.

Some proponents of the Great Exposition say that “seven more

lifetimes” means seven more births each in the prior state of gods
and the prior state of humans plus their between states, for twen-
ty-eight, but as they are similar in having sets of seven, it is called
“seven times.” It is like for example calling a plant seven leaved,
they say. Others say it is seven rebirths combining the rebirths as
gods and humans. The noble Master’s explanation is consistent
with the former.

Well then, does this not contradict The Sutra of Many Realms,270
which states:

There is no occasion and no opportunity for an individual

with excellent view to produce an eighth existence. There is no
place for that.

It is not contradictory, because this is about not producing exis-

tence in one class of beings in Desire. Otherwise it would be im-
possible to die and be reborn in all places.271

(ii) The family of seven-timers

270. khams mang po’i mdo.

271. See VI.38ab.

672
Seven-timer is the longest, but it is possible to make nirvana mani-
fest before the seventh birth. Additionally, ordinary individuals on
the paths of accumulation and joining whose beings have been rip-
ened are also seven-timers.

(b) From family to family

34cd
ose freed from three or four, with two or three
More lives, from family to family.

Those stream-enterers who have three causes—in terms of discard-

ing, being freed from three or four of the afflictions; in terms of
faculties, attainment of their antidote, the undefiled faculties; and
in terms of birth, with two or three more lifetimes remaining—are
stream-enterers who are born from family to family.

b. Entering and abiding in once-returner. This has two topics: i.

Entering, and ii. Abiding in result.

i. Entering

35ab
If they have conquered up to five,
ey’re also entering the second,

If they, stream-enterers abiding in the distinctive result, have con-

quered up to five sets of the discards of meditation of the Desire
realm, they are also entering the second result.

ii. Abiding in result. This has two points.

673
(1) Mere abiding in result

35cd
And when the sixth set is extinguished,
At that time, they are a once-returner.

And when the sixth set of Desire’s discards of mediation is ex-

tinguished, at that time they have attained the second result of
once-returner. It is possible that they will be reborn once more in
Desire, but twice or more is impossible.

(2) Distinctive abiding in result

36ab
When they have extinguished seven or eight
Classes of faults, one life, one obstacle.

The distinction in terms of abandonment is that they who are abid-

ing in the result of once-returner have extinguished the seventh
or eighth class of faults of Desire that are discarded by meditation
and have attained the undefiled path that is its antidote. The dis-
tinction in terms of birth is that they have one intervening lifetime
before attaining nirvana. Alternatively, they have only one aspect of
affliction preventing them from attaining the result of nonreturner.
Thus for that reason, they are called one lifetime, one obstacle.

This is explained to rebut the doubt that the three lesser afflictions
together make one take rebirth in Desire, but perhaps only one or
two might not have that power to cause rebirth. The reason that
one set of afflictions cannot prevent the attainment of the result
of once-returner in this lifetime but can prevent the attainment of
nonreturner is that for the former one does not need to transcend
the Desire realm, but for the latter one does.

674
c. Entering and abiding in nonreturner. This has two topics: i. En-
tering, and ii. Abiding in result.

i. Entering

36c
ey also are entering the third.

They, one-obstacle once-returners who have discarded the seventh

and eight sets, also are entering the third result of nonreturner.

ii. Abiding in result. This has two topics: (1) Overview, and (2)
Individual explanations.

(1) Overview

36d
When ninth has perished, nonreturner.

Those who abide in the result of nonreturner, when the ninth set
of discards of meditation of Desire has perished, are nonreturn-
ers, because they will not return to the Desire realm even once.
The essence of this result is a combination of the composite ninth
liberation and the noncomposite extinction of the discards. The
continuum that possesses those two is an individual who abides in
the result.

(2) Individual explanations. This has five topics: (a) Explanation

of those bound for Form, (b) Explanation of those bound for
Formless, (c) Explanation of visible peace, (d) Explaining the many
classifications of nonreturners, and (e) Explanation of those made
manifest by body.

675
(a) Explanation of those bound for Form. This has two topics: (i)
General classifications, and (ii) Particular explanation of the classi-
fications of those bound for higher.

(i) General classifications

37a–c
ey pass into nirvana in between,
On birth, with effort, without effort, or
ey’re bound for higher.

Of the many different nonreturners, they, the nonreturners bound

for Form, are fivefold. There are those who pass beyond sorrow
into nirvana without remainder in the between state, those who
pass into nirvana on birth, with effort, without effort; or they are
those who are bound for the higher.

The first of these dies here, makes the path manifest in the between
state for any of the sixteen abodes other than Great Brahma, and
attains the state of arhat. By their dharma nature, they do not re-
main long in the between state, and as they do not have the afflic-
tions of birth, they immediately enter the state without remainder.

The second passes into nirvana with remainder not long after birth
in Form because of effort and the path appearing naturally.

The third makes efforts, but the path does not appear naturally,
so they pass into nirvana with effort a somewhat long time after
taking birth.
The fourth attains nirvana without effort, but not immediately af-
ter birth: they do not actually make efforts, but the path appears
naturally, so they pass into complete nirvana without great efforts.

676
The fifth does not make efforts and the path does not appear natu-
rally. They do not attain arhat in the lower abodes, but transmigrate
to higher realms and pass into nirvana in any one of them.

The first of these has discarded the fetters of birth and so attains
nirvana solely without remainder. Those who attain nirvana imme-
diately after birth are not asserted to attain it without remainder,
because those who have not attained the highest end of dhyana272
on the support of a human body on the three continents do not
have the power to cast off life, and the karma that makes one re-
main in the previous state is also very strong.

As for the order they are presented, the sutras explain nirvana with-
out effort before nirvana with effort, and the Master also explains it
thus. The Great Exposition, however, says that as their path arises
naturally, if they are mentioned first there would be no distinction
between them and those who pass into nirvana immediately upon
birth, and so list it later.

(ii) Particular explanation of the classifications of those bound

for higher. This has two points.

A. Those who will go to Below None

37cd
If they alternate
e dhyanas, they are bound for Below None.

38ab
ey leap, half leap, or die in all
e realms,

272. The highest development of the fourth dhyana. See VIII.41.

677
There are two types of those bound for higher in terms of cause
and result. In terms of cause, there are those who train in insight
and those who train in tranquility. If they alternate the defiled and
undefiled dhyanas and meditate mixing them, those who train in-
sight are ultimately bound to go as far as Below None in terms of
result. They are also threefold: leapers, half leapers, or those who
die in all the realms.

A leaper is someone who alternates dhyanas as a human but re-

gresses through the afflictions of the first dhyana and is reborn in
Brahma’s Abode, et cetera. There they meditate on the great alter-
nation, and so are born in Below None, where they make nirvana
manifest.

A half leaper is unable to produce the great alternation in Brahma’s

Abode and so forth and meditates only on the lesser or medium
alternation. Through that they are reborn in Not Great or Without
Pain, where they meditate on the great alternation, and then they
are born in Below None and make nirvana manifest.

One who dies in all realms is born in all the sixteen abodes, with
the exception of Great Brahma, in succession and then makes nir-
vana manifest.

B. Those who will go to the Peak of Existence

38b
and others go to the Peak.

Those other than the ones who alternate the dhyanas and go to Be-
low None are those who enjoy tranquility and neither meditate on
alternation nor go to Below None. They go from the first dhyana
through all levels with the exception of the fourth dhyana’s pure

678
abodes and ultimately to the Peak of Existence. They can also be
similar to leapers and so forth. They do go to the Formless realms
later, but since they first go to the dhyanas, they are called bound
for Form.

Can they pass into nirvana in the meantime? you ask. It is possible.
Here Below None and the Peak of Existence are taken as the up-
per limit, but there can be attainment of nirvana without going to
them, similar to the seventimers, it is explained.

These are nobles who prefer samadhi and train in tranquility. The
former who are ultimately bound for Below None prefer full know-
ing and train in insight.

(b) Explanation of those bound for Formless

38c
Four other types are bound for Formless.

Additionally there are four other types, different from the previous-
ly explained nonreturners, who have attained the mind of Formless
in Desire and not regressed. They are the four types bound for
Formless. There is no between state, so they are the four types of
nirvana upon birth and so on. It is also suitable to give them the
designations of leaper and so on. Thus this is the sixth type of non-
returner.

(c) Explanation of visible peace

38d
Another transcends sorrow here.

Another nonreturner, different from those bound for Form and

Formless, transcends sorrow by attaining nirvana here in the De-

679
sire realm itself in the very same lifetime as they attain nonreturner.
This is the seventh nonreturner, called visible peace.

Thus the five bound for Form can each be born in the sixteen
abodes, with the exception of Great Brahma. They have six fam-
ilies,273 nine detachments,274 and three faculties. By multiplying
these, there are 12,960 bound for Form. The four bound for Form-
less have four supports, six families, nine detachments, and three
faculties, which when multiplied makes 2,592 bound for Formless.
Visible peace has nine supports, six families, seventy-two detach-
ments, and three faculties, which when multiplied makes 11,664
who are visible peace.

(d) Explaining the many classifications of nonreturners. This has

four topics: (i) Classifying those bound for Form as nine, (ii) Ex-
plaining the holy wanderers, (iii) Identifying nobles whose lives
have been completely transformed, and (iv) Methods for meditat-
ing on alternation of the dhyanas.

(i) Classifying those bound for Form as nine. This has two points.

A. Actual

39ab
Dividing the three in three more,
Nine bound for Form can be explained,

Dividing the three nonreturners who achieve nirvana in the be-

tween state, upon birth, and bound for higher in three more each,
the nine bound for Form can be explained. The way they are clas-
sified is that the first category has those who attain nirvana quickly,

273. See VI.56a.

274. That is, freedom from the nine meditation discards of their level.

680
not quickly, and after a long time. The second category has those
who attain nirvana immediately after birth, with effort, and with-
out effort. The third category has leapers, half-leapers, and those
who die in all realms. Alternatively it is explained that it is possible
to classify all three as those who attain nirvana quickly, not quickly,
and after a long time.

B. Their distinctions

39cd
Distinguished by their different
Karma, afflictions, faculties.

The nine are distinguished by their different karma, afflictions,

and faculties. They are individually classified through karma that
produces manifest results, that is experienced on rebirth, or that is
experienced in other lifetimes; through lesser, medium, and greater
afflictions that are harder or easier to discard; and through faculties
that are sharp, medium, or dull.

(ii) Explaining the holy wanderers. This has two points.

A. Actual

40ab
Without dividing those bound higher,
ere are seven holy wanderers,

The seven holy wanderers taught in the sutras are the three who
pass into nirvana in the intermediate, three who pass into nirvana
upon birth and without dividing those bound for the higher, one
bound for the higher. Thus there are seven holy wanderers, it is
proposed. Pūrṇavardhana explains that the reason for not dividing

681
those bound for higher is its classifications are so confusing. The
Prince explains that it depends upon the disciples’ interests.

B. Elaboration

40cd
ey act on holy, not unholy;
ey go without return, so holy.

Why are only these, and not the attached learner stream-enterers
and oncereturners, presented as holy wanderers? you ask. Between
the two types, holy and unholy beings, they, the former, only act
upon virtuous, holy conduct, whereas the latter merely do not act
on the nonvirtuous or unholy. This is the meaning of holy. They
are also called holy from going to the higher realms without return
either to that or a lower level. That is the meaning of wanderer. So
therefore only the nonreturners are holy. Because the learners who
are stream-enterers and once-returners do not fulfill those two cri-
teria, they are not.
However, it says in a sutra:

What is a holy being? you ask. One who has the correct view
of the learners…

Additionally, attached learners have attained vows to never do five

misdeeds and have mostly discarded nonvirtue, for which reason
they are qualifiedly holy. Here the explanation is for the unquali-
fiedly holy, so there is no contradiction.

(iii) Identifying nobles whose lives have been completely trans-

formed. This has two points.

682
A. Actual

41ab
Nobles who in Desire transform
eir lives don’t go to other realms.

Are there such classifications of the nobles whose lives are com-
pletely transformed in Desire? you ask. There are not. Well, what
are they like? you ask. Nobles who in Desire completely transform
their lives do not go to other realms, because in that very life they
attain the result of nonreturner and then completely pass into nir-
vana.

Those whose lives are completely transformed in the Form realm

can also enter into the Formless realms, such as those bound for
higher that are going to the Peak of Existence.
Well then, a sutra says:

Śakra said, “If after I die here, I am born as a human and at-
tain nirvana, that would be excellent. If I do not attain nirva-
na then, may I then be reborn in Below None.”

What does this mean? The Great Exposition says that Śakra merely
does not know the abhidharma and the Teacher did not refute him
in order to please him.

B. Dharmas connected with it

41cd
Both they and those born higher do not
Regress or refine faculties.

683
Both they, nonreturners whose lives are completely transformed in
Desire, and those nobles born in the higher realms have familiarity
with the path through continuous lifetimes and have attained su-
perior supports that cannot regress. For these reasons, they do not
regress, and because that in itself fully ripens their faculties, they
also do not refine faculties.

(iv) Methods for meditating on alternation of the dhyanas. This

has four points.

A. The alternated dharma

42a
ey alternate the fourth dhyan first,

Where it says, “If they alternate/The dhyanas, they are bound for
Below None…”275 what is alternated first? you ask. They alternate
both the defiled and undefiled fourth dhyana first, because that is
the most workable of all levels and because it is the supreme of the
easy paths. The dhyanas arise in order from the first up, and the
one that is alternated first is the fourth. Later the third, second, and
first are also alternated. The support is that at first one can alternate
only as a human in one of the three continents, and then later one
can alternate in the Form realm as well.

B. The measure of accomplishment in alternating meditation

42b
Achieved by alternating moments

Great Expositionists say that right after an undefiled moment a

defiled moment is manifested, and then right after that defiled mo-

275. See VI.37cd.

684
ment another undefiled moment is manifested. In that way alterna-
tion is achieved by alternating the defiled and undefiled moments,
like flowers on a garland. The undefiled and defiled moments are
like the path of no obstacles, and the third undefiled moment is
like the path of liberation, so they say.

The Master says that no one except for the Buddha can alternate
three single moments, so alternation is performed by entering the
three equipoises in succession for as long as they wish.

C. The reason to perform alternating meditation

42cd
In order to take birth and dwell,
Also from fear of the afflictions.

What is the purpose of alternating dhyana? you ask. Nonreturn-

ers with sharp faculties alternate in order to not pass into nirvana
here but to take birth in the pure abodes and to dwell in bliss in
the visible.276 Those with dull faculties also meditate from fear of
the afflictions, in order to keep from regressing from the result by
distancing themselves from the samadhi that is concurrent with
enjoyment.277 Those nonreturners with dull faculties alternate for
all three reasons (birth, abiding, and fear), the sharp for the former
two, dull arhats for the latter two, and sharp arhats for only the
second reason.

276. That is, they dwell in bliss in this lifetime, which is visible because we can
see it in this life.
277. Samadhi that is afflicted with craving. See VIII.6.

685
D. The cause for the pure realms being definitely five

43ab
Because there are five types of that,
Only five births in pure abodes.

Why are there only five births in pure abodes? you ask. It is because
there are five types of that alternating meditation. In the lesser,
there is one defiled between two undefiled moments—three minds
are manifest. In the middle, it is doubled for six minds; in the
greater it is tripled for nine alternations. In the very great another
three are added for twelve alternations, and in the extremely great
there are fifteen alternations. As results of these types, there are
only five births in the pure abodes from Not Great to Below None
out of the power of their defiled aspects

(e) Explanation of those made manifest by body

43cd
Nonreturners who have gained cessation
Are called made manifest by body.

Nonreturners who have gained the absorption of cessation are ex-

plained in the sutras as being called made manifest by body, it is
proposed. The reason is because like liberation, the peace of cessa-
tion arises on the support of a body with no mind, the Great Ex-
position explains. The Master states that there is mind at the times
when one arises from or enters the absorption of cessation.

d. Entering and abiding in arhat. This has three topics: i. Entering,

ii. Abiding in result, and iii. The classifications of arhat enterers and
abiders.

686
i. Entering

44.
ey are entering arhat until
e Peak’s eighth blockage is extinguished,
And on ninth’s path of no obstacles.
at is the vajra-like samadhi.

They, nonreturners, are in the state of entering arhat from the time
of abandoning the first dhyana’s greater of greater discards until the
Peak of Existence’s eighth blockage is extinguished or abandoned,
and those who are on the ninth obstacle’s path of no obstacles
that abandons it are also enterers. That path of no obstacles is the
vajra-like samadhi, because like a diamond vajra, it is the greatest
of all the paths of no-obstacles, so it has the power to conquer all
the kernels.

ii. Abiding in result. This has two topics: (1) Actual, and (2) Sup-
plementary topics.

(1) Actual

45ab
Attaining its extinction and
Knowing thereof, nonlearner arhat.

When a noble has attained its, the ninth’s, extinction or abandon-

ment and the simultaneously arising knowing thereof, the know-
ing of extinction that is the ninth path of liberation, then that no-
ble is called a nonlearner, because there is no more learning for the
purpose of another result. For that reason, they have attained the
ultimate benefit for themselves, so they are capable of performing

687
benefit for others. Because they are worthy of respect from all or-
dinary individuals and from attached learners, they are an arhat.

(2) Supplementary topics. This has two topics: (a) Analyzing

methods of detaching from desire, and (b) Explaining the results of
the spiritual way.

(a) Analyzing methods of detaching from desire. is has four

topics: (i) An overview of detachment, (ii) How the attainment of
removal arises, (iii) Which levels discard attachment, and (iv) Ana-
lyzing the focus and aspects of the paths.

(i) An overview of detachment from desire

45cd
Transworldly brings detachment from
e Peak. Two kinds detach from others.

When it says, “The path of meditation is twofold,”278 which learner

path detaches one from the desire of which levels? you ask. Only
the transworldly path brings detachment from the Peak of Exis-
tence. The worldly paths cannot, for there is nothing worldly above
that and because they are not antidotes for their own levels. Both
of the two kinds of paths—the worldly paths of preparation for
higher levels and the transworldly path—can detach one from lev-
els other than the Peak of Existence.

(ii) How the attainment of removal arises. This has two topics: A.
Worldly, and B. Transworldly.

278. See VI.1c.

688
A. Worldly

46ab
Nobles detached through worldly paths
Attain removal that is twofold.

Well then, what is the distinction between the removal caused by

those two paths? you ask. Noble stream-enterers who practice tran-
quility, for example, and become detached through worldly paths
attain removal that is twofold: the attainment of both worldly and
transworldly removal arises.

B. Transworldly. This has two points.

1. Presenting others’ propositions

46cd
Some say through the transworldly, too,
Since if they forfeit, no afflictions.

Some schools say there can be double attainment through the tran-
sworldly paths, too, since if a nonreturner who has been detached
only through the distinctive undefiled path from all levels up to
Nothingness refines their faculties, they forfeit the distinctive path
of the dull and attain the mere result of the sharp, yet they have
none of the higher level’s afflictions.

2. Refuting them

47ab
As when one’s freed from half the Peak’s
Or born above, they’re not possessed.

689
The Master says that although such nonreturners do not have the
attainment of worldly removal, they do not have those levels’ afflic-
tions. For example, it is just as when one has no worldly attain-
ment of freedom from half of the Peak of Existence’s afflictions, if
one forfeits the transworldly paths by refining faculties, those afflic-
tions would not be possessed. Or for example, when an ordinary
individual is born above in a level of the first dhyana or higher, they
forfeit the attainment of removal of the afflictions of Desire but do
not possess them. Thus the opponents’ position is not convincing.
Therefore, those nonreturners do not possess the afflictions since
there is their nonattainment.

(iii) Which levels discard attachment. This has two topics: A. Not
Unable, and B. The other eight levels.

A. Not Unable. This has two points.

1. Actual

47cd
Undefiled Not Unable can
Remove attachment to all levels.

Which levels can detach one from the desire for which levels? you
ask. The undefiled preparations for the first dhyana Not Unable
can remove attachment to all the higher and lower levels from De-
sire to the Peak of Existence. The other preparations are definitely
defiled, so they can only detach one from the desire of lower levels.

690
2. Dispelling a doubt about its freedom

48a–d
In victory over the three levels
e final path of liberation
Comes out of dhyan or preparation.
Above, not from the preparations.

Do all paths of liberation arise out of the preparations, like the

paths of no obstacles? you ask. They do not. Well, how is it? you
ask. In victory over the three levels of Desire and the first two
dhyanas, if the faculties are sharp, one can switch feelings and as
there is little affection for the preparations, the dhyana or essence
of the actual practice arises. The final path of liberation thus comes
out of dhyana or the actual practice. Or if the faculties are dull, one
cannot switch feelings, so the final path of liberation arises from the
essence of the preparations.279

In victory over the higher levels of the third dhyana and above, the
preparations and actual practices of the fourth and so forth have
compatible feelings. Because of that, and because there is respect
for the actual practice, the path of liberation is not born from the
last preparations for these higher realms, but from the essence of
the actual practice.

279. That is to say, since the first three dhyanas are all characterized by different
feelings, someone with sharp faculties is able to switch from the feeling of a lower
to the higher and attain the higher level on the basis of the actual practice. Some-
one of dull faculties is unable to do so and must go through the preparations. The
“final path of liberation” is the path of liberation that arises from abandoning the
last of the discards to the higher level.

691
B. The other eight levels

48ef
Eight nobles are victorious
Over their own and higher levels.

The eight noble or undefiled absorptions—the four actual, special

samadhi, and first three Formless—are victorious over their own
and higher levels and remove the desire for those levels. They do
not detach one from lower levels, because if one is not detached
one cannot manifest the actual practice, so one has already de-
tached from lower levels.

(iv) Analyzing the focus and aspects of the paths. This has two
points.

A. Actual

49.
e worldly paths of liberation
And of no obstacles have peace
And coarse, et cetera, as their aspects,
And as their sphere, the high and low.

Well then, if transcendent paths of no obstacles and liberation have

the truths as their focus and also have their aspects, what do the
worldly paths have? you ask. The worldly paths of liberation and
of no obstacles have peace, et cetera, sublimity and emancipation,
as aspects, and coarse, et cetera, like rigidity and thick walls, as
their aspects, respectively. And as their sphere, the paths of libera-
tion focus on the higher level and the paths of no obstacles on the
lower level.

692
B. What arises immediately following the knowing of extinction

50.
From knowing extinction comes the nonarising
Intelligence if they’re unshakable.
If not, then knowing extinction or the view
Of the nonlearner, which all arhats have.

What cognitions can arise immediately after knowing extinction?

you ask.

From knowing extinction comes the nonarising intelligence if

they, arhats, are unshakable ones who will not regress. If they are
not unshakable, then only knowing extinction or the correct view
of the nonlearner arise from the knowing of extinction. As there
is no regressing from knowing nonarising, that knowing does not
arise in those who are not unshakable. That correct view of the
nonlearner is something which all arhats have or produce. For even
the unshakable, sometimes only the knowing of nonarising arises
from the knowing of nonarising, and sometimes the nonlearners’
correct view arises.

(b) Explaining the results of the spiritual way. This has two top-
ics: (i) Classifications of the results of the spiritual way, and (ii)
Explaining the spiritual way itself.

This has four

(i) Classifications of the results of the spiritual way.
points: A. Classifying in brief, B. Classifying extensively, C. Estab-
lishing the number of the four results, and D. Rebutting that not
all are included.

693
A. Classifying in brief

51ab
e spiritual way is the stainless paths;
Results are compound and noncompound.

What are the four results that have been explained? you ask. They
are results of the spiritual way. What is the so-called spiritual way?
you ask. The spiritual way is the eighty-nine stainless paths of
no obstacles. Its results are the same number of compound paths
of liberation and noncompound results of removal. In the sutras,
these are said to be fourfold.280 Because ordinary individuals have
not produced lasting peace, they are not ultimately spiritual.

B. Classifying extensively

51cd
ey’re eighty-nine: they are the paths
Of liberation, with extinctions.

They, the spiritual ways and their results, if classified extensively,

are eightynine each. How? you ask. There are the eight classes of
discards of seeing for Desire and the higher realms. There are the
eighty-one discards of meditation, nine for each of the nine levels,
for a total of eighty-nine. The paths of no obstacles that discard
these are the ways. They, the results of the ways, are the eighty-nine
composite paths of liberation, along with the eighty-nine cessa-
tions that are the extinction of those discards.

280. That is, stream-enterer, once-returner, nonreturner, and arhat.

694
C. Establishing the number of the four results

52.
ere are five reasons they are presented
As four results: relinquishing
e previous path on the result,
Acquiring another, and combining

53ab
Extinctions, gaining the eight knowings,
And also gaining sixteen aspects.

Well then, does the Buddha’s presenting the results to be four have
the fault of being too few? It does not. In any given period, there
are five reasons they are presented as four results. For that reason,
the results are presented as four.

What are the five causes? you ask. They are 1) relinquishing the
previous entering path when abiding on the result, 2) acquiring
the path of abiding in another result, and 3) combining extinc-
tions or discards and acquiring an attainment of removal, and 4)
gaining the complete set of eight knowings—four dharma know-
ings and four subsequent knowings—and also 5) the complete at-
tainment of gaining all sixteen aspects of impermanence and so
forth. In brief, each of the four results has these five causes.

D. Rebutting that not all are included

53cd
Results of worldly paths are mixed,
Supported by unstained attainment.

695
Well then, if only the undefiled paths are spiritual ways, how is it
logical for the two results attained by worldly paths to be results of
the spiritual way? you ask. Because the two results, once-returner
and nonreturner, are not attained by the worldly path alone but
are also attained by the undefiled path, they are results of the spir-
itual path. With the two types of result for individuals who were
previously detached, it is because the previous defiled attainment
of removal and the later removal of the undefiled path of seeing are
mixed into one and attained together. Or if it is a successive result,
the abandonment is supported by the previous unstained attain-
ment of removal.

(ii) Explaining the spiritual way itself. This has three topics: A.
Explanation of Brahma’s wheel of the path, B. Explaining the path
of seeing in particular as the wheel of dharma, and C. How many
results of the spiritual way are attained in which realms.

A. Explanation of Brahma’s wheel of the path

54ab
It is Brahma’s method, Brahma’s wheel,
Since Brahma is the one who turned it.

It, that which is explained as the spiritual way, itself is Brahma’s

method, because it discards many types of nonvirtuous dharmas
of afflictions and misdeeds. The Bhagavan is the Brahma of the
unexcelled undefiled path, the method of Brahma, so it is Brahma’s
Wheel, since Brahma, the Bhagavan, is the one who turned it. It
says in a sutra:

The Bhagavan is called Brahma. He is also called peaceful and

cool.

696
B. Explaining the path of seeing in particular as the Wheel of
Dharma

54cd
e Dharma Wheel is the path of seeing,
Since it goes fast, has spokes, et cetera.

What is the essence of the Wheel of Dharma? you ask. The essence
of the Dharma Wheel is the path of seeing, since it is comparable
to the wheel of a wheel-wielding emperor. Just as the precious wheel
spins quickly, vanquishes the unvanquished, brings the vanquished
to natural ease, flies up to high levels, and then descends, the fif-
teen moments of the path of seeing go fast and so on. They cast off
the previous truths and enter the later. The paths of no obstacles
vanquish personality view and the other unvanquished afflictions
by severing their attainment. The paths of liberation bring the van-
quished to natural ease. It flies up to the truths of the higher realms
and, focusing on the truths of the lower, descends.

The Venerable Ghoṣaka says that the noble eightfold path is com-
parable to spokes, et cetera, so it is called a wheel. Right view,
thought, effort, and mindfulness are like spokes. Right speech, ac-
tion, and livelihood are like the hub. Right samadhi is like the rim.

Where does the saying that the path of seeing is the Wheel of Dhar-
ma come from? you ask. When the path of seeing arose in noble
Kauṇḍinya, the yakshas above the earth exclaimed, “The Bhaga-
van has turned the Wheel of Dharma.” This was repeated three
times. There is a repetition for the essence of the truth: “These are
the noble truths of duḥkha, origin, cessation, and path.” There
is a repetition for their actions: “I shall respectively know them,
discard them, manifest them, and meditate on them.” There is a
repetition for their completions: “I have known them, discarded

697
them, manifested them, and meditated on them.” For each of the
twelve aspects, “Upon appropriate attention, the eye, knowledge,
awareness, and mind arose,” dividing them each into four. If you
multiply these, there are twelve repetitions and forty-eight aspects,
but they are similar in being sets of three and sets of twelve, so that
is what they are called. For example, there are twelve sense bases,
but because they are similar in being sets of two, a sutra combines
them in a like way:

Bhikshus, I will show you two. Listen to them well, retain

them in your mind, and explain them. What are the two? you
ask. The eye and form… [and so forth up to] and mind and
dharma.

The three repetitions teach the paths of seeing, meditation, and no

more learning respectively, the Great Exposition says. The Master
asks, if that is so, how can the path of seeing alone be the Wheel
of Dharma, since it does not fulfill all three repetitions? Therefore,
that enumeration of dharmas itself is the Wheel of Dharma, and
the three repetitions are also the twelve. It is also turned because
their meaning is taught fully and made understood in another’s
being. Alternatively, all noble paths are Wheels of Dharma, and
the three repetitions of the twelve aspects as before are from the
specifics of repeating the four truths. Turning is producing it in an-
other’s being. Where the sutra says, “When the path of seeing arose
in Kauṇḍinya, he had turned the Wheel of Dharma…” this means
the first turning, it is explained.

C. How many results of the spiritual way are attained in which

realms. This has two points.

698
1. Actual

55a
ree gained in Desire, the last in three.

Well, how many results of the spiritual path are attained in which
realms? you ask. Of the four results, the three results of stream-en-
terer, once-returner, and nonreturner are gained in Desire but not
in the other realms. The last result is arhat itself, which can be at-
tained in all three realms.

2. Dispelling a doubt

55b–d
Above there is no path of seeing,
As there’s no weariness, and scriptures say,
“Commence here; come to the end there.”

In that case, it is logical that the results of stream-enterer and

once-returner, which are attained by those not detached from De-
sire, are not attained in the higher realms, but why is not the result
of nonreturner attained there? you ask. Above the realm of Desire
there is no path of seeing. Without that, there is no attainment of
the result of detached nonreturner. That is the proof.

Why is there no path of seeing there? you ask. In the Formless

realm, there is no listening and one does not focus on the lower
realms. In the Form realm, one never grows weary because there
is attachment to the bliss of absorption and because there is no
feeling of suffering, and if there is no world-weariness one cannot
attain the noble path. Thus there is no path of seeing there. This is
the logical proof.

699
And it is also because The Scripture that Teaches the Ten Groups of
Ten281 says, “The five individuals from those who pass into nirvana
in the between state to those bound for higher commence here and
come to the end there.”

In this, “here” is Desire and “there” is the higher realms. “Com-

mence” means to enter the gate to the path of liberation.

iii. The classifications of arhat enterers and abiders. This has two
topics: (1) Classifying in six, and (2) Classifying in nine.

(1) Classifying in six. This has two topics: (a) Actual classification,
and (b) Methods for refining faculties.

(a) Actual classification. This has two topics: (i) Overview, and (ii)
The explanation.

(i) Overview

56a
It is said there are six arhats,

The verse says, “From knowing extinction comes the nonarising /

Intelligence if they’re unshakable… ”282 so are there also classifica-
tions of arhats? you ask. There are, because in the sutras it is said
there are six arhats: the regressed one, the one with volition for
death, the protected one, unshaken from abiding, capable to real-
ize, and the unshakable one.

(ii) The explanation. This has five topics: A. Condensing into two,
B. The families and results from which one regresses, C. Applying

281. bcu tshan bcu ston pa’i lung.

282. VI.50ab.

700
the classification of families to others, D. On which paths faculties
can be refined, and E. The complete classification of regression.

A. Condensing into two. This has three points.

1. Teaching the five families as occasional liberation

56a–c
five
Of whom come from the convinced through faith.
eir freedom is occasional.

Five of whom, these six arhats except for the unshakable one, arise
out of the convinced through faith that precedes them. Their, those
five’s, freedom or liberation of mind is occasional, so it should be
known as contingent, because it must always be protected. For
just that reason, they are called occasional liberation. They depend
upon occasion and are liberation, so they are occasional liberation,
like saying butter dish. Because they depend upon specifics of pro-
visions, good health, and place to manifest samadhi, they depend
upon occasion.

2. Teaching the sixth family as nonoccasional liberation

56d
Unshakable one cannot be shaken,

57ab
So that is nonoccasional freedom
Born out of the attained through seeing.

Because the liberation of the unshakable one cannot be moved

through regression, it cannot be moved. So for that reason that

701
is called nonoccasional freedom. Because it directly manifests the
samadhi of all that is desired, it is not dependent upon occasion
and is liberation.

Alternatively, of these two results, it is possible for one to regress

and impossible for the other, so the one is liberated until another
occasion and the other is liberated forever. For this reason they are
occasional and nonoccasional liberation.

The unshakable is definitely preceded by attainment through see-

ing, so it should be known as born out of the cause of the attained
through seeing.

3. Elaboration on these points

57cd
Some from the first are in their family,
And some become through purification.

Are these six arhats in one family only from the very first, or can
they change later? you ask. Of the six arhats, some from the very
first are in their family of those with volition for death, and some
become it through purification of their faculties from regressed
one to one with volition for death. Know that it is thus up to the
unshakable one, it is taught.

Regressed ones without a doubt regress from their result. Those

with volition for death think, “If I do not kill myself, I will regress
from my result, but if I kill myself, I will not regress.” Protected
ones will regress from the result if they do not protect their mind
from desirable things, but if they protect it, they will not regress.
Those unshaken from abiding will not regress from visible bliss
whether or not they protect their mind, but they do not have the

702
capability to purify their faculties. Those capable to realize will not
regress from visible bliss whether or not they protect their mind
and have the capability to purify their faculties from dull to sharp.
Unshakable ones will not regress from the result whether or not
they protect their mind and do not need to purify their faculties,
because from the beginning they have been in the family of those
with sharp faculties.

B. The families and results from which one regresses

58ab
e four regress from family,
Five from result. Not from the first.

Well then, can these all regress from their result or family? you ask.
The four—one with volition for death and so on—can completely
regress from their family, and the five—regressed one and so on—
can regress from the result because they have dull faculties. How-
ever, there is not any regression from the first family, because there
is no lower family than that, and it is made stable by the learner,
nonlearner, worldly, and transworldly paths. There is no regression
from the first result, stream-enterer, because the first result is dis-
tinguished by the abandonment of discards of seeing, and the dis-
cards of seeing have no basis. For that reason, there is no complete
regression from the result of stream-enterer.

Well then, why is it possible to regress from the higher three results
but not from stream-enterer? you ask. It is because the discards of
seeing have no basis since they are rooted in personality view. They
engage the basis of the self, and that self does not exist.

The three results delineated by the abandonment of discards of

meditation can regress. The afflictions discarded by meditation

703
may have been discarded once, but their object, mere things them-
selves that are attractive and so forth, do exist, so by that condition
it is possible that the afflictions might arise again. For that reason,
the discards of meditation do have a basis.
From a sutra:

Gain and respect make obstacles even for arhats, I declare.

From the Sutra like a Heap of Ashes:283

Noble listeners who are well versed, for those who act in this
way and dwell in this way, thoughts of nonvirtuous misdeeds
will occasionally arise out of weakened mindfulness.

In another sutra, Venerable Godhika also regressed many times, it

is explained. These are the reasons, it is said.

The Sutra school says there is no regression from any result attained
through an undefiled path, because that conquers afflictions from
their root, so it is impossible that the afflictions could arise again.
Also, from a sutra:

Whatever has been discarded through noble full knowing, that

has been discarded.

It is possible to regress from what has been attained through a

worldly path, because that cannot conquer the seed of afflictions
from its roots.

Therefore, the first and last results are definitely only attained by
undefiled paths, so regression is impossible, but the middle two

283. sol ba’i phung po lta bu’i mdo.

704
both can be attained by either of the paths, so they are possibly
both regressable and nonregressable. It is in terms of this that, “I
say to the learners, ‘Be careful!’” was said, while that was not said
to the nonlearners.

Well then, if all arhats thus become only unshakable, why are they
explained as six? you ask. They are unshakable from the result only,
but they can be divided into six in terms of regression some quali-
ties such as samadhi. This is the intent behind saying that gain and
respect make obstacles. The latter two scriptures are intended in
terms of learners.

C. Applying the classification of families to others

58c
Six families of learners and nonnobles.

Do only the arhats have six families, or do others also have six
families? you ask. Not only arhats, there are six families of learners
and nonnoble ordinary individuals in the same way, because the
families of arhats precede the attainment of arhat.

D. On which paths faculties can be refined

58d
ere’s no refining on the path of seeing.

On the paths other than seeing, the faculties can be refined, but
there is no refining faculties while on the path of seeing, because
training is impossible. Some refine their faculties while ordinary in-
dividuals. Some refine while they are in the state of interest through
faith.

705
E. The complete classification of regression. This has three
points.

1. Actual

59ab
Regression from attained, from not attained,
And from enjoyment: these are called three types.

From a sutra:

I declare that those who have attained bliss in the visible, the
four that arise from the superior training in mind, can regress
from any one of them, but I declare that in no way at all can
one regress from this one unshakable liberation of mind made
manifest by body.

So it is said, but how can an unshakable one who abides in bliss

in the visible regress from the attainment of the four dhyanas? you
ask. In general, there is regression from what has been attained by
losing qualities, regression from what has not been attained by not
attaining what is to be attained, and regression from enjoyment by
not manifesting what has been attained. These are called the three
types of regression.

2. Which individuals regress in which way

59cd
e Teacher has the last; the unshakable,
e middle, too; and others have the three.

Of those types of regression, the Teacher, the Buddha, has only the
last, regression from enjoyment: he possesses all qualities but does

706
not make them all manifest. He does not have the other types of
regression. The unshakable one has that and the middle, regression
from what is not attained, too, because they have not attained the
dharmas of the superior individual. And because the other arhats
can also regress from what is attained, they have the three regres-
sions. For that reason, because unshakable ones can completely re-
gress from enjoyments, this does not contradict the sutra.

3. The reason there is no death while regressed from result

60ab
While they’re regressed, they do not die.
ey don’t do what should not be done.

Is an arhat who has regressed from the result reborn? you ask. There
is no such thing, because while they, all those who have regressed,
are regressed, they do not die before they have restored the result.
From a sutra:

Bhikshus, noble listeners who are well-versed might have

some slight regression in mindfulness, but that will disappear
very quickly and be completely extinguished and completely
eliminated.

If that were not so, it would not be logical for their minds to be sta-
ble with regards to celibacy. They, those who have regressed from a
result, do not do anything that should not be done that is exclusive
of the result, such as sexual conduct, just as a great hero who has
slipped cannot be struck.

(b) Methods for refining faculties. This has four topics: (i) Refin-
ing faculties while on the path, (ii) The essence of those paths, (iii)

707
What the support for refining is, and (iv) On which levels one
refines faculties.

(i) Refining faculties while on the path. This has two points.

A. Nonlearner

60cd
Nine paths of no obstacles and liberation
For unshakable from strong familiarity

How many paths of no obstacles and liberation are there for refin-
ing faculties? you ask. Someone who is capable of realization has
nine paths each of no obstacles and liberation to refine to the state
of the unshakable one. The reason is from strong familiarity with
the dull family: they have been accustomed to it for a long time
and it has been stabilized by the leaner and nonlearner paths. For
example, if someone is accustomed to bad grammar, it is difficult
to correct it.

B. Learner.

61a
One each for the attained through seeing.

One can train with one path of no obstacles and liberation each
to refine one’s faculties from convinced through faith into the at-
tained through seeing, because it has not been stabilized by both
the learner and nonlearner paths so it is easy to change. Both only
have one path of training.

708
(ii) The essence of those paths

61b
ey’re undefiled,

They, all of those paths of no obstacles and liberation, are un-

defiled, because defiled paths cannot refine the faculties of noble
individuals. Ordinary individuals refine their faculties through the
defiled aspects of peaceful and coarse.

(iii) What the support for refining is

61b
refined by humans.

On what support does one refine faculties? you ask. They are refined
by humans, not on other supports, because nobles born in higher
realms cannot regress, as is said:

Both they and those born higher do not

Regress or refine faculties.284

Nobles born as gods of Desire develop renunciation for great and

fine objects and then see the truth, so their faculties are naturally
sharp and they do not regress, the Prince explains.

(iv) On which levels one refines faculties. This has two points.

A. Nonlearner

61c
Nonlearners on support of nine,

284. VI.41cd.

709
On what levels can one refine faculties? you ask. Nonlearners refine
their faculties on the support of nine levels: Not Unable, special
dhyana, the four dhyanas, and the first three Formless levels, be-
cause the result of refinement is contained within any one of these
nine levels.

B. Learner

61d
And learners on six levels, since

62ab
Refinement forfeits the result
And progress; the result is gained.

And attached learners refine their faculties on Not Unable, and if

they are detached, on any of the six levels of dhyana that they have
attained. If they have attained the three levels of Formless, why do
they not refine faculties on its support? It is since refinement of
faculties forfeits both the mere result of the dull and the path of
higher progress even if it has been attained, because the mere result
of sharp faculties is always gained. Therefore, since there is no mere
nonreturner result on the levels of Formless, these levels do not
support refinement.

(2) Classifying in nine. This has two points.

(i) Actual classification

62c
Two buddhas, seven listeners:

There are nine arhats by distinctions in their faculties. The buddha

710
and self-buddha are instances of unshakable only, because these
two buddhas are both included within those liberated through
both parts.285 The five of regressed one, etc., and the two unshak-
able ones—those who became unshakable through purification and
those who were unshakable from the first—are the seven listeners.

(ii) The reason for this classification

62d
Nine have nine different faculties.

Those nine noble individuals are presented as nine since there are
dull, medium, and sharp faculties, each of which is divided into
three, so they have nine different faculties. The regressed one, the
one with volition for death, and the protected one are the three
lesser, medium, and greater dull faculties. The one unshaken from
abiding, the capable to realize, and the unshakable one from puri-
fication are the lesser, medium, and greater medium faculties. The
unshakable from the first, self-buddha, and buddha are the lesser,
medium, and greater sharp faculties.

B. Classifying into seven enumerations

63a–c
e seven individuals
Are made by training, faculties,
Absorption, liberation, both.

Noble individuals can also be classified as seven: followers of faith

and dharma, convinced through faith and attained through seeing,
made manifest by body, freed through full knowing, and liberated

285. Liberated through both full knowing and samadhi, as explained in VI.64.

711
through both aspects. Of these seven individuals, the distinctions
in the first two are made by training, because they trained in the
meaning by relying on others from the first or by following the
meaning of the sutras and so forth. Interest through faith and at-
tained through seeing are distinguished by dull or sharp faculties,
because the faculties are dull with strong conviction through faith
and sharp through strong full knowing. Made manifest by body
is distinguished through absorption, because those in that state
can make the absorption of cessation manifest through their bod-
ies. Liberated through full knowing is distinguished by liberation
from the afflictions, and liberated through both aspects is distin-
guished both by liberation from the afflictions and by absorption.
The former are liberated from the afflictive obscurations through
full knowing and the latter are liberated from those and the ob-
scurations to the absorptions respectively. As they have attained
absorption, they are liberated from the obscurations to absorption
or liberation.

C. Combining them into six substances. This has two topics: 1.

Actual, and 2. Elaboration.

1. Actual

63d
ey’re six: the three paths each have two.

In terms of their names, there are seven individuals, but they are six
in substance. It is like this: the three paths of seeing and so forth
each have two substances. On the path of seeing there are followers
of faith and followers of dharma. On the path of meditation, there
are convinced through faith and attained through seeing. On the
path of no learning, there are occasional and nonoccasional liber-
ation.

712
To classify them extensively, followers of faith alone can be classi-
fied in terms of faculty, family, path, detachment, and support for
a total of 147,825 classifications. Followers of dharma and so forth
can all also be calculated in the same way. The detailed method of
classification appears under this topic in the Ṭīka.

2. Elaboration. This has two points.

a. Identifying the two liberations

64ab
ose who have gained cessation, liberated
By both; the others by full knowing.

Well then, what are liberation through both aspects and liberation
by full knowing? you ask. Those who have gained the absorption of
cessation through the actual dhyana have been liberated by both,
because they are liberated from afflictive obscurations by full know-
ing and from the obscurations of liberation by samadhi. The ob-
scurations of liberation are the five obscurations of forgetting the
focus, torpor, agitation, effort, and lack of effort. The obscurations
of absorption are the inability to produce the actual first dhyana
even when detached from the three realms because the mind is not
workable and so forth.

The others—those other than those who are liberated through both
aspects—are liberated by full knowing from the afflictive obscura-
tions only on the basis of the preparation for the first dhyana Not
Unable. This is liberation through the aspect of full knowing. These
two are known as ornamented arhat and unornamented arhat.

713
b. Distinctions in perfection of qualities

64cd
From their absorption, faculties,
And results, learners are called perfect.

65a
Nonlearners are perfect through two.

From a sutra:

All those who have discarded five afflictions And have the
unlosable dharmas are perfect.

What is it that makes learners and nonlearners perfect? you ask.

From their perfection of absorption (attainment of cessation, the
dharma which is similar to liberation) the perfection of faculties
(sharp faculties which cannot be lost through conditions) and the
perfection of results (nonreturner who has abandoned the five
afflictions that lead to the lowest) learners are called perfect.

There are four alternatives of nonlearners who are perfect and

those who are not through the two aspects of faculty and absorp-
tion. There is none whose result is not perfect.

III. A specific explanation of paths. This has three topics: 1. Qual-

ities of the different paths, 2. Presentation of the factors of enlight-
enment, and 3. Liberation attained through the path.

1. Qualities of the different paths. This has two points.

714
a. Distinctions of the four paths of joining and so forth

65b–d
In brief, there are four types of path:
ey’re called distinctive, liberation,
No obstacles, and path of joining.

Many paths have been explained, but to put it concisely, how many
paths are there? you ask. In brief, there are four types of all the
paths: they are the paths called the distinctive path, the path of
liberation, the path of no obstacles, and the path of joining. In
the text they are presented from top down, but to explain them in
accord with the way they arise, there are the path of joining, which
is the cause of the path of no obstacles; the path of no obstacles,
which for the most part is what actually discards obscurations; the
path of liberation, which is the first arising of freedom from ob-
scurations; and the distinctive path, which is the continuum of
liberation following that. To illustrate with the path of seeing, for
example, the precursors to realization, eight forbearances, eight
knowings, and that which follows subsequent knowing of path are
these four respectively.

Why are these called paths? you ask. As one goes from there to nir-
vana, or one finds nirvana by these, they are called paths.

b. Distinctions of difficult, easy, slow, and fast

66.
e dhyanas’ paths are easy; those
Of other levels, difficult.
Dull minds are slow to clearly know;
e other ones know clearly quickly.

715
From a sutra:

There are paths that are slow to know clearly and difficult.
There are paths that are quick to know clearly and difficult.
Likewise there are also two that are easy.

What are these? you ask. The four dhyanas’ paths are easy because
they are fully embraced by the branches of dhyana and arise natu-
rally through equal parts of tranquility and insight, without need
for effort. Those paths of the other levels, Not Unable, special
dhyana, and the Formless, are difficult because they are not em-
braced by the branches and must be produced by making efforts
at the path as tranquility and insight are not equally balanced. On
the first two there is less tranquility, and in Formless there is less
insight. Those with dull minds or full knowing, whether on an easy
or difficult path, are slow to clearly know and realize, because they
direct themselves toward an object and then come to know it slow-
ly. The other ones, those with sharp faculties, know clearly quickly,
whatever level they are on, because their minds are quick.286

2. Presentation of the factors of enlightenment. This has five top-

ics: a. Classifications and groupings of the factors of enlightenment,
b. During which periods one meditates on them, c. Examining
whether they are defiled or undefiled, d. Examining which levels
they are on, and e. When faith from knowing is attained.

a. Classifications and groupings of the factors of enlightenment.

This has two topics: i. The result, enlightenment, and ii. The cause,
dharmas of the path.

286. In this passage, “clearly knowing” is a translation of the Sanskrit abhijña

and Tibetan mngon shes, which in many instances refer to clairvoyance. However,
from the descriptions in various commentaries, it appears in this context to refer
to merely knowing something clearly, not clairvoyance.

716
i. The result, enlightenment

67ab
Knowing extinction and nonarising
Is enlightenment.

The path is given the name factors of enlightenment. The thirty-sev-

en factors are the four foundations of mindfulness, four complete
abandonments, four feet of miracles, five faculties, five powers, sev-
en branches of enlightenment, and the noble eightfold path. 287

Knowing extinction and nonarising is called enlightenment be-

cause it is the ultimate abandonment and realization. To classify it
in terms of individuals, there are three: the enlightenment of the
listeners, that of the self-buddhas, and complete enlightenment.

ii. The cause, dharmas of the path. This has three topics: (1) Ex-
plaining the term as an overview, (2) The actual classification and
grouping, and (3) The proof of the grouping in ten.

287. The four foundations of mindfulness are mindfulness of body, feeling, mind,

and dharmas, discussed above in VI.14ff. The four complete abandonments (also
called right endeavors) are abandoning nonvirtuous dharmas that have arisen,
preventing those that have not arisen from arising, producing virtuous dharmas
that have not yet arisen, and developing virtuous dharmas that have arisen. The
four feet of miracles are developing faith, being diligent, taking control of the
mind, and fully engaging oneself to manifest wisdom. The five faculties are faith,
diligence, mindfulness, samadhi, and full knowing, described above in II.1. The
five powers are the same as the faculties, but more highly developed. The seven
branches of enlightenment are mindfulness, full discernment of dharmas, diligence,
joy, pliancy, samadhi, and equanimity. The noble eightfold path is right view, right
thought, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right mindful-
ness, and right samadhi.

717
(1) Explaining the term as an overview

67b–d
ey factor in it,
So the thirty-seven are its factors
In terms of name.

They factor in it, so the thirty-seven of enlightenment, the four

foundations of mindfulness, et cetera, are called its, enlighten-
ment’s, factors. They are classified in terms of their names.

(2) The actual classification and grouping

67d
In substance, ten:

68a–c
Faith, diligence, and mindfulness, full knowing,
Samadhi, equanimity, and joy,
Considering, discipline, and pliancy.

In substance, they are ten: faith, diligence, and mindfulness, full

knowing, samadhi, equanimity, joy, considering, discipline, and
pliancy.

(3) The proof of the grouping in ten. This has two points.

(a) Actual

68d
e mindfulness foundations are full knowing.

718
 69ab
And diligence, called right endeavor.
e feet of miracles, samadhi.

How are these thirty-seven grouped as ten? you ask. The four mind-
fulness foundations are full knowing, because as it is said, “He
views the body as the body and rests.”288 And diligence is called
right endeavor or the four complete abandonments, because as it
is said, “Arouse interest, make efforts, be diligent.” The nature of
the four feet of miracles is samadhi. The faculties and powers are,
as told by their names, faith, diligence, mindfulness, samadhi, and
full knowing in substance.

The four foundations of mindfulness; the branch of enlighten-

ment, the right full discernment of dharmas; and right view are full
knowing only. The four right endeavors, the branch of enlighten-
ment right diligence, and right effort are solely diligence. The four
feet of miracles, the branch of enlightenment samadhi, and right
samadhi are solely samadhi. The branch of enlightenment mindful-
ness and right mindfulness are solely mindfulness. Three branch-
es of enlightenment, joy, pliancy, and equanimity as well as right
thought are indicated by their names. Right speech, right action,
and right livelihood are discipline in substance.

(b) Elaboration

69cd
e main is mentioned. ey are also
All qualities produced by training.

In the explanation of the four foundations of mindfulness and so

288. Cf. VI.15ab.

719
forth as full knowing, discipline, and samadhi by nature, the main
substance is mentioned, but if their associated factors are included,
they, the foundations of mindfulness and the others, not including
faith and so forth that are attained upon birth, are also all quali-
ties of listening, contemplation, and so forth that are produced by
training.

b. During which periods one meditates on them

70.
Respectively, the seven groups
Emerge among beginners and
Precursors to clear realization,
On meditation, and on seeing.

During which stages do which factors of enlightenment emerge?

you ask. The Great Exposition says that respectively these seven
groups of the foundations of mindfulness, complete abandon-
ments, feet of miracles, faculties, powers, branches of enlighten-
ment, and the noble eightfold path, emerge among beginners, and
on the four precursors to clear realization, on the paths of medita-
tion, and on the path of seeing.289 Others present the seven branch-
es of enlightenment as the path of seeing and the noble eightfold
path as the path of meditation.

289. That is, the foundations of mindfulness arise on the path of accumulation.

The complete abandonments arise on warmth, the feet of miracles on the peak,
the faculties on forbearance, the powers on supreme dharma, the branches of
enlightenment on the path of meditation, and the noble eightfold path on the
path of seeing.

720
c. Examining whether they are defiled or undefiled

71ab
e branches of bodhi and the path
Are undefiled. e rest are twofold.

How many of the factors of enlightenment are defiled and how

many are undefiled? you ask. The branches of bodhi, or enlight-
enment, and the eightfold path are solely undefiled because they
are contained within the paths of seeing, meditation, and no learn-
ing. The rest are twofold, both defiled and undefiled, because they
can be present during the equipoise and post-meditation of all five
paths.

d. Examining which levels they are on

71cd
ey all are on the first of dhyanas
And Not Unable, except joy.

72.
On second, all except considering,
And on the two, except those two,
And special dhyan. On the three Formless,
Not those, nor factors of discipline.

73ab
ey’re in Desire and on the Peak,
Except enlightenment and path.

How many factors of enlightenment are there on each of the lev-

els? you ask. They all are able to be on the actual practice of the
first of the dhyanas, and on Not Unable there are thirty-six with

721
the exception of joy. On the second dhyana, there are all, except
for thought, which is considering, for thirty-six. And on the two,
the third and fourth dhyanas, there are thirty-five except those
two, joy and thought. And on the special dhyana, too, there are
likewise thirty-five. On the first three Formless, too, there are not
those two, joy and thought, nor are there the three factors of disci-
pline, right speech, and so forth, so there may be thirty-two. They,
twenty-two, are in Desire and on the Peak, except for fifteen: the
branches of enlightenment and the noble eightfold path. These
may be included in the substance of either the paths of accumula-
tion or the nobles’ training or post-meditation.

e. When faith from knowing is attained. This has two topics: i.

Actual, and ii. Elaboration.

i. Actual

73cd
Seeing three truths gains discipline
And faith in Dharma out of knowing;

74ab
In the Buddha and his Sangha, too,
Upon the path’s clear realization.

At what point are the factors of enlightenment known to be the

attainment of faith from knowing? you ask. Upon seeing the three
truths of suffering, origin, and cessation, one gains or attains the
discipline that pleases the nobles and faith in the Dharma out of
knowing. One attains faith from knowing in the Buddha and his
Sangha of listeners, too, upon the truth of the path’s clear reali-
zation. Faith in these two is faith in the nonlearner dharmas that
make the Buddha and faith in the learner dharmas that make the

722
Sangha. The word “too” indicates that faith in discipline and Dhar-
ma from knowing are also attained.

ii. Elaboration. This has three points.

(1) Identifying the essence of the Dharma

74cd
e Dharma is three truths and paths
Of the self-buddhas and bodhisattvas.

What is thought of as Dharma here? you ask. The Dharma in this

context is the clear realization the first three truths, and the learner
and nonlearner paths of the rhinolike self-buddhas, and truth of
the path of bodhisattvas, and the seventeen antidotes for the Peak
of Existence. Within these, there is not a gathering of four bhik-
shus, so they are not the Sangha. As they hold their own essence,
they are dharma.

(2) How many substances it has

75ab
In terms of substance, they are two:
ey’re faith and discipline.

In terms of substance they are two: they are faith in the Three
Jewels from knowing, which is faith, and discipline that pleases the
nobles, which is discipline.

(3) Essential features

75b
ey’re stainless.

723
They, the faiths from knowing, are solely stainless. The meaning
of faith through knowing is that knowing means realizing the truths
correctly as they are through full knowing and faith means belief.

3. Liberation attained through the path. This has three points: a.

Right liberation, b. Right knowing, and c. A particular explanation
of liberation.

a. Right liberation. This has two points.

i. The reason liberation is not a learner’s branch

75cd
ey’re bound, so liberation is
Not called a learner’s branch.

From a sutra:

The learners possess eight branches. The nonlearners possess

ten branches.

Why are learners not explained as having liberation and right

knowing? you ask. They, the learners, are bound by any one of
the bonds of the afflictions, so liberation is not called a learner’s
branch. Without liberation, there can hardly be right knowing, be-
cause that is inherently the knowing of extinction and nonarising.

ii. Classifications of liberation

75d
It’s twofold.

76a–c
Conquering afflictions, noncompound;

724
 While interest is composite.
at is the branch; two liberations.

It, liberation, is twofold: the cessation of conquering afflictions

is noncompound, while the nonlearner’s mental factor interest is
composite. That composite liberation is the branch of the path,
because it is not logical for a noncomposite to be a branch. Com-
posite liberation itself is said in the sutras to be the two liberations
of liberation of the mind from desire and liberation of full knowing
from ignorance.

Others say that mind and full knowing are also taught as liberation,
so therefore liberation can be other things than just interest. It is
primarily the liberation itself of the mind from afflictions.

b. Right knowing

76d
Enlightenment, as taught, is knowing.

That which is enlightenment, as previously taught, is known as

right knowing. It is this: the knowing of extinction and nonarising.

c. A particular explanation of liberation. This has four topics: i.

Which paths are freed from obscurations, ii. Which paths discard
obscurations, iii. Distinctions of liberation and so forth, and iv.
The four possibilities of revulsion and so forth.

i. Which paths are freed from obscurations

77ab
Nonlearners’ minds are liberated
From obscurations of the future.

725
What is this mind that is liberated? The nonlearners’ minds are
liberated from obscurations of the future, it is said in the Treatise.
The nonarising dharma bases and worldly cognitions in their mind
are also liberated for the same reason.

ii. Which paths discard obscurations

77cd
e path that is about to cease
Fully discards its obscurations.

At what time does the path discard the obscurations of the non-
learner’s mind? you ask. The present path that is directed toward
and about to cease fully discards its present obscurations.

iii. Distinctions of liberation and so forth

78.
Just noncompound is called the elements.
Extinction of all attachment is detachment;
Of others, is the element of abandonment;
Of bases, called cessation’s element.

Just the liberation taught as noncomposite is classified in the sutras

as three, called the elements of abandonment, detachment, and
cessation. The features of these three are that the extinction of all
attachment is the element of detachment. The extinction of all
other afflictions than desire is the element of abandonment. The
complete extinction of the bases of all the afflictions is called ces-
sation’s element. That basis is the defiled aggregates excluding the
afflictions.

726
iv. The four possibilities of revulsion and so forth

79.
Forbearance and knowing suffering
And cause can bring revulsion.
All that discard remove attachment.
ere are thus four alternatives.

Does a thing by which one develops revulsion free one from de-
sire? you ask. There are four possibilities. The forbearances and
knowings of suffering and cause, the origin, can bring revulsion,
because they focus on things for which one feels revulsion. For-
bearance and knowing of cessation and path do not, because they
focus on things that are supremely pleasing. All the forbearances
and knowings of suffering, origin, cessation, and path that discard
remove attachment, because they are what discards the afflictions.

Thus there are four alternatives between revulsion and detach-

ment. The first, that which is revulsion but not freeing from desire,
is the paths that focus on suffering and origin that do not discard.
The second possibility is discarding paths that focus on cessation
and path. The third is discarding paths that focus on suffering and
origin. The fourth is paths other than discarding paths that focus
on cessation and path.

Second, presenting the area’s name

is completes the sixth area called “Teachings on the

Paths and Individuals” from the Verses of the Treasury of
Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the sixth area called “Teachings

on the Paths and Individuals” from The Explanation of the “Verses

727
of the Treasury of Abhidharma” called The Essence of the Ocean of
Abhidharma, The Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining
the Youthful Play, Opening the Eyes of Dharma, The Chariot of Easy
Practice.

A few words here:

The only refuge of all those who yearn for peace,

Is the supreme protector, the great and perfect Buddha.
I followed with respect the Glorious Jewel,
Disciple of the Shakyan King,290 and Vajrakīrti,

The great master, and received all levels of the teachings.

I became unafraid to explain the meaning as it is
Of the three baskets and four classes of tantras.
In this, the Buddha’s teachings were exalted.

At that time I awakened to all knowledge,

And so while dwelling in White Cave I wrote
This treasury on paths and individuals,
The sixth part of my explanation of the Treasury.

The stainless waxing moon of virtue

Destroys the darkness that besmirches
The Victor’s teachings in this Land of Snow.
May the teachings of the Karma Kagyu blaze!

290. That is, Wangchuk Dorje’s teacher Shamar Konchok Yenlag.

728
 SEVENTH AREA

Teachings on Wisdom

On my mind’s clean white dukūla291 cloth, the many hues

Of all dharmas I distinguish clearly are so bright!
At that time if I do not forget my glorious lama,
Youthful Manju, then how could I wander in samsara?

The Ganges’ current, explanations

Of the paths of three baskets, washes
Away all stains of faulty views.
This is the cleanser I release.

The seventh area, the “Teachings on Wisdom,” has an explanation

of the text of the area and a presentation of the area’s name. The
explanation of the text of the area has four topics: I. The knowings,
II. Explanation of possession, III. How the knowings are attained,
and IV. Qualities of the knowings.

I. The knowings. This has three topics: A. Distinctions between

forbearances, knowings, and views, B. Identifying the ten know-
ings, and C. Examining distinctions among the knowings.

A. Distinctions between forbearances, knowings, and views.

This has two points.

291. A divine robe clear on both the outside and inside.

729
1. Undefiled

1a–c
Stainless forbearances aren’t knowing. Minds
Of extinction, nonarising are not views.
e other noble minds than those are both.

In the abhidharma, the terms forbearance, knowing, correct view,

and right knowing all appear. Is there anything that is a forbearance
but not a knowing, or right knowing but not a view? you ask.

The eight stainless forbearances of the path of seeing are views but
not knowing, because knowing is inherently recognition, but the
forbearances are paths of no obstacles, so at that point the kernels
they discard have not been abandoned and there is doubt with re-
gard to their object. Because they are inherently right thought, they
are view. Saying they are not knowing does not mean that they are
not cognition but means that they are not included among the ten
knowings.

Although the undefiled forbearances are views but not knowing,

in contrast the minds or knowings of extinction and nonarising
have no right thought and do not have the intention to thoroughly
investigate, so they are knowings but not views.

The undefiled full knowing of other noble minds than those, the
undefiled forbearances and the knowings of extinction and nonar-
ising, are both view and knowing, because they are right consider-
ation and complete recognition, so they have discarded doubt.

2. Defiled

1d
Others are knowing. Six are views as well.

730
Those which are other than the undefiled, all that are defiled world-
ly full knowing, are knowing. This relative knowing does not have
to be solely free of doubt. Six of these—personality view and the
rest of the five views and the correct worldly view—are not only
knowing, they are views as well. In particular, some full knowings
of the precursors to clear realization are all three,292 because they are
an instance of the correct worldly view and are also forbearances
that are compatible with seeing the truth. Other worldly knowings
are knowing but not view.

B. Identifying the ten knowings. This has two topics: 1. The actual
classification, and 2. Teaching knowing others’ minds in particular.

1. The actual classification. This has two topics: a. Overview, and

b. An explanation.

a. Overview

2.
e knowings are defiled and undefiled.
e first is called the relative.
Two types of undefiled are only
e subsequent and dharma knowings.

How many knowings contain them all? you ask. They are con-
tained in ten: 1) dharma knowing, 2) subsequent knowing, 3) rela-
tive knowing, 4) knowing others’ minds, 5–8) knowing of the four
truths, and 9–10) knowing extinction and nonarising. Knowing
death, rebirth, individuals, samsara, and so forth are all contained
within just these.

In brief, there are the two knowings, which are defiled knowing

292. Knowing, view, and forbearance.

731
and undefiled knowing. The first can be perception of either gen-
eral or self-characteristics but is mostly perception of relative things
such as vases, blankets, men, women, and so forth, so it is labeled
with the name of the majority of its objects and called the relative
knowing. To condense the undefiled, there are two types of un-
defiled as well: they are only the subsequent and dharma know-
ings. Since there is no undefiled knowing not comprised within
those two, the word “only” is said.

b. An explanation

3.
All is the object of the relative.
e sphere of dharma is suffering, et cetera,
Of Desire realm. e sphere of subsequent
Is suffering, et cetera, of the higher.

4.
rough the distinctions of the truths,
Just these are four—these four are knowing
Of nonarising and extinction.
When these two first arise, they are

5ab
Subsequent knowing of suffering
And cause. Four know another’s mind.

Well then, what are the objects of these knowings? you ask. All
dharmas, whether compound or noncompound, are the object of
the relative knowing. The sphere of dharma knowing is the four
truths of suffering, et cetera, of the Desire realm. The sphere of
subsequent knowing is the four truths of suffering, et cetera, of the
higher realms.

732
Through the distinctions of the four truths, just these, dharma
and subsequent knowing, are the four knowings of suffering, or-
igin, cessation, and path because they focus on suffering and so
on. These four from suffering to path, when they are dharma and
subsequent knowing that is not by nature view, are knowing of
nonarising and knowing extinction. When these two first arise,
they are the subsequent knowing of suffering and cause, origin,
because without a doubt they focus on the aspects of subsequent
knowing of suffering and origin that are on the Peak of Existence.

Well, does not vajra-like samadhi have the same focus as those two?
you ask. If vajra-like samadhi focuses on suffering or origin, it is
the same, but if it focuses on cessation or path, it does not have
the same focus. For example, when struck by a poisoned arrow,
the deadly poison spreads to all parts of the body, but at the time
of death it collects in the area of the wound only and is not in the
other parts.

Four knowings, dharma, subsequent, path, and relative knowing,

can know another’s mind, because that is the nature of those know-
ings. To speak similarly of the other knowings:

Dharma and subsequent are known by seven each.

The relative by two, and the three truths
By four each. Knowing path is by five.
Extinction, nonarising are each known by six.

2. Teaching knowing others’ minds in particular. This has two

topics: a. Features of knowing others’ minds, and b. The distinction
between knowing extinction and knowing nonarising.

a. Features of knowing others’ minds. This has two points.

733
i. General teaching

5cd
at can’t know higher levels, faculties,
Or individuals, destroyed, unborn.

Knowing others’ minds should be recognized in this way: That,

knowing others’ minds, knows minds that are equal or inferior to
it. A superior mind is not the object of the inferior. For that reason
the mind of a lower level cannot know the minds of higher levels
that surpass it; the mind of dull faculties, interest through faith,
cannot know higher faculties that surpass it, or an inferior indi-
vidual cannot know the minds of superior individuals that surpass
them, because these all surpass what that mind can know. Because
it is a subject that perceives the present mind only, it does not know
the destroyed past or unborn future.

ii. During the time of the path

6.
Dharma and subsequent don’t know
Each other. Listeners know two
Moments of seeing. Rhinos, three.
e Buddha without training, all.

The knowing of others’ minds that is dharma mind or subsequent

mind knows only those minds of its own class. Those two know-
ings of mind do not mutually know each other, because they focus
on the separate antidotes of the Desire and the higher realms. It is
like looking at the ground or looking at the sky.

There is no knowing of others’ minds on the path of seeing, but

that path can be its object. If they train, those listeners who can

734
know others’ minds and wish to know the path of seeing can know
through knowing others’ minds two moments of seeing: forbear-
ance of dharma knowing of suffering and dharma knowing. As far
as focusing on subsequent knowing, because it is something that
is accomplished through the effort of other trainings, subsequent
knowing is not known.

Because their faculties are sharper, the rhinolike self-buddhas293

have at that point completed two trainings and can know three
moments: the first two moments of dharma forbearance of suffer-
ing and dharma knowing plus the eighth moment of subsequent
knowing of origin. Some say they can know the first two and the
fifteenth moment: in either case, they only know three moments
and not more. The buddha, without any training, knows all fifteen
moments of the path of seeing.

b. The distinction between knowing extinction and knowing

nonarising

7.
Knowing extinction is recognizing
e truths are fully known, et cetera.
“ere is no more to know,” et cetera,
Is nonarising mind, it’s said.

What is the distinction between knowing extinction and knowing

nonarising? you ask. The Kashmiris say the two are similar during
equipoise, but the distinction is in terms of the recognition by
post-meditation cognitions. Knowing extinction is knowing that

293. It appears that rhinolike is used here as a general term, inclusive of the con-
gregating self-buddhas as well as the rhinolike self-buddha: the autocommentary
states that self-buddhas in general have three knowings.

735
recognizes for each of the truths of suffering and so forth, “I have
fully known suffering...,” et cetera: “I have discarded the origin.
I have made cessation manifest. I have meditated on the path.”
Saying “I have completely known suffering: there is no more to
know,” et cetera up to “I have completely meditated on the path;
there is no more to meditate on” is the nonarising mind or know-
ing, it is said.

Unlike the Kashmiris who assert that undefiled equipoise can only
have sixteen aspects, the Aparāntakas assert twenty-eight undefiled
aspects, so they say this difference is known by equipoise as well as
post-meditation.

C. Examining distinctions among the knowings. This has four

topics: 1. Distinctions of the ten knowings, 2. Distinctions of an-
tidote, 3. Distinctions of aspect, and 4. Explaining other distinc-
tions.

1. Distinctions of the ten knowings

8.
From nature, antidote, or aspects,
Or aspects and the sphere, or training,
Or its work being done, or from
Development of cause, there are ten.

If there are the three knowings—dharma, subsequent, and rela-

tive—why are they presented as ten? you ask. The ten knowings
are presented because of seven causes, it is heard. Relative knowing
is presented from its nature and essence because it does not know
the ultimate. Dharma and subsequent knowing are presented as
the antidote, because they are antidotes for Desire and the higher
realms. Or knowing suffering and origin are presented from their

736
aspects, because their focuses are not separate. Or knowing cessa-
tion and path are presented from aspects and the focus, because
they have separate aspects and sphere. Or knowing others’ minds
is presented from training: it is not as if it does not know mental
factors of course, but because it arises from training in order to
know others’ minds, it is called knowing others’ minds. Or know-
ing extinction is presented from its work being done because at
first it arises from the cause of its action being completed.294 Know-
ing nonarising comes from the development of its cause, because it
has all undefiled knowings as its cause. Thus there are determined
to be ten knowings.

2. Distinctions of antidote

9.
e dharma knowings of cessation
And path on meditation’s path
Are antidotes for the three realms.
e subsequent is not Desire’s.

Dharma knowing is explained as the Desire realm’s antidote, and

subsequent knowing as the higher realms’ antidote. The distinction
between them is this: The dharma knowings of cessation and path
on meditation’s path first achieve victory over Desire. Because it
then is possible that very continuum of the path of familiarization
will also achieve victory over the higher realms, they can also be
antidotes for the three realms.

294. This line appears slightly differently in the autocommentary and Chim

Jamyang’s commentary: “because it first arises in the continuum of a being whose
action has been completed.” This might be the result of a typographical error: the
Tibetan only differs by two letters. However, the meaning in both instances is
similar.

737
The subsequent cannot possibly be the Desire realm’s antidote,
because subsequent knowing only arises after dharma knowing, so
when it arises, dharma knowing has already achieved victory.

Thus if it is logical for subsequent knowing not to be explained as

the antidote for the Desire, why is dharma knowing not taught as
the antidote for the higher? you ask. That is because it is impossible
for all dharma knowing on the path of seeing and dharma knowing
of suffering and origin on the path of meditation to act as the anti-
dote for the higher realms.

3. Distinctions of aspect. This has two topics: a. The aspects of

each knowing, and b. The essence of each aspect.

a. The aspects of each knowing. This has five topics: i. Through

which aspects dharma knowing and subsequent knowing engage, ii.
Relative knowing, iii. The knowings of the four truths, iv. Knowing
others’ minds, and v. Through which aspects knowing of extinction
and nonarising engage.

i. Through which aspects dharma knowing and subsequent

knowing engage

10ab
e subsequent and dharma knowings
Have sixteen aspects.

From those ten knowings, the subsequent and dharma knowings

have sixteen aspects, because the four truths each have four as-
pects. The sixteen aspects will be explained below.295

295. See VII.13.

738
ii. Relative knowing

10bc
Relative
Knowing is like, or different, too.

Relative knowing is like dharma and subsequent knowing, with

sixteen aspects on warmth, peak, and so forth, or it is different with
aspects of revulsion, the in-breath and out-breath, loving-kindness,
and so forth, too, because it perceives the specific and general char-
acteristics of all dharmas. The phrase “and so forth” includes things
which are not specific or general characteristics, including com-
mands such as “Make!” “Drink!” or “Go!” or things such as vases
and blankets.

iii. The knowings of the four truths

10d
ey have four from aspects of their truths.

They, the knowings of the four truths, have four aspects each from
the aspects of their own individual truths.

iv. Knowing others’ minds. This has two points.

(1) How the stainless engage

11ab
Undefiled knowing others’ minds
Is like that, too.

Undefiled knowing others’ minds is like that—knowing path—

739
too, in having the aspects of the truth of the path as its aspects,
because it is also knowing of the truth of path.

(2) How the stained engage

11b–d
For stained, the aspects
Are the specifics of the known.
e sphere of each is a single substance.

For stained knowing of minds, the perceived aspects are the

specific characteristics of the known, mind and mental factors.
Both the stained and the stainless cannot perceive the two sub-
stances of mind and mental factors simultaneously, so for that rea-
son the sphere of each is a single substance.

v. Through which aspects knowing of extinction and nonaris-

ing engage

12ab
e remaining possess fourteen aspects,
Except for empty and for selfless.

The two remaining from the eight previously explained, know-

ing extinction and knowing nonarising, possess fourteen aspects
of impermanence and so forth, except for empty and for selfless.
They do not have the aspects of empty or selfless because these
knowings designate the self in conventional labels, thinking, “I
have extinguished rebirth. I shall know no existence beyond this
one.” However, when meditating on the empty and selfless, such
conventional designations become illogical through the power of
that meditation.

740
b. The essence of each aspect. This has four points: i. Examin-
ing whether the undefiled have specific characteristics as aspects,
ii. Proving that the sixteen aspects are substantial, iii. The essence
of the aspects, and iv. The distinction between perceiver and per-
ceived.

i. Examining whether the undefiled have specific characteristics

as aspects. This has two points.

(1) Own tradition

12c
Unstained: no more than sixteen aspects.

Do the undefiled knowings have self-characteristics as aspects? you

ask. The Kashmiris propose that the unstained have no more than
the sixteen aspects of impermanence and so on.

(2) Other tradition

12d
But others say there are, from the Treatise.

But others, the Aparāntakas, say that there are also aspects of specific
characteristics. The reason comes from the Treatise, Jñānaprasthā-
na:

Does the mind that does not possess know dharmas? you ask.
It knows. In terms of being produced logically, it knows im-
permanence, suffering, empty, selflessness, cause, origin, fully
arising, condition, that this is the place, and that this is the
basis.296

296. According to Yaśomitra, “the mind which does not possess” means unde-

741
ii. Proving that the sixteen aspects are substantial

13a
In substance, there are sixteen aspects.

The Aparāntakas say that in substance there are the four aspects of
suffering and one each for origin, cessation, and path, for a total
of seven aspects. The others are synonyms. The Great Exposition
proposes that there are sixteen substantially established aspects.

The aspects of the truth of suffering are as follows: because it de-

pends upon conditions, impermanent. Because it is inherently
harmful, suffering. As it is incompatible with the view of “mine,”
empty. As it is incompatible with viewing “me,” selfless.

The aspects of the truth of origin are: In the manner of a seed,

cause. In the manner of arising, origin. In the manner of connec-
tion, production. Through the meaning of manifestly establishing,
condition.

The aspects of the truth of cessation are: Because the aggregates

have been destroyed, cessation. Because the three fires297 are pacified,
peace. Because there is no hostility, sublime. Because it is free of all
faults, emancipation.

The aspects of the truth of path are: Through the meaning of go-
ing, path. Because it has proof, reasoning. Through the meaning
of completely accomplishing, accomplishing. Because it makes one
transcend utterly and completely, deliverance.

filed, “place” here means characteristics, and “basis” means cause. (Tengyur ngu
pa, 251A–B).
297. The three fires of greed, hatred, and delusion.

742
iii. The essence of the aspects

13b
An aspect is full knowing.

What is a so-called aspect itself? you ask. The Sutra school posits
that an aspect is cognition’s manner of perception, but Great Expo-
sition proposes that an aspect is full knowing.298

iv. The distinction between perceiver and perceived

13b–d
at
And that with focus can perceive.
All that exists is the perceived.

Well then, does only full knowing perceive? you ask. No. That
full knowing and that with a focus can perceive. All that exists as
knowable phenomena is what is perceived. Thus full knowing is
proposed to be all three—full knowing, perceiver and perceived.
All other dharmas with focus are perceiver and perceived, and all
that does not have a focus is only perceived.

4. Explaining other distinctions of the knowings. This has five topics:

298. In other words, the Sutra school posits that when we perceive something,
we do not directly perceive it. Instead, we perceive its aspect, a mental image or
impression of the object. For example, when we see a vase, there is an image of
the vase that arises in our mind, and that image is the aspect. The Great Exposi-
tion, on the other hand, posits that when we perceive an object, our conscious-
ness engages it directly. The aspect is thus more like what we think about it. For
example, when contemplating the five aggregates of grasping, nobles consider
them as impermanent, suffering, and so forth, so those are the aspects. Since this
is in essence full knowing—distinguishing the true nature of the object—the
Great Exposition posits that the aspects are full knowing.

743
a. Distinctions of essence, b. Distinctions of level, c. Distinctions
of support, d. Distinctions of foundations of mindfulness, and e.
Distinctions of focus.

a. Distinctions of essence

14a
e first is threefold. Others, virtue.

Of the ten knowings, the first, relative knowing, is threefold—vir-

tuous, nonvirtuous, and neutral—and the other nine are virtuous
only.

b. Distinctions of level

14b–d
e first is on all of the levels.
e one called dharma is on six.
e subsequent on nine. Six likewise.

15a
Knowing others’ minds is on four dhyanas.

For distinctions of levels, the first of the knowings is on all the

levels from Desire to the Peak of Existence. The one called dhar-
ma knowing is on only the six levels of dhyana.299 As that is the
antidote for Desire in particular, it is not on the Formless levels.
The subsequent knowing is on any of the nine undefiled levels.300
The portion of six—knowing the four truths, knowing extinction,
and nonarising—that is included within subsequent knowing is

299. Not Unable, four actual practices, and special dhyana.

300. The previous six plus the first three levels of Formless.

744
likewise also on nine. The portion included within dharma know-
ing is on six levels. Knowing others’ minds is difficult to produce,
so only the easy paths of the actual practices of the four dhyanas
support it.

c. Distinctions of support

15b–d
at has Desire and Form as support,
And dharma has support of Desire.
e others, on three realms’ support.

What supports are they on? you ask. That knowing others’ minds
is supported only by the dhyanas, so it definitely has Desire and
Form as its bodily support. And dharma knowing, as it is primarily
weariness with Desire, has the support of Desire only. The higher
two realms are detached from Desire, so they are no longer weary
of it. The eight knowings other than those two have any of the
three realms as support.

d. Distinctions of foundations of mindfulness

16a–c
Cessation mind is one foundation
Of mindfulness, and knowing minds
Is three. ose which remain are four.

Well then, which of the foundations of mindfulness do these know-

ings have as their essence? you ask. The essence of cessation mind
focuses only on noncomposites, so it is only the one foundation
of mindfulness of dharmas. And because minds that know others’

745
minds only perceive concurrences,301 they are the three foundations
other than mindfulness of body. Those eight knowings which re-
main are any of the four foundations of mindfulness.

e. Distinctions of focus. This has three points.

i. How many knowings does each knowing have as its focus.

16d
Nine are the sphere of dharma mind.

17a–c
Nine of the path and subsequent mind;
And two of suffering and cause.
Ten are of four, and none of one.

How many knowings are the focus of each knowing? you ask. Nine
knowings are the sphere of dharma mind, because relative know-
ing is the object of dharma knowing of suffering and origin, and
the eight undefiled except for subsequent knowing are the object
of dharma knowing of path. Nine knowings other than relative
knowing are the sphere of the knowing of path, because that only
takes an undefiled object. And the object of subsequent knowing
is the nine other than dharma knowing, as above. And two, rela-
tive knowing and defiled knowing of others’ minds, are the object
of both knowing suffering and knowing its cause, origin. All ten
knowings in order are the object of four knowings—relative, oth-
ers’ minds, extinction, and nonarising. This is because the object
of relative knowing is all dharmas, the object of knowing others’
minds is all concurrences, and knowing extinction and nonarising
are partially dharma knowing and partially subsequent knowing.

301. That is, mind and mental factors.

746
And none of the knowings at all are the object of the one knowing
cessation, because that does not know composites and focuses on
noncomposites.

ii. Which subjects focus on many dharmas

17d
ere are ten dharmas to apply.

18ab
e three realms, and the stainless, and
e noncompound are twofold each.

There are ten dharmas into which knowables can be divided. To

know how many are the object of each of the knowings, apply
them. The way the dharmas are divided into ten is that the defiled
three realms and the stainless dharmas are each divided into con-
current and not concurrent, and the noncompound has virtue and
neutral, so they are twofold each or divided in two.

iii. How much one knowing knows

18cd
Just relative knows what is outside
Its own collection to be selfless.

Can one knowing know all dharmas? you ask. It cannot. However,
just the relative knowing knows all dharmas that are outside its
own collection to be selfless. Here, its “own collection” is its es-
sence and the dharmas that are simultaneous with it. Because their
object is separate from their subject, because they are separate from
their focus, and because they are extremely close, these do not see
each other, just as the eye cannot perceive the eyebrows.

747
II. Explanation of possession

19.
On the first of undefiled moments,
ose who are attached possess one knowing.
On second, three. After on each
Of four moments they have another.

Which individuals possess how many knowings? you ask. An ordi-

nary individual who is attached possesses relative knowing alone,
and if detached they also possess defiled knowing of mind.

Of nobles who are on the first of the undefiled moments, those

who are attached possess the one relative knowing. On the second
moment dharma knowing and duḥkha knowing are added, so they
have three. After that on each of four moments, the fourth, sixth,
tenth, and fourteenth, they have another knowing—subsequent
knowing, knowing of origin, knowing of cessation, and knowing
of path respectively. On the path of meditation, they possess those
seven.

If they are detached, knowing minds is added to all of these: they

would possess two on the first moment and so on up to eight on
the path of meditation. A nonlearner possesses the first nine if of
dull faculties, and all ten if sharp.

III. How the knowings are attained. This has four topics: 1. At-
tained during the path of seeing, 2. Attained on other paths, 3.
How many are attained from each path, and 4. Classifications of
their attainment.

748
1. Attained during the path of seeing

20.
As they arise on the path of seeing,
Future forbearances and knowings
Like them are gained. On that upon
ree subsequent, the relative, too.

21.
us they are called clear realization’s end.
ey are nonarising dharmas. On its own
And lower levels. Cessation’s is the last.
eir own truths’ aspects. Born of effort.

At what points are how many knowings attained? you ask. As they,
the eight forbearance and seven knowings, arise on the path of
seeing, when they arise the future similar forbearances and know-
ings like them are gained in their own time. Thus when dharma
forbearance of duḥkha arises, the attainment of a future dharma
forbearance with similar focus and aspects arises and so forth. For
the attached, the level is only Not Unable, and for those detached,
any of the six levels. One attains the forbearance of two times for
the level of one’s bodily support. One attains only the future for-
bearance of other levels, but it does not become manifest because
multiple paths of seeing do not arise. On that path of seeing itself
upon three subsequent knowings of suffering, origin, and cessa-
tion, the relative knowing is attained, too. It is not attained on
dharma knowing, because the truth has not been clearly realized to
its full extent. Why not on subsequent knowing of path? you ask.
The truth of the path itself is not clearly realized by the previous
worldly path, and the truth has not been clearly realized to its full
extent. Thus they—the relative knowings that arise out of the sub-

749
sequent knowings of suffering, origin, and cessation—are called
“arisen from clear realization’s end” because they arise after the
clear realization of each truth. Well, do not these relative knowings
that are arisen from the end of clear realization sometimes become
manifest? you ask. Because they are nonarising dharmas, they do
not become manifest.

The relative knowings of how many levels are attained? you ask.
Relative knowings are attained on the level that is its, the path of
seeing’s, own and on lower levels. If the path of seeing is on Not
Unable, relative knowings of that level and the lower level of Desire
are attained.

The relative knowing arisen from the end of clear realization of

cessation is the last of the four foundations of mindfulness, mind-
fulness of dharmas. The other two are all are foundations of mind-
fulness. These relative knowings arisen from the end of clear real-
ization have their own truth’s aspects, attained on the level of the
clear realization of that truth. Because they are attained by the path
of seeing, they are born of effort, not through detachment.

2. Attained on other paths. This has two topics: a. Explaining those

with different counts individually, and b. Explaining those similar
counts together.

a. Explaining those with different counts individually. This has

two topics: i. How many are attained on the path of learning, and
ii. How many are attained on the path of no learning.

i. How many are attained on the path of learning. This has five
topics: (1) How many are attained on the sixteenth moment, (2)
On most of the path of meditation, (3) On the eight paths of lib-
eration from the Peak of Existence, (4) On the learner’s paths of

750
liberation when purifying faculties, and (5) On the paths of no
obstacles of the Peak of Existence.

(1) How many are attained on the sixteenth moment. This has
two points.

(a) Attached

22a
Attached gain six on the sixteenth.

Those who are attached to Desire gain six knowings—the four

knowings of the four truths, dharma knowing, and subsequent
knowing—when abiding on the sixteenth moment, subsequent
knowing of path. This is knowing that is liberated from discards of
seeing, but it is not liberated from discards of meditation because it
is mere abiding in the result. Because subsequent knowing of path
is by nature both path knowing and subsequent knowing, those are
attained in the present, but the four other knowings are attained in
the future only. Because these individuals are attached, it is on the
level of Not Unable. It is produced by completing seeing, so it is
attained from the expansion of a cause of similar status.
They do not attain knowing others’ minds because they are attached
to Desire. Relative knowing is not attained because “what has al-
ready been acquired is not acquired”: it has already been acquired.
Knowing extinction and nonarising are not acquired because they
are learners.

(b) Detached

22b
ose detached from Desire gain seven.

751
Those detached from the Desire realm gain seven: knowing others’
minds in addition to the previous six.

(2) How many are attained on most of the path of meditation.

This has two points.

(a) Attached

22cd
Later on paths of meditation,
e attached attain the seven knowings.

Later, after the sixteenth moment, the subsequent knowing of

path, on the paths of meditation—all the paths of joining, no ob-
stacles, liberation, and distinction—those attached to Desire attain
the seven knowings: dharma knowing, subsequent knowing, four
knowings of four truths, and relative knowing. If it is a worldly
path of meditation that views the aspects of peaceful and coarse,
the present relative knowing arises. However if the path is tran-
sworldly, since subsequent knowing is not the antidote for Desire
but dharma knowing is, dharma knowing and knowing of one of
the four truths arises in the present. The remaining knowings are
attained in the future, because they develop the cause of same sta-
tus of their own class. As the individuals are attached and learners,
the other three knowings are not attained.

(b) Detached

23a–c
In victory over seven levels,
Gaining clairvoyance and unshakable,
Paths of no obstacles for alternating.

752
In the victory over the seven levels of the four dhyanas and three
Formless that detaches one from desire, and in gaining the five
clairvoyances other than extinction of defilements, learners attain
seven knowings: dharma knowing, subsequent knowing, knowings
of the four truths, and relative knowing.

And on realizing and attaining the status of unshakable, seven

knowings, the six undefiled that go with all and knowing extinc-
tion, are attained. Relative knowing, knowing others’ minds, and
knowing nonarising are not attained. The first is not attained be-
cause the paths of refining are always undefiled and there is no
cause to attain anything else. The latter two are not attained be-
cause they are paths of liberation.

On any of the paths of no obstacles for the alternating meditation

as well, the six undefiled and relative knowing are attained. The
other three are not attained because these are not nonlearner, so
the latter two are not attained, and it is not a path of liberation, so
knowing others’ minds is not attained.

(3) How many are attained on the eight paths of liberation from
the Peak of Existence

23d
Eight paths of liberation from the highest.

On the first eight paths of liberation that vanquish the level of

the Peak of Existence that is higher than the other seven levels,
seven knowings are attained: the six undefiled and knowing others’
minds.

753
(4) How many are attained on the learner’s paths of liberation
when purifying faculties

24a–c
On learner’s liberation of refining,
One gains six or else seven knowings, or…
Six on paths of no obstacles.

On attached learner’s paths of liberation of refining faculties,

one gains six knowings: dharma knowing, subsequent knowing,
knowing suffering, origin, cessation, and path. Or else if detached,
knowing others’ minds is added for a total of seven knowings at-
tained. The word “or” indicates that there is another tradition that
says that both attached and detached also attain relative knowing.
On the paths of joining, they both also attain relative knowing.

Whether the learner is attached or detached, six knowings are at-

tained as above on paths of no obstacles for refining faculties. Rel-
ative knowing is not attained because this is similar to the path of
seeing. Knowing others’ minds is also not attained, because it is
blocked on all paths of no obstacles. Why is it blocked? you ask.
Because it is not an antidote.

(5) How many are attained on the paths of no obstacles of the

Peak of Existence

24d
Likewise on vanquishing the Peak.

As with the previous, likewise on the path of no obstacles that van-

quishes the Peak of Existence, only those six are attained.

754
ii. How many are attained on the path of no learning. This has
three points.

(1) Dull faculties

25a
On knowing extinction, there are nine.

Upon attaining knowing extinction, there are nine knowings that

those with dull faculties attain. Knowing nonarising is excluded
because it is possible they might regress.

(2) Sharp faculties

25b
Unshakable attains ten knowings,

The unshakable one, who also attains the knowing of nonarising,

attains ten knowings.

(3) How many are attained on paths of refining faculties

25c
Refining there, on the last as well.

When refining there, to unshakable, all ten are attained on the last
path of freedom as well.

b. Explaining those similar counts together

25d
Eight are attained on those not mentioned.

Eight knowings excluding knowing extinction and nonarising are

755
attained on those remaining paths that were not previously men-
tioned—the nine paths of liberation from desire for Desire, the
paths of liberation from desire for seven levels, the paths of libera-
tion for the five clairvoyances and the meditation of alternating the
dhyanas, the first eight paths of liberation that create realization of
the unshakable, paths of joining for detachment, and the distinc-
tive paths.

On the nonlearners’ paths of joining, liberation, and distinction for

clairvoyance, occasional nonlearners attain nine knowings exclud-
ing knowing nonarising. Nonoccasional nonlearners attain all ten.
On the paths of no-obstacles for the clairvoyances and alternating
meditation, the occasional attain the eight that exclude knowing of
nonarising and of others’ minds. The nonoccasional attain the nine
excluding the knowing of nonarising.

3. How many are attained from each path

26.
One gains them where one is detached,
On which is gained, and lower, too.
On knowing extinction, defiled, too; all levels.
ose previously gained are not attained.

On which paths are how many levels’ knowings attained? you ask.
To consider relative knowing first, when attaining a level, one at-
tains future relative knowings that are on the level of the path and
the level that has been attained for the very first time.302

302. Prince Yaśomitra provides an example: someone who on the support of

Not Unable becomes detached from Desire and achieves the first dhyana attains
two future relative knowings: one of Not Unable (the level of the path) and one
of the first dhyana (the level attained for the first time). (Tengyur ngu pa, 262).

756
Undefiled knowings are attained not just on the levels of the paths.
Well, how is it then? you ask. One gains them, undefiled know-
ings, on the levels where one has become detached through both
the defiled and undefiled paths of joining and so on, and on that
level which is gained. And the lower levels’ undefiled knowings are
attained, too.303

On knowing extinction, the defiled qualities attained by knowing

extinction are attained, too. The qualities of all levels, repulsive
meditation, mindfulness of the in-breath and out-breath, and so
on are attained in a way similar to cutting the cords that bind a
basket304 or releasing one’s breath. Just as when a king gains a large
kingdom, the people of the country welcome him with offerings of
gifts, when the kingdom that is not under the control of the afflic-
tions is gained in the mind, one is welcomed with gathering of all
the qualities of virtuous dharmas. How many are attained? you ask.
Only those not previously acquired are attained; those that have
previously been gained are not attained. One also does not attain
those from which one has regressed, because one has forfeited the
attainment.

303. In Yaśomitra’s example, when someone on the support of the second dhya-
na becomes detached and attains the third dhyana, the path (the path of liber-
ation over the ninth discard of the second dhyana) is on the level of the second
dhyana. The level that is attained by removal of attachment is the third dhyana.
Upon achieving that level, the yogi attains undefiled knowings of the level of the
path (the second dhyana), the attained level (the third dhyana), and also the lower
levels such as the first dhyana, special dhyana, and Not Unable. (Tengyur ngu pa,
262–263).
304. Mikyö Dorje explains this example further: when you cut the cords that
bind a basket, it springs back to shape as if it were a living thing. (Mi bskyod rdo
rje 2005, vol. 3, 290)

757
4. Classifications of their attainment

27.
ose called acquiring and maintaining
Are attainment of composite virtue.
Attainment of the antidote
And distancing are of defiled.

Is attainment only acquisition? you ask. It is not. There are four

types of attainment: acquiring attainment, maintaining attain-
ment, attainment of antidote, and distancing attainment. The one
called acquiring attainment is newly acquiring compound virtue,
and maintaining attainment is the attainment of manifesting al-
ready attained composite virtue over and over again. Present dhar-
mas can have both acquiring and maintaining attainments, but
future dharmas can only have acquiring attainment, and past dhar-
mas have neither. As far as the attainment of the antidote and
the attainment of distancing, the first is the attainment of the an-
tidote for defiled dharmas, and the second, distancing, is having
abandoned them. Respectively these are making oneself detached
from body and mind, and cutting the attainment of the afflictions.
Therefore, undefiled attainment can be the first two, defiled virtu-
ous attainment can be all four, and the remaining defiled attain-
ments can be the last two.

The Aparāntakas posit that there are six attainments by adding the
attainment of vows, which bind the gates of the faculties, and the
attainment of disintegration, which destroys clinging to a whole by
analyzing the body into its parts. The Kashmiris, however, say that
these two are contained within the last two of the previous four
attainments.

758
IV. Qualities of the knowings. This has two topics: A. Unshared
qualities, and

B. Shared qualities.

This has three topics: 1. Overview, 2. Expla-

A. Unshared qualities.
nation, and 3. Summary.

1. Overview

28ab
e Buddha’s unshared qualities
Are eighteen: powers and so forth.

Generally it is explained that all individuals attain the qualities of

knowing extinction, but what is it that only the Buddha acquires?
you ask. The qualities only the Buddha acquires at the time of
knowing extinction are not common to listeners, self-buddhas, or
others, so they are unshared qualities. They are eighteen: the ten
powers and so forth including the four fearlessnesses, three foun-
dations of mindfulness, and great compassion.

2. Explanation. This has four topics: a. Explanation of the ten

powers, b. Explanation of the four fearlessnesses, c. Explanation of
the three foundations of mindfulness, and d. Explanation of great
compassion.

a. Explanation of the ten powers. This has two topics: i. Powers of

wisdom, and ii. Powers of the body.

i. Powers of wisdom. This has three points: (1) Distinctions of es-

sence, (2) Distinctions of level, and (3) Explanation of the term.

759
(1) Distinctions of essence

28cd
e possible and not, ten knowings,
Karma, result is eight. e dhyanas,

29.
Et cetera, faculties, and interests,
Capacities, are nine. Path might
Be ten. e two are relative.
Extinction is six or else ten.

The possible and the not possible is fact and nonfact, such as that
it is impossible to become a buddha as a woman but possible as a
man and so forth.305 In brief, it is composites and noncomposites.
Knowing the possible and impossible is in general the ten know-
ings: if one divides dharmas into ten,306 all ten are objects of relative
knowing. Dharma knowing knows five; subsequent knowing seven;
knowing suffering and origin, six; knowing cessation knows non-
composite virtue alone; path knowing knows the two undefiled;
knowing others’ minds knows three; and knowing extinction and
nonarising knows nine dharmas, excluding neutral noncomposites.

The power of knowing karma and the full ripening of its result is
the power of knowing the defiled contained within suffering and

305. The Great Exposition holds that the Bodhisattva can only attain complete
awakening to Buddhahood on the support of a male body. Women attain a male
body (in a future life) in order to completely awaken. See IV.109. This position is
not necessarily accepted by all schools of Buddhism.
306. The way all dharmas are divided into ten categories is described above in
VII.18ab: there are concurrent and nonconcurrent dharmas for each of the three
realms and the undefiled, virtuous noncompound, and neutral noncompound.

760
origin. In that, there are the eight knowings with the exception of
knowing cessation and path.

There are also the powers of knowing the dhyanas, et cetera, in-
cluding the eight emancipations, three samadhis, two absorptions,
and the nine absorptions of final repose; knowing through the dif-
ferences in lesser, medium, or greater faculties of faith and so forth
whether someone is principal or not principal, which is the power
of knowing whether the faculties are supreme or not; and the pow-
er of knowing the various interests of individuals who have interest
in listeners, self-buddhas, or buddhas; and the power of knowing
various capacities. Master Saṅghabhadra says that capacities are the
intentions completely created by previously habituated imprints.
Here it is proposed as knowing the many different distinctions in
mind and mental factors. These four powers focus only on compos-
ites, so they are the nine knowings excluding knowing cessation.

The power of knowing the paths that lead everywhere from hell to
cessation, if held to be knowing the path and its result, might be
ten knowings. The word “might” indicates that if you hold it to be
knowing only the path, it is the nine that exclude cessation.

Knowing many of one’s own and others’ previous births and their
particulars is the power of remembering previous places. The power
of knowing death and rebirth is seeing death, transmigration, and
the good and bad colors and so forth of the between state through
the utterly pure divine eye and knowing that the causes of virtuous
and nonvirtuous karma make beings wander to the high or low
realms. These two, as they must definitely perceive the aspects of
specific characteristics, are relative knowing.

The power of knowing the extinction of defilements, if you hold

the extinction of defilements to be cessation only, is the six know-

761
ings of dharma knowing, subsequent knowing, knowing cessation,
knowing extinction and nonarising, and relative knowing. Or else
if you hold it to be cognition in the being of one who has extin-
guished defilements, it is all ten knowings.

(2) Distinctions of level

30a–c
e powers of previous places and
Of death and birth are on the dhyanas.
e others, on all levels.

The two powers of remembering previous places and of knowing

death and rebirth are on the four actual dhyanas, because these are
something that is generated by samadhi that is the union of tran-
quility and insight, whereas the other powers are not. The other
eight powers are on all levels—Desire, the six levels of dhyana, and
the four Formless—because they are easy to generate. The undefiled
ones are supported by any of the undefiled levels, and those powers
contained within relative knowing are supported by all levels, it is
proposed. The bodily support is a male on Rose-Apple Land only.

(3) Explanation of the term

30cd
Why?
Because his powers cannot be hindered.

Why are only the Buddha’s ten knowings called powers? The lis-
teners and selfbuddhas also have them, so why are theirs not called
powers? you ask. Because theirs are hindered, they are not called
powers. Therefore, only his, the Buddha’s, are presented as powers.
The reason they are said to be powers is because they engage all

762
knowable phenomena and cannot be hindered. The others’ know-
ings are not like that, but the Buddha’s are.

ii. Powers of the body

31.
His body has Nārāyaṇa power.
Some say his joints. It is the power
Of elephants times ten seven times.
is is the sensory base of touch.

Well then, if his powers of mind are infinite, how much power
does his body have? His, the Buddha’s, body has Nārāyaṇa power.
Nārāyaṇa is the name of a power, like for example calling a num-
ber with sixty digits uncountable. Therefore, Nārāyaṇa is the power,
and one who has that is called Nārāyaṇa. Alternatively, the power
of people of the first aeon is also called Nārāyaṇa power.

Some say that he has the Nārāyaṇa power in each of his bones’
joints. Some venerable Dārṣṭāntika elders say that the power of his
body is infinite, like the power of his mind, because if that were
not the case, the body would not be able to bear the infinite power
of his mind. If it could not bear that, the Buddha would not have
inner nature of forbearance. The Master also gives the same expla-
nation. The joints of buddhas, self-buddhas, and wheel-wielding
emperors are respectively as strong as the most exalted knot of na-
gas, a chain, and driven nails.

As for the measure of what it, Nārāyaṇa power is, the power of
ten ordinary elephants is one elephant chief. Likewise there are the
seven powers of great quantity, completely overcoming, supreme
limbs, supreme power, and Nārāyaṇa power.307 The power of the
307. In Sanskrit, the powers are called prākṛtahastin, gandhahastin, mahānagna,

763
previous times ten is the power of the next in succession, so it is
multiplied seven times. Some say that ten supreme powers are half
of Nārāyaṇa power.

The essence of this sort of power is the sensory base of touch. This
is a feature of only the great sources; it is not source-derived. Some
say that power is an eighth touch that is different from the seven
that were explained before.308

b. Explanation of the four fearlessnesses. This has two points.

i. Overview

32a
ere are four types of fearlessness.

There are four types of fearlessness: the Tathagata proclaimed

aloud, “I myself have completely, perfectly awakened. I have ex-
tinguished the defilements.” When teaching the listeners, he pro-
claimed “These obstruct liberation. These are the paths that defi-
nitely deliver one from samsara.” As he sees no true reason that
anyone could say, “It is not like that,” and defeat him in accord
with the Dharma, he has attained fearlessness.

ii. Explanation

32bc
ey’re similar to the first, tenth,
Second, and seventh of the powers.

praskandin, varāṅga, cāṇūra, and nārāyaṇa.

308. That is, other than the resultant touches of soft, rough, and so forth de-
scribed in I.10d.

764
What are their natures? you ask. They are similar to the powers.
The fearlessness to proclaim the benefit for himself of perfect re-
alization is like the first power of knowing the possible and im-
possible. The fearlessness to proclaim the benefit for himself of
perfect abandonment is just like the tenth power of knowing the
extinction of defilements. The fearlessness of teaching the dharmas
that obstruct for benefit of others is just like the second power of
knowing karma and its fully ripened result. And the fearlessness
of teaching the dharmas of emancipation for the benefit of others
is just like the seventh of the powers, knowing the paths that lead
everywhere.

c. Explanation of the three foundations of mindfulness

32d
e three are mindfulness, awareness.

There are three foundations of mindfulness taught in the sutras.

When the Tathagata teaches the Dharma, if the beings gathered are
respectful and wish to listen, he is neither pleased nor attached; if
they are not respectful and do not wish to listen, he is neither dis-
pleased nor angry; and if some are respectful and some not, he does
not become in part pleased and in part displeased, but abides in
equanimity with mindfulness and awareness. The essence of these
is mindfulness and awareness, but they are taught as three because
of distinctions in the gathering.

Well then, the listeners and self-buddhas also have this quality, so
it is not appropriate to be unshared, you say. That is not the case,
because the listeners and self-buddhas have not abandoned the im-
prints, but the buddhas have. In this context, imprints are features
that out of the power of prior training in afflictions have the ability
to move the body and speech. These are in the mind, the authors

765
of the ṭīkas explain.309 Some others say they are features of a neutral
mind.

d. Explanation of great compassion

33.
e great compassion, relative mind,
Is greater from its gathering,
Its aspect, sphere, and being equal.
ere are eight ways that it is different.

The great compassion is inherently relative knowing or mind. If it

were not, not only would it be proven not to focus on all sentient
beings, it would be proven not to have as aspects the three suffer-
ings, as compassion does.

Why is it called great compassion? you ask. It is greater because it is

perfectly created by the great gathering accumulation of merit and
wisdom, because its aspect is consideration of the three sufferings,
because its focus and sphere are the focus on all sentient beings of
the three realms, and because it is equal in the way it engages be-
ings, remembering that all sentient beings of the three realms have
the suffering of formation, and because it is full knowing by nature,
so it is extremely sharp, and there is nothing greater than that.

How many things make compassion and great compassion differ-

ent? you ask. There are eight ways they are different in essence and
so forth. The eight are:

In essence, nonhatred, nondelusion.

In focus, one realm or three realms.

309. Here ṭīkas refers to Indian commentaries in general, not specifically to

Mikyö Dorje’s commentary.

766
 In aspect, one suffering or three.
In level, four dhyanas, the fourth.

In beings, the listeners, the Victor,

Attainment, detached or Peak.
In meaning, don’t fully protect, fully.
In deed, partial, or impartial.310

3. Summary. This has two points.

a. How the buddhas are equal in some features

34a–c
All buddhas are the equal in
Accumulation, dharma body,
And acts for wanderers’ benefit,

Are all buddhas equal in all aspects? you ask. All buddhas are the
equal in three ways: the excellent cause, having completed gather-
ing the two accumulations; the excellent result, acquiring the trans-
formation of the undefiled accumulations, the dharma body; and
the excellent benefit, acting for wanderers’ benefit to place them in
the higher realms and the liberation of enlightenment. Otherwise
some buddhas would be better or worse, which is impossible.
310. That is, compassion is in essence nonhatred and great compassion is
nondelusion. Compassion focuses on one realm and great compassion on three.
Compassion has the one suffering of suffering as its aspect, and great compassion
all three types of suffering. Compassion is on all four dhyanas; great compassion
on the fourth. Compassion is found among the listeners and great compassion
among the Victors. Compassion is attained by detaching from Desire; great com-
passion by detaching from the Peak of Existence. The compassion of the listeners
and self-buddhas does not have the power to fully protect beings from samsara,
but great compassion does. Compassion sees suffering beings partially; great com-
passion sees all beings impartially. (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2005, vol. 3, 308)

767
b. How they are unequal

34d
But not in life span, caste, or size.

But however, they are not equal or comparable in their life span,
caste, or body size, because they display those variously in accord
with those who need taming.

Three qualities’ classifications:

Four each, gathered in sets of four.
Four causes: all of two accumulations,
Familiarized for a long time

With no interruptions, respectfully.

Four results are of wisdom and also
Abandonment, power, Form Body.
Four wisdoms: knowing everything,

All aspects, untaught, without effort.

Four abandonments: all the afflictions,
Forever, all imprints as well,
And all obscurations of absorption.

Four powers are mastery to emanate

And bless and transform outside objects;
And mastery to bless or discard life;
And mastery to go where obscured,

To the sky or far off, or make smaller;

And constant display of amazements.
Four of Form Body: marks major, and signs;

768
 The powers, relics hard as a vajra.

Four benefits: deeds of emancipating

From three lower realms and samsara;
Three vehicles and bringing to high realms.
As proofs and rebuttals are prominent,
These last are in two sets of four.

These are just in brief: no one other than the Buddha could possi-
bly recite them in full, because the tathagatas possess infinite mar-
velous qualities. Those without merit could not hear of his quali-
ties, and even if they heard of some, fools measure things against
themselves and feel neither sincerity nor belief. Whoever has great
sincerity and belief in the Buddha and his features, such a being is
wise.

B. Shared qualities. This has two topics: 1. Overview, and 2. Ex-

planation.

1. Overview. This has two points.

a. Brief teaching

35ab
e dharmas common with the learners
And ordinary beings

Not including the eighteen unshared qualities, other dharmas are

held in common with listener and self-buddha learners, and some
dharmas of qualities are common with ordinary beings.

769
b. Short explanation

35b–d
are
e unprovocative, the knowledge from
Aspiring, unhindered, clairvoyance, et cetera.

What are those dharmas? you ask. They are the unprovocative
samadhi, the knowledge from aspiration, the four unhindered
knowledges, six clairvoyances, et cetera, including four dhyanas,
four immeasurables, eight emancipations, eight overpowering sense
bases, ten all-encompassing sense bases, samadhis, and so on. The
first five clairvoyances, four dhyanas, four Formless, four immea-
surables, the first seven emancipations, the ten all-encompassing
sense bases, the eight overpowering sense bases, and three samadhis
are common to ordinary individuals. The others are common to
noble listeners, selfbuddhas, and bodhisattvas.

2. Explanation. This has two topics: a. Those common to nobles,

and b. Those common to both noble and ordinary individuals.

a. Those common to nobles. This has two topics: i. Explaining the

features of each of the six qualities, and ii. Explaining the features
common to all six qualities.

i. Explaining the features of each of the six qualities. This has

three topics: (1) The unprovocative samadhi, (2) Knowledge from
aspiration, and (3) The four unhindered knowledges.

770
(1) The unprovocative samadhi

36.
e unprovocative is relative
Knowing on dhyana’s end. Unshakable.
Human. Unborn afflictions of Desire,
Including their basis, are its sphere.

Some arhats produce a cognition such as, “The suffering of sentient

beings arises from the afflictions, so when they know me to be a su-
perior field of qualities, may they not produce any of the afflictions
sentient beings have, such as desire and so forth, when they observe
me.” Because that path does not provoke afflictions in anyone, it is
called unprovocative samadhi.

The unprovocative is by nature relative knowing. It is on the sup-

port of the fourth dhyana’s end, because that is the supreme of
the easy paths. It is produced by arhats who are unshakable, but
not by others, because occasionally afflictions arise in others’ beings
as well, so they cannot abandon the afflictions. It is produced by
humans of the three continents. The unborn future afflictions of
Desire including their basis are its sphere or focus, because it has
the aspect of thinking, “May future afflictions not arise in others.”
It cannot discard afflictions that do not have a basis.311

(2) Knowledge from aspiration

37ab
e knowledge from aspiring is
Similar, focusing on all.

311. Such as discards of seeing. See VI.58ab.

771
The knowledge from aspiring is similar to the unprovocative: it is
relative knowing in essence, on the level of the last dhyana, among
the unshakable ones, and on human support of three continents.
However, knowledge from aspiration focuses not just on the afflic-
tions and their bases, but on all, form and all other dharmas.

Knowledge from aspiration is knowledge that comes after having

made a previous aspiration. After aspiring, “I will know this and
that,” one enters the equipoise of the highest end fourth dhyana
and knows it as the object just as it is. Therefore, since higher levels
are not the object, it does not know the Formless realms directly,
says the Great Exposition. Others propose that the Buddha knows
even the Formless directly through knowledge from aspiration.

(3) The four unhindered knowledges. This has three topics: (a) Teach-
ing their common features by way of classification, (b) Explaining
their individual features, and (c) Their manner of attainment as a
summary.

(a) Teaching their common features by way of classification

37cd
Likewise unhindered knowledge of dharma,
Meaning, expression, eloquence.

The two previous312 are produced by unshakable arhats on the sup-

port of humans of the three continents, and likewise the unhin-
dered knowledge of dharma, meaning, expression, and eloquence
are also similar in those respects.

(b) Explaining their individual features. This has six points: (i)
The nature and focus of the first three, (ii) The four dharmas of the

312. The unprovocative samadhi and knowledge from aspiration.

772
fourth, (iii) The two dharmas of the second, (iv) The essence of the
first and third, (v) The level of the first, and (vi) Distinctions of the
level of the third.

(i) The nature and focus of the first three

38ab
ree are, in order, knowing names,
Meaning, and speech without obstruction.

Their other features are different from the unprovocative and

knowledge from aspiration. The first three unhindered knowings
are, in order, knowing names, meaning, and speech without ob-
struction. The word dharma applies to many different meanings,
but in terms of the unhindered knowledge of dharmas, it refers
to unobstructedly knowing the collection of names, words, and
letters. Unhindered knowledge of meaning is proposed as unob-
structedly knowing either all dharmas that can be known or the
supreme meaning, nirvana. Unhindered knowledge of speech or
the expression of words is unobstructedly knowing gender, tense,
usage, and other aspects of syntax.

(ii) The four dharmas of the fourth

38cd
e fourth is logical and fluent
Clear speech; and mastery of path.

39ab
Its focus is on speech and path.
It is nine knowings, on all levels.

The fourth, unhindered knowledge of eloquence, is the logic of

773
the contradictions and connections between meanings, and fluent,
clear speech itself, and through attention on oneself, having un-
obstructed knowledge of mastery of path by not forgetting the sa-
madhi of tranquility and insight. The first of these is skill in artic-
ulate speech, and the second is skill in attention on oneself. These
are eloquence and also unhindered knowledge, so they are the un-
hindered knowledge of eloquence.

Its, unhindered knowledge of eloquence’s, focus is on speech and

the defiled and undefiled paths. Its nature is the nine knowings ex-
cluding knowing cessation. When focused on speech, it is in Desire
and the four dhyanas, or five levels, and when focused on the path,
it is on all nine of the levels.

(iii) The two dharmas of the second

39cd
Knowledge of meaning, ten or six,
On all.

Of the four unhindered knowledges, unhindered knowledge of

meaning is ten knowings if the meaning that is spoken of is all
dharmas, or if the meaning is nirvana, six knowings: dharma, sub-
sequent, cessation, extinction, nonarising, and relative. The unhin-
dered knowledge of meaning is on all the levels.

(iv) The essence of the first and third

39d
e rest are relative.

The rest, unhindered knowledge of dharma and expression, are

774
relative knowing by nature, because they focus on dharma—the
collection of names and so forth—and speech.

(v) The level of the first

40ab
Knowledge of dharma is in Desire
And dhyan;

Unhindered knowledge of dharma is in Desire and on the four

dhyanas but not above that, because there is no collection of names,
words and letters there.

(vi) Distinctions of the level of the third

40b
of speech, Desire and first.

The unhindered knowledge of speech or expression is in Desire

and on the first dhyana but not above, because speech is inherently
motivated by consideration, and on the second dhyana and above
there is neither consideration nor examination.

The order of the four is as follows: On the basis of dharma or names,

the meaning is realized. On the basis of the meaning, expression is
known. On the basis of realizing those, eloquence is attained.

(c) Their manner of attainment as a summary

40c
If incomplete, they’re not attained.

775
Whoever has one must definitely have all four, because if any one is
incomplete, they, the other three, are not attained.

ii. Explaining the features common to all six qualities. This has
four points.

(1) Teaching the mental support in general

40d
ose six are through the highest end.

Those six qualities of unprovocative and so forth are attained

through the training of dhyana of the highest end, but they are
not necessarily included within the highest end, because as is said
“Speech in Desire and on first” and so forth.

(2) The distinctions between what is and what is not the actual
highest end

41a
It’s sixfold:

The fourth dhyana’s highest end is unprovocative samadhi, knowl-

edge through aspiration, three of the unhindered knowledges, and
the highest end alone: it is sixfold in nature. Although unhindered
knowledge of expression is attained through the power of the
fourth dhyana, it is not on the level of the fourth dhyana, just as
the emanated mind of Desire is attained by the actual dhyana but
is not the actual dhyana.

776
(3) Identifying the highest end of the fourth

41a–c
it is dhyana’s end,
Gained by progressing through all levels,
Coming to highest development.

It is dhyana’s especial upper end, because it is gained by progress-

ing through all levels from Desire to the Peak of Existence, enter-
ing the absorption of each level in forward and reverse order,313 so
that it is compatible with the highest end of all levels. It has come
through the lesser, medium, and greater, or to the highest devel-
opment, and is even higher than that. It has arrived at the extreme
upper limit of the fourth dhyana: it is like a fourth alternative.314

(4) The particulars of its training

41d
Other than Buddha, they are from training.

When they are in the continuum of those who are other than the
Buddha, they, these six, are arisen from training: they are not at-
tained by mere detachment. The Buddha accomplishes them with-
out depending on training but by merely wishing, because he is the
master of all qualities.

313. That is, one starts in Desire, enters the first dhyana, second dhyana, and
so forth up to the Peak of Existence. Then one returns down through Nothing-
ness and so forth to the first dhyana and Desire. Then one ascends to the fourth
dhyana.
314. As in the four alternatives of two dharmas: something can be the first, or
the second, or both, or neither. There is no possibility beyond the fourth alterna-
tive.

777
b. Those common to both noble and ordinary individuals. This
has two topics: i. Distinctions of their qualities, and ii. Understand-
ing their features.

i. Distinctions of their qualities. This has four topics: (1) Classi-

fications, (2) Essence, (3) Distinctions of dharmas, and (4) How
they are attained.

(1) Classifications

42a–c
Sixfold clairvoyance manifests magic,
e ear, mind, knowing previous lives,
Death and rebirth, and knowing extinction.

Sixfold clairvoyance manifests the magic of emanating objects and

knowing how to move; the divine ear that through relative know-
ing associated with the ear consciousness hears all sounds wheth-
er near or far; knowing others’ minds discussed above;315 knowing
previous places or lives; knowing death and rebirth; and knowing
extinction.

(2) Essence

42d
ese are the mind of liberation.

In general, these, all six clairvoyances, are the mind of the path of
liberation.

(3) Distinctions of dharmas. This has three points.

315. See VII.5cd & 6.

778
(a) What knowings they are

43a–d
e four are knowing relative,
And knowing minds is the five knowings.
Clairvoyance of extinction is Like power.

In particular, the four other than the third and sixth are knowing
only the relative, because they are always defiled. And the clairvoy-
ance knowing of others minds is five knowings: dharma knowing,
subsequent knowing, path knowing, knowing others minds, and
relative knowing. The clairvoyance of knowing the extinction of
defilements is like the power of knowing the extinction of defile-
ments: it is either six or ten knowings and is on all eleven levels.

(b) What levels they are on

43d
Five are on four dhyanas.

The first five clairvoyances are on each of the four actual dhyanas.
Clairvoyance of divine eye316 and ear are only of the level of the first
dhyana, but in terms of how they are attained and their support,
they are explained to be on four.

(c) What their spheres are

44a
eir object is own and lower level.

Their, five clairvoyances’s, object is on their own and lower levels,

but the higher levels are not their object, because the superior is

316. The divine eye is the clairvoyance of knowing death and rebirth.

779
not the object of the inferior. Therefore the object of clairvoyance
of magic is knowing how to go or make emanations on its own or
lower levels, but not on higher. The others are similar.

(4) How they are attained

44b
Familiar is attained by detachment.

As far as the manner of attainment of the clairvoyances, those that

are not familiar from previous close paths must be attained through
training, but the familiar is attained merely by detachment. In
either case, manifesting them depends upon training.

ii. Understanding their features. This has two topics: (1) Under-
standing common features, and (2) Understanding their particular
features.

(1) Understanding common features. This has four topics: (a)

Their intersection with the foundations of mindfulness, (b) Their
intersection with virtue and so forth, (c) Their intersection with the
three knowledges, and (d) Their intersection with the three mira-
cles.

(a) Their intersection with the foundations of mindfulness

44cd
e third one is the three foundations,
And magic, ear, and eye are the first.

Because it focuses on mind and mental factors, the third one, clair-
voyance of knowing minds, is contained within the three foun-
dations of mindfulness of feeling, mind, and dharmas. And the
three clairvoyances of magic, ear, and eye are the first foundation

780
of mindfulness of body, because they focus on form. The focus of
the clairvoyance of magic is the four external sense bases excluding
sound. The focuses of the consciousnesses of divine ear and divine
eye are the sense bases of sound and form.

(b) Their intersection with virtue and so forth

45ab
Clairvoyance of ear and eye are neutral.
e rest are virtue.

The clairvoyances of divine eye and divine ear are not afflicted, nor
are they included within the four virtues, so they are unobscured
neutral. These two are full knowing that is concurrent with the eye
or ear consciousnesses. The four rest are virtuous.

(c) Their intersection with the three knowledges. This has two
topics: (i) Overview, and (ii) Explanation.

(i) Overview

45b–d
ree are knowledge,
Because they stop the ignorance
Of prior lives, et cetera.

The three clairvoyances of knowing previous places, death and re-

birth, and extinction of defilements are called the three nonlearn-
ers’ knowledges. Why is it only these three and not the others? you
ask. The reason is because respectively they stop the totally deluded
ignorance of prior lives, et cetera, including future lives and the
present.

(ii) Explanation. This has three points.

781
A. Identifying the ultimate nonlearners’ knowledge

46a
e last one is nonlearner’s.

Of those three, the last one, clairvoyance of extinction of defile-

ments, since it is undefiled, is both nonlearner and also nonlearn-
er’s knowledge.

B. The reason the other two are called by that term

46ab
When two others
Arise in their mindstream, they are so called.

The defiled first and second are not nonlearner by essence, but
when these two others arise in their, the nonlearner’s, mindstream,
they are so called, nonlearners’ knowledge.

C. Elaboration

46cd
Although the learners may have these, their streams
Have ignorance, so these are not called knowledge.

Why are those clairvoyances not called learners’ knowledge? you

ask. Although the detached learners may also have these two, their
mindstreams have ignorance, so these are not called knowledge in
the sutras.

(d) Their intersection with the three miracles. This has two points.

782
(i) General teaching

47a
e first, third, sixth are miracles.

Of these clairvoyances, the first, magic, third, knowing others’

minds, and sixth, extinction of defilements, are the three miracles.
This is because they are respectively miracles of magic, addressing,
and teaching.317

(ii) Identifying the supreme among these

47b–d
e miracle of teaching is best,
Since it is unconfused and brings
Benefit and a pleasant fruit.

Of these three, the miracle of teaching is best, since it arises only

from the extinction of afflictions and thus from its good cause,
since is unconfused, and since it brings the benefit of freeing be-
ings from afflictions in this life, and since in the future it brings a
pleasant fruit or result that is entirely free of duḥkha. The other
two are not like that.

(2) Understanding their particular features. This has three topics:

(a) Understanding the clairvoyance of magic, (b) Understanding
the clairvoyances of eye and ear, and (c) Understanding the natures
of those attained by birth, etc.

(a) Understanding the clairvoyance of magic. This has five topics:

317. The miracle of addressing is telling someone, “Your mind is like this.” The
miracle of teaching is teaching correctly just as things are. (Yaśomitra, Tengyur
ngu pa, 281).

783
(i) Magic’s features, (ii) Identifying the mind of emanation, (iii)
How that emanates, (iv) The essence of the mind of emanation,
and (v) Classifications of magic.

(i) Magic’s features. This has two topics: A. General explanation of

magic, and B. Its actual features.

A. General explanation of magic

48ab
e magical is samadhi. Motion
And emanations are from that.

What is the essence of magical clairvoyance? you ask. The essence

of magical clairvoyance is samadhi because that is what creates it.
What is created? you ask. The three motions through the body,
interest, and mental speed and emanations that did not previously
exist are created from that samadhi.

B. Its actual features. This has two topics: 1. The distinctions be-
tween the three motions, and 2. Distinctions of the two emana-
tions.

1. The distinctions between the three motions

48cd
e Teacher moves with mental speed;
Others: propulsion, interest.

The Teacher, the Buddha, moves with mental speed, because he

can go long distances by merely thinking. Others cannot do this.
Those other than the Buddha have motion through bodily propul-
sion, because their body propels them like birds. They have motion

784
of interest, because by imagining what is far to be close, they can
go there quickly.

2. Distinctions of the two emanations. This has two points.

a. Emanations that act in Desire

49ab
In Desire, emanations are
Four external sense bases. Twofold.

In general, there are two types of mind of emanation: emanations

of Desire and Form. Of these, in Desire emanations are the four
external sense bases of form, scent, taste, and touch by nature.
They are twofold: connected to one’s own being and connected to
another being.318

b. Emanations that act in Form

49c
In Form, two.

Because in Form there is neither scent nor taste, emanations in

Form are the two sense bases of form and touch. These can also be
connected to one’s own or another’s body.

(ii) Identifying the mind of emanation. This has four topics: A.

What emanates, B. Classifications of the mind of emanation, C.
What it is acquired through, and D. What arises from which.

318. For instance, transforming oneself into a lion is connected to one’s own
being. Emanating a lion separate from oneself is connected to another being.
(Tengyur ngu pa, 281).

785
A. What emanates

49cd
Minds of emanation
Create them, too.

Does only clairvoyance create emanations? you ask. No. The result
of clairvoyance, the mind of emanation, creates them—emana-
tions—too.

B. Classifications of the mind of emanation

49d ese are fourteen

50ab
Results of dhyan, respectively,
From two to five, not lower’s result.

These minds of emanation also are fourteen. What are the four-
teen? you ask. The results of levels of dhyana, respectively. From
the first dhyana, there are two minds of emanation on the levels of
Desire and the first dhyana. The results of the second dhyana are
three—those of the two lower levels and its own level. The results
of the third dhyana are four—those of the three lower levels and
its own level. This continues to the fourth dhyana that has five, the
four lower levels and its own in succession.

Here there is something that must be known: emanating an ob-

ject in Desire is the action of the emanating mind of Desire, but
that emanating mind itself is contained within the levels of dhyana.
Therefore, emanating minds that are results of dhyana are of their
own and lower levels, but those emanating minds born from the
higher levels are not the lower levels’ result, because if one has not

786
attained the higher level, one cannot produce its emanating mind.
If one has attained the higher level, the emanating mind is the re-
sult of that level itself.

C. What it is acquired through

50c
It’s gained like dhyan,

How is the mind of emanation acquired? you ask. It is gained like

dhyana by detaching from lower realms. One can also acquire the
emanating mind of the first dhyana by being born from the second
dhyana into the first.

D. What arises from which. This has two topics: 1. What the mind
of emanation arises from, and 2. What arises from the mind of
emanation.

1. What the mind of emanation arises from

50cd arising from

e pure and self.

There is no arising directly from the mind of emanation itself.

When first manifesting a mind of emanation—that is, in entering
a mind of emanation—the emanating mind arises from the pure
dhyana319 and later also from itself.

2. What arises from the mind of emanation

50d
Out of it, two.

319. An unafflicted, defiled dhyana. See VIII.5–6.

787
When abiding in a mind of emanation, there is no arising without
entering samadhi, so out of it, a mind of emanation, two cogni-
tions can arise: in the instance of arising from the mind of ema-
nation there is a pure dhyana upon arising, and in the instance of
continuation, there is the mind of emanation itself. There are no
others that arise. When abiding in an emanating mind that is the
result of samadhi, there is no arising from samadhi without first
re-entering it.

(iii) How that emanates. This has three topics: A. Which minds
of emanations emanate, B. Minds that emanate speech, and C.
Whether minds of emanation are more or less numerous than em-
anations.

A. Which minds of emanations emanate

51a
ey’re emanated by own level,

They, all emanations, are emanated by their own level’s emanating

minds: emanating minds of one level do not create emanations on
other levels.

B. Minds that emanate speech. This has three topics: 1. What

mind supports emanations speaking, 2. Distinctions in how em-
anations speak, and 3. The manner of speaking through blessings.

1. What mind supports emanations speaking

51b
But speech by lower levels, too.

But in particular, when emanations of the second dhyana and

higher engage in speech, they speak only by the speaking mind

788
of the lower level first dhyana, because above that there is no con-
sideration or examination on their own level, and speech depends
upon the motivation of consideration and analysis. The word “too”
means that in Desire and on the first dhyana, only the mind of its
own level engages in speech.

2. Distinctions in how emanations speak. This has two points.

a. Actual

51c
With emanator, except the Teacher.

Emanations speak along with the emanator, except if they are the
Teacher’s emanations. The Teacher, the Buddha, can make multi-
ple emanations speak. From The Long Discourses:320

If one speaks, then all

The emanations speak.
If one doesn’t speak,
Then none of them do.

b. Dispelling a doubt

51d
After it’s blessed, another starts it.

Well then, when there is a mind that speaks, there is no mind of

emanation, so for that reason the emanation would disappear and
who would speak? you ask. This is not a problem, because after it,
the emanation, is blessed to be able to stay, another mind, a speak-
ing mind, starts it speaking.
320. Skt.: Dīrghāma; Tib.: lung ring po.

789
3. The manner of speaking through blessings

52ab
ere are blessings for the dead as well,
Not for the unstable. Some say not.

Are blessings only for the living, or are there also blessings for the
dead? you ask. There are blessings for the dead as well, which allow
them to remain for a long time, because through his own blessings,
the skeleton of Noble Mahākaśyapa remained after his death. There
are blessings for bones and other stable body parts, but not for the
unstable flesh, blood, and so forth, because Noble Mahākaśyapa
did not bless his flesh and so forth. Some say there are not any
blessings for the dead, and that Noble Mahākaśyapa’s skeleton was
caused to remain by the power of the gods of the pure realms.

C. Whether minds of emanation are more or less numerous

than emanations

52cd
First, many emanate the one;
When mastered, it is opposite.

At first, many minds of emanation emanate the one emanation.

When clairvoyance has been mastered, then it is the opposite: one
mind creates many emanations.

(iv) The essence of the mind of emanation

53ab
Produced by meditation, neutral;
But those produced by birth are threefold.

790
Are all minds of emanation neutral? you ask. Minds of emanation
produced by meditation are always neutral, because they arise on
lower levels, so the lower level’s mind of emanation is manifest.
But those minds of emanation that produced by attainment upon
one’s birth, such as those of gods, nagas, flesh-eaters,321 or so forth,
are threefold: virtuous, nonvirtuous, and neutral, because they are
produced to help or harm another, or for a neutral reason. Ema-
nations created by gods and so forth, whether connected to their
own or others’ bodies, are the nine sense bases as they have eyes,
etc., and the sense bases of form excluding sound. Emanations not
connected to one’s own or others’ bodies are only four sense bases.

(v) Classifications of magic

53cd
Magic from mantra, medicine,
And karma, for five types in all.

Is magic just the two produced by meditation and attained upon

birth? you ask. Magic is produced by meditation; attained upon
birth; produced from mantra, such as flying in the sky because of
the ghandhari mantra and so forth; produced by medicine such
as turtle’s mane or peacock feather; and produced by karma, such
as the miracles of Māndhātar or beings in the between state, for a
total of five types in all.

(b) Understanding the clairvoyances of eye and ear. This has

three points.

321. A type of ghost.

791
(i) What their essence is

54ab
ey are the divine eyes and ears,
Clear forms on levels of the dhyanas.

Are the divine eye and ear only for the gods, or when the Bodhi-
sattva, wheelwielding emperors, or precious householders see many
leagues, which is like the divine eye, is this called the divine eye or
ear? you ask. They, the Desire realm gods’ eyes and ears, are the ac-
tual divine eye and divine ear. When in the equipoise of dhyana, if
one trains to direct the attention to appearances in the arena of the
eye and ear, this creates the causes for seeing the form and hearing
the sound of clear forms caused by the sources of the levels of the
dhyanas, so they are on the level of dhyana.

(ii) Distinctive features

54cd
ey’re always active, nothing lacking.
eir sphere is distant, subtle, et cetera.

Both the divine eye and ear always accompany consciousness, so

they are always active and never inactive.322 As there is never any
deficiency or fault, that is to say, no distortion or deafness, there is
nothing lacking, just as with the eyes and ears of sentient beings of
the Form realm. Their sphere is forms and sounds that are distant,
subtle, et cetera, including hidden. As it is said:

The fleshly eye, it cannot see

The distant, hidden, subtle forms,

322. See I.39cd.

792
 Or everything. So for that reason
This is what’s called the sight of gods.

“Everything” means that not only things in front, but things that
are behind and so on are also seen.

(iii) How the three individuals see with the divine eye

55ab
e arhat, rhino, and the Teacher
See a thousand squared or cubed or countless.

Seeing lower levels with the divine eye of the first dhyana and so
forth has been explained. The listeners and self-buddhas see the
thousand worlds, two thousands, and three thousands with their
divine eyes.323 In particular, the listener arhats, the rhino-like
self-buddhas, and the Teacher of gods and humans see through
the strength of effort a thousand squared (a million) worlds, or a
thousand cubed (a billion), or countless world realms respectively.
The Teacher’s depends upon merely thinking of it.

(c) Understanding the natures of those attained by birth, etc.

This has two topics: (i) General teaching, and (ii) Distinctions in
support.

(i) General teaching. This has three points.

A. Teaching that the other four can also be attained upon birth

55c
Others are gained on birth as well,

323. That is, they see the general prime thousand, the middle world realm, and
the three thousands described in III.73 and 74.

793
Is magic the only clairvoyance attained upon birth, or can the oth-
ers be as well? you ask. Not only magic, the others, including the
divine ear and so forth, can be gained on birth as well, but since
those are not produced by meditation, they are not called clairvoy-
ance.

B. How the divine eye attained upon birth sees

55d
It cannot see the between state.

It, the divine eye attained upon birth, cannot see the between state,
which can only be seen by the divine eye produced by training.

C. Detailed explanation of knowing minds

56ab
Knowing minds is three, created by
e intellect and mantra, too.

Knowing others’ minds attained upon birth, depending upon its

intention, is threefold, virtue and so forth. Knowing others’ minds
that is created by the intellect from perceiving the attributes of
someone’s body and speech, and that created by mantra are virtu-
ous, nonvirtuous, or neutral, too. These are not like the result of
meditation, which is solely virtuous.

(ii) Distinctions in support

56cd
Hell beings know at first. With humans,
ere are not any gained on birth.

794
Hell beings both know others’ minds and remember previous plac-
es at first from the time they are born until they are agonized by the
feelings of suffering. Once they are agonized, they no longer know
because they are oppressed by suffering. Those who live among
other wanderers know permanently. Of the clairvoyances that have
been taught, with humans there are not any gained on birth, but
there is magic that is attained by detachment, intellect, mantras,
medicine, and karma.

Well then, how is it that some humans naturally remember their

previous births? you ask. That is not attained upon birth but pro-
duced by previous karma. From the Precious Garland:324

For purpose of Dharma and likewise

Remembering the meanings of scriptures,
And stainless generosity of Dharma,
Remembrance of lifetimes is attained.

Second, presenting the area’s name

is completes the seventh area called “Teachings on

Wisdom” from the Verses of the Treasury of
Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the seventh area called “Teach-

ings on Wisdom” from The Explanation of the “Verses of the Trea-
sury of Abhidharma” called The Essence of the Ocean of Abhidhar-
ma, The Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining the Youthful
Play, Opening the Eyes of Dharma, the Chariot of Easy Practice.

A few words here:

324. Tib. rin chen phreng ba, Skt. Ratnāvāli.

795
The moon of speech who has perfected fully
The all-knowing wisdom and compassion of
The master of ten powers, my glorious master,
Melts in my heart into a drop whose pureness

Then rises to my throat as Manju’s riches.

Thus have I gained some independent courage
In all the scriptures of the infinite victors—
I have no fear to teach, write, or debate.

By excellently bringing to a finish

The seventh section of this explanation
Of abhidharma, the treasury on wisdom,
While staying in retreat in solitude

In the White Cave on the side of the mountain

On the full moon of winter’s second month
When the moon rose among the Pleiades,
May the teachings of the Sage remain for ages!

796
 EIGHTH AREA

Teachings on the Absorptions

From the fields that bring happiness to great cooling groves

He went at his leisure, the glorious lama,
And then gave the gift of this feast that’s supreme
To beings of this fortunate aeon: I prostrate to him.

The causal, resultant pure dhyanas, the Formless,

The eight emancipations, all-encompassing, et cetera—
The eighth part, the treasury that teaches absorption—
If you wish to know these all with ease, enjoy this.

The eighth area, the “Teachings on the Absorptions,” has first an

explanation of the text of the area and second, an explanation of
the branch that completes the composition, the summary of the
treatise. The explanation of the text of the area has three topics: I.
Explanation of the dhyanas and the Formless, II. Classifications
of samadhi, and III. Explanation of the qualities supported by sa-
madhi.

I. Explanation of the dhyanas and the Formless. This has two

topics: A. Individual explanations, and B. Understanding them in
common.

A. Individual explanations. This has three topics: 1. An explana-

tion of the dhyanas, 2. An explanation of the Formless, and 3.
Summary of both.

1. An explanation of the dhyanas. This has two topics: a. Classifi-

cations, and b. Individual natures.

797
a. Classifications

1a
e dhyans are twofold. ey are four.

The qualities of the knowings have been explained in the section on

the knowings. Now the other qualities must be told. Because they
support all the qualities, first we must begin with the explanation
of the dhyanas.

The support of the qualities, the dhyanas, are in brief twofold

through the distinctions between the resultant birth and the causal
absorption. They are each the four of the first dhyana and so forth.

b. Individual natures. This has two topics: i. The reason the resul-
tant dhyanas of birth are not explained here, and ii. Understanding
the causal dhyanas of absorption.

i. The reason the resultant dhyanas of birth are not explained

here

1b
Rebirth there has been fully explained.

Rebirth in the dhyanas will not be further discussed here because

the dhyanas of birth there have been fully explained in the Trea-
sury that teaches the world. How were they explained? you ask.
They were explained in the verses:

Each of the dhyanas has three levels,

But the fourth dhyana has eight levels.325

325. III.2cd.

798
ii. Understanding the causal dhyanas of absorption. This has two
topics: (1) Their general essence, and (2) Their individual essences.

(1) Their general essence. This has two points.

(a) Actual

1c
Absorption is one-pointed virtue.

The causal absorption of dhyana is without differentiation

one-pointed virtue because it is samadhi by nature. By saying “vir-
tue,” afflicted and nonobscured neutral one-pointed minds are ex-
cluded.

(b) Including what is associated with it

1d
Its following, five aggregates.

Including its following or associated dharmas, it is known as five

aggregates by nature, because they include imperceptible forms and
so forth, the rest of the five aggregates.

What is so-called one pointedness? you ask. It is called that be-

cause the mind rests one-pointedly on the focus of equipoise. The
Great Exposition says that the dharma that is the mental factor of
samadhi that makes the cognition rest in equipoise is samadhi, and
that itself is one-pointedness. The Sutra school says that cognitions
with the same focus only are samadhi, and other dharmas such as
the mental factors are not. The Great Exposition and Sutra schools
both make many propositions. The term is explained as meaning
that it makes the mind contemplate.

799
(2) Their individual essences. This has two points.

(a) The essence of the first dhyana

2a
It has examining, joy, pleasure.

It, the one-pointed virtuous first dhyana, has examining, joy, and
pleasure. Saying “examining” explains that considering is also pres-
ent, because they function together, like fire and smoke. Without
considering, there is no examining that possesses joy and pleasure.

(b) The essence of the remaining dhyanas

2b
e earlier branches are discarded.

The remaining dhyanas are one-pointed virtue in which the earlier

branches of considering, examining, and so on are discarded. The
second dhyana has discarded examination but possesses joy and
pleasure. The third has discarded examination and joy but possesses
pleasure. The fourth has abandoned examination, joy, and pleasure.

2. An explanation of the Formless. This has three topics: a. Their

general essence, b. Their individual essences, and c. Elaboration.

a. Their general essence. This has two points.

i. Comparing similar features

2c
Formless are like.

The Formless are like those dhyanas, in that they have the resulting

800
Formless of birth and the causal Formless of absorption. They are
also the four of Infinite Space and so on. Their births have been
explained.326

ii. Dissimilar features.

2c
Four aggregates,

Including their associations, they are four aggregates, because there

is no form that accompanies them.

b. Their individual essences

2d
Born of withdrawal from lower levels.

The one-pointed virtue born of withdrawal from the lower level of

the fourth dhyana is the sense base of Infinite Space. What is born
from withdrawal from that is the sense base of Infinite Conscious-
ness. What is born from withdrawal from that is the sense base of
Nothingness. What is born from withdrawal from that is the sense
base of Neither Conception nor Non-Conception. Thus there are
the four Formless. What is withdrawal? you ask. It is the path that
separates completely from the lower level, because one becomes
detached from it.

c. Elaboration. This has two topics: i. Distinctions in conceptions,

and ii. Explanations of terms.

326. See III.3.

801
i. Distinctions in conceptions

3ab
ey are called, with three preparations,
Destruction of conception of form.

They, the Formless, are called with the three higher preparations,
by the name destruction of conception of form, because there is no
form on their own level and they do not focus on the defiled form
of lower levels. The preparation for Infinite Space is a conception
that views the form of the fourth dhyana as coarse and so forth, so
it is not given the name destruction of conception of form.

ii. Explanations of terms. This has two topics: (1) Explaining the
term Formless realm, and (2) Explaining the names of each of the
four.

(1) Explaining the term Formless realm. This has two points.

(a) Actual

3c
In Formless realms, there is no form.

The Majority school and others say that the Formless is not entirely
without form, but as the form there is subtle, it is said to be Form-
less. Such a proposal is illogical. If its form is subtle by aspect, tiny
aquatic creatures would also be present there, and if it is subtle by
nature, the Form realm would also be Formless. If it is by extreme
subtlety and clarity, you should only propose that the Peak of Ex-
istence is that.

Well then, merely the forms of vows of body and speech are there,
you say. They are not, because there are neither body nor speech,

802
nor any sources there. It is also not acceptable to say that they are
not on their own level but are born from other levels, similar to
undefiled vows, because the forms of vows of body and speech are
bound by the bonds of existence and thus cannot exert power over
another level.

From the Sutra of the Great Welcome:327

Those dharmas that are life and that are warmth are mixed;
they are not unmixed…

Also:

Name and form are mutually supporting.

And in teaching interdependence:

By the condition of consciousness, name-and-form…

These quotations are said with the lower two realms in mind. If you
propose that they apply to all situations, it would follow that ex-
ternal warmth would also be mixed with life and all external forms
would depend upon name and arise from consciousness itself. Be-
cause of this, these quotations are not proof that there is form in
Formless.

From a sutra:

The Formless are emancipation from form. Whatever is one of

the four peaceful Formless emancipations transcends form…

Also:

327. gang yang bsus po che mdo.

803
 There are sentient beings who do not have form.

Also:

Having transcended the conception of form in all aspects…

These quotations contradict the proposition, so the name Formless

is not arbitrary. Therefore, in the Formless realm there is no form,
not even the slightest bit, which is why it is called Formless.

(b) Dispelling a doubt

3d
en form arises from cognition.

Well then, when one is born from the Formless in a lower realm,
for more than a few aeons the continuum of form has been broken,
so how does form arise again? you ask. Then at that time form aris-
es from acquiring entry into the cognition that is stained with the
cause of its full ripening. The grasping cause is the four sources in
Desire and Form.

The Sutra school says that there is a seed of form in the mind’s con-
tinuum, from which form arises. The Yogic Conduct school says
form arises from its seeds, which are in the all-ground.

(2) Explaining the names of each of the four. This has two points.

(a) Explaining the names of the first three

4ab
ey’re called the Infinite Consciousness,
Space, Nothing at All, from training so.

804
Are the sense bases of infinite consciousness and so forth called
that because they only focus on space and so on? you ask. No. Well
then, what are they like? you ask. They are called by those names
because during the training for them, one views the lower levels
as having faults and thinks, “Consciousness is infinite. Space is
infinite. There is nothing at all.” From training so with such at-
tention, they are called by the names Infinite Consciousness and so
forth because of the training. However, any of them can focus on
other dharmas.

(b) Explaining the names of the last

4cd
Since it is feeble, no conception,
But it’s not nonconception, either.

Since it, the motion of conception, is feeble, there is no clear con-

ception, but it is not total nonconception, either. Alternatively,
during the training one views both coarse conception and noncon-
ception as faulty and generates the absorption through the atten-
tion that thinks, “This which is neither conception nor nonconcep-
tion is peace.” This is the highest level of samsara, so it is also called
the Peak of Existence.

3. Summary of both

5ab
us actual absorption is
Eight substances.

Thus actual absorption is eight substances: four dhyanas and four

Formless.

805
B. Understanding them in common. This has six topics: 1. Exam-
ining their essence, 2. Identifying the branches of dhyana, 3. The
manner in which absorptions are attained, 4. What support mani-
fests them, 5. What sphere they focus on, and 6. Identifying what
discards afflictions.

1. Examining their essence. This has two topics: a. Classifying in

terms of their essence, and b. The meaning of each classification.

a. Classifying in terms of their essence. This has two points.

i. Classifications of the seven lower absorptions

5b–d
Seven are threefold:
Concurrent with enjoyment, pure,
And undefiled.

The seven absorptions other than the Peak of Existence are three-
fold. Absorptions of those with the lowest faculties where there is
great craving, view, pride, and doubt are concurrent with enjoy-
ment, the absorptions of those with medium faculties are pure, and
the absorptions of those with the highest faculties are undefiled.

ii. Classifications of the Peak of Existence

5d
e eighth is twofold.

The eighth, the Peak of Existence, is twofold: it can be concurrent

with enjoyment or pure. There is no undefiled Peak of Existence.

806
b. The meaning of each classification

6.
e one concurrent with enjoyment
Has craving. Virtue of the worldly
Is pure, which is what that enjoys.
e undefiled transcends the world.

The one called concurrent with enjoyment has concurrence with

craving. It is also concurrent with other afflictions, of course, but
the reason that only craving is taught here is because craving is
realized to be the greatest hindrance to emancipating oneself onto
higher levels. The virtue of the worldly absorptions is called pure
because it is concurrent with nongreed and other positive dharmas.

What does the concurrent with enjoyment enjoy? you ask. Pure
absorption passes, immediately after which is what, the experience,
that concurrent with enjoyment enjoys. It is regression from that
which it experiences.

The undefiled absorption transcends the world and takes the

truths as aspects.

2. Identifying the branches of dhyana. This has three topics: a.

Correlating the branches to each absorption, b. Teaching three
branches in particular, and c. Teaching the distinctions among the
absorptions.

a. Correlating the branches to each absorption. This has two

points: i. Classifying in terms of name, and ii. Summarizing in
terms of substance.

807
i. Classifying in terms of name

7.
e first has five: considering,
Examining, joy, pleasure, and samadhi.
ere are four branches on the second:
Serenity, joy, and so forth.

8.
Five on the third: there’s equanimity,
And mindfulness, awareness, pleasure, rest.
e last has four: mindful, equanimous,
Not pain nor pleasure, and samadhi.

The first dhyana has five branches: through abandoning such im-
pediments as desire of the Desire realm, malice, hostility, and so
on, there are the two antidotal branches of considering and exam-
ining. Having discarded the impediments through considering and
examining, there is joy and pleasure born of withdrawal, which are
the branches of benefit. These former are accomplished through
the power of one pointedness, so there is the supporting branch of
samadhi. Samadhi is both a branch and also dhyana. The others are
only branches, it is heard. The Master explains that, “The dhyana of
five branches is just like an army with four branches.”

There are four branches on the second dhyana: the antidotal

branch that abandons the impediments of consideration and exam-
ining, true inner serenity; and the branches of benefit and support,
joy, and so forth, pleasure and one-pointedness itself.

There are five branches on the third dhyana: the three antidotal
branches that discard the impediment of the lower levels’ joy: the
formation equanimity, which by not striving for joy has the char-

808
acteristic of spontaneity in relation to the focus; and mindfulness,
which does not forget the continuum of sequanimity; and aware-
ness, which does not forget mindfulness. The branches of benefit
and support are respectively pleasure and the samadhi of a mind
that rests.

The last, fourth dhyana, has four branches: completely pure mind-
fulness, the formation equanimity that is free of the eight faults of
lower levels, and neutral feeling that is not pain nor pleasure, and
completely pure samadhi.

In terms of names, the branches of dhyana are eighteen, because

the first and third have five branches each, and the second and
fourth each have four.

ii. Summarizing in terms of substance

9a
In substance, they are eleven.

In substance, they are eleven. The first dhyana has five substances.
The second’s true inner serenity, and the third’s equanimity, mind-
fulness, awareness, and pleasure make ten. The fourth’s neutral feel-
ing makes eleven. For that reason, there are four alternatives of
branches that are on the first dhyana but not on the second, etc.

b. Teaching three branches in particular. This has three points.

i. Explaining distinctions in pleasure

9ab
Pleasure
On the first two is pliancy.

809
Why is the pleasure of the third dhyana said to be a different sub-
stance than the pleasure of the first two dhyanas? you ask. What is
called the branch of pleasure on the first two dhyanas is pliancy;
it is not a feeling. Because the pleasure of the third is the feeling of
pleasure, it is logical to say that it is a different substance than the
pleasure of the first two levels.

The pleasure of those two levels is not the feeling of pleasure be-
cause the dhyanas of absorption block the sense consciousnesses,
so it is not bodily pleasure. Joy is taught as a branch, and that is
mental pleasure, which cannot arise simultaneously with cognitive
pleasure, the Great Exposition proposes.

The Dārṣṭāntikas do not assert pleasure born of cognition and so

present only bodily pleasure as a branch. The branch is not plian-
cy called by the name of pleasure. Otherwise it would follow that
the pliancy of the fourth dhyana would be pleasure. If one needs a
pliancy that is compatible with the feeling pleasure, it follows that
the pliancy of the third would also be that. It also says in a sutra:

At the time that noble listeners have manifested through

their bodies the pleasure born from complete withdrawal and
perfected it, dwelling within it, at that time the five dharmas
of this are discarded. The meditation of the five dharmas, great
serenity, joy, pliancy, pleasure, and samadhi, is completely
perfected.

Here pliancy and pleasure are said to be separate, and that would
be contradicted, they say.

810
ii. Explaining complete serenity in particular

9c
Serenity is faith,

True inner serenity is confident faith that having attained the sec-
ond dhyana, one is emancipated from the first dhyana.

iii. Explaining the distinctions of mental pleasure

9cd
and two
Scriptures say joy is mental pleasure.

Some other schools say that joy is a different mental factor and
mental pleasure is taught as the branch of pleasure of all three
dhyanas. This is not correct, because if it were, it would contradict
the two scriptures. In the Viparītasūtra,328 after saying, “The third
dhyana,” the Bhagavan said:

On this, the arising of all faculties of mental pleasure without

exception cease…

Also:

On the fourth dhyana, all faculties of pleasure without excep-

tion cease.

From the Sutra which Teaches the Branches of Dhyana:329

328. rnam par bsgyur ba’i mdo.

329. bsam tan gyi yan lag bstan pa’i mdo.

811
 And pleasure is also discarded. Previously suffering has also
been discarded, and mental pleasure and mental suffering have
also previously disappeared…

Because it would not be proven that mental pleasure had previous-

ly been discarded, on the third dhyana there can be no faculty of
mental pleasure. Therefore, the joy of the first two dhyanas is only
mental pleasure and is not pleasure.

c. Teaching the distinctions among the absorptions. This has

three topics: i. Distinctions between the afflicted and unafflicted,
ii. Features of the fourth dhyana, and iii. Distinctions in feeling
between causal and resultant absorptions.

i. Distinctions between the afflicted and unafflicted

10.
In the afflicted, there is no joy or pleasure;
Serenity; awareness, mindfulness;
Or equanimity, pure mindfulness;
Some say no pliancy, no equanimity.

Are those same branches previously explained also present in afflict-

ed dhyana? you ask. They are not. Which of them are not? you ask.
In the afflicted first dhyana, there is no joy or pleasure born of
withdrawal, because it is not withdrawn from the afflictions of that
level. On the second dhyana, there is no great serenity, because it
is sullied by the afflictions of its own level. On the third dhyana,
there is no awareness or mindfulness because it has been made
completely deluded by afflicted pleasure. On the fourth, there is
no equanimity or pure mindfulness, because those two have been
stained by the afflictions. Some say there is no pliancy on the

812
afflicted first or second dhyana, and on the third and fourth there is
no equanimity, because these are virtuous major grounds, they say.

ii. Features of the fourth dhyana

11.
e fourth is free from the eight faults,
So it’s immovable. ey are
Considering, examining, breaths,
And pleasure and the other three.

The Bhagavan said, “Because the three dhyanas have faults, they are
movable.” The fourth dhyana is free from eight faults explained
below, so it is immovable. They, the eight faults, are considering,
examining, the in-breath and out-breath, and pleasure and the
other three, suffering, mental pleasure, and mental unhappiness.

iii. Distinctions in feeling between causal and resultant absorp-

tions. This has two points.

(1) Actual

12.
Dhyanas of birth have happiness,
And pleasure and the neutral feeling;
Neutral and happiness; and pleasure
And neutral; and the neutral feeling.

Are those feelings that are in the causal dhyanas of absorption also
present in the resultant dhyanas of birth? you ask.

The first dhyanas of birth have happiness of the level of mind con-

813
sciousness, and pleasure of the three consciousnesses,330 and the
neutral feeling of the four consciousnesses. On the second dhya-
na, there are both neutral and mental happiness; and on the third
there is also pleasure and neutral. And on the fourth there is only
the neutral feeling.

Of these, the pleasure of the first dhyana is solely bodily feeling

supported by eye, ear, and body, and its neutral feeling is both
bodily and mental. From the second dhyana and above, they are
all only mental feelings. Bodily feeling is always accompanied by
considering and examining, and because there is no considering
and examining on the second and above, there can be no bodily
feelings, either.

(2) Dispelling a doubt

13.
On second and so forth, the body,
Eye, and ear consciousnesses, and
What makes them perceive is of the first.
It’s neutral; it is not afflicted.

On the second dhyana, et cetera, if there is no considering and

examination, how can they see, hear, or touch, and how is the act
of knowing motivated? you ask. Those who are born there are not
without eye consciousness and so forth, but they are not of their
own level. On the second dhyana and so forth, the third and fourth
dhyanas, the body consciousness, eye consciousness, and ear con-
sciousness, and that which is the considering and examining that
makes them perceive is only manifested through those of the first

330. The sense consciousnesses excluding scent and taste, which are not present
in the dhyanas. See I.30b–d.

814
dhyana. It, the consciousness on the second or higher dhyana, is
unobscured neutral; because it is detached, it is also not afflicted.
Because it is inferior, it is also not pure absorption.

3. The manner in which absorptions are attained. This has three

topics: a. The actual manner in which they are attained, b. What
arises following which, and c. The manner in which the skipping
absorption arises.

a. The actual manner in which they are attained. This has three
points.

i. How the pure is attained

14ab
ose who do not possess them gain
e pure through detachment or from birth;

How are the absorptions of dhyana and the Formless attained? you
ask. Those who do not possess them, the dhyanas and Formless,
from before gain any of the three pure with the exception of ten-
dency toward the undefiled331 through detachment or, except for
the Peak of Existence, from birth from a higher into a lower. The
Peak is not attained by birth because there is no level above it.

ii. How the undefiled is attained

14c
e undefiled is through detachment;

The undefiled actual absorptions, if one has not previously pos-

sessed them, are only attained through detachment from the lower

331. One of the classifications of the pure absorption. See VIII.17–18.

815
levels. If previously possessed, they can also be attained through
training such as the distinctive actual practices of the nonlearners
and those with sharp faculties, but are not attained through birth
or regression.

iii. How the afflicted is attained

14d
Afflicted, by regressing, birth.

Afflicted absorption, when not previously possessed, is attained by

regressing such as when one regresses from detachment from the
first dhyana and attains the afflicted first dhyana. Except for the
Peak, it is also attained by birth from a higher realm into a lower
realm. For example, when one is born from the second or higher
dhyana into the first dhyana, one can attain the afflicted first dhya-
na. The afflicted Peak is only attained through regression. Afflicted
absorption is not attained through training or detachment.

b. What arises following which. This has two topics: i. General

teaching, and ii. Specifics of the latter two.

i. General teaching. This has three points.

(1) What arises right after the undefiled

15a–c
Right after undefiled, the virtue
Of levels up to two above
Or below can arise.

Right after which substances of absorption can how many arise?

Right after the substance of undefiled absorption of dhyana and
Formless, the pure and undefiled virtue of its own level and up to

816
two levels above or two levels below can arise, because when doing
skipping absorption, one cannot skip more than one level.332

(2) What arises right after the pure

15cd
From pure,
e same, or own level’s afflicted.

From the pure absorption, the pure and undefiled arise, which
should be known to be the same as what has just been explained.
Or in addition, just after the pure, its own level’s afflicted can also
arise. The afflicted cannot arise right after the undefiled, because
that is totally exclusive of entry into the afflicted.

(3) What arises right after the afflicted

16ab
From the afflicted, own pure, afflicted,
And one pure of the lower, too.

From the afflicted absorption, in the instance of taking hold of it

with mindfulness and awareness and then arising from it, the pure
of its own level can arise directly. In the instance of continuation,
the afflicted arises. Not only that, when greatly tormented by the

332. The Tibetan and Sanskrit verses literally read “up to three levels,” but this
is counting the level that one is on inclusively as the first of the three levels. In
common English parlance, this would generally not be counted, and so here it is
translated as two levels. The meaning is the same: from an undefiled third dhya-
na, for example, one can skip up two levels to Infinite Space, but not higher to
Infinite Consciousness, etc.

817
afflictions, one gains affection for the pure of the lower level, and
so the one pure of the lower can arise, too.

ii. Specifics of the latter two. This has two topics: (1) At the time
of death, and (2) Particulars of the four tendencies.

(1) At the time of death. This has two points.

(a) Pure

16c
From pure at death, all the afflicted,

It has been explained that during the period of absorption only

their own level’s afflicted can follow directly upon the pure or
afflicted absorptions, but other levels’ cannot. However, from a
pure absorption that was attained upon birth, at the time of death
it is possible to be reborn in any of the levels above or below, so at
the time of rebirth-linking, all the afflicted of the nine levels can
possibly arise.

(b) Afflicted

16d
But from afflicted, not the higher.

But from afflicted absorptions at the time of death, the afflicted

of their own level or lower arise, but not the afflicted of higher,
because if the afflicted of the lower level has not been discarded,
there is no birth in the higher. This is because the lower afflicted is
exclusive of rebirth-linking in the higher.

(2) Particulars of the four tendencies. This has three points.

818
(a) Classifying the pure in four

17ab
Four types of pure tend toward regression,
Et cetera.

Not all pure absorptions produce the undefiled. In general, there

are four types of pure absorption: the tendency toward regression,
et cetera, the tendency to staying, the tendency toward the supe-
rior, and the tendency toward the undefiled. On the Peak of Exis-
tence, there is no tendency toward the superior, because there is no
higher level.

(b) The meaning of each classification

17b–d
Respectively,
ey tend toward birth of the afflictions,
Of own, of higher, of undefiled.

In essence, respectively, they tend in the instance of continuation

toward the birth of the afflictions, toward the birth of virtue of
their own level, toward the birth of virtue of a higher level, and to-
ward the birth of undefiled. The meaning of tend here is “directed
toward its birth.”

(c) What arises after which of the four

18ab
Tendencies to regress, et cetera,
Are followed by two, three, three, one.

What arises right after each of the four? you ask. The four tenden-

819
cies toward regression, et cetera, may be followed immediately by
the first two right after the first, and the first three right after the
second. Right after the third, the last three arise, and right after the
last, only the last one itself arises.

c. The manner in which skipping absorption arises. This has two

topics: i. Training, and ii. Actual practice.

i. Training. This has two points.

(1) Distant training

18cd
Going through eight levels up and down,
Both types in sequence,

How does one produce skipping absorption? you ask. One goes
through the eight levels, going up in ascending order and down
in descending order. One enters each of the four dhyanas and four
Formless, both defiled and undefiled types in sequence. In order,
one enters the absorption of the defiled first samadhi. Then one en-
ters the absorptions going up in ascending order as far as the Peak
of Existence, and then coming back down in descending order to
the first dhyana. Then one enters the absorption of the undefiled
first samadhi. Then one enters the absorptions going up in ascend-
ing order as far as undefiled Nothingness, and then coming back
down in descending order to the undefiled first dhyana. This is the
initial training for skipping absorption.

820
(2) Near training

18d
or skipping one,

Then one enters the defiled absorption of the first dhyana, skips one
level, and enters the absorption of the third dhyana. Then by skip-
ping every other level one goes up as far as the Peak in ascending
order, and then skipping every other level one comes back down as
far as the defiled first dhyana in descending order. Then one enters
the undefiled absorption of the first dhyana and skipping one level
enters the undefiled absorption of the third. Then skipping every
other level, one enters the undefiled absorption of Nothingness and
then comes down to the undefiled first dhyana skipping every oth-
er level. This is the advanced training for skipping absorption.

ii. Actual practice

19ab
en going to the third of the
Different type is skipping absorption.

Following that, one then enters the defiled absorption of the first
samadhi and then skips one and goes to the third dhyana of the
different, undefiled type. Discarding the fourth, one enters defiled
Infinite Space, and discarding another, enter undefiled Nothing-
ness. Then one discards every other level down to the first dhyana.
In this way, skipping every other level and alternating between the
incompatible defiled and undefiled dhyanas and Formless is the
actual practice of skipping absorption.

The explanation here that one cannot skip more than one level
is in terms of listeners with dull faculties. The explanation in the

821
Ornament of Clear Realization333 that it is possible to skip eight is in
terms of bodhisattvas with sharp faculties.

Only nonoccasional, totally liberated arhats on the support of the

three continents can produce this, because they have no afflictions
and have mastery over samadhi.

4. What support manifests them. This has two points.

a. General

19cd
e dhyans and Formless, on their own
Or lower support. No use for lower.

The dhyanas and the Peak and the other Formless absorptions are
manifested on the support of their own level or lower levels down
to Desire. When one is born in a higher level, the absorption of
the lower level is not manifested, because there is absolutely no use
for the substance of the lower absorption. Producing the samadhi
of the lower has the function of producing the full ripening of the
lower, but the higher level has transcended the full ripening of the
lower, because the samadhi of the lower level is inferior.

b. An exception on the Peak of Existence

20ab
On Peak, they manifest Nothingness
Of nobles, then extinguish defilements.

That was in general, but there is an exception: when born on the

Peak, they, nobles, manifest the undefiled sense base of Nothing-

333. Skt.: Abhisamayālaṅkāra. Tib.: mngon rtogs rgyan.

822
ness of nobles, and then they extinguish defilements of the Peak of
Existence, because there is no undefiled path on the Peak and the
undefiled sense base of Nothingness is close to the Peak.

5. What sphere they focus on. This has three points.

a. What afflicted dhyana focuses on

20c
Enjoyment focuses on own existence.

Absorptions with craving that are concurrent with enjoyment fo-

cus on their own level’s existence, defiled things. They do not focus
on the lower because they are detached from it. They do not focus
on the higher, because they are completely separated from the high-
er by craving. They do not focus on the undefiled, either, because
then it would follow that they were virtuous.

b. What pure and undefiled dhyanas focus on

20d
All that exists is virtuous dhyan’s sphere.

All that is composite and noncomposite and exists is the pure and
undefiled virtuous dhyana’s sphere or object.

c. What the actual Formless focuses on

21ab
Defiled of lower is not the sphere
Of virtuous actual of Formless.

The defiled of lower levels is not the sphere of the virtuous actual
practices of Formless. Their sphere is either the defiled or undefiled

823
of their own and higher levels, and also the lower level’s undefiled
paths of subsequent knowing.

6. Identifying what discards afflictions. This has two topics: a.

What discards what, and b. Distinctions in the discarding anti-
dotes.

a. What discards what. This has two points.

i. What the undefiled actual practice discards

21c
e undefiled discard afflictions,

Of the dhyanas and Formless that are pure, undefiled, and con-
current with enjoyment, the undefiled discard the afflictions of
their own and higher levels. There’s no need to mention the con-
current with enjoyment—even the pure does not discard. Because
the preparations have detached one, the pure does not discard the
afflictions of lower levels. Because it is not their antidote, it does
not discard afflictions of its own level. Because they are greatly su-
perior, it does not discard the higher level’s afflictions.

ii. What the preparations discard

21d
As do pure preparations, too.

As do the undefiled, the pure preparations for higher levels of

dhyana and form discard the afflictions of the level below them,
too. The word “too” means that Not Unable is included within

824
the undefiled. It has already been explained that it can discard the
afflictions of every level.334

Therefore, the defiled actual practices do not discard any afflictions

at all because the lower level’s have already been discarded and they
cannot discard the afflictions of their own or higher levels.

b. Distinctions in the discarding antidotes. This has two topics: i.

Distinctions of the preparations, and ii. Identifying special dhyana.

i. Distinctions of the preparations. This has two topics: (1) Clas-

sifications, and (2) Their essences and the feelings they are concur-
rent with.

(1) Classifications

22a
For those, there are eight preparations.

For entering those eight actual practices, there are also eight prepa-
rations. As far as the manner of entering absorption, each of the
preparations has seven aspects through which one can enter the ab-
sorption: attention on thorough knowledge of the characteristics,
attention produced by interest, attention on complete withdrawal,
attention on taking delight, attention on examination, attention
on the end of training, and attention on the result of the end of
training. The first six of these are preparations, and the last is the
actual practice.335

334. See VI.47cd.

335. In the first of these, attention on thorough knowledge of the characteris-
tics, one considers the lower realm coarse and the upper realm peaceful. In the
second, attention produced by interest, one discards the hindrances to generating
the third. In the third, attention on complete withdrawal, one discards the three
greater sets of meditative discards. In the fourth, attention on taking delight,

825
(2) Their essences and the feelings they are concurrent with.
This has four points.

(a) General essence

22b
ey’re pure,

On the first two dhyanas, there is the feeling joy. On the third,
pleasure, and on the fourth, neutral. Do their preparations have
similar feelings? you ask. They do not. They, the preparations, are
pure in essence. They are not concurrent with enjoyment because
they are not free of revulsion for the lower level and because they
are a path that brings detachment.

(b) Which feelings they are concurrent with

22b
not pleasure and not pain.

They, the feelings on the preparations, are not pleasure and are
not pain or suffering, so they are only neutral. This is because the
preparations must be induced by exertion, so they arise out of ef-
fort. The pervasion holds because the paths that arise without effort
are concurrent with joy and pleasure.

one feels joy and pleasure at having abandoned the greater discards and discards
the three medium sets of discards. In the fifth, attention on examination, one
examines oneself to see which discards remain. In the sixth, attention on the end
of training, one abandons the three lesser meditative discards. (Mi bskyod rdo rje
2003, vol. 1, 286–7)

826
(c) Particulars of the essence

22c
e first is also noble.

The first of the preparations, Not Unable, is not solely pure; it can
also be noble or undefiled.

(d) Others’ assertions

22c
Some say, threefold.

Some say Not Unable can be all three, including concurrent with
enjoyment. The reason is because it is clear, or according to Master
Saṅghabhadra, because it pursues and competes with the actual
practice.

ii. Identifying special dhyana. This has four points.

(1) Identifying its essence

22d
In special dhyan, there’s no considering.

Well then, there is the term preparations and also the term special
dhyana. Are these two the same or different? you ask. They are dif-
ferent. The former is the path that brings detachment. The special
dhyan is an actual practice in which there is no considering, but in
which there is examining. Thus the first dhyana has the classifica-
tions as the mere actual practice that has both considering and ex-
amining, and the special that has examining only. There is no such

827
distinction in the second and so forth, so there is no classification
of them as mere or special.

(2) Classifications

23a
It’s threefold,

It, the special dhyana, is threefold: concurrent with enjoyment,

pure, and undefiled.

(3) Which feelings it has

23a
neither pain nor pleasure,

Because the special dhyana is a difficult path that must be creat-

ed by exertion, it only has neutral feeling that is neither pain nor
pleasure.

(4) Result

23b
And has Great Brahma as result.

And what is the particular result of the special dhyana? you ask. It
has the Great Brahma realm as result, because those who meditate
on it will be reborn in Great Brahma.

II. Classifications of samadhi. This has two topics: A. Classifying

samadhi in three, and B. Classifying samadhi in four.

A. Classifying samadhi in three. This has three topics: 1. Classify-

828
ing in terms of level, 2. Classifying in terms of path, and 3. Classi-
fying in terms of the mode of engaging the object.

1. Classifying in terms of level

23cd
Below, samadhi has considering,
Examining. Above, there’s neither.

The sutras teach that there are three types of samadhi. Of these, on
special dhyana there is samadhi that has no considering but does
have examining alone. Below it, on the first dhyana and Not Un-
able, there is samadhi that has considering and examining. Above
it, from the preparations for the second to the Peak, there is sa-
madhi that has neither considering nor examining.

2. Classifying in terms of path. This has three points.

a. Identifying the essences of the three samadhis

24.
e signless has aspects of peace,
And emptiness engages selfless
And emptiness. No wishing has
All other aspects of the truths.

The sutras speak of the three samadhis: the samadhi of emptiness,

samadhi of no wishing, and samadhi of signlessness. Of these, the
signless samadhi is a samadhi that is free of the ten attributes—
the five objects, the four characteristics of composites, and male
and female attributes—and from focusing on noncomposites has
aspects of peace, the four aspects of the truth of cessation. And
the samadhi of emptiness is samadhi that, for any focus, engages

829
only the two aspects of selfless and emptiness. The samadhi of no
wishing is a samadhi that focuses on composites and only has the
aspects of the truths that create revulsion, so it is concurrent with
all the other aspects of the truths than those six previously men-
tioned. It is a samadhi that is concurrent with the ten remaining
aspects: four of the truth of origin, four of path, and suffering’s
aspects of impermanence and suffering. Because the other six do
not create revulsion, it does not have them.

b. Classifications of their internal categories

25a
ey’re pure or stainless.

They, these three samadhis, can be pure worldly or stainless, tran-

sworldly undefiled. The pure are on the eleven levels of Desire, Not
Unable, special dhyana, the four dhyanas, and the four Formless.
The stainless are on the nine undefiled levels.

c. Examining their names

25ab
When they’re stainless,
ey are three gates of liberation.

When they, these three, are stainless, they are gates to liberation,
so they are the three stainless gates of liberation of emptiness, no
wishing, and signlessness.

3. Classifying in terms of the mode of engaging the object. This

has two topics: a. Teaching the classification in general, and b. Ex-
plaining their features in detail.

830
a. Teaching the classification in general

25cd
ere are three more samadhis, called
e empty of emptiness, et cetera.

Also in the sutras, there are three more samadhis in addition to the
previous three. They are the samadhis called emptiness of empti-
ness, et cetera, including no wishing of no wishing and signlessness
of signlessness.

b. Explaining their features in detail. This has five points.

i. Distinctions of focus and aspect

26.
Two focus on nonlearner’s aspects
Of empty and impermanent.
e signlessness of signlessness,
On peace, nonanalyzed extinction.

Of those three, the first two focus respectively on the nonlearner’s

aspect of emptiness while viewing the empty, and focus on the
nonlearner’s no wishing while viewing the aspect of impermanent.
As for the signlessness of signlessness, if one arises from the non-
learner’s signlessness while viewing the aspect of peace, the condi-
tions for the continuation of signlessness are not met, so signless-
ness of signlessness focuses on the nonanalytic extinction or the
attainment of nonanalytic cessation. Of these three, the first two
look at liberation itself. The third focuses on its cessation and is
thus diminished, so it is diminished liberation.

831
ii. Distinction of essence

27a
Defiled,

These three are solely defiled.

iii. Distinctions of support

27a
by humans,

Where are they produced? you ask. They are only produced by hu-
mans, not by gods or others.

iv. Distinctions of individual

27a
unshakable.

Who produces them? you ask. They only arise for unshakable ar-
hats, not for others.

v. Distinctions of level

27b
Except the seven preparations.

Except the seven latter preparations,336 they are on the eleven levels
previously explained.

336. The preparations for the second dhyana and higher.

832
B. Classifying samadhi in four

27cd
First dhyana’s virtue is meditation
On samadhi which is happiness.

28.
Clairvoyance of eye is that which sees.
Produced by training is discernment.
e vajra-like of the last dhyana
Extinguishes all the defilements.

The Bhagavan said:

There are four meditations on samadhi: if you always remain

in meditation on samadhi and do this many times, you will
also dwell in happiness in the visible…

Of these the first, the first dhyana’s virtue—pure or undefiled—is

the meditation on samadhi which is dwelling in happiness in the
visible. The other dhyanas are also known to be the same. There is
no certainty of dwelling in happiness in future lifetimes, because it
is possible to regress, and those who are reborn in higher realms or
pass into complete nirvana do not have the first dhyana’s happiness.
The clairvoyance of divine eye that knows death and rebirth, and
the knowing concurrent with the mind consciousness that arises
after that, are proposed as that samadhi which knows and sees.
The defiled or undefiled qualities of the three realms that are pro-
duced by training and everything undefiled are the meditation on
samadhi of discernment or full knowing. The vajra-like samadhi
that has the support of the last fourth dhyana is samadhi medita-
tion that extinguishes all the defilements.

833
Thus these four samadhis are taught just as the Bhagavan himself
manifested them in the past. At the very first, he produced the first
dhyana in the shade of a Rose-Apple tree. Later he sat beneath the
Bodhi Tree, and just after taming the Maras he saw with the divine
eye the miserable deaths and births of sentient beings. In order to
give them refuge, he produced the dhyanas, emancipations, and so
forth during the night session. At dawn, on the basis of the fourth
samadhi, he manifested the paths up to the vajra-like samadhi, the
Great Exposition says.

III. Explanation of the qualities supported by samadhi. This has

two topics: A. Teaching the immeasurables, and B. Teaching the
other qualities.

A. Teaching the immeasurables. This has two topics: 1. Classifica-

tions, and 2. Distinguishing features.

1. Classifications. This has three points.

a. Actual classification

29a
Immeasurables are four,

As they focus on immeasurable sentient beings and have immea-

surable merit, they are called immeasurables. In focusing on im-
measurable sentient beings, there are four: loving-kindness, com-
passion, joy, and equanimity.

b. Establishing their quantity

29ab
because
ey’re antidotes for malice, et cetera.

834
Why are there four of them? you ask. Because they are antidotes
for excessive malice and so forth, including hostility, dislike, and
the attachment of the Desire realm, their number is established as
four.

c. The essence of each classification

29cd
Love and compassion are nonhatred,
And joy is pleasure of the mind,

30a
And equanimity is nongreed.

Love and compassion are the virtue of nonhatred, and joy is plea-
sure of the mind at others’ happiness, and equanimity is the virtue
of nongreed. Therefore they are the antidotes for malice preceded
by greed and so forth. Alternatively, the Master explains that they
are nongreed and nonhatred both, so they are suitable as antidotes
for both greed and hatred.

2. Distinguishing features. This has six topics: a. Distinctions of

aspects, b. Distinctions of object, c. Distinctions in levels, d. Dis-
tinctions in how they function as antidotes for the levels, e. Dis-
tinctions in support, and f. Distinctions in how they are possessed.

a. Distinctions of aspects

30bc
eir aspects are thinking, “May they be
Happy! Not suffer! Joyous! Beings!”

Their aspects are thus: the aspect of love is thinking, “O! may they,

835
sentient beings, be happy!” The aspect of compassion is thinking,
“May they not suffer!” The aspect of joy is thinking, “May they
have joyous minds!” The aspect of equanimity is thinking, “With-
out attachment to those near or hatred for the distant, I will treat
all sentient beings equally.” One reflects with such an intention and
enters absorption. One rests in the middle, without any prejudice,
and without any attachment or animosity either.

b. Distinctions of object

30d
eir sphere is beings of Desire.

What do they focus on when they meditate on these aspects? you

ask. Their focus or sphere is sentient beings of Desire, because the
immeasurables are the antidote for malice and so forth that focus
on beings of Desire.

c. Distinctions in levels. This has two points.

i. Actual

31ab
On the two dhyanas, there is joy.
Others on six.

How many levels are they on? you ask. On the first two dhyanas,
there is joy because it is produced by meditation and is mental
pleasure. The other three immeasurables are on six levels: the four
dhyanas, special dhyana, and Not Unable.

836
ii. Others’ assertions

31b
Some say on five.

Some say that they are on the five excluding Not Unable. Others
say that they are on ten, adding Desire and the four preparations.

d. Distinctions in how they function as antidotes for the levels.

31c
ey don’t abandon.

It is explained that “They’re antidotes for malice, et cetera… ” Do

the immeasurables discard the afflictions? you ask. The explanation
of them as antidotes for malice and the others is through distinc-
tions in power either in terms of suppressing or distancing. They,
the four, do not actually abandon, because they are the pure actual
practice so they do not discard afflictions, and because they all fo-
cus only on sentient beings, so they are merely interested attention.

e. Distinctions in support

31cd
ey arise
In humans.

As far as their bodily support, because a clear mind and the power
of familiarization produce them, they arise in humans, excluding
those on Unpleasant Sound. Others do not produce them.

837
f. Distinctions in how they are possessed

31d
One must have the three.

If one possesses one immeasurable, must one also without a doubt

possess all of them? you ask. It is not definite that one will pos-
sess them all. However, if one possesses any of the three excluding
joy, they also have the other two, so one must have the three. Joy
is mental pleasure, so it is not possessed on the third or fourth
dhyana. This is intended in terms of attainment. In terms of their
manifestation, they are possessed individually because their aspects
are exclusive.

B. Teaching the other qualities. This has four topics: 1. The es-
sence of the qualities attained, 2. How they are attained, 3. Distinc-
tions of support, and

4. How samadhi arises.

1. The essence of the qualities attained. This has three topics: a.

The emancipations, b. The overpowering sense bases, and c. The
all-encompassing sense bases.

a. The emancipations. This has three topics: i. Classifications of

the emancipations, ii. Their individual natures, and iii. The spheres
of the first seven.

i. Classifications of the emancipations

32a
Of eight emancipations,

As they are directed away from their focus, they are emancipations.

838
The eight emancipations are, according to the sutras, viewing ex-
ternal form while conceiving of internal form, viewing external
form while conceiving of no internal form, the emancipation of
loveliness, the four Formless, and the emancipation of cessation.

ii. Their individual natures. This has four topics: (1) Explanation
of the first two emancipations, (2) Of the third, (3) Of the Form-
less emancipations, and

(4) Of the emancipation of cessation.

(1) Explanation of the first two emancipations. This has two points.

(a) Actual

32ab
the first two,
Repulsive,

Because the first two of the emancipations have the aspects of blu-
ishness and so forth, they have the nature of meditation on the
repulsive.337

(b) Distinctions of level

32b
are on the two dhyanas.

These two emancipations are antidotes for desire for color, so they

337. The first emancipation, viewing external form while conceiving of internal

form, is viewing external forms and meditating on them as repulsive while con-
ceiving of one’s own form as existing. The second is the same, except the concep-
tion of one’s own form has been demolished. (Yaśomitra, Tengyur ngu pa, 306B).
For more on the repulsiveness meditation see VI.9d ff.

839
are on the first two dhyanas, but they are absent from the third
and higher, because above that there is no desire for color. That is
because there is no eye consciousness above the second dhyana.

(2) Explanation of the third

32c
e third, on the last, is nongreed.

The third, the emancipation of the lovely, is on the last of the

dhyanas, the fourth. As its essence is the antidote for greed, it is
primarily nongreed, but since it has the lovely as its aspect, it is not
repulsiveness meditation. Thus one emanates an attractive form
and views it as lovely. As that itself is manifested by the body of
samadhi, it is so called. Including their associations, the first three
are the five aggregates by nature.

The need for the emancipation of the lovely is that by meditating

on the repulsive, one’s mind is depressed, so one uplifts it with
intense joy. Also, if attachment to a lovely emanation arises, the
first two emancipations have not been completed, but if it does not
arise, they have, so this is in order to examine that.

The emancipation of the lovely is not taught in the first three

dhyanas because there is joy on those levels, so if one pays attention
to the lovely and has joy and craving for that object, nongreed will
not be accomplished. Alternatively, it is not taught there because
they are dhyanas that have faults, so nongreed is not accomplished
there.

840
(3) Explanation of the Formless emancipations

32d
Virtuous Formless equipoise.

Only the four virtuous—pure or undefiled—Formless equipoises

are emancipations; the afflicted and the states of beings not in equi-
poise such as the state of death are not. On the preparations, the
paths of liberation are emancipation, but the paths of no obstacles
are not because they focus on the lower level.

(4) Explanation of the emancipation of cessation. This has three

points.

(a) Identifying its essence

33a
It is absorption of cessation

It, the eighth emancipation, is the absorption of cessation of con-

ception and feeling. This was explained in the second area.338

Why are these called emancipations? you ask. It is because the first
two are directed away from greed; the third, away from being dis-
couraged and attached; the four Formless, from the conception of
form; and cessation is directed away from conceptions and feelings,
or alternatively all formations.

(b) The mind of entry

33b
at follows the subtlest of the subtle.

338. See II.43.

841
Regarding entering the absorption of cessation, the conception of
the Peak of Existence is the subtlest in the three realms, but fo-
cusing on cessation is by far the subtlest of all, so one enters that
absorption of cessation immediately following that subtlest of the
subtle minds.

(c) The mind of arising

33cd
One rises from that through own level’s
Pure or the noble of the lower.

When arising, one rises from that cessation, as one has resolved to
do, through one’s own level—the Peak’s—pure, or through the no-
ble undefiled mind of the lower sense base of Nothingness. In this
way, the absorption of cessation and the mind that enters it are on
the level of the Peak, so they are defiled only. The mind of arising
can be either defiled or undefiled.

iii. The spheres of the first seven. This has two points.

(1) The sphere of the first three

34a
Sights of Desire are the first’s object.

The sights of the sense base of form of Desire are the object of
the first two of the eight emancipations, and the third has an at-
tractive object. Well then, are these not emanations on the basis
of samadhi? you ask. Of course they are, but they are emanations
contained in Desire.

842
(2) The sphere of the Formless

34b–d
e Formless’ sphere is suffering
And such of own and higher levels,
Compatible with subsequent knowing.

The sphere of the four emancipations of Formless is the suffering

and such, including origin and all paths, of their own and higher
levels that is compatible with subsequent knowing. It is possible
that the Formless emancipations can be the samadhi of no attri-
butes of no attributes, so they can also be nonanalytic cessation.
Noncomposite space is also the object of the sense base of Infinite
Consciousness.

Why is there no emancipation presented on the third dhyana? you

ask. Because it has no desire for the colors of the level of second
dhyana and because it is produced by absorption of pleasure, it is
not presented. Well then, if on the third dhyana also there is no
desire for color, why is the emancipation of the lovely produced on
the fourth dhyana? you ask. As one is discouraged by repulsiveness,
it is to make oneself intensely joyous or else to analyze whether or
not the repulsive emancipations have been accomplished. If when
paying attention to the lovely, afflictions do not arise, those two
have been accomplished.

b. The overpowering sense bases. This has two topics: i. Classifi-

cations, and ii. Explanation of their characteristics.

i. Classifications

35a
Eight overpowering sense bases.

843
According to the sutras, while conceiving of internal form, viewing
small external forms with good and bad colors and viewing large
external forms with good and bad colors are the first two overpow-
ering sense bases. While conceiving that there is no internal form,
viewing the same two are the third and fourth. While conceiving
only that there is no internal form, viewing external forms that are
blue, yellow, red, and white are the last four. When these eight all
have overpowered those forms, the sort of conception that arises is
the first through the eighth overpowering sense bases.

Conceiving of internal form and that there is no internal form is

the conception of the form of the viewer himself being destroyed
or not. Small and large are forms of sentient beings and the world.
Good and bad colors are attractive and unattractive. Overpowering
them is gaining mastery. Knowing and seeing are explained as paths
of no obstacles and liberation, or tranquility and insight accord-
ing to Master Ārya.339 In the sutra, for the four colors there are
four phrases using the words blue and so forth that are repeated
twice each, once for the example and once for the meaning. The
first mention is an overview, the second the natural, the third the
fabricated, and the fourth the dharmas common to both. The flax,
karṇikāra flowers,340 bandhujīvaka flowers, and the planet Venus are
examples of the natural, and the cloth is an example of the fabri-
cated.341

339. Asanga, according to Mikyö Dorje. (Mi bskyod rdo rje 2005, vol. 4, 438)
340. Cassia fistula.
341. Yaśomitra quotes the passage from the sutras as follows: “While conceiving
that there is no internal form, view a blue external form, blue-colored, that is seen
as blue, that radiates blue, for example, a flax flower or an excellent fabric from
the land of Varanasi that is blue, blue-colored, that is seen as blue, that radiates
blue, and know that those forms have been overpowered, see that they have been
overpowered. That sort of conception is the fifth overpowering sense base...” It

844
ii. Explanation of their characteristics. This has three points.

(1) Explanation of the two overpowering sense bases of that

with form viewing form

35b
Two like the first emancipation;

Of those, the first two overpowering sense bases are like the first
emancipation in the particulars of their nature, level, and aspects.

(2) Explanation of the two overpowering sense bases of that

without form viewing form

35c
Two like the second.

Two of the overpowering sense bases, the third and fourth, are
views like the second emancipation.

(3) Explanation of the four overpowering sense bases of color

35cd
Others are like
Emancipation of the lovely.

The others, the four emancipations of color, like emancipation of

lovely are on the level of fourth dhyana, focus on attractive forms
of the Form realm, are nongreed by nature, and are the five aggre-
gates, it should be understood.

continues similarly for yellow, red, and white. (Tengyur ngu pa, 308).

845
c. The all-encompassing sense bases. This has two topics: i.
Classifications, and ii. Their individual natures.

i. Classifications

36a
Ten all-encompassing sense bases.

The sutras teach of the ten all-encompassing sense bases, which

have the meaning of making the visualized aspect pervade the focus
uninterruptedly. To classify them, there are the ten of earth, water,
fire, air, blue, yellow, red, white, space, and consciousness.

ii. Their individual natures. This has two points.

(1) Explaining the first eight

36bc
Eight are nongreed on the last dhyana.
eir sphere is Desire.

Of these, the first eight are in essence the virtue of nongreed. They
are on the level of the last fourth dhyana. Their sphere is the sense
base form of Desire, similar to how the four sources are known as
color and shape in the world.342 According to some, since it says,
“The atmosphere/Is the element itself… ”343 the object of the all-en-
compassing sense base of wind is touch.

342. See I.13cd.

343. See I.13cd.

846
(2) Explaining the last two

36cd
Two are pure Formless;
eir sphere is their four aggregates.

It is explained in the Levels344 that the other sense bases are not set
forth as all-encompassing, since sound is discontinuous; and since
the five faculties do not pervade the world, and scent and taste do
not pervade the Form realm.

The last two all-encompassing sense bases are in nature the pure
virtue of the first two Formless equipoises. Their sphere is their
own level’s four aggregates only, unlike the Formless emancipa-
tions described above, because here it is in terms of focus on partic-
ulars, the learned ones have said.

The last two Formless are not set forth as all-encompassing sense
bases since they are unclear and thus incompatible with expanding
and contracting, or according to some, since they are the result of
the all-encompassing. It is explained in the Great Compendium:345

… because the all-encompassing of Infinite Space and Con-

sciousness is infinitely and immeasurably accomplished, so
there is no enhancement of that.

The distinctions among the emancipations, overpowering sense

bases, and all-encompassing sense bases is that their qualities grad-
ually increase. First the emancipations are directed away from the
discards. Then the discards are overpowered. Then it is made per-
vasive, so as the earlier are perfected and purified, the latter arise,

344. Yogacāryābhūmi by Asanga.

345. Bsdu ba chen mo.

847
and they are each superior to the previous. For that reason, they are
lesser, medium, and greater, or cause, both cause and result, and
result only.

2. How they are attained

37ab
Cessation has been explained. e rest
Are gained through detachment or by training.

Of these twenty-six, the support and attainment of the emancipa-

tion of cessation have already been explained in the second area.346
The rest, the remaining twenty-five, are gained merely through
detachment if familiar—that is, if they have ever arisen before—or
if unfamiliar, by training and effort, because they arise from the
power of habituation or nonhabituation.

3. Distinctions of support. This has two points.

i. Actual

37cd
e Formless are supported by
ree realms. e rest arise in humans.

The four emancipations called Formless and two of the all-encom-

passing are supported by three realms. The rest, the other nine-
teen, arise in humans, so they are only on the support of humans.
This is because they must be produced by the power of scripture,
and the gods and other wanderers do not have the scriptures.

346. II.43ff.

848
ii. Elaboration

38ab
In two realms, the power of cause and karma
Produces Formless equipoise.

Well then, since there are no scriptures there, how do the absorp-
tions of dhyana and the Formless of higher levels arise in the higher
two realms? you ask. The absorptions of dhyana and the Formless
are produced by the power of four things: scripture, cause, karma,
and dharma nature. In the higher two realms, there is no scripture,
but the power of both cause and karma produces

Formless equipoise. Production by power of cause is when previ-

ously on a human support one has meditated on the samadhi of the
Peak of Existence and regressed from that. After being born either
on one of the lower Formless levels or in the Form realm, through
the cause of same status of previous meditation, the samadhi of the
Peak arises. Production by force of karma is also when in a previous
human life one performs karma that will definitely ripen as birth in
the Peak in a future life. After regressing, one is born in one of the
previously mentioned lower levels, and since one must definitely be
reborn on the Peak, at that point the absorption of the Peak will be
attained. This also has a causal aspect, but since karma is primary it
is explained to be called produced by the power of karma.

4. How samadhi arises

38cd
ose two and also dharma nature
Produce the dhyanas in Form realm.

849
Those two powers of cause and karma, and also the power of the
dharma nature produce the dhyanas in the Form realm.

Second, an explanation of the branch that completes the composition,

the actual summary of the treatise.This has three topics: A. How
long the teachings will remain, B. The summary of the treatise it-
self, and C. The manner of completing the explanation.

A. How long the teachings will remain. This has two points.

1. The teachings

39ab
e Teacher’s True Dharma is twofold:
In essence, scripture and realization.

How long will this true abhidharma that explains the aspects of
dharmas—defiled, undefiled, level, focus, aspects, and so forth—
remain? you ask. The Teacher’s True Dharma is twofold: in es-
sence, it is the Three Baskets of scripture and realization, the fac-
tors of enlightenment.

2. How long they will remain

39cd
ese are upheld only by those
Who teach them and accomplish them.

What is it to uphold the Dharma of scripture? you ask. According

to the scriptures, these, the scriptures, are upheld only by those
who, after coming to know them, teach them to others with an
unafflicted intention. This is also called upholding the baskets, up-
holding the scriptural Dharma, and upholding the teachings. And
those who uphold realization accomplish them, the dharmas of the

850
factors of enlightenment, within their being and practice them. As
there are no upholders of the teachings or True Dharma other than
these two, the word only is said.

The upholders of the scriptures are the supports for those who
speak and accomplish. The unerring supports for the scriptures are
those with accomplishment. Only those who have accomplishment
are the upholders of realization because without accomplishing it,
one cannot teach the meaning one has realized.

Therefore the True Dharma will remain as long as there are be-
ings who speak and accomplish the Dharma. In particular, as far
as the teachings of the Teacher Shakyamuni, the autocommentary
explains, “They will remain for a thousand years.” Some say that
this is in terms of realization, but that the scriptures will remain a
thousand years longer than that. This latter is also the explanation
of the authors of the ṭīkas. The Prince explains:

“The scriptures will remain for a long time” means that they
will remain another thousand years. I view this position only
as logical.

From The Good Aeon:347

The True Dharma of the Thus-Gone Shakyamuni will remain

for a thousand years. For another five hundred years, a pseudo
True Dharma.

The Minor Topics also say Dharma will remain for a thousand years.
The Sutra Requested by Candragarbha348 explains that it will remain

347. bskal bzang las.

348. zla ba snying pos zhus pa’i mdo.

851
for two thousand years and be destroyed by the strife of Kausham-
bir. Master Kamalaśīla says in his commentary on the Vajra Cutter
Sutra, “It is renowned among the learned that the teachings will
last five times five hundred years.”

In the Commentary on the Hundred Thousand,349 it is said that by

dividing five thousand into sections, there are ten periods of five
hundred years. In the first, many arhats will appear; in the sec-
ond, many nonreturners, and in the third, many stream-enterers,
so these are the three chapters of the period of results. In the fourth
period, there will be many who abide by the trainings of full know-
ing. In the fifth, by the trainings of mind, and in the sixth, by the
trainings of discipline, so these are the three chapters of the period
of accomplishment. In the seventh, there will be many who uphold
the abhidharma; in the eighth, who uphold the basket of sutras,
and in the ninth, who uphold the vinaya, so these are the three
chapters of the period of scripture. The tenth is called the chapter
of those who hold merely the signs, and it is also labeled the last five
hundred. After that the True Dharma will disappear. At that time,
the lifespan of humans in the Rose-Apple Land will be fifty years.
Now the lifespan is sixty years and it is the period of the abhidhar-
ma, it says.

According to the calculations in the Glorious Rangjung Dorje’s A

Clarification of the Four Times of the Omniscient Lord,350 the dura-
tion the teachings will remain is set at strictly five thousand years.
Calculating from this Fire Rat year (1576), in the completed year
of the Female Wood Pig (1575), 952 years had passed since the
completion of the three five-hundred-year periods of results. An-
other 2548 years are thought to remain.

349. ’bum ṭīk.

350. dus bzhi gsal byed.
852
B. The actual summary of the treatise itself. This has three topics:
1. How the treatise was composed, 2. Confessing mistakes, and 3.
Advice to be careful.

1. How the treatise was composed

40ab
I mostly have explained this abhidharma
According to the Kashmiri Exposition.

Is the abhidharma explained in this treatise the abhidharma that

the Teacher explained? you ask. I, Vasubandhu, have explained this
Dharma of the Treasury of Abhidharma partially according to the
tradition of the Sutra school and the Aparāntaka Great Exposition.
However, I mostly have explained this abhidharma according to
the school of the Kashmiri Great Exposition, because I explained
it in Kashmir strictly according to the Exposition.

2. Confessing mistakes

40cd
Any mistakes herein are solely ours;
e Sages are the authority in Dharma.

Any mistakes in words or meaning herein, in this treatise, are sole-

ly my,351 the author’s, own errors and mistakes. However, it is not a
great wonder that someone like me would confuse the words and
meaning in explaining the meaning of the scriptures: the Bhagavan

351. The Tibetan root text is ambiguous about whether this is singular or plural,
and Wangchuk Dorje comments on it as if it were singular. The Sanskrit, howev-
er, is specifically in the plural, and so in the root text, it is translated in the plural.

853
Sages and their children, arhats who have the eye of the Dharma,
are the authority in the words and meaning of the True Dharma.

is completes the eighth area called “Teachings on the

Absorptions” from the Verses of the Treasury of
Abhidharma.

This completes the explanation of the eighth area called “Teach-

ings on the Absorptions” from The Explanation of the “Verses of
the Treasury of Abhidharma” called The Essence of the Ocean of
Abhidharma, The Words of Those who Know and Love, Explaining
the Youthful Play, Opening the Eyes of Dharma, the Chariot of Easy
Practice.

3. Advice to be careful. This has two points.

a. Teaching the dangers of carelessness

41.
e Teacher, the eye of the world, has been closed;
e beings who were witness have mostly perished.
ose who haven’t seen thatness, those who are
bad logicians
And headstrong have confounded the teachings.

854
 42.
e one self-born, those who cherish his teachings,
Have passed into the supreme peace. ere’s no refuge
Or counsel for beings, and the stains that slay qualities
Run rampant in this at their pleasure.

43a–c
And so, as we know that for the Sage’s teachings,
It’s as if the last breaths now rasp in the throat,
at this is a time when the stains have great strength:

As he taught his disciples the distinction between what is the path

that leads to liberation and what is not, the Teacher, the Bhaga-
van, is like the eye of the world. That eye has been closed—he
has passed into nirvana—and it is as if worldly folk have been left
sightless. The beings other than the Buddha who were witness to
the dharma, the noble beings such as Kaśyapa, have mostly passed
into nirvana and perished. Blinded by ignorance, those ordinary
individuals who have not seen the thatness of Dharma and who are
bad logicians and headstrong, following pseudo reasoning without
relying on the Teacher’s scriptures, have confounded the teachings
of the Teacher through exaggeration and denigration.

The one Bhagavan, who is self-born, having found wisdom in his

last existence without anyone to explain the scriptures, and those
who cherish his, the self-born’s, teachings have passed without any
remainder of the aggregates into the supreme peace that is superior
to samsara. Without the Buddha or his children, there is no refuge
or counsel who can give correct instruction for beings, and the
stains of bad views and so forth that are the cause that slays the
previously explained qualities and makes the teachings disappear
run rampant in this world at their pleasure, or indiscriminately.

855
And so, as we who are intelligent know that for the Sage’s teach-
ings, the teachings of the Buddha, it is as if, for example, the last
breaths at the approach of the time of death now rasp in the throat
and will not remain long, and as we know that this is a time when
the stains of bad views have great strength, follow the forthcoming
advice.

b. Advice to rely on carefulness.

43d
All those who want freedom, be careful!

In this manner, all those who fervently want the freedom of nirva-
na, be careful in everything! is the heartfelt advice. That is the root
of all virtuous dharmas. In the words of the Bhagavan:

Carefulness is a place of deathlessness;

Carelessness is a place of death.
Those who are careful will not die;
The careless always die.352

The meaning of these is explained in Letter to a Friend:353

A place of nectar, carefulness; but a place

Of death is carelessness, the Sage declared.
Thus to develop virtuous qualities,
You always should act with respect and care.

Also from Individual Liberation:354

352. Udānavarga, chapt. 4, verse 1.

353. Nagarjuna’s Suhṛllekha (Tib. bshes pa’i spring yig).
354. so so thar pa.

856
 Venerable ones, aging and death will truly come, and the
teachings of the Teacher will be destroyed, so the venerable
should practice the yogas of carefulness. The enlightenment of
the Bhagavan Arhat Complete Perfect Buddha and the virtu-
ous dharmas that are compatible with it, the factors of enlight-
enment, all attained through carefulness.

Thus it is said.

C. The manner of completing the explanation. This has two

points.

1. Teaching the completing words

This completes the Verses on the Treasury of Abhidharma

composed by Master Vasubandhu.

2. The translator’s colophon

Translated into Tibetan by the Indian Abbot Jinamitra

and the Tibetan translator Bande Kawa Paltsek and then
corrected and finalized.

And now to say a few words about the reason for completing this
work:

On Vindhya’s lofty slopes of two accumulations,

The kushu stalks of powers and other qualities
Flourish with utter brilliance of youthfulness—
Great sage and master of the spring, please grant me refuge.

Sagara’s sons, the beings of degenerate times,

Are stained and sullied by their various views.

857
 At once you cleanse them with the natural Ganges:
Master Bhagīratha, grant me protection.355

Upon the Snow Land’s eastern mountain face of merit,

The fully waxing light of good and virtue
From Konchok Lama, Shakyamuni’s true disciple,
Conquers at once all darkness on three levels.

What need have we of tales of how in Magadha

The Shakyan prince bestowed three Dharma Wheels
On the three families? The perfect Buddha is here
And truly present as the wish-fulfilling jewel!

Additionally, my master, the great scholar

Renowned as the victorious over all,356
Is the most venerable in the Snow Land,
As rich in peace and tameness as Upāli.

If with his acumen in proofs and rebuttals

He destroys the logic of the six extremist teachers,
What need is there to talk of lesser opponents?
Thus in debate he is truly Dharmakirti!

From both my masters’ kindness, I have not

Been stricken by the poison of the objects
Nor distracted by desire’s illusory dance.
I take the burden on to free my mothers
And have faith in the ways of the Buddha’s teachings.
355. This compares Namgyal Drakpa to King Bhagīratha, who is said to have
brought the Ganges down to earth to purify the ashes of his ancestors, the sixty
thousand sons of Sagara.
356. This is a play on the name of Wangchuk Dorje’s master Namgyal Drakpa,
whose name means “Renowned as victorious.”

858
 The friend of day,357 the master of the Shakyas,
Knowing the basket of the Abhidharma
To be discernment that will stop afflictions,
Thus taught it to his gatherings of students.
These teachings were in bits and pieces which
Shariputra and the rest compiled in Seven Treatises.

Afterwards seven hundred arhats at

Mount Vindhya wrote great treatises explaining
The meaning of the Seven Treatises.
Vasubandhu collected all the precious
Jewels of their meaning in this Treasury.

Then he himself wrote his own commentary,

And the son of a lord, Prince Yaśomitra,
The scholar Purṇavardhana, and other
Great Indian scholars wrote their explanations.

There is the chariot of the Practice Lineage,

The treatise that is called The Springtime Cow.
Upon the repeated requests of my true master
Great Namgyal Drakpa and from students Dogyü Gyatso

And others, for the benefit of future followers,

I have combined all aspects of these explications
And then explained this Youthful Play without
Any vagrant hearsay or my own fabrications.

When I was eighteen I received the full

And complete explanation and transmission

357. A synonym for the sun common in Sanskrit and Tibetan poetry; here it is a
metaphor for the Buddha.

859
For Mikyö’s commentary as well as
The Treasury of Abhidharma from
The omniscient glorious lama, Konchok Yenlak.
Then the great master trained me thoroughly in
The difficult points and dispelled my doubts
About the root, the commentary, and
The explanation, so that I have attained
Full mastery of the meaning of the words.
But if there may be any contradictions,
Mistakes, or faults herein, I ask all those
Who have the eyes of Dharma for their patience.

If any of my followers should wish

To gain the wish-fulfilling jewel of freedom
From the vast oceans of the abhidharma,
Embark upon this ship of Youthful Play.

May the rich nectar from the stamens of

The blossoming white lotus of this virtue
Nourish with deathless sustenance the bees
Who long for the teachings of the glorious Dakpo.

From now until I reach enlightenment’s essence,

I ask the great master, the perfect buddha,
To dwell inseparably in my heart’s drop.
May the nectar of my speech spread to all beings!

May they master unmistakenly and entirely

The meaning of the Baskets and the Tantras,
Have the intelligence to teach, write, and debate,
And strive to listen, contemplate, and meditate
all day and night.

860
 May this essence of the ocean of abhidharma
That opens our eyes to the Dharma,
The place for clear-minded youths to play,
Spread over all the world and blaze!

When during his second uncountable aeon on the path of learning

our Teacher, the unequalled king of the Shakyas himself, was the
merchant Prajñābhadra, he formed his resolve in front of the ta-
thagata Konchok Yenlak himself, who had arisen as the essence of
all aspects of the body, speech, and mind of all the victors and was
the sole refuge, support, land, and friend for all wanderers who fill
space. I received this from the full moon of the face of the guru,
omniscient glorious Konchok Shakya Choggi Tsowoy Bang, as well
as from him, whose moon of wisdom that knows all there is to
know is full and shines the light renowned as victorious in all di-
rections that fills all the realms of the world. The crown jewel of
vows, diligence, and scholarship in this Land of Snow, the one who
is without peer in teaching, writing, and debating is Vijayakīrti’s. I
place the stainless dust from these two masters’ feet on the crown
of my head.

The monk of the Shakyas, Palden Mipham Chökyi Wangchuk Dor-

je Garwang Chokle Nampar Gyalway Nyingpo Khyabdak Tenpay
Nyima, or by another name bestowed by the Khenpo of Uḍḍiyāna
Padmasambhava, Vajreśvara, began this at the age of twenty in the
great place of practice Sha Uk Tiger Gate. I completed it when
called a twenty-one-year-old in the second half of the month of the
Pleiades on the sixth day of the waning phase, of the Male Fire Rat
year (1576) in the solitary place of White Mountain Cave near the
great Dharma Wheel of Thupten Karma Sungrab Gyatso Ling. The
scribe was Bhikshu Ānandarāja.

Virtue! Virtue! Virtue!

861
 APPENDIX A

English Equivalents of Tibetan Terms

Terms are alphabetized according to Tibetan alphabetical order.

kun ’gro. universals.

kun tu ’gro ba’i rgyu. universal cause.
kun nas dkris pa. entangler.
kun nas nyon mongs pa. all-afflicted.
kun ’byung gyi bden pa. truth of origin.
kun sbyor. fetter.
kun rdzob. relative.
kun shes ldan pa’i dbang po. faculty of having all-knowing.
kun shes pa’i dbang po. faculty of allknowing.
kun shes byed pa’i dbang po. faculty of producing all-knowing.
rkyen. condition.
skad cig ma. instant.
skal mnyam gyi rgyu. cause of same status.
skyabs. refuge.
skye mched. sense bases.
skye ba’i srid pa. birth state.
skyes nas thob pa. attained upon birth.
skyes nas mya ngan las ’da’ ba. nirvana upon birth.

862
skyes nas myong ’gyur gyi las. karma experienced on birth.
skyes bu dam pa’i ’gro ba. holy wanderers.
skyes bu byed ’bras bu. personal result.
bskal pa grangs med. uncountable aeons.
bskal pa chen po. great aeon.
kha na ma tho ba. unwholesome.
khams. element.
khong khro. anger.
khyad par gyi lam. distinctive path.
khyab pa ’du byed kyi sdug bsngal. pervasive suffering of formation.
khro ba. aggression.
khrel med. immodesty.
khrel yod. modesty.
’khon ’dzin. grudge.
’khor lo’i dbyen. schism of the Wheel.
gong du ’pho ba. bound for higher.
gong ma cha mthun. those that lead to the higher.
gya nom snang ba. Excellent Appearance.
grang dmyal. cold hells.
dga’ ldan. Joyous Land.
dge rgyas. Full Virtue.
dge chung. Lesser Virtue.
dge bsnyen. pursuer of virtue.
dge ’dun. sangha.

863
dge ba. virtue.
dge ba’i rtsa ba chad pa. severing the roots of virtue.
dge sbyong gi ’tshul. spiritual way.
dge sbyong gi ’tshul ’bras. results of the spiritual way.
dge tshul. novice.
dgra bcom pa. arhat.
’gog pa’i snyoms ’jug. absorption of cessation.
’gog pa’i bden pa. truth of cessation.
’gog pa’i rnam thar. emancipation of cessation.
’gyod pa. regret.
’gyur ba’i sdug bsngal. suffering of change.
’gro ba. wanderer.
rgod pa. agitation.
rgyas byung. produced by development.
rgyags pa. arrogance.
rgyu. cause.
rgyu mthun gyi ’bras bu. causally compatible result.
rgyu mthun pa. causally compatible.
rgyun zhugs pa. stream-enterer.
rgyu’i rkyen. causal condition.
sgom. meditation.
sgom spang. discards of meditation.
sgom lam. path of meditation.
sgyu. pretense.

864
sgra mi snyan. Unpleasant Sound.
bsgribs la lung ma bstan. obscured neutral.
nga rgyal. pride.
ngo bo nyid kyi rtog pa. essential thought.
ngo tsha. shame.
ngo tsha med pa. shamelessness.
nges pa’i las. definite karma.
nges par rtog pa’i rtog pa. thought that recognizes.
nges ’byed cha mthun. precursor to clear realization.
dngos po. thing.
dngos su log par zhugs pa. direct mistaken engagement.
mngon rtogs. clear realization.
mngon par ’du byed pa med pa mya ngan las ’da ba. nirvana with-
out effort.
mngon par ’du byed pa mya ngan las ’da ba.
nirvana with effort.
mngon shes. clairvoyance.
mngon sum. direct perception.
sngun dus. previous state.
ci yang med. Nothingness.
bcas pa’i kha na ma tho ba. prohibited unwholesome.
chags bcas. desirous.
chags pa. greed.
chags pa med pa. nongreed.
chags bral. detached.

865
cho ’phrul. miracle.
chos. Dharma, phenomena
chos kyi ’khor lo. Wheel of Dharma.
chos kyi rjes ’brang. follower of dharma.
chos kyi phung po. aggregates of Dharma.
chos mngon pa. abhidharma.
chos can. dharma base.
chos mchog. supreme dharma.
chos bzang. Good Dharma.
chos bzod. dharma forbearance.
chos shes. dharma knowing.
chu bo. floods.
’chab pa. concealment.
’chab pa. hypocrisy.
’chi ba’i srid pa. death state.
’chi bar sems pa’i chos can. one with volition for death.
’ching ba. bonds.
’jig rten. world.
’jig rten pa’i yang dag pa’i lta ba. correct worldly view.
’jig lta. personality view.
’jig tshogs la lta ba. view of personality.
’jig sred. craving destruction.
rjes shes. subsequent knowing.
rjes su dran pa’i rtog pa. thought that remembers.

866
rjes su srung ba’i chos can. protected one.
nyon mongs. affliction.
nyon mongs dri ma. afflicted filths.
nyon mongs pa’i sgrib pa. afflictive obscurations.
nyon mongs med pa. unprovocative.
nyi ’og pa. Aparāntaka.
nying mtshams sbyor ba. rebirth-linking.
nye ’khor dmyal ba. neighboring hell.
nye ba’i nyon mongs. near afflictions.
nye bar len pa. grasping.
nye bar len pa’i phung po lnga. aggregates of grasping, five.
nyer len gyi rgyu. grasping cause.
gnyid. sleep.
mnyam bzhag. equipoise.
snyoms ’jug. absorption.
snyoms ’jug gi sgrib pa. obscurations to absorption.
snyoms ’jug dag pa pa. pure absorption.
snyoms ’jug ro myang ldan. absorption concurrent with enjoyment.
bsnyen gnas. fasting vows.
ting nge ’dzin. samadhi.
gti mug. delusion.
gti mug med pa. nondelusion.
btang snyoms. equanimity, neutral feeling.
btags yod. nominally existent.

867
rtog pa. considering.
rtogs pa’i skal pa can. capable to realize.
lta na sdug pa. Lovely to Behold.
lta ba. view.
lta ba mchog ’dzin. overesteeming views.
stong pa. empty.
stong spyi phud. general prime thousand.
stobs. power.
brten bcas. active.
bstan bcos. treatise.
tha ma cha mthun. those that lead to the lowest.
thang cig. minute.
thams cad yod par smra ba. Sarvastivada.
thar pa cha mthun. precursor to freedom.
thod rgal gyi snyoms ’jug. skipping absorption.
thod rgal gyi ting nge ’dzin. skipping samadhi.
thogs bcas. obstructive.
thogs med. unobstructive.
the tshom. doubt.
theg pa dman pa. Foundation Vehicle.
thub pa. sage.
mthar lta. extreme view.
mthar ’dzin lta ba. view of holding extremes.
mthong chos myong ’gyur gyi las. visibly experienced karma.

868
mthong spang. discards of seeing.
mthong bas thob pa. attained through seeing.
mthong lam. path of seeing.
’thab bral. Conflict Free.
dad pa’i rjes ’brang. follower of faith.
dad pas mos. convinced through faith.
don dam. ultimate.
de ma thag rkyen. immediate condition.
de mtshungs. inactive.
de yi skad cig. instant of that.
dud ’gro. animal.
dus dang sbyor. occasional.
dus dang mi sbyor. nonoccasional.
drang srong. sage.
dran pa. mindfulness.
dran pa nye bar bzhag pa bzhi. foundations of mindfulness, four.
drod. warmth.
bdag rkyen. dominant condition.
bdag po’i ’bras bu. dominant result.
mdo. sutra.
’dod khams. Desire realm.
’dod chags. desire.
’dod pa la ’dun pa. pleasure-seeking.
’dod pa’i sred pa. craving for desire.

869
’du byed. formation.
’du byed kyi phung po. aggregate of formation.
’du shes. conception.
’du shes kyi phung po. aggregate of conception.
’du shes med ’du shes med min. Neither Conception nor Non-Con-
ception.
’dun pa. intention.
’dus byas. composite, compound.
’dus ma byas. noncomposite, noncompound.
rdo rje lta bu ting nge ’dzin. vajra-like samadhi.
rdul phra rab. atoms.
rdul phran. molecules.
ldan min ’du byed. nonconcurrent formation.
sdom pa. vow.
sdom min. wrong vow.
sdig pa. misdeed.
sdug bsngal. suffering.
sdug bsngal gyi bden pa. truth of suffering.
sdug bsngal gyi sdug bsngal. suffering of suffering.
sdug pa’i rnam thar. emancipation of loveliness.
nam mkha’. space.
nam mkha’ mtha’ yas. Infinite Space.
gnas thams cad du ’chi ’pho ba. one who dies in all realms.
gnas pa las mi bskyod pa. unshaken from abiding.
gnod sems. malice.

870
mnar med pa. Incessant Hell.
rnam grol lam. path of liberation.
rnam thar pa. emancipation.
rnam par rgyal byed. Fully Conquering.
rnam par nyams pa. forfeit.
rnam par mi ’tshe ba. nonhostility.
rnam par ’tshe ba. hostility.
rnam par rig byed ma yin pa’i gzugs. imperceptible form.
rnam par shes pa’i phung po. aggregate of consciousness.
rnam byang. utterly pure.
rnam smin gyi rgyu. cause of full ripening.
rnam smin gyi sgrib pa. ripened obscurations.
rnam smin gyi ’bras bu. fully ripened result.
rnam g.yeng. distraction.
rnam shes. consciousness.
rnam shes mtha’ yas. Infinite Consciousness.
brnab sems. covetousness.
dpyod pa. examining.
spang bya. discard.
spong ba’i lam. paths that abandon, paths that discard.
spel sgom. alternating meditation.
spyod lam. path of activities.
phal chen sde pa. Majority school.
phung po. aggregate.

871
phyin ci logs pa bzhi. errors, four.
phyir mi ’ong ba. nonreturner.
phyed du ’phar ba. half leapers.
phra rgyas. kernel.
phrag dog. envy.
’phar ba. leapers.
’phags lam yan lag brgyad. noble eightfold path.
’phen byed kyi las. propelling karma.
’phrul dga’. Joy of Emanations.
ba lang spyod. Bountiful Cow.
bag chags. imprint.
bag med. carelessness.
bag yod. carefulness.
bar gyi bskal pa. intermediate aeon.
bar chad med lam. path of no obstacles.
bar do’i srid pa. between state.
bar dor mya ngan las ’da ba. nirvana in the intermediate.
bar sdom. mid-vow.
byang chub. enlightenment.
byang chub phyogs kyi chos. factors of enlightenment.
byang chub yan lag bdun. branches of enlightenment, seven.
byang chub sems dpa’. bodhisattva.
bying ba. torpor.
bye brag smra ba. Great Exposition school.

872
byed rgyu. enabling cause.
blo. mind.
dbang po. faculty.
dbang po lnga. faculties, five.
dbang po ’pho ba. refine faculties.
’byung gyur. source-derived.
’byung ba. sources.
’byung ba chen po bzhi. great sources, four.
bral ba. removal.
bral ’bras. result of removal.
’bras gnas. abider in result.
’bras bu. result.
’bras bu che ba. Great Result.
’bras bu thos rgal ba. skipping results.
’bras bu mthar gyis pa. successive results.
sbyor ba. yoke.
sbyor ’byung. attained by training.
sbyor lam. path of joining.
sbyin pa. generosity.
ma bsgribs lung ma bstan. unobscured neutral.
ma nges pa’i las. not definite karma.
ma dad pa. nonfaith.
ma dros pa’i mtsho. Unheated Lake.
ma ’dres pa’i chos. unshared qualities.

873
ma byin par len pa. stealing, taking what has not been given.
ma mo. matrix.
ma yin dgag. not-negation.
ma rig pa. ignorance.
mar me mdzad. Dipamkara.
mos pa. interest.
mos pa las byung ba’i yid la byed pa. attention produced by interest.
mi. human.
mi skye ba shes pa. knowing nonarising.
mi skye ba’i chos can. nonarising dharma base.
mi dge ba. nonvirtue, unvirtuous.
mi lcogs med pa. Not Unable.
mi che ba. Not Great.
mi mjed ’jig rten gyi khams. Unbearable World Realm.
mi rtag pa. impermanent.
mi gdung ba. Without Pain.
mi g.yo ba’i chos can. unshakable one.
me mar mur pa. Burning Ground.
med dgag. no-negation.
me’i khams. fire element.
dmigs rkyen. objective condition.
dmyal ba. hell.
rmongs pa. delusion.
smon nas shes pa. knowing from aspiration.

874
rtsa ba’i nyon mongs. root afflictions.
rtse gcig pa. one-pointedness.
rtse mo. peak.
brtson ’grus. diligence.
tshad med dge. Immeasurable Virtue.
tshad med ’od. Immeasurable Light.
tshangs chen. Great Brahma.
tshangs pa mdun na ’don. Brahma’s Ministers.
tshangs par spyod pa. Brahmic conduct.
tshangs ris. Brahma’s Abode.
tshor ba. feeling.
tshor ba’i phung po. aggregate of feeling.
tshogs na spyod pa’i rang sang rgyas.
congregating self-buddha.
tshogs lam. path of accumulation.
tshe cig bar chad cig pa. one lifetime, one obstacle.
tshul khrims. discipline.
tshul khrims brtul zhugs mchog ’dzin. overesteeming discipline and
austerity.
mtshan nyid. characteristic.
mtshan gzhi. character base.
mtshams med kyi las. heinous karma, heinous deeds.
mtshungs ldan. concurrent.
mtshungs ldan rgyu. concurrent cause.
mtshungs pa de ma thag rkyen. concurrent immediate condition.

875
’tshig pa. contentiousness.
’dzam bu gling. Rose-Apple Land.
rdzas yod. substantially existent.
rdzogs byed kyi las. completing karma.
rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa bzhi. feet of miracles, four.
zhag mi thub. impossible day.
zhe sdang. hatred.
zhe sdang med pa. nonhatred.
gzhan ’phrul dbang byed. Mastery over Others’ Emanations.
zag bcas. defiled.
zag pa. defilement.
zag med. undefiled.
zad pa shes pa. knowing extinction.
zad par gyi skye mched. all-encompassing sense bases.
zad par gyi skye mched bcu. ten allencompassing sense bases.
zad mi skye shes pa. knowing extinction and nonarising.
zil gyis gnon pa’i skye mched. overpowering sense bases.
gzugs. form.
gzugs kyi phung po. aggregate of form.
gzugs khams. Form realm.
gzugs can gzugs la lta ba’i rnam thar. emancipation of viewing ex-
ternal form while conceiving of internal form.
gzugs med kyi rnam thar. formless emancipations.
gzugs med khams. Formless realm.
gzugs med nyer ’gro. bound for Formless.

876
gzugs su nyer ’gro. bound for Form.
bzod pa. forbearance.
’og min. Below None.
’od chen. Great Light.
’od chung. Lesser Light.
’od gsal. Radiant Light.
yang dag pa’i ngag. right speech.
yang dag pa’i ting nge ’dzin. right samadhi.
yang dag pa’i rtog pa. right consideration.
yang dag pa’i lta ba. right view.
yang dag pa’i dran pa. right mindfulness.
yang dag pa’i rtsol ba. right effort.
yang dag pa’i ’tsho ba. right livelihood.
yang dag pa’i las kyi mtha’. right action.
yang dag par spong ba bzhi. complete abandonments, four.
yong su nyams pa’i chos can. regressed one.
yongs su nyams pa. regress.
yi dwags. hungry ghost.
yid. mind.
yid la byed pa. attention.
yud tsam. hour.
yul can. subject.
f.yo. deceit.
rang bzhin kha na ma tho ba. inherently unwholesome.

877
rang sang rgyas. self-buddha.
ris mthun pa. likeness.
rigs. family.
rigs nas rigs. from family to family.
reg pa. contact.
reg pa. touch.
rlung gi khams. air element.
srog gi dbang po. faculty of life force.
srog bcod pa. taking life.
srid pa lan bdun pa. seven timer.
srid pa’i rtse mo. Peak of Existence.
srid pa’i sred pa. craving for existence.
sred pa. craving.
lan grangs gzhan myong ’gyur gyi las. karma experienced in other
lifetimes.
lan cig phyir ’ong ba. once-returner.
lam. path.
lam gyi bden pa. truth of path.
las. karma.
las kyi sgrib pa. karmic obscurations.
las kyi dbyen. ritual schism.
las kyi lam. karmic path, path of karma.
log par g.yem pa. sexual misconduct.
logs zhugs. mistaken engagement.
le lo. laziness.

878
legs spyad. fine conduct.
lung ma bstan. neutral.
lus kyis mngon sum byed. made manifest by body.
lus ’phags po. Superior Body.
shin tu mthong ba. Great Vision.
shin tu sbyangs. pliancy.
shes nas dad pa. faith from knowing.
shes pa. cognition.
shes bya’i sgrib pa. cognitive obscuration.
shes bya’i gzhi lnga. bases of the knowable, five.
shes bzhin min pa. nonawareness.
shes rab. full knowing.
shes rab kyang grol. freed just by full knowing.
shes rab kyi cha las rnam grol. liberated through the aspect of full
knowing.
sa ’pho ba. shift level.
sangs rgyas. buddha.
sa’i khams. earth element.
so so skye bo. ordinary individual.
so sor yang dag par rig pa. unhindered knowledge.
so sor brtags pa’i ’gog pa. analytic cessation.
so sor brtags min ’gog pa. nonanalytic cessation.
so sor thar pa. individual liberation
sems. cognition or mind.
sems pa. volition.

879
sems pa’i las. volitional karma.
sems ’byung. mental factor.
ser sna. stinginess.
sum cu rtsa gsum. Heaven of the ThirtyThree.
slob lam. path of learning.
bsam gtan khyad par can. special dhyana.
bsam gtan gyi nyer bsdogs. preparations for dhyana.
bsam gtan rab kyi mtha’. highest end of concentration.
bsam pa’i las. intended karma.
bsod nams skyes. Merit Born.
bsod nams cha mthun. precursor to merit.
bsod nams bya ba’i gzhi. bases of meritorious action.
bse ru lta bu rang sang rgyas. rhinolike selfbuddha.
lha. god.
lha ma yin. demigod.
lhag pa tshul khrims kyi bslab pa. superior training in discipline.
lhag pa shes rab kyi bslab pa. superior training in full knowing.
lhag pa sems kyi bslab pa. superior training in mind.
lhag med myan ngan las ’das pa. nirvana without remainder.
lhan skyes. coemergent.
lhan cig ’byung rgyu. coemergent cause.

880
 APPENDIX B

English Equivalents of Sanskrit Terms

The Sanskrit terms listed below come primarily from the edition
of the root text prepared by V.V. Gokhale and the Tibetan San-
skrit concordances compiled by Hirakawa. Terms are alphabetized
according to the Devanagari alphabet.

akaniṣṭha. Below None.

akiṃcanya. Nothingness.
akuśala. nonvirtue, unvirtuous.
akopyadharman. unshakable one.
agradharma. supreme dharma.
aṇu. molecules.
atapas. Without Pain.
adattādāna. stealing, taking what has not been given.
adveṣa. nonhatred.
adhicittaṃśikṣā. superior training in mind.
adhipatipratyaya. dominant condition.
adhipatiphala. dominant result.
adhiprajñaṃśikṣā. superior training in full knowing.
adhimuktimanaskāra. attention produced by interest.
adhimokṣa. interest.
adhiśīlaṃśikṣā. superior training in discipline.

881
anapatrāpya. immodesty.
anabhisaṃskāraparinirvāyin. nirvana without effort.
anavatapta. Unheated Lake.
anāgāmi. nonreturner.
anāgāmya. Not Unable.
anāsrava. undefiled.
anitya. impermanent.
anivṛtāvyākṛta. unobscured neutral.
anutpattidharmin. nonarising dharma base.
anutpādajñāna. knowing nonarising.
anurakṣaṇādharman. protected one.
anuśaya. kernel.
anusmaraṇavikalpa. thought that remembers.
anekāsaṃkhyeyaṃ kalpam. uncountable aeons.
antaḥkalpa. intermediate aeon.
antagrahaṇa. view of holding extremes.
antagrāhadṛṣṭi. extreme view.
antarāparinirvāyin. nirvana in the intermediate.
antarābhava. between state.
anvayajñāna. subsequent knowing.
apatrāpya. modesty.
aparaparyāyavedanīya. karma experienced in other lifetimes.
aparāntaka. Aparāntaka.
apratigha. unobstructive.

882
apratisaṃkhyānirodha. nonanalytic cessation.
apramāṇaśubha. Immeasurable Virtue.
apramāṇābhā. Immeasurable Light.
apramāda. carefulness.
abhijña. clairvoyance.
abhidharma. abhidharma.
abhidhyā. covetousness.
abhibhvāyatana. overpowering sense bases.
abhisamaya. clear realization.
araṇā. unprovocative.
ardhapluta. half leapers.
arhat. arhat.
alobha. nongreed.
avadya. unwholesome.
avamagna, nimagna. torpor.
avara bhāgīya. those that lead to the lowest.
avijñapti. imperceptible form.
avidyā. ignorance.
avihiṃsā. nonhostility.
avīci. Incessant Hell.
avṛhā. Not Great.
aveṇikadharma. unshared qualities.
avetyaprasāda. faith from knowing.
avyākṛta. neutral.

883
aśraddhya. nonfaith.
asaṃvara. wrong vow.
asaṃskāra. noncomposite, noncompound.
asamayika. nonoccasional.
asura. demigod.
ākāśa. space.
ākāśānantya. Infinite Space.
ākṣepikakarma. propelling karma.
ājñatāvindriya. faculty of having all-knowing.
ājñasyāmindriya. faculty of producing allknowing.
ājñātendriya. faculty of all-knowing.
ānantaryamārga. path of no obstacles.
ānantaryāṇikarmāṇi. heinous karma, heinous deeds.
āyatana. sense bases.
ārūpyaga. bound for Formless.
ārūpyadhātu. Formless realm.
āryaaṣṭānggikamarga. noble eightfold path.
ālambanapratyaya. objective condition.
āsrava. defilement.
āsvādanāsaṃprayukta. absorption concurrent with enjoyment.
āhrīkya. shamelessness.
indriya. faculty.
indriyasaṃcāra. refine faculties.
īryāpatha. path of activities.

884
īrṣyā. envy.
uttarakuru. Unpleasant Sound.
utpattilābhin. attained upon birth.
utsada. neighboring hell.
uddhata. agitation.
upakleśa. near afflictions.
upanāha. grudge.
upapattibhava. birth state.
upapadyaparinirvāyin. nirvana upon birth.
upavāsastha. fasting vows.
upādāna. grasping.
upādānakāraṇa. grasping cause.
upāsaka. pursuer of virtue.
upekṣā. equanimity.
upekṣā. neutral feeling.
ūnarātra. impossible day.
ūrdhvabhāgīya. those that lead to the higher.
ūrdhvasrotas. bound for higher.
ūṣman. warmth.
ṛṣi. sage.
ekavīcika. one lifetime, one obstacle.
ekāgra. one-pointedness.
ogha. floods.
aupacayika. produced by development.

885
karma. karma.
karmapatha. karmic path, path of karma.
karmabheda. ritual schism.
karmāvaraṇa. karmic obscurations.
kāmacchanda. pleasure-seeking.
kāmatṛṣṇā. craving for desire.
kāmadhātu. Desire realm.
kāyasākṣin. made manifest by body.
kāraṇahetu. enabling cause.
kukūla. Burning Ground.
kulaṃkula. from family to family.
kuśala. virtue.
kuśalamūlasamuccheda. severing the roots of virtue.
kṛtsnāyatana. all-encompassing sense bases.
kaukṛtya. regret.
kauṣīdya. laziness.
krodha. aggression.
kleśa. affliction.
kleśamala. afflicted filths.
kleśāvaraṇa. afflictive obscurations.
kṣaṇa. instant.
kṣanti. forbearance.
kṣayajñāna. knowing extinction.
kṣayānutpādijñāna. knowing extinction and nonarising.

886
khaḍgamviṣāṇakalpa. rhinolike selfbuddha.
gati. wanderer.
gotra. family.
godānīya. Bountiful Cow.
cakrabheda. schism of the Wheel.
caturṛddhipāda. feet of miracles, four.
catvāri samyakprahāṇāni. complete
abandonments, four.
catvāro viparītāsāḥ. errors, four.
citta. cognition or mind.
cetana. volition.
cetanākarma. volitional karma.
cetayitvākarma. intended karma.
caitasika. mental factor.
chanda. intention.
jambudvīpa. Rose-Apple Land.
jīvitendriya. faculty of life force.
jñeyāvaraṇa. cognitive obscuration.
tatkṣaṇa. instant of that.
tatsabhāga. inactive.
tiryaka. animal.
tuśita. Joyous Land.
tṛṣṇa. craving.
tejodhātu. fire element.

887
trayastrimsa. Heaven of the irty-ree.
darṣanaheya. discards of seeing.
darśanamārga. path of seeing.
daśakṛtsnāyatana. ten all-encompassing sense bases.
dāna. generosity.
dīpaṃkara. Dipamkara.
duḥkha. suffering.
duḥkhaduḥkhatā. suffering of suffering.
duḥkhasatya. truth of suffering.
duścarita. harmful conduct.
dṛṣṭadharmaphalakarma. visibly experienced karma.
dṛṣṭi. view.
dṛṣṭiparāmarśa. overesteeming views.
dṛṣṭiprāpta. attained through seeing.
deva. god.
dravyatamanta, dravyasat. substantially existent.
dveṣa. hatred.
dharma. dharma, phenomenon.
dharmakṣānti. dharma forbearance.
dharmacakra. Wheel of Dharma.
dharmajñāna. dharma knowing.
dharmaskandha. aggregates of Dharma.
dharmānusārin. follower of dharma.
dharmin. dharma base.

888
dhātu. element.
dhī. mind.
dhyānāntara. special dhyana.
nāraka. hell.
nikāyasabhāga. likeness.
nirupadhiśeṣanirvāṇa. nirvana without remainder.
nirūpaāṇvikalpa. thought that recognizes.
nirodha satya. truth of cessation.
nirodhasamāpatti. absorption of cessation.
nirmāṇarati. Joy of Emanations.
nirvedhabhāgīya. precursor to clear realization.
nivṛtāvyākṛta. obscured neutral.
niṣyanda. causally compatible.
niṣyandaphala. causally compatible result.
naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñā. Neither Conception nor Non-Conception.
pañcānām ānantaryāṇām. heinous deeds, five.
pañcendriyatva. faculties, five.
pañcopādānaskandha. aggregates of grasping, five.
Paranirmitavaśavartin. Mastery over Others’ Emanations.
paramāṇu. atoms.
paramārtha. ultimate.
pariṇamaduḥkhatā. suffering of change.
parihāṇadharman. regressed one.
parihīṇa. regress.

889
Parīttaśubha. Lesser Virtue.
Parīttābhā. Lesser Light.
paryavasthāna. entangler.
paryudāsapratiṣedha. not-negation.
pāpa. misdeed.
puṇyakriyāvastu. bases of meritorious action.
Puṇyaprasava. Merit Born.
puṇyabhagīya. precursor to merit.
puruṣakāraphala. personal result.
pūrvakālabhava. previous state.
pūrvavideha. Superior Body.
pṛthagjanatva. ordinary individual.
pṛthivī. earth element.
prakṛtisāvadya. inherently unwholesome.
prajñaptita, prajñaptisat. nominally existent.
prajñā. full knowing.
prajñāvimukti. liberated through the aspect of full knowing.
praṇidhijñāna. knowing from aspiration.
pratikṣepaṇasāvadya. prohibited unwholesome.
pratigha. anger.
pratimokṣa. individual liberation.
prativedhanādharman. capable to realize.
pratisaṃkhyānirodha. analytic cessation.
pratisaṃvid. unhindered knowledge.

890
pratisandhi. rebirth-linking.
pratyakṣa. direct perception.
pratyaya. condition.
pratyekabuddha. self-buddha.
pradāsa. contentiousness.
Prabhāsvara. Radiant Light.
pramādita. carelessness.
prayoga. yoke.
prayogaja. attained by training.
prayogamārga. path of joining.
praṣabdhi. pliancy.
prasajyapratiṣedha. no-negation.
prahāṇamārga. paths that abandon, paths that discard.
prāṇātipāta. taking life.
prātihārya. miracle.
prāntakoṭika. highest end of
concentration. preta. hungry ghost.
pluta. leapers.
phala. result.
phalasthita. abider in result.
bandhana. bonds.
bala. power.
buddha. buddha.
bṛhatphala. Great Result.

891
bodhi. enlightenment.
bodhipakṣya. factors of enlightenment.
bodhisattva. bodhisattva.
brahmakāyika. Brahma’s Abode.
brahmacarya. Brahmic conduct.
brahmapurohita. Brahma’s Ministers.
bhavarāga. craving for existence.
bhavāgra. Peak of Existence.
bhāva. thing.
bhāvanā. meditation.
bhāvanāmārga. path of meditation.
bhāvanāheya. discards of meditation.
bhūta. sources.
bhūmisaṃcāra. shift level.
bhautika. source-derived.
mada. arrogance.
madhyastha. mid-vow.
manas. mind.
manaskāra. attention.
manuṣya. human.
maraṇabhava. death state.
mahākalpa. great aeon.
mahābrahmāṇa. Great Brahma.
mahābhūta. great sources, four.

892
mahāsaṃghika. Majority school.
mātṛkā. matrix.
mātsarya. stinginess.
māna. pride.
māyā. pretense.
mārga. path.
mārgasatya. truth of path.
mithyācāra. sexual misconduct.
middha. sleep.
muni. sage. muhūrta. hour.
mūrdhatva. peak.
mūlakleśa. root afflictions.
mokṣabhāgīya. precursor to freedom.
moha. delusion.
mrakṣa. concealment.
mrakṣa. hypocrisy.
yāma. Conflict Free.
rāga. desire.
rūpa. form.
rūpadhātu. Form realm.
rūpaskandha. aggregate of form.
ūpopaga. bound for Form.
lakṣaṇa. characteristic.
lakṣya. character base.

893
lava. minute.
loka. world.
lobha. greed.
laukikī samyagdṛṣṭi. correct worldly view.
vajropamasamādhi. vajra-like samadhi.
vāsana. imprint.
vāyudhātu. air element.
vicara. examining.
vicikitsā. doubt.
vijñāna. consciousness.
vijñānaskandha. aggregate of consciousness.
vijñānānta. Infinite Consciousness.
vitarka. considering.
vipākaphala. fully ripened result.
vipākahetu. cause of full ripening.
vipākāvaraṇa. ripened obscurations.
vipratipanna. mistaken engagement.
viprayuktasaṃskāra. nonconcurrent formation.
vibhavecchā. craving destruction.
vimuktimārga. path of liberation.
vimokṣa. emancipation.
viṣayin. subject.
viśeṣamārga. distinctive path.
visaṃyoga. removal.

894
visaṃyogaphala. result of removal.
vihiṃsā. hostility.
vihīna. forfeit.
vīrya. diligence.
vedanā. feeling.
vedanāskandha. aggregate of feeling.
vaijayanta. Fully Conquering.
vaibhāṣika. Great Exposition school.
vyavakīrṇabhāvita. alternating meditation.
vyavadāna. utterly pure.
vyāpannacitta. malice.
vyutkrāntakasamāpatti. skipping absorption.
vyutkrāntakasamāpatti. skipping samadhi.
śaraṇa. refuge.
śāṭhya. deceit.
śāstra. treatise.
śītanāraka. cold hells.
śīla. discipline.
śīlavrataparāmarśa. overesteeming discipline and austerity.
śuddhaka. pure absorption.
śubhakṛtsna. Full Virtue.
śūnya. empty.
śaikṣa mārga. path of learning.
śraddhādhimukta. convinced through faith.

895
śraddhānusārin. follower of faith.
śrāmaṇera. novice.
śrāmaṇya. spiritual way.
śrāmaṇyaphala. results of the spiritual way.
saṃkleśa. all-afflicted.
saṃgha. sangha.
saṃjñā. conception.
saṃjṇāskandha. aggregate of conception.
saṃpradhṛ. fine conduct.
saṃprayukta. concurrent.
saṃprayuktakahetu. concurrent cause.
saṃbhāramārga. path of accumulation.
saṃyojana. fetter.
saṃvara. vow.
saṃskaraduḥkhatā. pervasive suffering of formation.
saṃskāra. composite, compound, formation.
saṃskāraskandha. aggregate of formation.
sakṛdāgāmin. once-returner.
satkāyadṛṣṭi. personality view.
satpuruṣagati. holy wanderers.
saptakṛtvaḥparamaḥ. seven timer.
saptabodhyanggāni. branches of
enlightenment, seven.
sapratigha. obstructive.

896
sabhāga. active.
sabhāgahetu. cause of same status.
samanantarapratyaya. concurrent immediate condition.
samādhi. samadhi.
samāpatti. absorption.
samāhita. equipoise.
samudayasatya. truth of origin.
samyakkarmānta. right action.
samyaksaṃkalpa. right consideration.
samyaksamādhi. right samadhi.
samyaksmṛti. right mindfulness.
samyagājīva. right livelihood.
samyagdṛṣṭi. right view.
samyagvāka. right speech.
samyagvyāyāma. right effort.
samvṛti. relative.
sarāga. desirous.
sarvacyuta. one who dies in all realms.
sarvatraga. universals.
sarvatragahetu. universal cause.
Sarvāstivāda. Sarvastivada.
sahaja. coemergent.
sahabhūhetu. coemergent cause.
sahalokadhātu. Unbearable World Realm.

897
sābhisaṃskāraparinirvāyin. nirvana with effort.
sāmayika. occasional.
sāsrava. defiled.
sāhasraścūḍikaḥ. general prime thousand.
sudṛśa. Excellent Appearance.
sudharma. Good Dharma.
sūtra. sutra.
skandha. aggregate.
sthitākampyas. unshaken from abiding.
sparśa. contact, touch.
smṛti. mindfulness.
smṛtyupasthāna. foundations of mindfulness, four.
srotaāpattiphalapratipannaka. entering stream-enterer.
srotaāpanna. stream-enterer.
svabhāvavikalpa. essential thought.
hīnayāna. Foundation Vehicle.
hetu. cause.
hetupratyaya. causal condition.
hrī. shame.

898
 APPENDIX C

Tibetan and Sanskrit Equivalents of

English Terms

abhidharma Tib. chos mngon pa Skt. abhidharma

abider in result Tib. ’bras gnas Skt. phalasthita

absorption Tib. snyoms ’jug Skt. samāpatti

absorption of cessation Tib. ’gog pa’i snyoms ’jug

Skt. nirodhasamāpatti

active Tib. brten bcas Skt. sabhāga

aeon Tib. skal pa Skt. kalpa

afflictions Tib. nyon mongs Skt. kleśa

afflictive obscurations Tib. nyon mongs pa’i sgrib pa Skt. kleśā-

varaṇa

aggregate of Tib. ’du shes kyi phung po Skt. saṃjṇāskandha

aggregates Tib. phung po Skt. skandha

aggression Tib. khro ba Skt. krodha

agitation Tib. rgod pa Skt. uddhata

air, element of Tib. rlung gi khams Skt. vāyudhātu

Ajātaśatru King Tib. ma skyes dgra

all-afflicted Tib. kun nas nyon mongs pa Skt. saṃkleśa

899
all-encompassing sense bases, ten Tib. zad par gyi skye mched
bcu Skt. daśakṛtsnāyatana

alternating meditation Tib. spel sgom Skt. vyavakīrṇabhāvita

analytic cessation Tib. so sor brtags pa’i ’gog pa Skt. prati-

saṃkhyānirodha

anger Tib. khong khro Skt. pratigha

animal Tib. dud ’gro Skt. tiryaka

Aniruddha Tib. ma ’gags pa

Aparāntaka Tib. nyi ’og pa Skt. aparāntaka

Ārāḍa Tib. ring ’phur

arhat Tib. dgra bcom pa Skt. arhat

arrogance Tib. rgyags pa Skt. mada

Asanga Tib. thogs med

aspects Tib. rnam pa

Aśvajit Tib. rta thul

Āśvalāyana Sutra Tib. rta len gyi bu’i mdo

atoms Tib. rdul phra rab Skt. paramāṇu

attainment Tib. thob pa

attention Tib. yid la byed pa Skt. manaskāra

awareness Tib. shes bzhin

900
bases of meritorious action Tib. bsod nams bya ba’i
gzhi Skt. puṇyakriyāvastu

bases of the knowable, five Tib. shes bya’i gzhi lnga

becoming Tib. srid pa Skt. bhava

Below None Tib. ’og min Skt. akaniṣṭha

between state Tib. bar do’i srid pa Skt. antarābhava

birth state Tib. skye ba’i srid pa Skt. upapattibhava

bodhisattva Tib. byang chub sems dpa’ Skt. bodhisattva

bonds Tib. ’ching ba Skt. bandhana

bound for Form Tib. gzugs su nyer ’gro Skt. rūpopaga

bound for Formless Tib. gzugs med nyer ’gro Skt. ārūpyaga

bound for higher Tib. gong du ’pho ba Skt. ūrdhvasrotas

Bountiful Cow Tib. ba lang spyod Skt. godānīya

Brahma’s Abode Tib. tshangs ris Skt. brahmakāyika

Brahma’s Ministers Tib. tshangs pa mdun na ’don Skt. brahma-

purohita

branches of enlightenment, seven Tib. byang chub yan lag

bdun Skt. saptabodhyanggāni

buddha Tib. sangs rgyas Skt. buddha

capable to realize Tib. rtogs pa’i skal pa can Skt. prativedhanādhar-

man

901
carefulness Tib. bag yod Skt. apramāda

carelessness Tib. bag med Skt. pramādita

causal condition Tib. rgyu’i rkyen Skt. hetupratyaya

causally compatible result Tib. rgyu mthun gyi ’bras

bu Skt. niṣyandaphala

cause Tib. coemergent Skt. lhan cig ’byung rgyu Skt. sahabhūhetu

cause Tib. rgyu Skt. hetu

cause of full ripening Tib. rnam smin gyi rgyu Skt. vipākahetu

cause of same status Tib. skal mnyam gyi rgyu Skt. sabhāgahetu

cessation Tib. ’gog pa Skt. nirodha

character base Tib. mtshan gzhi Skt. lakṣya

characteristics Tib. mtshan nyid Skt. lakṣaṇa

childish Tib. byis pa Skt. bāla

clairvoyance Tib. mngon shes Skt. abhijña

clear realization Tib. mngon rtogs Skt. abhisamaya

Cloudless Tib. sprin med Skt. anabhraka

cognition Tib. shes pa Skt. citta

cognitive obscuration Tib. shes bya’i sgrib pa Skt. jñeyāvaraṇa

complete abandonments, four Tib. yang dag par spong ba

bzhi Skt. catvāri samyakprahāṇāni

composites Tib. ’dus byas Skt. saṃskāra

902
compound Tib. ’dus byas Skt. saṃskāra

concealment Tib. ’chab pa Skt. mrakṣa

Conceived for That Purpose Sutra Tib. ched du bsam par bya ba’i
mdo Skt. Saṃcetanīyasūtra

conception Tib. ’du shes Skt. saṃjñā

concurrence Tib. mtshungs ldan Skt. saṃprayukta

concurrent cause Tib. mtshungs ldan rgyu Skt. saṃprayuktakahetu

concurrent immediate condition Tib. mtshungs pa de ma thag

rkyen Skt. samanantarapratyaya

concurrent with enjoyment Tib. snyoms ’jug ro myang

ldan Skt. āsvādanāsaṃprayukta

condition, dominant Tib. bdag rkyen Skt. adhipatipratyaya

condition, objective Tib. dmigs rkyen Skt. ālambanapratyaya

condition Tib. rkyen Skt. pratyaya

Conflict Free Tib. ’thab bral Skt. yāma

congregating Tib. tshogs na spyod pa’i rang sang rgyas

consciousness Tib. rnam shes Skt. vijñāna

considering Tib. rtog pa Skt. vitarka

contact Tib. reg pa Skt. sparśa

contemplating Tib. bsam pa Skt. cinta

contentiousness Tib. ’tshig pa Skt. pradāsa

903
convinced through faith Tib. dad pas mos Skt. śraddhādhimukta

convinced through faith Tib. dad pas mos Skt. śraddhādhimukta

correct worldly view Tib. ’jig rten pa’i yang dag pa’i lta
ba Skt. laukikī samyagdṛṣṭi

covetousness Tib. brnab sems Skt. abhidhyā

craving Tib. sred pa Skt. tṛṣṇa

craving desire Tib. ‘dod pa’i sred pa

craving destruction Tib. ’jig sred Skt. vibhavecchā

craving existence Tib. srid pa’i sred pa

death state Tib. ’chi ba’i srid pa Skt. maraṇabhava

deceit Tib. gyo Skt. śāṭhya

defiled dharmas Tib. zag bcas Skt. sāsrava

defilement Tib. zag pa Skt. āsrava

definite Tib. nges pa’i las

delusion Tib. gti mug or rmongs pa Skt. moha

demigod Tib. lha ma yin Skt. asura

desire Tib. ’dod chags Skt. rāga

Desire realm Tib. ’dod khams Skt. kāmadhātu

dharma forbearance Tib. chos bzod Skt. dharmakṣānti

dharma knowing Tib. chos shes Skt. dharmajñāna

904
dharma nature Tib. chos nyid Skt. dharmatā

dhyana Tib. bsam gtan Skt. dhyāna

diligence Tib. brtson ’grus Skt. vīrya

discards of meditation Tib. sgom spang Skt. bhāvanāheya

discards of seeing Tib. mthong spang Skt. darṣanaheya

discipline Tib. tshul khrims Skt. śīla

Discipline Sutra Tib. sh’i la’i mdo Skt. Śīlaskandhikā

distinctive path Tib. khyad par gyi lam Skt. viśeṣamārga

distraction Tib. rnam g.yeng

divisive speech Tib. phra ma Skt. paiśunyam

dominant result Tib. bdag po’i ’bras bu Skt. adhipatiphala

doubt Tib. the tshom Skt. vicikitsā

element Tib. khams Skt. dhātu

emancipations, eight Tib. rnam par thar pa Skt. vimokṣa

enabling cause Tib. byed rgyu Skt. kāraṇahetu

enlightenment Tib. byang chub Skt. bodhi

entanglers Tib. kun nas dkris pa Skt. paryavasthāna

entering Tib. brgyun zhugs zhugs pa Skt. srotaāpattiphalapratipan-

naka

envy Tib. phrag dog Skt. īrṣyā

905
equanimity Tib. btang snyoms Skt. upekṣā

errors, four Tib. phyin ci logs pa bzhi Skt. catvāro viparītāsāḥ

examining Tib. dpyod pa Skt. vicara

Excellent Appearance Tib. gya nom snang ba Skt. sudṛśa

extreme view Tib. mthar ’dzin lta ba Skt. antagrahaṇa

factors of enlightenment Tib. byang chub phyogs kyi

chos Skt. bodhipakṣya

faculties Tib. dbang po Skt. indriya

faculties, refining Tib. dbang po ’pho ba Skt. indriyasaṃcāra

faculty of life force Tib. srog gi dbang po Skt. jīvitendriya

faith Tib. dad pa Skt. adhimukti

faith from knowing Tib. shes nas dad pa Skt. avetyaprasāda

family Tib. rigs Skt. gotra

fasting vows Tib. bsnyen gnas Skt. upavāsastha

feeling, aggregate of Tib. tshor ba’i phung po Skt. vedanāskandha

feeling Tib. tshor ba Skt. vedanā

feet of miracles, four Tib. rdzu ’phrul gyi rkang pa bzhi Skt. ca-
turṛddhipāda

fetters Tib. kun sbyor Skt. saṃyojana

fire, element of Tib. me’i khams Skt. tejodhātu

906
five aggregates of grasping Tib. nye bar len pa’i phung po
lnga Skt. pañcopādānaskandha

floods Tib. chu bo Skt. ogha

follower of dharma Tib. chos kyi rjes ’brang Skt. dharmānusārin

follower of faith Tib. dad pa’i rjes ’brang Skt. śraddhānusārin

forbearance Tib. bzod pa Skt. kṣanti

forfeiture Tib. rnam par nyams pa Skt. vihīna

form, aggregate of Tib. gzugs kyi phung po Skt. rūpaskandha

form Tib. gzugs Skt. rūpa

Form realm Tib. gzugs khams Skt. rūpadhātu

formation Tib. ’du byed Skt. saṃskāra

Formless Tib. gzugs med Skt. ārūpya

foundations of mindfulness, four Tib. dran pa nye bar bzhag pa

bzhi Skt. smṛtyupasthāna

from family to family Tib. rigs nas rigs Skt. kulaṃkula

full knowing Tib. shes rab Skt. prajñā

Full Virtue Tib. dge rgyas Skt. śubhakṛtsna

fully ripened result Tib. rnam smin gyi ’bras bu Skt. vipākaphala

General Prime Thousand Tib. stong spyi phud Skt. sāhasraścūḍikaḥ

generosity Tib. sbyin pa Skt. dāna

gods Tib. lha Skt. deva

907
Good Aeon Tib. bskal bzang

Good Dharma Tib. chos bzang Skt. sudharma

grasping Tib. nye bar len pa Skt. upādāna

great aeon Tib. bskal pa chen po Skt. mahākalpa

Great Brahma Tib. tshangs chen Skt. mahābrahmāṇa

Great Compendium Tib. bsdu ba chen mo

Great Exposition school Tib. bye brag smra ba Skt. vaibhāṣika

Great Result Tib. ’bras bu che ba Skt. bṛhatphala

great sources, four Tib. ’byung ba chen po bzhi Skt. mahābhūta

Great Vision Tib. shin tu mthong ba Skt. sudarśana

greed Tib. chags pa Skt. lobha

grudge Tib. ’khon ’dzin Skt. upanāha

half leapers Tib. phyed du ’phar ba Skt. ardhapluta

harmful conduct Tib. nyes spyad Skt. duścarita

harsh speech Tib. tshig rtsub Skt. pāruṣyam

hatred Tib. zhe sdang Skt. dveṣa

Heaven of the Thirty-Three Tib. sum cu rtsa gsum Skt. trayastrim-

sa

heinous deeds Tib. mtshams med kyi las Skt. ānantaryāṇikarmāṇi

hell Tib. dmyal ba Skt. nāraka

908
highest end Tib. bsam gtan rab kyi mtha’ Skt. prāntakoṭika

holy wanderers Tib. skyes bu dam pa’i ’gro ba Skt. satpuruṣagati

hostility Tib. rnam par ’tshe ba Skt. vihiṃsā

hour Tib. yud tsam Skt. muhūrta

human Tib. mi Skt. manuṣya

hungry ghost Tib. yi dwags Skt. preta

hypocrisy Tib. ’chab pa Skt. mrakṣa

ignorance Tib. ma rig pa Skt. avidyā

Immeasurable Light Tib. tshad med ’od Skt. apramāṇābhā

Immeasurable Virtue Tib. tshad med dge Skt. apramāṇaśubha

immodesty Tib. khrel med Skt. anapatrāpya

imperceptible form Tib. rnam par rig byed ma yin pa’i

gzugs Skt. avijñapti

impermanence Tib. mi rtag pa Skt. anitya

impossible day Tib. zhag mi thub Skt. ūnarātra

imprint Tib. bag chags Skt. vāsana

inactive Tib. de mtshungs Skt. tatsabhāga

indefinitely experienced Tib. ma nges pa’i las

Individual Liberation Sutra Tib. so sor thar pa’i mdo Skt. Pra-
timokṣasūtra

Infinite Consciousness Tib. rnam shes mtha’ yas Skt. vijñānānta

909
Infinite Space Tib. nam mkha’ mtha’ yas Skt. ākāśānantya

inherently Tib. rang bzhin kha na ma tho ba Skt. prakṛtisāvadya

instant Tib. skad cig ma Skt. kṣaṇa

intended karma Tib. bsam pa’i las Skt. cetayitvākarma

intention Tib. ’dun pa Skt. chanda

interest Tib. mos pa Skt. adhimokṣa

intermediate aeon Tib. bar gyi bskal pa Skt. antaḥkalpa

Ishvara Tib. dbang phyug Skt. Īśvara

Joy of Emanations Tib. ’phrul dga’ Skt. nirmāṇarati

karma Tib. completing Skt. rdzogs byed kyi las

karma Tib. las Skt. karma

karma, volitional Tib. sems pa’i las Skt. cetanākarma

karma experienced in other lifetimes Tib. lan grangs gzhan myong

’gyur gyi las Skt. aparaparyāyavedanīya

karma experienced on birth Tib. skyes nas myong ’gyur gyi las

karma, propelling Tib. ’phen byed kyi las Skt. ākṣepikakarma

karma, visibly experienced Tib. mthong chos myong ’gyur gyi

las Skt. dṛṣṭadharmaphalakarma

karmic paths Tib. las kyi lam Skt. karmapatha

kernels Tib. phra rgyas Skt. anuśaya

knowing Tib. shes pa Skt. jñāna

910
knowing extinction Tib. zad pa shes pa Skt. kṣayajñāna

knowing extinction and nonarising Tib. zad mi skye shes

pa Skt. kṣayānutpādijñāna

knowing nonarising Tib. mi skye ba shes pa Skt. anutpādajñāna

lay precepts Tib. dge bsnyen Skt. upāsaka

laziness Tib. le lo Skt. kauṣīdya

league Tib. dpag tshad Skt. yojana

leapers Tib. ’phar ba Skt. pluta

Lesser Light Tib. ’od chung Skt. Parīttābhā

Lesser Virtue Tib. dge chung Skt. Parīttaśubha

Letter to a Friend Tib. bshes pa’i spring yig Skt. Suhṛllekha

liberated by full knowing Tib. shes rab kyi cha las rnam
grol Skt. prajñāvimukti

life Tib. srog

likeness Tib. ris mthun pa Skt. nikāyasabhāga

Long Discourses, The Tib. lung ring po Skt. Dīrghāma

made manifest by body Tib. lus kyis mngon sum

byed Skt. kāyasākṣin

magic Tib. rdzu ’phrul Skt. ṛddhi

Majority school Tib. phal chen sde pa Skt. mahāsaṃghika

malice Tib. gnod sems Skt. vyāpannacitta

911
Mastery over Others’ Emanations Tib. gzhan ’phrul dbang
byed Skt. Paranirmitavaśavartin

matrix Tib. ma mo Skt. mātṛkā

meditation Tib. sgom Skt. bhāvanā

mental factors Tib. sems ’byung Skt. caitasika

Merit Born Tib. bsod nams skyes Skt. Puṇyaprasava

mid-vows Tib. bar sdom Skt. madhyastha

mind Tib. blo or yid Skt. dhī or manas

mindfulness Tib. dran pa Skt. smṛti

Minor Grounds Tib. gzhi phran tshegs Skt. Kṣudravastaka

minute Tib. thang cig Skt. lava

miracle Tib. cho ’phrul Skt. prātihārya

mistaken engagement Tib. logs zhugs Skt. vipratipanna

modesty Tib. khrel yod Skt. apatrāpya

molecules Tib. rdul phran Skt. aṇu

nagas Tib. klu Skt. nāga

name-and-form Tib. ming gzugs Skt. nāmarūpa

names Tib. ming Skt. nāma

Namgyal Drakpa Skt. Vijayakīrti

near afflictions Tib. nye ba’i nyon mongs Skt. upakleśa

912
neighboring Tib. nye ’khor dmyal ba Skt. utsada

Neither Conception nor Nonconception Tib. ’du shes med ’du

shes med min Skt. naivasaṃjñānāsaṃjñā

neuters Tib. ma ning Skt. paṇḍaka

neutral Tib. lung ma bstan Skt. avyākṛta

neutral feeling Tib. btang snyoms Skt. upekṣā

nirvana Tib. mya ngan las ’das pa Skt. nirvāṇa

nirvana in the intermediate Tib. bar dor mya ngan las ’da
ba Skt. antarāparinirvāyin

nirvana upon birth Tib. skyes nas mya ngan las ’da’ ba Skt. upa-
padyaparinirvāyin

nirvana with effort Tib. mngon par ’du byed pa mya ngan las ’da
ba Skt. sābhisaṃskāraparinirvāyin

nirvana without effort Tib. mngon par ’du byed pa med pa mya
ngan las ’da ba Skt. anabhisaṃskāraparinirvāyin

no-negation Tib. med dgag Skt. prasajyapratiṣedha

noble eightfold path Tib. ’phags lam yan lag brg-

yad Skt. āryaaṣṭānggikamarga

noble individuals Tib. ’phags pa Skt. ārya

nominal existence Tib. btags yod Skt. prajñaptita, prajñaptisat

nonanalytic cessation Tib. so sor brtags min ’gog pa Skt. aprati-

saṃkhyānirodha

913
nonarising dharma bases Tib. mi skye ba’i chos can Skt. anutpat-
tidharmin

nonawareness Tib. shes bzhin min pa

noncomposite Tib. ’dus ma byas Skt. asaṃskāra

nonconcurrent formation Tib. ldan min ’du byed Skt. viprayuk-

tasaṃskāra

nondelusion Tib. gti mug med pa

nonfaith Tib. ma dad pa Skt. aśraddhya

nongreed Tib. chags pa med pa Skt. alobha

nonhatred Tib. zhe sdang med pa Skt. adveṣa

nonhostility Tib. rnam par mi ’tshe ba Skt. avihiṃsā

nonlearner Tib. mi slob pa Skt. aśaikṣa

nonmerit Tib. bsod nams min pa Skt. apuṇya

nonoccasional liberation Tib. dus dang mi sbyor Skt. asamayika

nonreturner Tib. phyir mi ’ong ba Skt. anāgāmi

nonvirtue Tib. mi dge ba Skt. akuśala

Not Great Tib. mi che ba Skt. avṛhā

Not Unable Tib. mi lcogs med pa Skt. anāgāmya

not-negation Tib. ma yin dgag Skt. paryudāsapratiṣedha

Nothingness Tib. ci yang med Skt. akiṃcanya

novice Tib. dge tshul Skt. śrāmaṇera

914
obscurations Tib. sgrib pa Skt. āvaraṇa

obscured neutral Tib. bsgribs lung ma bstan Skt. nivṛtāvyākṛta

obstructive form Tib. thogs bcas Skt. sapratigha

occasional liberation Tib. dus dang sbyor Skt. sāmayika

of individual liberation Tib. so sor thar pa Skt. pratimokṣa

of learning Tib. slob lam Skt. śaikṣa mārga

of the Wheel Tib. ’khor lo’i dbyen Skt. cakrabheda

once-returner Tib. lan cig phyir ’ong ba Skt. sakṛdāgāmin

one obstacle Tib. tshe cig bar chad cig pa Skt. ekavīcika

one who dies in all realms Tib. gnas thams cad du ’chi ’pho
ba Skt. sarvacyuta

one with volition for death Tib. ’chi bar sems pa’i chos can

one-pointedness Tib. rtse gcig pa Skt. ekāgra

ordinary individual Tib. so so skye bo Skt. pṛthagjanatva

Ornament of Clear Realization Tib. mngon rtogs rgyan Skt. Abhisa-

mayālaṅkāra

overpowering sense bases Tib. zil gyis gnon pa’i skye

mched Skt. abhibhvāyatana

Particularist Tib. bye brag pa Skt. Vaiśeṣika

path Tib. lam Skt. mārga

path of accumulation Tib. tshogs lam Skt. saṃbhāramārga

915
path of activities Tib. spyod lam Skt. īryāpatha

path of joining Tib. sbyor lam Skt. prayogamārga

path of liberation Tib. rnam grol lam Skt. vimuktimārga

path of meditation Tib. sgom lam Skt. bhāvanāmārga

path of no learning Tib. mi slob pa’i lam Skt. aśaikṣa mārga

path of no obstacles Tib. bar chad med lam Skt. ānantaryamārga

path of seeing Tib. mthong lam Skt. darśanamārga

peak Tib. rtse mo Skt. mūrdhatva

Peak of Existence Tib. srid pa’i rtse mo Skt. bhavāgra

perfect knowings Tib. yongs shes Skt. parijñā

personal result Tib. skyes bu byed ’bras bu Skt. puruṣakāraphala

pleasure-seeking Tib. ’dod pa la ’dun pa Skt. kāmacchanda

pliancy Tib. shin tu sbyangs Skt. praṣabdhi

powers, ten Tib. stobs Skt. bala

Precious Garland Tib. rin chen phreng ba Skt. Ratnāvāli

precursor to freedom Tib. thar pa cha mthun Skt. mokṣabhāgīya

precursor to merit Tib. bsod nams cha mthun Skt. puṇyabhagīya

precursors to clear realization Tib. nges ’byed cha

mthun Skt. nirvedhabhāgīya

preparations for dhyana Tib. bsam gtan gyi nyer bsdogs

916
pretense Tib. sgyu Skt. māyā

previous state Tib. sngun dus Skt. pūrvakālabhava

pride Tib. nga rgyal Skt. māna

production by development Tib. rgyas byung Skt. aupacayika

prohibited unwholesome Tib. bcas pa’i kha na ma tho ba Skt. pra-

tikṣepaṇasāvadya

protected one Tib. rjes su srung ba’i chos can Skt. anurakṣaṇādhar-
man

pure dhyana Tib. dag pa pa Skt. śuddhaka

pursuer of virtue Tib. dge bsnyen Skt. upāsaka

Radiant Light Tib. ’od gsal Skt. Prabhāsvara

rebirth-linking Tib. nying mtshams sbyor ba Skt. pratisandhi

refuge Tib. skyabs Skt. śaraṇa

regressed one Tib. yong su nyams pa’i chos can Skt. parihāṇadhar-
man

regression Tib. yongs su nyams pa Skt. parihīṇa

regret Tib. ’gyod pa Skt. kaukṛtya

removal Tib. bral ba Skt. visaṃyoga

result Tib. ’bras bu Skt. phala

result of removal Tib. bral ’bras Skt. visaṃyogaphala

917
results of the spiritual way, four Tib. dge sbyong gi tshul gyi ’bras
bu Skt. śrāmaṇyaphala

Retention of the Jewel Tala Tib. dkon mchog ta la’i gzungs

rhinolike Tib. bse ru lta bu rang sang rgyas Skt. khaḍgam-

viṣāṇakalpa

right action Tib. yang dag pa’i las kyi mtha’ Skt. samyakkarmānta

right consideration Tib. yang dag pa’i rtog pa Skt. samyaksaṃkalpa

right effort Tib. yang dag pa’i rtsol ba Skt. samyagvyāyāma

right livelihood Tib. yang dag pa’i ’tsho ba Skt. samyagājīva

right mindfulness Tib. yang dag pa’i dran pa Skt. samyaksmṛti

right samadhi Tib. yang dag pa’i ting nge ’dzin Skt. samyaksamādhi

right speech Tib. yang dag pa’i ngag Skt. samyagvāka

right view Tib. yang dag pa’i lta ba Skt. samyagdṛṣṭi

ripened obscurations Tib. rnam smin gyi sgrib pa Skt. vipākāvaraṇa

ritual schism Tib. las kyi dbyen Skt. karmabheda

root afflictions Tib. rtsa ba’i nyon mongs Skt. mūlakleśa

roots of virtue Tib. dge ba’i rtsa ba Skt. kuśalamūla

Rose Apple Land Tib. ’dzam bu gling Skt. jambudvīpa

sage Tib. thub pa Skt. muni

samadhi Tib. ting nge ’dzin Skt. samādhi

same status Tib. skal mnyam Skt. sabhāga

918
Sangha Tib. dge ’dun Skt. saṃgha

Sarvastivadin Tib. thams cad yod par smra ba Skt. Sarvāstivāda

scent Tib. dri Skt. gandha

scent-eater Tib. dri za Skt. gandharva

schism Tib. dbyen Skt. bheda

Scripture that Teaches the Ten Groups of Ten, The Tib. bcu tshan bcu
ston pa’i lung

self-awareness Tib. rang rig

self-buddha Tib. rang sang rgyas Skt. pratyekabuddha

selflessness Tib. bdag med Skt. anātmata

sense bases Tib. skye mched Skt. āyatana

sentient being Tib. sems can Skt. sattva

seven-timer Tib. srid pa lan bdun pa Skt. saptakṛtvaḥparamaḥ

sexless Tib. za ma Skt. ṣaṇḍha

sexual misconduct Tib. log par g.yem pa Skt. mithyācāra

shame Tib. ngo tsha Skt. hrī

shamelessness Tib. ngo tsha med pa Skt. āhrīkya

shape Tib. dbyibs Skt. ākṛti

shifting level Tib. sa ’pho ba Skt. bhūmisaṃcāra

showable Tib. bstan yod Skt. sanidarśanam

919
skipping absorption Tib. thod rgal gyi snyoms ’jug Skt. vyutkrān-
takasamāpatti

skipping results Tib. ’bras bu thos rgal ba

sleep Tib. gnyid Skt. middha

sound Tib. sgra Skt. śabda

source-derived Tib. ’byung gyur Skt. bhautika

sources Tib. ’byung ba Skt. bhūta

space Tib. nam mkha’ Skt. ākāśa

special Tib. bsam gtan khyad par can Skt. dhyānāntara

speech Tib. ngag Skt. vāk

spiritual way Tib. dge sbyong gi ’tshul Skt. śrāmaṇya

Springtime Cow of Easy Accomplishment Tib. Chos mngon pa

mdzod kyi ‘grel pa rgyas par spros pa grub bde’i spyid ‘jo

staying Tib. characteristic of

stealing Tib. ma byin par len pa Skt. adattādāna

stinginess Tib. ser sna Skt. mātsarya

stream-enterer Tib. rgyun zhugs pa Skt. srotaāpanna

subsequent knowing Tib. rjes shes Skt. anvayajñāna

substance Tib. rdzas Skt. dravya

substance that is not wasted Tib. chud mi za ba’i rdzas

successive results Tib. ’bras bu mthar gyis pa

920
suffering Tib. sdug bsngal Skt. duḥkha

Superior Body Tib. lus ’phags po Skt. pūrvavideha

superior training in discipline Tib. lhag pa tshul khrims kyi bslab

pa Skt. adhiśīlaṃśikṣā

superior training in full knowing Tib. lhag pa shes rab kyi bslab
pa Skt. adhiprajñaṃśikṣā

superior training in mind Tib. lhag pa sems kyi bslab pa Skt. adhi-
cittaṃśikṣā

supreme dharma Tib. chos mchog Skt. agradharma

Sutra like a Heap of Ashes Tib. sol ba’i phung po lta bu’i mdo

Sutra of Entering the Womb Tib. mgnal ’jug gi mdo

Sutra of Many Realms Tib. khams mang po’i mdo

Sutra of Seven States Tib. srid pa bdun pa’i mdo Skt. Saptabha-
vasūtra

Sutra of the Great Welcome Tib. gang yang bsus po che mdo

Sutra of the Seven Holy Wanderers Tib. skye bu dam pa’i ’gro ba
bdun ston pa’i mdo

Sutra Requested by Candragarbha Tib. zla ba snying pos zhus pa’i

mdo

Sutra which Teaches the Branches of Dhyana Tib. bsam tan gyi yan
lag bstan pa’i mdo

taking life Tib. srog bcod pa Skt. prāṇātipāta

Teaching the Ten Areas Tib. gnas bcu bstan pa

921
thing Tib. dngos po Skt. bhāva

torpor Tib. bying ba Skt. avamagna or nimagna

touch Tib. reg pa Skt. sparśa

transcendences, six Tib. pha rol tu phyin pa drug Skt. ṣaṭpāramitā

Treatise on Designation, The Tib. mdo sde gdags pa

truth, relative Tib. kun rdzob bden pa Skt. samvṛtisat

truth, ultimate Tib. don dam bden pa Skt. paramārthasat

truth of cessation Tib. ’gog pa’i bden pa Skt. nirodha satya

truth of origin Tib. kun ’byung gyi bden pa Skt. samudayasatya

truth of path Tib. lam gyi bden pa Skt. mārgasatya

truth of suffering Tib. sdug bsngal gyi bden pa Skt. duḥkhasatya

truths, four noble Tib. ’phags pa’i bden pa bzhi Skt. caturāryasatya

Udraka Tib. lhag spyod

Unbearable World Realm Tib. mi mjed ’jig rten gyi khams Skt. sa-
halokadhātu

uncountable aeons Tib. bskal pa grangs med Skt. anekāsaṃkhy-

eyaṃ kalpam

undefiled dharmas Tib. zag med Skt. anāsrava

Unheated Lake Tib. ma dros pa’i mtsho Skt. anavatapta

unhindered knowledge Tib. so sor yang dag par rig pa Skt. prati-
saṃvid

922
universal cause Tib. kun tu ’gro ba’i rgyu Skt. sarvatragahetu

universals Tib. kun ’gro Skt. sarvatraga

unobscured neutral Tib. ma bsgribs lung ma

bstan Skt. anivṛtāvyākṛta

unobstructive Tib. thogs med Skt. apratigha

Unpleasant Sound Tib. sgra mi snyan Skt. uttarakuru

unprovocative samadhi Tib. nyon mongs med pa Skt. araṇā

unshakable one Tib. mi gyo ba’i chos can Skt. akopyadharman

unshaken from abiding Tib. gnas pa las mi bskyod pa Skt. sthi-

tākampyas

unshared qualities Tib. ma ’dres pa’i chos Skt. aveṇikadharma

unwholesome Tib. kha na ma tho ba Skt. avadya

utterly pure Tib. rnam byang Skt. vyavadāna

vajra-like samadhi Tib. rdo rje lta bu ting nge ’dzin Skt. vajropama-
samādhi

view Tib. lta ba Skt. dṛṣṭi

view, personality Tib. ’jig tshogs la lta ba Skt. satkāyadṛṣṭi

view of overesteeming discipline and austerity Tib. tshul khrims

brtul zhugs mchog ’dzin Skt. śīlavrataparāmarśa

view of overesteeming views Tib. lta ba mchog ’dzin Skt. dṛṣṭi-

parāmarśa

virtue Tib. dge ba Skt. kuśala

923
visible peace Tib. mthong chos zhi

volition Tib. sems pa Skt. cetana

vows Tib. sdom pa Skt. saṃvara

wanderer Tib. ’gro ba Skt. gati

warmth Tib. drod Skt. ūṣman

Wheel of Dharma Tib. chos kyi ’khor lo Skt. dharmacakra

wheel-wielding emperor Tib. ’khor los bsgyur ba’i rgyal po Skt. rājā
cakravartī

Without Pain Tib. mi gdung ba Skt. atapas

without remainder Tib. lhag med myan ngan las ’das pa Skt. nir-
upadhiśeṣanirvāṇa

world Tib. ’jig rten Skt. loka

wrong action Tib. log pa’i las kyi mtha’

wrong livelihood Tib. log ’tsho Skt. mithyājīva

wrong speech Tib. log pa’i ngag Skt. mithyāvac

wrong vow Tib. sdom min Skt. asaṃvara

Yogic Conduct school Tib. rnal ’byor spyod pa ba Skt. yogācāra

yoke Tib. sbyor ba Skt. prayoga

924
 Works Cited

The works listed here are the editions consulted during the transla-
tion or referred to by the translator in the notes. This list does not
include the many works cited by Vasubandhu or Wangchuk Dorje,
many of which would be difficult to find, and some of which may
have been lost.

Sources in the Tengyur

Vasubandhu. Abhidharmakoṣakārikā (chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi

tshig le’ur byas pa), Derge Tengyur (Vol. mgnon pa ku pa)

___. Abhidharmakoṣaṃbhāṣyaṃ (chos mngon pa’i mdzod kyi bshad

pa).

Dergye Tengyur (Vols. mgnon pa ku pa and khu pa)

Yaśomitra. Sphuṭārthābhidharmakośavyākhyā (chos mngon pa’i

mdzod kyi ’grel bshad don gsal). Dergye Tengyur (mngon pa gu pa
and ngu pa).

Other Tibetan sources referred to in the text

Dge ’dun grub (2001). Legs par gsungs pa’i dam pa’i chos ’dul ba’i
gleng gzhi dang rtogs brjod pa lung sde bzhi kun las btus pa rin po
che’i mdzod ces bya ba bzhugs so. Varanasi: Geluk Students Welfare
Committee of the Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies.

Mchims ’jam pa’i dbyangs (1989). Chos mngon pa mdzod kyi tshig
le’ur byas pa’i ‘grel pa mngon pa’i rgyan. Krung go’i bod kyi shes rig

925
dpe skrun khang. (Reprinted by Yasodhara Publications, Delhi,
2003)

___(2009). Chos mngon pa mdzod kyi tshig le’ur byas pa’i ’grel pa
mngon pa’i rgyan. Institute of Tibetan Classics.

Dbang phyug rdor je (2002). Chos mngon pa mdzod kyi rnam par
bshad pa chos mngon rgya mtsho’i snying po mkhyen rtse’i zhal lung
gzhon nu rnam rol legs bshad chos mig rnam ’byed grub bde’i shing
rta zhes bya ba bzhugs so. Baijnath: Dpal spungs gsung rab nyams
gso khang.

___(2003). Chos mngon pa mdzod kyi rnam par bshad pa chos

mngon rgya mtsho’i snying po mkhyen rtse’i zhal lung gzhon nu rnam
rol legs bshad chos mig rnam ’byed grub bde’i shing rta zhes bya ba
bzhugs so. Varanasi: Vajra Vidya Library.

Mi skyod rdor je (2003). Shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i lung chos
mtha’ dag gi bdud rtsi’i snying por gyur pa gang la ldan pa’i gzhi rje
btsun mchog to dgyes par ngal gso ba’i yongs ’du sa brtol gyi ljon pa
rgyas pa (Vols. 1–2). Seattle: Nitartha international Publications.

___(2005). Chos mngon pa mdzod kyi ’grel pa rgyas par spros pa

grub bde’i spyid ’jo (Vols. 1–4). (e Springtime Cow of Easy Accom-
plishment: An Extensive Commentary on the Treasury of Abhidhar-
ma). Varanasi: Kagyu Refugee Protection Committee of the
Central Institute for Higher Tibetan Studies.

Zhwa dmar chos kyi dbang phyug (2007). Mngon pa mdzod kyi
spyi don dbyig gnyen bzhad pa. Varanasi: Vajra Vidya Institute
Library.

Sanskrit source

Gokhale, V.V. e Text of the Abhidharmakośakārikā of Vasuband-

926
hu, Journal of the Bombay Branch, Royal Asiatic Society, n.s., vol.
22, 1946, pp. 73102.

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