This is the way we usually think about things.

We are very fortunate individuals, because first of all, we have acquired a precious human body and we have faith, prajna (or superior knowledge), and diligence. In addition to that, we have met with the dharma and are practicing listening, reflecting and meditating on the teachings which show that the life we lead has the character of impermanence: instant by instant the moments are passing away and so we should not cling to this life as somehow truly existent, but come to see it as being dream-like because it will vanish sooner or later. Therefore, it is very important to practice dharma because it benefits us not only in this specific life that we have but in future lives to come. And not only can we benefit ourselves, we are also able to benefit other beings. So there is tremendous benefit in practicing the dharma. It is not just for this life; it is for many lifetimes. It is not just for ourselves; it is for many others as well.

Within the Buddhist teachings, there are many different stages, different vehicles and many different branches of philosophy. If you were to summarize them all into two aspects, they could be summarized into the way things appear, which refers to apparent reality, and the way things truly are or their mode of being, which refers to ultimate reality. The way things appear is through the gathering together of various interdependent causes and conditions and this type of appearance resembles a dream, an illusion, a rainbow, or the moon’s reflection in water. This is the level of apparent reality. The second level, the mode of being of the mind or how things really are is the ultimate level which is free of complexity or free of mental elaboration. From within the three turnings of the wheel of dharma. The way things appear and their mode of being should be understood from the perspective of this present moment. You are here within this present moment and it is through this present moment of time that you understand both how things appear and their mode of being.

If you look again at the first aspect of how things appear, you could say that the way things appear is through or as the eighteen dhatus or elements. If you condense this a little bit, then you can say the five skandhas or aggregates. The first eighteen dhatus are divided into three groups of six. The first six are the objects of the various sense faculties: the dhatu of form, sound, smell, taste, touch and objects of conceptual thinking. These are the focuses or points of reference for the mind.

All of these objects for the mind arise through the gathering or the coming together of causes and conditions. They are interdependently arisen and therefore they are like an illusion. Sound, for example, is like an echo and whatever appears is like the moon’s reflection in water. If you can come to the total conviction that these so-called “outside objects” really arise dependently and, therefore, are like a dream or the reflection of the moon in water, then the suffering that comes from clinging to these objects will vanish. All so-called “external objects” are actually the equality of appearance-emptiness. And why is that? Whatever appears as an external object, whether it is something positive, negative or neutral, from the point of view of its essential nature, it is an appearance-emptiness. So, whether something is good, bad, or indifferent, it still is an appearance-emptiness and in that sense, all of them are equal. They are equal in that they are appearance-emptiness and so you speak of the equality through being empty appearances.

This shrine hall is a very good example or illustration of appearance-emptiness because in the middle there is a large dome and the dome knows no direction. There is no south, north, east or west for this dome; all the directions are the same for the edge of a circle. Further, the ultimate nature of the mind is not a mere emptiness but it is also luminous. If you look in the dome, there is a circle of light reflected on its inner edge; that is a sign that the expanse of the mind is luminous. There is luminosity within the empty expanse of the mind. If you look at the windows in the back you will see they are beautiful stained windows with bright colors. This is a sign that from the empty luminous nature of the mind, various pure appearances arise. So, we actually have represented in this previously Moslem temple, the three different stages of the Buddhist path. The dome represents the middle turning of the wheel where the true nature of all phenomena is shown to be emptiness, free of complexity. According to the third or final turning of the wheel of the dharma, the nature of the mind is not mere emptiness alone but also luminosity. This is represented by the dome and the light. In the Vajrayana the nature of the mind is spoken of as clear or luminous emptiness and it is out of the clear luminous emptiness that, for example, the five dhyani Buddhas or the deities and their mandalas arise. This is represented by the windows. The first turning of the wheel of dharma is represented by four corners. This is a square building with four equal walls. These illustrate the first turning of the wheel of dharma where the Buddha spoke of the four noble truths. Thus we have a very auspicious connection with this shrine hall.

To return to the discussion of the dhatus, we have looked at the first six that function as the points of reference for the mind. The second group of six dhatus are the five sense faculties: the eyes, ear, nose, tongue, the body as a whole, and the sixth is the mental faculty. These are known as the faculties that function as the support. For those of us who are practicing the dharma, how are these six faculties? They are appearances that arise from the gathering of various causes and conditions. All six of these dhatus, the faculties functioning as a support, are like the moon’s reflection in the water: they are not truly existent on the one hand, and on the other, they are not completely non-existent. If they were truly existent, they would be permanent and you would fall into the extreme of permanence or eternalism. If they did not exist at all, then you would fall into the extreme of extinction or nihilism, thinking that there is nothing at all that exists. So these faculties are neither truly existent nor totally nonexistent. They are beyond being permanent or extinct. They are like the moon’s reflection in the water. If you can realize this, then the suffering that arises from the faculties functioning as a support will not arise and you will be in a very open and spacious place. When you come to realize that these six dhatus of sense faculties are like the moon’s reflection in the water, you will see that even a subtle particle is not truly existent and that the way things truly are transcends the existence of particles or the existence of a body made up of flesh and blood. This substantial reality that we attribute to a physical body reflects our confusion, because ultimately, it is not truly existent. Since the flesh and blood are not truly existent, then the sense faculties, the eyes and ears and so forth, which we think of as being made up of flesh and blood, are also not truly existent, but resemble the moon’s reflection in the water. If you really understand this, then you can see that if these sense faculties do not truly exist, then there is no place either for sickness to be, and so sickness is not truly existent. If illness arises, then it is a dream-like illness or an illness that results from the delusion of concepts. Seeing the faculties and illness like this, you understand that illness depends on concepts, and then it is easy to free yourself from the illness, since you do not have the view that takes illness to be truly existent.

Within the Mahayana and in particular, the Vajrayana, there are practices for eliminating the obstacle of sickness. There are many different ways of doing this but the best way to do it is to become clear on how to regard the illness as appearance-emptiness or illusion-like. If you can do this, then the practice of eliminating the obstacle of illness will become very powerful. You have the understanding that the sense faculties are like the moon’s reflection in the water and illness is like the wind that blows across the water disturbing that reflection. The way you work with this is to see that neither the faculty nor the illness is truly existent. To relate this to our present situation: we are here in this shrine hall which is appearing and empty, or clear and empty, and our six faculties are appearing like the moon’s reflection in the water. The past is already gone, so there is nothing to look at. The future is not here so there is nothing to see there either. What we have to focus on is this present moment, exactly what is appearing right now. This directly appears to us, and that is what we analyse and examine.

The third set of the dhatus refers to the six consciousnesses, which are literally “that which is supported.” The sense faculties are the support and what is supported are the six consciousnesses of the eye, ear, nose, tongue, body and mind. Previously we looked at the six external objects functioning as a point of reference, and the six sense faculties or what supports; on the basis of those two through interdependent arising, come the six consciousnesses which create what is supported. These also arise dependently and are like a dream, an illusion, a mirage, an echo, or a rainbow. These six consciousnesses are like the six consciousnesses within a dream state. If you are certain that the consciousnesses are truly dream-like then you will not take them to be truly existent and will not fall into the extreme of permanence: on the other hand, you will not take them to not exist at all, because there is something appearing there in the dream and so you do not fall into the extreme of extinction. You avoid both extremes and abide in a place that transcends both permanence and extinction or materialism and nihilism. If you can do this, it will not be difficult to realize the nature of the mind. If you understand that all eighteen dhatus on the level of apparent reality are merely the gathering together of interdependent causes and conditions and that these are mere appearances, and if you also understand that from the ultimate point of view they transcend all extremes, such as permanence and extinction, then naturally, your mind will become open and spacious and at ease.

Like this, with a more detailed explanation, you look at the eighteen dhatus. These can be condensed into the twelve ayatanas, and further, into the five skandhas. When you are looking at the dhatus, the division into these eighteen is made on the basis of mind and form. This nurtures the understanding that this room where you are, what is outside it, where you sleep, and so forth are open and spacious. You see that on a level of relative appearance, whatever arises is the gathering of causes and conditions, and on an ultimate level, everything is free of all complexity. If you can develop this conviction, by thinking again and again, bringing this understanding to mind and reflecting on it, your own place wherever it may be will be open and spacious. So not only here within the place where you are practicing and hearing the dharma, but wherever you are staying will become very open and spacious.

That was a brief explanation of how you should analyse with prajna, (superior knowledge or wisdom) the phenomena that are appearing right now in this present moment. At the very beginning, we looked at how things appear and how they are in their true nature, focusing on how to look at phenomena as they are appearing in this very moment. This shows how your lives can become spacious and open and unconstricted. You all would wish for this to happen and yet you need a reason or a way to bring it about, which I have just discussed.

The text that we are going to study is a chapter from The Treasury of Knowledge by Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye which begins with the offering praises to the Buddha, praises to Manjushri, and to the Lama. The text to be explained has two parts. There is a root verse in the beginning that is called The Treasury of Knowledge and then Jamgon Kongtrul Lodro Thaye wrote his own commentary to his root verses and that is called Infinite Ocean of Knowledge. The two will be explained together.

The chapter that I will discuss is called “Gaining Certainty About the View”: or “Ascertaining the View.” It has seven main divisions: first, the reasons why a completely pure view is necessary and the purpose of teaching it; second, how to give rise to the prajna or the superior knowledge that realizes no-self; third, the preliminaries involving an explanation of the four seals which condense or contain the essential meaning of the sutras; fourth, entering into the path of giving up the two extremes; fifth is the main topic, which is an analysis of the two types of no-self; sixth, a classification of the views of the Mantrayana and seventh, the view of the unborn union in brief.

© Copyright Khenpo Tsultrim Gyamtso Rinpoche, Michelle Martin & Zhyisil Chokyi Ghatsal Publications 2002.