Handouts - Truths of Cessation & Path - Fall 2011

Below are links to Handouts 23-29 for the Fall term of the Perfection of Wisdom Course topic:  the Four Noble Truths.  Handout 23* covers the Third Noble Truth - the TRUTH of CESSATION.  *For convenience, material on the Truth of Cessation that was handed out in class on Handouts 22 & 24 is incorporated into the beginning of Handout 23 for download.  Handouts 24-29 cover the Fourth Noble Truth - the TRUTH of the PATH.

The Handouts, prepared by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo, serve as the text for the Fall 2011 semester.

Please note:  Even though the Creative Commons logo copyright logo does not appear on the downloadable Charts and Handouts, they are also covered by Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs" Copyright.  [See right hand column.]

Handout 23.  Four Noble Truths - TRUTH of CESSATION - "the complete &
irreversible elimination of an obstruction to liberation or enlightenment."  Meaning, synonyms, Arhats, effects of Karma, Cessations as permanent phenomena, Four Possibilities between permanent & eternal.  Afflictive Obstructions.  Two-fold categorization:  I. Non-Analytical Cessations (སོ་སོར་བདགས་མིན་གྱི་འགོག་པ་) & II. Analytical Cessations (སོ་སོར་བརྟགས་འགོག་པ་).  Two-fold categorization of Cessations:  I. Nirvana with Remainder (ལྷག་བཅས་མྱང་འདུས་) & II. Nirvana without Remainder (ལྷག་མེད་མྱང་འདུས་).

Four Noble Truths - TRUTH of the PATH.  

Handouts 24.  Eight-Fold Path & Five Paths.  THREE TRAININGS:  1.  Training of ETHICS (ཚུལ་ཁྲིམ་ཀྱི་བསླབ་པ་).  2.  Training of CONCENTRATION (ཏིང་ངེ་འཛིན་གི་བསླབ་པ་).  3.  Training of WISDOM (ཤེས་རབ་ཀྱི་བསླབ་པ་).  EIGHT-FOLD PATH:  1. Right View.  2.  Right Thought.  3. Right Speech.

Handouts 25.  EIGHT-FOLD PATH, cont.:  4. Right Aims of Action.  5. Right Livelihood.  6. Right Effort.  7.  Right Mindfulness.  8. Right Concentration.  Eight-Fold Path divided amongst the Three Trainings.  FIVE PATHS:  1. Path of ACCUMULATION.  2. Path of PREPARATION.  3. Path of SEEING.  4. Path of MEDITATION.  5. Path of NO MORE LEARNING.

Handouts 26.  FIVE PATHS: Restated.  Introduce Panchen Sonam Drakpa's presentation of the Four Noble Truths in his textbook (General Meaning - སྤྱིད་དོན་) and debate manual (Decisive Analysis - མཐའ་དཔྱོད་).  General Meaning expounds Four Noble Truths by way of:  1. Definitive Enumeration;  2. Order;  3. Definitions;  4. Etymology; and 5. Sixteen Aspects:  1. DEFINITIVE ENUMERATION.

Handouts 27.  General Meaning's Five-fold exposition of he Four Noble Truths, cont.  2.  ORDER .  3. DEFINITIONS:  I. Truth of Suffering - Three kinds (Suffering, Change & Pervasive Compositional). II. Truth of Origin - (A) Karmic:  i) Meritorious - Projecting Karma for (a) human & (b) celestial desire realm rebirth; ii) Non-Meritorious - Projecting Karma for (a) hell, (b) preta realm & (c) animal rebirth, iii) Immovable - Projecting Karma for (a) Form & (b) Formless realm rebirth.  (2) Delusional Origin: (a) Six Primary & (b) 20 Secondary.  III.  Truth of Cessation - Explain Different Aspects of Cessation; Three Categories of Cessation; Eight Categories of Cessation - 1) Symbolic, 2) Ultimate. 

Handouts 28.  Eight Categories of Cessation, cont. - Cessations that are:  3) not thoroughly completed, 4) thoroughly completed, 5) without ornament, 6) with ornament, 7) with remainder, 8) without remainder.  IV. Truth of Path:  Different Aspects of the Definition (thoroughly purified truth in the continuum of an Arya & nominal cause of its object of attainment (Truth of Cessation); Three-fold Categorization; Five-fold Categorization.  General Meaning's Five-fold exposition of the Four Noble Truths, cont. - 4. ETYMOLOGY.  5.  16 ASPECTS:  4 Aspects of (1) Truth of Suffering (Impermanent, Suffering, Empty, Selfless); (2) Truth of Origin  (Cause, Origin, Strong Production, Condition).

Handouts 29. General Meaning's Five-fold exposition of the Four Noble Truths, cont. - 5.  16 ASPECTS:  4 Aspects of (3) Truth of Cessation (Cessation, Pacification, Auspicious Highness, Definite Emergence); (4) Truth of Path  (Path, Suitability, Achiever, Deliverance). Relations between each of the 4 Noble Truths; and between the 16 Aspects. Decisive Analysis - refuting two incorrect presentations of the Four Noble Truths.

Handouts & Class Notes - Truth of Origination - Fall 2011

Below are links to Handouts 10-22 for the Fall term of the Perfection of Wisdom Course topic:  the Four Noble Truths.  Handouts 10-22 cover the Second Noble Truth - the TRUTH of ORIGINATION, which is the subject starting in the 6th Class held September 23, 2011.  For Handouts used in Classes 1-6 (Sept. 12-23), click: TRUTH of SUFFERING.

The Handouts, prepared by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo, serve as the text for the Fall 2011 semester.  Also below:  links to CLASS NOTES/Partial Transcripts (DRAFT) of Truth of Origination (prepared by Ven. Tenzin Nordron) will be posted.  Each Class Blog Post also links to the Handouts covered in the class (and partial Class transcripts when available).

Please note:  Even though the Creative Commons logo copyright logo does not appear on the downloadable Charts and Handouts, they are also covered by Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs" Copyright.  [See right hand column.]

Handouts 9-22.  Four Noble Truths - NOBLE TRUTH of ORIGINATION - ཀུན་འབྱུང་འཕགས་པའི་བདེན་པ། 

2011 Handout 9 - conclude Six-Fold Categorization of Suffering.  II. (Second) Noble) TRUTH OF THE ORIGIN - ཀུན་འབྱུང་བདེན་པ། - (of Suffering):  DELUSIONS (ཉོན་མོངས།) & Contaminated KARMA/Actions (ཟག་བཅས་ཀྱི་ལས།).

2011 Handout 10 - Truth of Origin (ཀུན་འབྱུང་བདེན་པ།), Delusions (ཉོན་མོངས།), cont.  IGNORANCE (མ་རིག་པ་):  Categorizations::  A.  (1) Deprecating Misconception (སྐུར་འདེབས་ཀྱི་ལོག་རྟོག) & (2) Superimposing Misconception (སྒྲོ་འདོགས་ཀྱི་ལོག་རྟོག); B. (1) Innate/instinctive Ignorance (མ་རིག་པ་ལྷན་སྐྱེས།) & (2) Intellectually or Ideologically Acquired Ignorance (མ་རིག་པ་ཀུན་བརྟགས།).  C. Ignorance that is the Root of Cyclic Existence (འཁོར་པའི་རྩ་བར་གྱུར་པའི་མ་རིག་པ།) [i.e., Ignorance that apprehends the inherent existence of:  (1) the "I" and "mine"; and (2) phenomena (other than "I" and "mine").

NEW CORRECTED - 2011 Handout 11 -  Delusions (ཉོན་མོངས་): IGNORANCE , cont. - Six Primary Delusions (རྩ་ཉོན་དྲུག):  Five Non-Views:  (1) Attachment, (2) Anger, (2) Arrogance, (4) Ignorance, (5) (Afflictive) Doubt; Five Views of (6) Wrong View = Ten Delusions:   Five Non-Views:  (1)  Attachment - འདོད་ཆགས་.  (2) Anger - ཁོང་ཁྲོ་.  (3) Arrogance - ང་རྒྱལ།. (cont. in Handout 12).

2011 Handout 12 - Ten Delusions, Five Non-Views -  (3) Arrogance, cont. - 7 Kinds.   (4) Ignorance - མ་རིག་པ་.  (5) (Afflictive) Doubt - ཉོན་མོངས་ཅན་གྱི་ཐེ་ཚོམ།.  Five Views -   (6) View of Transitory Collection - འཇིག་ཚོགས་ལ་ལྟ་བ།.  (7) View Holding to Extremes - མཐར་འཛིན་པའི་ལྟ་བ།.  (8) Esteeming Unworthy Views - ལྟ་བ་མཆོག་ཏུ་འཛིན་པ།.  (9) Belief in the Supremacy of Mistaken Ethics & Religious Conduct - ཚུལ་ཁྲིམས་དང་བརྟུལ་ཞུགས་མཆོག་འཛིན་. (cont. in Handout 13). 

NEW CORRECTED - 2011 Handout 13 - Ten Delusions, Five Views - (9) Belief in the Supremacy of Mistaken Ethics & Religious Conduct, cont.  (10) Wrong View - ལོག་པར་ལྟ་བ། / ལོག་ལྟ།. Twenty Secondary Delusions:  (1) Aggression / belligerence - ཁྲོ་བ།. (2) Resentment - ཁོན་འཛིན།. (3) Concealment / denial - འཆབ་པ་།.  (4) Spite - འཚིག་པ་།.  (5) Jealousy / envy - ཕྲག་འདོག.  (6) Miserliness - སེར་སྣ།.  (7) Pretension / deceit - རྒྱུ།.  (8) Dissimulation - གཡོ།.  (9) Haughtiness - རྒྱགས་པ།.  (10) Harmfulness - རྣམ་པར་འཐསེ་བ།.  (11) Shamelessness / non-shame- ངོ་ཚ་མེད་པ།.  (12) Inconsideration / non-embarrassment - ཁྲེལ་མེད་པ།.  (13) Dullness / lethargy - རྨུགས་པ།.  (14) Excitement - རྒོད་པ།.

NEW CORRECTED - 2011 Handout 14 - (15) Non-faith - མ་དད་པ།.  (16) Laziness - ལེ་ལོ།.  (17) Non-conscientiousness - བག་མེད་པ།.  (18) Forgetfulness - བརྗེད་ངེས་པ།.  (19) Non-alertness - ཤེས་བཞིན་མ་ཡིན་པ།.  (20) Distraction - རྣམ་གཡེང།. Three Types of Cravings:  (1) for Sense Pleasures.  (2) Fearful Craving; (3) Craving for Existence.  Process of Producing Delusions, cont. on Handout 15.

NEW CORRECTED - 2011 Handout 15 - Process of Producing Delusions, cont.  Six Causes of Delusons:  [(1) Basis; (2) Object; (3) Distractions; (4) (Mistaken) Explanatons; (5) Habituation; (6) (Wrong) Mental Engagement]:  1. Basis: Imprints that: are and are not Seeds. 2. Objects (cont. on Handout 16). 

2011 Handout 16 - Six Causes of Delusions, cont.  3. Distractions.  4. (Mistaken) Explanations.  5. Habituation.  6. (Wrong) Mental Engagement.  KARMA (ལས།) - Four Reflections on Karma: (1) Certainty of Karma. (2) Magnification of Karma. (3) One does not experience the result of an action one has not accumulated.  (4) Actions one has accumulated do not perish.  1) Certainty of Karma - (ལས་ངེས་པའི་ཚུལ།). (cont. on Handout 17). 

2011 Handout 17 - Four Reflections on Karma, cont.  (2) Magnification of Karma - (ལས་འཕེལ་ཆེ་བ།).  (3) One does not experience the result of an action one has not accumulated - (ལས་མ་བྱས་པ་དང་མི་ཕྲད་པ།).  (4) Actions one has accumulated do not perish - (ལས་བྱས་པ་ཆུད་མི་ཟ་བ།). Strength of actions is dependent on Four Factors {i.e.,  (1) Powerful in terms of the recipient.  (2) Powerful in terms of the support.  (3) Powerful in terms of the substance.  (4) Powerful in terms of the motivation.} (1) Powerful in terms of the recipient (ཞིང་གི་སྒོ་ནས་སྟོབས་ཆེ་བ།). (cont. on Handout 18.) 

2011 Handout 18 - Four Factors for Weighty Actions, cont. (2)  Powerful in terms of the support (རྟེན་གྱི་སྒོ་ནས་སྟོབས་ཆེ་བ།).  (3) Powerful in terms of the substance (དངོས་པའི་སྒོ་ནས་སྟོབས་ཆེ་བ།).  (4) Powerful in terms of the motivation (བས་པའི་སྒོ་ནས་སྟོབས་ཆེ་བ།).  Presentation of 3 Karmic Results (i.e., (1) Fruitional Results; (2) Causally Concordant Results; (3) Environmental Results.)  1) Fruitional Results (རྣམ་སྨིན་གྱི་འབྲས་བུ།).  2) Causally Concordant Results (རྒྱུ་མཐུན་པའི་འབྲས་བུ།): (i) Causally Concordant Behavioral Results (བྱེད་པ་རྒྱུ་མཐུན་གྱི་འབྲས་བུ།) & (ii) Causally Concordant Experiential Results - (cont. on Handout 19.)

2011 Handout 19 - Presentation of 3 Karmic Results, cont.  (ii) Causally Concordant Experiential Results (མྱོང་བ་རྒྱུ་མཐུན་གྱི་འབྲས་བུ།).  (3) Environmental Results (བདག་པོའི་འབྲས་བུ། or དབང་གི་འབྲས་བུ།).  Various Classifications of Karma.  A. (1) Physical Karma / Karma of the Body (ལུས་ཀྱི་ལས།). (2) Verbal Karma / Karma of Speech (ངག་གི་ལས།).  (3) Mental Karma / Karma of the Mind (ཡིད་ཀྱི་ལས།). B.  (1) Virtuous Karma (དགེ་བའི་ལས།).  (2) Non-virtuous Karma (མི་དགེ་བའི་ལས།).  (3) Neutral Karma (བཏང་སྙོམས་ཀྱི་ལས།).  C. Category of Projecting & Completing Karma:  (1) Projecting /Throwing Karma (འཕེན་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ལས།) - (cont. on Handout 20.) 

2011 Handout 20 - Various Classifications of Karma:  C. (1) cont.  (2) Completing Karma (རྫོགས་བྱེད་ཀྱི་ལས།). Four Possibilities re Inter-Relationship of Projecting & Completing Karma re Virtue.  D.  Category of Karma that (1) Will Definitely Be Experienced (མྱོང་བར་ངེས་པའི་ལས།) & (2) Will Not Necessarily Be Experienced (མྱོང་བར་མ་ངེས་པའི་ལས།) & Accumulated Karma:  Four Possibilities between Karma that is Accumulated & Karma that is Done (e.g., killing).    E.  Timing of Result of Karma that Will Definitely Be Experienced - (cont. on Handout 21.)

2011 Handout 21 - cont. E.  Karma that Is Experienced (1) in the Current Life (མཐོང་ཆོས་ལ་མྱོང་འགྱུར་གྱི་ལས།); (2) after Taking Rebirth (སྐྱེས་ནས་མྱོང་འགྱུར་གྱི་ལས།); (3) in Subsequent Existences (ལན་གྲངས་གཞན་ལ་མྱོང་འགྱུར་གྱི་ལས།).  F.  Order of Precedence in which numerous Karmic Imprints that exist in mental continuum Ripen.  G.  Middle Way Consequentialist (Madhyamika-Prasangika) & Great Exposition (Vaibhashika) Tenets re Mental, Physical & Verbal Karma Differ from Sutra School (Sutantrika), Mind Only (Cittamatrin) & Middle Way Autonomy (Madhyamika-Svatantrika) tenets:  1) Karma that is Intention (སེམས་པའི་ལས།) & 2) Intended Karma (བསམས་པའི་ལས།) - (cont. on Handout 22).

2011 Handout 22 - cont. G. Chart.  H. Three-fold Division of Projecting Karma:  (1) Meritorious Karma (བསོད་རྣམས་གྱི་ལས།); (2) Non-meritorious Karma (བསོད་རྣམས་མ་ཡིན་པའི་ལས།); (3) Immovable Karma (མི་གཡོ་བའི་ལས།).  I.  Contaminated Karma & Uncontaminated Karma (ཟག་མེད་ཀྱི་ལས།).  Concludes Truth of Origination & Begins TRUTH OF CESSATION.

CLASS NOTES/partial transcripts

Rough drafts of notes/partial transcripts of Classes on topic, the
Second Noble Truth of Origination,
offered for what they are worth, will be posted here as they become available.

Class 6 NOTES

(If you are interested in assisting in proofing/editing, contact Ven. Tenzin Nordron.)

If any of the links do not work, please leave a comment or notify us by e-mail.

Handouts & Class Notes - Truth of Suffering - Fall 2011 Classes

Below are links to Handouts 1-9 for the Fall term of the Perfection of Wisdom Course topic:  the Four Noble Truths.  Handouts 1-9 cover the First Noble Truth - the TRUTH of SUFFERING, which was the subject of the first * Classes held September 12-, 2011.  Click on TRUTH of ORIGINATION for Handouts on the Second Noble Truth.

The Handouts, prepared by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo, serve as the text for the Fall 2011 semester.  Also below are links to CLASS NOTES/Partial Transcripts (DRAFT) of Truth of Suffering (prepared by Ven. Tenzin Nordron).

Please note:  Even though the Creative Commons logo copyright logo does not appear on the downloadable Charts and Handouts, they are also covered by Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs" Copyright.  [See right hand column.]

Handouts 1-9.  Four Noble Truths - TRUTH of SUFFERING

2011 Handout 1 - Ornament for Clear Realization's two verse on Mahayana Practice Instructions; the Four Noble Truths; the TRUTH OF SUFFERING:  Three Kinds of Feelings.

2011 Handout 2 - Six categories of Feelings.  Three-fold Division of Suffering:  Suffering of Suffering; Suffering of Change; Pervasive Compositional Suffering (cont. Handout 3).

NEW CORRECTED - 2011 Handout 3 - cont. Pervasive Compositional Suffering: Contaminated Five Aggregates.  Four-fold & Eight-fold Categorization of Sufferings of Suffering:  Five types of Sufferings of Birth (cont. on Handout 4).

2011 Handout 4 - Eight-fold Categorization of Suffering, cont.:  Sufferings of Aging.  Five Sufferings of Sickness.

2011 Handout 5 - Five Sufferings of Sickness, cont. 2-5.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Death.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Encountering what is Unpleasant - 1-2, cont. on Handout 6.

2011 Handout 6 - Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Encountering what is Unpleasant, cont. 3-5.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Separation from what is Pleasant.  Suffering of Not Getting What We Want.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Having the Five Aggregates - 1-3, (cont. in Handout 7.)

2011 Handout 7 - Sufferings of Having the Five Aggregates, cont. 4-5.  Six-Fold Categorization of Suffering (cont. in Handouts 8 & 9):  1):  1) Suffering of Uncertainty.

2011 Handout 8 - cont. Six-Fold Categorization of Suffering:  2) Suffering of Insatiability.  3) Suffering of Having to Give up our Bodies Repeatedly.  (cont. in Handout 9)   

2011 Handout 9 - cont. Six-Fold Categorization of Suffering:  4) Suffering of Repeated Rebirth.  5) Suffering of Repeatedly Descending from High to Low.  6) Suffering of  Having No Companions.

CLASS NOTES/partial transcripts  

Rough drafts of class notes/partial transcripts of Classes on the First Noble Truth of Suffering - offered for what they are worth - are posted here as they  become available. 

(If you are interested in assisting in proofing/editing, contact Ven. Tenzin Nordron.)

Class 2 NOTES

Class 4 NOTES
Class 5 NOTES

If any of the links do not work, please leave a comment or notify us by e-mail.

Class Schedule Change - Class on THURSDAY

H.H. Dalai Lama begins teaching in McLeod Ganj on Saturday, October 1, 2011 through Monday, October 4.  So there will be NO CLASS on MONDAY, October 4.  Instead, we will have class on Thursday, September 29.  That is, we will have four class sessions this week:  Monday, Wednesday (9/28), Thursday (9/29) and Friday (9/30).

Class 6 - Truth of Suffering & Truth of Origination of Suffering

Download PDF's of Class materials and MP3 Tracks from the 6th class of Fall 2011 term held on Friday, September 23:

DOWNLOAD Handouts used in Class 6 & Class NOTES  (i.e., very rough transcript):

2011 Handout 9 - conclude Six-Fold Categorization of Suffering.  II. (Second) Noble) TRUTH OF THE ORIGIN - ཀུན་འབྱུང་བདེན་པ། - (of Suffering):  Delusions (ཉོན་མོངས།) & Contaminated Karma/Actions (ཟག་བཅས་ཀྱི་ལས།).

2011 Handout 10 - Truth of Origin (ཀུན་འབྱུང་བདེན་པ།), Delusions (ཉོན་མོངས།), cont.  IGNORANCE (མ་རིག་པ་):  Categorizations::  A.  (1) Deprecating Misconception (སྐུར་འདེབས་ཀྱི་ལོག་རྟོག) & (2) Superimposing Misconception (སྒྲོ་འདོགས་ཀྱི་ལོག་རྟོག); B. (1) Innate/instinctive Ignorance (མ་རིག་པ་ལྷན་སྐྱེས།) & (2) Intellectually or Ideologically Acquired Ignorance (མ་རིག་པ་ཀུན་བརྟགས།).  C. Ignorance that is the Root of Cyclic Existence (འཁོར་པའི་རྩ་བར་གྱུར་པའི་མ་རིག་པ།) [i.e., Ignorance that apprehends the inherent existence of:  (1) the "I" and "mine"; and (2) phenomena (other than "I" and "mine").

Class 6 NOTES - rough draft transcript - offered for what they are worth. (If you are interested in assisting in proofing/editing, contact Ven. Tenzin Nordron.)

ALL FALL 2011 PDFs re Truth of Suffering are HERE. ALL Fall 2011 PDFs re Truth of Origination are HERE.

DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 - Handout 9 - cont. Six Types of Suffering:

     (4) Suffering of repeated rebirth:

• Contaminated Karma only triggers rebirth in Samsara if triggered by Delusions (attachment to self, i.e., fear of death of self & craving for existence).  
• Having realized Emptiness directly, Arya Bodhisattvas (below 8th bhumi) are reborn due to attachment to others and prayers, but not in the Cyclic Existence that we experience. Hinayana Arhats and 8th-10th ground Arya Bodhisattvas have Mental Bodies. 

Track 2 - (5)  Suffering of Repeatedly Descending from High to Low.
              (6)  Suffering of Having no Companions. 

• Cultivating disenchantment with our miserable condition in Cyclic Existence and  the single-pointed intention to overcome it, naturally leads to the question: 

What is the origin or the cause of suffering?

Track 3 - (2nd) Noble TRUTH of ORIGIN (ཀུན་འབྱུང་འཕགས་པའི་བདེན་པ།) of Suffering:

1. DELUSIONS (ཉོན་མོངས་།); and 
2. CONTAMINATED ACTIONS/KARMA (ཟག་བཅས་ཀྱི་ལས་།).  

• Delusions are Primary Cause of Suffering.  
• Root Delusion is Ignorance.

Track 4 - IGNORANCE - མ་རིག་པ་ - [Handout 10] - a mental factor and a mental consciousness:

• Examples, qualities and types of Ignorance:  
• Mere not knowing & Active Mis-knowledge. 

          (1) Deprecating misconceptions (སྐུར་འདེབས་ཀྱི་ལོག་རྟོག):  

            Denial of (aspects of) reality, e.g., deny Law of Karma, 

            Past & Future Lives (or role of human activity in Global Climate Change).

          (2) Superimposing misconceptions (སྒྲོ་འདོགས་ཀྱི་ལོག་རྟོག):  

           Apprehend (aspects of) phenomena that do not exist, e.g., Wrong Views: 

              Ignorance that apprehends a Self to be: 

1. Permanent, Partless, & Independent; 
2. Self-Sufficient Substantially Existent; or 
3. Inherently Existent. 

           Superimposing ignorance is the root of Deprecating ignorance, but 

           Superimposing ignorance are not always non-virtuous; however,

           Wrong Views included in the 10 Non-Virtuous are Deprecating Ignorance.

Track 5 - Categorization of IGNORANCE as: (1) Innate Ignorance (མ་རིག་པ་ལྷན་སྐྱེས་) or (2) Intellectually Acquired (མ་རིག་པ་ཀུན་བརྟགས།).

Innate Ignorance:  Innate Deprecating & Innate Superimposing ignorance.

• Root ignorance is Innate Superimposing ignorance apprehending Inherent Existence & apprehending Permanence.

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

This is the 6th class of the Fall 2011 Perfection of Wisdom course
addressing the Four Noble Truths, the 2nd sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.

Class 5 - Truth of Suffering - Five Aggregates, Six Categories

Download PDF's of Class materials and MP3 Tracks from the 5th class of Fall 2011 term held on Wednesday, September 21:

DOWNLOAD Handouts used in Class 5 & Class NOTES  (i.e., very rough transcript):

2011 Handout 6 - Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Encountering what is Unpleasant, cont. 3-5.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Separation from what is Pleasant.  Suffering of Not Getting What We Want.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Having the Five Aggregates - 1-3, (cont. in Handout 7.)

2011 Handout 7 - Sufferings of Having the Five Aggregates, cont. 4-5.  Six-Fold Categorization of Suffering (cont. in Handouts 8 & 9):  1):  1) Suffering of Uncertainty.

2011 Handout 8 - cont. Six-Fold Categorization of Suffering:  2) Suffering of Insatiability.  3) Suffering of Having to Give up our Bodies Repeatedly.  (cont. in Handout 9)   

Class 5 NOTES - rough draft transcript - offered for what they are worth. (If you are interested in assisting in proofing/editing, contact Ven. Tenzin Nordron.)

ALL FALL 2011 PDFs re Truth of Suffering are HERE.

DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 - Buddha said:

In brief, the Five Contaminated Aggregates are suffering.

Two of the Five Aggregates are Mental Factors:

• Discrimination - ordinary and intellectual.   
• Feelings 

Understanding the Five Aggregates in relation to the four Form Concentrations and four Formless concentrations. 

• Five-fold Categorization of Feelings (in terms of coarser/subtler; easier/harder to overcome):
• Limited Discrimination of Desire Realm must be overcome to attain Form Realm.
• Form Realm Concentrations overcome Worldly/Contaminated Feelings - only Buddhist Path can overcome the Neutral contaminated feeling.
• First Concentration of the Form Realm overcomes the mental feeling of displeasure.
• Second Concentration of the Form Realm overcomes the unpleasant feeling associated with physical consciousness.  
• Third Concentration of the Form Realm overcomes the pleasurable feeling associated with mental consciousness.  
• Fourth Concentration of the Form Realm overcomes the pleasurable feeling associated with physical consciousness. 

• Having then transcended the Extensive Discrimination of Form Realm, one may attain the Immeasurable Discrimination of Formless Realm.  Buddhism does not urge attainment of Formless Realm rebirth with its four concentrations of: 

• Limitless Space, Limitless Consciousness, Nothingness, Peak of Cyclic Existence.

Track 2 - Suffering of (having) the Five Aggregates (5 points) – [Handout 6, p. 2]:

• Five (contaminated) Aggregates are Vessels of Suffering (1) in the future; (2) that presently exists; (3) the Suffering of Suffering. [Handout 7] - (4) the Suffering of Change

Track 3 - Five Contaminated Aggregates are vessel of

• (4)  Suffering of Change, cont.; and of 
• (5) Pervasive Compositional Suffering. 
• Neutral Feelings are a Pervasive Compositional Suffering.

Track 4 - Necessity ofunderstanding First Noble Truth in order to generate Renunciation (which is required to generate Bodhicitta).

Six Categories of Suffering

     1.  Suffering of uncertainty. [Handout 8] - regarding the relationships we have with other people.

     2.  Suffering of insatiability:  As it says in the Compendium of the Perfections (a Perfection of Wisdom Sutra):

You get what you want,

Use it up, then acquire more,

And still you are not satisfied

What could be more pathetic than this? 

     3. Suffering of having to give up our bodies repeatedly.

4th - 6th Sufferings [(4) Suffering of repeated rebirth.  (5) Suffering of repeatedly descending from high to low.  (6) Suffering of having no companions.] in Class 6.

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

This is the 5th class of the Fall 2011 Perfection of Wisdom course
addressing the Four Noble Truths, the 2nd sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.

Class 4 - Truth of Suffering of Sickness, Death, Encounters, Separation

Download PDF's of Class materials and MP3 Tracks from the 4th class of Fall 2011 term held on Monday, September 19:

DOWNLOAD Handouts used in Class 4 & Class NOTES  (i.e., very rough transcript):

2011 Handout 4 - Eight-fold Categorization of Suffering, cont.:  Sufferings of Aging.  Five Sufferings of Sickness - 1) Changes the nature of the body; (cont. on Handout 5).

2011 Handout 5 - Five Sufferings of Sickness, cont. 2-5.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Death.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Encountering what is Unpleasant - 1-2, cont. on Handout 6.

2011 Handout 6 - Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Encountering what is Unpleasant, cont. 3-5.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Separation from what is Pleasant.  Suffering of Not Getting What We Want.  Five Contemplations of the Sufferings of Having the Five Aggregates - 1-3, (cont. in Handout 7.)

Class 4 NOTES - rough draft transcript - offered for what they are worth. (If you are interested in assisting in proofing/editing, contact Ven. Tenzin Nordron.)

FALL 2011 PDFs re: Truth of Suffering are HERE.

DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 - Discussion:  Implications of third type of Birth, "from moisture", etc.

Track 2 -  Discussion: How a Cause of Production is also Cause of its Effect's Destruction.

• Presentation of Impermanence, Cause & Effect.

Track 3 - Review Sufferings of Birth and Aging.
              Sufferings of SICKNESS [Handout 4 - p. 2] - Five contemplations:

1. Sickness changes the nature of the body [cont. on Handout 5]. 
2. Pain & anguish increase and are seldom absent.  
3. No desire to enjoy pleasing objects. 
4. Forced to recourse to unpleasant objects, even though one does not want them.  
5. Lose one's vital energy, i.e., one dies.

Track 4 - Sufferings of DEATH [Handout 5] - Five contemplations:  One is separated from nice/beloved:

1. Objects of Enjoyment,
2. Close relatives, 
3. Companions, and 
4. beloved Body.  Also: 
5. At the time of death one experiences terrible suffering and distress.

Track 5 - Sufferings of Encountering What Is Unpleasant - Five contemplations:

1. Encountering an Enemy.  
2. Fearing one will be Harmed by one's Enemy. 
3. [Handout 6] Fearing one's Enemy will Spread Malicious Rumors about Oneself. 
4. Dreading death.  
5. Fearing Rebirth in suffering existence due to one's non-Dharmic activities.  Also misc. sufferings from poverty, disagreeable jobs, being resented, unattractive, etc.

    Sufferings of Separation from What is Pleasant - Five contemplations:  When one is separated from loved ones, One: 

1. Grieves; 
2. Verbally Laments; 
3. Harms one's own body; 
4. Becomes sad when one remembers and yearns for the qualities of the departed; and generally experiences
5. Suffering of no longer enjoying what one has lost.

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

This is the 4th class of the Fall 2011 Perfection of Wisdom course
addressing the Four Noble Truths, the 2nd sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.

Class 3 - Truth of Suffering - Birth & Aging

Download PDF's of Class materials and MP3 Tracks from the 3rd class of Fall 2011 term held on Friday, September 16:

DOWNLOAD Handouts used in Class 3:

2011 Handout 3 - cont. Pervasive Compositional Suffering: Contaminated Five Aggregates.  Four-fold & Eight-fold Categorization of Sufferings of Suffering:  Five types of Sufferings of Birth (cont. on Handout 4).

2011 Handout 4 - Eight-fold Categorization of Suffering, cont.:  Sufferings of Aging.  Five Sufferings of Sickness - 1) Changes the nature of the body; (cont. on Handout 5).

ALL FALL 2011 HANDOUTS & CHARTS are HERE.

DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 - Review Three Kinds of Sufferings (Suffering, Change, Pervasive Compositional).

• Q&A (Is Ignorance arisen from Neutral Feeling?).  
• Handout 3:  Contaminated and Uncontaminated Karma.

Track 2 - [Handout 3]  Another Categorization of Suffering:

• Four Types - (1) Birth, (2) Aging, (3) Sickness, (4) Death - incorporated into 
• Eight Types: (5) Encountering what is Unpleasant, (6) Separation from what is Pleasant, (7) Not Getting What we Want, (8) (having) the Five Aggregates.  
• How do these 8 fit into the Three Types of Suffering?  
• Introduction to 1st of the 8: Birth.

Track 3 - 1. Five contemplations of the Suffering of BIRTH:

• Birth, itself, is Suffering. 
• Birth with Negative Tendencies produces Suffering.

Track 4 - Five contemplations of the Suffering of BIRTH, cont.

• Born with Negative Tendencies, cont. 
• What are "Seeds and Imprints".  
• Birth is Source of suffering. 
• Birth is Source of Afflictive Emotions:  
• Operation of Afflictive Emotions. 
• Birth Results in Unwanted Separation, cont. in Track 5.
  

Track 5 - [Handout 4].  Second of 8 Kinds of Suffering:  Five Contemplations of the Suffering of Aging

1. Handsome body deteriorates.
2. Physical strength and vigour deteriorate.  
3. Senses deteriorate.  
4. Enjoyment of sense objects fades.  
5. Suffering of the diminishment of one's lifespan.

It is well that aging happens little by little. 

If it happened all at once, it would be intolerable.

             - Kadampa Geshe Gamapa

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

This is the 3rd class of the Fall 2011 Perfection of Wisdom course
addressing the Four Noble Truths, the 2nd sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.

Class 2 - Truth of Suffering - Three Kinds of Suffering

Download PDF's of Class materials and MP3 Tracks from the 2nd class of Fall 2011 term held on Wednesday, September 14:

DOWNLOAD Handouts used in Class 2 & Class NOTES  (i.e., very rough transcript):

2011 Handout 2 - Six categories of Feelings.  Three-fold Division of Suffering:  Suffering of Suffering; Suffering of Change; Pervasive Compositional Suffering (cont. Handout 3).

2011 Handout 3 - cont. Pervasive Compositional Suffering: Contaminated Five Aggregates.  Four-fold & Eight-fold Categorization of Sufferings of Suffering:  Five types of Sufferings of Birth (cont. on Handout 4).

Class 2 NOTES - rough draft transcript - offered for what they are worth. (If you are interested in assisting in proofing/editing, contact Ven. Tenzin Nordron.)

ALL FALL 2011 HANDOUTS & CHARTS are HERE.

DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 -"Has"/"Is" confusion - "Is a white horse white?"

Review:  Feeling, an omni-present Mental Factor accompanying every main mind:

• Feeling itself is suffering & feeling experiences suffering.  
• Feeling is what experiences the three – pleasure, displeasure or neutrality. 
• Objects are not suffering; objects cause suffering and are in the nature of suffering.

Handout 2: Feelings & Six Consciousnesses.

• Distinguishing the Truth of Suffering from Suffering (i.e., feeling).  
• Suffering is Feeling.  
• Truth of Suffering is Feeling and phenomena that induce Suffering, i.e., are in the nature of suffering.  
• Root Cause of the Truth of Suffering.

Track 2 - The (Noble) Truth of Suffering (སྡུག་བསྔལ་བདེན་པ།) - Three Kinds of Suffering:
  Suffering of Suffering - སྡུག་བསྔལ་གྱི་སྡུག་བསྔལ།:

• Suffering here means any unpleasant feeling.
• Physical Suffering - Mental Factor of feeling (of displeasure) that comes along with any of the Sense Consciousness.

  Suffering of Change - འགྱུར་བའི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་།:

• Contaminated feelings are produced by the fundamental mis-perception of reality.
• Contaminated (ཟག་ཅས་) Objects are Not in the Nature of Happiness.
• Main Minds & Five Omnipresent Mental Factors (སེམས་བྱུང་ལྔ་) & ‘objects of pleasant feelings’
• Happiness of sentient beings is just the temporary relief from feelings of intense suffering.

Track 3 - Suffering of Change, cont.:

• Focusing on the nature of the objects that are related to suffering.
• Objects of temporary happiness, i.e., ordinary suffering, are in the nature of suffering because eventually, as they continue being the object of experience, they turn into the nature of suffering.

Track 4 - Pervasive Compositional Suffering - ཁྱབ་པ་འདུ་བྱེད་ཀྱི་སྡུག་བསྔལ་།:

• The most important of the three categories of Suffering; 
• Foundation of the other two (the Sufferings of Suffering and of Change); 
• Subtlest and most difficult to recognize.
• Desire Realm, Form Realm and Formless Realms.
• Five (Contaminated) Aggregates: What they are.

Track 5 - Handout 3 cont. Five Contaminated Aggregates - ཟག་ཅས་ཀྱི་ཕུང་པོ་ལྔ་:

• Contaminated because produced by Ignorance mis-perceiving reality, other Delusions (e.g.,anger, attachment), and Karma. 
• Pervasive Compositional Suffering of the Five Aggregates includes the entire psycho-physical (mind/body) complex that accompany Feelings.
• Why is it Pervasive.
• Questions & Answers (e.g., Buddha Nature and contamination).

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

This is the 2nd class of the Fall 2011 Perfection of Wisdom course
addressing the Four Noble Truths, the 2nd sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.

Class 1 - the Four Noble Truths

Download PDF's of Class materials and MP3 Tracks from the 1st class of Fall 2011 term held on Monday, September 12:

DOWNLOAD Handouts used in Class 1:

2011 Handout 1 - Ornament for Clear Realization's two verses on Mahayana Practice Instructions; the Four Noble Truths; the Truth of Suffering.  Three Kinds of Feelings.

2011 Handout 2 - Six categories of Feelings.  Three-fold Division of Suffering:  Suffering of Suffering; Suffering of Change; Pervasive Compositional Suffering.

ALL FALL 2011 HANDOUTS & CHARTS are HERE.

DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 - Introduction to Fall course Materials (translated and composed by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo) and context of subject matter.  The Handouts at the beginning of the course rely primarily on Je Tsong Khapa's Lam Rim Chenmo.  Later handouts are translations from the two texts used for this subject at IBD and Drepung Loseling Monastery: the General Meaning and Decisive Analysis composed by Panchen Sonam Drakpa.  The course will use these to acquaint students the debates raised in studying the Four Noble Truths.

Track 2 - Handout 1 - Explanation of two verses from Chapter 1 of Maitreya's Ornament for Clear Realizations (Abhisamayalamkara).  Chapter 1 has 10 Topics and the 2d Topic is the Ten Mahayana Practice Instructions, and the second Practice Instruction is the Four Noble Truths.  The Ten Practice Instructions that set out the Ten Instructions are:

Practice, the Truths,
The Three Jewels such as the Buddha,
Non-Involvement, Tirelessness,
Thoroughly Upholding the Path, [22]

The Five Visions, Clairvoyance's Six Qualities and
what are called "the Paths of Seeing
And Meditation": these practice instructions
Should be known as having a tenfold character. [23]

The first three Practice Instructions named in these two pithy and obscure verses are explained here by Geshe-la, i.e., (1) Practice = the Two Truths; (2) the Truths = Four Noble Truths, and (3) the Three Jewels = Refuge.

Track 3 - Continues Explanation of 4th-10th Mahayana Practice Instructions: Three Diligences of (4) Non-Involvement, (5) Tirelessness, and (6) of Thoroughly Upholding the Path of Practice.  (7) Five Visions, (8) Six Qualities of Clairvoyance, (9) Path of Seeing, (10) Path of Meditation.

Track 4 - Introduction to Four Noble Truths in context of the Ornament, Lam Rim and generally as the blueprint for the entire Buddhist path.

Track 5 - Introduction to Four Noble Truths in context of Buddha Turning the Three Wheels of Dharma. The names of the Four Noble Truths in English & Tibetan with meaning.

Track 6 - Truth of Suffering - Omni-Present Mental Factor of Feeling with every mind of three kinds: Pleasant, Unpleasant & Neutral.

Track 7 - Handout 2.  Categories of Feeling, 24 Kinds of Mental Factor of Feeling, Questions & Answers, function of class Discussion Group (held at 3:00 - 3:45 before each class).

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

This is the 1st class of the Fall  2011 Perfection of Wisdom course
addressing the Four Noble Truths, the 2nd sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.

 

2011 Fall Class Schedule - 12 September - 11 November 2011

Geshe Kelsang Wangmo will begin the Fall semester of the Perfection of Wisdom Course on 12 September 2011. The last class of the Fall term will be 11 November 2011.

SUBJECT MATTER

For some information about the subject matter of this course, link to blog entry, "Background for Fall 2011 Term".

The classes will continue the presentation of the Second Topic (Mahayana Practice Instructions) addressed in Chapter 1 of the Ornament for Clear Realizations (Abhisamayalamkara) by Maitreya. (Download Class AUDIO MP3s, Handouts, etc. from Blog Post entries).

Chapter 1 of the Ornament raises Ten Topics (relating to the Omniscient Mind).

The Spring 2011 semester covered the First Topic, Bodhicitta and began the Second Topic, Mayahana Practice Instructions, has Ten Subjects.  The First, the Two Truths, was also covered in the Spring 2011 classes.

ALL of the class materials for the Spring 2011 classes on Bodhicitta and the Two Truths can be downloaded from the blog post: Handouts & Charts - Spring 2011 Classes.

The Fall 2011 term will address:

• The Four Noble Truths (the Second Practice Instruction), and 
• Refuge (the Third Second Practice Instruction).

CLASS SCHEDULE

Classes are held from 4:00 - 5:30 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays in the Prayer Hall at IBD which is located inside the gate to the temple complex.  (Take the first set of stairs on the right up to second floor.)

Discussion group timing will be formulated after the course starts.  Traditionally, debate plays a crucial role in fostering students' understanding; in lieu of which, students are encouraged to participate in the discussion groups.

Fees:  300 Rupees / month donation for support of IBD students.

You are welcome to attend a few classes to determine if you wish to enroll.

Teacher:  Geshe Kelsang Wangmo 

Photo by Peter Aronson 2011.

Background for Fall 2011 Term

SUGGESTED READING LIST that can provide further background support for students HERE.

The Perfection of Wisdom Course studies Maitreya's Ornament for Clear Realizations (Abhisamayalamkara).  The Ornament is the first of five great Indian canonical texts that make up the core curriculum of Geshe studies at Tibetan monastic colleges such as Drepung Loseling Monastery and the Institute for Buddhist Dialectical Studies.  The Ornament expounds the hidden meaning (detailing the Method of the Path to Enlightenment) of the Perfection of Wisdom Sutras (whose explicit meaning is the Wisdom of Emptiness).

Before studying the Ornament, students take courses that introduce them to: 

• Fundamentals of Buddhist philosophy (the Collected Topics, Due-dra); 
• Logical argument (Ta-rig); 
• Awareness and Knowledge (Lo-rig); and 
• Philosophical systems of Tenets (Drub-tha). 

Geshe Kelsang Wangmo concluded teaching these subjects for English language students in 2006.  She began teaching this Perfection of Wisdom Course in 2007 (with a hiatus in 2009).  The Perfection of Wisdom course usually takes six years in Tibetan residential institutions.  Since the English course is not part of a matriculating, residential program, the course will take as long as necessary to provide understanding for most of the students who attend.  

While a few students have been attending IBD's Advanced Buddhist Philosophy program in English since before the program officially began in 2004, most students are unable to be in India for the entire Ornament course, nor have they attended the preliminary courses. Many students attend the course for less than an entire term.  

Although Geshe Kelsang Wangmo is skilled in presenting challenging material to those who do not have the usual background for tackling these subjects, most people are going to need a good foundation in Buddhist teachings to enjoy the material.

You can DOWNLOAD Audio MP3s of classes along with course handouts and some partial class transcripts from this BLOG's POSTED entries.

Prior terms of the Course have covered:

• First Year subjects are raised by the Ornament's Introduction.
• Second Year subject (of the Ornament's Introduction): Differentiating Interpretable from Definitive Sutras while studying the Wisdom tenets of the Mind Only (Cittamatrin) system [text:  Jeffrey Hopkins' translation of relevant section of Je Tsong-Khapa's Essence of Eloquence in Emptiness in the Mind Only School of Buddhism).
• Third Year subjects are raised in Chapter 1 of the Ornament.

Of the Ten Topics raised in Chapter 1, so far classes have addressed:

• Topic 1 - Bodhicitta
• Begun Topic 2 - Ten Mahayana Practice Instructions, i.e., 
• The Two Truths - the 1st Mayahana Practice Instruction (Spring 2011).
• Fall 2011 - will continue Topic 2 with:
• the Four Noble Truths - the 2nd Mahayana Practice Instruction; and 
• Refuge - the 3rd Mahayana Practice Instruction.

Handouts & Charts - Spring 2011 Classes

Below is a list of the class Handouts and Charts prepared by Geshe Kelsang Wangmo for the Spring 2011 semester of the Perfection of Wisdom Course.  These primarily relate to:

• Bodhicitta, the 1st of the 10 Topics of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's Ornament for Clear Realization (Abhisamayalamkara);
• The Two Truths, which is the 1st of the 10 sub-topics of the 2nd Topic of Chapter 1:  the Mahayana Practice Instructions.

See Handout 19 for a chart listing the 10 Topics of the first chapter of the Ornament and the 10 Sub-Topics of the Mahayana Practice Instructions.

Please note:  Even though these downloadable charts and handouts do not contain the Creative Commons logo, they are covered by Creative Commons "Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs"Copyright [SEE right-hand column].

HANDOUTS - TWO TRUTHS

2011 Handout 29 - Conventional Truth: Definition; Different Aspects of definition; Categories.  Ultimate Truth: Definition; Different Aspects of definition; Categories. Phenomena that are relations of One Entity/One Nature by being one/identical, equivalent (Eight Doors of Pervasion), a characteristic of a phenomenon.  Meaning of Different Entity/Different Nature Suggested Reading List.

2011 Handout 28 - Conclusion of Two Truths according to Chandrakirti’s Supplement to the Middle Way and Lama Tsongkhapa’s Illumination of the Thought: Omniscient consciousnesses are able to realize both truths because they are able to apply two different modes of cognition simultaneously; meanings of Dualistic Appearance; direct & explicit realizations of Emptiness - Seeing by way of not seeing; Analogy: "just as one sees uncompounded space by not seeing obstructive contact, one sees emptiness by not seeing conventional truths."  Buddhas realize conventional truths by way of ‘other appearance.’

2011 Handout 27 - Learner Arya's Exalted Wisdom of Subsequent Attainment. Way in which phenomena are Ultimate and Conventional for ordinary beings and for Aryas. Explanation of Ultimate Truth (Meaning of the Root Verse.

2011 Handout 26 - Cognitive Obscurations per Prasangika and the Svatantrika  Madhyamika tenet systems.  Exalted Wisdoms of Meditative Equipoise/absorptions & of Subsequent Attainment per Prasangika Madhyamika tenets.

2011 Handout 25 - Afflictive Obscurations per Prasangika (Consequentialist) and the Svatantrika (Autonomy) Madhyamika (Middle Way) tenet systems. Way in which mere Conventionalities appear and do not appear to the Three Beings.

2011 Handout 24 - Why "conventional phenomena are both conventional truths (truths for a concealer) and mere conventionalities." Differences between a conventional truth and existing conventionally and existing ultimately.  Explaining the unique Prasangika tenet presentation of Afflictive Emotions. Per Svatantrika Madhyamika tenets, ignorance that apprehends true existence is neither the root of Samsara nor an afflictive emotion.

2011 Handout 23 (June 27) - Explaining from Whose Perspective the Conventional Is a Truth and Not a Truth.

2011 Handout 22 (June 24) - Chandrakirti re Two Truths, cont. (Mistaken / Wrong Consciousness distinguished), etc.

2011 Handout 21 - "Causes of error of mental sense consciousnesses", etc.

2011 Handout 20 - "Prasangika Madhyamika tenet: Conventional Truths cannot be divided into true and unreal conventional truths because all conventional truths are deceptive...However, relative to the perspective of the world, objects which are not Ultimate Truths can be categorized into those that are true and those that are unreal. Furthermore, just as conventional phenomena can in general be categorized into subjects (awarenesses) and objects (objects of those awarenesses) likewise ..."

2011 Handout 19 - Explaining the Category of the Conventional Relative to the World; Svatantrika Madhyamika tenet asserts re the Two Truths.

2011 Handout 18 - A. Two Truths are different phenomena but not different entities, i.e., they are not one phenomenon but are one entity. Reasoning & Faults of contrary assertions. B. Two Truths are definite in number.

2011 Handout 17 - Je Tsongkhapa's Illumination of the Thought:  a) Explaining, by Means of the Category of the Two Truths, that All Phenomena Have Two Entities;  b) Another Presentation of the Two Truths.

2011 Handout 16 - a) Ornament, Ch. 1, Topic 2 - Mahayana Practice Instructions' ten topics [See, Handout 15]. b) Two Truths: Conventional Truth & Ultimate Truth - Etymologies & Instances.

CHARTS

2011 Chart 6 - (June 27) - GRADUAL PROCESS of ELIMINATING IGNORANCE in DEPENDENCE on: HINAYANA PATHS & MAHAYANA PATHS.

2011 Chart 5 - Existent and the Two Truths.

2011 Chart 4 - the Two Truths According to the Four Tenets.

2011 Chart 3 - The Five Bodhisattva Paths.

2011 Chart 2 - Four Philosophical Tenets.

2011 Chart 1 - Different Vehicles (Trainees, Goals, Wisdom, Obstructions, Results).


HANDOUTS - BODHICITTA

2011 Handout 15 - Benefits of Bodhicitta. b) Ch. 1's 2nd topic: Mahayana Practice Instructions: Six Sub-topics that explain them.

2011 Handout 14 - Basis of Bodhicitta: 1) Physical basis among Six Realms for generating Aspirational & Engaging Bodhicitta; 2) Mental basis.

2011 Handout 13 - Generating Bodhicitta: A) Seven-Fold Cuase & Effect Instruction; B) Equalizing & Exchanging Self for Others.

2011 Handout 12 - Causes of Bodhicitta: a) Four Causes; b) Four Conditions; c) Four Strenths/Powers/Forces; d) Two Principal Causes.

2011 Handout 11 - Explanation of Similes of Bodhicitta, cont., Nos. 11-22.

2011 Handout 10 - Explanation of 22 Similes of Bodhicitta, Nos. 1-10.

2011 Handout 9 - Remaining categories of Bodhicitta: a) By way of Demarcation; b) By way of Devoted Conduct; c) Category by way of the Purpose; d) Category by way of Similes.

2011 Handout 8 - Three Classes of Vows: I. Pratimoksha Vow: a) Lay Vow (3 Sets; Eight One-day Vows); b) Ordained Vows (5 sets). II. Bodhisattva Vow - a) 18 Downfalls & 46 Faulty Actions. b) How to Lose Bodhisattva Vow: Four Binding Factors.

2011 Handout 7 - Differences between Svatantrika-Madhyamika (Autonomy Middle Way) & Prasangika-Madhyamika (Middle Way Consequentialist) Tenets re AspiratIonal & Engaging Bodhicitta.

2011 Handout 6 - Category by way of Being (Bodhicitta): Aspirational Bodhicitta & Engaging Bodhicitta - Definitions, Aspects of the definitions; and Differences between the two.

2011 Handout 5 - a) Meaning of Definition of Bodhicitta & Verse 19 (Chapter 1). b) Divisions of Bodhicitta: 4 Ways of Categorizing. c) Reason for calling this Mind "Ultimate Bodhicitta." d) Chart: Comparison between Conventional Bodhicitta & Ultimate Bodhicitta (in the continua of sentient beings).

2011 Handout 4 - Explanation of Ornament's Three Verses on Bodhicitta: a) Definition & its aspects. b) Two Branches of Bodhicitta (Other's Benefit Aspiration & Enlightened Aspiration) & their Sequence.

2011 Handout 3 - First Chapter of the Ornament: Exalted Knower of Aspects (i.e., Omnisicent Mind): Two Modes of Presentation; Ten Topics/Dharmas; How the Ten Topics Characterize the Exalted Knower of Aspects. Bodhicitta: Mind Generation & Mind of Enlightenment.

2011 Handout 2 - Introduction to the Ornament for Clear Realizations - Part II: a) Meaning of the Title in Sanskrit and Tibetan; b) Homage by the Tibetan Translator; c) Homage by Maitreya: Three Types of Wisdom (Knower of Bases, Knower of Paths, Exalted Knower of Aspects); d) Purpose for Composition of Ornament; e) 15 verses that serve as table of Contents (8 Clear Realizations & 70 Topics).

2011 Handout 1 - Perfection of Wisdom: I. Main Objects of Study in Tibetan Monastic Colleges: Five Great Canonical Texts. II. Three Wheels of Dharma. III. Perfection of Wisdom Sutras. IV. Introduction to the Ornament for Clear Realizations - Part I.

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

Class 34 - Conventional Truth, Paths & Grounds

Download PDF's of Class materials and MP3 Tracks from the 34th class of Spring 2011 term held on Thursday, June 30:

DOWNLOAD Handouts used in Class 34:

2011 Handout 23 (June 27) - Explaining from Whose Perspective the Conventional Is a Truth and Is Not a Truth. (Based on Je Tsong Khapa's Illumination of the Thought.)

2011 Handout 24 - Why "conventional phenomena are both conventional truths (truths for a concealer) and mere conventionalities."  Differences between a conventional truth and existing conventionally and existing ultimately.  Explaining the unique Prasangika tenet presentation of Afflictive Emotions. Per Svatantrika Madhyamika tenets, ignorance that apprehends true existence is neither the root of Samsara nor an afflictive emotion. (Based on Je Tsong Khapa's Ocean of Reasoning, a commentary on Nagarjuna's Fundamental Wisdom).

Chart 6 - GRADUAL PROCESS of ELIMINATING IGNORANCE in DEPENDENCE on: HINAYANA PATHS & MAHAYANA PATHS.

ALL SPRING 2011 HANDOUTS & CHARTS are HERE.

DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 - Review - [Explaining] from Whose Perspective the Conventional Is a Truth and Not a Truth:

• Why are all Conventional Truths actual truths for beings who have not reached the 8th Arya Ground. 
•  
• Handout 23, p. 2.  Eliminating Ignorance on the Hinayana Paths & Grounds.  Chart 6.

Track 2 - Chart 6 - Eliminating Ignorance on the Mahayana Paths & Grounds:

• Explanation of Realizations on Bodhisattva Paths Eliminating Ignorance and Its Imprints. 
• Three Beings' (i.e., sentient beings who have overcome ignorance) perception of Conventional Truths.  
• Illustration of a face in a mirror re perception of Conventional Truths to non-Buddhas.
• Relative to the perspective of the Three Beings, conventional phenomena are both Conventional Truths and mere conventionalities.

Track 3 - Handout 24 - Why "conventional phenomena are both conventional truths (truths for a concealer) and mere conventionalities":

• Significance of 'Mere Conventionalities."  
• Opposite of existing Conventionally is existing Ultimately, and nothing exists 'Ultimately', i.e., nothing inherently exists.  Whatever exists, exists conventionally - chart.  
• Conventionally Existent and Conventional Truth have different meanings...

Track 4 - Handout 24 -  Differences between a conventional truth and existing conventionally and existing ultimately.

Training brain muscle (with confusing terminology) in debate, etc.:

• Even though a pot is a Conventional Truth, the true existence of a pot is non-existent because it does not exist even conventionally. ...

Track 5 - Questions & Answers.

If any of the LINKS don't work, please leave a COMMENT or notify us by E-Mail.

This is the 14th class of the Spring 2011 Perfection of Wisdom course
addressing the Two Truths, the 1st sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.