Tainted and Untainted, and Samsaric and Nirvanic Appearances

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Tainted and Untainted Appearances

We’ve looked at the variables affecting the type of mental holograms that our mental activity gives rise to. These are the variables of “accurate and inaccurate” and “pure and impure” appearances. We’ve seen that these variables refer to both the appearance of what something is as well as the appearance of how it exists.

The next variable is “tainted and untainted” appearances. In English this pair is often translated as “contaminated and uncontaminated,” but, in English, that implies something like “contaminated with radiation in Chernobyl,” so I don’t really care for those terms. “Tainted and untainted” are more emotionally neutral terms. These terms are defined differently in the different traditions. Vasubandhu, as we’ve seen, defined a tainted phenomenon as “anything that arises based on unawareness and the other disturbing emotions, and which gives rise to, strengthens and perpetuates further unawareness and further disturbing emotions.” With this definition, “tainted and untainted” corresponded to “impure and pure.”

The Gelug Prasangika tradition defines “tainted and untainted” in its own unique way. Here, this variable is set only in terms of the appearance of how something exists. “Tainted phenomena” are those phenomena that are mixed with an appearance of truly established existence. “Untainted phenomena” are those phenomena that are not mixed with an appearance of truly established existence.

Now we have to understand what “mixed with an appearance of truly established existence” means. Remember, we discussed how mental activity is made up of primary consciousness and a whole network of mental factors. The primary consciousness and mental factors always have a focal object that they share in common, as well as a mental hologram of that object that they all give rise to together and which appears. Often, but not always, that object is a form of physical phenomenon, but even when that object is not such a form, like when focusing on voidness, there is always a person’s physical body that is the support of the mental activity.

Phenomena that are “mixed with an appearance of truly established existence” refer to all these components that are supporting, or part of, or appearing in our mental activity when that mental activity is giving rise to an appearance of truly established existence. So, when our mental activity is focused with total absorption non-conceptually on the voidness of truly established existence, it is not giving rise to a mental hologram that has an appearance of truly established existence and of course it doesn’t grasp at it. At that time, the primary mental consciousness or clear-light consciousness, all the accompanying mental factors, and the body of the person supporting that mental activity are all untainted. They appear or arise in our untainted mental activity.

At all other times – so, whenever our mental activity is not absorbed non-conceptually on voidness – our primary consciousness, mental factors, body and so on are tainted. They have tainted appearances when our mental activity is engaged in the appearance-making of truly established existence. So, whether we’re imaging our body in our ordinary form or in the pure form of a Buddha figure, it can be either tainted or untainted, depending on whether there’s an appearance of truly established existence with it. That’s what the variable “tainted and untainted” is referring to.

So, even when we’re an arhat, we’re not always totally absorbed non-conceptually on voidness: only a Buddha is. At that time, when as an arhat we’re totally absorbed non-conceptually on voidness, our illusory body (if we’re practicing anuttarayoga tantra) or our mental body (if we’re practicing sutra) is untainted. But when we come out of that meditation and our mental activity still gives rise to holograms with an appearance of true existence, but which we don’t grasp at it, our illusory body or mental body is tainted with an appearance of truly established existence. Let that sink in for a moment.

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