ENLIGHTENING The Tree of Enlightenment

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PART BA

KIM CANG THUONG

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CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO 
ORIGINAL SOURCES KIM CANG FORCE

C basil us start by looking at the Vajrayana tradition briefly within Mahayana. The Mahayana tradition is divided into two paths, practicing Wisdom and practicing Vajrayana. Vajrayana is part of the Mahayana tradition. Nothing distinguishes between these two paths of starting (suffering experience) and the goal of Buddhahood. The only difference is in the method: while completing the path of Wisdom Prajna requires three epochs, the methods of Vajrayana can help us expedite the development and thus progress is achieved. Much faster on the road fullness.

There are three names that the Vajrayana (Kim Cang), Mantrayana (Tanh), and Tantrayana (Vajrayana) traditions are famous for. Vajra is the path of hardship, or diamond. Vajra means diamonds, which are more durable than others. Diamonds are also thunder or scepter used by Indra, King of the Pham Thien Vuong. So diamond is a symbol of nature that cannot be broken and is the master of the universe.

Note (mantra) is a short recipe that usually has three purposes. Firstly, it is used to help concentrate. Just like we can use our breath, Buddha image, or a concept as an object that we can focus on, or we can use the sound of the mantra. Secondly, it helps memory. When we read the mantra, Judge Ma Ni Bat Nhi, for example, we not only remember the Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara but also remember the skillful and intellectual means, and the need to unite them. Thirdly, the mantra has the power to enhance our spiritual development, in which the repeated mantras of the meditators over the centuries have made these mantras particularly persuasive. The word mantra consists of two parts, the man taken from the word manas meaning "mind", and investigated from the word tranam, meaning "shield". So mantra means "

A distinction can be made between Kim Cang's documents and Dai Thua's own documents. Like the Mahayana tradition including Wisdom and Vajrayana, the Mahayana material consists of sutras and tantras. Both sutras and tantras are believed by the Buddha and his words form the classic Mahayana and Vajrayana. There are a great number of tantras; some of the more important tantras are the Guhyasamja tantra (Collection of Incognito or Secret), the Hevajra tantra (The Secret of the Glorious Happiness), and the Kalachakra tantra (The Tantra of Time Wheel). In addition to the classical tantras, the Vajrayana tradition recognizes a great number of the treatises of the Nagarjuna and Chandrakirti and of the eighty-four attainments or Mahasiddhas.

Please take a moment to talk about the origin of tantra, because the tantra is often asked if it is taught by the Buddha. From the very beginning of Buddhist tradition, Buddha taught in all kinds of unusual circumstances. Sometimes he taught to meet the request of a great god of a supernatural being, and even to the magic of the Dharma, he was also taught to Buddha's mother after his mother died, when his mother was in the heaven Thirteenth Tuesday. In the Mahayana tradition, it is generally acknowledged that Mahayana monks can receive instruction in extraordinary ways. For example, the basic sutras of the Duy Tam school, known to be the future Buddha, Maitreya taught him beforehand (see Chapter 19). People say tantra is also transmitted in a similar way. Tantra is not unreasonable if we examine carefully. Tantra does not contradict the meaning of Buddhist sutras and we will see clearly in the next chapter. If the Buddha does not teach the tantra immediately to each person, it is certainly because not everyone appreciates their true importance. In the light of these considerations, there is no reason to suspect that the Vajrayana material is dishonest.

Vajrayana appears due to the evolution of the three streams of thought - these thoughts were present before the Buddha was still alive. They are (1) the flow of democratic thought, (2) the flow of divine thoughts and rituals, and (3) the flow of symbolic thought. The flow of democratic thought for lay people can be the highest achievement of moral life, like enlightenment. An example of the flow of democratic thought applied in the early period of the Buddhist tradition is the attainment of the Arhat of the Buddha's father, Shuddhodana while still a layman. In the Mahayana tradition, this flow of thought developed rapidly and expanded, so the image of a Bodhisattva became the standard.

Examples of divine thoughts and rituals see stories in the Pali scriptures. We see the Buddha reading the formula to protect against snakebites and the dangers of giving birth. There is also a story, the Buddha turned a beautiful young virgin into a geeky old woman so that this queen Kshema could see in a moment. In this case, the Buddha used the ordinary god to create an appearance that taught the truth of impermanence. In the Mahayana document we often see the Buddha transform into many forms to teach. In Mahayana, there is also an increase in the use of Da La Ni (the formulas that use words are precursors to mantras), as well as the continuation of many rituals in the Buddhist embryonic period especially in Gender transmission rituals like hair down and yellow robes.

The use of symbols is also seen in the Buddhist tradition from the beginning. For example, the wheel icon is used to refer to the Fa, and the "lute" symbol is used to explain the Middle Path. In Mahayana, the use of these symbols continues to play an important role. In all three streams of thought and action - democracy, miracles or rituals, and symbols - we see these are the main trends that contribute to the development of the Vajrayana tradition.

The phenomenon that we now recognize is that Kim Cang tradition originated in India between the third and seventh centuries AD. In the seventh century, Vajrayana flourished throughout India. His Longevity and Infinite play a major role in developing this tradition at the beginning; later the Kim Cang tradition was greatly influenced by eighty-four Mahasiddhas. You may be surprised to see his name Longevity and Infinite appear in this area, but the tradition of Kim Cang Cheng unanimously calls them two founders. We will understand why this is true from a conceptual point of view when we examine Vajrayana's philosophical and moral context in Chapter 23. Let us now look at his tradition according to his tradition. Longevity and Forever,

According to the traditional Tibetan history of Mr. Long Life, he is predicted not to live through the age of seven. The biography shows that when the boy was near his seven-year-old birthday, his parents did not want to see him die, so he let him travel with some friends and bring food. The story tells that he went north and finally arrived at Nalanda University. Here, Mr. Long Tho met a learned professor named Saraha. Upon hearing the prophecy of his immortal death, Saraha advised him to recite the mantra of Aparamitayus (Amitayus), of the Buddha of Life. After chanting this uncle all night on his seven-year-old birthday, the Long Life Lord did not die, contrary to his prediction.

Like it or not, we consider this story to be history, but more important is that it is accepted as a biography in this trend - the mantra is believed to have divine powers to influence reality. .

In the biography of Mr. Long Life, we also know that in hunger, he helped colleagues in the monastery turn ordinary things into gold. Here we have an example of the symbol of needle processing. This symbol becomes important in the Vajrayana tradition because like the needle-maker turning ordinary objects into gold, the Vajrayana transforms the impure and defiled experience of ordinary sentient beings to the experience of feeling. enlightened.

If we look at the history of His Before, we also discover stories that clearly reveal. According to these scriptures, he was hidden in a cave to meditate on the future Buddha, Maitreya, who practiced for three years but failed to do so. Frustrated, he left the cave at the end of the third year and at that moment he met a man who was grinding iron with feathers. He was asked what he was doing, and this person told him that he wanted to make a needle. Before he thought, if there were people who were so patient in their earthly work, perhaps he was too hasty to abandon his practice, thinking so, he turned to the cave and continued to meditate.

He had been meditating for the whole twelve years but there was no direct experience with Maitreya. At the end of his twelfth year, he left the cave again. At that time he met a sick dog lying on the side of the road, the whole body of the dog was full of festering injuries with the maggots eating pus. Because of meditating for twelve years on Maitreya, so he developed great compassion, he was beginning to desire to make the dog less miserable. He thought he had to take the maggots, but to do so, he had to use his hands. but if you use your hand, it will hurt the maggot. In order not to hurt the maggots, and to save the dog, He bent down and used His tongue to remove the maggots. By the time He did so, the dog turned into a rainbow of colorful colors and the Maitreya Bodhisattva appeared before him.

Vo Tien immediately asked, "Where have you been all these years?", Di Lac answered, "I am always with you - just because you cannot see me. Only when you are interested bi and purify his mind, he can see me ". In order to prove that this is true, Zi Diui told Wuji to restrain Him on his shoulders and go to the village. Nobody saw anything on the shoulders. Before except for an old woman, she asked Nothing Before, "What are you doing on the sick dog's shoulder?".

Therefore, in the biography of Invisibleless, we see another important truth: whatever we experience - the whole reality - depends on the condition of our mind.

In the biography of the enlightened fathers, we see many important elements of the Kim Cang tradition: the element of miraculousness or rituals, the element of metallurgy, and the element of the actual nature that appears or the mind. depending.

While the Venerable and the Innocent are considered Vajrayana ancestors, eighty-four enlightened monks, or Mahasiddhas, have certainly preached Kim Cang throughout India. These people are a good example of a new religious personality. It is not necessary to be orthodox Buddhist monks or ancient Brahmin monks, whose faces play a major role in spreading Vajrayana as lay people, hidden monks, ferry boat, potter and king If we look closely at the stories of the lives and times of these new heroes, we will understand the spiritual atmosphere existing in India in the rising atmosphere of the Vajrayana tradition. Let us look at the biography of these two of these Mahasiddhas masters, Virupa and Naropa.

Virupa is responsible for the origin and transmission of many important teachings of Vajrayana. He was a professor at the University of Norway, and he taught philosophy all day and practiced Kim Cang all night. He practiced for many years and chanted thousands of mantras without results. Finally he got bored and threw his rosary into the toilet. The next night, while Virupa was sleeping, he saw the goddess of Nairatmya's intrinsic nature appear before him and said he had recited a false god's mantra. The next day he rediscovered the rosary at the toilet and returned to practice Kim Cang, chanting and meditating on Nairatmya. He succeeded in this practice and quit his professorship, and went on a trip as a meditator meditating throughout India.

Three important things about Virupa: It is said that he stopped the Ganges so that he could pass; he drank for three consecutive days in a pub. and he kept the sun from moving in the sky at any time. What does this feat mean? Preventing the Ganges means preventing the river of suffering, breaking the cycle of birth and death. Drinking alcohol for three consecutive days means enjoying the ultimate happiness of liberation. Keeping the sun from moving in the sky means keeping the light of mind in the whole omniscient sky.

In Virupa's biography, we see signs of value that Kim Cang puts into knowledge or direct experience. Virupa is a professor at the University of Norway, but that is not enough. In addition to the knowledge he gained by research, he must gain knowledge directly and immediately to be able to realize the truth for himself.

Apparently the same subject in Naropa's biography, Naropa was also a professor at Na Lan Da University. One day he was sitting in a room full of books around, an old woman appeared and asked him if he could understand the meaning of the teachings contained in all his books. Naropa answered him understand. This old lady was very happy and asked if he understood the spirit of the doctrine. Naropa thought that because she was very pleased with the first answer, he answered that he understood the doctrinal spirit contained in the book. But she became angry this time, and said that even though he was right the first time, the second time he lied. This old woman is Vajravarahi, another goddess of incompetence. It turned out that he did not understand the spirit of what he read, Naropa, abandoned the teaching profession and sought the truth.

Let us conclude by looking at some concepts from the verses that are said to be by Mahasddhas. In these verses we see a new type of moral character illustrated as an example. We also see many symbols that speak of the importance of the transcendence of duality.

The first verse is as follows:

Dombi, (the name of a abandoned woman) your tent is located outside the village, You are known by the monks and the Brahmins who are very conscious of My class, Kapalika naked, a monk I have no prejudice - I will use you as my servant.

Here, "Dombi" is a symbol of Nairatmya, a goddess of unreality.

"Your tent outside the village" means that to really understand the emptiness, we have to overcome the conventional limit. The remainder of the verse means that although it may not be known by the Brahmins and the monks, only the yogic follower - a new religious character without prejudice - it is possible to denote a non-servant as a servant, that is, to be consistent with emptiness.

The second example is as follows:

"The woman who drank her wine. The drinker saw the sign on the tenth gate of the pub and entered.

Here, the "wine woman" is the symbol of Nairatmya, "Wine" is non-dualistic wine, of passing this and that. "The sign on the tenth door" means the tenth stage of the Bodhisattva Path, the threshold of Buddha's fruit. So the verse means that the person who drank wine at the door of the Buddha's fruit exists in the non-duality.

With the increasing popularity of miracles, rituals, and symbols, and the gathering of the power of the democratic movement that promises the highest achievement in religion for all classes, Vajrayana is prevalent throughout India. In the past few centuries.

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CHAPTER TWENTY THREE 
FOUNDATIONS OF PHILOSOPHY AND PHILOSOPHY

K closely follows the foundation of the philosophy and morality of Vajrayana which has an importance to be able to better understand how this tradition fits with the Buddhist tradition as a whole. When we look at the Kim Cang tradition in more detail, we will see its integration with some important concepts of Mahayana. The three moral concepts and philosophies prevailing in Mahayana play an important role in Vajrayana. These three concepts are: (1) emptiness, (2) Mindfulness, and (3) skillful means or skillful means.

In Chapter 22, I have the opportunity to refer to the Tibetan tradition that considers Longevity and Infinite Being the founders of Vajrayana. In addition to the Vajra elements contained in their biographies as discussed in Chapter 22, there is an aspect that also sees the meaning that the Sons of Longevity and the Infinite can be regarded as the Vajrayana father. - This is because they support and explain the concept of emptiness and superiority of consciousness (or Idealism). Some of the Vajrayana writings in Tibetan scriptures are considered by Longevity and Infinite, though there is debate about this by modern scholars. Is it true that Long Life and Anvien have previously worked on some Kim Cang works alone, but it is clear that without their concepts, Kim Cang Thua will not understand and cannot have been.

Let us first look at the not-so-not-so-noteworthy notion in the writings of Nagarjuna in Chapter 22, I refer to the situation that people talk about when Long Dragon turned ordinary materials into gold. . This is seen as a metaphor for the main work that Vajrayana cares about: turning ordinary experience into an enlightened experience. If we look at the same character of needle-making, we see that in order to be able to transform mediocre things, it is impossible to be real and often, for example, if a lump of coal has an intrinsic nature. unchanged, it will never change to anything else. However, we know a lump of coal, under certain conditions, can become a diamond.

The concept of unchanging, independent character is explained in Sanskrit by swaghava meaning "self-existent" or "self-existent". The absence of self-existence is nihsvabhava synonymous with emptiness (illusory or emptiness). Of course, emptiness is not a non-existent situation. Rather it is a kind of open condition, a situation in which phenomena exist depending on the cause and condition.

Although the notion of impermanence is related to the Long Life and the Middle School, like other important doctrines of Mahayana, it also exists in the Theravada tradition. For example, according to the Theravada scriptures, the Buddha sees all phenomena like the flame of an oil lamp, the flame exists depending on the oil and wick. The fire itself is nothing. Similarly, all phenomena depend on the cause and condition.

In Mahayana, this concept is discussed in full detail, all phenomena are like magic. An illusionary elephant, for example, appears depending on a certain facility, like a hill of earth or a piece of wood that comes into existence by a magician using magic attraction and so on ... So the illusory occurrences that occur depend on a number of causes and conditions. Similarly, all existing phenomena depend on a number of causes and conditions. Because of this dependence, this emptiness, the transformation can happen.

Long Shou said if there is any existence, then the transformation by the way of liberation cannot happen. In other words, if a lump of coal that we referenced until now has a unchanging nature, it can never become a diamond. Likewise, if each of us has self-existence or life as often as ordinary suffering beings - if this is our characteristic - then we have to practice the Dharma. how, we can never become enlightened. It is because we depend on suffering (ignorance, attachment, and anger) that we have the characteristics of ordinary sentient beings. But if they replace ignorance with wisdom, attachment with attachment, and hatred with love and compassion, we can change these conditions. By changing these conditions, we can change our existence and become Buddha. So the calculation is not absolutely necessary to allow the transformation from the condition of reincarnation to liberation of nirvana.

Now look at the second concept, the role of mind in experience. Here Forever and his brother The Body give two things in common: (a) objects that do not have a stable or certain appearance, and (b) objects that appear even without impact external stimulation.

Like other major teachings of Mahayana and Vajrayana, these two points are not missing in the Theravada tradition. The first point is clear in some Buddhist sutras. For example, the incident involves Elder Tissa, famous in the Theravada: when asked whether he saw the woman on the way, Tissa answered that he did not know if he was a man or woman just see a pile of bones walking on the road. This proves that the object does not have a stable or certain appearance, what appears to be an attractive woman for this person is just a pile of bones for the other person.

The Mahayana tradition carefully discusses this by relying on the experience of some transforming states of consciousness. For example, we feel that the earth is moving or people have tremendous strength when drinking too much alcohol. Similarly, under the influence of drugs, object awareness will be different. In the twenty verses about Duy Thuc, His Body illustrates this mention of the experiences of sentient beings in the six realms (see Chapter 19). Here, he clearly explains the objects that appear in many ways according to the subjective conditions of the cognitive person, concluding that the objects appear in many different forms and nuances to different beings. depending on their career conditions.

The second point, objects that appear even without external stimuli, are also found in the Theravada tradition. For example, Buddhaghosa's commentary on the three stages of concentration (initial, attainable, and virtuous), the image of meditation is absorbed at the stage of reaching. If a meditator, using the green plate at the first stage, then at that second stage the disc is assimilated, and now the meditator meditates on its mental image. Therefore, while the practitioner uses an object at the beginning stage as the object for meditation, at the second stage of concentration, the practitioner does not need external support. The object appears to the practitioner without the need for external stimulation. We can also see this in dreams,

The Body God added this to the case of the guards in the hell realm. If these guards are reborn in hell for their own karma, they must suffer there. But because the guards in hell are just to torment those in hell, He means that they are just creations from the hearts of the people in hell. In other words, because of their unwholesome karma, hell beings think of images of guards torturing them.

In all these cases - the experiences of meditation, the dream, and the beings of hell - the objects that appear do not have an external stimulating effect at all. This is the reason people say, like the painter who painted a picture of a god, then the painter himself was frightened by the painting, so the enlightened being painted a picture of the six samsara worlds and was tortured. and terrified by that picture. Due to the power of the mind, we create six realms and drift forever in them. We can create these six realms precisely because there is no self-existence.

The first two concepts - the concept of emptiness and the concept of the role of mind in creating experience - go together. Objects have no independent existence. Their existence relates to causes and conditions - the most important are the mental causes and conditions of ignorance, attachment, aversion, greed, anger and ignorance. Because of these mental conditions, and because of the fact that phenomena are empty, the mind builds and creates experience under a special form, the form of suffering in the six realms.

Just as the mind can act unconsciously, and automatically create suffering experiences in the six realms, one can make the mind act intentionally and consciously to bring about change. change in that experience, bring about the experience of liberation. This is very clear in the example of the meditation experience we considered earlier. Normally, the mind works unconsciously and automatically creates experience. We respond to an object, such as a woman, because of the habit, because we depend on desire and ignorance. When meditating, we train the mind to work with a decisive, definitive method to change the experience. Due to the experience of meditation,

Moreover, we often perceive different colors automatically, indirectly and ambiguously. By meditating, we can change that situation so we can, as we like, visualize and create our own colors within our spiritual experience. The concept of emptiness and the concept of creative power of mind is clearly present in Vajrayana's meditative technical structure, we will see more in detail these techniques in Chapter 29. Both and the creative power of the mind gives us the ability and method necessary to transform the experience. We can transform our experience because nothing has the nature and the way we transform is by using the power of our minds to create and decide the way we experience objects.

As mentioned in Chapter 22, Vajrayana with the Mahayana is one, both of them begin at the beginning as well as the goal. The basic concept of Mahayana tradition is enlightened thought or mind (Bodhisattva resolves to attain enlightenment to save all sentient beings), and the result of this determination is to attain Buddhahood with the supernatural realm and Its phenomenal realm. The realm of phenomena is the manifestation of the Buddha's great compassion, this great compassion manifests itself in skillful means - the third concept prevails in Mahayana and is also very important for Vajrayana.

Skillful means are the ability to go to all beings according to their level. In many Mahayana sutras, this is interpreted by analogy, like the parable of the three chariots and the shower, the light of the sun and the moon in the Lotus Sutra (See Chapter 15). The realm of Buddha's phenomenon appears to all sentient beings according to their special needs and abilities. It manifests itself in many beautiful virgin forms that the Buddha appeared to save Kshema (see Chapter 22). In many Mahayana sermons and discourses, the Buddha manifested himself in the form of ordinary bodies or gods to help sentient beings on the path of liberation.

In the same way, the Buddha manifested himself by the special forms of the gods on the temple of Kim Cang according to the needs and penchant of sentient beings. For example, in the case of five Buddhas in heaven, the Buddha showed five special dharmas corresponding to the karmic propensity of beings. Therefore, He turned into Buddha Bhikkhu for the living beings suffering from ignorance, the Buddha for the living beings suffering from malice, and Buddha Amitabha for the sentient beings. suffering by attachment. Buddha turns out many different generals to effectively help different beings with their own karma.

The generals of the Buddha interacted with sentient beings to bring their liberation. There is almost a mutual dependence between the Buddha's generals (in the form of the Buddha in the heavens and the gods on the Vajra Shrine) and the development of sentient beings by meditation. To illustrate this, please return to the story of His Before and the future Maitreya Buddha. He was in front of Meditation for 12 years without being aware of Maitreya. Maitreya is always by His side, but He has to develop his visualizations before he can experience the Maitreya. Likewise, the Buddha's generals are always around us, but if we want to directly see the Buddha, we must develop our mind through meditation, purifying ourselves. we. The purification of mind is like the process of tuning the television to receive a special transmission. The TV show is always there, but unless and until the television is tuned to the right frequency to be able to see the image.

If we recall these three principles - the principle of emptiness, the principle of the power of the mind to determine the nature of our experience, and the principle of skillful means, we will understand How does the path of Kim Cang Execution work. We will also understand the many forms and ideas that Vajrayana uses to promote the process of transformation.

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CHAPTER TWENTY FOUR 
LEARNING METHODS

N damage was noted in Chapter 22 and 23, Vajrayana and Mahayana same in view of the beginning and at the end of the road. Where two different traditions are in the method. Vajrayana claims that it provides more skillful and quick means from the very beginning (initial suffering) until the end (the goal of the Buddha's fruit). So looking at the method of learning is especially important for the understanding of Vajrayana.

Let's start by discussing the structure of initial suffering. The basic cause of suffering is traditionally called ignorance. But ignorance means the hospitality or duality between the subject and the object between us and others. There are many different ways to destroy or destroy this duality, the basis of ignorance. In the material of the Abhidharma (see Chapter 19), the emphasis is on destroying the self. Breaking the self - a column of duality - the subject is destroyed. Ultimately destroying the implied subject also involves destroying the object. That is why the emphasis is on dissecting the analysis of the self. This is the main point of the Abhidharma tradition, although it is not a separate content, because the Abhidharma is also a Divine Causality in which the object and subject are destroyed.

In the Mahayana and Vajrayana tradition, the two traditions are slightly different starting by attacking the object in many ways. For example, in Chapter 23 we discover that the object is unstable in its appearance, and that object may appear without an external stimulus. So the object is like the object seen in the dream, it is not true.

Discovering an untrue object raises questions about the status of self or subject. In Mahayana and Vajrayana, the common way to destroy the duality of the subject - the object, the person and the person is as follows: We begin by showing that the object is just like an unreal dream, and then applies. the understanding of interdependence to discover if the object is not true, the subject depending on the object is just like an unreal dream. If the seed is not true, its germ is also not real. This gives us an understanding of the emptiness of subject and object. To some extent, this method reflects the views of the two schools, the Mahayana-Duy Tam school, aimed at the dreamlike nature of the experience, and the Middle School is aimed at the concept depending on each other. .

In addition to basic duality - duality of the subject-object or one and the other - there are many other things that we must eliminate if we want to reach enlightenment. Calculating the other two important aspects, the production of suffering that Mahayana and Kim Cang aim at is duality between samsara and nirvana. In general, this is a duality between the conditional and the unconditional. Conditional reincarnation and nirvana have no conditions. This reflects in the technical description of the phenomenon of reincarnation as a conditional phenomenon and nirvana is practically unconditional. Reincarnation is conditional because it is a characteristic of birth and death, of life and death, while nirvana has no conditions because it is a characteristic of immortality and immortality.

But is this duality real or is it just being proposed? The position of Mahayana and Vajrayana is a duality between reincarnation and nirvana. It is made up of illusions of the mind. This is proved by the analysis of the characteristic of samsara - that is the analysis of birth and death.

There are many ways to examine birth and death in the Mahayana and Vajrayana traditions. One way is found in the extensive survey of the incarnation of the Long Life Mulamadhyamakakarika (Foundation Stanzas of the Middle Way). Here Long Tho considers four arising possibilities: (i) from himself, (ii) from another. (iii) from both, and (iv) no cause (see Chapter 18). But here we can be content with the investigation of the analogy of arising, in which it is said that if the object is like the object seen in the dream, there is no real arising. but there is no real killing.

In the Samadhiraja Sutta, it is said that if a young virgin is dreaming of having a child, and also in her dreams she sees the child dying (of course) she is happy first and then sad in the dream. But when she woke up, she realized that there was no truth about the baby born and died. Similarly, all phenomena have no real arising and no real destruction. If, in fact, everything has no real arising and no real destruction, then the characteristic of reincarnation is no longer true. The distinction between reincarnation and nirvana is no longer standing and we are left with the conclusion of His Longevity in the Middle Ages, there is not even a slight difference between samsara and nirvana. If there is no birth and death, the characteristic of samsara is the same as the characteristic of nirvana, because nirvana is characterized by the absence of birth and death. So there is no difference between samsara and nirvana.

To summarize we come to realize samsara and nirvana first through the cancellation of our notions of reincarnation. We define samsara as conditional. We say the character of conditionals is arising and falling away, but seeing there is no real and actual arising. If reincarnation does not have these characteristics, then its opposite, nirvana, does not mean. In this respect we come to realize samsara and nirvana.

Everything I have said about ignorance is the fundamental cause of suffering, the duality of the subject and the object, and of samsara and nirvana, and the emptiness of each of the extremes of duality - all of this is true in the Mahayana tradition as well as the Vajra. There is a complete consensus between these two schools on this point. There is also a complete consensus on the distinction between indirect and direct knowledge.

The distinction between understanding truth with wisdom and looking directly at the truth is, of course, recognized throughout the Buddhist tradition. For example, in the Theravada tradition, there is recognition of the distinction between understanding the Four Noble Truths by wisdom and seeing them directly. In the Mahayana and Kim Cang traditions, the crux of the problem is whether our knowledge of samsara and nirvana is wisdom or direct and experimental.

If we follow the method set out by the Wisdom Wisdom document - the arguments are explained clearly by His Holiness, Infinite, and Body - we come to an understanding of indirect wisdom in calculating irrespective of subject and object, samsara and nirvana. It is by the more ingenious, faster method that intellectual understanding, indirectly turns into a transformative and direct understanding that Kim Cang's method of learning uses.

The key to understanding the method of learning Vajra is itself an understanding of emptiness of all things. All phenomena (dharma) themselves are nothing. What they are depends on the mind. Let me mention two examples of the Theravada tradition to illustrate this point about emptiness, or the neutrality of things. In the lecture on the water snake in the Algaddupama sutta, the Buddha compares all phenomena with water snakes and rafts. He said the clever person who could hold the water snake could catch it and control it without fear of scourge, but those who were not skillful would suffer disaster when trying to catch it. He also said phenomena like rafts, we do not need to cling to them like we do not need to cling to a raft when we have reached the river.

The sermon of the Buddha expressed in an ingenious manner and condensed the emptiness and neutrality of the phenomenon. All phenomena are not this and not the other. They are neutral, depending on how we get or use them. Not the nature of a snake causing a disaster; rather disaster depends on how the water snake was captured. Similarly, the knife is neither real nor fake, but we hold it with a tongue that is definitely a mistake. If we hold a knife with a tongue, we hurt ourselves; But if we take a knife with a grip, we can use it. If we use friends to go to the river, we use it properly; But we carry it on our shoulders after we have gone to the river, we are mistaken. The benefit or not of the phenomenon is not in the phenomenon itself but in the way we use them.

This problem is true not only for objects but also for mental states such as craving and aversion. For example, the story of the Buddha's guidance to his cousin Nan Da joined the Sangha on the day Nan Da was going to marry. After being ordained, Nan Da started to miss the fiancée and regretted having joined the Sangha. Buddha knew the mood of Nan Da so he brought Nan Da to heaven to Nan Da to see the beautiful fairies there. Nan Da was so passionate about fairies in heaven that when asked how to compare this fairy with his unmarried wife, Nan Da answered, if besides these fairies, the fiancée His looks like a female monkey's bones. Buddha advised Nan Da if he wanted to enjoy the fairies in heaven in the next life,

Nan Da returned to the Sangha with a renewed enthusiasm. When other monks saw Nan Da practicing too diligently, he constantly mocked Nan Da. In the end Nan Da was aware of the decay of his motivation, and became the top Arhat among those who could control the feeling. That is an example of the neutrality of the craving mood. A special point in the progress of Nan Da is that the Buddha used his craving as a motive for Nan Da to be reassured and to practice diligently.

So we can see not only objects such as water snakes, rafts and neutral knives and depending on how we take and use them, but even taking the mental state is not What: they depend on how we use them to make progress or spirit slow. That's why the Buddha said, "excessive anger only benefits the murderer." Evil is not good nor bad. If we are averse to unwholesome deeds, this will lead to a goal of liberation, but if we are averse to good deeds, this will not lead to good.

Again, all basic phenomena are neutral or empty. How they affect our progress depends on how they are taken and what to do with them. This is the wisdom or perspective that has been developed in Vajrayana and has helped Vajrayana use special methods to take advantage of phenomena for spiritual progress. This is the key to the acceleration that Kim Cang's methods towards spiritual progress.

At this level, we only use part of our experience to reach the goal of liberation, our progress inevitably slows. For example, how much time have we spent to meditate or chant? Most of our time is spent on eating, sleeping, or chatting with friends. We have wasted those times and all those experiences are not used to reach enlightenment goals. In this place, Kim Cang uses the concept of neutral neutral neutrality of all phenomena, because if all phenomena are empty, why don't we use them - all the spectacles and sounds and mood-- for spiritual progress?

That is why it is said that Kim Cang is considered all the scenes, sounds, and mental states that are the gods, mantras and transcendent realms of Buddhahood. Everything we see, hear and think about is neutral and empty. If we take these scenes, the sounds, the thoughts that represent the pure vision of enlightenment, then we can use these elements of experience to contribute to the progress towards enlightenment. . I will explain this in more detail in the next chapter, but I would like to give an example of this point. The glass that I am holding belongs to the aggregate of aggregates, which is the manifestation of the Buddha of the Great Buddha in Heaven. This object belongs to the aggregate of aggregates, so it is not merely a cup but a realm of the Buddha-Pi. This is what is said when it is said that in Kim Cang people consider all the scenes as gods, which are special manifestations of disinfected reality. By the special action of the mind, we can also consider all sounds as uncle and all mental conditions as the transcendent realm of Buddha-fruit.

Careful use of scenes, sounds, and mental status is particularly evident in the form of Kim Cang's ritual of meditation. In this range, the meditation practice of Kim Cang looks like a raft - the raft consists of scenes, sounds and mental state. In Vajrayana rituals, for example, there is a visual element, it is the contemplation of any of the gods of the temple; an auditory component, that is, chanting mantras, and a spiritual component, that is the uniformity of a meditator with a meditation object and a cultivating understanding of non-duality and emptiness (illusory ).

This issue will become clearer in the following chapters. Now, I want to conclude by observing the practice of meditating Kim Cang using three components - sight, hearing, and spirit - to create a "ritual raft" that uses goods. a series of phenomena, and provide a particularly effective form of meditation.

Those of you who meditate with breath or other forms of meditation will appreciate the rightness of this. If you meditate with your breath, at some point your mind will become tired of paying attention to the breath and starting to distract. If you chant, your mind will become tired of the sutras. If you are meditating to understand everything (mindfulness), your mind may be tired of analyzing the phenomena deeply. Because of the eternal character of Vajrayana meditation, when the mind becomes tired and uneasy and can no longer focus on visualizing the gods, it can focus on the mantra, when the mind is tired of focusing on the mantra, it can focus on emptiness, and when tired of it, it can return to visualize the divine.

The Vajrayana ritual is more effective as a means of meditation precisely because of its multi-dimensional character: rather than preparing confrontation when the mind tends to be distracted, rituals use this tendency. . Therefore Kim Cang meditates to let the mind wandering, although it is only allowed to wander in a separate range of spiritual or moral significance, no matter where the mind is - whether visualizing the gods, entering the verse. uncle, the meditator's identity with the divine form, or even the emptiness of that form - it can be based on something with spiritual power.

Vajra ritual is like a raft, in this sense it is not something that can be grasped. It is a means, or method and nothing. It is not allowed for this ritual to be limited to ceremonial meditation courses but also to extend to all activities within or outside the courses. While in the course, we visualize the divine form, chant mantras, cultivate understanding both in terms of the identity of the divine form and the understanding of emptiness of that form. Later, this concept expanded beyond the limits of the courses to cover all of our activities.

Wherever we are and what we do, our whole experience forms part of our "meditation practice" so that we can combine and use all our energy and experience into our practice. . When we follow daily activities, we perceive the scenes, sounds, and mental states in this particular, transforming way. In other words, we embrace the elements of the whole experience with the grip, not the tongue. Thanks to the techniques of Vajra meditation, we learn how to behave in a clever way to spectacle, sound and mental state, so that we do not encounter disasters. We learn to deal with the scenes we see, the sounds we hear, the mental state we experience, so that, instead of being trapped by these experiences,END=NAM MO SAKYAMUNI BUDDHA.( 3 TIMES ).VIETNAMESE TRANSLATE ENGLISH BY=THICH CHAN TANH.VIETNAMESE BUDDHIST NUN=GOLDEN AMITABHA MONASTERY=AUSTRALIA,SYDNEY.29/12/2018.