Vers 3: We are in the part of the recollection of the good qualities of the Buddha. The extensive explanation is based on the cause and effect. This is what we are going to study today.
Vers 7: The second phrase here is that he is not contaminated by the things of the form realm. The Buddha physically appeared in the desire realm, yet while practicing meditation, samādhi, he went through all the stages of meditative absorption. He did this practice and that is linking him to the form realm. The form realm is related to those deep meditative experiences. He realized it in practice, yet he was not attached to the taste of samādhi. He did not create causes to be reborn in the form realm without his will. That is why it is said that he is not stained at all by the form realm.
Vers 8:Also, he is not mixed with the formless realm. He does not have any faults of dwelling within the worlds, for instance, the four higher states of meditative absorption of formless realm ,therefore He only taught in the desire realm and the form realm because there is no opportunity to teach in the formless realm.
Vers 9:The Buddha’s quality of not being mixed with the formless because he did not develop the taste for meditative absorption within that realm. Also, there is no way or opportunity to teach in the formless realm. That is why he did not dwell there.
Since Vers 10: Buddhas Qualities from the view aspect of fruition:
Vers11: the Buddha having removed the very seed of suffering of being reborn within samsara. is completely liberated from it.
Vers12: he is completely liberated from the skandhas. For instance, he is completely liberated from the dharmins of birth and decay.
Vers13: his form is a form of wisdom.
1. Vers14: He does not have the dhātus, the aggregates, that are like holding the seed of being reborn within samsara
2. Vers 15: It is also said that his āyatanas are completely restricted. The outer āyatanas are –visual objects, auditory objects, olfactory objects, gustatory objects, tactile objects and mental objects. The inner āyatanas are eye faculty, ear faculty, nose faculty, tongue faculty, body faculty and mental faculty. When we look outside and perceive the objects, our perception is ignited by āyatanas. That is an illusion, which is creating grasping and afflictions. In the perception of the Buddha, grasping and afflictions never occur. That is why it is said that his āyatanas are restrained.
Up here we are talking about the causes:
Vers 16: . The first one, cutting the knot is dealing with the general quality of abandoning afflictions.
Vers 18: We should emphasize the fact that craving is that very reason that binds us to samsara. The Buddha is liberated from that.
Vers19: The Buddha has also crossed the river. We are talking about the river of afflictions. The river which carries helpless sentient beings to the place of suffering in the same way as the river carries the water from springs to ocean. The destination of those who are in the river of afflictions is suffering. The Buddha has crossed this river because he has crossed these afflictions.
Vers 21: These examples have two pairs of words – ‘knot’ and ‘craving’ are synonyms here. Beings are bound up with craving, the Buddha is free from that. The other pair of words is ‘crossing the river’ and ‘torment’. The river is associated with torment because the beings bound up by craving are carried helplessly within the river and they are experiencing torment. A complete liberation from torment means that the Buddha has crossed the river.
Vers 22: The way to be liberated from this fourfold set of causes and effects is to realize the wisdom of selflessness. Having realized that, we cross the river. We are liberated from torments, we are liberated from craving and we have cut the knot.
Vers 23: Qualities of realization explained in three parts:
the essence (entity), which has two parts, and qualities and its function. The essence has two parts: vast and profound. Within the vast part it is said that his wisdom is totally complete. We talked on a previous occasion about the sets of twenty-one unstained dharmas, the qualities of dharmakāya. All those combined means that he has a wisdom that is totally complete.
Vers 24: Now the second quality, the profound one. In this part it is said that he abides in the quality of self-arising wisdom with expanse and wisdom inseparable. The wisdom is not unique to him meaning that it is not different from all the others who go to buddhahood, from the wisdom of the buddhas of the three times – past, present and future.
Vers25-26: for him is no difference between samsara and nirvana in experience. For him all is pure realm. He does not abide in the extreme of one-sided peace because he has realized the equality of samsara and nirvana. Because he has great compassion, he is free from meeting and parting. That is why it is said in the sutra, “He does not abide in nirvana”. Vers 27-28: “He abides within the limit of authentic”. Authentic here is the dharmadhātu, the sphere of suchness.
He remains in the non-differentiation between samsara and nirvana, in the great equality. The quality of that is – he abides always within the dharmadhātu. He does not depart from that sphere of the ultimate. The function of that is – he still does look upon the sentient beings all the time. The fact that he is looking upon beings is the function of what has been discussed. There was the entity, quality and function.
Vers 29:We are talking about all his qualities – body, speech and mind combined.
Vers 30:Now we start with the recollection of the good qualities of the dharma. This section has two parts: synopsis and the extensive explanation. Synopsis [starts] with words, “The holy dharma is good in the beginning, good in the middle, and good at the end. Its meaning is excellent, its wording is excellent. It is not adulterated, it is totally complete, it is total purity, it is total purification.
Vers 31: This dharma here is holy because this is the path, which, if properly followed, will take a person from the state of being and ordinary person, to the very buddhahood.
Vers32: The holy dharma that leads to the result of buddhahood sprouts from the Buddha. The Buddha is the source of that dharma. Within the three jewels, the second jewel of the dharma comes from the first jewel of the Buddha. When the Buddha actually reached the enlightenment, he said that now he had found the dharma, which is an elixir, very hard to obtain, which is peace.
Vers 33: Indra and Brahma asked him for turning the wheel of dharma
Vers 34: The dharma that the Buddha expounded to the beings could be classified within the section of three turnings of the wheel of the dharma. The first turning of the wheel took place in Varanasi. There, the Buddha taught the dharma to the five fortunate disciples. The second turning of the wheel took place in a Vulture’s Peak where the Buddha taught the Mahayana path to the bodhisattvas. He taught them the vehicle of characteristics. The third turning of the wheel took place in many different places. There is an uncertainty about the place. With the third turning of the wheel, the Buddha gave the teachings of Vajrayana to especially fortunate bodhisattvas. These three turnings of the wheel are what comprises the holy dharma, a complete dharma. The cause here is the truth of the path, and the result is the truth of cessation. The path and enlightenment, cessation of suffering. We could also say that the whole dharma could be summed into these two – the dharma of Scriptures and the dharma of realization.
Vers 35: The dharma is taught only to benefit beings, to tame them. Secondly, it is also called ‘completely pure’ or ‘completely moral’. It is a cause for liberation and omniscience of buddhahood. It is only a cause for obtaining that great result. It only serves the right purpose and that is why it is called ‘completely pure’. These two last phrases – ‘leg par sungwa’ (legs par gsung ba) and ‘tsang par chöpa’ (gtsang par spyod pa) do not appear in some versions of the sutra text but here, khenpo-la mentioned them.
Vers 36: It is said in the sutra that the dharma is virtuous in the beginning, in the middle, and at the end. It is good in the beginning because when one hears it, the faith is born. It is good in the middle because if one has tasted the meaning, he experiences some sort of joy and progresses on the path that does not have any non-virtuous qualities. Good at the end means that the result of the dharma is always going to be virtuous. The result has no negative qualities.
Vers37: We can also discuss the qualities of the dharma being good in the beginning, in the middle and at the end in terms of hearing, reflection and meditation. Good at the beginning deals with hearing. While listening to the dharma, a faith and trust is born. In the middle, when one is reflecting upon the dharma, understanding is born and this gives one a feeling of joy and happiness. At the end, during meditation upon the meaning that has been discovered in the middle section of reflection, a complete result is achieved, an unstained wisdom is achieved. That wisdom brings the result of reverting the samsara (being free from it) and actualization of the qualities of the buddhahood. That is why it is good at the end.
Vers 38: One also could explain these qualities – good in the beginning, in the middle and at the end – in terms of the three principal trainings of discipline, concentration and wisdom.
Vers 39: We say that it completely reveals the twofold truth – the relative and the absolute truth. The relative truth is concerned with subjects and objects (subjectivity) and the absolute truth deals with the ultimate meaning. The dharma shows these two meanings entirely. That is why its meaning is good.
Vers 40: Also, the dharma has an excellent meaning because it is not concerned with some irrelevant subjects.
Vers 41: The second phrase here is that its wording is excellent. Not only is the meaning excellent but also the sentences, which are expressing this meaning, are always made up of excellent words.
Vers 42: One of the special qualities of the Buddha’s speech is that whoever hears it at any given moment, it always corresponds to his ability to understand. For instance, on occasion of the Buddha teaching, those who are suitable for different kinds of turnings of the wheel of the dharma, hear the dharma that is in accordance with their view and their path. That is a very special quality of his speech. In addition, the Buddha expressed his teachings in such manner that it is always easy to understand them. The Buddha’s meaning is always straightforward, clear and easy to understand.
Vers 43:The words of the Buddha are also very pleasant to hear. There is never something that is unpleasant or confusing.
Vers 44-45: The next sentence in the sutra says that the dharma is unadulterated. That is to say, the dharma is not mixed up with other philosophies. It is said that [there is an uncommon presentation of impermanence] in the Buddhadharma. Also, the dharma teaches the lack of self, which is never found in any philosophies. For example, the followers of Ishvara all believe that Ishvara has created the universe and everything that is in it. Some people believe in the idea of all-mighty creator, some believe in a great consciousness. All these views have a stain of seeing the self. The Buddhadharma is not mixed up with those philosophies. That is why we say that it is uncommon. That is why we say that it is unadulterated. This has been expressed in a following verse, “One that corrects every one of the enemies of afflictions, and protects from the bad rebirths in samsara because it has the qualities of correcting and protecting, is a treatise. These two are not present in the systems of others.” These two qualities of correcting the afflictions and protecting from bad places of samsara are the two qualities that are unique to the Buddhadharma.
Vers 46-48: The next phrase in the sutra says that it is totally complete. That is to say, it is a complete remedy to all afflictions. The dharma in all its variety, the 84,000 sections of the dharma – has all the antidotes for all afflictions, such as anger, stupidity, pride, and so on. All the remedies are included within the 84,000 sections of the dharma.
Vers 49: The next phrase in the sutra says that it is total purity. Even though it is an antidote to all those specific afflictions, through the power of wisdom of discriminating, it is never stained by these [afflictions]. It is always teaching ultimately the complete purity.
Vers 50: The other reason to call the dharma ‘complete purity’ is that it teaches the complete purity of the object to be purified. It teaches that ultimately, all the objects are nothing but the dharmadhātu, the sphere of suchness, It also [teaches] the purity of the antidote. The very antidote for the afflictions is wisdom, which is free from all elaborations. We can call it ‘ye she’ (ye shes) or ‘rigpa’ (rig pa).
Vers 51-52: In conclusion of these two phrases – the complete purity shows the natural purity of how the things are; and the complete purification shows the natural purity in the aspect of being free from adventitious stains which appear in the mind.
Vers 53-54: Now a synopsis is finished and an extensive explanation follows. This [also has] two parts – “showing that it is the supreme one to be accepted and showing that it is a definite mental reliance”. The first one – showing that it is the supreme one to be accepted – has a synopsis and an extensive explanation. Synopsis says that the Bhagavat has taught the dharma well – this means that the Buddha has taught the dharma exactly in accordance to capacities and mental dispositions of each and every being to be tamed.
Vers 55:The extensive explanation of the first part – showing that it is the supreme one to be accepted – has two parts – showing it being free from stains, faults; and showing it from the perspective of having good qualities. How the dharma is being free from faults is expressed in these three sentences – ‘it is authentic sight’, ‘it is free from sickness’, and ‘its time has no interruption’.
Vers 56: First of all, we say that it is authentic sight, or, as some editions say, “it is truly shown”. That is to say, the Buddha himself, before actually teaching, realized the truth or a nature of how the things are. From that realization (sight) came the teachings – the teachings of the three turnings of the wheel of the dharma corresponding to different kinds of beings to be tamed. The disciples of the Buddha can also see the truth, it is coming from that first sight that the Buddha had. Not only is it a remedy for all afflictions but also it develops [all of the] positive qualities. The sight of realization has ignited all the process of teaching.
Vers 57: The next phrase in the sutra says that it is free from sickness. It shows that the Buddha has separated himself from all afflictions, the 84,000 afflictions; and then he showed the path to others – how to do that. Those afflictions are like sickness, and the dharma is the path to be cured from sickness. That is why it is said that it is free from sickness.
Vers 58: Dharma could be also compared to the sun. Wherever the sun is, there is no darkness. In the same way, these afflictions cannot be present wherever the dharma is.
Vers 59: When one starts on the path, generates faith through listening, reflecting on the dharma, and finally [one] meditates upon the dharma – on the meaning that one has discovered. There is never even one instance where the dharma would not provide a refuge. There is never such time when the dharma will be not reliable any more. Throughout the path, from the very beginning until the very end, dharma always remains a stable refuge. That is why we say that it has no interruption.
Vers 60: There is no interruption because there is never going to be such a time where the dharma does not help. This feature distinguishes the dharma from such things such as wish-fulfilling vases or jewels. These things do help but only temporarily, in this life – proving food and shelter, whatever one desires. Nevertheless, they do not have a quality with providing one with the ability to abandon what is to be abandoned and to realize the positive qualities. These two qualities of abandonment and realization can only be obtained through following the dharma, which has no interruption because it always provides one with these qualities.
