Madhyamaka through Metaphors

An attempt to capture and convey the journey, intricacies, and experiences of cultivating the profound Madhyamaka

View through metaphors.

Compiled and presented by Geshe Dadul Namgyal,Senior Resident Teacher at Drepung Loseling Monastery, Inc., Atlanta.

Whatdoeshavingamadhayamakaviewamountto?

• Arrivingatanunderstandingaboutthemodeofexistenceofallphenomenaasfreefromthetwoextremesof‘existence’and‘non-existence.’

• Seeingemptinessasreinforcingdependentorigination;seeingdependentoriginationasreinforcingemptiness

• Succeedinginexhaustivelyrefutinganyintrinsicnaturewhilecomfortablyupholdingallconventionalrealities.

Makingsenseoftheconflictingviewsontheultimatestatusofphenomena

• Everythinghasanabsolutebase;essentialism/reductionism/atomism

Makingsenseoftheconflictingviewsontheultimatestatusofphenomena

• Everythingismerelymentalprojections;nothinghasexternalreality;idealism

Makingsenseoftheconflictingviewsontheultimatestatusofphenomena

• Everythingispartprojection,partobjective;partialemptiness/autonomoussyllogismwielders

Makingsenseoftheconflictingviewsontheultimatestatusofphenomena

• Everythingismeredesignation;nothingexistsinandofitself;emptinessschool/reductio adabsurdumwielders

Makingsenseoftheconflictingviewsontheultimatestatusofphenomena

• Helpsusstartfromwhereweareandthenadvancegradually

• Helpsusidentifywayswemightstrayfromthepathofrightunderstanding

• Helpsusavoidbecomingstuckinwrongorpartialunderstandingofthetruenatureofemptiness

• Givesusgreaterappreciationoftheprofundityoftheultimatestandpoint

• Safelypreparingustothetaskofdevelopinganon-conceptual,directrealization

Whyismadhyamika viewessential?

Theroleofrestofthepracticesvis-à-viswisdom

Theupholder:Therestofthevirtues.

Theupheld:Wisdomrealizingemptiness

Theroleofwisdomvis-à-vistheotherspiritualpractices

TheGuide:Wisdomrealizingemptiness

Blindpeople:Therestofthevirtues.

Withoutit,thereisnowayoutofsamsara

• Eitheronecarestheleastaboutthedestructivenessofactionsoneengagesinandsuffertheconsequences/

• Eitheroneisbornintothelowerrealms(bothinsymbolicandliteralsenses)

• Oronehastobecontentwithonlylimitedsuccesswiththepositiveactionsoneengagesinandreapthelimitedbenefits/

• Oronedoesnotgopastthehigherrealms(bothinsymbolicandliteralsenses)

Benefitsofpursuingamadhayamaka understanding

Benefits

• Itprovidesonewiththeeyesthatseetheheartofthepath,forbothindividualliberationseekersandfull-enlightenmentseekers.

Benefits

• Accumulatesalltypesofmerits,bothmundaneandsuper-mundane.Evenwhenpursuedwithdoubt.

Benefits

• Meritaccumulatedonthisalonefarexceedsthosereapedfromtherestofthefar-reachingpractices

Benefits

• Protectsonefromenteringthelowerrealmsevenwhenoneisboggeddownbythetennon-virtuousactions

Benefits

• Repelsthekarmic-obstructionlayeroffoftheboundlessmisdeedsandtheactofabandoningdharma.

Tendenciestowatch outforwhenencounteringthetopicofemptiness

Tendenciestowatch outfor

• Totallackofinterestandevenshunsit

Tendenciestowatch outfor

• Thoughenthusedoverit,butsettlingforamoresimplisticandnihilisticposition

Conditionsrecommendedforlayingafirmgroundforsuchanunderstanding

Conditionsforasoundunderstanding

• pureethicalconduct• relyingonanauthenticspiritualmentor

• purifyingdefilements• accumulatingmeritandwisdom• followingdefinitivescriptures

• usingtheguidanceofgreatsagesasNagarjuna,Aryadeva,Buddhapalita,andChandrakirti

• study,reflect,andmeditateonemptiness.

Importantdistinctionstobemadeinarrivingatanunmistakenunderstanding

Importantdistinctions

• Twotypesofexistencesv/stwotypesofnon-existences

Importantdistinctions

• Existencebywayofconventionsv/sexistencemerelyinthefaceofdelusion

Importantdistinctions

• Centrismfreefromthetwoextremesv/sanypositionfreeevenfromthestanceofthatCentrality

Importantdistinctions

• Amindnotengagedwiththetwo(projected)selfhoodsv/samindengagedwiththetwoselflessness

Importantdistinctions

• Thatsomethingdoesnotwithstandultimateanalysisv/sthatsomethingisharmedbyultimateanalysis

Importantdistinctions

• Thatsomethingisunfindablebyaultimateconsciousnessv/sthatsomethingisnegatedbyaultimateconsciousness

Importantdistinctions

• Everythingthatexistsdosothroughmeredesignationv/snoteverythingthatisdesignatednecessarilyexists.

Synonymsoftheobjectofnegation

• Trueexistence

• Ultimateexistence

• Perfectexistence

• Inherentexistence

• Self-characterizedexistence

• Intrinsicexistence

• Independentexistence*

The risk of misconstruing the meaning of emptiness: like mishandling a

snake, andaspellgoneawry.

Therangeofreactionsvis-à-visinherentexistence

• Magicianbeholds,butnotbelievesattheshow

• Influencedspectatorsbothbeholdandbelieve

• Uninfluencedonlookersdoneither

Theneedtopullupoursocksinoursearchforthe‘view’

Theonlywaytodispeltheself-graspingignoranceisbyexposingitswayofapprehension;

Thatis,byrealizingthelackofinherentexistence,nothingless;

Merelylettingthemindinproximitytoignoranceorwithdrawingthemindfromitperiodicallyisnotenough;

Forwehavethreedifferentmodesofmindrelatingtoitsobjectsvis-à-vis theappearanceofinherentexistence.

Correctlyidentifyingtheobjectofnegation—thesubjectiveexperiencegraspingatinherentexistence

• Correctlyidentifyingtheignoranceiscrucial;makingallouteffortswhilefailinginthisislikeshootingarrowswithoutseeingthetarget.

Identifyingtheself-graspingattitudewithinoneselfisthewholepurposeoftheenterprise;don’tlosetouchwiththis!

• Orelse,itwouldendupturningintoamissionconfinedtolookingforthefootprintsoftheculpritonthelawnwhileheescapessafelyintotheforest.

Whatamountstograspingatinherentexistence:

Whydoesitmatterwhatwisdomyouspecializeon?

Wouldtheknowledgeofelephant’sabsencedispelthedangerofasnakestrike?

Thewisdomsrealizingimpermanence,subservience,superficiallevelsofselflessnessfallshortofdirectlyactingagainsttheinnatelevelofself-grasping.

Relationship between the self-grasping attitude (ISGA) andrestoftheafflictions(RoA)

Senseoftouch=ISGARemainingsenses=RoA

Thethreemodesofsubjectiveexperiencesvis-à-vistherealityofemptiness

• Graspingatthenotionofinherentexistenceofitsobject

• Apprehendingthelackofinherentexistenceofitsobject

• Apprehendingitsobjectwithoutfallingintoanyoneoftheabovemodes.

Whatdoesittaketorenderafflictionsirreversible?Wisdomormethods?

Itisbutnaturaltoexperienceafflictionssolongasweharbortheconceptionofinherentexistence

• Likelivinginthemidstofsnakenest,wecannotavoidencounteringsnakessoonerorlater,onewayortheother.

Doescultivatingthewisdomofemptinessentailalteringthegroundrealityatall?

• Noaddition• Nodeletion• Itonlyenablesonetoseethefundamentalrealityasitis.

Theactualstatusofeachandeveryphenomenon

•Ithaspartsinrespecttowhichitisthewhole;

•Itisnotidentifiablewithanyoftheparts,northecollectionofthoseparts;

•Norisitfindableoutsideofthepartsandthecollectionthereof;

•Itisimputednoton theparts,noronthecollectionthereof;

•Itisimputedindependenceuponthepartsorthecollectionthereof.

What,inthispicture,isthehorse-sledge?

• horses?• cart?• runners?• straps?• Peopleinit?• Parts

collectively?• Shape/softhe

partsorofthecollective?

• Outsideofthem?

Beyondthemereconventionalityoftheirexistence,nothingcanwithstandanalysisintheultimatesense.

• Justasahornonarabbit’sheadisun-findable,

• Everyphenomenonisnotfindableuponanalysisbeyondconvention;

• Notevenabull’shornisexception;goaheadandsearchforitinthemidstofitssub-atomicparticlesandbeyond.

Thebalancingact,avoidingthetwoextremesofabsolutismandnihilism

• Hurtingthecubwithitsjawsbyover-tighteningitsgripislikenedtohurtingourselvesbyholdingontoabsolutes;

• Losingthecubbydroppingitonthegroundislikenedtofailinginourvirtuouseffortsbyunderminingconventionalreality.

Aclose-uponthemeaningof‘extreme’andoffallingintothem

• Theextremesarethoseintowhichwhensomeonefallsitbringsconsiderabledamage

• Theissueisnotjustrelatedtotheterms‘existence’and‘non-existence’

• Orelse,onewouldenduphavingtoadjusttotheawkwardpositionofneitherexistencenornon-existence,andwouldseektore-arrangethewordingsoftextsliketheHeartSutra,etc.

Isthedebatebetweeninherentexistenceandlackthereofameresemanticone?

HowdoesthiscomparewiththepositionoftheMind-onlyschool?

Different interpretations of Self-emptinessv/sOther-emptiness

Self-emptiness:

• Theultimaterealityofaphenomenonisthatitisemptyofitself

• Theultimaterealityofaphenomenonisthatitisemptyofbeingitsownultimatereality

• Theultimaterealityofaphenomenonisthatitisemptyofexistinginandofitself.

Other-emptiness:

• Theultimaterealityofaphenomenonisthatitisempty,notinandofitself,butofsomethingelse

• Theultimaterealityofaphenomenonthatitisempty,notinandofitself,butofasubject-objectduality

• Theultimaterealityofaphenomenonexistsinandofitself;alltherestdonotexistinandofitself

Self-emptinessinperspective

•Everyphenomenonisemptybywayofbeingemptyofexistinginandofitself;

•Itisnotthatanyphenomenonisemptybywayofbeingemptiedbyitsownemptiness;

•Itisnotthatanyphenomenonisemptyofitself;instead,eachoneisemptyofexistingbymeansofitsownpower.

Theparadoxofrope/snake

Thereisnodifference,whatsoever,intermsofthemeasureofimputation;

However,thereisaworldofdifferenceintermsofwhetherornotthereisactualsnakeasimputed;

Also,thereisaworldofdifferenceintermsofwhetherornottheyarecapableofperformingthefunctions;

Thisisbecausethereisdifferenceintermsofwhichimputationisupheldconventionally;

Thisisalsobecausethereisdifferenceintermsofwhichimputationfacesobjection.

Eightexamplesillustratingtheillusorynatureofphenomena

mirage magicalillusions dream visualdistortions

reflectioninthemirror

echo the mooninthewater

rainbow

Whatmarkstheculminationofasoundunderstandingofemptiness

Itdoesnotconflictwiththeworkingsofcausality;

Instead,itseescausalitypossibleonlyinthelightofnon-inherentexistence;

Itseeseveryphenomenontobeexistingbytheforceofothers(i.e.conventions),notbyitsownpower;

Wheneverwerelatetoanyphenomenoninourordinarylife,wedosobynotsearchingforitbeyondtheconvention.

Whatisthemeasureofultimateanalysis?

Withoutbeingcontentwiththeconventionalityofsomething,say,a

plant,ifonepersistsinthesearchofitsbasisofdesignation.

Whattypeofanalysisentailsdisowningthelineofconventionality?

Applyingtherationaleofultimateanalysiswhiledealingwiththeconventionalrealitieswillentaildisowningtheconventions.

Generalmistakestowatchforinpursuitofanunmistakenunderstanding?

ToobroadanobjectofnegationToonarrowanobjectofnegation

PartialemptinessMentallyfabricatedemptinessUnsuitabletobeunderstood

Theunderstandingbringsnobenefit.

SomepointsofclarificationaboutEmptiness

• Itisnotsomekindofanabsolutestrataofrealitythatunderliesourillusoryworld

• Itisnotsomethinglikeacorereality,lyingsomehowattheheartoftheuniverse

• Itdoesnotexistseparatelyandindependentlyofparticularphenomena

• Itexistsonlyasaqualityofaparticularphenomenon

• Thoughnotaproductofcausesandconditions,theemptinessofaphenomenonceasestoexistwhenthatphenomenonceasestoexist.

Ineffabilityandincomprehensibilityofthemeaningofemptiness

• Inexpressibleasexperiencedbytheuntainted

• Incomprehensibleasexperiencedbytheuntainted

• Theexperienceoftheuntaintedisinaccordwiththereality

No-seeingisthesupremeseeing!

• Isthisseeingnotseeingatall?

• Whatitisnotseeingisthe‘fabricatedelaborations’.

• Whatitisseeingisthe‘lackthereof’.

• ‘Space’servesastheperfectexample.

• Notseenisthe‘obstruction’,andthatwhichisseenisthe‘space’,thelackofobstruction.

Thefourfold/sixfold emptiness

• Formisemptiness,• Emptinessisform;

• Emptinessisnototherthanform,• Formisnototherthanemptiness;

• Whateverisformisitselftheemptiness,• Whateverisemptinessititselftheform.

IsMadhyamaka aschoolofscepticism? Ifso,which?Pyrrhonian,Academic,Modern,

orelse.

•Pyrrhonian scepticism holdsthatsceptical argumentsapplytoscepticismitself;

•Academicscepticism holdsthatscepticism itselfcouldbeindependentlyjustified.

•Inthemodernsense(beginningwithDescartes)scepticism hasbeenunderstoodastheideathatitisimpossibletoknowtheexistenceofthe

externalworld.

•WhatdoyouthinkisthisMadhyamaka schoolapartofornotthereof?

ThreedimensionsofDependentOrigination

• Dependentcausation

ThreedimensionsofDependentOrigination

• Dependentconstitution

ThreedimensionsofDependentOrigination

• Dependentdesignation

Meditativeequipoiseintoemptiness:whatmighttheexperiencebelike?

TheexperienceiscalledtheSpace-likeemptinessOftheequipoise

Post-meditativewisdomofemptiness:whatmighttheexperiencebelike?

TheexperienceiscalledtheMagical-illusion-likeemptinessofthepost-equipoise

ThetranscendedwisdomoftheBuddha:whattheexperiencemightbelike.

• Seesboththeemptynatureandvarietynaturesimultaneouslyyetdiscreetly

• Thus,eachsightisunaffectedbytheother;thoughthetwoexperiencesareinextricablyblended

• Infact,thesightoftheoneoccurswithintheframeworkofnotseeingtheother,yetseeingthemsimulataneously

PerfectionofWisdomssutras

• ThePrajnaparamita sutrainhundredthousand(verses)

• ThePrajnaparamita sutraintwentythousand(verses)

• ThePrajnaparamita sutraineightthousand(verses)

• TheDiamondSutra)

• TheHeartofWisdomSutra

• TheOneLetterPrajnaparamita Sutra…

SynonymsofEmptiness

Ultimateobject

UltimateTruth

Reality/Actuality

Suchness/Thusness

Fundamentalnature

BobMarley’ssong

• Emancipateyourselvesfrommentalslavery;nonebutourselvescanfreeourminds.

• Havenofearforatomicenergybecausenoneofthemcanstopthetime.

• Havenodoubtfortheneedtoworkforliberationandenlightenmentbecausenothingcanseverthecontinuanceofconsciousness.

GestaltPrinciples• “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” The

Gestalt Principles, advocated by theorists such as Max Wertheimer, Wolfgang Kohler, and Kure Koffka.

• In other words, the principle suggests that “the whole (a picture, a car) carried a different and altogether greater meaning than its individual components” (paint, canvas, brush; or tire, paint, metal, respectively).

• In viewing the whole, a cognitive process takes place—the mind makes a leap from comprehending the parts to realizing the whole.

WilliamJames

• Agreatmanypeoplethinktheyarethinkingwhentheyaremerelyrearrangingtheirprejudices.

NielsBohrquotes NielsHenrikDavidBohrwasaDanishphysicistwhomadefoundationalcontributionstounderstanding

atomicstructureandquantumtheory,forwhichhereceivedtheNobelPrizeinPhysicsin1922.

• “How wonderful that we have met with a paradox. Now we have some hope of making progress.” ―NielsBohr

• “Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it.” ―NielsBohr,Essays1932-1957onAtomicPhysicsandHumanKnowledge

• “Everything we call real is made of things that cannot be regarded as real.” ―NielsBohr

༢༦༣་་་་་་་༢༦༥ ༢༦༦འཇིག་རྟེན་པའི་ཐ་སྙད་ཉམས་མ་ཉམས་

དང་དཔྱད་མ་ད8ད་ཀྱི་ཚད།

ཤིང་རྟའི་ཡན་ལག་ཚོགས་པ་དེ་ཤིང་རྟའི་ཆ་ཤས་ཡིན་པ་ལས་ཆ་ཅན་

མིན་ཚུལ། ཚོགས་པ་ཤིང་རྟའམ་གང་ཟག་མིན་ཚུལ་ཇི་ལྟར།༡༧༠་་་

506གཤམ་དུ་ཚོགས་པ་དེ་ཡིན་པར་འགོག་སྐབས་་་་

Howdoweaccountfortheexistenceofthemultiplicityofphenomenainthe

lightofnon-inherentexistence

Themarkofhavingarrivedatanunmistakenunderstandingofemptiness

སྟོང་ཉིད་ཀིྱ་ལྟ་བའི་གོ་བ་གནད་དུ་སོང་བའི་ཐེག་ཆེན་པ་ལ་ནི། གོ་བ་རྣམ་དག་རྣམས་སྐྱེས་ནས་རྒྱ་ཆེ་བའི་ཕྱོགས་རྣམས་སྒྲུབ་པ་ལ་ཤིན་ཏུ་གུས་པར་འགུྱར་ལ།༡༥༣

སྣོད་མི་རུང་གི་སྐྱོན་གཉིས་སྤངས་ནས་རང་བཞིན་མེད་པའི་སྟོང་ཉིད་ཀིྱ་ལྟ་བ་ཉིད་ལ་བརྟེན་ནས་བྱ་བྱེད་ཐམས་ཅད་ཆེས་འཐད་པར་རྟོགས་པ་ཞིག་འོང་བ་ཡིན་ནོ།། ༡༥༣

རྟེན་ཅིང་འབྲེལ་བར་འབྱུང་བ་རྐྱེན་ཉིད་འདི་པ་ཙམ་གིྱ་ཟབ་མོའི་དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད་མཐོང་།༡༤༡

དགོངས་པ་རབ་གསལ། ༡༧༥/༢ མ་རིག་པ་དེ་ལོྡག་པ་ལ་སྟོང་པ་རྟེན་འབྱུང་གི་དོན་དུ་ཤར་བའི་རྟེན་འབྱུང་ཟབ་མོའི་དོན་རྟོགས་དགོས་པར་གསུངས་སོ།། རྟེན་འབྱུང་གི་དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད།

Whatmarkstheexposureoftheinnateself-graspingignorance

དགོངས་པ་རབ་གསལ། ༡༧༥/༢ མ་རིག་པ་དེ་ལོྡག་པ་ལ་སྟོང་པ་རྟེན་འབྱུང་གི་དོན་དུ་ཤར་

བའི་རྟེན་འབྱུང་ཟབ་མོའི་དོན་རྟོགས་དགོས་པར་གསུངས་སོ།། རྟེན་འབྱུང་གི་དེ་ཁོ་ན་ཉིད།

• རེྟན་འབུྱང་སོྟང་པའི་དོན་ཤར་བ་དང་། སྟང་པ་རེྟན་འབུྱང་གི་དོན་དུ་ཤར་བ།

• Emptinessunderstoodintermsofdependentorigination;dependentoriginationunderstoodintermsofemptiness.

• Seeingemptinessasimplyingdependentorigination;seeingdependentoriginationasimplyingemptiness

• Seeingemptinessasreinforcingdependentorigination;seeingdependentoriginationasreinforcingemptiness

LudwigWittgenstein

• “Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must remain silent.” Ludwig Wittgenstein

ErwinSchrodinger;RichardSlansky;J.S.Bell

• “What we observe as material bodies and forces are nothing but shapes and variations in the structure of space.” Erwin Schrodinger

• “Language is just a sound. How does the word refer beyond the mere word to the total experience?” Richard Slansky

• “What is much more likely is that the new way of seeing things will involve an imaginative leap that will astonish us.” J.S.Bell

Thethreemodesofsubjectiveexperiencesvis-à-vis

therealityofemptiness

བདེན་མེད་དུ་མ་བཟུང་ཡང་བདེན་པར་འཛིན་མི་དགོས་པ་བཞིན་དུ།

བདག་གཉིས་ལ་མ་ཞུགས་ཀྱང་བདག་མེད་གཉིས་ལ་ཞུགས་མི་དགོས་ཏེ།

བློ་ཕུང་པོ་གསུམ་པ་ལ་གནས་པ་མཐའ་ཡས་པ་ཅིག་ཡོད་པའི་ཕྱིར་རོ།།

བཏགས་དོན་བཙལ་ནས་མ་རྙེད་པ་ཙམ་གིྱས་ལྟ་བའི་གོ་བ་རྫོགས་པ་མིན་

ཚུལ།

ཞ་སྨྱུག་གི་དཔེའི་སྟེང་ནས་གདགས་གཞི་དང་གདགས་ཆོས་སྐོར།

ཡོད་པ་གཉིས་དང་མེད་པ་གཉིས།༢༧༢

• བསླབ་བཏུས་ལས།

• ཇི་ལྟར་ལོ་ཏོག་བཅས་ཁེབས་ན། །ནད་ཀིྱས་ཞུམ་ཞིང་རྒྱས་མི་འགུྱར། །དེ་ལྟར་སངས་རྒྱས་མུྱ་

གུ་ཡང་། །ཉོན་མོངས་ཁེབས་ན་རྒྱས་མི་འགུྱར།།

ཇི་ལྟར་སྐྱེས་བོས་ཟོ་ཆུན་རྒྱུད། རྡོག་ཐབས་གཅིག་གིས་བསྐྱོད་

Themeritofcontemplatingandsharingthegiftofthewisdomofemptiness

Subtlepointsofdistinctionsurroundingtheanalyticwisdom

སྟོན་པས་སྤྲུལ་པ་ཞིག་གིས་སྤྲུལ་པ་གཞན་དེས་སྤྲུལ་པ་གཞན་་་་

༢༧༣

རྟེན་འབྲེལ་གསུམ་གིྱ་རྣམ་གཞག་དང་དབུ་མའི་ལྟ་བ་དང་ཉེ་རིང་གི་ཁྱད་

པར།

• བརྟེན་ནས་སྐྱེས་པ།

• བརྟེན་ནས་བཞག་པ།

• བརྟེན་ནས་བཏགས་པ།

ཕྱིན་ཅི་ལོག་བློ་སྣ་བཞི་བཟློག་པའི་ཚུལ་དང་འབྲེལ་བ།

Isthedebatebetweeninherentexistenceandlackthereofamere

semanticone?304

དབུ་མའི་ལྟ་བའི་དཀའ་ས། 170/para 3

རྟོག་པས་བཞག་པ་དེ་ལ་རང་རང་གི་བྱ་བྱེད་འཐད་པ།

དོན་དམ་པར་མིང་ཙམ་ཡང་མེད། ཐ་སྙད་དུ་མིང་གི་ཐ་སྙད་ཀིྱ་དབང་གིས་བཞག་པ་ཙམ་མ་

གཏོགས་པ་ཅི་ཡང་མེད་པ།

ཆོས་གང་ཡོད་པར་འཇོག་ནའང་བཏགས་དོན་མ་བཙལ་བར་འཇོག་པ།

སྟོང་པ་རྟེན་འབྱུང་གི་དོན་དུ་ཤར་བའི་བརྟེན་འབྲེལ་ཟབ་མོའི་དོན་རྟོགས་དགོས།