Introduction By Jeffrey Hopkins and Jongbok Yi The title of Maitreya’s text is Treatise of Quintessential Instructions on the Perfection of Wisdom, Ornament for the Clear Realizations (shes rab kyi pha rol tu phyin pa’i man ngag gi bstan bcos mngon par rtogs pa’i rgyan, prajñāpāramitopadeśaśāstrābhisamayālaṃkāra). As First Paṇchen Lama and a tutor of the Fifth Dalai Lama, says in his Explanation of the First Category in the Ocean of Illuminating the Essence of the Essence of (Maitreya’s) for the Clear Realizations: Treatise of Quintessential Instructions on the Perfection of Wisdom”: There are reasons for calling this treatise by such a title since it is called: • “quintessential instructions” (man ngag, upadeśa) because of causing easy realization of what is difficult to realize—the meanings of the three Perfection of Wisdoms, vast, medium, and brief • “clear realization” (mngon rtogs, abhisamaya) because it causes manifest realization • “treatise” (bstan bcos, śāstra) because of being endowed with the two qualities of curing (’chos) and protecting (skyobs, • “ornament” (rgyan, alaṃkāra) because [like a mirror] this treatise, an illuminating ornament, causes perception of the beautiful body of the Mother [the perfection of wisdom], a natural ornament, bedecked with the seventy topics, ornaments. The text was translated from Sanskrit into Tibetan probably around 800 C.E. and was either newly translated or revised by Ngog Lo-dan-Shay-rab and the Indian paṇḍita Amaragomin. At the beginning, the translators make homage to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. As says: There are reasons for their making a translator’s homage this way: “Homage to all Buddhas and Bodhisattvas,” because it is for the sake of completing the translation and for the sake of making known that [this text] is included within the class of the scriptural
4th Topic 4. Naturally Abiding Lineage, the Support of Great Vehicle Achievings To explain the naturally abiding lineage which is the basis of Great achieving [Maitreya’s Ornament for the Clear Realizations, I.37-38] says: {I.37} The support of the six qualities of realization, Antidotes, abandonments, Finalizations of those, Wisdom together with empathy, {I.38} Uncommonness with learners, Gradations of others’ welfare, And operation of wisdom without exertion Is called lineage. །ནས། [Ornament I.37-38, 3b.1-3b.2] {I.37} ། ། ། ། {I.38} ། ། ། With regard to lineage there are three: definition, divisions, and རིགས་ལ་མཚན་ཉིད། དབྱེ་བ། ས་མཚམས་གསུམ།
clothing that is extremely dirty, the grosser dirt is removed first and after a while only the smaller or subtler stains remain and are harder to remove. (See chart next page.) Chart 5: Afflictive emotions to be abandoned in terms of the three realms and nine levels (Read from bottom to top) afflictive emotions to the Formless Realm Peak of Cyclic (ninth level) 73-81 Nothingness (eighth level) 64-72 Infinite Consciousness (seventh level) 55-63 Infinite Space (sixth level) 46-54 afflictive emotions to the Form Realm Fourth Concentration (fifth level) 37-45 Third Concentration (fourth level) 28-36 Second Concentration (third level) 19-27 First Concentration (second level) 10-18 afflictive emotions to the Desire Realm (first level) small small of the small 9 medium of the small 8 great of the small 7 medium small of the medium 6 medium of the medium 5 great of the medium 4 great small of the great 3 medium of the great 2 great of the great 1 The series of objects to be abandoned go from the big to the small. First the big of the big, then the medium of the big, and the small of the big; then the big of the medium, the medium of the medium, and the small of the medium; then the big of the small, the medium of the small, and the small of the small. The antidotes, however, begin with the small and go to the big. The small of the
གཉིས་པ་ནི། དབྱེ་ན། Dan-ma-lo-chö: This does not mean that every instance of such a path is necessarily such a knower of bases; rather, there are Great Vehicle paths of seeing and so forth that are instances of it. whatever is a knower of bases in the continuum of a Superior is a knower of bases that is close to the fruit mother. Boundaries [of knowers of bases close to the fruit Mother] [Knowers of bases close to the fruit Mother] exist from the Great Vehicle path of seeing through the Buddha ground. གསུམ་པ་ནི། །
And skill in means [characterize] The complete manifest realization of all aspects. །ནས། [Ornament I.12-13, 2b.1-2b.2] {I.12} ། ། {I.13} ། །འདི་ནི་ཐབས་མཁས་བཅས་པ་ཡིན། ། [Definition of a complete training in all aspects] A Bodhisattva’s yoga that is conjoined with the wisdom of practicing the one hundred seventy-three aspects of the three exalted knowers is the definition of a complete training in all aspects. Dan-ma-lo-chö: In this training Bodhisattvas are taking all the aspects of the three knowers and meditatively cultivating them. Once one has generated a complete training in all aspects in the mental continuum, then one’s consciousness realizing for instance, is also a complete training of all aspects, for the definition shows that it is sufficient for a consciousness to be with the wisdom practicing the one hundred seventy-three aspects; such a consciousness does not have to be that wisdom. Bodhisattva’s path (byang sems kyi lam, bodhisattvamārgaḥ), path of wisdom (lam sher phyin, mārgamūtaprajñāpāramitā), yoga (sems dpa’i rnal byor), training in an (rnam mkhyen sbyor ba, sarvākārajñatāprayogaḥ), training in a knower of paths (lam shes sbyor ba, mārgajñatāprayogaḥ), and achieving
Meaning of the term [“clear realization in a single moment”] Because of unmistaken, or correct, realization with respect to manifestly regarding giving and so forth in a single moment that is the smallest unit of time in which an activity can be completed, it is called “clear realization in a single moment” (skad cig ma gcig gis mngon par rtogs pa). For during the period of a single moment that is a smallest unit of time: within (clear realization), abhi means “manifestly regarding” (mngon par phyogs pa); sam means “correctly” (yang dag pa), that is, unmistaken due to the removal of defilement; and aya means “realization” (rtogs pa) and “comprehension” (gzhal ba), because Āryavimuktisena’s Illumination of the Twenty-five Thousand Perfection of Wisdom Sūtra says: What is the meaning of abhisamaya? Abhi (mngon du phyogs pa, abhimukha [“manifestly regarding”]) means “manifestly (mngon du rtogs pa); or the term sam expresses definiteness (nges pa, niyata); aya is [expressed] for realization (rtogs pa).” གསུམ་པ་ནི། ཉི་སྣང་ལས།
Boundaries [of momentary trainings] With regard to the boundaries of all four momentary trainings, [the four momentary trainings] exist only at the end of the continuum [as a sentient being, just prior to Buddhahood]. བཞི་པ་ནི། Manifest complete enlightenment in a single moment has been explained well. ། ༈ ། །
Divisions [of pristine wisdom bodies of attributes] When divided, there are the twenty-one sets of uncontaminated pristine wisdoms of the Buddha ground because there are these ranging through: 1. the Buddha ground’s thirty-seven harmonies with enlightenment 2. the Buddha ground’s four immeasurables 3. the Buddha ground’s eight liberations 4. the Buddha ground’s nine [serial] absorptions 5. the Buddha ground’s ten totalities 6. the Buddha ground’s eight magnificences 7. the Buddha ground’s unafflicted meditative stabilizations 8. the Buddha ground’s exalted knowers of states of prayer-wishes 9. the Buddha ground’s six clairvoyances 10. the Buddha ground’s four individual correct knowledges 11. the Buddha ground’s four purities of body and so forth 12. the Buddha ground’s ten powers 13. the Buddha ground’s ten strengths 14. the Buddha ground’s four fearlessnesses 15. the Buddha ground’s three nonconcealments 16. the Buddha ground’s three mindful establishments 17. the Buddha ground’s nature of not having forgetfulness of sentient welfare 18. the Buddha ground’s thorough conquest of the predispositions of the three doors 19. the Buddha ground’s great compassion for all creatures 20. the Buddha ground’s eighteen unshared Buddha qualities 21. the Buddha ground’s three exalted knowers. གཉིས་པ་ནི། དབྱེ་ན།