The Changeless Nature

166 The Changeless Nature17. Negative affects / Defilements: (Tib: NYon. Mongs Skt: Klesa) The grosserobscurations which veil the natural purity of the mind. This term literallymeans 'afflictions, misery'. The most basic defilements are desire, hatred andignorance (which feeds the other two).18. The two truths: two of the four sublime truths (see Notes on Chapter III).19. Bondage: is used as a collective name for desire and all the otherdefilements.20. The knowledge of how-it-isness is perception of the natural purity of themind just as it is, the true nature.The knowledge of manyness is perception of this natural purity as beingpresent in all beings.The inner jnana is the source of the previous two.21. Peaceful: without the extreme notions of a 'self-entity' in individuals andphenomena.22. The ultimate object of knowledge is the true nature of the mind.The nature of omniscience is the nature of buddhahood, the buddha-essence.23. Desire and the other defilements (1) and the hindrances of dualisticknowledge (2): the names of the two main veils obscuring the clear mind.See Note 17 above and the chapter on benefits.24. Perception through jnana: the three aspects enumerated above —knowledgeof how-it-isness and manyness and the inner jnana. The difference betweenthe jnana of the buddha and that of the deeply-realised of the mahayana isa difference of degree but not of nature (see Chapter I, Point 8 and 9b).25. The three yanas: (Tib: THegs. Pa' • Skt: yana) means 'to carry a load'.Hinayana (small yana) indicates the willingness to carry only a small load,which in this case means to want one's own liberation without particularconcern for that of other beings. Mahayana (the great yana) indicates thewillingness to carry a great load i. e. to bring all beings to buddhahood. Here,the first two yanas are the sravakayana and the pratyekabuddhayana, whichform the hinayana. The third is the mahayana.26. The three kinds of activity:a) those whose devotion is mainly for the buddha orient their action chieflytowards him (making prostrations, offerings and so forth. )b) those whose devotion is mainly for the teachings have the dharma as thefocus of their activity.c) those whose devotion is mainly for the sangha have the sangha as the focusof their activity (maintenance of discipline etc. ).27. The two aspects are the dharma of teachings and the dharma of realisation.Of these, the scriptural teachings are 'relinquished' when the 'other shore' —enlightenment — is reached. The dharma of realisation is divided into thetruth of the path and the truth of cessation. The truth of the path isinconstant, changing all the time with the different levels of understanding.The truth of cessation indicates an absence — 'nothing whatsoever'.28. The sangha still has fear: Even the deeply-realised have some fine traces offear remaining, these becoming ever finer as their realisation deepens.