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Special Insight Part 2 Oct 8

As the great Kadampa master Langri Thangpa says in the 8 Verses of Thought

Transformation, With the thought to achieve the highest enlightenment , May I learn to

cherish all sentient beings who are more precious than the wish fulfilling jewels .

So here master Langri Thangpa is saying that sentient beings are more precious than the

wish fulfilling jewels which can grant all the wishes of this life such as necessities, food,

clothing, shelter that are needed in this life. Yet, sentient beings are more precious; they are

100,000 more precious than wish fulfilling jewels because by our cherishing them and having

the thought of benefitting them, one engages in the training in relation to them and thus

achieve liberation and full enlightenment.

All the Buddhas & Bodhisattvas of the 3 times of the past present and future have only

worked for the welfare of sentient beings and were filled with compassion for them. Due to

having such a sublime thought i.e. the thought that sentient beings are more dear than

oneself, they achieved the full enlightenment state. We need to likewise train in the sameway by adopt their example by developing the thought of regarding living beings are more

important than oneself; placing others ahead of oneself and always trying to benefit them

whether directly or indirectly. Even if we cannot benefit them at the present moment, we

should at least develop the thought of cherishing sentient beings and in this way, all of ones

temporary and long term goals will be achieved.

The thought that wishes to benefit others is practised not only in Buddhism but in other

religions as well. All major religions encourage their followers to develop the good heart.

The purpose of spiritual practice is for the benefit of sentient beings and if there is the good

heart, peace and happiness can arise in the world. Without developing the good heart, there

will be disharmony and there would be no purpose in having religions. Therefore in all

religions, the importance of the good heart and cherishing others is emphasised. As

Buddhists, we have to regard this thought of the welfare of sentient beings as being the

most important.

If we contemplate on the what is more important - the happiness of oneself or the happiness

of others, it becomes very clear that oneself is only one person; whereas others are limitless.

Clearly benefitting others has a more extensive impact and thus more important. If we are

able to cultivate this thought, then whatever activities that we may be engaging in, including

sitting on a cushion, if ones body & mind is totally immersed in that altruistic attitude, then

sitting on a cushion can be a beneficial practice; in fact more beneficial than sitting on acushion merely reciting a mantra mindlessly.

The thought of cherishing others is a profound and beneficial practice because this thought

is the very antidote that will overcome the most destructive of negative attitudes, namely self

cherishing. If one is suffering from cancer or a serious illness, if one is able to practice the

cherishing of others more dearly than oneself, that thought can subside the pain or totally

remove the cause of sickness or cancer itself. Hence cherishing others is vital and when we

are able to develop this thought, we can give happiness to everyone not only to family

members but everyone you come into contact with.

One should then motive from the bottom of ones heart that all sentient beings who are asinfinite as space, in order to benefit them, I am going to listen to the holy Dharma.


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Why understanding of emptiness is important

Today, I will be explaining on the profound subject of emptiness, the true nature of all things

and events. Realisations on emptiness enable one to overcome all problems and sufferings

that one faces in ones life because these come from the self-grasping ignorance or

misconceptions of things and events. As problematic situations arise due to ignorance, weneed to develop the wisdom that opposes this self grasping i.e. the wisdom that realises

emptiness. For thus we need to study, contemplate and meditate to gain the understanding

of emptiness. Once we perfect the understanding of emptiness, one will completely

extinguish all faults and be endowed with all the positive qualities.

The practice of cultivating special insight

There are 3 steps preparation, the actual practice and the concluding practice.

Preparation: This is what one has to undertake and it is similar to what one has to do when

preparing for the cultivation of calm abiding, namely having few desires, having contentment,going for refuge, visualising the merit field, offering mandala and the preliminary practices

undertaken during calm abiding practice. Special insight is cultivated within the state of

actual calm abiding.

In particular, preparations would require - (1) Obtaining the Gurus instructions on special

insight (2) making heartfelt requests to ones Guru while viewing him as inseparable from the

deity (3) perseverance in cultivating merit and purifying negativities. These are indispensible

in the cultivation of special insight.

Actual practice there are two aspects (1) meditating on the selflessness of the person

and (2) meditating on the selflessness of phenomena.

When engaging in the practice of meditating on selflessness, it begins with meditation on the

selflessness of the person and then only selflessness of phenomena, not that there is a

difference between these two in terms of the subtlety of the objects of negation but because

meditating on the selflessness of the person is much easier than meditating/determining the

selflessness of phenomena.

When seeking to establish selflessness of the person the Buddha taught the method of the

4 point of analysis:

1. Identifying the object of negation2. Ascertaining the possibilities (of how the self exists)

3. Ascertaining the self as being one with the aggregates

4. Ascertaining the self as being different from the aggregates

1. Identifying the object of negation: What is the object of negation? The self or I that

is perceived by the innate self-grasping thought. This arises not only during waking

hours but also while one is dreaming or sleeping but we are unable to identify it and

are unaware of it.


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In order to identifying the object of negation i.e. the sense of I or sense of selfhood that is

perceived by self grasping, we need to bring up the I very clearly and can do this by

thinking of a situation when we felt we were wrongly accused in such a circumstance, the

sense of I will appear very strongly. At this point, you should investigate how the I appears

and how ones thought grasps onto this sense of I . We should analyse not only how the

self appears but also the grasping at the sense of I .

How does the I appear? In relation to what object does the I appear? The object is that

which is related to the 5 aggregates/combination of body & mind and not the individual

aggregates.

How does ones self grasping mind perceive the I ? It does not perceive the I as

dependent on the 5 aggregates but instead (mistakenly) perceives the I as totally

independent of the aggregates and able to stand on its own. So this I which could actually

exist without depending on the aggregates, is the object of negation. The object to be refuted

is the I that is independent of the aggregates (this I is that which is perceived by the self

grasping mind).

In this way, one should be able to conclude that the self that does not exist, is the one which

exists on its own without being dependent on aggregates. This is the self that should be

refuted by constant analysis. When one is finally able to properly identify this independent

self is the object to be negated, then it would be as if we have been successful in finding the

thief that we have been seeking to catch.

At the present moment, many of us may be unable to identify what this object of negation is.

In order to be able to properly identify the object of negation requires great effort and time,

so we should persevere in this analysis. We need to identify the self that is mistakenly

perceived by the self grasping mind and then refute it.

2. Ascertaining the possibilities of how the I exists. Ifthis I or self as we perceive it really

exists, it can only do so as either one with the 5 aggregates or as separate /different from

the 5 aggregates. There are no other possibilities. If the self really exists, it has to exist as

either the self being one with the aggregates or the self being separate from the aggregates.

(Now lets analyse these 2 possibilities under the 3 rd and 4th points of analysis).

3. Ascertaining the self as being one with the 5 aggregates: When one carries out the

analysis about where the self is, one may be led to think that the self may be one with the

aggregates. Chandrakirti says the self cannot be one with the aggregates because if theself were to be the same as the aggregates, as there are many aggregates, it would mean

that the self would also be many i.e. as there are 5 aggregates, there would be 5 selves; or

since there is only one self, there would be only one aggregate. Hence this is the fallacy of

the view that self is one with the aggregates.

Another reasoning is that as aggregates are subject to production and disintegration,

likewise, the self would be subject to production and disintegration. The thought may then

appear that just like the 5 aggregates are produced and disintegrate at a certain time, we

then need to analyse whether this self that goes through that process. We investigate by

asking the question of whether the I of this moment is the same or different from the I of the

previous moment or life. If the self of the present life is one with the self of the previous life,it should be totally one with the self of the previous life. So if the self is one with the self of


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the previous life, it becomes totally one in all respects i.e. if one were a cow in a previous

life, one should be a cow in the present life. Yet if previous and present lives are

intrinsically different, it cannot be included as a single continuum. If they are inherently

different, then the law of karma would not be able to operate as these lives would be totally

unrelated.

There are other reasonings as well. It is incorrect to accept that the self is one with the 5

aggregates because if something is established as truly one, it means that it has to be one in

all respects and if this is the case, then the 5 aggregates cannot be appropriated/owned by

the self because for there to be an owner and object that is owned, they need to be

separate. Hence, if the self and aggregates are one, it would follow that the persons body

would become one; be partless. So if we think that the self and the aggregates are one, i.e.

are partless, it would follow that the persons body would also be partless and if that is how it

exists, then all parts of the body would be one. It would then follow that when one is waving

the right hand, then one would simultaneously perceive the left hand waving but we know

that this is not the case. In the Commentary on Valid Cognition it is stated that the bodycannot be partless and one as there are parts of the body that move and parts that do not

move. So the body cannot be partless and one with the aggregates.

A further point on how the self cannot be one with the aggregates is that if it is accepted that

there is partless phenomena, there would be many contradictions. Vasubandhu refuted the

concept of partless phenomena by using the example of a partless particle. Vasubandhu

referred to a situation where in the centre, there was a partless particle and surrounding it

were other partless particles in all directions. The question is whether this collection of

particles is really partless or not. If the central partless particle touches the other particles,

then it means that the collection is not partless because it is made up of several particles

that have made contact with each other. On the other hand, if the central particle is able todetect those other particles in terms of their being located in different directions, then this is

only possible if the particles are separate. Otherwise, they would be occupying the same

space.

The whole point is that when one thinks the self as one with the aggregates, one should

reflect on these various reasonings that refute this view.

4 Ascertaining the self as different from the 5 aggregates: If this assertion is true, one

should be able to see the self as different and separate from the aggregates. However, if

the self is totally different from the aggregates, then we would not be able to say that this is

my body or these are my feelings. And yet we are able to identify these aspects. Lets say

there is a group of horses and donkeys, and we remove the donkeys, we can say this is the

group of horses. Likewise, if we separate self from the aggregates, we should be able to say,

this is the self. But this cannot be done i.e. we cannot separate our body from the I and say

this is the I . Nagarjuna says that -

It is just not correct for the self

To be other than the appropriated (owned) aggregates

If it were other, it could be apprehended

Without the appropriated aggregates, yet it is not.


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In this way, when one carries out the analysis by first identifying the object of

negation and proceed onto the remaining 3 points of analysis as above, one will

come to the understanding that there is no I as that which is perceived by the

self grasping mind. If the I does exist, it should exist in the various manners

described above and since it does not, the conclusion is that there is no

inherently existing I.

Once we gain the proper knowledge on how to analyse and ascertain that the self

does not exist inherently, one should sustain this understanding through

meditation, guarding against laxity and excitement during the meditation. This will

lead us to the point where one will gain the right view. This is how the great

masters of the past have sustained their realisations. At the moment, we might

find it difficult to develop the understanding or realisation of emptiness but what

we can do is that while we are studying about emptiness, we can make strong

requesting prayers to ones spiritual master (who should be seen as one with

ones meditational deity); engage in the actions of removing the obstaclestowards the development of special insight which is purifying negativities and at

the same time, we need to amass the merit that allows us to gain the quick

realisations on emptiness. If we do not try and keep procrastinating on gaining

this understanding, we will never achieve realisations, liberation and

enlightenment.

As you know, during the cultivation of the calm abiding, there is the bliss of

physical and mental pliancy which mark the attainment of calm abiding. Likewise,

during cultivation of special insight, there is also such bliss of pliancy but the

pliancy is not induced through the power of concentration but occurs through thepower of analysis. Thus this bliss is more advanced and special than that

attained during calm abiding. For this reason, it is called special insight.

Questions & Answers:

Q: During Nyung Nay and we meditate on the deity, we need to meditate on the

emptiness of the deity. So how do we identify the object of negation?

Ans: The main point of identifying the object of negation is to gain an

understanding of the lack of inherent existence. Once one understands this, then

no need to go through again the process of identifying the object of negation.

Q; Since we have innate self grasping mind, how do we practice divine pride?

Ans: When one is generating oneself as deity, that appearance is based on the

meditation on emptiness. At the time, one needs a very strong identification with

the deity and everything being empty of true existence. Even though we may not

practice divine pride in the most perfect way, we should still try. We should follow

the steps in accordance with the practice because without identifying with the

deity, there is no way to stop the ordinary appearance. When one is having divine

appearance, if at that time, one has the ascertainment of the lack of inherent

existence, it will help us a lot.


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Q: The terms truly existent, substantially existent, inherently existent what are

the differences?

Ans:

According to the Prasangika view, they reject true existence, substantial existence, inherentexistence because these refer to the same thing. Everything is imputed (onto a base)

According to the M-Sautrantika, they make a distinction between inherent existence and true

existence. They accept inherent existence but deny true existence (something that exists

from its own side, without requiring a non defective mind/consciousness to apprehend it).

According to the Cittamatrin they believe in true existence (exists from its own side and not

merely imputed) and inherent existence and substantial existence ( something which

appears to the mind without relying on other phenomena).

According to the Sausantrika and Vaibashika they all believe that there is a true existenceand substantial existence ( something which appears to the mind without relying on other

phenomena).

Q: The Shentong view - Emptiness of others comment?

Ans: This is a view that is not accepted by any of the 4 Tibetan traditions which agree on

emptiness being the lack of inherent existence. Amongst the Shentong principles is that

ultimate phenomena is empty of conventional phenomena.

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