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Probably already addressed here somewhere but I don't understand how stream enterers can become Buddhas. I thought stream enterers have max 7 more births and it takes eons to become a Buddha? Or is the view that if you wish to become a Buddha and you are a stream enterer, this indicates you already spent eons working on the paramitas? If that is the case, why did Buddha never encourage anyone to become a buddha, in the suttas? Seems he must have thought it would be too long and difficult...
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Geoffrey Levens
I
have a great respect for Buddhist literature as a general roadmap but
in the end, it’s all stories. In the real world pretty much anything can
happen. (And that’s another story)
Mr./Ms. AS
Geoffrey Levens - Yeah, it's shocking when you really see that anything can happen at any time.
Tyler Cochran
Geoffrey Levens Always helpful to remember, words are not reality, and can never express its true nature.
Christopher Gilbert
I'd be curious too to see a reference to the number of births needed after becoming a stream enterer.
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Joel Rosenblum
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Christopher Gilbertmany suttas address this. If you wikipedia stream enterer you will see this mentioned and cited also
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Soh Wei Yu
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AN 3.86: Sikkhā Sutta wrote:
"[Some,] with the wasting away of the three fetters, are
'one-seed-ers' (ekabijin): After taking rebirth only one more time on
the human plane, they will put an end to stress.
"Or, not breaking through to that, not penetrating that, with the
wasting away of the three fetters they are 'family-to-family-ers'
(kolankola): After transmigrating & wandering on through two or
three more families [according to the Commentary, this phrase should be
interpreted as 'through two to six more states of becoming'], they will
put an end to stress.
"Or, not breaking through to that, not penetrating that, with the
wasting away of the three fetters they are 'seven-times-at-most-ers'
(sattakkhattuparama): After transmigrating & wandering on among
devas & human beings, they will put an end to stress."
AN 3.86: Sikkhā Sutta (Alt. translation) wrote:
Even if he be unable to penetrate and realize it, destroying the
three bonds becomes a human once more and makes an end of
unpleasantness.
Even if he be unable to penetrate and realize it, destroying three
bonds, he goes from clan to clan, being born in two or three clans makes
an end of unpleasantness.
Even if he be unable to penetrate and realize it, destroying three
bonds He limits his births to seven times the most, being born among
gods or men makes an end of unpleasantness.
SUTTACENTRAL.NET
suttacentral.net | 502: Bad gateway
Rick Indie
it
takes eons if you havent entered the stream yet **and** you're only
following the sravakayana path. then once you enter the stream (as a
sravaka only), then thats when buddhahood is only a couple lifetimes
away. But if you practice vajrayana, you can become a buddha in one lifetime, no matter your starting-point. it depends on the method(s) you're using.
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Joel Rosenblum
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Rick Indiein that case why did Buddha never tell people to strive to become Buddhas? (in the Pali suttas)
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Rick Indie
Joel Rosenblum
because not everybody had the merit to become a Buddha in one lifetime
then, same as now. Alot of people had alot of karmic obscurations
blocking them from buddhahood in that life, so stream-entry was the
most feasible option for alot of people in that
life. Ultimately, the goal was liberation. if the best path to
liberation for you is a longer one, then thats you.
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Joel Rosenblum
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Rick Indieseems
that back then people were getting enlightened a lot easier than now.
500 arahants by the time of his death, i wonder why he didn't advise any
of them to become Buddhas?
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Soh Wei Yu
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Tibetan
Buddhism, and some Zen Buddhists, believe it is possible to attain full
Buddhahood in one lifetime. Tibetan Buddhists may cite many modern and
ancient examples of such attainers.
In all the śrāvaka schools, once one has attained stream entry, one will attain nirvana within 7 lifetimes."
Acarya
Malcolm Smith, being a Dzogchen teacher, teaches that Vajrayana and
Dzogchen, the uncommon Mahayana system, leads to Buddhahood or rainbow
body for many practitioners, in one life, else in the bardos.
Also,
"Nalanda wrote: ↑Thu Jan 27, 2022 5:45 pm
Is it mainstream/majority Mahayana view that arhats are to walk the Bodhissatva path eventually?"
Malcolm:
Yes, this is the mainstream view.
Nalanda:
Does
that mean then that they are reborn (inspite of what they expected:
arhats = end of rebirth) reborn as regular sentient beings to become
Bodhissatva?
Malcolm:
This
is a difficult point. Some scholars assert that, once roused from the
absorption of cessation (nirodhasamāpatti), arhats are basically
equivalent to 7th stage bodhisattvas and some even assert they can enter
the bodhisattva path on the eighth bodhisattva stage because it is
asserted that arhats are equivalent to bodhisattvas in realizing the
selflessness of phenomena that is the absence of inherent existence.
Other
scholars assert that once roused from the absorption of cessation
(nirodhasamāpatti) arhats must begin at the beginning of the Mahāyāna
path of accumulation since they have not generated Mahāyāna bodhicitta
nor have they realized the profound emptiness free from extremes. I
personally favor the latter position because the Abhisamayālaṃkāra
clearly describes the superiority of the hearing and reflection on
signlessness in the Mahāyāna path of accumulation, and so on. Gorampa
summarizes it as follows in his Moonrays:
Therefore,
in our own system of Madhyamaka, although the selflessness of the three
yānas is equivalent, the difference between whether freedom from
proliferation, the two accumulations, the ultimate nature and reality
are realized or not realized is clear in all Madhyamaka textual systems.
Basically,
arhats have a subtle grasping to true existence because they do not
realize four-fold signlessness. Since they have this subtle grasping to
true existence, they continue to grasp a self. Because they continue to
grasp a self, they accumulate action. And since they continue to
accumulation action, they can continue to take birth, having been roused
from nirodhasamāpatti. And because of this arhats, in order to realize
buddhahood, must begin at the beginning of the Mahāyāna path of
application where one reviews through hearing and reflection
signlessness, etc.
DHARMAWHEEL.NET
After enlightenment, can a Buddha return/manifest/emanate to samsara? - Page 2 - Dharma Wheel
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Joel Rosenblum
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Soh Wei Yuthis
is veryyy interesting to me. Prior, i thought that Mahayanists all
believed that what is taught in the Pali suttas is correct, but it is
incomplete. Now, i see that a large part of Mahayana teaching directly
ccontradicts the suttas w/r/t no rebirth for arahants and other things. Those arahants are in for a big surprise i guess!!! 
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Soh Wei Yu
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Joel Rosenblum
All Mahayanists do believe that arahats overcome rebirth, but the first kind of rebirth. There are two kinds.
“
In
describing the manomaya-kāya as the special body of the three types of
beings, i.e., arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas-of-great-power,
the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra says that these beings are subject to a special
type of death, ‘inconceivable transformative death’ (S.
acintya-pāriṇāmikī-cyuti, C. busiyi bianyi si 不思議變易死), whereas ‘the
sentient beings who have reconnection (S. pratisaṃdhi) [of their lives]’
(viz., the sentient beings who are subject to rebirth) are subject to
‘discontinuous death’ (S. pariccheda-cyuti, C. fenduan si 分段死), the
death that happens repetitively in the revolution of lifetimes of
restricted length.
There
are two types of ‘death’. What are the two? They are [the ordinary]
‘discontinuous death’ (S. pariccheda-cyuti, C. fenduan si 分段死) and
‘inconceivable transformative death’ (S. acintya-pāriṇāmikī-cyuti, C.
busiyi bianyi si 不思議變易死). The discontinuous death belongs to the
sentient beings who have reconnection (S. pratisaṃdhi); the
inconceivable transformative death belongs to the mind-made
explanation of the passages in the context of the texts, see Tokiwa 1995. Also see Radich 2007, 281–283.
30. 捨於世間中 所取能取見 轉依離麁重 智慧不思議 十種意生身 眾妙為嚴好 作三界之主 而來密嚴國 (大乘密嚴經 T681 728a10–13). The Sanskrit original of this text is not extant.
31.
Since the passage on the manomaya-kāya in the *Anuttarāśraya Sūtra’s
(佛說無上依經 T 669 472a24–b05) is relatively short and mostly included in the
equivalent part of the Foxing lun, I will confine my research to the
Ratnagotravibhāga Śāstra and the Foxing lun among these three related
texts. body (manomaya-kāya) of arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and
bodhisattvas-of-greatpower, up to their reaching ‘the ultimate supreme
enlightenment’ (C. jiujing wushang puti 究竟無上菩提).
The
sūtra continues to say that the reason why the manomaya-kāya of the
arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas-of-great-power are subject to
the ‘inconceivable transformative death’ is because they still have
uneliminated defilements. In other words, the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra
describes the manomaya-kāya of these special beings as a sort of
remaining undesirable existence resulting from the non-completion of
their spiritual development. Indeed, the sūtra connects the
manomaya-kāya with a specific type of defilement, that is, ‘entrenched
ignorance’ (S. avidyāvāsa-bhūmi, C. wuming zhudi 無明住地), the most
fundamental type of defilement, whereas it associates the beings of the
three realms with the defilement of ‘grasping’ (S. upādāna, C. qu 取):
With
grasping as condition and contaminated activities (S. sāsrava-karma, C.
youlou ye 有漏業) as cause, there arise [[[existence]] in] the three
realms. In the same way, with entrenched ignorance as condition and
uncontaminated activities (S. anāsrava-karma, C. wulou ye 無漏業) as cause,
there arise the three types of the manomaya-kāya belonging to the
arhats, pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas-ofgreat-power.
Here
the mode of being of the three types of beings — arhats,
pratyekabuddhas, and bodhisattvas-of-great-power — is described in
contrast with existence in the three realms, and thus we may say that
they are the beings who are freed from the three realms. These beings,
however, are depicted as still imperfect, due to being still affected by
ignorance.
Such
a view in the Śrīmālādevī Sūtra of the manomaya-kāya as the ‘body’ of a
spiritually developed but still imperfect being is also explicated in
the Ratnagotravibhāga Śāstra. Associating the manomaya-kāya with the
four kinds of ‘impediments’ (S. paripantha), the Ratnagotravibhāga
Śāstra describes the manomaya-kāya of the three types of beings as a
defective mode of existence, which has not obtained the four kinds of
‘supreme virtue’ (S. guṇa-pāramitā) of the Dharma-body of the
Tathāgata:” - http://tibetanbuddhistencyclopedia.com/en/index.php?title=The_Meaning_of_%E2%80%98Mind-made_Body%E2%80%99_(S._manomaya-k%C4%81ya,_C._yisheng_shen_%E6%84%8F%E7%94%9F%E8%BA%AB)_in_Buddhist_Cosmological_and_Soteriological_systems
TIBETANBUDDHISTENCYCLOPEDIA.COM
The
Meaning of ‘Mind-made Body’ (S. manomaya-kāya, C. yisheng shen 意生身) in
Buddhist Cosmological and Soteriological systems - Tibetan Buddhist
Encyclopedia
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Joel Rosenblum
the Mahayana scripture Lankavatara Sutra states, “...Therefore,
Mahamati, the assurances given to shravakas and bodhisattvas do not
differ. Mahamati, what doesn’t differ is the taste of liberation when
shravakas and pratyeka-buddhas or buddhas and
tathagatas get rid of the obstruction of passion, not when they get rid
of the obstruction of knowledge. Mahamati, the obstruction of knowledge
is purified when they see that dharmas have no self. The obstruction of
passion is removed prior to this when they become accustomed to seeing
that persons have no self. It is when the seventh consciousness ceases
that they are liberated from the obstruction of dharmas. And it is when
the habit-energy of the repository consciousness ceases that their
purification is complete.”
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Soh Wei Yu
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Malcolm:
" No one doubts that the Mainstream Buddhist path brings about freedom,
in the sense of full freedom from afflictions, that is the awakening of
an arhat or a pratyekabuddha. But that is not the awakening to which
Vajrayāna refers. The awakening to which Vajrayāna
refers is the full buddhahood that results from gathering the two
accumulations as taught Mahāyāna. The bodhisattva path is not detailed
in any of the Mainstream canons. For the Mainstream canons, it is
extra-canonical."
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Mr. WA
Soh Wei Yu
This feels like total nonsense. Like, no better than any of the dogma
you'll find in Catholicism or elsewhere. This stuff was always meant
metaphorically, not literally, and it is the downfall of our age that we
interpret metaphors as literal "objective" truth.
The problem with this is it is so un-credible that it actually casts
doubt on the entire realization process for someone trying to figure out
if there's anything "real" in all this enlightenment business. Faith
is required to set out on this path seriously, and in my controversial
opinion is that this kind of stuff is super destructive to building that
faith and trust with those entering the spiritual path.
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Soh Wei Yu
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Most of us in AtR group believe in literal rebirth, and many have recalled past lives and verified its validity.
As
Malcolm also said this year, " Belief is just belief. One can believe
anything, like the Red Queen, believing 100 impossible things before
breakfast.
The
point of Buddhadharma is verification. The Buddha invites us to verify
his claims, testing them as a goldsmith examines a piece of gold. When
one has tested something one believes might be gold, and finds out it
either is gold or not, then there is no ore reason for the belief.
As
far as jatakas go, these are just so stories for moral edification. It
is not necessary to believe they are actually past lives of the Buddha,
just as it is not necessary to believe sutras and tantras are the
literal words of the Buddha which sprang out of his living mouth.
All
that matters is that one recognizes the three afflictions drive karma,
which results in suffering. And if one is a Mahayani, to have a
commitment to benefit sentient beings in whatever ways one can. If one
believes in rebirth, so much the better, but it isn’t necessary."
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Mr. WA
Soh Wei Yu
Fair enough, I'm definitely in agreement about ending suffering and
helping others. I'm pretty agnostic on the past lives part... it makes
some intuitive sense and I know some people recall them, but even if
they do it's not "proof", just an experience. If you start using
temporary experiences as proof of reality you'll be in the same
territory as crazy people and psychedelic messiah's. But these texts go
well beyond statements about rebirth being a thing... they go into
intense detail on numbers of lives and levels and heavens and the 4 this
and the 20 that. There's absolutely no way anyone could know that
stuff. It's pure religiousity, and that is in such epistemological
conflict with the rest of realization (whose cornerstone is direct,
continuous, undeniable experience), that it feels like a massive
betrayal when people you trust start seriously talking about it. I'm
sorry to react so strongly, but someone needs to call out this stuff.
The human mind is so easily enslaved by belief, and this most assuredly
IS just belief, even if it exists within Buddhist texts. I feel this
causes real harm. If I'd seen this discussion 5 years ago I would have
dismissed the entire path as nonsense. That would be a terrible shame.
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Soh Wei Yu
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Mr. WA
My view is that it is possible to find out for yourself, and I believe
most of us here agree that it is possible to find out for yourself. I am
not a secular Buddhist. This is why Buddha taught the three knowledges:
https://www.dhammatalks.org/suttas/MN/MN36.html
Also:
[5/12/15, 8:23:33 PM] John Tan: Go read Dr. Sam Parnia
[5/12/15,
8:26:27 PM] John Tan: He is very good like Ian Stevenson...a dr,
cardiologists unlike a psychiatrist ...that deals with death everyday
... Dealing with cardio arrest and pronounced clinically dead...and a
respected person in his field
[5/12/15, 8:31:51 PM] John Tan: Instead of Sam Harris
[5/12/15, 8:31:53 PM] John Tan: Lol
[5/12/15, 8:31:59 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Lol
[5/12/15, 8:32:11 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Am going to get ian stevensons book
[5/12/15,
8:33:20 PM] John Tan: Just like when u do research on past life
experiences documented by ian Stevenson and his assistant ... Read his
assistant account...his assistant dead if I m not wrong just to get some
real account
[5/12/15, 8:33:30 PM] John Tan: Not those kind of bullshit
[5/12/15,
8:34:54 PM] John Tan: Obe and nde r not those seeing light tunnels ...
Feeling peaceful...or passing electricity to pineal gland region to
induce certain experience ...
[5/12/15, 8:35:43 PM] John Tan: I m interested in those accounts that dr Sam Parnia is talking abt
[5/12/15,
8:37:45 PM] John Tan: Where blood stop...brain activities stop...there
is no possibility of any registering of memories or any sensory
function because it is clinically impossible because he is a
cardiologist and dealing with how to get ppl back to life ... He needs
to know all sort of signs there and then...
[5/12/15, 8:38:34 PM] John Tan: We r talking abt life and death trying resuscitate life in emergency room...lol
[5/12/15, 8:39:11 PM] John Tan: Not as an academician taking abt this and that as a story
[5/12/15, 8:43:39 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic..
[5/12/15, 8:49:50 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Sam harris said about ian stevensons,
[5/12/15,
8:49:55 PM] Soh Wei Yu: elaborate fraud, or something interesting is
going on," Harris says. "Most scientists would say this doesn't happen.
Most would say that if it does happen, it's a case of fraud. ... It's
hard to see why anyone would be perpetrating a fraud -- everyone was
made miserable by this [xenoglossy] phenomenon." Pressed, he admits that
some of the details might after all be "fishy."
[5/12/15,
8:50:16 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Either he is a victim of truly elaborate fraud,
or something interesting is going on," Harris says. "Most scientists
would say this doesn't happen. Most would say that if it does happen,
it's a case of fraud. ... It's hard to see why anyone would be
perpetrating a fraud -- everyone was made miserable by this [xenoglossy]
phenomenon." Pressed, he admits that some of the details might after
all be "fishy."
[5/12/15, 8:51:02 PM] John Tan: Meaning?
[5/12/15,
8:51:55 PM] Soh Wei Yu: I think he thinks ian stevesons study might
convincingly suggest reincarnation but still hs his doubts
[5/12/15, 8:55:27 PM] John Tan: There will always b doubt becoz he is a sceptic ...
[5/12/15,
8:56:45 PM] John Tan: And Ian Stevenson books r scientific studies, not
science. He is a scientist but understand that science cannot prove
anything like that besides verification.
[5/12/15, 8:58:00 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic..
[5/12/15,
8:59:16 PM] John Tan: How is one to prove past life except by
verification? Unlike OBE experiences, where medical definition of
"death" is clear and ppl start resuscitating ppl back to life... Hearing
true expert in the field is imp.
[5/12/15, 9:41:21 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic..
[5/12/15,
9:42:57 PM] Soh Wei Yu: I guess the problem with obe is they may cast
doubt whether the obe happened moments before of after the medical
death. but i dont see how they can explain things like witnessing
medical procedures accurately in obe
[5/12/15, 9:43:26 PM] John Tan: Not what u to think lah
[5/12/15, 9:43:47 PM] John Tan: Go listen to Sam parnia in YouTube
[5/12/15, 9:43:56 PM] John Tan: There r some that I like
[5/12/15, 9:44:03 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Ic.. ok
[5/12/15,
9:45:35 PM] John Tan: There r only 3 ways, one is respected expert and
one u, by religious faith and lastly practice experience urself.
[5/12/15, 9:46:25 PM] John Tan: Sceptical is as bulshiting as taking by faith to me.
[5/12/15, 9:46:39 PM] John Tan: My approach is neither
[5/12/15, 9:46:54 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Ic..
[5/12/15, 9:47:06 PM] John Tan: Practice and listening to respected experts
[5/12/15, 9:49:14 PM] John Tan: I also like dr Peter Fenwick
[5/12/15, 9:57:01 PM] John Tan: There is another one Dr Pim Van Lommel
...
[3/12/15, 11:28:10 AM] John Tan: Supernatural is true
[3/12/15, 11:28:47 AM] John Tan: But it is a complex issues and must b in line with science.
[3/12/15, 11:29:11 AM] John Tan: Overclaiming is the problem
[3/12/15,
11:30:39 AM] John Tan: Shamanism is one area I m always studying...but
always involved in plants having psychedelic content in an extreme way.
[3/12/15,
11:32:17 AM] John Tan: I prefer yoga and meditation. Oneness
experience is a daily activity to me and intensity is there due to yoga
and meditation. However to involve and control, visualization and
concentration is key.
[3/12/15,
11:34:47 AM] John Tan: Non-dual is doing away with the boundaries that r
artificially created by the dualistic paradigm...but to invoke and
control consciousness, u need to master concentration and visualization.
[3/12/15,
11:37:25 AM] John Tan: Modern practitioners r not strong in this area
due to lack of discipline and perseverance. So seldom we see
results...making claims without right and genuine knowledge is unwise
and unhelpful.
[3/12/15, 12:16:08 PM] John Tan: Interesting article but I no more see consciousness as an entity
[3/12/15,
12:18:52 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic.. ya dharma dan say he could visualise
colours get into jhana and put out a flame via his intention and other
siddhis like remember past life
[3/12/15,
12:20:41 PM] John Tan: Concentration is a mental skill just like
exercises...yogic Siddhis cannot b accomplished without mastering
concentration.
[3/12/15, 12:21:12 PM] John Tan: In almost all energy practices, this skill is required.
[3/12/15, 12:22:29 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Ic..
[3/12/15, 12:22:51 PM] John Tan: But I m not into that, I prefer clarity over concentration for now...
[3/12/15, 12:23:06 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic..
[3/12/15,
12:26:46 PM] John Tan: I believe intensity of luminous clarity can also
alter the energetic frequencies or vibrations but may not b th right
approach as compared to concentration and visualization which is much
more rich and elaborate in this area.
[3/12/15, 12:31:39 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Ic..
[3/12/15, 12:48:46 PM] John Tan: For u now u r still young. Focus on ur body and health and improve ur clarity.
[3/12/15, 12:49:12 PM] Soh Wei Yu: Oic.. ok
[3/12/15,
12:51:06 PM] John Tan: Ur new house has a place for urself where u can
hv a quality time to get in touch with ur bodily sensations in an
intimate way....not just going through the steps but get in touch ...
DHAMMATALKS.ORG
MN 36 Mahā Saccaka Sutta | The Longer Discourse to Saccaka
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Two obscurations (Tib. སྒྲིབ་པ་གཉིས་, dribpa nyi; Wyl. sgrib pa gnyis) — emotional and cognitive obscurations.
● Emotional obscurations are defined according to their essence, cause and function.
"Thoughts such as avarice and so on,
These are the emotional obscurations."
Their cause is grasping at a personal ego, or the “self of the individual”.
They function to prevent liberation from samsara.
● Cognitive obscurations are also defined according to their essence, cause and function.
In essence, they are thoughts that involve the three conceptual ‘spheres’ of subject, object and action. The Gyü Lama says:
"Thoughts that involve the three spheres,
These are the cognitive obscurations."
Their cause is grasping at phenomena as truly existent, or, in other words, the “self of phenomena”.
Their function is to prevent complete enlightenment.”
——-
Also:
"PATHS TO ENLIGHTENMENT
What
follows is a short explanation of the way Mipam presents the structure
of the Buddhist path to awakening. According to him, we can only go so
far in the Lesser Vehicle, realizing the lack of a personal self based
on its path, but without the Great Vehicle, we will not come to fully
realize the lack of self (that is, emptiness) with respect to all
phenomena. In other words, those in the Lesser Vehicle realize only part
of emptiness (the lack of a personal self) but do not realize the
entire scope of emptiness. They hang on to an ultimate foundation of
reality (the fundamental elements of reality, or dharmas), whereas there
is actually no such foundation. Therefore, according to Mipam, one
cannot become a buddha based solely on the Lesser Vehicle path; becoming
a buddha is the result of the Great Vehicle. Nevertheless, realizing
the lack of a personal self is enough to free us from samsara, because
in doing so, we relinquish the obscurations of the afflictive emotions.
The afflictive emotions can be included within the “three poisons” of
attachment, aversion, and delusion.
These
afflictive obscurations function to prevent liberation, and they are
tied in with the apprehension of a personal self. Based on the notion of
such a self, we become attached (to me and mine) and averse (to what is
other). This notion of self keeps the wheel of samsara rolling, because
it perpetuates the distorted framework through which we selfishly act
out attachment and aversion, thus sowing the seeds of suffering.
Afflictive obscurations have two aspects: a gross, imputed aspect and a
more subtle, innate aspect. According to Mipam, the imputed aspects are
relinquished on the first “ground” (Tib. sa, Skt. bhūmi) when you
directly perceive the suchness of reality. This experiential realization
is called “the path of seeing.”
The
imputed aspects of the afflictive obscurations are learned and not
inborn like the innate aspects. Imputed aspects involve distortions that
are explicitly conceptual, as opposed to the perceptual distortions
that comprise the innate aspects. The difference between the imputed and
innate aspects can be understood as something like the difference
between software and hardware: the innate aspects are embedded more
deeply in one’s mind-stream and are thus more difficult to eliminate.
Imputed ego-clinging refers to imputing qualities to the self that are
not there—namely, apprehending the self as a singular, permanent, and
independent entity. This is overcome on the first bodhisattva ground in a
direct, nonconceptual experience of reality that is the culminating
insight of analysis. Nevertheless, the more subtle, innate aspect of
ego-clinging hangs on.
The
innate ego-clinging, as the bare sense of self that is imputed on the
basis of the five aggregates, is more difficult to remove. Rather than
construing qualities to the self such as singularity or permanence, it
is a more subtle feeling of simply “I am” when, for instance, we wake up
in the morning. This innate sense of self is a deeply rooted,
instinctual habit. It thus involves more than just imputed identity; it
is a deeper experiential orientation of distorted subjectivity. Although
analysis into the nature of the self paves the way for it to be
overcome, it cannot fall away by analysis alone. Rather, it has to be
relinquished through cultivating the path of meditation. According to
Mipam, there are no innate aspects of the afflictive obscurations left
on the eighth ground. However, the afflictive emotions are only one of
two types of obscurations, the other being cognitive obscurations.
Cognitive
obscurations are nothing less than conceptuality: the threefold
conceptualization of agent, object, and action. Conceptuality is tied in
to apprehending a self of phenomena, which includes mistaking phenomena
as real, objectifying phenomena, and simply perceiving dualistically.
Such conceptualization serves to obstruct omniscience. Based on the
Great Vehicle, these cognitive obscurations can be completely
relinquished; thereby, the result of the Great Vehicle path culminates
in not merely escaping samsara, as in the Lesser Vehicle, but in
becoming an omniscient buddha. According to Mipam, up to the seventh
ground, the realization (of the twofold selflessness) and abandonment
(of the twofold obscurations) are the same in the Great and Lesser
Vehicles.
As
with the Great Vehicle, he maintains that accomplishing the path of the
Lesser Vehicle entails the realization of the selflessness of
phenomena, to see that phenomena are empty. Those who accomplish the
Lesser Vehicle path also realize the selflessness of phenomena, because
their realization of emptiness with respect to a person is one instance
of realizing the emptiness of phenomena. The final realization of the
Lesser Vehicle path, however, is incomplete. Mipam compares it to taking
a small gulp of the water of the ocean: we can say that those who
realize emptiness in the Lesser Vehicle have drunk the water of the
ocean, just not all of it.150 The final realization of the bodhisattva’s
path in the Great Vehicle, however, is the full realization of
emptiness, like drinking the entire ocean.
- Jamgon Mipam: His Life and Teachings"
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Alejandro Serrano
Perhaps
the Buddha never encouraged anyone to become a Buddha because he
considered arhatship an irreversible path to buddhahood, or buddhahood
itself. Perhaps no self establishment of self includes the non
establishment of all phenomena.
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Edited
