In the talk On the Hymn to Perfect Wisdom‘ Kulaprabha beautifully explores these verses of devotion from ‘The Perfection of Wisdom in 8000 Lines’ and they apply to us, in our lives, in our world.
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On the Hymn to Perfect Wisdom
[music] This podcast is brought to you by Free Buddhist Audio, the Dharma for real life. Our work is funded entirely by donations from our generous listeners. If you would like to help us keep this free, come and join us at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. Thank you, and happy listening. I first gave this talk, but there's a sort of series of reflections. The hymn to the perfection of wisdom, which is in this book which is a perfection of wisdom in 8,000 lines. So it's one of the short chapters in that. And it was on a retreat here a couple of years ago called the Heart of Wisdom. The same sort of theme. I'll give it here then and didn't record it. And so on this retreat I thought, oh, it does cover similar sort of material. So it's just a good chance to do it again for its own sake. So I'm just going to start off and I'll read through the hymn again. It's the one we heard last night. So Sari Putra is the person who's talking, and he starts off, he says, "The perfection of wisdom, O Lord, is the accomplishment of the cognition of the all-knowing. The perfection of wisdom is the state of all knowledge." And then the Buddha replies, "So it is, Sari Putra, as you see." And then Sari Putra carries on. The perfection of wisdom gives light, O Lord, I pay homage to the perfection of wisdom. She is worthy of homage. She is unstained. The entire world cannot stain her. She is a source of light, and from everyone in the triple world she removes darkness, and she leads away from the blinding darkness caused by the defilements and by wrong views. In her we can find shelter. Most excellent are her works. She makes us seek the safety of the wings of enlightenment. She brings light to the blind. She brings light so that all fear and distress may be forsaken. She has gained the five eyes, and she shows the path to all beings. She herself is an organ of vision. She disperses the gloom and darkness of delusion. She does nothing about all dharmas. She goes to the path those who have strayed onto a bad road. She is identical with all knowledge. She never produces any darma, because she has forsaken the residues relating to both kinds of coverings. Those produced by defilements and those produced by the cognizable. She does not stop any darma. Her self-unstopped and unproduced is the perfection of wisdom. She is the mother of the Bodhisattvas on account of the emptiness of own marks. As the donor of the jewel of all the Buddha-dharmas, she brings about the ten powers of a Buddha. She cannot be crushed. She protects the unprotected, with the help of the foregrounds of self-confidence. She is the antidote to birth and death. She has a clear knowledge of the own being of all dharmas, for she does not stray away from it. The perfection of wisdom of the Buddhas, the Lords, sets in motion the wheel of the darma. It's very beautiful, isn't it? And it seems to be a piece that has come about, maybe not necessarily written down, but come about when there was a move from the perfection of wisdom as an insight practice, here a bit more about that in a minute, a technique, a way of meditating, a way of reflecting. So there was all of that remained alive, actually, for this sort of came about, what about 500 years after the Buddha had died, so it was a bit of a regeneration, really, of the darma. And later on, so there was a bit of a move where the perfection of wisdom wasn't just those practices and that approach. It was also became a Bodhisattva figure in its own self, a female Bodhisattva figure. So I think that him must represent where that's happened, because I'm not saying she, this is in the text. So it must have been written down just a bit of time after that time where that's come in. So it's a mixture of both telling quite a lot about quite profound practices, but in the context of a beautiful figure that Aseid Putra is depicted as feeling great devotion towards. So it's quite a nice, it's just that mixture of devotion and clarity and direction, meditative direction. So, oh, I don't need this, I don't need this, I don't need this, so, starts off, it's going to read out a few lines as we go along, starts off. The perfection of wisdom gives light. So she's a source of light, everyone, from everyone in the triple world she removes darkness and leads away from the blinding darkness caused by defilements, so leads away from the blinding darkness. So there's this, the beginning of him then, there's this sort of theme there, and it's an evocation of light. So the plan your parameter and the perfection of wisdom is, it's been used to evoke a sense of light and purity, and she's the source of that light and purity, or perfection of wisdom is the source of that light and purity. So there's an evocation of light happening in him, and there's an opposition to that, an opposition to the perfection of wisdom and light and purity, there's the world, darkness, blinding darkness, it says she gives light and is unstained. The entire world can't stain her, so there's, she's evoked as bringing light and purity, and against that there's the world which, well, the world can't stain her, but the world itself of course is also not stainless and it's not pure and it's not that source of light. So, so on the one hand there's an evocation of light, perfection of wisdom, and on the other hand there's the world and darkness and defilements, and what was the other one? Some views, obscurations, so one could ask them, what does this mean? So first of all what it doesn't mean, it hasn't got anything about original sin and God in it, and it's not an opposition of heaven and hell, it's not an opposition of you know, good and evil in that kind of, in that kind of way, although there is something reminiscent, isn't there, about the, the evocation of the Godess as pure and the world as stained to be got away from. So there is a, there'll be an echo of that in our minds, so just to be clear then, that is not what this is about, not in that sense, not about you know, God and the mother of God and the son of God and one hand and you know us struggling with the burden of original sin on the other, so it's not that context, that's first thing. It is, it is suggesting, it is saying that there is a, there's a state of being, there is a state of being which most of us, you know, do not experience, may not even imagine, may not even believe in or think possible, or we may be, we have faith in that kind of pure state of being at moments, but we don't maintain it or it slips away from us, but it's saying them strongly, there is a state of being which we have the potential to realise. And it's a state of being in which we would be the source of that light, and we would be pure in that sort of way, there would be nothing to impede us in, in our, in our cells in our mind and the world wouldn't impede us in a, in a kind of way, the world wouldn't be able to stain us, or if it threw up difficulties and so on and so forth, it kind of wouldn't stick to us. So, I said at the beginning of the tree, I was in Sheffield at the weekend, and one of the things we were studying was the story, the story about Millarepa and Rachungpa, and in one, in one part of it, Millarepa is, he's trying to, he's trying to win Rachungpa away from the attachments that he's, that's stopping him. So, the attachments are big obstacles to Rachungpa, and Millarepa is trying to help him overcome those obstacles, but Millarepa himself experiences no obstacle anywhere. So, in the story of Millarepa, that's what happens is he, you know, he flies on rocks through the air, he walks through stone walls, he, you know, does a, there's all sort of, you know, miraculous things happening, and you need to take them literally or not, but what they're meant to, what they're meant to be saying, what he's trying to convey to Rachungpa is, don't let yourself be impeded. Look, nothing impeds me. So, we may not or may not believe that you can, you know, make a rock, sit on a rock and make it sail through the air, so it's lovely. But nothing, things don't impede him. So, in a discussion, there's a seminar on that story, and in the discussion, Banti says quite a lot about that, yes, Millarepa is just unimpeded, there's nothing that impedes him. We're not unimpeded. Things rise up, again, things rise up in front of us, or come at us from behind, whatever, in surplus, and we feel them to be obstacles, they are obstacles to our practice. So, we're all in, we're in that position, all of us, there are obstacles to our practice, and we try and are best to overcome them, hopefully. But we're in the position of whether our obstacles, which we have to overcome, Millarepa is not in that position, he's unimpeded. The things that are obstacles to other people are not obstacles to him, because he's gone beyond that. Similarly, so, so, so, so, coming back to the perfection of wisdom, him, there's something similar in, in this, the, the sign of culture in this or the evocation is suggesting that it is the state that we could attain the same as the perfection of wisdom, where we would be unimpeded to put it in the Millarepa story terms, or we would be a source of light ourselves, we would be able to illumine the world ourselves in a way that, that illumined the world, and the world then was no longer an impediment, an obstacle to us. So, that's, that's quite a, that's quite a promise, isn't it? Uh, it's also saying, um, so that, uh, although that's possible, that isn't the state that we're in. So, it raises the question, doesn't it, about why, why are we not so attained? Why are we not, like that? So, in him it says, uh, I can find it. Yeah, the perfection of wisdom leads away from the darkness caused by the defilements and by wrong views. So, that's a quite straightforward, we're telling us why, but we're not, uh, you know, that source of, um, light and, uh, and, uh, purity, illuminating the world. Because, uh, minds are, uh, veiled by defilements and, uh, wrong views. So, this, just remember, this is still not about original sin. So, defilements and wrong views are traditional, it's a traditional Buddhist, there's a traditional distinction that you find in Buddhism. So, defilements is more about emotional states that, um, hinder us, uh, and impede us. And, uh, uh, wrong views, wrong views are, well, wrong views are the views that underpin those hindering emotional states. And, both the, the farmers and the wrong views that kind of link into them, they're a bit, it's a bit like jigsaw puzzles, they link into one another like that. Um, they're described as ensnaring emotions or veils over a mind. Like, I quite like ensnaring emotions. It gives you quite a good, uh, feel for it, doesn't it? Um, ensnaring emotions which entrap our heart and mind. So, first of all, not all emotions, of course, are ensnaring. Um, uh, once in the ones we talked about earlier compassion, gladness, equanimity, are not ensnaring in that sense, but there are emotions which are ensnaring and act in this, uh, manner to, uh, bring a veil between us and, uh, stop us being a source of, uh, illumination. So there are, and there are six, in particular, there are said to be six, particularly dangerous ensnaring emotions. And they are, number one, pride and arrogance, second one, craving attachment, anger, first one's indecision, sometimes translated as corrosive, oops, corrosive doubt. Good translation. It gives you a good sense of it. Corrosive doubt, like acid, eats away. Corrosive doubt, fourth one is, is that indecision, corrosive doubt. Uh, fifth one is lack of intrinsic awareness or ignorance, spiritual ignorance, and the sixth one is opinionatedness. I've, uh, afflicted view, a view that is an affliction. Uh, so the, so the fifth and sixth one, lack of intrinsic awareness or ignorance, and then opinionatedness, or afflicted view, they're, they connect with the, um, the wrong views, um, reference to wrong views, and the other ones, pride and arrogance, craving attachment, anger, and then corrosive doubt, they fit more into the, uh, the defilement, the, um, ensnaring, the, ensnaring emotions, the other ones are ensnaring views, these are ensnaring emotions. So, it's because we are entrapped, in particular by those six, they're called the mula clashers, fundamental, uh, veils that kind of cloud our minds. Because we're entrapped by those that, uh, we don't live in alignment with, uh, perfection of wisdom and, uh, unlike Mother Epic, we can't sail through the air on rocks. Okay, so, sigh of putra goes on though and says, um, it's very beautiful isn't it? He says, where is it? In her we can find shelter. Most excellent are her walks. She makes us seek the safety of the wings of enlightenment. And, um, kind of lies on she brings light to the blind. She brings light so that all fear and distress may be forsaken. So, she, uh, she makes us seek, uh, the shelter of the wings of enlightenment. So, in other words, there is something in an encounter with plan your parameter which would make us, you make us or, uh, even push us into seeking refuge in the Dharma. There's something in an encounter with wisdom, with the perfection of wisdom or that figure that makes us practice a sort of, uh, I was looking at my notes this afternoon, I was thinking about it in terms of a sort of felt pressure. And I, it's, um, I think it's a kind of thing that we touched on this afternoon when we're just trying to, you know, just trying to kind of, uh, figure out our own associations with what's like wisdom, compassion, emptiness. Um, you know, that sort of felt pressure when you, you know, we touched on it when, um, when we talked about futility, uh, sort of futility of them realizing you, you know, there's suffering exists and it's so much of it. There's a futility in trying to, uh, do something with that. There's a futility in trying to main samsara on its own terms as it were. It's futile. Um, so that's kind of, that, that kind of experience can be, I kind of felt like there's a pressure, a ways that there's a pressure there that we're not, um, comfortable any longer, uh, in that situation. We're not comfortable doing nothing, but we also don't know what you can do, or if even anything can be done. So there's a pressure that's in it. We, we talked about it in terms of tension this afternoon, but, uh, I was thinking about it, um, earlier in terms of this, a sort of felt pressure. And when you come into contact with the Dharma with something that, uh, some aspect or some meditation, particularly meditation that we do say, or a particular walk that we do after we've meditated, or a particular conversation with someone who just kind of lifts a veil a little bit. Um, that results in a felt pressure in us to seek something better. And as I say, Sai, which is a, is a lovely phrase, isn't it? Seek the shelter. Um, if her, we can find shelter, she makes us seek the safety of the wings of enlightenment. And I think that felt pressure can, it can feel to come from outside of us. So maybe that's from a more in contact with the suffering that's there in the world. Um, but it can also be felt from within us, I think as well. Um, so it can, you know, it can be a, it can be either way, there can be something in us that's just not satisfied and wants to make it be, it meant to be different. Uh, or it can be in contact with things outside of us that, uh, create a pressure from without. So it seemed to me to be good to look for that sense of felt pressure. And when you come across it, uh, try not to push away from it. Just try to let it be and, uh, even try to let it grow. Although, since it's uncomfortable, that's not an easy thing to do and would require some faith in one's practice and in the Dharma. But yeah, uh, don't, just try and kind of look out for something akin to that. Cause I think from, you know, just reflecting on what's in with him, that would seem to be part of an encounter with, with the perfection of wisdom. Um, so she makes a seek refuge of the wings of enlightenment. So, uh, another thing that came to my mind again was, uh, in response to that was, uh, our three, three verses from the Dhammapada. So this translate, this is Bante's translation, which I particularly like for these three. So just read them out. All conditioned things are impermanent. When one sees this with insight, that's a translation of plan. Yeah. When one sees this with insight, one becomes weary of suffering. This is the way to purity and the same one. All conditioned things are painful. When one sees this with insight, one becomes weary of suffering. This is the way to purity. And then the third one, all things whatsoever are devoid of unchanging selfhood. When one sees this with insight, one becomes weary of suffering. This is the way to purity. So that's a very distilled version of, um, the Buddha's fundamental experience. Uh, and it's a, it's a, it's a, another way of stating what the perfection of wisdom is. Um, the perfection of wisdom as a phrase, you know, came, came into being a much later state stage than the, than the Dhammapada was written down. Uh, it's, it's much later, it's a later usage. But, um, this hymns about perfection of wisdom and those three verses are the perfection of wisdom, but in, in putting earlier, uh, in earlier words, earlier phrases. They're, um, I think you could say they're the sort of root verses, perhaps from the very earliest layer of the Buddha's own teaching about the essence of wisdom. So there's good just to bear in mind, they might be good just to kind of find in here. It's the chapter called the way. I think it's chapter 20. Uh, just find them, maybe just write them out for yourself. Um, reflect on them. You could have them in front of you as you meditate. Uh, cause they are the root there. They are the root verses from that very, very early layer of the teaching. So in, in those verses, we have this phrase, we grow weary of stuff when you see the, that with, when you see the things are impermanent, um, they bring about often suffering and, uh, are insubstantial, devoid of fixed, devoid of selfhood, then the next thing that said is we, when you see that with insight, so that's so see it in a way that we can sustain it and really, we can let it into our heart, we grow weary of suffering. I, I was very struck by that, um, by that phrase, actually it's why, why that translation is one of my favorite ones at that point, cause some of the other translations don't have that or they express it in a different way. So we grow weary of suffering. We, you know, we desire at that point, we want something different. We want an alternative, desiring an alternative, um, experiencing unsatisfactoriness deeply enough, um, and then we desire an alternative. And this word growing weary of suffering is, um, it's from, it's, this word that's being translated isn't, is nibbunditi and, uh, it's, it refers to, it's a, it's a, it's a form of a word nibbida, which if you do remember, if you're ever learnt, the, uh, twelfth person of the Dan is in Sanskrit or Pali, you'll know that. I've probably forgotten it like me. Uh, it means, um, it's, it's one of the, it's one of the experiences that happen after stream entries. So after seeing things as they really are, there are some, um, then there are, there are, there are some experiences that culminate in freedom and knowing that you're free. But before that, there are, there are phases that you go through that are translated with words like, uh, withdrawal or dispassion, uh, or disentanglements. And that's all associated with this word nibbida, dispassion, disentanglements. Um, and it's the same word that's that is translating as we grew up, we're just going to go weary with suffering. And then the response is, well, you know, you want to disentangle yourself. And, and on the basis of really having seen the cause of suffering, then of course you can disentangle yourself. We often can't, um, cause it's not on that basis of, of insight. But when it is in the basis of insight, then you've experienced unsatisfactoriness deeply, deeply, um, you know, beyond the painful, pleasant level of experience, you know, under that able to see that the very fabric of, um, existence is, has a deep level of unsatisfactoriness to it. And unsatisfactoriness, that is if we're always trying to find the ground, the steady ground to stand on in the way that we were talking about this afternoon. And, uh, as part of that, of course, what often happens is we grow weary with what may once have provided meaning in our life. Um, and at that point, we need something different. And that's a very good position to be in. That's a very, uh, fruitful, potentially fruitful position to be in, but it's not an easy one. It's a very, uh, it could be a bit of a scary kind of position to be in. Uh, so it's a good one, but, and, and probably all that happens because we've already put some effort in to practice, but it's not an easy place to stand when, uh, we're weary in a certain way of seeing through what, what for us before, but not yet really been able to kind of step into with confidence into the alternative. But we're seeking the alternative. I suppose that's what the phrase is about. She makes us seek the shelter of the wings of enlightenment. And the wings of enlightenment, uh, uh, itself such a lovely image, isn't it? Um, and, uh, I mean, maybe it brings towards mind the image of a bird flying, perhaps. Uh, you know, flying, flying freely through the sky without hindrance. Um, uh, or essentially sit here at Taloka, meditating in the shrine. There was so often there's birdsong going on outside. Um, you know, so even just kind of hearing, hearing kind of birdsong, sometimes you get, uh, uh, especially when the skylarks are singing, you get this, you know, this sort of single pure thread of sound that just wafts its way up into the, up into the air and, you know, it can lift your heart and it's so beautiful and pure and it's still this kind of purity to it. Um, so maybe that image kind of, you know, can, uh, it's one, it's one that's worth, uh, worth kind of thinking about. Um, and it's just, just like it, just let it kind of touch you, just kind of let it touch you and see, see what emerges. So the wings of enlightenment are, they're also a, a traditional, they're our traditional bullets image. Um, and they're conjuring up freedom. That's the, uh, that's the, the kind of, uh, connotation of it. Uh, or if you like, leaving the ground of the normal, the ordinary mind. So ordinary mind doesn't really want to leave the ground like we were saying today. We really want the ground to stand on and we want it to be very firm and reliable and unmoving and absolutely kind of safe and it's not. So this, uh, the wing, the mind that seeks a shelter of the wings of enlightenment actually, it doesn't, it's not looking for that ground at all. Actually it's trying to leave the ground, actually it's trying to take flight, um, shake off delusion. So shake off that delusion that there can be that kind of safe place to, to, uh, to stand. So it has all these associations with it as a phrase, uh, the wings of enlightenment. And, um, can I patch the, what, how is your mind, what's your name translate as? Uh, kind. Wings of compassion. Wings of compassion. Yes, 'cause I knew it was the wings of a line is the sort of patch, any bit of your name. So, you know, winged compassion, the wings of pressure, lovely. It's lovely, isn't it? And, uh, there's body pack, body pressure in the order as well. And that's, that, that is the translation of the wings of enlightenment that translates as that. Um, so it's a very, it's a lovely image. It's a really lovely, it's a very lovely name. Um, there's an actual list of 37 practices that are traditionally kind of make up the wings, the, the, the wings of enlightenment. They're, uh, 37 body patches, they're cold. And that, so they're, they're the effects of actual practices that enable us to start this process of just kind of shaking off delusion and, you know, managing to take flight to some extent. So, um, I just don't remember what they were this afternoon. I said I haven't got the length of going and looking them up, but, but you, you have to add things up. So for example, eight of, there's the eightfold noble path. So that's eight of the 37. And then there's the seven bodjangas. So that's 15. And then there's the five special faculties in the five powers. So that's another 10. So that gets up to 25. It's a bit of a dharma sudoku. And if you think it's difficult doing stokkas with nine, try doing them with 37. Um, I couldn't, after that, I couldn't remember what the other 12 were. I think four of them are the four foundations of mindfulness. So maybe me and maybe some of you could go and, go and look up in, in the meantime. But it's a, it's a list of, it's a list of, of basic dharma practices that, uh, then get put together and, uh, under this, you know, this lovely kind of name. Okay. So, uh, what's next? She makes a sick, the safety of the wings of enlightenment. And then she brings light so that all fear and distress may be forsaken. Um, so that's sort of interesting because, well, who forgives who in that, you know, is it? Do we forgive the causes of our fear and distress that maybe people, how they act, maybe circumstances in our life? So possibly it's saying, um, she brings light so that all fear and distress, we may forgive the sources of that in our life or, or is it that plan your parameter forgives us because no doubt we've brought fear and distress to, um, to others? You know, or is it that others forgive us? So there's all kinds of possibilities in that, isn't there? And I, I expect it's all of them. I expect that all of those possibilities will be included in that aspect to plan your parameter. Um, oh, that all fear and distress in the end is, is forsaken. Um, of course it can also be, um, uh, it's, it's, this translation I've got here is forsaken. But the other translation I had was forgiven. So I don't know which is the more accurate one. And actually, with these things, I don't know that I'm probably a scholar would sniff it what I'm about to say, but I kind of wonder if it matters actually. If you, if you make a connection with it, those ones are similar enough that if you can make a connection with both of them, that's maybe just helpful as a way in. And I, I don't know which is the one that's more accurate, but Konsa has forsaken it. And that's probably more accurate. Uh, so this bit, I think is this is beginning to penetrate to the consequences, um, of, um, uh, having a glimpse of the perfection of wisdom again, that the normal self and other lines are no longer there. So again, that was what we touched on this afternoon, when we were just kind of, you know, trying to find out what these things meant to us. Um, and there's a, uh, another selection from, again, a different perfection of wisdom, source, a different text from this one in which it's the Buddha and Sabote in that one, and they're having a conversation. Uh, and the Buddha says to Sabote who he says, what do you think Sabote do? Do beings, um, now you say something like, do beings, um, wander and run, run around for a long time in birth and death? It's certainly wonder. I think it's run around for a long time. And what do you think? And so Sabote says, yes, Lord, they do. Yes, they do. You sort of imagine them somewhere having this conversation because what do you think? Do you, they do run around for a long time, don't they? Does anybody think? Yeah, they do. And, um, and then the Buddha says, uh, and is it because, uh, of eye making and mind making that this happens? And Sabote just says, again, he's, doesn't say much in this exchange, he just says, yes, that's right. So then there's a, uh, dialogue about I, what I'm making and mind making is. And, uh, again, it's just a, uh, quite poetic way of putting what we were talking about this afternoon about getting rid of one's ego. But it's when we get into, um, eye making and mind making, when we get into eye making and mind making, that we, as a result, wander about and get lost in the realms of birth and death. So we wander and get lost around the wheel of life, but we wander around it. Uh, because we're caught up in this wrong view and we make things into me and mine and the end, of course, there's yours and, but then I might want what's yours. So we get into all of those sorts of, um, you know, ways of protecting ourselves or grabbing on to what we want men protecting it or trying to grab somebody else's. Um, the distinction between self and other are not being dissolved when we do that. They're being built up all the time. So, uh, this, uh, bit about, uh, all fear and distress may be forgiven or forsaken is, um, sort of getting to the consequences of, um, a glimpse of perfection of wisdom where there's normal self and other lines are just not there so much. So if we go back to, um, the first, uh, the first, the first verse, the first thing that's I put to say is in this exchange is, um, affection of wisdom is the accomplishment of the all knowing, cognition of the all knowing. Um, so all, all knowledge is not the same as omniscience. I mean, strictly speaking, omniscience would be knowing everything and all can, and all detailed connections. Uh, so I do, so all knowledge is not necessarily that, difficult to imagine how that could exist in one person's mind or knowing everything. Um, but all knowledge doesn't mean, doesn't need to, to mean that. All knowledge can mean, um, understanding how all things work, not knowing every single fact and every single connection and detail, but understanding how all things work, understanding how all things are. And so, in other words, understanding the deepest principle of that and that deepest principle will then be universally applicable. So it'll be, once you know it, it's applicable to all circumstances. And that's the key. It's not necessary to know all circumstances and understand them and somehow have them in your available to your mind, but it is necessary to understand the deepest principle upon which all events, all things occur. So, um, so it's not necessary to know every fact and connection, but it's necessary to know the principle at what beneath those, every fact and connection. And, um, again, we touched on it this afternoon. It's quite encouraging, isn't it? Uh, and what this brought to my mind at this point was some, well, it's actually the first line from, uh, lines of reflection on Green Tara, which is said to be written by Nagarjana, although I think actually it's not the same Nagarjana as I've been mentioning. It's not Nagarjana of the Majemika. I think it's a different Nagarjana, but, uh, it's a, it's a, basically it's a description of Green Tara figure, but a sort of reflection on it. So the first line is, the single face of the chief lady, that's Tara, the single face of the chief lady is the understanding of all events as a single knowledge. So that, that always, uh, intrigued me. It's not a very long verse, this thing, and that's, that's the first line of it. Um, so I, uh, at one point did know it off my heart, and I think I can still get most of it. But that first line always in treatment, I think it's very beautiful. Single face of the chief lady is the understanding of all events as a single knowledge, and I've always associated that as being, saying something about that Tara on any other bodhisattva and Buddha figure, or any other enlightened being, understands all events as a single knowledge, as a reference to understands conditionality, understands the deep, the things that in the, in its deepest principle, understands this being that becomes, this not being, that does not become, really, really thoroughly understands that, and then, therefore, in any set of circumstances can, you know, find their way through it, or understand more clearly what's happening than the rest of us can understand it, if we can understand it at all. And that's, I think that's what, uh, Sahakutra's getting at when he says the, for affection of wisdom is the accomplishment of all knowing. Then, immediately after the next, I think I've just said a bit about fear and distress, leaving that behind, he says, she has gained the five eyes, and she shows the path for all beings. So, it's the five eyes who eventually see the, you know, this deepest principle, see, um, see, understand all events as a single knowledge. So, those five eyes, you might have come across them, that's another traditional list, which probably originally comes from Hindu, Hinduism, urban Buddhism, but has been taken over. So, there's, there's one's ordinary eye, which you see, so we've all got that. And then, then there's a psychic eye, but that's not important. So, don't worry if you're not clear of point, doesn't matter much anyway, if you are. But traditionally, it's always sort of said, it's not very important. But there's ordinary eye, psychic eye, and then Dharma eye, which is corresponds to insight, um, it's based on insight. And then the fourth and fifth are the eye of truth, and a universal eye, which are, you know, taking it further, going from insight to full enlightenment, and then a sort of emphatic statement of full enlightenment, because it's universal. Okay, so, so then we get this statement, she's an organavision. She holds to no Dharma whatsoever, or there's statements like she does nothing about all Darmas, or she never produces any Darmas, and she's not stopped by them. So, we're going to have set each other in, and it's got normal kind of sounding bits, so she guides the path, those who straight on to a bad road. She's forsaken all defilements, she's the mother of the Buddhist atmosphere, so the sort of, you did say this bit to him, the sort of normal sounding bits that you can kind of get the hang of, and then there's these mysterious bits. She does nothing about all Darmas, never produces any Dharma, Darmas, it's not capital D, it's little D, it doesn't stop any Dharma, and this herself unstopped by them, and that's about it. So, to kind of fathom a bit of what this is, we need to know what a Dharma is, and that means going back to the, what I was saying about the exchange between Buddha and Sibouti about eye-making and mind-making. So, the eye-making in mind-making is the basic root cause of our suffering, that's what's been said, because it's the fundamental delusion which underlies our craving. So, at the moment, we stand on this fundamental delusion, and what we need to do is to take flight into understanding actually the fundamental principle, and to underlies all things. But, at the moment, we're involved in eye-making and mind-making, and the truth of things, as identified by the Buddha, is that, is the insubstantial nature of all phenomena. So, when we try to make things eye-or-mind in that kind of convinced way that we have the something solid in us, we're going to always feel, we're always going to, our experience is always going to deny that in a kind of ground wish that we have. It's never really going to be satisfied in that way, so we're always going to be feeling unsatisfactorness at quite a deep level, and even when the experience itself is pleasant enough, underneath, there'll be something left not satisfied. And it's because of this, you know, constant kind of harping on eye-making and mind-making that way we go wrong. So, meditation is geared to weakening that view of self. So, it's geared to weakening the view of self, but also to strengthening our capacity to live beyond that view of self. So, it's important to know that there's both there. So, meditation as we do it, weakens the view of self, but also strengthens our capacity to live without it. So, there's two, there's both things going on. Sometimes it can be a bit hard, actually, or even a bit, you know, become feel a bit apprehensive sometimes with some meditation experience where you can feel that you're touching into a different way of experiencing yourself, but actually, it doesn't feel very easy, but those can be a measure of fear in it. So, good to remember that as well as weakening that view of self, it also strengthens our capacity to live without it. And to live without it means living in a realm of imaginative, empathetic connection with other beings. And if we could do that, that would mean to live with aligned with reality. So, that's the promise being held out. That's when, when we can do that, that's when the perfection of wisdom becomes alight and illumines the world. That's when we can partake of ourselves. That's the promise, that's the possibility that's being held out. The cost is that we need to die to ourselves as something fixed, something substantial, a sort of organizing core in us that's in the middle. Empirically, as we were saying before, empirically, our empirical experience ourselves will carry on, but in reality, it's not like how it's presents itself to us. It's not fixed and substantial in this organizing process in the middle of us. That's what we need to die to. We need to die to that view. That's the cost. After that comes the promise of freedom and light. But there is a cost to it. So, the perfection of wisdom is the quintessence of that wisdom. And she, as a figure, as a body sat for a figure, is also the embodiment of living like that, embodiment of being able to live without that view. Okay, so go back to Dharma's. It's a meditation technique. As a meditation technique, we break down this view of self and also break down the world and break them into their parts as it were, especially. But especially, so it's easy enough to do it with world. But it's especially important to do it with self. So, we're just breaking ourselves down into its different aspects, different parts, as it were, in order to break down our insistence on it being substantial. So, it's a mainstone end. So, we keep having this insistence that we really are substantial, and we really could stand substantially on something. If only we could find something substantial to stand on. So, with this insistence and the meditation techniques are there to kind of break down that by just going, look at the experience, look at the details of it. Where is anything that has that, you know, a solid center to it? So, there's various ways of doing it. So, you can use a framework called the Five Scanders, which are, in fact, Sclythe Scanders are consciousness, feeling, form, perception and volition. And there's a whole meditation around looking at once it's been in those terms. And we will do some of that later in the week. But there are other ways of doing it. So, you can reflect on the nadanas around the outside of the way of life, or you can reflect on the six elements. And those three Scanders, nadanas and six elements, they're all insight, meditation practices. And they're all designed to illumine the insubstantial and impermanent nature of self. And also illumine the suffering which comes from not knowing that, really not deeply knowing that. We kind of do know that intellectually, but we don't know it deep down. So, the insight and meditations illumine that that's our nature, illuminate that nature of us. And they also show up in relief, the suffering that emerges from it. And they show up that suffering in ourselves, but they also show us that suffering emerging in other people. So, we do those reflections for ourselves, and we also do them by reflecting in other people. And now if that awareness of suffering compassion arises, and also sometimes an awareness of the sameness that there is between us and other beings. So, again, we touched on that this afternoon. So, the suffering arises from not doing that. That's basically the suffering arises from ignorance, spiritual ignorance, not knowing about conditionality. The basic suffering arises from the unenlightened state. So, that's, and again, our normal experience of ourselves as an empirically existing self is not going to disappear. And it doesn't get snuffed out in a certain way, insight. That carries on. But the self and other kind of break down lines that we have, demarcation lines that we have, that gets it reoriented, as it were. So, it's not a dist, not a distinction any longer in terms of we'd wish ourselves more good fortune or happiness than we would other people. That doesn't happen. So, it's quite like the Metabhavana, or any of the Brahma Vahara's last stage, if you're really doing it. And it is where the Brahma Vahara's, I think, can kind of move into something of a akin to an insight practice at last stage. To really do it, I think you really have to pay attention to the first half of the last stage, where you equalize what you feel around all the people that you've had in the other stages. So, that's an important part of that last stage. Sometimes we skip it a bit, I think. So, yeah, so those early Buddhist meditation practice, they were there to break our expanse down, and they brought them into what were called dharmas, made up of form and mental states and then events. The various long lists of them, which won't go into. So, it was an early kind of set of insight practices, which broke through selfhood into Buddha nature. But then in this hymn, which is coming, is getting written down centuries later, you get the statement, "The perfection of wisdom holds to no dharma whatsoever." So, what that's a reference to is that, yes, there were these early practices that really did work, and they really did, you know, take people beyond this illusion of self. But then, as time went on and a few generations went by, it seemed that some of the practitioners lost sight of the fact that these dharmas that they brought their expanse down into were only a means to an end. The end is to break through a sense of self. So, you carry on the process until you've broken through your sense of self. But the dharmas are only a means to that. But it seemed that what happened was that there was a certain tendency to begin to think of the dharmas as themselves substantial. So, at that point people were seeing through the illusion of the self, when this kind of scale, seeing through the illusion of that is inherently existing, but then falling into a more subtle delusion of the same type, but more subtle, more subtle illusion of inherently existing dharmas. So, it was a bit like the self itself had been seen through, but then the bits as it were that it's made up of, which are not in themselves substantial either. Only way of breaking through to a direct experience of insubstantiality, people got hung up on that and they were thought to be given substantiality. What a shame. Oh dear, you know. So, something then it seemed needed re-stated, I suppose, and that was done by stating the emptiness of dharmas and that's where the whole kind of lineage and teaching of the perfection of wisdom comes in. So, the people that are writing this down and practicing are having to kind of re-, what could you see? It's just, I suppose, restate what was originally said by the Buddha, but find a new way of doing it so that the mistake, realizing, I was basically, they realized that some people realized there was a mistake being made and then tried to sort that out by stating all dharmas are empty. It's not just that self is empty, old dharmas are empty. So, although, when I quoted from the Dharmapada, what dharmas wasn't used, I don't think that's what's being translated. It's conditioned, all conditioned things. I think dharmas are technical term isn't being translated. You know, actually, there's the Buddha saying the same thing. All things, all conditioned things are impermanent and unsatisfactory and all things whatsoever are insubstantial. And then, that's lost sight of over some generations and centuries and it has to be restated in the more technical ways. All dharmas are empty. And then, so then, in this, in this context, we get, she holds to no dharma whatsoever. She never causes any dharma to arise and she never causes any dharma to cease. Neither arising or ceasing, she is a perfection of wisdom. So, there are rather mysterious statements to us, but they're coming in because there's an emphasis needing put on that dharmas are themselves insubstantial. And it was necessary, at that point, the development of Buddhism. The, where we are familiar with that, probably, is in the heart sutra. Those of us who are familiar with the sevenfold puja as we do it. I know not everyone here is. But the heart sutra, which we recite in the middle of that, breaks down, even breaks down our concepts of spiritual attainment, doesn't it? It, you know, and gets, tries to get to the point where, you know, all words cease to be effectively because you, because the tendency is whenever you find a good way of describing something, you home in on that. So, it's trying to push through that. So, all of this is, then, what's the consequences of making acquaintance with the perfection of wisdom? She holds to no dharma whatsoever and is not stopped by any. So, although all that part of this mystery is, and difficult to, you know, difficult to find words to describe it, they're more like, that those phrases, I think, are more kind of things. You could drop into your meditation practice just as, you know, like, you know, I don't know, pebbles into pools, you know, still water. And, and just let them ripple through you. But don't try and kind of understand them, if you know what I mean. Don't try and think, oh, it's a dharma again, and how many were there? And the Savasti Vadans had 75, and someone else had 86, and I'm making that up, by the way. But they did the word, there are different lists. So, don't understand it. And try, don't try and understand that. We just try and stick with the not understanding. Just try and stick with the sense of mischievousness about it. But use the phrases, because they, they, they wear phrases that, you know, these practitioners used and meditated on and reflected on. So, you know, write down a few and just use them in your own practice and just see what happens. Just let the ripples give them, give them some freedom. So, so it's difficult to see much about, more about that. But then the, the hymn itself does go on and does state the consequences of living in a accordance with that kind of experience of insubstantiality and emptiness. And it says, on a court, on a court, on account of the emptiness of her own marks. So, that's a particular way of seeing the emptiness itself of the perfection of wisdom. Various things happen. The powers of the tathagata, powers of the Buddha arise from really thoroughly penetrating this emptiness and shun, shunutta. The powers of the tathagata arise. She can never be overcome by anything. She is a protector. She's antidote to life and death, the antidote to a wheel of life and death and the wheel of life. She doesn't, she never strays from knowing the self nature of all dhammas because she knows it absolutely thoroughly and clearly. She knows the self nature of all dhammas is no nature and she never strays from that. So, she never, you know, loses it. She never is in that situation where you're going, what am I doing? Why am I about to sit down for another 50 minutes? I'm just going to struggle, you know, it doesn't get into that. It doesn't say that, you know, there might be, for even for a, you know, stream intent, there'll be difficulties. But it doesn't stray away from some sort of the direct experience that's arisen. So, she never strays away from it and practices the utmost patience. And the utmost patience is said to be uttera kshanti. It's the patience to be able to accept how things are. Quite a, it's sort of sobering, isn't it? It's quite a statement really, to be, the utmost, it takes the uttermost, uttermost patience to be able to accept how things are, to be able to accept the emptiness of all things, and to see the workings of conditionality clearly in all phenomena. And this is a perfection of wisdom. And it's from this perfection of wisdom, last thing, that the wheel of the Dharma is set in motion. So, we've got another six days to try and fathom some of that a bit more, a bit more than we have. And I think as we, yeah, as we progress through the week, other myself, or Alias, we'll just read this every now and again. And maybe I'll leave the book out. It's marked. I'll leave the book out and you can have a look at it yourself, aren't you? Yeah, maybe write down some, maybe don't write down some of the phrases. So, yeah, there is a certain soberness to this. On the other hand, in her we can find shelter, most excellent are our works, and she makes us seek the safety of the wings of enlightenment. We hope you enjoyed the talk. Please come and help us keep this free at freebuddhistaudio.com/community. And thank you. [BLANK_AUDIO]