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| The Uttaratantra
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General Introduction
The Buddha gave many teachings. These teachings
were presented as the three turnings of the
wheel of dharma.
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The subject matter of the first turning
of the wheel of dharma is the Four Noble
Truths. These truths are: the truth of
suffering; the truth of the origin of
suffering; the truth of the cessation
of suffering; and the truth of the path.
The teachings of this first turning were
aimed at individuals who did not have
the sharpest intelligence. They needed
teachings that were easy to comprehend.
In this turning the Buddha stated there
was suffering, that the defilements were
the cause of suffering, and that it was
possible to be liberated from all of this.
Everything in this turning was phrased
in terms of something tangible and in
terms of conventional reality or relative
truth.
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In the second turning the Buddha assumed
a different perspective when he explained
that everything that appears to exist
actually does not exist in the way that
it appears. In this turning the Buddha
said in the Heart Sutra, “There
is no form, no sound, no smell, no taste...”
etc., demonstrating that all the objects
of the senses and all the forms of appearance
are simply illusory. He explained that
they have no ultimate reality, that the
actual nature of all phenomena is emptiness.
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In the second turning the Buddha established
that all phenomena are empty but he did
not provide further elucidation. However,
in the third turning, the Buddha revealed
the ultimate nature of phenomena and explained
that this emptiness was not a total absence,
a total void of everything, but was a
manifestation of the qualities of the
ultimate nature of phenomena. He also
taught that all beings possess the essence
of the Buddha and that anyone who enters
the path and continues to practice will
be able to develop the perfect knowledge
of the Buddha. The Uttaratantra explains
that this essence of Buddhahood is present
in the mind of all beings.
After the teachings of the third turning
were presented learned teachers composed
many works that pertained to this same
subject matter. For example, the bodhisattva
Maitreya composed five teachings on this
topic: Ornament of Mahayana Sutras, Distinguishing
Dharma from Dharmata, Distinguishing the
Middle from the Extremes, Ornament of
Clear Realization and the Uttaratantra
Shastra. |
This Commentary
The Uttaratantra, one
of the five teachings of Maitreya, is related
to the third turning. This explanation of
the Uttaratantra is based on the commentary
by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye and consists
of two main parts. The first part, which is
reviewed in this chapter, is a general introduction
that covers seven topics: the nature of the
text, the source, the author, its propagation,
transmission of the text, subject matter and
styles of explanation. The second part of
the commentary explains the actual text and
is divided into eight points: the Buddha,
the dharma, the sangha, Buddha essence, enlightenment,
qualities, activity and benefits of the text.
1: The Buddha’s Own Teachings or a Shastra
The first point of the introduction explains
that there are two kinds of Buddhist teachings
– the words of the Buddha (Skt. sutras)
and the commentaries on the Buddha’s
works composed by others (Skt. shastras).
One might think the Uttaratantra is composed
from the words of the Buddha because Maitreya
is a representative of the Buddha. However,
as this work is related to the subject matter
taught in the third turning, it is more appropriate
to consider it as an explanatory text composed
by someone other than the Buddha.
2: The Source of This Work
The second point contains a discussion of
the source upon which the Uttaratantra relies.
Some claim this teaching is related to the
Mind-only (Skt. Chittamatra) school, but this
is not so because this teaching relates directly
to the teachings on absolute truth. The Uttaratantra
derives its subject matter from all the sutras
of the three turnings – it is like a
quintessence of all these sutras and it has
a particularly close connection to one sutra,
the Dharanirajesvara, taught at the request
of King Ishvara.
3: The Author
The third point examines the authorship of
this work. In general, authors who have one
of three qualifications produce shastras:
the best qualification is a direct understanding
of the absolute truth of phenomena. If the
author does not have this understanding, then
the second best qualification is a personal
experience with a deity such as Manjushri.
The poorest qualification is a good education
that includes a thorough knowledge of the
five branches of the sciences. Texts written
by someone who does not possess one of these
three qualifications would not be considered
a Buddhist commentary. Maitreya, the author
of the Uttaratantra, is even more qualified
than the most qualified of authors because
he not only possesses the realization of absolute
truth, but he is a bodhisattva of the highest
level.
4: Propagation of the Text
The fourth point discusses how those teachings
of Maitreya are propagated. Buddha Shakyamuni
had actually predicted that there would be
a set of teachings given by one of the highest
bodhisattvas which would relate to the highest
possible meaning and that these teachings
would be given to men and propagated among
them.
The Story of Asanga
The story of the propagation of the Uttaratantra
begins at the famous Buddhist University of
Nalanda in India. A fire started by heretics
caused serious damage to the university and
many precious teachings were lost. Most of the
Abhidharma teachings were destroyed. At that
time a nun called Salwai Tsultrim (Ethic of
Clarity) became concerned that the teachings
would be lost. For this reason she decided to
have sons who would help enable the teachings
to grow and spread again. Her two sons were
Asanga, who became a proponent of the Mahayana
teachings, and Vasubandhu, who became an outstanding
proponent of the Hinayana or Theravada teachings
and later the Mahayana.
Asanga began by meditating very diligently on
Maitreya. He practiced for three years and did
not seem to be getting any results. He became
very depressed because he had not accomplished
anything in his meditation. He then left his
retreat and on leaving saw a pigeon leaving
its nest in a rock face. He noticed how the
entrance hole had been worn smooth by the feathers
of generations of pigeons. Seeing this example
of continued application he was inspired to
diligence and returned to his retreat. After
a further three years without result he again
became depressed and left his retreat hermitage.
This time he encountered a man who was removing
dirt from the top of a high hill. Asanga discovered
that the man was removing the dirt because the
hill was blocking the sun, which he hoped would
shine on his house. Asanga was so impressed
by this man’s perseverance that he decided
to enter retreat again.
Depressed after another three years without
result, Asanga again left his retreat. This
time he met a man rubbing an iron bar with a
cloth. Intrigued by this, Asanga asked what
he was doing and was told he was making a sewing
needle. Again, inspired by such diligence and
forbearance for such a small return, Asanga
returned to his retreat.
Having meditated for twelve years he still did
not feel he was getting anywhere with his meditation
and became depressed again. He left his retreat
and on the way he saw a dog that was very sick
and thin. The dog was very angry and ready to
bite him. Suddenly, Asanga felt strong compassion
for the dog because he noticed that the dog
had worms in its wounds. He wanted to remove
the worms to help the dog, but realized that
if he pulled the worms off, he would kill them.
It was a choice between killing the worms or
leaving the worms on the dog which would eventually
cause the dog to die. Asanga, overwhelmed by
a strong compassion for both, felt that he must
find a way to get the worms out of the dog’s
wounds. He thought, “If I take the worms
off with my tongue, then the worms will not
be hurt and the dog will get better.”
He leaned down and stuck out his tongue. Instead
of touching the dog Asanga touched the ground
and then Maitreya appeared before him. Seeing
Maitreya he exclaimed, “How is this possible!
I have been practicing this meditation for twelve
years and haven’t been able to meet you.
You really don’t have much compassion
for me.” Maitreya said, “It wasn’t
my lack of compassion. I was there the whole
time but you couldn’t see me because you
had too many obscurations. After twelve years
of practice your obscurations had become so
slight that when you saw the dog your compassion
enabled you to see me.” To prove the point,
Maitreya suggested that Asanga go into the nearby
village with Maitreya on his shoulder and ask
people what they could see. Most of the villagers
saw nothing and thought him crazy except for
one old lady who asked why he was carrying a
wounded dog on his shoulder.
Maitreya and Asanga then went to the Tushita
Buddha-field and there Maitreya taught Asanga
the teachings on the second turning, especially
the teachings of the Prajnaparamita from which
Asanga composed The Ornament of Clear Realization.
Maitreya also taught Asanga many of the third
turning teachings, some of which were related
to the relative truth and some that were related
to the absolute truth of the dharma. Three
teachings pertained to the relative truth:
the Ornament of Mahayana Sutras, Distinguishing
Dharma from Dharmata, and Distinguishing the
Middle from the Extremes. The teachings related
to the absolute meaning of reality were the
Ornament of Clear Realization and the Uttaratantra
Shastra. Maitreya gave Asanga these five teachings
that were transmitted to human beings of our
world.
5: Transmission of the Text
In the fifth point the line of transmission
of the Uttaratantra Shastra is discussed. The
teachings of Maitreya were transmitted in two
forms – that of the words and that of
the meaning. The Uttaratantra was given to Asanga,
which he in turn transmitted to his brother
Vasubandhu. Later, Asanga wrote commentaries
on each of the five transmissions from Maitreya.
In this way, Maitreya’s teachings became
more accessible to everyone. Asanga’s
brother Vasubandhu also wrote commentaries on
two of the five works of Maitreya. He wrote
a commentary on Distinguishing Dharma from Dharmata
and Distinguishing the Middle from the Extremes.
Among these five teachings, three were disseminated
quite widely. These three were the Ornament
of Clear Realization, Distinguishing the Middle
from the Extremes, and the Ornament of the Mahayana
Sutras, which were transmitted by Vasubandhu
to his disciple Dignaga. Dignaga passed them
to his disciple Lodro Tenpa who was responsible
for the extensive dissemination of these three
teachings. The other two sets of teachings,
the Uttaratantra and Distinguishing Dharma and
Dharmata, were more profound and were given
to only a few pupils.
In Tibet there were two periods of history in
which the Buddhist teachings were widely spread.
The earlier period, during the eighth century,
has been called the “time of the three,”
“the three” being Mahapandita Shantarakshita,
King Trisong Detsen, and Guru Padmasambhava.
During this time these first three teachings
of Maitreya were translated into Tibetan and
disseminated widely. The two profound works
(the Uttaratantra and Distinguishing Dharma
from Dharmata) were hidden treasures (Tib. terma).
Because they were hidden, these texts were not
known during this first period. Much later Maitripa,
one of Marpa’s gurus, discovered these
two texts in a cracked stupa from which a brilliant
light emanated. Becoming curious, Maitripa found
the two texts inside the crack. When he read
these texts, he found that their true meaning
was very profound. Because Maitripa was not
sure that he understood these texts, he prayed
to Maitreya who appeared to him and provided
him with the reading transmission of these texts.
After he had been given the reading transmission,
Maitripa could understand the texts clearly.
These teachings were then passed on to many
great Indian scholars.
Later these deeper teachings were disseminated
throughout Tibet. There were two main lines
of transmission – the explanation lineage
and the meaning lineage. The explanation lineage
was transmitted mainly by Ngog Loden Sherab.
He was a translator who traveled to a predominately
Muslim part of India where he received the teachings
of the Uttaratantra and Distinguishing Dharma
from Dharmata. He then translated them into
Tibetan. His approach followed that of the Madhyamaka
school. At the same time, another lama, Tsen
Kawoche, received meditation instructions of
the Uttaratantra from the Indian teacher, Guru
Sajjana. He meditated on this text in an attempt
to understand its profound meaning and as a
result, the meditation transmission of the Uttaratantra
was created.
The main difference between the scholarly
and the meditative approach is that in the
meditative approach “emptiness”
is not understood as the absence of everything,
but as containing the essence of Buddhahood.
In order to understand this approach one meditates
on emptiness as containing the essence of
Buddhahood. This tradition combined the theoretical
material of the Uttaratantra with the meditation
practices of Mahamudra. This tradition, based
on the five teachings of Maitreya, was passed
on to the third Karmapa, Rangjung Dorje. He
wrote a short summary of the Uttaratantra
and through him the Uttaratantra was transmitted
to all the main lamas of the Kagyu lineage.
For example, this teaching was transmitted
to the Eighth Shamarpa Rinpoche, Choji Dondrup,
the Eighth Tai Situpa Rinpoche, Choji Jungne,
and to Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye.
6: Subject Matter
The sixth point concerns the subject matter
of the Uttaratantra. As mentioned before, the
Buddha presented his teachings as three turnings
of the wheel of dharma. All his teachings, however,
have a similar root, the essential point being
the absence of a “self.” Some religions
believe that if one does what pleases God or
the gods, they will be rewarded and will obtain
greater happiness. They also believe that if
one does something that offends God or the gods,
one will encounter misfortunes and fall into
a lower realm. There is no such belief in the
Buddhist teachings. What happens to any particular
being is not the result of pleasing or displeasing
a god. The Buddha’s teachings are based
on the study of the true nature of things. Only
when the nature of phenomena is completely understood,
will one attain Buddhahood. If one does not
understand the nature of things, one continues
to live in conditioned existence (Skt. samsara).
The key to all Buddhist teachings is the twofold
absence of self and of phenomena. Normally,
we believe that we are a separate “self”
and this belief in a “self” arises
from the idea of “I.” As soon as
we think “I” or “myself,”
the wish to keep this “I” happy
and comfortable develops, which in turn gives
rise to desire. We want to provide that “I”
with all the happiness that we can find. When
this “I” feels threatened, the threat
generates anger. This “I” also believes
that it is superior to, and has better qualities
than others. This will generate pride. If this
“I” fears there are others who are
as good or better, jealousy will be generated.
To summarize, as soon as the belief that the
individual self exists as a real entity arises,
all the five negative disturbing emotions (Skt.
kleshas) of desire, anger, aversion, pride,
and jealousy are generated. The belief in the
existence of phenomena is a direct consequence
of the belief that the self is real. When we
believe we exist, we also believe that all phenomena
we experience also exists.
The main point of Buddhist practice is to eliminate
the belief in the reality of self and therefore
of phenomena. The best way to eliminate the
belief in the reality of a self is to investigate
the location of the one who thinks “I
am.” Thinking “I,” one asks
“who is thinking ‘I’?”
Then one tries to find this “I”
somewhere. If one meditates on this and investigates
it closely, one will not find anything that
can be called the “I.” Through this
process one will understand that the self has
no objective existence. The belief in the existence
of real substantial phenomena is more difficult
to eliminate. However, when one considers the
nature of what appears to us more closely, one
will begin to see that phenomena are very much
like a bubble in water or a dream. None of these
things are solidly real.
To summarize, the principal purpose of all
three turnings of the wheel of dharma is to
explain the emptiness of self and of phenomena.
The absence of a “self” is emptiness
(Skt. shunyata), but this emptiness is not
to be understood as blankness, a complete
void. It is not like empty space because empty
space is frozen. No change can manifest from
it. Shunyata has a different quality. This
emptiness is by nature luminous clarity (Tib.
salwa). Having the nature of luminous clarity
means that when beings are still impure, all
the various appearances of phenomena can manifest
within this luminous clarity. When individuals
have eliminated their impurities, within this
same luminous clarity Buddhahood can manifest.
Within this luminous clarity the forms (Skt.
kayas) of the Buddha and the activity of the
Buddha manifest. This emptiness is filled
with all of these possibilities. In order
for everything to manifest in the impure and
the pure phase, this emptiness must be indivisible
from luminous clarity. Luminous clarity represents
the very vivid wisdom aspect of Buddha-essence.
In this way luminous clarity and emptiness
are completely united. The union of these
two is the essence of all Buddhas and is present
within the mind of all beings. If one can
experience the unity of luminous clarity and
emptiness, one can reach Buddhahood. This
essence of Buddhahood is present in all beings.
There is no difference in this respect between
a man and a woman or between people of different
races or social classes because everyone possesses
this essence of enlightenment.
The reason one does not recognize the essence
of enlightenment is that it is obscured by defilements.
One can distinguish three stages of defilements.
In the impure phase, the stage of ordinary beings,
Buddha-essence is totally obscured by defilements.
In the second phase, that of the bodhisattvas,
the impurities are slightly purified, the obscurations
have partially dissolved. Finally, in the phase
of total purity, one is a Buddha.
The concept of Buddha-essence is central to
the Buddhist teachings and is sometimes referred
to by the Sanskrit word gharba, which means
“the inner core of something.”
For example, if one has a grain with a husk,
the essential part of the grain is called
the “gharba.” In the same way,
human beings contain the essence of Buddhahood
but fleeting impurities cover it. This kernel,
Buddha-essence, is the main topic of the Uttaratantra.
7: Styles of Explanation
In this point the different ways of presenting
the teachings are discussed. As has been mentioned
before, there are two different ways in which
Buddha-essence can be understood. The tradition
of Loden Sherab, based on the more intellectual
approach is connected with the Madhyamaka
tradition. The second approach, developed
by Tsen Kawoche, involves the immediate apprehension
of the subject matter through meditation.
This latter approach is the more direct approach,
in which one meditates on the Mahamudra and
the actual meaning of the nature of phenomena.
© Namo Buddha & Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications
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