The Tree of Enlightenment

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there’: they depend, rather, on the point of view. It is in this context that the portrayal of nirvana emphasizes the fact that it is beyond existence and nonexistence, beyond origination and cessation, beyond all conceptions and expressions. Indeed, if nirvana is unconditioned, it must transcend these relative concepts. e two points of view – that of discriminating thought and ignorance, and that of insubstantiality, relativity, and emptiness – are reflected in the doctrine of the two truths, conventional and ultimate. e conventional truth is valid of this world in which ignorance prevails, in which we operate by accepting – and taking for granted – the ideas of cause and effect, identity and difference, existence and nonexistence, and the like. e ultimate truth is valid of this world seen in the light of insubstantiality, relativity, and emptiness. Like samsara and nirvana, the conventional truth and ultimate truth are not contradictory but complementary. ey refer to two points of view – the ordinary, afflicted point of view obscured by ignorance, and the point of view of the enlightened ones. Nagarjuna said that without relying on the conventional truth, the ultimate truth is not taught, and without arriving at the ultimate truth, nirvana is not achieved. In these few words, we can understand the complementary and necessary relationship between the two truths. We must rely on the conventional truth to communicate and function in the world, yet without arriving at an understanding of ultimate reality, or emptiness, nirvana is not gained. Hence we can see how groundless is the charge of nihilism leveled against the Madhyamaka by some of its opponents. Emptiness is not nothingness. e Madhyamaka does not teach the absolute nonexistence of cause and effect, or 196
karma (wholesome and unwholesome actions with their consequences). All these exist on the conventional level. ey exist as long as they are sustained by discriminating thought and ignorance. Without relying on the notion of cause and effect, or the doctrine of karma, the ultimate is not taught; yet without transcending causality, karma, concepts, and expressions, nirvana is not achieved. Nagarjuna asserts that interdependent origination, emptiness, and the Middle Way are identical in significance. Taken from the point of view of ignorance, interdependent origination explains, sustains, and is the very essence of samsara. But interdependent origination is also emptiness, because everything that exists dependent on something else does not really exist – it has no independent being and does not exist by itself. erefore, it is empty. All that is interdependent origination is also emptiness. And interdependent origination which avoids the alternatives of identity and difference, existence and nonexistence, eternalism and nihilism is also the Middle Way taught by the Buddha. Hence the system founded by Nagarjuna and sustained by his disciples and successors is known as the philosophy of the Middle Way, or Madhyamaka. 197
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The Tree of Enlightenment Dr Peter
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CONTENTS About the Author..........
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Part ree he ajrayana Chapter Twenty
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out the uthor P eter Della Santina
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uthor’s ote F rom 1983 to 1985 wh
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ship. Finally, I want to thank all
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CHAPTER ONE uddhism: odern erspeiv
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mind, while in traditionally Buddhi
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is story illustrates the practical
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one’s own personal experience is
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e procedure adopted here is analyti
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transformation, whereas in Buddhism
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emained separate and distinct, but
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coveries at Mohenjo-daro and Harapp
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Whereas in the religion of the Indu
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look at some of the prominent facts
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Buddhism was a protest against, or
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CHAPTER THREE e ife of the uddha N
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inated by the correctives of renunc
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Siddhartha, being the faster runner
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permanently put an end to suffering
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CHAPTER FOUR e our oble ruths W ith
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the formula of the Four Noble Truth
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measures to remedy the disease. Suc
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lives often brings us into contact
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all right, but it would be still be
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as we take the tree stump to be a p
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ply because we have not experienced
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emedy the situation here and now, t
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earth, water, fire, and air, the su
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overly tight string produces an unp
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CHAPTER FIVE orality I n Chapter 4
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you will find that the basic rules
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In this context, right speech impli
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ever, some of the developments in r
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Very briefly, these are the origin,
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CHAPTER SIX ental evelopment I n th
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ing the way we experience things an
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itself. Indeed, if you look at the
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Recognizing the value and importanc
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the mind on the object without dist
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CHAPTER SEVEN isdom W ith this chap
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Buddhism, faith is preliminary and
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when you are sure you have understo
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will experience the happy effects o
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greed, anger, envy, and jealousy. I
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of samsara, the cycle of birth and
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others are less fortunate, why some
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In the same way, according to the l
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Here we can see at work the princip
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Similarly, there are five alternati
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in heaven can we escape our karma.
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CHAPTER NINE ebirth I n this chapte
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convincing case for the reality of
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death, we are reborn at every momen
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ey suffer from the human beings who
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ealms is undesirable. e three lower
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continue to circle endlessly among
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tinuity of cause and effect exists,
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On the basis of the Buddha’s own
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in this life result in rebirth in a
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less lives, combined with new actio
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impurities are eliminated, actions
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objective is admirably achieved thr
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can understand that fire is hot and
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is process of the constant change o
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emember the certainty of our own de
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their techniques of meditation and
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Although we know that certain thoug
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And when wisdom arises, we experien
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for a collection of trees. In this
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to turn an indefinite experience in
Page 146 and 147: We discussed this in Chapter 11, wh
Page 148 and 149: CHAPTER THIRTEEN e undamentals in r
Page 150 and 151: art wo e ahayana
Page 152 and 153: to have taught innumerable living b
Page 154 and 155: dissemination of the Dharma. During
Page 156 and 157: school of realistic pluralism known
Page 158 and 159: is compassion for all living beings
Page 160 and 161: CHAPTER FIFTEEN e otus utra T he pe
Page 162 and 163: physician who has been away from ho
Page 164 and 165: Just as each plant benefits from ra
Page 166 and 167: nations of his children, the father
Page 168 and 169: But because our ambitions and aspir
Page 170 and 171: the Mahayana tradition. It is also
Page 172 and 173: e passage from wisdom to the perfec
Page 174 and 175: independent existence of things. On
Page 176 and 177: ory as well as to meditation. In th
Page 178 and 179: CHAPTER SEVENTEEN e ankavatara utra
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Page 182 and 183: and nirvana, both the phenomenal wo
Page 184 and 185: (1) the transcendental dimension is
Page 186 and 187: CHAPTER EIGHTEEN e hilosophy of the
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Page 190 and 191: It is interesting to note that thes
Page 192 and 193: far as cause and effect are identic
Page 194 and 195: say that perception is proved by it
Page 198 and 199: CHAPTER NINETEEN e hilosophy of ind
Page 200 and 201: opment of Buddhist thought. We all
Page 202 and 203: milk, but it would appear as nectar
Page 204 and 205: ern science. e atom as well as its
Page 206 and 207: the source of the phenomenalizing a
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Page 210 and 211: that the philosophy of emptiness wa
Page 212 and 213: Just as this was taking place withi
Page 214 and 215: ience suffused by great bliss. Whil
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Page 220 and 221: CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE ahayana uddhism
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Page 224 and 225: mothers to you, should continue to
Page 226 and 227: dom. Similarly, without a concentra
Page 228 and 229: tary reassociation with fictitious
Page 230 and 231: ese three bodies or dimensions of B
Page 232 and 233: CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO e rigins of the
Page 234 and 235: Let us spend a moment on the origin
Page 236 and 237: throughout India. Nagarjuna and Asa
Page 238 and 239: Asanga asked, ‘Where have you bee
Page 240 and 241: was also a professor at Nalanda. On
Page 242 and 243: CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE hilosophical a
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e object now appears to him without
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Mahayana both in its starting point
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR ethodology A s
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death, whereas nirvana is unconditi
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and nirvana is intellectual or dire
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us we can see that not only are obj
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lizes a variety of phenomena, and t
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CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE yth and ymbolis
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necklaces of severed heads, ornamen
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of knowledge in the Garden of Eden.
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alike, the name of a thing is a sou
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Red, which is the color of fire, is
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On the broadest level, we have been
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e idea of interpenetration is found
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the realm of the hell beings. It is
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sees no distinction between samsara
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ody of each individual person. ey a
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You can see how, in the Vajrayana t
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(4) death and impermanence, and (5)
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that these general preliminaries ar
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and others require alternative ritu
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of conditioned reality, they do not
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it is then the task of the practiti
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CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT e ajrayana nit
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formation of the five aggregates in
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eserved for actually introducing th
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environment, the situation of the i
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initiation. ese methods or keys are
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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE ajrayana uddhis
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ties, and his achievement of Buddha
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the tutelary deity, in other words,
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and the sound of the mantra so that
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CHAPTER THIRTY n ntroduion to the b
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is said that when he returned to ea
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and so forth. is is the difference
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ontology, which means the study of
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ticularly interested here. ese are
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esponsibility because if the self i
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emained silent, and after a time Va
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CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO ethodology I n t
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already have some intellectual acqu
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To arrive at the ultimate picture o
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these component parts do not exist
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CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE nalysis of ons
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(lokiya) and are concerned with the
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ditioned by any of the three unwhol
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we have fifty-four types of conscio
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR e orm and ormle
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as evidence of the existence of a t
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‘striking,’ or ‘mounting.’
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formless-sphere absorption, which d
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CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE upramundane ons
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ness (the fruit consciousness of th
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consciousness, the fruit consciousn
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e clarity of that flash remains for
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX nalysis of ental
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to a particular object whereas atte
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e third group of unwholesome mental
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disassociated with knowledge, or as
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CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN nalysis of oug
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Heedlessness is the source of death
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ere are four types of physical thou
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sciousness, too, are either wholeso
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where he is. He stretches out his a
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ply have subjective and objective f
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porary thought about matter. Scient
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sciousness. is intermediate positio
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e only way we can avoid this plural
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existence, (12) repetition, (13) ka
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vious karma has an influence and se
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lar way identifiable in terms of th
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CHAPTER FORTY e irty-even aors of n
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Mindfulness with regard to the body
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Truths and in the destruction of th
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iver the eastern part and the other
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ment, equanimity is that integrated
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are the keys to self-development, a
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of right effort, right mindfulness,
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conditioned, relative, and empty na
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The Tree of Enlightenment

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