Friday, April 27, 2012

Class 9 - Common Loci (3 Jewels/4 Truths); 6 types of practitioners' Resultant Refuges

Download PDF's of Class Handouts, Notes, and MP3 Tracks from the 9th class of Spring 2012 term held on Friday, April 27:

DOWNLOAD Handouts - text for Class 9:

Handout 10 (rev. 05/03/12) -  Asanga’s Four Aspects of Taking Refuge by, #2 - Knowing the distinctions (of the three Jewels) based on, cont.:  (e) Recollection; (f) How to Increase Merit.  #3 - Through Commitment.  #4 - Refusing to acknowledge other refuges. Introduction to IBD’s texts by Panchen Sonam Drakpa: General Meaning (སྤྱི་དོན།) and debate manual, Decisive Analysis (མཐའ་དཔྱོད།). General Meaning: 5 Topics explain Three Refuge Objects.  #1 -  Three- fold explanation of Necessity for Scriptures' presentation of Three Refuge Objects: (i) Buddha Jewel; (ii) Dharma Jewel.

Handout 11 - General Meaning's 5 Topics that explain Three Refuge Objects, cont.:  #1 - (iii) Necessity for Scriptural presentation of Sangha Refuge Object.  Causal & Refuge Objects for Bodhisattvas, Hearers & Solitary Realizers (chart).  #2 - Identifying the nature (i.e., meaning) of the three objects of refuge (in two ways):  Nature (i.e., meaning)  of the three Jewels according to a) Hearer Tenets (Vaibashika & Sautantrika Tenets) [i.e., Buddha & Sangha (as persons) are not Refuge Jewels; Buddha & Sangha Jewels are aspects of the Dharma].

ALL SPRING 2012 PDF Handouts are HERE.
DOWNLOAD MP3 TRACKS:

Track 1 - Common Loci between the Three Jewels & Four Noble Truths,   Explanation of Common Locus (i.e., something that is both) between any Object of Refuge and any of the Four Noble Truths:
  • Truth of Suffering     
    • Sangha Jewel
  • Truth of Origin
    • Nothing that is both.  
  • Truth of Cessation
    • Buddha Jewel (Svabhāvikakāya)
    • Dharma Jewel
  • Truth of Path
    • Buddha Jewel (i.e., Omniscient Mind & Path of No More Learning)
    • Dharma Jewel
Track 2 - [Handout 10, p. 2] – General Meaning by Panchen Sonam Drakpa:  
  • How does “Mahayana Practice” (explained by way of 10 Practice Instructions): “possess as its basis the three objects of refuge”? 
(1st of 5 Topics in General Meaning that explain Three Refuge Objects): 
Three-fold explanation of Necessity for Scriptures' presentation of Three Refuge Objects: Buddha Jewel; Dharma Jewel.

(i) Reasons the Buddha Jewel is Necessary Object of Refuge.  All Three Jewels are:
  • Causal Objects of Refuge for all Buddhist practitioners; 
  • Not the primary Resultant Objects of Refuge for all Buddhist practitioners.
  • Six Types of Buddhist Practitioners:
    • Three types are persons who have already entered the Path of Accumulation of one of the Three Vehicles (Hearer, Solitary Realizer or Bodhisattva).
    • Three types are persons who have not yet entered the Path of Accumulation of one of the Three Vehicles but possess either: 
      • Mahayana potential/inclination
      • Hearer potential/inclination; or 
      • Solitary Realizer potential/inclination.
    • Those who have potential/inclination for one of the Three Vehicles are those Buddhist practitioners who have not entered the Path of Accumulation but have (Mahayana/Hearer or Solitary) inclination.
Track 3 -  (ii) Reasons the Dharma Jewel is Necessary Object of Refuge.
(iii)  Reasons the Sangha Jewel is Necessary Object of Refuge.  [Handout 11]

Primary Resultant Refuge Aspirations of Six Types of Practitioners
Resultant Buddha Jewel - Bodhisattvas (& those with Mahayana inclination), 
Resultant Dharma Jewel - Solitary Realizers (& those with Solitary Realizer inclination), 
Resultant Sangha Jewel - Hearers (& those with Hearer inclination).

Introduction to assertions regarding the Three Jewels:  Hearer Tenets - ཉན་ཐོས་སྟེ་པ་ (Vaibhāṣika / Great Exposition - བྱེ་བྲག་སྨྲ་བ་ - & Sautrāntika / Sutra school - མདོ་སྡེ་པ་.
  • Distinction:  Hearers are not necessarily Hearer Tenets Holders.
  • Buddha & Buddha Jewel and Sangha & Sangha Jewel are different per Vaibhāṣika & Sautrāntika tenets.
NOTES of Class 9 (April 27) rough draft transcript of class offered for what it's worth.

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This is the 9th class of the Spring 2012 term Perfection of Wisdom course
which addresses Refuge, the 3rd sub-topic of the 2nd Topic
(Mahayana Practice Instructions) of Chapter 1 of Maitreya's
Ornament for Clear Realizations - Abhisamayalamkara.

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