Saraha's Dohakosa: The Royal Song

The wind lashes calm waters into rollers and breakers;
The king makes multifarious forms out of unity,
Seeing many faces of this one Archer, Saraha.

The cross-eyed fool sees one lamp as two;
The vision and the viewer are one,
You broken, brittle mind!

Many lamps are lit in the house,
But the blind are still in darkness;
Sahaja is all-pervasive
But the fool cannot see what is under his nose.

Just as many rivers are one in the ocean
All half-truths are swallowed by the one truth;
The effulgence of the sun illuminates all dark corners.

Clouds draw water from the ocean to fall as rain on the earth
And there is neither increase nor decrease;
Just so, reality remains unaltered like the pure sky.

Replete with the Buddha's perfections
Sahaja is the one essential nature;
Beings are born into it and pass into it,
Yet there is neither existence nor non-existence in it.

Forsaking bliss the fool roams abroad,
Hoping for mundane pleasure;
Your mouth is full of honey now,
Swallow it while you may!

Fools attempt to avoid their suffering,
The wise enact their pain.
Drink the cup of sky-nectar
While others hunger for outward appearances.

Flies eat filth, spurning the fragrance of sandalwood;
Man lost to nirvana furthers his own confusion,
Thirsting for the coarse and vulgar.

The rain water filling an ox's hoof-print
Evaporates when the sun shines;
The imperfections of a perfect mind,
All are dissolved in perfection.

Salt sea water absorbed by clouds turns sweet;
The venom of passionate reaction
In a strong and selfless mind becomes elixir.

The unutterable is free of pain;
Non-meditation gives true pleasure.
Though we fear the dragon's roar
Rain falls from the clouds to ripen the harvest.

The nature of beginning and end is here and now,
And the first does not exist without the last;
The rational fool conceptualising the inconceivable
Separates emptiness from compassion.

The bee knows from birth
That flowers are the source of honey;
How can the fool know
That samsara and nirvana are one?

Facing himself in a mirror
The fool sees an alien form;
The mind with truth forgotten
Serves untruth's outward sham.

Flowers' fragrance is intangible
Yet its reality pervades the air,
Just as mandala circles are informed
By a formless presence.

Still water stung by an icy wind
Freezes hard in starched and jagged shapes;
In an emotional mind agitated by critical concepts
The unformed becomes hard and intractable.

Mind immaculate by nature is untouched
By samsara and nirvana's mud;
But just like a jewel lost in a swamp
Though it retains its lustre it does not shine.

As mental sloth increases pure awareness diminishes;
As mental sloth increases suffering also grows.
Shoots sprout from the seed and leaves from the branches.

Separating unity from multiplicity in the mind
The light grows dim and we wander in the lower realms;
Who is more deserving of pity than he
Who walks into fire with his eyes wide open?

Obsessed with the joys of sexual embrace
The fool believes he knows ultimate truth;
He is like someone who stands at his door
And, flirting, talks about sex.

The wind stirs in the House of Emptiness
Exciting delusions of emotional pleasure;
Fallen from celestial space, stung,
The tormented yogin faints away.

Like a brahmin taking rice and butter
Offering sacrifice to the flame,
He who visualises material things as celestial ambrosia
Deludes himself that a dream is ultimate reality.

Enlightening the House of Brahma in the fontanelle
Stroking the uvala in wanton delight,
Confused, believing binding pleasure to be spiritual release,
The vain fools calls himself a yogin.

Teaching that virtue is irrelevant to intrinsic awareness,
He mistakes the lock for the key;
Ignorant of the true nature of the gem
The fool calls green glass emerald.

His mind takes brass for gold,
Momentary peak experience for reality accomplished;
Clinging to the joy of ephemeral dreams
He calls his short-thrift life Eternal Bliss.

With a discursive understanding of the symbol EVAM,
Creating four seals through an analysis of the moment,
He labels his peak experience sahaja:
He is clinging to a reflection mistaken for the mirror.

Like befuddled deer leaping into a mirage of water
Deluded fools in their ignorance cling to outer forms
And with their thirst unslaked, bound and confined,
They idealise their prison, pretending happiness.

The relatively real is free of intellectual constructs,
And ultimately real mind, active or quiescent, is no-mind,
And this is the supreme,the highest of the high, immaculate;
Friends, know this sacred high!

In mind absorbed in samadhi that is concept-free,
Passion is immaculately pure;
Like a lotus rooted in the slime of a lake bottom,
This sublime reality is untouched by the pollution of existence.

Make solid your vision of all things as visionary dream
And you attain transcendence,
Instantaneous realisation and equanimity;
A strong mind binding the demons of darkness
Beyond thought your own spontaneous nature is accomplished.

Appearances have never ceased to be their original radiance,
And unformed, form never had a substantial nature to be grasped;
It is a continuum of unique meditation,
In an inactive, stainless, meditative mind that is no-mind.

Thus the I is intellect, mind and mind-forms,
I the world, all seemingly alien show,
I the infinite variety of vision-viewer,
I the desire, the anger, the mental sloth -
And bodhicitta.

Now there is a lamp lit in spiritual darkness
Healing the splits riven by the intellect
So that all mental defilements are erased.
Who can define the nature of detachment?

It cannot be denied nor yet affirmed,
And ungraspable it is inconceivable.
Through conceptualisation fools are bound,
While concept-free there is immaculate sahaja.

The concepts of unity and multiplicity do not bring integration;
Only through awareness do sentient beings reach freedom.
Cognition of radiance is strong meditation;
Abide in a calm, quiescent mind.

Reaching the joy swollen land
Powers of seeing expand,
And there is joy and laughter;
Even chasing objects there is no separation.

From joy, buds of pure pleasure emerge,
Bursting into blooms of supreme pleasure,
And so long as outflow is contained
Unutterable bliss will surely mature.

What, where and by whom are nothing,
Yet the entire event is imperative.
Whether love and attachment or desirelessness
The form of the event is emptiness.

Like pigs we wallow in this sensual mire
But what can stain our pearly mind?
Nothing can ever contaminate it,
And by nothing can we ever be bound.

This song of existential freedom was composed by
the Glorious Master Yogin Saraha.

This Dohakosa of Saraha has been translated by
Kunzang Tenzin in Kathmandu over many years,
finished on the full moon of the seventh month
of the wood-ox year. May all beings be happy!
May all manner of things be well!

Interview: Becoming Buddhist (Part 2)

This is an interview i gave to V-MEN, the Sunday inset magazine of VIMA.

What you would answer to the objection that Buddhism is an “imported” belief, which has to do more with fashion than with the genuine intellectual research and that moreover “doesn't suit” Greek temperament?

Buddhism must be unusually “trendy” in order to be “fashionable” for more than two millennia! The teachings of the Buddha transport their inherent truth through each culture they interact without having degraded them. In the West they have arrived via Diamond Way, without the cultural decorations of India or Tibet. Buddhism is a genuine religion of experience, not of faith, that enables us to experience the happiness that lasts. In this manner it has achieved to be a living and modern spiritual tradition during all these centuries. In our country it exists already from 1975, when a lot of interested Greeks invited the recognized western teacher of Buddhism Lama Ole Nydahl to teach. Today, more than 570 Diamond Way centres operate worldwide. Each centre functions on the base of idealism and friendship.

Are you used to submit yourself to radical changes, being indifferent for any cost?

I do not use to change solely for change itself. With Buddhism you learn to be flexible, to be released from inflexible solidified ideas. You begin to recognize that all are impermanent and transitory. One learns how to work with causality (cause-result); to improve his conditions and his behaviour. Only then changes become meaningful. When our changes aim for the benefit of all, they become liberating.

Does your religious/philosophical orientation influence your personal life? (relations or marriage if you are wedded).

Every relation is a precious opportunity to live the experience itself and to learn from deriving thoughts and emotions. With meditation I learn how to handle thoughts and emotions: neither to deny them, neither to attach to them. This way they are transformed into wisdom. I realise that each moment is precious, unique; potentially our last, and therefore I begin to share the surplus of joy and happiness in my relationships. Progressively I bring the theory from my brain to the level of my heart, I make it an experience. I learn to transfer the objective from “I” to “us”. Ultimately, i am not the pictures in the “mirror” of my mind but its own radiation.

If you had descendants would you want them to follow your footprints or allow them to choose their own way?

I would like them at first to develop their critical mind using the values and ideals of our modern European culture. They can later select freely - whenever it results as their own need - their own way. The Buddha himself said "be a light onto yourselves”.

Interview: Becoming Buddhist (Part 1)

This is an interview i gave to V-MEN, the Sunday inset magazine of VIMA.

When, how and why you decided to become Buddhist? What special did you found in this and why did you choose Buddhism instead of the sovereign in our country orthodox Christian doctrine?

During my studies in political sciences I had the opportunity to research a variety of different systems of values, ideologies, faith and power. To my own questions concerning life and the reasons we found our self here, Buddhism gave me the henceforth reasonable and scientific answers, without requiring my belief or my subjugation. The special feature of Buddha’s teachings, beyond describing “the way things are”, is that they provide us with unique methods - as meditation - in order for us to experience in this life time every moment exactly as it is, here and now, during our everyday routine. Buddha’s teachings are not dogmatic, nor originate from revelation, while the prompt us to always check them with a critical mind. They develop body, speech and mind so that they become useful tools for the happiness of others. Buddha is a friend, not a creation God, something “exterior” in which we are obliged to believe. Buddha advises us how we can achieve his own enlightened state. He represents, that is to say, the innate perfection of all beings, the possibility of all beings, without exception, to realize the nature of their own minds.

How did your family, friends and professional environment react to your this choice?

They say that even the best intentions are always judged by their results. Observing in my own behaviour the positive influence of Buddhism, my family, friends and professional environment not only accepted this choice but also was interested in learning more. They realised that Buddhism is not an exotic disguise but an essential choice.

Did you ever face any problems in your interaction with the authorities due to your faith?

I did not face any kind of problems. In Greece, Karma Kagyu – Diamond Way Buddhism is already officially recognized by the Ministry of Education and Religions. For the Olympic games of Athens 2004 it represented Buddhism in the Olympic Village, operating for the needs of Buddhist athletes from all over the world. Karma Kagyu – Diamond Way is not a sect or an ambiguous new age movement, but a living tradition ageing up to 2500 years.

With your experience until now, which aspects of your daily life and your personality you consider that were strengthen more due to your turn into Buddhism? Do you feel a better person, more completed, more constituted, “broken free” or what?

I observe that I have become more practical, responsible, with more options in ways of thinking and much more interest in life itself. Buddhism teaches how we can participate, compose and create. I am learning to be open in what happens, to use both “this and” without limiting myself to “this or that”. I henceforth see more possibilities and fewer problems. Feel fresher each morning when I wake up. I begin to see in the other their potential and select to support and cooperate with them. I am beginning to enjoy more in life thus as precisely it unfolds.

Lama Ole Nydahl in Athens

Lama Ole gave a memorable lecture on the 5th of September in Athens.
Under the Acropolis at Ionian Center in Plaka, over 400 people gathered to listen to the teachings of the Lama.
Next year Lama Ole will be in Athens in June.

Ο Λάμα Όλε Νυνταλ στην Ελλάδα

Την Παρασκευή 5 Σεπτεμβρίου ο Λάμα Όλε έδωσε μια αξιομνημόνευτη διάλεξη στο Ιωνικό Κέντρο κάτω από την Ακρόπολη.
Περίπου 400 άτομα βρέθηκαν εκεί και συμμετείχαν ενεργά με τις ερωτήσεις τους στην συζήτηση που έλαβε μέρος.
Τον επόμενο χρόνο, ο Λάμα Όλε θα είναι κοντά μας τον Ιούνιο.

Η ιστοσελίδα του Βουδιστικού Κέντρου στην Ακρόπολη

Μετά από δουλειά μερικών μηνών, η ιστοσελίδα του Κέντρου της Ακρόπολης είναι διαθέσιμη.

Μπορείτε να την επισκεφθείτε στο www.buddhism-athens.org

Acropolis Center website

After some months of efforts, the site of Acropolis DiamondWay Buddhist Center is online.

You are welcome to visit it at www.buddhism-athens.org

Ευχές του Λόπεν Τσέτσου Ρίνποτσε για τον Λάμα Όλε

Από την Σκανδιναβική Γη της δύναμης των Βίκινγκς

Έχεις αφυπνίσει τον σύνδεσμο σου

Με τους άφοβους Κάρμα Κάμτσανγκ

Φέρνοντας το πολύτιμο πετράδι του Ντάρμα στην Δύση

Ατρόμητε Λάμα Όλε, είθε η δραστηριότητα σου να παραμένει σταθερή

Αναγνωρισμένος από την Αυτού Αγιότητα τον 16^ο Κάρμαπα

Ως ένας προστάτης και δάσκαλος άξιος σεβασμού

Η ακούραστη δραστηριότητα σου απλώνεται σε αυτόν τον κόσμο ως αύρα δροσερή

Μεγάλε προστάτη και φίλε όλων, Λάμα Όλε

Είθε η δύναμη και η αγάπη σου να παραμείνουν

Έντιμος και ειλικρινής, Εσύ διδάσκεις

«Την φύση των πραγμάτων» χωρίς υποχωρήσεις

Σε αυτήν την Σκοτεινή Εποχή, ένας δάσκαλος σαν εσένα είναι τόσο σπάνιος

Για το καλό όλων, κάνουμε έκκληση σε όλους τους Βούδες

Να σου δώσουν μακροζωία

Wishes from Lopon Chechu Rinpoche for Lama Ole

From the Nordic Land of Viking strength
You have awakened your connection
To the fearless Karma Kamtsang
Bringing the gem of Dharma to those in the West
Awesome Lama Ole, may your activity remain firm

Recognized by His Holiness Sixteenth Karmapa
As a protector and teacher worth respect
Your tireless activity spreads through this world like fresh breeze
Great protector and friend to all, Lama Ole
May your power and love remain

Trustworthy and honest, You teach
"The Way Things Are" without flinching
In such a Dark Age, a teacher like you is so rare
For the sake of all, we appeal to all Buddhas
To grant you a very long life

Ο Frank Huhn στην Αθήνα

Ο περιοδεύων δάσκαλος Frank Huhn θα βρίσκεται στο κέντρο της Ακρόπολης στην Αθήνα για μία τριήμερη σειρά διαλέξεων σε βασικά θέματα του Βουδισμού.
Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες ως προς το πρόγραμμα και τα θέματα, επισκεφθείτε την ιστοσελίδα του κέντρου στην Ακρόπολη.

Frank Huhn at Acropolis Center

Traveling teacher Frank Huhn will be at Acropolis Center in Athens for a three day series of lectures on Buddhist topics (21st to 23rd of December).
For more informations on the program and the topics please visit the site of Acropolis Center

Karmapa Chenno with the voice of the 16th Karmapa

Thanks to you Lopon Tsechu Rinpoche

Find more videos like this on Virtual Sangha

Νέο Κέντρο του Διαμαντένιου Δρόμου του Βουδισμού στην Αθήνα!

Η Αθήνα, μία μεγαλούπολη των 5.5 εκατομμυρίων σήμερα, θα αποκτήσει σύντομα και δεύτερο κέντρο θιβετανικού Βουδισμού του Διαμαντένιου Δρόμου.
Ακολουθώντας την επιθυμία του Λάμα Όλε, o βουδισμός στην Ελλάδα αναπτύσσεται και οι βασικοί μαθητές του προετοιμάζουν με μεγάλη χαρά το νέο κέντρο.
Περισσότερα νέα σε λίγες εβδομάδες!

New Athens Diamond Way Center!

Athens, a city of almost 5.5 million people today, will have a second Diamond Way Buddhism Center.
Following Lama Ole's wish the core students are currently working on the project.
In the next weeks i will have more details.
Stay tuned!!

Λάμα Όλε Νύνταλ, σεμινάριο "Μετάδοσης" στο Κάρμα Μπέρτσεν Λίνγκ

Το φετινό σεμινάριο στο Μπέρτσεν Λίνγκ χαρακτηρίζεται ως σεμινάριο «Μετάδοσης».

Θα ξεκινήσει στη 1 Σεπτεμβρίου με σεμινάριο διαλογισμού καθοδηγούμενο από περιοδεύοντες δασκάλους του βουδισμού. Όσοι συμμετείχαν στο περυσινό σεμινάριο διαλογισμού γνωρίζουν πόσο σπουδαίο είναι το να ασκούμαστε μαζί στο διαλογισμό στο ΚΜΛ.

Ο Λάμα Όλε θα αφιχθεί στις 7 Σεπτεμβρίου και θα δώσει διδασκαλίες και το βράδυ της 9ης Σεπτεμβρίου.

Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες παρακαλώ επισκεφθείτε την ιστοσελίδα του Κάρμα Μπέρτσεν Λίνγκ

Lama Ole Nydahl, “Transmission” Course at Karma Berchen Ling Greece

This year’s summer course at Berchen Ling will be under the topic “Transmission”.

It will start on September 1 with a meditation course by traveling teachers. Everybody who joined last year’s meditation course knows how great it is to meditate together at KBL.

On September 7th Lama Ole Nydahl will arrive and give lectures until the end of September 9th.

For further information please visit the site of Karma Berchen Ling

Ο Τάσος Καλιανιώτης στο Κέντρο του Διαμέντιου Δρόμου στην Αθήνα

Ο περιοδεύων δάσκαλος του βουδισμού, Τάσος Καλιανιώτης, θα βρίσκεται στις 19 Αυγούστου στο κέντρο του Διαμαντένιου Δρόμου της Αθήνας.
Θα δώσει διάλεξη με θέμα "Η άσκηση στην καθημερινότητα¨.
Για περισσότερες πληροφορίες επισκεφθείτε την σελίδα του βουδιστικού κέντρου της Αθήνας.

Tasso Kalianiotis at Athens Diamond Way Center

On the 19th of August, traveling teacher Tasso Kalianiotis will give a lecture at Athens Diamond Way Center.
The topic will be "Practice in daily life".
For more information please visit Athens Diamond Way Center site.

Asanga: Verses On Ultimate Meaning with Commentary

1. There is no proprietor at all, no doer, no feeler;
Although all the dharmas are inactive, yet possible activity evolves.

2. The twelve members of phenomenal life are the aggregates (skandha),
Sense bases (ayatana), and realms (dhatu).
Pondering all those, a person (pudgala) is not found.

3. Void is all within; void all without.
Nor exists anyone who contemplates voidness.

4. For the self is not by way of self; it is imagined in reverse manner.
Here there is no being or oneself. But these dharmas have their causes.

5. All the samskaras ² are momentary; how could there be the ­activity of transient things?
Precisely their arising is the activity as well as the agent.

6 - 7. Neither does the eye see form; nor the ear hear sounds.
Neither does the nose smell odors; nor the tongue taste flavors.
Neither does the body feel tangibles; nor the mind conceive ­dharmas.
And these have neither controller nor instigator.

8. Another does not engender this; nor is it engendered of itself.
Entities arise dependently. They are not old, but ever new.

9. Another does not destroy this; nor is it destroyed of itself.
When there is the condition, things arise; and having arisen, are perishable by their own essence.

10. One finds that creatures lie in two categories.
They are heedless in sense fields; moreover, waywardly ad­vancing.

11. Truly those caught by delusion are those waywardly advancing.
While those caught by desire are those heedless in sense fields.

12. Because dharmas have their cause, as does also suffering,
Since one has created the two fundamental defilements, there are the twelve members, of two kinds.

13. The activity is not created by self, nor created by another;
Another (life) does not cause the activity; but also the activity does not fail to exist.

14. Whether within, without, or between the two,
The samskara that has not (yet) arisen is nowhere found.

15. Even when the samskara has arisen, it is not thereby found.
The future is devoid of sign. But one imagines the past.

16. One imagines not just the experienced, but imagines also the not-experienced.
The samskaras are beginningless. Still, a beginning is found.

17-18. The solar kinsman has proclaimed formation (rupa) to be like a lump of foam; feeling (vedana) like a bubble;
Ideation (samjna) like a mirage; motivations (samskara) like plantain trunks;
And perception (vijnana) like an illusion.
The samskaras ³ arise alike, abide and perish alike.

19. Delusion does not delude delusion, nor does it at all delude anyone else;
Nor does anyone else delude it; and yet delusion does not fail to occur.

20. That confusion is born of unmethodical mental orientation,
And the unmethodical mental orientation is born of one not free from confusion.

21. Meritorious, demeritorious, and motionless are the motiva­tions (and) held to be threefold;
And whichever be the three­fold karma, all that is disjoined.

22. The present ones are disintegrating; those of the past abide nowhere;
The unborn depend on conditions, and the mind evolves accordingly.

23. In an absolute sense not all (mind) has association -- dissociation likewise -- with all (samskara).
It is said that mind evolves accordingly.

24. Again, the stream ( of consciousness) has similar and dissimilar disruption,
But this convention works by following the view that there is a self.

25. The set of formation (rupakaya) breaks up; the set of names (namakaya) also perishes;
And the self-done is declared "fruit-eating" both in this and in the other world.

26. That is the "doer" and the "feeler" through difference of priori­ty and posteriority,
And through comprising in itself the cause and the fruit.
But one should not explain (that) as "different."

27. Given that the course of causes is not disrupted, activity evolves by reason of the assemblage (of causes).
They are born by their individual cause and take control.

28. When the cause is delight in elaboration, likewise the action (karma) is good or evil.
When any seed matures, likewise the fruit is desirable or undesirable.

29. When any seed matures, the view of self is reproduced.
What is to be known of one's own self is that it is formless, invisible.

30. And that is what the immature and ignorant imagine to be the self within,
Having based themselves on the view of self. Thus there are many (false) views.

31. As a result of the cohering seed of self, the former concomitant habitual practice,
And (present) hearing in conformity there­with, the view of self arises.

32. Attachment originates in addition to that condition within;
And attachment craving for acquisition (originates in addition to) the cherished thing without.

33. Whatever this world fears, that brings the self of delusion.
Having formerly made an abode, it undertakes the elaborated.

34. Whatever the abode that is made, that the noble ones know as suffering.
Thereby the immature always suffer, for it is not appeased even for a moment.

35. The mind that is filled with variations gathers suffering of like kind.
Whenever it is a mind belonging to the immature, it is the condition of egohood, happiness, and suffering.

36. Where all fools are stuck, as an elephant sinks in a bog,
There is the remaining confusion, proceeding everywhere, given over to every activity.

37. No fire, wind, or sun could dry up those unbearable streams ­in the world, so as to destroy all streams --
Nothing but the practice of the Dharma.

38. When suffering, one thinks, "I am suffering;" or "I am happy," when he ascertains himself suffering.
Imagination (parikalpa) is the arouser of (right and wrong) views. It is produced from them and generates them in turn.

39. The defiled mind (klista-manas) always arises and ceases together with defile­ments.
Its release has not occurred and will not.

40. That does not arise later. On another occasion it is born pure.
Precisely that which formerly was unstained is called "freed from defilements."

41. That which was defiled, here in the end is purified, with its ­intrinsic light.
Anything not purified here would surely not become pure anywhere!

42. By reason of the utter destruction of all seeds-the total elimination of all defilement;
In the same place, as well, by reason of no stain, a portion of two kinds is specified.

43. Through what is to be known of one's own self, through elimination of suffering only;
Just so, through no elaboration, one does not elaborate at all.

44. The term "person" (pudgala) means "continuous stream" and the expression "nature" (dharma) means "character."
Neither is there any transmigrator here, nor is anything allayed (in parinirvana).

¹ For the meaning of the word paramartha, we note that the commentary on Sutralamkara, VI, 1, says that paramartha ("absolute meaning") is non-two meaning (advayartha). Asanga, in his Vastusamgrahani (PTT, Vol. 111, p. 162-5) says: "By the manner of paramartha one should know the 'world' (loka) -- arisen by dint of ideas (samjna) and cognition (jnana); the means of com­ing to the end of the 'world' -- rightly knowing as it really is the arising-transformation of aspects belonging to the six sense bases of contact; and the end of the 'world' -- apprehending the end of 'body,' (after) ending the craving for any sense object." Ending the craving points to Nirvana with residual basis; the end of "body" points to Nirvana without residual basis (cf. gatha 42). Hence "non-two meaning" of paramartha signifies -- this way and no other way.

By gatha Asanga apparently meant the ancient verses or verse portions that he pieced together to make this set of forty-four. This meaning is certi­fied by his own commentarial conclusion, calling this group of verses "master lineage" (aptagama), i.e. scriptural authority. Hence, the commentarial "aha" ("he says") refers to the Buddha.

² Samskaras: fabrications; formations; motivations.

Paramartha-gatha Commentary³

As an adversary to the extremes of affirmation and denial, there are the Verses of Supreme Meaning, referring to "non-selfhood of a person" (pudgala-nairatmya) from the standpoint of supreme meaning.

Among them, the "proprietor" is of property; "doer," of acti­vities; "feeler," of the latter's effects. By the half-gatha [1a-b] he refutes the self (atman) imagined of other meaning. By saying "Although all the dharmas are inactive" [1c], he refutes the posses­sion of self by the dharmas. Thereby he removes the extreme of affirmation. By saying "yet activity evolves" [1d), through exis­tence of the dharmas, he removes the extreme of denial. Here activity is of three kinds: activity of the proprietor, of the doer, of the feeler. The proprietor is pointed out by the activity, like­wise the doer or feeler.

What those dharmas are, has not been (so far) stated. There­fore, he says the half-verse "The twelve .... " [2a-b] so that he may expound those personal aggregates (skandha) which evolve according to the sequence of the members of phenomenal life [i.e. pratityasamutpada];⁴ (expound) the sensory object, that is, "per­sonality aggregates" (skandha), "realms" (dhatu), and "sense bases" (ayatana);⁵ and (expound) that the fruitional eye-based perception arises dependently on the eye and forms ⁶ with exclu­sion of a subject, that is, "proprietor," "doer," and "feeler." By saying "There is no feeler," he expounds the non-existence of the feeler in the eighteen realms. It was said, "There is no pro­prietor"; and he now expounds how there is none with the words, "Pondering all those, a 'person' (pudgala) is not found" [2c-d]. "Pondering" (vicintya) means inspecting by means of the three authorities (pramana).⁷

In the light that there is none, how does he prove the establish­ment of inner and outer? He says [3a-b] : "Void is all within; void all without." (Thus) he teaches the mere establishment. How does he prove the establishment of the thing inspected and the inspector? He says [3c-d]: "Nor exists anyone who contem­plates voidness." How does he prove the establishment of the noble one (arya) and the ordinary person (prthagjana)? He says [4a-b]: "For the self is not by way of self; it is imagined in reverse manner." (Thus) he teaches that it is precisely the self of the noble one and of the ordinary person that is not perfect (parinispanna) by way of their self, but is imagined in reverse manner. How does he prove the establishment of another and oneself? He says [4c]: "Here there is no being or oneself." How does he prove the establishment of stain (samklesa) and purification (vyavadana)? He says [4d]: "These dharmas have their causes;" that is, there is none either stained or pure.

It was stated, "Although all the dharmas are inactive," but it was not stated how they are inactive. Hence he says [5a-b]: "All the samskaras are momentary; how could there be the acti­vity of transient things?" It was stated, "yet possible activity evolves." Then, in the light that activity is unreal, how does acti­vity evolve? He says [5c-d]: "Precisely their arising is the activity as well as the agent." From the standpoint of effect, it is activity; from the standpoint of cause, it is the agent. Furthermore, that arising he indicates by the production of perception (vijnana) at the sense bases (ayatana) and by the production of that through accomplishing it in a manner not apart from the eye, and so on.

It was stated, "Although all the dharmas are inactive." That inactivity he shows to be sevenfold:

1. Inactivity of agent, by [Gatha 6] "Neither does the eye see form .... "
2. Inactivity of obedient evolving, by [Gatha 7] "And these have neither controller nor instigator" for which they would make obedient evolving in proper order-because of the non­existence of the proprietor and the doer.
3. Inactivity of generator, by the words [8a] "Another does not engender this."
4. Inactivity of generation, by the words [8b] "Nor is it engen­dered of itself."
5. Inactivity of transmigration, by the words [8c-d] "Entities arise dependently. They are not old, but ever new."
6. Inactivity of destroyer, by the words [9a] "Another does not destroy this."
7. Inactivity of destruction, by the words [9b] "Nor is it des­troyed of itself."

Is it the case that as they arise dependently, so are they destroyed dependently? He says [9c-d]: "When there is the condition, things arise; and, having arisen, they are perishable, by their own essence."

It was stated, "These dharmas have their causes." Hence he (now) expounds the dharmas, having the nature of stain, of house­holder and monk, with their causes, by expounding the nescience craving causes by means of two gathas [nos. 10, 11]: "Creatures lie in two categories .... " Moreover, by means of five gathas [nos. 12-16], he shows this stain in varieties: that of basis (asraya), cause (hetu), and time (kala). Among them [12a-b], the dharmas possessed of causes are [the seven, viz.] nescience (avidya) through feeling (vedana); the suffering possessed of causes is [the five, viz.] craving (trsna) through old age and death (jaramarama). Thereby he shows the three kinds of stain (samklesa): defilement (klesa), action (karma), and birth (janma). With the words [12c] "Since one has created the two fundamental defilements" he shows the chief defilement object by way of 'defilement stain' (kle­sa-samklesa). With the words [13a] "The activity is not created by self" (he shows) furthermore the ordinary-person parlance of "action stain" (karma-samklesa) that is manifold by way of what was (formerly) done and has its maturation in an inconceivable way.⁸ Here the activity "not created by self" is what is brought about by others-sinful and beneficial friends, through advice; that "not created by another" is with reference to human effort. The words [13c] "Another (life) does not cause the activity" refer to a cause from a preceding life.⁹

With another gatha [no. 14] he shows the non-origination of stain that is based on the future and of stain that is based on present and past samskaras. "Even when samskara has arisen" [15a] it is not thereby imagined; the "future" one [15c], because "devoid of sign," is not imagined. Since there is no assurance of the type, "This, or similar will occur," it sometimes happens in one way while imagined in another way. "One imagines the past" [15d] through making a sign expressing "So this arose." Not only the experienced is imagined [see 16a-b], but also the unexperienced future is imagined without sign construct. There­by he shows the stain which is the cause of imagination to be present as the basis (asraya) of motivations (samskara). With the words [16c-d] "The samskaras are beginningless. Still, a beginning is found," he shows the time of stain, by reason of following it for beginningless time and by reason of generating it anew.

Now he shows the category of purification. In the same way as one purifies by inspecting from the standpoints of conventional and absolute truth, that is, (by inspecting) formations and so on from the standpoint of individual characteristic (svalaksana) by the similes of "lump of foam," and the like [Gatha 17]¹⁰ and (by inspecting) the generality of constructed characteristic from the standpoint of generalizing characteristic (samanya-­laksana) by "like arising, abiding, and perishing" [Gatha 18] --

So also [Gathas 19-20] -- there is no deluder at all; there is no delusion arisen dependently, and one says (only) by convention that delusion deludes; hence, the unmethodical mental orienta­tion of one not free from delusion he expounds with the words "It (i.e. delusion) does not delude delusion" [19a] --

So also [Gatha 21] -- by convention it is said that perception evolves after motivations (samskara) meritorious, and so on, but from an absolute standpoint it does not evolve. "Held to be threefold" means past, future, and present. "And whichever be the threefold karma," that is, karma of body, and so on,¹¹ "all that is disjoined" for the reason of mutual unlike receptacle (asama-dhana) --

So also [Gatha 22-26] -- "The present ones are disintegrating; those of the past abide nowhere; the unborn depend on condi­tions; and the mind evolves accordingly" [Gatha 22], associated with them, as the case may be. Still, inasmuch as there is no join­ing of the motivations meritorious, and so forth, how can the mind associated therewith evolve accordingly? Since the mind is either associated or dissociated with a motivation, it is neither entirely unassociated nor entirely undissociated with it. And not all mind has either association or dissociation. Thus, from an abso­lute standpoint, there is no proof that mind evolves accordingly. By convention "it is said that mind evolves accordingly" [23d], for which reason he shows that. In the gatha [no. 24] "Again the stream has .... disruption," the words "this convention works" mean "evolves accordingly." While the doer and feeler is unreal from the absolute standpoint, "The self-done is declared 'fruit-eating'" [in 25c-d] by convention. Moreover, how that creates, experiences, and is not determined as different he sets forth by the gatha [no. 26] " ... through difference of priority and posteriority ... " Thus, while from an absolute standpoint the proprietor is unreal, likewise the doer or feeler; and, while cause-­and-result-only is real, the characteristic of cause-and-effect re­moves objections.

And among those (gathas), he expounds the delusion of self (atman) with five gathas [nos. 27-31]. Here, (a) how, while the self is unreal, rebirth occurs undisrupted; (b) how the effect does not occur simultaneously with the cause; (c) how nothing at all occurs; and (d) how its course of causes is not disrupted; -- setting forth that with one gatha [no. 27], he sets forth and removes a fourfold objection with four padas in sequence. With the second [Gatha 28] he sets forth the characteristic of cause-and-fruit. With three [Gathas 29-31] he sets forth how, while cause-fruit is without self, there is the delusion of self-view (atmadrsti); and that he sets forth from the standpoints of consciousness-support (alambana), basis (asraya), fruit (phala), and cause (hetu). With the first gatha [no. 29] he proves its consciousness-support --­ what is to be known of one's own self since it is formless and in­visible; namely, since it is non-rational; in the sutra "conception of form" (rupana) wa~ declared "rational" (tarkana); and since it is invisible: through non-display to others. With the second [Gatha 30] he sets forth the basis (asraya) and the fruit (phala): the immature are the basis; other (false) views are the fruit. With the third [Gatha 31] he sets forth the cause (hetu). In that (verse), it is generated from the self seed -- the natural coherence of the self-view, which is its traces (anusaya). "As a result of the former habitual practice," there is the imagined heretic view of self. Not only is that heretic view habitually thought, but also one unmethodically reasons in this world. Or one hears from another a non-illustrious doctrine consistent therewith. Thus he shows the origination of the imagined view of self by the faults of basis, mental orientation, and consciousness support.

Now, with five gathas [nos. 32-36] he sets forth how that view of self arouses suffering following upon its source; how that suffering then becomes the reason for two kinds of misery (duk­khata) accompanied by egohood; and how it becomes an obstacle for release. Among them, with the first gatha [no. 32] he shows the source (of suffering). With the second and third [Gathas 33-34] he shows the store-consciousness (alaya-vijnana) that incor­porates the suffering -- (dukkha) and motivation -- (samskara) miseries (dukkhata).¹² That is to say, "Having (formerly) made an abode, it undertakes the (verbally) elaborated" [33c-d] -- "I shall be," "I shall not be," and so forth. "Abode" means the possessions of the embodiment (atmabhava). And that suffering, by reason of adhering to it in all time, "is not appeased even for a moment" [34d]. With the fourth [Gatha 35] he shows how suffering becomes the condition for two other sufferings [or, miseries] as well as for egohood. With the fifth [Gatha 36] he shows that it then becomes an obstacle for release. "There is the remaining delusion" [36c], because close to the other two miseries; "proceeding everywhere," because following after all feelings; "to every activity," that is, to virtue, non-virtue, and the indeter­minate.

Now, having shown [Gatha 37] that this suffering comprised by the store-consciousness compares with a lake, he shows its drying up: just "the practice of the Dharma," for drying it. In that (verse), "unbearable streams" means the six (senses) of eye, and so on, the five destinies, the three realms, and so forth.¹³ He shows that practice of the Dharma by complete knowledge of bondage and release. Among these, there is complete know­ledge of bondage when one so recognizes: he ascertains it as just suffering. But [38b] he who thinks "I am happy," when he has ascertained himself as suffering, has an imagination that arouses a (false) view; and (imagination) born of just that (false) view is a generator of that (view).

He sets forth the complete knowledge of release in the remain­ing six gathas [nos. 39-44]. "The defiled mind always arises and ceases together with defilements" [39a-b]. "Its release" from defilements "has not occurred" [39c] when it arises together with defilements, and "will not" [39d] when it ceases together with them. The time when it is called "freed" [40d], he shows that: just that later arises pure. At another time, the pure mind arises; and precisely that, by reason of its prior non-stain, is called "freed." Moreover, he proves precisely this meaning by the gatha [no. 41] "That which was defiled, here in the end .... "

And that release he shows [Gatha 42] to be of two kinds : release from defilements (klesamoksa) and release from materials (vastumoksa). There is release from defilements by destroying all seeds as a consequence of ending defilement; and in the same place, as well, there is release from materials as a consequence of no stain. The sutra says: "0 monks, whatever be the sensuous lust in the eye, abandon that! So also will the eye disappear."¹⁴ In the manner of that text he thus shows the release with remain­ing basis and then shows the one without remaining basis.

Because it is "what is to be known of one's own self" [no.43a] he shows the inconceivability of that (release) so as to eliminate the positing of mere absence. He shows the removal of the remain­ing basis by "elimination of suffering only" [no. 43b]. As a conse­quence, he shows the condition with nothing at all to be (verbally) elaborated; for example, "He becomes different, or not different, or beyond death does not exist," and so on.

Furthermore, he sets forth how, while there is bondage and release, no "person" (pudgala) or "nature" (dharma) revolves [in samsara] or is allayed [in parinirvana]; namely, with the gatha [no. 44] "The term 'person' (pudgala) means 'continuous stream' ... ", The explanation of the master lineage named Paramartha-­gatha thus ends.

³ Quotations in the commentary of the gathas are here identified by the gatha number and by padas, labeled a through d.

⁴ The "members of phenomenal life" are the twelve of dependent origina­tion, referred to in gathas 2, 11-12.

⁵ The five personal aggregates are listed by similes in gathas 17-18. The twelve sense bases, six personal (eye, etc.) and six objective (forms, etc.) are listed in gathas 6-7. The eighteen realms, mentioned below in the commen­tary, are arrived at by adding six "perceptions" (vijnana), e.g. perception based on the eye, to the twelve sense bases, making a total of eighteen dhatu.

⁶ Asanga here accepts the ancient doctrine, as in the stock Pali phrase (cf. Samyutta-Nikaya, Part IV, Salayatana Vagga, 32): / cakkun ca paticca rupe ca uppajjati cakkhuvinnanam / "The eye-based perception arises dependently on the eye and form." Note that Asanga admits vijnana is fruitional. This shows that the frequent translation of the term vijnana (Pali: vinnana) as "cons­sciousness" badly misses the meaning, since the word "consciousness" is ordinarily used as a faculty independent of and preceding the function "consciousness of (something)."

⁷ The three "authorities" (pramana) are direct perception (pratyaksa) inference (aptagama), and master lineage (aptagama), as described in Asanga's hetuvidya section of the Yogacarabhumi, a section I have translated ("Rules of Debate) for inclusion in a separate work.

⁸ This remark may refer to the popular usage of the word karma, as when people speak of "my karma," and "your karma," as though the unpredictable results must have been due to the different actions of former lives, not of the present life.

⁹ In the cases of the human effort and cause from a previous life, Asanga accepts the usual Indian terminology of "human effort" (purusakara), but substitutes "cause from a previous life" (purvajanmahetu) for the usual daiva (fate, or what is due to the gods).

¹⁰ For Asanga's explanations of these similes, cf. Wayman, "Secret of the Heart Sutra," place with n. 22.

¹¹ The reference is to karma of body, of speech, and of mind.

¹²There are three kinds of "misery" (duhkhata) found in the ancient Buddhist scriptures (cf. Samyutta-Nikaya, Part IV, Salayatana-Vagga, 259), the two that Asanga mentions as incorporated by the "store consciousness" plus the "misery of change" (viparinamadukkhata). Perhaps the "misery of change" is incorporated by what the Yogacara philosophy calls the "evolving con­sciousness" (pravrtti-vijiiana).

¹³The six personal sense bases were previously listed in gathas 6-7. The five destinies are the gods (deva) and men (manusa); and evil destiny (durgati) consisting of the animals (tiryagyoni), hungry ghosts (preta), and hell deni­zens (naraka). The three realms are the realm of desire (kama-dhatu), the realm of form (rupa-dhatu), and the formless realm (arupa-dhatu).

¹⁴A similar statement occurs in Samyutta~Nikaya, Part IV (Salayatana Vagga), 7: / yo cakkusmim chandaragavinayo chandaragapahanam / idam cakkussa nissaranam / "That restraint of sensuous lust, that elimination of the sensuous lust in the eye -- that is the way of release from the eye."

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Translated by Alex Wayman.